BOYS WILL BE BUGS ~ Warren x Shrignold

9. rises the moon

~rises the moon - liana flores~

WARREN POV

"Nope, absolutely not." Tony said flatly, not even bothering to look up from the newspaper fanned out in his hands.

"What!? It's pouring outside!" I claimed, Shrignold awkwardly silent at my side. Tony closed the newspaper and walked over to his place on the wall, his legs retracting into himself as he perched himself onto the pushpin that supported him. "I don't care, I don't want bugs camping out in this house."

I was beyond offended. Tony was acting like a strict dad, and Shrignold spoke it a lot calmer then I would've. "Tony, we've known each other for over six years! We were some of the first teachers here!" He reasoned, but Tony seemed unfazed. As he was about to speak again, Sketch spoke up from their place next to a charging Colin. "Tony! Don't be so rude!" 

Their gaze softened as they looked to me and Shrignold. "Of course you can stay here, shrig. You can choose any of the furniture to sleep on, there's extra blankets in the closet down the hall."

Shrignold's face lit up. Tony rolled his eyes then looked away, accepting that he wasn't going to try nor win an argument with Sketch.

"Thank you so much! Is it ok if I look around the house? I haven't really been here in so long, I would love to see some of the new teachers..." Sketch nodded and smiled. "Of course you can Shrig! I bet they would love to meet you."

In an instant, Shrignold left my side. As I watched him flutter away, I noticed Sketch's gaze flickering from Tony to me. I raised my eyebrow in confusion. Tony noticed too, and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry for yelling at you last night, Warren. I overreacted and I should've handled the situation more calmly. I understand you were stressed about your lesson, especially being a new teacher..." he spoke through the teeth, not making eye contact with me. 

With a smile shadowed by hidden sadness, Sketch looked back to me. "I know we haven't really had the best introduction, but trust me, we're all going to get to know each other better over time..." 

Acknowledging Tony's advice and Sketch's optimistic (but meaningless) words, I smiled understandingly.

~tiny le time skip~

The lights in the house began to slowly turn off as the night sank deeper into its rainy darkness. Walking into the kitchen and not finding Shrignold there, I sighed to myself and scratched the back of my neck.

"Hey there." A voice catching my attention, I turned and saw a globe sitting on a low table, his eyes tired and his face wearing an uninterested expression. He must be like Tony in the way that his arms and legs could sprout out of his body. 

"Ummmm...hey." I wave awkwardly at him. "You're the new teacher, aren't you? What do ya' teach?" I stepped into the kitchen, pulling out a wooden chair backwards and sitting in down, my arms resting on the back of the chair. "Yeah...I'm kinda like the social-emotional friendship teacher...I suppose." 

The globe hummed in acknowledgment. "What's your name?" I asked. "Gilbert. Yours?" I take a deep breath. "Warren the Eagle." Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "You don't look like an eagle to me..."