Algid (#TronnorAU)

Chapter 28: After dark

Over the following days Mikey and Connor barely spoke to each other. It wasn't like the kid with the glasses was angry at his roommate; it was more as if they had traveled back in time to when they had first met and were not used to each other's presence in the same house, let alone talk to each other. Connor knew it was mostly his fault, but he didn't see any way to make it better, so he didn't torture himself with it. Instead he went on normally as did Mikey, and the two of them lived in a lonely bedroom they shared with an invisible, voiceless shadow.

Different was the situation in the rest of the house, which was more lively than ever now that Mr. See, or Chester, how he insisted in all the kids calling him, was around most of the time. He went to have dinner with them, he took Grace out a couple of days a week. He had even driven them to school a couple of times so that they wouldn't have to take the bus. Grace's entire demeanor had improved as well with his presence. She was clearly enjoying spending time with him, as Connor started noticing from her rosy cheeks and constant sighs whilst staring at the distance whenever he wasn't around. She did that a lot, when reading the daily edition of "Psycho Babble", attempting to clean the living room, even when she was pouring herself coffee, which was a problem since it always ended up spilt everywhere. The only time around those Connor saw Mikey smiling was whenever he was looking at her daydreaming. He got along with Chester, too, talking to him just as much as Alexis and definitely way more than what Connor did. Alexis was also very hyped from seeing Grace and Chester. She enjoyed bombing Grace with questions constantly. Grace on the other hand, didn't enjoy being unable to answer like a proper human being.

-"So do you liiiike him?"—Alexis would ask.

-"I-I-I appreciate his person!"—Grace would answer.

-"Will he be coming over again tonight?"—the girl would question.

-"Perhaps he shares such intent..."—her foster mother would reply awkwardly.

-"Is he a good kisser?"—Al would bring out of the blue.

-"From my non-biased range of experience, one could argument that he is qualified as... not below the major average."—the adult woman stated.

The interactions only got weirder by the day, and Connor came to live with them and even appreciate the little entertainment they brought along. He could use some, since school was starting to become more tedious, somehow managing to consume his time more than before, and yet he had already gotten used to the routine it brought along. Go to school, go to swim, go to the center on Sundays. With assignments crawling up from every corner, school felt more like a nuisance than ever before to Connor, and few things about it made it survivable. Principally hanging out with Lilly, since the boys were all over the place most of the time.

Talking to Lisbug had become more enjoyable as of late, too. Ever since the time in which they discussed romantic love and she insisted that there was such a thing, their conversations had become much more open and interesting. Connor had allowed himself to be known by the blonde woman with the ladybug glasses and the obsession with her pet dog. Connor would even say that he looked up to meeting her on Wednesdays now.

Something that didn't go unnoticed to Connor was Troye, whom he had been seeing less lately, for some reason unknown to himself. They hadn't had the opportunity to get around hanging out just the two of them again, but Connor knew that he wanted to. And he wasn't the only one, as Red kept asking him over and over how things were going with the Australian. It was almost starting to worry him how involved she was, but he had already made his peace with ignoring her motives behind helping him. But besides class (which Troye had skipped a couple of times already, always with a teacher's permit), the Australian barely ever hang around with his usual peers anymore. It bothered Connor. It bothered him more than what he would consider normal.