Roy had decided to go to the lab before classes began.
It was Wednesday, and the first class was science. It wouldn’t be weird for him to be in the lab earlier than necessary. This time, however, he decided not to snoop around, and directly approach his colleague to get the answers he was looking for.
Miss Hawks was in the lab, preparing the lesson for the day. The diligent young woman was not only the Science Department Co-Leader, she was also the substitute Science Teacher. The usual teacher and Department Leader Mr. Fischer had gone on a business trip to the Morpho Defenders in California, and had entrusted Miss Hawks to take over his lessons for the next two weeks.
Roy approached her.
“Hello… Miss Hawks.”
She looked up. “Ah? You’re back. Right, you’re with the apprentices now. I forgot.”
“Yes… Actually- I wanted to ask you something.”
“Spit it out.”
“... About the portals…”
Miss Hawks raised her eyebrows. “No progress to report. You can check the logs though if you want.”
“... okay. Thank you.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be the first one I’ll message when we get a breakthrough.”
“Much obliged. I’ll be back in an hour when the lesson starts.”
“Sure, sure. Don’t be late, blondie.”
Roy left the lab again.
“Darling…”
Famfay, who had been resting on Roy’s shoulders as usual, looked up. “You don’t need to stress yourself over this.”
“... Famfay…” Roy sighed. “It’s just… if we can avoid having to bring you to Humanus level… I would prefer that.”
“Why?”
“... It’s a lot of pressure, both for you and for me.” Roy leant against a wall in the hallway and looked up at the ceiling. “Everyone relies on us to create a portal to the Morpho Dimension. What if we can’t do it? I’d rather have a back-up plan.”
“... My brother has the power, don’t you remember?”
“It’s not about the powers…” Roy lowered his head again. “No Defender has ever made their partner reach Humanus form. Not even the best Elite Defenders. How can we be the ones to do it?”
“There is always hope, Roy. Besides…” Famfay stood up and jumped off Roy’s shoulders. “... There’s still a chance we can actually capture Scorpio and get him on our side.”
“You truly think so?”
“Scorpio is not a bad guy. Whoever makes him open the portals is manipulating him. Scorpio isn’t evil… he isn’t-”
“Roy-”
Roy turned to the voice of his friend. “Toby?”
“Hey.” Toby gave him a weak smile. “How are you doing today?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good!” Toby joined Roy and also leant against the wall. “I’m glad to see you around.”
“Yeah?”
Toby nodded. “The morning has been a bit rough.”
“... Your uniform is dirty. Did something happen?” “Oh- don’t worry about it, I’m fine~ I just fell off my skateboard on the way…” “Okay…” Roy crossed his arms. “Toby… I want to ask you something.” “Mh? Sure, go ahead.”
Roy looked up at the ceiling again. “My training has been going well so far, and Mr. Tucker said I’m ready to go on patrol with you guys soon. Would you be willing to be my first patrol partner?”
Toby’s eyes lit up. “Well yes - Of course! That would be great!”
“Ah, thank you…” Roy smiled. “I would rather learn how to work on patrol with someone I am friends with. I will tell Charlotte she can plan for us to patrol together for the work plan.”
“That will be great! I hope we see a cool Morpho Mon! Y’know, sometimes there’s nothing really happening for us on patrol, because the more dangerous emergencies are handled by more experienced Defenders and Apprentices, but we can still have a lot of fun, and maybe even get to watch other Defenders work too! OH, and we TOTALLY have to ride on Memis’ back together! That will be so cool!!”
Roy chuckled. “Wow- you’re really excited about this, huh?”
“Get outta my way, Williams.”
Toby was almost bumped into by Randall.
“Hey- watch your step!”
“Mh.” Randall growled.
Roy turned around to look at the two. “What’s the matter?”
“Mhh…” Randall looked up at Roy. “I’m not gonna tell you, nerd. If you want to know, ask Toby himself.” Then he went off past them, in the direction of the lab.
Roy and Toby both looked after him with a confused expression.
“Toby… Did anything happen between the two of you?” Roy turned to look at Toby.
The brunette gulped. “This- I- umh-” He touched his neck, not noticing that he was blushing. “Listen, I will tell you about this another time. Okay?”
Roy’s heart sank after this reply. “Hm. Okay. If you say so.” He grabbed the strap of his bag. “Just… Don’t let anyone treat you badly, okay?”
“Huh?” Toby tilted his head. “Okay…. I won’t.”
Without saying another word, Roy went ahead to the lab.
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