Chapter Text
There was a knock at Crispin's door.
Reluctantly, they dragged themself from their pity party curled up in bed and went to answer it. On the other side was Kieran wearing that half-lidded, empty expression that seemed to be his default state of being.
“What's up?” Crispin asked.
“You weren't at club today,” Kieran said plainly. Crispin cringed. Gah. They were in for a lecture.
“Sorry,” Crispin attempted damage control. “I'll try harder to make it next time, promise.”
Neutral expression breaking into something just a little bit confused, Kieran's furrowed brow shot up as his eyes widened in realization, face flushing bright red.
“I'm not- n-nobody is angry or anything!” Kieran rushed to assure Crispin. As he kept talking, Kieran's voice got smaller and smaller. “Attendance isn't, um, isn't mandatory anymore, so it's- it's fine if you just- didn't want to come, right- I just-”
Kieran sucked in a breath, voice so tiny Crispin could barely make it out. “Wantedtomakesureyouwerealright . ”
“...Thanks, Kieran,” Crispin said, “that's really cool of you. I'm all good, just sorta down, y'know?”
“Yeah, I get it. Is there- anything I can do?”
“Naw. Just want to be alone for a bit.”
“Right! Well… I hope, um, you have a good night.”
“You, too.”
Crispin shut the door.
It took exactly one day for the entire school to find out.
A clinical condolence from Amarys (alright, it wasn't like anybody had died, jeez), a wordless pat on the back from Drayton (sometimes, the greatest possible gift from Drayton was his silence)- even Carmine tossed Crispin a bag of chips from the vending machine (the good one in the juniors-and-seniors math hall) before storming off.
As much as Crispin appreciated it, class was a welcome refuge from the glances and well-wishes they received in the corridors.
A wide sheet of paper was spread over each lab table, all with a bin of the nineteen types of tera shards to the side. Their assignment was to partner up and correctly identify each shard by type, spread them on the paper, label them, and then have Briar check their work. As people split into pairs, it was Kieran who approached Crispin first.
“Hey, um, Crispin, I'm- sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to… I didn't know,” Kieran finished lamely.
“It's okay,” Crispin sighed, “I'll get over it.”
“I mean, still…”
“Seriously, what are you even apologizing for? You were just checking up on me,” Crispin waved him off, “come on, let's partner up!”
“Is that- alright?” Kieran twisted his hands nervously.
“Yeah, of course! I wouldn't say it if it wasn't, Man.”
“Thanks,” Kieran carefully slid into the seat next to Crispin's.
“Let's light this assignment up!” Crispin drummed their hands against the table. Kieran managed to crack a smile.
As they were getting settled, a third person leaned into their space.
“Room for one more?” Drayton asked.
“Oh, me and Kieran are already partners.”
“Got an uneven count in class today, somebody has to take me.”
“Really?” Crispin looked around. Sure enough, everybody else was already partnered up.
“Cool! That would be awesome!” Crispin grinned. Kieran pursed his lips, but said nothing.
“Yay!” Drayton gave a little cheer before sitting down and immediately pulling out his phone. Kieran's frown deepened.
“... Let's do the easy ones first,” he murmured, turning his attention to their assignment.
“Makes sense,” Crispin made to grab the stellar shard.
While Drayton zeroed in on his phone, Crispin and Kieran narrowed down their collection. Steel, electric, fighting, grass, normal, and stellar all found their places on the paper easily.
“Is this ice or water…?” Kieran inspected a blue shard.
“It might be flying?”
“Uhg, you're right,” Kieran groaned. After a moment of hesitation, he turned to Drayton.
“Drayton, do you have any ideas…?”
“Dunno. Looks like you two have it covered,” Drayton shrugged without even looking. Kieran scowled.
“Drayton,” Kieran gave a huff, flicking Drayton's forehead. “Pay attention.”
“Ow!” Drayton yelped with way more vigor than the little flick entailed. “Why would you do that? This is abuse. This is Drayton abuse.”
“Die,” Kieran said.
“You're so mean,” Drayton shoved his phone into his pocket. “Look, phone's away, alright? Here, this one is dragon. I'm helping.”
“That's ghost.”
“What?” Drayton frowned, “No, it isn't. Crispin, back me up.”
“...I'm pretty sure that's ghost.”
“It is not,” Drayton insisted. Kieran set down the blue shard to move the one Drayton had pointed out onto the spot labeled ghost.
Muttering something under his breath, Drayton picked up a pencil and started doodling on the edge of the paper. Deciding he would be no help, Kieran didn't bother him again. Instead, Kieran picked up another shard, turning to Crispin as he did.
“Are you- coming to club today?” Kieran asked tentatively. Drayton glanced up from the paper. Crispin paused, swallowing.
“Sorry, I'm still not really feeling up to it,” Crispin admitted. They really didn't want to run into- it made Crispin's stomach go topsy-turvy just to think about it.
“That's cool! Totally fine!” Kieran squeaked, “I mean, I'm not technically a club member anymore, so- none of my business right? Um, do you think this one is fairy or psychic?”
“Psychic, I think?” Crispin was relieved Kieran didn't press the matter.
While the two were distracted, Drayton swapped the dragon and ghost shards before going back to doodling.
They worked in relative silence, only speaking up to check their work with each other. It felt- pretty awkward, Crispin was used to filling quiet spaces with their own voice. At least it meant they got done pretty quickly. Soon, Kieran was raising his hand to get Briar's attention. She walked over, inspecting their work before writing down a grade on her clipboard
“Very good! You only mixed up the dragon and ghost shards.”
“Aw, shoot,” Drayton muttered.
“What? But we put that one on-” Kieran suddenly whirled on Drayton.
“You stupid bitch!” Kieran hissed, “When did you switch them?!”
“Kieran! Do not use that kind of language towards your classmates!” Briar snapped.
“S- sorry,” Kieran wilted immediately.
The attention of the entire class was on Kieran. He made a valiant attempt to try and hide behind his hands. Drayton gave Kieran a pat on the back, just like he'd done for Crispin earlier, except without an ounce of real sympathy.
“I'm going to have to dock points for that kind of conduct,” Briar sighed, crossing something out on her clipboard and replacing it with a no-doubt lower number.
“B- but-” Kieran stuttered, “but I-”
“I really expect better from you, Kieran,” Briar shook her head, “maybe try using your sister as an example.”
Something about that comment must have struck Drayton as very, very funny, because he almost choked on his laugh, barely managing to disguise it as a cough. Meanwhile, Kieran stared at the ground, face red, as the rest of the class became distracted by their own tasks again. He didn't even bother to swat away Drayton's hand when Briar turned around.
“That's the thanks I get for almost dying for her stupid turtle,” Kieran grumbled as he scuffed the heel of his shoe against the floor.
“Huh?” Drayton blinked.
“Nothin’. Um, I'm really sorry,” Kieran murmured. He did actually look it.
“...Apology accepted, ex-champ,” Drayton replied after a moment.
Crispin couldn't tell if Kieran was about to leap across the table and try to strangle Drayton or burst into tears. They put an actual, nice hand on his back.
“It's alright! We still got a B. No biggie.”
After rearranging the tera shards to the correct order, Crispin snapped a picture to reference later. Kieran, meanwhile, studied the shards religiously while he had them in front of him, furiously scribbling down notes.
Drayton took his phone back out and started playing Poffin Run.
The instant the bell rang, Kieran made himself scarce. It took Crispin a bit more time to gather their things, giving Drayton one last comment before they left.
“I seriously don't get you two."
Drayton snorted, ruffling Crispin's hair.
“Ack!”
“Never change, Little Buddy.”
It was only a bit of consolation, but Crispin's next class was in the Terarium. They were feeling pretty low-energy, but getting to do some more hands-on learning, letting out some pent-up jitters under that artificial sky and running around with their pokemon- Terarium classes were some of Crispin's favorites at Blueberry Academy, right up there next to home ec.
Man, they really just wanted to make a sandwich and wallow in delicious despair. Maybe Crispin would get lucky and class would be about sandwich powers. That would be nice.
That night, while Crispin was munching away, trying to work up the will to do their homework, their dad called them. Class hadn't been about sandwich powers, but that just meant Crispin got to make their own once they got back to their dorm. They set down their emotional support sandwich to answer the phone.
“Hey, Dad. What's up? You don't usually call around this time.”
“Well- Clay might have clued me in that I should check in on you,” Dad admitted. Crispin was hit with whiplash so bad they almost fell out of their chair.
“She told her dad?” At this rate, soon all of Unova would know Lacey had rejected Crispin.
“She didn't say anything bad! Seriously, if Lacey had problems with you, I'd never hear the end of it from Clay. He might march right over to Blueberry Academy and have some words with you himself!”
That did not make Crispin feel better. They buried their face in their hands.
“Who else did he tell?” Crispin asked.
“Just me, promise,” Dad paused, “and I told your mom and uncles but that's it-”
“Dad!”
“Sorry! If it helps, they're already prepping a feel-better-soon package for you. Lots of sweets heading your way soon.”
That did actually make Crispin feel better. Still, they sighed, leaning back in their chair.
“It's not that big of a deal.”
“You know your uncles are always looking for an excuse to spoil you- and we all know heartbreak sucks. You deserve a pick-me-up to get all fired up again, alright?” Dad annunciated his words by pumping his fist in the air. Crispin mimicked the motion less enthusiastically.
“Thanks, Dad,” they said.
“Of course, Kiddo. We all care about you, okay? So if you want to talk to me or your mom or Cress or Cilan about it, we're all here for you.”
“I dunno, it just… sucks, I guess,” Crispin sagged down a bit further in their chair, sliding nearly halfway out of it. “I really liked her.”
Dad nodded along.
“I hate feeling this way! Being around her used to make me feel so nice, but now even thinking about her is awful, and everybody in the whole world knows about it, apparently.”
“I'm… really sorry, I should have asked before going around.”
“It's okay. Uncle Cress's caramels are the best, so, you know, equal payoff, I guess,” Crispin joked half-heartedly.
“Hey, you don't have to try and act cheerful. It's going to feel bad for a while. You just have to let yourself feel it.”
“Yeah, I know, it just…”
“Doesn't help much, does it?” Dad finished. Crispin nodded.
“It'll get better- and I'll make sure Cress knows to make you extra caramels. That's sure to speed the process along.”
“Thanks,” Crispin said again, “I should… probably get started on my homework now.”
“The grind never stops, huh?” Dad bemoaned, “just shoot me a message whenever you need me, capiche?”
“Capiche.”
“I love you, Crispin. Stay safe.”
“I will. Love you, too.”
Hanging up, Crispin hauled themself up until they were sitting completely upright again. They pulled their plate close and took a bite of their emotional support sandwich. It tasted like bacon, lettuce, tomato, and sadness.