Chapter 2 (pt.2)

Trevor nodded with pink tinged ears

‘

and a sheepish smile. I squinted at him as Trevor exited the conference room, hands now shoved into his pockets.

When I gandered back to where he had been standing, Marco filled the space. He mimicked my actions by leaning one shoulder against the wall, arms crossed. Taking part in his own observations as well. As I scrutinized Trevor, he analyzed me. I narrowed my gaze at him, noting that the smug self-satisfied grin had returned and was spread from ear to ear.

I raised an eyebrow at him, much like I had earlier when he had relayed those cheesy pickup lines. He laughed lightly, “Don’ you think you were a little hard on him?” I gave him a look, to which he laughed harder.

“I know, I know”, he proceeded to imitate a high voiced Scottish accent, “He needs tae learn! Status isn’t based oan age, tis a' about knowledge 'n' experience!” The failed attempt only made him sound inexperienced and unintelligent, but he smiled about it anyways.

“That’s right. Whit’d ye tell him?”

Marco shrugged, “Not to take the whole correction thing so seriously. And if he’s having trouble, use context clues.” I formed a partial smirk and shook my head, Marco erupted in elation. “Alright that’s what I like to see! And don’t think I didn’t see that pequeño sonrisa earlier.” I always found his accent interesting, the way it was smooth in both English and Spanish. There were few short vowels, which made EE and EA, resemble I. The O varies on words, sounding long in ‘to’, and AH rather than AW in Toxic. Sharp TH is more like a T, soft TH is closer to D. SH often resembles CH, B for D, and Y for J.

“C’mon”, he pushed away from the wall, draping his arm around my neck and tugging me close to his side as we walked into the now vacant hallway of the Deliberation Building. “I am absolutely beat, and no matter how much you try to hide it, I know you are too.” He chuckled into my hair, and I hummed in response. He moved his lips down to my ear, “Go get some rest, Amando.” His arm retreated and mimicked my own, wrists grasped behind his back. My smirk widened for a fraction of a second before falling away completely. I nodded briefly to him at the doorway before striding off in search of dinner from the Mess hall.