✘┆ @bucklees sent: ❝ i know what it’s like to be different. ❞
CAUGHT OFF GUARD, gaze stays fixed on robin as his characteristically animated face says far more than his [ initial ] silence. eyebrows raising slightly before settling in a furrowed position, forming little creases between them. if there’s one thing he can read from robin it’s SINCERITY -- he can tell she’s not trying to force some bullshit, after-school-special type bonding. well, that and robin being in the marching band, on its own [ cliche as it is ], is kind of a sign she’s being earnest.
“ now what about me makes you think i’m so different? ” humor is often the default that he quickly falls back on. a deflection away -- even though he trusts robin, it’s not so easy to dig that deep or to be so honest about the armor he’s cast for himself. he’s proud to ‘be different’, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t lean into it as a form of protection -- of SURVIVAL. it’s easier sometimes to wrap himself up in a persona, in good humor, than to be vulnerable. god, what a cliche! a smile spreads across his face, removing the brief more thoughtful expression he wore earlier -- hands raise on either side of himself in a kind of ‘VOILA’ type gesture.
“ i guess the whole conformity thing was just never for me, ” air quotes around ‘conformity’ before hands drop and shoulders shrug, “ -- but that’s not so bad . . . well, USUALLY -- usually, it’s not so bad. ” but that’s less the fault of the ‘different’ ones and more the fault of everyone around them. “ i get the feeling you have something you wanted t’ say, ” eddie starts again after a brief pause, leaning a little closer towards robin, “ you wanna get a little closer with the town FREAK? let’s hear it! ”
