safety dance.

teddy woo / 18 it is the calm water in the middle of an anxious SEA. where heavy clouds p a r t and the sunrise starts a fire in the deepest part of me. so i let go and in this moment, i can [ breathe ]. the clumsy start of adolescence, the glue that mends our broken remnants.

[tvddywoo]

freshighs.

as soon as the   interaction   between them begins  ,  the snickering falters and then ends altogether  .  kids go back to their respective conversations  ,  lockers are   shut   as the last of supplies are put away  ,  and just as quickly as the fall unfolded it seems to be forgotten by their flock of peers  .   for that  ,  anthony’s  grateful   .  still  ,  tease flecked with mischief flies  .   ❛   what does  ,  you falling for me like this  ?   ❜   smile grows upon plump brims as hand is held out to help them up  . 

      TEDDY’S MORE THAN thankful when the other students finally start dispersing ; the pressure of his peer’s gazes easing off as he scoops up his various papers and presses them up against his chest. he flushes instantly at the comment, amusement curling up in a sheepish grin. “smooth,” he chuckles, good-naturedly. teddy takes his hand and helps himself to his feet, meeting the tall boy just at eye level. “thank you for that, though---” he motions towards where they had just been kneeling. “you didn’t have to like... i mean i probably could’ve grabbed them all,” he shrugs, though his smile is grateful, nonetheless.

[tvddywoo]

ellivts.

          school had never been one of elliot’s strongest suits –– he’s more for sitting at sidelines whilst the teacher droned on and on, drifting into his imagination of the newest upcoming fashion that season or a tall boy with giant ears and a bigger heart with the softest pair of lips … the smaller’s attempts to help teddy in statistics are still determinate but really, he’s trying. elliot knew their interactions were limited, detention only lasting for so long and teddy could hate him for all he knew but he’s known to be a little selfish, gambling with the odds of hoping that teddy could love him back. subtle glances from the sheet to the other male, idle but curious with a heavy pout and elliot’s fingers are impatiently tugging on his sleeve whilst his ego runs thin. ( but he’s patient, always patient for teddy. he’s the one who’s gone and messed it all up after all. ) ‘ this is detention, not study hall –– ’ the blonde whines quietly as his gaze wavers from teddy’s eyes, nose, lips … it’s familiar yet distracting and elliot has to move backwards before he does something dumb. ‘ I’M not getting anything out of this, you know. you’re being very mean to me. ’

      TEDDY KNEW he could’ve asked anyone else for help on his homework---ones that were actually a lot better at the particular subject, even--- but he supposed he was maybe being a bit more s e l f i s h in his request than he would like to admit. more than anything, teddy just wanted to spend time with elliot ; soak up all the presence he had been missing out on since their younger years. of course, part of him still fell cautious with it, though, especially when the smaller male seemed to currently have no intentions of acknowledging him outside of their detention meeting. teddy’s lips curve up slightly at elliot’s whine, clearly amused at the boy’s behavior. “yes, but isn’t it productive to do homework in detention?” he challenges with a small flush, a teasing tone edging at his words. he realized the statement likely made him sound even more like a nerd, but he hadn’t been SO embarrassed about sounding like a nerd in detention lately. the other’s didn’t seem to mind, at least. “what do you wanna do that you would get something out of then?” he asks with a curious quirk to his eyebrow, shutting his notebook with one hand.

[tvddywoo]

sangrawees.

          he’s rambling again. it’s a bad habit, sure, one he’s been trying his best to knock off since it became a problem. he won’t blame it on teddy. won’t say that they enable each other. it’d be easier that way, especially now that he’s an hour long into something about cleaning his room for the third time that day. it’s with a little sigh — mainly to catch his breath, mildly to sneak a glance at the kid in question — that he decides he’s heard enough of his own voice. “ tedward ?  ” flicks the taller’s boy forehead, pulls his knees in and gives a quizzical hum. “ tell me when you stopped paying attention — was it the duster reviews ? ” // @tvddywoo ♡

      TEDDY HADN’T MEANT to zone out, of course. if anything, he was usually quite intent on paying avid attention to any and all of wren’s ramblings. the other was pretty patient when listening to teddy’s, so he figured it was the least he could do, really. the fact that he had spent most of his night pouring over homework, however, led him to spacing out more than usual that day. “hm?” he breaks away from his own, thoughts --- lips lifting up into a sheepish smile soon after, laughter breaking through at the name. “i’m sorry, i’m sorry,” he continues to giggle, chin resting on the palm of his hand attentively. “start over. tell me all about the superior duster brands,” he encourages, grin playful.

[tvddywoo]

sookiesz.

      there’s a lightness to her laugh, a hand glidin’ up to cover her mouth at the thought of two individuals haltin’ amidst their brawl to see a rather tall male interrupt them. ‘ i can’t deny that, your height is quite intimidating, ’ she admitted, with a nod to her head. droppin’ her hand, sookie’s smile still shone through, with the tiniest bit of adoration in her eye. with a small shake of her head, she TUTTED at the statement before the brunette moved away from the counter that she had been leanin’ on to grab the broom from the corner. ‘ i wasn’t even aware we could give refunds, or even that you could leave from the movie in the middle of it. ’ that being said, sookie began sweepin’ up the rather messy floor from earlier when the fluctuation of teenagers had demanded numerous snacks for their movie experience.

      TEDDY’S QUICK to return the laughter, lips lifting up into a wide grin. “unfortunately, that’s where my intimidation usually ends,” he admits with a sheepish shrug. teddy was a fairly tall and broad guy when it came down to it, but he was also pretty gangly and not all that coordinated with his limbs. so if anyone ever tried to swing at him in a specific situation, he would definitely be at somewhat of a loss. the boy pauses in conversation to grab a rag, wiping down the counters while sookie swept. they usually switched out the cleaning activities whenever they worked together, and this shift saw teddy on counter duty. “we don’t. which is why i had to deal with a l o t of angry customers when all i could give them was a voucher for a free popcorn or their choice of candy,” he explains through a quiet chuckle. it had been EXHAUSTING, but not all that torturous at the end of the day.

[tvddywoo]

dctisms.

      despite the fact that within her heart there was an adoration for the few authoritarian figures throughout the school, this class withholding one of them, she was never the one to turn down a side dish of hearsay. there’s a nod to her head, irises flitted back n’ forth between the TWO, in case she was caught in case of disruption. ‘ i’ve heard a few things here & there, but i think it was due to her love life. ever since her divorce, she’s been a little haywire. on the edge, so to say, ’ dot whispered in fragments. she had a keen eye for details, & it had only been a month ago that she saw the band disappear from their instructor’s digit.

      TEDDY’S BROW FURROWS curiously in response to the reasoning. he had never really noticed anything going on with their teacher, but he supposed a divorce was something that she’d likely want to be kept under wraps when it came down to it. “how’d you find out about all of this?” he replies through a whisper, eyes widened slightly as he leans forward a bit on his elbows. “do you think she’s like.... leaving?” his lips pull into a small, concerned frown. “or do you think she’ll be okay? it’d suck if she ended up retiring or quitting or something because of that.” his brow creases. much like dot, teddy liked their regular teacher, and would definitely hate to see her go.

[tvddywoo]

dellannon.

       “Nobody said I had to, Teddy. I wanted to,” Delainey assured the boy in return. At this point it should be a given that should anyone be in need of defending, she would be the first person to stick out their neck for them–regardless of the fact that they asked her to or not, because she was simply hardwired that way. “Someone had to make sure you’d get back up again, and they were only crowding the halls anyway.”

      THE BOY SMILES SOFTLY in response to the statement, appreciative of the fact that delainey seemed intent on helping him out, regardless. because even though he definitely didn’t want to bother anyone, it certainly saved him a BIT of embarrassment to have someone there with him to gather up papers. “i’m sure i would’ve gotten back up eventually,” he assures with a small chuckle. though given his clumsiness, that wasn’t something that was necessarily always guaranteed.

[tvddywoo]

faccde.

      THE WHOLE course of action took place feet away from where andi stood at her locker, and though she hadn’t witnessed WHO had fell initially, she wasn’t the least bit surprised to find her cousin on the floor. as light chuckles echoed through the crowded hallway, andi hardly payed any mind to the spectacle. it’ll blow over, she told herself. he’ll get up and get his things, no harm, no foul. however, as the hallway of students thinned after the last bell, the dark haired girl could hardly help herself in approaching. ‘ i knew those two left feet had to be yours, ’ she stated, only half joking in her tone. ‘ do you need help ? ’

      TEDDY BRIEFLY TENSES at the sound of his cousin’s voice. the girl had previously been so intent at ignoring him during school hours, that hearing from her outside of the home they shared felt odd, almost. regardless, he looks up at the other with a small, grateful smile --- appreciative that she had at least a s k e d. “um.. i think i’ve got it,” he tries to assure her. he knew that andi probably didn’t want to linger for too much longer, and he couldn’t really blame her. “i should be oka--” he starts, but as soon as he attempts to lift his folders up into his arms, the notebook closest to his chest slips through --- and with it spills the various papers he had scooped up previously. a sigh pushes through his lips. of course.

[tvddywoo]

masvns.

    ONCE HE feels a sudden added pressure to his foot, he closes his eyes, pondering what’s worse to come out of this — breaking his toes or a scuff mark on his brand new shoes. the latter, he decides. the drama club can always find a replacement ( sure, they won’t be as good without him ) but it’s not like he can get rid of a scuff mark. sighing, mason finally opens his eyes, his annoyance magically gone when he sees teddy scrambling to grab his fallen paper with NO help whatsoever. “enough gawking, keep it moving,” he grumbles, leaning down to grab anything near him.

   TEDDY LIFTS HIS HEAD, a brief look of surprise crossing his expression as he hears a familiar voice attempting to disperse the people still lingering nearby. a grateful smile perches at his lips as mason helps gather up his papers. they had never grown particularly close during their group’s detentions together, but it was still nice to see him nonetheless. “thanks,” he mutters quietly, cheeks still flushed slightly in embarrassment. “uh sorry, i--- i didn’t see your foot,” he winces slightly, vaguely remembering noticing the shoes of the boy before him during his fall, previously. “i didn’t like... mess your shoes up, did i?” 

[tvddywoo]

ambvrs.

of course, they’d been talking about her, she didn’t mind, all publicity was good publicity. what she DID mind, however, was that they were pulling other’s into her business. “ obviously a punch to the nose wasn’t enough, ” she sighs, letting her words trail off… insinuating that she’d be giving the girl more later. she hated gossips, and it wasn’t like she was wrong for the assault in the first place… amber tries but she honestly can’t help but grin wider, thoroughly amused at the look of scandalization on the giant’s face. he was obviously frightened of her, nobody ever described her as nice, but of course, there was a first for everything. “ thank you, teddy. you didn’t have to do that becuase they know i’m anything BUT nice.” she offers him a smile, and a light pat on the back. “ ’preciate it though.” the guy hardly knew her yet he felt the need to defend her, it was a foreign concept but she really did appreciate it.

      THOUGH HE definitely found amber to be scarier and more intimidating than most, the girls gossiping about her hadn’t really seemed nice at all. and since the girl had always been nice enough to him ( even with her harmless teasing ), he had felt somewhat obligated to say something in the moment. “regardless, it was pretty rude of them to gossip and talk about you like that,” he explains with a small frown. “but it’s no problem,” the boy continues on to shrug. “you’re--- or well, you’ve always been mostly nice to me, so if they dealt with a.... more aggressive side of you, then i’m guessing it’s because they probably provoked it,” he reasons. though thinking about the things that actually provoked it had him shifting awkwardly in his seat. “but it’s no problem!” the boy’s lips spread into a wide grin, smile practically beaming in response to the thanks from the other girl.

[tvddywoo]

ellivts.

          ‘ it’s not –– it’s not THAT hard, you know, ’ elliot murmurs quietly into the midst of the silent library, saved for the inhumane noises that are assumed from more of the lively detention goers from their little ‘ club ’ but elliot hadn’t mind. not when it gave them time like these to finally be alone with teddy. it felt almost as if they were seven all over again, sharing secrets underneath elliot’s heavy iron man duvet and stealing kisses when the other had expected it the least. only this time around, elliot had felt like he was stepping dangerously around broken glass trying to rekindle … whatever the hell that they had going on between them without the obvious eyes glancing from elliot’s pompous group of friends. a tongue sticks out between pinked lips while brows furrow, reaching over the table to tug onto teddy’s sleeve to grasp his attention, feigning the idea of holding the other’s hand whilst warmth seeps through. ‘ teddy, are you even listening to me ? you’re getting all those problems wrong. ’ / ( @tvddywoo )

      DESPITE BEING the one to initially ask for help on his statistics homework, teddy found his gaze slipping away from the pages of his notebook and lingering on elliot’s profile more often than not. he was always more of a science boy, himself, so it wasn’t all that uncommon for him to get tripped up on problems ( especially any that involved any type of graph. yuck ) --- so really he should’ve been paying attention when it came down to it. but getting to have the other boy so close again recently was distracting. even outside of their get togethers in detention, teddy couldn’t quite get the boy off his mind. so while his former friend directs his attention to the worksheet in front of them, teddy’s shy gaze travels across the tip of elliot’s nose, instead --- down the length of his jaw and all the way over to his pretty cupid’s bow ; eyes finally settling onto the tongue cutely poking out between his pursed lips. cute. his attention is only shaken at the gentle tug to his sleeve, head rearing back and lips curling up sheepishly. “no--- i-- i mean yes. yes, of course,” he assures with flushed cheeks, lowering his gaze briefly. “actually... can you repeat that last part?” his eyes lift up back towards elliot, shy grin decorating his lips.

[tvddywoo]

ambvrs.

“ yeah her nose was bleeding but so were my knuckles…” the brunette grimaced, cradling the still injured hand to her chest. “ besides, you’ve only heard her point of view. you never asked mine.” she grumbles at the thought of being misunderstood, SURE she was a mess but she wouldn’t assault anyone without a good reason. “that was a hundred dollars worth of weed she tried to steal. if i lost a hundred dollars that’d be my ass. ” she shrugs, “ better her nose than mine. ” amber she grins slightly, and then shakes her head as a way to stop the rambling. “ so, my punching that girl aside.. what else did she tell you ?? ”  @tvddywoo

      TEDDY’S EYES remain widened throughout the majority of amber’s story, a scandalized look falling across his expression in the process. he had only brought up the incident, because a girl in his class had been talking about it in hushed tones with one of her friends. he hadn’t MEANT to eavesdrop, but amber’s name had been brought up, and he found himself listening to the rest of the conversation by chance. but as soon as she noticed teddy’s ears perked up in curiosity, she hadn’t hesitated to pull him into it as well -- noticing that the boy was apart of the regular detention group alongside the dealer. “well... she might’ve called you uh.. a few choice names. i--- i tried to tell her that... you know, you were pretty nice, i guess--” he stutters a bit. when she wasn’t chasing him with drugs, at least.

[tvddywoo]

dellannon.

    Delainey winced as he saw the boy flop forward and a few kids started chuckling at the scene. “Don’t you have anywhere better to be? Christ,” she grumbled at one guy, before moving to help the other collect his papers. This sort of tumble wasn’t a sight out of the ordinary, of course, but Delainey still held nothing but concern. Especially given the fact that the other students always seemed so dead set on having a chuckle every single time that it happened. “You alright?”

      A SMALL BURST of relief fills his chest as soon as he hears the familiar voice defending him, a grateful smile pulling at his lips. “yeah, i’m fine,” he assures her, warmth sleeping into his grin as he takes some of the papers handed over to him. “thank you for that, though,” he remembers to thank her a beat later, pressing his notebook closer to his chest. at least people were starting to disperse at this point. “you didn’t have to,” he continues to assure with a sheepish smile, despite how much he appreciated the action.

[pauljosephtwatson]

[tvddywoo]

freshighs.

the display of bumbling   clumsiness   almost garners a snicker from the man   ;   were it not for peers that make their humor so   unbearably   known   ,   amusement too would have been reflected in warm viridescent irises   .   instead   ,   something more amiable grows in them  ,  a look that almost   teeters on the edge   of  genuine    sympathy   .   the rate at which his papers are collected is nothing short of speedy   ,   but through hasty pace one is sent   sliding   across the colored title   .   deft fingers pluck the graded sheet from in front of blackened boots  ,  and   looming   frame is made compact as he kneels to the ground  .    ❛   think you might’ve   missed   one   .   ❜

      TEDDY’S GAZE lifts up to spot a familiar face, cheeks instantly flushing as he carefully takes the sheet of paper from the boy’s grip and slips it back into his notebook. “thank you,” he mutters shyly, despite having seen anthony PLENTY of times during their group’s detention get togethers. it was an embarrassing situation regardless, though, especially with how many people actually witnessed it. “this...” he pauses scratching awkwardly at the back of his head. “happens way more often than it should, to be honest,” he shrugs sheepishly as he musses up the back of his already-messy locks.

[tvddywoo]

sookiesz.

      tongue flickered over her lesser lip, as much as she tried to avoid the wandering thoughts in her head, sookie couldn’t but help eye the taller’s frame. with a back that went on for days, irises trailed down his spine where they HALTED just above a certain area. yet, they swiftly gilded upwards when he turned back around & her expression shifted back into the somewhat curious one. upon hearin’ the story that tumbled from the tip of teddy’s tongue, a hand covered her mouth that had seemingly fallen open at one point or another. which by this point, the female had promised herself to not miss any more shifts for as long as she lived — - heartstrings were tugged at however, when he finished up. ‘ you were right to get the manager ! endangerin’ the lives of the employees is NOT what we signed up for, but hopefully, those people never come back, ’ sookie retorted, with a cluck of her tongue.

      TEDDY TURNS back around to face the smaller girl, unaware of any lingering gazes. he shrugs a bit sheepishly. “maybe. doug said i probably would’ve scared them off with my height alone,” he admits through a small chuckle, subtle smile quirking up at the ends of his lips. though he knows the moment he would’ve opened his mouth, and likely started stuttering, the boys wouldn’t have been scared in the slightest. “it was pretty crazy, though. because of the commotion, some people complained about their movie being interrupted and all that stuff, so a lot of them were asking for refunds,” he continues to recount, practically holding back a horrified shudder at the memory of having to deal with the crowd of customers demanding some sort of compensation for the distraction ( despite most of them not even being parked anywhere near the incident when it took place ).

[tvddywoo]

dctisms.

      a short huff trickles out, curls tickled by the breath as her line of vision trailed back towards the substitute. despite the absence of one of her favorite authoritarian figures, dot nevertheless remained front n’ center. albeit, it would be simpler to whisper if she were further back, however that would never happen. not now, not ever. ‘ no teacher can be absent for that LONG unless it was something serious, ’ her voice dulled down to an acquiring tone. head turned back to catch his gaze, ‘ some other students were talkin’ how she might have cracked .. — - a breakdown. ’ a mirrored brow quirked in return, irises readin’ his own for any hint of emotion.

      TEDDY FROWNS slightly at the insinuation. “a breakdown?” he repeats through a whispered gasp, eyes widening shortly thereafter. “but...” he trails off, his own gaze drifting over towards the substitute as he makes sure to keep quiet. “she’s always seemed so... stable. normal. why do you think she would’ve cracked?” the boy purses his lips in confusion, head tilting curiously to the side. though, if he were completely honest, he wouldn’t be all too surprised at any teacher cracking. his eyes travel around the room, taking in the snickering jocks, chattery students and disrespectful ‘delinquents.’ ----teddy probably would’ve cracked a long time ago, to be honest.

[x-exo]

the softest boy in the universe 💕