[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/s0EwNmk.png[/img][/center]
[center][color=#DAA520][u][b]Los Angeles - Liberty High School[/b][/u][/color][/center]

With the sun now licking the sky's highest peak, an ever-repeated schoolday was yet again reshaped and rehearsed. Hallways buzzed with students, each with a backpack either over their shoulder, or stuffed into a locker where an all too familiar scene tended to take place. It was where the weak were punished for their frailty, and where those of a more villainous disposition exacted their tyranny on the battlefield known as high school. [color=#DAA520][i]"Why do we keep doing this?"[/i][/color] Came a voice echoing with ghostly fractures, a figure appearing beside Nello as the boy was slipping books into his locker. The figure mimicked the young man's appearance in a perfect reflection, its frame never quite touching the ground, despite its feet appearing to brush against the beige foundation. Such was the nature of spirits, unable to interact with the physical world, their floating frames moving forth through a motion of mortal mimicry. 

[color=#DAA520][b]"Putting books in a locker?"[/b][/color] The very same voice returned, leaving the corporeal boy's lips as he offered the ghostly being a soft smirk, before earning a gentle slap to the shoulder. That, however, appeared to be a fully physical interaction, indeed. 

[color=#DAA520][i]"Putting books in a locker,"[/i][/color] the spirit rolled its eyes, [color=#DAA520][i]"school! Why do we keep going to school!?"[/i][/color] It went by the name Nocturne, the phantom tied to Nello's very life, as the two now acted as a single entity split in a half only they could ever truly understand. [color=#DAA520][i]"You do realize that you'll be sixteen forever, right? People will start asking questions when you're in college, and like, look like the little shrimp that you are." [/i][/color]

[color=#DAA520][b]"Have you looked at me?"[/b][/color] Nello's bright, yellow eyes blinked, before he raised a brow, [color=#DAA520][b]"I think my age issue is the last thing people will notice."[/b][/color] 

[color=#DAA520][i]"Ugh, just because everyone else looks the exact fucking same with the only difference being how they lead their miserable lives,"[/i][/color] Nocturne returned with a roll of his eyes, turning to look at the flock of students commonly sparing a moment to stare at Nello. 

[color=#DAA520][b]"Try not to be too positive, all that energy will burn you,"[/b][/color] the now ageless boy closed his locker, before hoisting his bag over his shoulder. [b][color=#DAA520]"Besides, Al won't be happy if we skip out on school.., again."[/color][/b]

[color=#DAA520][i]"Fuck Al!"[/i][/color] Nocturne exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air as he floated along, next to Nello, [color=#DAA520][i]"Chocolate Quake over there tries his very best to be as boring as possible."[/i][/color] 

[b][color=#DAA520]"And if I do what Midnight Torpedo over here is suggesting, we'd be living under a bridge after a week,"[/color][/b] the boy offered, with a soft chuckle escaping his lips. The two bickered much like siblings, in a way, like the very best of friends, brought together in a hardship they inevitably saved each other from.

[i][color=#DAA520]"That's the freedom you need, right there!"[/color][/i] The spirit smirked, wrapping his arms around Nello's upper body, floating behind him as the creature's lips whispered in his ear, [i][color=#DAA520]"imagine the romance."[/color] [/i]

[color=#DAA520][b]"I imagine the hunger,"[/b][/color] Nello returned without needing to considering the answer for more than but a moment, [color=#DAA520][b]"and the pitchforks. A freak living under a bridge, that's not working up to anything,"[/b][/color] he finished, a hand reaching up to playfully rub those claws along Nocturne's hair, in a most familiar manner.

[color=#DAA520][i]"Ugh, we're Midnight, dude! We need to kick some-..,"[/i][/color] Nocturne halted in his speech, noting a face they had witnessed countless times in days passed. [color=#DAA520][i]"...ass!"[/i][/color] The phantom pointed forward, a hand on Nello's shoulder as the creature's arm extended past the boy's head, [color=#DAA520][i]"let's beat the shit out of him!" [/i][/color]

"Well, if it isn't Freako'," came a voice Nello and Midnight had grown to know, a voice belonging to one who had claimed the title of 'school bully'. "Still got those horns, I see," a knowing grin stretched its way across Chad's face, a name he demanded to be called. 

[color=#DAA520][b]"They're kind of attached,"[/b][/color] Nello offered, a less than amused expression prevalent on the boy's face. 

"Gotta' suck showering with those things in the way," Chad continued, his two friends making themselves known behind him, each of the three young men quite large and intimidating in their own right. 

[color=#DAA520][b]"Showers aren't that difficult,"[/b][/color] Nello shrugged, [color=#DAA520][b]"try taking one, sometime."[/b][/color] Silence fell on the crowd, a small, scrawny freak opposing his bully. It was a scene worthy of spectacle, indeed.

[color=#DAA520][i]"SAVAGE!"[/i][/color] Nocturne shouted in approval, [color=#DAA520][i]"NOW BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM!" [/i][/color]