Work Text:
Pencil tapped her writing utensil on her desk boredly, staring off into space for what felt like the millionth time. She had a worksheet in front of her; she wrote her name down on it and immediately got bored. She can't even begin to remember how many of these they've all gotten assigned by now, every single answer being 4 or something related to it. To put it bluntly, she was bored.
Her peace was ended abruptly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn't even have to look over to know who it was.
"What do you want, Liy? Can't you see I'm busy?" Pencil spat out, blinking a few times and redirecting her focus towards her worksheet. She immediately pouted at the sight.
"Yeah, busy not doing your work," Liy retorted, letting out a small sigh. "I was going to ask if you were okay, but since you're acting like this, nevermind," She said, scribbling something down on her own worksheet.
"Like I need to be checked on anyway," Pencil muttered, squinting a bit as she read the questions on the paper in front of her. She could read, obviously, but she couldn't figure out the answer for, well, any of these! She's seen everyone else's tests, they looked easier and they also seemed to not have any trouble with doing them!
The room went quiet again after that, aside from Bracelety's humming and the scratching of pencils on paper. It seemed like neither of them would get disturbed again until Pencil began tapping again, and Liy had enough of it.
"Seriously, Pencil, what is your problem? We're all trying to focus on our work-"
"Not me! I finished my work already!" Bracelety was seated at the computer with the art program open, doodling something joyously.
"Me too! I'm coloring right now," Leafy smiled, honestly feeling the happiest she has in her life for someone who was basically being held hostage.
"Okay, well, I'm trying to focus on my work, and your constant tapping isn't helping!" Liy practically shouted, letting out an annoyed sigh. After a few moments, she swiveled herself so she was facing Pencil, placing a hand on her cheek boredly. "Do you need something, or are you just being annoying on purpose?"
Pencil rolled her eyes. She already had to hear this from Four, and that was bad enough. But having to hear it from one of her peers? It's so much worse. It feels like all everyone wants to do these days is yell at her.
She entertains Liy anyway, turning to face her with that bored expression still on her face. She openly groaned.
"Liy, I'm just- I'm so boreedddd! " Pencil complained, throwing a hand to her head in faux distress. She could've sworn she could hear Liy chuckle at the sight before she continued, "You need to find a way to get us out of here! It's soooo boring, and I'm tired of doing all this math !"
Liy couldn't help but playfully roll her eyes, wanting to see how far she'd take this, but she knew they don't have time for that; Four could come back at any time and screech them for not doing their work. She'd rather do a thousand more of these worksheets than have that happen again.
"Come on , Pencil, if something's wrong, you know you can tell me," Liy settled on. She hasn't really talked about serious things with Pencil, but asking Bracelety and Leafy like that usually worked, so it'll probably work on her too.
Making an offended noise, Pencil tilted her chair up enough to where she almost fell over. She can't believe what she's hearing right now!
"Wh- Wrong ..? Liy, you know I don't get upset and stuff," Pencil began, sounding more arrogant than offended now. She made a shooing motion at Liy, looking away from her. "I'm just soooo bored," She repeated, peeking over to see the other's exasperated expression.
With another sigh, Liy got up and out of her seat, walking towards Pencil's desk and catching her chair before it fell. She peered over her shoulder, trying to take a peek at her worksheet. Pencil seemed to notice, slapping both hands over it and making an angry face at her.
"Pencil-"
"No, no ! You didn't see anything!" Pencil shouted, catching Leafy's attention. She ignored the way she began staring at her, keeping her focus on Liy instead. "Just- Just go back to your desk and finish your work!"
"I thought you said you weren't as mean as Match," Liy teased, taking note of the way Pencil's angry expression faltered for a second. She moved to stand next to her desk, turning around so she was slightly facing her. "If you needed help, you could've just said so." Pencil sighed in response, opting to stay silent instead of giving her the answer she knew she wanted to hear.
Liy shuffled over so she was next to Pencil's desk, giving Leafy a small wave before peering over and reading Pencil's worksheet. She examined it for a few moments, squinting her eyes as she read further down.
Pencil watched as she did so, almost sweating from how nervous she felt. The last thing she needs is for Liy to think she's stupid! She swatted the thoughts away, instead reading the questions on her worksheet as well.
Pointing towards a question, Liy began to speak again after what felt like forever. "Do you know what this means?"
After reading what exactly Liy was asking about, Pencil hesitated before shaking her head. She knew basic math, but anything that involved long division or any kind of variables was an enigma to her.
"That's okay," Liy began, leaving Pencil's side for a second to grab her chair and drag it over to Pencil's table. She ignored the curious look Leafy gave her as she took a seat. "You know how to graph coordinates, right?"
Pencil can already feel herself getting annoyed; this is horrible! She can't stand doing math! Thankfully, Liy makes it slightly more bearable. She sighs before responding.
"Yes, Liy, I'm not stupid-"
"I never said you were stupid," Liy interrupted, gathering her thoughts before continuing. "This question is simple, though. It's asking you to graph the point that each line is going through," She explained, looking up at Pencil for a moment to make sure she was paying attention. She unfortunately wasn't.
Pencil was zoning out again, getting broken out of her thoughts once she heard Liy clear her throat. Oh, shoot! She's supposed to be paying attention to her helping her!
"Ack-! Uu- Wha..?"
"If you pay attention while I help you, I'll give you a reward afterwards," Liy offered, feeling happily surprised when that seemed to get Pencil's attention. Before she could ask what the reward would be, she interrupted her. "And no, I'm not telling you what your reward will be. You'll find out if you earn it."
Despite everything in Pencil wanting to protest, she went along with it anyway. She sat and listened to Liy's lesson, even though she'd rather rip her eraser out than listen to any kind of math explanation. She couldn't help but feel a bit appreciative about this whole ordeal; Liy absolutely didn't have to help her, she could let her keep getting screeched over and over, but she's choosing not to. She doesn't think she's ever had anyone try to help her this much before in her life.
Pencil caught herself staring at Liy as she continued explaining, she felt heat rise to her face as she examined her. The small mannerisms she made as she talked, the way she sounded when she laughed, the way she smiled .. She felt so deeply enamored by it all that it somehow helped her retain the information better.
She tried her hardest to continue focusing as Liy explained how to graph slope-intercept forms and how to find the square root of a number, most of the words she was using being completely foreign to her. It was like trying to learn a new language, but Pencil could tell she was trying her best to explain it in a way even she could understand.
Liy helped her complete most of the worksheet, walking her through four out of six questions. The others seemed to be self explanatory at this point, with them either being basic math or something Liy had already gone over.
She managed to finish the rest of the worksheet not too long later, putting her writing utensil down and letting out a long sigh.
"I'm.. finally done," Pencil said, panting like she was out of breath from the hard and strenuous task. She perked up when Liy giggled at the sight.
"Let me see." Liy immediately grabbed Pencil's paper, bringing it up to her face and inspecting it closely. She seemed satisfied with the answers she wrote, placing it back down with a smile. "Wow, I'm impressed."
Pencil had a smug grin on her face. "I know. I'm just sooo awesome and great, aren't I?" She boasted, placing a hand under her chin. She felt herself freeze up as Liy got up and stood beside her.
"I think you've earned this," Liy said, pressing a kiss to Pencil's cheek. She moved her seat back to her own desk afterwards, while Pencil's brain seemed to sizzle and malfunction from the affection. She seemed to still be in the same position when she was done, walking back over and leaning over her desk with her arms crossed.
Leafy was currently waving her hands in front of Pencil's face, trying to get her attention. She had previously been saying her name, and other various things, but she wasn't responsive. She didn't snap out of her trance until Bracelety came over, yelling.
"I think I broke the computer," She pouted, catching the other girls' attention.
"Oh, no! Let me see!" Leafy exclaimed, getting up and out of her seat and dashing towards the computer. She jiggled the mouse around for a second, but the computer was unresponsive. The only thing that could be seen on the screen was about 2763 copies of the same Ice Cube png, with the words "I love Ice Cube" on top of it.
"Think we'll have to call Four and bribe them to get us a new computer?" Liy joked, earning her a chuckle from Pencil. "We should probably join them and see if the computer's okay though," She said in a more serious tone, making her way over to where the others were.
Pencil slowly got up afterwards, thinking as she made her way over. Maybe she'll have Liy help her with her work more often.