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Gris fought to keep his expression neutral, but it was getting harder and harder the longer the Principal of Rudo's school went on. Occasionally, he would interject with a question, but mostly he just sat and listened.
He peeked at Rudo, sitting beside him. It was hard to imagine such a scrawny kid could cause so much damage.
"You said he punched his classmate?" Gris piped up as he tried to read Rudo's expression. But as always, when Rudo was in trouble, he practically shut down into silence.
The principal nodded, "And bit his teacher when she came to break up the fight."
Gris sighed. This was going to be a long day.
After grovelling for forty minutes and promising to deal with Rudo's troublesome behaviour at home, Gris managed to move the school disciplinary protocol from expulsion to a week suspension.
Now in the car, he made sure to buckle Rudo into his booster seat before sitting in the driver's seat.
A silence followed as Gris waited for Rudo to break out of his reticence. When it looked like that wasn't going to happen, Gris spoke up.
"What happened, Rudo?" Rudo tensed at the question, shoulders rising to his ears. Gris continued, glancing at the kid through the rear mirror. "You've been doing so good recently. What brought this up? Were you bullied?"
Rudo looked down ashamed, bottom lip quivering. He shrugged.
"Rudo, I'm just trying to understand you. Can you help me do that? Please, kiddo?" Gris pleaded, drumming his fingers on to the steering wheel.
Silence, once again. Just before Gris gave up, Rudo sputtered out a weak, "They.. they made fun of my gloves. Said," Rudo's eyebrows furrowed into a glare as he recalled the interaction, "Said they belong in the trash."
Rudo hugged his hands close to his chest, as if to protect his gloves.
Gris hummed, "Thank you for telling me, bud. But we shouldn't put our hands on others. Could you tell me why you did that?" Rudo mumbled something too quickly for Gris to catch. "One more time, Rudo. Little louder."
"Enjin. He.. told me to."
Gris's eye twitched, "Oh? He did, didn't he?"
Rudo nodded, looking out the window as trees rolled past of view.
Gris took a deep breath, fighting to keep his cool. "Right. Well, when you come home, you are going to sit in time-out for five minutes while I handle something. Then we are going to talk about the consequences of your action, alright?"
Rudo fidgeted with his fingers before nodding once again.
As soon as Gris got home and put Rudo in time-out, he stormed up into Enjin's room, almost slamming the door off its hinges, "Enjin!"
Enjin let out a less than manly yelp, scrambling off his bed in a tangle of bed sheets. His face confused as he peered up at the furious expression on Gris's face, "Huh?"
"You telling Rudo to get into fights?"
"Wha- I never" Enjin's face paused. "Oh. Oops."
"Oops?" Gris mocked. "That's all you have to say? Rudo got suspended for punching his classmate and biting his teacher. Just what are you trying to teach him?"
Enjin grimaced, "Hey, I didn't think he would take it seriously. I was just trying to … well, joke around with him?"
"You know he looks up to you, Enjin," Gris ran a tired hand down his face. "And you know he doesn't necessarily understand sarcasm or exaggeration."
"Alright, alright," Enjin allowed. "That was my bad. I'm sorry. I won't say those things around him anymore."
"Good. And you're responsible for making sure he doesn't fall behind during his suspension."
With a sigh, Enjin nodded, "Sounds fair."
With that settled, Gris walked towards Rudo's time-out place. His shoulders lightly shook as he heard Gris approach. "Rudo? You can come out now."
Sniffling, Rudo wiped his wet eyes, turning around to face Gris's stern expression. Gris softened, opening his arms to the boy.
Briefly, Rudo fought the temptation, before giving into the childish urge and jumping into Gris's strong arms. Rudo pressed his cheek into the curve of Gris's shoulder, mumbling out a quiet "S-sorry…"
Gris smoothed Rudo's messy hair down, heart clenching with affection. Rudo was a good kid, despite his somewhat violent tendencies. "I know, sweetheart. I know." He shuffled Rudo onto the coach, settling him down beside him as pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. "Come on. I'll help you draft an apology to your teacher."
Rudo reached for the pencil, gripping it in a tight fist and began to write. But, Rudo thought with a pout, he wouldn't write one for those asshole students even if Gris told him to.
"Don't grip the pencil so hard—you'll break it."
Rudo continued writing, loosening his death grip on the pencil.