Work Text:
“hi tom”
The guest in question startledly flinched from his work-in-progress before immediately moving back to cover it from view. He never was fond of showing his graffiti art while unfinished.
“…”
“oops… sorry.” Noob puts a hand to the back of their neck, averting their gaze from the wall, “can i stay here? i wont bother u”
Tom blinks. The cautious expression on his face relaxes subtly out of confusion, not expecting them to want to stay by his side, of all people here. He didn’t exactly come off as welcoming to others.
“…”
His eyes squint slightly again, for a different reason this time; Why?
Noob shrugs, “sometimes evryone there is a bit much. i just wana sit and do nothing in the quiet,” They look back at Tom expectedly, “but i dont wanna be alone either.”
Tom doesn’t respond for a few seconds. He looks to the side for a bit in thought, and Noob takes it as a good sign that they weren’t immediately told off.
He turns his head to face the other robloxian again, and although shy to make any eye contact, he nods, granting his permission, but is still careful to let his guard down. Not out of distrust—he just wasn’t used to this kind of interaction.
A smile appears on Noob’s face; “awsome! thx tom,” they beam, walking towards the wall Tom was tagging, obviously turning their head down to let him know they weren’t looking.
“im just gona sit here,” they said, then doing exactly that, leaning against the wall and hugging their legs.
The guest, now in the position he was earlier, just observes as the noob sat down. He was expecting some other thing to happen—maybe a question about his art, or a remark about how he doesn’t talk (both of which he’s heard from the others before, multiple times)—but it didn’t come. Noob simply sat there, content.
…Tom definitely wasn’t used to this kind of interaction. In fact, there wasn’t any interaction at all. Just coexistence—and he had no idea how to act around other people. Not even with most other guests; not like there were any more in this place, anyway.
Noob kicked a small rock in front of them and must’ve felt they were being watched, because they then turned their head up at Tom, who was now realizing he might have been unintentionally staring.
“ya?”
He immediately looks away, awkward, before shaking his head; Nothing.
There was no verbal reply, just another smile from the other, before they went back to mindlessly picking up and throwing rocks.
…
…Coexistence…
Tom stared at his unfinished work on the wall, growing tense.
He’d just have to hope Noob wouldn’t be looking if he continued.
Testing the waters, he hesitantly shook his spraycan again, drawing a line or two before sneaking a glance at the other. They weren’t.
And to that, it was almost like there was a weight lifted off of the guest’s shoulders. The self-consciousness and awkwardness that he was expecting now felt like it would never come.
Slowly, he goes back to where he left off. The sound of spray paint becomes white noise against the alleyway’s silence—silence that somehow wasn’t as loud now that Noob was here, doing their own thing too.
Maybe he didn’t have to act then, at least not around them.
Maybe he could just be.