Nathan Stone and Jasper Knight
Nathan was so not used to people taking things at face value. Everyone who ever came to this city was always questioning things. He had a feeling that it didn't matter what he said, Eden was going to invite the woman over and strangely, he figured it was the best approach.
It was probably better to stick together. He had learned from a young age that being alone in this school was the worst thing. The students who were evil or had dark ambitions often came after you when you were alone. And that was the last thing that anyone needed in this city. It was strange to think that the school was the most neutral ground in the whole city, but it was. Adam was far too welcoming, and that was just the sad truth. He ran his hand through his hair and looked at the ground.
There was something interesting on how casual the girls could be to this information. But then again, he had never met a normal person in Starlight City. There was exactly one close to normal individual.
That individual had been the older child that Adam had adopted. He wondered what had happened to him, but it hardly seemed like a big deal. He was sure he was fine.... probably.
Jasper couldn't remember the last time he had stepped out of the shadows. That was never a good thing and he was sure that Adam would yell at him for living his life in the shadows. But he couldn't help. There was something wonderful about being unnoticed in the background and not having to deal with the rest of the world. He knew that it wasn't healthy to avoid people, but he was never one to be social in the first place. With a family as big as his, it was easy to be forgotten or unnoticed. Especially when the rest of the family was so loud and noticeable. A god of bad luck that gave an unmistakable aura, an ice god who loved his puns as much as he loved his looks and his luck as much of his kindness. A werewolf god. It also was easy to be the forgotten one amongst those. Nobody worshipped shadows, it wasn't a needed thing, so being invisible was the perfect cover as well.
That being said, being the shadow meant that the only companion he had was his own mind and his own words. So it was important to step out of the shadows, as much as it was to not step out of them. The longer he stayed in the shadows, the more he lost pieces of his sanity and each emergence becomes harder and harder to take in. It would probably help if people actually took his class or for that matter, talked to him, no matter how hard he made it, but nobody put in the effort."
That had always been his problem. He was an anti-social shy and awkward god of the shadows. It was hard to relate to things in the world of light when he dwelled in the shadows. Sure, food was easy to bring in, but other things had never been. Like phones and books or games. They would either stay where they had been started or would disappear and never to be seen in. He could drag people to talk too.... but the last person he had been able to do that with was the girl, the nice woman. But then he had lost her. He wasn't sure where. He knew portals could open in the shadow, but he still blamed himself. It was harder to lose people when you never interacted them. There was no pain in being invisible and alone.
He would look over at the girl as she stared at him. He expected that she would take pity on him and then he heard the words that she had asked the other one about him. She had asked if it was okay to extend the request to him. Jasper had never been invited to anything else in his life.... well outside of family gatherings amongst the gods, but that was family.
This was completely different though. This was being invited by students and other adults to join them for a meal. It was rare.... it was valuable.
This was a weird feeling to have. The feeling to be wanted and included in life. Was this what it felt like to be happy? Oh Gods, he couldn't remember the last time he had been happy as his life had been filled with avoiding interactions and being alone. Maybe he had been happy the day he had first slipped into the shower or perhaps the day they made him into the god of shadows from just being the son of two gods. Or maybe, he had never been happy. Maybe this was the first time he had ever been happy.
" You are absolutely right Miss ... " There was a pause there, meant to note in a subtle way that Eden still didn't know the woman's name.
" Lets just head over there and correct that " There was a sense of fearlessness about Eden, perhaps to her detriment. The young telepath walked right over to the shadow man, stopping a few feet from where he was leaning against the table.
It didn't matter though. It wasn't like the other girls would agree or the other boy. He wasn't a big part of the lives of his students and they often were talking about someone else. Perhaps he was getting his hopes up for nothing more than a pipe dream. Or maybe..... just maybe.... this time would be different as he watched the young woman approach him and ask her question. How did he answer though?
" There is no need for forgiveness. I would like to join you, Eden. I thought you were newish. I guess, I should eventually introduce myself. Jasper Knight," he replied, looking at her. " Lead the way to your friends," he added with a smile. God, it felt good to be happy.
@Gands @Zarko Straadi @Michale CS
