It's the end of class, and students chatter amongst themselves as they leave the classroom.
Gadeon, who has kept his eyes on Bean the entire lesson, sees him heading through the doors and quickly catches up to him.
"Bean, right?"
"You know Bean?"
"Huh?"
"You just called for Bean."
"Yes, I know. So I want to—"
"How do you know Bean?"
"What do you mean, how do I know Bean? Aren't we in the same lessons for different subjects? Plus, we're in the same form tutor."
"Oh yeah, that's true."
"Yes…"
Gadeon is already weirded out by the interaction. Bean wears a dopey, empty expression, his tongue hanging slightly from the corner of his mouth while his lips remain parted.
"Do you like Bean's name?"
"I-I don't get why we're even talking about this. I just want to ask you one simple—"
"How do you spell Bean?"
He tilts his head with a goofy expression.
"I don't have time for this!" Gadeon says, starting to get irritated.
"If you spell Bean's name correctly, Bean will answer what you want to say."
"This is stupid!"
"You calling Bean's name stupid?"
Bean crosses his arms, looking insulted.
He definitely has to be on the spectrum. Does this world even have spectrums for neurodivergence?
"B-E-A-N. That's how you spell Bean. Done. You happy now?!"
"Yaaay!"
Bean starts clapping his hands.
"Okay, now I—"
"Now it's Bean's turn."
"Huh?"
"Bean's turn to spell your name."
"It's okay, you don't need to spell my name."
"But Bean wants to spell your name."
"No, it's alright. We're wasting time, and we need to get to our next lesson, so why don't we—"
Suddenly, Bean begins throwing a tantrum, stomping his feet on the ground.
"IT'S MY TURN! IT'S MY TURN!"
Gadeon jumps in surprise and looks around. The outburst causes a scene, with students turning their heads toward them.
Is he a child? I mean, he is—but this is more like a baby! This is annoying!
"Okay, okay! I'll spell your name!"
Instantly, Bean stops.
"Thank God," Gadeon mutters. "Do you even know my name?"
"Yes. Bean knows the boy who got his ass kicked by Ami days ago!"
Gadeon grits his teeth, forcing down his anger.
Why am I going through this idiocy? For what cause? All I want is to ask about those pathways of Flexing he mentioned earlier in class and where he heard it from. Instead, I'm babysitting. Should I just leave it? Maybe ask Gaedric instead? No! I don't need handouts!
"Yes, so please spell my name," Gadeon says, forcing a fake smile.
For the briefest moment, Bean's airheaded expression glitches—like someone struggling to hold themselves together—before returning to normal.
Hm?
Gadeon notices it but ignores it.
"So spell my name. I ain't got all day."
"Okay…"
Bean stands there, thinking deeply about how to spell it. After a long pause, he finally opens his mouth.
"What is your name?"
Gadeon just stares.
He glances around and realises every other student is gone, probably already in their next lesson.
His face grows tired.
"Gadeon," he says, not even bothered to argue anymore.
"Okay… Gadeon… G—"
Gadeon listens, already knowing there's no point to this.
"…A-Y."
"Y?! Where the hell does the letter 'Y' come from?!"
"D-O-N."
Huh?
G-A-Y-D-O-N.
Gadeon breaks down the spelling in his head.
What does that even say… Gaydon? Gaydon? Why Gaydon? Gay… don… Gay…
He's a kid. No way he means it like that—
As Gadeon desperately hopes that's the case, he notices Bean's cheeks puffed out like a blowfish desperately trying to contain laughter.
So he spelled my name like that on purpose.