Nobody But You - 3. Chapter 3

“Okay, everyone, let’s get settled in. First of all, welcome back and let's all have a great senior year. As most of you already know, I’m Mr. Norton, and this year I will be your homeroom teacher and I will also be teaching English IV and Honors English IV. In just a moment I’ll be handing out a…” The gazelle's speech was interrupted when the classroom door opened slowly, a tardy student entering the classroom. Tatsuya didn’t bother to raise his head, continuing to slowly twist the shining strands of Tatsuo's hair around his finger.

“Please excuse my tardiness, Sir. My name’s Etienne Leblanc, I'm a new student.” The soft southern drawl, uttered oh so softly from the doorway was the first thing to garner his attention. The next was the innate stillness that overcome his brother, his very lungs faltering to find breath. Curiosity piqued, Tatsuya peered over his twin's shoulder to see for himself just who had walked into the room.

Mr. Norton shuffled through his papers, “Ah, yes. Leblanc. Welcome, go ahead and sit in the empty seat in front of the Twins. I’m about to pass back a few papers to be filled out, the usual first day of school stuff.”

Something inside him clenched as he took him in, towering but slender, the new student softly clicked the door shut behind him. Walking to Mr. Norton, he handed him a small sheaf of papers before turning to head towards his seat. Raven hair which melted into ombréd blue tendrils hung in messy strands about his slender face, escaping the confines of his loose ponytail. For the barest of moments his eyes met first Tatsuo's and then his own before darting away, quickly taking his seat. Tatsuya lost himself in the brief glimpse of his gaze, seconds stretching into eternity. His left eye was the pale blue grey of frozen ice, while his right was the hue of molten chocolate, flecked with honeyed gold.

His ponytail draped messily down over his sun bronzed nape, teasing him with flashes of skin through tendrils of black hair. Tatsuo gripped the steel legs of his desk, drinking in everything about him. Mine. He could feel his hair growing longer, pooling over his twin's hands.

'Not here.' Tatsuya chastised him through their bond.

Tatsuo fought to retain the tenuous hold on the control he had left to remain in human form. Tatsuya tugged on his hair, pulling him back to the here and now. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Tatsuo forced his baser instints into submission. He was shaken to the core, always the cool and collected one, nothing usually fazed him, and yet here he was fighting the urge to turn into a dragon in the middle of the classroom. 'Him.' He let the intense need to claim flow through to his brother, the dragon growling inside him as his twin's deep need reflected back at him.

-Etienne-

He felt the sea of eyes that turned upon him like physical touches, cringing inside. Behind him Mr. Norton was waiting for him to reach his designated seat, standing in accusatory silence for him to get settled. Etienne instinctively shied away from meeting the eyes of everyone watching him, counting the tiles at his feet until he'd arrived at the empty desk. Suddenly the air felt thick and heavy, like Louisiana in August after a thunderstorm, stealing his breath. Involuntarily his gaze lifted, meeting two pairs of matching eyes of intense violet. Twisting onyx horns swept back to part long black hair hanging in silken drapes over their shoulders, and framing exotic Asian features and pointed ears. After everything he'd seen today, there was no telling what was going on there.

The teacher continued as he slid into his seat, trying his best to project an unobtrusive aura as he hunched his 6'5 frame over the desktop. Etienne didn't hear a single word the teacher was saying, all he could hear was a roaring in his ears. The back of his neck burned from the stares he could still feel, twin violet gazes sticking in his mind. Just get out your books. Stop being stupid. Digging his things out of his bag, he concentrated on arranging them in front of him. Giving himself a minute to center his mind, Etienne took a deep breath, daring a few covert glances around him, orienting himself. A cat with braided black hair to his left, a goat to his right was bobbing his head to the music beating softly from the earbud shoved into the fur about his ear.

"Okay, now I'll be handing out the syllabus and a few other papers that will need to be filled out and returned tomorrow. Take one, pass them back." Mr. Norton paused in front of each row, passing off several packets of papers.

Etienne took what he was supposed to, turning to hand back the remainder. One of the twins leaned forward to take them from him, long slender fingers warm against the back of his hand, holding it just a moment too long before taking them from his grasp. The sizzling feeling of static frisson sent a little shock across his skin as he removed his hand. He hurried to turn around and face forward, his hand cradled in his lap.

-Tatsuo -

Have some self control, don't you fucking dare revert in this classroom. Tatsuo berated himself harshly inside his head, forcing control over his dragon. Ever since he’d opened the door and spoke in that honeyed drawl, his control had slipped. That never happened. Ever. Tatsuya was the fiery goof, always leaping before looking. He did the calming and centering, making sure there was some sense between the two of them, but all of that had just disappeared and it freaked him out. He’d forgotten to breathe for fucks sake.

'Well well well… '

His twin's voice in Tatsuo's head was silken and just a touch rough.

'And here you thought it was going to be another boring year to suffer through. You aren't one to lose your composure so easily. You surprised me almost losing control like that.'

Tatsuo studiously tried to ignore him, not giving him the satisfaction of a reaction. The rest of the hour passed in a blur, his eyes steadfastly trained on the shining strands of black hair in front of him. Forcing himself not to jump at the ring of the bell, he meticulously gathered his things, putting them carefully in his bag. 'I know you felt it too. Yea, I lost myself for a minute there, but don't you dare act like you didn't feel it.'

Tatsuya smiled at his twin, looking past him to where Etienne was gathering his things in preparation to head to the next class. 'Oh, I am very interested.'