Chapter Text
Moving was hard for Kier. He had never moved before in his life, so leaving his childhood home felt strange and unfamiliar. On top of that, he had to leave all his friends behind, which made everything even worse. It didn’t help that the move happened right in the middle of the semester. The thought of getting lost in a new school was honestly embarrassing. Still, he couldn’t complain, especially when his parents were struggling just as much to settle in.
Leaving his best friend, Boosfer, was difficult too. Sure, Kier liked to pretend he wouldn’t miss those ridiculous diamond pyramid jokes, but maybe he would—just a little. Things would be quieter now, and he wouldn’t have anyone constantly getting on his nerves. At least he wasn’t completely alone, though. He had managed to make two new friends already: Baablu and Qndres. Right now, he was in class. Algebra? Calculus.. Math. Kier had already covered the topic at his old school, so sitting through the lesson again felt painfully boring. Every minute dragged on longer than it should have, making it harder for him to stay focused. Eventually, he gave up trying. He pulled out his phone along with his earbuds, slipping them in and turning on some music in an attempt to pass the time. Even that didn’t help much, though, since the clock still seemed to move at an unbearably slow pace. With nothing else to do, Kier decided to text Boosfer, knowing he usually had a break around this time and would probably be on his phone.
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kierrrr: dude
Boosfer: what
kierrrr: this school sucks
Boosfer: yeah bro now you know how i felt when i came to Silvercrest (Kiers old school)
kierrrr: dude theres this kid in my class named qndres but its pronounced andres
Boosfer: what the hell
Boosfer: who looks at their kid and says “awww! Im gonna name them qndres but its pronounced andres!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Boosfer: maybe the ‘a’ is the friends we made along the way
Boosfer: orrrrrrr
Boosfer: it's withheld at the diamond pyramid
kierrrr: i hate you’re guts
Boosfer: *your
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Kier shut his phone off the second Boosfer mentioned the diamond pyramid. Of course Boosfer would send something like that at a time like this. Real helpful. If anything, it only made his mood worse. Apparently, he wasn’t hiding his irritation very well. Baablu glanced over at him, brows slightly furrowed.
“You alright, man?”
Kier lifted his head from where it had been resting in his hands, forcing a small, half-hearted shrug. “Yeah… I’m fine.”
There was a brief pause before he spoke again, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“Hey—uh, quick question. Baablu, right? Why do you wear that crown?”
Baablu stilled for a moment, then reached up and took the crown off, turning it in his hands as he looked at it. “Hm… I guess it’s just for style,” he said after a second. “I don’t really know. I’ve had it since I was a kid.”
Kier nodded, not thinking much of it. To him, it was just a random question—something to fill the silence. Kier leaned back in his chair slightly, letting his gaze drift back to the front of the classroom as Baablu placed the crown back on his head. The teacher was still talking—something about equations, variables, numbers that Kier had already memorized months ago. It all blurred together into background noise. He tapped his pencil against the desk absentmindedly, eyes flicking to the clock for what felt like the hundredth time.
Still not even halfway through class.
Great.
A quiet sigh slipped past his lips as he slouched further into his seat, resisting the urge to just put his earbuds back in. He didn’t need the teacher calling him out on his first week here. Kier leaned back in his chair again, letting out a quiet sigh. The teacher’s voice droned on in the background, numbers and formulas blending together into meaningless noise. He tapped his pencil against the desk absentmindedly, eyes flicking toward the clock for what felt like the hundredth time.
Still not moving.
“Time’s actually broken here,” Kier muttered under his breath.
From the other side, Qndres let out a quiet snort. “Holy impatient, bro.”
Kier turned his head slightly. “Says the guy whose name doesn’t even make sense.”
Qndres didn’t even look offended. If anything, he seemed used to it. “It does make sense! It’s unique.”
“Unique doesn’t mean confusing.”
“It builds character.”
“It builds headaches,” Kier shot back.
Baablu chuckled softly at that, shaking his head. “You two sound like you’ve known each other for years already.”
“Shut up!” Kier yelled.
For a moment, things felt… normal. Not great, not amazing—but normal enough that Kier didn’t feel as out of place as he had earlier. The tension in his shoulders eased just a little.
Then—
“Kier.”
His name cut through the quiet chatter at their table. Kier froze. Slowly, slowly, he looked up. The teacher was staring directly at him.
“…Yeah?”
“Since you seem to have so much free time,” the teacher said, gesturing toward the board, “why don’t you come up here and solve this one for us?”
A few heads turned. Someone in the back let out a quiet “oooh.” Kier blinked once, then sighed as he pushed his chair back. Of course. Of course this would happen. As he stood up, he muttered under his breath, “I can tell I won’t like this class.”
“Don’t embarrass yourself,” Qndres whispered.
“Too late,” Baablu added, grinning.
Kier shot them both a look before walking up to the board. He grabbed the marker, glancing at the problem.
Oh.
Oh, this was easy.
He hesitated for half a second—just enough to make it look like he was thinking—then quickly wrote out the solution, step by step. Clean, simple, done. When he stepped back, the room was quiet. The teacher raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting that. “…Correct.”
Kier handed the marker back, trying (and failing) not to look a little smug as he walked back to his seat. The room filled back in with quiet noise, chairs shifting, pencils moving again.
As he sat down, Qndres glanced at him. “Okay.”
“That’s it?” Kier said.
“I mean, yeah. I thought you were about to mess it up.”
Kier let out a short breath through his nose. “Good to know you’ve got faith in me.”
Baablu leaned forward slightly, resting his arms on his desk. “You didn’t even think about it.”
“I did,” Kier said. “For like… two seconds.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t count.”
Kier shrugged, pulling his notebook a little closer just to look busy. The boredom from earlier hadn’t completely gone away, but it wasn’t as sharp now. At least something had happened. Up front, the teacher continued the lesson, though there was a brief glance in Kier’s direction—like they were reassessing him. Kier noticed. Pretended he didn’t.
After a minute, Qndres nudged his desk lightly. “So you already learned all this?”
“Most of it,” Kier said. “My old school moved faster, I guess.”
“Lucky,” Qndres muttered. “I’m barely keeping up.”
Baablu tilted his head. “You could help him, you know.”
Kier looked between them. “No thanks, already had enough trouble trying to help my friend back at my old school..”
“Please, dude?” Qndres asked.
Kier rolled his eyes, but there wasn’t much bite to it. “Oh my god, fine. If you get stuck, just ask.”
Qndres gave a small nod, like that settled it.
The conversation faded after that, replaced by the scratch of pencils and the low hum of the classroom. Kier glanced at the clock again.
Still slow.
But not as bad.
He tapped his pencil once against the desk, then actually looked down at the work this time. Maybe if he finished it early, the period would go by faster. Or at least feel like it did. Across from him, Baablu had already started, crown slightly crooked as he leaned over his paper. Qndres, on the other hand, was staring at the first problem like it cursed his mother out.
Kier paused, then nudged his paper over just a little.
“Look,” he said quietly, pointing at the first step. “You start here.”
Qndres leaned in, squinting. “Oh.”
“…Oh?” Kier repeated.
“…Yeah, okay, that actually makes more sense.”
“Yeah,” Kier said, sitting back again. “I know.”
Baablu glanced between them, a faint smile tugging at his expression. A few minutes passed, the quiet scratch of pencils filling the room again.
“…Wait,” Qndres said under his breath.
Kier didn’t look up. “What.”
“I did the same thing you did and got a different answer.”
“Then you didn’t do the same thing I did.”
“I literally copied your steps.”
Kier sighed, leaning over slightly. “Move.”
Qndres shifted his paper over. Kier scanned it quickly, then pointed with his pencil. “You messed up right here.”
“That’s the same thing you wrote.”
“No, it’s not. That’s a negative.”
Qndres squinted. “…That IS a negative.”
“Yeah.”
“…I hate math.”
Kier let out a small laugh. “You hate paying attention.”
“Same thing.”
Baablu huffed quietly at that, still working through his own paper. “It’s really not.”
Kier leaned back again, resting his chin in his hand. “You’ll survive. Probably.”
“Encouraging,” Qndres muttered, erasing part of his work.
For a bit, things settled again. The teacher paced slowly at the front of the room, occasionally glancing over shoulders, correcting someone here and there. Every time they got a little too close to their row, Qndres suddenly looked very focused.
Kier noticed.
“…You’re so fake,” he murmured.
“I’m trying to pass.”
“You were just talking about how you hate math.”
“I can hate it and still pass.”
“Bare minimum mindset,” Kier said.
“Exactly.”
Baablu shook his head. “You’re both annoying.”
Kier smirked slightly. “You’re friends with us.”
“Yeah,” Baablu said, not looking up, “I question that daily.”
There was a small pause after that—comfortable this time.
Kier tapped his pencil again, then glanced at Baablu’s paper. “…You’re doing it a longer way.”
Baablu paused. “Am I?”
“Yeah, you can skip like—half of that.” Kier leaned over, pointing. “If you just do this first, it cancels out.”
Baablu followed along, then blinked. “…Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s… actually a lot easier.”
“I know,” Kier said, a little quieter this time.
Baablu looked at him for a second, then gave a small nod. “Thanks.”