swallowed in the sea (romi)

[NUKE]

He was skipping class right now, gym class to be specific. But really, the teacher wouldn't be able to blame him. It was the swimming portion of the curriculum and he was still not fully healed from the last time he had detonated, so he would like to avoid chlorine in the wounds thank-you-very-much. Or maybe it was that he didn't want the other kids to see him as he was, all bandaged and stitched. He hadn't skipped off far, there wasn't anywhere for him to go or anyone to see; so there he was, just lying on the beach, relaxing, hat astray and eyes closed. It was calming to listen to the waves and he nearly fell asleep, but he had the sinking feeling he was being watched and briefly wondering if the teacher had come to find him. However, when he opened his eyes and sat up, he couldn't see anyone, anywhere around him. He would have lay back down and resumed a nap, however he spotted a little, orange-furred mouse sitting next to him, with eyes the color of rubies.

Anyone who didn't know Stella Dahl would have just shooed the mouse away, Ozzie, however, found himself blushing slightly. No, he did not have feeling for a mouse, but the girl behind the mouse instead. "Hi." He muttered awkwardly, knowing full-well she could understand him. Ozzie liked animals, especially the cute furry ones, so he reached down out of habit and gently patted the mouse's head--before realizing he had just in fact, petted Stella as well. He quickly retracted his bandaged fingers and blurted out an apology, "S-Sorry!" He found himself laughing nervously, "I forget sometimes, that was gross, sorry." He was not talking about her being gross, of course, but more or less his fingers that were covered in band-aids. Most people thought he was diseased or something, maybe that he was a hemophiliac. At any rate he tried not to touch people when he was like this.

"Hey sorry I skipped class, I knew I said I would come, but..." He shrugged his shoulders, he didn't really care about skipping class or disappointing anyone because of it, but he considered Stella a real pal and felt obligated to apologize for his irresponsible tendencies. That and he was hopelessly infatuated with her, but she didn't know that. At least, he didn't think she was aware of it. He had been planning to correct that by asking her out on a date, all proper and like, but his stress over the swimming class had totally caused him to forget. Now, for some reason, his melodramatic insecurities seemed pretty trivial. "You didn't have to skip too, though. Not that I don't want you to be here, of course.." He prompted, glancing back at the ocean before him. He was kind of wondering why she had skipped out to come meet him of all people, maybe that meant he had a real shot. Perhaps this was even the most opportune time to drop his question. But he couldn't ask her when she was a mouse! He would wait until she was back in her regular form, he had to at least do this one thing right.