I Hate Group Projects, Not You

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Inocybe was staring up at the sky, steeling his nerves. It was going to be fine. They may have almost killed the first person they talked to at this school, but this time was going to be different. As far as he was aware, Honos wasn’t allergic to mushrooms. The weather was much more cooperative. And if anything bad happened, they could always just cut their losses and run. Ditch him. But that would mean ignoring the sinking feeling that they really didn’t want to make Honos feel bad…

They startled out of their thoughts as Honos loudly approached them, instinctually taking a step back. Maybe they were overthinking this. It was just a group project, after all. “It was fine. Pretty boring.” They realized that in their effort to hide their nerves, they were coming across as uninterested and distant. “I’m excited for this project, though. Should be interesting.” Inocybe made an effort not to stare at the hives developing across Honos’ face. Not his place to bring up. “How about you? How was the rest of your day?”

As Honos grabbed their hand, Inocybe almost jerked away, but stopped himself at the last moment. Pushing hand away would be even more weird, so he just stiffly followed, keeping his hand limp in Honos’. A feeling stirred in his stomach, butterflies? It was probably just nerves. Inocybe nodded along to Honos’ babbling, letting him talk.

“He definitely sounds cool. Hopefully we won’t need his help, though.” He said, as Honos started to wind down. “I’ve never...” Inocybe paused, wondering how personal he wanted to get with Honos right off the bat. It was always nice to meet someone else who was adopted, but he wasn’t sure how Honos would take the fact that he was grown in a lab, and didn’t have the typical “birth parents”. “I’m adopted as well.” He finally settled on saying. “When I was a baby, I’m assuming you were young, too?”

As they approached the truck and saw the driver inside, Inocybe gave a wave. “Hello Mr. Black. I’m Inocybe, thanks for giving me a ride. And letting us do the project at your house.” Just because Inocybe tended to be cold doesn’t mean he was impolite.

[Honos Black]

Honos beamed at them and rocked on his heels when waiting for his dad. "My day was pretty good, honestly. Finished some of my homeworkduringlunch and study hall."

As they walked towards the truck, Honos nodded. "Yeah, dad's technically my older brother but he adopted me when I was 3 after our parents died. Makes things easier with the court or something" He shrugged.

At the truck, Orion smiled toward them both. "Hello Inocybe, I've heard plenty about you. And just call me Orion or Bluebell, alright? And you're welcome. The rules at my house are pretty standard. No running in the house, shoes off by the door, indoor voices and don't go through the red door in the greenhouse. I'd rather not have ta drive you kids to the hospital. Any questions, just let me or Octavius know, okay?" During this time, Honos tugged Inocybe into the truck and tapped his knee after buckling up, waiting to be home.

"Dadwe'regonnagrow beans for our project! An' it's gonna be awesome!" Honos blurted out, full of excited energy. Orion chuckled and smiled, looking at them both from the rearview mirror. "I madeabetwith Inocybe that the bean that he gets won't die because they're hardy. Still working on the terms of the deal, but I doubt he'll be able to kill them."

"Inocybe, what are your pronouns?" Orion asked.

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“Mhm,” Inocybe nodded as Honos explained their family situation. That made sense, even if they didn’t know much about how adoption actually worked. At the truck, they gave a thin smile in return to Orion. He seemed nice enough.

Scratch that. Inocybe felt their stomach drop as Orion said they heard plenty about him. They schooled their face into a mask of polite interest, but internally their mind was racing. Did Honos talk about them? Why would they do that? This was Erebus’ cousin, or brother, or whatever, did he know about the powers stuff? A layer of guilt settled over Inocybe, they fully hadn’t followed up when Erebus told them to talk to someone about their powers and get it documented. They kept finding ways to push it off. Oh well, Inocybe thought as they started to calm himself down. He wasn’t going to bring it up if Orion didn’t.

“Cool, sounds easy enough.” They said in response to Orion’s rules, settling in the back seat and sliding off their backpack. They looked at Honos quizzically when they tapped his knee, and tapped them back, making sure their hands were spore-free first. Inocybe wasn’t sure who Octavius was, but he assumed he would meet them back at the house. They gave a sheepish look at the mention of the beans. “I’m telling you, I don’t exactly have a good track record with plants.” They shrugged, smiling at Honos. “But hey, I’ll take an easy win.”

Inocybe glanced back up at Orion. “Ah. I use both he/him and they/them. No real preference for one over the other, though. What about you two?”

[Honos Black]

Honos beamed at being tapped back by Inocybe and reaches forward to give two taps to Orion, who quickly taps back with a vine, getting an even bigger grin from the hyper child. Orion quickly set off to home, making sure that the volume on the radio was down so that he can hear the two children.

"Yeah, Octavius here told me that when he texted me earlier. He tends to talk a lot about his classmates between dinner and his phone. He was very excited to tell me that you're coming over, apparently" Orion grinned, ignoring Honos, who whined and flopped back against his seat, pouting and red.

"Our pronouns? I use he/him and your friend Octavius here is much like you." He chirped.

Honos leaned over to Inocybe and smiled. "I'm Octavius. It's my birthname but people call me Honos for short. Dad's like the only one who'd ever call me that. Thinkit'sbecausehe uh...'cause he's senti-seminent-semtient- fuck it, thewordwon'work. You know, old and shit? The word where you like to lookbackonmemories?" Honos tried to explain, struggling with the word 'sentimental.' "What'stheword?"

"Whatever. Anyways! We're here! Home sweet home! S'not like Uncle Erie's, Uncle Lyon's 'n' Uncle Dee's, but it's home. Uncle Dee 'n'UncleLyonhasa-has a dog! They're great, ya know? Iwannadogbut-but-but we's don' got one. UncleDee'n'UncleLyonhas uhh...has a dog 'cause of their disa-disabilites. Our house is old. Been inthefamilysincegreat um...great times 5 grandpa came over and builted it." Honos babbled as Orion parked the vehicle and got out, showing an old two story house that honestly looked like a large cottage. "Ready to go inside?"

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If Inocybe noticed Honos turning red, they didn’t mention it. In all honesty, they figured it probably had something to do with the hives Honos was sprouting earlier. Better to not point it out. He felt an odd feeling that he couldn’t place when Orion mentioned Honos was excited they were coming over. They felt their face grow a bit warm, and they hoped their slightly green tinge wasn't noticeable. Whatever, he just wasn’t used to having friends be excited about his presence, that was it.

Inocybe nodded in acknowledgement about the pronouns, and listened as Honos explained their name. They patiently waited as Honos seemed to struggle with their words, only interjecting “Sentimental?” when he asks, not wanting to be rude and interrupt.

“Interesting nickname, Honos from Octavius. Nevertheless! I will be sure to call you Honos, if that is what you prefer,” He spoke, decidedly. Inocybe got out of the car, trying to quell his rising nerves as he listened to Honos talk about their family.

“I don’t have any pets, not sure if it’s safe…” Inocybe spoke absentmindedly as he was focused on suppressing his spores, though he realized what he said sounded vaguely weird pretty quickly. “Ah. My, uh, parents are allergic to, uh, a lot of animals.” He tried to cover.

“Anyway. You have a very nice home.” He said, directed at Honos and Orion, trying to be polite. “What kind of dog would you get if you could get one?”

[Honos Black]

"That's the bitch!" Honos blurted out when Inocybe helped him out. He honestly hoped that Inocybe was down to be his friend because they're great and haven't teased or ridiculed him and his speech issues.

"Yeah, Uncle Hades nicknamed me Honos and it juststuckandstuff." he shrugged. "An' you cancallmewhateveryouwant. I respond ta either." He climbed out as well and snagged Inocybe's hand, leading him inside. "Sucks you can'haveapet. Maybe if I gets one, we can share!" He chirped. "I wannapitbull. They're reallyprettyandniceandawesome"

"Thank you, Inocybe. If you two need me, I'll be in the kitchen. Octavius, there are snacks in the cupboard, and do remember to drink water. You know where the seeds are at." Orion spoke, toeing off his shoes and setting them on the rack before putting on his slippers. "And let Inocybe borrow Apollo's slippers. They should fit them."

"Okay, papa." Honos chirped, mimicking his dad by doing the same thing. He grabbed a pair of orange stripped slippers and set them down. "Those will be yours. Are you thirsty?" He asked, rocking on his feet.

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“I’ll keep that in mind,” Inocybe responded, figuring he would probably stick to Honos if Octavius was a family nickname. Last thing they wanted to do was cross any boundaries. Inocybe tried to look unfazed as Honos took his hand, though his heart did flutter. It was just nerves, nothing more. “Yeah, maybe.” He said, not wanting to get into the fact he was terrified of accidentally poisoning some innocent animal. “Pit bulls are definitely cool. I’d probably… get a frog. Or fish. If I could get a pet.”

Inocybe hastily took off his shoes when Orion mentioned wearing slippers, setting them neatly aside. “Thanks for letting me borrow some.” He said, eyeing the slippers gingerly, ignoring the fact they weren’t his usual style. “Well, I don’t want to impose,” Inocybe slipped his hand away from Honos’, using putting on the slippers as an excuse, ignoring the pang of, was that sadness? He felt as he did so. Really, he was more worried about spores building up.

It should be fine, is the thing, the weather was on his side, but the more he worried and thought about his spores, the more they grew. A vicious cycle, to be sure. While his hands were spore-free for the moment, he wanted to try and control it as best as possible. As long as he remained calm and collected, the spores shouldn’t crop up.

“I could go for some water, though.” He finally answered, pushing away their worries. “You have any liquids in mind for the experiment? I’m thinking water, soda, juice… maybe leaving one without any liquid? It’d probably die, though.”

[Honos Black]

Honos rocked on his feet and smiled at Inocybe. "I want a lizard and a dog morethananything" He babbled. He tilted his head and hummed. "Ifyouswan', you's-you's can use my slippers? Thinkwemighthaveanother-ano-another spare too if you don' wanna wear 'Lo's slippers." He offered.

He was a bit disappointed that Inocybe let go of his hand, but some people needed both hands to take off their shoes, so he just waited until he could hold their hand again. In the meantime, he put his bag away and grabbed the sheet they needed, along with his homework folder.

"We can do uh...coffee, tea, soda, water, salt water, juice...energry drink." He spoke, knowing that they had that in the house. "Maybenotmilkthough. I mean, we's gotdairyfreeandregular but-but-but it'llgetstinkyreallyfast, so nomilks. And the one withoutliquidwon'tgrow. Unless you meantawateritonce and thenleaveitbe?" He offered, curious, even as he grabbed some fruit snacks and two glass bottles filled with water before coming back to Inocybe. "Do youhaveotherhomework to uh-to do?" He asked