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Mick sat quietly in his friend"s living room, absent-mindedly fiddling with his fingers as he watched the TV out of boredom. It was on some cartoon, one Mick didn"t recognize, somethin" about a dog and a cat, like, fused together or somethin", who knows. He really didn"t watch TV much before he and his folks moved to America, mostly entertaining himself with bugs and sticks and books and stuff. Not much to do without being killed, or at least severely injured, in the Outback, especially at twelve. His parents did NOT care for him being outside alone.
But now he was here, waiting quietly but not-so-patiently for his friend Jeremy to run back inside with, well, whatever the heck he"s been waiting 15 minutes for. Or...something like that. Okay, maybe he wasn"t the best with time. But Jeremy"s been gone for a while, and Mick was getting impatient, okay?
"C"mon, Jer..." The young Australian mumbled, sighing and looking out the window. He couldn"t see much from his spot on the couch, but he was pretty bleedin" sure he saw that top of Jeremy"s head. The boy"s messy light brown hair was kinda something he"d learned to recognize.
Impatient, Mick eventually got up from the couch and to the kitchen, waving hi to Jeremy"s Ma and saying he was just going outside to see why he was taking so long. She smiled at him as she always did, telling him to be careful and have fun, watch out for cars and everything, bugs that bite you, monsters, you know, the usual. She was always nice to him. And really pretty. Okay... calm down, Mick. He waved to her one last time and stepped outside, shutting the door beside him, and stepping down the porch.
"Jer!" He called, running after him. The younger boy didn"t turn around, didn"t even move, blue eyes laser-focused on the birdfeeder in front of him.
It took Mick a minute to realize Jeremy was sat down on the grass with a scoop of birdseed in his hand, patiently waiting for a bird to land in his palm to eat the food. Mick slowed down once he noticed this, careful not to startle the birds perched on the green platform feeder across from him and Jeremy.
"Hey, Jer." The taller boy said quietly, sitting down beside him slowly, watching the younger"s freckled features frown for a second as a few of the birds flew off, startled. A couple stayed- Some cardinals, red and brown-ish (males and females, or juveniles), and a pair of noisy black-and-white birds he hadn"t seen before. Woodpeckers, maybe? "Hi." The smaller boy mumbled quietly, eyes focused on a specific bird off in a nearby tree, not too far from the birdfeeder. "I"ve been waitin", like, thirty minutes for that pretty yellow birdy to land on me." He said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "I thought you"d like it, think it"s cool, Mickey. Since you"re all bird-smart an" everythin"..." Jeremy"s eyes flicked to the ground, and he ajusted how he was sitting.
Oh. Mick gulped and glanced off to the side, suddenly feeling bad. He"s been waiting that long for a bird? Just to make Mick think he"s cool? "I already think you"re cool," He mumbled, rubbing his forearm. Jeremy glanced over at him, eyebrow raised and head tilted, as if to ask "why?"
"Well, you talked to me when no other kids would. Because I have a funny accent, an" I"m tall, an" I don"t really fit in here." Mick answered, looking back over at his friend, who was now smiling a bit. "An" you talked to me, even though I"m annoyin", an" I talk too much, an" I"m always gotta be doin" somethin"." The younger replied, grinning, showing off his buck teeth. Mick grinned back. "Yeah, ya do." Jeremy giggled at that. "Probably because my Doc says I got eighty HD"s. I dunno what that is, but I guess eighty is too many?" He shrugged, looking back over at the yellow bird in the tree, now peacefully preening it"s wing. "Awh, yeah, that"s ADHD. Not eighty-hd"s."
Mick said, frowning a bit. "It"s like, an attention span thing. My Docta" says I got... Anks-zeety? Anks-zee-hity. I think." He nodded. The younger boy beside him perked up, smiling. "Oh, oh, I know that word! Anks... Anxiety! My dog has that!" He announced, clearly proud of himself for knowing a "big" word. And comparing his best friend to a literal dog in the process. "Gee, thanks, Jer." Mick said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, but smiling. "Just go ahead an" compare me to Tucker then, sure, mate." The freckled boy suddenly scoffed, crossing his arms and dropping all the birdseed in the process. "Hey! Tucker"s a great doggy! You should take that as"a comp-lemon"d!" He said, pouting.
"Y"mean compliment...?" Mick snickered, smiling.
"Yeah! That!"
"Okay, well I still don"t like bein" compared to a dog, mate."
"But you SHOULD be! My dog"s am-hazing!!!"
"Jer, stop tryin" to use words you can"t pronounce."
"I can too pro-house them, Mickey!!!"
Suddenly, both boys paused, staring up at Jeremy"s head.
"...Hey Jer, there"s your birdy."