fandomhigh | Brooding for Dummies, Friday, Period 2

//Morning, class,// Jono greeted, the lesson for today set up in a classroom. //Have you eaten today?//

It was an important question, okay? Yesterday's activity in the park had given him another idea for class today, and while there wasn't necessarily such a thing as a good brooding food, there was such a thing as a good comfort food.

//When people fall into a particular state, they sometimes get so lost in it that they forget to take care of the essentials,// he explained. //Maybe they don't eat, or shower, or tidy up as much as they ought to. Hell, it can be difficult to even leave the house when it gets bad enough. And... there's not much I can do about the rest, but today we can at least lean into eating.//

Well, you all could. Jono was going to have to spectate for this one.

//Here, I think, the trick is to find something easy. Make sure that easy thing is always an option, even when you've got other things to... feel. Think about. Whatever.// He shrugged. //There's a certain point where you don't even have to worry about it being healthy, just worry about it being food. Get delivery, keep some energy bars in the cupboard, just eat a block of ramen noodles dry, if that'll keep you going.//

... He'd resorted to a few of these things back during his, ah, blue period.

//Anyway, we're ordering pizza today. Figure out what toppings you want and let me know, and I'll pay.//

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He's here if you need him.

No, he's not sharing the pizza.

Please, don't let there be leftovers.

"That don't sound much like my syllabus," Ino noted from the doorway. "Yo."

//It's important to eat between broodings in order to fuel more brooding, naturally,// Jono replied, shrugging his shoulders easily. //A properly sustained brood requires sustenance, you know.//

You couldn't deny that logic, could you?

Of course she could!

"'Cept the slightly hungry look is also part of the brooding aesthetic," she complained. "You're so bad at this."

//I suppose I am,// Jono replied, shrugging his shoulders. //I'm not going to teach them anything that might hurt them, though.//

He refused. Flat-out.

"I weren't suggesting that," she said, very mildly.

And was rather offended that he thought she might.

//Didn't figure you were,// Jono replied, looking at the pizza order form resolutely. //Hell, Iris, it's just...//

He waved a hand at the page, vaguely.

//My own brooding, th'days I couldn't get myself out of bed,, the whole bloody reason I got a reputation for it... It came from a bloody terrible place. If there's even the faintest chance anyone took this class because that's where theirs comes from too, I want to make sure I'm doing right by them. Couldn't live with myself if I did anything but.//

He'd done a fair bit of brooding about it, in fact.

She was still offended, but... ah, hell.

"I didn't sign you up for this class to mock those days where you couldn't get out of bed," she said, frowning. "And I'd hope you know that. It were a joke. Maybe one in bad taste, but I weren't expectin' a serious class out of you, and from radio, neither were your students really. I ain't--I mean, I didn't do this to hurt you, you dumbass."

She loved him.

//I know,// Jono muttered, shoulders bunching up a little, head ducking low. //But... you know Fandom students.//

Astrid came to mind, for one. He fidgeted a little.

//There are real problems hiding under th'surface in more than a few of them. I want them to know that brooding is fine, they can even play it up for th'fun of it. But if it isn't coming from the fun place, they need to think of themselves too.//

Brooding for Dummies, Friday, Period 2

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