Out of your element

A couple of hours had passed and the history lesson had finally ended.

Trevor closed his notebook and took a glance at Kurt who was just staring at his desk while holding his head with empty eyes.

"Uuhh... Everything okay, man?" he asked to the boy with a blank expression.

"I couldn't hear a single word he said..." Kurt admitted.

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing at all... My first day in class, and my first lesson and I completely missed all the content!!" the boy cried while slamming his face against the desk.

Dorothy just pecked the back of his head to confirm he was still alive, 'Why didn't you ask the teacher to speak louder or something...?'

[I didn't want to interrupt the flow or make people think I'm dumb...] Kurt replied.

"What...?" Trevor asked, a little confused by Kurt suddenly speaking in another language.

"Ah... Sorry... Just talking with my owl..." the red-haired lad commented, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What's an owl...?"

"Oh..." Kurt pointed at Dorothy, "This is an owl. Her name is Dory. Cute, right?"

"Oh!!!" Trevor screamed as sparkles started to appear in his eyes, "So that's what this thing is!! I was dying to ask about it but I didn't want to be rude!! Is she your pet?"

"Well... In a way, I'm kinda her pet, honestly... Hehe..."

'Good answer!' Dorothy giggled.

Trevor didn't get the joke but he didn't really care much, he just wanted to stare at Dorothy all day.

'Ugh... I don't like the way he's looking at me... He looks like a perv...'

[He's just being curious... Don't mind it too much...] Kurt whispered, "So, you never saw an owl- err... An owl dragon before?"

"No, never!" Trevor admitted, "But honestly, there must be a bazillion different types of dragons out there! Who knows when we will get the chance to see all of them?"

"Different types of dragons to see, huh?"

"Yeah... I wonder how big they can get! Or how small! Or fast! Or how long they can live!! There are so many things to find out about dragons!!"

"You really like them, don't you?" Kurt noted while smiling at Trevor talking about dragons like a little kid talking about its favorite tv show.

"Oh, I love them!! I wanna know everything there is to know about them!!" the boy claimed, "What about you? What do you plan on doing once you finish school?"

"Oh..." Kurt almost choked seeing the conversation suddenly becoming about him, "I... I will probably just join my family's business... But I'm not allowed to say much, sorry..."

"Ah... No problem, no problem..." Trevor said while waving his hand, "But you are going to do something you like as well right?"

Kurt never actually thought about it. He knew he wanted to make his parents proud and that meant joining their mission as part of the imperial family, but even after learning what their mission was, he never stopped to really ask if that was something he would enjoy doing.

"I... Uuhhh..."

Suddenly, some of the students began to get up and exit the room one after another.

"Oh! Looks like we are having advanced biology in another room... Let's go!"

"Advanced biology...? My next class is basic biology..." Kurt commented while picking up his paper again to confirm it.

Trevor looked at it as well to make sure and got a little disappointed, "Oh... We only have three classes together... Shame..."

"Oh, really??"

"Yeah... But don't worry! We'll see each other at the break!" Trevor commented before waving and leaving alongside half the class as another group of students started to enter.

Once he was gone, Kurt began to grin to himself, making Dorothy feel a little gross and almost wanting to slap him.

[Ah... I finally managed to make a new friend!! I hadn't had someone my age to talk to for years!! This is so refreshing!!]

'I thought you were a loner...'

[I don't mind being a loner as long as I had my phone, but this world has no internet or anything, so I sorta started to long for moments like this... My mom only talks about keeping me safe, and my dad... Well... Things have been a little awkward ever since-]

"Hey, new kid!" a voice suddenly called him out, cutting his conversation.

"Huh?" Kurt lifted his head and noticed that someone had taken Trevor's seat already.

It was a boy with long black hair tied up in a ponytail that reached his collarbone. He was staring at Kurt with worry while slowly putting his notebooks on top of the table.

"Are you okay...?" the boy asked.

"Me? I'm fine... Why?" Kurt replied, trying to think if he was looking sick or something.

"You were just spouting gibberish to yourself... I assumed you were in pain or had hurt your tongue..."

"Oh! Haha, don't worry... That's just a thing I do sometimes, don't think too hard about it..."

"O- Ookaaay...?" the boy replied while touching his chair and gently pulling it away from Kurt.

'Good job... He thinks you're a weirdo now...'

[I am a weirdo... I'm talking to a telepathic bird...]

The boy then pulled his chair a little further away, causing Kurt to sigh.

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The basic biology lesson went about as well as the history lesson, as in, Kurt could barely hear or understand anything due to how far away his seat was from the teacher.

He didn't want to spend the whole day missing out on the content of the classes so he tried to seek some help from the boy next to him.

"Uuhh... Excuse me..."

The boy flinched once Kurt began to talk to him, "Y- Yes...? What is it?"

"I'm just wondering if you were having trouble hearing what the teacher was saying," Kurt asked.

"No... No really? You haven't learned how to enhance your audition?"

Kurt's eyes began to widen, "Say what now??"

"Sense enhancing?? You never learned how to do that?? Kids learn these things when they turn seven!"

"Sense enhancing?? Dragons can do that?? What the- Why isn't this on the lessons sheet??"

The boy looked at Kurt as if the answer was obvious and he couldn't understand his confusion, "I just told you, this is the kind of stuff we learn when we're kids... Seriously, how in the world were you raised??"

Dorothy watched as her kid's face started to turn red like a tomato. Kurt didn't want to admit that he was probably spoiled by his parents and was never asked to properly learn or train about the basic knowledge of this world's culture.

They probably assumed he would have figured it out eventually, but since no one ever explained how important it was, he never tried to seek it himself, simply assuming that if it was important he would learn it once he needed it.

[Uuuuughhh... I did it again...] Kurt groaned.

'Did what...?' Dorothy wondered.

[I left something important to be done at the last minute... I should have asked my parents to hire me a personal tutor or something instead of just doing nothing all day for thirteen years...]

"Dude, you're doing it again..." the boy commented.

"Oh... Sorry... I start talking like that when I'm stressed... It helps me calm down..."

"Whatever, just keep quiet and stop distracting me..."

"Sorry..."

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The second lesson had ended the same way as the first but this time Kurt was feeling much more defeated. At least during the history class, he had made a new friend to talk to, but the boy he met in biology class acted like he wanted nothing to do with him.

Either way, he couldn't keep going at this rate or he would end up missing every lesson and make the school experience completely pointless.

He decided to seek help from the only person he knew, a girl he had noticed was making sure to write down very carefully everything she was hearing through all lessons.

Before the third class could start, he rushed out of his seat to talk to her.

"Hello..." he greeted.

"What the hell do you want...?" Gaby replied while glaring daggers at him, "I'm not giving my seat back!"

Kurt just sighed trying to show he didn't want to fight, "You can have it, but can you just do me a little favor?"

"What?"

"Can you let me copy your notes after class?"

The girl instinctively grabbed her notebook and pulled it away from him as if she was a mother bear protecting her kids, "Why would I waste my time doing that? Just write down your own notes, you lazy bum."

"I can't! I can't hear anything from my seat all the way in the back! Please!! I write super fast!!"

"No! I have my own problems to deal with, go ask someone else..."

Kurt looked around the class for a second and instantly began to feel a little shy over the idea, "I... I don't really know anyone else... I don't wanna bother them..."

"So it's okay to bother me?"

"That's not-"

"Just get lost already!!"

"S- Sorry..." Kurt mumbled, defeated. The kids around him were sending small glances as he returned to his seat. Being rejected by Gaby so harshly had stripped away any desire to try again to ask someone for help.

Dorothy approached him as he began to shrink in his chair, 'You gonna stop? What about the notes?'

[It's fine... I'll just read about the subjects on my own once I get home...]

'Then what's the point of coming to school!!???'

[Dory, it's okay... I can handle it!] he claimed with a faint smile.

'...' Dorothy didn't say anything and just kept looking at his expression. He had the face of someone who had experienced that many times before.

The bell finally rang, and much like before, Kurt couldn't hear a word the teacher had said.

He tried hard to practice sense enhancing so he could improve his hearing, but without any idea on how it worked, he just kept repeating in his mind the words 'I wanna hear better!! I wanna hear better!!' over and over again.

After getting beaten by the power of distance for the third time, Kurt began to wonder if he could get someone to switch places with him, but he also didn't want to stay away from Trevor since he was his only friend right now, even if they could only talk for a couple of lessons.

He then noticed that everyone was exiting the room all at once.

"Mmm!? Oh... Are we on lunch break?"

'Seems like it...' Dorothy commented, 'Come on... Maybe eating something will cheer you up.'

[Yeah... Also, I want to meet Trevor... Maybe he might lend me his history notes and- Oh...]

Kurt was about to exit the classroom as well when a group of three boys appeared in front of the door and blocked his way. He was the only one left so it seemed like they were waiting for him.

"Uuhhh... Hi...?"

The three of them were smiling while glaring with their chins slightly raised. The one in the middle gave a step forwards and began to lean forward.

"You're coming with us..." he stated.

"Uuhh... I kinda want to get something to eat right now... Plus, I need to find my friend and-"

The boy then grabbed Kurt by the collar and raised him from the ground.

"You. Are. Coming. With. Us!" he repeated.

"I... I'm coming with you..."