a/n: sorry if this feels rushed, that's because it was. my internet's been crapping out all week and i wasn't sure how long i could keep it working tonight, uggh

ps they're like 13 here i guess

tap, tap, tap

They sat on the floor of Baljeet's room across a short desk. Buford was still tapping his pencil against the dark wood, as if he could bully the answers out of the tip of lead.

The tapping continued and Baljeet looked up from his own homework to glance over at Buford's study packet. The first page was still untouched.

"I think that if you spent more time practicing than trying to memorize-"

"M-hmm." Buford cut him off gruffly, openly frustrated.

Baljeet waited a beat before leaning in. In tutoring other students he learned how important it was that they feel comfortable around him. Get down to their level, speak clearly and gently. "Exactly what is it that you are having trouble with?"

Buford groaned loudly, dropping his pencil to the floor. "Just... it!"

Baljeet waited for more, but Buford was too mad to pick just one topic that was bothering him. "May I see?"

The bully shoved the stapled papers across the desk, then dropped his elbows up on the table and held his head heavily in his palms. He glared at the center of the desk top.

Baljeet gingerly took the guide and flipped through the pages. Just what he had mastered when he was two years old, of course. "Hmm... these are how negatives and positives change when multiplied. Is that the trouble?"

The larger boy grunted his yes.

"Well, try imagining them like something."

Buford only stared at him with a tired expression.

"The negatives and positives. Something you would remember, something like... food?" Baljeet tore a blank sheet out of the back of his notebook and drew a simple plus and minus at the top of the page. "There. The negatives can be bananas, and the-"

"Hot dogs."

"Oh. Alright, hotdogs," Baljeet sketched an awkward bun below the minus. "And the positives can be...pizzas."

At Buford's contented nod, the nerd circled the plus and dotted in several pepperoni slices.

The two boys looked at the fusion of math and food with mixed enthusiasm; Baljeet wasn't quite yet sure where he was going with this, while Buford only wanted the lesson to be over with.

Baljeet exhaled lightly before starting an equation, negative times a negative, on the next line. "Now, you would eat two hotdogs, yes?"

Buford thought carefully about it before shrugging. "Yea."

"Yes. So then, with this in mind, two negatives multiplied together will equal a positive."

Baljeet pushed the first finished example closer to Buford's edge of the table, scooting himself closer along with it.

"And you would also eat two pizzas," he continued, starting a new problem. "So, two positives also equal a positive."

Buford also leaned in closer, chin in his fist.

"Buuut..." Baljeet drew up one more equation, this time multiplying a negative with a positive. "Would you eat a hot dog and a pizza together?"

He finally looked up at Buford. The bully's expression, eyes round and mouth slightly open, betrayed the gears whirring and clicking in his mind. Buford picked his pencil off the floor and went back to his worksheets.

Baljeet beamed. That sudden flash of I get it across a student's face would never cease to please him. Knowing he had caused it out of Buford somehow made it feel even better. "So you get it now?"

"Yeah." Buford didn't even look up from his packet except to punch a few buttons on his calculator, pencil moving quickly along papers.

Content, Baljeet went back to his AP calc. Not too long later his mother came in with snacks; a small bowl of curried rice pilaf and a rather simple plate of cut up hotdogs with a center dollop of Dijon mustard. The boys gave their thanks and dug into their respective treats.

While he ate small spoonfuls of the pungent rice, Baljeet watched Buford out of the corner of his eye as he worked between bits of hotdog and his problems. He had never seen the boy actually focused this hard on math before, let alone any subject. It flattered him greatly that he had taken his advice, for once.

Fifteen minutes later, Buford was finished. After shoving his work into his backpack he sided over onto Baljeet's end of the desk. "Thanks, Jeet. I mean it."

The smaller boy tittered lightly. He was still getting used to Buford's sporadic moments of gratitude. "Ah, it is nothing," he turned to face his bully. "I am relieved I could help."

"Y'did."

"Hmm."

They stared at each other for a moment, brown to blue, both suddenly thinking that Buford had been sitting down by Baljeet's side for just a bit too long.

"Well," the nerd coughed lightly in an attempt to thin the odd tension, "if there is nothing else you need, we can-"

In one fluid movement, Buford tugged Baljeet's chin up and kissed him.

Baljeet was overwhelmed by sudden warmth and surprising softness- before he could even think to return the kiss, Buford pulled away as quickly as he had pressed in.

"Uh…" the bully's eyes darted to the floor as he ran his tongue across his lips. The heavy taste of his hot dogs now mingled with the slight but sharp curry from Baljeet's lips.

It wasn't too bad.

"Maybe now I like two flavors together."

All Baljeet could manage after a long pause was a small "oh". But once the shock died down and his mind got back in gear, his eyes grew wide. "Oh- this is going to ruin the technique!"