An ordinary square

She looked at him inquisitively. His white pants were stained with chocolate ice cream. He had the unusual habit of stroking his pant button whenever he was involved in a discussion that interested him. This made many people very uncomfortable. At the moment, it made her very ill at ease. He had intense eyes and always looked deep into the other person’s eyes when he spoke. She couldn't take the intensity anymore and decided to change the topic.

“You left unperturbed by the storm yesterday. Weren’t you scared you’d be hurt?”

“I had my protect bubble on. It inflates automatically when in danger. Why would I be scared?”

“Protect bubble?”

“Mmm, mmm…” he nodded. “Don’t you have one?”

She was more certain now, something must have happened to him in the past few days. He had always seemed a little eccentric, but this was beyond crazy. Was he playing with her? Why would he? They didn't know each other very well, and wouldn't even have had this conversation, if they hadn’t been paired up as partners. She thought to herself that it would be a long six months until they finished the project.

“Ummm…. No.”

“Oh. I’d highly recommend it. I got mine when I was 14, and was attacked by nuns. You know. Fucking nuns can be dangerous... There was an old man who lived in my neighborhood. He stopped the fight between me and them witches. I almost bit a nun’s nose off, I was so mad. So anyway, he took me back to his house to heal my injuries and told me I should get my protective bubble. I had no idea what it was at the time. So he started explaining its concept to me. Don’t you think it’s the ideal concept for survival?”

She was intrigued. She started getting swept away by the conversation and forgot to notice that he was still caressing his pant button. At a specific angle, he even looked fairly attractive.

“I have no idea. I have never heard of a protect bubble…”

He stuttered “Uh…oh!” He paused. “So you must think that I’m a bit cuckoo in the head”

“Ahem… well…”

“Darn, just forget that I brought it up.”

She hesitated and finally said “No, no. I’m interested. Please tell me about it.”

He grabbed the top of an empty coke bottle that was lying on the table and started cleaning his nails with it. They were very dirty and his appearance in general suggested that he didn’t really take much care of his looks.

Suddenly, he grabbed her hand and put the cap on her palm. Surprised, she moved back, pulled her hand and dropped the cap.

He smiled and calmly picked it up from the floor.

“Just as I thought. Your reaction shows the basic underlying nature of humans in modern society. Distrust and distancing oneself from what is unfathomable and inconceivable, or from behavior that is unconventional in our society. You’re an ordinary square.” 

She had had enough. “This conversation is over. I'm going to make a request to get a new partner. You’re a jerk."

He smiled. “You are entitled to think that. I can’t blame you for it. But, if you still want to learn about the concept of the protect bubble, stop looking at me, and look at your reflection in the mirror behind me and concentrate on it for a few seconds. You will then understand…”

She was hesitant, but then finally looked at the mirror....

His pants button was a screw. He started unscrewing it…