wallacepolsom
blake kathryn
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shark vs the universe
trying on a metaphor
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h
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Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
Mike Driver
Cosmic Funnies
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
d e v o n
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occasionally subtle
Kaledo Art
we're not kids anymore.
Andulka
Not today Justin
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@clemkingston-blog
Jack continues to rub his hand beneath the table–out of nervousness now more than anything. He tries to swallow the lump that has formed in his throat. His eyes flicker down to the table, away from Clement. “Why should I bother?”
Clement wants to find Jack’s hand again, but the urge is strange enough to discourage him from following through. “Some people don’t want to watch you waste away.”
“Fuck off Clement.”
“I’d rather stay here.”
Elliot nodded for a moment and then thought of how to explain how to do them without sounding like a total fool. “Well, people say that you need to have your mind completely empty to do nonverbal spells, but I find that difficult, especially since I literally can’t get my mind to shut up half the time. So I employ this way to think about only things that actually help me cast the spell. For charms that happens to be my favorite comic book, but it can be anything, really, but it needs to be something you find great. I concentrate on that. It’s stupid and silly, but it works for me.”
“Yeah?” He considered the idea, trying to think how it would work out for him. It wasn’t anything he had tried before, that was for sure, but he couldn’t picture using that trick to perform silent charms. “What if I can’t think of anything I find great?”
“What crawled up your ass and died?”
“My interest in this conversation.”
Jack casts a glance at Clement that only lasts a second as he tries to relax his overly tense body. It’s nearly impossible to loosen his grip around the bench but when he does, he can feel his hand begin to throb. He rubs his hand beneath the table discretely, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself. The last time either of them spoke to one another, Clement had told Jack something hard to believe. As soon as the thoughts resurface, Jack tries to forget about them but it’s harder than ever to do so. Jack shakes his head to both reply to Clement’s question and to try to clear his head. “Oh uhm no thanks. I uh–I’m fine.”
“Fine.” He draws out the word and leaves it unclear as to whether he’s agreeing with Jack or making fun of him. He doesn’t believe him, obviously, but he can’t summon enough effort to bring himself to care about it more than a slight tug of worry. He’s still emotionally exhausted from previous encounters with Jack– the last thing he needs is to get involved with this again. “Are you trying?”
“Oh man. Those hurt. I can’t really remember what that means. Or what any of the places mean. Probably stress or water or something.”
“Thank you, for being no help whatsoever.”
Jack watches out of the corner of his eye as Clement begins to move towards him and tries to relax as best he can. What comes never however, was unexpected. When he feels the warmth of Clement’s hand a top his, he freezes. Jack’s spine straightens out and every muscle in his body tightens but he doesn’t pull away or move. The warmth feels good against his skin even though he would never like to admit it. It takes a moment for Jack to formulate an answer as Jack tries to piece together Clement’s small gesture. “I uh– Not well, no.”
Clement doesn’t see Jack’s reaction, but he can hear him straightening up. The fact that Jack hasn’t left is somewhat encouraging, but he doesn’t want to push any boundaries yet. In the last conversation that had taken place with Jack, Clement had told him that he was still in love with him– a fact that he, unfortunately, still remembered. He knows those feelings are gone now, and Jack probably does too, but he can’t help but feel awkward about it. “Do you need more of the dreamless sleep potion?”
The hand that was clutching to the bench was beginning to get sore. He wasn’t as durable as he used to be and it was obvious his skin was much more sensitive now. Jack continues to mindlessly flip through the papers beside him, wincing slightly at the pain in his hand. He wasn’t actually looking through any of it, it was just something to keep himself busy. It struck Jack as odd Clement would even continue talking to him, let alone about this eating habits. “Yeah,” he agrees quietly. “You’re right..”
Clement can’t pull his eyes away from Jack’s hand now, a small hint as to how tense Jack is. On impulse, perhaps a habit he had forgotten about, he reaches forward to cover Jack’s hand with his own. As soon as they touch, he realizes what he’s doing and quickly pulls his hand back, picking up the glass of juice in front of him again. He examines the outside as though it’s the most interesting thing he’s seen in a while. “Have you been sleeping?”
“I’m good at those!” he exclaimed, suddenly more excited about helping. There weren’t many charms that were difficult for him and the ones that were didn’t take too much time for him to learn. Elliot grinned at Clement and looked down at the textbook. “So do you have trouble with all nonverbal spells? Or just charms? Because I use a different technique with charms…”
“Just charms.” He hadn’t known there were different techniques between charms and other spells, but that may explain why he had difficulty with one and not the other. Elliot’s grin draws a half smile out of Clement in return when he glances over at him. “What’s your technique?”
“That’s a bit harsh,” he replied.
“If you want anything less, find someone else.”
“Oh, boo hoo,” Colby continued to hum loudly, waltzing and twirling around the hallway, “Baby’s got a headache.”
“Colby.” He frowned, more at how petulant his own tone came out than her actions. “Stop.”
“No, but I can. I’ll threaten anyone that gets in my way.”
“What an exhausting way to go through life.”
He nods. “Like the eyes?”
“Yeah. Behind them.”
Jack can already feel his knuckles beginning to turn white as he continues squeezing the bench. After a moment, he very slowly lets go. The food he was playing with was suddenly not worth the energy to mess with anymore and he drops his fork on to the table. He doesn’t look over at Clement again and instead focuses his attention to the pile of books and papers. “I haven’t uh–had much of an appetite.” he shrugs and quietly moves the plate full of cold food down the table.
Clement watches as Jack pushes the food away and frowns before glancing down at where Jack’s hand was on the bench. “There’s a difference between not having an appetite and starving yourself,” he says, his voice light in contrast with his expression, as though he’s talking about something pleasant like the weather or the last Quidditch game.
Both the new presence beside him and voice startled Jack causing him to jerk out of deep thought. He looked over his shoulder for a split second, getting only a quick glance at Clement before averting his eyes. They hadn’t spoken to each other in what seemed like months and he had no idea where to even begin a conversation. Every cell in Jack’s body told him to leave as panic spread through his nerves. With a free hand he gripped onto the bench and anchored himself. “Oh yeah I uh—I haven’t really had much of a reason to…”
Clement glances down at where Jack’s hand is holding onto the bench and raises an eyebrow. He knows his presence is a shock to Jack, and probably terrifying him, but Clement can’t find anything but satisfaction in that thought. This Jack isn’t the one he used to know, and any sympathy he might have felt for him is overshadowed by that fact. “Not much of a reason other than, y’know, food.” He picks up a glass of juice in front of him and takes a sip despite not knowing whose it is.
“Don’t bring Lara into this. But you’re right. I wouldn’t kill you, but torture. Torture is something I’m not opposed to. So why don’t you just move the fuck along before I accidentally hex you.”
“You’re seriously threatening me?”
“Ohhhhh! I’m pretty good at those!” Elliot laughed. He scooted forward a bit, so it would be easier to teach. “Silent spells are kind of difficult, I had difficulty with those too,” he pulled his own textbook out of his bag. “So, which one should we try?”
Clement moves forward so he’s sitting beside Elliot now, close enough that when he opens his textbook he can balance it on both their legs. “We can use mine.” After checking the table of contents, he starts flipping through the book to find the section on nonverbal charms. “Shield charms would be helpful.”
