be a hero, kill your ego

how you doin'?

[holden-king]

Holden listen to the other, realizing his accent was getting harsher and harsher. The teenager winced every time Jak’s voice rose, a small blossom of anger growing inside of him. All he wanted to do was plant a sucker punch right on his jaw, but he knew that kind of rage would not get him very far, especially against someone so much bigger than him. Holden glared him at him, done with being screamed at.

"FUCK YOU!" He yelled, cutting off the end of the white-haired boy’s sentence. "Are you serious? Fucking look at me, Jak!" Holden stared into his perfectly replicated eyes, baring his teeth as if ready to fight. "I’m so sorry your feelings are hurt because you had a speedy recovery and lost some stupid kid as your friend. It must be so fucking hard for you.” His muscles tensed, every word he spoke dripping with hatred and sarcasm. “It’s not like I lost my depth perception or anything. It’s not like I’ve gone through weeks of worthless therapy, or that I haven’t talked to anyone my age in months." Tears built up in his eye. "Stop trying to defend yourself against someone who is barely a threat."

[jakobflint-blog]

"THEN STOP AVOIDIN' ME LIKE I'M THE FUCKIN' THREAT!!!"

The sudden bulging vein on the side of Jakob's throat seemed to grow it's own voice, yelling alongside the greaser with each pulse of his hot and angry crimson blood. It flowed upwards to set off fireworks on his pale face, a flushed expression on the kid's features. Each of his hands curled into fists and if it weren't for a sudden figure darting down the hall, Jak would've immediately pummeled his friend's face down to a pulp, to paint his cheeks with a deep purple--anything to give Holden something else to complain about. Flicking his eyes back down the hallway, Jak sent arrows of hatred at their sudden intruder, though it wasn't for long as the person continued on their way. 

He seized the opportunity to march back up to the one-eyed teen, and although every nerve in his hands were calling out to Holden's skin, Jakob knew it wasn't something he'd be able to forgive himself for later. "Okay you fuckin' listen to me, dick," Jak's eyes finding Holden's single green one, his spit practically fizzing with the poison in his system. "I don't really fuckin' know what I'm gonna have to do to make it up to you, but I'm not gonna wait till pigs fly, alright. If you don't wanna be my friend anymore, then fuckin' say it, Holden. Right here."

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

Though the deliciously familiar tone was there and the posture was right, Danny couldn’t get those few split seconds of off-balanced surprise out of his mind. There was no way his sharp sights had missed a single bit of the expression he had imposed on the other boy’s face, and his firmly planted smirk showed his amusement even under the gaze of those beautiful blues. This was a Jak he could potentially win against, or at least not be brought down to his usual stuttering pile of mush, and it seemed to give his lower lip a taste of pure edible confidence as he ran his tongue over it in momentary thought.

Without missing a beat more, he let his head fall back with a melancholy sigh, brows upturning to pout woefully at the ceiling. “How cute. Shame you’re not available for real, I’d love to be all over that.” The elbow that had been supporting him lowered to pat at the taller pastel chest as he straightened up, casting one last regretful look at Jak, though the smug lowered eyelids and curved corners of his mouth gave away the coy ruse. Danny slipped through the doorway past him, letting the fingers he still held in contact trail off down the smooth white marble side to flutter a quick small tickle at the hip before pulling away. He made no attempt to hide his last lingering check out of the rare sight he was walking away from, craning his neck even as he rounded the corner of the hallway and left with a single wave of his hand. “See you upstairs, babe.”

[jakobflint-blog]

Jak had never felt more exposed than in that moment with Danny, the brunette's fingers leaving his skin tingling. He looked down at his chest in fear that there would be blisters in the shape of a hand on Jakob's porcelain skin but at the sight of his still porcelain skin, the teen let out a small sigh--though from relief at not seeing any marks on him or from something a little deeper, he wasn't sure.

"HeY--" Jakob's voice cracked like an expensive firework, sending the brightest shades of red to his cheeks at his sudden slip-up. Thankfully, his friend was already out of sight and hopefully out hearing range. He looked back at the open door, suddenly remembering why he even stopped there in the first place. The bags on his back were starting to grow heavier by the minute, although it could've just been the crushing blow on his ego that was make his shoulders sag.

After dropping off his stuff by Danny's wardrobe, Jakob sprinted out of his room and down the hall, taking the carpeted stairs two steps at a time. "Wait for me, baby!" Even though he didn't want to seem too excited about sharing a pool with the brunette, Jak still couldn't stop himself from biting his lower lip eagerly, blue eyes sparkling like crystal water. 

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

The ruffled teen’s feathers slowly flattened back down once he was in the solitude of his own room, taking the time while he was switching clothes to let his mild anger be replaced with a fizzy excitement. Much earlier in the day, and truthfully since they had made their pool plans, Danny had had the distinct tummy bubbling excitement he imagined couples had before seeing their bride to be for the first time on their wedding day. The butterflies didn’t hold him back however, if anything they just made him change faster, though he did take the time to at least wipe himself down with the small scrap of clothing that was his shirt. He at least wanted to be grass-less when he jumped in the pool.

Fully changed into his brand new pair of red trunks, an upgrade from his old childish pair that were no longer socially acceptable for the eyes of the public now that he was a highschooler, he took one last long swig of water before he heard the sound of the inquiring voice on the other side of his door. “Course I am, where the hell else would I be?” he answered with snappy impatience that was stirred up from his anticipation. All he had to do was turn the door knob and he would be faced with what he had long since been fiercely curious about. With a deep breath he watched rather than made the decision consciously as his hand swung the door open, his eyes immediately zeroing in on their target.

A grin that couldn’t be held back by even the strongest force of nature broke out on his face at once, quirking from side to side in a vain attempt to hide the enthusiastic response to the semi-nude body before him. His lips came together to let out a slow whistle, shining pink eyes trailing over every inch of exposed white skin as if to make a mental map of each tiny detail. It was definitely worth the wait his friend had been making him put up with every other time he had refused to remove the leather article. “Damn dude,” he said with unhidden praise in his tone, instantly falling to one side of the doorway with his elbow up and tossing one foot over the other. “How ‘bout you come in here a sec, a fine shirtless dude’s exactly what my room’s been missing, yanno?” Completing the blatant flirtation, Danny let his eyebrows bounce up and down a few times before blowing a kiss, not even sure himself if he was joking or not at this point.

[jakobflint-blog]

Long black lashes washed over blue puddles as Jakob blinked slowly, dumbfounded at the initial flirtation from the brunette. His scrawny figure scrambled to catch up to his racing mind, ego demanding that Jak do something to regain any ounce of manliness in him. It seemed like the affect of removing his black armor was kicking in already which left Jakob caught like a deer in the headlights of the Danny's overpriced car.

Reminding himself that he was indeed the infamous casanova of Greenbank, Jak hooked his pale thumbs just underneath the elastic fabric at the top of his trunks while simultaneously cocking a brow to go along with the smirk on his lips. "Really, well I see a nice candidate right in front of me." The tip of a pink tongue playing dangerously with his left canine tooth, each breath filling the space between them with a perfume labeled 'Hormones sont fou.'

Though Jakob would cut right through with a single swift movement, his taller figure easily dominating Danny's shorter one. Raising a skinny arm just above the brunette, the greaser had mimicked his stance with the grace of a butterfly, lowering his neck like the long black tongue of the insect in order to meet face to face with his friend. "But if they need an extra for the photoshoot, I'm available right now, baby."

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

The second mouthful of water he had been trying to drink nearly choked down the wrong pipe in his throat from surprise at the outlandish proposal. The bottle was quickly traded to his left hand, his right digits racing to cover up the tuft of pulled back hair behind his head as if the mere thought of removing it could make it disappear. “No. Of course not, are you nuts??” Accusatory eyes took a slow dive away from their subject to glare instead at the floor, a subtle self-consciousness prickling the back of his neck as his middle finger twirled the ponytail beneath it. “It’s just a hairtie, it can get wet,” Danny mumbled around a mouthful of resentment, replaying the words over again in his head and hearing the ‘stupid' more clearly. A hard squint took over his features and he shot the look at Jak.

"If you’re fully fuckin’ hydrated now," he started, rocking his feet forward to smoothly stand up in one bound, "I need to go get changed n’ stuff. You can change in the hall bath.” The pouty hair-protective teenager gave his friend one last glance down his freckled nose before trotting off with the air of a partner who had just confined their usual bedmate to the couch for the night. Taking a simple jacket off was one thing, but changing hairstyles in front of a person— that was serious business that Danny couldn’t commit to.

[jakobflint-blog]

Jakob bit his tongue lightly with amusement at seeing the other's defense take its seat at the trial about that stupid ponytail of his and he suddenly stood up, blue eyes watching the ball of fire bounce away to do his changing in the privacy of his own room. Years of public swimming pools hadn't left an ounce of modesty in the tall teen, but seeing Danny practically rocket towards his changing station made Jak want to tug the collars of his jacket upwards just slightly.

Turning to his right side, Jakob bent down to collect his bags and guitar case before straightening himself out to head down towards the spot the brunette had directed him towards. He could already feel a layer of skin peeling as his free hand turned the smooth handle, entering a beautifully designed bathroom that made him clench his teeth. Jak set down his black bags carefully, and opened up the smallest bag which contained his swimming trunks. 

Pulling them out of the bag, Jakob kicked off his socks before dropping the black shorts on the counter, hands moving down to unbuckle his pants. He was quick to change into the trunks--no need to risk that idiot barging in on him wearing only his boxers, though the greaser hesitated on removing the single article of clothing that gave him his name. Looking up at the mirror, he decided that breaking his long term relationship with Betty wasn't a bad thing if it meant starting a temporary one in the pool with Danny.

Minutes later, Jak was hopping back outside and he gave his bare shoulders a good shake before heading towards the single door he'd come to know so well. "Hey Danny buddy, y'in there?"

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

As he stood in front of the fridge, Danny momentarily became preoccupied with picking off chopped up pieces of grass from his exposed tummy, using the extra cold air to help dry off his sweaty skin and renew it from its flytrap-like state. Somewhat less messy, he grabbed two bottles of water and made to slip into the living room as well, but slowed to a silent hunters stalk instead, moving his feet over the lush carpeting without a sound.

"Here you go, babe," he said with a devious smile as he slid the side of one water bottle, slick with icy condensation, across the back of Jak’s neck. Leaving it to sit in the little pocket the leather collar made, he bounced himself over the couch to take a seat on the opposite end, staying clear of retaliation range. It wasn’t as if the cold would effect the ice user entirely like a normal person, but it was still fun to Danny to play miniature jokes; the fact that they were virtually useless and dumb just made them more silly.

Pulling his feet up to join him on the cushy couch, he connected an elbow to one knee, supporting his arm as he brought his own water bottle to his lips and forced off the flip cap with his teeth. “I still can’t believe you wear that thing in this heat,” he commented with arched brows, giving the boy next to him a curious side-long glance. His gaze turned askew from the position of his head leaning back to rest against the sofa, pausing his words to gulp down a rushed drink of rejuvenating water before continuing after a satisfied sigh. “You gonna wear it in the pool too?”

[jakobflint-blog]

The nerves on Jakob's neck danced with the sudden touch, and he squirmed around like a freshly dug up worm, the tip of his tongue peeking out from between his lips while he let out a sound of discomfort. "Goddammit dude," Reaching a hand back, Jak gripped the plastic bottle to swiftly bring in front, his other hand already twisting open the small white cap. Jakob's brows furrowed while he took a drink of the water, mouth acting like some type of tank to hold the liquid for a few seconds before letting it glide down his throat smoothly. "With the way you're goin' about, my baby's gonna get ruined no matter what."

A quick flash of his blue eyes towards Danny signaled that he was already getting tired of small talk, and Jak retracted his legs as quickly as they'd sprawled across the couch. The bottom of his feet met a soft carpet, the greaser leaning forward to place his drink on the table. "Of course I'm gonna take her off--whaddya thinkin'?" he said with a matter-of-fact tone, rolling his eyes as though he'd had to repeat his sentence a million times already. "What about you? Ya gonna keep your stupid ponytail in there too?"

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

The pout on his face grew even more comical at this rude response, the skin on his cheeks inflating like a balloon being filled with indignant helium. With a sharp change in expression, he let the air out in a puff of hot breath right in Jak’s face that ended in stuttering spurts as he giggled at his own prank. “Fine then, jakass, we can both be hot.” Though by the look him, the clothed for cold weather teen was already baking and about to be well-done. “Okay though, let’s just get inside and then POOL!!!!!” The exclamation was punctuated with hard slaps to his friend’s shoulders, turning into a random drum roll that sounded the beginning of an opening act, which turned out to be a speed dash. Seemingly powered by a bolt of lightning from Zeus himself that erased any weariness from his body, Danny pivoted on his heel and darted off in the direction of the front door, enjoying the rush of air that cooled his skin.

However, that was nothing compared to the air conditioning that hit like an iceberg the second his hand opened the door. A soothed sigh of relief filled the cushioned quiet that blocked out the sounds of summer happening outside, though they still echoed in from the hanging door. Danny left it to Jak to close it behind them, too preocupied with being lured further into the cool house to handle the guest manners. Besides, every visit Jak was slowly being knocked down the ladder in terms of how formal he needed to be treated; he could get his own damn door.

Hot trailing feet left momentary prints of their bare pads on the wood floor as they pattered their way down the subconsciously familiar trail leading to the basement and beyond. “D’you wanna drink or something?” Danny called over his shoulder as he stamped down the stairs, already bringing up a mental image of the last time he had checked his fridge. Hopefully his water bottles were all full, because he was dying of thirst even if Jakob wasn’t and there was no way he would last in the heat with just the help of the pool water.

[jakobflint-blog]

Though the house was starting to smell like him from all the times he'd been over, Jakob couldn't stop himself from stopping just before entering the door each time, big blue eyes taking in the voluptuous space before him. The cold air that seemed to always have its fang sunk into the air of the house instantly soothed his hot cheeks and back, kissing away the sweat between his sock covered toes once he'd kicked them off. He bent down and carefully set them beside the door, a small habit that Jak wasn't sure why he still continued doing. 

"Just some good ol' H2O, Danny boy!" Jakob's voice bouncing off the walls now surrounding him as his feet mimicked the brunette's, immediately breaking the cushioned stance he held earlier for a more fluid one. Each step on the brown floor hit a note in Jak's head which rang a tune of acceptance and eased any troubles knotting the muscles in his shoulders. He'd gotten so used to being around the house with Danny that the silly thought of maybe living there someday tickled the corners of his mind.

The familiar arcs of the basement came into view as Jak practically bounced down the stairs, meeting a still sweaty Danny standing in the kitchen. A smirk danced onto his lips before he shot off into the living room, reaching out to grab a corner of the longer couch in front of him in order to hop onto it. "Bring it out here, wouldja?"

[holden-king]

The teenager rubbed his wrist immediately after it’s release. Sure, Jak did not exactly hurt him, but the skin had gone slightly numb from the cold. He listened his complaints, despite feeling far away from the situation. Holden’s mind was not registering the fact that he was having an argument, it was too much for him to handle. He had not exactly spoken full sentences in awhile, let alone to Jak. A couple days ago he probably would have had a heart attack if the white-haired boy tried to talk to him.

He let him ramble a little, building up the courage to fire back. Holden squinted his eye at the other, trying to put on a more menacing demeanor. He did not have any height on Jak’s tree-like figure, but he could at least try and match his attitude. “Listen to yourself!” He yelled back, his fists clenching and unclenching. “All you’re doing is talking about how you didn’t do anything, and how you fucked up.” Holden glared at him. “This isn’t about you!”

The psychic frowned, pulling at the bottom of his hoodie. “I know you feel bad and I know you want us to start talking again,” He said, bringing his voice down, “but it’s fucking difficult to be all buddy-buddy with the mirror image of the person who ripped my eyeball out of it’s socket.” Holden bit his lip, easily holding back any feelings of frustration. He had been doing it for weeks, after all. “I want to hang out with you and Danny again, I do.” Holden paused. “It’s just terrifying for me. And I need you to understand that.”

[jakobflint-blog]

"And how lon' am I gonna to keep terrifyin' you? How-How lon' are you gonna keep avoidin' me--or more specifically, my face? I'm not gonna get fuckin' plastic surgery in order to make you feel better about havin' to look at me." Each syllable in his sentences could have very well been accompanied by a mouthful of spit, but Jak's lowered brows and dark eyes were enough to display the message of anger he was trying to get across. Of course he knew that Holden was undeniably right about pretty much everything, though he wasn't about to be all sunshine and forgiveness for the rest of their argument. 

"I mean, what the hell is there to understand???" Blue eyes narrowing in mocked confusion at Holden while Jakob lifted his hands as though he were balancing two cups of water on each open palm. "My fuckin' twin ripped out your eye and now it's been like a month and you haven't spoken to me?? You could at least told me what was buggin' you instead of fuckin' leavin' me in the dirt like some used condom." He finished with a very serious glare, moving leather arms to cross in front of his chest as though it made him look somehow more intimidating. 

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

———————————————————————————————————-

The bus that stopped off down the road of the spread out neighborhood was on a tight schedule, coming out to the hills at the edge of the city to drop off its early afternoon passengers before heading off again, not to return til later. It was a routine that the boys of summer had taken to like glue, falling into the same pattern after just a couple times of using it. Now a time bomb was painfully ticking away the inconsequential minutes, the internal clock as tightly bound with pent up energy as its owner.

Knowing the time his friend was to be arriving should have given the colourful head of hair reason to stay cool and focused, but it was still finding time to crane dangerously down the sidewalk. The danger was in the cacophonous machine that was being controlled by hands as equally distracted as the rest of the tan body, running metal blades over patches of grass that had already been cut three times prior. If anything, at least the front lawn would be clear, but the momentary lawn care worker was just making his work more difficult. Which was fine with him because he couldn’t have sat still even if he wanted to, and in this heat even he was beginning to crave a more sedentary lifestyle.

Due to the inevitable blaze of June sun, another band t-shirt had fallen victim to the teen’s sharp scissors, this time removing inches off the bottom hem so that the excess fabric wouldn’t stick to his lower back. The little circular window of midriff now left a more annoying problem though: a steady billow of heat coming off of the droning mower in his hands was hitting him at just the right angle to cook him through like a turkey, as well as leave a collection of sprayed dust and bits of grass clinging to his sticky skin. His bare shins didn’t seem to be doing any better as they trudged along. For the fourteenth summer in a row he desperately wished he could lessen the effects of heat instead of just make it go wild.

However, as the little red nose of the grass eating monster rounded the corner of the giant house, all of Danny’s complaints seemed to fly off into the puffy clouds as if blown by a gust of cool autumn air. “JAK!!!” he screamed in the customary fashion of a dog barking when their owner returns, his hand releasing the little red safety clutch and deserting his chore altogether in favour of sprinting towards the boy coming down the sidewalk. If his voice and his thundering bare feet through the fresh cut grass weren’t enough of a neighbourhood disturbance, the crash of impact he had into the oasis-like visage of his friend was. The tacky feel of leather clung at his skin as he delivered a staple over-exuberant hug before backing off just enough to look his victim over but still keep his hands firmly in place on his shoulders. “Did you bring all your stuff? Did you bring the other other stuff?? I just cleaned out the pool so it should be super ready and holy fuck it is so hot please cool me off, please please please??” A melodramatic pout took over his features, making his extra sunned cheeks puff out with his lower lip and sending the last of his words into whiny spoiled child territory as he bounced on the balls of his feet.

[jakobflint-blog]

The world around Jakob slowed down like something out of Michael Bay movie as the clearly overexcited brunette practically pranced towards him; Danny staring as a love-struck stereotypical woman finally seeing her lover after some completely unrealistic events ranging from a night of sneaking into the White House to riding camels around Detroit. The precious cargo on his back seemed to tremble in fear of the sudden attack of friendship and Jak flew his pale hands backward to grip the bottom of the pear shaped luggage just as Danny embraced him. 

"WATch where you're goin' dude!!!" The sudden exclamations sounded out of a pouting mouth once his friend had released him, moving his hands back in front of his chest as though he were annoyed by Danny's child-like behavior already. Of course Jak wasn't, but a cool guy like him wasn't about to admit that in front of someone he wanted to seem completely relaxed with. The bubbling in his stomach was unavoidable, subconsciously lifting the corners of his full lips to a small smile which gave Danny just a sneak peek of the excitement he held.

"Duhhhhhhhh I brought my stuff!" Dropping his arms, Jakob's right hand reached backwards once more to pat a smaller black bag on top of the larger case. In it was an unbelievable amount of pomade and dish soap, leaving barely enough space for his swimming trunks and extra underwear. "I never leave my place without the basic necessities of life!!"

Bringing the same hand up, Jak placed it on one of Danny's tan limbs before quickly removing it in horror. He'd felt the sticky substance, and now looked at the brunette's overall state, noticing how he glimmered like the yolk of an egg. "GROSS DUDE, I'M NOT TOUCHIN' YOU LIKE THAT!!!"

[holden-king]

Holden felt as his hand was stolen away from him. He looked down his arm to stare at the obvious perpetrator. Holden shrunk away from Jak as he was yelled at, silently trying to wiggle his wrist free. Despite his efforts, the teenagers grip was, quite literally, stone cold.

 A couple memories flashed before his eye, mostly ones of what Jak had been up to lately. It felt like a stab in the heart to see him laughing and hanging out with Danny without him, but he understood why, and the pain subsided.

He felt his heartbeat in his empty socket, listening to the other quickly recount the night at the warehouse. Suddenly his breath quickened, as if he was sipping it through a straw. Was he hyperventilating? It had never happened to him before, but he knew what it was like from what he was taught in health class. Holden gasped for breath, his heart threatening to rip out of his chest with the speed it was beating at.

The psychic tried to calm down, desperate to get his side of the story in before another wave of yelling occurred. Eventually he did, mostly by closing his eye and focusing on his breathing. “That’s not fair.” Holden retorted, surprised by the steadiness of his voice. Of course, he was not looking Jak, which probably helped, but the hand holding his wrist felt like an icy, dead weight.

"I get why you’re upset, I get it. It’s not fair that I’m treating you like this." He said, shrugging his shoulders back. "But you can’t just expect me to go back to normal with the snap of your fingers!" Holden looked up to the other teenager, finally meeting his crystal blue eyes. His eyebrows knit together in frustration. "That man hurt me, Jakob, a lot. It’s really hard not to see what the fuck he did to me, let alone pretend like it didn’t happen.”

[jakobflint-blog]

Jakob ground the invisible steak of anger in his mouth while shoving the wimpy arm back to it's owner, peach-fuzzed upper lip curling upwards in obvious disgust. The hand he'd been using to pull Holden closer slapped against a denim knee as Jak stepped backwards from his overpowering stance on Holden. Guilt wasn't eating a hole in his chest, surprisingly, but his hands suddenly felt like they were burning coals and the teen shoved them into the pockets of his pants as though they contained buckets full of iced water. 

"Yeah, I know, dude. I'm not fuckin' askin' you to be all diddly-daddly happy about your eye and everythin'..." The spat out sentence sent Jakob's blue eyes shooting upwards to give a bewildered look at his friend. "I-It's just--I can't stand you givin' me the silent treatment or whatever the fuck you're doin' because I didn't do jack shit!" Jak's brows furrowed, his voice rocking the solid posture he was trying to keep. The pale digits in his pants wriggled around like impatient snakes, tempting Jakob to send them hurdling towards Holden's face in order to get his message across. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened and I'm sorry I f-fucked up and didn't get to you in time--but jesus fuckin' christ, Holden."

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

The kettle of boiling over energy that was currently about to bounce out of his seat and skyrocket to the moon snapped his attention away from his mother to beam an entire sun ray of a smile at Jak, nearly missing her next words. “If—” the single syllable seemed to sound out the flicking off of a light switch in him, rapt attention back to the source that was holding up one domineering pointer finger. “If you two keep the fighting to a minimum and— Danny I am not done talking yet— if you agree to help me out around the house. There’s too much free space in the yard, I was thinking of planting a few peach trees and maybe some…”

The once again brightly burning ball of orange tuned out the rest of the long list of chores, returning back to the friend beside him with a grin that was dangerously bordering on ‘your face will stick like that forever’ levels. The utensils being gripped like the chains of a swing set in front of him gave off the appearance that the tan teenager might be planning to eat Jak instead of share in his excitement, but he was too distracted to notice enough to put them down.

In a delighted hush, he leaned over enough to have his own not-so-private conversation, blocking out the other person at the table for now. “You can come over whenever you want!!!,” started the rapid bubbling stream of words. “This is super cool, I thought she was gonna be mad but she ain’t and don’t worry about that garden stuff it isn’t hard and have you seen my backyard yet?? We’ve got a pool and everything if you wanna— HEY, do you wanna sleepover sometime? Cause we can do that. And…” The irony of cutting his ranting mother off to let loose his own gush of words was completely lost on Danny, as well as everything else, including his food, that wasn’t Jak. He might as well have just gotten permission to re-enact the entire Goonies adventure all summer with how much his pink eyes sparkled, containing an entire Barbie toy aisle’s worth of glitter.

[jakobflint-blog]

The sudden invasion of his personal bubble startled Jakob just slightly, before Danny's words washed over him like a warm blanket on a cold winter's day. Seeing his normally gleeful friend advance past the stage of child-on-Christmas-morning on the excitement meter tickled the sides of his skinny torso, a bubbly feeling filling up his stomach as though he'd just drank the worlds lightest soda and was about to burp out clouds of happiness. Even though Jakob wasn't about to break one of the biggest rules in the guest manners book by belching in Danny's face, he couldn't stop a small wheeze from lifting the corners of his full lips as high as the brunette's eyebrows were.

"Yeah!..Yeah!!!" The repeated word jumping a whole octave. "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Jakob nodded his head quickly, sitting up straighter in the wooden chair. The shackles of nervousness around his ankles were loosened almost all the way by Danny's suggestions of childish play-dates, and he sighed contentedly. "Dude I totally gotta check out that pool--bro we could do the craziest stuff with my ice and everythin'!!"

A feeling of being watched reminded Jak of the parental guardian near them, and he meekly turned to face her, expecting some lecture about not being reckless youths. Though, the smile he received instead was enough to melt away the worries of a loud voice and angry words. Shiny emeralds hid among brown, smooth rocks, placing hope into his adventure-hungry soul and also developing a new feeling at the bottom of his heart. Maybe he really could sleepover and eat dinner with them again and plant stuff in their garden. 

He sighed once more, giving a small nod towards Danny's mom before returning his attention to the face extremely close to him. "Okayokayokay, let me eat the rest of your insanely good meal, dude!! It's gonna get cold!" Despite the annoyed pout on his face along with the arm shooing his friend away, Jakob's amused tone still carried his message of acceptance and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. But whatever that was, he was sure it would surface with time. For now, he had a meal to finish and good people to mess around with.

And that was absolutely fine by him.

[holden-king]

The teenager frowned deeply, turning around to watch as confusion and frustration spread across Jak’s face. He hated the whole situation between them, but he really was not ready to talk to the white-haired boy about it.

"Don’t do this." He said, only looking at the other briefly, before turning to look at the ground. "You know why I’m ignoring you, don’t pretend like you don’t know."

Holden took a hand out of his pocket to run it through his hair, feeling every stand pass through his fingers. He gripped a clump of hair at the back of his head, wincing slightly. “I’m sorry… I can’t do this yet.” The psychic ended the conversation by reluctantly turning back around to head towards his dormitory.

[jakobflint-blog]

All previous thoughts about his means of interrogation flew out the window as fast as Jakob's hand reached for Holden's thin wrist, yanking it upwards which brought along its owner. The darkest trenches of his ocean blue eyes froze, piercing the shorter teen with a sharp and icy glare. "What--d'ya think I'm an idiot? Of course I fuckin' know why you keep babyin' yourself from me." His voice was loud enough to echo around the empty hallway, and Jak didn't think twice about it. But feeling his grip get tighter around the limb, the teen sighed angrily. He wasn't about risk someone finding him about to break one of Holden's bones and lose the chance to get an answer face-to-face.

"I just think it's fuckin' stupid, okay." He spoke once more with a quieter voice, though the vexed tone remained like a weed, threatening to grow over Jakob. "I'm not the one that stole your eyeball, I'm not the one that left you there. I'm your friend."

[holden-king]

Holden listened to Jakob’s playful ideas, wanting nothing more than to have his usual time alone in his dorm after classes. He use to spend most of that time thinking of things he could have done better at the warehouse, but that just made him angry or upset. Now he usually just listened to his audiobooks.

Yet still, something tugged at him when he heard the familiar intonation of that childish new york accent, and not the cold-hearted one he heard as it yanked his eye out. He almost wanted to turn around and accept his offer, but Holden knew he could not. The teenager would not be able to stare at the photo copy of his attacker for the length of a casual burger date, let alone at all. “I’m busy.” He said tersely, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Jak,” Holden replied, the name feeling foreign and bitter on his tongue, “just leave me alone, okay?”

[jakobflint-blog]

"No." 

The reply cut away at the friendly curtain hung over his face, exposing a bitter smile on his pale pink lips. Now Jakob looked more like a barbie doll, blue eyes staring into Holden's single forest-green one, the temple of his forehead wrinkled as chocolate-brown brows raised in an eerily fashion which ruined the perfect skin of his allusion to Ken. 

"I will not 'leave you alone', Holden." Jak's stern voice leaving a sour taste on his tongue, but he pushed it away. His normally goofy smile and lazy back wouldn't help in trying to receive some answers from Holden about their interrupted friendship. The only option he could see with his limited view on forgiveness was an interrogation, though Jakob's methods of that would need to be toned down a bit in order to not further traumatize the guy. "You and me gotta talk about... us. And I mean 'us' --not tryin' to pull some fuckin' cliche term or anythin'-- but like, I'm serious. Why've you been ignorin' me?"

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

A straight row of white teeth popped into view, each little tooth seeming to shine with the same force of happiness that glowed from Amanda’s cheeks. It was a smile due in part to Jakob’s silent though obviously pleased reaction, but also from the look of utter relief and nervous pride on her own boy’s face. She hadn’t seen him go this all out on a single dinner dish in a while, the extent to which he was going to impress his friend was enough to make her want to squish both their cheeks and forget all about their earlier incidents. She was still matron of the house though, she had tortured them enough for one day.

"That good, hm?" she commented with a smugly raised chin to Jak, leaning over to pat his shoulder. "I know my son’s cooking is phenomenal, but you still need to sit properly. Scoot, scoot." An arm kept strong by years of living a spouse-less life with an exuberant son interrupted her guest’s meal momentarily to tug the sturdy wooden chair more in place, leaving the straightening out bit to its occupant. Just because they hadn’t seated themselves in the fancy dining room with its polished mahogany table and cushy chairs didn’t mean there was an excuse to be sloppy. She hoped Danny hadn’t mentioned that most nights they ate instant mac and cheese from plastic bowls in front of the tv while lounging on the couch.

Eager to dig into her own meal, the satisfied woman angled her utensils above the vegetables, checking over her son only once more before beginning to cut everything up into small bites. He was busy tasting everything and frowning at his fork, probably already berating himself for some inconsequential misuse of spices that neither she nor Jakob would notice. She gave the tiniest of ladylike snorts through her nose as she took her first bite, quickly following it with a second and making a show of enjoying each one before swallowing.

"Wow Danny, you did such a good job. We’ll have to have Jakob here come over more often if you’re going to cook like this for him." Following her meaningfully subdued words, an eager freckled face shot up with bubblegum eyes as wide as the dinner plates, sending a twinkling of lights through her own hazel hued ones that melted her casual expression into a smile. He seemed to have ignored the fact that she had brought to light his unusually high class meal, but that was alright with her, as she was willfully forgetting her first impressions of the new boy. With arching brows she turned her sparkling lights on the visitor in question, tipping her head to one side. "What do you say, could you help a mother out so we can wring some more fine dining out of this kid?"

[jakobflint-blog]

The hump that had grown on the kid's leather back was suddenly smacked straight with the back splat of the wooden chair, the unexpected force jerking his mouth away from the cube of food just about to satisfy his taste-buds once more. Sharp blue eyes flicked up to shoot back and forth between a sugar-coated expression and the pink eyes shooting arrows into his silverware. For a few seconds after the woman had finished speaking, a wave of confusion hit Jak as though he'd been so absorbed into the full plate in front of him that he'd completely forgotten about his hosts--but the feeling quickly floated away with the small cough he let out. 

"Uh, yeah." Jak responded with a smile creeping onto his lips, not being able to help the sudden emotions at being invited back to their house when he hadn't even started to leave. It was an entirely new feeling, though a twinge of nostalgia laced the edges of his eyes, and Jakob's shoulders shrugged away a tense coat he hadn't noticed he'd been wearing. "I've always thought about bein' a professional food taster. It would be an honor for Danny to help me start my career."

[holden-king]

The psychic swayed slightly, taking a couple small steps to regain his balance. He blinked, easily putting a name to the voice he heard. Holden’s body became rigid as he turned to face the person he knew was behind him. He looked Jak over, trying to come up with a quick excuse to get away from the taller boy.

"Oh… hi." Holden replied pathetically, pulling at the ends of his hoodie. Jakob looked completely harmless, yet the psychic still wanted to punch him or yell at him. Literally anything other than have a normal conversation with a complete replica of the person who essentially ruined his life.

Holden did not even know if he was afraid of the other anymore, or it was just the fact that he had not talked to anyone his age in over a month and his motor skills have drastically decreased. Maybe the sheer terror he felt having the conversation he has been dreading since he left the hospital was getting to him. Either way, he was not ready.

"I need to-… get back to my dorm. Uhm… it’s important." He said, barely able to get the entire sentence out of his mouth. The teenager turned back around, picking up the pace of his walk. The farther he could get from Jak the better.

[jakobflint-blog]

"...fuckin' hell--Hey, wait up!" Jakob called out to the scurrying teen. It seemed as though he'd retraced his steps; turning around to jog once more in order to catch up to Holden. He'd definitely spooked him, an unusual pale color on the teen's flat cheeks which made Jak want to bite his tongue off for even breathing around him. If the guy was going to act like that the entire time, he figured he might as well.

With the reminder of his inability to regenerate, Jakob simply smiled at Holden instead; the teen's long strides quickly propelling him forward. Jak could've easily stopped his friend from taking another step, but chose the option to wear him down with consistent nagging instead. "C'mon dude!! If it's just schoolwork then it's not that important," A familiar smirk dancing onto his lips. "You're like Albert Einstein--let's go get burgers or somethin'."

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

His own plate in one hand and a fistful of knife and fork pairs in the other, the apprehensive teen made his way back to the dinner table, unloading his items one by one; plate first, then each distributed combo of utensils. As he took his seat beside Jakob, he dared to shoot a glance at his friend’s face, trying to gauge whether or not he should punch him in his already bruised jaw or simply get out a can of Chef Boyardee raviolis instead. The eyes he was making at his food however made him reconsider, wondering if he should have gotten him a bib and some tissues to go with his meal. He caught a glimpse of his mother watching him watch Jak, one of her dainty brows arching suggestively, and he quickly looked back down at his own plate, shrugging his shoulders up in defense.

"Go ahead, Jakob." His mother’s voice sounded pleasant with gentle encouragement, contradictory to every action she had shown thus far. "The guest gets first bite. My boy can really cook, huh? He learned from his auntie when he was just a tiny little candle flame." The hem of Danny’s t-shirt was raised a quarter inch as his shoulders went up even more, his hands tucking under the sides of his thighs, taking on the pose of a child truly whipped by their parent. The wooden chair suddenly felt too big for his growing body with how much he shrunk in on himself. No amount of irksome maternal cooing could have gotten him to speak out against his mom, though he did let out a barely audible sigh through his nose, shooting another furtive glance at the source of the eight-fold embarrassment he was feeling. He just hoped Jak would at least enjoy his food, and perhaps stuff his mouth full enough to not encourage the conversation.

[jakobflint-blog]

The clearly astonished teen raised his eyes to meet the warm stare of the smiling woman, blue eyes swimming in a field of autumn touched leaves, the green of summer still poking out in random spots. His eyes narrowed at the subtle shift in her attitude, but he said nothing about it. Instead, the grumbling of his empty stomach returned his attention to the plate below and Jak removed the leather elbow from the table. 

With the slowness of a slug, Jakob's same arm returned to pick up a shiny fork on the right side of his dinner while the other reached for the small knife. The rest of of body twisted with the actions, and then he was suddenly facing the table, though the position of the wooden chair underneath him caused somewhat of a barrier between him and Danny. 

Perhaps that was a good thing, as Jakob didn't want the brunette to have a full view of what his taste buds would immediately think of. He wasn't a picky eater of course, but the size of the meal along with the carefulness of it made him want to gulp about a million times. Jakob really couldn't remember the last time his stepmother had even suggested the idea of having home-cooked food around a table like a traditional american family. 

Each of the four blades pierced the meat in front of him, and the tip of the knife entered through one of the slots created, cutting a nice square of the main food for him to try out. Jakob set the knife on the side of his plate slowly while simultaneously lifting the meat to his open mouth, squeezing it off the fork with his teeth. His bruised tongue moved the food to Jak's molars, where he began chewing delicately. An instant burst of flavor slapped awake the hunger from earlier, subconsciously moving his hands once more to cut off another piece of the delectable meat.

[holden-king]

Holden finally escaped the unbearably warm grasps of the herd of teenagers, silently thanking the invention of “alone time.” The decrease in bodies made the rest of the trek fairly easy. All he needed to do was make it to his dorm in peace and stay away from any short, awkward hallway banter.

The psychic heard small steps behind him, and easily assumed it was another person in his hallway. All he hoped was that it was not one of his neighbors that enjoy to talking to anyone who would listen. Just for good measure, Holden rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie and shoved the hood over his head, to show he was uninterested. He did not dare turn back, in fear that he would make eye contact with them and a conversation would rise.

[jakobflint-blog]

The hands now inside Jakob's pants became fists as the figure in front of him tensed up, a clenched jawline setting his lips into a straight line of discomfort. Blue eyes swirled with bitterness, each footstep nearly freezing the carpet underneath his feet. It took everything he had not to sprint towards Holden, slam him against one of the walls and demand for an answer on their paused friendship.  

He let out a simple sigh, knowing that violence wasn't about to help him from pressing the play button and Jak forced a sickly sweet smile onto his face. Moving the leather shoulders inwards, Jakob took a couple hops before he jogged forward to catch up to the sandy haired teen. It was now or never, he supposed as he crashed into Holden's side awkwardly. "Hey, buddy."

[jakobflint-blog]

Jakob let out a slow scoff, his half-opened mouth the chimney of a steam-train that was about to move quickly from it’s locked position. A small ripple of pain shot down the side of his bruised face as he let the tight smile crawl off his face, pursing his lips while bobbing his head as though he’d found everything Danny’s mom had just said extremely funny. 

"Nah, that’s okay." He called out towards his friend in the kitchen although keeping solid eye contact with the woman in front of him. Her clever comebacks and cheeky smirks were enough to wipe away any of the minuscule doubts Jakob had about her being Danny’s mom—if her looks hadn’t already done that for him. They looked like an already inserted family photo in one of those picture frames at Wal-Mart, and he was almost itching for them to pose so that he could snap a photo to compare with later. 

Raising the arm closest to the table, Jak set the leather elbow down on the wood and placed the side of his forehead against his slightly sweaty palm. A more relaxed expression took over his face, though obvious hints of a held back grin lingered in each curve of his jet-black eyelashes. “If you hadn’t noticed, Danny boy helped me out earlier with that. I’m feelin’ pretty quenched at the moment, but we’ll just have to wait and see if that’ll last.”

[danny-harrison-deactivated20160]

“Great,” came the reply from the increasingly at-wits-end waiter that was Danny, speaking through a smile that bared his grit teeth. “I’ll just get you a boiling cup of water for your face in the meantime then— I’m joking mom, I’m sorry.” He added, dropping his tone with haste at her glare and scooting away to the fridge to get the water she had ordered. As he placed the glass under the ice dispenser in the door of the fridge, he took a moment to relax his shoulders and let out a long quiet sigh, wishing he could shove his entire head in the freezer as well. Trying to cook with those two in the room was starting to give him a headache.

The sound of steady sizzling reached his ears and he looked over to see he had let the water in his potatoes boil over. Biting back a curse, he slipped back into his orderly ball of productivity, setting down the glass of water in front of his mother before springing back into action at his station, all the pressure of a televised cooking competition back on his shoulders in full force. With a slight crease in his brow, he began taking everything off the heat at once, forming an assembly line with his pots and pans to neatly arrange every item in equal portions across three plates. Gordon Ramsey had assured a rapt attentive Danny many times that plating was just as important to the meal as the right spice and that fact echoed in the impressionable young chef’s brain as he painstakingly forced his clumsy overexcited hands to perform each task with delicacy.

Now that he was faced with three perfect dishes, all organized to flaunt each individual part of the meal, the weight of the ordeal was finished, replaced with a calming sense of accomplishment. He had done everything right to a t, now all that was left was to face the reviews of the diners. This thought gave him a moments pause, freeze-framing him in place on the tile floor with a plate in each hand like a little figurine of a busboy. With a slight nervousness to his steps, he picked up his pace til he came to the corner of the table that separated the two people seated. “Um, dinner is served,” he announced lamely, his confidence buckling as he set down each decorative china plate with such care neither of them made a sound on the polished wood. Immediately he retreated back to the kitchen to fetch his own plate, and escape whatever reaction his friend would have.

[jakobflint-blog]

Jakob looked up at his friend with a mocking look, glad that the hazel eyes near him could crinkle at the corners and that even that was enough to send Danny's ego wimp away with it's tail between it's legs. Though Jak wasn't in a position to speak about what mothers should do, he definitely felt that she was an excellent one--even if her means of punishment were completely outrageous. But he wasn't about to admit that to someone he wanted to impress, no, Jakob would try and hold his tongue around her as best he could; he'd keep his tough city boy personality on him like a cape. 

As Danny wobbled back to get his own plate of food, Jak shifted his attention to what the brunette had set down in front of him. With large, blue eyes, the teen gulped at the sight of the evenly filled out platter, feeling an engine kick up in his stomach. The warm and sweet smell of kitchen before was nothing compared to the smells that wafted into Jakob's nostrils now, and he had to raise the gelled head in order to wipe at invisible drool on the corner of his lips. 

Each speck of food looked like the kiss of some stuck up french chef in New York, their best work on display in front of Jakob's expressionless face. He honestly had no words for the masterpiece, only an itch to get his fingers on some silverware so that he could see if the inside was just as pretty as the outside.