Writing Challenge.

Grey: Luca: BodyandSoul100

2008-07-16T01:08:57Z

Title: Cold, Wet, and Rainy Day
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 012. Grey
Word Count: 577
Rating/Warnings: PG
Author's Notes: I am not particularly pleased with this one... but I was done writing it. It'll need re-writing at some point.
For bodyandsoul100

Luca sat in the window seat of Adriana's living room. Adriana was at work today and Luca was here at her house because he still didn't have a job. It was raining outside and the clouds were so thick that everything had a greyish tinge. At least the rain had broken the heat wave that had settled over the area. The weathermen said that the rain would last through until tomorrow morning, with a good chance for scattered thunderstorms.

Luca rested his folded arms on his knees and stared out the window and down the road. If he were at home on a day like this he probably would have been reading on his bed. Or watching movies with Kate and Liz.

The house was so still. All Luca could hear was the sound of rain on the windows. He could see the leaves on the trees outside moving with the wind, but couldn't hear the wind itself. He had run around to all the windows in the house and closed them so the rain wouldn't get in. And then he'd come to sit in the window. It was dark in the house because Luca hadn't turned any lights on. It was just about lunch time and it had been raining for an hour now. The morning had been reasonably sunny. Luca felt a little bit stiff from sitting in the same position for so long.

He touched his fingertips to the glass and watched the glass fog up around his fingers. He had warm hands. The rain had to be really cold for the glass to have cooled down so quickly. Or something like that. Science...

He missed his own bed. He missed the tedium of living at home. He missed being able to wake up and not feel a weight settling into his stomach when he remembered where he was. He missed mama's cooking. Adriana was a good cook and he wasn't bad either, but he missed the taste of mama's home baked bread, fresh marinara that she'd spent all day cooking.

He never should have asked for that information. She'd been doing his laundry and she'd found the GLBT Alliance handouts that the universities had sent him. He'd been so careful to hide the information, to clear the internet caches, to request things in non-descript envelopes. And then he'd gotten stupid. He left one in the pocket of his favorite jeans. Of course she'd found it when she was emptying out his pockets to wash them.

Luca pressed his palm to his forehead, pressing against his skin as though he could squish his thoughts out of his head. Make them go away forever. He'd just HAD to request the information, couldn't wait. Just a few more months and they never would have had to know.

And what if it was just a phase and then all this madness would be over nothing! There would be no point to all this...

Luca put his hands over his ears and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against his knees. He'd screwed everything up. He could never go home again, and there'd be no money for college, he was going to end up going nowhere. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth.

The sound of the rain roared in his ears while he had his hands pressed over them. His palms felt hot and sweaty. He closed his eyes and let his hands drop to his side.

See the rest here

Will Porter/Various 2/025. Longing

2008-03-29T21:39:50Z

Title: Understanding
Character: Will Porter
Prompt Set: Various 2
Prompt: 025. Longing
Rating/Warnings: PG
Author's Notes: Shy and Will have a late night talk.

The light was on in the living room. Will knew that meant one thing: Shy was up again. Blinking at the clock, he saw that it was a little before three o'clock in the morning and wondered what was bothering the kid tonight. He had to get up to go to the bathroom, anyway, so he might as well see if Shy was battling insomnia or simply wanted to play another tennis match on his Wii. Will couldn't help smiling as he thought about what had happened the last time he'd interrupted one of Shy's games. Despite the wake up call he'd received, he'd started seeing Shy in a different light and actually found himself respecting him a little more. It was this thought he had in mind when he headed out of the bathroom and into the living room. Instead of seeing their boy playing his videogame, however, he saw Shy curled up on the sofa, his head on his knees, shoulders shaking as he cried. Will didn't know what could be wrong, but he wanted to find out.

Without a word, he took seat on the couch next to the boy. Startled, Shy jumped and raised his head.

"Baby? What's wrong?" Will asked, putting a hand on Shy's knee.

"Nothing," Shy said quickly, wiping at his face as if to banish the evidence of his tears. "Sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't," Will assured him. "I had to use the little lumberjack's room." He smiled and wiped away a trace of tears that Shy had missed.

"Oh, okay," Shy said with a sniffle.

"So, what's up?" Will asked again.

"Nothing." Shy eyes started to water again as he said it, and he leaned his head against Will's shoulder. "I'm a horrible person, that's all."

"No, you're not," Will shushed him, stroking his hair. "You're one of the sweetest people I know. Try again."

"I'm serious, Will," was the firm response. It made Will frown because he rarely heard Shy this serious when he wasn't angry. But he didn't sound angry. He sounded hurt.

"Is it something to do with me? Are you upset about the other day?"

Please say no.

"No, that's not it," Shy said, much to Will's relief. "It's something I've done."

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

Shy started crying again and a momentary look of panic flickered across Will's face. "Oh, baby, what is it?"

"I...I d-don't want you to kill me..." Shy said softly.

Will hugged him closer and kissed his hair. "There will be no killing. I promise."

Shy slipped an arm around Will's waist and hugged him silently for a few long moments. It was enough time for Will to wonder if the kid had decided to leave again. Just as he was about to ask, Shy raised his head and looked at Will with the most mournful expression he'd ever seen on his face.

"I have feelings for someone besides Orli," Shy said softly. "And you," he added.

Will wanted to say, "You have feelings for me?" but that thought was fleeting once he focused on the first part of that statement. He'd thought he'd feel anger at those words, but what he mainly felt was disappointment.

"And you want to leave us for this other person?" Will asked softly.

"What? No," Shy said quickly. It wasn't until that moment that he knew how much he wanted to stay right where he was. "I just... I feel awful. I promised Orlando he'd be the only one I love and I've gone and fallen for someone else, too."

Will wasn't sure what to say to that. He wondered who it could be and how Shy could want anyone besides Orli. That might have seemed ridiculous in light of how jealous Will had been about Shy before, or how his own feelings for the younger man were growing, but his husband was a point of pride with him. Damn it, if anyone was going to love Orli, they should only love him, period.

"Go on. Say it," Shy said, breaking through Will's thoughts.

"Say what?"

"Whatever that face you're making means." Shy sat all the way up, the sadness in his eyes replaced by defiance. "Tell me I'm a horrible person for loving two people but only being with one."

Will opened his mouth to speak. He was going to tell Shy that maybe he was being unfair to both himself and the person he wasn't with. Instead, he said, "I've done the same thing."

The surprise on Shy's face made Will smile, and he gave his leg a squeeze. Shy didn't have to ask Will to continue. The question in his eyes made it clear he wanted details.

"When Orli and I were first engaged, we met one of the most incredible people we could ever hope to meet."

"That other guy you and Orli told me about?" Shy asked in a small voice.

"Uh huh," Will nodded. "I fell in love with him. I still love him. But we aren't together because he can't be with us all the time."

"I remember you telling me about him," Shy nodded, "but I didn't think you still loved him like that." At Will's nod, Shy frowned. "There's a difference, though. I can be with this guy if I wanted. I just... I can't help missing him, but it's not enough to make me leave Orli. Should I just stop?"

"Stop what?"

"Loving him. Should I just stop?" Shy repeated.

The question made Will smile in spite of himself. "Is that possible?"

"I dunno. Can you just stop loving someone else?"

"I don't think so," Will said gently gently. ""And the fact that you're having trouble with this is proof."

Shy sighed and leaned against Will again. "What should I do?"

"Be honest with Orli. No matter how much you think it's going to hurt him, keeping the truth from him is worse."

"Are you sure about that?" Shy looked skeptical. "What if he gets mad?"

"Then let him get mad. And you show him that you're not going to let that stop you from loving him."

Shy snorted. "It'll take a lot more than him yelling at me to make me stop."

Will smiled at that and stroked Shy's hair. "Honey, what is it about this other person that made you fall in love?"

"It's when I took my break from you guys," Shy admitted. "I met him online and we started talking and..." Shy sighed. "God, he's lovely, Will. He reminds me of Orli in so many ways, but there are different things about them both that I love and admire. I never thought in a million years he'd want me. I started talking to him because I needed some advice and things just went from there."

Will frowned. "Wait a minute. Is it the guy I saw you flirting with online?"

Shy swallowed hard. "Yes," he said, his voice very small.

"Are you sure it's love and not just infatuation?"

"Are you?" Shy countered. "Why do you think you love me? You're just in love with the fact that I look like the guy you already love."

"Shy, you make Orli very happy, and when you weren't here, I missed you almost as badly as he did."

"That's how I feel about Tom." Shy chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before continuing. "And I feel like shit because I had to make a choice that I knew would hurt him. Plus, if I tell Orli--"

"When you tell Orli," Will corrected him.

"When I tell Orli, I'm going to hurt him, too." He paused and nuzzled Will's neck. "Are you sure I have to tell him?"

"Honey, if he ever found out about it and knew that I knew, he'd be a lot more upset. Trust me on this."

There were a few minutes of silence before Shy sniffed and cuddled closer to Will. "Do you mind if we just sit here a little longer?"

"Of course not," Will murmured, stroking Shy's hair.

"And will you still like me even after Orli hates me?"

Will tsked and gave Shy a gentle kiss to the temple. "Baby, there is nothing in this world that could ever make Orlando hate you. Have a little faith in him, all right?"

Shy nodded. "I will."

Will Porter/Various 2/006. Truth

2008-03-22T08:27:45Z

Title: The Truth of the Matter
Character: Will Porter
Prompt Set: Various 2
Prompt: 006. Truth
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for language, m/m situations
Author's Notes: Will finally learns the truth about why the newest member of the household feels the way he does about him.

Shy was completely involved in his Wii tennis match, and from what Will could see, the boy was winning. He ribbed Shy about playing his video games too much, but the truth was he loved to see the enjoyment the young man got out of them. One of these days, he mused, he would even join in to see if he could take him on.

When it looked like there was a break in the game, Will stepped towards Shy to ask what he'd like for lunch. At that moment, Shy drew his arm back to practice his swing and smacked Will in the eye.

"Aw, fuck!" Will cried out, putting a hand over his eye.

"Shit!" Shy yelled at the same time, startled by Will's presence behind him. He quickly turned around, and his eyes widened when he saw Will holding his face. "Oh god, Will, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. My fault for sneaking up on you," Will said, stumbling over to the couch and flopping down onto it. "You've got a great serve, by the way," he said with a pained smile.

"I'll be right back," Shy said, running into the kitchen. He raced back with a bag of frozen peas. "Here, put this on your eye."

Will looked at the bag and chuckled as he took it. "Thanks, baby," he said, placing it against his face.

The endearment took Shy by surprise. Sitting down next to Will, he couldn't help grinning.

"I must have hit you really hard."

"Why do you say that?" Will asked, wincing as he readjusted the make-do ice pack.

"You called me baby instead of getting mad at me."

Will lowered the peas, a slight frown on his face. "Honey, it was an accident. Why would I be mad?"

Shy shrugged and took the bag from Will's hand. "Why would you call me baby?" he asked, putting the cold pack back on the injured eye.

Suddenly very aware of just how close Shy was to him, Will felt a little flushed as he smiled. "You still don't believe I love you, do you?"

There was a brief questioning look in Shy's eyes before he lowered them and shook his head. "I don't see how you could. I don't--" He stopped abruptly.

"You don't feel the same way," Will said softly. "That's it, isn't it?"

When Shy didn't answer, Will touched his fingers to the boy's chin and gently tilted his face toward him.

"It's okay that you're only here for Orlando. You make him so happy." Smiling, he idly brushed his thumb over Shy's lower lip. "You make us happy." He leaned a little closer, taken by the sweet expression of confusion in Shy's eyes. "You don't have to love me, sweetheart," he whispered. "I promise."

Shy held Will's gaze. He could see something different in his eyes, something that reminded him of the way Orlando looked at him when he wanted to kiss him. No matter what may have taken place between them before, Shy knew that Will meant what he was saying. He was willing to share the man he loved because he knew what it meant to Orli. More than that, he was willing to share his heart.

"Okay," Shy whispered, wondering if his heart was racing like this because of his recent exertions or because Will was so close to him. And he smelled so good.

"Okay," Will echoed, smiling when Shy parted his lips slightly, inviting him to make the touch even more intimate. When he did, the younger man drew in a slow breath and kissed Will's thumb before drawing back from him.

"How's your eye?" Shy asked softly, gingerly touching the reddened spot high on Will's cheekbone.

"Better, thanks to your ice pack." Will turned towards the gentle hand, not wanting to move too quickly but dying to have the same kind of closeness he'd felt between them before he'd gotten so angry with him.

Shy nodded and leaned in to close the distance between them. His mouth turned up in a small smile before he touched his lips to Will's.

Will had kissed him before, but this was different. It was almost as if Shy was making it clear that he had forgiven him for the angry threats Will had hurled at him. The kiss was tentative and sweet, yet still somehow bolder than Will remembered their other kisses being. When he moved to deepen it, sliding a hand into Shy's hair and holding him close, Shy responded by pushing him against the back of the couch and awkwardly climbing onto his lap.

Soon, Will found himself not only being straddled by the young man, but kissed with a fervor that reminded him of Orlando when he was feeling particularly playful. It wasn't long before Will had his hands under Shy's shirt, fingertips skirting over the smooth skin of his stomach, teasing him before sliding down to the waistband of his shorts.

Shy pulled back and licked his lips, grinning at Will with a glint in his eye that made the older man feel weak in the knees.

"You like that?" Shy asked, biting his bottom lip and tilting his head.

"Uh huh," Will nodded. His face was flushed and his cock was thrumming with the ache of arousal. "A lot."

"'Cuz it's me or 'cuz I remind you of Orli?"

Will's hands fell away at the question. He had to admit that the entire time Shy had been kissing him, he'd been imagining he was simply with a younger version of his husband. There was no way he could say anything to dispute that if he wanted to be entirely honest with the boy.

Shy nodded, understanding that Will's silence was answer enough. "I love Orli because he loves me for who I really am," he said softly. "Maybe when you can do that, I'll love you, too."

Lowering his eyes, Will felt genuine shame that he'd been so transparent the entire time Shy had been with them. How many times had he referred to Shy as a mini-Orli or commented that he now had two versions of his husband at home? He knew that Shy was right to want to be cared for in his own right.

"Don't look so sad," Shy said, kissing Will on his forehead and hugging him. "I know you aren't trying to hurt me or anything. I just wanted you to know why I feel what I do."

Will couldn't help smiling at that as he raised his arms to return the embrace. "Who made you so mature all of a sudden?" he asked.

Shy shrugged and kissed Will on the forehead again before letting him go. "Dunno. But I'll think of an answer if you make me a roast beef and cheddar sandwich for lunch."

"Bottomless pit," Will laughed, the tension he'd been feeling finally completely released. "You want some chips with it, too?" he asked, patting Shy's stomach and nudging him to get off his lap.

"If you mean crisps, I'd love some," Shy teased, getting to his feet and pulling his shirt back down. "And a root beer and one of those big pickles."

"Yes, sir," Will said, grabbing the soggy bag of peas as he rose to his feet and reached to tousle Shy's hair. "Do me a favor, though."

"What?"

"Wait 'til Orli's sitting down with us at the table before you start on that pickle. I love the look on his face when he watches you put one of those things in your mouth."

Shy snorted and gave him a look that said he knew the two of them had come to a new understanding. "Pervert."

Will acknowledged both the look and the characterization with a nod. "One day you'll love that about me."

"Yeah," Shy said, a cheeky smile lighting up his face. "We'll see."

1314 words

Cai - Serenity

2007-12-31T01:54:40Z

Title: Meditation
Prompt Set: Various 2
Prompt: 072. Serenity
Rating/Warnings: PG for language
Author's Notes: Cai at the therapist

"Focus on your breathing. Feel the oxygen flowing through your body. Recall that this oxygen was created by plants, as they use the sun to make their food."

Cai shifted, this was cramping her legs. The meditation group leader had a nasal accent and it was distracting to Cai. Everyone else in the group seemed not to notice it, or maybe they were all already deep in their meditative states.

Or maybe they were all stoned off their asses.

"When you breathe in you're breathing in the rainforest, feel it become part of you as you are part of it."

Oh for the love of $#*% Cai got up and left the room. Relatively politely she thought, she hadn't voiced how much crap she thought the whole thing was and she hadn't hit anyone on the way out. "What a crock. Breathing in the rain forest, my ass."

***

"I hear you couldn't complete the meditation class, Caitirin. That's disappointing, I really thought that might help you." Her doctor, the head shrinker, said with a wry grin.

"Sitting around saying 'oohm' while that crackpot hippy tells me I'm breathing in the rainforest is NOT going to help me." Cai said waspishly.

"What do you think is going to help you?" The doctor asked setting aside his notepad. He had quickly realized that if Cai thought that he was taking notes while she talked she got angry and shut down.

"Isn't that why I'm sitting here doing this psycho babble crap? You're supposed to tell me that. If I knew how to make the fucking nightmares and the shakes and the paranoia go away, don't you think I'd have done it by now?!"

"Okay, well why don't we try hypnosis?" He suggested, refusing to rise to the challenge in her words.

"You know what? That's ridiculous. Why I even bother coming here is beyond me. You people are useless. You can't fix anyone." Cai got up and stormed out.

Her doctor leaned back in his chair and shook his head. Anger management classes would be a good start for her. But bringing that up would probably make her blow a gasket. "Why do you bother coming here, Cai?" He mused to himself. It's because you know that we can and we will help you. You don't see it, but you're making progress. It just takes time. And you've got that in abundance.

006, Truth, Various 2

2007-12-20T21:10:50Z

Title: Truth
Character: Mikah Nadiv, OC
Prompt set: Various 2
Prompt: 006 Truth
Rating/warnings: PG-13, for language and suggestive scenes

Truth

New Character!

2007-12-19T19:26:59Z

Don't make me come over there!!

Mikah

Luca: Byron versus the Commies

2007-11-28T03:12:32Z

Title: Byron versus the Commies
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 011. Red
Word Count: 324
Rating/Warnings: G
Author's Notes: Thanks to my wife for supplying dubious Byronic fact verification.

"Why did people think Lucille Ball was a communist?" Luca asked as he watched Nick at Nite.

"What?" Gideon was preparing for a final exam. He hated that this semester Luca had final papers and so he had finished them all and was scott free till they kicked them out of the doors.

"Why did people think that Lucy was a commie?" Luca repeated.

"Oh... you're watching Nick at Nite. I have no idea. Look it up on Wikipedia."

"Hmmm, okay." Luca grabbed his computer. He typed Lucille Ball into the Wikipedia search. The article was long and started out talking about her ancestry. Luca skipped down and then got tired of reading and hit Ctrl+F. "Okay, here's something. It says... 'because she had registered to vote in the Communist party primary election in 1936 at her socialist grandfather's insistence.' Later on when people started throwing hissy fits Desi said that the only thing that was red about Lucy was her hair." Luca laughed. "And he said even that wasn't real."

"That's fascinating." Gideon said as he turned his attention back to Byron.

"Didn't Byron like shagging red heads?" Luca asked.

"HUH?" Gideon raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get that? He liked Greek and Mediterranean boys mostly. Hyacinths I think was the code word. You're his type more than redheads."

"Me?" Luca blinked. "Sweet! I could be the subject of a Byronic sonnet then?"

"I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a Byronic sonnet, you're thinking of Shakespeare. Byron wrote longer stuff, more epic you know."

"Only because he hadn’t met me. I'd have inspired him to write sonnets." Luca said with a smile.

"Would you go back to watching black and white commies and let me study in peace?!" Gideon said exasperated.

"Okay. You go back to boy loving and I'll watch my commies." Luca said as he turned back to the TV.

Gideon blushed redder than Lucy's hair.

Luca: Due Date

2007-11-28T02:43:38Z

Title: Due Date
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 009 Months
Word Count: 335
Rating/Warnings: G
Notes: for bodyandsoul100

"Adrianna is due next week!" Luca hung up the phone.

"Seriously? It can't have been nine months already, can it?" Gideon set down his book of Byronic verse. "Next week?"

"Yeah. Just in time for winter break. I'm going to go and stay with her over winter break and help her out. Ohmygod, ONE WEEK!" Luca shook his head. "I haven't even gotten her anything for the new baby. I'm a bad uncle already!"

Gideon smiled. "You're totally not. Why don't we catch the bus out to Babies 'R' Us and pick out some stuff for when the baby gets here?"

"That's a great idea. I just got paid. We could get adorable clothes!" Luca smiled.

When they arrived Luca was awestruck at the size of the place. "Holy shit, how much stuff can babies need? This place is like a small country!"

They went inside and looked around and Luca felt overwhelmed and very lost.

"Can I help you?" A girl who looked about their age smiled at them. She had on a name tag and a Babies 'R' Us polo shirt.

"We're looking for some stuff for a newborn." Gideon explained.

"Sure thing. Were you looking for clothes or toys or baby furniture or something else?"

"Clothes! I want to buy the baby some new clothes." Luca said.

"Follow me. The clothes are back here. You want to look for anything that says newborn or 0-3 months on it." She showed them to a whole huge section of baby clothes. "You should look through these racks and displays. Congratulations to you and your partner. You must be so excited about your new arrival."

Gideon blinked and kind of stared at the salesgirl. He tilted his head. "OH! It's not ours, I mean... it's... his sister is having the baby." He pointed at Luca.

The salesgirl laughed. "Oh, so sorry! I assumed, sorry about that."

Luca laughed and patted his tummy. "Yeah, we're not due for another five months yet."

Gideon sputtered and blushed.

Title: Sticks and Stones - Luca

2007-11-28T00:55:33Z

Title: Sticks and Stones
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 008. Weeks
Word Count: 302
Rating/Warnings: G
Author's Notes: for bodyandsoul100

"You'll have to have the cast on for at least six to eight weeks, young man." The doctor examined the cast. It had set nicely and the break was clean. "Then we'll take it off and evaluate physical therapy."

"Six to eight weeks?" Luca said incredulously. "That's... two months!"

"Be glad that it's such a clean break or it could be longer." The doctor said. "You're lucky that you escaped so lightly. It could have been much worse. You had quite a fall." He reached for a prescription pad. "Your friend can come in now. I'm going to write you a prescription for something for the pain. Don't use your arm for anything if you can avoid it. And keep it in the sling as much as you can to keep the weight off it. And if it aches or swells keep it elevated as much as possible. Some patients like to put a pillow under it while they sleep."

The nurse led Gideon into the exam room. He ran over to Luca. "My God, are you okay? Is it really broken?" He looked at Luca's cast.

The doctor handed Luca the prescription. "Do you have any other questions?"

Luca shook his head.

"Okay. Don't hesitate to call the office if you have questions later. The nurse will be back in a few minutes to check you out."

Gideon hugged Luca, carefully. "Does it hurt? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. It hurts a little bit, but the doctor gave me pain meds for it. Can we fill these downtown?" Luca asked.

"Sure, what did he give you?"

Luca handed Gideon the prescription.

"Holy crap! Percocets! That's good stuff! I had those when I had my wisdom teeth out. They make you totally loopy."

"So... in your case you couldn't tell the difference?"

Luca: Waiting for the Phone to Ring

2007-11-28T00:41:45Z

Title: Waiting for the Phone to Ring
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 007. Days
Word Count: 459
Rating/Warnings: None
for bodyandsoul100

Okay... it's only been a day, don't wait by the phone. Don't sit home and agonize. Don't watch the phone. Don't watch it!

Luca sat at his computer and tried to work on his Bugs and People paper. Actually it was "Insects and Society" but everyone called the class "Bugs and People". Right now he had to write a paper about how insects positively affected civilization. After the spider bite that he had gotten on the field trip last week he was having a hard time thinking positively about bugs. And it hadn't even been a cool radioactive spider either, so there was no webslinging in his future. Just a visit to health services and hydrocortisone cream to put on the red swelling.

There had been one upside. The cute psych major had walked him to the health services building. And Luca, under the influence of spider venom no doubt, had given him his phone number and said that he wouldn't mind if James (cute psych major) called him some time to 'hang-out' or 'study' or 'whatever'. Luca had replayed the conversation in his head all day and all last night. It sounded stupider with each repetition.

Don't watch the phone. Watching the phone only makes it feel longer. He's never going to call if you watch the phone. Stop watching! I mean it! Stop watching it!

Luca felt like he was sweating. He turned around on his bed and set the laptop facing away from the phone so that he couldn't look at it. He tried to focus on his paper. How bugs are good for people. How.... bugs are good... for people.

He felt like the phone was staring at him. He could feel its harsh... non-eyes boring into his back and it was making his hair stand on end. His eye twitched.

"Mr. Psychology still hasn't called?" Gideon came into their dorm room from his "Byron in the time of Empire" class. He dropped his bag next to his desk.

"No!" Luca wailed. "I'm going to die old and alone!" He flopped backwards dramatically on the bed.

"Ooookay, time for ice cream and Star Trek I think. Come on. Before your eye starts twitching." Gideon said as he took Luca's laptop away.

"It's too late." Luca said with an arm over his eyes.

"You’re a head case. Come on. We can watch the one where Kirk wants to save the woman in the past."

"Is that the one with the Nazis?" Luca sat up.

"Yep." Gideon got the DVDs and then tossed Luca a carton of ice cream from the freezer. "Not like you were getting anything written on that paper anyway, right?"

"Right. Okay, just one episode."

"It's a two parter."

"Okay... just two then."

Bodyandsoul100: Luca: Opening Night

2007-11-28T00:21:56Z

Title: Opening Night
Character: Luca Fabiani
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 006. Hours
Rating/Warnings: None
Words: 378

"So... wait... when is this movie?" Gideon rubbed his arms to keep them warm. He could see his breath. They were both wrapped up in giant coats and mittens and scarves. Luca's was blue with red stripes and Gideon's scarf was a mixture of natural colors. He had it wrapped three times around his neck and was trying to pull his head down into the circled scarves.

"In three hours." Luca said. He stomped around trying to keep warm and he was starting to envy the homeless guys across the street. They had a fire in a trashcan. He pulled his hat down over his ears and shivered.

"Why the heck are we out here three hours early? There's no one else here!" Gideon said as he shoved bemittened hands into the deep pockets of his faux shearling jacket.

"Well... I didn't want it to sell out. It's the United States premier of Howl's Moving Castle! The new Miyazaki film. We can't miss it. It's supposed to be a master piece and Hayao Miyazaki is an absolute savant. The man is unmatched, a pioneering visionary genius-"

"Okay, okay, I get it! You sound like you want to marry the guy." Gideon laughed. "When does the box office open?"

"An hour before curtain." Luca said. He felt like his fingers were turning blue.

"So we have to stand here, in the cold and snow, freezing our tuchuses off for two hours before the box office even opens at all?" Gideon said with a look that clearly stated that he thought Luca had taken leave of his senses.

"Um... yes?" Luca said hopefully.

"You are mental!" Gideon grabbed his arm. "Come on. We're going to sit in that Starbucks across the street until people show up. Then, maybe, we can come back out here and stand in the freezing. I can't believe you talked me into this. It's like ten degrees out here."

Luca resisted for about half a second. "Okay. Let's get hot chocolate. He scurried after Gideon and into the Starbucks. It's totally worth standing in the cold for though..." He said.

"I believe you. But it'll be better appreciated if our brain cells aren't all dead from frostbite and our eyeballs are thawed."

"Good point." Luca concurred.

Luca: White Horses

2007-11-24T03:31:36Z

Title: White Horses
Character: Luca
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 005: Last
Rating/Warnings: One curse word

"Oh God." Luca hiccupped. He had been hiccupping almost non stop for the last two hours. "I'm never going to –hic- be able to stop. I will never SLEEP AGAIN!" He ran his hands back through his dark curly hair. He pulled on it.

"When was the last time you saw a white horse?" Gideon asked.

"What? I dunno. Can't you see I'm dying here?" Luca said with a pathetic look on his face. "Besides –hic- why do you care?"

"I'm taking a survey. Just humor me. When was the last time that you saw a white horse?" Gideon asked again.

"Uhm. In real life or just –hic- on TV?"

"In real life."

Luca sat back and pondered. When was the last time that he'd been anywhere outside that would have had horses? He chewed his lip. "Well... I think I went to a fair... years ago with my friends from high school. My dad never would take us to fairs because he didn't like the way the animal smelled and it used to drive him nuts that I would ask and ask and ask for a bunny."

"White horses?" Gideon prompted.

"Let's see..." Luca sighed. "Okay. I can remember seeing one at a fair back in high school. Well it had spots on it I think. Does that count?"

"Maybe. Can you think of one that was all white?"

Luca looked up. "Well I did see one at a pony ride when I was a lot younger. So maybe that was it. Good enough?"

"Yeah. Cool." Gideon said.

"What was that all about?"

"Are your hiccups gone?" Gideon asked.

Luca paused. He waited. And waited some more. "Holy crap! YES! They're gone! That's amazing!"

Gideon smiled. "You're welcome. Sadly it only works once. But at least it worked, right?"

'Bad' TV

2007-11-24T03:08:13Z

Title: 'Bad' TV
Character: Luca
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 003. Ends
Rating/Warnings: G
Author's Notes: SPOILERS for this week's episode of Moonlight

003. Ends

"Just a second, Moonlight, is almost over. Give me a sec." Gideon waved Luca away as he sat parked in front of the TV. It was the new CBS show with the vampire detective, Mick St. Jean. Gideon had been addicted to the show ever since the pilot episode had aired. Luca was hugely amused at this and took almost every opportunity to tease Gideon about it.

"How's the sexy angsty vampire detective man this week? Angsting over the dead wife again?" Luca leaned down from the top bunk. He glanced at the TV. "Oh ew! Shower scene! My EYES!" He rolled back onto the bunk.

"Shush, you!" Gideon said blushing. "It's not what you think. And shush! This is a dramatic part!" He turned it up. "She's turned human again! And maybe there's a cure for being a vampire. He could turn human again."

"Right because having to wear those sunglasses all time the and one blood cocktail every ten episodes has really been slowing him down." Luca laughed.

"Hey, do I make fun of your bad shows? I don't think so." Gideon reminded him. "Magical girl shows are SO easy to make fun of. I could say things."

"You can't tell me you don't love Usagi. You cried when they all died!" Luca said.

"... Yeah... well... shush!" Gideon said. He resumed watching the show.

"Holy crap! Did the blonde side kick just stake her?" Luca sat up, he was watching now.

"OH My GOD! She did! But she's human, I mean- the wife. She might die! Augh how STUPID can that girl be? Now she's going to die!" Gideon leaned in towards the TV.

"Wait... if she dies, won't they lose the cure?" Luca said.

As the credits rolled Gideon looked back up at Luca. "I thought you didn't like this show." He smirked.

"I never said I didn't like it. But that doesn't mean that it's a good show. You HAVE to admit, the writing is TERRIBLE." Luca said.

"I... well... okay. Yeah it is. But you're watching it with me, anyway."

Luca Fabiani: 002 - Middles

2007-11-24T02:44:32Z

for bodyandsoul100

Title: Cinnabon
Character: Luca Fabiani
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 002: Middles
Rating/Warnings: G

002. Middles

Luca peeled the cinnamon roll layers away and carefully stacked the half circle sections one on top of each other. His fingers got really sticky and he had to lick the cinnamon and icing off his fingers. Finally he was left with only the one inch center section.

"Why do you eat them like that? You just throw away most of the cinnamon roll." Gideon asked as he picked up one of the discarded sections. You're wasting a ton of it."

"Because..." Luca sipped some of the skim milk he'd bought to go with it. "Cinnabon cinnamon buns have something like... ten thousand calories in every bite and if I ate an entire roll myself I would look like... the good year blimp."

Gideon rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, you eat junk food all the time and you burn it all of while you're sleeping or something."

"And-" Luca continued, "the middles are the best part of the cinnamon roll. So I like to have that part and just not the rest. Then I don't have to feel so guilty about eating junk food. And hey, I do NOT eat junk food all the time. I only... eat some." Luca said defensively.

Gideon smiled. "Right. So you didn't eat that whole Ben and Jerry's pint of ice cream last week."

"That doesn't count! Break up comfort ice cream is vital to continued life." He said licking more icing off of his fingers. "Besides, I'm having skim milk right now. It's just a little indulgence."

"Watching your girlish figure?" Gideon stole another discarded section. "Some of these are really good. You're missing out."

"Yes I am watching my figure, and it's not girlish. I don't have the right hips. Rub it in." Luca laughed.

"Well no worries then, I'll just have to eat these parts for you. Good thing I'm so selfless."

"Yeah, lucky me!"

Simon - various 2 - 57: Flashback

2007-09-24T23:25:03Z

Title: Flashback
Character: Simon Earle
Prompt Set: Various 2
Prompt: 57 - Flashback
Rating/Warnings: PG - barely.
Cross posted to: rhapsodyofprose

+

"You know what I'm really curious about?" The interviewer asked. Each band member glanced over at him. "Where did you get your name? It's such a simple name but it must have come from somewhere."

"You know, I don't know either!" Craig said. Lukey shook his head.

"Ask one of those three," he said, pointing at Simon, Damien, and Andrew.

"Well... it's not a great big secret, but it comes from when we were back in high school..." Damien started.

It was a rather sunny afternoon, after school, and the three high schoolers were on the city bus, going from Damien and Andrew's place to Simon's. The Earles lived straight across town from the Janeses - the Janeses lived in a fairly affluent area called Cowan's Heights, but the Earles lived rather close to downtown in an area affectionately called Rabbittown. In order to reach this part of town, it was a long ride on the bus from the Village shopping mall through downtown, and then managing to catch the closest bus stop (and it was still another five - ten minute walk to the Earles' house as they didn't live on the main road the bus passed through). All in all, it was over an hour long bus ride, excluding the school bus ride back to the Janeses' house.

It would make much more sense to just go to the Janeses' house and have rehearsal there, but the problem was that the Janeses' piano was extremely out of tune, and it was even more work for Simon to lug over his keyboard than it was for Damien and Andrew to bring their bass and guitar over the other way. So that settled it.

Admittedly, they did get a few looks when they walked onto the bus heading downtown with two big black flight cases, and then a few more looks when they tried to figure out how to sort themselves out into the seats (Andrew settled with sitting behind Simon and Damien with the cases on the inside seat next to him, clinging onto them whenever they started to tip on sharp turns). It apparently was a weird sight to see three teenaged boys with instruments on a bus at 3:30 on a Wednesday afternoon.

Damien attempted to study for his Canadian History test that was the next day, but gave up after a while - the bus was just too shaky for him to keep his eyes on the book.

"So... Drew. What did you say about that show we might be able to play at? I couldn't hear you during class or on the other bus," Simon said.

"Both times?"

"It was loud. I couldn't help it - and the first time you got cut off by Mrs. Winters."

Andrew made a face, and muttered, "She's going to throw me out of class eventually..."

"Well, that wouldn't be the first stupid thing you've done," Simon said. Andrew glared. "What?! I'm only stating the truth!"

"What? What's so wrong about Mrs. Winters?" Damien asked. He had yet to encounter the World History teacher, as he had decided to take his Canadian Studies course a year late, as some students do.

"Oh, she's just the most evil, foul being on the face of the planet," Andrew muttered again.

"Dude, she's not that bad. He just really doesn't like her because of the fact that she always calls on him, and he never knows the answer."

"And she mixes me up with other people in the class all the time," Andrew rolled his eyes, "I've been called John, Jared, Evan, Robert, Michael, and Simon. And every single time she means me."

"Heh," Simon said.

"So, if I can, I should avoid getting her for a teacher next year?"

"Well, you could always do Global Issues instead, that counts too."

"She teaches that one, too," Andrew added.

"She might not be next year."

"How often do teachers switch subjects? When they leave the school, that's when," Andrew said.

"True... anyway, she's really not that bad. A bit loopy, but not terrible."

"She spends all of her time talking about Russia. All of it. She's like obsessed with it or something."

"Okay, I got to agree with you there. It's kinda pointless to be talking about Russia during something like, oh, I don't know, the attack on Hiroshima or something like that. We're going to be fucked when the final exam comes around - there's so much we haven't covered..." Simon said.

"Dude, you'll do fine - you got the mad remembering skills," Andrew said, "In any case, what we're trying to say is... stick with Sparks next year if you can."

"But you can't choose teachers," Simon said. Damien just sat there, and glanced back and forth between them.

"Okay - um... you two got really off-topic," Damien said.

"What were we talking about before?" Andrew asked, obviously entirely forgetting what they had meant to discuss.

"The show? You never even told me about it."

"Oh, yeah! Um... it's nothing really big..."

"One of those battle of the bands at the school?" Damien asked.

"Yeah, that! I saw a sign advertising it today - maybe we could try to get in," Andrew said.

"Dude, no one goes to those shows," Simon said.

"So? We need experience, don't we?"

"True..." Simon agreed, "When's the deadline for sign-ups?"

"Next week. The problem is... we need a name."

"What?"

"We don't have a name yet, and we're going to sound so stupid if they announce us by each of our names. We need an actual band name."

Simon made a face. Coming up with a name for a band always seemed to be a bit of a daunting task. How were they sure that it wasn't going to come out stupid?

"Where would we even start? Like, do we go through a list of names so we know what hasn't been taken? How do we know that nothing's been taken?"

"You overanalyze everything, Mony. We could just choose a working name for now or something, and switch it if we come across something better," Andrew said.

This entire time that the two seventeen year olds were discussing the whole idea of coming up with a band name, sixteen year old Damien was staring out of the window of the bus. The route had gone into downtown St. John's, and he always just liked reading the street signs as they passed. There were a lot of interesting names for streets and he often wondered where some of them came from.

"Well, the thing about coming up with a name is that this is how we're going to be called for the next... however long it is. How do you think that one... Barstowband, ended up with their name? Because it was their first name, and because they had nothing else to use, so why not use Barrett's last name, eh? Now, they hate the name but they can't change it because everyone knows them as that."

"Dude, a name can be changed easily enough. Just takes a bit of work," Andrew shrugged.

"But, still. If we figured out a good name to begin with, then we won't have this problem in trying to figure out a new name. Saves us a bit of effort."

"Okay, so what do you suggest then? It's pretty damn obvious neither of us have any ideas on what to use, so we might as well just figure out something random to begin with like, oh, I don't know, the Wooly Mammoths or some shit like that, and then we choose something better after next week."

"I am not being in a band called the Wooly Mammoths. As interested as I am in the animal, I'm still not naming a band after them."

"Well, then, you have anything better?"

"Well.... no... not right now, but..."

"But what?"

"I don't know. It would be better than the Woolly Mammoths, though... just give me some time to think."

Andrew waited for a few minutes, and made a buzzer-like sound, "Time's up, anything?"

Simon sighed, "No..."

"Well, I still vote for the Wooly Mammoths."

"You're an idiot, Drew."

A street sign caught Damien's eye, "Knight."

"What?" Simon and Andrew said together.

"Knight. You know, for the name of the band."

Simon instantly liked it - it was simple and straightforward, could be used for many plays on words, and it was a name that could grow with them.

Andrew seemed to be thinking it over, "Yee-aaaaah... it could work."

"It's better than the Wooly Mammoths, in any case," Simon said.

"Shut up."

Damien glanced out the window again, "Hey, we're nearly at your stop," as he reached for the wire. A little plink was heard as the "Next Stop Requested" light lit up at the front of the bus. They all struggled to move around the guitars, and stand up without falling down as the bus slowed down. Damien held the door open for them as they struggled to pull the cases out. When they were clear of the bus, and were walking down the road to Simon's house, Andrew said, "Yeah, sure. Why not Knight? It works."

"And that was how our name came about. Those two haven't stopped fighting since," Damien said.

"Wow, it was a lot less dramatic than I figured it would be," Lukey said.

"Dude, we're not dramatic," Andrew said.

"And here they go again..." Craig muttered.

"We still might be called the Wooly Mammoths if he didn't come up with something better," Andrew muttered.

"No, we wouldm't. I wouldn't let us," Simon said.

"Yeah, right..."

The interviewer looked at Lukey, Craig, and Damien, and said, "Well, then. Next question, eh?"
+

Meet Francesca

2007-09-08T19:49:05Z

[x]Name Francesca Goldberg
[x]Age 17
[x]Hair Brown
[x]Eye color brown
[x]Height 5'5
[x]Weight 120
[x]Species Human
[x]A bit about their personality. Franceca is a young girl about to finish high school. She is often nervous and pissed and hates the world. The novel that I'm starting with Francesca is about her year and her exprence and the lessons she learns growing up and transfering to an adult.

Story Updates

2007-09-02T00:13:07Z

First batch of stories. Yaayyy...

Title: The Chemistry
Character: Akai, Lynx, Matt
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 001-Beginnings
Rating/Warnings: A bit of cursing, implied smoking. Very worksafe.
Author's Notes: None really.

001. Beginnings
They had taken 11th grade chemistry together and that's where they met. A preppy with a pleated skirt, a flunkie with faded ripped up jeans and a rebel with too-tight leather pants that he refused to take off.

Seats needed to be chosen quickly. Friends sat with friends, but nowhere near the front. One had sat at the front three-person work table so she could take notes. One sat there because there was nowhere else to sit in the back. The last had sat there on the teacher's command so that he could keep an eye on him. Other than the rebel giving the flunkie a high five, they barely acknowledged that the others existed.

When the lectures began, so did the note taking. That was the natural course but not always how things happen. The preppy, introduced as Akai, took notes in illegible cursive. The flunkie, introduced as Matt, played his Gameboy under the desk. The rebel, introduced as Lynx, played with his dog tags and took a nap.

Finally, after three days of note taking, lecturing and answering questions, they were given their first task. The first task involved a fairly dangerous component. Akai would have normally taken all these out of the reach of the most dangerous person but she was trying to spur Matt into motivation. Lynx had taken possession of the acid and pocketed it. Then he dropped an empty test tube. "OH SHIT, SIR, I DROPPED IT!!!"

"Everyone out! Those fumes can kill you!"

The class was herded out and Akai was about to join them before Matt grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back into the seat. "He's screwing around. Did the same exact thing last year in Bio with the gas, the freak."

"You're no fun, Matt," Lynx said with a pout, taking the full beaker out of his jacket. The two boys burst into laughter.

Akai stared at them. They were so weird, so casual. Her friends would have killed her if she even attempted something like this. Trying to catch her breath, Akai stared them down. "Are you two both absolutely high?"

"Nope, though we might get a smoke while they realize that we're missing. Wanna come with?"

There was a silence as Lynx picked up his backpack and Matt shut off his Gameboy. Get caught for a crime you didn't commit now or get caught for skipping class with two random guys who are probably on drugs?

"......I'll come with, but only because this is last period and there are two minutes left to class anyways."

Title: Last Look
Character: Akai, Lynx, Matt
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 005-Last
Rating/Warnings: Mentions of sex. Like, seriously, barely anything.
Author's Notes: None, again.

"We're going to LEAVE!! You..." Lynx's voice tapered off into a series of mutters and grumbles outside her window. Matt probably would have joined him, making the mutters half audible if he wasn't trying to fit three suitcases into the trunk of his car.

They had just gotten out of college, after getting out of high school, together. They were all about to live for the biggest city they could find with a vacant apartment and see what they could make of themselves with their various degrees. The three had these plans since 11th grade when they met in science and became friends. Then they went into college together, Akai for Literature, Lynx for theology and Matt for botany. And now they were leaving.

Akai's eyes swept across the empty room. All that remained was the hard wood floors and the tiny holes where her posters used to hang. This room had been hers for years. Since middle school, when her family first moved into her house. She had been here for everything. Her first real love, her first real heartbreak, the loss of her virginity, all of it had been here. And now it was going to be just a faded memory.

But there will be more of those, won’t there?

Akai took a pen out of her ever-present purse and wrote a faint message on the inside of her closet door. She wanted someone to just know that she had been here. Acknowledgement was something important to her, along with love and Cds.

"And in a box beneath my bed…
Akai Nekoruka lived and loved in this room. ~3013"

When she finally said goodbye to her parents, put on her shoes and ran out to the car, Lynx had already stolen shotgun and was motioning that she'd have to get into the back seat. "So, what were you doing in there?"

"Just getting one last look."

Title: First Sight
Character: Akai, Skye
Prompt Set: Various 1
Prompt: 004- First
Rating/Warnings: Nothing.
Author's Notes: The capitalization of all the "he's" in this are intentional.

The first time Akai saw Him, He had been with His girlfriend and she had been sitting on the hood of Matt's car. She had stared at Him for a decent 45 minutes while Matt and Lynx threw eggs at the local "house call" doctor's window. He had stared at her too, through His dark sunglasses and, every single one of those 45 minutes, she had wished that she had worn something a bit more flattering instead of her baggiest jeans and the sweatshirt closest to the door. His girlfriend, a girl with waist-length red hair, tugged at His arm and made whiny noises at Him and He kept turning back and apologizing, giving excuses. The girlfriend made Akai cringe because she had the hair Akai dreamed of. Instead of having that glistening mane that His girlfriend did, Akai was given dark brown hair cut in a practical style which later received blonde tips.

The second time Akai saw Him, she knew that He knew her name. She knew because He approached her immediately after Matt and Lynx went to toilet paper the doctor's house. "We'll be back later than usual, Akai, so wait around if you want!" Lynx had called over his shoulder five minutes before. It took five minutes of getting out of the car, laying around on the hood and staring up at the clouds before He sauntered up to her, looking oh-so-sleek in His tight jeans, flowing shirt and dark sunglasses.

"So your name's Akai?"

"Umm, yeah..." She said shyly, knowing that she probably looked oh-so-silly in her denim shorts, black tank top and messy hair.

He grinned, showing beautiful white teeth. "I'll remember that."

The third time Akai saw Him, it was a double-whammy of sorts. Not only did she learn His name, she saw the color of His eyes. "Hey, Akai..." He jogged over to her, the second Lynx and Matt left the immediate area and she had gotten out of the car. She didn't even have time to get over to the hood.

"Oh, hi... err..." I don't remember His name, she thought. Oh sweet dear gods, I forgot His name!

If He sensed her panic, He didn't show it. Instead, He stuck out His hand and said, "I'm Skye... Skye Hunter."

"I'm Akai."

"I know." Then he took off his sunglasses to clean the lenses a bit.

The first time Akai saw his eyes, she developed a new favorite color.

New chara

2007-08-27T21:17:14Z

Don't make me come over there!!!!!!

[x]Name: Akai Nekoruka
[x]Age: 19
[x]Hair: Brown with blonde tips
[x]Eye color: Red
[x]Height: 5'7"
[x]Weight: 156
[x]Species: Human
[x]A bit about their personality: Mouthy and a smart aleck. Assimilates perfectly as, "one of the guys," but is more girly than any of them care to think about. Very romance oriented and dreams of a prince on a white horse. However, because of her musical influences and friends, the image has been skewed slightly. She lives in an apartment with her two best guy friends. Listens to far too much music and relates even more of it to herself.

Nothing else yet, but I'm working on it.
<3

My muse is being mean.

2007-08-22T17:54:50Z

Title: Jezebel
Character: Lilith
Prompt Set: Various 2
Prompt: 66 Animals
Rating/Warnings: G/ Other then atrocious writing and a rant from my character there are no warnings.
Author's Notes: I decided to mess with a first person point of view. This started as something different but I scrapped it and changed it from third person to first. The inspiration for Jezebel comes from my own orange tabby whose name is Kit-Kit and really is pure evil. My other kitty, Chocolate might die so this is to cheer me up a bit.
Constructive criticism is good, I'm a young author and I would like to be able to improve my writing skills.

I have a cat. You're probably thinking 'Aw a cute little kitty.' You're wrong, she's evil. 'How is she evil?' You may ask, well I have a simple answer for you, she talks. Now you're probably thinking 'Cool a talking cat.' Again, you're wrong. She doesn't shut up and taking a talking cat to the vet is a little odd, which is of course an understatement. The vets tend to freak out when a cat starts swearing fluently in German. German of all things!

Now you might be wondering who this gem of a cat is. Her name is Jezebel and she is an orange tabby, it's actually quite rare to find a female orange tabby but then again it's rare to have a talking cat. Me? I'm a sorceress named Lilith. Sorceresses are quite rare, in fact most people believe they're myths, it's not exactly something that I'll be able to put on my college applications.

Back to Jezebel, or Jezzy as I like to call her, a name she despises. That simple fact makes it even more fun to use. She's quite old for a cat, 13 years old, the fact that she's as annoying as she was when she was a year old proves that she hasn't matured at all. She still makes crude jokes and likes to use my black clothing as a bed. On the topic of jokes, she didn't make my parents very happy when she forced them into 'the talk' with their seven year old because of one of her jokes. She hissed at me until I was ten because I told them about her jokes. She might be a strange cat but my parents control the can-opener so she stopped the dirty jokes until I was 12.

Now back to some of the things that prove that she is a contender as Satan's spawn. My hair, I keep it long and she seems to think it's her personal play toy. She might be a talking cat but she still has those cat instincts, it's quite annoying. She has a habit of stealing my jewelry and hiding it in random places. She rips my scarves to shreds and uses my clothing as a bed. Orange cat hair on a black shirt does not look good. She also likes using my spell books as a bed which isn't that good because they're extremely hard to find. Again I've almost changed the subject.

Now where was I? Oh yes, clothing but I'm done talking about that so onto the next topic. It might seem like I hate Jezebel, but I really don't. She's my cat and I've had her most of my life so I have an entire list of things she does that annoy me but I also have a list of things about her that are wonderful. She's quite honest, creative, a good listener, wonderful at helping me with homework, and those are just a few of the traits she has. All in all, I love the little demon and I wouldn't ever dream of replacing her. Okay, I might dream of replacing her but I wouldn't ever actually do it.

Darien Black//Various#1//018. Green

2007-08-12T05:24:33Z

Title: Artless Jealousy
Prompt Set: Various#1
Prompt: 018 | Green
Rating/Warnings: PG/vague mention of boys kissing and underage drinking
Word Count: 1209
Characters Present: Darien, Scott, Cindy, Chloe Lords, Matias, Lola
Total Complete: 5/100
Author's Notes: A follow up to It. Written in a somewhat odd style (at least for me) but that's how it came out

There’s one in every group of friends: the person whose parents are never in town, who don’t mind the kids coming over and who don’t lock their liquor cabinets. In their group this person is Chloe Lords. Her parents are travel junkies, packing their bags and hopping on ships and planes for weekend jaunts whenever the mood strikes. That this particular trip just so happened to coincide with prom night is a particularly good stroke of luck.

It’s almost two in the morning and they’re sitting in Chloe’s living room, drinking and laughing and pretending it’s not getting late and they should be getting home. Chloe’s stripped off her dress, a black Gothic thing with lacings and buckles and straps, and is curled up in an armchair. If she notices that the over sized t-shirt she’s wearing is showing off her underpants, she doesn’t seem to care. Cindy notices, however, and thinks it’s tacky.

Chloe’s girlfriend (or is it girl friend?) Lola is sitting with her back to the same chair. She’s still in her dress, a bargain find at the thrift store, and has something green and toxic in her hand. Chloe’s hand absently plays with the ends of her jet black hair. It’s the only affectionate gesture Cindy’s ever seen between the two, regardless of their relationship.

The red head looks up as Matias, a friend of Darien’s and Chloe’s, comes over and offers her another drink. Vodka something. She wasn’t really paying attention. She takes it and he sits next to her on the sofa. He’s a nice enough guy, she supposes, even if he does try a little too hard to impress. Cute, too. In the back of her mind she wonders what her mother would say if she dated the Hispanic boy.

Cindy takes a sip of her drink and lets the alcohol sit in her mouth, burning her tongue, before she swallows. This isn’t exactly how she imagined her prom experience. To be honest, she had been hoping for more one on one time and less group activities. That was why she had gone with the shorter dress and push-up bra and why she had turned down date proposals from three different guys. She saw this night as her one last chance to win Scott over; to show him how much she really liked him and maybe, just maybe, get past holding the guy’s hand.

Instead, she’s in a strange living room with people she barely knows, drinking because that’s what everyone else is doing while Scott is off -- She stops and looks around, realizing that she hasn’t seen the brunette in the last few minutes. She asks where he is and Chloe says that he’s out back, with Darien.

That does it, Cindy decides. Setting her drink down, she rises from the couch (just a touch unsteady on her feet) and walks across to the sliding glass doors that lead outside. She’ll show him that she’s a hundred times more fun to be with than that damn blonde.

She doesn’t even get the door open.

Leaving the vertical blinds partially open, she turns on her heel and dashes to the other side of the house. When she gets to the front door, she fumbles and curses, unable to open it and leave. Chloe appears by her side, asks what’s wrong, and gets a hateful glare in return. The tiny blonde unlocks the door and stands to one side, wondering what brought on the sudden change in mood.

Matias is close behind, following Cindy and telling Chloe not to worry; he’ll see that the shaken girl gets home all right.

Lola silently points to the back door when Chloe comes back and suggests that they call it a night.

Scott, oblivious to the hurt feelings he’s just caused, is well on his way to third base with Darien.

Chloe knocks on the glass and suggests they get a room. She keeps Cindy’s sudden exit to herself; there’ll be enough time for drama later.

Monday morning and everyone’s talking about who went to prom with who, who left with who and who hooked up with who. Cindy’s girl friends crowd around her locker, waiting to hear how her plan to seduce went. Judging by the weary look in her eyes and the way her shoulders slump, they’re guessing not very well. They want to know what went wrong; is there another girl? Did something embarrassing happen at a crucial moment? Is he a lousy kisser?

Cindy’s answers are short; no, yes and probably not.

Their curious buzzing follows her to class. What does that mean? What happened? How could he have not fallen for her plan?

The girls get their answer when Darien passes by, a new swagger in his step. Cindy glares at him to the point where he hurries by.

Two plus two is four and in the gossip game sometimes you have to add up fractions before getting that whole number. It all makes sense now and, to those who still don’t get it, the others are more than willing to explain.

Cindy doesn’t bother correcting them when they make wild assumptions and she doesn’t stop them from slandering the boy who, until two days ago, was her best friend. Serves him right for not telling her he wasn’t interested. Serves him right for making her feel like a fool and ruining what should have been one of the best nights of her life.

A week’s gone by and the gossip mill is still going strong. By now the story is that Darien and Scott had sex in the bathroom at the hotel where prom was held. Cindy still hasn’t set the record straight and Darien can’t get Scott to look at him, let alone talk to him.

The jokes, the slurs, the sidelong glances are too much for the naturally quiet, introverted boy. He pushes everyone away and closes in on himself. When the rumors reach his swim coach and he’s pulled aside for a talk, he has to fight to keep from breaking down. At home, he’s stopped talking to his parents and barely eats anything. His father chalks it up to nerves; graduation’s right around the corner along with the SAT and college applications. His mother knows it’s something else, but can’t get him to say what.

Darien calls his cell phone daily and leaves messages. The only reply he’s gotten is a text message telling him to leave the other boy alone. When he finds who’s been spreading those rumors around school, he’s going to kill them.

Cindy would feel guilty for the hurt she’s caused, but she feels completely justified in it. Seeing the growing rift between Darien and Scott gives her a strange sort of satisfaction. It’s ugly and it’s petty, but she’s in it now and it’s too late to stop, even if she wanted to.

Darien Black//Various#1//090. It

2007-08-05T15:49:12Z

Title: It
Prompt Set: Various#1
Prompt: 090 | It
Rating/Warnings: PG/incredibly vague mentions of possible intercourse between two males
Word Count: 1590
Characters Present: Darien, Scott Winters
Total Complete: 4/100
Author's Notes: We’re skipping ahead a little here, but I promise to backtrack and connect the dots. This has been begging to be written for ages :) Also, has it been long enough since I updated? Sheesh.

It was only after he had rushed to the bathroom to throw up that Scott realized he was naked. He clung to the toilet, eyes clenched shut, mouth open as he struggled to get his breathing under control. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, was the nagging thought that the floor was rather colder than it ought to be. Releasing his death grip on the porcelain, he opened his eyes and got an eyeful of his own body.

Suppressing a small yelp, he jumped up and grabbed a towel, quickly tying it around his waist. Fully awake at this point, Scott also took a moment to take in his surroundings.

This was most definitely not his bathroom. Too much pink and his mother had stripped the wallpaper out of the bathrooms at his house years ago.

Scott took a small step towards the bathroom door and opened it just wide enough to get a look at the bedroom it was connected to. The walls were a standard white with a few tasteful pieces of art framed and hung. Twin night stands stood on either side of a queen sized bed and in that bed he could see the backside of another person. A rather masculine backside topped with messy blonde hair

Oh God.

Scott slammed the door shut then locked it for good measure. He couldn’t deal with this. Not now and certainly not without pants. He tried taking a deep breath to relax, but that just made him feel queasy again. Scott slid down to the floor, back to the door, and tried to make sense of what had happened the night before.

To do that, though, he had to think about what he had done and doing that only made his stomach knot up which, in turn, made him nauseous.

Certain now that there could be nothing left in his stomach, Scott rinsed his mouth with water and set down to tackle this . . . whatever this was. He liked things to be neat and labeled and conveniently compartmentalized. There was a certain order to things, in his mind, and that, out there, didn’t fit in with anything. It certainly hadn’t been part of his plan for the evening before and, thinking back, there was nothing to warn him that this might happen.

Again, that little voice at the back of his mind piped up. Sure, nothing except that kiss and the way you feel whenever he looks at you.

Scott frowned and told that little voice to shut it. One kiss and a handful of funny feelings does not equal getting plastered and sleeping with your best friend.

That little voice was quick to point out that, well, obviously, it does.

The sound of puking in the morning wasn’t exactly how Darien imagined he would be awakened. Before drifting off to sleep (and what a well deserved night of sleep it was, too) he imagined lazy late morning kisses, maybe some late morning fooling around followed by breakfast in bed followed by some more fooling around . . .

Damn his artistic romanticism and dammit, Scott, why are you slamming doors? Sensing some possible drama afoot, Darien rolled out of bed and into the closest pair of pants that seemed to be his. With a yawn and a stretch, he came up to the bathroom door and rapped on the wood.

“You OK in there, Scott?” Dumb question, but it gave the guy a chance to lie and cover.

“What? Yeah! I’m fine!”

Darien shot a skeptical look at the door. The voice on the other side was too cheery and slightly panic-stricken. “Would you, would you mind opening the door?”

“No, this is fine,” came the cheerful-panicky response.

Darien sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could really use a cigarette; too bad he seemed to recall a strict “no smoking” rule in Chloe’s house. Screwing in the guest room is fine, but God help you if you smoke . . . “Scott, you can’t stay in the bathroom. Chloe’s gonna want us out of her house at some point.”

“I . . . I don’t have any pants.”

Finally, a way to possibly get the boy out and talk face to face. “If I got you your boxers, would you come out?”

“Maybe.”

It was better than nothing. Darien shoved off of the door and went kicking around the mess they had made. Sheets, more sheets, pillows, shirt, socks, another shirt . . . a high heel? Ah, boxer shorts. No doubt who they belonged to; these had tiny Spider-Man logos all over them.

“OK, I got ‘em. You still gotta open that door, though, so I can give ‘em to you.”

The door opened, but only wide enough so the coveted clothing could barely pass from hand to hand.

“You know, I’ve seen you naked now, Scott. You aren’t really hiding anything new.”

The door slammed in response. Darien couldn’t make out if it was an angry slam or an embarrassed one. He supposed he’d find out soon enough.

Scott snatched his shorts and slammed the door so quick he was surprised Darien still had fingers attached to his hand. No one had ever seen him naked before! Well, besides the guys on the swim team, but that was only in the showers and in an entirely bedroom free context!

God. What now? He had to come out, he knew that, but then what? What was the proper etiquette for the morning after you, you know, with your best friend?

Scott paced the small bathroom floor, his hands pressed to his forehead, his mind and heart racing. He saw his future flash before him; all his plans and aspirations, his dreams and goals and he saw them crash and burn. Nothing had prepared him for this and since he wasn’t prepared, he couldn’t think of a way to force it into the neat compartments that made up his life.

His life as he knew it was crashing around his feet and he hadn’t even had breakfast yet.

No smoking be damned. Darien stood by an open window and puffed away. The way he figured, this was the least of the problems occurring in this room. Scott’s reaction had left him, well, he didn’t honestly know where it left him. Not even twelve hours ago they were best friends happily and willingly taking the plunge into the physically romantic. Now, he supposed he’d be lucky if the boy still wanted to message him on MySpace

The thought did occur to try to force the boy from his self-imposed imprisonment, but Darien felt that would hurt more than help. He didn’t need his best friend thinking he was some sort of sex-starved maniac.

The bathroom door opened, slowly, and Scott silently entered the room. He kept his head down and his arms crossed over his chest. Reading his body language, Darien felt like a colossal ass for the snotty remark he had made earlier. Poor kid was scared half to death.

Darien put out his cigarette and took a step towards Scott. Scott stepped back, his eyes still on the floor space between them.

Darien swore under his breath. “Look, Scott, there’s no set rule for how this plays out. If you want me to leave you be, I will. If you want to talk, I’m game for that, too.”

Scott chewed his lower lip as he contemplated his options. As tempting as it was to order Darien out of the room he needed the blonde. Darien had been his ride last night. So to speak. “If we talk, can I sit down? My stomach still hurts.” Not waiting for a reply, he sat on the edge of the bed, then curled up on one side, drawing his knees up to his chest. Darien sat on the corner, by Scott’s feet.

“So what happens now?” Scott asked in a small, quiet voice.

“Well, I imagine at some point we’ll have to get dressed and go home.”

“And after that?”

“Tomorrow’s Sunday, so I gotta go to mass. Then it’s Monday and back to school. I suppose everyone’ll be talking about prom, but you never know.”

“What about us?”

“Well, I have no plans to cut class.”

“Smart ass. You know what I mean.”

“I know. Nothing has to change if you don’t want it to.”

Scott frowned. “How can nothing change? Everything’s changed.”

“Easy. You’re still the same person you were twenty-four hours ago. So am I. Only thing that’s different is that I know what you look like without the boxers.” Darien shrugged. “You can either let that little thing, so to speak, redefine who you are or you can just add it to the list of things that make you you.”

Scott grew unusually quiet as he considered this. How something could be so life changing and yet not confused the hell out of him.

“Would it, would it be OK if we just stayed friends?”

“Sure thing, babe.”

“Maybe friends who, umm, who sometimes, maybe, made out? Every now and again?”

“Sure. But on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You brush your teeth first. I’m not going anywhere near that mouth after this morning.”