-insert dramatic title here-

[.~[Misty.Muffin]~.]

ｔｈｅ Ｐ Ｒ Ｏ Ｔ Ｅ Ｃ Ｔ Ｉ Ｖ Ｅ ｃｏｕｎｓｅｌｏｒ

It wasn't until there was a voice did he realize... he had a student in the room. He had just had a slight attack and changed... in front of a student. By the time just turned around, his face was bright red. Waaah! That was so embarrassing! And inappropriate! That was not okay! Granted he hadn't been in his right mind... and it had only been his shirt. Thank God there was no blood on his pants. Or, at least, there was none that he could see. Out of sight and out of mind. That was how the saying go and that was how it worked. He had just opened his mouth to apologize to the boy about what had happened and explain it, but Jeremy continued.

The color faded quickly and Josh frowned, more worried about Jeremy now instead of his own freak out. He could worry about his indecency later. "You didn't make a mess, Jeremy. I did. I gave you absolutely no choice in having your head tended to. I was the one who dropped the wrappers onto the ground and was careless about my clothing." Josh paused long enough to walk over and put one hand onto the boys shoulder, offering a gentle smile to hopefully help comfort him. "It was a little attack and is now over with. I'm fine, see? That's why I have so many clothes. Blood isn't just what gets me. Dirt, ink, smudges. It's not odd for me to act like that... though, it is in front of students." He chuckled and pulled his hand back, color returning briefly to his cheeks at the thought of freaking out like that in front of Jeremy.

"I apologize for my actions though, Jeremy." he said with a small laugh.The mention of Jeremy's head had his eyes worried again, but the student was fine. He had to remind himself of that. "You relax a bit and get the game set up on my desk. Feel free to set stuff aside if you need more room. What game did yo - Oh! Jenga! Goodness, I am terrible at that game." He let out a small laugh before heading into the bathroom. "I'll only be a moment, Jeremy."

Alright, so it was a little bit more than a moment. Josh put the first aid kit away properly, having left not done, and tossed the wrappers he missed. He washed his hands, then wiped down the counter and quickly the floor before folding up the bloody towel. With that in hand, he turned the bathroom light off and headed out. He grabbed his jacket from the ground and pushed the chair over to behind his desk before following the path of clothes back to the cabinet. He picked the shirt and undershirt up before setting them on the counter. He folded each one of them neatly, his jacked on the bottom and the bloody towel on the top, before pulling a paper bag from one of the drawers and setting them in. Ah, his OCD was stupid. If he left them there he'd be jumpy and twitching until he put them away properly... so he might as well just do it. He hated showing his... more fidgety side to people. And to Jeremy? It was bothersome... but he had warned the boy when they first met that he was somewhat of a strange person. In fact, he had explained his OCD a bit. Now Jeremy was getting the chance to experience it first hand. Hopefully it made the student feel a bit more normal.

Once the clothes were folded and put away and the bag was sitting besides Charlie's things he had to take home, the male let out a sigh and returned to his desk. "There we are." he said, somewhat needing to force the pleasant voice. He was still worried. Looking at the blood on the rag and the blood on his clothes made him think about the wound on Jeremy's head again. Cleaning up the mess and remembering just how it happened.. it wasn't good when he was with the student who was currently trying to forget it. For now he had to put on a happy face and be there for Jeremy. That was the important part. He still had a while before Josh would let him leave his office so... he had to help the boy relax and had to make sure that he knew that everything was going to be okay. This wasn't about him or how hard it was for him to forget.. this was about Jeremy.

"Now that it's all settled, i'm ready." he said with a smile. Josh patted his leg lightly once he had sat down and glanced over as Charlie ran to his side. She was obviously much happier to see her owner in a better mood... or less of an upset mood. He rubbed her head before nudging her, again, toward Jeremy. "And you. You need to enjoy Charlie's company while she's here. I don't know when i'll be able to sneak her in again."

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[American_Flyleaf_Girl]

Ӿ Ⓣhҽ Ⓣroublҽd Ⓣҽҽn Ӿ


Jeremy watched Gagnon recover from his little momentary spazz-out, shaking his head dismissively as the man suddenly realized he'd basically just stripped in front of a student. " No, don't you apologize either, " he said with a faint grin. " Trust me, you're no worse than I am with small spaces. It's fine. " He looked down at the box at Josh's statement and shrugged. " Yeah, I suck at it pretty badly, too, so I guess we'll just have to see who fails less epicly, " he smirked lightly. Gagnon headed into the bathroom again and Jeremy set down the game, walking over and grabbing a chair to sit on. Charlie followed him around idly and he couldn't help but stop and give the dog the attention she so obviously desired, sitting down sideways in the chair to scritch her chin and eventually, once she plopped over on her side, rub her belly enthusiastically.

Once Gagon entered the main of the office again she scrambled up and trotted around the desk, briefly excited before she became calm again. Jeremy was surprised by the amount of obedience and patience the small dog had in her -- Gagnon must spend a lot of time at home with her, and he must have spent a lot of time training her to behave so perfectly. It made him grin a little how relaxed she could be when commanded, but then quickly return to her pleasant, energetic state once properly enticed. He straightened a little in his chair, resting against the back and watching Gagnon as he moved to sit down, refreshed and cleaned up and seeming to be a little less worried about Jeremy's well-being for now. He still looked like it was forced, and Jeremy opened his mouth to comment -- to reassure him, perhaps, that he didn't need to worry, but he also didn't need to mask his concern in front of Jeremy -- but he was cut off as Josh spoke and nudged the dog in his direction, and he let it go. Hopefully playing a game he absolutely sucked at would... improve the mood somewhat.

" Oh, she seems like she behaves pretty well, " he said, scratching the pooch's chin. " I mean, she hasn't torn anybody's arm off or anything yet, I can't see why you wouldn't be able to smuggle her in again. From what I've heard today everybody loves her. I mean, she's a cute dog. If you've got something against cute dogs then you're just one effed up human being. Charlie's a good girl....Aren't you? " Charlie perked up and her tail swished back and forth at a good 80 miles an hour, Jeremy chuckling slightly and giving her one good long scratching behind her uprighted ears before opening the box. It was filled with the little rectangular wooden bricks and the instruction manual lay underneath the pile of said bricks, and after a moment's pause he lifted the box and somewhat uncerimoniously tipped it over onto the open space. He'd stacked some of Joshua's papers and such to the side so they were safe from the avalanche of wooden game pieces that spilled onto the desk.

" Alright, " he said, picking up the thin paper booklet. " Step one: .... Buriksu o kake--the crap, this is Japanese. Where's the English? " he muttered, furrowing his eyebrows and turning the pamphlet over, only to have it unfold on him suddenly. He twisted and manuevered and turned it around. " Mandarin Chinese.... Russian... German... Espanol.... Okay, WHY IS THERE NO ENGLISH. You, help me find words I can understand!! " he sighed finally, slapping the paper down and sweeping the Jenga pieces to the side slightly, careful not to spill them everywhere. It took another minute but they finally managed to locate the English directions, Jeremy peering at the near-microscope-worthy lettering beside a bland MS Paint-type drawing.

" Step one. Stack Jenga! blocks in the following pattern. "

He stared at the paper.

" I hate you, Jenga, " he finally said with a flatness in his voice, folding the packet up and dropping it back into the box before he started to stack up the little bricks accordingly, nudging about half the stack over to Gagnon's side of the desk so he could join in the enviable 'fun'. After a while they both ran out of the rectangular pieces and Jeremy insisted that Gagnon start on the basis that he 'didn't want to be the first one to screw it up' and that if he DID go first, the game would be over real fast. And thus, the game began.

---

" Shhhteeeaaaaaaadddyyyyyyyy.... shhteeaddyyyy.... shte-- oh, crabapples. I lose. "

The third round of Jenga! had just ended, leaving Jeremy sitting in the loser's seat for the second time. The first game he had managed to claim his winner's title, but it didn't last very long as Joshua's hands were steadier than his, and he managed not to collapse the whole little tower on top of itself, while Jeremy was less successful at doing so. He sighed, staring at the pile for a long moment before an idea vaguely sparked in his brain, deciding that an hour was long enough for Jenga! to be played. The proper way anywho.

" Alright, Jenga! blocks, you shall now become dominoes. " He glanced up at Gagnon. " Dominoes is literally the best game in the world, because you're actually supposed to destroy everything once you've set it up, " he stated simply, starting to pick up bricks and line the, up one by one, not too close but within distance of one another close enough to topple them all with the touch of a finger. " I start here, you start over there, and I say we meet in the middle. Dealio? " he asked, flickering his eyes up again briefly and not waiting for an answer before he continued to set up brick by brick by brick, creating some obscure whorling back-and-forth design and curving around the edge of the desk before he looped back. Hopefully there would be plenty of Jenga! blocks to misuse.

[.~[Misty.Muffin]~.]

ｔｈｅ Ｐ Ｒ Ｏ Ｔ Ｅ Ｃ Ｔ Ｉ Ｖ Ｅ ｃｏｕｎｓｅｌｏｒ

Just as Josh adjusted his position and was sitting in his chair comfortably, Charlie at Jeremy's side, the boy spoke. About Charlie this time. He smiled. He loved to talk about his dog. "I've never seen Charlie act violent before. We've never been in the kind of position where she might need to be. I'll try to bring her again... she seems to really like it, and like you said, the students seem to be happy as well." He smiled again and let out a small chuckle as the boy spoke to the dog, giving her attention and scratching her like she loved. She was more than loving the attention, that much was clear to Josh. The second Jeremy stopped and turned to the game the dog let out a small whine and returned to his side. Josh let out a small laugh and rubbed her head. As soon as he moved his attention to the desk and to Jeremy, the dog licked Josh's hand and plopped down onto the ground next to the desk just between the two men.

Though they had the blocks and instructions, the actual game was still a little while away. Apparently this particular version of the game was international... nearly every language imaginable, or the main ones at least, were listed. He blinked lightly and watched as Jeremy tried to figure it out. "It should be the first one." he commented, his arms folding onto his desk as he watched the student unfold it and struggle to find the English before just ordering him to help. He smiled before leaning forward once the booklet was set down.

Finding it was... actually harder he had thought. It was. for some reason. between French and Spanish. He could have just offered to translate the German or the French, or the Spanish if he had to, but Jeremy seemed quite set on finding the actual English so that he could read it himself... so Josh helped him find it. Finding the actual English directions hadn't helped much either. They were written like the typical directions... they are difficult to understand and a pain in the a**. "You understand my pain." he said, picking up a Jenga piece that had been pushed toward him as he was ordered to help stack. Well... not ordered out loud, but a pile of the pieces had been nudged toward him as a hint. He smiled a bit and took it, stacking a piece after Jeremy.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Jeremy, apparently, was worse at Jenga than he was.. a lot worse. He took the first game by luck, Josh making a stupid mistake when Charlie licked his ankle and he hadn't been prepared for it. He hadn't screamed THAT much like a girl, regardless of what Jeremy made fun of him for. Instead he laughed it off and challenged Jeremy to another game, making a mental note to wear long socks tomorrow. The next two games were his, easily. Jeremy's hands weren't as stable as he was and Josh took his time when it came to his turn, examining and staring at the tower until he found a place where he knew he could take a piece and it wouldn't fall. It made the games last forever, but they were... fun enough. It distracted Josh from the problem at hand. But every time it was Jeremy's turn and he was taking to long, Josh caught himself staring at the bandages around the boys head. It sombered him up fairly quickly and had him more quiet... but Jeremy seemed to catch onto his fast. He was positive the boys first loss in their second game had been because of that purpose.

Now ended their second game. Josh jumped and laughed as the tower toppled, pieces going everywhere and one falling down off the desk and hitting Charlie on her head. The man laughed and bent over, rubbing her head before he picked the piece up and straightened. Charlie only wagged her tail and looked up at them as if nothing had happened. Odd animal. Before he could suggest another game, maybe even a new one that wasn't Jenga, Jeremy piped up with a new idea. "Domino's?" he asked curiously, catching himself looking at the bandages again and looking away quickly, meeting Jeremy's eyes as the boy looked down and began to stack them. "Best game, hm?" he asked, an eye brow raised. He wasn't to sure about that... Josh had never been fond of stacking them then just knocking them over. It seemed so.. anticlimactical. Lame. He smiled a bit and nodded regardless of his thoughts as the boy began to stack the Domino's, making a pattern.

The counselor took a few domino's and began on the far side of the desk. Placing them in the same manner that Jeremy was, moving in and around to swirl them. He was, however, moving at a significantly slower pace than Jeremy was. He seemed quite focused on creating that affect that traditional domino's made, but Josh was finding himself distracted again. It had been about an hour since school had ended and Jeremy had first come in. A simple glance to the clock said it was almost four. That meant in an hour, or so, Jeremy would be leaving. He was acting fine now so there was really no reason for him to stay other than.. well... it was an excuse for him to not go home. He didn't want the boy to leave at all... but Jeremy had made his point clear. He was going to go home. While he wanted to protest and ask him again to stay at his home instead of going back to those people, he was silent and merely continued to place the Jenga pieces onto his desk carefully. He wanted to help, not be a bother. He didn't want to say he knew 'what was best' for Jeremy... because he didn't. He only knew how he himself felt about the situation. And... he didn't like it.

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[American_Flyleaf_Girl]

Ӿ Ⓣhҽ Ⓣroublҽd Ⓣҽҽn Ӿ


Jeremy seemed intensely involved with the false dominoes as he set them up, moving quickly but with relative precision. He found himself going back every few minutes and adjusting one brick here and there, nudging it to the side carefully so as to adjust it's position without ruining the growing rows before they were meant to be destroyed. Joshua seemed less into the whole thing, moving more slowly, carefully, arranging his own 'domino' pieces at a lesiurely pace. His face was thoughtful and... a bit melancholy, Jeremy had to admit. Was he thinking -- yet again -- over the dismal situation, or was that just the expression his face took on when he wasn't displaying any particular emotion?

He would have asked, but decided against it -- probably wouldn't help either of them any. He continued to set up his bricks in silence until after maybe five minutes he ran out of his own small pile, ending in about the middle of the desk and pausing before he glanced over to see how Gagnon was progressing. He was coming along, and their trails had almost met, and he leaned back in the chair, silently watching the man's hands carefully manuever each brick into place, set down with thoughtful consideration of how the individual piece's angling would affect the next and so on and so forth. It was... strangely interesting, just staring as his fingers chose a piece, moved it, placed it with precision. Jeremy found himself staring after a good ten or fifteen seconds, blinking and looking up at Gagnon's face -- he didn't see, as he was focused on the domino preparation -- then turning in his seat to glance towards the clock. It was four now -- had they really spent that much time on Jenga? It had barely felt like anything close to that....

Jeremy turned back around, suddenly finding the normally comforting silence a bit stifling, heavy, thick enough to slice with a butter knife. Should he say something, do something? He didn't know. He wasn't used to trying to comfort other people, much more the opposite, and never before his week of detention with Gagnon had it been very effective. He felt his pocket briefly for his phone, and remembered that he'd left it at home, deciding from now on he wouldn't 'need' it -- code for, he didn't want to be bothered with it while he was at school, seeing how the only ones who called him were his parents. It wasn't like he wanted to talk to them anyhow. He did, however, brush against something solid and rectangular, furrowing his brow and digging through his pocket before he removed his Mp3 player amidst a tangle of headphone cord. " Oh... shoot, it must have turned on... " he muttered, realizing that something was playing and had been without his noticing it. He untangled the cords and set the player on Gagnon's desk, lifting one bud to his ear curiously.

" O...kaaay... " he murmered, confused and not quite recognizing the music at first, until he slipped in the other earphone and suddenly perked up. " Oh, I know this song. Some French thing. Crap, how does it go... somethin' La Seine..... " he rambled on, unable to actually hear himself due to the noise cancelling quality of the earbuds. He made a waving motion with his hand, trying to follow the rythm of the song now playing in his ears. He wasn't a terrible singer, but he'd never put much effort into being any better than the average man, trying not to sway to much to the music.

" Je ne sais, ne sais, ne sais pas pourquoi,
c'est comme ça, la Seine et moi....
je ne sais, ne sais, ne sais pas pourquoi,
on s'aime comme ça la seine et moi...~ "
He'd never really found out what in the world the song was about -- some beautiful woman, he guessed after reading some comments on a video on the internet about the translation -- but it was freakin' catchy, and even though he didn't speak French at ALL, he had heard the music enough times over to pretened like he did.

[.~[Misty.Muffin]~.]

ｔｈｅ Ｐ Ｒ Ｏ Ｔ Ｅ Ｃ Ｔ Ｉ Ｖ Ｅ ｃｏｕｎｓｅｌｏｒ

Ah, thinking was beginning to hurt his head. Quite literally. Thinking about the situation and trying not to knock the small brick pieces over and ruin the line... ah, it was difficult. So he did what he wished he could do more and... stopped thinking. Not about everything, just about the situation at hand. What mattered was that Jeremy was sitting in front of him. Okay. Alive. Breathing. If he needed help he had the counselors number and Josh could be anywhere within five minutes... maybe less with the way he could drive at times. Instead he focused on the domino's. Placing them just the right length away from one another so that he would be Jeremy's finished line. Jeremy was done anyways so there was that small push telling him to move faster that he was trying to ignore since he hated making people wait, but it didn't matter to much. His pile was shrinking little bu little and he knew that he'd make it and reach the boys line he had made.

Jeremy speaking surprised him. The counselor jumped a bit and glanced up, seeing the student digging in his pocket before pulling out an mp3 player. He blinked slightly as the boy put one head phone in, looked confused, then popped the other one in. His interest was spiked at 'French' but he was completely forgetting the domino's the second he had said 'La Seine'. "Ahhh! I was just listening to that song!" he said, excited as Jeremy began to sing where the song apparently was. He joined in under his breath and bounced a bit. He loved that song!

Apparently, obviously, the boy couldn't hear him. He was kind of giving him that 'what are you saying' look. Josh smiled and leaned forward, grabbing one of the headphones and pulled them out of the boys ear. "I said, I love that song. I was just listening to it before you came into the office. La Seine is a beautiful song. Do you know French, Jeremy?" he asked with a smile. "C'est une langue merveilleuse." he said with a happy sigh, slipping into the tongue... partially accidentally.

"Do you know what that song is about?" he asked with a smile. If the boy knew French, which Josh doubted he did, then he would, but there was a chance that he knew some... just not a lot. "It's about the beauty of the Seine, a river that runs through Paris. Ah, it's a wonderful song. The river itself is beautiful." he let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, momentarily forgetting the pieces of Jenga pieces he was supposed to be stacking. He had been to Paris once before. He had been a child, but even then he had understand why the river was so pretty. He hadn't been a fan of the rest of the city, to large and smelly, but he knew that the river was something special. The way the lights of the buildings and the boat reflected in the water made it absolutely breathtaking. He'd fallen asleep every night at the window and, each morning, had been scolded by a maid.

"Ah, i'd give up my entire way of life to go and see it again."

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[American_Flyleaf_Girl]

Ӿ Ⓣhҽ Ⓣroublҽd Ⓣҽҽn Ӿ

Jeremy was dumbstruck, and he felt like a sitting duck as he waited for Gagnon's voice to filter in through sound-cancelling headphones as he mouthed what he assumed was French and seemed to bounce excitedly in his seat like a little kid. The counselor obviously had a better head on his shoulders than the boy did, leaning over the desk to quickly pluck the bud from his ear cavity, making Jeremy blink and shake his head before he removed the other. His lip-reading skills were less than respectable, but he'd gotten the gist.

" Ah.... really. No, no, nothing but the Queen's English, " he replied, looking down at the playing track and pausing it with a press of his thumb. He wound the earbuds around his hand until he ran out of cord, settign it on the table and makign sure it was actually on pause so as not to waste battery life. " I pick up bits and such, but nothing really substantial enough to consider it 'speaking the language'. " he paused, furrowing his brow. " I'm gonna assume that means 'it's a marvelous language'? I can pick up on what sounds like basic English or latin or whatever, just not the obscure stuff. "

Gagnon seemed to have a deep admiration for the language and obviously, Paris as well. " Would you? Then why don't you? I mean, I know you're devoted to your job, but I'd use the vacation days if I had them and had the money to do it. Especially if it's been that long since you were there. I've seen pictures, it's gotta be a lot nicer up close and actually being there, " he replied with a nod, wondering whether it was really as beautiful as Joshua described it to be. Maybe someday if he every got a job that paid more than ten bucks an hour or won the lottery or, he didn't know, robbed a bank or something, he'd put Paris on his trip list.
" I've heard of the river, and I didn't know what the whole thing meant, but I guess I do now. " He shrugged. " I don't usually know what I'm saying when I sing along to these foreign bands. Oomph, Rammestein, Girugamesh, this song... I've only found translations for a few of the songs I like, and most of them don't make any sense anyways. gets lost in translation, y'know? Doesn't have the same poetic value it does in its own original language. There's this one really good song, by Oomph -- they're german -- called 'Traumst Du'. The song itself sounds overall pretty freakin' epic. The video is kind of disturbing, but the song is... pretty cool. But the translation ruins it. The chorus... "

Jeremy paused. how did the chorus go? It was only two lines and the main point of the song. He tapped his fingers on the desk, trying to recall the musical accompaniement and beginning a couple of lines before the chorus itself began.

" Es ist ein winzig kleiner Schritt
Und es gibt kein zurück mehr... " he started slowly, lapsing into an acceptable German accent. He wasn't perfect, but he'd a had a few days of listening to the song repeatedly and gotten the hang of it. The chorus hit a more powerful, deeper note, going along with the guitar and drums playign along in his head.
" Träumst du mit mir heut Nacht
Springst du mit mir heut Nacht... Yeah, see, that whole first part just translates into 'It's just a... hm... It's just a small step, and there'll be no way back anymore'.... Then the chorus says something like 'Do you dream with me tonight, do you jump with me tonight', and later on in the song it says 'do you climb with me to the roof'. I guess I've never really thought about it this way, but it sounds kind of suicidal, but it's still a pretty good song. The music video is completely unreleated though, some 'hot teacher' and a guy in a security office and... egh. Vaguely creepy." He grimaced, shaking his head in displeasure and meeting Joshua's eyes again.

" Maybe someday I'll go there. To Paris, I mean, not Germany. Germans scare me. They've got fantastic beer, but overall as a country I would stick out like a sore thumb. I think the only part of me that'd fit in is the violence and aggression, " he said semi-jokingly, knowing he'd never survive alone in a foreign country. " I don't speak a word of German that hasn't come from obsessing over music. Same with French. And the occasional Girugamesh song. Japanese is a little easier, the accent isn't quite so hard to get, but European languages have never been my forte anyways, " Jeremy shrugged.


[Traumst Du]

[.~[Misty.Muffin]~.]

ｔｈｅ Ｐ Ｒ Ｏ Ｔ Ｅ Ｃ Ｔ Ｉ Ｖ Ｅ ｃｏｕｎｓｅｌｏｒ

Nothing but the Queens English? The male let out a small chuckle at the way he decided to say that... no, he didn't speak French or any other language. Apparently just English. He smiled a bit and nodded as the boy spoke. "Oui, you are correct." he said with another small laugh. Jeremy was right. If a person listened, then the jist of what someone said in another language could be understandable. French and Spanish were especially easy with that kind of stuff. If you knew just a little bit then you would be able to understand.. well.. enough. German was a bit different... but he had found that to be quite simple as well. Then again... Josh was relatively sure that he could rant in any language, even English, and confuse Jeremy. All he had to do was talk about... something his professor's used to. Weird topics that he didn't even understand... ones that he usually ended up confusing himself with. But he wouldn't do that. Not when the topic was going to pleasantly.

The counselor felt himself freeze at the boys suggestion. Paris? Go? Alone? Now? Money wasn't really the problem... ah, no, it was more of... the thought of leaving the country alone. "Paris? Oh, Heavens no! I mean... it sounds nice, in theory I guess, but... I have so much work to do. Even over the summer there would just be no chance." he said quickly, nearly frantic. Paris... going to Paris alone? He barely liked driving from his home to the school by himself. Flying across the country was just... well.. out of the question. It was a panic attack waiting to happen. He loved the country and all, but the unfamiliarness of it.. the newness... the... the... being alone. It would scare him half to death and send him back home without him actually being able to enjoy anything. No, he needed someone to go with him. Maybe some day he would be able to talk someone into going with him. But... ah. Not alone. "Besides... traveling out of the country by myself is kind of... scary sounding." he said, deciding to voice his true thoughts on the matter. Josh bit his lip lightly and glanced down as Charlie nudged against him. He rubbed the dogs head and chewed his lip lightly in thought. "I don't mind the traveling... I just don't think i'd be able to make that kind of trip by myself."

There Josh gladly let himself be cut off as the boy spoke, this time moving on to another subject. First speaking of the river, which he admitted he didn't know the song was about it, then to music. Ah... he had heard of a few of those bands... but not many. He nodded a bit. "I've never heard of them, i think, but translations are sometimes tricky. Nothing can ever compare to the original song, i'm afraid. And English is such a vast language that.. well, the translation can easily be messed up." he said, before falling silent once more as the boy spoke. He was now singing along to some kind of... song. Josh blinked. He was right in saying that it wasn't to pleasant of a song. The music video thing was.. ah.. a bit odd as well. "I can agree with vaguely creepy." he said after a moment.

Hearing the insult to Germans, Josh felt himself pout slightly. "Es ist nichts falsch mit Deutschland. It's not all violence and aggression in Germany, Jeremy! It's a very, very nice place. Granted, you should stay away from the country during Oktoberfest, but other than that, it's a very nice place. It can't really compare to France, but i'm a bit biased there. When I traveled to Germany it was under negative circumstances which I prefer to really not think about... but.. I did enjoy the time I spent there." Josh stopped and smiled. He had been a bit older when he had gone to Germany... but it had been fun. The blunt of his interest in the language had come from there, as well as his interest in different cultures. "Ah, also avoid the country in the winter." He laughed before falling silent once more when Jeremy spoke.

"I can't really offer you Japanese, since I don't know or understand a single piece of that language, but I can teach you French or German if you would like. I can also speak Spanish and a touch of Russian... but neither one I would feel comfortable teaching... or would want to." The counselor made a face. Spanish was what he used the most... but he wanted to avoid using it as much as he could. Simple language... not hard to learn... knowing it would make learning Italian easier if he wanted to do that... but.. bah. He'd rather spend days and days speaking French or German. "If you really want to learn, then I can teach you."

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[American_Flyleaf_Girl]

Ӿ Ⓣhҽ Ⓣroublҽd Ⓣҽҽn Ӿ


Gagnon's reaction was... honestly surprising. Perhaps shocking, even. He obviously had little to no desire whatsoever to make such a lengthy flight by himself, which was strange considering his... well, lonely demeanor. He enjoyed Charlie's company but Jeremy had hardly ever seen the man interact with any of the other staff members or teachers, and as far as he knew Joshua lived alone. He didn't know him quite well enough to be sure, but he didn't suppose the counselor was dating anyone either. In fact, there really... was no mention of any human beings in his life aside from his students. The idea that he would be so... frightened by the idea of leaving the country by himself was unexpected. Let alone the panicked, unsettled reaction he had to the thought. Perhaps a part of his OCD or whatever other condition he might have, maybe PTSD, or simplty a childhood fear... the teen knew how that felt, to an extent. Jeremy decided not to suggest it again for now.

Concerning his comment about the state of Germany, he chuckled slightly. " Well, I've yet to go there, and I've yet to meet a kind, soft-spoken German so far in my life, so pardon my racism. And yeah, I don't intend on making any trips to the place during... well, those 'high points' of the year. I knew a guy whose dad took him to Oktoberfest one year. Apparently the only reason he knew that was because said Dad explained what happened after he woke up from his major hangover-slash-blackout. But maybe sometime during the year when they're not all going drunken-insane, it'd be nice to see it one day. "

The boy blinked, starign at Gagnon. " You'd teach me? Seriously? " he asked a bit incredulously. He couldn't think of a time to do it, although the man had mentioned he came in at least once a week during the summer... but he couldn't deny it was an offer with a lot of good points surrounding it. Aside from the pros of knowing a second language outside of creepy foreign song lyrics, overall it was just plain cool, and as a plus he'd get to spend more time with Gagnon --

WHOA.

WHOA, WHOA, WHOA.

What was that?
Jeremy felt warmth tinge his face. What the hell, was he blushing? He was. About what? He hadn't even said anything remotely embarassing, perhaps acted like a bit of a ditz repeating what Gagnon had just told him, but that was merely the affirmation of said statement, it wasn't anything to be embarassed by. Perhaps... it hadn't come from his mouth, but his brain? What was he thinking that could have --

He'd get to spend more time with Gagnon. That was it. He wasn't displeased with an pportunity to learn German or maybe French if he really wanted to, but the idea that he'd be able to spend time with the counselor alone was a nice garnish on the side. Perhaps more of an appetizer... Oh, gahh... thinking of it in terms of food just made the situation a whole hell of a lot wierder for him to try and think about. That didn't make any sense. That wasn't a normal feeling -- then again, who was he to really judge the sense of normal -- for a student to have towards a teacher. Granted he was a student with a sh*thole home life and a whole lot of issues, so the desire to be around someone who respected and seemed to like him was understandable... He mentally sighed, trying to pull away from diving in too deeply. Sometimes Jeremy's brain took a little more navigation than the normal human being's thought-blob, simply because he was always trying to overanalyze every little thing he thought or did or said without showing it outwardly. All of this power-thinking was happening in under a minute, leaving him staring blankly at Gagnon for perhaps two or three seconds before he managed to formulate a reply.

" I... may actually have to take you up on that, " he said finally, appearing as if the mental confusion hadn't just happened, that he was decietfully and utterly normal, in Jeremy terms. " Might be a good way to kill summer before Senior year starts. I'm not takign any classes with summer homework as far as I know, so I'll have pretty much nothing to do besides attend to mine and Mark's 'scare war', " he added. " I obviously don't do the whole 'family outing' thing, so if they plan crap to do it doesn't affect me anyways. "

[.~[Misty.Muffin]~.]

ｔｈｅ Ｐ Ｒ Ｏ Ｔ Ｅ Ｃ Ｔ Ｉ Ｖ Ｅ ｃｏｕｎｓｅｌｏｒ

Traveling to Paris... it really was a nice thought. He knew the language enough to seem like he belonged, and had studied the streets enough to know his way around comfortably. He had the money to live there comfortably in a hotel for.. well... months. Probably years, even if it was an expensive hotel. He had no doubt his parents would pay for it if he went, but he had enough saved money for that. But... what would be the point going by himself? He supposed that he could bring Charlie... but that was hardly the same thing. He enjoyed human contact... but... he failed at actually meeting people. Or making that step to introduce himself. With students at school at his work.. well.. they had to introduce themselves to him. Granted, he had to introduce himself with a speech at the beginning of each year, but that was easy. That was public speaking to a hundred plus kids. That was much, much easier than introducing himself to one single individual. Or, it was to him at least. Was that strange?

"It's understandable." he said with a small chuckle. He didn't believe there was such thing as a 'soft spoken German' either. At least not while the person was in their youth... Old German men and woman were kind and soft spoken, he knew this because his neighbor was a older woman from Germany. Whenever he got the chance, he always dropped by so they could talk... in German, of course. Generally, however, the young ones were... ruffians. His neighbor had told him that herself! Until they got into the working age and out of school, including college, they were drinkers and partiers and rebellions. That was just the accepted face for them.

He laughed slightly at the story. Took him their during it and woke up up after not remembering anything. That made sense. He'd heard a million stories like that before. Waking up on a roof, on someone's couch, in someones bed. All storied that were.. well... common around that time of the year. He chuckled a bit and nodded. "It's a nice place, even if the people are sometimes a bit extreme." he agreed.

The look of disbelief he was getting from Jeremy made Josh smile again. Why did he look like he thought this was some kind of amazing thing that was being offered? Language lessons were nothing... and it was something he enjoyed doing. "Of course, Jeremy. I think it would be fun." There were a few seconds of silence, likely the student thinking about the offer, before he spoke again. This time he was, more or less, accepting it and continuing to speak a bit more. Summer homework, he had heard, made students lives miserable. Josh had always had busy summers so had never really gotten a 'free' summer until he graduated college... and even then he didn't really understand the concept. He still worked and he still kept busy, regardless of having a 'paid vacation'. And the scare war... oh goodness. He should have guessed that lasted in through the summer, he supposed it just hadn't really... clicked that it did. That definitely worried him. As a general thought... seeing as how the last time he had been present during the scare war Jeremy had fallen, gotten a bloody nose and hit his head.

The thought of his head and Jeremy mentioning 'family outing' made Josh wince slightly. Not on purpose, of course, but... eh. He covered it up quickly with a smile. "Of course. And I can come more than once a week as well if you were to take lessons from me, if you want I mean. Working from school is easier than working from home anyways... and during the summer, while i only have one planned day to come in, I usually come in more than that." he paused a shrugged a bit before nudging Charlie with his foot playfully and glancing around his office. "You know, I spend so much time here you would think I would have it more personalized." But... it was about the comfort of the student, wasn't it? He had a few pictures hanging up... some plants... but otherwise the walls were bare. Behind his desk only hung his diploma's, from his high school and College, as well as a few special awards he'd received over the years. If anything... the chairs were the most decorative thing in the entire room. He smiled. "Ah, well. I guess I really am I work-a-holic."

Josh paused a bit and smiled before returning his gaze to Jeremy. It faded and he frowned, noting the boys face was... a bit red. "Are you feeling okay, Jeremy? You're a bit red." The man stood up and made his way around the desk.. but didn't get to far. As he was stepping over Charlie the man moved to balance himself on the desk and accidentally nudged the end makeshift domino that Jeremy had placed near the end of the table... causing a... slight reaction. That one fell and knocked into the other and so on. Apparently Jeremy had placed them quite perfectly together. "Gaah! I'm sorry, Jeremy! I didn't mean to knock them over!"

Whoops.

xxxxxxxxxxx_______________________________________________ l☺l________

[American_Flyleaf_Girl]

Ӿ Ⓣhҽ Ⓣroublҽd Ⓣҽҽn Ӿ


" It is kind of... impersonal. But that's okay, it's still less painfully bland than most of these offices, " Jeremy commented. " I don't know, we could try for twice a week. I mean, I don't know how I'll manage with all of this business I have to accomplish... " he sighed melodramatically, affixing the man with a sarcastic look. " Whenever you want, I have nothing to do, so we'll plan around your schedule. Whatever works for you is fabulously fine with me, " he shrugged.

Gagnon caught on to the remnants of his blushing and Jeremy's eyes widened briefly, leaning back in an attempt to signal his distate for the advancing closeness. " Yeah, it must be from the-- oh! " he yelped, watching the pattern of carefully placed bricks begin to tip, the first square moving in a slow-motion-like manner, dropping precariously before it suddenly sped back into the time of reality and touched against the next makeshift dominoe, creating a vast chain reaction as the counselor and student watched on in silence. The noise was cacaphonous in the eerily quiet room, Jeremy's eyes shock-wide and blank as he watched the trail of bricks collapse and topple, then turn sharply and drop in a line, curving and swirling and changing directions. Some of them slipped off the desk and hit the floor, but he was more occupied watching the steady, fast-paced destruction before them.

Really, there was a method to his madness, or at least a reason behind Dominoes being his favorite 'game', so to say. Even though it took painfully deep concentration to get his erratic mind to focus long enough to actually set them up, the... what... sixty seconds of absolute pandemonium, unavoidable destruction, organized dominoe apocalypse... was exhilarating. not on a large scale, of course, but for all of that minute it was something his brain could keep up with at the perfect pace, the perfect speed. If Gagnon spoke during the space of time, the teen was too far gone to react to it, staring at the table. The sound in the room disappeared except for the slow-motion 'whapwhapwhapwhap' of wood bricks on wood bricks on the wooden desk. Finally the last clap sounded and the sound echoed off, generic background white noise suddenly returning -- the sounds of breathing, of enclosing quiet, of a pulse in the ears or that annoying ringing in the ears you sometimes get when you pay too close attention to the silence. Jeremy blinked.

" THAT. WAS. EPIC, " he announced in a frank, loud tone, a broad grin lighting up his face, the blushing gone and forgotten in the moment of what would normally be considered bland action by any other normal human being. " Absolutely freakin' epic. And besides, you're supposed to knock them over. When they're Dominoes at least, " he said, looking at the scattered lines. " Perhaps not when playing Jenga, but we both saw how well that went on my end. Dominoes actually requires destruction. Destruction I can do. "

Jeremy began to lean forward, picking up Jenga blocks from the floor and setting them back on the desk before a loud growl interrupted him. He sat still, expecting the growl to have come from Charlie, but it sounded again and he looked down -- at his stomach. He blinked and pulled himself up to sit down again, grinning sheepishly. " I went easy on lunch. Do you think we could.... " Another growl. " Yeesh, I heard you! Shut it, " he snapped. Jeremy sighed heavily and pushed himself up out of the chair slowly, stretching. " I should... probably get going. My stomach demands food, and the rest of me demands homework-doing and sleep. Mostly sleep. "

To be honest, he didn't want to leave. There was still that residual fear, unease, nervousness. But even though it was still there underneath the surface, the only expression on his face was gratefulness, a bit of exhaustion. " Thanks for... well.... just thanks, I guess. Can't really say anything outside of that. I'll see you tomorrow, right? "

He headed for his bag, watching himself as he leaned down carefully, picking up the bag and trying not to whip himself straight up again lest he face the ungodly terror of the migraine. Charlie whined and followed him, nosing his knee until he reached down and gave her the attention she so desperately was desiring. Jeremy spent a couple of minutes there and straightened, smiling at Gagnon. " I'll try not to ruin your lovely patchwork job, Joshua. See ya. "

As much as he didn't want to leave, he didn't want to stay.

So much awkwardness.

So. Much.

He managed to make it out of the school grounds and was headed for the taco truck, in need of some kind of food substance, before his brain forced him to think. Why was he suddenly so jumpy and nervous? No. He couldn't... like a teacher. That was wrong on so many levels. Especially a teacher he'd known for a calendar week, that was even worse. He hardly knew anything about Gagnon. You couldn't like someone like that when you barely knew anythign about them --

That was easy. Gagnon had grown up wealthy but lonely, a child surrounded by all the resources and planning anyone could ever want, but with parents that -- like Jeremy's own -- didn't really have the ability to emotionally connect with their child. He liked dogs. He preffered people, but didn't seem comfortable introducing himself to peers. He was excessively OCD, but somehow the anxiety caused by his worry over Jeremy had overriden that, which was unexpected. He was protective, kind. Patient.

And.... well... he was attractive.

Damn.

Maybe he could like someone -- a teacher, no less, and a male teacher at that -- he'd only know for a week.

[.~[Misty.Muffin]~.]

ｔｈｅ Ｐ Ｒ Ｏ Ｔ Ｅ Ｃ Ｔ Ｉ Ｖ Ｅ ｃｏｕｎｓｅｌｏｒ

The reaction to the domino's being knocked over was... not really what he had been expecting. He had kind of been expecting a 'oh no' reaction or cursing. After all... they had spent a decent amount of time setting it up and Josh had accidentally knocked into it. Jeremy, however, didn't seem annoyed or frustrated at all. He watched the domino's fall... almost carefully. "...Jeremy?" he asked, blinking and a bit surprised by the... well, lack of reaction. After a few moments went by, the man was about to reach out to touch the boy when he suddenly had an outburst. Josh jumped, surprised, and blinked as Jeremy exclaimed loudly about it being... epic? Josh blinked slightly and withdrew a bit as the boy acted... excited. What was so good about that? He personally had never been one for domino's. It was a whole lot of work and concentration for... five seconds of destruction. Granted, there was that short period of pure... hm.. what was the emotion. Joy? Amazement? Whatever it was, it was quite entertaining, so say the least, to watch them fall over. But after that... there was the clean up. Ah well.. Jeremy seemed to.. really enjoy it.

Josh blinked slightly and let himself smile at the enjoyment that Jeremy seemed to have toward the... well, accident of the counselor knocking over the domino's. "I'm glad you enjoyed that then.. I was worried i knocked them over before you wanted to." he said with a small laugh before he bent down and picked up a few of the Jenga pieces, putting them onto the desk before he took his seat once more. Oh, wait. He had gotten up for a reason, hadn't he? To check to see if Jeremy wasn't feeling well. He turned his attention to the boy... and found him quite happy and picking up the Jenga pieces from the ground. Well... he wasn't red anymore. In fact, he looked completely fine. So... what had been that dash of red that had been on the boys face before? Momentary light headedness? Or perhaps it was just a moment of not feeling well? Whatever it was... it was gone now and now he looked totally fine. Josh sighed. That was a relief.

His thoughts, and whatever he had been about to say, was interrupted by a loud... growling? First, he turned his attention to Charlie. She was laying quietly on the ground having just settled down after the surprising sounds of the Jenga pieces falling into each other so it obviously had not been her. He had yet to put the pieces together before Jeremy was in his chair and grinning shyly at him. A few moments later it was confirmed that it had not been Charlie, but the boys stomach. Oh.. so he was hungry! Josh smiled once more, quite amused by the turn of events. He knew that it hadn't Charlie... The counselor let out a laugh as the boy started to scold his stomach then gave him that same, weak smile asking to leave.

It didn't take much thought for Josh to realize that he didn't want the boy to leave. He didn't want Jeremy to have to go back to that... that place. It was dangerous... that much had been very obvious when his father had decided to smack him over the head with some kind of blunt object. He wanted Jeremy to stay at his home, at least for a few days... but... that wasn't what Jeremy wanted. He didn't want to stay with Josh. He wanted to go home. Part of him wanted to hug the boy and tell him that he didn't need to go home and that he'd be much safer with Josh... but the counselor bit his tongue and merely let out a weak smile followed by a pathetic nod. "Yeah." Jeremy had been awake long enough for him to be able to sleep... and long enough for Josh to believe and know that he really would be okay. Anything else was kind of... questionable. But.... God, he hated giving teenagers the freedom to do what they wanted to instead of what Josh felt was best. But... he was there to support them. Not to parent them. No matter how much he was dying help... or prevent.

"Tomorrow, of course." he said, standing as well, ignoring the Jenga pieces on his desk. He watched Jeremy, very carefully, move for his bag then stand up, smiling at him. "Be careful, okay, Jeremy? And know that you can call me any time. The time of night or day doesn't matter." he said, the smile fading slightly, but returning quickly as the male spoke.

Joshua? That was... only the second or third time the boy had used his full name. The counselor blinked it off and smiled again. He'd figure out his own emotions in a moment. "Please do." he said with a small smile. "We'll talk about language lessons more tomorrow, okay? Bye, Jeremy." The male offered another smile to the student.

Once the door was shut, then man ran his hands through his hair and dropped into his chair. He hit his head against the back lightly blinked at the ceiling. Well, that had been... odd. A few things were odd. First of all... his OCD. How had that taken a back seat to Jeremy? Granted, he had been scared to death for the boy and his injury, but never ever before had he blandly and just flat out ignored it like that. Stains were things he noticed right away. If something dripped on him then he knew about it the second it happened. Whether from feeling something was 'wrong' or seeing it happen. A stain got on his jacket and his shirt. Had he even washed his hand- Yes, he had done that before he noticed the stains. Had he washed them again after changing...?

Josh paled visibly. He hadn't. Nor did he feel the need to. What the hell was up with that?! And when Jeremy ha-

s**t. He had to stop thinking about his situation... or, at least, this situation. Jeremy. Would he be okay? Josh grabbed the Jenga box and started to put the pieces away, moving mindlessly instead of putting them away carefully like he might have on a normal basis. Would his father hit him again? Or was that b*****d going to keep his hands, or objects, to himself. The male pushed the last of the Jenga pieces into the box and shut it closed before standing up. Charlie followed the suit and blinked up at him, her tail wagging. Josh smiled and rubbed the dogs head gently. "How about we head home early, Charlie?" he said with a smile, rubbing her ears. The dog wiggled happily and turned and trotted to the door as if agreeing. Josh let out a small, weak laugh before he walked over to the cupboard and put the game away. After turning off his desktop, putting his lap top away, and gathering his papers the man grabbed the bag of dirty clothes, leashed Charlie, then headed out.

Leaving before eight? It was a record.

_________________________________________

Sure, he had gotten home before eight, but that hadn't meant he had slept. In fact... sleep hadn't come until nearly two. He had been so worried, so afraid, for Jeremy. Was he okay? Had his damn father hurt him? How was his head? Was it staying bandaged properly? Was he light headed? Sleep had only come, literally, when he was to exhausted to even worry. So... he more or less passed out only to be woken up by Charlie licking him because he was running late.

So... it wasn't exactly a pleasant way to start the day. He'd skipped out on the coffee and had to leave Charlie at home because he hadn't woken up in time to prepare everything, and last night had been to worried to do anything productive. Now it was lunch. As much as he was not wanting to drink coffee, he had fallen asleep for ten minutes during the last period and a student had woken him up. THAT had been embarrassing. So he was unwillingly answering e-mails and drinking a small cup of coffee during lunch instead of walking around the campus and talking to students like he usually did... and wanted to do. He let out a sigh and picked up his cup and took a small drink. He was no good at making coffee using that coffee maker... it tasted bland. "What a day." he muttered and put the mug back down before turning back to his laptop.

xxxxxxxxxxx_______________________________________________ l☺l________

[American_Flyleaf_Girl]

Ӿ Ⓣhҽ Ⓣroublҽd Ⓣҽҽn Ӿ


The teen spent the entire, purposefully slow walk home thinking, and it sort of... hurt. Not really in the physical sense, though the faint soreness his head wound offered may have added to the general discomfort of overanalyzing everything. As he dawdled along his normal route with a slowly disappearing taco in one hand and a root beer in the other, his brain churned a bit sickeningly over the day's events. He couldn't. It wasn't plausible, not possible. There was no dramatic fluttering of the chest, no heartbeats skipped, perhaps a faint flush here and there, but he couldn't imagine anything romantic happening...

Well, he could, but all it managed to accomplish was give him a redder face and a bigger headache, and he pushed those particular thoughts as far away as possible. If he even hinted at anything of that nature, their little bond of trust that seemed to be forming could be shattered, and as short-lived as it was so far, he needed it. Wanted it. really, really wanted it.

He came home to an empty house and was grateful, heading up to his room, locking his door. He didn't change, didn't even bother to take off his shoes, and even though he was tired, he wasn't sleepy. Jeremy laid there, brain a fog of confusion -- mainly centered around Gagnon, though a relatively large sidenote was dedicated to why the hell he hadn't alreayd run away from home -- until maybe midnight, and after that he must have fallen asleep. The next morning he was up, and aside from minor discomfort, his head was much better. He changed, got ready, left a bit early and made it to school, still donning a hat to hide Gagnon's handiwork, which surprisingly held well.

Now all he had to do was survive the day and he'd be fine.

....Maybe.


---------------------------

Lunch struck him with an idea as he noticed a lack of Gagnon's presence around the school. It was actually something of a nice day, which normally meant the counselor would be out and about, people watching, doing whatever else he did. Jeremy had managed to avoid the staff eye and snuck off to the taco truck's usual parking spot, and paused while ordering. Gagnon had done a lot for him. The least he could do was bring him lunch, especially if he was stuck inside for whatever reason. " Actually, can I add on to that....? "

Ten minutes later he returned to the campus with two slightly greasy paper bags in one hand and a cup carrier in the other, two coffeeshop mugs, shouldering open the office door and setting the bags down at his feet to tap the service bell. " Hey, is Mr. Gagnon in his office? " he called, looking around for the secretary. She appeared from a supply room after a moment.

" Yes, he is. "

" Does he have a student in there or anything? "

The woman paused. " Nope, he's just doing paperwork or something on the computer. Knock first. "

" Thanks, " he said, not actually bothering to wait for a reply as he picked up the paper bags in one hand and rapped the wood paneling with his knuckles, careful of the coffee, then twisted the knob open. Gagnon was sittign alone and... well, looking somewhat crappish. he seemed tired, bored out of his mind -- likely addressing complaints or emails or whatever else was on his agenda that required the computer. Jeremy footed the door closed, walking over without an explanation first and setting one of the bags on Gagnon's desk, as well as the cup carrier, and removed one of the cups before he pulled up the ottoman and sat down on it.

" Didn't see you around, thought I come assure you that I survived the night, and bring some greasy mexican food to boot, " he said, giving the counselor a half smile as he looked down into his own bag. " Burrito and a coffee. You like it black, right? I went to that place on sixteenth, not the one in the parking lot with the taco truck. " Jeremy took a sip of his own -- sugared and creamed like he usually liked it. " They have horrible coffee. And sugar substitute. I want the real thing, not powdered plastic. " He took another drink and went after the taco in his bag. " Hope you don't mind my barging in. Your bandages stayed, " he added, nudging up the edge of his hat and letting it drop again.

[.~[Misty.Muffin]~.]

ｔｈｅ Ｐ Ｒ Ｏ Ｔ Ｅ Ｃ Ｔ Ｉ Ｖ Ｅ ｃｏｕｎｓｅｌｏｒ

How did parents complain this much?! Granted some were thank you's or wanting to meet with him to make an attempt to pry information from him, though they never said that out right, most were generally complaints and whining about their kids. He sighed and put his head into one of his hands tiredly. Maybe Jeremy was right. Maybe he did need a break. A trip to France really was looking more and more pleasant... just... not alone. The man sighed. Before he could straightened and go back to working there was a light knock on his door. Oh! Oh fun! A distraction! "Come in." he said, turning in his chair and moving back to his desk as the door opened.

"Jeremy!" he said, brightly and suddenly quite more awake and aware than he had been a few moments ago. A breath that he didn't know he had been holding was released and he felt his shoulders slump in a relaxed manner. He looked fine. If there was something else bothering him then Josh was sure that he would have seen it right away... or figured it out by now. The student had only just entered the room and Josh was already analyzing him and trying to figure out if there was anything wrong, or something bothering him. Instead... the student was coming at him with a drink carrier with two what seemed to be coffee cups and two paper bags. The man blinked. Jeremy looked fine, that was a positive... but why the bags and the cups? It was lunch time, sure, but why was...

Josh stopped and smiled. He was a bit slow this morning, wasn't he? He knew what this was before the boy spoke. The words, however, made him laugh. "Thank you." he said as the boy pulled one of the coffee's out and offered it to him before offering him a bad as well. The thank you was, not only for the food and coffee, but for the fact he had dropped by to let him know that... well... that he was okay. That was what he had spent all night worrying about and what he would worry about tonight as well, so the little... dropping by was appreciated. The counselor pushed his mug away a bit and picked the new cup up and took a drink. It was so, so much better than the terrible coffee that he had made for himself earlier. He let out a smile and set the mug down. "You're not barging in at all, Jeremy. I needed a break, and ah! That's good! I'm glad that they stayed on. I was worrying all last night about that."

Well... that was one of the things he was worried about on top of a million others that were all based around and about Jeremy. But now that he knew that he was okay... most of the worried were gone. He smiled and took the bag that had been pushed toward him and brightened as he opened it. It was, indeed, a burrito. "I really appreciate you bringing me food and coffee." he said as he pulled the wrapped burrito from the bag. "I woke up late this morning and... well, it's just been one of those days." He let out a small sigh and unwrapped the burrito. Greasy.. but greasy goodness. It was just the kind of thing he needed on a day like this. Screw his health and eating good... it was just one of those days where eating bad was... good.

"But how are you feeling today, Jeremy? Any pain or discomforts?" he asked as he picked up the burrito and glanced at the student. He looked alright... but he felt much better asking and double checking. Just because there was nothing visibly wrong didn't mean that there was nothing wrong. That was one thing that Josh had realized over the years and always, always remembered. Physical pain and mental pain were two very different things but... two things that usually came together. He had experienced the physical pain... so there was probably some mental pain. Or worries. Whatever it was that was wrong, he wanted to ask and at least... offer to try and help.

The first bite of his burrito... he should have been expecting it. It was from a taco truck of... well.. awesome. He leaned forward quickly and grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth. "Mm." He made a sound of protest and laughed a bit, thought discretely. "That was more of less surprising." he said, hiding his mouth behind his napkin as he chewed. The male set the burrito onto the foil again and wiped his hands with the napkin, thankful they had actually put some into the bag, and checked his clothes. Clean. Perfect.

xxxxxxxxxxx_______________________________________________ l☺l________

[American_Flyleaf_Girl]

Ӿ Ⓣhҽ Ⓣroublҽd Ⓣҽҽn Ӿ


Jeremy was pleased by the man's reaction, glad he'd made the day a bit less boring. Oh hell. When did he start being happy about things? This was ridiculous! He was ruining the coldhearted apathetic image he'd spent his whole teenage life accumulating. Over what?

Gagnon?

Ugh....

" Yeah, no problem. I was just gonna skip lunch but I thought, hell, I need to eat eventually. " He took a bite of hot, messy taco and chewed thoughtfully for a moment, eventually managing to swallow without choking. " Kind of a loss of appetite I guess. I didn't eat this morning. Ate last night. Ate the same thing last night, actually, nix the coffee. " he lowered the taco into his lap and stared at it for a moment. " Probably not appreciated by my stomach, but whatever, " he muttered, taking another large bite and wrapping up his meal for a moment, chewing as he wiped his hands on a napkin from the bag and leaning back on his palms. He stared off into space,or at the ceiling or wall or whatever, but after a couple of minutes he heard Gagnon make a disapproving noise and glanced over.

He simply stared at Gagnon's... well, his erupted burrito for a moment, as well as the mess it had made of his face. But Jeremy bit his lip to contain a chuckle, and it grew into a full-on guffaw, sending him to the floor in maybe ten seconds or less. It made his head hurt as he slid off the footstool and leaned on it to try and keep from faceplanting into the carpet out of sheer laughter, but it was worth it. Sometimes he didn't even understand why he found some of the things he laughed at funny at all -- to be honest, he often looked at them in retrospect and realized they were ridiculously bland -- but at the moment, it seemed like the most amusing thing in the world.

" I-heehheh- I'd say more is the choice word -haaha- there, " he managed to make out, finally pulling himself back up onto the short ottoman, a hand rubbing his side. " Geez, I'm sorry. But you have the most hilarious accidents sometimes, man, " Jeremy sighed, reaching up to remove his hat and run a hand through his hair, careful not to upset the bandaging ot tug it away. It itched and he resisted the urge to scratch it, knowing he'd either end up sore or bleeding. Either way, not desireable consequences. " And you know me, gotta laugh at everybody else's misery, " he chuckled.

It felt good to laugh. He wasn't used to it before he'd been 'sentenced' to a week with the counselor, but after ending up on the floor rolling around with uncontrollable laughter a couple of times, it was... something of an expectation he'd gained upon entering the little office. He expected something to amuse him, in his own vaguely demented sense of humor -- things like watching Gagnon has his burrito implode on him. The thought made him smirk slightly, shaking his head. He was awful.

And....

So was his headache.

" OohhhhhhhhhhhhshiTAKI MUSHROOMS.... " Jeremy groaned, weaving slightly and then leaning forwards with his forehead in his hands. " Can I have some of your magic pills... " he grumbled, feeling his head throb dizzily. Definitely not a great idea to have a laugh attack after gaining a shiny new head injury. Craaaaaaaappp... crap, crap, crapedy crap crap, he needed pills. Acetometophin, Tylenol, Ibueprofein, anything. Heck, he'd even accept a Midol if it'd help. " That was.... ridiculously stupid.... "

[.~[Misty.Muffin]~.]

ｔｈｅ Ｐ Ｒ Ｏ Ｔ Ｅ Ｃ Ｔ Ｉ Ｖ Ｅ ｃｏｕｎｓｅｌｏｒ

Jeremy... apparently found his problems with the burrito rather... funny. No, funny was an understatement. Hilarious was more or less the better word. "Jeremy!" he cried out, moving to his feet in a few seconds as the boy fell onto the ground, laughing like he were dying. The counselor looked at him concerned for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he smiled. "It wasn't that funny." he said with a laugh as he dropped back down into his chair to comprehend what the boy had said earlier. So... Jeremy hadn't been eating properly? Josh looked at his messy burrito feeling somewhat guilty. It was hardly his fault that the student wasn't eating how he was supposed to, but.. here he was eating the greasy foods with him. Supporting that. They were delicious..but unhealthy. Especially for Jeremy who was a growing boy. It was definitely not appreciated by his stomach... or his body. Josh would have to make a mental note to say something to the student before the bell rang to end lunch.

Then came the wheezing and struggling for words student. Slowly getting to his feet and back into the chair as he tried to speak, explaining that he had, indeed, found that hilarious. "I do not havefriends again, since everyone else is.. seems pointless we aren't. I normally never message and ask, but I'm doing it this time. I never reall the most hilarious accidents!" he retorted, pouting without really noticing it. "It's hardly my fault that the burrito was overloaded with.. stuff. And yes yes, misery... though it was kind of funny." he said with a smile. The male looked at the burrito on the foil and shook his head. He was NOT going to try to eat that again. "Good for me i'm always prepared."

Josh had only gotten to stand again when Jeremy was moaning in pain? That was a pain kind of a cry, right? "What's wrong?" he said, now frowning. Thought that was a stupid thing to ask. Laughing that hard and hitting the ground had probably hurt his head. He was already hurt so.. well... side splitting laughter was not healthy. Not for someone in his condition anyways. "Of course. Magical pills coming up." Josh grabbed his keys from the inside of his desk and walked over to the cupboard. He unlocked it and grabbed a bottle of Tylenol. He set the keys down before opening the bottle and popping out two. He only closed the bottle and put that back, leaving the cupboard open his keys there so that he would remember to lock it, before he walked to the mini fridge. "Coffee and pills don't mix." he said, pulling out a bottle of water. "Use water. For me, please?" He smiled and walked back, setting the bottle next to Jeremy's coffee then handing him the two pills. "And perhaps this is revenge for laughing at another's problems, hmm?" he teased. He knew the real reason. It was because of the wound on the back of his head... but falling out of his chair hadn't helped either. But it was... just easier to tease him and pretend it wasn't his heads fault. "Just relax here and eat until your headache is all gone." He couldn't imagine sending the poor boy to class with a headache caused by that wound.

Satisfied that Jeremy had what he needed, Josh made his way back to the cupboard. He checked that the bottle of Tylenol was closed tightly then returned it, again, to it's proper place. Then he closed the cupboard and locked it, the keys moving to his pocket then him walking over to where the microwave was. He pulled open the drawer underneath it and pulled out a fork, a knife, and a small plate. "Call me what you wish, but I've had enough burrito explosion for one day." The last thing he needed was some food getting onto his clothes and him having another episode and changing in front of Jeremy again. God, the first time was bad enough. He carried the utensils and the plate to his desk and set them down before smiling at Jeremy.

"Is there anything else you need?"

Again. It was his worry for Jeremy that was more or less driving him. Jeremy was in pain because of a headache and... Josh was worried again. He wanted to help the boy. Help him before he got comfortable.. though even if it came down to it, Josh would more than gladly get right up and get him something after he had sat down. He wanted Jeremy to.. be comfortable. Comfortable and happy.

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