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 Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:10 pm
When Priam dropped Sterling off at his house, he thanked the male one last time and made his way inside, holding a half melted ice pack against his darkening eye, pleased that his ribs weren’t cracked or broken, just bruised. Or, at least that was what Priam had suspected and…it was silly to argue with a doctor that you trusted.
He closed and locked the door behind him, making his way to the couch and falling carefully onto it. “Yu? I’m home. I ate dinner at my friend’s house…but if there’s anything to drink…if you’re in the kitchen that is…would you bring me something? Pretty please?” His tone was soft, almost edging towards a whine, something that he never allowed.
But he was hurting…
And…
“If we have any…chocolate milk sounds really amazing!”
And if Yu wasn’t in the kitchen…well. He could get it himself. And he would. Just…not right this moment. The male hissed softly, moving the ice pack from his eye to his chest, pulling up his shirt and resting the cool plastic against it.
It was starting to look disgusting. Darkening a bit. Priam said it would look a whole lot worse before it looked better.
At the very least, it was a bruise that was easy to hide.
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Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:19 pm
There was something different in his tone, that was what had Yu setting down the stuff he’d been starting to bring dinner out on and step into the door of the kitchen to see what exactly put that tone in Sterling’s voice. “We…. what the… hell…” He said half a breath later, jaw hanging open and hands braced to either side of the kitchen doorframe. “W… Who…. One sec.” He stopped himself, clearly with effort and vanished back into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of the ‘fancy’ chocolate milk, the one in the glass bottle that cost a whole dollar more just to get, but tasted the best. He had a brief moment of considering to offer to spike it but abstained and hurried back to the couch and kneeling before it to offer the milk. “I shook it, it’ll be frothy.” he said by warning. “What the hell happened? Who did this?” There was a sharp edge in his question, something dark in his eyes.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 5:46 pm
Sterling gave a half worried smile and quickly tugged down his shirt, hoping that Yu hadn’t seen the bruise on his chest, unhappy with himself that he had worried him. That hadn’t been his intention. “Oh! Thank you.” There was something wonderful about chocolate milk. Something that was just plain…healing.
Idly he wondered if anyone had ever tried to make butter from chocolate milk, and then decided that was a stupid thought and pushed it away.
“I uh. I got jumped by some kid…I’m okay though. Nothing’s broken. My friend Priam was there and got me out of trouble…he’s a doctor too, he’s good at, you know. Fixing things and seeing if they’re hurt too bad…” He was rambling and quickly opened the bottle of milk, holding it to his lips and beginning to drink, wanting to keep his mouth busy with something other than rambling on and on for a moment.
When he finally took a moment to breathe, he flashed a smile. “…No harm done…except to my glasses. I suppose I’ll have to get a new pair of frames…which isn’t too bad of a problem.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 5:49 pm
The Look on Yu’s face said that Sterling may as well have just tried to sell him a large bridge at a very reasonable price. He blinked, the half scowl on his face somehow more of a storm cloud than the full scowls he often leveled at a wall that they were trying to strip of tenacious wall paper. “…You don’t… look, like there was no harm. You don’t…sound, like there was no harm.” He said carefully. “Did you get a good look at them?” He did not suggest the cops.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 6:15 pm
Sterling hesitated and gave a soft laugh. “Look…it…it isn’t that big of a deal…I promise.” He hesitated and reached out his hand, cool from holding the ice pack and the milk bottle, pressing his palm against Yu’s cheek. “…I’m really okay. They…it was a teenaged girl. I hope that she gets the help that she needs. I’m sure that there’s things going on at home or…she just…”
He sighed, shaking his head. “I can’t judge. I don’t want to judge…and I’m here. I’m home…and this chocolate milk is going to fix everything. And you and I can watch a movie? Maybe you can fuss over me a bit…bring me some ice packs?”
The male batted his eyelashes for a moment and then gave another soft laugh, moving his hand away and taking another long swig of the milk. “…You really don’t have to worry about me, Yu. I’m okay…I’m not so fragile.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 6:25 pm
He was curled inward slightly like he might spring at …something, someone at any moment, like a feral cat hissing in a corner. His expression didn’t relax but he let out a breath and said quietly. “let me get you another ice pack, I’ll… order pizza and wings?” He offered.
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 7:17 pm
For a moment, Sterling hesitated, almost wishing that he hadn’t let Yu see him like this. He didn’t enjoy the worried look on his face, or the strange expression in his eyes. He gently reached out and began to lightly finger a loose strand of hair that fell into his roommate’s face. “…You really don’t have to worry about me. It is just some bruises, and it looks much uglier than it really is.”
He grinned suddenly and nodded. “Pizza and wings, and then a nice movie and…you can fuss over me and tell me to be careful…” Sterling sighed, his fingers moving to play deeper in the other male’s hair, relaxing with the slight contact.
“I think that Priam and I are going to look in to taking some self-defense classes, just so that you know…we’re not such useless lumps…and I also think that I might invest in getting myself a car…not that I don’t think that…using public transportation isn’t the best way to save the world…but sometimes…it is nice to not have to rely on busses to get places…or walking. If I had a car…”
He trailed off and shrugged. “…I’m a little jealous of your car, you know! You can just…get around! It’s fantastic.”
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Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 7:31 pm
“I…. I have a spare key, I just need to be able to get to work.” He stumbled on the words, leaning slightly, unthinking into the hands in his hair. “I can try and teach you a few things, quick tricks, like hit and go.” He wanted to suggest more than that, but it felt like unstable ground. He knew why, he couldn’t say why… but he could see it like an outline in a cartoon, when the protagonist is unaware but the viewer can see clearly ‘this is where something bad will happen’. “Im…gonna order us cheese cake too. Do…Do you need like…water or…” He hesitated unsure. He stood carefully, reluctant to disentangle even with the invitation to fuss.
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Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2020 10:45 am
“I…oh, Yu, I don’t want to take your car!” But…the gesture was very king and he sighed, looking almost sad when the male pulled away from him, his hands fluttering for a moment in the empty air before going back to fold neatly in his lap. “I’m okay for right now…I have my chocolate milk.”
Sterling wore a soft smile, nodding at Yu after a moment. “If you wanted to teach me something, I wouldn’t mind that either. Anything’s good, right? And the more I know…the less likely it is that this will happen again.”
And if he could help Priam learn too…the less likely it would be that they would both get hurt…if they could stick together…if they could protect each other…well. That would make all the difference.
“…Hey, you know? You’re a great roommate. I just…wanted to let you know. I’m so happy that you were the one who called.”
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Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2020 10:57 am
He popped some microwave popcorn in, a cop out sure but sometimes convenience beat older methods, dropping it into a bowl and bringing it out with him when he returned with a hand towel and an ice pack. He offered the towel and ice first and sat carefully second to offer the popcorn. “If they gave you something, you should put a little more in your stomach.” He sat with one knee up to rest his chin on, gazing at Sterling. “Nothing broken? Did they… if it gets worse, you should…” He huffed a sigh. “if it feels like you can’t breathe well…” He tried starting again.
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Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2020 1:54 pm
“Nothing’s broken. I can breathe just fine, I promise.” He reached out and took some popcorn, giving a little grin. “…I bet you’re only feeding me now so that we actually have leftovers from the pizza when it gets here. That’s smart, Yu. Very smart and very sneaky.”
Sterling looked at the male and reached his hand up, after getting the ice pack situated against his chest. Gently he began playing with Yu’s hair once again, giving a small smile. “I can breathe fine. It’s kind of cute that you’re worrying so much…ah. What should we watch tonight? Something happy maybe? I’m not feeling too picky, so long as there’s a happy ending.”
His fingertips began to massage the male’s scalp. “I like happy endings…”
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Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2020 1:59 pm
A huff of a laugh, the tips of his ears warming at the idea of being sneaky about food. “I mean, if you don’t eat it all tonight you can have it tomorrow.” He said with mock innocence. The fingers against his scalp though, he made a soft sound that was all together embarrassing. “I’m supposed to be fussing at you.” He protested, rather weakly he admitted. “What about, 12th kingdom, it’s…dumb but its fun too as long as you don’t want to strangle the singing pearl.” He worried his lip and then added. “And… I think most people like happy endings of ONE kind or another, depends on the kind you wanted.” He grinned wolfishly at the awful tease, though he wondered if it wouldn’t fly right over Sterling’s head.
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Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2020 6:17 pm
“Ah, that is true…twice the pizza for me…” Sterling gave a little laugh at the sound Yu made, but it only made him move a little closer, making a face as she shifted his chest. “…You know…it’s hard to lavish you with affection if you’re so far away…and me being injured…you should be a bit closer so I can play with that pretty long hair, okay?”
It was almost…almost flirting. Close, but not quite. It wasn’t that he didn’t want it to be…but…
Wasn’t it moving a bit too quickly?
“…Happy endings are only good, Yu. Where people find their soul mates, get their happily ever after. Fall in love and smile forever. That’s the sort of movie I want. I don’t…I don’t want to cry right now.” Unless he had someone to mop up his ugly tears and snot but.
No. That was not cute at all.
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Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2020 6:39 pm
“Do you believe in soul mates?” He asked with a curious look. It was such a…strange idea. He wasn’t sure he liked it to be honest. It always seemed like people were just together because they were ‘meant to be’, which wasn’t something he thought could be real. It was a pretty concept though. “I’ll um… I’ll put the movie on and then I’ll…let you play with my….hair, if you really want.” He hurried to fetch the little movie set, it was something he’d picked up for five dollars, which had baffled him at the time that something ‘’so good’’ could be so cheep, but he also…liked Deep Blue Sea so, he thought perhaps he didn’t have the best taste. The disk hummed home and he moved back to the couch with the universal remote clutched in hand. “Comfy?” He checked. “Do you need more…I know I just got you some but… there are peas that could be an ice pack.” He hesitated and then made himself sit down. He still hated that Sterling had been hurt… but… There was also an awful little part that was still glad for this moment.
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