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 Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 2:28 pm
Holding on to something like that? “He’s my twin, and he just worries about me. I take stupid…” No, that wasn’t what he wanted to say. So Luke tried again. “I make...stupid decisions sometimes. And he worries about me. He’s the older brother so he. Figures it’s his job to worry, I guess. We were arguing about it a bit but…”
He shrugged. He didn’t want to overshare. It was easy for him to overshare, but…the question about Julian.
“He wouldn’t say that to Julian, and there’s no way I would ever say something cruel to Juilan.” Luke looked at Riker, concern mixing with something else. Something even he wasn’t sure what it was. It almost felt like dislike.
“Look. don’t you put words in my mouth, I would never do anything to hurt Julian. Not for anything. Not because of anything. I care about my friends. I won’t keep pressing the issue of the meet…but I know Julian would want to support you. He cares about you. A lot. So…even if you’re like. Super slow. We’d cheer you on. It really wouldn’t matter.”
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 2:34 pm
“Even if I’m super slow?” Riker scoffed with incredulous surprise, like he couldn’t believe the words he was hearing. It made him wonder what Luke had said to Julian, then. If he was so ready to get defensive about something he brought up.
Even if it was something casually mentioned, how else was Julian supposed to feel? If someone was talking about being told they were weak, how was Julian not supposed to compare himself to that, when he was so sensitive to everything around him?
Did Julian think of himself as weak? The very thought had Riker’s heart sinking into his stomach.
“You know what? ******** you. I’ll take an F on the project, I don’t care,” he growled. “And it’s not about saying something cruel on purpose. It’s how casually insensitive-- you know what? I don’t care.”
Riker was already standing from his seat, working on collecting the books he had in front of him. His ears were red with frustration.
How could this guy talk about not saying anything cruel to Julian and then insult him to his face? Why would he jump to him being super slow if he didn’t already have a low opinion of him?
Why would anyone just assume the worst? Which meant that Luke likely said garbage like that to Julian without even realizing how painful his words were.
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 2:39 pm
Luke was quiet for a moment and then shook his head. “Riker, man, that wasn’t what I was. Look, I was trying to comfort you. You obviously don’t want us there, which is fine, but I was trying to say that we would come and support you regardless of whatever bad thing you think might happen? It wasn’t me calling you slow.”
Because he hadn’t been. He wouldn’t. That wasn’t something he would ever say but. It was the first thing his mind went to for the reason Riker didn’t want them there. If he were bad at something…he’d be telling people to not come too. It was just simple embarrassment.
“Come on, Riker. I don’t want you to get an F on the project, and I don’t want you to be mad. I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings, I promise, I wasn’t trying to insult you and I feel awful that I did. Don’t go. Please?” He wasn’t going to stop him if Riker was determined to leave…but he wasn’t going to just…let it happen without trying to fix the misunderstanding he had brought on.
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 2:45 pm
He didn’t know why he was hesitating. Riker knew he should just pack up his things and leave before anyone said anything else that could be taken the wrong way, or something carelessly said that ended up being insulting.
Riker didn’t care if anyone insulted him. He was used to it. He knew he’d ******** up many times in his short life, but he was protective of his friends. The few he had. The few that could tolerate him.
“You don’t know me. And I don’t want you to know me,” he said after a moment, still frowning down at the teenager across the table from him. “Don’t ******** assume things about me to fill out whatever narrative you need as an excuse to do exactly what I ask you not to. I don’t want people there, especially not to support me. ********, didn’t anyone ever teach you ‘no means no?’”
He knew he was riled up. He knew he was saying whatever came to mind. He knew that Julian would probably be disappointed with him for practically yelling at his old roommate.
How the hell did he end up in Azure after being in Hillworth? Julian, he knew the story behind, but Luke gave off entitled vibes. Especially if he was complaining about not having an orchestra in easy access.
Riker also knew that he couldn’t exactly stop anyone from going to a school event. He knew others would be there. He was dreading it. It was just one more thing for him to stress about.
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 2:55 pm
Luke raised his hands, not quite in surrender, but in acknowledgement, and he nodded slowly. “Okay. Again, I’m so sorry. I never wanted to upset you, I was genuinely excited to get the chance to work with you. If you don’t want me prying, if you want this to just be the project, that’s fine! I’ll get back to researching and shut up.”
Giving another small smile, Luke slowly shook his head. “If you want to leave, that’s perfectly fine too. I get it. I overstepped, but I’ll take care of the work and still put your name on it so that you don’t get an F. I’ve got your back. Even if you don’t want me to get to know you. I’ve got you back regardless. We’re in the same circles.”
And even if they hadn’t been…Luke would have still had his back. He didn’t like to see anyone upset.
…Except people drenched in chaos. They could suffer. But. That wasn’t something he could just tell Riker. “So, it’s up to you. But. You’re good no matter what. Promise.
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 2:59 pm
“Like hell you’re doing all the work and putting my name on it,” Riker growled, still clearly agitated but at least simmered down enough so he could sit once more. He pushed the books back onto the table.
“That’s not going to help me or you. I don’t want you to have my back. I just want to get this project done,” he insisted.
“I don’t know what circles you’re talking about. You know Julian and I know Julian and that’s it, right?”
It wasn’t as though Luke knew he was Reims, after all. And even then, when they’d met the one time before, Lisse had been pretty territorial about him trying to help Dering. And then after that, Reims had stood off with Rose while the others settled down and ate what they could after that god awful fight.
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 3:13 pm
Okay. He was sitting again at least, and Luke was going to take that as a win. “I mean…I wouldn’t screw up either of our grades, so if that’s what you’re worried about, it isn’t the case…and yeah. We both know Julian…we both go to the same school…I can imagine we’ll end up hanging out at some point at Julian’s place. I don’t want bad blood. I swear.”
He didn’t. At all.
“Let’s work hard together then. We’ll knock it out of the park.”
Hopefully, a baseball reference would go over well…
He was pretty sure that was what he just said, at any rate. “You’ve found good resources…”
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 3:27 pm
“I don’t want to take credit for what someone else does,” he shrugged, not thinking it was that difficult to understand that he wanted to be treated fairly in all things. If he did a bad job, then he deserved a bad grade. If he was a bad friend, then he didn’t deserve friends.
The baseball comment had his eyebrows furrowing for a moment. He couldn’t tell if Luke was making fun of him or not. Maybe he was just still sensitive from before.
He couldn’t imagine he would actually hang out at Julian’s place with any of Julian’s other friends that he didn’t already know as a Knight… and who didn’t already know him. It was complicated and stressful.
It was fine, though. He could always help Evan if he needed to escape any social interactions. Or just leave.
He didn’t comment on it, but it was still a weak suggestion that they were in the same circles, especially since Riker avoided people.
“Let’s just get this done,” he grumbled, turning back to focus on getting as much of their project done as possible.
Fin!
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