#and then the glass marble housing the gem broke apart and the pieces were all scattered. implying

[kadeuxhyeonju]

‘Tis the Year

Kadeu, Hearts Territory, The Vega Gem

13 Sunday, 2020 0600-1000

Though the sun had yet to rise properly and greet the citizens of Kadeu, Hyeonju was already up, preparing for the day. Opening the curtains of his apartment windows, the Heart looked out into the darkness. It was quiet as always. He hadn’t been getting much sleep as of late and his bouts of insomnia were leaving him restless. Itching to keep himself busy and his mind away from darker thoughts, he’d taken to spending the evenings (or rather the wee hours of what could hardly be called morning) arranging and rearranging the Vega Gem and going over his books. It seemed this day would be no different.

With hardly a thought, Hyeonju dressed himself, plucked his favorite bladed fan from the shelf that housed his collection, and made his way down to the shop. Prepping the shop for opening was as second nature as shifting into a fox; it hardly required thought or energy. Displays were wiped down, shelves were dusted, jewelry was polished to a pristine shine. He switched out specialty pieces for others—to keep the interest of his customers, naturally; they loved shiny new pieces. He glanced at his pocket watch—0530. He had plenty of time before opening. Alexei and the rest of the staff wouldn’t be in until 0800, an hour before opening. Hyeonju strode toward his office, deciding to move on to the paperwork and financial records that called for his attention.

Hyeonju paid little attention to the time, focused on responding to his stack of inquiries from business partners and customers alike. He was hardly finished with his fourth letter when he heard what he could only describe as a rumble that seemed to shake the air around him. In the distance he heard shrieks and shouts—unusual considering how thick the walls of the Vega Gem were. Before Hyeonju had a chance to process the sounds of panicked citizens and the growing thickness of the air around him, a deafening crash broke through his thoughts.

Something almost like dread pooled in the Heart’s stomach, but rather than succumb to it, his former Spade training kicked in. Hyeonju pulled a gilded blade from a hidden alcove under his desk. His fan was tucked against his side. With quick, determined, silent strides, he made his way to the front of the shop where the noise had come from.

And froze in shock.

“What the fuck.”

Two winged demonic creatures were hopping around like apes, smashing through his expensive displays and—

“Like hell you’re running off with that you lil’ shit! That’s worth more than even half your worthless life!”

One had taken notice of a particularly shiny crown embedded with the highest quality diamonds, garnets, and lapis lazuli. The other had taken notice of the Heart and was emitting what he could only describe as something between a growl and a screech. Hyeonju’s combat training kicked in. He could feel the change overcome him both physically and mentally. Bodily, his fox burst forth in all its glory. His nine tails fanned out, bristling with unrestrained rage; his black-tipped fox ears were flat against his head, canines were fully displayed, claws elongated to sharp points, and eyes glowing a deep amber.

Mentally, Hyeonju was watching the demonic creatures—for that is all they could be, though he’d never seen their like in his century and a half of life—looking for an opening. The one holding the crown was trying to make off with it, but the hybrid moved quickly, bounding across the show floor with an agility not usually seen. He gripped the knife in his left and reached out with his right, digging claws into the creature’s back. It howled in pain and fury, twisting to retaliate, but Hyeonju was already moving, blade sinking deep into the ugly thing’s eye socket. Turin poured from the wound and the creature flailed. Hyeonju was about to strike again when he was batted away and across the room by the other creature.

Hyeonju slammed against the edge that marked the wall from the ceiling and down onto the marble floors back first—hard. “Fuck. I think I just cracked my ass,” he growled through gritted teeth. He tried to lift himself from the floor, but the creature that had hit him threw its full weight onto his chest. Hyeonju let out a cry that was really a snarl even as the creature batted the hybrid with its gnarled hands. Hyeonju heard more than felt the give of his ribs as they snapped, forming blades of their own that sunk deep into his stomach.

The adrenaline was running strong and Hyeonju used that to his advantage. He no longer had the knife, it being embedded still in the other demon who he could make out in the corner of his eye. Flashbacks of his Spade training flitted in his mind and his body reacted on muscle memory. Ignoring the—severe—pain that wracked both his stomach and buttocks, the hybrid pulled one leg up to wrap around the creature’s leg while the other braced against the floor. His hands gripped the creature by the shoulders and in one fluid movement, Hyeonju used the creature’s weight to throw it up and over his head.

It was stunned, but only for a moment, Hyeonju knew. He blinked, mind racing, before settling on creating a handful of illusions that looked like him, though perhaps a bit less clear, fuzzy around the edges. Seeing as they were human-sized and human-like, Hyeonju wouldn’t be able to keep the illusions going for very long, but he didn’t need them to—he just needed to make sure he could land a decisive blow or hope help arrived before these disgusting creatures hit the correct Hyeonju.

He didn’t know how much time passed—fifteen minutes, perhaps, twenty tops—before he heard the tell-tale signs of swords clashing just outside. Hyeonju was panting now, even as he dodged blow after blow, swinging his fan down and out in attempts to land a hit, but the creatures were too fast and he was too injured. His illusions were fading out and he knew it wouldn’t be much longer before he did too.

His moment of distraction cost him.

Seeing an opening, the demon with the crown lunged at Hyeonju’s blind spot. Hyeonju tried to dodge, but a bout of dizziness made his steps clumsy and he fell across the shattered glass of the shop’s front window. The hybrid let out a weak, but angry snarl, but the creature merely bounced around on the displays before pouncing on the one nearest the Heart, knocking the large unit over—and towards Hyeonju. The hybrid tried to scramble out of the way, but the other demon was in front of him ready to rake its claws at him.

A resounding crunch filled the Vega Gem—and Hyeonju howled in agony as his left hand was flattened by the display case.

Hyeonju was hardly able to see past the red that filled his vision, but he could see Joui’s soldiers piling through the entrance of his shop. He saw the demon creatures scramble to escape the Fae and their weapons, spread their wings and fly off with a handful of his most expensive pieces.

SHIT.

One of them was Joui’s commissioned piece. How in the gods’ names did they get ahold of that? It didn’t matter now. Joui would have to get to him first before the Heart’s wounds offed him and he didn’t think that was likely given the state he was in. All Hyeonju could do was flop against the marbled floors that were now coated in glass, jewels, turin, and blood and let the last of the adrenaline seep out of him. Exhaustion overtook him and the pain was now hitting him full force. The Fae soldiers were approaching the hybrid, ignoring the instinctive growls that emitted from low in his throat. He could only imagine how he must look to them, though he was sure they hardly cared.

“Can ya take me to the nearest and best healer? Or put me in a carriage and send me off to them. Think I’m dyin’ haha! Fuck. This is such bullshit. 2020 is FUCKIN’ BULLSHIT! Can’t even end the year on a sexy note. I’m all bloody, I’ve got a stomachache, my ribs are cracked, my fucking ass is cracked, and my shop, my precious shop--look at my shop--LOOK AT IT. My hand, dammit. How am I supposed to do my work like this?” Ah, the shock was kicking in. Good thing the creatures hadn’t swiped the heavy pouch of coin sitting nestled in possibly the only spot that hadn’t been torn to shreds by them. He was going to have to pay a pretty coin to get patched up and fix his shop.

A-FUCKING-GAIN.

#kadeuxhyeonju #self-para #self para #'tis the year #juju is going THROUGH IT #HAPPY YEON NEN AND NEW YEAR \OJO/ #he most definitely did NOT say

[27emailsicantsend]

New Year’s Eve: A Rina Fic

Author’s Note: I thought it would be fun to make this a continuation off of my Christmas Eve Rina fic. So, if you haven’t read it, you can find it here. However, this can be read on it’s own too and still mostly make sense. Enjoy! ❤

“So... you gonna kiss him tonight or what?” Ashlyn elbowed Gina.

Gina rolled her eyes with a half-cackle. “You guyssss. For the millionth time, when it’s supposed to happen it’ll happen”.

“But it’s New Years Eve, Gina,” Nini encouraged. “You missed your opportunity under the mistletoe by a long shot”.

Gina gave Nini a side eye. “Nini, you were literally there and had just broken up with him. Besides, you know we didn’t have a mistletoe... money...”

“We could of made one,” Nini huffed under her breath.

Gina couldn’t help but giggle. Gina thought it would have been weirder than it was to go after Ricky after he and Nini broke up, but she and Nini had some really good talks after Christmas Eve. Ones where Nini elaborated that she only ever really liked Ricky as a way to hold onto her past. Seeing him still pine after Gina made her realize he was moving on and so should she. There was going to be someone that kept up with her dreams eventually, but she was focused on this potential new school in Denver and she liked seeing Gina happy. Nini encouraging them to date felt fun, girly, and natural- a comforting feeling Gina hadn’t had until now. She actually had friends; real friends that didn’t make her feel like she was invisible or forgotten once she moved. She was home.

“When it’s the right time, we’ll know. Besides, a New Year’s Eve kiss? Do you really want me to be that cliché?” Gina scrunched her face at Nini, Ashlyn, Kourtney, and Carlos who were overly invested in her love life as they made their way to the bus. The drama department did a fundraiser during High School Musical so the students could pay to go somewhere fun New Years Eve as a celebration for the play. The fundraiser made a lot of money due to the generous contributions of parents and a lot of begging.

The bus still had a crisp, chilly feeling from sitting over night in the Utah winter air. The smell of leather hit the students noses when they boarded and took their seats. Gina sat in a seat behind Nini and Kourtney, next to Seb and Carlos, with the other seats surrounding filled by other students from the show. She looked out the fogged window to the nearly empty parking lot as the bus quietly hummed. Gina took out her finger and traced her initials and a small snowflake on the glass.

Just as she was finishing her last stem on the snow flake, a tired voice jump-scared her. “Can I sit here?”

“Oh.. uh..uhm.. yeah.. that’s totally fine. Let me.. let me just see where I can put this...” Gina stammered as she clumsily grabbed her bag.

Ricky gave a tired smile as he fell into the seat by her. Nini and Kourtney exchanged glances and Big Red took a seat next to another stage hand. He turned around and gave a knowing smile and Gina pretended not to notice Ricky’s “cut-it-out” gestures to him.

“How’s your morning going?”

“Good. Just super tired. My mom came home late and I forgot to pack, so we were up doing that,” Gina replied. “How about you?”

“Same. I was trying to make this big breakfast this morning so I got up early to make it. But then I got a piece of toast stuck in the toaster. I got worried it would set our fire alarm off, so I had to run and find a towel to whip the smoke out, but I couldn’t find any that weren’t wet in the washer. So then I called Red...” Gina pretended to nod along to Ricky’s “Breakfast Adventures”, but she couldn’t help but notice, Ricky was wearing the hat she made him. She hadn’t really seen him wear it a ton, but he looked cozy in it. She refrained from smiling too much as she pretended to listen. Good thing she brought the scarf he made her- it was her bag, however.

The bus ride wasn’t super long, about an hour and a half. The front of the bus was mostly adults and students trying to sleep, with one or two in the back sleeping as well. Gina’s area of students was anything but quiet, however. The adrenaline of being with all of their friends, preparing for a super fun over night trip was beyond exciting to them. They cracked jokes, watched internet videos, sang “Bet On It” as badly as they could, and showed weird talents they had with their bodies (Ricky could wiggle his ears and Nini was double jointed in all of her fingers).

The bus finally arrived to a beautiful ski lodge nestled on a slope in the mountains. Fairy lights and snow draped the scenery. Pine trees scattered the winter wonderland with a beautiful blue ski canvasing the background. The snow was fresh with minimal footprints; icicles hanging from every part of the wooden rooftop.

The students walked in awe as they made their way up the slippery walk way, holding tightly to the railing on the iced over steps. Seb was the only one to really slip on the steps, but Carlos caught him before he completely landed. Gina and Ricky walked in slowly, taking in the sight inside.

The giant main doors opened up to a large foyer, with a grand double stair case sweeping in from either side. To the left, a large rock and marble kitchen plus dining room and to the right, a common area with a ping pong table, fireplace, large cozy couches and lazy-man chairs, and pull down projector screen.

A man about in his sixties wearing a plaid tucked in shirt, high-waisted pants, and clunky brown boots approached the foyer and faced the visitors. “Hi everyone! Welcome to my ski resort. I’m the owner, Mr. Tomas. I am so happy to have you here. There’s not much to know... let’s see...We left fresh towels in the bathrooms and any of the food in the fridge is yours to eat. Please don’t break anything and clean up after yourselves... I think those are all the basis, right?”

Miss Jenn gave an acknowledging giggle to Mr. Thomas.

“Oh, wait! One more thing. If you use any of the gaming stuff downstairs, please be sure to wind the cords back. It protects them from getting tangled, torn, etcetera.”

Down stairs? Gina hadn’t even noticed a downstairs. Mr. Thomas released everyone to start their vacation. While all of the students ran upstairs to claim beds, Gina walked through the common room and peered around the corned. In the back of the house, behind and under the stair case rested two wooden doors leading downstairs.

Gina opened the door and looked around to see if anyone else was around. She secretly hoped not, because she liked the idea of getting to see everything first hand. It was the only part she looked forward to with each move- getting to snoop around the house and find it’s hidden gems before anyone else did.

When the coast was clear, she flicked on the stair light and quietly closed the door. She held onto the railing as she made her way down the newly carpeted stairs. The bottom of the stairs opened up to a giant finished basement. It felt warm and cozy, like the rest of the house, but playful because of the many interesting things it held.

The room opened up to a large karaoke machine on a small platform. It had mini lyric screens on podiums and two microphone connected neatly to the podium. On one wall were about twenty shadow boxes, all with different game boards in them. The pieces most likely hidden in the back of the frames. On the other wall, a nook cut out in the middle of it, cushioned floor to ceiling with fairy lights, pillows, and blankets (which Gina claimed in her head before anyone else could). Gina noticed other things like a mini kitchenette, a large leather couch, a couple of bean bag chairs, and an air hockey machine. The entire room felt like an opulent version of Red’s bedroom or her house, but Gina wasn’t complaining. 

She quickly made her way back up the stairs, assuming all of the beds had been claimed. About half of the students were in the commons, a quarter playing outside in the snow, and the other quarter most likely upstairs in the bedrooms. Gina grabbed her suitcase from the staircase and went up the landing. There were two doors in front of her, another to her left and another to her right. The ones on the left were labeled “Boys” and the ones on the right “Girls”. She opened up the “Girls” door in front of her and was welcomed to a large marble bathroom. It had a long narrow walkway with stalls and sinks, and at the end 3 showers only closed off with curtains. Just like Mr. Thomas said there was a tall shelving system filled to the brim with fresh, white towels.

She left the bathroom and went to the other room labeled “Girls”. It opened up to several rows of bunk-beds and large dressers opposite them. Every bed had items on it except one bottom bunk in the back corner. Gina rolled her heavy suitcase to it’s rightful place and took a seat on her bed.

Whilst admiring her surroundings, she decided to pull out the scarf from her case and maybe go hang out with the other students outside. She grabbed the bright orange and yellow speckled piece of fabric and wrapped it around her neck.

“I don’t understand how you can make such an ugly thing look so beautiful”. Gina jumped to the sound of Ricky’s voice. Thankfully, the bunk was high enough she didn’t hit her head.

Blushing, she stood up quickly, eyes wide. “You scared me! Don’t do that!” Gina playfully shoved Ricky, as he giggled it off.

“I was just coming up to tell you dinner will be ready soon. Mr. Thomas ordered catering for tonight so we wouldn’t have to cook”. Ricky focused in on Gina’s eye contact more as he continued to grin profusely. “I really love this place”.

“What’s for dinner?” Gina asked as Ricky took a small step closer. “I really hope it’s like chicken...,” another step so their faces were about three inches apart, “or rice...or...” Ricky leaned in as Gina closed her eyes, letting her words drift. Their lips were breathing on each other when Red flung the door open.

“DINNER IS READY GUYS!” Both Gina and Ricky jumped back. Gina began to nervously straighten out her clothes, as Ricky grinned-obviously annoyed- and said through his teeth, “we’re coming”.

Big Red was either really good at acting or completely oblivious because he perkily said, “great! See you down there. I’ll save you a seat buddy!” And left with a spirited wink to Ricky.

Ricky flapped his arms out uncomfortably as he said, “well, guess we better go down”.

And Gina awkwardly agreed with an awkward thumb point to the doorway. “Guess so!”

They both ran down the stairs to the dining room. The table looked completely different from when Gina first saw it. The caterers worked fast. There were candles lit, satin napkins wrapping new silverware and tied with twine, and 3 large white plates with gold engravings stacked biggest to smallest. A white crocheted runner went down the table and large plates of food and wine glasses filled with water lined it. Everyone else seemed comfortable in their places, including Red who- as promised- had an empty seat next to him waiting for Ricky. But Gina couldn’t feel as at home with everything. She had never been to anything this fancy in her life. Ricky sat down quickly by Red as Gina walked shyly to the spot between Ashlyn and Carlos near the other end of the table- definitely out of speaking distance of Ricky.

The gang warmly greeted her as she sat down. Miss Jenn stood up and gave a nice toast, thanking everyone for their hard work in the play and encouraged everyone to “dig in”. The table became restless with people filling their plates as quickly as possible, dishes clattering and Seb taking way too many rolls. Once everyone settled down and got their food, the crowd chatted and ate to their heart’s content. Gina hadn’t noticed, but Ricky had looked at her about five times throughout the entire dinner. Red had, though.

“Ricky, dude, just enjoy the meal. You can kiss her later,” Red interrupted his fifth stare.

“Uh.. um.. what? No. I’m not gonna kiss her,” Ricky said defensively.

“We all know you want to know,” Red said as he dropped his voice.

“So what if I do?”

“Just eat your food. It’s New Years Eve. You’ll have the perfect opportunity tonight,” Red said as he scooped some more green beans on a plate.

Ricky stared at Gina again. He couldn’t help but feel like that was wrong... almost out of place for their relationship. If anything, they’ve been all but predictable. Even when he first began to like her, it came after a night of her bickering with EJ and Ricky saying something he honestly regrets now. Their first kiss shouldn’t be pressured.

Once the meal was finished, Ricky and the other boys washed the dishes while the girls gathered them from the table and brought them to the sink. The dishes were Mr. Thomas’, so the caterer’s were long gone by now. Seb and Carlos began play dancing in the kitchen, and soon Ashlyn and Red joined. Nini changed the song on the speaker to “Born to Be Brave” and soon the whole cast was dancing with each other. Gina was grabbing random people and being spun or doing funny dance moves with them. By the end of the second song most of the cast had left and by the time it got to the third it was just Seb, Carlos, Ricky, and Gina talking. Seb and Carlos decided to go join everyone else downstairs, but Ricky and Gina remained in the middle of the kitchen.

Nini’s phone changed to “Can I Have This Dance?” from High School Musical 3. Without hesitation, Ricky walked up close to Gina. She was still wearing his scarf, which he grabbed with a singled hand and quietly unwrapped it off her neck. He took a side step as he tossed it to the counter. Then he held out his hand as Gabriella sang, “take my hand”, singing along with her. Ricky pulled Gina in close, her hand in a fist on his chest, head nestled into his neck, as they swayed while he sang softly in her ear.

When the music ended, Gina pulled back and made eye contact with Ricky. Their faces close, slowly leaning in. Their moment got cut off, yet again, by yelling in the common room- which connected through the back to the kitchen- so there was no privacy. They both giggled while still holding onto each other. Gina pounded Ricky’s chest lightly with her fist and said, “let’s go downstairs”. Ricky agreed (with some resistance in his voice) as she grabbed his hand to lead him downstairs where the rest of the cast was. All of them were spread out on chairs talking, playing games, and EJ trying to set up the karaoke machine.

Gina walked over to assist EJ while Ricky played air hockey with Kourtney. The cast spent the night playing games and singing horribly to their favorite High School Musical songs. They drank a ton of soda, took cute candid photos, and laughed until they hurt.

Red took his phone out for the New York countdown and all of them watched the small screen giddily. They all held their small champagne glasses filled with cider as they watched with anticipation. 

“Five... Four... Three... Two... One... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!” The gang cheered and hollered. Glasses clinked and shouts filled the room. Seb and Carlos gave each other a big kiss, Red cut between Gina and Ricky hugging to give him a giant hug, and everyone else gave hugs and high fives. Ricky and Gina looked quietly at each other while everyone continued to chatter in the background. Gina gave Ricky a small smile because he knew. He knew that it wasn’t the right time. He gave her a small peck on the cheek, which was returned with their beaming faces. 

At the end of the night, once everyone had settled down and finally went to bed, Gina was cleaning up the wires to the karaoke machine when EJ walked over to her. “Hey, thanks for helping me set up that machine”.

“It was no problem,” Gina said as she put a microphone in it’s stand.

“Honestly, thanks for helping me with a lot of things”.

Gina stopped and crinkled her nose suspiciously. She turned around and stood up so she was facing him now. “What do you mean?”

“I just mean, when you gave me Nini’s phone. Like we shouldn’t have taken it, but you really came in clutch for me. And trying to help me at homecoming get Troy and Gabriella’s parts, by making Nini jealous so she’d drop out. It was clever and I didn’t realize it at the time. I know we never got the parts, but I also never thanked you for trying to help me. I’m just sorry things didn’t work out for either of us”.

“EJ... we weren’t being good people doing that. Don’t you understand? It was wrong and we can’t tell anyone. Not Nini, not Ricky. Nobody. I’m trying to get a clean slate and I thought you were too”.

“Yeah, the confessionals thing didn’t really work...” EJ said, rubbing his neck.

“Look, it was all wrong. Nini and I made up and she is finally starting to trust you again. I say we just leave it in the past where it belongs”.

“I know. I just wanted to thank you for having my back- that’s all”. EJ said, definitely irritated.

“I can’t believe you two.” Gina and EJ flipped around. They hadn’t noticed the light on in the downstairs bathroom. Ricky stood puzzled.

“Ricky, it’s not what you think!” Gina said trying to grab his arm. He shook her off.

“Dude, you’re overreacting. It happened forever ago,” EJ defended.

“Not. Helping.” Gina glared at him.

“No, what happened is, you led me on. You created a bunch of drama and then tried to get with me so Nini would drop out! Not ok, Gina!” Ricky’s voice was raising and Gina hated hearing him so upset, especially with her.

“I wasn’t thinking, but I meant what I said that night!” Ricky began to go to the stairs. “Ricky, you’ve got to believe me!” Gina begged.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” Ricky scolded as he ran up the stairs.

“Gina, I’m so sorry,” EJ pleaded.

“Leave me alone, EJ,” Gina snapped. She followed in Ricky’s footsteps, going up the stairs to her room.

The rest of the night seemed to drag on. The girls stayed up talking and giggling, so Gina decided to take a shower to make some time pass until they fell asleep. Then she crawled into bed and listened to some music. The good news was that she was able to just fake a headache and since her bed was in a corner, she could actively avoid everyone for the rest of the night.

All of the other girls eventually went to sleep, but Gina tossed and turned. How could EJ say that? Wasn’t it all in the past? And why didn’t she see the bathroom light on or not hear noise from there? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She didn’t actually have a plan. EJ didn’t know that, but he should have figured it out. And when the plan failed, she was happy to have someone empathize with her. Make her feel better. Ricky did that. He made her not care what role she had, because he seemed to not care about his. She blinked some leftover tears away and sat up.

Gina knew that it was pointless to try and sleep by now since it was about 4AM, so she got up and snuck back downstairs to the basement. When she reached the door, she noticed the light was still on. It must have been left on after the party. She tip toed down the stairs and noticed Ricky sitting in the nook, glumly fiddling with her scarf.

“Is that spot taken?” Gina asked as she approached him cautiously.

He patted the area next to him. “All yours”.

Gina sat down, but because of where Ricky was sitting in the nook, she ended up slightly sitting on top of him. They awkwardly adjusted until they were sitting opposite each other, scarf in Ricky’s hands, a pillow in Gina’s.

“I’m really sorry, Ricky. To be honest, I was mad about Nini getting the part,” Gina closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She refused to make eye contact with Ricky as she continued to talk, for fear she would cry. “It’s not normal for someone my age to get worked up over a part. It’s not normal to treat people like that for a lead in a high school play that might look good on a resume, but not to a dance school. I didn’t just want to be Gabriella... I had to be. Moving isn’t the only hard part of my home life. My mom puts a ton of pressure on me to be the best in any production. She thinks that if I make it big, the money will get us out of debt and we won’t have to keep moving. I’ve actually been looked at by professional scouts... like real professionals, but they always say ‘not yet’ or ‘you’re almost there’... ‘if you just do one more play you’ll make it big,” Gina said with mocking jazz hands.

“But I can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing the phrase ‘one more play’, ‘one more dance’... ‘keep practicing, you’ll get there’...” Gina began to choke up.

Ricky lightly put his hand on hers as he continued to listen. Gina finally made eye contact, her water-filled eyes glistening. “I don’t want to get there. It’s not my job to get there. I’m the kid! This should be fun!”

Ricky finally spoke. “Is there any part of it you do enjoy?”

Gina wiped a tear that finally broke with her free hand. “Yes. All of it. I love acting, and singing, and dancing- oh, especially dancing. I want to get into Julliard. But with the amount of pressure I get from my mom... I’m scared it’s going to get worse... or Julliard will put that pressure there for her. I just can’t win”.

Ricky thought carefully before he spoke again. “Gina, you are a great performer, but you’re an even better person. I can see you face a lot of pressure at home, but you can take down that wall with us. You didn’t have to do anything to impress me... or anyone else for that matter. You’re already remarkable, with or without your dance shoes”.

Gina smiled. “Really?”

Ricky gave her a sweet smile back. “Really.”

Gina sighed again, “I already said this, but I honestly am sorry. The way my mom treats me is no excuse for how I acted it. I shouldn’t have done it, regardless. But I meant what I said at the skate park. I meant what I said in the car. You’re one of a kind, Ricky Bowen”.

“Thanks. I appreciate it”.

Gina still felt a little tense. “Are we good?”

“We’re good”.

For some reason that was all Ricky needed to say to make the situation better. Everything felt normal again... well, aside from EJ, but she was going to deal with him later. For now, she just wanted to enjoy this time with Ricky.

The room filled with silence for a minute, until Gina broke it. “Umm... Ricky?”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you have my scarf?” Gina giggled.

He smiled to himself and fiddled it again. “Someone left it on the kitchen counter”. He reached over and swirled it back around her neck. “Looks better on you, anyway”.

Gina gave him a soft grin. He laid back and she curled up next to him, her head on his chest. She listened to the gentle rhythm of his heart and his slow-paced breathing as they drifted off to sleep.

Gina woke up to someone closing the bathroom door downstairs. She sat up from the nook- Ricky had already left. She wondered if it was him who was in the bathroom and how long they had been sleeping. But then a figure emerged in the doorway which caused her to sit straight up: EJ.

He dodged his eyes from her blatant staring as he headed to the stairs. Gina closed her eyes, taking another breath, ready to fix the rest of the damage caused from last night.

“EJ, wait”.

Ej stopped abruptly on the stairs, still holding onto the railing. He slowly turned around and looked at her cooly. “What?” he asked, his tone laced with irritation.

“Look, I’m not going to apologize for what I said last night. What we did was wrong and we need to work for what we want the right way. You need to talk to Nini or find someone new and I need to just practice more for my audition next semester. But I am sorry I dumped that drink on you, yelled at you, and bailed on you when you asked for my help. I overreacted and I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me”. Yes I did, Gina thought, but she continued her apology anyway. “But it wasn’t ok. I should have helped you talk to her or practiced lines with you. There were better ways we could have handled that”.

“For sure,” EJ agreed. Gina sat back, taken back by what he said.

“And I’m sorry too,” EJ continued. “I really am trying to turn a new leaf, but maybe I wouldn’t have to if I would just make the right choices the first time. It’s just that I’ve always gotten everything I wanted. The girl, the grades, the positions on teams- when Nini left... it just seemed like, I don’t know, I wasn’t cool anymore? I wasn’t this great person, because I got dumped. And then I didn’t get to play Troy. It was like I was a fraud and my world I had known came crumbling down. I probably sound like the biggest, self-centered dirtbag for saying that, but I just feel so much pressure to be the person other’s want me to be, you know?”

“EJ, I get exactly what you mean,” Gina reassured. “And I appreciate your apology. But you and I both need to learn that it’s who we are that makes us happy. And none of our friends are judging us. As long as we’re good with who we are, then those who are good with us too will surround us. In turn, it will push out the fakes”.

EJ blinked a few times in shock. “Dang, Gina. That’s pretty deep. Who taught you that?”

Gina grinned, “someone really wise last night”.

Just then the smell of eggs, bacon, sausage, and hot chocolate filled the basement. It smelled heavenly. Gina sighed gleefully as it filled her nose. “That smells wonderful. Want to go get some breakfast?”

“Sure!” Ej replied.

“By the way, what were you doing down here?”

“My hair needs space and caution to get it just right. It couldn’t breathe being suffocated in that small bathroom with all of those dudes. And what about you?! What were you doing down here?”

Gina rolled her eyes playfully. “Don’t ask”.

Gina ran upstairs and quickly got dressed, making sure to brush her teeth and touch up her makeup. When she got back to the kitchen all of the cast was either sitting at the table, on the counters, or standing around and talking- plates in their hands and music playing again. A hand wrapped around Gina’s waist and she felt a quick peck on her cheek from Ricky, taking her completely by surprise.

“Good morning, Miss Gina. There’s breakfast and a seat next to me waiting at the table for you. Not the one on the left though, that’s Red’s”. Gina giggled to herself as she went to the kitchen counters and filled up her plate with breakfast foods assorted in giant metal containers, like the ones at hotels.

The rest of the morning was spent with more kitchen dancing, pictures, games, and sledding. Gina and Ricky shared a sled and crashed a few times. They ended up breaking out in a snowball fight and building a really unsteady snowman that caved in right after they took one slightly blurry photo with it.

When it was time to leave, the cast got on the bus and sat in their same spots on the way home (Red almost stole Gina’s seat though, but Ashlyn convinced him to sit next to her, so Gina still got to sit next to Ricky). The ride back felt similar to the ride there with snoring coming from the front of the bus, the gang playing games on their phones, and Gina tying the strings on Ricky’s hat to take funny photo’s of him.

When they finally got back to East High (where their parents could pick them up or their cars were parked), everyone gave each other big hugs and wished them a good next few days of break. There was loud laughter and singing as everyone parted ways. Gina’s mom came to get her, so she was waiting at the end of the parking lot for her to come. 

Ricky walked up to Gina and gently bumped his body into her side, “are you sure you don’t want a ride? It’s not too much of a hassle for me”.

Gina gave Ricky a silly look at his obvious sarcasm. “No, I don’t need a ride. My mom is coming”.

Ricky giggled and gave her a hug. “Good bye, Gina. See you, Monday”.

Gina smiled politely at him. “Goodbye, Ricky”. She wiggled her fingers good bye as he walked quickly to his car.

“Gina! Look at this!” Ashlyn called out. Ashlyn, Carlos, and Seb had made an igloo on the school yards that was supposed to resemble East High. Gina wouldn’t have known that from the structure, but one of them carved “EHHS” on the front, so she got the idea. Almost as soon as she had turned around she felt a hand on her arm. It flipped her around.

“Ricky! What are-”

Ricky cut her off. “I forgot something”.

He crashed his lips into hers. It hurt a little, but as she eased into it, the kiss became soft and warm. He picked her up in his arms and spun her around as they continued to kiss. He put her back down when their face broke apart and then he walked away with a goofy, clumsy grin as he said, “uhmm.. good bye, Gina. See you next week!... I guess!”

Gina laughed quietly as she said, “Yeah, see you next week,” and watched Ricky continue to walk off as she bit her lip and smiled. She looked down at her scarf, beaming. This was her Best New Year’s ever. She began to wonder what the other holiday’s would bring...

#Rina #ricky bowen #gina porter #hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series #lowkey seblos #seblos #redlyn #but more platonic but if you ship it this fic can go either way

[joshslater]

Getting Jacked

In this installment of “comprehensive rewrite” we address the somewhat more complex titled “Fuck boi-ification: Jack-Off“. Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

Matthew woke up in his messy bed, as the morning sun lit his bedroom way too early. He was old enough to handle a party without getting completely hangover, but he still felt pretty raw. He needed breakfast, shower and plenty of water. As he got up memories of last nights party started to return to him. He had been invited out by his friends to a house party near campus, and Matthew immediately said no. He wasn’t fond of parties generally, even when the age and types of people matched him, but a student party at his age and size wasn't his idea of a good time. Matthew at 24, just about to turn 25, would be older than probably everyone there. He was also proudly, openly gay, currently trending towards a bear, and would stand out like a dogs dick. He had a the beginnings of a beer belly, which looked smaller than it really was on his 6'5 frame, and thick arms and legs, all covered in light brown fur. He didn’t believe in cutting and went to the gym to get strong. While he kept the hair on top of his head short, his face was covered by a dense, black beard. He was also hesitant to come because of his interests. He enjoyed looking at Video games and social politics. He was deep into Zelda and Pokemon, but also a fiery activist online, fighting misogynists and homophobes alike. All commonly mocked.

However recently he felt he had become less and less sociable doing his tedious, life consuming office work, and Jon at the office had really pushed him to come along. He was almost the right age and was friends with Sarah who threw the party. It was an open invitation to college frats and sororities, as always with house parties, but some younger people also showed up from other schools, again as always, so the place had been packed.

Memories of the night slowly came back to him as he got up and changed into cargo shorts and a plain white T-shirt. He remembered uncharacteristically having a blast at the party, where he got drunk on beer and shots with some frat bros and started flirting with some guy. It probably wasn’t going anywhere, but the mood had turned awkward as soon as a posse of shitty little fuck boys had filed in. There must have been half a dozen newly minted 18 year olds, all wearing trendy clothes and accessories. At some point he think he heard the leader of the pack, Jacob or something, call him a faggot. Perhaps he just looked like someone who would say that a lot.

Apparently he had continued drinking more jäger bombs, because all his clothes from yesterday were scattered across the bedroom floor. He slowly begun picking them up. When he picked up his jacket he could feel something shift inside one of the front pockets. He fumbled to find the opening and produced a small box. It looked like one of the cheaper jewelry boxes, like when you buy a $9 tie clip or something. He turned it around, but it had no text on it, opened the lid and a poorly folded sticky note popped out. Matthew unfolded it to read a hastily written message.

Jack,

these might look better on you

/Jacob 

So this was left by that damn preppy douche, but who was Jack? Did drunken Matthew agree to hand over the box to someone or had it just been stuck in his pocket by mistake? Matthew put the note down and looked inside to find two gaudy ear studs. Even he could see that they were no where near made out of gem stones or even crystal. Cheap knock-offs that didn't differ much from wind shield shards put on a pin. No, these where magnetic, not using pins. In a way it made them even worse. Such stupid, worthless things.

As he was turning the piece of glass between his fingers, he got an impulse. No one would ever know. He removed the magnet from the cut glass piece and placed them on either side of his right ear lobe, and then repeated on his left side, without looking in a mirror. He wanted to surprise himself with how he looked.

It wasn't really a surprise though. He looked every bit as dumb in the bathroom mirror as he had expected. Oh, well. He pulled on the stud and the magnet on right ear with one hand to remove them, but it just painfully pulled his ear. He tried using both his hands to pull them apart, without success. Fuck, how strong are these things? It actually started to hurt a bit. Matthew was thinking through what he had in his tool box. This would be the most stupid and embarrassing way of getting ear piercings. Was this some sort of crude practical joke between Jack and Jacob?

He hurried back into the bedroom to dig out the toolbox from under the bed. The pain was getting worse by the second. Sharp pain was shooting from his ears into his head. By the time he entered the bedroom the pain echoed throughout his entire body. Matthew’s head started getting dizzy and his eyes got blurry as they watered up. He stumbled a few steps more before falling onto the bed and spasming as his body started aching all over. It wasn't just the piercing pain shooting through his nerves, though it was still there. There was a dull, relentless pain in his bones. All of them. He felt like he was going to explode. The skin burned like sunburn and felt taut like a sausage.

Matthew's breathing got rapid and shallow. His body was soaked in sweat. He was dying right now, that he was sure of. He had lost pretty much all control over his limbs, as he was shifting around and twitching. Not even given the decency to go out with the roar, he thought, as his attempts at calling for help or scream in agony got translated into short yelps, like a tail trodden house dog. Wasn't this how chemical warfare toxins worked? All nerve synapses randomly firing, causing loss of motor functions and unspeakable pain?

He was anticipating losing consciousness at any moment. Wishing for it was perhaps more to the point, as he thrashed around on the bed. Perhaps it was the other way around, he thought. Perhaps the skin was shrinking, wringing him out like a wet rag. He certainly sweated as much. His mind was all jumbled by pain. There was something else coming out besides sweat. A yellow tinted goo, like he had covered himself in snot.

He rolled over on his back and gasped for air. Wait! He could move again? He tentatively felt his chest through the goo. Still there, still his. He tried to shout for help, but just managed to wheeze out a toneless whisper. He tried again, and halfway through it broke into high pitched shriek, and he felt a sharp pain in his throat, like his vocal cords snapped. Before he had time to panic about it, his whole body was shot through with pain, and he arched his back as the muscles contracted. It was a searing pain, at least as bad as the first wave. Then, added to that, came a stinging pain all over his skin.

It stopped as suddenly as it started, or perhaps he had finally blacked out for a moment. He couldn't tell. He was just thankful all the pain had stopped. What the fuck had just happened? He lied completely still in the ruined bed, fearing the next assault of pain. It smelled like the intestine bin in a slaughter house. When minutes passed and the only thing happening was the muck covering him going cold, he hesitantly got up.

Even before standing up he could see and feel that his body had drastically changed. Flat belly, flat chest and markedly smaller. The now oversized, soaked cargo pants fell to the floor with a slosh. The bed looked like someone had given birth in it. Or foaled. Apparently the blurriness had left him too.

He slowly made his way to the bathroom. While he was careful to not touch anything, he left a snail trail of wet footprints and droplets. He almost fell twice, once when his foot slipped on the floor just outside the bedroom and once when his now too large underwear got unstuck from the goo on his thighs and fell to his ankles.

The mirror image in the bathroom wasn't very helpful, given his messy state. He was about a foot shorter than before, but other than that he looked like he had mud-wressled in brown, hairy jell-o. He stepped into the shower, pulled off his final piece of clothing, the now brown T-shirt, and made an attempt to swipe the muck off him, like you would clean slush off a snowboard. Seeing his slow progress he decided to just turn on the water and clean properly.

The drain water had a disgusting color, taking a surprising amount of hair with it, as well as chunky bits of god knows what. The water revealed him looking thinner than he had been since perhaps he was 14. His floppy man boobs had turned into flat, firm pecs. His beer gut had melted down into a fit torso with vague lines of abs. As the water revealed his skinny fit body, it washed away almost all his body hair, leaving just a hint of fuzz around his dick. Seeing this, he reached his chin, only to discover his beard was gone as well.

Any other day that would have been a big deal, but now it was just another detail, as he kept staring down at his pale, thin body. He ran his hand down the front of his chest and abs. His tiny, skinny twig of an arm. It surprised Matthew how good his skin felt. Soft, sensitive, smooth and without any imperfections he could see. The water felt amazing hitting his skin and running down his body. He started to get an erection.

That just got him angry. His dick was easily half the size of his old cock, perhaps even smaller. It was shorter, it was thinner, and though he had wisps of pubic hair both his new dick and marble pouch were smooth and hairless.

He shut off the water, did a 5 second rush dry with a towel and stood before the mirror for the first time. Fuck! Matthew had had sex with many different body types, jocks, bears, athletes, overweight. This right here, an anorectic muscle wannabe, was his biggest turn off. He looked in his late teens, short and thin with hints of lean muscle. His smooth, hairless skin made him look even younger. He saw nothing that reminded him of his old self. Even the belly button was different. There was nothing for him to like either. It was like someone had precision tailored every detail just the way he hated the most. His hair had grown! Even though he was just out of the shower, everything except his tightly faded sides and back stood straight up, as if he had been styled as a douche since infancy.

He hated all of it. The smug, not quite handsome face that looked unable to grow facial hair, framed by the earrings on either side that sparkled like they were taunting him.

“Ah fuck, get off me!”, Matthew shouted in a high pitched, adolescent voice, as he yanked the stud. He hated his new voice. He hated the shitty studs. He hated the body they stubbornly were attached to. Perhaps he could cut them off, and that would turn him back? Wasn't that the plan before he changed into... this.

He went back to the bedroom to look for pliers, taking care to not step in any gunk on the floor. Coming back into the bedroom it looked even worse than he recalled, leaving it just half an hour ago. It was an horror show. That gave him pause messing with the ear studs. That's when he saw the sticky note again. Of course, he should try to talk to Jack or Jacob. But he didn't know them. He hadn't even seen Jack and could barely describe Jacob. Man, it was hard to think clearly. Perhaps someone else at the party could describe Jacob? Sarah should know! It was her party, and he should have her number in the forwarded invite on his phone.

After many signals Sarah finally answered the call. She sounded tired, but upbeat. - This is Sarah! - Hi, it is Matthew. Can you describe Jacob? God, he hated his voice. It was childish and annoying. - Who? - One of the young, preppy dudes. - Look, I have no idea who most of the people were, or what they looked like. I think I got a note from one of them though. Would that help? Hang on. The line went silent for a few moments and then she came back. - I have a note for Jack. Do you know him? - No. What does it say? - It says: appointment at Manila Massage at 2pm. Shower first. - Does it say how I would get there? - Sorry. - Thanks anyway.

He found it in the map app on his phone, and not that far away. 12 minutes estimated travel time, and it was hours until that appointment. He felt relief that at least he had a plan to follow. He looked around at the damage. The sheets were probably ruined, as was the duvet and mattress. The floor was just tiles and plastic, so a mop and a squeegee would do. He could probably wash the cargo pants and underwear, but he could stand inside one of the legs now. Oh, right, he was still naked with a semi hard on.

Matthew winced at the sight of his new dick. It was the size of his thumb. No, he realized, his former thumb. He stepped over to his chest of drawers and started rummage for old stuff or tight stuff that might fit. The black speedo briefs he hadn't used in years actually fit him now, as did an old compression shirt and adidas hot pants, though loosely. Lucky he hadn't thrown that away. With a pair of flip flops, although too large, he would at least be able to walk outside.

Matthew didn't have the reach he used to, so cleaning out the bed proved to be much harder than he thought. And he didn't have the arms and height he used to, so he opted to go several rounds with the icky sheets, duvet and pillows. He felt super self conscious being outside looking like this. It didn't help that his hard on was hardening and clearly visible. He wasn't as strong as he used to be either, so the wet mattress was a bit of a struggle to keep away from his body. "Stupid fucking body", he said to himself. At least he had plenty of stamina.

Even cleaning the floors took longer than expected, as he was getting more and more distracted by his penis rubbing the inside of his speedos. Eventually he gave in, stepped into the shower and started to jack off. It felt good. Really, really good, but he was unable to climax. None of his go to fantasies worked. Instead of starting to browse his porn library, he decided to just step out of his shorts and speedos, and shower the groin in cold water. That did the trick well enough for him to clean the rest of the floors.

With an hour to kill before he needed to leave, he enjoyed another hot shower, as instructed, and then aimlessly idled in the apartment. He checked the fridge for food, and decided he wasn't hungry. He went through his clothes more thoroughly. Some of the now over sized shirts looked "cute" on him, but found few useful things. He ended up playing some silly phone game, which he used to loathe, until it was time to leave.

Again he felt self conscious and exposed next to his F150 truck. He had no problem climbing into it. But he had to climb. And after plenty of adjustments it was still a challenge for him to manage driving.

The Manila Massage was easy to find, in the basement of a residential building. There was a small waiting area with two chairs next to a cheap looking table top sized fountain just inside the door. A small Asian women appeared from one of the inner rooms. Well, actually they were pretty much the same size, save for some obviously enlarged breasts.

- Jack Hoff? - What?! - Are you Jack? - No, I'm Matthew Goodman. - Aaah. Your friend made a joke. Very funny. She made no expression showing she felt it was funny. - Well, Matthew Goodboy, follow me.

She lead him back into a larger darkened room with lots of carpets and futons on the floor, but hardly any furniture. Clusters of candles placed around the room was the only sources of light.

- Don't be nervous. Here, drink this.

She poured something from a crystal decanter into a shot glass and handed it to him. He downed it. It tasted like it contained sugar, vanilla, peach and alcohol, in that order. He found it much less revolting than he should. Different palate he guessed.

- You can get undressed and put your clothes here and then lie face down here.

She motioned first at a stool and then at a thin futon on the floor.

- All clothes? - Yes, sweetie.

She smiled and left the room. Not really sure what he was in for, but too committed to back out, Matthew stepped out of the flip flops, pulled off his shirt and froze. He sported a raging hard on. He carefully pulled down the hot pants and speedos. As he placed himself on his belly on the mattress he felt light headed as the alcohol hit. This was the gift that kept on giving. 12 hours ago he would jäger bomb anyone under the table, and now he got tipsy from a thimble of liquid candy.

After a minute or two he heard the lady enter again, and the sound of a glass bottle. Then he felt her hands starting to rub his back with oiled hands. If the shower had felt good, this was heavenly. He'd never had anything that smelled remotely like this on him before. Peach, again, and some flower. But it felt too good to care. She worked his neck, his arms, his legs and almost slipped a finger in his butt, before going back to his back.

- Now, turn over on your back.

Matthew did, and his mouth fell open. She was naked. Matthew just stared at her body. Slender and hairless, like his, but bronzed and with huge breasts that jiggled as she applied oil to his chest. His eyes were transfixed on her nipples, bouncing around in front of him. It wasn't until she had moved on to his arms, and he looked at her belly button and neatly trimmed bush, he realized his mouth was gaping open. She then moved on to his legs, and to his horror he realized his dick stood right up, next to where she rubbed his inner thigh.

She looked Matthew straight in the eyes and started to give him a hand job. It didn't take many strokes until he exploded with pump after pump of cum on his chest and abs. She smiled and started to rub the cum in the oil.

- That one didn't count.

She then straddled him, facing him, and started to ride his cock. Matthew was surprised he was still hard. He looked at her in amazement and tipsy confusion. He once had sex with a girl to see if he was gay or bi. He had only managed to get hard when he pretended she was a young boy, and felt really shitty about it after. But now, seeing this Asian woman bobbing up and down on his dick, he felt hornier than even at LumberCon last year. He loved the way her boobs moved. The way her hair moved. The way his dick felt. The tingle in his body. The smell of peach and sissy blossom. Right then and there he couldn't think of anyone he would rather be than Jack Hoff losing his virginity in a very happy finish by... did he even know her name?

Jack was super confused as he exited Manila Massage. It was like he couldn’t remember anything from before he came, pumping cum into the Asian lady. Apparently having super happy ending with her had been a birthday gift from “Jacob” and the lady refused to take his credit card. That could all be true, he couldn't remember when his birthday was, but the really confusing part was the credit card. On one side it said "Matthew Goodman", but as soon as he flipped it he had no idea what name was on it. He knew he should recognize this Matthed dude. He kept flipping the card and almost walked into someone standing in his way. He looked familiar. Was this was Jacob?

- Happy birthday! Who's a shitty little fuck boy now? - What? Who? - Don’t worry about it... Hey, what do you say we drive to the mall and buy you some new clothes? Give me back my truck key, and we’ll go in your car. He motioned towards a purple Honda Civic with a big spoiler in the back. Jack handed over the Ford key that he’d found in his pile of clothes. - Well, I... You know... I think I might have fucked my brains out. - Sweet, dude. Just what I paid for. - I’m serious. I can’t remember a thing. - Well, I guess you’ll just have to trust me until it comes back. Get in.