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neshabeingchildish · 5 years

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This is the longest chapter of the fic, I think! We have some Jasper history and his dad and such. Idk if I’ll leave the reasons at that, or if y’all would have wanted the entire story of what happened between Jasper’s parents. At any rate - let me know what you think! It’s a long chapter, so no rush. But, I’d love to know how and if I pulled this off...

The Perfect Ring

Jasper had a committee meeting for his activism group Athlivists right after his last class of the day, so he knew that he wouldn’t see Charlotte again until he got off from work in the middle of the night and by then, she’d be asleep. Which was sometimes nice, because he’d just get to wash up and cuddle up to her and fall right to sleep in her hair. She had satin covers so she wouldn’t need bonnets, so he got to be draped in the softness of that and draped around the softness of her. It was amazing. He slept like he was in an angel’s bosom every night that he was with her, which was now every night, now that her apartment was so close by and of course he had a key.

Both of their schedules were filling up fast and he wanted to see more of her, but he also considered it a sacrifice right now for them to be able to have better chances later. People called his name whenever he was moving around on campus and he’d usually be sure to acknowledge them, even when he didn’t know who they were. Sometimes, people just came up to him and started talking, either about their interest in alternative sports or their interest in activism, or his vlog, the radio show… “I’m so sorry, I have an Athlivists meeting, but my email is on my website, where I post the videos…” He had to eventually tell this woman who he couldn’t figure out what she wanted him to know, at the moment.

Jasper began Athlivists with some of his brothers who were stars on their sports teams. They started out just him getting his friends to do him a solid… Charlotte was the project manager for one of her business courses, which she turned into a project for an environmental sciences purpose, but underestimated how much her peers cared about the environment. She was organizing meetings to move forward with her initiative to create community gardens in or near food deserts. Jasper didn’t know what a food desert was, but she seemed very passionate about stopping them and she was very stressed out that not too many people were even interested. Her big event was coming up and she didn’t even get a quarter of the people to sign her petition that she needed to help with the proposal. Jasper wasn’t sure why she hadn’t just asked him, if all she needed was people. When she called him to vent and cry a little before she had to put on her game face and push through the turnout, he got his sports friends to get their sports friends. Whenever she was about to move forward with what she feared was going to have to be a failing grade and also a let down to Mother Earth, he came to the signup event before with four times the people to show interest than she had initially been seeking. They were listening to the proposal, too, and some of them knew some of the business people invited, through their parents or whatever and in addition to it being a huge success for her, a lot of them were networking too. And more importantly a lot of them got information about the environment that they hadn’t really been paying a huge amount of attention to. Like, they knew a lot of this stuff and heard about a lot - who doesn’t know about climate change? - But, they also didn’t know the degree of trouble that their world was in, or ways that they might help. They now wanted to know more and do more.

Jasper decided maybe they should start a group to focus on that type of thing, and other issues that they might come across, along the way. He was already in the Athletes Union and President of the Alternative Sports Sector. He’d already gotten funding for alternative sports whenever there is a big following and a fully functional team on campus. He had shown up to various rallies and protests about campus policy, laws, and social justice over the past year or so. So, starting a group of his own was in his ballpark, and he thought it was good to show the rest of them that the academics weren’t the only ones who cared about relevant things.

They mostly focused on the environment, animal rights and sexual education. Jasper had other causes outside of the group that he was involved with for other stuff. But, Athlivists’ claim to fame on campus (in the entire institution, actually, as it spread through the college and its affiliates) was what they called “Jock Block.” Jasper will tell you in a heartbeat that although he was doing most of the leg work and liaison dealing, Charlotte inspired the idea. What is Jock Block, you ask? Resources and assistance for athletes via STD testing and treatment, birth control, protection, prevention and education.

Jasper was a championship wrestler, and headed up just about every alternative sport, as well as backed up some of the track and field events and having just one girlfriend had been paying for condoms that kept getting stolen by his frat brothers, up until he just asked Charlotte if she was interested in getting on birth control and offered to pay for it. He didn’t want to use them anymore anyway. He enjoyed the feel better without them and loved the finish.

For a while, Jasper PREPAID for her birth control, just because he was that serious about making sure that he took care of her while getting what he wanted and she honestly felt like the school should provide that kind of thing. He just began to talk about it at first and found that a lot of the athletes felt like it would be super helpful if the school DID try to at least help a little.

What happens if you can’t get the protection right away and decide to just go for it, then BOOM - you’ve spread crabs in the locker room… (Which happened before, but fortunately, Jasper had not been affected) BUT, of those who were affected, they didn’t feel like they should have had to pay for treatment. They were exposed and didn’t realize this was an issue. Some of them had never even thought about crabs before that happened. They thought that you had to have unprotected sex with someone infected to get them. Jasper figured that was a huge and terrifying problem, and began discussing what might be done to avoid things like that in the future and help some of their hardworking students to have access to more resources. Sometimes, they were going to be irresponsible, as was a part of life. So, they could put their bodies on the line and their physical wellbeing and sometimes mental, because sports and academics and other things altogether was stressful and sexual health was a beneficial release. An oopsie here and there shouldn’t put them on the line like it sometimes did.

Jock Block was born to help with sexual education and health, but most of the athletes and beneficiaries thought of it as the “birth control plan.” It's how they got their free condoms, their testing, treatment, and in cases like Jasper and Charlotte’s reimbursed for birth control when the relationship was ongoing and the students were in good academic standing and athletic standing. Basically, Char was able to get free birth control because her boyfriend was a jock with good grades. (She got it free anyway, because he’d always paid for condoms, the morning after pill, and her birth control), but now he didn’t have to anymore. There were other programs for assistance on campus, but those didn’t have much to do with them. Jock Block also was helpful a time or two with remedial assistance, which was their fancy words for supplying Plan B. The athletes were encouraged to behave responsibly, but in certain situations, Jock Block would still bail them out, as long as it wasn’t an ongoing practice. Jasper was a hero for helping it get established, among all of his familiars. The quarterback, who was extremely paranoid that women were trying to “trap” him, called Jasper “a god.” Charlotte pulled Jasper away, and shook her head, “Please, don’t ever say that.” Jasper’s head was big enough.

“I’m adding “god” to my list of accomplishments,” he said.

Charlotte’s circles gave her some crap about it sometimes. “You think it’s good for the school to pay for the jocks to stick their penises wherever they want to?” That was a gross misrepresentation of what the program did and instead of explaining it from start to finish to every critic, she began handing out literature about it when someone had something slick to say. She was Jasper’s #1 supporter and protector. Nobody was about to come to her with some mess just because they couldn’t get close enough to him to bitch and moan.

Whenever they came back from visiting his dad, something shifted in him. She didn’t know what, but he suddenly seemed more serious than before. She loved that. A serious Jasper was hot and that was the person that initially drew her in deeper than friendship, but also, it seemed like a switch had been flipped and she was uncertain what to make of it. She really worried whenever she came into the frat house and he was sitting at his desk in his room, staring at his computer while Lady and Tramp were barking at him. Jasper never ignored them, so she figured that he was in a daze. She took the dogs out to go potty, then came back and he was still there. “Heyyy, Jasper…”

He blinked and turned to look at her with a tired smile, “I didn’t hear you come in,” he said.

“I took the dogs for a walk,” she closed the door and released them. “You okay?” she wondered, heading to wash her hands.

“Just thinking,” he said and got up to greet her.

“About?” He leaned near the sink and was quiet again. “You don’t have to tell me,” she said.

“No, I...I am.” He looked up at her in the mirror, then got closer and wrapped his arms around her, smiling. “I love seeing us in a mirror.”

“Oh yeah?” She asked, looking up at the two of them and she thought that did look good together.

“I get to look at you all the time, and I certainly do every chance that I get, but in the mirror, I get to see myself with you. I get to see this person who I used to think was pretty damned broken, but he’s complete, and he’s complete because he’s got this goddess in his life that makes him better, smarter, stronger… I don’t know that I ever would have been this kind of me without your support.”

“You definitely would have, because I don’t support half of your shenanigans,” she joked.

He kissed her neck, sighed, and shrugged his shoulders, “I got an offer for an internship at a brokerage firm.” He folded his arms and said, “That is within my scope and could possibly be a pretty good job if I get put on afterwards, There’s not a lot of undergrads being considered for it, so to turn it down might be taken the wrong way, but to accept it might affect some of the stuff that I’m doing right now. I like right now, but I’ve got a woman and two dogs and I’m a grown man…” He went back to his seat and asked, “How was your day?” then started typing his reply.

Her eyes were wide. She dried her hands and came up behind him to wrap him in a hug and kiss him on his hair. She read as she did. He was replying. He was accepting. “My day was good, but… Are you sure that you want to do this, Jasper? You function and flourish when you’re happy and something tells me that this might not make you happy. You’ll be unhappy and unpaid.”

“I did that apprenticeship for a year with no pay. The internship will be similar to that, except boring, but whenever you become an adult, things get boring, don’t they?”

She didn’t know if that was true or not. She’d always been seen as kinda boring. The sciences that she was currently working on in the lab was her “fun,” and a lot of her peers told her that was sad. “I don’t think so,” she answered and stroked his hair. “Just… Make sure that you want it. It’ll be hard to get yourself out of a career path once you start heading down one.”

But, Jasper sent the message, anyway and turned in his chair with a smile. She knew that smile. It was one that he put on when he was done focusing on the negatives of something. He’d made his decision and that was that for him. “Who knows? Maybe I’m multi talented and can make a bunch of stuff work at once, like you Miss STEAM Extraordinaire!” She blushed and tried to walk away but he pulled her closer and said, “Uh uh… I haven’t gotten kisses yet and I get to kiss an… what was it Academic Superstar?”

“That story was lip service, and you know it!” She said.

“Blasphemy! I grew up with Charlotte Page and the story ran on her in a NATIONAL publication about her intelligence and accomplishments was 100% truth!” She smiled and gave him the kisses he was trying to earn.

But, she got up quickly too. “It puts a lot of stress on me, though. Now, I have to see a National STEAM Today’s Scientists to Follow tacked on to my name everywhere, and I keep getting calls for interviews that I can’t turn down because not only could it affect what people think of me, but it could affect what they think of every Black woman fortunate enough to be involved and recognized.” He looked confused and she explained, “Since Black people, Black women especially, are so stereotyped and misrepresented, under-represented, unappreciated, etc, whenever one of us does get the attention that we deserve, we sort of have to take on this role of model minority and be the change that our people want to see in the world. We have the task of breaking stereotypes and showing the world that WE can do this too, see this example, but we also have to still go into work spaces and battle the stereotypes from the others, who often don’t think we deserve the recognition that we got or want us to perform and prove ourselves in ways that less marginalized people would never be expected to.”

He frowned and clenched his fist, “Is somebody giving you shit at work?”

She laughed and rubbed his fists, making him release them, “Uh, no more than usual and if I want to try to keep it that way, I’ve gotta play my politics. I have to show that I can do everything that was said of me and more, and still look cute while I do it, because if I have even one hair out of place, at least a thousand people will focus in on it and ask, “Is THIS the chick that thinks we’re gonna get drug therapy from her when she can’t even manage to get her hair treatment right?” He was seething now and she laughed it off, “Jasper. I’m used to it. It’s just annoying.”

“It sounds infuriating and I don’t understand why you have to take it!”

“I have to take it because I don’t have the power or position to change the world. I just have to do my best with my fraction of society.” She sighed. It was exhausting, but she knew since she was little that she’d have to do twice the work to get half the credit and work twice as long to get a quarter of a break. That was why casual racism triggered her far more than blatant hatred did. Because it was so subtle and ominous that people could get away with it, even while it was hurting her little by little. The brash, bold types, anybody with reason, would disagree with and take her side. She needed backup whenever it was lowkey microaggressions that affected her on a daily basis and kept the strong institution of racism flowing smoothly. “I appreciate that you’re upset by it, though.” Upset by it? Jasper wanted to punch someone in the face for it.

Since the whole thing with Casper, he’d become hypersensitive to casual racism. It was to the point where people kept telling him that it was hard to be around him because he always “found something racist.” He would in turn let them know that it was hard for him to be around stuff that he found racist and that’s why they were having a conversation in the first place.

Mid junior year, he was under review for a fight that he “escalated” whenever he heard one of the frat brothers describe him as a (N word in disguise) to tell someone not to say anything that seems even remotely racist around him. He didn’t care that somebody was saying that about him. He liked that people wanted to watch their mouths around him and wished that they kept that energy around anybody, because if it was just around him, then that meant that’s who they were inside, but they just didn’t want any smoke from him. It was the fact that the person used the N word, which is NEVER acceptable. Charlotte told him that. NEVER and he was now adamant about that.

So, whenever he confronted them about the matter and not saying that word in any capacity, even if it was in a song, an argument broke out and Charlotte’s existence was invoked, but referred to in a way that Jasper didn’t appreciate. “Just because you stick your ---- in the Help-” Jasper expressed that with his fist. He was under investigation because he “hit him first,” but whenever he told his version of the story, he couldn’t even bring himself to repeat what was said. Instead, he wrote it down and just showed the camera during his storytime. He got a lot of support and love and fans wrote the school about it and emailed them and flooded their social media with their support for him and their call for action to be taken with that “racist bitch in the frat.” The guy wound up transferring and no action was taken against Jasper, but the dean had a talk with him about how he couldn’t just punch people because he disagreed with them and that next time there might be consequences. There wasn’t. He’d punched another guy for groping her a few weeks later.

Even if he had gotten consequences, he didn’t care. He knew so many guys who were just as defensive of their women and just as active and aggressive to protect him. None of them got the same pushback that he did whenever he was defending Charlotte. Sometimes, even the Black dudes that were around didn’t seem to have his back when he’d be speaking up for her in some example or another.

He’d gotten a little bit of opposition for making some statements on the radio show that he wished that people were as supportive of Black women whenever things happened as they were to the Black men. A lot of people didn’t like that. Charlotte explained to him that while she agreed, it wasn’t his place to say that in a space created by and for Black people. “Say that kind of stuff to YOUR people,” she’d told him. “They really need to hear things from people like them.” But, it grew his Black women demographic. A few Black owned companies sent him free shirts with messages like “Support Black Women” and “Love Black Women,” and he wore TF out of them. He wasn’t even really a huge advocate. He didn’t do a bunch of rallies for them and stuff, even with all of the rallies that he did. But, they saw that he had a Black girlfriend and heard that he was vocal about appreciating Black women and they were on board. She even finally appeared in one of his videos. He was showing people how he helped her with her hair care. Not really a tutorial, but just a demonstration, with him talking about how relaxing it was for him to know that she trusted him in her hair, and to be so intimate with someone that you know how to take care of them the way that they would take care of them.

Charlotte had to admit that version of him was the hottest yet. It was refreshing to change from being surrounded by people and hear what would have once been a dog whistle for her and having to evaluate whether she would call them out and look like an irrational Black bitch or suffer in silence, to having a bulky, hot, popular dude ask them, “I’m sorry, what did you say?” with an expression on his face that let a bitch know that they better think of a way to paraphrase real quick if this was gonna be a smooth conversation. She always had to try to fight the urge to smirk at the person. Sometimes, she just went ahead and did it.

She also explained to Jasper that this too was part of his privilege, because Black men could be just as defensive of their Black woman and be met with aggression and fear that could get police involved, which could turn out horribly. “The fact that you get to straighten these people out and they apologize is something that my dad didn’t often get whenever he had to do the same thing,” she’d told him. He’d never sleep on that power again.

When they were out in public, he'd always wrapped his arm around her and kept her close to his side because she was small and he was protective. However, knowing how hostile the world could be towards her for no good reason, he not only kept her close whenever possible, but if they got separated or split to mingle, he tried to keep an eye on her and/or send her check in texts. "You good, Babe?" He'd ask, then watch her smile to herself and look around for him to make eye contact that she was. It was… something to get used to for her, but she supposed that was much better than being ignored. She sometimes gave him space because she knew that he was likely doing all of this for her benefit, because of how she felt before, so she saw that effort and attempted to reward it with some breathing room. Honestly, he was probably more relaxed whenever she didn’t make it to parties and gatherings, which was fine for her.

She much preferred to be laying in bed, in a fuzzy blanket with the doggies warming her feet or in her lap while she attempted to watch joint replacement videos and tell them how she would have done it differently, like they knew what she was talking about. She’d rather light some frankincense candles, put a sheet mask on, pour a glass of wine and read a stack of books, for fun for a change, not for class or work. In fact,” she checked the time on her phone. It was right around Midnight and she was on a “Cinderella Schedule” this semester. She left places at Midnight, regardless of where she was or what was going on. She wasn’t staying past Midnight, because she usually had 12-14 hour school/work days and that 4-6 hours of sleep that she got nightly was imperative for her brain to continue functioning.

On her way to the door, texting Jasper the golden carriage icon that she had saved to her phone for when it was time for her to dip out and they weren’t next to each other, she accidentally bumped into someone. “Excuse me,” she said politely and looked up to see Casper. She hadn’t seen that woman in months. She forced a smile and moved around, but Casper followed her.

“Hey, can I please talk to you for a moment?”

“I gotta go home, Girl. It’s past my curfew,” Charlotte said, continuing to walk.

“Well, I’ll walk with you to your vehicle. It’s not safe out here by yourself, anyway,” she said.

Charlotte’s nostrils flared, and she texted Jasper about it, but she shrugged her shoulders, “I can’t tell you where to walk.”

“I just wanted to apologize to you for everything. I genuinely apologize. Like, I honestly didn’t realize that I was as much of a trash person as I was. People told me that these are the years that we do all this figuring ourselves out stuff and I guess I thought I was someone else. I’m realizing my own flaws and I hate how things were left off between us. Jasper was my best friend, and I always loved you! We talked about you all the time and I never would have wanted to hurt you or him or make either of you mad. I just wanted you to know that. From my heart.”

She seemed genuine. Charlotte had to admit that she didn’t radiate the same vibes as before. There was no reason to be mad at her or hate her when she didn’t really affect Charlotte’s life. But, there was no reason to make room for her either. “Casper, I…”

“Dohn,” Casper corrected.

“Dawn…”

“No, not Dawn, Dohn. Like John, but with a “D.” D.O.H.N.”

Charlotte stared at her for a moment with furrowed eyebrows that seemed to say Girl, I don’t care, but she didn’t bring the phrase to her lips. “Dohn.” She corrected herself. “I’m not worried about what happened between us, nor do I care. It’s fine. You don’t have to apologize or anything else. It’s forgotten. Don’t worry about it. Goodnight.”

“Is it okay if I call you?” Casper… Dohn asked.

“For what purpose?” Charlotte wondered.

“You just always seemed like a really cool person, but you often seemed lonely. I didn’t know if you could use a friend, but I sure could..”

“I don’t know about that…”

“Okay. I’m sorry. Well, thank you for hearing me out. Have a beautiful night.” Dohn hugged her, which was on brand for her. She used to hug Charlotte all the time, and every time, it caught her off guard, even though she knew the girl was a hugger. She had a firm hug that seemed like she read about a hug in a book, but never mastered it and it always hit Charlotte’s little body like an attack. But, this one was softer. She was gentler. She touched Charlotte’s hair and smiled down at her, and Charlotte shrank back, confused and a little bit bothered.

“You too,” she said and Jasper suddenly appeared out of nowhere and got up into Dohn’s face asking, “Why are you all up on her?”

Charlotte and Dohn both looked shocked and tried to explain to him that they were just talking and it was fine. Charlotte hated that look in Jasper. It was his “pre-violence” look. “Heyyy, everything’s cool, My Dude. Why are you getting all up in her face like this?” She hated that he was making her intercede for Casper. “Something that I need to know?”

“Unfortunately, Jasper isn’t as forgiving as you. He thinks the worst of me. Good night to you both,” she said and left.

“F Sized, you okay?” He nodded his head. She raised her eyebrows. He drew her into his side and started walking towards her apartment. “I really want you to explain to me what just happened there. I know she’s taller than you and tough or whatever, but you were really on her like she was some dude at a bar starting crap. What was that about?”

“You said that she was following you.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t expect THAT to be your reaction.”

“She’s a foot taller and 100 more pounds of muscle than you. She shouldn’t be following you.”

“So, that was it? Just the text that I sent. ‘Ya girl Casper is out here following me tryin’ to talk’ made you want to get in her face like that?” He sighed. “I know you’re holding back something from me and if I’m at risk of being hurt, I should know. I just told that woman that I basically forgive her and let her hug me!”

“She had a thing for you!” He said and shook his head. “Whenever we first met, she was all friendly to us and inviting us to the kite disc events and stuff, she was trying to get closer to you, not me. That’s something that she eventually admitted when we became friends, but I thought that because she was seeing someone at the time that she admitted that, it was no big deal and she was over it or whatever.” Charlotte’s eyes were just hella confused, tbh. “But, I did start to notice that she was kinda too friendly with you, and realized that she had always been. She was always hugging you and rubbing your back and stuff like that and whenever I asked her about it, she said that was just how she was. Which… I didn’t recall her being that way before, but then she was all over me like that, so I thought that maybe I just hadn’t noticed it before. This is all stuff that I thought about after the fact, by the way. I’m kinda… slow at times, you know?”

“I don’t think that you’re slow. I think that you’re just such a nice and well-meaning person that you aren’t suspicious about things, or you’re naive about people’s motives because you don’t have a manipulative bone in your body. Because, she totally did start being way more affectionate towards you after a while and I presumed it was because she had developed a crush on you from hanging out so much.”

“Yeah, well, whenever we fell out, someone “leaked” this video of her and her friend… I swear, if I didn’t know every inch of you, it’d be frightening.”

“Her girlfriend looked like me?”

“That’s the thing. This wasn’t her girlfriend. It was someone she was seeing and after this video leaked, and people were asking her about this person, she told them that she didn’t want to out her, because she was involved with someone and she didn’t want to damage her reputation.”

“So, it looks like her girlfriend IS me???”

“A lot of our mutuals certainly thought so!”

“When was this???”

“Months ago. I just kept assuring people that it wasn’t you, but with her being vague and with everyone knowing that she and I weren’t friends anymore, I mean, come on.”

“Ugh. What did she say to you about that?”

“She said that she didn’t want people to think it was you either but she didn’t want to grant them the power of process of elimination when there are so few people to fit that description in the area.”

Charlotte winced, “That’s… considerate of her friend…”

“Uhhh, at best her friend is involved with someone who she has an open relationship with but they don’t want people to know that she’s been with girls. At worst, she’s cheating on whoever she’s involved with and Dohn’s willing to sacrifice your reputation to protect hers. But, I don’t think it was an accident at all. I think she leaked it herself to make people think that about you because whenever I thought back to our relationship, she was always way more interested in you than she should be and I have a very bad habit of talking about you passionately for hours, if someone will let me!”

“Well, this is all surprising, troubling, mildly flattering, because I didn’t even know that there were girls who like me. But, I do feel a way that you think she’s capable of what you just accused her of.”

“What are you on? More girls like you than dudes, from what I hear.”

“What?”

“Multiple times, I’ve heard that people think I’m your beard.”

“Awwww,” she said, touched.

“But, that could also be because of her!” He fussed.

“Don’t ruin my lesbian sex symbol status headcanon. Big Dog.”

“I’m gonna ruin you,” he joked. “Why are you so into this?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I feel WAY more comfortable with the thought of women wanting me than I do with the thought of them wanting YOU. Because, THAT’S when Crazy Charlotte shows up!”

And it was, and Jasper loved it. He did his best to try not to make her jealous, but sometimes, like she said, he really wasn’t suspicious enough to peep flirting. Charlotte would come over and observe the woman very closely, right in her face and her space until she was acknowledged, then apologize and introduce herself as Jasper’s girlfriend. Jasper would always bite his lip and look her over, when she finally had run off whatever flirting girl was in his space and she made eye contact at her, he’d wink or blow her a kiss and she’d realize that she probably had just showed out.

Henry liked the photo of Jasper’s The Fool tattoo on his right shoulder blade. It had been being worked on whenever Adanna did his reading for him because it had been drawn in the future position. She explained something like, it meant, like new beginnings and was good in the future position because it could mean that like, something good was gonna happen with a new life thing or something? Henry was bad at remembering, because she’d said so much, but it was apparently enough for Jasper to get that permanently put on his body. Henry couldn’t help but wonder if he was gonna regret these decisions one day. Like… Everybody doesn’t know the meaning of The Fool or whatever. She explained it and Henry was still confused. Now, this dude had a The Fool on his damn body… “THIS JUST HAPPENED!!!” He saw the caption of a video with his handle tagged to it and went to watch it.

Charlotte was near Jasper while his friend was finishing up his The Fool Tarot Card tattoo, and talking about possible tattoos that she might consider, tiny ones of course and Jasper asked her what she thought of his new one, so she went to look at it (she doesn’t seem to notice the camera) and she said, “Yeah, Babe. It looks awesome. It’s beautiful. That’s a good way to celebrate your good future stuff or whatever,” she told him. Now, she had thought that maybe Adanna’s reading was in reference to his internship, because she’d mention that it could be a new move or new job etc, but then (in the tattoo shop, Jasper told her).

“I thought a lot about how to do this or say this, or whatever.” Charlotte looked confused as he got out of the seat, still shirtless. “I know that you don’t like huge surprises and stuff, so I didn’t want to do that, but I wanted to do something significant, too.”

“For what?” she asked, laughing nervously.

“The Fool in romance can mean that your existing relationship can take a turn for the better. So, I wanted to ask you, since I have the confidence that my future and my fortune is with you…” He got on his goddamned knee and grabbed a ring box from underneath the tattoo seat he’d just gotten his tat finished in… She screamed and dropped the tattoo book that she’d been holding to rush to him and hug and kiss him.

Henry was in tears! He wanted to be a part of this! But… Jasper also had been trying to see when he could make it into town and he’d said, “If all else fails, just tag me first when you announce the news.” And, Jasper did. Henry was tagged, then his mom, then Charlotte’s parents, Uncle Roscoe, Adanna, his dad, Aunt Cohort, Piper, Ray, Schwoz, the fraternity page, his sports teams…

Jasper told her, “I was actually gonna hide the ring in the tattoo book and be like, “What do you think of this one,” but that seemed awkward and like I’d have to explain too much…”

She looked at the ring and shook her head, “It’s SO pretty! I love it! It’s perfect!!”

Whenever Jasper’s dad popped the question to his mom, she was just about visibly pregnant, embarrassed about it and desperate to do this the right way. Jack Leigh was desperate to “fix his mistakes” and “make an honest woman out of her.” Oh, and also drunk. So drunk, that he didn’t know if he was coming or going. He needed the liquid courage to go back to her after she’d told him that if she had to do this on her own, she would. She didn’t have to do it on her own! At least, he didn’t want her to. He couldn’t figure out where he’d get a ring at this time of night, but came across one of those Bilsky brothers. The whole family was a bag of rotten apples. One of them had to know a guy… Hell, one of them WAS the guy. “A ring? Yeah, I got rings. What’s your budget?” Jack Leigh emptied his pockets and had maybe a few hundred bucks, and a punch card. He shook his head and called, “Jeff! Get Daddy that box of rings! The cheap ones!” A teenage boy rushed to… of all places… the BBQ pit and lifted the lid and grabbed a box. Daddy Bilsky gave it to his old buddy and said, “I’ll letcha grab two of ‘em. I hear you gotta get two. My old lady and I got hitched on the run, so we never even got one of them, but I’ve collected her plenty over the years. She don’t notice when the cheap ones go missing.” Jack Leigh didn’t even shift through the box. He grabbed a couple, waved to them and went on his way.

Jeff came back to his father and asked, “Dad, how mad would you be if I think I gave you the good stuff?” Jack Leigh heard Daddy Bilsky fussing at his kid, but he was too out of it to hear what he was saying.

Whenever Pansy left, Jack Leigh got one of those rings back. She threw the wedding ring right at his head and slammed the door as hard as she could with a baby on her waist. He was too drunk to care about whatever she’d said, too. He was often that way, but he did come across that ring again when he was clearing out of that little place. He tossed it in his pocket, in case he ever wanted to pawn it. Might be cheap, but he could probably get a few beers for it. It stayed in his wallet most of the time, though. He couldn’t see Jasper back then… legal stuff that he totally understood at the time, but whenever he would look at the ring and think about hocking it, he’d think about his baby boy, out there… The one that he’d even bought the stupid thing for. He couldn't seem to part with it. Not because he missed his wife, but because he took a wife because he was going to be a father, and nobody but him messed that up. It was a reminder that he needed to get clean and needed to straighten up. Maybe some day, he could see Jasper again. Maybe someday, he'd give him this stupid ring. He got it appraised, just to see if it was worth anything. Because he was curious if the sentimental value of it would even mean anything to the kid… this was maybe 3 years later. The damn thing was worth more than his crummy life. He could literally sell it and probably wind up getting himself out of his debt! But… looking at the thing, listening to the guy talk to him, very suspicious that this shady character probably stole this from some place, and was likely gonna put out an alert about it… Jack Leigh thanked him for his time and put it back into his wallet. He hadn’t gotten completely clean, but that was sobering. He knew he had to keep it together, carrying something worth that much with him, especially considering that it was worth even more in sentimental value.

He met Jasper when he was four. Adorable chubby kid with dimples and curly hair. He was excited to meet him and told him everything that he could possibly tell him. Jack Leigh came to a realization whenever Pansy told him that he could come to see him… He’d messed up. He should have had a room FULL of gifts and cards and money that he never got a chance to deliver over the past four years. He should have had candy and cookies and really… fanfare. All he had was that ring and he certainly couldn’t hand him that at age 4. He stopped at one of those weird gas station gift shops and said, “Anything for like a 4 year old kid… I don’t even know what he likes!”

“We got grab buckets,” she said and pointed towards a display. It was like a grab bag, but in a bucket. All kinds of little toys and stuff that would most likely break and stuff if it wasn’t a choke hazard. Hopefully, Pansy wouldn’t kill him. He went over there with a bucket of junk and threw in a hundred dollar bill that he got back after this purchase. Pansy was judging him from the moment that he handed that garbage to her son. But, the kid was excited, “WOW! A BUCKET!”

“Uhhh… there’s stuff in it. Toys and stuff,” Jack Leigh said. Jasper got onto his tiptoes, but Jack kneeled in front of him, seeing his features for the first time since he was an infant. Seeing how much like his own childhood photos he looked. Pansy must’ve seen it too. There was something about the way that she looked at the kid. Jack Leigh didn’t like it, but who was he to judge? He hadn’t even been around.

“Jasper, I don’t think that any of that stuff is safe to play with!” She said and snatched the bucket from his little hands. He jumped, frightened and Jack Leigh noticed and reached for his hand, to try to give him some comfort. He was about to cry. She was taking away the only thing his daddy had given him…

“Well, can’t he at least have the bucket?” Jack Leigh asked.

She looked at him like he was an idiot. “He’s four. Why would he want this ugly big bucket?”

“I do want the bucket, Mom! I love it. It’s a nice bucket, Daddy.” She looked bothered. She dumped the toys in the garbage and handed him the bucket back, then went to sit down, and glare at them. Jasper didn’t really look in her direction during the visit, but Jack Leigh wondered if he couldn’t feel the same… whatever it was that she had radiating for him that he felt from her. He was allowed a few more visits, until he showed up with Adanna one day. Pansy stepped outside and interrogated her, then said that Jasper wouldn’t be coming for any more of these “disappointing little visits,” and sprinkled on at the end, “And I WILL be contacting you about child support!” That was that.

Adanna convinced him to fight for custody, at least shared. He had gotten his life together and he shouldn’t have to be punished forever. There were disputes, but after a while, he ran out of money for that fight and her husband didn’t. So, not only could he still not see Jasper, and had legal fees, but… child support. He couldn’t do it. He’d already gotten so low, that he went back to some of his old ways. He was lucky to have Adanna around. Eventually thought about giving her the ring, but explained to her why he didn’t think that he could. “Can I at least see it?” she wondered.

He pulled it out and she was already uneasy. He handed it to her and she cried, “I’m glad that you don’t want to give this to me, because it’s full of negative energy. Guilt, despair, regret, heartache… This isn’t something that you give to someone that you care about.”

“Should I get rid of it? Sell it? I’m probably never going to see my son again…”

“Even if you see him, he can’t have this, Jack Leigh. It’s got a signature on it.”

“Is there a way to fix it?”

She cleansed the ring and once she was done, she smiled at it and said, “This ring has new hope. It wants to find someone to love, but it feels like it belongs to someone.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know, but I sense that this ring wouldn’t be at home with me.” She reached out to give it to him, but he shook his head.

“If you hand it to me, it’ll just absorb my negative energy again. You hold on to it for me. If I don’t give it to Jasper, I guess it’ll find its way to whoever. I want it to find them in peace.”

Jasper, Charlotte, and Henry were sitting on the floor, talking about their readings. Henry was shaken up by his, but Jasper kept staring at the Fool. Adanna said, “Jasper, can I show you something?” He got up and followed her through some crystal beaded curtains to a cute little room, where she climbed up a step ladder and got a ring box off of her bookshelf. “Jack Leigh told you about this, right? When you two talked?” She stepped down and opened the box to show him a ring and his heart leaped in his chest.

“Is this my mom’s wedding ring that she threw at his head? I’ve heard about it from her! She’d say, if I’d been more smart than mad, I’d have pawned that for the child support! Can I touch it?” She handed it to him and told him the story, because obviously, Jack Leigh had been more focused on the drinking, the fighting and the accident. Jasper gasped and said, “You think that this ring belongs with me?”

“I think that it belongs with her,” she said and glanced at Charlotte through the beads. Charlotte was laughing a melodious laugh at a story that Uncle Roscoe was telling on speaker phone, while catching up with Jack Leigh. “I think that she’ll love it, when you’re ready.” She cupped his chin and lovingly said, “Fool.”

“I had a feeling that you would love it. It was my dad’s…”

She held her heart and shook her head, “I love it even more!”

They kissed, a lot, and he held her close and began to tell his friends that they were going to head out to go celebrate, but Charlotte said, “I need to get a tattoo!” He stared at her. “You got one on the date that we get engaged, so I want one too!”

“What do you want. You’ve literally been thinking about this for years and can never decide a place or a tattoo!” He teased.

She pointed right behind her ear and said, “Here.” He knew that spot well. He was always kissing her there. He loved it and she loved it. But, he was thinking about how she was about to make him have to get into the habit of not kissing her there until it healed.

He took her to his chair and nodded, “Okay, and what do you want there Chef’s Kiss?” he wondered.

“The word “Yes.” She looked into the mirror at him and the smile on his face, she hoped he smiled at her like that for the rest of their lives..

#A Chasper Fic #chasper #henry danger #hd fanfic #Nesha HD Fics

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tobitatsuu · 6 years

Text

𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖎𝖙 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙 ; ★ drabble

and the record won’t stop skipping and the lies just won’t stop slipping and besides, my reputation’s on the line.

★ — the clock on the wall ticks; a metronome, pacing the droning seconds he’s been staring at the envelope on his dark-wood coffee table. the parchment — a more coarse, natural texture — has a black, scorched corner and a constellation of brown coffee drips. it’s closed with a wax seal, a bronze stamp, an embossed B. all of these minuscule details undoubtedly point to bailey. — the en-gin-eer couldn’t use his fancy tech-nol-ogy to send a damn text? daiki wonders, checking his cellphone again. it’s out-dated, but does seem to be the safest way for him to get in touch with those he’s not supposed to. ex-communicated doesn’t mean dead. the living can’t be ghosts. akura needs to get a clue or two.

daiki doesn’t want to open the letter. whether in fear or the fact he’s grown tired of his father’s bullshit, daiki can’t get himself to tear into the envelope. but, he doesn’t want to just ignore it. what’s the biker to do when he’s at such a loss?

“ bonjour, baby brother ! ” yusa doesn’t knock before entering the goldenrod city apartment. daiki jumps, eyes wide as he watches the door swing open, and his sister strut inside. her movement always looks scripted, yet poise. she conducts these movements and mannerisms like there are hidden, glass lenses ready to capture her at any, unsuspected time. yusa kanemoto — pop music sensation, model phenomenon, entertainer of the world — plays the part of herself so well, she makes you wonder how much of it is all an act. the twins haven’t seen each other since she bailed on him in castelia city, over a year ago, and daiki can still see right through her.

daiki has his father’s eyes, his temper, and a grudge to settle. yusa carries a spotlight everywhere she goes, a purple sheen to her eyes, reminiscent of their mother, who always has her cheek turned the other way. double helix, genes, and a color story — a face so similar, yet so distant. they’re the same, but opposed. their lives diverged when they were barely teenagers, and have never been as different as they are now. perhaps, the letter on his coffee table will bring them back together.

yusa waves away the smoke and smell from daiki’s cigarette, just lit. cigarette butts threaten to overflow the ashtray on the table, and ash seems to be everywhere but inside of it. there’s a mirror and a rolled dollar bill, a collection of coffee mugs. some are half-empty with black brew from last night’s caffeine binge. he couldn’t sleep with the intruding thoughts of bailey. “ jeez, you could’ve cleaned up a bit . ” at least she understands the faint stench of motor oil.

daiki rolls his eyes. “ my bad, princess . ” he watches his sister’s eyes scale the living room, and how her lips purse and curl with judgement. it’s to be expected, but that doesn’t ease the bite of it. “ what happened to your tv ? ” yusa frowns at the hole and spiderweb cracks in the screen, at money wasted. “ it’s fucked . ” “ i can see that . ”

daiki takes a drag of his cigarette. “ nice to see you again, yusa. i’m sure ev-ery-thing is just dapper on the home front. tell me, sister, how’s mother ? ”

a scoff cradles in yusa’s throat at her brother’s attitude and acquired faux eloquence. she lacks an answer. yusa places her hands on her hips. “ what’s the go? you never call me. ” she makes her way to the kitchen. her heels click against the hardwood floors. he hears her scoff again, this time, it’s at the coffee-stained mugs and dirty plates filling the kitchen sink. “ my agent said you sounded . . . urgent . ” then, he hears the fridge open. there’s a pause before she calls out, disappointed. “ jeez, daiki! when was the last time you got a couple groceries? you got anything besides shit beer and old pizza ? ”

“ i’ve been busy , ” daiki replies, sucking on his cigarette. he flicks ash onto the floor. “ water’s on tap . ” arceus, he can just hear the disgust contorting her face. the people of johto don’t indulge in material things like that fancy hoenn-imported water yusa shoots commercials for.

he picks up the conversation where they left off. “ the go is that i got a letter . ”

“ so, someone hasn’t gotten the memo on texting, and the postal service is doing their job. is that why you called me ? ” yusa returns with a glass of water. she keeps inspecting it, trying to find a flaw. “ don’t waste my time, daiki . ” yusa’s always on a tight schedule. she keeps eyeing the screen of her xtransceiver.

daiki inhales. “ it’s from bailey . ” yusa lifts her gaze, pink brows shooting up passed her bangs. “ bailey ? ” her tone says she doesn’t believe him. maybe, she doesn’t want to. “ w-what does this mean ? ” daiki’s eyes beg for his sister’s help, like old times. why couldn’t they stay kids forever? if only aging was the reason they split so far apart.

“ it means we should leave it alone, daiki. not our problem. need i remind you? technically, he doesn’t have a single drop of kanemoto blood . ” yusa has to remind him of most things: where he left his bike keys and how they’re the same age. born only eight minutes prior, but so used to playing the role of big sister, getting him out of the same trouble she got him into, picking him up, and cleaning up his messes. red and white messes — blood and drugs and big, red R’s and wanted posters. and it’s those eight minutes she takes seriously. yusa sips from her glass, coughs, and gags. “ this tastes like metal . ”

daiki fidgets on the couch cushion, holding his cigarette near his lips, but not smoking it. “ w-what if he’s in trouble? he prac-tic-ally raised us, yusa . ”

yusa sighs, bends her neck back to groan at the stuco ceiling. “ look, daiki. sure, i miss him sometimes, but uncle bailey’s involvement with team rocket was his choice. just like it was your choice. if he didn’t want to impress daddy so badly, he’d still be in nimbasa, living it up off dad’s desert resort money, but he’s not. he got fried, and he always had a few screws loose. and now he’s — arceus knows where . ”

it’s a lie, the kind that makes her sound brainwashed. it’s so absurd. — that’s not what happ-ened on that trip to vir-i-di-an city. daiki huffs on the filter of his cigarette. his brows knit, lip threatening to curl. raw anger erupts inside of him and he can’t think straight enough to form the words to defend himself, to tear her a new one. akura used bailey as collateral. bailey was a promise to project team rocket’s plans further, to keep peace. what is yusa so bitter about? with a stupid amount of money and rides in black limousines to every gig, her face plastered all across the regions, who cares about the past? who cares, who cares, who cares.

“ a-and what about that burning? you don’t think that seems a little su-spic-ious? why would gi-o-vann-i want to de-stroy rocket’s own ma-chine ? ”

yusa barks back, frantic and loud. when it comes to protecting their father, she always cracks. “ to trash the evidence? i don’t know, daiki! why would dad ? ” she throws her hands up. it’s no use arguing when it comes to her hard-headed twin. her talent for shutting him up is getting rusty.

daiki averts his eyes, huffs. that’s not the case. rocket seemed pretty proud of themselves for what they accomplished in kanto.

tension hangs above their heads, stagnant and thick. slouching into the cushion, daiki takes a long drag. he sighs out the smoke, and flicks the ashes in yusa’s direction. he knows akura had a hand in the disaster at the pokemon mansion, at the flames that engulfed his adopted brother, and left his skin forever charred. akura will pay — an arm and a leg — for what he’s done. not in the same sense that his brother had. how unfortunate. but, daiki doesn’t answer yusa’s question because he has no proof other than his intuition.

“ jeez! why the hell are you trying to blame dad for everything? arceus, what is your deal, bolts-for-brains? it’s not his fault you can’t keep your nose out of shit . ” yusa gestures to the paraphernalia on the table. to the patch on his jumpsuit. to the red inked R. to him. he’s never been good enough for the rest of the kanemoto family. he’s always been the big, bad wolf, a threat. he’s a heart attack, a car crash. daiki: such a disaster, no one can look away from.

yusa’s still yelling, “ literally. is that what this is about? are you on some sort of bender right now? daiki, do you need help ? ” she stalks closer to the couch with each accusation. daiki presses himself into the polyester, wishing he could sink right into it and disappear. she sounds how beer salt tastes, and the venom in his sister’s words zaps the corners of his jaw.

she really doesn’t get it. daiki wonders, what’s the point in forcing herself to be so blind? daiki flicks his dead cigarette across the room.

yusa’s leaning over him now, pointing her manicured finger right between daiki’s brows. anxiety and dissociation muffle her ever-rising volume. “ what? do you want money, daiki? i’ll play you whatever the hell you want if you’ll stop putting the blame on everyone else but yourself . ”

the biker folds his arms, glaring at his sister’s fingertip. he sneers with a bout of confidence, “ not even you have enough money to buy my o-be-di-ence, yusa . ”

yusa jerks back, as if daiki spontaneously combusted before her eyes. and his jab at her wealth inflicts more damage to her ego than his blatant rebellion. “ that’s it , ” yusa’s voice drops so low, he barely hears her. “ you made me do this . ” she snatches the letter from the table, and gets to work punching buttons on her xtransceiver.

daiki jumps from the couch. “ what the hell are you doing ? ” he attempts to swipe the envelope from her hand, but instead, smacks the glass of water onto the floor. it shatters on impact. and daiki figures, it’s symbolic, somehow. yusa bares her teeth, amethyst eyes boring holes into him. she erupts, “ what the hell is wrong with you, bolts-for-brains? going to attack your own sister? you’ve really lost it, haven’t you? i’m calling my agent! and i’m getting you a plane ticket to mistralton city ! ”

daiki stares at the shards of glass when he asks, “ what bus-i-ness do i have in unova ? ” “ you’re coming home, daiki . ”

daiki’s mouth fills to his gums with objection. unfortunately, it isn’t up for debate right now. “ i’m sure there’s a rehab we can shove you into. whatever it takes to keep you under control. i’m outta here . ” yusa still has the letter in her hand, and daiki winces when the paper wrinkles from the tightness of her grip. she doesn’t look him in the eyes when she speaks, but presses her finger into the breast pocket of his jumpsuit, letting him know who exactly is in control. “ i plan on seeing you in mistralton promptly. oh, and do me a favor, brother? at least try to stay out of trouble, daiki. i’m so over cleaning up after you. that’s what maids are for . ”

#drabble #i hope this is alright ????#lms if u read

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