Time Warp: Mutual Carelessness (Josef)

[Deleted]

May 1988

Derek closed his textbook with a sigh of relief. Or perhaps it was freedom? Didn’t matter, he was done for the day, meaning he had the better part of the weekend to do whatever he wanted. Derek smirked. And it was still Friday, actually. He was sure that dumb powerhouser, Vincent, was either going to be stuck sitting at a desk all weekend trying to get these assignments done, or he’ll be in detention all next week for having ignored them and doing a crap rush job at the last minute. Maybe Derek should help him out? After all, he did have the time……..Nah, Derek wasn’t going to compromise his weekend for the sake of the stupid. Besides, he had plans.

Derek stood from his desk and stretched his arms upward as he walked out of his bedroom. His destination? “Hey! Joe!” he called to his friend upon arriving at the other boy’s dorm. The 16-year-old Korean leaned against the door frame, a cheeky smile dimpling up his face. Derek crossed his arms over his white collared shirt and panned his eyes around the room. “So…please tell me you’re going to the drive-in with the rest of us tonight.” They’d made plans, him and a bunch of other guys. They’d even talked a bunch of cheerleaders into coming along for the ride. Now, granted, Josef hadn’t ever shown any interest in cheerleaders, and probably wouldn’t, but that didn’t mean he had to be left behind and out of the fun. “Who knows, maybe you’ll get drunk and lucky.” Or rather, get someone else drunk and he gets lucky. Anything could happen, right?

[Josef Muller]

Josef was not yet at the part of his life where being called Joe brought up painful memories. He was at the point of his life where Yo-zef was extremely irritating and it was easier to be called “Joe” by his friends. But where the boy could still be uncertain when it came to his name and how foreign and weird it sounded, one thing he’d never been unsure about was his orientation. Ever since he was five, Josef had known he liked boys. Nor was he shy about it. But that didn’t mean other people always picked up on it. Josef chose to assume they had. If they were hanging out with him, then they must know what he was and accept him for it. So no big. This included, unfortunately, his friend Derek.

Currently, the boy was in his room in one of his giis, practicing a kata that had been sent to him on a video tape from his sensei at home. It wasn’t particularly easy, but he was learning, breathing through it. He finished the movement when Derek showed up at his door, then straightened up and offered him an easy grin. Even in his teen years, Josef still had a faint line of stubble on his jaw, which he was extremely proud of. He had yet to gain, however, the ridiculous amount of body hair he’d have later, and could still dream fondly of chest hair.

“Course I’m coming,” he said, flashing the other man a grin as he grabbed a towel from his messy room so he could wipe the sweat from his brow. “You didn’t think I was just gonna bow out, did you? Getting drunk, flirting, night out on the town…sounds fantastic.” He laughed. “We’ll see about the lucky part! Who do you have your eye on this time? Emily was hitting on you hard. Tell me you noticed.”

[Deleted]

Derek…had ideas about what Joe’s problem was. It wasn’t exactly hard to miss. It wasn’t that he had a problem with it. He was just living on a “don’t ask, don’t tell” principle. Because that was just the way things were. That was normal. People just didn’t talk about these kind of things, and as long as these things were never explicitly said, then there was no problem.

It was, in Derek’s opinion, the smart thing to do, in any case. Sure, there were some people who liked to advertise it left and right, like they were trying to force everyone to be exactly like them. Derek had seen what happened to those kind of people. Joe, thankfully, had not painfully imposed what he was on Derek to the point of driving the Korean boy away. And Derek could even manage some amount of sympathy for Joe. After all, Derek was a minority too, and an even more obvious one at that. Derek couldn’t exactly pretend to be white, now could he? So in his opinion, the social obstacles that Derek had to overcome in order to be accepted as “normal” were even greater than Joe’s.

So, in his opinion, Joe should also be grateful that Derek was willing to bring him along for the ride.

Derek brightened a grin at Joe’s response. “Of course, ‘of course’,” he repeated with amusement. He shrugged, shifting from one foot to the other. “I don’t know. Maybe you decided you like practicing that karate stuff alone in your room more than having a social time.” Derek was joking, of course. He knew that Joe took that stuff pretty seriously. It was a bunch of crap to him though. His parent had tried to get him into some of that stuff when he was younger, and it just didn’t take. Derek had a lot of more important things to do than deal with some art he had no talent for. Like studying and fraternizing. “Ohh, yeah, you better believe Emily was hitting me hard,” he said with his head held high, like he’d just gotten a medal in the olympics. Derek rose his eyebrows suggestively. “And you better believe that I hit that hard.” And boy what a treat that was. Derek laughed in his victory. “As for tonight?” he shrugged. “Haven’t decided yet. We’ll see how things go.” The night was still young, after all!

[Josef Muller]

Josef laughed at that. “I do like it and I do have to keep practicing. Next time I am home I am taking another attempt at the black belt test. You have to be prepared for that. It’ll get you otherwise. I failed the first time.” He said it lightly but it had really bothered the boy quite a bit the first time he’d failed. He’d locked himself in his room and hadn’t talked to anyone for quite a while. When he’d finally gotten himself under control he’d returned to the books with even more determination and fervor. Or, to be more exact, hit the katas. He was very good and he was determined that, next time he visited home, he could take his test and be even better. But there were few parties that Josef could turn down. He liked social outings and loved the company. It was good to have fun. His mother despaired of him getting into a good university because he spent more time on karate and parties than he ever did on homework.

Josef rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, save it for someone who actually believes that. I think you just make these things up sometimes.” Josef had some fair luck in his conquests, but he wasn’t much of a one-night-stand kind of guy. Mostly it wound up being two-week relationships and nothing much longer. He grinned at Derek and slapped him on the arm. “Yeah, you bet. I’ll back you up whatever you want to do. Now turn around so I can get change.”

Once he was changed into a pair of high waisted jeans, sneakers and a tank top that revealed the muscles that were young Josef’s main redeeming feature, then grinned and nudged open the door. “After you. You know where we’re going after all.”

[Deleted]

”Really?” Derek said with some perplexed interest. Derek wasn’t a jock; he was a brain. And a swimmer, but he liked to thing that still set him apart from the normal brainless athletes that were out there(some of which they’d actually be hanging out with, unfortunately, but the price of friendship was high these days). So he just didn’t understand the mentality of wanting to work your muscles to death for the sake of some sport. If you wanted to work something, Derek would say working your mind was more beneficial. He didn’t discredit all exercise, thought. That was the reason why he kept up with his swimming. Derek didn’t want to be labeled as the nerd-asian-boy who only knew how to ace exams. He was not going to be a stereotype.

That’s where socializing came into play as well. Smart, fun to be around, athletic; of course girls were practically throwing themselves at him. He was surprised to find out a lot of them thought the asian thing was kind of cute. “It’s true,” he insisted, rolling his head back. “I am a total chick magnet.” A perspective clearly skewed by an overinflated ego.

Derek snickered as he turned around and reached up to hang his arms off the inside doorframe. “What? Too shy and delicate to let someone feast their eyes on your nekkid bod?” He released a laugh, almost daring himself to go against Joe’s request and look anyway. It didn’t really matter, however, because what Joe decided to wear did a fine job of letting everyone know what was underneath anyway. Like a peacock, Derek thought with a smirk. “Right. Just follow me,” he instructed, leading the two of them down the hall, down the stairs and out of the building.

The car ride wasn’t too long, but the drive in wasn’t exactly in town, but rather between the great city of PR and Burlington. It took about 20 minutes to arrive, but when they did, they were greeted by the usual crowd of party people. Derek honked the horn as he drove up to the small gathering then shouted to them as he rolled down the window. “Heeey! You haven’t started without us, right assholes?” He laughed as he looked back to his passenger then back outside.

[Josef Muller]

Josef nodded. “Yeah. It’s hard. You spar for three hours for this particular test and then run through all the katas. It’s long and exhausting but it’s worth it because then you’ve, like, managed to accomplish something and that’s just—“ He stopped and looked at Derek. He liked the other man, but he got a distinct impression that Derek didn’t understand this field at all. And because Josef liked pleasing his friends, he decided to let the topic lie. He loved what he did. That was enough for now. “Anyways. It’s fun. Plus, black belts get chicks.” That he didn’t actually like, but it was in terms Derek would understand. Black belts didn’t particularly get dudes anyways.

Josef just laughed at him. “Sure, keep telling yourself that. Maybe eventually somebody is gonna believe it. I bet that you won’t even be able to get a girl’s number by the end of the evening.” Josef, on the other hand, usually got several. It was his charming personality.

He rolled his eyes. “Shut up, man. You couldn’t handle my naked form. Too manly for you swimmer types.” He waited for Derek to turn around before changing. He might’ve been slightly embarrassed. Even if the clothes did tend to reveal more than most.

He followed Derek down the hall and grinned at the crowd, then looked at Derek. “It’s awesome if they start without us. Easier pickings.” But he’d have to catch up on the drinking some. Didn’t want to be behind on this. He climbed out of the car and promptly greeted some of the folks, hugging with much thumping of backs until he eventually found the cups with the mystery drinks and got one for himself and Derek.

“To parties!” he said, then paused. A good looking guy was shirtless and doing pullups. Probably to impress a girl but Josef could enjoy the view. “And to getting lucky,” he added. A guy could hope, right?

[Deleted]

“I don’t know how you guys can do that,” Derek said, shaking his head. Derek put himself through a lot for swimming, but he’d never kill himself over it. Maybe. He felt better about working hard towards something that can be quantified. Success in swimming and racing and academics were all about numbers. That last part, though, brought a laugh from the Korean teen. What made it funnier was that Joe was the one saying it. “Now your speaking my language.” Not that swimmers didn’t get chicks either. There was a lot of bare skin for girls to ogle at in the sport, after all.

“You really want to make that bet? Got the cash to back it up?” No, Derek was not above betting money on chicks. And who got the most of them.

Another eye roll as he averted his eyes. “Clearly you’ve never been to a swim meet.” The guys there had all kinds of upper muscle. They had to. Derek didn’t quite live up to their physique, but he wasn’t too shabby, if he did say so himself.

And he did, of course.

“That’s true,” he agreed with Joe for once. Sometimes it was hard having to choose from crowds and crowds of chicks.

Derek took the drink from Joe when offered, sampling it with a sip first before engaging in the toast. “To getting lucky!” he agreed, raising his cup of mystery juice. Then he took in about half the glass all at once. He had to catch up somehow, and being a pussy about it wasn’t going to help. Derek hoped there was some harder stuff around somewhere. Though judging from the taste of the whatever-it-was, it was pretty loaded already. Jungle juice.

His eye caught that of a girl he’d not approached before. Derek’s arm fell around Joe’s shoulder as he discreetly pointed to a girl with teased hair and a pink-pleated mini-skirt. “That one…she’s new, right? Bet you I can get a kiss from that in less than five minutes of talking.” Maybe even less. Derek didn’t want to set himself up for failure, though.

[Josef Muller]

“That’s because you don’t have the devotion I do,” he said. And although he was generally not the kind of guy who insulted his friends because he strongly wanted to keep said friends, he kind of meant that. He wasn’t sure Derek had ever devoted himself to anything. Josef, on the other hand, tended to devote himself too much to everything. Relationships included.

He flashed the other boy a grin. “Of course I do. I work as a teacher at the dojo, remember? Now do you have the cash to back it up? Or are you too busy buying drinks for women out of your league?” He laughed. “So, is it a bet?”

“Oh, I have.” Mostly for the view, but Josef didn’t admit facts like that to others. Or at least, others who hadn’t presented understanding yet. “Touche.” He rolled his eyes at Derek’s comment and slapped his arm. “Humble. Real humble, man.”

He laughed as Derek downed the drink and knocked his back, getting another. Jungle juice was never particularly weak and never tasted good but that wasn’t the point of it. He was going to make this a night to remember even if that meant he didn’t actually remember it. He stared off at the girl Derek was looking at, then shrugged. “Sure, you’re on. But if you tell her that I’m looking or use money then you gotta clean my room for the next month, got it?” He grinned. “Go get ‘em.”

[Deleted]

“What are you talking about? I have plenty of devotion!” Towards the things that mattered. Like his studies. If he weren’t the absolute genius he was(and modest too) then he would have to spend all of his reserved rec-time on getting his homework squared away. But honestly, high school was kind of a joke, academically. It was just a lot to do, but not a lick of it was hard! (note: he’s lying).

Derek rolled his eyes. “Of course I have money. I wouldn’t make a bet I couldn’t afford.” Because that was just foolish. (note: more lies) He smirked, holding back a sinister laugh. “You’re on.” This was just extra incentive for Derek to try harder to catch the eye of something pretty. And maybe a few somethings at that.

“Then you know what I’m talking about,” Derek continued. “Swimmers use pretty much every muscle in their body, and without the strain of working against gravity all the time, we can use each one to it’s fullest.” He smiled his “humble” smile. “And that gives us a lot of endurance. Which we’ll need considering how many girls fill up those benches.” He knew that some of those girls only showed up to ogle at the half-naked men in speedos. Why shouldn’t he let it go to his head?

Derek nursed the rest of his drink at a fast rate. He wanted to feel that buzz in his head and warmth in his cheeks asap. “Hey, get me another while your at it,” he directed to his friend as he finished up his jungle juice and tossed it. “I’ve…got a girl to woo,” he said as he took a step back and headed towards the short brunette girl. He didn’t bother confirming the terms of the bet vocally, but he did raise his hand as he stepped off, as if to say “yeah yeah.”

Derek slipped himself up next to the girl, who was chattering away with one of her friends. The conversation seemed to be going well for a moment, and then Derek let a sliver of his intentions slip. The girl shook her head and she trotted off, her friend in tow. Derek grunted out a sigh as he scratched his head as returned to Joe with a frustrated scowl. “What a stuck up tease,” he grumbled, snatching the closest cup, uncaring if it was his or not.

[Josef Muller]

Josef snorted. “No, you don’t! Everything’s done for some weird purpose to get ahead but you don’t actually, like, do it because you love it. Like school. You’re good at it but you do it just to get into, like, college or something.” Although honestly Josef could’ve probably used some of that educational attitude. Especially to his college educated parents, who were entirely irritated by his lackadaisical attitude toward anything that wasn’t karate.

Josef gave him a look to indicate how much he believed that statement, then he grinned. He knew his friend well enough to know that he could never resist a bet and he was happy to have been proven right. “Do iit,” he said and chugged back the latest drink because it would help him get a little courage to try to hit up some of his own possible dating options. Which were probably fewer than others.

He couldn’t help making a gagging sound at Derek’s exaggerated comments, although he admitted that if it was said by someone he was actually interested in, his reaction to this conversation would’ve been quite different. Mind, the ‘humble’ smile would’ve made him want to bash Derek on the head even if Derek had been gayer than….well, him.

“Fine, fine.” Josef waved a dismissive hand and walked over to get another drink. While he was pouring it and absently analyzing a nice backside (he could multitask) he kept one eye on Derek. He was kind of worried that the other boy would win because he didn’t have the funds to pay him. Most of the money he earned went right back into karate gear. He kept a suspicious eye on him until it was confirmed that he would indeed not be getting the girl to give him the time of day. Then he grinned to himself and kept grinning even as Derek approached.

“You owe me some caash,” he sang under his breath. Then he laughed. “Not her fault. You were the one doing it for a bet. You deserve it.” Josef had a sister and tended to get somewhat protective over girls. “Have more booze. You’ll feel better. Besides, you have other opportunities later.”

[Deleted]

What Josef said wasn’t untrue. Derek did whatever he could to maintain an advantage over others. And so what? If it meant he worked hard, then who cared what his motivations were? “Have you ever considered that maybe getting ahead is my passion? I like being better than everyone else.” Spoken like the arrogant prick he was.

Derek always liked a challenge. He always liked to think he could win. Anything. He didn’t always, but…not knowing was what made it exciting. And knowing that if he did win, then he’d end up with something that made it all worth it.

And in this instance, girls were definitely worth it.

But…well, guess he couldn’t win them all, he thought as he trudged back to Joe. “Yeahh, I’ll get it to you,” he said, taking in a big gulp of whatever was in the cup. By the time he came up for air, the cup was mostly empty. He gasped, feeling much better.

The alcohol was finally starting to kick in. His insides were nice and warm. His head was starting to float. Even his cheeks were starting to feel numb. Yes, this was what he wanted. “Exactly the plan. There’s plenty of other fish in this part of the sea.” Derek waved his arm out to the rest of the crowd. He rested a hand on Joe’s shoulder and sent him a playful smirk. “Alright, your turn now. You see a…anyone you wanna make a pass at?” Derek wanted to see Joe try and do better.

[Josef Muller]

Josef laughed. “Oh, sure, I thought of that.” He’d thought of it quite frequently, as it was often Josef that Derek was trying to surpass, albeit subtly and carefully so as to make the other boy feel his importance without putting him down so severely. “If it is, you need a better hobby.” Then he grinned at him and nudged him in the ribs to show he was joking.

Josef also liked a challenge, although perhaps for a different reason than Derek. Derek liked it to win. Josef liked it to push. It was why he enjoyed martial arts and sports and physical challenges and, frankly, drinking and then doing stupid things. It was a challenge. It pushed him. And he liked that.

He kind of figured that Derek wouldn’t get him his money, though. Didn’t bother him. It was all in good fun. Josef took very little personally.

“Exactly,” Josef agreed with a nod, although his attention was not—exactly—on Derek. The alcohol had started to kick in, and he could see a figure in the crowd who interested him quite a bit. And judging by the way he was periodically glancing over and then away, he was interested in him too.

“Yeah,” he said absently, for a moment forgetting that he wasn’t sure how much Derek knew—or wanted to know—about his…views. “Yeah, I do.” He grinned and passed him his drink. “Hold this for me, will ya?” Then he strode into the crowd. He went past the very hot girl who had been giving him looks for most of the evening—Josef wasn’t bad looking and had muscles most teenage boys did not—and to the boy standing next to her. It wasn’t too hard. The boy flirted, Josef flirted back. He cracked a terrible joke, the other boy laughed. Then the boy leaned in very close, and although he didn’t kiss him, wrote his number on Josef’s arm. The teen came back to Derek laughing.

“Top that,” he said. Who needed to kiss and tell when you got digits? Monogamy was much more rewarding than one night stands.

[Deleted]

At least his friend knew him well. Derek might get him his money. Maaaaybe. If he remembered and had nothing better to spend it on. Hopefully Joe wouldn’t get on him too much about it.

Derek could tell that Joe was a bit distracted. By someone. That’s half the reason why he asked. His own eyes went towards the person he was looking at…which, if he were thinking normally, would’ve been the girl standing next to the guy who was glancing their way. Probably, Derek knew what was going on. But he refused to acknowledge it just yet.

Though, the way things were going, he wasn’t going to have much a choice.

Derek took Josef’s drink and watched as he made his way through the crowd, taking another extended drink of his beverage, then scowling as it became empty once again. Maybe he was going a little fast? Ha! Yeah, right! Derek made his way back to fill up the drinks again, making sure to top of Joe’s as well, all while glancing back to his friend every so often to check on his progress. When the man started doodling something on Joe’s arm…Derek almost crushed both cups between his hands, he was so…!

What was he? Upset that he lost? Of course!

“Show off,” he grumbled, shoving Joe’s drink back at him. “You only got that because…because…he doesn’t have any other options, I’ll bet.” After all, just how many fags would be at a party like this? Their population had to be low, right? So any attention gotten, they’d jump at, right? He took another drink. “I…I could do that, if I wanted.” It was his stubborn competitiveness that had him rising up to such a challenge.

[Josef Muller]

Josef knew that perhaps this had been shoving his face into the facts when he wasn’t sure if Derek actually…knew. But Josef also still firmly believed that his friends should accept him for him. And that meant accepting everything about him. That was how it worked.

Plus, you know, he couldn’t turn down the opportunity to get a good looking guy’s number. Life was way too short to do that. He was too pleased with the situation in general to even snap at Derek at the very easy assumption he made that the boy didn’t have any other options. But he did laugh at it. “Look, I know it’s a small party and all that, but he has more options than you think. Especially when people get a bit drunk and…let go, you could say.” Josef got a lot of numbers from that, but on the other hand—that meant they didn’t want to answer when they were sober. “But there probably aren’t that many here.” He paused and gave the man a look. Was he seriously—Derek, who was about as straight of a fellow as he’d ever imagined? He stared at him for a beat, two, then grinned.

“All right,” he said. “Give it a shot.” He leaned over and pointed at a guy that he’d spotted right off. He wasn’t his type but Josef’s “gaydar” was by no means bad. “That one. Go get ‘em tiger.”

[Deleted]

Derek knew. He just didn’t acknowledge, because it was easier than touching on a subject that made him uneasy. Did he like Joe any less because of it? Probably not. Were it not for the discomfort behind the idea of men with men, then he couldn’t have cared less. Being drunk made it easier to forget his discomfort, though. If confronted about it like this, Derek might just say “it’s just another glorious part of you I can give you shit for.” No different than what he did over Joe’s karate.

He didn’t expect himself to put out that challenge, and was as surprised as Joe was the moment it came forth from his mouth. But now that it was out there, the challenge was placed, and Derek never backed down from a challenge. Unless he didn’t prove to gain anything from it…which he was vaguely considering was the case here. “What’re you…what will you give me?” he asked, his tongue slurring slightly. “When I prove you wrong?” Something that made it all worth it, right?

Derek glanced at the guy Joe had pointed out. He wasn’t…bad looking…sheesh, Derek didn’t know how fags could be attracted to each other. Men weren’t small, soft and supple, they were large and muscular and chiseled. Unless one of them essentially looked like a girl, Derek didn’t see how attraction even worked. This “fairy” that Joe had pointed out didn’t fit the stereotype. He was tall, taller than Derek’s 5’11”. He was toned, probably lifted weights. And he had a thin line of facial hair growing along his jawline. He must’ve been older, perhaps college age. As he drew closer, the man turned his eye towards the young asian. And Derek suddenly got a horrible case of stage-fright, and he stopped several feet from the gay man, his stomach twisting with anxiety.

Damn…what was he supposed to do now? He offered a smile that came out far less confident and far more awkward than intended.