I'm gonna get to you (Bakeson)

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake wasn't having the best of weeks. It started on Sunday with his piss-poor 'performance' with Jackson, which he had tried hard to convince himself was normal but about which he still felt somewhat insecure. Then on Monday he'd been late to math class, and he'd gotten scolded in front of everyone - though his homework had been good enough that, while he still had to do quite well on the next quiz, he was no longer in any immediate danger of being benched. Then on Tuesday some crazy chick had watched him showering while disguised as a boy (he hated Hammel sometimes...). Then on Wednesday the Coke he'd bought with his lunch sprayed all over, including on his shirt, so he'd had to run back to the dorms and wash it before it stained. Then on Thursday he'd had another fruitless conversation with his trainer, in which he'd tried to explain that he could see the future and his trainer again did not believe him. Some support system.

By the time Friday's game rolled around, he was fairly ready to just crawl into bed and sleep until the weekend was over. And that was still his plan when that week's game ended, Hammel losing by just a few points to a school a few towns over. Admittedly, Jake had lent less than 100% of his effort to the cause; his head just wasn't in it that day. He hadn't played terribly, but there were a few layups he shouldn't have missed and a few blocks he could have executed more precisely.

Practically collapsing on the same bench he'd managed to avoid spending the whole game on - thanks in no small part to Jackson's having done the first half of his homework for him - he groped through his gym bag for his water bottle, pouring some of it over his hair to cool him off, and taking a swig of what remained. The crowd was already dispersing, the loss having given them no need to stick around, and Jake was thankful for that. If he could just get through the rest of the afternoon, he'd be home free - literally.

[Deleted]

Bunny had spent the next several days after the “incident” regretting what she had done. If only she had been able to stay a boy for a few more minutes, nothing bad would have happened! True, she hadn’t learned as much as she would have liked in her brief visit, but she had hoped maybe to go in again in the future and learn more about what it was like to be a boy (and an athletic one at that, because most of the guys in there were!)

She supposed she could just ask someone she knew, like Jas, or Oriel, or… Jackson… But it just felt too embarrassing to her. But now… Now she didn’t dare do it again! And it was all her own fault…

Bunny did feel really bad about the boy, Jake, that she’d startled. She hadn’t meant to make him feel like she was tricking him into seeing him… exposed… she’d just been genuinely curious and he was the poor guy that had been around to catch her attention! After much debating and bouts of worried pacing, Bunny finally decided that she wanted to try to make it up to him. She would likely see him at games, after all, and it would just be awkward to try and avoid him all the time…

So she had decided to make him cookies (here). She felt that they were appropriate to give him, knowing he was on the basketball team, and hopefully he would like them enough to… forgive her for her actions. And so she sat in the stands, waving a sign and cheering (mostly for Jackson), with the container of pastries in her lap until it seemed like it was break time. She’d been keeping an eye on Jake too – wow, he really was cute, especially in action – and so when Bunny saw him plop down on the bench, she took advantage of the thinning crowd and skittered her way down to him. She was dressed in one of her best floral dresses (pic) with a giant pink bow in her hair, typical attire for her, but new to Jake, since he’d only seen her looking a little frazzled in too-big athletic clothes. “U-u-um, excuse me, J-Jake?” she stammered, giving a small wave to get his attention. When he looked at her, Bunny’s gaze immediately dropped and she blushed self-consciously. “I-I-I wanted to ap-pologize for what happened th-the other day… S-so I made these for you…” She meekly popped the lid open to show him the treats. “I-I never meant to surprise you like that… I w-was just curious ab-bout what it’s really l-like to be a boy…”

[Jacob Tapper]

After taking a deep drink from his water bottle, Jake brought the bottle down to rest on his thigh, lowering his head to look down at the ground, water droplets dripping from the front of his hair, which was now matted down in parts from the water. It wasn't until he heard his name said in a small, meek voice that he looked up. He didn't recognize this as the girl from the locker room immediately, due to the vastly different attire and the fact that he was seeing her in a different context. But it only took him a moment to piece it together. There weren't too many little Asian girls who made a habit of hanging out at the gymnasium, and 'Beau' had said he would come to the next game.

He looked at the girl, blankly and wordlessly, for a long time as she stuttered out her apology. She was correct to apologize, but he would be lying if he said he accepted it, at least right away. He felt completely humiliated; this girl had seen him naked. And it wasn't like he wasn't proud of his body - he'd be the first to say that he was - but it hadn't been on his terms. It had been through a lie. This girl was, as it so happened, the first girl his age to see him totally undressed.

The brunet sighed, quietly, when she presented him with the cookies, extending a hand towards her like he was doing the entire world a favor by taking them. He looked at them more closely once they were in his hands: they were pretty well-done. They looked like basketballs and stuff. He'd never eat more than one or two - he had a physique to maintain - but he supposed it was a nice gesture, as they were clearly homemade. "So," he began in even tones, finally breaking his silence, "let me get this straight: you get to see me naked, and I get to... eat cookies?" It was as much a sardonic joke as it was a clarification. It really didn't seem like an equal exchange, though.

[Deleted]

Bunny had gotten a quick, close-up glimpse of Jake right before she’d called out his name, and goodness, he was as cute as she remembered… Maybe even more so, since he was all hot and stuff from playing basketball. She didn’t know enough about the sport to realize he’d been doing poorly, she mostly just admired him (and Jackson!) being able to play the sport at all. She knew she’d probably be heaving up her lungs after two minutes, if she didn’t break a bone first.

She shifted nervously when Jake didn’t immediately respond, and didn’t dare look up into his eyes. What if he really did hate her? What if he didn’t like cookies and she was making this even worse? He did take them, at least, but… Every worse possible scenario ran through her head, so she was already trembling a little by the time he spoke.

Her gaze shot up to his face at his words, eyes wide and worried about how to respond. “I-I…” Bunny began to stammer. “…. I don’t kn-know… I d-didn’t know how else t-to apologize, and… And I know most people l-like cookies, so… So…” Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she nervously fidgeted with her hands. “I p-promise I didn’t see much! That w-wasn’t why I went in there, I just… I was curious, and…” And had made a stupid mistake. Hopefully he could understand that? “I m-mean, because of my ability, I’m s-sort of a boy part of the time, s-so… I just thought….” Thought that it wasn’t a big deal. But obviously it was, considering how Jake had reacted at the time. “… C-can I do anything else to make up for it?” she sniffled.

[Deleted]

Jackson’s mood, like the rest of his teammates, had gone on the downswing ever since the inevitable became apparent. They were losing, and that dispirited them to where they lost even more. At least, that’s what happened to Jackson. By the final quarter, he felt like there was no point in trying anymore…and it seemed that the coach noticed that change in his attitude.

He’d made a couple of slip-ups earlier on, so was already scolding himself for that. But the biggest one was when he didn’t pass the ball to Jake - who was the most open and had the highest likelihood of scoring - and instead tried to play superstar and go for a 3-point-shot he had no skill in. Lay-ups, free throws, traveling; those were Jackson’s strong points. Consequently, passing had to be one too, but clearly he’d forgotten about teamwork ever since someone left him hanging. Jackson knew he messed up…he wasn’t looking forward to the chewing-out he was about to get from the coach.

Several scoldings later - fully comprised of hails of false hope, loss of potential, and ‘is there something distracting you from the game?’ - Jackson was finally able to walk away with his neck intact, however his pride had taken a serious blow. Oh, and he had extra practice this week so he could learn the importance of ‘teamwork’. Sigh….Jackson would do it…but he wouldn’t like it. Jerk.

A second blow to his pride happened when he went to go look for Bunny, who had promised to come watch him today. He’d seen her in the stands(it was hard to miss her, she was the one screaming his name at the top of her lungs, ugh, annoying), so he assumed she probably wanted to meet up after the game to…go do something…or something. Maybe they’d just walk home? They lived next door to each other now, after all…

But when he lifted his head to search for the short girl, he was surprised(and a little shocked and…irritated?) to see her chatting away with Jake. Jake…of all people. Jackson groaned as he headed over there. What were they talking about anyway? And Bunny, why did she look…? “B-bunny?” he said upon approach, looking down on her face to see the beginnings of tears. “W-what’s wrong? Why’re you crying??” Who the hell made a girl cry!? (he did, whoops) Jackson swiveled a glare to Jake. “What’d you say? Huh? You get off on making girls cry, is that it??” Grrrr…

Jackson wrapped a protective arm around Bunny’s thin, frail shoulders.

[Jacob Tapper]

A single eyebrow rose on Jake's forehead as the girl - what was her real name, anyway? - continued to stumble through an explanation, and it occurred to him based on the shakiness of her voice that she was quite distraught. For a brief moment, he debated internally whether the girl's fear of him was confidence-boosting (he could intimidate people!) or just upsetting. As ridiculous and unacceptable as what she had done was, he wasn't a bad guy; he didn't want to be the source of anyone's grief.

When she asked if there was anything else she could do to make up for her actions, Jake knew immediately what he wanted, but it was of course out of the question. It had occurred to him, just several minutes after she had fled the locker room earlier that week, that the only way they could be on a level playing-field would be for him to see her naked - for her to be as exposed to him as he had been to her. Of course, she had been just as naked while they were in the showers, but as far as Jake was concerned, it didn't count because she'd been... 'gender-shifted' or whatever the proper phrase was.

He could never ask for that, though: it would be excessively creepy and, to be frank, it would probably be sexual harassment just to ask. So that little thought remained just that, and was not voiced.

He didn't have time to respond to the question, as it were, for suddenly Jackson had invited himself into their conversation. The brunet resented this; Jackson was friends with the girl - she'd said so herself down in the locker room - so this was suddenly becoming a two-on-one kind of situation. Indeed, he was immediately put on the defensive as Jackson accused him of making her cry.

"What? No, I..." It was Jake's turn to stammer now: again, he didn't want to be a jerk or a bully, so the accusation hit him where it hurt. "I didn't say anything!" His eyes darted around to make sure nobody else was about to come rag on him, then he turned his attention towards the girl, lifting his hands halfway into the air like he was trying to convince her he meant no harm. "It's okay; no... don't- no cry." He liked to think he was pretty smooth with the ladyfolk on most occasions, but he definitely didn't know how to deal with a crying little girl and his inexperience rendered him fairly inarticulate. "I... forgive you." He kind of didn't, but maybe that would cheer her up.

[Deleted]

Bunny hadn’t come down here intending to cry. She wasn’t the type of girl that tried to get attention from others by being sad and pathetic and pitiful (even though she unintentionally was sometimes by default). She had been hoping that he would accept her apology and all would be well; Bunny should have known that wouldn’t be the case. She’d already almost forgotten that Jackson was the other reason that she had come here, until she heard footsteps coming their way and looked up to see her knight in shining armor himself!

“Jackson!” she gasped, smiling a little through her tears as he approached. “Hi hunny…” She sniffed a little and wiped her eyes with a shake of her head. “N-nothing, it’s nothing, I…” Bunny hadn’t told Jackson what she had done the other day; she was afraid he might react like Jake had, and scold her for her stupid idea. So now she wasn’t sure how to explain the situation. “H-he didn’t mean to m-make me cry…” she mumbled quietly. Bunny knew she was sensitive, and anyone else probably wouldn’t have reacted like she had…

Still, she snuggled into his side as Jackson’s arm wrapped around her (despite his sweatiness) and turned her damp eyes back to the older boy. Bunny sniffed again as he attempted to calm her down, trying to stem her tears so she didn’t look like she was just asking for the attention she was being given. “I’m fine…” she mumbled, staring down at the box of cookies she’d made for him. Maybe she shouldn’t have bothered… However, when Jake voiced his ‘forgiveness’, her face lit up and she looked back up at him, suddenly dry-eyed. “Really?” she exclaimed with a smile. “That’s all I wanted! Th-thank you!” Even if Jake wasn’t being sincere, Bunny didn’t know that, so she felt a lot better in the situation now. She turned towards Jackson and gave him a smile, too. “It was… J-just a… stupid thing, I-I made Jake upset over something a couple days ago a-and I wanted to give him cookies as an apology…” Hopefully he wouldn’t ask any prying questions, otherwise she would be forced to make a better explanation.

[Deleted]

Jackson of course was jumping to conclusions when he began his interrogation of his teammate. Because for what other reason would Bunny be there with tears in her eyes? She was such a shy, sensitive girl, she couldn’t handle the full-on gruff and offensiveness that guys were notorious for. No, girls needed to be treated more delicately, especially frail and sensitive girls like Bunny.

And Jake, he was such a domineering guy, Jackson wouldn’t have been surprised if he was….gasp! What if he was trying to talk her into sleeping with him!? He certainly had a history of it… (rationality at it’s best, people!)

Jackson, of course, didn’t believe Jake when he said he hadn’t said anything wrong to upset her. A likely story! She wouldn’t be upset after taking to him if it hadn’t been because of something he said! And of course Bunny would say he didn’t mean it, she was such a sweetheart! It was out of her character to speak up for herself(wow). “What is…?” he started, clearly not understanding the situation. “What kind of apology is that?” Bunny hadn’t done anything wrong, why was she the one who needed to be forgiven?

But apparently that had been enough for Bunny…which left him even more confused. Sigh…this was why girls were so tiring. Changing their minds and emotions at the drop of a hat. Jackson loosened his arm from her shoulders as she seemed to cheer up in an instant. He pressed his eyebrows forward. “Okaaaay….if you say so,” he said, sliding his eyes from her, over to Jake, then back again. Jackson smiled and brushed his hand over her hair. “As long as you’re happy.”

On to a more important matter. “You made cookies?” He looked at Jake again. “For him?” And not for Jackson? Sure, they were for her ‘apology’, but still…. “Basketball themed stuff too! Wow, you really outdid yourself today,” he said with a small laugh. “I hope you enjoy them. Bunny doesn’t make cookies for just anyone.” Yes she did. Anyone and everyone. No, Jackson was not bitter.

[Jacob Tapper]

If pressed on the subject, Jake would contend that Jackson's assumptions about him weren't entirely fair. Yes, it was true that he could be selfish, that he sometimes put his own desires above the feelings of others, and that he had possibly taken some kind of advantage of Jackson's kindness - but he'd wager there were a lot of guys who would have done the same thing in his situation. After all, what teenager wasn't self-interested? Jake was actually fairly generous relative to the typical boy at Hammel.

He was relieved that his saying he forgave Bunny seemed to lift her spirits almost immediately. Good: the last thing he needed was for a girl who had seen him naked to be upset with him. For the same reason, he was still a bit uneasy about the fact that Jackson seemed annoyed with him, as he wasn't entirely sure what this kid was capable of. He didn't know that he could trust him to keep secrets, but he was in a position where he sort of had to.

It irked Jake that his teammate was still being so defensive of the girl, even at his expense: what happened to 'Bros Before Hoes?' He tried his best to ignore the boy's thinly-veiled criticism (was Jake not worthy of cookies now?), since again he did not need any problems with someone who knew a bit too much about him. But he was too proud to let it slide completely.

And he'd be lying if he said it didn't also bother him that Jackson was so touchy-feely with this girl. He couldn't quite place why, but he wished they'd just... stop being cutesy around him.

When Bunny began explaining their situation, thankfully enigmatically, Jake recognized an opportunity both to change the subject and to make Jackson feel bad, which for some reason was high on his to-do list that afternoon. He looked down at the cookies he was holding, the ones Jackson had implied he had no business receiving. He then looked back up at Bunny, the sweetest, most precious smile he could muster plastered on his face. "Well, that does make me feel special," he said, picking one up and taking a bite of it. "Wow, these are really good," he said between bites, giving a small moan of pleasure as he continued to act as though he and Bunny were the only two people there. "You're very talented." He chuckled as he discreetly - yet completely obviously to anyone who really wanted to notice it - looking her up and down just once. "I'll bet there's a lot you're good at."

[Deleted]

Despite growing tensions between the two boys, Bunny continued to be oblivious; in fact, she was quite ecstatic to find herself in the situation she was in now. Not one, but two boys were talking to her and making her feel better (even if Jake had been the start of her initial worry) – it was a dream come true! She still preferred Jackson because she knew him better and he was a little more her type, but Jake was very nice to look at too, and now that things weren’t so awkward, maybe they could do stuff together too!

She did still feel bad about what had happened in the locker room… And wondered if someday she could ask him more about what guys did do in there, and in general. But maybe that would be asking too much.

But anyway…. “It’s okay, Jackson, I d-didn’t know if he would forgive me at all,” she told him softly, touching his side. “It was a really dumb thing for me to do…” Bunny felt her face warming up just thinking about it so much again. Maybe someday she would admit her actions, but today, he seemed content to just see her doing alright, so she would let it drop. But she nuzzled up against him and giggled at the hair brush all the same; she wasn’t used to such physical attention, and she really really enjoyed it. “I am happy!” she chirped. Why wouldn’t she be in this situation? Hee…

“Yeah, I did,” she admitted with a shy giggle into her hand. “I mean, everyone likes cookies, right…?” His compliments made her blush all the more, and she waved her hand dismissively. “Oh no, th-they’re not that great, I don’t know much about basketball so I sort of just copied some things I found online….” She was secretly pretty proud of them, though, as she was with most of her baked goods.

And when Jake started complimenting her work… Well, that was just a bonus! She turned bright eyes onto him, unintentionally scooting a little closer to him (and, at the same time, a little further from Jackson). “You like them? Really?” she beamed. Bunny clasped her hands together as she watched him eat, captivated by his reactions. Were they really that amazing? It was just a simple sugar cookie recipe… “You, um, you should see some of the other things I make!” she told him excitedly. “I am good at other things! Like, um, cakes, and pies, and, um, pretty much any baked good you can think of.” Bunny missed the up-and-down look, of course – she had no idea what he might be insinuating. “I made macaroons the first time I met Jackson!” she added, smiling back at the blonde.

[Deleted]

To be perfectly honest, Jake was probably very likely a more stand-up guy than Jackson was. Probably even a better person overall. Whatever kindness Jake was thinking Jackson had was an illusion and exactly the perception the blond wanted others to have of him. His primary motivation for doing anything was typically because he wanted to be liked. He wanted to be praised. He wanted to be seen as a good, generous person, and for people to crowd around him in their thanks and appreciation. After all, if he did something nice for someone else, wasn’t he entitled to at least that much?

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, Jackson was not liking the attention Jake was giving Bunny. He liked the attention Bunny was giving Jake even less. He especially didn’t like that she’d become so infatuated with Jake that she was even getting closer to him(and farther away from Jackson). Jackson stepped forward from behind Bunny and rested a hand on her shoulder, as if that signified his claim over the short girl.

“That’s not true, Bunny! You’re amazing in the kitchen!” he exclaimed when she spoke of being unimpressive. He’d just keep gushing out the compliments. As if to challenge Jake’s claim to be ‘special’, Jackson boasted, “She even taught me how to make cinnamon buns in the shape of cute little bunnies! And I’m a dunce in the kitchen, so that in itself is quite a the feat.” Jackson laughed, though his eyes remained narrowed at Jake. “Cinnabunnies, she called them. Now those…those were something special.” More special than Jake’s basketball cookies, no doubt. Bunny backed him up even further on how special Jackson was by mentioning the macaroons she’d made. “Those were delicious,” he said to Bunny, leaning down slightly to look at her from over her shoulder. “I’d love it if you made me those again sometimes.” That time before, they weren’t specifically for him, they were for the whole club, but Jake didn’t have to know that.

Jackson didn’t miss the look Jake gave Bunny, the up and down creep look. Jackson kept a calm face, but inside he’d exploded into a ball of flaming rage. What was Jake planning? He wasn’t seriously thinking of doing…that…with her, was he? Didn’t he realize that she wasn’t that kind of girl? She was practically a kid! Why was he Jake even interested in her anyway? Jackson slowly, gradually, pulled Bunny back towards himself, resting both hand on her shoulders now to hold her there. She wasn’t getting away again. “So….how did you two meet anyway?” he asked casually, not realizing that that was delving right back into the issue they were talking about before.

[Jacob Tapper]

To be sure, Jake was not actually interested in Bunny. He thought she was this sort of annoying, frail, whiny little thing; she had been way too talkative in the locker room, had started crying seemingly out of nowhere just a few moments before, and in short just wasn't his type of girl at all. Jake liked real women, assertive ones who knew what they wanted and didn't have this innocent 'never-been-kissed' vibe to them. (Though actually, based on how Jackson and Bunny were interacting, he assumed she had been kissed before, by his teammate.)

But he wasn't trying to get at Bunny; he was trying to get at Jackson. The compliments about her cookies, the once-over he'd given her, the sweet little smile that seemed almost to literally pull her into him... the message was clear: anything you can do, I can do better. Any girl you can get, I can take right out from under you. And the fact that Jackson seemed to be so possessive of her just egged him on even more.

He smiled as Bunny rattled off some of the other treats she could make well. "I'll bet your cakes are delicious," he stated, not loudly enough to be heard over the fading din of the quickly dispersing crowd, as though his intention were to keep his words just between them. He'd once seen a television show his mother liked to watch, where an older woman had referred to her 'cupcakes' as 'moist and delicious.' He thought the word 'moist' was kind of gross, though, so he used just the one adjective. Someone more sexually inclined than this girl might grasp the double entendre, but she seemed somewhat oblivious.

Admittedly, Jake didn't particularly care for all the talk about baked goods. Cupcakes, macarons, cinnamon buns... the brunet stayed away from all of that stuff. He'd rather look good than eat all that sugary crap, so he really didn't have a sweet tooth to speak of. Now savory food, on the other hand... he could carbo-load with the best of 'em. But he was already trying to figure out how to get rid of these cookies without her finding out he'd tossed them, since that would just be mean of him. Maybe he knew of someone who'd like them...

Jackson seemed so hell-bent on finding out how they knew one another, that the transdimensionalist briefly wondered if he already knew something and was just trying to make Jake uncomfortable. But then again, he also seemed genuinely curious. Jake realized that, as much as he would hate for anyone to know what had happened, Jackson would probably hate it even more. So perhaps there was a way for him to have that effect without having to divulge everything. "Your girl was... curious about boys," he said, not taking his eyes off her as he spoke to him. "Guess she didn't know everything there was to know." He said this in a way that implied it was Jackson's fault she was in the dark about the male sex. "I think she knows a little more now." He ventured to be bold enough to take an additional step towards her, which by necessity also meant a step towards Jackson as well. "But maybe not everything, yet?" Jake would, of course, be the better-suited to supply that information, was his point.

[Deleted]

Poor Bunny would likely remain oblivious to the real intentions between Jake and Jackson unless they started throwing obvious insults at each other. If that happened, she would definitely get very upset, and probably start crying again. She wanted everyone to be friends; it was a bonus that they both seemed to be interested in her, especially Jake, who she thought would have a hard time even getting over what she’d done. That was one of the reasons why she might have seemed more interested in him than Jackson at the moment.

“O-oh, I don’t know about that,” she replied modestly to Jackson’s compliments, although she secretly did think she was a really good baker. That was why she had a Youtube channel, after all. Bunny blushed and giggled when Jackson spoke about that time she’d tried to teach him to bake, with his hand on her shoulder (eee!). “You did great!” she chirped. “I told you that you could help me bake again any time, your muscles were really helpful.” Although then again, Jake looked very muscular too, he would probably be great at stirring as well. “Do you want to make a cake with me sometime?” she beamed at Jake stupidly. “I bet you’d be helpful too!” Bunny assumed that all boys liked eating sweets, since it seemed most of them ate pretty much constantly anyway. And she didn’t ask to purposefully make Jackson feel jealous, but it might have seemed like she did if she wasn’t the oblivious girl that the blonde knew she was.

“Oh, I can make those again, sure!” She twisted around to smile at Jackson. “Just come over sometime and I’d be happy to make some. It’s easy, now that we’re neighbors and all!” That had been an absolute dream come true, finding out that the older boy had moved into the house next door. She was going to get an ache in her neck if she kept looking between Jake and Jackson, though.

She blinked and gave a slightly confused look as Jackson pulled her back into him, but it soon turned into a big smile, and she snuggled back against his chest, loving how tiny she felt against his tall, broad form. When he began asking how they met, though, her expression turned frightened and guilty, and she looked helplessly at Jake as she tried to think of what to say. Fortunately, he seemed to have that under control. “Yeah, th-that was pretty much it,” she agreed with a dumb nod. It wasn’t a lie, after all, just not the whole truth! “He was really nice and, um, patient with me.” Her eyes lifted to follow Jake’s gaze as he stepped closer, and blushed deeply at the last comment. “… No, not everything,” she admitted sheepishly. “But… I would like to learn more soon!” She reached out and dared to touch Jake’s hand, although she didn’t move from Jackson’s grasp. “If… if you wouldn’t mind…” she added sheepishly.

[Deleted]

Jackson hung on every word that Jake spoke to Bunny, his eye twitching ever so slightly at his suggestive words. “Her cakes are delicious.” Jackson shook his head and leaned down slightly to speak softly in Bunny’s ear, but loud enough so Jake could hear. “They might be a little much for him though. Some guys just don’t have the stomach to eat something so rich and creamy, even if just to be polite.” He was, of course, referring to Jake’s refusal to service Jackson last they met. Chicken. What kind of man was he if he couldn’t even give what he got!

When Bunny made the offer for Jake to help, Jackson fumed silently. No, this guy was not allowed to help. Still, Jackson just smiled, kindly and pleasantly. “You’re a great teacher, Bunny. I mean, you might not think so, but there’s some guys out there who can’t even do the simplest things. Like boil water, or open a plastic wrap, ha ha!” Jake would know what he was talking about, especially since Jackson was looking right at him as he said it. Jake’s attempt at being suave around Jackson just made him look like he didn’t know what he was doing. Honestly, if you can’t open it, just get a set a scissors, how hard was that? “It” wasn’t going to flop over just by taking out 30 seconds to do something right, for God’s sake!

Jackson nodded, pleased that he’d gotten another bake-date from her right there in front of Jake. They were next-door neighbors. Jackson, by default, had the advantage in this game.

When he presented his next question – it wasn’t innocently made, to be honest, but not in the way Jake first assumed. Jackson just wanted to know how they even knew each other! – the expressions between the two gave him pause. Bunny seemed terribly uncomfortable. Jake looked like he’d made some sort of boastful conquest. And the vagueness of his words…they all led Jackson to think that maybe….just maybe….

No, of course not. This guy talked big, but he couldn’t even hold out for more than 20 seconds of what basically accounted as foreplay. There’s no way he was that way with Bunny….right? Jackson’s smile was straining. “Aww….Bunny,” he said with what might’ve sounded like a forced laugh to anyone looking for it. “If you wanted to know more about boys, you could’ve just asked me! I’ll tell you anything you need to know.” (no she couldn’t, no he wouldn’t) Jackson turned back to Jake, who was uncomfortably close now, enough that Jackson felt like taking a step back, because personal bubble! Jackson stood his ground instead. “You didn’t have to go asking a perfect stranger about things like that.” Whatever that was. Jackson would ask her about it later, no doubt(and then it would make sense). “Besides….” he started, leaning forward and pulling her hand back slowly, lacing their fingers together. He stroked her hand with his thumb, staring at it as he spoke. “You don’t really want to bother Jake too much, right? I’m sure he’s so busy taking care of himself that he’ll probably overlook something important.” Like finishing what he started. Jackson sent Jake another ‘kind’ smile. “Not intentionally, of course,” he amended, if just to soften the accusation a little bit.

[Jacob Tapper]

Jake felt no real sense of jealousy as the two lovebirds flirted openly in front of him and made plans to bake again together. As has already been stated, Jake had no deep personal interest in Bunny, so the idea of them spending time together was not deplorable to him. Rather, any feigned interest in the girl was just to make Jackson feel bad. Heck, if anything, Jake was more jealous of Bunny for getting so much of Jackson's attention, as his teammate was a little more his type and there was obvious sexual interest (and history) there. But this feeling was slight, barely registering in Jake's mind as he watched them with ambivalence.

As Bunny's hand touched his, the brunet looked down, then back up at her. He smiled, because he knew in that moment that he had won, at least a little. Girls didn't just touch guys for no reason: they did that when they were interested. At least, that was what Jacob had come to expect. Perhaps Jackson felt the same way. Were that to be true, then Jackson would surely be perturbed that Bunny had made some kind of outward display of affection towards his momentary adversary. And if Jake's objective here was to make Jackson jealous, then he had gotten what he wanted. This was mostly speculative on Jake's part, but he had a hunch that things were moving in his favor.

When the girl offered to let him help bake a cake, he decided quickly to politely decline the offer. Frankly, nothing sounded less interesting to him than spending an afternoon with a 15-year-old (not that he knew her age, but he assumed based on appearances she was younger than him by at least a year or two) making something he wouldn't eat and listening to her... stutter or cry or however it was she usually interacted with people. He didn't know. He didn't want to be mean in his rejection, though, both because he didn't want to be mean in general and because he didn't want Jackson to realize how disinterested he really was.

"I'm not much for baking, personally," he said, raising a hand in polite dismissal. "But, I'm sure there's something else I can give you in return." He didn't even want a cake, but he'd pretend to if it brought Bunny closer to him and further from Jackson. His offer coincided with her admission that she would like to learn more about boys. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know," he assured her, a somewhat wicked smile on his face that might give Jackson the impression that they had a naughty secret between them. "Or show you," he added with a chuckle, as surely Bunny would remember seeing pretty much everything there was to see, again emphasizing that they shared some Secret Inside Joke of which Jackson was on the outside.

Jackson took a number of pot-shots at Jake's sexual competence, some of which landed and some of which actually went over Jake's head. He'd completely forgotten about his silent refusal to give Jackson head - as the very idea had entered and left his mind so quickly as not to have made a lasting impression - so the part about not being able to 'stomach' Bunny's cake didn't mean anything to him. Even the comment about opening plastic wrap took Jake a moment to register, but his eyes narrowed noticeably as the reference dawned on him. He had to admit the veiled insult was pretty well-executed, but that made it sting even more. Okay, so he'd had trouble opening the condom wrapper. Big deal! A lot of guys weren't great at that. It was hard!

The comment about not finishing what he started was so heavy-handed that not only did he get it right away, but he also felt the need to respond in kind. "I never overlook things that are important to me," he said, eyes flickering up to meet Jackson's gaze for just a moment before moving back to Bunny. If he had 'overlooked' Jackson or his own needs, he was implying, then that was because he didn't find him important. And that happened to be true: he had used Jackson like a sex doll, pretty much apathetic to what the other boy had wanted to get out of it. "And rest assured," he added, his words directed to Bunny but his voice projecting loud enough to be meant for Jackson's ears, "that if I say I'll do something, I'll do it." Jackson had, after all, failed to finish doing Jake's homework, and the brunet had the middling homework grade to prove it. "Not everyone follows through on their promises."