Ricochet (Rhett)

[Rhett Goddard]

Ready to leave, Rhett turned around slowly. He was in need of a hot shower and of a mirror, to make sure his face, and neck, did not present visual marks. He didn't want to explain things to Rosette next time they skyped, which was supposed to be later tonight. However, the other blonde's words made him stop.

Still giving his back to Ulrich, Rhett listened to his words. He sighed. Was he for real? To be sixteen, the boy clearly behaved much younger. What would Rhett want marbles? Granted, he had indeed decided to keep this one, but it held a value much more important, and useful, as toys, like Ulrich seemed to have them for, and plus, for the use Rhett was going to keep it, he only needed one. It was insurance, since the day he discovered that touching things that belonged to somebody else helped him focus his powers in said person, he had begun collecting trinkets from people he met. You never know when you might need or want to gain additional leverage information on them.

"It's fine, Randolf." He turned around in his spot. "Don't worry about it."

Rhett looked down at his shirt. It was solid white and uninteresting. What? He was mildly confused by Ulrich's words. His next ones, however, puzzled Rhett even more. He blinked strongly, once, twice and then thrice. He definitely did not see that one coming, and Rhett thought of himself as someone very hard to surprise.

"Thanks?" The word came out of his mouth on his own.

Rhett was not used to compliments, they didn't even come often from Odion, and he was probably the person that knew Rhett the most. Although, that was probably the reason why. Ulrich did not know Rhett at all, and it was why he could think Rhett was nice. Even then, he couldn't quite fathom it yet.

"I..." He composed himself. He might had been staring blankly and silently at Ulrich for some seconds now. "your... shirt is nice too? I mean, are you... flirting?"

That was straight to the point.

[Ulrich Schneider]

Ulrich was a little unsettled by being called by his middle name since it has never really happened to him before, but it didn't bother him enough to protest or complain about it.

He put his marbles back into his pockets when he thought Rhett was going to walk off, but the boy stopped after Ulrich complimented him and even returned the compliment. Ulrich was quite happy about that, but when he was asked if he was flirting, he blushed.

Yes, he blushed.

He wasn't trying to flirt, but after taking a moment to think it over, he realized how what he said could be considered flirting. He was embarrassed and quickly tried his best to save face, "N-no, I wasn't flir-flirting... I uh... was just saying that you're really nice to me when you could have been really mean..."

For the first time during their encounter, he actually took the time to look Rhett over from head to toe. His eyes scanned over the boy a few times and Ulrich came to the conclusion that he was quite handsome. His mind then started wandering in directions it usually did not. He started thinking about things that testosterone-filled boy his age usually thought about - dating, kissing, and more importantly... sex. His obsession with guns, knives, and hunting usually kept his mind occupied and free of any lustful or romantic thoughts, but Rhett and his question about flirting sparked a new-found interest in it.

It didn't take long for him to start thinking about doing some of those things with Rhett, so in order to purge those thoughts from his mind, he tried changing the subject of their conversation. "What's your favorite color? I like red and green..."

[Rhett Goddard]

Ulrich blushed and Rhett smiled slightly. He was indeed flirting, which means Rhett was right, as always. It didn't make it any less surprising, though. It seemed out of character for what Rhett had judged of Ulrich initially, and he knew that he unusually made mistakes in judging people and that people, far more unusually, did things out of character. So which was it? He thought of himself a bit, the whole Odion thing had been extremely out of character for him, at least relative to whom he was before, so he was fine proof that people changed as they grew, and he was aware of that. Could this meant that just as Odion was trigger of change for Rhett, he could be a trigger of change for Ulrich?

Maybe he should just believe Ulrich, maybe, contrary to the German boy's body language, he was not flirting.

"As I said," Rhett said to Ulrich's word. "you happened to have the fortune to catch me in a good mood, which most people would bet is not rather frequent, although I might beg to differ."

People were just far too sensitive and Rhett didn't have the ability to feel empathy. Most people didn't like listening to the truth, but that was all Rhett dealt in: the truth, the cold and hard facts. Now he was part of that big group of people in the world of those who have suffered from a heartbreak, but it didn't mean he was going to cry and pout whenever he was reminded of that. He could deal with it, he was dealing with it, and even if, so far, he hadn't move on, he knew life did and he was keeping up with it.

"Really?" Rhett raised an eyebrow. "Like Christmas?" Does he really think this question does not constitute as flirting? "Probably white and yellow." He hadn't really thought about it much, but taking into account most his wardrobe was white and pale yellow clothes, it probably meant they were his favorite colors as well. "Maybe some light grays too."

Now what? Even under the consideration that Rhett liked flirting, and he doesn't, this was so much more awkward than anything else. However, this was the one thing that made it interesting. Maybe it was worth the time, he hadn't quite experimented with someone in some time and Ulrich seemed like a very peculiar subject.

"Sorry I thought you were flirting." Rhett walked back to the tree and leaned against it while crossing his arms in his chest. "I just know you're gay," Of course Ulrich had never said that, and Rhett wasn't sure either, but Rhett had just mentioned his power was of knowing, so he wondered what button he was going to push by saying that so confidently. "and you also just examined me up and down, so I just... joined the dots."

[Ulrich Schneider]

"No, not like Christmas," Ulrich replied nonchalantly, "like trees and blood."

As odd and creepy as it sounded, he only meant to reference the colors of hunting. The green trees and the red color of blood to indicate a successful kill. Seeing red meant that he had a meal to bring home, clean, cook, and share with his family. It was supposed to be a happy thing. It reminded him of his blooding right, which is a modern ritual where a hunter smears the blood his child's first kill on the child's face. Ulrich's first kill was a 12 point buck, and his proud Uncle painted a few stripes on his cheeks with the dead beast's blood. That was when Ulrich unofficially became a man.

When Rhett mentioned that his favorite colors were white, yellow, and light grays, he was tempted to ask why? He had a story behind his favorite colors and wondered if Rhett did as well. He expected the boy to say something more generic like... like blue... but Rhett's color choice definitely intrigued him.

But what Rhett said next caught him off guard. "I'm not..." he was quick to say, "I don't know what..."

Ulrich was very unsure about his sexuality. He thought he liked girls, but the few times when his mind wandered he typically found himself thinking about guys as well. He isn't homophobic or anything like that, so he wasn't upset about having those thoughts, but they confused the crap out of him.

And then to make matters worse, Rhett made it loud and clear that he noticed Ulrich checking him out. He literally had no clue how to respond to that. The urge to turn around, run to his dorm, and hide under his bed surged through him, but he managed to stand his ground. "I... uh..."

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett laughed a bit. This boy was for real. It was amusing to see how he clearly didn't understand the severity of his words. Like trees and blood. Fortunately for him, Rhett knew the why, he knew the story behind his choice of colors. For a small instance he wondered if Ulrich said it like that because he knew Rhett knew, but the French's instincts told him otherwise. Ulrich was, simply, naive. Perhaps, in his mind, he couldn't tell he was weird, that he was an outcast, and if he did, he probably didn't understood that that kind of thing was the reason why.

"Like Christmas, then." Rhett repeated in serious tone.

It was funny to see Ulrich so weirded out and caught off guard by Rhett's words. It was as intended, of course, and Rhett found it quite cute. He was barely saying anything, like if the words couldn't come out of his throat. Rhett smiled as he exhaled a bit through his nose. Placing his hands behind his head, he rested it in the tree while looking up at the sky.

"What?" He asked in German, which even though it was not fluid, it was quite understandable. "You're not really saying anything, Randolf." He looked back at Ulrich, staring directly at his eyes. "Do I make you uncomfortable?" He kept his eyes in the other boy's. "Because that usually happens when someone likes someone else, and I have wonder if that is the case." He let a small grin out. "Hitting me with that marble to strike up a conversation, and then faking the start of a fight by grabbing me by my neck to feel me up. You're good."

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[Ulrich Schneider]

"No... not like Christmas..." Ulrich said again with confusion in his voice. He opened his mouth to explain why he liked those colors again, but he decided against it. Something about the way Rhett repeated himself stopped him arguing, like it would be pointless to. Because of that, he kept his mouth shut and abandoned any desire to continue on with the subject.

Upon hearing Rhett speak again in German, Ulrich's eyebrows raised with surprise. As a kid, his aunt and uncle taught him both German and English. He was fluent in both, but as time progressed, he used English much more and his fluency in German started to suffer. Luckily, he still knew it well enough to speak it and understand it.

It was another thing he wasn't expecting from Rhett, and he definitely didn't expect to hear what the older boy was actually saying. Ulrich was being accused of setting everything up just so he could talk to and feel up on the other blond, and it was making him blush like crazy. His cheeks were beet red, and maintaining eye contact with Rhett was becoming difficult. He wanted to look away and escape embarrassment, but he couldn't. He was trapped by Rhett's seemingly magical stare.

Oh, he was also being accused of liking Rhett.

"I didn't!" Ulrich replied in German. "That wasn't my intention... I swear!"

He dropped his eyes to the ground and took a deep breath so he could compose himself. He didn't know what to do anymore. This situation was one that he was socially and emotionally unprepared for.

[Rhett Goddard]

Rhett nodded. He belived Ulrich, of course he did, everything Rhett was saying was just pure speculation on things that were very coincidental, but with the right choice of words, and thoughts, could easily be spun into what Rhett was saying. Watching Ulrich desperately trying to deny Rhett's words were so funny that Rhett let a small, miniature, and instant smile out. Even Rhett was feeling bad for Ulrich, but why back up now?

"So, you think I'm ugly?" He continued in German. "You said I was nice, were you lying?" To add drama, Rhett straightened up and walked up to Ulrich, stopping just a few steps away from him. "You don't like me, then?" He let out a small while, finally, looking away from Ulrich. "I just... I thought, you know, I... It was stupid of me to assume, you being so... good-looking and all."

He looked back at Ulrich's eyes. For a moment there, he felt bad. Just a second ago the German boy was telling Rhett he was nice to him, and now he was playing him? Rhett had had a "being a good person" goal for several weeks now, and this was clearly not that. The real problem, though, was that this felt good. Suddenlt he couldn't really remember why he had stopped playing with people like this. Maybe he shouldn't had, he liked his old self.

No... it wasn't right. He shook his head, it felt good, but it didn't feel right.

"Know, what?" Coming to his senses, Rhett returned to English, as in leaving the games behind with the German. "Forget about that." He sighed. "Maybe I should go."

[Ulrich Schneider]

Ulrich listened closely to every word Rhett had to say closely. He anaylzed every single word one at a time to make sure he would not misinterpret any anything the other boy was saying in German, and the more he heard, the more he began to wonder if he had been somehow misleading Rhett. Ulrich started to feel bad about it. Rhett was very handsome, and Ulrich didn't want him to think that he thought he was ugly, especially after the other boy made it clear that he thought he was good-looking as well.

The compliment made Ulrich stop a moment to think about himself. He never really bothered to focus on his appearance much. He wore clothes that really weren't in style, and he never did anything fancy with his hair. The one thing that he did have going for him though was that he was in good shape, which is what he assumed Rhett found to be attractive.

Then, Rhett managed to shock Ulrich again by saying that he should leave. Immediately Ulrich felt like it was all his fault, like he had managed to offend Rhett to the point where he wanted to retreat. Guilt began to consume him, so he spoke up and began to try to fix everything. "Wait," he said hastily, "you're not ugly... you're very good looking... and nice... and I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Ulrich looked around as he tried coming up with more compliments to mend the situation. "Your are good at parkour... and you know a lot of stuff... and I want to be with you some more... I mean, I want to hang out with you some more."

[Rhett Goddard]

"No, it's not that." Rhett attempted to interrupt Ulrich but stopped as he continued talking.

Ulrich had definitely gone from awkward to cute in one small second. Not only compliment after compliment, but then some rather cute final words, that even if Ulrich corrected later, were still there. Now Rhett really felt bad, he had manipulated Ulrich into apologizing and practically begging Rhett for forgiveness, so much, that now that Rhett decided to stop and leave, Ulrich wanted him to stay. It felt strange, it had been some time since Rhett did something like this, and even more time since it was so successful. Ulrich was, apparently, easily moldable.

"I..." Rhett wanted to apologize, but, of course, Ulrich wasn't aware of what had happened, and being honest with it didn't seem like a good idea. He didn't want to break the image Ulrich had of Rhett being a nice guy. "Yeah, sure, I guess." He placed his hands in his pockets and took a couple of steps back. "I just... need a bath and all that." That seemed like a good excuse to leave. It was the truth, after all. "Being all sweaty and smelly from parkouring." It wasn't nice to leave, though, and being nice was the point, so Rhett knew he couldn't just leave like that, when Ulrich apparently wanted a bit more of Rhett than just one random encounter. "Know what, Randolf, meet me here tomorrow, three o'clock." He nodded. "We'll practice some more." See? I AM a good guy. "'Til then."

Words said, Rhett gave off a half-smile and turned around and, hands still in his pockets, walked away.