TIMEWARP: Let's Talk Glitter (Devon)

[Devon Wentsworth]

In a way Devon could kind of sympathise. It was easier for a man – they just had to throw on a suit and they were all dapper and fanciable. It didn't matter if they looked exactly the same as the bloke stood next to them, if they had put on a tie and jacket they had made an effort and therefore all was good. If two lads wore the same t-shirt they became best friends forever. If a woman wore her hair the same way as another all hell broke lose. It was a mentality that the teenage boy had never really understood, and one he doubted he ever would.

It was very rare that Devon blushed, but as Kat was quickly able to fathom out what he was saying the crimson crept up the back of his neck and began to worm its way across his cheeks. “I never said it'd be comfy... but it didn't look bad.” Kat's little announcement caused Devon's eyes to flick down towards his own spindly legs, wondering how on earth they could ever be attractive. They'd always reminded him of twiglets wrapped in skin. But her ease of discussing the topic was reassuring, and he let his (admittedly already fairly weak) internal censor relax a touch. “Not sayin' your lyin'... but I don't get how they'd be as good as a lady's pillows.”

The shift was painful and sent a searing pain down his spine, but the teenager was running on adrenaline and hormones and pushed the pain aside as much as he was able to when he shifted back to open the door. Tangled in his shirt and tie, Devon shuffled to the side once Kat was inside and fumbled around for a light switch, eventually accidentally catching it with is elbow and sending a dim light into the closet.

The glitter that had escaped down his shirt was itchy and he fidgeted in vain to wriggle it out, but Devon stood still as Kat managed to untangle his arm and reattach his tie. However, it was as he was standing still that it slowly began to dawn on him exactly where they were. Closing his eyes and holding his breath as the voices and footsteps went past was easy, but he struggled a moment to remember how to breathe even after they had trundled away down the corridor. Kat's giggle and whispered words fell on mostly deaf ears, the Brit's eyes still tightly closed, and his hand involuntarily curled into the fabric of her dress.
I'm not in a cupboard. Not in a cupboard. Nope. Not now. Not in a cupboard... Breathe... Not in a cupboard...

[Kateri Rivera]

In the dark, it was kind of hard to see, but Kateri suspected she knew exactly what the teenage boy was doing—and that was blushing. And when she leaned in, she determined that was indeed the case. “Well, I never thought tights were comfortable either, but it sure looked good.” She caught the glimpse and her grin widened, and she gently bumped him. “Relax. Yours aren’t bad either. And lady’s pillows? Really?” She laughed. “Now there is a phrase I’ve never heard before. Lady’s pillows. Jesus.” Yes, Kateri was comfortable, if a little amused by his choice in vocabulary. All right, a lot amused by the vocab.

As close as they were, it was hard for Kat not to notice that the guy in front of her was having difficulties breathing. Her motions slowed, and she gave him a worried look. “Devon? Are you all right?” He was clinging to her dress, she noticed, but not in the way that seemed to indicate attraction or a desire to rip it off (although Kat hadn’t actually experienced the latter. For all her boasts and comfort with the topic, Kateri did not have a lot of experience with it. She just claimed she did because it was easier than admitting that most of her flirtation had gotten her….well, nowhere. But Kateri didn’t talk about it, and she didn’t like to go into things like that.

She might not have had a lot of experience with people having claustrophobia, but she knew panic attacks from her brother Neil, and she thought she recognized the symptoms. So she took Devon’s hands and squeezed them gently.

“Devon, do you need to get out of here, or something?” She frowned and leaned in to lightly place a hand on his cheek. “You need to remember to breathe. I’m here with you. We’re safe, and we can leave and find another room at any time. Do you understand? Do you need to go?”

[Devon Wentsworth]

The odd little phrase had tumbled out mostly without his bidding, and Kat's reaction to it caused the unwanted blush to darken his cheeks further. Any hopes he'd had of being the suave James Bond type had flown completely out of the window, and he was left with being the class clown. Or cupboard clown, as it were. That didn't overly matter, it was a role he was more than used to filling. Still, any hopes he'd had of where he ideally would have liked this evening to go were all be vanished. Which was a disappointment, obviously, but he knew he should have known better than to set his hopes quite that high.

As the realisation of where they were began to dawn on him all the scarlet bled from his face, the skin quickly paling, and it became a conscious effort for Devon to try to stay calm and not just throw himself through the door and out into the open corridor. Through his early years tight quarters had never been an issue for him, but since the incident in his old high school with the gym cupboard he had become completely unable to be in an enclosed space without freaking out. It was a terrifying feeling, like he was trapped without escape, and as his chest tightened he had to lean against the wall to stop his legs giving out from under him.

The teenager flinched as he felt hands on his own, but Kateri's voice was soothing and he very hesitantly let go of her dress and allowed his hands to be taken in hers. The world was spinning and it felt like the walls were about to slam in on them, and Devon had to concentrate so hard to get each and every snatched breath. As a hand was placed on his cheek he leaned in to the warming touch, visibly shaking, but slowly nodded his head. His voice was quiet, croaky, but determined. “Yes... somewhere else.”

Letting go of the hand that he'd been clinging on to tighter than he realised, Devon clumsily made his way to the door and leaned against it, pressing his ear to the wood to hear what was going on outside. Not hearing anything, he shoved the door open and all but fell out into the wide, open expanse of the corridor. “Where're we going?” Clearly still very spooked and disorientated, Devon was only too happy to let Kat take the lead... Or to run off and save herself if any of the staff members came looking for them.

[Kateri Rivera]

He was trembling. Kateri’s lips turned down into a frown, but she quickly turned it back up to a smile. “All right. Getting out of here. Think you can handle it for a few more minutes, love? Just until we’re sure the coast is clear.” She wasn’t sure he could handle it, and as she was pretty sure that she was going to end up getting caught anyways, not particularly sure she cared if they left a little earlier anyways. She’d been doing this for fun. She still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life, so she wasn’t inclined to worry if she got into trouble for this prank. Better to get him out than to worry about teachers coming after them. She pressed her ear against the wood as well, parallel to him, and stumbled a bit when Devon suddenly pushed open the door. She kept a firm hold on his hand—because somehow she thought that meant she wouldn’t lose track of him, or he’d be forced to follow or…something along those lines, she didn’t even know—and looked around.

“Um. Um.” Think, Kateri!” There’s a classroom over here, I think.” It was weird to be in a school after dark, she’d admit. “C’mere.” She pulled him in that direction. They were halfway to the classroom when she heard footsteps coming in both directions, and she looked around wildly again, but only saw a closet—probably with the door locked again, and this time Devon wasn’t in a good shape to unlock it. Nor would she ask him to.

Well, it was always good to know when you were licked.

She grinned at him. “Well, Devon, it’s been nice to know you.” And she leaned in to kiss him rather thoroughly before the institute officials arrived and pried them away from each other to lecture them. 

[Devon Wentsworth]

The soothing lilt of Kateri's voice was a comfort, but as the seconds ticked away it seemed to Devon like the cupboard was getting smaller and smaller, the air getting thicker and heavier with every single forced breath. He concentrated on her voice, the corners of his lips slightly twitching up involuntarily at the word 'love'. He focussed then on his breathing, getting it slow and steadier, before both teenagers spilled out of the cupboard and into the hallway that they had ran down earlier.

Relieved that Kat kept hold of his hand, Devon followed her down the corridor in the direction of where she thought the classroom was. It was disorientating running around the school at night and the still-recovering boy let himself be led easily as he just focussed on his breathing and getting his head back together. After a few moments the rolling adrenaline began to overtake the panic again, and by the time they were halfway towards the supposed-classroom Devon was recovering well and running along easily beside her.

Then he heard the footsteps coming from both directions, surrounding them. He returned Kateri's bright grin and gave a big shrug of narrow shoulders. “Never mind, we tri-” Devon got cut off by the kiss, his mind instantly whirring a hundred miles an hour as his arms loosely wrapped around her shoulders, his breath caught in his throat as he tried to take in exactly what was happening.

The next thing he was aware of was a hand on his shoulder, tugging him away from Kateri, and he didn't put up a fight as they were pried apart. There would be no point, they'd never win and it'd only serve to add to whatever punishment was already going to be dished out to him. He'd already been trying to work out a way to get Kat out of it; the kiss had cemented his determination. As they were steered in different directions down the corridor, he took one last spin to face Kateri and bowed low, a wide grin on his young lips.

“Have a great life, darlin'. See you in the next one maybe.”

~ Fin ~