Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (Asher)

[Deleted]

With school back in session, it was time to get back in the swing of things including with classes, homework, and yes, club activities! Junpei couldn't consider himself much of an artist, but he did like to draw from time to time. And by draw he meant doodle in the margins of his notes. Often times those idle sketches turned out better than the serious stuff he tried to crank out. Yeah, the serious stuff....always looked deformed to him. He eventually resigned to it being because he was trying to hard.

So in light of that, Junpei long ago dumped the pencil and decided to just go at his sketches with straight pen. Obviously, this approach left him with many, many mistakes and having to redo entire pages(or just use and excessive amount of white-out) but Junpei enjoyed the final effect a lot better.

Of course, recent events and people in his life had been having an influence on his doodles. That's how he ended up with two chibi doodles of his friend Phoenix and his scary boyfriend Oriel.

Funny...the guy didn't look nearly as scary as a disgruntled chibi person. Actually, he was kind of cute.

Junpei snickered at the thought of Oriel being cute and itty-bitty sour-face, wondering exactly what his friend would think if he saw these pictures. Actually, he had the thought to go track down his friend right at that moment so he could share in this hilarity, and so started to push back in his chair. Unfortunately, he was giggling so much to himself and so lost in his own musings that Junpei didn't even see the person walking behind him and ended up pushing his chair right into him. Very hard, I might add.

And Junpei, being so startle, ended up backing up himself into the desk behind him, effectively knocking over his Monster energy drink and spilling the fluid all over the desk and the floor. And his drawings.

[Asher Hayes]

Today was an art day. Asher had collected a bunch of his art materials and a six pack of Monster and was heading to the art studio. Along with his tools, he brought along his iPhone and speakers to crank the tunes to get him pumped. Not that he real needed it because he was pumped up already. It had been a good, long while since he'd had a muse so Asher was very excited to release his emotions onto a canvas. He pranced down the school halls with much enthusiasm. He could barely contain himself. A huge grin filled his face and his eyes were as bright as stars. If it he wasn't inside the school he could've screamed. Even though he was already extremely hyper, Asher cracked open an energy drink and started chugging.

Asher danced to non-existant music as he entered the art studio. He slipped to the supply closet to pick out a canvas. Ever since he found out about the massive amount of supplies in the closet, Asher was able to save a lot of money on art supplies. He only owned the basics: colored pencils, water colors, paint brushes, pens, and so on. For a solid five minutes, Asher jumped around the closet debating what kind of canvas to use. He decided he was going to paint a huge abstract piece and if he liked it, send it to his parents. It was their anniversary soon and Asher wanted to go the extra mile for them since he would be at school. He pushed the thought of his parents out. He knew if he thought about it for too long, he would've started to miss them and cry. The last thing Asher wanted was to kill the good vibes he was getting.

After adjusting his grip on the canvas, Asher headed out of the closet and towards a table he could work at. As he scooted past a boy he hadn't noticed when he entered, he messed up big time. Though he wasn't exactly sure what had happened, it all ended with Monster on the floor, and the boy's doodles ruined. It was a shame. His chibi drawings were adorable. "Shit. That was totally my fault. I'll get some paper towels so we can clean this up." Asher quickly apologized. After putting down his supplies to help the boy, Asher noticed that he was a cutie. He always had a thing for Asians and this one could draw and drank energy drink. Perfect.

[Deleted]

Oh no, this was terrible! All that work, ruined! Granted, Junpei didn't think his drawings were anything special, but they were still his and he worked hard on them!

He sighed, feeling defeated. But at least the person he ran back into wasn't as slow as Junpei was and was already rushing about to get paper towels to help out. Junpei looked over at him and held up his hands. "It is okay! I can clean, it is my fault!" Junpei spoke in a thick accent, giving away his non-American status and his lack of skills in the English language. While he'd gotten better over the months he'd been there, with help from his girlfriend, and a couple of his other friends, there was still a lot that Junpei had to learn.

But first thing was first. Junpei picked up his drawings before they got even more wet and carried them over to the sink area, placing them between two paper towels each. Then he placed those underneath a couple of heavy textbooks that happened to be lying around, hopefully to keep the paper from wrinkling up too much. That would help a little at least, even if he couldn't do much about the discoloration. Junpei returned to the site of the accident where hopefully the other boy had returned with more paper towels that they could use to clean the mess. "Thank you, I am sorry for making trouble."

[Asher Hayes]

After the quick peak at the eye candy, Asher dashed for the sink where he grabbed the roll of paper towels. He also grabbed a very conveniently placed mop and two sponges. Ash felt like a super hero as he ran back to save the day. The thought was ruined as Asher remembered he was just a scrawny teenager with his arms full of cleaning supplies. He helped the cutie set up all of his drawings in the paper towel and textbook contraptions then got started on the puddle of energy drinks that covered the floor. First, Ash soaked up as much as he could just using paper towels. Once they were all saturated, he collected the disgusting wads of paper towels and threw them out. On his way back, Asher grabbed some soap and a bucket of water and wondered why there were so many cleaning supplies in the art room. He covered the puddle in soap and dunked the head of the mop into the water. Asher just moved the puddle around because he didn't know too much about cleaning. Eventually, he figured out how to do it right.

Asher was so concentrated on cleaning the mess that he completely forgot that the boy was still here. As he wiped up the remainder of the puddle with a sponge and dried it with paper towels, Ash initiated a conversation. "So, what's your name? I'm Asher but you can call me Ash if you want." He continued to clean. "I really liked your drawings. We should draw together after I'm done cleaning. I don't know how to chibi. Maybe you could teach me." Asher realized he was talking too much. He hoped that the boy wouldn't mind. Ash could easily list people that he pissed off by droning on and on.

[Deleted]

Cleaning up the entire mess had been a feat of teamwork, perseverance, coordination, and time, but before they knew it, the boys had managed to soak up the whole of Monster fluid that had stained the desk and floor, and saved the drawings as best they could. The other boy seemed to be on top of things, reinforcing their clean-up with soap and water, to ensure that the area did not become sticky from the syrupy drink.

Once thanks were given, they could finally get around to friendly acknowledgment. "I am Junpei. It is nice to meet you, Ashi." His voice was thick with a heavy accent that clearly wasn't comfortable pronouncing the sounds it was trying to. Hence why "Ash" was pronounced "Ashi".

Junpei nodded. How fortunate that this encounter had turned into something that could be friendly. It reminded him of how he met his good friend Phoenix. That too had been one where Junpei literally crashed into the other asian boy and was helped out of the waste-can he'd fallen into. Good things come from bad things, cycling around in a circle of balance, he decided. This too, would prove to be a positive meeting. At least that's what he hoped. "That sound very nice! I will love to show you how to draw chibi!" Junpei had his bright smile on, now very excited that he could possibly make a new friend through their art. "What kind of drawing can you do?"