A Happy Face, A Happy Smile, A Happy Point Of View

[Deleted]

How did Jackson get so lucky? Grams must have been saving up for this for a while now. It would explain why he didn't get much for Christmas either. Jackson liked gifts, of course - incredibly so, in fact - but he wasn't so selfish as to expect anything fancy or expensive for the holidays. A meal at home was usually enough for him, and had been this year. But Grams had explained that there wasn't quite enough in her fund to afford this particular gift at that time, so his Christmas present was delayed to become his Valentine's gift. That's how Jackson ended up riding down one of Pilot Ridge's steepest hills on his brand new bicycle. He had to be careful with it, though, because it wasn't cheap by any means. But...the excited boy still couldn't help himself. He bundled himself up in a warm jacket, scarf, hat and gloves, and rode out with a smile on his face.

Getting up the hill was a trial. Jackson was a bit of an athlete, but even he didn't have the stamina to do it without dismounting the contraption and walking it up himself. But once he was at the top...boy, this was going to be good! There were a number of good hills to ride down back home, but he hadn't had a bicycle since elementary school, so the times when he rode down them then were a lot more low end, considering he was a kid and wasn't allowed to venture farther than his immediate neighborhood. That is, the one city block of residentials, though if it was up to his mom, Jackson wouldn't have gone farther than the street where they lived.

Jackson took a deep breath, looking down the steep hill with childlike wonder. It wasn't very long, only a couple of blocks at the most, but he could get some really good momentum from this. It'd be just like a roller coaster! Yup!

He kicked off and started rolling. No need to pedal, just let gravity do it's work.

A biting wind blew into his face as his speed picked up. He had to squint to keep his eyes from drying out too fast. The road was mostly clear, as a residental street ought to be. And the road was winding. That was also a big difference from home. At home, the roads were all more or less straight, for miles on end. Out here, they twisted and turned in the most nonsensical ways. So that was another bit of a challenge in biking down a hill at top speed, making the turns that came with it. And dodging potential pedestrians that appeared just around the bend.

Like that couple(of dudes) that were walking side-by-side one another and were definitely going to be in Jackson's way if they didn't move right now, or else Jackson was going to have to force himself into a wipe-out!! "Ahh!! Heey! Move move!! Get out of the waayyy!!" he screamed at them desperately.

[Deleted]

Mmm…. This was… Really nice. It was cold, but not too terribly so, and Rue felt pretty warm anyway, bundled up in layers and walking beside his best friend. They weren’t doing much in particular, just getting out for some fresh air, might get a bite to eat or something in a bit. Rue was in a good mood, as he could see the bear aura that waddled beside him with shades of yellow and green (and maybe a tad bit of pink around the edges). Finn seemed happy too; they didn’t talk much, but they didn’t really need to. It was just… Pleasant to walk around and enjoy the nice day, shuffling through the snow.

The uphill walk had been pretty taxing, so Rue was enjoying meandering down the other side, occasionally pointing something out to his friend, like a dog or a snowman that someone had built. There was even a snow-cat that they passed, which the younger man chuckled at. Mmm… He needed more relaxing days like this…

Well, relaxing until he heard the yelling behind them. On instinct, Rue regretfully wrapped his arms around Finn’s shoulders and tugged him to the side, wincing because he knew the older man was probably going to freak out. But what else was he supposed to do? Fortunately, he managed to pull them both out of the path of the speeding bike, and Rue let go of his friend as soon as he could, uttering apologies in a worried tone. “We… We need to see if that guy’s okay…!” he urged, hoping that would distract Finn enough from any distraught mindset he might be in. Once he made sure the person that had sped past them hadn’t broken his neck or something, he would tend to his friend even more. For now… “H-hey, are you okay!?” he called out, rushing towards the kid, who had eventually come to a stop… Somehow. Rue caught sight of the person’s aura, which was thankfully free of any black spots. That meant he at least wasn’t gravely injured, but he still might be a little bruised up.

He hadn’t yet realized who exactly it was that he was checking in on.

[Finn Eogeum]

Walking was nice. Maybe Finn needed to walk Coco more often; that would be a good idea. Yeah, if he wasn't in too much of a mood, Finn would walk Coco. Good. Because he loved Coco. Coco was sweet. Just thinking about the little yipping thing made Finn's colour brighten a little, even if it was already on the bright side of the scale already. Nothing seemed to be going wrong. It was a nice day, and the snow looked magical and glittering, so the saturator was a happy guy.

Whenever Rue pointed something out to him, he would giggle a bit, because they were all cute or silly things, and they were all cool. It was just... really nice that Finn was actually capable of doing all of this, instead of being curled up in his bed or too distracted to care. Living was nice. He needed to do it more often. Hopefully Rue would help with that - Finn expected he would.

At the loud and abrupt warning, Finn did... nothing much. He just blinked in confusion and was going to turn around to see what the problem was, only... he was grabbed first. Grabbed. His body seized up a little on instinct, hearing Rue apologise but struggling to reply. It felt like his throat was closing up too, and he started to hyperventilate, wheezing a little. Even as Rue tried to distract him - which didn't work - he felt like stone. He watched Rue run away and slid to the ground, despite the snow, curling up a little and clutching to his own skin. He really didn't know why he struggled so much with close contact... touching other people was... okay, but someone putting their hand on his shoulder was enough to make him jump away. When it was like what Rue had done, being moved... his body just couldn't cope - and he knew it was bad, he didn't want it to be that way but he couldn't help it. He continued to watch the scene from afar, calming himself down by closing his eyes and counting backwards from one hundred in his head. It was something he'd been taught to do in these situations. His mind still raced, though, and his breaths wouldn't steady that quickly.

[Deleted]

Oh good they moved! Kinda. Well, one of them moved the other, but either way, it was only just barely enough and Jackson was still freaked enough himself to swerve himself out of the way to make sure he gave a wide enough berth so as to not hit them by accident. However, that swerving quickly made Jackson lose the little control he had already, and he overcompensated in an effort to gain it back. This ended with the boy crashing his tire head-on into the curb, and toppling head over handle-bars over his bike and across the sidewalk, and landing onto his very own snow cushion. There was a very classic Jackson-shaped hole left in his wake.

Jackson stared up at the sky from within his little hole, heart threatening to thump straight out of his chest. OMGWTFHOWDIDINOTDIEOMG!!??! he screamed internally. He was frozen from the shock of the experience and dared not to move for fear that it was somehow not over yet. Though as he took in a breath, and then another one, long and slow, the shock started ebbing away, and was promptly replaced by a giddy adrenaline euphoria.

OMG THAT WAS AWESOME!! It was like a rollercoaster or something! He’d do it again in a heartbeat if there wasn’t the high chance of him getting seriously injured!

From within the person-shaped hole came a sudden endless stream of giggles. And buried in the snow like this, Jackson could barely even move! How was he ever to get out of here?? It was both terrible and hilarious at the same time! So much so that he was unaware and had honestly completely forgotten about the two people he’d nearly crashed into. That is, until a familiar face popped it’s head over the hole Jackson was laying in. Jackson blinked a few times, then his smile grew wider upon recognizing his….friend-person. “Rue!” he exclaimed, still laughing like a little kid. That wasn’t Rue he nearly crashed into, was it? He hoped not. Jackson’s face flushed slightly at the thought of Rue seeing him execute such a blunder. “Uh….hi!” he said like a dope. “Nice weather we’re having, huh?” He couldn’t think of anything better to say, Jackson’s brain was officially fried on adrenaline and embarrassment.

[Deleted]

Shit shit shit… Rue was torn between taking care of Finn, and making sure the biking person was alright. It took a couple moments of panic, because he’d felt how his friend had stiffened and started breathing hard, and Rue’s initial instinct was always to take care of Finn first. But… He hated to say it, but that wasn’t life-threatening, whereas an injury from such a crash could be. “I’ll be right back, I promise,” he told Finn hurriedly before he rushed off.

The guy had landed in a snowpile, which was a miracle in itself. Had he crashed into something hard and unmoving, he would be much more panicked. However, the puppy aura that was waggling around the pile, on closer inspection, really didn’t show anything but adrenaline and relief, and that calmed him down immensely.

Hmm… Puppy… It looked just like the aura that belonged to…

“… Jackson?” he breathed as soon as he caught sight of the boy in the snow. Rue froze for a stunned moment before quickly kneeling down and uselessly inspecting for wounds he knew weren’t there. “Are you alright? Is anything broken? Can you move everything?” Shut up, he was fine! Once he was assured, though, he helped his… Friend… To his feet, shaking his head in amazement. “You are so fortunate you’re not hurt,” he chided like a mother. “What were you doing…?! You could have hit someone, or… Or broke your neck!” He was only being a little harsh because he was thinking about what would have happened if Jackson had hurt himself, and… Fuck, thinking of the boy laying there with his neck set at an unnatural angle…

He shuddered and scowled at the younger boy. “Just… Be more careful next time, okay? I… I need to…” Rue remembered what he had been doing before, and whirled around to rush back to Finn. “Hey, hey, I’m back, I’m here, okay?” he murmured, kneeling down beside Finn but not touching him. “Are you hurt? I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what else to do…” Tentatively, he held up the flat of his hand, unsure of how far into his anxiety attack that Finn was, and if he would feel like talking or responding in any way at all. “I’ll be right here until you feel alright, okay? Just breathe, we’ll do this together…” He took in a deep breath himself, which he really did need – he’d nearly had a panic attack himself, from everything that had suddenly happened.

[Finn Eogeum]

Finn whined quietly at Rue's promise. He would understand better later, but right now he was shutting down and he really wanted some help and he felt like he was going to suffocate or implode or something and he really didn't like that.

He, at most, regarded the conversation that short distance away from him, but Finn was focused on distracting himself - 87...86...85...84... - and he knew Rue would be coming back soon, he trusted him to, but - 83...82...81...80... - but, but he didn't like this at all, not one bit, nuh-uh! He only opened his eyes again when Rue spoke, and looked at him. It was probably obvious that he was still frightened by his eyes and the way his chest heaved and how he closed his body off. He was minorly sedated in comparison to earlier, but he definitely wasn't calm yet. He nodded shakily at the reassurances, not really unfolding as of yet, clutching his clothing in a white knuckle grasp.

When Rue showed him his hand, Finn had to fight with himself a little. His body didn't want to move but he wanted the comfort, he needed it. This was something he'd discovered himself that helped him, from a book about an autistic boy. He wasn't austistic, but it worked. It had felt awkward to ask to try it at the time, but it felt a lot less silly now that he knew it worked. Both Rue and Vicky did it, when Finn needed comforting. It was just... hand touching. Palms touching, fingers aligned, but no grasping, no tugging, just simple, delicate contact. He liked it.

Finn breathed in with Rue, not speaking because of his tight throat, but listening intently, and certain about following Rue's advice. He looked at his best friend's hand and then at his face, and then his own legs, trying to work out what to do. Slowly, he moved his arm, as if he was struggling to do so, and gently placed their hands together, nervously. He let a heavy breath out and looked at their hands, relaxing a tiny bit. When he could speak, he said, "...I-I'm sorry." He said it quietly, but he didn't hang his head, "I'm s-sorry I scared y-you." Rue looked basically distraught. Finn felt guilty for that. "...I don't feel good." He mumbled honestly, biting his lip, "My chest hurts."

Oh, and then he registered the incident, "Wait... what... what happened to the person? You were talking to a person." His hand hadn't moved once.

[Deleted]

Being that he was already giddy, hearing his name spoken by that guy who stole his first(and several times after) kiss had his insides tickling in unexplainable excitement, and his face, already flushed from the exertion and the frigid air, was blistering up under its own heat. Jackson didn’t know how Rue didn’t see that he was as red as the setting sun and so warm he was surprised the snow around him hadn’t melted into a giant boiling puddle already.

“I’m okay!” he called back as though Rue was 100 feet away, his adolescent voice cracking up a pitch. At least he thought so, nothing seemed to hurt terribly much, but that didn’t mean anything until he finally tried to move. And so Jackson did so, bending in both his arms at the same time and curling his knees up as if he were preparing to do a set of sit-ups. Ow…the joints ached, but that didn’t mean anything, right? “Ha ha, I’m still in one piece,” he counter-argued at Rue just like a kid. He knew what Rue was saying, but the reality of that was overrun by endorphins at the moment. Jackson continued to giggle and laugh from relieved nerves, right through Rue helping him up. Jackson gripped the older man’s hand and used him as leverage to pull himself out of the hole in the snow.

Once to his feet, Jackson looked up brightly at Rue. He felt an awkwardness that wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but was mostly affecting his ability to….they’d….in a closet, of all places! How was Jackson supposed to greet a person he’d done that with? His first instinct was to rush up and jump on the older man, just like an excited puppy, but that was just outright childish, wasn’t it? Maybe a simple hug? Or a k…kiss….?

Jackson didn’t get the opportunity to decide because the scowl he received from Rue made the decision for him.

Oh. Okay. So he didn’t want….yeah, okay. Jackson let his head fall in an uncertain shame, like a puppy who’d just been scolded for chewing on his master’s new sandals. Jackson was just in trouble, right? It wasn’t that Rue disliked him, couldn’t be. And the reason he rushed off was because his friend was still crouched over on the ground…..he was still crouched over there, wasn’t he? Jackson perked up his head in interest, not yet recognizing the other person. “I didn’t hit him, did I?” he asked with some well-founded concern that was trying not to turn into panic. “Is your friend okay?” Jackson stepped out of the snow and brushed himself off on the sidewalk, then slowly stepped closer to the pair. Cautiously, of course.

[Deleted]

“Yeah, well… You’re lucky,” Rue sighed again, feeling relief as he saw Jackson moving around alright. He wondered, though, if he should take him in to check for a concussion… “You didn’t hit your head, did you?” he asked. Jackson was giggling, but Rue couldn’t crack a smile yet. He was just… Urgh! Things had been thrown so out of balance so quickly and unexpectedly, he hadn’t been prepared.

He noticed the younger boy’s excitement, apparently from seeing Rue, and he felt a twinge of guilt for being so patronizing. He was… Fine… And he’d learned his lesson, right?

Mrrrr…. He’d worry about how he felt about all of this in a minute. Right now, Finn needed his attention. It was obvious from the way he was still sitting, curled up in the snow. Rue’s heart twinged in sympathy. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen his friend like this in a long shot, but it made him feel helpless every time. He didn’t touch his hand at first, but that was okay – Rue hadn’t expected him to.

“That’s it,” he encouraged softly, taking another breath in. It was helping him calm down, too. When Finn eventually touched his hand, Rue smiled softly, his own relaxing slightly at the pressure. “Great, Finn,” he murmured. He frowned when his friend apologized, and shook his head. “No… Don’t worry about that. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” When he mentioned his chest hurting, Rue’s concern grew again. “Like… A physical sort of pain? Did I hurt you?” He guessed it was probably from something else and would go away on its own, but he wanted to make sure.

At the question, Rue looked up, just in time to see Jackson approaching both of them. He crouched warily between them, not wanting the younger boy to get too close and crowd Finn. “No… You didn’t,” he told the teenager. “He’s shaken up, but he’ll be okay.” Rue turned back to Finn. “Finn, this is Jackson. He’s actually a… Friend of mine. I told him to be more careful next time, so no need to worry, okay?” He finally managed to relax a little more and smile faintly. “Uh, Jackson… This is Finn.” Rue realized that their hands were still together, but he didn’t move; Finn could have the comfort as long as he needed it. “So… We’re all okay. Okay?”

[Finn Eogeum]

Rue helped Finn a lot. Like, a lot a lot. So every time Finn had problems, and he was there, he knew that Rue would know how to help him. He always did. He was, like, the best friend someone could have, because Finn (accidentally) put him through a lot of grief and the whole time, he stayed. That was why he trusted him so much.

The saturator started to match Rue's breathing, finding that it definitely helped. Well, not finding it out so much, this had happened numerous times in that past. Heck, he knew how to stop them, but he could never recall it at the right time. Finn considered what Rue had said, and kept feeling guilty, but didn't mention it. "....okay. I'm still sorry, though." Okay, maybe he did mention it. He couldn't help it.

"I think... it's from the breathing. I'll... I'll be fine." He glanced around and shivered, casually pressing his hand a little harder against Rue's, "It's cold." He looked down, "Snow isn't warm." Going back to basics with his knowledge here, but he was still recovering.

Finn peeked at Jackson, before he started to squint - he was familar... he still just wanted Rue, though. Other people... fine. Couldn't be helped anyway, pouty mumble... at the name mention, a switch flicked and he remembered, "Jack's son." He smiled nervously to himself before looking at the teenager. If his body would have let him, he would have been curling into Rue by this point. He was a bit tired. "You helped me before." He said, guessing that Jackson would recognise him by this point as well, "I don't have a concussion anymore." He informed. It was at that point that Finn couldn't quite recall if he had told Rue about the whole lamppost incident. Maybe.

[Deleted]

“I don’t think so,” he replied. At least, Jackson did feel anything that felt like a bump on the head. If he had, wouldn’t it hurt? Now Jackson was afraid to check. So he just continued to nod, insisting that he was A-OK. Well, not everything was. Rue’s friend was still huddled over, but if not because Jackson hit him, then….why…? Jackson blinked over at the pair, suddenly feeling….uncomfortable with how close they were. They weren’t even that close, or doing anything special, just…touching hands….that was weird, but it wasn’t anything spectacular, right? It shouldn’t mean anything, not to Jackson.

But then even Rue seemed to be trying to keep the boy away by turning his back to stand between Jackson and the other person. The person who was touching Rue’s hand. “Oh, that’s good.” What was good about it? “No, I mean, it’s good that he isn’t hurt, not that he’s shaken up. I’m sorry! I really should have been paying more attention, or gone slower….this is my fault so, sorry.” Jackson dipped his head in nervous shame. This probably gave the other guy a horrible first impression of Jackson, which wasn’t good because first impressions were important. They lasted a long time and were hard to get over.

Jackson thought the name sounded familiar, but he didn’t pay much notice to that since all names were familiar to a point, considering people often shared them. Jackson himself knew about 6 Emilys and 4 Josés, so it was totally possible for him to come across two Finns in a short manner of time and within the same small town, right? But the way Finn said his name – Jack’s son – it clicked in him that this was the same person he met before. The…weird one. Who ran his head into a lamppost.

“Oh! Right! I remember you!” he exclaimed, raising his hand up over his mouth in his excitement. He didn’t know what else to say about it though. So his other hand went to scratch the back of his head awkwardly, unsure of how to take this unexpected meeting. And he wondered exactly what relationship Finn had with Rue. They were just friends, right? Of course! Rue had just said so! Jackson laughed away his nervousness, but flinched slightly when his scratching fingers passed over a small, yet tender, lump on the back of his head.

Ow…

He inspected it further with his fingers, pressing down on the lump until it hurt again.

Ow…

How’d that happen? He didn’t say anything about it, but to the others he may have seemed distracted for a moment.

[Deleted]

Rue shook his head again when Finn continued to apologize, but didn’t turn it down again. “You’re just going to keep getting better,” he encouraged. “And we’ll be able to forget this ever happened.” He was already trying to decide how best to distract Finn afterwards. Hot chocolate sounded good.

“From the breathing… Okay, it should go away soon, then,” he said. At least, he hoped he was right. “If it doesn’t, though, tell me, okay? I’m sure you’re fine, but I just want to be safe.” Rue chuckled a little when his friend commented on the snow. “Yeah… We’re going to have to get you home and in some dry clothes,” he murmured. “I don’t want you to get chilled either.” Maybe even a hot shower or something would be beneficial… He’d figure it out when they got there.

He looked up when Jackson spoke, struggling to split his attention between the two of them, and not just because he was worried about them both. There was something else Rue had been avoiding about thinking, and having the two of them together was making it hard to keep avoiding that. “It’s… it’s fine, Jackson. Like I said, just be more careful next time. No one was hurt today.” His voice was tired and a little resigned.

When Finn spoke up again, though, Rue’s brow furrowed in confusion. At first he thought he was just being playful with the teenager’s name, but when he mentioned Jackson helping him, and something about a concussion, he wondered what was going on. “Wait… You guys have met before?” he asked, wondering how to feel about this. What were the odds? “… Finn, what happened? Did you really get a concussion without telling me?” His voice wasn’t accusing, just confused and concerned. Then Jackson confirmed that they knew each other, and Rue sat back on his heels, looking between them both. “… Well… That’s quite the coincidence, huh…?” he mused aloud, trying to hide his own uncertain feelings about it. “Uh… Finn’s been a friend of mine since we were at Hammel. And Jackson… uh… We met at the tea shop, and I’ve been…. Tutoring him at Hammel,” Rue explained. It wasn’t lying, exactly, because he had been teaching Jackson some things, just… Not really curricular things.

“…. Is your head okay?” he asked, noticing the teen rubbing his hair with a weird expression. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?” If it was something small and not life-threatening, Rue wouldn’t notice it in his aura. “…. I think I need to take both of you back to my apartment and changed into some dry clothes with something warm in your hands,” he decided, starting to stand slowly. “What do you guys thinks?”

[Finn Eogeum]

Finn put a small grimace on his face, "I don't think I'll forget. I don't usually." He looked at Rue, "But I know I'll be okay. Thanks to you." He would still be struggling a whole lot more than he was right now without Rue's help.

"I will." There wasn't much point in hiding his problems. He'd done it before he developed his bipolar, and as it progressed, but he discovered that it never made anything better. It was best to be honest. "I wouldn't lie to you on purpose." About most things. This contradicted his past actions soon to be discovered, but... eh.

"That would be nice. I don't want to become a human ice cube." Didn't think anyone would. He was definitely coming back to himself, but he looked at his hand and Rue's as the other man spoke to the kid, and he found he still didn't want to move it. It was comforting and comfortable and he was almost tempted to turn his hand just a little and slot their fingers together, but... he probably shouldn't, so he didn't. Besides, there was a person he knew. Finn nodded at the question, "Mhmm." And then the second question - so he didn't tell him! - he paused for a second, biting his lip before giving one slow nod, "...yes, I did. It was only a lamppost~ I came home after Speedy Gonzalez over there helped me and I put an ice pack on my head, because his peas died." Didn't tell Vicky either. "I'm fine." Could have sustained brain damage but didn't. Lucky.

When Rue moved, Finn decided that was the time to take his hand back, even if he didn't want to. He needed that thing! And with it, he started playing with the snow, balling it up quietly, making a little pile as Rue spoke. The saturator, who was gradually getting brighter again, gave a wide cheesy smile for a couple of moments when he was mentioned, but otherwise stayed quiet. "I like tea." He said softly, "And Rue's a good tutor. I would know." The younger guy had helped him out multiple times in the past when he had been struggling - he learned by seeing things and then doing those things; the conventional classroom setting didn't do much for him in terms of learning. Obviously, Finn didn't realise what Rue was thinking. That was probably best.

He listened with curiosity as Rue's concern seemed to rise for the bike boy, but went back to playing with the snowballs he had formed. He noticed Rue's back was ever so slightly turned and got a genius idea, "Sounds good." He agreed, before throwing the ball he was holding at Rue's bum - since he'd stood up and all. The silly guy giggled, "Butt ball." He threw another one, not really planning its direction. Finn wasn't buff, so he wasn't throwing these balls very hard, but he still found the whole situation very amusing.

[Deleted]

Jackson felt like he was eavesdropping on a private conversation, and one that he didn’t know anything about. Which made him the awkward third wheel. He wanted to ask, what was wrong with that guy that he needed to get ‘better’? Better from what? Was he sick? So many questions, but asking would be…not cool. They’d probably get mad at him for butting his nose into something that wasn’t any of his business.

Jackson didn’t know the other guy well enough, but he really didn’t like the idea of Rue being upset with him. He already was, because of Jackson’s reckless behavior earlier. And that caused something bad to happen with this person…Rue must be really disappointed with him, after all that. Now he felt bad for being so excited earlier about having a new bike, and then for laughing like a kid when Rue was so obviously worried and scared. “Okay…” he said meekly.

He wanted to get closer, but it was like there was this invisible barrier around those two keeping outsiders away, including someone unrelated like Jackson. Was it terrible that Jackson was wholly suppressing the urge to glomp onto Rue from behind and beg him for forgiveness? At least until he was certain that Rue didn’t dislike him for it.

But what were the chances that the random strange-r Jackson met a couple weeks back was also a close friend of Rue, the man who’d been…tutoring the young teen. Jackson nodded. “Yeah…it basically happened like that,” he confirmed once Finn had recounted those events to Rue…albeit in his usual, strange(and somehow amusing) way. Speedy Gonzalez? Since when was Jackson a cartoon? He smiled at the comment about the peas, though. He put his hand over his heart. “Rest in peace, my fallen peas. I will never know your nummy num-ness upon my pallet again.” Again? It wasn’t like he’d eaten the peas before he gave them to Finn. He giggled at the silliness.

Jackson nodded, though his smile was a bit stiff. “Yeah…he is a good tutor.” What a weak cover story. Jackson didn’t need tutoring, he was always the one tutoring other kids. Why hadn’t he realized this before they decided to use it as their story? Again, his hand scratched nervously in his hair, his fingers pressing lightly into the small lump that had formed on the back of his head. He pressed it again. It hurt, why did he feel the need to keep checking on it, as if Jackson was somehow mistaken of it’s existence. But his hand pulled away from it quickly when Rue seemed to notice that there was something amiss. “Huh? Oh, no! It’s fine!” he lied. Rue was already worried, Jackson didn’t want him to worry more.

But…he was being invited to Rue’s apartment? Suddenly his head-bump wasn’t important anymore and Jackson’s face brightened all over again. “Okay!” He wanted to bounce and jump around over this sudden turn of events, but at the same time Jackson didn’t want to seem too much like a child. However, that concern too soon vanished when Finn suddenly chucked a snowball…at Rue’s butt. Jackson stifled a laugh, which turned into a very loud snort. “Hee hee, butt-ball.” He gave up and joined Finn in his giggles. Before he knew it, Jackson was kneeling down and starting to pack snow between his own hands as well. He wanted to throw a snowball at Rue too!! If Rue turned his back to Jackson, presumably to address Finn, then he’d end up with yet another ball to the butt.

[Deleted]

It had occurred to Rue already that Jackson probably wondered what he was doing with Finn, but he didn’t know how to explain it without talking about his friend’s disability, and he wasn’t about to just go and tell him about that. Jackson would just have to wonder about it until if and when he found out from Finn himself. It wasn’t Rue’s place to talk about it. But that wouldn’t stop him from helping where he could.

He stifled a sigh as Finn told him about the incident. “Finn…” he chided. “I want to know these things! Aigoo…” Rue suddenly felt very, very old, standing between the two boys, one of whom wasn’t even an adult yet, and the other who didn’t act like one. What were they even talking about? “You guys…” he said with a breathless chuckle. “I’m just going to pretend like I know what you’re talking about.” And try not to worry too much about either of them, which was hard for Rue to do. At least both of their auras seemed healthy. It was only then that Rue also realized they had incredibly similar auras….

What had he gotten himself into?

He hated lying to Finn, but… He told himself he wasn’t really lying. Like he’d thought, it was a different kind of teaching, what they were doing. Jackson should learn about that sort of stuff sometime anyway, and… Best to do it with someone who would look after him, right? “Yeah, Finn and I used to study together all the time,” he mentioned, then belatedly wondered if Jackson would think he meant that in the non-literal sense too. Then he wondered why all this mattered so much… He should be able to tell Finn, of all people, what he and Jackson had done, right? Then… Why did he feel so guilty? “Okay… If you’re sure,” he said uncertainly to Jackson, but he didn’t press it. Maybe Rue had just been imagining things (although he did like to think he was right about things 95% of the time).

Okay… So they’d go to his apartment, and- “Hey!” he protested as something wet and round hit his rump. He turned around and scowled at Finn just in time to get another one just below his crotch. “Finn!” he exclaimed, finally breaking into a short laugh. “You goof…” It was then that yet another snowball hit his butt, and Rue whirled around to gawk at the culprit. “Oh no, Finn, look what you did, you’re making a minion out of him already,” Rue sighed dramatically. “Now my butt is going to be wet… Come on, let’s go home.” Once again feeling like the only adult, he slowly started heading in his home direction, uncertain if the other two would actually follow. “Last one there doesn’t get any marshmallows in their hot chocolate~” he warned playfully.

[Finn Eogeum]

Finn wouldn't have minded so much if Rue had explained what was going on. Sure, he would feel a bit awkward, but he'd be okay with it. He didn't really like explaining his own situation - the number of times he had, and he'd been turned away just because of it... okay, it wasn't so many times, but it still hurt, and he didn't want to see that facial expression from yet another person. The one that made Finn feel as if he was seen as unstable.

At Rue's complaints, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "I know, I know... I didn't want to bother you, that was right after we went and saw that movie and you seemed really happy and I didn't want to ruin that." He didn't mention the kiss he'd given, only because it didn't seem important. And... Finn could act more grown up! Just some days, he felt more... simple-minded. He couldn't help it. The conversation was funny though, and the saturator noticed something during his chuckling, "Heh, rest in peas." And then he broke into a worse fit of giggles, amused by his own pun. It was witty!

Finn nodded, "Yeah, we did. And now we're best friends~!" He really liked that fact, that he had someone like Rue to hang out with, and stuff. Someone who understood how Finn worked, having been around him so much, and knew how to help him. It was reassuring.

If Rue told Finn that he had done... things with this Jackson person... well, he wouldn't know how to react. His brain would probably fizzle out of function for a moment before he responded. It wasn't that... that he didn't like the idea of Rue doing things with other people - it was what people did, it was normal - it was something more selfish. If he did start developing feelings for someone else, he wouldn't be around so much. Finn didn't like to think about that possibility.

Ahh... Finn was very happy with himself, despite Rue's reaction. He was only messing around~ it was funny! "Rue!" He imitated, sticking out his tongue. He was about to stop but then... but then Jackson joined in! Aha! Brilliant! Finn picked up another ball and rolled it between his hands, smiling wide, "Butt ball brothers!" He proclaimed the pair of them, and he was going to throw another ball at Rue, when he mentioned hot chocolate and marshmallows and it 'accidentally' became aimed at Jackson, to try and slow him down. With that, he jumped up and zoomed past, "I'm getting extra marshmallows and you can't stop me~!" He announced - although Finn plus too much sugar was a bad combination.

Well... at least it wouldn't be coffee.