Beautiful Liar (Eugene)

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(Backdated to late October)

Zeke couldn't actually recall how he'd met Eugene Whitaker, or how they'd somehow become unexpected friends. It had been a year or two ago, at least, and despite their differences in class, ages, and personalities, they managed to get along alright.  Sure, sometimes Gene was a little aggressive and Zeke always just let him do what he wanted without a fight, but they were both pretty quiet individuals that just liked to play games, so it worked.

The older boy went over to Eugene's place every once in a while to do just that.  The Whitaker boy had much better and more recent gaming systems (not to mention more of them in general), and apparently didn't mind that Zeke mooched off of him a little in that way.  He paid Gene back in quiet company, someone to play partner games with, and sometimes snacks (he'd come to learn the boy's favorites by now).

Today, bundled up in a thick winter coat against the chilly weather, Zeke knocked on Eugene's lavish front door with a plastic bag clutched in his hand.  Upon the door opening, he would offer the tiniest of smiles and lifted the bag slightly.  "Hi," he said softly.  "I brought Nutella and cereal.  I think it's the kind that you like."  When ushered inside, Zeke quickly stepped into the warmth of the house and took off his jacket to hang on the coat rack.  "Have you got any new games lately?" he asked with quiet curiosity; his voice rarely raised above a whisper.  "There have been a lot of releases lately, it seems like."

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At some point, it just became normal for Ezekiel Moon to come over once every week or two to just…being in his house, he supposed. Sit in his room. Play games. They did that a lot. Just play games on their own respective computers or one on the console while the other watched in silence. There wasn’t a lot of talking most of the time. That didn’t mean that the two never engaged in conversation, but both were painfully untalkative, so it wasn’t something that happened all the time. Maybe they’d discuss the plot of a new game, or mention some random thing that happened in their lives. Ezekiel mostly did that, often speaking of his roommate and best friend Danny(apparently short for some Korean name he couldn’t pronounce as opposed to Daniel, hence why Gene used it instead of his full name).

Gene didn’t have much going on in his life…..quite often. Most of the time. So he didn’t really have anything to talk about. Which suited him just fine most of the time. Only…there was something to say today, though to be honest, it wasn’t really on Gene’s mind as much as Kodi probably hoped it would. Yes, he was having trouble walking on account of having soreness in unusual places. And he still had purple welts on his neck. But otherwise….Gene just wanted to use the day to catch up on all the video gaming he’d missed out of due to the encounter. Having to get up to let Ezekiel inside was only a mild inconvenience and interruption to his gaming. The gifts, however…..maybe he could put that time on hold for a while longer….

“Thanks,” he said, taking the bag with a small smile. It was indeed the kind of cereal he liked. Gene immediately took it from the bag and read the front and back to see what sort of prize he could expect when he finally finished it. “I like these ones. Thanks,” he said again. Anything that furthered his collection deserved his gratitude. Gene kept his eyes on the cereal box as he walked to the kitchen, listening to Ezekiel with one ear open. “A few,” he replied a bit absently. “I haven’t played them yet, so if you want to, that’s fine. They should be on the console.” Gene popped open the cereal box and grabbed a bowl and spoon, and the carton of milk from the fridge, and set the lot on the breakfast table.

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It honestly wasn’t all that different than when Zeke stayed at home with Danny. Granted, Danny was more talkative than Gene to some degree, but it was easy for them both to just go about their business without bothering each other too much. Not unless Cheeto did something bad, at least, because then Zeke would have to apologize profusely to his roommate about whatever his pet had done. He didn’t dare bring the ferret over to Gene’s house – he was sure that wouldn’t go over well at all.

He didn’t notice the slight difficulty that the younger boy was walking with yet, nor the dark marks on his neck. Zeke wasn’t too quick to catch onto those things (unless it was on Danny after a night that Zeke knew he’d had a ‘date’ over… Then he noticed very quickly). He smiled a little more when the younger boy took his snack offerings, glad that he seemed pleased with what he’d brought. “Oh, good. I didn’t know if you had all of the toys in the collection yet, but I thought you’d mentioned that kind before.” He dipped his head, feeling warmth in his cheeks. “You’re welcome.” Gratitude didn’t seem to be something that Gene gave often, so it made Zeke feel good to receive it.

He followed his friend inside after he’d taken off his shoes, nodding and looking towards where the consoles were when Eugene mentioned the new games. “I can wait a little while if you want to. I wouldn’t want to spoil anything.” Zeke looked back to the younger boy, and only then noticed the purple splotches on his neck. His eyes widened in alarm. “Oh, are you alright?” he asked, quiet but concerned. He motioned to Gene’s neck. “Did you hit something?” The older boy didn’t register right away what purple splotches on one’s neck probably suggested, even though they made him feel oddly upset when he saw Danny with them and knew what they were from.

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Gene nodded only slightly, acknowledging the effort Ezekiel went through. “I still need one or two…” he said, still looking at the box, as if he could somehow will the toy he wanted to appear by staring at it long enough. Too bad his meta power wasn’t that instead of this stupid aura thing…

Gene didn’t waste any time in opening the cereal box and pouring himself a bowl once he got the necessary supplies. He didn’t think he could get through the whole box in one day, but it never hurt to get a head start. He could just dump the whole box, he supposed…but Aggie had yelled at him last time he tried that. Something about wasting food…which he didn’t disagree with, considering this was good food, and not the nasty shit she fed him at supper. Gene shrugged. “It’s okay, I’m in the middle of another game anyway, so I won’t get to it for a while. I can just watch you play for now.” He didn’t mind spoilers, after all. “Then I’ll see if I wanna play it in the first place.” Gene didn’t want to waste his time with something boring, so if he could get someone else to do the hard part for him, then he would.

It took a moment for Gene to realize what Zeke was talking about when he asked if he was alright. Gene blinked as he processed the question, then, upon realizing what he was referring to, he scowled. “Right. That,” he said with a sudden grump. Gene returned his attention to his cereal. “A depraved being followed me home yesterday and we had sex.” Even through munching on his food, his disgusted glower was obvious from just the look in his eyes. The disturbing memory alone made Gene’s aura flicker from his unsettlement, the colors suddenly raging a variety of dark, warm colors.

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Zeke was glad that he hadn’t gotten a kind that Gene had all the toys to already; he hoped the younger boy would be even happier if he got one of the ones he didn’t have already. “It’s cool that you collect those,” he offered softly. “That takes a lot of dedication…” And money, which Zeke didn’t have, so he could only afford to buy a box every now and again.

Zeke wasn’t particularly hungry, so he didn’t mind the younger boy eating without him. Well, to be honest, he was one of those giant guys that were always hungry to some degree, but he could wait. He didn’t want to bother Gene by asking him for food and making him think Zeke was trying to mooch on him. He could probably help the younger boy finish the whole box in one setting, though, so he could get his prize sooner. Ah well. “Alright, if you’re sure,” he replied quietly, not at all minding that he would get to play while Eugene watched. He was fairly quick at catching on to new games, so he wasn’t worried about looking bad.

If Zeke had realized what the splotches on Gene’s neck were before he’d asked, he never would have mentioned them. Those sorts of things weren’t ever really brought up between them, as neither of them really dated or anything; in fact, the only times it probably ever came up was if Zeke mentioned someone that Danny had had over, like that rich-looking Korean girl a few weeks back. So his worried expression turned to one of shock and then mild horror as the younger boy casually explained what had happened. “You… uh…?” It took him a minute to process this, and he could tell by Eugene’s expression that he didn’t really want to talk about it, but he was incredibly curious. “That, um… sounds… terrible?” he meekly commented. “Are you alright? I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have asked if I’d known…” It was only now, of course, that he recalled hickey’s on Danny’s neck. He could have literally facepalmed.

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Gene had money. His family had money. So he had a lot of it to waste on things like this. Which was fine, because he would’ve hated to be unable to get ahold of his precious figurines. The cereal toys were something he started when he was a kid, because they were the easiest thing for him to get at the time. Now he’d extended his collection to include a lot more things…but he never gave up on the cereal toys. Happy meal toys too. Those were collector’s items…to him at least. “Mmmhmm,” he hummed absently, not really paying attention to Zeke’s praise. Gene would be wrapped up in his cereal for a while longer, so didn’t mind if Zeke left to get a head start on whatever video game he chose to play.

What drew his attention away from the cereal was the attention brought to the splotches on his neck. And despite having pushed that memory from his mind, Gene was already readily reliving the experience….with a much rage filled aura exploding around him. Being reminded of it suddenly made his ass even more sore. “It was,” he growled in disgust. “That guy has absolutely no tact, no sensitivity, and he trailed mud all over the carpet.” All in all…Kodi was a jerk and Gene would badmouth that guy behind his back forever. He didn’t even consider the fact that Zeke must’ve been expecting to hear that his encounter was with a girl. While that would have been preferable for his first time…Gene wasn't complaining about that, at least. Everything else sucked, though. He took another giant bite of his cereal. “Whatever, it’s a memory I’d rather forget,” he mumbled through his cereal crunching. “Then he had the gall to force me to wear the most uncomfortable pants, and then stayed for dinner, and…..grrrr….” If his eyes could change color, they’d be aflame with a fierce red by now. “I missed out on a whole afternoon of gaming because of him.”

So much for not wanting to talk about it. Gene growled again as he took another bite of his cereal.

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Zeke should have known better than to try and compliment Gene, especially while he was eating his cereal. He hadn’t seen the younger boy’s collection before, since he’d always been too shy to ask, but he was sure it was very impressive. Rather than try and make a conversation happen, he didn’t say anything more, just smiled a little while watching Eugene munching away. He was kind of a cute kid, when he wasn’t being a snobby rich boy.

He was already kind of regretting asking about the bruises, if only because he felt bad for making Gene so visibly upset. Zeke didn’t know a lot about his aura, but even he could tell that those were upset colors. “He… He didn’t rape you, did he?” he asked softly and with worry. He didn’t understand why the younger boy would have given his consent for such a thing, if he felt such strong negative feelings for the other boy. Maybe that had only happened afterwards? “I’m very sorry that it was unpleasant for you. If there’s anything I can do to make you feel better, please tell me.” Zeke didn’t have any idea what that might be, though. “We can play as many games as you would like today. I don’t have to play the new games if you would rather do something else.”

He didn’t expect a lot of gratitude for his offer, especially with Gene in is current mindset, but he felt like it was the right thing to do nonetheless. “Um, you know, Danny has told me that ice wrapped in a paper towel is good to get rid of… those kinds of bruises,” he offered meekly. Something about breaking up the blood clots, or something.

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Gene raised his head at the question, surprised that Zeke would even ask that. Was it? Gene was inclined to say no. The suggestion made Gene growl and twist his face even more. “Hell, no! Do you think I’d let something like that happen to me??” If it was something as bad as that, then Gene would have kicked him out on his ass in 0 seconds flat, called the police, called for his nanny or something. “I would not be so stupid,” he said. For all the unpleasant things it was, Gene knew it was at least consensual…sorta. He hadn’t exactly said yes…but he did assert that he wasn’t saying no. So…what did that make it?

Whatever, Gene didn’t want to think about things like that, it was too confusing for his simple brain. He’d do better just finishing his cereal and playing video games with this person who came over….sort of a friend, he supposed. Gene wasn’t going to ask him to leave, at least, and didn’t mind talking to him, so he supposed that’s what Ezekiel was to him. Though Zeke was right. Gene wasn’t about to offer any gratitude for his consideration towards Gene’s ‘situation’. He just glared up at the taller person, his cheeks puffed out with cereal and lips dripping with milk like the kid he was, and nodded at the suggestion. Yes, video games would be nice. Great. Perfect even.

It was when Gene had taken up his empty bowl(still half filled with milk) and carried it to dump in the kitchen sink that Zeke made his ‘treatment’ offer….and Gene nearly dropped the bowl, fumbling it between his hands and letting it clank loudly against the sides of the aluminum surface of the sink. “Y…you’re still talking about that??” he asked with sincere disbelief in his voice. Didn’t they just put it to rest a second ago? Gene growled for the millionth time and stalked back to the main room, leaving the bowl full of milk in the sink and the open box of cereal on the breakfast table. “I don’t need something stupid like that,” he protested. “What are you expecting me to do? Lay on the couch with an ice pack on my ass while I watch you play video games?” Well…that’s probably what was going to happen, but Gene was hell bent on complaining about it either way.

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Zeke was surprised that he’d asked that question. But given how Gene was talking, he thought it was the right thing to do in case he needed any sort of… Therapy, or anything. His response, though, made the older boy flinch and look towards the ground, feeling like a terrible person. “I… I don’t know,” he whispered. “I was j-just worried is all…” Zeke knew that the younger boy wasn’t the strongest of people, and it seemed possible to him that someone could have overpowered him and done… things. He didn’t know! “I’m glad that wasn’t the case.” His voice was barely audible now.

He didn’t want to push his luck with this, especially after how Gene had just responded, so Zeke went quiet for a while as the younger boy ate. Despite the outburst, he did care about the guy and considered him a friend, even if he was snappy. And glare-y. Zeke shrunk away from that fiery gaze and went to look at what games there were to play. Even though he was older, he was definitely the meeker and more submissive of the two.

He had just picked out Fallout 4 and made his shy suggestion when he heard a clatter from the kitchen. Zeke sat up in alarm to see he’d fumbled with his bowl. “N-no!” he stammered nervously. “I just… It was just something I remembered, and I thought…” Zeke shrunk even more as the younger boy came over. “H-huh?” he gawked. “No! Not on your… Not back there! I meant your neck!” Despite his voice raising in pitch, he still barely spoke above a soft murmur. “I just thought…” He trailed off and stared at the floor. “I’m sorry. I won’t say anymore,” he whispered, blindly looking at the game in his hands. Now he felt terrible…

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It was a ridiculous question, that’s what it was. Gene might understand why he asked it though…and thus might have appreciated the concern…but overall the subject was putting him in a bad and disagreeable mood. “You don’t have to worry,” he muttered, leaning against his hand with his elbow firmly rested against the table. He wasn’t that pathetic and vulnerable(yes, he was). Gene slid his eyes over to the now silent Zeke, his look softened into a little bit less of a frown, but still a frown nonetheless. Then he looked away, having decided to not say anything more on that matter.

He just wanted to eat his cereal. And play his games. Was that too much to ask, without getting all that complicated stuff involved?

Like this! Like that! Like—like--!!

Wasn’t this topic closed? Hadn’t they moved on? Weren’t they going to play video games? (Zeke playing while Gene watched) And then Zeke just had to go back to that subject with that suggestion and…how could he even stomach thinking about it, much less talking??

But then when Zeke got flustered himself….and clarified what he was referring to…an intense heat flushed out from the core of his body and his cheeks deepened to a very red color to reflect his grave misconception. Oh. He was talking about his neck, not….. Gene fell silent and averted his eyes in his sudden embarrassment, his scowl naturally only getting scowlier. It was several moments before Gene spoke again. “…..sorry,” he said tersely, grabbing his elbow awkwardly, his eyes still turned away. “I misunderstood.” Obviously he was stressed and the subject was making him even more tense and uptight and snappy. Zeke should have recognized that, of course, but Gene…he just wanted to close the matter already. It wasn’t that big of a deal in the first place.

Gene released a long, slow sigh, closing his eyes and walking steadily to the living room. “Just….put the damn game in already. I’m tired…” He flopped across the couch as soon as he came to it, claiming the entire length as his own, and wrapped his arms around a pillow. Sorry, Zeke. The floor would have to be good enough for you.

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Even if Gene told him not to worry, Zeke would worry anyway. They were friends, after all (at least in his mind), and it was obvious that the younger boy was upset over the whole deal, so of course he was concerned over his well-being. But he could tell when he needed to stop. “Alright,” he replied softly. “But if you have anything you want to talk about, I will listen.” And that was all he would say about that; all he could do was offer. Zeke wasn’t going to force him to say anything.

He hadn’t meant to make a big fuss out of the hickeys. He really didn’t. Zeke had just remembered talking to Danny about it one day and had offered the advice without really thinking about it. After all, if he had hickeys on his neck (which he doubted he would get anytime soon, unless…. Unless Aerina did something… but he didn’t expect her to anytime soon), he thought he would probably want them to fade as soon as he could to avoid questions. But that was just him.

He was too busy staring down at the game in his hands to notice how red Gene was turning as the younger boy realized what he’d really meant. There was an awkward silence in the air until Gene apologized, and Zeke raised his gaze in surprise. It was rare that he ever heard that word come from the rich boy’s mouth, so is shocked him. “It’s… It’s alright,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry that’s what you th-thought that I meant.” He was already imagining what he was going to tell Danny later when he got home. Ugh… why did he have to be so awkward…?

He went silent again as Gene came over and flopped down on the couch. Zeke was already sitting on the floor, so he didn’t mind staying there. “Alright. I’ve heard a lot about this game, so hopefully it lives up to the hype,” he replied with forced cheer, trying to lift the awkward atmosphere. He scooted back so his back was leaning against the front of the couch as the game got to the start screen. “You sure you don’t want to play?” he asked softly. If not, he would go ahead and start it on his own.

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Gene didn’t respond to Zeke’s ‘apology’, but did give a small nod to the other boy to acknowledge it. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say either, and that was grating his nerves even more on top of everything else. And now that all that bullshit had been brought up and was setting up camp in his mind, he was going to be needing some hardcore gaming to get it out again.

Gene laid on the couch with his face buried in the pillow for several minutes while Zeke got the game set up, uttering out a short “yah” at the question. He turned his head when the game started to watch the opening sequences. It looked….gritty. A little amusing. Ugh, Gene wasn’t sure yet, though already he had a bad impression of it just because he didn’t like the visuals and animation styles. If the story sucked too, then he’d just give the game to Zeke and be done with it.

“That guy’s coming back,” he muttered suddenly, after Zeke had been playing a few minutes. He didn’t follow up with anything else. Not unless Zeke asked. Maybe….

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This was why the two of them usually didn’t do a lot of talking. Since they were both so bad at it, it nearly always ended up awkward and with someone getting upset in some way. Zeke never meant to intentionally make the younger boy upset, but it wasn’t hard to do, especially with his social awkwardness.

He didn’t ask if Gene was going to listen to his suggestion about the ice; he’d already made too big of a deal out of the whole thing, even if that hadn’t been his intention. He quickly settled himself into the game and let it relax him (even if it wasn’t a particularly relaxing game). Zeke wasn’t as picky as Gene was, so it would be much easier for him to be entertained than the other boy. “It would be really terrible to live underground for a long period of time if there was a nuclear war,” he murmured off-handedly. It was easy for him to get wrapped up in the story too.

He blinked and looked back at the sudden comment from Gene, pausing the game for a moment as he tried to decide how to respond. “Who? You mean… The guy you saw yesterday?” he asked quietly and tentatively. “I thought you didn’t want him to come back?” It was an innocent question and not one meant to upset; he just didn’t understand why Eugene would want to see him again if he obviously disliked him so much.

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This was exactly the reason why Gene didn’t talk a lot. Or why he and Zeke didn’t talk to each other a lot, despite sharing a room together. It was more comfortable when it was silent, at least it was to Gene.

Though even so, if it were silent today, Gene would find his thoughts drifting into those he didn’t want to think about. That’s why he wanted the distraction. Video games were perfect for that. At least, he’d hoped they would be. But now that the subject had been made known to the other boy…and that there was even somebody around to talk to…it was a lot harder to clear his head of it.

He grumped a small sound of agreement to Zeke’s musings as he played the game. The story was…interesting. Gene preferred less dreary environment though. Idly, he started thinking about how he could improve on the story, at least what he’d seen so far.

But then his mind wouldn’t let him concentrate, and that stupid announcement was out of his mouth before he could decide against it. Gene buried his face into the pillow again. “Yeah…” he replied, his voice muffled by fabric and cotton. “…….I never said that.” Did he? No, he was certain he didn’t, he just griped about him a lot. But Zeke did have a point. Why would he even want that guy Kodi to come back…? “….I don’t know what I’m thinking,” he grumbled and whined into the pillow, as if he expected Zeke to provide an explanation for him.

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The situation that Gene had told him about was clouding Zeke’s mind too, and it was probably affecting his gameplay as well. It was taking him a little longer than usual to get the hang of how the game worked, and he hoped the younger boy couldn’t tell. Mostly what he was thinking about was what he was going to tell Danny later when he got home… Because it was definitely something he was going to tell his best friend, if only to make sure he hadn’t been out of line with his questions and suggestions.

Since Gene didn’t respond much to his comment about the game, Zeke didn’t say any more. He needed to focus more on playing if he wanted to do better anyway. And he’d heard there was something about a dog involved in this game, and he wanted to get to the part where he could see it…

But then Gene was speaking up again, and Zeke turned his attention to the younger boy in case he needed some sort of support. “Oh… Sorry. I just assumed…” he replied meekly, averting his eyes to the side. After all, why would he let someone he obviously didn’t like back into his house? Unless… Unless he was just pretending not to like the guy? “Well…” He tried to think of what to say. Zeke didn’t want to upset him again, so he had to be careful. “Maybe… Maybe it wasn’t as bad as you’re telling yourself it was?” he offered quietly. Zeke thought about offering Gene a consoling pat, but decided against it. He set the controller on the floor and turned completely around so that he was giving his full attention to Gene. “Or maybe… Are you not comfortable with your sexuality yet?” He kept wincing as he asked these things, as though preparing for a blow. Knowing the younger boy, he might not respond all that well.