Exotic? (Jinahi)

[Zachary LaRousse]

Zac never did do well with competition. Being the egotistic Zachary LaRousse that he is, he never got around the fact that there might be people out there who are in fact better than him. Better than sports, better in academics, better in looks. Well he’s starting to accept that there may be a small number of people that might be more talented than him when it comes to ball games, karate matches, essays, chemical equations and work problems, but he’ll never, not once, be fine with the fact that some people are in fact ahead of him when it comes to their physical features.

Which is why he just exploded and turned all asshole on that poor blonde Avery one day when she mentioned the newcomer’s name and compared him to Zac. That even though Zac was gorgeous, Jinahi was, in her words, ‘ sweet, exotic and really good-looking”. And yeah, let’s not forget ‘his sun-kissed tan’ she kept going over and over (well she only said it once, but in Zac’s world, it was already one too many). He’s heard of the new kid before and knows he’s been turning heads that should’ve been Zac’s, but Avery’s apparent obsession just made him realize how severe the damage the new kid’s done to his reputation already. People are supposed to be obsessed with him, not with some new Arabic kid from Kocher. For goodness’ sake, he’s ‘exotic’ too, only he’s from the Orient not the Middle East, right?

Lucky for Zac, he didn’t have to go all creeper on Jinahi as even though they can’t meet due to apparently conflicting schedules, sweet Stella happened to be his roommate. And while she refused to partake in his apparent invasion of personal space (i.e. going inside Jinahi’s room without Jinahi), she did let him in after his long and agonizing pleas. He posted the cryptic note (which, being a small piece of Post-it, contained only the most crucial information such as the date, time, place and his name) on top of the boy’s headboard, hoping it’ll be noticeable enough. After all, he would not want to wait all day for nothing.

So there he is now, sitting alone in the said coffee shop, happily nibbling one of the cookies in front of him, waiting for the Kocher transferee to arrive. “Don’t tell me his clock’s still set to Swiss standard time?” he grumbled, yawning and stretching his arms, breathing in the crisp autumn air. He seriously hopes the kid did not decide on ditching him. ‘Cause nobody ditches Zac. Nobody.

[Jinahi Fletcher]

It’d been a long week. Conrad had exhausted him with his endless hours of research, if you could call it that. Seemed more like torture in retrospect. /And you said he’s well intentioned/ Gavin mimed. \He was! He also just happened to be psychotic in his pursuit of consistency.\ He retorted. He liked the young researcher despite the rigors of that session. \Maybe I can give the other guy a call to go grab a drink or something. It’d be nice to talk to someone closer to my age, a guy instead of another M.E.B.\ He laughed sardonically. /I don’t know what you’re talking about. Fifi is a fine upstanding model woman with wonderful charm and morals/ the sarcasm practically seeped out of Jinahi’s ears.

Jinahi just wanted to relax. I’d been a long day with nothing but sass from Gavin. During class, lunch, hell he hadn’t even gone to the bathroom without some sort of demeaning comment. That usually meant it was time to let Gavin out…not exactly a good thing when he didn’t know any untraveled areas around Hammel. He’d have to look at a map, and sometime soon.

He flopped onto his bead with a giant whoosh, unsettling the post-it from his headboard so that it landed on his head. He flipped it over, “Zac, Coffee, 5:15, coffeeshop, downtown.” /Oh looky, someone has a stalker/ Gavin snickered in unrelenting mirth, /and it’s a boooyyy/. \Wonder what this is about, or how the hell this Zac kid had even gotten in his room.\ It was nice to learn now that security was very lax at the dorms here at Hammel…good thing his big secret was always with him. \Seems genuine. Maybe I ought to go meet this person since they went through the obvious trouble of breaking and entering.\


Jinahi grabbed a coat and headed out the door. His only problem? He wasn’t sure where the coffee shop down town was, but he had time to explore and wander around.

[Zachary LaRousse]

5:30.

Fifteen minutes past their appointed time. Which meant Zac’s been at the coffee shop, alone, for about ten or so minutes already. (He’s made it a point to arrive ‘early’ this time; normally he’s late for about twenty minutes to as much as an hour and a half for a meeting). He shifted uneasily on his seat, impatiently tapping his fingers as he tried to look for signs of the Arabic boy. Irritated thoughts ran through the self-proclaimed Hammel royal’s head. Patience, somehow along with punctuality, is one of the virtue’s he never bothered to develop, or even acquire. He’s the one people should wait for, not the other way around. And what Jinahi is doing right now is really testing the boy to his limits.

He tried to remember if he placed the pertinent details on the Post-it note properly. Stella made sure he placed everything in there, as far as he knows. And he put it on the most conspicuous spot he could think of, so there’s no way Jinahi would miss it. So the only problem he can see now is if Jinahi decided to ditch him. While he did factor it in, he assumed the boy’s decent enough to at least entertain an ambiguous invitation like that, seeing that he’s only new and all.

He took a quick sip of his coffee before calling Stephen. He hopes the older man has access to a student’s personal information, more specifically their numbers. Unfortunately for him the number’s busy. He has to settle with a text then. After that he tried calling Stella. While she did pick up this time, she did tell him that she has no idea whether Jinahi has left for town or not, as she hadn’t been to her room yet. Screw it all.

Frustrated with the unfortunate turn of events, he decided to simply leave the place. He’s been waiting for a good fifteen minutes now, if Jinahi would’ve planned to come, he should’ve been here by now. He gave the place one final scan before standing up and heading back to his car.

He was a few blocks from his car when he saw a familiar silhouette not far from him. A smile formed in his face as the new kid decided to show up after all. Only, why is he walking the opposite way? Then it hit him. Apparently the boy’s too naïve to ask for directions. What a dork.

A nasty idea forming in his head, he quietly snuck up from behind the boy then suddenly seized him by the waist. “What took you so long lover boy?” he whispered on the boy’s ear, his mouth a bit too close for comfort. Apparently it didn’t bother him that he’s being a bit too close to a guy in the middle of the street. A guy that, presumably, has no idea that him being this physical is just normal. No, he has no idea that he looks like one hell of a stalker, from the cryptic note to the sudden pseudo-back hug.

Poor Zac.

[Jinahi Fletcher]

Jinahi had been walking around downtown for 20 minutes, lost and confused out of his mind. He’d never been good with special dimensions, and the odd Yankee accent of the North East was unfamiliar to him. \Walk down ta fifth, thenya take a right, then yer fist left…. Or was it right?\

When he felt the creepily sensual embrace Jinahi went to the only person he knew here that would say hello like that. “Fifi?” He asked startled, but then Zac’s words belied that assumption. Gavin thought it was hilarious /No such luck there skipper. I told you that you had a gay stalker!/ Jinahi tried to brush his discomfort off, “Well, you American’s certainly have no modesty when it comes to personal space and introductions.” He spun escaping the other boys arms, sexual tension already frazzled and awkward from the Freudian slip.

“So I assume that you’re Zac?” He asked sardonically while tugging on the hem of his blue turtleneck. This might become a game of gay chicken. Not something he wanted to pursue. Boy was this kid weird. Probably hormonally overloaded and sexually confused. Maybe that explained the slightly musky scent in the air?

[Zachary LaRousse]

Zac couldn’t help but laugh rather loudly when he heard the boy’s first words. “Lovely first impression you’re giving me there Arab prince.” Not that his was any better. “Seems the flat-chested slut’s got to you already. That isn’t exactly a nice sign.” Zac can’t explain it but the bitchy princess just gives him the creeps. He tried befriending her before, seeing that they both come from similar backgrounds, but it just didn’t work. Now he tries his best to avoid the girl, even warning his ‘ward’ Eric from associating with her.

“Really? So I’m not the only one who’s tried to grope you even before we’ve introduced ourselves formally? That’s disappointing,” he chuckled, hoping Jinahi would get the sarcasm. He doesn’t look like the homophobic type, so Zac’s decided to tone the gay-innuendos down. He’s not half-bad he’ll give him that, even worthy of flirting with though Zac claims he’s straight, but since Jinahi doesn’t seem like the one who’ll squirm if a guy makes advances on him, it’s no use. It won’t be fun anyway. “Don’t worry Foreign-Guy, you are not my type. I like my steak rare, not well-done. But who knows, maybe I’ll make an exception for you,” he winked, holding his hand out for a handshake, “And yes, I’m Zac. Glad you found the note and decided not to ditch me.”

“So, how are you finding Hammel so far? Having fun with your classes?” he asked, trying to sound like a friendly local. Figured it might ease the small shock he gave the boy earlier. He was carefully eyeing the boy, trying to see what made him so attractive in Avery’s eyes when he noticed something peculiar about the boy in front of him. He doesn’t look so young, he thought. “What did you say your age was again?”

[Jinahi Fletcher]

Jinahi wasn’t a stranger to flattery. He’d received plenty of it for his ballet talents. But for his Arabic Heritage—almost never. He stammered slightly embarrassed for calling Zac by the Flat chested slut’s name. “S-sorry, she was the first person I met here. I’m not quite used to people being so… forward.”

He didn’t quite follow Zac’s steak comment… Gavin, on the otherhand, thought it was hilarious. /HAHHAH! I’ll just bet he’ll make you THE exception./ Jinahi wasn’t enjoying this tagteam. A sadist in his own head, and a hormonal snotty rich kid making gay advances in front of him. He did his best to hid his confusion and ignore Zac’s comment, instead reaching for the other boy’s hand. He grasped it firmly but not squeezing “Nice to meet you stalker-boy.” He smirked, trying to figure out if Zac could take teasing as good as he gave.

He pulled the pink post-it from his pocket and flourished it between his middle and index finger. Looking at Zac in the eyes he smirked, “Oh you mean this note? That so innocently wandered into my room.”

He stroked his trimmed beard thinking for a bit. He nonchalantly commented, “Hammel’s alright. Classes are lax here in the states compared to Europe. But hey, can’t beat the training facilities and blonde women.” Gavin caught the image of Zac carefully scrutinizing the other boy, /Looks like you may just be the other brown meat./


Jinahi sighed, breaking the conversation for no apparent reason to Zac, in response to Gavin’s quips. \Quiet. I won’t let you go walking tonight if you keep this up.\ He said sternly in his head. /You better not. You promised/ Gavin pouted. He snapped back and caught the last of Zac’s question. “I’m 19. I’ll be 20 in February. What about you stalker boy? Like your boys to be men?”

[Zachary LaRousse]

Zac would be extremely sad should he know that Jinahi didn’t get his ‘joke’. He does believe it is a rather well-thought out retort, especially since it’s what made Jinahi so hot, according to a certain ditzy blonde. And as much as he’d like to deny it, Jinahi does carry the tan properly. Not that he can’t go tan too, but he knows he can’t compete with the boy when it comes to whoever fits the tanned-look better, not when Jinahi has those deep eyes, sharp nose and cute stubble that works better for the said skin tone.

“No problem Jinahi. I just found it funny, that’s all.” He’s actually been mistaken for a ton of people before, some of them even worse than M.E.B., so it’s all good. Unfortunately for Jinahi, Zac caught the stutter before his sentence and mistook it for something else. “Ooh,” he grinned, “Am I wrong to assume that you two are together now? Or is this simply a one-way thing?” Teasing the new boy early on, what a good way to start the possible friendship.

Zac was a bit taken aback by the retort. So he’s a stalker now? How did the boy get that idea? Then the post-it came to be again. Oh god. He did look like a stalker. And the pink post-it did nothing to remove all innuendos from his supposedly harmless invitation. Not that he cares much anyway. “How did you find out that I’m stalking you?” he said with overflowing sarcasm, complete with the batting eyelashes, “Was I that obvious?”

He casually slung his arm around the older boy’s shoulder (thank God he’s not that tall) and led him through the streets. “So, you hungry or anything Jinahi? It’s near dinner already. My treat.” He did drag the older guy outside of school at this late an hour, he figures it’s just proper he make sure he’s fed.

“Glad you’re liking it. I would’ve studied there too, had it not been for my dad insisting I go to Hammel because LaRousses have been there for generations.” But when he knew that Stephen works for Hammel, he immediately changed his mind. Not that Jinahi needs to know that anyway. “Oh no, don’t you know anything about dumb blondes?” He gave the boy a look that says, Please tell me you’re joking about the crazy weather manipulator.

19? Turning 20? What’s he doing in Hammel then? Shouldn’t he have graduated or something already? “Woah. I’m just 17. I turn 18 on April though. You should then help me sneak into the clubs sometime,” he laughed, giving Jinahi a slight nudge on the side. His laughter grew louder when he heard Jinahi’s question. So he wants to play the gay card then huh, well Zac has no problem going with that. “I do like boys with experience. Think you’re man enough?” he smirked, giving Jinahi’s butt a smack light pat.

[Jinahi Fletcher]

“Oh god no!” His abhorred outburst reflected in his face. Jinahi had a bad-girl attraction to Fifi, something akin to passing his hand through a flame just to see how long it took to get burned. Something he did against every sane fiber in his brain. Not something he was going to talk about with his stalker. “Are you kidding? I value my skin too much to let it get ripped apart by that M.E.B.”

“Well you know.. just sorta-kinda-maybe obvious. The pink is what really tipped me off.” He tried to play along with the joke. “Not to mention it was-Inside my room.” Jinahi was starting to become extremely confused. Come-on’s but in a stand-off non-caring attitude… and then the arm on his shoulder. Definitely not the place he wanted to be. Jinahi looked to the side and grimaced, determined to get past the scare tactics, if nothing else to prove he could.

“Oh? Aren’t stalkers supposed to just watch their victims from afar, not buy them dinner?” He laughed and slid his hands into his jeans to make it apparent that the game of chicken was one-sided. “But yes. I’d love some dinner, first thing I learned: Never turn down a free meal. Any good oriental places around here? I love Vietnamese food. Curry and peanuts…mmmmmmm.”

“Believe me I know EVERYTHING about blondes. I spent 13 years in European ballet. Just because a girl’s European doesn’t mean she isn’t ditzy.” He thought back to a couple of the ballerinas that could put rocks to shame with their intelligence levels. “But your dad insisted you come here? That’s interesting… family legacies almost makes me wonder if I’d have any…” he trailed off thinking about his father’s car empire and what his family in… Cairo did.

“Oh that’s right. Americans are so, prude. You can’t even piddle on your own until you’re 18 can you?” He smirked over at Zac, jabbing at something that may just have irked the other boy more than he’d intended.

When the other boy “patted” his derriere, Jinahi finally decided to draw the line, but Gavin interrupted him, /Well can’t say as I blame him. You/we do have a very nicely toned butt./ Between the comment and the actual action, all Jinahi could do was laugh and saunter on in hope of food.

[Zachary LaRousse]

“You do know that people tend to make a certain facial expression (which to me, is extremely cute) when they try to deny something that is oh-so-true right?” Zac teased, giving Jinahi a playful grin. Hopefully he understands that Zac’s saying he has the said face right now. Too bad for him as Zac’s completely sold on the idea that he and Fifi has something going on, one-sided or not. It would take quite the persuading to convince him otherwise. “And I really appreciate you telling me early on. At least I won’t make the mistake of misinterpreting any signal that you have sent and may send to me within the next couple of hours or so.” His eyebrows rapidly went up and down as his grin turned into a smirk, his eyes becoming mere lines as he gave him an exaggerated smile (which would hopefully tell him he’s being sarcastic). “You’re terrified of her ripping you to bits but I can tell you’re excited to have your clothes torn apart with her bare hands. Amazing,” he added, letting out a loud laugh.

He really finds Jinahi’s confusion amusing. If he’s just toying with Zac right now, letting him think that he’s so innocent and unaware, then he’s got what he wanted. Zac’s actually asking himself how the hell did someone as ‘clueless’ (for the lack of a better word) as Jinahi survived the Fifi onslaught. “Stella let me in dearie,” he said. Seeing Jinahi put his hands in his pockets just made Zac lean even closer to the boy. “Would’ve asked her to put the note herself, but she’s too scared to enter your room without permission. Apparently she grew up in Hong Kong.” Or maybe she was born there. Not that the details matter much anyway. “Don’t worry, I didn’t take any of your colorful underwear, used or otherwise,” he winked, rolling his eyes in one of the most flirtatious and teasing way possible, “And I must say, I was amused. I didn’t know you were that kinky.”

“I’m not that good of a stalker apparenty.” Zac never was into the watch-behind-the-bush stuff. Says it’s too creepy, and boring. He would watch from a distance for a few seconds, just to get a general idea of who he’ll be dealing with, then pounce like there’s no tomorrow. “Vietnamese? I’m only partly Korean and Japanese, sorry. It’s Oriental though.” Another food joke. A bit lame, so he hopes Jinahi would finally get it. “There’s a couple of Asian restaurants a few blocks down, let’s just see what you’ll like,” he smiled as he led Jinahi through the town sidewalk.

“I don’t think Avery’s even a tiny bit European though.” He would’ve preferred not to mention the girl’s name, but it seems Jinahi didn’t get who he was referring to earlier. The mere mention of her name boils his blood to no end. His eyes widened at his mention of ballet though. “You…d-do…ballet?” He turned around for a bit, covering his mouth to stifle his laughter. The thought of Jinahi in pink tights and a tutu was just too much for him to bear. After a few moments, he took one deep breath and was finally back to his senses. “Should’ve agreed to the dance lessons my dad insisted if I knew I’d be like you then,” he muttered, hoping it’ll save him from his mishap earlier.

He tilted his head in confusion. He did a bit of a background check on Jinahi (yes he’s that creepy) and saw that indeed he has connections (or at least he found Jinahi’s family ok). Could it be that he has no idea about his family? “Legacies are overrated,” he simply said. While he likes the prestige, all the talk about tradition annoys him to no end. “Don’t you have one too? I heard the Fletchers are quite the family.”

He was a bit taken back by the piddling comment. One moment he was Mr. Confused-and-Clueless and no he’s Mr. Witty. Really he hasn’t figured out this guy yet. “You give us too much credit Jinahi. We can’t piddle on our own until we’re 21.” No sense being upset with a harmless joke after all. “Why don’t you teach me how when we get to the restaurant then?”

Naughty, naughty Zac.

[Jinahi Fletcher]

Jinahi dug himself a hole with that one. There was no denying it. And then a thought occurred to him. \Ignoring him will probably piss Zac off more that fighting back and rising to his bait.\ /Aren’t you the little Genius today./ Gavin quipped. Despite Gavin’s ridicule, Jinahi remained silent through Zac’s teasing of Fifi.

\Stella. Hmm…that was interesting. It hadn’t seemed like she was that forward or intrusive. But then, Zac was very persuasive. What the hell was he talking about? Kinky underwear? \Oh. He must of found the drawer with the ballet apparel. Decision. Taunt Zac or keep quiet? /You’d better taunt this little prick. Decision made. “And just think Zacky-pooh. You’re too young for me, so I can't wear them for you.”

His taunt didn’t even phase the other boy though. He just continued talking and pulled Jinahi in closer to play a racial/food joke. He tried his own tactic. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. “Japanese and Korean? I’m not a fan of dogs. Cooked or raw.” Zac seemed to appreciate that their humor found a mutual ground. For the moment at least.

“But you see. I’ve got specific tastes. Asian is just too generic, but if it’s all Pilot Ridge has then I guess I’ll go for it.” Just then, his stomache rumbled in a most embarrassing way. \Great…\ more fodder for Zac’s cannon. Avery? Where had he heard that name? Gavin flashed him an image of a REAALLLY short pink skirt. So that’s what this was about. Zac liked or had some connection to Avery and wanted to measure up the “competition”. Jinahi wasn’t quite sure what he thought of her. Hell, he hadn’t even seen her since that first day they met.

Jinahi wasn’t even phased when Zac lost it at the typical image of him pirouetting in a pink tutu. “Yeah you should have. If you had, then you could do this-” Jina sank down into a split and rose back up in one fluid motion without using his hands.

“I guess you could say that—Hey! That place looks good!” He grabbed Zac and headed in to a Chinese Buffet trying to divert the other boy’s attention from the family conversation. The hostess seated them and asked for drink orders in a thick Oriental accent. Jinahi ordered water. “Well it depends on how much of a gentleman you are,” he said.

[Zachary LaRousse]

True, Zac definitely felt irritated with the whole silent treatment. By now he knew Jinahi is quite the spunky guy, and he was expecting some mediocre witty remark to say the least. But no. With all his teasing, the older boy just stood there and stared at him. Not even a mumble. Could he have struck gold with that one really? “Hey, sorry for teasing you man,” he smiled, trying to at least be friendly. He need not make an enemy of Jinahi, not this early at least. “I personally would vote against it, but it’s not like we’re close friends already, so yeah,” he shrugged, winking as they went.

It didn’t take that much convincing on Zac’s part really. He and Stella were in good terms anyway, so getting inside their dorm suite wasn’t a problem. And as for going inside Jinahi’s room, he told her that he just wants to meet the guy and be friends with him, which it, to an extent true. “Sorry for the broken doorknob by the way,” he said, trying to act shyly and embarrassed for destroying something that isn’t his, “I had to figure out some way to get into your room without a key, so yeah. I’ll replace it first thing tomorrow.” He laughed loudly when Jinahi said something about him being too young. “Seriously? And I was so looking forward to seeing you wear that. I am almost 18, doesn’t that count for something?” he protested, making weird shapes on Jinahi’s chest while making a sarcastic pouty face, “And besides, I didn’t see you as the type to follow the rules anyway.”

Zac’s eyes went wide with that one. Dog? Did he just liken Zac to a dog? Normally he’d lash out at the guy already, but seeing that he’s in a jolly mood right now, he figured he’d let it pass. There’ll be more chances for him to get back at Jinahi anyway. He’s sure of it. “I’d personally want to eat at the streets of Tokyo or Seoul should I crave for Asian food, but that’s Pilot Ridge for you.” There’s no point defending the town anyway. He himself abhors the quietness and secluded nature of the town at times. He chuckled when a growl escaped Jinahi’s stomach. “And besides, I don’t think you’re in any place to complain anyway,” he winked, playfully nudging the Arab boy’s side slightly with his elbow.

He blinked twice and covered his gasp with his hand. Did Jinahi just do that? Was that even humanly possible? “So you’re telling me that you can do that because you did ballet and not because your powers relate to that? ‘Cause that is one painful thing to do.” Zac can maneuver himself easily with somersaults and backflips, but never has he tried splits. Ever. “Don’t you have to cut your nuts off to do that easily?”

Seems Jinahi’s not only witty, he’s also quite strong. Even before he could blink, Zac found himself being dragged to a restaurant and being seated almost immediately. “I didn’t know you were this hungry,” he said in disbelief. He asked for a glass of iced tea as he sat opposite the boy. “Really? I’ll try to be in my best behavior then,” he smirked, “My dad will be so proud.”