Liquid Courage [Jake]

[Jacob Lawrence]

"I'll be alright. I'm not that fragile!" He reassured Morgan with a warm expression on his face. He hadn't picked up on the other man's fear of the dark yet, but it's only a matter of time. Jacob wouldn't do anything horrible with this knowledge, like bringing Morgan's shadow to life to chase him or what have you, He's not that much of a jerk, he's just a raging pervert with the inability to know when to back off. Although he did enjoy scaring Gabe's new recruits by hiding in the shadows of the house and popping out when they walked by, that was always a blast.

When Morgan started to play with the light, Jake's eyes squinted a little. It wasn't extremely bright and he was able to look at it without his eyes watering, but it was still light and it was hard to fight instinct. "Drunk, tipsy, same thing." He added offhandedly as he watched the light move in Morgan's hands. Snorting as he contemplated their powers, Jake wondered that if he had the ability to control light instead of shadow if he'd still be a criminal. Not that Jake was one to believe in those sorts of things, it was just something amusing to think of.

He noticed the reddish color on Morgan's hands once the light had disappated and he looked concerned. "You didn't burn yourself, did you?" Gently, he took one of Morgan's hands in his own and examined it. The man didn't seemed too bothered by lingering effects of the light, so Jake relaxed a little, though he apologetically ran his fingertips over the back of the blonde's hand. "It's a good power, but I think I like it best when it's your face is red, not your hands." Yes, Jake, you've already established how much you like Morgan's blush.

"I just bring shadows to life and stuff. Not really useful." Lies, that actually was of great use to him, though more for selfish purposes than anything that was really worthwhile. Then again, it was a power that leant itself to something less than benign, because if your shadow came to life, you certainly wouldn't expect it to start making you pancakes. Shadows were scary and distorted most of the time, not something you wanted walking around your house.

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[Morgan Tonaya]

Judging by that squint, Jake was that fragile, yet Morgan declined to say anything. He felt like he would have been looking down on Jake somehow if he mentioned it. After all, being deathly afraid of the dark was a lot different from being sensitive to the light. They were equally weak when it came to their opposite, as far as Morgan was concerned.

Morgan waved his hand nonchalantly. “Oh no its no---“ he paused when Jake’s hands suddenly covered his, the shadow manipulator’s skin a cool relief to the annoying pain in his own limbs. He smiled fleetingly. “---thing…nothing.” He repeated, his teeth clenching slightly in surprise.

A shiver had shot up his spine when the tips of Jake’s fingers grazed the back of his hand. He pulled his hand away slowly, letting the touch linger just a moment longer than he usually would have. He laughed a bit, sloughing off the moment. “Yeah well, I don’t manipulate with my face, so you’ll just have to stick to your old methods for getting that to happen.” Morgan teased. Suddenly though, he looked greatly concerned.

“To life? Like…actually sentient?” Morgan asked, fairly shocked. He thought of a shadow of that two-dimensional version of himself in black and white on the ground. Trying to imagine a three-dimensional, living version of it was truly terrifying. “I mean I’ve seen some strange things at Hammel, so correct me if I’m wrong.”

[Jacob Lawrence]

It was common enough to be afraid of the dark, though maybe not to the extent that Morgan was. When Jacob had been just a young child, before his powers had manifested, he too had been frightened of it. In the overactive imagination of a child, anything could hide in the darkness, monsters you couldn't see until it was too late. Nowadays, Jake's night vision was nearly as good as his daytime vision. It didn't take long for his eyes to adjust to the dark, a couple seconds at the most, so traversing the world during the evening hours was hardly a difficult feat for him.

Morgan's reaction to his touch seemed not to be adverse and Jake took that as a good sign. He couldn't have known where the other man's uncertainty stemmed from. Jake had been shot down several times in plenty of different ways, but he wasn't quite sure where he stood with Morgan. "With your face? That might be interesting." He laughed as well, picturing light engulfing the teacher's face. "You'd be like... a human flashlight."

Jake shook his head a little in response to Morgan's questions. "Not quite. They'll only do what I tell them. Else they just kinda stand around." He pursed his lips thoughtfully, trying to think of a better way to put it. "They're like... puppets." He gestured vaguely with his hands, as if trying to work a marionette. "I mean, I could show you if you want, but a lot of people think they're creepy." To Jake they were just means to an end, nothing else. He was used to them and sometimes amused by them. He'd once brought Ein's shadow to life, the dane had spent nearly a half hour chasing it as Jake made it run around the house.

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[Morgan Tonaya]

Morgan wasn’t really quite sure where he stood with Jake either, but the brunette could make him laugh, so that was a good sign. “Ewgod. That’d be weird. Then I’d probably go blind on the spot.” Morgan said, crossing his eyes playfully. “As if my eyes didn’t get the crap kicked out of them enough already.” He grunted, mentioning the side effect that displease him the most. Blindness was nobodies friend, and it was the sort of thing that glasses weren’t going to help much with. Living in a world of constant, total darkness was Morgan’s worst nightmare.

Sighing slightly, Morgan laughed nervously. “Well that’s a relief. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to entertain a bunch of shadows.” Well the answer was probably whizz his pants in terror. Looking over his shoulder at the grill, to make sure it hadn’t exploded or anything, Morgan blinked back at Jake expectantly, making the decision to be brave.

“Lets see it?” He said interrogatively, unsure if he still wanted to brave watching Jake bring a shadow to life. At least a Shadow couldn’t engulf him like the suffocating darkness of night. It would just be the size of a person right? Nothing to be afraid of, right? Right…Wrong. Morgan was already pretty sure he’d find the shadows several steps beyond creepy and consider them in the terrifying territory. “Just don’t surprise me. I’m already scared of my own shadow.” Morgan admitted playfully.

[Jacob Lawrence]

Jake tipped his head to the side slightly, then rose from the chair and put his hand on Morgan's shoulders, a cocky grin covering his face. "Well we can't have you going blind. How else are you gunna admire me?" Jake normally didn't make such egotistical remarks, but he was trying to lighten the mood for Morgan's sake. He could tell from the tone of his voice that the blindness was not a subject he really wanted to touch on, so he'd attempted to at least make the man smile again.

He wasn't actually expecting Morgan to agree to having a shadow animated, but he nodded none the less. If Morgan wanted to see it, he could certainly make it happen. "Don't worry, I won't make it do anything bad." He took his hands from the man's shoulders and put a little space between then, looking down at Morgan's shadow. As slowly as he could manage, so as not to surprise the blonde, he began to raise it from its spot on the ground, up until it was standing alongside Morgan completely still. With a little flick of his eyes, he coaxed the shadow back from Morgan so as it wasn't as threatening.

"That's what they are. Just... shadows." He shrugged, then proceeded to make the shadow dance in a rather foolish fashion. If anything were to make it less frightening, that would surely be it. "And they'll do whatever I make them. I can have several going at once, but it wears me the fuck out." After having Morgan's shadow do an off-balance spin, he let it go and it melted right back onto the ground like it was originally, completely harmless and unable to move on its own. "When I was still in school, I used to make them scare people. I got in trouble for that a lot."

He started chuckling at a particular memory. "Once, during class, I animated the teacher's shadow and made it do all sorts of rude things behind him. Had the class in an uproar, but once he saw it, I got kicked out." There were actually a shocking amount of incidents like that during Jacob's school years, but he was a reckless teenager and he liked having fun at the expense of others. Can we blame him?

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[Morgan Tonaya]

Morgan laughed and shook his head, beaming over at Jake. “Better question: how will I know when the steaks are done?” He joked. Best approach to flirting? Ignore it. That always worked right? It was remarkable how little Morgan had learned by now, but he’s a little thick in the head. Poor guy.

He blinked at bit a Jake. What had made him think Morgan would expect something bad out of him? Ah well,it was a little late to asking questions. Morgan stood awkwardly rooted to the spot, feeling like the audience volunteer in some kind of magic show…or a science project. He just waited for something terrible to happen, trying to keep from shaking like a leaf.

Morgan’s eyes grew large as his shadowy counterpart lifted from the ground to stand next to him. “Woah…” He said softly, chuckling nervously. It was still a little disconcerting, but Jake wasn’t being hostile with Morgan’s shadow, so he was al right…for now. Morgan nodded when Jake insisted they were just shadows. “Yeah but…man its weird.” He said, bursting into laughter as the shadow began to dance comically.

“Wow. WOW. Just so you know. I can’t move like that.” He said, continuing to laugh heartily. When his laughter died down to the occasional giggle, he looked to Jake with concern. “Well if you’ve got fatigue as a side effect, you didn’t have to show.” He said, smiling sweetly and nudging Jake with his elbow. When he moved back to the grill to check the steaks, he balked at Jake. “No way? You used your powers in class?”

He whistled and shook his head, pulling up his tongs and flipping the steaks over before replacing the lid. “I never had the guts for that. That was Darryl’s bit.” He chuckled. “Then again, he’s a mimic, so its not as…disruptive. I guess. I dunno.” Morgan shrugged. “I made mischief, but nothing ever like that.”

[Jacob Lawrence]

Jake wasn't sure if Morgan was really that thick or if he was just playing it off, either way he found it just as adorable. Eventually and mostly likely under the influence of alcohol he'll have to acknowledge Jake's flirting. At least that's what I'm hoping for. "You'll know when you start drooling." He said with a laugh, although he'd rather Morgan be drooling over him than steaks.

Once he'd let the shadow go, he shot a slightly crooked smile towards Morgan. "You know that for a fact? You mean you've tried?" Because the image of Morgan actually dancing like that was rather humorous, definitely moreso than his shadowy counterpart. And now Jake had an idea in his mind and it wasn't going to go away anytime soon. "That settles it. You and I are going to go dancing." It didn't matter when, be it tomorrow or three weeks from today, but Jake was definitely going to get Morgan out to go dancing with him, whether Morgan liked it or not.

Morgan's shock at Jacob's "abuse" of his powers made him look a little sheepish. "Yeah, I probably would have been a pain in the ass if you were my teacher." He smirked, resisting to urge to comment on the man's cuteness again. Although some of Jake's tomfoolery had been an attempt to impress Gabriel (whom he'd practically lived with, even when Gabe had moved out of the dorms), it still didn't change the fact that he'd bothered the instructors with his need to be appreciated.

"So what kind of mischief did you cause?" Jake was rather curious, as Morgan had come off like more of a goody-two-shoes than a guy who would have caused a little trouble in his school days. He tried racking his brain to remember if he'd ever had Morgan in any of his classes and though he had the fleeting images of a couple blonde boys, he couldn't tell if any of them were the man now standing in front of him.

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[Morgan Tonaya]

Morgan laughed and waved his hands in front of his chest. “No way I wouldn’t embarrass myself like that. I mean I can hold a beat and I’ve cute my share of rugs…but that was just…that was bad.” He said laughing, shaking his head at the memory of the wriggling shadow. Maybe it was just because it was a shadow that had made it look so ridiculous, but Morgan vowed right then and there to never move like that. Ever. He’d kill himself beforehand. He looked taken aback when Jake suddenly decided they would go dancing. “Woah now. I don’t know about dancing in public. I haven’t been in a…a little while.” He admitted with a shy smile. “I’m rusty, I guess is the word.” He pointed a Jake, his smile waning into a mischievous grin. “And you’re not the boss of me.” He said playfully.

Nodding towards the indoors, Morgan stuffed his hands in his pockets. “As for me? Most of the trouble I caused was in the halls.” He chuckled. “Darryl had a…well. He liked to flirt. He still likes to flirt. So…” he paused at the fridge, leaning on it with a lazy shrug. “I mean I followed him around like a lost puppy. Cleaned up after him…sometimes more than others.” He said, insinuating that more than once he’d charmed Darryl’s rebounds. “I’m sorry to admit that I may or may not have been the cause of a few broken friendships.” He said with a little sigh, reaching into the fridge and snatching out a can of Coke.

The can hissed as he broke the seal on it, setting it on the counter. He looked back to Jake, pointing up above his right shoulder at one of his cabinets. “Did you want something else?” Jake still had a beer in his hand, so he didn’t want to make it seem like he was trying to get the other man sloshed, but some people just preferred hard liquor to beer. People like Morgan, who occasionally needed the social lubricant.

He reached up into a different nearby cabinet and pulled down a glass as well as (surprisingly) a jigger. Suddenly looking back up to Jake, Morgan recalled another troublemaking incident in his high school career. “And I usually acted out in History class. Hated history class.” He added off handedly, reaching up into the liquor cabinet and pushing aside an entirely full bottle of imported tequila (Gift. Morgan rarely touched it. Tequila made him forget things way fast) to reach behind it. He seemed to be having trouble reaching to the back of the cabinet, but he managed to produce the fifth of rum he was reaching for. Letting out a heavy breath he put it on the counter and wilted slightly. Morgan shook his head and made a mental note to put things where he would reach them from now on. “Which is funny…” he continued, turning around to face Jake again. “Since I ended up loving it. Can’t remember ever learning anything in class though.”

[Jacob Lawrence]

Jake was ever so amused at Morgan's little mischeivous streak, wondering what it would take to coax it fully out into the open. He was also rather interested in seeing Morgan's charming side, but short of dressing up in spandex, I'm not sure how else he'll get a glimpse of that. "I'm not? You sure." He stuck his tongue out at Morgan playfully, then tickled underneath his chin. "I think I need proof." Jake's hands, they're already struggling to keep from being all over the light manipulator, flirting be damned. This cannot end well. (Oh, but it will. It will end SO well.)

Following Morgan back into the kitchen, Jake listened to him intently. As he thought, Morgan wasn't exactly the type of kid to cause too much trouble. Normal teenage things. "It was high school, that's what you're supposed to do." Jake wouldn't say his days at Hammel were the best of his life, not at all, but there were certain memories that made him look back at the time he spent there fondly. "Break hearts, drink illegally, act like an ass." And speaking of asses...

Yes, there he went again. Morgan reached up into the cabinet and Jake was staring once again. In his defense, it was completley unguarded and perfect for the ogling. It was only half-heartedly that he noticed the bottle that Morgan had pushed aside and a rather devious idea formed in his mind. Coming up behind Morgan, Jake's hand skimmed up his back and over his side. "What's this?" With his free hand, he reached up to grab the bottle of tequila from the cupboard. Jake certainly didn't know the effect that it had on Morgan, but he knew it often made his nights a lot more fun. (Say goodbye to self control.)

"Shots?" He asked with a rather cocky grin, pulling back from Morgan and pointing the bottle towards him. Well, Morgan had already stated his intentions for the evening, Jake was just... accelerating them... much more than necessary. He fixed the blonde with a challenging look, as if daring him to say no.

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[Morgan Tonaya]

Morgan’s first instinct? Snap at Jake’s fingers. With his mouth. Yes that was probably a bad idea. Fortunately (for Morgan), Jake withdrew his hand before Morgan’s lips or teeth managed to touch it. To Morgan? It was a fairly good display of ‘proof.’ “I’m my own boss.” He said with a decidedly un-masculine pout. How mean of Jake! To make Morgy pout like that. Shame. Though the fact that pouting and whining were Morgan’s first reactions to being told he wasn’t the boss were probably good reasons for Jake to tease him.

Shrugging, Morgan pushed up the sleeves of his shirt over is elbows again. “Hey. You asked.” He pointed out. “Plus I had my mom hovering over me.” He said with a chuckle. “I was there most of the time I went to school, even though I lived in the dorms.” He explained. When he turned to look at Jake, the brunette was a lot closer than expected.

Actually. Jake was touching him. It was the sly, slipping motion that Jake usually made when he was anywhere near him that made Morgan blush darkly. Geezus it made him shiver. He shrank from Jake, pressing against the counter. Then Jake might as well have cursed. Morgan whipped around to look at him and immediately said. “NO!” in a terrified sort of voice. Then he laughed and repeated himself. “That was a joke. A gift. I don’t even drin---.” Morgan trailed off when he caught the look Jake was giving him.

This was a dare. And it was going to bite him in the ass. Narrowing his eyes at Jake and engaging in a staring contest with him for a moment, he threw up his hands and huffed, wilting a bit in defeat. “Fine.” He groaned, shaking his head. “Fine. We can do A SHOT.” Morgan said sternly, reaching back into the cabinet that contained the glassware and producing two shot glasses. One was a tourism glass, which had the huge letters “HOLLYWOOD” printed on it with a silhouette of stars and palm trees. The other glass was tinged blue, and had a tribal sun printed on it.

“One.” He asserted again, holding up a single finger and pointing it at Jake. “Because that stuff is evil. I’ll be seeing freakin’ rain spirits or something.” Morgan said exasperatedly, putting his hands in the air and waving them around sporadically.

He went to the fridge and rolled a lime along the counter in Jake’s direction. Originally he had planned to use it on the finished steaks, but what the hell? If they were shooting, Morgan was going to do it right. He looked dejected as he pulled a salt shaker from the space near the oven, and also pushed it to Jake.

[Jacob Lawrence]

Morgan's pout is going to get him into dangerous situations, this I've just noted, as when he fixed Jake with it, the brunette was consumed with a very strong urge to kiss the other man. The attempted bite at his hand completely disregarded... well, almost. "You're a biter?" He smirked. "Hot." I won't go into the details, but Jake would actually really like it if Morgan was a biter.

Jacob could be a very stubborn individual when he wanted to be and Morgan's immediate denial of the shots only made him more determined for it to happen. His eyes were just demanding it and when the blonde caved, Jake could have done a victory dance. Tequila was truly an evil drink and too much of it would certainly turn the events for the night into a less than favorable (at least for Morgan, for us it's extremely favorable) direction. But Jake was here to have fun and if that meant getting Morgan drunk, he was all for it.

"Yeah, yeah, one or two." He waved his hand dismissively, though the blonde was adamant that there was only going to be one shot. Let's see how sure he is about that once the Tequila kicks in. Catching the lime as it rolled towards him, Jake turned to pull a knife out of the block sitting on the counter. He nudged the bottle towards Morgan as he began to cut slices of the lime for them. "Cute glasses." He remarked with a grin, passing a slice of the lime to the blonde man.

Licking his hand, he picked up the salt shaker and sprinkled it over his hand. "Bottoms up!" He picked up the shot glass of tequila and the lime wedge and smirked at Morgan. He licked the salt, downed the tequila and bit into the lime all in one motion, setting the glass back down and releasing a satisfied hiss. He focused on Morgan again with a cocky smirk. "Your turn."

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[Morgan Tonaya]

Morgan just silently reminded himself never to bare his teeth to Jake again. Ever. His mind quickly filled with a flood of images of all the “biters” he’d encountered as well as an admittedly pleasant one of Jake. Shocked at himself, Morgan squeezed his eyes shut and reached for the tequila. “Shut it.” He ordered weakly, defending his glasses and trying to keep his mind under wraps. God this night was going to go poorly. Or wonderfully. It depended who you asked.

Letting the slice of lime balance on the end of his finger, Morgan watched with a sinking feeling of nervousness as Jake knocked back the shot. That would make it his turn now. He just sort of stared at the bottle for a minute, sizing it up like an opponent in a fight. He hated Tequila. With a passion. And he cursed the former girlfriend who had gifted it to him so long ago as a trick. Why had he kept it even? He should have passed it off on Darryl. Darryl could have used it to his advantage.

Sighing dejectedly and placing his slice of lime on the counter, Morgan licked his wrist (over his tattoo, for luck), then tipped the salt shaker over it. With his other hand he poured the shot, contemplating stopping at a half. However, that would mean he would be chickening out. Jake took a whole shot. Morgan would take one too, simply to keep his pride. Even if it killed him, Morgan had to at least try to prove he could hold his liquor (which he couldn’t).

Closing his eyes for a moment before looking hopefully at the ceiling, he raised the shot in Jake’s general direction, licked his wrist, and shooting the tequila. He made a gagging face before shoving the lime between his teeth, grateful from the stringent reprieve from the burning Tequila. He sucked the lime nearly dry before he put the rind and remaining fruit in the counter, gasping in a breath. “Hooo~oooly GOD I hate Tequila.” He groaned, his voice hoarse as the vile drink broiled his stomach.

Looking up and glaring at the still smirking Jake, Morgan shook his head. “Wipe that cocky smile off your face, Mister Jake, or you don’t get a steak.” He ordered moodily, though soon his face eased back into its regular, sweet and boyish mask. Scooting to the other end of the counter, Morgan immediately began mixing the drink he’d originally wanted. The rum and coke wasn’t particularly strong, with only a shot of rum to nearly half a can of coke, but after the tequila, it was plenty. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into doing that.” He said with a laugh, his tongue still buzzing with the sensation of the lime.

[Jacob Lawrence]

All I have to say is that Morgan won't be complaining for long.

Jake actually looked a little sympathetic at Morgan's reaction to the tequila. Being a rather heavy drinker on the right occasion, Jake was used to shots of all sorts and actually enjoyed the stinging burn that they left in his mouth and throat. It was the burn of good alcohol. He was normally a rather loose person in his normal state, but with a buzz he was almost overaffectionate, and any farther than that and Morgan will need a crowbar to get Jake off of him.

"Just let me know if you start seeing rain spirits." He teased. "Then I'll know to start keeping you away from the grill." Which is probably better for everyone involved. We don't want him trying to do a rain dance in order to put out an out of control fire, that's definitely not going to help anyone.

He was entirely unthreatened by Morgan, though he decided to play along and put on a rather upset face. "Noo! But then I'll starve and waste away to nothing!" For a moment he debated really hamming it up and dropping to his knees to beg, but he decided against it. Maybe later he'd have a better excuse to be on his knees... Morgan's smile came back and Jake just laughed. It might have only been pride that had caused Morgan to take the shoot, but it was Jacob who was testing that pride.

"I wonder what else I could talk you into." He winked at Morgan and bit on the tip of his tongue to hold back another chuckle. I'm pretty sure his intentions are nowhere near what the teacher would consider good, but he's a flirt and I think that Morgy should be on the road to getting used to it. Besides, the fun always started when the booze started kicking in. Morgan's probably going to end up wishing he won't remember this night.

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[Morgan Tonaya]

Waving him off with a grunt, Morgan sulked for a moment longer before slinking out of the glass door to peek at the steaks one last time. They were cooking quickly, and Morgan didn’t anticipate having to wait much longer to eat. He grinned back at Jake, hollering at him from the yard “Well fortunately I put on two steaks and they’re almost done, so I guess this time around I’ll feed you.” He sort of just hovered over the grill for a moment, not having the care to travel back into the house.

It was summertime, and early evening like this meant that the sun had just barely sunk behind the trees. It wasn’t Morgan’s favorite time of day (in fact, he really didn’t like sunset), but air was warm and comforting, and the small of smoke and delicious wafting from the grill was enough to keep Morgan hovering in the yard like a firefly for a few more minutes. At least until it got dark. Then Morgan wouldn’t have anything to do with the outdoors. No no. By then he would have taken to the couch, and his cozy, well-lit town home.


Looking at him with disbelief, Morgan shook his head and actually laughed. “Wow, Man. You don’t let up do you?” He asked, attempting to mask his discomfort with the question. Truth be told? It wasn’t hard to convince Morgan to do something when he was sober, let alone when he’d ingested a tequila, a beer, and had the comfort of a rum and coke waiting for him to drink before dinner. Though the blonde wasn’t truly keen on letting Jake convince him into something else, he had the feeling he was going to get a rather interesting set of stories from the evening. “Food is almost done, if you want to hunt around for a plate and some silverware.” Morgan called.

[Jacob Lawrence]

Jake stood near the doorway, looking out at Morgan by the grill. The sun was dipping lower and lower in the sky and casting an orange glow over the teacher's yard, the shadows stretching out across the ground. He was a sunset type of guy and loved to watch them, often times just sitting outside until the only light that was left was cast by the moon. But Jake wasn't watching the sunset, he was watching Morgan - he looked good bathed in the evening sun. With a snort, Jake found himself thinking about what it would be like to have a "normal" life like Morgan's. He had come to terms with his place in society and found his niche in teaching at the school, idiot students aside. Jake wondered what that felt like.

"Eventually I'm gunna know your kitchen better than my own." Jake joked as he rummaged around the kitchen again. It didn't take him long to find the necessary items, which he set on the table. Not that he was particularly familiar with his own kitchen; he knew the ice cream was in the freezer and the take out menus were stuck to the fridge. Yes, that's right, Jake lives off take out and he's got his favorite places on speed dial. It's about time he had a nice home cooked meal, it will do him some good.

Morgan's laugh, much like his smile, was entirely too infectious. It wasn't long before Jake was joining in, shrugging in response to Morgan. "I've been told my off switch is broken." Ain't that the truth. If nothing else, maybe Morgan would feel better in knowing he's not the only one to be shocked by Jake's inability to turn off the charm. (He requested I word it that way, he says it makes him sound better.)

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