Truth or Dare (Zac) [M]

[Zachary LaRousse]

“Harhar. Very funny. You must be very proud of yourself now,” the young man sneered, though it was fairly obvious at his smile a few moments later that he wasn’t really offended by the Greek’s remark. He promptly turned to his side, hands still holding on the Chinese take-out and the chopsticks, and gave his beloved Wukeypoo (apparently the boy’s “possessive”) a quick glance. His eyebrows arched as his eyes moved from Luke’s head down to his feet, playfully stopping around his belt area as he checked the new look the pyrokinetic’s got on him. True to form, the boy’s got style. “A bit too preppy for my taste, but it’ll do,” he winked, chuckling as he chugged another piece of chicken down his throat, “Though I have to say, you look better in my old pants. They just hug you in all the right places Wukeypoo.”

He snorted slightly when Luke mentioned going down to Miami to have his mother do all sorts of plant voodoo around him to find his “perfect plant”. Not that he has anything against Luke’s mother (he’d do anything to get his back), but he just doesn’t see the point in flying halfway across the country for just a simple plant. Clothes he’d understand, but plants? Not really worth the effort. “Are you planning on introducing me to your parents now Wukey? Isn’t that a little too fast? You think they’d approve?” he teased, pouting and making kissy-kissy gestures towards the boy, “And I think we should start holding hands too, to make things more official.” He was about to tease the pyrokinetic more when the cold wind blew, making him retract his hands and rub them across his arms to try and produce some heat. Somehow a sudden trip to sunshine-y Florida doesn’t seem all that absurd anymore.

The Asian kid quickly got inside his car the moment it made the familiar beepbeep sounds, finding the weather outside suddenly becoming too cold for comfort. “I know a good place near the mall where you can get nice flowers,” he smiled as he waited for Luke to get in, “It’s run my Mr. Tonaya’s mom. You know, the new History teacher? Mr. Bond’s bromantic boyfriend? I think it has most everything you need.” He put the key in place and started his engine, feeling his car slowly heating up already. “And pshaw, if I need entertainment, I can always rape you.”

ooc:
Bels, don't sweat it. If anything, mine was late too. Writer's block plus RL drama is a deadly, deadly combination. I am sorry. >.<
- Jam

[Luke Pyrrhos]

Luke cringed away from Zac as he mentioned something about raping him. Okay, so that was a definite no. Although Zac had all those weird animalistic tendencies, and from what he could feel now, the horniness of the primitive behavior was kicking in, but Luke knew better than enough how to protect himself. If he would ever need to bring out the fire, he would, but attempt not to kill Zac at the same time. Hopefully, the kid was joking around with the word, but Luke would never know would he, now that everything was miss-mashed and turned upside down.

Shrugging off the heinous comment, and tried to think of something else to talk about. Plants, yes, plants, that's what he'd talk about. They were only a few minutes away from the garden store, and once there, Luke would be able to fit Zac with a plant personality, as his mother liked to associate people with plants all the same. It was somewhat a humorous hobby of her, like matching people's personalities with animals with comparable behavior, but a bit more of an autotrophic spin on it all. "You won't get a chance to get that close to me again if I can help it." Luke announced that he was officially dropping the subject, and then moved on to other thoughts, "Lets get to this garden store. I'm going to buy you and I a plant or two."

Luke stayed pretty much quiet for the rest of the drive to the plant shop, thinking about stuff that had been cycling in his head this entire morning. What would they be like in school when all of this silly plant business was over and done with, once the veils had been cast? Would they still play the 'hate/hate' roles that everyone had become so accustomed to, or would they be friendlier, kinder, etc. It kind of amused Luke to see himself being all mushy and nice to Sacagawea, especially after everything. He really didn't know about all of this. Should he bring it up with Zac? Or should he just wait it all out to see what happened? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? So many questions were blossoming from this one small seed of an idea. It needed to come to a stop, and with that, Luke attempted to block it all out until later, when he would actually need to address it.

-------


They had arrived within fifteen minutes, and after parking and walking through the double panel sliding glass doors, Luke swerved left to the greenhouse section of the gardening store. The humidity level had clearly changed, and the glass panels that served as a ceiling allowed a lot more light to flood the room, making it a lot more 'breathable' in Luke's opinion. He swayed through the aisles of plants, looking for something first for Zac. Many of them he recognized from his mother's teachings, smiling at the 'edgy' or 'charismatic' plants that his mum always stressed of which might accentuate a garden of sorts or injure it with the 'negative vibes' they gave off. His mother was into all that heady spirits and vibes things..but he'd let her be and enjoy her own ideas of philosophy and religion, etc. But he wasn't here to think about that, he was here to choose two darned plants.

"Lets start off with this one," Luke held up a plant his mom would have considered to be "edgy". "You are a bit .. out there, as you know I already think of you, and I doubt I'll ever stop thinking that about you. Its thought that this plant, a Sea Holly, stirs up drama within a garden, just like you do within Hammel. They also make you think twice about coming too close. I mean, look at this thing!" It was certainly an odd plant..with almost lavender-white leaves surrounding one large seed in the center. Whether that was a seed or a bulb or whatever, he wasn't sure. All of that was on a thick stem sticking high above the air. It looked like it could attack anyone at any minute, by combusting or something of the sort. At times, that's how Luke felt about being around Zac. He was a dangerous subject, after all.

Luke put down the plant, walked a bit more, and pointed at another. "Or take for example this large plant, the Maidenhair Fern. I might find this to match you because I consider you a maiden," he quickly grinned and playfully punched Zac in the arm, and then continued, "but otherwise its because these guys are considered sociable plants. And you, sir, are certainly the one who always has to have his nose in others business, and you talk as much as a girl would. So thus, this one matches you. Any questions?" Luke grinned once more, showing that all his joking was in good fun, well, maybe part of it was what he really thought, but what part he wouldn't exactly reveal.

[Zachary LaRousse]

Zac simply shook his head and let out a soft chuckle as he saw Luke flinch away from him. Possibly something to do with his mention of rape. While he might be horny as hell (well, maybe not so much now; after all, it’s been more than an hour since he saw Luke’s naked form), heaven knows he wouldn’t rape someone. He might seem like he has no limits, but believe it or not, he has. Though his manipulative personality loves playing with people to get what he wants, if they didn’t voice out their agreement with what he’s about to do, he definitely wouldn’t force himself to that person (in case of sexual favors, that is; when it comes to bullying people into doing what he wants, no such rules apply). But he still might steal a few touches here and there, if only to tease the said target, rub it on their face what they might be missing.

Which is why when Luke spoke with such finality, he just shrugged it off, winking at Luke as he drove, playfully caressing the boy’s thigh as he drove. If the Greek wants all talking to end right there and then, he could live with it. He can close his trap if needed after all. Though don’t expect him to stop with toying you with his hands. Just ask JD, he’d tell you how to handle Zac effectively.

Unlike Luke, Zac isn’t that much concerned about the future between them. It’s not like their night together changes their interaction so drastically, wouldn’t it? They’d still be the same bickering rivals, in his opinion, he’d still be a whole lot sexier than the Greek and a whole lot hotter. Their competition might not be as bitter as it was before, but he’s pretty sure it’ll still be there; their day’s worth of teasing is proof of that.

-xxx-

Lucky the drive to Mama’s wasn’t too long, as though Zac claims he can keep his mouth shut, he didn’t expect fifteen minutes of silence with Luke would feel that long. Seriously. There’s just something about the boy that makes Zac want to irk him every minute of his life. May it be because of that mysterious and brooding vibe that he gives away, or that charismatic and self-assured smile that both irritates Zac and makes his internal fanboy giggle, there’s just this compulsion to get on the boy’s nerves despite their recent ‘truce’.

He gave Mama a friendly wave and a hug when they entered her shop, introducing the pyrokinetic as one of his classmates in school, though he wasn’t sure if he was on either of her boys’ classes. He definitely wasn’t that close to the dear lady, but he’s been on her shop a couple of times (telling himself he’s a regular now) that he can sometimes joke to her about her sons. While he still can’t get her to spill dirt about Mr. Bond or Mr. Tonaya, she does tell him about some of their misadventures when both were still kids, which amuses the mimic to no end.

Zac promptly followed the Greek to the greenhouse, the sudden change in temperature and humidity making him feel a bit uneasy about himself. “Don’t you feel a little hot in here?” he asked Luke, which seemed to be comfortable in the elevated temperatures, “And don’t tell me it’s because of you.” Darn pyrokinetics and their temperature insusceptibility.

When Luke started talking about plants, the boy couldn’t help but smirk mischievously for a bit. The Greek’s interest and knowledge in plants really fascinates the boy, especially since Pokemon games have since implanted on his mind that Grass and Fire really don’t mix well together. “HEY! In case you need me to remind you, you were the one asking for me to go ‘harder, oh please harder’ last night,” he protested, laughing as Luke referred to him as a maiden, rubbing his punched arm. “And I don’t talk too much. It’s just because you’re so boring and mute, hence me compensating for it.”

“Dude, you’re weird,” he chuckled as he returned Luke’s gesture and gave him a friendly punch on the arm. “And I’m going with the Sea Holly. Since you used the Maiden to insult me.” Like the big baby that he is, he stuck his tongue out at Luke as he grabbed one of the sea holly pots. “Unless of course you have another plant in mind. And besides, how would you align yourself with a plant then? Or are you more of an irritating and unwanted weed than a loved plant?”

[Luke Pyrrhos]

Satisfied at his mere insult resulting in a stuck out tongue, Luke chuckled and listened to Zac's remark. "Well, in fact, I'd say I'm more of a relaxing plant. Aside from your usual annoyance, Its pretty good in the hood with me. So.." he skimmed over other aisles of plants, pointed at one, and went towards it. "I'd say I'm more of a hosta or cypress." He picked up the assorted hosta pot, looked at it closely, and then put it down. He was far more of a cypress fan than a hosta fan. Looking for something that wasn't as large as a tree, Luke glided into the next room over, which was mostly filled with shade plants, a few bonsai trees, some of those decorative waterfalls and ponds with koi in them, and then went towards the back corner, where he spotted miniature cypress plants, in this case, the Siberian Cyprus. It was about as big as his torso, a relatively good sized plant for a dorm room. "See this? Its a pretty simple plant, not too flamboyant, but stunning in its own way. My mother said, 'These sorts of plants help me unwind'. And I'm all about unwinding, in more ways than one." He winked at Sacagawea, but with females upon females on his mind, not what Zac would think he was gesturing at him for.

Luke picked up the plant, heaved it in his one arm, and started walking towards the exit of the greenhouse, towards the cash register to pay for the plants. He would be nice this last time, as their encounter was about to come to a close. After this, the boy was on his own, and Luke would be freed of their mushy kindness he felt obligated to show Zac. "Are you ready? That's all I needed." Placing the plant down near the register, he let the cashier ring up both plants, stashed out cash, let her keep the change, and then grabbed his plant once more waiting for Zac to do the same. Now they would be back to school, and life could resume its normalcy.

-xxxx-

It was a twenty minute drive back towards campus, but it seemed to go faster than what the clocke showed. To be honest, Luke was relieved to get back to his own twin, extra long bed, his plush comforter and egyptian cotton sheets. He knew of the perfect place for this plant, and as it was approaching lunchtime, and he had yet to really eat, he could finally make some food. Perhaps he'd go to the nearby market and buy some fresh seafood, as there was a stove and oven available for those students who wished to do their own cooking instead of succumbing to the rather bland cafeteria food that was also available.

Yes, life was getting back to normal. He'd be able to see Jen again, propose the trip to Greece he'd promised her once before, but this time, hopefully she would take him seriously. He'd write to his giagiá, proposing a visit for about a week, even if he would be going solo. Perhaps he'd go surprise visit friends in Miami or Greece, as he had all the time and money he needed for such excursions.

When they reached a stop at Hammel and Zac had parked, Luke made haste to step out of the car as soon as he could, made a great stretch, yawned, and breathed in the cool, damp and familiar Hammel air. It was good to be back. He swooped up his plant from the roof of the car, gave a curt wave to Zac, and headed on his way back towards his room without any sentiment towards that boy and their awkward journey. His stomach growled and his mind was made up: he was going to make calamari.

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