Is This Not A 'Date'? (JD&Logan)

[Zachary LaRousse]

Ever since JD begged him not to set the boy up with anyone, Zac has been working non-stop, trying to figure out who’s the best candidate to be the speedster’s date. Unfortunately for him, there aren’t a whole lot of females available really. It’s not to say that Hammel’s got a serious Y-chromosome imbalance, but more along the lines of him having relatively too high standards that only a few people fit the said standards. After all, this is his ‘teddy bear’ they’re talking about; while he might be doing this more so to tease and annoy the boy than anything else, a small part of him does want to see his best friend happy.

Of those on the list, L.C. and Stella were automatically pulled out, as Zac has some weird possessive-juju going on over those two girls, and Ann was taken out as she was already with the Dwarf. Ari would’ve been a good candidate, but the feeling of having your best friend date your ex is just a little too unsettling for him to even consider.

Lucky for him though, a timely trip to the pool added a new candidate: Logan.

While he’s never known JD to play for the other team, he figured why not?. He himself didn’t know he’d be willing to shift gears from time to time, and it doesn’t feel weird at all, or at least for him it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t work, well, Logan’s just darn too adorable to ignore. Hopefully they’d end up as friends or something (‘cause heaven knows how Zac thinks JD needs to expand his social circle more).

Without a moment to spare, he immediately bugged the two boys (Logan through text, JD by barging into his room in the middle of the night) to join him for a movie. Because heaven knows how romantic movies and popcorn are.


“Come one CK! We’re going to be late for the movie! It’s half-price movie ticket day today; I don’t want to wait for another week to watch Sucker Punch!” he shouted two afternoons after his invite, invading the speedster’s room for the umpteenth time. Apparently trying to annoy the boy even more, he sat down on the middle of his bed and acted like the little spoiled brat that he was, bouncing up and down while saying “Faster Dee, faster” over and over.


A few mishaps later, the two finally arrived on the said movie theater, with Zac dragging the boy like a kid does to his father in front of a candy store. “There he is!” he beamed as he saw the familiar Cajun just a few paces away from them, waving wildly in effort to catch his attention without really shouting. “Logan! Woohoo! We’re here!”

[JD Paerson]

Okay, a movie night. JD could use a movie. It was a break from the books and a chance to get out of the house. And hey, he'd actually been invited to this outing, instead of just vaguely showing up and hoping no one noticed. So he agreed to the movie, though he made sure to pack his newspaper and inwardly swore to make a point of placing at least one seat's distance between himself and the mimic.

And so he reluctantly put on a clean t-shirt and grabbed his wallet when Zac came barging in. "I thought you were rich, moron. Why do you need to go on half-price movie ticket day?" He finger-combed his hair. "I'm done, all right? Who are you yelling at to go faster when I happen to know that you are the person who takes a full hour to get ready most days?" He slung a jacket over his shoulder and left the room, being sure to lock the door behind him.

"So we're getting there by car, right? Because I just put on the clean shirt and I don't want to have to run down to town."

When they did arrive, JD found himself being unceremoniously dragged toward the theater. He yanked his hand out of Zac's just as the other boy exclaimed.

"Wait, there who is? You invited someone else?" JD wasn't particularly upset, since this would probably be a good thing in the end--alone time with Zac was rarely a good idea--but he was a bit surprised. There was a very good chance that the obnoxious rich kid had something up his sleeve, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be caught up in it.

He did recognize the guy, though. Logan lived next door to him and was in a few of JD's classes. He had never really paid much attention to the guy other than to nod courteously in the hallways at the familiar recognition of a face.

"Hey Logan," JD said, walking up. "So what did Zac do to you to drag you out here?"

[Logan Castille]

Logan abruptly woke up the buzzing annoyance of his vibrating cell phone. Bzzt! Bzzt! "Who da fuck!" he shouted in a half asleep, annoyed rage. His hand reached over for the device and jolted it toward his face. Almost immediately he figured out that the text was from Zac. Curiosity overtook him completely. He perked up and read over the message. Zac wanted him to meet him at the movies. Sounds good, Logan typed up as a reply, I'll meet you there.

Logan quickly got dressed and for once he rather casually. He put on a simple pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. To Logan, a night out with friends means nice pants and a button up shirt, but he didn't quite feel that this event was important enough to dress nice for. It's just a night at the movies with Zac after all.

He called a cab and a little while later, he was on his way. Once he arrived, he decided it would be best to go ahead and buy his ticket. He waited in line a few minutes while looking around for Zac, who was nowhere in sight. Late as usual, he thought, I might as well get him a ticket too before they sell out.

After the tickets were purchased, he waited at the front of the theater for his friend to arrive. Moments later, he saw Zac rushing toward him, but he was dragging someone along with him. Logan glanced and then glanced a second time. It's JD! Thinking back to the conversation they had at the pool, Logan quickly figured out the motive behind inviting JD. Zac is one evil bastard.

His glance turned into a glare toward Zac, but he quickly switched to a more inviting facial expression as they got closer. "Hi guys," he said to them casually with a grin. "Zac wanted me ta meet him here. He didn' tell me he was bringin' a friend."

Logan pulled out the two tickets he bought. He kept one for himself and handed the other to JD. "There ya go," Logan said with a sinister smirk. He glanced at Zac and held his hands up as if they were empty. "No ticket for you!" he joked. He didn't plan on having a third person join them, so he didn't bother buying a third ticket while he waited in line earlier.

"It looks like ya' gotta stand in line and buy yaself a ticket, Zac," Logan mentioned as a form of revenge for not being aware of the fact that he was bringing a friend. It was also partially because he knew Zac's true motive from bringing him in the first place. "We'll meet ya' inside," Logan said as he headed toward the door with JD in tow.

Logan opened the door of the theater and was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of popcorn and candy. "Concessions?" he asked JD as he stood in the shortest line he could find.

[Zachary LaRousse]

“You don’t mind, do you?” At least JD doesn’t sound too upset. The last thing Zac would want is to have the boy suddenly spring into action and rush out of the mall without him (‘cause heaven knows he can’t do anything against his teddy bear’s random bursts of speed). So it’s either the boy is still in the dark on whatever Zac is planning (which rarely happens, considering how fast the boy’s brain works), or he actually likes Zac’s plan. The Prince sincerely hopes it’s the latter. (So he can finally say that he’s quite the matchmaker).

Logan’s glare didn’t go unnoticed; seeing it actually made Zac smirk, giving Logan a reassuring wink as they approached the Cajun. “I see you already know each other,” he said, idly placing his elbow over Logan’s shoulder, “That’ll save me the uneasy getting-to-know-you moments I thought you two would have.” Should the dreaded moments of awkward silence come in to light however, Zac already has a few tricks up his sleeves to help keep the ball rolling. At the cost of either party’s dignity, of course.

“Have you been waiting long? I’m sorry really, I had to go and give JD a bath. Which is as enjoyable as it sounds,” teased the boy, rolling his eyes to emphasize the sarcasm he’s infused with his statement. While the sudden appearance of movie tickets surprised Zac, what shocked him even more is Logan’s straightforwardness. Through the conversations he’s had with the boy, the Cajun came off as someone shy and reclusive, or at least when it comes to dates and other similar matters anyway. “Heeey, I’m hurt. Maybe I should just go home now and leave you two alone then.”

He gave Logan a slight nudge on the side as he whisked JD off, sending an amused grin to the pair as he walked towards the ticket booth. Just his luck though, as the queue exploded just before he lined up (he remembered seeing barely two or three people when they first came in). 'You sneaky bastard. We’ve haven’t been here for more than five minutes and you’re already making your moves. Don’t pin him to the wall just yet, ok? I haven’t taught him anything yet, I’m sorry,' he texted Logan as he waited. He also sent a text message to JD, but it’s a bit more ominous than the previous one. 'Be nice to him, ok?' was all it contained.

The line took a little longer than what he would’ve wanted, but at least he’s managed to secure seats for the said movie (he could hear from behind him how he’s got one of the last few tickets and all that). “Did you miss me too much you guys?” he said as he wrapped his arms around each of the boy’s shoulders, not really caring if he’s interrupted a conversation or not.

[JD Paerson]

"Zac is notorious about not mentioning things," JD said, shooting a glare at the Asian. He was starting to suspect there might be more to the night than just three people hanging out watching a movie, but he wasn't ready to jump to any conclusions. He decided for the time to just play everything cool and wait to see what would happen.

"Yeah, I know Logan. We live right next to each other, basically. After spending a few years in the dorms, even I start to recognize faces." He rolled his eyes and punched Zac in the shoulder.

"Don't listen to him," he said when Zac mentioned the bath. "He's also a notorious liar, though if you've known him for any length of time you'd probably know that already." The fact that JD's hair was perfectly dry added weight to his side of the story, he felt.

When Logan gave him the movie ticket, JD was startled into accepting it. He felt a bit strange not buying his own, but figured that if this one was already there he might as well not turn it down. Plus, the rich baby next to him could afford his own, and JD was on a bit of a budget.

They started inside, but when Zac threatened to leave JD turned and shot him a glare. There was no way he was going to drag him out of the house and take him to a movie, then abandon him with someone that he didn't really know. At least with Zac there JD could be fairly certain of what ground he was on. And if Zac wasn't there, it meant he was probably getting into trouble somewhere else along the way. Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.

Logan and JD were in line for the concessions. Since JD didn't have to buy his ticket, he was thinking about upsizing from a medium to a large popcorn. "Yeah, I'm gonna get a large popcorn and probably a soda," JD said. He looked at the rows of candy, then thought about the money he had in his popcorn. "Or maybe some M&Ms instead of the soda..." he mused. "If I were smarter, I probably would've tried to sneak in some candy. The stuff here is ridiculously overpriced."

He was startled when his phone beeped. He pulled it out of his back pocket and glanced at the message. "Be nice?" he muttered under his breath. "What kind of stupid message is that?" It wasn't like he was doing anything particularly mean. And he never meant to, really. But he figured it was probably just a warning so that nothing went particularly wrong.

JD made an effort to appear friendly so as not to seem completely rude. "So, um. How long have you known Zac?" he asked as they stood off to the side, waiting for their mutual friend to come back. "I met him when he first showed up here at Hammel. And yes, he was annoying even way back then. Now, though, he seems to have gotten it into his head that I'm his own personal superhero or something. He won't leave off with the name-calling." He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"What classes are you in? Got a lot of homework piling up?" Small talk. Stupid small talk, too, not even anything decent to say. He might as well be talking about the weather. But whatever, at least he wasn't just standing there completely awkwardly.