Text
youthfulncssâ:
âFreak outâŠ?â Sheâs a bit irate at that comment but buries the thought under another smile. Like itâs another joke. As if this was two sided. It clearly wasnât, but she could pretend. Heâs making faces, she realizes, and it feels a bit funny. Until he looks steely and he goes into a direction she hadnât realized. Oh, exciting. Heâs steeling himself against her brand of needling. âOh, and what⊠could you mean by that?â Her smile thins, a bit more empty, a bit less⊠entertained. âIâm not sure⊠what youâre talking about. Or what you mean. But Mr Darling, itâs a bit unsettling,â she says, her voice kind enough, but not kind at all. âWhat are you trying to say?â
Michael nodded as casually as he could. Freak out was the word heâd use. âYeah, yâknow. Get mad about it.â Madder than a teacher probably should be about something as easy for a teenager to do as fuck up a plant. He didnât know a single person his age that could keep up with more than a cactus. And then he crossed his arms, book resting over his chest loosely. He still had to do his best to not give her ideas. âI mean itâs a good idea you canât bring poison plants to school. Health hazard for everyone, I reckon.â And Michael raised an eyebrow. âI mean, Iâve heard about teachers over here gettinâ stuff put in their tea on the news, you canât be too careful.â He doubted that any one of her students would actually poison her, but maybe so far sheâd just freaked out nice kids like himself, who would only ever think about it.
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
youthfulncssâ:
âAh,â Emily said, eyes brightening at the interest in the subject, âhistory is a marvelous topic. Filled with so much⊠depth. Rich context for a variety of movements and ceremony. Tragedy too, unfortunately.â She doesnât seem too perturbed by the word tragedy though. And all of those messy implications. âAnd plant thing?â She looks at him, quizzically. Like that look you give someone if youâre suspicious of them. She wasnât. But she enjoyed the unsettling reaction it often elicited. âOh, yes, well. The teaching of⊠plants. Biology, botany, agriculture⊠fascinating really. In fact, the field has⊠evolved⊠quite a bit lately. Especially in the realm of⊠plant poisons?â She gives him a searching look. It lasts⊠a bit too long, perhaps, before she looks surprised with herself and she says, quickly, âOr, pesticides..! Ermâ pesticides I suppose theâuhâscientific term should be. Poisonous plants are also interesting though. Poisonous plants⊠much too dangerous to bring into class. Wouldnât that have been interesting, though. If I were allowed, I might have brought in a wider variety of plant species to study. ThoughâŠâ her voice slows from her excitable pace to a low hum. Itâs slow, deliberate, though not menacing quite, â⊠I donât quite know how Hueyâyour close friend, isnât he?âwould have done around poisonous plants. Could have been quite dangerousâŠâ She smiles innocently, like a friendly joke, â⊠since he would roughhouse in the greenhouse, I mean. How is he, anyways? You two are still close, arenât you?â
âRight...â Michael mumbled, clapping his hand onto the cover of his book to hear the thump, feeling fairly awkward. Mostly, Michael liked history because it was just...interesting, and heâd never really thought in depth about it. Normally, the look she shot him about the plants would set him off, but he just shrugged this time. He knew she liked plants, so âplant thingâ would do it. âYeah, knew you liked âem enough to freak out on some people for messing with them,â he said casually. And maybe it wasnât a âfreak outâ, but he knew it didnât go well with Huey, and maybe he felt a little protective of his first...real friend. Michael did end up squinting a bit when she lingered on poisons, and he really had to hope she never visited the poison gardens back home. And then she basically threatened Huey, or it was an implication, and Michael felt a shot of bravery go through him, making him stand up straight and frown a bit. âWell, you know teenagers. You brought âem in and pissed someone right off, they mightâve put some in one of your drinks.â Had that been a counter threat? Had he gone there? Maybe he had. Shit. âItâs America, after all, I hear that kind of thing happens.â And when she asked about Huey, how he was, Michael shrugged. âHeâs fine, I reckon.â
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
hubertxduckingtonâ:
Huey smiled a bit. âYeah. It was fun. It was nice to have something to like, work towards and like, that was just my own thing, you know? Like I love my brothers and I love doing things with them, but itâs nice to have at least one thing thatâs all your own.â Huey rambled for a bit. âBut, hey, if you ever wanted a scouting experience, we could do like, a makeshift scout camp thing, just you and me. Give you that experience and stuff?â He looked at Michael, not sure if there was a self-deprecating comment in there or what. âTrust me, Iâm plenty useless at a lot of other things. Like pre-calc? No thanks. Honestly, itâs a miracle I graduated.â He chuckled a bit, giving Michael a smile. Huey nodded, looking down briefly. âYeah, holidays get wild. But, now I donât have much going on ever, so Iâm free pretty much all the time.â Did that sound desperate? He sure hoped it didnât. Huey gently clapped his fingertips together as Michael got on the board. âOh, Iâm totally going to be waiting with bated breath. My hopes are through the roof right now, man,â he jested a bit, a lopsided grin stretching across his face. âSeriously, though, just do your best; it doesnât matter if itâs perfect as long as youâre doing all that you can.â
âOh, for sure!â Michael knew all about trying not to be like your siblings, but the pressure for that must have been worse when you all looked alike. At least for Wendy, she was a girl, and for John...well, Michael wasnât always the chillest person ever, but he wasnât his brother there. âFor real? Iâd love that, Iâve never been properly camping!â Of course, heâd built forts in the park before, but heâd never...camped. In England, most camping meant you had to have a caravan, and as far as he could tell, American camping was way more fun. âOh, I canât do pre-calc either...But nah, I meant like...knowing first-aidâs really useful for emergencies. Like...All I know to do is stick a plaster on and call someone who could help.â He had an element of help, but it wasnât first-aid. âFree all the time? That makes both of us, I didnât sign up for anything this semester. Mum let me have a gap.â And was that partially because he had possibly had a bit of an education-related breakdown over the holidays? Yes. âAlright, alright, hereâs your ollie, mate.â Laughing quietly to himself, Michael pushed off, went a distance, popped up over a stick some kid had left around, and turned back. âSee? If I could do a kickflip, then weâd have it.â
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
youthfulncssâ:
Gertrude regards the book with a curious smile. âAh. Perfectly haunting, if I do say so myself. Well, then. It is a good⊠contemporary read.â She smiles a half smirking smile at him, though it is not malicious so much as teasing. Or so it appears. She couldnât expect anyone to really want to call Johnny Got His Gun contemporary, exactly. Well, aside from her. Sheâd been alive during the book release. Fun times, fun times. AnyhowâŠÂ âA fan of historical novels, are you, Mr Darling?â She asks, and the question might be posed⊠why is she still here? Gertrude may answer that internally on her own. She enjoyed the tension. Thrived on that uncertainty. âIâm quite interested in history myself. I think if I shouldnât have gone the path of⊠botany and biology, I may have fancied myself an⊠observer of sorts⊠in historical matters. All⊠through extensive study of course. Who am I to claim any sort of⊠historical expertise?â
Every time he thought Miss Mutter couldnât say anything more witchy than she already did, Michael heard her call things like Johnny Got His Gun âcontemporaryâ. Nobody called it contemporary, it was older than most of the old books that kids in the US had to read for their English classes. Either way, he decided it would be safe to ignore that and sort of answer her question. âYeah, historyâs my favorite,â he told her, just a little bit shy of shortly. That much was true, and gave him a bit of wiggle room to work with in case she said anything else weird. Which, of course she did, with the observer comment. Michael wished it wasnât rude to ask adults how old they were. âWell, I figure your whole plant thingâs working for you, yeah?â he returned, the main image he had in his mind being her in some dungeon, using whatever weird plants witches ended up using in their potions to keep themselves young. âBesides, you can figure out plant stuff easy, I bet. Lot of history just got messed up.â
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Michael was off, mind anywhere but where he actually was standing, turning a randomly picked historical fiction book over in his hands, fingers flipping pages to have something to do. He needed something to read, something to distract him that wouldnât end up with him being in pain, but he couldnât tell if he was going to be able to focus on this book or not. Heâd read longer stuff, but...it was always hard to tell where he was going to be. Of course, in his head, he didnât notice the presence of Ms. Mutter until she spoke, and then he jumped, pretty dramatically. Could witches teleport? âUh. H-hi,â he managed to mumble, before holding up the book so she could read the title. âItâs Johnny Got His Gun.â
( @littledarlingmichaelâ ). || she thought about it. killing him, that is. of course, not in⊠earnest. not actually. he may be obnoxious. but he⊠was never enough of a nuisance for gertrude to seriouslyâseriouslyâconsider harming him. but she was restless. and she could only assume he was as well because every now and again she would spot him and what on earth would he ever want to do anywhere she was. (especially since⊠she was there.) she still laughs privately, with a sort of twisted edge in the humour, about his conviction that she was a witch. he wasnât entirely wrong, per se. but it was inaccurate of a technical sense. that was probably why she didnât like him, now that she thought of it. She peeks around a bookcase in the bookstore, wondering if heâd noticed her. (or if that was why he was here?) she shouldnât be so conceded. but she also canât help it. sheâs behind him at the border of a comfortable distance, the closer to unsettling side as she leans over to check his book, and with no amount of subtly asks, âwhatâs that youâre reading then, Mr Darling?âÂ
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
hubertxduckingtonâ:
Huey laughed a bit, looking down for a moment, trying to hide his own little blush at Michaelâs grin. âIâm sure youâre better at more than just crashing,â he said. âWell, thatâs good that youâve got them covered, um⊠so they donât get infected or anything,â that was a weird thing to say, and he knew it was. Huey laughed at his own awkwardness. âI, um, Iâve gotten a lot of first aid badges and taken lots of those classes for, um, for Scouts. So, like⊠I probably know too much about that kinda stuff.â He felt like his skin was crawling; like he was trying to escape his own body. He didnât want to feel awkward around Michael. Huey shrugged. âIt was just different, I guess. I, um⊠We should definitely hang out more again.â Huey looked at Michael with a bit of a smile. âIâm sure youâre better than me,â he chuckled. âAnd maybe I will. But not until you show me your ollie,â he said with a grin.
Michael shrugged, doing his absolute best to not be terribly awkward. âNot much, but I guess Iâll get there,â he replied, and hoped that sounded positive enough. âYeah, Iâm trying to not have anything drop off before I die,â he joked, and it was a little bit true. He never had wanted to go slowly. âAw, really? Thatâs cool, I never got in on Scouts. Read the book.â But then, being a city boy, heâd gone and done other things. âFirst-aidâs cool stuff, though, yâknow? Means youâll never be useless.â Ducking his head down a bit, just out of habit, Michael let his board rest on the ground, before he grinned up at Huey, even though he was sort of nervous about fucking up so grandly again. âYeah, we should. I was gonna ask earlier, but I figured holidays were busy.â For other people, they usually were, and...well, Michael had been thinking a lot of things. âAnd Iâll show you the ollie but youâve gotta know itâs gonna be rubbish, so donât get your hopes up,â he chuckled, planting his foot onto his board.
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
hubertxduckingtonâ:
Huey just nodded. He thought he could be cooler than he was being. More casual and laid back, like this was a normal interaction. But he was really struggling. âOkay, cool, cool,â he said with another nod. âOh, cool. I havenât had one since I was like, twelve and broke it. Was never really that good either,â he said with a bit of a laugh. âI mean, canât even tell itâs been that long for you. You crashed into me quite gracefully,â he grinned. âWell⊠fine is better than bad. Mine were alright. Kinda weird with my uncle not really talking to his girlfriend. I, um⊠Itâs good to see you again. I missed hanging out.â Which was true. The last few times had been awkward and they had been so long ago he wasnât sure if that meant something bad. He hoped not. âSo⊠you still know any tricks on that thing?âÂ
Well, it wasnât like Michael was going to continue on his impressive streak of making things awkward. At least not on purpose. So he just grinned and ignored the fact that he was probably blushing a little bit. Heâd just chalk it up to...the sun or something. âWell, itâs the crashing that Iâve gotten good at. I know you canât see through these jeans but I am covered in bandaids.â A good chunk of the box of the Pokemon ones heâd found at the store, but he didnât have to mention that. âAw, that sounds like it sucked...but I missed hanging out, too.â And not only because he would take any excuse not to be home. âUh...I can sorta ollie, itâs not great though. You wanna try it?â
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
hubertxduckingtonâ:
He didnât expect to run into Michael, and definitely not this literally. âItâs all good,â he said, brushing himself off as he got up. He looked himself over and he was fine. Huey looked up to Michael. He was standing close, wasnât he? Fuck. He should probably step back, shouldnât he? In his panic of realizing he was close and this awkward, he straightened Michaelâs jacket, which he didnât really need to do, he just felt like he needed to do something if he was still standing close enough that he was practically on the skateboard. âThat was weird of me, I am so sorry,â Huey said, finally stepping back. He chuckled a little awkwardly. âCool board, was it a gift? How um, howâd the holidayâs go?â Huey honestly wished he could be normal for like, five minutes sometimes. Itâd just been a bit since heâd seen Michael, and part of him felt like maybe it was his own fault.
Michael didnât let the worried sort of cringe drop off his face until he got an âall goodâ, and then it was replaced by his eyebrows going up because Huey had fixed his jacket. Okay, well, that wasnât anything bad, just unexpected, that was cool. Steadying the board with one foot, Michael grinned. âNo, âs fine,â he replied, truthfully enough. Part of him had been expecting something...weirder, since...well, everything. Even if they had made up in a way, he just sort of thought heâd feel extra awkward all the time. âYeah, I finally talked mum into it. Havenât had one for four years.â Was that justified? Possibly, considering heâd screwed up his shoulder pretty badly the last time. Either way, if Huey decided to go after that story instead of the holidays, it would be easier to talk about. âThey went uh...Fine. Yours?â
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Michael was thoroughly overwhelmed by the level of New Yearâs celebrations. He hadnât done much for it, mostly holed up in his room because his parents had people over to show off the house and just be...well, fake at. The day after was even more surreal. There had been people in his favorite park, left over from the night before, and parents out with their kids, so Michael was just thankful heâd gotten a new skateboard for the holidays so he didnât look too weird.
At least, not until he nearly ran into Huey. Literally. Go figure. âAw, shit, sorry, man. This thing isnât broken in yet...You good?â He was a bit surprised to see Huey, really. December had been a lot...and Michael was awkward.
@hubertxduckingtonâ
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
Michael had, at the very least, gotten his timing right. Huey had shown up not long after his parents had left, and that meant they were the only ones. Which...was a little terrifying, but at least Huey didnât have to meet Mr. Darling yet. And yeah, Michael had spent the time in between pacing in front of the door because he was a disaster, but it was better than not being able to hear anything from his room. âHi,â and to his own ears even that sounded a little nervous, so he made himself calm down a bit. âIâm good. Definitely ready for movies, but I had a question about snacks first.â
He was so happy things were better between him and Michael. Huey didnât know what he would do if that halloween thing had ruined things between them, even if it just ruined their friendship and not⊠well, whatever. They had made plans to do something else and Huey honestly couldnât be happier. This time it was at Michaelâs place which honestly was better. He didnât want to think his brothers were eavesdropping like he knew they sort of were last time. Or at least one of them had been. Whatever. This was a new day, a new⊠well, he wasnât going to call it a date. Not yet. He didnât want to jinx anything. Huey knocked on the door. âHey,â he said with a grin when the door opened. âHowâre you today? You ready for a movie marathon?â
@littledarlingmichaelâ
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
hubertxduckingtonâ:
âYeah, itâs a good thing you havenât. He was a dick. And you wonât meet him,â he said softly. âHeâs dead.â the whole dead parentsâ thing wasnât the best conversation, so he usually didnât have it. He figured whatever people could come up with for why he and his brothers lived with their uncle was probably better than what had actually happened. âThanks for that, though. Iâm, um⊠Iâm glad youâre here.â
He nodded. âYou can talk to me about stuff if you ever want to,â he said softly. His fingers flexed absentmindedly. Part of him knew better than to try to reach for Michael, to either hold his hand or give him like, a pat on the shoulder or something reassuring. Huey smiled a bit. âCool, yeah. That sounds good. I know youâve got some classes and stuff, but, um. Iâm free pretty much whenever. So just⊠whenever you wanna hang out, we can.â Huey looked down at his hands, then over to Michael. He was hesitant to bring more up and talk about more that had happened. He felt like things might be getting better and he wanted it to stay that way.
Michael nodded. Heâd known Huey lived with his uncle, and had figured something might have happened with his parents, but it still sort of sucked that there was a death involved. He had sort of guessed it had been that, but had been hoping it was something else, not specific. âWell, I wish you wouldnât ever have a chance of meeting my dad,â he ended up joking. âSadly, you might have to.â And George Darling was....George. Michael shook his head.
Tentatively, Michael bumped his shoulder on Hueyâs, hoping it counted as reassuring and not him being a prick or something. âItâs alright, Iâve got...other stuff.â Therapy. That wasnât helping very much, but it was fine. Heâd get over it or die trying. âWell, if weâre planning, I think that mum and dad have some sort of dinner to go to Saturday, and thatâs Nanaâs day off so she wonât be back until late...â Just for avoidance of embarrassmentâs sake. âWanna watch another scary movie, or should we move on to bad Christmas movies?â
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
prezjohnnythethirdâ:
Johnnyâs brow furrowed at the boyâs question. Was he fucking with him now? He honestly couldnât tell. âWell, yeah. Wouldnât be a party without solo cups. Duh.â Johnny rolled his eyes. âAnd I happen to be an excellent football player.â
Michael heard himself laugh before he could stop himself. Not a real laugh, but more of an astonished huff. âWell, then, that settles that.â He shook his head a little, just to really process what was happening. Incredible. âI think Iâd rather see how good it is from a distance before I try and get in. Donât know how weird you Americans get with fraternities, but if itâs like back home I might not be up for it.â
32 notes
·
View notes
Text
hubertxduckingtonâ:
Huey nodded. He was glad to hear him say he was fine. He couldâve just been lying but it was better than him saying something else. He shook his head a bit. âI was mad, like then. Iâm less mad now. Iâm more⊠worried and scared now,â he sighed a bit. His leg was bouncing. âI was worried about getting mad. I⊠I donât like getting mad because it reminds me too much of my dad,â Hueyâs voice is soft. âAnd I donât want toâ I canâtâ be like him. So I was getting a little mad but I really didnât want to be mad. And I was scared afterward because I didnât want to lose you.â He shrugged. âYou reacted probably as well as anyone wouldâve. You donât need to be scared for any reason. Not⊠I donât want you to have to feel scared like that when youâre with me. And itâs okay. You didnât⊠itâs fine. We can always watch another movie some other time,â he looked over to Michael. âThat is if weâre good? At least as friends, and maybe if you want we can, um, we can try that again?â
Michael nodded as he listened. It mad sense, being mad. Michael was mad at himself just about all the time. He was mad at himself right now, even, for making everything get this way when he hadnât wanted to. And he got how it was, not wanting to be your dad. âGetting madâs okay,â he said gently. âIâve never met youâre dad, but youâre not him, youâre Huey.â Just like how Huey wasnât his brothers. And that probably didnât help much, but Michael figured he could pull out his best therapist impression. Heâd seen enough. âYouâre Huey and Iâm here.â
Absently, Michael freed his hands, fiddling with his sleeves, and he figured he should...well, say something else. Just to make sure. âI wasnât scared because of you, yâknow. You being mad didnât scare me. Nothing you did made me scared. It was all my own stuff, so itâs sort of...hard.â Because really, it hadnât been Hueyâs fault. Michaelâs mind always jumped and got scared and just...wasnât good any more. And he wouldnât give details, because Huey wasnât his therapist, but he was sort of glad it was out there, if it hadnât been obvious. âAnother movie sounds really nice, though. We can even try and do it at mine, if youâd like. Mum and dad are always going to something.â Maybe he was just trying to get it as different as possible so it would go okay.
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
prezjohnnythethirdâ:
âI like to change it up. Bottom line, buddy, Roar Omega Roar is the frat house to join once you get to college. Weâre best of the best. Full of rich history and opportunities,â Johnny said. âWe throw some raging parties too so thatâs always an upside to things. You definitely should consider it at the least.â
Michael was sure his eyes glazed over a bit, both from the obvious promotion and because of the confidence. He had met a few people who were almost an exact copy of a frat boy from films, but never one this close. âOkay, first I have to ask. Are there red cups at these parties and do you play American football at all?â If this guy did, Michael might lose it. A perfect stereotype.
32 notes
·
View notes
Text
To be super honest, most of that had gone in one ear and out the other for Michael. Yeah, it was...possibly an impressive list, but all he could think of was that this guy probably had friends that had thrown Michael around back in high school. Weird. âIs this your...usual pitch to get freshmen in your fraternity, then?â he had to ask, with a raise of an eyebrow. He wasnât about to show up for hazing because someoneâs parents worked in American politics, of all things.
âIâm kind of like Columbia royalty, you know. My parents went there and my grandparents. Iâm a third generation student and president of my fraternity. So, yeah, Iâm kind of a big deal.â Johnny stretched his arms out and rocked back and forth on his heels. âAnd my parents work for the White House as I plan to one day as well. So, if you need connections I got âem.â
32 notes
·
View notes
Text
hubertxduckingtonâ:
He didnât know what else to do. He couldâve texted him but that felt impersonal and he didnât want Michael to just leave him on read. He couldnât handle that. And it could be so easy for him to ignore Huey. But this felt stupid. Going around places where he knew Michael might be. That was⊠that was creepy, right? Like he was a stalker or something.Â
But it worked. There was Michael. Huey sat on one of the steps up the equipment. He gave a half-hearted grin. âHey,â he said with a bit of a wave. He scooted over, giving Michael a place to sit. Huey looked down at his hands in his lap. âI um, I didnât really think this far ahead,â he chuckled nervously. âIâm okay,â he said finally with a bit of a nod. âI⊠Are you okay?â he looked up to him. And dammit, he hated that he did. âIâm not mad at you, but you can be mad at me,â he rushed, having too many things he wanted to say and he was afraid he wouldnât be able to say them all. âI mean, I was a little mad, but I was also mad at myself. I shouldâve just. I dunno, I wish I couldâve answered better. Iâm⊠Iâm sorry.â He paused again. âIn my head, I had a million better ways to say all of that to you but I didnât know how to actually put any of it into words. I just didnât want you to think I was mad at you anymore because I donât think I was ever really mad.â He was just rambling and repeating himself. But he worried if he stopped, he cry again which he didnât want to do at all. He hated crying in front of people.
Michael wished he had something for his hands to do, but since he hadnât thought that heâd be seeing Huey today he hadnât bothered. Instead, as he sat down, he tugged his sleeves into his palms, just for a bit of a guard, before clamping his hands between his knees. He didnât need more marks on his hands. At least...At least Huey apparently didnât know what he was doing, either, and was okay. âGood. That youâre good,â he replied, with his own half nod, an awkward head movement more than anything. âIâm...fine.â It was a decent save, saying âfineâ instead of âmeâ, but there was eye contact and Michael found himself not wanting to immediately look away this time. Even with his throat tightening on him. âYou arenât? Iâm not mad at you.â The fact that Huey wasnât mad at him was what really surprised him, and Michael had felt his eyebrows go up, because that hadnât made much sense. Michael, after all, had started it, hadnât he?
Michael waited quietly until Huey was done, or at least paused, listening and thinking and coming up with answers and just...things to say. He hadnât known what he was going to say. Heâd thought Huey would say not to talk to him again. âItâs okay, Huey. I wouldâve been pretty pissed off if I were you,â he admitted with a shrug, and he spoke slowly because, well, if he didnât heâd fuck it up again, probably. âIâm sorry I made you...well, I didnât handle it any better.â Heâd handled it worse. âI got...scared. For very stupid reasons. And got weird about it. And you donât have to be sorry, âcause I donât think you did anything wrong, really.â He hadnât made Michael cry...at least, not where Michael could be seen. âIâm sorry, though. I shouldnât have done all that. Shouldâve watched the movie.â Shouldâve held his hand.
8 notes
·
View notes