From: mightbeclever	Date: January 5th, 2011 12:01 am (UTC)		(Link)

Leon's eyes cut to the side as he heard Jake speak to him. It was little more than an annoying buzz over the sound of Placebo's My Sweet Prince floating out of his headphones as he plucked them from his ears.

"Why are you following me," he asked, cutting the other boy off with a raised hand. "Is there something you need?" He didn't know what he'd done to get this kids attention, but he wished he could go back and undo it.

	From: jake_frost	Date: January 5th, 2011 12:36 am (UTC)		(Link)

Wow, he was going to really make this tough, Jake groaned inwardly. Trying to stay positive and keep a smile on his face, Jake replied to the grumpy senior, “Just need a little friendly company, is all, Leon…”, he added a shrug and tried to throw in the puppy dog eyes without looking too obvious.

Then, hearing the music blasting through Leon’s earpieces, Jake knit his eyebrows and then looked at Leon in surprise, “Placebo? You like Placebo? Nice! That’s My Sweet Prince you’re listening to, right?”, he jerked his thumb back towards Rienzi House, “I was just listening to Then the Clouds Will Open for Me in the shower!”

	From: mightbeclever	Date: January 5th, 2011 12:51 am (UTC)		(Link)

Making it 'tough' would have been an understatement. Leon's brow knotted up as he tilted his head back and looked at the smiling blond carefully. "Friendly company?" He asked, skeptically. It wasn't as if the guy could be that far out of the loop, was it? Leon and 'friendly company' were two concepts that rarely went hand in hand. "Think you've got the wrong person for that, mate."

It was a simple enough rejection, though when the conversation turned to music, Leon frowned a little more. "They're alright," he said, eyeing Jake as if he were some sort of animal to be wary of. "And yeah...." He paused again, caught between turning away from Jake and staring at him curiously. "I don't have that one," he added after a moment, reaching down to turn his ipod off.

	From: jake_frost	Date: January 5th, 2011 01:20 am (UTC)		(Link)

When Leon seemed surprised to have been called friendly company and told him he had the wrong person, Jake couldn’t hold back a snort and then a belly laugh, as he patted the shorter boy on the shoulder. He wasn’t sure why that was so funny; it just came off as entirely adorable for Leon to be promoting his image as the resident Grinch. Besides, Jake had lived his life being treated like garbage by two older brothers…his thick skin wasn’t even dented by Leon’s attempted brush off.

Jake was actually enjoying the very curious looks that Leon was throwing his way; the evil Shaw twin obviously thought him mad as the proverbial hatter. Jakob’s pale blue eyes scanned Leon’s mop of unruly, dirty-blond hair and wondered what delicious secrets lurked beneath. “I can burn you a copy, if you like”, Jake offered, “It’s no problem…”

	From: mightbeclever	Date: January 5th, 2011 05:29 am (UTC)		(Link)

Leon felt like he'd just landed in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Jakob Frost was patting him on the shoulder, and smiling as if he'd made some funny jest; all while Leon stared at him as if he'd sprouted a third head.

"...If I say yes, will you leave me alone?" He asked, almost dumbly as he stared at Jake more. There was something uncomfortable about the way the other boy was looking at him; it made the hair on the back of his neck stand. He didn't even like the way a little touch made his nerve sound off, as if something exciting was about to happen.

I'm not high enough for this, he thought to himself, glancing to the side to see if anyone else were about to witness this.

	From: jake_frost	Date: January 5th, 2011 01:22 pm (UTC)		(Link)

”…If I say yes, will you leave me alone?” This remark almost brought another chuckle from Jake, but he was really trying to control himself, because he could tell he was really freaking poor Leon out. What he couldn’t contain, though, was his Cheshire cat-like grin; it practically spread from ear to ear…and how could he help himself? Leon was so damned cute in his grumpy assed, fuck the world way.

“Welllll, I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep, but I will do my best to respect your personal space…”, he gave him another quick pat on the back, “…in the future, that is.”

Jake caught Leon’s glance to the side and wondered if the boy knew that Jake was bi. He didn’t hide it and had dated both girls and boys at CCI. Jake didn’t do the commitment thing though; no monogamy for him. Could Leon be worrying that he’d be seen with Jake and people would get the wrong impression?

“Ummmm…You could come hang in my room while I burn it for you. My roomie is out visiting his girlfriend. He won’t be back until very late tonight. You could check out the rest of my CDs…you know…see if there is anything else you want me to burn for you”, Jake looked at Leon expectantly.

	From: mightbeclever	Date: January 5th, 2011 05:37 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"Why would I want to hang out in your room? What are you, a fag?" He knew who Jake was, even without the kid admitting it. It wasn't any newer than Vinnie's presence in the world, but at least Vinnie and Leon had a mostly mutual understanding- they avoided each other. "Just email it. I don't need the CD."

He put his earphones back in before pulling his ipod out to flip through his assorted collection of music. He was feeling the need for something heavier, he thought, with the way his nerves felt tense. Maybe a little Korn would help, yeah?

Now he just had to get the damn thing to stop on K.

	From: jake_frost	Date: January 5th, 2011 09:55 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Jakob took the insult and the rebuke with a calm smile and a determined sigh. People assumed that he was a harmless fool and he wanted it that way, but the truth was far different. He studied people, like some anthropologists studied primates. This all came about because of his fucked up childhood, Poor little rich boy, he mused. Leon’s behavior was classic, at least to him; his ranting and raving hatred of gays and yet the way he checked Jake out…and he was check Jake out. It takes one to know one, crossed through the Rienzi’s mind, as he stood squarely in front of Leon.

Looking down at Leon, as he fumbled with the ipod, Jake quickly snatched it out of his hands and pulled the plugs from the boy’s ears, “I’ll hold this for a moment”, he stated in a low, calm voice, so as not to draw attention to them, “I’ll give it back when I’ve had my say.” He then slipped the ipod in his front jean’s pocket, knowing Leon would die before he went digging in his pocket out in public. Jake wasn’t afraid to do this either; he was a 2nd dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do, not that he’d use it on Leon.

After making sure the ipod was tucked away snuggly, Jakes eyes climbed back up to lock on Leon’s eyes, “That was pretty good, Leon…”, he spoke in a calm low voice, still, so no one could hear, “…I’ve been insulted and slurred all my life, by my very own brothers.” He waved his fingers, “Come on, don’t stop with fag. get it all out…faggot, queer, poof, cocksucker, fudgepacker, cumjockey, sissyboy, nancy, pansy…come on, give it all to me. Maybe if you call me those names, it will make you feel less gay, right?”

He crossed his arms and just looked at Leon for a minute, “What did you think I was going to do, dude? Take you to my room, lock the door and dance for you in a thong…to some cheesy old disco music?” The visual hit him for a minute and he almost grinned, but he contained it. “Did you think for one second that I might just want to invite you up to talk? Be friendly?” He shrugged, “Man, Leon, you’re cute, but I’m no sleaze and I’m not a rapist.”

	From: mightbeclever	Date: January 6th, 2011 04:34 am (UTC)		(Link)

Leon tensed when his ipod was taken from him, his sleepy brain not even sure what the hell was going on anymore. For most people telling them to piss off and glaring was enough to make them back off and leave him be. He wasn't looking for friends, and he certainly wasn't looking for this. So why was Jakob Frost so damn persistent?

His eyes narrowed, though, as he watched Jake tuck his ipod into his pocket. Crossing his arms over his chest, he arched a brow even, as if the whole conversation had become nothing more than a silly, boring lecture.

"Yeah? Maybe I'm not feeling creative today, mate." Leon said with a near growl. His mood, he realized, wasn't helped by the lack of sleep, but that wasn't Jake's concern. "And I didn't think you'd dance in a thong, you fucking poof. But now that you say it, it is fucking disgusting that you'd even think it up. Give me back my ipod, now, and will go about our merry fucking ways. I'm not looking to be you cocksucking mate, and I'm not gay. So go find some ass-twat to get your jollies off with, and leave me the bloody fuck alone."

He held out his hand, waiting for his ipod to be returned.

	From: jake_frost	Date: January 6th, 2011 01:25 pm (UTC)		(Link)

After Leon’s nasty little rant at him, Jake smiled, “That was pretty good, Leon! I knew you could do better than just plain fag.” Crossing his arms and giving Leon a serious look of concern now, Jake soothed, “You can hate me if you want, Leon, but you can’t make me hate you. I’m sorry, but what I see in your eyes, is someone who is a big ball of hurt inside and who is down deep, a nice guy…”, he shrugged, “…granted, you’ve buried that guy very deep with self hatred.”

Looking around to make sure no one was close enough to hear, Jake continued, “Self-loathing will tear you up inside, Leon. I know, okay?” He watched as the wind blew strands of the senior’s dirty-blond hair over his strained and angry face; he wanted so bad to reach out and caress the boy’s cheek gently and sooth away his cares.

Finally, Jake knew he had to know when to say enough. He couldn’t hold Leon out here forever against his will; that just wasn’t right. He sadly reached into his pocket and placed the ipod into Leon’s outstretched hand. “I’m sorry I annoyed you, dude, but if you ever want to talk…confidentially…my room is in the Rienzi House, Room 303.”

	From: mightbeclever	Date: January 6th, 2011 07:04 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Leon felt the anger start to boil. It wasn't that Jake was calm, or had reached out to be a friend, or even remotely made Leon uncomfortable. It was the idea that Jake knew anything about him that pissed Leon off. He already had a therapist, did he really need Jakob Frost to come along and be another one?

"What the fuck do you know about me?" He asked, snatching his ipod up with a growl. "You think you can read a few fucking book, and know all the ins and outs of a person? News flash, cunt, I don't need to talk to you, and I don't need you trying to figure me out. Don't you have little friends run around with? Play tea party with, and all that?"

He scoffed a little, turning finally to walk away. Again he stuffed his headphones into his ears, flipping his ipod around to the first loud song he could find. Maybe he'd stop by Lalaurie's dorms before going up to his own room; see if Sim had anything for sleeping.

	From: jake_frost	Date: January 6th, 2011 10:51 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Leon thought that Jake was patronizing him, but he wasn’t; Jake had been there. He saw the rage in Leon’s eyes and knew the source, “I’m so sorry, Leon…”, a tear escaped and rolled down his cheek, a tear for the tortured boy before him, not for himself, “…I don’t understand because of any books. I understand, because I’ve been there.”

Jake knew he couldn’t save this situation; he’d totally mishandled the situation and fucked it up royally. He meant to help, but Leon was livid and there was no helping that now. As the angry senior turned, Jake sighed again, “I’m sorry…”

He stood there and watched Leon’s back, hearing the loud music, even through the ear buds; he dropped his head and tried to collect his thoughts, before he went anywhere. He didn’t want to run into someone and get all choked up over nothing when they started talking to him. He sat down right where he stood…he should have never left his room.