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 Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 9:29 am
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:20 pm
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:42 pm
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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:12 am
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 ❛There he laid looking at me in a way no one had ever looked at me.
My hands were shaking as I explained my knotted past. I will not always be easy to hold onto, for my heart is scattered with thorns.
Some nights I will be quiet and he won't know how to pull me out of my weeded mind. Some nights I will forget what he sees in me and lose my balance.
Some nights I will trip over my own feet and apologize for the mess I made.
On those nights the one thing that will drag me out of my own labyrinth is that look. No one has ever looked at me quite like that.❜
▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
I'm feeling nervous. || I'm speaking to a stranger. || I'm wearing something casual || I have $200 on me and $800 stashed in the bank. || I have feelings for no one.
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The weather had been gloomy, leaving him trapped in the confinements of his quiet house. It had been dark, then, filled only by the occasional flash of lightning, lighting up every corner of his room and the dark alley way of downtown's streets. Baby blues had been opened for days, invited by not a wink of sleep throughout the storming weather, and the flash flooding of the city streets despite taking his prescription pills, though there were short moments in-between where he wondered if he had fallen asleep. When there came a day he'd catch a full night's sleep, having increased his doses on his own, he'd find himself struggling to straighten his footsteps, washed over by a new-found sense of light-headedness as he dragged his heavy body to the living room. Eventually, regardless if the sleeping pills had worked on him, the young man who was now psychologically dependant on the medication could no longer sleep without it, leaving him anxious of the deafening silence of nightfall. Where the only sounds welcoming his ears were the ticking seconds of his clock and the occasional drip of the loose toilet faucet, like a loud gunshot against his eardrums. But Hope could not complain, knowing it was an exchange he had willingly made to be alive.
His footsteps came to a stop before the a young man with strips of tickets gathered by his feet, dulled baby blues lifted, casting his gaze onto the swift movements of the wrist, the way long, slender fingers gathered the basketball within the grasp of his hand, the way it pushed against the rough, brown surface as he took a quick, yet accurate shot through the hoop. Hues of blue glistened, half amazed, and half drowsy both from the man's skilled methods, and the lingering side effects of his medication.
”Καταπληκτική..” Amazing. he murmured, his tone laced with a sense of wonder one second, before it took on a one hundred eighty degree change the next. His cheeks flushed a delicate shade of pink, dusted with light brown freckles like gold fallen leaves in mid-autumn. ”I—I’m sorry-“ He raised his hands, quickly dismissing himself as darkened, nervous hues downcast onto his black, leather slip-ons, worn around the side of its rubber edges. Releasing a bout of nervous chuckles, Hope lifted his gaze, and without meeting his eyes, they fell upon the shape of his broader shoulders. His avoidant gaze already revealing the lack of confidence in him as a person.
”You- This- I just— I just thought you were really good, that’s all-“
▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
Out.Of.Crocodiles:
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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:16 am
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:43 am
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❛There he laid looking at me in a way no one had ever looked at me.
My hands were shaking as I explained my knotted past. I will not always be easy to hold onto, for my heart is scattered with thorns.
Some nights I will be quiet and he won't know how to pull me out of my weeded mind. Some nights I will forget what he sees in me and lose my balance.
Some nights I will trip over my own feet and apologize for the mess I made.
On those nights the one thing that will drag me out of my own labyrinth is that look. No one has ever looked at me quite like that.❜
▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
I'm feeling nervous. || I'm speaking to Mark. || I'm wearing something casual || I have $200 on me and $800 stashed in the bank. || I have feelings for no one.
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Despite leading peaceful days ever since five or six years ago, the trauma of the constant and excessive bullying had stuck with him as a person, drilling both the lack of confidence, and timidity into his personality. Ostracized, and bullied both in school, and in his abusive household, he would be yelled at over the smallest of matters, be it their gaze meeting, or simply just being around in general. He had always been bullied for being feminine, for being the scrawny, quiet, odd boy in class. Eventually contributing to his fearful, and closed off personality, much alike a scared mouse.
Hunched shoulders, avoidant gaze and an overall withdrawn posture, his body language screamed of a lack of confidence. Hope tugged against the edges of his lengthy sleeve, hiding his small horizontal keloid scar beneath the black wrist band he wore. Flinching at the sound of his voice, Hope braced himself, only hesitantly lifting his gaze when the young man's tone held not a single trace of malice. Baby blues met shades of light grey, like the colour of a rain cloud warning the city of an oncoming storm, curtained by long dark lashes as though he was staring at the sky through a forest of pine trees. It lacked colour, yet the half cyborg thought it was beautiful nonetheless. Noting the similar body language, and the equal bashfulness, the tension eased, and Hope found his gaze slowly lifting to meet the stranger's. ”T-That’s very cool!” his eyes lit up, like the slow light of a match stick. ”I’ve never been good at sports, so..” his voice quieted. It wasn't hard to guess at all from his stature that he was the type who'd always get picked last in gym class, or the type that'd always call in sick to school, that'd always be the one falling ill. Hope, or Mikael, for that matter never really had a healthy body, and neither does he now.
Catching his movements, Hope's eyes followed, eventually falling upon the vacant machine to his right. "You..wanna play against each other?", and he would seem just a tad surprised, for the first time in a while, invited to a game, or remotely anything at all at this point. Hesitating, he'd part his lips to protest, yet not a single word could leave his lips, other than a quiet okay as his footsteps carried him over to the machine. Pale cheeks were dusted a delicate shade of pink, half excited, and half nervous as he rummaged his pockets for a small pouch he had self-sewn within the past couple of weeks.
”Mark.” he repeated, trying the name, and eventually getting hooked on the way it rolled smoothly off his tongue. ”Mark.” he repeated again, this time, his tone was half laced with wonder and delight, learning the fourth name since he moved to Soleil nearly half a year ago. It always felt new to him, always came as a wonder he could add to his collections: Names. Realising that perhaps he may have been rubbing the other person the wrong way, the young man was quick to shut himself up, allowing the name to carve itself within the depths of his mind.
”H-Hope. Mr—My grandpa calls me Hope.” he answered, tossing his change into the machine.
▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
Out.Of.Crocodiles:
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 5:24 pm
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 Mark HyunWith: Another man l Activity: Basketball arcade game l Status: Healthy l Relationship Status: SingleMark stood there awkwardly rubbing his arm a bit as he remembered his school days. Time spent on the court was about the only time that he didn't have to worry about bullies bearing down on him. Thankfully with just a bit of practice the half Korean man had become very reliable and rather good at the game. However he was never quite able to shake the bullies since despite his effort he couldn't become a jock like the others at his school. Mark would mentally shake those thoughts from his head, he wasn't in school anymore. His therapist warned him against dwelling on the past and he was going to take their words seriously. Instead he focused on the other, much lither yet only slightly taller man before him and shook his head a bit at the compliment "Thanks but it's...not really much a big deal..." he downplayed his time playing basketball as nothing much. Mark was just never able to take a compliment for what it was and had to argue against it, almost like he felt like he didn't deserve to be complimented.
The younger man perked up just a bit and shook his head before turning to his own game next to him and motioned to the hoop "I..it's not that hard..um..you just have to watch how hard you eh...throw it..." he then nodded his head a bit as he focused on playing around with he change in his pocket, pretending to fish for a quarter as his gaze lowered back to the ground "I mean...y..you don't have to...I..just thought..." Mark thought that maybe someone would be interested in joining him and maybe he could actually socialize and make a friend. Mark only knew one person, a neighbor who he only spoke to for twenty minutes the other day before she vanished into the storm. However the sound of the other softly saying OK made Mark a bit more excited than it normally should, but his therapist did say to enjoy the little things in life so he'd do just that. Just as he was about to put his own quarter in he dared to lift his gaze back to the other when he heard his name repeated twice. Said man would notice he wasn't actually calling for him and was just speaking it, maybe to remember it? Mark would then blink a bit at the others introduction but more so he now noticed just how blue Hope's eyes were, like sapphires "You're eyes are really pretty Hope..." he complimented without much filter or thought about how weird it must have sounded coming from a total stranger you just met. As soon as he realized what he said Mark's cheeks turned pink from embarrassment and instead stuck the quarter into the machine as both came to life, initiating the challenge between players. The smaller basketballs would be released and the game would begin with Mark quickly grabbing the first ball and missing, a bit frazzled at himself for blurting that compliment out just a second ago. |
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 4:36 am
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❛There he laid looking at me in a way no one had ever looked at me.
My hands were shaking as I explained my knotted past. I will not always be easy to hold onto, for my heart is scattered with thorns.
Some nights I will be quiet and he won't know how to pull me out of my weeded mind. Some nights I will forget what he sees in me and lose my balance.
Some nights I will trip over my own feet and apologize for the mess I made.
On those nights the one thing that will drag me out of my own labyrinth is that look. No one has ever looked at me quite like that.❜
▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
I'm feeling embarrassed. || I'm speaking to Mark. || I'm wearing something casual || I have $200 on me and $800 stashed in the bank. || I have feelings for no one.
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Baby blues darkened and lowered briefly, noting the oddly similar traits the both of them held. Unconfident, bashful, shy, and timid. Had this always been the way he came off to others? And for a brief moment, Hope was curious of his backstory, if he had been through the same thing. Hope paused, releasing his grip from the long sleeves of his light brown, oversized sweater before feeling the slow stretch of a small smile against the corners of his pale, cherry pink lips. ”Then.. maybe not.” he turned to the machine, running his fingers along the red patterns along the cold surface of its metal built, cold, dusted with faint indents and scratches from frustrations of previous players, worn, as though it had been around since the beginning of its launch. ”But that's okay, I think it's cool.” his voice was answered in a tone spoken barely above a quiet whisper, yet aloud enough to fall upon his ears, though it was easily missed by inattentive ears. Regardless if it had been a big deal or not, Hope found wonder in the smallest of things: be it sewing, or even running a full course of track and field without warning any medals, or simply just acing a simple test, they came off to the young half cyborg like a huge achievement, something he felt people should be proud of. But he would not utter a single word, knowing he was prone to downplaying himself, just as Mark had to his remarkable score.
Taking the young man's advice, his eyes returned to the machine when the music begun to play, and the bars lowered, releasing the basketballs from its metal confinements. Slender fingers reached for the ball, bringing it up to his eye-level. His surroundings fell silent, shutting out the rest of the world when Mark's compliment came like a sudden crack of fireworks, like the sudden pop of a small cracker. “Your eyes are really pretty Hope...” and like a broken record, it repeated in his head, causing a delicate flush to cloud his freckled cheeks. Without proper control, his hands pushed against the ball, sending it beeline against the edge of the rim at a frantic impulse with a loud thump, followed by a hard impact against a solid metal when the ball returned and crashed against the side of his head, leaving the young man clutching his head in pain, and equally overwhelmed by both the embarrassment of a compliment, and a sudden wave of dizziness. Baby blues flashed a bright shade of crimson by the sudden pain, eventually dulling into a dark shade of navy blue, before it lightened back into a bright shade of sapphire.
”P—Pretty?” he exclaimed, deepening the redness of his cheeks, as frantic baby blues struggled to find a place to settle, eventually landing upon his own black slip-ons.
”N-No one ever told me it was p-pretty..”
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Out.Of.Crocodiles:
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 6:12 am
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Mark HyunWith: Hope l Activity: Basketball arcade game l Status: Healthy l Relationship Status: SingleMark was pointedly not looking in Hope's direction as he threw his second ball, this time scoring a point unlike his first attempt. He was internally beating himself up at his mindless comment. Why on earth had he said that? Hope probably thought he was a total weirdo now! But then another part of him pointed out how similar the two were in many ways so maybe he'd understand? It was quite surprising to meet someone who was just as bashful as he was, usually if he met someone it was a girl who was shy and timid not another man, no matter how feminine he seemed. It made him think of the other as a possible kindred spirit of sorts, at least that's what he thought although there was no way to know for sure right now since they were still stranger. Still though despite how quiet the other was Mark was just able to catch the others insistence on his prowess in basketball. It was kind of nice, even if he disagreed with it. However the younger man's attention was soon drawn to the other man when he heard a loud thud from next to him, seeing the ball bounce clean off Hope's head "A..are you OK!?" he quickly turned away from his own game to look at Hope whom was clutching his head. These balls were really solid and well inflated so no doubt it must have hurt but how hard had he thrown the basketball? Mark had even warned him about throwing it too hard. He must have reacted negatively to the compliment, it wouldn't be the first time someone did "I..um..I'm sorry! I shouldn't haveopenedmybigmouth and..." Mark began rambling with an apologetic look, only to be stopped when he heard the other's exclamation and he could feel his own cheeks turn back to their pink color from moments earlier.
He'd soon begin to start rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, now making sure his own gray eyes were glued to his shoes, unable to even attempt to meet the others gaze "Well...y..yeah...blue's my favorite color and well...your eyes are...pretty..." Mark would then be taken by surprise when Hope informed him that nobody ever complimented his eyes before he stopped rubbing his neck and now stuck his hands in his pockets "Well...they are and...yeah..." Mark was about as smooth as sandpaper but at least he made an attempt at complimenting others. However the sound of an alarm blaring caught his attention as the basketball game announced his victory because he scored one point. He'd then notice the now nicely sized pile of tickets by his feet and he'd bend over to pluck them from the ground before finally forcing himself to lift his gaze up to Hope's face "Do you...wanna play...some other games?" Mark offered the other man since it seemed like the basketball game might not have been such a good option for them to play. He also offered on the possibility that he could make a friend, something he was painfully lacking at the moment. |
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