VOY A TENER MI VENGANZA

Earlier in senior year; tagging Jimmy

Here is where all threads set in the past belong. This is the place to post your characters' memories, good or bad, major or insignificant. Handlers may have one active memory thread at the same time as their normal active present-day thread. Memory one-shots are always acceptable.
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VOY A TENER MI VENGANZA

#1

Post by backslash »

((Myles Roux continued from Juliette Sargent For Senior Class President))

So, at this point in Myles's life, it didn't really bear repeating that he wasn't crazy about school. That news was older than old, and even Myles himself could only dwell on his dislike for so long. These days he mostly distracted himself from boring classes in whichever ways he could get away with, depending on the teacher: browsing various forums or social media on his phone, chatting with anyone friendly or interesting nearby, or just doodling and daydreaming.

The fact that he couldn't do any of that to pass the time in Mrs. Hernandez's class was a large part of why Spanish class was Myles's least favorite part of his senior schedule. The material wasn't even that hard for him, all things considered, but he couldn't just fake his way through class and then take care of assignments on his own time (or his peer tutor's time, as it were). Mrs. Hernandez was all about that participation grade, and unless she was feeling extremely generous, she didn't let people pick their own groups or partners when she was forcing them to act out scenes and conversations. She never felt generous.

Mrs. Hernandez's favorite method of torture was simple. She kept several sets of paper scraps, one for each of her Spanish classes. On each scrap of paper was a name. She'd dump all of these into a bowl or hat or whatever, and then she'd decide partnerships and groups by drawing names at random. According to her, this was "fair" and "pushed people out of their comfort zones so that they could make new friends and try new things". Myles could have told her that if you had made it through twelve years of school without wanting to be someone's friend, getting stuck with each other like a pair of dolls being smushed together by a toddler wasn't going to change that.

Today, Mrs. Hernandez's evil had manifested swiftly. The students had barely settled in before she started handing out worksheets detailing the feature presentation of today's Spanish Class Amateur Theater; they were going to be working in partners, acting out a waiter and the customer whose order they were taking. There was room for improvisation and some vague promise of bonus points for people who went above and beyond, so basically Myles was going to be making a solid seven out of ten today.

Luck was not smiling on him, either. Most pairs had already been assigned, meaning that most of the desirable partners had been taken, and his name had just now been called.

"Myles and..."

Mrs. Hernandez briefly met his eyes as she fished around in her bowl for just the right piece of paper, and Myles knew that she was enjoying his soon-to-be suffering.

"Lukas!"

Yep. She was enjoying this. Myles very pointedly did not look to see his new partner's reaction.
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."
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jimmydalad
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#2

Post by jimmydalad »

((Lukas Nielson Pregame Memories: Start))

Spanish wasn't the worst, but Lukas would hesitate to say that he enjoyed it. The best way to describe Spanish at George Hunter was unique, though that was more due to the approach to teaching that Mrs Hernandez had more than the actual content being taught. Mrs Hernandez was different from most teachers. She forced engagement out of kids whether they wanted it or not. If it was a case like Ms Prescott, then Lukas would've been more comfortable with it. Unfortunately for Lukas, Mrs Hernandez's method of engagement was through the use of other classmates.

Spanish grades ended up being somewhat of a crapshoot as Mrs Hernandez never let the students choose who to work with. If you ended up with a partner that you worked well with, then that's great. However, if you get lumped together with someone who doesn't give a crap and refuses to cooperate, then your grades got dragged down with theirs and there was nothing you could do about it. As Lukas knew that he wasn't the most popular person in the school, he often ended up with the latter and he'd have to put in twice the effort just to keep up his B grade average.

The rest of the class might not as well matter once the bucket of names came out. Some have nicknamed the container "The Arbiter of Spanish". He was pretty proud of that nickname. The container changed to the whims of the teacher. Sometimes it was a hat, other times it was a bowl. Whatever the container was, when it came out, everyone waited on tenterhooks for their name to be called out, praying to whatever Spanish or education gods there were that they didn't get screwed over by the Arbiter of Spanish. Lukas was no exception to this rule.

As each name that wasn't his got called out, Lukas grew tenser. With each potentially good partner that got taken out of the pool, the sense of dread inside him grew ever more present. Maybe there was a way this situation could be salvaged. It wasn't like all of the good partners got taken out of the pool.

Then his name got called out.

Goddammit.

Lukas held back his instinct to groan as he took a look towards his future partner. Well, seeing his partner's reaction inspired him with so much confidence. It looked like the Arbiter of Spanish decided to give him the big old middle finger today. Fantastic.

As soon as the rest of the groups had been decided, Lukas gathered his things and made his way towards Myles. He wasn't going to let one of Ivy's friends drag down his Spanish grade. It didn't matter if his personality could be charitably described as repugnant, Lukas was going to do his best to salvage this situation. While he couldn't put on a friendly face for him, Lukas could at least manage neutral. It was better than the scowl that threatened to forcibly etch its way onto his face. It didn't take long for Lukas to reach Myles' desk.

"Look, I like this as much as you do, but let's just cooperate on this. I don't want to fail Spanish just cause of the participation grade."

Lukas laid down the terms. He was never going to be friends with him, but maybe he could manage friendly. Or at least, not venomous. That can come later.
[+] Version 7
Relationship Thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36632799/1/

Lukas Nielson - "Yes, Tina Dominica is my mom. No, my life isn't as interesting as you think it is." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o -> o -> o
Memories: o

Millicent "Milly" Rosenberg - "As much as I hate them, at least they make my life interesting." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o
Memories: o

Christine Summers - "Hey, let's just chill and enjoy each other, ok?" - Profile

Pregame: o
Memories: o
[+] Artsy Stuff by Other People
[+] Aria Samuels by Un-Persona
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[+] Lukas Nielson by Kotorikun
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[+] Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
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[+] Cursed Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
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#3

Post by backslash »

"That's a fine hello," Myles sniffed, resting his chin on his hand and giving Lukas a sidelong look as he pulled up to Myles's desk. Like, really? Opening a conversation with a flat-out admission that you didn't like someone and expected the class period to be a drag was what Myles was inclined to call a self-fulfilling prophecy. "I didn't say anything about not cooperating."

While he waited for Lukas to sit down and get his supplies in order, Myles shot a glance up at the front of the room to make sure that Mrs. Hernandez was paying attention to something else, and began texting under the desk with a practiced hand.

To: 🌺🍷🌺
>Bae I'm stuck in spanish & got paired w/ bdsm guy
>Help

Ivy was not going to be willing or able to do anything about it, but complaining always helped Myles feel better. Everything he'd ever heard had told him that Lukas's love life was actually nonexistent, so who knew what he was actually into. What Myles did know was that Lukas talked about sex way too much and too openly with others, the idea of being that open about it around his parents was mortifying, and the idea of his mom doing sex work and everyone knowing about it was horrific. Lukas being so okay with all of that just said something weird about him, and he hung out with the exact wrong crowd for Myles to discount any of that.

Once Lukas had finally gotten settled, Myles picked up the worksheet and idly waved it at him. "So did you want to be 'Emilio' or 'Jose'?" Mrs. Hernandez wrote these scripts herself. Myles sometimes thought that the names and characters were stereotypical, the kind of thing that might get you complaints if you did it on TV today, but she seemed fine with it. Then again, it wasn't like he was expecting great character development in a classroom participation skit.
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."
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jimmydalad
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#4

Post by jimmydalad »

"Well, that's good. So sorry if I hurt your feelings."

There was a possibility that he was being too harsh on Myles, but he quickly shoved any of those feelings of doubt aside. Anyone who associated with Ivy was enough to end up on his shit list and Myles was definitely no exception. He was full of bullshit, one of the biggest gossipers and also looked like an anime roadie reject. More than happy to give him shit for his mother's reputation, he was one of the kids responsible for spreading that information around the school. Still, he could concede that maybe he was letting his feelings get ahead of him.

Lukas spent some time settling in, taking a nearby chair and putting his things on the floor. He noticed Myles texting and sighed quietly to himself. Once again, he was inspired with confience.

Calm down, you can totally do this. Myles at least seems willing to cooperate, so you may as well do the same.

Lukas took a glance at the worksheet that Myles had in his hands. It wasn't like he was desperate for either role. He never fashioned himself as an actor, more as a playwright if he had to foray into the performing arts. The names were stereotypical and didn't really provide insight towards what role corresponded to which. He shrugged as he pondered the names for a second.

"I guess I'll take Jose if you're happy to take Emilio. Don't mind either way." Lukas replied in his best attempt at being friendly towards someone he couldn't tolerate. His face remained neutral, rebelling against his instinct to frown and turn off Myles even more. He just had to remember that he had to be cooperative. Don't be too forceful and give him the option. Better that than him having a hissy fit about the role he got, assuming he cared about that sort of thing.
[+] Version 7
Relationship Thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36632799/1/

Lukas Nielson - "Yes, Tina Dominica is my mom. No, my life isn't as interesting as you think it is." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o -> o -> o
Memories: o

Millicent "Milly" Rosenberg - "As much as I hate them, at least they make my life interesting." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o
Memories: o

Christine Summers - "Hey, let's just chill and enjoy each other, ok?" - Profile

Pregame: o
Memories: o
[+] Artsy Stuff by Other People
[+] Aria Samuels by Un-Persona
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[+] Lukas Nielson by Mimi
Here
[+] Lukas Nielson by Kotorikun
Here
[+] Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Cursed Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Gremlin Christine by Kotori
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#5

Post by backslash »

"Fine by me." Myles was perfectly happy to be the customer rather than the server. At least he was pretty sure Emilio was the customer. Mrs. Hernandez had a habit of writing her scripts and instructions partially in Spanish. Really though, it was just a little skit for class; the main challenge was striking that balance between putting in just enough effort that you weren't made an example to embarrass yourself, and not so much effort that you were made an example because Mrs. Hernandez thought that you were really into pretending to order a salad.

Myles's phone vibrated from where it was perched on his leg beneath the desk.
From: 🌺🍷🌺
omg <
my poor bb <
dont borrow any pencils u dont know where theyve been <

He snorted softly and closed the text window before Lukas could get curious and try to look over at what Myles was laughing at. He'd like to keep Ivy updated, but he didn't trust Lukas to not be an annoying tattletale, and Myles really wasn't feeling having to pick his confiscated phone up from the office at the end of the day.

"So, uh... está... tu restaurante abierto?" Was that the right place to put the verb? Myles was pretty decent at Spanish until he started having to move parts of the sentence around and add a bunch of weird tenses.
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."
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jimmydalad
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#6

Post by jimmydalad »

Things seemed to be going alright so far. That was good. Hopefully, he'd be able to keep this up without losing his mind. He took another look at the instructions on the worksheet. It took a few reads to pull together the relevant vocabulary and words to understand what it meant, but he managed to pick it up eventually. At least he thought he did.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Myles snorting at something, but couldn't really tell what it was. Though it was probably something about him, Lukas decided to drop the subject, at least for now. If he got caught up on every single microaggression targetted towards him, he'd be getting nowhere real fast.

"Uhhh..." Lukas responded at first, the sudden jump to Spanish taking him by surprise. For someone who boasted as being pretty verbose in English, he could say that his Spanish was pretty rudimentary. It wasn't the worst in the class, but Lukas found the sheer number of words, gendered pronouns or whatever they were called and grammar to be confusing. He didn't want to look like an idiot in front of Myles though. Giving him more ammunition to sling at him was not his idea of a good time. He gave a few seconds before responding.

"Uhh.. Sí! El restaurante hmm.. está abierto. ¿Qué ta gustaría?" Lukas said shakily, stumbling over a few words as he tried to pronounce each word correctly. He was pretty sure he was right, right?

An unsure frown stretched over his face as he tried to recall the rest of the script. Why was he taking Spanish again?
[+] Version 7
Relationship Thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36632799/1/

Lukas Nielson - "Yes, Tina Dominica is my mom. No, my life isn't as interesting as you think it is." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o -> o -> o
Memories: o

Millicent "Milly" Rosenberg - "As much as I hate them, at least they make my life interesting." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o
Memories: o

Christine Summers - "Hey, let's just chill and enjoy each other, ok?" - Profile

Pregame: o
Memories: o
[+] Artsy Stuff by Other People
[+] Aria Samuels by Un-Persona
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[+] Lukas Nielson by Mimi
Here
[+] Lukas Nielson by Kotorikun
Here
[+] Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Cursed Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
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[+] Gremlin Christine by Kotori
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#7

Post by backslash »

"Ah, bueno. ¿Tienes algo- no, algún vino?" The script, as far as Myles could make it out, was pretty vague. Enter restaurant, order drinks, order food, make small talk until class ended. Something along those lines. He was ad-libbing a bit, pretty much just picking the first words that popped into his head whenever the script allowed him to add his own flair. It was coming more easily than expected, and he was pleased. At least giving himself a headache over these notes during his last tutoring session had resulted in the information sticking in his brain.

Lukas, on the other hand, seemed shaky. Myles smiled at him in spite of himself, leaning forward to rest his chin on one hand (he kept the other beneath the desk, holding his phone securely on his leg so that it wouldn't fall in case he got another text). It gave him a rare sense of satisfaction to feel like he was doing better than someone else, academically.

"Si no, me gustaría agua. El agua."

El, not la, even though "agua" ended with an "a". Tenses were the hardest part of Spanish for Myles, but having to make inanimate objects masculine or feminine was also annoying. Either it was counter-intuitive to what he thought of when he thought of said objects (wine and beer both being feminine, for example) or it was something he'd literally never thought about assigning gender to. Like water. Whoever was out there deciding whether water was male or female, Myles had some questions for them.
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."
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jimmydalad
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Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:35 pm

#8

Post by jimmydalad »

It annoyed Lukas how much better MIles spoke Spanish. It was just another thing that he could hold over his head. Why couldn't this have been English? If it was English, Lukas would've run metaphorical circles around him. Instead, he was stuck trying to pick scratch together some rudimentary Spanish while Myles smiled smugly at him.

He knew it was a smug smile. This was Myles after all. No point in pretending it was something that wasn't tinged with a little maliciousness and self-importance. Lukas did his best to hold back the glower that threatened to dominate his facial features and managed to furrow his face into a frown as he tried to pass himself off as intensely concentrating on Spanish instead of expressing his hatred at being stuck in his situation.

What wasn't helping the situation was that Myles was adding his own additions to the script, leaving Lukas perplexed at some of the words that he used. He took a quick glance at the worksheet, hoping to see if Mrs. Hernandez wrote anything that he could help him. Sadly she didn't. There was an uncomfortable pause as Lukas tried to parse the wall of foreign words that were sent in his direction. Vino meant, wine, right? Was he asking about wine?

"Uhh tenemos vino uhhh blanco y vinooooooo tinto! Yes! Vino tinto!" He exclaimed, mentally fist pumping as he managed to find the words from the ether that was his brain. Realising that he probably sounded much more excited than he should've been, Lukas sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and he tried to conjure up what to say next.

"¿Qué ta gustaría tenor?"

He probably bungled up the pronunciation. Each word that came out made him more conscious about how subpar his Spanish was. Worst of all, Myles could just sit back and watch as he made a fool of himself. Just how he wanted to spend his time at school.
[+] Version 7
Relationship Thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36632799/1/

Lukas Nielson - "Yes, Tina Dominica is my mom. No, my life isn't as interesting as you think it is." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o -> o -> o
Memories: o

Millicent "Milly" Rosenberg - "As much as I hate them, at least they make my life interesting." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o
Memories: o

Christine Summers - "Hey, let's just chill and enjoy each other, ok?" - Profile

Pregame: o
Memories: o
[+] Artsy Stuff by Other People
[+] Aria Samuels by Un-Persona
Here
[+] Lukas Nielson by Mimi
Here
[+] Lukas Nielson by Kotorikun
Here
[+] Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Cursed Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Gremlin Christine by Kotori
Here
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#9

Post by backslash »

Myles had noticed Lukas's mispronunciation, and he would have pointed it out if he hadn't been preoccupied thinking about what sort of fake food he wanted to order. The first word that had come to mind was "hamburgeusa" but what kind of silly order was wine and a hamburger?

"Me gustaría tener vino tinto con, hm... sopa y ensalada."

There. At least, he hoped he'd ordered soup and salad, not soap and salad. He couldn't quite remember.

Lukas's face suggested that he was on a roller coaster of emotions himself, going from frustration and borderline panic to excitement and back again. It might have been kind of adorable on somebody that Myles liked like, at all. As it was, it was just funny. The real tragedy was that there was no way he could take video of it for later laughs. It was unfair.

Wait, it was still his turn wasn't it. "Um, y yo quiero la comida, ah... rápido. ¿Bueno?"

Man, Myles couldn't wait for the actual lunch period.
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."
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jimmydalad
Posts: 290
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#10

Post by jimmydalad »

Ok, hearing it come out of Myles' mouth, he definitely pronounced it wrong. Lukas made a mental note of how it should've been pronounced and his features formed a grimace as he listened to what Myles wanted to order.

Soap? That didn't sound right. Wait, was that the word for soap? There were two possibilities. One, Myles did say soap and was trying to lure Lukas into a trap to make him look stupid in front of everyone. Two, sopa didn't mean soap and actually meant something else that was a food product. While he wouldn't put it pass Myles to do a former considering he was a complete asshole, it probably wasn't to the degree of ruining his grade just to humiliate Lukas. Honestly, he was doing a good job of humiliating Lukas by just being better at Spanish.

Lukas nodded as Myles continued to talk, the words sort of floating over his head even as he tried to reach for them metaphorically with his brain. At least they were coming towards the end of the skit, he thought. Maybe there was more where he had to pretend to bring the stuff over to Myles. He was very much hoping that was not the case.

"Si, Si. Rapido," Lukas began, using words he was familiar with to buy himself time to actually put together a coherent Spanish sentence. "Uhh te serviré tu comida rápido. Bueno."

He added the bueno at the end mostly cause he didn't really know if the sentence he made up was good enough to answer Myles' bueno. Spanish confused him. The gendered language, how sentences flowed, each different word. For some reason, he never managed to compute how the language worked to the level of some of his other classmates. Like Myles.

After he had finished speaking, he sat awkwardly for a few seconds.

"I think that's it? Do we have anything else to do?"

There was still a bit of class left according to the clock on the wall. He didn't believe either of them were trying to get A's or anything so there was no need to go through it again. At least that's what he was banking on. For once, he was banking on apathy to win the day and make this lesson slightly less awful than it already was. Lukas wasn't sure he could handle another session of Myles spinning Spanish words around him.
[+] Version 7
Relationship Thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36632799/1/

Lukas Nielson - "Yes, Tina Dominica is my mom. No, my life isn't as interesting as you think it is." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o -> o -> o
Memories: o

Millicent "Milly" Rosenberg - "As much as I hate them, at least they make my life interesting." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o
Memories: o

Christine Summers - "Hey, let's just chill and enjoy each other, ok?" - Profile

Pregame: o
Memories: o
[+] Artsy Stuff by Other People
[+] Aria Samuels by Un-Persona
Here
[+] Lukas Nielson by Mimi
Here
[+] Lukas Nielson by Kotorikun
Here
[+] Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Cursed Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Gremlin Christine by Kotori
Here
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#11

Post by backslash »

To: 🌺🍷🌺
>Wish u were here omg

Myles fired off that text with just a few quick glances down as Lukas stumbled over his words and then closed the window again, reasonably confident that he'd evaded notice. "Hm? Oh yeah, I think that's probably it. I guess we should act like we're still doing something though just in case Mrs. Hernandez decides to start calling people up to the front if she thinks they're done."

He'd actually needed to send Ivy the text because seeing Lukas, normally so smug and confident that he was better at words than everyone else, stumbling around while Myles coasted along was just funny, and he wanted to share it. It was frustrating that he couldn't risk sending a better message to explain himself, since now that he thought about it, his message probably came off like distress following their previous texts. Ah well.

"Done anything fun lately? ¿Que pasa?" He threw in the second sentence for a little plausible deniability if Mrs. Hernandez should happen by. Okay, and because he wanted to see Lukas squirm some more. Smug academic jerk.
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."
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jimmydalad
Posts: 290
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 3:35 pm

#12

Post by jimmydalad »

It was pretty obvious to Lukas that he didn't have Myles' undivided attention with his butchering of the Spanish language. When all you're doing is looking at the other person while trying to converse with them in another language, you pick up on the fact that the person isn't making eye contact and has their attention elsewhere. Not that he wanted to make eye contact for a long period of time with Myles. He wouldn't be surprised if there was some Ivy-induced seed inside his mind that exacerbated the vapid and gossipmongering aspects of a person's personality. Heck, it probably was contagious with the number of flies the rafflesia that was Ivy attracted.

Not like he had any better plans though, so he might as well go along with things. He slouched in his seat as he looked out of the corner of his eye to see what Mrs Hernandez was doing. She seemed to be still at her desk, buried under piles of papers that she had her head deep in with occasional looks up to check that the class was actually doing their work. Should be easy to look convincing enough that she didn't raise her eyebrow or give her that look that everyone in class knew she gave to those she felt like weren't contributing enough.

Lukas raised his eyebrow, already cautious about Myles' intentions. Myles never had good intentions. He was a grade A shit-stirrer who took any opportunity to verbally take down someone he disliked. Obviously, this special group of people included Lukas himself. It really didn't take much to put two and two together.

"Nah, my life's been pretty boring."

He wasn't 100% sure what Myles' plan was, but he certainly wasn't going play his game. He'd been painfully smug this entire class and Lukas wasn't going to let him get away with it. Spanish was becoming the least of his concerns now. He could be mature. He should be mature. At the same time though, the time just seemed so right. Myles wasn't surrounded by Ivy and her crew. He was ripe for the picking.

"How about you? How's your life living as an accessory to the rich and famous? It's about as close you'll ever be so you might as well make the most of it, right?"

Lukas smiled smugly in Myles's direction. The words came out so casually and though there was a tinge of regret that came with stooping to probable level of Myles, it felt so good at the same time.
[+] Version 7
Relationship Thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36632799/1/

Lukas Nielson - "Yes, Tina Dominica is my mom. No, my life isn't as interesting as you think it is." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o -> o -> o
Memories: o

Millicent "Milly" Rosenberg - "As much as I hate them, at least they make my life interesting." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o
Memories: o

Christine Summers - "Hey, let's just chill and enjoy each other, ok?" - Profile

Pregame: o
Memories: o
[+] Artsy Stuff by Other People
[+] Aria Samuels by Un-Persona
Here
[+] Lukas Nielson by Mimi
Here
[+] Lukas Nielson by Kotorikun
Here
[+] Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Cursed Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Gremlin Christine by Kotori
Here
User avatar
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Posts: 1950
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:39 am

#13

Post by backslash »

Lukas took the bait beautifully. The jab was a brief sting; it didn't roll off Myles's back as easily as he would have liked, but it didn't last long, either. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. The important thing was that the hooks were in. Lukas couldn't back off now unless he conceded a sort of defeat.

Anyway, whipping out the "you'll never amount to anything" argument right off the bat was an amateur move. You had to build up to that kind of thing. For someone who thought he was so good at verbal combat, Lukas was already doing badly.

If there was one thing Myles was good at, it was keeping his real feelings off of his face. He matched Lukas's smile. "You think so? I guess I'd rather have something to make the most of than... whatever it is that's going on with you and yours, then." He flicked one hand dismissively before tucking a stray lock of hair behind his ear.

His phone vibrated again, but he ignored it for now. Hopefully Ivy wouldn't take it as too bad a sign.

"Oh right, you said there was nothing." Nothing but whatever Lukas's mom had gotten up to lately, but that was also something to keep in reserve until the right time. There were no stakes here besides entertainment and avoiding having to do a presentation for the rest of the class period.

"I dunno what I expected, honestly, but I thought it'd be nice to ask if anything was up. You've been awfully prickly today."
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."
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jimmydalad
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#14

Post by jimmydalad »

Lukas kept on smiling back at Myles, his face becoming a reflection of Myles'. He hid the regret that was starting to grow ever stronger inside him. He did stoop to Myles' level and now he was playing his game. A game that Myles was good at. Lukas had the gift of the tongue, but normally he stayed away from passive-aggressiveness and pettiness that Myles loved to dredge himself in like a pig in a trough. In the moment, he felt good, but with each passing second, he was wishing he had held his tongue for just that little bit longer.

He wasn't going to lose, at least not without a fight. He'd given Myles more than enough humiliation ammunition this class alone. Losing pathetically in a fight he picked would make things worse. Even if Myles was proficient in the social game, he wasn't going to roll over and die like that.

Lukas chuckled at Myles' responses, his saccharine smile never breaking even as Myles tried to dismiss the friendship he had with Gaelan and the others. He tried to open his posture, refusing to show weakness in the face of the offence that Myles was pumping at him. It was certainly clever on his part. Play the role of the innocent just being polite even though there were much darker intentions behind his words. He wasn't stupid enough to fall into that trap.

"You know me, I have an awfully low tolerance to bullshit," Lukas replied simply, leaning back in his seat in a display of confidence. "I'm sure you're smart enough to put two and two together."

He had kept his voice low, sneaking occasional looks towards Mrs Hernandez to make sure she wasn't paying attention to them. It was a tenuous tightrope to walk on trying to keep the facade of friendly conversation up even with the daggers that were being thrown. He was pretty sure he could keep it up and though he did hope that he could at least make a dent in Myles' armour, he reckoned that Myles would have no difficulty in keeping it up on his end either.

"I mean, I'm just waiting for the hammer to drop. Cause there is always a hammer with the group you associate with. You have personally have been in so many social circles that the concept of loyalty must be as foreign as Spanish is to me. You or Ivy's gonna make a mistake sooner or later. Even though you're... you, a part of me does want to look out for you. I just feel like your taste in friends is gonna end up hurting you sooner or later. I mean, Ivy is one thing. But Wyatt and Faith as well? You're just asking for it."

Towards the end, he put on a look of faux concern towards Myles. While this certainly was a grimy way to pass the time, it was better than bumbling his way through Spanish.
[+] Version 7
Relationship Thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36632799/1/

Lukas Nielson - "Yes, Tina Dominica is my mom. No, my life isn't as interesting as you think it is." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o -> o -> o
Memories: o

Millicent "Milly" Rosenberg - "As much as I hate them, at least they make my life interesting." - Profile

Pregame: o -> o
Memories: o

Christine Summers - "Hey, let's just chill and enjoy each other, ok?" - Profile

Pregame: o
Memories: o
[+] Artsy Stuff by Other People
[+] Aria Samuels by Un-Persona
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[+] Lukas Nielson by Mimi
Here
[+] Lukas Nielson by Kotorikun
Here
[+] Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
Here
[+] Cursed Milly Rosenberg by Mimi
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[+] Gremlin Christine by Kotori
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Posts: 1950
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:39 am

#15

Post by backslash »

Oh this was precious. Was that supposed to be a threat? Some kind of put-down badly disguised as concern? Lukas sounded like a bad PSA about bullying. Ignoring the fact that Faith and Wyatt were definitely not Myles's friends and none of them pretended otherwise, Myles could have told Lukas a thing or two about the quote-unquote "loyalty" of Gaelan and company. It was almost painfully obvious that Lukas was in over his head if he wanted to have a go at Myles with that.

Or.

Wait.

Hold the phone just a minute.

Lukas couldn't be hitting on him.

"A part of me does want to look out for you"? If it was a jab, it was a bad one. If it was some kind of weird... other thing, it was worse. That plus the overdone doe eyes sure was painting some kind of picture. Maybe Lukas really was just that bad at this. It was the more likely scenario.

But Option B was the funnier one.

"What, really? I had no idea you cared so much." Myles's words took on a lilting tone. It was less intentional than one might think; he was trying not to laugh. "You should have said something sooner if you wanted to hang out. I could have taught you a few things about Spanish."

Ivy was going to have a field day when Myles finally texted her back.
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."
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