The Best Deceptions (Lyric/Jory)

[Jory Addison]

Jory smiled and shook his head, "No, it's okay. It was nice seeing it." It represented a time from before everything had gone wrong. At that point the only trouble they had had was the headmistress reprimanding them. It said a lot about what they had been through that being reprimanded for something as simple as looking at each other was a small thing.

[Trent Frey]

"I can get rid of the negatives from that one night, if you want," he offered. At some point Jory had given them back, and though he couldn't bring himself to develop them, he hadn't gotten rid of them yet, either. He had more pictures of Jory than Jory would probably guess, but those were from something that didn't exist anymore and never would. It didn't seem right looking at them after all this time.

[Jory Addison]

Jory shook his head, "I don't mind you having them." He really didn't, and he didn't think he really wanted copies of the pictures anymore. "I was such a crappy boyfriend." A self-deprecating smile tried to take over as he glanced up at Lyric. "Have you dated?" He would honestly be surprised if Lyric had, but didn't want to say as much.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric was saved from having to respond to Jory's crappy boyfriend comment, but the question which followed was only marginally less awkward. He looked away. "Not dated," he said, hoping he didn't look as uncomfortable as he felt. "I'm not alone, though." It took real effort not to give Jory a hard, meaningful look as he said it, and somehow he kept the moment's spite out of his voice. What about you? Still sleeping with anything with a d~? Somehow he managed not to say that.

[Jory Addison]

"Well, it's good not to be alone," Jory said. It shouldn't hurt that Lyric was apparently entirely uninterested in him, but they had done so much that it was hard to ignore the twinge. "I...I haven't been with anyone." He looked down again. It wasn't the right flow to just say things about himself, but his other options were to turn around and leave or just keep asking questions. None of them seemed like good choices.

[Trent Frey]

"Really?" Lyric asked, a hint of disbelieving curiosity finding its way past the cool distance he was working so hard to keep up. Slept with everyone, have you? Of all the things he forgot on a daily basis, he hadn't forgotten Jory telling him that he'd already been with this guy or that, so he wasn't going back.

[Jory Addison]

Jory nodded, somewhat surprised at the slight change in Lyric. "I mean, the whole dating thing gets me worried, and sex, well, thinking about sex just makes me think about Emilian. My mum's making me see Kane for it." Maybe he could understand a little better now why Lyric had had such issues.

[Trent Frey]

Any interest Lyric might have had in pursuing any sort of physical relationship with Jory died at that confession. Thinking about sex just makes me think about Emilian. That ruined it, completely ruined it, and since sex was the only thing Jory had ever wanted out of Lyric that he had any hope of giving, that meant there was nothing else. Jory had never been forgiving of his faults, and in return, he had no pity. "Well, you're just screwed, then, aren't you?"

[Jory Addison]

Jory cringed, sinking back into himself in response to the words. "I'm sorry," he managed, immediately looking at anywhere other than in Lyric's direction. "I'll go, I just wanted to say thank you again." He wasn't sure what he had said to trigger the sudden second switch. "I'm glad you're not alone, I hope you're happy with whoever it is." He turned to leave.

[Trent Frey]

"He's a good f~ and nothing else," Lyric called after Jory. "But you know all about that." He pushed away from the counter and drew his wand to flip the window sign to CLOSED. It was defensive; he was protecting himself by throwing up a wall of indifference, but he neither saw it, nor cared. Why should he feel sorry for Jory for being alone when he didn't even want to date? Sex was nothing, it was a way to pass the time, and he didn't need anyone.

[Jory Addison]

"What?" Jory stopped before he reached the door and turned to look at Lyric, confused. "Wait are you saying that you were just sex or something? Because as stupid as I was and as bad a boyfriend as I was, you were definitely more than sex." He hadn't expected anything like this to happen in his considerations of coming to see Lyric.

[Trent Frey]

"I was never gonna be what you wanted me to be," Lyric snapped. "Every guy who's ever f~ed you has just been sex, I was a f~ing failure of a project." Even if Jory hadn't meant him as a project, that's what he'd been. Jory wanted him to be happier and more outgoing, and not to be afraid of being touched, and that was never him, and it would never be him.

[Jory Addison]

"What? No! You were my first, you weren't a project. I'm sorry, I know I was horrible, I know I didn't get you. I was just so stupid about everything," Jory said. He didn't want this kind of conversation, it was too much right now when he hadn't even been talking to anyone. Really the only one he had talked to was Indigo, and that had been fairly easy conversation.

[Trent Frey]

"You didn't even want me if I wouldn't have sex with you the way you wanted. I f~ing changed myself for you, and you blew me off because the only way I could be good enough was with something in my system. Then you went off and got drunk and let some f~ing rapist knock you around just to get some d~ because he made you feel good and I couldn't. Get yourself f~ing beat up, I'll never feel sorry for you!"

[Jory Addison]

Jory wasn't sure exactly what he could say in response for that. Was it even possible to patch this up? He had failed so badly when it came to Lyric and he just kept messing up. His eyes dropped to stare unseeing at the floor. "I'm sorry," he said finally when he was unable to come up with anything even marginally intelligent to say.