Real World (Lyric/Jory)

[Jory Addison]

Jory had taken his time coming back up to the castle, fighting tears. So stupid. He had spent so much time in the past avoiding that label, trying to keep himself above it. But as time passed, it just seemed more true. When he got into the entrance hall he crossed his arms tightly over himself again as he turned down a corridor, hoping to find an empty room. He didn't have anything with him but a stack of cards but he knew it would be enough to get his mind lost.

He just shouldn't have gone. He could have written a letter, or just told himself that Lyric knew he was grateful. Thinking in would haves and could haves and should haves was pointless, but he couldn't keep them from chasing one another around in his head. Maybe he should go talk to Kane. That idea was quickly banished. He didn't want to go and cry in that office. No, he wanted to go hide away and convince himself that things could at least reset back to neutral if they didn't get better.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric was storming toward the front of the castle without a thought beyond getting out and getting away. F~ Keith, f~ everyone who wanted him to trust them blindly, then threw it back in his face when he actually needed something. He was stupid believing any of it, stupid getting close to the bastard, telling him things, believing he'd been accepted and forgetting that they were just f~ing, and only once every couple weeks at that.

He didn't need anyone. He wanted to get wasted. He wanted to go to London and blow the money he'd been saving for a real bed and some toys on a night he could forget. He could get what he got from Keith anywhere.

[Jory Addison]

Jory heard the stomping of someone approaching and he looked up, half ready to tell whoever it was off whether they were doing something wrong or not, but his words caught in his throat when he actually saw who it was. "Why are you up here?" came out instead. Lyric. Lyric lived in Hogsmeade, he wasn't even supposed to be in the castle, was he?

[Trent Frey]

Lyric's eyes shot up from the floor in front of him, locking onto Jory. "Finding someone to f~," he spat. It was none of Jory's damned business, and he wanted to hurt him, to tell Jory that he wasn't good enough. "A professor let me in, but I'm not coming back, so lucky f~ing you." He wanted to hit something, to hurt something. He wanted to hurt himself, wanted to throw Jory against the wall and take out all his aggression on him. He wanted to explode.

[Jory Addison]

"Wait, what? A professor?" Lyric was with a professor? That was something Jory hadn't expected. For a moment he was too stunned to speak, then he settled his weight focused on one leg. "And you're already going back? Must not have been much of a time." And that was most likely the exact wrong thing to say.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric pushed Jory. He shouldn't have, should have kept things bottled up just a little longer, but that struck a nerve. He was reminded of his failure and his stupidity, and there was only so much he'd take. He pushed Jory into the corridor wall and held him there with one hand, too furious to object to the contact. "It's none of your damn business what I do!"

[Jory Addison]

Jory's eyes widened and one hand reached up to grip the one holding him in place. "Let me go! You jerk," he said, pushing at Lyric with his free hand. He could pull out his wand, but there was no question in who would win in a wand fight between the two of them. Why did he have to run into Lyric now? Hadn't it already been bad enough?

[Trent Frey]

"No," Lyric hissed. "I'm not letting go, if you want to tell me something, f~ing say it! You're not running off this time!" He wanted a fight, wanted some way to get everything out, and if he couldn't have Keith and he couldn't have drugs, he'd just take it out on the person who deserved it most anyway. He held Jory with both hands now, unwilling to lose him. He'd never hurt him before, not physically.

[Jory Addison]

"I don't have anything to tell you!" Jory pushed at Lyric again. "You wouldn't listen even if I did, 'cause I always say it wrong. Now let me go!" He did always say things wrong. It was like no matter who he was talking to or what he had to say it came out wrong. He didn't want to talk to Lyric, he wanted to disappear.

[Trent Frey]

"No!" Lyric adjusted his grip on Jory, determined to hold on now that he'd seized something. "F~ing chickensh~, can't deal with it when you're not hiding behind your prefect badge, can you? Get off your g~damned high-hippogriff and do something for once!" Fight back! Fight me harder!

[Jory Addison]

"What, Lyric? What do you want me to do? Come on!" Jory pushed again, looking away from Lyric. "I just wanted to say thank you and then you got pissed off at me because of I don't even know why. What'd I do, anyway?" It hadn't made sense then and it didn't make sense now.

[Trent Frey]

"Because... because none of your damn business!" Lyric barked. He didn't know why. It was because he couldn't have Jory, because he didn't want to want Jory. It was because he was desperate for Keith now the way he'd been for Jory, and Keith didn't want anything more than an easy f~ once a month and he had nothing to fall back on and Jory had so much and didn't appreciate any of it.

Jory was always suffering, and he was a prefect, and he had a family that loved him, and he was nice, and cheerful, and all the things that people wanted, and it was his choice not to talk to other people. He couldn't pity him. He couldn't feel sorry for Jory because Jory didn't like dating or because it was hard or it worried him or he thought about Emilian when he had sex, because Jory chose to go to Emilian's and he chose not to stand up for himself. Poor Jory, crippled by his happy childhood.

[Jory Addison]

"Then let me go! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I didn't get you and that I wanted too much and that I'm stupid." Was that good enough? Would Lyric let him go now? "I didn't do anything wrong today!" For once Jory hadn't done anything that made him deserve getting yelled at. "You're being such a d~." He didn't want to deal with this.

[Trent Frey]

He was always a d~, was Jory really just figuring that out? Lyric wanted to scream, wanted to shake the hell out of Jory, wanted to tell him to stop f~ing insulting himself. He wanted something, some outlet for the insanity inside him, and for a moment, the fury in his eyes flickered with need he couldn't admit to. He was crazy, he didn't deserve to live, and there was no reason whatsoever for him to close the space between them and press his lips to Jory's in a desperate kiss.

[Jory Addison]

Jory hadn't thought he could get any more confused than he already was. He thought wrong. Lyric was kissing him. It took him a minute to gather himself and push, turning his head to break the kiss. "Why the hell are you kissing me? You can't throw me up against a wall and act like you're gonna beat me up and then kiss me. And weren't you saying you hated that I wanted that stuff or something, anyway?"