The luck of the draw

[Isaac Reid]

Isaac grudgingly got up at of his bed. It was the dead middle of the night he had just woke up and realized he had to use the bathroom. There was nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night to get out of bed. In nothing other than sweat pants he walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind him like he would always do with others around.



He had joined a good portion of the school on the trip to a cabin, a part of him wondered if this was a horror movie troupe waiting to happen. Granted most of these students were going to get killed easily because of their powers, he would like to think he was one of those people. Either way, so far he was enjoying himself, and a lot of that had to do with the fact that he had been roomed with a particular deaf/mute boy. He smiled at the fact that they were indeed going to see a lot of each other during this trip, mostly maybe because Isaac might go out of his way to spend most of his time with the boy.



When Isaac was done he left the bathroom, using his phone as a flashlight to navigate the area making sure not to flash the light onto anyone directly. Isaac couldn’t help but look at Matthew as he was walking back to his bed. However, he was stopped in his tracks when he noticed Matt was actually up. He walked up to Matt’s bed and kneeled down; taking his phone he went to his notepad app and typed ‘I’m sorry for waking you.’ And showed it to the boy after turning off the flashlight.

[Matthew Rowland]

Camping had been interesting so far, to say the least. It had been his first time. The woods were 'okay' but he preferred the solitude of a building. Buildings had random sounds, but did a good job of blocking out some due to walls and the structure. The outdoors, though? They were a completely different thing.

He had figured he could keep his power on most of the time, and alternate when he needed a break, like normal. But he had found himself keeping his power off most of the time. Not being able to easily single out people's interpretations wasn't helping, either. He was seeing everyone's interpretation of every sound. Every twig crack, every bird's wing flap, every crackle of fire, every snicker, every every EVERY thing.

And you would think the dead of night would be better. Nope. Apparently something made noises at night. Lots of noises, and apparently no one had a clear understanding of what the sound was. So, currently, all Matthew was seeing were random keyboard smashes filling the air. And a random owl hoot. 

creak

Matthew managed to filter out a noise coming from inside the cabin. He looked over to see Isaac. Shirtless. He watched him open the bathroom door (creeeaaaaak), close it (shum), and... _splooo^oooo-- And with that, he had to turn his power off. Oh god, he's using the bathroom. Now I won't be able to stop thinking about his -- He blinked, noticing Isaac had looked his way.

Then he saw his chest.

Matthew shifted the covers around him, bringing his knees close to his chest so he could wrap his arms around his legs. Matt made sure to look away during this; he didn't want to linger. They were going to be roommates for some time and he would rather not fight the football player. Granted, Matt could probably outrun him. But he'd rather not chance it.

He hadn't been paying attention, because he was a bit startled to suddenly see Isaac right next to him. And a note on his phone? He read it over and smiled. He reached past Isaac, accidentally brushing up against his arm -- He feels so... -- and grabbing his phone, unplugging it and pulling up a note app of his own. He hit a few keys, making sure it was long enough so he could ghostwrite with the same message later.

"  you didn't wake me. can't sleep for some reason. why are you up?"

[Isaac Reid]

Isaac liked spending time out in the woods, and being up here gave him ample room to spread his metaphorical wings by using his powers to turn into cats. He never did anything too bad, like hunting or hurting human beings, and he always turned into something native around Montana. This way he didn’t freak out the other students, and if by some chance locals or vacationers are around. By sides that he liked the active atmosphere being at the cabin provided, he couldn’t wait to participate in some of the activities which were being planned.

Isaac hadn’t realized that his getting up and going to the bathroom would be pretty hard on Matthew, he didn’t know what his powers were capable of. From what he was told and knew he was only able to see human speech, not every single type of noise other’s might hear. Nor did he really realize that the boy could see the sound effects of him peeing in the bathroom, even though anyone else he really wouldn’t care he had to admit that Matthew was the special case of awkward.

While Isaac usually sleeps without a shirt normally, and for the most part in a pair of boxer when it wasn’t cold outside, being in the cabin and sharing a room with Matthew gave him a particular incentive to not wear a shirt. Isaac would rather not fight Matthew either, he never wants to fight with someone he cared about, and the more time he spent with the other boy, the more he cared about him. Also, Isaac could totally outrun him, while he might not be as fast as his wide receivers, or his running back he was still faster than the average person, at least this was what Isaac believed.

Isaac couldn’t help but smile when the other boy touched him by accident. The winky face was a nice touch, at least Isaac thought it was. When Matt showed him his own message on his own phone Isaac reached out and gently grabbed the boy’s hand that was holding the phone, there really wasn’t a reason for it expect that Isaac wanted to touch him again, granted Matt would never find that out. He smiled as he read the message, letting go of Matt’s hand he wrote a response on his phone. “Sorry, your hand was shaking. I had to pee; do you want me to let you try to get some sleep? Or would it be okay if we talked for a bit? I’m kind of wide awake now.”

Isaac realized that him getting up probably wouldn’t have woke him up, considering he was deaf. He felt pretty bad about that, it had slipped his mind and he felt insensitive now. However, the boy realized that Matt didn’t seem to have minded his mistake, but at the same time he felt like he should apologize. “Oh hey, I’m sorry, I realize I probably wouldn’t have woken you up anyways… It slipped my mind, and I feel a little insensitive about it.” He added before he showed the messages to Matt. Once he added that last sentence he flipped the phone so Matt could read everything.

[Matthew Rowland]

He'd only officially known Isaac a few days at this point, if not less. And somehow the football player had managed to make life both pleasant beyond compare and filled with excruciating agony, the latter caused by that damn smile and these random touches. The random touches that made him want to do... things. And shirtless. 

But, no, Isaac was straight, totally, completely, as far as he knew.

Matt was just dealing with the smile when his hand was grabbed. He inhaled sharply, completely caught off guard by the interaction.  He has to know what he's doing. Is he teasing me? He must have asked around, found out I'm gay, and is just fucking with me. He got a little upset at the thought. It was possible. He didn't know enough about him to know if he was that kind of person or not. Maybe he was? Maybe he was actually a stereotypical, asshole jock? And homophobic? And...

Those moments waiting for Isaac to type up another message felt like forever, but when he saw the response, it made the possibility of Isaac being cruel much less of a possibility. Isaac actually wanted to talk with him? About...? Matthew took a few seconds to go through a hundred impossible scenarios. The most likely was that he did, in fact, find out Matthew's sexuality. Matthew looked Isaac in the eyes and gulped quietly. He was a little nervous.

But he needed to get this conversation over with. Matthew showed Isaac his cell phone again, ghostwriting a new message.

"I'm wide awake, too. We can talk... What's on your mind? And it's okay. People tend to forget I can't hear because my ability compensates well. It's off right now, though. Apparently the woods are loud at night."

[Isaac Reid]

Isaac hadn’t realized his presence was both awful, and amazing. A part of him knew just how amazing he was, considering he believed himself to be the best guy in the whole world, as to say he knew he was good looking, and knew he was one of the nicest guys at least at the academy. You could say his father had taught him well, and he grew up to be a pretty good guy all in all, even if he was egotistical.

There had been plenty of times where Isaac questioned his sexuality, and while he never was asked about it, he knew he would be lying if he said he was straight. Before he met Matthew he would have told anyone who asked about it that he was straight, however, now he was actually thinking more in depth about everything. He felt like he actually had a crush on the other boy. Of course there was that awkward situation where he didn’t know what Matthew’s sexuality was.

Isaac would have been very upset if Matthew thought he was messing with him just to hurt him. That the other boy actually thought he was the stereotypical jock you see in movies and TV shows. He hated how much shit he got for being the quarterback of the football team, because everyone judged him like they knew him. He was either the player that got all the girls, the asshole that didn’t care about anyone, the party hard guy that only wanted to drink booze. No one thought he was actually the type of person who would rather stay in a read a book than go to a party, no one thought that he was actually a virgin, and no one thought that we was actually the type of person to put a bully in the ground for being an asshole to other people; this was the person he really was. And it annoyed him when people assumed differently just because he was a jock.


A part of Isaac wanted to tell the boy how he felt, ask him on a date maybe. While Isaac was only just recently coming to terms with his sexuality he was the type of person to go with the flow, he was pretty laid back when it came to most things and this was no different. However, something stopped him, he didn’t want to ruin a potential friendship because he wanted to be selfish. “You hear sounds as well? I just thought it was speech.” Because obviously those things were different right… “I didn’t really have anything in mind to talk about to be honest. Did you want to go on a hike with me tomorrow morning? I have to exercise somehow this week… Could use the company?” Was that asking him out on a date? Nah… He showed the boy his phone after he typed his messages.

[Matthew Rowland]

Matthew smiled  a bit reading the message. It had to be a date, right? Or, ya know, just two bros hanging. Two athletes training together. Nothing special, no big deal. Happens all the time. But he still smiled.

Matthew got a bit lazy and didn't bother pulling out his own phone to type or ghostwrite. Instead, he waved a hand over the text (hoping to dull the dyslexic affect his ghostwriting power had). When Isaac could see his own message again, it was altered. "Yeah, sure. That sounds great." A paragraph break, and the message would continue. "Does your girlfriend know you're going to be out alone in the woods with a stranger? lol"

Isaac had essentially left the conversation pretty open, and Matthew needed answers. So, he was going to do his best to draw them out of them, as subtly as possible. He felt himself get a bit nervous, though. While Matt was leading the conversation exactly where he wanted, he knew that he'd possibly have to tell the gorgeous hunk of man next to him more about himself. And he wouldn't lie... hopefully

[Isaac Reid]

While Isaac didn’t see anything special in the idea of hiking with another person, he did see it as something special if the person was Matthew. He wouldn’t say it was a date, however, he would see it as having a special alone time with the other boy. Granted, he knew that sounded awfully creepy, therefore he would never tell anyone that would be how he looked at it…

Looking at his own phone from the message Matthew left on it Isaac couldn’t help but chuckle. He gave Matthew small smile, he was glad the boy said yes, however, it was his other comment that made him laugh a little. A part of him found it strange for the boy to be asking about his love life, even if it seemed innocent in this manner. “Great, how about six am?” Had to set a time, that seemed pretty good, it would be an hour or two before anyone else started getting up, which gave them more than enough time to their own thing. “I do not have a girlfriend. I have friends who are girls, but I don’t think any of them would give a fuck about what I do in my spare time and who I spend it with.” He also figured it would be none of their business either; it wasn’t like he would have asked the boy with the intent of being romantic if he was already spoken for. “What about you? Have a girlfriend who might be the overly jealous type? Should I run far away from you to escape her jealous female wrath?”

Isaac wasn’t the type of person to lie, so whatever questions the boy would ask Isaac would answer as whole heartily as he felt he could. While he might beat around the bush to avoid certain subjects, or answers he would never outright lie, he would ask to change the subject before he would lie if he felt that uncomfortable. He was an open book, for the most part...

[Matthew Rowland]

Matthew nodded upon glancing to the time Isaac had set. 6 a.m. was quite early, earlier than Matt had anticipated somehow, but he was happy he'd get some true alone time with Isaac.

The second half of his message is what made his heart flutter, just a bit though. Isaac was single... Matthew reread the message again. No, he doesn't have a girlfriend. There's a difference, he thought to himself, finishing the message. He began to wonder if he was getting in over his head. Matthew looked from the message to Isaac for a second, wondering what his next step would be. It had to be calculated, and very precise.

A million and one different scenarios flowed through his head but one in particular stood out. His heart skipped a beat, but not from the fluttering. He was nervous. He wasn't exactly sure if this was the right move, but... Fuck it.

Matthew waved his hand over the message.

"6 a.m. is good.
And I'm gay, so no girlfriend. And no jealous boyfriend for you to worry about either. 4ever alone lol" He smiled, white teeth showing, trying to make it seem like he was actual laughing, when he was really secretly regretting every life choice that led to this moment. 

Play it cool. Play it cool. Play it--- What the actual fuck did I just do?

[Isaac Reid]

He knew that it was quite early, but it was honestly the best time Isaac knew for going. Not to mention it was the usual time for him, so he was used to it, however, he was not really thinking about the fact that both of them were still up in the middle of the night, which meant little sleep for both of them.

Should he have mentioned he didn’t have a boyfriend either? Was saying he didn’t have a girlfriend telling the other boy he was straight? Maybe he should have said he was bisexual as well as didn’t have a boyfriend… Maybe he should add that now. Was it too late though? Or would it seem too weird to tack that on now?

He felt his heart skip a beat when Matt said he was homosexual, a part of him wondered if there was a slight chance now that something could happen between the two of them. Unlike Matt, Isaac was literally going with the flow, he was just going along with the conversation. He honestly never thought there was other intentions by the question other than the fact that the boy was just curious. Until Matt said he was gay, then something clicked in Isaac’s head. No one really asked about someone else’s relationship status unless they were interested in that person. He smirked; he didn’t realize it would really be this easy.

“Well, since you brought up boys… I don’t have a boyfriend either. I have come to the terms that I am bisexual.” He pondered on what else he should say… Wondering if he should flirt with the other boy, or just leave it as it is. “Maybe you nor I will actually be alone forever ” Was that too much? Was it too little? Oh well, he didn’t really care, he showed the other boy his phone. Waiting in dread of the answer.

[Matthew Rowland]

Just.
Be.
Coo--
What the fuck did he just say?
He didn't just... no... I must've misread that. There is no way.
Maybe that's what he was thinking? No. There's no way he even THOUGHT anything like that.
Why would Isaac be gay? No. It's not true. 
He was joking, obviously. Right? Had to be. But I didn't see any laughter sounds. No lol, or haha_ha, or jkjk.
Maybe if I look at his face, he's clearly joking.
Don't look at his face. Don't. You're already... yeah. Don't.
Just a peek.
DON'T.
He's so... fine.
He's not gay. 
Well, duh, he said bi.
He's not bi either, Matthew!

CHILL.

THE.

FUCK.

OUT.

Ten seconds flew by before Matthew dared to respond, but during those moments -- those long, excruciating moments -- he had managed to look from the device to Isaac's face. 

It didn't seem like he was joking. To be joking, he'd have to be either extremely serious or bursting at the seems with laughter. Isaac didn't appear to be either. 

Matthew's breathing slowed and his pulse quickened. His temperature rose and he found it hard to swallow. Isaac's... bi? There was a chance for him, for them. Breathing somewhat returned to normal as he waved his hand over the boy's device, altering the text. He'd gladly take the future headache caused by him turning all that text into a single word:

"... seriously? "

He thought about quickly adding some text, making it seem like it was nothing. Everything was cool. They'd be two bros who happened to also like dudes. But, it wasn't nothing. It was... everything.