happy medium.

Jackson knew the fear in his chest now wasn’t from the event itself because when he reached Matty, and his hands grasped onto the other, this didn’t have the same distorted feeling as the other things he’d seen. And yet, the situation was all too close to his own fears. The young man, who’d become something of a little brother to Jackson was sitting on his bed, Jackson’s stash in clear view. While he didn’t know for sure what Matty had been in rehab for, there had been enough over the time that Jackson had known the boy to figure out it wasn’t much different from his own vice. He’d tried to make sure to keep his stuff hidden, and away from Matty, but clearly he hadn’t been careful enough.

“Fuck, Matty…” Jackson says when Matty speaks, his body curling in on itself, like he was trying to disappear. He wished he could see what Matty was seeing, maybe he could protect him somehow. Jackson takes the other boy’s face in his hands, holding him gently as he looks at the other’s eyes—the high was clear. “Oh Matty what did you do…” Jackson says a little sorrowfully, knowing that there wasn’t much turning back from the decision Matty had made. “No, no buddy, you haven’t been bad at all, I promise. It’s the island, this is just one of their tricks I promise. Come on, come here.” He says, wrapping an arm around Matty and trying to pull him close. “Who do you want to go away Matty, what’re you seeing?” He asks quietly as he tucks the other under his arm, trying to provide whatever comfort he could.

Matty curled his fingers around Jackson’s wrist when his friend touched his face, shoving his pillow aside in favor of curling into Jackson’s arms. “I just wanted them to go away,” he insisted, glassy eyes locked on Jackson’s face--it was the only safe place to look, the only face he trusted, even with ghosts pushing in behind him, their voices threatening to drown out Jackson’s reassurances.

TASK 22: AESTHETIC -- MATEO + RAINBOW

The first four images are the result of a search for Mateo + Rainbow + Aesthetic, though admittedly I did skip one image because it was a clown and it freaked me out. It’s sort of a mixed bag in terms of whether or not it’s accurate to Matty. I wouldn’t have picked the first and fourth images, but the pride flag is fitting, and that third image is very Matty--he’s eternally optimistic, sometimes to a fault.

Matty was laying in bed when he heard the first whisper. 

It was quiet enough he could ignore it to start. The cells were never fully silent, after all--too many people and not enough real doors. His fingers didn’t even still, kept weaving thin, brightly colored threads together into a friendship bracelet. He had one leg propped up on the bunk above him, the half-finished bracelet safety-pinned to the fabric of his shorts to keep it secure. The first whisper did not trouble him.

And then: “Mateo.”

It was right in his ear this time, though he was alone in his cell, a whisper in an unfamiliar voice. This time he jumped, propped up leg falling at the same time his hands jerked, threads tangling in his fingers, the safety pin tearing his shorts with the force. Matty paid the bracelet no mind, his head whipping back and forth in alarm. There was no one in his cell--there was no one in his cell, until, abruptly, there was.

The ghost stood above him, pale and haunting, sunken eyes staring at him. This was not the sort of ghost he’d struggle to tell apart from the living--not the sort of ghost he’d answer accidentally in a crowd, not realizing that no one else could see it. This spirit was unquestionably dead--and unquestionably angry, its lips twisted into a snarl.

Shaking, Matty scrambled back against the wall, one hand flying to his neck and the collar there--the bounding was not on the collar itself, he knew that, but he touched it anyway, said, “No, no, no, I don’t want them, take them away again.”

The ghost came closer. Another appeared behind it--and then another, and another, and Matty shrieked, closed his eyes and pushed through the spirit that hovered in his cell to fumble through his cubby for the jar in which he kept his weed--if the island would not take his powers away, he’d make them go away himself.

Francis had to have been one of the most relaxed people when he got to the island, it hadn’t been a long trip, having lived on Grand Caymen for the past few years, it wasn’t that long of a trip to get to the island. After stepping off the dock he gave a tip to the driver of the boat before heading inside to check himself in, and find out everything he would need to know about his new home.

When he stepped out of the office, tucking his papers into his side bag he found his things- two trunks, and several suitcases piled by the door to the office. Well, now seemed like as good a time as any to try out this whole slavery thing he’d just been told about. Seeing someone walk by he cleared his throat before calling out; “You there, where do I find a slave to bring my things up to my room?”

Matty had been saving his paychecks in the lead up to summer, hoarding his money in the hopes that the sporting goods store sold surfboards. They must, he reasoned--it was an island, after all--but he hadn’t been able to find out for sure, because it wasn’t open to slaves on their own, and Matty was not as brave as the slaves who managed to sneak into areas they weren’t supposed to be. It had taken a while, because he kept spending money on candy and gifts, but he had enough for a board now--not a fancy one like he’d had at home, but a board was a board. There was a bounce in his step as he walked, hoping to find one of his friends out of the cells and get an escort. Miss Cara would take him, he thought, if he asked her nicely--and she might even be willing to let him leave the board at her house, she was so nice.

He’d just decided to go looking for her first when someone called out to him and he came skidding to a stop, eyes wide. A hand fluttered to his throat at the word ‘slave’, fingers touching the collar there, and he swallowed nervously before offering the master a smile.

“The basement, sir. But I, um, I’m a slave, sir. I can help.” His eyes widened at the number of bags and he bit his lip, added, “I don’t know if I can carry all of that. I’ll try though!”

“Good, thank you.” Jonah says, giving Matty a little smile. He didn’t really let himself himself think of the bad things that happened in the cells, especially when it came to Matty. At this point, they’d spent so much time together studying and hanging out that Matty was one of his closest friends, and he just couldn’t stomach the thought of something bad happening to him. Especially with Matty being as happy and good as he was–Jonah didn’t want to think about anyone taking that away. 

As Matty falls back onto the bed, with the hoodie riding up even more, Jonah felt his ears warm, though he refused to let himself think about why. He focuses his gaze on Matty’s face, an awkward smile on his own lips at the thought of sharing a room with Matty all the time. It wasn’t weird right? It would be like a normal university experience, with dorms and stuff, and they could be roommates, and not well, cellmates like they had here. “Yeah that would be nice.” He says, swallowing as he tried to ignore the warmness on his neck. 

“Yeah wow, you and Sasha that would be um… yeah wow.” Jonah says, feeling a little overwhelmed by the thought. The one thing about living back home at his parents was that he never had to share a room, so the idea was a little overwhelming, but Jonah didn’t dwell on why. Jonah looks at the hand reached out to him, fully flushing this time as Matty thankfully pats the bed and doesn’t wait for Jonah to take it. Nodding, he moves to lay beside Matty, tugging on the bottom of his t-shirt to keep it from riding up as he looked at the light up constellations on the ceiling. “There’s the big dipper.” He says, pointing to the most recognizable cluster of stars. “And it’s part of Ursa Major, which is also known as the Great Bear,  and the big dipper is a part of it, see?” He says, pointing up at the ceiling, trying to trace the outline for Matty.

Matty beamed at Jonah when he came to lie down, his smile as sunny as Jonah’s was shy. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like this part of sharing the room, too--the part where he got to share a bed with Jonah. It was just so nice. It didn’t matter that he knew Jonah was straight, didn’t think of him the way that Matty sometimes thought about him--it was just good to have his friend right there, close enough that Matty could grab his hand if he had a bad dream--or, more likely, sneakily hold onto a corner of Jonah’s shirt to reassure himself without waking Jonah.

He could be thoughtful, after all, and aware that some things made Jonah uncomfortable--though not, perhaps, aware enough to stop him from shifting closer when Jonah pointed up at the stars projected on the ceiling, tipping his head in towards Jonah’s shoulder in order to look up and follow the line of his arm. 

“I’ve heard of that one--the big dipper. And Ursa Major,” he told Jonah, sounding just a little bit proud of himself. He lifted his own hand, tried to repeat Jonah’s motions, trace the constellation again himself, fingers brushing over Jonah’s hand lightly before he dropped his hand again. “I like that,” he said, and turned his head to look at Jonah with a grin, undeterred by how close he was. “There’s a big bear in the sky!” he said brightly, and then turned his gaze back up to the ceiling, tucked his head against Jonah’s shoulder. “Will you tell me another one?”

“Oh, wow, um--lots of people! Miss Cara is so beautiful, and Atticus is really, really pretty, I like his lips. And Jackson, he’s really hot, and oh wow, Sasha is so, so pretty, and RJ, he’s really big and--yeah, um, and Jonah’s so cute, and handsome, I love his hair, and Kade, he’s, wow, and Master Lucas, and--oh! Romy, of course, they’re amazing, I’ve had a crush on them since forever! Ohmygosh, and Miss Ruby is gorgeous! And Miss Grace, she’s so elegant and fancy, she’s lovely. And there was a master who rented me, he was scary, but um, really, really handsome, and Mister Thomas! He’s not scary, but he’s so pretty! He has the nicest smile.”

Jonah knew that the two of them were feeling the same way about this being their last night on the rental. It had been perfect, really; Jonah had been able to relax, study–far longer than the minimum one hour that Cara had required–but actually had found some time to have fun with his friends, which was something he wasn’t very good at. But Matty made having fun easy, and there was something about the other’s energy that was helping Jonah, even though he wasn’t aware of it, come out of his own shell. 

When Matty walks in, Jonah’s ears feel warm, the other looking just so… nice, with his floppy wet hair, his soft pajama pants and the cropped rainbow hoodie, exposing his belly that made Jonah extra aware to keep his eyes up. These were all things he didn’t really consciously think about, no, because recognizing these thoughts would mean acknowledging that they weren’t exactly straight thoughts that he was having. 

“I know, I wish you did too. Just um, be careful, in the cells, I’d hate for like, a guard to get annoyed and take it away.” Jonah says with a small frown, not liking that idea at all. “I wish the rental wasn’t over already, it’s um, it’s been really nice. It’s going to suck going back to the cells.” He admits, not really someone that complained about his situation a lot, as he looks up at Matty.  

“I’ll be very careful,” he promised, tucking his legs up under himself and letting his towel hang over one shoulder, leaving his hair standing up in different directions. There was a little frown of his own on his face at the idea of someone taking it away--losing his gift from Jonah would feel terrible, and he shook his head, insisted, “I’ll be really careful,” solemnly.

His frown turned a little deeper when Jonah spoke again. Matty flopped back into bed to look up at the lights above him, his already cropped hoodie riding up a little. “I wish that, too,” he said with a sigh. “It’s been so nice. I wish it could always be like this! I love Miss Cara. And you! I wish we could share a room all the time, it’s so nice having you right here.”

Shifting his gaze back to Jonah, Matty smiled, determined as always to be cheerful. “Maybe one day we’ll get to be roommates! That would be so fun. I’d miss Sasha though. Wow, I wish you could be roommates with me and Sasha--that would be the most fun!” he said brightly, his pouting now entirely forgotten in favor of beaming brightly at Jonah. He held a hand out to Jonah, wiggled his fingers at him before patting the bed beside him. “Come look at the stars with me! Can we go look at real stars together one day? In the summer, when curfew is later!”

TELL ME WHAT YOU ASSOCIATE WITH ME.

TELL ME WHAT YOU ASSOCIATE WITH ME.

“I like puppy kisses. Especially under the stars.”

TELL ME WHAT YOU ASSOCIATE WITH ME.

“Those are such nice things!”