Virtual Love (Exellda and Stardust_Bunny) (18+)

[Exellda]

 

 

Name: Jerimise Jackson

 

Nickname: JJ (Jay Jay)

 

Profession: Tutor at his college

 

Sexual Orientation: Curious

 

Romantic Orientation: Confused

 

 

Personality: Jerimise the average awkward guy, a loner who likes to live by himself in his one-bedroom apartment. He likes to live his life on the inter-webs, often engaging in MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). The only time he isn't online is when he's at college, keeping up his perfect attendance and excellent grades, and also his part time job as a one on one tutor. He's quiet, shy and considers himself to be socially awkward, so when he is done with college, homework, and tutoring, off to the virtual world he goes. Jerimise doesn't believe in love and that his wonderful MMORPG is all he needs in life.

 

---

 

It was about a month into the first semester of collage this year and by now, even those who were new, everyone was use to their schedule. Jerimise himself was waiting achingly to get home today... Because about a week ago he had somehow befriended one of the most strongest players in his game... Freedom Sword Fantasy or FSF was the game. A MMORPG with millions of players and hundreds of different worlds, achievements, weapons, clothing, armor, armies, and so much more.

 

Tonight they were supposed to embark on a quest together. It should be fairly easy to achieve considering he was now teamed up with one of the strongest players.

 

Yet here he was, quietly waiting for the bell. He was so happy that he didn't have to tutor anyone today. As of now he was only tutoring one person, she was timid like him and awkward too. She was struggling so bad in math... She really needed help and Jerimise was okay to help her. Thanks to his efforts, she didn't fail her last test. To say the least Jerimise was happy to help. That was all he could do an not feel awkward. He was just socially awkward, and that was that. Sarcasm wasn't easily conveyed to Jerimise, often he would take someone very serious. He spoke of honesty though, that is if he had the nerve to even speak. He got so nervous around people... Jerimise could only handle tutoring because... Teaching someone was easy enough. All they talked about was math during the session and Jerimise was content with that. If perchance the topic drifts, he puts in an effort to bring back the original topic, math.

 

Finally, when the bell rang, he calmly packed his backpack, ready to make his way home. He was excited to get home, though his exterior didn't show any signs.

 

Yet there was a feeling inside his gut, one that could only be described as: there was something going to interrupt his game time...

[Stardust_Bunny]

 

Name: Thomas Blythe

Nickname: Tom

Profession: ?

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

Romantic Orientation: Demiromantic

Personality: Calm most of the time, although he is known for having a short temper. He is barely seen at college, and as a result, his grades are quite disappointing. He majors in Marketing, which makes statistics a must-have knowledge, but due to his absence at lectures, he can barely keep up with the material. No one knows what keeps him so busy that he doesn't have time to regularly visit college or attend to his studies, but no one can ask, either - since he's gone most of the time.

He has a male dachshund, Mikey, which he loves very much, and he is often seen walking his dog around. Some speculate that he rarely goes to college because he is not allowed to bring Mikey with him, and that upsets him. However, the real reason remains unknown.

---

 

 

"Blythe, come here for a moment."

 

Thomas stood from his place. The bell rang, he had to go. Tonight was special. He already made plans. He would go back home, take out Mikey, exercise together, go buy some snacks, take a shower and start the quest. This was important to him. The ultra-rare item, Blood Rune, was all he needed to get the attack of his sword to the ultimate 938AP, which would surely kill the level 200 dungeon boss Don Marius. He walked right pass the professor, who grabbed him by the shoulder. Right, he called. Tom turned back, eyes silently questioning.

 

"Listen, son." The professor pulled his student closer. Everyone left the room, aside from the two of them. This better not take long. "I don't know what you're doing in your spare time, and it does not concern me, but your grades are very low, and you're failing the class. Let's be honest here. Did you really sign up for Marketing, just to fail?"

 

Tom avoided the professor's eyes. Surely, it wasn't that bad. Adults tend to make it seem like it's the end of the world when it comes to bad grades.

 

"Fine, you don't want to listen. But keep in mind that, if you fail the next three exams, you're out."

 

"What?" Thomas looked at the professor. Now, he could see things were serious. "I'm out?"

 

"You're out. Of college."

 

"But I already paid for the two semesters."

 

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean you're guaranteed to pass them. And no refund will be given. Now, I don't care whether you find yourself some tutor or you go take private lessons from a colleague, but for Christ's sake, son, do something. You suck at statistics." The black haired man frowned, supposedly in his mid forties. "I've tried to make lots of compromises, but I can't help you any further. And don't even think about asking me to tutor you. I'm busy, boy. I've got a wife, two baby boys and a grown girl. You want a tutor, there's this kid that makes money out of this. You could learn something from him. Eyeglasses, green eyes, you get the picture, you've probably seen him. Find him, ask about him, track him home if you have to, I don't care. Just do something for your grades. Dismissed." The professor sat back on his place and pulled out his phone. Four missed calls. Damn it.

 

Thomas left the classroom. He was pissed. Fuck. Why did he have to study Marketing. Why not choose something else. Like, I don't know, something that doesn't have Maths in it. Literature would have been nice. He hurried through the corridors. Green eyes, glasses. Green eyes. What was the hair color again? The professor didn't mention it, right. Damn. He looked around and went downstairs. Glasses, ... glasses. A lot of people with glasses here. If only Mikey was here. He would find him much faster.

 

Just as he was getting disheartened, he saw him. A clueless boy with emerald green eyes just packing his stuff in one of the rooms. All this time Thomas looked for him outside, when in fact, his tutor was still inside the lecture hall. He impatiently waited for the kid to leave the room, just in time to grab him and press him against the nearest wall. Hah. Caught you. "You." He panted with a husky voice, light hazel eyes looking at the others. Wow. Such an intense green. "You're the tutor, right? I want you to tutor me. Now." And by now, he really meant RIGHT now. He would pay as much as he had to, do whatever he must. He couldn't fail statistics.

[Exellda]

Jerimise was on his way out of the classroom when suddenly he was grabbed. In a slit second he found himself pinned to the wall behind him by a guy he didn't even know. How preposterous was that! How rude. Jerimise almost thought he was going to be bullied out of his lunch money or something. He was baffled by how serious this guy, this stranger was... How did he even know that he was a tutor? This guy was making him nervous. Even his glasses had slid down his nose slightly, blurring the guy in front of him. "H-huh?"

 

This guy was demanding him to tutor him... Now? This instant? Jerimise let out a sigh, he knew he wouldn't get to his game right away like he wanted... Slowly, Jerimise lifted his hand so he could adjust his glasses. "Y-yeah." He stuttered, both because he had been startled and because he was shy and nervous. "I am the tutor... You need tutoring? E-eh? Now? With what?" Jerimise hesitated, "Math right? That's why you're asking me?"

 

Now that his glasses we on correctly, he could see the guy in front of him. A hazel eyed boy. He looked kind of mean... Jerimise was kind of shock that someone would need tutoring so bad that he had to be pinned to the wall... "U-um, could you release me please? I can help you, I suppose, since you asked." Though, he hoped his new friend would forgive him for being late... "Do you have your things with you? Or what you need help with, I should say? We can go into one of the tutoring rooms, it's quiet there." He referred to all the noisy people walking through the halls.

[Stardust_Bunny]

Passive. If Thomas had one word to describe his new tutor, he would use passive. Timid, even. The boy's personality contrasted highly those bold, green eyes. They say the eyes are a window to the soul, but so far, his first impression wasn't what those eyes showed. He saw a scared little puppy, cornered and unwilling to fight for his freedom. Of course, Jerimise agreed to do his bidding. Good boy. A fresh mind, ready to be trained. He liked that. Most people played hard to get, or in this case, hard to please. Jerimise didn't seem to be from those kind of people. He easily agreed to anything, apparently. Even if it came from a stranger that pinned him to the wall and nearly knocked the glasses off his face.

 

Tom silently nodded. Yes. Further Mathematics to be exact, with statistics, finances, risks, probability and such. He didn't understand how someone like Jerimise could know Math, but he did look like your average nerd. His hands let go of the wrists he held tight. "No." He didn't have anything with him, really. He carried around nothing but dog food in his messenger bag, and a wallet filled with money for more dog food. It was easy to guess that the heavy bag was filled with books and maybe a tablet, but in reality; "My dog ate my notebook." Mikey liked paper, especially the new kind. Something about the smell enticed him, so usually, whenever Tom bought something new, that happened to be made out of paper, it disappeared the next day. Without a damn trace, at that. "I can buy a new one. The nearest bookstore isn't too far, I can go and come back in fifteen minutes. Could buy us something on the way, as well." One method of breaking the ice would be running errands for the other. Get him something to eat or drink, and pay for it. He figured Jerimise hasn't had much to eat, if at all, at college. "My phone number." Thomas pulled out a pen from his bag and grabbed his tutor's hand, writing down the number. The tip of the pain tickled uncomfortably on the skin, but it was a short discomfort, and it was worth it, at least. "Text me when you find a free room so I know where to go when I come back." Tom slipped the pen back and turned his back on Jerimise, the faint, pleasant smell of cologne filling the air between them.

 

"One more thing." Before he ran off, Thomas looked back at his tutor. "Favorite flavor?" He wanted to know what drink or snack to get him. Didn't want to trigger any allergies. Besides, what sort of treat was it if Jerimise didn't like it? Not the best kind, that's for sure. And Tom wanted everything to be top-quality.

[Exellda]

Jerimise was relieved that the other male let him go, yet he found himself agitated to learn that the other male didn't have anything with him. In fact, he blamed his dog for eating it... How low was that? Surely the guy must be joking? Right? However that didn't seem like the case... This guy looked serious. What was even his name? He hadn't said it this whole time. It was like he was on his own level of thought, he had his own agenda. Jerimise wouldn't even follow his line of thought.

 

A soft gasp escaped him when the other male took his hand. His brows furrowed as the other wrote on his hand. "W-what?" This guy had no decency, did he? Didn't he know that phones could remember a number than his hand could? Plus it wouldn't rub away... Whatever. Jerimise decided to let the guy do what he wanted. He couldn't understand what he was trying to do... Hopefully, whoever this guy was, would at least know what he should be working on...

 

He was going to decline the other guy, however he didn't know what he meant by, 'favorite flavor'. That wasn't a question he was normally asked, if at all... He assumed, though, it had to be something edible? "Strawberry." Was the first thing that slipped passed his mouth. Sure, he liked strawberry things... Jerimise liked sweets in general, so he supposed something chocolaty would have worked. There, he was sure the other male could find something for him to have... Jerimise just didn't understand this guy... So strange, he was...

 

"O-oh, alright... I'll see you in a bit, then." Jerimise said, looking at his hand for brief moment. He had vandalized his hand... Jerimise sighed, he didn't want to ruin the other's parade. He didn't tell the other male that he already had a private room for tutoring. He was a tutor after all. He had the right to a quiet room where he wouldn't be interrupted...

 

Once the other male left, Jerimise pulled out his phone, squinting at the hand writing on his hand and typed in the number. Saving the number to his phone, Jerimise saved the number with the name titled, 'Misunderstanding'. After all, the guy was a misunderstanding, he also didn't know his name.

[Stardust_Bunny]

And so he ran off to buy a notebook. It took him less than fifteen minutes to go, get a notebook, buy some snacks and sweets and come back. The problem was, he didn't really get a message from Jerimise about the number of the room. He didn't know where he was.

 

Deciding not to wait more than it was needed, Tom tried to find the room on his own. He went on the floor where the tutoring rooms were and opened the door to each one. Some of them were locked. Some of them - occupied. And some were used for an activity, other than tutoring. Well, he couldn't blame the horny teens wanting to make out in private. After all, college took most of their day, so they barely had time for themselves. The least they could do was try to incorporate some intimacy in their school hours.

 

Eventually, Thomas got the right room. He opened the door, one hand carrying the little plastic bag with the sweets. It was common sense that carbohydrates got the brain working, so in other words, during studying, chocolate was a must-have. That's why he had bought some chocolate cupcakes, some with strawberry filling. As for drinks, he bought coke for himself, and for Jerimise - Fanta with Strawberry. It was a limited edition. His light hazel eyes silently looked around in search for his tutor.

[Exellda]

While the other boy had went to the store, Jerimise made his way to his usual tutoring room. It was really to bad, he was really excited to go on the guest tonight... By the looks of it, he either would have limited time or he just wouldn't be able to get on tonight. Bummer. Jerimise let out a sigh as he dragged his feet to his tutoring room...

 

Once he got inside, Jerimise set his backpack down and sighed. He too then sat down. Gazing around the room, it was a simple tutoring room honestly. There was two computers, chalk board, a table in the middle of the room, a couple stacks of chairs, and even two desks... Yeah. Plain and simple. Jerimise swayed slightly in his chair. How long did it take again to get to the nearest store? Jerimise shrugged. Like it mattered how long he took, Jerimise would have to wait here anyway...

 

After ten minutes passed Jerimise was tired of waiting and he was annoyed by the writing on his hand. Thus he left the room to go wash it off. He made it to the bathroom and walked up to the sink, getting soap and then washing his hands... Only the writing didn't seem to be coming off. "Humph!" Jerimise huffed in irritation and scrubbed a little harder. Why wasn't this working? Did he use Sharpie or something? Jerimise curse under his breath and applied more soap. This was really ridiculous.

 

Unfortunately, by the time he was irritated enough to quit, Jerimise had a lightly red hand... The ink was still there, just faded. Worse of all that had taken ten minutes! Crap. He was sure he was the one late now! So Jerimise sent a message to the other male:

 

'Sorry I'm late, I'll be there in a moment!'

 

He decided to send the simple text. It didn't really mean much other than to reassure the other that he would be there and he hadn't ditched him. Plus, his stuff was still there, he couldn't leave it behind.

 

After Jerimise dried his hands, he took one glance at his red hand and sighed dramatically. Oh well. He would have to deal with it later... So Jerimise straightened himself out and made his way back to the tutoring room. Once he got there, he poked his head in first, looking around. Yeah... He was late. Oops. Jerimise walked in slowly, looking at the other male who was in the room. "U-uh, hey... I see your travels went well..." He noticed how the other had brought snacks as well as drinks. He cleared his throat, "So uh, what did you need help with?" Jerimise inquired as he shut the door behind him, locking the door out of habit.

[Stardust_Bunny]

Tom's phone ringed. Ah. So there's his tutor's phone number. He saved it first under the name of 'Tutor', before he checked the message. His eyes narrowed. Rude. He didn't expect to be the one waiting. Judging from the clock on his phone, he didn't take that long, either. What could his tutor be doing that it took him longer than it took Thomas to finish shopping and come back? Or maybe he left at the last moment, on purpose, so he could make him wait. Tsch.

 

The dark haired male bit his lips and slammed his phone on the desk. Good thing it was from those old Nokia types. He waited rather impatiently for his tutor to come, foot tapping on the floor rhythmically to distract himself. He was pissed. He, too, was in a hurry. He wanted to come back home, walk Mikey, take a shower, make dinner for himself and connect to that MMORPG. He had to meet with that kid, help him with the quest, and ultimately, get the Blood Rune. This little pipsqueak was ruining it for him.

 

The moment he heard the door open, Thomas glared at the source of the voice, which happened to be Jerimise. To think he even went to the fucking supermarket to get him sweets and a drink, just to appeal to him. "Everything." He said, tone firm and cold. Not that he sounded especially cheerful earlier, but right now, the atmosphere between the two boys was even more uncomfortable. The air itself got thicker and harder to breathe in. "The whole material from Further Mathematics." Yep. This wasn't something that they could solve with one or two tutoring lessons. Thomas pulled out his new notebook, and the pencil he used to write his number. He instinctively looked at Jerimise's hand, noticing the flushed skin, and his phone number was slightly faded. Did he try to erase it? Tom's eyes looked at the door his tutor locked a moment ago. Huh.

 

He licked his lips and opened his notebook, writing down 'Practice' at the top of the page, in the center. It almost felt like he was going to be the teacher instead, giving an important lesson to Jerimise about not locking yourself up with strangers.

[Exellda]

Jerimise immediately gasped, then scowled at what the other male told him, "You... What?" His eyes were wide. Was this guy being serious? No... Surely not... Man... This guy was serious. Now he wouldn't be able to get on tonight, he was sure of it... Plus, this would take more than one session... "What did you do? Skip? Sleep in class?" The ginger brought his hands into his hair, seemingly trying to pull it out. To say the least, he was fairly worried and upset at the same time. "Why in the world did you wait this long to get a tutor if you were having issues from the beginning!?" Jerimise 'raised' his voice. He was such a soft spoken guy, that even if he seemed man, he could never be threatening.

 

The ginger boy also seemed oblivious to the other's cold glare and harsh words, that was mostly because he was use to it. Jerimise was use to being glared at, scolding and even bullied. That was the perks of being a nerd... So often he tried to ignore it the best he could. If this guy was trying to scare him, it wasn't working. "You know, I almost don't feel as bad anymore." Jerimise huffed, clearly agitated, "You waiting this long doesn't help either of us..." He had somewhere to be, and that was his game!

 

But then a sigh escaped him as he grabbed a chair and sat next to the other male. Nevertheless, this had to be done, he was here to help... regardless if he wanted to or not... Reaching into his backpack, Jerimise pulled out a Tutor Log, basically a diary for tutors, one that he filled out every time he tutored someone. It was to not only keep track of their progress, but his own, and also as evidence because he better be getting paid for this. "Alright, alright..." He started to talk, feeling calmer momentarily, "What's your name, grade, age? Just so you know, our meetings are confidential and will not be shared if you do not wish it so." Jerimise said roboticly. "Sorry to bore you with that, but every client is different. Oh, and if you have any questions, fill free to ask, I am your tutor after all. I promise you I am not as scary as I look." He said, half joking. Jerimise wasn't really scary at all...

 

"So... Let's get started shall we?" He said, pencil in hand, ready to write down the other's information.

[Stardust_Bunny]

The gasp pulled on his nerves. Was it that surprising? The boy reacted as if he was the only dumbass in the whole building that skipped classes and didn't understand mathematics. The accusing, rhetorical questions pissed him off. Thomas held in whatever anger bubbled inside his chest, and waited patiently until his tutor was done lecturing him. He wanted to strangle him right now, really, but he decided against it. After all, he was going to tutor him. He couldn't fuck up his chances at passing the exam now. Although he really didn't understand what business did his tutor have asking about his life. His job was to tutor him, nothing more. Where Tom spent most of his days was not improtant.

 

That aside, the ginger wasn't so bad. As he said himself, he wasn't scary. His constant yapping reminded him of a little puppy trying to learn how to bark. And this puppy here was barking up the wrong tree.

 

"Thomas Blythe. Twenty-one. Third year, majoring in Marketing." Meaning next year was his last one. What a relief, huh? Unless the man was planning to get a Master's degree, in which case he might have to hang around here for an additional year or two. "Also. I didn't appreciate the yelling, judging and finger pointing at me. What I do, where I go and how I live is none of your business, tutor. Try this one more time, and I'll make sure you never think about locking yourself in with a stranger again." His voice was calm, but his words were hissing. He wasn't kidding. Little Jerimise would regret accepting to tutor him.

[Exellda]

Jerimise recorded everything Thomas said. So that was his name, Thomas Blythe... Well he felt better about that... However, he didn't feel good about Thomas's sour attitude. This guy wanted to be tough shit, huh? "Picking a fight with me will get you nowhere, Mr. Blythe. I'm sorry for asking about your personal life, geese. I didn't know it was secret information." Jerimise huffed. He didn't like when people came to him, asking for help, only to be an ass towards him... "Anyway, I'm not the one who needs a tutor, and sure, I suppose you could go to someone else... But why would you come to specifically me... Unless someone told you to come to me. Then I would have to deduce that you really need help with your material. All I am saying is that if you're threatening me, I don't have to tutor you and I can report you if you want. These are your grades, not mine."

 

While Jerimise was normally shy, it was tutoring that his stubbornness and cockiness really showed. He could talk shit about math because he was good at it. People came to him for help and for once he didn't have to struggle by himself. For once he could actually help someone... He was useful here, not as awkward... Though, some strange part of Jerimise wanted to see what Thomas would do... Was he going to be violent or something? Honestly, what's the worst he could do besides kill someone? For some reason he didn't think the other was going to kill him, perhaps punch him... Well if he did, he would definitely be short a tutor. Jerimise often forgot that he locked the door, it was a habit... that the other would have to get used to.

 

After a pause, Jerimise set down his pencil and turned to face the other male next to him. "Look, I don't know what I did to get you upset. I think we started off on the wrong foot., sorry... How about we start over?" He offered. It seemed silly, but Jerimise would rather have an acquaintance to teach than an enemy. He also knew that students who gave him attitude at the beginning were usually the ones who really needed his help, regardless if they wanted to admit it or not. "Just show me where you'd like to start, alright?"

 

Because he really wanted to be online right now, but no, he had to help this failing student first.

[Stardust_Bunny]

Thomas growled. Picking a fight?! He wasn't the one picking fights here. "You started first. Yelled at me for no reason. It's your job as a tutor to teach me what I don't know. You made it seem like I was forcing you to do your job." He wasn't going to keep calm and quiet for long. He bit his lips and looked away. Fuck. He was losing his patience just fucking around with this boy. He really didn't want to be nice with him, but because he was his tutor, he tried his best to show respect. The report threat sounded empty and pissed him off further. Really? He was ready to go an report him? That was ridiculous.

 

The short pause kept his anger bubbling, but Jerimise's attempt of starting over pleased him. Alright. He liked that. He agreed with a little nod. "I have an upcoming exam on statistics, so it would be nice if you teach me how to work with those. Also, I don't think I caught your name." If they were going to work together, the least they could do was introduce themselves. Thomas idly looked around before his eyes stopped at the reddened hand again. How hard did his tutor scrub? This wasn't how you get ink out of your skin. Scrubbing with some simple soap didn't do the job.

 

He grabbed the ginger's hand and pulled the sleeve up so he could see better. That looked bad. The skin might start flaking. He almost felt bad for that skin. "You shouldn't do that to yourself. Does it hurt?" It sure looked like it did. Tom didn't know what triggered that concern in him, but perhaps it was because his tutor resembled a puppy, and he immediately felt like caring for him.

[Exellda]

"Jerimise Jackson. I'm nine-teen but I'll be twenty soon... Second year, majoring in teaching..." Replied Jerimise when the other student asked for his name. How impolite was he? Jeez, he must have been so absorbed in everything else that he forgot to properly introduce himself. Then he gasped in surprise when the other boy grabbed his hand. What he heard from Thomas shocked him more, "H-huh? I mean, no... I suppose it stings slightly, but it's no biggie. I'm sure if I put lotion on it later it might do it some good..." He said, carefully maneuvering his hand away from Thomas as he pulled down his sleeve. Since when did this guy care if he was hurt? They had only met...

 

Jerimise hummed softly trying to distract himself with his pencil, "I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. No, I do like my job. It's not that bad really. Though all I wish was that you would have came to me sooner so I could help you. That's all..." He admitted while his hands absentmindedly played with the pencil in his hands. "I sometimes get more stressed out than my students do... I like helping them, this is really all I am good at. And I didn't mean to offend you or anything... Sorry. I'm just passionate about this job and I've had some students in the past who did not take me seriously so..." Jerimise trailed off as he tried to explain his moment of 'overacting' and 'yelling'...

 

"So when is your next exam? I promise you I won't freak out this time." Jerimise said in a joking tone. He was at least trying to ease the tension. Hopefully the exam wasn't within the week... He wasn't sure if he could help this guy out of it was that soon... Sure, it could be possible... However they would have to invest into some serious studying. "Do you learn fast or slow? Some of my students like visuals, are you interested in that?" Jerimise asked curiously.

[Stardust_Bunny]

Tom lifted a brow. Majoring in teaching, huh. "Well, that's useless." He said nonchalantly. At least that's how he saw teaching. A waste of time. You had to deal with some dumb fucks that had no intention of studying every single day and endure all of their emotional outbursts. It was a very difficult and stressful job. Even now, he could see the side-effects rub off on Jerimise. Speaking of which, he had quite the exotic sounding name. Tom wondered how he should call him. Jerry? Jay? Jackson? Jay sounded best out of those three. The little gasp caught his attention. Huh. That was cute. "If you say so."

 

He gave an understanding nod. He, too, wished he could have come sooner. Alas, a large void stood between school and his social life. A void, called 'games'. He had no interest in anything else than games. All Tom wanted was to earn money to buy an even better PC, and be the best gamer in all MMORPGs. Well, all good ones, at least. "You seem emotional anyway, so I won't mention it again. You might want to cut back on the tutoring, though. Too much stress might result in a badly done job." He suggested. Stress always lowered the quality of your work, although it did increase productivity. "Ever had a drink?"

 

Oh, right. Exams. Thomas pulled out his phone and checked the date. "Three weeks from now." This wasn't that long, but wasn't very short, either. In other words, could be worse. "I'd like raw theory." Visuals was something he saved for night time. Thomas looked at the other, eyes scanning his tutor's body. Not bad. He looked like the kind of guy to wear white, tight briefs. "Visuals would work on me at home, with a glass of wine."

[Exellda]

Jerimise let out a sigh as Thomas technically made fun of his major. He decided it wasn't worth arguing over to defend. Teaching was probably the only thing he could be good at. Though being timid presented some issues and then there was the stress of having about twenty students or so stare him down. This major wasn't technically set in stone, however Jerimise wouldn't know what else to do because he didn't consider himself really good at anything else but teaching.

 

When Thomas mentioned that being too stressed could lead to a poorly done job, Jerimise could only nod. It was true, one couldn't be too stressed when doing their job. Mental as well as physical health can deteriorate if you were not careful. This reason alone was one that made Jerimise want to reconsider his major... But as said before, he was really good at this and not really anything else. A scowl formed on Jerimise's face, "If you're talking about alcohol, then no. Obviously not because I am underage..." Yeah, Jerimise was your typical nerd with his own perks.

 

Relief poured over Jerimise when Thomas said that they had three weeks until his test. Three was was decent time, seemingly enough time for Jerimise to help Thomas get his shit together. "Raw theory, huh? You like to dig right into the core of the material? Alrighty then." Jerimise shrugged, more to himself. It looked like Thomas would be a fast learner. This would be good for Thomas in the long run, and, who knew, perhaps Thomas would actually do a decent job on his test. They would probably have to meet more than one time per week to catch up though... Less gaming time...

 

At the mention of visuals with wine, Jerimise curiously tilted his head with slightly furrowed brows. "What do you mean? I would think wine wouldn't help you remember anything the next morning. I wouldn't think wine would be good for you when you're trying to study." Jerimise commented, seemingly oblivious to any 'hidden' context that Thomas may have been referring to. Jerimise set his pencil down, "Alright give me the text book and show me where you want to start. Tutor has to do his job." There was no time to fool around.

[Stardust_Bunny]

Thomas blinked. What. Underage? He was almost twenty and still thought he was underage? Sure, in some countries he was, but in most, he was way over the legal age of drinking. "I wouldn't consider you a kid. If you know how alcohol works, you're old enough to drink." He said. Just because someone was not underage didn't mean he could drink. What if he was some thirty year old guy who had no idea how fucked up alcohol could get you, and never really learned from his mistakes? Clearly, age was not an equivalent of intelligence and maturity. He thought Jerimise was pretty smart, so he should know how to handle a glass or two of liqueur. Still, forced fun was never really ... fun.

 

"I'd like some straightforward shit, thank you very much." He nodded. He wasn't a kid, no need for the whole see and learn kind of studying. And Mathematics wasn't really something you could learn by watching. Wasn't like he was looking at animals and trying to memorize how they look. Although Math was a manifestation of some horrid monster for him.

 

The curious head tilt resembled that of a dog. Like how Mikey acted whenever Tom tried to teach him something new. D'aw. He couldn't help but smile. Puppy-like people really got to him. "Guess you really are underage." He nonchalantly said. It surprised him, though. A nineteen year old boy had no dirty thoughts whatsoever. If he didn't jerk off as well, Thomas would declare him a saint and send him to some monastery. Pure creatures like him had no business here. Universities and highschools were like Tinder. Meet and f-- "I don't have the textbook with me. I only have a notebook." Which he bought like, fifteen minutes ago. "All of my books are at home. That is, if Mikey hasn't eaten them yet. He gets cranky whenever I'm late to feed him." And right now, he was very late. Not that Mikey didn't have anything to eat, he just really liked his canned food best. The dry dog food wasn't really his favorite, and he often had problems peeing afterwards because it was so damn salty, it irritated his bladder. "I thought you said you had the textbook with you." If this wasn't going to work out, they could just practice some basic Mathematics here, then go to his place, and study there. Hell, he might even show him his personal collection of porn. Imagine the look on his tutor's face.

[Exellda]

While he wasn't sure if Thomas was trying to compliment his intellect, he nodded nonetheless. " Mentality and physicality are two different things, I would agree. However, the law does still stand..." Jerimise shrugged, "I don't know, alcohol just never interested me I suppose... So besides the law, that's also why I have not tried it yet... I might once I turn twenty-one, but until that happens, I don't plan on drinking any time soon." Ironically, afterwards Thomas said he was a kid and the only response Jerimise could think of at the time was, "Whatever you say." He shrugged again, apathetic to the situation.

 

"Okay then. I suppose we can just dive in since you like the 'straightforward shit'." Jerimise quoted verbally and physically brought his hands up to make the quoting gesture. This Thomas guy seemed to be and interesting character. His mind seemed to be wired differently than many students Jerimise had encountered. So it seemed that this would be a learning experience for the both of them. He couldn't lie, Thomas would be an interesting student to teach. Thomas seemed to be wired differently than the others... Well, at least these lessons would never be dull, it would also help Jerimise to stay on his toes.

 

"Oh... Right..." Jerimise said after a moment of realization. Thomas had said earlier that he didn't have anything. Suppose he would have to pull out his own text book. "You're lucky I am also taking a statistics class..." He hummed softly, leaning over the other way to reach into his backpack and pull out his own text book. "Who knows, maybe we'll have the same statistics class next semester." He mentioned as he pulled set his text book down on the table in front of him. Immediately, anyone could tell it was his because there was an abundance of sticky notes. There were several colors, pink, yellow, and blue to be exact. But before Thomas could say anything about them, Jerimise felt the need to explain, "Pink is for equations, yellow is for definitions, and blue is for examples or problems." He clarified, "What do you say we get started shall we?"

[Stardust_Bunny]

Oh, so Jerimise was from those kind of people. "Rules are meant to be broken." Tom reminded. Maybe that's why his little tutor looked so bored all the time. He had nothing to do. "You just haven't found the right kind of alcohol yet. You look like you'd fancy some strawberry liqueur." And Thomas had a bottle at home. Or maybe it was chocolate liqueur. Oh well, anything sweet goes when it came to someone like Jerimise. He needed a nice sample to get him going. Not just throw the hardest, most bitter Russian vodka at him and expect him to develop a taste for it. "What about New Year's? Never had champagne?" That was silly. Although there was a non-alcoholic version of Champagne for little kids. He nearly snorted at the thought. Really now, it wouldn't surprise him if Jerimise had the tutti-frutti flavor children's champagne. What would surprise him, however, would be JayJay getting drunk off it.

 

"Sounds better coming from your lips." The whole straightforward shit sounded prettier from Jerimise, mainly because the boy was so innocent that even shit turned sparkly when it came from his mouth. It intrigued him. The boy was nearly nineteen. Surely, he had some porn magazines hidden under his bed. That, or he really was as oblivious as he pretended to be. Only one way to find out. Go to his place. "Agreed." The black haired male opened up his energy drink and sipped, not minding the large quantity of sticky notes.

 

Everything went surprisingly smooth for the next thirty minutes. Contrary to belief, it wasn't a pain in the ass to work with him. In fact, Tom was rather smart and got a hang of things pretty easily. However, he took a short break to go to the bathroom, and while he was gone, his phone started to ring rather intently.

[Exellda]

Jerimise decided to not argue against what Thomas said. He himself had to break rules every once in a while. However, he wasn't sure he appreciated the fact that Thomas was trying to get him to consume alcohol. "I uh... No." Jerimise sighed, knowing that Thomas might make fun of him for this, "Why share a bottle of champagne, when I can have a whole bottle of sparkling grape juice to myself?" He had almost said that jokingly, but with an underlining seriousness. He didn't intend to drink until he was of proper age. And what the hell did Thomas mean 'coming from his lips'? What did he say that sounded better? Jerimise was clueless and didn't understand. He then decided that it wasn't worth his time and settled on forgetting about it.

 

The ginger was more than happy that as soon as they started to study, time seemed to pass fairly quickly and before he knew it, thirty minutes had passed. He watched as Thomas left for a bathroom break. This gave Jerimise the time to stand up, yawn and stretch his arms above his head. Thomas had surprised Jerimise because he didn't think he would be able to pick statistics up so quickly. It was actually phenomenal to see Thomas go through the information so quickly... It had the ginger wondering what the other male did to get so far behind. He was overall pleased with Thomas's effort and was glad that they could get along. Perhaps Thomas would be an excellent study partner...

 

But then Jerimise soon was dragged out of his thoughts when he heard a phone ringing. It was of course Thomas's phone because Jerimise would surely never have his phone on sound when he would be tutoring. At that moment Jerimise thought about taking the phone, maybe look to see who was contacting Thomas... But it was none of his business who it was nor did Jerimise care enough to confiscate it. They were in college now and there was no need for stupid disciplinary actions. So he left the phone there as it was and waited for Thomas to return.

 

A clever thought came to Jerimise one that Thomas might get what he wanted from the situation. Unfortunately Jerimise might have to break the law to do so. If had to guess, Thomas would definitely want to participate and play along. It was like a mini tradition that he had for those whom he tutored with. So once Thomas finally returned, Jerimise decided to toss the bargain out for Thomas. "Hey, your phone went off while you were gone." He said at first, informing the other male by pointing at the device. "And while you were gone... I was thinking. Would you like to take up a little bargain with me..? It's simple really and I offer this to all the people I tutor. Basically, if you can get at least C on your test, I'll buy you some ice cream. If you get a B on your exam, I'll not only buy you ice cream but I'll also give you twenty bucks. Lastly, if you can achieve an A, I'll get you ice cream, twenty bucks, and something of your choice. If you want something from me, I'll give it to you free of charge, just know that you have a hundred dollar limit. So it can't be too expensive." Then there was hum from Jerimise, a small smirk on his face, "And since we're both in statistics, I'll give you a bonus... If you can score higher than me on our next exam, I'll let you buy me alcohol, whatever you pick and I'll drink it right in front of you." It was a challenge and he was daring Thomas to take it. "What do you say? None of my students have beaten me yet, so you have a real challenge here."

[Stardust_Bunny]

Soon enough, Thomas came back from the bathroom. He had his hands washed, so at least he had good hygiene. Some boys never really washed their hands after going to the bathroom, which was, well ... don't shake hands with them.

 

He gave a little nod and checked his phone. He didn't call back, but he did send a message to whoever called him. Once that was out of the way, Tom sat on his seat and listened to what Jerimise had to say. Looked like he had something planned ahead. The more he listened, the more ideas he got. Heh. This should be fun. Maybe he could use this as an opportunity to turn Jerimise into a real man. "I accept your challenge." He calmly said, keeping whatever dirty thoughts he had well hidden from his tutor. "Prepare your tastebuds, Jerimise. I think you'll find the taste of alcohol quite overwhelming." With that said, Tom went back to work. And boy, did they work. They studied very often, and it was just that - studying. Although, as their meetings progressed, a certain heaviness polluted the air between them. Especially when Tom showed up in a tank top, fresh out of shower. That aside, they were going further and further in the material. Turns out Thomas wasn't a complete idiot!

 

After a few long weeks of studying, exam time came. As usual, Tom was late. He arrived thirty-five minutes into the exam, and had just twenty-five more to actually do it. It was a tragedy.

 

The teacher rolled his eyes. "Oh, wow. Mister Blythe. I'm surprised you came."

 

"May I sit, sir, I'm losing time."

 

"You lost half an hour already, funny you consider it now. Tsch, sit." He handed him the papers and let him sit and do the test. God damn, that boy was as irresponsible as ever. He hoped something went into his head from all the supposed tutoring he did.

[Exellda]

Jerimise found himself happy that Thomas accepted his bargain. It made him feel good that Thomas could dedicate himself and apply himself more. This would be an interesting bargain though, if he lost, he wasn't sure what he would do because he was sure he would feel really guilty about drinking alcohol... "Yeah, we'll see Thomas." A soft giggle escaped Jerimise, "You better bring your A-game on the exam day. I promise you, I'll study." He lightly teased. They only had three weeks to cover the material... Or at least the material Thomas had yet to learn.

 

It was a good thing Thomas was a fast learner. Jerimise greatly enjoyed helping him out. Through the three weeks they worked together he got to learn more about Thomas. He was a quirky guy, funny and different. He had a dog, apparently, that he loved a lot. Dogs were cool, though the apartment complex Jerimise lived at didn't allow dogs or cats... Otherwise Jerimise might have invested in a pet. Surprisingly, Jerimise noticed that in his gaming life was going just as good too. Three weeks passed faster than he thought they would.

 

Which is why when the exams came around, he didn't feel any different. The material he had studied with Thomas definitely helped him throughout the exam. And now, currently he was waiting after school, a smile on his face. He was standing next to the doorway of the tutoring room that he and Thomas had using this whole time. They had agreed to meet there today to show off scores. He had scored a 96% on his exam and was sure Thomas wouldn't beat him. Though, he did have twenty bucks in his pocket and planned to buy Thomas ice cream later if he wanted. He wasn't sure how high Thomas would score, but he truly did hope for the best. He really wanted Thomas to do well, just like his other students, he really did.

 

Lucky for him, Jerimise had a three day weekend and after studying so hard, he was very grateful. This meant he would have three days to kick back, relax, and game! Oh, it would be so much fun. His character had became good friends with the most powerful gamer ever... Sadly, Jerimise wouldn't admit that the character he chose was a female character... Perhaps maybe one day he could meet the other player... However he was afraid to disappoint the other player... because he was a guy instead of a girl and had yet to tell the other player...

 

Glancing at his watch, Jerimise knew that Thomas should be here soon. He couldn't wait to see him... More or less out of excitement and actually wanting to see the guy. After these three weeks, Jerimise thought that they were friends -that's what he kept telling himself: just friends- now and he didn't have an abundance of them so... He was more than happy to see Thomas again... "Thomas!" Jerimise called out to the taller male, waving him over once he saw him. "How did you do on the exam?" He smiled softly.

[Stardust_Bunny]

Thomas was tired. Exhausted, even. Lacked sleep. Lacked strength. Lacked the will to live. He played that mmorpg all night and he barely got any sleep. Not to mention he played like that every time. His sleeping patterns were so weird people thought he was a foreigner, since they speculated his timezone was pretty different. Little did they know he had no regards for sleep whatsoever. Psh. Sleep is for the weak.

 

He came out of the exam room, completely drained. It took him a while to registed Jerimise. He squinted his eyes and looked at the distant figure. Ah, yes. His tutor. He owed his success to him. He walked up to JJ and rubbed his eyes. Ugh. So tired. "Don't know. Good, I guess. Wanna go grab some coffee?"

 

"Blythe, come here for a moment." The professor called him out from the exam room. Oh God, why. Thomas groaned and looked back. He probably failed that damn test.

 

"Can't it wait?"

 

"No."

 

The black haired male patted Jerimise on the shoulder and lazily went back in the room. Ugh. So fucking tired. "What is it, I need to sleep." He had work tonight, and afterwards, he had to help some cutie get that blood rune he got earlier. It took him so long because of this constant tutoring thing, but in the end, they succeeded. Plus, he got himself a great pet. Although he didn't use pets, wasn't really his style. He pulled out his phone and looked through his list of friends in the game. He had a specialized email just for the game, where he had all of his friends so they could talk about the game without actually having to be there. Guess I'll give it to her, Thomas thought as he send a message to his new buddy. He didn't know much about her, but she seemed like a good kid. Probably the kind to like cute pets.

 

I've got a pet, want it?

[baby Wyvern] Received.

 

"Thomas, are you done playing with your phone, or are you going to pay me some attention?" The teacher seemed relatively calm. He sat on his seat and sighed, the exam list in his hand. "I just finished checking your paper."

 

"I don't care how much I have, I just want to know if I pass." Tom shrugged. He was tired of this shit. He just wanted to go home and play games, but fuck, he had so much to do. It was starting to wear him out. "Do I pass?"

 

"You do. In fact, you have 93 1/2 correct, out of 95 questions. This is ... did you cheat? I swear to God, if you cheated, and I didn't see you--"

 

"Check the cameras." Thomas snapped. "I did not cheat."

 

"Perhaps I made a mistake. You can't ... have that much. This is crazy, three weeks ago you couldn't count the fingers on your hands, and now ..."

 

"Do I pass, professor?"

 

"For fuck's sake, if you did so well every time, you'd get a scholarship, Thomas. Of course you fucking pass."

 

"Thank you." That's all he wanted to hear. Tom took his paper, excused himself and left the room, visibly refreshed. Good. That exam wasn't so bad after all. "I got my score or whatever." He handed it to Jerimise, uninterested. "I pass." Was all that mattered to him. "You still up for that coffee?"

[Exellda]

Jerimise soon found himself patted on the head by Thomas. They didn't exchange too many words before he had to watch Thomas turn right around and leave again. Hopefully he wasn't in trouble. Perhaps, if he was lucky, Thomas was getting his exam back. That would be quite convenient, "Good luck Thomas." Jerimise cheered, hoping that whatever Thomas was getting called back for, really was for something good.

 

It didn't take long, thankfully, for Thomas to return. "I didn't have a chance to say that I would be happy to have coffee with you because you left so quickly." Jerimise smiled softly and took Thomas' exam, excited to see how high the other male scored. He saw the score and his mouth dropped, wide open as he let out a gasp. "Wh-what?" Jerimise blinked. He did simple division in his head to deduce what Thomas' score was... And to his surprise... The other male had scored at least two percent higher than he did... "N-not only did you get an A... But you scored higher than me..." Jerimise said in disbelief. He was utterly speechless and flabbergasted. There was no way... Surely..? He had lost his own bet? How? But... A small whimper escaped Jerimise, "It seems I taught you too well..." He huffed softly, coming to the realization that he would have to break the law... and drink alcohol...

 

A nervous smile appeared on Jerimise's face, "I suppose I not only owe you ice cream, but a twenty, something of your choice and..." The ginger haired boy ran a hand through his hair as he looked up at the other male slightly nervously. He didn't know why, but the thought of consuming alcohol made him nervous. He didn't want to get in trouble with the law... "I guess... I'll be drinking with you sometime this weekend?" He asked curiously, wanting to know how soon he was supposed to prepare for his doom. Though, with the way Thomas talked about it, he would have thought alcohol wasn't that bad... But Jerimise knew all too well, he was smart, he knew better than to think that alcohol was okay...

 

Although, now that he thought about it... It wasn't the alcohol that made him nervous... It was the fact that he was probably get drunk really easily, right in front of his student. He would be drunk in front of Thomas... Hopefully he wouldn't say or do anything stupid. It would be devastating to his career if something went askew.

[Stardust_Bunny]

He scored higher? A pleasant surprise. Thomas didn't expect that from himself, especially considering how stressed he was the past one week. Oh, well. "I doubt you taught me too well. You were probably tired while you did your test, and misread some of the questions." He suggested. Sure, Thomas was smart, but he wasn't genius tutor smart. Jerimise probably had as much problems on his head as everyone else.

 

He saw the reluctance in the other's eyes. He certainly didn't want to force Jerimise, or make him feel as if he was cornered and had no other way out of this. This should be a fun experience, not a nightmare. "Yes. I'll bring pizza and Mikey. Don't worry. No one will find out." He'll hide the little weiner dog in his bag on his way to Jerimise's place, along with the alcohol. The pizza would be carried in his hand, since he couldn't risk the dog eating it. Mikey liked to eat pizza, and wouldn't mind getting the packaging with it. He was very greedy.

 

So. Coffee. Tom lightly patted Jerimise's back before he led the way. It was time for a nice cup of coffee, maybe even some food. He was starving, really. "How's Friday sound? You free that day?" Already, Tom had to ask about the date. His schedule was a little tight. "Also, don't worry about the money. Keep it." He had enough, really.

[Exellda]

Now that Thomas mentioned it, he had been a little tired while taking his exam this morning. For the most part it had to do with all of his studies, not to mention his game play almost ever night, and tutoring with Thomas... All of those things had played into Jerimise's tiredness this morning... Not to mention that there were actually a couple times Jerimise had spaced out while thinking about Thomas... He had wondered how the other male would do on his own exam... That and a couple of other things passed his mind...

 

He hummed softly, "Maybe you're right... But still, regardless if I was tired, you beat me anyway... Plus, you seem to be tired as well, so we're even. Are you sure you don't want the twenty? You could use it to buy your coffee." Jerimise said as he pulled out a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket, waving it tauntingly in from of Thomas. "It was a part of the bargain, so it's not a big deal." Jerimise found himself encouraging Thomas to take his money. This scenario actually happened to Jerimise a couple times before with other students he had tutored before. There was a time though his adolescent age when he would get bullied out of his money. Those were not good times.

 

"Friday sounds good..." When Thomas pat him on the back, Jerimise got the clue that they were going to get coffee now. "You'll bring Mikey? You're little doggie?" He asked while smiling softly and let out a small giggle, wondering how Thomas was going to do that. He was going to tell Thomas that he couldn't bring his dog and that if he got caught, Jerimise might get kicked out. However Jerimise was well aware of Thomas's love for his dog and knew that the other male would bring his dog nonetheless so he made no attempts to stop him. "The pictures you showed me on your phone of Mikey- He looks like a real cutie." Jerimise complimented lightly, not really even thinking about it. "Can't wait to finally meet Mikey." He didn't even care about the pizza mentioned. He said as they walked together.

 

"So did you want to hit up the nearest cafe? I know that there is this nice cafe a couple blocks from here. We could walk if you want." Jerimise suggested. It was a nice day so he figured he would offer Thomas a nice walk. They both needed to clear their heads with fresh air after taking the exams. However Jerimise wouldn't say no if Thomas had any other ideas. Sometimes, well actually most of the time, Jerimise was passive. Though on occasion he had his moments where he was assertive. It depended on the situation.