…or, Iason On My Mind
It was impressive, in a weird way, how little Iason knew about plant and herb lore. Granted, at the age of thirty he would still be considered immature among the elves—a “middling”, one who had reached the peak of physical maturity but not yet transitioned to adult life—but he was very blasé about a whole subject that most elven children seemed to pick up naturally.
Somehow, when the class was over, we had found all five of the herbs on Iason’s forest list. Only one of them was on mine.
“I don’t want to give you an F, Mr. Bowman,” Bryony said, shaking her head over my sheet when we turned them in. “But I’m afraid that’s the grade you earned.”
“You said half,” I said. “I got eight out of fifteen. That should at least be a C.”
“You got seven out of ten on the first assignment,” she said. “That’s good for a B-minus. One out of five on the second, though, is another story entirely. Especially when I know you spent enough time in the woods.”
“I didn’t realize they were separate,” I said. “I might have—”
“Spent less time making doe eyes at Mr. Iason?” she said. “It isn’t like I didn’t try to warn you about that. I know he’s not hard to look at, but you know we don’t have time to spare in this class.”
“I know, Professor,” I said.
“I don’t like to see somebody with a natural talent squander it, and that’s why I’m going to be tough on you,” she said. “I’ll let you go with a B-minus and a D-minus, and next week try to keep your head a bit closer to the ground, alright?”
“Alright,” I said. “Thanks.”
“I’m sorry that you did not do better,” Iason said, catching up to me on the path back to the shack after he got his grade back. “If it makes you feel any better, I got a B and an A.”
“Why should that make me feel better?” I asked. “You would have failed without my help, and I almost failed because of you.”
He smiled. Today, he was wearing a sleeveless vest that showed off his chiseled chest and his flat stomach, as well as his twining blue tattoos. He looked great in it, and I’m sure he knew it.
“I did not realize you had it so bad for me,” he said.
“I want an apology,” I told him, keeping my eyes locked on his and not looking at his body. It didn’t matter. His eyes were almost as devastating.
“What for?” he asked.
“For taking my herbs!” I yelled. “For wrecking my grade!”
“It’s going to be a long semester,” Iason said. “She likes you. You’ll make it up. Just like I’ll make it up to you, tonight.”
“No, Iason,” I said. “You won’t. I’m not going.”
“But, I promised you.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t promise you,” I said. “You can fuck off and leave me alone, if you can’t even apologize.”
“I said I was sorry you didn’t get a better grade,” Iason said.
“That isn’t an apology!”
“It was sincere,” he said. “I meant every word of it. Wouldn’t you rather have my honest condolences on your misfortune than an admission of responsibility I don’t even mean?”
“I want you to apologize and mean it,” I said.
“Would you like me to fly to the moon and bring you back her tears while I’m at it?” Iason asked.
I glared at him, saying nothing. I would give him nothing else he could turn around and throw back at me.
“You are beautiful when you’re angry,” he said.
It seemed he didn’t need that much to work with.
It upset me how much I was getting upset, and this didn’t help. For fuck’s sake, I had my hands on my hips like my mother. He leaned in to kiss me, and I let him. I wasn’t letting him off the hook, but I needed to calm down.
Kissing him wasn’t calming, but it was soothing.
“You should grow your hair out a bit,” he said, ruffling the front of my hair.
“Iason,” I said.
“What?”
“Apologize.”
“Maybe you should apologize for yelling,” he said.
“I’m serious, Iason,” I said.
“So am I,” he said. “I am a very fragile man, Iamie. It hurts my feelings when you shout at me.” He took my hand and put it inside his vest, over his heart. Well, over his nipple. “Do you feel my heart breaking? That’s because a pretty boy yelled at me when I tried to do something nice for him.”
“I’m s—oh, no,” I said, pulling my hand back. “Last chance, Iason.”
He stared at me, the very picture of wide-eyed innocence while I silently counted down from ten. When I got to one, I would turn and walk away.
“I’m sorry,” he said, right as I got to three.
“Thank you,” I said.
“I mean that.”
“I believe you,” I said.
“So, now you will go to dinner,” he said.
“Iason, I—”
“Please, say that you will or say that you won’t,” he said. “This constant, what is it? Jerking me around? It’s just got to stop.”
I smiled—laughed—in spite of myself. He was being so damned earnest about it.
“You will go?” he said.
“Okay, yeah,” I said. “I’ll go. As long as you manage to not be a total asshole to me between now and then.”
He shook his head, clicking his tongue.
“This is blackmail,” he said. “Emotional blackmail. But, I put up with it for you.”
I laughed more, but hid it with my hand. He took my other hand and bent down over it. Before I realized what he was doing, he was kissing it. He sucked my knuckle between his lips while looking up at me with a look in his eyes that was about half wordless adoration and half “What are you going to do about this, smart guy?”
Nothing, it turned out.
“See you at six,” he said, and then I watched him walk away.
“You look flustered,” Marlot said when I met her and Missy at the food court. “Are you flustered?”
“I don’t know what to do about Iason,” I said.
“Well, that’s an interesting problem, but it’s not what I asked,” Marlot said, acting put out.
“What do you mean, Jamie?” Missy asked. “I thought things were going really well between you two.”
“He likes me,” I said. “A lot.”
“That’s good, though,” Missy said. “Isn’t it?”
“I’d rather he liked me a little,” I said. “Just enough.”
“How inconsiderate of him not to check first,” Marlot said.
“I’m not trying to be a dick about it,” I said. “But, you know how a puppy can be totally cute but not really housebroken?”
“Okay, if this story’s about poo, I don’t want to hear it,” Missy said.
“It’s not,” I said, holding back the scathing look I wanted to give her.
“Pee, either,” she said. “That stuff’s gross. I don’t know why some people need to mix it up with sex.”
“I’m making an analogy,” I said. “Iason’s got no sense of boundaries.”
“Oh,” Missy said.
“Well,” Marlot said, “maybe I’m missing something, but has he asked you for any kind of commitment yet?”
“No, he really hasn’t,” I said. “He’s implied he might want something longer term, but he hasn’t given me his class ring to wear or anything.”
“Wouldn’t it be sweet if he did, though?” Missy asked. “Do elves have class rings?”
“Not really, no,” I said.
“He could give you a promise ring!” Missy said.
“Anyway, I’m going to have to give dinner a pass,” I said. “It turns out we have plans tonight.”
“It turns out?” Marlot repeated. “You mean it just so happened that you have plans?”
“Yeah, it kind of did, actually,” I said.
“The plans just sort of fell into your lap?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Well, I’m not saying anything against it,” Marlot said. “I told you to get out there and seize opportunities. And if he’s really not pushing you to commit, there’s no reason you can’t say yes to this and tell him no later. In fact, there’d be no reason you couldn’t do that, anyway. You can always change your mind.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I said.
“Anyway, I certainly don’t mind sharing you,” Missy said. “Just don’t forget, we’re still going to that dance on Saturday, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “I’m not sure what exactly Iason has planned, but I’m assuming we’ll be done by then.”
“One hopes,” Marlot said. “Well, anyway, if you’re not going to be around tonight, then maybe I’ll take Bobby up on his offer and go get coffee or something.”
“Who’s Bobby?” I asked.
“Some guy,” Marlot said.
“Her boyfriend,” Missy said at the same time.
“He’s a guy on the second floor,” Marlot said. “He was hanging out with Lonnie and we started talking.”
“Lonnie?” I repeated. I needed a roster to keep up with life on the girls’ side, apparently.
“Yolanda,” Missy said.
“Iolana,” Marlot corrected.
“He was hanging out with Iolana and he just stopped to hit on you?” I asked.
“Yeah, it turns out attractiveness is subjective,” Marlot said. “Who’d a thunk it?”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said. “But, if I thought I had a shot with Iolana, I wouldn’t settle for—well, I mean, she seems like a nice girl.”
“Back up a minute there, bucky,” Missy said, putting her burger down. “I want to hear how that sentence was going to end.”
“I wasn’t talking about you,” I said.
“Would you have said you’d go to the dance with me if Iolana had asked you first?” Missy asked.
“If she asked me first?” I repeated.
“I’ll give you a hint,” Marlot stage-whispered. “The correct answer to this question is spontaneous combustion.”
“Can we get off the subject of ‘Lonnie’ and get back to this guy Bobby?” I asked. “Marlot, how well do you know this guy?”
“Not well,” she said. “That’s the point of going to get coffee with somebody: to get to know them better.”
“If you’re rushing into this just because I’m hooking up—”
“Hooking up? I got laid the first day we were here, mister,” she said. “I had a boyfriend before you did, even if he was more of a jackass than Iason is.”
“Iason isn’t a jackass. Much,” I said. “And he isn’t my boyfriend.”
“Much,” Marlot said.
I sighed.
“I’m not sure I want to go to the dance with you after all,” Missy said. “I don’t need to be anybody’s second choice.”
“Weren’t we going as friends, anyway?” I asked.
“I suppose we were,” she said. “I guess that means you can date whoever you want, doesn’t it?”
“Missy, I’m not dating anybody,” I said. “Except for you, sort of, and Iason, sort of. Do I think Iolana is attractive? Yes. But you’re not bad yourself. The bottom line is I’m eighteen years old. I’m going to notice girls.”
“And boys,” Marlot added.
“Whatever,” Missy said. “It’s not like I’m even upset about it.”
Iason wasn’t the only person in my sort-of-dating circle who had a problem with the truth, it seemed. Lunch ended without any kind of a resolution, except Missy asking me if I still wanted to go to the dance with her. I told her yes.
In etherscaping, I was working on forming background images and my mind kept going to roses and other flowers. I didn’t want my project page to look like a gift bag from a bridal shower, but the other image that hung before my eyes was Iason’s face. After wrestling with the crystal ball for twenty minutes, I finally overlaid the page with his tattoos so I could move on to the next step.
It wasn’t until I looked up from my notes that I realized my mind had placed his ice blue eyes in the middle of the field. I tried to erase them, but they were firmly set in place. I’d have to scrap all my set-up work and start again if I wanted to get rid of them.
What was it Marlot had said about being able to change my mind?
First? Whoa poor Iamie he just kept feeding himelf his own foot with Missy and Iason it appears is actually capable of apologizing :O
MOOK! Now on to actually read it…
OOK!
I got home at a lucky time… OOOK!
[insert stereotypical Divals comments about bricks and fire and how Iason is one of the biggest douchebags ever]
But I kind of know how Jamie feels… I’ve dated people before who I knew were a horrible match for me but couldn’t say no to them.
Iason is like a puppy. An adorable puppy. lol @ Jamie’s page. The heart, or well you know ^_~, wants what it wants, huh?
I still don’t like Missy and her whole passive-aggressive schtick.
whoa, top 10 on BOTH sites!
i reeeeally don’t like iason…..seriously, he’s almost like a passive puddy
Having actually read it… funniest story I’ve read in awhile. I’m beginning to actually understand yaoi guys tropes, I think.
Hm, so I guess with the magic, the ethernet kind of works with mental controls? Heh, creating an etherscape with whatever’s on your mind sounds possibly incriminating…
……..Khersis fuck.
I’m dating a girl almost exactly like Missy except with the ignorance toned down a bit and my girl being Bi. Passive-Aggressive?Check. Chubbyness? Check though honestly I find the sex better then that with thing waist girls. That and the softness.
MOOK!
Iason = annoying, but hot.
Missy = annoying and clueless. Too self-absorbed to be redeemable.
Marlot = WIN!
@ JT Cool
Thats the wonderful thing about people, we all have different tastes, theres someone for everyone out there.
I still say Jaime should lose both of them. And do better in class…
“Would you have said you’d go to the dance with me if Iolana had asked you first?” Missy asked.
“If she asked me first?” I repeated.
“I’ll give you a hint,” Marlot stage-whispered. “The correct answer to this question is spontaneous combustion.”
hee. priceless.
I composed a comment back when I read this a couple of hours ago, which was then lost along with all ability to access any AE site. It appears that updating all of her series at the same time acted as a denial of service attack with all the frenzied clicking, or I was just having problems. I now attempt to reformulate the lost comment.
As with all too many of these questions, that is the best of all possible answers. Another favorite is “Does this make my butt look big?” No right answers available, there. Saying that you can’t imagine a boy showing interest in your girlfriend because the girl she was with was too hot for him to possibly have payed attention to her=instant death.
Stray thoughts influencing your designs could be quite annoying, but I would love to be able to craft an image with my mind would be fantastic. I have a very vivid imagination, but lack the skills to share it with others. This sounds like something I would really enjoy doing.
“Courtship” is defined
As “man pursuing woman
‘Til she catches him”
Pursuer and pursued
Has always been the nature
Of the mating game
It doesn’t matter
Whether or not the genders
Actually differ
______________
I’m sitting here getting annoyed at Jamie for his behavior in class and then I remember how well I did keeping my mind on my music when I had an incurable crush on a guy in marching band…
and
“I’ll give you a hint,” Marlot stage-whispered. “The correct answer to this question is spontaneous combustion.”
is made of win.
“How inconsiderate of him not to check first,” Marlot said.
This is my favourite line of the chapter. Marlot rocks so hard.
Is her name pronounced Mar-loh like the wine, or mar-lot?
Holy cow, did I make top 20? (not much but its a start and I can be easily pleased at times
) Great chapter as always. I wonder how dinner with Iason will go?
MOOK!
Another great chapter. Iason actually does some redeeming here, as he actually apologized.
Missy needs a good smack with a clue-by-four.
And Jamie really was making a hurtful comment about Marlot before he cut it off.
But yes, Marlot’s sarcasm is hilarious here.
What a funny chapter. Iason really needs to get his act together in herbalism and Jamie needs to grow some sense and not let Iason walk all over him.
And Marlot = funny
@ 17
Marlot is pronounced like the wine. It was in the comments in some of the first few chapters.
Iason is a jerk and Jamie should rid himself of the baggage that is Iason no matter how “hot” he is. Iason is going to just keep dragging Jamie down like he did in class.
Missy on the other hand has promise as a friend but probably not as a real girlfriend for Jamie, she was his first real sex with a girl so will probably always have a little piece of his hart. I do wonder how Missy and Mack will get a long once they discover their more common interest in Mecknights.
My thoughts
Casp
I still think Iason is a better choice than Missy.
MARGINALLY.
At least with him, it seems like he’s a jerk from ignorance, rather than carelessness.
Man… Jamie is being such a little bitch. To Iason AND Marlot. Yes, he definitely needs to get some non-girl friends and start getting to know people in his dorm.
I’d really like to see some back-story on Marlot. Such could also serve to better define Jamie.
“The aww shit I screwed up on that there and can’t undo it?” part is sort of there with image editing though. If your doing photochops or something and merge a layer or happen to accidentally do something to a layer you didn’t want to, and don’t notice it, you can wind up with something that would be more work to fix than just to redo it.
Oh Khersis Dei, Missy, shut up!
I think I’m in danger of being obsessed with these stories because I forget that they are made up and think of doing things to them like they are real people.
AE, you rule.
I think Iason’s put a spell on you, Jamie. And nooowwww you’re hiiiiiisss…. (*ahem*, sorry)
Okay, I love Marlot’s comments as much as the next person, but …..
Has she actually said anything except amusing one-liners in this chapter? Or the last one? Or the one before that? She had a few real conversations with Jamie in the first few chapters, but I feel like she’s been getting a little marginalized with the story focusing on Iason so much.
On another note, I really sympathize with Jamie’s needing to meet more people. I’ve got the same problem — the people you notice are the ones who are hot, but they’re not always people you’d be interested in knowing aside from that, and the ones who would actually be a good friend often slip under the radar. Also Jamie just pays WAY too much attention to how hot someone is.
Marlot bugs me, and Missy is a twit, but Iason is a certifiable, must ditch, asshole. He’s manipulative, conniving, dishonorable, self serving, vain, and abusive. He’s incapable of loving anyone but himself, and will use and abuse anyone or anything to get what he wants ‘Right Now’. He has a long future as a conman and grifter. Probably a forger or gigolo as well.
@28 Oh don’t apologize. You’re just saying what we’re all thinking. Or at least half of us.
Oh, dear. You know I have nothing but the highest respect for Our Illustrious Guide, but after reading the last two chapters in a go, I involuntarily thought the Eight Deadly Words.
Things are getting interesting on Mack’s end, so it’s not like I’m totally bailing, but so far as Jason and company are concerned, that’s all, folks.
M
Eight deadly words? Me no comprendo.
@Heph 33 — Since I have realized that almost everything seems to have an answer in Wikipedia, I actually googled “Eight Deadly Words” — and apparently they are: I don’t care what happens to these people”.
I, however, do. I love MoarMu as well as Original. Truly.
Valerie
What is it with this universe and protagonists’ minds being magically affected without their friends noticing?
Canonically, nothing. It’s just the explanation fans give for everything when it hasn’t been explained yet