[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjcyLmM1MWIxZC5VbWxqYUdGeVpDQkxhVzVuLjA,/hardlyworthit.regular.png[/img]

[img]http://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma5b0iingj1rqx5hy.gif[/img]
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[i][u]Location:[/u] King's Estate -> Lincoln Memorial High
[u]Interacting With:[/u]  Malcolm Okada [@McHaggis][/i][/center]
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Mal wandered downstairs ten minutes later on the dot, just as he said, and helped himself to the orange juice in the fridge. It was probably testament to how many times he’d been in King’s house that he knew where all the food, drink and kitchen utensils were – probably better than his best friend himself. Drinking from a glass because only barbarians drank it straight from the bottle, he waved awkwardly at Marie, who returned the gesture.

It was weird. Despite being an only child himself, Malcolm liked to treat King’s little sister like his own lil’ sis, though of course his own mother wouldn’t have had it any other way. She kept telling him to extend the weekly (or sometimes bi-weekly) dinner invitation to Marie as well as King.

Mal rolled up the sleeves of the flannel shirt that was way too big on him in the arms – probably because he just picked it out of the pile of his stuff stowed away in King’s wardrobe for emergencies and it likely wasn’t his – and sat at the breakfast bar, lost in thought. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with [i]King[/i]? There was an infinitely more important question to answer, because in all his years of being buddies with the overdramatic, loveable prat, he’d never seen him act like that before, especially not after a night of drinking. 

Flopping over him like that did not help Mal’s little-big crush, either. Like the meaningless flirting King did to everyone, it just made it worse.

King, while Malcolm had spent a total of ten minutes preparing (how he was so quick King would never know), had taken to wandering the top floor of his family’s home. It had been quiet, maybe deathly so, and yet he still felt the overwhelming pressure of anxiety, worry, and just the tiniest bit of endearment. Something was very, very wrong and King couldn’t decipher just exactly what it was, which just seemed to add to his own panic. Maybe the booze from last night was bad, super bad, poisonous even...  Can beer go bad? Malcolm seemed fine, so it probably wasn’t the alcohol. But... Malcolm… King froze at the end of the main hall and turned to watch his friend descend downstairs, leaving his bedroom door slightly ajar. As the boy had passed, King swore he could see those colors emanating off of the smaller boy’s body. And then he felt his own heart start thumping painfully and his lungs heave for air. Malcolm, Malcolm.

Were these Malcolm’s emotions?

King eventually joined his friend and sister in the kitchen, taking a seat on one of the counter stools with a slightly strained smile clear on his face. Marie greeted him with a cocked eyebrow and a devious smile, but it faded to a soft frown as she examined him closely.

[b]”You feeling okay, Rich?”[/b] She asked cautiously, leaning over the counter as she held a hand to his forehead. Annoyed by the new and improved feeling worry he felt and saw coming off his little sister, he pushed her hand away and leaned forward, sneering playfully in her direction.

[b][color=9e0b0f]”I’m good, sis. Allll good, never better!”[/color][/b]

[b]”You’re lying.”[/b] Marie responded automatically, like a robot. King tilted his head slightly, a bit shocked by her quick tongue and almost sudden lack of emotion, but she soon returned to her small-smiling self. King opened his mouth to say something, but Marie lifted a hand as if to silence him before turning towards the front door, stepping away from the two as quickly as she could. [b]”It’s nice today…”[/b] She began, curling strands of hair around an outstretched finger as she gathered up her school supplies, [b]”I’m gonna walk to school today. See you two later.”[/b] And then with a small wave and a loud slam she was gone. King watched the whole exit with wide eyes, and then he forced a laugh, turning towards Malcolm with curling lips,

[b][color=9e0b0f]”That was weird, right? Hahah.”[/color][/b] The laugh sounded forced, and his eyes were entirely too focused on the colors around Mal and not Mal himself, but a finally genuine smile had planted itself onto King’s face.

[b][color=1fc1f0]“Weird but, well, if you did try and lie to Marie, I’m not sure what you were expecting,”[/color][/b] Mal said carefully, though the smile did make his heart go all aflutter. Malcolm stood up to put his empty glass in the dishwasher to distract himself, though the corners of his lips did turn up at seeing King get shot down completely by his little sister. Owned, would be the word. Mal decided it was probably best not to repeat what she had asked and rooted around in the cupboards for a granola bar to take with him and practically threw another one at King. [b][color=1fc1f0]“I can drive today, if you’re still feeling like crap from this morning’s mysterious plague,”[/color][/b] Mal offered with just a dash of added worry. [b][color=1fc1f0]“[i]But[/i] if I do you need to come to Astronomy Club with me because you haven’t been right since the eclipse.”[/color][/b]

Mal had been trying to get him to go to the Astronomy Club with him for months, but every time they made a deal like that, he always let him back out graciously. It was empty.

King was beginning to get annoyed at the constant waves of worry that poured from Mal, and he couldn’t fight the urge to upturn his brows and stare at his friend with an intense look of concern. Honestly, he felt extremely unwell, almost sickly, just sitting so close to his friend, but he [i]really[/i] didn’t want to go to the Astronomy Club. Going there meant he’d have to sit in the same room as Jason and his stupid owner Scout, and he had already had enough of those two, but as Malcolm put forth the negotiation he noticed a slight blip of a color and feeling appear. Perhaps it could be called… Curiosity? What was he thinking?

[b][color=9e0b0f]”... It might be best if you drive after all, and… I’ll go to the Astronomy Club if you want me to.”[/color][/b] Usually he would have quickly shot down the idea, but here he was, following after Mal’s frantic emotions like some frantic puppy. King smiled faintly, rubbing the back of his head carefully before opening the granola bar with ease. He nibbled it at first, obviously not feeling very hungry, and tried his best to ignore the constant colors curling form Malcolm’s figure.

[b][color=1fc1f0]“Good. I knew I could make a nerd out of you,”[/color][/b] Mal said, and smiled softly. Shades of blue pour from King’s right, and a soothing emotion filled his chest. He deciphered it as ‘relief’, and a small smile displayed on his face and he relaxed on the seat, head tumbling to the side to watch Malcolm once more. This boy was something else entirely, huh? Last night he just seemed like his usual Malcolm self, friendly and stupidly drunk-sad, but now it was like he was viewing a whole different person. This Mal wasn’t stoic or quiet, this Mal was bursting with a combination of colors and emotion and King was drowning in it all. He didn’t know whether to hate it or love it.

[i]well it hurts so i guess i hate it huh[/i]

King leaned forward after a moment, eyes tracing the faint colors loosely. In his mind he could distinguish each one’s meaning; blue was calmness, purple was guilt, green respect but… All of them mingled together like wet paint, infecting his mind with their odd powers. King wondered briefly if his eyes had gotten infected by some mood-ring-juice or whatever was in those colorful bands, but all thoughts seemed to fade when a bright yellow seemed to outline most of Mal’s other colors. Yellow…

Lust.

Why, why lust? Reasons swirled through his mind, but his thoughts were consumed by the colors once more and he slowly let his head hit the counter, breathing as calmly as he could. Was Malcolm hiding something important? Lust meant interest, and there was no one to be interested in besides King at the moment unless Mal’s mind was thinking of… Other things. King just wanted to ask, but right now he also wanted to sit up and smooch his best friend, which was an odd but not unfamiliar feeling. Perhaps instead, he should try to experiment a bit. It wouldn’t be too hard to prove  these were Mal’s emotions, but he just had to think of something to say that would perhaps shock his friend. Words filled his throat and then vanished into thin air as he sighed, mind whirring with things to do to instigate Malcolm’s mood, but as he glanced to the side and saw the shining yellow swirl just beyond his vision a question quickly came to form.

[b][color=9e0b0f]”Yooooo…. Mal…. Are you, like, gay?”[/color][/b] The question was asked in a quiet voice, and it had all formed from the feelings emanating off of his friend. Hopefully he was either far off the mark or spot on. Either way, King assumed he was about to find out which was which.

Mal froze. He hadn’t really been doing anything meaningful [i]before[/i] he stopped moving, other than fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and the counter top behind him. Like a deer caught in the headlights, wide-eyed, he glanced towards King without taking a breath. He’d been too obvious. He’d blushed too dark and too frequently. Maybe he did something stupid when he was drunk again.

There was an easy answer to the question – ‘no’ – that would stop the bone-deep fear that instinctively flooded his system, the same way it always had whenever he considered telling someone. Alice had been a one-off, he had told himself. But it was difficult to quell the rising tide of hope that rose like a helium balloon and lodged itself in his throat. [b][color=1fc1f0]“What...– Why?”[/color][/b] Mal choked out. [b][color=1fc1f0]“I mean… [sub]yes[/sub]... but why?”[/color][/b] The answer he gave was much quieter, betraying the more truthful side of himself: the shy, anxious kid that filled himself with bluster to be King’s number one friend.  

Panic, fear, anxiety, and then the truth. King let out a semi-relieved sigh, but the breath caught in his throat as the emotions swarmed his mind and filled his chest like water. He struggled to breath for a second, his hands shakily reaching up to clutch Mal’s shoulders, and then with a weak smile he said,

[b][color=9e0b0f]”I can just tell.”[/color][/b] King slowly stood up from the stool, sauntering unbalanced towards the door. He gathered up his bag and grabbed a key from a hook by the door, dangling them from an outstretched finger for Mal to grab.  His breathing was still shallow and his eyes were half-closed as he attempted to block out the furious colors, [b][color=9e0b0f]”I think something happened to me last night, but… I can’t explain it. Not yet. Let’s get to school, maybe your nerd club knows something.”[/color][/b] Banking on the Astronomy Club to know something was just a hunch, but it was also the only thing close to a lead he had. 

Mal hadn’t quite regained full respiratory function, but he took the keys from King. He wasn’t quite sure what to do or say at that moment other than pretend like everything was normal, and he wasn’t feeling faint. He shook his head to clear it of any of those stray thoughts and – unable to focus on the ‘something’ that happened to his best friend last night – started towards the door. He believed him, but there was a time and a place for logical thinking, and it was [i]not[/i] right now. 

Mal let King leave the house first, and watched him go. He supposed that what he was feeling in the pit of his stomach was disappointment. Yeah, King liked everything with a pulse, but there was no way in hell that he [i]like-liked[/i] Mal. The display earlier was just a side-effect of a much worse problem. Feeling all too much like a ball of negativity, he headed out to the car. The two would be officially late for class in a matter of minutes, but neither said anything, and as the car seemed to steam with an unhealthy amount of negativity for King to just soak in, they went off to school.