General Relativity (169-170/?)
anonymous
January 1 2011, 17:28:27 UTC
CSLXXIX. 43 Seconds of Arc per Century
It was Saturday morning.
“How bad is it?” Matthew asked.
Kiku didn’t take his time in answering, which meant it was bad. He was a person that thought a response should be thoroughly contemplated before reaching the gullet. “You must come back here. It’s spread like a wildfire-first the dorm, then the co-eds, and I’m fairly certain it has already reached the girls’ dorm, as well. If you wait until Monday to start combating it, the damage will already be done. Are you with Mr. Jones? No, don’t answer that,” he added just as quickly. “Feign confusion. Do not act in fury. A furious man is one that appears guilty.”
He was going to be sick. Matthew closed his eyes and took a few deep, overly complex breaths. Under his neck, Alfred’s sofa was damp with his sweat. He couldn’t seem to stop it, the sweating. “What are they saying?” he finally rasped into the cell phone.
“Matthew, I don’t think-”
“Kiku. Please.”
“A number of things,” said Kiku uncomfortably. “There has not been much dissolution of truth yet, though I’m not sure if that is to our fortune or not. They say that a student caught you and Mr. Jones together, being intimate. That-not during sex, but after. They are, of course, speculating on how long it’s been going on or if this was the first time. Who is the one being seduced. Whether anyone else has been, ah, approached.”
“Approached?” Realization dawned and Matthew covered his mouth, quite sure, at once, that he was going to retch. He didn’t. He removed his fingers after a moment. “Like Alfred would’ve ever propositioned a student! Fuck.”
“Mostly, I think no one believes any different.”
“Mostly,” Matthew mumbled.
“I have been keeping my ears open. There are mixed reactions. Some students are finding the whole thing hilarious. I think they are going to congratulate you on-ah, bagging Mr. Jones.” Kiku sighed, like it was too much to handle. “Others… are others. There is some talk of blatant favorism. Grade boosting. You’ve never been much with physics and that only encourages them. It is the quiet ones that bother me, honestly. They either don’t care or care too much. But you know, even with all of this, you should make it out unscathed if you push back.”
The soft, white-noise sounds of the shower running in the apartment fell abruptly to silence. Matthew glanced toward the bathroom and ached. He didn’t want to see the pale, blotchy mask that Alfred would be wearing, but he didn’t want to leave him alone, either. “Shouldn’t I wait until this blows over, or…?”
“Matthew. This is not going to blow over.”
CSLXXX. A Displacement of the Spectral Lines of Light Reaching Us from Large Stars
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t make himself leave the apartment.
Kiku called four more times before Matthew turned his cell phone off. The idea of heading back to campus made his breathing funny and loud in his ears; his fingers started to tremble, bile eating the back of his throat. He’d be eaten alive like this, so he just didn’t go at all. Maybe after the weekend, he’d feel stronger. The rumors couldn’t last forever. There were other, more scandalous things to talk about-right?
Alfred said nothing one way or another about it. They piled into the bed and curled around each other, miserable and hooked into self-loathing, uneasy with touch but unable to help themselves. “I’m sorry,” Alfred whispered against his cheek. “I’m so stupid, I-”
“Shh,” Matthew said. He blinked hard on the slow burn of tears. He wanted to say, Don’t, because this is my fault. I was the one that started it from the beginning. I didn’t lock the door. It would’ve taken three seconds. Why didn’t I lock the door? What the fuck was wrong with me that I didn’t lock the door, that I’d take it that far on school grounds, and god, oh god, did some part of me want us to get caught-did something in me want someone to open that door?
The answer, no matter its form, was terrifying.
“What do we do now?” asked Alfred without expectation of a reply. He engulfed Matthew in his arms, but he was the one shaking; even his teeth chattered, as though he were cold.
It was Saturday morning.
“How bad is it?” Matthew asked.
Kiku didn’t take his time in answering, which meant it was bad. He was a person that thought a response should be thoroughly contemplated before reaching the gullet. “You must come back here. It’s spread like a wildfire-first the dorm, then the co-eds, and I’m fairly certain it has already reached the girls’ dorm, as well. If you wait until Monday to start combating it, the damage will already be done. Are you with Mr. Jones? No, don’t answer that,” he added just as quickly. “Feign confusion. Do not act in fury. A furious man is one that appears guilty.”
He was going to be sick. Matthew closed his eyes and took a few deep, overly complex breaths. Under his neck, Alfred’s sofa was damp with his sweat. He couldn’t seem to stop it, the sweating. “What are they saying?” he finally rasped into the cell phone.
“Matthew, I don’t think-”
“Kiku. Please.”
“A number of things,” said Kiku uncomfortably. “There has not been much dissolution of truth yet, though I’m not sure if that is to our fortune or not. They say that a student caught you and Mr. Jones together, being intimate. That-not during sex, but after. They are, of course, speculating on how long it’s been going on or if this was the first time. Who is the one being seduced. Whether anyone else has been, ah, approached.”
“Approached?” Realization dawned and Matthew covered his mouth, quite sure, at once, that he was going to retch. He didn’t. He removed his fingers after a moment. “Like Alfred would’ve ever propositioned a student! Fuck.”
“Mostly, I think no one believes any different.”
“Mostly,” Matthew mumbled.
“I have been keeping my ears open. There are mixed reactions. Some students are finding the whole thing hilarious. I think they are going to congratulate you on-ah, bagging Mr. Jones.” Kiku sighed, like it was too much to handle. “Others… are others. There is some talk of blatant favorism. Grade boosting. You’ve never been much with physics and that only encourages them. It is the quiet ones that bother me, honestly. They either don’t care or care too much. But you know, even with all of this, you should make it out unscathed if you push back.”
The soft, white-noise sounds of the shower running in the apartment fell abruptly to silence. Matthew glanced toward the bathroom and ached. He didn’t want to see the pale, blotchy mask that Alfred would be wearing, but he didn’t want to leave him alone, either. “Shouldn’t I wait until this blows over, or…?”
“Matthew. This is not going to blow over.”
CSLXXX. A Displacement of the Spectral Lines of Light Reaching Us from Large Stars
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t make himself leave the apartment.
Kiku called four more times before Matthew turned his cell phone off. The idea of heading back to campus made his breathing funny and loud in his ears; his fingers started to tremble, bile eating the back of his throat. He’d be eaten alive like this, so he just didn’t go at all. Maybe after the weekend, he’d feel stronger. The rumors couldn’t last forever. There were other, more scandalous things to talk about-right?
Alfred said nothing one way or another about it. They piled into the bed and curled around each other, miserable and hooked into self-loathing, uneasy with touch but unable to help themselves. “I’m sorry,” Alfred whispered against his cheek. “I’m so stupid, I-”
“Shh,” Matthew said. He blinked hard on the slow burn of tears. He wanted to say, Don’t, because this is my fault. I was the one that started it from the beginning. I didn’t lock the door. It would’ve taken three seconds. Why didn’t I lock the door? What the fuck was wrong with me that I didn’t lock the door, that I’d take it that far on school grounds, and god, oh god, did some part of me want us to get caught-did something in me want someone to open that door?
The answer, no matter its form, was terrifying.
“What do we do now?” asked Alfred without expectation of a reply. He engulfed Matthew in his arms, but he was the one shaking; even his teeth chattered, as though he were cold.
Reply
Leave a comment