(no subject)
(banner by frodosweetstuff with manip-cred to aliensouldream)
Title: Geek Out: Magnification
Pairings/Characters: Casey, Zeke, Stan/Stokes
Rating: Light R
Disclaimer: Don't own!
Synopsis: Someone doesn't want to 'come out' of the geek closet.
Previous Parts:
Central Force
Solar Radii
The February weather was frigid, but Casey beamed as he stepped off the bus and onto Zeke’s street. It’d been a hassle, using the public transit to get to the Ravenna Mall--twenty minutes, a connection, another twenty… but oh, so worth it. It was just after six o’clock; the sun was setting in the cloudless sky, and stars had started to appear. Casey kept his eyes to the west, growing excited. He could make out the faint brightness of Venus, then above that Jupiter… then even higher up sat Saturn, all in a line. The neighborhood streetlights made it blur, but he’d soon be out in his and Zeke’s favorite stargazing spot… he hoped so, anyway.
As he stomped through thin ice that had formed on the sidewalk, he kept grinning; perhaps Zeke’s binoculars were pretty good, but they weren’t optimal for stargazing. Zeke had sworn he’d get a set for them to use but he’d done enough, even if it was only driving out to the sticks to get a good view of the sky, or buying them food along the way. So when Casey had seen the flyers from ‘Science and Sky’--the coolest but most expensive shop at the mall--advertising huge sales on astronomical binoculars, Casey had all but gotten on his hands and knees in front of his parents. It was his money he’d begged for, but they were very stingy with his savings. It’d been agreed that his hobby was worth it, and it’d only help his studies in the end.
At the moment, the large, bagged-up box was heavy, but Casey felt zero-g with excitement. There weren’t just planets on his mind, but how clear the Great Nebula in Orion was going to be… how Sirius would shine through from Canis Major… Casey snorted to himself, wondering if Zeke would still say ‘Majorium’ when talking about it. Casey would soon find out; he now hopped up the walk leading to number twenty. He saw that the lights were on, and heard music playing from inside. He took the five steps in two, reached the door and pressed the bell.
There was a shuffling inside, and--voices? Casey looked back to the street and Zeke’s drive, seeing just the GTO. Before he could ponder any more on it, the door opened, and Zeke stood just past it.
“Um… hey,” he said. Casey focused on him and smiled.
“Hey to you, too,” he said. “Can I come in? I have to show you something really cool.”
“Um…” Zeke said yet again. Casey frowned in hearing someone call out from the living room; Zeke took a long glance over his shoulder and cleared his throat. “It’s just Casey,” he called back.
“Who?”
Zeke turned back to Casey and made an almost-groan. “Just… yea, c’mon in,” he said.
With a slow nod, Casey stepped into the house, eyes set on Zeke. His hair was disheveled--more than usual--and he seemed jumpy. “Everything okay?” Casey asked.
“Yea. Yea, so… what’s going on?”
Putting the strangeness aside, Casey smiled and put the box on the floor. “I beat you to it,” he said, pointing his finger at him. “Check this out.”
“Casey who, Zekie?”
Casey looked past Zeke to find a blonde-haired, thin-as-a-rail girl coming from the living room to the front hall. “Um, Connor; he’s in my class,” Zeke replied. “You know him. Case, this is Tori… she’s a junior.”
“Oh. Hey,” Casey muttered.
“Oh, THAT Casey, alien guy,” she said. Casey frowned as she gave him a strange look; she too seemed unfocused and out-of-it. “He came for the party?”
“Um…” Zeke hummed.
“Having a party?” Casey asked; if this were true, it was going to be hard to keep his smile on.
“No,” Zeke said in a matter-of-fact tone. He looked uncomfortable in going on. “Just… hangin’ out.”
How it’d taken Casey so long to figure out… shit. “Oh. OH, well, I just… wanted to stop by. Didn’t know you were busy,” Casey stammered. “I won’t be long then, just--anyway, look!”
Zeke looked on as Casey kneeled and pushed the plastic bag down, revealing the box. Even though the hall was well-lit and the print on the box was large, Zeke frowned. “What is it?” he asked.
That was odd. Casey blinked furiously then tipped the box so Zeke could read the print better. “Twenty mag, eighty millimeters--WITH a tripod. ‘Sci and Sky’ was practically giving this shit away,” he explained. “I almost took it without the tripod, but I figured we’d save your hood from butt-prints.”
The Zeke that Casey knew would have dove to the floor to rip the packaging open, like a kid on Christmas. So it was odd that all Zeke did was nod slowly. “Cool.”
“What… oh, geez,” Tori interjected. She chuckled and shook her head. “Are you gonna go looking for alien planets?”
Casey couldn’t help from shooting her a look. It was a good bet that she was referring to Marybeth. He had no idea on what to say, however, so he turned back to Zeke. “Just wanted to see if you… wanted to check it out,” he murmured.
“Eh… nah,” Zeke said in the most dismissive voice Casey had ever heard. His eyes seemed to speak for him; from what Casey could read, he was nervous and wanting Casey to shut up. Everything came together then; Casey nodded and stood.
“’K. Thought… you might think it was cool, or something.”
“That stuff’s for geeks,” the girl interrupted again, giggling heartily. Looking a bit out-of-it, she put an arm around Zeke’s waist from behind. Zeke barely moved, choosing to keep his rock-solid gaze on Casey’s face instead. “Let’s go party, baby.”
“’K,” he mumbled. He nodded to Casey and shrugged. “So, you maybe wanna… come over tomorrow?”
‘No, I don’t. I only hang out with geeks,’ Casey wanted to reply, but didn’t dare. Instead, he shrugged back and put everything together again. “No… I’m gonna spend the weekend with my new friend,” he answered. He couldn’t bear to look at the boy anymore, so he gave him a tiny wave, turned to the door and left without saying anything more.
~*~
More begging had been in order when Casey returned home. He didn’t care how shameless he looked; he wanted to go out past the streetlights and get a good view, and without Zeke, he'd need the bus that went to the outskirts of town for that. His mother worried about ‘night creatures’ however, and didn’t want him to go alone. “Don’t you usually go with Zeke?” she asked.
“He’s busy,” Casey replied.
“Well… if you find someone to go with you, it’s all right. I just don’t like the idea of you being in a field, with bears and whatever else out there.”
Casey nodded and went to the phone, hoping that someone out there--preferably someone who drove--hadn’t made Friday night plans.
~*~
“So that’s Jupiter?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. Shit wow.”
“Look down just under it. See those little dots?”
“Uh huh?”
“Those are the Galilean moons… Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto.”
Stan turned away from the binoculars to gape at Casey. “You can see that shit with this?”
A hearty laugh escaped Casey’s chest. “Yea, isn’t it awesome?”
“Hells yes. Wow…” Stan returned to gazing. “So, we got gypped, huh?”
“What?”
“Yea. Jupiter gets four moons, we get one.”
“Jupiter has sixty-two moons, actually.”
“Oh, GET out!” Stan practically shouted, making Casey laugh again. “Are you serious?”
“Yeeees…?” Casey drawled.
“Jesus,” Stan said with a smile. Once again, he hogged the binoculars, and Casey didn’t mind. It was fun and exciting being with Stan right now, getting to show him the things he loved. They’d never get to discuss complicated astrophysics together, but Stan seemed thrilled enough to look at a few planets. Casey knew now how Stan must have felt when he’d helped Casey finally throw a football correctly, the first time he’d ever done so in his life. “So, where’s Saturn?”
Casey smiled, took the binoculars and moved them upwards. He looked into the lens to search. Up, up… turn south… “There we go,” he said. Even if he’d seen the heavenly body countless times, he still sighed with awe. The rings were blurred but there, and more dots surrounded it. “You can see six moons here.”
“Out of what, a thousand?” Stan joked.
“No, just sixty--Jupiter wins again.”
Stan scoffed and practically shoved Casey away to look. Giggling a little, Casey went to sit in one of the lawn chairs he’d brought and took up his coffee. The hot drink was welcome, the cup warming Casey’s hands. Cutting the fingers of his gloves off helped maneuver equipment, but it didn’t ward off the chill. After a long sip, he smacked his lips and sighed. “Thanks for coming with me. My parents wouldn’t have let me out if you hadn’t… and it’s no fun by yourself, anyway.”
“No, this is cool. I’m glad you called. I’d actually wanted to ask if you guys were gonna have some kind of ‘star party’ or something… always wanted to… damn, you can see the rings… that’s cool,” Stan rambled, obviously distracted. “I’ve never seen planets like this. It’s so awesome.”
“Aw, gettin’ geeky. I like that,” Casey said.
“Hey man, I’m not gonna turn into some space nut like you or Zeke, I’m just here to look at the shit you find,” Stan teased.
“Fine by me,” Casey replied. He looked down at his cup at the steam billowing from the lid’s spout, entrancing him a few moments.
“Can I move this thing around…?”
“Sure.”
Stan must have noticed Casey’s distracted tone; he turned to look at him and raised his eyebrows. “You okay?”
Casey cocked his head to the side, still staring at the steam. “He was embarrassed.”
“Who was?”
“Zeke.”
A small pause followed, until Stan stepped from the binoculars and tightened his arms over his chest. “By what… you?”
“No… and yea,” Casey softly replied. “Like… he doesn’t care if people know we hang out and stuff, of course, but I don’t think he wants people to know what we do WHEN we do.”
Stan sighed, stepped over and sat in the chair next to Casey. His cup of hot cocoa was brought to his lips and they sipped together for a moment before Stan spoke up. “That’s kinda the way Zeke’s always been, though. I always thought he was a total moron; I mean, I was never ‘Joe Academics’, but at least I was trying. Then I find out he’s like… smarter than smart. I guess he wants to keep that secret to the point where he’ll stay back to keep up the image.”
“Not anymore. He’s doing the work and liking it.”
“He’s still quiet about it.”
Casey put his head back and stared at the stars above. He looked to Saturn’s right and sighed. “When we get something better, we’re gonna look at that beauty all fuckin’ night,” Zeke had said a week or two before. “Not with me,” Casey murmured. “And it kinda pisses me off. When we’re hanging out, he gets to do what he likes to do best, because I listen and understand. Then he has some chick over and I barely exist. It’s like--best of both worlds, only ‘Tori’ has tits so she wins.”
“Oh god… Tori Drummond?” Stan scoffed.
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Blonde, looks like she needs a few extra-value meals?” Stan asked. When Casey nodded, he rolled his eyes and groaned. “They’re no item, Casey. She’s been with half the upperclassmen by now.”
“Yea, THAT makes me feel better. So Zeke’s just in it for a lay, huh?” Casey asked.
“A lot of guys are.”
Every word and revelation was making Casey feel worse and worse. “You’re not… I’m not.”
“Yea, that worries me about you,” Stan chuckled out. Seeing Casey’s confused gaze, he shook his head and smiled wider. “Okay, say nothing--though it’s obvious--but me and Stokes get it on from time-to-time.”
“Big secret. She tells me everything. Go on.”
“Kiss-and-tell? I’ll have to have a word with her,” Stan said. He peered at Casey, looking to be in deep thought. “Have you ever really dated anyone, Case?”
Something hot swelled inside of Casey’s gut, and it wasn’t the coffee. “I… no. What makes you think that Herrington High’s resident dork would get dance offers?”
“That was before Marybeth. Del asked you out a few weeks ago… didn’t she? And you said yes, for about five seconds.”
“Well… yea,” Casey muttered. He didn’t like thinking or talking about this, but he didn’t want to look rude. “I think it’d been like… I carried a torch for so long, but it was more out of how I’d never get the chance to be with her. When she asked me out, it was--we dated for about ten seconds before it died. I don’t know.”
“So who DO you want to date?” Stan asked next.
“I dunno if I want to at all. Maybe it’s crazy, but… well, you fell out of love with football. I’ve always had a thing for the sky since I learned to walk, always researched, but since Marybeth I’ve had an obsession with it. I always think; what if I’d checked SETI that day, what if people overlooked signals and stuff? Would I have seen a strange blip on the screen and seen the warning? I almost felt like I’d betrayed myself in not keeping up with it,” Casey explained. He knew he was rambling a little, and tried focusing on the subject. “So I guess I’m dating the skies. And I thought that Zeke was, too. I dunno.”
Stan settled into his chair and crossed his arms. “Casey?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you jealous?”
“Of… what?”
“Tori, there. Being with Zeke.”
“Dunno. ‘Guess so,” Casey admitted while scuffing the toe of his sneaker into a patch of dirt. “She’s making him something he’s not.”
Stan chuckled. “Aw Case, he’s just getting laid. He’ll be back arguing about stars or planets or… whatever the hell you two go on about tomorrow.”
He’s getting laid. Those words suddenly cut Casey up on the inside. His eyes twitched as he stood up. “Yea well… c’mon, let me show you Andromeda.”
“Is that a galaxy?”
“Mmhmm.”
~*~
The next night, after spending an hour assuring Stokely that they’d all go out stargazing together sometime that week, Casey was packing up his binoculars again. The air had gotten a little warmer over the day, and the sky was just as clear as the night before, if not clearer. With the sun going down and Casey’s parents out, he had a night to himself to do as he pleased. He’d tell his mother that he and Stan had gone out again, hoping that she and his father wouldn’t see the couple on their date at the movie theater. His new toy was worth the trouble and lies.
Casey stepped out onto the porch and hopped to the sidewalk. It was just as he was checking his bus schedule when a loud rumbling went off from the street; Casey looked up and swallowed at the sight of the GTO. He stood still, watching Zeke step out from the idling car.
“Hey,” the boy called. Casey nodded slowly. Zeke ambled up to him with his hands in his pockets; he looked as tousled and unsure as the night before. “I was hoping to catch you. ‘Figured you’d be going out again.”
“Yea,” Casey replied.
“You should’ve called.”
Zeke sounded small. It almost made Casey apologize. “Well… I didn’t know if you’d be busy or anything,” Casey replied.
A smile formed on Zeke’s lips, slowly but surely. “Case… it was one night. You should’ve called…”
“I didn’t think you’d care if I did or not,” Casey interrupted. He knew he sounded snappish, but couldn’t help it. “You haven’t in the past… and I figured something as cool as what I bought would get you a bit excited.”
Zeke blinked, wordless for the moment. “I just…” he finally said. “I was busy, okay?”
It was unreasonable to have such expectations of Zeke, and Casey knew it. If the boy wanted to have a girl over and be alone with her, it was his perfect right. He couldn’t help but feel rejected, left out… and as Stan had pointed out, jealous. He couldn’t pinpoint on what he was jealous of--not Zeke, as Casey could give a damn about girls like Tori, or girls in general. He liked science, the sky, and Zeke was rolled into that package…
“Case?”
Casey needed to give his head a little shake to break out of his deep thinking. “Oh… what?”
“Yea… never mind.” With that, Zeke sucked in his lower lip and turned away to the car. Casey froze in watching; he’d made Zeke sad, even vulnerable, and that wasn’t right.
“Zeke, hold up,” he blurted. The boy turned around, hands in his pockets and his eyebrows raised. Casey sighed and tried to smile. “I’m being stupid. Okay? Sorry.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“I said okay.”
“Right,” Casey said. “Going alone to stargaze sucks. And, well... I hate the bus.”
“Want me to play chauffeur?” Zeke asked.
“Dumb question. You’re my star-buddy.”
This made Zeke smile. “’K.”
Casey smiled back and went to the GTO. He watched Zeke trudge over to the driver's side and get in. Once they set out on the road, they discussed a quick trip to McDonald’s for coffee and sandwiches, then Casey gushed about how awesome the binoculars were. Zeke listened with a dreamy grin on his face; it made Casey feel warm.