Sweating it Out (Tag Barnaby) on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Jax Donovan

November 02, 2016 8:47 PM

Sweating it Out (Tag Barnaby) by Jax Donovan

Jax had a lot of pent up energy to burn off now that he was back on schedule at Sonora. It was hard for him to shift from being active at the gym and with Shelly to not being active in any way while at school. He still managed to run on occasion and get to the boxing ring, but it wasn’t the same. Jax felt restless because of it. On top of that, several times that he had come down to box, he had found the MARS Sports room occupied. He knew that it was a public space, but he became so irritated knowing that he couldn’t do his exercising. He supposed that he probably could just ask to share the room with the other person, but the last time that he had done that, there had ended up being weird tension between him and Joella.

And now… now all he did was think about Joella and not at all in an appropriate way. He just couldn’t stop thinking about her legs and wanting to run his hands up them. He could imagine how soft her skin must be; how fit she was with her workout routine that he knew about. Of course, after he thought about her in such a way, he felt guilty for it as he had no right to think of her in that way. She had given him a chance last year and he had opted to not take it. She was bound to have moved on or at least, over him at this point so thinking about her in any way other than a friendship and he really needed to focus his mind elsewhere. It wasn’t like Joella would be interested in that sort of thing anyway and his teenage hormonal brain just had to deal with it.

Lucky the MARS sports room was cleared that late Sunday morning, so Jax had it all to himself. In his gym shorts and beater top, Jax made rounds around the boxing ring. There were charmed dummies as his opponents. He practiced his steps, his punches, and his maneuvering. He worked hard on his routine, making sure to correct any errors that he noticed in himself (although it would have been much easier with someone watching him to pick out what he was doing incorrectly). He was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving from exertion, his muscles glistening from his intense workout. He had been at it for well over an hour now and he needed to take a break and give up the room. Plus, he was hungry.

Jax took a long gulp of his water before packing up his things and leaving the MARs room. He needed a long shower to loosen his muscles and relax. When he walked out of the room, he nearly collided with someone else who was leaving another room. Jax dropped his water bottle from the shock and only looked up to see who it was and mumble an apology as he was bending down to pick it up. The apology stopped halfway through exiting his mouth when Jax spotted his former roommate in front of him. Jax’s blue eyes narrowed darkly at the sight of him. “Oh, it’s you.” He asked, his disdain for the other Aladren clear in his voice.

6 Jax Donovan Sweating it Out (Tag Barnaby) 296 Jax Donovan 1 5

Barnaby Pye

November 05, 2016 2:47 PM

Playing it off. by Barnaby Pye

Barnaby had been fielding several letters from both his father and Tarquin over the past few days. Barnaby’s father who had once been so close with Tarquin’s seemed to have a falling out with the man and because of that he was reassuring both parties where his loyalties truly laid even though Barnaby himself wasn’t even sure. And Barnaby had never been not sure in his entire life except for when it came to those strange feelings being around his ex-roommate gave him. For so long he and Tarquin had been working together to be appreciated for who they were, to try and prove to their fathers that they were more than heirs to be raised as pawns. Yet when it came down to it, Tarquin was not a Pye. Barnaby’s father was. And then there was the matter of Alfie who had noticed the unusual amount of letters coming and going from his normally anti-social little brother’s room.

As he woke up, Barnaby was just thinking that he’d had hardly a moment to himself to just be until he had remembered the MARS rooms and went off to find himself a nice, quiet space to relax and block out all the thoughts and opinions that were tugging him to and fro. Barnayby had always enjoyed piano music and so had retreated to the music room where he imagined himself a lovely enchanted piano and a relaxing couch on which he could lounge while the instruments serenaded him. Why so many of his classmates insisted on having crushes and romantically attacking each other in public when they could be alone with a few bars of nice music, Barnaby didn’t know.

He had been there hours, it felt like, in a tranced state of being neither awake nor asleep and he felt entirely at ease when the piano stopped and the portraits gently reminded him that he ought to get a start on his school work if he didn’t want to cram too much later that night. Besides, the rather charing cellist insisted, Cascade Hall would be closing their lunch soon and if he wanted something more than a snack he probably ought to head out that way. Barnaby thanked the paintings and piano and assured them that he would be back the next weekend, deciding that this was something he would need to incorporate into his regular routine. Nevaeh was fun company and she relaxed him, but nothing like the wonders the piano and lounge had done for his aching head and back.

However, as he left the room, he bumped into none other than his ex-roommate. Jax bent down to pick up the water bottle he had dropped and Barnaby remained frozen, rather shocked, especially as Jax started to apologise and then became rather hostile. Had he found out about the dreams that had been plaguing Barnaby as of late? The really confusing ones which caused his head to pound with confusion and Barnaby to jump in the shower and scrub at his body until he felt clean again? Barnaby still tingled in the places which had come into contact with Jax and he felt hot and irritated.

He knew that he didn’t look the picture of innocence, with his now flushed face and his slightly mussed shirt unbuttoned at the top, hair messy and sleeves rolled from his nap, but his breathing hitched even as he looked at Jax, sweat drenched shirt and glistening—he tried to snap out of it. “Hi,” he said almost breathlessly, cursing himself for being so obvious when even he didn’t know what was wrong with him. “You’re, I mean, it’s been awhile.” It was best to act natural, Barnaby thought. Pretend as though Jax didn’t ruffle his feathers even when something had Barnaby’s mind racing with all the indecent things that could occur between them while Jack was at Quidditch practice if only Jax hadn’t switched rooms.

10 Barnaby Pye Playing it off. 298 Barnaby Pye 0 5

Jax

November 07, 2016 8:11 PM

Glaring it away by Jax

Jax stood up to be at a more equal height to Barnaby than he was kneeling down at the floor. He didn’t really tower over the other Aladren since they were both roughly the same height, but Barnaby was so scrawny that Jax standing in front of him had the same effect as towering since his muscles gave him bulk.

He was rather confused about how Barnaby was acting with him now. Why was he behaving as if there was nothing negative between the two of them? Barnaby had caused him so much grief last year that he had finally had to take action and switch rooms. Now he was living with John Umland, who was by far one of the strangest human beings that Jax had ever encountered before.

He didn’t know what Barnaby’s game was currently. They all knew his rouse. He wasn’t going to use Jax’s infliction against him or to try to blackmail a relationship from one of his friends. He didn’t know why Barnaby was pretending like they were old friends or something, although he could just be playing it up since his current state of attire made him look suspicious. Jax had to think that he was getting himself into something with either another student or planning something against the school. It was like him to do that.

“Yeah.” Jax commented, still glaring that the other Aladren. “That’s sort of the point, isn’t it? I switch rooms so that I don’t have to deal with you anymore. Or have you forgotten?” Jax really didn’t have time or want to deal with Barnaby. He had better things and people to preoccupy his time.

6 Jax Glaring it away 296 Jax 0 5

Barnaby

November 08, 2016 2:02 AM

Do you mean smoldering? by Barnaby

Although he had seen Jax in class, this was probably the closest Barnaby had been to the other boy since he had switched rooms and as Jax stood, Barnaby felt his heart beat increase. They were around the same height but Jax was still bigger. He seemed to have spent a lot of time working out over the summer and since he had last roomed with Barnaby if his sweat drenched muscles were anything to go by and more than ever Barnaby was overwhelmed with the urge to pull Jax to him and—well, Barnaby wasn’t really sure what it was he wanted only that thoughts of the slightly older boy kept him up at night and that he hadn’t been sleeping well lately because of it.

But Jax’s words? They cut Barnaby to the core. He didn’t want to deal with him anymore? He opened his mouth to protest, to say something, but some subconscious part of his brain took over and he lost himself for a moment. He wasn’t fully aware of what was going on around him, only that he was in the hallway of the MARS rooms, next to Jax, and that he felt (somehow) completely content. Serene almost. His normally bright eyes dulled until they were nearly glazed over and he smiled rather dimly. “Forgotten? Yes, I might have forgotten, but forgotten what, that is the question, that is so unlike me to be forgetful…” he trailed off, his forehead frowning in consternation although he had not processed any of what he’d just said at all.

A moment passed, and Barnaby felt as though something heavy lifted from him shoulders and mind. Although he had felt relaxed, he realised that he’d actually been rather tense and he allowed himself to breath, running a hand through his hair nervously. He must have been really tired if he was blacking out in the middle of conversations like that. Hopefully it had only been for a few seconds and Jax wouldn’t take much notice. He had never been self-conscious around anyone before but something about Jax made Barnaby feel as though he should be on his toes. He was just so…handsome.

Barnaby would have started if he wasn’t one to have better control over his facial expressions. That was the first time that Barnaby had ever admitted to himself his attraction to Jax, at least so openly and he was quite irritated with himself for choosing that particular moment to reveal his crush when Jax was in such close proximity to him, probably emitting a whole ton of what Muggles called pheromones. He tried to calm down his breathing and act as though nothing had changed. “It’s a shame, really, Jack and I miss having you around.”

There, that wasn’t too suspicious, was it? He’d included Jack even though he didn’t know what his other roommate even thought about the Greek wizard. As far as he could remember Jack and Jax had never really interacted that much, but the dynamic of the room had been thrown off slightly. Jack had Quidditch that he was always running off to and even though Barnaby got along with him, he missed the third, taciturn body which had served to balance out the overly academic Barnaby and the athletic Jack.

10 Barnaby Do you mean smoldering? 298 Barnaby 0 5

Jax

November 08, 2016 8:15 PM

No, I mean glaring. by Jax

Jax waited for Barnaby to retort something perverse back to him in his usual way, but there was something in his facial expression that caught Jax off guard. There was a moment in which he face seemed to go blank, like he had forgotten what he was saying or doing. There was a shift in his eyes and his face almost seemed to become almost as though someone had just hit him with a forgetful charm or drugged him with a potion. His sudden rambling only further indicated to Jax that something was not right with his former roommate.

His blue eyes narrowed as he studied the Aladren in front of him. His old enemy had gotten himself involved in something more sinister than Jax had thought he could be in. Whatever it was, it was something terrible enough where someone felt the need to hex him or slip him a potion. Jax didn’t know what it was or want to know what it was that Barnaby had gotten himself into but he thought it was all rather strange and strong magic to be able to keep such a hold on him.

As soon as the moment had come it seemed to be gone already and Jax was once again looking into the eyes of his former roommate, fully alert and all too close to him. Jax took a step back from him and took a deep breath. It took all of his patience not to scoff at Barnaby’s comment. Jax had tried to be friendlier with Jack the last year that they had roomed together, but his other former roommate just didn’t seem all that interested in forming any sort of alliance. As much as Jax hated the idea of Barnaby manipulating someone like Jack (who seemed way too nice to be able to see the bad in people) into doing something terrible, Jax knew that Jack did not care about him in any way and that was just as well for him. If Jack had taken any sort of shine to Jax, he might have also figured out the truth about Jax and the moon. He just couldn’t take that risk. It was better that they had remained nothing more than acquaintances. Besides, Jax got the impression that Jack was infatuated by Barnaby as it was.

“I highly doubt that.” Jax responded in his usual low, disinterested voice. “What is going on with you anyway?” Jax asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

6 Jax No, I mean glaring. 296 Jax 0 5

Barnaby

November 15, 2016 12:05 AM

Shame, ‘cause we could have us some smouldering fun. by Barnaby

Jax was…well, Jax was beautiful and even though the older boy sounded less than pleased with Barnaby, he couldn’t help it as a little flutter ran through the pits of his stomachs. He wanted to run his hand against Jax’s cheek. “Not much,” he said cursing his cheeks as they flared bright red. “I’ve just been more stressed than usual, needed a moment to myself if all.” He shrugged and looked away almost bashfully.

“How are you?” he raised his eyes hopefully to Jax though caught himself mid-rise and did his best to mask the soft look his was giving the older boy. Ever since Jax had left him and Jack for John, Barnaby couldn’t help but wonder about his day to day life. They saw each other in class, but that wasn’t really enough for the rather hormonal teenager.

He wanted to ask so much more but he was afraid Jax would find out. There was so much in Barnaby’s life that he already kept secret from everyone that having another secret wasn’t an entirely heavy burden. It just so happened that this secret was one his body seemed apt to betray with things like reddened cheeks and shallow breathing. Keeping it all in was causing a rather nasty headache—it was a pity that he had forgotten to pack Tarquin’s special tea back to school with him.

OOC: I'm really sorry about how short it is!

10 Barnaby Shame, ‘cause we could have us some smouldering fun. 298 Barnaby 0 5

Jax

November 21, 2016 7:21 PM

That's more for you than me. by Jax

The reactions that he was getting from Barnaby were not ones that he was expecting. They were far vaguer and so far removed from the arrogant ass hat (he found this American slang term strange, but it seemed so fitting in this instance) that he had come to hate that Jax wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to answer or react back. Not only that, but it was clear that Barnaby wasn’t even aware that there was likely some sort of spell placed on him. Jax had definitely seen a visible change in him and a fog come over his eyes before quickly retreating. There was something there. The problem was that Jax wasn’t sure if he should care or not. On the one hand, it was rather intriguing to figure out what it was exactly that had happened to Barnaby, but on the other hand… it was Barnaby and Jax was loathed to do anything that could help him and potentially cause even more issues for Jax and his friends.

Jax was also rather unnerved by Barnaby’s behavior. He was acting timid, not keeping eye contact and blushing. It was all rather strange to Jax. Why was he behaving this way if he didn’t remember anything? Wouldn’t he just be the same arrogant ass hat that he had always bene? His new behavior was creeping Jax out. He didn’t like it at all and he really didn’t want to be any part of whatever was going on with Barnaby if this is what he had to deal with.

“I am fine.” Jax answered him, his uncertainty of this conversation evident in his voice. He really didn’t know where this would go. Barnaby and him had never been friends and as far as Jax was concerned, they never would be. He had enough problems with the girls in his life, he didn’t need to re-add Barnaby into the mix. “Well… if you didn’t need anything, I’m going to head back to the dorm for a shower.” Jax stated, turning away from Barnaby to head out of the MARS corridor.

6 Jax That's more for you than me. 296 Jax 0 5