ડꪖꪜꫀ ꪑꫀ

𝓸𝓷𝓮

January 26th, 2016
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  "Look, Stokeley!"  A man with a yellow durag tied around his head turned to look at a younger man with blue-dyed dreads.  "We're here!  Do you see it?"  Stokeley squinted his eyes to where his friend was pointing.  He could just make out a small house and what looked like a chicken coop behind it on the left.
 
  "Yea, I see it, Jahseh."  The former smiled brightly up at his friend.  Stokeley smiled back, a small hint of warmth erupting inside his body.

  "C'mon, let's go explore it."  Jahseh said as he opened his car door and hopped out.  Stokeley followed, closing the passenger door once he was out. 

  "You sure it's safe?  A geezer's not gonna shoot us for being on his property or anything right?"  Stokeley was taking his precautions, he didn't really want a bullet through the head as his ticket to heaven.  Jahseh shrugged.

  "Every time I came here before I never got yelled at."  He replied calmly. 

  "Real reassuring, Jah."  Stokeley grumbled.  The two continued on into the woods, side by side.  "If you've already been here, then why do you wanna come again?"  Stokeley asked, stepping over a loose root in the ground.  Jahseh smiled.

  "I wanted to show you."  He replied, keeping his eyes forward.  Stokeley felt a smile of his own make its way on his face.  The leaves under them crunched below their feet.  Stokeley muttered something about his shoes getting ruined and buried his face deeper into the collar of his coat.  The winter wind was making him shiver.  He honestly didn't want to come but for Jah's sake, he decided against staying home.  He felt Jahseh nudge his side and jut his head in the direction in front of them.  Stokeley looked ahead and his eyes widened.

  "Woah. . ."  Was all he could muster out.  The house was a lot bigger close-up.  It looked like an old farmhouse, but Stokeley didn't see a field anywhere.  There was a fence going around the front of it which could symbolize a pasture but other than that no sign of farmland could be seen. 

  "Stokeley!  You coming?"  Jahseh called.  He was already at the front door, waiting for his best friend to follow.  Stokeley turned his gaze to his friend and smiled.  He followed after him into the old, abandoned farmhouse.

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5 years later...

December 16th

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   Stokeley sighed and placed his dish in the sink.  It was early in the morning and Stokeley was pondering whether or not he should wake up his roommate, Jahseh.  He didn't want to, he knew how much Jah loved to sleep in.  But they did agree the night before that they would clean the apartment.  Making his decision, Stokeley adjusted his durag and made his way to Jah's bedroom.  He knocked on the door a few times before entering the room himself.  Jahseh was curled up in his mount of blankets.  The older man so badly wanted to crawl into the sheets and simply hold him.  He knew everything Jahseh had been through and wished he could help.  But it's hard when he was so quiet and unapproachable all the time.  Stokeley jumped when Jahseh's eyes opened.  His deep brown orbs bore into his own.  Stokeley cleared his throat.

  "Uhm, time to get up, vro."  He awkwardly croaked.  Jahseh stared at Stokeley for a moment before turning his eyes away and slowly untangling himself from the blankets.  He swung his legs over the side of his bed and rubbed his eyes.  Stokeley felt his heart melt when his friend let out a small yawn.  Jahseh stood up and extended his arms a bit, stretching.

  "What are we doing today, Stoke?"  The former tried his hardest to ignore Jah's overly attractive morning voice.

  "We have to clean the apartment."  He managed to say.  Jahseh nodded and shook out his braids.  Stokeley couldn't help but look at them.  They were still blue but the vibrant color was now faded.  His gaze traveled down to the silver chain hooked around the other's bare neck.  Jah wasn't wearing a shirt.  Just a pair of black shorts and yellow boxers that just peeked over the shorts.  Stokeley coughed and took his eyes away from Jah.

  "Excuse me, Stoke."  Jahseh brushed past his friend, earning a small squeak from Stoke.  Confused, Jah glances back at Stokeley before continuing on to the bathroom.  Stokeley watched Jahseh walk out of the room.  Once he heard the bathroom door close, he released a sigh of relief.  Jahseh was going to be the death of him.  

  Stokeley cautiously walked past the bathroom and into the living room where he was going to begin cleaning.  He got out an old rag and a Windex bottle from the supplies closet and begun applying the window-cleaning substance to his chosen cloth.  A loud fwap noise was made as Stokeley raised the blinds to the first window.  He started to scrub away at the muck.  Soon enough Jahseh walked in and quietly grabbed a rag of his own.  Copying his roommate, he applied Windex and began to scrub at a window to Stokeley's right.  None of them said a word and it was killing Stokeley.  For him, it was the most awkward thing but for Jahseh it just seemed normal.

  "Hey, Jah?"  Stoke decided to break the silence.  Jahseh hummed in agnoligement.  "Do you...maybe wanna go out to get some food later?  We could go to Maria's.  I know it's your favorite restaurant."  Stokeley focused his eyes on the rag in front of him.  Thank God he was black.  If not for the dark skin covering it, Jahseh would have been able to see the intense amount of red that covered his face.

  "Yeah.  I'd like that.  We're close to running out of food anyway.  It was about time we had to eat out instead of cook."  Jahseh replied.  Stokeley snuck a quick glance at him.  The early morning sunlight seeping through the window made Jahseh's eyes more noticeable.  Stokeley was melting on the inside.  He quickly looked away before he would do or say something he'd regret.  For all these years he'd kept his feelings to himself.  At some point, he would have to let them out.

  "Alright, maybe after we've finished cleaning we could go?"  Jahseh nodded and reached down to apply more Windex to his rag before moving on to the next window.  Stokeley was suddenly grateful for the lack of space between them.  He didn't understand if his feelings were romantic or brotherly.  It sounds stupid, he knows.  But what's he supposed to expect?  He's not gay.  He thinks . . .  Maybe he could ask one of his friends.  Jared seemed good with the topic of love.  He's always telling them deep quotes and poems he's made up anyway.

   Stokeley puffed out his chest slightly.  He had made plans to go visit Jarad after lunch.

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A/N:  Ayeeee so there's the first chapter.  Sorry if it was a lil short.  I usually make my chapters hella long for no reason so I wanted to shorten it up a little.  If you can't tell already Jahseh and Stokeley are pretty out of character but it's for the plot and I'm sure you've seen plenty of Slumptacion fics where their personalities are toyed with.  Also if you haven't read the Background Info and Prologue chapters I would defiantly recommend you do because it explains why Jahseh and Stokeley act the way they do.  It also gives information on their past in the story.  Thanks to you all for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter.  While I'm at it, please don't be scared to comment.  It helps my motivation so much knowing someone is reading this and possibly expecting an update.  Let me know if there are any grammar or spelling errors I missed.  :) 

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