Therapeutics

3: Quad Flips in No Time

"Hmm, let me get this straight." Horatio took off his black cap, the embroidered block letters of 'Los Angeles' standing out. He looked like an Asian tourist. He placed it on the table and rubbed one of his ears in thought. "You're under Yulma Lockdown? Well, after all the shit you put her through this must've been the last straw for her."

"'Yulma Lockdown'? What's that supposed to mean?" Jensen asked, looking frustrated. He scrunched his eyebrows together, nose crinkling. "Look man, if I don't pull my crap together, my mom's gonna send me to see a shrink. They're ridiculously expensive, too."

"Well, then there's no other choice, is there? No staying out late, no brawls, no more office calls and everything else. No alcohol. Or arcades." he adds as an after thought. "You go ape shit crazy when keep dying at HoD."

Jensen glared at Horatio, feeling physically assaulted. He was about to open his mouth to argue when Horatio wagged a finger in front of his face.

"That, that's your hamartia. That's your downfall."

"What is?"

"Your temper." Horatio shifted as if he was preparing himself to explain all the complications in life. "When something so much as annoys you, you go ahead and think with your fists first." his dark eyes glittered in amusement, gesturing at the patch of bruised skin on Jensen's cheekbone. "Or your face."

Jensen's hand flew up to check, wincing at the jolt of pain. "Is it that bad?"

"You look like a badass. Don't worry about it." he tapped his other cheek. "Point is, you'll be fine as long as you stay away from trouble."

"Easier said than done; it calls to my spirit like a beacon in the dark." Jensen clutched his chest, putting up his clenched fists in a longing motion toward the ceiling.

Horatio sighed in disappointment. "I knew it. Charlie's punch knocked you so hard it killed off your remaining brain cells." then he started picking off bits of his chicken on the orange plate.

Jensen grinned victoriously. "Whatsoever do you mean? I'm all well and dandy." a shade of pink and blonde flashed in his peripheral vision before he turned his head. "Oh, look, there's Apollo."

Apollo was an artist. He was damn well one of the most talented people Jensen had the good fortune of meeting. Between Horatio who played 4 different instruments and Apollo who had the gift of creating other worlds with any art medium Jensen could think of (it wasn't that many), Jensen sometimes felt left out. He couldn't play an instrument to save his life, and he ended up drawing more stick figures than actual people.

How they all managed to stick together for so long was beyond him.

Apollo settled down. He had curly blond hair, dyed pink at the back of his neck, transcending to orange in a gradient as it covered mostly the back of his head. He settled down, dropping his bag onto the table, head following after. "Guys..." he groaned.

"Yes, Apollo?" Horatio asked innocently.

"I'm gonna kill you..."

"Well, that's one way to greet your friends." Jensen commented. "What's your problem?"

Apollo lifted his head long enough to stare at both of them with death in his eyes. "Cindy thinks she's my girlfriend because of that stupid picture of us together. That you two insisted I take with her!" he said accusingly.

Horatio looks as unbothered. "Well, she's been crushing on you since you dyed your hair pink.

"When was that?" Jensen inquired teasingly.

"4 days ago. She has it bad, man." Horatio paused in thought. "Plus, she thinks it's a couple thing after she dyed hers blue."

Apollo looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Jensen should feel bad for snickering, but he doesn't. "Yeah, sure. That's cool. She didn't receive the memo that I was gay, right? That's fine."

"Oh my god," Horatio laughs out loud. "Maybe she likes 'em artsy."

"And tormented." Jensen adds cheerfully. He could always count on his friend's problematic one-sided love life to distract him from his own problems.

While he laughed with them, he keeps Horatio's words to heart. No more messes that he can't clean up. He talks with his friends as if he has no problems in the world, even when they gnaw at his mind like parasites. However, Horatio brings it up at some point, which immediately abolishes all his efforts and reduces his progress to a nil. Thanks, Horace.

"A therapist? Well, you do have anger management issues." Apollo admits, absentmindedly pulling a thread from his canvas bag. Jensen thinks it's a subtle pun about his life choices unraveling a huge part of his life already being sewn in place.

Horatio sends him a look, gesturing to their colorful friend in a 'see what i mean' way.

"I do not."

"Well, if it's any compensation, my sister's an aspiring therapist--" Apollo starts.

"Woah, you're going to get me therapy sessions for free? You're such a good frie--" Jensen moves in to hug his friend. Apollo pushed his face away without much fanfare.

"Hahaha, no." he starts dusting his hands. As if Jensen's face was something unsanitary. "But I can ask her for some methods if you like, think of it like mini sessions. Then if worst comes to worst, I'll try to get you a discount, only if you want it."

"Apollo, did I ever tell you I love you, man?" Jensen pretended to wipe away a stray tear, sniffing. Honestly, he's pretty elated. That's part of a load off his mom's shoulders.

Apollo ignored his friend's affection with the experience of a veteran set on breaking more hearts than bones. "I have to warn you, though. My sister has uncanny methods, the likes of which have never been heard of," then to the side he coughs, "or approved."

The little comment should've alarmed Jensen, but he trusted his friends more than anything. "I'm down for whatever, man. It'll be fine."

"Hey, wanna head over to the ice rink later?" Horatio suddenly asked, breaking them out of their mood.

"We've been there last week." Apollo complained. "Can't we go somewhere else?"

- - - - -

"Hey, hey, hey! Watch my Ina Bauer!" Jensen guffawed, which caused some of the younger kids to eye them curiously.

They were giggling like girls--gliding like girls, too.

Apollo who sensed immediate harm to his friend, merely smiled and hid his fangs behind an orange mitt. "Oh? Show us how it's done, Angeles." Maybe it was revenge for ignoring his complaints about the venue, but Jensen still shrugged it off.

Horatio, who glided like a pro, immediately placed himself within catching distance as Jensen nearly fell on his behind.

"You'll be landing a quad flip in no time." Horatio steadied Jensen.

"Don't you fucking know it." Jensen remarked smugly.