Never Saw It Coming [Alek]

[nathaniel shane thomas]

His first group therapy session had been fairly uneventful, at least for him. Nathaniel hadn't said a word the entire hour he was there. He hadn't even looked up except for the one time when he was asked if he wanted to share anything. Nathaniel only shook his head at the counselor's question before returning to his staring contest with the floor.

He spent the hour picking off invisible lint from his jeans, keeping his hands close and staying away as much as possible from the people beside even. He had barely moved except to flinch and lean away slightly when a hand to his right came flying out in a big gesture. The other male was talking about something that apparently required him to wave his arms in the air. To any other person it might have been fine, but Shane's reaction to cower away from the approaching limb was an insight into his own condition.

Still he was already growing fond of the counselor who seemed to keep calm in all of this. When he chose not to speak or share, she had kindly let it slide and Nathaniel assumed it was because it was his first time there and sitting quietly and listening was alright. He suspected that it wouldn't be quite the same the next time around and that he might actually be expected to speak and say something but he figured he would deal with it when the time came.

For now, he was only glad it was over. It was hardly quick but at least it was painless. Rolling his shoulders back as he sat straighter, Nathaniel found the chairs had in fact been uncomfortable. He knew better than to hunch by what did it matter when it was so easy to fix? Getting up as the rest of them did, he had waited an extra moment to avoid bumping into anyone.

Satisfied that he had enough space to move in, Nathaniel walked away from the chair, the counselor had left and so had a number of people from that group session but Nathaniel stayed back a bit in order to be the last to leave. All just to avoid getting to close to anyone. Even his demeanor and the way he stood with his hands in his pockets and his head hung low showed that he was trying to keep away from them.

[aleksei jonathon jakobs]

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Aleks was bored as fuck in the group therapy session. Actually, that was sort of a lie. He more appeared bored as fuck. It was more that his mind was occupied elsewhere, and that room was really fucking annoying. Plus, therapy was always shit. As a universal rule of life, it always stood true. And you know when they say 'if you talk to people you get out sooner'? Bullshit. If he talked to people, or really expressed any thing he simply got locked in for longer. But less than a year till his eighteenth, and then yay, he was out of here. At least this place. The next place he'd end locked up in would probably be Broadmoor. And just wouldn't that be fun.

So he spent his time in group therapy mainly glaring at people, or thinking of what he'd do next. What, oh my god, you're so surprised, Aleks can be relatively quiet? Um, yes. Okay, this may be a rare occurrence, but it slots in with his 'clever' time. As in, he became annoyingly grandiose, and would shoot people for being idiots. Being his 'clever' time, he also observed people. Like. That boy, gesturing, with the ugly ginger hair? He'd get out of here pretty soon, he was so open and ernest and shit like that. He was actually telling his problems to the people who asked to hear them. But you see, doing that, he became essentially boring. Now, the quiet kid next to him, who had flinched when the ginger kid's hand had came to close? He was more interesting. He had stayed nearly completely still for the entire session, only his hands moving. And then there was the girl with the long brown hair, who Aleks had once found puking her dinner back up the girl's toilets (yes he used the girl's toilets. e used whichever toilet was closest, you fucktard). Bulimic bitch. There had actually been half decent food that day, Aleks would of happily eaten it for her. And then the two blondes, who sat next to each other, saying snide comments to the therapist, before glancing at each other and smirking. Oh, you're so cool, aren't you? Fucking amateurs. Really, everyone in this room was a fucking bore. Okay, maybe the quiet kid would be interesting. He certainly seemed to scare easily. And yeah, maybe Aleks had found an activity to occupy himself for the next fifteen minutes or so, maybe longer if he proved interesting. Cause really, he was bored as fuck at the moment. Anything would be better than this.

When the session ended, Aleks was the first out the door. And then stood there, behind it, waiting for everyone to come out, being as quiet as a fucking mouse. Quieter. And oh look, it was Quiet Kid. Last to leave, which seemed to fit him. Aleks followed him for a few steps, before creeping up behind him as quietly as he could, and breathing in his ear. "Boo."

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^{TAG - shane.
WORDS - bout five hundred words.
NOTES - heya =)
TUNES - the tap-tap-tap of my keyboard.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

[nathaniel shane thomas]

The session had been filled with all sorts but Nathaniel paid no attention at all to what was said. The guy beside him scared him a bit, but only because he was talking so much and moving his arms when there was really no need to at all. The rest of the people seemed like they didn’t want to be there but Nathaniel couldn’t blame them. He didn’t like being there either. It was weird how they thought this would help… Like putting someone under a spotlight when they obviously had some sort of anxiety disorder would help them. It was like getting someone who couldn’t swim and throwing them in the middle of lake.. What did they think would happen?

Nathaniel kept his hands in his pockets. Flailing limbs were a total nightmare in his little world. They came too close and it was always too sudden. If he had time to prepare for it then it wasn’t so bad. Handshakes and things of that nature was almost completely fine by him. He knew to except it and he knew how it would go so with a brief second to prepare he was usually good to go.

Hanging the two chatting blonde girls leave, Nathaniel was finally out the door. Being the last one out he felt a little calmer about the situation that he was in. There was no one to get too close.. At least that was what he thought when he walked out the door only to have a stranger come up beside him after he was a few steps away from the room.

Nathaniel turned and leaned away from the boy. Blue eyes opened wide and staring at the stranger with a confused look. What was he doing? ‘Boo’? Seriously? Was he just trying to sneak up on him? That was weird.. But then this place was filled with all sorts of people and when Nathaniel took a moment to remember that, the confused look left him and he managed a greeting, “Hey,” he said, taking two steps back to give them a bit of distance. He wasn’t sure what the stranger’s intentions were but simply leaving would have been rude.. Plus he didn’t want to turn his back on him who knew what would happen.

[aleksei jonathon jakobs]

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The boy didn't jump as much as Aleks had expected, really, after seeing him flinch at that ginger boy's gesticulations getting too close. But hey. There was time to see what made him flinch, wasn't there now. He had nothing but time, he was here for goddamn sake. But if he wasn't just a jumper, one of those kids who easily flinched, and were basically quiet little scaredy-cats, what exactly was he, was the question. But still, if it wasn't just unexpected movement, and shit like that, it had to be something more specific... And it most probably wasn't noise, either. But then, there were so many things he could be afraid of. Hands, ginger kids, gesticulation, touching, or just maybe even a nervous twitch. God, he hoped it wasn't a nervous twitch, that'd be so boring. And don't laugh at the 'scared of ginger kids' one... Okay, do laugh, those people are pathetic, but Aleks wouldn't be surprised if they existed. He had once met a girl who wouldn't go within two meters of a blonde male without having a panic attack, all cause her ickle blonde boyfriend had raped and abused her. What could he say, she was a slutty bitch who had probably deserved it.

But hey, if we're looking for clues, the boy did step back. But admittedly, Aleks had basically been breathing over his shoulder. And well, ginger kids was probably ruled out. Just cause, fucking hell, ginger kids? Even if that was the reason, Aleks was gonna give him a new one. Although, being scared of sociopaths may just be a legitimate fear. "'Ey." He stepped a bit closer to the boy, checking, covering his bases as he held out a hand for a handshake. "I'm Aleks." He grinned leaning his body towards the boy's imperceptibly, just to see if it worked. And yeah, if he was scared of hands the handshake should show that. And hey, you'd be surprised, more people are scared of hands than you think. Hands are pretty powerful things. But no, Aleks wasn't gonna check the gesticulation one yet. He didn't particularly want to look like a complete and utter retard, thank you very much.

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^{TAG - shane.
WORDS - just over three hundred and fifty.
NOTES - boo.
TUNES - the tap-tap-tap of my keyboard.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

[nathaniel shane thomas]

Nathaniel took half a step back this time, before a hand was offered to him. He stared at it for a quick moment but it was just a second too long before cautiously reaching out and shaking it with a light grip then pulling back, trying his best to do an impression of a normal person without stupid, unreasonable fears.

“Nathaniel,” he said, giving the boy his name in returned. He seemed nice enough and he appeared to have good intentions. The guy was just saying hello and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that, at least nothing as far as Nathaniel could see.

Nathaniel was hardly even looking at the guy when he leaned forward, in fact he hadn’t really even noticed but managed to lean a fraction back himself. He hadn’t even realized what he had done as he turned back to look at him. His mind was helpfully keeping a nice buffer between the two bodies.

[aleksei jonathon jakobs]

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The trick with trying to find stuff out by this method was to keep up the niceties and just constantly use the subtext, and observe the victim. As in Aleks' eyes watched the boy as he took half a step back, and saw the pause before the handshake; but didn't smirk, or act on it. Simply smiled as nicely as he could as he shook the boy;s hand back, squeezing slightly too tightly just to see what would happen. I mean, yeah, still could be a fear of hands, but with the step back, much more likely to be something about personal space, or touching and all that shit.

"So, you new here? Cause I could swear I haven't seen you around before." And he smiled, all friendly and that shit, at Nathaniel, his head starting to hurt with all the 'nice' smiles that he just so wasn't used to. And oh, look, the fucking jackpot. The boy had seemed to adjust his body; unconsciously, it appeared, to move away from the way Aleks leaned in. Fucking yes, this was no pussy fear of hands, it was a fear of touch, or personal space, or something along those lines. Squeezing his eyes tight shut, he faked a yawn, bringing his arms above his head, before swinging them down, so that for just a few seconds, there was one arm either side of the boy, nearly touching. Well, now it was time to play with the fear, wasn't it? If subtly.

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^{TAG - nathaniel
WORDS - bout two hundred and fifty.
NOTES - boo.
TUNES - the tap-tap-tap of my keyboard.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

[nathaniel shane thomas]

Nathaniel didn’t react to the firm grip but was glad to have his hand back and chose to keep it close again. The handshake had been kind of tight which was odd because to him it didn’t seem to match up with the smile and the tone he used. Something was a little off about the whole situation and Nathaniel couldn’t help but look like he knew something was wrong. The problem was, he had no idea what. He couldn’t find a reasonable explanation and so the look on his face only lasted a few seconds as he decided to let it go for now.

“Yeah,” Nathaniel said with a nod, eyeing the stranger to make sure he didn’t do anything crazy. It was hard to tell with the people here. Each had their own set of problems and Nathaniel wanted nothing to do with any of it. He just wanted to be left alone so he could go on with school and do alright then leave.

Nathaniel was slowly growing suspicious. The guy was smiling a lot and it was kind of creeping him out. Something just wasn’t right about it, like it was forced or something.

Nathaniel shut his eyes tightly for a brief moment and seemed to shrink back as arms moved at either side of him. He didn’t like it and it was obvious when he inched back a bit to try and get out of the stranger’s reach. He might have seemed nice but still, Nathaniel didn’t want to be anywhere near him. He would have a conversation and talk but he didn’t want to get too close. Close was always bad for him. He didn’t want to think about the why but he just didn’t like it.

“Could you.. please.. try not to do that so much,” he asked, hoping the guy would oblige and at least try to keep his hands to himself. He had asked nicely and usually when he asked that of people on the outside, they would agree to try, even if it was after giving him an odd look like he was some kind of circus freak for even requesting something as odd as that.

[aleksei jonathon jakobs]

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Aleks' natural grin started to slip through slightly as the boy asked him 'not to do that'. Oh, he knew exactly what Nathaniel was talking about, but was he gonna admit it? No fucking way, that was just boring. Playing dumb was just so much fun sometimes, really. What with all the laws banning fun things in this godforsaken country, it really should have been illegal. But hey, playing dumb could get you off Death Row, so he really wasn't gonna knock it. If your IQ was below 70, they couldn't execute you, since you were then considered mentally retarded. Why the fuck do you think Aleks had been failing all those fucking IQ tests the schools set for him all his life?

"Not do what, I'm sorry?" He smiled at the boy again, only half fake now, the glint of the smirk shining through. "Not yawn?" He laughed, but it wasn't his trademark giggle, it was a full bodied laugh, practiced and completely fake. But then, of course, he slipped a sad face on. "But of course, I'm sorry if I hurt you in anyway." And reached out and patted Nathaniel's arm. Really, this was all too easy.

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^{TAG - nathaniel
WORDS - bout two hundred.
NOTES - boo.
TUNES - the tap-tap-tap of my keyboard.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

[nathaniel shane thomas]

“Um no, I mean.. not move so close,” Nathaniel tried to explain, hoping the guy would be alright with it and kindly just try to avoid setting off a panic attack or something. It was kind of weird the expressions he got and the laughing, he sounded legit but it was still a little disturbing and Nathaniel couldn’t for the life of him figure out why this was.

Nathaniel flinched at the contact, as though he were expecting the simple touch to hurt or something. Taking another step, he wanted so badly to distance himself from the guy. He frowned for a second at the floor before looking back up at the guy who so easily made him feel extremely uncomfortable. Nathaniel was not liking this one bit but he was unable to think of a very polite way of getting the hell out of there.

“Seriously, please don’t do that,” he asked, almost begging the guy to try to understand and have some compassion. He just needed him to not touch him and then it would be fine. He would carry on having this conversation and everything would be okay but no, the guy seemed to be doing it on purpose now and it was starting to get to him a bit but Nathaniel was much too polite for his own good.

It was bad enough to be struck by such a cruel and contradictory phobia but having people do things like this just didn’t help the situation at all. He wanted to be normal, he wanted to be able to give someone a hug without feeling the need to run miles away. He wanted closeness and all of that but at the same time he was so damned afraid or actually wanting it.

No, he didn’t fear getting hurt.. Hurt he was used to.. What he was afraid of was that it would be okay, that it might feel good to be close to someone and that kind of craziness just confused him even more. If he couldn’t make sense of it, then how could they help him?

[aleksei jonathon jakobs]

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Aleks placed a look of mock apology on his face as Nathaniel tried to explain about 'not moving so close'. "Oh, dude, I'm so sorry." But then, he didn't move further back, as some people would, and held in his giggle for it wouldn't slip out and give him away. Although, really, at this point, he knew he wasn't going to be able to continue with this charade much longer, since the urge to simply taunt and tease and mock without barriers was really just too tempting. But he could hold it in, just for a little longer.

But then, his reaction to when Aleks touched him; it was just too good. The begging tone of voice, the very visible flinch, and the step back - I mean, what was a boy to do, carry on pretending. No, it had gotten far enough that without pretending to be completely retarded, Aleks couldn't really get away with anything anymore. Biting his lips for a second, his fake, apologetic grin morphed into a smirk, and his trademark giggle tumbled from between his lips, as he rocked on the balls of his feet, pushing himself toward Nathaniel and then away again, his eyes laughing with his voice.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that, you don't like people touching you, do you?" He grinned, the mocking now clear in his voice, the clearly faux worry pouring through. "What happened, did your daddy used to hit you or something?"

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^{TAG - nathaniel
WORDS - bout two hundred and fifty.
NOTES - boo.
TUNES - the tap-tap-tap of my keyboard.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

[nathaniel shane thomas]

“That’s.. That’s okay,” Nathaniel said, feeling a little guilty about making such a big deal about it, now that Alek seemed all apologetic. Maybe he wasn’t trying to be weird or anything, maybe he really didn’t get it at first and this was all just some big misunderstanding. Nathaniel was definitely willing to believe that right now.

Nathaniel had asked him again to stop when the hand reached his shoulder and he expected the guy to understand and be alright with it since he had been so apologetic before. He assumed he meant well and was actually trying to be nice even if he didn’t seem to get it so quickly but then when he looked up, Nathaniel wasn’t so sure he had made the right assumption.

Before him was the same guy with a smirk.. A smirk? That wasn’t the worst thing to see but it wasn’t what he had expected either. Something very strange was going on and Nathaniel wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there, unfortunately he seemed unable to do that. What if the guy was some kind of lunatic and went after him or followed him, that would just be scary and Nathaniel didn’t want to tempt fate that way so he figured he would wait it out for now and just see what happens.

Nathaniel leaned back at the rocking movement. He was starting to feel more than a little uneasy about this whole situation and that much was obvious by the expression on his face.

Nathaniel just looked half confused and half disturbed by the guy’s reaction. Was he mocking him? What kind of a person would do that? Bullies? Sure, but this was a little different. The guy was loving it way too much and it was more disturbing than scary.

“Never knew my dad,” he said, offering up just a small piece of information, hoping the guy would just drop it and move on but at the same time knowing that it probably wasn’t going to happen. He tried to keep his position as much as possible, trying to hard not to take another step, to show that he might actually stand his ground, at least for now.

[aleksei jonathon jakobs]

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Aleks made a noise of mock sympathy when the boy said he had never met his dad. But the difference from earlier was that now the mock sympathy was so clearly fake, shot through with mocking and sarcasm. Aw, had the ickle one never met his daddy? He should feel lucky, dad's were fucking shit, always telling you what to do. But then... "Was it your mummy then? Or, ooh, your mummy's boyfriend? Or, oh oh oh, even better, your boyfriend?" On the last word he leered slightly, eyes flicking over Nathaniel purposely.

He laced his fingers together, stretching them out in front of himself to hear them crack and pop, before twisting his head for his neck did the same. Did he take any notice of the boy's 'personal space' issues as he did so? No way. Only smirked once he was done, and then began talking again. "Or, maybe - and this'd be good- someone raped you. Held you up against a wall and ripped you to shreds, leaving you there crying." He grinned at Nathaniel, and giggled again, manic sound edging the air sharply. "Well, you gonna tell me which one it is?" He looked towards the boy expectantly, waiting, still rocking towards him slightly, to see when he'd run.

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^{TAG - nathaniel
WORDS - bout two hundred.
NOTES - sorry it's so short >.<
TUNES - binge, papa roach.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

[nathaniel shane thomas]

Nathaniel just rolled his eyes slightly at the mock gasp that came from this guy. He knew that Alek didn't particularly care either way and he was fine with that. Some people were just assholes like that but there wasn't terribly much that could be done about it, especially since Nathaniel was blissfully unaware of exactly how dangerous this guy could be.

Nathaniel just looked straight at the guy with all the confidence he could muster. "Are you trying to figure me out now?" he asked as though it were almost disappointing that this guy who was trying to act like some kind of bully would have to sink to that level in order to come up with further insults to throw at him. "I'm not gonna play your little game," he informed him. He didn't want this stranger to have all the power and to try and make him feel like crap. He felt bad enough on a day to day basis with all the stuff he had to deal with so why bother adding to the list.

Nathaniel swallowed at the movements that came way too close for his liking. This was not going well and part of him wanted to just run the hell away from this jerk. Unfortunately the other part felt there was still a good chance that standing up to him might be the better way to go. Fortunately for Nathaniel having Alek's actions be so obviously done on purpose made it much easier to deal with.

He knew the guy was just trying to annoy him and that made it a lot easier to deal with. Alek seemed to want to provoke him and to cause some sort of negative reaction and that kind of thing, Nathaniel was used to. Hell, if he felt the need to beat him up, he wouldn't care so much about the contact before that he could deal with.

Nathaniel glanced up against his better judgment at what Alek said next. He got about half way to the core of what was causing this strange phobia in Nathaniel but at least he was certain the guy wouldn't come any closer to it. If he didn't think about it himself then maybe he could pretend it never happened and no one would know.

Still, that shift in his gaze from the floor too the boy had immediately become something to regret. He probably gave too much of a hint with that one uncontrollable reaction and now Nathaniel was left feeling the need to try and toughen up and hide everything even more.

"I'm not telling you anything," Nathaniel insisted, though with his blue eyes staring to the side to avoid looking at Alek, it didn't seem to inspire much confidence. He said it and he tried to mean it but he knew that saying that wasn't going to stop this guy from digging into his past any further.

[aleksei jonathon jakobs]

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Aleks giggled when Nathaniel asked if he was trying to figure him out. Oh well done, give a gold star to the boy, it was a miracle, he had a brain. "Oh of course I am. You are just so astute.' And he smirked, the sarcasm heavy and dripping in his voice. "And oh, baby, you got it all wrong." He shook his head mockingly, the sigh leaving his lips as if correcting a small child. "You're already playing my game." And with that he leaned in pushing at Nathaniel's shoulder the way friends did when jokingly tell each other to fuck off. And then waited with a smirk on his face for the flinch that he was sure Nathaniel would going to give out. Cause you see, the boy couldn't help but play the game, it was in the reflexes. Really, all the game was, was a way for Aleks to get enjoyment. And y'know, this way pretty enjoyable. Waiting for the flinching, the automatic a reaction against his bait.

Pushing a curl of black hair behind his ear, the smirk that came on Aleks face with the boys next words was really quite unforgivable. More at the blue eyes that were deliberately not aimed at him, looking of to the side, maybe slightly nervous, possibly slightly scared. Or if not nervous and scared yet, soon to be. That was Aleks' plan, at least. And a fucking good plan, too. But really, the kid thought he wouldn't give Alek's information? Didn't he understand that everything did, simply his body language spoke more words than he could ever stutter out? Apparently not. Oh well, the stupidity of the general human population was already confirmed in Aleks' mind, so this kid was no different from any other. Still, back to the freaking him out... "Oh, trust me, you're telling me everything." And the predatory glint which had slept in only his eyes now migrated to his smile, turning to edges up with an unhealthy gleam.

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^{TAG - nathaniel
WORDS - three hundred and thirty something.
NOTES - ello, sorry it's so late.
TUNES - whataya want from me, adam lambert.
CREDIT - template by MUNZTAR * of caution 2.0}

[nathaniel shane thomas]

Nathaniel attempted a glare but it didn't look anywhere near as menacing as he had intended. He just didn't have a fierce bone in his body but usually that worked for him. Nathaniel wasn't sure how to take anything he was saying. What sort of game was he playing? What did this guy want? It was pretty strange and nothing near anything Nathaniel was used to. This guy wasn't trying to be mean, it was almost as though he just plain didn't care was having fun mocking him. But why would he do that?

Nathaniel stood his ground but flinched when the hand connected with his shoulder. For a second fear flashed over his face but he hid it after that. He didn't want to appear weak and give this guy the upper hand. Nathaniel hated not knowing where this was going to go and what this guy wanted but he wasn't going to run, that would just make it easier for Alek the next time he saw him.

Nathaniel looked up again. He was barely saying a word, what was this guy even talking about.. But he supposed his actions were probably giving away more than his words had. There was no way out of that though, unless he didn't care or couldn't feel anything.. But there was no such thing. That was just crazy, there weren't people like that, were there?

"Just leave me alone," Nathaniel told him, though his statement sounded more like a pleading question with a glimmer of hope in it.