Chapter 10: Do you daka Harper?
Zeke noticed the look of relief on Justin's face. It confirmed his suspicion.
"Justin, I really don't know how to ask this, so I'm just gonna come out and say it," Zeke cautiously prefaced.
Justin stiffly bit down on the inside of his lower lip in anticipation, fearing that his cute, straight friend had found out his secret.
Zeke swallowed hard in preparation, his pronounced Adam's apple quivered. His voice sounded strained and betrayed "Do you like Harper?"
As soon as he finished hearing the question, the wizard's face showed both relief and puzzlement, along with a hint of outrage. He furrowed his brow and raised his arms outwards. He sounded rather betrayed himself as he quickly shot out, "What?! No, of course not! Dude, you're my best friend! You know I wouldn't do that to you!"
Zeke stood his ground, arms crossed across his broad chest. His supple face and rose colored lips remained skeptical, but his big brown eyes clearly revealed that he wanted to believe Justin. "No," he replied, shaking his head, "I don't believe you, Justin. I can't. I've seen the way you look at her, how you treat us when we're together-"
"Zeke, no it's n-" he made an effort to interrupt.
But his light-haired companion continued, "how you get when she spends too much time with me, how you blush when I even just say her name, damn it!" He raised an accusatory finger and his voice grew louder and more irritated with every word.
"Zeke wait," he made a second attempt at stopping Zeke's tirade. As he said it he gripped and squeezed Zeke's left shoulder, trying to calm him down.
Zeke shook him off and persisted,, "Oh, and also-"
"Zeke! Shut up!" Justin ordered, raising his voice to match his friend's. This time he grabbed both of Zeke's shoulders and shook him vigorously until he did as instructed. "Thank you," the wizard sighed, "now listen carefully: I do not like your girlfriend." He carefully enunciated each word, although the last two were very hard for him to say. He ended by giving Zeke the most reassuring smile he could manage.
It worked. The tense expression on Zeke's face eased and his habitual smile quickly returned. "Really? So you don't daka Harper?" Zeke asked, using the Alien-English blend they had come to call Englien.
"No, I do not daka Harper," he raised his right hand as if he was about to testify in court, "blinchar-tsk" - I promise in Ancient Venusian.
"Oh, I'm so happy to hear you say that, buddy, you have no idea," Zeke exhaled. "I really didn't want for us to fight over this. And I'm really sorry I accused you in the first place, I know you're a better friend than that. It's just…I know she used to have a thing for you, so I got really scared that she would go running back to you if she thought you still liked her."
"What do you mean still liked her? I never liked her - not like that, anyway," he clarified.
I like YOU, you blubbering idiot! I daka you more than anything in the world. Why can't you see that? Why can't you see something that's right in front of your eyes?! How Justin wished he had the courage to say this out loud, but he couldn't - he wouldn't; he just thought it. He was not willing to jeopardize their friendship over this because he knew, should he be rejected, he couldn't live without the Beakerman boy at his side. Even if it meant they couldn't be anything more than friends.
"Well, you know what I mean. I think she's the one, Justin; I know it. And I'm so afraid to lose her. I wouldn't stand a chance with her - not against you!" Zeke lamented.
Justin felt his stomach clench as he heard Zeke's confession, it pained him to hear how much his friend loved Harper. It upset him almost as much as the glum, unconfident expression on the mortal's face.
"Zeke, buddy, you have to start giving yourself more credit!" He tried to give his friend's self-confidence a boost, " Just remember the Seven Cs!"
"Seven Seas?" Zeke asked, somewhat puzzled. Seeing Justin nod, he began listing them out loud and counting with his fingers, "Mediterranean, Black, Arabian…. hmmmm…. Caspian…"
"No not those seas, silly," Justin chuckled.
"Oh are we talking about lunar seas again? I can go get my suit," he offered, pointing his thumb to his right.
"No, no. Seven Cs" the wizard said and made a C shape with his right hand. "It's a mnemonic I came up with when I had poor self-esteem. Just remember: Continuous Casual Confidence Conquers Cool Chicks' Cerebra."
"Ah, I like it," Zeke admitted, vigorously nodding with his whole body. "But cerebra, really? You mean conquers chicks' hearts?"
"Perhaps that sounds more 'romantic,'" Justin used air quotes as he said the word, "but it didn't fit my alliterative theme. Besides everyone knows emotions happen in the cerebrum-the cardiovascular system has nothing to do with it! And it's my mnemonic, so take it or leave it."
"I'll take it!" Zeke shouted eagerly. "So, how exactly do I achieve a state of 'Continuous Casual Confidence'?"
"That, my friend, is the easy part. Appearance and demeanor are the bulk of it. So stand tall, back straight," he ran his left index finger down Zeke's spine, causing him to reflexively uncurl his vertebrae, "chin up," he pushed up on his trainee's chin with two fingers, "shoulders back," he adjusted Zeke's arms as if he were a mannequin, "and you're set. Now practice walking around like that."
Zeke walked around awkwardly. His first steps resembled those of a partially paralyzed zombie penguin, but he kept at it. He was so committed to keeping his arms in place that he didn't use his hands to break his fall as he tripped over a pair of Justin's sneakers and landed headfirst on the carpet.
"Ouch!" they said simultaneously with a grimace. "You okay, bud?" The wizard asked with genuine concern, as he helped his bud to his feet. "How did you not see those there?"
"I'm cool!" Zeke responded, a little disoriented. "And, well, you said not to look down, how was I supposed to see them?"
Justin let out a chuckle as Zeke rubbed the side of his head. "I said chin up, dude, big difference. At least now we know we have lots of work to do." They both laughed.
The wizard continued "training" his mortal friend in being confident to get what you want. He even gave him some pointers on how to get closer to Harper after he saw how authentic his love for her was - or at least appeared.
It pained Justin's heart-errr, cerebrum-that helping Zeke would ultimately lead to his best friend strengthening his relationship with Harper, or some other girl. He was effectively doing himself a disfavor, and he didn't have to do it. He considered this as he helped his friend become 'casually confident,' but he couldn't stop himself. It was satisfying to be so close to Zeke, being able to guide his movements manually, to feel his warm ivory skin, to brush the ever-so-slight stubble on his chin; but most satisfying of all was seeing that smile, that genuinely content, wide grin which had been present in so many of Justin's dreams and fantasies.
Seeing Zeke happy was the biggest reward of all.
a/n: The title and some of the elements of this chapter allude to S02E10 ("Baby Cupid"), where Cupid brings Harper and Justin together and Zeke at one point mocks "Justin daka Haper."
While I do like this chapter, I think it lacks in action/progression a bit; hope to fix that in the next installment. I have begun writing the next chapter, but haven't had time to really develop it. Fortunately, I do have a long (and hopefully productive) summer break coming up very soon!