H2O(g) {Tag: Jayden}

Eli had left his scarf in his room, there was no need for it where he was going. To train and relief this pent of frustration. It wasn't even about anything Akasha had said, no, his mind had ditched such thoughts. He only carried a water bottle which was now thrown next to a base of a set of rocks.

But the fact she had flat out told him to put Jayden needs before his own or she'd hurt him. He didn't even get a say in anything? What if he didn't even like the man? What if he detested him? He would be hurt for having an opinion that Akasha didn't agree with? Plus, on what grounds did a student have telling a teacher what they could and could not do?

Eli let out a frustrated growl as fire exploded from his hand as he punched a convenient tree next to him.

What right did Akasha have for telling him... treating him like property? He didn't leave that life just to go back to it.

Another punch to the poor, unsuspecting tree. There was no one to spar with, at least not on a level that he could release his frustrations on. So for now, he try doing sets. The rougher part of his anger now scorched the tree as he took a few steps back as looked upon the marks he had left.

He turned away from it as he took a few steps, more like he moved yards away from it until he was able to barely see the dent on the trunk from his rage. He shut his eyes as he laid down on the grass near the rocks that hid his water bottle. He laced his hands behind his head as he started to do sit ups. His upper body curled to his knees as he repeated the process. He wasn't even keeping count at this point...

Honestly? Exercise and work the the frustration away.

Tensen would have been proud.

(( I'm in an angsty mood, don't mind me /waddles off ))

(Sorry Love)

Jayden gave a sigh as he walked along the Black Lakes shore, his arms clapsed behind his back. His mind was full of troubling thoughts, and most of them revolved around a certain firebender.

Jaydens heart jumped at the thought of the older man, much to Jaydens chagrin. True, he was very attracyed to Eli, but his body was reacting as if the bruntte was his first ever gay crush. He wasn't! He had to atleast be number. Um. Number.....

Whatever, the number he is doesn't matter, what matters is that his attraction to Eli was amazingly strong, and he hadn't even known the man that long. Akasha has always said tht Jayden falls fast and hard...

Speaking of Akasha, the vampire had been acting weird earlier. She acted guilty and voided his eyes; when he asked her, she simply apologized. He wasn't sure what that was about, but it made him worry. Akasha only apologized to him when she did something that she knew would effect him greatly.

As he thought about the possibilities of what Akasha could have apologized for, Jayden heard the distinct sounds of rythmic pants and grunts. He followed the sound until he came upon his man crush, who was excersizing in a very quick a dilligent manner.

Jayden was mortified when he felt his cheeks warm, and his cock twitch. What was Eli doing to him???

He watched the brunette for a while in fascination, before clearing his throat gently, trying not to startle the man. If he kept going as he was, Jayden wouldn't be accountabl for his actions.

(( Jayden, you need to not fantasize about me sooooo much. I know I'm sexy and ;D but still. Teen ageeeeeeeee libido dawg.))

Eli barely kept count of his reps only really paying mind to the familiar burn of muscles being tightened and strengthened. He just kept blinking going before he heard someone clear their throat. It barely started the fire-bender. In fact it reminded him a bit of Tensen. The man did that during training more often than not.

The fire bender sat up before sighing through his nose. He leaned back before rolling his body into a stand position. It still felt weird not to be in the Arena training rooms even after six years out of it.

Eli ran his fingers through his hair as he turned around. Jayden had a hint of a blush and suddenly Eli knew why. This is what Akasha had meant earlier. It unsettled him a bit. Was he supposed to let Jayden know he knew? Was he supposed to do something about this? He... didn't really know what he felt about anything. Everything here was different from what he was used to, still suffering from the occasional culture shock.

"Hey, you need something?" It came out a bit confused, almost like his state of mind. A bit insecure and very confused.

Jayden shook his head, walking towards Eli more, running a hand through his red hair. For some reason, he felt self-concious suddenly. There was something different about Eli, he seemed ...somewhat awkward. More so than before. Like, he knew something. What he knew, Jayden was unsure.

And it was probably a personal issue, so no matter.

"No, nothing in particular, I was just walking along the Lake to think, and I heard the sounds of someone excersising. I guess I was just curious, is all." He chuckled, though in his head he didnt' sound very funny.

He glanced at the tree he was near, and noticed the scorch marks on them. A slight frown marring his features, he raised his hand and touched the burnt bark. Those didn't look like pratice hits....He gave Eli a concerned look, "Everything alright? Or should I leave you alone for the mo'?"

Jayden's sudden nervous behavior caused Eli to raise an eyebrow. Suddenly he could understand why it would be unjust for Eli to blurt he knew about the crush. He knew what it was like to be nervous and confused because he wasn't sure how someone would take what he was saying. He understood, maybe a bit more than he'd honestly like to. He'd keep the fact from Jayden that he knew for as long as humanly possible.

The fire bender was again, left at a loss. Did Jayden say something funny and he missed it? He didn't see the humor in hearing someone exercising and someone being magnetized to it. It was... weird. Then again, he has a romantic interest in me. A smaller part of him said, making the normally awkward action make sense. It was... weird to know it still. Still very awkward, he hoped it wouldn't be like that for long. Jayden was the closest Professor to his age being the only other person to ask mind numbingly simple question about slang that he did not understand, it would hurt him to lose that informational source.

Or just the company for that matter. Jayden didn't judge, though Eli was sure he would if his past ever became a topic of conversation. Suddenly he wanted to shrink away, pretend like Jayden didn't like him and that he was alone in this again. It would make it easier with holding his crosses and not letting them crush others.

"Everything alright? Or should I leave you alone for the mo'?"

The suddenly emotionally confused fire bender's blood red eyes moved to the tree. He winced, noticeably, as he gazed at the damage he had done. Had he honestly been that furious earlier? And what was a 'mo'? His eyes moved back to look at the ginger before his hand moved to rub the back of his neck as he looked a bit sheepish.

"I... uh... had a moment, I apologized to the tree afterwards."

Great, Eli, now you sound like a nut.

"Anyway what's a mo? It just like... a measurement of time? Or is it a person? I'm sure there isn't a Moe here, that name is a bit American to be in Britain don't you agree?" A slight warmth filled his cheeks once more in embarrassment.

Jayden chuckled again, giving Eli a small smile, "Well, as long as you apologized to the tree, then you're ok. I'm sure Mr. Tree forgives you for your slip up, since it was accidental." It amazed Jayden how something could sound fine in his head, but saying it aloud, it sounded quite strange. Just as strange as apologizing to a tree, he supposed.

At Eli's question, Jayden giggled; the older mans curiosity and naivete would never cease to amuse him. "No, luv, not a person named Moe. Mo' is a shorter version of moment. As in, should I leave you alone for the moment or give me a moment. Irish slang, dear, no worries."

Jayden cleared his throat, and asked hesistantly, "If I may ask, what got you so worked up, that you burnt mr.Tree? One of your female students hit on you inappropiately?" Jayden waggled his eyebrow suggestively, though there was no ill intent behind it.

Eli couldn't help the amused look that graced his features after Jayden started to talk about the tree like it was a person. Personification of a tree, perfect.

"I hope it does, I don't need it going to a tree reunion with its tree family to talk about me." Eli found himself enjoying the conversation until it moved back to his mistake in English. Again. It seemed to always happen at one time or another. Oh, except this time it was Irish. Okay, he could blame the lack of knowledge because it was a foreign language that he was unfamiliar with.

The fire bender sighed, running his fingers through his hair for a moment.

"I guess you could say that." He mumbled out. puffing out a cheek before letting the air escape from his mouth. This conversation could lead no where but down hill.

Jayden nodded a playfully serious frown on his face, "Oh yes, trees take situations such as this very seriously. If word gets back to the Ents, they will not be very happy with you." He gave a playful wag of his finger in Eli's direction. But at the older mans grumble of irritation, the redheads smile slowly left his face and turned into an expression of concern. "Everything alright, Eli? You want to talk about it?"

He hoped that the girls in Elis class weren't giving him TOO much trouble. Even though Jaydens teaching career was just starting, he had heard the stories of teenaged girls obsessing over and harassing their teachersw, and it could be quite a hassle. Of course, he would step in if Eli needed him to, but that in itself seemed like a hassle. Coming between a teenaged girl and her obsession was a dangerous and facing a basilisk.


(I'M SOOOO SORRYYYY. )

Eli couldn't stop the smile from slowly covering his lips. He chuckled at the ginger's antics. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the tree joke he had made earlier. At least someone felt comfortable in this situation. He still wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Akasha had told him not to let the man know that he knew about the ginger's feelings...

So what could he do? Could he ask Jayden about it?

"Uhm... Jayden, is it all right if I call you Jay?" Eli asked, trying not so accidentally say something that was incorrect. People liked nicknames, right? They had to... everyone liked a special name from someone? Hopefully.

Ack, he hadn't taken into account that that might have been seen as out of line.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't... uh... that's socially acceptable, right?"

Jayden felt his lips form a smile of their own at Elis grin aimed his way. It was so adorably cute and made his heart flutter and his chest warm.

Damn his fanboying was getting annoying. Damn his stupid feelings.

At Eli's question the redhead nodded, if a bit too eargerly. Damn his fanboying! "Oh yeah, sure you can call me Jay, Eli. It's completely socially acceptable. "

...He sounded too eager. What the hell was wrong with him?

Eli felt his cheeks warm a bit. Unsure of what to talk about now. Akasha's words still echoed into his mind. He still had no idea what he felt, if he even felt, anything about the ginger. Perhaps... he needed to think before acting out on knowledge? When someone knew something they usually asked the other?

Fuck western culture and it's over confusingness.

"Uh..." Eli looked away for a moment, staring at the tree before looking back.

"You seem... uh... off today. Are you alright, Jay?"

Jayden pursed his lips thoughtfully, walking closer to Eli in a slow manner. His cast his blue eyes to the ground, seriously wondering about what exactly was off with him. "Well...Kind of. I haven't really been feeling like my self these days, and it's starting to frustrate me. I feel...weird."

He paused in his steps until he was a comfortable distance from Eli, "I like this guy, see, and it's...the strongest I've ever felt for someone. Every time I see him, I get butterflies and my chest tightens and it feels really strange. Like, I've had serveral partners, but...He's different. And I don't know why. It confuses the hell out of me. And then before I came here, Miss Wynters came to my office and was apologizing like crazy, and it's weird for her to do that. So, I came here to think."

He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing softly. He knew how idiotic it could be to talk to a crush about themselves without admitting ones feelings, but for some reason, he thought he should do it. Vent to Eli. Maybe he could help.

Eli just listened, tilting his head to the side for about most of it, unsure if his understand of the English language was correct.

"Someone makes you feel weird enough to get butterflies? What would possess a person to obtain butterflies because of a feeling. It doesn't make sense." Eli asked with an awkwardly confused face. He looked down right adorable as he tried to make sense of the play on words that he was not used to. He blamed his sudden increase in heart rate on the fact his body must have demanded exercise, even though he pretty much had finished his reps. And Akasha went to Jayden, apologizing? At least she learned something from their momentary spat.

"I've dealt with more... partners than one would be comfortable knowing. I... don't understand to be perfectly honest. The only ones I ever felt anything for were my brother and..." He let his voice trail off as he tried desperately to figure out how to figure out how to label them. Jayden meant partners as in teammates, right? To his knowledge the man wasn't even on a team. There must have been something weird going on...

Anyway, he knew exactly who Jay was talking about... but Eli couldn't say anything, not yet. He wasn't even sure what he, himself, felt about the ginger male in front of him. His heart just kept going at an increased pace and he flustered in his confusion. Sometimes he just wished people here were a bit more straight forward. It would be easier than jumping through hoops like poodles... or were they horses? He couldn't remember.

Jayden chuckled softly, shaking his head, "No luv, not what I meant. Butterflies is that fluttery feeling one gets in their stomach when their around someone they like romantically, or when they think about them.. Whenever I think about or see that guy, I get a fluttery feeling in my stomach. And by partners, I meant...sexual partners; boyfriends, lovers etc."

For some reason, admitting his promiscuity to Eli made him feel immensely guilty and embarrased. He hated feeling guilty about his past.

"You... oh. I understand." Eli's cheeks burned lightly, he seemed to always learn a bit more around the other. Maybe it was... no. It couldn't...

"You know, there's not judgement here. Maybe if I knew his name," His name is Eli, "I could help you with your situation." Eli offered, just trying to get rid of the secret he had to keep not to hurt the man in front of him. He took a few steps closer to the ginger, finding he was actually shorter than said ginger. It felt weird, he was used to being the tallest.

"I mean, if it's not prying... of course." Eli saved, quickly. Wincing, noticeably. He was a blunt person, all this tip toeing was air bender work, not fire. Brash and passionate. That was fire.

For an impulsive second, he considered it. He considered telling Eli how he felt about him, and what he wanted.

But Jayden held his tongue. Because he was scared. He was terrified of being rejected by Eli, and by the pain he'd feel by being avoided by him. Besides, he'd no idea how Eli felt about him, or if he felt anything at all for the redhead. He hoped that flush he'd just seen was a good thing,but he doubted it. Eli Ezra didn't evenbknow what a homosexual was until Jayden educated him, he doubted he'd become one suddenly. But one could always dream...

He glanced at Eli, slowly taking two steps closer to the brunette, "To be honest, and no offense,but I'd rather not give his name. It may make things a bit...awkward. Not many people know, and I'd rather not tell others. I want to tell you," Dear God, how he wanted to, "But it might be a wee bit strange, and you know, "He motioned around them. "Prying ears 'n all that."

Holy shit, what a horrid lie. Did being around Eli make him a terrible liar,too?? Damn, he's got it bad.

Jayden cleared his throat, "Seriously, no offence. The only people in this school who know are Professor Mallory and Miss Wynters..." He trailed off, something suddenly occurring to him.

Akasha was one of the only two people in the school that knew of Jaydens mancrush. She also came apologizing to him earlier that day. Akasha was also known for doing what she thought was best for someone, even if that person would never want her to do it. She had mentioned something about going to see someone after their talk, before she had apologized. Eli had been blushing. Would she have...?

'No.' The brunette thought with horror, the emotion showing on his face when he looked at Eli. He inhaled sharp;y, before saying lowly, "...She told you?"

"o be honest, and no offense,but I'd rather not give his name. It may make things a bit...awkward. Not many people know, and I'd rather not tell others. I want to tell you. But it might be a wee bit strange, and you know. Prying ears 'n all that."

Eli just raised an eyebrow as he folded his arms. He didn't believe that for a moment. Most of the school was charmed and protected by wards to allow anything like that. Unless... No, that couldn't be right.

"Seriously, no offence. The only people in this school who know are Professor Mallory and Miss Wynters..."

And Eli Ezra. He added mentally added himself to the list. With Akasha's presumably large mouth, there might have been more.

"...She told you?"

Eli's cheeked burned even more, if possible. He was beyond sure he looked like a moron. He just couldn't help it. Maybe it was better when the male had no idea he knew. He just hoped Akasha was punished, severely, for fiddling with peoples' love lives.

"She didn't exactly... tell me. More like... uh... demand I accept your love. Didn't care about... my uh, feelings in it all. Then again no one ever does." Eli looked over to the tree he had pretty much murdered and his rubbed the back of his neck in sheer embarrassment.

"Let's just say... I don't take being told what to do that well anymore, Mr. tree and his family won't be happy with me for a long while but I hope it understands." Like I kind of hope you understand I have no idea what to do in this situation... He bit his cheek, coaxing fire to dance between his fingers to attempt to burn off the energy that seemed to have come out of no where after Jay's sudden realization that he knew.

"I just... she told me not to tell, if there is anything I am, I never go back on my word. If you don't tell her you know I... well, I'd honestly appreciative of the gesture." Eli concluded for a moment. Confusion was clearly oozing off his person. He was unsure what do.

"It there... a proper social code of what to do next? I'm... unsure of what to... uhm, do with what I know. I'm at a loss." Eli admitted, looking down at the ground, ashamed. He should have known more about what to do in this situation. For Christ's sake he wrote a best selling romance novel.

Apparently romance on pages and in life weren't exactly the same. Or even in the same league. What was going on had him fidgeting and confused, at least characters were strong and held fast.

God what he wouldn't give to be a fictional character.

"Oh God."

His voice broke as he fell into a crouch, head in his hands and his heart beat rapid with panic. This was not supposed to happen and this was not how Eli was supposed to find out. Akasha was going to be dust the next time he saw her.

He took a moment to breathe and to get his heart rate steady. It was beating so hard and loud he could hear it clearly in his ears. His cheeks were burning from embarrasment, and Jayden felt completely mortified.

During his freakout, Jayden didn't hear a word Eli was saying, but he imagined it was something along the lines of rejecting him. But when he looked up at the Brunnete he saw the blush, the embarrased and confused eyes, and a thought occurred to him.

He could guess that Eli didn't know much about romance, and even less about homosexuals. And his last statement...

"Is there... a proper social code of what to do next? I'm... unsure of what to... uhm, do with what I know. I'm at a loss."

Maybe...Just maybe...

Jayden stood up, a sudden determination filling him, despite the voice in the back of his head telling him to not do what he was about to. It was a leap of faith, for sure, but it was one that he felt he should take. If he didn't, he'd regret it for the rest of his life.

He reached out and gently took Eli's hand, saying softly, "Well, I'm not too sure what to do now either, but I have an idea." Looking into Eli's captivating red eyes, Jayden asked softly, "Could I...Could I maybe, kiss you, Eli?"

Oh God, the panic was starting to set in again.

Eli watched the male fall, part of him wanted to fall next to him and help him up. His weapon instincts screamed to take him down while he was weak. He pushed those twitching instincts away from his more human emotions. The ones that were confused but excited. Something like this had to mean something. Jay was clearly distressed by this... but... the male stood up, seemingly reassured by his words.

How did this ever happen?

Eli's flaming eyes flicked down to their hands. Jayden had gone out on a limb and taken it. Something about it felt right, which confused him greatly. He didn't understand suddenly what to do. It seemed like this was all awkward and completely not thought completely through. He definitely had no tact, but blunt was better than pretty nothings.

"...I have an idea. Could I kiss you?"

Eli just raised an eyebrow before letting it settle on his face. His heart suddenly decided it needed to put up its pace and his stomach felt... odd. He knew nervousness, maybe not as of recently. He was self assured and confident but he found all of that... stuff that made him him was falling apart and completely killing the Eli he had been built to be.

This was really weird and completely unsettling. But... kissing? Kissing was the universal sign of affection. No matter where you went a kiss was something he gave to someone you appreciated and wanted to show them when words couldn't fill the silence. He appreciated everything Jayden had done, teaching him weird things like butterflies and teenage hormones... but this kiss would be something different. Something that would change their dynamic.

What if he was horrible? He hadn't actually kissed anyone besides her. And she didn't even stick around. Would Jayden leave after this? Would he just be used once more? Something, maybe it was the small part of him that could still trust, begged him to go for it. (The voice sounded oddly like Jayden as well, he'd question his sanity later). He had to take the chance, Jayden... he hoped Jayden would be there when he opened his eyes after the kiss.

"...If... If you promise not to be offended by my lack of knowledge or experience with the action."

It wasn't exactly a yes, but it wasn't a no, either. And that was all he needed.

Gathering up his last bit of courage, Jayden lifted Eli's chin with his hand and leaned forward, placing his lips on the older mans, his other hand still holding the brunettes.

He could practically hear the choir sing.

Despite what he wanted to do, this was as far as Jayden would go. He wouldn't stick his tongue in the older mans mouth, nor would he wrap his arms around him.

He would just give him a simple kiss to test the waters and a held hand. He didn't want to overwhelm or scare the man.

After a few seconds, the Irishman broke the kiss, leaning his head back, and taking a half step back form the other man. Giving him a shy smile, the redhead waited for a response or a reaction.

(( SCREAMING BECAUSE OTP 5EVER) )

Eli shut his eyes. Letting Jayden control the actions. It was... odd. It was just muscle touching muscle but it meant so much. There was a moment where he almost wished there was a next step, he wanted to... do something. It felt weird just standing theire, face against face. He tightened his grip on the other wizard's hand.

He felt at a loss when the ginger left his mouth but his leaving left a weird fluttery feeling and a nice warm feeling that was a bit warmer than recently he remembered.

"Uh..." Eli opened his mouth but all that came out was a random word that meant absolutely weird and he felt stupid once again.

"Uhm... I don't think that was good enough... I think we need to do it again. Just to be sure."

Jayden couldn't help the wide grin that spread across his face or the happy laugh that escaped his lips. That was not the reaction he was expecting at all, but he was not complaining at all.

The grin still on his lips, Jayden nodded, stepping closer to the other man. "I agree, that wasn't very good on my part. Let me try again."

The redhead leaned forward once more, putting his lips on the others and his hand cupping the soft cheek; this time his arm came up around Elis waist and pulled him closer, making their chests touch. Oh, how Jayden wished that he could feel Elis bare chest on his own.

Deciding to take it a step further, the redhead opened his mouth, and licked Eli's top lip, asking him silently for entrance.