Super Special Training (Asher)

"Nah, effort's what makes it fun," Elliot said, smiling a little proudly at his bright, colorful village. It wasn't perfect, but it was really neat seeing just how much he could get away with. "But yeah, its not always for everyone going big like that. Sometimes it can be fun to just put up a family and see what happens." Usually fire. Fire is what happened. Elliot had spent a whole day setting up the textures for a gingerbread family in a gingerbread house, and it was all nothing but ash within seconds.

"I dunno if Maia'd really be into that kind of thing, really," Elliot said. Her games weren't usually ones with a lot of dice and improv. "Besides, if both she and Isaac are playing, what if they start game-flirting with each other? Its bad enough when they act all cute in public. But cute in a game?" Elliot made a gagging noise. Why did his brother have to be such a dork, and why did Maia have to enable him on that front so much?

Elliot felt a little vibrating in his pocket, but he was a bit too busy to answer just yet. "Hey! Come on, don't be rude," Elliot chided. "Besides, Maia's totally real. I'm sure there's some goofy group pics on my phone if you want to see," Elliot offered. "I'll make sure to get pictures of the height box in the next, like, ten years or so, though," he added. After all, he highly doubted Isaac was going to be a teen heartthrob of an actor. If he ever started getting into big, leading roles, it was easily going to take time. And even then, that seemed more like a pipe dream than a legit career path.

Elliot shrugged and lobbed his phone over to Asher. "Its all yours," he said. "I already opened it up to the proper folder, so please don't go poking through too much." Thankfully, it would've been both very hard and very easy to go snooping in a phone like Elliot's. Everything was so organized it was almost its own form of disorganization. How did Elliot even know how to juggle these 5-folder deep nests? Yet the one Asher was on was currently the folder for bros and Maia pics. Wait, that meant Kuu would be there too, wouldn't he? Darn!

It was mostly just silly stuff, anyway. Like the trio on a train ride, Maia and Isaac both leaning on each other's shoulders and napping while Elliot giggled. Or the trio relaxing at Maia's place on a day when her parents weren't home, some cups of tea resting on the end table. Or the trio back at the arcade, Maia proudly grinning at a new high score as Isaac held her hand up like a ref to a new boxing champion. They all had a fairly relaxed vibe to them, but at least they were all too involved for Asher to think it was photoshop! If he really thought that lowly of Isaac, that is.

Of course, would Asher be too absorbed in the pictures to notice the text on Elliot's phone? It popped up so briefly, but the "Almost home" was unmistakable. It seemed Asher's 30 minute reprieve was reaching its precious few last minutes.

"Maybe if she tells him to, he'll do it in 5," Elliot joked. "I mean, he's trying to learn sign language for her when he hasn't even finished learning a second language yet! It's come in handy sometimes, though." Okay, the mute person they met in the Digital World only spoke JSL, so it was completely useless to them so far. But maybe it'd come in handy for more than flirting with Maia on the down-low sometime. "You have any advice that might help him?"

"Okay, good," Elliot said. "I just get worried sometimes, y'know? Especially because I worked so hard making sure my phone could be set up just the way I wanted. I dunno, its not that easy just giving my stuff up like that." That made Asher getting free, unobserved use of both the phone and computer pretty big compliments on Elliot's part! Sure, he'd only known Asher for a comparatively short while, but he already trusted the older teen so much.

And then Asher started looking through the photos. At first Elliot opened his mouth to say something. However, as he heard the door gently creak open, his complaint gave way to a huge grin on his face. Oh man, this was going to be hilarious. Elliot just hoped the small glare from the monitor didn't give the surprise away! Elliot slowly started wiggling his way back out of the blanket burrito, saying "I'll check it in a minute. I'm just a bit too comfy in here, still." That was kind of a lie, but just a little one. He didn't want Asher to turn around, give the phone back, and end up face-to-face with their new guest.

"Anyway, I don't really know what he wants to do just yet. Heck, I don't think he does, either. I know he finds it really interesting, but I think he's hoping some time and experience will help solidify whether its the right field for him or not," Elliot explained. "And it doesn't help that we can't exactly have normal schedules, with the whole Digital World thing. Although he's been building up a lot of confidence thanks to that, so who knows? Maybe it'll help!"

A pause for dramatic effect. And then the guest put his hands on the top of the computer chair, as if tilting it back ever-so-slightly. "So, who's too pretty for who, now?" asked Isaac, who had wandered in at just the right time. His voice was slightly disgruntled, but for the most part just teasing back at Asher. It was time to see if he'd make the same comment to Isaac's face!

Thankfully, having been fresh off of a shift at work, Isaac was already in a perfect frame of mind for rolling with the punches. When Asher deadpanned that he snapped right into action, mouth falling and eyes widening into a perfect expression of hurt. "I knew this day would come. Your heart hasn't been in this in ages," he responded, slowly but surely trying to "regain" his "composure." Once he had brought back a brave face he flopped onto his own bed, sliding off loosely-tied shoes as he sniffled into his pillow. Elliot simply watched the little show unfold, giggling a bit.

"Anyway, Isaac," Elliot said, sitting up a little and leaning against the wall. Yes, while still burrito'd up. When one of your legs was bad, you tended to be quite adept at moving with your gut. "I know he just tore your heart out of your chest and all-" The fake sniffling turned into fake ugly sobbing. "-But he said he'd help you out with some job advice! Especially if you're looking to do the drama thing on a bigger scale. So! He's here. You're here. What is your plan, anyway?"

Isaac leaned out of the pillow again. Unlike Elliot, who looked ready to doze off at any moment now, he whirled around so he was sitting back on the bed in a more normal position. "I was kinda hoping I wouldn't have to think about this kinda thing yet, y'know," Isaac said. "But hey, why put off tomorrow what you could do today, right?

I guess part of it hinges on what exactly doing this for a job is like. I mean, I'm guessing doing drama club stuff at school only shows, like, part of it. Sure, the time pressure's gonna be there, and I'll see what the kind of people who do this for a living are like, but I dunno how much of the whole thing will be represented there. Especially since its just a club, so there's way less pressure and stakes. So do you think you could tell me what a day on set's like for you? I think knowing what to expect would make a huge difference there." A big favor to ask of someone who's sick of your shit, Isaac. You're lucky there's a good luck burrito in the room who Asher could never say no to.

For now, Isaac kept quiet to listen to serious business. However, it was clear he was already coming up with retorts for Asher's latest line, if only due to the way his eyes seemed to dart back and forth as he brainstormed. After all, why would he ever let a perfectly good scene drop for good?

If drama club sounded stressful enough that even a trained TV actor was unnerved by it, maybe it would've been a step too far. Then again, when didn't school make everything more stressful than it needed to be? If there were athletic hell weeks, and academic hell weeks, surely theatrical hell weeks wouldn't be out of place. Still, it was a bit of a shame Asher couldn't help on that all-important first step. Everyone started their journeys in a different fashion, though, so it made sense Asher wouldn't have the same beginnings as Isaac might. It was the next step that'd matter more, and boy did Asher have a lot to say about those.

Isaac smiled as he listened to the picture Asher painted. It was equal parts warm and stressful, focused and irreverent. You went through a ton of often-meaningless busywork, but you took it all and crafted it into something really wonderful. There was a lot of panic and disorder, whether genuine worries or just on-set shenanigans. Your expectations could be swung around on a dime, for better or for worse. But through it all you had people you could rely on, talk about any old bullcrap with, and laugh about when one of the millions of things that could go wrong ended up happening. It was a pleasant picture. Was it one Isaac could see himself fitting into full time? Maybe. Maybe not. But he kind of liked it.

"Thank you," Isaac said, smiling, only for his face to fall back into a cold mask. "You heartless bastard. Was I always just a game for you?"

Elliot looked uncomfortable for a second, mumbling a quick "one sec" before scuttling off. Probably had to pee. Regardless, he shut the door once again, and that left Isaac and Asher without their audience.

Of course, the scene still needed to be resolved, did it not?

Okay. That started to sound a little bit too convincing. Then again, this whole day had been sounding too convincing from the start. After all, it was no secret that Asher had been cold to the boy lately. He went quiet in the hallways when Isaac passed, a noticeable change from how warm and bright he was to literally everyone else. When at work, the two of them put up a good show when needed, only for Asher to turn his back on Isaac literally the second they were out of the cafe's spotlight. Whenever Isaac tried to check in on Asher, often because Elliot wanted advice on one matter or another, the older boy didn't even pick up! It was starting to get really frustrating.

Isaac wondered why he was frustrated, even. Asher annoyed him, got in his personal space, and sucked at reading the atmosphere in the room. He was too likable to hate, but too irritating to be fond of. Yet at the same time, Isaac really wanted to be his friend. He felt for Asher's structures, and it worried him seeing how much they were swept under the bus. There might've been some fairness at play in Isaac's mind, too. He practically let Asher cling to him like a teddy bear when feeling nervous, and now the guy didn't even look him in the eye? The hypocrisy was infuriating.

"Should've known," Isaac said, making a disgusted noise. "I always had a feeling. Ignored it. Thought you were still worth trying for. But I should've known better, shouldn't I?" His own voice had taken a noticeably firmer tone, as joking around slowly started to progress into an explanation of his real feelings. "Its cruel, y'know? A guy gives everything he can give, and its just stepped on.

So when'd the game stop being fun for you?"

Which feelings? The ones where Asher was practically pissing himself while stuck in a tiny, cardboard box? The ones where Isaac insisted no, you can't just touch me wherever and whenever you want, and especially not my brother? The ones where Isaac gave and gave and gave while Asher just kept smiling on without a care in the world? The more Isaac thought about Asher's reaction, the more irritable he started to become. Was anyone worth this headache? Maybe some people were, but was Asher? His eyes started to narrow in annoyance as he tried to think of all the things he wanted to say to Asher. Every last, nasty thought.

Then he remembered Elliot would've been listening. He couldn't have been that far, after all. What would Elliot think if he heard everything?

In fact, what about Elliot? Moreso than Isaac, he seemed fond of the older teen. Very fond. Heck, if Isaac didn't know any better, he'd think his little bro was getting a big, awkward crush. Why did he have to pick somebody so insufferable for that? Isaac tried to think of what to say next, whether in response to Asher's callous words from before or in response to his own wandering mind.

"And what about the boy?" he asked, keeping their little setting going while trying to dig at the crux of this point. "You know he's always thought the world of you. Are you just playing with his heart, too?" The tone in Isaac's voice was dangerous. He could handle Asher turning his back on him. But to greet Elliot with such a blatantly false face? The idea was enough to make his blood boil. He waited to see if Asher would answer correctly or not, but it was clear that this little exercise was starting to get Isaac quite tense.