I should 1000% not be adding another rp onto my ever growing pile but I'm weak and flawed.
I heard this (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRwdsH1J/) and have had the idea of college friends with benefits ever since someone save me from this hell of my own creation
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(i would like to join if you'll have me but i'm not as active as other users…)
(I'm not as active either, we cancel each other out it's fine-)
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(lmfaooo alrighty, i assume that means i can join, yeah ?)
(Yeee, welcome to my madness!)
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(nice!! thanksss, do you know who you wanna be?)
(If we're going off the audio vibes, definitely prefer to be Ayesha (the woman) cause playing sassy femboys is, for some odd reason I can't explain, my thing)
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(that's absolutely perfect! :'))
(Lovely! You wanna do character sheets or just jump straight into things?)
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(that depends if you wanna start right away and put a starter up or if you'd be okay with waiting a bit for me to get my template up tomorrow- I have to go in a bit anyways so I'll still reply tomorrow but it's up to you really :))
(I don't mind jumping straight into things so long as we both know where we're starting from. Let's say, calling to meet up at a party? Relationship already established?)
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(sure thing! we can start there. also, have a question, would you prefer shorter answers as opposed to longer ones?)
(Honestly, I give both, I just try to match unless I really have things to develop. Don't feel pressured to make long responses or bad for doing short ones!)
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(cool beans! thankss, i'mma head off to bed now but if you wanna get that starter up, I'll read it and reply when I wake up later today)
(Will do!)
Jackson refreshed his Instagram page for the hundredth time, scrolling through as he tried to find something to occupy his mind. When had campus gotten so boring? Usually he couldn't get rid of all the stories about parties going on and now there was nothing. And less parties meant less of seeing…him.
It wasn't that Jackson couldn't call him outside of parties. They were friends, after all. It was just that…well Jackson was a bit pent up and only trusted one person on this campus to tell the truth about their sex history. God forbid he go home for spring break with an STD, his mother would have a heart attack. Her son? An STD while at college? Because of another man? Not in her good Christian home!
He sighed heavily, shaking away the thought as something caught his eye. Frat party a couple of dorms away. Who you know basis. Jackson wasn't much for Greek life (Honestly he was about 80% sure it was a cult) but he did know a couple of the frat boys. Looks like he'd just found his meal ticket. He sat up from his bed, adjusting his glasses and pushing his sandy blonde hair out of his face as he searched for an oh-so-familiar contact. "This bitch better answer…" He muttered under his breath as the phone rang.
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Darius had finally gotten sleep last night and felt semi-functional today as he stared down at his notebook. Between the stress of studying and getting passing grades and being dragged around to parties and whatnot, he hadn't had time to rest, and once he had hit the bed, he had passed out.
It wasn't exactly early now and he had spent the majority of the day in his dorm. Preferably sleeping would have been his choice, but he didn't get that luxury as his grades were dipping more into the C's category, bordering on D's, rather than B's and A's.
He scribbled something down on the half-filled page before turning his head to the computer in front of him, then the textbook beside the computer. He had been at this for hours and he could feel his brain melting.
A Government Major. That's what he was gunning for. Not by his own choice, he'd rather not be in school wasting brain cells on things he had no interest in, but his father had insisted. The man had enrolled him and paid off every last penny to his studies and there was no backing out of it.
Darius had refused to go even when his father threatened to kick him out and strip him of everything he owned. The thought of fending for himself slightly shook him, he had never been on his own before. So after careful consideration, not that there was anything to consider, he had caved and now here he was, sitting in this small ass room with all his stuff cramped into the space as he frantically tried to get information to stick to his brain.
Darius stared blankly at the words on the page, everything was starting to sound like gibberish and nothing made sense anymore. He was so spaced out that when his phone ran he nearly jumped out of his skin at the harsh melody that came through. He scowled, looking over to see who it was. Once he read the contact name he let out a soft groan. He needed to be studying. But in a way the guy had just saved him from four more hours of hell.
He snatched the phone off the table and answered.
"Yeah?" He answered lazily, he sounded awful like he was dying. And he was.
"Darius, baby! Please, sound less enthused, I beg you." He laughed. "Judging by that greeting, your brain is melting out of your ears which is no good cause that's my job. I'm bored out of my fucking skull and there's a party at one of the frat houses. So fuck your government homework and daddy dearest, get that cute ass dressed, I'll be there in ten. Smooches!" He cheerfully insisted before hanging up and launching himself off his bed to get dressed.
Darius was a stubborn man so Jackson had quickly learned if he just hung up before he could protest, 90% of the time he just gave in so he wouldn't have to call Jackson back. The other 10% of the time he'd lock the door to his dorm to try and keep him out so he could study like a nerd but had found Jackson's persistent knocking ten times more annoying.
What could he say? He was a communications major, he knew how to get through to people whether they liked it or not. And the not definitely applied to Darius. Not that Jackson minded, he always loved a challenge.
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"I don't have ti-" The line was suddenly cut off. He pulled the phone away from his ear to see his screen-saver picture of a simple cartoonish version of Saturn devouring his son in black and red. Darius closed his eyes and took in a deep breath to calm himself. He always did that. The fucker. He really wasn't going to leave him alone until he got his way, was he?
Darius looked over the desk and the mess of papers scattered all over it, half-baked ideas jotted down and a PowerPoint pulled up on his computer. That was it, it was over. He was absolutely and royally fucked. He would fail the next test and then get flayed by his father.
Right now all Darius wanted to do is put a pillow over his head and cover his ears- that or attempt to suffocate himself. He leaned back in the chair, letting out a strained sigh. After a second longer he stood and walked over to his closet. He was not in the mood to dress classy, but then again, when was he ever in the mood to dress classy? He dressed messy at best with a gray dress shirt over black slim-fit jeans with even darker black hightops if that was even possible. A light zip-up hoody over the dress shirt in case he got cold for some reason.
He stood in front of the mirror to assess how he looked. On the verge of death? Check. Losing his sanity? Check. Three seconds away from running into oncoming traffic? Check. He stared at his red dyed hair, the vibrant color had faded into something duller, some of the roots black, although not that noticeable yet. There were visible bags under his eyes as he glared at himself, his ice-blue eyes narrowing.
"I swear for all the things that are holy…" He finished that sentence in his head, wondering how soon Jackson was going to let him leave his "entertainment" so he could cram more useless knowledge in his brain.
Jackson swung his keys around his finger, humming to himself as he listened to his boots click down the hall to Darius' room. He didn't need to look for numbers anymore, he knew which one it was. He paused as he reached the right door, checking himself over one more time.
Curve hugging jeans? Check. His favorite cropped turtleneck that left just enough to the imagination? Check. Stomping boots with enough of a heel to make him forget he was 5'7"? Definitely check. He was cute and he knew it, it wasn't his fault others had a problem with him showing it off. He caught the reflection of his chocolate brown eyes in his glasses, excited and determined to not let Darius be a sour puss. Good enough for him.
He gave a few hard knocks on the door, tapping his foot slightly impatiently. He knew to expect Darius to be grouchy when he opened before, he always was. Thus Jackson made it his job to give his friend some stress relief before he exploded like he always did.
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Darius had been smoothing out the wrinkles from his dress shirt when he heard the knock at the door. He promptly went over to open it, slightly cracking it to see the familiar face staring back at him, hesitant to open it fully. Darius was a little taller than Jackson, coming in at 5'11, but with the heels, Jackson closed the height gap just a little more. He looked him over.
"Could you knock any harder?" Darius complained, his pale skin looking a little more washed out from the stress than usual, his freckles twitching as Darius scrunched up his nose slightly in annoyance.
"Today was supposed to be a 'resting' day Jackson, I told you this, I need time to do my work. I can't be going out with you all the time" He said as he finally opened the door fully to let the other in. He walked over to his desk and pocketed his phone before grabbing his wallet and adjusting the bands on his left arm, the wrapped bandanna on his right already tight enough to where it wouldn't slip off.
"What did you manage to find this time? Before I know it we'll be in an alleyway smoking crack and a week'll have passed" He said, exaggerating how over the top Jackson was. He didn't appreciate it sometimes. He needed his space to do things, but then again Darius wasn't exactly complaining either. He could flat-out refuse to go anywhere with the guy, but he didn't. Mostly cause he was persistent, the other half because he wasn't a fan of the school work and needed something to relieve the stress of it all.
"And yet here you are, dressed and ready at my beck and call." He teased, poking his chest with a mischievous smile. "Also yes I could knock harder and you know that. I just don't wanna bruise my knuckles again."
He rolled his eyes at the exaggerated comment, though that did sound like something he'd do. "For your information, we've been to this place before so no, we won't end up doing lines in an alley. Probably. But that's gonna be on you, not me. And don't act like you hate it, I know you only stay in this major cause your dad is paying for it, I'm just here to make sure your head doesn't explode from stress when I don't hear from you in a week. Seriously, I was starting to think you were dead. Now come on, places to go and people to see." He turned on his heel and made his way toward the door, seeming completely unfazed by the disaster that was Darius' room. Which, to be fair, he was unfazed. He knew Darius lived like a vampire, avoiding sunlight and beaming nothing but blue light into his eyeballs, constantly writing like some tortured artist.
"I keep telling you Dar, there's these things called people that can help with your work. I know socializing is a foreign concept to you, hence why I'm here, but you're just gonna burn yourself out like this."
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Darius let out a defeated sigh and rolled his eyes at his comment. "Yeah, you would," He said sarcastically.
After he got what he needed and made sure he wasn't forgetting anything, he joined Jackson at the door. He locked the room and shoved his hands into his pockets, waiting for him to take the lead.
"You said that last time and yet there we were doing speedballs with me getting my shit rocked at the end of the night because someone couldn't keep their mouth shut," Darius said as he walked with Jackson. "I don't hate it but you show up at the poorest of times" He looked at Jackson and his outfit and then looked away. Always dressing provocatively. How Darius kept it together was beyond him.
"Bold of you to assume I would up and die in this hellhole." He muttered, finally taking the flight of stairs down to the ground floor.
Aaaand there it was again.
"And I keep telling you not to call me that. It's a weird shortened version of my name and it sounds wrong" He said shaking his head slightly. "I know there are people, but so far everything's been smooth sailing" He lied. "I can socialize I just choose not to, there's a difference." It seemed that this was always what their conversations looked like, a back and forth of arguing, yet there was an understanding there that nothing was meant to be taken to heart, Darius was just being difficult for the sake of being difficult but would follow Jackson to the ends of the earth if he wanted him to.
Jackson laughed at the memory, flashing an innocent smile. "I don't know what you're talking about Darius. What I remember is I couldn't leave my room without a scarf for a week cause someone gets bitey when he's pissed."
Jackson jumped onto the ground floor from the last step, clicking his heels together as he turned to Darius. "If you hate the nickname so much, give me a better one! Until you have a better idea, deal with it!" He snorted. "Also, you're a bold faced liar. Smooth sailing my ass, I can't tell what you've gotten less of, sleep or sunlight. At this rate you're just gonna turn into dust if I don't intervene as graciously as I do."
These conversations were some of Jackson's favorites. He was a talkative person, such why he went into communications, but found it hard it find people who could keep his attention. Darius was a rare exception. He genuinely did understand that Darius needed to work which is why he left him to his studies for stretches of time. However, he also knew that if he was going stir crazy, it was time to make sure Darius didn't lose his mind in politics. As much as he teased him, Jackson would fight tooth and nail for his friend if that was what was required.
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Darius scoffed at the accusation. "And yet you weren't complaining when it happened" There was a small smirk on his face now though, not being able to keep a straight face as he remembered.
Darius paused at the bottom of the stairs for a second when Jackson turned to him. "I can't. Not only do I not know what you should call me, but it's going to feel like I gave myself that nickname" He said. Besides, it should come from you or it wouldn't be special. He thought, but he wouldn't admit that out loud.
That drew another smile out of him, being called a liar that was. "I go out plenty. The only days where I don't sleep are when you drag me out at night or I have to stay up to finish projects that are due" He continued to walk when Jackson had made their point.
"'As graciously as I do'" Darius echoed with a sort of sass to his words. "Where are we going anyways, you haven't given me the slightest clue of where we're heading. You said we've been there before so it can't be far, is it in one of the dorms?" He asked, wondering how this was bound to not end in a disaster.
Jackson groaned dramatically, head lolling to the side to give Darius an unimpressed stare. "I told you already, smart-ass. Frat party at one of the dorms on the Greek Isles over there. Who you know basis so shouldn't be as busy as usual. But if I know and I'm going, ya never know."
He pushed the door open to the cold night air, shuddering as the wind crept under his shirt. "Brr, damn the temperature dropped quick out here. It was still semi warm out when I left. Ah well, at least it's a short walk." He watched his breath crystallize in the frosty air before getting swept away by the wind. "I will come up with a sufficient nickname for you, I hope you know that. And I will test all of them out until one sticks so get used to it." He laughed with a bright smile.
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"Oh yeah, you did mention the frat party" Darius blinked, a little confused as they made their way across the campus. It was frightening at the rate he was forgetting things, school was really taking it out of him.
"That's true, you summon the party wherever you go, I'm surprised they haven't accused you of witchcraft" He looked over at Jackson when he mentioned the weather.
"That's why I brought a jacket, you should do the same you know. It wouldn't hurt to have on an extra layer, you could always take it off later" He noted, though he knew Jackson knew that, he just refused to listen, praising style over comfort.
It wasn't long before they arrive at their destination. Darius stood outside of the door before opening it for Jackson. It wasn't that Darius was shy, it was quite the opposite actually. He wasn't afraid of taking dares and smashing things but he was also trying to be careful. If he was caught at one of these events and found out they weren't supposed to be holding a party there, that would majorly screw up his record and while Darius was all for not giving a shit, he kind of had to.
There was a soft look on Darius' face as Jackson assured him he would find a nickname for him, though it wasn't the words that got him, it was the other's smile. Though, he quickly made sure to hide that when they went in.
Jackson waved off Darius' talk of bringing a jacket, not even bothering to argue since he knew he'd told him a thousand times already how he felt about unnecessary layers. He simply pulled Darius inside by the wrist, only slightly wincing at the pounding music that blasted into his eardrums.
"I'm gonna go get us a drink before all the good shit is gone, don't have too much fun without me~" He teased with a wink before disappearing into the crowd to find where they were keeping the alcohol. Jackson honestly didn't drink that much despite bouncing around parties like he was getting paid. It just made him feel weird. But when he saw two lone beers chilling on the kitchen counter, he snapped them up and vanished before anyone could say anything. Despite being a loudmouth and chatterbox, Jackson knew how to sneak around when he had to.
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Darius allowed Jackson to lead him in, the music being about what he had expected of these kinds of events. He scanned the people who were already there and only stopped when Jackson spoke up about getting them a drink.
Darius scoffed lightly, a playful air to him. "Don't worry, I won't" He said as he watched Jackson go. Again, Darius continued to look around, like he was looking for someone but when he didn't find any familiar faces he walked over to where they were playing a game. A shot game. It was the classic "Truth or Dare" but instead of "Dare", the penalty was to take a shot and see who could last the longest. The questions were always structured in a way to make you take the shot instead of telling the truth. This would usually go on for quite some time. Darius knew of certain people who took it too far and ended up getting alcohol poisoning, needing to be rushed to the ER.
He watched as the group of people celebrated when someone refused to tell the truth and instead reached for the bottle, the crowd making a small woop!-ing noise.
Jackson snuck back through the crowd, scanning the room until he found Darius again. Being the troublemaker he was, he just smiled to himself as he snuck up behind him and pressed the cold bottle to the back of his neck.
"Hey buddy, found us some drinks." He laughed, voice dripping with honey like he didn't just give his friend an artic shock. "Probably stole these from someone but hey, that's what they get for leaving unopened bottles unattended."
