Chapter Nineteen

~♤Aces PoV♤~

I sat at the table as Mason got some drinks. We set up a time where we would meet at a coffee place near us and now we're waiting for his friends to get here.

"What the hell is this?" I asked as he set down a 12 oz. In front of me.

"You don't need the caffeine Ace, trust me. I want them to like you when you're yourself and that in itself is difficult." He sat next to me.

"Asshole."

"You prove my point. Also watch your language." Mason sighed.

Just because you can function on a tiny cup of coffee doesn't mean I can. If I'm in a coffee shop I'm getting a huge coffee to fill the empty space where my soul would be if I had one. I need my caramel white mocha frappe or I might smack someone.

"Hey Jack!"

I looked up and saw a blur of purple before focusing on the person sitting in front of me. 'Jack' had dark purple hair that was pushed back and pale skin. The first thing hard to miss was his hair, the second was how fucking tall he was. I know I'm not that tall but this guy is a giant. Mason is a few inches taller than me and I still consider him tall.

"Hey Mason. And Ace right? Nice to meet you." He said with a smooth voice. I think I'm attracted to this person but I don't really want to be.

"Where's El?"

"Ah, we came together. El will be here in a sec." El? Who the hell is El? Ah they must be Jack's little. Must be nice.

"Hi!" A woman came up to the table, "sorry, I forgot my phone in the car. You must be Ace, I'm Elise." She smiled and held out her hand.

El... as in Elise. I didn't expect it to be a girl, but alright. I shook her hand and looked between the two. They looked like a mismatched couple. One looked like a hot model jock and the other looked like a quiet librarian type. Elise had straight, long, dark brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a black dress with some sort of belt around her waist. In all honesty, she was hot.

"I'll go get us something. Jack, what are you going to get? You probably shouldn't get anything that'll upset your stomach." Elise said.

"I know, I know. I'll just get a hot cocoa or something please. Thanks."

It was weird that if I hadn't known before I wouldn't have guessed they were into cgl. I mean, I guess that's kind of the point but Mason and I compared to them? The difference was obvious.

"So how's your music going?" Mason chatted energetically.

"Pretty well. El told me she had you listen to my last one."

"It was really good!" Mason looked at me, "Jack makes electronic music and it's insanely good. He's very talented."

Jack flushed a little and thanked him. Not the type of thing I'd expect from a guy like him but looks can be deceiving. Making music must be hard too. I can barely color inside the lines of a coloring book and he's creating music in his free time.

"Oh, are you talking about Jack's music? You should listen to it sometime, Ace." Elise set down their drinks before taking the seat beside Jack.

"Yeah I'm interested." I smiled. I wasn't lying I was simply exaggerating my expressions so that they didn't think I didn't give a crap. See? I'm a good person.

"By the way, I like what you did with your hair. When did that happen?" Mason's so good at conversation it scares me sometimes. How can you change the topic so smoothly? The entire concept of small talk is terrifying to me.

Jack cringed and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, little Jack thought it would be fun to get into some hair dye my friend left for me. He did it all when I was at work so it was a surprise to come back to see this to say the least." El ruffled his hair.

That sounds like a fun thing to do to Mason- wait what did she say?

"Little Jack?" I chimed in.

"Hm? Yeah. Mason, you told him right?" Elise looked between me and Mason.

"Of course I did!"

I sat there trying to work out how Jack, this giant, was a little?? I know I said looks can be deceiving but wow that's a whole new level. Elise and Mason were talking about something but I wasn't listening and I didn't really care.

"Oh. Ace, did you think it was the other way around?" Jack cut in. Everyone went quiet and I nodded. "That makes sense. I guess people would usually assume the younger or smaller person would be the little but no it doesn't always go like that." He explained. The caregivers of the group started talking about some other boring crap, leaving Jack and me to our more interesting conversation.

"Is it weird the way that works? Aren't you embarrassed or anything?" I asked in a hushed tone. It was like we were having a secret separate conversation from the boring adults and it was fun.

"I was at first, but now I don't mind it. El takes good care of me and makes me feel comfortable. She's really nice." His face lit up the more he talked about Elise. It was actually kind of cute the way he gushed over her. "I'm so lucky to have her as my wife!" He grinned.

"Ew." I blurted out on impulse. I really need to control myself sometimes, don't I? "I mean, not ew. Commitment scares me and lowkey grosses me out. That and heterosexual people."

Jack laughed and said, "understandable. I think commitment can be a little scary for some people but when you're with the person you want to be with then it'll be a little less frightening 'cuz you'll have them by your side." I looked over to Elise who was still happily talking to Mason. Mason being himself, was listening intently with that dumb smile on his face. He's so ridiculous.

"Ahh I see. Have you told him yet?" Jack whispered.

"Told who what?"

"Mason. I know that look. Not to mention you smiled immediately after looking at him." He gave me a look like he was trying to say I'm right, aren't I?

"What the fuck are you talking about?? There's nothing between us and there never will be. He's just helping me with some issues." I snapped.

Jack seemed surprised, but smiled anyway. "Alright, my bad. Sorry to assume things." He didn't look sorry or convinced in the slightest, which annoyed me, but whatever. We continued talking about cgl and what his experience is like.

"Usually I can't remember much when I slip or whatever you call it. That seems weird." I mumbled.

"Well of course everyone's experience is going to be different. I'm kinda the same as you. I don't think about it too much though, I'm not trying to be me in little space. I like to think of little Jack as a different person. Just like how you wouldn't treat a 30 year old as a 5 year old and the other way around. Two different people, one body." That made a lot of sense. Thinking of me as myself and me in little space being two different people makes me feel a little bit less embarrassed. Maybe this could actually help me.

"Gosh, I think all this talking is making me tired." Jack chuckled, "I should probably go soon. Don't want to slip in the middle of a meetup."

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd kind of like to see how another person is in little space." I said quickly. I was curious how Jack acts when he's like that. He looked anxious at the thought, so he tugged on Elise's sleeve and whispered something in her ear. She smiled and nodded, so I assumed that meant yes.

"Okay... she said it's okay if I want to." I think that Jack had already started to slip with the way his voice got softer and higher pitched. It was odd to see it happening since I've only ever had it happen to myself and I only know what it feels like.

Little Jack sure was more chatty and animated than big Jack. He rambled on about thing after thing. Drawing, his favorite stuffed animal, his room, his friends. It was really entertaining just sitting there and listening. The way he had no thoughts about how I felt about him rambling was amazing. Just like how if someone said that out loud, without context you'd probably think wow that guy sounds like a dick for not caring but it's a good thing.

"Okay buddy, I think it might be time to go. We have some other things we have to get to, remember?"

"Nooo," Jack whined, "I was telling Ace about my toys!!"

"We should get together again soon so you can tell me more, and maybe I can see em if we hang out more!" I offered.

Jack nodded vigorously and Elise agreed, "we can set up a time for that. It was great meeting you Ace."

We said our goodbyes and left to go back home.

"You know Ace, you did good. I was honestly expecting you to offend them right away. Good job." Mason smiled at me.

"Shut up. I'm still me, alright? Don't get your hopes up."

He laughed and ruffled my hair, "I wouldn't dream of it."

What was Jack thinking? No way in hell we'd be together. Absolutely no chance.

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