Survival Of The Fittest

((Sorry for the lateness and the lackluster post, you guys. I'll try to better m'self.))

Travis was... well, almost frightened, by Joe's sudden... outburst? Well, it couldn't really be called that. Joe hadn't uttered a word. But Trav could clearly tell that Joe was not happy. He'd never seen Joe react like this before, and especially not over something so.... trivial. Silent fury, was what he'd call it. And it scared Travis more than if Joe had started yelling at them. Not to mention, THIS WAS JOE! Joe Carrasco! I mean.... Joe was the quiet, level-headed one in the group. Travis had never ever seen him angry before. Especially not like this.

Joe had suddenly risen from his seat and moved over, away from Chuck. And the glare he'd given Chuck.... wow, if looks could kill. Travis had a stunned look on his face, and just nodded a quiet thanks as Joe slid him the notes for bio. He looked over at Chuck, mouthing "What was that about?" while shrugging, not making a sound while doing it.

Joe kept his eyes fixed on the Calculus, and Travis felt genuinely concerned. Joe was not easily annoyed, and while Trav was sure the pressure at home was getting to his friend, it was still.... out of place. Had they gone too far?

"Um... Joe... you alright, bro?"

((Sorry for delay.))

Okay. He'd gone too far. He'd done this many a-time before - pissing off a friend so as to sour the next five minutes of conversation, whether it was the result of a slightly off-colour joke gone wrong or an argument about the true functions of the Federal Reserve. A lifetime of practical jokes and well-meaning friendly insults directed at his friends had meant that, with most of the members of his social circle, he knew the signs that meant "you're going too far." Of course, with Joe it was always a bit difficult. Especially when the joke in question involved covering half his face with a wandering hand and the other half of his face was being pressed against Chuck's chest - made it a little bit hard to gauge emotions.

But the signs of "you've gone too far, Chuck - prepare for sourness during the next five minutes of conversation!" were unmistakeable, particularly when those signs involved breaking free from Chuck's gentle hands and storming away to a chair a short distance away. The shaking of his head was rather redundant, truth be told.

Still, he got this.

Step 1, make it clear to Travis everything was okay.

A shrug and mouthing the words "Oh, nothing to worry about, just went a bit too far with my joke" outside of Joe's field of view should do that.

Step 2, apologise to Joe.

"Hey, sorry, man."

Maybe he'd overreacted.

Joe continued glaring at his calculus homework, but the anger was starting to subside a little. As well as being overwhelmed by the equally sudden surge of guilt. He shouldn't have got angry. He shouldn't be angry. And he certainly shouldn't be throwing that anger at Chuck or Travis or anyone, really.

He seemed to have particularly freaked out Travis, despite the fact that he'd mostly been mad at Chuck. (Mostly.) Weird, that. It's not like he'd never been angry before. ...Wait, when was the last time he showed anger at people? He couldn't remember. He generally just got angry at himself. Last time he recalled actually getting mad to someone's face, it had been in middle school when a kid had squished a beetle he'd been playing around with.

Joe pushed up his glasses to rub at his eyes again. "I... I'm fine. Just... tired or something." Or something. "I, uh... overreacted?"

He looked sideways at Chuck for a few moments, trying not to glare (it was difficult) before looking down again. "Sh... shouldn't apologise. Just... it's just me being stupid. Just..." Under his breath, so quietly he wasn't even sure if they'd hear him, Joe muttered very quickly, "Just don't do it again."

Too harsh. He doesn't even know why it annoyed you. ...But can't explain why. Too hard. Too scary.

He looked down at his Calculus homework for a moment longer before sticking it back in his bag. "Um... I, uh... I just remembered I have to... um. Things." Joe followed that with some incomprehensible mumbling that, even if he'd been pronouncing the words properly, would have been a mess of different excuses. Some horrible mix of 'I have to see Ms. Little about some biology homework,' 'A relative has been in a terrible accident' and 'I really have to pee.'

Really, he just wanted to leave and hide somewhere until the anger dissolved.

He scooped up the remaining books and pencils he had lying around. "Umm, ah... later," he muttered under his breath, before leaving and doing his best not to look like he was running away. Even though he totally was.

((Joe Carrasco continued in A Session in the Bedroom.))

(( Mid-terms over! So sorry for keeping you waiting D: ))

Joe stumbled out of the library at a ridiculous speed, mumbling and generally seeming... angry and upset.
Trav kept following him with his eyes the entire way out, completely awestruck and without a clue about what had just transpired.

How!? What!? They'd just been messing around, like they usually did. But something had gone wrong. Very wrong. Travis wasn't sure why, or what, or how. It had just been some ridiculous prom talk, and Chuck had... Hmmm... Trav just couldn't make sense of it. Sure, he had seen Joe upset before (half the school knew about that breakdown mid-test last year) but never... like that.

When Joe had exited the door leading out into the hallway, Travis turned to Chuck and gave him a slight, but stern, nudge.

"Dude, what the hell did you just do!? I've never seen Joe that upset before!"

((I AM THE WORST PERSON EVER))

Chuck was taken aback by just how on-edge his little joke had made Joe; he didn't mean to upset him, and Chuck prided himself on knowing just how far he could insult and abuse his friends without crossing a line, and calming the situation down quickly if he did. Now, he hadn't made Joe storm out before in anger/disgust/sadness/fear/whatever, and Chuck made a mental note not to imply Joe was gay ever again. Maybe he was secretly really homophobic or socially conservative or something?

Or maybe he really just had somewhere better to be.

Joe was a busy guy, and Chuck could sympathise with the need to ask a teacher something or go toilet in a hurry or quickly check his email account or whatever it was Joe had used as his excuse.

Now, Travis was asking questions.

Chuck repeated his answer from before. Shrugging.

"He'll be fine in a few minutes. If he's still angry next time we see him, you reserve the right to slap me across the face."

Chuck looked at the clock. Almost time for lessons.

"Oh...look at the time. Joe musta just been in a rush to get back to his education. Might as well follow him."

((Chuck Soileau continued elsewhere))

(( Nah, no worries, mate :3 ))

Travis gave his friend a mischievous grin and shrugged.

"Heh... Well, while the aspect of slapping the living shit out of you is appealing, I don't think that'll be necessary. I'm sure Joe will be fine."

Would he though? Travis was concerned about his friend. It was not common for Joe to act this way. He should probably ask him about it later.

Bah! Joe wouldn't want to talk about it anyway, he thought as he followed Chuck out of the library, whistling the same tune as he always did.

(( Travis Webster continued in Mary Jane's Sanctum ))