[aaron matthew palmer]

Summer was drawing to a close, and it was impossible for Aaron not to notice. Especially this particular morning, five o'clock and alone in the dark. The sun normally woke up with him around this time, a faint glow in the distance seeping ever so slightly into the dorm, stirring not another soul and yet calling Aaron to rise, awaken, be ready for the new day hours in advance. He had always been an 'early bird,' as the saying goes- waking up with the sun, never one to complain, groan and toss himself over. The problem with the fall, though, was that the sun got lazy- every day was a little later, took a little longer for the star to roll out of the other hemisphere and into his windows. And every day was a longer morning alone- the rays sort of comforted him, brought a healthy smile to his face as he woke up to them on his face. Now... He was left to stumble to the showers in the dark.

Which was what he was doing right now, almost; the eighteen year old was sitting on his bed in his pajamas (read: boxers), Silently stretching his long arms into the air, room so dark he could hardly distinguish his long, narrow fingers as they reached for the high ceiling. Bending awkwardly to scratch his narrow back as he started his trek to the wash room, the boy obviously wasn't paying attention to exactly where his feet were going- right into the metal foot of the bed next to his. And seeing as his ability did not enable him to walk through said metal pole, it caused his poor small toe quite a bit of grief- along with the boys who had to hear his pained whispers of screams, it can only be assumed. It wasn't his fault, right? He just whispered his apologies and hopped to the washroom, hoping that he hadn't ripped his toenail off- it very much felt like he had.

What small amount of a toenail he had on his little toe had not been damaged, as he had diagnosed in the light of the tiled bathroom, but the toe itself was rather red; he had small toes, which he blamed for his clumsiness; weren't toes solely for balance? It hardly mattered at the moment, though- he just hobbled over to one of the showers, turned the water on to a relatively cold temperature, and stripped naked before slipping into the shower, a tired shiver traveling down his spine and through his entire body, crossing his arms across his chest, instinct protection against the cold water, and took a quick shower- the ones in the morning always were. A five minute shower in frozen water not only further woke him up, made him ready, but made him feel accomplished; deserving of the hot forty five minute bath he took every night before bed.

Leaping out of the shower as he always did, he quickly wrapped a towel around himself to get dressed in the dorm- it hardly mattered to the others sleeping in the room, people walked around like that all the time, and all Aaron was doing was changing. Shaking the excess water out of his hair like a wet dog, he slipped on some dark grey jeans, a plain black shirt and a dark red sweater over that. He didn't have any of the clothes from home anymore, they all had grown out, but somehow the clothes that appeared in his dresser were just his style- it didn't change the fact that he didn't have those clothes anymore, didn't change the fact that he was now six, seven inches taller than the last time his family saw him. He looked a bit more like his father now, but still favoured his mum- and he was proud of that. He didn't know why he shouldn't be.

Zipping up the sweater to about his belly button and pulling on his shoes (after he made his bed, of course; he couldn't stand it when the blankets were just thrown everywhere), he decided to take a walk outside, just a short one- He always had, though usually by the time he took his first breaths of fresh air for the day, the sun was there to greet him, at least half of it. Now, he could just barely see the purple rays climbing up from over the massive treetops, indigo sky lightening. The tiny pinhole stars, though, could still be seen from the west, slowly slipping into the other side of the forest. It was actually more pleasant this way, a little more peaceful, if not... strikingly lonely. There was something about the night that made Aaron realize how alone in this world he was. Strangely enough, it wasn't all unpleasant.

Taking a deep exhale just to be sure that he couldn't see his breath yet (he couldn't) he turned to his right, surprised to see what lay in front of him, set up in the distance of the field- a... Ferris wheel? Tents? Indeed, there were already a few early risers touring the place. How... odd. Was it a carnival of sorts? Aaron had no idea, but saw no harm in taking the steps required to investigate further. And, well... Games, carnival food, rides... Looked like a carnival to him. The patrons said nothing to him, but continued to smile and stand at their booths, making cotton candy, working the rides... There was an eerie, early-morning silence throughout the place that sort of creeped Aaron out. Maybe if he had someone to talk to, fill the void...

With this idea in his head, he made his way back to the building, hands in his pockets and feeling more excited than he had in a while, if only a little. He knew exactly who he was going to pull out of bed for this one- Who else? He was sure that Johnny would fall in love with the carnival. He still wasn't sure what was wrong with the kid, but had been told many different theories; amnesia being the most common. Some things had to be fact, right? And the kid was cute just the way he was; selfish as this sounds, Aaron sort of hoped that if there was any chance of him 'recovering,' that he didn't. He liked Johnny, how he was a little kid... Aaron loved kids, and Johnny was like all the good things about a kid , without the bad; not obnoxious, toilet trained, the like.

Slipping into the still-dark dorm room, he tip-toed his way to the boy's bed, took his shoes off and slipped under the covers with the boy- and getting a vivid reminder of when a much different John did the same thing to him when he was twelve, and under much different pretenses. Aaron was a friend of Johnny's, and nothing else; to think otherwise was just absurd for Aaron. When he was twelve, he saw nothing wrong with having a seventeen year old boyfriend, nothing wrong with being sexually active at such a young age, and with someone five years his senior. Now... he didn't know as much. He knew he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing to a twelve year old, which made him wonder how great of a person his first (and currently only) love had been. trying not to think too much about it, he pulled himself closer to the sleeping boy, grinning as he whispered in his ear; "Johnnnyyyy..." He poked the teen's side gently, trying to wake him up as fast as he could. "Wake up, Johnny, I have a surprise for you."

[johnathan doe]

Johnny was tired and whined softly, swatting at the meanie who was waking him up. But then, he heard the word surprise and BAM his eyes were open. “Hiii Aawon.” Johnny smiled brightly and hugged him. Kitty had gone off with Mommy and let him nap, but Aaron woke him up. “Good Morning.” He said brightly, lying his head on Aaron’s shoulder. His handle on the English language was much, much better. It didn’t take him very long to process what was said, it just took him a little longer to form proper sentences. “You have a surprise for me?” He asked hopefully, looking very much like a kid asking to be allowed to run down the stairs to see the presents Santa left.

He gave Aaron an innocent kiss on the cheek and sat up, rubbing his hands over his eyes cutely. He yawned and stretched, finding a shirt to pull on. He’d recently discovered the wonders of pajama pants and wore them everywhere. Dressed, he grinned at Aaron.

“Surprise noww?” He asked cutely, smiling. “I liike surprises.”

[aaron matthew palmer]

Johnny groaned, swatting Aaron away- but the eighteen year old just kept at it, moving closer to wrap a long arm around the boy's tiny chest- he had gotten a bit larger than the last time he saw him, which was good. He still looked a little malnourished. “Hiii Aawon.” Aaron grinned at the smaller male, hugging him back with the same smile. Just recently Johnny had gotten quite a bit better with language, but it was still adorable, how he pronounced Aaron's name... Aaron sat up, letting Johnny rest his head on his shoulder, even ran an idle hand through the boy's hair as he was given a bright “Good Morning.” He grinned, biting his lip out of habit as he returned the greeting, a bright "Morning!" To cheer up Johnny's day before, hopefully, it was cheered up even more.

He didn't know whether or not the kid would enjoy the carnival. He was pretty sure he would, what kid didn't, but there was always the possibility that he would be freaked out by the noises and people and difference... Maybe, but hopefully not. “You have a surprise for me?” At least he looked excited at the mention of surprise; "Yep, you just have to get dressed and I'll show you. It's outside." Surprised himself when Johnny snuck a kiss on the eighteen year old's cheek, he giggled and sat on Johnny's bed, leaning on his palms while he waited for the younger boy to get dressed. When he first had met Johnny, it had been sweatpants- now, pajama pants were the only thing Johnny would wear around. And hey, so would Aaron if he could get away with it, but nothing traumatic had reset his way of thinking, so he'd get in trouble if he showed up to class in his pajamas... Especially considering he didn't wear much to bed.

“Surprise noww?” Johnny asked cutely, that adorable smile on his face that made Aaron just want to... hug him, hug him to bits. Really, that was all that crossed Aaron's mind, nothing more, nothing less, Maybe a grin in return and a hug for the male. He acted so young... He tossed one of his long, slender arms around Johnny's shoulder, bringing him close as he slipped his shoes back on and directed him towards the doorway. "Yep. Like I said, it's outside, but not too far." He turned down the hall, Not minding the fact that he was walking so close to Johnny like this, that people passing might just think something different of them. If they looked close enough, They'd notice that the arm around the sixteen year old's shoulder was more of a brotherly protection than anything.

After a few minutes of silent conversation, Aaron pushed open the heavy door to the outside one-handedly (not an easy feat for such a lank) leading Johnny out to the patio, where one could just see the tops of the tents in the hilled distance. " “I liike surprises.” Johnny told Aaron, and the older male grinned. "That's good, I hope you like this one..." And kept walking, ever walking towards the carnival... He wondered what Johnny was thinking when he saw the Ferris wheel, the small roller coaster, the random rides and booth scattered about as they walked slowly towards the thing... It wasn't as dead as when he had come half an hour ago, that was certain. People were walking around, alone or in small groups, talking about it- how did it get here? When? Why? But mostly, people were just taking as it went, never questioning the white coats that kept them and their motives. That was Aaron's way of thinking. Just don't question it. "It's a carnival, Johnny. You know that, right? You can get stuff here, play a game, go on one of the rides..." He didn't really know how much Johnny didn't know about this, so he just stuck with the basics. "Let's go get something to eat first, how about it? Just tell me if you see something that looks good and I'll get it for you."