September Writing Prompts 2020

[labrathor]

September is here! We have a lot of new faces that arrived last month, and a very special welcome to you all, and a thanks to all our players for making this a great community to be in. This year has been a rough one for many of us, and if you have needed an escape from your real world troubles, you are not alone. And As always--

Disclaimer: I never close old writing prompts from previous months. People can and should be encouraged to post on old month's prompts and I highly encourage players to track these posts to catch stragglers or new people writing on old prompts.

Now. With that out of the way, onto this month's prompts.

September's Writing Prompts

1. "There's no way I'll work with them."

2. In a place where you may not be the only You, what's a person to do when someone else wearing your face starts making a reputation for themselves that isn't one you want?

3. Time to bury the hatchet and set a grudge to rest.

4. "I was worried you'd never come back. What happened?"

5. An Honest Mistake

Bonus image prompt:

Comments

5 “An Honest Mistake”

[itmeanstruth]

“Isamu! Isamu!”

The door to their apartment slammed shut and Isamu’s head shot up from the veritable mountain of textbooks he had spread out over the kitchen table. He immediately noticed that his brother was red in the face - not the type of coloration due to physical exertion, but rather embarrassment. So, he didn’t ask what was wrong. Instead, he simply said, “what did you do?”

Minoru stopped long enough to roll his eyes before answering. “Very funny. I didn’t do anything. Just... You know that uh... person that’s often at the bar? Slim, reddish hair, center of attention, could easily kick everyone’s ass at Karaoke night?”

Isamu nodded. A lot of his fellow doctoral students tended to gather at that bar to sip and study. A lot of Minoru’s coworkers frequented the location too. While he did not take note of everyone that entered the establishment, he did recognize a fair number of familiar faces. Especially one that, as he deftly summarized, “you mean the one who has been flirting with you for the past week? Yes, I recall them quite well.”

“You KNEW?”

“I knew what?”

“You knew they were flirting with me!” Minoru plopped himself down in the chair across from his brother.

“I’m fairly certain even inanimate objects behind the bar knew they were flirting with you.” Isamu smirked. “Honestly, I admit, my jaw may as well have been on the floor when I saw the both of you still talking yesterday. I know how uncomfortable those kind of advances generally make you. I’m rather shy myself when it comes to individuals I find attractive, but you were always on an entirely different level. Not that there is anything wrong with any particular preference, or even a lack thereof.”

Minoru, meanwhile, buried his head on the table. “I thought they were just being friendly.”

“You’re being serious.”

“Yes, I’m being serious.” He grumbled. “And I have no clue what to do about it!”

Isamu was momentarily stunned into silence. This was indeed an unusual situation. Between the two of them, Minoru was the ‘people person’ as it were. He was optimistic, naturally outgoing, an active listener and sympathetic to the needs of others. Those were some of the qualities that made him successful in all the odd jobs he’d taken over the years, but especially as an orderly. Isamu could understand how those qualities could be taken the wrong way. But what made it an unusual situation wasn’t that it happened. It was his brother’s reaction to it.

“...You tell them you made an honest mistake.” Isamu eventually answered, mainly to gauge Minoru’s reaction.

“An honest mistake?” He whined without even lifting his head. “Really?”

“...was it... NOT a mistake, then?”

That got Minoru’s head to shoot up off the table.

“Yeah, it was a mistake! I don’t want to hook up. Not with them or with anybody!” He exclaimed, but Isamu met that response with a raised brow.

“If it were an honest mistake, you would have no difficulty admitting it. You never have before.” Isamu pointed out. “Which leads me to believe, while you may not be interested in ‘hooking up’ as you put it, you are genuinely interested in pursuing some form of relationship.”

“...I don’t want to hurt their feelings.” Minoru insisted hesitantly, his eyes gravitating to a very captivating spot on the floor. It was a gesture that Isamu took stock of, and one that made him smile a little.

“Clearly. You care about them. Dare I say, you like them?” Isamu teased, but Minoru didn’t pout, roll his eyes or even argue. He was completely quiet - also an unusual situation. Which, of course, only led Isamu to one logical conclusion. “Oh my goodness! You DO like them!”

Minoru looked up sheepishly. It wasn’t a matter of physical attraction. Minoru was asexual, but he wasn’t entirely aromantic. Emotional intimacy was extremely fulfilling, and the conversations he’d had over the past week seemed downright otherworldly in that respect. As always, Isamu was right.

“Well, what do I do?” he asked again, softer this time.

“Be honest about how you feel.” Isamu smiled. “But perhaps consider leaving off the part about it being a mistake.”