Page 24 of His Untoward Hate

Jude sat there and watched him go into a small store. When he came back, he already had a bag of white cellophane in his hand. He also noticed that Jasper changed his black shirt into a grey sweater with a Miami Heat logo.

“Here,” he said as he handed him the same sweatshirt. “These were the only ones left that would fit both of us. It has low quality and is cheap, but it is better than getting us sick.”

Jude gave him a sincere smile. His mind instantly went to another dimension, thinking how thoughtful Jasper really was, and imagining they were really a couple wearing couple clothes. His smile refused to leave even after he changed his sweater into a new one.

The last game they played was the claw machine, though only Jasper actually played it. Jude only stood beside him, watching as Jasper tried to grab the cute Doraemon plushies, cheering him on and even squealing every time the claw made contact with the toys.

Doraemon had always been his favorite cartoon character, so seeing those small, backpack-hanging plushies made his heart soften. They were just too tiny and adorable to resist.

“I really want it, Jasper,” Jude begged desperately while clasping his hands together in a plea.

Jude was practically jumping as his feet could not stay on the ground, stomping like a spoiled child.

“Hold on, I can get it for you,” he said as he positioned himself and started to navigate the machine again.

“Just one, Jasper, please.” Jude almost cried.

“Okay, hold on, here we go.”

The claw started to move.

“Just a piece of cake to a mighty Jasper,” Jasper bragged, although he was clawing at the toys for five attempts already.

Clasping his hands under his chin while his mouth kept silently saying, “Please, please, please,” Jude gasped as the claw slowly moved and landed on the one that he had been staring at. Jumping, screaming, and turning around like a kid was all he did when Jasper finally got the toy.

Jude was so happy.

“Thank you, Jasper!” he exclaimed in gratitude as Jasper proudly handed him the cute stuff.

Unable to hold himself back, he immediately threw his arms around Jasper and hugged him tightly. Jude could not take his eyes off the toy. It was a small Doraemon plush, dressed in a cute red racing shirt with black and white stripes, with a tiny, round yellow bell tied around its neck. It also had a red-and-white lace on its head and a little golden hanging tie. He was so cute, and Jude was completely obsessed.

As they went to the exchanger, Jude’s excitement doubled. He was like a child, his eyes sparkling at the wide array of prizes displayed before them, all waiting to be claimed depending on how many tickets they had earned. Based on their total, he figured they could afford some of the bigger rewards, but he could not just pick whatever he wanted. After all, Jasper had contributed far more to earning the tickets than he had.

Jude looked at the human-sized teddy bear, and he felt like it was pouting at him with a bead of sweat at the side of its forehead.

“Can we get that huge teddy bear in Blue?” Jasper suddenly asked the employee, pointing at the bear Jude had been eyeing.

Jude looked up at him in confusion, and Jasper smiled down at him.

“Okay, here you go…”

The worker handed Jasper the large bear, and Jude could not help but wonder what it would feel like to hug it.

“Can I hug him, Jasper?” he innocently voiced his intrusive thoughts.

Jude thought the bear looked so soft, and he blinked twice when the pout of the teddy bear earlier was now being replaced with a gentle smile.

“Yeah, of course…” Jasper said as he handed him the stuffed toy.

It felt like he was hugging a fluffy cloud. He closed his eyes, completely relaxed in the embrace.

“It’s yours,” Jasper added.

Jude shot his eyes open in surprise.

“What?!”

“I said you can have that bear, Jude,” he clarified.