throughout his entire life gideon had been a perceptive guy, always noticing the little changes in temperament in someone's expressions, whenever he said something wrong or right, or whether the person he was chatting with had hidden motivations or secrets. of course, he couldn't anyone completely, nor could he always tell what was going on in anyone's head, but his time at st. jude's had definitely honed his skills in this area. when he spent ninety-five percent of his time with others, whether he was fucking them or doing drugs with them or drinking, you tended to wonder what was going on in the mind of others. and gideon was a natural at reading people, like he had been a natural at a lot of things, like football and sports in general, as well as interactions with people. not that he was perfect by any means; there was plenty he was horrible at, but manipulation wasn't one of them.

the former football prodigy couldn't help but wonder whether the cancer had an effect on this or not. since having been diagnosed, he did notice he was much more attentive to many things, much more zoned in, so to speak, and he knew part of that was thanks to said diagnoses. when one didn't have a lot of time left, one didn't take for granted a lot of the things life had to offer, though gideon's offerings were admittedly slim. there was only one thing left in this world that he could possibly love. one person, to be specific, and it was someone he couldn't be with, not without hurting said boy. if he tried to go for him, tried to reach out and hold him, he would be a target for everyone who hated gideon. and he had a lot of haters, a lot scorned victims ready to find anything they could get their hands on, any information to hurt the st. jude's senior. and besides his cancer, nolan was his only other weak spot in that regard.

gideon had no intention on going to see jamie reynolds, his assigned therapist, and parker's obviously biased opinion on the matter wasn't going to change that, though the cancer patient would most certainly play along, just another part of the game. "let him know that i will be there, if you see him, then." he smiled ruefully, knowing full-well that he wouldn't show up.

he could remember the saw movies faintly, though he'd only seen the first three of the whole series. "i wouldn't have pegged you for the guy who liked the "saw" movies," he grinned lightly. atleast parker was a bit of a surprise, in this aspect atleast. "i liked the second one the best, out of the ones i saw." he could remember the one chick, amanda or whatever her name was, backstabbing the rest of the group at the end or something, locking the door and continuing the games. it was something he was likely to do, backstabbing that is.

"so it seems. i've noticed you haven't been stuttering as much the more we've been talking." he gave an encouraging smile, as if to say that parker was doing a good job with the conversation, with talking and all of the interactions between the two of them thus far.

gideon was used to being busy, having a lot on his plate, and thus his mind was often filled with many things, going back and forth between a numerous matter of subjects. he had school to deal with, though he often skipped his classes, intimidating other kids into doing his homework instead. beyond that, he slept around a lot, atleast once a day even, and that added up, considering how long he could last, how long his partner could last. and then there were the occasional drugs and drinking he did. as well, he was also part of the underground fight club, so he was sometimes training and practicing for that, and the fights that it brought. then there was the the lost boys, a gang of sorts on the campus, run by warren fitzgerald and saul ainley, where he was an enforcer, a bodyguard for the collectors, there to protect them just in case people wanted to get handsie with the materials. it was the perfect job for him, to say the least.

those were what some of his daily activities consisted of. beyond that, he was also scheming and plotting and planning, coming up with various ways to get people to do what he wanted them to do, or how he could get into someone's pants, or what he could do to protect his friends, though he would never admit to such things. right now he was scheming; he was thinking of what it would take to get into parker's pants, to steal the teenager's virginity right out from under him, something he had done before with other people, which was why he was secretly dubbed the "virginity thief". parker was just another victim to him at the moment, a puzzle to be played with and solved, the prize being the sexual acts that would come sooner or later. it would just take time and patience. time and patience, however, were not two things gidders possessed, especially in the case of the former, not with the tumors in his chest.

listening to the boy before him explain his situation, how he only went a certain amount of times, wishing that he could go more, gideon raised an eyebrow. the cancer patient was used to reading people, and the more and more the two of them talked about jamie reynolds, the more and more obvious parker's attractions were. "maybe i will go, see if it's worth all of the hype." he teased slightly, a small smirk on his face. "if he's as good as you say, i mean." he shrugged simply, indicating that parker's opinion meant a bit to him now, despite the falseness of that statement.

it was a bit surprising to hear that parker watched scary movies a lot, gideon not having pegged the boy to be brave or courageous enough to handle things like that. it was a nice shock though, the topic something that he knew a little bit about. atleast, he knew a bit more about horror movies than he knew about classic novels. "any favorite movies?" he raised a curious eyebrow, hoping he'd know some of the titles parker might list off, if only because he could talk about them and get closer to his goals with the dark-haired boy before him.

hearing that parker avoided most social things didn't surprise the former football star all that much, a slight frown now on his face though as he heard it, despite the fact that he really couldn't care less. "oh, right, i can understand that." again, another completely believable lie, his blood boiling a bit in his skin, hating the idea that someone wasn't reaching their full potential. as a football prodigy back in texas, when the cancer took away his ability to play said sport, it was heartbreaking to him.

gideon couldn't imagine what it would be like to be shy and introverted and quiet like parker was. even before his diagnosis he was one of the top students back in san antonio, both socially, academically, and in an extra-curricular sense. in the fifteenth percentile of the entire school (fifth percentile in his grade), as well as numerous activities such as football quarterback and captain, swim team, president of the sports club, and various other positions and sports, it was no wonder why he had been on the top of the food chain back at ravenwood. everyone wanted in on circle of friends, but few got in. thinking about his life back then, he couldn't help but frown. he wondered what all of said old friends were up to, whether they remembered him, cared that he was gone or not. naturally, this made him think about his siblings, and then his parents, and then his blood pressure started rising, boiling, hating to think about his parents but longing to have them all at the same time.

when his parents had abandoned, that's what caused gideon's transformation, metamorphosis, evolution. all of the fights and the screams and tears all led up to that grande finale, and it was the reason he was so damaged and scarred and scared, deep down. it was why he felt he couldn't trust anyone, because they'd just stab him in the back and leave. all of the events that had happened at the hospital had changed him, turned him into what he was today; an untrustworthy, angry, bitter, harsh, chaotic shell of a man that could only share his pain with the rest of the world. and right now, parker foxxe was in his sights. it was his wholehearted intention to seduce the boy, no matter how long it took, only to say that he had stolen his virginity, dropping him in the ditch afterward, no matter what parker had to say or do about it. the old gideon would have never done such a thing. but then again, the old gideon was no more.

gideon didn't dwell on things like this for too long when other people were around, thankful that parker had spoken up once more, if only because the younger boy distracted him from such things. "that it?" he was slightly surprised, though he didn't really let it show. instead, it came out more as an impressed tone, as if he thought parker must be doing quite well with his therapy then. "i'm ordered to go see him everyday, but i never really go." this brought a small laugh from his lips, wondering what the other boy would think about that. the topic was movies now though, and how parker wasn't a very interesting person. this caused an eyebrow raise from the older male, as he inquired on both subjects. "what sort of movies do you like?" movies were something he was a bit more familiar with than books, but not by much. "and there's got to be other stuff you like! video games, sports, something." he shot off suggestions haphazardly, his tone feigning incredulous.

one thing that gideon didn't quite know about parker was the reason as to why he constantly blushed. while he knew the younger male had social anxiety and got extremely nervous around other people, it felt like maybe more than that. like, just maybe, the boy was already developing a crush on the cancer patient? or he atleast found him attractive, but that was no big surprise. gideon knew for a fact that he was one of the finest looking dudes on campus, and he wasn't afraid to admit it or flaunt it, so it was completely believable that parker here had fallen for his looks as well. and that only meant one thing to gideon, really; it would make his job a whole-hell-of-a-lot easier now, if parker really was attracted to him. that job, of course, being to get into the virgin's tight little pants. or, more accurately, other tighter areas. the thought of it all sent a shiver of excitement up his spine and back down again, invading other areas of his body that felt so much better.

there was only one person, in all the world, out of everyone he had met so far and shared experiences with, that gideon had gotten attached to, and that was nolan hepburn. the two shared a short but fiery, passionate, and volatile history, starting back when gideon was first diagnosed with his disease. the two had befriended each other at the san francisco medical center, gideon there because of his cancer, nolan because his sister was in a car accident and was going through surgery and care. the last time he'd seen nolan was the night they'd fought, the night angie had died on the table. the former football star could remember their words as clear as day, he could remember how he comforted nolan after the death of his littlest sister. more importantly, he could remember the feelings he had for the scruffy boy, and how they still lingered in some deep, dark part of him, refusing to let go. nolan was an exception, an exceptional human being, and gideon hated that he felt that way about someone.

hearing the words pour from the stutterer's mouth, gideon raised an intrigued eyebrow. amazing? that was an odd way to describe a therapist. and the blush, again, came back to parker's cheeks, gideon picking up on it almost immediately. did little parker actually have a crush on jamie reynolds?! the possibilities ran through his mind like cheetahs in the savannah, all kinds popping up. one such one was the idea that he could go to the grapevine with this. but that wouldn't forward his goals, not really, especially if parker found out that gideon had spread that. so, for now, he decided to keep that little piece of information in his back pocket. "how often do you have to see him?" of course, he was still going to dig and pry, that was his nature. however, he really didn't want to dig and pry about parker's reading habits, not really giving two shits about that. "cool, cool. what else do you like to do besides read?" he pasted on an interested smile once again, his pearly-whites showing exuberantly.

gideon interacted with a lot of people, whether in a sexual way or not. there were of course his regular fuckbuddies like jackson porter and hollis soucy and lukas stilton, all of whom he sought out on a fairly regular basis. then there was aiden shaw, who was basically in a whole category of his own as compared to the rest of the people gidders knew. and then there were people from the gang and the fight club, like warren fitzgerald and saul ainley. the only thing in common all of them had was the fact that gideon created little plots and schemes with or for or against them all; holden alexander was an example of that. said milton senior had been at the top of the popular food chain recently, until the eighteen year old cancer patient brought him down quite a few levels after outing him to the grapevine. obviously parker hadn't heard about that though, or else he wouldn't have opened up so easily to him, which gideon was grateful for at the moment.

thanks to said article gideon's name was filling the halls, a feeling that he reveled in more so than any other. but obviously it wasn't enough; parker didn't know who he was, which meant that other people might not as well. or maybe not that many people read the grapevine at all, so nobody really cared or heard about him either way? all of it just drove gideon further to wanting to spread chaos, as that was the only way he could rise to the top now. sports weren't an option; the tumors on his lungs often incapacitated his ability to breath. though it wasn't bad enough to effect his everyday breathing, whenever he engaged in overtly rigorous activities like football or soccer or swimming or fighting in the fight club, the tumor pressed against his lungs and chest, like an airbag filling, creating pressure and crushing said lungs. thus, he couldn't regulate air or breath effectively at all. which meant he didn't have a lot of endurance, really.

the way parker talked about the therapist intrigued gideon greatly, an inquisitive eyebrow raising on his head. he was a very perceptive person; he had to be, with what he did and how he worked, how he manipulated people, so he had to catch onto these little details, to learn more about who he was talking to and dealing with. "you really like mr. reynolds, huh?" it was an innocent enough question, though the subtext, in gidders' mind, was something along the lines of parker liking him maybe more than a student should like a faculty member. hearing about parker's feelings towards the therapist was a lot more interesting than hearing about his hobby for reading, but gideon couldn't outright say that, so he listened intently. classics? the worst kind of reading material, in the cancer patient's opinion. "so you like to read older stuff? like jane austen and mark twain?" they were two popular names in literature, and that was the only reason gideon was able to recall them.