Chapter Text
“Johnny s-sawyer? Mor-more like j-j-Johnny who-knows!” Nubbins spits out and immediately follows with an increasingly high pitched laugh. Less like a laugh than a skittish animal sound trying to escape his throat. It pisses Johnny off. Everything about Nubbins does. He’s so weird, seemingly so unleveled with everyone else (minus Bubba) on how to talk, think like a normal person, so how come he’s managed to pick this thing out to fuck with Johnny about? And how many times does Johnny need to beat his ass before his mangled head learns to drop it? At least one more apparently, Johnny decides to himself and grips Nubbins collar and yanks. Just before the boy crashes into the other Johnny grips the tattered shirt with his other hand too and lifts him to his toes.
“You wanna say that again?!”
he yells, face to Nubbins stupid smiling face. And of course he actually does.
“Jo-Johnny who-kn-n-n-ows!”
Johnny grits his jaw down harder than he does when he’s gotta lift things twice his weight in the car yard. Without thinking to control how hard he does it, he throws the gangly boy down on the ground. It’s a nasty sounding thud of bones and a painful sounding wheeze. It doesn't provoke empathy. Johnny hopes he can make it even worse. He kneels down, stares down Nubbins like a rabied rat trying to get in his pantry. Rat tries to sit up and Johnny pushes down his chest, just fingers to really poke the bone. It’s very controlled, considering how mad Johnny is. How annoying Nubbins is. He’s squirming on the granite and grass and he’s laughing again, all while yelping
“Ow! Ow!”
All while staring up at Johnny with a wild look, wild even for him and focused for once, pupils fixed instead of jittering. Johnny stands up and huffs, unsettled but not daring to let it show.
“What is your goddamn problem?”
“I-I ain’t got-got no p-problem, Johnny wh-“
This sound puts the last to shame. It crunches. Nubbins yowls and curls in on himself, into where the kick replays in throbbing on his arm.
“J-Jesus! Ow! Johnny th-that hur-t-ts!”
He sounds a bit too excited, it’s hard to tell what kind of nerves are flaring in someone like Nubbins though.
“Good.”
Much more gently, thoughtfully he presses his boot down on him again, the exact same spot. Nubbins screeches loud enough there’s vague worries in the back of Johnnys mind about Nancy or Dayton hearing. Without thinking much about it, he watches Nubbins face contort as he plays with his pain. Like a drummer on the kick drum. The limb spazzes from the elbow down. His legs kick uselessly, Johnny thinks of the hawk that occasionally sweeps down on the yard and pins a twitching squirrel until it gives out. Unfortunately, Johnny can’t go that far. Panting sounds get his attention again. He blinks and looks more intently, looks below to see Nubbins barely bothering to fight anymore, flushed pink and sweaty and- with an erection. What the fuck. Johnny stops digging his toe into his arm, stares in disbelief for a few moments. Nubbin lets out a jolt and a whimper and Johnny snaps out of that trance to finally let off.
“What the hell”
His eyes flick down to the other boy's crotch again, involuntarily. Appalled, he looks back at his face. Which just looks like it’s anticipating another angry reaction.
“You are such a fucking freak.”
Johnny doesn’t know what to do, so he just walks backwards, Nubbins is quiet, for once. Just squeaky breathes through clenched teeth. When it’s too awkward even for Johnny to face it, him, he turns around and heads to his shack.
Disturbing, disgusting, Johnny wants to shake it off his skin, he also instinctively wants to go back and hurt Nubbins some more, but, well….
If what he keeps saying is true, Johnnys glad to not be related to him in particular.