(Don't) Turn It Off-- Elder Price / Elder McKinley -The Book of Mormon-

(Don't) Turn It Off- Chapter 02

Kevin, Elder Cunningham, and Elder Poptarts were all sitting at the living room table. It was morning, so they were eating their breakfast. (To no one's surprise) Elder Poptarts was eating a package of expired Poptarts (they were still from when he first came to Uganda), Elder Cunningham was eating... ...something resembling toast, and Kevin was just drinking a coffee. It was a normal morning for everyone.

"McKinley?" Kevin called, seeing McKinley walk past them. He thought perhaps this time McKinley would respond, but he was wrong. Ever since yesterday, McKinley had been ignoring Kevin all morning. "McKinley?"

McKinley, who had just been passing the table, sped up upon hearing his name called again.

"I've never seen him so cold before." Elder Poptarts commented. "I wonder what's bothering him."

Kevin sighed and took another sip of his coffee. "I wonder..." He mumbled into his cup.

Elder Poptart's eyes lit up. "You know!" He leaned towards Kevin. "Tell me!"

"Yeah!" Added Elder Cunningham. "Tell us!"

"I don't want to talk about it. Okay?"

"I KNEW IT!!!" Elder Poptarts stood up. "SOMETHING'S GOING ON-"

"Shhh. Please quiet down," Kevin asked. "Nothing's going on between me and McKinley, okay?"

"Aw. Too bad."

"'Too bad'? What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Well, ever since the people of Uganda started their own religion based off of Elder Cunningham's teachings, it's gotten so boring here. We need the drama in our lives." Explained Elder Poptarts. "Half of the other Elders left anyways."

"Plus you two have been really obviously into each other since you guys met." Added Elder Cunningham.

"I thought you two were against homosexuals?" Kevin stated.

Elder Poptarts put down his food. "Nah. I just go along with Elder McKinley to make him feel better. Although I don't know about the other Elders, they might be homophobic."

"Still. McKinley hates me."

"I think he still likes you. He's just upset about his feelings."

"Does this happen a lot?"

"A lack of sleep can make him upset and irrational." Elder Poptarts noticed Kevin's look of question. "The hell dreams." He explained.

Kevin nodded, he remembered his own and they were awful. He couldn't imagine how bad they'd be for someone like McKinley. "Poor guy. How often does he get them?"

"Around 5 times a week, or so he's told me." Elder Poptarts sighed. "It must be horrible."

Holy shit, that's nearly every day. "It sounds awful. I feel so bad."

"I doubt it's your fault." Elder Poptarts moved forwards in his chair. "On a lighter note, how long have you two been together?"

Kevin shook his head. "We're not- we aren't dating." He took another sip of his coffee. "I wish we could. I've never dated a man before- I've never dated anyone, and anyways it could be interesting. I did like him for a while, then I guess the homophobic energy of everything here just kinda got to me. But McKinley, as you two have probably noticed, his internalized homophobia is so much worse. Remember when the church abandoned us? McKinley tried so hard to be himself, but all of that bullshit was so engraved into his head that... Oh, sorry Elder Poptarts, I forgot."

"It's okay, I'm just not used to hearing swears."

"Sorry." Kevin then continued, "Anyways, that was just so awful to watch, at least for me, to just see him tear himself apart so much. So I guess I just- distanced myself. But yesterday, McKinley and I kissed, but he got really upset, and now he hates me. Oh! And that's not it! Apparently, McKinley is leaving soon too!"