fight the good fight

John Andermen || 23 Professional acquirer of valuable artifacts. "Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?" "That is the only time a man can be brave."

[melena-faye-here]

What can I say.  I like what I see.

[john-andermen]

Wh-...what?

[fayemathers]

Yet Another Year

[fayemathers]

"That’s perfectly alright darling. I know your heart is in the right place. I wish we lived in a town where people could stand up for something as simple as a booth at a carnival. But you and I both know that’s not likely to happen anytime soon unless some action is taken."

"Some company would be lovely. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. It would be wonderful to catch up. As long as you aren’t too busy that is."

[john-andermen]

John bit his lip and looked at the ground. Sometimes it felt that no matter what they did it was not enough, it was never enough. "Yeah... our town sucks..." he said with a sad smile.

"I'll never be busy for you Faye" he told her with a smile, "well I might have been a tiny bit busy the last couple of weeks, but never again, I'm gonna stop by the club more often. How have you been?" 

[john-andermen]

"Stop right there"

[bravelittlemeredith]

"It was only a small fire. Don’t be overdramatic,” she chuckled, lightly punching him on the arm. “And you didn’t seriously think my mum would ever let me out of her house without knowing how to cook something, did you?”

"Don’t insult the hair. It’ll eat you. I’ve seen it do it to pens, pencils, combs, and hair ties. Your face would just be a light snack."

She shook her head. Job applications. Like she’d ever be able to get the sort of job she wanted. Like she’d ever really get to have a normal job, or a normal life. It would be days at HQ and nights at the Rabbit Hole until… she didn’t know when. She didn’t know what after. If there would be anything after. After a pause, she quietly replied, “You don’t.”

[john-andermen]

"Are we even talking about the same fire? I thought we were gonna have to move out..." he said in an overly dramatic way, "it took weeks for my eyebrow to grow back..." 

"Honestly I thought she was never going to let you out of the house" John said bopping her nose. "Yeah I've been wondering how's this one even holding" he said tugging lightly on the hair tie currently holding her red curls. 

He had obviously said something wrong, it was not like Mere to go quiet like that, then it hit him, he had only been joking about the job applications, it wasn't as if he had a way out of this life. It was true they all hoped to be something more, John wanted to be something more that a wanted man, but he knew there was no way out except death. At least for him. But Mere could've had a life outside, a life where she could save life in public, where people would know about all the good she was doing. 

"Hey... I- um sorry... you know I just say stupid things without stopping to think first" he said taking a step towards her, "I was just trying to be funny, maybe I should just stop" John hesitated about touching her arm, he raised his hand then let it drop back to his side, "let's feed some rebels..." he said turning to look for a can opener. 

[alwayscuriouser-alice]

Hah, says you. I’ve seen her do things petty and cruel enough that you probably wouldn’t believe, but truth is stranger than fiction, I guarantee you.

Hm, I should have you tell that to a friend of mine. He always teases me relentlessly and needs to learn not to underestimate us cute little things. Well, ‘us’, being people like me. I didn’t mean to include you in there. You’re too bossy and know-it-all to be adorable.

[john-andermen]

You ought to got it from someone -he said under his breath- I mean um, yeah I believe you... well you can drop Dinah any time you need, just let someone know, can you imagine if she had gotten into Rob's office?

Always happy to tell people about how dangerous you are.

-John scoffed at her words- Said the pot to the kettle... besides that's what makes me adorable, people are into know-it-alls.  

[john-andermen]

"Stop right there"

[alwayscuriouser-alice]

"There you go with your delusions again, Anderman."

"Oh God, not you too with this “making-people-realise-that-they’re-actually-good-at-what-they-do” act. Is everyone in HQ learning to do that from Rob?”

[john-andermen]

"I love my delusions but you love your denial" he said with a wink.

"Actually he learned that from me... I'm totally kidding, of course I did, the guy is like an expert on that" John said shaking his head, "too bad he's never used that technique on himself, I swear I feel like he's losing ... I don't know what... exactly but he is losing something... it's frustrating not knowing how to help ... or what even is going on..." he hadn't said those things out loud before, but they had been in his mind for months. 

[john-andermen]

"Hey... wait up..."

[artsyjane]

"Ye-yes, exactly!" she said enthusiastically. For now, she was getting by on nicking food from the palace kitchens. For now, she didn’t feel any fear about it, since she was still technically a resident of the castle. But with the royal wedding apparently on hold, and Jenner being downright terrifying since being released from the hospital meant that she needed to get out sooner, rather than later. Once she was out, she would need a new source of food… and money. Perhaps… perhaps she could ask Faye for a job….

"That uh… true…"

[john-andermen]

"So how did you made friends with them?" John asked with a smile, "do you go to the club a lot, I haven't seen you there before" he cocked his head to the side trying to remember if he had seen her at Fire and Ice. 

"What kind of technique do you used the most?" he asked curiously, "do you do watercolours or like pencil ...?"

[john-andermen]

plain sight // John&Finn

[old-finn-bradshaw-blog]

Finn was doing this best to try to encourage his body to just heal up, damnit! A bullet to the shoulder should not have been as debilitating as it had been.  Since he refused, point blank, to let himself get rusty, he was making good use of his time.  Namely by doing something that relied more on quiet, than strength; subtlety rather than activity.  Tracking.

He had managed to wind his way down to Swan Lake when he spotted a movement through the trees.  Finn squinted over at the figure jogging away and grinned when he realized it was John.  Itching for mischief after days of being laid up and bored to tears, Finn moved quietly behind the other rebel, keeping him in sight and waiting for him to slow down so Finn could catch him unawares.  It was almost going according to plan until stupid John stepped on a branch.

Cursing under his breath, Finn went with his first instinct and ducked behind a rock, shoulders shaking from a sudden fit of childish giggles.  This was ridiculous!

At the sound of John approaching and coming closer, Finn held his breath until the last possible moment before jumping on top of the rock and yelling, “SURPRISE!”

[john-andermen]

John was relieved but also a bit frustrated. Here he was thinking he had stumbled into someone in need of help, or maybe someone trying to sneak around, only to have stumbled into Finn.

"Very funny Bradshaw" he said in a sarcastic tone, but after his initial disappointed he had to admit the ridiculous way Finn had looked as he yelled surprise had been very funny. He finally allowed himself a good laugh before asking, "what even was that about?"

John liked to believe he was close with everyone in the rebellion, but it was only partially true, he knew every member, and at some point had shared a moment that had made them closer, that's just how it was when you were involved in an organization that involved risking your life on a daily basis. But he had just realized that he wasn't actually that close with Finn. Yes they joked, and drank, and fought together, but aside from the usual he had never spend a lot time with Finn. 

John wondered why Finn had chosen to 'surprise' him of all people. 

[alwayscuriouser-alice]

I knew you were good for something.

[john-andermen]

That's me, full of surprises.

[old-cooper-kennedy-blog]

"Y'know, my pa had a philosophy 'bout trespassers."

[old-cooper-kennedy-blog]

"You’ve stumbled upon the secret farm berry bush.  I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to die now."

Cooper picked up his shovel and stabbed it into the ground.

"Jus’ kiddin.  What brings you to my neck of the woods, mister?"

[john-andermen]

"Ohh... good one, you umm you totally got me, I mean for a moment I thought... but um, I was just following... chasing a umm I thought it was a fox..."

[emma-agnes]

"I cannot look at anything until I’ve finished my coffee." Emma held up a finger as she took a sip, then set the mug down.

"What do you need to return?"

[john-andermen]

John waited patiently for her to finish her coffee, he knew all too well how it was, he was only somehow functional before his first cup. 

"Well it's just that you look an awfully lot like the girl in this picture" he said handing 'possibly Emma Agnes' an ID, "so I thought it might be yours."

[spideycentral]

[john-andermen]

plain sight // open

The smell of coffee was responsible for waking up John, he turned and looked that it was early in the morning, groaning he put aside his covers and jumped in the shower. Once the sleep had washed out of him, he was actually grateful to have been woken up that early, it was a usual thing for the rebels to have different schedules and more often than not they found themselves disturbing those who were barely hitting the bed. 

John decided to put the extra time to good use, he was going to do his morning run around Swan lake, come back to HQ, shower again, and then be perfectly on time to hit the town and re-stock their pantry. That's the way John liked to plan things, in an imaginary list in his mind. He would then mark-off each of the completed tasks. 

On his way out he grabbed a bottle of water and decided against getting something to eat. Once he made his way back he would make some breakfast for the ones that were up. He gave a nod to the rebels guarding HQ's door, and then later to the ones scouting the surroundings of what had become their home. Making his way down the lake, John admired the quietness of the town at this time of day, everything seemed so peaceful, of course it was already quiet on the woods, but there was no trace of the sounds that often made their way from the town. 

The Swan Lake had a stillness that was almost impossible to believe, he had always loved nature, and this was proof of why he was always marveled at it. He started to walk along the shore, stretching a little bit before he started to run, he already had traced a path in his mind. Just as he was getting ready to sprint he accidentally stepped on a branch, the sound was louder than he had expected, then he heard a shuffled sound, something a lot like someone running, he frantically looked around and was able to catch someone going behind a rock. 

Who hides behind a rock at the first sign of movement? John was about to walk away, it was obvious whoever was behind it didn’t want company or to be seen. But something inside him told him to go and investigate, maybe they needed help. He couldn’t just leave without knowing who was so scared, or annoyed if that was the case, to run and hide. 

[old-cooper-kennedy-blog]

"Y'know, my pa had a philosophy 'bout trespassers."

[john-andermen]

"Sounds like a wise man... I um I wasn't spying or sabotaging or trespassing... well maybe trespassing but I didn't mean to ... I'm very sorry"

[john-andermen]

"Stop right there"

[bravelittlemeredith]

"Yeah, well, I figured I wouldn’t be a good one to teach him to cook, so I just kicked him out of the kitchen. And you can only eat take-out for so long before it really starts to get to you."

"I know, I know, but do keep telling my so. You’ll get no complaints here." Mere then did some quick counting. Two loaves of bread, a block of cheddar, and four cans of soup. "There’s enough soup for ten. We can probably make that many sandwiches, too."

[john-andermen]

"I still remember that time Jasmine tried to teach us how to make cookies, I thought I was going to die that day... so where did you pick up the recipes?"

"Hmm and I always thought ego gave you a big head... not big hair... wait should I duck?" John asked waging her reaction to his teasing. He nodded after she made the calculations, sometimes it was hard to try and make things be enough, but the universe always seemed to give them a hand. "You know these are the kind of skills that we should be able to include in job applications... but how on earth do you explain something like this..." 

[john-andermen]

"Stop right there"

[alwayscuriouser-alice]

"Oh, yeah, I heard that from the Princess a while ago. I’ve failed you? I don’t recall being assigned to spy on your girlfriend for you, dumby.”

"Oh, of course they know that. But you can’t tell me that there aren’t some who don’t revel in the special treatment that they get just for having more money than most of the people in the town, put together.”

[john-andermen]

"Ha-ha... hilarious Kingston, wait is that jealousy I hear in your voice? Don't worry, there's plenty of me to go around. I feel betrayed, this was a perfect 'i'm-gonna-mock-you-for-days' situation, and you let me down..."

"See and you say it's hard to tell them apart, just know that what you are doing is important, and it might be difficult sometimes or boring or uncomfortable, but you are doing great."

[vivianthornes]

"Okay, so who's next?"

[vivianthornes]

"Just the cute ones… you are not a bad kisser… this has been one of the best ones so far…"

[john-andermen]

"Really? I mean we can do it again... anytime ... just let me know"

[justannachambers-blog]

"What is this?"

"It’s delicious!"

[john-andermen]

"A brownie! I mean it doesn't have the perfect shape, but it is a brownie, 

so did you really like it?"