file_name : nikolas

nikolas dahling || 19 || advanced encryption

[nikolasjpeg]

hill_alec

“I would say that you have somewhat of a shot,” Alec said, not wanting to be discouraging while also not wanting to lie to Nik. And somewhat of a shot was better than no shot at all. “Your instincts are there you just need to work to either use them or fight against them depending on the situation.” Everyone’s fight or flight instincts differed, and from what he had seen, Nik’s leaned towards flight. But everything could be turned into a strength instead of a weakness. 

“Your instincts told you to protect yourself but instead of throwing your arms up, dodge,” he explained as he approached Nik. “Let’s say someone punches at you like I did…” he went in slow motion this time, stopping before he actually got the other boy in the cheek again, “it will leave their side exposed and that’s what you go for. A blow to the ribs will knock a persons breath right out of them.” 

nik slumped over a little bit, but he had to be positive. a bit of a shot was... well, it was all he had, for now. “okay, so... i have to use my instincts, except when they’re wrong, and i should be able to tell when they’re wrong.” he didn’t mean to let the frustration creep into his tone, and he shook his head to clear his mind. “no, i’m... sorry, i just. okay, let’s keep going.” 

he nodded along with what alec was saying, committing it to memory. dodge. don’t let yourself get hit at all. makes sense. he tried to work through alec’s movements in slow motion. “so if you punch, i dodge,” he moved backwards, so alec’s fist was out of line with his jaw. “and then i,” he mimed going back in for the blow to the ribs, sure to put his fist in the correct position so as not to break his fingers. “now, see, what i’ve been having trouble with is how do you work up the... i dunno, the momentum to get some real force behind your punches without making it too obvious?” he shrugs, “i mean, do i just need muscles?” because that would take a bit more time to build up. 

[nikolasjpeg]

stewart_bash

               Bash took a deep breath as he allowed Nikolas to get in the right headspace, watching him carefully to try to understand the kind of fighter he was.  Other than the fact that fighting had been ingrained into his memory for as long as he could remember, Bash liked to think he was a good one because he didn’t lose his head – when it came down to it, everyone always had their tell.  Nik’s admittedly, was very easy, mostly because there wasn’t confident in his skill. He’s able to duck out of both the punches, though he nods a bit in appreciation.   “ That wasn’t bad, “  he commented, giving him a small smile.  “ Just try not to lunge too much, or you’ll give yourself away.  And you can be sharper with the jab.  It’s the most important part. “

nik clenched his teeth together, but tried to calm himself down; it wouldn’t do him any good to get frustrated so quickly. it took him out of his head, not to mention it was at the very least a defeatist way of looking at things. bash was good, he was really good, and it wouldn’t do nik any favors thinking he should be able to land a punch. he nodded shortly, “okay.” giving himself away was less of a concern right now, but a sharper jab... that’d be good to note. “okay, um,” he took a couple steps back, suddenly having an idea. “how about you come at me to see how i handle it?” 

[nikolasjpeg]

TASK 002 : WHO ARE YOU ?

@gallaghermissions

ONE : HOW DOES THE WORLD SEE YOU ? 

isfj-t : the defender 

“the defender personality type is quite unique, as many of their qualities defy the definition of their individual traits. though sensitive, defenders have excellent analytical abilities; though reserved, they have well-developed people skills and robust social relationships; and though they are generally a conservative type, defenders are often receptive to change and new ideas. as with so many things, people with the defender personality type are more than the sum of their parts, and it is the way they use these strengths that defines who they are.”

TWO : HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF ? 

type six : the loyalist 

“the committed, security-oriented type. sixes are reliable, hard-working, responsible, and trustworthy. excellent "troubleshooters," they foresee problems and foster cooperation, but can also become defensive, evasive, and anxious—running on stress while complaining about it. they can be cautious and indecisive, but also reactive, defiant and rebellious. they typically have problems with self-doubt and suspicion.”

THREE : HOW DO YOU LOVE ? 

acts of service 

“your partner might have this love language if their motto is “actions speak louder than words.” this love language expresses itself by doing things that you know your spouse would like. cooking a meal, doing the laundry, and picking up a prescription are all acts of service. they require some thought, time, and effort. all of these things should be done with positivity and with your partner’s ultimate happiness in mind to be considered an expression of love. actions out of obligation or with a negative tone are something else entirely.”

[nikolasjpeg]

nik had regressed to his old studying method; sandwiching his more hated subjects in between his own compsci projects. so nik was camped out in the computer lab, his intro to persuasion, linguistics, and stunt driving notes on one side, and his plethora of books on encryption and machine learning to the other side. he’d told his professor about his little side project, and he said he’d give nik extra credit if he could make something workable, maybe even give him departmental permission to start second year encryption courses next semester. he was focusing on that, now, fully in the zone with fingers flying across the keyboard, when a distraction in human form entered his field of vision. when he glanced back down at his screen, he realized he’d kept typing, but it was purely gibberish. he sighed, dragging his headphones down so electronic music blared from them around his neck, “fucking shit.” nik glanced back up at the guy, an older student, and shot him an awkward smile. “sorry, do you need...” he indicated the area he’d spread himself out on. “any of these computers? because i can move.”

@nolanguz​ 

[nikolasjpeg]

hill_alec

“To get you to not think,” Alec answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “Because you didn’t know it was coming, you didn’t think about it, you just reacted. Sure you got knocked down, but you still moved to defend yourself. And out there in the field sometimes reacting is all you can do in a dangerous situation.” When he had promised to teach Nik, Alec hadn’t promised that he would go easy on him. That wasn’t how he was going to learn. 

He gave Nik’s stance a quick look over, seeing where it needed work. “Good bend in your legs, but they shouldn’t be that far apart, it’ll make you off balance and easier to knock down again. And remember to keep your thumb between your first and second knuckles on your index and middle finger, unless you want to break it.” 

nik’s hand nursed at his sore cheek, all but pouting. okay, maybe alec had a point; hit him out of nowhere, and see what he did. he nodded to himself, jokingly asking, “so... what? does that mean i’m gonna at least pass?” really, though, it was kind of a relief to realize that at least his instincts were okay. was that what it meant to not think; just let your body do whatever? well, maybe not whatever, but... what it was used to doing. what it should be doing. he realized that fighting would have to become muscle memory. 

he adjusted his legs like alec told him to, readjusting his fists; he never did manage to get that posture quite right. he’d have to start taking this posture more often, just to get used to it. “thanks,” nik said, keeping his position while shooting alec an awkward smile. “um, okay, so... if i... when i come back, is there a way to take advantage of that? like, if someone just hit me, how should i try to hit them back?” 

[nikolasjpeg]

stewart_bash

              Bash gave his friend a crooked smile, knuckles taped and ready to go.  He had agreed to help out Nik not only because he figured he needed to KEEP the few friends he had, but also because he genuinely wanted to ;  he knew Nik didn’t think he was the greatest when it came to combat, and since Bash was arguably the best at it, why not help ?   “ I’ll go medium on you, “   he said, before laughing at his own stupidity. MEDIUM.  This is why he shouldn’t be allowed in public.  Heading over the mats, he waited before Nik to face him, before giving him a shy smile.   “ Go ahead, “  Bash said, motioning for him to hit him.

nik shot bash a smile, “a happy, hopefully not painful medium.” to be fair, bash could definitely beat the shit out of nik if he tried, but... most people could. and that was the point of nik getting better at this. he followed bash to the mats, taking a deep breath, trying to shake himself out. stay calm, clear your mind, don’t think. especially not about how cute bash is- nope. don’t think, not thinking at all. nik took a moment, taking in bash’s posture, where his hands were placed, and decided to go for the side of bash’s head, as quickly as he could, with his non-dominant hand, jabbing at his sternum with far more force with the other. 

[nikolasjpeg]

enzo.

“if  you  were  good  at  that  then  you  can  be  good  at  these  too,”  though  that’s  not  exactly  true.  but  nik  needs  the  encouragement,  and  enzo  isn’t  that  mean  enough  to  deny  that,  even  if  he’s  not  exactly  great  at  the  whole  'comfort’  and  'support’  thing.  an  effort  is  still  an  effort.  "i  dunno  –  your  dignity,  maybe?  or  your  pride.“  he  says,  shrugging.  his  own  parents  would  really  have  his  ass  if  he  didn’t  carry  on  the  cavanagh  name  ;  and  wasn’t  good  at  it,  too.  "yeah  –  that’s  fine.  just  whenever,  y'know?  you’re  probably  just  thinking  too  much.  ’s  always  a  fault  behind  the  wheel.”

nik nodded; he had to believe that. if nik had become good at school before, he could do it again. it would just require changing his mindset a little bit, thats all. and also getting really good at driving and punching. “well, i’d... i’d like to keep both of those things, if possible.” though nik supposed dignity and pride weren’t exactly his strong suits. he got the shit beat out of him on a weekly basis, not much dignity in that. he pointed his pen at enzo. “see? alec said that, too! that i think too much. how the fuck am i supposed to turn my brain off? that’s literally impossible.” 

[nikolasjpeg]

now that break was over, nik really had to get serious about finals. not too serious, evidently, because when he needed to spar, his first thought was to ask bash, which... was objectively a bad idea. it would be hard to focus on sparring when he had fucking bash to look at. but he didn’t wanna bug alec too much, claire would probably kill him and enz wasn’t willing so... bash was the most logical choice, right? “thanks for helping me out with this,” nik said, busy taping up his knuckles and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “and- and don’t go easy on me, okay? i need to get good.” he paused, shooting bash a smile. “okay, maybe go a little easy on me. let me get a punch in.” 

@whathebash

[nikolasjpeg]

hill_alec

Now Alec had to laugh. “Nope not superhuman. No spider senses or super solider serum here,” hey he had read comic books like every young boy growing up, “Just a guy.” Though sometimes Claire did tease him and call him Captain America, he really was just another human being. And while having super powers would definitely make some things easier, Alec was more than happy not being larger than life. Being human was hard enough as it is.

“Okay back to the not thinking.” He knew that was going to be hard for Nik. He hadn’t had the years of training like himself and many of their fellow Gallagher students had. The mind was a muscle that needed to be worked just like other parts of the body, and it took a lot of work to learn how to turn it off in a fight.  But there was no lesson that his father had given him at a young age that had worked well. So without warning, Alec suddenly threw a punch, hoping that Nik wouldn’t think too much and instincts would kick in.

“just a guy,” nik repeated, nodding. alec was just a guy, and that meant nik had all the same tools at his disposal to go toe-to-toe with him. alec just had a bit more practice with his. nik could... could maybe do this. he could maybe do this. so when alec spoke up again, he tried to pull himself out of his mind, to pay attention to what the older student was saying, because nik might have a chance in hell-. 

suddenly, a blow was thrown his way. instinctively, nik threw up his arms, but alec still got him in the side of the head, and he flew to the side, ears ringing in that familiar way. he straightened up as fast as he could and threw his arms into position, fists loosely curled and legs bent, because, okay, he guessed the fight was starting now. but when nothing happened for a beat, nik threw his hands up, asking, “okay, what was that for?” 

[nikolasjpeg]

cavanagh_enzo

“maybe  i  have  tokoyo  drifted,”  eyebrows  shoot  up  –  he  hasn’t  exactly  done  that,  but  nik  didn’t  know  that.  "c'mon  –  this  is  all  essentially  the  same  thing.  y'need  math  to  figure  out  shit  for  psychics,  and  all  that.  it’s  not  that  different  –  just  packaged  differently.“  a  shrug  -  it’s  his  attempt  at  a  comfort,  not  something  he  has  much  experience  in  giving  rather  than  receiving.  "not  your  entire  career  —  don’t  be  so  pessimistic,  that’s  my  job.”  another  shrug.  nik  was  his  friend  —  they’re  friends,  friends  encourage  each  other.  "i  can  teach  you  'bout  driving  –  the  fighting  part,  you’re  on  your  own  here.“

something about enzo’s tone let nik know that he had not, in fact, done any sort of tokyo drift before. still, he wrote his friend’s answer down; it was still better than his. “i know its all the same, that’s why i was good at it.” it’s hard to hie the frustration in his tone; school was a game nik had become good at, until the rules had all changed. “then tell me, pessimist, what’s really at stake?” he’d asked enzo, originally, if he could help him with fighting, and was a little surprised when the boy refused. he seemed... well, aggressive, frankly. like he’d be good at it and more than willing to teach him, but evidently not. “honestly... the driving might be nice. just before my final, ya know?” 

[thekokopellikid-deactivated2019]

[nikolasjpeg]

cavanagh_enzo

“t’s  always  worked  for  me.”  enzo  shrugs,  moving  to  dig  through  his  own  piles  of  papers  –  none  that  had  much  on  them,  but  sill  there  regardless.  "what’re  you  used  to?“  he  asks  with  furrowed  eyebrows,  both  confused  and  also  intrigued  at  the  thought  that  something  like  this  would  be  fairly  difficult  to  others.  enzo  isn’t  the  smartest  cookie  in  the  box  or  however  that  saying  goes,  but  most  of  the  stuff  here  he  found  relatively  easy  to  follow  and  do.    "i  guess  that  depends  —  how  much  d'you  got  riding  on  your  diploma?”

“oh yeah, every time you tokyo drifted, i’m sure this worked.” though, to be fair, enzo might have tokyo drifted before. fuck, what if he had? that would be wild. “y’know... math. english. history. chemistry. stuff you can do all on paper.” nik sighed at the very thought, slumping over the back of the chair, head lolling back. “i dunno, just my entire fucking professional future. no big deal, really.” sure, nik could probably get a job without a diploma from gallagher, but it would be way, way harder to get a job in cybersecurity. “guess i gotta get real good at stunt driving and fighting.” 

[nikolasjpeg]

redgrave_louis

– “WHAT? YOU DON’T THINK THEY LIKE IT?” HE LAUGHS. “it’s like a hot tub. or a sauna. it’s very relaxing, i’m sure, and good for the skin.” louis wasn’t really afforded the luxury of conversations like this at blackthorne – there was always such a serious tone to things and a strict competitiveness instilled between the boys. nik makes him feel safer at gallagher, like it’s home, even when discussing the technicalities of brine. “uh, ouch,” he smiles, but it’s strained. “i’m tougher than i look, you know.” determined might be the right word. desperate. 

“mm, yes,” nik agreed. “i can’t wait for them to add that to the spa at gallagher, the brine and vinegar wrap. i’m sure it’ll leave my skin looking supple, not to mention smelling great.” fuck, and nik actually liked pickles, but just the thought of being wrapped up in brine made him want to gag. he softened his expression, nudging louis a little bit. “i know you are. way tougher than me, anyways.” he’d heard rumors of nighttime drills, hazings, all the sorts of things nik was not made to withstand. 

[nikolasjpeg]

cavanaugh_enzo

enzo  didn’t  exactly  study  ;  yet  he  held  himself  to  a  high  standard,  the  crushing  weight  of  failure  on  his  conscious  whenever  he  got  back  a  less  than  good  grade.  face  first  nearly  in  his  coffee,  an  eyebrow  at  the  question.  "when  you  loose  control  –  y'shift  into  neutral  –  y'removing  the  power  to  the  wheels,  giving  you  more  control  n’  not  the  car.“  a  shrug  -  enz  wasn’t  sure  if  that’s  what  nik  was  looking  for.  he  was  always  more  of  a  do  than  talk  learner,  or  whatever  it’s  called.

nik thought that through; he’d completely forgotten about going into neutral. “i mean, i think that would work.” nik had always been pretty shit at physics, too, so this course was just a bitch. “god, everything here is so different than what i’m used to.” the language classes, the computer science classes, all the theory classes nik had down pat by now, but it was the practical application classes, persuasion and stunt driving and combat, that were still giving him trouble. “how fucked do you think i’ll be if i flunk out?” 

[nikolasjpeg]

nik had texted enzo the night before, asking if he felt like cramming together on the sunday before break ended. now, here they were, at nine thirty in the morning in the library, nik trying desperately to finish his intro to stunt driving problem set. he hadn’t even taking the state driving test before, so a written test on stunt driving was proving to be exceedingly difficult. “when you’re losing control out of a turn, you don’t decelerate, right? you just... you take your foot off the gas. right?”

@floorsboard​

[nikolasjpeg]

stewart_bash

                His eyes flickered over to Nik, and Bash felt a pang of truth in the boy’s words.  People are people.  Truer words were never spoken – when spies started thinking of themselves as larger than life, that’s when things got dangerous.   “ I get that, “   Bash nodded, wishing there was more he could say.   “ There were tunnels in Blackthorne, I heard, “   he said after a moment, considering his words.   “ I don’t see why there wouldn’t be in Gallagher.  Maybe it’s something only fourth years know about, since they’re the only ones who can get into the basement. “

“oh, i believe that.” blackthorne was sketchy as all fuck, for sure there would be tunnels. his eyes widened at the mention of the basement, though. “i’d forgot about that.” at the beginning, when he’d heard about the basement, the very concept had scared him. now, though, now nik was just intrigued. he wanted to know what was down there. “what do you think is down there? like, is that where all the extra scary weapons are hidden?” 

[nikolasjpeg]

berkshire_grayson

when people were quiet at gallagher, it was intentional. most of them weren’t born that way, always trying not to be noticed. grayson was probably projecting, but he felt that nikolas was similar to him in that way. “you’re allowed to walk around campus. especially since there’s…literally nowhere else to go.” they ought to be more concerned about being prisoners on their own campus, maybe, but grayson at least knew president sutton well enough not to find it oppressive or suspicious. knife still in his hand, grayson awkwardly pulled out the sheath and put it away. “oh…yes. not sure i have the best methods of distraction, as you can see.”

well... grayson had a point, admittedly. they were essentially prisoners in this beautiful academia. at least back in maine, nik had been fucking free. still, he supposed this was a reasonable price to pay for an education; four years of being trapped in exchange for a lifetime in his field of choice. objectively, it seemed like a reasonable trade, but in practice... well. “i mean, at least this is kinda productive,” nik said, “when i’m stressed, i code, which... can also be productive, i guess, but it’s also what i’m passionate about.”