maybe you deserve this, 10.8k & complete. roscest / iron lung au. please mind tags.
long enough after the quiet rapture, clive rosfield undergoes convict realization.
"Convict," the voice that makes it through the static, mostly audible, half-warped. "Still here?"
For a second, he's tempted not to respond. What will they have to say, if he doesn't? Will they drag him back up into their delivery ship, take all the welds off the hole they'd shoved him through before they cut the chain between the handcuffs? Take a look at the corpse of a man who has already been dead, and just started rotting late.
"Convict." The stranger's tone sharpens a little. Expectation. He tilts his head towards the radio.
Everything tastes like metal.
"Yes," an even, smooth response, as he clears his throat and adjusts his grip on the straps. "I'm still here."
"Good. We're beginning the descent."
Lara knew from the start that being in a relationship with Darsus was going to have weird moments. That was just the consequence of dating, not just because he was an alien. Misunderstandings would end up happening and one side or the other would have to go into detail regarding where the misunderstanding happened. No big deal, usually.
Today’s weirdness was...a little much.
She looked around the kitchen, taking in the paper and plastic bags strewn about the counters and dining table. Fruits of various shapes and sizes could be seen from where they were stored. A few of the rounder varieties had even fallen to the floor. Darsus, having the guiltiest expression that she’d ever seen on him, was crouched in front of the fridge. He was frozen in place from his desperate attempt to stuff some of the more perishable berries into the already full appliance. All around his hooves were the splattered remains of the fruit that hadn’t made it.
When her eyes settled on him, he attempted to smile. It made him look like he was in the process of swallowing nails. “H-hey...Lara…” Darsus cleared his throat and tried to close the door of the fridge. Juice started to drip onto the floor, joining the pulp that was already there. “I was just…um. Doing...things...” His voice trailed off as his singular red eye avoided her gaze.
Lara closed her eyes, took a breath, then held it for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. She repeated this process a few times while she thought. Oh she was definitely upset. Even a little angry. The kitchen was shared by the both of them, but it was primarily her space and Darsus had created an absolute disaster inside of it. However. She also knew that there must be some sort of explanation for it. Some reason why her boyfriend felt it was necessary to bring home a huge supply of fruit.
At the very least she hoped there was one, otherwise Lara might actually have to give him the cold shoulder for a little while.
“I just…want to know why.” Her eyes opened to watch Darsus’ reaction. “Just...why.”
“W-well…” He carefully stood up from his crouch. The refrigerator door still hadn’t been closed all the way, so he kept a three-fingered hand against it. Probably to keep it from swinging open. Dar gestured with his other one, pointing at a half-made pyramid of oranges. “I went to get stuff from the market that we needed, but I was hungry so I picked those up.” His finger moved to several large watermelons that had made their home on the floor. “Then a merchant shouted about a two-for-one sale on those and so I got those too, plus some apples and those round tan things that are orange inside.”
It took Lara a moment to realize what he meant. “Cantaloupe?” She guessed.
“Yeah, that. But then another one asked if I’d tried honeydew before and I hadn’t so he gave me a deal on those.” He indicated the other set of round fruits that had green rinds this time.
She could see where this was going, but she still nodded and responded. “Right…”
Darsus hesitated, then gestured at the fridge. “And while I was carrying the stuff back, there was this one lady who hadn’t sold anything all day and I felt bad so I bought up some of all of her berries. And uh.” He tried a smile again and this time managed to land a sheepish expression instead of looking sick to his stomach. “F-forgot. To uh. See if we had room for any of them.” He waited for a beat before he continued, “I’m sorry. I’ll help clean up.”
She took another couple of measured breaths. Dar looked about ready to fully retreat into his hood. Making sure her tone was even and stern, she said, “I think we’ve talked about how you really shouldn’t go to the market hungry, Dar.”
The gulp he made was very audible. “Y-yeah. We did. I uh, forgot. I’m sorry.”
With a deep sigh through her nose, Lara turned away from him. She sensed more than saw him flinch, and she spoke up before he could worry too much. “I’m just going to put on something I won’t mind getting juice stains all over.”
“Really?” His voice nearly squeaked with his palpable relief.
“Yes, really.” She turned her head to cast a squinty-eyed frown at him. “I’m not happy that you made a huge mess of my kitchen,” Dar’s shoulders, which had relaxed a little, shot back up to where his ears would be if he were human. “BUT...you promised to help me clean up and I know you meant it so I’m less mad than I could be. I accept your apology.”
The tension in his body left all at once. “Okay...okay. I get that. Yeah.” This time, Darsus’ smile was genuine. “Thank you.”
Lara felt a flutter of affection stir in her chest before she turned away to head to the bedroom. “You don’t need to thank me every time I accept your apology! It’s implied!”
She just barely caught the words he mumbled to himself as she went to change. “But I do, though. You forgive me for my faults so easily.”
With no way to know how to react to that statement, Lara acted like she hadn’t heard him as she walked away. Still, warm affection mixed with concern while she rummaged through her clothes. How can I prove that I love him for the whole package and not just for his good side? She thought as she examined a paint-stained t-shirt. Sure it can get annoying to try to deal with how distracted he can get, but he always means well. There must be something I can do…
The answer came to her as she pulled out a bakery themed skirt from the bottom of one of her drawers. It had seen better days, with the hem being worn out and the body having a couple of holes, but the pattern was still very clear. It was a pattern of static images of a shop front with baked goods followed by various other dishes that looked yummy despite the pattern clearly having come from a drawing. Lara stared at the fruit tarts in particular as a smile spread across her face.
Darsus was the only one who could help work on his self-esteem…but delicious food would at least help with his mood. Satisfied, she put on the shirt and the skirt and made her way back to the kitchen. “I think I have an idea for what we’re going to be doing with all this fruit, Dar!”
Continued from: Anomaly
Something wasn’t right. Nothing had changed significantly since the last time he’d been to the headquarters. People were still chatting amicably with each other but…the atmosphere of the office was off. And nobody was noticing.
Which was alarming, considering the entirety of the workforce were psychic.
Not for the first time, Endovelicus was glad for the mask he wore. Even if someone could stand to look at his face, they would’ve seen the tension in his jaw as he tried to spot just what it was that he was sensing.
Normally he’d chalk the feeling down to his own unruly thoughts. It wouldn’t have been the first time that his own imagination had run away from him in a bad way, particularly when Endo was tired or had been hurt. Except, he was fully awake and moderately healthy. And his instincts were telling--no, shouting at him that something was amiss.
The snapping of fingers pulled his attention to the here and now. A blonde man with sunglasses tangled up in his wavy hair waved once Endo’s mask turned in his direction. “Wow you’re really not here right now, huh?” Agent October--also known by his office nickname of California--cracked an only slightly nervous grin as he (ill-advisedly) leaned back in his rolling chair.
Once upon a time, the only expression on a person’s face when they looked at him would have been fear. That was before a certain someone took him in and decided to trust him. That she hadn’t called yet despite him running off on a mission of his own choosing was only adding fuel to his already hyper aware senses. Endovelicus could sense her in her office just out of sight, and yet...there had been nothing. Except this odd feeling.
He tapped his fingers across the back of his gloved hand, making sure that the bracelet with a stylized sun was still around his wrist. “I’m as here as I ever am.” Came the deep rumble of his reply.
California rolled his eyes. “Okay and the not vague bullshit answer…?”
Endo didn’t reply for long enough that under normal circumstances, the other man would’ve filled the silence with his own inane chatter. When it didn’t happen, even after a solid minute and a half of waiting, there was nothing else for it. “Something’s weird.”
“I just said--”
Without even bothering to ask or warn him, Endo telepathically dug around in California’s head for a good metaphor. After a quick moment (and a yelp of surprise from the other man), he found one that he liked best. “It’s like headquarters is a puzzle and someone took two very similar looking pieces and put them in the wrong places.”
The agent held his head like he suddenly developed a migraine. “Fucking--did you need to do that?? My mental walls don’t need more damage.”
“Yes.” Endo felt himself grin, despite how uneasy he still felt.
“Fuck you, fuck your insane powers, and fuck your bullshit answers.” California rubbed at his temples with his eyes tightly shut. “I’ll snitch on you to June after we deal with whatever’s bothering you.”
He didn’t even need to read the man’s mind to know that the threat was an empty one. “Fine.”
Taking his sunglasses out of his hair to place on the bridge of his nose, California finally had a moment to properly sort out what the metaphor had been. “Like a puzzle but with a couple pieces flipped, huh…how come no one else can sense it, though?” He was able to look around just fine, but no one else did the same in their direction. Luck had nothing to do with it. Endovelicus was already quite infamous around the Psychic Assistance Organization. The fact that he had engaged in massive breaches of ethics and etiquette with one of the two people who he listened to meant that no one else was going through the same thing. Or so the other agents hoped.
In response to the question, Endo shrugged. “It’s too high level for them, maybe? People got drugged? Shit’s just weird, and I can’t pinpoint it.”
There was another moment of silence while both men scanned the room. “Too high for me, though?” The agent said in a much quieter tone than his usual one. “I’m not like, a master telepath but I’m not sure if--” He winced as Endo not-so-gently opened up a mental link. “O-kay, yeah, that’s…” Through the link, he could feel and hear California’s reaction as he spoke. His head was pounding with the new sensation and his emotions went from tempered skepticism to alarm instantly. “That’s not good.”
One advantage to having a telepathic link was that neither party could even try to lie to each other. This was also a disadvantage. Endo let his triumph and satisfaction take the forefront of his thoughts, if only to attempt to hide how much worry he had about what he was sensing. “No, it’s not.”
“Think we need to see how hot or cold the sensation is, or…?”
“I’ve been trying.” Frustration mixed with worried anger filled the link between them before Endovelicus cut it off just as easily as he had established it. “It’s just all over.”
Rubbing his fingers against his temples again, California hummed. “Guess we better talk to June, then.” When Endo didn’t reply after about thirty seconds, he continued, “Well okay first you’d better get yelled at by her and then we’d better talk to her.”
“She hasn’t called.” He barely breathed as he said it.
While his eyes were covered by sunglasses, the agent definitely blinked several times. “You’re gonna have to repeat that, I didn’t hear it.”
Barely increasing the volume of his voice, Endo repeated, “She. Hasn’t. Called. Since before I left.”
California lowered his glasses to look over the rims at the masked man. “You’re kidding. She’s more on the ball about keeping an eye on you than even the people above her.”
“Why the fuck would I lie about that?”
“How should I--” The words died in his throat as the door to the largest office opened. June Summers, Director of this particular branch of PAO, exited quickly and locked the door behind her. She didn’t even spare a glance around her as she headed out through the exit. “Oof, maybe you’re more in the doghouse than ever, man. Gonna have to come up with a really good gift to get back in her good graces.” California had a grin on his face, but it died when he laid eyes on Endovelicus. The masked man was frozen in place, statuesque except for the very slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. “What’s up now?”
The deathly white mask slowly turned to look him dead in the eye. Endo spoke slowly and with deadly seriousness. “That woman is not June Summers.”
With a gulp, California managed to ask, “Well then...who is she? And what’s she doing impersonating our director?”
Endovelicus stomped after her, his gloved hands curling into fists. “I’m about to find out.”
Squirrel delighted in watching Chronai freeze in what he was doing. It only happened when she successfully snuck up on him. He was incredibly perceptive for a human (though she didn’t have much experience with any one other than him), and his frequent visits to Elven lands had only increased his abilities. She could only catch him off guard about once every eight times since he’d started coming to the forest every couple of months.
Not that she’d been counting, or anything…
Once he’d realized that it was just Squirrel and not anyone else, he relaxed and showed off what he had been messing with. “It’s just a pretty bit of glass I picked up during my last job. Forgot I had it til I searched my pockets.”
She held out a hand and Chronai gently placed the piece in her palm. It was the size of a couple of almonds, though its shape was hardly symmetrical. It was pockmarked unevenly throughout, but the surface of the glass was smooth to the touch. What really made it special, Squirrel discovered, was what happened when the light touched it. Each side of the piece of glass produced a new color or funny shape to the sunlight from around them. Holding it with just the tips of her fingers, she illuminated different leaves and small creatures with the miniature prism. “It is very pretty! I can see why you picked it up! I would have too, if we had glass here and not just flint. Or water. Oh, or ice sometimes!”
Chronai had been watching her as she happy-chattered on. She could tell from her own peripheral vision. It was just one of those things that he did when he thought she wasn’t noticing. He had one of those rare, small smiles on his face. Before Squirrel could wonder what it was he had been smiling about, he suddenly said, “Well then, you keep it.”
Her teeth made a clicking sound from how fast she shut her mouth. Did he really mean it…? She turned her head to face him directly. “But…Crow, this is yours. I can’t just take it…”
“You’re having way more fun with the glass than I ever will. Plus, I don’t need to have extra stuff in my pockets so…” He gave a dismissive wave. “Go ahead, keep it.”
For a moment it was like the world around her had frozen. Over the years of their friendship, Chronai had been very gracious in finding things in his travels that Squirrel asked for. She even had the bits and bobs of the world outside of the forest safely secured in her home. This was the first time he’d given her something unprompted. A gesture that would, in other circumstances, would have a very specific meaning. One of wanting to be a mated pair.
Except, there was no way that he was aware of such a meaning. Absolutely none. He was human, for one. He probably meant to let her have it purely because she liked it, that’s all. They were friends and didn’t Crow say that friends gave each other gifts, before? There was no other reason. None.
Squirrel ignored the strange, fluttery feeling in her chest as the world unfroze and she smiled at him. “Well...alright then! Thank you!”
If he noticed that her voice had pitched itself higher than usual, Chronai didn’t say anything.
She kept the bit of glass in a much more hidden space than just with her knicknacks.
---
Crow’s visits continued to happen about once every couple of months. The amount of unprompted gifts, however, had steadily increased since that first instance.
He called them souvenirs. When asked, he explained that in human culture it was common to purchase or pick up bits of places one travels to. The purpose was to bring them back and admire them as reminders of where you had been.
She hadn’t really understood (“Is such a ritual part of how humans cast magic? Or are most humans’ memories so unreliable that reminders are a must?” Chronai’s answers only helped her curiosity so much) but Squirrel continued to store the gifts as she received them. It was only when a previously undiscovered rip spilled out the contents of the bag onto the floor that a kernel of understanding bloomed inside her. Each item was a piece of him. A physical representation of a time that he’d thought about her and decided to take that reminder with him.
Even if Chronai was ignorant of Elven customs...in his own way, he was still following them. For her. No one else. Just her.
That realization unleashed a flood of a new feeling through Squirrel’s whole body. Her face grew warm and her chest and stomach fluttered almost unpleasantly. It was almost as if she’d suddenly caught a disease, but as a Scout she was very familiar with certain symptoms and this was not indicative of any that she was aware of. On top of that, there was a desperate desire to see Chronai and…
Well, first find out if it all wasn’t just in her head. There was no way to know for sure if he actually wanted to be with her as a mate or stay as friends or some other odd human thing.
That particular thought cut a sharp sadness through the warm feeling, which helped her focus on the present. Squirrel gathered the little odds and ends together and tightly wrapped the whole of them in a cloth. One piece still managed to squeeze itself out, despite her work.
It was the little bit of glass. Chronai’s first unprompted gift to her. She bent down and gently cradled it in the palm of her hand. A warm smile started to grow as she allowed that feeling to fill her up again as she thought about how he thought of her. Even if he, somehow, wasn’t aware of the why, he went out of his way to bring them here.
After all, he wouldn’t bother to carry unimportant things in his pockets.
The weather in Greatwood was almost always consistent. Summers were hot and winters were cold, though neither normally had so great an extreme to cause alarm to its populace. Compared to places like its closest neighbor of West Plains, the city tended towards more mild climes.
On occasion, however, the hot air of the south and the cold air of the north collided with Greatwood as its epicenter. Depending on the time of year, this could lead to either immense rainstorms or thick snows.
The winter after his sister got married, a blizzard hit the city hard enough that Robert Sophos was forced to room with them until utilities could be restored to his own home. This meant that he would be living in the same house as two other adults and two young children for an unpredictable amount of time. Not only that, he couldn’t even retreat into his work or his books for very long due to the constant distractions of the household.
To say that Robert was unhappy was an understatement.
He could sense the watchful eyes of Caleb and Jerran boring holes into the back of his head as he attempted to type out his intended lesson plan for when university classes would resume. Very recent experience had taught him that merely ignoring the boys would have the same result as indulging in their antics. Still, Robert pretended not to notice them until they had taken places on each side of him. The grey eyes of his 12-year-old brother and the blue eyes of his 10-year-old nephew went wide with identical pleading expressions. He sighed through his nose, already giving up on having a productive day. The tone of his voice was flat as he said, “You have my attention. What is it, you two?”
“Brother, can you play with us?” Caleb started to pout, predicting Robert’s typical answer. There was a reason why their sister was his primary caregiver.
“Yeah, Uncle Robert, can you play with us?” Jerran, less used to his uncle’s behavior, smiled sweetly as he begged.
Robert called up a new tab on his browser and searched for the local weather. Once the page loaded, he pointed at the screen as if the boys couldn’t see it for themselves. “It’s already in the negatives out there, I can’t think of any game that would be worth the potential frostbite.”
Rolling his eyes, Caleb responded, “We didn’t ask for you to play with us outside, we just asked for you to play with us.”
“I’ll concede to that particular point, but I still wish to know what it is that the two of you want me to join you in playing before I agree to anything.”
Caleb opened his mouth, then closed it with a frown. He was deep in thought when Jerran piped up, “Hide and seek, duh!”
Resisting the urge to mention that the younger boy’s suggestion was not the most obvious choice, Robert asked, “And I take it I would be “it” first?”
The boys looked at each other before turning back to him with faux-innocent expressions. “Well...we were *hoping* you would be…” Caleb gave a sheepish grin.
That left him with two options with similar unfavorable results. Either he declined and the boys bothered him until either his sister or her husband could distract them away or he agreed and got caught up in the children’s game for far too long. After a moment or two of deliberating (and realizing that he’d lose approximately the same amount of time working for both options), he sighed and covered his eyes. “I will count to 50. Neither of you can hide outside or in the bedrooms. Starting now.” Robert heard the boys scramble away as he started to count.
“That was nice of you,” Matilda commented. He took his hands away from his eyes to find that she had been standing just out of sight until that moment. “Usually you wait until the begging stage to give in and play. What gives?”
Without looking, Robert carefully moved a hand so that it was pointing in the direction of the bedrooms upstairs without anyone being able to see him doing so from behind. “In the past four games of hide and seek, one or both of them have hidden behind a set of curtains in one of the bedrooms. I’m attempting to teach them how to be more creative.”
“Ohh, I see.” She grinned at him. “You’re actually giving yourself time to work some more while they find places to hide.”
He couldn’t help the smile that started to grow on his face. “Your words, not mine.”
Rose froze in place. She quickly pocketed her stolen goods before turning to face her mother. “Nothing.” Basil’s advice whispered to her and she kept her gaze steady, as if she really was telling the truth.
Cadence Highbottle narrowed her green eyes. There was a tense moment where Rose was sure she was going to get her haul taken, when the older halfling just gave a deep sigh. “I don’t have time to deal with your shenanigans today. If you’re going to cause trouble, do it outside of the house.” In Rose’s shock, she realized that her mother’s long, blonde hair was done up in the elaborate braided hairstyle that she wore when there was business to be had that day. She literally didn’t have the time to scold her daughter.
Before the girl could scamper away, Cadence grabbed one of her arms firmly. “I mean it, I don’t want to hear even a squeak while the meeting’s going on. Understood?”
She squirmed a little, but eventually relented. “I got it, mom.”
“Good. Now where’d the other rascal run off to...” She muttered to herself. The minute that her arm was released, Rose took off to the nearest exit that led outside.
“What took so long?” Neola complained as Rose made her way to the border between the Highbottle and Beddye vineyards. Even accounting for dodging Willow, her dad, and the other workers in the fields, Rose was still late for their get together. There was a hole in the fence that separated the land--too small to be noticed by anyone on either side, but just big enough for a young halfling to crawl through. This was how one of the Beddye children was able to be on Highbottle land despite the ongoing rivalry between the families.
“Mom almost caught me while I was going out.” She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out one of the pastries she had grabbed from the kitchens. “Got us a snack, though.”
Neola rolled her eyes, but accepted the flakey, sugary treat. “She’s good at catching you, but not that good.” After spending a moment to eat and then lick her fingers, she asked the important question. “Think the fort’s still safe?”
“It’s gotta be. I saw Jack going out there with old blankets just yesterday.”
“Uuugh.” The shorter halfling girl dramatically leaned against the sturdy fence separating the land. Her curtain of auburn hair somehow stayed perfectly straight. A harsh contrast to Rose’s far messier bob of wavy brown. “I know we gotta share it since he’ll blab if we don’t, but if I wanted to be around a baby I’d bring Tezor along.”
Rose couldn’t help but giggle. “Don’t tell him he’s a baby to his face, he’ll just pout. And c’mon! He can be fun!”
“His dog can be fun, more like.” Neola pouted. Despite her complaints, she allowed herself to be taken by the hand to the fort.
Said fort was really a collection of scraps of wood put together as a small, vaguely square shape. It only resembled a building in that there were four walls and a couple of planks used for a roof. It was hidden among the bramble of as-yet untamed land that the Highbottles owned and thus all of the children who knew about it (all three of them) knew it wouldn’t live for very long. Still, there was a far shorter trek to the flimsy construction than there was to the cave at the edge of Vineshade that Neola and Rose stayed in most often. As a bonus, the girls could really pretend they were adventurers hiding out from all sorts of imagined baddies. If they were sitting down and ignored the sounds of workers in the field, that is.
Just like Rose had mentioned, there were indeed old blankets spread out on the floor of the fort as the girls made their way inside. Even the appearance of Jack and his puppy Spot were things that the two of them expected. What neither of them had predicted was that Rose’s older brother Basil would be there.
He gave a wide, lazy grin and waved at the girls. “Rosey! Neola! Care to join our party?”
Jack looked up from a paper he had been scribbling on and gave a dopey smile himself. “Yeah! Come join our party!” Spot, hearing how excited his master was, sprung up from his curled up position to bark his approval.
Rose blinked several times in confusion. “Basil? What’re you doing here?”
“What’s it look like I’m doing?” He took a couple of other pieces of paper and set them and some charcoal in the middle of the room. “It’ll be a tight squeeze, but the four--I mean five--of us should be able to hide out in here. Plus, we’re playing adventurer.”
“I’m a ranger!” Jack announced, proudly holding up his paper. On it was a crude drawing of what appeared to be an older Jack, with something large and with four legs and spots that must have been a bigger, older Spot. “We’re out hunting goblins!” The dog barked again and got down on his forepaws and wagged his tail.
“Well, resting before we go hunt goblins.” Basil indicated the fort. “Can’t fight them when you’re too tired.”
“You’re just saying that ‘cuz you’re gonna go sneak off and kill them yourself.” Jack frowned. “That’s what rogues do.”
“True! But! They can also wait for their party in case things go wrong. We wouldn’t want *that* right? So resting’s a good way to make sure the party’s all going to be safe.”
While the young boy contemplated his older brother’s logic, Rose finally got over her shock enough to realize what he was doing. “Weren’t you supposed to be at that meeting that mom’s going to today?”
To his credit, Basil’s lazy grin turned sheepish. “I didn’t really see the point in going. Feels like a waste of time when Reed’s going to take over when mom di--” He stopped himself, glanced at Jack and then clearly switched words. Both he and Spot tilted their heads at the same time. “Decides to step down. And Willow’s happy enough to keep up the vineyard forever, and Melody loves all the hard lifting work, and mom clearly wants YOU to be in charge of our marketing.” Rose made a face at that. “I know what she wants me to be, but I’m not so sure that that’s what I want to be, you know?” He stared off into the middle distance as he finished speaking.
Rose wasn’t sure what to make of it. There was a ring of truth to everything he was saying that hit her in a way that she wasn’t sure she liked. It felt...familiar, almost. She just hadn’t been able to put her feelings into words before. Before she could think too hard about it, Neola finally spoke up. “You’re already the best prankster around, Bas. You don’t need to be anything else.”
He blinked and then laughed like he wasn’t bothered by anything at all. “True! Very true!” He tapped at the papers on the floor. “You still haven’t told me what you’re bringing to the party, girls!”
Jack, his wide coppery eyes having refused to move from his brother until now, snapped out of his stupor. He also grinned, glad that the serious moment was over. “Yeah, we need more people! There might be a lot of goblins!”
Neola plopped down on her knees next to the paper nearest Basil and took one of the pieces of charcoal to get started. “I think I’ll be a fighter or maybe a wizard.” She paused in her sketch and frowned. “Do you think it’s possible to be both?”
Basil shrugged. “Maybe? We’ll work it out as we go.”
“What about you, Rosey?” Jack looked up at the still standing girl. “You wanna play?”
There was a lot churning in her head. What Basil said, her own feelings about her place in life, anything to do with adventuring...and then her eyes met her older brother’s. There weren't a lot of things that all of the Highbottle siblings shared, but Rose had a similar shade of brown eyes as Basil. So when he smiled and they warmed up considerably, she knew that her own were doing the same and she felt a little better.
“Yeah, I wanna play.” She sat down on the blanket with a plop. “So ranger, rogue, fighter/wizard...you guys are missing a healer.” Rose took her own piece of charcoal and started drawing. “I’ll be the cleric.”
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, gods damn fucking hell.” Rennis hissed as ducked behind the low wall he’d been using for cover. An explosion set off a second afterwards. It wasn’t close to where he was hiding, but the force of the blast still pressed the somewhat loose bricks into the goblin’s back.
This was supposed to be an easy job. It was pitched to him as an easy job. Even a rogue who only had one living arm and was not the best at stealth could do it, he’d thought. Go in, grab the documents, get out, get paid. Sure there were whispers about the conflict between the Alliance and the Horde moving in that direction, but they were avoidable!
Just his fucking luck that the fighting spilled out this far and this fast. There wasn’t even time to curse at whatever gods or the Light or whatever it was that controlled his life. He had to get out of there, and fast. It was the *how* that was the real question.
“FOR THE HORDE!” A small group of fighters with bright red tabards charged past his hiding place. A quick glance at where they were running showed a set of knights in blue and silver with their shields up to meet them. It was as good a distraction as anything could be in a battle.
Instead of scrambling like he wanted to, Rennis instead let his experience as a rogue take over and allow him to move slowly enough to almost blend into his surroundings. He weaved in between the debris and fallen bodies. There wasn’t time to count, but it seemed to him that there were equal numbers of casualties for both the Horde and the Alliance. Not that he was surprised. Both sides were pretty equal in power and desire to kill each other, even with the small pockets of peace that happened in between big clashes.
Before he could get too distracted by his own thoughts, a stray arrow whizzed past him and into the leg of one of the fighters. Rennis took that as his cue to find another hiding place. Sneaking until he found what appeared to be the edge of the fighting, he took a moment to heave a sigh of relief. That only lasted long enough for him to hear a shout and the sounds of people fighting. The voice sounded all too familiar. His stomach sank as he made his way over to where it had come from.
Battered and bruised and surrounded by entirely too many people, was Ryvren Browman. His helmet had been knocked loose at some point--showing all too well his long black hair with streaks of gray, his tired green eyes above the white scar across his face and his determined expression. Just behind the human was an injured soldier. Ren couldn’t identify them from this distance but he also didn’t really care. All he could see was his best friend in a bad situation that was only going to get worse if he did nothing.
Gritting his teeth, Rennis took the daggers from his hips and snuck upon the fighter that was furthest away from the rest. A mage, from the look of her robes. Fire crackled between her fingers as she raised a hand to start casting a spell against Ryvren. A swift kick to the knee, followed by a couple of well-aimed stabs finished her off before she could even cry out. He blended back into the environment, but thankfully no one had noticed him yet.
He was moving onto the next target when one of the soon-to-be-attackers spoke. She was the most poised for attack out of all of the group, wielding a greataxe with both hands. “Just what do you think you’re doing, man? Saving something like that? What’s even the point when it’s just going to stab you in the back once your usefulness ends. You’re human, which means you’re Alliance. Anything that’s not Alliance is your enemy.”
Ryv snorted. “If that’s what you use to sleep at night, go ahead. It’s not true for me, nor is it true for the Argent Crusade” He tapped his tabard with the hilt of one of his swords. It was a golden sun surrounded by black rays, leaving the rest of the cloth white. The Argent Crusade were a neutral order of warriors who followed the Light. They mostly worked to turn back the enemy undead, but members of their order were known to help whoever was in need, regardless of side. Even Ren had put on the tabard to help them with certain tasks even before Ryvren had joined their order. “He’s got nothing to do with this battle so just back off and leave him alone.”
Since the leader was so focused on his best friend, Rennis made quick work of yet another combatant. The odds against Ryv were now difficult instead of impossible. “Oh really? You think the Crusade is so right you’d stake your life on it?” Ren’s large ears pinned back at the self satisfied sound of her voice. “How about this: We’ll let you go if you give us the blood elf.” The goblin nearly tripped making his way to his next target. Ren already knew what Ryv was going to say.
“Fat chance.” For as worn down as he must have been, Ryvren held his ground.
Before the leader could say anything else, a blood curdling scream rang out. The whole group turned to find one of the warriors struggling with something small and green clinging onto his back. Rennis stabbed the guy again and he fell to the dirt with a thud. Standing from his crouch and spitting out some of the blood that had gotten into his mouth, he spoke. “Well. That coulda gone better.”
All alone and already injured, Ryvren probably could’ve taken down a couple of the fighters before going down himself. With Ren, the two of them were able to coordinate their attacks and effectively wipe the floor with the group before either of the main armies could notice. The leader had to be taken down last--her resilience was a tier above what her comrades were, but even she couldn’t last forever.
Goblin, human and blood elf shared a moment of heavy breathing from the fight that had just happened. Then the sound of yet another explosion reminded them that they weren’t in the clear yet. “C’mon, we gotta move.” Rennis sauntered over to Ryvren and shoved a healing potion into the man’s hand before offering to help the blood elf up. “We stay here and we’ll attract the wrong kinda attention.” The blood elf was far taller than Ren, but he still took the goblin’s hand and used it to help him stand up. The pull on his mechanical arm rubbed the already-raw skin of what was left of his shoulder further and Ren winced. “Please tell me ya’ve got a camp nearby, Ryv…”
Ryvren tossed the potion bottle over his shoulder, its contents emptied. “It’s far enough away that we should be left alone.” He nodded at the man he’d just saved. “We can rest there and figure out what to do next.”
“I can’t even begin to thank--”
“Yeah yeah, offer yer undyin’ gratitude when we ain’t target practice fer mages and archers.” Rennis gestured at his best friend. “Lead the way, Ryv.”
With a tired smile, the human indeed picked a path away from the fighting. The blood elf followed after briefly giving a fel-green glare at the goblin. Rennis took up the rear, sneaking again just in case.
Azeroth as a whole might not keep peace for long, but at least there could be moments where the constant war could be slightly less awful. Ren’s heart hoped that this would be the worst situation his friends would get themselves into for a long time. His still-sunken stomach told him that the worst was yet to come.
Cottony clouds drifted high in the bright blue sky while two observers watched them go. One was a young girl, the other a man about twenty years her senior. She had light brown hair, grass green eyes and hundreds of freckles on her round face and skinny arms. He had dark, reddish brown hair, olive green eyes and a chin strap of a beard covering his strong jaw. Despite the difference in age, the two of them were absolutely covered in grass and dirt stains as well as leaves and straw. They both were letting loose the slow breaths of people who had done a lot of work and were now taking a moment to rest on the porch of the farmhouse. Half full glasses of lemonade sat between them, condensation gathering around where the cold liquid still remained.
Lindsey had missed being able to spend time with Verdei. It seemed like he had less and less time to spend with her as she got older. It was the same with her other, blood related siblings but she was especially sad when it came to him. Verd didn’t have any other family. It wasn’t fair that life and work had to take him away so often. Why couldn’t adults be able to have more days like today? By herself, gardening would have just been a chore. With him the chore became a competition, and then a game, and then jokes about the game and a chase with hands full of mud and--
Her smile faded as she realized that days like today would be less and less common as she grew older. Already, it was hard to remember how long it had been since she’d last had so much fun with her family, much less the few friends she had at school. Her dad was getting older, and the farm wasn’t doing as well as it used to. One day it’d be just her and Arlen running the farm while Thomas worked at the general store and Verdei would still be the lone law enforcement in town and Olivia-- “Looks like some expensive thoughts churning in there, Linds. Care to share?”
She startled and turned to look at her adopted brother. He was still smiling, but in that tight way that showed off the wrinkles that he’d been developing for years now. Lindsey’s staring had softened his expression, but she still knew he was worried. All of her siblings worried about her. It’d be annoying if it wasn’t so sweet. “Dunno about expensive thoughts.” She shrugged. “Just...a lot of them.”
“It’s too nice a day for a storm to go brewing in that lil head’ve yours.” Verd reached over and poked at her temple. “Let’s have at’m. I can take a hit or seven.”
With an eye roll, Lindsey took a moment to go back to what she was thinking about before she’d gotten side tracked. “I was thinking about what we’ll all be doing in the future.” She turned away from him in favor of looking back up at the clouds.
“Same thing we’re doin’ now I reckon.” He picked up his glass and slowly brought it to his lips. “Farmin’. Gardenin’. Sittin’ on the porch enjoyin’ a summer day. Not much else to do round these parts. Just like I like it.” Verdei tipped the glass back to take a drink.
Lindsey made a hum as she processed this. Olivia always seemed like she was doing something different all the time at her place in the city. Every time her older sister came back, she had some story about an encounter or an activity she’d done while living in the city. Some of her most interesting ones were even from when she’d first gone away to school--around the time that Lindsey had been a baby. Next to the usual bedtime stories, the tales of Olivia dealing with the strange world of the city had been the girl’s favorites growing up. And when Verd started visiting the city himself, Lindsey had begged him for any and all information about it. She’d even wanted to run away to the city a few times when she was little. Dad hadn’t let her, saying that first she needed to--
“Did you ever think about going to college?” She blurted.
Instead of an answer there was a choking sound. Lindsey turned her head in time to watch Verd spit out what must have been most of what was left of his lemonade. He coughed several times and she quickly moved over to pat his back, almost spilling her own drink in the process. Once the mini crisis was over, he gave her the most confused expression. “What??”
“Did you ever think about going to college?” She repeated. “You know, living in the city and stuff.”
Verdei scratched at his scalp, displacing his worn cowboy hat. “Not really.” He shrugged. “Had ta get my GED cuz I dropped outta high school. Even then I didn’t wanna leave. Still don’t.” He looked away, his eyes drawn to the clouds much like hers had been. “I love it out here. The people can suck, but I’ll never feel at home in the city.”
Something about his distant expression reminded Lindsey of a horse. A wild one that desired nothing but land clear of fences and people. It was yet another reminder that one day he could go off into the wilderness and never come back. A shudder went through her body at the thought. Maybe she wasn’t ready to let Verd know about everything she was thinking about. Especially if it brought him any closer to leaving for good.
“Not sure you’d feel at home there either, kid, but if ya wanna try out that life when you’re a lil older I’m sure Liv’ll put you up.” He shrugged again, his full attention going back to his adoptive sister. “You should give life here a few more years before you try it, though. You’re only what, ten?” Verd gave a grin. It wasn’t nearly as wide as his happier ones, but at least he was trying.
Like usual, she went along with the joke even though he knew full well how old she was. There would be time to talk more about growing up and life later. When Lindsey was ready to handle it. She was sure of it. “Thirteen, you dummy.”
He put a hand over his heart in mock shock. “Aw shucks, you’re right. I keep forgettin’ you’re growin’ up fast. You’re definitely way smarter than I was at your age so maybe you can get into that college bullsh--uh I mean nonsense.”
Lindsey giggled at his self censoring. She’d heard that word and worse in her life, but he still tried so hard to keep his mouth clean around her. Picking up her lemonade, she put it in Verd’s hands. “Here, a reward for cheering me up.”
“Well gosh, this’s indeed a fine reward.” Verdei downed the sweet liquid in one gulp. Leaving the glass on the porch, he swung himself up into a standing position. “Alright, enough’ve all this talk. Garden’s done, so now we oughta check in on Arlen and see what he’s got for us.”
She hopped after him. “Don’t you have police work you need to be doing?”
“Eh, it’s Sunday. Nothin’ happens on Sunday. Now c’mon! Unless you *want* a rematch of that mud fight we had earlier?”
“No, but I’d win that one too!” She laughed as she followed him.
