[Laugher/Kindness] Muddy Water Blues (Torchwood / Royal We)

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It was Athletic Day at the school, a day where regular classes were put aside and the focus was shifted to physical education and fun. The babs were expected to cycle through some indoor activities as well as outdoor ones.The whole school was roaring with laughter, screams of excitement and giggling as babs ran up and down a soccer field, or played volleyball inside the gym.

Outdoors, there was a bevy of things going on. As luck would have it, it had rained over night, and one of the instructors for the day saw fit to use the change to make a mud pit; the perfect trap for a tug of war. The slick, dewy grass would make it even more challenging for teams.

This was exactly the kind of day Torchwood loved. He took in a deep breath. Aaaaah, fresh air was the best. He loved that he the school allowed them to have this kind of day, physical activity was just what some babs needed... given how many of them seemed to eat nothing but sugar. The sandy unicorn was immediately drawn to the feat of strength. A sign was posted with rules:

The Sign

Rules: Teams of two must compete in a game of tug of war. Each team stands on opposites sides, holding the rope. The goal is to pull your opponents into the pit. However lets go of the rope first or falls loses the game.

Looking around, another duo seemed ready to go. "Hey Torchwood, you should play with us! Give us someone that might last more than minute!," one of the babs shouted at him.

Torchwood smiled, "Love to! Uh.. I just need a team mate. Hold on." His yellow eyes looked around the playground for someone who was free. It seemed like everyone was already pared up, or doing something else. Everyone, except one black babben all on his own. "What about him?" Torchwood pointed.

The other two babs laughed, knowing that the black colt would be a push over. "HIM? That wussy, prissy one? He sits near me in math, there is no way he's be into this game. He's too 'delicate'".

The unicorn however, saw this as an opportunity, a challenge to get the boy to play; maybe he just never tried it? How would you know it was awesome, if you never played? "Nah, he'll be fine!" So, without hesitation, Torchwood approached the black pegasus.

Biblioburro

Don't mind me, just writing in a note:
Royal We - Laughter
Torchwood - Kindness

 

[Biblioburro]

Athletic Day, the worst day ever. Granted, Royal had a very small pool of days to be pulling his worst days ever from, and the time he got gum in his hair was certainly up there, but kids were to melodrama as cream cheese was to bagels. Peas in the dramatic, kiddy pod.

School itself wasn't exactly Royal's favorite place, but at the very least he could shine his hooves when he was supposed to be doing math. Athletic day dropped him smack dab in the middle of all the things he hated. Dirt, bugs, grass stains, screaming kids, and at least twelve different ways to trip over his own hair. He had tried, valiantly, to play sick in order to avoid school today. However, "tried" was the most important part of that statement. His parents had not been convinced.

So instead he was faking an upset stomach under the shade of a tree. Safe from all the dust and the scrapes- not safe however from the bugs. Every brush of grass against his legs felt like a swarm of ants crawling over his skin. Nature sucked. Outside was the worst. Why was everyone else acting like this was the best day of their lives when Royal was outright miserable. Maybe they would understand when they finally stopped acting like little kids.

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Biblioburro

Cautiously, Torchwood approached the black colt under the tree. He looked at him curiously for a minute, wondering why he seemed to keep twitching about every time there was light breeze and rustling of the grass. The kid seemed.. a little bit weird, but nothing that the unicorn didn't think he could deal with. "Uh... excuse me? " He said it lightly at first, not wanting to really disturb him. "We need a forth, would you like to play?"  

[Biblioburro]

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His eyes trailed over to the two waiting by the rope and the massive pool of mud. Then they flicked back to the unicorn who had asked him to join, regarding all three with the exact same amount of disdain. "Maybe." It was said with the same tone as he would have used for an outright 'no'. They may have considered grabbing a dirty rope and sweating all day to be a blast, but they weren't dragging him into it. No way, no how.  

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Biblioburro

Maybe?... Maybe? What was with that maybe!? Torchwood looked puzzled for moment, why would anyone not want to play tug of war, and just sit there instead. Perhaps this was a trick, that there was some secret or deformity that the bab was hiding. Cursed by a warlock to be a dull bump on a log perhaps even.

"Maybe? That's not very definitive. I think a yes or no will do. Unless... there's some reason you can't?" Torchwood's eyes narrowed as he curiously looked at Royal, he didn't look like a monster, or like he was radioactive. What gives. The unicorn shuffled around a little, checking the angels to see if there was something, anything to explain the answer of a 'maybe'.  

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Was 'too good looking to play' an option? If he had a choice in what he rather be doing, it was definitely lounging on a piano and being hand-fed grapes by beautiful ponies. Or maybe braiding his father's hair. Productive stuff like that.

But if Torchwood wanted a reason, he would get a reason. "The truth is... I'm deathly sick!" He'd get Royal dramatically flinging himself to the ground, a hoof cast over his eyes in dismay. "It's a degenerative flesh eating virus, the more I play the more it will consume me. Please, go play on your own, while you still can." Thank you soap operas. Neighs Of Our Lives had singlehandedly carried him through many a personal struggle, now if only Rainbow Shine could finally learn that her love Monochrome Dreams was still alive.  

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Biblioburro

A disease!? The unicorn's eyes widen, as he wondered what the problem could be, and took a very subtle step backwards, in case it was catching. But as Royal described the illness, Torchwood's mental bullshit detector went off. "Oh I think I heard of that one, a special aired on the nightly news about it. But I heard the cure is constant activity, once you get going and sweat it out, you're cured!"

Inching closer, he went to touch his hoof to Royal's head, an act of caring, just in case the bab really was sick, he thought it prudent to see if there was fever, and if so get him some medical attention. "You don't seem very sick though, let me see."  

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He would have gotten away with it too, were it not for you meddling kids and your keen bullshit detection. Royal immediately reared back when the hoof entered his personal bubble. It was not clean and thus would not be touching his face. Not happening, not now, not ever.

"Well would you look at that, I've made a miraculous recovery. So now you can stay over there where you're not touching me." He was so kind to even draw a line in the dirt to separate the two of them. Then immediately regret it because there was dirt on his hooves.  

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Biblioburro

"Great! If you're cured, then you can play, no excuses not too." Torchwood waited there eagerly... but if he was going to wait for Royal We to move from his spot, Torchwood was likely going to have to wait hours. He had the patience of a saint though, "when you are ready... unless..."

Torchwood paused in his sentence, as a thought popped into his head. This phony wasn't afraid was he? "You aren't chicken to play a little game, are you?"  

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Patient and stubborn weren't good mixes. Royal We planned on staying in his patch of grass until the teachers set them free and he could go home and take a nice long bath. And nothing Torchwood did or said would change that.

"Your goading is real cute, but I have no investment in what you think of me, and no desire to play your dumb game. Now shoo... off with... you..." Nothing Torchwood did would move him, but the spider crawling over his leg would have him rocketing up and latching immediately onto the other foal. "Oh gee, I'm suddenly and for no reason feeling a lot more charitable. What was it you wanted to do again?"  

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Biblioburro

Gently, he nudged the other colt off of him, shaking his head in disbelief that he had gone from 0 to 60. Beggars can't be choosers though, and he smiled wide at Royal's sudden willingness to play. "Great! So we're doing tug of war."

There was no going back, Torchwood walked alongside Royal We, guiding him towards the mud pit and the awaiting opposition. "I got 'im! We can play." He was like a hero, returning triumphant to his home toting his spoils of war.

Turning to Royal, he briefly explained what the had to do. He grabbed their end of the rope and passed it to him, "so, you hold this, and they have their end. Both team pull, and the goal is either have the other team let go first or fall into the mud pit. We're pretty strong though right?" Torchwood winked, trying to play up their strength, though he was very uncertain of Royal's abilities at it. It was better to be nice, than to tease him or accidentally say something that would hurt his feelings. "We'll definitely win this, no worries."  

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I don't know if it's intentional or not but your avi makes me think of Willow Wisp rn

Royal was given a choice, either go along with whatever it was this foal had been asking of him, or stick around with the hellspawn just waiting to bite him and drain all his blood or whatever it was spiders did when they weren't just generally being awful.

He wasn't quite as positive as Torchwood was pretending to be. He could see an astounding loss in their future, which was another one of the many reasons why he didn't play these kinds of games. He never had to deal with losing if he never played. If anything, Torch's can-do attitude almost made Royal want to shove him into the mud a little. Kind of like how he always wanted to tease his brother.

"It's really hard to tell if you believe what you're saying or if you're working the denial angle. But, I said I would join you, and like heck I'm going anywhere near that mud. So you better not be all talk." He gripped onto the rope and ready for an epic battle of playground proportions.  

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Biblioburro

IT IS! It's my 'Wisp at her parents' wedding' avvie. I have a few wisp avvies o uo

" We'll find out soon enough, I guess?" He chuckled to himself. It wasn't meant to be menacing in any way, but Torchwood couldn't see the future. The colt was just glad to be playing.

" Ready!" He shouted, to mark that the countdown could begin. The opposing team shouted back and then the count down began. " 1! 2 ! 3! GO!"

Torchwood held on tight, using his hind feet to brace the ground as he pulled back as hard as he could.  

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It's a very good avi, wisp is very pretty in all forms

Royal dug in, pulling at the rope with all his strength. It wasn't a considerable amount of strength. Even flapping his wings to gain some sort of leverage. Anything to keep the both of them clean and dry.

"Hey!" The word was grit through clenched teeth, nearly all of his focus was directed at trying to overpower the opposition. "Tell me your name. I need something to scream angrily when we lose." His hooves were shoving up small piles of dirt as he was pulled closer to the middle.  

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Biblioburro

thank you <3

The muffled shout of his team mate made Torchwood loose his focus. "Huh?" He titled his head to look at his team mate. "Oh, I'm Torchwood!"

As he spoke, the rope slipped and he completely lost his grip. This started a chain reaction, as the two boys tumbled forward.