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 Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 8:55 pm
65. Bully
"You had five bucks yesterday."
Robert stared eye to eye with the thin, bespectacled young man. It was only because he was being held by the straps of his overburdened backpack, three feet from the ground.
"Where's the last dollar?" There were three other boys behind him, leaning in to try and look threatening. He didn't need the support.
"I m-must have dropped it-"
Robert dropped him, in response. "I don't like being lied to, Jerry. You sure you aren't holding back on me?" The boy shook his head, and Robert dropped down to crouch in front of him. His face broke out into a shockingly wide smile.
"Just bring six dollars tomorrow to make up for it, okay buddy? I think that's fair." He reached out and rubbed a hand in Jerry's hair. The boy flinched.
"You got my math homework though, right? I mean, being a dollar short's no big deal, but if you forgot my math homework-"
"OF COURSE-"Jerry's voice cracked and squeaked, quick to assure him that he'd done what he was told. The booklet with answers (written messily to help it look like it was Robert's work) was handed over.
"Damn, Jerry. You're the best. You're like, my best friend. Thanks buddy!" He patted the boy on the shoulder, and stood up straight, walking away to thumb through the booklet. He didn't understand a word of it - but it all looked legit.
The boys who'd been standing behind him carted Jerry off, and deposited him in Marmaton River.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:12 am
19. Trust
Many people had loved Robert, and made him feel special, in his lifetime. There'd been countless moments where he'd been made to feel like he was cared for. But this - this was different, somehow. This was special. This was something so permanent, so absolutely fantastical, that he'd been stunned wordlessly for so long.
She wanted to put a microchip in him.
Mimsy explained it in the perfect wordy way she explained everything, and his heart shuddered with hope. She wanted to protect him - watch over him - keep tabs on him. She wanted to make sure he was always safe. Mimsy. And what's more, he knew that she must have loved him, because she wanted to do the same thing to the only other person in her life that mattered.
Mimsy loved him.
That was all he got out of the request. There was no question of her motive, or whether he would ever doubt that she had the best of intentions. To him, this was her wedding gift. And he felt a great swell of shame to realize he'd never be able to top something so thoughtful as that.
He'd asked her if she could do something similar, so he could watch over her. In the end, she'd agreed to something a lot less invasive than what he was about to do to himself - because he knew exactly where to inject the gun to place the microchip in without injury or internal problems. So he absolutely did it to himself, and he pressed the spot on his skin that immediately healed over due to Jezebel's shield. He took a little pen, and wrote a little X there.
For later.
This was better than rings and weddings and pointless pieces of paper (and again, the shame overwhelmed him - he was so useless.)
This was forever.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:37 pm
70. Hero
He refused to make it a habit, but he always made a point of checking up on her when he was on leave for some other reason. Renee was living a quiet, gentle life - and he did what he could to make sure of it. This included staying as far away from her as possible, despite his desperate need to watch over her.
This time, she was in the park again - and she was attempting to play fetch with her cat. Cats did not appreciate the joy of fetch, however, and every time she threw the ball out, she had to go and get it herself.
She threw the ball too hard, and it bounced over the fence, out of sight. Lost to her.
Except it soared right back over the wooden fence again, bouncing playfully until it rolled on the floor and stopped at her feet. She picked it up, and craned her head to look over the fence, but whoever had gotten her ball back for her was gone.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:42 pm
71. Villain
Except he wasn't. Not really. He'd just hopped over the fence and got out of her view before she could see that it was him who'd gotten her ball back. She had no idea, and he was safe.
But he was also closer. Too close.
Something nipped at her neck. She batted it away, slapping the skin until she couldn't feel it anymore. But it persisted, beckoning her to turn, and look. Towards him. Towards it. Towards them. She heard the familiar whispers, and her eyes grew wide.
Robert saw them gathering around her, and whispered one, heartbroken word.
"Run."
He never got to see if she'd gotten away safely, but he'd taken their attention away from her, and put up a glorious fight for as long as he could. They could tear him to shreds, as long as she was safe.
But she wasn't safe around him. He'd needed another reminder.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:48 pm
5. Love
He'd never had trouble sleeping before he had her. Now, sleep came only if he felt her in his arms. Without her, he tossed and turned and struggled with the way his skin felt raw. He couldn't accept how hard it had become, and he hardly let her sleep anywhere else.
He woke up, because he knew she would be there. His skin was warmer, always, and she needed his warmth. He touched her, held her, kissed her, showed her, and in this way he loved her. His heartbeat responded to every intake of her breath, and in the sound of its beats she would hear the proof that he was never going to give up. He'd been made for her - not because of her, just for her.
In this way, he knew that loving her was right. Because it was the only logical conclusion.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:57 pm
79. Love
He visited his old room more often, now. He found things that had once burned to touch and look at, and felt completion and resignation now. It didn't hurt to sit in the middle of that room and remember the past, because it, like she, had made him. Every step had been important. And good. So good.
He knew he was where he needed to be, but Petra was still there, waiting for a final resolution. He knew it would never come. No one would even tell him if she was still alive. So instead, he said his goodbyes to an empty room, because he knew that even if she was safe, she would never want to see him again.
And she deserved that. She deserved a lot more than that, but that was all he had left to give her. So he gave it.
And in this way, he knew that he loved her. And he knew that it would never be enough again.
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