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 Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 9:10 pm
Harland didn't mean to make Alistaire bear the full weight of how much he cared; he'd never been able to help it. Maybe that was why people hated him so much, when he was a kid. The way he'd relied on them, the way he looked at people like he thought they could never hurt him. The desire they felt to kick him when he was down just because of the adoring look.
Growing up hadn't changed much; no matter how many times someone tried to prove him wrong, Harland had a white-knuckled grip on his optimism, and he truly believed that people could be brilliant. That Alistaire was brilliant, and he wasn't sure why Alistaire himself couldn't see the good in him. He took the compliment with a huge smile, as if Alistaire'd just given him the highest praise, even though it was such a little thing to him: his memory was one of his only two gifts, after all.
"A bit o' both," he said, stretching. "I've always been able to remember pretty much anythin' in perfect detail, but it gets to be too much, an' I have trouble organizin' all I know. I'm not the fastest at processin', ye ken?" He joked, taking a jab at himself. "Growin' up meant learnin' how to store what I knew, an' I started to draw to keep it all organized an' out where other people could see it."
Harland was thinking, lost deep in his memories again, when he felt Alistaire's hand run under his jaw, across his face. Harland's gunmetal green eyes widened, then the soft smile came back to his face. His skin was red. He pushed up to his feet, and summoned Coyote again. "As you wish, Alistaire," he said, a tone somewhere between serious and joking. A tone that sounded like he was saying my liege.
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kuropeco rolled 2 8-sided dice:
5, 7
Total: 12 (2-16)
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2014 9:17 pm
Alistaire did not hate Harland Leander Belle.
He'd been disdainful at first; openly dismissive and condescending, as was his nature. But the more time they spent together, the more time Alistaire realized the depth of him; and the startling need that he felt for the man sitting across from him was terrifying and overwhelming. His entire mind felt as though it were at war with himself, trying desperately to fight a losing battle.
Alistaire was not even really attempting to keep his distance from Harland anymore because there was little point to it now.
"You've grown up well enough as it is," said Alistaire lightly as he stood, tugging at his gloves so that he wouldn't be distracted again by the flush of color that had crossed Harland's face, by the warmth he could feel emanating from him even just standing beside him. The desire to move closer was terribly strong, but Alistaire pushed it away, instead gesturing for Harland to follow him.
Once inside again, the darkness swallowed them, and Alistaire could see the dozens of eyes staring back at him, the low growls of the shadowlings as they crept closer. There was a soft clink as the chains of his weapon fell across the ground, and Alistaire took advantage of the near blackness to shift closer to Harland, tilting up to whisper in his ear.
"Let us head back into the den of monsters, Mr. Belle, and see how long we shall last for your prize."
Then he was off, the daggers whistling as he lunged straight into the cluster of shadowlings.Status Wave: 1 Attack Dmg: 6 Total Shadowlings taken out: 6 Recoveries left: 1
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Face your demons rolled 2 8-sided dice:
8, 7
Total: 15 (2-16)
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 6:40 pm
Harland hadn't expected anything from Alistaire when they'd first met. In fact, he had pretty much assumed Alistaire would never speak to him again, not after Ian had to help carry him off. Ian hadn't looked like he was in terribly good health then, either.
And yet here they were.
It was strange for Harland to have side by side images of Alistaire before and after in his memory: Alistaire, as he'd looked when he hissed insults at Harland; Alistaire, as he complimented him and gestured for Harland to follow him. He was lost in his thoughts as Alistaire led him back into the shadow run. He flexed his gauntlet-clad fingers automatically, following each step to where they were in his memory. Each lesson, each moment.
Harland couldn't help the fact that the more he was with Alistaire, the more he loved him. The more he wanted Alistaire to find the good in himself.
It was from within those memories that he felt Alistaire whisper near his ear, tilted up, shifted so close. Harland's throat caught and he felt his heart race. "Not so bad, if 'm with you," he said, quietly.
Harland smiled, terribly enthusiastic about the prospect of prizes. He took a chunk out of the shadowlings again, sweeping his hookshot cable across their path, and taking it back quickly. He would be more careful where he aimed, this time... it only took seconds to be overwhelmed.Status Wave: 1 Attack Dmg: 9 Total Shadowlings taken out: 6 [Alistaire] + 9 [Harland] = 15 Total Recoveries left: 0
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kuropeco rolled 2 8-sided dice:
3, 2
Total: 5 (2-16)
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 3:58 pm
He was not going to admit that he was looking forward to whatever prizes he was going to give Harland, Alistaire much preferring to be the one in control, the one who held the reigns to whatever exactly their relationship was. It was not a friendship, really, and it was not a romantic relationship, at least not by conventional standards. Harland was, most certainly, a romantic, but Alistaire had never been romantic in his life; he could not simply start just like that. Business partner sounded terribly awkward and not true at all, though he did admit they were partners in one way or another.
There was really no good word for what Harland Leander Belle was to Alistaire except needed.
Harland's next shot cleared several of the shadowlings, and Alistaire glanced at him, a slightly amused expression on his face as he said, "You've certainly grown enthusiastic. What if your prize is just a box top from a cereal box?"
One of the shadowlings latched onto the chains of his daggers, yanking him forward several steps, but Alistaire dragged it back, forcing it to let go. He stumbled into Harland unintentionally, letting out a hiss of annoyance as he straightened his vest.
"Damn things are relentless, aren't they?"Status Wave: 2 Attack Dmg: 0 omg Total Shadowlings taken out: 15 (combined) Recoveries left: 0 using
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Face your demons rolled 2 8-sided dice:
2, 4
Total: 6 (2-16)
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 4:05 pm
It was a good thing that Harland didn’t mind relinquishing control. In a way, it was a constant trust exercise: Harland had put his hand in Alistaire’s, and said I don’t mind where you take me, but let’s go together. At this point, resisting would have been a lost cause. He just didn’t want to. He wanted to be with Alistaire, not all the time, but when he was with him Harland was noticeably happier. Harland hadn’t really been romantic with other people very often; it didn’t work out that way, not for him. More often than not, though, he just hadn’t been interested in anyone at all.
Perhaps that was why it had taken so long for Harland to realize he was only into men. It was so rare for him to fall in love with anyone in a meaningful way, because he liked pretty much everyone and no one really stood out. Alistaire stood out, he could definitely say that, no matter what mood he was in. Alistaire was the only one like him he’d ever met.
"Will ye at least autograph it for me, in that case?" Harland joked, grinning, "so I can frame it."
Harland reached up his arms again to catch Alistaire, resisting the urge to carry him off somewhere dark to kiss him until he was breathless. The urge was incredibly overpowering. And this mirrored what had happened before, almost perfectly, which made Harland apprehensive.
"They are, yeah. I wonder what drives ‘em?" he asked, and before he even thought twice about it he had deployed his hookshot into the surging crowds again.
This time, he realized much earlier what he’d done. He tried to whip it back towards him before he was caught, and he succeeded, but he’d been so distracted he didn’t notice the shadowling slipping its thin, long, dark fingers around his ankles and suddenly there were tens of them on him, pulling him down. Harland swore in Irish, voice muffled by the shadowlings.
"Banter in battle is above me, I suspect," would be the first thing he’d say, upon awakening. Perhaps the sun run was a little above the trainee’s threshold. By this point, he was covered in little bite marks and scratches, and bruised in several places. All he wanted was a warm bath to soothe his sore body.Status Wave: 2 Attack Dmg: 0 LOL MISS gdi Total Shadowlings taken out: 6 [Alistaire] + 9 [Harland] = 15 Total Recoveries left: 0
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Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 12:59 pm
He felt Harland's hands on his arms to stabilize him and jolts of mingled anxiety and pleasure rippled up and down Alistaire's spine. He straightened himself out, his face flushing, and tried to ignore the way his breath seemed to catch in his throat, the nervousness that had suddenly pervaded his senses.
There were one or two more stabs managed with the knives before Harland was overtaken again; and this time it was not as frightening, Alistaire sucking in a sharp breath as the shadowlings swarmed. He dived towards them, dragging several off, but it was with the help of an aide that stepped in that Harland was pulled out of the area and back into the room.
And of course Alistaire followed, because he was not about to attempt the trial on his own.
"Is it now?" he said when Harland awoke, groggy and bruised. Alistaire closed his book slowly, and once again they were alone in the room, the only sound that of their own voices. Alistaire turned to look at him, his expression inscrutable.
"Did you want to try once more?" he asked lightly. "They say the third time's the charm, after all. Or...I think you have made significant enough effort to claim a prize now, should you wish."
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Face your demons rolled 2 8-sided dice:
2, 5
Total: 7 (2-16)
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 11:32 pm
If nothing else, catching Alistaire when he was driven backwards by some force or another made Harland feel particularly pleased with the Sun division's training run. The way he smiled, when Alistaire couldn't see him, was something else: it wasn't the brilliance of his normal smile, no; it was like seeing straight down to the bottom of the well that was Harland's heart. Straight into the bottom, where he kept all his affection for Alistaire until he could use it.
Harland, having fallen unconscious and woken up again, was so glad to see Alistaire's face. He was still a little groggy, as he sat up again and reached out as if he was about to cup Alistaire's face, letting his hand fall before he got too far. He was looking at Alistaire with an amused smile, faintly bewildered. "Thought you were a dream, for a second there," he said, quietly.
"Let's try one more time, see if I can't be even more worthy of that prize," he added, steadying himself as he rose to his feet, heading back in, making sure Alistaire was by his side. After all, if they weren't together, it lost the point to it.Status Wave: 1 Attack Dmg: 1 Total Shadowlings taken out: 1 lol. Recoveries left: 0
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kuropeco rolled 2 8-sided dice:
3, 1
Total: 4 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 3:53 pm
It was a relief whenever Harland awoke, mostly because it meant there wasn't anything seriously wrong with him. There were bruises, yes, and maybe a scratch here and there, but considering the faster rate at which they all healed now that they were hunters, it was merely something trivial.
Which gave Alistaire some quiet reassurance, though he'd never admit it.
Harland's hand reached towards him and for a moment Alistaire froze, his chest tightening - but then the hand was lowered, and he wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel disappointment or relief. Either way, there was a strange look on Harland's face that Alistaire wasn't quite certain he liked.
"What sort of nonsense is that?" he asked lightly as he stood up again, waiting for Harland to do the same. "I'm more the type to appear in nightmares, I like to think, but the sentiment is appreciated all the same."
He paused for a moment and then reached out, very lightly touching his gloved fingers to Harland's shoulders before they fell away again and he went resolutely back into the darkness, summoning his weapon without a word.
He was not going to mention that he thought Harland was already worthy of a prize, merely for attempting three times in a row.Status Wave: 1 Attack Dmg: 0 Total Shadowlings taken out: 1 (Harland) Recoveries left: 0 using
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Face your demons rolled 2 8-sided dice:
7, 6
Total: 13 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 5:13 pm
It was a relief to Harland to see Alistaire there every time he woke. It made it more than worth it, for the swell of terror that overcame him instinctively when the shadowlings had overwhelmed him and he was plunged into darkness-- Just to see Alistaire's face when he woke erased that nightmare from his mind. Remembered it, sure, but the painful ties were severed and it was just Alistaire.
Just Harland and Alistaire.
"Maybe," Harland said, running a hand through his hair, when Alistaire suggested that he liked to think he was the type in Nightmares. Harland was thinking: if Alistaire was in my nightmares, it would be because I was dreaming of losing him to something. Zombies, natural disasters, death, disease-- the only way he could see Alistaire in a nightmare of his own was if that nightmare was trying to take him away.
Harland wouldn't say as much aloud. He smiled as Alistaire touched his shoulder, glancing back at Alistaire briefly before concentrating again.
He intended to concentrate this time.Status Wave: 2 Attack Dmg: 7 Total Shadowlings taken out: 8 Recoveries left: 0
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kuropeco rolled 2 8-sided dice:
8, 5
Total: 13 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:48 pm
He knew that Harland, with his endless optimism that was simultaneously aggravating and amusing all at once, would not understand when Alistaire said he was more of a nightmare than a dream. But there was no possible way in which Alistaire could see himself as anything but something negative.
He closed the subject easily with Harland's maybe, dragging out the knives and letting the familiar clink of the chains fill his ears. Harland's next strike was dead on, a few shadowlings shrieking as they went flying, and Alistaire turned his head to give Harland a smirk.
"I see you've got your strength back full throttle," he said, as he spun the knives, stabbing several shadowlings in quick succession. "Impressive, Mr. Belle."Status Wave: 1 Attack Dmg: 7 Total Shadowlings taken out: 8 (Harland) 7 (Alistaire) = 15 Recoveries left: 0
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Face your demons rolled 2 8-sided dice:
7, 2
Total: 9 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:50 pm
How was it, Harland wondered often, that Alistaire could be so kind to him despite his own fears and yet Alistaire still considered himself to be irredeemable?
Harland didn't think, in some ways, they were all that different. Him and Alistaire. It was just that something inside Alistaire had been shut away, and instead Harland had opened up. As if it was raining, and Alistaire had opted to find shelter, while Harland had decided he'd rather learn to like the rain and stand outside.
Harland would probably die first in that analogy, because it wasn't terribly smart. Still, he couldn't stand being locked up all his life. Harland didn't want that for Alistaire; didn't want the pain to crystallize even worse, to become so much a part of him that these moments of kindness were no longer present.
So long as Alistaire could be kind to him, he thought, there would always be hope. Harland figured it was pretty easy to get frustrated with him; after all, he was so slow sometimes, and didn't seem to be bothered by overly much. In fact, he just wasn't, it wasn't an act.
And yet Alistaire had this way of affecting him above and beyond his normal levels. "It's important to keep my body in good health, too; constitution's as important as mental acuity, to me," he replied seriously, before idly swiping at some more shadowlings cautiously, punching with his gauntletted fist rather than casting the cable out into the dark again.
With a smile, he added, "And thank you. That was pretty impressive yourself, but I'm sure ye know as much." He nodded his head out into the slew of Shadowlings Alistaire'd felled, same as he had. Status Wave: 2 Attack Dmg: 7 Total Shadowlings taken out: 8 [ Harland] + 7 [Alistaire] = 15 Recoveries left: 0
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kuropeco rolled 2 8-sided dice:
3, 2
Total: 5 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:11 pm
There were vastly different in many ways - most notably Harland's enthusiasm and optimism for life versus Alistaire's disdain and negativity towards it - but sometimes there seemed to be moments in which their minds were almost similar; and it was at these moments that Alistaire felt the most comfortable around Harland, even if that comfort was tainted by anxiety and indecision.
"Your body looks fine the way it is," Alistaire said without thinking, and then immediately flushed a vibrant shade of scarlet, his mouth slightly agape. He snapped his jaw shut and stabbed one of the shadowlings through the chest. it squealed and shrieked and then fell silent, dissipating quickly, and Alistaire stood back up, his chest tight.
"It's dark in here; my eyesight must be lower than average," he muttered; his distraction, unfortunately, proved to be his downfall in this case, and it was Alistaire this time, not Harland, that was overtaken by a swarm of shadowlings.
He would come to later, in the little side room, with their positions most likely reversed; Alistaire the one in the bed this time with Harland on the chair, if he chose to sit there. Status Wave: 3 Attack Dmg: Total Shadowlings taken out: 10 (Harland) 7 (Alistaire) = 17 Recoveries left: 0
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 11:46 pm
Alistaire had this way of completely disarming Harland with each and every compliment, no matter how offhand or quick it was. This one was no exception. When Harland looked back at Alistaire, he was equally red in the face. His skin grew even hotter as he thought about Alistaire's demand that he kiss no one else. "Eyesight in the dark, lower 'n average?" Harland asked, trying not to laugh at that assertion.
His amusement was short-lived, as this time Alistaire was overtaken. He was reduced to ripping them off of Alistaire and hurling them into the swarm by the time the Hunter overseeing the Sun run had appeared to help them.
"It's a lot more stressful when you're the unconscious one," Harland admitted quietly, sitting in the chair that Alistaire had indeed occupied. He didn't have a book with him. He had just been sitting, fretting, the entire time. His hands were clasped together. He looked incredibly tired. The exhaustion of the attempts was beginning to get to him, now that he'd felt the terror of potentially losing Alistaire to the dark.
"Time for food, and then home to rest?" Harland suggested, running a hand through his hair.
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:05 am
"Don't worry," Alistaire grumbled in annoyance as he sat up, sliding his legs over the side of the bed. He didn't stand up yet, though, instead pressing a gloved hand to his forehead and then slowly letting it drop back down to his lap. His gaze flicked towards Harland's exhausted face, and Alistaire couldn't help but notice the weariness seeming to lay on him.
Alistaire stood up and looked around, his gaze narrowing slightly. They were alone. There were no windows in this room, just a simple room with a few beds for resting.
He stepped forward, between Harland's legs, and Alistaire had leaned down, pressing his lips carefully against Harland's forehead in a brief kiss, his breath shaking. He pulled back extremely quickly, his face flushed, and stepped away, moving towards the door.
"Are you coming, Mr. Belle?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:34 am
Harland's concern eased up significantly when Alistaire grumbled. It basically reassured Harland that if he was well enough to grumble, he would be alright. Some of the tension and exhaustion eased from Harland's body and face just seeing Alistaire rise. He was about to stand up, to join him, when Alistaire stepped between his legs and leaned down, kissing his forehead.
Somewhere there could have been a Hunter walking by, at any moment. Somewhere there had been people. And Alistaire was kissing his forehead. Harland blushed furiously, and he felt his heart catch in his throat again. Alistaire was so good at that, how was he so good at it?
Harland stood up, wordlessly. "When you call? Always," Harland joked.
Except he knew that he meant it. He knew that so long as Alistaire needed him, wanted him at all, he'd be there-- no matter what it cost him, what the odds were, what sacrifices it would take, Harland would stand by Alistaire and he'd catch him every time he fell. Harland didn't understand how this had happened, and he was a little surprised by how easily he'd repsond to Alistaire's commands or requests.
He was willing to let Alistaire call the shots. That wasn't something Harland normally felt comfortable with in any capacity, much less whatever kind of relationship they had.
And Harland couldn't help but think that if his whole prize was that kiss, every second was worth it.
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