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 Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:34 pm
”Righteous honor thing?” Michael repeated, still frowning but not scowling as harshly as he had been earlier. “Just because I have the name doesn’t mean I’m a saint or angel, you know,” he half joked, although it was dead pan humor at best. He waited until Remus took his offered hand, before shifting closer and leaning down enough to help get Remus’s arm over his shoulder, hoisting him up so he didn’t have to put as much weight on his leg as they made their way to the stairs.
“You talk too much,” he pointed out when Remus explained that he just lied to talk, maybe. “You trust too much. You’re going to get yourself killed. How will you help anyone, then?” Michael wondered, taking it slow as he helped Remus towards the stairs, and then carefully removed his arm from over his shoulders as he helped him to sit down.
“Let me look,” he insisted, kneeling down in front of him so he could work on taking off Remus’s ankle boot thing. “It could be worse than you think, and you shouldn’t be putting pressure on it, regardless of how bad it is.”
There were a few moments where he wondered why he cared, or maybe it wasn’t a matter of caring, but a way to ease his own guilty conscious and make up for his own failures. Settling on the latter of the two options, Michael tugged at the young man’s pant leg as well, trying to see where he was injured and how bad the swelling was.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:44 pm
"Aha," said Remus, a grin now spreading across his face. He looped his arm around Michael's shoulder with some help, half stumbling as he pushed away from the wall. "There we go, a nice joke. That takes years off of your face, you know."
He winced as he pressed too hard onto his foot and said, "But no, that wasn't what I meant. I meant that you have this whole...duty thing about you, you know. You seem like the kinda guy who'd do the right thing. 'Course that means you could possibly be Negaverse, come to think of it," Remus added, tapping his finger to his chin.
He limped along beside Michael until they reached the stairs and then eased himself down onto the topmost step, letting out a breath of relief. "That's better. And I'm not gonna get myself killed. I can't die yet."
Remus tilted his head sideways and rested it against the metal banister of the steps, sticking out his leg surprisingly obediently for Michael to take a look at. It hurt just taking off the damn boot, and he bit back a hiss of pain, wrapping fingers around the metal next to him.
It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it still looked somewhat nasty.
"Think I'll be able to keep the leg?" Remus joked, though there was a faint tiredness to his voice.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:05 pm
”Are you calling me old?” Michael purposefully scowled more prominently than before. He couldn’t hold the expression for long though, and let out a breath as he lifted Remus’s leg up to rest against his own knee. “Although, compared to you, I probably am old.” He knew it wasn’t exactly what Remus meant, and he was sure that he really did look much older than he really was, but looking at someone as young as Remus was made it easier to reflect on his own life.
Michael prodded at the swollen ankle for a little bit, pressing his fingers against various places of the joint, and taking hold of Remus’s foot to try and rotate his ankle just enough to check for any breaks. Luckily it did seem as though it were just a sprain, but could cause him a lot of pain if he wasn’t careful and didn’t take care of it.
“I think the leg will be fine,” he said, wishing he did have something to wrap his ankle in until he could get home. “You’ll probably never be able to play the violin again, though.” Just like the time before, he didn’t smile, but instead said it with a completely straight face. “You will need to put this on ice as soon as you get home. Give me your sash,” he continued, pointing to the fabric around Remus’s waist. “It’ll be good enough for a little while.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:15 pm
He almost managed to mask the sharp intake of breath as Michael shifted his foot, but not quite, a wince passing across his face. Remus gripped the railing a little more securely and lifted his face to the sky, letting out a slightly strained laugh.
"Everything gets better with age, right?" he said. "Like a fine wine."
He lowered his head and grinned. "You're not old, though. Older than me, sure, but not old. And I wouldn't even peg you as that much older than me, anyway."
The rotation of his foot really did have him hissing this time, and Remus tilted his head sideways, deliberately smacking his forehead against the railing to keep from squawking ungracefully. He lifted it back up a moment later, a laugh escaping him.
"Well, at least my violin career was over before it started," he deadpanned, amused at the straight face. Remus reached around and tugged at his sash, shifting to undo it until it was finally sliding free. He held it out towards Michael.
"Ice, yessir officer."
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:42 pm
Michael wasn’t oblivious to the hisses and winces of pain, and how it was obviously uncomfortable for Remus. It wasn’t that he was trying to hurt him. He just wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything else that needed attention. From what he could tell, it was just general swelling from a sprain, thankfully.
“Please, you can’t be even out of high school,” he commented about his age, expecting Remus to be in his teens. “That’ll put me at a good ten years over you.”
He held out his hand for the sash as it was handed to him, only to stare, dumbfounded at Remus. Surely he had to be imagining things, but no one called him ‘officer’ except for the one time. That other kid. The one with the spray paint.
“Caspian,” he said as a statement rather than a question, recalling the name easily. Michael felt the muscles in his jaw tighten and his shoulders tense. After a long moment, he finally gripped the sash that had been placed in his hand, and lowered his gaze to work on tying it around his foot and ankle, wanting to give it more stability. He didn’t say anything else though.
He planned on getting up and leaving as soon as he was done. He knew he had a bad feeling about all this.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:51 pm
He turned his head away from the railing and rested his temple against the cool metal, grinning in spite of himself.
"Two years out of high school, for your information," said Remus. "I turn twenty in a month."
He had dropped the sash into Michael's outstretched hand, the yessir officer coming out without conscious thought. Remus's brows drew together as he tried to gauge why he was being stared at so blatantly, and a teasing comment was on the tip of his tongue before -
"Caspian."
The smile slid from Remus's face.
s**t. s**t.
s**t ******** s**t.
"Uh." He said, slightly nervously, and sat up straight, wincing. "Look, uh - it's not what it looks like. I mean," he amended. "It's pretty almost exactly what it looks like, but I swear I wasn't like, yanking your chain or anything, I really did get into a fight and, well..."
Remus trailed off, hands resting on the step he was sitting on, fingers curled over the edge of it.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:01 pm
”You might as well power down,” Michael said, his eyes turned icy and voice harder than it had been for the past several minutes, but unlike before, there was no emotion behind it. There were already too many people involved in this ridiculous war between the White Moon and the Negaverse, and now this teenager was getting beaten up instead of vandalizing property with silly spray painted stars.
He continued with the wrappings for Caspian’s ankle, although it was probably a bit harsher than he would have just earlier. He didn’t care that Caspian was a senshi. He didn’t care that he was hiding it from him. He would be a hypocrite if he did. He was angry that Caspian would run the risk of getting himself killed and also because he was far too trusting, which could cause slips like that.
Had he actually been a Negaverse officer, Caspian would probably have ended up corrupted or killed.
“I’m calling you a cab,” he added, moving the foot off his knee and setting it gently on the ground, before then digging out his cellphone so he could try and find a taxi service that didn’t seem too sketchy. He didn’t even bother responding to anything the other said.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:08 pm
There was a moment's pause in which Remus just stared at him - and then, with a resigned sigh, powered down. The guise of his senshi form faded away revealing Caspian himself seated on the steps, dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a bright blue hoodie.
"Michael - " He started to say, but Michael wasn't listening to him, continuing to wrap his ankle without a second glance. The tightness of the fabric made Caspian wince, but he didn't complain, just waited it out until it was done and had stepped away.
He was uncharacteristically silent while Michael was pressing buttons on his phone, Caspian sitting with his hands in his lap. After a moment, however, he said, with a mixture of curiosity and something else not quite discernible,
"Why are you so angry? I'm doing the best I can."
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:22 pm
There was part of him that wondered if he should let Caspian know that he knew him as Sessrumnir as well, but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. He, unlike Caspian and many others, actually wanted to protect their identity. He still had nightmares of a future that would hopefully never come to pass, and it was compromised identities that caused the most problems.
As for why he was angry… Michael paused and closed his eyes. He couldn’t quite put his finger on the exact reason why he was angry. Maybe because of how much Caspian was risking his life, especially after Remus helped him with his wounds during the recent battle that took place in Negaspace. Maybe it was because he could understand where Caspian was coming from, how he wanted to try and do his best and make a difference in a war of magic and monsters and… children. Maybe he could see the idealism he once had, himself, and didn’t want to see that ripped away.
“I don’t know,” he finally settled on as an answer, and he knew it wasn’t a very good one. If anything, the initial shock had worn off, and he was able to calm down enough to not snap at a kid who was obviously trying to do something, even though it was dangerous. It made him hate himself for allowing his younger brothers to get involved, especially the one who only just started high school.
“I’m not going to try and stop you or try to talk you out of it,” he reassured him, although the emotion still hadn’t quite made its way back into his voice. “But I won’t be getting involved. I helped you this once, but I don’t plan on helping you again.” He didn’t quite believe himself, but he wanted Caspian to maybe realize the risk involved with what he was doing.
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 9:09 am
There was still no answer of whether or not Michael was also powered. If he was, he was giving no indication, and Caspian doubted he could pry it out of him anyway. The stony, closed-off expression on his face was clear proof that answers would be limited or not given at all.
Caspian's eyes flickered across Michael's shoulders, stiff with tension, and wondered what was going through his mind. It was, after all, only the second time they had met, but that had never mattered to Caspian, with his airy personality and his love of people. Curiosity was a natural part of how he worked, though it did tend to get him into trouble.
He made a motion to cross his ankles, remembered his leg, and let out a soft grunt of pain, Caspian shifting slightly. He still had a hand wrapped around one of the railing posts, his head resting against it, face slightly paler than usual.
"I didn't mean to have you find out," he said, after a moment. "It just...slipped out."
Which he knew was how things got screwed up. Caspian exhaled a long breath, closing his eyes briefly, the metal cool against his over warm skin. When he opened them again, there was a surprisingly serious look on his face, gaze level as he regarded Michael.
"You're a good guy," said Caspian. "I'm not saying that I'm all up experienced here, because that would be a straight out lie, and I don't do anything straight these days." The humor was still there, though quieter, more subdued. "I wasn't really given any direction to what I'm supposed to be doing here, so I'm just...doing what I can."
He gave a resigned shrug of his shoulder. "Sometimes that means screwing up."
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 9:32 am
”I figured you didn’t,” he grunted, although his voice was still softer than it could have been. “Unlike other people I’ve met who willingly give out their identity, I figured you’d at least want to keep something to yourself. Even if it gets lonely. Or so I’ve heard,” he added as he turned to consider Caspian as he leaned against the railing, worn down and in obvious pain. He wondered if he should be doing more. Maybe force him to go to the hospital, or make sure he got home safely. But then, he was also selfish and concerned for himself and the protection of his family, especially after so many dreams where they’d been torn apart.
The serious look he got surprised him, since from what he’d known of Caspian, and in turn Remus, so far was jokes and laughter and lighthearted fun, despite the dangers. The comment had him frowning and turning away once more.
“I’m not, really,” he scowled at the ground, and then at his phone to complete his search for a number to call for Caspian to be taken home. “Just because I helped you and didn’t turn you in to the cops last time doesn’t make me a good guy. For all you know it was done for entirely selfish reasons. And I don’t care if you screw up, but from now on, you’re on your own. A cab should be here soon. Go home and put your leg on ice,” he said as he held the phone to his ear to confirm the location with someone on the other line. He gave one final glance towards Caspian, and then turned to leave.
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