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 Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 1:57 pm
“I think I would’ve been more surprised if she had followed my orders and stayed on the ship,” Logan muttered to Sin and Darius with a wry grin as the pod flew over the dusty ridges of the plains. The Highwind was quickly growing larger as they sped closer to it, its battered and grimy exterior keeping it from drawing the attention of those who didn’t already know where to look. Out of the corner of his eye Logan saw Sin gazing at it, but he couldn’t read the expression on his stone face. When there was some quiet in all the madness he would ask why his friend had returned. Logan wasn’t naive enough to think it was just for a happy reunion.
"Logan, it would probably be best to focus on getting back to the Highwind rather than asking me how I got onto the SP without you noticing."
“Honestly, I wasn’t going to ask. You never would have told me anyway.” His eyes flicked over to their prone hostage. She was slumped against the far wall, her head lolling to the side. Logan watched the steady rise and fall of her chest suspiciously. “Someone grab her-no, not you, Sin. Someone who won’t molest the woman… Thank you, Darius.”
“The nerd just wants to get a feel for himself…”Sin muttered as the pod rumbled and shuddered to a stop, signaling that Jason had loaded them onto the ship. “He knows this is his only chance to ever touch a woman.”
Darius hauled Lyn over his shoulder without comment, shooting a baleful look at Sin on his way out of the SP. Logan followed after him, shaking his head with a crooked smile.
“You two are like children. Now come on, let’s lock our prize up so she can’t get away.”
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“Damn Sin, how hard did you hit her?”
They’d decided to put Lyn in one of the larger storage closets. It had been a while since the last supply raid so there were only a few boxes of odd bits in the room to deal with. After pushing those to the corner someone had found a chair. Darius bolted it to the metal floors so it would be secure, and now Lyn was chained to it by her wrists and ankles. The procedure only took about half an hour, but Logan expected the high-ranking XForce soldier to be awake and kicking by now. Everyone in the room looked at him expectantly.
“What? I’m not going to slap a woman, if that’s what you want. She’ll wake up eventually.”
Lyn’s head rolled to the other side and she groaned, sounding striking like a wounded animal. Her eyes fluttered as Logan smiled and gestured toward her.
“See, look at her go.”
“Yeah, you can hardly tell I hit her at all,” Sin said cheekily at Logan’s side.
Lyn lifted her head and wobbled in her seat. Her long hair was disheveled and fell in front of her face when she moved. She tossed it aside with an impatient flick of her head. Logan watched as Lyn’s eyes skipped around the room in confusion before landing on him. All of the fogginess surrounding her sharp eyes blew away and he could see his reflection mingled with defiance and disgust within them. He smiled at the likeness, but it was dark and humorless.
“Morning Sunshine.”
The sharp eyes flashed wildly. Lyn’s words were as dark as Logan’s smile. “I won’t tell you a thing, rebel trash. You can torture me-do whatever you want to me- but I won’t betray Garter.”
“Was that permission to do whatever I wanted to her?” Sin asked good-naturedly as he leaned against the wall. Logan hadn’t seen him take it out, but there was a cigarette sticking through the side of his mouth. “I think it was.”
Lyn turned her burning gaze on him. Recognition sparked across her features. “Gunslinger…”
“Yours truly.”
“Good,” She said with a sinister chuckle, “When my team attacks they can kill two birds with one stone.”
It was Logan’s turn to laugh. “Actually….well…” He shrugged and smiled like a child feigning innocence, “We just might have blown up all of your friends after we took you. I swear to Garter, it was an accident.”
“Haha…Garter…” Sin snickered, flicking his already-shriveled cigarette in Lyn’s direction. From somewhere deep within his pocket he retrieved another to replace it.
The red from Lyn’s face slowly drained like someone had flicked a switch, leaving her pallid and blank-looking. “You killed them? All of them?” But she wouldn’t stay shocked and weak for long. Her eyes blazed and scorched even more intensely then before and she started to struggled against her binds. “You are animals! Barbarians! I’ll kill you myself if I have to!”
Logan’s humor was gone in an instant. He was an inch away from Lyn’s face before she could even blink. His hand grabbed the collar of her shirt and wrenched her forward, rattling the whole chair and sending a terrible screech through the room as its legs scrapped across the floor.
“We are all animals, miss. Every one of us is a beast, a barbarian. You would do well to learn that.” Logan let Lyn go but didn’t move away from her. His voice was low and dangerous, his gaze an equal to hers. “Your team would have killed us if we hadn’t done them in first. They would have killed indiscriminately.”
“That isn’t true-” Lyn protested, her mouth setting into a firm and defiant line.
“Isnt it? Lyn, don’t play dumb with me. You know as well as I do that your team was ordered to kill every man, woman, and child. No matter what.”
“I-That isn’t-“
“Even if they beg for mercy...shoot them. If a pregnant woman surrenders, shoot her. If a father begs for the life of his baby, shoot them both. I know what you XForce are like. I’ve seen children die by your guns. I’m sure you’ve killed a few yourself.” Logan stepped away from Lyn in disgust. “Don’t deny me what I already know. Admit it: You would have killed us all yourself if you had to. Even the children.”
“Garter orders us to do what is right…We must exterminate all rebels, even the children. They will grow to be killers one day,” Lyn said quietly, but her eyes were deceiving her. Logan looked down at her, suddenly curious. He could have been imagining it, but he though he saw a spark of regret and disbelief in her eyes. He shook his head, shaking away the absurd thoughts with it. No wife of Cohen’s could have a mind of her own.
“Logan!”
Logan spun around at the sound of the young voice to see the heavy door being thrown open. A boy no older than 12 or 13 rushed into the room and made his way to Logan’s side. Logan patted the boy’s head, but when he looked up and saw a disgruntled Rosen in the doorway his shoulders dropped.
“Aww kid, did you have to bring her?”
“Cole watched you board the ship with a bloody leg. The kid was smart enough to come get me, knowing that you would wait until you bled to death to say anything.” Rose was biting a fingernail unhappily and staring at Logan like he was five years old again. The hand on her hip was clutching a small medical kit. “Well come on, let’s see the wound.”
“If you say so.”
To Lyn’s horror, Logan started to take his pants off and expose the boxers beneath. He just pulled them down in front of everyone in the room without discretion or even a warning to the weary. When the pants were around his ankles he hopped out of them and kicked them aside. Lyn squeezed her eyes shut.
“Put your clothes back on you pig! You-You scum!” There was a short period of silence that made Lyn suspicious, but she refused to open her eyes in fear of what she might see. The sound of heavy footsteps making their way over to her made her sink into the seat, wishing they would have just killed her already. Someone snickered. Suddenly her chair shook violently as something slammed onto it. Lyn opened her eyes in surprise.
Logan had his leg propped up on her chair. Lyn screamed and closed her eyes again. “This is wrong!” she cried, “Put your pants back on! Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to expose your underwear to the world? UHG!”
“I never had a mommy, so no. Now look at what you did!” Logan gestured wildly to the wound that was dangerously close to his unmentionables.
“That’s dangerously close to his unmentionables,” Sin commented.
“You stabbed me,” Logan went on. His whole leg was covered in blood, some of which was starting to drip onto Lyn. She squirmed desperately, trying to get away from him. “You stabbed me, and it was dangerously close to my unmentionables, and now I need stitches.”
“Logan, get the hell away from that poor woman, no one deserves that kind of treatment,” Rosen scolded, waving a hand at him. When he refused to move she grabbed his shoulder and yanked him backwards, splattering more blood. Without hesitation she got down on her knees, propped open the medical kit, and started stitching away at the wound while Logan leaned leisurely against the wall.
There was a cough from the corner of the room that sounded oddly like a suppressed laugh. Rosen had no doubt that it was aimed at her position with Logan, but that wasn’t what made her sigh in exasperation.
“Hello Lorsin,” she said dryly without looking away from her work. “I thought I smelled smoke. It’s so…nice to see that you’ve come back to us.”
“Hello dear. It’s so nice to see you in that posi-”
“OKKKKK,” Logan interjected before things could get out of hand. “There are children in the room. Let’s keep Darius and Cole’s minds clear and innocent, eh?”
Darius grumbled something but Cole laughed good-humouredly. He smiled up at Logan, glad to be acknowledged and forgiven for sending in Rose. Logan reached out and patted him on the shoulder.
“Hey, why don’t you fetch Rosen some food. I’m sure she hasn’t eaten in, what….a year? And get me something….Lyn, you want anything? There is cereal soup, and oatmeal soup. They both taste exactly the same.”
Neither Rosen nor Lyn bothered to answer any of Logan’s comments. Logan waited for Cole to leave the room before speaking again.
“Alright, now that the kid is gone we can talk. I got nothing against him; just don’t need him in here right now. Children have fragile minds. You have any children Lyn? Oh, haven’t grown any with Cohen yet? That’s pretty sad. You know what is super fun? You should try making babies the old-fashioned way one day.”
Rosen rolled her eyes and pulled the last stitch through Logan’s leg, yanking it a little harder than necessary. Logan yelped but knew better than to twitch away from her.
“You really shouldn’t be so close to him,” Lyn muttered. “It’s inappropriate.”
“Hey,” Rosen said as she pulled out some gauze and started wrapping Logan’s leg more gently than before, “The faster I fix this guy up, the faster he puts his pants back on.” She patted Logan’s knee and stood up, handing him his pants. He took them with a playful sigh.
“See? All done. Now get dressed you barbarian,” Rose teased before turning away from him and facing Lyn. She looked over the woman’s head and sighed. “Are you going to let me stitch that up?”
“I don’t need the help of a rebel,” Lyn spat, but Rose just smiled and shrugged.
“I thought you’d say something like that. Well, my offer will still stand when you change your mine.” She started for the door. “I’ll go and eat in the mess hall with Cole. We can bring your food up when we are done.”
“Bring me something!” Sin called out the door, but Rosen left without another word.
The humor left Logan’s eyes as soon as the door closed.
“Now where were we Lyn?”
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 9:28 pm
Mutt shrunk under Allison’s gaze as she urged him to comply with Dion’s wishes. Running a hand through his long blond hair, Mutt observed Dion whilst tugging a knot out of his hair. Originally Mutt was going to dissuade the youth out of target practice, but the way in which he held himself suggested that he could be quite the shot if taught right. Red blossomed in sporadic places on Dion's face, and the twin bit his lip until it turned white with the pressure, threatening to break the skin. Concealing his mirth, Mutt reached in front of Dion and placed the bullet before him.
The bullet stood there, waiting to fulfill the purpose it was made for, it reflected the world around it in an embellished gold color, the same world in which an army of them could destroy.
"Well Di" began Mutt, his glasses sliding down his nose as he looked at Dion "I think your potential reaches far further than washing pots and pans, so I'll help you shoot straight, no problem." Tapping the table with his bronzed finger at an uneven pace Mutt continued before Dion could speak: "I'm not sure if I'm the best teacher though and..." Mutt's face at this interval turned stoic and serious, a hard glance entering his eyes, only half viewable above the glasses. Ever-present smile turning sardonic and bitter.
"As cliche as you think this might be, I'm gonna say it anyway, be prepared to kill or be killed out there. It's a dog eat dog world." As if a switch was flicked, Mutt's smile became pleasant once again and Mutt leaned his elbow on the table before him, chin resting on the back of his hand.
"So you up for it twin?"
Looking away from Dion Mutt turned around, remembering Allison's aforementioned question. "Cereal please girls!" Mutt shouted, "I hope they heard that..." Mutt finished, turning around and giving the twin a pleased smile.
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:07 am
Allison continued her backwards path to the kitchen, stopping once she was a couple feet away from the table and she watched them carefully. A slight smile shown on her face when Demi stood from her seat, "Don't worry, Di. I'll get you something good for breakfast." He flashed his twin a big smile as she poked his forehead. Then Demi scurried over to where Allison was waiting for her, grabbed her hand. "Let's go, Alli!" Allison turned around, and started towards the kitchen, turning her head slightly towards Mutt and Dion, "Play nice, boys." Demi giggled and started asking questions, "So, how's your training with Rose coming along? It's probably hard work." Allison smiled, she enjoyed Demi's curiosity, and love to learn. "It's going quite smoothly actually, Rosen says that at the rate I'm going, I'm becoming a very skilled doctor. But, it can be hard at times...I've seen almost everything since I've been on this ship." Demi nodded, taking in this information, "It must be exciting to have Rosen teach you. She's soooo smart! I wish I could be like her sometimes!" Allison looked at Demi, "I think nearly everybody wants to be like Rose at one point or another.." Demi continued on her rant, "Sorry I'm ranting! I've been so busy lately though. You can't believe how many dishes there were left from yesterday's meals. Me and Di worked for hours! So, I wouldn't have time to do what you do. It must be so nice to help other people.. You're a really good person, Alli."
Allison stopped once they were at the door. Shocked, the turned towards Demi, "You're a good person, too, Demi. If you and your brother need help with the dishes tonight..just page me.. Alright?" Demi nodded, and they entered the large kitchen. Allison let go of Demi's hand and whispered, "Stay close.. Henry can be a bear in the morning." She turned to her right to see the two boxes of cereal that she had smuggled out of the large pantry last night. "All I could really find was Cheerios.." she whispered again. They turned a corner and found Henry, who was making the oatmeal. "Good morning, Henry," Allison chimed with a friendly voice. He turned with his normal disgruntled face, but it turned into a smirk when he saw that it was Allison. "Morning, Alli." She walked over to him and glanced into the pot, it was watery as usual. "Henry... can I make a suggestion?" He looked at her, his disgruntled face was back. "What now, Allison?" She looked at him with an odd look, but it soon disappeared, "Could you could the oatmeal a little longer than you usually do, it won't be as watery."
His eyes turned slightly angry, "I'm getting sick of you telling me how to do my job, Ms. McGuinn." She sighed and looked at him again, "I'm not telling you how to do your job, Henry. I'm giving you suggestions on how to make the crew happier." She turned to see Demi behind her, eyes wide open. Allison looked at her apologetically and turned back to Henry. "Now as you promised you would allow, we're going to have cereal, I'm not sure about the rest of the crew, however. I know many people here that love your oatmeal." Her mind turned to Logan and the boys who had gone on the mission this morning, hoping that they were okay...knowing that Logan probably got hurt. "Please me nice to them, Henry, when they do want to make a choice though.." she paused, thinking of what they would need. "Say...Henry... do we still have enough milk? Last I checked we still had a couple of containers...can you spare two?" He nodded and continued making the oatmeal.
Allison pointed at a cabinet, directing for Demi to grab the bowls and she walked to the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk and four spoons from a drawer. She peaked out the swinging door to check on them, "Boys... cheerios or cheerios?" Mutt turned around and smiled sarcastically, "Uhm..I think we'll have Cheerios." Allison ducked back into the kitchen and grabbed a box and carried everything out with Demi at her heels. Once at the table, she set down the box of cereal and milk, then the spoons. Demi set down the bowls in front of everyone and they sat down at their previous positions. She grabbed the cereal and poured a small amount into the bowl and barely any milk into the bowl. She looked up and saw a bunch of confused faces, "I..uh..don't eat much."
((Sorry for the crappiness...It's kind of a hectic morning.))
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:01 am
Dion tried his best to hide his enthusiasm, but it was hard to hold back. He grabbed the bullet Mutt placed in front of him and examined it as if it were made of glass. He smiled widely, glowing with anticipation. "Thank you so much, Mutt. If you see potential in me..." It was nice to hear someone think so. No one around here seemed to believe in him at all. Sometimes, he didn't even think Demi did. "I promise I won't let you down." He placed the bullet back in front of Mutt and gave a small laugh. Mutt was very disliked around the Highwind, yet Dion couldn't exactly see why. Mutt was more than willing to help him. He even believed that he could do it. That was enough for Dion.
Demi listened intently as Allison spoke. She was only two years older, yet she knew so much more. Demi craved the knowledge she was sharing. It was nice to hear that she wasn't the only one who wished she could be Rosen. She smiled wider when Alli offered to help with the dishes. Smart and kind? Allison was a true saint. They stopped at the door as Alli made her way inside to talk to the big cook. The big, scarey cook. Demi's eyes went wide at his presence. She picked at her fingers nervously. She would have to remember to never go to the kitchen alone. After grabbing the milk, spoons, and cereal, they made their way back to the boys. She set all the bowls down, placing hers down last. Allison grabbed the box first and served herself a small amount, claiming she just doesn't eat "much". Demi grabbed the box from her. "Nonsense!" She stood up straight and kept her voice cool and collected. "My name is Demi and I'll be your server for today." She poured more cereal into Alli's bowl and proceeded to overstuff everyone elses. Taking the milk, she splashed it all around each bowl. "There! Now, that's breakfast! Dig in!" She plopped down in her seat and forcefully dug into her bowl, fishing out a huge mouthful of cereal.
"Real attractive, Dem." He watched in horror as his sister devoured her breakfast like a barbarian. When he could watch no longer, her slapped her arm. "Have some manners. We're eating with company, you know." He looked over at Allison, who was eating her cereal so....gracefully? He blushed. Could you eat your cereal gracefully? "I wish you could eat a little more like that." He took Demi's chin in her fingers and tilted her head towards Alli. "It's a wonder people don't think you're a boy too."
Demi pouted. "I take great offense to that! You can tell I'm a girl." When Dion smirked at her, suggesting otherwise, she slammed her foot down. "I AM TO A GIRL!" Dion started to laugh at her, and she blushed in embarassment. "Whatever...not very good breakfast conversation."
((btw, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!!))
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:44 pm
Brynn had stayed in the shadows, silent as the grave, still as death. She itched to take a sword out of her shoulder everytime Lyn spoke, moved, breathed. She'd relished Lyn's reaction to the news about the XForce's ship being destroyed. Darius never failed to leave anything unfinished. Although everytime I look at him I want to take a sword to his throat. Brynn's fist clenched for about a second before she came back to the conversation. She rolled her eyes at Gunslinger's comments and almost kicked him when he began to laugh at Rosen and Logans' postions. She caught herself raising her hand once when Lyn spat at Rosen. As another twinge of pain went through her shoulders and back, she tried to nonchalantly make eye contact with Rosen as she went out the door, but she didn't know if Rosen had caught it or not. She shrugged it off inwardly.
Every trace of humor left Logan's voice as the door closed behind Rosen. "Now where were we Lyn?" Brynn decided it was prudent to reveal her presence now. She wanted in on the interrogation. Anything she gleaned that could end the reign of Garter and, she admitted this only grudgingly to herself, help her remember her past was priceless. She kept her quest to remember her past a secret, however. She didn't know if Logan knew why she attended the interrogations besides the intimidation factor she always provided, but she guessed he might and didn't want to know if he did. She stepped forward into the light, her red eyes blazing but her voice deadly calm. "I believe we left off at her justification for killing children." Her voice hard as steel, Brynn hoped that even if she couldn't cut into Lyn with her angel wing swords, her tone would.
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:45 pm
Sigma woke up, his room dark; the way he liked it. He fished over for his glasses and found them on the nightstand next to his bed. As he returned them to his face, he instantly noticed his vision worsened. He removed them, cleaned off all the debris on his pants, and brought them onto his face again. He swiveled himself half-way out of bed, so he was sitting on it, rather than laying on it. He groaned slightly, put his elbows on his thighs, and caught his face in his hands as he leaned his face forward. He choked back tears as he remembered his dream, his memory of the betrayal. His attempt didn't work to well, as they still managed a way down his face. He made no sound, but the physical evidence, the red lines under his eyes, were proof enough that he had been. After five minuets or so, he got up, grabbed some new clothes, and started heading off toward the shower. He opened the door, stripped down, turned on the water, and got inside. Upon completion of the shower, he stepped out, the water on his body reflecting light. He started a simple towel dry, paying special attention to his hair. He went over that and made sure not one strand had even a molecule of water left on it. When this task was finally done, he pulled on his new clothes. He started with his pants, dark blue denim jeans, then moved onto to his white, ankle height socks. After those, he introduced his feet to his black tennis shoes and his torso to the solid white T-shirt, along with a black over-shirt, with white pin-stripes on it. He grabbed his pack of cigarettes and pulled one out, lit it, and put the rest in the pack, which he put in his over-shirt pocket. He left his room, and started down the hallway towards the kitchen, hoping that food was served already.
I may have to hit Sin up for a couple of cigs later. I'm running kinda low, he thought, just hope i catch him in a good mood when I ask him. He inhaled and blew the smoke out, finishing the cigarette. He liked to get rid of them before entering a room of people, he never knew who they annoyed. He did however wonder if the smell of him being all nice and clean, smelling of soap, shampoo, and conditioner, mixed with the smell of cigarettes and created a new scent that bugged people, but didn't at the same time.
Guess I'll never know. Ah well, he thought to himself. As he walked in, he saw Demi and Dion, along with Mutt and Alison in the room already. Judging by the shouting he heard from Demi a bit earlier, he can only assume something happened earlier.
Wonder what was going on in here. Probably just Dion teasing his sister again. She's gonna kill him one day.
He removed the notebook and pen he always kept with him and wrote down, What's on today's breakfast menu? Tearing off the sheet, he put it down in front of Dion, hoping to get the best, quickest, and easiest response possible.
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:53 pm
Mutt picked up the bullet in front of him, pocketing the ammunition without a second thought. Mutt then stared at the tumultuous mass of cereal and milk, the bits of cereal chasing each other in a frenzy around the circumference of the cream bowl. Mutt's eyes followed each piece of cereal at intervals, until finally, Mutt looked up to Dion and replied: "I'm pretty sure you won't, if I can learn how to shoot when I was 13, I think you can when you're 18" Reaching over the table Mutt grabbed a spoon from the gathered cutlery in the center of the table. Ravenous, Mutt ate quickly but neatly, and had managed to polish off the cereal within minutes.
Raising his eyes after finishing, Mutt noticed Sigma enter the room and place a piece of paper in front of Dion ignoring it Mutt stood up without a word. Procuring his used kitchen ware Mutt took it over to the washing up bucket, placing it among the trace amounts of suds from the washing completed yesterday. Walking towards the exit of the Mess Hall, Mutt paused briefly on his passage besides Dion's chair. "When you're done you can come and find me in the training room, I'll see if I can find you a gun in the storage room." Continuing to the door Mutt exited the hall without a further comment. Why he was so talkative around those three was beyond Mutt's comprehension, he was always so reserved and quiet around all the other members of the Highwind that it unsettled him. Perhaps it really wasn't such a good idea to teach Dion how to shoot...
Leaving the thoughts behind him, Mutt's heavy and worn boots echoed down the narrow corridor as he made his way to a storage room. Instinctively, Mutt's eyes were drawn to the labels above the doors. During his time on the Highwind Mutt had become quite savvy at recognizing the different shape and length of words above doors to determine where they led. The door to his right led to the storage rooms and then continued on to the training rooms, amongst other things. The door to his left on the other hand, led to people's rooms. The thought passed that he should pick up his sniper rifle, 'Mark 2' but the fancy passed upon reflecting that it was impractical due to the size of the training room. So sliding the door open, Mutt entered the right corridor.
"-ere we Lynn?" the smatter of conversation was dampened by the thick metal surroundings, but the conversation was carried and heard by Mutt.
Lyn, the name rang a bell, but Mutt was never good at remembering things, and so the rebel couldn't place it. Quietly walking down the corridor Mutt could hear several people in a storage closet, and could smell the putrid burn of a cigarette. Creeping past the room Mutt hid around a nearby corner, whilst leaning down to retie the laces of his boots incase someone came across him. It was always worth knowing what was going on, even if one was to be debriefed on it later, because it may of course provide an opportunity for him to exploit. He'd get to the training room soon enough.
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 7:45 am
Dion carefully brought each spoonful to his mouth. He hated to eat sloppily in front of others. He had more respect than that. As they all ate, Mutt once again gave Dion comforting words that led him to believe he wasn't such a bad guy. Di smiled. Maybe he really could learn how to do this after all. Reaching for another spoonful, Sigma entered the room and sat down next to him. He wrinkled his nose a little from the cigarette smoke smell, but smiled at him in a morning greeting. When Sigma pushed his notebook towards him, Dion read carefully and rolled his eyes as he responded. Cheerios a la Demi
"Goodmorning, Sigma!" Demi smiled at him and waved her hands frantically. Dion gave her a disapproving look, but she just stuck her tongue out. She knew Sigma was quiet, and she wasn't even sure if he even liked her, but she thought he was a nice guy. Besides, you didn't have to be a loud mouth like her to be liked. She noticed Mutt leaving the room. "Bye, Mutt! See you later! Leave my tip in my room!" Dion rolled his eyes, but she laughed. She then moved on to Sigma, who looked quite hungry. She jumped up from her seat. "Don't worry, I'll go get you some food right now." She looked over at Allison for a moment and winked. "I'll just sneak past chef and get another bowl. Be right back!" She hurried off to the kitchen, where she stopped briefly. She bit her bottom lip. There was a war going on right now, and she was afraid of the man who works in the kitchen. She held her breath as she ducked inside and carefully grabbed another bowl and spoon. Before anyone could even blink, she was out of there. She panted as she approached the table, and Dion gave her a look, wondering if she had just commited a crime. "No worries," she said between breaths. She walked in front of Sigma and placed the bowl in front of him. Then she proceeded to do the same as before. She dumped the Cheerios in his bowl and poured a heaping amount of milk. "There you are, sir!" She slowly moved back to her seat and plopped down, watching Sigma eat his cereal.
Dion poked his sister's side. "Dem, staring is rude," he whispered to her, and she looked at Mutt's empty seat instead. He wrote an apology to Sigma and continued eating his own cereal. He looked over at Demi again and gave her a smile. "Guess when I'm finished, we'll start some of those chores. I hear Rosen might want the infirmary floor mopped." Demi twisted her mouth, but nodded. He knew she hated mopping, but would do anything for Rosen. Who wouldn't? She must have been one of the kindest people on the Highwind. He placed his spoon down as he finished his last bite. "What do you say, Dem? Should we go now?"
"Not yet," she said slowly. "I'm still trying to get over my sleep spell." Dion chuckled and she had to smile. "No, really! I really am still tired! Besides, when do we get to be with this much company?" Although Dion gave her a smart a** smile, she knew he knew she was right. She looked back over at Allison, who seemed a bit distracted. "What are you doing today, Alli? Probably working with Rosen, right?" She smiled. "We might see you then cause we'll probaby help Rosen clean up a bit." She turned her head towards Sigma. "What about you? What are you up to today?" Knowing he probably wouldn't answer her, she shook her head frantically. "No need to answer. You're probably really busy."
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 6:44 pm
Abandoning his post, Mutt stood up after tying his boots for the third time. The conversation apparently had come to a stand still, and no further snippets of conversation emanated from the storage room. Brow creasing with annoyance, Mutt turned as if to continue his path to the training room. A loud rumble made Mutt pause mid-movement and rubbing his stomach Mutt smiled derisively. Apparently one over filled bowl of crunchy supplement wasn't enough to satisfy his pestiferous stomach. Laying a hand on his stomach as if to coo a wailing child, Mutt willed his stomach to be silent whilst he made his way past the storage room, apparently occupied with people. Sliding the corridor door open Mutt swiftly stepped out and closed it after himself, his smile turning satisfied as no one seemed to either notice or be bothered about his presence. Hurrying now, the chill dank air of the ship blew past him as he made his way back to the Mess Hall. Hopefully they hadn't packed the cereal away as of yet. Reaching the door to the Mess Hall, Mutt ran a hand through the end of his pony tail and then entered after the brief grooming session.
Everyone was still there, either eating their cereal or engaging in light conversation. Weaving past the tables and chairs Mutt gathered his used bowl and spoon once more, there was no need to use a new clean bowl and spoon, these were perfectly fine. Reservedly Mutt made his way back to the table he was previously seated at. Pulling out the chair at the end of the table, Mutt plonked himself down and poured himself a serving of cereal. The light tinkling of the cereal pouring into the bowl this time promised to satisfy his hunger. Reaching over for the milk, Mutt mimicked his previous actions and poured the creamy liquid into the bowl and brandishing his spoon, Mutt dug in with fervor at his second breakfast. Pausing in the assault of his cereal, Mutt glanced up to Allison giving her a cheeky and yet challenging smile, so what if some others couldn't have cereal this morning, the early bird gets the worm, Mutt reasoned.
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 7:16 pm
Allison looked down, uncertain with the bowl of cereal that Demi had just poured for her. "There! Now, that's breakfast! Dig in!" Allison mumbled a thank you and continued to stare down at the bowl, after a couple of seconds, she picked up her spoon and slowly began eating. She was zoning out slightly when she heard something that made her snap out of it, "I wish you could eat a little more like that." She looked up from her bowl to see Dion tilting Demi's head toward her, "It's a wonder people don't think you're a boy too." Allison's cheeks flushed pink and she returned to her cereal. "I take great offense to that! You can tell I'm a girl!" A few seconds passed, "I AM TOO A GIRL!" Allison peaked over to the twins, who were up to their usual morning quarrel, "Whatever....not very good breakfast conversation." Allison sighed slightly and looked to her side where Mutt was polishing his bowl, where as she had only eaten half of the mass that Demi had dumped into her bowl.
She looked up and saw that Sigma had entered the room and was walking over to them. He sat down next to Dion and wrote a note, placing it in front of him. "Good Morning, Sig." Allison said, continuing, regretfully, to eat her cereal. She hadn't eaten any more when Mutt stood and walked over to the counter outside of the kitchen, placing his dirty dishes there. She continued to watch him as he exited the Mess Hall. Sadness crept into her eyes, but she shooed it away in a matter of seconds, hoping that no one else had seen this. She stared down at her cereal, yet again and decided to continue to eat, though her appetite was gone. "I'll just sneak past chef and get another bowl. Be right back!" Demi said hurriedly and was back within a minute.
Allison was finished when Dion turned to Demi, "Guess when I'm finished, we'll start some of those chores. I hear Rosen might want the infirmary floor mopped." Allison smiled, she knew for a fact that both of them hated mopping, but Demi loved being around Rosen and herself. She stared off into space, not wanting to get up for a few more moments, knowing that she probably didn't have much to do today anyway. She was brought out of her trance by Demi once again, "What are you doing today, Alli? Probably working with Rosen, right? We might see you then cause we'll probably be help Rosen clean up a bit." Allison shrugged, "I'm..not really sure what I'm going to be up to today.. I might see if Rosen needs help with anything. If she doesn't, I definitely need to get some target practice in if I'm going to be ready for any upcoming missions." She nodded and stood up from the table and walked her dishes over to the counter, returning to the table for small talk.
A smile crept onto Allison's face as Mutt returned to the Mess hall. Though, she wiped it off quickly. He returned to the table, near the end closest to where they were and sat. He poured another heaping bowl of cereal and bathed it in milk. She watched him with a raised eye brow, "Others need to eat that too.." He must have felt her staring because he glanced up at her and gave her a cheeky, yet challenging smile. She returned this with a slight glare, with playful eyes. "Mutt...you should really learn to pace yourself out more..if you were still hungry you could have eaten mine." She shut her eyes tight, thinking of the rancid jokes that Sin would turn that into, hoping that Mutt or the others wouldn't catch onto it. She rolled her eyes, and shook her head, and looked back at Dion. "Since I'm going to be in the training room soon," she glanced over to Mutt and gave him a challenging smile, "and since I'm obviously a better shot than Mutt...I can help you learn to shoot straight."
((Ahahaha..ohhh the challenges!! biggrin ))
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 8:01 pm
Mutt ignored the comment on the cereal and instead opted to raise a curved eyebrow at the challenge. Mutt's smile turned crooked and demur in response to the challenge set. "Well first off Allison, I have to go to my room to get one of my gun's, you can come too if you like, just so you can see some of my other really big guns lurking in my bedroom." At each sexual allusion said by Mutt, the greater the smile became until eventually at the end of the smoothly spoken line all but the molars in Mutt's mouth could be seen. Every street kid could pick up on any sexual innuendo, the streets were full of them, intentional or not.
Standing erect Mutt grabbed his now finished with bowl and spoon once more, and placed them back in the washing up tub. Walking past the others and Allison without so much as a glance Mutt made his way to the sliding door of the mess hall. Holding it open, Mutt ushered Allison forwards via an old fashioned yet gentlemanly hand maneuver, which was tainted with sarcasm and obvious mockery. "Ladies first" spoke Mutt, smile though decreased in form rose once again like a gibbous moon.
As Allison accepted the invitation Mutt's eyes lighted upon a slight rosy tinge to the cheeks, sounds of mirth escaped Mutt and his eyes also reflected his amusement. Both figures entered the desolate and impersonal grey corridor, with Mutt taking the lead to his bedroom. It was no lie that he'd left his gun in the bedroom, so the retrieval was necessary. Perhaps in the future Mutt should actually make use of his gun harness, which at the moment was strapped around the thin bones of his hips, the bones of which were just visible over the tops of his trousers. Leading Allison to his cabin via the aforementioned left corridor, Mutt came to a stop in front of a nondescript door.
Placing his bronzen hand onto the sunken in handle, Mutt turned his head slightly to gauge any reaction or emotion present on Allison's face.
"I'll be back in a second Allison, need any of my guns for practice?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 8:38 pm
Allison looked at Mutt, her eyebrow raised yet again as he spoke. "Well first off Allison, I have to go to my room to get one of my guns, you can come too if you like, just so you can see some of my othe really big guns lurking in my bedroom." She held in laughter with all of her might, and shot him a deadly look as his smile grew wider and wider. Not taking her eyes off of Mutt once, she heard Demi giggle and Dion supress a laugh. Mutt now stood, grabbing his dishes and brought them back over to the counter. Then, without glancing back over at Allison and the others, he made his way to the sliding door of the mess hall.
She stood, and walked towards the door as Mutt ushered her through, dripping with sarcasm, "Ladies first." She exited the mess hall and she looked back into the room, "Di. We'll be in the training room in a couple minutes.." With that they both entered the desolate hallway, Mutt in the lead. Allison looked down and saw his empty harness, "Shouldn't you keep your weapon with you if you have the proper equiptment to hold it?" She paused, "I would if I could... But being one of the only doctors on board, if I'm needed I have to go then. So, I can't bring a weapon into the infirmary." She stopped speaking once they reached Mutt's room. "I'll be back in a second Allison, need any of my guns for practice?"
Allison laughed at his question, "Mutt you're forgetting one little detail.. I have my own guns. You're not the only rebel fighter on this ship.. So I'll be right back." Mutt seemed suprised when she opened the door to the room that was directly across form his, "..Wh.." He cut off as she entered the room. She emerged after a couple of minutes with a holster on each one of her hips, equip with her two favorite guns. Seeing that Mutt hadn't left his room yet, she crossed the hall and leaned in his doorway, "What's taking you so long? I'm faster than you and a better shot?" She allowed a laugh to emerge as he shot her a dirty look.
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:16 pm
Nodding his head in a motion akin to resignation and defeat Mutt chuckled quietly. Mutt emerged from his own room with two large silver hand guns, glistening in the artificial light with cleaning oils that Mutt had applied yesterday. "Well I guess you are quicker than me, but a better shot? I'd like to see that." It had honestly surprised him to see that Allison had a few of her own guns, he always thought that the doctors apprentice would be adamant about not using a weapon. Apparently not. Also, Mutt added to his previous train of thought, was Allison's room always opposite his, sarcasm embittered with the thought of his own lack of intelligence entered his mind. Would his mind ever remember anything other than how to shoot straight and how to handle a gun?
Shoving, with brute force, these thoughts to the back of his conscious Mutt made his way to the training room, once again sweeping down the corridor with purpose his guns now stowed in his harness. His loud and heavy footsteps were in stark contrast to the light and positively feminine ones trailing behind him. With each step, Mutt tried to metaphorically leave the unpleasant thoughts behind him, which were resilient enough to break through his facade of contentment. The thoughts were like a creeping shadow, waiting to creep up and pounce on him at times of strife and disillusionment. Making sure to keep his face turned away from Allison Mutt tried to make his current frown into a smile, although increasingly strained, at least it wasn't the black behemoth of a frown it threatened to transfigure into. The previous storage room Mutt had staked out at was as silent as before, and increasing his already fast pace, Mutt strode past the room and came to a sudden halt at the door leading to the training room.
"Here we are missus, come, show me your skill." declared Mutt upon entering the abandoned room. Mutt took in the features of the room, practice dummies; grey with frayed fabric, round shooting targets pinned to walls with more black spots than a coal fire and several training matt's and ragged towels also lay among the wreckage bequeathed as training equipment.
Mutt's smile turned into a snarl and with unbridled viciousness Mutt whipped out one of the silver handguns and shot a large hole directly in the center of the target. Shocked at his own loss of composure Mutt cradled his forehead with a hand and looked up at the ventilation shaft above him.
"Sorry Allison, I should've let ladies go first eh?"
Mutt said, trying to hide his previous outburst of emotion and aggression. Despite this, Mutt couldn't will his right hand that gripped the gun to stop shaking.
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:53 pm
A smile crept even further onto her face at Mutt's face when he glanced down at her guns, "Well I guess you are quicker than me, but a better shot? I'd like to see that." She stepped out of his way, to allow Mutt to exit his room. They made their way to the training room, Mutt with loud, heavy footsteps and Allison with light, feminine ones. She stepped up her pace so that she was walking next to him, she placed her hand on his arm, "Are you alright?..You don't seem okay." He didn't seem to hear her, and he continued walking. She kept up to him, examining his face carefully. "..I wonder why he has such a stained smile..." She allowed herself to fall a few steps behind him, and fell into her own thoughts. He came to a sudden halt, which she hadn't expected, so she ran into his back. "...oof.."
Mutt allowed a smile, "Here we are missus, come, show me your skill." Allison entered the room behind him, taking in the scent of the room. She turned away from Mutt, not wanting him to see her satisfaction for being in the training room again. Her head snapped in his direction when she heard a gun shot. His hand was cradling his forehead and he was looking up at the ventilation shaft above him, "Sorry Allison, I should'velet ladies go first eh?" She walked over to him, concern filtered onto her face. "Mutt...?" She placed her hand onto his arm again, and looked down at his shaking right hand, then back at his face. "You don't need to be sorry..I understand your past, I do. I may not have lived it, but I've seen it." She wasn't sure if her words made sense to him, they didn't make much sense to herself, but she wanted him to know that she understood.
Trying to show him that it was okay, she gave him a quick smile and walked over to her previous position and stared at one of the practice dummies. Taking the gun out of the right holster quickly, she aimed and shot twice. Once, directly in the middle of the head of the dummy and once directly in the center of where the heart would be. Both perfect shots. She turned to Mutt, with a wide smile. She shifted her weight onto one leg and placed her hand on a hip. "Think you're a better shot, sweetheart? I don't think so."
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:44 am
A bitter laugh erupted from Mutt's lips and holstering the gun, Mutt let both hands swing freely by his sides. "Well it's nice to hear how you try to understand I suppose" Mutt said with astringent undertones. Stepping away from Allison, Mutt shrugged the hand laid so softly and delicately off him. Running a hand over his chin and cheeks Mutt heard two gun shots thud into a practice dummy.
A new smile, more accustomed and frequent on his face, reappeared as admiration swelled to new fruition within Mutt. Smoke wafted from the penetrated holes and barrel alike. "Not bad for a girl I suppose, and you're how far away, 15 meters or so away?" said Mutt a pleased and brazen expression on his face. "Now let's see how well you do with something like this, I'll go first as demonstrator." Mutt strolled over to a grubby towel on the floor (clean in retrospect to the other towels around Mutt thought) and bending over Mutt fetched the towel off the floor. Swishing it back and forth in front of Allison's face so she could get a nice pungent waft, Mutt then proceeded to tie it tightly around his eyes. Taking a deep breath Mutt shook his whole body, like a dog does to dry itself, then turning a complete revolution Mutt stopped and in a breath had shot a bullet into each hole Allison had made in the dummy, and then turning 180 degrees shot a perfect bulls eye onto the target fastened to the wall. A second had passed and the gun was reloaded and put back into its holster.
"Living on the streets and hunting Embers did teach me some nifty survival tricks though." Mutt proclaimed, then the rebel untied the towel and looked directly into Allison's eyes. Although everything Mutt saw was bathed in a colour similar to a dusty and pale sun, Mutt could still see the perfect colours of Allison's sepulcher skin and deep amber eyes. Amber the colour of honey mixed with blood. Raising the hand filled with the towel Mutt brought it up to Allison's eye level and smiling he shook the rag at her once again. Tossing his head backwards so his hair trailed down the center of his back Mutt asked: "Wanna try?"
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