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 Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:07 pm
Ren, for the most part, had been very content with his life for the past few weeks. Despite the breakup with Alessa, he had passed his examination and had received Professor Savage's pin - a feat he had almost deemed impossible, since the exam had dealt with Ren's most hated thing - water. After that had come prom, and Ren had spent the evening with his three best friends, even managing to snag his not-date into dancing with him (though Gabrian had insisted on leading, despite Ren's protests). All in all, it had been a very good month. And Ren had been enjoying life at Amityville High.
At least until one particular afternoon when he was walking down one of the hallways in the classroom building, hands slipped casually into his pockets. He'd been on his way back to his dorm, and Ren let out a small whistle, absently making his way through the empty halls. He glanced to the left briefly, seeing a signup sheet for Bruteball posted neatly on a door, and Ren passed it without much thought.
Then he stopped. Backtracked. And stared at the list. There, at the very bottom, in a quiet blue script, was a very familiar name.
For a few moments Ren just looked at it, as if trying to comprehend in his mind if he were hallucinating it or not. But when he reached out a hand and poked at the paper, it was as tangible as anything else, of course.
Which meant that he and a certain someone needed to have a very big talk. That in turn found Ren stalking down the hallway, out of the building, across the campus, into the ghost dorms, and he didn't stop until he had flung open the door to room 178.
"You signed up for BRUTEBALL?" Ren bellowed, stomping into Jove's room. "Are you nuts?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:20 am
Glowing eyes peered out from under the bed, wide with surprise as the door burst open. He was even more surprised when he realized it was Ren, and not some crazy intruder hellbent on destroying his bedroom. Ren was never that rough with his door. Or so angry. Jove's ears flattened back, and he left tending his mushrooms to crawl out and see what it was Ren wanted.
When the subject of his brother's anger came up, the pup's head tilted in confusion. What was wrong with him signing up for bruteball? He was gonna play like Seiji and Bul, and all the other tough guys. He wasn't afraid of the stupid bitey ball, or the stupid demon who always called him a cat.
He waited to hear what was really bothering the gryphon, surely it wasn't the bruteball signups. Maybe he stubbed his toe on the way in and was just shouting because he was in pain.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:04 am
Clearly Jove was not thinking the same way Ren was, since his little brother was giving him a look that obviously said And your point is..? Jove had been doing something under the bed, but now he was standing and looking at him with a confused expression. Ren did not have the sign up sheet to thrust into his little brother's face to show him, so instead he settled his hands on his hips and glared at him.
"Do you even know what Bruteball is?" he asked. "Don't you know what they do there?"
Ren wasn't sure why Jove had felt the need to sign up for that, of all things. Maybe he had wanted to feel like one of the older boils, try and prove to everyone that he was "tough." But "Jove" and "bruteball" were two words that just did not go together, especially in Ren's mind. And for the first time since he had met the puppy, he was frustrated with him.
"Why would you sign up for Bruteball?" he said, teeth clicking together in irritation. His wings, having grown wider in the past few months, expanded and then folded neatly against his back, fluttering quietly.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:48 am
Jove took a step back, feeling his tail bump the side of the bed. He had expected something else, but Ren just kept going on about bruteball. Jove's brow furrowed and his ears folded back, not in fear as much as bewilderment. Of course he knew what bruteball was, it was a game tough guys played that involved a nasty, cursing ball.
Did Ren not want him to try out?
Jove puffed up defensively, his mouth tightening into an almost defiant expression. It was like he was daring Ren to tell him why he shouldn't sign up for tryouts. The pup clearly thought he had done nothing wrong, he had made the decision himself, and nobody else had pushed him or bullied him into it. Was it not too much to ask that his brother be proud of him for signing up for the team, and hope he did good in tryouts?
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:02 am
Apparently Jove had not expected Ren to be upset about this, if the wide eyed, confused expression on his face was anything to go by. It was somewhat painful to look at; Ren of all people did not get mad very easily, but when he did it usually meant that the situation was bad enough to warrant his frustration. And right now he was definitely frustrated.
Jove's expression had shifted, turning into one of near irritation, his tail twisting around his ankles. "You're gonna get yourself killed," Ren said, though after a second he remembered that Jove was, in fact, already dead. But his point still stood. "Bruteball isn't just some fun and dandy little game you play. It's brutal; hence the name. Hell, you're practically the same size as the ball! You're going to get yourself hurt!"
The size comment was a low blow, and Ren regretted it after saying it, but the idea of Jove trying to play on that team was upsetting. Not because he couldn't do it (which he couldn't), but because he knew something would happen during a game or even practice and Jove would get seriously hurt. And Ren did not want to see that.
"Why would you sign up for this?!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:51 am
The pup's ears turned back at Ren's angry tone, the heat in those words making his defensiveness increase. He was going to get stronger, and learn how be a tougher ghost, and he wasn't going to simply be knocked down by a couple rough tackles! Well, he would probably be knocked down, but he needed to prove that he could stand back up and keep going. He wasn't going to be a little weakling forever!
His ire grew right up until it struck him what his brother had just said. He was practically the same size as the ball. He was going to get hurt. It was like a blow to the little pup, being so firmly told that he was tiny. Ren was essentially saying he was too small, and he couldn't do it. That he should give up like a coward, and take his name off the list because he was little and was mistaken.
Didn't Ren believe he could do it?
He stood his ground and gave his brother a glare. "I can play," he said, in a voice that was quiet, but carried an unmistakable hurt.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:30 pm
It was not as if he enjoyed being angry; in fact, Ren hated it. The emotion reminded him of his parents, and those people were the last on earth that he wanted to be like. But right now his frustration and worry that something would happen to Jove - something serious that might scar him for more than just a single game - was overtaking his normally mild mannered side.
Obviously Jove thought differently; it was clear in the defensive stance he had taken, the glare on his face and the way his ears had flattened angrily back against his head. But Ren was not about to back down on this, even after he caught the wide eyed wince from the size comment. He shouldn't have said that; it had been rude of him, not to mention it wasn't even like Ren to say such things. For some reason, though, this bothered him a great deal. He did not want to see anything happen to his little brother.
"I can play."
It was a quiet voice, laced with the clear strands of an accent that Ren had always known was there, but had barely heard in the months he had known Jove. That sentence alone was the most he'd heard from the boil at one time; and it was more than just a single word, which is what Jove tended to limit himself to. It surprised Ren a little, but the very distinct hurt he heard in his little brother's voice was more important than the words themselves.
Ren physically flinched, but he forced back the desire to step away and leave. This was important. "Why?" he asked, his frustration pushing him forward. His bandaged fingers were clenched, nails digging into his palm. "What is with this sudden desire to play? What if you get hurt, huh? Then what are you going to do?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:49 pm
As the gryphon took a step forward, Jove pulled back bitterly. Why bother explaining himself when Ren wasn't going to trust him? Clearly he didn't believe Jove could handle himself once he got out onto the field, would he even understand if he was provided with a reason? Would he listen? There was no point trying to explain.
Despite his silence the little ghost didn't look away, he stared right into Ren's eyes in a defiant challenge. He was going to try out for the team, and prove to everyone that he wasn't a tiny, fragile little thing. He wasn't just a baby pup for cuddling and pampering, or a little doll for dressing up, and he was most certainly not limited to what he was now. He had to be more than this, or how would he make it through the coming year? He needed to prove to himself that he could be more than this...
A short growl escaped his throat. Ren wasn't going to be able to stop him, even if he got hurt! He could take it! He wasn't going to go limping off with his tail between his legs, he was going to stick it out, and learn to be stronger! And he would show them all he wasn't just a fluffy little dog.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:52 pm
Jove had stepped away from him, and Ren felt that drawing back almost as tangible as someone jabbing him with a knife. It hurt, but what hurt more was knowing that he was the cause of that bitterness; that expression on Jove's face was his fault. He hated being the bad guy - and right now, he was. There was no way around that, but Ren's mind seemed not to be working as well as it should have been; he was not rationally thinking through things.
"I..." he started to say, then snapped his mouth shut angrily. That look on Jove's face - the defiance - was not unexpected, but it was harsh; harder than he had thought and Ren did not like it. Especially since it seemed as if things were going from bad to worse. All he wanted to do was protect Jove; and it seemed as if that protective older brother sense was getting the best of him. He knew, somewhere, that the boil was probably capable of handling things himself, but Ren was not used to being an older brother. His and his sister's relationship had been no where near as complex and close as Jove's and his was, and Ren was not used to feeling this sort of frustrated feeling.
"Fine," he snapped finally, fingers still clenching and unclenching. "Fine. You want to do it? You want to get beaten to a pulp by a bunch of guys all older and bigger than you? Go ahead."
See if I care almost escaped, but Ren clamped his mouth shut, biting back the words, since he did, in fact, care; apparently a little too much.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:59 pm
Finally it seemed Ren had given up the argument, but it didn't make the pup feel any better. It still felt... wrong. He was still angry, and Ren's words only made him bristle more. He wanted an apology, an understanding, not an equally angry permission to go do whatever the hell he wanted.
Ren didn't understand at all, the little ghost could still feel the tension radiating off his friend, his hands tight and his jaw clenched, and matched it in anger. If Ren thought he was going to get beat to a pulp, then he would just go and prove the gryphon wrong. He would learn to play well and show Ren he was just as competent as anyone else! He wasn't going to be a coward or a failure!
With an angry huff, Jove brushed past Ren and stormed out of the room.
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