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 Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:37 pm
It wouldn't be half as bad if the barbed wire wasn't slicked with mud and spotted with rust. As it was, Logan winced and sucked in a breath, trying not to cry. He was still an infant, after all, and it hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before. How had he gotten tangled up in a bunch of barbed wire? Well, basically, he was on his way out into spades... for no good reason. Normally, he was on an errand for his father, Briar. This time, he had merely wanted to go somewhere. Anywhere.
And he heard that Spades had some... rather unsavoury characters. Infant Logan was intrigued, and also a little bored. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, trying to infiltrate the territory of a rather hostile faction was what could go wrong. It wasn't even that anyone had done it purposefully, and Logan was doing alright, just kind of scraped up... until he tried to free himself without assistance. At that point, barbed wire raked up and down his body, and he could barely move. It was tearing through the fabric, and had latched onto his back in several places.
Eventually, it was all he could do to lie still and look up at the sky, wondering when he'd be able to get set free. He was getting kind of hungry. That was about the point it started to rain, too. Logan was a sad, soggy puppy, his fur slicked down, ears twitching occasionally. He couldn't even turn himself to escape the rain, so he just kept his eyes closed and tried to breathe as best as he could.
Overall, not a very good day for Logan so far.
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Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 11:56 pm
Jace didn't really consider prowling the streets his job per se, he just knew that it was something he should do, something that was necessary despite the fact that he was well... Very young and small. In fact he was even short for his age it seemed, something that the other kids tended to poke at him for. Well, one day he'd show them, when he was bigger than all of them and better at the things that they were all supposed to be learning how to do. Yeah, he could understand wanting to mess around or play games, but that wasn't nearly as interesting as some of the more... Questionable activities that he seemed to have a knack for; they couldn't all be Alphas he supposed.
He froze, ears pricking when he heard shuffling nearby, eyes narrowing a little as he peered out into the rain; he was incredibly grateful for his hat but he thought a hood would be better cus you couldn't lose one of those. Frowning he took a few hesitant steps forward, peering about, ears flicking back and forth as he listened, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. Finally he took a chance and peered around the corner, tilting his head a little before growling a little, ears flattening as he strode forward, arms crossing over his chest in attempts to look tough.
"You deserve to be left here." he muttered, glowering at the boy. "You're trespassing in my territory."
Honestly it... Really wasn't his territory, but when he got protective or possessive he didn't really make that distinction. He gave the kid a nasty look before he began to pat his pockets, looking for something he could use to cut him out of the barbed wire; that would have to be redone and he really didn't want to be around to catch the blame for that when it happened. Finally he drew out the wire cutters he liked to use to break into places lined with chain-link or other such fences; he'd stolen them off his mentor a few months ago.
"I'm going to beat the crap out of you when I cut you free." Jace muttered, giving the other boy a narrow look, not approaching just yet. "But no funny business or I'll just leave you strung up for the adults to find you."
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Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:43 pm
The rain had, by this point, matted Logan's tail quite thoroughly. It draped down into the mud, looking relatively pathetic. If only he was the kind of infant who enjoyed toys, staying at home-- if only he was the kind of infant with fathers who nurtured and coddled. Instead, he had been raised as a tiny adult, expected to be as self-sufficient and responsible as any other adult might be. That was why he was normally at home, practicing, painting in inks. If not, he was running errands for Briar. At the moment, he sorely longed for a cup of coffee that his infant body should probably not be drinking in the first place.
Logan didn't even bother to open his eyes, as the rain would have poured into them promptly after, given he couldn't really turn his head. He just listened to whoever it was that was talking. "Yeah," he mumbled, in response to the stranger's assertion that he deserved to be left there. "Maybe something will save me, eventually," he attempted to joke about it, even though he was cold and miserable. "If it's your territory, I guess I should say I'm honoured, Hatter," Logan added, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a smile. Moving muscles hurt. A lot.
When the stranger approached him, however, and his voice was incredibly close, Logan's eyes slid open, as he braced himself for the stinging pain of rain against exposed eyes, and watched what he was doing. "So you're going to beat me up... but I shouldn't try any 'funny business'? How could I refuse this deal."
Logan sighed, then coughed: water had gotten into his lungs. He shivered, and as Jace was cutting him loose, it would become more and more apparent that barbed wire had sliced through much of his coat and into his skin, raking along his back. "Normally as soon as I was free I would run, but... I think I'd fall on my face and not get up, this time. So I guess I'm all yours."
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 1:26 pm
Jace blinked when the boy called him the Hatter, tilting his head slightly, his ears perking a little; despite the fact that he wasn't actually the hatter... He found he enjoyed that title. He forced himself to scowl again as he hesitantly approached, eying the barbed wire with a scowl. Really, he didn't think like a kid anymore, life had been a little to rough on him for him to be stupid when it came to things like cutting wire. Thus he began to cut away the wire slowly, making sure to cut it away in such a manner that it wouldn't make the boy's wait fall onto the barbs; despite his age, he'd learned a few things on the streets.
"Not the Hatter." he muttered, sounding a little grumpy about that fact. "But I'm pretty scary too, you know!"
When Jace noticed that the boy was bleeding he hesitated a little, eying the bloody gouges for a long moment before swallowing and continuing to cut him loose. He supposed that what he'd suffered from getting tangled in the barbed wire was enough retribution for wandering into Spade territory... Especially alone. Besides, he couldn't just leave him in the rain to die... Never mind that questions would be asked but somewhere, deep down, there was still a tiny soft spot that told him to take pity on the Growlithe.
"Looks like the wire already got you good." he muttered, his voice quiet. "Which is good, cus I didn't want to go through the effort of teaching you a lesson anyways."
Finally he cut away all the wire and cautiously bent it out of the way. He stared at the other boy before averting his eyes and offering him a hand up, looking a little disgruntled at his own actions. After a brief second his eyes darted back to the boy, his eyes hooded a little as he waited expectantly for him to use his hand to climb to his feet.
"Hurry up or I'm gonna leave you here."
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 1:28 pm
While Jace didn't think like a kid any more because life hadn't exactly been easy on him, Logan was similar for different reasons: Briar had never exactly been warm with him, and had treated him a lot like a small adult. The isolation had aged him prematurely, especially since more and more he found himself making food for both himself and Briar lest his father forget to eat again while toiling over some manuscript or another.
As it was, although Logan looked pretty pathetic and the pain was bursting through his mind, if he cried it wasn't showing under the rain and mud. "Terrifying," Logan added, as if agreeing with the boy saying he was as scary as Hatter. Logan tried to lie as still as possible, which wasn't easy as everything in him was saying bolt, and bolt now. Each snip of the wire just made him want to leave faster.
But he didn't. He watched Jace warily, his ears flat against his head, his chest heaving with the effort of holding still. "Kinda hurts," he agreed, "I would have taken my chances with you instead."
Logan was thoroughly surprised by Jace's extended hand. He reached up and grabbed hold of him after a pause, jolted by the boy urging him to get to his feet. He held onto the growlithe's hand firmly, though his fingers were faintly numb from the drumming rain, and pulled himself up, slipping in the mud. Rather than brace himself on the strange boy, he nearly allowed himself to fall back into the mud-- he didn't want to lean on him.
"Where are we going?..." As much as Logan was trying to walk straight, he was also really not doing well. His tail was draped over one arm, so he could keep it out of the mud, but his eyes kept shutting and his feet kept slipping. "I'm... Logan, by the way."
Logan reached over to Jace to tug on the sleeve of his jacket, but he didn't look so good. He looked like he was seconds from a faceplant. "Thanks. I'm saying it now but I'll prove it some day."
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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:00 am
"Damn right." he muttered, continuing his work despite what he said; he didn't believe that the other boy actually thought he was scary, but was too focused on his task to care.
Most of the pieces he pulled were bloody, the crimson mingling with the water. Logan really did look worse for wear, so much so that he would have felt bad beating the other boy up for trespassing. Despite that his lips curved in a small smirk at Logan's comment, even as he helped him up.
"Maybe you shouldn't try to cuddle barbed wire next time." he countered, arching a brow.
When the boy slipped, Jace's hand immediately shot out to steady him, gripping his shoulder then retracting. If it had been him, he wouldn't want the humiliation of being helped along by some stranger after already been helped out of a somewhat embarrassing situation, but he would be there to help just in case. After all, it would just make the other boy's injuries worse if he let him fall, never mind infection and all that.
"My house." he answered simply, watching... Logan intently as he moved. "I'm Jace... It's not a great house but there's blankets and I can swipe food."
In retrospect it probably made it sound like he was a squatter that was a thief as well, but it was more that his guardian was going to be angry at him bringing home another mouth to feed. Never mind the fact that Jace was late and the Hariyama always got grumpy when his charge wasn't on time. He hoped that maybe, just maybe, Edgar would be a little bit more forgiving since who he was bringing home was injured.
"I like favors." Jace muttered, leading the boy a few houses down to where his was. "Edgar says that favors make good assets."
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Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 9:51 am
Logan had probably been out here for quite a while. It would explain his general exhaustion and the deep series of cuts. But now that he was being rescued, some of his friendlier personality returned. Logan, being friendly? Who would have thought it. He rarely was. He normally holed himself up in his father's house, painting, reading, writing-- or he was working for his father, delivering orders and picking up supplies.
"Nothing cuddles back as passionately as barbed wire," Logan joked. Yeah, he definitely had not meant to slip in the mud and end up wrapped in barbed wire. His own fault.
Logan's eyes flicked to the side as Jace braced him and then moved away again. Perfect. A small hint of a smile snuck onto his face. "I think I would do anything to be wrapped up in a warm, fluffy blanket right now," Logan added, his eyes shut, his voice hazy. He had clearly begun the delirious stage of exhaustion and bloodloss in which he pretty much said whatever he was thinking. "I think I've got some coins in my pocket, you wouldn't have to swipe anything if you don't want. It was payment for a delivery," he mumbled. Should never have snuck into Spades after that delivery...
But it meant that Logan had met Jace. And somewhere in him, he felt that it was worth the barbed wire. But Red Queen be damned he wished that he hadn't had to "cuddle" barbed wire just to meet him. Logan laughed, suddenly. The thought that had made him laugh was realizing how Jace had appeared in his time of need, and the rough translation into words would be: Like an Angel of Mercy.
Logan didn't answer the last part. Being in someone's debt was a daunting concept. But he figured, this time, he really did owe the boy.
He wanted to talk to Jace, but he couldn't seem to manage enough energy to form thoughts into words; he was silent at the best of times, nevermind when he was so wounded and tired. And hungry. His stomach growled, and Logan's ears seemed to flatten even more. Defeated. He dug into his pocket and found the coins, and tried to push them into Jace's pocket, but his fingers weren't working well.
"In case I pass out," Logan told him. "I don't want you to root around my unconscious body." And, unspoken: I'm trusting you with these.
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 10:15 am
"I don't want your money." Jace grumbled, shaking his head as he continued to help the obviously exhausted boy along. "I'm not a thief anyways... Unless you deserve to be stolen from. When I said swipe, I meant from Edgar, my 'keeper'."
Jace's brows furrowed a little; why was he explaining himself to someone that he had just met, anyways? Scowling, he glanced at Logan out of the corner of his eye, looking mildly suspicious, before the expression faded and he looked back at the path before them; it wouldn't be too long now. However the other boy's sudden laugh had him bristling when it nearly caused him to stumble, resulting in the Poochyena shooting the other boy a dirty look.
When no elaboration occurred he snorted and shook his head, continuing to move towards the humble little shack, which looked like every other one in this part of Spades, eager to get home. Finally they reached the steps and Jace reached out and undid the hidden locks that Edgar had installed a while ago; break-ins happened a lot, so his paranoid 'keeper' tended to err on the side of caution. That done he opened the door and led Logan inside, growling softly when the boy tried to shove coins into his pocket.
"Oi! I don't want your money!" he snapped, shoving them back in Logan's pocket. "Keep them."
"Jace yer late again!" the booming voice made the Poocheyna's ears flatten, a disgruntled look crossing his features.
"Yeah yeah. I found a kid caught in some barbed wire. Hauled him here."
"Oh, so now I have another mouth to feed? You ungrateful--"
"Whatever, I'll do extra sets tomorrow. Kid'll be gone by then anyways."
"If he knifes you in your sleep--"
"I'll deserve it. Whatever, Edgar."
During their shouting match, Jace led Logan over to a spare bedroll, rolling it out before setting him down on it. He then retrieved a thick blanket and draped it over him, arching a brow at him. That was when Edgar, a large man whose default expression seemed to be one of disapproval, rounded the corner, staring down at the other boy before sighing.
"Git 'im out of those clothes. Always make extra anyways."
Jace glanced back to Logan and shrugged. "You heard him."
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 10:35 am
Logan shut his eyes, brows furrowed. "I wasn't giving you my money, I was asking you to hold it in case I pass out and can't get food," he retorted, then sighed, his ears slumping forward again. Logan didn't mind the dirty look Jace gave him. Probably because he was fully delirious by this point, and he did manage to sort of move his pocket towards the coins. Because his hand, and his fingers, he was fairly certain no longer had the dexterity to put them in.
"What are sets?" Logan mumbled, barely awake. Edgar sounded... rough. Not like his father at all. And Jace had called him his keeper, instead of his father. Did Jace not have a father in that sense? So many questions, but Logan couldn't keep hold of any of the thoughts: they slipped away before he could fully grasp them. All kinds of colours and sentiments moving around in his brain, in flashes of brilliance. He'd basically stopped opening his eyes a while ago, and he accepted being set down on the mat, and huddled right into the blanket.
It was warm in there, at least, even if his clothing was still muddy, wet and saturated with his own blood. Logan didn't reply verbally to being told to get undressed; his upper lip peeled back from his teeth at the thought of stripping, especially in this weird place, but he relaxed and, under the blanket, stripped to his underwear, shedding the pants and the slippers and the vest and the shirt and pushing them out of the blanket, pulling it closer to him, eyes still shut. He was shivering still, and the fibers from the blanket were catching in his wound, which made him whimper faintly.
"As soon as I can get up again..." Logan began, about to insist he'd be gone before they could even really register his presence. "Soon..."
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 10:49 am
"Sets. Like work outs? Edgar is training me to fight." He answered, sounding rather proud.
Jace took the other boy's clothing and pushed them aside to be washed and... Patched. He then moved to retrieve a small injury kit all the while Edgar was in the background muttering about ungrateful and reckless kids. Rolling his eyes Jace wandered back over, setting the antiseptic aside before gently poking Logan, arching a brow at him.
"I need to see your back so I can make sure it doesn't get infected." he muttered, scowling a little. "Then we'll get some of Edgar's soup in you. Perk you right up."
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 10:53 am
"Oh. That's awesome," Logan mumbled, meaning it. He was, after all, not much of a fighter. If he was older, he might have thought it was hot, but since he was still a kid and a pretty distant one at that it was not on his mind, exactly. Just that it was cool. And kinda made sense as to why this kid had such a strong personality, so to speak.
Logan finally managed to pry his eyes open long enough to look at Jace's face, noting the scowl. He let his eyes droop shut again, a small smile across his face, and turned to drop the blanket away from his back and wrap it closer around his chest. It was raked with cuts all over, ones that would probably scar. It was unusual for a child to be so beaten up; a hallmark of something not quite right in Wonderland.
"I'm trying to decide if I'm the luckiest or unluckiest," Logan mumbled, leaning his head on his knees and bracing himself for the wound cleaning. "Any vote? And I love soup," Logan added, changing thoughts suddenly.
"Briar, my dad, he never makes us food. Almost never. He's too busy working, so I cook for us," Logan added, rambling sleepily.
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:02 am
"It is totally awesome." Jace agreed enthusiastically, shifting to sit behind the other boy.
Immediately he set to work, his hands moving to gently clean each and every one of the cuts. They weren't too horribly deep but they would definitely scar, and Logan had lost quite a bit of blood. However they weren't as dirty as he expected them to be, which he was grateful for; digging debris of out wounds tended to be rather unpleasant at best.
"Unluckiest." Jace deadpanned, putting his supplies away once he was done and disposing of soiled gauze.
Jace then went to work on bandaging the wounds, bottom lip clamped between his teeth as he did so. His work wasn't nearly as good as his guardian's, but it would do for the moment, until Edgar was done cooking. Once he was done he moved around and plopped down on the floor in front of Logan, his tail swishing back and forth behind him and a smirk on his lips; he was pleased with his work.
"I suck at cooking. Edgar doesn't let me in the kitchen."
"Thas cus ye burn whateva you touch." Edgar groused.
"Yeah yeah, whatever, Old Man."
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