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 Posted: Sat May 17, 2014 6:00 pm
The first thing he'd done when he got back was rearrange his room, his primary room as Jane had called it. And then he'd had a long drink of the expensive wine he reserved for those times when he needed a tiny reminder what pleasant tastes actually felt like. He'd fallen back into his routines as if he'd never been gone almost immediately and his skin had been grateful for the care he gave it. He felt as if the desert had taken years off of him.
As soon as he felt he was back in step with his old self, he decided another part of his routine was called for.
He stood by America's door, and rather than knock. He waited.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 1:09 am
America was in the middle of braiding her hair as she stepped out, a homemade granola bar in her mouth. She was dressed for her morning run and stepping out when she saw Lawrence and froze for one startled moment before slamming her door shut behind her. The girl ignored him, making her way toward the stairs.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 5:36 am
Lawrence broke his blank stare and smiled as she exited, slipping effortlessly into Jan's persona. He was even dressed the part and sauntered after her with the dogged kind of Terminator patience which said he was happy to follow her all day, even if that meant going on a run with her.
Butch started frothing and foaming and getting much too excited, but he let him anyway.
"Aww, come on missy, that ain't very Southern of ya." he drawled playfully. "After I come all this way to pay ya a visit."
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 5:42 am
"Well," she returned, voice tightly polite, "you should have left a calling card, then. While I'm sure the 5 minute walk and navigation of stairs is tiring for a man of your years, I'm afraid I have other business to attend to. Lord bless you and have a lovely morning." The girl's pace was brisk, and she was quickly up said stairs and heading outside, not even bothering to look at him.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 6:22 am
"Sorry, ah only do personal calls." he said, trailing her, his own pace picking up without missing a beat. If there was one solitary thing which could rankle him, or at least instill the restlessness which often simmered over into violence, it was reminding him of his age. He'd watched his severed hand decompose with a grim sense that the same was happening to the rest of him all the time, only slower. "Whatever ya need to attend to, I'm sure you can attend to with some company, I'm fit as a fiddle."
He smiled. "Heck, I'll even tag along if you are off to see The Original - I mean Taym of course." Though given the ultimate end of their mission, he felt the moniker given to the clones was more appropriate for the other man.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 1:51 pm
"I'm gonna run, I'm gonna shower, and then I'm gonna spend the rest of the morning with Konstantin," America stated as she picked up her pace into a light jog to start. "None of which you are invited to join, so tell me what your aim is with this visit and kindly be on your damn way." The mention of him.visiting Taym had her visibly tensing, unhappy, knuckles growing white.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 2:01 pm
"I don't really need an invitation, you know that missy." he said with just an edge of condescension. "Nor should I really need an excuse to spend time with my lovely wife." He kept up in pace, following her into the jog, insistent but not really enthusiastic about the idea of a run. "You seemed very irate in your messages to me in the desert." he smiled pleasantly. "I just wanted to see if we could sort things out all friendly like."
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 2:24 pm
"Not your wife, a*****e!" She called back while pushing forward, changing her route to the more punishing obstacle course that was the jungle. "There were all sorts of false pretenses being bandied about, so don't you think for a minute I consider you my husband!"
America turned to glare at him, speed increasing rather than faltering as she stated, blunt and unforgiving, "You threatened my friends life for sex and abandoned him to die in a ******** desert full of enemies. Bit hard to come back from that, Lawrence!"
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 2:42 pm
"I consider it binding." he said, picking up his pace, slightly irritable that he was being dragged on a jaunt through the jungle. Exercise was not his favourite thing, it was something he tended to have to do when his life was in danger. "Though of course missy, you are entitled to think whatever you want."
The encouragement made the running only slightly more tolerable. It was still effort that he did not need to expend. he barked, a long string of rasping bays which were far too loud for their own good.
"Ah told you my side of things 'Drina." he said calmly over the internal racket. "I wasn't privy to his location, warned you in advance, and gave you the option to enlist my full effort. Doesn't mean we can't sit round the campfire and talk about what happens from here." The only up-side to the already rather stressful pace was that at the very least he didn't need to tackle it in high heels.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 3:27 pm
"You're full of shi-it!" The girl sang back, switching from the main path and into one far less popular. The reason became obvious enough as she vaulted over a large tree trunk, leftover debris from the hurricane months before.
Slowing, she turned to jog backward and see if he'd manage it. "Well? What do you think happens from here?" America was genuinely curious about what his crazy led him to believe was possible.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 3:59 pm
Lawr was under no delusions about his physical state, he'd been in Antarctica, then he'd come back and been bedbound for no small amount of time, starving himself and then promptly being shipped off to the Sahara as soon as he could see again had left very little time to maintain any semblance of fitness. He was very much a shmoozer, not a fighter.
And right now it was becoming painfully obvious, his body complaining almost immediately at the jog. Watching her vault ahead he zoned out the faint complaints of his muscles entirely and summoning Butch, used the gauntlet to vault over on his left hand. It still hurt considerably to do, the lack of a palm to spread the weight sending a spike of pain up his arm. But pain reminded him he was still connected to his body, sometimes he preferred it.
<> he said sharply, Butch was useful for certain things, but when he was trying to concentrate - a task he had never once experienced trouble in doing - he was perhaps less useful to have in his thoughts.
"I don't think anything missy. I know what happens from here, what happens without a doubt is this old cowboy ain't going away. And the more you fight it the more unpleasant it'll be. You should just accept it, the things that happened out there prove I'm a man of my word."
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 4:22 pm
American observed him overcome the obstacle with narrow, calculating eyes then returned to the path. Roots underfoot, low hanging branches, boulders, logs, muddy pits that sucked in unwary shoes, and more fallen trees littered the way. It became readily clear how familiar she was with it, smoothly passing over and under and through, all the while glancing back at Lawr.
"And by accept you mean what? Have sex with you or you'll hurt my friends? Bow my head all meek in public?" She laughed, bright and angry, breathless about the edges. "The things that happened out there prove you for a liar and opprotunist, both of which I already knew! You'll have to do better n'that!"
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 4:59 pm
"No. That particular sex was a one time offer missy, a test of sorts which you failed. You disappointed me. No any sex at this point is without terms. " In some ways, she had passed the test, refusing to surrender to him, but he did not say this. "And you'll make me laugh over here if you pretend you'd ever be meek." It took actual effort to keep his voice cool and unruffled as he scrabbled for traction and grip, tripped and recovered only barely.
The creature barked in irritation. He had no reason not to listen to the weapon, and so he did, trying to pick and choose simpler paths and make up distance with effort, using the gauntlets to cleave through clinging vines and low hanging branches. It was too much he was realizing, but he did not stop, because the state of his body was irrelevant compared to basking in her and being refreshed by her anger.
"By accept I mean, go with your instincts, engage with me, whatever that might mean to you. Because you cannot avoid me. Even if you lose me here, I'll be back tomorrow with the prairie sunrise." And he tripped properly, dropping to catch himself on the gauntlets before once again scrambling to keep up, chest rapidly rising and falling as he demanded more of himself than he could readily give.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 5:12 pm
He found himself shoved back down, hard, followed by the vicious pressure of a knee in his back and her voice panting hot and low in his ear. "Then tag, a*****e. You're it."
Grinning, the girl shoved off him and began to sprint away.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 5:32 pm
There was a brief intense blossom of pain as he found himself simultaneously rewarded and accosted. If it had been anyone else he would have said no, beyond disdainful of childish games. Even as a child he'd shown no real inclination towards play. But in his present world, America was his motivation, the very reason on Deus that he maintained drive and did not simply lapse back into inaction and indifference. Motivation was movement, and there was no reason he would let her get away while there was still any chance that he could keep up.
He dragged himself to his feet again, dropping the expression he'd been maintaining, dropping everything that was surplus to requirements.
Running and diving through the undergrowth, with complete and utter disregard for the scrapes and bruises that ate away at his shield and the branches that dragged across his skin, he chased her through the jungle. But there was a very different intention, a deliberateness in his movements. He was no longer trying to get close only to converse. Instead, whenever he was within reach he'd lash out with his gauntlets, like a wild animal trying to get a grip of her and pull her back.
But she was faster than him and nimbler even than his good hand. She was always - for the moment - out of reach.
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