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 Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:55 am
If there was anything that Remus possibly could have done better, it was not take anything for granted.
He'd told more than one person he was taking the war seriously, and it was true - he knew the dangers of it, even with his flippant personality and tendency towards mocking and jokes. But if there was one thing that Remus was not particularly good at, it was keeping his mouth shut and simply doing what he was told.
Which was why, sometime late in the evening on a Friday, he was hobbling around Destiny City looking slightly worse for the wear. His uniform was ripped in places, and dirt was smeared across one side of his cheek, though he hadn't noticed this just yet. A split lip meant he kept tasting blood, and there was a particularly nasty bruise forming somewhere on the underside of his jaw, which was throbbing painfully.
He was also relatively sure he'd possibly sprained his ankle, though at least he could walk. Remus made a face as he continued onward through the quieted streets, one hand on the brick wall of a nearby building to help keep himself elevated.
"Shitty b*****d."
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 5:01 pm
It wasn’t unusual for Michael to spend his evenings at a bar or two. When school was over and he was finished grading papers and planning lessons, Michael often felt restless enough to either go on patrol, head to a bar, or both. He almost felt bad that he would leave his little brother alone at home, but the kid moved in on his own and he was old enough to take care of himself.
What was unusual was finding beaten and battered senshi wandering around the streets of the city. Even more so when Michael realized he recognized them. It was the young man who had helped him during the attack on the Negaverse, and then after on the moon.
He’d just turned the corner, taking a shortcut down a quiet alley so he could head to his next destination when practically ran into the guy, and while his initial reaction was that of shock and concern, he quickly rearranged his expression to be one more suited for someone who had never met this senshi before.
If it wasn’t for the fact that he was so cautious about who knew his own identity, he would have not bothered pretending as if he didn’t know what was going on. Thankfully whoever beat the crap out of Remus wasn’t around.
“Who the hell did you piss off?” he asked instead, scanning Remus over to make sure there wasn’t any potentially life threatening wounds, and frowning at the state he was in. Part of him wished that Remus had powered down so as not to draw attention to him, but the other part was glad he didn’t, otherwise he was sure he wouldn’t be able to recognize him for who he was.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 5:34 pm
There was indeed nothing life threatening about Remus' injuries, though he certainly felt like he was about to die. Maybe if he pretended that everything was just from a bad boarding trick, he'd feel a little better about the fact that he probably looked ridiculous.
He heard footsteps somewhere in front of him, but no power signature meant no warning, and Remus practically smacked straight into him. He took a hasty step back, stumbling a little as he bumped into the wall, and found himself staring up into a familiar pair of blue eyes.
The thought oh it's you, officer almost left his mouth, but he caught it just in time, followed by a hastily swallowed, s**t, it's you, officer.
"Uh," said Remus, glancing up and down the street, but this reminded him of the bruise on his jaw, and he winced a little in the process, lifting his free hand to rub at his throbbing neck. "I may have gotten into a little bit of a tussle with an unhappy redhead," he said, by way of (terrible) explanation. It was at least mostly true, since the Negaverse agent had been redheaded. "Don't worry, I won."
He took a step, swayed, and then said reluctantly, "Sort of."
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 6:49 pm
Michael scowled as he watched Remus sway, obviously unsteady on his feet. At least he didn’t look worse than he did, Michael reminded himself. He didn’t know the other very well, but he had helped him out before. And it wasn’t as though Michael disliked Remus. He was just… obnoxious.
“Sort of?” Michael repeated with an indignant sniff, and lifted his arms to cross over his chest. “Are you out here by yourself? You’re going to get yourself killed,” he added, feeling as though it was necessary to remind Remus just how dangerous being a senshi was. Especially one who was obviously new to all this.
Part of him was debating on how much he, as a civilian, should really know about senshi. It was probably pretty strange for Remus to have someone just stand around and talk to him, but it wasn’t as though Michael would leave anyone alone who was injured. He watched as the young man swayed again, and before he could stop himself, he quickly uncrossed his arms and reached out to grab hold of Remus’s elbow to keep him upright.
“Dumbass,” he said under his breath, keeping his grip on the other until he was sure he wouldn’t collapse. “Don’t pick fights you can’t handle.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 7:04 pm
"I'm not going to get myself killed," said Remus in protest, giving Michael a pointed look. "Being out here by myself is part of the job." Not that you would know anything about that. "And I was doing just fine tonight...up until I wasn't."
He took a wavering step forward, tilted, and found the other's hand in an iron grip around his arm. Remus cast a quick look at him, eyes narrowed in suspicion, but it seemed that Michael was doing nothing more than just attempting to steady him. Which was suspicious in and of itself, mostly because he seemed too uptight of a guy to be nice sometimes.
"I can handle plenty of fights, believe me," he said, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. His gloved fingers came away a little bloody, and he swore loudly. Considering that Michael still had his arm, Remus lifted his hand, bit down on the finger of his glove, and tugged it off with his teeth before letting it drop to the ground. He gingerly patted his mouth.
"s**t. ********. That b*****d gave me a bloody lip, I'll kill him."
Grimacing a little, he glanced back at Michael.
"You wouldn't happen to, like, carry bandaids on you or something would you?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 7:23 pm
”Part of the job?” Michael let out a humorless bark of a laugh, and went right back to scowling in disapproval. “Do you even know what you’re doing?” he asked, knowing it was a little harsh, but then again, it wasn’t as though Michael ever claimed to be a nice person.
“You sure don’t seem like you’re very experienced,” he pointed out, keeping his hand on the other’s arm, although he did give him a rough sort of shove backwards so he could more or less force Remus to rest his back against the wall of the building. “You should probably sit down. You look like s**t.”
The next question had him frowning more so than he already was, but after a few moments of hesitation, he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket so he could withdraw several different types of bandages, and a roll of gauze. There were two reasons he had things like that with him. One, he was a knight and getting injured kinda happened. Two, he rode a motorcycle and getting injured kinda happened.
He released his hand on Remus’s arm so he could reach into another inner pocket and pulled out some individually packaged antiseptic wipes and neosporin.
“You should really go to a hospital.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 7:29 pm
The question stopped him for a moment, and Remus turned to look at Michael, one eyebrow raised.
"Do you?" he asked pointedly, because if Michael had any inkling of what he was up to in this uniform, then either he was a particularly well-informed civilian (this was not out of the question, really), or he had something to do with what Remus had dubbed his "night life." "I've got enough experience, thank you very much."
He gave a little undignified squawk of protest as Michael pushed him, his back hitting the bricks behind him a second later.
"At least buy me dinner first," Remus grumbled, but he rested his head against the wall and eased out a breath, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, it was to find Michael pulling out an assortment of medical supplies, which Remus eyed suspiciously.
"I was kinda joking, but you really do have that s**t on you," he said, and laughed, though it was a little wheezing, as everything sort of hurt. "And no - no, hospitals, hell no, I ain't gonna be tied up to some machine or anything, I'll be fine like this."
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 7:43 pm
”You children running around in costumes claim to be fighting a war, right? Trust me, I know what a real war is like,” he said lowly, although he realized his voice seemed more haunted than harsh. Whatever Remus thought didn’t matter to him. While there was definitely fighting and death, it was at least in a senshi and knight’s power to choose what they wanted to do. Sometimes he almost felt pity for those in the Negaverse, but ultimately it was their choice, too.
Michael took one of the antiseptic wipes and tore the package open before handing it to Remus. “Please, with the shape that you’re in, you have no room to make requests,” he frowned. Joking or not, Remus needed to realize just how dangerous it was for him. Michael realized that his comment probably sounded rather dark, but it was the truth.
“Fine, if you don’t want to go to the hospital and you bleed out from internal injuries, just remember I told you so. Do you even have basic first aide knowledge?” It wouldn’t surprise him if Remus had no idea how to tend to bruises and cuts and sprains and breaks. He didn’t seem like the type to be prepared for things like that.
“Now stop joking around and clean yourself up before someone picks up your aura.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 7:50 pm
He stared at Michael, only half offended by the children comment, and much too preoccupied by what else he was saying. It could have been an offhanded guess, but the dark look in Michael's eyes and the hollow tone of voice spoke otherwise.
He's one of them. Or us. Or something.
It was a guess, but Remus would have bet anything he was right. He opened his mouth and then shut it again, frowning more out of thought than actual irritation as he reached out and took the antiseptic wipe. Dabbing gingerly at his lip and wincing at the sting, Remus said, "I know how to wrap injuries. In my civilian life, I play sports."
He said it carefully, a little warily, gaze still slightly narrowed as Remus scrubbed at his fingers. His mouth still stung a little, but at least it had stopped bleeding. He couldn't do much about the bruise on his jaw, which was an ugly purpleish color by now, and his ankle would likely need an ace bandage of sorts.
"You're helping me," said Remus slowly, and it was less a question, more like he was stating a strange fact. "I mean, not that I'm not grateful. Do you have any ace bandages in those pockets of yours?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:02 pm
“Sorry, fresh out,” he said with an even darker frown at the look Remus was giving him. He’d said something to make him suspicious, probably. Maybe the comment about auras, which had honestly slipped out in his wariness of them being attacked by a youma or Negaverse officer. “Gave my last roll to the last dumb kid playing hero. You know who carries ace bandages with them? The hospital.”
Still, he didn’t like the wary look he was getting, and rolled his eyes in response. “I fought in combat missions for five years. I was in the military before… before I quit.” Honorably discharged, fulfilled his commissioned agreement, whatever they wanted to call it he didn’t care.
“I hope you’re better at sports than you are at fighting,” he huffed, going back to crossing his arms over his chest when it seemed as though Remus was fine to clean himself up a bit.
He said nothing in response to the comment about helping, and instead turned away to keep an eye out for anyone heading their way. It was thankfully quiet that night and no one seemed to notice them or their conversation.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:16 pm
"Yeah and you know what else hospitals carry with them?" said Remus, shifting his weight to his uninjured foot and rolling his eyes. "Ridiculous bills. And too many machines that go beep in the night when you're trying to sleep."
He did not miss the slight hesitation in Michael's words, but the pieces were not exactly coming together. Instead, they seemed farther apart, as though Remus was trying to solve two separate puzzles altogether. One of them was the curiosity behind Michael's civilian life, and the other his possible life other than that.
You won't see me again was what he had been told the first - and last - time they'd stumbled into each other's paths, and well, here they were. Remus tossed away the antiseptic wipe once he was done with it, leaning back against the building and easing out a breath.
"You said," said Remus, after a moment, "my aura."
He was watching Michael carefully, curiously.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:24 pm
“Don’t be so dramatic. The beeping is only for movie special effects. They don’t really beep unless necessary,” Michael pointed out, having been in plenty of hospital rooms to know the difference by this point. “Medical bills can’t go to collections as long as you’re paying at least something to them, even if they claim to want the payment in full. So it’s not going to ruin your credit or wallet, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Thankfully, he didn’t have to offer to pay for the medical bills himself. If Remus was any worse off, he might have considered it if only to get him to the hospital, but since he only seemed to be bruised and battered, he would be okay suffering. Probably.
Michael didn’t miss a beat when Remus brought the conversation back around to how he’d mentioned auras. “You think you’re the first kid I’ve run across? This city is full of you people. I know all about senshi and Knights and the Negaverse and youma. Don’t take me for a fool.”
Remus was suspicious, he could tell. But he would simply walk away before getting close to revealing his identity, especially since they already sort of knew each other.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:35 pm
He opened his mouth and then shut it again.
"All right, all right," said Remus, letting out a surprised laugh. "I still won't go to a hospital, but I've gotta admit, you are pretty damn intelligent. Not that I would have thought otherwise, but I mean, you know your stuff, that much is pretty obvious."
He debated just sitting on the ground to rest his leg, but that would have been giving in, so he stood there, uncomfortably aware of the growing strain he was putting on his ankle and shifting slightly to alleviate some of the pressure. "Stop calling me kid," he said halfheartedly. The protest was lacking much heat, since Remus was all too used to it by now.
The explanation made sense, and yet -
Remus gave a snort. "Of all the things to accuse me of, and that's what you think? Stoic and uptight and in desperate need of a vacation, yes. But a fool?"
His eyes flickered over Michael's face.
"Nah," said Remus, a little smile on his lips. "You're far from a fool. My name's Remus, by the way. Senshi of Regolith, since you know all about us."
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:58 pm
Michael stared at Remus when he called him intelligent, part of him wanting to respond back with a harsh comment about how of course he was intelligent, but found himself drawing in and letting out a small breath instead. He didn’t smile, but he knew he probably seemed a little more relaxed. While he didn’t think this guy knew much about what he was doing, Michael was surprised he could remain upbeat, even while being practically berated by some strange civilian.
“Michael,” he said after a few long moments of eyeing Remus curiously. He knew it was probably a bad idea to disclose too much information, but so far Remus had been honest about who he was. “You’re too trusting for your own good. I could very well be a Negaverse officer, you know,” he said, and then quickly added, “You’re fighting them, aren’t you?”
It was obvious that Remus’s leg, ankle, or foot was causing him pain. He’d probably injured it, which was another reason why he’d been asking for an ace bandage. And naturally, he would refuse to go to the hospital.
“There’s some stairs you can sit on for a little while,” he explained, gesturing down the alley he’d just come down. “What’s injured? Your foot?” Michael asked, holding out his hand to offer support for Remus, intending to then get Remus’s arm over his shoulders so he could help him hobble his way to the stairs. If he wanted, of course. It probably didn’t help that Michael kept making comments about how he could be in the Negaverse.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:21 pm
He almost felt the air shift around Michael, though Remus wasn't entirely sure he wasn't imagining it. At the very least, he seemed marginally less tense and scowly than he had been a minute earlier, which Remus thought counted as progress of a sort.
The smile was tugging more at his lips now as he fought to keep his expression neutral. "Michael's a nice name," he said lightly, and then laughed, giving a shake of his head. "Nah, I wouldn't have pegged you as one of the bad guys. You've got that whole..." He waved a hand at him. "...righteous honor thing going on."
Remus eyed the stairs, which were slightly farther away than he would have liked, then Michael's outstretched hand. After a moment, he sighed and reached out to accept it, wincing a little as he put the weight back onto his injured ankle.
"I think I sprained something, is all," he said. "And as for me being too trusting..." He glanced sideways. "Well, maybe. But maybe I just like talking to people."
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