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Post by Ace on Apr 22, 2013 2:57:39 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,454,true] | [bg=000000]Shifting weight from foot to foot, the shifter looked around him, a slight air of nerves beginning to form around him. They had to leave soon. The sun was already beginning to come up and if they didn’t leave soon they would miss their optimum chance. He had managed to find his own way to the park the previous night, sleeping there quite comfortably on the overgrown grass. He had been told by one of the scouts that there was someone coming to meet him and take him to gather more supplies. Ace, whilst intelligent, didn’t have the greatest sense of direction. His fellow medics had suggested that someone go with him, to take him around the wilderness of the park and find what he needed. They have so much faith in me don’t they, Ace thought, rolling his eyes. He didn’t blame them. He hadn’t been chief medic for that long after all. Before that he was a scout, with duties rather different to his ones now.
Walking around in small circles, Ace tried to bide his time by letting his bare feet move over the soft grass. He had a pair of shoes hidden somewhere but, he’d grown since he’d last worn them and he wondered if they would even still fit. Mostly he preferred to either use his shift form or go without shoes. Feeling the ground beneath your feet is an incredible feeling. Occasionally it led to a bloody sole, but Ace’s newest ability helped him out with that even if only a little. The shifter was only just beginning to get the hang of healing. He’d used it plenty of times on himself but using it on other people took a lot out of him. It was tiring and he often could only take care of one patient a day. The ones that had the greatest chance of surviving received his attention first, and then the others would be taken care of with herbs and medicines they had snagged from the keepers or other rings.
Ace’s mind was a mess but he tried to think back to the mental list he had made the day before. What do we need? A thousand different plant names ran through his mind, a thousand different possibilities. There were a number he knew he could not return with out, and there were others that they would merely look for, and pick up if they managed to find them. Delica Park was beginning to become overgrown with weeds and many of them were beneficial to the medic. A lot of random plants that one would not usually find in the dome had started to grow too but Ace knew that these were in high demand. The other rings, as well as the retros and anthros, would be looking for them. The Fulsi had to be the ones to get there first.
“We gotta go. The light’s coming,” Ace murmured with impatience. The boy looked down at his wrist, pretending he was back in his own world, looking down at a silver watch. Those were the grand old days; the days of watches and cars and hoverboards and all kinds of new technologies and family. The days of family and friends were well behind them. Ace was in the Menagerie now; it was every man for himself. But he was in a ring. He at least had others that would have his back if he needed it, and he had their backs. It was a strange change from scout to medic but it was one that Ace loved. Being a medic meant he was actually doing good in the world, no matter how small that act of good was. Healers were always needed in their hell of a home. War and death was simply a regular occurrence that Ace was accustomed to. Whilst he wished it was not like that, he hardly had a choice. The keepers did what they wanted to their subjects, and the experiments coped in whatever way they could.
At least it was spring. Spring meant flowers blooming and more chance of finding the plants they needed. So far the keepers had not been too cruel with the weather. It was warm enough, and despite a few days of high heat, it was bearable. Anything but rain and Ace was perfectly at ease. His blood-stained tee kept him cool whilst his hoodie – hidden safely in Fulsi lands – would provide relative warmth when it began to get colder. On the freezing nights the Fulsi had warmth hidden away and Ace was thankful for his safety among them.
A group of birds took flight from a tree nearby and Ace wheeled around, pulling his knife out from around his waist. Holding it close to his body, Ace’s eyes scanned the wilderness around him. “Who’s there?”
w o r d s , eight hundred and six t a g , east m u s e , yellow light by of monsters and men n o t e s , getting back into the swing of things
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shapeshifter
Fulsi
scout
INVENTORY Skills Empathy, Chempathy
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Post by Ray "East" Kraus on Apr 22, 2013 19:21:40 GMT -5
THE BEST OFTEN DIE BY THEIR OWN HANDS AND THOSE LEFT BEHIND CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND
She reached out to touch his face, and opened her mouth to say--
"East!"
Why the hell was her voice so masculine? For as second, it offset her gorgeous eyes, her beautiful hair and then, she leaned forward--
"East!"
This time he jarred awake, because he'd just been hit in the face with... with... with a pillow. He cracked opened his eyes to see Damon, one of the guys he roomed with on and off, frantically jumping into a pair of jeans. He got one leg through, figured out that it was the wrong one, and let out a string of swear words that would make a sailor proud.
"What the hell? Get back to sleep." East was going to roll over, but then he thought that something might really be wrong. Only, Damon was already talking, rapid-fire. "Hey, we're late. You got that scouting thing to do with that medic, right? I've gotta go on patrol too. See ya later."
Well. The door practically slammed in East's face as Damon rushed out. East groaned, rubbed his eyes, and got up to scrounge for clothing. Then he did glance out the window, and see that it was almost morning. "Shit!"
He was late!
- - - - -
East shifted just outside the Gospel Complex and ran as quickly as he could without his lungs dying to the park, where he was supposed to meet this kid. Head Medic or something like that. East was half afraid the guy would decide to pull rank on him, which was never fun. He was fine with doing the work that was expected of him, but East had never been fond of punishments.
But it didn't seem he had too much to worry about. He broke through the line of trees, and even behind the kid's knife he could see how young they were. Regardless, he dug his heels into the ground and stopped abruptly, his back arching high in the process, and his tail going haywire. The cheetah righted himself and stared appraisingly at the Fulsi with his dark eyes. Then he chuffed and said, "Christ, kid, watch where you point that thing." He stayed in his animal form for a second longer, and then shifted. He figured that a proper introduction could do wonders in a place where politeness was kind of second-rate. He offered his hand. "East Kraus, at your service. Sorry for being late."
He knelt in one smooth motion to grab a nearby stem of grass. He stuck it in his mouth, biting feebly at the end. What he really wanted was a cigarette, or maybe breakfast, but it didn't seem like either was on its way. "Whatcha looking for? I can probably find it. I've got a good memory." He flashed a smile and tapped the side of his head with two fingers, in a gesture that could either be taken as a point or a gun.
Looking at the other Fulsi, East didn't know what to think of him. He was quick to defend himself, which wasn't necessarily a bad trait in the Menagerie. But as a Medic... was he able? East didn't know. He guessed he'd be figuring some things out about him, though.
WHAT ANYONE WOULD WANT TO GET AWAY FROM
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Post by Ace on Apr 23, 2013 1:58:48 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,454,true] | [bg=000000]Startled, Ace watched the cheetah come to an abrupt halt. He frowned at the words spoken but obliged, putting the knife back where it belonged. “Don’t call me kid,” he mumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes and taking a few steps towards the shifter. As the cheetah took on its human form Ace noted height and probable weight and age of the man before him. Around five foot eleven, mostly muscle, and mid-to-late twenties. It was a game he had often played with his siblings back when the world was normal. Even in the Menagerie he found that it was always safest to try and gain whatever advantage you could over any opponent. Luckily for him, the man before him was an ally rather than an enemy. If he was the latter, Ace wouldn’t stand a chance.
Taking East’s hand, Ace offered a small smile. “I’m Ace. And don’t worry about it. It’ll probably be easier to find the stuff with some light hanging around.” Awkwardly shifting his weight from each foot, Ace watched as the scout bit at the blade of grass. The boy, however, decided not to question it and instead simply focused on what the shifter was saying to him. He hoped and prayed that this was the scout he had been waiting for, and not simply another cunning trick by the Carna. But Ace thought he had seen this man around before, so there was a ninety per cent chance that he was the one who had been sent to him. If it turned out that the other ten per cent was where the scout belonged, Ace still had his knife.
“We’re after quite a few things today. Almost all our supplies have been used up recently.” Ace tried not to become distracted by the mental list he held, however he needed a moment to think. He had devised it quite a few days ago and for some reason his memory was not serving him well. Ace determined it to be the lack of sleep; sleep was essential to proper brain function and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had more than a few hours in one night. As was usual habit, Ace turned his head slightly upward, his eyes looking up at the sky as he began to recall his list.
“We’ll probably need to find Tansy. Yellow coloured flower, no real petals, hard to explain. But there’ve been mosquitoes around and malaria is not a good thing to have on our hands. We only need the leaves though, the flowers are said to be poisonous.” Pausing, Ace tried to remember the next item on his list. “Korean mint, also known as Indian mint or hyssop. I reckon it kinda looks like lavender. It’s an effective antiviral. Also catnip. You should be pretty good at finding that one.” Ace grinned, trying not to laugh at the obvious idiocy of his joke. For a split second though, he wondered if catnip was also addictive to the large felines. Maybe I should not let him go near that one, the boy thought, before clearing his throat and trying to recall the others.
“Um, some sage would be good. Marjoram if we can find it but that one’s hard to get your hands on. Sweet violet would be helpful but we shouldn’t go out of our way to find it. We can probably do without that one.” Ace sighed, silently proud of himself for remembering each of the supplies. With their supplies low back at Fulsi territory, he knew that before long there would be more and more of them dying. Whilst some of these were mere basic herbs that could really only treat small things, every little one would count. Even if they could keep someone alive for one or two more days, it would make all the difference in the world.
Ace knew without the scout he would never be able to find half the things he needed. Of course, with East around he just felt a little more wary and nervous. Ace was a mere teenager, on the verge of adulthood, and he knew that’s the way people saw him. How did an eighteen year old get the gig of chief medic anyway? Surely he was too young for the job. That’s what he kept thinking every day. Ace wondered if those same thoughts were going through East’s mind. Regardless, they were on the job together and finding those herbs was all Ace really cared about. The blood stains on his shirt served as a constant reminder that he was not ready to lose more lives.
“I hope the list’s not too extensive. You reckon you find any of those things East?” Ace was ready to get going, they were already late and the job needed to get done.
w o r d s , eight hundred and six t a g , east m u s e , the howling by within temptation n o t e s , the word count is exactly the same... so weird DX
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shapeshifter
Fulsi
scout
INVENTORY Skills Empathy, Chempathy
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Post by Ray "East" Kraus on Apr 23, 2013 21:43:49 GMT -5
THE BEST OFTEN DIE BY THEIR OWN HANDS AND THOSE LEFT BEHIND CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND
Noted. Perhaps not obliged, but noted.
The kid didn't like to be called kid. East's mind caught on this little trait, because it could have meant many things. Maybe he feels, uh, inadequate, East mused. Like he has to defend his age or whatever, just because he has a decent rank and is probably not too far out of puberty.
The last thought was rather sarcastic, because East was sure that ship had sailed, looking ponderously at the Medic's face. East listened to him politely after the initial introduction, noting what he said without much expression. He flashed a smile at the Medic's joke, but aside from that did nothing.
Reckon. Cute. "At least most of them," he replied. East rolled his shoulders and began to set off in one direction, towards the edge of Delica park, back in the trees where very few ventured. "Overgrown" was an understatement, being that it rivaled a miniature forest rather than a par. The deeper they went, the more difficult it became to traverse.
After roughly ten minutes, East let out a long sigh. He was caught with one leg slung over a half-fallen tree, his hands braced on the base of it. He cast a sidelong glance at the Medic, feeling a little resentful but not showing it. He could still be in bed with either Damon, or the girl from the dream, not that it would have lasted very long. "Betcha din't think this is how you would be spending the morning, huh?" The strand of grass was still fixed between his teeth, thickening his speech a little. East just smiled around it and continued climbing over the tree.
Just like the Medic had asked for, there was a little patch of Tansy growing. The problem (and probably the reason it hadn't been gathered before) was that it was in the center of a thorny thicket, easily overlooked. East had seen it a few times in his feline form, when he was roughly eye-level with it. He gestured at it with a thin-lipped smile. "See the trouble with it?" And, because he was feeling slightly angry at this boy, for no reason other than he was being an inconvenience East's eyes got a devious shine to them. "Well go on, Medic. Lets see how.. uh, dexterous... you are."
He stood back, his fingers laced through the loop of his jeans.
WHAT ANYONE WOULD WANT TO GET AWAY FROM
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Post by Ace on Apr 24, 2013 7:56:45 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,454,true] | [bg=000000]Following along behind the older man, Ace wondered if East really knew where half the items on his list were. It was most likely that he did, but there was also a slight possibility that the other man was showing off. Ace was used to show offs, he was rather proud and vain himself, but he was not in the mood to deal with one that day. He was on a mission and he was determined to get the job done in time for dinner. If only there was dinner to go back to. Sighing, Ace continued his trail behind East, pushing the thought of food from his mind. Their supplies were low and he was used to small amounts of food. Ace just couldn’t help but think of cakes and cookies and proper meals prepared in ovens. And hot water. He missed his morning cup of coffee dearly.
The shifter counted around ten minutes to have passed by the time the long silence was broken. East was half way over a large tree, in the middle of the wilderness that spread out around them. This was no park; this was a forest now. His speech was slightly difficult to understand, due to the length of grass that protruded from his lips. Ace, however, managed to catch what he had said. “Haha, no, not really. But it had to be done. Gotta save lives you know?” The boy flushed a little, a dorky sort of grin spreading across his face. A small laugh escaped his lips but he was quick to silence it, as though he thought that it was not suitable to be finding humour in a situation such as this. Ace often thought that it was simply awkward to be laughing in a place like the Menagerie. All around them was death; he felt guilty about even the smallest moments of happiness.
Ace too managed to climb his way over the tree, albeit a little less gracefully than the man before him. It had been quite a long time since he had done any sort of field work; he was certainly out of practice. Some of his scouting skills remained with him, and he remembered all of his combat training. The climbing trees and monkey behaviour did not come naturally to the horse shifter, however, and he preferred to avoid that sort of thing.
The little patch of tansy before him caused a small smile to flicker across Ace’s expression. And then it was gone. Instantly he saw the problem that they were faced with. He heard East talk, pointing out the slight trouble, and absentmindedly nodded in agreement. The scout’s next few words, however, elicited a different response from the younger man. Ace turned rather quickly to East, raising one eyebrow. He’s testing me. He doesn’t think I can do it. Pride, of course, got the better of Ace, and in an instant his knife was back in his hands.
“What? Afraid of a little paper cut?” Ace retorted, before walking towards the thicket. The thicket was rather tall, but did not cover much area overall. It reached perhaps just over his knees; tall enough to be an inconvenience. The shifter bent down slightly, beginning to cut sections of the thicket away. The thorns fell away, gradually giving him more room. After a few minutes of hacking away at the thicket, Ace sighed in frustration. Shaking his head, the shifter simply placed his arm in front of him and used that to push the thorns away. He flinched only slightly as the thorns cut through his skin, leaving behind splatters of blood, staining his already bloodstained shirt.
Once the thorns were separated enough, Ace reached forward and began yanking the leaves off. He made sure to avoid the flowers, not wanting to have to cure any other kind of illnesses on top the ones he had to deal with back at Fulsi. When all the leaves had been plucked, and they were safe in his large hands, Ace pulled his body back through the thicket. Sticking the leaves into one of his pockets, which were surprisingly large, Ace shook himself out, loose thorns dropping to the ground around him.
“Great, now my t-shirt’s even more stained than usual.” Rolling his eyes once more, the boy fingered his t-shirt, silently knowing the stains would always remain there. Looking down at his arm then, a frown creased his brow. “Whoops,” Ace laughed, before focusing his energy on the tiny cuts along his arm. Slowly, they began to close up, the little scars disappearing before his very eyes. The thorns were only small and that kind of healing required only a small amount of energy. It was lucky for Ace that he hadn’t had to get through anything worse than that. Once each puncture mark had vanished, Ace smiled back up at East. “So, where to next?”
w o r d s , eight hundred and seventeen t a g , east m u s e , beach by boy and bear n o t e s , ace can be such an annoying teen sometimes...
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shapeshifter
Fulsi
scout
INVENTORY Skills Empathy, Chempathy
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Post by Ray "East" Kraus on May 5, 2013 9:27:10 GMT -5
THE BEST OFTEN DIE BY THEIR OWN HANDS AND THOSE LEFT BEHIND CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND
After watching the display, East decided that laughter settled a little strangely on the kid. He didn't know why, and sure wasn't about to ask, so he just shrugged it off and continued. He noted that the sun had broken over the horizon, and light was spilling through the uppermost branches of the trees, splattering the ground with a mixture of sun and shadow.
What? Afraid of a little paper cut? East let the jest slide without much remark, merely an ear-to-ear smile. Hardly. He just liked his hands the way they were, in one piece, rather than several. Plus, the kid had a knife. East didn't. It only took a few minutes for him to realize that a knife wasn't going to cut it (at the mental pun, East stifled a laugh) and abandoned the effort. A couple minutes later, and several bloody cuts, Ace had apprehended the Tansy and they were good to go.
"Get a new one," East suggested. "The Ring has some extras." The kid did look a little sorry, to which East raised his brow and stepped closer to gingerly pick at the lower hem of Ace's t-shirt, perhaps exposing a small slip of stomach in the process. He was half interested in seeing if the other Fulsi would feel awkward by the proximity. East examined the bloodstains. "Being a Medic must be hard work," he commented idly. "That, or you spend your days wrestling with bleeding patients."
Hm.That was interesting. The cuts on Ace's arms healed up immediately. "Fancy trick." Not that East could really comment. He could rush this kid full of hot anger, if he wanted to, and for a moment the sense of power made him giddy. And then their mission caught up to him, and East turned his back in one sharp movement to trudge down a thin trail, which was dotted with sunlight and overgrown by grass and shrubs.
He thought he had seen some marjoram the other day, but all of those plants seemed to blend together to East. He was quiet for a long moment, trying to remember the lessons he had been taught when he was a Tenderfoot. Really, his memory was very good--it was one of the better things about being, well, East. "Ah," he said quietly, remembering. "C'mon, this one may be a little tougher. Its a little bit of a longer walk, though." East looked at him sidelong, his dark eyes amused. "So, tell me about yourself, kid--ahh. I mean, medic. If we're going to spend the day together, we may as well not be strangers."
WHAT ANYONE WOULD WANT TO GET AWAY FROM
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Post by Ace on Jun 12, 2013 2:45:36 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,454,true] | [bg=000000]Ace smiled a little, nodding absentmindedly at the comment. He knew there were some spare clothes stashed around Fulsi but he seemed to have become rather attached to his own white t-shirt. It had been with him throughout his whole time there, and it held his many battle scars – or non-existent ones rather. As the other man moved slightly closer, Ace remained exactly where he was. The teenager was particularly good at being stubborn and he was not about to let the other Fulsi bully him or exert any kind of power or authority over him either. Instead, Ace simply looked the other man dead in the eyes, trying not to let any of his strange social awkwardness shine through. At one stage Ace had been perfectly capable of holding a pleasant conversation and felt completely at ease around others. The M had changed certain things about him. Some of his flirtatiousness had slightly disappeared, instead masked with worry and a lack of trust. Trust was something that no longer existed; there was no room for it in the dome.
“A little bit of both I suppose,” Ace grinned, cocking his head to the side a little, his eyes widening with his expression. It wasn’t completely true. Most of his patients were perfectly kind and let him do his job without any fuss. Others, however, were difficult. Sometimes the more painful cases caused the patients to lash out at the medics. As chief medic, Ace preferred to work on those patients himself, keeping his other medics out of harm’s way. They’re my responsibility and they come first. That’s what Ace told himself on a daily basis. It was better for him to be injured than the others. At least he could heal himself with a relative amount of ease. Some of the other medics were probably not as capable.
The teen’s grin only widened as East commented on his ‘trick’ and Ace had to stop himself from instinctively winking at the older man. It was a move he was guilty of making many times, simply second nature. Evidently not all of his flirtatious nature had been left behind when he was transported into the Menagerie. Not that one could blame him. Ace was definitely not going to deny the fact that he found East rather handsome. However, he was certainly not going to be admitting that any time soon. So instead he refrained from carrying the flirting any further, at least for the time being.
As East spun around the teenager paused for a moment in surprise, before following down the path behind him. Every now and then a thorn would catch on his shirt or jeans and Ace would hastily tug it away, not caring if he pricked himself in the process. I never even knew this path was here, he thought to himself as he moved along it. Of course, he’d been in Fulsi almost all the time he’d been in the Menagerie and he hadn’t gone too far out of the territory before. He’d never really found the time to go exploring. Instead he worked on other things inside what he thought of as the ‘safe zone’ but of course, nowhere was really safe.
“I don’t mind walking,” Ace commented, throwing a smile back at the other shifter. The younger man’s bare feet were more than used to the harshness of the terrain. Ace rather preferred walking without shoes. It allowed him to feel the earth and be connected with it, like an animal connected with its habitat. The natural instincts were there and they only had to be let out in order to strengthen the beast within. He loved his converse, but he also loved the feeling of soft grass and of sand and dirt. The track would be no problem for him, even with the rocks and pebbles coating its surface.
“Alright, if you insist,” Ace murmured, trying to work out if he really wanted to tell the scout anything. Ace preferred to keep certain aspects of his life and past to himself, but perhaps sharing a few things couldn’t hurt. “First off, you can call me Ace. It’s just a little easier I think than ‘medic’ or ‘kid’. Second, I’m eighteen, but I still know exactly which parts of you to cut or punch in order to kill you. And I’m a Friesian shifter but no, I don’t do pony rides.” A small laugh escaped Ace’s lips, and he paused slightly before continuing. “I’ve also been here for probably about three years, which is far too many. Oh and I used to be a scout actually, before they discovered I was quite good with plants and blood."
w o r d s , seven eight three t a g , east m u s e , skyfall by adele n o t e s , sorry for the wait. school has been evil
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shapeshifter
Fulsi
scout
INVENTORY Skills Empathy, Chempathy
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Post by Ray "East" Kraus on Jun 21, 2013 1:38:22 GMT -5
THE BEST OFTEN DIE BY THEIR OWN HANDS AND THOSE LEFT BEHIND CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND
East liked the kid better when he smiled, and thought that he ought to have done it more often. They were in the Menagerie. Not dead. So he figured that you could still laugh and live and love the same way you could have outside of the damn place, and that's what East always intended to do. He cut off his mental monologue as kid--no, Ace--began to talk about himself.
As strange as it sounded, East never liked to listen to what he had to say, as an individual. Most people would have disagreed. He had heard many variations of, "Ray Kraus, you love the sound of your own voice." But the bear bone of it was that East was fascinated by other people, not that he would admit it. He preferred to hear their stories rather than his own. He smiled wolfishly at the teenager. "I can't decide if you just threatened me or not. Remind me not to make any mistakes on this little trip--I wouldn't like to be paralyzed, thanks." His eyes glinted mischievously. ... but no, I don't do pony rides. "That's alright. I do." He winked.
East would let the kid take it however he wanted to. Their pathway cut into a more well-used area of the park, past the swing-set and so on. He pushed it as they walked past, listening to the rusted hinges groan. They were almost there, he thought. "Alright. I'm twenty six, a kind of hopeless Scout, and a cheetah shifter. I used to be a butterfly." East said that bit with mock dignity, however. He wanted to goad the Fresian into laughter.
ooc: sorry its so short! :c
WHAT ANYONE WOULD WANT TO GET AWAY FROM
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Post by Ace on Jun 25, 2013 3:16:46 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,454,true] | [bg=000000]Ace couldn’t quite decide if he’d said anything wrong. He often had the habit of saying too much, or not enough, and rubbing people the wrong way. A number of people saw him as a cocky, arrogant little kid who ought to be put in his right place. Whilst that was not completely incorrect, it was certainly a jump too far. In Ace’s mind, most of his arrogant comments were perfectly justified. He did know exactly which parts of East’s body would cause him to convulse in pain or drop him the floor dead. It was a hefty amount of power, but Ace knew even then that he’d never be able to take on a guy like East. He’d had training and he used to be a scout, but he was out of practice and he’d never really been particularly good at the physical stuff. He was just good at the healing stuff and remembering random things about plants and remedies. He held thousands of recipes in his head for various healing tonics, most of which he probably would never have to make. It was amazing, but not altogether useful.
As East spoke, Ace continued following him, his eyes turned towards the taller man. A smile spread across his face, but instead of outright responding, he decided he’d let East figure it out himself. Instead he just nodded, the corner of his lips turning further upwards in amusement. The wink however, threw the younger boy. Ace felt his legs stop for just a second before he silently chastised himself and continued walking. Don’t let him get a reaction from you, he reminded himself, as his gaze drifted away from East. He wasn’t completely sure what to make of the comment, or the wink, and instead let it roll around in his mind, the words repeating over and over again. Flirtation? No. Why would East being paying that sort of attention to him? Ace was unsure how to proceed, unsure what East was looking for in him. Some fun maybe, or just small amusement for the time being. They were stuck with each other for the day, after all. Might as well try and make it more entertaining.
The moaning of the swing tugged Ace’s smile the other way. There would have been a time when it didn’t squeak and when it wasn’t rusty. Children would have played on it, enjoying their lives without a care in the world. It would have been so nice if that place had not changed. There were still children in that place, but they were no longer happy. The Menagerie was a poison, spreading fear and hatred throughout its residents. They could never leave. Ace hated thinking of such things but somehow it only made his determination to survive stronger. There was a world outside the dome, a world that still called to all of them. The chances of them getting out were nil, but Ace knew that hope was what kept them fighting. He never doubted that he would die in that dome, but the slight hope, the fantasy of it, kept him going each day.
Realising the depression of his thoughts, Ace shook his head, clearing them away before listening to his companion speak. The final comment did, in the end, manage to coax a laugh from Ace’s lips. The medic grinned up at the other shifter, genuine laughter floating through the air between them. “A butterfly shift would make for an excellent getaway though. A little less conspicuous than a cheetah speeding off or a big black horse.” Ace continued smiling, taking a few quick steps so that he was next to East, their shoulders almost touching, but still maintaining the slightest distance between them. “For what it’s worth, I was a pretty crappy scout myself. I think that’s why my mentor decided to switch me to medic. He figured I’d do better at something that required a little physical ability. I don’t blame him though. I don’t mind the sight of blood, but I hate being the cause of the spillage, or seeing my own.” Turning to glance over at East, Ace offered his usual crooked smile, trying to see if he could lighten the mood and distract his thoughts from the past.
w o r d s , seven hundred and twelve t a g , east m u s e , various disney songs n o t e s , that's fine kriss
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shapeshifter
Fulsi
scout
INVENTORY Skills Empathy, Chempathy
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Post by Ray "East" Kraus on Jul 2, 2013 1:39:36 GMT -5
THE BEST OFTEN DIE BY THEIR OWN HANDS AND THOSE LEFT BEHIND CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND
East noted the change in the kid's expression, as his smile slid clean off his face. Melancholy little sucker, wasn't he? East had a feeling that the Medic had some baggage, or some things swept under the bed, so to speak. If the sight of the swing-set prompted a frown, East wondered if he had just had a shitty childhood, or if that particular swing-set was the cause of it. He guessed it didn't matter, much, 'cause the other Fulsi decided that what East had said was funny enough to deserve a laugh.
He was used to his old shift being the brunt of jokes--Leon had sure thought it was a crack-up, back in the day. "It had its uses," he agreed, but did not admit that there were times when he missed it. It was inconspicuous, like Ace had said.
Their shoulders were almost touching. East waited a few seconds before he allowed his arm to deliberately brush the kid's, and their hands bumped not once but twice, before he allowed that sparse margin of space to widen between them. "Seems like you do pretty well, then, Chief. Gotta give you props. Needles in anyone's skin but mine freaks me out." East had gotten lazy with hiding bits of his past, but he didn't feel like correct what he'd said. Let the kid take it as he may, but East's own comment managed to prompt images of syringes and highs that were hard to imagine in the Dome. He used to fly for days.
East led the two of them away from the swing-set, towards where a patch of marjoram was growing. It was difficult, but perhaps not as difficult as the Tansy had been. It was merely a matter of clambering through a series of brambles and a trio of fallen logs--it grew on the third one, on a patch of dirt that had fallen over the base of the rotting wood. The other two logs, East noted, were thrown haphazardly around it. Ace would have to climb over them. "There ya go, Chief." East stood back, surveying their surroundings.
His expression became wicked. "So now if I ever get in a scrape, I know who to come to, when I need patching up. Better be prepared for scraped knees, 'cause I'm notorious for them." East paused for a few seconds. Was he being flirtatious, or merely implying he was clumsy? "What's next on the list, Ace?" East remembered, but it was good for conversation. And it was another little psychological trick, to make someone feel useful. Most people didn't like just being led around like dogs for things, after all.
WHAT ANYONE WOULD WANT TO GET AWAY FROM
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Post by Ace on Jul 8, 2013 2:14:38 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,454,true] | [bg=000000]Ace was not completely sure how to react to the close proximity of the pair. He continued his walk, trying to pretend like his cheeks did not become hot, nor his heart beat quicken, at the touch of their hands. Ace was in no way going to let this scout get a reaction out of him; he was much stronger than that. He had some form of self-control, and he was also focused on the job. At least, that’s what he would continue to tell himself until the day he died. The space, however, began to widen between them and the younger boy exhaled. He hadn’t even realised he had been holding his breath. Looking over at the man, Ace tried to keep himself moving forwards, a sly smile creeping across his face as he wondered what was going on in East’s head.
“Yeah. I used to hate ‘em too but I suppose it’s in my job description to be able to handle one. You gotta do what you gotta do right?” Ace smiled again, his eyes turning back to the path ahead of him. He remembered when he was five and his mother had tried to get him to the doctor for an injection. He had kicked up such a fuss, not wanting that sharp object anywhere near him. Eventually, of course, he got over that fear, and even now he didn’t mind sticking needles in other people’s arms. It was all part of his job and he liked helping them in whatever way he could. It took his relatively naïve mind a few moments to completely register what East had said. What, drugs? Ace mused within himself, wondering if East had really been that type of guy. It wouldn’t have totally surprised him, as East seemed to give off the ‘cool kid’ vibe. Perhaps in his circle of friends that was the kind of thing to do. Ace hadn’t had much of a childhood outside the Menagerie. At age fifteen inside the dome growing up is the only option.
East soon slowed and Ace halted with him. Looking in front of the pair, Ace glimpsed the marjoram growing through what he decided was an obstacle course. Of course this one was nothing like the ones you do when you’re in school. This didn’t involve ladders or tunnels or anything of the sort. There were clumps of brambles that would definitely leave a mark, as well as three toppled trees. The marjoram, placed neatly in a dirt patch on the third, was a healthy amount and would definitely be helpful back home. Ace wasn’t even sure why he referred to it as that. It was Fulsi territory, when did it start becoming home?
Shaking his thoughts away, Ace rolled his shoulders a few time, and cracked his neck side to side. The small cracking noises had always annoyed one of his classmates, but Ace found it rather therapeutic. Ace began walking towards the marjoram patch as East started talking, and rather than stop he instead continued, tilting his head slightly so he could still hear. Pushing his way through the brambles, Ace let the little thorns claw into his skin, not really caring if they drew blood. Most of them were only large enough to elicit a little scratch, and some of the branches merely snapped off and fell to the floor.
The first log was relatively large and Ace placed both of his arms on its surface, using them to push himself upwards as though on the bars in gymnastics. Swinging one leg after the other, he halted, sitting above the log. A small laugh escaped his lips, but he wasn’t sure if East would have been able to quite hear it. “You can always come to me for anything. I promise I’ll have a stash of Barbie Band-Aids just for you.” Turning around, Ace winked at East quickly, before hopping off the large branch and jogging to the next. The second only required him to jump and Ace was able to swing himself over with ease. Once he had reached the second branch, Ace began pulling out a few of the clumps of plant, sticking them in his overly large pockets, where he had already stashed the tansy.
Standing back up, Ace took the same path back over the logs and through the brambles, not having much problem the second time around. Some of his scout skills were paying off once more, and he was glad he had not forgotten any of them. “Next?” Ace replied. “Korean mint would be great. Otherwise some catnip or sweet violet. Whichever you can find really. I reckon the mint is kind of important though, we’ve had some strange virus cases recently…” Petering out, Ace frowned slightly at the thought of all those that had come down with disease. Outside of the dome it was a simply fix. One injection and they would be fine. But now, Ace was nearly helpless. He could only do the best that he could but, that simply wasn’t good enough anymore. People were dying. Ace at least felt somewhat important. If they had thought to send a scout with him, either for the searching help or even for protection, the other Fulsi thought he was important. As long as he could save just a few people, or even just be company, simply for East for the next few hours. Ace just wanted to know he had made some small difference.
w o r d s , nine hundred and fifteen t a g , east m u s e , right this second by deadmau5 n o t e s , oh dear, ace trying to flirt... cover your eyes DX
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