lieutenantantichrist | [17] [Text/Action for Mahogany] - "Whenever You Get Involved, Someone Gets Hurt."

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[17] [Text/Action for Mahogany] - "Whenever You Get Involved, Someone Gets Hurt."

[ACTION]

[In a low-rent corner of Mahogany, there's a real gym. No mazes, no boss trying to fight you in exchange for something they call a badge, no lackeys, just weight machines and a floor covered with rubber mats, the way it should be. Open twenty-four hours, and this late there's no human in this room but Blake. He's in a sweatsuit, gray in contrast to the brown of the Hitmonlee holding pads for him in its upraised paws. The only sound is his harsh breaths and the thump of his fists on the canvas. His shoulders are hunched like a boxer's. His eyes look straight ahead. Judging from the sweat darkening the back of his shirt, he's been here a while.

On the other side of the room, a Snubbull is sitting on the floor, looking at a Gear that's resting on the mats. A Musharna floats beside her. Fifteen minutes of frustration proved that claws are no good for texting with, but she wants to talk to someone. She really wants to.

She snubs softly, so as not to make her trainer angry. The Musharna's eyes show no reaction, but the buttons on the Gear depress. The text that Steve watches appear seems to be accurate, more or less. The transcription might come strange through the dreaming creature. It's close enough for what she needs.]

[TEXT]

Hello lo low hello

Please talk to me.
I want to talk.
I will tell you my favorite story.
He told it to me when I couldn't sleep. His eyes were closed for some of it but I shook his knee and got to hear the end. Without the end it isn't a story.

Once
upon a time there was a girl. She was poor and alone because her parents were dead, and child services didn't exist then, so she had to go to live with her wicked stepmother and do work for her. Hard work, the kind that nearly killed her, but in time she got used to it.

Then one day she heard the prince was giving a big ball. She asked to go, but her stepmother wouldn't let her. So she tried to run off and get a ride to the castle from a knight, but her wicked stepmother had tailled her, and she found her and dragged her off the horse. While she was going, the wicked stepmother threw the knight a gold coin. He held onto it, and he kept looking at it all the time. He kept thinking about the girl.
He wanted to help her, but he couldn't.

The knight went to the ball, and he was going to kill the prince, but there were too many guards around watching him, so he ran away.

Then the knight went to find the girl and save her. The wicked stepmother grazed him in the neck with an evil spell, but he killed her and all the other guys too, even though he got hurt bad. At first the girl was scared, but then she was free and she was okay. She got to go back home to her real parents. The knight was a hero. All the papers said so.

And everyone lived happily ever after.

..........
..........
..........

Tell me your favorite story.
Voice or video if you can.
The words alone are lonely.

Tell me please.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's not that he's angry. I know angry.

He always says there's no Pokemon back in the real world.

[Then, she just listens. She crosses her stubby arms and leans in toward the sound of Heather's voice. The word "rabbit" is as strange and exotic as the name.]

_{[She nods (not that anyone can really tell, without video coming from her end)-- she can tell there must be something more going on than just Blake venting his considerable spleen, and yeah, there are DEFINITELY no Pokemon in the 'real' world, although she's not sure she'd consider 'real' a good term for it. But she doesn't want to interrupt the story.]

[The crunch of wood mulch and dirt can be heard between words as she heads swiftly down the road.]}

He had lots of friends, and they all ate grass together. But as time went on, the rabbits wandered everywhere, eating as they went. So Frith said to El-ahrairah... 'Prince Rabbit, if you can't control your people, I'll have to find ways of controlling them.'

But El-ahrairah had a bit of an attitude, so he just said, 'My people are the strongest in the world, and they do what they want!'

This made Frith angry.

[Steve listens to the rhythm of Heather's footsteps. She hopes she doesn't have far to go. It's too late at night for long walks.

She snubs along with the story, and nods firmly.]

Yeah! The strong one wins!

[That's the rule she knows.]

_{[Heather can't help but let a smile cross her face at that response. Because while she can't honestly remember (this is a story she'd been told probably before she'd even been old enough to understand the concept of 'stories' at all), she's pretty sure she might've had a similar reaction.]

[Without even realizing it, Heather's voice takes on a few notes of Harry Mason's old storytelling humor.]}

Now hang on, I'm not done with the story yet!

Where was I... oh yeah.

So Frith decided to get the better of El-ahrairah... he decided to give a gift to every single animal and bird, making them all different. Some of the gifts were harmless... but to the fox, the weasel, the hawk, and the dog...

To THOSE animals, he gave a fierce urge to hunt down and kill El-ahrairah's children. And since all the rabbits did was wander around and eat... they weren't nearly as strong as he thought.

And he was scared.

[Steve's paws cover her mouth in alarm.]

That's terrible! You can't just have someone's children eaten because they made you angry!

[Some of the words are strange, but one catches her ear.]

Dog? That's like a Snubbull or a Poochyena, isn't it? He calls me that a lot.

[The translation stalls for a moment in the middle, as it takes the Musharna a thought to translate one snubbull to, in fact, the word Snubbull.]

Yep, you got it.

And the foxes are like Vulpix, weasels are like Furrets, hawks are like... y'know, Pidgeottos... you get the idea.

Anyway, El-ahrairah didn't want to get eaten, so he started to dig a burrow to escape into. That was when Frith came by.

'Oh,' he said, 'Have you seen El-ahrairah? I want to give him a gift.'

'Uh, nnnnnoooo,' said El-ahrairah, 'He's not here. I don't know where he is.'

'All right, well come out and I'll bless you instead,' said Frith.

And El-ahrairah was like, 'Shit.'

[That helps Steve picture it better. She's getting new context for things. There was another there she'd heard, but usually as 'That fuckin' FBI weasel.']

Smart rabbit. I wouldn't tell someone who I was either, if he'd set the world to trying to eat my children.

Did he hurt him then?

_{[Rather than reply, Heather continues with the story.]}

Thinking fast, El-ahrairah kept digging and said, 'No, I'm busy. The fox and the weasel are coming, so I have to keep digging. If you want to bless me... you'll just have to bless my butt.'

_{[And then she stops and waits for a laugh, because when she was little she laughed at that part EVERY SINGLE TIME.]}

[Steve looks at the screen and blinks. For a moment, but for the steady thuds in the background, everything is quiet.

Slowly, her paws come up to cover her mouth.

It's a strange little muffled snuffling noise that escapes.

Feel lucky, Heather. Not a lot of people in the world have heard a Snubbull giggle.]

_{[Once Heather hears the telltale snorting, she knows she's still got the touch.]

[She grins.]}

Pretty good, right? Talk about a creative way to tell someone they can kiss your ass.

Anyway...

'All right then...' said Frith.

And suddenly, El-ahrairah's tail turned shining white, and flashed like a star. His hind legs grew strong and powerful, and he tore across the hill, faster than any creature in the world.

And as he ran, he heard Frith call out:

'All the world shall be your enemy, Prince With a Thousand Enemies.

And whenever they catch you, they shall kill you.

... But first, they must catch you.

Digger, listener, runner, prince with a swift warning.

Be cunning, and full of tricks... and your people shall never never die.

Edited 2014-07-05 04:54 (UTC)

[Steve thinks it through, then nods rapidly.]

So he got enemies, but a way to handle them>

I see. It's like how every type has different strengths. So that one got a lot of speed. That can win you fights!

[For a moment, Steve has forgotten all about her trainer.]

That was a really good story. Thank you for telling me.

Yep.

See, in the end it was a story about being smarter than the rest... not stronger.

Pretty cool, right?

_{[And as if on cue... there's the building. She makes a beeline for the door-- shouldering it open without announcing herself.]}

[Steve is deep in thought, picturing the beast with a thousand enemies and a tail that flashed like a star.

It's the Musharna that turns, drifting as if by accident a moment before the door opens. A second later, Steve looks up with an excited snub! Then she remembers why she told Heather not to come, and casts a frightened eye at Blake.

But Blake doesn't hear a thing. He doesn't feel anything except the burn in his muscles and the blood in his head. The Hitmonlee keeps the pads steady, and all he cares about is having something to hit.]

_{[Steve might be worried, but Heather isn't. What's the worst Blake can do? Try and punch her? Not pleasant, but she's had worse and she's pretty sure her Pokemon are tougher than his are.]

[So after shooting the Snubbull a reassuring smile, she heads over to where the normally-grouchy cop is engrossed in pounding the hell out of those pads.]}

Hey. Blake.

[His fist hits hard enough to send the Hitmonlee a step back.

Blake's head jerks up. He sees the girl standing there. For a second it seems like he's going to drop his fists.

He doesn't.

He turns away and says coldly]

Get out of here.

Nope. Free country.

_{[She doesn't sound too phased.]}

If you didn't wanna be interrupted, you probably shouldn'tve gone to a public gym.

You don't wanna be here, kid.

[He swings his fist at the pad in the Hitmonlee's hand, hard enough to send it a step back.]

You don't wanna talk to me.

You're right.

I walked across town in the middle of the night to come not talk to you.

Actually, I was thinking I could join in. It's been awhile since I've trained with anybody but my Hitmonchan.

_{[She folds her arms.]}

How about it? Yay? Nay?

[He looks at her darkly over his raised hands.] Did my dog call you?

[He shakes his head like a bull. His shoulders are raised, hunched up.]

I'm not punching a little girl.

Get out of here.

Actually, she and I were having a real nice conversation about rabbits that had nothing to do with you, so yes but no.

_{[She pauses, vaguely insulted but mostly just exasperated by his refusal-- it's not like it comes as a surprise. Still, her eyes are hooded when she replies, matter-of-factly--]}

Funny, you didn't used to have a problem with punching little girls.

_{[That's right Blake. You're never living down that thing with Parker.]}

Edited 2014-07-11 18:45 (UTC)

[Right now Blake is beyond anything going on around him, nothing matters besides what's in his head--

That hits home hard.

Blake snarls and rams his fist hard into the pad.] Fuck you.

_{[If Heather's fazed by that, she doesn't show it. She's probably not. It's hardly the worst thing anyone's said to her before.]}

Okay, we can play it that way, too.

_{[She sinks into a crosslegged sitting position right there on the edge of the mat. In a way that suggests she's not gonna leave.]}

[Blake's used to being able to cow people pretty well. It's not working now when he needs it to, and that's one more twist to the knot in his gut.

His hands drop to his sides as Heather plonks down.

His voice is low, with a cold edge. There's something not entirely there in his eyes.]

I'm not in the mood to humor any teenage horseshit. I said get out.

[From the other side of the room, Steve makes her way over, the Musharna floating behind her as if on a chance breeze. When Blake's eyes fall on her, she hesitates and her steps falter. Then her mouth tightens stubbornly. She comes over, crosses her arms, and sits down beside Heather.

Blake looks down at the two of them.

He turns away, hunches his shoulders, and throws a punch at the pads still held up by the Hitmonlee. Then another. Soon he's back in a rhythm, though one slowed by his sore, heavy arms.]

Fine. Sit there all fucking night. I don't give a damn.

_{[Heather's been cowed by people far crueler than Blake, and his surly cop bluster pales in comparison. So she props her chin on her fist and stares up at him dully.]}

You know I'm not a teenager.

But thanks, yeah, I think I'll stick around.

_{[She reaches out an arm to lay a hand between Steve's ears, reassuringly. She's got you, girl.]}

[Steve leans against her, more relieved than she can say. It's good to have an ally. She can't be scared when Heather's here.

Blake turns away and ignores them both.

He tries to fall back into the mindless rhythm of rote violence. One hit, and then another, and another. But it's not the same. He can only keep it up for about five minutes before he stops to growl at Heather.]

Are you still here?

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