One Gonna Heal My Body [now closed]

[gm bourgeois decadence [aya]]

One gonna heal my body...

Charlie Darwin

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The trouble with being impulsive was the tendency one had to get into unnecessary fights, not to mention the tendency one had to get their ass kicked in said fights. Seventeen years of it, and still Charlie had been unable to shirk his predisposition to make rash decisions. He knew it wasn't always good for him, how quickly he jumped head-first into everything without stopping to think of the consequences. Half the time, he was worse off for it--but then, half the time, his quick reaction resolved the situation better. With such even statistics, there really was no reason to change.

Besides, he reasoned, a rushed decision wasn't the reason why he'd propped himself up against the building that helped to form the (cliche!) dark alley, hand trying to stem the blood dripping from his smashed nose, mouth spitting venom--past the blood--at the mugger, at himself, at everything and every one. Of course Charlie had been beaten in a dark alley. Even in District Eight--not a slum, per se, but definitely not among the wealthiest--there were plenty of people desperate enough for food, for money, for anything, to hit someone and take whatever they happened to be carrying.

Mad as he was, it was hard to lay much blame on the person who'd decided they'd needed Charlie's purchase to begin with--there were plenty of starving, plenty of unemployed with mouths to feed, and more than a fair share who'd do anything to keep their families, to keep themselves alive one day longer. He'd seen it. He'd been there.

Without any sort of manly gusto, Charlie spat a mouthful of blood and saliva onto the ground next to him. Salty. He'd been bashed in the face pretty quickly, dropping his package and bringing up his arms reflexively. The assailant hadn't gotten Charlie in the mouth at all--the teen managed to bite his tongue on accident--although managed to mess up his nose. A few quick, painful hits to the ribs and it was over before Charlie fully processed what had happened.

That was a good five minutes ago. The apprentice leather worker couldn't muster the will to move, and it wasn't due so much to the pain. He was disappointed in himself for letting the thief get away with the small bag of fruit (a bit overripe) he'd purchased for himself and his twin sister. He'd let both of them down by letting it get away, and, while he wasn't too pleased at missing out on some fruit in its own right (it was a rare treat for the pair) he was more upset that his failure would disappoint his sister, as well.

He wasn't ready to go home empty handed just yet. He'd just sit there for awhile. Elizabeth might worry, but not for another half hour or so. Charlie would make it home eventually, and he was sure she knew that. He just couldn't straggle home with the gaping wound in his pride.
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[sbeeg]

Zack Detroff

Feet barely touching the slick streets, Zack burst into a run. A wide grin spreading across his face while rounding a corner so the short building came into his line of sight.
The humid night air stuck to him like plastic wrap but the teen didn't care. After spending twelve hours stuck up inside the Factory, this was bliss.
His shoes slid against the wet road as he stuttered to a stop. The boy's eyes narrowed in on his target, the low roof of a sweet shop. His grin even wider and he posed himself to sprint at the edge that dipped closest to the ground.
Taking in the dank air, Zack touched the tip of his fingers to the path beneath his feet.
Suddenly, he stirred his muscles back awake and dashed to the building.
It was intoxicating, the feel of just letting loose and running without barriers. Jumping, Zack snagged his fingers on the edge of the roof and pulled himself up. Without skipping a beat, he half crawled/ half walked up the pitch of the roof. When he reached the ridge, the teen couldn't hear anything but his heart pumping in his ears. Placing a hand on the ridge, he swung his weight over and let himself slide down the other side and off the roof.
He stopped for only a second before taking off towards a higher building down the lane. He ricocheted off a crate and veered his body onto the edifice's crown. Rolling over, he stood up on the flat roof and continued his journey to the other edge. Zack leaped off the side and discovered there was nothing to cushion his fall, no crates or barrels or anything. It was a dead drop to the concrete below.
In that brief moment of free fall when the realization that when he reached the ground something was going to hurt hit him, the grin was wiped off his mouth and he lost the high that this "adventure" had given him.
Stupid...
On the good side he landed feet first, on the bad side he hit feet first. Sure his head was protected but the jarring motion of contact with such a hard substance sent pain tingling all the way up his spine. Groaning, Zack fell over to his side, rolling his head into something hot and gooey. Slowly reaching up with his hand, he dipped his fingers into the stuff, lifting it up to examine it in the moonlight. Blood. Oh God, was it his? Was he hurt so bad he couldn't even feel it? Panic cut at his heart and his temple was throbbing with a headache at this whole situation.
Trying to wobble up to sit on his knees, something moved in the corner of his eye. Falling over, trying to scoot away from whatever was in this alleyway with him. Some kind of whimper escaped his throat and he kicked himself mentally for making it. You had to be strong, even if you had just dived off a roof and was scared out of your wits.

[OOC: Not sure if that is Aya worthy :/]

[gm bourgeois decadence [aya]]

Charlie Darwin

Charlie couldn't even hazard a guess as to how long he'd been sitting on the ground. More than an hour, he thought. But not more than two. A long time to be out buying some fruit. With every minute that passed, he knew his sister must be growing more and more worried. The Darwin family was certainly accident prone--with children being trampled, running into the district fence, and the etcetera. The twins knew that, especially at this point, neither of them were very likely to die in such a manner--but the seeds of worry had already been planted by years of misfortune and death. He knew that he'd be worried if she'd been an hour or so late.

He'd finally guilted himself into standing up to start heading home empty-handed. As he pulled himself to his feet--half-blinded from the darkness and the bright spots he saw from standing up too quickly--the most peculiar thing he'd witnessed in recent memory happened. A large form--a person, he guessed--came crashing down from the rooftop above. Charlie froze. The falling object hit the pavement at the other end of the alley feet first--definitely a person, then--before seemingly crumpling to the ground, still for a moment.

The Darwin twin hesitantly took a step or two towards the newcomer, trying to gauge if they were still alive. They seemed to reflexively try to scramble backwards, away from Charlie, as only living people tend to do, causing Charlie to pause for a moment; the figure whimpered. Either the person was in some serious pain--this was a distinct possibility, given the long journey they'd just made to the pavement--or was terrified of him--as suggested by the feeble escape attempt. Either way, a few words could go a long way.

"You alright there, guy?" he asked gently, trying to put the other person at ease. He didn't know if he managed; his voice was on the rougher side usually, but with his nose stuffed with dried blood, possibly broken, from his recent mugging, it came off heavier, deeper in his attempts to keep it from being nasally. He took another few larger steps towards the whimper's owner, not really caring at this point if he was scaring them. "Nice fall."

[/blockquote]
ooc-Mk, finished. And don't worry, you're fine :)[/color]

[sbeeg]

Zack Detroff

The warm blood was smeared in his hair and down one cheek. The heat from it was making Zack feel closed in as his heart beat loud enough to wake the dead. The silhouette was closer now and was speaking to him. Zack couldn't hear it. He scraped at the alley wall, trying to find a hold to pull himself to his feet. The brick was cool and he pushed his clean cheek against it trying to calm himself down.
Nice fall A rather deep, rough voice told him. Zack took a deep breath to get his thoughts grounded. When the figure made no attempt to stick a knife in him, Zack slowly pulled himself up, digging his fingers into a crevice in the wall. Wincing, Zack discovered his left ankle refused to hold any weight and leaned against the wall.
Zack dug at his brain trying to figure out something to say. Something... anything!
"I have a knife!" Zack pushed off from the wall and made his legs hold his weight. The pain was almost unbearable but he held firm. Biting his bottom lip so hard the ting of iron reached his tongue.
Too bad he didn't actually have a weapon.

[gm bourgeois decadence [aya]]

Charlie Darwin

As per usual, Charlie reacted quickly to the situation. It almost seemed as if there was no filter between his motor impulses. The other boy, more beat up by the concrete than Charlie had been by his mugger, seemed a bit weak on his feet as he puled himself up, braced against the brick wall behind him. But what this other guy said sent Charlie into action, into something of a pro-active self-defense mode.

The kid didn't seem too well off. A streak of blood took up a good portion of one side of his face, and he was clearly shaky. Maybe he just didn't hear Charlie when the less-beaten boy asked him if he was okay, or maybe he was just looking for a fight, because a typical response to "You alright there, guy?" is most certainly not "I have a knife!"

It didn't matter why the other boy said it, though. Charlie wouldn't bother to figure out the reason behind the remark until later, because that's how he was: react now, find the logic behind it later. He didn't need to justify his actions before he put them into motion, which was both a blessing and a curse. At the moment, when a threat was somewhat imminent, it was convenient to launch into action without thinking, without worrying.

The words — "I have a knife!" — were scarcely out of the roof-falling boy's mouth when Charlie lunged at him, intending to pin the other guy's hands to the wall with one of his own, hopefully incapacitating the already injured boy. It was a knee-jerk reaction, hardly even grazing his conscious before he'd done it. He couldn't let this kid pull out that knife — even a damaged guy with a weapon had something of an advantage over an unarmed one.

[/color]ooc- so sorry for the lateness in the reply D:[/size][/blockquote]

[sbeeg]

Zack Detroff

Actually having a knife would have been helpful at a time like this. Too bad Zack didn't have one. The shadows were messing with his brain. Pain was radiating from his temple and his knees quivered with the weight that had been thrust on them.

Before Zack had time to really think about the consequences of what had just flown out of his mouth the shadows in front of him were shifting. No not shifting, moving, charging. At him.

The light caught sight of a pair of hands reaching out for the District Eight boy. They were tinted with dark crimson. Oh God he's gonna kill me. I'm going to-

The Detroff boy made contact with the alley floor yet again. This time taking the blow in his left shoulder, making his body flop around like a rag doll for a few moments. In his attempt to be threatening he let go of the brick wall- the only thing keeping him standing. He didn't dodge out of the way like the Career tributes do in the Hunger Games. He fell out of the way. Hopefully the other boy didn't know that.

An idea quickly formed in the boy's brain, all of that headache final paid off. Zack stuck a hand into his pocket and found the one coin he had planted there before leaving work. It was shiny enough to catch the dim light and maybe, just maybe, trick the other person that it was a weapon. It was a Plan Q kind of situation. So without further ado he jabbed the coin at the boy sending another strange noise out of his throat. A combination of a threatening rawr and a yelp of pain from his fall.

He wasn't sure what it was about tonight but it seemed like his larynx dropped an inch, or it at least seemed like it anyway.