[log] surrounded by balls [closed]

[devoutish]

Characters: Alfie Solomons, Royce Melborn, Sylar
Location: building 29
Date: evening of 249
Summary: everybody hates the fucking shed
Warnings: n/a; will edit if anything comes up

A small shed outside the school, going inside reveals sports equipment is being stored in here. There are hurdles, various sports balls, giant mats, and the like. There's nothing that could be used as a weapon, though, unless you're going to try to hurl a basketball at someone's head. This is the only place on the campus it's possible to stay in overnight--if you try to stay anywhere else, you'll be made to leave at 7PM. The following is written on the wall in blue ink: "This is Building 46 on the composite map. Contact @CaptSteveRogers for details." Underneath is a fairly accurate map showing the shed in relation to the school. The school is labeled "School. Food available in cafeteria; DO NOT STAY HERE OVERNIGHT." The shed is labeled "Shed". Behind the shed is a small army of snowmen armed with sports equipment. There's a drawing spraypainted on the inside of the shed. It has been labeled "GEROMY". The skin color has been left blank. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SIX, FOR ANY ASSISTANCE PLEASE CONTACT @LELRIC." is written on the wall.

Comments

[devoutish]

I've learned not to question your bizarre fucking stories about your adventures with Hadrian.

[But he's definitely interested in this wolf thing, so!]

[bywolves]

[ Royce grins, a tiny thing. Hadrian's an idiot, but god does he miss him. ]

Child gang. The Wolves. I grew up in Ratibor, and anybody under the age of thirteen got picked up by them.

[termineur]

Geez, must've been a pretty big child gang, I'd guess. Did you get booted out of it when you turned 13?

[ Sylar has no idea how a child gang would work. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie's guessing yes, but he looks to Royce for the answer.]

[bywolves]

Decently. There weren't many children left alive on the streets, and not everybody joined. [ There were other child gangs, and if you weren't part of one, you usually died. ] I left before I turned thirteen. Or what I thought was thirteen.

Better that I left than become bait for guards, which was the preferred way of getting people out of the gang.

[termineur]

[ Sylar makes a face and nods. ]

Ugh, your world sounds like fun times all around. Glad you ditched 'em before the expiration date.

So, your partner- why was he in trouble right when you met him?

[ He'd never heard of Hadrian before, after all. Getting in way too deep without looking around- that sounds like something Peter would do. ]

[devoutish]

Hadrian's a bit like Watson.

[He'll let Royce tell the story, but he has to interject that first, to give Sylar some perspective.]

[bywolves]

Less annoying. [ Hadrian is a martyr but not to the point that Watson is, Royce thinks. ] The first time I met him, we were on a boat to Sheridan. I was supposed to make sure he got there alive.

[ Royce waves a hand a little. ] The people on the boat were transporting smuggled goods, and they didn't want an investigation. Someone got killed for saying they were going to make sure the sheriff knew the boat was coming to shore.

Hadrian was clueless and mentioned he'd report the death to the sheriff, which meant he'd just painted a target on his back. [ Royce sighs heavily. ] To be fair, the people on the boat attacked me first.

[termineur]

[ The Watson comparison gets a chuckle out of him. Yeah, he could imagine that, too. The story itself makes him laugh a little, too. ]

Yeah, I can just imagine. So I'm guessing he just didn't pick up on the signs that everyone wanted to keep it all quiet? Was he mad that you defended him?

[bywolves]

He was much more naive when we first met. [ He's so glad Hadrian got a little more wary over the years. Only a little, though. ] They gave him a story and he bought it because he didn't expect people to lie to him.

He was angry I killed them, but I didn't care at the time. I was annoyed that I had to be around him at all.

[devoutish]

What made that change, eventually?

[termineur]

I'd hope experience would get him to be a little less trusting, at least.

Why did you have to be around him, anyway?

[bywolves]

[ Royce sinks into his cloak. ]

We were assigned to steal a book from a tower that, before us, had never been broken into. When we brought the book back, our - employer. [ Employer, because he still hates to think of Arcadius as his owner, even if that sort of what he was for a while. ] Our employer asked us to put it back.

When we did, we were ambushed by guards. Hadrian saved my life, instead of leaving me to die on top of that tower. Like I would've done.

[devoutish]

Were you angry with him at first? Confused?

[termineur]

[ Sylar perks an eyebrow up when Royce hesitates on 'employer', but he decides not to ask about it. The story itself sounds like it must be very simplified- 'steal a book and then put it back' isn't usually how that goes. ]

I'm betting confused.

[bywolves]

[ It's very simplified. It's a whole book of a story, really. ]

Confused, yes. Angry, a little. He didn't have a great answer for me either when I asked him why he did it.

[devoutish]

Did he like you any better than you did him?

[termineur]

[ Alfie's question was not at all what Sylar thought of. ]

Why did he save you? What was his reason?

[ Sorry, Royce, it's apparently 20 Questions time. ]

[bywolves]

[ He doesn't seem to mind that much, though he is starting to sink down into his cloak. ]

No. He didn't like me. [ Royce pauses. ] His reason was that it's the type of person he is. Doesn't matter what they're like, if he can save them, he'll save them.

[devoutish]

And I bet you thought he was lying at first, didn't you.

[He's got your number, buddy.]

[termineur]

[ Sylar's noticing the sinking, at least. ]

Even my world has idiots like that, though. They're unusual, but they exist.

[ He smiles as he says that. ]

[bywolves]

[ He gets prickly when he has to talk about himself a lot. ]

Mm. It's the person he was trying to be. It took a while for me to figure out he was serious, and even longer to listen.

[devoutish]

Mm.

Having a man like that in your life can be a good thing. I wouldn't go into business with one, mind.

[Men who are incredibly concerned with being good and moral but who also happen to be criminals tend to be giant hypocrites, in Alfie's experience.]

But they're good to have around.

[termineur]

Yeah, somehow I doubt that'd work real well with your type of business. But I agree, they're not bad to have around. Keep you a little more honest than usual.

So Alfie, I think it's your turn now, right?

[bywolves]

[ Royce makes a hmpf sound. He's done talking, he thinks, so it's a good thing that Sylar asks Alfie what he does. ]