land_lover: (Father's son)
Jamie Young ([personal profile] land_lover) wrote in [community profile] shatterverse2008-07-16 02:14 pm

(no subject)

It starts the usual way: A flash, a bang, a person standing, disoriented, near a long stretch of deserted road.

But this man falls to his knees-

(thousands of voices; screaming, crying in his head; anger and despair and everything in between, and he can’t fight, can’t ignore, can’t resist them; stop, stop, Goddess why won’t it STOP)

-and clutches his head, letting loose an agonized shout of surprise.

Then it's over, and it's like it never was.

Jamie lowers his hands, noticing in a detached manner that short strands of blond hair come away in his fingers, and sits back on his haunches, blinking. The last thing he remembers is laughing at a joke -- a bad one, with three tavern wenches and a statue -- and climbing a ladder to get at the apples high in an Olau tree. His shirt still smells like the orchard: sun and fruit and green, growing things. Had he fallen? Is this a fevered hallucination brought on by his broken body and healing magic gone wrong? Grace never could get the hang of it. She’s probably given him an extra thumb.

No. All’s right with that.

Digging his fingers into the earth beside the road, he watches it sift back to the ground. It's chunky and rough, but not dry. Even so, it's clearly not the smooth, dark soil of Olau. Jamie sniffs his hand, frowns and pulls himself to his feet. The road crests a hill to the west. Maybe there's something on the other side to explain what's happened; maybe not. Nothing to do, he supposes, but to start walking.

He'll get back to the pain (voices) in his head later. When the mood strikes.

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-12-04 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
The alien creatures pull up short of Jamie, and then recoil sharply. They look confused at the unexpected mental imagery, and their dreadful shrieking ceases for a few moments. All of which surely gives Jamie's partner the time she needs...

Still struggling to activate the gun she chose, Eleanor, not for the first time in her life, curses her mother for never being around she's needed. With all her MiB training, she'd be able to turn this stupid thing on.

"Gah!" Eleanor cries, and throws the weapon down in frustration.

Of course, that's when a deep bass note sounds out from the gun and translucent strips along the receiver start to emit a soft blue light. A higher-pitched whine follows, and the glow quickly intensifies. Eleanor glares at it for a long second, then heaves it back up again. She may be unamused and none-the-wiser to its operation, but she's not going to leave it lying there.

"Okay. We're in business," she says, wrapping her finger around what she assumes is the trigger mechanism.

"DIE MOTHERFUCKERS!"

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-12-04 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
As it turns out, the weapon's kickback is just as impressive as its blast force. Not only did the recoil cause Eleanor to miss the targets by several feet, it sent her flying comically into the bales behind them.

That's where she lies now, wheezing, disoriented, and covered in hay. Though she's still clutching the enormous rifle, she's clearly not going to be able to take a second shot until she's recovered from the winding.

Jamie doesn't have that much time.

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-12-04 07:10 pm (UTC)(link)
The cacophony of screeching and plasma fire fades away. The only sounds left are the low hum of the rifle, the creaking of a roof that's a lot less supported than it was five minutes ago, and the arrhythmic heavy inhaling and exhaling of the two survivors.

Eventually, Eleanor catches enough breath to comment.

"Glory hog."

It's followed by a woozy half-smirk.

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-12-04 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Eleanor snorts. The irony is lost on her.

"No. Doofus. You saved the day. You're gonna look like the hero if this story is ever retold. And I'm gonna look like the inept comedy sidekick."

She hauls herself upright, onto legs that are still a bit shaky.

"That's okay though." A hand is placed on his shoulder to steady herself as she surveys the scene of their victory. Ashes wafting around in the breeze and a few scorched puddles of slime are the only remnants of the aliens. And the barn has no front wall anymore. "You did good," she assesses. "You deserve it."

She stands on her tip-toes and presses a dry-lipped kiss onto his cheek.

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-12-04 09:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah. Me too," Eleanor drawls, her eyes contentedly half-lidded in the wake of the kiss.

"I've got a feeling that we won't need to blast our way out now though. Unless there're more of those creatures still lurking around."

She gives him a grin. "Either way, I think we're set."

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-12-05 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor lifts the gigantic blaster onto her shoulder and sets out to join him. She eyes him as she comes, and her response is a cagey "yessss."

This feels like a set up, but she decides to hear him out.

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-12-05 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh yeah... the barn wall stunt."

Eleanor's eyes narrow. As his lips withdraw, she de-laces her fingers from his and clenches them into a fist.

"I'll break your jaw the next time you try something like that."

This time however, the follow through is just a gentle chin bump.

"You're forgiven," she chuckles, "even if you did conveniently forget about me blowing Ethan's brains out in your retelling." She shakes her head ruefully and settles herself into the bike's saddle once more. The alien weapon is handed off to Jamie and the engine is fired up.

"Like I said: glory hog."

[identity profile] alls-fair-in.livejournal.com 2008-12-08 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's still on the table," Eleanor informs him. "You're gonna have to earn it back though."

"With more than just your charm and good looks."

She directs a lurid smirk at him as she putters them out of the barn and back to the spot where she dropped her pistol. From there the dirt road can plainly be seen stretching off through the forest, with no obstruction from the trees whatsoever.

After picking up her helmet from the carport, they try that route, and a few uneventful miles later they reach a paved highway once again. They may still be stuck in this fucked up world, but it feels like freedom (http://community.livejournal.com/shatterverse/181137.html?thread=14695057#t14695057)...