Of Love Gained and Bruises Likewise
*clink**clank**THUNK!*
"Meep" , as Jonathan crumpled into a ball of pain on the floor.
"I'm sorry, did I hurt your pride?" , as Katherine stood over Jon wearing a mocking smile.
"And then some Doesn t help when you re making sounds. Whenever the blades collide. Plus, we agreed no below the belt!" , as he looked at her angrily, but couldn't manage a normal voice due to the pain.
"Your pants had fallen a bit. So I hit on the beltline", she said as she shrugged and picked up Jon s blade. She went over to the rack and holstered them. Then she went back to Jon s prone form and offered a hand to help him up.
"Riiight, Thank- YAAAAH!", as he took her hand and was almost all the way on his feet, she suddenly yanked back hard, stuck out her leg, and then pulled down to flip him onto his back and slam him into the ground.
She sauntered out of the room laughing and closed the door behind herself. Jon laid there on the ground watching her back until the door shut behind it. He sighed and hauled himself off the floor with aid from a rail on the wall. Then he went out of the room after her with a look of longing and resigned-to-not-having mixed onto his face.
"Seriously Kat-"
"Luna!"
"Right. Luna Seriously Luna, that was uncalled for. I mean, that bloody hurts, especially since those damn blades are steel. Dull, but still steel, which is heavy", he said weakly, as he limped through the doorway after her and then flopped into one of the chairs in the lounge area of the Rec Center.
"Oh please, you were asking for it. Easily harmed man bits and all, hah", as she smirked and then picked up one of the poles another pair of duelers had left in the lounge, instead of holstering them back in the dueling room.
"Forget it Why the hell do I have to call you Luna though? I keep forgetting", as he pushed back at the pole.
"Because, for one, I told you to do it and you obey me like a little puppy", as she jabbed him in the gut,"And for two, you never know what kind of creeper is listening, and my parents are both important", she went to poke him in the head.
"I don't have a secret name!", as he protected his face and grabbed the pole.
"Another pair of reasons, for one, you're a boy. Boys generally don't get kidnapped, especially if they're soon to be soldiers. That means your parents are ready for you to die. And for the second reason, your dad isn't your real dad, and your mom is a stay at home piece of hot ass", she yanked the pole back and almost fell over as Jon let go as she pulled.
"That's not much for reasoning I still want a nickname!"
"I never even say your real name most of the time. I usually just call you stupid, or silly", she stuck out her tongue and lunged forward Spartan-style with the pole and tried to spear him in the gut.
"Fine, because that is a good reason to not have a cool codename", as he sidestepped the pole and put his palm to it to knock it further out of his path.
"Too bad, you don't get one. Let's race home!", as she hopped into her shoes and then started jumping up and down and stretching.
"Gahd, fine Lemme get my boob- BOOTS! Ah crap. Lemme get my shoes on", as he placed his head into his hands and his face turned bright red, "God dammit Freud", he mumbled to himself.
"Quit staring and start running, lookey-loo", as she fixed her shirt which had fallen a bit during the dueling, jumping, and stretching. She quickly picked up the pole, jabbed him hard in the stomach and then ran as fast as she could out of the building and towards Jon's house.
"YAH! Hey! Dammit woman!", as he quickly shoved his feet into his shoes and then sprinted after her, dodging the few people in the halls and trying to enter the building.
"Nyah, nyah! Can't catch m- YIPE!", as she looked back to taunt Jon she slammed headlong into a large African man with a pair of bodyguards behind him that looked to be almost 8 feet tall, "Holy sh- I mean, sorry sir. Didn't see you there, heh"
"T'was no a problem missay. Is dis li'l boy chasin yah or is dis a friendly race?", as he offered a black leather gloved hand to Kate to help her up. He waved the bodyguards back with his other hand as they moved warily forward unsure of the children.
"It was a race. We were heading home", Jon said as he hoisted Kate up by her shoulders and stepped in between the man and her.
"Nah, nah, no need tah worray boy. Although, if yeh could help meh wit one ting. You happen to know where a Pontus Marius lives?" he asked as he removed his Aviator sunglasses and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had been wandering through the streets for awhile apparently, "I was on my way to a meetin wit him. Your city seems to have gotten me lost"
"I'm Jonathan Marius-Bartra. Pontus would be my step-father. What's your name? So I can yell you're there when we get there", as he held out his hand to shake.
"Numbuutu King would be mah name. Show me the way chile", as he shook Jon's hand and then stood aside for Jon to go past and lead the way.
"C'mon, let's go", as he took Kate's hand and led the way for the two-block walk home.
About ten minutes later they arrived at the decent-sized home Pontus had in the city.
As they walked into the front door Jon announced the guest to anybody whose door was open,"NUMBUUTU KING IS HERE TO SEE YOU PONTUS!"
Pontus immediately came jogging around the corner in full Centurion regalia.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, how long have you been here?", as he nervously came to a stop and caught his breath. He then stood up and straightened his outfit and offered his hand.
"Not veray long. I've been in yer city for a few hours, but only in your house for a couple minutes. Your son was kind 'nough to show me dah way aftah his li'l girlfriend here bumped intah meh", he shook Pontus' hand and then followed him into a back room where they were probably going to discuss something military or money related. Probably military related stuff.
"She's not my- Damn it. C'mon lets go melt our brains", as he pointed to the doorway that led to his room.
-
"Holy shit I thought he was gonna eat me!" Kate yelled once they got to Jon's room and sat down on the couch in his gaming area.
"He was pretty scary looking. I'm going to guess because of his size and darkness he terrified you though? And not the seven and a half foot tall bodyguards with AM-47's or the machete on his back, or the Japanese gauss pistol on his hip?", he asked sarcastically as he started digging through the drawers of the cabinet he had just opened to reveal the large T.V. within.
"He had bodyguards and a machete! Holy crap, all I saw was a giant black guy with some really kick-ass sunglasses and a red beret. And really old looking fatigues", she started to bounce on the couch, "What're we gonna play? What we gonna play?
"Um x-station 720. We're going to shoot the crap out of each other", as he finally fished out a pair of controllers that weren't broken and tossed one to Kate. He then dug around above the T.V. and hit the power button on the xbox, "Let's DO THIS!"
A few hours later, they had devolved into raging at each other and screaming sundry noobs, and whores.
"SNIPER WHORE!" Jon screamed as Kate removed his head once again.
"NOOOOOOB"
"ROCKET WHORE!" he yelled as she switched power weapons and blasted him to pieces.
"Learn to jump retard!" she splattered him across the hood of a jeep.
"Mother fu- ", but she cut off his curse word with a hand over his mouth and then a swift kick to the calf, "Ouch! Damn it woman! Quit tha- SUNUVAH!"
"Haha, pay attention stupid!" as she darted over him with a plane and dropped a bomb on him. She quickly abandoned the aircraft in a suicide charge as Jon had far greater flight skills, and he almost got into his own plane. Of course, she had planned the suicide drop perfectly and slammed into the other plane and killed Jon in the process.
"Oh c'mon dammit! This is bullcrap!" as he tried desperately to salvage a victory, but continued to get owned.
"Yooooooou, fuckin suck!"
"I fuckin hat- I mean- I- I-", and then Jon suddenly jumped up, ran into the separate area that was his bedroom and dropped onto his bed face down. A few moments passed and the door creaked open.
"Jon? You okay man? Did I hurt your feelings by crushing you?"
"No I- I, just wanted to say something... You should probably just head home. Ask my dad he can call a few- Heh. Give your dad a ring, he can send the same soldiers. See you later Kate", he tilted his head to talk. In the light a slight glistening could be seen in his eyes.
"Ok... DON'T HURT YOURSELF SPANKIN' IT TO MY BOOBS FROM EARLIER!" she yelled as she quickly shut the door behind her and went outside.
Once outside she sent her dad a message and within a few minutes a car rolled up with a pair of fully armed and armored Legionnaires in the front seats.
"Hey guys. Jon been acting weird around you lately?" she asked the red-haired one driving the vehicle, "I know you talk to him a lot and he just kinda freaked out"
"Nah, the lads been fine, far as I been seein' . Right brutha?" as he looked over at the soldier sitting shotgun.
"Nope. ey, e's gonna be one o' us soon i'n't 'e? Ain't that gonna beat all?"
"Hell yah brutha!" and the two soldiers bumped fists. Then the red-haired one started the car and drove to Kate's house, a large Senatorial delegated house on a hill in the middle of the city.
As the car drove along Kate sulked in the back, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
Jon sat up on his bed and sighed, "God dammit, why can't I say it? Why am I such a bloody coward I mean, I know she knows it but I still freak out when I try to say it. I know she knows it, and yet...still. Fuck me..."
He sat there in the darkness of his room and tried to figure out some way of forcing himself to say it, or getting someone else to say it. Sadly, his head was full of media and he could only think of cheesy things from movies, T.V. shows, and the occasional video game.
The next day Jon decided to seek out the advice of men who d also fallen in love and had told someone. He went to the barracks to find other soldiers who d fallen in love and married someone back in Rome, which is why he couldn t ask Pontus.
"Leetle Joany! 'ow are yew tewday?", a darker skinned soldier asked as he ambushed Jon. Jon jumped in shock as the man surprised him.
"I'm fine Hey, where s-"
"The scotsman? e's ova 'ere! C'mon lad, let's talk! Heh", the red-haired scot yelled from off to the side and waved to Jon.
"Oh, thanks. Listen, I have a ques-"
"Yeh're in love wit Kate and you wan' tah know 'ow to tell 'er yeh love 'er? I know. She was asking if yeh'd been actin weird yesterday when me an Yuri dere picked er up. I tuld 'er no, but I'd been noticing how cheery yeh'd be anytime we dropped yeh off at each othah's houses and how mopey yeh'd be whenever we picked yeh up. A man who'd fallen madly in love wit a beautiful woman 'imself and been in fear for many a year to tell 'er can see. But yeh'll be a troopah like us soon. So get over it, and get out there and tell 'er, damn yeh lad yeh're gunna be starin' down goad damned BAT'L'TAWNKS! This is nuttin! Now get out dere and tell 'er yeh idjit!" he had slapped his large hairy hand over Jon's mouth during the whole speech and then hefted him up by his collar and tossed him outside the barracks and slammed the door behind him. The last two sentences were yelled through the front door.
"I- I- but!...I- Fuck", as he stood outside the door extremely perplexed and then headed home to think about what the man had said.
A few days later Jon had finally gathered enough courage by yelling at himself in his bathroom mirror, much to Pontus and his mother's confusion. He was over at Kate's and they were sitting on her bed watching some stupid, irritating reality show, because nothing better was ever on when you wanted to stall for time to gather yourself.
"So, er, Kate. I, uh, I wanted to tell you", he stammered as he tried to work up the courage.
"Are you gay? Are you coming out? Damn it why did I know I would always end up as the girl everybo-"
"NO STUPID! I was trying to sa- YEOWCH! YOU GOD DAMN BIT ME!", he said as he put his hand over her mouth to shut her up. Then she bit him and he recoiled in pain holding his finger.
"You put your hand over my mouth", she huffed as she crossed her arms and looked to the side, "pretty sure I've warned you about that thoroughly. Now spit out what you're trying to say before I pop you in the mouth"
"I'm trying to say I love yo-MMMPH", as he caught her fist in his mouth and was sent sprawling backwards holding his mouth in pain. His eyes began to well with tears in pain.
"I love you too stupid. But we never need to say that. Ever again. I'm gonna go get you a bag of ice now, haha", as she helped him back up onto her bed and then went out into the hall and began laughing hysterically and got a bag of ice. When she returned she put it on his face and looked him in the eyes.
"I'm not kidding Jon. Never, ever, say that again. Or I'll roundhouse kick you", and she just kept laughing.
"M'kay", he mumbled through the bag.