Hey y'all! This is mecca-dog coming at you from Steel City Raceway in Delmonte, PA, waiting for the races to start back up (they had to call an ambulance in, long story). Any ways, I finally finished this chapter 'bout 4 minutes ago and figured since my lap top had a little battery left I'd start typing! Well, I'm luke warm about this chapter; there's parts I like and parts I don't. You be the judges!
Disclaimer: I own the mind that came up with this off-the-wall 'what if' and that's it!
So Sick
Chapter 3
Feeling Faint
Kiera felt that the weekend was going by unmercifully slow. Now, most people feel the opposite effect, finding there to not be sufficient time to do absolutely nothing and be bored. But no, not our beautiful mechanic, that would be a blessing. No, she was going insane waiting for Tuesday to come already.
The aqua-haired girl sat in her very red room, wishing she'd at least nicked a pistol from the gun course. Today was Sunday, four days since she'd met with a certain commander to learn basic gun handling. And, oh, how she wished she was doing that at that moment.
Shooting was not nearly as difficult as she'd thought it'd be. I mean, you're shooting small pieces of metal, which is going intensely fast, at moving targets, you'd think it would majorly blow. No, come to find out it wasn't so bad. In fact it was quite enjoyable, relaxing even, to shoot lead at card board cut-outs (providing you didn't get attacked by one of the aforementioned targets). But most of all, it was different. Don't misunderstand her, she still loved being a mechanic. But, well, it was May and she had a serious case of spring fever. The garage was so stuffy and grim, even with the front door opened up. Shooting was a nice change of scenery. Not to mention Torn was an excellent instructor.
She got up from her bed and paced around her room. The window was open, letting in a steady, warm breeze and making the opaque vermillion curtains flutter. Outside she could hear the normal amount of talking, laughing, threatening, and swearing. Ah, the peace, the serenity, the–
"Sweetheart, would you like some keesh?"
Kiera jumped a little when her father yelled. She'd almost forgotten he was home; he was spending so much time talking to their neighbor with the catary fetish, she barely saw him all that day.
"Uh, no thanks daddy. I was, um, just about to go take a walk!"
She groped around under her bed for her sneakers. She loved Samos dearly, but honestly, he made the planet's most repulsive keesh! Seriously! She'd given a piece to one of the stray crocadogs lurking around the garage once and the poor thing started chocking and hacked it back up! Besides, a walk was a nice idea; dodging some of the maniac drivers out there was a great adrenaline rush.
She crept quietly down the hall and to the door, scrambling down the steps and into the tepid sunlight.
'Finally, some fresh air,' she thought as she headed down the street, not realizing she was being watched.
/ji/
A stocky man with dirty blonde hair, pulled back into a ponytail, and storm grey eyes leaned against the dusty brick wall. He brought a nauseating cigar to his lips and took a long drag, leisurely watching people, mostly women, as they walked by. A delightful Sunday afternoon.
Yeah, screw that. Jinx was bored as heck. He probably shouldn't have told that one guy he looked like a turkle. The man totally did, but the fight that ensued got him kicked out of the bar he'd been at, and during happy hour to boot! Now the pyrotechnician was slouched against the wall, wondering what he could possible do to entertain himself. If only the women were better looking (or at least had bigger tits) then he could've picked up a few of them. But all of them were ass ugly and flat as a back, from what he'd seen. He could always go to another bar, but most of them had him permanently kicked out too.
He took another drag and tapped his cigar on the wall to rid it of the excess ashes. Maybe he could go try out a few new toys in the forest. That would make ol' greeny happy, wouldn't it? He figured he might as well get a little exercise and made to move forward when a flash of aqua caught his eye; aqua hair. A feral smile slowly made its way onto his unshaven face. There was only one person in all of Haven with that colour hair, a cute little mechanic with matching green eyes and a very perky...persona. Looks like boredom was over!
He lurked up and began to follow her at a casual pace down the crowded street. It wasn't as if he planned to do anything; he would never sink to that level. But he did love to provoke her. Kiera was pretty easy-going, but when she was angry, damn! she was smokin'!
'Although,' he thought with a barely suppressed shudder, 'I'm not sure I want a repeat performance of last times particular explosion.'
He still had trouble being in the same building as the cutie's body guard without getting a case of the shakes. So, yeah, he shouldn't have grabbed her round little posterior, but sheesh! he didn't need his throat slit! He figured the commander was getting a few 'personal tune-ups' from her. What other reason did he have for going all psycho?
Jinx looked around. Oh crud, he'd been spacing out for a minute and lost track of her! Wait a minute... He narrowed his beady grey eyes and flipped around quickly. Then cursed and jumped a foot in the air when he locked eyes with a rather annoyed Kiera. She stood with her pale arms crossed, hips at an angle, peachy lips pursed. He would've thought this stance was totally hot if he hadn't nearly had a heart attack.
"Jinx, what the hell are you doing?" she asked him testily, furious by his presence.
"Kiera, sweetheart! Haven't seen you in forever!" he responded, regaining his composure.
She rolled her viridian eyes.
"Didn't you learn your lesson last time? Or do I need to give Torn a call?"
"No! Uh, I mean, how-how is the commander these days? I never see the cheerful fellow anymore."
At this, he noticed, she looked a little worried. Hm, what was up with that?
"Torn is...fine. He's just..."
"Just what?" he prompted. Hey, curiosity killed the catary.
"Just overworked I guess," she said, still sounding like she longed to wring her hands and sigh. Which she then did. Jinx internally smiled very devil like.
'Maybe she needs some comforting, she seems upset. Now would be a good time to make my move.'
As if reading his mind, Kiera's head snapped up from staring at the ground and she glared at him warningly.
"Look Jinx, two things. One: What I said pertaining to Torn doesn't need to be repeated, and Two: If you ever stalk me again I'll have said commander sick the whole FL on your ass, got it?"
"Okay, Okay, calm down! No need to drag ol' dreads into this! You'll never see me again!"
She smiled triumphantly.
"Perfect."
/t/
Torn walked into his apartment, thoroughly drenched from the torrential rainfall th e city was currently experiencing. Shutting the door, he shook his head, sending droplets of water sprinkling over the dark blue rug he stood on.
"Damn cold," he muttered to his equally soaked boots, having trouble undoing the laces on account of his shaking fingers. How could you not love spring weather: sunny and warm one minute, pouring and frigid the next.
Finally, he was able to release his duck feet from their leather prisons and padded softly into his bedroom. Water was dripping all over the cherry hardwood floor, but he really didn't care right then; he wanted to be warm; dry and warm. As soon as he reached the doorway, he removed all his weapons and threw them unceremoniously onto the bed. The room was amiably done, compliments of the HQ Compound decorating crew, in navy blue and black, with cherry furniture. The room reflected his tastes well, and also its lack of use; it was clean but with the apparent evidence of someone being in a rush. Torn was barely ever at his flat and when he was he never really got used to it. To him, the old Underground was his home.
The commander grabbed some clean, or he guessed it was, clothing and entered the immaculate white bathroom. As was his custom, he suspiciously checked for occupants and double locked the door. Mar forbid someone see him without a shirt on! As soon as the warm water touched his skin, however, he relaxed. Sighing, he let his mind wander to the day's events.
Between rabid yakkows and bomb threats, the missions he'd been on seemed more exhausting than usual. For the latter problem, a particular bomb expert had to be called in. Jinx had been a lot more cautious about what he did around Torn, probably remembering their last encounter. The heavy smoker had been exceedingly polite and respectful to the women around them when he had finished defusing the bomb. He'd even gone as far as to not 'comfort' the lady that had threw herself at 'her hero'. It was obvious he didn't want to go another round with the taller, and much more intimidating, man.
Then there was the women he had to deal with. All of them were scared out of their minds, fearing the bomb would go off while they were in the vicinity. Of course that meant when the threat was over, they all sobbed for joy and thanked him over and over. And over. One even said she'd name her unborn child after him, whether it be a girl or a boy. And a multitude needed to be calmed down. So, guess who had to do it. How many women had cut off all circulation to his head as they sobbed into his chest? It was only the females though; all the guys shook it off and went home, complaining how slow they were.
Torn shut off the water and hopped out of the shower quickly. He dried off in half a minute flat, not taking to the idea of being without clothing for any extended amount of time. But he wasn't shy! Nope, not the least bit bashful!
WondHe came out of the bathroom, steam exiting from behind him. He'd put on a pair of baggy black sweat pants and a likewise baggy t-shirt, both of which amplified how lanky he'd gotten in the past month. He looked at the sleek silver digital clock on his bedside table. It read 1:34 am. He was so hungry! But nothing was open at this time of night, and the chances of there being anything edible in the small kitchen the apartment offered was the same chance as Errol being 100 heterosexual. So instead, he just collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
'Tomorrow is a good day,' he remembered before he drifted off, 'it's Tuesday.'
/k/
"Mornin' Daddy! Pancakes or waffles?"
Samos blinked up at his daughter. How she could be so awake and cheerful at 7:00 am, and on a Tuesday none the less, would forever be a mystery to him. Really it was odd she was even cheerful at all. He knew from past experience she was not a morning person.
"Good morning sweety. Waffles would be wonderful," he told her with a loving smile, which she returned.
"Good, 'cause that's the batter I made!"
Sure enough, she had already plugged in the waffle iron, the one that made waffles shaped like bull's eyes. She'd even set the table, complete with her cactus, which for some odd reason had on sunglasses, as a center piece.
"Why Kiera, you're in a good mood! What's got you so chipper?"
She suppressed a giggle at the language he used. Chipper! Haha!
"Oh, nothing, just that it's so sunny after that storm all last night! How could I not be happy?"
She smirked while she popped a hot breakfast cake out onto a plate and her father went on about the weather. She had other reasons to be happy, and one of them was about a foot taller than her and giving her lessons on gun handling. Finally, Tuesday had arrived!
/t/
Great. Just wonderful. He'd caught a cold.
Torn stood in the line at the Moondoe on Tyrell Avenue, trying to suppress the coughs that were inevitably going to start. All he wanted was some coffee (and maybe some aspirin and a muffin), but of course the guy at the counter screwed up the guy ahead of him's order. He knew he should've went to True Haven, but this place was closer and he'd needed some caffeine fast. He'd been up since five attempting to stop coughing (not that he'd made any head way). Finally they got the problem fixed and he moved up to the counter, ordering a vente black coffee.
He got to work a few minutes later, thoroughly ready for a break. He had the chills, but his face felt warmer than the rest of his body, signifying he probably had a mild fever. He plowed right through work though, keeping himself by counting down to eleven.
When the time came, he set out on his zoomer to the gun course. He sorely hoped Kiera wouldn't notice his cold; he didn't want to be babied. How do you respond to someone worrying over you? No one ever had, apart from his mother. Well, Tess did, but he knew how to deter her 'sister fretting' as she called it. Kiera was different. He didn't know why, but she was.
He came to a stop in front of the gun course and got off his zoomer slowly, not wanting to get dizzier than he already was. The affect the coffee had on him had worn off and he felt like something was putting dull pressure on his shoulders. He couldn't understand why he was so tired; he'd slept over four hours the previous night! That was way more than usual. Torn put a hand on the way to steady himself. He knew he'd be fine in a minute.
He could hear the unmistakable sound of a zoomer coming down the street and, chances were, it was Kiera. He didn't want to look weak in front of her so he straightened up and turned towards the noise. Sure enough, he could see the beautiful girl flying at him, which made him feel a little better. She stopped and hopped off next to his zoomer. Her smile faded, however, and was replaced by a look of alarm when she got nearer to him.
"You're sick!" she said without preamble, rushing over to him.
"No, I–" he began, but she cut him off.
"No Torn, don't even try to deny it! You're pale as a ghost! What happened? Do you have a temperature?"
She attempted to reach up and feel his forehead, but he dodged her hand. Blushing lightly from this treatment, he continued to say, "It's just a cold, really. There's no need to go postal, and don't deny you weren't," he added when she opened her mouth to protest.
"Torn, what am I going to do with you?"
He grinned sheepishly and ran his hand over his dreads.
"Don't lose sleep over it. Besides, as long as I can still aim, it's all good."
Truth be told, it was taking all his energy to stand, but she didn't need to know that. He just hoped he could make it through the lesson.
"My health aside, are you ready to get started?"
She knew he was changing the subject, but decided not to press the matter.
"Yep, and I promise I'll ward off any cut-out attacks today."
This brought grins to both their faces as they went inside the big grey building.
The lesson went on fine; he continued with the finer points of gun handling and plenty of much needed practice. Two hours later and she finally got a good feel for the pistol. She went as far as to get a bronze in the level one course. She exited into the main room to see Torn smiling at her.
"Kiera, you're one of the quickest learners I've ever met," he told her, making her cheeks glow from the praise.
"Well, I did have the greatest military mind of our time as a teacher," she countered. The tables turned as his cheeks heated up, making her smile.
He was about to protest when a fit of coughing overtook him and pain exploded on his temple. He felt so weak, so tired...
The last thing Torn saw before passing out was Kiera's beautiful face marred with panic.
/an/
ooooh, cliffy! Sorry, but I couldn't resist! The next chapter will be a doozy I can tell you that! Love it, hate it? R&R! oh, I still need a last name for our hott commander! Add that to you reviews!
HAPPY EASTER!