Oh, wow. Hmm….lol. Ok, I'm looking back on my last chapter and I don't exactly like how I worded it, but oh well. :p It's been a while since my last post, so I hope my writing style hasn't changed all that much.
Ok, firstly though, before I start, I have to admit that as it's been such a long time since my last post, I actually forgot what my original ideas for this story were, so I've re-read my story and sort of come up with something new. Eh, hope that works out alright.
Also, I still haven't read the book over, so I'm sorry if I make some of the characters out to be a little OOC. I'm trying, here. :p
Thanks for the reviews, guys.
I hope you like. Oh, and sorry for the crappy title.
An Idea
Ralph awoke with a shiver and hugged his body tightly, keeping his eyelids shut all the while. Perhaps if his vision maintained a continuity of dark blackness, interrupted only by a few scattered blotches of multi-shaded reds, he would be able to fall back into the warm embrace of a dream-filled sleep.
Try as he might, though, his mind was already fully awake – even if his body wasn't and so, heaving a painful sigh of resignation, he sluggishly cracked one eye open, the other remaining stubbornly shut. He turned his head to his right and, coming upon quite an empty sight, realized that something was different.
Twisting his head up, he found Jack staring down at him, his face void of emotion.
Angry at Jack's condescending position in comparison with his own, Ralph struggled to stand, but was forcefully subdued as a shock of pain whooshed across his chest. Looking down, he noticed the several large cuts scattered across his entire torso, and the many stinging scrapes that had accumulated into a tasteless collage of irritation.
"Henry, get in here."
"Yes, chief?" The boy asked nervously as he scuttled over as quickly as his shaking legs would take him.
"See what you can do about his wounds."
Henry, at a loss of where to start among the many sores, began by unwrapping the vine which remained firmly tied around Ralph's wrist from the previous night.
"Ooosh," Henry murmured to himself, wincing at the red-rimmed, purple bruise indenting Ralph's wrist. He massaged it tenderly, rubbing his thumbs against it with light pressure, hoping his wrist hadn't gone numb overnight. "Can you feel your wrist, Ralph?"
But Ralph, curiously preoccupied by Jack's visage, had not heard the question. The red-head's features had tightened as Henry had begun to knead his pained wrist, a glare making its way into his eyes.
"Ralph?"
"What?"
"Your wrist, can you feel it?"
"Oh, sort of… It feels odd when I bend it, though."
"Does this hurt?" Henry inquired, tentatively feeling around his wrist in different areas.
"No. Why?"
"I'm not sure, but I saw my mum do it on a coupl'a soldiers every once in a while. If it hurt, that was bad, but since it doesn't, I suppose everything's alright for the most part. How does this feel, though?" His thin fingers, soiled with dirt, continued the previous massage.
Ralph let his eyes flutter closed as he struggled to hold back a contented sigh. "That feels… nice."
"Enough! He's not dying; his wrist is just fine. Now fix his cuts as best you can, and quick!"
While Henry tended to the injuries, dabbing them with bits of wet cloth and improvising with his memory, Ralph kept his eyes trained on Jack, noting the angry features darkening sharply each time Henry paid particular attention to a certain wound with his fingers.
This reminded him, slightly, of a time when he was still home. A friend of his mother's had come to visit, and every time he laid a hand on her back or laughed a little too jovially with her, Ralph's father would grow all the more furious, but this was of jealousy. He loved Ralph's mother, and that of course brought on a sense of possession and a need to protect her from others.
This, however, was different. For Jack was a boy, and so was Ralph. For one boy to fancy another was… well, it just wasn't possible. At least, he'd never heard of such a thing before. It was preposterous, really; laughable, even. A boy… in love with another boy? Ha!
But then, what exactly was churning in Jack's all too complicated mind? Ralph couldn't tell, and it irked him more than he was willing to admit. He wanted Ralph healed, yet he didn't want Henry to touch him. What was wrong with that boy?
"I'm done."
"Good. Now go off and play or something."
At Henry's departure, Jack knelt before the other boy and asked stoically, "Do you feel better?"
"I suppose."
Curious, Jack probed delicately at a cut on Ralph's left shoulder, inducing a quick and pained gasp. "Does it really hurt?"
"No, I just like to randomly gasp every now and th-"
"Don't be smart with me," he hissed.
"Then don't ask me stupid questions."
Jack's eyes went so narrow, only a sliver of white was visible. Ralph scrunched his eyes shut, prepared for a blow, but all that came was a slight breeze as the red-head abruptly stood and walked away.
Now he was alone.
He let out a sigh of relief only to curse himself at a sudden realization. Here he was, alone and unbound, and yet he could not escape for the terrible aches all throughout his body preventing him from so much as standing up. He wanted to scream in frustration, but he was too tired even to do that.
What was he going to do? Was he really going to heal only to be beaten into even worse conditions immediately following? Was there no possible way of persuading Jack otherwise in the short time he had before that?
He simply couldn't understand how anyone could possibly be so heartless. Surely Jack could not be entirely without mercy whatsoever. He even cared for Ralph to heal properly. But what of his anger, then, each time Henry's soft touches brought him relief?
Soon, his mind grew weary, and he closed his eyes, hopeful for a few hours of rest.
JRJRJR
"Psst. Ralph, wake up."
"Sam?"
"No, Eric. Hi."
"What are you doing?"
"Just came in to check on you. Jack's worried. He's trying not to show it too much, but we can all tell. I'm not positive why, but I think he wants to make sure you heal soon so that he can get to your punishment quickly."
"That's a comforting thought."
"Why? I'd be scared if I were you."
"I know. I was being sar- never mind."
"Alright, well, he's probably going to check on you, himself, soon. I know he was in here before, though. What? Did he roughen you up?"
"No. He just asked if I was feeling better."
"Weird."
"What's weirder is why you're not with your brother."
"Oh, yeah. Jack's always splitting us up. I guess he doesn't want us to be too dependent on each other. My grandfather told me stories about that sort of thing. In China, they used to make sure officials and such were always changing posts because the government didn't want them to become too friendly with the locals. They thought it would make them less loyal to the Emperor."
"Oh, and I suppose he thinks you and Sam are going to raise a conspiracy against him?"
"A what?"
"Nothing. Just go back and tell him I'm fine."
"Ok. But hey, Ralph?"
"Yes?"
"I hope you get better soon, and not because I want you to get punished, either. I really just want you to be alright."
"Thanks."
As the lone twin departed, Ralph began to mull over the new discovery. Jack was paying attention to even the smallest of details. Normally, Ralph would think him entirely too paranoid, but in a way, he could now see the genius of his thinking. Jack was not willing to take any chances – an admirable quality.
Perhaps he could use that to his advantage somehow; perhaps come up with a way to make Jack believe that by incapacitating him as soon as he healed, he would be leaving room for vulnerability where someone could try to somehow rebel against Jack.
After all, without Ralph's keen insight, there would be no one to foretell such an act.
AN: Ahhh! No slash in this chappy. Sorry. :( But fear not! I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a stronger sense of Jack's jealousy in the next chapter. This was sort of a filler for me to work off of since I totally forgot my previous plans. The writing probably seems a little different, and I'm sorry for that. Hope this is ok.
By the way, the whole Ralph denying the idea of Jack maybe liking him may seem totally cliché, but I thought it worked since this isn't modern time. This takes place like some time around 1950's, doesn't it? So I figure that, back then, young kids must have been more naive and hidden away from the knowledge of homosexuality. I don't know. That's what I think, anyway. So hope I didn't screw things up too badly. 8p
xoxo Spideria xoxo
