One Man's Monster Is Another Man's Family [p, Wendy]

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    [align=center][font=georgia][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10]Felix threw knife after knife, creating a perfect outline around Tucker until he had gotten to the last one. He took a deep breath, wanting to get this over quickly. The fear and pain in Tucker's eyes was not something he wanted to see directed at him. He threw the last knife, watching it turn through the air. It stuck solidly, though it was half in the wall. The other half had managed to slit part of Tucker's ear, blood dripping down. Felix's eyes looked remorseful though his body language gave away nothing. [b]"Good. Gates, retrieve the knives."     Felix nodded, looking down at the ground as he moved forward to grab the knives.
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]OW! Damnit! What was making his ear sting so badly--? reaching a hand up to touch his ear, he felt the blood and it sank in properly. Oh right. His breaths where visibly ragged from his chest, feeling absolutely exhausted from the amount of stress he'd subjected himself to today. Just push it off. You got a whole day ahead of you. There's worse yet to come. This is nothing.. Despite that Felix was done retrieving the knives from around him, Tucker did not move from the spot he'd been standing in until he was certain he could go back in line with the others. He didn't want to subject himself to an even worse punishment for moving before he was instructed to.

    [align=center][font=georgia][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10]Felix, not wanting to say anything, just blinked slowly at Tucker, hoping that was enough of an apology as it was all that he could give right now. He turned away, dropping all the knives on the table. [b]"Will that be all, sir?"


    The commandant nodded. "Private Tucker, return to ranks. You're disqualified from the tournaments. I will not have you bleeding all over the other cadets."
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]Tucker sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth but nodded. After all that and he wasn't even allowed to be in the tournaments. ".... Of course. Yes sir." without looking back at the others he strode off, away from the training grounds with what little shards of dignity he still had left in tact, trying his best to ignore the hard cold stares he was receiving.

    [align=center][font=georgia][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10]After a long day of fighting, all of the soldiers were dismissed to dinner. Wash, with all of his concern for Tucker, hurried straight for their cabins, hoping to find the other boy there. [b]"Tucker? Tucker, are you in here?"
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]Tucker was in his bunk after having finished a long line of push ups he'd been doing as long as they'd been out there. It'd been his own punishment to himself, and he figured it'd be sort of productive. Now he was sitting there tossing the rest of his stale blood from that morning between his hands. Despite how much the man was sweating we was still wearing his uniform, and he had not cleaned the blood from his ear after getting badly knicked by Felix's knife earlier in the day. Hearing Wash's panicked voice, he sat himself up slightly and looked over to see if everything was alright. "I'm here." he gave a tiny wave of his hand.

    [align=center][font=georgia][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10]Wash hurried over, hand going to gently run his fingers over Tucker's ear. [b]"Are you alright? Why haven't you cleaned it yet? This should be bandaged!"     He turned away quickly, hysterically searching through his bedside table for something to clean and cover it with. "I knew I shouldn't have let you train with him. You shouldn't have trained with me." His skin was pale white, paler than usual, his voice higher in his panic and worry.
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]Tucker felt way too physically drained to start panicking himself so he simply adjusted himself on the bed and kicked his legs back. "Wash. I'm fine. It's not like the knife hurt my ear that badly." Tucker quickly tried to assure, covering it with his hand. "Besides, what happened was my fault. I should have put on a shirt before I left to train with you in the morning. I tried to sooner, but things just sort of got out of control. Honestly, I thought he was going to throw me to Locus and let him tear me apart limb from limb."

    [align=center][font=georgia][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10]Wash froze, knuckles growing impossibly white as he gripped the drawer's sides. His voice was soft as he spoke, eyes staring into a far off distance. [b]"Don't say that...."     He then looked to Tucker before searching again, this time not as hysterically. He finally found some bandages and turned to Tucker. "Don't ever say that again... We need to get you cleaned up and then to dinner. You haven't eaten all day."
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]Tucker frowned slightly but did not dare bring the topic up any further. He didn't like seeing Wash so frantic. "Hey, I'm fine, Wash." he assured softly, going to reach out and touch his shoulder carefully. "I ate breakfast this morning, remember? I'm not that hungry anyways." he did not want to think about going to the mess hall and facing everyone there. Hearing more of Grif's cynical words, having Donut sob over his shoulder, Caboose tease him, Felix avoid him like the plague. The thoughts made him shudder.

    [align=center][font=georgia][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10][b]"Stop saying that!"     Wash clenched one fist tightly. If this was anyone else, he might have punched them by now. "You need to take care of yourself. Stop trying to act tough. It just makes you look weaker!"
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]Tucker's eyes widened slightly at Wash's raised tone. "Okay okay, I'll stop!" he promised, not wanting to get scolded at any further. Or hear that he was making himself look weaker. That wasn't fun at all.

    [align=center][font=georgia][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10][b]"Now come on."     Wash turned away. "I promised myself I'd never let you get hurt.... And I promised Caboose I'd be there to eat dinner with both of you. Please don't make me break both of them in one day."
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]"Oh, you promised him, huh?" Tucker's tone seemed to shift to a much quieter one. Rising to his feet, he straightened out his sweaty uniform and turned to look to the closest window to get a closer look at his ear. "Maybe I should clean this up though so everyone doesn't ask me about it in the messhall." he sighs and closes his eyes, letting his thoughts settle a moment before continuing to speak. "Everyone's saying how great I'm doing, but I don't think I'm ready. We all know I'm too stubborn. And I'm sorry for that."

    [align=center][font=georgia][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10][b]"We'll talk about it later. For now, let's just get you cleaned up. Please.... It's been a long day."     He had gotten his ass handed to him by Cyrus in the first round and gotten disqualified because he couldn't focus. However, he wasn't allowed to leave to find Tucker until the tournament was over.
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]Tucker nodded, holding his hand out to allow the blonde to whatever he needed to do in order to make sure his ear was alright. Thankfully, it had only resulted in a tiny scratch so it was nothing to major. The dried blood only made it look worse then it actually was. "The good thing is, it doesn't hurt anymore." Tucker offered a tiny smile, hoping to lift some worries off of his shoulders.

    [align=center][font=georgia][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10]Wash didn't speak, just quietly cleaning his ear and deciding that it wasn't major enough to bandage. After he was done, he just sat there holding Tucker's hand and staring at his lap. After a while he let go, standing up. [b]"We should be getting to dinner before they run out of food."     And then he left without seeing if Tucker would follow him.
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]Tucker, in reality, wasn't that hungry at all. He'd eaten enough at breakfast to hold him down the rest of the day, but he was not about ready to protest Wash's request. It wasn't often he sat down and spent time with him and Caboose anymore. He stayed close to Wash and cautiously looked around the messhall to see how the others where doing before attempting to find where Caboose was already sitting.

    [align=center][font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=9pt]No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
    [size=8]He's haunted by something he cannot define
    [hr]
    [font=arial black][color=black][size=10]Everyone was sitting at their normal tables eating quietly except Donut who was keeping Caboose company until he saw Wash and Tucker, and Felix, who was nowhere in sight. Wash didn't seem to notice, heading over to Caboose's table and thank Donut as he excused himself. He sat down next to Caboose, staring blankly at his meal and making no effort to eat it. He seemed like he wasn't even there anymore.
    [hr]
    [font=georgia][b][i][color=black][size=8]Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
    [size=9pt]Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force


    [fancypost bgcolor=; border: 0px solid #000000; width: 440px;][justify][size=7pt]Tucker felt horrible. He knew Caboose was looking forward to Wash spending time with him, and one stupid mistake ruined everyone's mood. He'd been trying to make himself smile around the others so they wouldn't have to deal with him moping, but it was hard not to when the whole room was full of this... horrible, prickly tension. He turned his gaze away from everyone else and stared down at his plate for a while in silence before forcing himself to eat. ".... Can we talk? Please?" Caboose spoke after a while, looking upset himself. This wasn't how he hoped this would go.