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Post by Your Mom~ on Oct 13, 2013 13:12:53 GMT -8
Olesya was angry. She was livid. She was so angry that there was not a word in the English dictionary to adequately describe the amount of rage the woman was feeling. She hadn't even been this angry when she found out that she was living two identities. This was of the scale, it was volcanic...cataclysimic.
She needed to get away from innocent bystanders, otherwise she'd demolish an entire residential block.
After leaving the Lightning Tower, she started out as a putposeful walk...which turned into a jog...which turned into an all-out sprint. She had originally beelined for her bike, but she was so fueled with rage and hurt that she just decided to run. She ran through the main gate and into neutral territory. She wanted to get as far away from Dragon Territory and civilization as possible.
She didn'thave a destination in mind. In fact, there were no thoughts coursing through her head, the roaring pumping of blood in her ears drowning out any sense as she pushed herself harder, faster, farther.
After an hour of running as hard as she could, she finally slowed down, her stamina starting to decline. In addition to that, there was a boulder in her way. She could have run around it, altered her course, but right now she was not in a position to think logically like that.
Instead, she cocked back her fist and punched the rock as hard as she could, creating an impact cratet that splintered out and cracked the boulder clean through. Large chunks cleaved off, crumbling to the ground.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 13, 2013 13:23:01 GMT -8
Mathew actually didn't show up for a while. Not being in the thick of things it took some time for news to reach him. And he had missed Leon's little assembly because his baby girl had a fever and he didn't want to leave her until it broke. But now the babies were being taken care of and Mathew can do damage control. He was pretty much the Father.Mathew showed up as he normally did. His normal Earth Dragon attire over the armor of Ares. Though his bare feet kept his footfalls soft. "So what crawled up your ass and bit you?" Mathew asked from behind. An almost amused twinkle in his eye as he waited for the inevitable rush of hate directed at him. Classic misdirection. |
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Post by Your Mom~ on Oct 13, 2013 13:30:15 GMT -8
As if the boulder had offended her, Olesya pounced and started beating on the bigger pieces until they broke. Her knuckles grew bloody with each strike, but the anger and adrenaline kept her from feeling anything. It was gonna hurt like a bitch later once it wore off, though. Right now Olesya didn't care. Beating on rocks was less consequential than beating on people.
It took the rage-adled Voice to hear someone speaking to her. As the recognition crept through the venomous anger and dawned on her, Olesya froze, her hands thoroughly crimson. She turned to face the intruder. Her nose was still bandaged from her fight with David the other day, her skin purple and still a bit puffy. Paired with her newly reddened hands, she must appear like a bit of a nutter.
But Olesya didn't care about that either. Her expression soured from surprise to anger again, and she stood up to face him, her hands dripping ever so slightly.
"Look who it is! Back from the dead, are you?"
She sneered, swaggering slightly as she took a couple steps toward him. Red flags all around. Mathew would need to watch his step. Not that she could beat him or anything, but it boiled down to how much risk he wanted to take, and how much he wanted his day inconvenienced.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 13, 2013 13:33:17 GMT -8
Mathew rose no guard and instead just brushed the hair out of his eyes before blowing upward to try and knock the last stands of hair away. He took in her appearance and clicked his tongue before sighing. Like a Father who has had to repeat the same lesson to his child a million times.
"It's funny how many people keep thinking I'm dead. You would think people would have learned that when it comes to a Dragon..."
He winked at her.
"Assume we are alive unless you killed us yourself."
Bring it scruffy.
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Post by Your Mom~ on Oct 13, 2013 13:38:53 GMT -8
Olesya threw her hands up dramatically, anger still pumping through her veins as her heart raced. A fleck or two of blood flew through the air and landed in her hair, standing out among the strands of snow.
"Could have fooled me! You, Leon, David...all of you Elders who are supposed to be running this shit are never anywhere to be found! You disappear when it's convenient for you and leave everything to me!"
She was raising her voice, getting worked up.
"But your timing is just in-fucking-peccable. Leon surfaced long enough to give his name away, and hold the power for himself. Isn't that just fucking sweet of him? And to a Crow no less. But no one notice the person doing all the grunt work, noooooooooo."
He would notice the slight dark circles under her bloodshot eyes. Not from crying, no, but from lack of sleep. Olesya had been averaging maybe four hours of sleep at night one a GOOD night. Always so much work to be done, it never ended. And rather than it be split among three strong people, it was carelessly thrown on the shoulders of one woman who didn't ask for it.
"Thats just fucking typical, isnt it? Do none of the work and take all the glory. Did you know that people still think you guys do shit around here? I hear them in the market. 'Oh, the Elders must be working extra hard lately.' 'Leon hasn't left his tower in a while, he must be working overtime.' Little do they know you bastards have done NOTHING in the last few months. NOTHING."
And there it was. The source of the crazed females anger.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 13, 2013 13:41:37 GMT -8
"Olesya. Deep breath and look at me."
He waited, his eyes gazing right at her. His lips curled into a grin. It was almost like they were at high school and there was a joke going on that she didn't see but he did. He seemed, almost excited about this whole thing. Well, not excited, but amused.
"Olesya. You are smarter than this. What does it all mean."
He waited for her reply. He had faith that she was a smart enough cookie to figure it out without more breadcrumbs being laid out for her.
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Post by Your Mom~ on Oct 13, 2013 13:47:12 GMT -8
Olesya paused for a moment, stunned by his amusement. She would have hauled off and smacked him for the look on his face had he not been trying to tell her something. Or rather, lead her to some sort of conclusion she was missing.
"That no matter what I do, it's not going to change anything? That my blood, sweat, and tears will never be recognized for their worth because the glory will always be handed to someone else who doesn't deserve it? That I shouldn't even fucking bother because I'd have to be willing to sacrifice everything including my own family in order to protect a city that doesn't look twice at the amount of shit I do for them? Is that what this all means?!"
He had no idea of the conversation she'd had with Delilah, or the fight she'd had with David. That Delilah told her the grim truth about her leadership, that David told her she couldn't be a named dragon. He knew none of this, yet expected her to come a conclusion. Well, that was what she had with the cards given to her up to this point.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 13, 2013 13:50:05 GMT -8
"What?"
That wasn't what he was expecting to hear.
"No, what are you stupid?"
She was clearly missing the point. He took a few steps closer to her and would put his arm around her. He was half expecting her to punch him. But if that's what she wanted to do she could.
"Listen, Daddy's gonna lay some truth on you Les. If you think you can stomach listening to me."
Cause he could totally go and deal with more damage elsewhere. But he had a soft spot for Les still. Old flame and all.
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Post by Your Mom~ on Oct 13, 2013 13:54:24 GMT -8
"STUPID?!"
Olesya objected, but before she could continue, he put an arm around her and spoke gently enough to off-set Olesya long enough to speak. She clenched her fists, tempted to punch him and shove him away, but she spyed the armor under his clothes and thought better of it. Her hands were starting to sting, the nerves trailing from her bruised and bloodied knuckles up her arms in little tingles of pain.
She clenched her jaw, narrowing her eyes at him. She was listening.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 13, 2013 13:57:32 GMT -8
"You said you've been running things. Do you realize what that means? That means little miss 'isn't a Dragon' has committed her lot to ours. It means you have had the initiative to keep things going, the strength to force others to recognize that authority that you wield. The tenacity to not be usurped in a supposed power vacuum."
He shifted so that he was standing right in front of her. Sliding both of his hands down to her hips, holding her as he looked down at her. The grin was gone but the sparkle in his eyes were still there. The heart of tarnished gold gleaming below the arrogance and darkness.
"Sounds like you are passing to me."
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Post by Your Mom~ on Oct 13, 2013 14:05:48 GMT -8
A shiver ran down her spine as his hands slid to her hips. Even in her angry state she was still a woman with a working nervous system. It managed to slice through her anger, which was beginning to dissapate as he engaged her brain again. Made her think.
"If you'd been around, you would have noticed this before now."
She grumbled, was that almost a pout? His ability to diffuse her was hitting record time. He wasn't pitying her, he wasn't trying to anger her, he wasn't enabling her behavior. He was trying to make her think.
"Passing?"
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 13, 2013 14:09:08 GMT -8
"Oh come on. You can go on about how I'm never around. Or David is flaky, or Leon is crazy. But remember, we are thriving. EVERYONE with us is thriving. Everything is a test. Always."
He rocked his hands a little bit on her hips to shift them back and forth as he rocked with her.
"Think back, even back as far as high school. Have any of us ever done anything without a reason to it? Do any of us ever not have a plan? And do you think if shit really hit the fan that we wouldn't show up seemingly like magic. Almost with impeccable timing."
He winked.
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Post by Your Mom~ on Oct 13, 2013 14:18:57 GMT -8
"Everyone is thriving because of me. Because of Kiyr, and Kazuya. Because of people who aren't willing to give up when their leaders desert them."
She frowned, irritated but not cataclysmically angry like she had been when he first found her.
"And then Leon shows back up and gives a showy public honor to someone who hasn't done anything for the Dragons. He's a Crow! He's not even one of us, and Leon has the balls to give him a Name? It's disgusting."
Her frown deeped as he rocked her back and forth, and she crossed her arms and tilted her head downward. The pout was no longer subtle.
"Same shit happened in high school. David left the pillarship to Emily and myself. I'm always picking up everyone else's slack, always giving and giving and working and not sleeping and...and I'm so...t-tired...!"
Her voice cracked, showing her vulnerability for the first time in a while. She was supposed to be strong all the time, because if she showed any weakness then it showed weakness for the whole territory. She closed her eyes, falling forward slightly, her forehead landing in the middle of his chest. She was bending under the pressure.
"You need to be there. All of you. Do you even realize how much work there is to do? It's not even about the shit hitting the fan, it's about the time in between. Someone's got to keep everything going and that someone is me. And I can't keep doing this by myself."
She spoke softly, dejectedly, every syllable illustrating how tired she really was. Emotionally, mentally, and physically, she was about spent.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 13, 2013 14:29:34 GMT -8
He leaned down pressing his forehead against hers. His hands keeping their grip on her hips as they rocked together. His mind was racing on how he wanted to present this. How best to move the piece into the position that he wanted. No, that he needed it to be in. It was awkward because it was David's piece. But in a way David was also his piece. So it didn't matter.
"Les, I have a child. I'm not going to be in the spot light all the time right now. I need to make sure she is safe and taken care of. But I am always there when needed. My door is always open, and just because you don't see me does not mean I am not there for the Dragons. For my apprentices..."
His right hand slid up from her hip to gently cup her chin and lift it up so she could look at him.
"For you."
He held it for a count of three before releasing her chin and letting her hold it as she wished.
"I know it seems like I am always vanishing, but it might surprise you just how much I can be counted on when I'm needed. Loyalty is the biggest virtue, and we are family now. With bonds thicker than blood."
Because his family sucked. Except for his girls. They were the only good to come from his blood.
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Post by Your Mom~ on Oct 13, 2013 14:37:37 GMT -8
Mathew had a point. He had a family to look after now, that was something they'd discussed the last time they'd met up. But Olesya had a family now too! She had Maddie, and in all intents and purposes, she was her daughter. Maddie even wrote 'Madelyn Van deBogart' on all her school papers. It was a lengthy name, but for the first time in Maddie's life, she had one.
She let him tilt her chin up, and she met his eyes. He would be able to clearly see the flecks of ice blue as a result from Barker's experimentation. The last time he'd seen her eyes this close, they have been completely hazel.
"Then I need you. I can't keep doing this on my own. I don't sleep, I don't eat...all I do is run this damn place and try to keep it afloat. I don't even get to see Maddie much anymore, I have to go in and give her a kiss on the head after she's already asleep. I don't have a life anymore, Mathew...only strategies and reports. It's too much for one person to carry by themself."
Her voice wavered with every passing sentence, but she didn't cry. She'd learned long ago not to cry anymore. Her eyes grew a bit shinier, but no tears fell. She shook slightly, shedding her mask of strength and showing himk just how tired and broken she was.
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