[LN] Thank Goodness We're Well-rounded Characters

[matchmadeinhell]

Kon was reading at relative superspeed. It wasn't at his usual brisk pace, because he found that the limitations of his powers meant he couldn't retain the knowledge for more than a few minutes at his usual speeds, so he had to slow it down a little, but he was still thumbing through far faster than some of the others were taking just to go through the study guides they'd quickly procured.

"Is it just the fact I'm reading this as superspeed or does this story make no sense?" Kon said, as he thumbed through page after page.

Another reality shard had fallen away and now that their brands had signaled it, it was time to go dimension-hopping. Fortunately, it was a very small shard in the middle of the wilderness in Siberia and the area of effect was spreading slowly, so they had time to prepare.

With his otherworldly wisdom, Manny had managed to help out on this one, communicating some clues about the world they were about to enter by flashing the image of a cover of a book.

A fairly terrible book. Apparently they were entering the world it was based on.

So they were doing their homework as they geared up to go and trying to make sense of the senseless.

"So what I'm getting from this is this is a world where you're not allowed to have more than one personality trait? I think? Under pain of death, you have to be a one-dimensional character."

Comments

[othersdestructive]

"You look like you want to spit acid in someone's eyes," Raph said to Nico as he busied himself with pretending to tie his shoes. He, Nico, Tris, Christina, Al, and Will had headed back to the dorm to change after practice.

In Raph's case, he'd gone back to pretend to change.

[staff_and_wielder]

"Ugh."

Nico threw herself face first down on her bed and waved him to come over to her side. She wanted to complain and she couldn't really do it properly in earshot of the locals without blowing their cover.

"They got worse," she said, flapping a hand in the direction of Kon and Cassie's beds when Raph got close enough to understand her through the muffling of her pillow. "I didn't know they could get worse, but they did."

And it was just the ice cream on top that she was jealous. She couldn't blame them for wanting to sneak off together. It was just that she wanted to sneak off with someone too, and couldn't.

Jerks.

[othersdestructive]

Raph came over and sat next to her.

"How is that even possible? They've already been a giant mush sandwich so far. And they're both the filling. No bread."

[staff_and_wielder]

"Kon just asked me if there was any way for them to temporarily drop the illusion I'm covering them with so that they can, and I quote, 'do the do'."

Nico raised her head briefly so that Raph could see how hard she was rolling her eyes before faceplanting down on her pillow again.

"So I hope we're not going to need them for anything this evening, because they are not going to be available."

Ugh.

[othersdestructive]

Raph just dragged a hand down his face.

"We're in dystopian Chicago training as certified jackbooted thugs. This is like the otherdimensional equivalent of the Hitler Youth."

Seriously, Erudite was supposedly going to force them all to mass murder people.

"What about this screams romance to them?"

[staff_and_wielder]

"I don't knoooooooow," Nico groaned. If her bed had been any wider, she'd have flopped over onto her back, but with Raph already taking up the space left-over from her flopping down in the first place she would have just rolled off the bed. Which was not what she was going for. "Super heroes are freaking weird."

[morethanmyth]

Nearby where she was talking to Christina, Al, and Will, Tris was clearly distraught.

"I'm never gonna make it," she said, shaking her head. "I appreciate how Cassie tried to teach me but even if I get all the extra help in the world, I won't get good enough."

"Yes you will, you'll make it," insisted Christina.

"I'm the weakest one here."

"Then you'll be most improved."

"You're Candor, you're not supposed to lie."

"I was Candor, and I'm not lying," insisted Christina.

"If they cut me, I think my parents would take me back," said Al.

"No, it doesn't work like that. Even if they wanted to, their faction wouldn't allow it," explained Will.

"Even if my parents would take me back, I don't belong there anymore," said Tris mournfully.

[othersdestructive]

Raph drew in a deep breath through his nose as he listened to them talk.

"It's broken," he finally said. "They waste people. It takes a long time to learn how to fight well."

"How did you learn?" Tris asked. "You're a transfer but you haven't lost a single fight."

"I'm wondering the same thing," said Christina. "How did you learn to fight like that?"

Raph had already thought this one through. With how well he fought there was no way to claim he was a transfer without having an explanation. He, Cassie, and Kon had all come up with excuses.

Raph made a little clicking sound with his tongue.

"If I tell you, you gotta keep it a secret. It's not exactly illegal, but...it's something of a social no-no. Etiquette, y'know."

Christina held up a hand as if swearing on a Bible. "I solemnly swear to not tell a single soul."

"Same," said Tris, looking curious.

"I have to confess, I've been wondering about that, too," said Will. "You use moves they haven't even shown us yet. It's not even the same style that they're training us in. Similar, but not the same."

"And there's no fight training back in Candor," said Al, shaking his head. "Of any kind."

Raph crossed his arms.

"When I was little? After my dad died my mom, she just...wasn't all there. So it was mostly just me and my brothers. I was always the restless one, you know? Picking fights all the time. I used to run off anytime I fought with my mom and wander around places that weren't exactly the safest for a little kid. When my older brother Leo switched over to Abnegation, I got even more out of control. He was the one that'd always kept me in line."

"You mean, you went to where the factionless were?" asked Tris.

"Yep. And I'd pick fights with factionless kids. Won a lot of 'em too. I've always been like that. Always looking for a fight." He went on, "One time, I was about seven and I got ganged up on by some older boys. They were beatin' the tar out of me but I still kept fighting back, kept dragging myself up off the ground. This older guy, this factionless guy saw me, saw how stubborn I was, and knocked the kids on their butts and sent 'em packing. Patched me up as best as he could. I never found out his real name but he called himself, uh, Splinter. And he was...interesting. He had all these stories about crazy stuff he used to get up to."

Raph uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, resting them on his knees.

"He told me that he could tell I was meant for Dauntless. He also told me he could teach me, so that when I switched factions someday, I'd be on just as steady ground as the Dauntless-born. I needed it. Needed to learn to focus it, you know? All the anger. All the restlessness. It helped having somewhere to direct it all. I needed the discipline."

"Who was he?" asked Al. "Like, really? If he was factionless how did he know all that?"

"He never told me how he knew all that stuff but what I think is...I think he used to be in Dauntless. When people in Dauntless get old, they either go factionless or die, right? I think he was someone from Dauntless that went factionless in old age. I don't know why he taught me. Maybe he wanted to feel useful again or somethin'." He shrugged. "But he trained me from when I was seven 'til when he passed away last year. And he was right. I tested for Dauntless just like he said."

He raised a eyebrow.

"I was always gonna wind up testing for Dauntless. So here I am."

"Wow," said Christina. "That sounds like something out of a story."

"Like a really cool story," added Tris.

"I can't believe you even survived out there among the factionless," said Will, shaking his head. "They're practically animals."

"First of all, no they're not. They're desperate. There's a difference," Raph insisted. "Second, who says it was easy? I almost didn't. That's how I got so good. You pick fights with people like that and you either learn or they stab you in the kidney."

[staff_and_wielder]

Nico had rolled out of bed part-way through Raph's story to join the party, trying to think of something she could say. There wasn't much though -- she couldn't exactly tell these people what she really thought about this place, that it was hell and that the entire system was stupid and that she didn't even want to be in Dauntless in the first place. The moment she started, everything would come pouring out, she wouldn't be able to stop herself.

"Sending the people lucky enough or good enough at fighting to make it to old age out to be factionless," she said finally. "Someone didn't think this clever plan through all the way."

[othersdestructive]

"People who survive that long are the best of the best. And he was. Splinter was -" His voice trembled slightly. "He was the best. And he was good in more ways than that." He admitted, "I didn't have parents like everyone else did."

His voice rang with truth because it was true. Maybe it wasn't how he'd just said it was, with a parent dead and another neglecftul. But he hadn't had parents like that, he hadn't been born the usual way.

"But I had him. And that was - that was more than enough."

Raph lowered his voice and looked at the floor.

"Anyway, this place is backwards. The way Four talks about it, it wasn't always this way, either. Maybe sending the old geezers away was but sending away recruits? Without even giving them the time to really learn? That's messed up. It's a waste. And so's sending away people that can't fight but can still teach."

"There's not really anything we can do about it, though, is there?" Tris pointed out.

"Are you kiddin' me?" Raph said. "We're exactly the people that can do something about it. We're coming in here new, not all indoctrinated in thinking all of it is okay. So as time goes on, we can change it. If we all make it into Dauntless, we can work our way up into influencing stuff and we can make it better. When something is wrong, you fight to fix it, and you don't stop until you've made things right."

[morethanmyth]

At that, Tris looked very thoughtful.

"We are getting super deep and a liiittle dark," said Christina. "So, what I think this moment needs is something to lighten the mood a little bit. Just for now." She raised her eyebrows at them all. "So let's get tattoos. We can mope again and shake our fists at the world later."

Will and Tris and Al immediately all agreed, looking enthused.

[staff_and_wielder]

Nico reached out and put a hand on Raph's elbow when his voice caught while he was talking about having had Master Splinter in his life. It had been bad enough losing her own parents, and she'd known they were evil. It must have been so much worse to lose a parent who was a genuinely good person.

And then Christina brought up a new distraction, and Nico heaved a sigh, rolling her eyes skyward.

"I'll tag along, but I think I'll pass on the ink," she said. "I like to keep as much of my blood inside my body as possible in case I need it later."

[othersdestructive]

For just a moment, the look he gave Nico for putting her hand on his elbow like that was pure gratitude. More and more, it was harder to be guarded with her. She just had a way of yanking the sincerity right out of him and the craziest thing about it was now she didn't even need words. She could do it with a look or a touch.

But then Christina conveniently distracted them all.

Raph considered what she'd said and his eyes started to light up in the way only a teenage boy's could at the prospect of getting something ridiculously awesome (like flames!) permanently etched onto his body.

"We can get tattoos." He looked sideways at Nico. "I can get a tattoo."

He could get a tattoo. That wasn't something he could do back home. It wasn't like he could just walk into a tattoo parlor. But right now he looked just like a normal human.

[matchmadeinhell]

After getting info from a very irate looking Nico on how to handle the illusion thing and a quick but very informative stop to the infirmary, Kon met up with Cassie again in the Pit and grabbed her by the hand, pressing in close to talk in her ear.

"So, Nico explained how we can drop the illusions to do the do," and yes, that was the way he'd worded it to Nico, hence the irateness, "and I stopped by the infirmary and they gave me a goodie bag of birth control stuff in a surprisingly wide assortment of colors and flavors. I'm guessing a lot of people here go a little wild with the freedom."

That, plus some other handy things, like a giant blanket, were in the backpack he was wearing.

"Let's make like the wind and blow this joint." He paused and made that goofy face he did when he was thinking of a particularly naughty joke. "- and also possibly other things as well."

They didn't really need to sneak out or anything. Now that training was done for the day, they were allowed to move around freely.

[mark_in_the_sands]

"Then we are well supplied enough to use a couple for balloon sword-fights if necessary, because I hit up the infirmary while you were chatting with Nico," Cassie said with a smirk and a squeeze of his hand. The joke got an eye-roll of mock exasperation, and she playfully shoved him away.

"I don't know," she said, "I think if I reward you for that kind of joke, I'll never stop hearing them."

Which wasn't to say that she wasn't already pushing him toward the exit like a snow plow cleaning a street.

[matchmadeinhell]

Kon laughed.

"I can tell you're annoyed from your pushing-me-outside-where-the-nookie-can-be-had reflex. Always a sign of extreme annoyance and a total lack of attraction."

God, he'd missed this. Not just the sex but the lead up. The flirting and goofing around. The just...being together. Wanting and being wanted. All of it.

[mark_in_the_sands]

"Having to hear that joke was punishment enough for my terrible taste in boys, I'm not going unlaid too," Cassie teased back. And, because it was in range and it was easier to pretend that he didn't look like a more-muscular version of his sixteen-year-old self from the back (ridiculous hair aside), she ducked in to lick the edge of his ear as they passed through the doorway.

"Looking forward to seeing you again," she said quietly while she was still in close. "This nostalgia trip is all well and good, but I miss seeing your these-days face."

[matchmadeinhell]

His breath caught in his throat and he let out an abrupt little whine when she did that.

His long-ignored hormones were doing all kinds of crazy things right now, now that they had free reign over his body, and they were causing his heart to go pitter pat and his blood to start chugging its way to certain places.

"Words. Pretend I said something flirty. Brain not making words."

He took her by the hand and as soon as they were away from the Dauntless people around the entrance, he started walk-jogging, darting between buildings. Then as soon as they were completely out of sight, he started outright jogging, tugging her along with him.

They just needed to get far enough out of the line of sight of Dauntless HQ to take to the air without being seen.

[mark_in_the_sands]

"Ooh baby, talk sexy to me."

Cassie grinned at the back of his head and kept pace, letting him lead the way and tug her along behind. It made it easier for her to check back over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed or otherwise observed.

"All clear back here."

[matchmadeinhell]

He flew into the air, still holding her hand and urging her to join him, smiling down at her.

"I'm thinking the top of one of the buildings? The cold doesn't bug us, I have a nice comfy blanket, it's out of sight but not in one of the rotten, moldy buildings, and we can catch a nice view of the sunset."

[mark_in_the_sands]

"Sounds like a great plan to me," Cassie said, flying up to meet him. Her hair swirled around her face in the breeze and she brushed it back, darting in for another kiss.

"How about..." she looked around and pointed at one of the buildings that still looked reasonably sturdy. "That one? I'll race you there."

[matchmadeinhell]

Superspeed.

He totally laid on the superspeed. The faster they got there the faster they got to the fun stuff.

[mark_in_the_sands]

Nothing like a little competition to get you warmed up for the main event. Of course, at their respective flight speeds and the relatively negligible distance they're traveling, it's hard to actually call it a race. Kon gets there first, but he is particularly motivated.

Cassie touched down on the roof and held her hands out toward Kon.

"Here, let me help you--" She paused to spit hair out of her mouth. "Let me--" Nope, hair again. She pulled it back into a ponytail she held in place with one hand. "Let me help you with the set-up."

[matchmadeinhell]

Kon chuckled. "I guess it's not called the windy city for nothing."

He landed on the roof and took off the backpack, first taking out the goody bag from the infirmary and leaving it on the roof, then taking out the giant soft blanket he'd stolen found.

He unfurled it in the wind so she could help him lay it down and make it into something comfortable.

"I'm figuring on a very loose burrito kinda deal."

[mark_in_the_sands]

"Either we're going to need to make sure we don't roll the blanket around, or we're going to need to point the open edge away from the wind," Cassie said wryly. "Which should probably be my side, unless we both want to be coughing up hairballs tomorrow." Though there was a lip around the edge of the roof, that might cut the wind down to a dull roar.

She gave up on holding her hair back so that she could use both hands to work on the blanket, keeping her mouth closed so her hair couldn't fly in again. It retaliated by attempting to completely obscure her vision. Between the wind and (hopefully) the sex, it was going to be a complete rats' nest tomorrow.

...Eh, worth it.