forum Pheasant Brook (O/O with Icarus!)

Started December 12, 2019 by @GoblinKing

tune

Connor's eyes went wide, looking up at the three. "Oi! Everybo'y sit the foock down, , an' we'll discuss thes loch adults, nae bairns throwin' tantrums!" He exclaimed, standing.

Wilhelm sat down quickly, somewhat shocked by Connor’s quick outburst. He grit his teeth, looking at Claude. Blood trickled down the boy’s hand, leaking through his fingers as he held his palm up to his nose. Romeo glared daggers at Connor. He was forced to sit by Claude, who used his free hand to shove him into his seat.

“Tough talk from somebody with no stake in the game.” Romeo snarled, wrenching his shoulder out of Claude’s grip.

Connor leaned forward, fearlessly glaring at Romeo. "Ah dinnae have no patience left, Italian." He said slowly, with an almost deadly calm. "No' fer ye, an' no' fer this sort o' shite. So stay seated, yeah?"

Romeo snarled something under his breath, rolling his eyes and looking away from Connor. Wilhelm was standing again, this time trying to help Claude nurse his bloody nose.

“You didn’t have to go and do that, Dutch. I wish you hadn’t.” Wilhelm laughed slightly, handing Claude a handkerchief from his back pocket. “Do you think you’ll be okay? I can walk you to the infirmary..”

“I’ll be alright, Will. Don’t worry about me.” Claude grunted, patting the German boy on the back. “What I am going to worry about, though, is I got blood on these fucking papers..” He grumbled, holding up the small stack. A few drops here and there, but nothing compared to the boy’s hands at the moment.

Connor looked over at Claude. "Are yeh alrigh'?" He asked. He reached over and took the papers. "Yeh should nae touch these wi' hands lookin' li' tha', yeh'll just make it worse." He grabbed a napkin and started to dab at the blood to try and get it off.

“I’m just fine, Connor. I appreciate your concern, though.” Claude held the handkerchief to his nose. “I think I’ll be going to the infirmary now. Has to happen sooner or later, and I think the cute nurse is on shift right now.” He stood up, tipping his head back. A small, short-lived grin could be seen on his face as he walked out of the cafeteria.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with that boy.” Wilhelm laughed softly, shaking his head. “Nose gets broken and the only thing he can think of is his damn editing.”

Connor nodded a little. "Alright." He replied to Claude, still gently cleaning the papers. He looked over at Wilhelm, and nodded again. "Aye. Well…" He shrugged.

Wilhelm glanced at Romeo cautiously. The Italian boy was stewing in his own emotions, posture closed off from the rest of the boys.

“He does good work, but.. I swear, he’d forgot to eat if somebody wasn’t around to remind him.” Wilhelm chewed on his knuckle a bit, looking at Connor. “I’m sorry you have to put up with our bullshit, Connor. It’s not fair to you.”

Connor nodded, still working on drying off the blood. "Well, goo' thing he's go' yeh ta remin' him." He replied, focused on the papers. At the apology, he shrugged. "If ah were tha' upset aboot 't, ah'd find somewhere else ta sit." He replied. He glanced over at Romeo. "Now, are yeh ready ta talk this out like th' young adult yeh are, 'r do we have ta wait?"

“I don’t owe you jack shit in terms of conversation, Connor. Don’t act like I do.” Romeo grumbled, inspecting his nails. “But if you’re that desperate, I’ll talk, sure.” He shrugged, leaning back in his seat.

Wilhelm bit his tongue, looking down at his hands, which here folded in his lap. He really didn’t want to deal with Romeo at the moment, but, then again, he didn’t really have a choice. His voice was dry and brittle as he spoke. “Why the fuck are you so bitter all of a sudden? We were fine just a couple months ago.” The German boy barely looked up from his lap.

Connor rolled his eyes. "Nah, yeh don' owe me shit. Bu', yer makin' this uncomfortable fer everyone, includin' me, so." he gestured between Romeo and Wilhelm. Goddamnit, now I feel like a therapist. He thought.

Wilhelm froze up, remembering that he and Romeo were not, in fact, alone, and this was a very awkward conversation to have in the presence of others. “Uh, Connor, you don’t need to facilitate this. I don’t expect you to play counsellor here.” He shifted in his seat. “Don’t feel pressured to, because that just makes it worse for all of us.” Wilhelm’s posture was now straight and stiff. “It might be better if Romeo and I spoke outside.”

Connor nodded a little. "Alrigh'. Sorry. Jus'…dinnae beat each other up, alrigh'?" he raised his eyebrows at them, eyes flicking between the two males. "Bu' ah'm perfectly alright with playin' moderator, if an' when tha's needed. Ah've done 't before." he thumbed through Claude's papers, and started organizing them.

Wilhelm raised his palms. “Don’t feel sorry, Connor. We won’t fight.” He looked over to Romeo. “Can’t we take this into the hallway? It’s empty enough, and I don’t want to do this here.”

“..Fine. If you so much as talk over me, I’m crushing your windpipe.” Romeo stood, walking into the main hallway outside of the cafeteria.

“I’m sorry- I’ll only be a few minutes, I swear.” Wilhelm stood as well, his tone apologetic as he spoke to Connor. He followed after Romeo, steps quick.

Connor shrugged. "'s okay." he replied. He finished organizing the papers, and set them down on the table. He got out his sketchbook, and sat crosslegged to draw.

After about ten minutes, Wilhelm sat back down. Romeo didn’t come back in. “I’m sorry about that, really.” He let out a small sigh, rubbing his face. His hands had a very slight tremor to them as he moved.

Connor shook his head. "'s alrigh'. Ah…stuck m' nose where 't was nae wanted 'r needed. Ah'm sorry." he replied softly, looking over at Wilhelm. "Ah feel like ah caused th' problem, at least a little."

“Don’t think that. It’s been rocky for a little while, but I suppose that’s just how it is.” Wilhelm shrugged, fiddling with his silverware. He picked up the stack of papers, rifling through them. “What are you drawing?”

Connor blinked. "Oh. Ah…" he shook his head a little bit. "A character, ah s'pose. Ah've been drawin' him fer…most of my life, ah guess." he chuckled softly. "Sorry, ah'm doin' a terrible job 't explainin'."

“A character? Do you write as well?” Wilhelm tilted his head, ruffling up his hair. “You’re not doing a bad job explaining, I’m just curious.”

"No, ah dinnae write. Ah might someday, ah guess. He's…ah dinnae know fer sure." he shook his head again. "He's based on a friend o' my father's, ah suppose. When the guy were younger."

“That’s very interesting.. do you have a story for him, as well?” He was interested now, and it showed on his face. “Or is he just somebody to draw?”

Connor bit his lip. "Both, ah suppose. He fought…yeh know tha' in Scotland, there are a lot o' clans, righ'? Well this guy…he was old when my dad was young. So…he were part o' a Scottish clan, an' he…ah mean, the real guy, he helped win a lot o' th' clan battles when he was younger, an' then when he was in his late twenties, he did a lot o' exploring an' treasure seekin'. He was really really amazin'."

“..What a life to live.” Wilhelm nodded, running his fingers through his hair. “He sounds amazing. I don’t know that I’ve heard of anybody so.. what’s the word..” He trailed off, gesturing vaguely for a few moments as he tried to remember. “Heroic? No, daring. Not outside of fiction or stories, at least. He sounds like a good man.”

Connor nodded, a faint smile on his face. He showed Wilhelm the sketchbook, an sketch of a smiling young man in a traditional Scottish kilt. "He was well into his sixties when ah was younger. 'e'd babysit me sometimes, and he'd tell me stories from his younger days for hours."