The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowin' In the Wind [Future-Dated]

[angle_on_it]

Characters: alwaysreturned and angle_on_it
When: Sunday, November 6, 2011 [Future-Dated]
Where: South Sector Patrol Area
Rating: PG-13 / R
Summary: Happenstance forces Ron and Sokka to patrol the Southern Sector of the city together. Awkwardness and danger ensues.

Comments

[angle_on_it]

It was little comfort to Sokka to think about making it through patrol, mostly because of his company, but he figured Ron had it right when he suggested they move quickly. He did his best to keep pace with the redhead, but managed to hang back a half-step for his own sake. He wondered just how few words they might be able to trade, but his nervousness created an urge to babble that Sokka guessed would do him no favors.

Clearing his throat, he made to say something but thought better of it and clasped his mouth closed. Patting his club in his hand, he considered the universe for longer than a few minutes, eyes darting from one nook to another, seeking out trouble with a practiced eye.

One tiny-sounding voice in the back of his head asked Sokka if he was willing to tell Ron he'd visited with Hermione. That was just spoiling for a fight, right? On the other hand, the honesty aspect of things had been in question since the beginning, so there was likely no easy answer. Instead of digging his own grave, he cleared his throat again and tried a different approach. "Do you get a lot of trouble down here?" Because, yes, casual conversation will totally work...

[alwaysreturned]

Ron was really beginning to hate the last few days, weeks even. The more he tried to pick back up, the worst things got. Really, he'd just like one day without having to be faced with something happening. Just one. And of course a meeting with Sokka had to be a happening. One he couldn't get out of to boot, brilliant.

Letting eyes fall on the surrounding area, Ron only shook his head at first to Sokka's question. He didn't much feel like speaking, hadn't for a bit now,really. "No," he managed without an undertone, "not since I've been doing it." Which was true, really. There hadn't been anything when he was on duty, which made the whole thing right boring most days.

Hand tight around his wand, Ron glanced back. "Should be fine," he mumbled, letting loose another roll of his shoulders before turning back around. He didn't feel much more was needed to be said, but talking to Sokka left a bitter taste in mouth anyway.

[angle_on_it]

No bitter taste intended. Sokka hadn't expected things to be quite so strained without life actually stopping. The fact that time had marched on despite all of their pain was proof that no one person was any more important than the next. Unfortunately, it didn't help Sokka since the people involved were still important to him, even if the Universe couldn't be bothered to claim the same.

The young warrior realized too late he'd gone a long time without answering. Awkward was hardly apt when explaining their current predicament. Sokka wanted to blurt out every thought he'd had in the near-month since everything had started, but he liked his teeth, and his nose was still straight, and he didn't think Weasley would make the effort to stop hitting him if Hermione wasn't around to distract him.

Instead, he opted for... neutral ground. "Heard you've been helping Suki. That's, um... a lot of people appreciate it, I-I'm sure." That's safe, right? Safe enough, hopefully? Sokka cared and appreciated it, too, but he worried that Ron wouldn't accept the tribesman's worry as appropriate considering his behavior of late.

[alwaysreturned]

"Mean like you?" Ron grunted in return, gritting his teeth. He left the tense hand on his wand from pointing at Sokka. A part of him, an overly large part, still believe the other male had no right to worry about her. Not after what he did. But as much as he hated it the fact Ron was involved and had seen Hermione, as well as Suki... He somehow had to accept the fact that despite how they should feel, they just couldn't. Ron could hate Sokka, he could manage that much, but he couldn't bring himself to hate Hermione. And seeing Suki... well, it was hard to be upset when he felt the same in terms of Hermione.

He swallowed and shrugged. "I haven't done anything," he muttered under his breath, "just gave her something to do when she needed it." Which was true, Ron wasn't good with emotions. He never would be-- which was made this whole damn thing even worse. What was said between him and Suki stayed that way, just as the knowledge of what had happened between Sokka and Hermione he hadn't told a soul on. It was not his business to give away, even if he had been effected by it and wanted to punch something. Ron cared and tried to help, but he'd never been one to step into emotional things unless... unless it as Hermione.

Sucking in a breath, he shrugged slightly once more. He urged himself not to wheel around, to keep on the trek, and so he did. Why were they talking? He didn't even know, but it left an awful knot in his stomach. It took all of Ron's self control not to snap, and he had to wonder a moment why he didn't. Squaring shoulders he glanced around. "Haven't seen much of her otherwise" he managed to croak. It as true-- twice they'd seen each other. Once after the initial happening and then their talk a few days ago. Otherwise they had a total of two conversations on the PCD, hardly enough time to help at all.

[angle_on_it]

Sokka bit back a bitter retort, reminding himself that Ron's presence in Suki's life was harmless. The wizard was only involved because he was concerned, not because he was interested in moving in on Suki and getting revenge for Sokka sleeping with Hermione. It was a nasty, jealous thought, but Sokka had already felt it more than a few times knowing Suki and Ron were spending any time together. He supposed he deserved it, of course, but he wasn't about to admit that to the other boy.

"It's good she has someone to turn to," he finally replied, tapping his club on a crumbling brick wall as they passed it. "I do love her," Sokka ventured to say, unsure what Ron's reaction would be, but feeling the inherent risk was good enough if he could convince the other man he wasn't quite as terrible as the Animus had made him out to be. "And I only want the best for her. If... if that means I'm not in her life anymore, I can accept that. I don't want that," he assured, "but I can accept it."

[alwaysreturned]

Ron snorted to himself. "She's got other people for that," he mumbled in return. Ron knew, well enough, he wasn't someone people should turn to for matters like these. While the last few weeks had opened him up to the fact that he was not the emotional range of a teaspoon as Hermione saw fit to state, it also didn't mean he got any better at dealing with other people's feelings. Figuring out how to deal with Hermione for the past year had been hell in itself, and he wasn't even sure he got that right.

Not that his own matters on how to deal with her mattered right now. Oh, no, that wasn't how it worked. He could feel his footing stop, tensing as Sokka spoke. Deciding to say he loved Suki certainly wasn't the best way to go. They all loved someone in this mess and that's what made it all the bloody worse. It was still a betrayal of sorts, event or no. And this time, Ron couldn't stop himself from whirling around, blue eyes vibrant beneath untrimmed bangs.

"It's none of my bloody business how you two deal with things," he started harshly, "she wants you again, brilliant. S'not my place. But if you think saying something like that makes it any better--" Ron hissed out, shaking from barely contained rage, hand balled tightly to his side. "I meant what I said," he managed in a snarl, "no one forced you two." He swallowed, he wasn't going to repeat everything. How it was something sacred or you didn't do something like that if you loved someone. Nothing of it, instead he stood, anger rasping out in the shakes that left his body as he tried not to do something he'd regret later.

"You're not the only one who loves someone in this mess," he grounded out, lowly, only audibly if Sokka paid attention. The words may have been lost in the wind as he spun back around, hand clenched so tightly to his wand it was beginning to turn white. They all did, even if a part of Ron refused to admit anything at all. But he didn't say another word before setting off.

/hides

[angle_on_it]

Sokka felt his muscles shaking, coiled tightly like a snake ready to strike, hand clenched just as firmly around his club as Ron's grip was on his wand. It was sheer and absolute folly to break anything of the uncomfortable truce (if it could rightly be called that) between them, but Sokka was beginning to feel just as oppressed by the aftermath as he had been feeling about the act right before he'd fessed up. What was the point, if they were always going to be miserable?

"Ron," he began, absolutely exasperated, following after the other boy, but maintaining an acceptable distance (when you don't take into account the wizard's wand, at least). "I know that, I do, and I'm sorry, okay? Sorry doesn't change things, sorry doesn't make it any easier, but I am sorry, and I'm not--" Sokka gulped, unsure if he could even sound convincing for the next part. "I'm not a monster, okay? I didn't wake up one morning and say, 'oh, it's another terrible day in Adstringendum, I think I'll ruin a couple lives while I'm already miserable,'" he snapped, finally coming to a stop, tense and intense and expecting the worst.

Of the things Sokka didn't expect, this conversation was among them. He'd reserved himself to taking every modicum of blame shifted his direction, but in the long-run, the tribesman hated the fact that murder had been committed with much less strife in its wake. Where was the justice in that? Why was he forced into pariah status when there were sick and twisted individuals spending their free time committing acts far more atrocious than stealing away with a person's virginity?

Sokka planted his feet, voice strained and he tried to bite off a few more points before Ron was finished digging his grave. Might as well get it right the first time, eh? "Is it so hard to accept that Hermione's a good woman with a good heart even without that virtue you hold in high esteem?! Is it so hard to accept that I feel terrible and sick and ashamed to have hurt Suki and you and her?! I'm human Ron, and I can and do hurt over this just like everyone else! I. Am not. A monster." The last bit came out through his teeth, bared like a dog as if challenging the other boy to say and do his worst.

/drags back out and offers snuggles?

[alwaysreturned]

Ron wished Sokka would just shut up. Everything would be so much easier if the other male didn't find the need to utter every word Ron didn't want to hear at the moment. Fred and this, Ron just wanted a break from it all but the more he tried to escape the tighter the whole mess seemed to cling. It made him sick to his stomach and the way Sokka was carrying on didn't make it any better.

He let Sokka go on, breathing coming more unevenly as he tried to bite back the frustration within him. Hearing the stopping of footfalls, Ron stoped himself and spun around. His fingers numb, he glared up at the male with the stinging blue eyes. He wanted so much to just sock the other male and be done with this, but he didn't. Not yet, anyway. He flinched slightly as his accusation when it came to Hermione... and when he was done, Ron stepped forward.

"Who are you trying to convince? You or me?" He grounded out himself, the red of his neck creeping to his ears and anger. "Don't you bloody well go on deciding you know how I am," he hissed, "especially now." He shook his head vehemently, wand arm raising ever so slightly. "Way I see it, you've no right to be upset," he growled at, "you knew what was coming to you and you still bloody well did it anyway."

"She did, too," he managed, "told her if she was so desperate for a shag it was over back then. Seems she chose you."

"Look," he continued, hand reaching out to grab the front of Sokka's shirt on instinct, "don't bloody hell lecture me how it was some damn event and everyone's hurt. I bloody well know that, just like me and her's likely got a month once we get home." He grounded that out. He'd seen it all since Fred, deaths from that bloody battle and even Harry's tombstones. A month if Harry's was real as well.

Shoving away from him before he did something he regretted, Ron snarled one last phrase, "doesn't make it hurt any less."

[angle_on_it]

Weasley had hit the nail on the head with his question. Sokka had been struggling with his definition of self every day, and while he knew he was something of a victim as well, most days he was certain he was a monster for hurting people so deeply.

He barely resisted the urge to rip himself from Ron's grip, which paid off when the older boy released the tribesman, but he'd been tense and ready to fight the whole time. "I'm sorry! I said I was sorry, I'm trying to- to not be--" Sokka gasped, his expression changing so suddenly it would no doubt be a surprise to the wizard. Lifting his club well above his head, he called out Ron's name and made a swing at the ginger.

The club whistled through the air and connected with the jawbone of a Rodent of Unusual Size as it made for Weasley's feet, the sound a jarring combination of a yelp and teeth clacking together. It wasn't the only R.o.U.S. either, if the sound of pattering feet was any sign. Time to run? Maybe they should find some higher ground.

[alwaysreturned]

Ron didn't have enough time to register the apologizes leaving Sokka's mouth before he swung at him? Really? That was until he turned and saw the creature and... paled. Oh this was just brilliant. "Bloody hell," he managed weakly, pointing wand at the creature and muttering a word to send it blasting backwards.

"Out of here, now," he managed, "dunno about you, but I don't want to meet its mates."

[angle_on_it]

Sokka saw no need to argue (for once,) turning on his heel. It figured, didn't it? Of all the patrols Weasley had managed, this is the first time he runs into trouble? Sokka had a feeling the Universe was having another laugh at his expense. "I can't see a thing!" He barked back at the wizard, the light from Ron's spell having destroyed the tribesman's night vision temporarily. Serves him right for looking, right?

"I think there's-- down this way," he told Ron, skidding to a halt and gesturing toward a narrowing alley between two buildings. Augh! Why hadn't he brought his lantern again? Oh, right, because he'd been going on patrol in an entirely different district and was expecting his host to bring something like that along...

[alwaysreturned]

"Shouldn't have looked!" Ron shouted back, for now anger evaporating into the sheer adrenaline of getting away from giant rodents. He'd glanced over his shoulder once more to see the shuffling of movement, but didn't turn to cast another spell right yet.

He'd just barely managed not to run into Sokka when he stopped. "What are you--?" Raising his wand he glanced towards it. "Lumos," he muttered as his wanted tip illuminated in the bright light. "Well... come on, then," he managed between breaths.

[angle_on_it]

Blinking against the onslaught of more light, the young man nearly hissed. Thankfully, the tip of Ron's wand was bright enough to light up the approaching pack of R.O.U.S.s, which in turn added a certain fleetness to Sokka's steps. He pressed forward under the light of wand, every so often looking back to see the state of affairs behind them.

The two officers seemed to be gaining ground, the rodents behind them bottle-necking in the narrow alleyway. Sokka turned his attention ahead and gestured wildly. "Ron! Ron, it's a dead end!" His desperation is apparent, yes? He reaches out and grabs at the other boy's sleeve, dragging him through the nearest doorway and into another abandoned building. "There's got to be twenty of them! They'll eat us alive," he warned, panting as he frantically grabbed up some rubble in anticipation of needing to throw it. "We're got to find a way through, or-or out, or something!!"

do i get an excuse for this icon

[alwaysreturned]

"Brilliant," Ron remarked in a yelp of terror, glancing back as they tore down the alleyway. Even now sarcasm didn't fell him. But already he was thinking, he'd been in plenty of sticky situations before. Being dragged into the building by Sokka made him turn his wand towards the door.

"Not if I can help it," he growled out, glancing at the other male he spoke up, "keep from the door. If you have to throw something. I-- er, it'll take a minute to get this up. Shied charm. Should work."

And it was with that, Ron nodded raised wand and arm and begun muttering an incantation of protection while pacing the room to get it set up. "If we have to fight our way out in a bit, then least we're rested," he muttered before continuing to fortify the shields.

LOLOL I don't get to use this one often, either!

[angle_on_it]

Sokka looked absolutely flabbergasted, unsure of what Ron's shield charm (whatever that was) would be doing to stop the veritable herd of rodents skittering their way. Before he could comment on being more of an offensive guy than a defensive guy, the younger man noticed a rat-like nose and whiskers nosing its way through a hole in the crumbling outer wall. "You might want to make it quicker than a minute," he suggested, taking aim and pelting the ground in front of the invading R.O.U.S. with a decent sized rock. The animal recoiled and sneezed before giving it another go.

This was just... well, Weasley had gotten it right; in one word: brilliant. It didn't nullify the tension between them, but it diffused it for the time being. Sokka didn't fail to notice that neither of them were willing to risk the other over a grudge, but that didn't wipe away any of his trepidation at the idea of spending any length of time trapped alone with an angry Ronald Weasley.

Swinging his club like he was born to golf, the tribesman managed to knock one rodent into another, creating a cascade of squealing and upset as the R.O.U.S.s tried to crawl over, under, around or through the injured parties to get to their targets. "We're about to be in trouble here!" Sokka forewarned, sensing that point of no return barreling down on them three buck-toothed, whiskered faces at a time. "I don't know if I can hold them much longer!"

AWW YES. getting to use special icons ;u;

[alwaysreturned]

Ron was working as fast as he could, but he wasn't as good as Hermione with the spells. He and Harry had never had to manage the shied charms in a hurry, and really, he didn't want to chance making them too weak and being rodent food. That would not be a fun way to die. So when Sokka yelled at him to go quicker than a minute, he snorted. He did move just ever so slightly faster, however.

Luckiy for them, it was just as Sokka shouted about not being able to hold them much longer that the Ron came full circle. Shield charm complete, the moment one of the R.O.U.S.s tried to come though the door it was impeded and thrown backwards. Same went for it's brothers. Lowing his wand, Ron took a breath. "Come on, let's go upstairs. It should hold 'em off, but just in case, I'd rather keep distance fro us and them," he managed, looking towards where the R.O.U.S.s were still trying to break their way in. Relighting wand, he turned away to climb up the steps, not bothering to say anymore.

"Suggest trying to apparate us out of here, but I splinch myself enough as is," he muttered, "never tried to do it here to know if it'd work, either. Rather not learn the hard way. Reckon we should just try and wait it out."