Vanilla 22: Gossip
Title: Morning Gossip
Author: Zombz
Rating: PG
Author's Note: This piece goes with the last piece as well as my vanilla 8 entry.
Risk sat on the bench between the path leading out of the Institution and the basketball courts. Oso had noticed that she sat there whenever she and Dom were given free time. Well, he hadn’t simply noticed her since he was following her around. Muzange might have hired him to protect her from any other bounty hunters that got hired to kill her, as well as to counter act the fact that Oso himself was hunting her, but Oso was still going to track her. He wanted to understand what made such a small thing so strong and intimidating. He wanted to be sure not killing her was the better option. After all, if more money got thrown his way to kill the broad than Oso would be better off knowing her inner workings. The more he thought about it the more he realized that this job was the best job he ever had: free room and board, free food, money weekly for doing nothing, and he got information for future jobs. He smiled and walked over to where she was sitting, looking at nothing in particular, and eating licorice.
“Hey,” Oso waved as he greeted her. She looked over at him for a moment, squinting a little in the sunlight, before simply going back to thinking about whatever she was thinking about. Once it had been announced that he was her body guard, Risk had lost any interest in Oso. He was a little disappointed in that because she had seemed interested enough with him before that. He figured that having a strange new person around was exciting in such a regulated life. “Uhm, what’s going on? Mind if I sit?” She shrugged and he sat. The seat wasn’t very large, especially considering Oso wasn’t a small man, and their legs touched. He caught Risk repress a snarl as she felt his dirty denim pants rub against her clean uniform. Oso wondered how with all the training these Hoppers had to go through why none of them seemed to have any manners.
“You Hop without training.” She said after a pause. She wasn’t asking him. She wasn’t even looking at him. It was as if Oso had asked her and she was informing him. He licked his lips and wondered if pointing out that this wasn’t how conversations were held would get him anywhere. He decided that he didn’t exactly hold the record for having the best conversational skills either. He had proven that his first day here when that kid Dom had verbally outsmarted him.
“Yeah. So?”
“That’s how you lost your eye, right?” Oso felt himself stop in mid breath. She still hadn’t turned to face him. She was still just looking idly at the empty path and chain link fence. Oso raised a hand to touch where his makeshift eye patch hung over his missing left eye. Beneath it the skin was badly burned and his eyelid mutilated and melted into the socket by some extreme force of heat. He put his hand back down and sent Risk an offended look.
“How would you know that?”
“I Hopped once without training too.” She looked over finally and with those words that conversation ended. She held up her bag of candy and offered him some with her silent gesture. He took some and began chewing on it loudly.
“You know, rumor has it you and Dom tricked that soldier into dying for you,” he said as he began to get more comfortable. He leaned back against the wall of the base and stretched out his legs. He could understand coming to sit here. It was pretty decent once you found the right spot.
“Dom was in charge of that.”
“That figures,” Oso grunted and rolled his eyes. That Dom kid just seemed like real bad news to him. Oso had already labeled him as a threat and a personal enemy.
“She had a duty to do,” Risk quickly replied. Oso eyed her. He didn’t understand the
bonds these Hoppers had for each other. He also didn’t understand how each Hopper team was composed of one guy and one girl and yet no one was getting any action. He figured they must have all been castrated or something.
“Well, she did it well. She was so calm for so long…”
“That’s because we told her we would rescue her once we got enough information.” Oso leaned forward, shocked despite himself. Risk leaned forward too, off put by the movement next to her. She looked at him again. Oso supposed he had earned that much of her respect that she would now look at him when they spoke.
“Why didn’t you come for her?”
“She didn’t get very much information now did she?” Oso stared at Risk. Her wide blue eyes were so different from that innocent soldier’s eyes. He saw the difference now. At first he had been amazed by the likeness but now he couldn’t believe he had been fooled. Their eyes were too different. Risk’s eyes were deep. They were deep because she was hiding something. Oso could see it, a deep darkness, living beneath her eyes. Suddenly, he felt hot and cold all over and all at the same time. The spot where their legs touched was burning and his face felt flushed. He jerked his leg away and smiled weakly at the Hopper. “If you’re done asking me your questions get out of here. If you hang around me people might think you like me or something.” Oso watched her make a disgusted face and laughed a little bit. Of course, he didn’t find it as funny the next day at breakfast when that was preciously what was on everyone’s lips.
Author: Zombz
Rating: PG
Author's Note: This piece goes with the last piece as well as my vanilla 8 entry.
Risk sat on the bench between the path leading out of the Institution and the basketball courts. Oso had noticed that she sat there whenever she and Dom were given free time. Well, he hadn’t simply noticed her since he was following her around. Muzange might have hired him to protect her from any other bounty hunters that got hired to kill her, as well as to counter act the fact that Oso himself was hunting her, but Oso was still going to track her. He wanted to understand what made such a small thing so strong and intimidating. He wanted to be sure not killing her was the better option. After all, if more money got thrown his way to kill the broad than Oso would be better off knowing her inner workings. The more he thought about it the more he realized that this job was the best job he ever had: free room and board, free food, money weekly for doing nothing, and he got information for future jobs. He smiled and walked over to where she was sitting, looking at nothing in particular, and eating licorice.
“Hey,” Oso waved as he greeted her. She looked over at him for a moment, squinting a little in the sunlight, before simply going back to thinking about whatever she was thinking about. Once it had been announced that he was her body guard, Risk had lost any interest in Oso. He was a little disappointed in that because she had seemed interested enough with him before that. He figured that having a strange new person around was exciting in such a regulated life. “Uhm, what’s going on? Mind if I sit?” She shrugged and he sat. The seat wasn’t very large, especially considering Oso wasn’t a small man, and their legs touched. He caught Risk repress a snarl as she felt his dirty denim pants rub against her clean uniform. Oso wondered how with all the training these Hoppers had to go through why none of them seemed to have any manners.
“You Hop without training.” She said after a pause. She wasn’t asking him. She wasn’t even looking at him. It was as if Oso had asked her and she was informing him. He licked his lips and wondered if pointing out that this wasn’t how conversations were held would get him anywhere. He decided that he didn’t exactly hold the record for having the best conversational skills either. He had proven that his first day here when that kid Dom had verbally outsmarted him.
“Yeah. So?”
“That’s how you lost your eye, right?” Oso felt himself stop in mid breath. She still hadn’t turned to face him. She was still just looking idly at the empty path and chain link fence. Oso raised a hand to touch where his makeshift eye patch hung over his missing left eye. Beneath it the skin was badly burned and his eyelid mutilated and melted into the socket by some extreme force of heat. He put his hand back down and sent Risk an offended look.
“How would you know that?”
“I Hopped once without training too.” She looked over finally and with those words that conversation ended. She held up her bag of candy and offered him some with her silent gesture. He took some and began chewing on it loudly.
“You know, rumor has it you and Dom tricked that soldier into dying for you,” he said as he began to get more comfortable. He leaned back against the wall of the base and stretched out his legs. He could understand coming to sit here. It was pretty decent once you found the right spot.
“Dom was in charge of that.”
“That figures,” Oso grunted and rolled his eyes. That Dom kid just seemed like real bad news to him. Oso had already labeled him as a threat and a personal enemy.
“She had a duty to do,” Risk quickly replied. Oso eyed her. He didn’t understand the
bonds these Hoppers had for each other. He also didn’t understand how each Hopper team was composed of one guy and one girl and yet no one was getting any action. He figured they must have all been castrated or something.
“Well, she did it well. She was so calm for so long…”
“That’s because we told her we would rescue her once we got enough information.” Oso leaned forward, shocked despite himself. Risk leaned forward too, off put by the movement next to her. She looked at him again. Oso supposed he had earned that much of her respect that she would now look at him when they spoke.
“Why didn’t you come for her?”
“She didn’t get very much information now did she?” Oso stared at Risk. Her wide blue eyes were so different from that innocent soldier’s eyes. He saw the difference now. At first he had been amazed by the likeness but now he couldn’t believe he had been fooled. Their eyes were too different. Risk’s eyes were deep. They were deep because she was hiding something. Oso could see it, a deep darkness, living beneath her eyes. Suddenly, he felt hot and cold all over and all at the same time. The spot where their legs touched was burning and his face felt flushed. He jerked his leg away and smiled weakly at the Hopper. “If you’re done asking me your questions get out of here. If you hang around me people might think you like me or something.” Oso watched her make a disgusted face and laughed a little bit. Of course, he didn’t find it as funny the next day at breakfast when that was preciously what was on everyone’s lips.