cayenne.

Jan 28, 2011 18:24

Title: Hit the Showers.
Author: Zombz
Rating: PG13
Challenge: cayenne 12. disarmed.
Extras/Toppings:
Word Count: 3,412.
Story: Ship Wrecked.
Summary: Hawk attends his first class and meets more of the top ranked students. One of them is not what he expected.



Hawk woke up when the lights in his room flashed on. He covered his eyes with his hand for a moment, trying to allow himself time to adjust from total darkness to piercing light. Today would be the first day of classes for him. He had been fully integrated as a member of the elite soldier candidacy program the previous night when his hair had been shaved and his blood and urine sampled. He wasn’t sure what they would be looking that wouldn’t have already been in his medical records but as Jason had pointed out to him yesterday: there weren’t many answers for the candidates. He felt uncertainty pass over him as his thoughts marinated on the previous day. The other boys he had met had been unkind, boarding on cruel. It was likely they wanted him gone from the program so that their spots at the top would remain secured. They viewed him as new, unknown, and a threat to the comfortable places as top candidates that they had become used to. Hawk knew that he should feel self-satisfied and perhaps even flattered that his presence would rile them up so thoroughly. But Hawk didn’t want to see them riled up. He didn’t want to know what they would do in order to keep him from attaining any level of prestige. High school had been bad enough without giving the bullies combat training.

The door to his room opened with a ticking breath of air. Jason stood on the threshold, peaking into the small Spartan space that was Hawk’s room. “I came to see if you got the hint about the lights,” he explained when he saw Hawk still in bed. “It means get up.” Hawk threw his legs over the side of his slightly elevated bunk. His back was to Jason but he felt no threat. Jason wasn’t like the other boys he had met who had ridiculed and jostled him. Jason was friendly and most of all kind. He wasn’t worried about Hawk taking his ranking. Was he that confident, that talented? Or maybe he just wasn’t high up enough to care. The one-piece uniform was simple to put on and soon Hawk was standing and facing the light haired boy once again. “Nice hair,” Jason mocked with a laugh and a smile. Hawk rubbed the stubble that was left atop on his head. Hair was a privilege. He could tell how long someone had been here by the length of their hair.

“It’ll grow back,” he supplied as a response.

“Hopefully you’ll be here long enough for it to make a difference.” Hawk stared at Jason in disbelief at the callous words that had come for his mouth. The other boy smiled wider, squinting his eyes and waving his hands in a gesture of peace. “Calm down. You’re just going to get yourself upset if you keep being so serious about what people say. We’re all guys here. We say dick things. It’s all in good fun.” Hawk relaxed a little and offered a smile up in return.

“I guess you’re right. Sorry. It’s a little hard dealing with the change in scenary.”

“C’mon, let’s go get breakfast.” They left the room one after the other with Jason in the lead. There was no reason to dawdle in the bedroom for that was really all it was. An empty room with a bed built to the wall, a wall locker that held his uniforms and a computer that sat on a desk. The bag he had made such a point to bring with him from home was gone; Hawk didn’t realize.

When Jason had showed Hawk the dining room earlier it had been devoid of people; now it bristled with them. All boys and all around his age they mulled about in uniforms the same as his and with hair in various stages of regrowth. Hawk realized immediately that he was the newest candidate and realized seconds later that everyone else knew that fact as well. His hands tingled as he stood in the entrance to the mess. At his side, Jason touched him lightly with his elbow. Hawk came from his thoughts and looked over at the other boy.

“What if I don’t fit in here?” He muttered so that only Jason could hear above the breakfast-time rumble. Jason’s green eyes hardened slightly and he was reminded of how the large boy called Ajax had looked. His shoulders slumped. Jason was like them after all.

“What color are Marcus’ eyes?”

“Hazel,” Hawk responded immediately. The tone Jason used demanded it.

“Ajax’s?”

“Black. Dark brown.” He watched as the other boy’s features lightened quickly. He smiled at Hawk and placed a hand on his shoulder. There was comfort in that gesture and Hawk relished it. “So what?” He asked at length.

“Normal people don’t realize stuff like that so quickly and with such instant recall. Eye color isn’t important really. Here everyone takes something new when it appears and analyzes it until it’s as familiar as the family dog. You did it too. You just didn’t realize cause you’re so used to doing it.” He released his grip on Hawk and took a tray that was stacked near the door. Hawk followed suit. “Second guessing yourself is the worst thing you can do.”

As it turned out Jason couldn’t eat at the same table as Hawk. Or wouldn’t. Hawk hadn’t figured out which one it was yet. He sat at a table with a group of boys whose hair was only slightly more grown than his own. It was a table of newbies and yet still Hawk sat alone. There was no conversation directed towards him, no effort to make him feel included. He wondered if Jason did this with all the new candidates. Did he show them all around, make them all feel good, and then abandon them? It was all a competition here. Perhaps he had been merely looking for things to exploit in Hawk. Ways to make him drop out of the program. Hawk stabbed into his eggs angrily. Jason was in the group with those other boys-Ajax and Marcus-and they were friends. It had been apparent to Hawk even in the few moments he had glanced. The way they spoke to each other was so easy, so relaxed. That was the group that Jason was in and not with Hawk.

“Have you gotten your class schedule yet?” The boy sitting across from him asked. Hawk looked up, a little shocked to be included and a little angry that it was now that breakfast was almost over. He looked down at his wrist at what he had thought to be a watch but was actually a small computer. He pressed one of the three buttons on its side and watched as words bleeped onto the small screen.

“I have HTH training after breakfast.”

“After breakfast?” Another of the boys at the table asked. Hawk nodded. “What’s the number in the corner say?”

“Five.” Hawk watched as the boys who hadn’t been talking now looked up at him. He shifted a little uncomfortably under their collective gazes. “What?”

“Don’t you think that’s weird?” The boy who had originally spoken to him stressed.

“I’m new. Everything here is weird.” A few of the boys laughed a little in agreement and Hawk felt himself smile. He was totally unlikeable. Everyone was just already in their own cliques. It would be hard but he would make friends. He didn’t doubt it.

“Group Five has all the top candidates in it. It’s weird that they’d put a newb like you in it straight off.” Hawk perked up a bit at the explanation. He turned his head in the direction he had seen Jason walk off in and eventually caught sight of the blonde haired boy. Through the throng of the cafeteria he could only barely make out the broad shoulders of Ajax and nothing else. Hawk didn’t doubt that at that table was also Marcus. His stomach sank under the heaviness of his meal.

“I’m gonna get beat up today,” he said in a low voice. Behind him one boy answered,

“Yeah.”

There wasn’t a lot of time between breakfast and the first class and Hawk had little idea how to get where he needed to be. He didn’t want to ask Jason though and when he saw the other boy looking over the heads of people in the cafeteria as they shuffled out Hawk merely went with the crowd. Jason had told him to not take things so seriously but this wasn’t the same as some stupid joke. Hawk felt used and most of all he felt alone. He hadn’t been informed of any rule that said the top of the rankings had to stay away from the newer candidates. If anything the two should be encouraged to interact so that the whole program benefitted from the best student’s performance.

Eventually he found where he was going. The time on the screen of his wrist-com was now illuminated in red, informing him more than he needed to know that he was late to the lesson. He poked his head into the room. There would be no slipping in unnoticed. He was relieved, at least, that he had the right room finally.

“Nice of you to join us.” Hawk entered fully and recognized the man reprimanding him as Fiver from the other day. He supposed it made sense then that the group was called Five. Or maybe that was why Fiver was called Fiver?

“Sorry,” Hawk muttered, taking a seat on the floor with the rest of the boys. There were only five of them in the room. He recognized all but one of the four that weren’t him. Ajax, Marcus, Jason, and a stranger.

“I tried to find you to show you the way,” Jason whispered, shifting slightly so he was closer to Hawk. Hawk ignored him and faced forward with his attention on Fiver. Jason caught on quick and returned his attention to the teacher as well. Hawk felt vindicated and guilty all at the same time.

“Lucky for you, Mister Konn, that group five could be the laughing stock of the program if it weren’t for their strange ability to get the best grades. Another member hasn’t arrived yet either. Where is Mallory?” It was the second time that Hawk had heard mention of the person Mallory. Jason had said he was the candidate who had been here the longest. Hawk wanted to see him, see what he was like. He looked around even though he knew that the other boy wasn’t there.

“Not here,” Ajax stated. Fiver looked at him for a moment with narrowed, displeased eyes.

“We had a sixth shipped here to make the group even and Mallory can’t even show up. Bringing us back to five people. Was this on purpose?” Ajax stood up and grinned at Hawk in the same way he had the day before.

“I’ll fight the newb.”

“No,” Fiver immediately declared. While up until this point Hawk had had trouble deciding whether the teacher held any control over the boys it became obvious in that moment. Ajax sat, grumbling all the while, and Fiver motioned for the boy Hawk didn’t know to stand. “Mister Biese, I want you to show Mister Konn what we’ve been learning up until this point. I trust you not to paralyze him or something equally terrible.” Hawk swallowed hard but stood as well. So, the people in charge knew how dangerous it was to be a new candidate. That meant that there would be an eye kept on him until things had settled down. It was a good thing to know though it didn’t make the hand to hand lesson any less nerve-racking.

“I thought the emphasis was on thinking?” Hawk managed to say. These other boys spoke back to Fiver about the lesson, about the rules, about anything. There was no reason he shouldn’t.

“What’s the use of thinkin’ about breakin’ a neck if ya don’t know how ta do it?” The boy he had been lined up to fight asked. He was thing which Hawk marked as something to his advantage. He was ugly too though that didn’t help Hawk nearly as much. Crooked teeth, pock marked face, flat nose.

“No breaking necks,” Fiver said in an exasperated tone. Hawk looked from the boy back to Fiver and then back to the boy.

“Right, right. Disarm only.”

“Clear the floor,” Fiver ordered and the boys who had still been sitting jumped up and scrambled for positions on the ledge that lined the wall to the left. They’re going to watch, Hawk thought, and I’m going to be humiliated. I have to win if I want any hope of being accepted.

It was a quick scrimmage.

There was no definite start that Hawk could tell and he was unprepared when Biese came at him. The other boy’s stance was low, bent and it became obvious to Hawk a moment too late that he was aiming for his waist. They made contact and he felt the burning grip on his chest that told him the air had been forced from his lungs. They crashed to the floor, Hawk absorbing the force so that Biese got away with barely any shock. Acting fast Hawk pressed his hands into Biese’s ribs and lifted his legs so that his feet were positioned close to Biese’s hips. He pushed, hoping to get the other boy off of him. Biese toppled over and with a loud smack hit the floor on his back; their heads brushed each other’s. Hawk laid there for a moment. He was still disoriented from being tackled to the ground and his lungs still begged for air. He heard Biese scramble back to his feet and got up as quickly as he could. His head spun a little but he didn’t think that Biese was without that problem as well.

“Serious lil’ newb, eh?” The other boy taunted. Hawk stood his ground and refused to be goaded into attack. Biese had some sort of strategy brewing inside of him while all Hawk had was his minor knowledge of schoolyard brawls. He came at him again with a high, straight stance. Hawk knew he was going to try to punch him in the face and was prepared to dodge. But Biese’s attack missed on its own, skimming past his cheek and into the nothing behind. “Tard,” Biese muttered and Hawk realized he had fallen into a trap. He went to move, to escape whatever was about to happen but it was too late. Biese was too fast and thinking too far ahead. The arm he had extended in a strike curled around and pulling Hawk to Biese, his neck chocked by the other boy’s hold. Hawk brought his hands to the arm that had curled around his neck, kicked his feet out against the body that served as a wall behind him. “Gotta think so ya can do, but it’s the doin’ that counts,” he whispered to Hawk before releasing with a push. It was over; he had been disarmed.

He sat on the floor where he had been tossed until the next match started.

After the rest of the HTH lesson was over Fiver instructed the boys to take a quick shower and get along with the rest of their classes. The boys filed out, laughing and shoving, and Hawk followed behind. Jason hung back to talk to him. Hawk wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to Jason but he knew he didn’t want to walk alone while there was so much camaraderie going on around. He looked at the floor while he shuffled forward through the hall and eventually up at the other boy. Jason looked over when Hawk’s eyes fell on him. He had been giving the new boy a chance to work his thoughts out and Hawk appreciated this. He felt himself smiling weakly. Jason returned it.

“You’re upset about sitting alone at breakfast?” Jason asked though it seemed he already suspected the answer. Hawk nodded. He felt silly for being so childish. After all, even if the two boys were friends he didn’t own Jason. Being friends didn’t mean they had to sit with each other. It just would have been nice. “You could sit with us if you wanted to but I was looking out for you when I left you alone. The other candidates aren’t going to like you hanging around with the top ranked if you just got here. They’ll think you’re getting special treatment; you’re already in training with us, you know.”

“Why do you hang out with Marcus and Ajax and whatever his name is?” Hawk knew his name was Biese. He just didn’t want to acknowledge his lose. “Is it just your grades or are they your friends?”

“Both,” Jason answered after a pause. “We’re all in the top so we get put together for things the most. Eventually we just became friendly with each other. Our ranks are all so close that it’s not really a matter of trying to steal a position from each other. The lesser ranked boys are the ones that are after our slots. So we don’t worry about each other and can relax.”

“They’re all such jerks. Are you a jerk too?” Jason laughed and stopped just outside the showers. He figured that they should finish their conversation before going in where Ajax and Marcus and Biese would be waiting.

“Some people think so.” Hawk wasn’t satisfied but he let the topic drop. They entered the showers. The room was divided into two parts: one for drying off and dressing and the other for showering. Jason and Hawk stood in the first half and undressed, putting their sweaty uniforms in a hamper chute. Clean ones would take their place by the time the shower was complete. They stepped into the shower area. It was public with just a row of showerheads against each wall. Hawk was a little embarrassed at the notion but knew that if he let it bother him outwardly he would be mocked all the more harshly. Ajax and the other top rankers were already standing beneath the steaming water.

“It was a pretty good move ya did, newb,” Biese said, turning so that his back was to the water and he could see Hawk and Jason. Hawk paused. The slight praise had caught him off guard. “I got lil’ finger marks on my ribs even.” He pointed to the blotchy dots that were evenly spaced along his sides from where Hawk had grabbed and lifted.

“He’s gonna get a fat, newb, shit head,” Marcus commented to Biese, disliking the idea of any sort of positive reinforcement.

“Geez, man, kiss Fiver with that mouth?” A new, oddly high pitched voice spouted from near the entrance to the showers. Hawk looked over, wiping water from his eyes. He stood up straighter and then slouched into himself. His cheeks burned. A girl stood in the showers with them. She had a towel wrapped around herself for moderate modesty though it was quickly dampening from the water that ricocheted off the boys. She padded through the puddles in the middle of the room to choose her showerhead. Hawk’s eyes followed her. He looked away in time to see Ajax push him into the wall, his back hitting the shower controls painfully.

“I-I thought the program was for boys only?” He stuttered.

“Mallory’s the only girl,” Jason piped in. Apparently her presence was only of serious note to Hawk.

“A girl in the showers?” Hawk muttered. Ajax frowned down at him, his hand still flat on Hawk’s chest.

“She’s a candidate the rest as any of us and that’s how we’re supposed to look at her.” He removed his hand but glowered at Hawk for a few moments longer. “If you can’t see her as more than a girl then just don’t look.” Hawk nodded, turning his gaze to the floor as he continued his shower quietly and as quickly as possible. The last thing he had expected was to come across a girl his own age in the candidacy program. All anyone ever spoke about was how it was an all-male academy. Surreptitiously he looked over again. He would have to start being prepared for anything.

[inactive-author] zombz, [challenge] cayenne

Previous post Next post
Up