Friday, Kraken Cabin, Woods, Campfire, and back again: Off to Save the World
There was a note on Jude's Mountie hat.
*J*U*D*E*
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE THIS VERY MUCH which is why I am very sorry it's a note and not me in person but dang it I can't find you and there's no time.
Whatever was in the woods? That got Chad? It's worse. It's going after more and more people and hurting them and sooner or later it's gonna be somebody who can't fix themselves and people are really, really scared.
And Jude they're saying it's mostly couples and we keep sneaking out and how many times could it have been us? I AM NOT GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN. NOT. THIS SCARY GUY DOES NOT GET TO COME AFTER YOU AND THAT IS FINAL DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME???
I ran into some people and there's a plan but what they need is bait, someone who looks like they're an easy target but they aren't. And I know someone who's perfect for that and THIS IS WHAT I DO and IT IS A TOTALLY SAFE PLAN because there will be lots and lots and lots of people hiding just out of range (I'M GONNA HAVE MY GODHAND STRAPPED ON IT IS TOTALLY OKAY).
We're gonna try to lure him out and we've got a spell to cast him back into hell and I have all of my explosives and my Godhand and this jerkoff doesn't stand a chance and I'm so sorry that I can't tell you in person but there's seriously no time and I needed to leave already so I'm gonna leave this on your hat (YOUR HAT! YOU ARE SO GREAT!) (AND YOU TELLING HIM I HELPED WAS SO SWEET) and I love you and I will be back soon and people are meeting us at the campfire and I love you and I know you're not gonna be happy about this and I am so, so sorry and you can yell all you want later but I can't let the next person to get hurt be you. Okay?
****RIKKU****
It took Jude about five minutes to read the note all the way through. It only took about thirty seconds for his mellow to be thoroughly harshed. He read the note again to be sure that he understood, and then read the last paragraph a couple more times just because. And then he tugged down his toque and headed out towards the campfire because he needed to see her and he wasn't sure whether to kiss her or yell at her. Probably both. If she didn't get herself hurt by the knife-wielding psycho that she was hunting.
He loved his girlfriend. Really. But he was getting too old for this kind of strain on his heart.
Ow. Ow. OW. Stupid ... freakish with the ... and an AXE and what the ...
FANDOM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SAFE.
Ow. Stupid ankle with the ... not watching her blind spot and Deadpool was so gonna lecture her ... she KNEW better.
It was way better to think about THAT than how scared she had been, how she had been so damn sure she was fine just like always and cocky and tripped on in into the middle of something stupid and deadly and stopped paying attention and nearly got herself and Dean chopped into bits by a psycho crazy guy with an axe.
So she leaned on Molly and limped and worried about Dean and cursed at herself instead. For being stupid and not watching her blindspot and for signing up in the first place and for her ankle not taking her weight at all.
At least they were almost to the campfire and could find out what was going on.
Ow. Stupid.
There she - limping. She was limping. Okay, there was going to be some yelling. But later, because limping.
Jude nearly tripped himself in his hurry to reach her side, immediately ducking under her other arm and wrapping his around her waist. "This doesn't look like fine," he told her, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.
"Hi, you," she said, her voice a lot more tired than its usual. They handwavily separated out from the group so she could give him a long hug. "'m okay, really. They said they got him. 'S good, right?"
Rikku straightened up, leaning against him to walk back ... well, more like hobble, glaring. "Stupid ankle. Blind spot. Idiot."
"Hi. Right. You're hurt." Jude decided that this hobbling thing wouldn't do and tried to be all gallant and sweep her up in his arms. That, uh, didn't work out too well and he carefully set her down before he hurt her more. "Piggyback?"
Rikku swept the hair out of her eyes and tried to fix her ponytail, which was sloppier than usual. And really hard when you were hobbling anyway.
"I don't need ... I can walk." She shook her head. "Not hurt. Just turned it kinda funny. It's being stupid." She tried testing her weight on it again and scowled, kicking at the ground. "Stupid. Ankle. Work. Already."
Which probably wasn't helping.
Jude crouched in front of her. "On. Now." He was uncharacteristically forceful and hoping that worked to get her off her ankle. It wasn't just turned. If it was just turned, she would be able to walk by now.
Rikku was going to argue, really. Because she was fine and hey, bossy much? and he was being silly and her ankle would start working again any minute now and ... whoa. Much harder to stand when she wasn't leaning on him. So she put a hand on his shoulder to continue the discussion.
And realized she was way too freaking tired to argue at this point and not sure why she was arguing anyway and ... yeah.
"'kay." She looped her arms around his neck and got a knee on either side of him. And suddenly wanted to giggle. "Don't remember the last time I had a piggyback ride."
Jude found his feet with a grunt and a little waver to one side, his arms latching under her backside to keep her in place. "I'll give you a bunch," he assured her, setting off away from the conquering heroes in the direction of town and the clinic. His arms tightened around her in a kind of hug. "What happened?"
"Would've done this sooner if I knew it'd get me a ride," she giggled. And nuzzled his hair a little because hey, she kinda had to. "Nothing. They got him. He was a psycho crazy not-dead guy. I thought you said your dead stayed dead? 'Cause he didn't. But it's okay 'cause he is now."
Rikku frowned a little. "Hey. Wrong way."
"You can always ride me, bra." That . . . didn't come out right. Jude hurried on.
"Dude. Was he a zombie? 'Cause that's, like an exception to the dead-thing. I heard they invaded the island once." Jude stopped, hitching her up a bit. "Nah, this is the right way. Been there enough, I should know where it is."
Okay, she did giggle at that. "Thanks," she said, but was resisting the obvious joke. Well, any of them, really. "No, I saw zombies down at that bar? With the nice guy who drew a picture for me? Your zombies are different than ours, they don't have a green fog-thing. He was just kinda ... not dead."
She snuggled in a little, feeling better, because scary killer guys with axes were far away and Jude piggyback rides were right here. "Dude, where do you think we're going? Because the cabins are totally that way and you know it."
"Creepy," Jude agreed, but was glad to hear her giggle. "We're not going to the cabins. We're going to the clinic." He explained this in the tone of one speaking to one who has suffered a concussion.
"Seriously creepy. He had a mask on like those keepers, in hockey? I, uh, might be off hockey for a bit." Rikku shuddered. "And, uh, I'm really sorry that I didn't ... wait. The clinic?"
She tried to look at him but that's hard while riding piggyback. Unfortunately. "Dude. Whoa. I banged up my ankle. The clinic?!"
"Goalie," Jude corrected. "Like in that movie, 'Good Cop Mal Cop'?" He continued, undeterred by her protests. "Yeah, bra, the clinic. Just in case."
"Oh. Yeah. Either way. You see some psycho with that and ... I'm just saying. Might not be my thing for a bit."
Rikku tried to pull back gently on his neck in a 'hey, stop' kinda way. "In case what? There's a rare poison in my ankle?" She sighed. "I turned it funny. It hurts. I don't need a Healer."
Jude reluctantly stopped. "But - what if you didn't just turn it funny? We should at least get someone to look at it . . ."
Rikku was silent for a minute, thinking, and then she laid a kiss on his cheek. "Jude? ... Okay, you were totally right about ... me running off and ... I was being stupid again, and I was really stupid, and you're not even doing I-told-you-so right now and ... and I'm really glad. But it's just my ankle and ..."
She squeezed him a little. "And I'm really tired and the clinic's gonna have all those people and some people are hurt kinda bad, like Dean, and I just ... I wanna go back and lay down and ... please?"
Jude hesitated, but she did sound really tired. And if the clinic was busy with worse wounds, they'd just end up sitting around all night. He slowly nodded his head. "Alright." He turned to plod back towards the cabins. "And Rikku?"
Turning around! No clinic! That got a snuzzle of relief. "Thanks," she said softly. "... Yeah?"
"I told you so."
Rikku giggled. "Dork."
And then snuggled in a bit for the walk back. "You, uh. You're not mad?"
"Mad?" Jude twisted his head a bit to look at her, a little frown on his face. "I'm not mad. But . . . I don't like you running off that like. And I know you had no time and you had to go save people, but . . . I dunno. It's hard being the one left behind."
"I'm sorry," Rikku said, frowning a bit herself. "I know it is, I mean, I've kinda ... it's been me, before, you know? I just ... it could've been us. And there are people that got hurt, bad. That's not supposed to happen here. And they were going, oh, wow, we need someone to play bait and ... and I knew it was stupid and dangerous and scary but I thought ... better m-me than someone who hasn't ... hasn't ever had to face the kinda stuff I have. Especially if I can keep my Godhand close. Yeah?"
Jude nodded, hitching her up a bit. "Yeah. I get it. I guess . . . nowhere's really as safe as we thought it was."
"Don't say that," she said quickly. "Look, nobody d-died or anything and Dean's totally gonna be fine and I just wrecked my ankle because I'm an idiot. We won. Scary guy's gone. It's okay now. That's ... that's what I do, y'know?"
"Yeah, I know." Jude tried a smile. "And what I do is worry about what you do. It would kill me if you got hurt, even if you were doin' something brave and important like this."
"It'd take way more than that jerk," Rikku said, feeling less confident than she sounded. "And ... Jude, how m-many times were we out this week? The beach? He could've ..."
She squeezed on to him. "It scared me. Thinking that. You know?"
"I know. Don't worry, bra. I wouldn't have let him hurt you."
Wildly misplaced heroics and Jude knew it.
Rikku grinned and squeezed tighter. "Pffft. Some crazy axe guy wouldn't have stood a chance against Captain Kickflip."
She leaned in to kiss his cheek again. "Thanks for the ride. I know it's not far but, uh. I was being stupid, huh?"
"Just a little bit," Jude told her. His back was starting to hurt a bit, but he wasn't going to set Rikku down unless it was on a bed. Maybe even her own bed. "Can I take a look at it when we get back? Please?" He wasn't any expert - okay, maybe he was. He'd banged himself up plenty. Never while saving people from a crazy dude with an axe.
"Almost there," Rikku said, feeling a bit silly but relieved to see the cabins again. She shivered, and not from the night air. "I, uh. It'll be nice to just ... it was a little scary, yeah?"
She nodded. "You can look. No clinic, though, even if it's black and there are bit scaly bites on it." There was another quick cheek-kiss. "That's a joke. I just bruised it."
"It's all over now," Jude assured her quietly, making a beeline for their cabin and speeding up a bit. "It's fine. You don't have to be scared. Unless you want to, 'cause that's totally cool. To be scared, I mean."
"No, I was just ... admitting that I was scared before. Instead of pretending I wasn't like my usual stupid self." She hugged him tightly. "I'm okay, I just ... I hate that. You know?"
"Um, yeah, I guess," Jude said, squeezing back as best he could. "I get that. Yeah."
(Part 1, preplayed with dude_its_jude because of availability conga-line-ness. Minor modding of limping-on-Molly with permission, and thank you. Will be continued.)
*J*U*D*E*
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE THIS VERY MUCH which is why I am very sorry it's a note and not me in person but dang it I can't find you and there's no time.
Whatever was in the woods? That got Chad? It's worse. It's going after more and more people and hurting them and sooner or later it's gonna be somebody who can't fix themselves and people are really, really scared.
And Jude they're saying it's mostly couples and we keep sneaking out and how many times could it have been us? I AM NOT GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN. NOT. THIS SCARY GUY DOES NOT GET TO COME AFTER YOU AND THAT IS FINAL DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME???
I ran into some people and there's a plan but what they need is bait, someone who looks like they're an easy target but they aren't. And I know someone who's perfect for that and THIS IS WHAT I DO and IT IS A TOTALLY SAFE PLAN because there will be lots and lots and lots of people hiding just out of range (I'M GONNA HAVE MY GODHAND STRAPPED ON IT IS TOTALLY OKAY).
We're gonna try to lure him out and we've got a spell to cast him back into hell and I have all of my explosives and my Godhand and this jerkoff doesn't stand a chance and I'm so sorry that I can't tell you in person but there's seriously no time and I needed to leave already so I'm gonna leave this on your hat (YOUR HAT! YOU ARE SO GREAT!) (AND YOU TELLING HIM I HELPED WAS SO SWEET) and I love you and I will be back soon and people are meeting us at the campfire and I love you and I know you're not gonna be happy about this and I am so, so sorry and you can yell all you want later but I can't let the next person to get hurt be you. Okay?
****RIKKU****
It took Jude about five minutes to read the note all the way through. It only took about thirty seconds for his mellow to be thoroughly harshed. He read the note again to be sure that he understood, and then read the last paragraph a couple more times just because. And then he tugged down his toque and headed out towards the campfire because he needed to see her and he wasn't sure whether to kiss her or yell at her. Probably both. If she didn't get herself hurt by the knife-wielding psycho that she was hunting.
He loved his girlfriend. Really. But he was getting too old for this kind of strain on his heart.
Ow. Ow. OW. Stupid ... freakish with the ... and an AXE and what the ...
FANDOM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SAFE.
Ow. Stupid ankle with the ... not watching her blind spot and Deadpool was so gonna lecture her ... she KNEW better.
It was way better to think about THAT than how scared she had been, how she had been so damn sure she was fine just like always and cocky and tripped on in into the middle of something stupid and deadly and stopped paying attention and nearly got herself and Dean chopped into bits by a psycho crazy guy with an axe.
So she leaned on Molly and limped and worried about Dean and cursed at herself instead. For being stupid and not watching her blindspot and for signing up in the first place and for her ankle not taking her weight at all.
At least they were almost to the campfire and could find out what was going on.
Ow. Stupid.
There she - limping. She was limping. Okay, there was going to be some yelling. But later, because limping.
Jude nearly tripped himself in his hurry to reach her side, immediately ducking under her other arm and wrapping his around her waist. "This doesn't look like fine," he told her, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.
"Hi, you," she said, her voice a lot more tired than its usual. They handwavily separated out from the group so she could give him a long hug. "'m okay, really. They said they got him. 'S good, right?"
Rikku straightened up, leaning against him to walk back ... well, more like hobble, glaring. "Stupid ankle. Blind spot. Idiot."
"Hi. Right. You're hurt." Jude decided that this hobbling thing wouldn't do and tried to be all gallant and sweep her up in his arms. That, uh, didn't work out too well and he carefully set her down before he hurt her more. "Piggyback?"
Rikku swept the hair out of her eyes and tried to fix her ponytail, which was sloppier than usual. And really hard when you were hobbling anyway.
"I don't need ... I can walk." She shook her head. "Not hurt. Just turned it kinda funny. It's being stupid." She tried testing her weight on it again and scowled, kicking at the ground. "Stupid. Ankle. Work. Already."
Which probably wasn't helping.
Jude crouched in front of her. "On. Now." He was uncharacteristically forceful and hoping that worked to get her off her ankle. It wasn't just turned. If it was just turned, she would be able to walk by now.
Rikku was going to argue, really. Because she was fine and hey, bossy much? and he was being silly and her ankle would start working again any minute now and ... whoa. Much harder to stand when she wasn't leaning on him. So she put a hand on his shoulder to continue the discussion.
And realized she was way too freaking tired to argue at this point and not sure why she was arguing anyway and ... yeah.
"'kay." She looped her arms around his neck and got a knee on either side of him. And suddenly wanted to giggle. "Don't remember the last time I had a piggyback ride."
Jude found his feet with a grunt and a little waver to one side, his arms latching under her backside to keep her in place. "I'll give you a bunch," he assured her, setting off away from the conquering heroes in the direction of town and the clinic. His arms tightened around her in a kind of hug. "What happened?"
"Would've done this sooner if I knew it'd get me a ride," she giggled. And nuzzled his hair a little because hey, she kinda had to. "Nothing. They got him. He was a psycho crazy not-dead guy. I thought you said your dead stayed dead? 'Cause he didn't. But it's okay 'cause he is now."
Rikku frowned a little. "Hey. Wrong way."
"You can always ride me, bra." That . . . didn't come out right. Jude hurried on.
"Dude. Was he a zombie? 'Cause that's, like an exception to the dead-thing. I heard they invaded the island once." Jude stopped, hitching her up a bit. "Nah, this is the right way. Been there enough, I should know where it is."
Okay, she did giggle at that. "Thanks," she said, but was resisting the obvious joke. Well, any of them, really. "No, I saw zombies down at that bar? With the nice guy who drew a picture for me? Your zombies are different than ours, they don't have a green fog-thing. He was just kinda ... not dead."
She snuggled in a little, feeling better, because scary killer guys with axes were far away and Jude piggyback rides were right here. "Dude, where do you think we're going? Because the cabins are totally that way and you know it."
"Creepy," Jude agreed, but was glad to hear her giggle. "We're not going to the cabins. We're going to the clinic." He explained this in the tone of one speaking to one who has suffered a concussion.
"Seriously creepy. He had a mask on like those keepers, in hockey? I, uh, might be off hockey for a bit." Rikku shuddered. "And, uh, I'm really sorry that I didn't ... wait. The clinic?"
She tried to look at him but that's hard while riding piggyback. Unfortunately. "Dude. Whoa. I banged up my ankle. The clinic?!"
"Goalie," Jude corrected. "Like in that movie, 'Good Cop Mal Cop'?" He continued, undeterred by her protests. "Yeah, bra, the clinic. Just in case."
"Oh. Yeah. Either way. You see some psycho with that and ... I'm just saying. Might not be my thing for a bit."
Rikku tried to pull back gently on his neck in a 'hey, stop' kinda way. "In case what? There's a rare poison in my ankle?" She sighed. "I turned it funny. It hurts. I don't need a Healer."
Jude reluctantly stopped. "But - what if you didn't just turn it funny? We should at least get someone to look at it . . ."
Rikku was silent for a minute, thinking, and then she laid a kiss on his cheek. "Jude? ... Okay, you were totally right about ... me running off and ... I was being stupid again, and I was really stupid, and you're not even doing I-told-you-so right now and ... and I'm really glad. But it's just my ankle and ..."
She squeezed him a little. "And I'm really tired and the clinic's gonna have all those people and some people are hurt kinda bad, like Dean, and I just ... I wanna go back and lay down and ... please?"
Jude hesitated, but she did sound really tired. And if the clinic was busy with worse wounds, they'd just end up sitting around all night. He slowly nodded his head. "Alright." He turned to plod back towards the cabins. "And Rikku?"
Turning around! No clinic! That got a snuzzle of relief. "Thanks," she said softly. "... Yeah?"
"I told you so."
Rikku giggled. "Dork."
And then snuggled in a bit for the walk back. "You, uh. You're not mad?"
"Mad?" Jude twisted his head a bit to look at her, a little frown on his face. "I'm not mad. But . . . I don't like you running off that like. And I know you had no time and you had to go save people, but . . . I dunno. It's hard being the one left behind."
"I'm sorry," Rikku said, frowning a bit herself. "I know it is, I mean, I've kinda ... it's been me, before, you know? I just ... it could've been us. And there are people that got hurt, bad. That's not supposed to happen here. And they were going, oh, wow, we need someone to play bait and ... and I knew it was stupid and dangerous and scary but I thought ... better m-me than someone who hasn't ... hasn't ever had to face the kinda stuff I have. Especially if I can keep my Godhand close. Yeah?"
Jude nodded, hitching her up a bit. "Yeah. I get it. I guess . . . nowhere's really as safe as we thought it was."
"Don't say that," she said quickly. "Look, nobody d-died or anything and Dean's totally gonna be fine and I just wrecked my ankle because I'm an idiot. We won. Scary guy's gone. It's okay now. That's ... that's what I do, y'know?"
"Yeah, I know." Jude tried a smile. "And what I do is worry about what you do. It would kill me if you got hurt, even if you were doin' something brave and important like this."
"It'd take way more than that jerk," Rikku said, feeling less confident than she sounded. "And ... Jude, how m-many times were we out this week? The beach? He could've ..."
She squeezed on to him. "It scared me. Thinking that. You know?"
"I know. Don't worry, bra. I wouldn't have let him hurt you."
Wildly misplaced heroics and Jude knew it.
Rikku grinned and squeezed tighter. "Pffft. Some crazy axe guy wouldn't have stood a chance against Captain Kickflip."
She leaned in to kiss his cheek again. "Thanks for the ride. I know it's not far but, uh. I was being stupid, huh?"
"Just a little bit," Jude told her. His back was starting to hurt a bit, but he wasn't going to set Rikku down unless it was on a bed. Maybe even her own bed. "Can I take a look at it when we get back? Please?" He wasn't any expert - okay, maybe he was. He'd banged himself up plenty. Never while saving people from a crazy dude with an axe.
"Almost there," Rikku said, feeling a bit silly but relieved to see the cabins again. She shivered, and not from the night air. "I, uh. It'll be nice to just ... it was a little scary, yeah?"
She nodded. "You can look. No clinic, though, even if it's black and there are bit scaly bites on it." There was another quick cheek-kiss. "That's a joke. I just bruised it."
"It's all over now," Jude assured her quietly, making a beeline for their cabin and speeding up a bit. "It's fine. You don't have to be scared. Unless you want to, 'cause that's totally cool. To be scared, I mean."
"No, I was just ... admitting that I was scared before. Instead of pretending I wasn't like my usual stupid self." She hugged him tightly. "I'm okay, I just ... I hate that. You know?"
"Um, yeah, I guess," Jude said, squeezing back as best he could. "I get that. Yeah."
(Part 1, preplayed with dude_its_jude because of availability conga-line-ness. Minor modding of limping-on-Molly with permission, and thank you. Will be continued.)