just_muse_me | 36.7. Lillian Hellman quote
36.7. "Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth."
- Lillian Hellman
Co-written with naysowee
(Contains Coarse Language)
[Follows THIS]
Riley stood beside the hospital bed with his lips pressed together and arms firmly crossed over his chest as he contemplated the bruised and angry Scot sitting on the side of the gurney. Of course, he hadn’t forgotten his promise to Juliette that she could come to see Rory when he woke, though considering the first words out of the Scottish Hunter’s mouth when he was conscious enough to be rational were ‘If any fucking Kindred cunt come within fucking reaching distance of me, I’ll tear their fucking throats out through their arseholes’ right before he tore all the medical equipment off him and smashed a defibrillator against the wall of the room, it was a promise Riley had to quickly renege on. But now that the doctors had given him a hit of valium in the highest dosage they were allowed, he seemed to have calmed down a little.
With Graham standing beside him, Riley was still trying to figure out the best way to tackle this situation. He wasn’t sure if Airlie would fall into Rory’s ‘Kindred cunts’ boat, or if hearing her name would even enrage the Scot all over again. Airlie had been independent of the whole situation when the attack occurred and Riley was pretty sure he could deduce that those Rory were talking about were more likely to be linked to Blaise and Juliette than Airlie, but still. They had to tread very carefully, especially considering the only other thing Rory had verbally volunteered since being medicated again was ‘Get me the fuck out of this place’. But again, Riley couldn’t figure out if ‘this place’ was the hospital or if it was Paris, or maybe all of France. They couldn’t turn around and sedate him again, either, because they needed information and evidently the cocktail of painkillers they had in him were working, because he was sitting up with cracked ribs and a head injury. One side of his face and head were swollen and bruised, with stitches along his hairline where the steel-tipped boot had obviously connected. His chest was black and blue, with a large medical dressing at the side of his chest where the broken rib had been protruding the skin, and his arm was in a cast up to the elbow. He shouldn’t be in any condition to even move, yet he was. He was sitting and obviously waiting for them to make the first move.
“Listen, dude,” Riley began calmly, even if he was going to stay standing exactly where he was. It would be tough enough for Rory to be waking with the injuries he had, let alone to be dealing with the feelings running through him that came with nearly being Embraced. “This is the last place you want to be, I understand that. You just need to give me a heads-up of what you want so we can help you. You’re injured and you’re not going to get too far on your own. We just want to make sure you’re okay. If you want to go back home to Scotland, that’s fine. We can arrange for a private flight there. But you need to know that we brought your friend Airlie here when you first got hurt and she’s keen to see you. We just can’t let her in here if you’re going to try and hurt her. She’s Kindred, but she had nothing to do with any of this. She’s just really worried about you.”
Rory looked up at Riley with a small sneer on his lips. “What do I fucking want? A fucking smoke would be a bloody fucking good start. I also want to know how the fuck you two got accepted into the military, considering you dinnae look like you share a fucking brain between you! But then, we are talking the fucking Yank army, aye. You dinnae have to be fucking telling me my best friend is Kindred. I watched her fucking die a horrible death! Let’s put it this way, shall we? You dinnae let me see her, and I’ll shove his head,” he pointed to Graham, “up your inadequate arsehole,” he finished, pointing at Riley.
In any other situation, and aimed at anyone else, Riley would have laughed at the creativity of Rory’s insult. It was strange, but this guy sitting before them really was nothing like the laid back friendly Scot Riley had initially met. Even Rory’s blue eyes had a cold, hard look in them. There really was a chance that the only reason he was attacked was to draw him into the Brujah Clan. With this scathing temper, he really would make a good leader of a rebel Kindred faction. The news that he had watched Airlie die definitely piqued Riley’s interest, also. Was there a chance that the fact he was drawn into the Kindred world by watching his friend Embraced against her will the reason he had gotten attacked? Could this whole thing reach as far as Scotland, not just isolated to Blaise’s realm? Had news reached the Brujah Clan that a mortal Hunter like Rory was in with Blaise’s close circle? There could be any number of theories, and even a chance they never found the answer.
“I’ll get her,” Graham decided and stepped out of the cubicle to go the waiting room Airlie was in with Xander. Blaise, Juliette and Buffy were also in the building somewhere, but Riley wasn’t comfortable revealing that information just yet.
“Just Miss MacKenzie,” Riley called after him so Graham didn’t make the mistake of bringing Xander along for the ride. Airlie would have the Kindred strength to hold Rory off if anything happened, but Xander would be at a disadvantage. And not that he thought for a minute Graham would bring Buffy here, he just wanted to make sure that didn’t happen too. There was no love lost between Graham and Buffy, the other soldier still wholeheartedly blaming Buffy for breaking Riley’s heart considering he had been the only friend around to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of leaving Sunnydale. There just was a possibility here that Rory would blame Buffy for everything, considering she was the reason he had ended up in Paris to begin with. “I need to know if you have any interest in seeing Juliette.”
“Nay a fucking iota,” was Rory’s immediate answer as he held Riley’s gaze evenly, despite one of his eyes being swollen and painful. “You keep the selfish bitch and her fucking Prince of the Cunts out of my fucking face, you got that? Take me the fuck out if you think I’m a threat to them. I dinnae care. Isnae like I got a fucking thing to live for anyway.”
A small frown appeared on Riley’s features and he felt a strange twinge in his heart at Rory’s answers. It was true, he was drawing on his painful past right now. It was fuelling this cutting anger, and even though Riley knew his own past couldn’t touch the pain Rory had experience, he found himself really unable to blame the guy for being so pissed. If it had been Riley in his shoes, he would probably be wanting to abuse everyone in sight too. “What about Buffy? Do you want to have her here?”
Rory’s lips twisted into a smirk that was anything but teasing. “Isnae that a fucking question I should be asking you? My cock is barely dry from being in her before yours is taking up fucking residence. How did it feel to be my sloppy seconds, soldier?” he sneered.
It all happened so quickly. Without thinking, Riley took a swing and punched Rory sharply in the side of the face. His comment couldn’t have cut lower if he tried and it stabbed directly into every single one of Riley’s weaknesses. It was just a huge and reckless mistake on his part because the next thing he knew, Rory was off the bed and had him slammed up against the wall, causing Riley to smack the back of his head on the concrete from the force. Despite the pain shooting through the back of his skull, Riley managed to watch, intrigued, as Rory literally seemed to hesitate with what he was supposed to do following the initial reaction. His fist was gripped around a handful of Riley’s shirt, beginning to choking him with it but if Riley wasn’t mistaken, it looked for a small moment that Rory was going to try and bite his throat. The urge to do so much be there, but there was enough of Rory left inside him to fight it off and realise something was wrong. It gave Riley the chance to rapidly reach behind him and hit the duress button with the edge of his fingers and they were soon swooped on by a whole team of armed soldiers, who had Rory tackled to the floor without hesitation.
“It’s okay,” Riley gasped out, drawing in a ragged breath now his throat wasn’t constricted. He rubbed at his neck and held his other hand up. “I provoked it. Don’t put him in restraints, just sedate him again. I need some more time.” A wave of dizziness hit him and he touched the back of his head, feeling a thick wetness there. A close inspection of his fingertips showed him they were covered in blood from the bump to the head. Great. Another concussion to add to his already extensive list of injuries, no doubt. He watched as one of the nurses stabbed Rory in the butt with an injection, but Rory wasn’t even putting up a fight... in fact, he was just lying on the tiled floor where he was being held down, with tears running down his face.
Riley felt his gut clench with guilt over the situation. He couldn’t feel any worse for the Scot if he tried, despite the cutting words of just a few minutes before. Rory couldn’t really mean them. He was programmed right now to feel anger and disgust. Riley just had to keep telling himself that. He knew he made an error letting Rory get to him, but the thing was, if he could react so easily, how were the others going to cope with what Rory wanted to throw at them? Could Airlie handle it without wanting to hurt him in response? Would even he try to verbally attack his best mate? Would Blaise and Juliette want to do more than sedate him to protect themselves?
He didn’t know if it was the bump to the head, but suddenly Riley felt completely out of his depth in his position. He had gotten too personally invested in the whole thing and now he didn’t know what the fuck he was supposed to do. All he knew was that as soon as he was able, he needed to sit down with Blaise and Juliette and lay all the cards on the table. As much as it would hurt Juliette, and possibly piss Blaise off, maybe the best option for everyone here really was to remove Rory from the whole situation...
... and maybe even permanently.
Word Count | 1,865
- Lillian Hellman
Co-written with naysowee
(Contains Coarse Language)
[Follows THIS]
Riley stood beside the hospital bed with his lips pressed together and arms firmly crossed over his chest as he contemplated the bruised and angry Scot sitting on the side of the gurney. Of course, he hadn’t forgotten his promise to Juliette that she could come to see Rory when he woke, though considering the first words out of the Scottish Hunter’s mouth when he was conscious enough to be rational were ‘If any fucking Kindred cunt come within fucking reaching distance of me, I’ll tear their fucking throats out through their arseholes’ right before he tore all the medical equipment off him and smashed a defibrillator against the wall of the room, it was a promise Riley had to quickly renege on. But now that the doctors had given him a hit of valium in the highest dosage they were allowed, he seemed to have calmed down a little.
With Graham standing beside him, Riley was still trying to figure out the best way to tackle this situation. He wasn’t sure if Airlie would fall into Rory’s ‘Kindred cunts’ boat, or if hearing her name would even enrage the Scot all over again. Airlie had been independent of the whole situation when the attack occurred and Riley was pretty sure he could deduce that those Rory were talking about were more likely to be linked to Blaise and Juliette than Airlie, but still. They had to tread very carefully, especially considering the only other thing Rory had verbally volunteered since being medicated again was ‘Get me the fuck out of this place’. But again, Riley couldn’t figure out if ‘this place’ was the hospital or if it was Paris, or maybe all of France. They couldn’t turn around and sedate him again, either, because they needed information and evidently the cocktail of painkillers they had in him were working, because he was sitting up with cracked ribs and a head injury. One side of his face and head were swollen and bruised, with stitches along his hairline where the steel-tipped boot had obviously connected. His chest was black and blue, with a large medical dressing at the side of his chest where the broken rib had been protruding the skin, and his arm was in a cast up to the elbow. He shouldn’t be in any condition to even move, yet he was. He was sitting and obviously waiting for them to make the first move.
“Listen, dude,” Riley began calmly, even if he was going to stay standing exactly where he was. It would be tough enough for Rory to be waking with the injuries he had, let alone to be dealing with the feelings running through him that came with nearly being Embraced. “This is the last place you want to be, I understand that. You just need to give me a heads-up of what you want so we can help you. You’re injured and you’re not going to get too far on your own. We just want to make sure you’re okay. If you want to go back home to Scotland, that’s fine. We can arrange for a private flight there. But you need to know that we brought your friend Airlie here when you first got hurt and she’s keen to see you. We just can’t let her in here if you’re going to try and hurt her. She’s Kindred, but she had nothing to do with any of this. She’s just really worried about you.”
Rory looked up at Riley with a small sneer on his lips. “What do I fucking want? A fucking smoke would be a bloody fucking good start. I also want to know how the fuck you two got accepted into the military, considering you dinnae look like you share a fucking brain between you! But then, we are talking the fucking Yank army, aye. You dinnae have to be fucking telling me my best friend is Kindred. I watched her fucking die a horrible death! Let’s put it this way, shall we? You dinnae let me see her, and I’ll shove his head,” he pointed to Graham, “up your inadequate arsehole,” he finished, pointing at Riley.
In any other situation, and aimed at anyone else, Riley would have laughed at the creativity of Rory’s insult. It was strange, but this guy sitting before them really was nothing like the laid back friendly Scot Riley had initially met. Even Rory’s blue eyes had a cold, hard look in them. There really was a chance that the only reason he was attacked was to draw him into the Brujah Clan. With this scathing temper, he really would make a good leader of a rebel Kindred faction. The news that he had watched Airlie die definitely piqued Riley’s interest, also. Was there a chance that the fact he was drawn into the Kindred world by watching his friend Embraced against her will the reason he had gotten attacked? Could this whole thing reach as far as Scotland, not just isolated to Blaise’s realm? Had news reached the Brujah Clan that a mortal Hunter like Rory was in with Blaise’s close circle? There could be any number of theories, and even a chance they never found the answer.
“I’ll get her,” Graham decided and stepped out of the cubicle to go the waiting room Airlie was in with Xander. Blaise, Juliette and Buffy were also in the building somewhere, but Riley wasn’t comfortable revealing that information just yet.
“Just Miss MacKenzie,” Riley called after him so Graham didn’t make the mistake of bringing Xander along for the ride. Airlie would have the Kindred strength to hold Rory off if anything happened, but Xander would be at a disadvantage. And not that he thought for a minute Graham would bring Buffy here, he just wanted to make sure that didn’t happen too. There was no love lost between Graham and Buffy, the other soldier still wholeheartedly blaming Buffy for breaking Riley’s heart considering he had been the only friend around to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of leaving Sunnydale. There just was a possibility here that Rory would blame Buffy for everything, considering she was the reason he had ended up in Paris to begin with. “I need to know if you have any interest in seeing Juliette.”
“Nay a fucking iota,” was Rory’s immediate answer as he held Riley’s gaze evenly, despite one of his eyes being swollen and painful. “You keep the selfish bitch and her fucking Prince of the Cunts out of my fucking face, you got that? Take me the fuck out if you think I’m a threat to them. I dinnae care. Isnae like I got a fucking thing to live for anyway.”
A small frown appeared on Riley’s features and he felt a strange twinge in his heart at Rory’s answers. It was true, he was drawing on his painful past right now. It was fuelling this cutting anger, and even though Riley knew his own past couldn’t touch the pain Rory had experience, he found himself really unable to blame the guy for being so pissed. If it had been Riley in his shoes, he would probably be wanting to abuse everyone in sight too. “What about Buffy? Do you want to have her here?”
Rory’s lips twisted into a smirk that was anything but teasing. “Isnae that a fucking question I should be asking you? My cock is barely dry from being in her before yours is taking up fucking residence. How did it feel to be my sloppy seconds, soldier?” he sneered.
It all happened so quickly. Without thinking, Riley took a swing and punched Rory sharply in the side of the face. His comment couldn’t have cut lower if he tried and it stabbed directly into every single one of Riley’s weaknesses. It was just a huge and reckless mistake on his part because the next thing he knew, Rory was off the bed and had him slammed up against the wall, causing Riley to smack the back of his head on the concrete from the force. Despite the pain shooting through the back of his skull, Riley managed to watch, intrigued, as Rory literally seemed to hesitate with what he was supposed to do following the initial reaction. His fist was gripped around a handful of Riley’s shirt, beginning to choking him with it but if Riley wasn’t mistaken, it looked for a small moment that Rory was going to try and bite his throat. The urge to do so much be there, but there was enough of Rory left inside him to fight it off and realise something was wrong. It gave Riley the chance to rapidly reach behind him and hit the duress button with the edge of his fingers and they were soon swooped on by a whole team of armed soldiers, who had Rory tackled to the floor without hesitation.
“It’s okay,” Riley gasped out, drawing in a ragged breath now his throat wasn’t constricted. He rubbed at his neck and held his other hand up. “I provoked it. Don’t put him in restraints, just sedate him again. I need some more time.” A wave of dizziness hit him and he touched the back of his head, feeling a thick wetness there. A close inspection of his fingertips showed him they were covered in blood from the bump to the head. Great. Another concussion to add to his already extensive list of injuries, no doubt. He watched as one of the nurses stabbed Rory in the butt with an injection, but Rory wasn’t even putting up a fight... in fact, he was just lying on the tiled floor where he was being held down, with tears running down his face.
Riley felt his gut clench with guilt over the situation. He couldn’t feel any worse for the Scot if he tried, despite the cutting words of just a few minutes before. Rory couldn’t really mean them. He was programmed right now to feel anger and disgust. Riley just had to keep telling himself that. He knew he made an error letting Rory get to him, but the thing was, if he could react so easily, how were the others going to cope with what Rory wanted to throw at them? Could Airlie handle it without wanting to hurt him in response? Would even he try to verbally attack his best mate? Would Blaise and Juliette want to do more than sedate him to protect themselves?
He didn’t know if it was the bump to the head, but suddenly Riley felt completely out of his depth in his position. He had gotten too personally invested in the whole thing and now he didn’t know what the fuck he was supposed to do. All he knew was that as soon as he was able, he needed to sit down with Blaise and Juliette and lay all the cards on the table. As much as it would hurt Juliette, and possibly piss Blaise off, maybe the best option for everyone here really was to remove Rory from the whole situation...
... and maybe even permanently.
Word Count | 1,865