Teammates, Chapter 2: Cards
Chapter 1: Introductions
Writing this chapter I learned a few things about myself:
1. I am not a genius.
2. I am not able to just cough out another chapter every few days like I thought I could (hence 1.).
3. It's really hard to keep it light and fluffy when you write from the perspective of someone sitting in a wheelchair.
4. There's a thin line between imagination and pure projection.
2: Cards
The cafeteria was usually empty at this time of the day and Artie enjoyed the silence. The library being his only other realistic option noise- wise was out of question for one simple reason:
The cadets would never let him occupy a single spot there. Especially Quinn and Rachel, who seemed to get up extra early every morning in order to scratch at the entrance doors before they would open up, just loved to stare him down until he left.
Not to mention Santana. Despite the fact that the grumpy Latina never actually came to the library to study there, she’d always hog the seat next to Brittany and pretend to be important to everyone present. She’d always make sure only people she considered “worthy” got the opportunity to speak to her blonde friend.
Artie couldn’t help but think her true intention wasn’t just to keep Brittany safe from all distractions so she could study in peace. Although, thinking about it, that would surely have been reason enough to bark everyone away. Brittany definitely needed as much peace and quiet as she could get if she was going to achieve anything.
Due to his handicap he wasn’t allowed to apply to become a SeeD. Wheelchairs and wilderness don’t go well together.
He had seen the profiles the Garden made up for their cadets and couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. The stats they had been provided with were not only good information for them but also worked as an advertisement for future customers. Based on these profiles those in charge could decide who’d be best for the job: Do I need someone who’s strong or someone who’s agile? Do I want someone who can make quick decisions or am I able to give them orders throughout the battle?
Artie’s profile on the other hand would more or less read something like this:
Non existing Strength
The Defense of a leaf in the wind
Wheelchair Agility
High Intelligence
Artie is not able to walk and no one knows his name or even talks to him. He spends his time behind computers and books when he’s working. In his free time he challenges people for a nerdy match of Triple Triad and his greatest achievement so far is to get his hands on a set of character cards, namely Squall, Quistis and Xell. Low self- esteem.
Yea, no one would ever play a victory fanfare for him.
Although technical prodigies like him were just as important for the Garden, he would never enjoy the same prestige as the cadets. They were the ones slaughtering Morbols and Cockatrices, risking their lives to keep people safe and providing the Garden with an income. All he did was gathering information, repairing equipment and keeping cadets up to date. The public would never even get to see his face.
So here he was, sitting in the deserted cafeteria while most of his peers were attending some class. Sometimes Mercedes would pop in to score some tater tots, which were always sold out during the regular lunch breaks (just like hot dogs those were extremely popular among the students and teachers alike). Mostly, he was undisturbed, though, which gave him the opportunity to invest some time in his favourite hobby: Triple Triad.
During the time he had spent in Balamb, Artie’s collection had become quite large and he was the proud owner of a couple of really rare cards. But there were a few he still needed to get his hands on and their current owners wouldn’t just give them to him without a really tough battle. If he wanted to win he had to come up with the perfect strategy.
Displaying his strongest cards in front of him he tried out several combinations.
He had to choose five cards for each game.
Option one was to play the corners. Maybe Secreto, Minotaur, Glashalablas and… no, there was one card for the bottom right corner missing. Also this strategy left no room for a plan B should his opponent foresee his intention. The safe route wasn’t so safe afterall.
Maybe go for a little more attack instead?
Squall had only one weak spot and Kiros was an overall strong card. Combined with Ward and….
Artie flinched and almost let his cards fall when the school’s intercom crackled.
“Attention, SeeDs! The Guardian Force teams have been chosen. Please gather in the schoolyard to receive your assignments. I repeat: Guardian Force teams have been chosen. All fresh SeeDs please gather in the schoolyard.”
Great. Not only was he once again reminded of the fact that he wasn’t one of the popular guys here; considering the schoolyard lay directly behind the cafeteria there would also be a crowd of students passing through very soon. So that was it with enjoying silence and making up strategies.
He thought about wheeling out for a second, but knew there wasn’t enough time left. His choices were either to stay and endure the embarrassment of not being part of the team or to try and squeeze himself through a crowd of hurried oncoming students on their way through. Sighing to himself Artie settled for the first option, carefully picking up the stacks of cards he had arranged on the table in front of him and putting them in his collector’s case.
Soon he realized that he had made the right decision. Not even half a minute later there were the first few students rushing through, almost tripping over each other out of excitement. Rachel actually jumped over a few chairs before finally stepping on one, just to run over a table and overtake Mike who had led the crowd up until then. Could she possibly show any more enthusiasm? Artie didn’t think so. Being small like her and therefore being a lightweight apparently had its advantages.
There was a whole bunch of students Artie didn’t know by name and somewhere in the middle he spotted Finn whose head towered above everyone else’s. He was hard to overlook.
In the back there were a couple more familiar faces, though:
Puck lead the small group of cadet’s with an unhurried but speedy step. He passed Artie’s table by but ignored his existence completely (probably on purpose). Then in a single file followed Santana and Quinn (the first demonstratively, the second genuinely oblivious) looking into a different direction… and at the end of the line there was Brittany, who showed a bright smile and waved frantically at Artie. He couldn’t decide whether the situation was too bizarre to smile back at her or if he should maybe turn around to check if she really meant someone else behind him.
But Brittany stopped and over excitedly started to blabber:
“Hi. We’re going to get our G.F.s. I already know which one it is, but I’m still so nervous.”
Artie opened his mouth to say something (although he wasn’t exactly sure what), but there was already an angry Latina grabbing Brittany’s hand and pulling her away from the table.
“What the hell, Britt?!” she set her friend straight while trying to catch up with the others.
Brittany obviously didn’t mind. She didn’t try to get away, but she turned her head once more and yelled back: “Bye, Artie.”
And then Artie almost died, because Brittany knew his name.
Maybe there was a tiny chance his existence would someday be acknowledged after all.
---------
Note: There’s not going to be any Bartie in this story.
I already got more chapters in the works. Next one will probably be from Brittany's perspective *yikes*
For FF- VIII fans:
The "ALL rule" has been established in this region.
*restarts Playstation*
3: Calm before the storm
Writing this chapter I learned a few things about myself:
1. I am not a genius.
2. I am not able to just cough out another chapter every few days like I thought I could (hence 1.).
3. It's really hard to keep it light and fluffy when you write from the perspective of someone sitting in a wheelchair.
4. There's a thin line between imagination and pure projection.
2: Cards
The cafeteria was usually empty at this time of the day and Artie enjoyed the silence. The library being his only other realistic option noise- wise was out of question for one simple reason:
The cadets would never let him occupy a single spot there. Especially Quinn and Rachel, who seemed to get up extra early every morning in order to scratch at the entrance doors before they would open up, just loved to stare him down until he left.
Not to mention Santana. Despite the fact that the grumpy Latina never actually came to the library to study there, she’d always hog the seat next to Brittany and pretend to be important to everyone present. She’d always make sure only people she considered “worthy” got the opportunity to speak to her blonde friend.
Artie couldn’t help but think her true intention wasn’t just to keep Brittany safe from all distractions so she could study in peace. Although, thinking about it, that would surely have been reason enough to bark everyone away. Brittany definitely needed as much peace and quiet as she could get if she was going to achieve anything.
Due to his handicap he wasn’t allowed to apply to become a SeeD. Wheelchairs and wilderness don’t go well together.
He had seen the profiles the Garden made up for their cadets and couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. The stats they had been provided with were not only good information for them but also worked as an advertisement for future customers. Based on these profiles those in charge could decide who’d be best for the job: Do I need someone who’s strong or someone who’s agile? Do I want someone who can make quick decisions or am I able to give them orders throughout the battle?
Artie’s profile on the other hand would more or less read something like this:
Non existing Strength
The Defense of a leaf in the wind
Wheelchair Agility
High Intelligence
Artie is not able to walk and no one knows his name or even talks to him. He spends his time behind computers and books when he’s working. In his free time he challenges people for a nerdy match of Triple Triad and his greatest achievement so far is to get his hands on a set of character cards, namely Squall, Quistis and Xell. Low self- esteem.
Yea, no one would ever play a victory fanfare for him.
Although technical prodigies like him were just as important for the Garden, he would never enjoy the same prestige as the cadets. They were the ones slaughtering Morbols and Cockatrices, risking their lives to keep people safe and providing the Garden with an income. All he did was gathering information, repairing equipment and keeping cadets up to date. The public would never even get to see his face.
So here he was, sitting in the deserted cafeteria while most of his peers were attending some class. Sometimes Mercedes would pop in to score some tater tots, which were always sold out during the regular lunch breaks (just like hot dogs those were extremely popular among the students and teachers alike). Mostly, he was undisturbed, though, which gave him the opportunity to invest some time in his favourite hobby: Triple Triad.
During the time he had spent in Balamb, Artie’s collection had become quite large and he was the proud owner of a couple of really rare cards. But there were a few he still needed to get his hands on and their current owners wouldn’t just give them to him without a really tough battle. If he wanted to win he had to come up with the perfect strategy.
Displaying his strongest cards in front of him he tried out several combinations.
He had to choose five cards for each game.
Option one was to play the corners. Maybe Secreto, Minotaur, Glashalablas and… no, there was one card for the bottom right corner missing. Also this strategy left no room for a plan B should his opponent foresee his intention. The safe route wasn’t so safe afterall.
Maybe go for a little more attack instead?
Squall had only one weak spot and Kiros was an overall strong card. Combined with Ward and….
Artie flinched and almost let his cards fall when the school’s intercom crackled.
“Attention, SeeDs! The Guardian Force teams have been chosen. Please gather in the schoolyard to receive your assignments. I repeat: Guardian Force teams have been chosen. All fresh SeeDs please gather in the schoolyard.”
Great. Not only was he once again reminded of the fact that he wasn’t one of the popular guys here; considering the schoolyard lay directly behind the cafeteria there would also be a crowd of students passing through very soon. So that was it with enjoying silence and making up strategies.
He thought about wheeling out for a second, but knew there wasn’t enough time left. His choices were either to stay and endure the embarrassment of not being part of the team or to try and squeeze himself through a crowd of hurried oncoming students on their way through. Sighing to himself Artie settled for the first option, carefully picking up the stacks of cards he had arranged on the table in front of him and putting them in his collector’s case.
Soon he realized that he had made the right decision. Not even half a minute later there were the first few students rushing through, almost tripping over each other out of excitement. Rachel actually jumped over a few chairs before finally stepping on one, just to run over a table and overtake Mike who had led the crowd up until then. Could she possibly show any more enthusiasm? Artie didn’t think so. Being small like her and therefore being a lightweight apparently had its advantages.
There was a whole bunch of students Artie didn’t know by name and somewhere in the middle he spotted Finn whose head towered above everyone else’s. He was hard to overlook.
In the back there were a couple more familiar faces, though:
Puck lead the small group of cadet’s with an unhurried but speedy step. He passed Artie’s table by but ignored his existence completely (probably on purpose). Then in a single file followed Santana and Quinn (the first demonstratively, the second genuinely oblivious) looking into a different direction… and at the end of the line there was Brittany, who showed a bright smile and waved frantically at Artie. He couldn’t decide whether the situation was too bizarre to smile back at her or if he should maybe turn around to check if she really meant someone else behind him.
But Brittany stopped and over excitedly started to blabber:
“Hi. We’re going to get our G.F.s. I already know which one it is, but I’m still so nervous.”
Artie opened his mouth to say something (although he wasn’t exactly sure what), but there was already an angry Latina grabbing Brittany’s hand and pulling her away from the table.
“What the hell, Britt?!” she set her friend straight while trying to catch up with the others.
Brittany obviously didn’t mind. She didn’t try to get away, but she turned her head once more and yelled back: “Bye, Artie.”
And then Artie almost died, because Brittany knew his name.
Maybe there was a tiny chance his existence would someday be acknowledged after all.
---------
Note: There’s not going to be any Bartie in this story.
I already got more chapters in the works. Next one will probably be from Brittany's perspective *yikes*
For FF- VIII fans:
The "ALL rule" has been established in this region.
*restarts Playstation*
3: Calm before the storm