Bad luck: dangerous waters [Open]

[Lucas Blacke]

With every passing moment he was forgetting more and more about the pain in his leg only to be reminded every damn time he stupidly put it down on the ground and put weight on it. Maybe that was the universe getting him for saying all those stupid things. God knew he couldn't have much more done to him than physical pain. People had left him, yelled at him at every opportunity and he was sure he deserved it. A real glutton for pain he was to continue acting as stupid as he did when he knew what it got him.

''New generation of dickbags..?'' With help from the girl he hopped out and wondered.. who would make Hammel a place of guys doing the wrong thing if he graduated? Right now he wasn't even sure he woould, much less where he would go. Thinking about it triggered some nasty memories and a nagging voice in his brain, and he had no need for that. For her.

''Heh, guess yer right.'' He stated as he tried standing up as straight as he could, holding up one hand against the wall for stability only to make the girl see he had it, he could use his ability all the same to avoid toppling over, but he figured she'd need some sort of visual aid. ''I wonder what kinda place Hammel will turn into when I'm gone.. wonder if I even made a lasting impact on this school..''

''Funnily enough I did kinda turn out to be less of a rebel here than I did my previous schools..'' He really did, he'd never get any help from people he wronged back there. Because wronging someone back then meant getting beat up, he really was that bad. Maybe Hammel changed him. ''Funny how things go.'' He joked.

[Deleted]

Marcus hadn’t graduated yet. She was two years past being an adult and still she hadn’t graduated. Yes, it did make her feel pathetic, but if her grades sucked then they sucked. There wasn’t much she could do other than try harder, and trying harder was, well, hard. Though even if she did have the grades to graduate this year, she’d probably still be sticking around for powers training. Her trainer didn’t think she was making much progress…and she’d be right, Marcus had to admit. Marcus wasn’t even satisfied with her progress…but she didn’t know how to make it better either. It was hard when focusing on one thing at a time for more than five minutes as near impossible.

Either way, Marcus nodded. “Yeah…there’s some pretty crazy people at the school.” She looked up at him at the next comment, still holding onto him to make sure he didn’t fall. “You don’t think you will?” Marcus was sure she wouldn’t either, but then again there were probably a lot of people out there that she knew of that didn’t think they’d done anything noteworthy either. She turned her head forward again. “Is it that important? To leave your mark? To be…I don’t know, well-known, I guess? Popular?” Popular was a silly word to use to describe it. It’s use implied that you were both well-known and liked. Marcus was sure she didn’t fit that mold either.

She chuckled though, at his revelation. “How bad could you have been?” she asked. Marcus wasn’t terribly aware of any happenings that might have occurred involving Lucas. As far as she was concerned, he was just a regular dick. And that didn’t make him bad. Just made him a dick.

[Lucas Blacke]

His foot didn't hurt as much anymore, though that could have been because she was helping him redistribute his weight away from it. He wouldn't admit it, but she was helping him and he liked it, he liked having other people care for him for some reason where he otherwise wouldn't. Previously, before ever coming to Hammel he wouldn't have accepted any help, now that she was helping him he began thinking that maybe things would have turned out differently for him if he did accept some help now and again.. maybe.. he wouldn't have cheated on her.. Why did she still haunt him? She was.. nevermind.

He seriously doubted graduating. It wasn't that his power was hard to control, hell, he'd been practicing it actively the past year! And his grades weren't bad either, but maybe, just maybe they could hold him back on failing to adapt to normal life or something. Or maybe he.. wanted to be held back. He wasn't sure anymore. ''I ain't too sure, but I.. I dunno really. Everythin' does point to me graduatin', but I dunno..''

Problem was, he did know but just didn't want to tell anyone. He was scared. He had come a long way, but graduating meant.. something big.. something he wasn't ready for. Something he'd fuck up like he always did. He just kept digging the hole he was in with every passing thought. He'd rather just stop to think entirely.

When he looked up at her for her question though he chuckled. Yes it was important. To him atleast. To know he had finally done something people would remember him for.. though that was half the reason he wanted to be held back, to try again and make the next year a positive one. He had the feeling that all that would be remembered of him was negative. Fucking stuff up, beating up minors, cheating on.. he shrugged.

''Maybe.'' He replied. ''To me it is. To finally get people to recognize me for the good stuff instead of the bad.'' He had too much of the bad already.

He smiled then. How bad could he have been? ''Ya really wanna know?'' A smirk adorned him then as he kind of hoped she did so he could tell her exactly how much of a dick he had been in the past.

[Deleted]

“Well, if you’ve got the grades and the power control, I don’t see how they could stop you,” she said casually. It was only when students sucked balls like Marcus that they kept them there for ages on end. No power control, sucky grades, yup, Marcus was the pure embodiment of slacker-ism. They’d probably be keeping her there until she was 30, no doubt. Oh, her granddad would love that! Might even get disowned. Yup, that’s the life…

Sigh…

Though maybe it was for that reason that Marcus couldn’t really understand his strong desire to leave a legacy behind. After all, Marcus was the she-male who was held back for 3 years. It’d be hard to not remember that one. Marcus would rather not be remembered. But at least his intention…not so much to leave a legacy, but to leave a good impression behind, and that was admirable. “I see,” she said with a nod. “I guess people would rather be remembered for their good deeds rather than their bad ones.”

The way he smirked though…. “I don’t know,” she said shakily, looking up at him with a slightly nervous smile. “Do I?” How bad could it be, really?

[Lucas Blacke]

Yeah.. he supposed he had the grades for it, but those were only because of his power control, the ability to just write everything down out of memory helped him more than he wanted to admit. Although int return for some of his grades he did spend a few days unable to walk or talk, major downside of his power he thought he had under control, though it seemed he had been pushing his own limits a bit too far at times.

Anyway, that wasn't what they were talking about, or be forced to remember in the face of someone who was pretty negative about it. He was odd that way, being negative himself was okay but as soon as someone else did it he would try to get them to stop. ''Well, the power control ain't shabby. It ain't perfect though,'' He smiled at the one holding him up as the thought of himself under the effects of caffeine came to mind. ''as long as I avoid caffeine I'm okay though.'' He joked.

''I dunno.'' He replied. ''I'd rather not talk 'bout it, but if ya really wanna know I won't say no.'' Especially not to a girl. Wait, where did those thoughts come from?

[Deleted]

Marcus laughed, shaking her head in amusement. “Right, that caffeine business, which apparently turns you into a kissing monster?” That was half a joke and half a question, partially in the hopes that Lucas would elaborate more on what the hell even happened back then. Marcus didn’t understand how it forced him to do that specific action, and honestly, it was a little fishy. But it couldn’t be too strange. After all, Marcus could turn into a girl when he sneezed. Or fell. Or was startled too much. Or was scared, or upset, or sick or…hell, even when he, um…orgasmed. Pretty much, anything could make Marcus lose control of his power, so why should he not believe that something like caffeine could do that same for someone else’s?

Marcus shrugged. “Feeh, yeah whatever. Don’t tease me with talk of ominous unless you intend on sharing, that’s just plain rude.” Like, what was the point of hanging that over her head? Everything in the way he was acting said he wanted her to ask so he could tell, but then he goes off on this “I don’t want to talk about it” bullshit? “Of course I want to know, but if you don’t want to talk about it, then I’m sure as hell not going to make you.” Marcus paused for a second, then added. “But if you do want to, then I’m here to listen just the same, got it?” Marcus wasn’t going to make up Luke’s mind for him. If he wanted to keep secrets, well, that was his choice.

[Lucas Blacke]

Ah, good old caffeine.. been quite some time since he had some of that, and it was probably for the best even if it tasted like heaven to him. Not unlike strawberry flavored cyanide pills or something. Not that he'd die from caffeine, but it was still evil wrapped in good. ''Not just a kissin' monster.'' He replied, almost being sure of the fact she was looking for an explanation. He would gladly oblige, that thing that happened needed clarification and enough time had passed to dim down the hurt factor a bit. ''Caffeine,'' He scraped his throat as he looked at her quite uneasily. ''For some reason ain't my friend. When I drink it, it feels good, tastes nice and all, ya know the drill.'' He explained and then paused a short moment.

''It's like.. it takes over my body. Givin' in to impulses is the only thing I do when I drink caffeine, or simply have it in my system. It keeps me conscious the entire time, but it feels like my mind gets split into two beings..'' He so hoped she understood. ''Like I'm put in a cage and placed somewhere my other self can't interact with me. I can see everythin' but I can't do anythin' 'bout what happens. Sometimes I can buy some time, but in the end I'll just succumb to what I want.'' He realized then that- ''Not that I want to kiss ya!- Not that I don't want- Not th-'' Way to go. Luke hung his head in shame then.

''I dun goofed, didn't I?''

[Deleted]

Marcus listened to the explanation, nodding as if she understood. “Ohhh…so it’s like…” She tried to think of a good comparison. “Like a drug, right? Like cocaine, only…well, caffeine.” Basically, it lowered impulse control and made him feel good. And apparently was dissociative, so maybe more like crack and weed together….why did Marcus know about this? She shook her head, disbelieving herself of the random things (like wikipedia articles) she read about on the internet just for fun.

She snorted when he fumbled over his words. That was sorta cute, actually. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” she assured him with a wave of her hand. “You’re a horn-dog, I get it.” It wasn’t like Marcus didn’t understand either. She was a guy, after all, it wasn’t like she hadn’t felt that way before over random girls/boys s/he came across whom she barely knew. “That is, you’re a guy,” she clarified. “More than that, you’re a freaking teenager, how can anyone expect anything less?” Marcus went through those days too, when s/he was younger, around 15-18, probably.

[Lucas Blacke]

A drug? He shook his head, admittedly he had never looked into it because why do drugs when caffeine fucks you up, but he was sure there was no such drug. Again, he had never used drugs so he wouldn't know, but if it made him feel like caffeine did then trying drugs was a stern no, and he assumed it did make him feel the same just to be safe. It was the same reason why he kept away from alcohol. Life threatening drinks? He'd stick with coffee thank you very much.

''Guess ya could say that. Not too sure though, dunno what drugs do to someone but I imagine it ain't fun.'' ..did she try drugs? Was that why she knew this? He knew there were plenty of articles online, but she was pretty negative about her grades so she didn't strike Luke as someone who would read up on.. anything. ''Do ya.. I mean- do ya do drugs?'' Because if so he'd need to steer clear from her, assuming drugs had the same effect on him as caffeine did.

She did seem to take it pretty well though, the fumblage of words. He felt awkward, but she looked beyond his words and commented on what she thought he meant, and what she commented on happened to be a great help to him. ''Horn dog from Texas, yippee-ka-yay mo'fucker.'' He tried to joke as he mimicked tipping a hat in her direction. ''An' yeah, I think I'm a guy. Glad ya noticed!''

[Deleted]

“I guess….they do lots of things?” Marcus said uncertainly. She wasn’t exactly an expert on drugs, she’d only tried a couple, and the legal-ish ones at that. Marcus shook her head. “Not really,” she replied. “I mean, none of the hardcore stuff. I smoke sometimes, maybe have a drink or two….I tried weed a couple times.” Yeah, that was fun. Marcus’ mother insisted on it. Quality parenting right there, she thought. And then she obviously had had caffeine every fricken’ day of the year, but did that really count?

Well, yeah, she supposed, technically, caffeine was a drug…well, when you thought about it, technically anything could be considered a drug if you had too much of it, but in the case of caffeine…wasn’t that the reason why Mormon’s didn’t drink the stuff? It was just another drug that was regulated in consumer products, like alcohol or nicotine. Caffeine gave you a kick or something to keep you wired and awake. Isn’t that why people drank coffee? And jittered like an addict when they drank too much of the stuff?

Marcus only had a rudimentary understanding of how caffeine affected normal people. Marcus himself used Red Bull and other energy drinks to stay up all night, and while those drinks also had caffeine, there was a whole bunch of other things in it that made them work better than a simple soda or espresso. Marcus wondered briefly what a Red Bull would do to Lucas, if a Mountain Dew turning him into….well, whatever it was he was(inhibition free Lucas?).

She laughed when he confirmed her ‘horn dog’ comment. “What is that? You trying to be a Texan John McClane or what?” Marcus loved that movie. Die Hard all the way, yeah! She snorted, covering her mouth with her free hand in amusement. “Kinda hard not to, the way you were wagging that wang of yours back there.” Yes, Marcus was going to give him shit for that. It was her duty, of course.

At some point, between all the walking and talking they’d been doing, they’d actually arrived at their destination, the nurse’s office. Marcus hadn’t even noticed the distance they’d traveled amid their hijinks and jokings. “Huh….well, lookit that. You made it, and still in one piece, congratulations~” she teased, giving the taller boy a nice ‘supportive’ pat on the back. “What are you going to do next?” she asked in the tone of a cheesy reporter.

[Lucas Blacke]

Blegh, weed. Blegh, other things she could have been using. He didn't quite like that she used, or tried these things as Luke would avoid even caffeine like the plague. Unless a cute girl was involved. Actually, if there was a chance and an urge to look cool for a girl he would, though he would stop thinking about what he was holding in that very moment. He made a mental note to never take anything resembling a cigarette from anyone. ''Tried how..?'' He asked, noting that she didn't say she didn't like it. That and she smoked, even if she said sometimes, so Lucas was forced to think she did smoke weed for real. Sadly he was a guy that was easy when it came to forgiving girls.

He shook his head. ''An' here I thought ya were as awesome as I thought.'' He stuck out his tongue and smile though, even if it was fake at the time. ''Yer still pretty awesome though.'' He both was and wasn't lying. The pot thing was something he'd carry around for as long as he knew her, even if he would be forgiving her in a few seconds. ''Still, I'm gett'n help. So I really shouldn't complain.'' So why was he saying this stuff out loud again?

''An' don't even act like ya didn't like what ya saw!'' He jokingly said. Also he took quite some pride in hearing it was hard to miss, while not sure how it was meant all he heard was 'oh it is sóóóóó big.'

When she stopped walking though Lucas turned his head slightly and saw that they were at the required destination. He'd almost forgotten his foot was what got him there. ''Ah yeah, one piece.'' He replied. ''Thanks for helpin' me. I owe ya.'' He said with a light chuckle as she took on a reporting tone and asked him what he was going to do. He then took on a straight face and replied.

''I am going to make sure that other parties receive the same set of care I did. No one should live without it and it is a cruel violation of human rights to deny anyone this!''

[Deleted]

Marcus didn’t smoke week now, she’d just tried it when his mother told her to(again, great parenting). And if she ever came back and insisted that she try it again….well, Marcus couldn’t very well say ‘no’ to his mother, now could she? “How?” Marcus repeated Luke’s question with confusion. Was there some special way that people tried things that she didn’t know about? “Like…I tried it…to see what it was like.” The fact that she only tried it….didn’t that imply that she didn’t smoke it regularly? “I don’t do it now, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She shrugged. “I don’t know…it was just something that my mom wanted to do when she was around, and I don’t get to see her that often, so….it was, you know, quality time.” Her grandfather had been pretty upset, though, when he found out. How did he find out anyway?

“Whaat? I’m not awesome because….I smoke? Or what?” Marcus wasn’t sure if she should be offended or not from that statement. It seemed like Luke was trying to gloss it over with compliments(and half-assed ones at that), but Marcus wasn’t fooled. “You think you can get away with that through flattery, is that it? Well, I’ll tell you exactly what my mom used to tell me, and that is that ‘flattery will get you everywhere’!” Marcus snorted, brushing it off as just a silly joke. If he had a problem with what she did in her private time, he just needed to say so and she’d make sure he didn’t get involved. Whatever, no big deal.

“Which part? You mean that broken thing you call a dick?” Marcus had seen enough to know that…well, to say that it wasn’t nice would be a lie, but since she wasn’t thinking of him in a sexual way, it didn’t really matter. Guys saw dicks all the time(though it was usually their own), especially when there were communal showers.

On the one hand, Marcus was a little disappointed that their oh-so-fun banter had to end. On the other, her shoulder was starting to ache from holding him up for so long and walking at the same time. “It’s fine,” she said with a nod and a smile. “Just…you know, don’t get hurt again. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. Seriously, you look even more pathetic trying to do something you so obviously can’t.”

Then his last line. Marcus beamed a smile. “Splendid!” she confirmed. Though she had absolutely no idea what he meant really. Marcus would help Lucas into the infirmary and help him lower into a chair before stepping back to the door. “Now….you sure you’re gonna be fine from here? Do you need me to hold your hand?” Marcus was still teasing, but smiling pleasantly as she did.

[Lucas Blacke]

''Right. Right. Ya tried it. Sorry.'' Lucas sniffed and wondered what the hell he had been talking about. He didn't know, maybe he was being loopy or something, though the pain could have had nothing to do with it since he barely felt it anymore. Maybe he was subconsciously acting out or something. His parents had never told him to do anything except not be born, or never told him he couldn't do something (well, they constantly said he couldn't do stuff, but they never said no to whatever he wanted. They didn't say yes either though) and well, that made for a child unwilling to rebel. In the sense of drinking and drugs anyway. ''Guess I have been overreacttin', sorry.'' He shrugged with a smile. ''An' I know flattery gets me places. Good places.'' He winked at Marcus then. ''Girl places.'' He slowly replied with a nod and a grin on his face.

That was the time he totally ignored the comment about his broken thing though. Whatever, he knew it was awesome. ''I know it's fine. Yer nice like that, helping the helpless an' all.'' Now, he didn't like referring to himself as helpless in any way, but in this case.. likely it held some truth. ''An' it ain't that I couldn't,'' He scoffed and jokingly turned his head away. ''I just.. just.. wanted to give ya somethin' to do. Yeah! That's it.'' He turned his head back quickly though and stuck out his tongue. He probably really couldn't do what she helped him do on his own. ''An' gettin' hurt is worth it if pretty girls help ya out.'' He winked at her. ''Shame ye were the one who showed up though.'' He jokingly added.

He was lowered into the chair and she gave him one last look over, asking if he was going to be fine and actually asking him something even his mother had never said to him. Joke or serious. ''I dunno..'' He replied, looking at his foot, trying to put it on the ground with some weight on it, wincing in pain as he did so. ''Thing is just a foot but I kinda do feel like dyin' over it. Though I think ye holdin' my hand 'll only really speed things up.''

He hid behind his own arms in case she mock-hit him.

[Deleted]

Marcus had never thought that weed was that big of a deal. Other drugs, maybe, but wasn’t recreational weed legal in some states already? It wasn’t half as dangerous as cigarettes or alcohol, that’s for sure, nor as addictive. The only reason why he wouldn’t do it is because it was still illegal in Vermont, but according to Facebook, they were trying very hard to get it legalized this year. Didn’t really matter to Marcus, but he knew his mother would take advantage of that and take him on a ‘soul searching’ weekend once she heard. “It’s fine. I think a lot of people worry about that stuff. I just don’t think its that big a deal.”

She grinned at his next declaration. “Yeah, good story bro. Let me know how that turns out,” she said with an ‘encouraging’ pat on his shoulder.

“Yup, helping all the guys with their ‘poor, injured’ dicks,” she followed up with. “I should start a charity service at this rate.” Marcus panned her hand in front of them, as though reading an impressive banner. “‘Helping the unfortunate dicks across America~’” She gave it a moment, then laughed. “Yeah, sure you did. I won’t tell anyone the truth, don’t worry.” Yeah, she probably wasn’t going to tell anyone about this event anyway. After all, who would she tell? Then again, Marcus did tent to lack a brain to mouth filter. “Careful, or I might decide to take offense at that.” Marcus wouldn’t admit that it did stab at her a bit when he implied that she wasn’t a ‘pretty girl’. She wasn’t a real girl anyway, so what did it matter?

Marcus rolled her eyes when he ‘insisted’ that she hold his hand. “Yeah, if you have the energy to crack jokes, I think you’ll be fine,” she said, brushing of his idiocy. Then she chuckled. “The nurse should be here soon, and I gotta go do some things, so….I don’t know, guess I’ll see you around.” Marcus sent him a last smile as she took her leave from the room.