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Post by Fighter Mallory on Nov 12, 2009 21:52:42 GMT -5
Fighter shrugged at his words knowing the truth behind them but not wanting to admit it even to him. "Been a rough week..." She smirked when he snagged the flask from her hand but didn't object she was used to her Brooklyn boys ways. Honestly part of her had missed her interaction with them. Other than Zeke, Joe and Spot were the only guys she felt close with and she hadn't spoken with them in longer than she cared to remember.
At his question she glanced at him and raised an eyebrow, "You tell me and I'll tell you." Although Zeke was better at hiding his pain than she was she could still read him pretty well and she knew he wasn't quite himself. She also knew that he wouldn't be willing to share what was wrong and honestly she didn't think he wanted to hear what had been eating at her.
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Post by Zeke Cooper on Nov 12, 2009 21:58:17 GMT -5
He took a long swig from her flask to stave off answering her question any sooner than he wanted too. To be frank he didn't want to answer her at all, so he supposed he shouldn't have asked her to speak to him about it. He should have known better so he just set his free hand on her head and messaged her scalp a bit as he took another drink before handing back the flask.
Quietly he took a finishing drag from hsi smoke and tossed the ember down over the wall into the alleyway, not even checking to see if anyone was below. It was just his way.
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Post by Fighter Mallory on Nov 12, 2009 22:18:08 GMT -5
She took his silence as a retreat and as much as it appeased her it also sort of infuriated her. She wanted him to know he could open up to her but she knew he was just like her. It was hard to talk and easier to forget. Taking the flask from him she took a long swig herself before setting it between them so he could drink from it at will. She took a deep breath and then looked up at him from beneath her lashes before turning her head away from him. She wanted to be have someone to confide in but she wanted to confide in someone who would confide in her because then she didn't feel like she was dumping her pain on them.
Taking a drag from her cigarette she pushed a stubborn piece of hair off of her face before focusing her gaze on him again. She softened her look more than she usually would even in the prescense of her friends. Slowly she reached her hand out to him pausing a moment before she set it on his arm. "Sometimes.....sometimes even -we- need someone to understand." With that she dropped her hand and turned her stare back towards the city.
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Post by Zeke Cooper on Nov 12, 2009 22:24:21 GMT -5
Zeke was shocked at her tenderness and frowned a little bit as she pulled away, it wasn't that he couldnt' confide it was that in Brooklyn it was weak. He sighed and put his hand back on her head, taking a swig from the flask. About emptying it.
"The kid just died, Fight... that's it.. just died.." he shook his head, the one time he'd tried to do something good he'd fouled it up and the kid had died anyway. No matter what he did, it wasn't good enough. He was just a muscle head, best to fight in the ring then fight for anything else.
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Post by Fighter Mallory on Nov 12, 2009 22:37:05 GMT -5
Fighter swallowed, she knew it took a lot for him to say that little bit. It wasn't their way to open up; not even to each other. It had always been a comfort to her but she knew that now wasn't the time for that sort of attitude. Her uncle had told her many times that although you needed a tough skin sometimes what you needed most was just one person who could listen and commiserate with you. Scooting closer to him she looked up at his face as she wrapped an arm loosely around his torso. "Zeke...you couldn't have done anything more than you did." Slowly and slightly hesitantly she laid her head against his arm trying to comfort him in some small way. "Those beasts are to blame."
Lifting her head she stared into his eyes before dropping her cigarette and lifting her hand to his cheek so that he couldn't look away. "It wasn't your fault, it was those men that did what they did to him." Taking a deep breath she knew she owed him the truth of what had happened that day with her. It was hard for her to put into words because she was deeply ashamed of her actions. She knew she could have easily knocked the man unconscious but she had chosen instead to take her fear, pain, and outrage out on him.
"I...I killed a man, Zeke..." Dropping her hand from his cheek she looked away, fighting back tears. Fighter wasn't the type to cry but she'd had so much grief and guilt weighing on her mind that she couldn't help it. "I was brutal. Completely brutal."
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Post by Zeke Cooper on Nov 12, 2009 22:44:43 GMT -5
Sighing he let her tell him things people said and finally did something he hadn't thought about doing since Spot had threatened him to keep away from her. He snaked an arm around her neck and drew her against his chest. He was facing her, one leg propped up on the wall while the other rested on the roof. But he drew her against his chest and held her there, setting his chin on her head.
Hell, poor kid. He sighed and just held her there, "We've all got it in us, Fight." He wanted to use her real name but it occurred to him that he didn't know it. Lucky probably did and he only knew hers because of Spot. Frowning he just held her because she seemed to need the strength of another man, his eyes flickering over the city scape. Their world had changed in one night.
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Post by Fighter Mallory on Nov 12, 2009 22:58:36 GMT -5
When he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her face against him she buried it in his shirt taking several deep breaths. She needed to calm herself because she refused to cry with him. He made her want to be a stronger person. Slowly she wrapped both of her arms around his waist as he spoke, using him as her anchor in a way. Slowly she pulled her head from his grasp but didn't release her arms from his waist. "Do we? I can still feel his blood on my hands, Zeke." She said it quitly as she laid her head back against him.
"I see him everytime I close my eyes." She sighed and tightened her grip around him. "I've never taken a life before...I never thought it would haunt me if it came down to this. I hated everything about these people and I wanted to make them pay. I wanted to hurt them, to end them...what does that make me?" She said it all quietly, mostly to herself. All of these things had been on her mind since that day.
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Post by Zeke Cooper on Nov 12, 2009 23:07:08 GMT -5
"A survivor, soldiers are no different, Fight. We're soldiers," that was how he looked at it, but it didn't mean it didn't eat them alive at times. All he could do was hold her and let out a sigh, rocking her a little bit to try and sooth her pain. She needed it, and he had no idea that those tiny arms were going to wrap around him like that. He pet her hair a bit awkwardly and watched the tree line.
"That's how I sleep at night I guess," well no he slept wrapped around gorgeous women, that's how he slept at night. Looking down at her he shrugged. "Alright that's a lie, but it helps me make it threw the day. We knew we were going to battle, Fighter..."
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Post by Fighter Mallory on Nov 12, 2009 23:31:01 GMT -5
Fighter nodded at his words and pulled her arms back. She had wanted to make them pay but it had been her vicious attitude that had gotten to her more. The possibility of having killed someone certainly wasn't as bad as the knowledge that she had brutally slit some mans throat. Biting her lip Fighter looked away, "Yeah. You're right, we knew what we were getting into." She spoke carelessly and refused to look at him, part of her feeling weak for her admission.
Fighter lifted the flask to her lips and drank what was left of it before refastening the cap and slipping it into her pocket. She silently debated heading to McGinty's. She knew she wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon and she figured she may as well have enough drinks to help her sleep at least part of the night.
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Post by Zeke Cooper on Nov 12, 2009 23:36:08 GMT -5
He tugged her back against him and sighed, how the hell did he fix her? He was a clod really and everyone knew it but he looked down at her. "It's okay to feel that way Fighter. We all feel it.." They were soldiers but they weren't. Their battleground was the streets on which they lived, fighting to survive but more fighting to make sure that their own were taken care of. Frowning he looked down at her.
"What's your real name anyway?" change the subject, good man. She might clock you for asking but then again, it wasn't like Zeke knew how to hold his tongue any.
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Post by Fighter Mallory on Nov 12, 2009 23:50:37 GMT -5
She didn't fight him as he pulled her back against him but she was slightly stiff until he spoke. His words struck a chord with her and she softened just a bit because she could understand what he was saying more than most would. He was trying to comfort her in his own way and he was about as comfortable doing that as she was receiving it. "Yeah, maybe.." She sighed and didn't look up until he spoke.
When he asked her what her real name was she glanced up sharply. It took her by surprise that he was asking not only because she wasn't used to telling people but also because she was surprised she hadn't' told him already. Conflicting emotions, she knew but it was how she felt. "Aisla..." She said quietly, staring up at him. "And you..." She knew Zeke was short for something but she wasn't sure what.
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Post by Zeke Cooper on Nov 13, 2009 0:05:21 GMT -5
"Ezekiel, bible shit I dunno... Pops said it was supposed to be good for something.." he never talked about his family, he didn't have one anymore but he shrugged and held her close to him and figured they both needed something. Anything to keep them both from falling off the roof and over the edge.
"You ever wonder why we don't know nothin about each other?"
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Post by Fighter Mallory on Nov 13, 2009 0:15:52 GMT -5
"Honestly...not really, always figured I knew enough." Fighters eyes drifted from his face and she pulled out another cigarette lighting it and taking a drag before offering it to him. "Always knew where we stood..."
Sometimes she'd wondered what his past was like and what had made him the man he was but she'd never really thought to ask. It was to painful for her to talk about her past so she figured if she didn't ask she wouldn't get the questions in return. Besides, Conlon had made it clear to her early on that he didn't want her to get to close to Zeke but she didn't say that, instead she turned and gave him a slight smirk. "Aren't you busy enough gettin' to know your ladies?"
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Post by Zeke Cooper on Nov 13, 2009 0:24:11 GMT -5
He took a drag from the smoke he offered and handed it back, chuckling as he exhaled. "May ladies love me the rogue I am which works just fine. They don't ask and I don't tell. We all leave happy in the morning and I don't call on many of them again, though they wait for me.." He supposed he was a bit of the same way. Knowing where he stood, he was loyal to Spot, and for him that was enough.
"And you stand at the top of the heap with the crazy women of the borough. You know that Aisla.." he said her name for the first time ever and let it roll off his tongue. "And you know? That's alright, we've got your back and you got ours.. that's all we need to know.."
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Post by Fighter Mallory on Nov 13, 2009 0:34:41 GMT -5
Fighter took the smoke a small smirk on her lips, she knew the way he was and she'd always appreciated his honesty. It had always reminded her of Conlon's warning. She knew he had been looking out for his own and she could never bring herself to disagree with him, even on this. At his words Fighter looked up and smirked just a bit, "Always been that way, never change." She knew that and she knew her friends knew that, but at the same time they were her friends for a reason. They didn't demand answers and they took her at face value. She appreciated that beyond words.
Slowly Fight turned her head and took a deep drag. Turning her body so she had one leg on either side of the ledge and was facing Zeke she looked up and studied him closely. "Always appreicated that."
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