Pomegranate 7 & Papaya 9
Author: Casey
Story: Nothing is Ever Easy universe, Post NIEE
Challenges: Papaya 9 (I've got my eye on you), Pomegranate 7 (sore loser)
Toppings & Extras: Caramel, Sprinkles, Hot Fudge, Malt (Summer Challenge 2010: Bunnies 37: heroics by accident), Cookie Crumbs (of the Mal brownie (link coming later))
Word Count: 1,331
Rating: PG/PG-13 for violence
Summary: Ted had no idea how screwed he was the day he met Malcolm Rees.
Notes: Last summer challenge piece except the few TRs that Marina has yet to post *meaningful look*
Ted first met Malcolm in truly unusual circumstances. At least, unusual for the young man, not so unusual for Ted. Stone pushed the battered, too thin young man forward. “This is Malcolm. He’s here to help us practice.”
“Malcolm what?” Ted asked. He knew he had things to learn. He wouldn’t be here otherwise, but he also knew Victor’s style - he and Marie were alike: Beat up who you don’t like and keep doing so until they caved. Ted had been in the slaving business long enough to know that that method didn’t always work with those you needed to break. Therefore, he had developed his own methods, more suited to his personality.
“Excuse me?”
“What’s his last name? What’s your last name?” he said, turning to his intended victim.
The young man hadn’t taken his eyes off Ted. Ted had read it, accurately he was fairly sure, as a summary dismissal of Stone and a fear of Marie. “Rees, sir. It’s Captain Malcolm Rees, officially.”
“There, that wasn’t so hard.”
“Satisfied?” Stone asked.
Ted smirked to himself. Knowing Malcolm’s name only allowed for a greater potential of digging under his skin and having something to fight him with besides standard pain. “I find that it’s as important to know something about them as it is to hurt them,” Ted said with a wide smile, deciding to defer for the moment. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stone. I don’t mean to interfere, but one of the things I’d like to accomplish here is to integrate what I already know with what I don’t.”
**
Color me impressed, Ted thought at the fact that Malcolm was still standing steadily on his own two feet when they finished. Stone had all but allowed Marie full free reign on the young captain and yet he never flinched, taking the beating in high style. For a moment, Ted was glad that Malcolm Rees was not one of his. This would not be an easy man to break. Victor had his hands full here.
“Let us adjourn to discuss what we’ve covered today and talk more about how to integrate your interests. Mr. Clancy, ma’am?”
Ted clapped Malcolm on the shoulder, amused when the young man swayed dangerously. “We could use more help tomorrow. Another body to practice on.”
“I can do that, sir,” Malcolm said.
Ted’s eyebrows shot up. He was volunteering one of his fellow prisoners without a second thought. Either things at this compound were worse than he knew, Victor more scary, or else Malcolm was protecting someone. He eyed the young man again and decided on the latter. Pride all but radiated off their current punching bag. “Can you? That would be wonderful, Malcolm.”
“Your escort is waiting just outside the building, Malcolm. It is time for you to leave.”
Ted watched him go and decided a reappraisal was needed.
**
“Mal?”
“It’s Malcolm,” the young captain said flatly, eyes still sharp and flashing, even after a week of routinely being smacked around and mentally assaulted, not to mention whatever Victor had been doing to their psyches and physical shape for the previous year.
“But Mal has such a better ring to it. It feels more personal.”
“Exactly why you will not be using it,” Malcolm growled, shaking out of Stone’s grab at him. “Piss off,” he told Victor’s man.
Stone’s expression darkened but Ted waved him off. “I thought perhaps since we were so intimately acquainted. Riley uses it.”
“Riley is my friend,” Malcolm said slowly, like Ted might misunderstand. “You are not. Thus, he gets to use it and you don’t.”
“Still.”
“Fine. If you call me Mal, I get to call you Teddy.”
That gave Ted sharp pause and he frowned. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
“Rees,” Stone said sharply.
Malcolm ignored him, which Ted figured was no easy feat considering Mal had to know what the future repercussions of this act of disobedience would be. He kept his gaze pinned on Ted. “Do we have a deal or not?”
Marie stood back, waiting for Ted’s signal one way or another while Riley watched this all with nervous surprise.
“Deal. I’ll continue to call you Malcolm.”
“Thank you.”
As Malcolm and Riley headed back out to the pen that evening, Ted watched them go, unable to help his surprise. Malcolm, in one easy step, had totally checkmated him. Although he obviously could have still called him Mal and just let Marie at him every time he called him Teddy, the annoyance wouldn’t have been worth the satisfaction of seeing Malcolm squirm, especially with the hardy nature of the young man.
“Well, damn,” he muttered.
**
In many ways, Ted was shocked that Malcolm managed to make it another week before he snapped. After their conversation over names, Stone had been ruthless, at the man’s throat constantly, pushing him and pushing him. Malcolm ignored him over and over and then bam, the fist to the nose came as no surprise.
With a single gesture, Ted indicated to Marie to grab Riley before he could go to Malcolm’s aid, but otherwise he stood back as the young man released quite a bit of his pent up energy and anger into Stone’s face before the guards came rushing in to subdue him. All he said was a brief, terse order to Riley to leave it alone, even if Marie’s grip held the lieutenant fast.
At lunch, Victor asked, a bit accusatorily why he had stood by and Ted shrugged. “Malcolm’s one of the most unusual people I’ve ever had the chance to meet, even with all the people who come through my compound. His ability to resist digs indicates he most likely a younger sibling and him snapping indicates quite a bit too, although I haven’t quite been able to figure out what. I thought perhaps watching how exactly he reacted to the snap might tell me something.”
Victor frowned. “Did it?”
“Yes,” Ted said, leaning back with a satisfied smile. “It did. I think Marie and I need to get back to our own jobs. I do hope you didn’t kill young Malcolm.”
Although he seemed slightly unhappy with Ted’s unwillingness to say more, Victor snorted. “Of course not. I will definitely agree with you that Malcolm’s an interesting person and I look forward to breaking him slowly and steadily.”
“Please, let me know what finally does it, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course,” Victor said with a regal inclination of his head.
**
He met Malcolm again, completely by chance, two years later. Although he heard that a small group of the Tiran soldiers Victor had held had escaped, he had not heard either way about Malcolm in particular. Therefore, it surprised the heck out of him, at first, to run into him in his own compound.
Little had changed in Malcolm over the previous two years, which meant Victor had not gotten as close as he might have wanted. He still held his head up defiantly, acted decidedly unafraid and fought off all of Ted’s best efforts to subdue him.
In the final insanity, the two of them came face-to-face as equals for the first time and Ted knew, almost instinctively, that he was in trouble. “I know where Victor is,” he said, glad his voice came out level.
That paused Malcolm for a moment, although his grip on the sword he’d found somewhere never loosened for an instant. “What if I don’t want to know?”
Ted let out a laugh. “Of course you want to know. He killed three-fourths of your people and I suspect made you do a few of them once you ended up in command.”
“Victor’s in my past.”
“Do you honestly think he’ll stay there?”
“If he ever comes near me again, I will kill him,” Malcolm said and then actually smiled. “Even if I wanted to know, it wouldn’t be worth it to allow you to continue you destroying innocent lives.”
Ted brought his sword up. “So be it.”
Story: Nothing is Ever Easy universe, Post NIEE
Challenges: Papaya 9 (I've got my eye on you), Pomegranate 7 (sore loser)
Toppings & Extras: Caramel, Sprinkles, Hot Fudge, Malt (Summer Challenge 2010: Bunnies 37: heroics by accident), Cookie Crumbs (of the Mal brownie (link coming later))
Word Count: 1,331
Rating: PG/PG-13 for violence
Summary: Ted had no idea how screwed he was the day he met Malcolm Rees.
Notes: Last summer challenge piece except the few TRs that Marina has yet to post *meaningful look*
Ted first met Malcolm in truly unusual circumstances. At least, unusual for the young man, not so unusual for Ted. Stone pushed the battered, too thin young man forward. “This is Malcolm. He’s here to help us practice.”
“Malcolm what?” Ted asked. He knew he had things to learn. He wouldn’t be here otherwise, but he also knew Victor’s style - he and Marie were alike: Beat up who you don’t like and keep doing so until they caved. Ted had been in the slaving business long enough to know that that method didn’t always work with those you needed to break. Therefore, he had developed his own methods, more suited to his personality.
“Excuse me?”
“What’s his last name? What’s your last name?” he said, turning to his intended victim.
The young man hadn’t taken his eyes off Ted. Ted had read it, accurately he was fairly sure, as a summary dismissal of Stone and a fear of Marie. “Rees, sir. It’s Captain Malcolm Rees, officially.”
“There, that wasn’t so hard.”
“Satisfied?” Stone asked.
Ted smirked to himself. Knowing Malcolm’s name only allowed for a greater potential of digging under his skin and having something to fight him with besides standard pain. “I find that it’s as important to know something about them as it is to hurt them,” Ted said with a wide smile, deciding to defer for the moment. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stone. I don’t mean to interfere, but one of the things I’d like to accomplish here is to integrate what I already know with what I don’t.”
**
Color me impressed, Ted thought at the fact that Malcolm was still standing steadily on his own two feet when they finished. Stone had all but allowed Marie full free reign on the young captain and yet he never flinched, taking the beating in high style. For a moment, Ted was glad that Malcolm Rees was not one of his. This would not be an easy man to break. Victor had his hands full here.
“Let us adjourn to discuss what we’ve covered today and talk more about how to integrate your interests. Mr. Clancy, ma’am?”
Ted clapped Malcolm on the shoulder, amused when the young man swayed dangerously. “We could use more help tomorrow. Another body to practice on.”
“I can do that, sir,” Malcolm said.
Ted’s eyebrows shot up. He was volunteering one of his fellow prisoners without a second thought. Either things at this compound were worse than he knew, Victor more scary, or else Malcolm was protecting someone. He eyed the young man again and decided on the latter. Pride all but radiated off their current punching bag. “Can you? That would be wonderful, Malcolm.”
“Your escort is waiting just outside the building, Malcolm. It is time for you to leave.”
Ted watched him go and decided a reappraisal was needed.
**
“Mal?”
“It’s Malcolm,” the young captain said flatly, eyes still sharp and flashing, even after a week of routinely being smacked around and mentally assaulted, not to mention whatever Victor had been doing to their psyches and physical shape for the previous year.
“But Mal has such a better ring to it. It feels more personal.”
“Exactly why you will not be using it,” Malcolm growled, shaking out of Stone’s grab at him. “Piss off,” he told Victor’s man.
Stone’s expression darkened but Ted waved him off. “I thought perhaps since we were so intimately acquainted. Riley uses it.”
“Riley is my friend,” Malcolm said slowly, like Ted might misunderstand. “You are not. Thus, he gets to use it and you don’t.”
“Still.”
“Fine. If you call me Mal, I get to call you Teddy.”
That gave Ted sharp pause and he frowned. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
“Rees,” Stone said sharply.
Malcolm ignored him, which Ted figured was no easy feat considering Mal had to know what the future repercussions of this act of disobedience would be. He kept his gaze pinned on Ted. “Do we have a deal or not?”
Marie stood back, waiting for Ted’s signal one way or another while Riley watched this all with nervous surprise.
“Deal. I’ll continue to call you Malcolm.”
“Thank you.”
As Malcolm and Riley headed back out to the pen that evening, Ted watched them go, unable to help his surprise. Malcolm, in one easy step, had totally checkmated him. Although he obviously could have still called him Mal and just let Marie at him every time he called him Teddy, the annoyance wouldn’t have been worth the satisfaction of seeing Malcolm squirm, especially with the hardy nature of the young man.
“Well, damn,” he muttered.
**
In many ways, Ted was shocked that Malcolm managed to make it another week before he snapped. After their conversation over names, Stone had been ruthless, at the man’s throat constantly, pushing him and pushing him. Malcolm ignored him over and over and then bam, the fist to the nose came as no surprise.
With a single gesture, Ted indicated to Marie to grab Riley before he could go to Malcolm’s aid, but otherwise he stood back as the young man released quite a bit of his pent up energy and anger into Stone’s face before the guards came rushing in to subdue him. All he said was a brief, terse order to Riley to leave it alone, even if Marie’s grip held the lieutenant fast.
At lunch, Victor asked, a bit accusatorily why he had stood by and Ted shrugged. “Malcolm’s one of the most unusual people I’ve ever had the chance to meet, even with all the people who come through my compound. His ability to resist digs indicates he most likely a younger sibling and him snapping indicates quite a bit too, although I haven’t quite been able to figure out what. I thought perhaps watching how exactly he reacted to the snap might tell me something.”
Victor frowned. “Did it?”
“Yes,” Ted said, leaning back with a satisfied smile. “It did. I think Marie and I need to get back to our own jobs. I do hope you didn’t kill young Malcolm.”
Although he seemed slightly unhappy with Ted’s unwillingness to say more, Victor snorted. “Of course not. I will definitely agree with you that Malcolm’s an interesting person and I look forward to breaking him slowly and steadily.”
“Please, let me know what finally does it, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course,” Victor said with a regal inclination of his head.
**
He met Malcolm again, completely by chance, two years later. Although he heard that a small group of the Tiran soldiers Victor had held had escaped, he had not heard either way about Malcolm in particular. Therefore, it surprised the heck out of him, at first, to run into him in his own compound.
Little had changed in Malcolm over the previous two years, which meant Victor had not gotten as close as he might have wanted. He still held his head up defiantly, acted decidedly unafraid and fought off all of Ted’s best efforts to subdue him.
In the final insanity, the two of them came face-to-face as equals for the first time and Ted knew, almost instinctively, that he was in trouble. “I know where Victor is,” he said, glad his voice came out level.
That paused Malcolm for a moment, although his grip on the sword he’d found somewhere never loosened for an instant. “What if I don’t want to know?”
Ted let out a laugh. “Of course you want to know. He killed three-fourths of your people and I suspect made you do a few of them once you ended up in command.”
“Victor’s in my past.”
“Do you honestly think he’ll stay there?”
“If he ever comes near me again, I will kill him,” Malcolm said and then actually smiled. “Even if I wanted to know, it wouldn’t be worth it to allow you to continue you destroying innocent lives.”
Ted brought his sword up. “So be it.”