Things we lost to the flames

[dreamkid]

WHO: Reggie and Matthew
WHERE: De Chima
WHEN: Current!
WHAT: Matthew and Reggie stumble into some shimmer fallout
WARNINGS: language, people gettin hit, mentions of death

[ De Chima is still putting itself back together in some ways, following the shimmer disaster, but the porter works again and there are still plenty of places for two hungry teenagers to load up on ridiculous amount of food. They've done that, no problem, and now it's time to head back to the Meadows for some unstructured hangout time.

Matthew, true to form, is laughing at whatever thing Reggie said last and getting ready to open the driver's side door of his bright yellow mini coop when a rock smashes into the windshield with a loud crack! He yelps and very nearly drops his drink, staring for a split second at the spider web pattern spread across the glass.

He doesn't have time to examine the damage. A voice, the one that goes with the rock, shouts at them with the kind of anger that doesn't care who might be listening: ]

Fucking imPorts!

[ The antagonizer is a young man, scruffy and haggard-looking, his face twisted with fury. He stands a few yards away with fists clenched, not quite yet ready to charge. ]

You think you can just act like nothing happened?

[ Matthew remains frozen, wide-eyed, almost uncomprehending. ]

Comments

[bragnificent]

[ Reggie stares at the rock-smashed window for a good couple of seconds before it really processes that, yes, some dumb fucking idiot is indeed trying to pick a fight. Locals trying to pick fights with imPorts isn't necessarily anything that new, either, but it's not quite as common here in De Chima as it can be in, say, Maurtia Falls-- especially not to this extreme.

It really hasn't been the best couple of months, not for anyone and not for Reggie, so suffice it to say he has an even lower tolerance for taking shit lately than usual. He doesn't care what happened in the Shimmer, especially can't be bothered to give a fuck about what happened to this guy. So, glaring, he picks up the rock and turns toward the attacker. ]

Yeah, how about you get the hell over it? The two of us got better things to do.

[dreamkid]

Get over it?

[ The man lets out a laugh that is anything but humorous, only bitter and unhinged.

Matthew is no stranger to violence. It was his brothers' primary method of communication for a while, them being the only natural sons of their father and inheriting matching hot Irish tempers. Ronan particularly may be gentle as a lamb with Matthew but not everyone gets that treatment. He's seen it before.

That said, he certainly doesn't like it. He has no desire to defend himself, no desire to escalate, no desire to even hold this guy accountable for damaging his beloved car. Right now the entire situation shouts at him to get out, get out of here. ]

Reggie... Let's just go, [ he suggests, his eyes darting to the rock in Reggie's hand. But before he can get in the car, the other man starts to advance, clearly out for blood and not caring whether Reggie has the rock or not. ]

You can fucking go to hell.

[bragnificent]

[ Reggie, too, is no stranger to violence. Normally he doesn't go out of his way to seek it out, but between the kind of person that he is and the kind of people he usually hangs out with, it doesn't always take much for a fight to start regardless.

And if a fight finds Reggie he'll almost always be ready for it, whether he'd been looking for it to begin with or not. Bring it on.

He puts his hand on Matthew's chest, holding him back as Reggie takes a step or two forward. In his other hand is the rock, which he's holding like one might hold a baseball. ]

Just stay there, Matthew. I got this.

[ Maybe he doesn't usually go instigating fights on purpose -- well, fist fights, that is -- but the past month or so, he's certainly been in a constant mood for one.

Reggie raises his middle finger to the man, still standing between him and Matthew. ]

You first, bro.

[dreamkid]

Don't-- [ Matthew tries again as Reggie pushes him back, making a weak attempt to grab his friend's arm. But he's not quick enough, and the hand disappears from his chest.

The other man, however, doesn't falter or hesitate or give Reggie time to put away his gesture. He yells wordlessly and throws his whole body into a swing with complete disregard for his own self; he obviously doesn't care how this turns out for him as long as he can end it with bloody knuckles.

Matthew's seen it before. Maybe Reggie thinks he wanted to leave because he's nervous about the fighting, but that's wrong. Niall Lynch taught Matthew to box same as Ronan and Declan, and he learned not to be scared of a punch a long time ago.

It's the depth of emotion that's makes him want to get out of here (or rather, the depth of an emotion that isn't devotion or happiness.) He doesn't fully understand the mix of fury and despair, not in the way of someone who has felt it themselves, but he's seen it before, in Ronan, and he doesn't think they should be fighting this person.

It's a little late for that though. ]

[bragnificent]

[ Even if Reggie doesn't seem to acknowledge it, he hears Matthew's protest all the same-- that "Don't" at his side, even if Reggie can't look over just now to show he heard it. Even if he can't exactly listen to it just now, either.

It's not that Reggie lacks empathy. He doesn't, not really, but he doesn't connect with it quite as easily as many others do. Not only because he's so self-involved, which always comes much more easily, but because it also takes a level of conscious willingness to understand and sympathize with others, with their feelings or their pain, that Reggie usually has very little interest in doing.

Sometimes, like for others, it happens on its own. When it doesn't, though, Reggie doesn't see why he'd go out of his way; he couldn't care less about this man who he doesn't know, about his losses that Reggie also doesn't know (the details or the people) from an incident he had nothing to do with causing. All he does care about is that this is interfering with his day. Bothering Matthew, bothering him. Why the fuck should he be sympathetic to that?

The punch connects with Reggie's face and sends him back a step, but he's not backing down; he moves back against the momentum of that hit, swinging one of his own and, after it lands, lifting his leg to kick the guy in the stomach and ideally knock him to the ground. ]

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew doesn't hold it against Reggie. He knows people who can't walk away from a fight and frankly, Matthew is used to his input being completely ignored or overridden when it comes to any kind of meaningful conflict. He's starting to expect it, to believe that's just how things are.

It doesn't feel great (quite the opposite, in fact), but he doesn't blame anyone for it, and he winces when Reggie gets hit.

This guy is not a fighter, though. His punch is sloppy enough but he doesn't know how to avoid or take a hit either. The kick connects and takes all the air out of him, dropping him to the ground.

Matthew doesn't hesitate this time; the moment the man goes down Matthew jumps forward, throwing his arm across Reggie's chest and attempting to urge him back to the car. ]

Okay, now let's go, [ he tries again, always trying even he's already failed a couple times. The other guy isn't done either. He's already struggling to get back up, using the time Matthew has unintentionally bought for him. ]

ImPorts-- [ He wheezes a little. ] Must be nice! You can die and come back, die and come back-- you don't give a shit about anything, do you? Not even when we lose people for real?

[bragnificent]

[ Scowling, Reggie wipes the line of blood dripping from his split lip -- cut by his teeth, not the force of the hit -- with the back of his hand, ready to launch himself forward again when Matthew steps between them.

Heaving breath, Reggie looks from Matthew to the man on the ground, half listening to Matthew's request for them to leave and half focused on the man trying to stand. He gets it, he does, but some things you can't just lie back and take-- it's important to let dipshits like this know they can't just get away with messing with people. Some people will stand up for themselves. Fight back, as necessary.

It doesn't matter if the guy has valid reason to be upset or not. He started the fight, and for Reggie, that crap doesn't fly. ]

In a second, Matthew.

[ He moves around Matthew just so he can give the guy a couple kicks while he's still down, then circles back around, apparently satisified. ]

Okay. Now we can go.