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picaresqve · 6 years

Note

You mentioned someone named Carver in the first story in your writing tag but haven't mentioned him since. Mind expanding on the character?

“Carver. I talk a lot about bein’ done and puttin’ thingsbehind me. ‘Bout puttin’ down my knife and all that blood. But if I ever seethat man again, I’ll fuckin’ skin ‘em alive for what he did to me and mine,mark my words. Still, if you’re asking me to talk about Carver that means you’reasking for me to talk about a lot of stuff that I don’t wanna. To you oranyone. It’s not easy memories to dredge back up and simmer. Spend most daystryin’ to think it never happened, if I’m being honest. But if you’re realabout wanting to hear, then you’re gonna be buyin’ me a few drinks tonight andyou’re not gonna stop until I tell you to.

“We clear? Good.

“First thing’s you gotta know, I guess, is that we hadhistory. See, I knew him long before I met Hadrian and Bosco. ‘Fore it was allof us, it was just me, Rami, and Carver and we wasn’t what one’d call a ‘family’like often times your canting crews like to call themselves. Thieves, knifemen,amusers, blackguards, they got this idea of family, that you’re all bound insomethin’ thicker than blood. But not us. Not then, at least. I mean, ‘ceptRami and I on account of us actually bein’ family, but we saw no relation withCarver, neither blood nor trade, and he kindly liked it that way, too. Morelike associates or partners that had to be for survival reasons and nothingelse. Carver was uh, what you’d call an interesting fella, had interestingideas about the way things worked. The world, its people, that kind of thing.Big ideas in a small, small man. Not small enough, though. Fearless, too. He’dbeen to jail a couple times from what I understood. When he was younger. Thatwas ‘fore he got principled. Before he got them ideas. Now? He’d diebefore he’d let anyone put him in a cell. Take every poor, stupid soul with himwho had a mind to, too.

“See, that’s something you need to understand about Carver: Carverwas mean. Not like a neighbourhood bully or even a debtor, may the divines tearthem apart. No, Carver was meaner than most men I met in the trade, save one,and I won’t talk about that one. I won’t do it. But Carver was the kind of folkwho got some pleasure out of breakin’ other folks. Makin’ ‘em look small. Smallas he felt. Now, he didn’t talk about family much, save his daddy, but I got amind to think his daddy’s where he got all that meanness from. Talked about thesonova bitch like he was the devil himself. Would always say: ‘I ain’t afraidof the devil, I seen that fucker die.’ Way Carver told it that old man of hiswould start to drinkin’ most every night just as he left the tannery and wouldn’tstop until he passed out. Most of them nights he’d beat Carver’s mom pretty bad,too, almost to death. First couple times he got it in his head to try and stophis dad? Well, he didn’t do that no more. Once he was a bit too rough and endedup killing the mom, the bastard. I’d do a lot to have my hands around his father’sneck if the gods were so kind, but I guess they ain’t too kind. It’s a shame ifyou ask me. I’m not makin’ no excuses for that bastard, nor will I if I evercatch him, but you gotta wonder what Carver’d’ve been like if his circumstanceshad been different. I think that about a lot of folks in the trade.

“But so anyways, then Bosco and Hadrian come along, or wecome along to them, depending on how you tell it, and the whole dynamic shifts.We four were thick as they come. True rogues, sentimental folks’d say. Whichdidn’t bother Carver none, of course, he didn’t care if we was suckin’ eachother’s peckers, so long as he didn’t get factored into it, and that worked forall of us just fine too. Another drink. But that also meant that hewas the weak link, and the quickest to break in the trust-department. We had afew, good years all together before that happened, though, and I guess I’mkindly grateful for that. Still reckon they was some of the best years of mylife. I mean, we were still robbing and conning and drugging ourselves black,but it’s a marked improvement when you got folks you actually like doin’ itwith.

“But then, a few years back, it walked into my grave, littlehead to do somethin’ different. We got approached eventually by this company ofstarry-eyed, like, rebels? Yeah, in Ul’dah. Rebels, what a joke. Don’t know anyprofession in the whole damned desert more deadly than bein’ a dreamer. And theseguys had their heads all up in the clouds. Talking about stopping the Ul’dahnwheel and breaking the lords and the ladies. Casting off the yoke. Giving backto the people. You know, that kind of rhetoric you get with people who aretired, but not damned tired enough for their own good. I don’t right know whatI was thinking, honestly, when I said yes. I think I just wanted to dosomething that mattered. To feel like somethin’ had meanin’. Might’ve beendrunk, I don’t know, I wish I could tell you. Might set my mind at ease. There we were, though, just a band of poor fools who knew not what they weredoing and had had a pretty good run thus far and thought: well, if our luck’sthis way, why not? We got cocky. Or I got cocky, and the rest just followed.

“Except Carver. Carver told us straight from the get-go thathe didn’t like that. Oh no, he didn’t like that at all, but you know what hedid like? An opportunity. Tellin’ him was the worst mistake I made in my life.Wish I had just went my separate ways without so much as a ‘good-bye and seeyou later and hope it don’t hit you on the way’ kind of thing, because it’s notlike he was family, but I guess I wasn’t thinkin’ straight. So I tell’s him andhe tells all of us where we can go and he laughs and just leaves. Shot ofwhiskey.

“…”

“Anyways, where was I? Rebels. Opportunity, uh. Oh. Solike, he laughs and walks out and we’re kindly relieved pretty much just asthe door shuts like this whole weight disappears. It felt good. Course, we didn’tknow it then, but that’s when everything started to go bad. The higher you get,the further you fall. Gods, things I would have done differently if I knew thenwhat I know now, but life’s always had this way of sneaking those kinds ofthings up on you. Don’t seem right. Don’t seem fair. I’ll kill Carver, though,mark my words. If that stain yet draws breath. I’ll do it.

“…”

“Sorry, I was just, you know, thinking about stuff. Yeah,yeah I’m alright. Things get fuzzy at this point. We go out the next day,business as usual, haven’t had them rebels contact us yet, said it would be afew days, a think. Maybe a week. Course, we never got back to the house onaccount of some fella who owed me something waylaid us in the street,urgent-like. Said we couldn’t go back to our hole. Said Brass Blades had beenall over it, tearing it apart serious-like. Crawling through the whole lane,knocking on folks’ doors, asking about us. That kind of thing. Brass Bladesdon’t kick up such a fuss over a few sneakthieves so’s it became readily clearto all of us that we’d been fingered out. We knew we had to get out, but Boscowasn’t with us. Fella said they already got him when they busted down the door.Said they had him in iron already and down in the dungeons. It’d been a longtime since I’d felt so powerless. The facts were as they were, though: theUl’dahn dungeon wasn’t some horse-shit jailhouse on the frontier. They had himfor good. Would come out after everything blew over that they’d tortured Boscoand left him to bake in the sun on a rack a few days later. Screaming all day,I’d been told, until his heart finally gave. No one’s got business going thatway. There’s crimes against your fellow man, but then there’s crimes againstyour own soul. Breaks you as much as them. May the gods tear them apart. Send adevil on their children.

“I’m getting off track. Point being, I guess, is that weleft that day, within the hour, with heavy and broken hearts. Had a safe housein a little town on the borderlands. Stole a couple birds and ran for thehorizon, but the horizon never came. The Blades’d been waiting for us to split.We grabbed the birds all right and started ploughing down the desert, but…didn’t help much. We rode hard but they rode harder. Hadrian fell before theday was up, which I guess kindly slowed the fellas down, on account of they hadto figure out what to do with him. I guess they decided the only rational thingto do was to… to mutilate him. Like for fuck sake, how folks get so wrong? Idon’t understand it. He didn’t deserve it. This is a bloody, gods-damnedcountry. Bloods all it knows and it’s all it’ll have. It’s all it deserves andI reckon the only thing to do for it is to just drown the whole thing in all ofit and when it heaves over their heads and washes away, just start over fromscratch. There ain’t no fixin’ this country. I’ll start thanking the twelve andwhatever else there is out there that dictates things when that happens.

“…”

Rain fire on the whole goddamn city. Drag ‘em. Drag ‘em fromtheir homes, scalp them living or dead. Carve out their eyes, just likeHadrian’s. Their tongues. Let them roast in the sun like Bosco. Flay ‘em,s—what? Am I alright? No. No, I ain’t, but you keep the whiskey coming and I’llstay manageable. No, my friend, you don’t get to back out now. Another shot.

“…”

“There we go. Yeah, I’m going to finish it and you won’tlike this next part or me by the end of it but you’ve opened a door. Let mefinish.

“Anyways, they sent a couple others on ahead to catch uswhile they were doin’ their, you know, their thing with my friend. They got separated along the way and Rami and I caught the first by surprisethe next day when he come around a bend. Made quick work of him, but not beforehe told us what they’d been doing with Hadrian back there. Course, all thatmeant was I had different ideas for the second one. She’d just come around thesame bend when her chocobo crashed over a rope line we’d set up and sent herflying from her saddle. The bird ended up all mangled. Broken legs and acracked skull. She landed fine enough, but the way she was breathing youcould tell her ribs were busted up pretty bad. When I came at her she wasmostly limp, started asking me real desperate-like to let her go home, that shehad a husband and a couple little ones, so I busted out her teeth. Not in onepunch. I don’t know how many times I hit her, kind of lost track of myselfthere for a second, but by the end of it she was just sort of gasping andgurgling on and spitting up blood. Held her up so she wouldn’t choke on it.There was a lot of yowlin’ and sobbin’. Most nights I see that face in mydreams. I’ll never atone, nor do I think I deserve it. Yeah. Yeah.’ But so, Ididn’t have to do much else after that because she knew I meant business. Toldme exactly what I needed to know. Told me what I had already figured by thatpoint: Carver had sold us out.

“She never returned home to her family, though. I emptiedher guts out. When I hold a knife I can still feel the shockwaves in my hand. Badstuff, that, but by the time I was done, her gut wasn’t even much of a gut,more like mush. And, of course, Rami had seen the whole thing. She might’ve screamedfor me to stop during the teeth bit or during the stabbing, but I can’tremember, but when I saw her she looked… empty. Like she was seeing through me.Seeing the other person that I had been before this whole thing happened.

“Rest of the ride to the safehouse’d been a quiet one. Oncewe got there we rested up for a day, and while she was sleeping, I left mygoodbye there in a letter and that was that. Stepped out of the house andhaven’t seen her since. Didn’t want her to get any more involved in all thisthan she already was. Plus, figured we’d have better chances if we weren’ttogether.

“This is where the bit about Carver and I havin’ historycomes in. I knew all his little dives and hidey-holes. At the time, I could followthat man for a thousand years and never lose his scent, and I didn’t. Trackedhim to this small town out in the absolute black. Called Castor’s Promise, bythe look of what was left of the sign. Reminded me of those towns you come bynow and again that seem to spring up out of nowhere around a church, thoughthis one didn’t do no springing. There was just the church and, oh, maybe threeor four houses. Think it was four. Maybe three and a store. Store-hopeful.Anyways, it’d been deserted probably for years by then and the buildings wereall falling to pieces, even most of the church. Maybe a prophet had led ‘em outto this place to see the face of God and maybe they did. See the face of God,that is, because they’d all seemed to die quiet, like in some communalfever-dream that took the whole town. Most of them in their beds or chairs.Probably starved.

“Right, so that’s where it went down, though. He shot me, Istabbed him. Stabbed him twice. In the church. We just kind of stumbled aroundafter that, sat in the pews and just kind of stared into the nothingness for awhile. We knew this was it, I think. This was what we had earned: each other. Ithink we both figured we deserved one another and to die next to one another. Poetic,I might have said. Some days I feel a lot like Carver. Like maybe that’s why Ihated him so much, even before he’d went and done what he did. Maybe I saw someugly parts of me in him that I couldn’t be shed of, however hard I tried.Wonder sometimes what Carver’d’ve thought about that. Hm.

“I guess at some point, when I wascoming in and out of darkness, I think, I mean I reckon, I heard him leave. Wetsounds like blood. Still not sure if he yet lives, but I haven’t seen himsince. I closed my eyes that day and expected that it was the last and whendarkness took me, I was ready.

“But then I woke up.

“Where? Oh. Well, that’s a story for another time.”

#ffxiv #ff14 #balmung #miqo'te #seeker of the sun #writing #prompt #cw: violence #cw: crude language #omg someone who read that and wanted to ask about him #thank you so much ;-;#it is the best thank you #also i think i referenced him once after that #in either the phobia or uneasiness prompt answer #small reference tho

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chloe-gayzer · 7 years

Note

Okay could you please write something where Sam can tell that the girls want each other but won't say anything for reasons, so he takes matters into his own hands and like trips Chloe so she falls face first into Nadine's lap and just freezes, and Nadine's all "a bold move, do you plan on getting up?" And Chloe's like "would you punch me if I said no? Cause I really like it here, but I don't wanna get socked in the jaw again."

[[Rightio!]]

Read It on AO3

Sam went for the keys. “I’ll drive,” he stated. Both women were quick to object.

“I–” Chloe started.

“She–” spoke Nadine at the same time.

“–will drive,” they finished. The two gave each other an amused look.

Sam raised an eyebrow, handing the keys off to Chloe. “… Alright. Fine.” He stepped back so they could get on the jeep before him. He followed suit. In the back, of course.

The two seemed… close. But Sam wasn’t sure what was going on between them. Ever since they’d met up again– courtesy of Asav– Chloe had been rather defensive of Nadine. Something had to have happened between them. Chloe wasn’t quick to trust, Sam knew that much. But here she was, partnering up with Nadine, ex-mercenary captain.

There had to be more to it. Absolutely had to be.

Chloe liked women, Sam knew that. But did Nadine?

Was that what it was? They were attracted to each other?

For all Sam knew, they were already together and hiding it from him. He could understand that. They were in India– same sex couples weren’t exactly accepted there.

He’d have to ask Chloe. With a little pressure, she’d tell him.

__________

Sam cornered Chloe on their way to a hotel. Nadine had hung back at the car to make a phone call while Chloe and Sam headed in. Before getting to the desk, he pulled Chloe to the side.

“Hey, uh… Is there something going on between you two?”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “She’s my partner,” came the easy answer.

“No, like… more than that.”

She crossed her arms. “What are you on about?”

He shrugged and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “You ‘nd Nadine. There’s gotta be something there. With the way you act together…”

Chloe frowned. “We’re just partners. And good friends at that.”

Sam rolled his eyes and gave her a knowing look. “Listen, I’ve had good friends before, but we never acted like you two unless we were fucking.”

“Wow. Eloquently put, really. But no, nothing is going on between us.”

“But you’re interested in her,” Sam stated.

Chloe sighed and looked away from him. “And what if I am?”

“Do somethin’ about it! Make a move!” He glanced back towards the hotel door as it opened, but, thankfully, it wasn’t Nadine.

The treasure hunter scoffed and rolled her eyes. “For one, this partnership is pretty new. I don’t really feel like ruining it by trying to seduce her. Second off…” She shrugged. “I don’t actually know if she likes women. So it’s better safe than sorry.”

“Find out,” Sam encouraged. “There’s something there, I can tell!”

Chloe opened her mouth to answer, but the door to the hotel opened again, this time showing Nadine. “Hey, Frazer. Help me with something?”

“Happy to.” She shot Sam a warning glance. “Go book the rooms.”

“Fine, fine.”

Chloe followed Nadine out. Sam headed for the desk, but he was focused on them still.

Hm. Maybe the hotel only had two rooms left, and both were single beds… That could help.

__________

Sam kicked his feet up onto the balcony railing. “I’m just saying. More money that way. A lot more.”

He was seated on the balcony of Nadine and Chloe’s room. By chance, and definitely not by way of a bribed hotel worker, the hotel only had two rooms left! And each only had a single bed! Sam had taken one and left the other to the women. Chloe seemed suspicious, but she didn’t comment out right. It helped that Sam had convinced the worker at the desk to tell the same lie– with the help of some cash.

Nadine rolled her eyes. “No.”

“Still siding with Chloe on this?” He frowned.

She nodded and took a sip of her drink. “It’s important to her, so it’s important to me.”

Sam held his tongue. He might be able to talk to Chloe about what she had with Nadine, but he got the feeling he’d end up with a broken arm if he tried with Nadine. But he could do some scouting for his friend. Chloe might make a move if she knew Nadine liked women.

Nadine and Chloe’s room was on the third floor of the hotel and looked out over a small marketplace. He surveyed the crowd below, a plan formulating in his mind.

“He looks good,” Sam commented, indicating to a man walking below.

Nadine raised an eyebrow, glancing at the man indicated. “If you say so.”

That was a good start. “What, not your type?”

She shrugged.

“Look at him, he’s got a handsome face, nice arms… great ass.”

A huff. “No, he’s not my type.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “An ass like that? He’s everyone’s type.”

Exasperated, she rolled her eyes. “I prefer women.”

Jackpot.

“Ah. What about her then?” He gestured to a woman at a booth below. “I guess she’s…cute.”

The mercenary looked. Another shrug. “She’s not bad.”

“You pick one then.”

“These are people, you know.”

“Yeah, and I’m asking who you find attractive. There are plenty of women down there. Find someone who’s your type.”

Nadine seemed unamused by the statement, but she scanned the crowd. After a moment, she jerked her chin towards a woman at a food stall. “Her, then.”

Sam looked. The woman had dark hair, a pretty face, and was a bit on the taller side. “Not bad,” he said aloud. Internally, he was drawing up the similarities between the stranger on the street and Chloe. It didn’t really matter though– he could tell Chloe that Nadine liked women.

__________

“Hey, quick question, Sam. Can you leave me be?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying.”

“You’re just annoying me.”

Chloe was seated at the table in her and Nadine’s room, looking over the little trinkets and treasures. Nadine had run out to pick up dinner, so of course, Sam was doing his best to convince Chloe to act on the new information he’d gathered.

“Just ask her to dinner. I swear you two are gonna be great.”

Chloe put one hand to her brow. “Can’t you at least let me do things in my own time?”

Sam shrugged. “Do like that crab in that kid’s movie says: kiss the girl.”

She paused, setting down the trinket she’d been holding, and gave him a long look. “Weren’t you… in jail when that came out?”

He shrugged. “You’re avoiding the topic.”

She sighed and gave him an annoyed look. “Listen. She’s lovely. Beautiful, even, but I’d be an idiot to risk our partnership for sex.”

“Then don’t make it just for sex.”

“Why are you so invested in this?”

A huff left Sam and he sat in the other chair. “Couple reasons: you two are, like… eighty percent there already, but you’re acting too dense to see it! And also, it’d be kinda funny to tell Nathan about you two.”

The treasure hunter gave him an annoyed look and turned back to her treasures.

“What, you’re just ignoring me now?”

“Don’t you have your own room to be in?”

The door opened as Sam responded. “Well, yeah, but I’m just trying to get you to see the point.”

“What point?” Nadine asked, setting the takeout on the table.

“He’s trying to convince me that we should sell the tusk again,” Chloe responded smoothly. “I told him to fuck off.”

“Good response.”

“I thought so too.”__________

“How do you feel?” Nadine asked. They’d just handed the Tusk of Ganesh over to the Ministry of Culture and Chloe hadn’t said a word since.

Chloe took a deep breath. “Good, I think.”

“From what you told me, your father would be proud.”

“Thanks, love. I think so too.”

Sam refrained from speaking but took a sip of his drink. They were seated in a small cafe in their outdoor seating. Sam, of course, was still kind of bitter that they hadn’t sold it.

Chloe leaned her elbows onto the table. “Well, I say we get moving.” She pushed herself up and out of her chair.

Sam saw his chance. If he couldn’t convince Chloe to act, then childish antics needed to come into play. He casually jerked his foot out, directly interfering with the step Chloe had been taking out of her chair. Already off balance, she swore and stumbled back, hitting her own chair and, finally, falling towards Nadine. Lucky for her, Nadine had fast reflexes– her arm shot out and caught her partner, half pulling Chloe into her lap.

Sam failed to hide his grin.

Chloe sighed and gave Nadine a smile. “Well, hello, beautiful.”

“Perhaps we should just tell him, preferably before his idiotic antics get you hurt?” Nadine suggested.

He sat up, suddenly interested. “Tell me what?”

Chloe stood up and brushed herself off, smirking. “Oh, I don’t know if you deserve to know.”

Nadine mirrored the expression but sighed. “If he does something that gets you hurt, I’ll rethink that whole "not killing him” you convinced me on.“

"Tell me what?” he said again.

“We’re dating,” Nadine answered.

Sam’s face lit up. “Since when?”

“First night at the hotel,” the treasure hunter responded.

“You didn’t tell me!”

Both women had broad grins. “She wanted to mess with you,” came the answer.

Chloe nodded. “You seemed so invested, I wanted you to think it wouldn’t happen.” She offered a hand to Nadine and pulled her up. After a quick peck on the cheek, she shrugged. “Getting together on our own terms felt better than listening to you go on and on.”

Sam grinned. “Seeing as I’m the reason you shared a hotel room, I’m taking credit.”

“Because you took the other room left at the hotel?”

“Because I bribed the guy to tell you there were only two rooms.”

Chloe rubbed a hand down her face. “Lovely.” A sigh. “Well, darling,” she said to Nadine. “At least you’re worth putting up with him.”

#nadine ross #chloe frazer #chlodine #unchart lost legacy #uncharted #i forgot to tag this hours ago

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