#SORRY IF THE QUALITY SUCKS i made the canvas too big without realizing...

[kalashnikovlobotomy]

a hotel murder mystery with the most woefully unprepared people leading the investigations

[the-fixation-zone]

HELLO EVERYONE, below is the 6th chapter of The Boys Crack Open A Cold One and It’s an Underground Crime Organization!! sorry it’s been so long, life happened. there will be another break between this chapter and chapter 7 as i’m going to be (trying) to do NaNoWriMo! this chapter was, as usual, co-written with @queenspinoodle​ and illustrated by my co-writer. we learn a lil more about the boys in this one! comments, reblogs, etc appreciated :) 

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Zucchini is in a far corner of the campgrounds, practicing his bending forms in an attempt to ground himself. His usual tight control is shot to hell and, in this emotional state, he’s not sure if he can control the fire that’s begging to spark from his fingertips. He’d thought being as far away from anyone else was best. As he goes through the moves all he can think to himself is, what is Sock’s problem now?? 

Sock, having spent most of the late afternoon searching for Zucchini, finally finds him in his secluded spot. He can read the tension in the lines of Zucchini’s body as he goes through his bending forms, but he approaches anyway, stopping at a safe distance and standing awkwardly. After a few moments of watching, he speaks. 

"...Hey."

Zucchini, caught off guard, whirls around and snaps, “What?” When he realizes it’s Sock, he eases out of the fighting stance his body had automatically adopted and says, a bit gentler, “Oh. Hi.”

Sock takes a step back when Zucchini snaps at him but quickly regains his composure. He’s here for a reason and he can’t lose sight of it. "Um… my sister kind of hates you now."

Zucchini snorts. “No kidding. I don’t think she had a very high opinion of me before, anyway.”

"You have to understand that from her perspective, she was supporting me. She only knows you as the guy who's always picking fights.” Sock squares his shoulders, readying himself to defend his sister.

“Sock, I honestly don’t care what Katt thinks of me. If she wants to hate me, fine. She has her reasons.” Zucchini shrugs. He really couldn’t care less about Katt. “What I want to know is what you think about what we’re doing. Did you take her side because it was easier, or because you really think we should help get that graffiti artist arrested?” He stares hard at Sock, feeling annoyance rise in his chest.

"I don't know, there was a lot going on," Sock tries to explain. "I never realized how different our morals could be, or our cultures."

“And now?” Zucchini presses, “with nothing else going on, what do you think now?”

"I think…" Sock pauses, picking his words carefully. "I think we need to talk about it. Talk about everything."

Zucchini lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “Okay. Okay, yeah, I think you’re right. We need to make sure we’re on the same page, rather than assuming we are and jumping in.”

Sock sits down on the ground, settling in. "First things first: what is a punishable crime in your opinion?"

“Physically harming innocent people,” Zucchini answers immediately, sitting down next to Sock. He takes a moment to review what he’d said, then nods, finding it acceptable. “You?”

"That's it?” Sock is surprised by Zucchini’s quick answer, but gives his head a shake and pushes on. “Okay, um, I feel the same way about that. Um, I guess it all comes down to respecting people and their property. In my opinion, nobody should do anything to anyone or their property without permission.” He pauses, thinks that over. “Well… in some cases it's okay, like if someone's starving and they steal some food, I guess."

“Hmm.” Zucchini takes a moment to think. “I wouldn’t say that what I said is all I think should be punishable, but it’s the top one. I can understand wanting to respect people’s property but, like you said, there’s a big grey area in there. Can we, or anyone, really judge people without knowing their circumstances?” Zucchini puts his hands down on the soft grass behind him, leaning back on his arms and looking up at the sky. “I hadn’t thought about it until we fought the Fanned Fiend. You taught me that sometimes we don’t see the full picture. I think it’s the same with this graffiti artist. Like, they’re using their city as a canvas. Sure, the canvas doesn’t technically belong to them, but there’s probably a reason why they’re not doing it at home. With art of such high quality there has to be a reason they’re resorting to back alley wall art. Right?”

"I honestly don’t know." And Sock doesn’t. It’s not something he’d thought about before and, even after the argument between Katt and Zucchini earlier in the day, he’d been too caught up looking for Zucchini to give the issue much attention. 

“Neither do I. But I want to. Do you?”

"Do I want to know why they’re painting on buildings?"

Zucchini rolls his head to face Sock, giving him a side eye. “Yes, Sock.” "I guess, but it’s not like we can find them to ask." Sock wants to point out the reason they didn’t know, but holds back. 

“Why not? Hasn’t the plan been to find them anyway? Sure, we didn’t end up gathering info today, but we can always go back. What’s stopping us from asking them once we find them?” Zucchini levels a confused look at Sock. “It’s literally one extra step, similar to what we did with the Fanned Fiend.”

"If you really want to."

“I do. Do you? You don’t sound very...into the idea.”

"I mean, I don't really care about this guy's reasoning," Sock says, "but if you do, then we can go find him!"

“...Fine, that’ll have to be good enough. I didn’t particularly care about the Fanned Fiend’s reasoning, but you’re the one who made me see it mattered. Maybe you’ll have a change of heart, too.” Zucchini looks to the sky and observes the setting sun. “Let’s head out first thing tomorrow and see what we can find out.”

Sock nods. "Okay." He sits silently for a moment. "So, cultural differences."

“Right.” "Where exactly are you from?"

Zucchini’s mouth tightens, then he seems to force himself to relax. “I’m from...a city, quite a few miles east of here. It’s called Titania, if you’ve heard of that?” "Maybe? Is it a big city?"

“Pretty big, yeah. It’s surrounded by smaller towns, but Titania is the main city. People travel there to work and exchange goods.”

"I think I’ve heard of it before. Is Kurray one of the towns near it?"

“Yeah, I’ve never gotten to go, but I’ve heard it’s pretty nice.”

Sock nods. "It's okay." 

“And you?”

Sock considers how to explain where he’s from. Most people don’t know much about the two southern tribes, so he keeps it simple. "I'm from the South."

Zucchini gets a far off look in his eye for a moment before snapping back. “Oh, like past the mountains? Which town? There’s only, like...two, right?”

"Well… they're not exactly towns. They're tribes. I'm from the southernmost tribe."

“Oh, right, sorry. Been a while since my map studies…” Zucchini shakes his head, seeming a little disappointed in himself. “That’s a long ways away. It’s the Makaroon Tribe right? How’d you find yourself all the way up here?”

"Our land was invaded and we had to leave. Katt and I got separated from the group. We've been traveling by ourselves since then. Well, before we joined the circus."

Zucchini goes still when Sock says “invaded”. “Invaded...by whom?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't know who exactly, but they were northern soldiers."

“I see.” Zucchini clears his throat. “So, what was it like down there? I’ve only read about it in books and, uh, they weren’t very...reliable.”

"Cold."

Zucchini snorts. “Yeah, I knew that much. We’re supposed to be exchanging cultural information, right? I’m going to need a little more than that.”

"Alright, let's see…" Sock thinks about what to share. "We hunt for most of our food. We eat a lot of sea animals, so we have boats and stuff."

“Cool, cool. We’re pretty much landlocked with some rivers passing through, so the only time I’ve been on a boat big enough for the sea was when I came out here. The ocean is...beautiful. What was it like growing up near it?”

"It was pretty great, in my opinion. I did almost drown once, though."

“Really? What happened?” Zucchini turns to look at Sock, fascinated. 

"I fell through the ice while playing with the other kids. It was really scary because I couldn't find where I had fallen through once I was in the water. Our father saved me just in time." Sock smiles as he remembers what happened next. "After he got me out, one of the other hunters came over and asked if I saw any seals down there."

Zucchini snickers. “And did you?”

"Nah, and even if there were any I was too busy trying to not die to notice."

“That is...entirely fair. That sounds terrifying, honestly.”

Sock shrugs. "You learn to laugh those things off. You gotta have a sense of humor if you're gonna live in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth."

“Yeah, I can see that. Living in the city, I didn’t have too many near death experiences like that...well. There was one time I nearly fell off a five story roof.” Zucchini chuckles to himself. “Honestly though that was incredibly stupid and not a common occurrence.” 

"What were you doing that high up?"

“Oh, you know, exploring. Seeing the sights, getting out of the house. That sort of thing.” Zucchini says this with a straight face but at the last moment he breaks into a grin.

"Sounds safe!" Sock jokes. "You said you had studied maps. Was that on your own, or a part of your schooling?"

“A bit of both. I had a tutor growing up who made sure I knew as much about the outside world as possible. It sucked at first but, after a while, I started studying on my own. Once I’d learned all I could from books, I...I wanted to get out there. To see it, with my own  eyes. So, uh, here I am. Seeing it.”

"Oh… I see. So you had your own tutor, huh? You must have been rich!" Zucchini’s right eye twitches. “Yeah, something like that.” He shrugs. “It wasn’t all that great, really.”

Sock nods. Clearly a sensitive subject, got it. "I'm mostly self-taught." “Oh? What did you choose to study?”

"Whatever I could get my hands on. I'm currently reading about geometry." Zucchini makes a face. “Not really my favorite subject but, if you want, I think I’ve got a couple books on it back in my tent I could lend you.”

"Would you? That's really generous, thank you!"

Zucchini blushes and looks away. “Like I said, geometry isn’t really my thing. It’s no trouble. Keep ‘em as long as you like.”

"Where did you get geometry books, anyway? I haven't been able to find too many books on math at the library."

“Brought ‘em from home.” Zucchini shrugs awkwardly. “I guess I thought they’d be...useful. They haven’t been, really, except for now.”

"Well, if you have any other textbooks you don't want, you can always give them to me! I'm always ready to learn a new subject!"

Zucchini gives him a soft smile. “Right. Sure, I’ll dig through my trunk and see what I’ve got.”

Sock realizes they have gotten a little off topic. "So are we going after violent criminals only then?"

“They seem to be what we agree on. So, for now, I think that’d be a good idea. I just…” Zucchini hesitates, as if weighing his words, before ploughing on. “I just feel bad, you know? I wish there was something we could do for the people who’ve turned to a life of crime because they have no choice. Some way to...to fix their circumstances, or something.” He shakes his head as if to clear it. “But, honestly, that’s way beyond us right now. Forget I said anything.”

Sock gently pats Zucchini’s shoulder, wanting to broadcast support.

"Sock! Come eat your dinner!" Katt's voice rings out from somewhere in camp.

Sock turns his head toward her voice. "Well, I guess I better get going." He gets up. 

“Alright.” Zucchini stays on the ground. “See you later. I can get you those books after dinner.”

"Thanks. You can just leave them outside of my tent. See you tomorrow!" With that, Sock heads back into camp. “That went surprisingly well.”