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pjo-hoo-nextgen · 7 years ago

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The First Quest X

Andy attempted to gain some knowledge as to why Maria and Jaxon were no longer on speaking terms, but not many people knew what had happened.

“I don’t get it,” Andy huffed, resting his chin on his hand. “They always fight but this is different.”

“Wrench,” Sol held out her hand expectantly and Andy placed the tool in her grip.

“If anything they’d have fixed it by now.” He paused in thought for a moment, tapping his fingers against his chin.

“Maybe they just need time apart.” Sol suggested making an unusual attempt at conversation.

“They hardly touch one another with an eight foot pole. They have plenty of time apart.” Andy laughed. Sol hummed in reply and settled her goggles back on her face. “I mean the bickering gets old but the silence is just...uncomfortable.”

“Some people have odd ways of doing things.” The motor Sol was working on gave a small attempt to start before fizzling out. “Crap. I swore I fixed it.”

“Try jiggling the knobby thing.” Andy pointed at a protrusion on the machine.

“That’s not what it’s called,” Andy noticed the small smile on her face and couldn’t help but sit up a bit taller. She took his advice anyways and sure enough the engine gave a mighty sputter before maintaining a low hum. “Yes! Finally!”

“Great! Now you can put it on the motorized dummy track for the training arena!” Andy hopped up from the stool he’d been sitting on.

“That’s the plan.” Sol nodded, moving to turn off the device. With a satisfied nod she tugged off her goggles and gloves.

“You got a little something.” Andy gestured to his own nose indicating the spot where Sol had a fair amount of grease plastered on her face.

“Again?” With a grunt of frustration Sol used the hem of her shirt to scrub at her face. The grease only smeared further over her nose and cheeks.

“Don’t do that!” Andy laughed. “You got it everywhere!”

“Ugh! I hate my life!” Sol huffed.

“Sit down. I got this.” Andy offered her the stool. Sitting, Sol watched him curiously until he came back with a squirt bottle, a surprisingly clean rag, and a mirror. “I will be your stylist today. I was trained in the art of beauty!”

With an impish grin Andy did a clumsy spin and struck a pose, spinning the bottle on his finger as if it were a ring of car keys.

“I hate you.”

“I know.” Andy winked. “Now let the master work.”

Sol sat perfectly still as Andy worked at cleaning away the stubborn residue. She’d had experiences like this before and her skin was often left red and raw from the rough material. This time, however, it was different. Andy managed to perform the task with ease being surprisingly gentle.

“Aaaaaaand, done.” He declared. “Take a look babe.”

Andy held up the mirror for Sol to check her reflection. “Not bad Grace.”

“Clean as a whistle.” Andy nodded. “Like I said...I’m the master.”

“Of dorkiness.” Sol scoffed tossing the dirtied rag at him.

“My feelings.” Andy feigned offense. “Anyways, we have a game of capture the flag to prepare for.”

“Indeed.” Sol nodded. “I have a feeling this will be very interesting.”

— — —

Indeed it was. Maria and Jaxon were inevitably on the same team once more. Only this time, Grey was left trying to manage the forces.

Maria and Jaxon had both adopted personal agendas and didn’t bother to acknowledge the rest of their team.

“Okay, so...I’m on defense. This is cool.” Andy talked to himself as he paced beside the flag.

“What’d you expect? We got our moment of glory last time. The other kids were destined to have a shot.” Sol frowned sitting on a rock and sharpening her blade. “But the schedule goes Wednesday-Friday for Capture the Flag games. We get another shot soon enough.”

“Yeah, but I expected more entertainment.” Andy paused in his pacing to kick a rock into the trees. At first neither of them noticed it but then it became quiet clear.

There was a commotion going on at the center of the battlefield. From the sound of it nearly everyone had stopped to watch. “Okay, I know we have to guard this but-“

“Come on.” Sol was already running in the direction of the noise with Andy following hot on her heels. The two stumbled from the woods to find a very alarming sight.

“Oh my Gods they’re trying to kill each other.” Andy breathed.

Despite being on the same team Jaxon and Maria were locked in a heated duel. Maria had a score to settle and she intended on restoring some of her pride.

Sol was the first to do anything. Being small she managed to worm her way through the gathered crowd. Andy squeezed his way through with a bit more effort.

“I said go to the right.” Jaxon growled.

“What I do is not up to you.” Maria replied slashing at him with her sword. Jaxon stepped to the side and lashed out in return. Maria arched her blade behind her back ending the strike. “You made it quite clear.”

Spinning Maria slashed angrily at Jaxon’s ankles. Leaping he twisted in the air sending a blast of air far more violent than he should have. Maria was knocked to the side, she tumbled a bit, before coming to a rest.

“Jaxon what are you doing?!” Andy demanded latching onto his brother’s arm.

Maria crawled to her feet, rolledher shoulders, and gave a twirl of her sword; a challenge.

“Enough. Both of you.” Grey stepped between the two raging demigods. “Knock it off.”

“Step aside Grey.” Maria’s voice was full of authority, dripping with the power only a true leader could muster.

“Make me.” The eldest boy raised his chin in defiance.

“Sorry.” Maria gave him an apologetic look before charging at Jaxon and using her elbow to nudge Grey aside. Jaxon shoved Andy away, who stumbled back into the crowd of people.

Sol’s anger flared up and despite herself her arms ignited in bright orange fire. Jaxon made another strike but Sol deflected the blade and caught hold of the weapon. The blade sizzled before the gold began to melt.

Jaxon looked down in surprise before it dawned on him that Sol was ruining his father’s blade. He’d just gotten it back from Thia via Hermes’ messenger friends: wind nymphs. Now, Sol was melting the gold into a bubbling puddle. On instinct he reacted.

Sol was blasted back into Maria causing both girls to collapse on the ground. There was the sound of a painful snap and a cry of pain.

“What is the meaning of this?” The demand came from Chiron who had finally made his way to the commotion.

Jaxon looked with teary eyes at the ruined heirloom in his hand. He had grown up using the blade, dreamed of smiting enemies as dangerous as his father had. It was gone now. Ruined.

Grey knelt beside Sol and Maria. “Are you two alright?”

“Ugh, yeah.” Maria mumbled rubbing her head. She glanced over at Sol only to find the young girl crying and nursing her very broken wrist. “Oh Gods.”

She wasn’t the only one to notice the injury. Grey’s eyes widened and he moved to help her. Andy flew into a rage. He tackled his brother to the ground despite his smaller stature and let his fists fly.

“What is wrong with you? Huh?” His fists stung painfully. “You can’t hurt people like that!”

“Stop!” Jaxon held his arms up to protect his face. “Andy, stop!”

The younger boy was thrown off with a buck of Jaxon’s hips. Jaxon wrapped his arms around Andy holding him still.

“Get off of me!” Andy yelled, squirming violently.

The commotion ended only when each of the demigods was dragged to the infirmary.

— — —

“I have no idea what’s gotten into all of you but you need to figure it out.” Jason stood with his arms crossed looking at each of the kids who sat nursing injuries. Grey was the only one completely unscathed.

“You cannot go around trying to kill each other! That’s not okay!” Annabeth who had also been selected to give the lecture pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I didn’t do anything.” Andy protested.

“You pummeled your brother.” Jason glowered. Andy opened his mouth to reply but Jason held up a hand. “Andy Clay Grace, do not argue.”

“So what’s the punishment?” Grey asked glumly.

“You’re all staying here until you sort it out. No leaving or going home.” Jason determined.

“That’s not fair!” Maria cried.

“Some of you can go home, Grey, Sol. You are both allowed to leave.” Neither of them made a move. “Or you can stay here if you wish.”

“Figure it out.” Annabeth shrugged. “It’s that simple. There’s no unity in anything if infighting this bad exists.”

— — —

And so they were left there to solve their problems. Maria selected her own little corner of the infirmary and claimed it her own. Jaxon did the same.

“Let me see it.” Grey knelt in front of the bed Sol sat on and gently took her bandaged wrist. “It should heal relatively well, maybe a bit of physical therapy will be needed, and no forge for some time.”

“Your dad said all of that already.” Sol mumbled. Sniffling she wiped her nose on her sleeve.

“Well, I learned from the best.” Grey stood and ruffled her hair. “I’ll be back. I’m going to get cleaned up.”

“Was it wrong to punch him?” Sol startled at Andy’s remark. He’d been so quiet she had hardly noticed him there.

“Yeah.” Sol nodded. Andy’s head was bowed and his bottom lip began to tremble.

“I just got mad. I didn’t mean to hurt him that bad but-I don’t like him when he’s like this.” Andy hardly cried and so Sol was left with a brief moment of surprise. She wasn’t sure what to do. She’d never been the best at comforting someone.

“Hey, don’t cry.” Sol gave a light punch to his arm with her good hand. “People mess up.”

“Yeah, but a good brother doesn’t punch his sibling.” Andy sniffled.

“A good brother also doesn’t push his sibling.” Sol slung her arm around Andy’s shoulders. He didn’t say anything else after resting his head on her shoulder. She let him cry and pretended not to notice for his sake.

— — —

Jaxon sat staring at the deformed blade. He couldn’t believe it. He wanted to cry. With an angered grunt he chucked it across the room where it clattered to the floor. “Stupid.”

Maria glanced in his direction and felt a tiny amount of sympathy for him. She did know how much the weapon meant to him. “Your dad won’t be mad you know.”

“Yeah right.” Jaxon huffed.

“He’s not that big of an ass.” Maria noted dryly. The conversation ended quickly and the infirmary was bathed in a permanent silence. Slowly the demigods began to drift off to sleep and the silence would remain until the morning.

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hihowareyawrites · 7 years ago

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Young God - Ch 3

Cross Posted from my AO3

Guzma/Reader, 18+ (this chapter is SFW)

Summary: yet another guzma/reader story where you make him your new roommate and learn about his edgy past while becoming closer. spoilers for ultra sumo i guess since it's after the rainbow rocket arc and that's mentioned a few times.

The trainer across from you recalled his final Pokemon, a fairly powerful Tauros, and you were declared the victor. Maintaining your champion title could be exhausting, but it was satisfying. The past few days your schedule consisted of taking on however many had made it through the elite 4 that day, after waking up and spending a little time with Guzma, when he was awake. Sometimes, you found that he seemed like he could sleep forever, like he was exhausted from just being awake. And sometimes, you woke up to find he was and had already been awake, like he hadn't slept at all and the dark circles under his eyes grew darker. You'd make breakfast for the both of you sometimes, you knew how he took his eggs, and how much he disliked milk, or that he definitely preferred waffles to pancakes.

At night, you would bring home malasadas on your way back from work, and you would watch TV for a while and talk about the people you both knew that you saw on it. Now and again you would find the house just a bit cleaner, and smiled at the idea of Guzma doing anything domestic; your room was always left untouched however. If you didn't know better, you'd say the past few days had become comfortable for you, and you enjoyed the routine you had. You sort of wished it could just stay that way forever. Not that your mom was poor company, but it was nice having someone your own age there- someone you were actively creating a bond with.

You shook the hand of the trainer you defeated, congratulating him on his hard work and reassuring him you enjoyed your battle. When he'd left, you noticed Kukui arrive shortly after. “Hey there Cuz', how you doin?”

“Hi, Professor. I'm well, how are you?”

“Not too shabby. But you should feel a lot better than well! Do you know that was your 100th straight win in defending your title? That's something to be proud of!” He seemed excited for you even. You couldn't believe it had really been that long, had you really beat that many people? You were impressed with even yourself. “And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Really, we might not have made such a successful league if not for you. So, I'm not givin' you a choice, come down to old Hala's tomorrow night, were going to celebrate your success!”

You were a bit taken aback and their appreciation of you, but were happy nonetheless. “Oh, that's so thoughtful of you, I'd love to.”

“Well I wasn't gonna let you say no anyway. And hey, I invited Lillie, Gladion and Hau, they're excited to see you again.” You hadn't seen your friends in some time, and were excited to see how they'd been and what's changed in their lives. “Say about 6 or so, we'll see you there?”

“You got it!” He nodded and turned to leave with his hands in his coat pockets then stopped.

“By the way, why don't you bring Guzma along? I'm sure he could do with some socialization.” You froze, was this his way of saying he knew about your situation? Not that you were ashamed to be friends with Guzma, and it's not like you had some love affair you had to keep secret. Who you saw, romantically or otherwise, was your business after all. Kukui turned to you. “I heard you've been helping my pal out, he's not such a bad guy, especially without that Team Skull nonsense. I'm sure you'll re-acclimate him to society.” He flashed you a signature grin before making his exit. You breathed a heavy sigh of relief, glad that Kukui wasn't here to judge you. Then again, he and Guzma were childhood friends, you were glad that he hadn't lost faith in his friend after so long.

You were excited to get home and tell Guzma that you'd be going to Hala's celebration for you, and that he was invited. Even though he didn't show it, you could tell that his self esteem suffered further when people treated him like the plague. You hoped knowing he was wanted and welcome would make him feel better.

Carrying your malasadas in you found Guzma giving his Golisopod pokebeans as it preformed various tricks. You bore witness to its attempt to do what you assumed was the signature Team Skull pose but was uncertain how to with so many arms. Guzma laughed at it and gave it a bean anyway. “If I had any uniforms left you'd definitely pull it off.” The bug Pokemon munched on the bean in his hand quickly but perked its head when it noticed you softly close the door behind you. It hurried over to you to greet you. Golisopod had become fond of you quickly, and you soon realized that much like it's trainer, it only appeared intimidating. It nuzzled you affectionately and chirped.

“I'm glad to see you too.” The large bug Pokemon stepped aside and you watched Guzma drop onto your couch and prop a leg on your table. You'd criticize his manners if you didn't find this completely predictable of him.

“Welcome back.” So he did have some manners after all. “ 'Nother successful day of defending your title?” You smiled and sat beside him, handing him a malasada.

“Thats right, so successful in fact, they're having a party in my honor.” You gave him a wide smile. You had become disillusioned with it before, but your excitement for competing had returned. “Tomorrow night.” Guzma tore a small piece of the bread in his hand and offered it to Golisopod, who ate it delicately in his palm.

“That's exciting, guess you won't be throwin' any matches anytime soon.”

“Yeah, I got my work cut out for me.” You took a bite of your own and debated how to invite him.

“Guess I'm fendin' for myself tomorrow.” He patted Golispod's head affectionately. You swallowed your bite and leaned towards him a bit.

“What are you talking about? Of course you're coming with me.” He made a noise of both appall and surprise.

“Are you crazy? Ain't no way I'm goin' to no party, you can count me out.” He took a bite of the malasada and turned his nose to the air. You wondered if he really didn't want to go.

“Come on, it'll be fun. Hau, Lillie and Gladion will be there, and Kukui even said you're invited. You'll have a great time, I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you.” That was maybe a bit of a lie, but you didn't think people would be unhappy to see him. He swallowed hard.

“Uh, in case you forgot, I ain't got a great reputation around here, 'less you forgot why I'm at your place to begin with.” You could tell that even though he was acting as though he didn't want to go, he was more worried about the possible rejection from others if he did. Truly beyond his exterior, he really was a lot more sensitive than you or anyone else had given him credit for. You contemplated for a moment, then smiled at him again.

“If you go with me, they can't possibly say anything. The guest of the guest of honor is special too, right? It'll work out fine.” You realized you were just short of asking him to go as your date, but you wouldn't be too embarrassed if he was. “Just come on my arm, and you'll be safe.” You gave him a thumbs up and he seemed embarrassed at the idea of literally being on your arm.

“I'll think about it.” That was better than nothing. With that you had given him the ok to consider it and finished your malasada, telling him you would be back in a bit after you made something hot to drink. Carrying in two cups of tapu cocoa, you found he looked rather serious when you came back, finger at his chin and eyes narrowed, but not looking at anything in particular. You set the cup down in front of him gently and he seemed to notice it but his expression remained unchanged. “Hey... Lusamine, she's not gonna be there is she?”

You hadn't thought of that. Lusamine and Guzma had an... interesting relationship, to say the least. “I don't think so, she's probably busy. Why, do you not want to see her? You seemed pretty determined to save her a while back, I thought maybe you were friends.” The corner of his mouth twitched and he looked sort of uncomfortable.

“It ain't that. It's true back then she acknowledged I was strong or capable or whatever, but she didn't really.” He reached for the hot mug on the table, seemingly uncaring to how hot the cup was in his hand. “I wanted to save her to return the favor, but that don't mean I wanna see her again, at least not now. I felt real used by her.” His grip on the cup tightened and for a moment you thought it would shatter right in his hand. His control of his anger was a drastic improvement from the past, but you could tell if you argued with him that might not be the case.

“It's good you recognize that at least...” You looked at your own cup on the table, watched the steam rise from it. “I didn't really know what kind of relationship you had with her,” you laughed light heartedly. “here I thought maybe she was a cougar or something.” He whipped to look at you so fast some of the hot liquid splashed onto his hand and he hurriedly set the cup back down on the table to shake his slightly burnt fingers. Back then you really had thought their relationship was more intimate, but it had become pretty clear she didn't see him that way, and more so like someone she could just push around to do her dirty work. You felt bad he was being manipulated, but he was able to come out of it mostly unscathed, and you were glad for that.

“She ain't my type.” He stated, opening and closing his fist to test the feeling. “I mean, sure she's hot n all, but that tall leggy look ain't for me.” You felt a little victorious, that maybe you could win him over with your shorter feminine frame. “I sorta had other feelins' round then, but definitely not towards her.” You felt shy to think about it, but part of you wished he would look at you that way, with admiration. Whomever it was his feelings had been towards, you thought them lucky.

“Well, I don't think you need to worry about that. She wont be there, I'll bet on it.” He smirked.

“You got yourself a deal then. I'll hit it up.” He seemed hesitant but reached for the now much cooler cup and took a sip from it. “Gotta make my grand re-entrance sometime.” You smiled at him confidently.

“I'm glad you're starting to see things my way.” He raised an eyebrow at your confident beam and leaned in to look you in the eye, in his signature way.

“Do I get the privilege of actually walkin' in on your arm or were you bluffin?” You felt your cheeks heat up at the limited proximity and his implication, you swallowed and forced yourself to make eye contact with his gray eyes. That really would send a message to your friends, the champion of Alola walking in literally arm in arm with the former leader of Team Skull, but part of you wondered if he was actually gutsy enough to do it.

“Y-yeah I mean, if that's what you want, I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you.” You held out your arm to him. “We can even practice, go on.” He seemed almost surprised at your answer and pulled away.

“Don't need no practice, save it for tomorrow night babe.” You retracted your arm and laughed softly, thinking you called his bluff. “Ain't it late for you? Normally you get to bed round this hour don't you?” He motioned to your analog clock, showing it was around 10 PM.

“Jeeze, I'm not old I can stay up later... I just normally have to get up early. But I should get to bed if I wanna get stuff done before the party...” You stood up and offered to take his now empty mug along with your own, and he obliged. “Get some rest, tomorrow you get to meet the outside world again.”

“You don't gotta tell me twice.” You rinsed the cups and walked to your room. In the hallway, you stopped as you opened your door, and said 'goodnight' under your breath, knowing it wasn't loud enough for him to hear you.

#pokemon #guzma #guzma/reader #yg

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fortune-failing · 7 years ago

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Can't Sink What Hasn't Sailed Part VII

"If you react like this when I kill someone then you've conviced me that you don't like me for me but instead like who you think you can change me into being and that thought disgusts me" Except Aneris Doesn't Say That And Insteads Broods And Deflects Every Question Zarek Asks

(After session 74. At night.)

Aneris

Despite what some might expect, Aneris was not currently located in or behind any bar or tavern, and instead was still in the isolated part of town where Loan had a tearful heart-to-heart just earlier in the night. She had found a bench and currently had her feet where butts belong and butt where heads belong, with Nicol perched on the top on the bench next to her. Every now and then one would look at the other but neither said anything.

Zarek

After walking for a while through town in the direction London had pointed to, and checking a tavern or two, Zarek spotted a figure sitting on a bench not in the way anyone else would actually sit there. The fact the figure was purple and black only made it way easier to notice it was Aneris. He approached her. "Hey, having fun outside?" He gave her a worried look instead of the appropriate sarcastic one he would usually have with such a greeting.

Aneris

As Zarek approached Aneris looks up from a white knife she had been turning over in her hands. She meets his eyes as he speaks. "You came all the way out here, to ask that?" She responds coldly.

Zarek

"Oh, how did you know?" Zarek smiled before dropping the act. "Of course I didn't, I came here to find you."

Aneris

"Well here I am, you found me." She waves a hand in the air for a moment despite her tone remaining unchanged. "Is that it then? Are you done?"

Zarek

"Do you want me to go away already?" He said in an almost mocking tone. Did he even need to ask?

Aneris

"Now there's an idea." Aneris perks up a little. Hadn't she been burdened with enough interaction for one day?

Zarek

Instead, he sat down on a side of the bench. "Are you going back to the inn later?"

Aneris

Aneris scowls, he wasn't good at following directions, was he? "Does that really matter?"

Zarek

"Hmm." He looks up. "I mean I don't doubt you can manage a night out, I'm more worried about the reason for it."

Aneris

"Well don't be. It's annoying." She continues to be curt for no god damn reason at all.

Zarek

"Maybe it is. Anything else you're upset about?"

Aneris

:donglong: "I didn't tell you to follow me out here." Aneris dodges any attempts at therapy hour.

Zarek

"Well, if I followed you I would have gotten here sooner, don't you think?" It was tough not to be equally as difficult as she was being.

Aneris

Aneris glares. "You know what I meant."

Zarek

"Yeah I do. And I'm also sure you're upset about other stuff too." He stretched his arms upwards and let one of them rest behind the bench.

Aneris

"What are you expecting to get out of this Zarek? Are you hoping that if we sit down and talk then suddenly everyone is going to get along perfectly and hold hands and skip our way to the Red Keep where we ask them to let the girl go pretty please?"

Zarek

"W-what?" Zarek was equally as surprised as he was amused. What kind of exaggeration was this? Was it supposed to prove a point?? "Not really, 'everyone' is too big of a goal, and 'perfectly' is an unrealistic wish. Are you that opposed to talking something out?"

Aneris

"I'm opposed to having my time wasted." Says the woman who was previously sitting alone in the dark, twiddingly her thu . . . knives. But maybe if she avoiding answering questions long enough he'd leave and she could go back to doing nothing.

Zarek

"Right, I forgot you have a very busy schedule and tight sleep hours. My bad."

Aneris

Aneris sighs. "Are you not going to leave until you're satisfied?" What does he even want from her, can't he see she's brooding?

Zarek

"Sure. Would that actually make you talk or will you try to stall me until I pass out?"

Aneris

Wow, thats a good idea actually. "Guess we'll have to find out, won't we." Aneris hopes that Zarek is greatful that there can't possible be anyone more difficult than her in his life

Zarek

"Stubborn, aren't we? Are you not accepting apologies tonight then?"

Aneris

Aneris thinks back to London's apology earlier in the night and her expression somehow found room to sour more. "Words are cheap." She mutters and looks away

Zarek

"You're upset because of a few words though, aren't you?" He looked at her this time.

Aneris

Aneris glares at a poor undeserving tree far off in the distance. It takes her a bit longer to construct her half-responce half-evasion this time. "It's possible they contributed. . . . . . . " she trails off, glaring even harder, but after a moment it becomes clear thats all she decided to say.

Zarek

"Then, was there something else that upset you before that?" He asked in a more worried tone. But he was almost sure there wasn't.

Aneris

Was it the tone of his voice, or the fact that he asked that made her doubt why she was upset? Either way it didn't matter, the result was Aneris getting more defensive. She grips the knife tighter in her hands as she starts to realize that there's no way she can think to answer his question without hurting her pride. She keeps quiet and just silently glares away from Zarek. It's too shameful to say her feelings were hurt, she's not a little bitch she can't say that. Saying she got irritated because of everyone bickering isn't much better though. She has a reputation to maintain.

Zarek

"You know, a cold 'yes' would have been a better way to stall this than keeping silent." He sighed. Going from cold indifferent responses to total silence wasn't the reaction he really wanted though. "Now it just made me more confident that it was just what I said alone."

Aneris

Fuck. Aneris isnt even sure if he arrived at the wrong conclusion or not, but at least he decided on something before she could. "Fine, you upset me, are you happy now?"Did she even answer a question? As long as she says something its fine right? It'll distract him from trying to make any observations about her for a minute. "You're just as bad as London, is that what you want to hear?" She singles London out but actually everyone pissed her off today.

Zarek

"Just as bad as London, huh?" So a escapegoat to vent all her anger towards to? That didn't sound too bad honestly. He sighed. "I don't think that was exactly what I wanted to hear. I wanted a bit more detail on how did it upset you I guess. I mean, maybe I went too far."

Aneris

She finally looks back at him. Why is it so much easier to speak when she's pissed? Talking about feelings is considered for half a second before Aneris rightfully squashes the thought. "Do you really need details? You said something and it worked. It doesn't seem like you need any more ammo. You were upset too right? What's with all this focus on me."

Zarek

"I don't need more ammo. Geez, you'd think you'd already know leaving stuff unresolved isn't good. That's a fair point though, we can start this talking about how I got upset if you want." Though it will still mostly be talking about her.

Aneris

"Sure, do that instead." Was that unresolved comment another attack at her? Whatever, as long as the subject of the conversation is moving away from her she could start to relax again.

Zarek

"Hmm, I guess I was irritated at how you kept ignoring what I said." He tilts his head upwards to look at the night sky as he continues. "Most of that stuff really didn't seem worth your time or effort I guess."

Aneris

"I'm the one who gets to decided whether something's worth my time or not. And if you don't want to get ignored you should at least offer a reason to listen." This all seems like Zarek problems. It's good to know that nothing is ever Aneris' fault.

Zarek

"I guess I should trust your judgement on that. Someone who comes all the way out here to sit on a bench and stare into space must have a good sense of how to use their time." He sighs. It's the most difficult thing to be nice when all of Aneris' answers are like this. "So, do you take actual reasons to listen? Or do you discard and avoid anything you don't like?"

Aneris

"I wasn't staring into space." She points the knife in her hand at Zarek as she corrects him. "I made a knife." She flips the knife away from him again and goes back to twirling it in her hands. "You asked me not to kill your brother if we ran into him, that was a solid reason, but I can't believe that you had a good reason to hold back on the orcs."

Zarek

Zarek swallows upon hearing this, that one favor was still important to him. "There was no reason to hold back while we were fighting them." He sighs. Was it even worth saying that battles end after a side is defeated?

Aneris

"Then why were you so upset? Would you really have been happier knowing they were still out there, going right back to doing what they were before they picked a fight with us?"

Zarek

"I guess not but... are you going to tell me you got rid of them to protect future tiefling children? Or did you do it because you wanted to see how it would be to blighttouch someone until they died?" He looked back at her.

Aneris

She doesn't look away. "You want an honest answer for that?"

Zarek

"Yeah." He doesn't break eye contact either. It would be incredible if he actually got an honest answer.

Aneris

The faintest smile appears as she responds. "The tieflings had almost nothing to do with it, but it wasn't all curiosity either. I was irritated and killing them made me feel better. The method wasn't important, even if seeing the blight get him was another layer of satisfaction." She tilts her head as if she had to decide on something on the spot. "If you want to dumb it down, I did it because I could, and frankly, no one can argue they weren't asking for it. Is that honest enough for you?"

Zarek

"Yeah, I'm glad to hear the honest reason for it. So... You were irritated and decided to take it out on someone weaker to make you feel better." He got up from the bench "It's hard to say nobody can argue when the guy had already surrendered anyway. I guess after the conversation we had a few days ago I hoped you wouldn't do this kind of shit... That's all."

Aneris

The smile drops and her eyes narrow "Frame it however you want Zarek, when you draw a weapon on someone you don't get to complain about what might happen to you afterwards." "Oh and before you go, you might want to rethink whatever watered-down idealized bastardization of me exists in your mind. I don't need you building up hopes for me around some delusion you might believe in." what the fuck does he think he's talking about 'this kind of shit'. Aneris seems to be done with cold and switches hard into bitter.

Zarek

Zarek turns back to look at her. "Watered-down bastardization? Come on. If I had such an image of you I wouldn't be frustrated, I would be surprised. But nothing you did was completely unexpected." He clicked his tongue. "I thought being at the other end of someone who used violence on whoever he could without a bigger motive would make you think twice about doing it again. But I bet you're too much of an hypocrite to put two and two together, aren't you?" God, this really wasn't what he came to say at all.

Aneris

Ah, she's mad. Aneris raises her voice as she goes on "Yeah 'you thought', there's your problem. You say you don't have deluded expections for me, but in the same breathe start making up 'lessons' I'm supposed to be learning from things. For fucks sake, and you're calling me the hypocrite."

Zarek

"I guess having any kind of expectations at all was a problem, and yeah I'm calling you an hypocrite! Obviously thinking you can learn a lesson or something similar was a mistake when you're the less self-aware person I know!" He clenched his teeth. "I bet even when you're behaving like a completely open book you're the only one who has no idea about how you act!" He almost felt like he was running out of breath as he raised his voice against her.

Aneris

"Hey here's a lesson I learned, just for you." She makes no attempt to hold back the sarcasm. "I was stupid for thinking it'd be okay to trust you. Guess we both had the wrong idea about each other all along, what a coincidence. Hey how am I doing I'm going to need some feedback, cause I have no idea right?"

Zarek

Zarek gave her an angry smile in return. "That's pretty good actually, I prefer that you yell at me if I upset you instead of isolating yourself in the middle of the night while avoiding people!" Then clenched his fists.

Aneris

"If people piss me off whats wrong with avoiding them?" she lowers her voice again. Not allowed to kill annoying people, not allowed to take leisurly walks at night. What's a girl to do. "Or are you just worried if I'm left alone I might head back into the woods and finish the job."

Zarek

"I'm not worried about what you might go do to a group of criminals in a forest right now." He replied, still a bit more intense than he should be. "What I was worried about is knowing you were out here upset or hurt because of the shit I said."

Aneris

"Ohh? But you were so concerned about me taking my aggression out on those weaker than me just a minute ago." Her voice matches his intensity and she latchs on to any fight she can, a rebel without a cause. "And even if I was a little hurt, don't get so self-centered and assumed that's the whole reason I came out here." Wait what was the main reason she came out here. Aneris briefly considers the fact that she doesnt know anymore.

Zarek

"Oh, so you closed the door on my face and left without a word but the fact I upset you and you wanted to avoid me wasn't the reason you came all the way out here? I'm curious now, what's the real reason you left then." Zarek looked at her waiting for an answer but held back on giving any kind of smug expressions, instead looking more serious about it.

Aneris

ah . . . . fuck she did lock him out of the room earlier. Her volume lowers again. "I just wanted a walk . . . . . London was up to something suspicious so I got distract and ended up out here is all." Aneris impresses even herself with the lengths she'll go to to avoid admitting something.

Zarek

"A walk?" The way Aneris changed her way of answering only made Zarek more confident in what he was saying. "London came back to the inn a good while ago, are you telling me he distracted you so much you've been sitting around here instead of continuing your walk?"

Aneris

"Well he pisses me off a lot too, it's only natural I would get distraced" wow she's not even lying, London did actually distract her walk

Zarek

"Isn't it more natural you'd avoid him too instead of getting distracted? 'if people piss you off what's wrong with avoiding them?'" Zarek sighs. "Nevermind about London, why are you even bringing him up in your excuse..?" Did she think this was more convincing?

Aneris

'I was hoping if I followed him he'd fall down a cliff and I could watch' ah shit, can't say that probably. "I'm a really bad judge of character, he had seemed less completly awful lately." She mutters answering the easier question. "You know I've spent a lot of my life out wandering at night, it's not really weird if I want to take a walk everynow and then." Holy shit how does Zarek deal with her

Zarek

Less awful lately, huh? It was kind of weird how they really started getting along better.....again... For like the third time. Maybe it wasn't that weird. "I'll give you that wanting to take a walk isn't weird. But wanting to take one just because... right when you're feeling upset and hurt? You either haven't connected the dots or you really don't want to say it, do you?" Zarek sighs, he didn't look angry anymore, maybe a little tired or a little frustrated, but can anyone blame him?

Aneris

So this is it, an hour of arguing and now she has to admit to either being stupid or having an emotion. "Maybe I don't" she looks away again.

Zarek

"Is there a reason you don't want to say it?" The answer seemed kind of crystal clear though.

Aneris

"Why should I?" Say it? Have a reason? She offers no clue to what she's actually responding to that cunt

Zarek

"What, are you afraid something bad will happen if you actually admit it?" On the other hand, Zarek also offers more questions instead of answers.

Aneris

What an unfortunate line of questioning. "I stand nothing to gain from admiting things, it's just a waste of time. . . ."

Zarek

"Does it waste more time than avoiding it with more questions?"

Aneris

"Yes."

Zarek

Zarek has to hold himself back from taking a deep breath. "Seriously? You don't really gain anything by avoiding this stuff, do you?"

Aneris

"Well I almost gained a nice relaxing walk through town." Maybe if Aneris had some of that self-reflection Zarek mentioned earlier she could ask herself why she was pushing back so much.

Zarek

"Saying 'almost' really is as good as saying 'I didnt'. I mean, if we're mentioning 'what-ifs' if you told me stuff at the inn and went for a walk I wouldn't come to interrupt it."

Aneris

"So if I told you that you pissed me off and I didn't want to look at you I could be living it up and relaxing right now?"

Zarek

"Yeah! Just tell me directly why did I upset you and why you don't want to look at me and I'll give you all the time alone you want!"

Aneris

Aneris wonders if Zarek knows he's asking for a lot. "Well for starters you overreacting to how I choose to handle things is really annoying. I don't need someone trying to hold me back. And I don't need you comparing me to Ladon like you know either of us." Anti hits enter without proofreading her reply because honestly Aneris is trash and it's Zareks problem now

Zarek

Zarek takes a deep breath. "Thanks. I'll try not to be so overbearing and I'll avoid comparing you to 'people I don't really know', that was a pretty shitty thing to do anyway." He starts to head out and yawns. "In any case, I'm sorry for bothering you on your... walk, and getting so riled up. I just wanted to apologize for being insensitive earlier. Goodnight."

Aneris

She stares at him, not really sure of much of anything at the moment then hops down off the bench. "Yeah well see that it doesn't happen again." She reverts to her cold demeanor from earlier as she sticks her arm out and retrieves Nicol from the bench and turns to leave in the other direction.

Zarek

Instead of giving her a reply he just waves his hand as he walks away. Maybe he should get another room tonight. But then again Aneris doesn't really need sleep, and probably won't want to come back, after all, she loves walking at night. It's not worth the money.

#c: zarek #c: aneris

0 notes

apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

Text

The Secret to Guiding a Faster Marathon? Slow Down

As part of WIREDs exclusive look at Breaking2, Nikes revolutionary attempt to break the two-hour marathon mark, our writer is using the same training regime, apparel, and expertise as Nikes three elite athletes—including Olympic gold medalist Eliud Kipchoge—to try to achieve his own personal milestone: a sub-90-minute half-marathon. This is the second in a series of monthly updates on his progress.

On Wednesday, January 26, I ran 10 kilometers through a forest in Kaptagat, Kenya, with Eliud Kipchoge, a few of his friends, and some of the scientists from Nikes Breaking2 project. It was 4 pm and still blazing hot. We were at 8,000 feet of altitude. The atmosphere was jovial. Philemon Rono, a relentlessly cheerful athlete known to his friends as askari kidogu—Small Police—cracked jokes at my expense for at least the first 20 minutes. To be sure, little could have been funnier than me, a very hot 6-foot-5 British man, sweating next to Rono, 5 feet 31/2 inches of pure runner.

All of a sudden, our curious-looking gang went quiet. Having lost a couple of hard-breathing scientists on the way out, casualties to the altitude, we turned around at halfway. For a brief period, with the sun muffled by an avenue of dense trees, nobody in the group said a thing. The pace gently increased from around 5 minutes per kilometer to a little north of 4:40 per kilometer. All you could hear was the hi-hat beat of sneakers on dust and the straining bellows of an outsized mzungu attempting to hang with the Olympic marathon champion.

At a dusty athletics track, Kipchoge and crew run 12 repetitions of 1,200 meters at roughly world-record pace for the marathon.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

It was during this period that I reflected upon the happy fact that I was not dead. Kipchoge has run whole marathons almost twice as fast as we were moving at that moment. Why had he chosen not to crank up the pace? Why hadnt he killed us? Kipchoge is polite to a fault. Was he simply humoring his guests? When we returned to his training camp, another possibility emerged. This was a recovery run, and Kipchoge really does take his recovery runs that slowly. The data the Nike science team analyzed from his GPS watch shows that the kind of run he had done with us was exactly the kind of run he would have done anyway.

The thought remained with me. The previous day, at a dusty athletics track, Id watched Kipchoge and his training group run 12 repetitions of 1,200 meters at roughly world-record pace for the marathon. (Kipchoge later told me it was an 80 percent session—hard but not crazy.) The day after our jog in Kaptagat, Id watch the same group scorch 40 kilometers—or 25 miles, nearly a whole marathon—in 2 hours, 17 minutes. That, too, was real work. But on the Wednesday in between two intense days, Kipchoge had ambled his way to 20 easy kilometers, jogging in the morning and evening. Meanwhile, at his camp—a simple plot next to fields with cows, containing two tin-roofed bungalows, with no running water and long-drop toilets—he and his friends had spent their non-running time performing chores, listening to the radio, sleeping, and drinking gallons of sweet, milky tea.

I knew Kipchoge was fast. I didnt understand how slow he could be. This, I thought, might be a moment to learn something.

The runners rinsing off the dust kicked up from their training session.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

Stress vs. Rest

A few weeks earlier, I had been training at Paddington Recreation Ground, in London, just starting on a set of mile repetitions, when I felt a little pop in my left calf. I ground to a halt. The injury was frustrating, to say the least. Id been training hard and had been making progress. My times were coming down, my fitness was improving, I felt light. And now—out of nowhere—a setback.

But then I thought: Cowboy up. The leg didnt feel so bad. I rested for a couple of days, then tried out the calf on a short jog. After two days of decent training—a glorious progression run, each kilometer faster than the last, with my friend Pete the Trumpet, plus a great track session—I felt that little pop again and once more stopped dead. I was about 3 miles from home, with no money in my pocket. It was freezing cold. The walk back seemed to take forever.

The Nike team begged me to rest properly. I saw a physiotherapist named Matt Fox, who has worked at Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers football clubs and has seen more than his share of injured calf muscles. He thought the strain was most likely a grade 1 tear of my soleus. He also counseled inactivity. You can either rest properly now, or you can turn a one-week injury into a six-week injury, he said. Foxes are smart, I knew.

During my eight days off, I rethought other aspects of my training. Perhaps Id injured myself because I was working too hard. In addition to five or six runs, many of which were intense, I was also training at CrossFit twice a week—throwing weights around, jumping on boxes, and so on. The CrossFit had been excellent for me but, with the running, I was exhausted. Eventually, something was going to give. Eventually, it did.

The author recovering from the early morning run.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

The data that the scientists had collected on me also altered my thinking. Nike has recently contracted a garrulous Chicago physician named Phil Skiba, who has trained many elite endurance athletes, to work on Breaking2. Skiba has developed algorithms that accurately measure and predict training loads. He is particularly interested by fatigue, and the balance between what he calls the positive and negative effects of training. In particular, Skiba uses athletes training data to predict when, before a race, they should begin their taper—that is, to progressively decrease their volume of training so that they arrive on race day fresh and fast.

Every athlete has a different taper point. Some people need only a few days. Some people need weeks. The variations are explained both by differences in workload and by our physiological differences. Some athletes simply recover quicker from hard training than others, in ways that geneticists and physiologists are still trying to fully understand. Skibas data, however, is precise. He and the Breaking2 crew believe that Kipchoges taper may have started a day or two late before his previous marathons and that he would have benefitted from around a week of rest rather than his normal five days.

Kipchoge, center, and other runners from the camp on their way to a training session.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

Whether its worth shifting Kipchoge from his normal patterns for this one race is a concern among the Breaking2 team, especiallybecause routine is psychologically important to athletes. But their analysis shows how a data-augmented approach might yield benefits even for the greatest runners. (As for Lelisa Desisa, another of the three elite runners contesting Breaking2, the Nike scientists believe his taper may be a few days too long.) In my case, based on how Ive reacted to my training load so far, they believe I should taper for 21 days. 21 days! Clearly, I am more in need of rest than the average lummox.

Slowly by Slowly

Back to Kenya. Watching Kipchoges group at work, I saw that they never did two intense days back to back; they were always committed to developing their fitness, in the Kenyan parlance, slowly by slowly. Patrick Sang, Kipchoges coach and a formidable presence in the athletes life, explained to me the basis of this philosophy as he stood at the side of the track with a stopwatch in his hand and his red-and-black hoodie fastened tightly around his head. Our conversation had begun when I asked Sang why Kipchoges group were doing a 12 x 1,200-meter session on that day.

Sang said this session was to build speed-endurance—the ability to maintain a high speed for a long time. But if you thought about only one workout, you missed the point. The idea of a training program, Sang told me, was to improve every aspect of a runner. The approach was holistic. If you scheduled a speed-endurance session for a Tuesday, you needed to make sure that the following day would be light, so that the guys had time to recover before the Thursday long run. Friday would again be light, before a different kind of speed workout on Saturday. Sunday was a day of rest. A good day of training was worth little on its own, but a good month was worth plenty. Slowly by slowly, the athletes shape came. Every session is a building block, Sang said.

Patrick Sang, Kipchoges longtime coach and a proponent of the slowly by slowly training philosophy.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

Valentijn Trouw, Kipchoges Dutch manager, told me something else interesting: He thought Kipchoge never killed himself in training. The only day on which he would drain every resource he possessed was on race day. Never 100 percent in any session, Trouw said. Thats the philosophy. This approach made sense to Skiba. The time to open up a can of whup-ass is on race day, he told me. Otherwise, you risk leaving your best performance in training, where nobody sees it.

Slowly by slowly is not a mantra that lends itself to hard-charging Western approaches to fitness. How often do we hear that only hard work brings rewards—that the more you put in, the more you get out? Also, many average Western athletes, like me, do so much of their training at a consistent pace. Theres not enough variation or rest in their schedules. The Kenyans, particularly those in Sangs group, are more sophisticated in their approach. Ive never seen more-committed athletes, in any sport, anywhere in the world. But they also know it would be crazy to grind themselves into the dust.

On my last day in Kenya, I was talking to Geoffrey Kamworor, a runner with a wide gap-toothed smile and an easy manner that masks a profound belief in his own talents. As a runner, everything about him is purposeful. In training, he leans into bends with his shoulder, kicking up dust behind him, like a young bull on the charge. In competitions, he is fearless. Now in his mid-twenties, he is the reigning world half-marathon champion and the world cross-country champion. He also won a silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

Kipchoge and his team enjoy a post-training tea.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

When I asked him what tips he could give to a mzungu attempting to break 90 minutes for the half-marathon, his first thought was to get a good pacemaker. He offered his services. If you want 4:20 [minutes per kilometer], thats no problem, I will bring a newspaper, he said, a bright smile on his face. If you want 2:50 [minutes per kilometer; 2-hour-marathon pace] thats also no problem.

He then became more serious and gave me some real advice.

Work hard, he said. But not every day.

I wrote that one down.

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viralhottopics · 8 years ago

Text

The Secret to Running a Faster Marathon? Slow Down

At a dusty athletics track, Kipchoge and crew run 12 repetitions of 1,200 meters at roughly world-record pace for the marathon.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

I knew Kipchoge was fast. I didnt understand how slow he could be. This, I thought, might be a moment to learn something.

The runners rinsing off the dust kicked up from their training session.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

Stress vs. Rest

The author recovering from the early morning run.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

Kipchoge, center, and other runners from the camp on their way to a training session.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

Slowly by Slowly

Patrick Sang, Kipchoges longtime coach and a proponent of the slowly by slowly training philosophy.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

Kipchoge and his team enjoy a post-training tea.Cait Oppermann for WIRED

He then became more serious and gave me some real advice.

Work hard, he said. But not every day.

I wrote that one down.