#scribeswhocode

[theforestwarden]

I didn’t know that I was starving (till I tasted you) | Molly & Forest

Flashback depicting the marvelous date between Forest and @scribeswhocode  that happened on 2/14/17 that I know you all want to know about  ;)

“Hey keep them closed Missy” Forest chided as he guided Molly into the apartment his entire body practically buzzing. He’d been so anxious about this night he was running on like 4 hours of sleep, but everything was going so well now that the anxiety had turned into excitement.  “Alright. Now you can open!” He said sweeping his arm out towards the dining room. He’d put everything out just before he left, the completely 100 percent Kosher vegetable lasagne salad and garlic bread all spread on the table, next to the beautiful center piece of tiny christmas lights and  flowers and from one of the plants in his room.

More than anything else, ​Molly​ had spent the majority of the day stressing about what to wear. After receiving the message from Forest and then receiving his gifts, Molly had left work early to head straight home and try to pick out her outfit before deciding nothing was right and going out to buy an entirely new one. She felt like her usual floral dresses and sweaters weren't quite enough for this. Two hours later and Molly was back at her apartment, finishing getting ready while she waited for Forest to show up. She had bought a long sleeved red t-shirt dress that went down just below her thighs and a pair of new short high heeled boots that were ridiculously uncomfortable because she hadn't had time to break them in. She was trying to give be different this time around, so she bought a black choker and applied a little more eyeliner than usual. Instead of straightening her hair or tying it into a bun as usual she tried to curl it lightly and let the waves fall more naturally. When Forest showed up she thanked him for the gifts before realizing that there were even more in the car. What the heck was she supposed to do on his birthday? After the ride her eyes were being covered as she was lead into the apartment and into the dining room where her vision was restored and she could see just how beautiful the place was set up. "Holy- Oh my- This is incredible. Truly. Wow." She spun in a circle around the room, taking in the whole thing before settling back on Forest. "Wow. Thank you so much

Beaming slightly, his cheeks now the same color as his new little red bow tie (yes he bought one thing for himself in all of this planning because he always wanted a science nerd red bow tie) Forest tried to shake off the praise. “It’s no problem,” he said walking over to  the table and proceeding to pull out her chair for her “I mean it’s not everyday you’ve got to celebrate a holiday and a birthday at once.” Because it wasn’t. Molly was the first person he knew who had one on a major holiday, and well he guessed he just wanted to make sure their first valentine's was special, as well as her birthday, and their first date. Even if it all happened to be rolled into one. Smoothing his navy blazer down over his button down though Forest waited for Molly to sit, mouth watering over all the food in front of him. And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t sample some of it, but he’d also skipped lunch to make it so all of that started canceling each other out. “And like I said in my invitation everything is Kosher” He winked at her.

Molly was laughing as she sat down in the chair and waited for Forest to do the same before she started filling up her plate with food. She had never doubted that Forest would remember that she could only eat Kosher food. "Well don't worry you're doing great." Molly smiled widely at him, "Besides I've never really counted Valentines day as a real holiday anyways." Granted, she had never had a boyfriend before either which could have had something to do with that. Once her plate was completely filled she started digging in and had to pause to just savor the moment. She knew Forest was a good cook, so it really shouldn't have surprised her buy just how good it all was. "This is freaking delicious."

Smiling silently to himself at Molly’s praise Forest piled his plate high with food after his girlfriend, happy that there was still a little steam coming off the lasagne. He had nothing to judge this off of so he was reviled that he wasn’t letting her down.  “I mean i can see the commercialization of it, but I don’t know. I’ve always loved love so any excuse to celebrate that to me is worth it.” Forest  replied before taking a bite of food. Molly was right it was pretty good, especially since he made it differently than he usually did. “Thanks.” Forest blushed. With all the praise, and well just his unbelievably breathtaking girlfriend sitting next to him, he was probably just going to have to get used to wearing a permanent blush on this date “I mean it wasn’t that hard of a recipe.” He continued shaking it off a little “I can give it to you if you want.”

Between bites of food, ​Molly​ feared talking with her mouth full so she tried to keep conversation to the bare minimum. The last thing she needed was to embarrass herself on this date. Not that Forest would even care, because she knew that he wouldn't. He would probably just laugh it off with her and go on with his night as if nothing had happened. It wasn't like Molly's face could get any more red than Forest's already was tonight. "I get the point of it. Both points. The capitalism and the love part. I think it's important for first time couples to celebrate it. I just think if you're like three years into a marriage and still worried about getting your wife flowers or else she will get mad at you then something is wrong." Molly found herself going on the rant before she could realize that now, on a date during Valentine's day probably wasn't the time to speak of her disdain for the holiday. She was so used to being that moody lonely kid hating Valentines day not only because she was single, but also because it took the attention away from her birthday. "And now is not the time for that at all." Molly laughed and stuffed her face with more food before she made a bigger full of herself. At the thought of the recipe, Molly just gave a thumbs up until she was done chewing. "Or I can make you cook it again and help you so I learn how to make it. Like a couple thing. Where I get food."

Nodding Forest took a sip of his water, trying to make everything in the woefully normal glass last as long as it would in his big cup. Because he wasn’t a Leshy tonight ok. He was just a normal guy on a normal date with his beautiful and normal Jewish girlfriend. “Yea. I mean like I said” He continued placing his fork down for a moment “I think if you’re celebrating love in your own way, that’s the true meaning of the holiday. If you’re just buying overpriced flowers and candy because you think its expected, then that’s when it’s a problem” Wiping at his mouth with his napkin however Forest was a bit relieved when she changed the subject to something more cheerful. Like mooching food off of your ever dutiful boyfriend.  “I’m sensing the beginning of a trend here” Forest smirked as he lifted another forkful to his mouth. It was more of a tease than anything serious and he hoped it showed. Because he literally would cook Molly anything she wanted if it meant he simply got to spend time with her. “But I’ll let it slide seeing as how I like to cook, and you like to eat. It’s a win win all around” He winked at her again.

Molly nodded her head in agreement with what Forest was saying, mostly because she had no interest in going back to the subject of Valentine's day on Valentine's day. It was oddly depressing. Of course the Holiday was based on a guy getting beheaded for marrying people, so apparently the rest of the world used to think about love the same way Molly would like to think she used to. She knew that she had always been a hopeless romantic, but had no interest in admitting that. "It's totally your fault for admitting that you like to cook and then agreeing to date a girl you know is ridiculously hopeless at it. So I don't feel bad for you at all." She decidedly cut it off by taking a dramatic bite into her food and giving a wide smile at him.

Scoffing slightly at her words Forest chewed the bite of lasagna he had just taken shaking his head in the process. She’d gotten this far in life so Forest had to figure she was probably able to cook more than she was letting on. But he liked this banter between them now, and the more they hung out together the easier it seemed to fall off of his lips. “You going to fix all my computer problems then?” Forest questioned mirroring her smile. “Because if i’m going to cook for you it’s only fair you save me from the technology I don’t understand” He waved his fork at her teasingly, glad that they could not tease each other like this. I mean it wasn’t that they hadn’t been able to tease each other before but now. Now it seemed more appropriate. More loving. Now it seemed as if, well they didn’t have to hold back bits and pieces or something. They could just be Molly and Forest. Molly and Forest in love.

Molly groaned sarcastically, the smile never leaving her face. "That is totally unfair." She crossed her arms to pout like a seven year old child and feigned anger. "All you have to do is make good food and you're asking me to work miracles? I think I'm really getting the short end of the stick here." It was mostly a joke. After all, Forest wasn't a complete lost cause when it came to technology. Mostly. He at least knew how to turn a laptop on and find the internet browser and he had caught onto Mario Kart quick enough.

“Is it though?” Forest replied with a twinkle in his eye. Yea teaching him about technology might be a little bit more of a feat than him simply cooking for Molly, but hey, who doesn’t like a good challenge. Plus he was starting to get that whole Mario Kart thing. “And it’s only the short end of the stick if I start beating you at your own game.” He smirked at her before shoving another large bite in his mouth. Chewing and swallowing though Forest placed his fork down for a few seconds patting at his mouth with his napkin “So how was your day?” He asked genuinely interested in how her birthday had gone for her.

Molly couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Forest actually rising above the challenge and beating her at anything that involved technology. "Yeah, Sure Jan." Molly joked at him. Forest probably didn't even know the sure Jan meme, and yet he was trying to say he would beat Molly at her own game some day. Ha. Cute sentiment from the tree boy. "I'll believe that when I see it." Molly was pleasantly surprised that she could be happy about her birthday. Her birthday on Valentine's day had always been somewhat of a sore spot, but she never actually cared much because she spent it with her family. This year, she was expecting things to be much worse than they actually were. "It was fantastic. I spent it working and then with Bridget and now with you. Can't complain too much. How about you?"

Looking a her Forest raised a single confused eyebrow. He was used to references going over his head but this one seemed like something he should know. Especially if Molly knew it! But going about with another mouthful Forest shrugged it off, figuring Molly would either explain or just let it go too. “And you will see it” He replied “i’ve been practicing!” Because he had been, at least with Mario Kart, and his laptop, and phone. So there were at least a couple things he would be able to do better! Hopefully. Maybe one day. Chuckling softly at his own technological ineptitude though Forest shook it off figuring this was one battle would probably never win and instead when about detailing what he did during his day today. “School, a smidge of work, and then cooking so pretty good myself” He smiled softly at Molly before breaking the eye contact to go back to eating. Swallowing his current forkful of Lasagna though he asked the question that be burning in his mind since he woke up today “Any good presents today besides mine?” He was grinning at her now.

"Bridget made me some super cute cupcakes" Molly smiled. She had had a few at work but the rest were all sitting on her counter at the apartment, "I'll let you try one when you come over next." If she didn't eat them all first. She rarely kept any food in her fridge that could be considered real food, so those cupcakes might have to play breakfast every now and again. As she was finishing up her food she asked Forest curiously, "So what's next after dinner?"

“Aww that’s nice” Forest replied smiling. He was happy that some of Molly’s friends did something for her too. Just so she had more than one person in her corner on her special day. “But yea. I’ll have to try one, if they aren’t gone by the time i get ther” He winked at Molly. He’d seen the inside of her fridge a few times, so he knew that she was not always the best eater in town. He’d have to set a reminder to cook for her more so she got something nutritious and filling every once and awhile. Waving his fork around slightly as she asked what was next forest tried to keep himself casual. “Well I guess that’s up to you. Like I said I’ve got lots of things we could do, like lounge in a wonderful pillow fort for instance” He grinned over at her. “But first we’ll have to get the cake and sing Happy birthday! Can’t forget that.”

"I can probably save one for you at least" ​Molly​ smiled, happy that the two were basically thinking the same thing. Even if the thoughts they had were usually at Molly's expense. Should she be happy or embarrassed that the two of them were both thinking the same thing about Molly's awful diet? "A pillow fort? Yes yes yes please. I love pillow forts!" She was getting a bit too excited about the pillow fort probably, but luckily the idea of Forest singing to her was enough to calm her down a bit at least. "Oh no. No singing happy birthday. I hate it enough in crowded restaurants I don't need you singing it to me. Plus, I'm the singer of the two of us. The only song that is acceptable for you to sing is Color of the Wind." She laughed at her own joke. Color of the Wind. Good one.

“I’ll take that.” Forest replied with a nod “Though if it’s between you not eating breakfast or something and me getting a cupcake, take the cupcake” Because he literally would not be upset at all. He just wanted Molly to eat. Sensing how excited she was about the pillow fort though Forest blushed a bit, he didn’t know shes be that into it, but it was nice. “Well if you’re this excited about a pillow fort, wait till you see what’s inside” Because oh yea she was probably going to flip when she say the laraoke machine. “Sorry, but its already decided” He put his hands on the table when she mentioned that she didn’t want him singing happy birthday, “you are getting an off key rendition of Happy Birthday. And then possibly Listen to Your Heart, because Grandmother Willow just understands me ok.” Forest replied with a grin, happy that he actually got the reference. I mean he hoped she was referencing Pocahontas, which one of the few disney movies he was actually able to watch during his childhood.

Molly scratched at her head, already embarrassed for Forest's singing before he even had the chance to do it. Was it possible to die of embarrassment for someone else? She supposed she was about to find out. "Listen to your Heart is totally acceptable. It's a great song." She skipped over the part about not eating breakfast, the less she talked to people about that the better. She disliked the idea of people feeling bad for her. Considering it was so easy to feel bad for her right now, she usually just chose to neglect sharing information that she felt was especially embarrassing to preserve everyone's sanity. She could argue with somebody all day against their pity, which wasn't productive to any party involved. "Okay. Well let's get it over with. Bring it on."

“Good because that is what I will be singing” Forest nodded, hoping the karaoke machine had a full range of disney medleys on there, as there was no way he was singing acapella. Plus he was sure Molly would want to use it straight away. So he and grandmother Willow could help break it in. Wiping his mouth through for the last time though Forest sighed “Well if the lady doth commands”, he said getting up from his spot with a grin “Anyways I will be right back with your cake so you better not dine and dash on me” He stuck out his tongue at her before disappearing into the kitchen for a couple of minutes a small home made cake with Molly’s favorite frosting and ablaze with candles in his hands upon his return.

Molly felt like she could finally take a breath when Forest left the dining room to grab the cake. She couldn't quite pin down why it was that she felt so nervous about all of this. Maybe it was just because it was her first real romantic date. Although she never figured that she would be as comfortable around her boyfriend as she was around Forest. Maybe because the two were best friends first. Everything to her was very confusing about her dating life. She also never thought that she would be the less awkward of the two, but here Forest was adorably fumbling through the date so nervous and cute. Speaking of him, he came back from the kitchen a few moments later holding the cake with the candles lit on top of it and Molly clapped her hands and smiled while she prepared herself to hear Forest attempt to sing happy birthday to her.

Standing there watching Molly smile Forest couldn’t help but grin himself the sheer joy of doing something for his girlfriend, his best friend, giving him well, Joy.  Placing the cake on the table Forest pulled out a party hat from his back pocket slipping it easily over his own head (because he wasn’t about to ruin his girlfriend's hair,no sir) just waiting for Molly’s reaction. “Happy brithday to yooouuuu” he started to sing in his worst off key rendition he could “hApppyy Birthday to youuuu. Happpyyy birthday dear themostbeautfiulgirlintheworld Mollyyyyyyyy. Happy Birthday too yoooouuuuuuuu” Ending on high note Forest did a few jazz hands as we waited for her to blow out her candle and make a wish.

Molly sat smiling through the pain of Forest singing, knowing that he was purposely singing even worse than usual just to spite Molly and make her suffer. Despite that it made her smile even more because of it. So she smiled and laughed through the entirety of that awful, awful singing and afterwards she sat for a long moment and closed her eyes to make herself think of a wish. Or if nothing came to her like usual she could at least make it look like she was wishing for something. But this time a wish came quickly. And all she wanted was for some sign that everything was going to be okay. She blew the candles out and peaked one eye open. Looking up at Forest was the first sign that things would be. After he set the cake down is when Molly pushed off of the chair and forward to kiss him.

Watching Molly sitting there laughing and smiling Forest just beamed proud of himself. It was safe to say he’d never done anything like this for anyone ever and it was wonderful to know he was doing something right for someone that had become so special to him. Something real right, because the second he set down the cake Molly lips were on him. And naturally Forest froze every sense in his body over stimulated with the weight of two soft petals pressed against his mouth. Because this was, this was a lot to take in. Their first intimate gesture and he was stuck there like a deer in the headlights, cheeks slowly becoming more and more scarlet by the minute and his brain feeling like it was on fire every second Molly was this close to him. But the funny thing was now that Forest had this, he never wanted to stop. Ever. He didn’t need to breath right? Like carbon dioxide was for chumps right? Putting his hand along her waist Forest held himself there not really knowing what to do but figuring he’d follow Molly’s lead, lettering her pull away first. Standing there looking at her though Forest realized that he didn’t know how to continue now.  He didn;t know how to be normal now that he’d shared something like this with Molly. But he knew he had to do something. “So t-this was to get me to s-s-hut up wasn’t it” Forest stuttered out not knowing what else to say but figuring trying to joke about you know HIS FIRST KISS would just make everything way way less awkward.

Molly pulled away from Forest possibly more shocked than the state he seemed to be in, which was really saying something. "Wow. Okay. So I just did that." She spoke aloud, to her own personal horror. The thought had been screaming through her head amid the entire kiss, but up until this moment her lips were a little busy. Now apparently anything was fair game and she was entirely too nervous about that. "How'd you know?" Molly laughed nervously, thankful for the joke and anxious that the kiss was going to become the center of attention. She didn't know enough about relationships to know if that was the right or wrong thing to do. "So about that pillow fort!" She blurted out suddenly and did a 180, ready to head towards Forest's bedroom, "I gotta see the masterpiece."

“Yea” Forest breathed out as he started to come to not even really registering that it was something that had happened to him. Because no one kissed him, ever. Well except his mother. Once. On the forehead. But this, yea well this was so much better than that. As it should be. Taking a few more deep breaths Forest blushed a little grinning at his horrible attempt at a joke. “Well I-I guess that’s one way to do it. Possibly my new p-preferred method” He shrugged slightly at the thought. Watching her though almost blot out of the room Forest pushed his feelings down, knowing that something else needed his attention now.  “Molly” Forest chided, reaching out for her hand. He could tell she was nervous. But she needn’t be, she would never be able to do anything wrong in Forest’s eyes. OK well that was a lie, but there was a laundry list of things that she could do that he’d be ok with and kissing him was definitely on the top of that list.  “You don’t have to run out of the room you know,” He was smiling now hoping that a return to normal would help signal that everything was still ok between them, “Because contrary to popular beleif the pillows will in fact wait for you.”

"Will they wait for me? I don't have any proof" ​Molly​ laughed nervously and wasn't sure if she would ever be able to laugh normally again. Not at the rate she was going. She wasn't the type to do something like that. She always figured that whoever she dated would have to lead her when it came to relationships. Then again she also never thought that she would be the type to do any of the other crazy stuff she had done since moving to Ashkent Creek. "Sorry. I'm just... nervous. Nervous is normal right? I think that it's pretty normal. Plus I'm just super excited about this pillow fort." Another nervous laugh, this time paired with her hands reflexively twirling at her hair. At least she wasn't lying when she said that she was excited for the pillow fort.

“Oh so you need proof now?” Forest chuckled trying not to let Molly’s nervousness affect him. I mean was his mind racing from his first kiss? Yes. But like a lot of other things, Forest shoved that to the back for now, and instead focused on trying to make this better for Molly. It was her birthday after all.  “Nervous is normal.” Forest nodded as if he actually knew about the subject (which he didn’t) “But I think not being nervous would be the best” Reaching out for her again Forest held his out, urge to interlace their fingers together to quell the nervous energy hitting him harder than it ever had before. Because Molly was his best friend, and even though they were moving into new territory, with dates, and kissing and just, relationship stuff, underneath it all they were still just Forest and Molly. “Shall we?” he asked quietly.

Molly grabbed onto Forest's hand, careful not to squeeze too tightly despite how nervous she was about the situation. "Lead the way kind sir" As if she had no idea which bedroom was his. She followed Forest through the hallway and closed her eyes as the door swung open, wanting to see the entire fort all at once instead of seeing it swing into view obscured by his bedroom door. She gasped and jumped into the air excitedly when she saw it. "This is amazing! I feel like I'm twelve years old again!" She clapped her hands together and turned to Forest and wrapped him in a tight hug, "You crushed it. Seriously." She whispered to him before stepping into his room. "Aren't you going to give me the tour?" Despite all the reservations and emotions she had felt this morning knowing it was her first birthday without her family, times like these reminded her that she would be okay here in Ashkent Creek.

[dustin-parrish-blog]

scribeswhocode replied to your post: Anything you're looking forward to being able to...

Renting your apartment isn’t all it’s cracked up to be trust me.

Are you renting your own place?

[rickycorderbro-blog]

scribeswhocode replied to your post: [pm] Hey my parents are finally gone so I just...

[pm] Oh yeah it’s no big deal. I’ve just been looking into moving into a bigger apartment with some roommates. Help split the costs and all.

[pm] My lease is up in a month and a half and I haven’t resigned for my one bedroom yet. Two bedrooms in my complex are pretty affordable. 

Just sayin’. 

[hawthorne-inmyside]

[pm] Mr. Hawthorne, sir. I was hoping to talk to you about a couple of different things. One, any update on Ashford River and how to reverse it, and two the Scribe server.... may have been hacked.

[pm] There was one lead that looked promising, but unfortunately it fell through. We are pursuing several others, but nothing concrete yet. You will all be the first to know should we come across anything workable.

Now, explain what happened.

@scribeswhocode

[blythewonder]

@scribeswhocode replied to your post: [pm] [d: please tell me you're not busy] Hi are...

[pm] Great! I already left my apartment and I will be there as soon as possible. How late can I stay again?

[pm] Until I move out, so a few years? How does that sound? ;) But seriously, stay as long as you’d like! I have lots of tea and our food is well-organized and I know we have some (or perhaps more than I’ve noticed) things that have the little Kosher insignia.

I do have a question though -- I love hanging out with you, but why the sudden need? Is everything okay? 

[nevensato-blog]

@scribeswhocode replied to your post “[pm] Hey. I just wanted to message you and let you know that the gang...”

[pm] Good! I'm really glad that they left you alone! They shouldn't be hurting anyone anymore. I was thinking after my leg heals up we could go out and celebrate at the arcade or something?

[pm] Wait, your leg needs to heal up? What happened?

[haydensgonnahate-blog]

scribeswhocode replied to your post: Cutest scribes?

I can think of some very cute Scribes personally!

S’all subjective buddy. You make up your own mind.

[hawaiianhalfwolf]

scribeswhocode replied to your post: How are you feeling now?

You almost failed a class? Is everything with the class good now?

Yea. I mean it was Algebra and I’ve been shit at it for a while, so it’s not like i was really put out by the thought of failing it. I just don’t want to have to take it again next semester. 

[hawthorne-inmyside]

scribeswhocode replied to your post “[pm] Mr. Hawthorne, sir. I was hoping to talk to you about a couple of...”

[pm] Thank you sir. The hack was done by this hacker that goes by Q. He's a hacker for hire that's pretty infamous on the dark web. I'm going to link to you all the files that I know he took.

[pm] That’s hilarious. I’ve heard of him. Do. Find out how he got past you too, we can’t have him selling backdoors into the system to the highest bidder.

[blythewonder]

@scribeswhocode replied to your post “[pm] I did something really really stupid.”

[pm] No. But I almost got Ricky killed.

[pm] How? Are you okay?

[nevensato-blog]

[pm] Hey. I just wanted to message you and let you know that the gang that you helped me with in the library? They got arrested. So I think we are done with them.

[pm] Oh awesome! You’ll be happy to know my life wasn’t threatened even once. Well, at least not because of them, anyway.

[rickycorderbro-blog]

[pm] Hey my parents are finally gone so I just wanted to let you know that I don't have to keep like busting into your apartment anymore.

[pm] I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about that. I saw you’re looking for another place to live. 

[theforestwarden]

An Awkward Proposal || Forest & Molly

Things are happening. Big things.

Was choosing to meet in the middle of the woods at night in Maine in January a terrible idea? Most likely. ​Molly​ had realized this the second that she opened the door of her apartment and felt the cold wind rush in, whipping across her face and almost convincing her to just call the thing off and invite Forest to her house for tea. But after the other night, it felt almost weird to be talking to him in her apartment. After he had stitched her leg up, rather painfully she might add, and she had nearly fainted at the sight of her own wounds let alone his. After all of the pent up emotions that she had been feeling about Ricky and his injury. She just wanted to be someplace else. Not her apartment, and not somewhere other people might be. Unfortunately that narrowed her options quite a bit. So in Ashkent's frigid winter, Molly trudged through the snow towards the campus, shivering against her winter coat. The campus would be practically empty during the winter break anyways, the woods next to it even more so. She just needed to talk to Forest. Finally clear everything up. Then hopefully warm up some tea to counteract how cold she was.

Pulling his beanie down lower on his head slightly Forest shoved his bare hands into the pockets of his jeans not really knowing what he was doing with them. It was needless to say he was nervous about what this meeting might mean, about what everything meant, with Molly and him, especially if the events of the last few days had anything to say about it. Because really, if you looked at him from Molly’s perspective, yea he was a weird non human person, who absolutely failed at a stupid karaoke bar, not to mention someone who she had just witnessed murder 15 people, then stitched up her leg. All while covered in other people’s blood. Yea didn’t seem like a situation that was bound for success in any circle let alone where two young people were concerned. Shaking it out of his mind though Forest guard himself slightly as he watched her approach, knowing not to expect too much. Nodding though as she came closer he took a hand out his pocket and waved slightly (mindful of his stitches) not really knowing what else to do or say.

Molly stared at the ground as she made her way through the forest, for multiple reasons. Because she was too clumsy to just trust her legs, especially one that was injured, to do the walking for her. Because the wind which was only mildly blocked by the trees was too cold against her face too face head on. Or maybe because she wasn't exactly sure how to look at Forest anymore. Things had gotten so complicated for Molly these last few months that she didn't really know if anything was the same, let alone her friendship or whatever it was with Forest. She just barely caught a glimpse of his wave from the darkness and smiled back, realizing quickly that it wouldn't be visible, not from this distance. She raised her arm slightly, giving a short wave as she forced herself across a root that almost latched onto her foot and sent her tumbling to the ground. It wouldn't have surprised Molly in the slightest if she had. "Hey there.”

Moving forward slightly as he watched her almost get taken out by the root (typical Molly) Forest just tried to remain calm cool and collected. Even though he really really wasn’t, and that was growing even more apparent as she walked toward him. Remembering though that this legs had no problem working, and hers did, Forest crossed the distance between them easily, bringing himself face to face with Molly for the first time since he’d left her stitched up at her apartment 2 days ago. “Hey” he whispered before clearing his throat “I mean uh hi” He said louder this time trying hard not to stutter or do anything else that would reveal just how nervous he was now. Standing there a bit awkwardly though Forest just shoved his hands back in the pockets of his jeans not really knowing what to do now.  “Lovely day for a walk huh?” He joked slightly chuckling a bit nervously. God this was going horribly.

Well this wasn't awkward at all. How come things had seemed so easy not so long ago between the two, and yet now it seemed difficult to get a full sentence in. For both of them it seemed. ​Molly​ brushed a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear that was snug under her beanie. "It's a little dark" Molly shrugged, as if that was the only thing that made this walk less than traditional. "You got everything stitched up? You're doing okay I mean?" She noticed a tree that had fallen over and took the opportunity, sidestepping across the terrain to it and sitting down on it.

Biting his lip Forest just nodded “Yea, blasted daylight savings you know” He tried to counter, the corners of his lips twitching upwards. But while he was trying to make it light and airy and like it used to be, it wasn’t any more and he knew it. Toeing at the ground slightly though Forest looked down at the ground, knowing he could sell the lie better if he wasn’t looking at her. “Yea. I’m fine. Right as rain” He nodded vigorously, as if trying to prove to himself as well as Molly that he was fine. Perfectly Fine “You’re leg still good.?” He asked glancing over toward at her as she sat down “I can look at it if you want, I mean as i said the other day, I’m no doctor but” Forest just trailed off not really knowing how to end that and just feeling so awkward standing there next to Molly.

"It's fine. I mean it's not ​fine​ obviously. It hurts. A lot. But it's okay." ​Molly​ rambled. It was too cold to take her pants off out here in the forest. Plus, she would have to take her pants off. In the forest. With Forest. At least she had been wearing a skirt with some leggings at the zoo that day. The leggings had been completely destroyed by the end of the day, but she had some type of guard in the form of her skirt. In jeans it all felt a lot more... intimate all of a sudden. And not in a good way. "I know what you must be thinking" Molly finally just let it out. This had been one of the reasons she needed to talk to him anyways, and she couldn't put it off forever. "I'm sorry. Ricky and I... we were idealistic. And ahead of ourselves. And I could have gotten all three of us killed. I'm sorry."

“That’s uh good I guess” Forest nodded. Because it was good, well not the part where it hurt (that was to be expected with wounds that needed stitches) but the part where it seemed ok that was good. Standing there though as Molly spoke again Forest didn’t know what to do. Because it had been idealistic to think they could do it like that. Just three of them against 30 Nix. “I-”Forest started not really what to say. Taking a deep breath though he figured telling the truth would be the best course of action, “To be honest My brother would like me to to say that I am angry. My brother would like me to say that you put me in a dangerous position without thinking and that it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to rely on me to be your muscle like that without giving me some semblance of control. But me.” Forest paused thinking of how to express how he was feeling at the moment. Because while the apology was nice, he went willingly, silently even, even though he knew in the back of his mind it was a bad idea.. So he had no room really to accept that apology. “While I think it was unfair, I also think that, well you don’t need an apologize to me molly. Because I understand you were just doing what you thought was right at the time and none of us chose for everything to happen the way it did.” He nodded toeing the dirt slightly again “And despite everything all of us are still alive. So that’s really all that matters you know”

Molly used her gloved hand to wipe away at the tears that were forming in her eyes. How many times this week was she going to cry? She didn't even know why she was crying right now. Was it because she knew that Forest's brother was going to hate her for all of eternity now? Or because while Forest didn't sound angry with her, he hadn't actually accepted her apology. Because they both knew that it was her fault. Whether Forest cared about her too much to admit it or not. "So your brother is going to officially hate me forever." She announced. Because it felt so final to her. She bowed her head into her lap and wanted to scream. But that wasn't all that mattered. Nix died. Ricky might not ever swim again. Molly was only alive because of some hacker that she had no chance of living up to. And the only person that had any type of training or preparedness for this stupid thing had been blackmailed into bringing her along. That wasn't all that mattered. Because everything was wrong. All wrong.

Standing there watching Molly start to cry, Forest could feel his heart sink even lower in his chest. She was crying not, because of him. She was crying because of him (well because of his brother mostly but that was a debate he wasn’t having with his mind right now). Great. Kneeling slightly before her Forest put his hand on her knee, the one attached to the good leg. “I would never let him hate you Molly.”  He said gently cocking his head trying to get her to look at him. And it was the blunt truth. Forest would never let Hunter hate Molly. Because Molly didn’t deserve to be hated for this. She was. She was 19 for christ sake.  She was young, she was rash, she had a lot to learn. But in the end she was just Molly. Trying to do her best with what she had Molly. “And I don’t hate you either,” he stated louder wanting to make sure she heard it “Or blame you. Never have and never will. And that’s a promise.”

Molly caught her breath when Forest put his hand on her knee. Him reassuring her that he could never hate her was enough to put Molly back in tears most likely. But she wiped away the last tear and then straightened up. She had witnessed Ricky and Forest head straight into a hang infested zoo with little to no plan and nothing but a vendetta. Those two, they were brave. Courageous. Molly had to be like that too. She ​needed​ to pull herself together. The first step to pulling herself together was to stop being so darn confused about everything going on around her. "What are we?" She closed her eyes and finally asked the question out loud. Afraid to see his facial expression. Afraid to listen to the response

Waiting patiently, Forest wondered if he had said the right thing. Or rather if Molly believed what he said. Because she didn’t deserve to have all the blame or be hated for what happened. And he’d go to his grave trying to prove that. Looking at her though he cocked his head. Waiting for her to say something was like pulling off a bandaid slowly, and it was making him crazy with anticipation. But when she finally spoke Forest almost wished he could just stay in that anticipation state. Anything would be better that this.  “What- what do you m-mean?” He asked stuttering slightly almost scared of her response. His heart was pounding, his head was starting to feel dizzy. She wasn’t asking him about? Not she couldn’t be. Molly. Molly didn’t like him like that. At all ever. This had only ever been one sided. And he was of with that. So they were still just best friends right?

Welp. It was out there. No way to bottle that up and put it back away now. ​Molly​ would just have to roll with it and deal with the consequences. Which could be... heavy considering everything. Forest was her best friend. She had always considered him one of her closest friends. Ever since- well ever since he had told her he didn't want a relationship. "I mean you told me that you were okay with not having a relationship. You implied that you didn't even really want one. So I- So ​we​- so now I don't know what's going on. Because in the internet world all of this" Molly waved her finger around in a circle dramatic, "Is what they call subtext. And it implies something a lot more than friendship." She tore off her beanie and ran her fingers through her hair nervously, ignoring the stinging sensation in her ears as the wind bit at them. "I don't know how to feel about you because this is all new to me."

Feeling his heart pound even more inside of his chest Forest stood up slowly not wanting to process what was really happening right now. Like it wasn’t happening right. They weren’t having this conversation. He wasn’t just about to get rejected to his face out here in the cold. But yet here he was standing there face to face with, well, the woman he kinda loved. And the truth. “Just because I know.” Forest paused, breath coming out slightly jagged. This was harder than he ever thought anything could be.“Just because I know and I’ve accepted I can’t be normal. Doesn’t mean.” He stopped swallowing slightly, everything just rising in his chest. “J-just because I’m not n-normal doesn’t mean I don’t love. It doesn’t mean I don’t want things I know I-I c-can’t have. Like a relationship.” He nodded looking down eyes starting to water slightly. It hurt so much to say that out loud, but it was the truth wasn’t it? He’d never be able to have a normal relationship, so it was better if he just didn’t begin one. Even if he wanted to. “But I can. I can stop.” He said knowing just how difficult this must be on molly. Having a friend who liked her, but could never give her a real relationship. It’s no wonder why she was confused. “It’ll be e-easier if I stop. Just give me some time. I will just need some t-time”  He nodded again wiping the back of his hand across his eyes.

Molly jumped up from her spot on the fallen tree and paced a few feet away from Forest, staring off into the darkness of the woods. What did she say to him? What the hell was there to say to him? She was just shy of twenty years old and while physically he was her age, he was over thirty. Her parents would literally have an aneurysm. She couldn't just... she couldn't just be expected to know what to do and how to feel about someone like Forest. Who wasn't even even human. It complicated things. She had never even dated a human before outside of an old online relationship. How was she supposed to figure this, whatever it was, out. She was pacing back and forth practically screaming at herself inside her head, trying to figure out what the heck she should say to Forest. Then she stopped and turned to him, "Well what if I don't want you to stop?" she asked out loud before stomping back over to him, "What if I like you too but can't stop thinking or worrying about how this- ​us​ is supposed to work? Because I don't know." She couldn't even understand why someone like Forest could like her in the first place.

Forest was expecting the worst, any second now, the memory of Molly and that damn unfinished sentence still fresh, and raw. Because she didn’t want someone covered in plants. Did she?Staring at her though as she started to speak. Forest physically stopped breathing. [i]Well what if I don't want you to stop?[/i] It swirling in his head ringing in the space inside his skull, where his brain was supposed to live, but had unexpectedly left the building. Did that mean what he thought it meant. No it couldn’t. “Wait. Wait a second please. Sorry I’m just. You-you” He trailed off, not knowing how to say what he wanted to say, but knowing that he needed to “You like me? Like I like you?” Forest whispered glancing over toward Molly, needing some reassurance while his world was turning upside down.

"I mean- yeah" ​Molly​ admitted. Because through all of the complications, the ones that would probably eventually break their relationship. Looking past all of the many, many reasons why logically the two of them didn't make sense and could never truly last there was a very simple answer to his question. And if Molly looked past all of the doubts and fears and concerns and just really focused on answering his question, then the answer was of course yes. Duh yes. Because it felt obvious to her the moment that she figured out for sure that Forest did like her, and that he was the one that sent all of those gifts. "Yes, yes I do." she said again, confirming it for Forest's sake. Because she knew about his self doubt and that he would probably just assume that she had said the wrong word or something. "But I don't know what that means for us. Because this is complicated... and I don't know. It's-" Impossible is what Molly wanted to say. But a part of her didn't want to admit that, not to Forest at least.

Head still spinning slightly Forest just stood there mouth slightly agape. He almost couldn’t comprehend what Molly had just said it was so, so unreal, so foreign to him. Because people didn’t like forest. Ok that was a lie, they like him platonically, or like a brother, but they didn’t romantically like him. No that was for Hunter, not Forest. Not ever. But yet here he was staring at someone who just said. They liked him. They really liked him. And that was, well. Forest was in shock. Though he knew as Molly kept speaking he needed to say something, anything really or his chance was going to go straight out the window.“I’ve never tried.”He said clearing his throat a little. Because it was true he’d never really tried with anyone, even though there had been chance. Though if Molly wanted to try he’d be there in a heartbeat.“I mean I’ve never done this before either” He said clearing the air a little.

Molly had been holding her breath for what felt like hours by now, and finally let out a heavy sigh. Was she just setting herself up for heartbreak by having this conversation? Was she setting them both up for heartbreak? Or was leaving things the way they had been the one that would lead to the pain? Trying to figure out which one would have been worse was giving Molly a headache. "If we're going to try this then I think we need to get some things clear first." Molly made it sound more like some kind of business deal than the start of what was supposed to be a relationship. "Because I don't want to set either of us up for some kind of heartbreak." Why was she shaking right now? Like these rules were going to literally shatter her. "If either one of us finds someone that makes up happier or makes more sense. We just have to be honest. Our friendship should come first. I think we should both want what is going to be best for us in the long run, whatever that is." It physically pained her to say it out loud, even if it seemed necessary. Suffer some pain now to avoid more pain later, that's what Molly's motto was for the night. "Now you go. Give me a rule."

Nodding slowly at Molly, Forest tried to catch his breath and put his head on straight. So this was, well, not happening per say, but they were talking about it. They were talking about dating. That was happening. “O-oh kay” Forest agreed figuring that some rules couldn’t hurt you know. If they were actually going through with it. There was still time to back out you know. Anything was possible. “That sounds like it could be a good, guideline to follow” Forest nodded, not knowing what else to say, still overwhelmed by the sheer knowledge that someone wanted to date him. That someone liked him. Looking down though as she asked him to come up with a rule Forest blanked. He didn’t  “I don’t-” He paused “I don’t know if have one besides that. I don’t know how dating works really. I think yours is really good though. It keeps the friendship most important, and I would hate to lose you as a friend just because we dated. so yea, this is good” He nodded.

"Okay. Good! Great actually!" ​Molly​ tried out laughing to see if it even felt right in the situation. Honestly, everything felt so weird that she didn't really know what felt normal or not. They had just had to talk things out. Get a few things clear before they tried to do anything else with their relationship. That was normal right? To have talks like this during their relationship? She had no idea. It was so much easier to be confident behind a computer screen, typing things on a keyboard rather than actually trying to say them herself. "Then I think we're good! That's that." Molly knew that wasn't true. She was just trying to avoid the last thing that she needed to talk to him about. Because it was personal, and well frankly a little weird to say out loud. "Actually no wait- There's one more thing we should probably talk about."

Forest didn’t know why Molly was laughing, but he figured it was a good sign? Maybe. He had no clue, but he nervously laughed quietly along with her just to be safe. Because he wanted this, well whatever this was, to work. “Does this mean then that-?” He trailed off motioning between them with his hand. They had rules but they hadn’t well, actually defined the relationship. Like with the actual word. And while it didn’t seem like much Forest wanted to know in exact words. Looking at her though as she said there was one more thing Forest cocked his head a little not even knowing what it could be. “Ok, well, then I guess let’s talk about it?” He replied. Hopefully this wasn’t something that would jeopardize the relationship. If they even were in a relationship that is. Don’t put the cart before the horse Forest.

"Well I mean we both know that we can't-" Cutting herself off, ​Molly​ figured that there had to be a better way to say this right? She just needed to give it a second and figure that wording out. If television or movies would actually accept that asexuality was a real thing then maybe she could have watched a show with an asexual character and be given an idea of what to say or how she should say this. Because Molly didn't identify as asexual, and yes, maybe someday she would want sex. But now was obviously not the right time for her. "Us. Like physically. You know? It just won't work. What I'm trying to say is-" Please. Just pick a sentence. Good or bad. Just spit it out so this never ending moment can finally be over. "I just want the whole can't have sex thing to be clear and up in the air and I don't know? Just like that we both are fully aware of that and okay with that." She sighed after finally rambling the whole thing out. Probably wasn't the most delicate way the subject had ever been approached.

“We can’t what?” Forest whispered the anticipation of what she might say almost too much to bear. We can’t date? We can’t bee seen together in public? We can’t what Molly we can’t what? His brain was going crazy trying to finish the sentence in his mind. But when Molly finally started talking Forest bit his lip  “Molly. I’ve. Have I ever” Forest started feeling like this almost came out of left field. But he guessed if they were going to try, this might be something they did need to talk about. Taking a beat though forest tried to figure out how to say what he wanted to say “Alright if we are being honest That is thing I want sometimes. But I don’t. That not exactly like a thing I need. I mean I want sex. I do. But I’m not.” Forest took a deep breath “OK let me start over. I am ok with not having sex. It’s not a deal breaker for me at all. But, I’m not, I mean that is a thing I might want one day in the future. And I’m I’m sorry if that’s a-a deal breaker for you” He stated face solemn as we looked down at the ground again. He was shaking slightly now, for reasons he could not explain. But he guessed, he guessed it was because he felt like, well he felt like how could something he’d never even had before just arbitrarily decide if this was going to work or not.

"I do. I ​do​" ​Molly​ reiterated. Sex wasn't something that she wanted like casually. Or all the time even. Technically she had never had it, so it wasn't even like she really knew what it was like or if she would love it or hate it or why the heck was she thinking about sex so much right now. "It's something that I want too. But anatomically I don't know if that- Is that something that's even going to work?" She felt stupid for asking it. But she really didn't know, and she didn't know if Forest would have any clue either. It wasn't like he was well versed when it came this stuff either. The both of them were inexperienced and awkward and despite those things, Molly really wanted this to work. She bit her lip against the cold. Waiting for him to break some kind of bad news. That it wouldn't work. Or that they needed to find someone that they can both actually ​be​ with. Heck, they probably did. And yet they were both standing here.

“You do what?” Forest asked confused, she did want to have sex with him? Was that it? Wait hat couldn’t be it. He was so confused right now. Looking at Molly as she spoke about their anatomy though Forest’s eyes widened. Oh my ever loving plant jesus, this could not be happening to him right now. “Molly I- I do have male anatomy. I’m not like. My body is” Forest ran a hand down his face as he took a deep breath, cheeks blazing scarlet. Wow. And now here he was talking about his penis. In the Forest. With Molly. Plant Jesus just kill him now. Really. He was ready to just jump in a 6 foot hole go after all this embarrassment. “It would be difficult for me yes, to keep this up ” He ran a hand up and down his body,“ well during. But for someone I well liked, I would, I would figure it out you know. There’s got to be something that can keep me like this, for long enough… to… yea” He trailed off cheeks still a blazing, his eyes gazing anywhere than at molly. How did this get to be so awkward?

Molly just nodded her head, maybe a little too aggressively as Forest awkwardly explained how his magical penis operated. Which was a little strange to think about in her head, but at the end of the day that was basically what he was just explaining to her. And what he was saying was that it could work. Somehow. They could make it work. "I can look. I have hundreds of years worth of information at my fingertips. There's got to be something right? I can find something." It might not be exactly what she had been hired to do, but they had hired her and chosen to give her access to all of the Scribe's files. Which meant ​all​ of the Scribes files. "Wooh. Glad that talk is over" Molly gave let out a long breath of air and dramatically wiped her hand across her forehead. She hoped that that topic never had to come up again. Like ever. "I've never done this before or anything, but that had to be the most awkward way anyone has ever asked someone to be their boyfriend right? I mean we must have set some kind record."

“I-it’s It’s ok you don’t need to look” Forest countered swiftly cheeks burning even more before realizing. Oh, she meant look in the scribes headquarters. Yea… that made more sense. “I mean, it’s my problem I can figure it out. I just really need something to enhance my own glamor and keep it in place without me physically controlling it. Walk in the park” He waved her off, trying not to think about it too much longer. Or blush any more, or just generally not be so damn awkward about talking about sex and his damn well… dick. But shaking it out of his head though Forest focused on Molly again, chuckling slightly as she admitted how aekward this felt. “I mean I didn’t expect there to be so much talk about my” He paused looking down slightly before looking back up again. Yea. “ But anyway. So, I’m. we’re. you’re my girlfriend then?” He asked smiling softly. He had never thought this day would ever come.

Molly smiled widely. It still felt weird to hear it said out loud. Her parents were literally going to kill her. Yet strangely, she didn't really seem to care much. They would have wanted to meet the guy that she liked first, even if that meeting was through a skype call or pigeon carrier. Not even thinking about the age difference, that was a whole other story that she probably would just never bring up to her parents. Like ever. "I mean I don't think you ever officially said yes, but" Molly shrugged, trying make it seem like this was just some casual conversation that the two were having out here in the woods. "I guess if you want to be we can do it. I mean not like do it. Right here right now. But- But you know what I mean."

Smiling. Smiling was so so much better than blushing and explaining about well awkward things. Though Forest guessed, if they were, well boyfriend and girlfriend now, he should get used to talking about stuff like this with Molly. Realizing though that she was right and he had never actually agreed to be her boyfriend Forest quickly corrected that. “Yes. If that wasn’t clear. Yes I would like to date you if you’ll have me” He grinned at her moving a bit closer. He was starting to feel giddy now, just thinking about it. Looking around at the snow around them though Forest let out a long breath corners of his mouth twitching up slightly “I am a leshy, but I’m not a heathen, or a masochist. We’d freeze out here” Forest joked quietly, trying to put the lightness back into this conversation. Switching gears though Forest nodded “I’d like that.”

"Welp. That settles it then. Look out world because these two are officially off the market." ​Molly​ gave Forest a thumbs up and laughed. Holy crap that had just happened. Like actually happened, and not some crazy mixed up dream. Or ended terribly like she was so afraid of. They were actually going to be dating. Like officially. She had been so distracted by their conversation that Forest's words served as the unpleasant reminder of just how freezing Molly actually was. It's a good thing she finally purchased some extra blankets, because she would probably need them tonight. "You're right. It's ridiculously cold out here. Now be a good boyfriend and take me home." She smiled, reaching her gloved hand out and taking his.

“Yea” Forest nodded with a slight chuckle the weight of the words heavy on his mind. Wow, he was dating someone now. Like actually dating. God lord his mother was probably going to through a fit for a few months after she found out. But it was whatever. He was 32 after all big enough to make his own decisions thank you very much. Shaking those thoughts out of his head though he laughed for real this time  “Already so demanding, I see how it is” He stuck his tongue out at her as he took her hand. Smiling at her though Forest lead her by the hand back toward the warmth of campus, never in his wildest dreams thinking he’d be walking this way with his girlfriend.

[theforestwarden]

Lions, Tigers, and Nix! Oh My | Forest, Ricky, Molly, & Q

The case of the ‘Creepy mermaids’ get a little wild at the Ashkent Zoo and Aquarium

Molly sat in the shotgun seat silently while the three drove to the zoo. She was very, very out of her element here. Forest had probably done stuff just like this a million times before. He was well trained, he was disciplined, and he was motivated. Molly didn’t actually know if this was commonplace for Ricky, but regardless he was still confident, and strong, and with those fangs and his anger he was downright deadly. Molly on the other hand was clumsy, soft-spoken, and just apparently only adequate when it came to computers. She hadn’t even been able to find the Nix on her own, while Q and the lady that worked for the ACPD had apparently pinpointed their location already. Molly was planning to take control of the cameras to try to keep an eye on Ricky and Forest but would she even be able to do that? The car lurching to a stop broke her of her thoughts and she sat back and stared out the windshield for a long moment before reaching between her legs for her backpack. “Okay. Here we are.” She didn’t really know what else could be said, or any motivation that she could think of to give the two. Instead she just threw the passenger side door open and swung out of the car, ready to trade seats and hop into the driver’s seat.

Sitting in silence in the back seat of the jeep Forest ran an absentminded hand over his bow backpack in his lap the feathers of his iron tipped arrows spread neatly on his knees. He had debated on not bringing any of it, and just resorting to his arsenal of knives. I mean they were going to be in a zoo after all, and with Ricky’s unknown abilities trying to shoot and handle well whatever the hell else he was going to have to handle could be tricky. But they needed him at his best. And Forest was best with his bow. So he guessed that was the ultimate solution to that problem. Feeling the car come to a stop though Forest put on his game face, mind switched from regular Forest mode, to hunting mode. Climbing swiftly out of the Jeep Forest swung his bow backpack patting his legs and chest a few places for reassurance. Always gotta check you’ve got everything you know. And it was good that he had because he was suddenly missing a vital piece of this mission. “Flashdrive.” He commented turning toward Molly, realizing he didn’t have that already stored away somewhere “And since we’re soon departing both of you are going to need at least one of these.” He said pulling a few of his newly sharpened iron knives from the pocket of his bow pack.

Ricky was barely holding on. He was angry. So angry. Angrier than he thought he'd actually ever been before in his life. Reed had been hurt. Reed had almost been murdered and now it was finally time for justice to come; frankly he wasn't picky if it came at the hands of police or the weapons he and Forest both had. His hands gripped the steering wheel and he ran his tongue over the smoothness of his fake teeth. No sense in revealing what he was to Forest unless he absolutely had to. Too many people knew already. As they pulled up he slid out of drivers seat and onto the dirt, checking to make sure the jagged fishing knives he'd packed were still in place. "Remember the bargain, Majesty." He squeezed Molly's arm and gave her a smile "stay in the car where it's safe." He took the offered knife and nodded slowly "I've got a couple. But one more never hurt anyone. You're the professional. I'll let you take point. Time to fuck some assholes up." He paused a snickered under his breath "no homo."

Quinn was curious, no one could deny that. So when both Reed and Molly had asked Q for help in finding a specific location some people were, Quinn knew something had to be up. He had a location, and he had a sneaking suspicion of the date. Quinn had asked Ricky if he wanted to do something today, and the response he had gotten was suspicious at best. Were all three of them up to something today? Quinn was sure that the only way to find out was to keep an eye on the zoo. What better way than to hack into their security system to monitor what was going on at the zoo? So that was exactly what he was doing. Quinn had his set up ready. His three monitors were each had different images on them. Arranged in a pyramid, the top monitor held the security feeds. Throughout the day he'd checked to see if anything was going on. Other than some people in the zoo itself, he suspected they were the people Reed & Molly were looking for, nothing had happened yet. When he looked up next he saw a car had pulled up and people were piling out. It looked like Ricky and Forest, but he couldn't see who was in the car from the angle he had.

Rolling her eyes, ​Molly​ grabbed for the knife Ricky had taken from Forest, "That's for me actually." She plucked it out of his hands and smiled at him, "Don't worry. I'm staying right here. But I need a little defense." She fished into her bag and grabbed out her flash drive with the virus she had built added onto it. She handed the thing to Forest before grabbing his arm and pulling him off to the side, "Be right back." She drug Forest to the other side of the car, more than enough distance for Ricky to be unable to hear the two. "Be safe in there. And keep and eye on him please. And this might not be the time, but thanks for the gifts. We need to talk after this. Okay?" She patted his shoulder and then walked back around before offering a high five to Ricky, "Go get em tiger"

Smiling slightly Forest pulled out another one from a secret crevice and passed it to the other boy again “I’m giving one to both of you Molls, since I figure those aren’t tipped with iron.” He motioned to the fishing knives. They’d be alright, but iron would be the only thing to force a nix back into their true form. And well, let’s just say that could be useful if this turned more bloody than it was supposed to. Killing something was always easier when it looked like a monster after all. Letting himself be pulled to the other side of the vehicle. Sitting there with his heart racing in his chest though Forest just looked down as Molly spoke, cheeks flushing pink with every word. “Uh yea sure. And you’re w-welcome” he stammered slightly mind racing with the possibilities of what Molly might want to talk about. But he pushed that aside knowing he had a job to do “Do stay here ok. And don’t be afraid to use that” He nodded placing his hand over hers, the knife between them. Coming back to the other side of the vehicle however, forest put his game face back on again.  “Alright Ricky you’re with me then” Forest nodded walking slowly away from the vehicle careful to make sure Molly was out of earshot before he spoke to the other boy “Before we go though, just want to mention we were here for apprehension only. That means if you have to hurt them, try for survivable areas only. This case is already too wrapped up in police business for us to get away with murder, plus” Forest took a deep breath “I told Reed I and by extension [i]we[/i] wouldn’t kill them. So let’s try not to ok?”

Ricky looked at the high five with no small measure of disdain. "Are you serious? I'm going monster hunting. That deserves a hug." And so he wrapped Molly in a tight hug and followed Forest, idly twirling the knife between his fingers. "Lead on fearless leader." He stuck close to the shorter man, listening only to the soft tap of his boots against pavement. "I'll ​try​ not to kill anyone. But. I made my own promise. We'll see how it all shakes out though. I'm mostly interested in reciprocal vengeance. So as long as I can cause some damage, and believe me I can cause damage, I'm gonna be happy with how it all turns out." He peered into the night, happy for his stellar night vision, and scratched his arm "How many are we expecting?

Quinn spotted Molly when she exited the car and nodded. So there were three of them. That... didn't look great. There were a lot of people in there. They didn't look like a particularly friendly crowd and the weapons that they were all sporting made him think this was not a friendly mission they were going on. Frowning, he pulled up an internal schematic of the zoo, looking over it a moment before refocusing on the camera feed. There was no sound, which was disappointing. That was an easy fix. Cracking his knuckles he set to typing. In a few moments he had hacked into the three phones and turned on their microphones, giving him a live feed of what they were saying. Quinn leaned back into his chair, pulling his headphones on and focusing on the cameras, watching as the three spoke on the camera.

Molly wrapped her arms around Ricky as tightly as she could when he pulled her in for a hug and tried squeezing the life out of him. She was pretty frail in comparison to his height and muscles though, so Molly figure the squeeze felt like a pinch more than anything. When the two walked off heading towards the zoo Molly crawled into the driver's seat and set her phone, her backpack, and the knife beside her on the passenger seat while she fished the laptop out of her backpack and rested it on her lap. Hopefully, Forest would plug the flashdrive in sooner rather than later so Molly could get access to the cameras and have a better idea what the heck was going on.

Trying hard to feel like he had done the wrong thing by not hugging Molly (was he supposed to hug her? Like he could, he liked hugs, but were they a huggy people? He didn’t know) Forest shrugged it all off focusing on the task at hand. Frowning slightly though at Ricky’s statement, he couldn’t help but bite his lip. “Alright, but just remember, this is an open police case, and murder is frowned upon by human society. So be careful” He stated wondering how he was going keep murderous, well whatever ricky was, safe like he promised molly and fight himself. But that was all in the future he guessed, and there was no use trying to predict it  “3 at least. If not more.” Forest shrugged, the number hadn’t really been clear from the files and there was no use really dwelling on it if he didn’t have to. “So you have any ideas on getting in or are we going to do this the hard way?” He questioned looking at the large wall surrounding the animal park.

Trudging after Forest, ​Ricky​ rolled up the sleeves on his shirt and looked up at the wall in front of them. The man's curious turn of phrase "human society" made him wonder if Molly had inadvertently said something to Forest that had clued Forest into Ricky's identity. She had said the man was skilled in hunting fae.... he wondered if that extended to Selkies and if he was going to face a battle on two fronts this evening. "I think it's climb. You can stand on my shoulders if you wanna. But while I"m pretty good in a fight I'm not great with a lockpick." Running a hand over the rough stone he wondered if they could climb the wall itself or if they would need to shimmy up an adjacent tree "Yeah I'll try to keep too much blood off my hands. Too much. There'll still be some. One of these fuckers left a handful.... literally.... of scars on my back. So... some recompense is due."

Looking at the wall Forest nodded in return. Their best best was probably to get over the wall somehow “While I do know how to pick a lock my expertise is more in the housing variety of locks and not well” Forest looked at the wall not even wanting to know what kind of security this place had installed. I mean  probably didn’t even have actual locks, just buttons and gates and deadbolts. “So climbing might be better for the both of us. With a Tree being probably the best solution since hauling you over after me might be a bit of a feat” He side eyed the other. Yea he was strong, but Ricky probably had a good 50 pounds on him, not to mention forest would have to do that while sitting on top of a wall with all of his gear strapped to him. So yea a tree was probably their best option.  Walking down the wall towards some trees that looked like they’d be able to carry them over Forest listened to Ricky. “Well not saying you can’t well rough them up a little” He replied knowing that if it was up to him the other boy could do whatever the hell he wanted to them. “but probably best to stay away from major organs and veins.”

Ricky nodded thoughtfully as he tucked the knife into the back of his jeans "Tree it is. We can rock that. We can rock the FUCK outta that tree, dude" Starting to haul himself up the rough trunk he hummed softly, enjoying what was bound to be the last peaceful moment they had before all goddamn hell broke loose. "So. How'd you get all caught up in this? Molly said you were some sort of trained hunter and well.... let's be honest. I'm here with three knives in my incredibly fashionable jeans and you've got a goddamn armory in a backpack." He hauled himself up on a branch and shimmied along it until he was close enough to the edge of the wall to jump and grab onto the edge. "Maybe I should have worn shittier jeans." He started to heave himself up as he talked "I can promise organs. That's it."

Quinn watched through the cameras, as grainy as they were, and saw as Ricky and Forest began to discuss how best to get in. Climbing a tree. That was... interesting. He shifted one of the cameras over to focus on what they were doing. The other turned to keep an eye on the car Molly was in. He listened to what Ricky and Forest were saying before turning to his second monitor, frowning. He was already this deep in that Quinn might as well help them, besides, Ricky didn't exactly look like the climbing type. Quinn was already into the security systems so with a few quick strokes he found the locking mechanism. Not all of them were electronic, but the main ones were, and that meant he could control them. Pressing a button he heard a large lock click through his headphones and grinned.

Nodding at the boys ample enthusiasm Forest placed a hand on the tree. It felt sturdy under his palm, his magical leshy energy trying to keep it that way. He would hate for it to break underneath the larger boy. Standing there at the bottom of the tree though Forest bit his lip “Uh, I have a job that kinda uh” He paused trying to figure out how to phrase what he was going to say next “Well it requires me to track and hunts things. But none of them are like good things. They’re all bad things, so I guess you could say I’m like a bounty hunter” Forest shrugged yea that seemed like the best possible explanation. Standing there watching the other boy though, Forest heard the audible crack of a lock being opened, his entire body tensing. “That was a lock. Someone knows we’re here” Forest hissed looking around trying to gauge what to do next, and how much danger they were in. Drawing a knife as he looked up at the other boy “Get down.” He hissed again refocusing his eyes on where the main gate was not knowing if he wanted to trust anything at this moment. “On this side, or the other side, I don’t care but get out of their line of sight and do it quickly”

The sound of the massive gate clicking unlocked was a forceful reminder to Ricky that he was 6'4" of target hanging off a wall. "Oh that is just ten pounds of nope in a five pound bag" he hissed, hauling himself up and over the ledge. Forest's explanation of his job, troubling as it was, was pushed to the back of his mind as he drew the knife "do not. Take. That. Tone. With. Me." He hissed as he dropped, as gracefully as he could, down to behind a bush. The imminent attack he'd been waiting for never came though, and as his stellar night vision scanned the area in front of him. He found it entirely devoid of people, "get in here." He stage-whispered, "we either have a guardian angel or someone's prepping us for the slaughter."

Scoffing slightly Forest watched at the other boy disappeared over the wall. This was almost as bad as when Hunter and his mother went on a hunt. Just bickering bickering everywhere. Shaking it out of his head though he listened sharpley hoping that he hadn’t just accidentally sent the other boy to his  death. Because yea Molly would never forgive him for that. But luckily for everyone it seemed that this wasn’t an ambush and Ricky was fine on the other side and giving him the signal to come in. “Slaughter most likely” Forest replied as he walked toward the open gate, every nerve ending on his body alert. Passing through unscathed though he stalked toward Ricky mind filled with millions of possibilities “Alright well, weirdness of that aside, the control center is a about 30 years this way.” He gestured to a small path to their right.

From his admittedly non-dignified position from behind a bush Ricky scoffed a quick laugh as he stood up, brushing leaves off of his shirt, "okay so the small one gets to walk through the gate and I have to dry hump a fucking bush. This is a wild success of a mission already." He tucked the knife back into his jeans and met up with Forest on the main path "Well slaughter looks like it rhymes with laughter so that'll be a helluva good time. Or some shit. Back to you being a goddamn bounty hunter though?" He started walking down the path to the control center, eyes carefully scanning the path in front of them to make sure they weren't about to be ambushed. "You don't kill good......... non-human things? How the fuck do you qualify that shit because that seems subjective as fuuuuuuuuuck dude."

Letting out a single solitary chuckle, Forest shook his head. “Not quite, but I’ll go with it” He quipped back as they walked, his knife still gripped tightly in his hand. Thinking it over through Forest wondered why his well “bounty hunting” lifestyle was something that most people had a hard time understanding.  “If something does bad things to people with seemingly no remorse, then I take it out and make sure it doesn’t hurt people again. it’s really not that hard.” Forest shrugged not knowing what else he could really say. I mean half of the stuff he hunted weren’t exactly human or human like. And even then the human looking ones he mostly left for his mother. Not wanting to deal with that, well mental conundrum. Approaching the control center though Forest stopped moving toward the shadows. “That’s it” He whispered to the other boy.

Ricky narrowed his eyes as they walked. Forest explained it well but... a lot of things could be explained in such a manner where they didn't seem terrible and yet were, "Alright we'll put a pin in that one and come back to it later. But now let's talk about you and Molly. How do you know her majesty?" As an only child the 'big brother' mentality wasn't exactly second nature to him, but when it came to Molly... he felt pretty goddamn protective. They walked in silence for a little bit more until Forest identified that they were approaching the control center. Ricky put his arm out to stop Forest, looking into the dim to try to discern if they were entirely alone or now, "We're alone.... for now. At the very least there's nothing outside the control center." Trying to use his superior sense of smell was useless... all he could smell was the exhibits, "Let's get Molly in on this adventure."

Trying not to sigh at Ricky Forest just kept walking. No one ever really got his justifications. And to be honest he hated that he had to make the, but that’s what it took to survive in his household alright. And while Forest could get by with his warped moral code about the thing his hands were never going to be clean that was for sure. Raising and eyebrow slightly though at the other as he asked about Molly Forest bit his lip again. “Um. She’s my best friend?” he replied trying to figure out why Ricky would want to know this. I mean if anything this conversation should be the other way. But then again he knew now from the files exactly how these two had met. Stopping at the others arm Forest Rolled his eyes, who was supposed to be point on this adventure? But then again considering Forest had a feeling the other boy must be some type of something that could see well in the dark he guessed he couldn’t complain too much about it. “Fine by me”  He said reaching out for the door handle to test the lock. Didn’t look too difficult. At least not as difficult as the main gate looked good lord. Taking out his lock picking tools from his sleeve Forest knelt slightly inserting his tools into the lock. A few moments later the door swung open.

There wasn't an ounce of Ricky's being that believed that Forest had just friendly feelings for Molly. Ricky was used to being lusted after, desired, admired, longed for because of how he looked (and how much he flirted with everyone) and he knew the looks that Forest had been shooting at Molly in the car. But for the moment he decided to let it go. As Forest unlocked the door to the Control Center, Ricky took up position behind him, carefully looking out into the gloom. "Remind me to get your phone number for the next time I lock myself out of the Jeep." As the door opened he let Forest take the lead, since he was after all the more heavily armed one. But Ricky still kept his eyes peeled for anything in the dark inside. "Looks like we're still alone. You've got the flashdrive?"

Placing his lock picking equipment back in it’s secret place in his sleeve Forest shrugged “I don’t do cars very well, but I can always try” He replied eyes scanning the booth. It seemed empty which was  confirmed by Ricky. Pulling out the flashdrive from another secret pocket Forest held it up for the other to see as he strode across the roode. “Yup” Arriving at bank of computers, cycling through the camera feeds of the zoo, Forest sat down inspecting a few things. The system was ancient. Which was actually probably to Forest’s advantage considering he knew older systems better. Searching for the USB slot with his fingers he smiled when he found it jamming the stick into the slot “Alright Molly should be in now,” He nodded toward Ricky.

Molly had been leaning back in the driver seat patiently waiting for Forest and Ricky to reach the control center. Part of her wondered how the two were getting along. Forest and Ricky were such huge parts of Molly's life here in Ashkent that she couldn't imagine how it would be if the two didn't get along. But the two had a bit of... conflicting personalities. Ricky was always so confident and outspoken, whereas Forest was more withdrawn. Forest was fantastic and hilarious once people got to know him, but he wasn't exactly open to just anyone. For obvious reasons. Her heart exploded in her chest, afraid for both Ricky and Forest as well as herself. But wanting more than anything just for this to finally be over. She would taken the fear of a panic attack and the shaky hands if it meant that she could finally try to get a tiny bit of sleep at night without worrying about one of them showing up in her bedroom. She perked up immediately when she saw a window pop up with files being transferred to her. Bingo. Soon enough she was clicking through files and opening camera feeds, opening several different tabs of different cameras and shrinking them down so she could fit multiple on her unfortunately small laptop screen. "Good luck out there you two" Molly said to herself, shooting a message off to Forest, who she knew would have his phone at least on vibrate to tell them she was in. Then she scanned through some of the camera feeds before shooting off another message. "​They are walking around all over the place. Wait for my text messages. There are a lot of them grouped together inside the aquarium.​"

Waiting for Forest to connect the flash drive and Molly to get in contact with them was excruciating. Ricky wasn't a phenomenally patient man to start with, and when you combined that with the fact that there was a roving gang of murderous creatures ready to kill them ​somewhere​ inside the zoo it really didn't help at all. He flipped through messages on his phone while he waited, keeping one eye on the entrance to the control room in case someone decided they looked ripe for attack. "When she gets in contact what's the plan? Guns blazing or try to pick them off one by one from the shadows?" He nibbled on his lip absentmindedly, "I'm fine with either. Though, to be entirely honest with you, i'd prefer the former. I need a good fight." He didn't hear Forest's phone vibrate, but he saw the man reach for it. Apparently they were in.

Quinn was just returning from the kitchen with a snack, chips and a late night roast beef sandwich, when he spotted Forest plug something into the computer. Humming softly through a mouthful of sandwich, Quinn scrolled through the computer, seeing that the USB had was designed to give someone remote access. Was Molly trying to do what he was doing? He swallowed and grinned, testing it out by moving the cameras around a bit. It wasn't just to test to see if Molly was doing anything, but also to see how many people were in the zoo.

Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket Forest pulled the device out scanning the message before responding to Ricky “She says they are walking around all over the place. Which means there’s probably more than I expected, so Guns ablazing would be the worst thing we could probably do.” He shoved his phone back in his pocket and ran a hand through his hair. Forest agreed with Ricky, he’d much rather go in there and get this all over with, as he needed a good fight too. But that apparently wasn’t the plan and for now he was going to trust that Molly knew what she was doing “She wants us to wait for her to text us” He said, with a nod “So that’s what I’m going to do for the moment until I know more.”

Scanning through an entire zoo of cameras by herself on a laptop screen was more taxing than ​Molly​ originally thought it would be. She pulled up a few cameras that began moving on their own, without Molly choosing to move them. She stared at the screen confusedly for a few seconds, but being in a hurry, she chalked it up to faulty wiring and and moved past the camera, mentally marking each spot where she saw someone. Trying to keep track of all of these was going to be next to impossible. But she would have to figure it out. For Forest and Ricky's sake. Eventually she sent a picture of the zoo map to both of their phones and began texting them instructions. "​Two guards walking along the Lion cages. Head there first from here and take them out. Then you need to go straight from there in the direction of the Elephants​"

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. It had to be waiting. Every minute that passed sitting in the control room and doing nothing brought Ricky one step closer to insanity. He just wanted to fight someone. Was that really such a terrible thing? Eventually though, their eyes in the sky came through and a text buzzed through on both of their phones "Lion cages. Just two of them? I like our odds there." He tucked his phone back in his pocket and stretched out a little bit, looking out into the night beyond the control room. "You wanna go first or do you want me to? Either way, I think it's high time you and I brought the pain." The smile on his face might have been a little wicked but, in the dark, nobody could really see.

Standing there, leaning slightly against one of the desks as he watched the other boy, Forest tried to keep himself calm cool and collected. This was just another day at the office after all and there was no need to get worked up about things. Especially when the telltale vibration in his pocket meant that Molly had come through. Listening to Ricky, Forest pulled himself up unlocking his bow from his backpack. “It doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things” he shrugged out, knowing that battle was battle and sometimes the person who was suppsoed ot be in front didn’t end up that way “though shooting around you makes extra work for me, so I’ll take the lead for now” Forest added glancing over at the giant form that was ricky. Yea, getting objects around [i]all[/i] of that, well it was doable but not exactly a walk in the park. So stepping forward Forest put himself in the lead hand poised on the door knob. “Alright Rambo, just remember pain is alright, but no killing” he said as he opened the door, casting the two into darkness “The lion cage is straight ahead and to the left” Forest whispered as he stalked forward bow at the ready.

Ricky waved a dismissive hand "yeah yeah yeah I'm angry I'm not a fucking psychopath. You can spare me the lectures, Boba Fett. I've got it." He let Forest walk in front of him.... it seemed the best way to avoid an 'accidental' arrow in the back, and pulled two knives out. Padding along as silently as he could he realized he was at a distinct disadvantage. "I can't hear really well. See fine. Hearing no good. So. Lemme know if I'm making too much noise." As they approached the lion cage he saw the two figures in front of them in the distance "I'll take left. Subdue don't kill I know I know. Just tell me when."

Trying not to let out a sigh, Forest just let it all go. Whatever Ricky did or didn’t do in the heat of the moment was his problem he guessed. Forest would keep his promise and aim for extremities and that was all he could do. Listening though to the distinct padding of a large person who wasn’t used to sneaking around much Forest just nodded “Not going to lie you sound a bit like a lumbering giant, but after this it’s probably not going to matter” He said as he pulled an arrow out of his quiver and notched it the two guards in the distance still oblivious to the whole thing. “When” Forest called out before launching an arrow straight into the right guards calf.

This was what the predator that lived in the spaces between Ricky's bones had been waiting for. The minute Forest gave the signal, Ricky charged. He heard the pained yelp of the guard that got an arrow in the calf but before Ricky's target could turn to do anything the Selkie was on him. A quick kick to the back of the knees dropped the guard and from then it was simply a matter of smacking him hard enough in the head with the handle of the knife to knock him out. "okay. I can't promise he won't have brain damage. But he's alive." He took a moment to remove the guard's belt before dragging him off the path; tying him to a tree and gagging him with one of his own socks. "If that tastes like shit it means you need to do laundry more." He told the unconscious ruffian. "Aiiiiiiight that went pretty well. Nobody dead. Nobody raised the alarm. Go us."

Quinn blinked as he watched Forest take out a guy with a bow. A bow? Who used those kinds of weapons? And then Ricky came after him as well. What the fuck was going on? He turned to his monitor, running quick searches on the names tied to the computers he had located. Frowning when not much came up, he dove into the police station’s record, hacking into it easily. So that was why Reed wanted the information. He saw what this gang had apparently done. At least they were bad guys. That meant, for now, he would let them go along taking them out. Knocking them unconscious at least. He frowned though, they really should have left something like this to to the police.

Watching at his own target stumbled, Forest rushed forward kicking the other’s good leg out from under him. And luckily for Forest the dude went down, and went down hard smacking the back of his head onto the pavement, his eyes closing as he lost consciousness. Unceremoniously pulling the shaft of his arrow out from the other’s leg Forest wiped the blood off of it looking at Ricky. He actually didn’t do half bad. “Not sure how many brain cells they had to spare in the beginning but a little brain damage never hurt anyone” Forest shrugged, looking at his own target and he put the arrow back in his quiver. Yeaaaa he wasn’t doing much better on the potential brain damage thing. Reaching into his pack Forest pulled out a small length of rope and a piece of cloth, tying the man’s hands securely behind before tournquiting his leg. Didn’t want him to bleed out after all. Dragging him next to the other victim, Forest reached into his pack and pulled out a roll of duct tape securing it to his mouth. There all nice and pretty and unable to call for help, just like he liked it. “Yea go us” Forest nodded smiling slightly before turning toward the path a bit. “Our work here isn’t done yet though. The elephant cage is this way”

Ricky grinned stupidly "Concussions build character that's what I always say!" He watched as Forest, far more professionally than Ricky had, bound his victim. "Look at you go, BDSM Bounty Hunter." They walked back onto the path and Ricky looked again into the gloom in front of them, reaching with his eyes as much as he could as they headed towards the larger group. He eventually put a hand on Forest's shoulder, tugging him off the path as they got close "There's a lot. There's a lot of them up there." Chewing on his lip he weighed their options "I'm open to suggestions but it seems like you cause damage from afar and I go in like a wrecking ball seems like our best option. I've gotten in plenty of fights. I can handle it."

“Rope is useful?” Forest shrugged slightly embarrassed. He was not into BDSM just because he liked to carry different lengths of rope with him and he knew how to tie a knot ok.  Back on the path though Forest put his game face back on stalking down the path. And he could hear them before he saw them, a large crowd gathered around the cage. “How many?” Forest asked the other boy as they veered off the path wanting to know an estimate. Though he guessed that didn’t really matter considering there were far more than two. “Alright I mean i don’t see much of an option though i promised Molly i’d keep you safe.” He shook his head notching an arrow in his bow. But of course safe didn’t matter as he heard the muffled scream, one of the guards must have gotten part of  their gag off. Sensing they were in trouble as the gang looked in their direction. Forest took aim hitting the nearest one straight in the shoulder “Fuck Surprise. GO NOW” He yelled pulling another arrow out.

The sound of the muffled scream brought a flush to Ricky's face "Okay that's probably totally the one that I gagged with a sock so I owe you a beer when... and if.... we make it out of here in exchange for that." Ricky watched as Forest's face turned to iron resolve and he brought his bow up. "You got it, big man! Let's make these fuckers pay!" He started charging down the path, knives in both hands. If he was entirely honest with himself, something he was loathe to ever do, he didn't really know how good he was going to be in a group brawl. But he just had to buck up and go balls to the wall with it because that was the only option he had at this point "GET SOME BITCHES!" he screamed as he entered the group, knives slashing low across the first enemy's legs. He felt a blow glance of his shoulder blade and turned to face the new enemy, "This is for Reed, you fucking bitchfaces." A headbutt made his head spin and he felt a dribble of blood down his nose, but it felt good to deal damage in the name of vengeance, "I'm gonna fuck.. a... bitch... up."

Quinn’s eyes flickered across the screens. Forest and Ricky were getting into some trouble over there. But there wasn’t anything he could do about that. He frowned, eyes focused on Ricky as someone punched at his shoulder and winced a bit. It looked like it hurt, but Ricky seemed able enough to keep his own, even if his battle cries were lacking. But as his eyes glanced over to the one at the front gate, he jumped a bit. There was someone sneaking towards the car, and he doubted Molly could find it. He pulled up a program, sending her a text message from Q. Someone is coming. Defend yourself. ~Q.

Molly had anxiety sitting in Ricky’s jeep. She could flick through the monitors so fast, and the fact that someone else was using these same computers was becoming overwhelmingly clear. The more frustrating part was that Molly had to work herself around this person’s control. Because whoever it was, they were better than her. And as much as that infuriated Molly, she knew that she had more important things to deal with right now. She had her eyes glued to the screen, staring down Ricky and Forest. Making sure that nothing went wrong. When her phone buzzed she barely noticed it. Then another text rang in. She glanced over at it, picking it up only when she noticed that the text wasn’t from anybody in her contacts. “Oh no” she muttered to herself, reading the text, signed Q. She immediately reached to lock the doors and grabbed for the iron knife and had only just gripped the handle when she heard the glass shatter and felt glass shards flying onto her. A hand grabbed onto her hair and she was being dragged out of the car. She felt her leg catch against the broken glass on the window and screamed as it cut through her.

“When!” Forest yelled, as he ran forwards into the fray firing off another arrow “WHEN WE GET OUT OF HERE” He yelled again ducking out of the way as something was launched at him. There were no ifs only whens in his damn book as he uppercut another gang member with the but of his bow. Backing away again Forest took another arrow out of his quiver firing with no remorse, there were probably about 20-30 gang members swarming now. There was no way he was going to get him and Ricky out of here without some questionable shots. It was inevitable. Backing into the side of the cage Forest just stood there with quiet but iron resolve keeping as much of an eye out for ricky as he could picking off some of the members rushing to defend their comrades from, well whatever Ricky was.

This was going poorly. They were phenomenally outnumbered and Forest could do a lot of damage but he knew he was bringing the man down a little bit. As more and more gang members joined the fight Ricky started to get a little more indiscriminate with his slashes and stabs, hearing the grunts and occasional screams from around him. That filled him with a sick satisfaction as the blood sprayed around him. More and more blows were landing on him though, harder and harder and he was suddenly filled with the thought that they might not have this as under control as they thought they did. A kick to a gang member's knee, and a stab to another one's stomach and he looked for Forest through the fray, schooling his face into careful concentration and not the well of fear that was growing in him, "Can I kill them yet?!"

Quinn watched as things got worse and worse for everyone involved. “Shit,” he mumbled to himself, wincing as the shouting and screaming grew louder. He had to do something, both for Ricky and Forest as well as Molly. But he didn’t know what. There wasn’t anything except the lock he could hack into outside. Biting his lower lip, he looked around the camera. If some of the cars were smart cars though… He pushed himself forward, leaning over his desk as he typed into the computer. It took him a bit longer than he would have liked but eventually he got several of the car alarms to go off. Now he just had to figure out what to do about the others.

The woman threw Molly down onto the pavement, where she slammed against the icy blacktop with a painful thud and felt all of the air rush out of her body in one single gasp. She immediately gripped at her leg, trying to put pressure as she saw blood pouring from it. But the Nix was on her just as quickly and taking the knife from occupied hands. “What do we have here? The little girl that stole our laptop?” her smile was devilish and sadistic. She bent down over Molly, knife in hand and rubbed the flat end against Molly’s forearm. Molly squirmed and fought as hard as she could, but the Nix was too strong. “Is this pure iron? Fancy gear you got here. Does it work on humans too?” The Nix laughed and pressed the blade against her arm, slicing down as Molly screamed out in pain. “This is what you and the rest of your friends get for butting into business that isn’t yours.” This time the Nix pressed her hand over Molly’s throat and began squeezing as she made another nick on Molly’s skin, this time on the other arm. Molly couldn’t even scream because she couldn’t breathe. She was getting dizzy from the lack of exhaustion, and could just see her vision blurring when the car alarms started going off. More than one. At least a dozen alarms must have been going off. The Nix became distracted and turned her head, readjusting her hand ever so slightly. Just enough for Molly to push her head up enough to bite down on her hand. She bit so hard that she felt the rush of blood pouring into her mouth and immediately began spitting it back up. But it had been enough to get the Nix off of her. She rolled her, grabbing the knife that the Nix had dropped onto the ground and swinging it forward, landing a stab right in the Nix’s stomach. The Nix screamed as the illusion began wearing off and Molly could actually make out it’s true form. In a way, the Nix was almost beautiful when it looked less like a human and more like the aquatic creature that it was. And in a moment of panic Molly tore the knife out of the Nix and stabbed it in again, this time a little higher. The side, maybe a rib cage if she was lucky. That time when Molly pulled the knife out she pushed herself on her feet and limped backwards, ignoring the searing pain and bumping into a car. She held the knife out, though her hands shook in fear. “Stay away from me.” The Nix screamed at Molly, and stood, but it was obvious how badly damaged the two both were. Instead of coming after her though, the Nix turned and fled.

Firing one after one Forest watched as the iron turned each fae back into nix, the one’s he hadn’t shot not marked clear as day. But there were still too many and that was apparent as a gang member was able to break through his defense and slash at him with a knife. Feeling it slice across the lower part of his jaw and catch a bit of his chest. He could feel it but it wasn’t deep, though it still hurt like a bitch. “Are you kidding me?” Forest yelled dropping his bow and pulling out knives from his sleeves. Taking a defensive stance Forest countered each of the gang member’s attacks elegantly, before kicking the man onto his back. His Nix skin shining in the moonlight. God he really wanted to kill this one. “Oh what the hell what’s one less Nix in the world” He whispered a drop of blood dripping onto the other man’s face as he drove a knife down into the gang members heart. “Do whatever you need to stay ALIVE!” He yelled toward Ricky, picking back up his bow.

Things were getting hairy and Ricky was starting to actually get concerned. He'd already dropped one of his knives because the blood, both his and the Nix's, had proven too slippery a thing to hold onto. He looked over to see Forest dripping blood of his own and heard the man's command to do anything it took to stay alive, "okay okay okay alive is something I can do." He twirled and stabbed one of the knives into a gang member's torso, hearing the pained yell dimly as the man stumbled backwards. The victory was short lived however, as two more gang members moved in to take his place. In a brief moment of distraction, someone managed to sneak up behind him and get him in a tight hold, as one of the other stretched out his arm against a nearby railing. "no no no no no no no no no" he gasped under his breath. "Let's see how well you swim with one flipper, little seal." one snapped with a sick grin before raising his boot and slamming it down on Ricky's left arm between his shoulder and elbow. The snap was loud... louder than it should have been, and as Ricky screamed in pain he looked down to see white bone poking through his tan skin. The pain was white hot... and then non-existant as the shock set in and Ricky stabbed the one holding him in the eyeball with the one knife he'd managed to hold onto. He started to stagger through the crowd and back to Forest. They had to regroup. He definitely needed to get out of here as soon as possible before he bled out in a zoo. That was ​not​ how he wanted to go.

Molly couldn’t do more than limp back to the jeep. She was freezing, her arms were wrapped tightly around herself as she tried to retain some heat in the freezing Maine winter. She reached into the broken window to unlock the car door and grabbed for her jacket that she stuffed behind the seat earlier when she got too hot sitting in the car. She used it to try to wipe some of the glass pieces out of the driver’s seat and out onto the pavement. Everything ached. Her back hurt from being thrown against the pavement. Her leg and arms hurt from the knife. Her throat hurt. And as she crawled into the driver’s seat she became painfully aware that she hadn’t gotten all of the glass pieces out of the seat. Tiny bits of glass duck into her legs. She did her best to brush them out, but became distracted by the camera feeds. “No, no no.” She muttered to herself, just saying the words sending a jolt of pain up and down her neck. Her phone buzzed from the passenger seat, exactly where she had left it. And she glanced back at the monitor after reading the text message. The two were outnumbered, and were going to be killed if they didn’t get out of there. She went to text them, but thought they would become distracted. So what did she do? She couldn’t make a decision, but then watched in horror as one of the Nix grabbed onto Ricky and bent his arm back. Even through the silent feed of the security cameras Molly felt like she could hear the crack. “No!” Molly screamed, tears pouring down her eyes so rapidly she could barely see. She needed to get them out of there now. She saw on one of the cameras an intercom, and realized that might be her only chance. She recorded herself saying “Get back to the jeep” And then sent the audio file to the computer, plugging it into the speaker system before blaring it across the zoo. It wasn’t exactly stealthy, but it wouldn’t distract as much as a text message would either.

Head shots. Forest was now making an subsequently landing as many head shots as his quiver would allow, but it was no use. They were coming in droves now and even the battle hardened boy could tell they weren’t going to win this way. Stopping slightly Forest trying to regroup and figure out how to get them both out of there alive, but It was then that he heard it, the telltale crunch of bone and the scream. Yea this was going to be harder than he thought. Running over towards Ricky Forest shot off a few more arrows knowing his quiver was running low. Crap. “Can you run?” He asked bluntly wanting to asses what he was now working with. It was then though that Molly bust in over the loud speaker voice echoing the thought that had been running through Forest’s own mind after Ricky was well, taken out of commision. Get back to the Jeep “But how do you suggest we freaking do that Molly?” Forest muttered under his breath the stress of the situation starting to get to him. He wished Hunter were here. Shaking his head though Forest turned towards Ricky knowing this was their only option “Just go back the way we came, I’ll catch up once I’ve cleared more of a path.” He nodded wrenching the shaft of an arrow from one of the bodies around them.

Quinn winced and gasped loudly as he watched the bone come through on Ricky’s skin. There was blood everywhere, so much blood. He had seen worse, certainly, with what his parents had done. But for some reason this was just as sickening, maybe moreso, because it was someone he knew. It was Ricky. He shuddered, watching as they started to shamble down the path to Molly’s directions. He should have done more. What, he didn’t know, but he should have done more. The only thing he could think of were the police. So with a few quick strokes he’d sent in an anonymous tip to the police about the gang relating to officer Reed’s incident. Shuddering, he pulled back, watching as Ricky and Forest made their way back.

All Ricky could manage was a weak nod as he started to run down the path, Molly's voice ringing in his ears. Every step was agony. Every. Single. Step. He. Took. sent lightning bolts of white-hot pain down his arm. "Follow close." he managed to gasp out, good arm grabbing at Forest's shirt, "We're getting out of here together or we're not getting out at all." He continued running, holding his wounded arm as close to him as he could manage to try to minimize the jostling from it. He was roughly familiar with how shock worked, and he knew he only had a very short window of time before the pain from such a monumental injury made him unable to move. plus.... blood loss was going to become a factor pretty soon. He could see the great gate of the zoo in front of him and hoped he could make it to the truck. With Forest. Molly probably wouldn't forgive him if he was responsible for the death of her maybe-eventually-boyfrie​nd.

The pain had grown rather distant as ​Molly​ became almost entirely focused on the safe return of Ricky and Forest. She aggressively clicked through the security feeds, following them as the two waddled through the park away from the gang that was chasing after them. They had come in ridiculously overestimating themselves. The three had never stood a chance on their own. She started up the jeep when she saw Ricky and Forest limp towards the entrance to the zoo and peeled out of the parking spot, flooring the ignition until she practically pulled up on the curb to meet them. The back seat door was thrown open and Molly almost began crying because she could just tell how hurt Ricky was. She stomped on the gas pedal again once she heard the door shut and she drove off, only stopping when she was finally out of the zoo parking lot and back on the main road. She heard the police sirens, and she pulled over onto the side of the road and threw it in park. "Get down." She spoke out loud, leaning down against the center console and wincing at the pain that shot up her back from the awkward position. She didn't move again until she couldn't hear the sirens anymore. Then she sat up, stared at Ricky teary-eyed through the rear view mirror, and starting driving again. "We're going to the hospital."

Fighting hard not to wrench the kid’s only good arm out of his socket Forest stood his ground “Fuck together Ricky. This is about survival” Forest yelled at him moving only a few inches “So you will drive. And you will drive away without me if need be. Is that clear.” Forest spat finally forcing Ricky to let go. If he didn’t shoot now none of them were making it out of here. And so that’s what he did He cleared a path while Ricky ambled toward the main gates only stopping when he ran out of arrows. Sprinting now through the park Forest hoped that he’d given them all enough of a head start and luckily for all of them he had, as he caught up to Ricky no problem. “Alright. Let’s get you to the Jeep” He said throwing Ricky’s good arm over his shoulder and waddling out to meet Molly. Shoving ricky into the car as gently as he could Forest practically threw himself into the front yelling at Molly to drive. And she did only stopping once to let the police cars by. Breathing a sigh of relief that they all had made it out of there well relatively unscathed “Yea, he’s going to need some surgery” Forest nodded solemnly. From there they drove in silence the stress of the night weigh heavy on everyone.

Quinn let out a sigh of relief when they all managed to get into the car. He leaned back, making sure that the Zoo main gate mechanically locked with a loud click into place, keeping any remaining gang members from getting out, with a sigh. That was… intense. Not in a great way either. Ricky had gotten hurt. Badly. Forest seemed to as well and so was Molly. They had gone in blind. He almost felt like it was his fault. He’d given Molly the information after all. But even he hadn’t known how many people there had been. Perhaps he’d send her a message as Q to be more careful should they try that again. He could be more helpful with all the information. But the first thing was to make sure that Ricky was okay.

[blythewonder]

[pm] I did something really really stupid.

[pm] Is anything on fire?

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[blythewonder]

[pm] [d: please tell me you're not busy] Hi are you busy? Want some company?

[pm] If it’s your company, then yes. Of course.

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