Kyle Sutton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
akillersmile) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
undergrounds2016-01-12 03:06 pm
akillersmile) wrote in undergrounds2016-01-12 03:06 pm
Entry tags:
wake up
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Kyle was new to the area. Hell, he was new to the country. As easy as it was to pick up the basics - public transit, prices, slang - he was having a harder time learning the small and intertwining streets in his neighborhood. He felt almost constantly lost, which made him almost constantly anxious about knowing his exits and whether he would ever find his damn AWOL C.O. he'd come to find in the first place.
It's one such night, disoriented on the way back to his shared flat from a quiet drink at a pub, that he stumbles into something he thought he left behind. Kyle knows what he's looking at the moment he sees it. The vampire feeding on the teenage boy who seems near unconsciousness.
"Hey!" He yells without thinking, waving his arms as if trying to chase a coyote off from a stray stash of food. The vampire, in a stroke of luck for Kyle or perhaps to keep his face hidden, decides to take off rather than engage in a conflict, dropping the now passed out boy into the street. Kyle runs over, ripping off his shirt to apply pressure to the wound on the kid's neck, then looking around for someone - anyone - nearby. "Hey, I could use some help here."
It's one such night, disoriented on the way back to his shared flat from a quiet drink at a pub, that he stumbles into something he thought he left behind. Kyle knows what he's looking at the moment he sees it. The vampire feeding on the teenage boy who seems near unconsciousness.
"Hey!" He yells without thinking, waving his arms as if trying to chase a coyote off from a stray stash of food. The vampire, in a stroke of luck for Kyle or perhaps to keep his face hidden, decides to take off rather than engage in a conflict, dropping the now passed out boy into the street. Kyle runs over, ripping off his shirt to apply pressure to the wound on the kid's neck, then looking around for someone - anyone - nearby. "Hey, I could use some help here."
(2)
Post traumatic stress is never an easy thing. Although Kyle never receives full on hallucinations like a couple of his brothers had struggled with, the traumas continue to sneak up on him occasionally, clouding his judgment and ratcheting his anxiety into high gear. This time, it's in the middle of his run. He's not even sure if it was a scent or a sound that set him off. Maybe the combination. Whatever it is, it forces him to stop and focus, to breathe through it.
He takes a seat on the nearby bench, legs shoulder-width apart, forearms on his knees, eyes closed, head down to hide his face. His mandated counselor told him it was the most efficient breathing position. Now he uses it to relax, to try to force the body working against him to calm down and get back to the present with him. And he probably looks troubled, if not a little crazy, to the passersby, but that's rarely been a concern for him.
He takes a seat on the nearby bench, legs shoulder-width apart, forearms on his knees, eyes closed, head down to hide his face. His mandated counselor told him it was the most efficient breathing position. Now he uses it to relax, to try to force the body working against him to calm down and get back to the present with him. And he probably looks troubled, if not a little crazy, to the passersby, but that's rarely been a concern for him.
(3)
Vampires are real. Kyle learned about that some time ago, when Cooper came to his hospital room and gave him a reason to live and fight through the Fever. He'd been trained in that specialty, hunting, and it had been most of his tour in South Africa. What unnerved him was learning that they were everywhere. The problem wasn't contained to an area, as he'd been lead to believe, but the creatures sprawled in various corners of the world, thriving on the suffering and death of humans. So, yeah, he took it upon himself to do something about it.
Kyle has a split lip, a couple seriously bruised ribs, a swollen and bruised cheek, and some bloody scratches on both an arm and his neck from the fight. But you should see the other guy. The vampire lays dead on the ground, a broken pool cue shoved through his heart. All things considered, Kyle feels like he got off pretty well.
To the casual observer, it looks like a bar room brawl gone bad. Which is why, when he hears someone behind him, Kyle tenses and silently curses in his mind. The soldier lifts his hands to either side of him in a gesture of surrender, showing he's unarmed. "It's not what it looks like."
Kyle has a split lip, a couple seriously bruised ribs, a swollen and bruised cheek, and some bloody scratches on both an arm and his neck from the fight. But you should see the other guy. The vampire lays dead on the ground, a broken pool cue shoved through his heart. All things considered, Kyle feels like he got off pretty well.
To the casual observer, it looks like a bar room brawl gone bad. Which is why, when he hears someone behind him, Kyle tenses and silently curses in his mind. The soldier lifts his hands to either side of him in a gesture of surrender, showing he's unarmed. "It's not what it looks like."
(4)
Hoping to settle in faster than the average, Kyle's out running errands throughout the day. He's picking up some new clothes, having arrived with only his backpack's worth of stuff, and groceries for the apartment. At the same time, he pops in to occasional shops to apply for jobs. Sweeper, clerk. Anything with decent pay at a local joint who will accept an American with a military background in a questionable economy.
[Feel free to bump into him shopping, or be in a shop when he asks for work, or anywhere in between. Fairly open.]
[Feel free to bump into him shopping, or be in a shop when he asks for work, or anywhere in between. Fairly open.]
no subject
"Yeah, there are a bunch of those superhero movies. They're okay." Truth be told, he hasn't seen too many movies from the last few years either. And what he has seen has been mostly mindless fluff: romantic comedies, cool sci-fi movies, and ridiculous monster movies. No one on tour wants to watch American Sniper or even James Bond. "Have you seen the new Star Wars yet?"
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She shook her head. "I haven't even seen the old ones."
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Kyle stared at her for a couple seconds. He lifted his hands to his face, covering his eyes before dropping them back down again. "I don't- I can't- How could-"
He lifted his arms in open surprise as he turned from one side to the other, checking with an invisible audience to back him up. His expression turned serious as he dropped his hands. "Alex. We need to watch Star Wars. I don't care when, but it's going to happen."
no subject
"I didn't know it was that big a deal," she said, trying to playfully needle him, since it obviously was a big deal.
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The smile disappeared nearly as quickly as it came, not wanting to send the wrong impression. "The prequels are controversial. You can skip those if you want. But you have to see the originals and the new one."
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"Alright." It wasn't as though she had anything against Star Wars, she'd simply never gotten around to seeing them. If it was actually important to him, she'd try them out. "Do you have them? We could watch one while we eat the brownies."
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"Yeah? I'd like that." He replies softly. "Thanks."
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She nodded to acknowledge how serious he was before trying to lighten the mood a little by saying, "I'm the one getting to see them for the first time." The timer dinged. "You go get it, I'll take the brownies out."
no subject
He was upstairs for awhile, pausing to update his aunt and uncle on the situation and insisting, again, that it was okay for them to come down if they wanted. After several minutes, the soldier finally returned downstairs, movies in hand, coming from the hall with a quick and concerned look. "Nothing's on fire. You're showing real improvement."
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She glanced up at him as he entered, and smiled cockily. "Yeah, I'm a real pro at turning off the oven."
no subject
With her approval, he turned and headed back down the hall to the living room area. The room was mostly open to the hallway and, anyway, fairly obvious, so he wasn't concerned with her finding him. Instead, he set to work on setting up the film, turning on the TV and pulling up the menu for the original Star Wars.
He took a seat on the couch as he was figuring out the remotes, then waited when it was finally queued up and ready to go.
no subject
It wasn't hard to find the living room, but once she got there it felt a little strange to be sitting down on someone's couch to watch a movie. She moved somewhat awkwardly to sit next to him, back straight and the plate held carefully on her lap, automatically defaulting to the etiquette that had been drilled into her as a child. She had to remind herself to relax, lean back and cross her legs, and then she picked up a brownie and offered the plate to him.
"Here. Slightly underdone, but not," she pointed out with a touch of pride, "on fire."
no subject
"Slightly underdone is good," he said as he tried to breathe around the piece to make it cool. After swallowing, he said, "Still hot."
He smiled again, not at all put off by the burning of his mouth, and blew on his piece before taking another small bite. Kyle straightened as he chewed, shifting a little with an expression of needing to tell her something. He finally swallowed. "Shit, I forgot the icing. They're still pretty hot.. We can ice the ones we don't eat now for you to take home later. Give them a chance to cool down."
no subject
"What am I gonna do with that many brownies?" she asked in disbelief. Not that she didn't like brownies, but she was trying to eat at least kind of healthily. Very tentatively, she took another bite of her brownie. Much better.
She settled in a little more comfortably, just close enough to him that their elbows brushed, and waited for him to start the movie.
no subject
He flashed her an easy grin, as always, and then pressed the button for the movie to start. The touch didn't even occur to him and he did nothing to either withdraw or exacerbate it.
no subject
She turned her attention to the tv, comfortably sinking into the couch as she chewed on her still-warm brownie. As the opening crawl started, she glanced sideways at him, wondering if he was really serious about going over to her place and if that was going to be a problem. Trying to avoid being caught staring at him, she quickly looked back at the tv, her eyes hurriedly scanning the bright yellow lines of text to make sure she was caught up on the backstory.