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ajremixSo when I went on the cruise last week, I asked for some people to give me some challenges regarding my original characters. I didn't get a lot of responses, but then I didn't have a lot of time to write them and so couldn't finish them all.
6th Squad – Big screen TV
Despite the fact Kylan could almost pretend the three of them maybe weren’t always total idiots (except for Tio who only occasionally had bouts of terminal idiocy) they still had their moments. Like when Third would fail to remind them if the milk had spoiled while they were out on a mission because he doesn’t seem to get that they all don’t have photographic memories. Or that Kai still hadn’t learned to check the expiration date before he’d take a whole mouthful of the stuff (let alone grabbing a cup, the disgusting bastard).
And when they weren’t being total idiots, Kylan just had to resign to the fact that they were still, very much, guys. So when Kylan thought she had a perfectly valid question in “We’re rarely ever at the apartment. Why do you want to spend so much money on that thing?” they just gave her blank, stupid looks.
“Because it’s a big screen TV? Obviously.”
Balt, Q – Hello? Anyone there?
There was a knock on the door. “You wanted to see me, Gunny?”
GySgt Cowlan looked up. “Gavrin, come in.” He looked over the report for a moment before signing off at the bottom. “I’ve received a complaint from a Tracer about your service this afternoon.”
Balt hesitated for a moment. “I’m sorry?”
“Seems someone tried to get a mission file from you and got brushed off.” The gunny cleared his throat, flipping through another report. “You know I don’t like hearing about my squads getting mis-treated.”
“What?” Balt thought back on the day, trying to remember what could’ve caused this conversation. “I had some people come in to give me their reports and a couple squads needing forms for specialized equipment. But no one came to me for a file.”
Lacing his hands together, Cowlan said, “Think hard. Was there anything odd that happened today?”
He frowned a little, mostly out of confusion. “No, Gunny. Nothing strange happened.” He paused again. “Though… I kept thinking I heard something knocking on my desk. But every time I looked up, no one was there.”
“Ah.” Cowlan said. “That would’ve been Q.”
“Q? What’s Q?”
He waved to one of the chairs that sat in front of his desk. Balt leaned over the top of it and found a coated figure so small it was dwarfed in the low-back seat. The shrouded person looked up, two gold eyes glaring at Balt from the dark shadows of its hood.
“That,” Cowlan told him, “is Q.”
“Hi.” Balt said, extending his hand. “I’m an ass.”
Chia, Sen – Cream and sugar
Sen glared a mighty glare that could move mountains to create rockets to fly to the moon in. Chia wasn’t impressed. She was never impressed with the secret technologies of mountains.
“Here.” She said with a cheerful grace- because Chia was nothing if not cheery and graceful. “I ordered some lemon cake, too.”
“I don’t want this crap.” Chia was the only one that tried to be polite to Sen outside of their job for reasons… no one else understood. And it drove Sen mad to have someone constantly socializing.
“I also got a good deal on some fresh marzipan in the market.”
“Hate it.”
But Chia kept trying and Sen kept snarling at her. But one of them had to eventually give and Sen would be damned if it wasn’t Chia.
“Do you want cream and sugar in your chia?”
After tea time, of course.
Kai, Kizuna – Snakes
Kizuna’s brow furrowed. Despite all she knew, some things she just couldn’t understand. Especially when it came to religious superstitions.
“I don’t get it.” She said, waving her arm around, watching the play of colors and stripes coiling around it. “It’s your namesake. How can you be afraid of snakes?”
“Genetic defect.” Came the reply from some nearby tree. “Could you put the snake away?”
Kai, Kylan – I want to win
Kai let out a hoot, half-finished with the last lap. “Bye bye, greenies!” He cackled, his own two-manned cart zooming by like a demon-thing out of hell. “See, Kylan?” He told her, finish line looming around the corner. “This is what’s called a total ass-whooping.”
Kylan glared at her squadmate. Then leaned forward and yanked his controller out of the game system.
Koopa Troopa and Toad coasted to a halt just in front of the finish line. “You BITCH!”
Kylan’s own Yoshi-Luigi combo raced across, cheering. “Sorry,” she smiled wickedly, “but I play to win.”
Hanae, Lars – Outrageous laughter
Hanae, never one to be sociable, even with her own squadmates, couldn’t help but ask, “Why is Sen laughing so loud?”
It hadn’t abated for the three near three minutes it chased Lars out of the room, the heir looking peevish.
“I don’t know. Sen’s sense of humor is weird.” He said. “All I said was money doesn’t change everyone. I said if I didn’t have all that money and family history behind me, I don’t think I would’ve grown up to be that much more different.”
Hanae blinked slowly but kept her opinion to herself. “And Sen started laughing hysterically?”
“The laughing started after I said so long as I still had my personal servant and got to go to my family’s social, growing up poor would be a breeze.”
Her lips didn’t even twitch though she gave Lars her patented ‘you’re-an-idiot-but-I-won’t-say-anything’ look. “Perhaps you should never speak on this subject again.”
“What? How am I wrong?”
Hanae, Sen – Millionaire
Sen was one of those people that couldn’t keep still and was found stretching on the floor of the living room, international news on the TV.
“So Lars spoke to ya, huh?” Came the not-really-question.
“I asked him why you were laughing.” Hanae replied. Her squadmate had to be the most flexible person she knew.
“You can’t tell me that guy ain’t a freakin’ moron.”
She didn’t answer and instead asked, “Would money have changed you?”
Sen snorted loudly. “Hell yeah! I don’t even need all that old money Lars’ family’s sittin’ on. I grew up a millionaire, thing’s be a lot different.”
“Oh?” Hanae never though how money would affect her. But then, she grew up in a jungle tribe. Money didn’t hold much in that society. “And how would you be different?”
“For one thing,” Sen bent over froward, chest-to-floor, legs shifting into splits, “I wouldn’t be here. For another, I’d be an annoying prat like Lars. And lastly,” Sen gave Hanae a dark grin, “I’d be buyin’ the authorities like no one’s business.”
She still didn’t fully grasp how money influenced people in the ‘civilized world’ (honestly Hanae considered her little, secluded village far more civilized in many aspects) but Sen would know. She assumed. “The I suppose it’d a good thing you weren’t born to a millionaire.”
“Yeah. Would’ve gotten damned boring, too, I’ll bet.”
Q, Rin, Solo – Hell no!
“Rin~!” Solo called out in that irritatingly cheerful way of his. “I have a question for you!”
“Come in the kitchen and ask and quit yelling across the apartment!”
When Solo found him, Rin was at the stove, cooking what smelled like lunch. And peanut butter. In retaliation, Solo had Q.
“All right.” Rin was wearing an apron with a lace frill at the bottom. They had long ago learned not to laugh at Rin’s apron choice (he claimed he never had time to get a decent one) least they eat charcoal. But Solo still snickered internally. “What do you want?”
Solo put his hands on Q’s shoulders, pushing it ahead of him. “I,” Solo said, “amd in need of your help. I’ve been trying to impress upon out mutually adorable buddy here that our happy little squad is a family.”
Rin cast a look down at Q, though his expression had softened. “Q, you know we’re family here.” The tiny Tracer shifted in embarassment.
“You know what I think would help convince him?” Solo asked, smiling. “If he had someone to call Momma and Poppa. Hey, do you know who I think would fit the bill?”
Rin shot him a dirty, dirty look. “Keep your mouth shut if you don’t want it wired that way, Hetchen.”
Solo sighed exaggeratedly. “Granted, Duragon is prettier than you, but you’re the one with the long hair and apron. You’d make a much better Momma.”
“Oh, hell no. You did not just go there.”
“But Q so desperately needs a Momma!” He knelt by Q and expounded in baby talk. “Just wook at that cute widdle expression! You can’t deny those puppy eyes!”
Q didn’t make any odd expression. But it did try to get out of Rin’s line of fire.
“Q,” Rin said, taking out the mallet he used for meat tenderizing, “get a bucket and mop. This is going to get nasty real quick.”
Tio – Forget
It’s not that Tio had forgotten what he was supposed to be doing, his task stared him in the face every day, smirking like it was untouchable. Except it wasn’t and Tio knew that, couldn’t forget that.
Just bidding time, he had to remember. Stick to the plan, don’t forget your part. DO what has to be done and nothing more.
Except that it was getting harder to uphold as time went by. Only the memories of the aftermath and the scars and broken comrades and the words that spat out bloodied ‘make him pay’ kept him to his mission.
But the worst thing that could happen, Tio decided, was to be in close with the monster. Because beneath he was starting to see the man.
Lars, Q – Well, that was unexpected
Lars looked down at the tiny Tracer in contemplation. “So tell me,” he said. If Rin or Duragon knew he was talking to Q without either of them to keep an eye on what he was saying, they’d have conniptions. But Lars was noble born, he knew how to be subtle and modest. “What exactly do you do? I’ve heard you’re a little demon under the big coat, but what makes you so much more frightening than any of the other Tracers?”
Q looked up at Lars in its quiet way. Then, after a pause, reached up to the high collar and pulled it down. Rows of dagger like teeth half as long as Lar’s pink spread widely behind it.
He made a noise, suitably impressed and equally unnerved. “Well, that was unexpected.”
Balt, Duragon – Mutable
Balt loved his job. He loved his job when he was working in the field with the Military and after his knee got blown out, he loved the job they gave him dealing with Tracer squads. Being an easy-going kind of guy he generally got along with all the squads that reported to his office and was friends with a good number of them. He had, in fact, become so used to the habits of each squad he could distinguish which ones were coming to see him from how they talked coming down the hall.
“But, Momma! Would you let your poor defenseless children starve?”
“For the last time STOP CALLING ME THAT! For God’s sake, you’re almost ten years older than me!”
And that would be 8th squad.
“Poppa~! Momma’s being difficult again!”
“I said KNOCK IT OFF! It wasn’t funny the first time and it sure as hell- Duragon, I swear. I so much as a smirk on you face, I’m requesting a transfer, got it?”
“Poppa, are you and Momma getting a divorce?”
“That’s it!”
There was the sound of scuffling breaking out- well, more like laughing and someone growling in frustration. 8th squad was always one of the more interesting groups Balt had to deal with. The door opened to the office and Duragon, looking haggard (though if it was from the mission or his squadmates, Balt didn’t know) and held out his report.
“Another fun day in paradise?” Balt asked.
Duragon sighed heavily, his sentiment echoed by Q at his waist. “I don’t suppose you have a mute button for those two?”
He held up a finger, skimming through the report. About three heartbeats after, a door opened further down the hall and GySgt Cowlan was heard bellowing, “IF YOU TWO DON’T SHUT THE HELL UP I WILL COME OUT THERE AND MAKE YOU!”
Silence descended on the building.
Balt looked up with a sly smile. “Why yes, actually I do.”
Bowen, Hunter, Quin – Do what?
“Do what?”
Bowen said again, “Quin doesn’t think I can sink darts into three apples by throwing backwards.”
“Uh-huh.” She raised an eyebrow. “And what is gonna be holdin up these apples?”
“One on top of your head, one on either shoulder.”
Hunter let out a disbelieving snort. “I don’t think you gonna do it either ‘cuz I ain’t lettin ya.”
Bowen looked hurt. “Hunter-“
“Nuh-huh, sugar. I ain’t foo’ child like Kai. I ain’t getting’ roped inta non’a your macho-crap.”
“But it’s a wager.”
“No means no.”
Quin watched the exchange with a growing smirk. “You want my opinion-“
“Actually I don’t.” Hunter said, hands on her hips. “You R.U.O.s ain’t right in the head so leave me outta your crazy-ass stunts.”
Quin’s smirk grew. “I know Bowen could make that shot. I’ve known a number of people who could and Bowen could out-throw them in his sleep. This wager was to see if he could get you to do it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “If what?”
“That’s right.” He leaned against the bar nonchalantly. “You keep going on about how Bowen never misses a mark- and he doesn’t –but you’re too much of a wuss to trust him yourself.”
“Boy, I trust him more than I trust your ability to tie your shoes in the morn’. If you think I’m scared’a somin’ like that you are outside you mind.”
The smirk turned wicked. “Great. I’ll go get the apples then.” Before either Hunter of Bowen could open their mouths, Quin was already gone and spreading the word.
Hunter looked up at Bowen. “Well shit.”
6th Squad – Big screen TV
Despite the fact Kylan could almost pretend the three of them maybe weren’t always total idiots (except for Tio who only occasionally had bouts of terminal idiocy) they still had their moments. Like when Third would fail to remind them if the milk had spoiled while they were out on a mission because he doesn’t seem to get that they all don’t have photographic memories. Or that Kai still hadn’t learned to check the expiration date before he’d take a whole mouthful of the stuff (let alone grabbing a cup, the disgusting bastard).
And when they weren’t being total idiots, Kylan just had to resign to the fact that they were still, very much, guys. So when Kylan thought she had a perfectly valid question in “We’re rarely ever at the apartment. Why do you want to spend so much money on that thing?” they just gave her blank, stupid looks.
“Because it’s a big screen TV? Obviously.”
Balt, Q – Hello? Anyone there?
There was a knock on the door. “You wanted to see me, Gunny?”
GySgt Cowlan looked up. “Gavrin, come in.” He looked over the report for a moment before signing off at the bottom. “I’ve received a complaint from a Tracer about your service this afternoon.”
Balt hesitated for a moment. “I’m sorry?”
“Seems someone tried to get a mission file from you and got brushed off.” The gunny cleared his throat, flipping through another report. “You know I don’t like hearing about my squads getting mis-treated.”
“What?” Balt thought back on the day, trying to remember what could’ve caused this conversation. “I had some people come in to give me their reports and a couple squads needing forms for specialized equipment. But no one came to me for a file.”
Lacing his hands together, Cowlan said, “Think hard. Was there anything odd that happened today?”
He frowned a little, mostly out of confusion. “No, Gunny. Nothing strange happened.” He paused again. “Though… I kept thinking I heard something knocking on my desk. But every time I looked up, no one was there.”
“Ah.” Cowlan said. “That would’ve been Q.”
“Q? What’s Q?”
He waved to one of the chairs that sat in front of his desk. Balt leaned over the top of it and found a coated figure so small it was dwarfed in the low-back seat. The shrouded person looked up, two gold eyes glaring at Balt from the dark shadows of its hood.
“That,” Cowlan told him, “is Q.”
“Hi.” Balt said, extending his hand. “I’m an ass.”
Chia, Sen – Cream and sugar
Sen glared a mighty glare that could move mountains to create rockets to fly to the moon in. Chia wasn’t impressed. She was never impressed with the secret technologies of mountains.
“Here.” She said with a cheerful grace- because Chia was nothing if not cheery and graceful. “I ordered some lemon cake, too.”
“I don’t want this crap.” Chia was the only one that tried to be polite to Sen outside of their job for reasons… no one else understood. And it drove Sen mad to have someone constantly socializing.
“I also got a good deal on some fresh marzipan in the market.”
“Hate it.”
But Chia kept trying and Sen kept snarling at her. But one of them had to eventually give and Sen would be damned if it wasn’t Chia.
“Do you want cream and sugar in your chia?”
After tea time, of course.
Kai, Kizuna – Snakes
Kizuna’s brow furrowed. Despite all she knew, some things she just couldn’t understand. Especially when it came to religious superstitions.
“I don’t get it.” She said, waving her arm around, watching the play of colors and stripes coiling around it. “It’s your namesake. How can you be afraid of snakes?”
“Genetic defect.” Came the reply from some nearby tree. “Could you put the snake away?”
Kai, Kylan – I want to win
Kai let out a hoot, half-finished with the last lap. “Bye bye, greenies!” He cackled, his own two-manned cart zooming by like a demon-thing out of hell. “See, Kylan?” He told her, finish line looming around the corner. “This is what’s called a total ass-whooping.”
Kylan glared at her squadmate. Then leaned forward and yanked his controller out of the game system.
Koopa Troopa and Toad coasted to a halt just in front of the finish line. “You BITCH!”
Kylan’s own Yoshi-Luigi combo raced across, cheering. “Sorry,” she smiled wickedly, “but I play to win.”
Hanae, Lars – Outrageous laughter
Hanae, never one to be sociable, even with her own squadmates, couldn’t help but ask, “Why is Sen laughing so loud?”
It hadn’t abated for the three near three minutes it chased Lars out of the room, the heir looking peevish.
“I don’t know. Sen’s sense of humor is weird.” He said. “All I said was money doesn’t change everyone. I said if I didn’t have all that money and family history behind me, I don’t think I would’ve grown up to be that much more different.”
Hanae blinked slowly but kept her opinion to herself. “And Sen started laughing hysterically?”
“The laughing started after I said so long as I still had my personal servant and got to go to my family’s social, growing up poor would be a breeze.”
Her lips didn’t even twitch though she gave Lars her patented ‘you’re-an-idiot-but-I-won’t-say-anything’ look. “Perhaps you should never speak on this subject again.”
“What? How am I wrong?”
Hanae, Sen – Millionaire
Sen was one of those people that couldn’t keep still and was found stretching on the floor of the living room, international news on the TV.
“So Lars spoke to ya, huh?” Came the not-really-question.
“I asked him why you were laughing.” Hanae replied. Her squadmate had to be the most flexible person she knew.
“You can’t tell me that guy ain’t a freakin’ moron.”
She didn’t answer and instead asked, “Would money have changed you?”
Sen snorted loudly. “Hell yeah! I don’t even need all that old money Lars’ family’s sittin’ on. I grew up a millionaire, thing’s be a lot different.”
“Oh?” Hanae never though how money would affect her. But then, she grew up in a jungle tribe. Money didn’t hold much in that society. “And how would you be different?”
“For one thing,” Sen bent over froward, chest-to-floor, legs shifting into splits, “I wouldn’t be here. For another, I’d be an annoying prat like Lars. And lastly,” Sen gave Hanae a dark grin, “I’d be buyin’ the authorities like no one’s business.”
She still didn’t fully grasp how money influenced people in the ‘civilized world’ (honestly Hanae considered her little, secluded village far more civilized in many aspects) but Sen would know. She assumed. “The I suppose it’d a good thing you weren’t born to a millionaire.”
“Yeah. Would’ve gotten damned boring, too, I’ll bet.”
Q, Rin, Solo – Hell no!
“Rin~!” Solo called out in that irritatingly cheerful way of his. “I have a question for you!”
“Come in the kitchen and ask and quit yelling across the apartment!”
When Solo found him, Rin was at the stove, cooking what smelled like lunch. And peanut butter. In retaliation, Solo had Q.
“All right.” Rin was wearing an apron with a lace frill at the bottom. They had long ago learned not to laugh at Rin’s apron choice (he claimed he never had time to get a decent one) least they eat charcoal. But Solo still snickered internally. “What do you want?”
Solo put his hands on Q’s shoulders, pushing it ahead of him. “I,” Solo said, “amd in need of your help. I’ve been trying to impress upon out mutually adorable buddy here that our happy little squad is a family.”
Rin cast a look down at Q, though his expression had softened. “Q, you know we’re family here.” The tiny Tracer shifted in embarassment.
“You know what I think would help convince him?” Solo asked, smiling. “If he had someone to call Momma and Poppa. Hey, do you know who I think would fit the bill?”
Rin shot him a dirty, dirty look. “Keep your mouth shut if you don’t want it wired that way, Hetchen.”
Solo sighed exaggeratedly. “Granted, Duragon is prettier than you, but you’re the one with the long hair and apron. You’d make a much better Momma.”
“Oh, hell no. You did not just go there.”
“But Q so desperately needs a Momma!” He knelt by Q and expounded in baby talk. “Just wook at that cute widdle expression! You can’t deny those puppy eyes!”
Q didn’t make any odd expression. But it did try to get out of Rin’s line of fire.
“Q,” Rin said, taking out the mallet he used for meat tenderizing, “get a bucket and mop. This is going to get nasty real quick.”
Tio – Forget
It’s not that Tio had forgotten what he was supposed to be doing, his task stared him in the face every day, smirking like it was untouchable. Except it wasn’t and Tio knew that, couldn’t forget that.
Just bidding time, he had to remember. Stick to the plan, don’t forget your part. DO what has to be done and nothing more.
Except that it was getting harder to uphold as time went by. Only the memories of the aftermath and the scars and broken comrades and the words that spat out bloodied ‘make him pay’ kept him to his mission.
But the worst thing that could happen, Tio decided, was to be in close with the monster. Because beneath he was starting to see the man.
Lars, Q – Well, that was unexpected
Lars looked down at the tiny Tracer in contemplation. “So tell me,” he said. If Rin or Duragon knew he was talking to Q without either of them to keep an eye on what he was saying, they’d have conniptions. But Lars was noble born, he knew how to be subtle and modest. “What exactly do you do? I’ve heard you’re a little demon under the big coat, but what makes you so much more frightening than any of the other Tracers?”
Q looked up at Lars in its quiet way. Then, after a pause, reached up to the high collar and pulled it down. Rows of dagger like teeth half as long as Lar’s pink spread widely behind it.
He made a noise, suitably impressed and equally unnerved. “Well, that was unexpected.”
Balt, Duragon – Mutable
Balt loved his job. He loved his job when he was working in the field with the Military and after his knee got blown out, he loved the job they gave him dealing with Tracer squads. Being an easy-going kind of guy he generally got along with all the squads that reported to his office and was friends with a good number of them. He had, in fact, become so used to the habits of each squad he could distinguish which ones were coming to see him from how they talked coming down the hall.
“But, Momma! Would you let your poor defenseless children starve?”
“For the last time STOP CALLING ME THAT! For God’s sake, you’re almost ten years older than me!”
And that would be 8th squad.
“Poppa~! Momma’s being difficult again!”
“I said KNOCK IT OFF! It wasn’t funny the first time and it sure as hell- Duragon, I swear. I so much as a smirk on you face, I’m requesting a transfer, got it?”
“Poppa, are you and Momma getting a divorce?”
“That’s it!”
There was the sound of scuffling breaking out- well, more like laughing and someone growling in frustration. 8th squad was always one of the more interesting groups Balt had to deal with. The door opened to the office and Duragon, looking haggard (though if it was from the mission or his squadmates, Balt didn’t know) and held out his report.
“Another fun day in paradise?” Balt asked.
Duragon sighed heavily, his sentiment echoed by Q at his waist. “I don’t suppose you have a mute button for those two?”
He held up a finger, skimming through the report. About three heartbeats after, a door opened further down the hall and GySgt Cowlan was heard bellowing, “IF YOU TWO DON’T SHUT THE HELL UP I WILL COME OUT THERE AND MAKE YOU!”
Silence descended on the building.
Balt looked up with a sly smile. “Why yes, actually I do.”
Bowen, Hunter, Quin – Do what?
“Do what?”
Bowen said again, “Quin doesn’t think I can sink darts into three apples by throwing backwards.”
“Uh-huh.” She raised an eyebrow. “And what is gonna be holdin up these apples?”
“One on top of your head, one on either shoulder.”
Hunter let out a disbelieving snort. “I don’t think you gonna do it either ‘cuz I ain’t lettin ya.”
Bowen looked hurt. “Hunter-“
“Nuh-huh, sugar. I ain’t foo’ child like Kai. I ain’t getting’ roped inta non’a your macho-crap.”
“But it’s a wager.”
“No means no.”
Quin watched the exchange with a growing smirk. “You want my opinion-“
“Actually I don’t.” Hunter said, hands on her hips. “You R.U.O.s ain’t right in the head so leave me outta your crazy-ass stunts.”
Quin’s smirk grew. “I know Bowen could make that shot. I’ve known a number of people who could and Bowen could out-throw them in his sleep. This wager was to see if he could get you to do it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “If what?”
“That’s right.” He leaned against the bar nonchalantly. “You keep going on about how Bowen never misses a mark- and he doesn’t –but you’re too much of a wuss to trust him yourself.”
“Boy, I trust him more than I trust your ability to tie your shoes in the morn’. If you think I’m scared’a somin’ like that you are outside you mind.”
The smirk turned wicked. “Great. I’ll go get the apples then.” Before either Hunter of Bowen could open their mouths, Quin was already gone and spreading the word.
Hunter looked up at Bowen. “Well shit.”
