Tweak

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Tweak says, "Coming home to you."

eadwulf grieve (eadwulf) wrote in dunwichgame,
@ 2024-04-01 20:42:00

Entry tags:

!log/thread/narrative, critical role: eadwulf grieve, ∙ plot: 015 april's fools, ◌ inactive: dean winchester (2)

Dean & Eadwulf

04.01 mid-morning | Sidewinder Park, lakeside | Low (!consensual violence!)

An incidental sparring session.

The dummy was crudely made – a log jammed into the dirt and anchored with stone, moss still clinging to its rotting bark – but it served its purpose. Eadwulf's fists made contact once, twice, then a third time. He spun and dealt a fierce kick at the height of a man's knee. As there was no joint to pop, the impact traveling harmlessly up his own ankle and ricocheted through his shin.

Shirtless, his scars and tattoos on careless display, he stalked left, then right, keeping his eyes on his unmoving opponent yet seeing in its place the slavering beasts that had attacked months ago, when Vecna's foulness spilled into Dunwich. Or the Kryn soldiers that had been his enemies for a decade. Or, more recently, the creatures he had fought on the beach, whose fangs had bitten into his flesh and whose claws had torn his skin. Yet he was not entirely unaware of his surroundings.

This was still Sidewinder Park. To the left of him was still Dark Score Lake.

And that was still a familiar figure, unless he was much mistaken, watching from the treeline.

"Lost again?" Eadwulf called out, without glancing over.

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_awesome
2024-04-01 07:04 pm UTC (link)

Dean was restless. Although he'd been around to help yesterday, it wasn't nearly enough for him. He was used to doing more and it was starting to get on his nerves. Honestly it was just too slow here. Too much time to think.

So back to the woods he went, for a walk. Or maybe he was hoping to run into someone, that'd cure his boredom. Either way, Dean was more than likely searching for trouble. Lucky for him, he found the better kind of trouble.

With arms crossed over his chest, he leaned casually against a tree watching as Eadwulf beat up a stick. He noticed the scars, a long life of fighting that Dean could relate to. His own body bore similar and unmistakable signs of fighting for his life and others lives.

"Nah, out for a walk. Enjoying the lack of rain. What'd the stick do to you?"

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eadwulf
2024-04-02 05:50 am UTC (link)

"Looked at me wrong." Eadwulf delivered another series of bunches, his knuckles burning with the impact. The wood was too old and too rotted to splinter much. It was as unsatisfying a beating as Eadwulf had ever administered.

"You don't seem to be walking," he noted after a few moments in which Dean did not appear to be on his way. "Likely for the best. This forest is not for the faint of heart." All those hikers and local tourists were so very brave, indeed.

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_awesome
2024-04-02 02:31 pm UTC (link)

"Fair enough." Dean nodded his head in understanding, a downward sort of smile on his face. He woulda done the same. Dean made no attempt to leave, he just watched Eadwulf go another round.

He snorted. "Definitely not walking, this is way more entertaining than a walk. And I'm not faint of heart. I've dealt with worse than the Sea God or any of its sea monster creatures." Which was actually true.

Slipping off his jacket, he unbuttoned the cuff of his flannel's sleeves and rolled them up. "C'mon then. That piece of wood looks too difficult for you. I'll take it easy on ya."

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eadwulf
2024-04-02 04:15 pm UTC (link)

Eadwulf narrowed his eyes. "This feels familiar." Dean's arrogance, his endless bragging... Even the invitation to violence, though much less explicit than the last time.

Let it never be said Eadwulf was in a rush to learn from the past.

Let it also never be said he backed down from a challenge.

He waited just long enough for Dean to finish rolling up his sleeves before he was on him, a series of fast blows aimed at his head, his chest, and stomach. Below the belt would've been acceptable in a real fight; this wasn't that.

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_awesome
2024-04-02 04:36 pm UTC (link)

Dean was fortunate enough to have very fast reflexes - it wasn't as if roogaroos and wendigos would wait for you to be ready, either. So even though he was caught a little off guard, his arms were up in a defensive position fast enough to stop the worst of the blows from hitting his face.

Stomach didn't matter as much, his chest was protected by his elbows. Still, one of the blows to his stomach had him bent over and he used that position and a little momentum to ram into Eadwulf's stomach, arms around him with the intention of taking his ass to the ground.

There was nothing for lifting your mood quite like a good fight, and even if he would only admit it to himself in his head, Eadwulf was a good fighter.

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eadwulf
2024-04-02 04:42 pm UTC (link)

Good fighter or not, Eadwulf should've seen that coming. It was an obvious move -- and an effective one, infuriatingly. Despite a last-ditch attempt to plant his feet, Dean got enough momentum to flip his center of gravity. Eadwulf landed on his back in the dirt, the air knocked out of him.

For a moment, all he could think of was the impact that rattled his teeth. In the next, he was thrusting his elbow down between Dean's shoulder blades and using that to loosen his hold. A knee to the jaw dislodged him the rest of the way.

Eadwulf rolled to his feet and spat blood onto the ground. "First round to me, yes?"

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_awesome
2024-04-02 04:48 pm UTC (link)

Dean had wrestled in high school, this should have been easier for him - but then, it had only been a little while, before his dad had swept him back up and taken him out to hunt again. So, while he should have been able to pin Eadwulf, the elbow combined with the knee to his jaw had him losing the grip and Eadwulf escaping his hold.

Following suit, he jumped up as well and wiped a little blood from his lip with the back of his arm, grinning. "Sure. First one's all for you." Hands back in a defensive position in front of his face, he opened his fists in a come on wave.

"Watch the face a bit, I don't think Cas will heal us a second time."

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eadwulf
2024-04-02 04:55 pm UTC (link)

"Tell him it was the sea creatures," Eadwulf said and lunged.

Yet where the first bout had been swift and decisive, the second one proved harder to dominate. Dean's guard didn't offer the same opening. His steady footwork made it impossible to Eadwulf to bring him down.

Worse, he was beginning to tire and knew it was only a matter of time before he made a mistake Dean could take advantage of. Better to attack, then, and rob him of that opportunity.

What was not supposed to happen was Dean planting a solid blow to his ribs and another to his kidneys, and sending him tumbling into the dirt.

"One each," Eadwulf growled.

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_awesome
2024-04-02 05:01 pm UTC (link)

"He can tell when someone's lying you know." He barely got that out before Eadwulf was on him again.

This one was more fair, more on equal footing - except Eadwulf had clearly been training for a while already and Dean was fresh, so this one went a little more easily in Dean's favor than the first round had gone.

"Third for a tie-breaker?" He said, breathing deep and readjusting his position - he'd fallen to a knee with the last hit that send Eadwulf into the dirt.

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eadwulf
2024-04-02 05:11 pm UTC (link)

Jaw working against the pain radiating up one side of his back, Eadwulf nodded. There was no helping it, however. He was losing speed and strength at an alarming rate. Trying to disguise his state was one way to handle it. The other was to lean into the fatigue, feint a stumble, lure his opponent into an attack.

Dean was clever, but he was also brazen. It didn't take long before they collided, only this time Eadwulf was ready.

It was he who drove Dean into the dirt. He who drove a fist into his shoulder, aimed a kick at his shin.

It was also him he who wound up grappled, one first caught in Dean's surprisingly powerful grip, one arm across his windpipe. Not exactly how he'd envisioned his feint going...

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_awesome
2024-04-02 05:17 pm UTC (link)

Dean wasn't expecting to be driven back like that - though Eadwulf was more slender than Dean, he was just as strong, and Dean was laid out and struggling to catch his breath.

Still, that never stopped him - and he was wrapped around Eadwulf, one leg trapping one of Eadwulf's, keeping Eadwulf from hitting him again with one hand gripping his tightly.

They were pretty well stuck like this as Dean attempted to buck him off, flip the tables and end up on top. Eadwulf had a pretty solid position where he was.

He tried again, quickly removing his hand from Eadwulf's so the pressure Eadwulf had been putting in to trying to hit him caused him to fall forward, and Dean attempted to roll-flip them both so he was on top.

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eadwulf
2024-04-02 05:22 pm UTC (link)

Ridiculous, Eadwulf would've called the move if he'd been watching the bout from afar. Undignified, no doubt. Effective, too, much to his consternation. If he let Dean roll on top of him, he'd be done for. Already, he lacked the leverage to throw him off and with one arm still pinned, he couldn't get a fist free to pummel him into submission.

Didn't stop him trying, though, nor growling in frustration when he failed to get out of this bind. One way out was to admit defeat. Let Dean have the best of three rounds. Watch him crow over his victory.

There was none other... was there?

Eadwulf turned his head and his teeth scraped, ever so gently, over Dean's earlobe. He could've bitten down. He was sorely tempted. But he didn't.

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_awesome
2024-04-02 05:28 pm UTC (link)

Scrappy, this one was. Both of them. It was clear neither Dean nor Eadwulf was going to just give up even if they were both stuck and unable to move forward with another move.

He could practically see the wheels turning in Eadwulf's head as he tried to think of a way out of it, and even though Dean had gotten the edge on him with that move, he was still unable to turn him.

What he wasn't expecting, was teeth on his earlobe. What he was expecting even less, was that he enjoyed the way that felt. Dean froze, no longer fighting Eadwulf but gripping him just as tight.

Without thinking much about it, he turned his face, just slightly, towards Eadwulf's.

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eadwulf
2024-04-02 05:34 pm UTC (link)

Triumph was triumph, Eadwulf had been taught, no matter the means. It was a lesson he had often returned to, when putting to death innocents for the greater good, or employing torture to excise answers, or letting himself be used for the cause.

Why it came to him now, when he knew the cause was a farce and the greater good had nothing to do with anything, he didn't know. Maybe because it was easier to excuse his actions that way, when Dean's harried breaths gusted over his mouth.

When he leaned in and kissed him.

When he waited, just for that barest flicker of shock to loosen the hold Dean had on him, and elbow his way free.

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_awesome
2024-04-02 05:41 pm UTC (link)

What an idiot he was, to let himself be distracted that way. This was - he didn't even know what this was. Why he turned his face. Why he felt the way he did, flushed head to toe.

It was just a fight. Heat of the moment.

Eadwulf's lips met his and Dean's grip loosened, confusion and shock and - something else Dean wouldn't admit to himself - distracting him from the fight.

Then it was over and Eadwulf was free. Dean, after another moment of shock, came back to himself and scrambled away, standing up and staring at Eadwulf. "That was cheap."

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eadwulf
2024-04-02 06:06 pm UTC (link)

There was no sense arguing the point; Dean was right. He was also red in the face from all the exertion, skin glistening in the April sun. Blood in the corner of his mouth, which Eadwulf found himself looking at quite intently.

"But I did best you." Eadwulf flexed his hands like he was thinking of offering another bout. He let them drop to his sides, shoulders slumping. "You hit harder than a log, I'll give you that." Much harder.

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_awesome
2024-04-02 06:10 pm UTC (link)

Dean bent forward a minute, hands on his thighs as he continued to attempt to catch his breath, calm his thoughts, take a moment to really gather himself because he was still reeling both from the sparring session and from... how it ended.

"Yeah, yep, you totally did." He would admit that easily, because it was a cheap shot that Eadwulf would admit was cheap, too. Dean almost missed the almost compliment, his thoughts all over the place. Did he want to talk about this? Did he want to pretend it never happened? Did he want to punch Eadwulf again?

The last one felt the most like Dean, and he did kind of want to hit him in his stupid face again.

But he didn't. Instead, he stood up, hands on his hips and chest puffed out a little, though it was clear he was still catching his breath. "I imagine I do. Good... good fight, until the cheating at the end there."

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(tw: homophobia)

eadwulf
2024-04-02 06:17 pm UTC (link)

Eadwulf tilted his head. "Don't fret. I have no designs on your virtue." It was mockingly said, but he had come to learn there were some men who found another man's attentions off-putting to the point of revulsion.

Dean certainly seemed sufficiently stuck on the kiss to suggest he might be one of their ilk.

Best to leave him to sort out his feelings in his own time. Eadwulf turned his back and went to retrieve a water flask from the pile of clothes a little further upshore. "Thirsty?" He didn't wait for a reply before lobbing Dean the flask.

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_awesome
2024-04-02 06:21 pm UTC (link)

"My virtue? Pft." He was trying real hard to play it cool here, even if his face definitely didn't look cool. There was a lot of unpack there, though, and he didn't say anything else to encourage the conversation or stop it. He just... went quiet.

Instead, he was distracted by a flask hurtling his way and Dean caught it, reflexes still sharp even if his brain was mushy.

"You could say that." He said, mostly under his breath as he opened the flask and took a sip. Little disappointing it was just water. "Thanks." He added, taking a second sip before he threw it back. "Maybe we should plan on these fighting get-togethers, to keep our skills sharp, instead of surprising each other in the woods."

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eadwulf
2024-04-03 06:25 am UTC (link)

While Dean quenched his thirst, Eadwulf made himself comfortable with his back against a log, a knee pulled up to his chest. His bruises were little more than a hot ache, just starting to bloom: it would be a while before they achieved their full form.

He still managed to catch the flask when Dean tossed it back to him. "Who doesn't like surprises?" he retorted. Planning would require acknowledging a desire to meet. And rules of engagement. And -- "Would I be expected to fight fair?"

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_awesome
2024-04-03 03:37 pm UTC (link)

It'd be a little bit before the shock and adrenaline wore off enough for Dean to feel the extent of this fight- physically and mentally - but he was already feeling some of those jabs. He put his hand on his lower left side, pressing gingerly with a little since.

"I don't like surprises. Unless they involved candy or pie and some friggen flowers." He shook his head, the faint trace of a laugh on his lips that he didn't let go. "Never said anything about having to fight fair."

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eadwulf
2024-04-04 07:57 am UTC (link)

Eadwulf arched his brow. "So demanding." Not the worst trait a man could have. Certainly less aggravating than constant bragging. Though, if Eadwulf was truly honest with himself, he'd note that Dean had done little bragging while fighting.

Nor was he bragging now. A little violence shut his mouth.

Other things, too. Eadwulf leaned back against the log, flexing his bare shoulders under the guise of working out a knot of tension. "I could stand to do this again."

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_awesome
2024-04-04 05:23 pm UTC (link)

Dean wouldn't argue that point - he could be demanding. As much as he could follow orders like he always had for his father, without question, he was also very stubborn and very demanding in almost every other situation.

It certainly wasn't violence that had him quiet now, but Dean didn't know what to say about it. If he should. He probably shouldn't. He also probably shouldn't be staring at Eadwulf as he flexed like that. Dean had always been able to appreciate a fit man, but it felt... different, now. Here. With Eadwulf after he'd just kissed Dean.

It probably didn't mean anything.

"Then we'll meet again."

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eadwulf
2024-04-04 05:48 pm UTC (link)

"Tomorrow," Eadwulf said, since Dean hadn't. Letting him choose the time and place might've been a ruse, but somehow Eadwulf didn't think so. He far more suspected there was a bit of turmoil going on behind Dean's eyes.

Good. It was nice to leave a mark, now and again, provided it was the right kind.

To that end: "Hold still," he added, leaning forward. The crystals on his arms glowed green as he held up a hand and murmured a few words. The simple healing cantrip he had spoken of to Sylvie -- the same one he hadn't employed the last time he and Dean had tussled -- now served to cure his scrapes and erase his bruises. "There. So you don't have to ask your angel."

Eadwulf leaned back as though it had been nothing. As though Dean standing just two feet back wouldn't have rendered the cantrip moot.

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_awesome
2024-04-04 06:20 pm UTC (link)

He wasn't sure he'd be feeling up to fighting the very next day, given how his forming bruises felt, but it seemed Eadwulf had something for that too. Dean almost pulled away, but didn't - frozen, a little, and staring more at Eadwulf's face than anywhere else.

All healed up and with Eadwulf a little less close, Dean exhaled the breath he'd been holding. He knew he was being awkward but there wasn't anything he could really do about it at the moment. Maybe hide it underneath some arrogance.

"Tomorrow, then. He's not my angel by the way, he's just - he's my friend." Friend seemed a weird word for it, and Dean pushed whatever thoughts he was about to have about that right down deep. "No rules, cheap shots allowed... Same place?"

That was, maybe, a quiet acknowledgement that a kiss had happened, and Dean wasn't going to hold that against him. Or discourage it.

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eadwulf
2024-04-04 06:24 pm UTC (link)

Given what Rowena had said and how suspicious Dean had been of a little magic during their first meeting, it was surprising to see him tolerate the cantrip so well. Surprising, but not disappointing.

Eadwulf inclined his head. "If you can find your way here again by yourself." He didn't doubt Dean's ability to retract his steps successfully, but it wouldn't be in keeping with their previous meetings if he didn't at least pretend otherwise.

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