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Tweak says, "I ated the purple berry!"

Elijah Jacob Voorhies (drifting_embers) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2023-02-25 22:54:00

Entry tags:

elijah voorhies, will scarlet

WHO: Elijah Voorhies, Will Scarlet
WHEN: Friday night
WHERE: Fight ring
WHAT: Getting to know you
WARNINGS: Violency stuff

It had been a few days since Elijah had received a new roommate, and as far as they went, Will wasn’t so bad. There was something about him that Elijah couldn’t quite put his finger on, but he wasn’t going to focus on it too clearly. He had spent the last few days explaining how everything worked - the showers, the exercise equipment, the fact that it was impossible to tell day from night because the time they spent in their cages and in the common room was never really the same.

It was common room time now though, and he had finally been able to catch up with all the new prisoners, showing them the ropes too. All of them seemed relieved to know the fights could be thrown in their favour if they needed it. It looked like every single one of them was in agreement, and that was a relief to Elijah in turn.

He took a seat on one of the benches in the common space, intending to relax for a moment, when he was approached by one of the older prisoners. “Eli,” the man whispered to him, though it was loud enough for Will to hear, considering the other man was quite close by. “Can I talk to you?”

Elijah glanced at Will, and then back to the man. “Of course you can, Robert.”

Robert took a seat on the bench too, and he leaned in close. “They’ve been setting me up with the Gang for every fight. It’s been a week. I’m starving, man, you gotta- Can you do something? Get them to change who I’m up against? I can’t win against them, they’re too strong.” Robert did look awful, bruised and sore.

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drifting_embers
2023-02-26 11:13 am UTC (link)

Did he have questions?!

Elijah’s grip had tightened on Will’s arm when Will promised him he would see the sun again. God. He had said it so fiercely, and the expression on his face didn’t leave any room for disbelief. So Will wasn’t a spoiled rich kid after all. And the sharing of his meal made so much more sense.

Elijah’s breathing still hadn’t regulated when he asked, “who are you?”

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rouge_rogue
2023-02-26 11:21 am UTC (link)

“Oh-” Will had to smile a little then. “I am Will. Didn’t lie ‘bout that. But my uncle isn’t a shithead. Most of the time. And I’m not cut off from my family. The people I do this work with are my family. Sorry I had to lie to you ‘bout everything, just didn’t know who to trust, but I’m thanking my lucky stars it was you I got landed with. Imagine if it was Robert. I’d be fucked, and not in the good way.”

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drifting_embers
2023-02-26 11:23 am UTC (link)

Elijah finally realised he was gripping Will’s arm, and he removed his hand. He felt so mixed up - confused, relieved, worried…and he felt hope. For the first time in nearly two years, he felt hope. “You- You came here to- Just give me a second,” Elijah said, trying to sort out his head. He was going to get out? They were all going to get out!?

“Right, what in the hell kind of work do you do where you’d purposely put yourself here? If you know someone who got out of here, you had to know how shitty it would be. You’re telling me you knew you’d have to fight for your dinner, and you came here anyway?” Elijah asked. Even the people who got voluntarily conscripted to join didn’t actually know what they would be facing. So to know and come anyway…that was on another level entirely.

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rouge_rogue
2023-02-26 11:23 am UTC (link)

“Yeah. I had some time to prepare. Nobody on the outside wants to even think about this place, so it took a while to find a way in. I have some… experience with situations like this. I knew what to expect.” Will wasn’t about to laugh off that bit of information, because it certainly wasn’t light subject matter. “This is the job. This is what I came here for. We do the jobs nobody else has the balls to do.”

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drifting_embers
2023-02-26 11:25 am UTC (link)

Elijah’s gaze held nothing but respect now, as he watched Will explain why he had done this. “I’d say you’re a crazy motherfucker, but I’ve been in pain and hungry for two fucking years, and I was willing to stay to save lives. So I guess I am too,” he said, smiling for real for the first time in a very long time. Something of the Elijah he’d used to be slipped in, just a little, and god was he relieved to realise that man still existed. He hadn’t been erased by trauma and horror.

Elijah swallowed roughly and he buried his face in his hands, trying to get his head around this. He had been silently begging for help since the night he had been thrown into his cell for the first time. And help had finally arrived in the form of some scrappy, blonde adonis. The world was a funny place, and Elijah was completely overwhelmed. It had been a few days since his last meal too, so he was feeling a little dizzy with all this. “Just give me a second, my head is spinning.”

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rouge_rogue
2023-02-26 11:25 am UTC (link)

Will shrugged. Maybe he was a crazy motherfucker. Who would willingly starve themselves when they’d almost died of it before? “Take your time,” he said, leaning back and looking towards the door to give Elijah a minute without being stared at. “How much longer do you believe you have to go down here? You say nearly, but I can only tell what day it is because it’s a fight day or it's not.”

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drifting_embers
2023-02-26 11:29 am UTC (link)

“They do give you occasional updates,” Elijah said, lifting his head wearily. “About three months? Feels like I’ve been here forever,” he admitted. “You forget things. Every day is about survival, I don’t remember like…taking an uber. Getting stuck in traffic. Forgetting your umbrella and getting soaked in a sudden downpour. Going on a first date. After two years they chuck you out of here with some money and no idea how to live any more. No fucking wonder none of ‘em wanted anything to do with…whatever it is you’re planning.” Elijah took a second then, before he said, “I’ll do anything you need me to. This has to end.”

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rouge_rogue
2023-02-26 11:38 am UTC (link)

With a nod, Will looked back at Elijah, contemplative for a moment. “I know what you mean, even if it’s not… I’ve done time. Five years behind bars. Catching up on what I missed out on was a mission. Listen, I want to do this thing together. I can’t do it nearly half as well without your help. You know when the fights are, who ends up in the ring, all of that stuff. You know who to trust and who to avoid. Working together, we’re both out of here much sooner.” He offered Elijah his hand. “Whaddya say? Partners?”

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	drifting_embers 2023-02-26 11:41 am UTC (link)
	Elijah gave a wry laugh, and then he reached out to shake Will’s hand. “Are you kidding? Anything that gets me out of here with the least amount of collateral damage,” he said, nodding. “Five years behind bars, hmm? Rough. Must be difficult. Putting yourself in this situation now. Fucking brave.” (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	rouge_rogue 2023-02-26 11:49 am UTC (link)
	“Brave? Yes, I get that a lot.” Will gave Elijah a firm handshake to seal the deal, with a grin to show he was making fun. “Anything else you want to know? I’m sure you must have a lot buzzing around up there.” He tapped his temple to demonstrate. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	drifting_embers 2023-02-26 11:50 am UTC (link)
	“I-” Elijah sort of made a ‘how do I even begin’ noise. “You say you have friends on the outside. Family. They do this thing with you. Are you- Are you slipping them information somehow? What do we need to do to help them? How do we even begin? People have tried to escape before. They always end up dead.” (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

rouge_rogue
2023-02-26 11:54 am UTC (link)

Will made a thinking noise and spread his hands. Of course Elijah would go in with the most difficult to explain thing. “Weeeell… I have ways of getting information out, but perhaps it’s best you don’t know,” he said. “I just can’t get information in. So I have to just trust the process in that regard. They’ll make themselves known when I give them the signal. We are not gonna end up dead. Trust me.” He didn’t want to sound like he was hiding things, but how did he explain, I’m praying to a saint who can hear me in his head?

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	drifting_embers 2023-02-26 12:14 pm UTC (link)
	Elijah breathed out roughly then, “so you have no way of knowing- Shit.” Will had allowed himself to be taken prisoner without knowing when he would be able to leave? Without any communication from the outside to tell him how the plans were going? “You must…really trust these people,” he whispered. “How do you know they won’t just leave you here?” (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

rouge_rogue
2023-02-27 09:17 am UTC (link)

“I would die for any one of them.” Will said it dead serious, his tone making it clear that he meant it. “They are my brothers, all of them. We’ve seen some shit together, you know? And they’d do the same for me.” And they had, but that was also in the “too hard to explain” basket. How to put into words the deep bond he felt with his fellow Merry Men? It defied explanation. “The closest I can put it is like an army unit that has seen battle. That’s the kind of bonded we are.”

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	drifting_embers 2023-02-27 09:24 am UTC (link)
	While Elijah had never seen battle of any kind, he still could understand the simile. “So you know they’re coming,” he said, nodding. Accepting it. Hell, he’d accept a lot if it got him out of here. “So until then we- cool our heels? What information do you need? I’ll tell you anything.” (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

rouge_rogue
2023-02-27 10:03 am UTC (link)

“I know mate, but the thing we need to know is, who is at the top of the pile? Who calls the shots round here? I’ve only seen guards. Do you know that? If we just let everybody go, they’ll just set up again somewhere else. We have to cut off the head of this snake.” Will sliced his hand into his other palm with a slap for emphasis. “And then we’re out.”

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	drifting_embers 2023-02-27 10:06 am UTC (link)
	“I just know they come to the fights,” Elijah explained. “The ones in charge. They hang around out there, convincing people to bet ever larger sums of money, while the profits roll in. They drink champagne and sometimes they must have a party or something, because we can all smell that they’re eating delicious things and it drives us all mad.” (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	rouge_rogue 2023-02-27 10:13 am UTC (link)
	Will grimaced. “It’s a start. I’ll pass that along. And you gotta let me know which are the guards you can talk to and which ones are arseholes.” He leaned back in his chair again and folded his arms with a small grin. “You know, I think we’re gonna make this work, you and I. I have hope for us.” (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

drifting_embers
2023-02-27 10:16 am UTC (link)

Elijah smiled at Will again, the expression coming easier and easier. A bell sounded in the common room as he did so, and all the prisoners rose to file back to their cells. It was time for their daily meal - if it could be called that. It was usually small and simple, but enough to keep people going. Today looked to be a small bowl of soup, and several of the guards spread out, passing the bowls through to each cell. “It’s almost ridiculous how excited you can end up getting for a small bowl of tasteless soup,” Elijah sighed. It was nutrients and calories and though it didn’t satisfy them completely, it filled the belly at least a little.

He looked up as they were handed their bowls, and he waited until the guards carried on before he said, “I think we can make this work too, Will. Cheers,” and he held out his bowl to clink.

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	rouge_rogue 2023-02-27 10:25 am UTC (link)
	Will raised his inadequate bowl in return, tapping it against Elijah’s and sipping it. He intended to consume it slowly so as to savour what he had. “God bless us, every one!” (Reply to this) (Parent)

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