InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "to the windooooow to the wall!"

Malcolm de Rainault | The Sheriff of Nottingham (whyaspooncousin) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2021-06-25 20:49:00

Entry tags:

friar tuck, little john, much the miller's son, robin hood, sheriff of nottingham, will scarlet

WHO: Sheriff of Nottingham, Much the Miller's Son, then probably others
WHEN: Saturday afternoon
WHERE: Parsonage
WHAT: Help me
WARNINGS: TBA

It had taken months for Malcolm to make it out of the woods. After his first death, every single time he came back, he would make it about a day before he would die of starvation again. And every time he woke up right where he had died, with no idea what direction to walk in, and no forest sense, to be able to live off the land, and by nightfall he would keel over and die.

It was just luck which saw him finally, finally wake up in New York City. In Central Park. Probably not 500 feet from where Much had woken up after Malcolm had killed him, not that Malcolm knew that.

He had tried to get home to his apartment, but the state of him meant the doorman turned him away. Didn't even recognise him. He was skin and bone, unshaven, and he smelled like a corpse. Funny, that. And it wasn't like he could explain what was going on, since his words kept coming out all jumbled up. Malcolm was fairly sure John's doorman would react similarly, and if he showed up to his king looking like this- No. He needed to get out of open spaces, Artemis was around, after all. And he couldn't go to John. He couldn't go home.

It was only desperation that had him knocking on the door of the parsonage. He could feel his body failing again. If he didn't get some food into it he was going to die again, and the Merry Men were awful sure, but they still fed the hungry, right? He pounded on the door and leaned against it heavily, hoping someone would answer. And quickly. Hell he almost didn't care if after this they sent him to prison. As long as he was safe from Artemis and out of those woods he would take it.

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muchofamuchness
2021-06-25 11:45 am UTC (link)

It was some kind of trick, that sob. Had to be. The bastard.

But at least the bastard wasn't moving. It was hard to launch an attack while you were curled as tight as you could to protect yourself. Much remembered. He was pretty sure he'd died in that position.

And - lucky Sheriff - at least Much only had a staff, thinner and lighter than the wrench the Sheriff had used to break him on the side of that road, twenty-odd months ago. And Much was barefoot, no steelcapped shoes to kick him with, and kick him and kick him.

Right - with a viciously adrenaline filled stomach, Much scanned the room for something to use to tie the Sheriff up. The cord from the fan - that would do, it was long enough to wind around the Sheriff's wrists a few times, and close enough Much could grab it now. He wasn't gentle about it, but he didn't bind those bony wrists so tightly they were going to fall off even though the Sheriff deserved every bit of pain Much could inflict, and more. "I'm gonna stand you up now, and you're going to walk with me a ways, and please, please try something stupid so I can smack you again," Much said, grabbing the Sheriff's bound wrists, and the back of his shirt, and hauling him to his feet again. He wasn't hard to move, he was getting as skinny as Tuck had been, but there was the added awkwardness of dragging a fan along behind him.

Still, it'd do till Much got some proper rope.

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	whyaspooncousin 2021-06-25 11:55 am UTC (link)
	Malcolm had no strength left to argue. He let Much haul him up and the stumbled along where ever Much was directing him. He didn't really care. "Starving," he did manage to whisper. He needed something to eat or he was going to die again. Soon. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	muchofamuchness 2021-06-25 12:10 pm UTC (link)
	"Oh yeah, like you did to my friends?" Much asked, marching the Sheriff to a chair and sitting him down in it, making sure the tall back of the chair went between the Sheriff's back and his tied up wrists. "Like you were gonna do to all of us if you'd got your sick little way?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

whyaspooncousin
2021-06-25 12:19 pm UTC (link)

Malcolm melted into the chair, his head resting against it as he looked up at Much. His eyes were bleary and there was no malice left in them. He was just a broken, sad man. "Yes," he admitted. Why wouldn't he. What the fuck else did he have to lose. "Eaten haven't in since I saw me time you Arizona last the!" Malcolm whimpered and tried again, "I haven't eaten since the last time you saw me in Arizona!" Well he had choked down the stolen eggs, but he had thrown them back up again. He took another breath and then he said, "please. Dying."

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muchofamuchness
2021-06-25 12:46 pm UTC (link)

The word scrambling was really unnerving, Much was sure it was some kind of trick, too, something to mess with his head.

"Yeah it sucks, doesn't it?" Much said coldly, and saw Flora's lead hanging on a hook. He grabbed it, and with a "Don't kick me" started binding one of the the Sheriff's ankles to the hardcarved wood of the chair leg, suddenly wondering where Flora had disappeared to, though he was grateful she wasn't trying to jump all over him like some dogs, when you grabbed their lead.

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	whyaspooncousin 2021-06-25 12:51 pm UTC (link)
	Malcolm let out another sob, but he didn't kick. Didn't do anything, he just sat there. "Please. Anything," he begged again. He didn't care what Much gave him to eat, he was going to choke it down anyway. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

muchofamuchness
2021-06-25 01:22 pm UTC (link)

The Sheriff stank, and Much was tempted to tell him but it was such a low blow. It shouldn't have mattered how low the blow was, since this was the Sheriff, but telling someone in a shitty situation that they stank, something that was entirely out of their control? Much didn't want to do that.

He also didn't want to admit that the Sheriff was in a shitty situation. He didn't want to believe the Sheriff's words were genuine, that the desperation rolling off him was real.

"Yeah sure you are," Much said, reminding himself that the Sheriff's begging was as much of a trick as his mixed up words. Well - trying to remind himself. He wasn't so sure he believed it. "Just - shut up," he said, before the Sheriff could open his mouth again. He didn't want the Sheriff to keep begging. Maybe he should, maybe the Sheriff deserved to beg and beg and beg, but listening to it was making Much feel sick inside.

Fuck, he needed the lads here. Rob would know what was a trick and what wasn't.

Much stood up and inspected his work after binding the Sheriff's waist (it was brutally thin) to the chair with an extension cord, and using the end of it on his other leg. He definitely wasn't moving anywhere soon, and after Much patted him down for a cellphone and found nothing, he wasn't going to call for help either, not like Much was about to do.

He sent the call out, but not to everyone. Marian and Tuck and Will and Stutely, he left them out of it, he didn't want to tell them anything till he was sure the Sheriff wasn't going to be a threat. And yeah he didn't look like much of a threat right now, but what the hell did that mean? Much wasn't letting his guard down, no way.

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whyaspooncousin
2021-06-25 01:30 pm UTC (link)

So he had come here for help, and there was nothing. More pain and starvation. He had been right about the Merry Men all along and here was proof. They thought they were heroes, and Much was refusing to feed a starving man.

He hung his head, since there was no way he could fight the bindings, and he closed his eyes. It wouldn't be long now. Let them deal with his corpse.

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muchofamuchness
2021-06-25 09:13 pm UTC (link)

"The others are coming," Much said as soon as Rob's message came through, speaking out loud because he couldn't handle the silence, thick as tar and deeply uncomfortable. "Why're you back here, Rottingham, huh?" He asked, banging his phone against his leg, restless and distressed and wishing he was being cooler about all of this. "Why'd you drag your arse here from Arizona?"

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	whyaspooncousin 2021-06-26 10:08 am UTC (link)
	Did Much expect him to be able to speak? He was too hungry. Too tired. Too close to dying. Too afraid. He just lifted his gaze to look at the other man, pleading, broken. Help him or don't, but decide. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

muchofamuchness
2021-06-26 10:33 am UTC (link)

Much narrowed his eyes into the most sinister shapes he could manage. The Sheriff had been able to speak a minute ago, now he was being stubborn or - well -

Goddammit, the look in his eyes was penetrating, and it was deeply disturbing. Much wished Rob was here already, wished they all lived closer, wished he wasn't the one the Sheriff was looking at.

He couldn't handle that look. It was making him feel guilty. About the Sheriff. How fucked up was that? Much turned and stomped off to the kitchen to fill a glass of water. It didn't make him feel like a good person. He felt too angry and manipulated to feel like a good person. But bloody hell the Sheriff looked desperate, and maybe a glass of water would stop him looking at Much like that.

He held the glass to the Sheriff's mouth, fully expecting this to blow up (or get spat back) in his face. "Just know this is more than you left my boys with," he pointed out, pissed off all to hell.

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whyaspooncousin
2021-06-26 10:40 am UTC (link)

Malcolm sucked the water down desperately, greedily. He didn't pause to breath, in case Much took the glass away while he was still drinking-

It was what he would have done...

"Thank you," he whispered, when he had finished the entire glass. His stomach cramped painfully at the presence of something in it, even if it was just water, and he winced and grunted. "I- Thank you. I woke up here." He wouldn't have made it from Arizona.

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muchofamuchness
2021-06-26 11:03 am UTC (link)

"You woke up here - at the parsonage?" Fucking hell that was bad news. Did he wake up here because it was a place that was familiar to him? Or did he wake up here because here's where the Merry Men were? This bought up all Much's old thoughts of leaving (and his not-so-old thoughts, ones that had been kicking around in his mind since he admitted to Mary he didn't actually like the city, ones that had been growing a little louder since Marcie said she was heading home for the Summer.) Bought them up but then shot them right down again. What if they offed the Sheriff (as Art's message had just insisted Much do) and he woke up wherever they went? The fact that the Sheriff woke up here just suggested to Much they were never really going to be free.

But no, it couldn't be! It was such a big country. There had to be somewhere they could live. There had to be some way. Some way that wasn't a toilet dungeon. Shit, he hoped Rob hadn't told Marian.

But also, if he had, then at least that was Rob's decision. At least Rob was making decisions again. Much couldn't wait for him to get here and help him with this one.

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whyaspooncousin
2021-06-26 11:07 am UTC (link)

"No!" Malcolm said, trying to pull together the strength to explain. "New York." He couldn't use sentences that were too long, he tended to muddle them, especially when he was stressed. He didn't have the energy for it anyway. The sheriff glanced sideways and his sight fell on a banana on the coffee table. God he had never wanted anything more. "Banana?" he asked, his voice desperate.

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	muchofamuchness 2021-06-26 11:24 am UTC (link)
	Well... waking up in New York was better than waking up in the parsonage garden, Much guessed. Still meant the Sheriff had come here of his own accord though, the bastard. "You can have some banana if you tell me why you're not trying to get as far from us as possible," Much said, folding his arms. "Didn't Artemis make it clear what'd happen if you didn't?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	whyaspooncousin 2021-06-26 11:33 am UTC (link)
	The sheriff nodded. He could do that. "Couldn't get into my apartment." Slow and steady. Stay slow and steady so he could keep his words straight. "Artemis could find me. Need help. You say you're good. Prove it. Banana?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	muchofamuchness 2021-06-27 10:17 pm UTC (link)
	"Prove it? To you, judge of the world?" Much said incredulously. Sure, he felt the need to prove himself sometimes, but not to the Sheriff. "Or you'll what - go back to building us all a dungeon? Because I didn't feed you a banana after everything you did to Marian? To my boys? After what you did to me? You want me to prove myself with a banana?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

whyaspooncousin
2021-06-29 04:08 am UTC (link)

The sheriff groaned. He had explained. Where was his banana?

The parsonage door opened and Robin Hood stood there, in all his glory. Robin's face wrinkled in dismay at the smell. "Ugh. What are you doing here, Mervin?" he asked, putting his hand on Much's shoulder.

"Starving."

Robin blinked and then he turned to Much, "can you find something for him to eat? Nothing fancy, he'll throw it back up."

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muchofamuchness
2021-06-29 04:37 am UTC (link)

Oh thank god Rob was here! Much felt like he could breath again, like Rob's hand had pried the weight directly off his lungs. "He wants me to prove I'm a good person by feeding him a banana," Much needed someone else to be incredulous with him. "Says he didn't want Artemis to find him so we gotta help him. Want me to call her?" He glowered at the Sheriff again, wanting to see him wince at the threat.

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of_sherwood
2021-06-29 04:44 am UTC (link)

The sheriff did wince, and Robin glanced sideways at his friend. "Let's just...focus on getting some food into him so we can get a straight story, hmm?" he said to Much, who seemed more interested in fucking with the sheriff.

Robin was tempted too. Here was the man who had caused his men such pain, and taken his Marian away. They were still suffering because of the things the sheriff had done.

But Robin wasn't here to torture anyone. First steps first. Food. A straight story...and then deciding what to do. "Maybe some clothes frmo the lost and found at the church too. He can't keep wearing those."

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muchofamuchness
2021-06-29 07:08 am UTC (link)

It was a satisfying wince, but short lived. Rob's suggestion bought up visions of either a, untying the Sheriff or b, dressing him themselves, neither of which Much was keen on. He wasn't going to disagree with Rob in front of their enemy, though, so he handed Rob the banana on his way out, passing it like a baton. "I'll find the fuckweasle something," he said, shooting the Sheriff a dirty look as he left. "So long's he knows it's more than he deserves."

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of_sherwood
2021-06-29 10:36 am UTC (link)

Robin peeled the banana and he held it out to the sheriff for him to eat. "It's way more than you deserve," Robin informed him, still in earshot of Much. "But I ain't in the business of torture. Unlike you."

The sheriff ate quickly, closing his eyes, feeling overwhelmed by the taste. Robin went to Tuck's kitchen to find something else, even though he was loathe to feed him the Friar's food- He located some crackers which seemed easy enough, and he brought them back too.

"Easy now," he said, feeding the sheriff two of them. "Too many and you'll die. Know how I know that? Cause you starved my friend nearly to death and he spent a fucking year recovering. And then? You did it again."

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muchofamuchness
2021-06-29 11:33 am UTC (link)

Much grumbled all the way to the clothing bin, rummaging through a few things to find a shirt and some trousers, trying deliberately to find the worse ones. There were people in the world that deserved free clothes and Sheriff was not one of them.

"Then why're you getting him some?"

Much jumped at Little John's sudden voice, and swore. Fuck, the big guy could move silently. Little John stood in the doorway, holding a cake box, big eyebrow raised at Much's mutterings to himself while he rummaged.

"He reeks," Much said, grabbing a pair of trackpants with a busted elastic waist. "Rob said get him clothes so, clothes. Think he'll hate these?" he asked hopefully, glad Little John was here too, glad they were three against one.

"Probably hate anything coming from us," Little John said philosophically, putting the cake box safely down and taking the clothes out of Much's hands. "Alright Much?"

He had a way of asking it so easily, and then looking right into you for the truth about your alrightness. But what was Much gonna say right now: no? Hah! "Should get back to Rob," he said, closing the clothing bin up again and moving through. Little John's long legs caught up easily and overtook even easier, and he stepped back into the room a little before Much, and put the clothes down on the edge of the table, and took his place at Rob's side with a silent nod of comradery. Much folded his arms tight on Rob's other side and glared hard at the absolute fuckstick tied to the chair.

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of_sherwood
2021-06-29 11:47 am UTC (link)

Robin nodded a greeting to John and then he turned back to the sheriff. "Right. You've have your food. Why the fuck are you here?"

"Scared," Malcolm admitted, looking like he hated having to do it. "Artemis is- Terrifying. Just want to go home."

"My boys wanted to go home while you tortured them in a fuckin basement," Robin shot back. "Mar wanted to go home while you- You ken what you fuckin did. Why the fuck should we let you go?"

"You're not in the business of torture," Malcolm parroted Robin's words back at him.

"No," Robin nodded. "But I aint in the business of letting you go hurt the people I love again neither."

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muchofamuchness
2021-06-30 08:20 am UTC (link)

"Yeah, we're in the business of keeping people safe," Much glared. "And with you running round, who's safe? Not a fucking one of us, not anyone we know." Sheriff had taken Clio to try and get Stutely, Sheriff had taken Marcie when she betrayed him. There were no lows he wouldn't go to, Much knew that, and, with a growing horror, Much was starting to realise what position they were in. Suddenly the Sheriff was tied up in front of them and they had nowhere to put him, and he'd always been unhappy about Marian's toilet prison but fuck... he was starting to think she'd been right. What the hell else were they going to do with him? Much looked to Rob, trying to read his mind.

"Plenty of ways to disable someone without resorting to torture," Little John said thoughtfully, turning a few options over in his head. A jail cell? A mental institution? A fairy hill or a pocket dimension? None he was going to say in front of the Sheriff, though. These ideas were seeds only, needed time and input from the others to see what would germinate and what wouldn't.