InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "dojocasino its all in the mind"

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
2021-06-26 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.

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of_sherwood
2021-06-30 11:30 am UTC (link)

"I won't-" the sheriff stammered a promise, "no more. You win."

Robin had to admit the sheriff did look terrified. He was also starved and broken - it was likely he wouldn't be trouble for awhile. Not untl he healed and casually forgot everything he had 'learned'. But then could they enlist the help of Artemis again? Was it even fair to bring a Greek into their affairs? "You stink to fuck," Robin said, unkindly. "If I untie you so's you can put on some clean clothes, you gonna cause a problem?"

"No!" the sheriff was quick to promise, "no, I'll...behave-" He looked like the word caused him pain.

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muchofamuchness
2021-06-30 12:26 pm UTC (link)

Little John folded his big arms in a pose of quiet strength, and on Rob's other side, Much copied him, though there was a barely constrained buzz of unpleasant energy surging under his skin. A second later, Much was grabbing his staff again, resting it on the ground near his foot with a clunk. "Just in case he's lying," he said, to Little John's raised eyebrow. "It worked a treat before." Much flashed a grin that was gone in a second.

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of_sherwood
2021-06-30 12:33 pm UTC (link)

The sheriff winced at the sound of the staff, which Robin found very pleasing. He untied the sheriff and handed him the clothes Much had gotten for him. "Change into these and come back. You close that door, my boy's are gonna get inventive."

The sheriff skirted into the bathroom and stripped off the clothes he had been wearing since February. He freshened up a little at the sink, and refused to look at himself in the mirror as he pulled on the clothes he had been provided with. They were hideous and hardly his fashion, but they were soft and clean.

He returned from the bathroom, his old clothes in a ball in his hands. Robin retrieved a rubbish bin for him and Malcolm tossed the clothes in. He was feeling much more human as Robin tied him back up to the chair.

And then the parsonage door opened and Tuck stepped in, followed by Will Scarlet. Tuck spotted the form currently being tied to his furniture and he let out a horrified gasp.

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rouge_rogue
2021-06-30 12:44 pm UTC (link)

Will had been having a good day. He had been at the hospital with Tuck. The doctors were talking a matter of days until they thought Evie could be released from the NICU, and she was looking so much stronger now. She would be home and safe in the Parsonage (when she visited anyway,) snug as a bug.

He was smiling and chatting to Tuck as they wandered up the path to the front door, and he was checking a text on his phone when he heard Tuck gasp, and he looked up, his bloody running cold.

"YOU!" he snarled, one arm going out to push Tuck behind him, and a moment later he was lunging across the room, pushing Much aside so he could wrap his fingers around that beast's scrawny neck, absolute rage giving him wings on his heels. He could see the shock on the bastard's face, and god, god it would be so fucking satisfying to watch him beg for what he'd never give to Will- His fingers felt skin and he wrenched the Sheriff close, chair and all. "I'll fucking KILL YOU!"

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irl_im_very_big
2021-06-30 01:06 pm UTC (link)

Little John watched Will move without doing anything at first. Will deserved some vengeance after everything he'd been through, and there was a grim satisfaction that came from the look on the Sheriff's wretched face.

But- "Alright," Little John stepped forward and hauled Will back, holding him firm against his body, expecting resistance. "Let's be democratic 'bout this."

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of_sherwood
2021-06-30 01:14 pm UTC (link)

"Democratic?!" Truck hissed. "He nearly killed Will!" Hell, he nearly killed all of them. If blessed Bob hadn't shown up, they all would have died of thirst within days. Tuck was hovering back near the wall, watching the situation with horror. "What is he doing here!"

"It seems," Robin stepped forward to place a calming hand on his nephew's shoulder, "that he came here for help."

The sheriff watched all of them warily, fear everpresent on his face. "I made a mistake," he admitted.

"Oh did you?" Tuck growled at him, "did you make a fucking mistake?! You came to my house for help!? After what you did to me? Twice!? After what you did to-" he wasn't going to say Marian's name. Malcolm didn't deserve to hear it.

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

"Why the fuck is he here!?" Will was absolutely fuming, struggling against Little John's grip. "I should think you made a fucking mistake you nasty, evil worm, what the fuck were you thinking- Let me strangle the prick!- how dare you come here- after everything- let me go!!" Robin's hand on his shoulder was slapped away. Will was in no mood to calm down, not about the Sheriff, not now, not ever.

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irl_im_very_big
2021-06-30 08:15 pm UTC (link)

"Ain't just your decision what happens to him," Little John's voice strained under the effort of holding Will back, though he wasn't budging. "Not saying you can't strangle him later, but he ain't going anywhere. We decide on his fate together, and not the split second after one of us lays eyes on him. Could be there's a better way've getting rid of him. Gotta find it."

Much clenched and unclenched his fists around the staff. Why hadn't he gone straight for the Sheriff's throat, Will was right. If he'd offed him before the others even got here, Tuck wouldn't be looking so scared right now, and they all wouldn't be fighting in front of the Sheriff, which Much bet he was thrilled by. "We should stick ear muffs on him," Much muttered to Rob, watching the struggle. "Maybe a pillowcase so we don't have to look at his smug face."

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friartuck
2021-06-30 10:06 pm UTC (link)

"Well I know of a house that has a dungeon in the basement," Tuck growled. "We could leave him in there like he did us."

"You dont want that on your conscience," Robin said, though the tone of his voice suggested he wasn't thrilled about that.

"He's in my house!" Tuck yelled. His home where he lived with Will. Where their baby daughter would be soon.

Robin turned to the sheriff and he said, "i want you to understand, what ever we decide to do with you, that if you ever come back here...if we even find you anywhere near this place, Artemis is gettin a call, you hear? This place is off limits. You think a month odd in the woods is bad? Imagine it for the rest of your pitiful existence."

For his part, Malcolm whimpered.

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rouge_rogue
2021-07-01 02:54 am UTC (link)

If anything, the pathetic whimper just infuriated Will more. How dare he come here and ask for their protection, their goodwill, after everything he'd done to them? After keeping them prisoner and starving them, and-

He stopped struggling, but he was shaking with fury. "You miserable, worthless shit, you have the absolute fucking temerity to ask anything of us, after the cruelty you put us through? You can rot in hell, fucking scum!" He tried to shake Little John's arms off, promising he wasn't going to attack anyone.

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irl_im_very_big, 2021-07-01 03:51 am UTC

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friartuck, 2021-07-01 05:47 am UTC

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rouge_rogue, 2021-07-01 06:44 am UTC

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muchofamuchness, 2021-07-01 08:02 am UTC

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of_sherwood, 2021-07-01 08:10 am UTC

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