InsaneJournal

Who: Irisa and Joshua Nolan
What: Breaking up fights
Where: Creekside school
When: Late Oct
Rating: PG for some colourful language? / fighting?
Status: Complete


Nolan spun the wheel around the corner, the radio filtering in the tunes of Tom Waits. So far, things had been going well in his life. Sure, Irisa was getting into fights and was generally antsy for another move. Sure, he didn’t have a job. But hey, so far nothing had been set on fire and no lawsuits were pending. Being a bounty hunter was difficult in certain states when you yourself were a bounty.

In fact, Nolan was even picking up his daughter from school like a normal father. The shotgun in the trunk didn’t have to factor into it. He parked, pulled the handbrake and snapped off his sunglasses. There was some kind of commotion just outside the school gates. “Aw, hell,” he intoned. “Irisa.”

Irisa grabbed the boy by the collar and threw him onto the ground after he tried to swing at her. She’d dodged the wild haymaker easily and threw him down, a group of kids around her egging them on to fight more. Irisa was known as a little bit of a loose cannon at school, when she was there at least, and she would very easily step up and fight for the little guy if he was being stepped on. Like the kid with two dads who she was currently defending when the bully started picking on him. The bully got back up and ran at her, bending over and tackling her, lifting her off her feet, while she bashed her fists against his back.

In a few seconds, Nolan was right next to the teenagers. He let the boy back Irisa against him, and scooped his arms around her waist to separate her from the kid. “Woah, fun’s over kids!” said Nolan, setting Irisa down while glancing over his shoulder at the bully with a warning look.

Irisa initially struggled against Nolan’s grasp, glaring at the boy over her shoulder and kicking her feet. “Let me go!” she growled. “I had him!”

"You had a suspension heading your way," said Nolan, keeping a firm grasp on Irisa. He knew from personal experience how easily she could slip away to fulfil her objective. He looked over at the boy, shooting him a glare that stopped the bully in his tracks. "Think twice, Truffle Shuffle," he warned, before walking/pulling Irisa toward the car. "You wanna tell me how your day was, or do you want to write it out in the blood of that kid back there?"

“Blood would have been quicker,” Irisa grumbled as Nolan put distance between them and the bully. She crossed her arms and leant against the side of the car, feeling him glaring down at her. “If you’re not going to let me kick his ass, can you at least grab my bag before he goes through it?” she asked, pointing over to her bag which she’d dropped by the wall before taking the boy to task.

Nolan exuded a weary sigh, and glanced over at her bag. “In the car, now. And I got the keys, so don’t get any urges for Disneyland,” he said sternly, waggling the keys around one finger before striding quickly over to grab her bag, the same bag that the bully was approaching. “You, wide-ride,” said Nolan, aiming his glare at the bully. “You touch my daughter again, I’ll have no problem beating up a teenager. Half of ‘em need it.”

He turned and headed back to the car.

“Disneyland?” Irisa asked with a raised eyebrow. She huffed a laugh before tugging the door open and sitting in the front passenger seat with her arms folded while she waited for him to get back in the car. “You know I could have hot-wired it anyway,” she pointed out once he was in the driver’s seat.

“I know,” he said, getting into the driver’s seat. “And don’t diss Disneyland. It’s a lifelong dream of mine to see you miserable in one of those hats.” Nolan started the car and drove off, but quickly pulled over once they were out of sight of the school. He turned to her with a gaze that didn’t quite tip over into anger. “You know what I’m gonna say, right?”

“Yeah, you’d love that, wouldn’t you,” Irisa quirked a smile at the joke. “Anything to get me in a set of Mickey ears,” she smiled out the window so he wouldn’t see it. She almost groaned as he pulled the car over, knowing what was coming next. “Oh I don’t know, why don’t you surprise me,” Irisa grumbled, rolling her eyes a little at his tone.

Nolan looked at her for a moment, and then gazed out the window. “I’m trying to make things work here,” he said. “And you can’t keep this up. The fights. You’ll get expelled again, and worse than that, you could easily end up in juvie. I don’t want that for you, Irisa. I’m really trying to make things better for us, and I know neither one of us has had it easy, but….”

He went quiet for a second, and then looked back at her. “Do I suck at parenting?”

Irisa sighed and glanced out of the window before speaking quietly. “No...no you don’t, I just...I never fit in, y’know?” she shrugged. “And that’s before I punch anyone,” she added glibly. “I just...don’t get on with school, most of the kids are stupid, most of what they teach isn’t going to actually help me in the real world and when I tell them that, the teachers just think I’m ‘the troublesome one’,” she told him, mimicking the inverted commas with her fingers.

Nolan looked at her for a second as if in comprehension. “You are the troublesome one,” he said, not unkindly. “Irisa, you gotta learn to rein things in. I’m not asking you to change and I’m not asking you not to throw a punch when it’s unavoidable, but when you can avoid it? Maybe be the bigger person and step away. You can’t go through life punching everyone who upsets you, otherwise you end up like me.”

“Don’t know if you noticed Nolan, but I’ve never really ever been the bigger person,” she joked, grinning over at him as she gestured to her small stature before taking a deep breath and dropping her hands on her lap in defeat. “I just get so…..frustrated,” she clenched her fists and teeth as she spoke the word. “Especially when there’s some little prick picking on kids who can’t defend themselves.”

“It’s not your job to defend them,” said Nolan. “It sucks for them. But they have to learn to take care of themselves, and you don’t have to protect everyone in the world.” He sighed a little, then reached over to pull her into an affectionate headlock. “I love ya, you little idiot. And I’m proud that you care. You just gotta learn to think ahead, okay? Be smart?”

“Argh!” Irisa grumbled as he pulled her in for the headlock. “Stop it, you’ll mess up my perfectly styled hair!” she joked, knowing she had a perpetually ‘rolled out of bed look’. “Well don’t forget, I’m your idiot!” she told him with a smile as she pulled away from him.

“Damn right you are,” smiled Nolan, leaning over and kissing her on the forehead. Later, he would realize she’d managed to get out of an actual lecture. “Okay, Irisa, where are we gonna go now?”

“Pizza?” Irisa suggested. “Then maybe you can take me down to the shooting range?” she asked hopefully, smiling sweetly across at him.

Nolan cocked his head at her suspiciously. “Nice try. Pizza only, since I don’t feel like eating leftovers of other leftovers tonight. Shooting range later this week, you can work out your anger,” he said, switching the ignition and hitting the radio. He turned it to the tape that was still in, and Johnny Cash’s guitar began plucking.

“Fine, but can I have a pizza to myself?” she asked as she settled in her seat. Fighting made her hungry after all.

“No, you cannot. It’s part of your punishment, which I am making up as I go,” he said with a smirk, heading back onto the road. “I won’t be using my judgement mercifully or wisely.”

“You know you hate sharing a pizza with my toppings,” Irisa pointed out with a smile. “Please have mercy on me!” she play acted dramatically.

“I’m starting to think you don’t take my punishments seriously,” said Nolan, trying and failing to hide his own smile.

“Starting to? Come on, Nolan, how long have we known each other?” Irisa smiled over at him, leaning against the headrest.

“As long as I care to remember, or want to,” said Nolan, keeping his eyes on the road but keeping the image of her in his peripheral.

“Awww...you’re just saying that,” Irisa joked.