The Perfect Soldier

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

(Warning, post contains allusions to gore, decapitation, disembowelment. Scroll past/ignore if you're squeamish :'|)


[Null sits against the wall, staring over to the corpse of a_lost_number. The other version of himself lays in a heap on the floor; fresh blood oozing out of the large cut through his stomach. The other boy's entrails spill out of the laceration, intestines and bodily residue litter the ground beside him -- along with his head.]

[The boy draws his knees up to his chest, his machete laying next to him -- coated in the blood of his duplicate. He can't stop staring at that beheaded corpse -- his own beheaded corpse, laying in front of him like this. No man can meet the Perfect Soldier in battle and survive -- not even the Perfect Soldier.]

[Clutching his head tightly, he squeezes his eyes shut and clenches his teeth. The pounding just won't stop -- his head feels like it's trying to split apart. He finds his body trembling, unable to regain control over his senses.]

[...This is where he gets back into his coffin, right? Everything can just go away again? He'll get back into the tank if it will make his head stop hurting -- anything to make this pounding stop.]

(A little backdated but, this is the aftermath of this thread Warning: gore, decapitation, disembowelment. Open to everyone, especially anyone involved with that other thread.)

Comments

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[Null slowly raises his aching head -- finally. Big Boss will help him. That's what he said he'd do, right? Back in San Hieronymo? He promised to get him some help...]

...Sir.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Frank? What the Hell??

Why?

[He gestures to the deceased Frank with open palms.]

DAD, DON'T YOU LOVE YOUR MENTALLY UNSTABLE SON? :D

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[He just continues to look up at John. His voice is flat and without emotion -- his eyes seem to convey a sort of distance; a sense of detachment. He's not all here right now.]

Because I am your perfect soldier.

Of Course.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

[He's definitely noticed that emotionless look. It is familiar and he wishes that he didn't recognize it so easily, but...he does. Seeing Frank dead really bothers him.]

Frank- you did not have to do this- [especially not like this and to yourself, no less] there are other ways of problem solving.

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

...He was going to kill you.

[He casts his gaze away from John, eyes starting to lose focus.]

I could not allow that. I had no choice.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

You always have a choice-

Hey, are you alright? [He comes a little closer.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

...Yes, Sir.

[He shifts a little, bringing his knees away from his chest. John can see him bleeding from at least two relatively deep wounds; one below his left collarbone and one in his right leg.]

...My head is throbbing. I cannot see straight.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

[He kneels down.] You're bleeding out all over the place, that's why your head is throbbing and you can't see straight.

Hold still. We have to stop the bleeding now.

[He shuffles closer to attempt to 'CURE' Frank's wounds. John always has his first aid kit with him.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[He doesn't bristle as Big Boss approaches. He leans his head back, allowing the man to examine his wounds.]

Yes, Sir.

[He weakly lifts his hands to attempt to rip away the material of his uniform, trying to expose more of the wound in his chest to the man.]

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

I told you to quit moving. Hold still.

[He pulls out his little first aid kit and gets to work. He tears the rest of Frank's uniform near each of his wounds so that he can disinfect and clean them properly. Once this is done he applies the Styptic, then gets started suturing the cuts shut. Now that he's completed that task he bandages the kid up and he's sort of as good as new.]

There...

How's the pain?

I gave blood on an empty stomach, I feel like Null does right now. Forgive me if my tags suck

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[Null tries to sit up better and ends up slumping forward against John.]

Better.

...My head still hurts.

[He finds himself closing his eyes as he leans into the man's shoulder.]

That's okay. I am pretty useless as of late...I'm amazed you still tag me. XD

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

[He carefully rubs the part of Frank's back that's not injured.]

Hmmm. Pain killers... [He mumbles to himself as he rummages around in his first aid kit. He's trying to find something that's not a blood-thinner.] I have a Codeine tablet.

This icon is not appropriate for this situation

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[He remains against John's shoulder, opening his eyes a bit as he mumbles against him]

I'll swallow it dry.

That's damn adorable

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

You sure? It's kind of big.

[He offers him the pill a bit reluctantly.]

Be careful.

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

Understood.

[Null manages to shift his body enough to take the tablet from John, popping it in his mouth and trying to work up enough saliva to swallow it. He manages without too much trouble save for a few light coughs.]

[He settles in against John's shoulder again, half-lidded eyes staring over the man's shoulder at the body of the other Null again.]

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

[He finger combs Frank's short hair for a moment, then stops when he realizes where he's looking.]

He'll be back in three days.

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[He brings a hand up, gripping one of John's suspenders. It's an almost possessive gesture, his eyes not leaving the corpse of the other.]

Then in three days, I will have to kill him again.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

No, Frank. [He rubs his forehead near his hairline as if HE was getting a headache.]

I won't allow you repeat that cycle of suicide over and over again. Just let me talk to him next time.

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

['Suicide'? That is what he's just committed, isn't it? Some kind of literal murder-suicide, in a sense... He finds himself clinging tighter to John -- the sudden spur of possessiveness is likely an effect from his head trying to cope with, well, killing himself just a short time earlier.]

...I won't allow him to kill you.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

He was you at a different point in time. You know I survive so trying to kill yourself to keep something that DIDN'T happen from happening is...sort of crazy.

[He looks down to Frank noticing that grip he has on him and believes that on a deeper level, the kid means something other than what he's literally saying. Sometimes John is as dense as lead.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[He averts his gaze from the corpse, his voice getting quieter.]

Then maybe I'm crazy.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Don't resign yourself to insanity. [He gently hugs the poor kid.] You aren't crazy...just a bit misguided.

[Big Boss realizes that he might have just said the understatement of the century just then. He realizes that he has a lot of work ahead of him.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

...Understood.

[He makes no effort to move away from John. Most of the pain in his head and body have subsided thanks to the Codeine but he seems to lack the energy to move much at all.]

...I can't seem to move.

[snakenbake.livejournal.com]

Between your injuries weakening you and the Codeine, that's not unusual. You really should be in bed recuperating.

I can help you stand. [He will allow Frank to hang onto his shoulder.]

[stoicism.livejournal.com]

[Retaining his grip on Big Boss, Null manages to rise to his feet while using the man to support him.]

I want to stay with you.