#costory

He pauses, giving Luca a once over before speaking,

“I also didn’t want to overwhelm you before introducing you to the team,” Flint says as he starts removing his coat, seemingly that was explanation enough.

Luca just hummed in response, running his finger along the fireplace’s shelf, looking at the dust that now lay on his finger.

“Think I obeyed enough today, hm?” He never met eyes with the general, eyes moving to the fireplace, the coal that lay in the basket of the fire-place. He opens his mouth before closing it- waiting a moment before speaking quietly, “Will uh…will I still get to see Jet..?”

“I think your progress was very good today. I was surprised,” Flint replies candidly as he sets about the living room, gathering the matches for the fire and cleaning out the ash from the fireplace. “I expected more disobedience. More tantrums, from the reports I have read and the man I saw today you would think it was two different people,” Flint hums conversationally, but Luca heard the prying in his voice.

The gentle coaxing that almost made Luca want to tell Flint just how fucking awful the lieutenants were to him during his time as a cadet. How it wasn’t always his fault.

“Jet is the second lieutenant who brought you to me?” Flint inquires, sweeping the ash into a dustpan and dumping it into the empty bucket beside the fireplace.

Luca nods silently but the look flint gave him made him speak, “Oh, uh yeah- yeah sir, he’s the one.”

Flint sets the dustpan back and grabs the logs, starts rearranging them into a small pyramid as he considers Luca’s question.

“You and Jet are on different paths now, Luca. Mixing will be more difficult than before, but I don’t see why you won’t be allowed to see him. As long as you behave well and work hard, you will have no constraints on your activities during your downtime.”

Flint strikes the match and gets the fire going, rubbing his hands to shake off residual ash as he stands and turns to face Luca.

“I will also say that it may be a difficult adjustment initially, and because of that, I would rather you didn’t see Jet for a few weeks. Just while you settle in.”

Lucas face turns bitter, immediately defencive, “That’s stupid! Jet is like a role model, surely seeing him would actually benefit me! You can’t stop me from seeing him you asshole! You can’t fucking treat me like a princess locked in a tower. adjusyment my ass. Bringing me to this godamn cabin up a big fucking hill, taking home away from the cadetes, from Jet- from any living human life- this is stupid!”

Flint straightens, his grey eyes narrow slightly. “Luca, I understand that this is all very new and you are upset. But the sooner you accept your new position, the sooner I can bring you to my camp. There is human life there you will have to get to know and learn to fight with.”

“You can see Jet as long as you behave. Your training for the next few weeks will be full on, and Jet still has his own duties and training to complete.”

Flint puts a hand on Luca’s shoulder as the cadette starts to argue.

“But I promise you will be allowed to see him, Luca.”

Lucas jaw sets hard, his eyes going to the hand on his shoulder as he resists the urge to shove him off.

He nods, not meeting the man’s eyes. He could do it. Anything that meant he could see Jet again…

“Shower. Get warm.” Flint says taking his hand from Luca’s shoulder.

“You did good today, Fletcher.”

Luca salutes mockingly with a slight laugh, “Sir yes sir, how kind of you to let me be warm after you have me stand out in the fucking rain like a donkey,” before walking to the door of the bedroom, shaking his head and muttering to himself, “you’re a fucking donkey, cap.”

Luca barely heard the whoosh against air before the cane hit the back of his thigh.

A hand grabbed the scruff of Luca’s shirt and yanked him back. In one swift pull he dragged Luca back, spun him and slammed his back against the wall beside the door to Luca’s bedroom.

Luca cries out, his hand flying to Flint’s wrist, “Gagh! I thought we were done training!”

Cold grey eyes stared down at Luca, Flint’s expression tight, “Finished training, yes. What was it you learned during training, Luca? Hmm?”

Luca rolls his eyes, tugging at flints wrist, “Oh come on! This is getting just as boring as your godamn posture pet peeve!” He growls, his nails digging into Flint's skin.

Flint steps in closer to Luca, his forearm lying flat across Luca’s throat, tilting his chin up to look into Flint’s furious storm-filled gaze.

“I will give you one chance to answer, cadet. If not, there will be punishment.”

Luca looks up at Flint, the heavy weight against his throat was like a collar that this stupid military had on him. His breathing was restricted and his eyes widen as his chest rises and falls unevenly, “M-manners and uh-…respect?”

“Very good, cadet,” Flint says, his voice dark. The pressure loosens a little on Luca’s throat. “And would you say that last comment you made was respectful and mannerly?”

Lucas jaw is tight, Flint can practically see the fury in the cadettes eyes. He shakes his head slowly.

“Verbal response, cadet.”

Luca’s fist tightens by his side and he hesitates, trying to push his anger down..

“No.” He growls, eyes burning into the man’s before him.

“No, what?”

Oh Luca saw red. He stays silent, shaking his head silently, jaw clenching and unclenching. No. He was sick of this. These higher rolls acting as if they ran the kingdom. Who got off in making the under dogs miserable.

Flint raises a brow. His forearm presses slightly harder against Luca’s throat. There’s a clear warning in his eyes, daring Luca to misbehave again and get himself into more trouble.

Luca winces slightly, his hands flying up to the generals arm, wincing but the man didn’t move.

"..No…sir…”

“Good.”

Flint pulls his arm away and takes two precise steps back, hands going behind his back as he stares down at Luca, his eyes inspecting him.

“Manners and respect are required at all times, Cadet. Though we are not training, I expect you to address me properly and speak with respect. You can say whatever you like, you can curse, but you do not insult me,” Flint says, his eyes flashing dangerously as his lips curl back slightly, “and you do not forget my rank again. Do I make myself clear, Cadet?”

Lucas eyes fall to Flint’s military boots- -the lieutenant grabs the nape of Luca’s neck, shoving him so his eyes fell to the ground. Luca winces, his baby hairs getting snagged in the lt’s expensive watch. “You must show respect, cadette. My friend here deserves respect, you think he wants some low life cadette making eye contact with him? Huh??” Luca winces, his body tight and tired with anxiety, “n-no sir…” He blinks, he was back in the cabin again, eyes boring into flints polished boots, “Yeah- yes sir..”

“Good. You are dismissed. Get out of those wet clothes,” Flint says, already turning away. “You’ll catch a cold.”

Luca nods, silent this time. At the dimissal, he moves. The pattering of water stings against his red marks that now litter his skin. He clenches his teeth, taking a breath as he pushes it down.

He never took long in the shower, the cold water showers with the cadettes taught him how to be as quick as possible but today he lets himself stay a moment under the water.

When he’s out he lays on the bed, staring up at the ceiling with a shaky breath. He never liked to think back at the cadettes, he really hoped jet forgave him..

 ———

Roll call:

@imgoingtobiteyounow @whumplicity @creatureofstories @afternoonfairy @castell-da-near @funnymemedude @hiddencowboybarbarian

Luca grimaces, instantly fixing his posture,

“It wasn’t exactly my favourite, general, guess it was a bitta protein though…”

“Good attitude, Cadet. Keep that up and you’ll be fine.” Flint says and marches towards the door with his confident stride. “Oh, also. You have ten minutes left for breakfast. Better move, cadet.”

“Left??? how was I supposed to know when to be up??” As flint walks away, Luca puts his uniform on his bed and quickly grabs the general by the arm,

“Hold on- this isn’t fair!”

Flint goes still. His muscles shift under Luca’s hand.

He doesn’t turn.

“You should have asked when breakfast was, Cadet.”

Hate hate hate, confirmed comfirmed confirmed.

Flint glances at his watch. “Ah. Nine— oh, no. Eight minutes to go. Better dress.” He shrugs Luca’s hand off him. “I am not your babysitter like that lieutenant who’s fond of you, Cadet. You think you’re better than other cadets?Prove it.”

As Flint walks out, Luca can hear him call from the hall. “Seven minutes.”

Luca scoffs, eyes not leaving the direction in which the general walked off in. Uneblievable.

"Eat shit…" he grumbles before quickly getting dressed, ruffling his hair until it looked okay-enough.

One sock, second sock- where are my shoes- fuck...

He hops on one foot, butting on his second boot before lacing them and rushing out the door, slamming the door behind him with a sigh.

He follows the trail he saw Flint leave in and was met with a corridor, one door reading 'Mess hall' on the outside, he barged in, a bored expression on his face as his eyes roam around the room, taking it all in...

There was nobody there.

The room was empty.

No other soul was awake.

There’s a clock above the kitchen area, that reads 2.00.

Flint smiles as he comes in with a cup of black steaming coffee. “Oh. You didn’t ask, either, Cadet.” He says with a satisfied smile. “Newbies make breakfast for the team. Everything you need is in the kitchen. Make sure to impress them. They’re a harsh crowd.”

Flint pats Luca’s shoulder as he walks past him But Luca quickly shoves at the man's hand- only earning him a harsh fist wrapping around Luca's wrist, making him yelp in pain;

“You are a glutton for punishment it seems, Fletcher. Didn’t your parents ever teach you manners?"

Luca's mouth opens to protest but Flint's grip only tightens,

“You must control your anger, Cadet. It will get you in trouble. I will not turn violent unless I neeed to. Now…” Flint’s boot darts down on Luca’s ribs. “My soldiers get angry when they're hungry, it's not a pretty sight. Chop chop!”

Then he leaves.

Luca watches as Flint leaves for a long moment before shoving down his anger- stay on task.

He saw the oats and milk layed out followed by eggs and sausages. Pretty standard- what they were fed in the other base but also pretty much what Luca only knew how to make.

By 04, Luca was sat at a table, etching drawings into the wood with a knife from the kitchen while he tried to pass time, breakfast all set up to be served, piping hot.

The first to enter is a raven haired girl with a shoulder length v-shaped haircut. She looks to be older than Jet, around 22-23.

“Oh. He did it to you, huh? When did he wake you?” She asks bluntly, her voice naturally lower. She moves with efficient grace, plating eggs and sausages and bacon onto her plate and grabbing the teapot and a teacup without any flourish. Almost brutal in her movements. “You look like shit.”

Luca just huffs a laugh, eyes not leaving the table as his knife moves with precise precision. He could only guess the state he looked after losing his best friend yesterday, the bruises from his previous encounter with the dickhead cadets and the utter lack of sleep.

There weren’t many girls on his cadet squad- one or two maybe but that was it. The early wake up call and betrayal of the bastard Flint had him in a bad mood and didn't exactly make Luca the most charming to meet at the moment.

“Didn’t know they’ve let girls on this godamn team. You make us sandwiches when we’re done training?”

The corner of his mouth quirks up as he wipes away the loose wood that’s  been  carved away.

In an instant therre’s a flash of movement and a hand wrapped around Luca’s throat, pushing the chair back to the ground, a knee on his chest, digging into his ribs and a knife above his eye, the tip almost touching it, making his eyes water. All of this before he had a chance to blink.

“I really hope I didn’t hear what I thought I heard,” she says with a blank expression, not letting any emotion slip, as if she was bored.

Luca groans, back arching with pain from the sudden impact of the ground. She was strong- stronger than some of the guys on the cadet team.. he would never let that on though.

“Fuck.. well maybe you misheard me,” Luca growls, craning his neck up so he’s almost face to face with the girl, bringing himself ever so slightly closer to the blade as a challenge,

“I said get your ass back to the kitchen because-“

In one quick motion, Luca expertly knocks the knife from the girl’s hand, grabbing her wrists and quickly rolling her over- their positions swapped,

“You’re fucking weak. Girls have no place in the military.”

The girl doesn’t grunt. Instead, she moves her feet in close to her hips, and launches her hips up while yanking her wrists down. Luca jolts forwards, catching himself on his hands, but the girl grabs his elbow with both hands and wrenches it back to her chest before wrapping her foot around the outside of his calf. With another shift of her hips they’re rolled again and this time she doesn’t stop at just pinning him.

A blow to the throat has Luca gasping, and she punches him hard in the face, her knuckles cracking off his cheek, his jaw, slams her fist down on the bridge of his nose.

She doesn’t stop. Every punch seems to hit something vital, her knuckles seeming to go through his ribs to punch the air from his lungs, down to his kidneys and distantly, beyond the pain, he knew it would hurt long after the initial blow.

When he tries to recover she punches him in the throat again and blood spurts from Luca’s nose across her knuckles. An elbow to the breast bone and the girl gets to her feet with the same brutal grace as before. Then, for good measure, she stomps on his crotch and turns, leaving him writhing on the ground as she takes a napkin and wipes the blood away.

Luca lays still on the floor, breath rasping in his throat as he gasps for breath, "F-ff'ck..." He groans, hands grasping between his legs as he despertaley tries to tough out the overwhelming pain.

When he looks up through the curls that fell over his eyes, he sees Veda, powl in hand and walking towards a table to have her breakfast.

Luca's face twists in anger, shakily getting to his feet before wiping down his uniform, Shit- blood had gotten on the fabric, he prayed Flint wouldnt care- maybe he wouldnt even notice.

"Fuckin' asshole.." Luca grumbles, wiping blood from his face before sitting back in his spot he was previosuly sitting at, fixing the chair back on it's four legs. He slumps in the chair, leg bouncing as he seethes with anger. Dumb bitch got my uniform bloody..

The doors open again a few minutes later and a short blonde woman and a giant hulk of a man with a buzz cut walk through together, smiles on their faces at the smell of food.

When Luca looks up, their smiles drop. The blonde- Poppy- tilts her head at him, as if taking in every detail. The man, Ryker, on the other hand looks fit to devour him.

“Thought Flint said that was the last of us…” he grumbles, eyes not leaving Luca but he was clearly not talking to the boy.

“I don’t like him..” Ryker growls before brushing past him, beginning to plate up the food, Poppy quietly folllowing after him, eyes still studying Luca.

“I’m in the room, asshole, act like it.”

Ryker looks at Luca for a moment, laughing as he bites into his toast, “Got a damn mouth on him too….”

“What happened to his face?” Poppy asks, her voice soft and airy,  feminine. Her words anything but. She reaches a hand out as if to touch Luca’s nose, but retracts it as Luca's eyes harden on her.

“He ran his mouth,” Veda says simply before shoveling a spoonful of food into her mouth.

“He’s young,” Poppy replies, blinking with big doe like eyes. She wore makeup and was a slim build, and short, maybe 4’, her hair distractingly blonde and bright as she looked at Luca with big blue eyes. “You’re young,” she tells him.

Lucas face softens slightly, finally being spoken to instead of being spoken at.

“I’m twentey,” he speaks plainly, eyes occasionally drifting to Ryker, making sure he was still in his view.

He finally forces himself to step forward, “and I belong on this team just as much as any of you guys do.”

Ryker just laughed dryly before taking a seat by Veda.

He can feel Poppy's eyes on him but he was sort of used to that, girls always seemed to match themselves onto him in some desperate plea for attention. That’s why Veda confused him- slightly intriguing him.

Luca just rolls his eyes at Ryker's arrogance, sitting down at the very end of the bench, leg bouncing up and down as his eyes dart around the room, trying to take in everything and everyone.

His eyes meet the desk that he had carved into but he doesn’t care, it was too minimalistic for Flint to notice anyways… hopefully.

He shrugs as the conversation dies down, “I was seventeen when I joined the cadetes… unofficially… then.. well they found out I lied about my age but they kept me on…”

“Three years and you’re still a cadet?” Ryker guffaws. “And you’re somehow on this team now? My god, Flint’s lost it.”

Lucas face burns red with anger, his hand tightening on the side of the table,

“Wasn’t exactly because of my skills…” he growls.

“More of the lack of them, was it boy?” Ryker asks with the same confident smirk, happy to be riling Luca up.

It was enough to make Luca snap. His hand goes straight for the blade in his pocket but Poppy's hand catches his wrist gently.

She doesn’t look at Luca, doesn’t make any gestures. They’re both quiet as the rest of the team laugh, breaking off into other conversation while eating their breakfast.

Luca takes his hand back, away from Poppy's touch as he sits quietly at the table, leg bouncing wildly.

The doors open and Flint, accompanied by a man by his side, enter.

Flint nods as he is greeted with a series of “Morning, General,” noticeably quiet from Luca, but Flint doesn’t comment on it.

The man walking beside Flint is tall and slim with a charming smile, his chocolate brown eyes lock on Luca immediately and he nods his head in greeting.

“Morning, fresh meat,” he says, but in a way that doesn’t irritate Luca, as if he was joking with him instead of teasing him like the other people on the team, as if he knew exactly how much Luca was teased this morning.

“Mmm, this food smells great. Thank you.” And he plates up some food while Flint inspects the place where his coffee cup was broken that was now cleaned. He walks with his hands behind his back towards Luca, and stares down at him with an unreadable expression.

“I thought I told you to clean up, Cadet,” he murmurs.

Lucas eyes don’t leave Harry for a while, taking him in. The way his brown curls sit perfect over his chocolate eyes. He had banter in him but not to hurt Luca. He liked that.

His eyes finally moved to flint with a sigh,

“I did…” he argued back, eyes glaring at the general

Flint’s hand snaps out and grabs Luca by the chin, tilting his head up and inspecting his face and nose.

“There is still blood here,” Flint says coldly, his eyes scanning Luca. “And on your uniform. Do you think it is acceptable to present yourself like this cadet, while in uniform?”

Ryker smirks at Luca from behind Flint, but Luca can only feel his eyes on him, not see them. Flint’s iron grip on his chin was too strong to move. In fact the whole room seemed to go silent as Flint reprimanded Luca. Poppy was quiet beside Luca on the table.

fuck, he didn’t mean clean up the mess hall, he thinks- he didn’t clean up the blood from this morning.

Luca winces, something growls in his throat as the pain only increases, Flint clearly demanding an answer;

“Fuck- oh- oh yeah I forgot… sorry I’ll uh.. I’ll do it next time I guess…”

For the first time since sitting down for breakfast, Veda lifts her head from her plate to look at Luca curiously, as though he was suddenly interesting.

But everyone else’s reaction was different; Ryker’s smile was wiped from his face and Poppy stiffened beside him.

And slowly Luca realised he fucked up somehow, as all air seemed to be vacuumed from the room.

Flint’s expression darkened.

His stomach drops but he can feel everyone’s eyes on him. Every one of these team mates didn’t know him, didn’t know what he was capable on and they looked down on him. He had to prove himself after this morning.

He forces a cocky smile- making himself seem confident as he braces himself for what’s to come…

“Oh yeahh… how could I forget!! Your majesty..”

Luca didn’t get to finish his words before Flint yanked him to a standing by the throat and turned him towards the door. As Luca throws an arm back, Flint catches him on his upper arm and shifts his grip from his chin to the back of his neck and continues to march Luca forward, never breaking his stride out of the mess hall doors and through the building, taking a different route down a hall Luca didn’t see yesterday.

“How lucky,” Flint hums, voice clipped. “You get the tour sooner than expected. I hope you ate before this.”

-

ROLL CALL MAGGOTS! (the tag-list): @whumplicity @creatureofstories @afternoonfairy @castell-da-near @funnymemedude @hiddencowboybarbarian @hueningplushie @fallenwaltz

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