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Post by River Antonucchi on Jul 6, 2015 1:01:06 GMT -5
He shook his head, "It's okay, you didn't come here to be professional after all, I mean... I'm sure you came here to punch me in the first place, that's also not professional," he tried to joke around. Obviously it was kinda lame, not really funny or anything but if it helped a lady then it did. He dropped his hands to his sides, smiling slightly at her continued broken English, he did have to admit, he was getting fond of it. But he figured it would be a pain in the ass for her students to try and listen to every word she has to say and making her repeat most of everything she has to say, depleting teaching time for the kids. So indeed, it was a problem, but he really just wanted to say fuck it and let the kids figure out what she was saying, besides, it wasn't that bad.
"Don't worry about me," River told Nixie, "I don't think I'm the one who needs rest here," he told her. If anything, he needed to make sure Nixie did get her rest. Besides, he had a lot of thinking to do before sleeping, "I'll stay here for you, and even walk you to your apartment," River shrugged at Nixie. He was going to make sure she didn't run away, kill herself do anymore crazy things. Of course this wasn't River attitude, but hey, after that breakdown, the only thing River could do to make sure not to get punched again was to see to it that Nixie got a good night's sleep.
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Post by Nixie Auttenberg on Jul 6, 2015 1:18:57 GMT -5
He was attempting a joke, and while she couldn't find it in her heart to laugh at it, she forced a very small smile to her lips that only held itself in place for a couple of seconds. He acted so distant and like he was some sort of monster himself, but to her... To her he was never anything but kind and genuine. She appreciated that fact, and she turned away from him for a moment to collect the keys to her apartment from her desk. He was right that she needed sleep as well, but when she approached him again, she looked up to him with slightly furrowed brows.
"I sleep too," she said with a nod. "But you promise that you sleep after you walk me home?" She asked with hopeful eyes as they began to exit the classroom, walking side by side towards their living quarters. Part of her just wanted to hug him all over again - only being able to find comfort in him for some reason - but that was too uncalled for. Surely he didn't appreciate her hugs being thrust upon him, so she just kept walking as her tears started to slow slightly.
"Thank you, River," she croaked out after a couple of silent moments. "For what you said..."
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Post by River Antonucchi on Jul 6, 2015 1:44:26 GMT -5
Yeah, it wasn't that funny. But you know that? It slightly was better than awkward and dead silences where nobody was making a crack or smile at anything. When she looked at him, he looked away briefly before becoming a man and looking back. He scratched the back of his neck at her words, then running a hand through his hair, "Well I'd have to take a shower first," he told her. He was still stinking of the blood of his kin, James Novak. Oh poor soul, he was lucky River took it very lightly on him. "But I should find myself asleep after that," he murmured to Nixie as he followed her to exit the classroom, just to assure her that he was going to sleep.
River didn't know what to do when her tears were falling again. He wasn't good at not making women cry, or making them stop crying. And he felt a bit weak in the knees for her, she shouldn't be crying like this. Not over something that wasn't her fault, it wasn't her fault for being someone she didn't want to be. River also didn't want to see her cry, just her in particular (But what about his sister? Well Suki didn't cry, so he didn't need to hope that she wouldn't cry.). He didn't know why he was having an obvious weak spot, but River kind of... didn't mind it at all.
He simply nodded, "Yeah, no problem," he said, looking at her and then pulling out something from his pocket. A black handkerchief it seemed stain-less, probably the only thing that wasn't stained with blood except for his briefs (Fucking briefs! *Cringe* In my opinion he should just go commando, but briefs at least don't give River saggy balls. >.<). "Here," he said, taking her hand with one of his, then pushing his handkerchief with his other hand to her hand, then closing her fingers over it. "Snot on it or something," he grinned at her crookedly.
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Post by Nixie Auttenberg on Jul 6, 2015 11:21:11 GMT -5
It wasn't until he said something about needing a shower that she realized he was still coated in the blood of James, and as she looked at him, she had another series of flashbacks. Her eyes widened and dropped to the floor as her muscles tensed up, causing her pace of walking to slow significantly. They were difficult to fight against, and she just had to let them run their course. This one, though, was hitting her a bit harder than some of the others after having just experienced the first emotional breakdown of the last seven years. The dog tags she was currently wearing that once belonged to Gregory James Wells - a private who was barely even old enough to be involved in the war - were clutched tightly in her hand as she relived his demise.
"Please, please, please, don't do this," the man begged as he scrambled backwards on the ground to try and get away from her. The look of sheer panic in his eyes would have been painful to Nixie Auttenberg, but to the Black Widow, it was just a part of her daily routine. She was always a silent killer - tormenting her victims even further by her lack of humanity - and removed one of her pistols from its holster and shot into the man's arm. After all, the more he moved away, the longer this would take. He cried out in agony and again began to beg for his life to which she simply stared back coldly at him.
Her orders with this man - who had managed to kill three Germans over the last couple of weeks - were to show him pure fear and torture. Gloves on, she pulled a roll of barbed wire from her backpack and stepped over him. Legs on either side of his body, she wound the wire around his neck and began to pull at the ends. He screamed and wailed and wiggled, to which she responded by pressing one of her boots into his stomach to force the air from his lungs. Still gripping the wire and tightening it - pulling it against the man's neck and throat - it began to dig agonizingly into his flesh. It only took a matter of minutes to collapse the esophagus and the trachea, and if it weren't for her inability to actually snap the spinal cord, the man would have been headless by the end of the dilemma.
Instead, the life just faded from his eyes as he fell limp against the ground. Throat eaten through completely and head only attached by the bit of spine at the back of his skull, she watched his head roll about from side to side - meat exposed and bloody - before straightening back up. She was splattered in his blood just like River was with James... Only worse. Her face was coated in it, her clothes drenched, and...
Suddenly she felt contact of some sort, snapping her from her daze. River's hand was on hers, holding it after stuffing it with a black handkerchief, and she felt her muscles slowly begin to relax once again. She was able to see what was actually in front of her again as opposed to the horrific nightmare that had just taken over her vision, and she looked down at their hands for a moment before looking up to him. "Thank you," she said softly. "Sorry... Shell shock," she said as she swallowed thickly. But something about having her hand in his eased her heart, and she found herself interlocking their fingers and giving a light squeeze. "But yes, you must shower. And then to bed."
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Post by River Antonucchi on Jul 6, 2015 11:45:50 GMT -5
River looked at her, a bit worried but he knew she was okay. "Shell shock," River repeated under his breath, shaking his head gently. Quite common for people in the war, but it seemed she had a very bad case of it. He realized that was the look. The look he had seen her express a couple of times. Shell shock, that was what it was, what seemed to be haunting her. Flashbacks to the past that brought only bad memories.
River still had his eyes on her when she lightly squeezed his hand after she interlocked their fingers together. It felt very nice and warm, a new feeling. This one, it felt nice. A very nice feeling, warmth. What warmth did he ever get before this? "Yes, mother," he chuckled a bit. He only heard those words leave his mother's lips when it was directed at Pietro, especially the tone. It wasn't threatening, dark, or anything like that. It was new, definitely new. He continued to walk them over to her apartment, a small genuine smile creeping up his face. This was good.
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Post by Nixie Auttenberg on Jul 6, 2015 11:59:16 GMT -5
Now he understood why he found her so lost in her own thoughts those couple of times. Why all the light seemed to fade from her eyes to be taken over by nothing but pure pain and sadness. Shell shock was a side effect so many soldiers had from the war, but hers was nearly bad enough to cripple her. If she wasn't so stubborn and set on trying to right her wrongs somehow, she would have probably been institutionalized years ago for her near-inability to function in society.
His laugh at her words caused her to smile a bit more as they walked. She was very fond of the man walking at her side, but the only thing she feared was him continuing to hurt her students. Because - just as she said to Pietro - she liked the brothers, but she wouldn't stand for them harming children. She could only hope that he wouldn't put her in that situation again because, quite frankly, she had taken it extremely easy on the both of them this time.
For now, though, she wouldn't think about that and focused on her door as they approached it. She retrieved her keys from her skirt pocket and looked to him, not really wanting to let go of his hand even though she had to. "Hold on," she said as she let go of his hand and pulled out her wand. She pressed it to his jaw and muttered a healing spell, watching as it put his jaw back together beneath his skin. Now he was healed, but.. "Don't hurt students," she said with a pleading look in her eyes. "I don't want to hurt you.."
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Post by River Antonucchi on Jul 6, 2015 12:53:26 GMT -5
The spell made a cracking sound, this time again to fix his jaw. It usually stung a little bit back then, broken bones and the sounds of Pietro or their mother say the echoing familiar spell 'Episkey' however, the spell wasn't painful anymore after a while. He touched his jaw after she had muttered the spell, good. It was better and perfect again, capable of bringing girls back to their knees as it usually did. "Thank you," he murmured to her, still holding that gentle and genuine smile.
He looked down at her, seeing pleading eyes asking him something he wasn't sure he could do. He looked at her, his eyes empty for a while as it has always been. The same empty eyes that locked eyes with children he had murdered, tortured, threatened, and so much more. He locked eyes with hers that had done the same, but hers were pleading with him with emotion.
Then, his eyes softened a bit, "I will try my best to avoid killing our students, hurting them... I promise," he would try, because he wouldn't want to break his promise quickly. He wanted to keep a realistic promise. River would try, and that was his promise to her that he would keep. But he knew it was near impossible for him to stop. Because not only was he forced to, but he loved to. Not just children, but anyone. Anyone but her.
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Post by Nixie Auttenberg on Jul 6, 2015 13:25:04 GMT -5
He thanked her, to which she responded with a silent nod. Her soft smile was still in place, but it intensified ever so slightly when he promised to at least try not to harm the students any further. She understood how things could be in a time of war, so for him to promise her flat out that he would stop would be futile and false. "Thank you," she said quietly. "I... I don't want to hurt you or Pietro," she sighed out, shaking her head lightly. "But I must protect students. And I will if have to." She wasn't saying this to be cruel; she was saying this so that she could be honest with him. So that he would know despite her caring for him, she would hurt him again should he hurt another student.
"You go take shower and get rest, yeah?" She nodded across the hall to his apartment door. The thought of letting go of his hand pained her, so she gave it one final squeeze before releasing it. "Don't forget about professor meeting in morning." That idea made her a bit uncomfortable. How would it go now that she had attacked Pietro and River and with how Pietro had murdered Gawain? Were some of the other professors on the O'Brien side of this whole ordeal? It was truly terrifying to think about, but she had to be there in case something went haywire.
"Goodnight, River," she said as she leaned up on her toes to leave a small kiss on his cheek - a custom of hers to show respect, thanks, and fondness.
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Post by River Antonucchi on Jul 6, 2015 13:56:30 GMT -5
He knew she had a duty as a teacher to protect the students, of course he did too. But he also had a duty to the Antonucchi's. River knew that she really didn't want to resort to hurt Pietro or him, that wasn't Nixie Auttenberg. She didn't want to hurt anyone unless provoked, and River didn't want to provoke her to becoming the Black Widow again. He didn't want that, she didn't want that, it was in nobody's interest to want that. "I know," he simply murmured to the dark-haired lady in front of him.
River wanted her to stay as someone she wanted to be, and if that was Professor Auttenberg, the Charms Professor that nobody could understand what she was saying, then so be it. He'd help her erase her past if she wanted. To move on from it, not wanting her to hurt anymore. He'd help her become Nixie Auttenberg, someone who was capable of being human again.
"Yeah," he nodded, "It's going to be... Hellish, I can feel it." They needed a new teacher to replace Gawain, in the meanwhile they'd probably have to give up their free conference periods to teach the class. He didn't even realize it but she leaned up to him on her toes and kissed his cheek. His eyes widened again for the second time that night, trying to register what was happening. He smiled again, wider. She kissed his cheek, Nixie had just kissed his cheek, she probably meant it in a friend way, but River was still very happy. A brief and soft flush made its way to his pasty pale skin. A warm feeling intensifying in his chest again. Damnit, women...
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