deercountry | Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck

[Do it. Do it, do it do it do it do it---]

Where do I get one of these!?

The future, I think!

[Oh, he's going to do it. He's going to floor it, and rocket up that little sand ramp. Up... up they go. And yes, they are, in fact, airborne.]

[He angles the steering, to flare it the hover engines. Catch just a little more air. Hang on to that flight just a little longer...]

[... before inevitably landing hard on the sand again.]

[That sucks, Min nearly grouses. He wants one. But, by the time he opens his mouth they're picking up steam and then they're actually flying and all he can do is holler and hold on to Shiro with one hand as hard as he can. The other hand is held high above his head in a fist. This is literally the most fun he's had in ages.

Last month was a bad month. This month is a bad month, too. But right now is a nice little blip. It's hard to sink into corruption when yo're flying around like Marty McFly.

You know what? Fuck safety. He lets go of Shiro and holds both fists up. Adrenaline and corruption coursing like a high with every beat of his heart.]

Keep going! If we turn around we can get up something bigger, right?

Probably-!

[The wind is whipping his words back. But it's blissful. It's adrenaline and freedom. It's as close to the rush of takeoff as he's ever going to get here. He sticks the landing keeping the bike level, even. It slows, gradually, circling around back up the beach a ways, until Shiro parks it for a moment.]

But if you're putting your hands up, you're sitting in font of me.

[Shiro can be absolutely reckless with his own well-being (see, the lack of helmet). But someone else's? Never. He doesn't want to stop jumping, racing, doing stunts out here. If Shiro holds onto Min, then, he can punch the air all he likes.]

Deal?

I'm not gonna fall off, let's just go for it.

[Says the boy usually very concerned with self preservation. Not a red flag or anything, sush let's just keep going.]

Min, come on. Just swap places with me and you can do roller coaster hands all you want.

[Sorry, buddy. Shiro's swinging a leg off the bike, too, ushering him forward.]

[But he keeps one hand on the handlebars.]

Min-Gi.

[He grouses, but scoots forward. The urge to just. Grab the handlebars and take off is very strong. He very nearly does it. Maybe he will. Maybe you should catch him, Shiro. Uhho- there he goes. He's got that look. That wild Keith look. He's doing it- Vroom vroom bitch- ]

Right, sor--

[Shiro's totally about to apologize. Commit that to memory forever. But then, Min-Gi goes and does that.]

[While Shiro's still holding on.]

[With his robot hand.]

[Vroom-vroom bitch he goes, with a Dorito man still holding onto the damn handlebar.]

[Okay but let's think about this for a moment.

In theory, Min should go shooting off across the beach.

Takashi Shirogane should be well and truly bikejacked.

But that isn't what happens, is it, dear reader? Oh, no.

Because Shiro has a god damn robot hand death grip and he's weighted on one side of the bike. So even at full thrust, which Min-Gi panics and cranks up by reflex (having never driven a motorcycle in his entire life) they spin on the axis that is Dorito Man's anchoring weight.

Now. Two things can happen. Either they both hover in a twister of chaos, flung around like they're in a skydiving simulator tunnel, or Shiro keeps his feet in the sand and they spin like Roundabout on cocaine.

Neither is good.]

LET GO!

[If he didn't have a robot hand, he'd have had his arm either yanked off or his grip pulled off immediately. His shoulder is screaming, because, well, that damn bike has a lot of thrust. Even with an inexperienced driver.]

[Neither option is great.]

[But as said previously, the bike has a lot of thrust in it. Even a man built like a brick wall is going to get yanked around by the force.]

[Shiro is built like a brick wall.]

[And his feet are, effectively, ripped out of the sand, with his metal fingers digging hard into the handlebar in an attempt to keep himself from losing his bike completely. And therefore, losing Min-Gi completely.]

[Round and round they go in the hover twister of chaos.]

[SCREEE

If Min comes off they'll both go flying, too. It's lose/lose as they fling around.]

SHIRO, LET GO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

[Maybe... MAYBE... he can ... haul himself... up. With the power of dorito biceps.]

Stop - the bike.

[If that fails... you know what? Maybe he can pull Min-Gi off. And fall over backward, using himself to break the teen's fall...?]

I’M NOT, IF I LET GO OF THE THROTTLE WE BORH DIE! ARE YOU STUPID!?

[So. Sure sounds like he’s getting grabbed and ripped off.

And if that’s the case they’ll both go flying into the beach. Maybe the shallows. Who knows, dream big.

The bike also goes flying but never falls, righting itself and stabilising just before hitting a sand bank. It’s so fine, in fact, that it’s fineness is almost mocking.

Haha, dumbfucks, she seems to say. Gotta go fast. ]

[Of course, the bike is fine. It's Shiro's bike. The number of stupid, reckless-ass stunts this thing has survived is astronomical. If something actually did damage it, Shiro would have been stunned.]

[Human bodies on the other hand?]

[Well, Shiro does manage to use himself to break the fall. But he also kind of... bounces. He's holding Min-Gi to his chest for all he's worth, desperately trying to keep him from taking more than a bruise in the fall. Bounce. Roll. Thunk.]

[When it all stops moving, that's when his grip slackens. Sprawled on his back, legs in the surf.]

[Conscious? That's debatable.]

Edited 2022-05-01 07:41 (UTC)

[They soar rather spectacularly, for what it’s worth. Like two drunk eagles, catapulted at the mercy of centrifugal force.

Shiro hits the ground and Min-Gi hits Shiro, who is arguably softer than the ground but that doesn’t mean the whole experience isn’t absolutely terrifying.

His head meets DUMB ROBO SHOULDER with a hard whap and IT IS VERY NOT RAD. IT IS NOT RAD AT ALL!

Runners now full of cold seawater, tide crawling up to soak whatever it can reach, Min-Gi is dazed for a long moment before slowing dragging himself up.

What even just-

-well it’s not like he doesn’t remember but it sure feels like he was outside of his own body.

He looks for the bike. He looks at Shiro.

The cold dread of self realisation sets in. Oh no. Oh NO. He’s killed Shiro!! He’s a murderer!!! Min scrabbles to his knees, hands flat on Shiro’s chest. Oh god oh god oh god-

There’s a strange purple light in the teen’s eyes, too bright to be natural. Wild, threaded with corruption, panic, and magic.]

Shiro? Shiro can you hear me? Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I- I don’t know what happened just then-

[It's fine. He's just ... sleeping.]

[Well okay, he's not sleeping but he's breathing. So he's not dead. Good job, Min, you didn't kill him! He's just kind of... laying there. But that's what happens when you crack your head on the ground after a crazy bike spiral like that.]

[He does kind of blink. And try to lift his head up. Then the world slides sideways, with little explosions and fireworks and...]

[Yeah, no, back to unconscious. That's nice and safe.]

Oh shit... SHIRO!?

[Oh god he's so fucked. This is so bad.]

[What does he do, what does he do!?]

[UHH]

Edited 2022-05-01 21:36 (UTC)

[Throw him in the sea? No.. no, that probably won't help.

Would it?

No, no probably not. Would it make him turn into a squid and heal??

IS THAT EVEN HOW IT WORKS!?

He's probably not even strong enough to lift Shiro up.

Call for help? But who, Ryan? There's no 911 here!

Whiiiinnneeeeeeeee fuck okay- okay, okay.. if.. maybe if he can like. Get Shiro on the bike? Yeah. That's good- no! If someone has a head injury you aren't supposed to touch them! Or is that necks? HE CAN'T REMEMBER!]

[The more Min-Gi panics the more physical his corruption becomes, and finally he doesn't know what else to do but yell for help and hope someone is out here.]

HELP! ANYONE!? HELLO, WE NEED HELP!

[Keith hadn't been home when Shiro initially went out, but noting that his brother was missing got a small nudge in the back of his mind from the Black Lion about the hoverbikes. Ah... so that's where he was.

Keith went to go look, and noticed that Shiro's was already gone, so he started his up and headed towards the beach. It was the one place in Trench where a person could really open up the throttle and get some speed.

Except, when Keith got there, he spotted the bike, riderless, but running, hovering an inch or two off the black sand, and two people laying on the ground several yards away. Well, not laying... not both of them. THAT WAS CONCERNING. He recognized them after a moment and banked his bike in their direction, bringing it in close, fast, but without incident. He almost didn't wait for it to land before he was jumping off to see what had happened.]

What the quiznak happened?! [Yeah, okay, so he wasn't very good at hiding his panic sometimes...]

[No, this is a pristine opportunity to panic. Min is panicking. Anyone would be panicking.

But small mercies when he calls for help and someone appears not long after. On a hover bike, no less. Turns out it's probably the best person to have shown up, too.

Min looks pale and wired when Keith arrives, eyes flashing neon purple (but that's crazy, right, must be the moonlight).]

Keith! Thank god, we were on the bike and then we were off the bike and Shiro hit his head.

[Which is putting it all very mildly but this isn't about him and what he did wrong, right now. This is about Shiro being hurt.]

Do we call an ambulance? Are there ambulances here?!

No! There are no ambulances here!

[Keith yanked off his own goggles, tossing them aside for the moment as he crouched down to do a quick assessment of any other injuries Shiro might have in order to determine if it would be safe to move him. The 'unconscious' thing was kind of obvious.]

Are you hurt? [This was directed at Min-Gi, even if Keith wasn't looking at him.] What happened that you fell off?

[This was Shiro, after all. There was no way he'd just fall off his hoverbike.]

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6/done

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