(Dis)Honouring the Family Name

Clockwise Dream · Aug 13, 2015

@"Tom Marvolo Riddle"

Track had been the first team he had joined once upon a time. Even before martial arts, before learning how to fight, and handle wooden swords as if they were real. Before he was handed the ball just because he was tall. He had chosen because he saw it as an easy start, a sport which had a team, the people with whom he could train with, yet did not have to depend on. Or better yet, they on him. Because they didn't trust him. They didn't like him. They feared him, and his stupid Family Name. William laughed. Reed wasn't even the name his family had had then, at that time when his ancestors had done all that terrible stuff everybody was so afraid of today. Reed was just a place holder. An innovation, a mask. A new façade. It wasn't even a century old.

Following his family tree always seemed impossible to him. Not that he had ever tried really hard. He hated them, after all, didn't he? Why would he want to know more about them? He had tried to find the other two, though, once. The other two who had born the mark. The most recent one was easy to find. He bore the name Reed too after all. Was born with it, just like him. The other two though...They were lost in the past, in the mountain upon mountain of family records and name changing, one after another. At one point, his own name had been their family name. He remembered that, he thought he would die from laughter when he saw it. There were too many other to remember though. To track. To find. He had given up on that thought before the day was done, returning to his room to find his clothes for the night already folded and the diner served. Cold. Emotionless.

Deep breaths. The rage had started to build up in him again, like a wave of darkness taking him over from within. It had been happening more and more recently and it was scaring the living hell out of him, bringing up memories he would rather forget. He did not like being scared. It made him angry, and like in an enchanted circle the rise of his anger also meant the rise of darkness inside him, the darkness which at one go had destroyed half of his family house. Taken more than a half of family records with it too. He laughed again at the thought. It pleased him, somehow.

He really shouldn't be laughing while he ran, though. It messed up his breathing, the rhythm that he had finally caught. The steady beat of his feet hitting against the hard surface of the track was good for him. It calmed him down despite making his heartbeat rise, the said muscle hitting hard against his ribcage. It had been a while since he ran. Since he had done anything really. He had given up on that too, once he got too angry. Once he realised it wouldn't do him any good on making friends.

It was good for him though. Good for getting rid of the anger, of the rage, of every other feeling he had had this week. It was freeing. Satisfying in some indescribable way. And when he was running alone, it could just continue on and on. Only when one had the right strength for it though. William brought his body to a slow stop, throwing his head back in order to catch his breath. Warrior soon handed him a bottle of water at his silent request as Spirit spoke.

''You have run longer today'', the wolf said, eyeing the boy carefully for any trace of rage and darkness of destruction that might have survived the numerous laps which the boy had just put himself through.

''Four more laps'', William said breathlessly as he finished the bottle, throwing it towards the nearby bin. He missed.

''Tsch'', he said angrily as he moved, bending over and putting the bottle in its proper place. ''No need to berate me'', he turned towards the wolf just as it closed his mouth. ''I won't litter.'' Spirit said nothing, neither denying neither confirming that he was just about to tell William that.

''I'm getting there'', the young man eventually said as he return to the place which marked the beginning of the track. His whole body hurt from running, yet his legs still itched to run more.

''You should put your shirt back on'', the wolf said. ''You'll get sunburn.''

''I'll be fine'', William waved his hand as he took for the track again. ''Four more laps'', he muttered to himself, and for a minute, he was free again.

Tom Marvolo Riddle · Aug 13, 2015

Clarence was mentally going over what he knew about the Reed family as he approached the field, carefully and methodically, as well as keeping in mind the conversation he'd had with his mother earlier in the week. Honestly, he didn't know how much or not he'd need, he was just being careful here. There were so many rumors, but rumors were just that, rumors. They helped, but weren't enough to go off.

Anyway. He especially wouldn't base his interactions with another of his kind off of rumors. Clarence wanted to sneer just thinking about it. Rumors true or not, family trivia relevant or not, Clarence wouldn't be caught dead (or... dead a second time, he supposed,) not offering a proper greeting and manner to another member of an old family. It was insulting to even think about. Crowther's always did things right, and in high quality, the first time around.

Still, as Clarence's strides slowed, he realized at least what he'd heard about spirit companions had been true. If Clarence were a lesser person, he might've felt at a disadvantage, with how he'd ditched his group for this. But Crowthers did things right, and as the one doing the welcoming and the local to the island, he was the host of the situation- and the one who should be going to the extra effort, at least for a first meeting. Clarence shrugged one hand into the pocket of his Starlight Academy varsity jacket, picking at the inner fabric for comfort. He approached with his head held high, and the air of what he was supposed to represent, as much natural as practiced.

He stopped in front of the little group, pausing only to look them all over up close. (And also attempt to not skip a beat at running into yet another damn shirtless boy. What was with that? How was that fair? Clarence really didn't find any of it fair. Just don't stare at bad places and you'll be fine, there are more important and professional matters to get to here, ones that don't involve swooning in any capacity.)

"William Reed, isn't it?" Clarence started with, tone mild enough, though he of course knew that already. So many things were just for showy purposes. He offered the hand not in a pocket, his left, to shake. "I'm Clarence, Clarence Crowther. I'd just like to formally welcome you to the island, both as a representative of my family and as a fellow student. If there's anything you have questions about, or anything you need to get settled in, you can always come to me or those in my close social circle for help." There, he'd said all that perfectly- respectable, but not too pushy. He allowed himself a smile at that.

Clockwise Dream · Aug 13, 2015

William had managed two and a half more laps before his body suffered a total collapse. His breath heavy, he returned to where Spirit and Warrior were standing in a slow stride, stretching his arms ad he did so, his breath returning to him somewhat with each step. By the time he had reached the starting point he was sweaty and every muscles in his body hurt in a way it had not hurt in a long, long time, but he was no longer about to keen over and throw up. Somewhat irritated though at the fact that he had not managed to achieve the goal he had set in front of himself, he grabbed onto yet another water bottle offered to him by Warrior, squeezing it hard until it was dead, most of the water now covering the upper half of his body instead of being drank down.

''You really should wait until you got back to your room to shower'', Spirit said with an amusedly raised eyebrow directed at the boy. William huffed, opening his mouth to reply in equal manner, for once not actually angry or raging inside as he did so, but simply intending to banter lightly as they did in the old days before his fits of rage. Just as he did so, however, another person approached, and immediately, William felt the tension inside his body grow yet again.

"William Reed, isn't it?" the other man said, and William felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight, his shoulders rising up as he clenched his fists. People knowing his name was never good. People like this guy knowing his name was even worse, he thought, as he took in the other man appearance and attitude, his jaw already clenching at the mare sight of him. Overconfident, with varsity throw over his shoulders, his words like silk in William's years, too soft, too fake and too irritating.

''Who the hell are you?'', he immediately bit back as soon as the other man had shut his annoying mouth, his words going only half heard. It probably wasn't anything of import anyway, through Crowther... it reminded him of something, but it was something he didn't really care about. The blur surrounding whichever memory it was that was trying to surface at the mention of the name meant that it came from a time period he would really rather just forget, erase, make it blank, as if he had never happened, so he simply pushed it down and continued eyeing the man in front of him angrily, glaring especially at the extended hand with great passions and hate.

''Was I supposed to understand that?'', he asked, already as brittled as the cat run into a corner, and just as ready to fight, though his eyes escaping slightly to his right where Spirit stood calmly, eyeing the man who had approached them as well, in his own way.

''Yes'', the wolf said in a calm voice. ''And if you had any social social etiquette you would have'', he berated the young man, knowing it would get his attention away from the apparently Clarence Crowther and the fist he wanted to throw in the apparently Clarence Crowther's face.

Predictably William huffed, turning his attention to the wolf. ''Social etiquette can go fuck itself'', he said, his eyes now on Spirit, his posture showing that he had all but forgot about apparently-importantly-named Clarence Crowther.

Tom Marvolo Riddle · Aug 13, 2015

At first Clarence was almost ready to seethe and throw a fit, as touchy as he was known for being- but then, a realization settled over him that was somehow endlessly amusing. This guy... is even more touchy than I am, even more ready to throw a fit. Well, well. That's rare. So instead, Clarence let his hand settle on his hip and simply listened to the other go off.

Honestly, Clarence hadn't had anyone hate him this quickly before, without even knowing who he was. If he was known, then it would be understandable, but... no, it must be attitude, the wrong attitude for an already shaky person. Clarence wasn't a stranger to nastiness, he'd been dealing with it all of his life, just as much as people who tried to please him too much. Came with the role, and usually he dealt with the nasty people by throwing their methods back in their face, or subtle ruining of a social life. But this was... a bit of a different case. In fact, how impersonal it seemed was almost the more insulting part. Still, somehow, being presented with someone more eager to jump than Clarence himself was just... apparently an oddly settling thing. And besides, Clarence had already told himself he wasn't going to get into anything. Him being seen as the responsible one here was a benefit, even if it went bad, after all.

He really was glad he hadn't brought anyone from his crew along, seeing that even if he didn't snap, they might. Over eager defenders, trying to get dog treats, no matter how smart or not their actions would actually be.

Okay. If he laughed now at that mental image, he was definitely getting punched. Not that he was shaking at the idea- a lot of things just lost their edge once you get shot in the lungs, and literally bleed to death- but it probably wouldn't be good for anyone. Clarence bit the inside of his mouth a little. He eyed the spirit playing voice of reason with curiosity, wondering if he could just... talk to it instead, if it was more willing to listen- or was just using Clarence for a morality lesson. Still, he spoke up again, this time addressing the person that seemed slightly less ready to hurt him.

"I came at a bad time, didn't I?" He said, with a passive smile. Or is it always a bad time? Rumors, rumors, maybe his rumors have some kick to them. "Still, you heard what I said, didn't you? I don't mean to be a bother, simply to offer myself up if needed. Just to keep in mind."

Okay. So maybe it was a little fascinating being the one not freaking out, for once. That he even thought that was probably another testament to how screwed up he was.

...He hoped he and his twin weren't getting more similar. His stomach turned for a second at the mere thought. He kept his perfect smile up.

Clockwise Dream · Aug 13, 2015

''I think it is apparent that it already did in your case'', the wolf said, his voice still calm and almost disinterested, carrying no emotion as he berated his Summoner, almost as if he didn't care at all about any of this that was going on. For a moment, William merely looked at the wolf with an almost confused expression on his face before suddenly bursting into laughter, having expended most of his angry energy through running which made him more likely to do so than continue arguing with Spirit or actually hit someone.

Situation defused and William taken care of more now, Spirit finally turned towards the man who had approached them. ''It is always a bad time with this one'', spirit said then, his voice still calm, but his eyes expressing some of his very own hatred of everything and anything in the world, for whose fault was it that it was always a bad time with William nowadays, and all the days throughout the past several years?

''However, now is actually a slightly lesser bad time'', the wolf continued, thinking how it was actually in all probability impossible to pick a better time for Clarence to approach William. Any other situation, and the other man would have probably been punched in the face repeatedly by this point, and Spirit and Warrior couldn't do anything about it but pull him off his unsuspecting victim. His body dead tired thought, and hurting to both, yet not actually bloody and broken, actually made William somewhat mellower and though he would still get angry as was already proven he would be...easier to distract, if nothing else.

''I have heard'', the wolf then confirmed, still keeping his calm appearances, though he too had his doubts about any kind of an offered hand or help from those of the like of Clarence. ''Your offer of help is noted. However...''

''Like hell I would ever need something from the likes of him'', William suddenly interrupted, his laughter having finally died down. ''And even if I needed it, I wouldn't take it'', he finished, his dark glare returning to shot Clarence dead, only if it could.

''That, I'm afraid'', the wolf finished with a small sigh, as if he couldn't believe William's behaviour even though he knew it was coming. The truth was that even though he had just berated the boy for not having any social etiquette and knowledge of the rules he was also perfectly aware that there was practically no one there in the boy's life to teach it to him until it was already too late. From wealthy family or not, William was isolated and feared, which meant nobody had ever bothered to teach him anything properly until it was too late and he already hated them all so much that he just didn't care.

''That'', William repeated, mocking the wolf's tone. ''You're saying it as if it were something bad. The likes of him always poison the food they offer you anyway'', he said, openly expressing his disagreement with the very idea of the other man.

''Who are you, anyway?'', he asked then though, still with distaste, but slightly more curious than furious about who it was that had finally approached him because of his family name. There was, after all, someone here on the island with whom he had a score to settle.

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(Dis)Honouring the Family Name

Clockwise Dream

Well-Known Member

Tom Marvolo Riddle

the dark lord

Clockwise Dream

Well-Known Member

Tom Marvolo Riddle

the dark lord

Clockwise Dream

Well-Known Member