GRACE POTTER
VS
Raylan Elisha Wilcox
Location: Warehouse
Grace's temper flare and her eyes blazed.
"I may be quiet but at least I remember what I do at night and don't get shit faced to help myself feel better." That was a low blow, even for her. She had no clue why Raylan made her crazy like this. She had no filter when he made retorts like that. He was pacing and messing with a metal chain and hook. He looked frustrated and she knew that she had gotten under his skin. Her cheeks heated with a slight blush as she watched him.
He was pulling out a cigarette and getting ready to light it. Grace flicked her wrist and held her palm up facing him, sending a strong gust of wind barreling toward him. The gust was so strong that it blew the cigarette right out from between his fingers.
"As for my spine, I always had it, but maybe I just needed someone to remind me when to take a stand." She cocked her head to the side and smiled sweetly before turning around and walking away innocently.
Let it go dude. Let that shit go... Be that fucking Disney bitch and let go.Raylan thought to himself. He could do this, he could toss his hands up right now, apologize and everything would be okay. Hell Frank would do back flips! He could let this go and just move on. Then he saw that smile, that sweet 'oh it's not my fault' smile and innocent fucking walk. Was this bitch crazy? She's gonna start some shit and walk away? Raylan thought about all the good that was going to come of letting this go, then all once his Give A Shitter just stopped working. If she wanted to go low, that was something Raylan had no issue with.
Raylan was over the moon to see a steel chair in the corner. He didn't even raise his hand to summon it. Raylan focused on the chair, and watched as it unfolded mid air. He made sure it hit her in the knees. When she fell into the chair he was quick to raise his hand and jerk it back. Bringing the chair and her right to him. Three steps later he was right in front of her. Glaring a hole right through her. At least he could say he completed his homework.
He sqautted so he was at eye level. It was clear to see that he was ready, and almost begging for her to try some measure of violence. Anything at all, just to say he didn't start it. In all likelihood it wasn't going to matter, Frank was gonna lose his shit no matter what happened. Might as well try to enjoy it.
"Little Dove, you've seen beat wholesale ass for much less. How do you like your chances? Should I give you a minute to you think? Perhaps phone one your friends? The imaginary ones, like your spine." His voice low. Steady and calm. He took a step back as he stood up. What the hell was he doing.
Raylan had no clue why he hadn't hit her. If it had been anyone else he couldn't imagine what he had done. Every single thing inside of him told him attack her. Smack her, push her, do something! Why the hell are you backing up? What is wrong with you dumb ass. This is how you get beat. You know this. DO SOMETHING.The voice inside his head screamed louder and louder. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he attack?
The breath rushed out of Grace's lungs as the chair jerked her around. She had forgotten that he had power over metals. Stupid girl. Picking a fight in a warehouse full of metal. He could kill you. with one blow. She thought to herself and started at the hate in his eyes. It wasn't directed at her, was it? He had been smiled and chuckling a minute ago. Surely she hadn't over stepped her bounds? She had read his file though, and she knew that he almost never backed down from anything and he always got violent.
Grace was not backing down, not now. It would just humiliate her.
You opened this can of worms. You either go fishing with them or throw them away, she thought. Her next move was calculated. She was small in stature but she was strong. If he reached out to grab or hit her she would take off, carrying him with her if he held on. Why hadn't he hit her? She took a deep breath.
Everything happened at once. She stood up very slowly and unfurled her wings, stretching them out to either side of her. Fully extended the wingspan was about 7 feet. stepping closer to him her chest and nose almost touched his. She was right there. If he was going to do it, he was going to do it now. Her eyes never left his, almost daring him.
"Do not mock me just because I am not like you," She said quietly.
"I do not believe you will hurt me, and I believe that I have made it perfectly clear at this point that nothing about me is imaginary." She stood up straight and tall, squaring her shoulders.
"Do not think for one minute that you know me. Because you know nothing about me." She stood her ground, standing perfectly still in front of him, wings still outstretched in all their glory, ready to take flight.
Raylan didn't know what hurt worse. She didn't think he'd hurt her, or was it her hypocrisy? Did he forget all those late night conversations where they talked about their feelings, the past, where was he when where braiding each other's hair? Was he drunk or asleep when they confessed undying loyalty or love or whatever stupid bullshit she had in her head. No he wasn't. Because it never happened. This was all going so well, when did it go south? When did the playful banter turn into this stand off. Raylan wasn't going to back down now but something inside him made it so hard to hit her.
She can fly and control wind, but what the area of effect? No, that didn't matter, she was dangerous up close. He needs to create distance and keep her in the warehouse. The others were going to help her. The Emo chick was an unknown, he knew nothing about he or what she could. Cowboy was also a problem, but a secondary one.
What was the smart move? Well the smart was to walk away but that shit wasn't gonna happen. Push her, get her off balance and distract her. Use the hook and chain to tie her down. That was the smart. The only problem was control, he was lucky enough that she could even stand. He didn't know he hadn't hurt either eh chair. If he misstepped at all he could kill her. No he had to come up something else. He needed time to come up with less violent, something that would break her... When the fuck did any of this matter? The whole point of fighting was to break them!
"So tell me when you became so intimate with me? How fucked up was I during all those slumber parties we had? You one the ones where we watched High School Musical and ate ice cream while trying to tell each other that everything was gonna be okay. Or did you read Frank's little note book on me? I hope didn't find the fake one in his office. The one that says I'm not dangerous. "Grace flinched at the hostility in his voice. He stood before her, every muscle in his body ready to fight. She didn't want to fight him. She knew that she would walk away with far more than just the pain in her legs. Shit, Grace, what did you do? Why didn't I stop when he was still smiling? What did I have to prove? a hundred thoughts ran through her head as she stood before Raylan. His eyes seemed wild, almost like a wild animal.
CALM. stay calm. She took a small step back, favoring her right leg, the one that the chair had hit first. Do not push him. She caved slightly, but did not back away. She still stood within arms length of him.
"I'm not afraid of you, Raylan," She said his name gently and held up her hands, palms up. She was panting, still looking him square in the eyes.
"Don't do this." It was not a plea or an order.
Taking a breath to steady herself, she smiled at him.
"You should know that I don't like high school musical. Musicals in themselves are more irritating than nails on a chalkboard," She whispered, trying to disengage the situation before a fight broke out. She stretched her wings, feathers out, sending a small gentle breeze out around her but still stood her ground.
"Calm down, Raylan," She said again still not looking away from him. He looked ready to kill, if not her then something very close.
"Little Dove, you should be terrified." Raylan said in a voice that begged for violence. He wanted this to be over so badly but he didn't know how to wal.... Wait walk away. Now he knew something was very wrong. In less than ten minutes he as ready to rip her wings off and beat her with them. Now he wants to walk away? Why was he doing this? Did he have something prove? Oh yeah, big bad ass pushing and bullying the little dove... Yeah hard ass Raylan ready to beat on someone half his size and no where near as strong. What kind of horse shit was this?
He could feel his heart thump harder with each passing beat. Why? He'd been in this situation a hundred, maybe a thousand times. It's gotten so easy to be in this situation, it's just like breathing... Then it hit, she limped when she took a step back. Raylan couldn't remember a single time when felt bad about hurting someone.
Even still, Raylan didn't take his eyes off hers. He didn't know what to do. He had to do something, she gave him an out, why couldn't he just takes it and run? Oh fuck this shit. Raylan shoved Wings back and made sure she landed in the chair. His eyes moved off of her just a second. For a split second he cringed, for just one instance it showed how bad he felt about hurting her. As she landed in chair, he let his eyes find the chain and hook. Another second later it was in hand.
He walked right past the Little Dove. He mutter
"sorry" under his breath. He didn't know if she had heard it but he damn sure wasn't repeating himself. Raylan didn't stop walking till he was outside of the warehouse. He needed to do something, anything. Raylan in stagnation was the worst thing in the world for him. He need a smoke and bottle of something strong in the worst way.
Grace stumbled back into the chair as he shoved past her. She watched his retreating figure until the door slammed behind him.
"Dammit! that Friggin' hurt," She cursed under her breath and stood up. What the hell had just happened? It was like something had just come over both of them and they couldn't stop. And yet, he hadn't hit her? She cocked her head to the side and thought hard. Every fight that he had ever mentioned before ended with the other person in the hospital or unconscious somewhere. Why hadn't he lashed out?
She wasn't going to let it go that easy either. She wanted to know what the hell just happened. Waiting about 20 minutes, Raylan never came back inside. She got up and sheepishly put weight on her right leg. It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. She pushed open the heavy steel door and stepped outside. Blinking furiously, her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the sun. She looked around, but seemed to be alone. The warehouse parking lot was empty, and there didn't seem to be anything for miles.
She pumped her wings twice and lifted off the ground to get a better look. She spotted him on the edge of the grounds, swinging the chain and hook, beating into the fence. Redirected aggression. At least it wasn't her face. She touched down about 10 feet back from him and stood watching him quietly for a moment.
"Raylan," She said softly, not trying to startle him.
"I am sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have pushed you like I did. I was having fun and it got carried away." She took a few steps closer to where he was still messing with the chains.
"You kind of drive me crazy. Just a little," She whispered more to herself and rolled her eyes.
This was pointless. What was she doing? Why didn't she stay inside and just let the whole fucking thing go? Because she was stupid and didn't want him to be mad at her. Why? She had no idea. Maybe because she was a lunatic. She wanted to be able to joke with him without him flying off the handle and killing something. She turned her back to him and looked at the warehouse.
"Feels like we could both use a tall glass of something strong after today," She muttered and kicked a few pebbles under her feet.
"Gone inside Little Dove." Raylan said trying not to get mad at her. Raylan couldn't help but wonder why she just didn't leave him alone. Things were going to be bad enough with Frank without another shit storm coming down.
"I already walked away and apologized once. It's not going to happen again." Raylan said looping the chain in hands the hook was hanging even with the chains.
His eyes were focused on the fence in front of him. Chain link with barbed wire across the the top. It was an old one but it was still strong. For each throw of the hook and chain, it was repelled by his own magnetic powers. The objective was to stop the hook dead in its track and not repelled back to him.
When she didn't leave, he didn't know what to tell her. She wanted a drink, he knew just about ever place in town to get one.
"If you want a drink, check out the Blind Elephant. Cover your wings and take someone with you. Ask the blonde barkeep for Raylan's guitar, she'll buy you a round two." Raylan said looking over his shoulder.
Her temper flared again but she bit her tongue. She felt like she could spit acid at this man. Grace balled her firsts at her side and just stared at the back of his head for a few moments.
"You truly are an ass. Did you know that? A complete buffoon of an ass! Do you have your head shoved so far up the bottle that you can't see when someone is actually being nice to you and wanting to have fun with you?" She snapped and fought the urge to poke him in the chest with her finger. He still had his back to her, and she was blazing. She had tried to be nice and apologize for what had happened in the warehouse.
But he insisted on being a dick. Grace inhaled deeply through her nose and turned on her heels pumping her wings once. She turned back toward him, hovering in the air.
"When you decide that you can actually act like a person and not like a beaten animal, come find me. I did enjoy the first part of our conversations at least, before you decided to go thermonuclear." Her tone was acidic as she pushed her wings downward, sending a strong gust of wind toward Raylan as she flew back to the entrance of the warehouse still fuming.