Chapter 4 - 'Naners

My mum wanted to take a bath. So despite it being absurdly late ... I wrote this, because I'll be staying up 'til she gets out anyway, and I've wanted to get something more up for quite a while now. This scene prob'ly won't make it into the finished product, so here it is. I wanted to write a scene where August and Gedric switch places for a day. It got boring after a while, though, because I'm tired and couldn't think of anything to happen. So that's why it just kind of trails off.

'Hey, August!' Gedric pounded his friend on the shoulder. 'Guess what?'
August frowned. He was trying to do his homework. He hated math with a passion, even more when he didn't get it. Like now. 'Someone painted little pink hearts on all your underwear?'
Gedric ignored him. 'I have a girlfriend!' August could tell he'd been bursting to say those words.
'That's nice,' August droned, his head full of variables and other shoot.
'She has long hair that has the cutest little curls at the ends, and it's as dark as a raven's feathers ...'
'You must really like her,' August commented dryly. 'That was waxing poetic.'
The dreamy smile slid off Gedric's face, replaced by a look of sheer horror. 'Oh!'
August couldn't help but laugh at his friend's expression, despite valiant efforts to hold it back. Clutching his sides, he lost balance and fell off his chair.
Gedric kicked him, not hard enough to damage anything, but hard enough to hurt. 'It's not funny! I promised I'd meet Bella tomorrow for lunch, but I've got duty!' He glanced down at August, who was rubbing his side where Gedric's boot had come in contact with it. 'Hey, August.'
'What?' August said, looking up at his friend, flourite eyes wary.
'You have tomorrow off, right?'
August sighed. It could've been worse. 'There's no way they would fall for that. We don't look that much alike.'
Gedric rolled his eyes, which were pure green. 'Aah, you'd be surprised how unobservant they are.'
August frowned up at his friend. Gedric's eyes were pleading.
'Fine,' August acquiesced. 'This girl had better be something special.'
Gedric grinned, holding out a hand to help August up. 'Don't you worry. She definately is.'
August stared his friend in the eye. 'You owe me. And if I get caught, no way in hell am I covering for you. Got it?'
Gedric's grin widened. 'I knew I could count on you.'
August just made a little noise.
~*~*~
Gedric came by his room before dawn the next morning. He let himself in. August was sprawled in a rather silly position on the bed, still asleep.
'Hey, you lazy bumb. Get up.'
'Mmmmph,' August told his pillow. 'Z'till night.'
Gedric walked into the bathroom, filled a cup with icy water from the sink, and poured it over August's head. The blonde man sat bolt-upright, sputtering.
'If I'd remembered how early you had to get up in the Guard, I'd never've agreed,' he muttered blackly, drying his face on his sheet.
The bed bounced slightly as Gedric climbed up onto it, opening the cabinets near the cieling where August's slothes were kept. He rummaged around for a bit, eventually selecting a tunic with borders almost the same green as his eyes. By then August was almost completely awake.
Gedric removed the tunic he was wearing, plain cotton in the red and gold of the Guard, and handed it to August.
When he'd finished dressing himself in August's clothes, Gedric spun around, posing like a Greek god on his friend's bed. 'How do I look?' August threw a shoe at him.
As soon as August had finished lacing up Gedric's boots, the two men left for the mess hall. It was the usual soggy cereal stuff, but August ate anyway. So far, they were good. Hopefully, none of Gedric's other friends would be on duty today ...
They left the mess hall. Gedric winked and left through the complex's main entrance, flashing August's ID card at them before they could card him. August sighed and continued to the training yard alone.
The yards smelled of dust and stale sweat. A few men sparred or went through drills, but most of the off-duty Guards were still in bed, or taking it easy. Several men on Gedric's shift were already milling around. No one seemed to notice that he wasn't Gedric. He had been sure he would stand out like a sore thumb, but here he was, blending in like he belonged. Of course, he had almost joined the Guard himself, so it was no surprise he felt at home.
More men meandered in; August's chance of being discovered grew less and less. Finally a bell rang. Those who were on duty that morning lined up; the others ceased practising or talking. The man in charge read off the day's positions. August saluted when he read off 'Monnoghan', which was Gedric's surname. He was paired with a guy by the name of Braveheart. The guy, eho was standing at the other end of the line, looked at him suspiciously. Oops.
On the way to their post, Braveheart ran to catch up with him. 'Hey! Aren't you Pyrite? Where's Gedric?'
August sighed. 'He's on a date with his new girlfriend.'
Braveheart laughed. He had black hair that hung in his dark eyes, and skin that was tanned, but not too dark. He was about as tall as August, and a bit more muscled. 'Hah. He's playing hookey, then?' the man snickered.
'Yeah.' August glanced at him. Braveheart looked a couple years older than he and Gedric were. 'You gonna report him?'
'As if! I been tellin' him for ages he needs a good girl. I'd cover for him any day.'
'So, er ... Braveheart?'
The raven-haired man snorted. 'Call me Emmett. Braveheart makes me want to vomit. I think me parents must've been mad.' August had to agree. Who in their right mind would name their kid Braveheart? Maybe several hunderd years ago, but now ...
'What do we do all day?'
'Guard.' They had reached their post on the wall.
'That's it? We just stand here?'
'More or less ... ya, you got it.'
August sighed. 'If nothing happens, what use it the Guard?'
'Supposedly, as a precautionary measure.'
'We're here on the odd chance we might get attacked.'
'Yep.'
'Am I ever glad I ended up not joining.'
'You said it ... but what else is there for folk like us? We can't all be adopted rich boys.' His dark eyes flashed in amusement.
August shrugged. No wonder Gedric had wanted out. He thought again ... this girl had better be something really special ...

I really like that guy, Braveheart. I just made him up on the spot, but ... I like him none-the-less. I was thinking of Murtagh when I wrote him. Emmett was the first name I could think of.

On another note, I found these on LiveJournal. Thought it would be fun ...
1. Pick one of my characters, any one (even if you don't know their name and I've only drawn them somewhere before).
2. I will tell you the origin of his/her name.
3. I will tell you random facts surrounding his/her creation.
4. I will give you a random fact of his/her backstory.
5. I will give you a random fact of his/her forestory.
6. You may ask me up to ten questions about the character (but if a question is too spoiler-y I may not respond).
Just be sure that the charactere is mine. Example: August is Teacup's. And I advise you not to ask about Braveheart, because like I said, I just made him up, mostly because I wanted to use the name 'Braveheart'. It was once Gedric's before he had one, then Teacup changed it to Monnoghan, which does sound better. But the charactere does NOT have to be from Apocalypse; it can be anyone. So yeah. Have fun.

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