I'd Rather be at the Aquarium

[Ohm]

James thought this would go well over, Damion owed him and looking at him tells James that he knows that, but then fuckin Theo opens his damn mouth. Who the hell does this guy think he is? Coming out of nowhere acting like James is morally affront, like he's evil or some shit. Did he not realise they were stuck with a fuckin cripple who couldn't move? Yeah, no. Let's stick around with our thumbs up our asses instead. Be wannabe martyrs for some stupid cause.

Fuck that.

Damion though, maybe he could still convince him. He could hear it in the question. Two against one. Theo would have to subside or leave, either was good.

"Jump, as in surprise them. Knock out, tie up, whatever. I'm not saying we're gonna kill them. Just that we take what they have and send them on their way." Probably.

"We would hide not far from you at all. I said you'd be playing dead too so when they get close, bam!" He slapped his hands together for reference. He then put his hand on Damion’s shoulder, in a sort of comforting manner. “But don’t worry about it, it’s your call. Not gonna force your hand or anything. Just remember, this hinges all on you.” Make it his choice. That way if it all goes to shit, it aint just James’s fault.

As soon as he was done talking with Damion, James turned and grabbed Theo by the collar and roughly pulled him back from Damion to the other end.

"You realise that thinking like that is why his knee got shot out? That monster is exactly why we have to do this. Or did you not notice the announcement where our classmates, with more guns than we have is out killing each other? Right now, we've got my gun with four rounds and that shit isn't going to fuckin keep up with the three of us. And we can't move him right now so we're stuck. That leaves us sitting ducks unless we take advantage of what we have right here."

James felt himself get angrier with every second, words flew out fast and he felt his grip tighten on the collar. They were doing fine till Theo opened his damn mouth. What was he giving them anyway? He didn’t have a weapon and it was clear he wouldn't have the guts to use it anyway, hell just a while ago he was wandering around this place crying and here he was trying to boss James around?

"And don’t you dare try any of that morality shit. I ain't seeing you pulling out any ideas out of your ass so either contribute or keep your fuckin morals out of this."

[Latin For Dragula]

Theo swallowed hard and shook in the choke hold of his own shirt. His eyes dropped slowly from the fist around the collar to Damion's face. In a lot of weird ways it was like staring into a mirror: paranoia, guilt, fear, uncertainty, a sense to just go along because hey, who are you to shake things up?

And wasn't this the kind of thing he got himself into all the time? Opening his big mouth and getting all worked up and sticking his nose where it didn't belong just to get somebody to yell at him or worse? Hadn't he learned his lesson by now? Couldn't he just sit down and shut up and let the people who knew better handle things? Shouldn't he just let James take care of them or walk away if he was going to cause trouble?

His eyes drifted back up to James'. He swallowed again before pressing up towards his face nice and slow. "You're a b-bully, and a psycho, and I'm not gonna let you get him or anybody else killed."

Then he shoved James as hard as he could into the wall of the container.

[Maraoone]

OK, so no deaths. That was good, great and good. But this was still exactly what Blaine had done. But this was just survival. And it all hinged on him.

"I- I'm not... I don't-"

And then James grabbed Theo by the collar. Shouted, cursed. And this was all because of him. He had to stop this, had to take control.

"Guys, please just calm down-"

And then Theo pushed back. And he couldn't get up, couldn't stop it because of his knee. And they were falling apart, all because of him.

"Guys, stop! Just- no, stop!"

And all he could do was just shout in the corner and hope his noises actually meant something.

[Ohm]

James hit the wall with some force as Theo spouted more of his bullcrap. Damion was yelling loudly, but James couldn't hear it. All he could hear were the words coming out of Fedora fuck's mouth. Bully. Psycho.

He felt himself brimming with anger now, James was actually trying here. Making plans so they would get shit done rather than just waste time. the more they spent sitting on their asses because Theo is concerned about who they'd hit, the more their classmates had the chance to congregate all the guns and supplies they could.

"Psycho? Bully?" He pointed his hand angrily at Damion, he could feel it shaking. "He held me on gunpoint earlier and I still saved his life, you don't know shit Theo!"

James stepped closer to Theo. He wanted to see him hurt. He thought he was better than him.

Well, let’s see about that.

"Who do you think you are?! If you two hadn't been there, he wouldn't be fucking crippled!"

[Latin For Dragula]

Theo didn't look at whatever was wearing James' skin. It was insane. His body turned wordlessly to Damion. There were the beginnings of tears in his eyes but the determination freezing his face into a mask wouldn't let them flow. James didn't care what he wanted. Just kept using him as a prop, as bait, as an argument. It was disgusting and he refused to engage in it.

"You don't owe us anything. It's not your fault. Please don't let him do this to you."

Damion was his friend. He couldn't leave him here with this thing, even if every part of him was screaming to get out of here before James went even further and just killed both of them. If people were gonna keep killing, if they really were all going to die, he wanted to at least be able to know he died trying to make things better.

At least they wouldn't forget him if he tried.

[Maraoone]

"Guys-"

They were getting closer.

"Please-"

They were still shouting.

"Stop-"

And they both looked at Damion, because this fight was about him. Two men pulling a half-corpse two separate directions, at each others' necks. And this was all because of him, and yet his words did nothing. He shouted, and they were fighting about him, they were so concerned about him, yet they couldn't even give him a second of their time.

And then he looked to his right. On the ground.

They would hate him for this.

"SHUT UP!"

He grabbed the grenade launcher, which had been lying next to him, and pointed it at both Theo and James. He looked wide-eyed at the both of them, chest heaving.

please forgive me please forgive me please forgive me

[Ohm]

That fuck! He just turned away from him, as if his words meant nothing. Clearly this meant time for conversation was over.

James couldn't deal with this anymore. Theo had to go.

He balled his hands into fists. Imagined himself smashing Theo in the back of his head. give him what he felt. Standing over there cooing Damion as if he was a child. Like he didn't owe them. fuck that. Damion owed him everything.

Otherwise he wouldn't be alive.

As he stepped closer however, he felt the warmth of his anger evaporate into freezing horror as he saw Damion hold up his gun at them. Yelling at them to stop. Clearly he had lost it about as much as Theo.

"Damion." He put out his hand up like one would against a animal, slowly moving himself to the side. "Put the gun down." Theo was closer to Damion, if he fired. James would make sure he was shielded.

[Latin For Dragula]

"James sh-shut the fuck up."

This is bad this is bad this is really really bad we're gonna die

The thoughts were bouncing around his head, but for some reason they weren't connecting. They felt as dark and terrible as they ever were and this was objectively the worst situation he'd ever found himself in. But he wasn't really afraid.

They were gonna die.

Like, absolutely, positively gonna die. There wasn't much way around it. He felt kinda at peace with that in this moment. Either James was gonna kill him or Damion was gonna blow them all up or a thousand other terrible things were going to happen and he was so so utterly powerless against all of it that it wrapped back around to leaving him totally calm.

Huh.

"I'm listening."

[Ohm]

Theo just wouldn't listen. Story of his fuckin life right now. This tool was pissed at him, and yet is fine with Damion packing his grenade launcher? Babying the guy who's pointing at them and likely gonna fire if neither do anything soon.

It was clear now to James. He couldn't stay there any longer, but he'd be damned if he let the two neurotic screwups have his gun.

Once Theo put all his attention to Damion, James ran and shoved him full force at the prone boy. Then he went for the gun.

[Maraoone]

To be honest, Damion hadn't thought this far ahead. He hadn't thought at all. Pure fear and adrenaline took control of him. But those hormones, those primal instincts had brought him here. And now all eyes were on him. It didn't matter that they reduced him to a lion, to some bomb waiting to explode. At least people took heed of those things. Didn't matter that after this moment, they would take this gun from him, reduce him to some priority, some concern weighing down on their shoulders. At least this moment was actually here.

And so he savored it. Took his time. He needed it, to consider his words. To save this partnership they had going on, to decide their course. And maybe he took a bit longer than he needed to. Because it wasn't like this moment would come again. Not like they would dare trust him with anything after this, much less their lives. And it wasn't like they would dare lunge at him when he could end everything with the pull of a trigger. Not that he planned on it, not at all, but the risk was there, and that would've mattered to both Theo and James. At least, that's what he'd hoped for.

And then James just had to take that from him. He couldn't even let him matter to anyone else for more than a few seconds.

Damion only saw Theo falling towards him. His knee. He screamed as he pulled back on the gun, held on for dear life.

[Latin For Dragula]

There wasn't any time to think when James made his move. Struggling for the gun was just gonna get them all blown up. Attacking James was just gonna keep the cycle going. He needed to get James away from Damion at least, even if it killed him.

His eyes darted to the corner James had been sleeping in and lit up. I can do this.

Theo stumbled over his feet to James's bag and threw it over his shoulder. He took one more look at the struggling pair before breaking into a dead run, steps echoing across the metal out into the twisting turns of the shipping yard. He wouldn't be able to tell you where his next shot came from then, or even hours later, but it came charging up through his chest in the form of an echoing, shrill scream.

"YOU'VE GOT ONE SHOT YOU PSYCHO, BETTER COME MAKE IT COUNT!"

((Theodore Fletcher would die if you'd love him.))

[Ohm]

Damion had a solid grip on his hands refusing to let go of the launcher. There was an everpresent fear in James's mind of a shot going off and wasting one of his rounds, he had to get away with it.

The grappling for the gun went on, he could hear Theo get up as Damion kept his steel grip and prepared himself for the worst. But nothing came, the steps went away and he heard the sound of a bag being taken.

Then the steps turned into a dead sprint. And James could easily guess who's bag he stole. A shrill scream echoed out. Theo had run off with his ammo.

The anger and frustration over the last hours boiled over and James lifted his right leg and stomped on Damion's damaged leg, an inhuman scream pierced the air as Damion let go and clutched his leg as James ran off in the direction he heard Theo.

"YOU'RE A DEAD MAN THEO!"

(James Mulzet continued in It's a butterfly whose wings span the world)

[Maraoone]

W̴̵̫̞̙̘͖̟̪ͨ̒̊͂ͯ̍ͮͦ̀̿̇̋̐͐̿ͨ͟Ḩ͑̋ͪ̎̍̊ͫ̚҉̶͙̝̞̤̦͘ͅŶ̨̾̃ͩ̒̔͊̆ͪ̆҉̛̟̫̫̪̼͓̬͍̩̙̫̭
̛̮̱̖̼̗̹̬̯͇͈̝͖̝͓͖͓͖͖͎ͭ̍̈́͝͞
̢̨̙͍̩̠͍̦͆̐ͫͦͦ
̢̡͇̙̫̠̱̙̥̩̗̼͇̼̥̝͋̒̋̂ͨͮ̃̏͑ͥ̂̒̃W̴̢̪͉̱̘̪͔͔̰͚̦͇͉̬͕̼̯̱̹̆̓̾̌̽͋̃̕͜͜ͅH̵̶̙̖̫̪͚̱͍ͭͣ̏ͨ͐̋͌͌̌̆Y̵̅̎ͫ̍ͭͪ͒ͧ̌͊͑͗̉̐̿̑͞͞͏̙͈̠̜͎̹̫̱̠̭̲̱̝͢ͅ
̷̩̝͔͈̬̦͓̬͙̠̮͔͍͙̳̉ͣͯ̃̂̂̈ͥ͊̏̕͢͡ͅ
̷̓̍̐́̚҉͔̜̥͎̲̰͖̣̜̮͖͎̫̠̥͍̖͠ͅ
̴̷̸͓̰̦̫͓̪̞͎̦͉̗̼̭̩̗̤̻͙́̊ͨ̆͐
̦̻̼͇̖̙̆͐͊̂̾̓ͯͫ̾̋͌̿ͫͤ͗̈́́̀̚̕͞͠ͅW̴͇̠̳̱͚̟̟̼̩̞̬̦͖̮̗̒͆̏̀̿́ͨͤ̏̍̍͘͠H̸͍̳̭͖̼͚͉͈͔͖̣͈̽̓̋̏ͬ̃ͭ͑ͭ͆͑͘̕͜Y̴͙̻̝̪̠͚̣̦ͤ͗ͪ̿ͦ̃͛̉̅ͭ͢Ẁ̾͋͛̈ͫ͒̅́̄ͩ̆͏͏͉̥̺͚̣͍͖̬̙̭͙̝͇͕̙̹̱̀̕ͅH̛̃̓ͥͪ̓̔͑҉̗̣̜̯̳̜̪̙̙̯̤̺Y̵̢̧̛̤̝̦̙̲̟̥͈͕͙̭͓͓͕̼̪̞͆̀̈̚͝ͅW̨̟̱̖̖̫̭̞͇̖̖̖͂ͫ͐̿̀͟͡͡Ḩ̶̡̤̝͈̟̹̟͔̹̼̭͍̦͙̹͉͛ͣͥͮ̿̔̽͆ͦ͊W̴̪͍͙̤̻̻̬͕̺͈͒̔ͨ̏̽̽ͨͨͩ̅͒ͬ̌̀Y̢ͨ͐̒͌͆ͬ̓̀̈̎̒̂ͤ̃͛̎̒̑͝͏̡̜̗͙̘̫̭͈͉̦H̴̡̦̩̱̤͕̙̰͈̗̹͎̟͕ͣͣ̍̀́͠W̛̞͙̬̤̮̰̮̠̹̄̈̇͒́ͣ̔̊͟Y̷̭̝̠͕̦̙͔̘̯̭̗̘̼͉̳͛̑͊̈́ͫͭ̈́ͣ̏͆ͯ̃̂͘ͅW̢̧̛̘̹̦̜̤̦̰̞̠͖͆ͯ́ͧ̅̆̍̀͗̌͑͗ͤ̀͜H̷̨͍͔̹̲̘̩̹̗̦̹̘̮̻̺͇ͯ͗̈ͣ̈́̂ͪͧ̑ͭͥͨ͝Y̧̰͇̣̼̭̖̗̱̲̱̥̞̦̔̂ͤ̾̑̓͒͂́̀͢W͕̯̼̯ͥ̏̒̔̿͐̒̆̐̀ͮͩͮ̍̀̚͡H̓͂ͦͬ͌҉̧̛͓̥͎̘̩͚͉͖͍̠̺̯̣̹͎̩͚̫͉͟͠Y̵̼͎̻̻̣̬͖̟̱ͮ̄͐ͮ̔͊̈͌̆ͦ͗̎͜ͅͅW̶̢̢̛̰̞̤͎̟̙͔͚̫̰ͭ̉́ͫ̽̇̐͌̌̿̎̚͢ͅͅH̶͕̣̰̮͕̰ͨ̑̄͐͂͒̾́̂̒̒͌̑̀́͟͝Ÿͪ̉̾ͬͤ͋̾̃̂͋̾́ͭ̍͏̳̱͕̪͖͢ͅͅH̍̆͑͊̽ͪ̄̐ͧ͒͌ͣ̋͊ͯ͌̏̀҉͍̥̞͈̳̞Ẅ̨ͥ̾̊̍̍ͦ̔̾́̚̚͠͏̜͇̫̮̼̦̝̳̺͚̥̞̻̣̕ͅY̸ͩͯͩͩ͒ͨ͛̈́ͤ͒͗͗ͦ̌́͒ͫͩ͏̡̭̱͚̻̬̣̮̥͎͕̺̫͔̭̟͎͎̼͞͝W̵̝̙̠̣̭̞͖̣͓͔̮̃ͤ̒̔ͤ͌͗͢͟H̶̨̳͔͇̪̫̗̮͕͚͙̿̆ͯͬͤ̈́̎͂́ͭ͐̚̕ͅY̶̧͍̻̘͍̟̻̮͒̄̿̽̓̋̇͛ͬͤ̽ͣ̃̚W̵̫̥͙̳̟ͬ͊̐̇͌̍̄́̃̎ͯ͛̇́̀̀͢H̛͕̹͍̬̪̪̩̩̘̆̐̽̾̔́̂͒̍͒ͭ̐̂ͬ͗͗͆̾͢͟Ẅ̵̶̼̟̬̠̩̘̦̝̼͚̲͓͔̜̯̰̖́̉ͤ͌͊̔̐̊͋͛͆͌̎̐̚͢͞Y̴̶̴̧̢̗̣̙͎͖̫̮̹̝̝͎͙̘̠̝̦̻ͬ̃̎̈́̈́̽ͤ̈ͣ̆ͧͬ͐ͥͅW̟̻͚̱̩̙̭̟͗͂̏͌̇̒ͬ̾ͬ͂ͧͫ̂́̈́̓ͧͣ͘͡Ȳ̙̠̯̗̤̯̖̇͑͆͑͆ͧ̈ͬ̽́̉͑͟͠H̡̱̞͔̮̞͎̗͎̰͇̰̦̝̊̒ͮ̎ͩ̽̂́͐̿͡Y͆͆͊̎ͪ̄̽ͮ̉̋͆̎͑̍͏̡̛̤͎̟͓̩̣̱̖̠̘͕̻ͅW̢̞̖̫̥̜͚͙̟͔͙̻̼͈̮̖̤̫ͥ̇ͪ̇̏ͫ̐̄̒̈̊̍ͧ̉͗̀͞ͅH̖̜̪̜̆ͥͧͮ̌͐͛ͯ̎͋̃̎ͬ̓̌ͮ̍̾́͝W̶̵̧͐̋ͫ̊͂̒̒ͨ̋̌͗̐̾̍̈́̌͏̥̙͖͈̠̳̖̩̳̣͕̫̣̜̩̮̹Y̴̬̱̣̯̋́ͯ̓̅̏͊͘H̸̴̵̒ͤͤ̇͒ͥ̓̓͐̍̒͑͌̆̌͝҉͙̣̰͉̯̞͓W̔͌̿̾҉͔͙̙̰͎͘͡Y̛̘͕͚̖͕͉͓ͤ̉ͣ͛̉̒͊͛̊̀̀̓ͥͮ̈́̃ͣ̋̆̀͠W̡͇͚͈̮͇͎͕̘̪͖͎̤ͣ̏̍ͪ̒̐̿ͭ̒͊͆ͧͧ̓͌̀͟͠ͅH̘̼̩̳̰͕̻͉̋ͧ̏̽͘͠͝Y̨̧͉͍̭͚͚̜̻̖̩̬͎̰͔̅̃͌̄́̊ͪͬ̇͐ͥ̉̈̽͑́͞W̷̨̛͕̭̙̹̟̞̜͇̲̱̞̞̻̔̿͂ͬ̏̾͆̍ͤ͌͐̈́̀̚̕ͅͅH̴̴̼̟̦̣̪͎͍͉̼͖̳͎͍̪ͧͬ̂ͦ͋͋̌ͦͫ̌̉̀ͯͭ̏ͬ͂̂̈́́͡͝W̷̷̴͛͂͌̓͋͑̓ͧͤ͗͊̆̉͌͗̎҉̗̖̦̪̭̥̥̤Ẏ͙̙̳̼̗̰̘̭̬̦̰̮̮̗́ͤ̂ͧ̎̈́̀ͬ̀͜Y̴̡̛͓͙̦͖͓͚͉̪͖ͬͮͬ̓ͅͅH́͂̃̾ͨ̉̆́͋͊ͤͦ͆̚͞҉̘̟͔̥̠́͟
̢̡͆͒́ͣ̑̆ͣ̉̏̓ͦ͏̞͖͉̺̠͓͕̠̘̝̱̝̤̩̳͙ͅͅͅ
̮̭̤̠͖̽͋̃̏ͮ̂̅́́
̈́̿̋̔͛̒̉̒̈́̓̄҉͎͕̥̖̼̺̮̹̼̝̱̝̞ͅ
̛͓̩͍͔̤͉̖̟̞̹̐ͭͥ̽ͮ̈͆͗̐̇̿̄̂ͨ͗̓̃̀͡͞
̛̘̠̻̤̙̣̭͇͎̻̥̲͇̬͗ͦͧͫͯ͑ͥ̌́̇̐̂̓͂͌̎̕͠͝Ḫ̵̴̢̯͓͇̫̻̤̣̭̂̓̄ͯ̒͛̃ͥͫͯ͂͠Ë̡̝̰̱̱̥͙̬͕̪͉̯̖͔ͮ͆̽ͬ̌̎̓̂͑ͦ͑ͦ͘̕͡͡Lͤ̑̈́̂̅̓̿ͯ̆̐́̐ͦ̃ͯ̀ͭ҉̢̧͓͕͖̰̩͇̱̟̺͎̖̪̀͞P̳̭͙̲̗͈̝̬̲̪͙̌͑ͬ͂̆̅̓ͩ͛̔̚͟͢͠