Fighting [IRIS/OPEN]

[jasonwright]

 It's been a rough week, to say the least. After coming back from his weekend job on a fishing vessel catching crab, he returned to scour the town for the two missing homeless men, Wulfric and Eddie, aka Edbyrd. He first noticed their absence last Friday before he got onto the boat, usually chatting with both before he left shore for the day. Neither appeared at their usual breakfast spot, but Jason had shrugged it off, thinking the men simply moved on past the little daily routine they had settled in. But they were still missing when he returned on Sunday. He spent his entire day looking around town for them, asking a few of the other homeless people, but nothing. No one had seen anything. No one knew where the two men were.

A lot of the men and women can't work like he can, doing manual labor for less than minimum wages. So anytime he gets an extra penny, he's started looking out for their little community in Siren Cove. Today's no different as Jason heads into Quill, spending twenty bucks on two boxes of day old muffins and bagels. The person behind the register even throws in a few extra treats. He thanks them then heads over a few blocks, down two alleys, and into a small clearing just on the edge of town behind an old building. Here a few of Siren Cove's homeless have set up residence, blankets and makeshift shelters all over the clearing.

When he arrives though, there's someone yelling at a man Jason knows, Anthony. The man is shoving a finger in Anthony's chest, calling him all sorts of terrible names, and swearing at him left and right. Jason hands the boxes to a woman he knows as Candy, wandering up to the commotion. He interrupts politely, asking if he can help the other man with anything. 

"This bastard stole forty bucks from me!" the man yells, turning his anger onto Jason now. His face is beet red and Jason holds up his hands to show he doesn't mean to threaten the other man in any way.

"Are you sure, sir? I know Anthony and he's not that kind of guy." 

And that's when the man wheels around, gesturing at all the people in the clearing. He calls them scums who need to get jobs, turning back to Anthony to call him a name Jason just has an automatic response to. He reels back and punches the man in the face.

It's stupid. And he'll be the first to admit that he's on edge this week, worried and now overprotective of this little community since two of its own have gone missing. He shakes his fist, wincing, and starts to apologize when the other man gets up and takes at swing at Jason. Before he knows it, they're in a full on brawl. The guy can punch hard, but Jason's faster. He's rusty, but his old reflexes kick in. It's almost like he never left the ring. He's about to hit the guy again after he uses the same word as before when someone hauls him up by the back of his shirt, an impressive feat considering Jason's size.

"What the hell is going on here, Jesus Christ?" a voice growls from behind him. Jason quickly looks over his shoulder and curses himself. He sees a police uniform and the badge on the man's chest says Middleton. The other man tries to explain, growing angrier with every breath and Jason really, really wants to hit him again, but he's being held back by the officer. But the dumbass screws up and doesn't clean up his language. Office Middleton's scowl goes slack, his tension on Jason's arm loosening. 

"Aren't you going to press chargers?" the man yells at the officer. Middleton shrugs, letting go of Jason altogether. 

"Know what? I am." The officer steps around Jason, grabbing hold of the other man. "Disrupting the peace and being a real asshole," he says dryly, moving the man's arms behind his back. Jason's shocked as the officer pulls the man away from the clearing, shoving him very unceremoniously into the back of his cop car. And suddenly his body feels weak and exhausted. He's bleeding, his ribs are bruised, and his knuckles are busted. He doesn't look pretty, but neither does the other guy. Jason checks on Anthony, making sure the man is okay before he excuses himself, slowly making his way back to the cabin at the community garden where he's left Alfredo. He kneels down onto the steps of the cabin, nursing his right hand. What a great week.

Comments

[littleredsiren]

Iris is carrying an armful of groceries to restock the cabin for the next time she cooks for the volunteers when she spots a bloody and battered Jason on the steps. She just barely manages to keep from yelping and dropping the groceries before she quickly scurries over, laying them on the porch and crouching in front of him.

"Jason! What happened? Are you okay?" she says, starting to feel the urge to panic babble as she tries to figure out the best way to help. "Is anything broken?!"

[jasonwright]

Iris surprises him. Either she's very quiet or his senses are off, or maybe both. He shakes his head, looking at her, and feels bad she's seeing him like this. At least she manages to set the groceries down without dropping them or he'd feel bad about that to.

"I'm okay, really. Just got into a fight," he shrugs.

[littleredsiren]

She frowns in concern. He doesn't seem like the type to easily get into fights so something big must have happened. "Stay here for a second, okay?" she instructs, before heading into the cabin and coming out with a damp washcloth and a first aid kid.

"Is it okay if I clean you up a bit? How did you get into a fight?"

[jasonwright]

He nods as she leaves, sucking in a harsh breath when he accidentally clenches his fist. It'll probably swell up a bit, but ice on it while he sleeps should have him ready for work in the morning.

"Sure." He gives Iris permission, not because he necessarily needs to clean up or doesn't know how--hell, all those years of fighting, he's stitched himself up before--but he wants her to feel comfortable. Iris is a helper and if helping him right now makes her feel better, he's all for it. "There was a jerk picking on the homeless community on the edge of town," he explains, tilting his head in the direction of the clearing. "I don't have patience for bullying."

[littleredsiren]

Carefully arranging her skirt around her legs, she kneels down next to him and, gently as possible, starts dabbing at the cuts on his face, focusing on the ones that look like they might have dirt in them. Just the action of taking care of someone starts to calm her down and she can feel her muscles untense.

"Mmm... Well, I can't really get mad at you for that," she murmurs, gently working a piece of dirt out of a little cut. "That person sounds like a real... bully. I don't like fights but I'd rather you fight someone than let them get away with being rude to people because they somehow think they're better than them. Ugh."

[jasonwright]

"You'd get mad at me?" he asks, smiling at the thought and turning to look at her. The idea of Iris mad at anyone is mind-blowing.

"He was accusing my friend of stealing from him. It was a mistake for me to hit him, but he said some bad things. I've just been on edge this week," he admits. He purses his lips when she hits a sore spot, but stays put. Wriggling can make these things worse.

[littleredsiren]

She scrunches up her nose at him. "Maybe more disappointed than mad... Fighting isn't good. Unless you're protecting people."

She tilts her head, trying to be more gentle at that part. "How awful. Just because he's homeless doesn't mean he's a criminal," she huffs, clearly upset at the thought. She holds up the washcloth, "Any other cuts not on your face? Why have you been on edge?"

[jasonwright]

"Exactly," he agrees. "The best people I've met have been on their worst luck, and the worst people their best. I just don't like prejudice." He furrows his brows at her question, scratching his head. "Uh. Yeah, I can get those??"

"Two of the guys are missing. Just vanished. I'm worried and towns don't usually notice or care when a homeless man goes missing."

[littleredsiren]

"I don't understand why people can't just treat everyone like they're people too," she mumbles, slightly irritable sounding as she wipes a smudge off of his cheek. "You sure? I don't mind. It's calming."

Iris sucks in a tiny gasp. "Do the police know?" she asks, worry dripping from her voice. "I met a really nice police officer at the beach the other morning. Maybe he can help..."

[jasonwright]

"Well...it you're sure." Jason sits up straighter and lifts his shirt off, revealing the scrapes and now-forming bruises on his stomach and side. The guy packed a punch, that's for sure.

"Monday, I talked to a Detective Astor. He took down their names and description. I haven't heard any updates though."

[littleredsiren]

Iris hisses slightly through her teeth, even as she feels her cheeks start to burn. She should have said no. She wasn't expecting this. A running chant of 'you can do this. he's your friend. stop those thoughts right now.' starts up in her head as she blushes and starts dabbing at a scrape on his... abs. Goddamn her stupid mouth. "You're gonna... um, need ice. For those, uh... bruises."

"That's him! Levi! He seemed really nice when we were talking and not like a creep or anything. I hope he'll try hard... If you need, I can go snoop or something for updates?"

[jasonwright]

Honestly, he's not uncomfortable at all taking his shirt off. Usually. But Iris is all innocent and good, so he feels her reaction and feels a bit self-conscious. He winces when she dabs at a deeper cut. "I'll get some for that and my hand before I leave tonight."

"Yeah, he seemed pretty professional at the station." But then a lot of them do and immediately trash the report you give them after you leave. Still, it feels good that Iris seems to like the guy. Maybe he won't blow Jason off like the rest. "You can do that?" he asks, intrigued.

[littleredsiren]

She feels his wince and glances up with an apologetic, if slightly red-faced, look. "Sorry, I'm trying to be gentle," she apologizes. "You're going to sleep outside tonight? Can't you stay in the cabin? It looks like you've bruised your ribs and sleeping on a hard surface is going to leave you really sore tomorrow..."

"I don't know how professional he is," she admits. "But he was very nice while we were swimming and seemed to actually care about the town. Hopefully that extends to everyone in it..." She tilts her head, nibbling at her lip. "Maybe? No one ever gets mad at me for things and it's helping people... I can at least go and ask. They might be more willing to give information to a young woman than a man."

[jasonwright]

"I, uh..." He's uncomfortable sleeping in the cabin, unless the weather is really bad, which it hasn't been since he made the deal with Eli. Showering there felt like he wasn't imposing. Sleeping there--entirely different story. "I could, I just...feel weird about it."

He nods his head. "That's true. You can be a spy then," he smiles at her. "Really, anything you can find out would be amazing, Iris."

[littleredsiren]

She frowns slightly. "You really should, at least until your ribs are healed," she advises, momentarily distracted from... abs. "Or somewhere where there's cushioning. You can use my couch, if you'd like?"

Iris gives him a rather stunning grin, glad to be helping. "I'll go talk to the police tomorrow then, before I come here to cook."

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi hated to be the bearer of bad news. Nobody liked the guy that brought bad news, even if they didn't blame him for it. In this instance, Levi very well might be blamed for it and he wouldn't even hold it against the guy if he did. Levi isn't entirely sure he isn't to blame.

The community garden wasn't a place he had really been to before. Levi knew of it but until now he didn't have any reason to be there.

"Mr. Wright?" he called out. "Mr. Wright, if you're here it's Detective Astor."

[jasonwright]

Jason hears a voice and stands up to look over the fence of the garden. He's not sure if he's actually in trouble for the fight or if this is about his missing person report. He opens the gate, letting the detective in.

"Hey, uh, sorry about the fight. The other cop let me go."

[jasonwright]

Jason shakes his head. "I can't do that to you Iris. I'll be fine. I've pulled through worse, no worries."

"You cook for people every day?" he asks with a smile.

[tarnishedbadge]

"I'm not here about a fight," Levi said, slightly surprised by Jason's appearance. The guy was a little rough, no doubt, but this was a little rougher than he had been expecting. Still, if another officer let him go he wasn't going to worry about it.

"I'm here about Edbyrd. I'm sorry, but his body washed up on shore early this morning. We don't know anything for sure yet but it looks like he was murdered."

[jasonwright]

His heart sinks in his chest. Guys he's met have gone missing, took a harder turn in life than they already had, but Edbyrd had his life together, so to speak. The guy liked his life. It was a rough one, but it made him happy. And Jason can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt him. The man was harmless.

"You're sure?" he asks, looking at the ground. "Jesus, Ed. What happens now?"

[littleredsiren]

"Are you kidding me right now?" she asks, giving him a look that just screams 'Seriously???'. "You wouldn't be 'doing' anything to me outside of making me worry less. You're my friend and helping you is not a burden. Besides, I don't offer things to people if it's going to be a burden on me, Jason."

That last part may be a little bit of a lie, but she's determined to dissuade him from such silly thoughts.

"I like cooking for people," she huffs, finally putting away the washcloth and pulling out a tube of polysporin. "It helps me calm down when I'm anxious and it means people get good meals, which is important."

[bonniemcg]

Bonnie had finally made good on her bet from a while back. Several boxes of fudge brownies tucked into her bag as she stepped onto the community lot. In the last few weeks she was showing a lot more, and a scan the previous day had stated that everything appeared to be going well. As it was she had decided to check in her favourite brother from another mother. As soon as she saw Jason though she stopped, frowning deeply. She was concerned, but she didn’t know how common a thing this may actually be, since she didn’t know Jason as well as she could. “What on Earth did you do to your beautiful face,” she asked, scowling at him.

[tarnishedbadge]

"We're sure," Levi said with a nod. He almost wished that he wasn't sure, although that would mean another missing or dead body and the cold, practical side of him is grateful that the dead body is one of the missing ones.

"We keep looking for Wulfric and his officially becomes a homocide investigation. We're looking for next of kin to see about funeral arrangements. In the meantime, if you hear anything... the homeless community doesn't always trust the police but if they'll talk to you... Anything anyone might have seen or heard would be helpful."

[jasonwright]

It's not what he wanted to hear, but at least Edbyrd was found. Now he's worried about Wulfric.

"Okay," he says, rubbing his face. "I don't know much about his family, if he even has any, but I know he has friends. I'll ask around, see if anyone's noticed anything. Thanks for looking for him." It's a genuine thank you. It's true that most of the homeless community doesn't trust cops and vice versa. At least this detective is being respectful and treating Edbyrd like any other case. "I'll let you know if I hear anything."

[jasonwright]

Jason smiles when he sees Bonnie waddle up to the garden. She's getting bigger and cuter every day. He dabs a cloth on his forhead, wincing a bit when he puts pressure on the cut. "I thought I'd try out a new look. No good?"