Battle of the Awkward

Because Jinora and Monty are Awkward. None of my characters are in this one, enjoy :D

The wind is stronger at the top of the Mountain, it swirls and crashes and snatches the sounds away without so much as a second thought. The sea roils below, not yet heavy and black with the inevitable afternoon storm but it is sure to get there before long - and above it all Jinora perches. The doe is stubbornly attempting to knit despite the wind, nestled against a boulder with her feet dangling over the steep roll down; it's certainly not the safest of places to lounge, but she doesn't seem bothered by the heights. She seems more frustrated by the craft at hand, it's furrowed her brow and her tongue sticks from one side of her muzzle as she struggles with the... Scarf...? Blanket...?

A sandy-furred head peeks in from the area leading down to the third level, emerald eyes slowly roving around the area as if scanning for any other occupants. Having spent the day exploring the areas of the Mountain that he had not yet had a chance to see since his arrival here not quite a month ago, Monty steps further into the crater area, the young buck taking the opportunity to get a better look around. The past few days have been quite rough for the young Private, what with spending most of his time in the infirmary due to issues he'd been having with his mental breakdowns, and also with the impromptu trips he had been taking to Halyard to search for any answers he could find. It had been a rough day; he had decided earlier to sit in the mess hall and try to get something to eat, but was generally forced to sit by himself due to the odd looks and mutterings received from those in the room already. Finally, he has found a spot to be alone where he can actually think, without nurses constantly checking on

Don't worry, Monty, she knows a thing or two about that. Oblivious to the company, the doe continues to mutter to herself, frown, and struggle with her failed attempt to be artistic. It isn't any noise that alerts Jinora to another hare's presence, instead the doe turns with an enraged roar and chucks her concoction it across the crater, which sends a tastelessly colorful, soft blob of yarn straight for Monty's face. "Oh, bloody - 'eads up!" She squeaks out, too late.

Monty is getting settled in the spot where he chose to sit, back wriggling a bit as he presses himself back against the rock. His ears (well, one and a half ears) perk, twisting this way and that as they catch the sounds of the ocean far below, as well as the winds drifting over the top of the crater. A content smile appears upon his muzzle as the buck seems to enjoy this area of the mountain quite a bit; he's not exactly sure why he hadn't come up here before. Reaching down to open up his notebook, Monty's head lowers as he focuses his attention on the book, attention diverted just enough so that he doesn't see the colorful ball of yarn kamikaze-ing straight for his face. With a soft 'bonk', it bops him right between the ears, causing the young buck to jerk his head up, eyes momentarily showing hurt, his neck twisting as he looks from side to side to see the culprit; had someone from the mess hall followed him here just to bother him? "Hey!" he calls out, hoarsely. "Who did that?" At this point, he hears Ji

"Ah, jeez. Sorry, mate - jus' - ah, jeez." In true, awkward, horrid form she attempts to disentangle the scarfblanket from his face and ears without touching the stranger, but only succeeds in standing there and tugging on the yarn from different angles, each more uncomfortable than the last. "Um - if y'jus', uh, get this 'ere an', uh - ah, jeez..." Jinora strikes again.

Monty most definitely did not expect to get crocheted yarn tangled up on his ears today; just add it to the rest of his wonderful day. As Jinora attempts to remove her handiwork, Monty turns his head slowly this way and that, "Ow! No, don't move it tha-OWCH! If I hold my head still, mayYEOWCH!" Eventually, he reaches up in an attempt to help with the untangling. Mistaaake! "Oh...well, um...maybe if I just...move...this way...and just..." Nope. Instead, he gets a paw tangled up in the mess. "No. That didn't work," he mutters, tugging his paw downwards to try and free it with little success. If he could likely see himself now, it'd give him a good laugh, at least.

"N-no, okay jus' -" Without asking (because, really, they're beyond that now) Jinora goes to brace her bare paw against the other hare's chest (apologizing more than necessary the whole time). With a tug, she manages to yank the swath of fabric from the new bucks head, tumbling backwards over her own feet in the process. She hits the ground with a 'oof', the knitting falling over her and she just... Lays there. Because she's... Dead now, right? Disappeared into the earth? No? Well, can't blame a girl for hoping. Maybe if she lies very still he'll just go away?

Monty just wants to get the yarny mostrosity off of his head, and so doesn't complain as Jinora pushes against his chest to help remove it. "I...think...you...got....IT!" The last word is enunciated loudly as the yarn finally comes free, and he watches in surprise as Jinora tumbles backwards only to lie there on the ground. Her lack of movement causes a bit of concern for the young buck, and Monty pushes himself up to his footpaws. Dusting himself off, he makes his way to where Jinora is sprawled out on the ground...standing over her (and likely appearing upside down to her due to where he is standing, near her head), Monty blinks down at her, before a grin appears upon his muzzle. "...are you alright?" he asks, trying his best to hide the amusement in his voice, and failing quite spectacularly at it.

"Spectacular." Her voice is muffled beneath the scarfblanket, and an arm slowly snakes its way free, thumb raised. "Jus'... Leave me 'ere, though, yeah?" That same paw waves him off. "Jus'... No eye contact. Evah?" Slowly, she slides the knitting off her face and blinks at the upside-down buck staring down at her. "Jin." She offers, arm straightening up towards him, extending a paw.

Monty cannot help but chuckle at the doe's words. "Oh, no worries. If getting yarn tangled on my head is the worst thing to happen to me today, then I'll consider it a pretty good day." It's obvious from his lack of the usual hare accent that he wasn't born in the Mountain. Or anywhere near it, in fact. Monty grins, the whole thing seeming quite funny to him. It is most certainly a refreshing change from the earlier part of the day, at least. As the paw is offered to him, Monty accepts it, giving it a firm shake and doing his best not to squeeze too hard. " Private Montgomery Alexander Reginald William Fleetpaw the III...." he rattles off in a steady cadence as he usually tended to do when asked his name. His cheeks flush bright red in embarrassment as he realizes this, single ear folding back against his head. "Or, er...Monty, for short. A lot easier to remember, I think." He tugs up on Jinara's paw in an attempt to help her up to her feet again.

As she is hauled upright, Jinora tries to look distinguished as she brushes the dust from her lap and curls her knitting into a ball under her arm. "Ehem - er, Corporal Jinora an' all tha'." There's a moment of confusion before her eyes widen, recognition dawning. "Y'the one tha' got snatched with th'Mayjah, right?" She's heard the whispers - she spent a long time on the other side of them.

Something within the young buck's eyes flickers for a moment as Jinora mentions being captured, the smile upon his muzzle faltering for a moment or two...brief, but noticeable due to their close proximity. His ear remains folded against the back of his head. He manages to keep the smile on his muzzle there however, which seems to be a vast improvement over how it'd been before, where the slightly mention of the incident would have sent him into one of his episodes. The buck clears his throat before replying, Jinora's words still ringing and bouncing around within his head. "Ahem. Er...yes...that's, um...that's... me, I guess..." His shoulders give a slight shrug, paws wringing together, and he seems uneasy, though he is obviously fighting back against the feeling. Here is someone besides Rue and Adrian who ISN'T pointing and laughing at him, or talking behind his back, and he doesn't want to ruin that.

Jinora's grin softens, and she shrugs. "I lost it a bit aftah m'leg got all twisted. It 'appens t'the best of us - not tha' I'm th'best by anyone's standahds!" She laughs, relaxing a little. She's awkward and terrible and she's learned to accept it by this point. "Mayjah Taye gave me a few books t'help while I was in th'infirm, I could pass th'titles off t'you if y'ever need t'get in somebeast else's head for a bit." Pausing, she pulls her knitting free and starts to twirl it in something more organized and useful than just a solid ball. "Sorry I smacked y'in th'face with m'sweater." SWEATER?

Monty is seemingly put at ease by Jinora's more easygoing manner, and so that previous uneasiness that had begun to creep up begins to go back into hiding again. That being said, however...here comes the young Private's awkwardness. Hey, let's have an Awkward-Off! "Oh. Er. Right...right. Standards." He merely repeats the word she had said, with no real meaning behind it...perhaps just for something to say out loud. "Leg...twisted...oh. Um. Sorry about that, doesn't sound too enjoyable. I, er...I got bonked on the head...um...a lot." At the offer of the books, Monty nods numbly with a grin. "Right. Books. I can...read. Read books." The buck facepalms, shaking his head in embarrassment. "Hey, can you give me that sweater? I need something to pull over my head right about now, because I'm sounding like an idiot." He laughs nervously.

"Aye, books are. Read." Pause. "There're lots 'ere. Books, that is." Pause. "Sorry about y'head an' the... Bonkin' thing." The corporal is stock still, unable to process the perpetual feedback loop of awkward that has decided to start swirling around the mountain top. She is normally able to [halfway] skate her way through most horrid social confrontations, but now that she's met her uncomfortable match? Jinora just holds the lump of material out towards him. "I get it next."

Monty has a nervous tic where whenever he is in an uncomfortable situation, he rubs at his half-missing ear. Which he is doing right now, as a matter of fact...not really realizing it, of course. "Books are good," he replies with a nod, scratching at his ear. "I like to read. It keeps, um...keeps the brain sharp. I guess. That's...what I read somewhere, anyways. Y'know, because...I can read." I think that's already been established. Things are quickly snowballing downhill at this point, and so as Jinora holds out the 'sweater' towards him, he reaches out to take it...then drops it on the ground. "Oh! Oh, sorry...sorry about that, I didn't mean to ruin your, um...blanket...I mean...sweater. The...thing...here...with the yarn..." He scrunches up his face in obvious disappointment with himself. "...can you perhaps just sew that thing onto my head permanently?" he asks, weakly.

Jinora's nervous tick, on the other paw, involves either a sudden retreat or unstoppable talking... Since she is too frozen with social discomfort, she seems to be leaning towards the latter. "Yeh! Books're good. Love books. Used t'hate 'em, bu' then I was locked in th' - y'know. Whatsit with th'doctahs. Infirm. Stahted readin' about boxin' an' then stahted readin' about - uh - everythin'. Reading is good, I'm glad y'cin read. Not tha' it matter since it doesn't... Mattah. Erm. Oh, righ' - yeh it's a... sweatah. I normally make hats, suppose those're bettah but nobeast seems t'wear th'ones I make'em, so I guess maybe they're rubbish? I'm a bit rubbish at a lot'a things, er -" She pauses (mostly for one long, labored breath). "O-oh, can't really sew it but I suppose I could... Sort of... Knit it around y'head? Uh, might 'ave t'undo a few loopy-things bu', uh, I suppose it's possible. But it would covah y'ear an' it looks kind of cool, y'know? Are y'sensitive about it? I probably shouldn't'a said it if I have

Monty very slowly nods his head as Jinora goes off on her tangent, interjecting his own comments in between her own in various spots. "Yes. The infirm. I was there...well, I'm there NOW actually. Well, I mean, not NOW now....because I'm here, at the top...of the mountain. But, um...I'm...staying there. Yeah. So, um, I...know what you mean. About the reading. It gets so bloody boring in there!" His paw moves from his ear to the back of his head, where it remains as he practically rubs the fur completely away there. "Oh, no, no, not rubbish at all, I like the sweater...thing! It's very, er, creative!" Yeah, that's a good word to use! As she mentions knitting the garment to his head, the buck laughs, "I, eh, I wasn't really being serious. And nah...not too sensitive about it. It is what it is, I suppose." As she mentions it possibly looking cool and covering up his ear, the buck cocks his head and looks at her with sincerity, emerald eyes widening. "Really? You think so? Hmmm..." At this point, just taking a ru

Needing a moment to catch her breath after being deprived of oxygen for the length of her rant, Jinora takes the moment to nod along with Monty, which leads into the painfully comic scenario in which both bobbing heads synchronize for one agonizing, bumbling moment. Finally, she finds it in her to fall into something that tries to resemble a coherent conversation. "Aye! Used t'be real embarrassed'a scars an'such but 'ere it's like th'only way t'be attractive. No' tha' I'm callin' y'attractive or anything." Wait. "Not tha' I'm not, eithah, y'look fine. But not fine-fine like wi' th'eyebrow waggles, jus' normal fine. Y'look normal. Jus' - wow two sistahs, eh? Must'a been nice. A'you th'oldest? I'm th'oldest, kind of raised 'em aftah da' - er, see I got slashed in th'face real good back when I was a recruit -" She points to the scar that crosses her cheek. "An' then m'legs 'ad a real number on 'em. It's th'fun'a the Patrol. Y'get t'... Beat stuff up, but sometimes stuff beats y'up." And stuff.

In a way, Monty is quite impressed that he's run into practically a mirror of himself, at least personality-wise, and it seems to show by the rather large smile that has appeared upon his muzzle without him really even realizing it. At the synchro-nod, he pauses...well, that was weird..."Scars! Oh...oh yes, um. I have...a few of those. Probably more than I would like, actually. Got attacked my first time on patrol, bandits wanted to steal my bloody uniform of all things!" He waves his paws animatedly as he tells the story. "I was there, in Halyard, just, y'know, minding my own business, and this weasel and his friends cornered me in the alley. Fought with them...got in a few good shots, then one of them got me from here..." He puts a paw just below his left shoulder..."To here..." he draws it across his breastbone, to the other shoulder. "Hurt like bloody hell, it did. After beating his face in...I ended up having to walk from there to here, by myself. I guess Taye found me wandering on the beach."

After his own flurry of words, he tries to catch his breath. "So that was the first time I was in the infirm. A few days after that was the, um...the mission. In the swamps. I probably should have stayed home, but...I didn't." He lowers his eyes in his usual gesture of shame. "The rest after that is a longer story..."

Jinora laughs at the sudden enthusiasm. Nothing like a good tale of bloodshed to ease the tension! "Oh, mate, we used t'ave this vixen 'round th'Tavern - named Rioko, wound up being trapped in th'snake pit with me, er - long story. Leg, etcetera. Anyways, she was always this fat ol' marm, real ticket - always causin' stuff. Y'nevah seen a barfight till y'seen one at th'Tavern. But, anyway, one'a m'first Patrols I went chasin' this thief, he knocks into a bunch'a pirates an' then they attacked both of us - th'blightah wound up savin' me bloody life. First time I evah killed anybeast - lost brekkist, lunch, an' dinnah aftahwords." There's a small laugh at the reveal, it's a detail she doesn't often share. "Oh! Did once see Mayjah Tyree /punch a bloody shahk in th'bloody nose/. Dinnae get more excitin' than that. I'm 'angin off th'side'a this ship, right? An' he an' Corbeau 'ad been missin' f'.../weeks/, they found th'bodies an' everythin'! But they're all'a sudden there in th'water tryin' t'get aboard surround

Monty's mood is noticeably different now that a new subject has been brought up, his previously somber eyes now reflecting the change as they glitter with enthusiasm... and the young buck listens to Jinora's story with fascination. He nods his head throughout the story, adding in the occasional comment interspersed between her words. "Oh, I've seen a barfight in the Tavern..." he replies with a grin. "Was in one, too, as a matter of fact. Adrian and I decided to question a weasel and a wildcat who were acting suspiciously...they didn't take too kindly to it, and we were attacked. Poor Adrian got shellacked in the jaw by the wildcat, who ran away. The weasel tried to attack me, but I..." he pauses. "I guess I snapped and...eh...drifted off...it's what I call it when I have an, er...episode..." Shrugging, he continues..."Anyway, I basically punched his face in. Next thing I know, he's dead on the floor, I'm sitting there with his blood all over me, laughing like a lunatic. Or that's what Adrian told me, anyway

"Aye, right in th'face. Corb stabbed one through with a spear - y'get some real firecrackahs 'ere." And then the story comes out. So it is true - Jinora can't quite hide that flicker of uncertainty as the buck's tale unfolds. She's read about the darkness that can creep its way in more than she's seen it - she brushed against it, felt its presence but never saw its face. Not like he has. But she took the mutterings for the exaggerations of a bored patrol, not the seeds of actual madness. But, then again, they're all a little weird here - you don't survive without losing a bit of yourself. There's a cost to living, sometimes. "That's... Jeez, heavy stuff." What does she do? Does she pat his arm? Slowly, her arms creak open and she takes a step forward. "Sssssssh. Le' it happen." Aaaaaaand hug.

Monty gives a weak chuckle after his story comes out, the young buck beginning to pace a bit as a bit of that previous nervousness begins to return...it wasn't really something he brought up in random conversations, especially since he is never sure what reaction he would get...but, he finds himself able to talk to Jinora about it a lot easier than anyone before, aside from Rue, of course. "If you think -that's- bad, I can't even remember what happened in the swamp. I mean, I have occasional flashes of different moments, but..." he frowns..."It's more like a big puzzle, with various pieces missing and scattered all over the place. But not on the floor...in here." He lifts a paw and touches it lightly to his temple, his eyes flickering with emotion. "I want to talk to Major Dagda about it, because we were imprisoned together, and we fought together through most of it. He was right there, he would have seen what happened to me that day." He most definitely isn't expecting the hug, his face showing his surprise

It's kind of a familiar scene, actually - except she definitely doesn't expect the tears. She isn't equipped to deal with /tears/! Jin likes to think that she can handle things in a helpful manner, after all everyone needs someone when they've been through a trauma, right? "There, there. Um - jus' let it out, tha's a good lad." She's so good at this, holy cow look at her she's KILLING this whole comforting gig. One paw thumps against his back - it's supposed to be gentle and soothing, but she's like a great dane puppy: just a little rougher and ganglier than she thinks she is. "These things... Uh... They 'appen, an' y'get through them because y'ave to, y'know? There's no alternative 'cause at th'end of th'day we're gettin' stabbed an' shot at but we're makin' a difference, yeh? An' th'nightmares will go away an' the one's that come in th'day will take longer but... Y'know you'll tackle it all in y'own way, whatevah tha' is. Set up a punchin' bag." Pat, pat, pat. "Or... Go run on th'beach or somethin' - or ge

Monty continues to let the tears flow for a few more moments...then the reality of what is happening suddenly seems to dawn on him. His eyes opening wide with surprise and a bit of shame, Monty then blinks away the last remaining tears in his eyes. "Oh, I..." With a completely beet-red face the buck suddenly pulls away from Jinora. "...I am so sorry...I don't....I mean, I'm...oh, geez..." he replies almost in a panic, his tone hoarse and very apologetic. He rubs an arm across his eyes, sniffling as he shuffles a short distance away. He stands near the edge of the crater, his cheekfur totally damp with tears as he looks out towards the ocean. He lifts his paws and rubs them over his face, the buck shaking his head slowly. "I'm...I'm fine. I'm okay, I just...I'm okay." After a few moments of pulling himself together, Monty's shoulders heave in a heavy sigh, and he chances a look back at Jinora, who likely had run back into the mountain at this point. "...thank you...for listening to all that nonsense, I just..

The doe spends a moment watching him with concern, her paws going to twist at the knitting that was still tucked under one arm. She doesn't do the hugging - so enjoy it, Monty, it'll be the one for the year. She clears her throat and blinks as the start of the rain flecks against her cheek, reminding her to do the thing with the words. "It, uh, it 'appens t'the best of us. Don' worry, yeah? I won't go blabbin' about it eithah, so jus' focus on gettin' y'life back t'normal. You evah need anythin' just let me know." The coming storm pulls moves her towards the stairs and she turns before she leaves, flashing the buck a smile. "If they mess with ya, jus' point 'em out. I owe a few missin' teeth f'my recruitment hazin'." The corporal grins, soft and sympathetic, before she turns and disappears back into the hallway, the rain sweeping in on her heels.