Aka. Best Person Ever
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January Event 2013 Submission
1UP
It was quiet morning in my house; I was sitting in an empty room, my ‘office’ so to speak, tending to my equipment. I simply sat there, polishing my armor and shield, sharpening the blade of my gunstaff and just giving my stuff a once-over. I enjoyed the activity, it was calming, since lately my life has been so hectic, that I often worry that I would lose myself in the rush. How different it was from my childhood, where time seemed to pass by without effect, as if time there stood still, save for the growing of the crops.
I miss home.
I finished my task and put away my stuff. I left the room to see what else I could do to occupy myself. I found it surprising how bored I felt during my supposed ‘vacation’. In the beginning, I was excited, a whole week without any guard duty? No late night patrol? No grunt work? Yet as the initial euphoria died down, I found myself more and more bored, after all, there is only so much one can do before they grow tired of idleness.
I left my room and entered the living room, where Laura was lying down on a couch by the window, reading a book. She was dressed casually, a pair of loose black pants and a blue shirt. Her hair was tied in a messy bun, leaving many loose strands that fell around her face. Mika was sleeping soundly on another sofa, curled up in a tight little ball of orange fur.
I headed for the fridge, opened it and started rummaging through its contents. I frowned in displeasure, we needed more milk. I took out some orange juice and started drinking straight from the carton. Laura hates when I do that, but I stayed out of sight, so she wouldn’t know. It didn’t work.
“Marcus, stop drinking from the carton.” Laura called, an annoyed tone in her voice. “It’s disgusting.”
She took me by surprise, making me accidently choke, and sputter some juice in front of me. I grunted acknowledgement and started to clean up the mess I made.
There was a period of calm silence before Laura addressed me again.
“Hey, Marcus?” She called again.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“What are your new year’s resolutions?” She asked.
I leaned from out the doorway, looking at her with minor confusion. “What makes you ask?” I said with a hint of wariness in my voice.
She shrugged, “Oh nothing, just curiosity.” She answered.
I scratched my head, come to think of it I hadn’t thought of any new year’s resolutions. Plus, I found them rather pointless, a lot of people’s resolutions were about getting stronger, but that was a given, does one expect themselves to remain weak all their life? Furthermore, I was willing to bet that most of the time, people failed to even make good on their promises. What are the use of ‘promises’ if they hold no value? How does one expect to ‘resolve’ when the effort isn’t made?
Words are useless; it is only when those words become actions that they acquire any meaning.
Still, what would the harm be in some reasonable resolutions, ones that I could easily fulfill?
I stepped out of the kitchen to look at Laura, who hadn’t taken her eyes off her book. “I tell you, you tell me.” I offered.
Laura regarded me from the corner of her eye. Did I ever mention how beautiful she was? She’s very much so. I regard myself a lucky man for having her companionship, I’m thankful for her every day.
A smile played on her lips. “Alright.”
I looked down at Mika, who was still sleeping. She was a still a puppy and therefore still required much attention, but even under our vigilant watch, Mika still makes little ‘accidents’. She’s very kind like that, leaving us little presents around the house.
“Potty train Mika.” I announced.
Laura raised a single eyebrow. “And? That’s it?” She inquired with a disbelieving voice.
“No,” I said, I grinned mischievously. “My second one is…well actually I wanted to flip your skirt or something.”
Laura’s face was devoid of any emotion. “Very mature, Marcus.” She said, her voice oozing sarcasm. “You want to hear my New Year’s resolution?”
“Sure.”
“No sex for the entire year.” Ever so casually, Laura returned her attention to her book.
I liked the premise of the original submission so much that I made a sequel. This is, essentially, an exact continuation of the submission itself.
The Plan It was a warm afternoon, which made the ordeal all the much worse for Laura. The heater had mysteriously broken down and was continuously pumping hot air into a house that didn’t need any. As a result, the entire house had become a furnace. Laura had tried opening the windows and turning on the fans but that did little to amend the issue. Marcus had tried to fix the problem, but all he did was make the situation worse. The repairman wasn’t due until tomorrow, so for now, they would have to deal with it.
Laura lay down on the couch, dressed in a short loose sun dress, fanning herself with a paper fan. She tried to ignore the heat by thinking of something else, like food. Cold food, lots of it, snow cones, ice cream and cheesecakes. Then she stopped because all that thinking of food made her feel fat.
Her thoughts were cut off by Marcus who walked into the room. He had adjusted himself to the heat as well, wearing a pair of blue gym shorts with a white undershirt. He had a triumphant look on his face, like he had accomplished some great deed.
“Return of the conquering hero!” He announced as he walked in.
Laura turned her head to give him an inquisitive look. “What?”
“I potty trained Mika.” He bragged, a wide grin on his face. “It took a lot of time, patience and bacon. I admit, I was beginning to lose hope, but just now, Mika did her business outside. And I didn’t even have to stand next to her.”
Laura was mildly glad, now she didn’t have to worry about finding dog poo in the corner of the room anymore. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Marcus flopped onto another couch across the room; he pulled out a piece of paper and pencil from his pocket and scratched an item from it. “That’s one down, one to go.” He said as he did so.
Laura had no idea what Marcus was talking about and frankly, she didn’t care. Marcus was nice and all, but he had these odd mannerisms. For instance, he preferred a bowl of vegetable soup over a gourmet meal, or the fact that he insisted on fixing everything in the house himself. Laura had figured that this was due to his farm boy childhood. In the beginning, she used to get annoyed by it, but after some time, she learnt not ask questions.
“Hey Laurie?” Marcus called. “Could you open the fan, please?”
With a small sigh, Laura got up from her seat and went over to the fan. The fan was mounted on a very short base which meant that it was usually propped up on table or something, but this time it wasn’t. It sat on the ground, slightly tilted upward. Laura paused for a second, wondering why the fan was like that; she could’ve sworn she propped it up on the table about an hour ago.
“Is something the matter?” Marcus asked.
Laura started. “Oh, nothing.” She replied quickly. She pressed the button to the fan.
Suddenly, a burst of wind billowed under Laura’s dress, raising the hem of it above her waist. Laura caught a glimpse of Marcus’ face as he watched the spectacle with a smug look. She shrieked and rushed to push the dress down, making her look like a brunette Marilyn Monroe. After a few seconds of struggling against the wind, Laura gave up on trying pushing her dress down, she pressed the button to the fan and let the rush of wind die.
When she turned around, Marcus was scratching on the piece of paper again. “Hey look, I finished my second resolution.” He mused. “Now I’m the one percent of society that actually completes their resolutions.”
Marcus crumbled up the paper and tossed into the trashcan. He adjusted his position on the couch to get more comfortable and closed his eyes contentedly.
Laura stared at him in complete bewilderment, blushing furiously. She placed her hands at her hips and gave him an angry look. “You planned this?” She demanded.
Marcus gave her a mischievous smile. “Yep.”
Laura paused for a moment, connecting the dots in her head. “…Don’t tell me that you’re the one who broke the heater?”
Marcus scratched his head. “I didn’t break it, more like messed with heat index system. I’ll fix it in just a bit.”
Laura kept staring at Marcus, who was pretending not to notice as he relaxed. A period of silence settled between the two. Mika entered the room and headed for her food bowl, the sound of her eating was the only audible sound in the room for a good ten minutes.
Finally, Laura broke the silence. “I hope it was worth it.” A menacing tone was beginning to creep into her voice. “Because you won’t be seeing anything for a while.”
Marcus smirked without making eye contact. “Totally worth it.” Then, he seemed to catch Laura’s tone of voice. His smirk melted away and his eyes snapped wide open to look at Laura. “Wait, what?”
Laura began advancing on him with a murderous look in her eyes. Marcus swore and jumped out of the sofa like it was made of lava. He made bee line for the door.
Poor guy never made it.
Techniques Used:
Punching Marcus Silly - 10 Type: Buff Range: Self Effect: Laura taps into her Xena the Warrior Princess heritage to exact holy female wrath upon the ill-fortuned men. She gains a temporary increase in her physical stats. Speed +50, Accuracy +50, Strength +50, Stamina +50 Cooldown: A month, give or take.
Edited by Marcat, Mar 4 2013, 05:10 AM.
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Aka. Best Person Ever
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I'm glad you enjoyed them, Mintymoo!
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This is an old fanfic I wrote when I was part of a pokemon forum. This has to be one of my favorite one shots, even if it's a little old. I did modify it later on to be an original piece, but I kinda enjoy the original version more.
This is the first time I ever introduced Mika, a recurring character in my work.
Board Games With A Pokemon
Justin paced his room wearily, taking three steps then turning around to start over. As if the tedious activity would help relieve his boredom. His Vulpix, nicknamed Mika, stared at her human pace with small red eyes, as she lay down on Justin’s bed.
Justin stopped abruptly, ruffled his blonde hair angrily and sighed. It seems he would have to come up with something to do. He sat down on his bed and began contemplating his choices silently while he absentmindedly petted Mika.
He could play outside?
No, he didn’t feel like it.
He could play video games?
Didn’t feel like it either.
He was about to get up and start pacing again when something caught his eye. With only one corner of the square sticking out from under his bed, Justin grabbed and pulled, revealing an old dusty box. He pulled off the lid and inside was a number of beat up pieces colored black and white, and one large checkered board. Justin had uncovered his old chess set.
Suddenly like a ray of light in an eerie darkness, an idea struck him. He could play chess! It had been ages since he had played a nice game of chess! Surely he could play a few good games without getting bored. It was the game of kings after all. At the very least, it would pass the time.
But another dilemma quickly caught his attention. Who should he play with? In spite of his chocking boredom, he vaguely remembered that he was absolutely horrible at chess. Never, not once in his life had he won a chess match…ever. Though Justin was bored, he had no intention to lose.
Hugging the box close to his chest, he looked around the room. As if there was someone hidden in his closet or hiding behind the door he could play with. Then his eyes fell on Mika, who was still lying on his bed.
A weird thought occurred to Justin, bizarre, outlandish yet -to his stressed brain- was brilliant. Why not play with the Vulpix? He could never lose to a pokemon, could he? That would be utterly ludicrous.
Nevertheless, as he approached Mika, asking her to play with him, there was a little voice in his head that cried, “This is a bad idea!”
Yet, Justin disregarded the little voice’s warning.
He picked up Mika, who growled in a surprised manner, and placed her gently on the floor in front of him. Justin then placed the board between them and began arranging the pieces on it. As he placed the pieces, making sure that every piece was at its designated spot, he wondered how he was supposed to play with his pokemon; he doubted that it understood the meaning of chess.
***
Justin chose white, which left Mika with black. Hesitating, he moved a white pawn forward one step. He remembered the old strategy he used to use, the same one that consistently failed him. After moving his pawn, he sat back and stared at Mika, hoping that she would understand that it was her turn.
After a pause, Mika opted to copy her human’s actions. She nudged a black pawn forward with her nose, then sat back and barked happily, apparently pleased with herself. Justin didn’t hesitate to move another pawn and Mika did not pause to copy the boy’s actions.
The initial hesitation that Mika had towards the game disappeared as it drew on. She quickly began moving random pieces about the board. Though she probably did not understand that she was giving Justin a challenge, she obviously enjoyed the new game. Every time she would manage to kill a piece, Justin would move it out of the way, and take his turn.
All previous boredom had disappeared as Justin played with his Vulpix. What was a confident smile on his face had melted away after Mika killed his knight using her bishop. Of course, Justin helped her; to make sure that she used every chess piece in the correct manner. In a way, it was like Justin was playing with himself. He relished the challenge.
The game wore on and soon enough, there were only a small number of chess pieces remaining. Among them was Mika’s queen.
However, the game suddenly stopped when Mika made the first correct move in the entire game, using her small jaws to clamp the queen’s head, she moved it forward to face Justin’s king. Justin’s jaw dropped. Mika sat back on her haunches like she always did after her turn, and barked twice.
Check.
Justin scarcely believed it; he was checked by a pokemon?! One that didn’t even know the rules, too!
He moved his king to the right.
But Mika ever the faithful Pokémon copied her human’s actions, not knowing that she had placed him in another check.
Justin paused, this was shameful. As much as he loved Mika, he didn’t think he could survive the blow to his pride if he lost to her. Something had to be done. He decided he had to resort to dirty tactics. He would cheat. After all, she was a pokemon, how would she know? Much less even care.
He put on a playful smile. He told Mika that she had done a wrong move and before she could do anything about it, he reached over and moved her queen across the board to face Justin’s rook. Without even waiting, Justin moved his rook to take the queen. And thus, the greatest threat was eliminated.
Mika stared at the board, wondering what had just happened. What Justin did not count on, was that Mika knew that he wasn’t allowed to do that. She growled angrily at him, letting her displeasure be known. Justin pretended not to notice.
Within the next turn, Justin had Mika in a checkmate. He looked over at her with a smug look on his face.
The small fox pokemon jumped up at her feet, her red fur standing on end. Justin barely had time to withdraw his hand before the entire board and chess pieces, vanished behind a stream of red-hot flames. Mika continued to torch the chess board for an entire minute. And when the flames finally died down, the chess set was nothing but a pile of charcoal.
Mika glared at him, and her eyes saying one word, over and over.
Checkmate.
The End
Edited by Marcat, Jan 31 2013, 01:16 AM.
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Aka. Best Person Ever
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One does not simply mess with Mika. ^^
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This is a kind of mindless writing of mine. Sometimes, I write things that may not have any particular meaning to it, but I do it anyway because it's a great exercise.
Love Love.
A concept many strive for, some achieve yet hardly cultivate. A simple realistic truth is that love is a grueling and tough process. To properly understand the reason behind this, we must dig deep to find the truth. Ultimately, in love, we strive to fulfill a specific need, a desire, a craving that must satiated. However, this need cannot be addressed as simply as getting something to eat, or sleeping for a few hours, the reason being that the one who sates this craving is not ourselves but someone else, a significant other, for it is their happiness that brings about our happiness.
The crucial problem here is thus, for us to obtain our happiness; we must strive for their happiness. Whether that happiness is derived from something as small as a bouquet of flowers or as large as making their wish come true.
But other people are fickle; they are human beings as well, with their own hopes and dreams. They may not share the same feelings that another has; they may choose to follow something else, to pursue their happiness elsewhere. It is no wonder that many fear to lose the one they love.
And now, with our source of happiness gone, we become depraved. Our cravings cannot be sated, our desires cannot be fulfilled. We are left, wanting what we cannot have.
Edited by Marcat, Feb 5 2013, 06:20 AM.
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