Noah Ebalon (𝕷𝖎𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖔𝖗) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
silentabyss) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
yogen2021-04-24 04:17 pm
silentabyss) wrote in yogen2021-04-24 04:17 pm
i'm on my way through every day
Who: Noah & YOU!
What: A sad but motivated teenage boy Doing His Best
Where: Around the school, specifics in prompts
When: 4/24 and 4/25
Warnings: Mentions/portrayals of PTSD
APRIL 24TH, MORNING
[Noah is conspicuously absent from class this morning, which is actually fairly odd for him; he's learnt that ditching doesn't get him anywhere and surely knows that Clamor will get on his ass about it later. But... he's absent, that's for sure. He isn't seen all morning, in fact. He's not in the art room, he wasn't at his locker before class, and even if you look for him and that distinct silver-blue hair of his you can't see him in the throngs of students in the hallways.
Luckily, he's not dead, but he's not quite fine either. He's curled up between some bookshelves in the library sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the hard wood, knees drawn to his chest and his notebook open at his side like he'd been trying to keep his hands occupied and just couldn't, the pen tossed carelessly between the pages. On the pages themselves are some drawings, things Noah normally draws — black cartoonish cats jumping between the lines on the pages, half-finished portraits of fellow students, a sketch of an interesting-looking sickle, and... another drawing of a man with scribbled-out facial features, the chaotic and scratchy motions of the lines depicting Noah's mental state at the time of drawing.
The page next to that has a half-written note, perhaps a letter, the handwriting nearly impossible to read. The only words that can be clearly deciphered read: "Harque, I miss you."
Despite the silence of the library, one thing is apparent: Noah is crying, the shaking of his shoulders giving that away clearly despite the fact that his hiccupping sobs cannot be heard. Half of his face is buried in one of his hands, and the other is limply draped over the tops of his knees. He doesn't notice anyone approaching for obvious reasons.
Perhaps you poke him or touch him to get his attention, in which case he jumps visibly and blindly swats you away with one very strong swing of his arm, not quite put together enough to realise that he struck, hollow-eyed as he is. Or perhaps you pick up the notebook next to him, which only serves to barely get his attention? Or, do you try something else to snap him out of it?]
APRIL 25TH, AFTERNOON
[Having overcome yesterday's breakdown, Noah can be found in the auditorium with several students. On first glance to outsiders, it looks like he's in a fistfight (uh-oh!) but... upon closer inspection, he seems to be teaching the small group how to fight. More accurately, he's teaching them how to defend themselves. He... probably didn't get teacher permission for that, but it's fine. No one's here to tell him no!
He might have already offered this at the charity auction as a donation, but he's not going to wait to find out if this is okay or not. He's not really understanding this whole auction thing to begin with, it seems.
For someone who doesn't know how to talk to people normally, when he's giving others instructions on how to break out of chokeholds and what to do if they're grabbed from behind, he's extremely clear and not stuttering at all. And... maybe a little morbid, because he very loudly says,]
If you get stabbed, it's not a good idea to yank the knife out. That's keeping the blood in you.
[It's a good tip, in any case, but jeez.
Noah goes on instructing the small group of people. At one point, he grabs one of the volunteer students from behind and holds their wrists (gently) so that they "can't escape" as a demonstration, and asks them what they would do in this situation. Are you the student he grabbed? Or are you the student who's next, the one he's trying to teach to throw a proper punch? Don't tuck your thumb in, remember, you might break it!
Alternatively, if he spots you lingering and watching, he'll invite you to join in with a little nod acknowledging your presence, letting you know that this is just a self-defense course and not to be worried. He hasn't hurt anyone and he's clearly trying to help others avoid future, erm, incidents.]
WILDCARD
[Feel free to hit me up with a prompt of your own making, or message on plurk for plotting at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
wolfchan!]
What: A sad but motivated teenage boy Doing His Best
Where: Around the school, specifics in prompts
When: 4/24 and 4/25
Warnings: Mentions/portrayals of PTSD
APRIL 24TH, MORNING
[Noah is conspicuously absent from class this morning, which is actually fairly odd for him; he's learnt that ditching doesn't get him anywhere and surely knows that Clamor will get on his ass about it later. But... he's absent, that's for sure. He isn't seen all morning, in fact. He's not in the art room, he wasn't at his locker before class, and even if you look for him and that distinct silver-blue hair of his you can't see him in the throngs of students in the hallways.
Luckily, he's not dead, but he's not quite fine either. He's curled up between some bookshelves in the library sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the hard wood, knees drawn to his chest and his notebook open at his side like he'd been trying to keep his hands occupied and just couldn't, the pen tossed carelessly between the pages. On the pages themselves are some drawings, things Noah normally draws — black cartoonish cats jumping between the lines on the pages, half-finished portraits of fellow students, a sketch of an interesting-looking sickle, and... another drawing of a man with scribbled-out facial features, the chaotic and scratchy motions of the lines depicting Noah's mental state at the time of drawing.
The page next to that has a half-written note, perhaps a letter, the handwriting nearly impossible to read. The only words that can be clearly deciphered read: "Harque, I miss you."
Despite the silence of the library, one thing is apparent: Noah is crying, the shaking of his shoulders giving that away clearly despite the fact that his hiccupping sobs cannot be heard. Half of his face is buried in one of his hands, and the other is limply draped over the tops of his knees. He doesn't notice anyone approaching for obvious reasons.
Perhaps you poke him or touch him to get his attention, in which case he jumps visibly and blindly swats you away with one very strong swing of his arm, not quite put together enough to realise that he struck, hollow-eyed as he is. Or perhaps you pick up the notebook next to him, which only serves to barely get his attention? Or, do you try something else to snap him out of it?]
APRIL 25TH, AFTERNOON
[Having overcome yesterday's breakdown, Noah can be found in the auditorium with several students. On first glance to outsiders, it looks like he's in a fistfight (uh-oh!) but... upon closer inspection, he seems to be teaching the small group how to fight. More accurately, he's teaching them how to defend themselves. He... probably didn't get teacher permission for that, but it's fine. No one's here to tell him no!
He might have already offered this at the charity auction as a donation, but he's not going to wait to find out if this is okay or not. He's not really understanding this whole auction thing to begin with, it seems.
For someone who doesn't know how to talk to people normally, when he's giving others instructions on how to break out of chokeholds and what to do if they're grabbed from behind, he's extremely clear and not stuttering at all. And... maybe a little morbid, because he very loudly says,]
If you get stabbed, it's not a good idea to yank the knife out. That's keeping the blood in you.
[It's a good tip, in any case, but jeez.
Noah goes on instructing the small group of people. At one point, he grabs one of the volunteer students from behind and holds their wrists (gently) so that they "can't escape" as a demonstration, and asks them what they would do in this situation. Are you the student he grabbed? Or are you the student who's next, the one he's trying to teach to throw a proper punch? Don't tuck your thumb in, remember, you might break it!
Alternatively, if he spots you lingering and watching, he'll invite you to join in with a little nod acknowledging your presence, letting you know that this is just a self-defense course and not to be worried. He hasn't hurt anyone and he's clearly trying to help others avoid future, erm, incidents.]
WILDCARD
[Feel free to hit me up with a prompt of your own making, or message on plurk for plotting at
25th
Maybe it's the size. Maybe it's the precision in which he moves. Maybe it's the frank morbidity that comes from someone so young, which makes Heathcliff bite his tongue on scolding him for it. Alike or not, they aren't the same person, and they don't have the same familiarity. He keeps to the edge of the lesson, worrying the inside of his cheek as he watches - it's a good class to teach, undoubtedly, even if it's terrifying to think that any of them would actually have to use anything they learned here.
He's without his bodyguard and best friend though; he's without his magic; and while he's had the usual noble lessons he's never liked putting them into practice. He's sensitive - he doesn't like killing things, and he doesn't feel well around the dead - but being able to knock them out for a spell, well, that might be okay... That might be manageable.
So the next time Noah's looking for a volunteer, Heathcliff - beautiful but meek - steps forever, hand raised. )
...Um. I'd like to be next.
( His voice is soft, but audible; stepping out and gaining attention is embarrassing though, and his ears redden slightly. )
no subject
Sure.
[Noah certainly isn't going to turn anyone down, after all. To him, Heathcliff looks like he doesn't get into many fights; then again, a lot of the students he's been working with really don't because not many normal, well-adjusted people have to literally fight tooth and nail to survive.]
Sorry, I'm not... really sure how long you've been here. Let's start with the basics, okay? [The basics being...] Show me how you throw a punch. Just do it in the air and pretend someone is in front of you.
[The most basic of the basics, but Noah wants to get a good gauge on Heathcliff's capabilities before moving onto more complicated things like breaking out of grabs.]
no subject
Still. He volunteered, and Heathcliff breathes in slowly - breathes out - and tightens his fist-
draws it back-
even if the person is imaginary, he doesn't want to hurt them, and the punch he throws is pretty weak - obviously with the thought of "I don't want to hurt anyone" behind it. Sorry, Noah. )
no subject
That's not bad. You should throw a punch with intent, though. I can tell that you don't want to hurt anyone, but that's not good when someone's coming at you with the intent to hurt you.
[Noah steps in front of Heathcliff now, holding his hand up so that the other can see. That hand is balled into a fist, and with his other hand, Noah points to where his thumb is sitting outside of it.]
It's a hard habit to break if you're not used to getting into fights, but try to remember not to tuck your thumb underneath your fingers. When your fist makes impact, you could break it. Just trust me on that one.
[Has Noah broken his thumb before by doing that exact thing? Oh yeah.]
Your stance needs a little work, though. Your legs are too close together, so you'll be easier to topple over in a scuffle. You want to ground yourself a bit better — have your feet apart like this. It makes you harder to knock down. [People learn by example, so Noah shows Heathcliff exactly what he means. He stands in a very practiced fighter's stance with his feet apart, putting his fists in the air in front of his face with elbows bent, the left arm a little closer to his body than the right.] If an attacker comes at you, the best option is to run, but sometimes that's not possible. That's when you want to put up a fight. Most assailants won't fight back with anyone they view as too "feisty".
[Most of them.]
There's a reason you stand like this if you're going to go toe-to-toe with someone, assuming they're unarmed, but we'll get to what to do if they have a weapon in a second. Your non-dominant arm should be your blocker, and you hold your arms up like this to protect mostly the head and neck region. That leaves your stomach and anything lower open, so just keep that in mind. [Without a weapon or a shield, it's a little hard to have anything else covered anyway. Noah continues,] I'll show you an example. Try to stand like I'm doing now. Keep your shoulders squared and your knees slightly bent — you don't want to lock them. When you get that down, we'll review punching with intent.
no subject
( Heathcliff belatedly but obediently follows his instructions; if nothing else, he's a good listener and a quick learner, though his stance is still a little stiff. It's easy if he just mimics Noah, but if he actually thinks about combat - he can't help but tense, even when he's been in it before.
Different here, he guesses.
He won't speak until he's done his best to not lock his knees though, shifting a bit to try and shake himself out of it and exhaling slowly once he's managed it. )
...How's this?
( "Passable but man you think too much" is the vibe here )
no subject
Pretty good, for your first attempt. [He's seen worse, after all, and maybe "thinking too much" is what Heathcliff needs to get into the rhythm.] So, keep that up. What I want you to do now is to throw a punch at me. It doesn't have to be hard, and it probably shouldn't be, [not that Noah thinks Heathcliff could possibly hurt him,] but I'm going to show you what I mean when I say "blocking" with your non-dominant arm, alright? I still want you to put effort into the punch, though. Make it look real.