8 Mar 2022, 21:00
c'mon snake, let's rattle
threading as johannes cyprian sauer
private thread with @Flash Holmswood as yefim rumyantsev
speaking in russian, unless specified
If the world chooses
to become my enemy,
No matter what anyone tells you, it wasn't all Johannes' fault this time.
Having that declaration out of the way, both a later processing Johann and I as your writer would like to say that no matter what Johannes tells you, at least part of the situation was his fault this time. Indeed, the accused party maintains an entirely and undeniably false farce of innocence that could fool absolutely no one who knew him.
It all starts, as many schoolyard conflicts do, with petty gossip. Recently it seemed to be the same few people at fault, shameless in their heckling like shock-jocks with too much free time and too little topic prompts to tide them over. Their target? One of Durmstrang's new Hellhounds, a Bulgarian first-year still struggling with the hell that was quick-learning Russian for classes. Atanas- or Tase, as they've taken to calling the kid after some Christmas miracle of a greeting that promptly crashed and burned after the conversation lasted over 10 seconds- was a good apple. Lots of fresh-faced students needed help adjusting to life at Durmstrang and sure, Tase wasn't his responsibility (it was Stefan's, technically), but Johann found something of himself in the little person.
Taking in the kid under their wing meant there was an automatic sign of protection and imminent bonding with the rest of the pack, as as much as one could communicate without a shared language. The answer is to depend entirely on semi-useful gestures, failed attempts at broken explanation, muffled cursing and confused laughter, but somehow they were getting by. Unfortunately, not everyone seemed so supportive and Johann was constantly restraining himself in front of everyone from going after those who decided that making enemies out of the underdog was a good idea. By this point (and the point was that this was the fifth time in a week Johannes had 'accidentally' overheard this slander after attaching himself to Tase), the shameless carry of nasty sentiments had practically become open taunts and he'd had enough.
It's a rare day in hell that we catch Johannes without his friends and from the sound of insults lying hot and heavy on his tongue, thick with indignation, it was not a good one. All he wanted to do was regroup with his friends and have some fun terrorising people at mealtime, but that plan was very quickly ruined the moment he turned a corner and came face to face with the audacity of man. Had the bullied party been there, Tase would have let the fuckers go again without revenge because Atanus was just the type of nice kid attitude-wise to do that. How they hadn't already gotten pulled up by some nice goody-two-shoes straight-laced friend group that would actually do well by them influence-wise was beyond him.
Now, the newer ranks of their crew may not yet be used to having their honour defended so adamantly, but Johannes wasn't going to let some jerks act all tough and think it okay to push around his new charges. He was perfectly capable and entirely willing to help shut those no-good blabbering face holes up. Forcefully.
Okay, perhaps baiting a tussle from three already-incensed hecklers wasn't the smartest move, but in his defence, he had been simply trying to teach some disrespectful peers how to keep their damn mouths shut and have some empathy for someone in the same position they probably in whoever-knows-how-long-ago. If Johannes wasn't going to do it, then someone else would. Better it be him, he had reasoned with himself, than seeing the aftermath on some other hound of his later and having to hunt down the perps.
It took an embarrassingly little amount of time to figure out that he had bitten off considerably more than he could chew, outnumbered and cornered in some unnecessarily chilly side hallway without his friends to lend aid. Long story short, all his base are belong to them and he was no doubt in a boatload of mother henning trouble.
Shit bro, Axel was going to kill him if Stefan didn't first. Wiping at the aftermath of what was an admittedly well-aimed blow to the nose and achieving in little else than smearing the bloody mess over his hand, he cast a wary sidelong look at the dude who had jumped into the fight to his aid. "What's your game, man?" Now properly looking at his unexpected backup, Johann was half-surprised to recognise the other as one Mister Yefim Rumyantsev.
Fellow racer and, if word was to be believed, a decent protector of some of Durmstrang's young strays. A good portion of Durmstrang's outcast population found some solace in joining forces with established crews and Yefim, with a respectably scrappy nature and a dash of extra aggression to beat down self-imposed justice, was no doubt one of many candidates. Their lower circles overlapped but Johann had never really gotten the chance until now to properly interact with the dude who helped lookout for some of the pack's pups. What a perfect impression.
I will fight like Iappearance Durmstrang Winter Uniform, gloveless.
always have.
text colour #4d5c7f
| astrea neptune . . . hogwarts wizardry. duellist | . . . johannes sauer durmstrang institute. horntail horde. |
12 Mar 2022, 21:19
c'mon snake, let's rattle
Within the halls of the school, Yefim was in his element. As a first year, things had been extremely challenging, as he was no more immune to the crucible of society than any other child, and yet he also was born differently. Difference was sometimes seen as a threat, and exclusion meant a higher possibility of being weeded out. Durmstrang was not for anyone less than the best, and all of the weaklings were free to leave. Or die. Or have their spirit crushed until they blew away on the wind. Therefore, Yefim grew above his detractors. It didn't matter how strange he was, so long as he was also the most strong.
Yefim would have heard all the names, had been told things cruel and painful. It would not phase him, he knew they were wrong. He was different because he was divine, he could see the world for what it really was, his purpose was pure. He could not fail, because his fate was already pre-ordained. He saw other people, too, for who they really were. The mocking of features, of shortcomings, of the superficial, would be his greatest disappointment in his peers. He of pure purpose would feel no hesitation in standing in-between the unrighteous and the misunderstood. It would be this greater calling that had him descend upon a losing fight with vigorous gusto.
Though his physique was indeed monumental and epic, he would not have the back-up nearby to secure him the win. Beating the opponents to a pulp was not the only point to engaging in a fight. It was to stand up, to make it clear where he stood, and what he would tolerate. Once everyone understood, he would run the whole school. Things like this wouldn't need to happen anymore, one's skill and ethic would be the supreme deciders. He was not impatient though, all things in time. His vision was transcendental.
[”Same game every day, the game of life, my friend.”] Yefim would laugh, massaging his jaw that was certain to bruise up by the end of the night. [”Any time, any place. I'll throw down when I have to throw down. If you get complacent, the world becomes a worse place.”]
Yefim would shrug after that, knowing it didn't really matter whether Johannes understood. Standing up, the halls would be empty, as anyone who heard the fight was likely steering clear. It was a shame they were both caught without their respective crews, or the fight would have been a pushover. Yefim was well acquainted with the Hellhounds, as one of the more prominent groups, as well as one whose ethics tended to align with his own. It was because he recognized and respected Johannes that he was interested in overhearing the argument in the first place.
[”I don't know anything about this Tase guy, but if you're willing to fight for him, he probably deserves it.”] If Johannes didn't get up himself, Yefim would offer a hand to help with the effort.
@Astrea Soleil Neptune as Johannes Cyprian Sauer
Dialogue in brackets is in Russian
For we dreamed a lot//And we schemed a lot//And we tried to sing of love before the stage fell apart
Sta: 9 ★Eva: 5 ★Str: 7 ★Wis: 15 ★AP: 3 ★Acc: 15
19 May 2022, 04:18
c'mon snake, let's rattle
threading as johannes cyprian sauer
private thread with @Flash Holmswood as yefim rumyantsev
speaking in russian, unless specified
Excuse me,
My Little Pony might have claimed that friendship was magic, but Johannes had never known quite as magical a feeling as impressing his packmates. Too bad this time, but he'll be pleased to try again shortly.
Loathe he'd want to admit it out loud, but Yefim had a point in that readiness and the fifth-year found himself quietly agreeing. Rumyantsev could be a public speaker with that easily shared sentiment. "Do no harm but take no shit. I can respect that." It was a motto Johannes himself almost lived by, haphazardly crafted around a kid's project of a moral code based on those of his gang superiors. In his interpretation (as it most often was used by Johann), it was a take kept on a close leash, ever careful not to cause unnecessary collateral damage while still taking justice for his own sake. From what he remembered of Yefim's code of conduct and his own first-hand experience just now, the younger Durm liked to fight like he was enacting divine retribution on the poor mortal souls instead of really getting down and dirty- truly an intimidation factor had not they been on the same team. Johannes himself had faced the brunt of too many stern talking-to's to risk his ferality, or his future, for a few taunts gone too far, but sometimes his sense of occasionally functional self-restraint liked to take the backseat in favour of some of that sweet sweet revenge that transcended the technicalities of newbie assignment.
Even if Atanus was supposed to be under Stefan's supervision, Johannes knew just how overworked his dear year mate was as of recently and, when it came to certain Hounds, he's been feeling quite generous. The cost of keeping the pack's overall ability and reputation spick, span and healthy meant that sometimes you had to help out and do what you needed to do. "Damn right, they do. Those bastards had no right going after Tase like that. Too good of a kid for this shit." In this case, it just so happened that Johannes was better with blunt force damage than words of polite negotiation. Go figure. The toss down they'd just engaged in was a bust from the moment he'd walked by but at least he knew what they were working with for next time.
Taking the proffered hand to help himself back up with and nodding his thanks, Johannes could only mourn the loss of his dignity when it came time to explain to his boys why the hell he was so scuffed up. There wasn't much he could do to hide what he'd gotten into from his overprotective packmates except to straighten out his askew uniform and blunder his way towards a lecture on the importance of sticking together. The fighting was the quick part of things, it was just the cleanup that took a hellish amount of time to figure out. Would it be too alarming to so prominently display such a suspicious streak on the front of his uniform?
Ah, it was whatever. Not all of the gunk had even been wiped off, their clothes were more or less the same colour (not really, but he was running on self-delusion, okay?) and Johannes was sure some of the student body had seen him in worse conditions. "So. What's a guy like you doin' around these parts in the first place?" If you don't get caught, all's fair, but it was far more difficult than expected to coordinate avoiding both staff and his packmates in the direct aftermath. From the looks of the deserted hallway, there were no other witnesses to his barbarism than Yefim and those big-mouthed shitheads (who would no doubt get a rematch in the near future), anyways, so he was probably in the clear for at least a bit longer.
I have to go make a scene.appearance Durmstrang Winter Uniform, gloveless.
text colour #4d5c7f
| astrea neptune . . . hogwarts wizardry. duellist | . . . johannes sauer durmstrang institute. horntail horde. |
9 Aug 2022, 14:56
c'mon snake, let's rattle
Yefim laughed at Johannes' initial response, though he would not explain why. 'Do no harm' was not exactly a sentiment he would stand by, given that he intended to subjugate anyone who got in his way. However, the longer he considered it, the more he wondered it it wasn't actually true. He would never harm Mikael. He didn't ever want to harm Johannes. 'Take no shit' did encapsulate the entirety of the group of people he wanted to take down, so the mantra stuck. Johannes was clever to find a way to describe their similarities so succinctly.
After they both got up and dusted off, he would listen to more of his musings. It was nice that the boy was not afraid or squeamish around Yefim, he knew they had mutual respect from afar, but it had never been tested. When Yefim met new people, there were usually only a few reactions he would garner. Either they would want to excuse themselves as quickly as possible, would try to get on his good side so he wouldn't hurt them, or they would be cool. Johannes was cool, and that was a relief. Yefim had a great deal of power, but not many friends. His relationship with his Hounds made Yefim wish he had a great big group of friends. Of course he wouldn't trade Mik and Niff for the world, but they were a part of him, like the three of them were one... weird... person.
[”That's right. People are always picking on others for the wrong reasons. If someone is good, they should be treasured.”] As Yefim rubbed away at an itchy shiner, Johannes would stick around and ask questions rather than buggering off, was he actually curious about Yefim's life? [”I heard fighting. I had to see what was up. Wasn't expecting to find you, but that made it pretty easy to decide what to do.”]
Yefim looked around and outside to see the state of things, it seemed like students were tentatively returning to the hall after having avoided the conflict. It had been quiet enough for long enough that people felt safe there once again. [”In this school, fights are almost always important, almost always a bid for power in one way or another. It's good to know who is fighting, and why. If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known your Hound was being targeted.”]
@Astrea Soleil Neptune as Johannes Cyprian Sauer
Dialogue in brackets is in Russian
For we dreamed a lot//And we schemed a lot//And we tried to sing of love before the stage fell apart
Sta: 9 ★Eva: 5 ★Str: 7 ★Wis: 15 ★AP: 3 ★Acc: 15