Core Four Short Stories

A Badass Partner

A cool breeze flowed through the streets of Kingston, causing a chill to go up Luke's back. Arin took his hand and pulled his arm in, hoping they could share a little of their body heat. The two were walking to Arin's apartment after their date at an arcade.

"Who knew you were so bad at DDR?" Arin chuckled lightly.

"It's hard! And you like prance around and dance really good."

Arin smirked and nudged Luke's shoulder. As they were about to walk past an alley, a tall person jumped in their way. Their figure was shadowy. In the dark, Arin couldn't make out any details of their face. However, they could see the small pocket knife in the stranger's hand. Cute. Was their first thought.

"Alright, no funny business. Just give me all your cash." The figure had a low and masculine voice.

Arin scoffed as Luke frantically got his wallet out of his pocket. "Arin, what are you doing?" He hissed at them.

The shadowed man snatched the wallet from Luke's hands. "Alright, lady. Give me the purse."

Arin narrowed their eye and gave the man a disgusted look. "No!"

"Arin! Just do it." Luke pleaded.

"Come on, Luke. What do you think he's gonna do to me?" Arin chuckled lightly.

Out of the corner or their eye they saw the man lunge forward with the knife. Just as quickly, Arin grabbed the man's wrist and brought him to the ground with his own momentum. They dug their knee into the center of the man's back and held his head down with a wad of his hair in their hand. Arin swiped the knife they kept in their boot and pressed the blade to the back of the man's neck, taking care to only cut him slightly.

The man struggled underneath Arin, grunting as he jerked his shoulders in any desperate attempt to get away from them.

They snickered as they leaned down closer to the man's ear, pulling his hair so they didn't have to bend too far.

"Cute knife." Arin remarked. They leaned in closer to the man's ear. "Mine's bigger."

"Arin!" Luke snapped them out of their daze.

Arin sighed and slid their knife back into their boot. Fuck. They pressed the man's face to the concrete again and got off his back.

They leaned down and whispered, "When I let go, I suggest you run away."

Arin waited a moment before finally releasing the hair in their hand. The man frantically brought himself up to his feet and ran away, dropping his knife and Luke's wallet in the process.

Arin huffed and walked towards the items. They kicked the knife into the alley and picked up Luke's wallet. They turned around and was met with a disbelieved Luke, staring with a gaping mouth.

Arin chuckled lightly and tossed the wallet towards Luke. "Guy was super rude right?" They started walking again, hoping the events would just fly under the radar.

Luke shook his head as if to wake himself up. "You know we're talking about that right?" He caught up to Arin, taking their arm gently and pulling them to a stop. "What the fuck was that? Do you always carry a knife on you?"

Arin shrugged and tried to avoid making eye contact. "I live in a bad neighborhood."

"Still! Arin that was. . . Really dangerous." He cupped Arin's hands in his. "You could have gotten badly hurt. In these situations, the safest thing to do is just stay calm and do what they want."

Arin rolled their eye and huffed, thinking Wrong. "Oh yeah? And who told you that?"

"My dad."

Arin mentally slapped themself. They let the quiet moment hang for a moment before responding, "Okay, I'm sorry. I've always grown up in bad neighborhoods so I've learned to protect myself. Sometimes I forget it's a little dangerous." Arin pulled Luke in closer. They held onto his biceps and tried to calm him by stroking his arm with their thumb. "I promise I'll be more careful." Lie.

"And no more pulling knives on random strangers?"

"He was trying to rob us, Luke."

"Arin."

They sighed and nodded. "Okay, I promise. No more knives." Liar.

"Thank you. I don't need another reason to worry about you." He pulled Arin in for a tight hug.

Arin could feel his heart from their hand on his back. "Are you okay?"

"No! We were just almost mugged!" Luke huffed and chuckled nervously.

Arin stroked his back before releasing. "You're shaking. How about I walk you home, yeah?" Arin wrapped an arm around Luke and started walking again.

Luke nodded, wrapping his arm around Arin. "I'm a little more calm now." He looked down at them with a smirk. "Knowing I have such a badass partner makes me feel kinda cool."