Soldiers And Beasts

10. Spare The Rod, Spoil The Child

The Previous Night...

―John―

"Come along John, let's go and get you to your room. You oughtta sleep this whole mess you made of yourself off. That, and that we have to get you all sobered up so that you can try and get back on Lt. General Hoffman's good side after that stupid stunt you and the other three pulled off, and don't worry, they'll be joining you too as well. You four have got a lot of answering to do for what you pulled tonight." Faith said as she dragged me away by one arm while Ruth held me by my other arm, both of them dragging me down the hallway to my room.

"You ain't gonna put me in some straitjacket, are you? Faith... I'm... I'm not going to no nuthouse, am I?" I asked her, still trying to walk by myself but I knew that I was having trouble because of my intemperance. "If we were gonna put you in some nuthouse then we would have put you in a straitjacket then," Ruth said, still dragging me to my room. "Can I walk on my own?" I ask gently. "Are you sure that you can walk on your own?" Faith asks me, cocking an eyebrow down at me. "I... no... no I cannot..." I said defeatedly. "That's what I thought," Faith muttered.

Eventually, Faith figured it was best to just carry me there, and like last time she picked me up in my arms and carried me to my room with Ruth walking beside her, matching her pace. "Jesus, take that thing off already, will you? You're not in Affluence City anymore, John." Ruth snatched the bandage mask off of me, finally revealing my face to both of them.

After a few more walks, we finally reached my bedroom. "And here we are." Faith sighed, standing in front of my bedroom door, facing forward as Ruth began to gently scratch my hair, occasionally running her fingers through it. "Ay, humano tontito." Ruth muttered something in Spanish as she gave John one more final stroke through his blond hair and walked away to her bedroom.

"Come on John, let's get you to bed now," Faith said, opening the door to my bedroom and carrying me inside. She closed the door and the first thing she did was set me down and stand in front of me rather closely, and the base of my cheeks redden a little, hoping that what happened earlier didn't happen again. Thankfully Faith only unbuttoned my jacket, folding it neatly and then setting it on my bed.

I found it odd how she did that for me without even giving me a chance to do it myself―I wasn't drunk enough to not know how to unbutton a jacket, take it off, fold it, and set it neatly on a bed. Although given what I did earlier and the amount of trouble I caused and then the trouble I got myself into with Lt. General Hoffman, I'd say her reason is justified (and reasonable, if I may add).

She took the jacket and put it inside my wardrobe without even saying anything. The entire room was so quiet and it felt like there was a filter that could mute a whole crowd if there were to even be one in the room right now.

I noticed Faith approaching me, and before even giving her a chance to do anything else, I sat down on the edge of my bed and took off my boots, grabbing them and setting them inside my wardrobe hastily so that she didn't have to.

As I got up and walked to the wardrobe, I saw Faith smiling at me out of the corner of my eye. It was dim inside the room yet I could see her face and her entire muscular build, although the room was somewhat lit up thanks to the bioluminescent glow coming from her blue eyes that shined in the dark like diamonds with a glowing brilliance from the inside.

Faith then walked up next to me, staring at the folded red coat and the boots with her arms crossed. "Good disguise, I'll give you and the others that," Faith said. "Huh?" I look up at her. "The disguise. That's some good thinking. To tell you the truth, something in the back of my mind told me that you were going to deny Lt. General Hoffman's orders and try to pussyfoot your way into the trip without her knowing. I just hope that it was all worth it because tomorrow, she's going to ride your ass hard, John. So I hope that all the fun you had in Affluence City was worth it. But maybe some hard labor will give you some time to think about it and maybe help you in understanding that it wasn't at all worth it."