-6 P.M-
(Geno's POV)
I was trying to enjoy myself a fruit salad on my couch while listening to some tunes, until I heard my front door open.
Great. I guess he's back now-
As I had that thought, Reaper went over to me with his arms crossed and a sort of disapointed/annoyed look??..
Did I do somethin'?
"Why didn't you tell me we could have partners???"
Reaper looks a little pissed..
Is this why he looks upset? Because I didn't tell him??- Unbelievable..
"I thought you read the flyer-"
"You think I have the time and motivation to read??"
Reaper raised an 'eyebrow' at me.
"Well apparently not.." I grumbled.
"..Anyways, I have been thinking about it while I was gone, and I had an idea,"
Reaper then looked at me with an enthusiastic face
"How about we become partners for the competition?"
...
..Oh hell no.
Last time I worked with a partner, he and I lost. Just because he couldn't keep up with me.
I am not letting that happen again.
"Sorry Reaps, but that ain't gonna happen." I stated firmly.
"Why? Just cuz ya lost in that one competition?"
"That's exactl- ..."
I stopped abruptly.
Did he just say that?. But.. I never told him about that...
I looked up to Reaper warily.
"I never told you that.."
Reaper then smirked and sat on the other side of the couch
"Rumors,"
Oh.
Nevermind then.
People in this town are very nosy and gossip a lot. They can easily say anything about anyone, this includes me sadly.
"People should really mind their own business, and that includes you."
"Everyone just talks, and it's hard to ignore what is being spoken about people."
"...I guess that's true.." I sighed in defeat.
"So, what do you think? Wanna be partners?" Reaper grinned.. excitedly?-
"No thanks, I ain't doing partner stuff anymore. Sorry, but not sorry."
"Aw c'mon, you think you can't catch up with me?" Reaper said while coming over to me and nudging me.
"...Pardon?"
"I said, you think you can't catch up with me?"
"HAH! If anything, it should be the other way around, you can't catch up with me."
"Now why is that? I believe I am definitely better" Reaper stated rather firmly.
"Fine. If you think you're so much, we will find out who is better at the end of the contest."
(Reaper's POV)
"So, is that a yes?" I said with a slight tone of triumph in my voice.
"What? No- I meant we will see who is better at the end of the contest, me vs you."
Uhh... This may be more difficult than I had originally planned.. I think I messed up..
"Why don't you want to be my partner?"
"Why do you want to be my partner?" Geno asked, taken aback.
"Uh, because if we work as a team and end up on the final two. That way we won't have to worry about sharing your ranch or anything, just so it is guranteed that one of us might win," I said with a slight bit of nervousness.
"Ohh, you're scared you're going to lose against someone else, so you need my help to get to the final two?" Geno smirked
This idiot. That is not it at all. I just need to gurantee that we both get to the end, to have a proper face-off.
"..Yup... Totally..." I said with gritted teeth.
"Hmm, alright then, since you technically admitted I am better than you, I may consider being your partner, but you will have to pass some tests first, to see if you are worthy of being a partner of mine" Geno said with a confident smirk.
I want to kill him.
(Nobody's POV)
Geno lead Reaper into a vast and empty space near the back of the barn. The place was full of grass and room to run in.
"Alright, let's see how persistent you are," Geno said while walking towards what seemed like a shack.
Reaper huffed in annoyance and anger. And started tapping his foot slowly and lightly on the ground impatiently.
After a few seconds, Geno came back with 4 huge bags, he seemed to have trouble with carrying them, so he had dragged the 4 of them to Reaper.
"What am I supposed to do with these??" asked Reaper and folded his arms while pointing a finger at the bags with a look of confusion and impatience.
"Geez, let me talk before you ask anything. 2 bags will be for you, and 2 for me, we will be having a little race, but I will be placing and creating obstacles to make it difficult to make it to the end. This will test your speed, strength, cleverness, patience, resistance, dillegence, and persistence."
Reaper raised an 'eyebrow' at Geno.
He'd heard something similar before.
"Just give me a few minutes, I will prepare everything." Geno assured
"Fine, but hurry, I don't wanna stand here and do nothin'." Reaper remarked.
Geno immediately started getting to work and finished everything in a few hours.
"Done, hope you won't mind getting muddy, it seems it's going to rain soon if we don't get started soon. But, first the rules." Geno started speaking seriously in his last sentence.
"1, No cheating, no weapons, carry the 2 sacks to the end without recieving any help with anything. Only use your legs and arms, nothing else. 2, do not go around the obstacles, it counts as cheating. 3, neither of us can sabotage each other, no pushing, no nothing. 4, you can drop your bags in order to finish some obstacles, but you will have to pick them back up once you are done. And 5, no taking out the stuff from the bags, I checked the weight on them before. I will know if you did anything to them, understand?"
Reaper nodded at Geno.
"Good, there is no time limit, it's just whoever gets to the finish line first with their 2 bags."
"Alright, so do we grab the bags with our hands? Or do we have to use something to carry them? Like poles or somethin'?"
Geno tossed some gloves to Reaper, which Reaper caught and looked at confused.
"We will be carrying them, and to not harm our hands, we will use gloves."
"Oh, alright then."
Reaper and Geno both put on the gloves and picked up their two bags and carried them to the starting line.
"You ready?" Geno asked Reaper
Reaper just nodded.
"GO!"
Reaper and Geno started running with the bags towards the first obstacle. They were off to a good start for now.
Reaper and Geno approached the first obstacle, which was a decently deep hole dug on the ground, and two planks placed on top of each other. Patience.
They both quickly but warily got onto the planks and started walking carefuly.
The planks shook and creaked because of the weight that were being placed on them. Stepping too hard and too fast would only make one of them end up in the hole.
Geno was in the lead, taking big but careful steps. This made Reaper stress, so he started doing the same. And they were both in a tie.
Soon, they both made it across the planks, so they started running towards the next obstacle. But due to having to carry the bags and their weight while walking, their arms hurt, but they ignored it. Persistence, and Resistance.
The next obstacle was a bunch of horses eating some grass. Even if they tried running through the horses, both Geno and Reaper were positive that they would get a harsh kick in the face if they bumped into one. Or worse, other horses could get agitated and start a stampede and trample them both, causing major injuries or death. Diligence.
Geno slowed down his pace and started going through the empty spaces available between the horses.
Reaper however, had a different idea and threw the bags over the horses, which thankfully made it over them and didn't hit any.
This made him more flexible and allowed more movement.
He started to swiftly go between the horses, but Geno was already near getting through them all.
All of a sudden, water started to sprinkle down from the skies lightly. The rain was starting to create mud.
Reaper kept trudging through the mud however, and had finally made it out of the obstacle, but Geno was still in lead. So he quickly grabbed the bags he had thrown and started running again.
The horses headed quickly for the stables once rain started pouring down more heavily.
Reaper had gotten lucky, if he hadn't finished the obstacle soon, he was sure he would have been trampled by them.
Reaper had caught up with Geno after a while. And Reaper made it over to the next obstacle first, which seemed to be wood stacked on top of each other, creating a type of wall. It seemed stable enough to climb over. But something seemed off..
Suddenly, Geno stopped in his tracks, he was now behind Reaper.
After not hearing any movement, Reaper just glanced behind him.
...
Is Geno waiting??
Geno just stayed still, not doing anything. He seemed to be 'waiting' for Reaper to finish the obstacle??
There was no possible way of climbing that wall with 2 heavy bags. So again, Reaper threw the bags over the wall and proceeded to try and climb over it.
But Reaper slipped and landed in the mud.
(Geno's POV)
Yep, he was stupid enough to think he could climb that wall. I thought he would notice.
That wood is smoothed and polished..
But, I guess it's barely noticable..
Climbing over wood like that in the rain isn't a good idea.
I just walked up to Reaper who was trying to climb the wall again until I stopped him.
"You said no sabotaging, now leave me alone." Reaper growled.
"You had already won dumbass."
"..What?"
I pointed to the rope that was laying behind me, which was covered in mud, and it seemed slightly camoflaged with it too.
Reaper just stayed silent and stared at the rope.
"I just wanted to see if you would notice it in the mud, and if you didn't, I wanted to see you fall. After all, you did almost hurt me that one time, so this wall was retribution for being rude to me," I slightly smiled 'innocently' to Reaper as I dropped my bags on the ground.
(Reaper's POV)
I am going to kill him.
I want to kill him.
I no longer want to be his partner, it isn't worth going through this shit.
(Nobody's POV)
Reaper and Geno just stood in the rain, silence filled the air.
"You alright???" Geno asked, reaching towards Reaper to check if he was okay.
When Geno was about to reach him, Reaper just trudged off back into Geno's house.
When Reaper was near to the door, Geno called out:
"But hey! You passed all the tests except cleverness! So either way you are now my partner! You actually almost beat me!"
Reaper then went inside Geno's home amd slammed the door, as if saying 'I don't give a shit'.
Geno clicked his tongue.
"I gotta do something about his anger issues."
As he said that, he started putting everything away, the slippery wood too.
-Next Day 7:50 A.M-
Geno was the one who made breakfast this time, he had left a plate of breakfast on the table for Reaper. But he never came out of his room.
Geno then went over to Reaper's door and knocked after a few minutes passed.
"Are ya in there?"
No response.
(Geno's POV)
Hmm, perhaps he is still asleep. But at this time? It's almost 8 A.M.
He usually is awake by now..
"Reaper! Are ya in there!?" I yelled, just to check in case he was actually asleep.
There is no response again-
I try twisting the doorknob, and it opens.
Huh, he isn't here. Where could he be?
I then went to the table and grabbed both plates that were placed down. I was going to eat outside, it's nice and fresh today, perfect for outdoor eating. And since Reaper is probably out in town somewhere, there is more breakfast for me.
I grabbed a jug of orange juice and poured some of it into a bottle.
I took the bottle and secured it to my bottle holder. After I did all the adjustments, I placed it over my shoulder.
And just as I stepped outside through the back of the ranch holding the two plates of breakfast, I saw Reaper just sitting on a bench in the back patio.
I was looking forward to eating double the breakfast, but oh well.
(Nobody's POV)
Geno approached Reaper, which Reaper seemed to notice, but was just ignoring Geno.
"Oi, I made breakfast if you want it." Geno said in an actual calm voice for once, whilst also lightly shoving one of the plates towards Reaper.
"I don't want your stupid breakfast." Reaper said as he turned away from the plate with an irritated look on his face.
"Alright, more for me," Geno said and took both plates farther into the land, already stepping off the patio.
Reaper just sat there for a while, confused to where Geno was going.
"Hey, Glad! There's tables here y'know!" Reaper called out to Geno, who had already gone rather far from the patio and into the grass.
But Geno didn't respond, perhaps he hadn't heard Reaper.
(Reaper's POV)
Where the hell is he going?? There is literally a table inside his house that he can eat his breakfast on.
And he thinks I'm stupid.
...
Where is he going?....
(Nobody's POV)
After catching up to Geno, Reaper started to follow him from a far distance.
After a minute or two, Geno approached a picnic table and placed both of the plates down. He also slipped the bottle holder off his shoulder and took the bottle out. He placed that bottle down too.
Reaper just stared in confusion from afar.
Who would want to travel this far to sit on a picnic table when there's tables at home?
Then Geno just turned over to where Reaper was and gestured him over.
"You're too curious, you could have just stayed back. Did you want breakfast that much?" Geno shook his head in a joking way.
"I have my reasons to follow you. What are you doing walking out to sit at this table?? It's rather silly. There is plenty of places to eat breakfast on at your house." Reaper said with a perplexed face.
"I asked a question first, but alright. First, sit down and eat, then I'll tell you why I came here."
Reaper stared at the plate that was on the table, and begrudgingly walked over and sat down to eat. Geno started to eat too after seeing Reaper sit down. They both sat in silence, eating their now slightly cold breakfast. The food may not have been as warm as before, but there was still some warmth to it.
After a while, they both finished.
"Okay, now tell me why you came here then,"
"Want some orange juice?" Geno said as he shook his bottle gently to show Reaper there was still some left.
Reaper shook his head and sighed.
"Fine, I didn't get to drink anything anyways." Reaper said as he took the bottle from Geno and drank it, "waterfall" style.
Reaper then gave the bottle back to Geno, to which Geno took and put away in the bottle holder.
"Now can you tell me why you came here?"
Geno just sat there, seeming lost in thought.
"I came here because this was where uh.."
Geno showed a slight upset face while looking down at the table.
Reaper stared at him confused, was this one of those emotional moments he was going to experience?
They both sat in silence for a few seconds
"Pfft, joking, I just wanted you to follow me and finally eat your breakfast. You're too stubborn." Geno snorted in amusement
Reaper his hand over his forehead in disbelief.
"What? You thought this was goin' to be a emotional moment about me? This old table has no significance to me at all!" Geno laughed
"You actually fooled me, well played, Glad. But that means this wasted my time with your joking." Reaper said while resting his head on his arms with an irritated face.
"C'mon then, partner, we have some practicing to do!" Geno said in a determined manner
"I have a few ideas on what the challenges could be, but not exactly sure." Geno said in a apologetic tone
Reaper's face went from annoyed to interested almost insantly.
"Ah, that's no problem, I know almost nothing about the competition anyways." Reaper said while shrugging in a 'it's okay' kind of way.
"Yeah, knowing that you didn't even read the flyer is enough to show me that." Geno said while getting up from the picnic table and started walking back home.
Reaper stood up too and started following Geno, catching up to him and going at the same pace as him.
(Reaper's POV)
YES! THIS IS PERFECT!
There is no way I will be losing the challenges now!
It seems I have earned Geno's friendship, and if not, it seems I am headed the right direction.
I no longer care about that silly little prank or the slippery wood, because it will all be worth it once I win this competition.
Thinking of all the money I will recieve by winning this contest is making me excited.
This little trip to this town has made it worth all those miles.
And it's all going to be thanks to you, 'Gladiolus'.
End of Chapter 6
(Oh my, almost 3000 words, that is way more than Chapter 5! But anyways, thanks for being so patient guys, school tests suck. I had also finished Reaper and Geno's designs before, but I had to finish this chapter first in order to show you :·] These are also my canons on them, so yeah. Don't compare them to the original Reaper and Geno pls, thanks! [Skip the descriptions if you'd like! I will most likely redraw Geno since I made that drawing of him long ago when my art wasn't as good.] )
Reaper
· · ·
Age: 30 (and a half he says)
Pronouns: He/Him
Relationships:
Geno - ???
Error - Partner in Crime
Killer - ???
Dust - ???
Horror - ???
Nightmare - ???
Dream - ???
Ink - ???
Blue - ???
Lust - ???
Others - ???
[OLD DRAWING]
Geno
· · ·
Age: 29
Pronouns: He/Him
Relationships:
Reaper - ???
Error - A strange but helpful guy
Killer - ???
Dust - ???
Horror - ???
Nightmare - Mean Boss
Dream - Nice Boss
Ink - Tea Spiller Friend
Blue - Best Friend
Lust - A Comrade
Others - ???
(Here is the thing, their description will change every once in a while. So keep checking each chapter after this one to see if their descriptions change! Also, here is a small drawing I made of this chapter! :·] )