{"id":4143,"date":"2019-11-08T00:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T05:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4143"},"modified":"2019-11-07T18:49:20","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T23:49:20","slug":"twenty-six-02-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4143","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-six – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt flinched, glancing back toward the sound of Phelan\u2019s voice. \u201cDon\u2019t do what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever it is that you\u2019re thinking about doing.\u201d Phelan shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he came abreast of his friend, watching him with a steady, appraising gaze. \u201cAnd before you tell me that you weren\u2019t think about doing anything stupidly dangerous, remember that you\u2019re talking to the king of stupidly dangerous and I know that look when I see it. So whatever it is you\u2019re thinking of doing, don\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a split second, he actually considered lying\u2014denying that he\u2019d been thinking about going alone and\u2014<\/p>\n

–and what? Negotiating? Trying to sneak past all the pickets and sentries that were sure to be set on Orcus\u2019s camp and try to single-handedly kill something big and ugly?<\/p>\n

Idiot.<\/em><\/p>\n

Phelan clapped him on the shoulder, his fingers flexing to squeeze it gently, but firmly. \u201cIt\u2019s usually not worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Matt murmured, staring out over the field for a few seconds longer. \u201cDoesn\u2019t make it easier, though. Overcoming the desire to try to handle shit yourself without endangering anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a given,\u201d Phelan said, then smiled wryly. \u201cI feel you there, too, but you know that as well as anyone.\u201d He squeezed Matt\u2019s shoulder again. \u201cWe\u2019ll get through. Come on. They\u2019re waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is?\u201d Matt asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty much everyone,\u201d Phelan said. \u201cCome on. We\u2019ve got work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt cast a last lingering glance out over the field, then nodded, turning. \u201cOkay. Has anyone started talking?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot really,\u201d Phelan said. \u201cBut they will. Coffee\u2019s hot. Hopefully we\u2019ll have hammered something out by sunrise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do, we\u2019ll probably be on horseback by noon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan smiled wryly. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t surprise me at all if we weren\u2019t picking a fight by nightfall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe we will be,<\/em> Matt thought. Maybe we will be.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] \u201cDon\u2019t do it.\u201d Matt flinched, glancing back toward the sound of Phelan\u2019s voice. \u201cDon\u2019t do what?\u201d \u201cWhatever it is that you\u2019re thinking about doing.\u201d Phelan shoved his hands deep into his pockets … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[299,331,14],"tags":[150,171,170,181,149,173,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-4143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-7","category-chapter-26-book-7","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-14P","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4144,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4143\/revisions\/4144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}