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“I’m not mediocre!” Morsov shouted as he jumped off the back of Nux’s car, “The sun was in my eyes!”
“Bullshit!” Nux snarled as he exited the car, slamming the door (or what remained of the door) behind him. Stomping over to the lancer he shouted, “Your job is to throw the lances at the buzzards! The fucking buzzards!!” Nux shoved Morsov against the car, his anger bubbling up, “Even war pups know more than you!”
The rest of the fleet roared past them as they headed back to the Citadel to celebrate their successful raid. As the rig drew near, the Ace yelled after the two war boys, “Hurry up! No time for a lovers quarrel out here!” He laughed, waving at them as the war rig passed by. Nux glared up at the Ace, but Morsov wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. His gaze remained intently on Nux until the fleet had passed them.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have dropped the lance, if you could control your rust bucket of a car,” Morsov hissed as he pushed Nux backward drawing his attention back to him. “Who wants to go to Valhalla in this piece of shit?” The driver gave him a murderous glare, causing Morsov to shiver under his gaze. Since Nux was a pup, he had worked on that car and had slaved away fixing and improving it until it was the best in the Immortan’s fleet. He often waited until the rest of the revheads went to sleep to work on his new designs, constantly tweaking and adjusting his car to make sure he kept his edge over the other drivers.
“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Nux growled, his face contorting in rage. Morsov shifted his weight and straightened his back, trying to appear more intimidating (and failing at it) as he waited for Nux to attack him. “Would a piece of shit car run the fastest in the fleet?” Nux continued, his voice rising as he inched closer to Morsov, “Would she be able to withstand multiple crashes and still make it back?” Nux kept jabbed his finger at the lancer after each sentence, “She even survived you almost blowing her up! Fuck you, you mediocre! Piece! Of shit!” He was practically spitting in Morsov’s face, which was now forming into a deepening scowl.
“Well maybe this rust shitting car wouldn’t crash so much if its driver wasn’t some sick war pup, who’s not even chrome enough to handle sharp turns.” He growled as he brought their foreheads together so that driver and lancer were eye to eye as he snarled. “At least I didn’t cause my smeg of a lancer to almost slice his face off!”
The fire instantly vanished from Nux’s eyes, replaced with something more cold and piercing. Unable to understand the sudden change in demeanor of the driver, Morsov studied the war boy’s expression. Eyes opening wide, Morsov recognized the look, but before he could move a muscle, Nux had head butted him, causing the lancer to fall backwards on the desert sand, his head throbbing as his eyes tried to refocus.
“If you think I’m such a shit driver then you can go fuck off and find yourself a new one!” Nux spat at Morsov’s feet, Nux turned away from him and got back into the car, the lancer’s eyes constantly following him. “Oh come on Nux! You didn’t take that personally did you?” Morsov grimaced as he got up and chased after him until he was pounding on the driver’s window. “Seriously, Nux. I didn’t mean it!” Morsov pleaded, but without another word or so much as a sideways glance, Nux turned the key, revved the engine and soon both car and driver were gone.
“Fuck. Nux! Get back here! Who’s going to witness me out here?” Morsov shouted after them, but Nux was either too far away to hear him or didn’t care enough. His eyes followed the car as it made its way back to the Citadel and soon realized Nux had no intention of returning. He wasn’t really worried about buzzards picking him off, he wasn’t even an hour’s walk from the Citadel, but the thought of returning to an angry Nux filled him with dread.
He looked around, but didn’t see any other cars he could hitch a ride on. With an exasperated sigh, the lancer hung his head and started to head back home. As Morsov started to think over their argument, he reached into his pocket and felt his fingers brush past the small, cool pieces of metal inside there. He ran his fingers over the contrasting smooth and sharp surfaces of the nut and bolt. He liked to move his finger back and forth around the nut, allowing it to twist up and down the worn threads of the bolt as he calmed down.
Slit’s scars had been a tender subject for Nux. Lately, buzzards were putting up thin razor wire traps throughout the wasteland, which were invisible unless you were only a few feet away. The traps had sliced off the limbs, heads and torsos of war boys before they could even be witnessed. Nux hadn’t seen the wire until it was too late, but luckily the buzzards hadn’t secured it down enough and it had sliced Slit’s face to almost his ears before the wire was pulled loose from the posts. He was still recovering at the Organic’s.
Morsov looked back up at the Citadel, but only Nux’s dust cloud was visible, growing smaller and smaller as it raced away from him. He had insulted Nux’s most prized possession, his driving and the closest thing he had to a brother. Morsov pursed his lips, yeah he definitely crossed a line with that last one. Initially, Nux had blamed himself for Slit’s scars and apparently he still did. Grimacing at his realization, he thought maybe Nux was right, maybe he was mediocre.
With a sigh, Morsov put back the nut and bolt, no longer needing the distraction. At least his trek back would give him time to think of a way of make it up to Nux. The thought brought a brief smile to his face. Already his mind was thinking of ideas on how to make it up to the driver. Smiling to himself, Morsov slowly picked up his pace until he was at a comfortable jog. One way or another he would show that war boy he wasn’t mediocre at everything. His smiled widened as he broke out into a run. He would just need to find him first.