(Untitled)

[tono_twerp]

Characters:Kurotsuchi Mayuri law_of_reason, Suoh Tamaki tono_twerp
When: June 13th, after this conversation.
Where: In Mayuri's lab
Rating: PG, unless flirting offends you
Summary: Body modification is fun! Though first, Tamaki has to get certain duties out of the way.

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[law_of_reason]

After speaking to the strange, but incredibly enthusiastic human, Kurotsuchi had pushed the encounter from his mind. While he wasn't about to turn down someone offering to give themselves over to science (and he had to admit that a positive response to the proposition was a nice surprise), the boy hadn't given him reason to believe that he possessed any skill that would be of particular interest. A healthy, regular human did have some use to him, but it wasn't the focus of his work

[tono_twerp]

His eyes widened at the sight of the scientist, and for the briefest of moments he was speechless. No wonder this man had promised to turn him into a cyborg, when he was clearly an alien himself! He probably had access to all kinds of advanced technologies and mystical artefacts.

"I hope I am not late, sir," he said, stepping up to him and giving him a genuine smile. "And I must ask your forgiveness - when we talked, I am afraid that, in my enthusiasm, I forgot to ask you your name. Will you let me know it now?" He held out his hand, hoping that the scientist would shake it.

"This is an earth greeting, by the way," he added, just in case it was a declaration of war among aliens.

[law_of_reason]

The boy was polite, and while he was used to receiving proper respect from his subordinates back in Soul Society, he had gotten a marked lack of respect from most of the residents here. And while Kurotsuchi didn't care too much about that sort of thing, it did get a touch grating after a while. The courtesy was favorable.

"Kurotsuchi Mayuri," he answered, though made no move to accept the other's hand, instead stepping out of the doorway, gesturing for the boy to come inside. "And no, you're not late at all." The comment about an earth greeting didn't make much sense to him, so he ignored it, and it was only as an afterthought that he remembered that he didn't know the human's name either.

"What's your name?" It did make labeling samples easier, after all.

[tono_twerp]

"I'm Suoh Tamaki," he said, unoffended that the other had not taken his hand. After all, the alien probably thought that the greeting was complete the way it had happened; he simply hadn't realised he was supposed to copy Tamaki's move. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

He stepped inside, looking around eagerly. The place seemed a bit messy and run down, but then, the weather had been brisk lately.

"Is this your laboratory?" he asked, with polite enthusiasm, hiding his disappointment at the lack of brightly-lit screens, odd beeping things, and tentacled lady aliens with clipboards and labcoats.

[law_of_reason]

Additional politeness didn't occur to him, and he closed the door after the boy. Tamaki's insistent cheerfulness did make him seem like he wasn't much of a threat, so he made no attempt to immediately restrain or incapacitate him. The scientist wasn't sure if that helpfulness would continue - it so rarely did - but the more a subject was able to move and follow direction under his own power, the less work for him.

"This is just storage," he waved off the trashed state of the place; he wasn't looking to impress anyone. It was also where he rested, but that was of far less importance than the basement. "The lab is downstairs."

Without waiting for a reply - though he was still cautious enough to keep an eye on him, in case the human wasn't what he appeared - he started towards the staircase.

[tono_twerp]

"I see!" he said, happily, following Mayuri towards his lab. That was more like it, then, there would be a proper lab there, one with scalpels made of pure light, and metal implements that looked threatening but weren't, and probably a cylindrical thing in the middle of the room which, if the right buttons were pushed, could make them all travel through cyberspace much faster than light. And he, Tamaki, would get to experience it all up close!

...But he was being selfish again, wasn't he? The alien seemed to be the only one of his kind, unless the lab downstairs was full of equally colourful beings. Biting his lips thoughtfully, he was uncharacteristically silent as he followed Mayuri into the lab.

[law_of_reason]

The laboratory - though it wasn't close to the set up that he had back in his old Research Department - was not bad, considering that he'd constructed it from scraps of objects that he'd collected piecemeal and reassembled to function in ways that were familiar to him. Even working alone for the majority of the time, he'd had months to get it to a respectable state, and in his efficiency none of the room went to waste

[tono_twerp]

He looked around, a slow, happy blush warming his cheeks as he took in the different objects in the room. The place looked exactly as an alien laboratory should - well, he admitted, mentally, the absence of a faster-than-light cyber jump warp drive cylinder thing was a bit disappointing, but he was willing to let that pass.

"How nice of you to invite me here!" he said, beaming at Mayuri. He wanted to ask a barrage of questions about what all the different implements did, what sort of projects the man was working on, and what sort of things he could expect when they began. But one overwhelming fact was demanding his attention: the lab was empty of people.

"Don't you get lonely?" he asked, tentatively.

[law_of_reason]

He looked up at the question; Kurotsuchi was not used to conversing with his subjects. The Captain did notice that Tamaki didn't appear as if he were about to bolt from the room in a burst of fear, which was another nice surprise. He did so hate to chase after things.

"Not at all," he said simply, while gathering together a new tray, setting a couple clean needles on it before getting distracted by one of the concoctions he'd left out; the indicators he'd placed in the glass hadn't shown any change yet. Strange.

"It's inconvenient to not have the more competent people from my department here, but I manage," he added, not really paying attention to the chatter.

[tono_twerp]

"But what about outside of work?" he asked, straightening up and walking closer to Mayuri, his steps slow and measured, his gaze on the man's back. Like a tiger on the prowl, he thought to himself: elegant yet purposeful. And his purpose - nay, his duty! - was clear. Mayuri had very kindly promised to put his professional skills to good use; it made sense that Tamaki should do the same in return.

"Don't you wish you had congenial company?" he spoke in a very low voice, and not just because he was so near the man he could touch him.

[law_of_reason]

Though he was aware of the boy's approach (he hadn't survived as long as he had by being careless, especially around things he was going to operate on), he didn't give it much thought beyond making sure it didn't start looking like an attack.

Tamaki's propensity to conversation didn't phase him, though he considered it unusual. Still, the scientist was in a reasonably decent mood. His lab had held up in the storm, and no one had gone out of their way to annoy him as of late, so he was a degree more tolerant than usual. "There is no outside of work. And company's a waste of time."

[tono_twerp]

"Ah, you are selfless, my dear ali- Mayuri!" he said, touched. "To think you have devoted yourself to your noble cause, to the advancement of science, to the extent that you allow yourself no pleasures!"

He leaned closer, watching the man's face, fascinated. He reached out a hand, very slowly, so Mayuri would see it coming and not be startled when his fingertips touched him.

"You said earlier that beauty was irrelevant," he breathed, "yet you take such pains over your make-up. You look wonderful."

[law_of_reason]

"Kurotsuchi," he snapped automatically, though with more irritation than anger. He was used to correcting people who didn't use his surname, though by now it was a familiar annoyance. But when Tamaki leaned closer and actually touched his face, he completely forgot the more minor assumption of familiarity.

If Tamaki had moved any faster, he would've been, if not dead, in a state not far from it. As it was, Kurotsuchi stopped where he was - completely and absolutely confused. That hadn't been on his list of predicted actions. The rest of the boy's words didn't make anything any clearer, and the scientist drew back with slow caution, regarding Tamaki as if he couldn't decide whether to classify him as a new threat or not. He didn't like being surprised.

"What?" seemed like the most pertinent question.

[tono_twerp]

"My apologies, Kurotsuchi," he said, gently. He allowed the man a moment to collect himself (he was obviously shy, or at least bashful) before he took a step closer.

"I said you look wonderful," he added, smiling at him, hoping his sincerity was obvious. Sometimes, people who used thick make-up did so to hide who they were, to keep others at bay. He suspected Mayuri might be the same: a lonely, gentle, timid being, whose frozen soul needed to be thawed by the warm, if temporary, love of a good host. "The black make-up really brings out the gold of your eyes."

[law_of_reason]

Kurotsuchi was generally not a bad judge of sincerity, actually. But while he had received compliments on occasion, they were always directed towards his abilities, and were a mixture of honest (usually from his division), and mocking flattery (anyone not in his division).

That he was getting the impression that Tamaki was being sincere did not illuminate much of anything, and Kurotsuchi settled for staring at him impassively for a long moment. Though he recognized that he should've been annoyed that a human had managed to catch him off guard - if not in the way he expected - his typical curiosity finally worked its way through his startle.

"Yes, it does," he agreed carefully while trying to figure out what Tamaki was planning. Not being able to predict someone's motivation was a little disconcerting, but it was different - which was potentially interesting. "What are you doing?"

[tono_twerp]

"You asked me about my abilities earlier," he whispered, stepping closer, maintaining eye contact. It was important to let the man get used to and comfortable with physical proximity; that was crucial to a job well done. "So I thought I should show them to you."

He smiled, lifting his hand again, in the same slow-motion as before. Hopefully, this time he'd be able to touch Mayuri's face without having him jump backwards like a nervous horse.

"Will you let me show you, Kurotsuchi?" he asked, his tone warm.