026 [audio]
Has anyone else happened to notice anything...odd?
[Footsteps; Razer is walking. They stop abruptly after a moment.]
That isn't right at all.
Perhaps--ah...
[Long silence.]
Precursors, how in hell is it even possible to get lost on this level? It's--
It's supposed to be--
[Another pause. There's the sound of a gloved hand slapping the ( Read more... )
[Footsteps; Razer is walking. They stop abruptly after a moment.]
That isn't right at all.
Perhaps--ah...
[Long silence.]
Precursors, how in hell is it even possible to get lost on this level? It's--
It's supposed to be--
[Another pause. There's the sound of a gloved hand slapping the ( Read more... )
He's been busy over the past month, and he balances the fruit of his most labor-intensive efforts over his shoulder - a bar salvaged from the weight-lifting equipment of the gym, blades welded to the end to form a mean-spirited polearm. No, he didn't actually find welding equipment, but it's rather impressive the things you can do with the everyday household items given enough creativity and research.
And there's Razer. Erol glances around to make certain they're unobserved... at least by anything he can detect. If Major Kusanagi's doing her naked-invisibility trick he wouldn't be able to tell, but Erol doubts she cares enough at the moment to go to the effort.]
I take it this is related to that little excursion?
[He offers Razer a hand up, a gesture that would be uncharacteristically compassionate were it not for the fact that he goes about it with the attitude of something done out of purely selfish motives. There's no difference between something he does for Razer and something he does for himself... which is rather scary if you think too hard about it.]
Reply
Still, he takes Erol's hand--although he doesn't need it--and hefts himself up.]
I don't recall anyone mentioning maddening punishment when you went to the lower decks.
[One ear twitches slightly and he turns, eyes wide like there's something at his back, but only sees an empty stretch of hallway. The shadows might be a little darker than they should, and seem to shiver a little, but nothing dangerous.]
I feel like I'm going mad.
Reply
Back to your room, or were you headed elsewhere?
[Erol's easily deduced both from Razer's original post and from other chatter that his counterpart's sense of direction has been tampered with. Damn, he wants a piece of Redd's hide... just as well, though, that one of them stayed out of this operation. He's had his body messed with quite enough, having the Captain delve into his mind would be thoroughly unnerving.]
Reply
I don't remember.
[Where WAS he headed before he got lost? Up a deck or down or--hell with it. He hasn't let go of Erol's hand, and he doesn't intend to; he's quite certain he would manage to forget where he's going or how to get there without Erol literally leading him through it, humiliating as it is to admit.]
My room would probably be best. Not very easy to get lost in there. I hope.
[He heaves a sigh.]
I've been arguing Ashelin's ear off and I insulted Blitz, by the way. Three or four times. He's probably going to kill me and she is definitely going to try.
Reply
I wouldn't be worried about her - she has Krimzon training, but she's young and Mar knows if she's bothered to practice while she's been spreading her legs for everything between Underground scum to Brink rejects.
[And she is, after all, just a woman. She's good but Erol doesn't believe for a second that she's THAT good.]
But if he lays a hand on you...
[Does that sentence really need to be finished? Erol's perspective shifts suddenly, drastically - Blitz needs them. THEY don't need HIM. Erol would just as rather stay within a familiar chain of command but... if it comes to a choice between Razer and Blitz, there is no choice. G.T. had better treat his lieutenants wisely because they most certainly outnumber him, and they're all he's got.]
Reply
[He tightens his grip on Erol's hand a little automatically, taking a half-step to one side when the wall closest to him starts to balloon inward with a sharp, almost hydraulic sound, plaster straining and flaking and CRACKING and then the air reeks of electricity and rot and--
And then he blinks and it's back to normal. He's still staring, though, eyes a little wide and breathing a little labored.]
Dear Mar.
[He swallows, closes his eyes and lets go of Erol's hand enough to rake both of his own back through his hair. Breathe, man, breathe.]
Reply
He steps close, close enough to feel the other's body heat, and reaches up to tug his jaw downwards and murmur low against Razer's skin. Each word comes carefully and deliberately enunciated through his odd upper-class accent.]
I don't care.
["Right" be damned. If Mizo touches Razer there will be hell to pay. It's practically a law of nature, and Erol's golden eyes burn with fervent certainty. This is just how things are.]
Reply
One in the long list of reasons that I love you.
[It comes out so easily he doesn't think much of it.]
Reply
It's not the word. Not really. Christine used it, that didn't faze Erol (irritated him, perhaps). It was just a word, one he didn't even believe in - and if it existed, it wasn't for people like him.
No, what threw him for a loop was the fact that it felt as natural and right as the fact that Erol would have blood for blood on anything or anyone that hurt Razer. The Commander wasn't a self-analytical person; he felt something and ran with it. He didn't second-guess; he went on instinct, throwing himself into full-bodied action at the drop of a hat, a tendency that made both his strength and his weakness.
He just wasn't equipped to slot this into his arsenal. Or rather, it was already there, and he didn't know when it had happened or what he was supposed to do with it.
The same way you adapt to any change in battlefield conditions, of course. Shift your grip and keep going.]
Hm.
[Razer wouldn't need to hear any return sentiment - Erol felt the same way, of course he did. Every wordless glance and touch of skin were all the language they needed. The murmur was just an acknowledgment.
His hand seeks out Razer's. There was still a distance to his room, and the longer they lingered the less likely it was that any accidental glance of them would be brushed off as hallucination.
A wordless tug urges the older racer to follow. They don't need words, even if Redd foists a script on them.]
Reply
...Mar, that sounded unnatural.
Not the meaning, of course, that much has been obvious for quite a while, but that isn't the kind of word I use. It sounds unnatural. Made for a different kind of person than you or I, different reasoning, different actions to show it--
[Frustrated growl.]
And I can't stop talking. It just keeps happening without me even thinking about it. Not that I don't like the sound of my own voice but Makers this is infuriating.
Reply
That's what Erol would have said if his own "internal filter" was dismantled. But it wasn't, thank goodness. Instead he just glances back, a smirk caught somewhere between flirtatious and conspiratorial flitting across his features.]
Here I thought you were verbose under normal circumstances. Does this call for something more engaging to occupy that mouth?
Reply
I do tend to enjoy your methods of keeping my mouth occupied. It is rather...mutually beneficial.
[There's a beat, then he sighs.]
And I'd be more than happy to get a good fuck in before our employer skins me.
[That's gonna be on his mind forever now, augh.]
Reply
It is, isn't it.
[His eyes turn hard and ruthless at the subject of their employer. Erol respects Blitz but he's not intimidated by him. So the man's ruthless enough to have his father killed - the only reason Erol didn't do the same was he had nothing to gain from it.]
He won't if he knows what's good for him.
[And like a domino flipping over, his expression shifts back to flirtatious.]
But in the meantime I'm certain I can keep you distracted.
[The question at this point is whether they can wait until they get to Razer's room.]
Reply
Leave a comment