Manly Fighting [Closed]

[stopthat_destro]

Who: Rex and Hoffman, eventually Iago
Where: THE SHOWERS BECAUSE ALL FIGHTING HAPPENS THERE FOREVER
When: Second night of the flood
Warnings: Language (PROBABLY), mild violence and a few references to past sexual assault.

Comments

[expectremorse]

Hoffman had had a rough couple of days.

He was thinking about everything that Lupin had said, about it hurting to care. It's like moving the scar tissue around again, like learning how to eat. He had let everything that had happened with Sarah slide, but Rex's behavior had cut into everything.

That was why he couldn't care. It was a sad fact. It was better not to care because then...

Calm down, Calm down. What would Angelina do? Well, she had a right to defend herself. So did he.

He hated this flood. He couldn't think, every time he closed his eyes he saw rage. Violent burning rage. Buffy forgave him and the little bastard had ran around like it was some big deal. Thinking that he didn't care. He cared!

He had decided that he needed a nice hot shower and then bed. He wanted to be calm.

He was on meds that made him calm.

But then every time he thought about doing something for himself he saw Rex laughing. Be a man about this.

A man had a right to have his honor defended. He had a right to defend himself.

[stopthat_destro]

Rex was leaning into one of the stalls, still fully dressed (thankfully), running his hand under the water to assess the temperature. He didn't notice Hoffman coming in, since, well, it wasn't like he could hear him over the water. He fiddled with the temperature a little, getting it juuuust right, then took a step back and turned his back to the shower so that he could pull his shirt off and watch for intruders, stalkers, creepy voyeurs and the like as he removed his clothes.

He didn't get any farther than partially pulling his shirt off before he saw Hoffman. Well, so much for that. Rex quickly tugged it back on, his arm darting into the stall to turn the water off.

He hated these communal showers so much.

"What do you want?" He kept his eyes locked on Hoffman as he spoke, preparing himself to run if the other man started to advance.

[expectremorse]

"I think you ought to reconsider what was said to me." Hoffman had spent a day trying to calm down. Then this morning with Sarah.

He had had, a good game of chess, left thinking that he could ride this out, and Buffy had called him out.

"I was hoping we could." His hands spasmed, "Talk."

[stopthat_destro]

Rex eyed him warily. Talk? Right. Like he believed that. "If you want to talk, you can do it over the Network. Set up a private chat."

It would be so easy, of course, to just acquiesce, pretend he was so sorry for what he'd said to Hoffman, but Rex didn't want to give him that. Not with Hoffman; not over this. So, rather than keeping his mouth shut, he spat out, "I didn't say anything but the truth. Just keeping in theme with the flood, after all."

[expectremorse]

Hoffman's expression spasmed. He kept his distance, inhaled and exhaled, "Truth or not, you took a tone with me that I really don't fucking appreciate."

The sheer amount of restraint the man is showing is incredible. He and Lupin talked. Hoffman doesn't want to fuck with this.

"You need to watch your mouth."

Translation. "I'd like an apology."

[stopthat_destro]

"I don't care what you appreciate," he snapped in return. Maybe Rex would have apologized to somebody else, some other idiot inmate he couldn't stand, like Mozenrath. Hoffman, however... He tortured Amanda in the worst way, trying to force her back into addiction, a feeling Rex was somewhat familiar with, albeit in very different circumstances. And then, finding out what he'd done to Buffy, even if they were affected by the port... So what? He balled his fists tightly.

"When you become somebody else-- in a flood, a port, a breach-- it's usually a reflection of you on some level. You know that, don't you?" He sneered a little. "That's why you can't stand my tone."

[expectremorse]

Hoffman's eyes went wide, "That was not me!" He'd hated it afterwards. The man had been an ex-US marshal, he'd been a sheriff, he'd been a man of law and order and he had ruined it and enjoyed it. He'd done drugs in addition to murder and-

Hoffman couldn't say it.

"So what, you're a violent little scared snake boy. What were you in that last port? A kid? A child? A weakling?"

He paused, "Are you trying to protect Buffy?" His tone turns light. He and Buffy had discussed this, "You're trying to help her?"

[stopthat_destro]

"The last port?" Rex smiled thinly, his expression one of pure, smug arrogance. He may have thought the last port was stupid, he may have disagreed with the role he was cast in, but he wasn't going to pass up a chance to rub it in Hoffman's face. "A hero, actually. A boy destined for great things. And what were you? The Sheriff of Nottingham?"

Rex rolled his eyes. "Buffy? She doesn't need my protection."

[expectremorse]

Hoffman flinched, "Destined for great things while sitting here and unable and unwilling to at least try and protect a woman. Right. You know, I came here to at least talk to you and you're just sitting here."

He sneered. A hero. He was a hero once. He was a good man. Sarah had said that-

No. Don't think about that.

"If you were a real hero? You wouldn't go calling someone out like that." Hoffman shakes his head, "Shows me that you know absolutely fucking nothing."

[stopthat_destro]

Rex shrugged. "I won't play white knight to somebody who doesn't want or need it. That would be patronizing." His tone was mocking, but the intent behind it was serious. He remembered when his own victimization went semi-public, a long time ago, how he'd been treated like he was fragile, like he was too emotional or broken or whatever to make his own decisions. How his requests were shot down because everybody else just knew better than him what was for the best. He had no interest in doing the same to Buffy, indifferent as he was to her as a person.

"You mean calling you out as a rapist? No, I'm pretty sure that's not a bad thing to do. Did it hurt your feelings? That's the last thing I'm concerned about."

[expectremorse]

"I am not a rapist." Hoffman took a step forward-but kept his hands at his sides. He hovered, on the verge of trying to hit the boy (He really was just a boy)

You would be wouldn't you? How you treated Jill Tuck? His mind wandered over his past exploits. He struggled for a moment before he opened his eyes. Do what Angelina would have done Except when had he ever been smart?

"Deliberately provoking people is going to get you killed." Hoffman said. He tried to blow off the feeling of rage and anger at truth and how that impacted the barge. How the barge treated him, how this stupid fucking flood, "It doesn't fucking matter what you think. It's clear I went to pick a fight with an idiot who couldn't satisfy anyone."

His teeth ground together, "The truth? You're not affected. You know exactly what you're saying, so why not just cut the act and admit that you're just as bad as I am. A manipulative SOB who wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of a situation to benefit you?"

[stopthat_destro]

Cool as he was trying to be, Rex's temper was getting shorter and shorter right now. He was sick, sick of people trying to throw their weight around at him, intimidate him, take advantage of the fact that he was skinny and, when it came to fights, out of practice. He wasn't going to take any physical threats. Insults? Fine. But Hoffman wasn't going to frighten him. If the man so much as got in his face, he'd hit him.

"Then it's a good thing you're not people," Rex hissed. He took a step forward. "And your words might sting if they were remotely true. But let's look at the facts. I'm a decorated soldier, an accomplished scientist; I have two PhDs, and I'm not even thirty," he said, nasty smile on his face again. "And I've had two people fight over me, so I'm clearly fine in the satisfaction department. What do you have?"

He waved a dismissive hand. "Of course I'm not affected; I never said I was. Maybe I'm a manipulator, but at least I don't coerce people into bed with me." His jaw tightened, trying to mask the fact that this

[expectremorse]

Hoffman was shocked, "...Drac's my friend. It was an honor." It was creepy and Hoffman had felt his emotions. Hoffman took another step forward and stuck his face in Rex's, "...He tried to help me."

"That, and for somebody who claims to be so fucking smart, you're an idiot. Provoking me like this."

[stopthat_destro]

He flinched a little, reflexively, when Hoffman got too close. "An honor? You're pathetic-- a little lap dog begging for treats. And you're the one who came to me," he snapped. "Now get out of my face."

[expectremorse]

Once upon a time Mark Hoffman would have hit the bastard in the face-hard. Then he would have kicked him. Before that however he would have had a syringe and Lewis would have been dead. This smug, sanctimonious little...

"I came upon you by accident." Only partially a lie, "I wanted you to apologize, the last thing I'm going to do is leave."

Hoffman moved forward again to get close. At the next smart remark he'd grab the little man's lapel and shake him like a dog, "Without one."

[stopthat_destro]

Something in his expression twitched, and Rex's short nails dug into his palms painfully. He stared at Hoffman, tilted his head slightly like he was considering it, then leaned forward just a touch and shouted, "I'm not apologizing to a fucking rapist!"

And then he aimed a right hook at Hoffman's face. Stupid? Definitely. If he was lucky, his self defense with Shego would pay off right now.