Locked in a cage *OTA, nudge to family members*

[mongrelverine]

The first sensation Daken realized when he groggily woke up was feeling cold. His shirt had been shredded in the fight with Logan and the girl with the white stripes in her hair, and he doubted if his enemies had been courteous enough to replace it. His last memory had been of claws at his throat and fingers on his forehead. Just what had that girl

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[watch_the_nails]

Daken's pointed blanking of Victor did almost get the desired effect; the larger feral's eyes narrowed as he was ignored, and he was on the verge of giving an irritated snarl when he was finally answered. He was learning to be patient, but unlike Daken, waiting wasn't something he'd ever been particularly good at. He preferred hedonism, instant gratification. He smiled, though, at Daken's tone; perhaps his words had hit home more than he'd thought.

"What's the matter, kid?" he continued. "Don't like bein' stared at? An' there was me thinkin' you wanted to be the center of attention."

He still didn't know the complete details of the mess hall confrontation. He was aware that Logan had been involved, of course, but since his brother hadn't been seriously injured, Victor didn't have any reason to be particularly angry with Daken. He and Logan got into fights all the time - it was in their nature - so confrontations like that weren't anything unusual. He'd heard that Ric had been involved too, though, and that concerned him. The idiot Mexican was pretty shit at looking out for himself, as far as Victor could see.

[mongrelverine]

If he could have moved his hands, Daken would have flipped his fingers into a very rude symbol at Victor. Since he couldn't, he settled for a frustrated growl. "I've got no problem being stared at." Victor's mocking was right about that. Daken thrived on people knowing who he was and paying attention to him.

He gestured to his cell using his head. "It's being chained up and locked in a cage that I despise." Being locked up meant Daken was no longer the one in control of the situation. He couldn't stand that, not after it had been drilled into him over and over again that he was better than everyone else around him.

[watch_the_nails]

If there was one thing Victor could understand, it was Daken's frustration at being cooped up and restrained like this, being denied his freedom and the chance to express his anger at the world. For a moment or two the larger feral found himself almost pitying the younger man before telling himself not to be so damn stupid; Daken had threatened Rictor's life and had a pop at Logan, and much as Victor found the Mexican to be irritating to the point of distraction, he was still the only person whom he truly considered a friend. As for Logan, his brother was more than capable of fighting his own battles, and he doubted that the young pup here could cause him any serious damage. He wasn't sure yet that Daken was even a mutant.

"Believe me, kid, I know a lot about that." He meant the part about being chained up, but he supposed the attention part applied to him, too.

[mongrelverine]

"Aw, are we going to have a nice moment of male bonding time now?" Trust Daken to take even the slightest bit of sympathy given and throw it back in the giver's face. It was something that was too close to pity for his liking anyway, and pity was for the weak.

He rolled his eyes, then stared down at the manacles once more. There had to be a way to get out of them. He just needed to be clever enough to think of it. "If that's all said and done with, I'll get back to trying to figure out how to get out of this shithole. I have some unfinished business to take care of." Daken's fixation on his father was beginning to border close on an obsession by now.

[watch_the_nails]

Not that Daken's blunt rebuttal of his words bothered Victor that much. He hadn't really expected the younger man to soften up at all, or open up to him, so he just shrugged and let the kid continue checking his bonds for some kind of weakness for a few minutes. He had focus, he'd give him that, and he had a grudging kind of respect for the methodical way in which he seemed to check his confinement, but that didn't mean he was going to go all nice on him. The little shit had threatened Ric, after all, and he still felt protective of the Mexican.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Victor's tone of voice was dry and sarcastic. "I'ma be out here enjoyin' the fact I get to take a piss when I like."

Having tasted what it was like to be in confinement on several occasions, Victor should perhaps have been more sympathetic to Daken - but instead, it just made him want to taunt the man even more.

[mongrelverine]

A careful examination of his manacles had revealed no flaw Daken would be able to exploit. The only piece of it that he could even see being manipulated or broken were the bolts that held the devices to the wall. Trying to do anything to the, Thus led Daken back to the circular problem of how he was even going get his hands out.

If looks could have killed, Victor would have dropped dead on the spot from the venomous glances Daken was tossing his way. "Tell me, do you hide behind sarcasm as a defense mechanism merely because it is easy, or because real wit is beyond the grasp of understanding in that tiny mind of yours?"

[watch_the_nails]

So Daken wanted to think that Victor was just a dumb animal? That suited the larger feral just fine. Many others had made the same mistake, and paid for it with their lives; he wasn't about to disillusion the man, instead allowing the comment to slide as he narrowed his own eyes. The comments about him hiding behind a wall of sarcasm had hit home perhaps a little closer than Victor was prepared to admit, since it was his way of hiding what he saw as his own inadequacies.

"No, I'm usin' sarcasm 'cause you're stuck in there starin' at four bare walls while I can go back to my bunk an' jerk off to as much porn as I want." If Daken wanted to try and play dirty with words, then Victor would too.

[mongrelverine]

That was exactly what the feral mutant thought. He was so used to feeling superior to everyone around him that it would have been surprising if Daken hadn't been underestimating the self-proclaimed Alpha. Victor's body language didn't shift, but the look in his eyes was enough to make Daken to both feel and look smug, knowing he had hit a nerve. He'd have exploit and push that further.

"Porn?" Daken snorted with amusement. "It doesn't surprise me in the least you don't have a woman waiting for you. I imagine the only type that would willing sleep with someone like you has to be paid in advance. Do you deduct the price if she laughs after seeing your worthless dick?"

[watch_the_nails]

"I've fucked half the goddamn team, asshole!"

With a snarl, Victor snapped at the younger feral, the angry tone of his voice giving away more than he'd been willing to admit. His words were a complete lie, of course; he'd slept with a few of the female team members, but he could count them on the claws of one hand. The feral didn't take offence at the insinuation that he'd paid women to sleep with him - he had done, countless times in the past, and he didn't feel any shame about it - but he bristled at the idea that he wouldn't be able to have his pick of women, either by force or otherwise.

[mongrelverine]

"Sure you have."

Daken's dry tone would leave Victor with no doubts as to what the younger feral was thinking of that outburst. Daken thrived off of feeling in control of a situation, and right now he felt right on top of his game. He may have still been chained up and in the cell, but as long as he could keep baiting Victor like this, he could manage.

[watch_the_nails]

There was another audible snarl at the younger feral's words, and it was starting to be a struggle now for Victor to keep a hold of his temper; dammit, he shouldn't let himself get so worked up like this! He knew full well the game that Daken was playing, since it was one which he played so well himself, and he should have known better than to get all riled up so easily. Bristling like an angry cat, the feral took a pace back, angry at himself.

"I'm done here."

He spoke with what he hoped sounded like a certain degree of authority; the conversation was over when he wanted it to be over, not when the little punk was done running his mouth.

[mongrelverine]

Daken couldn't have looked more pleased with himself if he tried. This was the most entertainment he'd had all day. He was almost sorry that Victor was backing down and surrendering. At least, that was the way Daken saw it in his mind.

"Bye now. Be sure to come visit again soon."

As far as Daken was concerned, he had just won this round. When (and it would be when, not if) he got out of here, he was going to make sure to finished what had been started. This wasn't over between him and Victor, not by a long shot.