A Little Light Reading - OTA

[watch_the_nails]

With his lone copy of 'Hustler' safely stashed away under his mattress - technically he supposed it was contraband, and there was no way in hell he wanted his 'reading material' taken away from him - Victor found himself with little else to do except try and amuse himself without ending up breaking anything

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[watch_the_nails]

At first, Victor just glared at Ric, glowering at him from beneath a heavy brow that would have made a Neanderthal proud. He winced at the sound of the chair scraping across the floor, and gave a low growl of irritation, but the Mexican was correct in thinking he could get away with pulling these sort of stunts around the feral without any recriminations - at least, up to a point, anyway.

Now that the younger mutant was here, Victor knew that he couldn't just ignore him if he was in a chatty mood. Trying to ignore Ric was like trying to stop the sun rising, or trying to empty Lake Michigan using only a spoon; it just couldn't be done. Sighing wearily, the feral folded up his paper and slammed it down onto the table with obvious irritation, although he knew this wouldn't deter the Mexican one bit.

"I'll give you goddamn erga... ergonar... them," he snorted, having heard the term before but not really being very familiar with it. He glanced at the banana that was currently being shoved into Ric's mouth. "An' you would go an' pick the most phallic fuckin' fruit to eat in front of me, wouldn'tcha?"

[movetheearth]

Ignoring Ric would only make him more determined to get a reaction and by acknowledging him you were simply implying that he was allowed to talk; there truly was no winning with this guy. Sorry Victor.

The other half of the banana had been crammed into his mouth by that point so Victor was rewarded with a mulchy banana grin before the Mexican swallowed his mouthful. "Oh no manches! If I had known all it would take was el plátano to turn you Victor I'd have made my move a long time ago." With an over the top wink Ric started to peel an orange, sliding half over to Victor once he was done.

"Everything alright Victor or you just sitting in here so you can get first dibs on dinner huh?" Ric popped a segment of orange into his mouth as he twisted the now discarded newspaper round to face him, scanning over the article about Japan.

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Sighing, the feral just rolled his eyes as Rictor commandeered the newspaper, pulling it away from him. Sometimes, it was easier to just humour the man and go along with what he wanted as long as it kept him quiet. Well - quieter, anyway.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just fuckin' peachy. Whaddaya think, idiot?" he grumbled, adopting his usual sullen demeanour. He hated the way things were around the camp right now, and he wasn't afraid to show how he felt about it. He'd already had a good moan about things to the Mexican, but he'd welcome any chance to air his grievances to him. "Y'think anythin's changed since y'last asked me, huh? Y'think Sykes has let Jimmy share a room with me again just 'cause we asked nicely? Y'think Emma's waltzed over an' opened her legs for me 'cause I been a good boy?"

Shit, he'd said too much already, but he was on a roll now.

"This place is bullshit. Utter, stinkin' bullshit. Sykes an' Stone are a coupla idiots, an' I ain't panderin' to a goddamn flatscan so's I can get a goddamn cookie for bein' good! I'ma tear out that smug son-of-a-bitch's throat soon as I get the goddamn chance."

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"Just asking idiota." Ric groused back, though there was less of a grumble and more of a hurt look aimed at Victor for snapping at him. Ric was only trying to check up on his friend, Victor wasn't one who easily opened up and to get him to acknowledge that he had a problem was usually a feat in itself. So actually hearing him admit about Emma was a huge fucking leap.

Not that Ric would be foolish enough to comment on that.

"I don't think you're the only one who doesn't like Sykes... though I doubt he's gonna do much more than grumble and glare at you from afar for the moment. I wonder what his mutation is?" Ric talked around a mouthful of food, swallowing slowly as he followed the paper back closed and knocked it away with his hand.

"So I'm thinking of going to go see Daken since... well I'm just thinking of talking to him. Gotta grow me some balls and if Sykes gets him sent off camp eventually I'm gonna regret not asking him questions sooner right?" Oh Ric, watch what you say. You're heading into dangerous territory.

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Ric wasn't the only one wondering just what Sykes was capable of. Victor liked to know the measure of his opponents, to know what he was dealing with - and, more importantly, to know just how they could be defeated. Sykes was still an unknown quantity, a wild card, and since he held some degree of power, then the feral suspected that he was at least capable of doing something which merited the position. He was tempted at times to try and launch some kind of attack on the man, just to see if his defences - and presumably, his mutant powers - would kick in, so that Victor could discover just what they were; but he wasn't so sure that was worth a visit to the brig here. This place wasn't like Russia, or Japan; he'd seen for himself that a trip to the brig here meant a full suppression of mutations, and a complete lack of freedom. It was enough to make even him think twice before trying anything.

"There's only one way t'find out, an' I don't fancy livin' on dry bread an' water for a week," the feral commented, giving voice to his thoughts. Okay, so maybe he couldn't attack Sykes alone, but perhaps in a group... But that could wait. Right now, he was more concerned with the idea of the Mexican approaching the young man with tattoos for a talk.

"You wanna go talk to that lil' sack of shit?" Victor asked, raising an eyebrow. "Whaddaya gonna do, yap at each for a bit like a coupla puppies, than try an' hump his leg?"

[movetheearth]

"Hilarious but no. I wouldn't fuck that nutjob even if you paid me to. I just want to know why really. Find out what they sent him to do and what happens if he fails I guess. Stupid huh?" The not fucking a nutjob is a pretty rich comment coming from Julio considering his track record so far with nutjobs... and fucking. Ah well, maybe this is the kind of crazy Ric has been looking to find to finally learn his limits. The crazy enough to kill people and then kill him kind.

"Sack of shit? Jeez. Here I was thinking you'd tolerate him more or something..." Ric raises an eyebrow, here he was thinking that Logan would want Victor to get along with his kid though maybe there was more to this scenario than he was being told. Which really would not surprise Ric in the slightest. He is usually first to know the gossip but last to know which are the real facts and which is the fiction.

[watch_the_nails]

"Tolerate that lil' shit?" If the feral was bemused before, now he was even more curious. "What the hell would I wanna tolerate him for? He's a jumped up sack of shit is what he is. Damn lil' runt needs to learn his fuckin' place."

That was the way Victor felt about it, anyway. The kid had marched in here and launched an attack on Ric, seemingly out of nowhere - and his attitude needed some serious adjustment. As far as Victor was concerned, he was the Alpha Male around here and he wouldn't put up with some runt of the litter turning up and acting like he thought he should be top dog. Victor didn't even know yet about the full extent of Daken's mutations, nor the fact that he was, essentially, another feral; he didn't know about the bone claws, the healing factor, the heightened senses. All he knew was that the kid was irritatingly similar to him, and it pissed him off.

"Listen up, faggot. Just 'cause he threw a fit an' got locked up in the brig don't mean I gotta be best buddies with him."

[movetheearth]

"Well obviously he needs to learn his place Victor! Hell, as far as I'm concerned his place is as far away from me as possible. Please I'm not stupid Vic!"

For once, it would seem, Ric is ahead of the game. He doesn't know this though, he just thinks Victor is being vague because, well, Logan is his brother and of course Victor is going to want to protect his brother. Especially if he doesn't know that Ric knows about the whole kid thing when Logan said to make sure that it wasn't spread around.

"I don't mean about the whole brig thing!" Ric looks around and leans in closer, voice lowered as he speaks. "I mean about the whole blood relation thing. It's cool. Logan told me." If Ric was a wise man he'd probably would have shut up a long time ago OR would be fleeing.

"So how is he taking it finding out about his son?"

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"His son?" Victor's look of irritation changed suddenly into one of surprise as well as confusion. He furrowed his brow, his body becoming tense as he turned to glare at Ric, eyes narrowing. "Whaddaya mean, his son?"

The threatening tone in Victor's voice would have left the Mexican in no doubt as to the fact that he'd let something slip that perhaps would have been better off remaining a secret. Logan couldn't have a son; it just wasn't possible. As far as Victor was concerned he knew everything about his brother; they shared everything and always had. There were no secrets. The idea of Logan fathering a child without him knowing was unthinkable - and yet, Ric was implying that that was the case.

[movetheearth]

"Uhhhhhhh.... surprise you're an uncle?! Heh." Swallowing thickly Ric leant away from the clearly angry feral, body bumping up against the chair and keeping him from sprinting away. Oh yes, he was eyeing up the exits and wondering whether he could actually out run Victor. But then again what was the point? It wasn't as if he could laugh the whole comment off and pretend it was a mis-understanding because any subject that involved Logan, when in conversation with Victor, was not a joke or a laughing matter.

"H-his s-s-son a-as in b-biologically h-he's the daddy?!" Ric had been so sure that Victor would know, would be aware of this rather IMPORTANT detail of Logan's life. "D-Daken is his kid a-apparently."

Thing was Ric was still having issues with getting over the whole being threatened in the mess hall by Daken last time, even the kitchen staff seemed to have spotted that something was going on and were trying to subtly duck down behind the counter. "I thought you knew!"

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"Of course I didn't know!" the feral snarled, although why Ric should have any idea as to what Victor did and didn't know was anyone's guess. He was angry, yes, but thankfully that anger was directed towards Daken, Logan and the entire situation, rather than the Mexican - although Victor did slam his fist down hard on the table to show his displeasure. "How the fuck was I s'posed t'know? I didn't know!"

A score of emotions had suddenly begun to well up inside of him, now; rage, jealousy, hurt, betrayal. If it were true - and he doubted that even Ric would be stupid enough to risk telling an outright lie like this - then Logan should have told him years ago, esepcially if he knew. It wasn't just that, either - Victor liked to know what was going on around the base as it gave him the feeling of having some degree of control. Knowledge really was power. And for Ric to know something as important as this when he didn't, that just pissed him off even more.

"I gotta have a word with that lil' shit." He meant Logan, but he could have meant Daken, for all Ric knew. "We gotta talk."

His mind was already working overtime trying to work out just when it could have happened, and just who the mother could have been. Daken did look vaguely Japanese, which fitted in with what he'd gathered about the kid's name - but that didn't count for much any more. There were plenty of different nationalities living in the States now, as well as many of the places he'd visited with Logan, although there was that time when they'd parted in Japan, all those years ago. His brother had shown an interest in a woman named Itsu and they'd eventually parted company for a few years, although that had been a long time back, and Daken looked younger, but... well, if Nicky had also got his healing factor, then... shit.

It was time to talk.

[movetheearth]

"I thought Logan had said something? Told you! I mean you are his brother and all! I just assumed he told me because you and I talk and it was better coming from the horses mouth and all that." Ric was babbling, but he could tell that the anger was no longer soley directed at him, it had transferred and was now focused on the likes of Logan and Daken. Which was good! Great! Perfect.

Ric nodded as he watched Victor, wanting to offer some form of support or anything but really? The Mexican didn't have a clue what to say now. He was just as confused as to why Logan had told him about Daken and not Victor. But then again Daken had tried to kill Ric and there had been that lengthy conversation about killing and protecting and so on. So yeah. Ric could kind of see why Logan had tol him that. Still it didn't bode well for the team if Logan was keeping secrets from his brother.

Ric remembered the fall out from last time.