Remnants of the Earth
Ships => Ships => Sassy Juice => Topic started by: Rhi-Rhi on September 15, 2011, 09:29:38 pm
-
Trigger Warning: Non-con/rape, violence
The ship wasn't his usual target, but beggars couldn't be choosers and Ari was strapped for cash. He may have blown a big chunk on it on his vessel's new paint job (which, like his own body art, was constantly being added to) but that was irrelevant! A target was a target and even if the ship didn't have much cargo, there were plenty of people he could sell the ship's parts to.
And there were plenty of people he could sell the occupant to, as well.
His crew was already at the landing bay, armed and ready, and they had their weapons pointed at the cockpit even as Ari arrived on the scene. Pretty decent vessel; he'd make up more than what he'd lost. All that was left was getting the pilot out and out of the way.
Striding forward, he banged on the cockpit windshield. "Alright, you can either come out, or we open you like a can of tuna. It's all scrap metal to me, so I don't give a shit either way. Your choice."
-
Riot slammed his fist against the side of the cockpit. Fuckin' shitpail, junkslut pirates! He didn't even know if his distress signal and messages to his squad had gone out or gotten scrambled before the signal could break out. There was a good goddamn chance no one knew he'd just thrown down with these assholes.
Now what? He still had his sidearm, but should he use it. He propped his head on his fist and ran through his options while the blowhard out there banked on the cockpit. He'd closed the panels as the ship was pulled in so they couldn't see him, had no idea who was in here or what kind of heat they were packing.
He did like the idea of blazing out in a glory of bullets. He was bound to take a couple out with him before they gunned him down. He did not like the end result of that one, himself full of lead and the pirates free to lose themselves in the void. The scouts that inevitably went looking for him would never find them.
No, much as he hated the thought of it, he should probably cooperate, wait for his chance to get a signal out. And he'd better hurry before they got impatient. They were just pirates, after all. How much of a challenge could they possibly be?
He spoke through the ship's outgoing com. "All right fucknuts, I'm openin' her up."
The panels slid open, and the cockpit hatch hissed backward. Riot crossed his arms and glared down at Tattoo McFacialPiercing.
-
"Thatta boy," Ari said with a grin--now that he could see that it was, indeed, a dude. And a decent looking one, at that. It was always kind of exciting when it came to these things because just like the cargo, you never knew what you were gonna get, and it was always extra nice when you scored a looker. Not bad, not bad. Maybe he'd keep this one a while before he sold him off.
What could he say? Sometimes he liked to sample the product.
But there was no way the kid was going home. Ari didn't take prisoners, at least not for the long term.
He had a gun at his hip but he didn't bother with it. No need when he had several crew members with their own weapons already trained on him, and he didn't think the guy would be stupid enough to try anything. "Very good! Now put your hands up and get out nice and easy, kid. Hurry up, ain't got all day."
-
"What's that? What did you say?" Riot put a hand to his ear like he hadn't quite heard what the pirate had said. "Stay in here and make you drag me out? Okay!"
His whole body went limp, every muscle. He was now sort of draped over the cockpit chair. If they wanted him out so badly, they could scramble their merry asses up and haul him out themselves.
-
Ari arched an eyebrow at that answer, and his grin broadened. Well, if that was how it was gonna be, alright.
Without further prompting, he climbed his way up, surprisingly nimble--but then again, he had a shit-ton of practice--and hopped into the cockpit with the pilot. He didn't even skip a beat before he swooped down, yanked the pilot up by the front of his uniform, and swung him up and over his shoulder. One hand rested firmly on his ass, and he didn't bother pretending it wasn't intentional--because it was, and he made it known with a firm squeeze.
"I like it when they play hard to get," he growled--and slid his hand to the kid's hip, tugging the sidearm free.
-
Riot got a sinking feeling as soon as Piercey Pierceson himself started climbing up. He'd been, y'know, expecting the guy to send a couple crew members up to carry him out. He actually flinched when the guy's boots thudded onto the cockpit floor. For an unbearable couple seconds, he thought he'd gone way overboard and the pirate was about to do him execution style right here.
Instead he was hauled up and over the guy's shoulder and...and he was getting felt up like a drunken prom date. Oh gods. His face went red, and not from being upside down either. "Whoa, neeeegative dude. You are not cleared for landing, control room we have a problem, put me down!"
There went his sidearm. Damn. He had two combat knives on him, concealed, one at his thigh and another in his boot. After getting his ass groped in front of the entire crew he was less concerned about them finding the blades and more about the search they'd put him through to check for them.
-
Yeah, Ari didn't particularly care whether he had an audience or not. He found other people cared more than he did and that was their problem, not his. Besides, it was funny as shit--and that had to be one of the better reactions he'd gotten.
He barked a laugh and, just to weird him out more, nuzzled his cheek against him. "Well, then better clear out 'cause I'm comin' in."
Let the pilot take that however he wanted to--because it probably wouldn't be off the mark.
Tossing the firearm down to one of his men and planting his hand firmly back on that ass (because it was a very nice ass, one that he'd like to appreciate in greater detail), Ari picked his way back down and set the pilot onto his feet when he reached the bottom.
"Well then! Now that we've gotten all friendly and acquainted!" he began, giving him a light slap on the rear. "What's your name, bitchboy? And ya got anything else on ya I should know about?" He nodded to the firearm, which his crew member had already disabled.
-
Riot held on for dear life while they were climbing down, and yes, it felt damn stupid to be clutching onto the back of the pirate's belt—the pirate who had just captured him and couldn't keep his hands to himself. But the drop was like twenty feet from the top of that cockpit! Onto a metal floor!
It was a relief to be down, even if his prospects hadn't gotten any better. He could even handle the condescending little pat on the ass—the dude was just trying to troll him. But he could not, would not let anybody call him a bitch. He'd never have got through basic training if he let shit like that slide.
He took a step for Ari, and found the guy who'd taken his sidearm holding him back. Oh. Right. He was bringing fists to a gunfight.
"You're lucky your punk-ass groupies are here, Maxwell. Say that when it's just you and me and see what it gets you. I'll tear you a new hole in your face."
-
Ari met Riot's anger with a smug smile, one hand on his hip and eyebrow cocked. The kid looked like he was itching to take a swing at him, but he wasn't worried. He'd like to see him try. "That's a good look on ya," he said, sweeping a look up and down his body. "You're pretty cute when you're--wait, what?"
He'd been distracted enough that he'd nearly missed that casual little name-drop. Or rather, he'd noticed it, but had nearly missed the fact that he hadn't actually given his name yet--and certainly not his surname! He knit his brow and tilted his head slightly, then took a step toward him.
"I don't recall telling you my name, kid," he said slowly. And he wasn't a big name pirate, not yet, at least, and not in these parts. This was fresh, untapped territory for him.
-
Riot fell into stillness, but gradually, as realization rolled over him. He knew this man's name. One of them must have said it or...or he must have seen a warrant with the name and picture on it, and it had stuck with him even if he couldn't remember the time and place he'd seen it. Reasonable explanations all. Believable.
Except he didn't just know Ari Maxwell. He knew all of their names.
He took a shuddering breath and hoped they'd attribute the nerves to his capture, to their treatment of him. He reached for the simplest explanation. "Libra, like, knows its pirates."
-
"That so?" Ari said, walking a slow circle around Riot and eying him closely. "That's a lot of pirates. But that's Libra. What about you?"
Coming up beside Riot, he slung an arm around his shoulders. "I mean, you're, what? A grunt or somethin'?"
-
Riot resisted the urge to turn around and keep Ari in his sight. Let him prowl if it made him feel tough or in charge or whatever. He was getting a fist in his nostril for that bitch remark, it was just a matter of when.
"Pschha! Uh, like, no. I'm a squad leader. Military. And just like, what do you—okay so like, when you imagine events like as they progress into the future, how do you, like, see yourself comin' out ahead in this?" Riot waved a hand at the big-ass Libra emblem painted on his ship. "See that, chief? Means your day will be fucked up. Cuz like, now you got a rep for goin' after our soldiers. And they are gonna plant a boot so far up your ass you'll be choking on the laces. And I can't wait to see that."
-
Ari pressed one hand to the side of his face and feigned wide-eyed shock. "Like, ohmigawd, no way? That's like, I'm so like, scared. I mean, like, oh noes, the big bad squad leader and his little friends are gonna like get me. Gods, you're so adorable, I could just eat you."
Grinning, he pinched Riot's cheek. "So, like, when you see yourself in the future like how things progress, yadda yadda, how do you see yourself coming out of this? 'Cause I'd worry more about you than me, though I appreciate your concern. Me? Right now I'm seeing your ship stripped down and sold for parts and hey, since you're part of the ship..."
He gave Riot a meaningful look. He still needed to make sure he was free of any other weapons or bugs and besides, he could fetch a nice lump of cash on the black market for a real Libran military uniform.
And, pffft, it didn't matter to him that there were people around.
-
Riot leaned away from Ari. The guy was just weird, talkin' all strange and stuff all of a sudden. He was also about to get a knife in his scrotum if he didn't stop trash talking about Libra. Any one Libran soldier was worth twenty of theirs! Damn right they should be quaking in their boots! He was about to the point he didn't care about getting shot. A bloody nose would get Ari to take him seriously real fast.
"Whooooooa, no, no, no, no don't you touch my ship! Hands off, does not compute, stay inside the lines!" That was his ship, he'd flown her for years and she'd never let him down. She deserved better than this!
-
"Touch her?" Ari laughed. "Darlin', I've already been inside her."
Turning to address his crew, he flashed them a thumbs up. "Alright, boys, it's a go! Call me if ya need anything," he called, then took Riot by the arm and tugged him along as he turned to leave. He was no mechanic and they knew what they were doing. That ship would go farther in the form of a bunch of parts that he could charge for individually and jack up the prices, and there was less of a risk of being traced that way.
"Now, what should we do with you..." he mused out loud.
-
"No!"
He wasn't getting to the ship. No way. They still had guns on him. They wouldn't shoot him when he was grappling with their boss though, so hell he might be able to give Ari a broken nose or worse before they were able to rush over and pull him off.
Getting out of the hold was easy. Ari's hand was loose, not even trying to hold him really, not the way Riot would have done with an unrestrained prisoner. Pfsh. Junkjockey pirates, probably never had any real combat training. Riot went for a crippling kidney punch, then right for the face. He wanted this guy's blood on his fist for trying to tear apart his ship!
-
Well, shit. Ari hadn't figured he'd have the balls to try.
As soon as the pilot pulled free, he had just enough warning to twist his body and take the brunt of the blow in the ribs instead. He didn't have time to avoid the follow-up, though. Crack! He felt the cartilage snap and blood came gushing out and for a second, more than the pain, he was fucking livid because shit, he didn't want a crooked nose!
Instead of trying to stay upright and regain his balance, he went with it, dropping down and sweeping a leg out to crack against Riot's. Then he was on him, shoving him down onto his stomach, straddling his back, and grabbing a fistful of his hair. He slammed his face down against the floor. Hard.
-
Riot tried to scream. It came out liquid and gargling as blood gushed down the back of his throat. He slid one leg up underneath him and shoved, rolling to the side and knocking Ari off him—and found himself looking up the barrel of a gun, thrust right in his bloody face by one of the pirates. Riot's eyes slid over to Ari. He grinned through the pain. Ari's face was just as bloody as his. He'd gotten what he wanted.
-
Face throbbing, Ari rolled to his feet and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, leaving behind a smear of blood. It hadn't stopped bleeding yet and some of it had dripped onto his shoes and down his shirt. Which were new. Fuck.
He scowled at Riot and reached up to feel at his nose, then grit his teeth--and shoved the cartilage back into place with a scream he muffled through clenched teeth. Fuckballs! At least he'd given the kid his!
"Well, kid," he finally said, voice nasally through the blood. "Ya just lost your hands-free privileges. Here I was, being all nice and friendly, askin' your name, carrying ya around, letting ya walk around unrestrained. And then you gotta be all breakin' my nose, making me break yours, being all unpleasant like that. I dunno what I did to ya, but lemme make it up to ya, yeah?"
Striding over to Riot, he grabbed him by the nose and snapped the cartilage back into place.
-
Riot grimaced and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Not his nose, he didn't want to even touch that. "Yeah, yeah. Blah blah blah blah..." He made a talky face with his hand while Ari spewed on and on.
"That's why you're stupid. Shoulda done that from the beginning, sugar." He broke off—the pirate was coming right at him. He had just enough time to think fuck my life before it happened, then let out a scream, quickly bitten off through clenched teeth.
"Fuck!" He pounded a fist on the floor while the pain went down to something approaching a bearable level.
-
"There. All better, yeah?" Ari said, and pet Riot's hair as though to soothe him. "Woulda been crueler letting ya go around with a bent nose. Friends don't do that to friends. I wouldn't let ya walk around with sauce all over your face."
While Riot came down from the shock, he pulled off his belt. He didn't have any cuffs handy so while this was a poor substitute, it would suffice for now. Plus, alright, so he just got a kick out of tying people up.
That, and he didn't want to get punched again; his poor nose had taken enough for the day.
"Ya finished yet? Gimme your hands."
-
Riot's fingertips gingerly grazed over his nose. For all that it hurt like a bitch, it had worked. It felt straight again. Still gushing blood, but straight now.
"Get fucked! Aw, look at them!" They were already at work on his ship. He could see it all from here. They were prying the panels off. "They don't even know what they're doing, they're gonna like, ruin her!"
-
Ari raised an eyebrow, wondering what part of 'strip it for parts' had escaped his understanding. But he just smiled and clapped Riot on the shoulder. "Ruin her? Nawww. She's gonna be in stellar condition. Just in more pieces, s'all."
Reaching down, he wrenched Riot's arm behind his back. Alright, then. If he wanted to be all distracted and shit, he'd just have to do all the work for him. Typical.
-
"Duuuuuuhh. Like, no shit! But this is a Libran ship! Not, like, one of your junkyard mutt ships or whatever you use to make these toasters you ride in! It's delicate! You can't just like go in there and start ripping parts out and stuff—hey, easy!"
They didn't even know what they had over there! The refined technology! It was the best the universe could provide! "Like—okay, so like, you've got salmon over there and your groupies are like filleting it like it's a mutated catfish!"
-
It was nice that the kid was all distracted like that. Made it easy to get his other hand behind his back and the belt looped around both. He gave it a tug, tightening it, and slipped it through the buckle and fastened the catch when he was done to secure it good.
"Mhmm. But I hear catfish done right's awfully tasty," he said. "Fry it up in beer batter, add a little ketchup, add a little--oh, what were we talking about again?" He glanced toward the ship as though noticing it for the first time and then smiled. "Ah, right. Oh, no worries, kid, no worries. She's in good hands. They know what they're doing. Don't worry about it. Up, up."
He punctuated the last two words with another slap on Riot's ass, nudging him to rise.
-
Aaaaand, now he'd lost his chance to use one of those combat knives he had on him. He shoulda gone for that instead of punching the guy. He woulda got himself killed for it, but he'd have taken Ari with him at least. Maybe he could convince him to untie his hands so he could wash his face, go after him then.
"Hey hey hey." Riot lurched to his feet. He'd not had his arms tied behind him with a belt before. It made moving difficult. "Good thing you ain't a creepy fucker or anything," he muttered.
-
"Right? That'd just be awkward, being all tied up and helpless and alone with one of those. They could do so many terrible things to ya. Now then."
He sniffed, gingerly touching his aching nose. Now that that was taken care of, first thing's first--they both needed to get themselves cleaned up, because if he looked anything like Riot did now, they were fucking wrecks. He needed to save that uniform, too, before the blood ruined it; it was just what any buyer would want, a uniform with a big ol' bloodstain on it.
Turning his head to the side, he spat out some blood that had trickled into his mouth and pinched his nostrils closed. "Let's go. Ya gonna walk? Think you're able to do that? Got it all outta your system? 'Cause we're gonna head out, get our noses taken care of, and then we're gonna figure out what to do with ya. That gonna be too much for ya? Can I expect anymore spastic outbursts or uncontrollable limb flailin'?"
-
Grudgingly, Riot turned away from the sight of his poor, doomed ship. Didn't help totally—he could still hear them working, but it was better not bein able to see it. He could focus on other things now, like the feel of dried blood on his face and in his nose.
"Oh, you mean like, the flailin' I did when I smashed your face in? That kinda flailin'? You didn't like that?"
He'd go, in spite of his complaining. He wanted to get cleaned up as much as Ari did, and yeah—they both looked pretty bad, and felt even worse. Ari was all worried about his uniform bein' bloody, Riot was more concerned with how long he'd have to be in this place. Still no question he was gettin' out. It'd be more difficult without his ship functional, but he still figured he could take any one of them in a fight. He'd get out of here, eventually.
-
Ari turned and flashed Riot a grin, teeth bloody. "Yeah. Didn't figure ya had the 'nads. You're what, just outta high school? Wasn't sure your balls had even dropped yet."
He lead them out of the docking bay and through some doors, into the ship proper. His ship wasn't a particularly large one, but it wasn't small, either, and had room enough to hold several smaller personal vessels--though all the space had gone toward the cargo hold and docking bay while the living quarters suffered for it. But hey, this was a working vessel, not a luxury cruiser, and they stopped out around Cancer often enough, often for weeks at a time.
There was a washroom just beyond the docking bay, and Ari steered Riot into it. He headed toward the sink and beckoned Riot over. "C'mere. Let's getcha cleaned up."
-
"I'm twenty! Don't, like, talk about my balls, dude!"
Riot fell quiet while they moved through the ship. He was trying to fix as much of it in his head as he could. He might have to come back this way in a hurry later. Pretty big crew for the size of the ship. That'd be something he'd have to remember.
At least the washroom was bearably clean. "Soooo, you gonna like...take your belt off me so I can clean up or what there?"
-
"Nope," Ari answered, already splashing his own face and neck with water. He scrubbed at the crusted blood with his fingers, careful of his nose, and grabbed a wet paper towel so he could dab gingerly at the more sensitive bits. "Not until you can control your limbs. Besides, you don't need your hands. I have a pair that work just fine."
Finished up, he turned to Riot and motioned him closer. "You gonna be a good little bitchboy now?"
-
Gritting his teeth and not reacting when Ari called him a bitchboy again was one of the hardest things Riot had ever had to do. He wouldn't have, but this was too good of an opportunity, alone with Ari like this. Never knew when he'd find an opening, and he didn't want to get himself blindfolded on top of tied.
"Uh, like, no," he said, being all cooperative and joining Ari at the sink. "But I'll let you wash my face for me."
-
"Mm, I beg to differ," Ari said, reaching down and giving Riot's ass a squeeze. "I gotcha all tied up and you're being so obedient. Maybe I'll give ya a treat later if you're super extra good."
"Besides," he added, turning to wet another paper towel, "what am I supposed to call ya? It suits ya, and you respond to it so well."
-
It was too bad Ari was a punk pirate. Any other circumstance, and Riot might have found him pretty cool. The tats were awesome, not that he'd admit that to the pirate, and if the treat was Ari's dick, he'd pass on that.
"Just waiting for the next opportunity to break your nose. For the second time," he said. He wasn't ever going to let Ari forget that. Sullenly, as though he were giving away something, he said his name. "It's Riot, smartass. Now you don't got an excuse."
-
"Now, see, when you go and say things like that, that just makes me feel less inclined to untie you," Ari said, grabbing Riot by the hair and tugging him toward him so he could start dabbing at his face. He clicked his tongue like a chiding mother. "Subtlety ain't your strong suit, is it, bitchboy?"
-
"Hey! You can't, like, call me that after I smashed your face! That ain't how it works. No one's a bitch if they can fight!" Punk pirate didn't even know that. What was he gonna have to do, beat up some of his crew members to get this guy to stop finding him so hilarious? He was not adorable!
The cold water on his face made him all flinchy and squirmy. He liked the idea of being clean. He did not like the process of it.
-
"I can't?" Ari raised his eyebrows, feigning surprise. "Huh. Weird. Let's see...bitchboy, bitchboy, bitchboy. Yup, still works."
He worked a little slower than necessary, just because he rather enjoyed the squirmy-ness. After the big game the kid had talked--and kept talking even now--he was rather enjoying this. "Besides, when did I ever say I like my bitches placid? I like a little fight in 'em."
-
"You know what I mean, stop tryin' to be a smartass!" He tugged at the belt trapping his arms behind his back. He was gonna bust Ari's teeth in as soon as he got free!
"You done yet, this is taking like forever." He leaned over, crowding Ari so he could check himself out in the mirror. "Oh it needs a little more, keep going!"
He kept at the belt, trying to work it off and jerk his hands free.
-
"Better a smartass than a dumbass," Ari answered cheerfully, not at all minding when Riot crowded him. He wasn't the one with a personal space bubble.
Part of Ari wondered if he was being deliberately obtuse, if this was all just an act to throw him off, but he tried to follow that line of logic and wound up at a dead end. Nope, he had the feeling this was legit--which was all the better! He couldn't think of the last time he'd had such an entertaining captive.
He finished up and tossed the bloody rag into the trash, then suddenly took Riot by the shoulders, turned him around, and started to fix the belt. "Tsk tsk. You wouldn't be trying to get away, would you?"
-
"Well, duh. What the hell else would I be tryin' to do? You think I'm like on vacation here or somethin'?" Of course he was trying to get away! What a dumbass question. He'd keep trying until it worked.
"What're you doin there, chief?" Riot tensed. Ari was back there fiddling with the belt and as soon as he felt his chance, he'd take it.
-
Close as he was, he felt Riot tense. D'aaw. He was so serious about it, too. For all that Riot was a pretty decent fighter, for all that he'd taken him off guard that first time, apparently they'd both just been lucky there because damn if he wasn't being obvious. Was he even trying here?
Ari shrugged. "I dunno, you seem a pretty perceptive fellow to me." He tugged back on the belt to pull Riot up against him, then leaned in and pressed his lips to the side of his neck, up near his jaw. "You tell me. Three guesses."
-
He never did get his shot. Whatever Ari was doin' back there, he must have finished cuz he stopped all his fiddling or whatever and the like and pulled Riot close. Closer than Riot cared to be. Closer and with more intimate a touch than they should be considering they were mortal enemies and stuff.
"Uhhhhhh." He was supposed to be answering a question, but damned if it didn't fly right the hell out of his head.
-
"Bzzzt! Wrong." Lazily, he nibbled at the skin there, using just the slightest hint of teeth. "Two left. Don't strain yourself, kid."
With Riot frozen (wow, that had worked better than he'd thought, shut him up good), he quickly unclasped the buckle and readjusted the belt. Damn, kid had actually gotten it a little loose. That was no good, but he didn't plan on keeping him restrained with just a belt for long. It just needed to last until he got him to the other end of the ship because dammit, he wasn't getting his nose broken twice here!
As he started to finish it up, he gave Riot a harder bite and then sucked on the skin, hard enough to leave a nice little bruise for all to see later. What could he say? He liked branding what was his and he wanted him to have to deal with the comments.
-
"Two left...what am I guessing again?"
Before he could like gather all his thoughts again, he snorted laughter out of his nose and wiggled around to try and get away from Ari. Alright, so the bastard had managed to figure out that he was unbearably ticklish. Dang, that was soooo undignified.
"Stop, stop!" He rubbed his neck against his shoulder. It was still all tingly. "That ain't fair, dude! That ain't right!"
-
"Ahaha, whaaat?" Ari tightened his grip on Riot and burst into surprised laughter, because of all the reactions he'd anticipated, that had not been on the list. Hell, this was even better. "Are ya kiddin' me, mister squadron leader? Really? Man. Y'know, that's a mighty dangerous weakness to expose when you're all helpless like this. Some bad man might go and take advantage."
He buckled the belt, gave it an experimental tug, and then grinned at Riot. "'Cause see, now ya got me all curious. I think I wanna find what other places make ya squirm," he said, reaching down and giving Riot's side a squeeze.
-
"Yah, really, smartass, and you can't tell anybody! Hey—ahaha!" Riot danced away from him to get away from the tormenting hand and made his face all solemn. Or...as solemn as he could make it.
"Seriously! That is not cool!" This was serious godamn business! He'd earned his stars, he wasn't havin' any grubby pirate looking down on him cuz he happened to be a little over ticklish. Gods, he could not wait to get out of here. He tried the belt again, but it was on there pretty good. He'd work at it while Ari was taking wherever they were going—the brig, he assumed. He'd have to be more cautious about it this time, though. No more fooling around just cuz he was mad.
-
Ari barked a laugh. "Me? Spread your dirty little secret? Darlin', just what kind of pirate do ya take me for?" he asked, affecting innocence. He took Riot by the shoulders and turned him back around toward the door, then gave him a little push to get him walking out of the washroom.
"Real pirates blackmail. I'm not gonna go sharin' somethin' I can use against ya later. That takes all the fun outta it. So, the way I see it--" He slung an arm around Riot's shoulders so he could walk with him like they were old buddies heading home from a drink. "--your secret's totally safe with me."
-
Ohhh sure, here they were all buddy buddy, Ari's arm around him, just two lovebugs stuck to each other, driftin' through the air. Tshh, as if. The friendly song and dance was spoiled when Ari threatened him.
"I ain't tellin' you shit about Libra." Among the bad medicine they'd taught them to deal with was torture. He was really hopin' he would have to take torture for the team in order to protect Libra's secrets, not that he knew many. Squadron leader he was, not any general.
-
"Who said anything about Libra?" Ari asked in genuine confusion, then realization dawned and he laughed, squeezing Riot against him. "Ohh, I get it! You think I specifically targeted you as Libran military, don'tcha? That I wanna use ya to..." He trailed off, trying to think of something, and hit a wall.
"...Something. I dunno. What makes ya think I care about Libra?"
They were almost to his quarters, and just because he was so nice, he even planned on lending the guy some of his clothes. If Riot was nice about it, because he could just go naked and Ari would be fine and dandy with that. Either way, he was losing the uniform.
-
"Hell if I know, chief! I don't, like, know what goes on in a pirate's moldy head."
He had a decent map of the place in his mind now, and was fairly certain he could find his way back to he dock without any trouble. He'd also realized another good thing. Ari was going to have to undo that belt and let his arms free if he wanted to sell the uniform. The only other way to get it off would be to cut the arms off and then it wouldn't be worth nothin'. He still had the two combat knives on him. As soon as he had his hands free, he'd introduce them to Ari.
-
"Well let's, like, set the record straight. You were just, like, out there by your lonesome and it was, like, convenient. It's nothin' personal, ya understand."
He punched a panel on the wall and his door slid open, and he shoved Riot in ahead of him and shut the door behind them. "Alright, so I lied. We're gonna be getting very personal here."
Like the rest of the ship's living quarters, it was nothing fancy; he;d put all his money toward weapons and defense and paint jobs, but in other areas he just preferred simplicity and liked things uncomplicated, just like himself. It wasn't dirty but it could have been cleaner; it was well lived in and cluttered with books (yeah, yeah, so he liked the classics), magazines (mostly porn, it got lonely), random barbels, and a small fish tank in the corner fixed with exotic, colorful fish. It was a bitch to upkeep, but dammit, he liked it.
Ignoring Riot for the moment, he went for his closet and rummaged about. "Eh, it'll be big on ya, but it'll work. Though I oughta give ya nothing at all. Here I've been nothing if not a gracious host and you've gone and insulted me at every turn. How's that for gratitude?"
-
They were in a room. Like, a room room, with like a bed and like clothes and bedroom type stuff and a fish tank! Riot turned to Ari and said, "This ain't the brig."
Which was when he saw the pirate pawing through his clothes. Clothes he expected Riot to wear. "Aw, hell no. I gotta, like, wear your greasy old clothes? I bet they like totally smell."
-
"Ohhh, okay, there ya go again. See, I was under the impression you didn't wanna go naked. My mistake, partner. I'll respect your choice." Smiling, Ari chucked the clothes he'd picked out back into his closet. If Riot didn't want that, he could have nothing at all, because it wasn't like they carried extras here, and wasn't like he'd actually ever had to (or needed to) steal a prisoner's clothing.
"Now, let's get ya into something more comfortable," he said as he turned back to Riot, crossing the distance between them. He grabbed hold of the jumpsuit's zipper and gave it a firm downward tug.
-
Riot jumped back about a foot. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay like, back up, go back to start, cuz like I didn't know that those were like my only two options? Right? So, ahaha, like, I'll just wear the clothes."
The jumpsuit hung open about down to his abdomen now, exposing defined muscle without a hint of pudge anywhere. He'd always been thin and wiry, so he worked out to keep some meat on him, and it worked, mostly. He wasn't beefy or anything, but he'd always been dang proud of the definition he got.
-
Yep, he was gonna have a lot of fun with this one. Man, did he change his tune fast--but he sure as hell wasn't climbing out of the hole he'd dug. Ari shook his head ruefully and pressed a hand to his heart. "Oh, naw, I couldn't. I mean, they're all greasy and sweaty and old and what kind of host makes his guest wear rags?"
He closed in on Riot slowly, backing him toward the wall near his bed. "And I mean, now you've gone and made me all self-conscious about my wardrobe and besides, I'd just hate to make you uncomfortable." He punctuated that last sentence by shoving Riot back against the wall and snagging the zipper again.
"Now, ya wouldn't be hiding anything else on ya, wouldja?" he asked as he slid the zipper down lower. After the initial fucking with him, the actual getting him out of the suit was going to be interesting. The belt would have to come off and he wouldn't put it past the kid to try something stupid and desperate.
-
Holy space nuts. Shit just got real, and Ari was pushing his bluff hard. It had to be a bluff, all the grabbyness and biting his neck and talkin' about makin' him go around naked. The pirate was trying to weird him out and that was fine. He could take it.
What he didn't take kindly to was the shoving him around. If only his hands were free. This wasn't just about giving Ari two black eyes anymore.
"Not a thing," he said. There was a chance, however slim, that Ari wouldn't find one or both knives, especially if he knew nothing about Libran military standard issue equipment.
-
"Not a thing, huh?" Ari repeated, eying Riot skeptically. He grinned and tapped Riot lightly on the nose, quite aware that it would be tender as fuck. "Funny thing is, that was more a rhetorical question. Hold still."
While he didn't know a thing about the Libran military, he knew enough about the military in general to know it was never just a gun--and like hell he was gonna take the kid on his word. He started running his hands over Riot's body, his arms and sides and hips and outer and inner thighs and paused, patting at Riot's thigh. The suit was skin tight which made it really convenient (on several levels, so he'd been doing a lot of genuine feeling up there and a little more squeezing than necessary--sue him; he liked seeing him squirm), and what he'd at first thought were just zippers and pockets felt more stiff and less fleshy on one side than the other.
He drew the combat knife out and held it up for Riot to see, one eyebrow arched. "Yup. Nothin' here," he said, smacking the flat of the blade against his palm. "Whatcha doing with a thing like this? You could really hurt someone."
-
The pat down was too friendly. Ari was trying to freak him out and was nearly succeeding. Riot planted his feet and refused to move. He would not give in to the urge to turn his body away and retreat from Ari's hands. He could take whatever the pirate could dish out.
It was a damn, horrifying, dump truck shame about that knife. Riot's jaw dropped open. He boggled at it. "Oh my gods, there was like a knife in there! I had no idea! Crazy!"
-
"I know, right?! Wild! I better hold onto this for ya."
Ari gave Riot another quick pat down, just to check for anything he may have missed the first time, then straightened up again and gave Riot a thoughtful look. "So! I'm like, gonna untie ya? We gonna be good? You got all your spasming outta your system? 'Cause, I mean, I don't wanna take off the belt if you're gonna start flailing 'cause, well...knife. Wouldn't want ya to accidentally cut yourself, y'know?"
-
"Totally! I'm all done with like my spasming." Said with a near smile on his face, in spite of his jumpsuit hanging open, in spite of the pain shooting through his nose.
Who exactly were they supposed to be kidding here with this stuff. He knew he was going to make a play as soon as Ari took that belt off. Ari knew it. The only question was which one of them would walk out of here?
What Ari didn't know was that Riot had another knife in his boot, and in a knife fight with the pirate, Riot was betting on himself.
-
"Oh, good! Because, well, you really oughta see someone about that. It might be something serious."
Ari set the knife atop his bedside dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out his own gun. He flipped the safety off. Yeah, he trusted Riot about as much as Riot trusted him, knife or no knife; the kid was at least his equal in hand-to-hand, and Ari didn't like not having a serious edge. Turning Riot around to face his bed, he shoved him down onto it, front down, and pinned him with his hips pressed against him and a hand on the back of his neck. And if he shoved his nose against the mattress, well, that was totally accidental, of course.
"Because if it ends up that ya can't get it under control, I might startle, and I might do something we're both gonna regret. So let's just not, yeah?" And with that said, he started to undo the belt--if a little slowly and awkwardly and mostly one-handedly, with one hand still gripping the gun.
-
Play time was good and over now. A cold certainty has swept over Riot seeing that knife in Ari's hands. The gun was kinda the last word in this argument. If it was just the knife, he coulda gone for it, could have taken some risks. Would have, cuz he was just that confident he could take the guy.
But a gun, damn. If he misjudged, if he went for Ari at the wrong time, he wouldn't get a second chance. All this was in his mind as Ari shoved him down into the bed. He couldn't hold back a pained snarl as he nose collided with the mattress.
"Wouldn't want that," he muttered, turning his face to the side. Okay okay. The belt was coming off, and he had to be paying attention here. Could be he wouldn't get his chance, and now that Ari had a gun in his hand he was way okay with that. He wanted Ari to hurry up and pass him off to someone else who would take him to the brig—someone else who was less cautious and less armed.
-
"That's right," Ari said cheerfully, winding the belt free and letting it drop to the floor. He wouldn't be needing it anymore, thank gods; that was flimsy as all hell. "C'mon now, cowboy. Buck up, no pouting. It's not a good look on ya."
He clapped Riot on the shoulder, buddy-like, and stepped back to give him room--but he kept the gun leveled on him, pointed almost lazily at his torso. He gestured with it as he spoke. "Now if you'd be so kind, why don'tcha go ahead and slip outta that jumpsuit, hm?" It wasn't a request.
-
Riot was up as soon as he felt Ari's weight leave him. "Ain't that overkill?" he said, staring at the gun leveled at him. It wasn't overkill, it was smart, but he was trying to maybe get Ari to think he had nothing to worry about anymore. The less Ari thought of him, the easier this would be.
He stripped the jumpsuit off. Didn't have much of a choice now did he? He stood square in front of Ari, arms cross. If the pirate thought it would make him cringe to stand there in his underwear, well, he'd just gone and made the way wrong assumption. Before he got his stars, Riot had done a full on strip tease for the entire squadron on a dare. (He'd pretty much do anything if someone dared him.) He could stand here all day! Though he'd count it as lucky if he didn't have to. This had been an exciting little bit of danger, but he was ready for it to be over.
-
"Maybe," Ari said with a shrug, sweeping his eyes up and down Riot's body and making no effort to hide that he was checking him out. Aww, look at him, he was being all defiant. No matter! Body shy or not, Ari still got his fill of eye-candy. Kid was pretty built under there, gods bless military training regimens. "Or maybe I just like gunplay. Kinda a mix of both, really. Now hand it over, go on."
There was no way he was bending down to pick the jumpsuit up himself. That was just a good way to get kicked in the head and he wasn't going to feel good about this until the guy was restrained again, one way or the other.
As he waited for Riot to make his move, he crossed his free arm over his belly and cradled the opposite elbow in his hand, looking thoughtful. "So, Riot--sweet name, by the way, very fitting--I gotta say, you've put me in a real interesting position. See, I'm not quite sure what to do with ya. I mean, I could make some good money with a fit bitchboy like you, but I kinda like ya. You're fun. But I dunno where I'd keep ya--I mean, there's the brig, but how utterly barbaric, right? And then I'd have to feed ya and clothe ya and I just get no respect. It's a tough one, a real conundrum."
He tilted his head. "I dunno. Thoughts?"
-
When too many words started coming at him, Riot tuned 'em right out. That was sort of what was happening here, except he had no idea what the pirate was going on about. He was trying to confuse him, being all conversational! And it was working!
"Okay so like, look here homeslice," he said, tossing the jumpsuit at him—lightly, not in a way that might inspire Ari to think he was trying to pull something. "I like don't even know what the hell you just said—sellin' me and makin' me live in the brig or what, but yeah if you're offerin' to feed me then like let's go with that...but I don't even know if that's what you really meant! You talk too much, and my name is like way more awesome then Ari, so you're like right on target with that one."
-
Good to see the kid knew what really mattered and paid close attention when, y'know, he was being held captive by the enemy. Ari caught the jumpsuit and slung it over his shoulder. "Aww, yeah, let's go with that! Feeding you. Sure! If I get you dinner, I can screw ya in good conscience. So let's not worry your little head, darlin', and just let me deal with the details, okay? So!"
He motioned to his bed. "Go ahead and get comfy, eh? And I'll just, y'know, take this off to get cleaned, pick up some food--got any food allergies?"
-
From all that, Riot got that he was gonna be getting some food. He didn't know what the hell else Ari was talking about, but food was good. He supposed. Maybe they'd poison him. Which would be stupid since Ari could just shoot him but fuck if he knew what kind of went on in the gears of a pirate's head.
"Like, okay, soooo...what is this? Like, you nearly shoot me down, then you like dismantle my ship and now I'm supposed to hang out on your bed and you're gonna give me food?" What he thought was a pretty straightforward capture was starting to confuse the ever livin' out of him. Getting caught up by pirates, you figured you could rely on certain events happening. Getting beat up—which they covered—losing all your valuables, getting thrown into the brig, maybe ending up in a labor camp somewhere. Ari wasn't doing this right.
"Um, like, you aren't making sense here and—no, none—and like you're just gonna leave me in your room? What the shit?" If Ari left to get food, Riot was going for the clothes. Just because he wasn't embarrassed to be standing around in his underwear didn't mean he liked it.
-
Ari shot Riot a look of genuine confusion. "Yeees? There a problem? What doesn't make sense? You're my guest, kid. I'm not gonna starve ya, so relaaax."
Shrugging it off, he had turned toward the door as though to leave, but then he stopped short and smacked his forehead. "Oh, duh, I almost forgot! You know what, you're right, I can't just leave you there! Gosh, I'm just so absentminded sometimes."
Heading back to his dresser, he pulled a pair of handcuffs out and dangled them with a grin. The inside was lined, but the things were legit--he just didn't generally use them on prisoners. "Thanks for reminding me, champ! We don't want ya running off and getting yourself in trouble or anything." He snapped one end to the metal frame of his headboard and motioned Riot over. "Like I said, get comfy. Hope ya don't gotta pee."
-
"Gods, are you just like stupid or what? Like I'm really gonna guy that I'm like your guest. Don't know why you're trying to talk all nice to me—"
Ah cripes, there went his chance to get some clothes on. Had to give the pirate his cred—he wasn't dumb, no matter what Riot said to him. He was keeping a grip on that gun, too, hadn't set it down yet, not even for a second.
As soon as Riot saw the handcuffs he shook his head. "Uh uh."
No. Nope. He was not havin' himself cuffed to a bed by a piece of Ari's sex paraphernalia. That was just getting too far down a path that ended in the pirate actually screwing him, something that until now Riot hadn't actually considered to be in the realm of possibility.
-
Ari pulled the hammer of his gun back with an ominous click. "I wasn't asking."
It was an empty threat, but the threat was enough for most people. It was a frightening sound; Ari had been on the other end of it a couple times so hell, he could speak from experience. He gestured to the bed with his gun. "Don't dawdle, now. Hurry up. They're not even uncomfortable or anything, promise. I had 'em lined, even tested 'em out myself. It's cool."
-
Sometimes, only sometimes, this psychic bullshit came in handy. Riot eyed the gun, then looked back up at Ari. He folded his arms. "No."
He'd heard it from Ari's own head. Empty threat. Ari might shoot him for trying to get away or if he made a move against him, but not refusing those handcuffs.
His heart hammered away. It still fired up your nerves, facing a gun, even if you were sure—well, mostly sure—you weren't getting shot just then.
-
Ari's eyebrows rose in genuine surprise. He...hadn't really expected that. Alright, so maybe he'd take back his balls dropping comment--this kid had a pretty massive pair, and apparently a strong aversion against handcuffs out of everything he'd already done. Gosh.
"Pardon? Have I been unclear?" He glanced at the handcuffs and tilted his head. "Wrong color, maybe? Hot pink not your style? My sincere apologies."
He'd barely finished the sentence before he moved, while Riot's arms were folded. Grabbing the kid by the hair, he yanked him forward while he drove his knee hard into his belly. If Riot didn't want to cooperate after being given not one but two chances, more than most, then they'd just have to do things the quick and dirty way. Maybe it was a little brutal, but he preferred not giving people a chance to fight back.
-
He finally had this guy pegged. He wasn't gonna use that gun just over this! Without the imminent threat of bullet holes in him, Riot was feeling pretty good about his chances here.
Until Ari's knee connected with his stomach and all the air was driven out of him. He could take some hits, but Ari was a big guy and it nearly crumpled him. When he saw his boots right there, within reach, he sank down, let Ari think he had crumpled him with that blow. He snatched the knife from his boot and swept it upward, at Ari's forearm, counting on the cut to break Ari's hold on his hair. At the same time he made a move to surge forward, nice up close and personal with Ari, so that he'd have to turn the gun toward himself to get a shot in.
-
Bloody FUCKNUTS how many knives did he have ON him?!
The knife slashed his arm and he gave a hiss of pain, reflexively releasing Riot's hair--and he immediately knew that was a mistake, because Riot wasn't done and he was getting the distinct impression that he was trying to kill him. Thank gods he was right-handed, his left hand free, because as Riot surged up he caught his knife hand in his own and strained against him. Didn't have time to avoid it or block it, not completely, not with the force of Riot's body behind the move; he felt the knife get him in the side, slicing flesh but not vitals.
"Fuckin' idiot!" Ari didn't bother with a bullet. He brought the gun down against Riot's head.
-
He'd lost and he knew it. He knew it as soon as Ari stopped that knife. Riot was good at hand-to-hand, but so was Ari, and the pirate had strength and weight on him. It was over.
The blow to the head brought him down, and he lay on the ground moving slightly, an occasional groan escaping from his mouth as he hovered between waking and unconsciousness.
-
When it was over, Ari stared down at Riot and let out a long sigh. "Now I'm the bad guy."
Blood was dripping down his arm and soaking through his shirt and the tops of his pants and, wincing, he lifted his shirt to inspect the side wound. It wasn't that bad; he'd had worse. Still hurt like a mother and he'd need to get sewn up, goddammit, which freaked him out more than the actual cutting did. Oh well. Not thinking about that until he got there.
Wincing and biting back curses, he stooped down and scooped Riot up, heaved him onto the bed, and snapped the cuff around the kid's right wrist. Then he stripped off his own shirt and pressed it against his side to control the bleeding.
"Well, sweet dreams, I guess," he said, pausing to examine Riot's head. Then he turned and left, shutting the door behind him.
-
Riot was alone when he woke up. Alone and hurting. And cuffed to the bed, damnit. He moved his head to look around and immediately regretted it. There was blood on the floor.
He seemed to remember he'd just missed his mark with the knife. He remembered the soft resistance as it sank into flesh. But Ari had obviously come out on top or he wouldn't be here his head swimming. His other knife lay on the bedside table, just out of reach. He could have tried for it, but what would he do with it if he reached it? Even moving made the world turn in circles.
-
Ari returned sometime later, patched up and bandaged up. Now that the adrenaline had died down he was walking a little stiffly, side aching even after he'd popped a couple painkillers. Alright. So. It seemed he'd given the kid too little credit. Broken nose? Check. Sliced side? Check. Cut arm? Check. It was the longest list of wounds in the shortest amount of time that he'd collected in a long while, but he and his medic had given him hell. Risky bedroom behavior, indeed.
He paused when he noticed that Riot was awake and smiled. "Oh, look who's up. Here, I brought ya somethin'." He held up a bottle of water and plopped it onto the bed next to him, then fished a bottle out of his pocket and tossed it to him. It was a painkiller. "Figured you might need it."
-
Riot watched Ari closely. He'd stabbed they guy, and that was the kind of thing that might make some men vengeful.
Or, in this case, charitable.
So they were back to the buddy buddy bit again. He did not get Ari. Why would you give painkillers to someone who'd try to kill you? Riot sad up, wincing and awkward. He caught the painkillers with his free hand. "Yeah..."
It was Ari's arena now more than ever. He couldn't do much else but pop a couple of the pills and just...wait. Wait for Ari to decide what to do with him, what happened next. It would be a good while before he was up to making another play for freedom. Then there were the handcuffs. That did sort of hamper his ability to get the hell out of here.
-
"That's a good boy. Oh, by the way, hope ya don't mind but I did a full cavity search while ya were out. Ya kept poppin' knives from who the fuck knows where so I had to be sure. Ya understand. So if it feels a little funky..."
He hadn't really--been too busy bleeding anyway--but one had to have a sense of humor even in times like these, right? Heading over to the connecting bathroom, he grabbed a wet towel, tossed it onto the ground, and mopped up the drying blood splatters with his foot. Then he went for his closet to grab a new pair of pants--for himself, Riot wasn't getting nothin'.
-
Riot felt his face screw up into something half dismay, half disbelief. What the hell did you even like say to something like that?!
"It...it was in my boot! It was your fault for not checking!"
Did he feel funny? Oh gods...maybe he did. Did he? It could be just the blow to the head, right?
He twisted around to watch Ari. He wasn't really keen on letting the man out of his sight just then. Sure he was talkin' all friendly again and stuff, but Riot had stabbed him. You didn't just forget something like that.
-
"That's funny, I recall asking and ya were all, 'don't got a thing on me!' And then ya go and stab me. That wasn't very nice. Then I had to knock ya out and go get stitches and I hate needles and just, no fun all around." Ari stared at Riot, expression serious, and then laughed at his expression.
"Aww, don't look like that, darlin'. I used a glove."
Stripping out of his pants and tossing them to the ground, he added them to the growing pile that needed to get treated for bloodstains. He wasn't as worried about that shit, though; he'd taken the uniform off to get taken care of while Riot was out, but the other stuff was replaceable. He slipped into another pair of pants and then hopped up onto the bed to join Riot--immediately regretting it when his wide twinged and took his breath away, making him wince.
"Man. It's almost like ya were tryin' to kill me or something."
-
So now what, they were just gonna hang out on his bed? Gods! This was so confusing. He'd just stabbed a man, and now they were sitting in bed together. It sounded like some kooky dream.
"Uh, duh I was trying to kill you. I'm trying to get away! That's like what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to like hide weapons from you and try to stab you. And weren't you supposed to bring food?"
His head was clearing by the minute. Now instead of dizziness and nausea, it just hurt. Food was good for pain.
-
"Ohhh, is that how it works? Well, shoot! I've just been doing it wrong right from the start, haven't I?" Ari said, looking shocked. "So you're supposed to run and try to kill me and I'm, what? Supposed to try and find you and...?"
He tapped his chin, looking deep in thought, and then snapped his fingers. "Darn. Y'know, the pirate manual they hand out to all pirates upon taking up a life of crime, it never really did cover this part. So I'm supposed to get you food and...?"
-
"I know there's no manual smartass! And like I just said it cuz you said you'd bring some. Y'know what? Don't bring any. What do you barnacles eat anyway like...worms and like garbage and stuff? No thank you."
-
"Awww, you called me a barnacle," Ari said with a bright smile, scooting over to give Riot a hug. The pain in his side was so worth it. "Must be 'cause I'm so stuck on you."
-
"It's not like a compliment!" All he could really do with the handcuffs and all was try and squirm away, but it wasn't like there was any place for him to go.
"Like barnacles are pests! They like suck onto any piece of driftwood like floating its way around! It's not good to be a barnacle you wanna be like a fish or a shark or somethin'."
-
"Oh yeah, huh?" Ari turned so they were sitting side-by-side, though he kept one arm wrapped around Riot's shoulders. Absently, lazily, he stroked Riot's chest as he spoke. "I'll suck your driftwood."
-
"No, nope, nooooo." Riot scooted away and sat on the edge of the bed to get away from Ari and his pawing. That knife was still on the side table, well out of his reach, but he was not forgetting about it.
-
"Hm? What's the problem, girlfriend?" Ari asked, and moved behind Riot so he could wrap his arms loosely around his neck, resting his weight against him. "I mean, you're really giving me mixed signals here, talking about sucking and wood and then you're suddenly all frigid and I just don't know where I stand with you anymore."
-
"Oh my gods! Like take a hint!" He retreated further still, untangling himself from Ari's arms and now standing next to the bed, as far away as he could reach. How long was this like going to go on? He'd been here for awhile, and Ari was just like...he didn't even know. Just funning with him and calling him stupid names, probably to try and make him mad.
-
"I did." Reaching out, Ari hooked his fingers in the waistband of Riot's underwear and tugged lightly, trying to pull him back over. "I mean, here you are, basically naked and handcuffed to my bed. What's a guy supposed to think?"
-
"Uh, yeah, okay like you handcuffed me." Ari had also made him strip at gunpoint so that was his fault too. Come to think of it, where was that gun?
He brushed Ari's hand away and stayed where he was. If he could have gotten even further away he would have. Apart from the punching and the clobbering—both of which Riot himself had instigated—Ari wasn't that scary of a pirate. That scary part, he guessed, would come later when they tried to shuffle him off to some labor camp. Not that they'd get the chance, because he was so getting off of this can opener. Just as soon as he figured out how to get out of this room.
-
"And that changes my question how?" Ari asked, sprawling out onto his belly and wrapping his arms around Riot's waist. He tugged him back against the bed. "It's okay, darlin'. I can read between the lines, get the subtle hints, spot the subtext. I know ya want me. I knew the moment ya first penetrated me, used me as your sheath. I know it, you know it, so why deny this feelin'?"
Okay, so not even he really knew what he was saying anymore, but the kid was fun to fuck with. Whether he was fun to fuck, well, he was hoping to find that out, too.
-
"What? Uhhh, no I don't." Man, there was nothing nearby that he could hit this guy with, not even a nice blunt object that he could introduce to Ari's head. He could only put his hands on Ari's shoulders and lock his arms to keep as much distance between them as possible. The pirate was just talkin' all kinds of nonsense now. He could be joking, he could be serious, and Riot had no idea which was true. He didn't know what the point of all this was either. What kind of pirate captured a guy, brought him to his bedroom of all places and then made these lame sex puns?
-
"Ya don't deny it? I knew you'd come around!" Sitting up abruptly, Ari swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood--a bit too quickly. His side tweaked out and he just about doubled over, grimacing. Looked like it was time for another dose and goddammit, why did it have to be there? He was way too damned active for this, he'd end up opening the damned stitches up, he just knew it.
Patting his side, he straightened up--slowly. "Welp, I feel cleansed. All that uncertainty was just killin' me. And y'know, generally I'd celebrate by like dinner or something, but someone was all insistent I didn't so there goes that plan. Ah well, we can just cuddle instead."
-
"Riiiight. Yeah, great." Now that was rewarding, seeing the pirate hurting like that. That wound would be with him awhile. If luck was on Riot's side, it wouldn't be the last hole he put in Ari.
Since all the pirate wanted to do was talk a whole lot of nonsense, Riot stopped listening and started looking around the room for anything that might help him get out of here. This was going nowhere. Apparently they were just gonna chat all the way to their destination—wherever that was. And lucky him, he got to stand around in his underwear the whole time. And why? Because the stupid pirate thought it was hi-fuckin'-larious. What a clown.
-
Riot didn't get much time to look around. Since he was being just so agreeable, Ari wrapped his arms around the pilot's waist and crushed him to his bare chest, forcing their mouths together in a bruising kiss. After all, he hadn't said no--not that he'd really give two shits if he did.
-
Riot tensed, gasped, and went for the wound in Ari's side, fumbling for it at first then digging a finger into it.
-
"FUCK!"
Ari shoved Riot away from him and let out a barrage of curses, hand clapped to his side and doubled over in pain. Yep, painkiller wasn't helping that any and--fuck it all, the fucker had broken some stitches! He felt blood wetting his hand and let out another stream of curses, because on top of that he had to deal with the fucking needles again shit this day sucked.
When the pain finally went back down to a bearable level, he leveled a glare at Riot. "We really need a safe word," he got out through grit teeth. "And you? Ya better figure out how you're gonna apologize when I get back."
Turning, he stiffly exited, slamming the door behind him as he went.
-
Riot fell back against the end table. Ari was doubled over. A knee to the face would end it, shatter his nose, lay him out and Riot could probably get him on the ground, maybe snap his neck—
—and he'd still be handcuffed to the bed, except now he would have killed their captain. He really needed to like think these things through before he did stuff like this.
For the second time the pirate left the room and Riot was—once again—alone. He sighed. Might as well make use of the bed again. No sense just standing there when he didn't know how long Ari would be gone. He had to be in for it now.
-
It was several hours before Ari returned, just to let Riot stew. Besides, on top of getting fucking stitches he had to take care of captain-type duties, check out how the dismantling was coming, stuff like that. That little move had been just too much; even Ari had limits. Get punched in the face? Okay, his bad and to be expected. Get knifed? Well, he probably should have been more careful after the punching and strip-searched him before he carted him off. But that? Adding salt (or rather, a fucking finger) to the wound? Uncool.
So Riot could deal for a while and if he was lucky, he'd fret about his fate. Or have to pee really bad by now. Whichever. Either way, it saved them both from Ari doing something they'd both regret. He liked Riot, hence the time out to get his head on straight before he knocked teeth down his fucking throat.
He shoved the door open and flung it shut behind him, letting it slam. Then he crossed the room back toward the bed and paused beside it, arms crossed. "Well?"
-
Riot was sprawled across the entire bed, sleeping with his mouth hanging open. The door slam jolted him awake, but did nothing to get his head clear. He blinked up at Ari, uncomprehending.
-
Ari drummed the fingers of one hand against his arm and arched an eyebrow, scowling. This...was not really how he saw this going. He was expecting, you know, a little more anxiety.
"Well?" he repeated. "Have we thought about what we've done?"
-
"Yeah," Riot muttered, but he was just saying it to be agreeable. He didn't know what Ari was talking about. "Hey, let me go pee." It had been hours. Ari was lucky he hadn't pissed all over his floor.
-
"Hmm, lemme think, no. You can hold it 'til ya tell me how you're gonna apologize," Ari answered, standing his ground. If the kid pissed his bed, he'd be sleeping in it.
-
Riot sat up, stretched. He looked around. "Lemme go or I'm like peeing all over your end table."
This wasn't a gods-be-damned negotiation. He needed to pee. He was peeing in the next twenty seconds whether Ari let him go or not.
-
"Ahaha, um, no. You're not," Ari said, though a flicker of anxiety struck him and his scowl faltered. Goddamn, but after everything else, he really wouldn't put it past the kid to actually do it. "You do that and you're cleanin' it. So keep it in your pants and just answer the damned question."
-
"Can't clean it," he said, standing up and giving his back a good crack. "Can't reach it."
Ooh, yeah, how do you like that Mr. Pirate Man? Handcuffing prisoners to your bed has like some like unexpected logistical dilemmas and shit don't it?
"Lookit, chief. This is like an act of nature right here. I can't stop it, and like talkin' about is makin' it like even worse. The dam's breaking in like ten or so seconds so you better think of a solution."
And if Ari tried to stop him, he was peeing on him.
-
Ari was realizing now that he hadn't really thought this one through. And now, instead of triumphant smugness, he was starting to get that awful sinking feeling he got whenever one of his brilliant plans bit him in the ass. But it wasn't too late! He could improvise. He hadn't gotten to this station by being unable to think on his feet.
He'd also never held a captive quite like this one, someone not only gutsy as fuck but with the training and skill to back it up. Maybe the brig wasn't a terrible idea after all; he was still pissed off about that last stunt and maybe a couple nights sleeping on a cold metal floor would do him good. For that, he'd need help; he wasn't in any shape right now to fight him if he decided to do anything while Riot, on the other hand, seemed to be in pretty good shape aside from the broken nose and a bump on his head Then again, if he had a concussion, Ari probably wouldn't have been able to tell; his normal setting was ditzy enough.
He held up his hands, grimacing. "Fine, just...just hold it a sec."
He already felt grossed out even as he fished a beer bottle off of his computer desk. Unfortunately, Riot left him with few options. Un-cuff him, and he was sure he'd lash out; it was obvious he was hurting, despite the painkillers and his own best efforts to hide it. Making a face, he passed it over to Riot.
"Y'know, none of this would be necessary if we could just, I dunno, trust each other a little."
-
"Really?" Riot wasn't a hundred percent on this bottle plan. "Blegh. Thanks the gods I don't have to like go number two, eh?"
He would eventually, but they'd flush that toilet when they came to it.
He turned around to preserve his modesty while he peed into the bottle. Peein' was way different than just hangin' around in his underwear. He totally didn't care about Ari seein' him in his skivvies but you couldn't respect a guy after watching him pee into an empty bear bottle, which was especially awkward to do with a hand cuffed to the headboard.
"Pffft. I wouldn't trust a pirate as far as I could fling ya. Uhh." He held the bottle out, unsure what to do with it and really wanting some sort of...towelette or something.
-
"Don't even joke about that. Ugh."
Sure, wasn't like he'd never used a urinal in a public place or what-the-fuck ever. That was fine. There were unspoken man-rules and man-codes in place there that made sense and were right and everyone understood it so it worked, but this was just wrong. This was his bedroom by his bed. And Riot had caught him on short notice here. Of course, that had also been his fault for leaving so long, but shit. Uh, hopefully not shit. Right, yeah, he was getting him out of here.
Ari turned his back and decided to feed his fish while Riot...took care of business. When Riot spoke, he snorted. "And that's why ya don't get to use the big kid's bathroom. Ya done yet--oh, gods, what?"
He'd turned to find the kid holding it out to him. And it wasn't like he could toss it himself. Ari stared, expression a mask of horrified disgust. "Uhhh..." No way.
-
"Well?! I'm getting tired of holding this thing! What do you want me to do with it?" He wasn't close to any kind of flat surface. Couldn't reach the end table—Ari had made sure of that. His option right now was the floor and he didn't want this bottle at his feet.
-
Ari fixed Riot with a silent glower. Well, he didn't want him deciding to just spill it and so, cringing--because oh gods it was warm augh, augh, augh!--he took it from Riot, quickly headed out to dispose of it, and prayed he wouldn't run into anyone along the way. That would be awkward.
When he returned, after washing and thoroughly disinfecting his hands, it was with a wet towel and a small bottle of hand sanitizer. He held both out to Riot. "You're lucky you're cute, bitchboy."
-
This time, Riot laughed at the name. He had done some thinking while Ari was away. He'd been thinking that the pirate was mostly talk. Apart from giving him a good slug in the stomach and fighting back when Riot went for him, he hadn't done a whole lot. Waved a gun around, sure, but Riot had put a hole in the poor guy—then dug his fingers into that hole—and Ari's answer to that had been what? To run away for hours.
He was beginning to think the pirate didn't know what he was doing.
"Thanks!" He snagged the towels and hand sanitizer, grinning. Talk about service! He had this guy picking up his pee bottles and fetching toiletries for him.
-
Ari waited patiently for Riot to clean up, and only smiled brightly when Riot cheerfully accepted the toiletries. But he wasn't pleased with this. At all. Ari tolerated a lot of shit. He was patient to a fault, especially when he perceived something as his own fault.
He'd misjudged Riot; maybe he was genuinely air-headed, but there was a soldier in there and Ari had not been approaching this situation ready to deal with a soldier. He'd let his guard down and he'd bled for it. Alright, first time had been exhilarating (if horrifying; he could have torn one of his piercings and those were expensive!), second time had been...not so fun. But the third? That crossed lines.
Now he was in pain, the guy was acting all smug, and he was pissed.
"No problem, champ!" he answered with a smile, and wandered to his bedside table, drawing the handcuff keys out of the drawer and twirling them in his fingers. He headed behind the headboard and leaned his arms on the frame, waiting for Riot to finish. "Can't say I never did anything for ya."
-
What was this now? The handcuff key making an appearance, hm? Well, it was only a matter of time 'til he ended up in the brig for his shenanigans. He'd gotten a good few hours of sleep in a real bed, and that was pretty cool considering his circumstance.
"We headin' out?"
It was about time. He'd stand a much better chance of getting out of here without Ari around. The pirate was too cautious, but his groupies might not be.
-
"We sure are!" Ari answered cheerfully. "Now sit down a sec. I ain't gonna have ya punchin' me--or stickin' fingers in holes not meant for things being stuck in 'em."
-
This time, Riot did like he was told and for once didn't intend on giving Ari a hard time. He was finally—finally!—getting out of here. Getting out of this room was the best chance he'd had of cutting loose since they grabbed him.
-
Something, some gut feeling, told Ari that it would be okay, that Riot wasn't going to fight this. He didn't know what it was, but it must have been some instinct and he trusted his instincts. That or it was just massive overconfidence, but he liked to think he was just intuitive. His instincts were pretty alright by him; he was still alive, after all.
He turned the key and unlocked the cuff chaining Riot to the bed. Then he moved Riot's arms behind his back and cuffed his free hand. Tilting his head, he looked Riot over, taking him all in. "Now there's a pretty sight. Only thing missin' is your underwear ain't missin'. Yet."
[ooc: lolol if this doesn't make sense I edit in the morning. >__> because it makes sense rn but who knows what i really wrote, might've just written watermelon cantaloupe over and over again and it just looks like a post in my head.]
-
"Uhh, we're..." No no. This wasn't quite right. He was handcuffed more now, and Ari was doing his ineffectual creepster act again. "Soooooo I'm like still attached to the bed here. Get me outta here. Do I gotta like wail on ya some more?"
-
"What? You're chained to the bed? Oh snaps, no way! That's terrible!" Ari gasped, settling onto the bed beside him. He stretched out, opened the bedside drawer, and dropped the key inside. "Man, I'd help, but I need a key and I seem to have lost mine. Damn. Guess we'll just have to entertain ourselves 'til help arrives."
Leaning over, he wrapped an arm around Riot's waist and moved in to nip at his ear. "Ya oughta be more careful, anyway. People might get ideas."
He had plenty, himself. After what the kid had put him through? He had a lot of pent up, angry energy that needed a place to go and it was a matter of pride now. Riot was his. And the kid didn't seem to fully grasp that.
-
"Uh, no. I'm not chained to the bed. These are handcuffs." He rattled them. This guy was such an unbearable jackass! He needed to cut the sarcasm and now before Riot totally just barfed all over him.
"Tsk, there ya go again!" Riot jerked his head away and scooted as far away from Ari as he could—about two inches or so with the cuffs on him. "Quit bein' like such a maaaaajor creepster and just like let me outta here. Gods! This is like so lame."
How long had he even been here? It must have been several hours cuz he fell asleep and felt pretty rested. That, and he'd saved up quite a lot of pee.
-
"Handcuffs? Wow, I better not. Helpin' criminals is against the law and shit," Ari said, ignoring him. When Riot jerked his head away, he wound a hand in the kid's hair and tugged him back, wrenching him around to face him and holding him in place. "Where do ya think you're goin', anyway? A theme park?"
He pulled Riot in for another hard kiss and his hand tightened in Riot's hair to pull at his scalp, right at the point where he'd struck him with the gun.
-
"Criminals—what? What what? Theme park—"
He yelled as his head splintered into pain. He had nothing but his legs to fight back with, but that was okay. Ari had left one of his most vulnerable areas open for attack. Riot twisted his legs around, got a good angle, and kneed him in the groin.
-
That did it. That was it. That was the last straw.
Ari yelled in pain and doubled over--but not before he'd punched Riot in his already broken nose. That was no accident. He wanted to make him hurt now, didn't care if it would make his bed bloody, and he followed it up with another hard blow to the gut, striking the places he'd hit earlier, places he knew would still be sensitive.
-
Riot yelled again and curled up around the pain. Blood splattered from his face onto the sheets. He wanted to shove Ari away and did, felt the force of it just as if he'd used his arms but he knew what it was. Telekinesis, weak but hard enough to budge the pirate, like a weak push. Even with his eyes squeezed shut Riot could feel it. He couldn't have stopped it.
-
Ari gasped in surprise and had to throw out a hand to catch his balance, other hand cupping his groin and hoping nothing was busted. Something had pushed against him, something almost physical, and with the both of them curled up and Riot's eyes clenched shut. There was no way he could have touched him. Maybe it was his imagination, but...
When he could finally speak again, he managed to choke out, "The fuck was that?" It came out as air more than words. Alright, maybe he wasn't quite up for talking just yet.
-
"That was you getting what you deserved, asshole!" Riot lashed a foot out, a halfhearted kick at the pirate. He groaned into the pillow. "Gods, ow. You got me all bloody again."
-
"Ain't what I'm talkin' about," Ari growled, blocking Riot's foot. "The other thing." He couldn't articulate his thoughts very well right now. He was still too preoccupied about the condition of his 'nads.
-
"What?" Riot said. He knew what Ari was talking about, but it was believable enough he figured he could play it off as something else. Wasn't like that one time he made that fire dance. That woulda been hard to explain.
He sniffed and used the sheet to catch the bleeding, and if Ari complained about it then tough nuts. This was his doin'.
-
Ari stared at Riot, eyes narrowed in suspicion. It could have been that he'd lost his balance, but he'd felt it, whatever it was, against his skin as tangibly as a hand yet not quite physical--and Riot had no hands free and he'd been curled up when it happened. Riot was lying. He knew what was going on.
That thought struck him as clearly and certainly as the knowledge that Riot wouldn't fight back when he adjusted his handcuffs. Right then, he didn't think to question it, in too much pain to do any deep thinking and in no mood to try. He went with it instead, his patience finally fraying. Now he just wanted answers.
"Bullshit." Straightening up, he grabbed the knife off the table and slid it under Riot's chin. "Talk."
-
He only noticed it just then, a closeness between he and Ari. Like body heat coming off someone standing too close to you. They were too close. He kept bridging the space between their minds. Riot squeezed his eyes shut and tried to put distance between them, but he was too unpracticed to know if it was working. It was like when you saw something stark and lined in your peripheral vision, but look directly at it and you lose it. In examining it, he lost it. In noticing the connection he lost the ability to distinguish it from his normal, isolated state.
When he opened his eyes again, his own knife was laid against his throat.
Ari was good—intimidating—but Riot had been faking it for years. He'd stood in a drill line with his own squad leader pacing the floor in front of them and denied denied denied. How was he supposed to know how that fire spread? Shrug, roll eyes.
He sniffed and rubbed his face against the sheet again. "You're goin' crazy, dude."
-
Moving closer, bridging the physical distance between them, Ari grabbed another handful of the kid's hair and yanked him upright so he'd stop using his sheets as a tissue. He held him there, hand still in his hair, and pulled his head back to expose the vulnerable line of his throat.
"Sane enough to know you're lyin'. Things just ain't addin' up. Ya knew my name, buddy. That raised flags, y'know, but I could let that slide. But kid? I'm gonna get answers here, one way or another, and I'd prefer the less invasive way."
To emphasize that, he pressed the knife closer until it drew a shallow red line in Riot's flesh.
-
Riot scrambled up with his legs until he was sitting up, until the weight of his upper body no longer hung from the hand gripping his hair. He looked Ari in the eye, no longer pretending, and let his silence speak for him. This was one secret he was taking to the grave—even if that grave was right here in this bed.
He shook with excess energy that had no outlet, and worried at what outlet it would find with his hands bound. He tried to watch his own mind but it was like trying to watch out for a muscle spasm and cold sweat beaded his temples with the effort.
-
Silence fell between them, and for a long moment Ari didn't speak, just returned his gaze and waited--and felt, for the first time, a little respect for the kid. Here he was facing down death unflinching. In one quick motion, it could all be over--and he had no way of knowing Ari wouldn't do it.
Finally, Ari laughed and withdrew the knife, shaking his head. "You're one stupid motherfucker," he said with a grin. "Woulda been easier this way. But alright, fine, we'll do it your way, and I can guarantee you'll like it even less."
Turning, he rose to his feet with a wince, and it was a bit of an effort to straighten up completely. Fucker. "Looks like we're makin' a pit stop on Earth."
-
Riot enjoyed a few moments of relief—and only a few moments, cuz Ari's next words had him feeling like the ground just dropped out from underneath him.
"Why Earth?" he said, afraid that he knew the answer, and far more afraid of it than he had been of the knife.
-
Ari gave Riot a lazy smile, stretching his arms over his head and arching his back until it popped. "Why ya wanna know?"
-
Riot's heart raced a little. Did Ari know? Why would they be going to earth, a difficult place for pirates even in good times, and not the first choice for anyone looking to sell someone. "Why?" he said again, shifting, uneasy.
-
"Oh, just some deals that gotta go down, precious cargo I gotta deliver, stuff like that." Ari raised an eyebrow and gave Riot a wry look. "Why so nervous, buddy?"
-
Riot swallowed. His mouth had gone dry. They scanned everyone going into Earth space for psionics. He didn't know how or how effective it was, but they scanned for it the way security scanned for drugs or weapons—diligently, thoroughly.
He didn't even know what to say—if there was anything to say that wouldn't give him away. There were a lot of reasons a Libran soldier wouldn't want to go near Earth, and not a one of them sounded believable in his head.
-
Ari clapped Riot on the shoulder, friendly-like. "What? Never been to Earth before? It'll be fiiine, this baby can handle entry like a champ. And hey, Aedolis has like the best brothels. We'll have a blast."
-
"Heh." Riot felt trapped in a way he hadn't yet being on this ship. He'd had no real sense of urgency before. Sure, there was the vague threat of a labor camp somewhere down the line, but that would have to be after days, maybe weeks of travel, and he'd be out by then.
-
Blinking, Ari looked over at Riot and tilted his head. "Hey...you don't look so hot," he said, and moved closer so he could peer down at him. "What's wrong, darlin'? Not feelin' well?"
-
He had to take one long deep breath to keep himself from telling Ari to go get fucked. The pirate was messing with him now, and not in the way he had been before. He had to get out of here for reals now. Failing that...he had to convince Ari not to take him anywhere near Earth and he hadn't the damndest how to go about doin' that.
"Well ya hit me again," he muttered, sniffing. He tried to monitor his own thoughts but it was hard. How did you keep from thinking things? Bein' all anxious wasn't helping. That always made it worse. Actually anything that had him not really paying attention to the moment just made it more likely the psychic shit would come prancing out.
-
"Mm, did I? Oh yeah, you did, too. And ya stabbed me. But right, about that, ya made an awfully big mess here so let's getcha cleaned up and comfy, yeah? And ya wanted food anyway, right?"
Ari ruffled Riot's hair playfully. Maybe it was all just a crazy coincidence, maybe he was way off the mark, but he had a feeling he had Riot right where he wanted him, saw probably the first real signs of fear in the kid. It was only a matter of time before he cracked--and he wanted to hear it from his own mouth.
-
"Haha yeah. Crazy stuff." It was like...way hard to process much of what Ari was saying. Riot was millions of miles away just then.
"I mean...yeah, food. Sure." He jerked his head out from under Ari's hand, pissed off and dying of worry at the same time. Ari was bullshitting him, and he knew that, but he wanted to believe otherwise enough that he really hoped he was wrong. Maybe he was. Maybe Ari hadn't figured it out and he'd be able to get away before they reached Earth. Right.
-
"Sweet! So, ya got any special dietary needs or allergies I should know about?" Ari asked, fetching the key again and freeing Riot from the bed, though he made sure to keep Riot's hands cuffed behind his back. The kid kind of had a history and Ari was kind of done with getting hit. Didn't feel like there was a space left that didn't hurt.
Gods, he was way too nice.
-
"No," he said, and even though he poured all the scorn and attitude he could into that one word, he let Ari re-cuff him without a struggle—unless you counted dirty looks as a struggle. He didn't even know what he was supposed to be doing now. Fighting, resisting, cooperating? What would keep him away from Earth? It wasn't just about getting back to Libra anymore.
-
"Good! Because you'd be sorta S-O-L otherwise. C'mon, now." Ari pat Riot on the cheek and turned toward his door. Riot could fight and kick and shit when he was bound, he could get his own damned ass up off the bed.
"And if ya need another potty break, better say so now! The bottle thing? I love ya, man, but we're so never doing that again, just so ya know."
-
Sour frown on his face, Riot started for the door—and stopped dead just short of it. He was about to walk out of here in his underwear, handcuffed—with pink-lined bondage cuffs no less—and with blood drying on his face. Yeah, no.
"Uhhhh, like...clothes? At least?"
-
Ari flashed Riot an inquisitive look, eyebrows raised in mock confusion. "Yeah? What about 'em?"
-
"Cloooothes?" he said. "Like the kind you wear? The kind I'm not wearing right now and should be?"
Considering the threat Ari had just leveled against him, he restated that last part. "The kind I'd like to be." There. That was almost a request.
-
"Ohhh! Clothes!" Ari said, snapping his fingers as though finally catching on. "Ya mean the kind ya rejected when I offered? Those clothes?"
-
Riot's shoulders hunched just the barest amount. "Those kind."
-
"Right! I remember those clothes. What about 'em?" Yeah, Ari was not letting Riot out of that hole. He turned and started for the door again, opening it.
-
Ugh, he was going to have to say it. He did, and he said it with his best yeah-I-stole-the-cookie-but-ain't-I-cute smile. The one where he looked up at Ari, head tilted, just a hint of sheepishness there. "I'd like them."
-
Ari tilted his head in confusion. "You'd like them...what? On you? If they danced? If they were a creamier white?" He stood with the door held open for Riot, making no move to go fetch him those clothes. "I'm not quite sure what you're gettin' at, buddy. Ya might wanna complete your conditional clause, there."
-
"Do what with my what? Anyway I want like some clothes to wear." He'd been following up to that last part. He'd been following because he knew Ari was having fun at his expense. Then he had to go show off how smart he was and stuff, jerkass pirate.
-
"Yeeeah...? And I want a harem of supermodels and a couple million bucks. What's your point?"
-
"Clothes," he said. "That is my point, gods. Stupidass, just give me some pants!"
-
"Hey, I ain't no psychic!" Ari said, holding up his hands in a pacifying gesture. "Ya gotta tell me whatcha want. Aaand...see, when ya use hurtful language like that, that just...it doesn't really make me want to, y'know? So no. Get out here."
-
Riot flinched. Barely, a quick and small spasm of the face and shoulders, but gods damn him. That word. Ari knew. He knew, and now where did that put Riot?
Possibly just to be difficult, because he hated to give in to Ari even now, Riot wrapped his hands around the door jamb behind him and shook his head vigorously.
-
Ari gave Riot a flat look and placed a hand on his hip. Riot didn't want to come, huh? He let out a dramatic sigh. "Riot, buddy 'ol pal, wanna like...think about what you're doin' for a sec and maybe why that's not the best idea?"
-
"Umm." Riot pursed his lips, annoyed to have to question his own knee jerk reaction. Okay, okay. Fine. He knew it was a bad idea. Because it wouldn't get him anything except a few moments of pride at his own defiance. And because Ari would probably hit him again.
He didn't want to give in! It was like...worse than embarrassment letting go of that door frame. But he did it. He hated it and he did it.
-
Whoa, Ari didn't actually expect him to do it. But hey, that was a bonus! It wasn't that Ari didn't love a good tussle, it was just that, truth be told...he kind of didn't want to fight right now. He was doing a good job of not showing it, if he did say so himself, but he was tired. And sore. And cranky. And this day hadn't really gone the way he'd planned. (When was getting stabbed and kneed in the groin and his nose busted ever in his plans?) Just walking straight right now was challenge enough.
"There's a good little bitchboy," Ari said with a smile, petting Riot on the head. "Now see? Was that so hard? C'mon now, let's go score some food and let ya meet the crew proper, eh?"
-
Riot planted his feet, then went to backpedal into the room as fast as he could. "Whoa, nooooo. Abort abort, no way, I ain't meetin' anybody like this. Uh uh."
Life was funny. All he'd wanted for the past few hours was to get out of Ari's room. Now all he wanted was to get back into it.
-
"Eh?" Ari stared at Riot like he'd gone nuts on him. "What's the problem? Feel under-dressed or somethin'? Dude, we're real casual people here. We don't got uniforms. Ya look fiiine."
Marching after Riot, he caught him under one arm. "Relax, lover. They're real nice people."
-
"I'm not your lover! I wanna go back! At least let me wash the blood of my face!" He pulled against him, but it was mostly a one-sided tug-o-war.
-
"Oh right! The blood. Guess I got so used to that look on ya," Ari said, lightly touching Riot's face where the blood was smeared. "But I can see how that'd be kinda...yeah. Alright, alright." That was one request he could grant. Because it was kind of gross. Bloody hell, but his bed looked like someone had been slaughtered in it, eugh.
He turned Riot toward the bathroom and gave his ass a slap to get him moving. "You're so messy. Let ya in my room and the first thing ya do is tear it up."
-
Riot whirled around, walking backwards so he could give Ari a big, prickly piece of his mind. "Yeah, you can like keep your hands off my ass now, chief. You are not authorized for handling the merchandise."
-
Ari's eyebrows rose and the look he gave Riot was half amused, half annoyed. "Oh?"
He shoved Riot backwards into the bathroom and pinned him against the sink, hands on either side of Riot to grip the sink's edge and keep him there. He'd learned his lesson about Riot's legs earlier and so he solved that issue by forcing himself between them, hips pressing against Riot.
"Kid, you're mine. I can pretty much do whatever I want with ya. Ya gonna stop me?"
-
His days of not taking Ari seriously were looooong behind him with the threat of Earth looming over his head like this meteor just waiting to crash down on him. There wasn't damn thing he could do except refuse to back down. He wasn't gonna shy away, oh no. Ari could crowd him all he wanted, he wasn't gonna cringe back from him.
"I could," he said, standing up just about as tall as he could. Didn't do much good, Ari still had a few inches on him. "If I wasn't cuffed." Ari should know the only reason he wasn't on the ground right now was cuz of those handcuffs. It wasn't cuz Riot was his. It was physical limitation only.
-
"But ya are," Ari said, reaching up with one hand to cup Riot's chin, thumb moving over his bottom lip. "The question wasn't 'ya gonna stop me if you're not cuffed', it's...can ya stop me now? And so far, bucko, even uncuffed...ya haven't yet."
-
"But I could," he said again, stubborn. It was like an important distinction! And the only one he really had on his side right now. He shifted about with the gnawing need to get himself out of Ari's hands, but he would not go begging this guy to stop, either with or without words.
A psychic could stop him. Telekinesis, telepathy, pyrokinesis...all of which he had. If he were a real psychic—all trained up like those Aedolis Pilots—he could get out of here easy.
Stop it! Stop that! His own thoughts scared him more than Ari did. He couldn't go visiting possibilities like that. Never, not ever! It wasn't a possibility. He was never intentionally using that stuff.
-
"Mhmm. I'm sure ya could," Ari said, winding his hand in Riot's hair, not tightly like he had before when he'd been trying to hurt him, and careful to avoid the place where he'd hit him. "Fat lotta good that does ya now."
It was the fight that drew him to Riot. Kid just didn't give up and went down swinging to the end, fearless (nah, probably just plain stubborn, maybe too stubborn to be afraid) to the point of foolishness. It was an admirable trait. And as far as secrets went? He was tight.
Really, it was a trait he could use in his own crew, and if Riot was what he heavily suspected him to be? Well, shit, he could seriously use that, too.
But he couldn't really use that if he didn't know what Riot could do. So far, there had just been that shove and he'd figured out his name. Ari wasn't sure how it worked. If he was psychic, could he pick up thoughts at will? Or was it just random? Could he choose? Hell, was he listening in on him right now?
Pulling Riot's head back, Ari trailed lazy kisses down his neck, pausing to give the cut he'd received more attention. And while he did it, he started to think up the most debauched thoughts he could, namely all the things that could be done with a pole and some handcuffs and all of them ending with Riot beneath him.
-
Crapcrackers, Ari was kissing on him again and his face and neck was all gross. Not just gross but gross with nose-blood, which probably had some snot mixed in with it. The slice in his throat stung, made him twitchy. "Uh huh. But you admit I could, though." Hey, it was all he had now. He jerked at the damn cuffs and did his best to push away from the sink, get Ari out from between his legs.
Out of nowhere he got these...images popping up in his mind of he and Ari. They made even him flush, and he'd done some crazy shit in his teens (that little problem with dares and his inability to turn them down). If he got visibly flustered here he'd just die. Ari would have way too much fun at his expense, too. He glared at Ari, narrow-eyed, a little embarrassed, a little horribly fascinated, and a hundred percent sure that this wasn't coming from him.
I could bite him. Sure, he could, but let's think about this. He'd get some powerful satisfaction out of it—and not much else. Even the satisfaction wouldn't mean much when Ari was smashing his head into the bathroom mirror.
-
"Sure, sure, ya could," Ari said, just to humor him, before going back to exploring his skin, salt and copper mixing on his tongue. The blood didn't bother him. He'd seen enough of it in his day and besides, he was pretty damned adventurous in the bedroom. (And outside it.) Bloodplay was one of his many kinks. Usually nothing extreme, but a little biting here, a little clawing there, hey, it happened when things got rough.
And right now, in the heat of things, he kind of wasn't thinking about its source.
Ari paused over Riot's pulse point and pulled lightly at his skin with his teeth, grinning. He could feel his heart there, feel the heat of his skin, and he was perfectly content to go right along with that line of thought--and send more thoughts Riot's way. "Someone's excited," he said, lifting his head to get a better look at Riot's face. The combination of pissed and embarrassed and roughed the hell up? Kind of adorable.
"D'aaaw. Are ya blushin', darlin'? And I haven't even done anything yet. But," he said, moving his hands to Riot's chest while he ground their hips together, pressing Riot against the sink, "ya can bet I will."
-
Damn right he could. Yeah!
"Am not," he said. He totally was blushing, but he'd kinda been counting on his a little tan-like skin tone to hide it. Apparently it hadn't so thanks for nothing, skin. Gods. The problem with trying not to think about something was that you couldn't stop thinking about that one thing! Even if Ari wasn't letting this stuff roll through his mind, Riot still would have been doomed. It was rolling through his mind now and he couldn't stop thinking of where they mind end up if he didn't stop this.
How sweet would it be to call Ari's bluff? Pretty damn sweet, but see there was like this one little, teeny part of him that worried maybe all of Ari's pawing and all the wild images he was thinking weren't a bluff at all. "Oh you liked that, huh? Well I hope you know what you just put your mouth on, buckie. Nose-blood, that's what. Probably like has snot in it. You just put your mouth on snot."
Nothing ruined the mood like snot talk, right? Right.
-
Yep. Nothing turned ya on more that snot talk.
And Ari? Totally hadn't been thinking about that right then.
He was right in the middle of kissing on Riot's collarbone when the kid said what was probably one of the single most unsexy things he'd ever heard in the middle of things getting hot and heavy. One of 'em, because he was not counting that one time with that chick who was like blackout drunk and what happened then, because it never happened or several of his other unfortunate sexcapades. Snot. Snot. His tongue was on Riot's skin, on the blood--nose-blood--when he said that, and Ari froze.
Now that he stopped and thought about it? Wow, that was kind of fuckin' disgusting. He was lapping up a nose-bleed.
Ari made a sound in his throat that was half snort, half gag, and jerked his head up, quite aware that the metallic flavor was coating his tongue. He jabbed a finger at Riot's check and glared. "You? Are gross."
He made a face. Yep. Blood in his mouth, and it was probably his imagination (or just saliva) but it felt mucus-y. Shit. Spit or swallow?
Leaning around Riot, he spat into the sink.
-
Riot could practically see the fun die out of Ari's eyes. That? Well that was pretty fun to watch right there. This guy was too easy. Just say snot at him and he crumpled. "I'm gross? You're the snot lover!"
May not be good to rub it in, but he couldn't help himself and Ari freakin' deserved it.
-
"Oh, shut up," Ari said with a scowl, reaching for a towel, wetting it, and wiping at Riot's face and neck with it. "The way ya run your mouth, I bet half of it ran in there."
He needed a subject change, STAT, or he was gonna gag again. There were a lot of things he could do and handle but certain bodily fluids were just...no. No. He dabbed at Riot's chin. "Anyway, like ya got room to talk. Someone's still all blushy."
-
"It's my snot, so it's not nearly as bad. Plus, if it did, it was like unintentional. I don't like go licking up other people's snot like you. Sicko." If he just kept saying snot, Ari was sure to forget any thoughts of kissing and groping and the other activities those might lead to.
Riot did good and stayed where he was so Ari could clean him up. He'd gotten what he wanted out of this. He was getting his face washed off and he'd gotten Ari off him. Points for Riot!
"Am not! It's just like hot in here."
-
As Riot spoke, Ari's scowl deepened and he lifted the hand towel and eyed Riot as though considering shoving it into his mouth. He did finally cover Riot's mouth with it as he wiped away some trace remains of blood, holding it in place when he was done. "I said stop that. And really, champ, it's not hot in here. Trust me."
As he said it, he flicked a meaningful glance down at Riot's chest and then looked back up at him, arching an eyebrow. "I got AC."
-
"Mmph nfmph." No matter which way Riot turned his head, he couldn't get his mouth free. He glared At Ari over the towel.
-
Ari grinned. Hey, that worked a lot better than he figured and he used that moment to collect his thoughts. Holding a hand behind his ear, he leaned in toward Riot. "Wha? Huh? What's that I hear? Why, it's the sweet sound of nothin'. Awesome. Seriously, kid, don't make me gag ya. 'Cause I will, and then I'll be sad, 'cause I kinda like hearin' my partners, y'know?"
He let out a sigh and removed the towel, but he still didn't move. Dammit, he finally gets between the guy's legs--and goddamn but he'd had an easier time with tight-legged virgins!--and then...that happens and things just got awkward. Yet after all that, he didn't really feel inclined to move. He was grossed out, sure, but also tired of Riot calling the shots here.
That thought struck him abruptly and he paused, eying Riot again, eyes narrowed slightly.
-
He should bite him just for being such a smartass all the time. Making fun of him, making threats, playing like he could tell Riot what to do. The only people who could tell him to shut up were his superiors. Period, end of story.
He spoke up the second the towel went away. "You already, like, cuffed me, chief, okay? You don't get to like tell me I can't talk either. I didn't ask to be here, okay? This is like your party so don't get pissy at me for like calling attention to your snot fetish. I'll talk if I wanna talk, that's what's up. And you know what else? It's about time you like stop farting around and feed me. Chop, chop Maxy, I'm gettin' hungry."
-
Riot had barely finished speaking before Ari had him by the hair, yanking hard and capturing Riot's mouth with his own, counting on the pain to make him cry out, to open his mouth to his as he roughly invaded it. Little bitch really did think he was in charge here, wasn't taking him seriously at all beyond that one threat and worse? He'd let him, because he found it fucking funny--and it was until bitchboy let it go to his head and starting making him bleed.
His side was starting to hurt again, as well as his arm, the painkillers wearing off, but he didn't care right then. Because that shit? Was stopping.
Reaching down, hands moving over Riot's hips and lower back, he slipped his hands under the waistband of his underwear and gripped his ass, forcing their hips together roughly.
-
Cry out he did, to curse at Ari, but the pirate's mouth closed on his before he could get anything out. He couldn't even tear his head away with Ari's hand in his hair, though he tried. He couldn't shove him off with his hands cuffed behind his back, though he tried that too. He growled wordless sounds of protest into Ari's mouth. They turned into a surprised yelp—totally wussy, unforgivable—at Ari's bare hand on his ass and their hips forced together.
He may have finally pushed the pirate over the edge here.
-
Riot's struggles did nothing, but that didn't mean Ari didn't like it, loved how he fought even now--and it made him want to take him all the more, feel him struggle and writhe beneath him, hear what kind of interesting sounds he'd make when he was inside him. He forced his tongue--pierced like much of the rest of him--into his mouth when Riot yelped and started to tug his underwear down. Yeah, not so big and tough now, huh?
He broke the kiss as he reached between them to grasp Riot's cock, done with the games now. "You don't call the shots here, bitchboy," he growled, leaning in to bite the side of his neck, just hard enough to bruise.
-
Just where the hell had this come from? He'd said way worse things without getting Ari this pissed!
Be cool! It's cool! He'd talked himself out of it before, he could do it again. Sure, this time was more intense. He had the taste of metal and Ari in his mouth and—
—and there went his underwear. The blood rushed to his face. He was pretty much naked now, pressed flush against Ari's fully clothed body. Worse, his skin all over was flushed at all the forceful kissing, the heat of Ari's body on him, all the things he would usually find not so bad if Ari weren't a greasy pirate.
He jumped at Ari's hand closing around his cock, but thank the gods he could talk again. "Ahh! Snot! Mucus! Throw up! Don't you call me that, toolbag!" There was absolutely nowhere to go, but he tried to go there anyway, wiggling, thrashing, leaning away from Ari.
-
Ari twitched when Riot starting rattling off grossness, but this time it was less with revulsion and more with silent laughter. It was just kind of funny now--and his timing was off. Might work when he was in the middle of licking up a nose-bleed, but now it just sounded like the kid had tourette's.
Didn't help that Riot was still trying to tell him what to do, or that the effect was lost with Riot all flushed and squirmy.
He shut Riot up again with another bruising kiss, biting at his bottom lip and pulling lightly at it with his teeth. Nuh uh. He wasn't letting Riot out of this again, not this time, not so easily. It had all clicked into place--didn't even have to click because Riot said as much himself--and he was not about to let Riot go on thinking that this was just some game. Right now, Riot was his; his pain, his pleasure, his life, he controlled it and it was time to drive that point home.
"Yeah, I don't care," he said when he broke the kiss, hand still working over Riot's cock, other hand sliding up to pinch one nipple, trying to coax him to arousal. He leaned in and caught Riot's earlobe with his teeth. "'Cause I'm gonna fuck ya. Right here. And I'm gonna make ya watch."
There was a mirror just behind Riot, over the sink, and he fully intended on using it.
-
Come on, this guy's not so tough. Ari'd made a pass at him before and he'd put a stop to it. The pirate pretended to be soooo badass, but look at how easy it had been to get him off track all those other times.
Just don't panic yet. Difficult advice to follow with the edge of the sink crushing into his spine and Ari's hands on him. Even worse? The pirate's efforts were working. Oh gods...that made him want to curl up and die right here. There was no bluffing or lying or talking his way around that fact.
He squirmed, didn't stop even though there was no point to it. The struggling was the point. He couldn't just stand still and take it. He started reaching for something, anything, to get Ari's mind away from anywhere sexy. Hey, it worked before, right? All he had to do was be gross enough! Or annoying enough! Thank the gods he was skilled in both. "I have syphilis! And gonorrhea! And that one with the sores that eat your dick! You better watch out!"
-
"Yeah? Huh. Funny. I don't feel any sores," Ari said, glancing down between them as though humoring him and making sure. "But if I see any I'll be sure to say 'hi'. Speakin' of watchin'..."
He let go of Riot then, but only so he could turn him around to face the sink. Then he was on him again, pressing him against the sink's edge with one hand working his cock, his other hand cupping Riot's chin and forcing his head up so he had a good view of himself in the mirror. Riot couldn't really deny his own response when it was staring him in the face and Ari rather appreciated the view himself. Kid looked adorable like that, mortified yet fighting all the way.
"I wanna watch ya when ya take it," he said, shifting his hand a little so he could force his fingers into Riot's mouth, "so ya better get suckin'."
-
"No really! I have all of them! All of the disease!" He didn't know the names of any others besides syphilis and gonorrhea, but he could make some up! Or could have, if Ari hadn't interrupted him by whipped him around.
This was a bad position, head forced up so he couldn't help but look at them in that mirror, himself naked and backed against Ari. It fired up a mess of arousal and fury in him. His own reflection mesmerized him for a moment—he had a few disconnected seconds where it didn't feel like himself, didn't feel like this was really happening. Like he was apart and watching it take place.
"I have all those diseases so you better watch out—" Ari's fingers slid into his mouth, cut him off. This guy was like a different person. There was no badgering him away. When, exactly, had they gone from cracking insults at each other to this?
He quailed inside—a little, just enough to disgust himself—as he sensed for the first time the inevitability of this. He looked death at Ari's reflection, and jerked his head around to try and get the fingers out of his mouth.
-
"Uh huh, really?" Ari said, non-committal. "All of the diseases, huh? Wow, you're lookin' pretty good for someone who's got all of the diseases. Don'tcha worry, darlin'. I got condoms." Hey, never hurt to be prepared. Never knew when something would come up!
His eyes never left Riot's as he worked his fingers in his mouth, getting his fingers nice and wet--and enjoying the sight and the silence for a little while, moving his hand as Riot moved, not letting him get away so easy. He'd have to put the kid's mouth to work later when he was sure he wouldn't just bite his dick off, because that was one pretty sight.
"Ya look so cute like this," Ari said, dipping down to work his lips along the back of his neck. "All flushed and squirmin' and just beggin' to get fucked like the bitch ya are." He slipped his fingers out of Riot's mouth and pressed them between his legs, working one inside him. Would've been nice to have lube but that was all the way back by his bed and someone had made things difficult back there.
Riot could just suck it up.
-
Just on the edges of his extremely stunted perception, Riot felt whips of telekinesis lash out and snap back before they could touch anything. They were whispy, half-formed things, too choked to do anything but alarm him, but the alarm was enough. They were born of his anger, which was mostly aimed at Ari, because he knew they were in some sort of twisted contest here—Ari trying to arouse him, Riot trying to prove that Ari couldn't.
"I hope you're happy!" He said it the second the fingers left his mouth. "You're getting the dick-eating sore disease—aah..."
He wasn't ready for the intrusion, too tense for it. His body tried to draw away from it but of course there was nowhere to go.
"You're getting it right now!" His voice had this high note of desperation and panic in it that made him sound both younger and more fragile than he really was. He had to get that shit under control. The psychic sparklers always jumped out when his emotions were high.
-
"Oh, too late, guess I got it," Ari said, shivering when he heard the desperate note Riot's voice took on. It wasn't really about the sex right now; he could get sex whenever he wanted it, no problem. It was about the control, about proving Riot wrong, about reminding him that his life was his and he could do whatever he wanted with him--and would. Hearing the defiance change to panic, watching the anger mix with arousal, it was a small victory for him.
He was in charge here, and no one could push him around anymore.
"No point in stoppin' now I'm infected, so relax, darlin', or this'll be uncomfortable," he added, pushing another finger inside and then another, stretching him so he wouldn't hurt him, especially tense as he was--because at this point, he was past caring about Riot's comfort. Earlier, he would have been gentler, but Riot had brought this on himself.
-
It wasn't about the sex. On that, Riot could agree. It was just sex, and he didn't mind sex—he tried to have it when possible, with pretty much whoever showed interest. He would even have gone for Ari if he weren't a barnacle pirate.
No, no. It was the smartass attitude and Ari's insistence that Riot was his that prickled him. It was him acting like Riot didn't have a say in this, and gods be damned but he should have. They'd taken his ship, taken his freedom, and now Ari was gonna fuck him and he didn't get to say a damn thing about it—sorta literally couldn't say a thing. He had a galactic fuckton of words for Ari, but a groan choked them all off. He couldn't talk around the discomfort and the side-effect arousal and just the overpowering feel of Ari spreading him. His head dropped, body curling as the sound escaped him. He knew he should be trying to relax himself but that was just impossible. It would go easier for him if he could—he'd done this before, he knew the drill, and at this point, as much as he bristled to admit it, Ari was gonna have him and he couldn't stop it.
-
"That's it," Ari said, and for the moment he even let Riot lower his head. But not for long. He wanted Riot to see himself when he was taken, and he wanted to watch for himself. Watching was half the fun.
And if Riot wasn't properly relaxed, well, that was his problem now. Ari worked him for a little longer before he finally slid his fingers free. "Hmm? What? Nothin' else to say, huh?" he asked as he fished around in his back pocket and pulled out a condom, ripping the package open with his teeth. Hey, who knows, maybe the kid did have something? He wasn't really worried; he'd done a shit-ton of riskier activities than this and licked up Riot's blood, but hey. Half the point was to rub it in Riot's face.
It didn't take long to get it on, less time to get his jeans undone, and he didn't give Riot much warning after that. Fisting his hand in Riot's hair and jerking his head back up, he pressed inside him, groaning at the sensation. "Fuck..."
-
Riot was silent for the few more moments that Ari worked in him, and silent after as well, a resentful backbiting on all the things he wanted to say. In the little bit of time he had, he concentrated instead on trying to relax his body. He wanted to get through this as painlessly as possible now.
It wasn't easy. He was tense, and not just because of Ari back there. He had to watch his own head, too. Try and watch for anything that might jump out. When he was mindful of it, it was fine. It was like...when you noticed your breathing you could control it, but forget about it and it would just go on its own. That was what the psychic stuff was like most of the time. Forget about it and it spasmed and did things itself.
Riot gasped at that first pressure against him, tensed for a moment then forced himself to loosen up—or tried to. That first entry hurt but not as much as he'd feared. Always vocal in bed, he moaned and yelped at every movement.
It would have felt like a weakness to close his eyes to the reflection. He just unfocused them, locking on a point in the air somewhere in front of the mirror. His eyes were hooded, lips parted and shaping the noises that came out of him. He couldn't stop his eyes from sliding up to meet Ari's—he didn't know why. Defiance maybe, to prove he wasn't afraid to look Ari in the face, even now.
-
It wasn't long before Ari had fallen into a hard, steady rhythm, loving the sounds he was drawing out of Riot and wanting more of it. It shouldn't have surprised him that Mister Mouthy would be loud here, too, but he'd half-expected him to stay tight-lipped, half expected to actually have to work to get anything out of him, so this was a pleasant change. It was a little mesmerizing, too, watching Riot in the mirror, watching the anger turn lustful--and Ari made it no secret that he was a voyeur. When their eyes met he flashed him a wicked smile. Yeah, look who came out on top here, huh? Literally and figuratively.
Hand sliding out of his hair, he let it travel down his chest and belly and took hold of his cock again so he could pump him in time to his thrusts. His other hand gripped his hip hard, fingers digging in until his nails indented his skin, forcing him to move against him as well as he could.
"That's my little bitchboy," he said, voice a breathy growl, leaning in to breathe the words into Riot's ear. "Takin' it like a champ. Ya love this, don'tcha? Hardly even fought it, now you're moanin' like the little slut ya are." Yeah, alright, so he wanted to gloat a little. And part of him just wanted to see if he could get him pissed again. He bit the side of his neck, hard enough to leave a bruise.
"Almost think ya made me mad just so I'd finally fuck ya."
-
Surprise, surprise—Ari wasn't being charitable with the pace he set. It was harsh, and drove anything else out of mind until—finally—he began to adjust to it. The pain of that initial entry lessened, and with its absence he started getting harder in Ari's hand—not hard hard, but he was getting there.
Ari was getting off on all the noise he was making, too. He knew just how he'd come by that certainty and knew just as well that he didn't care just then. He was glad to know it and clammed up, or gave it his best effort, clenching his teeth together, biting down on his bottom lip, bearing down on any noise that wanted to come out of his mouth. It didn't work real good, only some.
Ari bit his neck and he hissed. "What are you like a vampire? Take these cuffs off me and see how much of your bitch I really am," he growled. Hard to sound tough with Ari's thrusts wavering and jostling his voice, with a few syllables wanting to trail out into a gasp.
-
"Mm, only on the weekends," Ari answered, and pulled out nearly all the way so he could slam back into Riot roughly. "And you're not in any position to be demandin' shit, bitchboy."
Hey, he'd learned his lesson. He was keeping the damned cuffs on until Riot could behave like a reasonable human being, however long that took. Besides, he wasn't gonna lie--it was damned hot. There was just something about seeing such a strong, willful person made helpless under him...
Letting go of Riot's hip, he caught his chin again, turned his head, and leaned in to catch his mouth with his own, forcing his tongue past his lips. Kid was clamming up, which was a damned shame when he made such pretty noises--but he was determined to get more out of him. And he would, one way or another.
"Maybe I'll letcha go if ya tell me how much ya love it."
-
He had something to say to that little quip, and it was utterly lost. Ari drove into him hard, forced a moan out of him that was half pain and half arousal. The two were getting hopelessly mixed up together, and he hopelessly losing this fight.
He shut his mouth again. Goading Ari with jabs at his bravery wasn't working, but he hadn't expected it to. It was just something to say, because he had to say something. Like looking in the mirror, it was a pride thing. He had to try, even if the trying did no good.
Metal in his mouth again, Ari's tongue and its piercing. "Tch," he said, words forced out between each thrust. "You wouldn't...either. I'm not...saying that."
Like he'd believe that. He wasn't the crispiest pickle in the jar, but he wasn't that dumb.
-
"But it's true, ain't it?" Ari said, breathing becoming quicker, harsher, his hand working over Riot faster as he felt him respond. "The body don't lie, darlin'. Ya love this. Wanted it. Practically begged for it, and you're beggin' for it now."
And in Ari's mind, it was true; Riot hadn't said no, hadn't said stop, had only thrown out ridiculous excuses. So he'd struggled a little and tried to get away? Didn't mean shit besides he was a Libran and Ari was a pirate and he was probably just one of those types that had to at least put up the pretense of a fight. Wouldn't do to just roll over and spread your legs for the enemy, right? But in the end, he had him and he hadn't once denied a thing Ari said.
It was as good as consent.
He tangled his hand in his hair again and jerked his head back up. "Say it."
-
The words coming out of Ari's mouth just then were so ridiculous, so outside of reality, that Riot gave him a look in the mirror. The kind you give to the wingnuts who wander around talking to themselves, a sort of disbelieving sneer, a recoil and a glance that said Are you for real, dude?
He grunted, his head jerked back again, but he was getting some of his swagger back, even now. The shock of Ari's avalanche ruthlessness intimidated it out of him for a time, but he could never stay quiet for long, even in fear, even in a situation like this.
"Tcha! As if." So now Ari was crazy, on top of everything else, if he thought there was any way in the seven hells that Riot was saying that.
Layered upon all else, infused, surrounding, were Ari's thoughts in his head. He couldn't deny that's what they were, now, and he couldn't get them out, not with the overpowering physicality of the moment keeping him so rooted in sensation, unable to get to that level where he could interact with his own head. Ari believed what he said. Like Riot would have chosen for this. Just who was out of touch here?
-
Ari could feel his own orgasm building, caught up in the power trip, and he had to take a deep, shaky breath and slow down. He settled into a gentler pace, steady but not so brutal as he tried to get himself back under control, focusing more on Riot's responses than his own. Wouldn't do to get off yet when that wasn't really the point--an end goal, sure, but not the point he was making. He was the one with the power here, and it wouldn't stop until he made Riot come.
"Ya will," he said, nibbling along his ear. Maybe not this time, but eventually. There was not a doubt in his mind.
Pulling back abruptly, Ari forced Riot around to face him and lifted him up before he could recover, settling him onto the sink's counter. The mirror had lost its novelty--it was more for Riot than for himself--and now he wanted to see him. It couldn't have been very comfortable for Riot but Ari didn't care, arms supporting the bulk of Riot's weight as he drove into him again from a new angle, groaning in pleasure.
The fight was coming back, the defiance that made this all so exciting, and he watched Riot as he took him, watching the expressions play out across his face. It was both fascinating and arousing and he knew right then and there that this one was a keeper.
-
Wheeled about, hauled upward, Riot grunted and blinked at Ari. He preferred the mirror, that filtered reality. Now it was just he and Ari, face to face. No hiding anything when Ari slid into him again. His eyes fluttered shut, his breath stilled then spilled out in a moan.
It hit him just how silly this was. Kinda absurd and unreal. Here they were, warring against each other, Ari wanting to get him off—pretty much looking to pleasure him, and he trying to resist it. Made no kinda sense, any way he looked at it. He got the whys. It was a pride thing, for him at least, but he didn't have to keep making this so easy for Ari.
He managed something that just fell short of a smirk. "You're not...that good." He spoke now between hard breaths, looking Ari in the eye. He was going to lose this, sure. They both knew that. The cuffs, the control Ari had over him, it was powerfully arousing, heady. Didn't mean he was ready to let Ari think he'd won. "Gotta...try harder."
-
Through the pleasure another sensation started to trickle through, a dull ache in his side, a throbbing in his arm where Riot was pressed against him, mostly lost in the moment but still there. He knew what it was, but it was easy to ignore with Riot's moans and labored breaths filling his ears and his body surrounding him. Right now, he really didn't care.
Riot's demand only earned him a wry smile. "I knew I'd have ya moanin' for more."
And he was more than willing to give it to him, half amused that he was being bossy even now, despite that having been what landed him here to begin with, and half aroused by it. What could he say? It was the spark that drew him to Riot to begin with. Kid didn't know when to quit--hell, Ari sure didn't want him to quit!--and he'd admit he enjoyed it when people told him what they wanted.
He was close, but he knew Riot was too and right then he didn't question how. Riot had said harder so he slammed into him then, shoving him back against the mirror, his hands lifting Riot's legs up and around his waist to support him as he took up a relentless pace. "Gonna come for me, bitchboy?" he growled, one hand sliding up Riot's thigh, nails dragging over his skin, before he grasped his cock again, working over him as he pounded into him. "You're so hard, bet you're just achin' for it. Don't hold back for me."
He didn't give Riot a chance to answer, instead leaning in and capturing his lips in a bruising kiss.
-
Ari was feeling his injuries. His thoughts of them filtered through to Riot, made him notice the ache in his head, his face, his stomach. He had to agree with Ari on this. He didn't care about all that right now.
"Think you can get me there—aah! Shit..." Unexpected, Ari thrust into him hard, fast. He was brutal, even more than before, and Riot couldn't keep his mouth shut. He abandoned his resolve to keep quiet—it was too much. He got his hands on the faucet and used it to support his weight. Impossibly, without even realizing it, he was working with Ari now, to bring them both to the end of this.
"You gonna...go down on me next? That'll really show me." Trying to make light of it, trying to show Ari he wouldn't be shamed by this, but his voice was all breathy, and then he just couldn't talk anymore at all. Not with Ari slamming into him again and again. He lost all anger, all shame in those moments. He came, tearing his mouth away from Ari to throw his head back against the mirror, something like a scream and a moan coming out of him.
-
Thank gods, because Ari wasn't sure he'd be able to last much longer. It was stupid, sure, but Riot wasn't alone--it was a matter of pride and nothing more.
And when Riot came, it was havoc on his senses, far too much. The sight of him arching in as he finally lost himself, the sounds he made, the feeling of him tightening around him--it sent him over the edge. Ari shuddered and buried his face against Riot's neck so he could muffle his groan against his skin. It hurt, the pressure against his nose sending an unexpected blaze of pain through his face that made him gasp--he'd almost forgotten about that--but it was lost to all the other sensations as he rode his orgasm out.
Finally he stilled, leaning against Riot as a sense of boneless contentment came over him, breath coming fast and short as his body tried to normalize and a light sheen of sweat on his skin--and other things on his belly and hand. After a moment, he pushed off of Riot and looked him over, a slow, tired, and completely self-congratulatory grin spreading across his lips.
"Ya sport the thoroughly ravished look well."
-
Riot leaned back against the mirror, eyes closed, chest heaving, coming down again from that physical high. Reality had been driven away for a few blinding moments but it set in again all too quickly. Now they were finished. Now he had to face the guy who'd just handcuffed him, fucked him, and got him to come while he was doing it. Good times.
He couldn't hold his weight any longer leaning back on the faucet as he was, so he lurched himself forward, shaky and drained, to stare Ari right in his stupid, smiling face.
"You—I know you're cleaning this up. And you like, just...you so owe me food now!"
-
Still grinning like the cat that got the cream and the canary, Ari went about cleaning himself up, tossing the condom in the trash and pushing past Riot so he could wash up. "Ohh right. Dinner. We sorta went backwards, huh? I mean, normally I'd buy my date dinner and they'd owe me sex, but looks like we had sex so I owe ya dinner so ya owe me more sex. I'm cool with that."
Yeah, Ari was in a fine mood now, basking in the endorphin-induced afterglow. Even Riot's bossiness just amused him. After all that and he still didn't get it?
When he'd cleaned himself up and refastened his pants, he grabbed a new washcloth and turned his attention to Riot. "Hold still." He wasn't quite sadistic enough to make him walk around like that. Besides, that was just gross. He scrubbed the blood away, cleaned up the semen, and tossed the cloth into his laundry hamper along with Riot's underwear--and winced.
His side was aching like a mother and when he touched it, he frowned a little and glanced at his hand. There was a little blood there. Ah well, it was worth it.
-
More? As in, they weren't done? Oh gods fuck no. Riot stared. He wasn't dealing with this all over again. No no no no and no.
Besides, Ari's math was all wrong. "No, so...okay like, if one meal equals one sex then you feed me and then we're even!"
After that he fell silent, looking at the ceiling while Ari cleaned up. He was trying not to cringe in the aftermath of losing to Ari in such a way and succeeded right up until the point his underwear disappeared into the hamper. He winced then—too brief and small to notice he hoped—now fully naked with a fully clothed Ari.
One thing made him feel better. He followed Ari's movements, to the wound in his side, saw his hand come away with blood. It was his turn to smile then, looking in Ari's eyes, a little smirk at the reminder at how Riot had gotten him, and not too long ago either.
-
"Nah, it just means I owe ya another meal." Ari arched an eyebrow and looked at Riot seriously. "I mean, unless you're tellin' me you're just gonna eat one meal?"
He let his hand drop away and tried to shrug off the pain. It wasn't bad or anything, he'd just pulled at his stitches. Nothing unusual. He'd done it enough damned times (much to the frustration of the medic and Ben) because he never had been the type to just sit still and take it easy. No sex? Haaah, no way. No heavy lifting or vigorous activity? He'd go out of his fucking mind. He was active and not used to being anything but that.
And he hadn't missed the smirky little look Riot was giving him.
Ari returned it with a pleasant smile, clapping his hands. "Well, I would hate to have ya wait much longer. How rude of me. Let's getcha down to the kitchen and get some food in your belly, eh?" he said, slapping Riot on the back.
-
This was going down a bad road, one he hadn't meant to take, one in which it was a given that Ari was gonna fuck him again. His stomach pitched. He ought to be thinking about ways to get out of here. That and nothing else.
It would have been a lot easier to stay focused on that if not for the threat of Earth and Aedolis hanging over his head. He hadn't forgotten about that—lost track of it in his list of immediate priorities while Ari was goin' at him, but not forgotten and now they were finished it was there in the back of his mind again, silhouetting every other thought.
He realized, a few seconds slowly, the implications of what Ari was saying. "With clothes, right?" he said in a small voice.
He wasn't going down there in his birthday suit. He'd starve first.
-
Ari's eyebrows lifted and he gave Riot a good, hard stare, sweeping a glance up and down his body before meeting his eyes.
"What do you think?"
He let Riot stew for a few beats longer before laughing and draping an arm around his shoulders, tugging him with him as he walked back into his bedroom. "Uh, duh! Of course with clothes! What kinda question is that? We're civilized people here, darlin'."
-
Riot was all prepared to latch onto something with a death grip and refuse to be moved when all of a sudden Ari was his buddy again. He let himself be led out into the bedroom, hopeful but wary. That felt like it'd been too easy, and Ari had nearly made him go out there in his underwear before.
"Uh huh." Suspicious, hardly believing. He stayed tense, ready to throw himself down and grab hold of the nearest immovable object if Ari tried to steer him toward that door.
-
But Ari only released Riot's shoulders and went to his closet, pulling out a pair of boxers. He dangled them for Riot to see then tossed them at him, then fished around a little more and pulled out an old pair of well-worn cargo pants. They would probably be a little big on Riot, but they'd do the trick for now.
"Since ya performed so well," he said, carrying them over.
Truth be told, he only really did it because one, Ben would bitch, and two, if he wasn't tired before, he was really fucking tired now. And hungry. And seriously needed to clean up around here and change his sheets, yeesh. Still, small concession aside, he was not about to let Riot forget who rationed the pants in this relationship.
-
The boxers landed on the bed. Riot was grateful for them. Not at Ari, gods no, but just grateful. The pants looked like they'd hang off his hips but they'd do all right, or he could get a belt.
He felt a barbed response rise up to Ari's jab. Bad timing. Not here and definitely not now. He quashed it down, but not without shooting Ari a dirty look. They were both tired, and in a kinda truce maybe. Ari didn't want to deal with his shit just then, and Riot didn't want to risk pushing Ari when the pirate was on these dregs of energy. So he got clothes, and Ari got a bit of peace. It was a trade off in his mind.
"Do I get a shirt, too?" He didn't care as much about that, but it'd be nice to have. Just then, what he really wanted was to distance himself from Ari again, mentally. As before, he couldn't hardly tell if it worked. He'd know as the minutes dragged on, if he failed to catch anymore of Ari's surface thoughts.
-
"I dunno, do ya?" Ari asked, head slightly tilted. "'Cause, I mean, you're cuffed. Obviously. And ya can't really wear a shirt like that, and I can't really take 'em off if you're gonna do somethin' stupid that ya know ain't gonna get ya far."
And really, as hilarious as it would be, he didn't want to feed him. More importantly, he didn't want to deal with the potty breaks.
"Really, it's your call, champ. Are we ready to have our hands free like all the other big kids or are ya gonna go tossing sand in peoples' eyes? Ya gonna be a good little bitchboy or am I gonna have to punish ya?" He met Riot's eyes again. Time to see if he'd learned his lesson or not.
-
It was so hard not to break out in a grin. Finally, yes—exactly what he'd been hoping for and had sort of screwed himself out of earlier. The opportunity to have his hands free. The one thing that would make any escape attempt possible.
Ari wasn't stupid. Riot called him that a lot, but he wasn't. He had to know the risk this was, just as Riot knew his odds of getting away from here weren't that high. He could face that now. So they were gambling here. Ari was gambling he'd see the attack coming, whenever it might be, and shut it down. Riot was gambling he'd find a good enough opening and take Ari down first. Time to roll the dice.
He tsked and rolled his eyes. He didn't have to fake the scorn he felt at that word Ari insisted on calling him. "Yeah. I'll be good. I'm still like not your bitch Maxwell, but you can take the cuffs off."
-
"You're not my bitch, huh?" Ari asked as he grabbed the handcuff keys from the drawer. "Funny, 'cause I do recall goin' at it doggie style for a while there."
He knew he was taking a risk here--but on the other hand, not really. He knew Riot didn't have any other weapons on him and besides, even going so far as assuming he was able to take him out? Ari didn't see him getting far. He'd have to get through Ben first and Ben could take him out--and that wasn't even counting the others. Riot would have to get his hands on a gun before they pulled one on him, and how many rounds could he get off before he was subdued? His crew did this shit for a living and had dealt with a number of captives.
Of course, assuming he was able to get the jump on Ari and take him out, Ari would be dead even if Riot was stopped, and Ari didn't particularly like that sound of that part. Still, he hoped Riot realized the futility of the situation.
Not that he was really worried. Riot had skill but lacked subtlety, and Ari was confident in his ability to shut down whatever Riot started.
"Just so ya know, you're not the only one here with military training," he said as he moved behind Riot, leaning in to kiss the back of his neck. "So I'd mind your manners."
-
"That's what I said." He tilted his head back, looked down his face at Ari. He could manage swagger just about anywhere.
Bet I'm the only one here capable of psionics though. He very nearly said it. Would have liked to see the uncertainty cross Ari's face as he wondered just what it was Riot could do, and how well he could do it.
He kept that all to himself. If, in some desperate moment, he reached for that possibility, he wanted it to be there. It had been outside of the realm of what he was willing to do before, but now? Now it was his best and only trump card.
"I get it," he said, heaving a sigh of genuine weariness. He shifted as Ari kissed on him but didn't draw away. Hopefully the pirate was back there to unlock him. All this worry over escape and the odds of success. He wasn't going anywhere right now. He just wanted food.
-
"Bitch, please. All you're lackin' is a collar," Ari said with a grin as he turned the key in the lock, unlocking first one and then the other. He fastened the cuffs to his belt loop and let them dangle, pocketing the key.
And watched Riot warily, body tense even though he projected easy confidence. He half expected the kid to flip out and start swinging right then and there, but he hoped he wouldn't--wasn't really in the mood and he was laying his money on Riot being right there with him--and gave him one last kiss, this time on his jaw.
He pulled away from Riot and gave him a slap on the bottom. "Well then! Ready to get some dinner?"
-
Riot didn't have a thing to say about that. Didn't want to go encouraging Ari into that direction. It was way too much in the realm of possibility.
Getting those cuffs off made him want to lunge for Ari then and there. He didn't, cuz that would have been beyond stupid. Ari was expecting it, for one. No, he wasn't doing anything now. He'd been playing around before, not taking it seriously in a way. But now the cuffs were off and he had one chance at this. He had to make it count. Had to go for it at the right time, and that time was not now.
He jumped away from Ari's hand. This was becoming too familiar a thing. "Hey hey hey, what'd I tell you about doin' that? I think I said don't, right?"
He snatched the boxers off the bed and didn't miss the cuffs hanging from Ari's belt. Ooh yeah, real subtle message there pirate man. He got the clue. Those cuffs were going right back on him at the first sign of trouble.
-
Ari laughed. "And I think I fucked ya over the sink. Your point?" Yeah, if Riot hadn't gotten it now then guess he'd just have to throw him down again later. He was fine with that.
So far, so good. Maybe they could actually get through this meal, too. After another thought, he pushed the cargo pants into Riot's arms and moved past him so he could start stripping his bed down, tossing a book or two that he found in the process (he sometimes lost them in the pile of pillows and blankets) onto his bedside table. He he made a pile of the bloodied sheets and pillow covers. May as well do the whole thing while he was at it.
"Oh yeah, so I was thinkin' about the whole 'you want a shirt' thing, and I was thinkin' if ya want one, you're gonna have to ask nicely."
-
Riot's face went red. He ducked to put on the boxers in an effort to hide it.
"So?" he said. "What's your point?" Ari'd already made it known he intended to get with him again. Riot was trying not to think about that until he had some idea of how he might get out of it.
Holy gods it felt good to be clothed again. He slipped the cargo pants on. They hung from his hips, an inch or so of boxer shorts peeking out above them. He watched the fish out of the corner of his eye. If it were any other circumstance he'd be over there with is face pressed to the glass.
"Psh, fuck that noise. Like, it's just like a shirt. It's not even, like, y'know worth it for that."
-
Gods, it never got old. Ari saw the blood rush to Riot's face just before he ducked his head and he laughed again, shrugging. "Point is I like watchin' ya squirm," he said. "In ecstasy or otherwise."
Scooping up the pile of sheets and pillow covers and slinging them over his shoulder, he paused and waited for Riot to get dressed. Yep, the pants were big on him, but not bad--though it was the sort of fit that made him a prime target for pantsing.
He headed toward the door and tossed Riot a look over his shoulder. "Wow, not worth it, huh? Damn, I was just tryin' to be nice but if you're that opposed to wearin' one I won't twist your arm. C'mon then, stop dallyin'."
-
"Ts, your face," he said, slouching after Ari. He was pouting and snappish. Figured he had the right. Nothing he could say could save face now. Ari was the one with the ace. He couldn't say anything the pirate couldn't come back at.
"You goin' deaf, chief? That's what I said. Who cares about your grimy shirts?"
If he were on any other vessel, he'd been in the brig a long time ago. He didn't know what Ari was thinking. Well, no, he sort of did sometimes, but he didn't know why he was walking around in the first place. Ari'd wanted to get some play, sure. Still didn't explain why he was here, like this. You'd never see a pirate walking around unrestrained on Libra. No, they'd be locked up. A buddy of his had gotten himself jacked by pirates once, and to here him tell the story there was none of this strolling through the halls with the captain, no cuffs, not even strung out on something to slow him. It was weird, and he wondered about it.
-
"Certainly not you!" Ari said cheerfully as he lead the way to the kitchen, his back to Riot though he kept both ears open. He didn't know when it was going to come, but if he'd learned anything about Riot it was that the kid didn't learn--and he didn't believe for a second that Riot had just given up. Hell, Riot was going to great lengths to prove just how much he hadn't given up and, well...he also just didn't seem like the brightest star in the galaxy.
It would happen. He just had to be prepared. Could he have just shoved him down in the brig and fed him through the bars? Sure! But where was the fun in that?
He dumped the sheets down a chute in the hall, and a few turns later and they'd made it to the kitchen--which also served as a dining room, a long table set out. It was a small, cramped space but they made it work. Currently, it was empty save for the two of them.
"Well, take a seat. Whatcha want?" Ari said as he headed for the 'fridge. "I can't cook worth beans but I can microwave like a pro. And I make a mean sandwich."
-
Riot stuffed his hands in his pockets, followed along just like some damn puppy at Ari's heels. They stopped to drop Ari's laundry off. The silence stretched; Riot let it. He didn't need telepathy to tell him what Ari was thinking. It was the same thing he was thinking—he was wondering if Riot were going to try anything.
It was tempting, especially staring at Ari's back as he was. Too easy to convince himself he could pull it off, and he couldn't. Still wasn't the time. Wouldn't be the time until Ari forgot he was supposed to be expecting an attack at all.
He had to act all defeated and resigned. Weak too, like he'd never succeed even if he tried. Not cooperative, hell no. He wasn't that good an actor. He'd still complain 'til Ari couldn't take it anymore.
The kitchen was deserted, and for that Riot said a thank you prayer. One less headache to deal with. He took a seat—Ari could just serve him, hmph. "Uhh...I dunno. Sandwich I guess."
He propped his hand on his fist and scowled at Ari's back. He hated this fake niceness jive Ari was moving to.
-
"Comin' up."
It didn't take long to get a couple sandwiches whipped up, with generous helpings of meat and cheese--though Ari had to move a little slower than usual and had to pop a few more painkillers in the process. The day was finally catching up with him and now he just felt stiff and achy and kind of wanted to flop into bed, though he tried to conceal that in his movements. Still had a lot to do tonight--and he wasn't just talking Riot.
Finished, he slid a plated sandwich to Riot, set his own down, and then headed back to the 'fridge and pulled out a can, holding it up. "Beer?"
-
Riot's thoughts wandered. He figured his distress message would have reached Libra by now. Ari's vessel was nowhere near the space he'd been taken anymore of course. Truth was, Libra didn't have the force necessary to go deep into pirate territory. She kept up her own space well, but he'd been far out, scouting.
He could smell the meats on those sandwiches, and his made his stomach gnaw. He didn't wait for Ari, and set in on the sandwich immediately. "Sure," he said, mouth full of food.
-
Ari joined Riot and passed him a beer, cracking open his own. Yeah, yeah, Rook had said no drinking but beer hardly had any alcohol in it! Surely it wouldn't count and besides, he didn't see what the big deal was anyway. He'd die of other crap before he died of mixing alcohol with prescriptions or lung cancer or whatever.
"Sooo," he said after several bites of his sandwich, enough so he didn't feel like his stomach wanted to eat itself. "What brought ya out this far anyway? And alone, too? I mean, ya gotta admit, that wasn't really the brightest idea."
-
Riot was too focused on his food to voice any of the colorful observations he was saving up about Ari and his ship. They could wait. He had no shortage of them. The beer was a small blessing in a sucky day.
Sitting comfortably, food finally in him, the tiredness that adrenaline had kept at bay started to weight on his eyes and shoulders. They both sagged a little, until Ari started asking the wrong kind of question. He grew sharp all of a sudden.
"Nothin'," he said.
-
"Nothin'?" Ari raised an eyebrow. "So ya just came all the way out here, into pirate country, for shits and giggles?"
He took a sip of his beer. "I mean, ain't exactly the sorta place ya wanna do your joyridin'."
-
Riot leveled a look at Ari, one without much expression. A little disdain maybe, that he'd be asking about Libra, that he'd think Riot would say anything about it, even the smallest detail. He didn't say anything.
-
Ari gave a little shrug. "Alright, alright, touchy subject, eh?" It didn't really click that Riot didn't want to talk out of loyalty to Libra; Ari didn't honestly care about the Libra one way or the other and so just didn't make that connection. And right then, he just wasn't curious enough to try to force the info out of Riot.
"So, then, how 'bout somethin' I know you've gotta have words about. Whatcha think of your new digs? Well, I mean, ya haven't seen your room yet but I'm talkin' in general. Take it you've never flown with a pirate crew, right?"
-
Riot couldn't say the things he wanted to say. Things like You're not cool enough to use the word dig and They ain't gonna be my digs after I like bust your face in again and tear my way through your retarded crew. Stuff like that.
He couldn't say those things. He was supposed to be convincing Ari he wasn't going to try and escape. Man, this was gonna be way harder than he thought.
"Uhhh, my what? And like duh. 'Course I never like flown with pirates. That yer crazy awesome powers of deduction right there, Maxy?"
-
"Oh, y'know," Ari said with a shrug. "Ya never know. Maybe you've been held hostage before. Maybe that's why you're so sassy when most folk would be pissin' themselves. Maybe ya have some sob story of bein' captured by pirates as a kid and rescued by good ol' Libra. It's possible. Reality's stranger than fiction, they say."
Hah, kinda summed up part of his life. Minus the Libra bit.
He finished off his beer, aimed, and tossed it over Riot's head into the trash behind him. Or almost. It bounced off the side and onto the floor. "Either way, you're takin' this pretty well! I mean, stabbin' and flippin' out aside. Decent fuck, too."
-
"No." He spoke around his last mouthful of food. He'd pretty much inhaled that sandwich. Wouldn't mind another one, but wasn't about to ask Ari for nothin'. "Nothing like that. Been on Libra forever."
This was so freakin' weird, exchanging nice words with Ari, small talk, like they were friendly acquaintances or some such. He felt like he should be cursing him, fighting against everything he did. He shouldn't give him any civility.
He was doin' okay, was right there with Ari, when the pirate tacked on that last observation. Riot scowled and blushed again, less at the act and more at the remembrance at Ari overpowering him. He hoped someday he could think on that without this mix of embarrassment and anger.
-
"Aww, you're adorable when ya go all blushy like that, y'know that, Puppy?" Ari said with a grin and finished off his sandwich. Really, the kid was kind of like one of those yappy, ankle-biter puppies, talked a big game, thought it was bigger than it was, had some pretty sharp little puppy teeth that hurt like a bitch when they bit ya, but at the end of the day it was still just adorable. You couldn't help but forgive it.
And fuck but he'd even cleaned up the guy's piss. He was a fucking puppy.
"So just Libra, huh? Your whole life? Sounds stiflin', being in one place like that. Guess I'm doin' ya a favor here."
-
"Hey hey." He pointed a finger at Ari. "I ain't a puppy, dude, and you can like cut that right off now cuz you are like so not calling me that. I dunno how we got into this whole, like, I don't even know okay? Talking and shit. Like that. Like..." He made a gesture that encompassed the whole of the kitchen. "Like this dinner party shit."
He planted both hands on the edge of the table. He was on the verge of jumping Ari. Nothing to do with escaping, just the same way he'd school any dude who tried to fuck with him. "And your face is stiflin'."
-
Ari just rested his chin on his fist and smiled, watching Riot. It was like free entertainment and so easy to push his buttons. He hardly had to do anything and the kid was off on some crazy rant.
"Weeell, Puppy," Ari said when Riot was done. Pffft, since when did he care about Riot's opinion on his pet names? "What wouldja rather have happen here, eh? I mean, I could've not fed ya. I could lock ya up in isolation. That sound better to ya? 'Cause I figured that sounded kinda shitty. But if there's somethin' I could be doing better here, I'm all ears. I mean, you're the pirate expert and all."
-
"It's just weird! Like, I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing here. This whole thing, it's like with that show! You know the one? You know it. That one show with like the portal. And like the wavery music. Comes from Aedolis. No? And like now what? I'm fed, whoopie. We just gonna like chillzorz out 'til you get where you're going or what here?"
-
Ari let out a long sigh. "Well, I guess it's about time I told ya. I mean, ya pretty much got it figured out so I may as well. Wouldn't be fair not to."
Leaning in close, Ari lowered his voice. "Ya very familiar with reality TV?"
-
Riot didn't get it for a few seconds, then did, and narrowed his eyes at Ari. "Asstard."
-
Ari laughed and reached across the table to ruffle Riot's hair. "Well, maybe not, but it'd make a pretty hot show, eh?"
Gathering up their plates, he dumped them into the sink. "Anyway, yeah, 'chillzorzing out' or whatever was sorta the plan. Got a few jobs to run between point A and point B, but until then, just sorta coastin', stoppin' by Cancer for a spell...y'know, the usual piratey things. Ya got a problem with 'chillzorzing' I should know about?"
-
Riot jerked his head away before Ari could get much ruffling in. "Whatever."
He stood when Ari did. He did not help the pirate clean up. In fact he crossed his arms and just watched. "No," he said. "No problem."
The opposite. He was tickled pink they would have some days before they got to Point B as Ari called it. Earth, if Ari was to be believed. Riot would be getting a room, not a cell. Plenty of opportunity to turn things upside down and get away. He'd seen the shuttles. He was gonna fly one of them out of here.
-
"Fantastic! That's what I like to hear!" Ari finished scrubbing off their plates, set them aside to dry, and rejoined Riot. He slung an arm around his shoulders and ignored the twinge in his side that caused. Yeeeah, he'd have to get that taken care of...again...but eh, it could wait. It wasn't that big of a deal--which was the same thing he'd said about a past wound that had gotten infected, but hey.
"Well then, can I getcha anything else here, buddy? Or shall I show you to your room?"
-
Riot was too happy to be getting out of Ari's presence. Aside from that little nap he'd taken, they'd been like inseparable since he got here.
He didn't fight against the arm around him. Figured he had a chance here to get closer to escaping and didn't want to blow it. "No, just like...take me to wherever you're gonna leave me."
A cell he figured. Wherever it was, he hoped he'd be alone. He had something he needed to do, and he couldn't do it with any of them watching.
-
"Leave ya? Aww, that sounds so sad, Puppy. I was more thinkin' tuckin' ya in, tellin' ya a bedtime story, that sorta thing."
Ari gave Riot a light squeeze and steered him out of the kitchen and toward the rear of the ship, but had to let go of him once they reached a narrow hallway and some stairs; couldn't really walk comfortably two-by-two there. He nudged Riot ahead of him. It was more secluded back there, mostly storage and cargo down below, but the area was sectioned off and one section served as the brig.
Yeah, if ever there was a time he was expecting to get jumped, it was around here, so he was being a little extra cautious, too. Make the kid go first, don't turn his back on him, that sorta thing. He was ready to take Riot down at the first sign of trouble and, injury or no injury, he was pretty confident he'd come out on top.
He flipped on a light at the top of the stairs, illuminating the grim, bland, cramped space below, warehouse-esque, boxes and equipment stacked and organized. "Sweet digs, right?" And they hadn't even gotten to the 'brig' yet.
-
Puppy again. Gods-fucking-damnit. Riot was gonna give himself an aneurysm from the effort of not punching Ari in the mouth.
He was congratulating himself on his self control only minutes later. They moved into a different part of the ship. You could practically feel the emptiness around you. He went ahead of Ari. The pirate was watchful again, and by contrast Riot relaxed and took in the sights instead. He wasn't getting anywhere while Ari was so alert.
He checked the walls for some approximation of Libra's blue flashing sensors—the kind that detected psionic use. Libra's sensors detected active use of psionics. A skilled psychic could control their abilities enough to hold them in check when near a sensor. So here was his pickle: he could only attain that level of skill by using the psionics, which itself would set off the sensors. Rock, Riot, hard place.
A ship like this wasn't likely to have those sensors. Even on Libra they were few and often faulty. New tech in its growing pains.
"Yeah," he said, distracted but getting his mind back in the game in a hurry. "What you carting in all these?"
-
"Oh, a little of this and that," Ari said, waving a hand dismissively and giving a shrug. "Currently got a buncha medical supplies that should fetch a nice price. There's never not a demand for that crap. Got some parts from a raid a while back. Oh yeah, and then there's your ship. I mean, she's not back here yet, but in a few days' time she will be."
He clapped Riot on the shoulder and started to nudge him along. "Nothin' ya could really use if that's what you're thinkin', champ."
-
"Ahhhh why'd you have to say that?" Riot scrubbed both hands through his hair, then threw them up in the air. "They prolly butchered her! You can't tell me your rusty groupies like know anything about proper care of a beauty like that. Shit, man."
That took the hot air right out of him. Now he was all depressed, thinkin' about his ship carved up—poorly!—and divided into boxes of chunky parts. What a sad day.
Ari might have read his mind, but he figured the dude was just bein' perceptive with that one. He had been wondering if there was anything here that would be to his advantage. Wasn't convinced there wasn't anything either no matter what Ari said. If there was something, the pirate would hardly go telling him about it now would he?
-
That had been intentional. Figured a reminder wouldn't hurt and what could he say? The kid freaked out so well.
Ari laughed and shook his head. "Aww. If it makes ya feel better, let's just say they're givin' her a shiny new wax job, eh?" he said. "Now, don'tcha worry your pretty little head there, darlin'. Too much thinkin' ain't good for ya. It'll just strain ya and give ya pop-up veins, is all."
And with that said, he grabbed Riot's chin so he could tug him in for a kiss.
-
Riot jerked back. That took him totally off guard and he felt stupid Ari could get him like that. He just hadn't thought of it, not here. Had his arms free, that was a bonus. He pushed himself way from Ari with them. "Whoa, what, whoa. Dude. Whoa."
-
"What?" Ari blinked down at Riot, affecting confusion. He tilted his head and reached out to stroke Riot's cheek. "Somethin' wrong, darlin'?"
-
He moved his head away from Ari's hand, rolled his eyes in the same movement. "Let's just go, gods."
-
"Mm, someone's sure in a hurry," Ari said. "There somethin' in the brig I don't know about?"
But he humored Riot, at least for the moment, and guided him along. Still kept him in front of him, just in case. So long as Riot didn't get the upper hand and take him off guard, he was pretty damned sure he could control him. Riot had skill, sure, but he had height and weight on him.
They walked down a row of miscellaneous crap and reached a door at the end. It was solid, metal like the rest of the ship, and had a small window near the top. Ari unlocked the door, swung it open, and hit a panel outside the room to turn on the light.
The room...looked like a cell. It had a toilet, a sink, a thin cot on the floor, a pillow, a blanket, and not much else. And down there, it got a little chilly.
Ari looked back at Riot. "Ya didn't want the bed, so..."
-
That Ari gave off so easily surprised him about as much as the spontaneous kissy attempt had. He'd been braced for a real argument there.
He cast Ari a suspicious look and continued on until, finally, they reached his cell. He walked right on in—probably too quickly, but there was no fixing that now. He was jittery, anxious to get down to it. He had a lot to do, it would take up a lot of time, and every moment spent with Ari was a moment wasted.
"Right, right. My own fault like. I get it. Go off now, do your like captain show, I wanna sleep."
He did want to sleep, badly. His head had been pounding this whole time and it only got worse, the throbbing more painful. He wanted sleep more than anything, and he would not be getting it. He had a sort of plan. He'd be awake for awhile.
-
Yeeeah, that was way too fast and way too easy. Riot was being far too agreeable about this whole business, in fact. No one wanted to get locked up. No one wanted to sleep on an uncomfortable cot in a cold room with nothing but walls and a toilet to look at. Sure, maybe he didn't want to share his bed, but even when the other option was disagreeable, no one hurried their ass into a cell without stalling or protesting or at least dragging their feet. He'd dealt with his share of captives and hell, he'd been one himself. It just didn't go down that way.
And someone like Riot, who had been nothing but difficult and contrary from the moment he'd set foot on the ship? About everything, too.
Now he was acting like the place was full of candy and strippers. Yeeeah. Not fishy in the least.
Ari arched an eyebrow, staring at Riot. He half expected him shut the door himself.
Maybe the guy did just want to sleep. Fuck knew he was tired, but...
"Oh, yeah, sure, all in good time. But I did promise I'd tuck ya in, didn't I?" Ari asked, taking a step inside. "And that cot hasn't seen much use. Might wanna test it out."
-
Well shit. That through his intentions right the fuck out. Riot crossed his arms and shifted his bare feet on the cold floor. He wanted Ari out—needed him out. How to make this happen...he had no idea. Didn't know what to say, what to do, or even how to act to make Ari want to gee tee eff oh. He did mull it over, but everything he thought of—up to and including picking a fight with him—only resulted in this getting even more difficult.
"Aw, that is so touchin'. No thanks! I want to sleep. So like march yourself right around vacate, chief. This is my room now."
-
"Oh ho?" Ari's eyebrows shot up and he gave a little laugh. The things Riot said... "Your room, eh? Funny 'cause, like, this is my ship? And, y'know, I actually think we went over this?"
He approached Riot slowly, decisively, and gave him a little push backwards toward the cot, crowding him, forcing him back. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we had this exact same discussion, right before I fucked ya. Remember that? Bet ya still feel it," he said, reaching up to touch one of the marks on Riot's neck.
"But I think I gotcha now. I really think ya do this on purpose."
-
Riot shoved him right back. He wasn't letting himself get walked backward. He stood his ground and refused to move, even as their chests pressed together and they got all up in each other's faces.
"You're the one who said 'my room' dumbshit, you like said it in the kitchen. And you know what? Y'remember how I was all like cuffed and shit last time? Well, what's up?! Check this out!" He brought his hands up and waved them. "Whoo, no cuffs this time, whatcha gonna do there chief?"
This right here? This was the makings of a brawl. Riot sure as shit wasn't goin down without a fight and bonus prize? If gave Ari a hard enough time he figured he could get out of whatever activity Ari had in mind for that cot. The pirate was already tired and injured and Riot intended to make it more so.
-
"Pfff..." Ari gave Riot an odd look, a sort of strained trying-to-look-serious-but-fighting-back-laughter look. And he was trying to fight it down--and was failing. It was too much. He was all prepared to lay the smack down and then...
As Riot waved his hands in the air, Ari stared at him a moment, grinned, and then reached down and grabbed his ass in both hands in answer.
-
Something about a guy totally ignoring your fightin' words and just getting friendly had a way of taking the oomph out of you. Riot deflated. Didn't mean Ari was any further from triggering violence. Just meant it'd come from a colder place, a place more deliberate and less impulsive.
"We talked about this too, remember?"
-
"Mhmm. Yeah? Did we?" Ari asked, slipping his hands under the waistband of pants and boxers alike. "Ohhh yeah! I think ya asked if I'd go down on ya. Wanna know the answer?"
-
"Uh, no. I didn't even say that either."
He didn't actually know the answer. He refused on nothing but principle.
Within the messy rush of feeling and sensation when Ari slid his hands underneath the clothes, with nothing between Ari's hands and his skin, he did have he fluttering of a thought that Ari had gone and made a stupid mistake. He'd got his hands caught up in a way that made it slow to react. That was like a rookie screw up. Riot should really be taking advantage of that. He really should be.
-
"Ya sure did. While I was fuckin' ya," Ari said, and when he didn't feel resistance he leaned in and nibbled lightly at his ear. Of course, it didn't really matter if Riot had resisted; it just meant he could use a different approach, that maybe, maybe he wouldn't have to restrain him. He had the cuffs at his hip and those were fun and all, but a little fighting and squirming and clawing was even better.
He forced their hips together, hands sliding over Riot's skin. "Ya ever gotten head from a pierced guy?"
-
"Thaaaat...doesn't sound like me at all."
He had to think about the next question, and think about it for a good while at that. He'd had sex with a lot of people. How was he supposed to remember if there'd been a pierced tongue in the bunch?
"Ah, I dunno." He pushed Ari away from him with both hands on his shoulders. "But I am like not gonna now, ya heard?"
-
Ari was totally content to wait that answer out, because it was just more time to feel him up. When Riot finally answered, though, he snorted and tightened his grip on him when he shoved at him.
"You'd remember." Unless he was totally plastered or something. "Why so shy, darlin'? I've already seen it all," he said, and leaned in to kiss the side of his neck, hands moving around to Riot's front to start undoing his pants.
-
Ari was probably still expecting an attack, which just made this decision all the more remedial-class special. Riot slugged him in the throat, a quick lashing out of his fist. Not a lot of force behind it, not from this angle, but he only did it to drive Ari back a step so he could square his feet and stop down on Ari's instep. He had his eye on that open door, not with hope but with that same wistful desire you felt toward something you didn't expect to get.
-
Ari had dropped his guard, but he wasn't completely relaxed. He was testing the waters and quite literally feeling his way around--and wary or not, he'd put his hands in an inconvenient place as far as reaction times went. The punch caught him in the throat--not hard, but hard enough to get his attention and hard enough to tip him off.
He stepped back, but only so he could grab two fistfuls of Riot's hair, jerk him down and forward, and drive his knee up into his gut.
-
Now this was familiar. Shame on Ari for using the same tactic twice. Riot was still sore from the last knee he'd taken to the gut. His arms caught this one, blocked his abdomen so all he'd get was some bad bruising on his forearms instead of all the wind knocked out of him, but the defense cost him any strategic position he might have had.
-
Maybe it didn't work as well as it could have, but it did get Riot's arms out of the way and it did yank him down so he was bent over. Fom there it was easy to twist around and pull Riot into a headlock. He held him there, tightly, and more than prepared to slug him in the nose again if he wanted to take this further.
"Dunno what you're doin' but ya can't tell me ya thought it'd work," he said, sounding more exasperated than anything. "Ya done yet?"
Really, he was hoping the answer was 'yes'.
-
Riot twisted, bringing his arm in front of Ari's body. His leg slid behind Ari's legs. He surged backward, shoving at Ari's chest at the same time to send him tripping backwards over his leg.
-
...Motherfucker.
Ari went down with a grunt, the shock of landing sending pain searing through his side. He bit back a pained sound, swallowed his curse, and kicked at Riot's legs. He was at his limit and knew it--past it, really; he was done a long time ago and really only bluffing--but dammit, he was taking the bastard down with him. Riot couldn't have been feeling too hot himself.
-
Off balance already, Riot went down almost right on top of Ari. The breath got knocked out of him, but he rolled and scrambled to the side. The door was wide open, if he could just get to it.
-
Riot didn't get far. As soon as he went down, Ari shoved himself up, and as Riot scrambled away, Ari grabbed him around the waist and brought him back down. He shifted quickly to straddle his hips, got a hold of one of Riot's arms and wrenched it behind his back. He kept Riot's arm straight, one hand on his wrist and the other outside his elbow so he could put pressure on the joint, threatening to hyper-extend it.
"I'll break it," he snapped. "Don't move."
-
Shit, shit, shit.
If he had just been a little faster, just a little stronger. He was feet way from the door. He coulda made it, but now Ari had him, and he wouldn't go far or do much with a broken arm. Shit!
A familiar buzzing filled his head, but he didn't notice it until the temperature started to climb. Five degrees, ten...he put his face into the floor—the still-cold floor—and ignored the wrenching in his arm for the rising heat before he turned this place into an oven. Pyrokinesis. He only knew the word because he'd gone looking for it after causing a fire in the hangar bay. Of them all it probably scared him the most. He could control this one even less than the others, but it wasn't bad this time. His awareness stopped the temperature increase, but it still hung a good fifteen degrees higher than it should. He felt fractured, as if he inhabited every vibrating gas molecule in the room.
-
Ari kept the ship's temp in the high seventies but it was cooler down here, naturally.
And it was hard to miss such a rapid temperature climb.
The air heated up and Ari froze in surprise and felt Riot still beneath him. Nothing natural could have caused that spike, certainly not someone switching on the heater, not that quickly and suddenly and it was still rising. For a second his mind went blank, trying to catch up with just what the hell was happening--and then something clicked. Riot, beneath him. His suspicions--no, more than that, he was pretty damned certain after the freaky shit the kid had pulled--that he was psychic, the way he'd been shoved without being touched, the weird mind shit...
Maybe...
"The fuck? Hey! Hey!" He released Riot's arm but only so he could pin it down at his side with one hand and he used his other hand to smack him upside the head, hard.
-
Riot was all caught up in the jumping of the molecules filling this room when Ari smacked him back into his own body. A spike of panic tore up in him as he lost his hold on the heat, but the release worked in their favor. It all went back to normal, and the temperature would fall down to normal in a few minutes.
He whipped his head to the side and glared up at Ari through one eye. "Ow! What? What?! That still hurts!" His head had met the butt end of a gun not that long ago and it still pounded from that.
-
"That's kinda the fuckin' point," Ari snapped, glaring back. "Ya wanna tell me what the fuck just happened?"
-
"You hit me on the fuckin' head douchewad, that's what happened!" The one arm was pinned but he had the other free and he wedged it under himself to lever his upper body up and hopefully get Ari to climb off him.
-
Riot started to lever himself up, and Ari struck him again, harder, right where he'd hit him with the gun. "And I'll keep doin' it 'til ya stay the fuck down!"
And he needed to keep Riot down, too, because he wasn't so sure that he'd be able to get him down again if he got up. Sure he had difficulty seeing his limits, even had difficulty acknowledging it when he'd reached them, but he had, he felt it, and it had crept up on him fast. That last attack had done it; he hadn't realized how tired he really was until he had to fight back.
-
"Ah!" Riot cringed and grabbed his head with his free hand. He couldn't talk again until the sharp edge of the pain leveled out and he could un-grit his teeth.
"You didn't say to like stay down before! Stop hitting me on the head!"
-
"I'm sayin' it now," Ari said, then sighed and fumbled for the cuffs at his waist. He unlocked them and grabbed for one of Riot's wrists, clasping one cuff around it. "And you have, once again, lost your hands-free privileges."
And Ari had lost his patience. He grabbed for Riot's other wrist. "And ya best start explainin' what the hell that was. Was that you?"
It was starting cool down now and Ari shook his head as soon as he said it. Right. Yeah. He may as well stop fucking around--both of them--because it was obvious and right now Ari didn't feel in the mood for more games. It was fun to watch him freak, fun to guess, but that? That had been fucking freaky as shit. That wasn't just...he didn't know, grabbing his name or pushing him away. He'd fucked with psychics there. It had to be him. It started when he tackled him, stopped when he hit him. It all added up. It was bizarre as hell, but it added up.
"Look, don't bother denyin' shit. You did that. I know it. What else can ya do?"
-
Cold metal snapped around his wrist, a sensation he was becoming too familiar with. "Ah, not again. You deserved it!"
He rested his cheek on the cold floor. Not like he was going anywhere for awhile. "What, you gonna like make me sleep like this? You got that much of a problem with someone fighting back?"
-
"Yep," Ari answered. "Yep, ya will be sleepin' cuffed. Maybe ya shoulda thought about that before ya started shit."
He cuffed Riot's other wrist, but this time he cuffed his hands in front of him. If Riot needed to piss, he didn't want to have to deal with that shit, and if not for that fact, he would have been perfectly happy to leave him uncomfortable all night.
Shifting a little, he flipped Riot onto his back, straddled his waist, and pinned his arms over his head. "Now stop fuckin' around and start talkin'."
-
Yep, they'd been here before, and Riot wasn't any close to telling Ari what he wanted to hear than last time.
"I didn't start shit, you started it! Is my head like bleeding? It feels like it's bleeding." He twisted to squint at the floor around his head. "If you broke my head open like so help me I don't even know what."
-
"If I broke your head open ya wouldn't be talkin'. But if ya keep fuckin' around stallin' I will."
And then, looking Riot dead in the eye, he decided to just go with it. "You're a psychic."
-
Oh, so Ari had noticed Riot's avoid the subject game.
Riot stared up at him. He hung on those words. He couldn't look away but he finally found his voice. "Libra...Libra doesn't allow psychics on board."
-
Ari's lips quirked into a smile. "Wonder what they'd do if they knew one of their squadron leaders was one?"
-
Riot didn't have anything to say to that. He stared up at Ari and didn't see him. He was seeing Libra, seeing the looks that would cross his squad's faces if they found out he'd been lying to them, deceiving them. That nearly did him in, right there.
-
Ari watched Riot for a few moments longer, then adjusted his grip on his wrists to hold them with one hand. With his other hand, he brushed stray hairs back from Riot's face, almost affectionately. "Oh, my. That bad, huh? How terrible," he murmured, clicking his tongue ruefully.
"Then why don't we just avoid that whole dreadful business, hm?"
-
He would have jerked his head away, but he was still half absorbed in imaginings. In sad avalanche of events that would end with his exile from Libra, if not a treason charge and death. It wasn't new. He'd lived through the possibilities time and again, for years now.
He'd always known he'd have to leave, and he'd always hoped some miracle would strike and allow him to stay.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sounded like a threat to him, or a condition. If Ari wanted assurance he wasn't gonna try and bounce, he'd be quick to give it and just as quick go for it anyway.
-
"It means ya should start talkin' and come clean," Ari said, and tapped Riot on the nose. "I know the truth. You know it. So let's cut the bullshit, yeah? Besides..."
Ari gave a light shrug. "I might have a use for ya."
-
Riot winced. His whole face still hurt, and was probably turning black and blue, too.
"Like...what do you want?" If Ari knew it and he knew it, he shouldn't have to talk about it.
-
"Depends on what ya can do," Ari countered. Yeah, he was not letting him out of this one.
-
Oh. That. Riot shifted his eyes away from Ari. If he told him, there'd be no pretending anymore. He wouldn't be able to deny it again. He'd never spoken any of this to anyone ever. How had it worked out that a bloody pirate would be the first one?
-
"Hey. Hey!" Ari snapped his fingers in front of Riot's face to get his attention and pointed at his own eyes. "Eyes up here. Talk to me."
Then he let out a low, exasperated sigh. "Like ya wanna explain that whole heatwave just now?"
-
Ari snapped his fingers at him like he was some dog. It worked, it got his eyes back up to the the pirate, but just...damn it! He still resented it.
"What heatwave?" He was being stubborn for its own sake now.
-
Ari rolled his eyes. Really? Really? He was still trying to pull that act off after everything? "Oh, I dunno. How 'bout we start with the one you caused?"
-
Riot blinked up at him. He could look and sound pretty blank when he wanted to. Didn't take much effort—it wasn't that much different than his normal look. "Whacha mean?"
-
Ari stared down at Riot for a few seconds and then just sighed and shook his head, expression slightly exasperated.
"Riot. Buddy. What're ya doin'?" he asked, in a tone one usually reserved for misbehaving children that had been caught red-handed but continued to lie. "I mean, really. What're ya doin'? Ya know exactly what I'm talkin' about. And ya know ya wanna work for me because your other options...really won't end well for ya."
He lightly stroked Riot's hair. "Ya can tell me what I wanna know and I won't tell another soul. Promise. Our little secret. Ya work for me a little and hey, as far as Libra knows ya were forced. Hey, it's true. They can't punish ya for being a pirate's victim, right? Or ya don't and I expose ya. One way or another, it's gonna come out. And to be quite honest, I'm not sure who'll want ya most--Libra or Aedolis."
-
"I...no, what?" Work for Ari? Work for Ari? He forgot to be angry, he was so knocked back by that. It sank in. Work for Ari.
A bewildering complexity of opposite reactions came over him all at once. Surprise that Ari would even offer, but self-reproach that he hadn't caught on to it until now—Ari'd certainly dropped enough hints. There was indignation too, the righteous kind that any good Libran boy would clutch at should anyone suggest he take up with pirates. It was hard to look past that. It was bred into him.
Something else that he didn't want to examine too closely whispered that this was what he'd been hoping for, a way out that kept his reputation on Libra in tact and didn't end with everyone he cared about looking at him like a traitor. He swallowed. Ari's threat broke a cold sweat out all over him.
He pulled his head away from Ari, as much as he could. "Didn't I tell ya to like keep your hands off? I can't work for a pirate," he said. He meant it.
But, that quiet voice said, you might have to.
-
"Can't?" Ari threw an exaggerated look around the room, as though seeking someone out, then blinked down at Riot. "Uh...what's this 'can't' nonsense? No one's here to stop ya. What, ya need a permission slip or somethin'? Pffft, consider it signed. And you're of able body and...mostly mind, so there ya go. There's no can't."
It was a weak reaction, though, and Ari knew it. He'd expected the repulsion and indignation of earlier, but instead get got a weak excuse. Either the kid was tired--totally likely, it'd been a crazy day--or he was finally starting to wear him down. Maybe both.
"So if it can't be can't, is it more of a won't or a want?" he asked, hand moving with Riot's head as he ignored that particular comment. "I mean, would it really be so terrible? Would it even really be different from what ya were already doin'?"
-
"Yeah, words, words. It's wrong. It's like a cat trying to swim. Haven't you ever heard of like...internal like, in your head...y'know...convictions and stuff? Like principle? I ain't gonna work for you, it's like wrong. Look at what you do."
He said the words he was supposed to say, while in the back of his mind temptation clawed and crowed for attention. He was almost afraid to go there, even in the hypothetical. Work for a pirate, work for Ari. A way off of Libra with his reputation still in tact. They'd receive his distress signal—probably already had—and when they couldn't find him or his ship they'd assume him dead.
It was such the logical choice, and he felt greasy for even thinking about it. It was easier to just be angry at Ari instead of giving it any real thought, and he used his elbow to brush at the pirate's hand. He knew a lot of moves, but Ari had him, for now. He had to move some time. "You gonna like get off me or what?"
-
Cat trying to swim? What the fuck? Ari quirked an eyebrow, then snorted and shook his head.
"Yeeeah...nice try, talking convictions to a pirate."
Once upon a time he'd had them. A lot of them. Been in Riot's shoes, actually, thought he was so strong and noble and he would never do something like that, never work for those people. Maybe that's why he wanted the guy to crumble, maybe that's why it was kind of pissing him off that he wasn't--because he hadn't lasted long and he'd done a lot worse to secure his position. Convictions? Pffft. It was a nice word that meant nothing in the big picture. Some people just figured that out a lot sooner than others.
He stayed there for a moment longer, then finally rolled off of him and yanked him to his feet. "You'll work for me," he said with a smile, and gave him a hard shove into the cell. "Because your other options are far shittier. Ain't so bad, really. Us pirates? We're way more honest than your Libra, that's for sure."
Ari stepped out the cell then and slammed the door shut. "Think about it."
-
Riot stumbled into the cell and didn't look back as the door slammed behind him. Ari's last statement shook him more than anything else he'd said previously.
Because your other options are far shittier.
The blunt truth of that hit him like a brick. He forgot for a few moments the whole reason he'd wanted Ari to leave in the first place.
He made use of the toilet, then cleaned himself up as best he could and splashed cold water on his face. It was freezing already but he needed the wake up jolt.
He sat with his legs crossed on the cot and yanked a button off one of the leg pockets of Ari's cargo pants. Only the utility lights in the warehouse beyond the door gave him any light to see by. It was enough. He could make out the button in his open palm.
He took a steadying breath, and still couldn't do what he had to do. It took a few minutes of talking himself into it before he finally fumbled a line of telekinesis out to brush the button. Within moments he had sweat beading on his temples and his mouth clenched against obscenities. It was exactly like trying to manipulate something complicated with a numb hand. He judged it took him a full ten minutes to just pick the damn thing up into the air.
If this was to be his best weapon against Ari, he had to hone it. The empathy was his best developed but he couldn't see the good it would do him here. He knew the risks, he knew about the Axis point, but every source he'd looked into—and he had looked extensively—has said it took months or sometimes a few years of frequent and prolonged use before the psychosis set in. The rest of it, the way the Axis Point found you and got its claws into you, remained a mystery to him. No one seemed to know how long it took before the Axis could start using you for its own ends. He was betting it wouldn't have him before he could get out of here. Was betting his life on it.
He stayed at it for hours. He'd do this every moment he had alone, until he could use the telekinesis as a real weapon. A crash course in combat psionics. He'd make himself use it so much it'd become easy and slick as a knife. By the time he slumped over into sleep, he was hovering the button steady over his shaking hand, spinning it at a controlled and even pace. The last sound he heard was the plastic tick of it hitting the floor just as he passed out.
-
"Rise and shine, bitchboy!"
Ari banged loudly on the door several times before he unlocked it and swung it open. He was an early riser--or rather, his biological clock was so screwed up and he was busy with enough projects that he often passed up sleep for other things and sneaked in naps where he could fit them--and he'd checked that Riot was still asleep first. He didn't want the kid trying something funny, like attempting to jump him or something. He figured it was better to approach him while he was still groggy and disoriented.
"Didja sleep well, darlin'?" he asked. The handcuffs were dangling from one of his hands and, like most days he could get away with it (which was anytime he was on his ship) he was shirtless, wearing the rumpled pants he'd been wearing from the day before though his white hair was wet from a shower. So he scrubbed around. Maybe his clothes weren't always clean, but he was.
"Warm enough for ya? More importantly, ya think about what I said any?"
He doubted it; the guy was kinda vapid. And he doubted that even if he had then he'd be jumping all aboard the pirate ship, but hey, maybe he'd surprise him. He already had several times.
-
Not even that word could goad him out of sleep.
The noise was enough to wake him up, but that was about it. He'd been up for hours making that stupid button float and spin and had gotten very little sleep. Ari could march his noisy ass right back out again.
"Mmrrm." It was all the speech he was capable of. He pulled the one meager blanket over his head and scrunched up. Ari was saying things and he purposefully attempted not to decipher the words.
-
Ari sighed and rolled his eyes. Fine. Alright. If he wanted to make things difficult, two could play that game. Fortunately for Riot, Ari wasn't in the mood for a lot of bending or rough-housing to try to get him up; his wounds hurt worse the next day and there was only so much painkillers could do, especially since fucking Rook wouldn't give him the good stuff. Unfortunately for Riot, that also meant Ari was in a far less patient mood than usual and was feeling rather cranky--which also meant that in place of brute force he was feeling more creative. He could kick at Riot, sure, but he'd been there and knew where it would go.
And he'd also observed how slowly Riot tended to wake.
"Alright, then."
Closing the cell door, he left just long enough to access the nearest bathroom. When he returned, it was with a bottle of cold water.
Which he promptly emptied over Riot's head.
-
He heard Ari leave and relaxed. If he could just get a couple more hours he'd be golden. He'd just descended back into sleep when a deluge of cold water wrenched him right back out of it again. He thrashed, threw the blanket off, and kicked out at Ari wildly.
Amid much sputtering and yelling, he managed to get a few actual words in there as he scrambled to his feet. "Fucker! That was cold!"
-
Stepping out of the way of Riot's thrashing limbs, Ari feigned wide-eyed shock, hand over his mouth in horror.
"Shoot! It is?" he gasped. "Well, sweet golly gosh! I am so sorry, buddy. Musta cooled down on the walk here. But hey, look! You're up! Ready for some breakfast?"
-
Riot's clothes now clung to his skin, so much colder in the already chilly cell. He stood still and dripping, trying not to let the wet fabric tough any part of him it wasn't already. "That was like, agh, just like, real douchey dude. Like really."
Just the mention of food made his stomach rumble audibly. Right. He hadn't eaten last night. He'd kinda fucked that up for himself. "Yeah, sure. Soon as you like get me a towel."
-
Ari gave a small shrug.
"Towels are up there," he said, pointing up at the ceiling to indicate the next floor. "Ya want a towel or food, ya behave yourself. Whiny, stabby bitchboys get neither, got it? Now move it, chop chop."
He backed his way out of the cell--yeeeah, not gonna learn more hard lessons about turning his back on this one--and held the door open for him to follow.
-
"Yeah, you just keep callin' me that, chief. Keep it up, talk, talk, talk while you can cuz I'm gonna shut you up." Sometime. Maybe. Hopefully? It felt like a hollow threat, even to him.
He still followed. Still wanted that food and that towel. Still needed to see more of the ship and find out what he was up against if he wanted to escape.
The button he'd been levitating for half the night lay in his pocket, for the next time he got a few hours alone.
-
Ari pushed Riot in front of him and shoved him toward the stairs, guiding him up them like a sheep dog. Or something like it.
"Yeah, well, my talk's come true, darlin'. Thus far you've just been blowin' a lotta hot air. Should put ya in with the engines, might be able to power this ship on your bullshittin'."
At the top, he opened the door--which would lead them out and into the ship proper.
"Now, question is, how am I gonna introduce ya? As a prisoner, or as crew?"
-
"Oh yeah? Like, okay so, who was who gave you that stab wound again? Uhhhhhh, oh yeah! Me! Bam, that's right."
Riot preceded Ari into the ship proper and squared his shoulders. He still didn't know how he should answer this question. Like, which was the smarter answer? He could honor his pride or whatever and say prisoner, or try and be all deceptive and pretend to go along with it until he got the chance to escape, but would Ari even believe that?
"Ummm..."
-
Ari flashed Riot a smug smirk. It didn't matter that he was still in pain, popping pills like candy, and having to walk in a very careful, measured way to hide signs of his injury. He still felt on top here. He had come out on top here.
"I recall stabbin' you, too."
-
Riot sneered at the bad pun. Sure, he wanted to throw a punch at Ari for it, but it was just so totally cheesy. "Bleh. Whatever. I'm going to find food."
He knew crap all about where to find anything on this scrap heap, so he just started walking.
-
Ari grabbed Riot's shoulder before he could get far and held him still. "Hah, not yet you're not. Ya never answered my question, puppy."
-
Riot jerked his shoulder from Ari's grasp. "Uh, yeah. Like, y'know what? I totally did give you an answer. You just didn't like what it was."
If Ari thought that Riot was gonna go pirate after one cold night in a brig, then he clearly hadn't made enough of an impression yet.
-
"Humor me," Ari said with a wry smile. "Spell it out for me like I'm five."
-
"I ain't a pirate," Riot said. "I'm better than that."
Ari had given him a lot to think about, but he wasn't about to throw away a lifetime devoted to Libra just on Ari's words. If the pirate expected him to cave after one day in captivity, then he was just majorly underestimating Riot's obstinacy.
-
"There now, puppy, was that so hard? Usin' your words? We ain't all mind-readers here," Ari said with a wry grin and a wink.
"Just curious--what's your plan for after all this, anyhow? Y'know, when ya make your grand escape and bust out all heroic-like?"
-
"Fuck if I know," he muttered. He hadn't thought that far ahead yet. He hadn't thought beyond breakfast yet and Ari asking about it just made him feel stupid. "Can we go now? You gonna, like..." He made a talky gesture with his hand. "...at me some more?"
-
"Ya don't know? Really? Well, I admire your honesty, darlin'. Way you'd been talkin', it sounded like ya had it all figured out."
With a shrug, Ari gave a little flourish to indicate Riot go on ahead of him. "Well, anyway, I figured out what to call ya. So go on then, doll."
-
"Gods, finally! What-the-fuck-ever!" Riot stormed onward. He didn't know what was going on or what he was doing and now Ari was calling him some other shit name and just whatever! He knew one thing. One damn thing. He knew food was this way, and this was the way he was going.
-
Ari along after Riot and herded him into the kitchen, nonchalant as ever.
"Man, someone's sure got a case of the grumps today," he said, heading toward a cabinet and pulling out a small packet. "You're like a PMSing chick. Ya need coffee or somethin'? Hope you're not a snob; we just got instant."
-
"Coffee," he confirmed. Riot plopped down on one of the benches and aimed a sour look at Ari's back. "So like, where's the rest of your posse?"
He was prepared to start an all out brawl with the crew to establish respect. He'd want some caffeine before attempting that.
-
"Well, one of them is right here," said Alia. "Captain mine, how come he's walking around up here instead of locked up down in the brig?" She had a pretty bad bruise on her forehead from yesterday. Not that she thought she couldn't take him (and that had been some great flying), it was just that it wasn't generally accepted practice to not lock up your prisoners. Then again, Ari was in charge here. She didn't know why she even bothered being surprised.
-
"Well, good mornin' to ya too, sweetheart. Relatively speakin', of course," Ari greeted Alia without looking at her as he went about preparing the coffee--three cups, just in case. Zap the water, spoon in some powder, and bam. Deliciously cheap coffee. Didn't taste half bad with a lot of sugar and creamer.
He turned and slid the mugs to the two of them and held onto his own--his second cup so far today. Then he took a seat at the table--slowly, hoping neither noticed his stiffness, and carefully hiding his grimace by flashing Alia a winning grin.
"Now, as for him? Don'tcha worry. Riot and I, we had a little heart to heart. Worked our issues out all manly-like. He's gonna help us out. Plus I think he likes me. Couldn't keep his hands off me."
-
Ykan had stood silently in the door way watching Ari's movements carefully, after all he had heard about the stabbing and the stitches and the bitchboy. Well as long as everyone was moving past that then he could be his light and playful self.
He quietly moved to wrap his arms around Ari's neck from behind but was careful not to put any actual pressure on the captain's frame. "Mhmmmm how could anyone resist putting their hands-" He let one hand playfully slide down Ari's chest gently. "-all over this?" He grinned brightly before nuzziling Ari's cheek and looking up at Alia. "Good morning gorgeous~" He said in a put on, rather flamboyant tone as he untangled himself from Ari and approached the caffeine fiending pilot.
It was nice to not have to depend on coffee like some of the people on the ship. Mainly because Ykan couldn't stomach that crap. He took note of the red head but chose to ignore him for the moment. "You guys hungry? I was going to whip up some breakfast... maybe pancakes." And if he had to feed the prisoner, he'd drop them on the floor first.
-
Two crew members materialized like out of nowhere. He hadn't even seen their approach. Riot gave each of them a hard look, but they mostly ignored him in favor of kissing Ari's ass.
He didn't relax a bit, but he did accept the coffee, which he clasped in both hands and then forgot about. He didn't deny what Ari'd said—couldn't, not without making himself the victim, and that was the last thing he could be here. There'd be no hiding what happened between them. Couldn't do nothin' but go along with it and beat the shit out of anyone who made an issue of it.
-
"Y'know me. I can't say no to pancakes," Ari said with a wink, then snapped his fingers as though remembering something.
"Oh yeah! How rude of me. So, everyone, meet Riot, resident de-fanged pilot. Riot, meet everyone! That lovely lady over there is Alia, our talented pilot, who you're very well acquainted with even if ya haven't formally met. Protip: she out-flew ya, buddy. And the stud over there's Ykan, our cook and Second Mate, since we ain't got a First Mate yet. Say hi, everyone!"
-
Riot's hands clenched the coffee mug. He figured he was about to throw it, just wasn't sure at who yet. That bitch Alia for the dirty tricks she'd used yesterday to bring him in, or Ari for daring to suggest that anyone, anywhere could outfly him.
The room grew considerably hotter, rocketing up fifteen degrees in the space of a few seconds.
-
Llyr had been walking towards the kitchen, about ready for something of substance. Helping to take apart a whole ship, no matter the size, was really not his forte. He was here to fix things and put them together! Not to say he hadn't been interested. His rather short trips to Libra had been uncomfortable, as he'd been hiding his psionic ability, and he hadn't gotten to really look at any of their hardware. The ship he was currently pulling apart was nice-looking. Put together purposefully, with a sleek design. Gods, what he wouldn't give to keep a piece or two.
He'd gotten rather distracted, and hadn't payed much attention to the gossip. He knew about the prisoner they'd pulled out of the ship—someone had to fly it—but not much else.
He heard Ari just ahead, introducing people by the sound of it. New guy apparently wasn't locked up. Excellent, he'd get breakfast and see the new guy all at once.
He was slowly stepping into the room, careful not to hit his head on the door frame since his platform shoes raised him several inches that he didn't need. Without any warning, the room grew immeasurably hot. Llyr choked on the air for a moment, the temperature scalding his unprepared lungs. He felt a slight tap at the back of his mind, as though it recognized something... familiar.
The lights flickered before abruptly going out.
"Shit," he rumbled to the darkness, "My apologies."
He tried to focus on reigning himself in. He slowly pulled his kinesis back, allowing the light to move as it normally did. That temperature rise must have surprised him more than he'd thought for him to lose control so drastically. Actually... how in the heck did that rise happen? He looked around the room now that the light was normal and noticed a man he didn't recognize. Was this the new guy? What should he say? Well, since other people were here too...
"...Good morning, relatively speaking."
-
Ykan had set about getting the ingredients he needed to make pancakes before Ari or anyone else could answer him. He already knew Ari would want them, and sure enough a conformation of that fact was vocalized a moment later. He paused in trying to decide what kind of pancakes to make (chocolate chip, blueberry, good old fashioned plain pancakes...) when Ari started the introductions. De-fanged? As long as the kid was properly disarmed Ykan was happy. He knew what went on around here almost as well as Ari himself. As second mate (and yes he totally made that up himself years ago) he wanted to ensure his captain and friend's safety, the rest of the crew's too.
Ykan's grin widened at being called a stud, cause well let's face it, he was. He didn't want to say hi to the stabby bitchboy but he didn't want to sass Ari in front of him either. "Hi Riot~ aren't you cute?" He said like he would have under normal circumstances, fairly certain that only Ari would be able to notice a difference in his attitude. He was about to playfully flirt/threaten Riot when the temperature soared in the room.
Funny, he hadn't even turned on the stove yet, not that it would explain the heat increase. Could be the mechanical, maybe something busted in the ship's heating and cooling... but it was too sudden, and Ykan wasn't as dumb as he looked. You didn't live as long as he had without being able to recognize the obvious signs of psionic ability. His gaze narrowed as he looked at Riot. If there was one thing Ykan disliked it was psychics.
As if on fucking cue that thing just had to walk in and take the lights with him! Ykan pounded his hands on the counter top in frustration. "I'M TRYING TO COOK DAMNIT! Can't you take your light and soul sucking somewhere else while I make breakfast?!" Shit. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. It was an outburst uncharacteristic with the facade of happy-go-lucky flirtatiousness that he always wore, but fuck. Llyr could illicit all sorts of shit from him with his- its fucking presence. Ykan tried to calm down as the lights went back to normal. Well at least the lights going out probably meant that everyone had missed him glaring at Riot right?
A sigh escaped him as he tried to focus on pancakes and not stupid psychic assholes. Pancakes. Pancakes... pumpkin pancakes. Yeah... that would be good. Pumpkin. He had bought some canned pumpkin to be festive. It was nostalgic, used to have pumpkin everything this time of year when he actually lived on Earth. Of course that was centuries ago... maybe even a millennium ago? Oh well. Pumpkin pancakes were a go.
-
Alia snagged herself a cup of coffee and didn't think about the implications of that. None of her business. Ari did what he wanted on his own time, and he was in charge anyway. "Hey, kid didn't do so bad himself," she said. Or started to say anyway, because the room heated up abruptly and then Llyr shut down the lights and she almost dropped her coffee. She caught it, half with her hands and half with her mind (would've spilled otherwise).
"The hell was that?" she said. Llyr had his light thing, and Ykan had his whole looks-like-a-twenty-something-forever thing, but nobody on the ship had control over heat as far as she knew. Had that been Riot, then? He sure looked pissed enough. That could be a problem. Big one, actually. She didn't think anybody on board had the psychic horsepower to take on a pyrokinetic. They might have to go and shoot the boy, and that kind of put paid to any profit they might get out of him.
At Ykan's outburst, she shot him a look. "Shut it and cook the pancakes. He didn't do it just to fuck with you." Inter-crew feuds. Fun.
-
Llyr was almost amused. Almost.
Not that it wasn't fun to see Alia chew Ykan out, but the shape-shifter's reaction bothered him. Not because he cared though! Psh. Like he would care about some guy he hadn't even seen for years. Yeah. But had he been so brash towards him before? Llyr didn't think so. No matter how unexpected their recent meeting had been, he'd needed the job, wanted it even. He hadn't been trying to inconvenience his old acquaintance.
Usually he'd make a snappy remark back, because was it his fault the temperature went wonky? Still, this was Ykan. Llyr wasn't sure what he wanted to say exactly (and he didn't want his pancakes on the floor), so he kept his mouth shut. He did give a small acknowledging nod and brief "well-what-can-you-do?" shrug to Alia.
-
Ykan's jaw practically dropped when Alia chastized him. No one did that! Well... maybe Ari had once or twice but he was special. He got to. And he like Alia too... it was all stupid Llyr's stupid fault. Everything was. Why'd Ari have to go and hire it anyway. Ok granted Ari had no idea that Ykan and Llyr knew each other, but still. He muttered angrily under his breath and went about mixing the ingredients and pulling out some frying pans. Ok, so 3 people where getting floor pancakes now.
-
Okay, so the Alia chick was sorta all right. She gave cred where it was due. Ari was the one needed his head straightened.
Riot surged to his feet, and the temperature started to drop off to normal levels. "Whooooa, chief. Negative, dude. She so did not outfly me and I'll go up against anyone on this boat to prove it. Any model, any time. No nav scramblers, no grapplers, just skill. Cuz your mods are the only reason you pulled me in. And that's what's up."
-
Ari fought the urge to sink his face into his hand.
Just another day on Sassy Juice! Such was life. Get enough people cramped up in a small space for enough time and, eventually, the claws came out. Get enough people with weird abilities on board the ship (seriously, he had to be the only one here that didn't have some sort of magic shit going on) and weird shit happened regularly.
By and large, he'd grown accustomed to it. There was just no such thing as a peaceful meal.
He held up his hands in a "time out" signal. "Alright, alright, kiddos, let's rein it in, and Riot? Cool it. We're in a damned metal box. Think about it."
-
If Llyr were prone to giggling, he would have. He had this sort of fondness for the many different ways humans could speak, like the way a grandfather is fond of his 6-year-old grandson trying to show off his strength. Riot's manner of speaking made him want to pinch the kid's cheeks. Not that he would though. He pulled in that impulse so as not make a spectacle of himself. Really, sometimes it was so hard to act like a thirty-year-old human.
Still, he listened to the actual content of the conversation as well. From this, he gathered two things. One: The kid, Riot, was proud of his skills and likely just as fond of his ship. No reason for fault there. Llyr liked it even as he took it apart. Oh, probably shouldn't tell him that. Two: Riot was the reason for the heat increase. Was that why it felt familiar? But Libra wasn't known for psychics. Ever. If you were, you hid it, as Llyr had seen before.
Of course, Llyr wasn't surprised Ari found out about the kid's ability. He seemed to be able to do stuff like that by a combination of dumb luck and actually using his common sense. Llyr didn't understand why the Captain didn't use it more often. Sure would save him some pain. Of course, charging in head-first might be a human thing.
Llyr moved carefully and smoothly to the counter closest to the table but not anywhere near Ykan. No need to antagonize him further... Right now, at least. He leaned back a bit, letting his thighs rest against the counter. Now that he was paying attention, he could smell the coffee. Sure smelled bitter, so he decided against making some for himself.
He needed the caffeine though. He'd been so wrapped up in his current job that he'd forgotten to sleep. Maybe tea? He moved about the small space, warming water in a mug in the microwave while fishing out a packet of oolong tea. He put the packet in the mug and watched the others in the kitchen—especially Riot—while he waited for it to steep to his tastes.
-
Ykan decided it was best to just tune everyone out. Part of him reeeeeally wanted them all out of his kitchen right about now, but he didn't want to cause any trouble for Ari. He started actually frying and flipping the pancakes and tried to just ignore the travesty of an oolong tea bag even existing on the ship. Loose leaf or go home. Well maybe it was more because Llyr was making it. Either way he kept his mouth shut this time and finished up with the pancakes, setting a plate with a huge stack of them in the middle of the table before retrieving plates and utensils and actually setting the table, cause ya know they all just stood there watching him do all the work and no one could be bothered to ask if they could help, or maybe do something like set the table automatically since they knew he was cooking for them all.
...well Ari was hurt so he was excused. Ykan put the butter and syrup on the table and felt like retreating to his room. He didn't want to be around any of them ('cept Ari) but frankly he didn't want to leave Ari with them either. So he sat down in the spot he set next to Ari. He would have cleaned up right away but he felt like the beasts might demand he make more.
-
Riot stuttered. He'd been prepared to go on and on with way more in the same vein. Been prepared to tell them that they were all not hot shit and just how many leagues even the worst Libra fighter pilot was above them. How they'd only lassoed him because of their hardware, which was to say they didn't have the skill to back up any of their big talk.
He just hadn't been prepared to be brushed off and dismissed.
Riot plopped back down in his chair and glowered. He'd stabbed Ari. And cut him up! And still this lot didn't take him seriously? Was he going to have to set the ship on fire to get some real attention around here?
-
So much tension. Ykan certainly seemed in a mood, judging by the way he was moving, and of course Riot was over there being pouty, and he had no idea what was up with Llyr. Was Ari the only one here besides Alia that was in a decent mood? Well, that might have also had something to do with the painkillers he'd been popping; they were the good stuff. Hard to be in a bad mood when everything felt just peachy!
Ari reached for the pancakes and started dishing them out to everyone, pausing to throw a look between Alia and Llyr. "Ya guys gonna join us? C'mon, get friendly, sit your asses down. You're ruinin' the whole creepily idealistic television family dinner vibe here."
Alright, so he didn't know if they'd get the reference; those freaky family sitcoms seemed more an Edani thing than anything.
-
Someone certainly seemed in a good mood. Llyr didn't want to jump to conclusions—bah, who was he kidding? Ari had probably done some interesting activities last night. Or before that. Probably both.
The Captain's sex life aside, it was a good thing a couple of the people in the room weren't cranky. Llyr didn't particularly want to be, but lack of sleep coupled with an irritated moon spirit makes for a grumpy naiad.
He was also hungry, and the pancakes looked delicious, so he just snorted at Ari's comment and gracefully lowered himself into a spot.
"It is certainly interesting enough to be a program, though we are lacking any children. Last I checked, we only had people immature in mind, not body."
Llyr had made sure not to sit near Ykan; he wasn't going to start any fights if he could help it. Although, this also put him closer to Riot. Unperturbed, he reached out a long arm and snagged two of the fluffy pumpkin pancakes. Food was higher on his mental list of importance right now, not safety. Besides, the kid looked more disconcerted than angry. Llyr figured he might have felt the same way if he had been captured and the crew he met turned out to be... them. Unusual didn't even begin to describe the members of the ship.
-
Ok even with all the tension in the room Ykan had to chuckle at Ari's family sitcom comment. That was part of why the captain was so great and so fun to be around. The blue haired shape shifter leaned his head against Ari's shoulder lightly before staring at the food Ari put on his plate. Maybe he should eat after all. He sat up and just started eating his first bite of pancake when Llyr started talking about kids.
Ykan choked on the fluffy pancake and started coughing uncontrollably. Children. Llyr said children. This was going to be the death of him, keeping Arius a secret from everyone, especially Llyr and Ari. It was no one's business though... well maybe that bastard Llyr's. Finally he got his air way clear and glared at Llyr. That stupid asshole.
"So you are implying that we are old and crusty and act like idiots? I think you are talking about yourself mostly." Ykan muttered actively restraining himself from jumping up and punching the naiad. "Well at least Ari was right about the tv thing, we certainly are dysfunctional enough for tv."
-
An eyebrow raise was his only comment to Ykan's coughing fit. Usually, he would at least make sure the person wasn't going to suffocate, but his efforts would likely be wasted on his late fling. Ykan would probably just yell.
Of course, Llyr's restraint meant nothing in the face of his wrath. As soon as he was able to breathe, he was glaring at and insulting the significantly taller man. Effort was definitely wasted here. Sometimes Llyr wondered if the answer to this constant friction between them, which had popped out of nowhere from what he'd seen, was an old-fashioned shouting match. It seemed to be quite cathartic for humans, why not other species?
He did have to hold back a laugh though. 'Old and crusty?' Well, he knew at least two people here who fit that description... Not that he'd told anyone other than Ykan his true age.
"I implied nothing at all," he said, voice flat as a counter-top.
To say otherwise would spark more tension; there was enough as is. He'd meant it though. Many humans discarded logic purposely. It wasn't a bad trait, per say, but there was no use sugar-coating it either. Sarcasm was one thing Llyr truly enjoyed utilizing.
He then proceeded to eat his pancakes plain, cutting each bite fairly small. No need to ruin perfectly good flavors with something as sweet as syrup.
"And dysfunctional," he said between bites, "is a gross understatement."
-
"If you say so." Alia grabbed a seat across from Llyr and forked some pancakes onto her plate. They were good--Ykan might have the weirdest damn thing about Llyr, but he knew what he was doing in the kitchen. The food had definitely gotten better once they hired him on.
Speaking of children, she wondered what'd happened to hers. Must be around Riot's age now. Maybe the kid was a Pilot--her psychic ability wasn't exactly strong, but maybe actual talent had skipped a generation. Not like it mattered, she'd barely stuck around long enough to name the brat. The kid who was actually here looked pouty. Couldn't exactly blame him, this crew was so far away from normal they were close to smacking into it from the other side. They were probably weirding him out something fierce.
"We shot past dysfunctional a while ago," she said. Llyr and Ykan agreeing on something. Huh. The sky didn't seem to be falling in.
-
Rory skipped lightly down the hall towards the kitchen. Having just woken up a few minutes ago, he hadn’t bothered changing out of his sleepwear and was wearing a large, white button up pajama top and matching bottoms (though he still went through the trouble of putting in his earrings and hair pins...). Yawning, he hoped his other crew members were still eating breakfast; Rory had gone to bed pretty early last night and was curious about the rather loud sounds that had jolted him awake briefly. He probably should have just gotten up and checked to see what was going on, but his bed was soooo warm.
Reaching the kitchen, he paused, looking around. Whoa. Mhm, something definitely happened last night. There was some new redheaded guy sitting at the table, and Rory could practically smell the tension in the room. And pancakes. Delicious pancakes. Ignoring the obvious friction in the air for now, he skipped over to the table and plopped down next to the redhead, grabbing about three of the breakfast cakes.
"Hello everyone. Good morning or afternoon or whatever."
Smiling, he started eating his pancakes like a fluffy sandwich, staring at the new guy. Let’s see, why exactly was he here? A new crew member? Nah. He looked too grumpy. Probably a prisoner or something. Yeah, that would most likely explain the noises last night.
"So what about being dysfunctional? And who’s this?"
-
Sarah rarely wandered from her quarters if there wasn't a mechanical problem or a need for the privy. For her, there was little reason to, considering she kept virtually everything she needed there, and was usually caught up in some project of hers or another. So, when she found herself wanting fresh meat for once, Sarah found herself heading toward the kitchen asking herself why the usual dried stuff wasn't good enough. As she appeared (as it would likely seem to anyone with human reaction time) in the kitchen, a new scent caught the Draconian's nostrils.
Sarah looked over the new human carefully, ignoring the other, familiar beings for the moment. Their squabbles were of little concern to her. <You aren't a new crewmember. And I doubt the good Captain's in the business of taking slaves.>, she mused, the second part said 'publicly' for Ari's benefit, <Which makes you a prisoner. Well, welcome to the happiest, prettiest ship in all of space. I'm sure they'll be as fun to be held captive by as they are to be crewed with.>, she added privately to the new human, going over to the fridge to see what there was to choose from. <Good whatever time it is.>, she stated flatly to her crewmates as she searched.
[OOC note: Sarah is a carnivore. Only time she goes for plants is for medicinal purposes (or certain ones native to her species' homeworld when she needs an energy boost.).]
-
Riot pulled his plate over and picked at his food. Somewhere between leaving that cell and surrounding himself with this lot, his appetite had all but disappeared. He used the time to just watch them, but listening to their banter got old fast. They were so normal. All like friendly and shit to each other. They weren't like pirates at all! Where was all the cussing and drinking and fighting?!
He sensed the coming of another before she even got there. Levitating that button all night had triggered something in him and he couldn't get any of it to shut off now. Kept catching fragments of thought and emotion.
New chick turned out to be some draconic humanoid. Definitely not the weirdest thing he'd seen, growing up on Libra as he had. She was the first one to talk to him directly in awhile, but what the hell did you say to that? It was like she was just rubbing it in. Riot rolled his eyes and went back to pushing his pancakes about on the plate.
-
"Flattery gets ya everywhere, darlin'," Ari told Sarah with a wink as she passed by, then turned back to the table.
"This is Riot. And I guess it's just been established that we're a big, happy, dysfunctional family, which makes us a somewhat incestuous family, too. But hey, who's judgin'?" Ari finished off his last pancake, and then glanced at Riot's plate and poked his pancake with a fork.
"Gonna eat that?"
-
Riot made a face at the incestuous comment. Holy gods on toast, were these people ever like the most tedious faildouches of all time or what? Like what kind of merry dick-circus had he found himself lodged into here?
"No." Ari could have his pancakes. They were probably poisoned or spat on or something anyway.
-
<Except in your pants, Captain.>, Sarah pointedly responded, <At least until you do something about that vomit you've got smeared all over the hull. I keep telling you it'll eat a hole in the armor.>, she added, grinning in the my-mouth-is-not-made-for-this grimace of her kind in order to underline her point. All one-hundred twenty-six of them. Shaking her head at the contents of the fridge, the mechanic chose what seemed to be some birdlike food creature and carried it over to the table.
<Riot. Nice to meet you. My name is Sarah. I'm a mechanic who likes building things and hates it when people break, scratch, crack, or melt things she just got done fixing.>, Sarah told Riot, biting into her meal as she spoke, <I'm guessing Ari's got his monkeys mutilating whatever ship you came aboard on? Shame. Just once I'd like to have a full ship to tinker with. In any event, if you need something fixed, yell at Ari. I'm sure he'll yell at me, and we can all be happily miserable together. Hell, you can even brood while I make the repairs.>, she continued as she ate, speaking to everyone despite the fact that she was addressing Riot, <And, no, I'm not incestuous. Or available, for that matter. This is one notch the captain won't be adding to his bedpost.>.
-
"Rory," he said, nodding hello. "I don't believe it's afternoon yet. However, I've been up all night; my sense of time is skewed at the moment."
He finished his own pancakes, watching his Captain poke at Riot's while Sarah dug into... he was pretty sure that was raw meat, as per usual. He glared at the "monkeys" comment though. Regardless of the fact that yes, they were taking apart a beautifully built ship, he liked to think that their skills were far superior to any primal relation of the humans'. It wasn't as though they were taking a sledgehammer to it! He took a long sip of tea rather than retort, murmuring "caffeine" after swallowing in the hopes it would cure his sudden mood change.
As if by some cosmic joke, a loud curse came through his earpiece. He listened for a bit as his co-workers communicated through insults before pressing the earpiece button to interrupt with, "What happened?"
"Nothing. Just Guy being clumsy."
"Dammit! Weren't my fault! Someone's loosening this stuff in the wrong order!"
"Well, correct it then. I do not want another shift just because you managed to break something with your BS."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Go to sleep your highness, you're PMSing."
Eye twitching in annoyance, Llyr glared at nothing in particular and didn't respond. Hopefully, whatever it was that had happened did not require his presence, and he would actually be able to sleep after this meal, as suggested. He didn't think he could stand anymore senseless behavior without exploding at someone, and the tea wasn't improving his mood. He half listened as the other mechanics went back to work. Sarah was right; his workmates acted primal often enough.
Another sip brought his tea below half of his mug. Even if it didn't make him easier to get along with, it was tasty, and not to be wasted.
-
Ari had just started to take a swig of his coffee when Sarah spoke, and he barely managed to gulp it down before dissolving into laughter.
"We'll see about that, baby," he said when he got a handle on himself, adding on an exaggerated eyebrow waggle and a wink. "Though I dunno, I'm a little nervous 'bout the idea, considerin' what I got to compete with here. A mere human man could get his ego busted mighty bad measurin' themselves up to the males of your species, eh?"
Sliding Riot's plate over, he started in on it, paused with his mouth full and a piece hanging off his fork when Llyr started having his one way conversation.
"Everything alright over there, buddy?"
-
Riot couldn't take any more of this. It was a little too much for his head to handle. He was a prisoner, but only maybe? Because Ari had offered him a job or something? And they didn't keep him tied up or locked up, yet they put him up here with all of them together and what—Ari just trusted that he wouldn't fly off the handle and try to fight his way out?
And he was goddamned hungry and couldn't eat because he's given Ari pancakes he'd thought were like maybe probably poisoned but weren't at all.
He lurched up and slammed his chair back against the table and peaced the fuck out of there. Didn't have a good glory of a clue where he was going, he just left the room and kept walking.
-
<You assume you can even compete, Captain.>, the mechanic didn't bother to mince words, <Not to mention that if I ever felt like screwing a human, I'd literally break said human. We're not exactly gentle in the sack.>, Sarah continued, snapping one of her meal's bones to emphasize the word 'break', <Your ego would be the least of your worries.>. Riot's exit drew Sarah's attention, but not enough for Llyr's glare to go unnoticed.
The glare was met with an amused eyeridge raise as Sarah used her wrist terminal to watch Riot as he stormed through the ship, as well as close any hatches he came close to. <I'm assuming you wanted the hothead in here for a reason, Captain?>, Sarah privately asked as she pooled earth magical energy at the human's feet and moved the pool with him, ready to convert it into iron bars at any moment, <I can cage him at any moment. The sooner the better.>, she added, the effort already givving her a headache of the sort that took her attention from what might otherwise have been a chance to rub the apparent situation on the other end of Llyr's com link in his face.
-
"Honey, I know you're tryin' to sound threatenin' and edgy, but that's just soundin' mighty exciting," Ari told Sarah with a wink, but then jumped when Riot slammed in his chair and stormed from the room.
Sitting up, Ari watched him leave with only mild interest. Wasn't like he could get anywhere valuable. The places he could do any damage were locked up, unless his psionics let him override ship systems or pick locks, and he highly doubted that. If that were the case, he would have escaped last night. If his psionics were strong at all, he could have beat him in all their grappling. But since the cell held him and he'd still managed to physically overpower him, he wasn't worried.
Ari shrugged and waved a hand. "Ah, let him have his tantrum. Any one of us here can take him." Except Bjarte. But even diminutive Bjarte could be a scary motherfucker.
Then he paused, remembering something. "Actually, I'll be right back," he said and, rising to his feet, quickly started after Riot.
-
Riot picked his path at random, but somewhere along all the twists and turns he got it into his head that he should go to the cargo bay, where they were taking his ship apart and...he didn't know, actually. See if there was anybody there that he could like punch in the fact to make himself feel better.
-
It didn't take long to find Riot, and Ari tailed him for a minute before he decided to say anything. Cargo bay, eh? And what did he think he was going to do when he got there? Maybe cry over his ship a little? Poor thing. If they weren't going to make assloads off those parts, he might feel a little bad, taking apart a pretty ship like that. He knew he'd murder the guys that tried to touch Sassy inappropriately.
Picking up his pace, he soon fell into stride beside Riot. "Off to pay your respects?"
-
Yeeeah. Riot had kinda expected this. Like Ari would let him wander around the ship alone.
"Uh, pffha. Like, what in the heck else can I do, right? Fuck!"
-
Ari smirked. "Yeah, fuckin' is an option."
-
Something about the just smug-like nonchalant way he said it made Riot want to pick a fight then and there. He tensed and stopped dead, glaring at Ari. Sure, he could go for it. And he might win. Then what? He flies out of here on a ship that's in a million pieces? Commandeer's the Sassy Juice against a dozen crew, maybe more? Feh, yeah right.
"You...just..." He could totally even feel his face heating with anger. His hands made a strangling motion at Ari. "Just...I hate you!"
He stormed forward again. He'd never felt so frustrated and powerless in his life.
-
"Hate?" Ari laughed, following along behind Riot, hoping his chipper nonchalance would infuriate Riot more. "After that special moment we shared back there? 'Cause ya sure seemed to love that."
-
"Hey!" Riot stuck a finger in Ari's face. "Just because you know how to use your dick like...like a fucking magic wand don't mean I can't hate you for it!"
-
"Sooooo..." Ari said with a sly grin as he leaned in closer. "Ya sayin' it was like fuckin' magic, eh? Literally."
And then he licked that finger and drew it into his mouth for a quick but suggestive suck.
-
Riot felt like he was stuck in fucking slow motion. He watched Ari lick up his finger, watched him take his finger into his mouth. Felt him suck on it and felt his own eyes want to glaze up at just how fucking lewd that was and ended up standing there way to shitfucking long letting Ari suck on him.
"Gods!" He yanked his hand away. "See?! That right there! That is like the prime gold star example of what I'm talking about! Like, gods dude, have you ever heard of asking??"
-
"Uh, pirate? Remember? All about the pillagin'? Pirates don't ask. They take," Ari said with a pleased smile and a slow lick of his lips.
"Besides, why ask when I already know what ya'd say?"
-
"Oh right because you just like know me sooooooo fuckin' well. Uh-huh, well y'know what my answer would be to that offer? I'd tell you and your...your...pilla ging pirate dick to go fuck yourselves!"
-
"If I was a few ribs short...maybe," Ari said, scratching musingly at the stubble on his chin. "Buuuut since I ain't nearly that flexible, well..."
He slapped a hand to Riot's left ass cheek and gave it a squeeze through his clothes. "That's what I gotcha here for, darlin'."
-
Riot squawked and jumped, and his face heated up about like a hundred degrees. Asscocking great, he must be beet red, and just from one little slap on the ass! Even worse, there was no way to win there! If he leapt away, Ari won cuz he got Riot to retreat. If he just stood there and took it Ari still won cuz Riot was submitting to the ass grabbing!
"Uhhh, like, I'm a freakin' Libra fighter pilot, not your like personal on-demand boyfriend, scummunch."
-
"Whoa, whooooa," Ari said, and Riot got a little reprieve as he drew his hands away and raised them up like he was warding away an evil gremlin. "Who said anythin' about boyfriends? Gods, Riot. Slow your roll. That's takin' things a little too fast, don'tcha think?"
-
Riot gave a real honest go at parsing what the fuck Ari had just said, but it wasn't happening. He threw his hands up and stormed away. "I don't know what the fuck you're saying! All I know is I'm going to find who took apart my ship and beat the pillage outta them until my bloody knuckle bones are bare!"
-
"Ya realize it wasn't one person that did it, right?" Ari asked as he followed along, curious to see just how Riot thought this was going to play out.
-
"Fan-fucking-tastic." More people to vent his frustration on. He was totes okay with that.
-
"Got a plan for figurin' out which is which?" Ari asked, still content to trail behind him a couple paces. After all, he had a pretty great view of his ass.
-
"Does it matter? You're all, like, pirate trash who deserve to eat the floor."
-
"Sure it matters. Ain't really revenge if you're beatin' the wrong guy, is it? Or lady."
-
"Are you just, like, thick as two steaks stapled together? You're all pirates! Anything anyone does to any of you like qualifies as revenge for someone somewhere!"
They passed through a doorway into a large, open area--the hangar. Riot wheeled away from Ari. He jumped straight up, fingertips snagging a pipe, and vaulted off a fuse box to grab a railing overhead. One good heave and he was up on the second story walkway, out of Ari's reach.
He had something of a reputation around Libra for being spider-like in his ability to reach paces via unconventional means.
These were the raised platforms they used to work on huge ships too tall get to from the ground floor. A lot of options right here. A lot of ways to cause trouble. A mechanic working on a ship a few yards away hadn't even noticed him yet, and she had a whole wealth of pointy dangerous tools Riot could make use of.
There was also a massive junk pincer in the opposite direction, used for ripping ship hulls to shreds. What kind of damage could that do?