Remnants of the Earth
SPACE STATIONS => The Cancer => Topic started by: Lion on March 10, 2017, 09:16:17 pm
-
“You fucking piece of shit! Fit!” he growled, as he fitted the tracker into the navigation system just beside the flight seat. Upkeep on a cruiser like the Vegas, was a challenging task for anyone that wasn't up for the task. Thade was good with his hands, and he had to be especially when traveling solo.
Sister was handy here and there, but heaven forbid the fucker break a nail and threaten to break the rest of them on Thade's face if he made him do anymore work. Thankfully Sister wasn't around, and whatever he was doing was probably hot, fast, and sweaty. Sometimes a guy just needed something to get off on.
He was covered in grease already, and smeared some more on his hands as he got the circular casing to finally fit into the hardware in the panels and grates that served as the flooring on the Vegas. The ship itself was well-kept, and although it wasn't always clean, it has powerful engines, guns, and plenty of cargo space both hidden and otherwise. It was his first vessel, an with any luck it'd be his only vessel.
Thade wiped the grease from his hands as he activated the panels on it, remembering what he'd been told. Sure he could have had someone at Galley La do it for him, but why on the sun would he deprive himself of the joy of doing it himself? Really, he always did it better if he could do it himself. Not to mention, whatever bloated price they would charge for labor alone!
He wasn't going to take that chance.
Thade stood, dusting his hands off and grabbed his overcoat, shrugging it over his form and securing Desi and Lucy in their holsters. You never could be too careful on the Cancer. Drinks with Sister were just about in order and he wasn't going to be late. Only assholes were late to meetings. Drinks with Sister were always fun, and as he left his ship, securing the airlocks, he glanced behind it to check the sign. Dock 12-A. A part of him wanted to set up a pulse mine in front of the entry way. Gods knew he couldn't trust any form of “security” to keep an eye on it. But it never hurt to take extra precautions.
So he paid an urchin to keep an eye out for him, a kid that nobody would really suspect, And soon he was on his way.
Thade enjoyed himself the next few hours, and watched as Sister pile-drove a hard ass into the ground, and then proceeded to step on his nuts with his stiletto boot. “Nobody calls me fag, honey. I'm just too fabulous for you to handle. Call me when you grow your nuts back. On second thought, don't,” Sister laughed, and Thade sauntered after him. “As ever it's a pleasure, Thade, baby. Don't be a stranger now.” Sister kissed his cheek and was on his way.
He was good now. He had a few drinks in him and he could sleep the rest of it off on the ship. If it was there. Thade had to blink again and stared with a sobering scowl at the blank spot where the Vegas had been stationed. Whatever alcohol had been swimming in his head seemed to fade away, and he glared, furious. He locked the ship! He locked it! This was the same dock too, 12-A!
And the kid was nowhere to be found!
“FUUUUUUUUCK!” he cried, and looked to the comm system on his wrist, embedded into the chrome plate of his left arm. “The tracker! Right! The, the.....tracker...” Except it was turned on, and somehow wasn't showing up as active on the navigation screen. “Oh you've got to be kidding me. I did not just install a piece of shit... Please! Don't tell me that's just what happened!?”
Thade was off, running full tilt back to Galley La, fuming. His eyes flashed when he was angry, and he had a hard time containing his patience by the time he made it back to Galley La proper. Of course he tried to wind down, and each deep breath was getting harder and harder to contain. Brow was furrowed, and he immediately asked to see someone about their ship production line.
“Just wondering if all your equipment is fault, or just the units you sell individually,” he muttered as he stood in the office. “Was it because I didn't want you to install it?”
The woman in front of him smiled fakely. It wasn't that Thade expected her to feel sorry for him, or even to be remotely understanding, but it was clear to him she did this on a daily basis. She had a shiteating grin that frankly was infuriating, but Thade knew better than to make a scene in the middle of a place with it's own private security.
“Please come this way, Mr. Olyphant. An upper-representative will be along to help you shortly. In the meantime, please feel free to brows our building facilities. Thank you for visiting Galley La,” she said with an upbeat tone and led Thade out into the main hangar. There were ships, ships, and more ships! Even if he was a disgruntled customer, he was steadily impressed by their facility, the massive hangar leaving little to be desired.
“Wow,” he breathed. Maybe if he ever found the Vegas again he'd bring it here for a serious tune-up.
-
Reva's irritated sigh was loud, echoing in the hallway along with the heavy clicking of her high heels. Various hologram screens floated along with her, projected from a few hidden points in her golden skeletal arms.
"Well it's not my fault that the customer couldn't tell the difference between laser cannons, I'm not giving him a fucking refund because he wanted a bigger one and didn't bother doing any research past what the names sounded like."
"Okay so what do you want me to tell him then?" Despite Reva being the shortest person at Galley La, the office assistant still struggled to keep up with her, a glass tablet in her hands as she tried to jot down notes as Reva spewed them off while heading to the main hangar.
"Tell him if he wants an upgrade he's gotta pay for it in full, I'm not offering discounts based on fucking stupidity." Reva spat the last word as the door in front of them opened on its own and they stepped out into the brightly lit main hangar.
At the moment, it housed four private vessels ranging in size from personal cruisers, a racing ship, and a large blimp-like ship designed to hold a crew of twenty, with accommodations for up to forty passengers comfortably. It was roughly 120 feet long and weighed around 700 tons. Its dim silver finish gleamed in the bright lights; dozens of workers varying in age, gender and species scurried on the cement of the garage floor, hauling small trucks full of sheets of metal, electronics and other parts.
Reva walked onto the floor like she owned it, and in all sense of the phrase she pretty much did. All the workers, who for the most part looked like rough seasoned creatures that had been in far too many fights for a little gal like her to tangle with, and yet they all nodded to her with respect--even went so far as to take steps back or move out of her way to give her some space. Nobody liked getting in Reva's way when she was on the job, because she was there to do just that: her job. Anyone who hindered her in doing so knew to expect a beating, sometimes not just in a metaphorical sense.
Behind her on a large motorized cart bed was a rather large cannon, somewhere around 10 feet long and wider around than any of the workers were tall.
She stopped in front of the large commercial airship, motioning with her hands and several workers immediately jumped into action as the cart stopped. The cannon was untethered as a framework of cables was lowered from the ceiling on a suspended grid, hooks going into various places built into the weapon's outer shell as its several tons was hoisted into the air to be installed.
"Hey, watch it Alistair, I've only spent the last six months building that from scratch, if you get a single mark on it you'll owe me a thousand credits." She growled, and one of the workers quickly fired out a reply like they were responding to a military drill sergeant. Reva rolled her eyes and shifted her weight onto one leg, placing her hand on her hip as she stood there and watched as it was lifted into the air--and as she looked up with it, another movement caught her eye just in time for her to notice something was wrong.
The secretary that had brought Thade into Galley La proper trotted over to her and her assistant, nodding to both of them, though Reva wasn't looking at her.
"Miss Reva, as you're head of ship security I've unfortunately got another one for you, another stolen ship that is--"
There was a loud metallic snap followed by a series of twangs and cracks and suddenly the airship lurched, its front end wavering dangerously before there was a loud bang and the whole thing, hoisted some 100 feet in the air, started to fall. There were a few shocked screams and yells from the workers as it came down almost like it was moving in slow motion. Reva let out a frustrated snort and threw both of her hands up, a visual aid to help her direct her focus when she had to pour this much into it--after all, that thing wasn't no fucking pear she was doing tricks with to impress someone.
It came to a shuttering halt after only falling halfway, and Reva let out an audible growl as the assistant standing next to her let out a whimper, posed with her tablet held out in front of her like she somehow thought that would save her from a gigantic airship smashing her like a bug. The ship slowly started moving back up in the air by an unseen force, but it was a force of energy that everyone in that hangar could tangibly feel, a kind of vibration in the air that almost had a bit of a crackle to it like static electricity. The half-demon cyborg grit her teeth as she lifted the entire ship back into place; workers were already scrambling on ladders and walkways with new cords as they started resecuring it back into place.
"Main tether wasn't hooked into the right port, Reva!" One of them called down, his voice quiet despite his yelling, in the vast space that was silent save for the murmurs of everyone as they got back to work.
Reva waited a few more seconds before the others up there called down and affirmed that it was secure, and then she relaxed, the energy that had been pulsating in the room disappearing in a flash as she let her arms slump to her sides, shaking her head as she took in a breath--everyone went quiet.
"FIND THAT SORRY MOTHERFUCKER WHO DID IT AND BRING THEM TO ME SO I CAN GIVE THEM A THOROUGH FUCKING ASS BEATING BEFORE I BOOT THEIR ASS OUT OF MY GODDAMN HANGAR DOOR."
It really was surprising how much such a little thing like her could roar. It was something that she knew how to do likely only from practice--because it still made everyone in the garage flinch, the two gals next to her covering their ears until she was done, wincing as they heard her voice still echoing in the room. There was a furious look burning in her eyes that did more than suggest she was livid--she was the embodiment of angered boss right now, and quickly the other workers started to scramble to figure out who did it. Reva wouldn't rest until someone's head was on her desk, though she wouldn't just punish any fool--it had to be the person responsible. And when there was a project worth so many millions of credits as that ship, nobody was gonna fuck around. She expected to have an ass to flog in her office by late evening, and it went without saying. It was a mutual understanding between everyone who worked there.
Reva finally turned to look at the secretary, arching a single brow, her only indication for the woman to speak, to which she quickly stammered, "Mr--Mr. Olyphant's ship was stolen. He's waiting by the entrance to the hangar." She said with a quick motion over to where said customer was standing.
Reva took one look at him and rolled her eyes, looking away as she took in a deep breath and let it out in a measured puff of air. "Right, fine. Fine. Get those notes out by five tonight if you can, Adestria. Thank you." Her assistant nodded and scampered off while Reva followed the secretary over to where Thade stood.
She was already 110% done with people today, because it seemed like it was just dumbass after fucking dumbass who kept coming to spite her and it was just one of those days. And she had a feeling this guy was probably gonna be a similar story.
"Thade Olyphant, nice to meet you, I'm Reva, head designer and weapons engineer. I'm told you got your ship stolen today," She took the note handed to her by the secretary and took a glance at it, raising her eyebrows before she let her hand fall to her side, her other going to rest on her hip as she gave him a look like 'are you fucking kidding me?'
"Did you read the instruction manual? Because if you didn't we're not legally liable for any damages to your ship, including it being stolen, because you didn't hold up your end of the agreement on the contract papers which you signed at," She looked at the note again before looking at him, "11:32 this morning."
God someone just... Shoot her. No, better idea. She looked at the secretary.
"I'll handle him from here, thank you Tenai. I'd absolutely love it if you could find me some coffee and vodka and have it ready for me when we come back to the office in about ten minutes."
Tenai, the secretary, gaped at her for a second or two before pursing her lips and nodding--this wasn't the first time Reva had requested such a concoction mind you, she was just shocked Reva did it in front of a customer. She threw a glance at Thade to see his reaction before excusing herself and hurrying away.
-
In all his fascination with the vessels that were being built here at the Galley La facility, Thade wondered what kind of money it took to run an operation like this. No doubt a lot of it, and people to run it too. Thade made good enough money shipping and selling and gunrunning, but it was nothing on the scale of this. If anything it made him quite ambitious. For a time, he wondered if the owner had any trouble with finding people they could trust.
A brief thought when he turned his attention to someone screaming out at the top of their lungs. Amidst the noise of the hangar, the sound of powertools and plasma cutters aside, there was a tone of authority here, and it caught his attention. Thade crossed his arms over his chest, watching a tiny thing moving out onto the floor, with metal arms, and a golden outfit.
The owner? Hmm, maybe not. There was definite authority from her, but the way she shouted things about pointed more toward some kind of supervisory position. And boy did her people listen. No fuss, no gripes. A word was given and there they went, scattering to accommodate. That order and discipline was definitely something to be admired, and he found himself grinning.
No, he scolded himself. You're here to make a valid complaint. Focus. Thade stepped forward, hoping to meet this woman head on. He really didn't need all those introductions. Until there was a loud snap and he looked up, and saw that teetering airship about to crush everything underneath it. Only it didn't. Instead it was held up, by none other than the the boss lady herself, with a force unseen. Holy shit.
Thade had been in Aedolis enough times to recognize telekinesis. And hers was fucking strong. Damn... Was he spacing out? Was there someone talking to him? Right, his ship.
Thade kept his poker face on, demeanor professional and his shoulders back. He was here on business, and letting emotion get the better of him was never a good idea. She clearly wasn't in any mood to be fucked with, and he wasn't in the mood for fucking. He took her hand and shook it firmly, hands folding in front of him afterward. He looked her up and down, measuring that fire she had carefully leveled out to anyone that failed to convey responsibility for the broken tether.
"Miss Reva. I did read the instructions," -Most of it anyway. The parts on how to fit it onto the ship. "And I have to say I'm very disappointed in your product. I activated the tracker. Or thought I did. I'm quite good about repairing anything that might be broken, but I didn't think your company shelled out that kind of garbage. Don't you have some kind of quality control in this place? It looks fantastic, so why did you sell me such a faulty piece of equipment?"
Thade frowned, brow furrowed and he kept his gaze level with her eyes. But his voice rang out to Tenai as she scurried away, "Better make that coffee and vodka double, if you please."
-
There was something about Thade that made Reva's mind instantly think 'dirtbag' as he stood there and shook her hand. He had a firm grip, hers was one of iron. Almost literally.
As he voiced his complains and she stared him down, watching the look in his eyes as he spoke, she decided he likely wasn't telling the whole truth, because this definitely wasn't the first time she'd herad this argument. They always sounded similar, always that it was Galley La's product that was faulty, not the idiot who couldn't be bothered to turn on all the features because he couldn't read a fucking manual. Of course. Customer was always right, and that kind of shit.
It was only a little obvious in the look in her eyes as he kept talking that the more he said the more she wanted to punch him in the face, and she was only about an inch away from doing so--but that didn't bode well for customer relations. So she did a good job of keeping it bottled up, setting her jaw as she gave him a frosty smile.
"Well I'm sorry to hear that you feel that way about our product. Let me run some diagnostics on your ship real quick, and let's see if we can't figure out where it's at, hm?" Hint hint, she wasn't buying the bullshit he was trying to sell her. She wasn't stupid.
She took a look at the note again which had some more information jotted on it--namely, the tracker ID number. She held up her forearm, pressed a few keys on the underside of her palm and a new screen came up which she started entering in information on. It quickly zoomed out to show a map of the neighboring planetary systems, and she enlarged it so it was big enough for him to see without taking a step towards her, gods damn him if he tried. A red marker showed up on the screen, and it was quite far away from their location, marked in green, on Cancer.
"Well it appears to me that your tracker is working absolutely fine." She said, an edge to her voice of 'I fucking told you so'. "Looks like it's been missing a while Mr. Olyphant because from what I glimpsed of your ship earlier it'd take a while to get it from the port and coax it all the way to fucking Edanith."
She turned to stare at him. "And unfortunately it looks like you didn't enable one of the options recommended on page ten of the manual which would have allowed me to teleport it back here to the shop, and unfortunately for you," She used a hand gesture in front of the hologram screen and the map shrunk down to have another window, which had been small and playing in the corner before, almost unnoticeable, fullsize in its place. It was a recorded video taken from the tracker while it was installed.
"It certainly appears to me that you didn't do as much reading as you let on." His voice saying “You fucking piece of shit! Fit!” could be heard faintly to go along with it.
She gave him a frosty smile as she lowered her arm and all the hologram windows around her disappeared as she put her hands on her hips and got real with him for a second.
"Legally I don't have to do anything. You didn't hold up your end of the contract, it's in the fine print. However, because I'm such a nice woman, I will offer to help you track it down. What's left of it, anyways. We can take one of my personal cruisers to Edanith to reach it, and from there I can get it transported back here safely." She could almost guarantee he'd have to do business with them once they got back though to get it back together in one piece again, hell. No ship was stolen off of Cancer to be kept intact as-is. Unlucky bastard--or perhaps just stupid.
-
Suddenly, and very embarrassingly, Thade was reminded of every customer that bothered to complain to him over anything they thought they could one-up him over. “The shipment came later than expected, I’m only paying half,” “These are more guns than I asked for, “ “You said they’d only be this much in your messages!” all suddenly came flooding to mind and Thade couldn’t have been more embarrassed. Except he was, and blood burned his face as a continued unpleasant reminder.
It was his utmost discipline to never deal with pretense, never make the customer think you have more cards than you do, and never let them pull one over on you. Even if it meant losing a potential contact. He himself knew better than to try and hustle the hustler. And here he was, making a fool of himself doing it. Whether it was Reva’s words, or the very fact that he just went against everything he’d taught himself, he rubbed his face deep into his hands and sighed.
“You know what, you’re right. You’re absolutely right, and I’m…really fucking sorry,” he said. “I’m just pissed more at myself than anything, and trying to take it out unfairly on you for my own mistake was…completely uncalled for.” Thade looked at her eyes again, feeling that burning annoyance behind them, and he couldn’t blame her. He still was waiting for that assistant to show up with that coffee and vodka.
Thade just watched her and crossed his arms over his chest, watching her pull a holo map up from her arm. Well, fuck if his ship didn’t make it all the way to Edanith in just a few hours. Suping up those engines paid off. Just not for him.
“I think you pretty much laid out my options for me. As well as my balls,” he sighed. “Which, believe me, I’m always thankful for. I guess, I could always storm out of here, and take my business elsewhere, but I’m not some asshole that comes cawing for a solution only to walk away from it. And I’m not about to lose my ship, again.”
He nodded to her. “If you’re willing to go that extra mile for me, Miss Reva, I’ll go the extra mile for you. Let’s get started.”
-
There was a certain kind of joy one could find when putting an unruly person back in their place--bonus points even, if the person realized what they were doing wrong and apologized for it. Perhaps she shouldn't have been quite as quick to judge based purely upon appearance. It seemed whatever she'd said had struck some kind of a cord with this Thade guy, because despite the douchebaggy name he actually calmed down and admitted he was in the wrong. And he even apologized for it.
Well, as they say, you get more flies with honey. She allowed a small smile, more of a smirk than anything, to slip onto her face and resisted the urge to call him a good boy and pat him like he was a dog. Though something about how he said 'I'm not about to lose my ship, again' implied this might not be the first time he'd had it stolen, which raised a whole new onslaught of questions that she just didn't... Want to ask. Didn't want to open that can of worms. Told herself she would never care enough anyways.
She nodded when he agreed to her solution. "Well then, let's head back into the main office and have you sign some papers. We do so love our paperwork around here." She said the last bit only a lot sarcastically, turning on a heel and expecting him to follow as she took him back the way they came, tapping another few buttons on her palm as she opened up a comm link and informed Tenai to just keep the coffee and vodka at the front desk for them.
As they reached the front lobby, fitted with nice bright lights, a ridiculously tricked out fishtank and extremely comfy waiting chairs, Reva slid behind the desk, pulled out a glass tablet and set it out on the countertop.
"I just need you to sign these forms--release forms, more or less just agreeing that you understand that while we hope it doesn't come to it, we're not liable if you suffer any major damages while on this little excavation. I'll personally do my best to protect you since we're most likely dealing with criminals here, but ultimately I, nor is Galley La and its affiliates, responsible for your health and/or life on this trip."
It was sad that they had paperwork--digital paperwork, to be specific--for that at all, really, because it implied they hadn't at one point in time, and had dealt with such horrendous people that they later on needed to create this paperwork at all. It also implied that it wasn't the first time they dealt with people not reading the manual on their trackers, then having their vessels stolen, and trying to blame Galley La for it. Thade, in this case, was just one of many.
Tenai stepped in with a fresh pot of cold coffee and the vodka, to which Reva instantly brightened up and poured herself a glass, a good third of it being straight-up vodka. She took a few swigs as Tenai came over and offered a cup to Thade, setting the pot and glass bottle onto the counter next to him, nodding to Reva and stepping out again.
Once the forms were signed she took back the tablet and finished her cup, setting it all down on the counter top as she motioned for Thade to follow her. She exited the Galley La building through the front door, holding it open for him and then proceeding to start walking down the block. She walked with a certain authoritative purpose in her step that might've made it difficult for one to keep up if they weren't paying attention. It was a decent little walk, and then a turn right, and into view came a rather large parking garage. They entered through a door that required a rather ridiculously complex security code, and Reva stepped onto an elevator, pressing the button for floor number three once her charge as onboard.
"You're in the officially unofficial Galley La parking garage--these are the ships that belong to all the people who work here, it's privately owned by the CEO but it's intended for our use. No, none of them are for sale." Because boy were there some pretty ones that people sometimes asked about all the time.
Glass doors slid closed and the vast array of personal cruisers and other small ships on the first floor disappeared; stepping out under the bright fluorescent lights on the third floor revealed that whoever parked their ships there all had very similar tastes--that, or they all belonged to Reva.
Hint, it was the latter.
Varying in size, form, and function, from personal ships fitted with on board drinks and wine glass sets to star racers and dog fighting craft, there was a different kind of ship for just about anything. They all sported sleek airbrushing and designs, usually in pastels, golds and ivories, however there were a few that were black and neon purple or hot pink as well. Reva led Thade to a ship in one of the middle rows, (http://i.imgur.com/YxT6jAG.png)and as they approached it Reva gave a flick of her wrist, and at first it seemed like she was pantomiming the pressing of buttons, until suddenly the cruiser lit up, its engine roaring to life as it lifted off the ground and hovered there for them. A hatch opened in the bottom as the thrusters glowed with a brilliant blue-white light, and she climbed in, expecting Thade to follow her inside.
Mr. Olyphant would find it was quite cramped inside for a guy like him, but for Reva it was perfect, she merely had to bend down as she slid in and climbed up two rungs of a ladder, opening a hatch and popping into the two-seat cockpit. Of course, she took the front seat, falling into it with a sigh as she gripped the handlebars of the steering console, pressing a button on the main control panel laid out before her that shut the hatch.
"Seatbelt on please, Mr. Olyphant." She drawled as she strapped herself in and coaxed the ship out into the main aisle and out one of the many openings in the walls of the building's structure that looked out onto the station of Cancer. It flew smoothly, and was rather zippy for such a small ship--likely a racer of some sort. She pulled up a few screens on the console and pressed a few buttons, setting their coordinates for Edanith and initiating the jump to hyperspace.
"So what is it that you do for a living, Thade? Hope it's alright I call you Thade, your last name is a mouthful." She said as she sat back in her seat, throwing a look at him over her shoulder.
-
That smug look in her eye didn't go unnoticed. There was an amused gleam there too and as apologetic as Thade had been, he'd probably be laughing in his own mind as she was in hers, had the tables been turned. Still, he kept his thoughts to himself and eyed the horns on her head for a moment. She obviously wasn't human. Even with the cybernetic prosthetic arms, the very fact of the matter was she certainly smelled differently than all the rest.
Something in his blood twitched, and he eyed her body, if only to appreciate the majesty therein. As she walked away to lead him back to the main office, his lips curled wryly and he tilted his head before striding to catch up with her. Her gait was as pointed as the rest of her.
The facility here was one of many worlds and nations. Thade could appreciate when folk set aside whatever differences they had to work toward a common goal. That was making credits in this instance. And even if he clearly lost out on this one, the opportunity to make good money was never lost on him. But first things first, getting the Vegas back into his hands and beating those thieves to a pulp.
It was all the usual legalities, and Thade signed them in a surprisingly elegant hand as his finger gripped the stylus across the glass tablet with his signature and he handed it back. Ahh, there was the coffee and vodka. He smiled at Tenai and bowed his head as he took a sip. He appreciated it and made no protest to follow Reva. If anything, doing otherwise would simply get him lost here. He really only needed one problem at a time for now.
The coffee and vodka went with him as he downed it and he discarded the cup when he was finished, entering the personal vehicles garage. "Wow," he said aloud, not even realizing he was going to until the word just fell out of his mouth. "This is quite a collection. And no, I'm not interested in buying any of them." Just for the record. The Vegas was the only ship for him.
Climbing in behind Reva, he squeezed in through the hatch of her vessel and looked around. Any tighter and he probably wouldn't be able to breathe. Settling in behind her, he relaxed into the cushions, securing the belt around his waist and he took in a deep breath. He was remarkably close to the front seat and his legs were parted in a natural sitting position, and glanced down at his trousers. Really? Now he had a boner, of all times?
Thade cleared his throat. "Thade is fine, Miss Reva," he replied, reached down to pull his trousers a little more discreetly against it. "I'm a smuggler, of course. And that ship is my livelihood. Thank goodness, I didn't have any serious precious cargo on it save for the ship itself. And that's another headache altogether."
He gripped the seat and felt the pressure ease inside the cockpit. "What about you? How long have you been in this business? No doubt long enough to know how to deal with blokes like me."
-
Reva had noticed that her companion here wasn't exactly human, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. (Funnily enough, that was just about what she was.) Though any chances of her feeling sympathetic towards him based on the sole merit that he also relied on prosthetics had been made null and void by his jackass attitude. Besides, she didn't bother shedding any tears for the unfortunate.
Had she been any other normal person looking down at someone like her or Thade, she wouldn't have then either.
He mentioned he was a smuggler and she gave no outward reaction--ah yes, a regular Han Solo. Him and gods knew how many other space faring travelers. So many of them only existed of course because there was a demand for such people--that was the way of the world. So hell, she didn't judge. Just found it unsurprising.
He asked about her and she glanced back at him over her shoulder. People usually didn't ask about herself for obvious reasons. She turned forward again as they reached Edanith, the ship exiting hyperspace right outside of the planet's gravitational pull.
"Been building things as long as I can remember. Been working for Galley La for just about 20 years, officially."
She guided the ship down to Edanith's surface, the heat shields holding up well as they entered the atmosphere until the ship was racing at a comfortable distance of about 20 feet from the ground. It was definitely a racer; it made zippy turns that had them both leaning in their seats as Reva took them into the canyon lands, following the signal given off by the tracker on the Vegas. They were getting closer and closer, but it was deathly silent in the dark crevices in the earth around them.
She blinked and slowed the ship until it was hovering and she leaned forward, as if trying to make sure she wasn't mistaken before she sat back in her seat and laughed a little.
"Well, found it."
It was wedged, quit ill-fittingly into a horizontal crevice in one of the steep canyon walls. The metal of the ship's hull was crunched like a smashed soda can in between the rock walls. She rubbed her chin, unable to hold back her dry snickers. She thought it looked kinda funny, but in all seriousness...
"We should probably get on board and check it out before we just send it back to Cancer full of hostiles." She said as she pulled the ship in, looking to see if there was anywhere in between the Vegas and the destroyed cavern she could fit her ship to park it, finding an entrance just big enough and sliding the ship inside. After landing and powering it down she opened the cockpit hatch and just hopped down from there, standing up straight with her hands on her hips as she marveled at the force which had been used to smash the Vegas as far into the tiny cavern as possible.
"Whoever did this must really hate you." She said as she let Thade try to look for a way onboard.
-
Thade didn't consider himself much of a conversationalist. He was a doer not a talker. And used his words when he had to. Frankly he hated small talk, but something about Reva piqued his curiosity, simply because he wondered if she ever had the 'evil' beaten out of her when she was a runt. Being forced to fend for himself early on left him largely self-sufficient.
Except for moments like these. In which case he'd take anything he could get.
He listened with interest and tucked the info away in the back of his mind. As if he would need it later. And really you never really knew when you would need something.
Thade watched the ship enter Edanith's atmosphere and held onto the seats as it took ground. The awkward boner really was more from adrenaline and anticipation than anything else. Not that he didn't appreciate the lovely shape in front of him. Only a blind idiot could ignore that. He glanced off to the side, the little ship darting between canyon crevices until the hiss of the landing gear pressed upon Edanith soil.
And when Thade saw where his ship was squished between just beneath the gouged crust of rockface, he was fuming inside. Truth be told he was seeing red, but he kept the handle on his emotions as he jumped from the hatch, following after Reva. He wished he could snicker like she was, but the sheer insult to him was almost too much to take. Frankly it looked like this ship was the sandwich being eaten by a hungry stone giant. The crumpled metal only made Thade's heart pound furiously in his chest.
He said nothing to her, although he agreed with her point. Better to check the ship before they somehow transported the damn thing back to the Cancer. He had a feeling who did it, or who was involved if it wasn't them. Thade stepped out toward the Vegas, the ship's carcass almost too much to bear as he squinted his eyes in the vision-obscuring smoke. The engine's were still intact, but the hull's damage did not leave it safe of maintaining a trip through hyperspace with anyone on board. There was a panel exposed underneath, and the airlock was left open, clearly where the person on board had driven it and got out.
Reaching down, Thade pulled Lucy from it's holster and charged the coilgun with a quiet hiss, the hollow-pointed rounds poised to kill. Nothing looked particularly descript, the hatch was open and he stepped inside. Aside from the smoke, after a few minutes of inspection, he found nothing inside. It was completely empty. Even his foodstuffs were gone. He sighed inwardly and emerged from the ship's carcass, shaking his head with a deep frown.
"Nothing. Empty. Looks like it's been picked clean too. It couldn't have been here long though," he said. "FUCK!" He just couldn't hold it inside anymore and he stared longingly at the Vegas. "I think it's safe to say you found a repeat customer, Reva." Neon orange eyes flicked up to look at her. And abruptly raised his gun, firing off a shot just passed her head.
A bluish bolt burst out from the coilgun, wrapped around the round and piercing into the body of the stalker behind her, exploding off the head and some of the shoulder and arm. The coils kept their charge as another round entered the chamber and he pulled Desi out in the other hand, firing a laser round to another stalker coming around the other side of the ship.
These weren't Wasteland raiders, they were far too organized for that. They were well-concealed within the crevices of the canyons. They were covered in red-dyed attire, blending into the dirt and soil around them, faces covered in goggles, dust-masks, some of them appearing humanoid, and others not so much. It was hard to tell beneath their garments.
Thade dashed toward Reva, firing blindly behind them. There was no telling of their exact number. He ducked beneath the hull of her ship, scores of energy burning the hull of it. Suddenly there was a pause in the firing, and something that sounded like a rock was thrown their way. Three beeps. That was all the warning they had before the pulse grenade went off and powerful volts of electricity exploded from it, arcing both into Thade and Reva, enough to shock their systems, and make everything go black.
-
If the burning fury she had felt radiating from Thade was any indication, then this ship definitely meant more to him than he let on. There were some out there who got really attached to their vessels, if they even had more than one, and it was obvious Thade was of that type of mindset.
Reva waited around outside for a bit as he went inside to investigate, not because she was afraid, but because she figured it'd be best to give him a bit of space while he lamented the tragic fate of his precious ship. In the meantime she crossed her arms over her chest and looked around from her spot at the rest of the cavern. It was pretty cramped now with the two ships inside it, not much room to play around in.
She had just stepped up to inspect the exterior when Thade reemerged, non too happy either. Understandable.
She heard a noise behind her right as Thade shot. The charged bullet zipped past her head, singing a few stray hairs as she saw the person go down when hit. Immediately she jumped into action, her arms giving mechanical whirls and spins as they switched modes and a hole opened in the palm of each hand, shooting laser pulses as these strangers started poppin up from every nook and cranny--an ambush?
She got one that was aiming at Thade and followed his lead, darting back to her ship to take cover next to him. Shit she hadn't brought any of her big guns, what a mistake that had--
A clinking and beeping and she swung towards it, pushing it away with her mind as soon as her eyes landed on the emp grenade but unfortunately she caught it on the third beep. It exploded and her arms went down, the wave of electricity shocking her as she hit the ground, her vision hazy for a few moments, long enough to see the strangers swarming around them as everything went dark.
Well shit just got a lot more complicated, didn't it?
-
Thade's head pulsed heavily and his arm throbbed with a heavy shot that went through his left arm, the arcs of voltage momentarily pulsating around it, as the pain radiated through his whole body. Inside his heart felt as if it was going to explode in the initial blast. Thankfully Reva had sent it away with her power, enough to only give them both some distance. It wasn't enough to save them however.
His vision vaguely remained and he could see dark shapes above him. Or he did before the end of a rifle butt slammed into his head and completed him into unconsciousness.
It must have been some hours later before they were woken up with buckets of icy water being dumped over both of their heads and Thade gasped as he was on his knees, with a post strapped behind him and his arms firmly bound with adamantium cuffs, and behind him, strapped to the same post was Reva.
"Wakey wakey!" a shrill voice called out and when Thade's eyes opened a first was firmly planted into his face, cutting into his lip. His visioned whitened as he was now thoroughly awake and he looked down at his feet. Bare feet, except for his left foot, and he wiggled his toes and now knew why rocks were digging into his ass.
"Where are my clothes?" he spat out groggily. "Why...why did you have to get us both naked?" It was more a gripe of it's sheer inconvenience than any embarrassment because of it.
"To make sure ya didn't have any more fancy weapons." the person said. She had three arms, two on one side and she clearly wore the gun harness around her shoulders, grinning with a mouth full of razor teeth, and kept her goggles on. "Ya two look like good meat. The boss'll be pleased. He's comin' in shortly to inspect the goods. Don't think of trying to escape. 'Cos I know yer kind always are. But them collars ya got on will keep ya in here nice and safe, kay? Unless ye want explosive headaches, I'd keep 'em on. They're mighty trendy. And don't part from from each other either."
She moved to Reva and gave her a good slap across the face to make sure she was conscious before stepping out.
"What the?" Thade murmured and looked at the cave ceiling above them. They were clearly underground, perhaps not far from the wreckage and firefight. He'd never seen this side of Edanith before.
At least it was something to cross off his bucket list.
-
When Reva woke up there were two things she noticed at first:
Number one, she was freezing and wet.
Number two, she was naked, freezing and wet.
She gasped as she came too, spluttering and shaking her head as droplets of cold water got into her eyes. Blinking blearily through it she heard the sound of a woman's voice and quickly came to understand their situation. What was more pressing than that however, was when she tried to move her arms, she found that they straight up weren't there.
She never kept arms connected, or at least not very strongly so, to her body--she preferred having the potential for an unnerving doll-like approach to the whole prosthetics thing. Considering she had telekinesis, it just made it that much more freaky when she removed her own arms to smack people with them when they were being assholes.
But that was different, when she removed them by choice, and when she had them taken away from her.
Instantly panic started bubbling and climbing up her throat from the pit of her stomach and the aches in her ribcage. She was armless, she was back in that fucking ship with those fucking bastards laughing and jeering and touching her and--
The slap to the face was actually welcome, it snapped her out of it and got her to focus.
She stared after the woman as she left the room, and shifted a little, looking down as best she could to assess her situation. They had wrapped her around the pole pretty tight, with her back up against it, ropes around her midsection and throat keeping her head up and back straight, but the rope under her small yet shapely breasts was pretty unnecessary. Her legs were curved and bent rather gracefully underneath her, and she had a feeling she'd been tied up like this not to be considered a dangerous captive, but more like a delectable gift. It made it difficult to suppress a gag.
"You really pissed off the wrong people, Thade." She growled with nothing short of absolute malice and fury burning white hot in her voice. "Just keep pissing them off more when they come back so I can figure out a way to get us out of here."
She hadn't been paying attention when the woman from earlier had been talking, but it was obvious that the collars around their necks would be explosive slave collars, all too common out in the boonies on Edanith. They were electronic locks, only able to be snapped off with a code, which wouldn't have been a problem... If she had her arms. If she could just get those back then these would be off in a jiffy and they could get the fuck outta here.
-
Thade was familiar with those slave collars all too well. He'd helped enhance a few here and there, some to small time crooks, and other to private transporters of intergalactic criminals. He normally didn't care what was in the crates as long as he got paid, but to be wearing one certainly made any trade in them poignant in the future. It was a little hard to separate business from emotion when your neck was wrapped in one of these things.
He hissed and knew it was useless to fight against the cuffs that had him laid out there beside Reva. Even with the pole between them, this wasn't really a side of him he wanted her to see. He really wasn't into this bondage shit. Still, she gave sound advice and he glanced at her from over his shoulder.
"Not everyone's a happy customer," Thade sighed, controlling his breathing to keep any ounce of panic from getting out of check. "You know that well enough." He felt the pulsing power of the collar, the energy wrapping around his neck was a little uncomfortable. Sighing, he kept his neck craned backwards, leaning with his head against the post. "But hell if I knew we'd be captured!"
A worthless apology. Sort of. But he said it anyway and after a few minutes of dripping wet and ignoring his...
"It's nice to see things don't really change Thade," Saidyr said with a laugh as he walked in. A flashing in his hands revealed the small hand-scythe he played with between his clawed hands, and the reptilian scales that peppered his arms. Nails flickered too in the faint electric lanterns that hunt from the walls and ceiling. It was enough of a reminder that these people had made a life for themselves down here.
Saidyr's reptilian eyes blinked, or would have, instead the second translucent slit slid over them and he hissed, flicking his tongue out to taste the air, admiring having these two meatbags as his new quarry. "You just let yourself walk around like that don't you Thade? Boner out? Filthy meat bag. But, you've got at least one good thing you've brought me. A little present from Galley La." He sharpened his claws on the edge of the curve scythe. And he flicked his tongue out to Reva, hissing and his long draconic features twisted into something that resembled a grin.
"You can suck it off with you want," Thade spat back, frowning and hawking up a loogie to spit at Saidyr's clawed feet. Which you might as well before you bite off more than you can chew. I'll be using that blade shortly to cut your head off." Thade scowled at the lizard man, who hissed back at him. Thade was carefully pulling against the cuffs, only barely feeling some of metal bend as he did so.
"QUIET!" Saidyr growled. "You talk too much!" His hand reached up to press Thade's face against the pole and his fingers sunk into his mouth to pluck out his tongue. Another tongue flick and his hand raised the blade as if to cut it off. Thade whipped his head away, biting down hard on the fingers and making Saidyr twist at the pain. "You'll make a terrible slave, Thade. But good lunch. My other Stalkers are hungry for good meat! I pay you to bring me guns! And you bring me rock-filled crates instead!"
"I don't double-cross on my dealings, Saidyr! Bad for business. But business gets even worse because that crazy bitch stole my fucking ship! So I don't know what you're talking about, you scaly bastard," Thade sighed, exasperated by this whole conversation. In fact, he was bored and he glanced back to Reva.
Whatever she had in mind now, he hoped she could make it snappy. That blade was getting dangerously close to his junk.
-
Saidyr was another creature who only looked vaguely familiar--you have to understand, she dealt with hundreds of customers on a weekly basis, it was impossible to remember every single face that came in to Galley La. By the time you saw your third lizard man they all start to blend together, unless if you actually give a shit, which she didn't.
While Thade kept the lizard guy's attention by being generally unruly, she focused her attention span elsewhere, ignoring the creepy smile she'd gotten when she was described as a "gift." It'd be too easy to kill this fucker right here, but they needed to have an assured way out of their restraints first otherwise it didn't matter how clean she was about it. She looked around, and someone out in the other room seemed to knock a lamp, the light casting reflections off of her arms where they were in another room, laying on a table or something to be hawked later. The light flashing off of the gold and the silica gel encasing her hands was what drew her attention to them--she could see a finger sticking out of the pile of other wares on the table.
Bingo.
While Saidyr was busy threatening Thade's balls, she discreetly watched the other room out of the corner of her eye as she threw a wave of psychic energy at it; the table was knocked over, its surface falling towards her and Thade while all of its goods were spilled onto the floor, arms included. In the commotion she quickly pulled her arms from the loot, making it appear as if they had simply bounced and rolled towards them, stashing them into the shadows while Saidyr quickly jumped to attention, swearing as he left the room to go yell at his underlings while they all scrambled to figure out what happened.
Once he was out of the room her arms gravitated towards her, relocating themselves where they belonged at her shoulders and reaching up, blue LED lights turning on and glowing as their computing systems powered back on while she pressed the tip of each index finger to their collars. A small screen popped up in front of her as the computers worked to figure out the code to unlock the collars, and her breath caught in her throat as she kept her eyes on the doorway out into the den where everyone was still scrambling to pick everything up--and Saidyr appeared in the short hallway again, looking behind him as he snapped at his underlings. Shit shit shit they were running out of time--
Click-click.
HAH! YES! Right as Saidyr turned around the collars unlocked and dropped to the floor and Reva pointed the palm of one hand at him, hole opening in the center and glowing with the energy that radiated within. She couldn't fire off too many of these shots because these arms were small, not made for combat, and thus didn't have much plasma stored in them to shoot with, but he didn't know that.
"Well sir it's been a right fun time playing with you but unfortunately we have other things to do," Reva said calmly as she glanced over and found a pen on a table not too far from them and it lifted into the air; she looked back at Saidyr, keeping his attention while she snuck the small utensil around him nice and slow.
"I'd start listing off your mistakes and what you did wrong in this whole operation here but you're not going to live to use those lessons in your daily life so I suppose it doesn't matter."
The pen floated up directly behind his skull and with a sudden, surprising amount of force, pierced it and came all the way through, tearing through his brain and coming out on the other side, right in between his eyes where it dropped to the floor covered in blood and brain matter while he toppled to the floor. She used his momentum to her advantage and with another psychic force, shoved him so he landed out of view of the doorway so the underlings outside didn't even notice what happened.
With Saidyr's body crumpled and out of sight she pulled the hand scythe he'd been playing with earlier from his corpse and let it fly over, where she caught it and quickly cut through the ropes they'd both been tied up with.
She rolled nimbly onto her feet and glanced over at Thade when he stood as well, finding that yeah no Saidyr hadn't been joking about the boner thing. She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head and looking away--at least he got a nice view of her only a few select other people had seen. She quickly set to looking around the room to see if she could find their clothes but... No luck.
"Shit." She hissed under her breath, looking around and finding the room pretty barren of anything they could really use to cover up at all.
"Well it looks like we're going to be flashers for today's adventure." She grumbled; it just meant she'd have to be on point today with her powers, and her dull headache from being knocked out earlier wasn't helping.
There was a yell outside and she looked up right as someone aimed and shot a burst of charged bullets right at them--they stopped in mid-air, went flying back the way they came and shot the shooter instead. She shook her head, and with no more hesitation stepped out into the fray.
What else could they really do? Their clothes had to be out there, somewhere. Time to go find them.
-
It wasn't every day that Thade made a useful distraction, and while it'd been fun at first making Saidyr seethe with rage, it got really old really fast. So he was grateful when Reva managed to distract him with throwing their 'found' goods all over the floor. She dragged her arms into a dark corner and he raised his brows, failing to spy his guns among that pile But right now it wasn't like he could use them.
He kept his mouth shut and just watched idly until a pen made a hole in Saidyr's brain. "I woulda used that scythe to cut his head off," Thade whispered. It's no less than he deserved. But arguing over the semantics on how their captor out to be killed. But now that they were free and in no real danger of having their heads blown up, he crouched by the lizard man's body.
Snatching the hand scythe from his cold-blooded fingers, Thade held it firmly now in his own hand and refocused his attention on getting out into the other room. It was too bad he didn't have any plasma cannons attached to his own metal arm and he smiled, impressed, at her own.
The bullets that would have ripped into them stopped mid-air and pierced the shooter and Thade followed after her. He took the gun from the downed Stalker and any remaining ammunition. There wasn't any point in hiding now. They had to find their gear and that three-armed woman. Coming down the hallway had him focused, and he raised the gun as two came walking their way. He crouched by a wall, dropping and firing two rounds into his knees, and two into the chest, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.
In the room next to them, sat 8 of them, smoking and drinking over a game of Starkiller, and when the nearest one turned to Thade, he was swift with that hand-scythe, hacking at the ankles, severing a foot and bringing the blade up into a throat, turning the body in time to take a hail of bullets.
-
Reva ignored Thade's comments--it'd be a little harder to have killed Saidyr without him squawking and making a fuss if she just took his scythe right from him. She'd wanted to give them as many moments of respite as possible, but that didn't matter now.
While Thade laid into the Stalkers, Reva busied herself with sorting through all of the loot, spotting everything of value and stuffing it into an empty duffel bag she found lying on the floor. She was just going to kill them all anyways, so might as well take their shit while she was at it. She grabbed the guns she'd seen Thade sporting earlier and made sure to stuff them in there as well. Still no clothes, though.
Suddenly she felt a pair of arms grabbing her from behind and she let out a surprised yelp as she was lifted off the floor by none other than the three-armed woman.
"Come here you little bitch!"
Reva snarled and twisted in the woman's arms, grabbing onto her goggles and yanking her head forward enough to wrap her metal arms around it and pull herself up, kicking the woman's arms away and jumping down, turning to swing a vicious right hook and socking her in the face, knocking her to the floor where Reva walked over, straddled the woman's hips and held her down with her telekinesis as she pulled the goggles off the bitch's head and stared down at her with cold fury burning in her pink eyes.
"Where are our clothes at?" She growled, and the woman responded merely by spitting at her, much like Thade had earlier. A few goons ran into the room and shot; their bullets went backwards and sprayed their brains on the walls as they all dropped like flies.
Reva reached up, wiped some of the spittle off her face and flicked it into the woman's eyes. "Wrong answer. I'll ask nicely one more time," She said as she reached forward, grabbing the third arm, holding the forearm in her left hand, and the bicep in her right, poised to rip it apart as she stared down at the woman.
"Where. Are. Our. Clothes?"
The woman stared at her for a second, struggling a little under Reva's psychic pressure, but ultimately finding herself unable to move.
"Up my ass."
Reva nodded slowly, looking away as if thoughtfully for a moment before she started pulling--at first nothing happened, as the muscles and tendons were stretched. The woman was gritting her teeth underneath the little cyborg, face red as she resisted. Then there was a popping, and Reva twisted each hand in a different direction.
With no warning whatsoever the arm finally split at the elbow, clothing and flesh tearing as blood erupted outwards in a spray that coated the floor, the area around them, and got all over the currently naked Reva. She didn't give a shit. The woman was letting out blood-curdling screams, and Reva smiled down at her.
"Yeah, thanks, call your goons over so I can kill the rest of them too." For good measure, she slapped the woman across the face with her own severed hand.
She didn't stop screaming, and as if on queue more of the members of this little criminal gang came pouring in from other rooms, shooting and firing after taking a moment to stare in horror at the sight before them--a small, naked young woman sitting on top of their second in command, covered in blood, holding said second's severed arm, while their usually fearless leader screamed hysterically underneath where Reva sat on her. Bullets went back, heads exploded.
Reva got off of the now two-armed woman, dropping her arm on the floor and stepping over her to start exploring, pausing a moment before looking at the bitch where she lay on the floor with her bloody stump arm.
"Still not feeling like talking?" Reva asked; the response she got was a cold and hateful glare, and a growled "Fuck you."
Reva's gaze went to the arm lying on the floor; the woman followed her gaze as it was lifted off the ground, and suddenly it was shoving itself into her mouth, stuffing itself further down and down until it had entered her throat, tearing it in the process as blood welled up around the corners of her mouth; she was left coughing, spluttering, and drowning/suffocating on her own severed limb, struggling as her arms were pulled up over her head and a rather heavy chunk of scrap metal was dropped on top of them, breaking and crushing them. Reva turned and left to go explore a few other rooms, stepping on and over the bodies of the underlings on the floor and leaving the woman to her fate as she struggled and choked to death on her own arm.
If Reva had any sense of humor she could've made a comment that it really looked like she could use a hand right now, but she wasn't exactly the joking type. Time to go find her shit, and hope they hadn't tampered with her ship too much.
When she and Thade finally met up again, she tossed him the pile of his clothes and the duffel bag from earlier, zipping up her bodysuit just in time for him to see the blood smeared across her torso disappear under the white fabric as she zipped it up to her collarbone.
"Think I found most of our shit, any wounds?" She was rather unamused, but not burning with that same rage earlier, so at least she wasn't tearing him apart limb from limb or anything. Yet.
-
Thade was busy making a mess of his own. And when he ran out of bullets, he'd made short use of one of their guns with shoving it down one stalker's throats and throwing up a table to block the stampede of four on his left, two more on his right. He didn't have the advantage of telekinetic powers to reverse bullets, but he could tear people's arms off well enough on his own.
His fist broke a skull and his metal hand had another Stalker by the face, using it to pivot his body in the way of flying knives and promptly slammed his head into the wall, the bones cracking like an eggshell and splattering grey matter against the red earth. Thade had only been focusing on two more to his left, and one managed to sneak behind him and pulled a knife from his boot, sinking it into Thade's right ribs.
He screamed, twisting around and hooking the hand-scythe around the stalker's wrist, twisting the blade and hacking it off. Blood painted the walls and Thade was done with these fools and he closed the distance between them seeing red, and pulling the blade from his side. He didn't let the other two even breath before he took one and shot his left fist through his midsection, lifting them into the air and beating the other one with his friend until they were both inert in a mess of meat and crunched bones.
He grunted at the pain in his side, and took a piece of fabric from one of the others and wrapped it around his waist to bind the wound. There wasn't any point in examining it further and he emerged back into the hallway. It was good to know she wasn't out here playing patty cake. Not that he'd ever accuse Reva of such a thing.
She didn't mess around, and he could appreciate that notion. Neither did he when his life was on the line. You could always see the truest self of an individual by how they responded to conflict. In the face of odds like these, her bloodied self said more than she did.
Thade gazed her, expressionless, but his eyes seemed almost primal, and he could feel the traces of rage she left behind. Her mess was much bigger than his.
"Just a flesh wound," he muttered, indicating his wrapped side. "I'll be fine."
A few minutes of wiping down and minding his side, he redressed and restrapped his holster over his shoulders, taken from the three armed woman's corpse, and he held Desi and Lucy firmly in each hand, charging the coilgun and motioning her to follow him. The network of caves could extend in every direction for miles on end, but he doubted Saidyr would go through all that trouble to drag them too far away.
As they ventured further into the caves, Thade kept his guns loaded, crouching and keeping himself low as he rounded a corner and fired Desi pointblank into a stalker's side, tearing a hole through them horizontally. He overstepped the body and saw where cargo was being pulled in with crates and many more. Seemed just about right. "Looks like that's your ship just over there. And the Vegas totaled at the other end. I guess that cavern was a hangar of some kind," he nodded to her.
There were scores of stalkers checking out their new quarries, one of them plasma-cutting panels from the side of Reva's ship, and the other pulling metal from the Vegas and tossing scraps into a pile. He growled inwardly at the audacity and spat a bloodied wad of saliva to the side of them. "You lead with that telekinesis of yours. Tip the Vegas, crush 'em if you can. I'll be your back up. We head to your ship before they tear it completely to shreds. Still space-worthy but not for much longer. I'm ready when you are."
-
Reva's pink gaze moved down to look at the wound he held on his side, but he insisted it was nothing and so she didn't linger on the matter any more than he did.
Once they were both suited back up and ready to go, it was time to go exploring once again. Thade seemed quite fond of his guns, and Reva held a rather rudimentary sawed off shotgun she'd pilfered from one of her victims; she was small but she knew how to brace herself and used it well, all things considered, when she wasn't just throwing people around left and right with her mind powers.
Don't get her wrong, she was still a very grumpy bitch right now.
As they wandered through the dusty redstone cavern system, she noticed that, despite the lack of sunlight, there was also a significant lack of airflow that made this place rather stuffy and left her with a light sheen of sweat on her skin, making her bloody hair cling to her face. She reached up and wiped some of the formerly three-armed woman's blood off of her face where it had dried and crusted up in a diagonal pattern from her chin, across her nose and over her right eye. She had red dirt and sand in her suit, itchy and uncomfortable from when she'd been naked earlier, and on the bottoms of her feet. Gods. She wanted a fucking shower as soon as they got out of here.
As they reached the end of a tunnel that opened out into a hangar, she heard the familiar sounds of the melting and sparking of metal and her heart jumped up into her throat as they rounded the corner and she saw her ship being dismantled.
"Still space-worthy but not for much longer. I'm ready when you are,"
That didn't even get to finish his train of thought and things were already turning crazy. Giant chunks of the Vegas' hull lifted from the scrap pile as she walked right out, hands clenching into fists as she saw red. She hurled the chunks of scrap metal at the men who were now yelling and screaming and firing at her; one stalker was crushed, another cleaved right in half by a 10x12 hunk of metal sheet which she rolled up like it was a fucking newspaper and started beating the others to death with like a game of goddamn whack-a-mole. One man managed to fire a shot that actually cut into her leg; her response was to throw an arm out, reaching towards him and using it conduct her focus as if she were a Jedi knight; there was a split second of resistance before his body went hurtling towards her; she caught him mid-air by his skull , crushed it in her iron grip and threw him down, in sync with the sheet of metal squashing the last remaining stalker, so hard that both impacts cracked the ground and made the earth shudder.
The cavern grew deathly quiet as her mind dropped the piece of metal; it rolled a bit before it went as still and lifeless as the bodies littered around them, and the only noise was her heavy breaths as she panted.
For good measure she balled up her hand into a fist again and punched the man's body by her feet so hard it ruptured and exploded, blood and guts flying outward from where she hit him in the gut and coating herself and the rocky ground with a satisfying splatter. She was still trembling with fury, though. She wished she hadn't killed them all so fast because that was HER MOTHERFUCKING STAR RACER SHE'D JUST POLISHED IT LAST WEEK.
She walked up to her ship, reaching up and touching its left reactor, looking at the damages before she let out a breath and let her forehead hit the metal with an echoing metallic th-wang. She took a moment to breathe, calm herself down and focus on what to do next.
Well, first things first.
She went to the Vegas and paused for a moment, turning to point a finger at Thade as she growled with an underlying anger that may or may not have been meant for him, "Stay here."
Then she crawled in through the airlock, and did her best to make her way to where the tracker was buried deep inside the crumpled cockpit. Thade would hear the echoes of metal crunching and bending as parts of the ship's hull were pushed more or less back into its original shape from the inside out so she could make her way further in until she reached the cockpit. Once inside she found the tracker, plopped her ass down on the crumpled pilot's chair and got to work reactivating it and setting it up properly.
She wouldn't be here right now if this fucking moron knew how to read A FUCKING MANUAL. She wouldn't be here covered in blood and sweat and dirt and gods know what else IF HE COULD FUCKING. READ. LIKE ANY NORMAL PERSON.
She snarled as she held an arm up, a hologram screen coming up as the tracker synced up with her. Fine. Great. Fucking fantastic. All systems are go.
She came back out of the ship, hopping down to the ground outside and pressing buttons and keys on the screen as she walked away. There was a small whirring sound from inside the ship, and then it dematerialized as it was teleported away by the tracker.
Reva then set to work, with absolutely no words said to Thade, on fixing her fucking ship so they could get out of here. She called a contact she pulled up on her screen, and an even stranger-looking-than-Reva woman answered on the video call on the other end.
"Boss, Thade Olyphant's ship is coming to you in Hangar 2. It's a fucking wreck, don't touch anything yet, he hasn't paid us for any repairs." She said, hunks of metal taken from her own ship floating behind her to reattach themselves in their proper places as she used pieces of the Vegas left behind to mend weld things together for the time being. All of it would have to be replaced, just fucking great.
"Hoooooo shit Reva you look... You look a right hot mess." Her boss spoke up on the other end, rubbing her face in a state of minor disbelief. "You never get that fucked up. Party too hard?"
Reva just threw a death glare at the screen that instantly made the alien hold up her hands in surrender as she laughed.
"A'ight a'ight, what about the customer, how's he doin'?"
"Got stabbed. Says he'll be fine. We'll be back tomorrow, I'm taking him into the city so we can get cleaned up." She grumbled, and Belliel nodded on the other end.
"Sounds good--no more partying today, yeah?"
"Yeah."
Reva hung up the call and put a hand on her ship, leaning against it as she wiped some of the grime off her face with her free hand, tools floating behind her, almost like the ship was literally repairing itself, because of her psychic powers. After this though... They were going to a fucking nice-ass five star hotel room and she was going to soak in the bath and not use her mind for another goddamn thing because her head hurt. Like a sunuvabitch.
-
In the midst of it all, Thade had just watched her do all the work. It was somewhat entertaining, seeing those stalkers cleaved in half, brought low and driven into the dirt. They weren't much more than a nuisance to others here on Edanith, more of a nuisance than anything. So when she went about preparing the Vegas for transport, he sat there and holstered his guns again, leaning against a stack of crates, arms cross over his chest as she set to work.
The sheer anger inside of her was nigh insurmountable, and he quietly observed her. Yes it had been his fault he failed to put the tracker in properly. But he wasn't going to let her lord it over him, and even with her direction to not move, he took out a smoke from one of the pockets they hadn't rummaged through and took a long drag from the thing.
As far as stress reliefs went, there were certainly worse ones.
"Let's go," was all he said, half irritated. Not sure who it was more about though. Likely just the whole situation in general and how much it would cost him in the end. If only's never fixed anything. Only doing right in its after math.
He climbed back into Reva's ship, taking his place in the back and he sighed. Once the ship was ready to go and they were back in the air out of the canyon hangar. He wasn't going to apologize anymore, she likely didn't want to hear it. So he kept silent, just watching her and following along like the dog he was.
His side ached like a bitch, and he had over estimated how much damage that stab bad done. Tasting his blood probably wasn't a good sign. Checking the purpling of his skin around the wound made him cringe. "Where are we going? Tynova?" he mumbled, clearing his throat to keep the pain from getting to him. "You look lovely by the way. Especially when you're pissed."
-
As she hammered out the finishing repairs, Thade decided to get a little snippy and impatient, climbing back up into her star racer and making her grit her teeth. Fuck.
She was an inch, literally an inch, away from smacking the shit out of him, too.
She glanced back toward the network cavern system they'd left behind, before shrugging it off and figuring that eh, she could always send some workers here to come take the loot later. She messaged the coordinates to Belliel and passed that thought along as she climbed back up into her ship.
Internally, there was little to nothing that had been tampered with. She didn't keep any valuables on board that weren't on her person, and she'd recovered that already.
Climbing into the pilot seat, she sat down and glanced down at the bullet wound stinging the outside of her thigh. Paying no more attention to it, she revved the engines and pulled the small craft back out into the open canyon, growling as she had to compensate for the slightest offsets now in balance. Fuck. She wished she could kill those fuckers twice. Or three times even. That'd be nice.
She glanced over her shoulder at Thade; even she could smell the blood in the air. She'd figured earlier that that wound of his was worse off than he thought but hey if he wanted to play Mr Macho Man that wasn't any of her business. She turned back around to the front, guiding the ship out of the canyons and back up to the surface.
"Yeah, we're going to Tynova. We'll be staying the night there, which I should think you don't have any objections to, given all that blood you're losing there, Thade. We'll head back to Cancer in the morning."
Tynova itself was a rather large city that Reva used to be far more familiar with than she currently was, when she'd worked here on Edanith several years ago. She'd never minded it, rather she liked it far more than any place in Aedolis by comparison. Gods she hated Aedolis.
She pulled up the city of Tynova on her ship's mapping system and found that they were surprisingly not as far away as she'd initially thought. Good, cause this bright sunlight was giving her a headache, although night would be falling relatively soon. She relished the thought of a bath and a nice warm bed.
Reva drove her racer right into the city, with little fear of their government or police, despite the fact that she was a psychic--she was still known here, not famously, but through repeated visits and her own little network of people and customers she could comfortably fall back on when situations required it, like this one right now. She opened up a comm link with one of the most prestigious hotels in the city, placing a reservation like it was nothing and sighing as the racer was parked in the hotel's garage; she'd never liked the idea of letting a hotel worker park it for her.
When they exited they were greeted by a friendly woman who worked in guest services; she spoke with Reva by name and looked at Thade in horror--Reva assured her he'd be fine before she could ask the question, and the two of them were led inside to a suite on one of the top floors--a suite with a hot tub.
Reva's network of contacts stretched by far and wide, indeed.
The young woman, named Sara, left them shortly after showing them their room, leaving the two cyborgs to their own devices. Reva looked at Thade and pushed him down into the rather spacious bathroom and onto the edge of the hot tub (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/61/39/73/613973366e7941d33e92b17f9e9a1365.jpg), making a motion with her hand that mimicked the idea of what she said to him.
"Come on, shirt off. Let's see what the damage is." She said with a look of annoyance and exasperation. "If you get any blood stains in here it'll be a pain in the ass for me to pay for later. Actually, scratch that--you'll pay for it."
Once his shirt was off she immediately set to inspecting his wounds, grabbing paper towels and a first aid kit by the mirror and shower which were on the other side of the room, away from the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked down on the entire city of Tynova. This room likely cost a fortune. She set to cleaning up and disinfecting his wound, the slice on her own thigh largely inconsequential in comparison.
-
A fuss had already been made about the ship, and he wasn't about to give her anything else to gloat over. True enough just because she was pretty hot when she was pissed didn't mean he was going to let her one-up him. Not when nothing further called for it. The ship would be paid for, she didn't have to worry about that. One thing at a time was all he could really handle now.
Once they were at the hotel, his pallor lightened and he gripped on his side. His shirt was already soaked with blood from the side. Complaining just wasn't his style. And she showed him what she did with complainers. At least his boner had gone away in the middle of that rec room fight.
One less thing to worry about.
"HEY!" he griped and wrenched from her as she pushed him into the bathroom. "Easy." He shrugged his jacket off and the gun harness to remove his blood-soaked shirt. "I'm not paying for this room. This was your idea, all right. I'm already trying to be careful as it is." Peeling off the make-shift bandage, he arced it into the garbage can on the side and scowled at the wound. "Fucker got me good."
"OUCH!" he hissed and grit his teeth. "I said I was fucking sorry, Reva, all right! And I'll pay for any fucking damages to your ship and my own piece of shit vessel! That was already agreed in a very clear nonverbal way. Besides if anyone is getting blood on the floor it's you!" He pointed to the dribble that was coming down her leg and stained a small portion metallic base of the hot tub.
-
Reva rolled her eyes as he bitched and snapped right back at her, a reaction she should be far more used to than she actually was.
When he pointed out the wound on her leg she didn't even bat an eyelash, instead doing the best she could to clean the dirt out of his wound instead, for once thankful she was short since it made it easier for her to tend to him without having to get on her knees in front of him. Considering his record with boners, he'd have probably liked it a little too much.
"I can pay for my own blood but I ain't paying for yours." She growled, tossing the towels into the trash when she heard a knock on the hotel room door--ah yes, that'd be her things.
She thanked the hotel worker kindly and closed the door, ignoring the stare of horror she got from the young man as she set the bag down on the ginormous bed and searched around inside, finding exactly what she was looking for.
She had a different pair of arms in here that she preferred to her golden ones when it came to any kind of interaction with bodily fluids--her regular pair were best for working with machinery and all the fine-tuned work required in doing so. This pair, porcelain white and almost perfectly human in appearance, save for thin strips of rainbow LEDs starting at her knuckles and traveling up to stop at her bicep, were waterproof.
She shook her new hands a little and came back in with her own personal aid kit, something she always kept on her ship because big surprise, accidents tended to happen with other people around her quite a lot. She pulled out a surgical needle and thread, giving him a single look that essentially said 'Bite the pillow bitch I'm going in dry.'
As much as she'd mildly enjoyed torturing the three-armed woman from before, torturing a customer was not high on her to-do list for today; so she made quick work of stitching him back up, trying to keep it as clean and fast as possible for his sake more than her own. Once finished, she snipped the remaining thread and sighed, sanitizing the needle and tucking it all back away in her kit. She'd also done him a solid and used a little super glue to help fuse his skin back together, it'd help him recover just a tad bit quicker, even though it stung like a bitch.
"Just don't do anything else stupid while you've got that in you or you'll rip it open again." She grumbled, latching the kit shut and dropping it back off in the bedroom, already taking her boots off as she came back into the bathroom. Now it was time to shower, and then relax in the hot tub, and pretend this whole day had never happened.
-
Thade just bit on his lips when the needle came sinking into his skin. He didn't need to say anything else other than all the steam he'd let off on her already. She was a professional, he figured. She could handle it. So he instead focused on her handiwork and let the stitches come together with a satisfying tug of the thread.
The superglue was also a nice touch. He'd heal faster now without bleeding out all over the place. The knife had been triangularly shaped now that he thought about it, and it's metal had twisted into him in a way that would prevent the gap from closer properly, if at all. To a normal person such a wound was a death-sentence. Even he bled more than usual.
Thade sighed and would have been more than happy to just collapse right then and there. She left momentarily to put her things away and he took off his own clothes. It was a big shower. She was already paying for the room, so might as well take advantage of it. He wasn't going to shirk her generosity.
Even if she failed to deliver the ass-kicking he so rightly deserved. That was her problem now.
By the time she came back into the bathroom, the water was already on and he was in the shower, clicking the door closed behind him. Beneath him the tiles reddened with Edanith dirt and he sudsed himself up until he looked like a snow man. "Sorry, lovely," he murmured over the rush of water. "Occupied."
-
Reva blinked and stared at the shower as she watched the door click shut. Occupied.
And the bastard had the audacity to call her "lovely."
She stood there outside of the shower door for a moment, staring at it as fury started bubbling up inside of her again and she contemplated her choices.
She WANTED to drag him out by his hair and beat him until his face was black and blue.
BUT. He was a customer. It would be highly unprofessional of her to do so.
But she could get away with things they couldn't prove was her doing.
Her gaze flicked to where the knobs were set into the shower wall, for controlling temperature. She tested the hot one and found that her memory of this hotel served correct: these showers could get scaldingly hot, so any normal person, like Thade here, wouldn't turn it up all the way. In fact it was barely turned on at all. Well.
Clearly he couldn't enjoy his shower if he didn't explore its capabilities to the fullest. Remember what she'd thought earlier, about not using her mind for anything else today?
Well this was an exception.
Using her telekinesis, she wrenched the handle for warm water all the way on, and, being that it was a hotel shower, it got that water temperature up in an instant, so hot in fact she could feel the heat in the steam that was already warming up the glass. And for good measure, she reached up with an open hand, suddenly closing it in a clenched fist.
All the hotel-provided amenities on the shelves within the shower, like shampoo, body wash, etc. etc., flew from their spots on the shelves and flung themselves at him with enough force to leave bruises and welts.
Once she was convinced she'd tortured him enough, she finished undressing and perched on the edge of the hot tub with damp paper towels, wiping off the blood that had dried on her torso, face, and the fresher stuff that was running down her leg. She was poised rather elegantly as she wiped most of the dirt off, crossed her legs at the knee after tossing the rag to the trash can and focused on brushing the dirt and blood out of her hair, a natural soft curve to her back as she sat with her eyes on the city outside of the window, the rays of sunlight disappearing beyond the horizon as the sky turned colors and cast vibrant hues of burning reds, pinks and oranges into the hotel room.
-
If only the heat had affected him the way she intended. Truth be told he liked cold showers because of how refreshing they were. Hot showers were reserved for those he shared them with, but when the temperature went up, the heat only made the goosebumps on his skin react and he turned around to have his back to the showerhead and letting the water dowse the soap off his body.
He tensed, only a little and soon found the scalding heat relaxing, every muscle in his body consequently contracting and easing until he was completely clean. That was until Reva made shit fly off the shelves and smack into his body. Thade growled and glowered at her from inside the glass. He carefully picked it up because well, it was rude to leave that shit on the floor.
Still, he appreciated the fact that she was irritated enough with him to show it. So Thade shut the water off, adjusted the temperatures back to normal and carefully stepped from the waters, water running down his form. He toweled off his head. She'd already seen him in his everything, and he'd seen hers.
But he did watch her, standing just in front of the open shower door, and admired the careful design in which she was made. And goosebumps still coarsed his skin, but this time less from the scalding water and more from the blood roaring in his ears. Thade's eyes flicked to the sunset and quietly left the room, his clothes gathered in a towel.
A call for service brought up trays of food and drink and he offered the young man that answered a tip to take his clothes down to laundry for a wash. He'd put on a robe and filled a glass with ice and a brandy. That and another glass filled with a deep rich red wine, and another of white
And quietly stepped back into the peace of the bathroom. He cleared his throat and crouched beside her, placing the tray on a stand and turning the tray so that both drink were beside her. "Shower's all yours. I figured you'd want something to drink. Didn't know your poison, so you have a white, a red, and a brandy. Enjoy," he smiled gently and pulled a second glass of brandy from the tray that he'd made for himself.
-
Eventually, with the din of the shower running in the background, Reva had allowed herself to drift off into a land of wandering thoughts that spanned forever as she watched the world moving beneath her and wondered what those other people down there were doing right now. How they were feeling. What kind of struggles they faced on a daily basis.
She glanced down at her arms and wondered what it was like to be brought up "normal." To be a normal girl. Pointless thought, really. She let out a slight sigh, the tenseness easing from her frame by the time Thade had stepped out of the shower, and she hadn't even noticed, she was so wrapped up in her own thoughts. She just felt... Tired. Maybe a little bit lonely. She randomly remembered something brought up in her history classes; that arranged marriages were once a much more common thing on Earth. She figured she'd have probably been good at that. Being in an arranged marriage. Random thought but, eh. As long as the guy was useful enough, she supposed.
She was pulled from her thoughts however when Thade cleared his throat. She twitched just a little and instantly tensed up again, defensive as she looked at him, saw that he was in a robe and realized she was naked and blushed a slight bit. Sure they'd already seen each other but... The principal of it was still there. She casually reached up to hold onto her other elbow, forearm obscuring her small breasts. He was offering her drinks and she narrowed her eyes, finding his sudden niceness... Bizarre.
She hesitated a moment before pouring herself a small bit of white wine--with her mind--and taking the floating glass as it held itself in front of her.
"I appreciate the thoughtfulness." She said after giving her glass a skeptical taste before finding that there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. Her voice sounded cold--though perhaps that was from the lack of heated fury he'd usually heard in it throughout most of the day.
She finished her glass, setting it back on the tray with a dainty clink as she slipped down from the tub and walked over to the shower, the water turning on and adjusting itself before she had even stepped in and shut the door behind her, finding his behavior odd but trying to think nothing of it.
-
Even an enemy could be a friend for a day.
That was what his mother used to tell him as a little boy. Before she was gone. A quaint thought a time like this. Winding down from a job tended to bring up such simple little thoughts, and they left Thade in a somber mood. Truthfully he didn't feel like fighting with egging her on. Not when she deserved the respite she currently was enjoying.
She went out of her way for him. And she didn't have to. She could have told him to fuck right off and there would have been nothing he could have done about it. Whether she knew it or not, or gave a shit was irrelevant, but that kind of mentality was hard to find in this age. Nobody gave a shit about anything anymore. But small gestures could go a long way.
He sipped his drink thoughtfully and cleaned his guns, wrapping them gingerly in a towel before putting them aside. Thade didn't make any more noise than the light clanging of his left foot as he brought in a fresh robe and hung it on the edge. "Hey, I ordered food if you're hungry. Didn't know what you wanted to eat, so I ordered a taste of everything," he announced, only looking at her through the steam of the glass.
"I enjoyed the scalding shower by the way. Thanks." A wink and he shut the door, sitting in the dining room before with exotic seafoods and steak and a plethora of desserts laid out on the table. Thade hadn't touched a thing until she showed up. "I hope you're hungry. Because there's no way I can eat all this by myself."
It was odd, being so domestic. If anything, Thade could be accommodating. So he flashed her another smile and stood, to pull out a chair for her. "Come on, don't tell me after all that ass kicking you're not hungry."
His eyes flicked beyond the bathroom door to the hot tub behind her. Sure he hadn't the chance to enjoy it, but he was determined to give it a whirl before the night was done. After food of course.
-
Once Thade had left the room she finally allowed herself to truly relax, closing her eyes and leaning against the wall as the hot water beat down upon her, washing away the dirt, sweat and stress. Her eyes stayed open though as she stared at the ceiling for a moment or two, watching the clouds of steam billow up.
Sometimes she just couldn't help but wonder what she was doing with her life. What bits and pieces of it she had, anyways. Sure she was getting by and she loved working at Galley La, building things and all, it made her happy, yes, but it felt like there were things missing. Things she couldn't quite put a prosthetic finger on.
She shook her head, making quick work of shampooing and finishing up quickly; she jumped a little when the robe was thrown over the edge of the door and he winked at her, to which she wrinkled her nose and waited until he left again before she timidly stepped out, drying off and hesitating before putting the towel on.
When she entered the main area however, she stared at all the food laid out and then at him and then at the food, and as he pulled the chair away from the table for her she recoiled a little.
"Thade I swear to the gods if you just told all of them to put this on my tab," She growled at him; but either way even if he had the damage was done. It wasn't like she couldn't afford it, but she didn't need all this food.
She sat down after a moment of hesitation however, deciding to go for the seafood first, her eyes never leaving him as he eventually seated himself back down at the table, feeling odd, nervous and perhaps a bit... Awkward.
He was being so kind and benevolent all of a sudden, treating her like she was a duchess or something. Just what the fuck was he playing at? This had to be a trap, he had something up his sleeve, she was almost entirely sure of it.
-
Thade surprised himself when he didn't really have any serious ulterior motive. Even after she threw those, containers of full shampoo and conditioner and body wash at him, even after she treated him like a child because of a stupid mistake she wouldn't deign to overlook. Even after everything he rightfully deserved. What could he have asked her for that she wasn't already doing for him.
"I...er, yeah," he shrugged. "I guess they probably knew to just charge it to the room. Why the hell not?" A sigh and he pulled a sample platter over to him, cutting into a plate of chicken and pasta and eating it slowly. He really wasn't that hungry, but there could be left overs later.
He stared back at her, gaze level and feeling the distrust she had for him, doing this. "It's weird for me too," he offered, tone halfway between a chuckle and a growl. "This kind of thing. And if it's an inconvenience, put it on my bill. I usually eat alone." He tried not to make a pig of himself, and he took a sip of the brandy. He glanced at her leg, somewhat exposed in the folded robe.
"Where's your medkit? Never mind, I'll find it," he said with a nod, quickly standing and moving off to where he suspected she stashed it in the bedroom.
And the gash that was still open. What did she think, that he was just going to ignore that? Thade came back several long minutes later with the kit in hand and he pulled his chair in closer. He didn't suffer any argument before he took her ankle and propped it up on the chair he'd been sitting in and pushed the side of the robe back to expose the gash on her thigh.
She cleaned off every other red patch of blood on her, and the shower had brought heat back to her skin. He reached out and threaded the needle, unwrapping a fresh one. "You're tough but you're crazy to just walk around with a gash like that. Hold still," he said, and placing his cold left hand at the base of her thigh, squeezing skin together before sticking the needle in her.
Again, there'd been no warning as she'd done him. "You have a lot of these battle scars?" he asked idly, pulling the stitching tightly before going up her leg even further. His eyes glanced up at her. "You whooped their asses back there. Fuck, I felt embarrassed just to stand next to you." His fingers moved deftly but the cut was long enough to keep him there a while. "Thankfully, I like a woman with guts. Gets shit done. An admirable trait, so don't let anyone give you shit about it."
His hand stayed on her leg for some time, squeezing it gently as he finished the last stitch, knotted it, and reached in to cut it with his teeth, spreading hot breath against her skin.
-
Well.. At least he was honest. If anything, it just seemed like he hadn't really thought of that. Like he'd completely forgotten that she was the one paying for all of this. No matter. Damage was done, so... She considered his words thoughtfully but didn't give him much of a response, enjoying her seafood and eating with surprising manners for someone as rough and tough as her personality made her seem to be.
She blinked, glancing up at him from her food when he brought up her leg and she cast an idle look at it; she had a ridiculously high level of pain tolerance, considering she'd suffered so much worse in her past. It had settled to a stinging, burning sensation that she'd honestly forgotten about, like it'd always been there. Before she could answer him however, he was up, finding her supplies and situating himself at her leg, touching her (again, dammit) as he started sewing her up.
She didn't so much as flinch, twitch, hiss or hold her breath as she felt the sharp needle piercing her porcelain thigh. All she did was blink at him, calmly, expressionless as she looked away and took a sip of some more white wine she psychically poured for herself.
She let her back rest against the back of her chair, her free hand holding her robe closed so it parted no farther than up the curve of the back of her thigh and up to her hip. He asked if she had a lot of those battle scars, and mentioned he liked a woman with guts. She rolled her eyes but was largely unaffected by it.
"The only permanent damages I've suffered are the loss of my arms. Those are the only scars that won't heal." She said, her voice quiet, not because she was shy but because she was, for the most part, calm. She blinked at him again as he tore the thread, his breath ghosting up her smooth, pale skin.
"I usually don't get hit." She said, setting the wine glass down on the table. She raised an eyebrow, nodding at his own prosthetic appendages. "I'm assuming you lost your limbs as well, that those aren't just enhancements."
It wasn't horrendously uncommon that she ran into someone who was also an amputee; accidents happened a lot here in the open frontiers of space. It wasn't the norm, but you saw it far more often than you did lizard men or women with three arms. That still baffled her. Why only three arms, why not four? Horrible for balance. Unless if she'd lost her fourth. Entirely possible.
She paused for a moment, hesitation flashing across her face, briefly, as she finally spoke her mind. "Thank you, you didn't have to do that." Another pause, and then, "So what exactly is your ulterior motive, here?"
-
Thade was still kneeling there, putting the items away in the med kit, wrapping the thread up into a neat bundle before stashing it back into the socket. Clasping the lid shut, he set it side on the chair next to his and coaxed her leg off the surface. His eyes flickered to her skin, and he felt something warm in his belly. Thank the gods for the robe.
"I have my dad to thank for this," he said with a gesture to his metal arm. "Well, the man that fathered me. He was a shit father. Took my left arm and leg to put me on the Right Path to Righteousness. What load of bullshit that was. Had my mother killed to spare me of her evil influence. Oh and this lovely scar right here."
He turned around and undid the robe enough to slip from his shoulders, letting it fall to his elbows as a stripper might to entice the backflesh, and exposed a branding at the nape of his neck, of a wheel shaped with three circles in it. "A nice memento of his ownership. I think I was five when he gave me that one." Thade shrugged and pulled the robe back up, securing the belt around his waist again.
"Water under the reactor now," he shrugged and cut into his steak. Talking about his father always raised his ire and while inside he was fuming he had taught himself long ago never to let his emotions betray him. Thade kept his expression playful, or tried to until she posed her next question.
He frowned and swallowed the half-chewed bite of breaded crab. He dipped another one and took a slow bite, eyes flicking back to her. "Does it matter?" he said back. "I don't have any ulterior motive. Why can't I do anything nice for you? What do you think my motive is?"
The response was a little brusque if only because he'd never had any really question him about it before. And she'd be right, he knew. Nothing in this life was free. And if it was, somebody was ready to reave it as their own.
-
Reva was quiet, honestly a little surprised he told her so quickly what had happened to him, but ultimately his was a horror story, as can be expected. Whether or not she should believe it was debatable, but at the moment she figured she didn't have anything to lose in doing so, nor did she see any benefit in him lying about it.
Either way, they'd both suffered through some bad shit when they were younger. That was just how life was.
She was surprised at how gentle he'd been with her, and as he sat down she forgot the food momentarily in favor of studying him with a watchful and calculating eye, wondering just what exactly he had planned. But when he responded, it hadn't been what she figured. No, oh sorry you got me! or You figured me out, I want x y and z from you!
Rather, he just asked why he couldn't do anything nice for her, and what she THOUGHT his motive was.
She took up her utensils and got back to her boiled lobster, thinking on it for a moment or two.
"You're not stupid, Thade. I'm sure you know entirely well what I think your ulterior motives might be. It's usually one of two things--sex or money. People aren't nice in this day and age for no reason, particularly to women like me."
She was small. She was an amputee. She was a psychic. She wasn't human. She was also a right fucking bitch sometimes, and she was well aware of all of these things.
"I'm not exactly used to kind treatment, considering at age thirteen I was kidnapped by a ship full of pirates, raped half to death by all of them and then they cut off my arms." She looked up at him, the dangerous glint in her eyes suddenly perfectly understandable. "Makes me hardly anything worth being kind to, spoiled or thought of as anything more than common rubbish."
Reva was a unique individual in the fact that she wholeheartedly saw herself as little more than a glorified trashcan. The only value she had as a living, breathing creature was based solely upon her powers, her immortality, and her technical skills. Nobody cared about the fact that she was a person--she didn't even care that she was a person. No point to it. But she didn't hate herself--far from it, rather she saw nothing wrong with thinking of herself like that. To her it was like looking at a horse and calling it a horse, there was nothing negative in her train of thought at all.
So she carried on eating her dinner like it was nothing, because to her, it was exactly that: nothing. She daintily wiped at any excess at the corners of her mouth with her napkin, and took another measured drink of her wine, sitting there as if she were the very definition of royalty. She crossed her legs elegantly at the knee, setting down the wine glass and casting a glance over to Thade.
"All other issues aside, judging by the state of your ship, I'd say it looks like we'll be getting to know each other better over the next few weeks. It's going to take time to fix it up, even for Galley La." And yet there was something in her tone that almost sounded... Apologetic.
She felt bad for him, truly. It sucked, having something you cared about so much smashed and destroyed like that. She'd obviously had it happen before herself.
-
Thade had an odd habit when he was listening, pressing a thumb beneath his lower lip and playing around with it. He was never conscious of it when it happened, and he kept his eyes steady on hers as she recounted the horrific tale of her past. Well, fuck. No pun intended, but hers was obviously way worse.
Even if she thought nothing of it, he figured that's probably what made her so tough. You either survived or you didn't. Nobody else would give a shit but yourself. And if you didn't do anything about your situation, who else would. It wasn't that she asked for his sympathy, for he hadn't any to give at this time.
"Well, now that we've exchanged our sob stories, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside," he murmured, downing the rest of his brandy. It might have come off as snide, but that wasn't the intention. He was simply brushing off his own past as she did. Getting mad about it now wasn't going to make him feel better later. He'd save that for someone that really pissed him off.
So Thade was about to pour himself another glass before he took the bottle she was favoring and filling his empty brandy glass with it, wanting a stronger cocktail than what he'd been drinking.
"Funny you say that," he smirked, eyes half-lidded at her. "Because you didn't seem to think I was too smart earlier. Maybe you're just feeling contrite? You don't have to. I fully admit it was my fault. And you didn't have to go out of your way for me. So why did you?"
He was curious frankly and he leaned against his metal hand, propping his and against his elbow and looking at her neck and throat, wondering at the primal hellion he'd saw earlier, wondering if it was just drunk asleep. "Am I just that pathetic? It's okay. You can be honest." His other hand played with one of the crab cakes on the end of his fork.
And it didn't stay there. His hand twitched and flung the crab cake clear across to Reva and slapped her in the face.
-
Thankfully, Reva didn't take any offence at his comments. Rather, she just snorted, a quiet chuckle coming from her which was rather... Uncharacteristicall y cute as she watched him, folding her hands in her lap. She always sat with shoulders back, back straight, chin up. Even when she was at ease. She'd found from her own experience that people usually took her a little more seriously when her posture was better; now it had become natural to her.
"Well," She said, tipping her head to the side in a slight nod of agreement, "You're stupid, yes, but not in all aspects." And when she said it she smiled at him--it was more of a playful smirk than anything, and it looked surprisingly fitting on her face.
"But what do you mean? Go out of my way to help you track your ship down? I hate to break it to you but I did it for business reasons. Gets us good reviews, when we go a little bit extra for people. Granted I thought it'd be a lot easier than it was, but that's all a moot point now." She shrugged. "You're far from pathetic--well, no. I mean you did look pretty pathetic when I first saw you."
And as if on queue, the nice little moment where they'd been sitting together, talking like civilized people was abruptly brought to an end. Reva had relaxed just enough that she didn't react quickly when the food was flung; it hit her cheek and startled her a little as she sat there with wide eyes for a brief moment before she reached up and swiped it off, looking at it on her hand. She wasn't sure how to feel, so her natural instinct was to get pissed, as it was for most things.
She sat there, deathly quiet as she wiped her hand off on her napkin, before setting it down and getting up from the table.
"Thank you for dinner, but despite your usefulness in combat, it still seems my first impression of you as an immature shitbag wasn't misplaced. The cost of this meal will be added to the total of getting your ship fixed. Don't worry, we accept payment plans."
And as she turned away and headed to the bedroom, the bottles of alcohol all lifted from the table to turn themselves upside down and pour their contents all over Thade's head and lap, trembling in the air before they wobbled, seemingly lost their balance and fell to the table and the floor. Reva was pinching at the bridge of her nose as she entered the bedroom and shut and locked the door behind her.
From yet again all the activity today, as well as getting knocked out and thrown around like a ragdoll by those stalkers, her headache had been slowly escalating until it was now a full-blown migraine. She collapsed onto her bed and curled up as she prepared herself for the onslaught of pain that would make it difficult to fall asleep tonight. And that fucker Thade definitely wasn't fucking helping. Gods would she be glad to get him out of her hair later.
-
Thade clapped a hand over his mouth when the crab cake hit her cheek. He just watched her, eyes flickering in the ambient lighting at the grease on her cheek, and the delicate way she wiped it away from her. For the first few moments, he didn't expect her to react much at all, considering everything else that pissed her off. He just waited for that conniption. But instead what he got was another shower.
And he was doused with alcohol and food and other goodies with her ridiculous display of power. And now he was pissed. Thade hissed and shook his hair of the brandy and growled as she walked away. Abruptly he stood and followed after her. "Hey, Reva!" Thade crossed the distance to the room and knocked his fist on the door. "You can't just walk away like that. That's cheap! A lot like your customer service..."
He hissed and pressed his face to the door. "10/10 psychotherapists agree that going to sleep angry is a good way to add more wrinkles to your already frowny face," he mumbled. "And walking away pretty much signifies that I won that engagement. You forfeited. And throwing drinks in my face pretty much solidifies that fact!"
Thade kneed the door, leaving a dent in the metal. "But I'm a nice guy, so I'll tell you what. I'll let you work off that rage. Just one contingency, no powers. You just fight me, one on one and you'll sleep like a baby!"
-
Gods fucking damn him.
The pain in her head swelled as he yelled at her from the other side of the door, creating noise that made her migraine worse as she curled up a little tighter into her ball.
Maybe it was the alcohol and he was a light drinker, or maybe he just got off on seeing her angry or violent; considering the state of his penis for most of the time they'd been together, she figured it was probably the latter.
For some reason, he wanted to pick a fight, wanted to rile her up. His comment about wrinkles was a poor attempt; she was immortal, those were the last things on her list of priorities.
He banged something against the door and she flinched, the sound bouncing off the walls of her brain, only making it hurt worse. She just wanted some peace and quiet, dammit. A moment or a few away from this loser. But that just wasn't gonna happen, was it?
She contemplated her options. He was pissing her off, yes, but not in an I take you as a serious threat kind of way and more in a sense that one might get when their cat wakes them up in the early hours of the morning caterwauling for no reason and they have to be up early for work that day.
She wanted to toss him out of a window. Could she do that? She wished.
He wanted her to fight him without her powers, hah like she'd listen. Even if she was in pain, she'd use them just to spite him--but then he'd say she relied on them, and she didn't. Fuck.
Fuck.
Something inside her broke a little, and she let out a soft sigh. She wasn't gonna do that. She wasn't gonna put herself through more misery, wasn't gonna give him what he wanted, so he could get off or whatever.
She ignored him and gave him no response whatsoever. It wasn't worth the time or the stress.
-
Thade did stop when his words garnered no response. Which was good. And bad. He wasn't sure which it it was more of and as he pressed his forehead against the cold metal door he sighed. It wasn't like him to pick a fight. Even if the crab cake has been an accident. Not that she'd buy it. Not that he was even sure it was an accident. He turned and leaned back against the door, sliding down so that he was sitting.
"Fine, Reva!" he called back. "Maybe you just need a good lay. We all do at some point. Just fuck until you can't walk for the next three days."
But still, it was cheap to just walk away like that. Finish what you started. A fuming sigh and Thade decided what else he could do. She was gone and left the rest of the suite to himself. She wasn't going to blow off that steam on him when he so rightly deserved it, fine. She could wallow in her misery all she wanted.
So Thade pushed himself up from the door and headed back to the bathroom. Finally the hot tub was empty and he could enjoy it for himself. Damn, he hissed to himself. Frankly, she wasn't worth the trouble. And he sure as hell was maybe a little drunker than he thought.
Thade dropped the robe and slipped into the waters, enjoying the city skyline out of the evening window. Maybe he did get off on her being mad. Was that weird? Probably. He moved toward the edge of the tub and laid his left arm against the edge of it. And his right hand slipping beneath to deal with his half-mast.
At least he had plenty of alone time.
-
Finally, it seemed like he'd given up. The tone in his voice made her think he was partially acting this way due to the alcohol, but it still wasn't an excuse. He was still being blatantly rude, disrespectful and an all around piece of shit. His comment that oh she just needed to get laid only irritated her further. In her head, she kept hiking up the price to repair his ship. Because it seemed he had completely forgotten that they weren't friends, or even really acquaintances--he was a customer. And if she so wished she had every right to refuse to offer him her services.
Really, considering how blatantly ungrateful and obnoxious he was being, she had half a mind to toss him out of the hotel room and to tell him to find his own way back to Cancer. They'd take his ship to an impound where he could pay the fees to get his hunk of junk there and they'd never have to worry about him again. Any other self-respecting business would have done just that.
Besides, she wouldn't be going into heat for another two months. So she didn't even need to get laid, he could go suck a dick for all she cared.
Finally he gave up and left, and once he was gone she finally let her eyes slide closed as she just focused on going to sleep. It happened far easier than she thought, considering the rather busy day she'd had, it was a little understandable. At some point she found her way underneath the bed covers, burrowing down into them and enjoying the soft, fluffy pillows under her head.
She woke up extremely early the next morning, at the asscrack of dawn, likely long before Thade had. She dug around in her bag, put on a fresh set of clothes and silently opened the door. Her head felt much better, so after she got herself a glass of water, tiptoeing around the still-sleeping cyborg man and ignoring whatever she saw, she decided she'd get back at him for being a complete piece of garbage last night in her own way.
She took her bag, made sure she didn't forget anything, and left. She could always stand to do a little exploring on her own, so she made her way down to one of the main markets and started perusing all the things for sale, enjoying what Tynova had to offer since it had been here a while.
She'd also made sure to request a copy of the receipt for the hotel room once Thade left, because she was dead serious on tacking on all those charges to the repair fees for his ship. She called it The Asshole Tax.
-
The fact that he'd been an incorrigible asshole didn't dawn on him until the wee hours of the morning. That and the throbbing headache that raptured his skull and the back of his eyeballs like they were going to be punched from the inside out. He'd fallen asleep naked on the couch, on his belly so Reva really only got a shot of his ass on her way out. But the robe was underneath him and he pushed himself up with a groan.
He glanced up at the table and the wine and liquor bottles that were still on the floor. It didn't take long to clean up even if it wasn't his job. A metal hand clasped to his head and he sighed. "I'm such a dick," he hissed and found his clothes had been cleaned and delivered to the door. Dressing quickly, he went back in through the room. "Hey Reva, look I just wanted to apologize...".
Except she was gone. Not even the shadow of her presence left behind. As much as he deserved it, something twisted inside of Thade. A small nerve and he bolted for the door, making his way down to the lobby. He couldn't say exactly what it was.
Running to the front desk, his eyes scanned the crowd and when he failed to spot her face, that cold pit within his guts grew. "Excuse me, miss. I was a guest with Miss Reva here earlier. She just left. Did she check out?"
"I saw she left this morning. Although she made no indication of where she went. Perhaps we can get in touch with her, sir?" The receptionist typed on her glass screen and Thade shook his head.
"Call Galley La instead. Tell them to ask where she is," he said. Thade was restless and he looked back over the crowd again in the event she reared her head. Damn, what was his problem. The coldness didn't go away. As the receptionist made the call, he was only vaguely listening until she thanked them for their time.
"She's in the market district. Shall I call for a ride sir?".
"No thank you. I can find it," Thade tapped the counter and was off, running through the crowds. Tynova was a big city, easy to get lost in. Sometimes for days on end. Thade had enough experience in this city to have tasted the more unsavory parts of it. He found himself quickly in the markets and when the crowds parted enough, he spotted Reva and ran to her.
It was weird. It was almost like he quickly hugged her, and let go before he realized what he was doing. "Thank the gods you're okay. I was worried sick!" Oh he cringed when he came to fathom what he just said. "I mean. Oh, fuck. I'm an asshole. You know this. I'm not normally an asshole. Look, you left, and I know you can take care of yourself. But still, walking away from someone that has your back is just asking for trouble. So yeah... I was worried. A little. Sorry."
-
Considering what he'd seen of her yesterday, Thade should have known better than to be worried about her. Yet many women would have found it endearing that he might have panicked a little. It meant that he cared, or at least that's what most would have said.
Reva? Reva wouldn't have given a single shit either way. She knew damn well she could take care of herself, and his opinions and feelings about her meant diddly squat. All that mattered was that she make sure his ship get finished, should he be able to pay, and then send him to fuck off on his merry way. He was just a customer to her--a horrible, horrible pain in the ass customer.
She was right in the middle of striking up a deal for some power converters with a marketplace dealer when he spotted her, ran over and... Touched her yet again. Hugged her? Didn't matter. What the fuck did he think they were, friends or something?
She paused in her dealings and just... Stared at him. She wasn't sure what else she could or should do. He just admitted that he was worried about her and she had a mixture of feelings about it. Her brain told her she should find it endearing, because any other woman or character in a movie might have thought so. But in her heart she felt a bit of nasty pride because hah, she made the fucker panic, served him right. And in her gut, which twisted and recoiled with disgust, she wanted to smack him across the face.
"'Someone that has my back'?" She clarified, a little dumbfounded that he seemed to think for whatever reason that he had earned or somehow deserved that title. Bullshit.
"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself Mr. Olyphant. You've seen this for yourself." She said, her tone of voice nothing short of frigid as she held out her hand expectantly and the marketplace dealer handed her the bag full of shiny, new, and expensive parts she'd just purchased for dirt cheap like he was handing over his balls.
"There is only one person who has my back," She said after thanking the merchant and turning back to Thade to give him a pointed look, "And she sure as hell isn't you."
And with that she turned and left him again, sending off a message to Belliel about the supplies as she started to head back for the ship. Now that sleeping beauty was up and awake, it was time to head back to the Cancer and keep her time spent with him to an absolute minimum.
-
Ouch. And rightfully earned. Thade wasn't going to push her any mote than he already had. If he was her, he would have kneed him in the balls and left him whimper in the middle of that crowd. So he did the only thing a dog could do and quietly followed along behind Reva, keeping his hands around his back and simply eying the hustle of Tynova.
"A lot nicer than Haviah," he commented idly by the time they made it back to the hotel and gathered her ship. There wasn't any more conversation. Because really, he was as eager to get back as she was. He needed to talk with Sister about what happened, who would no doubt be broken up over Saidyr's death. And maybe there'd be more news on if that bitch was involved with the theft of his vessel.
Oh he knew she was, and the fact that she wasn't physically present when it was found didn't signify her innocence in any respect. He knew she was just trolling him. And damn if it wasn't working. Truthfully, he was tired of griping about it. And getting his ship stolen. Already the bill was skyrocketing for repairs alone.
But he had a few ideas for improvements. But he didn't dare voice them as they climbed into the ship for transport back to Cancer. He just watched Reva idly, curious and feeling the frost just peeling off of her.
"How much for a dna-print gauge for the airlock? Might as well rebuild from scratch." he asked, tone firm and business-like. Right. They weren't friends. They were just associates at most. And if they were going to talk business, better to get started.
-
As one could probably expect by now, Reva didn't speak with him for the rest of the trip. She made quick work of going through the marketplace and finding her way back to the ship, never once bothering to check and see if Thade was still there. If he got lost at this point it was his own damn fault; he may act like a child, but he sure as shit wasn't her child, and thus not her responsibility.
As they climbed back into the ship and Reva pulled it out of the lot, making the jump to hyperspace once they were safely outside of Tynova's air limits, she scoffed at his question.
"Remaking it from the ground up, right. Well, given its size and the work to be done, you're already looking at just shy of a million credits. So yeah, sure, what's one more thing to add on at that point? Would only be an extra three hundred or so."
They reentered The Cancer's orbit and made their way down, and she nimbly slid her little ship back into the parking garage in its spot surrounded by all her other vehicles. She climbed out of the cockpit, which automatically shut itself once Thade was out. Her bags of stolen goods from the Stalkers and marketplace floated along beside her as she led the way back to Galley La, and gods was she happy when she stepped back inside the lobby. The bag of marketplace goods zoomed ahead of her and went off into the direction of the garage, and the bag of pilfered goods went down a different hallway and descended out of view down a flight of stairs. Tenai looked up from where she was perched at the secretary desk, raising her eyebrows but saying nothing as Reva abruptly stopped, turned on her heel and looked at Thade with a beaming smile that was most assuredly not meant for or because of him.
"Well Mr. Olyphant it was an interesting adventure to get your ship back. If you would like to schedule an appointment with our team to start the design process then I more than happily encourage you to do so with our lovely attendant Ms. Tenai here. Good day."
And with that she left, going down the hall that read "Employees Only" in a neon sign above the door--though it was worth noting the ceilings and doorways were at least 11 feet tall in this place, and also quite wide--to follow the bag of pilfered items down the stairs. She was done. DONE. Done with that asshole, free. FREE TO DO WHATEVER SHE WANTED and first things first she was going into her workshop in the basement to go drown herself in her beloved projects and forget everything that just happened within the last 24 hours.
Booze may or may not be incorporated into this process later in the evening.
-
By the end of it, Thade was more than happy to give her her space. It was much better than uncomfortable silence and the sheer hatred he could feel off of her now. He could see why she didn’t have many friends, then again neither did he. Except for Sister, but that was because he was reliable and he respected his skill. Nobody pulled one over on Sister, and few ever saw him coming. Sister’s gaudy persona was far more enticing and he knew just where to put his hands and where not to keep the target in front of him eating right out of his palm.
Thade couldn’t wait to crash at his place. There was little else to do with the Vegas out of commission. So after Reva left, all he did was bow his head in her direction and arranged the appointment with the design team as specified. And paid half the estimated bill in advance of the work. The other half to be paid when the work was completed.
If anything, Thade’s money was good, and he honored his debts.
Later from the sofa in Sister’s apartment, a comfy loft in one of Cancer’s finer sectors, Thade stretched out and carefully pulled his boots on.
“So what’s with this? Darling, if you think you can keep secrets from me, you’ve got another thing coming,” Sister murmured over a hot cup of tea, nails long and freshly painted. The negligee draped over him was very complimentary and his hand delicately swept up to keep the curlers in his purple hair in place. He pursed his lips, watching Thade come to the kitchen counter, and sit on the stool to drink his own tea.
“What are you talking about?” he murmured, groggy. “I told you about last night and the night before. The Vegas is trashed. And has to be completely overhauled. I already paid the advance, now I was just going to go over some design ideas with the Galley La team later today.”
Sister rolled his eyes. “Girl, you know what I’m talking about. You’re in this broody mood. And if you don’t want to get me all riled up, then you better tell me about why you’re brooding honey. Who’s got my baby Thade all worked up?”
Thade would have laughed it didn’t trudge up crappy feelings. “The woman that helped me get the Vegas back is just real headache inducing, is all. Her name is Reva, and she’s good in a fight, but she’s got a mean streak hotter than popping oil. I tried to play nice and, nothing.”
Sister smirked, playing the edge of his tea on his lips. “You start anything with her that you couldn’t finish?”
“I guess. I dunno. A crab cake hit her face, and she threw drinks on me and locked herself in the room. It was an accident. Anyway, she hates me. That’s all there is to it. And you know what, I’m perfectly okay with it.” Thade drank some more tea before pushing it away and opting for the coffee brewing in the pot in the corner of the kitchen. Sister’s apartment was posh and beautifully decorated, a plush rug at the center beneath the sofa and a coffee table that may have been broken once or twice. It was a two bedroom, although only one of them had a bed in it, and the other was usually locked. Thade never asked why, frankly he didn’t want to.
“Serves you right, baby. You’re lucky she didn’t beat the shit out of you,” Sister murmured softly, taking the rest of Thade’s tea and drowning it with a shot of vodka.
Thade glowered at his friend. “I offered that too. She didn’t bite.”
Sister laughed. “No…but it sounds like she bit you somehow. You like her. You can’t hide that from me, girl. I’m gonna hop in the shower and go with you to Galley La. Don’t try to sneak out.”
“What!? Why? You don’t have to go.”
“Baby girl. Listen, if there’s someone out there that can save your ass and hand it to you right afterward, then I got to meet this lady. She sounds absolutely lovely,” Sister cackled and shuffled off the click of heels fuschia heels across the hardwood flooring.
They arrived back to the massive hanger in the Galley La facility and were directed back to where the Vegas was hoisted up on wires as crews of workers were already plasma-cutting sections off of it to get to the main mechanics. Sister was not pleased with the state of the ship and pouted deeply at what he saw. “Oh….Thade, honey, why didn’t you tell me it was this bad? I’m so sorry.” And as they were waiting in the offices that overlooked Hangar 2, Sister pulled Thade into a powerful embrace, smothering his face with his chest. Finally he relented when others came into the office and Thade shoved himself away.
“Okay, Sister. Stay professional. Please,” he sighed.
“Honey, you have nothing to worry about,” Sister murmured and batted his blue eye-shadowed eyes at him. “I’m nothing but a perfect lady.”
-
Thade wasn't the only one who had a friend on Cancer to rely on, and he wasn't the only one who ended up spending time with a friend today.
Reva had gone down into the basement to shut herself away in her workshop, pouring over her work and incredibly satisfied as she made more progress in a new photon cannon she'd been developing for a little over six months now, when there was a knock on her door. It went unanswered, because she was so absorbed in her calculations and blueprints, and so the door opened on its own and a familiar face stuffed herself in through the doorway.
"There you are, Reva. Tenai told me you'd come back but had lost track of where you'd gone. Thanks for the supplies you picked up in Tynova, the boys appreciate it." Belliel didn't try to squeeze anything past her second set of shoulders in through the door--not because she couldn't fit it, but because Reva's workshop was too crowded for her to go in and not destroy everything.
So instead she laid down, stretching her quadrupedal limbs and crossing her paws one over another, while she crossed her arms over her chest and watched her weapons engineer work.
"Ah, so I saw your notes. Olyphant gave you a hard time?"
Reva finally stopped, hand held mid-air to press a button on one of her hologram screens, and she cast a quick glance over her shoulder at Belliel before going back to work. "You could say that."
"How bad?"
"Well, one of his old customers knocked us out and captured us, someone he screwed over. Had to kill a lot of people to get out--didn't help that they stripped us naked. Soaring Arrow had panels cut out of it while they were holding us captive."
Belliel hissed and shook her head.
"Got out okay, got to the hotel... He was a sourpuss about most of it. Ungrateful prick stole the shower first, made passes at me, and then tried to act all nice and gentlemanly, and just when I thought maybe he wasn't AS terrible as I thought, he got drunk, threw food at me and insulted me from here to Libra. Said I needed to get laid because apparently I'm too much of a bitch."
"Well you are a bitch."
"Yes but that's not the point."
Reva set down the pen and notes she'd been holding in her hands on the counter, turning on her swivel chair to look at Belliel face to face.
Belliel let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Even if he's a customer his unprofessional attitude and rudeness toward you will not be ignored, you know me Reva."
"I know."
"If he continues to be a problem let me know and we'll terminate his contract and blacklist him. I know it's not often that we get people who are that horrible. It's 4 in the afternoon, why don't we go get some lunch? Go upstairs, get yourself freshened up. I know you like your makeup and all that."
Reva pursed her lips for a moment, dropping her gaze and thinking it over before she nodded and gave her boss a smile.
"Alright but you have to get your big ass out of my only doorway first."
"I'm workin' on it, I'm workin' on it! Easy for you to say you don't have six limbs."
They returned just in time for the scheduled meeting with Thade on his ship, and Reva tried not to let it bother her how much she REALLY didn't want to see his stupid face again so soon, or ever, really. If she could live the rest of her immortal life without ever seeing him again that would just be fantastic. But unfortunately that just wasn't the case.
Belliel had a few other things to do, so it was Reva, along with her top team members, who would be heading the meaning, and it was a rather funny sight when the five of them trotted into the room.
The office that Thade and Sister had been led to that overlooked Hangar 2 was incredibly large and spacious. With huge floor to ceiling windows, it was incredibly sleek and modernized, likely their main room for meeting with customers. There was a glossy, round white table in the center of the room with matching white chairs that matched the white walls, the floor of a light gray granite tiling.
Reva, surprisingly enough, fit in quite well in the setting--she wore a white faux fur pencil skirt, with an artistic and modern light pink blouse that was tucked in at her waist, flaring out with large ruffles. It hung off of her shoulders with a white fur trim, exposing her delicate collar bone and slender neck. Her boots matched with fluffy white fur leg warmers that went halfway up her calves, heels dainty and short at a mere two inches. She looked slender, petite, and almost doll-like, and she carried a refreshed sort of air about her, much more relaxed and bright in comparison to the frosty fury she'd had with Thade before. But there could still be no doubts held about her authority--the four burly men who walked behind her, wearing working jumpsuits covered in oil and grease stains, sporting tattoos and looking like they could've come out of a high-security prison, all followed obediently behind her and maintained a respectful distance of two feet at all times.
They all sat down around the table as Reva stood at the front of the room, back to the windows as the light haloed behind her. Her magenta hues landed on Thade, then on Sister, and there was the slightest eyebrow raise. Once everyone was seated, she gave everyone a polite and graceful smile that could have charmed even the hardiest and most heartless of men--sweet, cordial, and charming. Literally the exact opposite of everything Thade had seen from her thus far--this was how she usually dealt with customers. Anyone like Thade got the exception.
"Good evening Mr. Olyphant, I'd like to introduce to you my top three team leaders: Roger Sutton, Roy London, Jason Venner and Sammael. They'll be in charge of the teams building your ship, so it's important that they sit in with us and hear what you have in mind for this project so they can also add their input." She looked now to Sister, giving him a warm smile and a respectful nod of the head. "My name is Reva, I am the head designer and weapons specialist here at Galley La, I believe we haven't met yet?"
Once she'd gotten Sister's name and all the appropriate hand shaking had been done, it was time to get to business. She raised both arms up, her sleeves pulling themselves up to her shoulders as the windows tinted themselves and dimmed the room to near darkness as hologram projections from the center of the table lit up the room in a soothing aqua light with all the blueprints she'd collected regarding the ship's original make and model, as well as information on what parts it had currently that had survived the wreck that could be implemented in the upgrades.
Throughout the meeting she maintained her perfect customer service attitude: sweet yet to the point, professional, and polite, as she brought up her own blueprints that she'd drafted so far, and ideas were tossed around, notes taken by the company members all around as decisions were made and designs finalized. When the meeting was concluded, Reva turned the lights back on and thanked the men for their hard work as they left the room, leaving just her, Thade and Sister for a moment as she collected all the notes from the glass tablets they'd been using to compile and organize for later, Tenai appearing in the doorway to show Thade and Sister back to the lobby.
-
"She's a doll, I don't know what you're problem is, Thadeus baby," Sister murmured, carefully examining how his nails glinted in the led lighting above them. The hallway was crisp in clear as they were escorted from the office. The meeting had gone well, all things considered, and Thade didn't at all take it personally that she gave no attention.
In fact, it was best that she didn't. Considering their last conversation, he was just fine putting it behind them and focusing instead on getting the Vegas up and running again. He didn't at all point out that parts of his ship were now on hers but that was beside the point. It was the only one that had been working at the time. And he was just focused on getting shit done.
He was tired of the bickering anyway.
"Well, you didn't see what I saw. It doesn't matter anyway," Thade shrugged, pulling out a cigarette before Tenai turned to him and pulled the thing from his lips. She broke it in half and smiled.
"No smoking in this sector," she said politely and carried on as Thade stopped and sighed.
Sister made a grunt of appreciation, watching her walk away and snapping his teeth together. "Think she'll let me bite her ass?" he asked gently. "Scratch that, she'll let me bite her ass." Sister chuckled and kept his eyes on Tenai for a while before he started following again. "And you know you're going to be seeing a lot of her, so play nice, darling. I think you have something she'll appreciate. That Sennai Crystal you kept at my place, alien energy orbs, or some bullshit. Take it, I don't have any use for it. But maybe she will."
Thade made a face. "You want me to...flirt with her?"
"I think you like her, and you're in denial. And I know deep down you're a sweet heart, love. So show your nice side. It couldn't hurt. And for all you know, it might even expedite the work on the Vegas. Besides, I think you tried to flirt with her, and it backfired, and you're kicking yourself ever since." Sister kissed his cheek and pat him on the shoulder. "Don't wait up darling. I'll meet you back at the apartment."
Thade made a frustrated growl. Because, yes, he would admit he was attracted to the woman, and she clearly despised him. So what was the point? Still, if it could get the work on his ship expedited somehow, he'd play nice. And even if it didn't, she didn't deserve to have him barking at her all the time. There would be plenty more people in his place to do that.
So as their meetings came and went for the next week, Thade made nice. He smiled and bowed to her respectfully. He blamed his father for that. You bowed, or you were beaten. It was too bad he never quite beat the bow out of him. Thade kept things civil, shaking her hand firmly as he would with any other associate and going over the plans for the Vegas in minor detail now. He smiled his most charmingly, even brought her small gifts, but nothing really garnered him more than a polite nod, and he sighed in minor frustration.
She just wouldn't give. Maybe Sister was right. It wasn't like the Sennai Crystal was doing anything more than collecting dust. So he took it with him on his next visit. It was better than it sitting on the shelf.
All in due time, though. As the week and a half went by, he was directed toward Reva's workshop and knocked gently on the door. "Hey," was all he said, nudging it open, looking her over with some curiosity. "How are you doing?"
-
Things... Were going surprisingly well. Reva had expected Thade to be an asshole for the next coming weeks, generally being a pain in her neck while she and the team worked on reconstructing his ship.
But it seemed Thade had other ideas.
He was polite, he was respectful, he was civil. He'd even bring her gifts every now and then, which she was never sure how to respond to, other than a polite 'thank you' or a confused look. She had absolutely no idea what he was up to, what he was trying to do or get from her.
You have to understand: people didn't flirt with her, ever.
As pretty or cute as she may be, she was still many things that many people in this day and age were afraid of. She figured someone would have to be insane to want to flirt with her; so she had no idea how to pick up on it. Not really, not in this kind of context.
Was he just trying to get on her good side again? So he could piss her off and get another boner or something? Who knew. She didn't let herself dwell on it much; she had much more pressing matters to worry about. Like designing the weapons for another customer, which she was in the middle of when there was a knock on her door and Thade's voice--in her workspace.
She immediately dropped what she was doing and turned in her chair to see him standing in the doorway; part of her was furious that somebody let him down here, another part of her felt a bit conflicted, but mostly confused.
The room itself was kept pretty dark, lit only by spotlights in certain areas, mostly workspaces with half-finished products covering their surfaces, or by bright aqua hologram screens or monitors mounted on the walls. Said walls were covered in just about everything one could imagine--old posters, including one for an ancient boy band that had dicks scribbled on it and the words "Fuck off, Bell" at the bottom, pictures, magazine clippings and articles about developments in technology or rediscovering old technology, blueprints, and many other things. There were island counters in the center of the room with overhead lights and large weapons propped up on stands that were half or a third of the way put together. The walls were lined with counters with nooks to fit her chair under, several computers accessible in these spots, or with cabinets full of who knows what. There was a heavy duty shelving unit on the wall by the door, with several metal tool boxes locked up beside them, the shelves overflowing with all manor of tools and spare parts.
It was a fucking disaster. But it was an organized mess, or at least it was to Reva. Surprisingly enough, her living space looked absolutely nothing like this.
"I--Who let you down here?" She was a bit flustered to say the least--usually the only, ONLY person who came down here was Belliel. If Tenai was behind this she'd have the word with the girl later, but either way the damage was done. He was here now.
She glanced around, aware of the mess her workshop was in and blushed a little bit. "Well, I mean I--I'm fine. Is there something you needed, Mr. Olyphant?"
She'd been referring to him formally by his last name ever since they got back from Edanith, deciding to keep things as professional as possible, and so far it seemed like it was working. Or at least it helped her feel like it was working.
-
"No, nothing needed," Thade replied, shaking his head, even smirking playfully. Gods, that was stupid. He mentally kicked himself, but kept that smile on his face as he entered her domain and flicked his eyes around to appreciate the majesty of it.
He had worked in a garage like this once, except less boybands and engineering posters and more titties. Basically one whole was dedicated to 'D' cups. But aside from that digression, Thade admired her workspace. There was a method to the madness, one that was specific to her and he reached for something in his pocket.
"And, nobody let me down here. I kinda just wandered in. I won't take too much of your time," he said and revealed the small crystalline object in his hand. "It's called a Sennai Crystal, but you're smart, so you probably know that already." It had an opalescent opaqueness, and a symmetrically carved dodecahedron that was red at it's center.
"It's a self charging energy cell. I got it off a shady trader on the Cancer some years ago. Not long after I got my ship. I never had any use for it, as it didn't seem powerful enough to power a vessel. But it's small enough to fit inside maybe a weapon? I figured you had a better use for it than I did."
He gently put it into her hand, his metal one clasping the back of her left and pressing the crystal into her palm, before pulling his hands and holding them behind his back. It was warm to the touch and the red glow inside fluxed, waxing and waning as if it were a heartbeat. "Peace offering might not exactly be the right word for it. But, I want you to have it anyway. You're intelligent, I'm sure you'll figure something out with it. And if not, it makes a nice looking paperweight.'
He chuckled and nodded his head to what she was working on. "What's that you're working on?" Smoothe, Thade. Smoothe. He drew in a little closer than he realized. Gods she smelled good. Ugh, that was such a creepy thought.
-
Reva blinked and stared at him for a moment, lips parting in disbelief. Just... Just wandered in here? Wandered right past where it said in blatantly obvious neon lighting "EMPLOYEES ONLY"? Gods. His douchery really did know no bounds--except that he didn't seem to have the intent of being a jerk right now. Instead, he revealed an object he'd been holding in his hand, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise as she stared at it.
She'd heard of Sennai Crystals herself but had never really had any interest in grabbing one, as they were apparently pretty hard to come by unless if you knew where to look. It was rather beautiful, she had to admit; she'd seen pictures but even with today's technology, they didn't beat seeing the real thing.
He took her (currently) golden skeletal hand and placed it into her palm; she could feel the energy humming off of it from her sensory data, as she held it up and turned and inspected it in the light, confounded, fascinated and curious by it.
A pretty paperweight? She'd definitely do it some justice and find a better use for it than that, she was sure.
"Wow, um--thank you, I don't--" She was about to say that she didn't understand why he was giving it to her, but then he leaned in close and started looking at what she was working on; the projection on the hologram showed blueprints for what looked like some new kind of cannon.
Reva was living proof of the concept of 'bitches love cannons.'
She quickly minimized it, letting the crystal rest in her lap as she looked away, a hint of a blush tinting her cheeks.
"It's a design for a new prototype for a customer. I can't tell you more than that though, without violating the terms and conditions of the customer privacy agreement. Surely you understand." She couldn't just go around willy nilly talking about weapons projects left and right--particularly when customers were asking her to design brand new types of weapons for them. Because that definitely wasn't fishy at all or anything, on their end, not so much hers. It was what it was.
She turned back to her desk, pulling up another screen instead as she glanced at him over her shoulder. "The parts required to start work on the interior of the Vegas were ordered yesterday and should be arriving in two batches between today and tomorrow. The metal I ordered for the ship's defense system is custom though, so unfortunately it'll take a bit longer before I can have the team get started on that for you."
The guns were usually what customers got most excited for, and since she didn't know why exactly Thade was here, she had to assume it was about his ship, so that was what she decided to talk about. Maybe then he'd leave; she didn't know what to do with him, or herself, even, when he was there standing over her shoulder.
-
Thade blinked and chuckled when she changed the holographic projection. Sure sure confidentiality and all that. Or he was being invasive and that was her way of telling him to fuck off
Fair enough. He could respect the boundaries of her company contracts. She did have to cover her ass after all and he didn't have any interest in anymore boring paperwork. Or boring shop talk for that matter. So Thade pressed his hands against the table, leaning back against it.
"Sounds good, Miss Reva. You have an excellent eye for design, so I'm not going to question your recommendations. Besides it means a lot to me to have my ship in the right hands," he murmured. He kicked himself again. He supposed it was better to just ask.
"So, Reva, I've seen what you do to assholes, falling ships, lizardmen chumps that kidnap you, and people that fuck over your ship. But what do you do for fun? In general, not just around here. Or do you just work all the time?" It was a leading question, and he forced himself to look at her. A small grin still played on his lips.
-
Okay, well, he apparently was not here to pester her about the progress of his ship, because he seemed to brush it off pretty easily and instead make himself comfortable. It annoyed her a bit and for a brief moment she thought of telling him to leave, since this was her space and she didn't like anyone disturbing her in it.
But then he asked another question that threw her off; all she could do was stare at him for a moment. What she did for fun? What kind of question was that--why did he care? Why was he here??? She felt a little defensive, like he was poking and prodding her and the fact that she didn't know why seriously bothered her. But she supposed all she could do for now was play along until she figured it out or he made it obvious..?
"I don't really have a whole lot of free time, Mr. Olyphant," She explained, trying to be patient with him. "I consider my job to be fun." When it's not being made hellish by assholes like you.
She glanced away for a moment, before looking back at him. Why was she giving him the time of day right now? Because he'd been playing nice over the past week? Ugh.
"Sometimes I drag race but it's been a year or two since my last one. Why do you ask?"
-
Of course. Frankly it was the answer he'd been expecting. She was the busy bee, always finding something to occupy herself with. Oh he knew that if she really wanted him out of here, she could literally throw him out with a look. He decided if he was going to do this, might as well make it as quick and as painless as possible. It was very well she would just get pissed off in the end anyway.
Thade shrugged despite her irritated tone and dismissive responses. And he pulled a chair out to sit beside her. It was better than sitting on her table proper. "I was asking because I was wondering if you might be interested in doing something fun with me. Together. You know, so I can give you headaches in other locales. I'm joking of course." He chuckled and his smile grew.
"Let's get some drinks. It'll be fun," he murmured. "I promise I'll control myself. Neutral ground." Thade never struck anyone as particularly nervous or eloquent. But he figured it was worth a shot. But what was he asking her out as? Friends? Associates? A date? He just tried to stay stay calm and shrugged.
"So what d'ya say? We can go to a club or take in a drag race. Anything. I'm open for anything. We can make it a date." Fuck, now he said it.
-
He wanted to do something fun together. He wanted... He... What?
... Was he asking her out?
She wasn't used to the concept of people seeing her as a person. For the workers at Galley La, she was a figurehead, second in command, to be respected and to a point, feared. To customers she was just the point person designing their ships.
Nobody was ever interested in her. Not like that. Was this like that? No. It couldn't be. Well. It could be. He did have boners a lot the first day they spent together--
"I--ah," She was very obviously caught off guard by his proposal.
Her first instinct was to say no but then she hesitated and when she started doubting herself all kinds of questions and insecurities started bubbling up. Maybe he just meant this as a professional, friendly outing. Maybe he thought if he got some drinks in her he could convince her to give him a discount on his ship or something. Maybe he wanted to be friends because he liked her work and figured he'd be a returning customer. Yeah. It had to be that, definitely. For sure.
She wasn't sure she could handle the more blatantly obvious option.
And yet in the back of her mind she could almost hear Belliel sitting on her shoulder like the little devil she was saying 'go for it! Do it! You never do anything fun, go live a little for fuck's sake.'
She pursed her lips and turned away from him, pulling up a few new screens as she got back to work.
"Officially I'm off the clock at five, so if you'd like to do something... I can meet you in the main lobby at six."
There. Fuck it. She said it. She doomed herself. Gods. What had she just agreed to? Another horrible night of him getting drunk and insulting her some more? Probably. But there she was giving him his fucking second chance, maybe if he screwed this one up he'd leave her alone. It was three in the afternoon now, so that gave her time to fret and panic about what she'd just signed herself up for. Fantastic.
"There's a bunch of street racers here on Cancer who meet up about a half hour's drive away, race starts as soon as the sun disappears below the horizon. It's always been enjoyable the few times I've gone."
She wouldn't trust him to make any kind of calls on where they were going, considering she wasn't sure what he did for fun, or if he had good tastes to match the expensive dinner he'd picked out in Tynova. Guess she'd be finding out.
-
He was just waiting for it. The smack to the face that would send him reeling over the table and then telekinetically pick up him and shove him out the door. Either that or dump some kind of drink all over his head. He would admit that incident was entirely his fault.
His eyelids were snapped shut and his face was preemptively throbbing because, well, her smacks tended her hurt. Or so he imagined. And when it didn't happen, he peeked on eye at her, then the other, slow and easy like. Thade at first was quiet. Oh, it'd be just a quick and firm no, then dismiss him and then go about what she was doing before like it was nothing.
He could respect either approach. Except...that didn't happen either.
Suddenly he was grinning ear to ear, and he was chuckling. Not at her, but at himself. "Okay, good. I'll come by at six. I promise I'll shower before I show up," he murmured and was about to shake her hand. So he did, briefly and made his exit quick before she had a chance to change her mind. She very well could within the next three hours, and if he got stood up, at least he'd made the effort in the first place to ask the question.
It was awkward enough already. And when Thade returned back to Sister's apartment, he was already occupying the bathroom and carefully plucking the curlers from his hair. They weren't tightly bound or anything, delicately draped and he propped them up in an updo as he turned his head to and fro in the mirror.
"Sister! I need to use the bathroom. Come on, you've been in there for an hour and a half already! I need to shower and shave!"
"Fine!" Sister unlocked the door and let Thade in, which he quickly backed up and put his arm up before his eyes. "You getting all dolled up for my show? Oh, you didn't have to do that for little 'ol me." The thin silk robe he wore was barely enough hide the shadow of his manhood, but he didn't seem to care.
"I got Reva to go out with me. I'm just trying to not be a complete bastard this time. If I can at all help it."
Sister just laughed as he pulled the robe tighter around him and waved Thade out of the way of the door. The man got into the shower and turned the water on, quickly sudsing up and scrubbing himself clean. "I knew you couldn't resist her, baby. She's like me, got that devilish charm to her! I'm surprised it took you this long."
"She was...kind of different this time, you know. She seemed nervous about it. I didn't think the woman was capable of having nerves. I just kept expecting her to smack the shit out of me the whole time! Which is still a high possibility," Thade said over the running water. After fifteen minutes he was done and went to the sink to trim the excess hairs on his cheeks and jawline. The goatee never really grew wildly and he stared at his face for a while. And that's when he went for the buzzer and just trimmed it all off.
He only stopped when Sister screamed, hands in the doorway as he stared at Thade. "WHAT DID YOU DO!? THADE! YOUR FACE!" Sister gasped as he moved forward and slapped both hands on his raw skin. Thade winced, and pushed him off. "Why!? WHY THE BEARD!?"
Thade shrugged. "I'm just trying something different. The beard gets itchy after a while. It'll grow back. Don't get your balls up in a twist. Now, I need to borrow some of your clothes. The ones you never wear."
"I wear everything in my closet darling! But I'm sure I find something to suit your fine ass," Sister exclaimed after he examined Thade's features for a while. "I've got a suit you can borrow. We're about the same size." He smacked Thade's backside as he shoved him into the room.
When Thade showed up back to Galley La's main lobby, he wasn't wearing the suit that Sister kept trying to fit him into. But to get a seat at The Velvetine, it would do. His trench coat was replaced with a brownish-red leather jacket, a button shirt and vest combo, and fitted slacks, and well-oiled boots. He looked far more dapper than he wanted, but it would work for now. He was on time he assured himself. Reva didn't strike him as anyone that was late for anything, ever.
-
The handshake was a little awkward, and she couldn't help but stare after him for several moments once he left, wondering again what she'd just unknowingly signed herself up for. A shower? He said he was going to shower? Why--nope. Not asking that. She was afraid of the answer.
She tried her damndest to focus on getting more work done after that, but for whatever reason her mind kept wandering and she kept cursing herself for saying yes, why had she said yes?! It wasn't like she was OBLIGATED to give him a second chance just because he'd been behaving decently, in fact she shouldn't have said yes at all! He could piss and moan about it all he wanted but she shouldn't have agreed, and she was talking to herself out loud as she decided to wrap things up a half hour early.
"Yes, no, I'm not going. Absolutely not. That was stupid of me, I don't have time for this. For him. I don't have time for that with him involved. I have better things to do, I've got to get back to work on the designs for those power couplers and I would have if I had said no and left it at that and wasn't so STUPID," She was rambling on and on as she shut things down in her workshop, gathering notes and organizing so she wouldn't come in tomorrow feeling overwhelmed, when a voice spoke up from the doorway.
"So he finally got the balls to ask you out then, huh?"
Reva literally eeped in a squeak of surprise and almost dropped the sennai crystal she'd been picking up, before she looked at it, realized what she was doing and in a fit of frustration, opened a drawer, shoved it inside and closed it. She wasn't dealing with that right now and she definitely was NOT going to go put it in her room so she could stare at it and wonder some more, gods dammit!
She huffed and turned to stare at Belliel who was lounging in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest and eyebrows raised in amusement.
"We need to tighten up security, he wandered in here completely unhindered by anybody, right into my workshop!" Reva snapped, while Belliel just started chuckling. "What? Why are you laughing? This isn't funny! He is distracting me from my work and this is my space you know I don't like anybody in here except for you and even that's questionable on most days."
Reva threw her a glare as she turned back to gathering up her things and Bell just shook her head.
"Alright fine I'll pass it along to Tenai, but are you really thinking of standing him up? Sounds to me like you said yes earlier."
"Yes, and I changed my mind, am I not allowed to change my mind?"
"Well I didn't say that but why'd you change your mind?"
"BECAUSE. I DID. What's it to you?! No wait, don't answer that--I already know what you're going to say."
Reva turned and walked over to the large alien blocking her doorway, hands on her hips. "You're going to say 'you're immortal Reva, you need to live your life!' 'Don't have such a stick up your ass all the time Reva, go have some fun!' 'Jeese Reva, would it kill you to get laid outside of your annual time?' Well YES, it WOULD kill me--"
"No it wouldn't."
"--And this man is nothing but a nuisance and a pest--"
"I think you kind of like him a bit."
"--AND I CAN SHOVE AS MANY STICKS UP MY ASS AS I WANT BECAUSE IT'S MY LIFE AND I CAN DO WHAT I WANT WITH IT, MOVE YOUR FAT ASS, YOU BUZZARD."
Belliel was too busy laughing so Reva literally had to shove her out of the way with her mind powers so she could close and lock the door to her workshop, fuming as she strutted past her boss through the basement to head up the stairs, and Bell managed to pull herself together enough to twist around in the confined spaces with her snake-like body and follow the young woman, still chuckling.
"Well yes I was going to say most of those things, except the last one because that's none of my business." Bell said with a smile as they went upstairs, and down another hallway and up another set of stairs--Bell and Reva both lived there, at Galley La, a fact known by no one outside of the company workers. So when Reva said that her job was pretty much all she did in life, she wasn't kidding. She practically, lived, slept, ate and breathed her work.
Reva opened the door to her condo on the top floor of the main company building--Bell surprisingly lived in the one below her--and let her alien friend in, who was still persisting in following her, and Reva knew better than to try and fight with her about it. So the larger woman made her way inside, curling up in the spacious living area that had been furnished specifically with her in mind: lots of open spaces for her to spread out and relax. The condo itself was dressed in pastel colors; the floor was white tile, the furniture all white or light pink with gold accents, the walls a soft peach in color. A large window let in natural light as the sun started to descend in the sky and cast a hint of golden light into the entirety of Reva's home.
Reva went down a hallway and into her bedroom, taking off her clothes and standing there in her bra and underwear, staring at her closet, and fuming some more.
"I'm still not going!" She called out to the living room, and Belliel laughed again, picking up some fashion magazines from the coffee table to thumb through them with little interest to the actual contents inside.
"Why don't you wear that cute little chiffon dress you have? The short one. The really really short one. With the low cut. I bet he'd like that. It's cute on you."
"... You think so?"
"Think what?"
"That he'd like it."
"Fuck if I know I just know men like girls when they're skimpy. I like girls when they're skimpy."
"You're no fucking help whatsoever."
"Yes."
Reva padded back out into the living area, using her white and rainbow arms now instead of the golden skeletal ones from earlier, holding a few dresses in her hand. Belliel got excited and pointed, "Yes, that one!"
Reva looked at it, looked distraught and looked back over at Belliel, who knew that look all too well, the few times in their time spent together that she'd seen it.
She cooed a little, and got a bit more serious for the moment as she set down the magazines she'd been looking at.
"Look, I know you, Reva. You stress yourself out way too much. I admire your devotion to this company but you can't make it your whole life and be happy about it. Go play, go have some fun. There are more fun things to do in this world than shoving sticks up your ass. He's not half bad looking either."
Reva dropped her gaze to the floor and looked away.
"It doesn't have to be serious, yknow. I sincerely doubt he's set out with the intention of marrying you."
Reva cringed a little at the mere mention of it. Marriage. Eugh. She could just see her mother now, beaming with pride and a face that read 'I told you so' because she'd been insisting for years now that there was somebody out there who'd love her daughter to the ends of the earth and blah blah blah, ugh. Absolutely disgusting. Wishful thinking, at best. Reva looked at the dresses in her hands, glanced back up at Belliel, and rolled her eyes.
"Fine. Fine..."
When Thade arrived in the Galley La main lobby, Reva was already there waiting for him, leaning against the counter and chatting idly with Tenai. She had a little pink double-breasted coat, a layer of soft pink tulle peaking out just beneath that hinted at the fact that her dress barely graced more than an inch above her mid-thigh. She wore black netted thigh-highs and a pair of black high heels that accentuated the slender curves of her legs, and the perfection in the makeup on her face and the slightest sweet scent of her perfume suggested she wasn't the only one who had spent a little bit of extra time on her appearance for this--at Belliel's urging, of course.
Tenai was the one who noticed Thade first and blinked, stopping in the middle of her sentence to swallow and eloquently say, "Um."
Reva turned and looked, stared for a moment before her eyebrows shot up. He shaved.
He shaved, like, a lot.
"I--how old are you?" Reva blurted, because she had to admit as nice as he looked she preferred him with some facial hair and also what was he?? 17? Gods save her what had she done.
-
She wasn't going to show. There was no way. She blew him off, he knew it. Thade would wait as long as it took. He wasn't a flakey piece of shit by any means. But even with his worry, he figured if she dipped, clearly she had other plans. She didn't seem the dipping kind of woman. And he'd been standing there for a few long drawn out seconds when she said something.
Thade blinked, looking at her, his hand unconsciously rushing to his chin that he cradled between his index and thumb. He felt his cheeks heat up and he forced himself to laugh, rubbing gently at the raw skin from the shave. It wouldn't take long for the stubble to grow in. "Oh? I thought it made me look sharp," he chuckled. It was an embarrassed laugh, but he forced it anyway. "I guess you'll have to hang around baby faced Olyphant all night."
He chuckled and approached her, smirking that wry grin that seemed to be more and more prevalent now that he was around her. "You look absolutely breathtaking," he murmured, giving her a once-over of approval. And no it wasn't just because her ass was practically hanging out of her dress. Although that little facet certainly didn't hurt.
He offered a hand to her, although he left it up to her to take it, and made no butthurt response if she didn't. "Shall we get going? Sister sent a car along for us. It's waiting for us," he murmured, keeping his attention on her. Because in the end it would keep him from focusing on anyone else that was staring at his get up.
There were rare occasions when he ever got dressed up. Preferring practicality to pompous get-ups, Thade normally wore the same types of clothing, for weeks on end. The only thing that remained was his cut-sleeve trench coat. For an occasion like this, and for Sister, it was a good night to give it a day off.
He leaned in a little close and whispered, "Is the shave really that bad?"
-
Tenai was much in the same boat that Reva was; all four of her eyes were staring at Thade, mouth still hanging open slightly before she glanced at Reva and then back at him.
The two of them were complete opposites. He was dressed in black and red, she in black and pastel pink. Oddly enough, they looked like they fit together quite well--but the issue was that... Was what she thought was happening actually happening?
Did this guy actually manage to ask Reva out on a date and succeed?
Reva, meanwhile, felt a little bad when she heard his laugh and realized she might have touched on something there she shouldn't have--wait, no, gods damn him she shouldn't feel bad about that. It was his own fault. For. Shaving. Whatever.
And yet as he came up to her, he had a smirk on his face and she could tell he was up to no good oh fuck what was he gonna do--
"You look absolutely breathtaking."
Ha. Eh. Ah.
What?
Tenai's eyes got even wider, a hand slowly raising to cover her mouth which was now fully open in surprise, her long ears flicking downward as she quickly looked to Reva to see the fiery demon girl's response.
Reva was blushing up to her ears, thank the gods she was wearing makeup because it helped conceal some of it.
"I--t-thank you," She stammered, obviously taken aback by the fact that he had complimented her, let alone so well and seemingly meant it so... So sincerely.
He even held his hand out to her, like.. Like she was a princess, or something. Someone dainty, someone of importance. This reminded her a lot of the night in that hotel and she tensed a little, expecting him to suddenly be a jerk at any moment. She'd be ready and waiting for it all night, most likely. Expecting it.
She hesitated a moment before she took his hand, he said there was a car waiting and she blinked, eyebrows raising, remembering Sister from the production meeting as she wondered just who the hell that person was and how Thade knew them, but that was neither here nor there.
"Sounds like you have this all planned out." She said, perhaps a bit impressed, letting him lead the way out as she glanced over her shoulder and waved a quick goodbye to Tenai who was still standing there, absolutely stunned--Belliel was leaning around a corner now, watching Reva leave with a wide smirk that Reva rolled her eyes at and ignored while her alien boss disappeared out of sight again.
Thade leaned down and asked about his appearance and she stared at him for a moment before she suddenly chuckled and looked away, seemingly easing up a little.
"No, it's not horrible. I just wasn't expecting it--I think I prefer the beard, but," She opened the lobby doors with her powers as they exited and went down the front stone steps, "You look... Nice."
Nicer than she wanted to admit. Because he was still a jackass, as far as she was concerned.
-
Beneath the deadpan glares, the exasperated sighs, the caked on make-up, and the ball of fire attitude, Reva was astonishingly adorable. And Thade didn't find anything adorable. Except maybe puppies, but how often did you find stray dogs on Cancer these days? She wasn't an ugly woman, and whether she knew it or not, or gave a shit - Thade would bet that she didn't - she must be turning heads all the time.
So it was difficult for Thade to hide his admiration for the care in which she carried herself, even as a cyborg, an amputee, and someone clearly smarter than a stranger would at first take her for. He kept himself calm however as they turned to walk out of Galley La's main lobby. And kept her hand in a soft grip within his right, although she could crush the bones inside of it with ease. It was a worthwhile risk.
Thade held onto her hand, but didn't move his elbow around hers, instead letting her fingers slip into his palm and just letting his thumb hook around the back of hers, loose but present, and fine with letting go if she preferred to keep her hands to herself. Once outside, a car was waiting for them, an eight-cylinder shuttle that while not quite as racy as Reva's Soaring Arrow, it was swift enough to cross the bustling speedways to cross toward a rather well kept docking station for visitors the Velvetine.
Helping her in, Thade activated the engine and the humming Strider glided off the ground like a hot knife through butter, the silver and chrome accents all Sister's doing of course. Thade never did have as much style. So he guided the ship across Cancer and docked with ease, stepping out, and the ship self-locked as soon as Reva was out. They were met with neon lights as booming dance music played from within, and the crowd jeering from inside.
"Have you ever been to the Velvetine before?" he asked with a small smile. "It's a classy place, a drag club, and a very good one at that. I go to see Sister perform. He's excellent." He met the bouncer and showed his invitation and gestured to Reva. "We're both guests of Sister. Oh where can we find him?"
"Getting ready in the back. Don't separate," the bouncer warned, glaring at Thade, but smiling nicely at Reva. "Don't let him shave again, girl."
Thade rolled his eyes and guided Reva backstage, passing through another bouncer and into the dressing rooms in the back. It was sheer chaos to the naked eye. There were at least more than a dozen beautiful ladies preparing their faces and hair and costumes in front of glossy mirrors. The smog of cigarette smoke clouded the room in the far back. They were all beautiful, although the adam's apples might be off-putting to some.
Sister was in the corner, legs delicately crossed as he made up his face, his hair in a delicately curled updo, and a bright neon green dress draped over the back of his chair. It didn't take much to get him to notice Thade and Reva and he gasped and stood quickly, shoving aside a skinny diva that bent over to pick up a hairbrush, knocking the bitch into their own mirror. "Check yourself bitch," Sister hissed before retribution could be sought. He turned back to Thade and drew him into a preemptive hug. "I knew you wouldn't be late. And, who do we have here? Miss Reva, baby doll. You look fabulous. You have to tell me who does your hair, darling. I can't seem to get these bangs to stick. Just in every day life honey. Tonight! Tonight, I'm Lady Absinthe." And kissed Reva cheek to cheek. "Have a great time honey. And if you must smack Thade, darling, open palm please. His face is still tender from the shave."
-
Reva had, for all intents and purposes, seemingly decided at some point that she would go easy on Thade tonight. She let him guide her and hold her hand, as strange as it felt for her, and got into the shiny little shuttle waiting for them with no hesitation.
Little was said during their ride but it quickly became apparent to her that despite her suggestion earlier, they weren't going to watch any drag races. No, it seemed they were going to view a drag race of a different kind altogether. Not at all what she'd meant when she'd mentioned it earlier, but from the invitation and the fact that apparently Sister worked here, she was under the impression that Thade had planned this from the beginning, and it wasn't some kind of misunderstanding. Probably.
Either way, she slid out of the vehicle like a minx and glanced at the bouncer, only gracing him with a polite smile in response to his comment. Had she spoken she'd probably have just pissed him off--it agitated her, that he assumed she was his keeper, or his girlfriend or something, gods forbid. It wasn't any of her business what Thade did with himself--although if she had known he was going to shave and it was going to be such an embarrassingly big deal she'd have told him no to begin with. She was starting to wish she had.
"No, I haven't. I don't usually frequent these kinds of places." She answered Thade as they walked inside.
It wasn't like Reva had never been to a club before, no that wasn't the issue at all. She had tried out the setting before, and found that they generally weren't her cup of tea, nicely put. The loud music, the heat from all the bodies trapped and sweating all in one place, the smells, the rowdiness of the clubgoers; it really wasn't her thing.
They were taken to the backstage where all the performers of the night were busy preparing, and though she knew she looked good enough, she still couldn't help but feel oddly out of place, here. She was no performer; suddenly she found herself wishing yet again she'd said no and just stayed at home. But she didn't let it show, instead just giving Sister the polite and warm smile she had in the meeting, thanking him for his compliment and quickly returning it. The queens here all seemed to have fantastic taste in makeup, hair and clothing, barring one or two exceptions, and Sister certainly outdid a lot of them.
"Thank you, though I think I can barely compare to you. I'll keep that in mind, though." She said with a smirk as she glanced over at Thade; he knew as well as her she wasn't afraid of him.
-
It was a hit or miss really, and rather than taking a stab in the dark, it was worth a shot. In fairness, anywhere Thade would have taken her would be a shot in the dark. Sister has been kind enough to lend the Strider to Thade on the condition he took care of it better than the Vegas. It was a mild punch to the ego, but he would heed it anyway.
They took their seat at a table in the back and Thade noticed the atmosphere settled considerably. The music softened and the dancers maneuvered off stage as the MC came out to hype the audience that settled into their chairs. A lot of them were dressed to the nines so it was nice to know that Thade wasn't completely out of place.
Thade gestured for a server to get them drinks and thanked them when wine was settled before them. Thade glanced at Reva. "Not your thing?" he said to her. "I felt that way too when I first came here. Oh but some them are hilarious. But if you decide you're not having a good time, we can leave, find something more interesting to do. Deal?" He extended a hand for her to shake.
The show began with a pop number that emerged from stage right. The crowd responded well but Thade kept his eyes on Reva watching her features and general expression. The opening numbers were never his favorite but he could be a good sport and clap with the rest of them.
The show itself was only approximately an hour and a half, with a few minutes between each act and as ever Sister had to be the closer. His was a comedy act thankfully that involved playful reams into members of the audience. He was gorgeous as always and barely fit into his dress. Thade was grateful Sister only performed here once a few weeks.
"Y'all are beautiful darlings. Don't go changing on me. Except you, Chuck, change everything about you. A don't go calling me again after your wife falls asleep," Sister said moving toward the left of the stage. And before he made his exit, he extended his thumb and pinky like a phone and wiggled it as he mouthed the words, "Call me."
And made his exit. Thade applauded and took a sip of the wine. "Verdict?" he asked. "You thought I confused drag race and drag show didn't you?" He chuckled and leaned against the table. "I think there's a circuit not far from here. Wanna go?"
-
Following Thade out of the backstage area, Reva seated herself at their table and crossed her legs at the knee, giving a polite smile to the waiter who brought their wine, sipping on it thoughtfully as Thade made his proposition. She smirked.
"Sounds like we have a deal." She said as she reached over and shook his hand, finding his offer a little bit cute.
Reva, as it turned out, was a rather tough sell when it came to any kind of traditional entertainment. The show business was one thing she knew nothing about, and didn't really care to learn more--she was comfy enough where she was for now, there was no reason for her to branch out when she was already good at something, or at least that was how she looked at it.
When she was watching races she could at least occupy herself by analyzing everything as she watched; she could observe the vehicles, watch the racers and map out their movements and tricks, absorbing everything like a sponge and criticizing it the whole way through. That was how Reva did with entertainment.
But dancing? Singing? Comedy sketches? She knew nothing about them, and thus found it a little hard to keep her focus. There were a few points throughout the show that she chuckled here and there, but she found her gaze wandering, watching the other patrons in the club to see what all these people were here for, what they were doing. Was she the only one a tad bored? She saw some very uncomfortable boyfriends, which was amusing in its own way, she supposed.
Sister's bit was cute--she could respect the performers for what they did, but Reva just wasn't a person for simple entertainment. She liked things more challenging--more deadly.
So when Thade asked her opinion she had to think a moment, before she just blurted out that she was bored to tears and made him feel bad.
"It's definitely been a refreshing change of pace," She supposed, "But I think I'd like to take you up on your offer."
There was just a certain something that sparkled in her eyes at the prospect of going to see a race, and here on Cancer there was always one going on somewhere. She missed the adrenaline, the speed, the danger, the crashes. And as nice and not-rowdy as this place had been, she'd pick a racetrack over a club any day.
-
"All right then. Let's get the hell out of here. Sister will understand," he said with a chuckle and stood, helping her out of her seat and leading the way out the door. They didn't need the Strider to head out to the circuit that was located not more than a few blocks away. Thade shoved his hands in his pocket along the walk and gestured to Reva.
"You just watch the races, or do you prefer to participate?" he asked casually. Some amateur races made a name for themselves on Decker's Delight 1000. It was already bustling with hot riles bodies drunk off gambling, blood, and adrenaline. He smiled and looked her over. "I mean you have a lot of rides. I'm not not all of them go about collecting dust."
Once they were inside, Thade paid the admission and moved out toward the circuit proper where screens along the side were already displaying images of fast moving vessels that roared with speed and power. "Ah, I love the smell of blood and fusion burns in the air," he chuckled and moved out to the stands. He moved out into an open spot where the circuit expanded far out at least a mile and a half in diameter.
And two small nimble fusion cars roared by them in a straight drag, fire spewing from all engines, tearing across the track and spewing dust up into the air with the force of their motion. The roar of the race was as thrilling as it was fast and even as Thade watched with glee, it was over way too fast.
The red racer wiped the floor with it's opposing yellow vessel and Thade cursed, pressing his fleshy hand into his metal one. Watching was always nice, but being in the action was better. "Hey, you wanna race? Let's go to the other side of the circuit! There's a place where they'll let us go for a drive. I know you want to...you've got that look in your eye."
-
Reva had a difficult time of hiding her relief when Thade agreed for them to leave. Anything to do with mechanical engineering she was perfectly fine with. Brawling and fights? Fantastic. Girly things, like going to clubs or dancing or singing or knitting?
Hell no.
So perhaps she was a little quick to get up from their table when Thade announced his intention of leaving.
The walk there was appreciated; somehow it felt much more open and comfortable of an atmosphere, as opposed to the vessel they had taken to reach the club. It was easier to hold decent conversation. She clasped her hands loosely together behind her back as they walked and talked, a small smile on her face as Thade asked a question.
"You'd be right in your assumption. I prefer being behind the wheel... But this past year has been good for business. I haven't had the time to get into a race in a good long while."
She admitted it almost a bit shyly, as if she were a bit ashamed of the fact that she hadn't gotten to do something she claimed to be so interested in for such a long time. A lot of people would've called bullshit on her on that, or made her prove it. Because she was a girl--especially because she was such a small and... ""Cute"" girl like herself.
But as they reached the circuit she seemed to lose a bit of her coy attitude in favor of drinking in all the sights, sounds, and smells around her, soaking it all up like a sponge. As they moved through the building, it seemed quite a few of the regulars who happened to look and spot her recognized her, calling her name and waving a greeting here and there, though it was all mostly casual.
Her magenta hues were bright and shining with intrigue as they reached the track and she found herself leaning dangerously on the rail of the stands as the two racers neared the finish line. And as they crossed the checkered line, flag waving in declaration of the finish she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she settled both feet firmly back on the ground, perhaps disappointed that it was over... Or that she wasn't the winner.
Thade spoke up however and she blinked in surprise, looking up at him and narrowing her eyes for a moment; was he serious?
She eyed him carefully before she gave him a cocky grin, knowing exactly where he was thinking of.
"I never back down from that kind of a challenge. You sure you can handle it? Because I can almost guarantee you're going to lose."
She said it so light-hearted and playfully one almost might think Reva had been swapped with a clone who looked exactly like her but had a completely different personality. Reva? Having fun? The very idea might have seemed impossible.
Reva led the way to the other side of the circuit, knowing full well where she was going as the workers recognized her with grins on their faces as they let her and Thade onto the track for free, watching Thade and shaking their heads, as if they knew something he didn't.
Reva stepped out with Thade onto the asphalt, waving her left hand as a small holographic screen appeared in front of her and a few buttons were pressed. Seconds later, two small racing cars materialized before her and Thade, ones he might recognize from her level of the parking garage. One was a sleek sports car, black with neon purple LED pinstriping and glowing rims, the other a shining metallic rose gold. She gave another wave of her hand and the doors unlocked and opened, sliding vertically upwards and revealing the chic leather interiors inside.
She smirked at Thade as she got into the driver's side of the rose gold car. "Don't worry, I'll wait for you after the finish line.~"
Once both of them had rolled up to the starting line, a small crowd had already gathered around, curious and pointing to Reva and Thade's cars as the lights went down from red to yellow to green and Reva's car bolted with the roar of the massive engine locked under its hood that made the road quiver.
-
The thought of racing to win hadn't crossed his mind until Thade started noticing all the greetings and waves Reva was getting once they crossed to the other side of the racing circuit. Oh, that's right. She built shit like this for a living and he realized then with a flush to his cheeks that this wasn't at all new for her. But, he decided to think it more within his favor than the other way around.
She was used to this, he wasn't. She could show him things he didn't know. Now that they were going to go neck and neck, she was at least guaranteed to have a good time, without having to take a gamble on it. Which this whole night had started out with.
"You talk a mean talk, Reva," he chuckled as they were guided out onto the racing strip. A circular track, with deep meanderings beneath a tunneled outlook, turned roughly left then rounded out in a sharp right, and shot straight forward toward a nearly 90 degree turn. Thade had seen races on it before and although he hadn't been in one, he felt it mapped out in his mind.
"I'm not going to just let you win," he said and stuck his tongue out at her. A mean gesture for any other time they might have known each other, but for now he was smirking in a playful light, and let his eyes soak her in as she sauntered over to her own vehicle.
Gods, there was no end to the amount of tricks she had up her proverbial sleeves. Or lack thereof in that dress of hers. Thade made a noise sounded like an animal's growl as she settled into her car. No more talk, just driving.
And as the engine spurred abruptly to life, Thade waiting on green, holding his breath, he kicked the black car into gear and the smoke of burning rubber filled the air. Both cars tore down the asphalt in a furiously burning steel. Frankly her reflexes had been quicker than his had at the start and Thade gripped the steering wheel with a determined grip.
He was right on her ass, and brought his car wide at the first left turn, maintaining speed and when there was an opening, he floored it, fire sputtering out from the tailpipe.
-
Thade was quick but apparently not quick enough as Reva jumped into the lead, a wicked grin on her face as the two of them sped towards the first turn in the track.
It had been Belliel's idea for Reva to try racing for the first time--she had to know what it was like to drive these kinds of vehicles first before she built them. It had quickly become something she enjoyed, because it was just her and the roaring of the engines. It was so easy to let herself get emersed in the sights of other cars going up in flames in a crash, the smell of hot asphalt and rubber, the sounds of thrusters igniting with a gear shift. It was so much more comfortable for her, much more so than people ever would be.
As they made the first turn she kicked off her heels, barefoot as she maneuvered the pedals and let Thade overtake her, but not for long. She wasn't one to play around on the track and wait till the final stretch to bust some moves--she took the entire stretch seriously.
So as his car started to pass in front of her she floored it, aiming to clip his rear bumper and send him into a tailspin that she could fly past and use to gain some distance between the two of them. She never said anything about being a nice racer, after all.
-
Past experience prepared him for the fact that she wasn't going to play fair. And that really she wasn't here to play at all. This wasn't a game to her, this was something she did on a daily basis. But that experience alone was what drove Thade to want to do better. If he was going to lose, it was because her fight out fought his.
Thade felt that tap of metal to metal and anticipated going into a spin. He took his foot off the gas, pressed into the clutch and kicked the gear shift into reverse as he gassed it and the car leaned into the curve. Seeing her speed off in his rear view mirror made him growl and his eyes narrow.
Thade looked at the dials and switches, honing in his focus and while he couldn't exactly tell what did what. A small icon at the base of his steering wheel depicted three vertical lines and what looked to be the trunk of the car just beside it.
Well, what the hell did he have to lose?
"FUUUUUUUUCK!" was what followed after pressing it as air thrusters launched the vehicle from the asphalt and aent him whirling into the air. He pressed another set of switches that thrusted the car back forward and his foot hit the gas the moment his car slammed in front of Reva's.
He cackled and kicked it back into high gear, dust rolling off the car.. The cars shook the ground with fury, and he looked to another switch with what looked like an flame icon. Fire was good right?
-
Perhaps it had been a bit of an unfair advantage for Reva to offer Thade one of her cars; after all, what kind of an engineer would she be if she didn't know her own vehicles front to back? She knew all the buttons to press, what tricks they had built into them for different scenarios.
She was laughing as she rocketed past him into the next turn on the track, but her moment of winning yet again wouldn't last for long.
She heard the sounds of the thrusters kicking into a higher gear behind her and she turned just in time to see Thade soaring through the air above her, hitting the pavement, leaving skid marks and making her swerve to make sure he didn't clip her car on his way down.
Well. He was definitely having fun exploring while they played, wasn't he?
As he tore up the asphalt in front of her, she noticed sparks from the undercarriage of his car and she grinned and swore. "Cheeky bastard!" She punched one button of several built into the steering wheel, a set of jacks suddenly descending with enough force and speed underneath her car to push it up off of the track, making it airborne and flip it to the wider side of Thade's car, Reva's riding right up along the edge of the track as it slanted upward following the dynamics of the curve.
She shifted gears and stepped on the gas, flooring it as the track straightened out. Let him burn up his fuel, she'd catch up with him on the 90 degree turn that was coming up way too fast.
She maneuvered her car right up next to his and as they hit the curve she jumped again, her vehicle arcing in the air over his to his other side, and as her car spun over top of his she hit another button, a hook extending from the bottom of the rose gold racer that caught itself around the front right tire of Thade's car as she landed on his right side, preventing him from turning as they hit the sharp turn. She waited until the last second before letting him go, keeping both of them going in a straight line as she threw Thade's car forward to try and run him into the wall while she hit the brakes on her own vehicle, wrenching the steering wheel and almost pulling a doughnut as she shot off down the track in a billowing cloud of smoke and the stench of burning rubber.
-
"Fucking hell, Reevs!" he growled harshly.
Every motion could have made a less seasoned pilot sick to the stomach. The thrill and power of the engine made Thade delirious with adrenaline. The rush of it made Thade grip the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Or one set of knuckles on his right hand.
The metal hand gripped the left side just as that grappling hook yanked him and released him toward the far wall. He made a sharp left with a hard brake to avoid crashing into the wall. But that only gave her more distance between them as they both sped off the straight away.
The finish line was closing in and he could feel his heart as if it were about to burst. Thade smacked the fire switch and the car jerked forward, flames busting out from the tailpipes and the suspension lowering as it hugged the ground.
His fuel was indeed burning. And he was determined to turn her to ash. Thade pressed another switch that shot out another cord that extended far before the rose gold car, and abruptly spread out in a massive steel corded net, encasing the hood and front end of Reva's vehicle.
Thade braked hard and turned right to throw her backwards, the tension in the cord stiffening out and as he spun the wheel, shifting back and tearing down the track, the cord released and he forced the car back into action. The engine would soon be overheating, but he only cackled like a madman, wanting to leave her in the dust.
The finish line was so close he could almost taste victory.
-
Her trick had been successful, she got the jump ahead in the race that she had been after, and a glance in her rearview mirror proved that Thade was more than just a selfish dickbag of a smuggler: he was a pretty damn good driver, too.
She saw the eruption of flames from his tailpipes and he was suddenly catching up to her real quick, and right as she'd been about to punch her own thrusters and gun it for the final stretch in a fight for who was the speediest, Thade decided to make use of one more trick.
She heard the shrieking of metal as the steel net wrapped around the front end of her car and she was slung back while he released the cord and darted forward. Her heart was in her throat, a mad grin on her face as the adrenaline made the blood rush and pound so hard in her ears she could hear nothing else but her own heart beat.
She reacted within a fraction of a second; using the momentum of the pull that was throwing her car in loops she hit the jacks again and tossed her car into the air where it spun in a full 360 degrees, the force of the air and velocity pushing enough of the steel net off that when the car hit the track on all fours again she was able to burn rubber and launch herself off and leave the net in her dust.
She flipped a switch and punched a button on the gear shift and the back end of the car shifted as sheets of metal opened and an extra set of thrusters unfolded, sparking before a sudden powerful burst of blue-and-white-hot flames erupted and sent her shooting forward with enough speed to make a jet jealous.
As she passed Thade's car there was a brief moment where she looked over at him and blew him a kiss saying "Sayonara.~" before she shot ahead and crossed the finish line first, the breaks skidding and screeching as clouds of smoke billowed up around her car, obscuring it as she stepped out and perched on the hood, heels back on as she brushed some of her hair from her face, the smoke and dust settling as she watched Thade cross the finish line after her with a triumphant smirk on her face.
-
Thade had a few options as he saw her pass him by and blow him that kiss. Did it frustrate him to see she passed him up and drove over the finish line like a bullet piercing its target in slow motion? Yes, but something about the way she won, made him grin instead. He frowned outwardly though when she passed him.
"No I will not capture that kiss, butthead," he said to himself as he hit the brakes and the car stopped and smoked to a halt. He had been right behind her and he hadn't realized it until he got out of the vehicle that he was sweating a little from the adrenaline.
"You drive a good race, woman," he said and stode over to her. "I almost had you. Just by a hair.". He kicked a piece of loose asphalt and sighed, looking at the smoke that billowed up from underneath the engine.
"You've got beasts in your collection, Reva. I'm jealous," he sighed and stepped into her personal space just a little bit. "But for now, a kiss for the victor." And he pressed his lips firmly but briefly to her left cheek.
-
Reva crossed her arms over her chest to hide the fact that she was shaking a little bit from the adrenaline. She always felt a little bit like a chihuahua when she got out of the vehicle after the raise--tiny, trembling, wide-eyed and obviously so energetic she might just explode. Maybe. But the rush was worth looking like a fucking fool in the end, or at least she thought it was. That was all that mattered.
She raised her eyebrows at Thade, a grin spreading across her face as he complimented her. "Ah, just by a hair, well. Maybe next time you might not be so lucky."
His car wasn't the only one smoking after their little bout, but his was definitely worse off she noted. It was alright, she didn't mind. It was meant to race, and that was he did with it. She wouldn't hate on him for using it for what it was intended.
She hadn't noticed at first that he'd moved closer, invading her personal space, as she'd had her eyes locked with his, that cocky grin on her face (which, though well-earned, might have looked a bit too cute on her for her own good.) So it caught her by surprise when he suddenly leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and for a moment her heart paused in its furious beating, skipping a note and making her still for a moment.
He--uh. Ah.
Well. Was there any doubting now on what his intentions were when he'd asked her out like this? Not really, now, Reva. What could she hide behind now when it was so blatant and clear?
She had no idea how to react.
A becoming blush tinged her cheeks as she looked away, that grin gone and replaced with a somewhat shy and nervous smile.
"I--well. N-Nothing in my collection wasn't earned or built from the ground up by myself. These two were personal projects of mine." Just finished this last year since she couldn't race, she'd used whatever few spare moments she'd had here and there to work on these instead. It was a valid substitute.
Clearly her method of dealing with things that she didn't understand or know how to handle was by ignoring them--but she didn't outright deny him. Or push him away, either.
"It'd be rude of me not to acknowledge your skills, as well. It was a fun race; I'd definitely like to try it again in the future. Pretty sure I'll just beat you again, but it could still be fun." She teased, that wicked little grin on her face again as she waved her hand and sent Thade's car off back to her garage, leaving the rose gold one where it was as she leaned against it, nodding to it behind her.
"Wanna go for a drive? Maybe a bit less fast this time."
-
Truthfully it didn't matter what you looked like, only that you won. And even if she did look a little bit like a chihuahua, she was still fine in that dress of hers. Thade kept his hands to himself, held firmly behind his back as he took a moment to admire her. It helped that she was intelligent, and being good looking certainly didn't hurt her either.
She was...adorable. There really wasn't any other way to put it. And even that was a word he didn't use too often. Simply because he had so little to apply it to.
So he stood there, giving a smug curl of his lips when she tried to find her words. He'd have plenty of time to make her feel awkward later. And vice versa.
"I just want you to know, you only beat me because I don't know these cars inside out like you do. But yeah, we can definitely race again. I'd like that." Thade tilted his head, face flush from the race. Yeah that's why. Because his adrenaline was wearing off.
His car vanished and he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Yes, I'd love to. Let's go cruising, yeah. This machine is too beautiful to be kept in a garage. You drive, yeah?". He got into the passenger seat and strapped in.
"Do you do this with all your dates? Beat them to a pulp in a race, then soothe their wounded egos with a space station drive?" he asked with a playful smirk.
-
Reva smirked; sure, he didn't know the cars like she did, but she'd also been holding back on him. Not because she thought he couldn't handle her at her full potential, but because she didn't want to wreck his (her) car. It had been so difficult not just outright destroying it to win her place in first outright.
But he agreed to her proposal, and she got in on the driver's side with a nod to answer his question.
She guided them out of the racing circuit and into the streets. The light was at an all-time low, city lights turning on and casting rainbows of colors on the asphalt, the buildings, and glinting off the hood of the car.
She leaned back in her seat as she took them in a direction leading to the outward edges of the space station, and she snorted, raising her eyebrows as she glanced over at Thade, that blush still tinting her cheeks.
"That implies you think that I do this kind of thing regularly. Or even semi-annually." She turned her attention back to the road, smile fading a bit but still there. "Though even if I did, I'm sure this would be a special circumstance just for you. There. Better?"
She smirked, speeding up a little as they cruised through the streets and finally she got them up onto a ramp that took them onto a clear skyway lit up by bright lights that let one look out their car window and see the city of Cancer down below, in all of its random ramshackle goodness.
Slowing down a little, she let them both take in the view of the fading light washing over the rooftops of all the different buildings, the streets below bustling and full of people. The bridge itself wasn't empty, but she pulled them into slow lane so they could enjoy the scenery without hassle.
The skyway eventually dipped back down into the city and she took them back to Galley La, pulling the car into its spot in the garage, right on the edge of the platform, where she shut off the engine and leaned forward, watching the nightlife of the neighborhood around them from where they both sat in the front seats. She let her arms cross and rest on the steering wheel, resting her chin on them as her magenta eyes surveyed the scene around them before she looked over at Thade.
"Do you normally take dates to drag queen clubs and 'let them win in a race?'" She teased with a slight grin.
-
Semi-annually? She didn't seem the type to date much at all. Part of that statement, Thade had no idea whether or not that was a compliment. Thinking it wasn't was certainly going to sour the mood that seemed to be forming between them. He liked the color on her cheeks, it made his own seem much less embarrassing.
There was much he wasn't used to, and blushing constantly was definitely one of them. When it came down to it, it just didn't happen. Sure he was an idiot sometimes...well, more recently than usual. In general he was good at keeping his cool, going with the flow until it was time to not be nice.
Right Thade, he said to himself. Don't overthink things. Just enjoy it. You're both having a good time.
"I'll accept it. And yes I do feel so much better," he chuckled and enjoyed the city skyline as they made their way up and over the bridge. It was nice to finally get a view of the Cancer without having to soak up it's sluggish underbelly and seedy culture. Of course most of the people here were like him, and many were not. With a spectacular view like this, Thade got a taste of what he'd been missing all these years. And why he kept coming back to Cancer even aside from business.
It's brilliant hues and exotic highlights danced over them once again as they cruised back down from the streets. Thade reached across to turn the music cast (https://youtu.be/dDDURRaolys) up and he stayed quiet until they returned to Galley La.
Thade had been leaning back, almost too comfortable in those ergonomic seats, and he sat up a little more when she did, tilting his head to look at her with a soft grin. It was almost sickeningly idyllic. But to think anything negative about the moment would break it's magic, it's gleam.
"No," he answered honestly. "I don't really get to date much. But that was for Sister. I always go just to see him perform. He's my best friend, saved my life when I first came to Cancer. And a bunch more times after that." He made a soft hum and turned back to her.
"I don't get to talk to people as people much either, y'know. So it's nice to finally have some time off and do something with somebody. Of course, by that I mean you. It's crazy. Do you seriously not get asked out that often? You're wild you know that? I love it. I mean that genuinely. How anyone could not want to get to know you is nuts."
He buries his face into the coolness of his metal hand, his cheeks burning flush. It was now or never. "Would it be crazy if I asked if I could kiss you?" he said, turning to her at last and leaning halfway over the stick shift. "Or...if you wanted to kiss me? Have you thought about it?"
-
Reva's eyebrows shot up as he explained his relationship with Sister. "Ah, I was wondering how you two knew each other. He seems.. Like an interesting character." She admitted with a slight smile.
The fact that Thade admitted he didn't do this often either had her wonder if that was true or not; he seemed like the schmoozing type, and yet... At the same time, he didn't. Perhaps he was the type to indulge in people in a more physical sense rather than any kind of mental one. That made sense.
But then he started talking about how... Interesting she was or whatever, and she sat up straight, putting her hands in her lap as she suddenly grew more self conscious, unsure of what to do with herself.
"Well, I... Thade, to put it frankly, I'm kind of a bitch. I'm well aware of that. From what my coworkers tell me, I can be a bit off-putting." She did her best to shrug it off, but the fact that Thade said he loved it concerned her a little. Loved it? Why? Because she was wild? She wasn't sure how to react to that, not that he would give her the time to sit and think on it. (And no amount of thinking would have ever helped her find an answer anyways.)
He leaned in closer and asked if he could kiss her; her first reaction was to immediately say hell no because she suddenly felt defenseless in the small, confined space of the car. But... He at least asked first. He hadn't asked before touching her prior to this, and it was appreciated and all that but.. Why??
Had she ever thought about it?
"W-Well yes--" She started to blurt out before she looked away, one of her hands raising to obscure her face as her face only grew more heated. "Yes, I mean, I've thought about it--" N-Not that it MEANT anything, right? That was a natural thing, to randomly think that about strangers or people you met, right?!
Definitely not.
"I don't really know if um, if that's weird or not, Thade, I don't really have much experience with this--this kind of... Of thing."
She was referring to the prospect of a date, or dating or romance in general. Sure, she went into heat, and when that happened she either locked herself up in her room for two weeks or stumbled across some poor sod who ended up with the best two week vacation of sex they'd potentially ever had but she never went anywhere with it. How could she? She had too much to do, too little time to spend on other people that wasn't business related.
Of course, Belliel had lectured her on this many a time but Reva had convinced herself she was perfectly happy living life by herself, wrapped up in her work. She didn't need other people to be happy. Or to love herself. Definitely not.
So of course she was unfamiliar with this kind of thing--though to Thade it was entirely possible she'd just given him the impression she was a virgin in the sense of willingly giving it to someone. Which, though untrue, was definitely something that could have been feasible if it weren't for her... Nature.
She risked looking at him, her hand falling to rest by her collarbone as her eyes moved from his eyes to his lips. He was a very good-looking guy, she had to admit it. An odd pair they certainly made, yet despite that she found herself leaning a bit closer towards him anyways.
"I have to admit, you can be very... Charming. Sometimes." She said with a slight smirk, voice low yet sounding so loud in the small space of the car and how closely they were leaning together.
-
So she thought about it. Which was fine. He thought about it. Definitely thought about it. Maybe...had a dream about it. Not that he would tell her that. She'd tell him if she could read his thoughts right? Because...there'd have been some doozies if she could. But thankfully, at least he was ignorant if she could. What she could do with her mind was terrifying enough without thought invasion.
Thade just grinned, small and even a little sweet. He placed and elbow on his knee and propped his hand underneath his chin as he kept his eyes on her face. He'd already looked elsewhere earlier in the evening, so it was easy to keep his attention locked on her eyes, her lips, her hair, her skin.
Oh, he almost wanted to laugh at her explanation of being a bitch, but he thankfully managed to keep that inside. He kind of got the idea of that when she dumped beer and whiskey and wine all over his head back in Tynova. Even if he had been pretty obnoxious before that. It really needed no exposition more than what she demonstrated. But it didn't seem to have the negative impact she'd been hoping for.
In case he hadn't made it obvious enough, he kind of dug it.
"Only kinda charming?" he smirked. "When I'm not fling crab cakes at your face, you mean. Sorry about that by the way. I was wrong to do that." He chuckled a little and adjusted himself just a little closer, looking down at her lips and feeling his pulse race. He kept himself in check, and feeling her aura. Or trying to. The nerve and uncertainty confused him, but something else drew him another inch, and he smiled still.
"I don't mind your, erm, boldness. I like that in a person. They don't take shit, I can respect it. And I like you. And I'm perfectly aware of what you're capable of." He bit his bottom lip a little, eyes flicking back to hers and locking gaze for a few long seconds.
"It's okay. I mean...if you don't go out like this much. You're in an important woman. You've got things to do. And it's okay to let yourself go once in a while. Experience things you never really indulged in before. No judgments, no expectations." Thade relaxed with a gentle breath. "People tend to regret the things they didn't do, than the ones they did."
He was so close he could feel her breath, and his heart began to beat faster, thumping loudly in his ears. Slowly he closed the distance between them and sealed her lips to his. Inside his blood was boiling with eagerness, and as perfect as the night had been, it was getting almost impossible to resist the desire for contact. Her essence seemed particularly strong now, and any further trepidation was futile.
The pairing of their lips was hot and hungered, and he slid his tongue a little to taste hers, inhaling her smell, relishing the sheer languidity of that moment. His tongue slid along her lips, and he pressed his face in a tilt against hers, nose to her cheek and vise versa, his teething finding her bottom lip and giving it a firm but playful bite.
Thade's blood was practically on fire. She was probably going to kill him after this, but they both knew he went it knowing full well what she was capable of.
It was totally worth it.
-
The more he talked, it gave her more to focus on that wasn't her own inherent awkwardness that came naturally with anything like this, with... Romance, in general. It helped her relax a little, ease up and enjoy their conversation. She showed a slight grin, raising her eyebrows a little when he apologized for the crab cake incident.
"Well, I won't say that it's alright, because it wasn't, but if you keep up the good behavior I might just forgive you."
She let out a short laugh when he called it her 'boldness.' "Ah yes, that's a word for it. Sure." She said with a snort, looking away for a moment as she dropped her gaze, bringing her attention back to him when he said that it was okay. That caught her attention.
It was okay to avoid things that most adults partook in on a regular basis? It was okay to be strange, to avoid people and spend more of her time with machines, by herself. This was something she'd always kind of known, but it felt a little oddly reassuring to hear it from someone else--even if it was this guy. This guy she didn't really know if she hated, liked or... Felt indifferent towards. She'd likely never know, because he'd never leave her alone long enough to figure it out. If it kept up like this, she might not mind that. Maybe.
As Thade took a soft breath to say that people regretted the things they didn't do, she found her pink eyes drawn to his lips as he leaned in even closer, she could feel his breath, the little tingling sensations you only noticed if you were really paying attention when someone else was so close to you, skin practically touching. If there was ever a time to say no, this would be her last chance.
He pressed forward and she felt his lips warm against hers, the feeling electrical and exciting, sending a small shiver down her spine as it stole her breath. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she reached up to slide her fingertips along his jawline, behind his ears to thread through his hair. She felt his tongue and the playful bite; she parted her lips for him willingly and slid her tongue against his. He might notice her sharp canines, either by exploring her mouth or when she decided to flirt a little back and snag his tongue in her teeth, gentle enough not to hurt him but firm enough he'd know she was intentionally playing back.
She never experienced this kind of contact often; she couldn't remember the last time she'd done this with someone for any reason other than her usual two weeks of fun. It made her skin tingle, her blood run a little hotter as her heartbeat picked up pace. She wanted him closer, wanted their skin to touch, to share heat between them, and flashes of what they could potentially get themselves into here in this car flitted through her mind, made her blush a little at the thought as she slid an arm around his neck and pulled him closer, the distance between the two of them shrinking by the moment.
He'd said it himself, people regretted the things they didn't do the most. She wasn't gonna fall victim to that.
-
He probably would have had to douse himself in jet fuel and light a match to burn any hotter than he was already. The very facet of her touch against his face, sent shivers coursing down his back and raised the hackles along his neck. The tingles of that touch was making his heart beat loudly in his ears. And a soft moan escaped him. Even if by the end of it, she clawed his heart out, he'd take that chance.
Her tongue slid along his with ease, and to feel the points of her teeth along his tongue made him lean into he face, seeking more heat, licking the skin just at the base of her lips. She was an excellent kisser, but for some reason he wasn't at all surprised by this. It only made him wonder what more was she good at in addendum.
Thade lurched forward in that pull and he moaned again, pressing his face against hers because he just couldn't get enough. Her arm hooked around him encouraged him to slide forward and cross the gap between the driver and passenger seat, pressing a knee against the leather of her seat just at her left side.
"Reva, you taste so fucking good. I want you so bad it hurts," he practically begged, biting harder at her bottom lip, strands of saliva broken between them. Catching his breath, Thade tilted his head and kissed her back.
Despite the fact that the car was small inside, her stature made it easier to nearly straddle her seat and he reached to feel her breast. The point of her nipple nearly poking through the fabric of that dress. His fleshed hand gripped and squeezed it rolling his thumb over the hardened point, his metal one reaching down to let the coolness of it touch the scorching flesh between her thighs, pushing her dress up as he went.
-
He followed her lead, reading well into her responses as he let out a little moan into her mouth as he moved closer. She felt the heat radiating from him even through the fabric of his clothes, and surprisingly (to herself, anyways) she wanted them off likely as bad as he did. Something in her, perhaps the more human part, craved his touch and wanted him inside her, to feel his physical presence in the most real and raw ways possible.
She supposed it was a natural thing, to want and need that. She'd considered indulging in this kind of thing more often, and it was during moments like these where she wondered: why didn't she?
The sounds he made were music to her ears; it was so satisfying to hear him moan, hear his desperate breaths and feel the eagerness in his tongue and the warm touch of his hand on her breast. She let her own soft moan escape, arching her back to press up against his touch as she let her hands slide down to work their way under his shirt to grab at his hips, squeezing as she whined into their kiss. One hand moved to cup him through his pants, before flicking open the button and pulling down the zipper--
--And then all of a sudden an invisible force pulled him away, kept his back pressed against the roof of the car and windshield, while Reva's seat slid back just far enough that the distance combined with his new inability to really move kept her completely out of his reach... But ohhh still so close.
The smile on her face was absolutely wicked, and gods did it look good on her, as she crossed her legs at the knee, letting one leg brush against his thigh, a hair away from his groin.
"Begging is far more fitting of you than I'd have thought. It sounds wonderful coming from those lips of yours--but, Thade, what fun would it be if I gave you what you wanted right away?"
It hurt her likely as much as it hurt him to suddenly put a stop to this--she was still throbbing, hungry, and too warm for her own liking, but if she teased and tortured him like this it'd be far more worth it in the end.
She tilted her head, and watched him as she moved him with her mind until he was back in his own seat, and the seat belt seemingly came alive to strap him back in. After that the force of her telekinesis left him--mostly. It still kept his hands right where they were on the sides of the seat.
"You seem like the kind of guy who likes a challenge, so let me give you one. Keep being a good boy like you have been the past week and you'll be rewarded.~" She purred as her seat readjusted and she pulled the car out of the lot. "Sister's home is where you're staying, isn't it? Or would you prefer me drop you off somewhere else?"
-
Thade didn't know if his plan was to have a good fuck in her car. It was such a nice car, and he'd hate to stain the seats unduly. But right now the thought of having her, touching her, being inside her, had him nearly sweating out of his clothes. The leather jacket on his shoulders wasn't helping anybody, and it was another layer to seal in all the heat radiating off of him.
And her too. Their forms were like sponges, absorbing what emanated from the other. Her breath and her touch was intoxicating, and he blindly reached down to grip at the heat between her thighs. Her essence tinged on that side of him that so rarely interacted with others of his kind. In hindsight, his father was right: he did have a demon inside of him. And he could feel his hunger to tear into her nearly overwhelm him.
He responded to her fire, breathing heavily, panting, moaning to where she grabbed his crotch, and when it seemed it was too good to be true, it was. "Whoaaaaaaaugh!" was an odd sound to make when she shoved him away, his ass planted against the windshield of her car and his back to the roof.
Thade felt the heat burning his body, a slow and languid fire that would have to be remedied when he got home. In the meantime, the only cold thing making contact with his body was the coolness of the metal and glass. He sniffed and gave her a smirk. "I....I knew it," he said chuckled and rolling his eyes internally. More at himself than anything. "I'll be good to you, I promise. I'm a man of my word." And he sucked in air sharply when her leg rose up to gently tease at his hip. So close. And yet so far away.
Then his ass was planted into the passenger seat again. Right, he had to go home. Thade slumped his head back and the seatbelt strapped securely around him, he raised his hands to try and zip himself back up and growled when he found he couldn't move. "Um, Reva. My pants. Could you please just...zip me back up? Since you won't let me do it myself," he said clearing his threat and looking down at the open zipper and button.
"Sister's is fine if it wouldn't be too much trouble," he chuckled and he dropped his head. "Gods...you would torture me. But...I think I'm looking forward to it. I like you, Reva." He chuckled and just watched the city lights pass by him.
Once he was back at Sister's he climbed up the stairs to the upper apartment. And before he could even open the door, it was yanked apart and Sister snatched him by the collar and pulled him inside. And gave him a proper slap across the face. Thade growled and pulled himself away, fixing his collar and holding his face. "What the hell, Sister!?"
"Just in case." Sister said, curlers crowning his head as he sauntered away from him.
"I didn't do anything you wouldn't do," Thade muttered, following after him and dropping the keys into the bowl on the side table. And that only garnered another hard slap from Sister's other hand that Thade was pretty sure would give him whiplash the next day. "Stop it! Or I'll beat your beautiful ass."
"Even more reason to slap you. Now tell me...how was it?" Sister said, sobering and turning over to the sofa and patting down on a cushion beside him. A bottle of red wine was open and he leaned across to pluck his glass, cradling it in large fingers, his red nails nearly matching the crimson swimming inside of it. "You kissed her didn't you? Then my slaps were perfectly justified."
Thade sat with a huff and ran his fingers roughly through his hair. "She plastered me to the roof of her car," he forcing a frown. "I was perfect gentleman. I kissed her because....I just couldn't fucking help myself. She looked so damn hot in that neon lighting, and we started talking about her cars, and one thing led to another... Look she made it pretty clear she didn't wanna fuck."
Sister tilted his head, pursing his lips. "So you didn't seal the deal? Oh you poor baby! Lay your head in my lap! You'll feel better." Sister set the glass down after a few sips and closed the distance between them and wrapped muscular arms around Thade's frazzled form. "She shut ya down huh? I knew she was a lady. She got good taste. But don't worry, darling. Sister's here for you."
Sister sniffed and pulled his head back. "You're burning up! You need a cold shower stat! Come on now!" And dragged Thade to the bathroom, shoving him inside and went about pulling off his clothes. "Now, don't fight me. It'll be a lot easier if you just let me help you Thade."
Thade growled and shoved Sister away from him. "Why are you getting naked!? Sister! NO! I can shower alone just fine. Out!"
Sister cackled and moved out of the way of the door in time to have it knock his ass forward. "Fine! But that's what you get for lying to me Thade. I know she got you all worked up!"
Thade turned the water on and pressed himself against the cold tile. Worked up all right. "I didn't lie," Thade called through the sound of the shower. "We made out okay! I'm just...a little hot right now."
And all that followed was the rush of Sister's footsteps toward the shower and Thade howling. "SISTER! STOP! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" The other man just laughing aloud like a mad man.
-
Reva glanced over at Thade's pants when he brought the subject back up and she couldn't hold back her snicker as she redid the zipper with a flick of one of her nimble fingers.
"Wouldn't have pegged you for a masochist, but it doesn't surprise me." Well, not on first looks anyways. Their first day together had kind of given that away.
The rest of the ride was a little tense; every now and then she caught herself glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, questioning her own decision to hold off on anything more than passionate kisses and explorative hands. She ached for it, and once she had thanked Thade for a good evening spent in good company and he was out of the car, she checked a calendar and was surprised to discover that time wasn't coming up any time soon.
She was eventually able to force most inappropriate thoughts out of her mind by the end of the night, yet as she slipped into her comfy bed in a sheer little nightgown she couldn't help but wonder just what it was about him that had gotten her so physically worked up. Maybe it was something in his DNA, or maybe she was just that... Well, desperate sounded like a horrible way of putting it but it wasn't exactly false, either.
The following days after didn't see much of the two of them in the same room together for more than brief moments at a time; another client with more money than they knew what to do with meant more projects to work on and keep Reva busy in the owner's stead, who continued to remain elusive to Thade even now that it was several weeks into the project of his ship, which was coming along rather nicely one fine afternoon when Tenai brought Thade over to Hangar 2 to check on the Vegas's progress.
As they arrived, sunlight filtering in through large windows open in the roof, the shop team was currently working on part of the hull, and surprise surprise, if it wasn't Reva herself sitting on top of one of the bulkheads, welding some of the metal together in a form-fitting black catsuit decked out with belts holding numerous tools slung around her slender hips and thighs.
"The projected completion date is still a few weeks away unfortunately due to waiting times for certain parts," Tenai was explaining, "But as you can see Mr. Olyphant it's coming along quite nicely."
Reva paused after a moment, sparks settling as she took off her welding helmet, hair a bit messy as she looked down and saw Thade and gave him a slight smile and a wave.
-
Falling back into a routine that he knew all too well, wasn't difficult for Thade. And it served as a generous distraction from having to wonder if he should call Reva or not. Doing so seemed so...desperate for attention. Even he would have to kick himself if he was wondering just what the other person was doing every second of every day. Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't going to see Reva any time soon. She was already playing hard to get.
And even then, Thade's own mind kept thinking back to that kiss in the parking garage. Was he lingering? Maybe. But what harm was there in holding on to something that made you feel good.
But even Thade knew better than be clingy. She was a busy woman after all. And he had contacts to call and favors to bring in, people that owed him money. Or else how was he going to pay for those fucking repairs. He and Sister went to meet those contacts. Some took a little roughing up to ensure payment, others remembered their contracts and kept firm on the deal. Smugglers were a dime a dozen on Cancer, but only a few of them were worth their salt.
Acquisition in hand, Thade felt a little more confident walking into Hangar 2 with Tennai leading him. Thade looked at the progress that had gone up on the Vegas, thoroughly impressed. The folks here knew what they were doing, and if he had to have his ship trashed, he was just glad it happened when it did. Galley La was a damn good neighbor to have.
"Looks good, Tennai. Thanks. I mean...as long as I'm here on Cancer and with my ship out of commission, there's isn't anything I can do but wait. Hey, here, for you. Get yourself something nice," Thade murmured as he slipped a credit chip outside of his coat pocket and slipped it into her hand.
He was decked in his usual sleeveless coat, and already the shadow of his beard was growing back in. It wasn't quite there just yet. His boots cracked softly against the ground as he looked up, watching Reva pull the welding mask from his face. Well, hell. Why wouldn't she be up there?
He raised an arm and waved back, looking her over in that black cat suit. He didn't suppose she would possibly need his help with anything. Watching her with that plasma torch in hand, the smell of heated metal... That disheveled hair look... A vague image of how she probably looked like in the morning. Every morning. And that hair, just puffed everywhere.
Thade blushed a little and he reached into the other side of his coat jacket. "I think you forgot something back when you wiped the floor with me on the track. This, erm, thing fell off the car I was driving. I thought I ought to give it back to you," he said and shrugged his coat off of his shoulders, throwing it over a chair in front of a workbench and he quickly clamored up a ladder to the rafters, up to where she was working.
He kept his weight even and didn't make any sudden movements, and he revealed the little button cap that had slipped off the car. It was the flare button, that activated its forced jet propulsion. "I forgot to mention it earlier. You look good by the way," he chuckled and held the thing out in his palm. "Need a hand? I know you guys are pros and all, but I trust you, I do. But I miss working on the Vegas. So anything you need, let me know."
-
Reva raised her eyebrows curiously when he brought up the fact that she had forgotten something. She shut down the plasma cutter and set it down on a secured tools rack next to her as Thade came up to meet her, and she reached out to pluck the item he held out to her with dainty fingertips, though she didn't avoid letting her fingers brush against him before she held up the button cap to take a look at it.
"Now I was wondering where that was. I've been meaning to fix it but I'd forgotten when we raced--that was very thoughtful of you, thank you." She responded to him with a warm smile before she tucked it away into one of the pouches slung around her hips, and leaned back on a hand as she crossed her legs at the knee. One wrong move and it would've been a terrifying 20-foot drop to the ground below, but she seemed perfectly comfortable there as she observed him thoughtfully.
"Hm, well I was meaning to take a break to go shopping for some more power cells for another client. It's not working on the Vegas, but perhaps you'd be up for it?"
The fact that she was willingly inviting him to go anywhere with her purely for the sake of fun spoke for miles on how much more she liked him when he was actually a respectable creature who treated her with common decency. Amazing how far that kind of thing went, really. She wasn't all that bad of a person--antisocial with most people, yes, but the present company might be a bit of an exception.
Once he agreed, she nodded and pulled her legs up, getting her feet under her and standing with balance and poise as she pulled off the belts and set them on the tools rack, letting him go down the ladder first as she followed and then led the way out of Galley La. It was a rather nice day out, so she opted for them to walk to the market district, which in all honesty wasn't that far away. But it was a nice opportunity to get out and really appreciate the day, and it was a nice way for them to spend some time together.
"You don't live on Cancer, correct? So what have you been doing while you're cooped up here waiting for the Vegas?" She asked curiously, looking over at him as they walked.
-
When her hand so much grazed his, he let out a heavy breath to keep the shiver from being too obvious. It was stupid since she likely already knew the effect she had on him. That much was clear during their teenager-like make out session. A shame that had been cut so short.
Thade examined her a moment, admiring the way she was relaxed against the hull of the Vegas. She looked good no matter what she was wearing. Even if it was nothing at all. But with dirt and grease on her face, being in her element, had a sort of mesmerizing effect.
Thade perked up at her proposition and he gave a cheeky grin. "Hell yeah. Let's go," he replied and followed after her when she climbed back down to the ground. A drop like that would give anyone a splitting headache. For him, maybe it wouldn't kill him, but he'd be feeling those shin splints the next day.
Thankfully the rafters were just safe enough to climb down and he looked up only once, to take a decent look at her ass as he did so, smirking and he plopped firmly onto the floor. Thade shrugged his coat back on and walked with her.
"I'm staying with Sister. But I...Well, don't think, less of me I have a flat in Tynova where I go occasionally when I'm not working. For now, I've been shaking down contacts that owe me for shipments and following up on other contract deals. At night I go for a few drinks with Sister and I listen to him complain. Or we'll play a game. Not gonna lie though, racing with you is the most fun I've had since I've been here," he laughed. "What about you? How've you been since...Hmm well, the garage?"
-
Ah, so he had a home in Tynova, then? Well, any other time she might have been kinda pissed he'd conveniently neglected to bring it up when they were there after their escape from the stalkers, because that seemed an awful lot like he'd taken advantage of the fact that her first inclination had been to go to a hotel to rest.
Buuut he'd ended up footing the bill for the hotel room anyways for his assholeish behavior, not that she told him that, so she didn't mind.
"A guy like you, I was expecting you lived on your ship." She said with a slight smirk of amusement. "I'm sure it'll be a ground-breaking shocker when I tell you I've just been working since that night. Two new clients, one of whom requested a custom weapon design, so I've been a little busy with that lately."
She didn't really have time for much else in her life, and she'd structured it like that on purpose. She wasn't exactly a people person, she'd much rather go about through life minding her own business and doing her own thing, without others involved too much. Obviously, she didn't swear up and down by that rule however, considering Belliel and now Thade were exceptions.
One of the marketing districts on Cancer, the one she tended to frequent the most, had a mix of both outside stalls that sold wares as well as the tiny stores butted up against each other shoulder to shoulder in three or four story buildings; it wasn't uncommon to have three entirely different stores, completely unrelated to one another, in the same building, or have separate businesses operating out of basements and cellars, here. She quite liked the atmosphere, it was almost like a flea market--you never quite knew what you might find. There was a particular vendor she preferred doing business with however, who always managed to come up with some good items, and sold them to her for a fair price, so that was where they were headed.
As they slid through the crowds, once or twice stalls or stores selling clothing or jewelry caught her eye, but she didn't tend to linger or look at anything for any longer than thirty seconds. She was on company business time, here, so might as well get to it.
"Hey Reva, brought a friend with you today?" Came a rough voice that almost sounded as if it were mixed with a gargle, as they entered a store after passing through the tented stall out front with items of particular interest for sale to draw in customers.
Trudy was a rather big alien with four arms and a strange olive green tint to his skin; he wasn't unlike a salamander crossed with a tarantula, minus the hair.
Reva glanced back at Thade and then smiled at Trudy and gave him a nod. "I'm looking for some good power cells today, got anything new and interesting? If you have any of those G Series by Yondo Corp I'd prefer those."
"As a matter of fact, I do, give me a moment and I'll go grab them for you."
Trudy went through a door back behind the counter, and Reva turned to Thade as she leaned against it with her arms crossed over her chest, nodding to the store around them. It had that certain musty smell that most garages did--grease, engine oil, paint stripper, and raw metal. The shelves were heaping with boxes full of parts, labeled in marker and somewhat messily organized. No surface was left bare--even the floor, which barely had a path wide enough for two people to squeeze through to look at everything.
"So you've worked on the Vegas yourself then? She your only ship?" Reva asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.
-
A guy like him?
"You mean a sleazy oversexed quasi-professional smuggler with a masculinity complex that hardly bathes and just wears the same jacket over and over gain, for lack of a bette wardrobe?" he replied with a snort. Thade internally smirked at that image in his head. It was close, although it's only accuracy was the last part of it. He loved that damn jacket. Even if it was worn and ripping at the sleeves again.
Ah, of course she'd been working. It was a dumb question and he mentally kicked himself for thinking it. At least the distraction walking and eye-shopping was enough to fade it from his mind. He didn't bother with browsing over long. He was only here for Reva's sake after all. And whatever she wanted to do, and wherever she wanted to go, he would follow her. He didn't have any problem keeping up.
"Good taste," Thade mouthed to Reva once she requested her power cells and Trudy trundled off to the back to find them. It was nice to know even she made an eclectic set of acquaintances. And not all of them were rat bastards like the smuggler beside her. Thade grinned just a tad, taking in the shop and all it's wares. He wondered if there was a new contact to be made here. There were always people looking for tools.
That thought aside, he moved to stand closer beside her, leaning his head in as if her speaking wasn't quite loud enough. But truly it was only because he wanted to be closer to her, to take in that essence he had been so mesmerized with before. Sure this was company time, but they were going to wait for a few minutes. Might as well enjoy it.
"The Vegas is an old ship. I won her in a card game not long after I came on Cancer when I was about..oh, say 19," he answered, smirking side-ways at her. He observed her from the corner of his eyes, only for them to flick briefly out the doorway, seeing Viper and his cronies walk by the shop. He was a much less scaly than the lizard man back on Edanith, but the tufts of is ears protruded from a long mane of green hair.
Viper was at least a head taller than Thade, and he was another smuggler of little repute, and hated the business that had been stolen out from under his snout on more than one occasion. Thade scowled at the other smuggler when his head swiveled around to look at him, his missing eye prevalent underneath the collapsed scar tissue, but he just knew one thing Viper was an underhanded bastard. He wasn't going to be sour though, Thade was content to let the Lycanis do as he pleased, as long as he didn't bother him none.
"Sister is a part-time crew member. Helped me get established. I've made my money over more than a decade. You'd be surprised by how many people don't actually believe you want to make an honest deal, always expected to be cheated somehow. But a runner is only as good as their reputation. Treat your contacts right and they'll stick with you. That was my philosophy anyway," Thade said.
"Which is why I realized I was being such a rat bastard to you. I've dealt with people that acted like I did. So sorry for that. I'm paying off that debt anyhow." He chuckled. "Sister pilots another ship. You know that other vessel he lent us, the Strider, that's his and docks with a larger extension that makes it capable of intergalactic travel. I don't have anything so fancy."
He made a soft hum, eyes flicking to hers, locking for a moment before Trudy could be heard knocking objects over in the back, just as he was spidering his way over to the main floor, with a large steel box cradled over one shoulder.
-
Reva snorted when Thade complimented her taste, watching him with slightly raised brows as he came over to her. She crossed her arms loosely under her chest as he leaned down to speak more closely with her; she was usually pretty loud for such a small person, that much she knew, but maybe the din here was just too much for him to hear her, so she paid no mind to it.
She also didn't bother looking to where he had been, after all, why should she? If there was one place she felt comfortable and at home at, it was here, on Cancer. Besides, there were lots of interesting things and people to see outside, so she just shook her head as she grinned.
"19 huh? You must've been just a baby back then, considering you already look that young without your shadow." She teased, giving him a playful nudge with her hip as she leaned closer, their sides brushing against each other in a subtle move of familiarity and flirtation.
He looked back at her again and she smiled. Ah, so at least that explained his relationship with Sister somewhat.
"So what exactly does Sister do on his own then? Smuggler too, or just a full-time performer with more money than he knows what to do with?"
She paused a moment, contemplating his apology for a moment before giving him a soft smile. "Relax, you've been forgiven--for the most part."
She looked up at him with a smirk and their eyes met; for a moment, looking into the strangely colored depths of his gaze, her heart skipped a beat. She found herself leaning in just a little bit closer as her magenta hues flickered down to his lips for a moment, remembering the evening they shared and what passed between them in the parking garage.
Thankfully, Trudy showed up with a hefty box in his arms, fortunately bot looking at them as he dropped it onto the counter with a thud that snapped Reva out of it.
"Right, here you go Missy. This is what I have right now, I have another shipment coming in soon but that won't be for another week."
Refocusing on the task at hand, Reva glanced at Thade one more time before smiling and turning to face Trudy, their little conversation over. "That's alright, something simple should do it for now--customer paid for flashy, not powerful."
Trudy laughed and they went into their business dealings, slipping into light conversation and banter that hinted they had done this with each other a thousand times. He gave her the parts she needed for a decent price, and then she and Thade were on their way, stepping out of the stall into the busy street.
"Hopefully that wasn't too boring for you." She said with a smile. She had definitely eased up around him a lot since day one.
-
"Sister is a full-time business man, or and drag really is just a hobby of his. But of course he has to be fabulous in everything he does. Question that and he'll knock a son of a bitch three weeks from Tuesday. Smuggling, body-building, performing, making sure people know not to cheat him, he does it all. And it's earned him a good living. I'm a little jealous, but at least he lets me crash on his couch, so it's not all bad."
Not to mention the fact that there was no one else that Thade would rather have at his back than Sister. If he was anything, one thing he was not was disloyal. And that Thade valued more than any of his other attributes.
Thade watched their dealings with mild curiosity, looking her over and having a hard time pulling his eyes away from her ass. He managed somehow and glanced outside, seeing Viper again from the corner of his eye, and the Lycanis grinned and vanished back into the crowd, walking away with his cronies. Thade growled and brushed his hair out of his face, he didn't have a chance to see where they were going.
As if that mattered.
They were on their way again back to Galley La, and Thade shrugged. "Not too boring. You could be grating cheese. And that would definitely not be boring," he teased and nudged her side, letting his arm slip around her temporarily in an awkward side-hug. But he sure took his time pulling his hand away, letting it rest at her lower back before resting back at his side.
The walk back wasn't long and before they parted, Thade managed to sneak in a quick kiss to the cheek again before demanding lunch the next day. Of course, he had to come up with some excuse to see her again. Not doing so would just make him a stalker.
The rest of the day came and went like a dream and Thade made sure to get up early and showered with clothes cleaner than yesterday before taking a shuttle back to Galley La. Except asking for Reva. And the only thing he seemed to be met with was a quaking of something heavy and angry rumbling down the hallway.
And before he knew it, he was pressed against the wall. "HOLY SHIT!"
-
Reva blinked at him, pausing in her step for a moment as they walked before letting out a light laugh, again one of the few he'd heard come out of her, as she shook her head.
"Grating cheese? Where do you even come up with these--" She started before he slid an arm around her waist and she shut herself up with a smile, returning the half hug with an arm around his waist as well.
He felt warm, oddly... Comforting. Relaxing, even.
When he demanded she see him again for lunch the next day she accepted with a playful eye roll and a smirk, commenting on how he just couldn't seem to get enough of her. Was her ass really that enchanting? Maybe it was.
Either way, she found herself still smiling even after he left as she finished her work day and went out one last time for an errand before they closed up shop.
Belliel was no little thing. At around 9'4" when she was on her fours, she was already intimidating, let alone if she stood on her hind legs or started breathing fire. Almost centaur-like in her build, she was rather long and snakeish, yet she had powerful arms and legs that gave her a stalkier appearance overall. She had two sets of large, bat-like wings, and a tail that fanned out into a large fin, similar in shape to an unfolded bird's tail.
And it was her who was already in a panic that day, and her who saw Thade and her whose vision immediately turned red. She charged forward without thinking, literally sweeping him off his feet and throwing him up against the wall, near ten feet off the ground with her hand around his throat as she roared in his face.
"YOU. YOU WERE ONE OF THE LAST ONES WITH REVA, WHERE IS SHE?! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY GIRL?!"
Smoke was churning from her mouth, and it smelled like hot, acidic flames, which where currently burning up deep within her chest, glowing orange through her otherwise mottled green skin. Her mess of hair was falling out of its already mussed up ponytail, and her purple eyes were wide and wild with fear and fury.
"M-Miss Belliel, please, calm down!!" Tenai was scrambling to catch up with her boss, dropping to her knees and bowing her head down as she hastily tried to bargain for their customer's life. "There is no evidence that it's him! He is a customer, you can't--"
Belliel dropped him and whipped around to face her secretary, tail lashing. "THIS SCUM HAS GOTTEN HER INTO TROUBLE BEFORE, WHO'S TO SAY HE'S NOT BEHIND IT AGAIN!? THIS IS MY COMPANY, I'LL DO WITH IT WHAT I PLEASE AND IF IT MEANS MAKING AN EXAMPLE OUT OF THIS MAN FOR HURTING ONE OF MY EMPLOYEES THEN I WILL!"
Tenai looked up at her boss with wide, frightened eyes, visibly trembling. It was rare that Belliel ever lost her temper, in fact nobody at the shop currently had ever seen her like this before; other workers by now had all heard the commotion and come piling into the lobby, frozen in the arches of the hallways, staring with wide eyes at their boss. Sure, she got agitated, frustrated, annoyed--but the only person who could handle her out of all of them was Reva.
And Reva wasn't here right now.
Belliel stared at the silent Tenai for several moments, the silence almost deafening, her breaths heaving and teeming with energy and bunched up emotions, before she finally broke eye contact first by looking around and seeing everyone, seeing the looks on their faces. It hit her hard; she was so panicked about Reva, she'd lashed out at her other workers instead. It wasn't their fault. It might not even be Thade's.
She took a deep breath, rubbing her face tiredly, taking a few moments to breathe in and out until the smoke had disappeared and the flames within her died down.
"Sorry--Sorry. Tenai, I--"
The young alien swallowed the lump in her throat and quickly got to her feet, slowly approaching Belliel and putting a hand on her lower shoulder blade, patting the reptilian skin there, looking over at Thade.
"Mr. Olyphant, are you alright? I apologize, we're all in a state of distress right now, as Reva has been missing now for over 12 hours."
When Belliel finally lifted her face from her hands, her eyes were wet as a few tears slid down her face as she looked over at the smuggler, her expression twisted with remnants of anger, shame, and pain. If there was anyone who felt responsible for this, it was her--she had rescued Reva, she had helped raise her into what she had now become. Reva was family to her, as was almost every worker at Galley La.
"She hasn't answered any of her various methods of contact, and all attempts of tracking her have turned up nothing." She said quietly, her voice a little hoarse, raw with emotion. "I apologize if I hurt you."
**For those who are curious, here is a picture of Belliel and Reva (https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/277708902886277120/289812869246091264/revabell-sizecompare.png) for size comparison. 8D
-
Few things made Thade terrified, but having an almost ten foot centaur-dragon like woman pin him against the wall with smoke fuming out of her mouth and nostrils in sheer rage definitely made his heart speed up in sheer adrenaline. She could easily snap his neck, or separate his head from the rest of his body. And part of him was thoroughly expecting him too.
He couldn't get around to coughing up a proper answer. And all he could sputter out was, "I....DON'T....KNOW.....WHAT THE FUCKKKKK.....YER TALKIN.....ABOUT!" His face was already turning purple by the sheer force of her grip and his metal arm gripped at her wrist. He didn't flail, and he just hoped against hope she would either make it fast or someone would stop this before he passed out.
Or wet himself.
Thankfully neither happened, and he nearly collapsed when she dropped him to the ground. The blood was gradually fading from his head and the dizziness soon subsided. Thade pushed himself to his feet and he looked up into Belliel's eyes. "Reva's missing....?" the answer to the question was obvious and the very thought began to give Thade a cold feeling. And he never felt cold.
Suddenly he felt sick, like the room was spinning and he breathed hard, gripping at his neck where Belliel had held him. And the throbbing now set into his chest and ears, his heart pounding desperately. "Where did she say she was going last? Forget me, I'll find her! I'll do something. Fuck! Anything!"
It didn't take long before Thade was running out of there at breakneck speed and heading back to where Reva had said she was going to be. The market, this early in the morning was quiet, and people were barely opening up shop. He stalked each stall, each doorway and the lighting that flickered above them and as he passed by a darkened alleyway, he paused at the mess he saw there. It looked like a passage between the main track and the other end of the market, some shops tucked away in nooks.
It was completely trashed. Everything thrown around, steel bent and broken, panels pulled off of siding, and red puddled in one corner. But no body. It was a lot of fucking blood. Thade searched the area, at it's sheer disaster. Yeah, this was where Reva had been all right. There could be no other person. He'd seen her work first hand back on Edanith.
But there was no telling of that blood was hers, or someone else's. Thade breathed hard, desperation building up. "Fuck!" he hissed and vacated the area as soon as he could. There were hundreds of people on that street, in that one day, and these shops were closed! It could have been anyone....
Making his way back to Sister's took way too long, and when he got to the door, he slammed his metal fist against it, sparking against the steel, and he was a sweaty mess when at last he found his key and shoved it open. "SISTER! SISTER! YOU BETTER BE FUCKING HOME!" Thade cried out as he stumbled inside. Except the apartment was empty. Quiet, and clean... And Thade collapsed on the ground, fingers digging into the rug, feeling himself burn with rage, with anger. At who? At everything!
"Thade! Ollie!" Sister said, coming into the door. Thade turned swiftly, leaping to his feet and grasping Sister by the shirt-collar. "Thade! Calm down!"
"She's fucking gone, Sister. She's gone! I-I-I found where she was going last! And...there's fucking blood everywhere! I don't know how or who's or why or what. Except that something bad has happened," he hissed, and gripped his friend's collar as if he could somehow strangle him and that would alleviate the pain.
Sister instead brought Thade into a snug embrace, and when Thade pushed away, Sister gave him a right shake. "Stop! Thade! Listen to me, I know! I was down by the Arcade, looking into some interfaces for trade. And someone showed me an arm... A pair of arms that looked rather familiar." And Sister pulled them out of the bag on his back and held one up by the wrist - and they were smashed beyond functionality. "Of course I bought them right on the spot. These are Reva's aren't they? Look, I got them from some No-Name down at the Arcade... But they had a mark on em.... Looked like one of Viper's men."
"Viper...." Thade glanced between Sister and the arms and reached up, giving Sister a big fat kiss on the cheek and slapped his face hard before bolting out the door. He'd skin that fucking wolf. He just hoped he wasn't at all too late.
-
Her head was pounding.
The world kept spinning. What happened? She couldn't remember.
Her mind felt like it was trapped in a haze, like her brain was in lukewarm, murky water and no matter how hard she fought she couldn't break the surface. Hell, she didn't even know what direction was up anymore.
Her eyes would start to open, and dim lights made everything hard to see; her vision was blurred, and she couldn't feel her arms. She couldn't feel anything. Everything just kept... Spinning. It made her queasy, sick to her stomach.
She tried desperately as she faded in and out of consciousness to do something, think of something. Because whatever was going on, something was definitely not right. She didn't have to be fully awake to know that much. This wasn't normal, this wasn't the way she was supposed to be.
She'd start to remember bits and pieces and then fade back out and fall into unconsciousness again, and then come to a little and struggle to remember what it was she had been working so hard to think of before. It was a vicious, frustrating cycle that felt nigh impossible to break.
Focus, Reva, focus... What.. Where were you last..?
She... She couldn't remember. She struggled desperately to keep her eyes open.
She had been heading somewhere, doing something... Not at home but... The marketplace? Was Thade there? Thade had been there... Or was that a different day? Where was he?
She felt her eyelids starting to droop and snapped herself out of it with a gasp, the noise sounding too loud in her own ears.
She'd been going to the market, and... Some guys, some guys had cornered her, dragged her into an alley. She remembered the smell of blood, the rush of adrenaline... But past that, her memory was foggy, or not there at all.
Fuck. Shit.
She opened her eyes a little wider, squinting as she found herself looking at an overhead light; it wasn't particularly bright, but it made her head hurt worse. Her head lolled a little to the side and she looked around elsewhere; glanced down at herself.
She was bound to a chair, and she realized after a few moments that her throat and mouth were dry; she was gagged. Her arms were gone. The room was still a blurry daze that moved too slow and too fast at the same time every time she moved her eyes, but she had to wake up. She had to look, see.
There was a banging, clanging sound that made her flinch, shivering at how it rattled around painfully inside of her head, and then someone's voice started drifting over her, circling around her like a snake ready to squeeze its prey.
"Aw, looks like someone is waking up. Not yet, sweetheart, you're just too dangerous to keep awake, yknow? Back out you go."
She tried to wiggle, escape her bonds, but her body felt like a wet noodle; she felt the pinprick of a needle several moments after she saw it pierce her skin, and watched helplessly as some strange liquid flowed from the measured plastic tube down into her bloodstream. She couldn't even feel her own mind.
Couldn't have pushed away a butterfly, let alone this person standing right next to her.
It only took a few moments, as the person was snickering to themselves as they left the room again, door slamming shut, before things were already starting to fade to black. And then she'd have to repeat the process of trying to remember all over again.
-
The Arcade was always loud. And it got even louder when the No-Name's body came hurtling out from the backroom door, splintering wood everywhere and he slammed hard against a table, throwing drinks up from the surface. Blood spilled out from his lips and he looked dazed. Thade stepped over the mess and ignored everyone else that was staring at him. "You fucking better tell me now. Things won't end well for you," Thade hissed and he snatched him up by the neck.
"V-Viper! You probably know him already!"
"I do! Now tell me where he's hiding! Quickly! There's no time for fucking games!" Thade lifted him with ease as he set him up on his feet and pressed the thumb of his metal hand into No-Name's eyeball. The screamed briefly before hollering out.
"UNDER THE GAMBRIDGE OLD POOL HALL! F-FUUUUUCK!" Thade growled and sunk his thumb in anyway and popped out the eyeball, yanking it from the man's skull and throwing him to the ground. He screamed still, slinking to the ground and hands desperately trying to push back the slippery organ back into his empty socket.
The Gambridge Pool Hall. It was an ethereal name for an abandoned shipping warehouse that had fallen into disuse and had once been used by several gangs here and there. And of course this was where Viper would have his hideout. This was where he would lead Thade. And this was where Thade would follow. But why the fuck did he kidnap Reva? Simply to draw him out? To melt her mind and break her arms?
It was all really fucking pathetic to Thade. There were easier ways to get his attention after all, better ways than fucking with his friends. And that was a question that could be answered at another time. Literally any other time than now. He just had to hurry. Once inside, the dusty building was none too impressive, cleaned out and over turned of anything useful and Thade took his time in assessing his surroundings, although his desperation told him rushing in would be the ideal thing to do.
The ideal way to get himself killed. A clatter from behind and he whirled around, seeing a rat crawling up from a hole in a grate on the floor. The massive building itself had offered nothing else. Thade dropped down the grate with a faint splash, a tunnel opening up ahead of him and water rushing beneath his feet. Voices echoed up ahead and that's where Thade found more of Viper's goons, the markings on their neck's evidence of that.
"Don't tell me Vipe's gonna keep that slut all to himself. I'm gonna cream her the moment I get a chance. Fuck...I haven't had a good fuck in weeks," one of them griped as he scritched at his jock, adjusting his package and puffed on his cigarette. "Fuck man, my balls itch like a mothefucker."
"Wash them once in a while and maybe you'll get your fuck," the woman beside him huffed and spat into the water. "I fucking hate guard duty."
It was the only word she would say before Thade lunged at her from the dark and slammed her head into the wall, cracking it like an egg and letting her brains splatter out against the metal. The other guard fumbled for his weapon and misfired into the water the moment Thade whirled on him, growling, savagely beating him until he was unrecognizable. "Cream that," Thade hissed and took the weapon in hand. These tunnels could spread out for miles he knew, and it was now that Thade moved more quickly.
Viper certainly expanded his operation since they last met. And keeping a hideout like this had it's uses to ensure that no other competition could find his merchandise, steal it, ruin it, whatever the case. No wonder Viper didn't make much in smuggling; he was too busy hoarding it down here.
Thade didn't bother being quiet, although he looked out for laser lights and traps and as he pressed forward toward an easterly path, Thade pulled Desi and Lucy from their holsters, firing on sight, taking off heads, hands, severing pieces of bodies left and right. It didn't take long before the news of an intruder came screaming to Viper. But Thade didn't give a shit. He wanted that fucker to know he was here. He wanted him to show his one-eyed mug, so he could watch Thade as he ripped his dick off and made the Lycanis eat it.
“THAAAAAADE!” a voice hollered out from far of down the tunnels to his right. “YOU FUCKED UP BOY!”
Thade paused and raised his coilgun, the gun feeling far too hot in hand he growled, the weapon hissing and he shoved it back into the holster, pointing Desi up and firing a laser back to where he heard Viper. “Speak for yourself, you piece of shit,” Thade growled quietly and followed to where he heard the voice. No doubt that was where Reva was being kept. Viper's boys were dropping like flies and their forms stayed stock still in the mess Thade made of them. Up ahead there was a pressure door, wide-open and Thade bolted for the corridor, slipping around it and heading to where he heard footsteps rapidly getting away.
Thade screamed and fired blindly, the laser revolver spinning off another charge and scoring the wall just above Viper's head as he turned swiftly, missing by mere inches. “Run faster! You fucking snake!” he hissed and when he skirted around the corner, Thade took one step into the room, where he saw another pressure door closed up ahead, and just as he crossed the threshold, body half-turned, there Viper pulled hard on a cord, snagging Thade's feet out from under him.
He landed hard, his left arm flailing out over the threshold and from the corner of his eye he saw Viper stand and slam his wolfish hand on the button to close the door. Immediately the top half of the door slammed down on Thade's left arm, crushing the metal, and pinning him to the ground. Thade hissed as if he would feel pain, although it was more out of being trapped than any pain, and Desi had been knocked from his hand.
“If you wanted a meeting, all you had to do was gimme a fucking phone call,” Thade said, glaring up at Viper.
“Shut the fuck up, Olyphant. Don't you realize you can't fucking go through life and fuck people over. And expect to have it fire back at you!” Viper panted and reached for Desi. He admired the gun breifly and liked how it felt in his hand. He raised the pistol. “You steal my girl. I steal yours. Shame though. I thought I'd have more fun killing you.”
Thade jerked his leg and tossed it underneath Viper's and the Lycanis dropped down to the grated flooring. He nudged himself off his holster, remembering Lucy and plucking the gun from his side. Cooled now, and with half a clip left. And fired, splattering gray matter out onto the floor. “Kill me with one of my own guns? You must be out your goddamn mind,” Thade panted, groaning and looking at the state of the door. There was no way his arm was of any use now. He flipped a switch on Lucy, the coilgun hissing as it gained a charge and he tried to wiggle his head away from the blast as far as he could. Poising the gun against his shoulder, where some metal remained, he fired, and the energy tore apart the connection, freeing him, but leaving his arm stuck in the door.
He panted, pushing himself up and reholstering both of his guns. He snatched a keycard from Lycanis' hand and sliced it through the reader, a beep and switch hit later, and the other pressure door opened up, and there in a dimly lit chamber he saw Reva hunked over a chair, bound to it with chains and rope. He shot off the Lycanis' hand, pressing in one finger and revealing a claw. It was with that one swipe that he cut through the ropes and managed to yank the chains off of her.
“Reva,” he breathed, feeling for a pulse with his one good arm. He found one. It was faint but present, and he pulled the gag from her mouth. “Reva. It's me, Thade. Let's get you out of here,” he said softly and reached down, pulling her up and over his shoulder, fireman style, smacking the button once she was secure and exiting the tunnels back the way he came.
-
Reva was, for all intents and purposes, out cold for most of Thade's rampage. Who knows what she would have done or how she would have felt about hearing the gunfire, the death and carnage, or how she would have dealt with her own situation.
She probably would have been furious, and would probably still be furious when she eventually came to. Furious they did this to her, furious that she even needed saving. She might have eventually gotten herself out, the guards would have probably slipped up eventually, but the fact still remained that this had happened at all and that would have been the most frustrating to her. Again, that was if she was awake.
They had pumped her full of so many drugs, one more dosage too soon might have actually slowed her heartbeat to a stop. The sick fucks had no idea how to properly administer pain killers most likely, let alone heavy narcotics. Even in her blacked out state, she heard the sounds of a commotion outside that echoed off the walls of her head. But she couldn't tell if it was a memory, or if it was happening right now. When even was right now? How long had she been here?
When she was freed from her confines and her body physically moved, she started to briefly stir, but everything was such a blur mixed with the world's worst migraine she couldn't keep her eyes open much more than a millimeter before shutting them again, teeth grit.
It felt like she was being moved, was someone carrying her?
There were gunshots and a sudden whir of motion, she felt the effects of gravity and inertia pulling on her body and she recognized that she was in danger, but her powers were still do far out of her reach, there was nothing she could do, or at least nothing she thought she could do.
Meanwhile, Reva had started a cold sweat, her forehead burning up with a fever, side effects of whatever drugs they'd used to knock her out, and whatever it was it was damn good because the only thing she had done was groan once since Thade had picked her up.
She at least managed to open her eyes up enough once to squint, saw one of the gang members behind them and tried to summon her powers--she couldn't feel them but they were still there, somewhere. That much was clearly evident because the tunnel they were in suddenly felt as if a massive migraine-like force fell down on all within like a heavy blanket, limiting movement and threatening to suffocate anyone under its influence; the man behind them suffered death by exploding head, and the feeling lasted until Reva opened her eyes again, saw he was gone and blindly searcher around in her mind, finally finding an off switch that would leave everyone gasping desperately for air when the unseen mental force was lifted. Blood trickled out of one of her nostrils, but she couldn't feel it.
She wanted to panic, wanted to be afraid--what if this was permanent? Had she suffered some kind of brain damage?--but the drugs wouldn't let her, because they immediately pushed her back into unconsciousness for expenditure of energy.
She was, for the most part, completely useless right now. And gods did she absolutely loathe it.
-
Thade dragged her out of those tunnels as fast as he could, keeping himself in check, deep quick breaths to maintain him as he navigated toward the entrance. There was a flux in the atmosphere, a change in the air and he held his breath for however little or long it lasted. He wasn't going to let her just lay there and when he felt her body begin to jerk and shift. His arm doubled down on the pressure around her as he climbed up from the open grate and out into the warehouse, running as fast as his legs could take him.
He had to hurry, and in this district the closest hospital was more than an hour away. Despite it all, Sister's place was that much closer, and he could get there in ten minutes if he kept runnning. Fuck if his heart didn't feel like it was going to burst out of his chest. Thade Olyphant didn't give a shit, that wasn't what was important.
But fuck if he was going to pass out before he got to where he needed to be. Once he was at the door, he pounded on it feverishly, but Sister opened it after the second knock and pulled them inside. "Goddammit Thade! Oh...please don't die, Miss Reva," Sister hissed and watched Thade place her on the couch. "I'll get the car! Come on!"
Of course he didn't question the fact that Thade only had one arm. There would be time for that later. Once in the garage below the apartment, Sister started the engine and was off, Strider zipping past everything else as they made it to the nearest hospital. Everything else was a blur after that. Doctors took Reva in quickly, noting the blood by her face that streamed from her nose.
Thade was angry and stayed angry and anyone that tried to pry him away from Reva's side was promptly slugged away from him. He stayed with her, watching from the window, as the heavy drugs were pumped from her stomach. The moment he was let back in the room, Thade was beside her.
He laid his head out beside the bed, resting it in the crook of his arm as he leaned over it and he watched her, hoping, waiting.
And reached up and squeezed her shoulder, or what was left of it. "Reva, please. Wake up," he breathed. "Come on."
-
By the time they had reached Sister's, Reva was having slight shakes, and she was completely out of it. She remained out for the duration of the car ride, and it was only when she was in some kind of operating room did she start coming to, cycling again between bouts of semi-consciousness and passing back out again.
All she knew the few times she did start to wake was that everything hurt. Her head, every muscle, ever organ and bit of tissue; once or twice she would wake up enough, still foggy, but able to register the bright lights shining in her eyes and panic. Medical equipment sparked or stopped working, or the atmosphere would become heavy with telepathic pressure once again, but it only lasted a few seconds at most before she was out of it again. She had no idea where she was, what was happening, what they were doing to her. For all she knew she was still with the enemies.
The doctors were rightfully exhausted when they finally put her in a room and left her alone. She slept through it for an hour or two, before her subconscious recognized her head had cleared up enough.
It started with a sudden dull ringing that grew too loud too fast, and then she opened her eyes with a gasp, the lights flooding her as she threw herself onto her side and started to push herself up with her knees, coughing and wheezing. It felt like she had been drowning, for gods knew how long. There was a tube in her nose and IVs taped to her thigh, since she had no arms.
Every noise was too loud, every smell migraine-inducing, all the light too blindingly bright.
She curled up there for a second, on her knees with her forehead on the reclined hospital bed, trying to let everything soak in. There was a vibrating tension in the room, pressure from her powers undoubtedly. It blanketed the room like a silent and deadly threat, promising to kill anyone who startled her instantly with its low hum felt more by the body, mind and soul rather than heard by the ears.
A chair flew across the room, hurling itself against the door and splintering wood. She let out a heavy breath of relief, still panting desperately.
She looked down at herself, or perhaps upside-down at herself, and saw she was wearing a hospital gown. She slowly sat back on her heels and lifted her head, sitting up despite the immense pain she felt in her torso from doing so. The light was still too bright, and she had no hands to shade her eyes with, so she just growled and squinted. The buzzing, energetic presence of her mind subsided as she looked around the room and saw Thade sitting there, or what she thought might be Thade. It was still hard to see.
"Thade?" She croaked, her voice hoarse. "What happened? Are they all dead yet? I'm... I'm gonna kill them if they're not." She swallowed hard, her throat dry, and yet when she spoke next her voice trembled with rage. "I'm gonna kill every last one of those sorry motherfuckers."
-
Thade looked up when he saw Reva moving and although it was an explosive way of coming back to consciousness, he simply watched her and waited, content to let her ride it out until she turned around to look at him.
His eyes briefly met hers and saw the rage burning in them. And his lips curled into a small wry smirk. "They're already dead. I tore up the place pretty bad on my way in looking for you. I just wanted to get to you in time," he whispered softly, enough for her to hear but not disturb her.
"I guess I should have taken you back to Galley La, but I panicked. I just wanted to get you help in time." That rose slowly to his feet and carefully maneuvered toward her, sitting at the edge of the bed, and he slowly reached up to touch her cheek.
"How are you feeling?" It was obvious, but he wanted to hear it from her.
-
Reva studied him carefully for a moment; the world got less blurry and spinny the longer she stayed still and didn't move her eyes, so he was starting to come back into focus as he spoke, and the lights didn't seem as bright as she started to slowly adjust until she didn't have to squint to see him anymore.
"Damn, fun-stealer." She grunted, looking away for a moment before she looked back as he spoke again and got up to come closer. Asked how she was doing.
"You're just lucky they shoved so many drugs in me, if I'd been any more awake those doctors probably wouldn't have made it out of the operating room, or whatever." She grumbled, closing her eyes as she found herself leaning into the warmth of his touch on her cheek. It was comforting, and right now she hurt too much to play hard to get.
"I feel like I was torn apart by a team of horses and then sewn back together again." At least she was honest. "Room keeps spinning, really annoying."
She opened her eyes again, flinching a little at how the lights seem to have grown brighter, before she got used to it and looked up at him, realizing something.
This was the second time now that he'd seen her without any arms--say what you want about her varying types of prosthetics, but all people needed to see was that she had limbs and they were usually fine with it. When she had no arms at all, people were unnerved by her. Called her a freak. So even though she was perfectly functional without them, she still felt naked, threatened, and... Maybe a bit ugly without them.
Yet Thade hadn't said anything about them at all. Hadn't commented even once, not that she could recall anyway.
Her gaze flickered down and saw the damage he'd taken himself, and her eyes widened a little.
"Thade, your arm. What happened?" That was right, he was missing limbs, too.
If there was anybody who would understand, it was him. That eased her up a little, but still, while she had extra pairs lying around back at home she'd built for just such an occasion, she wasn't so sure that he did, too.
-
Trying to put the moves on her was the furthest thing from his mind right now. Although he wouldn't put it passed her to play hard to get, even now, in a hospital gown, armless, frustrated. Thade wasn't going anywhere anytime soon until she was in good condition. He tilted his head at her, making sure not to move too much or too fast as he shifted himself so that he could put his arm gently around her.
He coaxed her to lay against him. Nothing could make her ugly to him, not even missing arms. Even moments of a nasty attitude has only come about when it was perfectly justified. Like being bound and gagged. And kidnapped. And having her ship ripped apart, and then being kidnapped and bound again. Oh shit, maybe he was a bad luck charm.
That chuckled a little at that thought, but he didn't want to over do it. "Well, we gotta be careful not to kill the people that are trying to heal you," he murmured and softly kissed her cheek. A light show of affection. "Because you had your stomach pumped. Might explain the sewed up feeling."
That was quiet, listening to her breath, and feeling the panic that had soaked into him quietly subside. Some of it remained. "Oh...That old thing? I thought about replacing it for some time," he shrugged, laughing. "I uh...Tripped and got it caught in a magnetic door trying to get to you. I had to shoot it off to get out.". He shrugged again.
"Your arms however, a little mangled. Sister has them, bought them off some guy that wanted to load them off. That's how I found out where you were. Sister called Galley La, so they know you're alive." Thade looked at her more clearly. "You almost gave me a fucking heart attack, Reva. I didn't think I was going to find you alive."
-
She didn't hesitate when Thade offered her the comfort of sitting closer to him (she wasn't going to say snuggles because that sounded so... So childish.) But it was definitely appreciated. So she scooted closer, trying to be mindful of all the cords they had hooked up to her, which she found severely annoying, as she leaned against him, her head still heavy and throbbing with pain.
"Oh, lovely, I'm sure that was a lot of fun to watch." She said, assuming he'd probably been there, considering how clingy he could be sometimes--she didn't mind. It felt oddly reassuring. So she wasn't going to question it, because the only other people in her life that had been there for her like that were Belliel and her mother. Well, her coworkers probably would if they could, but they didn't want to overstep their boundaries, for good reasons.
"You ah, shot off your own arm. Wow." He'd been in that much of a frenzy to get to her, huh? That said a lot. She found herself blushing a little, even though she felt bad, and she looked away in the hopes he wouldn't see it.
"Well, considering what you did, I suppose I could always design you a new one--it's not like it's something I haven't done before." She said with a slight chuckle. "Don't worry about my arms, I've got other pairs, I can always upgrade those old ones later."
She fell quiet for a moment, considering his words. Had he really been that worried about her? They hardly knew each other, honestly. She cast a sideways glance at him, brows furrowed as she looked away again.
"You shouldn't worry so much Thade, it takes a lot more than that to kill me, trust me. I've tried." It was a shitty attempt at a joke, and it wasn't exactly untrue--she was rather reckless, or had been even more so even five years ago. She let her head fall back against his shoulder, closing her eyes.
"You know you didn't have to do that. Thank you." She wasn't going to kid herself; it might have taken her quite some time before she could've gotten out of there by herself.
Almost as if on queue before Thade could properly respond, there was a knock on the door before it was suddenly forced open, the chair skidding and clattering loudly on the floor as a green mass started to shove herself through the door. Reva flinched at the noise, opening her eyes and seeing who it was and raising her eyebrows a little.
"Reva!" The worry in Belliel's voice was unmistakable as the alien squeezed herself in, easily filling up the room--and she wasn't alone. Some of the Galley La workers were there with her, the top of the staff that Thade and Sister had been introduced to in the initial planning meeting about the Vegas included. They were all worried, visibly relaxing when they saw she was awake and functioning.
Reva blinked, feeling a little overwhelmed at the sudden presence of bodies in the room; she could hear a nurse outside distressing over her having so many visitors without hospital staff in there to keep an eye on everything.
"Shit, Bell, did you bring the whole company and some of my cars with you, too?"
"Oh, fuck off you devil. You had us all worried sick."
"Can't imagine why. I've been through worse."
"That's not--oh whatever. Here."
Belliel pulled a case from where it'd been strapped to her back setting it on the bed and popping the locks with her slightly-too-big fingers. Inside were the pair of golden skeletal arms Thade had first seen her wearing, as the pair that had been destroyed were her more "normal" looking of the few he'd seen her don.
"I know they might be a little cumbersome, but I know how anxious you get without something, so... Here you go."
Reva looked down at the case, smiling a little as they lifted themselves from the case and activated, the silicone gel inside of them glowing as the LEDs built in turned on and illuminated them with a slight aqua light. They situated themselves properly against her shoulders (or lack thereof), and she flexed the fingers, the case shutting itself. It still hurt her head like a bitch to use any of her powers, but she felt a lot better emotionally better having them there.
"I uh... Thanks. Sorry I worried you guys." She said a bit sheepishly, not used to being in this kind of position.
Belliel shook her head, turning her gaze instead to Thade. "I owe you another apology, Olyphant. And my sincerest gratitude, for finding my girl." She said with a slight smile as she reached out and gave Reva a gentle hair ruffle, which the smaller cyborg retorted to with an eye roll as she swatted the big alien's hand away.
"Oh stop, you say that like I'm your daughter or something."
"Well you kind of are."
"No I'm not, you're just getting senile, you old fart."
"Oh look who's talking, what are you now, 40?"
A pamphlet lying on a corner table went flying across the room to smack Belliel in the face.
"Not even close."
Everyone seemed to ease up even more, even chuckling a little as they saw the playful banter occur between the two that they were so used to. One of the men who'd introduced himself as Roy during their meeting with Thade and Sister cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"Well Reva, we're glad to see you're mostly okay. Belliel, I think you're ah, forgetting something."
Belliel looked at him over her shoulder, before heaving a sigh and glancing at Thade before quickly looking away and scratching at the stubble at the back of her head.
"Right, well, uh. Given the circumstances and all, and what you did for Reva, I've talked it over with my employees, and... We've agreed to knock 20% off of your ship's repair fees. Which means your payments are done; we'll make sure to have the Vegas finished up for you by the end of the week. The shipments have been rescheduled to come early, we'll get to work on it tomorrow."
Reva stared at Belliel with wide eyes for a moment, glancing at Thade to catch his reaction, before taking in a deep breath... And throwing a box of tissues at Belliel, hitting her in the face yet again.
"Am I really only worth 20% to you!? What is that, 30,000 credits!?"
"AH--NO--I MEAN--You're worth far more than that!! But he's already paid and we can't afford those materials out of pocket!! And I mean we kind of figured you'd also kinda be repaying him in your own way. I mean. Given how things have been going between you two--"
"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME, YOU FUCKING PERVERTS--"
"I MEAN WE JUST ASSUMED--"
"ASSUME THIS, GET THE FUCK OUT! GET!"
The other workers quickly saw their chance and ran from the room, while Belliel protested as she was literally beaten out of the room with random objects Reva kept throwing at her until the big alien was gone, and Reva huffed, blushing as she slumped a little against Thade, grumbling "Cheapskates..." Under her breath, yet she snorted, a slight smirk on her features as she shook her head.
-
He knew he didn't have to. He didn't have to do anything more than keep making the final payments on the repairs for the Vegas, on any upgrades he wanted, and never ever see Reva again. But the very fact that he wanted to was as completely new to him as it was to her, it seemed. Thade was thoroughly a selfish bastard where his interests were concerned. And he gained nothing by spending time with Reva, nothing physical or monetary anyway.
And saving her from the grasp of a rival smuggler, that...was startlingly heroic, especially for him. And Thade was glad to do it. He had no expectations. Seeing Reva alive was gratitude enough; knowing that his efforts had not been in vain.
When Belliel entered the room, Thade grinned and stayed quiet. It was nice to see her boss could be an expert in congeniality when she wanted to. Because the sheer terror of smoke and fumes pulsating from her body was a little much for him. Reva was a little nightmare all on her own. But he could handle that nightmare.
It was nice to see her with arms again, even if he made no comment on the fact that she had a worm-like appearance without them and that he found it more amusing than appalling. And even kind of cute if he had any other comment on it. But thankfully Thade just watched the exchange, chuckling.
Oh...then....oh. "Um...a 20 percent discount?" he asked, quizzical, and unsure what he really felt about that. Sure money in his pocket was nice. But instead he waved his hands up. "No, no. I didn't do it for any discounts. That's not necessary. I..." He didn't really get to finish before Reva exploded on Belliel, and he leaned back to watch the exchange.
"Ah," he chuckled, smirking as the door was emptied and he glanced at her arms. She could support herself now, and yet still she leaned against him. He blushed a little and even as she finally calmed down, he took the opportunity to cup the side of her face, holding her chin up to look at him and he grinned cheekily at her.
"I have no expectations, but was there any water to that assumption?" he chuckled, leaning in and taking a long slow moment to kiss her, parting her lips with his, and pulling away only when he could nibble on her lower lip, letting out a deep-throated hum. "Not that I think you're that cheap. Oh no, Reevs. I'm perfectly okay with what I'm being charged."
-
Well, she hadn't really been expecting him to say anything about not doing it for a discount. Thade had never struck her as a heroic type, but considering he'd thrown away a perfectly well working arm for her and all...
She blinked, pulled from her thoughts as she felt his human hand cup her face and guide her to look at him, magentas meeting orange-purples.
That assumption? She stared at him in confusion for a moment, and then he pulled her into a kiss. Maybe she'd had a few screws knocked loose, but it only took a half a second for her to start kissing him back, letting him part her lips as she reached up, cold metal fingers gracing along his jawline before she tangled them in his hair and held him tight. She was surprised at how much safer she felt with him so close, how warm he made her feel. Was this a normal thing felt with any guy or was this something more special? She had no way of knowing--neither did Belliel for that matter, and she sure as hell wasn't asking her mom.
"Hm, well it wouldn't be fun if I just told you. That'd spoil all the fun." She teased with a smirk, letting her arms rest on his shoulders, fingers toying with his hair.
Then she realized something and blinked, leaning back from him and sitting up a little.
"... Did you just call me Reevs?" She asked with a flat stare. If so, she wasn't sure how she felt about it.
-
Oh shit. He knew that deadpan look. And he was pretty sure he'd said that name simply because it seemed to come out naturally. The sheer fact of her displeasure, however, only made him blink at her and his own amusement gone. Or rather it was carefully hidden in the corner of his mouth.
"I....did," he said, forcing his expression in all the serious. And he blinked at her nonchalantly. "I...immediately regret from your expression." And still trying to hold that face. Thade couldn't keep a straight face for long and he suddenly cackled despite her seeming annoyance. "Okay! Sorry! I won't use it again."
Not to her face anyway. Thade turned his face in toward hers and kissed at her cheek. "Look, is there anything I can get you?" His lips lingered and and he tilted his head to play at her lips. "Anything to drink? You must be famished after being out so long." He mumbled something else - that sounded a little like 'thirsty for a fuck' but it was practically inaudible as he kissed her deeper, letting his one good arm pull her against him.
-
She stared him down for a few moments as he realized his mistake, but she wasn't serious about it, and when he started laughing she smiled and shook her head with a playful eye roll. To be honest, there was a pretty big part of her that didn't mind it that much.
Not that she was gonna let him know that.
He quickly tried to change the subject, pulling her close again as he showered her with affection and she certainly wasn't going to complain. After all, she wasn't used to this kind of attention and she had to say it was pretty enjoyable.
"I ah, yeah, food and water would probably be good things to have." She admitted a little sheepishly; she'd been so caught up with everything else she hadn't even paid attention to her own needs. But she narrowed her eyes as he made the kiss something more intimate; thought she heard the word 'fuck' but hell, fuck it, she didn't care.
She was just glad to be in the world of the awake again, having Thade here so eager to give her attention was an added bonus. So she didn't mind at all as she kissed him back, looping her arms around his neck and finding her way into his lap, the scene suggestive enough to make the nurse who came in right then to blush like a school girl when she saw the pair of them.
"I-I am sorry to interrupt, but I'm glad to see you're doing better Miss Reva."
Reva pulled back enough from Thade's embrace to give the nurse some proper and more, ahem, professional attention, considering she would have been furious if she were in the other woman's shoes.
"I, yes, thanks to the staff here, you did a wonderful job. If possible I'd like to get something to eat though if that's alright, and perhaps the discharge papers as well?"
The nurse gawked at her for a moment. "U-Um, ma'am, we really should at least keep you overnight to make sure--"
Reva gently held up a hand and got her to stop. "It's fine, I've been through much worse and I recover much faster than the average mortal."
"I... I see. I will speak with the doctors about it."
"Thank you."
Once the nurse had left she looked at Thade with a smirk, before nudging him gently with an elbow.
"I barely come to after being drugged for probably some 18 hours straight and you can barely keep your hands to yourself Thade, is there something getting to you?" She teased with a smirk.
-
Their kisses ignited a small flame inside him, and he could feel it burning in his chest, reviving a temperature that had at once been cold and clammy due to his worry. Even knowing that Reva was still alive did little to alleviate it, and he could feel from deep inside the coldness growing still. It was a sickness he hadn't felt since leaving the only home he'd known. The feeling that he didn't know if he was going to survive to see tomorrow.
But during that time, he was worried about himself. And now he was very much worried for another. Even if Reva was resilient. Even if Reva could undoubtedly take care of herself. That wasn't the point after all. She restored that heat inside him, and he thrived on it when she fit herself onto his lap. Of course the sheer force of kissing was easy to respond to, everything about her was just easy to respond to.
Even with his heart hammering fresh blood all through out his body. And he clung to that heat, the warmth she provided like she was a second skin. It was too bad there were clothes in the way. And it was too bad there was a nurse suddenly interrupting them.
Thade murmured something under his breath that was the equivalent of, "For fuck's sake." But he made his expression as placid as possible as he glanced up to the nurse and grinned at her. At least she was flustered enough.
When she was gone, Thade nodded to her, letting his hand find its way toward the back of her hospital gown, to where he felt skin there and was content to just touch her.
"Hand," he corrected. "I can't keep my hand to myself. It might...have something to do with the parking garage. Or almost losing you. Or the fact that I find myself coming up with excuses just to stop by your offices. Even if it's just to see you all worked up and greasy with your hands inside the Vegas' hull."
He laughed and let his lips play at hers, nibbling, tugging on them. "I'm not going to lie, I'm attracted to you. I can't seem to help myself. So forgive me if I'm overly touchy. So, Miss Reva, I like you. A lot. And I hope you like me too. I mean as both friends and associates. And...maybe something more."
He grinned cat-like and let his hand drift down to her hip, squeezing there firmly with a large hand. "Tell me, Miss Reva, have you ever had 'something more' with anyone else?"
-
Right, hand. She nodded and waved it off as he explained himself, arching a brow as she let him slip a hand in her hospital gown to touch her. He just couldn't resist her, was that it? She found that a little hard to believe and narrowed her eyes slightly.
She was pretty, yes, she knew that much, but irresistible? She didn't believe that at all. But... It was still nice to hear. Stroked her ego a little bit.
That being said, he was wasting no time at all in cutting to the bigger questions here, and she let out a light sigh, closing her eyes as she shook her head with a slight smile.
Yes, she was attracted to him, very much so, but the thought of pursuing any kind of... Well, anything at all with him was something she had been avoiding simply because of her lack of answers, even for herself. She was a busy woman, did she really have the time or the patience to devote to any kind of relationship right now? Besides, she sincerely doubted he was incredibly serious about this--
Well, hold the phone. He'd gone and been a hero and saved her life. Surely that meant some kind of dedication, but still...
"You sure don't waste any time cutting to the chase, huh Thade?" She said with a slight snort, leaning away from him as she reached up and pulled the tube from her nose and massaged the bridge of it, enjoying the momentary freedom. Gods she hated hospitals.
"I'm definitely not a virgin if that's what you're inquiring." She said, looking over at him with a quirked brow. "'Maybe something more', hm..? I haven't really had much time to think about it."
Perhaps she'd been looking at this the wrong way, after all she was kind of a powerful enough person someone might want to have her as an ally, and Thade happened to be a smuggler, which alone suggested he wasn't the most honest of people, clearly. He might not have the purest of intentions here, but did she really, honestly care about any of that?
Her head fucking hurt too much to think about it and she glanced over at him before looking away.
"I mean you do seem to be a bit of a bad luck charm." She said with a short snicker. "... If I was being honest with you, then yes there might be room for something more. If you play your cards right. How do I know you're not just playing around with me for the sake of getting your ship fixed for dirt cheap?"
She looked at him with a smile of bemusement, figuring what was the harm in asking him head on, just out of curiosity. Being up front with him and all. She wasn't interested in playing any games or beating around the bush, she saw it as nothing but a waste of time.
Half of her expected him to admit he'd been caught and that he'd set up both kidnappings, but the other half of her hoped he was sincere... And that was the half of her she knew the least about, that scared her a little.
-
A matter of physical resistance wasn't the question here. Although it was very easy that Thade could relate what he was feeling so much more easily with physical touch than with his words. He'd always been more of a physical person. However, he was focused on the conversation at hand and retracted his arm, laying it on her leg instead as she seemed to consider his words.
Resistance in what he felt, although he would agree it was quite faster than what he was used to, was a whole different matter. He couldn't explain it. It was more than a physical need, as if he could respond to the very blood that called through her veins. What words were there that could describe that?
If Reva somehow thought he was fully prepared to simply dive into a relationship, and expecting her fully to do the same, she'd be wrong on both counts. But posing the possibility, he felt, didn't seem to hurt. Although it might have seemed a bit pushy in that direction.
"I just like to acknowledge all possibilities. I'm not asking you to marry me," he chuckled, even snorting a little bit. "But...I guess, I'm just trying to find some leveled ground. Virgin or not. No big deal to me. I like you either way. But it's okay because...I don't know if there's a name for what we have. We don't need one, do we?"
Thade watched her pull that hose from her nose and he bit his lip. And there it was....Oh, ho ho ho.
That was the exact sound that came out of Thade at her final question. And perfectly justified it was. But all he did was chuckle because his amusement was genuine and he leaned back on his hand. "Honey, since we met, I've been piling on damage after damage. I just lost my freaking arm. If I wanted a discount, I think I would have put the moves on you much earlier on. And the fact that you have to question my personal integrity really does make me question my reputation as a business man. Reva, smuggler or not, I'm honest in all my dealings."
He grinned at her and nodded his head to the door. "I don't want a discount. I just like spending time with you that's all. I don't know how else to put it." He shrugged and patted her legs. "So, why don't you and I get some food in the cafeteria, and get something to drink. I am starving." A pat to his belly and he stood up, and gestured his hand to her to grab and drag off the bed. It was nice to have at least one working arm. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost his only flesh one.
"On the upside, I'll leave this for you to decide. If there's ever a moment where you feel like you don't want me around, or that I'm bugging you just tell me straight up. I'll back off," he said, nodding to her. "I'll understand. No hurt feelings. But, that day is not today. So we'll eat. Then get you back to Galley La. I know that's where you really want to be. Hospitals always give me the creeps."
-
Thade brought up several good points. It wasn't as if she hadn't considered what he said before, rather it was something different to hear him say it, rather than it be a thought in her own mind.
He suggested going to the cafeteria and she nodded; who knew how long official discharge papers would take, she might as well just get up and walk down there herself. So she pulled her gown up to reveal where the IV was taped to her thigh. She ripped the tape off and pulled it out, immediately applying pressure over the small wound. It was then she realized she had quite a few scrapes and bruises from the scuffle in the alley, but she still couldn't remember too much of what had happened.
She tested her legs warily before getting up out of the bed, holding onto the railing by the upper part of the reclined bed for stability. She was still pretty tired but she sure as shit wasn't gonna sit around here and waste away any more than she already had.
A quick mental probe around the room and she found where her clothes had been stashed and folded by the staff, pulling off her hospital gown and sliding into the bodysuit she'd been wearing previously with her back to Thade--it wasn't like he hadn't seen it before.
"Well, don't let it get to your head, but I think I like having you around." She admitted as she pulled on her shoes. Hopefully she could at the very least manage walking in heels--ahh no she'd be fine. "I don't think we need a name for what we are, although..."
She drew the zipper up and looked at him over her shoulder, ready to go.
"It is kind of interesting, isn't it? What we feel towards each other, so quickly too. Normally it takes me much longer to get to like anybody."
She said it as she walked over to him, finding walking to be not nearly as complicated as she was worried it might be; hell she could still sway her hips as she crossed the room to join him, she figured her enhanced healing was to blame for that. She came to a stop just in front of him as she rested her hands on his hips, drawing him closer to her with a smirk.
There was something about him that made her hairs stand on end, not because she thought he was a threat, but because he was a thrill. He was different from most other types of creatures she'd come across in this world, and she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps it was because he had a little demon in him, too. But she wasn't sure how to go about asking that without it seeming awkward or out of place, so she didn't. Instead she just enjoyed the way he made her heart race, her blood boil.
She slid her hands up to the back of his head, guiding him down into one last deep kiss as she pressed herself against him and greedily soaked up all the attention he was willing to give her, before she pulled back and started towards the door.
"Even if you've had a bit of bad luck since we met, I still think you're fortunate. We'll get you a new arm soon, and then you won't even be missing your old one. Come on."
And with that it was time to head down to the cafeteria and get something to eat; both of them were starving and hey, at least this way they still kind of got to have their lunch date, something she joked about as they ate. Then it was to the front desk to sign discharge papers and ignore the flustered nurses who were rather frustrated with her for just deciding to get up and walk out without seeing a doctor first. Fuck the doctors she wanted to go home.
-
It was one thing to think of her as some kind of invalid, that couldn't so much as wipe herself without some kind of help, and quite enough to see that she was an invalid that needed no validation from anyone. Not that Thade would ever refer to her in such a way. It was just nice to see her in action. One moment she was moments away from death and the next she was slipping on that bodysuit as if it was a second skin.
Thade swallowed, watching her and he letting her draw closer to him. Oh yeah, they were two of a kind all right. The kiss had been completely unexpected, and although he shouldn't have been surprised, he was and he leaned into her lips, moaning softly as he let his one arm snake around her. Sure it didn't last long, but it didn't have to. He licked his lips and watched her though half-lidded eyes.
That's right food. And his stomach growled loudly. "Man, I'm starving," he repeated and grinned at her. "I think a decent meal for once would make some part of my body happy."
With food and freedom later, Thade made it back with her to Galley La, making sure she didn't fall apart along the way. And with that in mind, he paused by the garage entrance and snatched her up by the collar, stealing her lips with his in a steamy smooch.
"So about my arm. How about I swing by tomorrow and we can draw up some schematics?" He murmured and grinned against her lips.
-
Lunch was nice, despite her headache. Which, unfortunately, was only getting worse by the minute. She closed her eyes and let her head rest against the seat of the car, napping while he drove her to Galley La.
Once out of the car she stretched, arms up over her head, back arching as Thade stepped out and came over, grabbing her by the collar of her bodysuit and pulling her into a passionate kiss. She wouldn't outwardly admit it, but it made her heart skip and beat faster every time he pulled her close for one. It was a strange little thrill that she was finding she enjoyed more than she thought she would.
So she let her arms rest on his shoulders around his neck, letting out a pleased hum into their kiss before he pulled away with a grin and she raised her eyebrows at him.
"Oh, yes I'm sure that's the only thing you'll want to do tomorrow." She enjoyed teasing him, maybe a little too much.
She let her gaze slide down to his collarbone and the neckline of his shirt, curious to see what he looked like without it as she brought a hand forward to play with the fabric.
"You can stop by sometime around 5 or 6, I'll be working overtime to make up for what I've missed today." Bell wouldn't be happy about it, but she could suck it for all Reva cared right now. She looked back up to meet his gaze, letting her fingertips slide their way up his throat, the cold metal resting just under his chin.
"I look forward to it."
And with that she pulled away, giving him one last sly smile before she left and let herself into Galley La. She immediately went upstairs after a brief exchange and 'welcome back' from Tenai, letting herself into her bedroom and pulling off her clothes to crawl into her bed and pass out again until the next morning. She did a good job of hiding how tired she actually was while she'd been around Thade, but now it was time to get some actual rest in.
She slept in until 9:30 the next morning, and when she got up she felt even better than the day previous, which was good, because she now had two days' worth of work to catch up on, and she had every intention of getting caught up by end of work day today.
And so she found herself so busy and preoccupied, putting orders through and working on custom weaponry that the day kind of flew away from her, and she found herself feeling maybe a tad bit... Nervous... As she finalized a few more of the concepts she had for Thade's new arm, waiting with bated breath for the moment he came down into her little workshop.
-
Comforting Sister was generally done than said. He'd been beside himself with worry and anxiety since dropping them off at the hospital and although he stayed behind to take care of the bill, the purple-haired man needed a near-suffocating hug from Thade when they got back to his apartment. Sister generally handled stress well enough, but he was happy to see that at least Reva was all right and a bottle of wine later and a hot shower, Thade managed to coax Sister into bed and he tucked him in.
Now that was enough. It was bad enough he'd lost his arm, but Thade was going to be damned if he was going to lose his best friend and Reva too. In truth, he didn't know why exactly he'd saved her. And maybe in the end the reasons for doing so didn't matter, except that he did what he had to do to see that she was alive. And stayed that way.
The threat of death was a strong one, and while he was a customer, he truly believed that Belliel would have torn him in two if he'd truly had anything to do with her disappearance. To think that anyone might try to use her as a pawn against him was jarring. Why her? What good could have capturing her done? What little it actually proved in the end convinced Thade it hadn't been worth it. Viper's last words were there, "You steal my girl. I steal yours."
Spectre. Thade shoved the woman's name from his mind, as he laid out on the pull out couch, tossing a little until he threw himself on his stomach. He'd thought he'd gotten rid of her, he always did. And she found some way to torment him, take his ship, mess with his friends, his business. He didn't know if she had anything to do with it, but he certainly wouldn't put it above her. Spectre, the white-haired woman that was reckless and deviant, that had looked at Thade like she wanted to skin him with her teeth.
But that was over and Thade's only regret was wasting those years on her.
When tomorrow arrived, and he found himself back at Galley La, Thade glanced up at the facility, only really registering now how massive it was. And how very small he was in comparison. And Reva...even smaller, and yet somehow it all made perfect sense. She was larger than life in many ways, those very ways that found absolutely fascinating.
6 O'clock. right on time. Thade hefted the duffle bag over his shoulder, greeted Tenai who showed him the way to her workshop. Of course he already knew the way but it was better this time to actually have permission to go down there than to simply venture off on his own. Adjusting the weight and he slunk downstairs, wearing tight old jeans, dusty boots, and a thermal shirt, one sleeve empty, and his old trench coat fitted over his shoulders.
His knuckles gently rapped on the door. "Hey, there. I hope I'm not interrupting your groove am I?" he asked softly, the hair now starting to grow back more conspicuously on his face. Oh, yeah, he was never shaving that deep again.
-
When Thade arrived, he caught Reva right in the middle of finalizing the prototype sketches she'd come up with in a 3D format, the hologram glowing green, aqua and blue from the island table in the middle of her work room, all the other lights shut off save for two lamps shining on the drawings splayed over the desk service.
She didn't hear the knock at first, but then she heard his voice and she turned to look at him; she had a slender pair of glasses on though it was likely more for fashion than function, a slimming black pencil skirt, an ivory blouse with a generous v-neck tucked in to the high waist of the skirt. Her slender legs were crossed at the knee, feet clad in delicate black laceup heels.
"Thade, no of course you can come in," She said, eyes sliding over his form in the doorway, a slight smirk on her lips before she seemingly snapped herself back out of it and drew her attention back to the three dimensional diagram of a prosthetic arm.
"I've already started some basic designs--I won't tell you everything I've come up with because I think a few surprises might be fun for you, but, take a seat." She said with a polite and professional smile, waving one of her skeletal hands and drawing a stool up next to her by the table.
Sure she'd been all friendly and touchy feely with him yesterday, but that had been after she'd survived a near death situation and was feeling overall pretty terrible. Today she was much more herself, and had had way too much time to think about the way Thade's lips felt on her yesterday and how they might feel in other places and nnnnope. Focus, Reva.
-
Thade sauntered in, grinning and taking the time to appreciate a morsel like her. Well, if anything she was appropriately bite-sized, he thought and sat down on a stool beside her. He set the duffle-bag on the ground beside him and reached down to unzip it. The strangeness of having to rely only on one arm, for everything. Thankfully most things were generally easy to do one-handed. Except dressing, that was always a fucking bitch.
And Sister was more than happy to help him with that.
Thade shrugged out of his jacket, letting the empty sleeve flop against the table and he tossed the jacket up and let it catch on the door hook. The holster followed and he brushed the sleeve off. "Such a hassle," he griped and reached down to pull out the mangled remains of his old prosthetic and set it on the side of the table. It had a lot in common with a crushed soda can.
"I didn't think you'd be needing this, but I brought it along anyway just in case you did," he sighed and flicked a grin at her. He twisted in the stool and leaned against the table, leaning in closer to her to get a better look at the hologram.
"Nice. Looks even better than the old one. What materials did you have in mind for it. This...is, ahem, was adamantium. Or that's what it was advertised as. I might have been cheated come to think of it. But if you have the real deal, I'll hawk up the credits for it no problem."
He shrugged at the empty sleeve, even scowled at it. "Also, did you need measurements of some kind, or are you just going to eyeball the size of the arm required? It'd be nice if it matched the other one," he laughed, sticking his tongue out at her, even caught it between his teeth.
-
The grin on his face made her blush as she watched him stride over to her, and she refocused her eyes on the diagram, feeling his scent wash over her as he took some of his clothes off, got comfortable and sat down next to her. It sent an invisible shiver down her spine, made her senses tingle, the demon in her stir.
Her breath hitched and it was rather difficult to conceal it.
Once he set the arm down on the table, she took it and held it up, levitating it from her metal hands as she slowly rotated it in the air, examining it, paying particular attention to the inside.
"It wasn't necessary, but it is interesting. I will need measurements, so I'll need you to remove your shirt, actually, here--"
She waved one hand over to him, his old arm still floating in front of her, and the buttons on his shirt flew open, the fabric pulling itself from his frame to hang over on a coat hook, while her other hand tapped a spot on the table twice and the hologram disappeared. She stood up from her stool, patting the table.
"Hop on up. I've some plans for yes, adamantium, the real shit, a stainless steel and silicone core with electromagnetic gel to fuse the electronics with your nerves. It should be lighter, comfier, and feel a little more natural. You'll also be able to receive sensory data from the fingertips, meaning," She looked up at him once he was up on the table and momentarily lost her train of thought.
The way the table lamps shone harsh light on his toned torso was... Incredibly distracting.
"Meaning, ah," She took in a sharp breath and turned to dig around in some metal drawers and cabinets, finding measuring tape and pulling up a digital note pad that hovered by her left arm. "You'll be able to feel things again. Warm, cold, soft, sharp, etcetera."
She turned to face him again and didn't give herself time to linger, instead taking the measuring tape and starting measuring his arm, or what was left of it, entering in the data values which would automatically transfer to the 3d diagram for her later.
-
There went the buttons. Thade jerked back in surprise when the buttons flew open on that shirt and then was promptly yanked from his from. Like she did this all the time. Maybe she did - she was really good at playing coy, come to think of it. Thade fought hard to conceal his amusement at that notion and he got up from the stool and throw himself up on the table like she'd instructed.
This was a business meeting after all. And even if he saw the way she was looking at him, like a piece of meat dangling in front of a starving vagrant. Perhaps a not so apt description, but he kept his eyes on her eyes as they well, were not looking at his face.
Thade was well-built, athletic with broad shoulders and abdomen roughly hewn from years of hard labor. Thade supposed there was an upside to growing up underground. They were never allowed more food than necessary, and he was beaten when he stole an extra pot pie once. His form was lean and mean, the shadows stark in that dim lighting.
And as she looked at him, he twitched his pectorals, flexing them and he chewed on his lip, letting her measure his arm without complaint.
"It'd be nice to feel things again. Would it feel more natural for other people too? Or just like a cold clammy hand against them?" he asked and flexed his pecs again. Because wasn't nearly distracted enough.
-
O-Oh, oh okay, and there he was just uh... Flexing... His pecs, uh, okay. Um. Wow.
She caught herself staring, and maybe her mouth was slightly open, uh right. Yeah. MEASUREMENTS. She closed her mouth, forcing herself to stare at his arm while she realized she temporarily forgot how numbers worked. Fuck, could guys flex their pecs that much? Well yes obviously clearly he just did it, but she'd never seen that in person before or well no that implied she actually had seen it ever on tv or something, she'd just heard of it but--aaaand he was doing it again.
"... Uh, I... Yes. I mean. It won't feel cold, the more you use it and what you use it for it'll conduct the electricity and warm up on the outside much like a real arm, it has ventilation in the elbow joint."
She put the measuring tape back into a drawer and closed up the digital notepad, looking back at him and giving him a slight smile, ignoring the blush on her cheeks. Turning back to him she pulled the diagram back up, using her fingers to wave away parts to reveal the features underneath, which included a built in pulse laser, instant freezing capabilities, wire tapping, electronic lockpicking mechanisms, and a heated switchblade.
She shrugged, looking over at him. "Any ideas, suggestions, feel free to add some input." She found it really hard to keep her eyes on his face. Why did he have to look so beautiful? Fuck. This wasn't fair. Maybe she should get back--no, this was supposed to be... Somewhat professional.
-
Oh yes, he was thoroughly enjoying this examination. When she decided she didn't want to focus on his chest, which he adjusted so that when he breathed, it heaved and moved in time with the rest of him and he wanted to reach out with that good arm and pull her against him. And he wondered if she could sense the same touch and feel that she was proposing for his new arm.
Probably. Really, though, there was only one way to find out.
So Thade wiggled himself on the table so that he was kind of on the edge and flexed his chest again, and when she pulled up the schematic, he turned a little and swung his legs casually. And they gained enough momentum to bump the table and when it jerked he leaned forward like he was falling and expertly snatched her hand as if she was going to break his fall and pressed the palm of one of her skeletal hands against his abdomen until his feet caught ground.
"Oh shit!" he grumbled, almost toppling her over. It wasn't very subtle, but he kept her hand against him as if sliding up against his chest. "Sorry!" he hissed, letting go her hand. "Honestly, though, I like all those ideas. My only question would be, does it come in an assortment of colors?"
-
Thade was really very lucky that Reva was good in her high heels; she hadn't been sure of what he was doing until he'd already done it, lost balance and nearly pushed both of them over. She kept her footing but he had grabbed onto her hand and it was... On his chest.
She could see every breath, feel the body heat rolling off of him, feel his heartbeat. These arms weren't as sensitive as regular human ones, but she could feel enough and that was really all she needed when she barely touched anyone other than herself more than once a year.
He was pretty, he was manly, for the first time in practically forever she felt a desperate need to push him down onto that table, strip him and ride him till next morning and she wasn't even in heat, and that was the weirdest part.
It--It wasn't like she couldn't have sex any time she wanted, she just... didn't.
"I--I honestly hadn't thought about colors just yet so it can be whatever... Whatever you like." She said, fumbling a bit for words as she finally drew her gaze back up to his smug face and oh gods fucking damn him. She couldn't, couldn't do this anymore, couldn't keep a straight face.
"Stop it! I am trying to have a serious conversation with you and you keep distracting me, on purpose, with all of... All of this!" She realized she was still touching him, and quickly pulled her hand away to use it to gesture to, well, all of him.
Yet as she spoke she had a grin on her face and a light tone in her voice because honestly even she couldn't resist that, not when he was being such a dork. A pretty dork, but one nonetheless.
Regardless, she gave him a light flick on the shoulder as she looked him in the eyes, something like a playful challenge glinting in hers; she was standing right in front of him, her face only a few inches from his from where she looked up at him.
"I need you to focus, so what kind of colors do you want? Something flashy I'm sure."
-
Now that the jig was up, Thade was smirking like a madman and even snorted out a cackle because his genius plan was genius, and well, maybe not so clever, but she still touched him. And she was flustered, so yeah, it was mission accomplished. Or sort of accomplished, because from her reaction was hilarious and he was grinning from ear to ear.
Or rather trying to keep his grin under control when she snapped at him. "Stop what!? I'm not doing anything! I'm keeping it all chill here, Reva," he murmured. Well sorta. Something in that rise made his eyes flick down to her bosom and he held his breath and ignored his own racing heartbeats. So that he could hone in on hers.
She was warm, really warm, and he was drawn to that heat so trying to keep himself from touching her was a whole other battle altogether. He let her wrist go, watching her hand retract from him and his body visibly shivered. Metal hand or not, the heat radiated off of her like steam out of boiling pot.
"All of this? You mean this?" he murmured, sitting up straight and twitched his left peck, then his right. Then both at the same time. Just in case she didn't catch that on the first try. Thade shrugged and pointed to her. "I mean, how do you expect me to concentrate with all of that going on? That's hardly a fair presentation. I'm just trying to focus on what you're saying."
He reached forward and let his hand reach forward to pluck at the button on her blouse. His legs wasted no time as he was perched on the table and he used his own legs to hook her in closer to him so that she was properly perched between his knees and the tip of his boot brushed against the bottom of her skirt.
"Silver's good. I like that. But black's also pretty eye-catching, like your eyes in this light. Oh yeah, I know, I'm so smooth it's scary," he chuckled, leaning forward and letting his arm slide down her side to squeeze at her hip.
-
"Bullshit you're not doing anything." She said with the slightest hint of a chuckle in her voice, a grin on her face.
She wasn't normally this... Fun. She was laughing, joking with him. That was a sight rare for even Belliel to see; yet for some reason when he was being a goofball it seemed to come so naturally. It also didn't help that he was too handsome for his own good, the toned body definitely helped. Er, didn't help.
While Thade could sense the heat radiating off her, partially her blush of embarrassment, partially the natural heat one let off when energetic or... intrigued, she could sense it on him as well and it was tugging at her, at the back of her skull, itching and poking and pushing her to play into it, to enjoy him and all he had to offer. If she did though, that would be too easy.
And then he did the pec thing again and she rolled her eyes and looked away, ignoring the pink tinging her cheeks, until he pointed to her. "What do you mean?? This is entirely work appropriate!"
Okay so what if she wanted to dress a little nicer knowing that he was coming by today and... Yeah alright. Point taken.
"I mean if it's bothering you so much then I suppose I could change out of it then." She said with a fake huff, letting him pull her closer and undo a button, feeling his boots practically trying to find their way up her skirt, gods. They were worse than a pair of teenagers together, she really thought she was better than this, but maybe not.
Well, maybe a little taste couldn't hurt.
"Mm, my eyes, is that right? Well I had no idea you could be such a natural poet, Thade." She said as an invisible force pushed him down so he was on his back on the table.
She pulled herself up to sit on her knees right in between his legs, graceful and nimble as a cat so as she leaned over him her legs brushed against his crotch, crossing at the ankles.
"So, black and silver, I'll keep that in mind. How about a hint of red? Flashy, sporty, the color of passion and fury, now those are two words that seem right up your alley Mr. Olyphant. But I've really only seen you use them one way, I wonder if you can apply them in other contexts?"
She smirked devilishly down at him, using one hand by his neck on the table to support herself while she used a free hand to slide down his torso, feeling every bump and ripple of muscle and tendon, the heat inside her burning just a little bit hotter at the idea of all the things they could do on this table.
She leaned in closer, her lips a mere inch away from his.
"But I suppose now isn't the time or place for that, is it? I mean we really are trying to do business right now, Thade. Not exactly appropriate, don't you think?"
-
Oh man, she'd dressed up that swell just for him? Now wasn't she a doll. Well, she didn't because she was working of course, and looked damn right cute in those glasses. Thade had to be honest with himself because as much as he had a weakness for women that were obviously attractive, he had bit of a thing for woman in glasses that gave themselves a dorky look, because almost every time he met one, there was a well-concealed wild side.
And boy was that fun to explore. So if Reva knew just how much he wanted to peel those clothes right off of her, she'd use her telekinesis right now to keep his hands to himself much like she'd done that night in the parking garage. That had been fun.
Now here they were all over again, except this time he was down one arm and he didn't at all expect her to shove him down against the work table. Thade thumped his head a little, looking up at her as she crawled between his legs. Damn, why did he have to be wearing jeans on this day of all days.
"Black and silver huh? Sounds about right. Like black base, silver accents, maybe red LEDS," he murmured, letting his one arm reach up to undo another button on her blouse. Thade grinned, breath hitching as he felt her leg brush against his crotch. Yeah, it was easy to get hard, maybe too easy, and as he tilted his head up, the obvious hardness pressing against the fabric of his jeans. But he made no mention of it, it wasn't like she couldn't feel it...
"Passion and fury?" he murmured in a deep-throated purr. He reached up and nipped at her lower lip. "Oh yeah, has all sorts of applications. Do you remember when we were racing? How your heart felt when you sat in that driver's seat? Heart is practically beating out of your chest." Thade's breath came soft as he licked at her lips, soft teasing kisses, his hand reaching up and around her waist to ease her body weight down onto his.
"Body taut in a frenzy, beads of sweat dotting your brow, panting heavily," he whispered, turning his head in to kiss at her neck, leaving wet kisses with suction on her throat. "Skin raw and scorched as if by a living fire, as you reaffirmed your grip, then suddenly a knot catches in your throat and you can feel yourself on the brink. And the only thing you need to send you over the edge, is that one little nudge. "
He lapped at her throat, turning his head to nibble at her ear lobe. "How can you possibly breath with all the tension caught inside? Just waiting, yearning, wanting to burst." And as he brought his mouth to her ear, he popped his lips together imitating a balloon popping, his arm vising around her, and fingers pulling up the fabric of her shirt.
-
Another button came undone on her blouse and she grinned. She could feel the tightness in his pamts, the growing tension coiling in there probably aching so badly for release but she wasn't going to give it to him that easily.
She cast a glance to the door and it shut and locked itself to prevent anyone from interrupting them, and then her attention was brought back to the man below her as he pulled her down against him. She could feel all of the heat radiating off of his body now, all of his attention on her and she loved it so selfishly. She let out a heated breath as he kissed and lapped at her neck, the sensitivity of said place sending hot shivers down her spine as he spoke and she felt herself swayed and persuaded by his words.
Oh he was definitely a poet.
"I'll admit Thade, you're the one person who's gotten me this on edge without fast cars and a racetrack." She purred, both hands now sliding down his sides, thoroughly enjoying all the curves and edges as she reached his hips and lifted her own for a second, as her telekinesis undid the button and zipper on his jeans, pulling them open enough for her fingers to slide in and brush against him directly, a cunning smirk on her face.
"There's lots of ways to relieve tension but one in particular comes to mind when I can tell you're so tense, and it involves all of that and more; sweating, panting, hearts racing," She trailed her lips against his as she spoke, fairly certain she could hear his own heart beating almost as loudly as her own.
"Me screaming your name in ectsasy while you have your way with me until neither of us can move anymore, tangled in each other with no want to escape."
She brought her lips fully down on his, catching him up in an open-mouthed, steamy kiss where they stole each other's breath away and waged war with their tongues. She pressed her hand more firmly against his length, gripping and squeezing, toying with him as she let out a soft whine into his mouth that she mixed with a moan, seeming to react best whenever he made sounds of pleasure as well.
She broke the kiss to sit up, the last few buttons of her blouse pulling themselves open as she shrugged her shoulders and slid it off, dropping it onto the floor while he could admire the decorative black lace bra she wore underneath it. She was as immacculate under her clothes as she was with them, and the fitting smirk on her face definitely hinted that this wasn't her first rodeo.
She leaned back down to take him into another heated kiss while she found his singular hand and placed it on her thigh, guiding it up the smooth skin to push up and under her skirt, giving him the permission to explore and touch whatever he liked.
"I've definitely given it some thought, and I think some of my favorite fantasies are the ones where you're taking me standing up, or against a wall, my legs wrapped around your waist... Or the ones where you tie me up and pin me down with my hands behind my back so you can do whatever you want to me."
She said it against his lips, something gleaming in those magenta eyes that wasn't normally there, perhaps that wild side of her he was so curiously seeking out.
-
Admittedly, the slamming and locking of the workshop door made Thade jump. It was easy to forget sometimes that she could just move shit with her mind so easily. But the fact that she could certainly made it convenient to keep himself plastered against this table. He didn't have to worry about pesky things like privacy. Which he of course appreciated that she kept in mind.
Thade had been busy giving attention to her neck that he only vaguely registered the pressure being relieved in his pants. In fact he didn't even have to look to know his cock was now splayed out against her body. Another small convenience he was most grateful for. Man she was just full of wonderful surprises.
"Damn," he hissed, grinning at her words, and when she kissed him, he could already feeling the tension inside of him beginning to escalate. He returned it wholeheartedly, pressing his mashed lips against hers like she might somehow steal his last breath and he was perfectly okay with that. "You're so smart. You've got good ideas. Probably the best ideas."
He was already panting and his body visibly shivered under her ghost-like touch. The feel of those skeletal hands thrilled him to the core and heat pooled in his belly. Gods, he could just melt right there. Oh yeah, they could definitely relieve a lot of tension this way. And Thade certainly had no complaints.
"I'll the best I can with the one arm," he murmured between those hot wet kisses, taking in a deep breath when he felt her hand clasp around his member. He grunted, trying to stifle a moan. A futile attempt at best because he moaned loudly against her lips, letting his teeth sink into her lower lip in a firm bite, tilting his head enough to catch her tongue and pull her into another kiss, responding to her noises with needy ones of his own.
Yeah this wasn't her first rodeo. Thank fucking gods for that. And he let his arm slide up her skirt, shoving it up on her thighs, nails leaving marks and he wasted no time squeezing, pressing his palms against her hip and wasting no time in heading for the goods. He chuckled as she spoke of her fantasies. Not because they were funny, but because as it so happened this was one of his. "Y'know I have some similar to this, and normally end with your legs wrapped around my neck. Maybe something's wrong with my accounts. In fact I had a dream of once such...hm, fantasy," he chuckled.
His fingers found molten heat, and he pressed his index and middle against the cloth of her panties, and he breathed hotly against her lips, letting himself grow even more excited at the prospect of finally being able to touch her. Thade shifted his wrist and slipped them underneath the band and he rolled them over her clit as he gave her another biting kiss.
"You phoned me, told me to come down right away because something needed approval. I forgot what it was because it doesn't matter. Couldn't pay but...you say 'We can work something out' and I'm pretty much pinned like I am now," he murmured, tilting his head. "Except it's in your office. Sometimes on the Vegas. Sometimes in a car in your garage. In fact the tighter the spaces the more interesting fit we have to make. I mean, it's the -ah!" His breath hitched the moment he felt her thumb roll over his cock's tip. "ahhh - start of every bad porno ever I knoooow."
"Gods Reva, you drive me crazy. You don't make it easy. But honey, if I wanted easy, I'd be at the nearest dollhouse. But all I want is you."
-
The sounds he made--the whines, the moans, the gasps--and the way his body responded to her every touch, it was exhilarating. She loved seeing his torso shiver and shudder with every breath, muscles so strongly accented by the sharp light and shadows of the lamps. A quick glance downward and she saw he wasn't kidding when he said he wanted her or that he enjoyed what she did to him.
She felt his hand brush up her leg, nails stinging and biting before the warmth of his hand was pressing and grinding up against her, his fingertips slipping in and playing with her. It made her breath hitch as she gasped, a rather becoming blush on her cheeks as she looked away almost a bit shyly, before giving his length a nice slow stroke and squeezing the tip carefully between her thumb and forefinger.
"Oh, so it sounds like you like it when I'm in control, hm?~" She purred, using her telekinesis to pull his hand out from under her skirt, pin his wrist down above his head.
She pulled her skirt up enough tomove her legs so she was straddling his hips. She slid one of her metal hands in between her legs, grabbing a hold of his cock as she lowered her hips down on it to rub herself against him, the fabric of her lacy underwear still in the way, almost certainly to his displeasure she was sure.
Placing both hands on the table on either side of him, she rocked her hips in a smooth motion against him, letting herself get caught up in more heated kisses as she moaned into his mouth. He was so close, so close to just slipping inside of her so the two of them could ravage each other right here with pleasure and ecstasy. She wanted so badly to feel his heated cock buried deep inside of her, for him to take control of her and work her until she was putty in his hands, and yet...
She broke the kiss to give him a sudden yet gentle bite on the neck, her sharp canines grazing the skin just strongly enough to leave marks with the slightest hint of his boiling blood, and then she drew back and slid off of him, her heels clicking delicately as she touched on the floor, licking her lips as she fixed her hair and found her blouse where it had landed earlier, pulling it back on with a content little smirk on her face.
"Unfortunately Mr. Olyphant, I have to cut my time with you short today," She said as she buttoned it back up and tucked it into her skirt, brushing herself off, "As I've other appointments to tend to today. This was a valuable meeting we've had, and I look forward to getting started on your new arm."
She paused, her telekinesis ebbing away so he could sit back up again if he so wished. She gave him a light shrug, the smirk on her face and look in her eyes still heated and full of desire, but intentionally muted.
"You may see yourself out, this room will automatically lock up once you leave so you needn't worry. Good day.~"
And with a wave of her hand all other electronics powered down, leaving just the lamplights as she left, hips swaying with that authoritative walk she had in those heels of hers, the door opening itself for her and staying open after she was gone. Leaving Thade all by his lonesome there in her workshop.
-
She made it so easy to get lost against her. It just seemed to come so naturally between them. No matter what this was. No matter if this was just a fling, or something more serious, all that he knew was that he was drawn to her for a reason neither of them could really understand. But the heat between them, that much was real enough to comprehend. And that was what Thade focused on when he felt her suddenly change gears.
"When you're in control? Honey, i just like it when we're fucking so hard my eyes roll back so that i can see my brain,' Thade laughed and abruptly gasped when her hand grasped him. He bit his lip and curled his head back against the table exposing his neck as she positioned herself so that she was imitating riding him.
He was practically melting against her and even the lace that chafed against him. He could probably tear through that if it weren't for the fact that she kept his hand planted on either side of his head. Thade let the motion take him away for a good long moment until....
"Wait, what? Hey. Reva!" he hissed when his eyes shot open and she removed herself from him. He lifted his head and watched her fix herself up. "UUUUUGH.... Come on....!" he sighed and turned over and laid his head out against the cold metal of the table.
A growl of frustration and he knew he couldn't just let himself walk out of there with a slick turgid member that she was just so keen to walk away from. Welp, she'd left him here in the dark, who was going to know? So he reached down and grasped his member firmly, gripping it and letting himself ease into the fantasy of what could have been should it not have been cut so short.
With a grunt and shudder he was relieved and tried to catch the mess in a cup, but got half of it on her table and the other half in a cup she'd probably never want to use again. Ever. And deposited it in a waste bin as he dropped from the table and settled his clothes back on. "What a fucking night, or just 'night' for lack of fucking," Thade murmured, settling his shirt back on and fumbling with the buttons. Because that was always more difficult one handed.
The door shut behind and he brought the empty duffle bag with him, walking up the stairs and seeing that most of the workers were starting to clear out. Thade shrugged his jacket back over his shoulders and walked down the corridor past the large hangar where the Vegas still hung in limbo.
And it was there he heard a voice that made him freeze in place. Fuck. No. No. "FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" he hissed to himself and when he heard a clatter and a bang he rushed into the open hangar door, dropping the empty bag down on the ground, seeing her there, like she was a fucking ghost. And the only heat he felt now was that of white hot rage.
"SPECTRE!"
In only moments prior to that, the ghost that had been Thade's ex-lover watched Reva leave the workshop with ice-blue eyes, cold, bereft of any sympathy. How sweet. Poor little Thade found someone willing to lick his wounds.
"I hope you had fun, you little slut," she laughed as she poofed from her hiding place and appeared in the main hangar, sitting on the Vegas' hull, criss-cross applesauce.
-
Reva had had every intention of going up to her room to change into something a little more comfortable, perhaps take a shower even, but something told her to hang back and so she did.
She stood by and watched for a few moment as her coworkers filed out, wiping grease off their hands with old rags, laughing and joking with each other while they took off their jumpsuits and made plans to go grab a few beers. She waved to Roy and a few of the others, who were happy to see their other boss back and in good working condition.
It was once everyone was gone she started to move again, and she thought she heard something. Stopping and turning on her heel, her magenta hues scanned the hangar and she thought she heard Thade's voice shout something like Specter? Spectra? Spectral? Odd. Then she caught onto the movement, something by the Vegas.
Ah. A thief, a saboteur, potentially the woman who stole the ship the last time if the tone of Thade's voice was anything to go by. Well, there was no need to let him get worked up about it--this was something she could handle by herself.
She quickly pulled off her heels, setting them down quietly behind a shelving unit full of tools while the strange woman was distracted. Security systems now would be heard to breach without the proper access codes, which this woman now did not have. In the meantime, it gave Reva a few extra moments to put a little more focus into her telekinesis. Self-levitation was not something that she practiced often, mostly because she just wasn't a fan of it, but it had its uses.
She lifted herself up to the metal trusses in the high ceilings, nothing more than thin catwalks to her as she snuck her way over to the Vegas while this "Spectre" was busy trying to hack her way into Thade's life. Once Reva was poised just above her, she slid off the side and jumped down, using her powers to soften her fall so she landed silently, crouched and poised like a cat, a beam of light making her eyes glint as she watched this woman with light hair.
"So I see Thade has a talent for making enemies as much as he has a thing for girls with light hair."
Reva commented, her voice breaking the silence like the shattering of glass, so suddenly right behind this stranger when she hadn't been there before.
She stood up straight, head slightly tilted to the side as her golden arms started shifting, metal opening and hissing as they transformed into two golden battering ram-like arms that levitated on either side of her (http://file.toyhou.se/images/2081971_2hoCaNyh2oo7mVB.png?1479974165)--they likely weighed a fuck ton and would hurt like hell to get swatted by.
"So, you gonna stand down or am I gonna have to beat your sorry, pasty white ass to a pulp before you learn when to stop beating a dead horse?"
She said it with a dry tone in her voice and a passive aggressive fake smile. She wasn't going to waste time playing with this bitch--one look and she could tell she was nutty.
-
Seeing the ghost that Spectre had become, atop the Vegas as if she owned it, sent a cold chill down Thade's back. And made him sick to his stomach. He knew it was inevitable that somehow Spectre would find some way to cross paths with him again, find a way to ruin him because he was her personal source of amusement. Even when they had been together, everything had been because she wanted it, because she thought he had some worth, and when she found he was no longer, she discarded him like yesterday's garbage.
So when she saw him, and his eyes remained locked on hers, Thade's expression grew grim and that smirk on her face - that infuriating fucking grin - made his blood boil with rage. "GET! OFF! MY! FUCKING! SHIP!" his voice bellowed up and outward, echoing loudly throughout the hangar and Thade dashed forward, only barely registering that Reva was now behind her.
"Oh, man. I've love what you've done with this hunk of junk, Thadey-baby!" she cackled, throwing her head back to laugh. And when she threw her head back only then did she see Reva behind her with those massive arms. Reva was such a slight thing in comparison to those arms, and that smirk grew wider. "So the little whore's got toys huh? No surprise there!"
And Spectre immediately poofed from immediate danger, teleporting behind her and kicking Reva in the back before running and leaping up onto the catwalk, glowering down between her and Thade, and most especially at Reva. She was going to skin her and turn her into shoes.
Thade cursed harshly and looked up toward the trusses and where Spectre was hiding, her eyes reflective in the dark and he flew up toward a side ladder, climbing up with a great deal of difficulty until he was on a flat surface. He just needed to get high enough to shoot that bitch right between the eyes.
-
Reva had been expecting a counterattack, but not with teleportation. Her backside was wide open when Spectre disappeared and reappeared behind her and kicked her. It caught her off guard as she fell forward, but was able to regain her composure quickly enough to tuck into a roll and come up in a crouch as she looked up and saw the ghost of a woman jump up into the rafters again.
Crafty little minx, wasn't she?
Something mischievous glimmered in the cyborg's eyes as she grinned and jumped up after her, landing on the rafter as she faced the girl head on, or was about to anyways, when she noticed Thade making such a commotion down below. She cast a glance downward at the man, snorting a little as an invisible force suddenly pinned him down once he was off the ladder, keeping him from getting involved further.
"Sorry Thade, but this is official company business. Having you get involved would be a liability. I'm sure you can understand." She smirked then, and... Winked at him. "Leave this to me."
She turned back to Spectre, something inside of her burning with excitement at the prospect of a good fight. A teleporter and a telekinetic, who would win, she wondered?
Somewhere in the hangar, a few switches were flipped and every ship, finished and non, became awash in a glow of aqua light as protective force fields formed around the vessels, protecting them from any kind of attack, both physical and non.
"This is your last warning. This is private company property, and as the Chief Operating Officer of Galley La, I am ordering you to vacate the premises immediately."
Spectre just let out a harsh cackle. "Ooh, you're a boss? You'd be so scary if you didn't look like a pathetic little girl! I guess Thade's really dropped his standards, I didn't know he was into children!"
Reva's grin turned into a nasty one, aided by the sharp glare as she stared the woman down. That hit a nerve. That really hit a fucking nerve.
Spectre teleported again, and this time she was ready. She appeared above Reva this time, and Reva reacted quickly enough, one of her great arms swinging rapidly upward and smacking Spectre down, the heavy weight of the solid metal sending her flying out of the air and shooting down into the ground hard enough to crack the cement as she hit the floor.
Reva tilted her head, shifting her weight onto one hip, watching the dust settle as the woman pushed herself off from the floor, sputtering and coughing.
"Are you done yet?" She asked, her tone frighteningly level. Could the fight really be over that quick? How disappointing.
-
He made it high up enough and just when he was about to pull out his pistol, Reva's telekinesis held him down with impunity. What in the hell!? Thade scowled, and even though he caught her wink, the fact that he wouldn't have the chance to finish this bitch once and for all, made him seethe inside. All he could do was watch helplessly as Spectre was made a snarky remark.
And then was promptly put down like the rabid dog that she was. For a second Thade didn't know what he saw in her at all, from the beginning. Whatever she was now, wasn't the person he had given years of his life for. She tried to break him by the end of it, and here she was now, trying to break him still.
Although he was thankful for Reva's intervention, the fact that they had someone attempting to interfere at all made them sick. This better be the first and last time that Spectre was going to try and interrupt something good. He was done with her.
Spectre emerged from a cloud of dust and she cracked her neck when she was on her feet again. Damn she hit hard with her little toys. Hm, big toys in this case. She scowled however at this tiny thing with giant arms that didn't seem to understand what wasn't hers. With a grunt she pried off a steel corded pipe from the concrete flooring. "Not by a long shot!" Spectre hissed and where she stood she raised the pipe as if she were to throw it.
She held back and just as her arm was going to set it loose, she turned invisible and teleported back up mid-air and just as the steel pipe came flying toward Reva, Spectre reappeared just beside her and jabbed the steel into a partition within her left arm, and poofed back out of reach again. Well fuck, of course she had to protect her little ships too, but why she bothered with Thade, she didn't know.
"Why bother protecting Thade anyway? He's a pissant little shit, with raisins for balls," she hissed and spat the was of blood in her mouth that she'd been saving right into Reva's face. "He's a complete waste of time. Well yours anyway. I've got nothing better to do."
She didn't stay in one spot for long and kept moving again to slug Reva left then right, zipping passed her once, then again from behind. Can't hit what you can't catch, right? It couldn't be said exactly what Spectre was, even she didn't know, but she hit like a truck and was determined to make this little 'girl' a pile of mush soon enough.
-
Reva raised her eyebrows slightly as this stranger pried up a piece of steel pipe from the floor, obviously not just some crazy ex girlfriend to be taken lightly. She managed to catch Reva again, though the cyborg girl moved her arm just enough so that the jab of the pipe didn't take out too much important material, the sounds of metal shrieking against metal echoing off the walls and the hulls of the protected ships, before the pipe dropped and was sent clattering and banging down to the floor below.
Reva was fairly good at dodging and deflecting most blows, or rolling with the ones that did hit. One punch aimed for her face she managed to duck under, but was sent flying with a kick that caught her in the legs. She twisted her body and turned mid-air, landing on all fours on a cat walk ten feet below the previous.
"I can see that," She called up in response to the comment that this woman had nothing better to do, clearly. "You've far too much time on your hands if you can't admit to yourself that you're not over an old boyfriend."
Spectre reappeared and aimed another punch for her face. This one Reva caught with one of her metal hands; she squeezed, aiming to crush and break bones as she pulled Spectre toward her and caught her other hand, the two of them suddenly very close.
"What a way to waste your time, obsessing over someone who hasn't spoken of you once." She sneered, leaning in to the pale woman's face.
To be completely honest, had this been any other set of circumstances and this woman less crazy, Reva might have been attracted to her, the fight only aiding in that fact. But as things were now, not really much of a chance of that. Too bad.
"Get out of my sight." Reva growled, showing her teeth as she reeled back and threw Spectre again, this time hard enough to send her flying where she broke the glass through one of the roof's skylights, out of the building and back into the normal world of Cancer.
Two hologram screens flickered to life on either side of Reva and she pressed a few buttons, and the facility went under lockdown. A shield was raised up just outside of the building, preventing any physical entity from getting inside. As she did so, the sounds of footsteps running through the halls approached and a small group of men came in through the main hangar entrance from the lobby, along with Belliel and Tenai.
"Oi, Reva, what happened?!" A man with long black hair called up to her, one Thade might recognize as he was often seen giving orders around the shop and working closely with Reva.
She turned and looked down at them, her arms shifting back to their normal skeletal forms. "It's fine, I already took care of it, Roy. Day late and a dollar short."
She let up her powers that were holding Thade down, now letting him free as she jumped down from the rafters and landed on the floor, gracefully standing up and putting her shoes back on.
"That so? Aw man, you never let us have any fun." Roy teased a little, an unlit cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
"Aye, cuz if she didn't then she wouldn't be doing her job." Belliel said with a proud puff of her chest, leaning down to pat Reva's shoulder, before noticing Thade. "Ah, Mr. Olyphant, it's after hours now you know. You should head home, unless--" She got a playful look on her face before Reva interrupted her, looking up at Thade and smiling at him.
"Oh, no, he was just heading home."
"Are you sure you don't want him to spend the night?~"
"Don't push your luck, Bell."
-
One of the few moments you needed a camera and didn't have one. The kind of moment that required an immediate replay over and over again and would be saved for posterity. Thade's eyes were practically bulging out of his head when he saw Spectre cascading out of the roof skylight of Galley La's hanger, launched like a sack of fucking potatoes!
Good gods!
The sound that followed Thade's open mouth was rather inhuman in the sheer joy it had, enjoying that mental playback over and over again. A quick glance up saw the black bulb of a camera. Security footage, excellent! He'd have to remember to ask Reva for a clip of that later.
When the hold of him was released, he scrambled down from the small ledge he was on and slipped down the ladder with a thud of his boots, meeting up with the rest of the group, and falling in right beside Reva. No doubt all that commotion would draw a crowd. And he wondered if some of the personnel had been watching the camera footage.
And Thade secretly hoped everyone else enjoyed watching that woman being flung out of the skylight as much as he did.
"I'm...I'm really fucking sorry, Belliel," he said, pressing his hand to his own face. "You okay Reva? That was...a really wildly entertaining show." A flickered grin, showing white teeth. "You need to send me that clip. Because that was absolutely legendary! I need to show Sister too."
Long fingers softly graced her cheek, a minor affection and temporarily ignoring everyone else in the room. "Thanks for that. I would have lost it if she hurt you too." Something about him leaving...something about there being other people present.
And then he remembered where he was. "Yeah, I guess I better go. We were just...finalizing some designs," he said. "I'll come by tomorrow. We'll discuss more then."
If someone told Thade he had a skip to his step, he'd inform them that they had, "Nooooo, idea!" With a massive grin spreading ear to ear. He had a field day telling Sister all about that little incident with Spectre. It was all That could hope that Reva sent her out to crystalize somewheres in deep space. Because other than burn in the pits of hell, that bitch deserved nothing short of immense suffering.
The next day he found himself back at Galley La, and had himself better dressed up than the previous night. The plan today was to possibly get some real work done, and not just succumb to a bit of bump and grind as it were. To finalize the proper details.
"Hey, Tenai," he said casually, sliding his hand across the front desk. "How ya doing, girl? I don't think we've spoken much. I don't know about you but I'm having a wonderful day. What about you?"
-
Reva smirked, obviously appreciating Thade's enthusiastic compliments; really, it hadn't been much, she'd just been doing her job after all. But when he reached out and gently stroked her face she felt heat rise into her cheeks as she started to blush, and looked away, reaching up with a hand to obscure her small smile.
Roy raised his eyebrows, meeting her gaze and making her roll her eyes, though her mood wasn't sullied by any means.
The next day was another day like normal; shields were down, and the workers were back at it, building and repairing the ships in the hangar and making the usual sounds and messes they always did. Today, Reva was up there with them, going over final details with Roy before picking up a welding torch and getting to it on the Vegas.
Tenai's job on the other hand was much simpler. Well, it would have been, if she didn't have to deal with smug customers like Thade all the time.
She looked up from her electronic files and folders, watching Thade as he approached, inwardly cringing.
"Is that so? Well I'm glad to hear that, Mr. Olyphant. My day is going just fine, just lots of paperwork. The usual." She gave him a gentle smile as the sounds of a pair of footsteps accompanied by idle chatter echoed down the hallway and into the main lobby.
Reva and Roy emerged together, just as she gave Roy a playful nudge with her hips, the two of them clearly in a good mood and joking together, a rare sight for Reva indeed. She saw Thade though and had to try desperately to not let her smile get any bigger as she cleared her throat, nodding a farewell to Roy as he passed by Thade and went down another hallway.
"Alright Thade, let's get back to work on that arm of yours, shall we?" She asked with a polite smile, trying to keep everything professional as she grabbed a tablet handed to her by Tenai, and waited for Thade to follow her down the stairs to her private workshop.
-
To have a semblance of normalcy, even after the fight from last night, was something Thade couldn't have been more grateful for. He missed his arm, for obvious reasons, but he couldn't have been happier. Giddy, might have been an excellent word for it. And yet, it didn't quite cover all the bases, as far as he was concerned.
Thade knew Tenai didn't like him. She wasn't going to put a damper on his day. Nothing could put a damper on it! Fuck, the Vegas could be completely wrecked head to toe, and he'd still be beaming, teeth flashing sharply between his black beard and mustache.
"Ah, well that's excellent to hear. You have a nice day, Tenai. And...for the record, I'm sorry for any headaches I may have caused you, y'know from the very beginning." Thade winked at her and finally turned around to meet their new company. Ah, well, she wasn't alone. Which was fine. It was completely fine. She knew everyone here better than he did.
Thade glanced up to Roy, sizing him up. Because, why not? He seemed very friendly with Reva. Very fucking friendly. Not that she couldn't have any friends... Oh...right.
"Yeah, I'm coming," he murmured, looking down to Reva's hips, just the part where one of them bounced off Roy's and he followed her downstairs to that workshop. Thade slipped out of his jacket, rolling out of the coat and setting it on the hook. "You're in a good mood," he commented.
Another look at her, up and down, seeing if anything was out of place. Nope... nothing. "Any particular reason for that delicious smile?" he snickered, beaming and leaning against the table, about to cross his arm over his chest, missing the other one to tuck into his elbow.
Whoops.
-
Reva ignored Thade's looks, having a vague idea of what was going on. She had nothing to hide, so she paid no mind to it. She was having a good day today, and male jealousy wasn't about to ruin it for her.
Today she was wearing simple black jeans and a tucked in t-shirt. There were minor grease stains, but overall nothing too horrible. The ruggedness of the clothes suggested that she obviously didn't care.
She glanced over her shoulder at Thade, smirking when he asked as they entered her workshop and the lights came on automatically, computer systems silently booting up. "Well I have good news for you. The Vegas should be finished by the end of the week. Your arm may still take a bit longer, waiting on supplies, but after that you'll be free from Galley La."
Or at least he would be until his ship inevitably got trashed some other time in the not-too-distant future.
She pulled up the hologram on the island table where she and Thade had been the night previous, pulling up the diagram of his work in progress arm, and for a brief moment she felt a bit of disappointment.
Meant he probably wouldn't be dropping by as often, and that whatever this thing was between them... It'd fizzle out.
No matter. That was life. She didn't let any of her conflicting feelings show, instead looking over at him and giving him what looked like a genuine smile.
"Excited to sail among the stars on your own again?"
-
He should have been more focused on the task at hand. On the fact that his ship - the Vegas. The vessel he'd fought tooth and nail and felt an almost father-like attachment to whenever anything horrible happened to it- was going to be completed soon and finally - FINALLY - be fucking finished!
And all that money that he'd spent on repairs. On that hotel tab...on worrying himself into almost being murdered by that monster boss of hers Belliel - and carefully discovering the more time he came to Galley La, the less he was actually giving a damn about that fucking ship.
Because he was starting to give more of a damn about something so much more important.
"Oh, that's great news," he said, blinking and coming back to reality. Everything kind of screeched inside his head for that long painful second, nails digging into the back of his brain, his heart scrambling to collect itself to a regular rhythm.
He grinned, that boyish curve still playing on the edge of his lips. "Yeah, yeah. I actually think I ought to be getting back out there a soon as possible. All these repairs burned quite a damn hole in my accounts, I've still got to make a living. Sister keeps spooning me while I'm sleeping," he snorted. "I can't take that for the next 6 months. Not unless the heat goes out. But you didn't hear that from me."
The giggle that came out of him sobered. "You'll finally be rid of me. Except...maybe not. I plan on visiting as often as possible," he leaned in, sliding his hip alongside her work desk, his back to the hologram.
"I know you'll be good, throwing yourself back into your work. But, hey, if you ever get lonely, you just give me a call. I'll turn that ship around so fast, you won't even have time to blink before I'm at your door," he chuckled. "I'd hate to imagine you all alone. Or...with anyone else, eh."
-
There was a brief moment where he took slightly too long to respond to the news that Reva looked up at hin, raising her eyebrows. For someone like Thade who practically lived and breathed for his ship, that sure was a meek response at first.
But then it seemed to sink in and he was grinning, perhaps she'd just caught him off-guard. She let out a snort at the comment about Sister, going through the diagram and rerunning some of her equations on a tablet to make sure everything so far was in order before continuing on. She was already noticing a few mistakes because he'd done such a wonderful job of distracting her yesterday.
"You want to come and visit, hm? Not often that we get visitors for anything other than repairs, you might just be the first." She said, doing well to hide how happy that idea made her and instead making it seem more like amusement in her voice than anything else.
But the comment about her being with someone else made her pause, sparing a glance at him with one eyebrow raised in skepticism.
"You really think I'm that popular?"
Reva snorted a little, going back to her work. To be completely honest, she wasn't sure what even Thade saw in her that would make him want to come back. She wasn't really that great of a person.
"But I'll keep that in mind--I kind of enjoy your company now. But you didn't hear that from me." She gave him a wink, calculations finishing. She made a few corrections, ran them again, and seemed much more satisfied to continue on.
"So, this design is mostly finished, so if there are any last minute requests you have now would be the time to add them before I order the rest of the parts and get started."
-
No matter how much Thade loved his ship, worked hard for it, upgraded and upkept it, it would never in a million years replace a person. His ship was the essence of his work and his life but it wasn't all he was. He was starting to feel that he didn't want it to be either. Thade shifted around a bit and faced her designs, eyeing the digital schematics and reaching out to touch them.
Almost. He was really reaching out in a vain attempt to grasp a manifestation of something visible and yet intangible. A ghostly visual that whirred when his fingers threaded through it's grid.
"I think that's fine enough," he said, gazing past her and down to her hip again. "I am a bit curious about your staff though. We don't talk about them, I know, but they're people you work with, so I figured if I'm going to be visiting, maybe it's best I figure out who to best steer clear from, and who I can bribe with little knick-knacks here and there."
"Let's take Roy, for instance," he said, giving a nonchalant shrug. "How long have you known him?"
-
There was a brief moment of silence after she posed her question where Thade, mesmerized by the design blueprints of his new arm, tried to reach out and touch it. Had it been anyone else she'd have blatantly made fun of them, calling them out on the fact that it was a fucking hologram of course you can't feel it dumbshit. But because it was him, she stayed quiet, and watched out of observatory curiosity more than anything else.
The way the blue and green lights highlighted his features, the look on his fave and in his eyes as his thoughts were carried somewhere else. Call her weird but... She thought he almost looked kind of beautiful there like that.
She took in a quick breath and looked back to her calculations, running through them again and finalizing the list of materials so she could order them today when he spoke again, his choice of conversation topic pertaining to people rather than the project at hand.
She gave him a sideways look out of the corner of her eyes, raising her eyebrows at him, a slight smirk crossing her features before she looked back down to her work.
"Ahh, yes, my coworkers. Well, Roy is a good place to start. He's number three on who has been here the longest, right behind Bell and I." As she spoke she pulled up various windows, inputting different information.
"Naturally, we have a history, just from working together so long. We might have had a fling once or twice." Or ten times. Or twenty. Really only once a year but neither of them complained and he was an honorable enough person not to go blabbing about it to everyone he knew.
She shrugged. "I've probably known him around ten years or so. He's a good man. He bothered you that much, hm?"
She finally looked up at him and when she did she had a sly, devilish smirk on her face that probably looked way too good on her.
-
It was an easy expectation that Reva with have a history with everyone that worked here. What kind of history exactly, Thade couldn't say. Established bonds didn't have to be explained to anyone, much less himself. Still, she was rather...hmm, nonchalant about mentioning that little fling she had with Mr. Roy.
And then Thade's expression grayed. He tried to play it off, giving her a cool smile and shaking his head. "What!? NAaaaaaaaah," he chuckled. "I mean, you've known him for 10 years. That kind of thing happens from time to time with people, depending on how close you are to them. If he's a good guy, then I don't say I blame you."
Roy was...Roy. And Thade realized then now little he really knew about the guy, or any of the other staff that Reva worked with. Thade felt his stomach lurch and played it off with nonchalance of his own.
"But, I guess, sometimes the chemistry is just right you know?" Thade turned to face her, unsure how he felt about it. And the thought of her with anyone else just...made him sick.
He swallowed, his throat awfully dry and prickly and shifted so that his hand reached down to squeeze at her hip, shrugging his opposite hip to squeeze himself between her and the table, and encouraging her to lean against him. "Think our chemistry is just as good?" he purred, grinning down at her.
-
It took a LOT of self control to keep Reva from snickering. She could hear the catches in his voice, and she might have glanced up at the right moment to see that streak of horror? Seriousness? Dread? Cross his face. It was all too easy to figure what might be going through his mind and she liked it. She liked the attention. Even if it was incredibly selfish.
Then he mentioned that sometimes chemistry was just that great, and she thought briefly about her meeting with a Pilot in Aedolis, and her moments with Roy, and then with Thade. She tilted her head a little as she nodded.
"Mhm."
Yep, obviously, sometimes chemistry just worked out like that. Of course she knew.
Finally it seemed he just couldn't take it anymore and he wedged himself in between her and the table and she let out a soft huff, looking up at him with eyebrows raised in amusement, the corners of her lips turning up in a slight smile.
"Our chemistry? Well I should think that'd be a question you're just as capable of answering, Mr. Olyphant."
Her gaze dropped down to the diagrams behind him but he was doing a pretty decent job of blocking them, so she just stepped to the side to get around him and get back to work. Not because she wasn't interested in the conversation--in fact, she was incredibly interested in it, but she wasn't going to give that away so easily. She wanted to see him squirm a bit.
-
Dread - the feeling of oncoming despair. And the anxiety that quickly replaced it was more evident in Thade's expression than he wanted. He hated the thought of Reva with anyone else, and although he tried to be as nonchalant about it as possible, he wanted only to throw her on that table and take right then and there.
So as he was pressed between the table and her, or was rather, until she moved away... Thade grimaced and made a frustrated growl. She was intent on not making this a big thing...then fine. It wasn't a big thing.
Thade pushed himself off the table and dug his hand into Reva's collar, pulling her close and the look of solemn want present in hooded eyes. He breathed in deep, feeling his blood immediately running hot. "You know you talk a big game, woman," he sniffed, voice low and dangerous. "You've got fancy arms and a mean boss, and a loud ass burning temper. But when it comes down to it, you're all talk."
He hissed something under his breath and pulled her into a deep consuming kiss, his arm snaking around the back of her head. What the hell was this? This self-possession? It was one thing to be jealous because she slept with someone else, and quite another to know that she'd been more willing to give with someone that seemed only a casual work friend.
Surely if it was just business then that was that. But what did Roy have that Thade simply didn't? Yeah he was jealous. He was downright angry, and it showed in the way his teeth bit down on Reva's lower one, sliding his tongue along it to soothe the ache, tiliting his head just enough to catch his breath. He wasn't going to break that kiss, not for the life of him.
-
She heard the growl, and she'd have been lying if she said it didn't send a little shiver up her spine. Considering how much of a trouble Thade had been in the beginning, what hell he'd caused her just by showing up and not reading a goddamn instruction manual, she felt entirely justified in torturing him now. She wouldn't call it being petty, but it could be a little bit of payback--that, and she just really loved it when he got all riled up.
She sure as shit hadn't expected the sudden aggression though; her shirt collar was grasped in Thade's remaining hand and she was pulled close, and she saw anger burning in the depths of his eyes along with some other things that she could recognize all too well.
She wasn't talking a big game at all; she knew perfectly well what she was doing. She just wasn't going to tell him that.
"I don't--" She started to argue, a bit of defiance flaring up in her that was suddenly put to a halt when Thade's lips were crashing against her own and he possessively fought against her to claim her as his own.
And she fucking loved it.
She let out a soft noise of surprise as he bit down on her lip, letting her body give a light shudder against him as intense waves of heat rolled up her spine. She willingly parted her lips for him, letting him in; she was all for him getting aggressive, be it jealousy or frustration at her games or a mix of all of the above, she didn't care. She loved it when a guy she was interested in took charge, perhaps because it made her feel like she was something worth fighting over.
Regardless, she let her muscles relax, pressing herself closer to him as she returned the passionate kiss with feverish want, moaning into it, sliding her tongue along his own and whining for more. One hand rested on his backside, the other dipped to his groin to tease and play against him through the fabric of his pants, trying to coax him into pushing things further, because she absolutely wanted things to go that way.
Today she had zero intentions of stopping anything whatsoever, as long as he played his cards right and kept up this possessive passion.
-
If Thade knew better - really stepped outside himself and examined just what the hell was going on - he probably would have seen just how well Reva was playing him. Probably. He was practically limp on the strings she had him wriggling on. And deep down, maybe he did know and gods' balls fuck it if he cared. Thade Olyphant, smuggler, businessman, all around idiot wanted to be on her strings, to be wrapped up all around her like a space parasite with separation anxiety.
Ok, maybe not that clingy, but the picture was enough to get him to secure the only arm he currently had around her neck and hook it against his shoulder. He parted his lips from hers only long enough to breathe, a sharp intake before he tilted his head the opposite way and slunk it in against her mouth.
The kisses were sloppy, no guile whatsoever, hungered and Thade moaned with want - no, need. "Damn you Reva," he hissed, voice a deep-throated timbre, a growl and rumble that erupted from deep inside his chest. "I want you. I care for you, dammit. Don't throw away something good."
Another low hiss, feeling the tension growing in his pants, releasing her from that hooked grasp long enough to assist her hand to releasing that tension, undoing his belt and zipper deftly and slipping her hand inside. Thade lunged back in for another hungered kiss, grinding against her hand and leaning against her, to sit her on her work table, has hand tugging at the buttons of her shirt, pulling it down and dragging his mouth to her chest, lapping at her left breast, and feeling the heat that radiated off of her.
He was drawn to it like a lodestone, and moaned as he felt her heart beat against him, and murmured her name between laps, a soft needful lullaby.
-
The passion and frustration he felt was translated so well between their lips; the sloppiness of their kisses and the huffs of his breath against her sent tingles racing along her spine down to her toes, and it was all perfectly predictable. She would havebeen perfectly content if they had said nothing but each other's names for the next hour or so while they got lost in each other, but Thade, it seemed, was determined to catch her off-guard, and even if it had been unintentional, it worked.
He said he cared about her and it was enough to make her pause, opening her eyes to look at him as if he'd grown a second head, unsure how to respond--thankfully, he didn't give her enough time to, catching her up in a kiss yet again while her heart fluttered and melted a little.
They hadn't known each other terribly long, and for all she knew he was just saying that to make extra sure he got into her pants this time, but something in her responded and wanted to believe it. She wanted to so much more than she'd have ever thought.
Her hand was slid into his pants and she grinned into their kiss, stroking his length with her fingertips before wrapping her hand around him and tugging, almost squeaking when she was suddenly lifted up and placed on the table, her shirt popped open so he could play with what lay beneath.
The green and blue lights that he'd been fascinated with before now bounced and reflected off of her, the colors highlighting her shapes, all her curves and edges, making her eyes shine as she pulled her hands away from him just long enough to take her shirt off completely before starting to work his off as well, eager to see what he'd do when he realized she was going to let him go that far this time. No tricks or games, he'd earned it well enough.
One hand moved to thread her fingers through his hair as he lapped away at her breast; the other hand reached down to undo the clasp and zipper of the shorts she'd been wearing--not pulling them down just yet, but moreso to tease him and invite him in for more.
"You've been good, so I'll reward you.~" She purred, her breath hitching as he toyed with her and made her bite her lip, the position too awkward for her to grope him again, so she brushed a leg up against him instead before spreading her thighs to hook her calf around him and draw him in closer so he could grind against her directly, the softest of moans escaping her as she did so.
-
To say she'd got him all hot and bothered was really saying the least. Thade was burning up and each kiss became more and more fevered. It was too bad he only had one arm, because he could do a whole lot more with two than one. But, that just meant he'd have to get more creative with what he did have. Thade whimpered and moaned softly between those hungered kisses.
Already his lips were sore with want, with need, his throat growing raw with the soft noises she inspired in him. She could know exactly what she was doing, play him like the fiddle he was. Heh, another thing to be put rather lightly. She was playing with something but it wasn't exactly a fiddle.
The moment her hand grasped around his length, his body shuddered. There was no use in suppressing that shiver. He couldn't and as much as he'd been waiting for this, he paused and pulled his mouth away from her chest, taking in a deep breath, the scent of her, the very energy she possessed and the blood inside that called to him.
Heat and fire. That was what he responded to. A desire that stemmed above and beyond mere physical need. Thade looked her in the eyes and although he was hanging out of his pants, he paused and looked up at her, bending his knees and kissing down along her body. He focused on a trial of heat, where it radiated most and although she was still wearing her shorts, he dipped his hand into it, feeling for that heat.
"I've earned it huh? A good boy? I can be real good, even better," he purred against her stomach and gently coaxed her hips to lift form the table so that he could pull those shorts down. "Because I don't think you've been a very good girl. But it's the ripened fruit that tastes the sweetest." He pushed them low enough and...when it just wasn't, he tugged them down harshly, yanking them from her legs and falling back into the cage of her thighs. He was forceful enough to yank her hips forward on that table so that she was resting either on her elbows or her back and he dipped his head down to suck at the skin on the inside of her thigh.
"Unless you have something to say to plead your case, I'm afraid I'll need to hear you scream."
Thade moaned hungrily and traced lips along her belly, finding her clit and lapping it generously. The movements were slow and calculated, curious and he wanted to feel her every quiver.
-
The fire he kindled in her really was undeniable, though she'd tried to deny it to herself for weeks now. There was no way that she could get feelings, especially for a guy like him, and yet here they were with her heart fluttering when they made eye contact.
She blinked as she saw the look in his gaze and it sent a shiver running down her spine; obediently she lifted her hips, thinking he'd take the opportunity for what it was and screw her right there into the table--but he had other plans.
Every press of his lips down her body made her shiver and mewl, her form trembling slightly with need as the blood rushing in her veins made her feel that much hotter, that much more on fire.
"Oh I bet you can," She moaned at his touches, watching him with wide eyes as she realized where he was going with this, and then suddenly she was yanked further down and her back hit the table and his tongue was on her clit, a loud moan of surprise mixed with pleasure escaping her as her back instantly arched, her hips twitching at the sudden warm, wet pressure applied to her most sensitive spot.
Her breath caught in her throat, one of her hands flying up to her mouth to muffle the loud moan as she practically melted into him. It was rare that she ever got this kind of thing, let alone this kind of treatment, so she was sensitive--perhaps not as much so as she might be when in heat, but it still counted. Still sent jolts running right south as he lapped at her and she twitched and shuddered under his tongue, resisting the urge to roll her hips into his mouth.
Her other hand snuck down to tangle her fingers in his thick hair, keeping it out of his face as a bit of frustration flared up inside of her, realizing she was really entirely under his control here. There was little she could do to return the favor, she had nothing at her disposal to fight back with to keep things fair other than digging her fingernails into his scalp, which she didn't want to do. Instead she fisted her hand in his hair, tugging at it gently as her hips started to roll into his tongue, her fingertips smoothing over his scalp, petting and massaging him as she coaxed him to keep going.
Even though it wasn't what she wanted it felt so damn good, and with the care and effort he put into working her into puddy in his hands, of course her heart beat its way right into her throat, making her briefly wonder if this was what they were talking about when they said looking at someone through rose-tinted glasses. Because she sure as hell felt warm, fuzzy and tingly as much as she did nervous, excited, and so, so eager to please him.
"F-Fuck, Thade, please--" She choked out, her free hand clutching at her sternum, digging her fingertips into her own milky skin. "I want you, please..."
-
Thade hadn't burned this hotly for someone since his last lover. Lost love, lost days of waiting for them to love you back when all they did was take what you had to give and nothing more. Although his heart was pounding deep in his throat, Thade kept going, swiping his tongue so hotly against Reva's heat that he started to feel lightheaded. Maybe those days were the lost ones - and perhaps they should stay that way. For damn good reason too because he didn't need to look behind him to find what he was looking for. Nope, instead he had it right in front of him.
Thade moaned in between her legs, into her languid heat that him shivering with want, with need, and and he couldn't stop himself from reaching for his own length to squeeze and stroke at it. His fingers wrapped around it and stroked it, squeezing and tugging at the turgid appendage that ached to be inside her. He didn't know how much more he could take no being connected with her. Even after being denied for so long, he just couldn't help himself, and that want only stirred the fire in his loins.
He moaned louder still, kissing and latching on to the inside of her thigh, giving it a gentle bite until he couldn't take her pleas anymore. His blood was burning, and when he pulled away, his eyes glowed brightly, boring into hers and as he pulled away he crawled back over her on the table, kneeling just at the edge of it and coaxing her legs to wrap tightly around him.
"No more games," he hissed. "Tonight you're mine." And his lips came crashing into hers, his hips rolling into her entrance, slipping inside with such little resistance and in one fell swoop, he was inside her, inching his way until he was completely hilted and her very walls clung to his cock. A loud groan escaped him and seeped into her mouth as he rolled his hips and rocked her against him, taking her hard into the desk.
As awkward enough as it was only having one arm, he positioned himself on his elbow to give him added leverage, thrusting as hard into her as he could, already panting and his heart just about rattling in his chest for want of being free of it's confines. "Goddammit Reva, I-I've wanted you so bad....for so fucking long..."
-
The longer he kept going, the more he swiped his hot, wet tongue against her the louder her moans grew. It felt sooo good, so fucking good. When was the last time she'd gotten any? She genuinely couldn't remember. Roy maybe, months ago, many months ago, long before she'd met Thade, during her last heat, because usually that was the only time she could be bothered.
And yet here she was, pinned against her own work table, being made into a whimpering, mewling mess by Thade Olyphant. She never would've allowed this with anyone else. Not in her workroom, of all places for fuck's sake. This was where she came to get things done! Be professional! When she was in here, she was on the clock, and the company didn't pay her to be bent over her desk when she had projects to get done. Similarly, the thought of coming in here the next day and just smelling it with those heightened senses of hers usually brought on her gag reflex.
Usually.
But right now, with Thade's tongue inside her heat, the only thing she could focus on or be bothered to care about was how wonderful he felt and how much she wanted his throbbing length inside of her. She didn't care how big a mess they made. And the idea of coming in to work tomorrow to smell the aftermath of their sex made her ache even more, made more jolts run south as the muscles in her lower abdomen felt warm and clenched.
She gasped as he pulled away from her and bit her thigh, her body jolting and twitching, back arching slightly as she panted and throbbed desperately to feel every inch of him. And as she saw him crawl over her, heard the tone of his voice as he hissed and kissed her her heart skipped beats and melted all in one. She was obedient, wrapping her legs around his waist and hips while her arms came up to loop around the back of his neck, holding on tight as he kissed her like he might never get the chance ever again. She kissed back with every bit of passion, tasting him and reveling in it as their tongues slid against each other and danced, and she felt every hot puff of breath, felt the vibration of every one of his low moans that sent chills racing up and down her spine.
The moment he slid inside of her she gasped and squealed, her fingertips digging into his back as her own arched at the immense pleasure that radiated through her body from the first few inches of her entrance upward. It danced and sang throughout her nervous system, making her tingle as she pressed her lips against the crook of his neck to stifle a loud groan of satisfaction. It was akin to the blissful feeling of finally scratching the most bothersome itch; it felt nothing short of absolutely wonderful, and she loved every moment, every second of it.
He'd been wanting her for so long, had he?
She couldn't deny herself the huge grin that spread across her face at the notion. It was pleasing to know that he'd wanted her just as bad as she him, and that she'd done such a fantastic job of teasing the poor man. She wasn't exactly the most friendly person, but that didn't mean she didn't know how to get something when she wanted it. And she'd wanted him riled up, and that's exactly what she got. She was nothing but a woman of determination and calculated results.
Every thrust made her moan nice and loud for him, panting hard already against his skin as she rocked her hips back against his, her tight heat starting to squeeze around his every inch, her own wetness making friction nearly non-existent. It was the slap of skin against skin, the feeling of his hips hitting hers that sent additional waves of pleasure up through her core, making her eyes roll back as she squeezed her eyes shut tight.
"Yours--" She managed to choke out, her voice strained with the intent of trying to keep as quiet as possible in case somebody overheard. "A-All yours, Thade, y-you feel so g-good..."
The notion that a coworker could come down at any second and find them like this... Was honestly kind of erotic. That they could see her of all people, the stuck up second in command getting completely destroyed on this hologram projector table by one of her own customers, it was such a ludicrous and raunchy thought. She couldn't help but glance down, see his hips and watch his thick cock hit her nice and deep with every thrust, the very sight of it being so lewd it just sent more jolts running down, made those muscles of hers clench even tighter, as she held onto him tightly and rocked back against him with every bit of want and fervor.
"A-As much as you want, please, p-please come in me as much as you want, I-I want it, Thade, please, I w-want all of... All of you..."