God Made Me a Cannibal to Fix Problems Like You (Riiina~)

[Anonymous]

They don't make lunch breaks like they used to, anymore.

Llewellyn waited impatiently in the disused classroom he had designated for training Nika, laying on his back on the desk, ravenous and rather tired. He had left hopefully enough energy behind him for Nika to follow, if the boy had forgotten where they had gone last time. Instead of trying to make use of a pitiful thirty-minute lunch period, he decided he'd rather be early to class.

Well, maybe if you weren't such a damned picky eater, you wouldn't have this problem. Not that I'm complaining or anything... I prefer a skinny human to a lardass any day.

That was a while ago, though. His student should arrive any minute now, ready to learn, possibly with news of improvement, and almost definitely having eaten lunch. Unless, of course, Latona had made his usual work more rigorous in retaliation. That wouldn't be wise, but... Llyn didn't have a very high opinion of Latona's logic skills at all. If you want emotions, logic seems to be the first thing to go.

I've been trying to fix that, but it takes time. Time I don't have, even without eating lunch.

You need a vacation.

Not if I ever want to be promoted, Azrael. I take enough time off for recuperation after particularly bad weeks, anyway.

The Pilot could almost hear the dragon's eyes roll. You're a hell of a case, Llewellyn Intram. Maybe they ought to lobotomize you and have it done with.

You'd have no one interesting to talk to.

I already don't. Stop bitching all the time, and you'll move back into the category of "interesting".

Yes, sir.

He didn't feel like sitting up or anything. He took out his knife from his jacket again and played with it, running it lightly over his skin. He didn't nick himself, though, for fear of derailing the lesson before it even began.

[Anonymous]

When Nika had gotten the summons from Llyn, he had been quite excited. He was looking forward to getting to see the Pilot again. He felt comfortable around him, knowing that he wasn't alone. There were others like him in the world.

The candidate was making his way down the white hallways, following the trail Llyn had left. Nika could probably have found it on his own, but he knew that he needed the practice. His non-blood related psychic powers were rather stunted. He didn't have an much of an interest in them, but he was starting to realize he needed to get better to graduate.

Frowning with concentration, Nika turned the corner and recognized the room number. He didn't so much smile as bare his teeth in pleasure, moving over to the door and pressing the button.

"Pilot Intram!" It was probably best to stay formal until told otherwise. Nika wanted to impress the pilot, not get chided for being to friendly. Entering the room, his pale blue eyes never left Llyn, his smile never faltering, "I'm sorry I made you wait."

[Anonymous]

The Pilot turned hid head rather apathetically to the side, so he could see the doorway and the eager Candidate that stood in it. "You didn't make me wait," he said calmly, running the tip of the knife across his fingers. "I've been here since my lunch break started. No point going, since it's so short... besides, I rarely have any time to sit and think." He figured he'd leave it to Nika to guess what he had been thinking about.

He sat up fluidly from the desk and looked Nika over. The boy was practically vibrating with excitement... which was inestimably cute. Hopefully his excitement to see Llyn again had translated well into eagerness to work. If the boy was ever going to seem normal enough to attract the object of his childish affections... or, for that matter, give up... he would need to actually try.

"How goes your self-imposed anger management, Candidate Argan?" Argan, anger. Almost anagrams. The Pilot forcibly shut down that part of his mind, as it was of no use to him at the moment. It was still a pretty name, Nika Argan. Maybe he'd just use both names to address him. "I haven't heard about you draining any of the military personnel, and you're still here, so it seems to be going well..." He delivered that with a practiced grin, the one that was good-natured on the surface, but just evil enough that Nika would know he didn't intend to fake much for him. Mask half on.

[Anonymous]

The boys bright blue eyes went right to the knife Llyn was playing with, remembrances of what he had gotten to do with the knife last time dancing across his mind. It actually took him a moment to forcefully pull his attention away from it, ducking his head slightly, "Sir. I'm glad I didn't make you wait then."

Somehow the idea of someone who looked like Llyn skipping lunch break just didn't surprise Nika. Not only was the man rail thin, but for whatever reason, Nika just couldn't imagine Llyn sitting at some lunch table enjoying a salad or an egg salad sandwich. The image just felt ludicrous.

When Intram stood, Nika tilted his head back so that he could keep watching the Pilots face, but he made no move to lengthen the distance between them, "It goes alright sir. I think anyway. I have been watching people, seeing how they react to things." He frowned, glancing behind his to the door, "It's odd being around so many people. But...informative." He turned to give Llyn a smile, not his picture perfect one from the cameras, but the slightly feral one he preferred.

[Anonymous]

The Pilot grinned, following the path of Nika's vision. What a one-track mind on this boy. He'd have to add a few more on, at least, before he could be considered a a decent Candidate. "As am I. I absolutely detest unsolicited guests on my lunch breaks, and I am a rather slow eater. If I had been eating, it would be a bit later right now, and for some reason you wouldn't be able to remember coming in." He put the knife away, finished with his ruminations for the moment.

The thoughts running through Nika's head were quite ridiculous. Had Llyn been normal, he would have had to try very hard to suppress laughter at them. "Of course I wouldn't have those things... do I look like a vegetarian to you?" He essentially spat out the word, as though it were a common synonym for "filthy heathen" or something in that vein.

"Good, good," he replied. "Does that mean your own imitations have improved? Do those penitent, apologetic glances you keep throwing at Vaughan look more sincere yet?" His grin got a little less affable; he was subtly trying to make Nika mad. It was somewhat dangerous, he knew, but he figured Nika, of all people, would be able to understand his logical, action-reaction mentality.

[Anonymous]

A bit of work would need to be done before Nika got a few more tracks on his mind. As of now the boy's pale eyes were glued to the knife. Llyn's response got a confused look from Nika, "What? I wouldn't remember it?" Nika didn't really understand what Llyn was alluding too, not knowing about Llyn's odd eating habits.

The knife going away got Nika to look away up at Llyn, focusing on his face, confused even more until he put the pieces together and laughs, his expression much better at faking emotions then it had been, though still far from perfect, "Ah. Yes, well, I find it hard to imagine you sitting down and eating much of anything."

The Pilots next comment had Nika going still, his face blank other then his eye twitching slightly. He was touchy about the subject of Vaughan. And he missed the other candidate and wished he could actually talk to him again. Things had felt different around Vuaghan. And he didn't like being needled about the rape. He hadn't meant too.

It took Nika a moment to manage a reply, but he managed to keep from losing his temper, though his mask was hardly even there, "I think that my imitations have gotten better. But it's hard to tell. And I haven't seen Vaughan. Sir."

[Anonymous]

"You wouldn't," Llewellyn said matter-of-factly. "I wouldn't allow it. I'm rather... self-conscious about that sort of thing, you could say." The Pilot knew damned well that self-conscious was not the proper word, because that implied emotion, and it had nothing to do with emotion. Self-preservation was Llyn's sole motive. He didn't want some kid, however cute and like minded, to have his mental guards down around someone who didn't know, and cause havoc.

He gave Nika a wry grin. "I can understand that. I suppose I don't lend myself to imagining me eating anything." That was good. If he did, teeth too obvious, nails too pointed, movements too smooth, jacket too bloody, that would be conspicuous. Conspicuous in this setting was dangerous. Even (especially?) after eight years, Llewellyn trusted very few of his colleagues.

The tinge of unease in Nika's blank expression registered immediately with Llyn. He didn't want to toy with the little sociopath, didn't want to be hated, but he needed to. It was hard to see his limit any other way.

 "Good that they have. Not that I can blame Gabriel..." he was treading on thin ice, and he knew it. He looked directly into those cold, pale, knife-edge eyes, grinning like the brink of madness. "If Vaughan were my Candidate, I wouldn't let him near you either."

[Anonymous]

"Ah." Nika didn't really care, but he was still a little puzzled by it. He excepted Llyn's explanation, not curious enough to press the matter. If Llyn didn't want people to see him eat, Nika didn't really care, "So...you can just make people forget things? With you mind?" That part did catch his attention, "Just like that? Can I learn to do that?"

Learning to not be conspicuous was something Nika was struggling to master. Before he had only had to wear the mask for short periods. No one but his sister had been around much, and she had always known what he was. But in her own loneliness had clung to Nika and had learned to deal with his mask.

But now the candidate was surrounded by people all the time, forced to interact in ways he wasn't used to. Forced to wear the mask all the time and finding all the holes in it.

His eye twitched slightly at Llyn's words, hands curling into fists, struggling to suppress his rage. It was only half working. The anger was quite clear on his face and his power was starting to tug at Llyn, though he was managing to keep from lashing out, "Is that so Sir? I have apologized. I am not sure what else I am expected to do. It wont happen again."

Nika was ready to leave now. His excitement had vanished, replaced by anger. He didn't really want to talk to Llyn anymore, have more salt rubbed into his wounds. And his expression made that very clear.

[Anonymous]

Llewellyn nodded calmly. "That is my specialty, yes. Whether or not I can teach you to do it depends on how your psychic ability manifests itself..." Nika's seemed about right. If it had shown as large, uncontrolled sweeps instead of small rudiments, the answer would have been an outright no, but in this circumstance, Llyn would see what he could do.

What holes Nika could see in his own mask were, for lack of a better expression, painfully visible to Llyn. The elder killer (for fuck's sake, you're a Pilot right now, Intram, treat him like a Candidate) had had time to perfect his mask, forming the glittering paragon of deceptive seminormality that was Pilot Intram. With time and proper training, the cracks in Nika's would be sealed tight.

The Pilot watched Nika, listening to his thoughts: anger boiling over, barely suppressed, and even the beginnings of hatred... but he hadn't lashed out. That much, at least, was progress. Imperfect, but better than being, as Latona's memory had told him, unduly enraged at not being able to find a classroom door.

"Maybe I shouldn't have chosen such a touchy subject," Llewellyn said in a softer, almost regretful voice. "Still, dear Nika, that was very good." His tone and expression switched quickly to impressed, which he was. "I didn't expect you to be able to keep your anger under control like that... I was prepared for a trip to the infirmary." He grinned coolly, refraining from offering any touches or such things until the boy figured out he had merely been testing him. "You learn fast."

[Anonymous]

"I hope I can learn. That seems...useful." Nika was sure that he could find some very interesting uses to put that particular talent too. And it would make any slip ups in his mask that much easier to hide. If he could make someone forget they saw the slip up.

The boy was working hard to fill in those cracks, the crash course in having to suddenly deal with normal humans constantly was forcing him to do or die. He had already slipped up badly with Vaughan and was forced to make up for that. But he was determined to make it better, to create a seamless mask.

However the mask was very much slipping now, his teeth gritted with anger. It was very hard to not just grab onto the Pilots blood and just pull. Not that it probably would have been effective against a trained psychic, but Nika didn't really care at this point.

For all that the boy was emotionally stunted, lacking many of them outright, anger was not one he had lost. That was still there, lurking just below the surface. Llyn's apology did a bit to calm the young candidate down, his fists slowly unclenching, blood dripping to the floor from where his nails had broken the skin. He took a deep breath, still angry at the pilot, but starting to understand, "I am glad I passed your test."

Nika was a little torn, part of him wanting to crawl into the pilots lap and carve into his arm again, part of him wanted to leave, angry at the older man for poking at that particular wound.

[Anonymous]

(( Short post is short. ))

The choice of topic had been a bad one. The Pilot had known before choosing it that it was a bit risky of him, but he hadn't expected the boy to react so violently. Or at all. He genuinely didn't want the boy to hate him, especially not after connecting so well with him. He doubted there was anyone else around capable of giving him the training he needed.

"I am glad you did as well." He moved closer to the boy, to calmly stroke his hair. "I won't mention that again. It was a momentary lapse, caused by lack of proper training. It was not your fault." He stayed close to the boy, silently petting him, no false expression on his face.

He stayed quiet for a few moments, then spoke again, softly. "That was very good, Nika. As you get better at keeping your mask on, you will find it easier to hide he physical manifestations of anger." He wasn't going to lie and say Nika hadn't looked angry. He had; downright homicidal, in fact, and Llewellyn had rather liked it. Blind anger was dangerous, though, especially to one who wanted just to blend in. "Would you like to sit down?"

[Anonymous]

The anger was starting to rapidly fade now that the boy was no longer feeling attacked. He had expected Llyn of all people to understand. Though Nika was at more of a disadvantage then Llyn had ever been in. Even if Nika hadn't been born with his mental disorder, the boy would have been emotionally stunted and socially awkward.

The Pilots hand on his head helped melt away the last of Nika's anger. He relaxed, the expression fading from his face, "I didn't mean too. I didn't know what to do when he kept flirting with me..." The short candidate stared up at Llyn, oddly comforted by the fact that Llyn's face held as little expression as his own. Llyn was like him, empty and dark inside.

Things seemed clearer around the older Pilot. When he was around Llyn, things were sharp and focused. When he was around Vaughan, things got confusing. Things were soft and odd thoughts came. Nika didn't understand it or how to handle it.

Nodding at Llyn's question, the boy reached up to grab lightly at Llyn's jacket hem, "Can I sit in your lap?" Craving physical contact was new to Nika, he normally found it strange and pointless. But he liked being close to Llyn and had liked being able to slice into the pilots arm the last time he had sat in his lap.

[Anonymous]

Nika's fists and jaw unclenched slowly, and Llewellyn smiled softly. "I know you didn't. You'll get better at that... you'll watch people, and I'll teach you. You won't make another mistake like that, I promise." His fingers moved slowly through the boy's slick hair, a look in his abyssal eyes like he owned Nika. His responsibility.

The clarity of mind Nika found with him was nothing but useful to him. As difficult as it would be to train someone to do the opposite of what he did, it would be even worse if the boy couldn't keep his head on relatively straight while he was doing it. It was interesting, though... a clear mind like that, Llyn always connected with hunting.

Cuter and cuter. Llewellyn made a show of mulling the question over, weight on back leg, hand to chin, eyes to one corner or the other. "Hmm. You have done a good job so far... I don't see why you can't, if you prefer it to sitting alone." He sat back on the desk and motioned for Nika to sit with him, grinning politely.

Once Nika was satisfactorily positioned on his lap, Llyn gave him another of those dark teeth-baring grins. "My dear Candidate Argan," he said in what would have been a condescending tone to anyone else. "It's nice to see you again. Tell me, which emotions have you had the most trouble duplicating? Which occasions do you not have expressions for?"

[Anonymous]

The candidate stared back at Llyn, expression blank and emotionless again, now that the anger had passed. His pale eyes hardly blinked as he watched Llyn, "Yes." He wanted that, wanted to not get so frustrated around people. He didn't like it when his mask slipped, it made him uncomfortable and he didn't want people afraid of him.

His expression stayed blank for a moment before the boy remembered to pull it into another bright, false smile, "Thank you sir." He settled easily into Llyn's skinny lap, his small size helping him fit. He rested his head against Llyn's shoulder, listening to the Pilot's heart, feeling it move all that lovely blood around.

He was so focused on Llyn's blood that he didn't hear the question, only the last part of it, "What? Sir? Oh..." He blinked, trying to think about his problem areas, "I don't really know what to do when people flirt around me. Or with me. I find that hard to respond too."

[Anonymous]

A thin hand, lethal, much more accustomed to wielding knives and rending flesh than more gentle pursuits, continued carding through the Candidate's hair. A sigh escaped him as Nika's head rested against him. It all seemed very intimate, between two beings who so rarely demonstrated any sort of affection, without having ulterior motives. He noticed Nika's power pulling at him a little, but he didn't mind.

Llewellyn laughed lightly at Nika's inattentiveness. They would have to work on tha too. "That is difficult indeed... it took me a lot of careful observation before I learned how to successfully imitate human courtship behavior. It might be useful, for the time being, for you to feign noninterest." He ran his nails lightly over the nape of the boy's neck, a human flirtation turned slightly demonic.

"Now," he said, voice lowering, free hand resting casually on Nika's thigh. "What sort of things did he do, did he say to you?" He moved his head just a little closer, to the point that Nika might be able to feel his breath, or the careless touch of his cheek. It may have taken the Pilot a while to learn, but he had gotten very good at it; the combination of sexuality and skillful manipulation was advantageous to him in many ways.

[Anonymous]

The gentle touches soon had Nika quite relaxed against the Pilot, breathing deep and easy, his own heartbeat shifting to meet the Pilots, loving the feeling of all that blood so close. Normally this sort of thing bored Nika, he didn't understand the appeal of it. But it was nice with Llyn, comfortable.

"I can try that. I don't really like sex much. Vaughan was the first time I ever wanted to have sex. Before it bored me." So feigning disinterest wouldn't be hard at all, "But I thought all boys my age wanted sex all the time?"

The touches and the warm air soon had Nika squirming slightly, copper skin flushed slightly. It made it hard for him to think, his body tingling a little, "I..er...what? Um...with Vaughan? He sat close to me, touched me. And...played with all those pretty piercings." Nika shook his head, glancing up at Llyn, "Um...and teased about stuff. Then I kissed him."

[Anonymous]

"That's not true. Hyperbole, at best," Llewellyn replied, sharp nails tracing too gently over Nika's skin. "They might think you're a bit weird for not playing with them, or they might chalk it up to depression at being cooped up here... but either way, you'll be considered less weird than... if you did what you wanted."

Llyn looked back down at Nika, hair obscuring half of his face as usual. "You're cute when you're shy, Nika." He moved his other hand to Nika's thigh, his thumb brushing over it. "What did he tease about?" He leaned in closer to Nika's ear. "Did he act like he wanted to have sex with you?" he asked in a low purr, imitating a seductive tone.

This wasn't what Llewellyn wanted. He wanted to rip the boy apart. He couldn't, he knew that... besides, his Candidate would have to learn how to deal with gentleness, if he were going to spend his days among horny, flirtatious teenagers... so he performed his task, a near-flawless imitation of any human's attempt to arouse another. Hopefully Nika would respond favorably to it, and maybe even act on his impulses, so Llyn could chide him and instruct him otherwise. Or not.

[Anonymous]

"Really? That's good to know." Nika had little interest in others and even less in sex with them, so having an excuse was nice. And to know that it wouldn't ruin his mask if he didn't respond to their advances. With his mother's good looks and striking coloring, he tended to get his share of advances.

The nails along his arm got a shudder of pleasure from the boy, surprised to find that he was enjoying it. He glanced up at Llyn, expression emotionless, watching the pilot with his pale eyes, no trace of a mask.

While Nika appeared to lack most human emotions, he wasn't quite as far gone as Llyn. His mental disorder, while debilitating, hadn't robbed him entirely of his emotions. His were just deeply buried and rather atrophied. Maybe with some counseling and medication he might have lived a more normal life. But as it was, the boy was quite messed up, even beyond most sociopaths.

Llyn's comment to his shyness only got a darker blush as Nika stared up at Llyn, one hand reaching up to touch the veil of dark hair that partially hid the Pilots face. The gentle touch along his thigh did less for the candidate then the nails had, but he still reacted, heart rate picking up as he nodded, "He would get close and....he kissed me back when I kissed him. And...I don't know....things."

The boy squirmed a little on the Pilots lap, starting to become aroused and unsure exactly what to do about it. Thoughts of Llyn's white skin and the knife and that pretty blood flashed through his mind, fingers stroking Llyn's hair.

[Anonymous]

Llewellyn continued to tease Nika's skin with his nails, their eyes locked together, allowing a note of unadulterated, predatory lust to come through them, the closest thing he possessed to emotion. Respond. He needed a response, or. Or what, Intram? Or he'd be like he's student. He'd want to take one by force.

A touch to his hair, how cute. It appeared the hook was in. "Things... it sounds like he is starving for attention." He tilted his head so Nika could see his white neck, the blue veins that ran under the skin, the vertebrae behind and Adam's apple in front and tendons on either side pulled like the hairs of a violin bow. He had to be careful, make sure the student didn't get it in his head to attack him... though he could easily counter an attack from Nika, it wasn't what he wanted to see.

Well, okay, maybe a little. But not as his teacher.

Nika's mind was open to him. He read it, and grinned, suppressing his matched sentiment. "Is that how you think when you want someone?" He paused and thought about Vaughan. "Did you want to pull all the little piercings out of his pretty face and watch him bleed, Nika?"

[Anonymous]

Nika made a low, almost purring sound at the touches, eyes never leaving Llyn's. He liked how it felt, he liked being this close to Llyn. It was very different from Vaughan. He just responded to Llyn, wanting to rip the Pilot apart.

Llyn's hair was soft between his fingers, silky and smooth. He liked it, tugging lightly at it, his attention drawn to Llyn's neck. He could literally feel the blood pumping just under that pale skin. He twitched slightly, fighting the urge to just rip it through the fragile skin and bathe in it.

"I wouldn't know. He said he was in a band, I'm sure he gets lots of attention." Llyn reading his mind startled him a little and he nodded, pulling his eyes away from his mentors neck, "Yes. I wanted to watch him bleed and cry. At first. But..." He frowned, "But when I was actually with him, I wanted to be gentle. I've never wanted that before." Then he shrugged, "Though normally I don't find sex interesting at all. Blood makes things much more interesting."