The sister Tierney.

[Anonymous]

Seven years.

Seven, long years he’d known Rachel. Seven years since Gabriel had become a candidate and she’d started visiting, and in seven years he’d never picked up the slight hum that he heard around potentials. Every psychic detected them differently. Some had to actively hunt for them, Marshal heard a hum, like an insect buzzing. It wasn’t all that effective, but still, he was irritated that he hadn’t heard it. He could have gotten her earlier.

Oh well, Gabriel was still going to be livid, which was of course why he’d had the application to mentor her in within an hour of her detection. Information about the friends and family of his fellow pilots was always trickling in from his various sources, just in case on of them slipped and revealed traitorous intent.

Marshal rubbed his temples as he walked. With all that was going on he really didn’t need the burden of three candidates. It couldn’t be helped though. Arrow was the first, chosen because he felt like mentoring again, then Farica was out of necessity, because he didn’t trust anyone else to correct her. And now Rachel, chosen to annoy Gabriel.

Then there was the question of why Gabriel had never turned her over to the program. Well, actually he knew exactly why Gabriel had kept her sister away from this place, and he couldn’t blame the man. What he could do was hold the treason charges associated with hiding potentials over his head and keep his sister close.

To get her close however he actually needed to locate the girl, which was proving to be time consuming. He’d missed her arrival earlier that day, and she hadn’t been assigned a room yet so he couldn’t look there. He just wandered the halls, letting his mind search as far as it could, looking for her. She shouldn’t be hard to recognise, after all, she had the Tierney feel to her, as he recalled.

He thought he looked quite good in his canary jacket, done up tight. It made him look less thin. Most people worried about getting fat, Marshal worried about getting thin. He just couldn’t build up any muscle bulk, no matter how much he exercised. Couldn’t even put on fat either.

Marshal couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Rachel, actually seen her. Sure she’d been around, but it must have been a couple of years since he’d spoken to her or payed her any mind. He barely remembered what she looked like. What he did remember was that he’d instantly liked her more than her brother.

Which was going to make things awkward. He’d never mentored anyone he’d known before they became a candidate. He wasn’t really sure how to approach the situation. She should know how things worked, from her brother, so most of the lessons shouldn’t be necessary. All of the harshness he directed towards his other two wouldn’t really be called for with Rachel. But that begged the question of exactly how tough he’d need to be on her. It’d depend on how good she was, he supposed. And on how much Gabriel reacted. If giving his sister a hard spanking would get up his nose, as it almost certainly would….well, Marshal might have to do it just for the reaction.

So lost in his thoughts was Marshal that he completely missed Rachel walking towards him along an adjoining corridor. A grin fixed itself to his face as he waited at the junction of three corridors. She wouldn’t see him until she was upon him.

When she reached him he tiled his head and said, “Hello Rachel.”

[Rhi-Rhi]

Everything was so big here.

Of course Rachel had been here before, back when Gabriel had been a candidate, but that had been a while ago when she was younger. Since then she'd visited of course, but at his suite. She hadn't been around the ATC in years, and when she had it was never alone. Maybe that's why it had always felt smaller. Right now it was she that felt small.

Physically, not mentally or emotionally or something emo like that. Nah, she fine and chipper! While a lot of candidates raised a fuss and were generally terrified at the prospect of coming here, Rachel actually felt kind of excited. When Gabriel had been outed, she remembered him claiming his life was over--and she'd heard his horror stories all throughout his candidacy. Rachel just figured he was over-reacting. He did that a lot, and she'd met Roman herself a number of times and found him charming. Now Gabby and Roman were friends last time she'd visited so that only further proved her point.

There wasn't anything to be afraid of here as long as you weren't stupid or hopelessly inept.

Rachel wasn't the former and she sure hoped she wasn't the latter, though she was afraid she might be. To be honest, she'd never known she was psychic at all even though she'd starting hearing voices in her mid-teens--which had scared the hell out of her. She'd thought she was going insane, and Gabriel hadn't helped. When she'd asked him about that (in a hypothetical sort of way), he'd read her mind and told her she wasn't psychic, that Pilots could tell if people were psychic or not easily and she wasn't it, so in Rachel's mind that left only schitzophrenia as an option and...

Yeah, she wasn't going to tell anyone that.

So she'd just quietly worried to herself, convinced she was slowly veering toward insanity, until she'd been found out. Jeez. If she'd have known sooner that would have been a huge weight off her shoulders, and the first thing she was gonna do when she saw her brother was smack him for lying.

That was probably another reason why she was so at ease. She'd been here before and met a lot of the Pilots already on casual terms, and she had a family member who was a Pilot. It was hard to be afraid of people you'd known since childhood who'd been nothing but nice to you thus far. She knew she had to take this seriously nonetheless, but be fearful? Naaah.

Right now she was just annoyed that she had no clue where she was.

Tossing her shoulder-length blonde hair over her shoulder, she stopped and looked around, trying to orient herself, but everything looked the same and she hadn't really seen any other candidates scurrying about. Classes must be going on or something. Rachel smoothed down the front of her uniform, which she'd been made to change into before she'd been let loose to wander the halls, and pursed her lips. It would have helped if someone had told her where to go, but everyone had seemed in such a rush.

Oh well. She'd just walk until she ran into someone, then.

Taking a deep breath, she started walking again and turned a corner, and she nearly jumped a mile when someone spoke abruptly and said her name. Whirling around, gray eyes wide, she stared blankly at the man in front of her before, slowly, recognition made her eyes light up and some of the color returned to her dark-skinned cheeks.

"Marshal?" she asked, grinning. She didn't have to look up at him; at roughly five foot nine, she was a little taller than him when the last time she'd seen him, she'd been shorter. Tall genes ran in the family; Gabriel was the first guy in a while that hadn't made at least the six foot mark, and even she had fallen a little short. No pun intended.

It was kind of funny...though for the sake of his masculine pride she refrained from snickering over it.

"Wow! Long time no see and you haven't aged a wink! How're you? Hoo boy, I'm glad I finally bumped into someone. This place is a rat maze and--oh!" She blinked and looked down, remembering she was in uniform and that the last time she'd seen Marshal, she'd been in street clothes and decidedly not psychic. He probably wondered what the heck she was doing here. "Heh. Welp. Turns out I'm psychic," she said, plucking at her coat and giving a little smile. "Who'dathunk, right?"

[Anonymous]

Gods damn tall girls. Marshal wasn’t exactly short, but he wasn’t tall either. He was still short for a guy, he supposed, but still a little above the average height for women. It still annoyed him when a girl was taller than him, even if it was only by a little bit.

Oh well, he’d still get a good laugh out of this, one way or another. And probably some death threats from Gabriel, too.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Marshal gave her a slight nod of the head then replied, “I’m fine, thank you. The past few days have been….interesting. But that’s not really important now. Oh I know you are, I’m your mentor actually.” He smiled at her, giving her a moment to absorb that.

He looked her up and down. She’d certainly grown since he’d last seen her, and more than just up. Rachel wasn’t a little girl anymore. “You’ve grown,” he said, meeting her eyes again, “I think you’re taller than me.” He grinned again, trying to make it look like he wasn’t feeling completely emasculated by that fact.

“Anyway, this way.”

Turning down the corridor neither of them had come from Marshal began to walk, motioning for Rachel to follow. Right, time for the standard speech. “You already know how this works I assume, so I won’t go into it too much,” he said as they walked, hands moving about as he did, “Do what you’re told without question and I won’t have to punish you, unless you think the correct response is to defy me, but be willing to face the consequences if you’re wrong. Hmm….here’ll do.”

They’d come to an empty classroom, which would suit things nicely. The door slid smoothly open and he stepped inside, walking over to the desk at the front of the room and sitting on it.

 “Right, now before we go any further, do you have any questions?”

[Rhi-Rhi]

"You're my mentor? Awesome!" Rachel exclaimed with a smile, clapping her hands together once. That was fantastic! It sure beat getting someone she didn't know that might be some stick in the mud, and weren't Gabe and Marshal friends? Her brow creased as she tried to remember, but she couldn't because it had been a while. Didn't matter, she knew Marshal and from what she remembered of him he was a nice guy.

When he observed that she was taller than him, Rachel only grinned wryly. "I just might be," was her fairly neutral answer, coupled with a wink, even though she knew the truth. "Or it might just be the shoes," she added, sticking a leg out to show off her sneakers which...were quite flat. Still, no need to rub it in or anything! Especially not where it came to her mentor! Now, while Rachel might not believe that the Pilots were as brutal to their candidates as Gabriel made them out to be, she also wasn't stupid and saw no reason to accidentally or deliberately antagnize them. Quite unlike a certain brother of hers. Ugh. She'd learned that much. You only got punished if you were really, really stupid and she didn't intend to be that.

She followed after Marshal as he lead the way, nodding here and there in acknowledgment. While she may never have gotten the full spiel, she sure had an idea of how it worked. Common sense and all. Deciding when defiance would be necessary would be tricky, but she guessed that would be just more common sense stuff.

...Which wasn't something many people had, but she liked to think she did. Someone in the family had to get it.

Once inside the classroom (her first lesson already? Oh boy...), she settled into a desk in front of Marshal and had to fight back the sudden urge to giggle. A classroom? Honestly? With cute desks like any normal high school? Rachel had never been in this part of the ATC since back then she'd only ever been a guest and for some reason she'd always expected the instructional areas to be more...oh, she didn't know. Hardcore intimidating-looking? She felt like she was back in school now, not at the dreaded ATC of DOOM.

"Hmm? Oh, no, no questions Marshal! Oh, wait. Can I call you Marshal or is that too informal?" She folded her hands on the desk and leaned forward. "And, er, I guess I should give you a heads up that my psyhic stuff isn't very good I don't think...I just thought I was schitzo, so this was a relief. But I really want to learn! I know the program is tough, though. I'm not fooling myself there."

Rachel smiled up at him, a little nervously though there was more excitement and eagerness in her expression than fear. She really wanted to do this, to be someone and she could be someone if she made it. Her parents would be proud, like they'd been when Gabe had graduated. She wouldn't be stuck with a meaningless life and a meaningless job. "Think I can make it?"

[Anonymous]

Rubbing his temples with one hand, Marshal couldn’t hold back tired sigh. Listening to Rachel’s mind ramble was tiresome. “Yes yes, Marshal is fine. You might consider ‘Sir’ or ‘Pilot Richards’ in front of other pilots though. Reflects better on me if you come off as respectful you know?”

He let his hand fall to his thigh, looking at her blankly. “I shouldn’t have to force you every step of the way like the others, you have two partners by the way, Farica and Arrow.” He sent her a mental image of each of them with a name attached. It was best she knew who they were, since she’d come in late and all.

“Honestly,” he paused to think for a moment, “Honestly I think you have a fair shot. I mean, your brother passed, and he leaves something to be desired when it comes to piloting…” Marshal’s respect for Gabriel’s abilities had dropped rather dramatically recently.

“Oh an Rachel,” he added as an afterthought, “The rooms aren’t meant to intimidate you sweetie, I am.” He winked at her slyly. “Not sure I’m doing a very good job.”

He shifted his weight, bringing up one ankle to rest on the opposite knee. Rachel was a good kid, so in a way he felt bad about doing this to her. The first time was always tough, hell, he remember the first time his mentor had asked him to undress. It seemed to illogical, so pointless, but it wasn’t. In modern human culture nudity was one of the most taboo things, yet it was also one of the least wrong. Compared to murder and rape and the like, being naked caused almost as much distress to most people, yet really caused them no harm. Thus, it was an effective tool in ridding candidates of shame, and teaching them to function with distractions. Once they were all capable of ignoring their state, he would up the ante, adding pleasure or pain for them to overcome. In battle one often had to overcome such obstacles as pain and maintain a clear head, or even stay focused if you suddenly found yourself indecent in the middle of a fight (it happened more than you’d think).

Anyway, this time it wasn’t about Rachel. “Rachel, stand up,” he commanded gently. Best not to make her think she was in trouble or anything. “I know you don’t need a lesson in following orders, and this is more about your brother than you…not that that’s really important, but I’m going to have to ask you to undress now. Quickly, if you would Rachel, this isn’t for my enjoyment.”

[Rhi-Rhi]

Rachel nodded to herself, taking note of what he said and filing it away with an understanding smile. In private they could be informal, in public formality was better. Got it. When he showed her an image of the other candidates he was mentoring, Rachel gave Marshal a sly, playful look. "Oh, they're cute. I can see why you picked us, you sly ol' fox, you."

It was a relief to hear that he thought she had a shot, too, and she relaxed visibly, her face brightening and then growing wry with amusement when he mentioned her brother. That wasn't too much of a surprise, and it honestly made her feel better. He'd always been a slacker in his studies whereas she'd been the one that got straight As and Bs in school. Of course, she also knew that the instructional part of the program was only that--part of the program. Even while she was confident she could pass that much, she worried about the physical and psychic parts. What if she just...sucked? But Gabriel hadn't been tough or anything when he'd gone in, either, so...that was a comforting thought.

"Well, I'll try my hardest. Thanks for that boost in confidence!"

A boost in confidence that was about to be dented just a little.

It was true, she didn't find Marshal intimidating at all, and when asked to stand she promptly hopped to her feet, hands clasped behind her back and head tilted to one side as she waited further instruction. Which came as a bit of a surprise to her--or a big surprise, rather, as 'a bit' is an understatement. Undress? Rachel's eyes widened and her cheeks darkened a little, but with a small sigh she averted her eyes and reached up to unzip her jacket.

"Er...me undressing is about my brother?" she asked, tugging the zipper down and shrugging off the jacket. She tossed it onto her desk and gave Marshal a slightly disturbed look, one eyebrow arched, before she pulled the white undershirt off and over her head and let it join the jacket. While Rachel wasn't really the shy type and was confident about her body, especially since she was convinced this was all platonic and just part of the deal, this was weirding her out a bit and she stared at Marshal suspiciously as she undid her fly. "...He's not somewhere in the room, is he?" And just to be sure she looked around, but it was just the two of them.

She let her pants drop and kicked them off with her shoes, then picked them up and draped them over the desk, too. Now clothed in just her bra, underwear, and socks, she gave Marshal a flat look as she stood there straight backed, one hand resting on her hip. "This good or did you mean all the way? And what do you mean this is about my brother? Where is he, anyway?"

Rachel couldn't help the slightly panicked note that entered her voice. Yes, she wanted to see him, she was hoping to find him as soon as possible but...gah! What did Marshal mean? The last thing she wanted was her brother walking in on her with her pants down or something. Eugh.

[Anonymous]

She was certainly taking this all very well, better than most certainly. He’d been through this dozens of times with candidates, male and female alike. None of his hid anything from him, and he tried not to keep anything from them either. That trust was important in the mentor candidate relationship. He even shared with them secrets in the latter stages of the program, testing their ability to keep delicate information concealed. Truth be told, Marshal did his best to groom potential seekers, but aptitude in mental invasion was growing increasingly rare as pilots leaned their focus towards telekinesis and defensive abilities.

He let out a spluttering laugh, nearly doubling over. “No,” he chuckled, “he’s not in the room.” The image of Gabriel hiding behind a desk or in a cupboard and jumping out suddenly was pure gold. Coming out of his giggling fit, Marshal looked up at her and returned her level stare. “He’s not here. I have no idea where he is actually, but I can only assume he doesn’t know you’re here yet or else I wouldn’t have gotten to you first. All the way please.”

Taking a moment to read her thoughts, he added, “He’s not going to walk in suddenly or anything. I’ll know if anyone’s coming remember?” he tapped his temple with a finger, “So don’t worry. Nice undies by the way.” Flashing her a sly grin, Marshal stood up and began to pace across the front of the classroom, hands clasped behind his back, glancing at Rachel each time he passed her.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"I thought so," Rachel said with a frown, her blush darkening, but there was nothing she could do about it but make the most of the situation. Humor always helped. When she did school plays, she pictured everyone in the audience in their underwear. When she scraped her knee as a child, Gabriel made funny faces until she laughed and forgot the pain. When she went in for an interview, she pretended she was on some dorky sort of quest. So, when asked to take off all her clothes, she resorted to humor to take her mind off the humiliation.

Grinning, she slapped her bottom and winked at Marshal. "Oh yeah? You like ladybugs, too?" she asked, referring to her panties which were white with a ladybug pattern on them. "How sweet and sensitive." She bent down and stripped off her socks first, then straightened and, after a moment's hesitation, undid her bra clasp.

Just pretend this is gym class and he's a girl...oh fuck he makes an ugly girl! Neeever mind. Er...something else, something else... Rachel shot him a sidelong glance as he paced, feeling his eyes on her. "You must love your job," she remarked dryly as she took the bra off and laid it aside, turning her back to him and then quickly taking off the underwear, like she was taking off a bandaid.

...Ouch, a bandaid would hurt down there.

Crossing her arms protectively over her chest, she looked back at Marshal over her shoulder. "Better?" she asked, proud of how cool and collected her voice came out. She was still a little worried because she still had no clue what he meant when he said this was about her brother, not her, and his spontaneous laughter when she'd mentioned Gabriel was kind of odd. But eh, as long as no one was going to barge into the room with her like this (how bad would that look? Her first day here and she'd get the reputation of the ATC slut no matter how innocent this really was), she could deal with this. It wasn't the worst thing that could happen.

[Anonymous]

Stopping in front of Rachel his mouth twisted into a grin. She had quite the witty tongue. He felt somewhat bad about actually watching her undress. Usually the first time was because they’d done something wrong, or to make sure that they knew to obey, but Rachel didn’t actually need these lessons. The problem was, she probably never would need them, so no good opportunity would ever come about. He faced the same problem with little Arrow, who he thought might actually die of embarrassment the first time she was naked in front of him, and the first time she saw him naked…well, best make sure the paramedics were alerted beforehand just in case she went into shock or something.

With a snicker he replied, “Mmm, they’re cute. A little childish though don’t you think?” unfortunately his musing over the cuteness of her panties was interrupted by the sudden image of himself as a woman, which made his eyes bulge and mouth hang open a little. “Uh, yeah…it has its moments,” he replied, still distracted by the very disturbing image trawled form her mind.

Thankfully a pair of breasts served as enough of a distraction to pull him back into reality. Ah, the joys of having a photographic memory. He could remember this, when he was old and sick and horny, and he could show it to Gabe whenever he wanted to bother him.

He couldn’t help but grin when she bent over and whipped her panties off like, in her own words, a band aid, giving him a nice view in the process. Another mental snapshot to show Gabriel later.

Outside, down the corridor a little ways, two young soldiers were walking by chatting. They were special ops in training, he discovered after a moment in their minds. Perfect. Latching his tendrils into their minds, Marshal seized control of their motor functions and effectively sent them into a deep sleep. They slumped, then turned and walked to the classroom door, taking up positions to either side of it. Aside from the slightly glazed look in their eyes nothing indicated they were being controlled like puppets. Even a pilot would have to be actively looking to see Marshal’s thin connection, until he made them actually move, and then it would be obvious.

“Much better, but don’t be shy. Turn around and stop covering up, we’ll both b seeing a lot more of each other over the next few years, I assure you, so the faster you can get over any modesty with me the easier it will be for you,” he said, making a twirling gesture with one finger. “Not that your butt is fabulous though,” he added with a smile.

“Stay there, I need to make a phone call.” He went into her brain and shut off her ears so that she couldn’t hear him talking, then turned his back on her so she couldn’t read his lips.

Pulling out his phone, he dialled Gabriel’s number and placed the little device to his ear.

***

After his brief, yet quite eventful conversation with Gabriel, Marshal tucked his phone away in his pocket. Releasing the psychic ear plugs he turned back to Rachel and tried to resist a smug smirk. “Your brother is coming to say hi, you’d best get dressed again,” he said, then as an afterthought added, “You know what, leave your panties and bra off.” The cogs in his mind were turning rapidly, as was evident by the expression on his face. Sure, he didn’t want to aggravate Gabriel too much, just a little bit.

[Rhi-Rhi]

With a sigh, Rachel turned around to face Marshal, forced her arms down at her sides, and flashed him a tense smile. She was no prude or anything but it wasn't everyday you were asked to get naked in front of someone who, while a loose acquaintance, might as well be a complete stranger. But there was nothing to do but grin and bear it (or bare it in this case), and Rachel once again placed a hand on her hip and did her best to look poised and confident. She might have pulled it off if not for the dark blush.

"You know, I suddenly feel a ton more motivated to become a Pilot," Rachel began in a conversational tone, eyes locked onto Marshal's in a dead-serious expression, "if it means I get to pick a bunch of hot guys to mentor and make them strip for me. I can't fathom why so many people think it's a crappy job."

It was part sarcasm, part serious observation, but honestly: that wasn't a bad perk. Still, this whole scenario was a bit like a bad porno. You know, the whole teacher-student thing, minus the actual sex-in-the-classroom scene. In this case. Eyes moving over the desk in the front, she observed that it was quite big. Ew. She wouldn't put it past these people that some hanky panky hadn't occurred in here at least a couple times.

...Whoa, had her mind gone off on a tangent. But hey, if it worked to distract her and take her mind off the fact that she was bloody naked, it wasn't a bad thought.

Then Marshal said something about a phone call, and before she could respond she went...deaf. That was the only way she could describe it. Suddenly she just couldn't hear at all, like someone had jabbed their fingers into her ears and plugged them up. Gasping, she rubbed at her ears and then frowned. That was probably Marshal's doing...what else could it be?

She waited, tapping her foot on the ground, until finally she could hear again as abruptly as she'd gone deaf. Blinking a few times, she watched Marshal as he turned back around, looking smug, and announced that her brother was on his way.

Ack!

There was a moment of excitement, her face lighting up, until she remembered she was naked and, for one scary moment, thought Marshal would make her stay naked--which would have been downright cruel and unusual. Her face fell, but then he told her she should get dressed and she lunged for her clothes, snatching up her bra and underwear first--until he told her to leave them off. Looking back at Marshal, Rachel frowned and raised both eyebrows in a, "You've gotta be kidding," sort of expression before, with a shake of her head, she grabbed her white undershirt and pulled it on. Next came the breeches, which she wiggled into quickly and did the fly, and then came the jacket, which was promptly zipped up.

That left the bra and underwear laying there atop her desk.

"Ah, ah, what should I do with these?" she asked with a grimace, warning bells going off in her head. Alright, let's play connect the dots, shall we? Marshal had said her undressing was about Gabriel, not her. He'd just called Gabriel, obviously, and he was on the way. He'd told her to dress but leave off her undergarments...and Gabriel was on the way and this was somehow about him.

Ohhhgawd. Her mind couldn't fathom what any of it meant, but she at least knew that she didn't want to know.

"Marshal, what're you planning?"

***

Gabriel had already been in the ATC to pay a visit to his candidates so it didn't take long to reach the classroom. It helped that the moment he hung up the phone he'd freakin' taken off running, and after years here he knew the ATC like the back of his hand. In his head, he repeated a choice number of curses, unable to believe that it had actually happened. Rachel. A candidate.

The news couldn't have come at a more wonderful time. This had been one of his fears for a long while, but it at least wasn't the worst one--which was her failing. And gods, if Marshal was serious and was her mentor...

First things first, though: he was going to beat the snot out of the man if he was serious and not just bluffing about the nakedness bit.

AUGH.

Classroom 12 came into view and Gabriel skidded to a stop, panting lightly and taking note of the two soldiers posted outside. The hell? Marshal's work no doubt, the frickin' coward. Best be careful, more for the solders' sakes than his; the guys weren't reacting as Gabriel approached the door, their expressions blank, and that tipped him off immedietely.

He knew what Marshal could do, and he didn't want them to get hurt if Marshal was deciding to play dirty.

Gabriel cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hey Marshland, open up!" It was done more to alert him to his presence than anything, just in case he planned on doing anything with the soldiers. Better safe than sorry, even if he really wanted to just barge in their guns a-blazing.

Metaphorically speaking, of course...

[Anonymous]

This was either going to be very, very funny, or get him hurt. Marshal could only hope that with the measures he’d put in place it would be the former. With a blank face he gave her a slow look over. So he was an old perv, so what? He thought he’d well and truly earned that right through years of service to Aedolis. Besides, it wasn’t like she wouldn’t be seeing him naked eventually too. It was fair, though undoubtedly she would enjoy the experience more than he was now. Part of his enjoyment was, of course, from seeing an attractive young girl in the buff, but an equal part was from the sheer thrill of really being able to get on Gabriel’s nerves, and have something solid to hold over him. Namely Rachel.

Crossing the distance between them Marshal scooped up her undergarments from the desk and gave her a sly wink. He tossed her bra under the desk, so that a strap hung out, looking as if it had been forgotten. The panties he held up for a moment, then laughed and tucked them into his pocket, purposely leaving a little bit hanging out as if they’d been hastily shoved in there.

“Oh, just a little trick we’re playing on your brother. Play along and you’ll get a treat,” he replied, sounding like the cat who caught the canary. There was more to do however. He unzipped his jacket, leaving it just done up at the bottom, and then turned his attention to Rachel’s mind. Worming a psychic tendril into her brain he located the correct area and stimulated it, causing her to begin to sweat profusely.

Stepping back he pondered it for a moment, scratching his chin with a finger, then shook his head and unzipped her jacket. Still not satisfied he took a hand to her hair and ruffled it a little, making strands of it stick to her now sweaty face. “There, that aught to do,” he mumbled.

Not a moment too soon either, as Gabriel arrived outside. After quickly ruffling his own hair, Marshal released the little tendril making Rachel sweat. She was suitably flushed as well. He covered her mind with a shield, dividing his focus form his own mental barriers. It shouldn’t be a problem; Gabriel was terrible at mental attacks anyway. Plopping himself down on the corner of the front desk again he focused on his puppets outside.

“Hello Gabriel,” they said in eerie unison, “You arrived sooner than I expected. Do come in…. Oh, and Gabriel. Try not to get violent; we wouldn’t want you hurting one of these upstanding young men.” The soldiers opened the door and motioned Gabriel in, one going in before him to ensure he didn’t just lunge straight for Marshal.

As soon as the door slid open Marshal ran a hand through his hair, hastily fixing it, then zipped up his jacket. Grinning with false worry at Gabriel he said, “Hey Gabe, look, Rachel. Told yah I wasn’t lying.”

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Ooh, you're asking to get hurt..." Rachel commented while she watched, half amused and half mortified, as Marshal hid her undergarments where they were obviously meant to be found. A trick? Hoo boy. She'd go along with it, because she'd readily admit that she loved giving her brother a hard time (it was in the job description for younger siblings, after all), but Marshal also couldn't say she'd never warned him and she sure as hell wasn't gonna be responsible for whatever happened.

"What kinda treat do I get? A bone?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him and resisting the urge to bark at him like she wanted to. Honestly, she half expected him to pat her on the head or whip out a leash and collar. Instead, as he unzipped his jacket, her face flushed hotly and she abruptly began to sweat.

Huh?

Her own reaction startled her, and her gray eye widened humorously as she watched Marshal, who reached out to ruffle her hair and then tugged her own zipper down. For a second she thought she was flustered, but then she started wondering why the hell she'd be flustered now. She'd just been naked in front of the bloody man, it wasn't like he was stripping, and he sure as hell didn't make her hot and bothered, so why did her body feel hot and bothered?! The stifling heat didn't lessen any; her face felt damp and she could feel sweat trickling down between her breasts and under her armpits.

Ew, ew, ew! Disgusting!

Grossed out, Rachel tugged at the front of her shirt to fan herself a little, her breath coming out in short puffs as her blood warmed. She looked over at Marshal, face tense with disgust and confusion. "Uh, this is lame, but is it hot in here or is that just me?"

She was too young to be getting fucking hot flashes.

Finally it passed, and she reached up and wiped at her face, cringing as she encountered moisture, and she only succeeded in getting more hair stuck to her face. The air around her felt cool now, and she couldn't help but shiver a little as it also cooled the sweat on her skin and clothes, which clung to her now. This was so gross. Whatever happened, she seriously needed a shower after this...

A second later and she heard Gabriel outside the door, and she rolled her eyes over toward Marshal and waited. He wanted her to play along? She would for shits and giggles because hey, it was his funeral.

---

The hairs on the back of Gabriel's neck prickled when the soldiers spoke in unison; he'd seen it a lot, but seeing people get taken over and puppeted never got any less eerie, and he couldn't help but wonder what that must feel like. He quickly pushed the feeling aside and walked in briskly as soon as the door opened, taking the warning to heart; Marshal was cowardly enough to hide behind an innocent, so he'd just have to control himself, much as he'd love to bash in the guy's nose.

As soon as he stepped inside, however, the urge rose to a peak.

There was Rachel, just as Marshal had said, and she spun around to face Gabriel with a sheepish smile on her face, which was flushed and sweaty, her hair mussed and her jacket rumpled and undone. Behind her on the desk, Marshal hastily zipped his jacket and fixed his hair.

Gabriel's face fell, paling. He was fully aware of Marshal's sleazy reputation, and he had half a mind to suspect mind control. Why the hell else would any chick fall for HIM?! Especially his SISTER! And--holy shit were those panties?!

His expression went blank.

Ladybug panties. He'd done enough laundry at home (whenever he visited, he could never escape his old chores) to know who those belonged to.

"Eheh, Gabby, it's not what it looks like..." Rachel began lamely, wiping at her face with the back of her hand and blushing deeply, but Gabriel pushed her gently aside and behind him without a word, green eyes fixed on Marshal. Something sticking out from under the desk caught his eye, a strap of some sort--and his stomach lurched, having a good idea of what that was if Marshal had already snatched her panties.

"Hi, Marshal," he said quietly, slowly approaching the desk. He stopped a few feet away, face still unreadable, and then smiled all too sweetly though it didn't reach his eyes. "What were you doing and why do you have my sister's underwear?"

[Anonymous]

The twos soldiers took up positions behind Gabriel, close enough to quickly restrain him if he decided punching a superior was going to be worth it. Marshal blinked, feigning confusion at Gabriel’s question then let his hand wander to his pocket. When he touched the panties handing out of his pocket his eyes widened a little.

Pulling them out and looking at them briefly he spun a perfectly executed lie. “These? These aren’t Rachel’s,” he blinked at him as if confused, “They’re Fala’s.” The smile on Marshal’s lips looked something like a smirk, tainting his eyes with a certain arrogance that he pulled off so well.

Anyone could own these panties. That made sense, and that was the lie he was sticking to as he tucked them back inside his pocket. Of course, Fala didn’t often actually wear panties. Which was wonderful. It meant he could feel her up right through that suit of hers.

But that was a different topic.

Right now Marshal was at something of a loss. While his face made all the right expressions, his mind was searching for somewhere to take this. His plan pretty much finished at this point, so it was probably best just to skedaddle out of there as fast as he could before Gabriel popped.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"They had better be Fala's and--why the hell are you walking around with Fala's underwear?! No, never mind, don't answer that. Rach!" Gabriel turned on Rachel then, who was struggling to keep her expression neutral. "Is that true? He wasn't like molesting you, was he?"

Rachel wiped more sweat from her brow and rolled her eyes. "Gee, Gabe, way to jump to conclusions." She cleared her throat. "It's not mine. Must be Fala's, whoever that is, and how the heck do you know what kinda underwear I wear anyway?" Ugh, she didn't know what Marshal was doing, but she figured it was best to play along and, well, not to mention this was hella embarrassing and awkward. The last thing she wanted was her freakin' brother knowing she'd just gotten stripped and her underwear confiscated because...just...th at was just weird, and it took all of her willpower to keep from blushing.

Seriously, Marshal, taking my undergarments and waving them around in front of my brother...

Unfortunately, she never had learned that around Gabriel--hell, around anyone, now--she might as well be screaming when she was thinking but she realized it as soon as she saw her brother's expression transition from concerned to pissed. Oh crap! Apparently she was projecting again, because he'd told her before that he wouldn't touch his family and friends' minds unless they were thinking loudly and--craaap!

"You PERVERT! It is hers! What the hell're you doing?!" Gabriel snapped, taking another looming step forward, knuckles whitening as they balled into fists. At least, he was trying to loom. He was taller than Marshal and thus had that to his advantage, but he'd also always been the loomee, never the loomer. Being tall didn't necessarily mean he was any good at it; Marshal had seniority, rank and sheer presence on his side. Whatever. "Seriously, you'd better have one hell of a good explanation for why the fuck you have her underwear!"

"Gabby, it's okay, it's a joke...jeez," Rachel cut in with a weak laugh, side-stepping between the two. Oh crap. Hopefully Marshal didn't mind her not playing along anymore, because, well...if she knew her brother, and she did, he looked like he wanted to pop Marshal one in the jaw.

Not good.

"For real. See? Ha ha? And hey, how about a 'nice to see ya, Rach, it's been months', eh?" And then, just for good measure, she stepped forward and hugged him.