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Author Topic: Diamond Eyes [Lion!] [M]  (Read 8863 times)

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #40 on: September 19, 2017, 01:22:38 pm »
Loa was so full of naivety and wonder at the vast collection of life surrounded the two of them that for once he didn't notice Vander step closer; didn't notice the quiet voice and the intimacy of the moment--or it would have been intimate, if it was anyone else but Loa.

He blinked, realizing he was just standing there staring like a doofus as he looked to Vander and noticed the closeness in proximity. His heart beat a little faster and his cheeks flushed out of embarrassment for letting his guard drop so easily just because of a few lousy fish.

"A hammer?-- Oh." He looked back at the fish again. "I don't really know much about fish, but I know sharks can track the smell of blood underwater from miles away, or something."

He wondered how the logistics of that actually worked out--how they could smell underwater. To them it was probably the exact same as how it was for Loa to smell something on land, it was just that their brains were built differently. Noses were different. Still, it was kind of neat.

He looked at the creature Vander pointed out to him, taking a moment to find where it was camouflaged between rocks and coral, and when he spotted it he recoiled a little.

"That thing looks disgusting." He said, taking a step away from it, which coincidentally was a step closer to Vander. ".. Wonder if they have any deep sea fish in here. Ever looked at those?" Nasty things. Fish in general were just gross and nasty but some of them could admittedly be very cool.

Either way, he started heading towards the exit of the tunnel to the next showcase, glancing at a sign that said they were going in the direction of an exhibit where you could touch some kind of fish. He glanced back at Vander and pointed to the sign.

"Maybe they'll have some of those bug-eyed goldfish and you can go reunite with your people."

He was making a joke--a joke of all things--about Vander's goggles. He had no idea if it would land or not and the asshole in him didn't really care. But at least he was trying, his dragon couldn't fault him for that.

Offline Lion

Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #41 on: September 20, 2017, 02:25:22 am »
"Yeah, he's a weird looking bugger. But he's fucking cool. And with all those tentacles, he can probably stop any asshole from trying to stab him in that big bulbous head. Can karate-chop any mofo that messes with him. Wacha!" Vander whispered harshly. He laughed foolishly at his own joke.

No go? Dang. Well, he tried. Vander awkwardly stuffed his hands into his hoodie and wandered alongside Loa, wherever he went.  It wouldn't do to invite the guy somewhere and then he didn't bother at all sticking by him. That was a dick move if there ever was one. Vander shrugged and adjusted his collar, because maybe the AC was on or all the water around them made the tunnel chilly by default.

"Deep sea fish? Oh nah, never seen one. Let's go check them out. This is just one part of--"

What?  What was that?

Vander paused mid-speech and snorted, glancing over to Loa. "AHahahahahahaha!" he actually cackled, throwing his head back again, and the door attendant glanced back to glower at him.  Vander recovered and snorted, scratching at his cheek. "That was a good one, man. Very clever. Sharp. I like that," he snorted.

"Come on, hammerhead. Let's go look at those deep sea fish. Maybe we'll find some ninja ones with their faces covered too. And don't give me that look," he snickered. He reached out and gently tapped him on the shoulder. "You can tell me all about them. And if not, we can learn about them together."

He shrugged and nudged him forward, deeper into the aquarium, where a separate tunnel dragged them out into a darker section. Down down they went, a ramp spiraling down and there an array of lights igniting the walkway and little light beyond that.

Up and around them were the faint glittering traces of those same deep sea fish fluttering by. "Whoa," he whispered, speaking softly still as if to keep from disturbing the fish.  "I've never seen anything like it. Hey what's that fisherman looking one over there? The one with the thing hanging from its head." The fish themselves' ignited the tunnel with their faint glowing.

Vander had no trouble navigating in the dark, and there was nothing bright short of the walkway. But even that was rather non-invasive, only giving enough to see where they could step and not disturbing the world of darkness around them.

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #42 on: September 20, 2017, 05:32:20 am »
It'd been a long time since Loa had made anyone laugh, and he had completely forgotten the slight warm, fuzzy feeling one got inside from it. He didn't know how to take it, so he just said nothing, smirking only slightly behind his mask as he let Vander lead the way, the hand on his shoulder still a little stressful.

Ru had had a big laugh like that. Hearty, like he'd been laughing his whole life. Vander's was somewhat similar but it wasn't so deep.He still found the comparison interesting.

The walkway led them down into depths where the walls on either side of them were reinforced every meter or so with heavy metal frames that held the glass panels keeping the water in, if it was glass at all. They had to have been at least two, maybe even three feet thick--Loa found it mind boggling how many immense amounts of pressure was being held back here in order to keep those fish maintained.

Flashes of silver and platinum reflected off the low lighting as eerie fish mingled in the depths; it was impossible to tell how many fish were even around them, and the mystery of it all might have been what made it so creepy.

He glanced at what Vander was looking at and he shrugged. "Anglerfish?" He asked, feeling like that was the right answer--it swam closer and he saw its mouth was full of needle-like spiny teeth and shuddered. On the other side, he saw a length of silvery-taupe slink past them at least 6 feet long.

He nudged Vander and pointed to it as its head passed them; a frilly shark? Something like that, he thought, as he watched the snake-like head glide past, mouth open in an eerie grin, flashes of red inside of its gills and a large, round, reflective eye that seemingly looked nowhere and made the damn thing look possessed.

"If we got in that water right now we would die instantly." He said quietly, being surrounded by creatures that he never should have been able to see by nature's standards making him feel very small and helpless, "Not by the fish--the pressure would make us explode."

He stepped over to a little sign, illuminated by a small blue light, reading it over really quick. "... I guess a lot of these guys don't have bones. Cartilage."

He looked over at Vander, curious to see his reaction before they came to a set of doors that let them into the next exhibit, which made him squint and raise a hand to shield his eyes as they stepped out into normal lighting again. They were surrounded by reefs and sea bedrock, a showcase of the varying plantlife that grew under the water--or used to, rather, Loa realized.

This planet used to be so full of life. It was a little depressing, seeing the wonder and beauty they had chased off of it.

Offline Lion

Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #43 on: September 21, 2017, 01:42:10 am »
"That is one terrifying sonuvabitch," Vander admitted, but couldn't help but find himself grinning as he watched that eel-like fish slither on by. The thing cut right through the water like a hot knife through butter. Sure that wasn't an original thought, but it was an accurate enough depiction. Vander didn't know much about life in that world before Aedolis. As far as he was concerned there was no life worth living that wasn't Aedolis.

That wasn't to say he couldn't appreciate the creatures in front of him, or that dark and terrifying world behind the glass. "Wow," he whispered, more in awe of that darkness - and it's sheer vastness than anything else.

He couldn't imagine surviving in that smothered embrace - not the pressure - but the fact that there was no light, no vision. Nothing to be seen for miles and miles. And these creatures not only lived in it but thrived. He reached up, adjusting the edge of his visor to sit more comfortably on his face. It had never felt heavier than it did now.

Once they moved along, the light adjusted with ease through his lenses, and he stuck close enough to Loa. The rest of the exhibit was spent largely in observation, listening to the cued voiceovers, holographic projections, and the e-notes that Vander scanned here and there with his phone. Once the reached the end of it, Vander wandered back to the entrance, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"Hey, that was fun man. We've got to hang out again some time. If you wanted! You're pretty smart, but I'm not really surprised you knew more about those fish than I did. Which ones were your favorite?"

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #44 on: September 26, 2017, 11:42:22 am »
Loa found that he preferred the silence between the two of them as they explored an ancient world neither of them would experience in the wild. It left more room for mindless wandering, meaningless thoughts and actual relaxation. A couple times he forgot Vander was there at all, realizing he'd gone quite a ways ahead with something seeming off before he would stop and wait for his... Companion, he supposed, to catch up.

His dragon remained silent throughout the entire adventure, though every now and then Loa felt his presence. It was annoying and they were both aware of it, but Loa didn't question it. Amontillado had his reasons, and he would've shared them by now if he actually wanted to.

When they reached the end of the exhibit, Loa felt a little conflicted. A small part of him agreed when Vander said that it had been fun--well, he might not have said it was fun, but he did enjoy it. To a point. Kind of. Maybe.

"The deep sea fish." He responded simply; he found himself envying them a little. It must be nice to just swim in the blackened depths, your only concern being survival--no more, no less. That sounded very nice.

"I was surprised you didn't just stand there and look at them."

He'd been expecting Vander to look at each one, talk about how cool it was and make noises or narrate the fish's life behind the glass like an annoying teenager trying too hard for attention. Instead, he'd actually listened and read the exhibits, apparently open to learning, which Loa would not have pegged him for in a million years.

Their walk back to their apartments was spent idly chatting about what they'd seen, of course Loa letting Vander do most of the talking. When they said their goodbyes, Loa realized the oddly wholesome sense of satisfaction he felt, found that it bothered him and promptly went to his home upstairs to drown himself in a bottle or two of rum and work on some music inspired by the strange creatures he'd seen.

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #45 on: September 26, 2017, 12:17:11 pm »
Vander slipped into his apartment, waving Loa goodbye once they reached the Citadel again. The guy had wasn't all bad. And it was evident the aquarium walk had done wonders to make his bristles abate for the evening. The beer he'd bought him probably didn't hurt either. So when Loa actually walked with him, didn't try to make up a lame excuse to get away, or wasn't at all dismissive of Vander's harmless brand of nonsense, it was nice to see he could be chill.

Vander plopped his phone on the counter and then he heard it. That music... Hmmm.  It sounded a lot like Aizo but somehow not. The bassline permeated through and Vander suddenly felt an itch he had to scratch. In the corner was the railgun he'd been working on the other day.

He didn't bother going to bed at a timely hour, and spent the rest of the night fiddling with the weapon for as long as that music kept playing. Vander occasionally glanced up at the ceiling. Whoever that was, he was glad he lived under them. It was either that or he'd have to play his own music in the background.

By the time he passed out, it was on his couch and Vander woke up when he rolled off and landed hard on the floor.

Oh fuck. "Ouchhh!" he hissed. Ah well, there wasn't any point in going back to sleep. Drills all day today and there wouldn't be any other time to hit the gym if he didn't do it do it now. Vander changed quickly, snatched up his backpack and skeddadled down to the ATC before all the good machines were taken.

There were lots of gyms in the ATC. But Vander knew the best one less frequented was the one in the east wing. Being noon though, it wasn't that unusual to see a few people in there for a while. It wasn't that big of a deal. He could take a few people.

He dropped his bag and stripped out of his shirt and hit the treadmill in the front just beside behind the mirrored wall where some of the heavyweight lifters were busy with their squats.

Beads were already dotting his brow and a thin line of sweat trickled down his neck as he ran. He wasn't the tallest guy, but he had firmly cut muscles, each well-defined, from his legs to his shoulders, with more than enough bulk everywhere. Squad life wasn't easy. You couldn't just roll out of bed and carryon with nothing at all.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2017, 12:59:46 pm by Lion »

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #46 on: September 26, 2017, 08:05:35 pm »
He'd changed his system settings for nights like this: when he finally just fizzled out, fell asleep with his head in his folded arms that rested on his synthesizers. About an hour after inactivity, his computers went to sleep and the lights went out. He twitched and shuddered in his sleep, drifting in and out, remembering things from one year ago or eleven years ago. They would jolt him awake for a few seconds, long enough for him to realize he should probably drag himself to his bed, and then he would pass out again before he could follow through.

Needless to say, it was a stressful, fitful sleep.

When he did wake up, he wiped the drool crusted on the corners of his mouth from his face, sneering at himself in contempt as he tried to get up from the bench seat at his desk before stumbling over it and falling on the floor. Every muscle and bone ached, and in the back of his mind he heard his dragon guffaw and laugh at him.

Thanks, thanks a lot.

The sound of an important ringing on his phone got his attention, and he scrambled to get himself upright on two feet again to grab it in time. He had a mission briefing, today. Finally. Now he had a real excuse to stop playing around with that Vander guy and actually get back to business--and he sensed it, much to his dragon's irritation.

He took a quick shower, not bothering to shave the stubble on his face since he seemed to have a permanent five o'clock shadow anyways, and got dressed in his uniform, helmet on as he headed to the ATC to get his head in the game before he went in to meet his superiors.

What are you up to, dragon? He thought to Amontillado, expecting no answer.

I'm tired of the others mocking me for having a basement dweller as a pilot.

... Well.

It wasn't wrong. Now he wished he hadn't asked.

So he wanted Loa to be a more sociable Pilot; it was no surprise, Amontillado had told him from the get-go he wanted a Pilot who would get somewhere. You didn't get somewhere without knowing anybody, and his dragon was tired of waiting for Loa to change on his own, so when he saw the opportunity he jumped on it. Or rather, made Loa jump for--

He had been walking past one of the lesser populated gyms, figuring he could always practice kickboxing for a bit to get those silly thoughts about socializing with people out of his head. Or, he could have, he might not be able to now, thanks to who he saw inside. He didn't even notice that he'd stopped in his tracks. His helmet might have kept where he was staring a mystery but his body language spoke well enough to what he was so fixated on.

He saw Vander in there, running on a treadmill with sweat rolling down the gentle slopes and dips of muscles, which he could see all too well because... He was shirtless.

Loa's throat went a little dry and he finally jerked his gaze away, forcing himself to start walking again, refusing to look back. He'd find a different gym, he couldn't--no. He wouldn't. No. Nope. NO.

Louis you're unintentionally hilarious.

Loa felt the heat rising in his cheeks. Shut up now every dragon will know!

Know what?

N--Absolutely nothing.

He decided to bypass the gyms completely and instead found his way to the cafeteria, grabbing himself a cold water before locking himself inside of one of the lead rooms to try and pull himself together in isolation, make his heart stop fluttering. Stupid fucking man. He had to get his shit together and stay focused--every mission was important, requiring all of his focus, and this one would surely be no different. It took him a little bit longer than it normally would have to calm down and think only about business, it almost made him late to his briefing, much to his dragon's amusement.

This mission kept him away from Haviah for a few days, mostly do to travel, but also because he specialized in more delicate work, rather than just going in and shooting up the bad guy he had to sneak in, give the bad guy a literal heart attack and sneak back out to cause as little fuss as possible.

It was a welcome vacation, honestly. More time spent by himself, trusting no one, hardly speaking to anyone but his dragon or reporting in with progress. Everything went as smoothly as one could hope for an assassination, though he didn't come away completely unscathed, sporting a nice new cut on his upper bicep and across his chest. Nothing too serious so he didn't need to go to the hospital--just a couple of cuts in his uniform and a bit of blood. He just headed straight for his apartment once he got back after filing his reports, falling back into old habits and forgetting entirely that Vander even existed.

Offline Lion

Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #47 on: September 27, 2017, 01:27:07 am »
Drills. Drills. Drills. And oh look there were more drills.

He ate, slept when he passed out, and when the drills were over, he came around and flopped onto his couch until it just about had a permanent imprint of his ass on the cushions. And finally - finally!! - after several days there was a day off. Yet there he was, passed out on his couch, snoring lightly until he fell off yet again.

"I really gotta start sleeping in my own bed," he griped. Vander slumped over to the door. It was probably better to go outside maybe. Get some fresh air. Maybe get a coffee. Yes, because that's what people did right?  Yeah, it was good to experience something close to sunlight.

Or whatever it was these Citadel lights were. Or he would have if he didn't immediately bump into a solid body as he opened his door to step out of it. He paused and leaned back against the door jam. "Huh?"

What the hell?

Blood on his shirt. A lot of blood. Whoa, and it wasn't him!  Vander peeked up, seeing that familiar helmet and seeing the shorter man, the posture, and the blood. Again. Vander's stomach turned a little. Not at the sight of blood but the fact that this man clearly needed stitches and somehow just was meandering through the hallway like nothing - NOTHING!. What an idiot.

"Dude! What the fuck. Loa, hey. Buddy!" Vander waved his hand in front of his helmet. "Hey, dude. You know you're bleeding right? And like more than is good for people to bleed. Don't you need stitches or something?"

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #48 on: September 27, 2017, 06:46:56 pm »
Each step felt weighed down with solid cement blocks on his feet. Every muscle felt heavy, even his skin was sore. He wondered briefly if this must be what it felt like to be a zombie, if those were a thing.

Actually, he could probably make one if the corpse was fresh enough, but it'd be more of a puppet and he would have to work out the logistics of using bloodflow to correlate with muscle movements which might not be something he could control, actually he probably couldn't control that at all, but maybe with a bit of telekinesis it wasn't entirely impos--

He'd been so wrapped up in his own outlandish thoughts--nothing serious, just something to think about while he meandered up to the next elevator, really--he didn't hear one of the apartment doors open, and it didn't occur to him until several seconds after the fact that he'd run into somebody. The only actual thing that made him realize was the fact that he had stumbled and ended up on the floor.

Shit, he'd lost his focus when he'd been thinking about the stupid zombie thing and started losing blood again. Everything had been fine until he got sidetracked and ran into this idiot.

"Watch where you're going, you--" He looked up and recognized the voice.

Oh--oh. Right. Vander. He existed. He didn't just stop magically existing because Loa hadn't seen him for a few days; fuckin hell Loa, what, do you have the mentality of a baby?

He stared up at the man blankly for a moment or two before he registered, delayed, that he was being spoken to. His ears were ringing a little bit; hey he'd come home looking way worse before and been just fine.

He forced himself to his feet, feeling a little woozy and swaying just slightly but he was fine, it was fine. He'd been through worse.

"Oh, fuck off I'm fine." He growled, getting his focus back together to suppress the blood flow trying to escape through the open wounds, it was the same concept as putting pressure on it to get it to stop, only he didn't need the physical pressure. If he focused and held it long enough his body would naturally regenerate like any other person's, he just had to be patient, that was all.

And not sleep for a few more hours so he could keep his concentration.

He'd been through worse, dammit.

Either way, he started to walk away again, determined to get to his apartment despite his slight trembling.

"Sorry about your shirt." He grumbled in passing, except he wasn't really that sorry.

Offline Lion

Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #49 on: September 28, 2017, 01:11:28 am »
"Oh fuck my shirt, it's a shirt! Dude! You're bleeeeding. Dunno if you know what that means, but for some other folks is means a wound should be dressed. Besides, I owe you one for not being able to drag you around for the last few days," Vander forced himself to laugh and yanked Loa on through the doorway and into his apartment.

It wasn't easy to move the guy. He was kind of small and didn't really have any physical strength to push away. Sure he figured he could just make his blood really itchy and tingly and writhing all on the ground and he could make his great escape.

"Look, uhh. You're going to have to get out of that flight suit man. Just the top half ok. You can use the bathroom to peel yourself out of it and keep your helmet on if you want. That's totally cool," he nodded to him. "Don't mind the little bots, they have bumper sensors to avoid being stepped on."

Vander snorted and went about putting a pot of hot water in the sink and preparing some towels. Yeah sure, he was a hemokinetic, probably a good one, but the guy seemed way too dazed and tired to deal with that kind of shit right away. And If he wasn't going to a hospital the least he could do was keep the poor schlub from bleeding in the middle of the hallway.

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #50 on: September 28, 2017, 01:31:55 am »
Well, it looked like Loa just wasn't allowed to escape Vander's clutches whenever the two of them made eye contact. And fortunately for Vander, Loa was dazed and tired enough that he couldn't really fight back as he was literally dragged into the man's apartment, which, to no one's surprise, was a fucking mess.

He blinked and stared dumbly for a moment at the chaos-- all the little robots moving around, doing gods knew what, minding their own business whilst being completely unsupervised. He was told to go to the bathroom, so after a moment he just growled and gave in, locking himself in and doing as he was told.

The flight suit was peeled off, and so was his helmet; he'd worn it quite a lot over the past few days and even he had to admit it got stuffy in there.

He shook his head, glancing down at his arms and noticing he was a bit more pale than usual--and that was saying something, usually he didn't have much color to his palette at all. He glanced up at the mirror, seeing his own face looking back at him and he grit his teeth, forgetting for a moment that he wasn't in his own apartment as he drew his hand back to break the glass, before a sound Vander made outside reminded him. Hell, he was just about delirious, wasn't he? Had he really lost that much?

He covered his face with his hand and glanced down at his open wounds, growling at them. Two mistakes that Amontillado had already berated him for and probably would continue to do so as soon as Loa was feeling better. And now he not only had to listen to the wrath of his dragon, but he also had to deal with Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes out there trying to take care of him like he was a child or something.

When he emerged from the bathroom his helmet was back on and his flight suit removed; he usually wore under armor underneath it, so he still had pants on but he'd kept the shirt off. He wasn't exactly built like a brick house, and while he might have been shorter than Vander it was obvious he could hold his own in hand to hand combat, with muscles taught from no doubt a lot of intense training. His skin was so ghostly pale it was almost pure white, though it had a bit of a gray cast to it that made it hard to tell if that was blood loss or just his natural coloring. He had a lot of scars, the most prominent ones being suspicious-looking claw marks on his chest and upper back.

"Let's get this over with, where do you want me?" He grumbled, the blood on his chest smeared and drying; the wounds were still clearly open but the fresh blood inside of them wasn't oozing out like it should have, clearly his own work of holding it back just under the surface. At least he wasn't making too much of a mess.

Offline Lion

Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #51 on: September 28, 2017, 02:01:11 am »
"On the couch. Just shove that blanket off to the side," Vander gestured. Right, training for this in the squad had been a particularly lazy day. He wasn't the medic but the basic dressing of wounds in the field was just common sense. Clean it up, disinfect, and slap a bandage on it. Right? Any idiot could do that. Nevermind the workbench with his mess on it, Vander had hands that could take care of tender delicate messes.

His gun was in pieces but that didn't mean he wasn't accustomed to working with small moving parts. He waited long enough for the water to actually finish boiling and meanwhile pulled out a small medkit he had in a cabinet in the kitchen. Needle and thread. He'd had to stitch his own wounds in Candyhood, so it wasn't that big of a deal here.

The nurse was usually backed up with other people that had their lips busted and noses broken from assholes that didn't like you or were trying to put you down.

"Damn dude. Deep cuts. Respect though," he murmured, after he sat down on the coffee table. A hand tucked underneath pulled the table closer so that he had Loa's knees between his legs and he was close enough to better examine the wound. "Do you trust me?" he murmured. "Enough to help you? Ah, moot question, but it still stands. I'm gonna have to touch you, ok. Sorry in advance, my friend."

Vander was quiet and beside him on a cutting board, the heated pot of water remained, where he dipped the cloth and gently patted it around Loa's cut on his chest. Better to get the big ones first. The guy was cut, and well, he was cut. He wasn't at all unattractive, it was just too bad he had to hide his face though. Being this close would have given him a chance to look into his eyes. They were such a nice blue. He couldn't help but admire them.

He glanced up and met the visor of that helmet, smirking a little as he cleaned off the dried out blood and pulled out a small apparatus that resembled a staple gun. Everything in the medkit was still brand new, and Vander didn't say anything still and kept his touches light and even. The staples were light and airy things, little more than light pinches as he ran it down the length of the wound, and there were small lines of biodegradable threading that would keep the wound closed until it properly healed and fall away as time went on.

"So, hot shot, how'd you get these wounds? Being bad ass, I'm assuming?"

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #52 on: September 28, 2017, 02:12:59 pm »
Loa begrudgingly did as he was told, carefully stepping around the mess to perch on the couch and wait. He watched Vander move about as the water got to boiling, his eyes never leaving the man, his posture stick straight; alert, on guard.

Sitting definitely helped him keep his focus, though the little bots that were puttering around the apartment were good at trying to be distracting.

He said nothing as Vander came over, sitting on the table and scooting close. With his shirt off, he could feel the slight changes in the air and temperature between the two of them, and the grip he had where his hands rested on his knees tightened a little bit.

He'd forgotten how much he didn't miss this, this closeness in proximity to another person. He wasn't sure how to feel about it, so naturally his heartbeat sped up a little, purely out of being conflicted. He hated it.

Vander asked if he trusted him and Loa opened his mouth to blatantly tell him no, but the man kept going before he could respond, so he just clenched his teeth and tried to gaze anywhere else in the room that wasn't the man's face.

"Just get it over with."

He didn't react as the hot cloth was used to wipe away the dried blood that crusted his skin, and didn't flinch as the staples were brought into the equation. He'd done this plenty of times before, both of them had, he was sure, and this pain was minimal in comparison to Amontillado's temper tantrums.

He caught Vander smirking at him and his eyebrows knitted closer together with disapproval. The hell was he smirking at? Nevermind, Loa didn't wanna know. Probably something stupid, or perverted.

"On a mission." Was all he said in response to the man's question. "Confidential."

He paused for a moment, before deciding to continue.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." It was... A joke. Of sorts.

Only half a joke because he knew there was a part of him that would have delighted in killing Vander and ridding himself of the nuisance so he could keep whatever little sanity he had left. Unfortunately, that part of him was much smaller than he would ever willingly admit. He would also never admit to anyone, including himself, that deep down he kind of enjoyed the company.

Human beings weren't really meant to be truly alone, no matter how much Loa tried to prove to himself otherwise.

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #53 on: September 28, 2017, 02:29:24 pm »
"Haha!" Vander actually cackled. Not because he thought the joke was particularly funny. Death threats generally were no joking matter. But the fact that this guy needed to make one even after he was helping stitch up his wounds said lots. "Ok fair enough. I'll leave you to your tantalizing mysteries. You can tell me about them another time."

He wasn't really going to hold him to tbat. The guy seemed to have a hard time with basic communication skills. So expecting that much was less productive than squeezing water from a stone. Vander just quietly finished up the stitching and gently patted above his arm.

"All good there, Loa. Say, since you're here and kind of look like shit, why don't you just take a load off and have a beer? Huh? It's my day off. I was going to run down and pick up some snacks. You can come with or stay here. Watch some movie. What do you say? "

He grinned and got up, putting the medkit away and washing his hands. "Hey what kind of toppings do you like on your pizza? I'll order one of those instead."

« Last Edit: September 28, 2017, 02:32:20 pm by Lion »

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Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #54 on: September 28, 2017, 02:44:39 pm »
Without even realizing it, Loa smirked to himself when Vander laughed, a bit proud that the joke he'd intended to be funny actually kind of came off that way. Or Vander was laughing at his pathetic attempt, aaaand the smirk was gone. But the atmosphere between the two of them definitely lightened up a bit after that, even Louis could sense it.

He looked down, examining Vander's handiwork and finding it not as sloppy as he expected, and blinked when the man spoke again with a proposition. He looked up at him, instantly thinking to tell him no, before he hesitated.

He really was pretty exhausted, and getting up to go trudge up to his apartment didn't sound ideal now that he was already sitting. He just really didn't want to wear this flight helmet any longer, but he couldn't just take it off and be done with it--absolutely not. The mere thought of doing so made his anxiety start to swell up, maybe he should just go home--

Well, wait. He might've had a bandana in the pocket of his flight suit, if it hadn't been cut or soiled by blood yet that was.

Even showing his eyes made him feel a little queasy, but it definitely sounded more comfortable, and...

And he could spend more time with Vander.

NOT THAT HE ENJOYED IT OR ANYTHING. It would probably just, just make Amon a little less likely to throw a fit later if he kept socializing. Totally, yes. That's how he'd justify it to himself.

"... Fine. I just don't like onions, or pineapple."

He stood up, grunting with the pain of moving, and went over to the bathroom where he'd left his clothes neatly folded on the floor outside. Crouching down he dug around in the pockets, finding the bandana and hesitating a moment. If he went into the bathroom and closed the door just to take the helmet off he'd seem even weirder than he already was, and for some reason he actually cared if he seemed weird to Vander right now, so...

He quickly took the helmet off, giving his black hair a shake with his back to Vander before he quickly tied the bandana around his face, hoping to do so quickly enough that the man wouldn't notice or get a chance to see anything.

He pawed through his clothing again, finding his undershirt was also cut and soaked with blood, which meant he'd just have to stay shirtless unless if the man wanted to graciously donate some clothes, and Loa wasn't sure how he'd feel about it if he did.

"So, what movie were you thinking of?" He asked, standing upright and looking over at him, hooking a thumb in the waistband of his pants.

Offline Lion

Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #55 on: September 29, 2017, 12:35:35 am »
"No onions, no pineapple. Got it. So you don't like to live dangerously, all right then," he nodded as he went along and began dialing the local pizza joint just a few blocks down. It was a mom and pop gig that he frequented here and there - the family of a Candidate he knew way back then and had gotten TRIM'd - and liked their pie enough to make the order directly from them.

He didn't mind at all. And let Loa vanish into the bathroom to do his thing. Whatever that was. There wasn't any judgment because who was Vander to call him out on it.

"Yeah, just pepperoni and peppers would be great! Yeah and extra spicy sauce on one half will ya? Thanks man. I owe you one. Awesome, see you in twenty minutes then," Vander hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.  Oh those little critters weren't going to be letting up any time soon.

"Okay guys, time to settle in we have a guest," he shouted out loud and as if on cue the little robots began to put themselves away.  A few of them like the vaccuum continued to rove about the apartment going about it's business until Vander glared at it and the flat disk like machine roved under the couch.

Vander met Loa's gaze again, this time helmet-less. But still covered. Yup, he was a bandana guy, eh. "Oh, it's a great cyborg flick. About a cop that has to hunt down synthetic humans. But it has a lot action and drama in it too. Feels a lot like a neo noir. Pretty cool sound track I think you'll dig it a lot. It's not Aizo, but it's close enough.  Called Razor's Edge. It's really cool," Vander explained as he went about setting the movie up.

"You look...uhh, you kinda chilly?  Well, since I'm all bloodied up, I guess I better change too. I'll get you something to cover up with. It can get pretty cold in here." Vander disappeared into the hallway passed Loa and was gone for a few minutes. When he came back he was in a sweatshirt and he offered Loa a dark green T-shirt with a metal band called Mortal Coil. "Try that on. Should fit ok.  Hey, make yourself at home, Loa, and do you want a beer or something? I've got plenty to share."

Cheesigator

  • Guest
Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #56 on: September 29, 2017, 12:44:19 pm »
Didn't like to live dangerously? Loa's eyebrow twitched, some of his pride as a man a little offended by that. He was a bloody Pilot for fuck's sake, wasn't that living dangerously enough?

Either way, he listened idly as Vander placed the order on the phone, assuming he must frequent this pizza place often with how familiarly he spoke to the person on the other end. He wasn't sure if that was admirable or pathetic. Could he not even cook for himself? Well, it wasn't any of Loa's business.

He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against a wall as he watched Vander go about his business, watching with an eyebrow raised as all the little bots went scurrying away, disappearing into so many different places at once he couldn't keep track; one minute they were in an apartment teeming with artificial life, the next, it was like it was a barren desert and they were the only two souls in it. He felt a slight bit of disappointment, at how quiet it got. Now it was barely any different than his own apartment.

... W-Which was fine. His apartment was fine. Everything was fine.

"Razor's Edge, huh?" He echoed, scratching his cheek under the bandanna, the sound of his nails against stubble unmistakable. "Sounds interesting I guess."

He didn't really... Watch movies. Or do anything recreational, other than bum around on the interwebs and make music sometimes. And drink, but he was sure alcoholism wasn't something to be considered recreational in his case. More like an addiction and a problem.

He blinked when the man asked if he looked chilly; did he? He glanced down at himself, noting how pale he was, but that was normal. Before he could really say anything though, the man had moved off into another room and he didn't really know what else to do except stand there and wait. He hadn't been inside another person's home for a really, really long time. It felt... Weird. Like he was intruding. Awkward.

He probably should've just gone home.

He looked around while Vander was gone, with eyes only of course, noting the messes and all the mechanical parts and pieces lying around, half-finished, barely started. But a little intriguing nonetheless; he didn't understand any of it, he was about as good with making technology as he was making friends--he wasn't. So when Vander came back he didn't ask about any of it, only taking the shirt handed to him and examining it for a moment with another raised eyebrow before he pulled it on over his head. It fit well enough, he supposed. It smelled like Vander, and that alone was enough to make his cheeks warm up a bit. Fuck.

He wandered over to the couch, sitting down and nodding when he was offered the choice of a beer; he'd been planning to go back up to his own apartment and drink originally anyways, and while a beer was way lighter than what he normally had, it would do for now.

Still, it'd been so long since he'd been someone's guest, he didn't really know what to say or do except sit there awkwardly, and the awkwardness was much more unwanted than he'd care to admit. But what could he even begin to make conversation about?

"So... Those little robots everywhere, you made them? What do they do?" He finally ground out, just something to keep the conversation from falling into silence and dying, because even though he didn't realize it, he much preferred the familiarity he heard in Vander's voice to the sound of nothing at all.

Offline Lion

Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #57 on: September 29, 2017, 01:32:25 pm »
If he'd known that Loa at all appreciated the noise those little mechanical critters made, he probably would have kept them roving about the place, but the movie was going to start soon, however, and he didn't want them getting stepped on should Loa decide one of them was more of a nuisance than the rest. They didn't do anything harmful to anyone - even if repairing and maintaining them was an easy task for the Harpy.

With thumb and index finger and middle, he hooked two beers in his hand and plucked them from the fridge A handy wall clip hooked the bottle top off and dropped it into a metal bin at the base of it. Stepping on over to the couch, he pushed away the coffee table with his legs and set the beers down. "Here ya go, Loa," he grinned.

The remote started up the movie and soft synth music played in the background. A cityscape, not unlike Haviah from the looks of it, and transport ships gliding through the air between massive advertising billboards, holographic models, neon everywhere.

"Those little critters, yeah I made 'em," he nodded, taking his own beer and clinking it lightly against Loa's because it was bad luck to drink without honoring the beverage of your guest. "They do anything I tell them to do. I can talk to them and they sometimes talk back - I know it's a machine, but what I mean is I interface with them and program them to do just little things around the apartment.  I modified my coffee maker to function on it's own. It has a timer and makes a brew just right.

"I also have a little machine that vacuums up pizza crumbs and the like," he nodded. "When it's full, it beeps and another little critter comes along and empties out the dustpan in the back and chucks that into the wastebasket in the kitchen."

He smiled and took a sip of the beer. The pizza should be here sometime soon, but there was no rush. He was just hungry.  "But they know the rules. When we have guests, they make themselves scarce. But also I don't want them to get stepped on. They're harmless little buggers, and I fix 'em up and improve them between drills and work. I guess to say I'm a techie is putting it lightly."

He shrugged and settled into the couch, kicking his shoes off and sipping the beer again. "What about yourself? You like the latest and greatest tech? Or you don't have much interest in that stuff?"

Cheesigator

  • Guest
Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #58 on: September 29, 2017, 09:10:47 pm »
Loa watched Vander across the apartment as he rummaged around in the fridge, making sure he kept his eyes on the man's shoulders rather than his ass, and then to the tv as Vander came over--he sure as shit didn't want to be caught obviously looking at the guy, would he? That'd be weird. And awkward.

He took the beer offered to him, feeling the weight of his host sit down on the couch and leaning over to clink their beers together, which Loa hesitated to do, but did anyways if it was what was going to make this guy happy. Whatever. It was odd how it was only the second time they'd had drinks together and it was already... Starting to kind of feel familiar.

He looked over at him out of the corners of his eyes while Vander answered his question, brows furrowing with a slight look of disbelief. You'd think it'd just be easier to make the coffee yourself, considering how much time he'd probably spent making the little buggers, it seemed unnecessary. But he seemed to enjoy talking about them.

Yeah, a techie. "Yeah, that's putting it lightly." He grumbled his agreement, turning his gaze back to the tv as the movie went on. "Guess you have company over fairly often then." Since he had rules for the little bots and all that. It was just a guess.

He blinked, glancing over at Vander when he was asked if he knew about tech much himself. "Me? No--I'm as good at building things or making shit as I am at having a social life." Well at least he could be honest with himself, that was always a start. "I just play around with instruments sometimes." When he wasn't passed out on the floor with a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

He took a swig of beer, attention turning more to the movie as characters started to appear and plot began to develop. He barely noticed Vander get up to go get the pizza until the man sat back down next to him with the box, the smell wafting over and making him realize there was a world outside the tv, and boy it smelled good. He hadn't realized how hungry he actually was until he could smell food in front of his face; it'd be tricky eating it without removing the bandana, but he'd manage.

Offline Lion

Re: Diamond Eyes [Lion!]
« Reply #59 on: September 30, 2017, 11:49:09 pm »
So far so good. He'd accepted the stitches without so much as a complaint. Accepted a beer without throwing it in his face. And hopefully he could enjoy a few slices of pizza without throwing it onto his lap and making it burn his junk.  Not having burned junk was always nice. That was the general goal of day to day life.

Vander didn't really have any expectations, and tried not to walk on eggshells around the guy. He seemed to fidget enough well on his own. Just relaxing normally against that couch with a pizza on the table and a cold beer in his hand. Really Vander couldn't think of a better way to spend his day off.

That railgun could wait. It was almost finished anyway, an the last few improvements could be spent on during the long nights after drills and squad work.

"Oh yeah yeah, I remember you liked synth like Aizo. Music your thing huh? That's pretty cool. Maybe you could play some for me sometime. Just some time. No pressure, though," he said and winked at Loa, making sure to keep his eyes forward as he took a bite of his pizza and sipping his beer.

 

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