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Author Topic: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]  (Read 1186 times)

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Offline Lion

Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« on: October 27, 2017, 01:23:45 am »
”DANIELS! GET YOU ASS IN MY OFFICE! NOW!”

Glover had been sleeping in the bunk room when he heard that familiar roar. He jerked his eyes open and the real chill of fear shivered down his spine. He’d know the note of sheer displeasure from his Captain at any moment. He wasn’t late. In fact he’d been sleeping in the bunk room for that exact reason.

Sure, it was also a place where he could get a hot shower since he’d forgot about paying for water the previous month and there were always donuts in the breakroom. It was food!  And that bill could be paid when he got around to getting paid himself. In the meantime, he could make it look like he was working hard while hardly working.

”DANIELS!!! ASS! OFFICE! OR MY FOOT IS GOING IN IT!”

That was the cue to roll off the top bunk and he landed with a stumble at the base of the bunk and yanked his brown jacket off the hook. A ruddy old thing that was nearly coming apart in some corners of it. But he loved that jacket. It had a hidden pocket on it that he could put a small stash of pills.

“What the hell do you want now, Captain,” he murmured and half groaned so that when he squinted he didn’t have to look at his boss square in the face though. The captain was a balding bastard with a flat pale ugly mug and dark bags under his eyes. The hard lines of his face, wrinkles on his brow, and the ashen quality to his teeth when he opened his mouth to speak was proper evidence that the job aged him 20 years more than he was.

“Shut up. And sit down, asswipe! You look like shit!” the Captain growled at the detective standing in front of him. Glover’s shirt was wrinkled from lying down in it, and half untucked from his pants. Blonde waves were all down in his face. Glover hadn’t shaved in 3 days, and the stubble coming in made him look like a bum.

Glover pushed his hair away from his face and tucked in the bottom of his shirt, hiking the collar of his jacket up when he finally did take that seat in that wobbly wooden chair in front of that metal office desk.

“Good fucking gods above Glover, how on earth can you call yourself a detective? You’ve slept here the past few nights and you haven’t changed your clothes! You’re a fucking transient and I should kick you off the force just by your state of dress alone. You’re grouchy, you’re late, and you always pretend like you’re about to fall asleep - LIKE RIGHT FUCKING NOW. YOU KEEP THOSE EYES OPEN, ASSHOLE!”

Glover twitched and scowled, narrowing his eyes, and choked back the mock snore he was about to make. “Just get to the poooint--”

“What the hell did I just say? Shut the fuck up. Now just listen! Yeah you’re a slob. Yeah you’re a piece of garbage that’d be better use picking up cans off the street and stacking them in your shopping cart, but you’ve got something half the shitheads in here don’t. You’re a mage, even a bloodmage at that. And since you didn’t come equipped with a suitable handler when you graduated, I was tasked with finding someone that might temper that shitty attitude you have. So, Daniels, congratulations. You’re getting a partner.”

Glover’s eyes shot open, but he didn’t move. He rubbed at the temple where his port was, and breathed in slowly. “You’re setting me up with some Mordecai dickwad? What fresh outta the box? Well who the shit is it!?”

“Well, you’re in luck, they’re just getting in now.”

Offline nephero

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2017, 02:12:45 am »
Your first day in Tynova, you'd feel like you were on top of the world. It took quite a bit to work at the heart of Edanith's capital city, and a special placement was certainly nothing to shake a stick at. It required nerve, integrity, patience, and most of all, a work ethic to make the gods themselves weep.

And oh, Wil had all that in spades. They hadn't busted their ass seven ways to Sunday just to get some cushy job as a professional babysitter. It would have been easy, so damn easy, to just take the first assignment they could and escort some spoiled mage brat around for the rest of their life. But that had never been what Wil wanted. They were a Mordecai, sure, and they had a duty as such, sure. But that didn't mean they couldn't still help people, couldn't still do good in the world, couldn't still make Edanith a better place to live, one day at a time.

It had been a bit... unorthodox, to choose the career path they did. But in the end, all their hard work, all their efforts, all the extra miles they'd run, all the extra hours of study they'd put in at the academy, all the years of preparation busting their ass in the smaller districts in the outlying cities climbing up from recruit to cop to detective, all of it had come down to this! Their shining moment!

The moment when they got here, to Tynova, to their new precinct, and to their new partner. The mage who had taken a look at their choices and gone for the hard one. The high road. The beautiful, noble promise of justice served, when all the world could have been theirs for the taking. The mage who felt the same way that Wil did. A partner in profession, and a partner in ideals.

Wil was, and they weren't ashamed to admit it, excited. They'd only run temporary assignments before; it wasn't often that you got a mage in law enforcement, and more often than not Wil'd simply been used as a countermeasure to nullify rogues. It wasn't like that had been unpleasant, but it wasn't quite the same sensation as now. Right now it felt like... like everything was finally coming together. Like they'd finally arrived at the point in their life when it all started making sense. When they'd get to settle and build a life, a proud life, a life that went beyond being a Mordecai, went beyond how others tended to perceive them, went beyond the pettiness that had dogged every last step they'd taken.

Today was their day, finally, finally.

They had spent what had probably been an inordinate amount of time that morning getting ready. Not that they'd really been able to get much sleep, but even with the exhaustingly early wake up, it had taken them nearly down to the wire to finalize every last detail. Makeup firmly in place, dark high-necked shirt, holster over that, and leather jacket over that. Hair brushed again and again and again to an emerald sheen. Perfect. Clean. Crisp.

Professional.

Rather than waiting the last few minutes pacing around their apartment, Wil had instead opted to arrive early. It was only by about ten minutes, nothing too brown-nosy, but definitely displaying just how serious they were prepared to take their newfound position. Tags and chain and blank "key" glittering over their heart, it took very real effort for them to keep from looking too pleased with themself as they headed towards the Captain's office.

There was already someone in there with him, and judging by the Captain's face, this was not a pleasant sort of meeting. And no wonder; this guy looked like he'd rolled down here in a garbage bin, and the garbage bin had been the cleanest thing about him. And that was absolutely saying something. It didn't take much to notice that this was not the first time the blonde man had worn those clothes, and in no way had they been washed between uses. Gross, unkempt, unshaven, Wil could have very easily pegged him for the local troublemaking drug slinger, but for one teensy, tiny ever so important little detail...

This man had a mage port in his temple.

Hesitating just for the barest hint of a moment in the open doorway, Wil reached to the side to rap their knuckles against the frame, elation leaking out of them like a submarine with a screen hatch and dread pooling equally as quickly in their belly. Please. Please, please, no.

"Sir," they said, carefully avoiding looking at the blonde seated in the office's spare chair. Because maybe if they didn't acknowledge him it would turn out all right, and this wouldn't be... this couldn't be... "Lambert, sir. I'm, ah, here for my assignment."

Unable to help themself, Wil looked to the side, and out of the corner of their eyes, met rosy-hued ones. Or, at least, Wil thought they looked rosy. It was hard to tell, what with this jackass' eyes being nearly closed. And did he... did he just yawn?

Offline Lion

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2017, 02:08:50 am »
Nobody wanted a babysitter and that's just what the Captain was trying to do with this set up, wasn't he!? Glover didn't need a translator to know the undercurrent message that he was sending out just with those few choice words. "Partner." "Didn't come equipped with a suitable handler." What the hell else did that mean other than the fact that they were going to leash him up and have a Mordecai walk him along like a dog.

At another time he might have found the prospect of being on a leash a bit exciting, as it were, he was hungry and out of sleep. Glover groaned loudly and pressed his thumbs deeper into those mage ports.

He was getting a handler; deep down he knew there wa sno way around that. Every mage had one, a Mordecai to watch over them, help them, guide them, protect them from themselves, protect them from everyone else. And a mage could not use their ability without their Mordecai. And Glover couldn't remember the last time he used it. Or maybe he was just that goddamned dazed.

There was no avoiding it, and unless he wanted to spend the money he didn't have on a shuttle taking him out to the frontier, he couldn't avoid it. He was a detective, he worked just as hard as anyone else. And if he was going to have to learn to deal with it, they were just going to learn how to live with what they got in turn.

"Lambert, sir. I'm, ah, here for my assignment."

Glover didn't need to look up to know it was a candyass. The fresh in a new squadroom kind of mushy bubbliness that was going to get popped right quick and put in their notice of resignation within two weeks.  He didn't need to look up, yet something in that voice compelled him and he kept his half-lidded glare going full throttle.

Rose gold eyes met to deep rich browns. The glance was ephemeral at best, and something something the Captain said about standing up and shaking their hand and making nice. Yawwwwwwn! Glover looked away and then to the Captain, kind of wishing the daggers he was giving him would fly straight out and into his chest.

So he wanted him to make nice? Okay, he could make nice.

Glover twisted in his chair, giving the most shit-eating-est grin he could muster and scoffed. "Okay, Laaaaaambchop. Hello, I'm your assignment, welcome to the Force."

"Daniels!"

Glover rolled his eyes and reached out to take their hand into his. He didn't really give them a choice to protest before he shook it vigorously between his grimy paws and promptly let it go. "Detective Daniels. Glover Daniels."  Glover smirked, looking them over. Make up, dark turtlenecked shirt, leather jacket, a rather delicate form than what he was expecting... Fuck if they weren't pretty, and something flipped in his gut. Too bad the candyass would probably be putting in their resignation after two weeks.

"So you're the best Mordecai they could cough up for the task, huh?' he snorted.

Offline nephero

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2017, 01:57:17 pm »
Lambchop.

This was... a joke. An absolute joke. All their talents, and the higher ups had seen fit to put Wil here, with this trainwreck of a man, and it was an absolute joke.

Of course.

Wil's lips parted, about to voice a polite variation of 'don't fucking touch me,' but never got the chance. Their skin crawled, mind awash with all the terrible things those grubby hands could have been in, all the sleaze pouring off Daniels in odious waves to where it took very real effort not to physically recoil.

Thankfully, Wil was not made to suffer long, as Daniels dropped their hand almost as soon as he'd taken it. The sudden contact and subsequent parting, however, was all the kick in the pants Wil needed.

This was a joke.

Of course it was.

It didn't matter that they'd worked so hard in the academy. It didn't matter that they'd excelled in every local assignment they'd gotten (despite having been transferred several times). It didn't matter that no one could write that they'd ever given anything less than 120% since their feet hit the ground.

They were and always would be the joke-- little Wil-or-are-you-Mina? Well, fine. The higher ups wanted to play rough? Wil could play rough. They'd turn this man, Daniels, inside out and snap his neck on backwards if that's what it took for some respectability. They pulled their lips tight, forced a smile that never reached the same latitude as their eyes, and stared into Daniels' obscenely pretty ones without skipping a beat.

If this was just another attempt to get Wil to quit, the bastards had another thing coming.

"Lucky you. I'm the best Mordecai, period." Wil winked like a headman's axe fell, and slid their hands into jacket pockets to keep them safe from more cross contamination.

"Just in time, too, I'd heard the underworld bum rings were out of hand, but not this bad. I'm really looking forward to working with someone of your astounding dedication."
« Last Edit: November 01, 2017, 01:59:17 pm by nephero »

Offline Lion

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2017, 04:55:57 pm »
Amazing.

Glover never smiled so quickly or so thoroughly amused in all his life. The moment Wil Lambert opened his (her? he couldn't be sure yet) mouth, and that zinger that followed, made the grungey detective's lips thin out, widen, split into the amused expression he'd had in forever.

With a wit like that, oh maybe this candyass wasn't going to be so bad after all. He laughed, just short of throwing his head back and cackling, and stared eye to eye with that Mordecai. Ahem, the best Mordecai. Period. Oh, was that so?

They were going to be a fun one.

Glover almost didn't hear the Captain slamming his hands down on the desk. "Goddammit Daniels! All right, the both of you have a seat! Glover, wipe that grin right off your face before I wipe it off for you!"  The Captain huffed and rummaged around for a file he had on his desk.

"Okay, Lambert, Daniels. Because you're going to be partners, I expect the pair of you are going to get along famously. Neither of you are on salary to sit on your asses, got it? Now, I get the pleasure of giving the pair of you your first assignment."  He pulled out a folder from his desk and flicked it to them.

Glover took his seat, opening up the folder and examining the tacked on photographs that came with the report. He read it quietly, quickly and slid it across for the newbie to review.  He made sure his and was all over it, and that one of them was a smudged fingerprint from some ink he'd been messing with earlier that day.

"Had some reports of a few break-ins in the lowereast Krayside Neighborhood. I want you two to take a squad car, head down there and interview the witnesses listed in the report. Make notes and report back. Should be easy enough. Even for the likes of you Daniels. And don't you fucking say something smart. You're still on my shit list. Now go on, get out of here. i don't wanna see either of you until that report is ready."

Glover didn't argue, biting his tongue unceremoniously and rolled on out of that chair, standing up and waiting for Wil to stand. Once they were beside him, Glover slid an arm over their shoulder and hugged them in real close like, making sure they got a good whiff of his arm pits.

"Come on, Cop Buddy! Let's go get some donuts! Scout out some bad guys," he grinned ear to ear. "We're gonna get along just fine.  You like to drive right? Of course you do."

Offline nephero

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2017, 12:47:07 am »
Wil hated driving.

They had, naively enough, resolved to be as polite about Daniels’s filthy appearance as much as possible, and only occasionally snark about it if the opportunity for a good one-liner arose. But oh, gods was Daniels making it difficult, and so it was only partially because of ‘driving’ that Wil’s lip curled over their teeth.

“Gee, thanks.” They muttered, feeling their skin crawl with every quiet breath in their direction. Between the stink, the days-old outfit wrinkles, the stink, his fingerprints and all the awful sticky places they must have been, the stink--

This had to be the worst hazing Wil had ever been through. And that included having a pillowcase full of baby powder drop on them from the ceiling. At least the baby powder had smelled nice-- Detective Daniels was rancid, and Wil had to question how much of this was just an act to get under their skin, or if this was genuinely how Daniels lived.

No, no. Impossible. No way this was just him. Who lived like that!

“Sir,” they said, their voice forced back from the edge of contempt before it got Wil outright fired, names and numbers tucked safely away in their jacket pocket. Because there was no way the Captain wasn't in on this.

Wil hated driving. But they much preferred driving the latest in law enforcement technology than a single minute more of Daniels’ arm around them.

Or so they thought, until they got into the driver’s seat. This model was way more advanced than what Wil was used to, and now that they were there, faced with all those different screens and keys and switches and… was that a cup holder or a taser charger? They didn't even know!

‘Okay, Lambert, you're just sitting here,’ they thought, realizing that Daniels was watching them have a miniature meltdown, and this was just fuel to the fire.

‘Best mordecai, period,’ they could just hear Daniels cackling with glee, ‘and just sat there staring at the dashboard for five minutes!’

Jackass. Jackassy asshole full of ass! Wil grimaced, and turned the key, the squad car's engine sparking to life. There! Step one done, it was fine, they could do this...

Offline Lion

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2017, 12:50:03 pm »
Glover would be lying if he said he didn't at all want a cop-buddy friendship like in all those TV shows and movies. Mostly because of the banter and secondly because he could annoy the shit out of someone else and they had no choice but to put up with it until they requested a transfer. He couldn't exactly lone-wolf it, what with those ports requiring a specific key to use and only certain people qualified to carry those keys, so he was next to useless without them.

This person, this total and utter stranger, had the key to those ports, and if he had to rely on them to be of any sort of use to anyone, so be it. If it meant making that prospective partner miserable right along with him, well he wasn't going to be selfish at all in that regard.

"Okaaaay, I'm ready to go here," Glover commented idly while Wil stared at the dash and tried to figure out the ins and outs of that vehicle. Not that squad cars were exceptionally complicated piece of equipment right.  Wait...  Glover's lips curled into an amused little smile. "You do know how to drive right?" RIGHT!???

The sheer risk of being in the passenger seat with someone potentially inexperienced was less daunting than what he imagined he'd feel in a situation like this. Instead he was smiling more so now and he couldn't help a snort when Wil finally managed to turn on the car and Glover casually pointed to the gear shift to get the vehicle moving.  It wasn't that he enjoyed the suffering - and he did - but the fact that she (he?) had so much intent on doing so anyway tickled Glover's funny bone endlessly.  Oh yes, they were going to get along juuust fine.

Once the car was moving out of the garage, Glover not rubbing it in anymore than necessary, he reached forward and knocked a fist against the glove compartment. "Okay, Lambchop, I'm gonna need to ask something really important. You're new here so I'll let you in on a little secret, the Captain is an alcoholic so get him scotch and soda for the holidays and you can't go wrong.  Second, now this is very important so listen carefully, I'm gonna need you to deviate from orders and stop by my place so I can pick something up real quick."

Glover fumbled with items in the small compartment and pulled out a pack of smokes he'd hidden in the back and tapped it against his leg, slamming the panel shut with his knee.  Pulling out a long white stick with his teeth he held it there before gesturing the pack of cigarettes to his new partner. "Smoke? Don't give me that look. Take one. It'll be good for you."

Offline nephero

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2017, 07:10:41 pm »
Wil would have liked to, well, like their partner. As a mordecai, it was only a matter of time before they settled into a permanent role, established the partnership necessary to keep their world running. They’d heard, of course, of how close those relationships could be, and it all seemed so terribly romantic in its own sort of way. Being the key necessary to operate deep powers. They’d run short-term operations before, of course, general anti-magic projection, but it was nothing so personal.

Somehow, they really didn’t see this being personal, either. It was… so disappointing. And that disappointment only congealed into anger with how Daniels insisted on elongating his vowels.

‘Okaaaay, I’m ready to go here.’

Okaaaay, Wil thought mockingly, their lip curling a bit at the mere sound of Daniels’ voice. A quick breath to steady their nerves and smooth their brow, Wil finally got them rolling out of the garage and en route to their first stop.

Or, at least, that had been the plan. Wil blinked, eyes leaving the road for barely a millisecond to shoot Daniels an incredulous stare. They weren’t so keen on taking this man’s advice for gifts to heart, as it was obvious Wil couldn’t trust the man with even bathing himself.

Let alone trust him to deviate from their orders. To pick something up? Was Daniels serious? Wil was about to protest, and loudly, but their mouth snapped closed again with a loud click. No, no. This was a partnership, regardless of how shitty of one it was. They needed to work together, and maybe this was just… an off day. They could chew Daniels out later—

Or, at least, that had been the thought process up until Daniels pulled out a pack of cigarettes and actually shook one out, before offering Wil much the same. Their lip in full curl, and more than thankful for the red light, Wil shot Daniels the nastiest look they could muster.

“You are not going to light that up in here. Did you hide those in there?”

Offline Lion

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2017, 08:22:27 pm »
Glover's lips were still curled into that shit-eating grin. Smug and maybe just a little too pleased with himself at the fact that although he was doing his best to make nice Will didn't seem to keen on spending more time with him than they (he?) had to. Minor details for now, they had a job to do right? Right. So with any luck Wil would just listen to him and pay attention to the road and he could take a fucking shower and change his clothes.

Or he would have if... "You what? Don't like the smell of cigarettes? Okay mom," Glover sniffed and rolled his eyes. "Pffft!" The scoff was louder than he intended but it made his point well enough. He pulled out his favorite Hippo lighter and ignited the flame that took the smoke and took in a deep puff. Gods that was good, and slowly let the drag fill his lungs.

He didn't even hide the sheer pleasure on his face, a hand reaching up to recline and lean against the driver's seat. Although he didn't voice it, he was perfectly aware he probably didn't smell the best, and no amount of car air freshener wouldn't make him smell like a pine tree's ass. And maaaybe he wanted to see just how much heat this Wil could take before it drove them crazy. Why not have a little fun eh?

"I got a stash of smokes in every squad car. Don't tell the Captain. I'm trusting you on that," Glover admitted with a half-annoyed grumble. The admission was true however, and his eyes flicked over to Wil. Damn they were pretty, full lips and wide eyes. Maybe he wasn't so keen on the soft features, but if there was anything to look forward to with this match up, his new partner was definitely easy on the eyes.

Aaaand he was staring. He knew he was staring, but his eyes never left Wil's face, even as the light turned green. "3280 Advent Ave," he instructed and the on board voice command on the squad car's GPS confirmed the destination and he gestured for Wil to go there. "So, what are you exactly? Color me curious. What should I call you hm? Male? Female? Because you're gorgeous and I'll be damned if I ain't gonna appreciate it properly."

Was he flirting? Maybe. Probably. It was still early. Why not get a headstart on that.

Glover took a long good drag on that smoke and let it hang loosely from his lips, eyes half-hooded as he kept his gaze curiously on the Best Mordecai Period.  Yeah, maybe he could get used to this after all.

Offline nephero

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2017, 10:25:13 pm »
This was hell. Wil had died and they were in hell. There was simply no other explanation for it. The stench was unbearable— between the grody odor that Wil had only caught whiffs of before, and the cigarette smoke itself, they felt this close to just gagging outright. But that would be an admission of weakness, and so Wil swallowed their disgust and simply pretended they weren’t utterly nauseated.

There were, of course, the little signs, though. The way Wil’s jaw tightened into a hard line as Daniels leaned in, bringing that smokey awful with him. The way Wil’s eyes narrowed with every little word about all the hidden stashes of cartons across the precinct parking lot. The way they pursed their lips, the skin turning pale for all the pressure applied.

Still, they said nothing, did nothing but turn the wheel and adjust their course according to the directions of the GPS, letting Daniels dictate their little excursion from what they were both supposed to be doing. They would just get this part over with, get them both back on track, and then—

And then Daniels asked what Wil had been afraid he’d ask. Their grip on the steering wheel tightened, white-knuckled and already beginning to sweat with nerves and hate. It had to happen eventually, of course. They were a little surprised that their… “reputation” hadn’t preceded them. But this part was always inevitable.

Didn’t mean it didn’t suck. Especially with how Daniels worded the question. It just made them feel like they were covered in oil, slick and sticky and gross even beyond the mild germaphobia that had overtaken them since meeting Glover Daniels. Why was it that it was always worded like that? A big old “so what the hell are you?” Even if it was couched in borderline flirtatious tones— honestly that kind of made the whole thing worse.

After a moment of swallowing the shaking misery in their throat, Wil steadied themselves and spoke, keeping their words short and clipped and professional to avoid adding any unnecessary emotion to their words. And thus, avoid giving Daniels anything to work with.

“Both. All. Neither. If you’re looking for pronouns you can just use ‘they’.” Factual. Nothing opinionated, just an answer to a question. Wil really hoped Daniels would just leave it at that, get back to other, easier targets and continue to piss them off that way.

Thankfully, 3280 Advent Ave was not too far off, leaving little to no time for Daniels to follow up question into terrible places. Wil pulled to the side of the road, threw the car in park, and sat back in the driver’s seat with their hands folded in their lap.

“Hurry and get what you need.” They said, simply, not really a command but absolutely a command. For added effect, they turned to stare at Daniels, their dark eyes boring into his terribly pretty rose ones. It wasn’t fair that such a shitty human being had such pretty eyes. Wil might’ve liked looking at them better then.

Offline Lion

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2017, 10:07:30 pm »
Glover's eyes hadn't meant to be staring, but now the longer he looked he totally meant to be staring. They weren't exactly bedroom eyes...but the longer he looked at them, unable to tear his eyes away, the more hooded and tired they became. After all, the Captain did kind of shriek his name out of a nap. And the longer he looked the less he found his intention to make his newly partnered Mordecai as uncomfortable as possible was a shit plan.

Nor could he turn his eyes away. If he scared this off, he wouldn't have anyone so pretty to look at anymore, and that'd just make the poor bastard heartbroken. 

The answer was clipped, quick, matter of factly and just what Glover had been expecting. He absolutely loved it. The tension in Wil's voice, or attempt to make it as cold as possible, sent a chill up his spine and he made no intention of suppressing that shiver. It was just too good to pass up.  Glover took another long drag of his cigarette and nodded in understanding. "Well, all right then. I think I'll just call you Wil Lambchop. Short and sweet."

The second their eyes locked, Glover couldn't suppress that second chill. He stared right back, as he'd been staring all along, and the small smile that'd been playing on his lips spread his face wide open.  Yeah, he was keeping this one.

He winked at them and just as the car pulled up he took his cigarette, tucked it into the corner of his lips and stepped out the door. His apartment wasn't too far up. And yeah he had no water, but it'd give him a chance to pack up a day bag, a change of clothes and some other essentials.  Then he could take a real shower down at the station and not feel like his butt cheeks were turning into sand paper.

Glover made it to his front door and although the lights weren't on, he used his phone to ignite the way to his room where he changed out of his dirty shirt and slipped into a robin-egg blue one and tucked it into a clean pair of jeans. A matching brown belt and his work shoes. Utilitarian, and gods did it feel good to finally have a clean pair of underwear on. Yikes.

Another change of clothes in his bag, a flask, and... Glover paused at his desk, where he carefully meandered over and pulled out a small compact of powder. Or so it would seem. He drew lines across the glass portion of it and snorted them really quick before tucking it away. A small second thought of putting it away in his backpack was a fucking no go. Not with Wil in the car. It wasn't anyone else's business but his own regardless.

Nope, those few lines would keep him awake the rest of the day.

Glover came back outside to the waiting squad car, the cigarette in the corner of his mouth having burned it down to almost the filter.  He took another drag of it, dropped it and squashed it beneath his show, sliding back into the seat, tucking the backpack between his knees.  "Okay, now I need you to take me to your place and let me take a shower in your shower. I'll make it up to you later, I promise," he nodded to Wil, grinning sweetly and meeting those pretty brown eyes again.

Yup, there went another chill.

Offline nephero

Re: Harvester of Eyes [Neph!]
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2018, 10:27:25 pm »
   Wil Lambchop.
   
   Their nostrils flared, their lips pursed, and everything in their body tensed up as pure unbridled rage boiled up like so much overcooked pasta. Only except in this case, there was no doting granny witch to help put the pot to rights again. Just Wil’s own sense of self.

   Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Oh, no, that was too much breathing, and now in addition to being overwhelmingly frothing mad, Wil had to deal with the dizzying effects of too much oxygen in too little time. The edges of their vision whitened, fizzled, and for a moment the only thing Wil saw, the only thing they could see was Glover Daniels’ rosy, antagonistic eyes. And then, when Wil got their breathing back under control, that stupid, snarking grin.

   Focus!

   Wil gripped the steering wheel and pulled it back into the lane they were supposed to be in, they totally meant to do that, shut the hell up. Thankfully, though, they had arrived at their destination, and Wil threw the cruiser into park before shutting off the engine, just in time to pull their arms up and over their chest in a tight, firm, cross. They didn’t even care that they looked like a petulant child right then, all in a huff, the motion was the only thing that kept them from reaching over the console and slapping the absolute life out of Daniels.

   Thankfully, Daniels had bigger plans than making Wil see red, and left up a ratty apartment building’s steps before disappearing inside. It figured. Not that Wil’s own apartment was really that fancy, or in that great of an area either; but really, it figured that someone who dressed like they dumpster dove for their Sunday best, and smelled like it too, lived in what seemed to be a multistory dumpster itself. There really was no end to the trash fire, it seemed.

   One thing was certain: this wasn’t just some grand ploy to get under Wil’s skin. This was genuinely who Daniels was, and the jury was still out on how Wil felt about that. Would it be better if Daniels was actually upstanding and had just rolled around in shit to play the fool? Or was it somehow worse to know Daniels was just… the fool.

   Fuck them, but this was going to be a long assignment. Wil leaned back in their seat, and let their eyes close for a solitary moment. Just breathe. Think of something pleasant, consider just how much of an increase in pay this was over their previous assignments. They could afford a new couch. Maybe spruce up their apartment a bit— not that they ever really had visitors. Okay, that wasn’t a pleasant thought at all. Something else. Like maybe a new dress. New set of stockings, maybe some fancy perfume. A big bottle of bubble bath and matching scented lotion. Mm, yes, that sounded really, really good.

   And a gigantic mug of steamed soy and honey. Ooh, yes.

   All too soon, though, their fantasies were ruined by Daniels’ return, and they opened their eyes just as the man slid into the passenger seat beside them. And… okay. Okay, this was an improvement. This seemed to be a clean(er?) shirt, and there was a definite “has not been worn while rolling in a dumpster” look to those jeans now. Amazing, just a quick change of clothes and Daniels almost looked presentable. And somehow more alert. Then again, sometimes that was all it took. And this would be a far better presentation for getting statements. Wil reached to restart the engine, ready to finally get done and on their way—

   Or… so they thought. Again. Only this time, Wil’s reaction was less of anger and more of absolute horror. Their place? Their shower? Daniels, and all of his… filth, all over their things?

   It was like their mind slammed on the brakes and started screaming, and unconsciously Wil maybe pushed a little too hard on the accelerator on the way away from Daniels’ place. Because no. Absolutely no. No!

   But god. The fresh clothes were an improvement. Could Wil really let Daniels parade around, stinking to high heaven? What kind of example did that set for the department? Wil was at a loss for a moment. Would the Captain expect them to keep Daniels on a leash? Somehow, deep in their soul, they knew the answer was yes. If they failed to keep this bum in line, surely it would be their ass. They were the mordecai, after all. It was their job to clean up messes.

   And this was a huge goddamn mess.

   They gave Daniels the side eye, before taking in a deep breath and reaching to press a button on the GPS. They muttered the address, hoping, maybe, that Daniels wouldn’t hear them and thus somehow remember where they lived. Except…

   ‘Error. Could not determine address. Please try again.

   And so they did. Just a little bit louder. But nope, there went the error bloop noise again. Please try again.

   “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” they muttered, and earned another boop. ‘Error.

   “No, I wasn’t even—” ‘Error.

   “5003 EAST FUCKING JEFFERSON AVENUE, FUCKING TYNOVA.”

   ‘Error. Did you mean 5-0-0-3 East Jefferson Avenue?

   “YES.”

   Calculating.

   Wil took in a deep, shaking breath, before suddenly remembering that they were not, in fact, alone. A shock of horror shot down their spine, and they were caught in paralysis for a moment. No. Don’t look at his face. Just keep driving, pretend it didn’t happen. Nope. Just go home. Just let Daniels take his shower, and maybe in return he would never mention this again.

   One could only hope.

   They could not possibly get to their building fast enough. They threw the car in park and almost immediately shot out of the driver’s seat, thankful for their complexion making blushing harder to detect. Good job, Lambert, great impressions made. Perfect “best mordecai, period” actions. There would be no doubting their credentials now. They led the way up and to the elevators, surely walking just this side of too fast the whole way. Not that they were really in a position to care; they just wanted this whole debacle over with. So they could finish this day, come back home, and scrub every last inch of their bathroom from top to bottom.

   “Second door on the left. Just leave the towels you use on the floor. And hurry up. Please.”

 

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