doggone

[repeatedprayer]

[In the time following his departure from Tabito and Manabu's company, the alias "Grey" has wound up sticking.

Not that everyone calls him that, he's used a few other aliases since then, but it's what he's wound up thinking of himself as. If Grey had taken the time to think about it a bit more he might have picked something with a little less connection to Rezo's name, but it's still leagues better than thinking of himself as "Rez- wait, no, just a copy." And maybe that's why he's felt significantly calmer since he left Sairaag.

By his own standards, Grey has been laudably well-behaved; sure, he's been mostly doing under-the-table psychic work, often on behalf of criminals, but! He's been trying to keep a low profile so it's usually things like clairvoyant spying rather than anything violent, and he's been making a point of not doing anything that directly impacts the galaxy railways.

It would be extremely awkward if Manabu Yuuki had to try and arrest him, after all.

He's found himself frequently thinking about Manabu, much to his annoyance. He has no serious expectations of ever seeing Manabu again, so it's simply a waste of mental bandwidth to find himself wondering what Manabu is doing right now or where he is, or to reminisince over their incredibly brief acquaintanceship. Grey can only suppose that because Manabu was the first reasonably normal person he got to know after leaving Sairaag that Manabu is going to stick out in his mind for a while.

And it's probably because of the real estate that Manabu is hogging in Grey's mind that he's been very aware of every mention of the SDF that crosses his path. He hasn't exactly been tracking the SDF's activities deliberately, but he does pay attention to the news and the SDF frequently winds up in there, even if Manabu's name in particular isn't normally dropped.

Until the day it does.

SDF Officer Taken Hostage By Pirates]

* * *

[It's taken several weeks of investigating, but Grey has been able to track down The Huntress's client, a Dr. Parish and associates. It must be a small galaxy, because Dr. Parish is someone Grey knows. Sort of.

Rather, Dr. Parish was a colleague of Rezo's who collaborated with the man on chimera research (and other unsavory things) in the past. Not only that, the man was an ardent admirer of Rezo's superior psychic prowess, and desperate to improve his own meager abilities.

He'd had quite a shock when Grey approached him in town, but after the initial surprise it had been sickeningly easy to convince Dr. Parish that he was the real Rezo. Grey can only surmise that the man wants to believe too badly to let himself be properly suspicious. It had only taken a day for Grey to be invited to tour Parish's laboratory.

The lab's located on the grounds of a former Marquess's estate, a ways out of town and secluded by trees, a high wall, and a long drive. Grey's done a little recon before, but actually being here is different, especially since he has to navigate by cane at the moment. Grey is doing his best to politely nod and smile as Parish guides him from room to room, explaining their work and occasionally handing him things to examine himself.

But evidently Parish realizes that "Rezo" isn't entirely interested, because he stops partway through an explanation of some stem cell experiments he and a few others have been working on to say "Of course, the really interesting specimens are kept in the basement floor."

Grey already knows this. He hopes his expression seems the right sort of eager.]

Interesting?

["Something along the lines of what we did in the past. Would you like to see them?"]

Nothing would please me more.

[Grey can practically hear Parish's delighted grin. To soothe the surge of irritation, Grey reminds himself that he's going to kill this man before the end of the day and allows Parish to guide him out into the hall and to the basement entrance at the back of the building.]

Comments

[repeatedprayer]

[While he does need Manabu to relax, Grey has to admit the twitching and shiveriness is exciting to him. He adores knowing he can affect Manabu so strongly.]

How does it feel?

[He keeps up the massaging at the same leisurely pace. He can feel the lubricant growing warmer and warmer from their shared body heat.]

[siriusly]

Good. [...] W-warm. [he fidgets a little, letting Grey's finger graze in a bit.] Y-you can probably...

[repeatedprayer]

Yes?

[Grey can feel Manabu loosening up under his touch, and fully realizes that it wouldn't be much effort to start pushing in, but he refrains. Manabu's given him such a good opportunity to make him say it, after all.]

[siriusly]

[his eyes wince. C'mon, man!]

Y-y'know-!!

[repeatedprayer]

What is it, Manabu?

[Grey speaks with a tone of faux-innocence that is extremely unconvincing.]

[siriusly]

[UGH!! the tail twitches in his grip.] You know what, you jerk!

[repeatedprayer]

Come now, you can say it, can't you?

[Grey briefly curls his finger, as if he's going to nudge it inside, but then he straightens it and resumes stroking around Manabu's home.]

You don't need to be shy.

[siriusly]

How less shy can I be right now, Grey!! [exasperated, embarrassed, he fidgets to try to make his finger slip in just on error.]

[repeatedprayer]

[To Manabu's credit, the fidgeting nearly works. Grey's finger presses against his hole, nearly nudging in. But Grey recognizes that risk and stubbornly pulls back, moving his hand to one of Manabu's buttocks and grabbing on. No risk of any "accidents" in that position.]

By telling me exactly what you want.

[siriusly]

Grh-- [he smushes his face back in the pillow to grumble a little before huffing and turning his head again.] Y-you have to use your fingers first, or you're never getting in there! So get to it, or don't!

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey considers this, and decides that'll do.]

As you wish.

[He returns his hand to its previous position and nudges his fingertip against Manabu's hole. Slowly, he feels it opening up around him, warm and tight as he gradually sinks his finger in deeper.]

Although next time perhaps you should try asking nicely.

[siriusly]

Nrh-- [he shivers, back tensing up for a beat before he exhales and relaxes.]

Or, or what?

[repeatedprayer]

[With a teasing curl of his finger and a squeeze of Manabu's tail:]

Or I'll make you beg.

[siriusly]

[Manabu gasps, then tries to abruptly clamp his mouth shut to stifle the moan that follows it, sputtering the breath out and squirming]

Guh--Gr, Grey-! [that tapers with a little whimper.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Honestly, as frustrating as Manabu's stubbornness can be, there's a part of Grey that likes it. Makes it especially pleasurable when Grey's able to break through it- Manabu's a challenge that's well worth meeting.

All that to say that Manabu's reaction affects Grey almost as much as Manabu's being affected by what Grey's doing.]

God, Manabu.

[He eases his grip on Manabu's tail again but it still remains, teasing with the prospect of future squeezes and tugs while Grey keeps up the finger fucking.]

[siriusly]

[Manabu whimpers, just a shadow of the contrarian he was mere moments ago in favor of tensing and relaxing at the whims of a few careful movements or pressures. there's a touch more defined topography on his back from all the work he's been doing to recover, and though he'll never be some toned Adonis, it's not a bare landscape laid out before Grey. his shoulderblades cast shadows when he pushes up a bit on his hands to adjust his weight and settle back down.]

Hh, hang on-- [he wants his knees under himself, exhaling easier when he can.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey's not terribly observant of visual details, but he can still admire the movements of Manabu's back muscles as he responds to what Grey's doing. He doesn't know if Manabu's an objectively good looking guy or if it's solely Grey's affection and attraction that colors him in- he can't tell a pretty person from a plain one beyond an awareness that symmetry is supposed to be good- but it honestly doesn't matter to him as long as he gets to be the one admiring this view.

When he realizes Manabu's adjusting his position Grey's considerate enough to go still (though not withdraw) and wait until Manabu exhales before he starts slowly moving again.]

Comfortable?

[siriusly]

Mnh, ye-yeah. I'm okay. [he tilts his head to peer over his shoulder, wincing a little.] That tail's...in the way, huh. [he hopes it doesn't accidentally swat Grey over the head in the middle of things.]

[repeatedprayer]

[The one that Grey has in his free hand in order to keep it from twitching and thrashing out of control?]

Not at all. It's very easy to manage.

[And the trade-off for it needing to be managed is that it's an easy way for Grey to rile Manabu up.]

[siriusly]

[Manabu isn't so sure, but then again, the tail-tugging does feel good, so if it's ultimately not a huge bother, then if he just...doesn't look at it, he can feel less a freak about it.

he shuts his eyes and makes a willful attempt to relax into the work, shivering and whimpering through his nose a little when there's a pulse of pleasure here and there.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey works steadily on Manabu's backside, focusing primarily on the entrance and stretching him wider by gradual degrees. Occasionally he adds a little more lube, just to keep everything going smoothly. Having a clear goal makes it easier to be patient, and the little noises that Manabu makes are a good reward for Grey's work. And every now and then when affection overwhelms him he leans in to press a kiss against Manabu's buttock or lower back.

When he starts adding more fingers Grey gives him a little praise.]

You're doing well.

[And after all that fuss he put up too, the silly man.]

[siriusly]

[the tail twitches in Grey's hand again.

without turning to speak, Manabu utters:] I, I want to be better. For you. [at this, at...everything in general. just-- be better. for him.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey eyes the back of Manabu's head curiously, wondering how much he should be reading into those words. He's a little touched and a lot astonished at the thought that Manabu might feel he needs to be a better person for something like Grey.

That would probably be reading too much into it. If Manabu's just referring to sex, that makes more sense. Grey is definitely more knowledgeable in this area than Manabu is, and with the confidence to match. Which isn't to say he's dissatisfied with Manabu, far from it. But if he wants to be better...]

Well, the way you get better is with plenty of practice, isn't it?

[siriusly]

Mn. Yeah. [that counts for the here and now and the after, as far as Manabu's concerned.

peeking back Grey's way:] I can handle it, so. So don't worry. [he'd like to offer some semblance of a reassuring air, but given that he's near facedown with his ass up naked in bed, maybe the optics are weird. nobody tell him.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Weird optics or no, at the very least Grey is thoroughly charmed.]

Is that so? Then I'll take you up on that.

[True to his word, Grey isn't going to take too much longer on prepping Manabu. He does make sure to stretch Manabu out some, but once he feels like his fingers are going in and out easily Grey figures that's good enough. He withdraws and lets go of Manabu's tail to grab the box of condoms from the nightstand.]

Alright. I'll need you to hold your tail if it starts moving.

[Listen trying to put a condom on one-handed is very annoying, especially when that one hand has got lube on it.]