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

[siriusly]

[Manabu squints, blinking a few times to adjust to the change of light, watching Grey's bare back...]

Mn-?

[blink. blinkblink. what?]

Ah, sure, I can--

[...]

...R-right. [his eyes wince.] Am I really going to be that helpless...?

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey considers the logistics of Manabu taking a shower, insomuch as he safely can. It's rather difficult to do so and avoid picturing Manabu naked, wet, Grey needing to help him lather up...

Nope. No, there's no chance Manabu would be willing to put up with that.]

I don't think you'll need much help, actually. You seem fine if you're sitting, and we have a detachable shower head and a stool. The only real concern is that you might fall getting in and out of the bathroom.

[And Grey can just see Manabu clonking his head on the sink...]

You can lean on me and I'll walk you to the shower, then I'll leave you in there to clean yourself up, and you'll call me back when you're done. Does that sound acceptable?

[siriusly]

Y...yeah. Guess so. [but he's still going to be embarrassed about it.] I'll be careful. [it's not like he wants to be even more pathetic!]

[repeatedprayer]

Good.

[He moves back to Manabu's side, holding out an arm for Manabu to grab and hoist himself upright with.]

Remember, if you succumb to an attack of pride after you're done showering and attempt to leave without my assistance, I will kill you.

[siriusly]

Ha? [he shoots him an incredulous look before grasping the arm.] Yeah, right! After all this work you did? [he hoists himself up with a grunt, slumping against him with the headrush before leaning onto his feet properly.]

You...don't strike me as someone who just...throws hard work away. Right? [haha?? ha?]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey gently encircles his arm with Manabu's.]

Yes, it would be a dreadful waste of the work I've put in. So don't test me, I beg of you.

[This would probably be funnier if it wasn't coming from a guy that Manabu had personally seen kill a bunch of dudes, Grey.]

[siriusly]

[that gets a little grumble, but no great revelatory clapbacks, as he needs to focus his energy on moving without wanting to keel over or hurl - harder than he'd like, honestly! but he'll grit his teeth and bear it to avoid being more of a problem. he'll shoo Grey out once he's gotten lay of the land in there so he can take his time situating and cleaning up and...and looking at himself again.

admittedly, more of the time spent in there is looking back at himself in the mirror, oscillating between dread and dismay. it's not every day parts of him are so blatantly changed without his consent, and while there may be a plan to move forward, every time he thinks about how he's meant to explain things to his mother, to his platoon...he almost wants to cry. scream, maybe.

but crying and screaming about how things aren't fair doesn't change anything, now does it?

man up, Yuuki...

being clean feels nice...until he sees the dripping mess a wet tail makes, so that's more time spent just having to try and towel off the stupid thing. at least it's not so sensitive when he touches it himself! but that makes him stubbornly try to finagle boxers back on by himself, and that's...rough.

he does, though, because stubbornness can prevail eventually.

it's enough time to rouse suspicion, so any ask on his status gets met with a harried:] Y-yeah! Sorry. I'm...I'm good. I think. A little help out of here?

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey thinks he does a rather heroic job of resisting the urge to fuss over Manabu while they're both in the bathroom. He allows himself to be shooed out with only an obligatory "Are you sure you don't need anything else?" and lets Manabu get on with things otherwise.

But once the bathroom door's closed, Grey sits on the bed and buries his face in his hands. Between the panic attack and Manabu's balance issues... Make no mistake, he's been acting as a caretaker. It's a role that sits heavily on his shoulders, thanks to all the Rezo-related baggage that comes with it. But he can't leave Manabu to suffer alone now, anymore than he could after Manabu was first abducted.

He doesn't know what it is about Manabu. Not only has the man motivated Grey into putting on Rezo's and Rezo-adjacent roles, but he's coaxed Grey into revealing far more of himself than he's ever revealed to anyone.

Admittedly, Manabu's the only person who's ever expressed much of an interest in Grey.

Regardless, now that he has a moment to himself Grey feels rather drained. The urge to just lie back and go back to sleep is strong. Reminding himself that he needs to at least be awake so that he can haul Manabu out of the bathroom later is enough to drag him out of bed though.

So while Manabu wrestles with himself physically and mentally, Grey spends most of that time doing research on a tablet into vestibular rehabilitation therapy and rebalancing exercises, reading various papers and articles and watching a few videos of people demonstrating the exercises. It's distracting enough that it keeps him from watching the clock... Until he can't hear water running anymore.

Followed by suspicious thumping noises. That's enough to get Grey's check-in.

Once Manabu's extended an invitation, Grey opens the door and peers into the bathroom suspiciously. He's not sure of what to expect. But there's Manabu, and he looks fine, and- Ah, he's got his boxers on. That's probably good. It would have been even more awkward if he'd had to help Manabu dress again.

Grey himself has changed into a shirt and slacks, so Manabu no longer has to endure Grey walking around with his upper torso exposed. Grey sidles into the tiny bathroom and holds out his arm for Manabu.]

Here.

[While Manabu's hauling himself up:]

You know, a good thing about this is that it also counts as balance training.

[siriusly]

[it counts? well, that's a relief.

while letting himself get ferried along:] The sooner-- [woh. hang on.

okay.] --the better, guh... I might go stircrazy before then, though. [he has to take it this slow and carefully? for how long?!? jeez...]

[repeatedprayer]

Mm. I apologize in advance for not being the most entertaining of hosts.

[Grey sets a hand on the back of Manabu's waist to steady him as they make their awkward way out of the bathroom and back towards the bed.

The stir-craziness is probably going to be an issue for both of them. Grey doesn't want to leave Manabu alone and unprotected unless he has to though, so it's not like he can just go on casual walks whenever he wants. Still, he's been thinking about the issue.]

We'll have to get you out of here eventually, whether you're recovered or not. I think a knit cap will be enough to hide your ears, but for your tail I think we'll need to keep a pair of pants intact, and tie it to your leg.

[Manabu's tail, not his pants.]

[siriusly]

[he grunts, plopping down and wincing - the damn tail getting in the way of him just sitting as he pleases! - sighing once he's sat comfortably.

he glances over his shoulder at the offending appendage.]

No real choice there, I guess. Not unless we find a long enough coat... [he knows he shouldn't complain, but he wants to.

he rubs at the back of his neck.]

If we can get a beat on the news going on around here, too, that'll help...as much to keep out of a pinch as it is to know what the score is here. [in order to help make things right later.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey also eyes the thing, which looks rather thinner now that it's wet.]

Even then, I wouldn't want to risk it attracting attention if you start wag- er, if it starts moving again.

[Can you just imagine a small child noticing and going "Mommy, I think that man has a snake in his pants?"

At the mention of news, Grey picks up the tablet from where he's set it aside on the kitchen counter and brings it over to Manabu.]

Here. We can start by looking for articles online.

[He doesn't expect they'll find anything about the break-in from last night, considering the laboratory itself was a secret... But Manabu's right that it doesn't hurt to have more general information.]

[siriusly]

[Manabu takes it, scooting so he can sit up against the headboard while he's tapping away.]

Without my SDF access credentials, it's gonna make it hard to get any really intensive information, but maybe this planet's journalism is on top of things? I've...never actually visited this planet before.

[maybe they have something on the doctor? or Rezo?]

[repeatedprayer]

I wouldn't get my hopes up too high, but it can't hurt to look at what's out there.

[Considering the law on Ruvinagald is mostly in the pocket of various rich assholes, Grey figures they can expect at least the major journalistic sources to follow suit. But seeing what people are being told might be important.]

I've been here for almost a week now, [Plus some memories from Rezo, albeit decades out of date.] so I might be able to answer some of your questions.

[siriusly]

What's the railway hub here like? [wow, shocking first question from the SDF officer.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Blink.]

I didn't take it here but it looks fairly ordinary. It's not very busy, and most of the personnel appeared to be robots.

[siriusly]

Mm... [so likely not developed enough to have a strong SDF presence, let alone the SPG...]

It's a mainly human settlement, right? Or is this one of the cohabitated planets with another species?

[repeatedprayer]

Mainly human. None of the indigenous species are considered sapient.

[They're just like, weird birds and mammals and things.]

[siriusly]

[dang. so no chance he can get away with just...having this stuff on him.

he sighs, head bobbing back against the wall as he looks at the ceiling. his tail lightly thumps on the mattress a couple times.]

Right...hat...tie it down... [can't just sit around in his skivvies the whole time!]

[repeatedprayer]

[Ah. So that was why he'd asked.

Grey considers pointing out that even if there were other species living on Ruvinagald, the odds of them resembling humans but with animal ears and tails is somewhat slim, but decides not to kick the dog while he's down.

He'll go ahead and fill in some backstory for Manabu instead.]

Ruvinagald used to be a colony in the classical sense of being subservient to a primary nation. The early population was a mixture of adventurous sorts hoping to make a fortune and prisoners sent over to be punished with hard labour. Things changed when there was civil unrest in the mother nation, and the Prime Minister fled to Ruvinagald. He resided here for a long time until it was safe for him to return home but by then he'd had a son who was born and raised on Ruvinagald and who wanted to stay.

The population had also expanded enough that they wanted independence from the mother nation, so the minister's son joined up with the burgeoning independence movement and established a constitutional monarchy with himself as the new King. But the monarchy collapsed very shortly- his son was the second and last King of Ruvinagald. A military coup d'état overthrew the second king, and Ruvinagald has had a president instead ever since.

[siriusly]

[Manabu listens, but his head tilts back down so he can check on his search results. Dr. Parish...

...that looks like just a general practice.

on a completely different planet. no dice there.

new search. Rezo...

while that's loading up, he looks over:] How long ago was that? Is this place still pretty shaky as far as governing bodies go?

[repeatedprayer]

[Oblivious to what Manabu's doing, assuming he's looking up general Ruvinagald news, Grey answers the question easily enough.]

Not long at all. I think it's been about... Oh, twenty years? Long enough to establish the appearance of stability, but with plenty of ambitious tycoons vying for dominance over the system. I expect the military hasn't forgotten that they were the ones to overthrow the previous government either.

[So yes, still kind of shaky.]

[siriusly]

[he hums out a thoughtful note at that, looking back down.

he blinks, eyebrows lifting. then he squints.

then he looks to Grey, then back to the tablet.

eh??]

...

...Huh...

[they're the spitting image of each other. kind of? this dude's eyes are closed, so the visage is off (missing that signature glower Manabu's grown to know, y'know).

this Rezo guy...a famous healer...?]

[repeatedprayer]

[Manabu hasn't shown much of a reaction to whatever he's looking up before now, so the squint and the vocalization pique Grey's curiosity.]

Find something interesting?

[Grey scooches in to lean over Manabu's shoulder- and is confronted by the last face he ever wants to see.]

...!

[He grabs the tablet, yanking it away from Manabu's hands and prying eyes, and clutches it to his chest.]

You- Why are you looking him up, I told you he was dead, didn't I?!

[siriusly]

He-hey! [the sudden hostility catches Manabu by surprise, makes him flinch, ears flattening.] I was curious! He was connected and all, right? I didn't know you guys were actually--

[CLONES?????????


no of course not:] Related! You know? How would I?