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]

[Manabu will have to suffer in silence for several long minutes more. Grey is slow to rouse- this is probably the best rest he's had in months. No subconscious worries about Manabu's safety to bother his rest, no loud noises or movements to startle him, he's sleeping in an actual bed (kinda) instead of on the floor...

But he doesn't sleep forever. Awareness of his surroundings creeps in, not unpleasantly. Bleary eyes open, slowly coming to a focus on the top of Manabu's head, and the fuzzy dog ears that are there.]

Mmn?

[Manabu?

Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Grey braces himself against one arm and shifts into a partially upright position.]

[siriusly]

-!

[crap. even if he wanted to feign ignorance, his perking ear once again gives the game away. he holds his breath a bit while Grey's sitting up before daring to peek up through some of his tousled hair.]

Uh. [UHHHHH] H-hi.

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey's gaze shifts lower, to Manabu's face. Ah. He's awake.]

Mm? ...Good morning.

[There's another long moment which will probably be very awkward for Manabu where Grey just lounges there and quietly looks at him. Manabu looks all mussed up from sleep. Not too tired looking, at least, but he does seem flustered about something?

The realization slowly sinks in that they spent the night sharing the same bed. Again.

And that Grey has had his other arm around Manabu, probably the entire night, again.

He carefully withdraws the arm, as if doing so slowly and casually enough might keep Manabu from realizing it's there and thinking it's weird.]

Did you manage to sleep alright?

[siriusly]

[Manabu's heart jumps a beat and his tail thumps in tandem; he clears his throat to try to get ahead of that, scooting a bit so he can sit up.]

I, um. Ye-yes. Sorry for the trouble. That must've been annoying.

[repeatedprayer]

[The apology is met with no surprise. Grey shifts further until he's properly sitting, not just propped up on an elbow.]

No, it gave me a convenient excuse to sleep in the bed instead of on the floor.

[With only a bit of a blush, he adds:] It's much more comfortable in here.

[siriusly]

Oh-- [well, Manabu's already red-faced, so no change there.] Right. Sorry. Well, um-- [aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA--] You didn't bother me, so, you can...do that. Instead of the floor. When you want.

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey glances away, mouth quirking.]

Well, thank you.

[He probably shouldn't accept that offer. Maybe??? But if Manabu keeps having nightmares, Grey's going to keep winding up in his bed, isn't he? So it's more efficient this way. Or something.

Grey will just have to hope he doesn't ravish Manabu in his sleep, which admittedly seems a farfetched scenario even to him.

Best not to think too hard on it either. Grey forces himself to get out of the bed and onto his feet.]

How are you feeling this morning? Any soreness, dizziness...?

[siriusly]

Good question. [he was a bit too preoccupied with Grey to think much of himself. once Grey's moved and allotted some space, Manabu shifts to get his legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up for a bit and rubbing at his eyes.]

Not...dizzy... Stuff still hurts, but it's not as bad I think? My head at least. [and it better not start hurting worse; he has stuff to do!]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey nods. It's about what he'd expect Manabu to be at after resting.]

We can give you more painkillers if the pain makes it difficult to function.

[Manabu might be sick of being drugged up all the time, but he'll heal faster if his body isn't constantly tightened up with pain.]

I think for today we should focus on your physical therapy. I looked up some vestibular exercises yesterday, so we'll run through them once you're ready.

[But before all that: Breakfast and other morning minutiae must be dealt with.]

[siriusly]

Mn! Okay. [he's ready to go NOW, but...

but he should probably shower. and brush his teeth. and change clothes. it's been more than a day in these, after all. but after THAT, he's ready!!

...after more dry cereal.]

If we can-- [mid munch.] We need to get eyes on that building. Where the lab was. It's already been two days, right? Things might've already been gutted or torn out or locked down, so getting a read on what it's like right now to mark any changes is important. Oh-- [that reminds him; he feels around for wherever the tablet went.] And...obituaries...recents in the area, if they're mentioned at all...

[repeatedprayer]

[Dry cereal, these two are truly living the cat-and-dog life.

The tablet is actually on the floor (admittedly not the best place for it) near Grey's sleeping bag. Manabu will have to bend and stretch to retrieve it. Or ask Grey to pick it up.]

That does sound worth looking into. As for the lab, I can take a look at the building with clairvoyance, but I won't be able to retrieve any physical evidence unless I go there in person.

[And no, Manabu would not be tagging along, not until he's had more time to physically recover and get equipped.]

[siriusly]

Claire-what? [he pops back upright after grabbing the tablet, nearly spilling food all over the place. dog moment.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey's pretty sure he mentioned this to Manabu before but it was during one of those moments where Manabu was in the depths of exhausted misery, so he refrains from giving Manabu shit over it.]

Clairvoyance. Voyance comes from the Latin videre, meaning "to see." It's a psychic ability that allows me to throw my physical senses, chiefly sight, out of my body...

[Does it really help to try and explain it in detail?]

...Basically, I can see and hear things that are happening far away. It was how I was able to tell when you were in danger on the train and in the mine, and I used it to have a look at the facility before Parish brought me to you.

[siriusly]

Ehh...? You can just do that? [blink. blinkblink.] And all the time, even? [because why else would he have known about the train danger? what, like he was FOLLOWING him???]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey smiles. It's a little thin, but he's genuinely enjoying Manabu's astonishment.]

It has its downsides. While I'm using it, I can't see or hear anything that's actually going on around my physical body. I keep my sense of touch within my body, though, so I'll notice if anyone touches me.

[siriusly]

Huh. So like... [...] Like zoning out in a class, imagining you're somewhere else...but you kind of are somewhere else, but only a little?

[repeatedprayer]

[That's actually not a bad analogy! Grey's eyebrows raise, impressed that Manabu is understanding all this.]

Right. I've heard about other psychic users who are able to send their senses of touch and taste away from their bodies as well, but I've never tried doing that. It doesn't seem as useful. And having a few senses stay in your body keeps you grounded, otherwise it would be difficult to return.

[Which is a problem if you're getting attacked- or someone notices you and thinks you've lost consciousness and tries to rouse you. (RIP to that random nurse that Grey slapped way back when.)]

[siriusly]

[the idea of getting lost out of one's body is a bit too high a thought for Manabu to easily visualize, so after a beat of scrunching his nose to consider it, he lets it go.]

Radar and scanner analytics would probably be safer and less stressful... [if they had them!!!!] But if it's something you're okay with doing and it doesn't hurt anybody, I can't say it's a bad idea. [because if it involves exploding more people, Manabu's out.

his attention pivots to the tablet he has balanced on one thigh while he's picking at the last few non-crumbs of cereal.]

...No public obituaries about career medical professionals. Hruh. Coverup? Or those people never did licensed work here to record...

[repeatedprayer]

I'll be safer doing it than I usually am if you'll be there to watch over me. [That feels a little embarrassing to admit to, um.] And I enjoy doing it, actually. It's something I've gotten a lot of practice at, during times when I had nothing better to do.

[That also feels a little personal? But it's basically what Manabu said, zoning out in class.

Anyway, tablet.]

Parish was licensed. I don't know about any of the other people I killed, but I'd assume so. Some of the research they were doing wasn't necessarily suspicious.

[Which would suggest there is a cover up being done, if only in the form of waiting to announce the deaths so they aren't saying "By the way several medical professionals died on the same day. Don't worry about it."]

[siriusly]

[killed...]

...

[Manabu keeps his gaze down, even as he fills an ominous feeling in his stomach. the blood, the screaming. even though they were armed, some ran...

Grey, STOP!

he exhales, pivoting his attention to the empty-save-for-crumbs bowl, setting it aside.]

Is that building a medical one in general? Or private residence...

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey remains oblivious; he can tell Manabu's pensive, but he assumes the man's thoughts are entirely centered around the problem they have.]

It was operating as a research institute and the building itself didn't seem to be a secret beyond being out of town. Parish specifically told me he wasn't working for a hospital or a university and described it as a "private research center," so while it's possible the center has ties to either of those it probably wouldn't be under their authority. Either it's operating under its own authority, or that of the government or a corporation.

[That narrows things down a little, hopefully?]

[siriusly]

Mmn. Okay. [so he can narrow scope to 'private research - Ruvinagald' and see what that yields and branch out from there. more homework. man, if only Louis were here, she's so much better at this back-end study stuff than he is - he's more a go-and-gettem sort.

not a lot of going and getting in the state he's in, though.]

And what about those exercises you mentioned?

[repeatedprayer]

We can start on those now, if you like.

[Grey reaches over and takes Manabu's cereal bowl, so it's out of the way.]

Some of it involves just getting you used to movement again and rebuilding your strength, but we'll also be doing some eye exercises. Your vision itself should be fine but since it works in conjunction with your vestibular system to give you a sense of movement and balance, that will need retraining as well.

[He deposits the bowls in the sink, then returns to business.]

We'll start with the eye exercises, since I believe those will be less physically strenuous.

[siriusly]

[eye...exercises? like blinking harder than normal? or squinting? Manabu's squinting already, but Grey's the only one who actually read up on this, so...]

Okay. What do I do?

[repeatedprayer]

You stay seated, first of all.

[Grey sits next to Manabu.]

Extend your arm, with the thumb raised. Keep it straight, directly in front of you, not at an angle. Now, focus your eyes on your thumb... Keep your gaze on it.

[Now for the ~tricky~ part.]

Now, while keeping your eyes fixed on your thumb, turn your head from the left to the right.

[Yeah. The eye exercises? They're all going to be like this, pretty much.]