thehauntedfrequency

doggone

[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.]

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[pity?! hey!!!

Manabu puts the gun back together with a practiced efficiency, hesitating only in places that don't feel as familiar or need to be done in a different sequence. he finishes by momentarily turning off the safety, listening for the electric whine of the charge...and then turning the safety back on. all set.

he sets the gun on the nightstand, scooting back toward the headboard and sitting up to listen to Grey's findings, his tail dangling over the edge and twitching thoughtfully.]

I imagine the more sensitive equipment is going to those storage units...but anything that might have identifying information will probably be in the places with higher security, like the school.

[The little bit of quiet at least gives time for Grey to push down his own unhappiness about the gun thing further, and once they're back to the business of investigation Grey's calm once more.

While Manabu sits on the bed, Grey comes a bit closer to lean against the wall nearby and listen to Manabu's assessment.

Grey considers Manabu's words for a moment, before quickly coming to his own conclusion.]

Then we should try investigating the school first. It's more important to get the identifying information while their guard's relatively down.

[Higher risk = higher reward, right?]

[he nods.]

Is it a public or private school? [either way, there's sure to be restricted access in places...

It's a public university. Fairly busy too, by the look of things.

[So there'll probably be lots of (relatively) unrelated civilians running about on campus and complicating things.]

Mn. Then...it'll be good to canvas it a couple times before zeroing in on the areas where the materials were moved into. We'd be looking for external data storage, so probably any medical or systems-specific wings... [he rubs his chin, thinking hard.

man. infiltration is great and all, but he's just not as tech-savvy as the Spica girls.]

...Hmh.

[a thought hits him and he reaches over to where the tablet's been resting, doing a search.]

There's a couple companies that the SDF has used as cover for these kinds of jobs; I wonder if any of them operate out here...I'd already have a verifiable ID to use, if that's the case.

[Grey nods along, having pretty much surmised the same thing- and then the next bit piques Grey's curiosity. His reserve is forgotten in favor of shuffling over to Manabu's side to look over his shoulder.]

What companies are those?

[...Possibly not information that Manabu wants to share with a self-admitted outlaw but hey, they are partners, right?]

Classified. [obviously!

except this one time.]

This one, though... [Stratus Securities.] Looks like Ruvinagald has a chapter of an infosec group I have a cover account for. This might be useful...

[Grey makes a face, briefly, at the "classified." How dare u deny him knowledge.

Anyway.]

And you can still use it, even if you're MIA? [Grey's a little concerned that somebody might notice the account being used that belongs to said MIA SDF officer, and thus come investigate. Even if that somebody would be on Manabu's side, that still feels like a potential complication...]

Mn. So long as I don't need to actually log into anything to prove it... [but if he did, that'd put them on the clock before the SDF caught wind.

he sets the tablet on his lap, looking at the ceiling.]

Only problem is not having the ID cards on-hand, so people would have to call the company and verify the name.

[Grey hums.]

It seems potentially risky- [Especially if Manabu's going to be trying to infiltrate in person.] -But might be worth trying if we can't find other ways around their security.

[He glances down at the tablet in Manabu's lap. Stratus Securities... He should remember that name in the future, so he can keep avoiding the SDF after all this.]

[he nods, closing his eyes with a sigh. more physio...

but wait--

he looks over to Grey.]

Did you want me to color your hair today?

[Grey blinks. Ah yes, they did talk about that the previous day, didn't they?]

...As long as you feel up to it, then yes.

[That sigh might have indicated tiredness. Grey's a little wary of letting Manabu mess with his hair if he's tired- or really, of doing this at all. It feels like a more dramatic change than just buying new clothes.]

[if the sigh seemed troublesome, Manabu perking up at the notion of a task obliterates any assumption of tiredness.]

I can do it! [he scoots to get up, catching himself before he can just blindly lunge to his feet and give himself a mini-blackout. slow...annoyingly slow!

once he's up, his tail swishes confidently.]

Gimme the box! Let's figure this out.

[what a good montage this will be.]

[Okay but the enthusiasm is possibly more frightening than the idea of Manabu being tired and Grey startles a little at how Manabu perks up. Why does that face and confident swishing give him such a sense of foreboding?]

...Right. Let's do that.

[Swallowing his misgivings, Grey goes to retrieve the box from the bathroom.

Cue hair dye montage from a coming-of-age movie. Grey makes Manabu read the instructions a few times because he does not trust Manabu "Falls asleep in class" Yuuki not to try and just wing it before they open up the box and assemble the equipment. A few bottles come out, along with a flimsy pair of gloves, a brush, and some written instructions that Grey again makes Manabu read a few times just in case.

The next step is for Grey to change into a shirt he's willing to potentially sacrifice, and pick out a towel that might as well be ruined also. ~~(Grey doesn't bother shooing Manabu out of the room when he changes shirts, so enjoy that, Manabu.)~~

The bathroom, cramped as it is, is picked out for the makeshift salon, and before too long Grey is squatted on the shower stool, towel wrapped around his shoulders, basin full of hair dye beside him, and Manabu Yuuki there to work his best artistic skills upon Grey's hair.

Willing himself to sit as still as possible, Grey says:]

...Well, I'm ready.

[Kinda.]

...

[there was nothing weird at all about admiring people's backs before, right? yet now, Manabu feels a little weird catching himself admiring Rezo's bare back from his spot on the bed rather than reading the instructions from the box like he was supposed to.

back on track, Yuuki.

he clears his throat, going back to reading instructions and plucking the plastic gloves out of the box.]

Mix with water, apply evenly, sit thirty minutes, rinse... Seems simple enough. [Well, I'm ready.] Uoh, mn, okay. Just gimme a second!

[more than a second, honestly, but it's not too long before he walks himself into the bathroom, gloved and ready to work.]

The water was a little cold, but it should be okay, right? I'll get started, then...

[While Manabu sorts himself out, Grey sits, tapping fingers against his knee. He gives Manabu an aside glance when the man finally appears.]

I can handle cold water.

[So he says. But Grey tenses at the first touch of brush and fingers against his hair and scalp, before forcing himself to relax. It's not exactly pleasant or unpleasant, it's just... A lot. He's not in the habit of having other people mess with his hair.

Grey had already dismissed the possibility of doing this at a professional salon under the logic of it being better not to leave witnesses, but now he also realizes that letting a stranger touch him like this would have been intolerable.

He's really glad he asked Manabu to do this instead, even if Manabu doesn't necessarily know what he's doing.

He does his best to stay still and quiet as the cool, wet feeling of the dye mixture soaks into more and more of his hair.]

[Manabu's not very familiar with the intimacy that grooming brings along anymore; he's always wriggled free of his mother's grasp as a kid when the hairbrush came out, only tied down for special occasions. if put on the spot, he couldn't begin to recall the last time someone else had brushed or washed his hair for him.

...he hopes that didn't happen in that lab.

Manabu murmurs the instructions to himself even while he's doing them, reminding himself to cover every area -] Like putting down a precoat... [-and the further he gets along, the less like hair it looks to him.

once he's gotten to the last of the mixture:] That...should be it. It has to sit for thirty minutes, it says. Then you wash it out. Okay?

[Grey's own experiences with other people grooming him haven't been great. It wasn't as if Eris- or very rarely and early on, Rezo- had been vicious or anything about it whenever they'd taken care of his needs. But Grey's own growing antipathy towards his creators had made it viscerally unpleasant to have their hands on him, and he'd been very relieved once Eris started leaving more of his own upkeep to himself.

Having Manabu doing this instead leads to an odd internal conflict, where part of him keeps reflecting and comparing it to his own unpleasant memories, but another part of him is simply enjoying the attention and closeness.

Grey zones out a little as Manabu continues working, closing his eyes and fidgeting his hands minutely every now and then. The gentle sound of Manabu's voice is soothing, helping him to relax despite the strangeness of the situation.

When Manabu's finally done Grey has to blink out of his strange internal reverie for a few moments before responding.]

...Okay.

[Grey lifts a hand to try and touch his hair, but thinks better of it before he can actually stain his hands.

He tilts his head, meeting Manabu's eyes with an earnest look.]

Thank you.

Mn! Of course. I'll leave the stuff out, just in case I missed a spot we can't see right now. [but at this rate, he couldn't tell, so here's hoping didn't accidentally give Grey some kind of skunky streak of non-dyed hair somewhere...

it's tricky to get the gloves off without dripping dye anywhere, but he does an okayish job before heading back out into the rest of the apartment, tail swishing. job well done? maybe? time will tell.]

[Thirty minutes to kill. Grey digs his phone out of his pocket and sets a timer on it, then gets to his feet to set it on the edge of the sink. Whereupon he promptly gets distracted by his own reflection.

As someone who's not good with faces, one of the things Grey relies on most in order to visually distinguish people from one another is their hair. He's seen his hair wet, weighed down with water and a shade darker than usual, but this is much more dramatic than he's used to. It takes him several long moments to pick out features he recognizes- he looks like a stranger!

Needless to say, Grey spends an embarrassing amount of that waiting time just staring at his reflection, occasionally making faces at himself. He can't tell if it's good or bad, and he knows it's going to look different again when he rinses it out, but- it's still so different!

He is able to tear himself away eventually, but every now and then his gaze goes back to that mirror...

And then, once the timer goes off and Grey has to rinse and wash his hair, he still ends up in front of that mirror afterwards. Needless to say, it's a while before Grey finally emerges from the bathroom to show Manabu the fruits of his labor.]

...What do you think?

[-Agh, that makes it sound like he's fishing for compliments. Grey hastily clarifies:]

That is to say, do you think it looks normal?

[There's still a purple undertone to his hair, but Grey's hair is significantly darker than it was before the dye got added, and a casual observer probably would describe his hair as black now.]

Hoh-!! [Manabu perks up - ears too.] It’s so dark…is it still wet? C’mere, lemme check it!

[he scoots upright where he’s sat to better inspect.]

Hm? Alright.

[Grey cautiously approaches the bed and crouches so that Manabu can get a better look. He's toweled his hair off pretty thoroughly so it's no longer dripping, but it's definitely still wet and freshly washed.]

[it’s a little awkward with Grey facing him, but Manabu committed… he hesitates, then leans in to peer.]

Can I move some? Like this— [he carefully combs a small length from one side to the other to look at what lay beneath.]

Ehhh…I may have done a good job. Did you notice any missed spots?

[If it helps with the awkwardness any, Grey's eyes do flutter shut when Manabu reaches out to fiddle with his hair.]

Nn. There wasn't anything that I could see- [And he'd spent quite a while looking.] -but it's hard to get a good look at myself.

[Maybe if he says this then Manabu will try to do a more thorough inspection, and Grey will get more pets.]

[well, that’s excuse enough to get a good look!]

Tilt your head down a little. [and he’ll get a better look, do his due diligence…

seems good to him. a darker shade of purple, almost black - black in the right light. different. kind of like the difference between twilight and nightfall…

his fingers were already gentle, but his rhythm is slower after a point, just getting a bit lost in introspection about it.]

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