A copy. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
repeatedprayer) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thehauntedfrequency2024-03-04 10:16 pm
repeatedprayer) wrote in thehauntedfrequency2024-03-04 10:16 pm
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.]
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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And deny me the pleasure of touching you further? [How fortunate for Manabu that Grey is willing to turn the subtext into text, right?]
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Well then. Can you stand? [Another thing they probably should have considered before doing this.]
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from there he gets to redressing.]
Hopefully there's somewhere close with a public washroom...
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After indulging in that lingering stare Grey turns and begins gathering up his scattered clothes, and the process of making himself... certainly not respectable, but at least not likely to get arrested for public indecency.]
I'll take a look from here. I don't think it's wise for us to wander.
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right. the data stick. Manabu double-triple-checks to make sure he's got it safely pocketed. all that takes about...say...two minutes?
which leaves the remaining time for him to sit cross-legged in front of the mind-wandering Grey, staring at him, etching that expression and his features to memory. any sense of shame or silliness at doing so is earnestly sidelined in favor of just...looking. and feeling sad about it.
he...he weirdly hoped Grey would change his mind. or say he'd not go away. but that wasn't realistic.
still. he hoped, in some foolish, childish way, that he would.]
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Grey doesn't remain seated and absent for terribly long. Maybe that's a good thing, since Manabu doesn't have to spend so long sitting in sadness, or maybe it's regrettable that Manabu has that much less time to memorize Grey's face- that much less time to spend with Grey, period. Either way, it's less than twenty minutes before Grey opens his eyes again.]
Manabu?
[Manabu's face is the first thing he sees, and Grey nearly forgets what he's doing. He looks so terribly forlorn and Grey feels ashamed, like maybe if Grey had done a better job fucking him then he could have made Manabu happy again. But of course it's not that simple.
One step at a time. Grey shifts a little and tries to refocus on their next step.]
I found a place. Some sort of breakfast diner. It's only about a ten minute walk away.
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the discomfort of having his tail tied down, the general unease of being hungry, being sad...this just isn't the way Manabu's used to living! it makes him antsy, anxious, searching for a way to move forward, make things better...
...up until he's sat down in front of omurice. then it's all food-brain, practically inhaling the stuff. no dig on his own cooking skills, but this is heaven by comparison.
when he surfaces to breathe, he laughs a little.]
I didn't notice...you hold your utensils kind of daintily. Haha...
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He's taken aback enough that it slows down his own eating speed, leaving Grey picking lightly at his own food in between giving Manabu concerned looks, half-expecting the other man to start choking at any moment. Miraculously, this doesn't happen and Manabu gathers enough breath to... comment on how Grey holds his utensils?
Grey glances down at his hands, at the fork he holds hovering over some hashbrowns, then gives Manabu a haughty frown.]
I made sure to learn proper table manners when I was younger.
[Unlike certain SAVAGES vacuuming up their omurice.
Of course, technically it was Rezo who was careful to learn and Grey just inherited that knowledge, but. Nevertheless.]
I can handle a formal dining situation if necessary. Though I wonder how well you would do.
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["fancy" is relative here; sure, he's escorted planetary president-types around in a train, but he's never wined and dined. his idea of "fancy:"] The platoon and I went to a fancy, traditional-style inn once, and that was fine.
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Grey would like to tease Manabu a bit more about his lack of housebreaking, but teasing is for the moment waylaid when Grey needs to take a moment to work out what Manabu's referring to.]
A traditional- [Grey's brow briefly furrows, then smooths out as he realizes what Manabu would probably consider "traditional."] Oh, like a ryokan? I got to stay in one of those too, recently. In between when we met and when I heard about your... situation.
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Aauh...I cut it short, huh. [he looks askance guiltily.] Sorry about that. Not that I really had a say, but--still.
[the crime of possibly interrupting such things as: playing tennis with very intense girls, karaoke with very intense girls, searching for cats in a snow storm with very intense boys.
the real ryokan experience he'd hate to rob Grey of inadvertently.]
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[See? Didn't rob Grey of any experiences at all! Not that Grey actually did much of that nonsense-with-intense-people. It was mostly either marinating in the bath or doing business with some dubious associates.
All that aside, thinking back on the exact moment he heard about Manabu's kidnapping makes Grey's expression grow more serious.]
I was on a train, actually. When I heard the news.
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Really? [beat. one eye squints.] You paid for your ticket, right?
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[Grey picks up a bit of hashbrown with his fork.]
But you probably don't want to know how I got the money to pay for it.
[And then Grey casually resumes eating, letting Manabu react as he will to the news that Grey paid for a precious Galactic Railway ticket with dirty money.]
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...Favors for some other restaurant-owner? [is that more plausible than him conning old ladies or swiping wallets? it is to Manabu, because Manabu's only seen evidence of the former!!]
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If the restaurant were a front, perhaps.
[This topic maybe shouldn't be discussed in public, however, so Grey takes a sip of coffee and casts about for a change of subject.
He absently looks at his plate and thinks.]
...You know I still can't look at a plate of food without remembering the clock reference system.
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You think of your plate as the face of a clock with the top rim- [Grey picks up a nearby butter knife and taps the top of Manabu's plate.] -representing twelve o'clock and the bottom rim being six o'clock. So if I handed this plate to you I could tell you that your omelet rice is at six o'clock, your salad greens are at eleven, and you have some tomato slices at one.
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Ehhh... I didn't know that was a thing. [and, admittedly, he often forgets Grey struggles with his vision! the guy carries himself with such certainty that it doesn't translate.
after munching one of those tomato slices:] Do you use that idea for things other than food?
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[He goes back to eating, albeit slowly, so he can demonstrate more:]
Your food moves around as you eat, so you periodically have to use your utensils to check where everything is, and push it back towards the center if anything is getting close to the edges. It can be easy to spill things without realizing.
[Grey's not sure why he's suddenly telling Manabu this, besides not wanting to talk about his dubious career history? He's not sure if Manabu would be all that interested either, it's just... It's a part of himself that's there but he generally doesn't advertise, for many reasons.
And he wants Manabu to know him better. And, hopefully, still like him.]
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I know a few people who could benefit from that trick, heheh...! [definitely not himself. ignore the rice spill at one end of the plate. shush.]
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[Grey's expression softens further at the sound of Manabu's laugh, prompting a warm expression that absolutely nobody and nothing else is capable of eliciting from him.]
Why don't you give it a try? After closing your eyes, of course.
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