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]

[Grey watches Manabu tense and settle. The other man looks utterly wrung out. Grey has the absurdest urge to wrap Manabu in a blanket. Or his own arms.

At Manabu's next words, Grey grows curious.]

What do you have in mind?

[He'd have thought Manabu would want to get back to SDF as soon as possible, even under the circumstances.]

[siriusly]

If SDF presence would keep the remaining members of that facility on alert, then...I'll have to wait on that. And gather the information I can as a civilian. As one of their escapees.

[it won't be easy, especially without any gear. but him being known by them is useful.]

But I have to get stronger first...otherwise I'm just going to be a liability. And...

And I'll need some new gear. [non-SDF sanctioned gear.]

[repeatedprayer]

I see. So we'll be gathering evidence now, before they can hide all of it.

[Mixed feelings about that- it's going to be dangerous as hell for Manabu. But if Manabu's going to throw himself into danger, then it's better if Grey joins him, rather than Manabu going it alone.]

I can get you a gun. [He's thought about it a little, as something that will be necessary to give himself even the slightest peace of mind about leaving Manabu alone in the apartment whenever he needs to run errands.] What else will you need?

[siriusly]

Grey...

[he looks over to him, brow pinched.]

...I'm sorry. I can't keep needing favors from you. Especially if this is tied up with someone you hate.

[repeatedprayer]

What?

[Excuse me??? Excuse you?!]

Surely you're not planning on investigating by yourself, are you?

[siriusly]

[his face reddens.]

B-but I can't ask that of you! After everything you've done, right? There's no way that's fair to you!

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey straightens, sitting up properly so he can give Manabu a really good glare from above.]

What wouldn't be fair to me is if you went out there and got recaptured or killed after all that work I put in to find you.

[siriusly]

[hair and fur floofs a bit under the glare.]

W-work you should've never had to do!

[repeatedprayer]

Well I did, so-

[Grey finally succumbs to temptation. He leans over and presses his hands against the sides of Manabu's face, squishing it between his hands. This is probably not very nice with the post-surgery head pains, but hey.]

-I intend to see this through whether you like it or not!

[siriusly]

[Manabu's face is already warm to the touch, but it heats up upon being touched, his eyes big and body tensed up. usually hands this close to his face are closed fists, you know? not...not this. so, despite the twinges of discomfort from where his ears once were, there's a surprising buzz of delight to go with it that makes Manabu's tail wag a little.]

A... [his breath hitches, and then he starts to laugh a little despite himself.] Aheheh...! Y-you're a glutton for punishment, I guess...!

[he knows the type. he likes the type. he'd be dead without said type.]

[repeatedprayer]

[The warmth of Manabu's skin soaks into Grey's hands, and seems to spread through the rest of him. Then Manabu laughs and Grey feels his heart leap in response, and his expression softens into a grin.]

Hmph. Obviously, you must be rubbing off on me. You're a dreadful influence!

[His hands shift to Manabu's scalp, roughly ruffling his hair, his fingertips rubbing at the bases of Manabu's ears. In a bullying, noogie-like fashion that is definitely not pets, Grey swears.

He'll stop after a few moments and withdraw his hands, afraid to push his luck- but he feels astonishingly cheered considering how dire their circumstances are. But at least Manabu agrees that it's their circumstances, now.]

[siriusly]

[he shrinks a little under the abundance of positive attention, ears twitching and scalp tingling and stomach fluttering; the thrill is a little alarming, honestly.]

R-right, well...for now, then, we're partners in crime. [beat. wait:] But not that many crimes, okay! Only what we need to do to take these guys down and get them to the authorities.

[repeatedprayer]

Partners in minor infractions, is it?

[Still grinning, Grey does his best to settle back. His palms and fingers still tingle with the feeling of touching Manabu.]

Very well, I'll try to consult you before doing anything that the SDF would consider improper. [Note: Consult is not the same as "obey Manabu in all things."] It would be counterproductive to our goals if y- if we were the ones getting into legal trouble.

[Of course, that horse has already bolted as far as Grey's actions are concerned, but he can see the necessity of Manabu keeping his hands as clean as possible. And he doesn't need guilt by association either.]

[siriusly]

Mn. [he nods a little. that's about as good as he could hope for, right? at least this early on, barely a day out from hell.]

Before that, er... Can I borrow your help getting over there? [he points toward the bathroom.

homie, you were in there ALL DAMN DAY; Manabu's lowkey dying over here.]

[repeatedprayer]

Oh, of course.

[Grey slides off the bed and moves over to the other side of Manabu to help him out.

Now that he's not wallowing in the depths of despair, Grey feels somewhat embarrassed at the reminder- however slight- that he, you know, spent a good chunk of today having locked himself in the bathroom to go be miserable.

He's also hungry as hell considering breakfast was a single thing of instant noodles. Something to take care of once Manabu's no longer busy.]

[siriusly]

Sorry about this, too. [the shirt.

now that business has been taken care of, Manabu's back on the bed, awkwardly tugging at the collar of the shirt he ganked.]

I didn't want to rummage, so I just grabbed whatever was in reach.

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey, on the other hand, is in the kitchen, attempting to figure out how to make a decent meal out of the extremely sparse contents of the fridge and cupboard. But he turns back at the apology, looking puzzled until he notices Manabu's tugging at the collar.]

Oh. I was wondering about that.

[...When Manabu tugs at the collar like that, Grey can get a peek at Manabu's throat and collar bones. He turns back to the kitchen. Cornflakes it is!]

You can keep wearing it if you like.

[siriusly]

[the cornflakes don't work the way their creator intended, Grey.]

Are you sure? I mean--thanks. [it beats being naked all the damn time - it's cold!] Add clothes to the list of things, I guess...

[jeez. can he be more of a burden???]

[repeatedprayer]

[He's getting desperate, okay!]

You're just borrowing it for the time being. Surely that doesn't count.

[Grey pours some cereal into a pair of cheap bowls he picked up at the same discount shop he got Manabu's underwear at, and brings them over to the bed. There is no milk to be had, alas.

He passes a bowl to Manabu. Here. Dinner of losers.]

Perhaps when this is over you can start repaying me by buying me a decent meal somewhere.

[Not that Grey actually thinks he'll be sticking around once Manabu's safe/has all the evidence he needs, but. It's nice to think about, at least?]

[siriusly]

Ye-yeah? [he smiles nervously, taking the bowl.] Is that going to be like steak or something fancy? [surely not ramen or noodle dishes - he's likely to be sick of them, right?

though...wait...

that was a year ago, wasn't it?

dang...]

[repeatedprayer]

Oh, I expect fine dining with champagne and rented suits and the whole nine yards. I intend to give your bank account a thorough beating.

[Though honestly, it would be nice to be eating at Kana's right now.

But what they have right now is cornflakes, so. Munch munch.]

[siriusly]

Gih-- [psychic damage! the economic damage comes later.] Je-jeez... [he's worse than a woman!

or at least, he assumes so. he only hears about expensive dates second-hand.] That's gonna be a lot of overtime for one dinner-date...

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey laughs, enjoying the sight of Manabu writhing. It's basically dinner AND a show!]

Well, you were the one who wanted to repay me. Surely this isn't the worst way to go about it.

[You'd just be paying out the nose to suffer through having to behave in an extremely formal environment. Easy enough!]

[siriusly]

[he utters some kind of rebuttal mid-crunch, but coherency has to wait after he's gotten some food in him.

eventually:] ...It won't be so bad. I can ask around for some good places. [surely Louis will know. or some of the Spica girls.]

[repeatedprayer]

[...Manabu's too sincere for his own good. Grey finds himself wishing he really could have this dinner date with him. He's not actually particularly enamoured with the idea of fine dining, but trying it once with Manabu seems like it could be fun.

Ah well. Best not to let himself get too wistful.]

A word of advice; try not to talk with your mouth full while we're there, or else they'll kick us out.