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]

[They're so fucking fine!!!

Grey is relaxing, although he's sure he still has an idiotic smile on his face.]

Right, you're the sort who just prefers not to think.

[Unlike Grey, who definitely always thinks through everything he does thoroughly.]

[siriusly]

Hey-! [rude!!

not entirely false, but entirely rude!]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey bites back a laugh, turning to face Manabu properly and leaning forward a bit so that they're at the same eye level.]

Don't worry about it. Since we're friends, I can just do the thinking for you.

[siriusly]

[Manabu pouts, but again, the tail betrays him with the wagging: it's nice to have this kind of rapport - chipper ribbing, the easing of the weight of the circumstances that has them there.]

At least until you need SDF expertise, obviously. [he gestures to the book:] That's not gonna cut it!

[repeatedprayer]

You haven't even read it yet. How do you know?

[It is nice. Grey's not used to this kind of banter with anyone else, but it's somehow easy and natural to fall into it as far as Manabu is concerned. He wonders if this is part of friendship.]

[siriusly]

Be-because! [he gets a little pink in the face, aware he's losing ground.] I'm the real deal, in the present! Even if it's accurate, it's written in the past, so...!

[repeatedprayer]

Well then, if you're the "real deal" then I'm sure it will be no trouble at all for you to prove your expertise.

[And how is Manabu going to do that? Hm. Better figure that one out.]

[siriusly]

[his face gets redder.]

Of course not! Just keep your eyes open and you'll see.

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey spots the way Manabu's color heightens and laughs, reaching out to give Manabu's cheek a quick poke.]

I'll look forward to it.

[As much as he'd like to keep prodding and flustering Manabu indefinitely, Grey can't do it forever. Eventually, he lets Manabu be to grumble and rest up between exercises.

While they've already started on the issue of disguising Manabu's ears and tail, Grey has his own distinctive traits to contend with. He and Rezo aren't the only purple haired weirdos in the Galaxy (or blue haired, or pink haired, etc.) but he's aware it's a rare enough shade to attract attention, and a hat can only do so much.

All this to say that, as the afternoon turns into evening, Grey winds up seated on the bed, alternating between squinting at the box of hair dye he'd picked up and a random video tutorial on the tablet.]

...I don't even have grey hair...

[siriusly]

Haa?

[fresh out of the shower, towel over his shoulders while he's in the shirt now officially his and not Grey's anymore and boxers, Manabu finally makes his way over on his own without wanting to hurl. it's an accomplishment!

he's also, unfortunately, dripping a bit of water on the floor, because his tail's still damp.

he tilts his head to see the box.]

You're going to change the color of your hair?

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey obligingly lifts the box and tilts it so that Manabu can get a better look at it. On one side of the box is a series of six pictures, a before-and-after of a few different hair colors and how they should look with the dye (properly) applied. The originals are various shades of brown and dark blonde, with the end results being slightly different shades of black.]

My natural color stands out too much. That's not a good thing while there are people looking for us.

[The only thing is that Grey's concerned that if he doesn't get this right, he'll end up with a very visibly botched dye job, and that won't help much with the issue he's trying to fix. He's seriously considered dyeing it before, due to the Rezo Issue, but it feels significantly more crucial now that he's not just "a guy who looks like Rezo" but "a guy who looks like Rezo and killed a bunch of our people."

He catches the sound of water dripping and tilts his head, trying to see behind Manabu.]

Your tail's dripping, by the way.

[siriusly]

[black, huh...that'll be an adjustment to get used to seeing! Grey's hair looks nice just as it is, after all, an--]

Eh? Tch-! [he grimaces, tugging his towel down and grabbing up his tail with it.] Stupid...Sorry. I'll wipe it up later. [if he remembers to. the floor may dry on its own by the time he does.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey smiles slightly- for a moment he's tempted to suggest that Manabu let Grey take care of his tail instead. However, he has a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't go well, even if Manabu agreed.

That said, there's more potential for awkward moments of intimacy on the horizon. Once Manabu's tail is good and wrapped, Grey hesitates and asks:]

I don't think I want to try it tonight, but when the time comes... Would you help me with dyeing my hair?

[It turns out it's a bit more complicated than just dunking his head in a pot of dye, who knew?]

[siriusly]

[cradling the tail, Manabu turns and sits down beside Grey, setting it in his lap.]

Only if you promise not to yell at me if I do a hack job; I'm not a hair stylist, after all.

[repeatedprayer]

Neither am I. I've been looking up tutorials on how it works, but...

[He picks up the tablet and holds it out in front of Manabu so that the other man can peruse for himself.]

It looks like it will be harder to do an even job if I do it myself.

[It isn't as if he can easily see the back of his head, for instance.]

[siriusly]

[Manabu takes the tablet and quietly watches one of the tutorials.]

Ehh...it's just a paint brush, kind of? Weird...

I guess it's simple enough...

[repeatedprayer]

[Even though he's already seen the tutorial, Grey winds up watching over Manabu's shoulder.]

Have you ever done any painting before? Not art, I mean walls and things.

[Grey hasn't. And neither had Rezo, for obvious reasons.]

[siriusly]

Train interiors sometimes, yeah. Like, during basic, you'd learn how to refurb or maintain things by practicing on retired cars. But I guess hair is different than a wall...

[his ear flicks a little from the tickle of some of Grey's hair grazing it with his looming.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey nods, and absently reaches up to brush a bit of loose hair out of his face.]

But I'm still not allowed to yell at you, right?

[Grey wouldn't consider himself a man who cares overmuch about his appearance, but he has enough pride that he really hopes he doesn't wind up looking like an idiot at the end of this.]

[siriusly]

Nope. [he nods to affirm it, doing a little double-take of surprise when he nearly bonks Grey's chin. he's so close!!] That is, you...you can just get a hat, too!

[repeatedprayer]

I was trying to avoid that in the first place.

[That's only partly a joke- he has some fondness for the ball cap Manabu gave him but he doesn't actually enjoy wearing it.

Grey huffs and then, because Manabu went and sat down so close so he was basically asking for it, gives his hair a quick mussing. Which means his hand gets wet since Manabu was just out of the shower, but hey.]

Very well. I'll be in your care.

[siriusly]

Mrh-- [his shoulders draw up in the midst of hair-mussing, his face reddening. he should be annoyed by the teasing, truly! but the flip in his stomach isn't annoyance.

he peeps through the bangs now in his face, his mouth pursed in a gentle pout, getting a shielded glimpse of Grey's expression.

in his hand, his tail twitches for want to wag.

in your care. his heart thumps. he straightens his posture back up, nodding.]

I'll do my best, obviously.

[repeatedprayer]

[Honestly, Grey would be genuinely surprised if Manabu wasn't intending on doing his best. He's just clearly very intent on being a good dog.

Manabu gets one last grin before Grey gets to his feet to put the hair dye away in the bathroom and otherwise putter about getting ready for bed. This doesn't take terribly long, and it's pretty much only a few minutes later that Grey winds up standing by the wall, in his pajamas, carefully watching Manabu on the bed.

And now the moment he's been dreading!]

About this morning...

[Grey doesn't think Manabu's realized how much of that hard-on was because of him, otherwise Grey assumes Manabu would be a bit more jumpy around him. So maybe they can brush it off as a normal, if embarrassing, incident. But he feels like he should ask anyway.]

...Would you be more comfortable if I took the sleeping bag?

[He's not sure which Manabu would rate as worse- a higher nightmare risk, or the potential proximity to Grey's boner.]

[siriusly]

Uoh-- [he starts a little, his stomach knotting.

right...

he hesitates, clearing his throat, looking down at his tail. it's starting to mat a bit for lack of brushing, but at least it's drier.]

W-whatever's better for you, honestly. Sorry I made things worse on you. [it's bad enough to have something like that crop up, let alone to have someone there to witness it! were it him, he'd probably have just died, so it's truly testament to Grey's fortitude.]

[repeatedprayer]

Ah, well...

[Grey shifts uncertainly. It's kind of like having a metaphorical shoulder-angel-and-devil moment, where one part of Grey is going "Yes, I want to be close to Manabu!" and another part of him is going "No!!! Bad!"]

It wasn't really your fault. It's merely that I... Normally sleep alone, so I suppose I overreacted?

[Y'know, what with the yeeting himself, curling up like he'd been kicked in the nuts, and throwing a blanket in Manabu's face. Just a tad bit of an overreaction there.]