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]

[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.]

[siriusly]

Eheh, ye-yeah. Same here. [he rubs the back of his head.] I guess it was a bit too much, right? M-maybe if the bed were bigger, it wouldn't be too bad. Sorry...

[he is THIS close to offering to sleep on the floor, given the sheepish look he gives, but he's smart enough to not say so.]

[repeatedprayer]

[The bit about the size of the bed does give Grey an idea for a compromise.]

Well, it's not so small that I couldn't try to stay on the edge of the bed. So if this happens again, you're not so...

[Directly within Grey's arms, being pulled up against his dick?

Grey makes a vague gesture.]

...Would that be alright?

[siriusly]

Maybe? [he scratches at his cheek.] If I tried to scoot to the other edge... We'd just have to make sure nobody fell off, eheh...

[jeez. this is a weird problem to have. what...what would his platoon members do in this situation?

this wouldn't be a situation for any of them, for one thing...

he sighs.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey's brow furrows thoughtfully.]

Are you normally a restless sleeper?

[...Actually, it probably doesn't matter if Manabu normally is a calm or restless sleeper, because the main reason Grey's even sharing the bed with him is so he's nearby for whenever Manabu has night terrors.

That thought helps him resolve to be less fussy.]

Well, we may as well give it a try. It's not as if it's a high drop to the floor.

[siriusly]

Not really? [read: probably. he doesn't pay attention to how he falls asleep compared to how he wakes up; imagine being that insightful about one's own sleeping patterns!!] But, but yeah. I think it's worth a shot. It feels unfair for you to have to sleep on the floor.

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey exhales, unsurprised that Manabu has to consider what would be fair to Grey, and relieved to have gotten this conversation over with.]

Then it's settled. Let's lie down now.

[With a brief, awkward attempt at a smile, Grey goes to turn out the light, then heads to the bed to gingerly settle on the edge. Let's see...]

You're familiar with Shakespeare, yes? Surely you've read at least one of his plays before, when you were in school.

[siriusly]

[Manabu at realizes that his heart pounding makes sense in this case, even if...he doesn't see the whole picture properly. for now, it's the embarrassment of the day, the silliness of two grown men bunking in one tiny bed, the awkwardness that is born of heteronormative values that still shames and diminishes his full feelings of it all...

all this to say, when he lays down, it's with his back to Grey - as much for himself as it is for the other. this circumstance is effectively all his fault, right? he should be the one on the floor. if he were stronger, he would be.]

Uh, who? [shakespin? huh??] Oh - the wordy, ancient story guy, right?

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey, on the other hand, has opted to lie on his back, with one arm partly dangling off the side of the bed. Just to make sure he's giving Manabu as much space as possible. It's not really Manabu being another man that makes his attraction seem problematic, it's just once again, a matter of Grey's own existential/identity issues running aground on their mutual denseness when it comes to this sort of thing. Grey may at least be better read on the subject of "romance," but he has very little ability to apply the concepts to himself.

Needless to say, the nightly book club session is once again helpful to Grey as well as to Manabu.

In the dark, Grey's lips twitch.]

Yes, the "wordy, ancient story guy." Haven't you heard of Romeo and Juliet? Or Macbeth? Hamlet?

[siriusly]

Oh, yeah-- The Romeo and Juliet thing? The way some shows or movies call their characters that. I know about that.

[beat.]

Don't they always die? [kind of a bummer.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Thank God, at least one cultural reference that Manabu isn't totally oblivious to!

And yeah, he drinks poison and she stabs herself.]

Well, it is a famous tragedy for a reason. As are Macbeth and Hamlet, actually. Shakespeare's plays are generally categorized into three groups: The tragedies, the histories such as Richard the Third, and the comedies; The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, and so forth. He's credited with thirty-nine plays in total.

[ty for the lecture, professor grey.

Since he doubts Manabu's going to have strong opinions on any of these, Grey goes ahead and suggests:] Shall I tell you about The Tempest?

[siriusly]

Mn. Okay.

[and to his credit? he does try to pay attention, but most of that comes from him just being a bit confused with the story setup -- antiquated notions and norms and all...but hey! at least Grey isn't reciting it in its original form?

of course, even his best efforts won't keep him awake to hear it all: Grey will stop getting little vocalizations eventually, as Manabu's thoughts of keeping up water down to just enjoying the timber of Grey's voice to the quiet of sleep.

it'd be nice if it'd last. unfortunately, while Grey got to have the situation in the morning, Manabu has the situation in the dead of night - it's at least easier to detect from where both of them are positioned, giving the jostling of the mattress more of an effect when he starts to sweat and shake.]

[repeatedprayer]

The play starts in the midst of a violent storm and a ship caught at sea in that storm. One of the passengers aboard the ship is Alonso, the King of Naples...

[Grey mostly sticks to summarizing the story, although he does regale Manabu with a recitation of the full fathom five speech. Luckily, it's a short one.

Grey isn't sure if he gets through the full play before they're both asleep. He drifts off into the misty depths of sleep, too deep to really keep talking, but light enough that he retains a subconscious awareness of his surroundings, so it's hard to tell apart reality from the dreams that float through his mind.

This also means he's very soon aware of it when the mattress starts shaking, and even has the thought- or at least the instinct borne of experience- that Manabu's in trouble. Still not fully awake, Grey murmurs something indistinct and rolls onto his side, towards the source of the disturbance.]

[siriusly]

[if Manabu's not going to fully come to terms with four months of horror and what it means to try and move forward, then his body's just going to have to compensate in these ways.

when he gets too uncomfortable to be properly asleep, Manabu jolts awake, immediately unnerved by the buzz of anxiety and cold sweat.

...again?! why--]

Why-- [he can barely utter it before his teeth chatter, forcing him to clench his jaw. he starts to curl in on himself, knees poking off the edge of the bed as he starts to shake and breathe unsteadily.]

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey braces himself on one arm until he's sitting partly upright.]

...Manabu...?

[He's not sure yet if he's dreaming, but things are starting to feel a little more solid. This isn't as violent an awakening as Manabu's had before, is it? Grey's not even sure if Manabu's awake at all, but he can hear and feel Manabu's distress.

Grey scoots over until he's next to Manabu and can throw an arm over Manabu's waist.]

's alright.

[Manabu's skin feels cold, and Grey frowns.]

Come here.

[siriusly]

[there's a little, choking sound that comes from being acknowledged - a beat of humiliation bubbling up through the mounting dread and alarm. helping others in distress is his job, but having it the other way around feels rotten and wrong. this isn't the kind of man he's supposed to be!

obviously not: look at what's happened. and he can't undo it.

Manabu ducks his head, grasping and pulling at his ears. it's painful, makes him wince, but he does it anyway on the mad off-chance they'd just go away if he tried. but that's stupid and he knows it, so more's the dismay that comes out of his throat when he does anyway.]

[repeatedprayer]

Manabu...

[It's vexing, but unsurprising that Manabu barely seems to acknowledge Grey's presence. Grey does his best to hold Manabu back from the literal edge, but the metaphorical one is trickier.

When Manabu starts tugging at his head, it takes Grey a moment to work out what he's doing. For a second, he thinks Manabu's pulling his own hair- and then the realization hits.]

Don't do that.

[Grey shifts his arm and snatches at Manabu's hand, trying to capture it within his own. It might not be sensible to grapple with a man having a panic attack, but Grey refuses to let Manabu hurt himself.]