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

[siriusly]

[man...can't he just walk next to him?! being loomed behind is weird!! makes him feel like he's being...walked...

like a dog.

sigh.

'home,' huh... well, better to call it that than be in a concrete room. but 'home' is...far away.

Manabu finds all the food-based energy starting to wear off just as the laundromat comes into view, and his legs threaten to turn to lead the moment he sees the damn stairs.

he grimaces, but he doesn't openly complain, just sucking in a breath to amp himself up and start the climb.

it's slow, and it's clear it bothers him that it is, but he refuses to say anything about it.]

[repeatedprayer]

[The final boss of the outing appears, and they begin their ascent.

Their very slow ascent.

After they're about halfway, Grey really wants to just scoop Manabu up and carry him the rest of the way up the stairs. But he's also pretty sure Manabu would be mad about that. Which might not be too intolerable, come to think of it... But would Manabu be angry in the way where he's over it with a pout and a Jeeze! or it would it be in the way where he storms off for at least a few hours...?

Grey could try prodding him about it, he supposes.]

...How are you doing?

[Because Grey's doing a lot of standing right now.]

[siriusly]

Not...not great...

[he can admit that much, though he refuses to elaborate, instead taking the ask as a nudge to hurry the hell up. he grits his teeth and forces his tired body to trudge up the remainder of the stairs, eyes squeezed shut to keep the vertigo at bay.

once he's made it to the top, he slouches a bit against the rail, waiting for Grey to get ahead to unlock the door, head down and fist clenched at his side.

dammit...wasn't i doing good enough? he'd even thought about doing more walking after lunch, but if it was going to end up like this...!]

[repeatedprayer]

Do you-

[Ah. Never mind, Manabu's hauling himself up at a noticeably faster clip now. Which doesn't make Grey feel much better, especially not when Manabu slouches against the railing like that.

Still, once he's got the apartment door open, Grey's sincere when he turns to Manabu and says:]

Good work today.

[Hopefully Manabu won't bristle over that.]

[siriusly]

[his chin tucks a bit more. he doesn't like to be praised for something so simple as walking up stairs, but...it wasn't that simple at all, was it? all things considered. he just doesn't like considering all those things at once.

he doesn't like...liking the praise for something like that. good work should be for something more substantial! more worthy of it!]

It-it's nothing, really. [he pushes a smile on his face as he pushes the rest of himself off the rail and into the apartment.] Not even...the whole way to where we need to go.

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey shuts the door behind Manabu.]

It's still good work. You met your goal for today, and we did make a few detours.

[Such as fighting crime and going shopping. Speaking of which, he'll just go and put the tea away in the fridge. It's supposed to be cold, after all.]

[siriusly]

[Manabu moves to sit down on the bed before taking his shoes off.]

I guess, but in the end...it was still just a walk, wasn't it? I need to do better. [and sooner, dammit!]

[repeatedprayer]

I suppose you won't be content until we see this through, will you?

[And when Grey puts it like that... He can't say he blames Manabu for it. There's only so much satisfaction one can wring from small goals when they're in service of a much larger goal.]

[siriusly]

Of course not... I can't just do a half-assed job, can I? If it were you, you wouldn't be happy about climbing some stairs once, would you?

[repeatedprayer]

...No. I don't think I would be.

[Grey deposits the shopping bag on the counter (...He'll have to figure out where to put the supplies inside later) and stoops to take his shoes off.]

At least, not entirely happy.

[siriusly]

[Manabu's mouth puckers in a thoughtful pout as he squints over at Grey.

not entirely means at least a little...so he should be cutting himself a little slack? he'd say as much to Grey if things were reversed.

he sighs loudly and flops backward to lay out, staring at the ceiling with his legs dangling.]

Yeah, yeah...

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey watches Manabu for a few moments before coming over to the bed and sitting next to him. He reaches one hand out and gently pokes at Manabu's cheek, then brushes aside a bit of the hair that curls around Manabu's face.]

Getting down on yourself won't get you closer to your goal either, you know.

[siriusly]

[flopping as he did dislodged the hat off his head, letting his ears free; it actually feels better to not have them stifled. one twitches when Grey touches him. he cracks open an eye and looks up at him, staring for a beat.

he's really...doing his best, isn't he. Manabu smiles sheepishly.]

I'm not good at humble victories, I guess. Sorry.

[repeatedprayer]

[Grey can't resist sliding his fingers up the side of Manabu's head to rub one of those ears, now that they're exposed.]

Mm.

[Not good at humble victories, always grasping for the next thing that's still out of reach, always striving to be Doing Things and Being Useful... What does that remind Grey of?]

I just don't want to see you burn yourself out.

[siriusly]

[the sensation is strange. were it a human ear, it wouldn't feel very good - it'd be uncomfortable, actually - but the way it is now, the sensation is...a bit comfortable. consoling.

his expression softens.]

Mn. It wouldn't do anyone any good if I did, huh...least of all you. What'd you call me again? Some investment of your time?

[repeatedprayer]

[Since Manabu doesn't seem to be resisting Grey will go right on petting Manabu's ears and hair.]

Something like that, I believe.

[He doesn't remember the specifics. It was really just some silly bluster, a way of saying that Manabu's wellbeing is important to him without directly saying he cares about Manabu.]

[siriusly]

[Manabu's eyes get heavy under the hypnotic sensation of being pet as he is, but he can't help feeling the discomfort of his tied-down tail more and more.]

I need to... [untie that tail.] Before I fall asleep or...something. [he yawns, mumbling an apology before pushing himself up on his elbows, wincing a little because tail.] Mrh, man...it's only middle of the day...

[repeatedprayer]

Need to...? [Get up? Or free his tail, which Grey has absently noted must still be tied up under there.

Grey reluctantly withdraws his hand as Manabu sits up, since he probably can't do either of those very easily if Grey's still messing up his hair.]

Do you want to try and stay awake? [Since Manabu seemed pretty alarmed by how late he woke up, Grey suspects he probably won't want to potentially throw his schedule off even further.]

[siriusly]

Yeah, I gotta. [he scoots to the other side of the bed so he can get up and mess with his pants, tugging the cord free and yanking his tail out with a grimace.] It's no good to be awake at two a.m., right?

[repeatedprayer]

[Fluffy tail...

Ah right, and Manabu's speaking.]

I suppose not, no. But do you know how you're going to stay awake? [You almost died trying to climb the stairs dude, you might need a nap.]

[siriusly]

[fluffy but also matted from a half-day of being scrunched! poor thing, all that care to get brushed, now this.]

I don't know...maybe I can do pushups or something. [yeah that'll work.]

[repeatedprayer]

[That earns Manabu a Look.]

...How about we brush your tail first? It looks like it needs it.

[In fact Grey is already getting to his feet to go get Manabu's brush. Manabu may want to take this opportunity to try hiding in a cupboard or something.]

[siriusly]

Ehhh-?! But we just did that yesterday!

[repeatedprayer]

Then it shouldn't take too long, should it?

[Too late. Grey has picked up the hairbrush. He is now approaching. He is smiling. You cannot run. You cannot hide.]

[siriusly]

Gehh...

[he pouts, scooting away toward the headboard, still kicking his pants off. his ears flatten as the brush draws near, face getting red preemptively.] No, but...but it's still weird, right? [and it feels good when he does it? that's weird!]