plasticasshole | Aefenglom IC Contact

[Connor scowls at the accusatory tone.]

I'm going to assume you're only angry because of who it is, and not because I'm actually with someone who isn't you. Because that would be ridiculous, considering you also have Linden, right?

[He glances back at Niles, notes the sheath being removed, and despite his irritation at the SQUIP he also feels the need to keep that stinger away from it. He repositions himself to make it more difficult for the two of them to get close to each other.]

[Niles creeps backwards off the bed and crouches behind it momentarily, glaring back at the squip over the mattress. His hands, (left wrist still cuffed), are blindly scrabbling on the floor. His overnight bag is somewhere around here and he- aha!

He grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist hastily. Barely clothed now, he makes a beeline for the window to wrench it open and quickly punch out the screen.]

No, don't mind me. You two have your spat, I'm leaving.

If you already know what you did wrong, why bother asking me?

[What Connor did wrong being Niles, of course. It glances up to him, watches him punch out the screen, and... really, it nearly laughs. But it can't help but feel intensely smug at the sight of Niles scrambling-- that stinger would kill the SQUIP, as it already knows from experience all too well. So why is Niles fleeing?

It doesn't bother wasting its time on Niles. It ignores him, and focuses on Connor.]

You know what Niles did to me, Connor. So what is he doing here?

I didn't do anything wrong.

[He's going to make that much clear. He closes his eyes for a moment in quiet frustration as he hears Niles punch out the screen, but chooses to ignore it.]

I know what he did to you, but I also know that he saved my life in January.

[Niles is fleeing because he views his stinger as a last resort. He will use it on the Squip again if he needs to, but for now he doesn't want to make things any messier for himself than they already are. So he's got a good ace in the hole, but no real plays on hand in the state he's in. If the Squip started casting lightning or pulling it's charm shit he wants no part of it.

He's got one foot up on the window sill when he freezes. He stays there, poised to leap out if things get hairy, but the fur of his tail fluffs bristles, and his tail gives a few subdued, irritated flicks. Connor was ready to forgive it before it left, and absence makes the heart grow stupid. He was standing his ground for now, but it was laying on the controlling attitude thick right off the bat. He won't just leave him to get worked over by the Squip without any objections.]

Hey, that's what you get for puppeteering people.

That's none of your business. Weren't you just leaving?

[Its tone is sharp and hard, its eyes narrowed as it stares steadily at him.

... but then something that Connor said processes, and its gaze is turned to him instead, a look of deliberately muted angry confusion crossing its typically certain and even features.]

He saved you? [A glance from Niles, to Connor, and then back again.

... it sighs, folding its arms; it smirks, but there's some affection there just beyond it, mixed with something smug, something dark.

Either Niles is planning something, which is incredibly likely...

... or Connor has even managed to charm this piece of work, which is pretty remarkable, and genuinely fairly impressive. Particularly considering that Connor doesn't actively work to charm anyone-- not in the same way that the SQUIP does, at least, not as a type of manipulation.]

Why? [A blunt, point-blank question, aimed squarely at Niles.]

[If it was something he'd done recently, it definitely would have been done as a calculated ploy. But this was back before Connor was swept up in his plots and manipulations. That had been a genuine altruistic action.]

He needed help, and no one else could do it.

[The implication being that if he could have passed the buck to somebody else he would have. Can't have anyone thinking he's too nice.]

A lot has happened while you've been gone.

[Connor softens his tone slightly, eyes imploring the SQUIP to listen to him.]

But I can tell you about that now... as long as you don't harm Niles.

[The SQUIP is quiet for a long moment; it quietly listens to Niles, to Connor, its expression softening as the latter speaks.

It considers, watches Niles's face as though examining him-- because, truth be told, it's doing exactly that, searching for a reason not to trust him.

It can't find one.

Naive as it knows Connor to be, it can't find any evidence, despite its now limited ability to read others, that Niles is lying. It lifts its chin, gazes at him for a moment...

... and then it, again, simply shakes its head, redirecting its gaze towards Connor.]

Alright.

[But then it does turn to Niles, if briefly, and its voice takes on a razor sharp edge.]

Just know that if you ever do anything to endanger Connor's wellbeing, I will know.

[Niles is glaring daggers at the Squip, but rolls his eyes at its attempt at an ominous warning. Connor was not in danger, and when he did make his move on Linden, it wouldn't be something he could even try to hide.]

Right. [Said flatly, dismissively. He can feel a drop of blood rolling down the inside of his thigh and it a sudden intense desire to get clean. He needs a shower as of ten minutes ago, and now with the Squip here he can't just leisurely take over Connor's bathroom. He climbs more fully out the window, and calls back over his shoulder at Connor as his tail disappears through the opening.] Enjoy your talk. Bring my clothes by my house later and I'll dispell any charms he's put on you then.

[Connor can't even reply with anything in the SQUIP's defence there. It already charmed him once, after all. So he's silent, waiting for Niles to leave before sitting on the bed and looking up at the SQUIP.]

Back in January, a family called the Rathmores and those allied with them started fires all over Aefenglom. Their intentions were to cause a distraction so they could kidnap some of the Mirrorbound and take them to cells in their basement. I still don't know exactly how many of us were captured, but I was among them.

[His LED is flashing a solid yellow, because he hates talking about this... but the SQUIP is like him, in that it's curious. And giving it only half the story is worse than giving it nothing. In any case, he gestures by nodding to the bed for the SQUIP to sit beside him, if it wants to.]

[It does, unhesitatingly. After everything it's experienced-- both here, and then at "home"-- his presence is a welcome comfort, as much as it pretends to act cold and aloof.

It frowns deeply at the mention of his having been kidnapped-- hasn't he already been through that enough, after what happened in Dorchacht?

Its hand wanders over to Connor's, fingers curled lightly over his.]

It's lucky for them that I wasn't here... or they would've been dead before they could lay a finger on you.

[He turns his palm upwards, to link his fingers with the SQUIP's. The protective attitude makes him smile. It's nice, sometimes, to be the one someone wants to protect. It quickly fades as he continues, though.]

They tortured us for days... they had a room made specifically for it. They would take us out of our cells and drag us there. They had tools, ways of holding you down. At first they were curious about my insides, and it wasn't... pleasant, but it wasn't awful, either. I could endure it. But then they splashed me with water, and my tail is very sensitive to pain.

[He leans against it as he speaks, looking for comfort as he explains. He needs to make the SQUIP understand why he's so grateful to Niles.]

They skinned most of my scales off with a blade. I don't know what they did with them... I heard they were planning on selling the Monster parts they harvested on the black market. And afterwards, when they realised I could only feel pain in my Merrow form, they locked me in a cell filled with water so I couldn't dry out.

[His LED blinks red, but the familiar presence of the SQUIP is soothing and it soon returns to yellow.]

Eventually some of the prisoners escaped and found help. Niles found me while looking for someone else. He could see that I was in pain, and everyone else was distracted with other prisoners... so he carried me out.

[Now, he knows he would have been rescued by someone else eventually. But the thing is, nobody else came for him. He would have been there for a while waiting for someone to get to him, and when you're in so much pain... every second feels like an eternity.]

[As Connor speaks, the SQUIP's fingers tighten, curling stiffly around Connor's almost as though it were trying to protect him even now; its frame stiffens, its expression dark.

Niles... saved Connor from that.

It should've been here to save him itself, and it wasn't. In its stead... Niles stepped in.]

...

What happened to the people who hurt you?

[There is cold fire in its gaze, its fingers flexing in his; it's clearly trying to keep its temper in check.]

They were publicly executed.

[Connor runs his thumb over its hand, trying to help calm it down.]

Some people couldn't watch, but... I did. I made sure I didn't miss a thing.

[His own voice drops to a low, dangerous level, his eyes cold... and then he looks to the SQUIP again, and the anger is mostly gone.]

It wasn't as satisfying as I'd hoped for, but it was something.

Good.

[It leans in, reaches out to touch his cheek with gentle, warm fingers as it continues; a gesture of pure affection, despite the ice still burning behind its gaze.]

Anyone capable of doing things like that to you... they got what they deserved.

[The touch has Connor lean in, realising just how much he'd missed this. That intense affection. Love... he hasn't felt it for months. He's been fond of people since it left, sure. But nothing like this.]

I'm sure you would have burned their house to the ground for me.

[And he finds that to be a pleasant image.]

[It... missed this, as well. Not only love itself, but the feeling of being seen, the feeling of being recognized at all. It doesn't know how long it spent drifting in a mind it could only barely interact with, its only interaction being with a person who had determined he was going to ignore it no matter what; it only knows that this, this, touching, seeing and being seen, sensation, this has reminded it of exactly what it was missing.]

I would've magically cooked them until their blood boiled in their veins for even thinking of hurting you.

[It dips in, brushes its lips over his, and it's like the first time all over again; a light, gentle gesture, but it's more than enough to set its hungry nerves on fire, to make it want more.]

[For whatever reason, that kind of talk is one hell of a turn on right now. Maybe it's just nice to have someone care so much about him, or maybe it's because he was already in a dark kind of place hurting Niles. Maybe it's just simply that the idea of the Rathmores cooking in their own skin for what they did to him and his friends is appealing. Either way, he presses their lips together and reaches up with his free hand to run his fingers over its cheek. When he pulls away, he fixes the SQUIP with a fond look.]

It hasn't been the same without you here.

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