LL cont’

[markofkaine]

[Bad ideas. That’s what Rafael was famous for. Sometimes those bad ideas would pan out into groundbreaking technologies. Other times it would blow up spectacularly in his face - and by extension, all faces adjacent. Not that it ever stopped him from coming up with more.

This one, though. A bridge too far.

Aracha - if that really could be called his name anymore - sat, hunched over, cycling a trinket between his fingers as though in a trance. It felt like the slow, tactile motion was the only thing still keeping him grounded to reality (again, questionable). His mind was… far, far away, in a place that might not even exist anymore, lost. But more than that, alone, in a vast, empty field of deaf, silent rage. And that cold silence seeped into every crack in his brain, filling the folds of his thoughts, the hollow space in his bones, the pockets in his lungs.

He wasn’t real. He wasn’t real. None of this was real. He knew that now.

At some point, his fiance was going to walk through the door and find him sitting at the foot of their his bed. And one way or another, this lie would be shattered.]

Comments

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

[ Jeopardy music... Miguel is mostly wondering, the whole time, if his charming was embarrassing or something... it clearly worked, but this man is especially sensitive...

The sound of the doors opening is a welcome break in the silence. ]

Number eight. Should be... here.

[ He's swiping the keycard. It doesn't work. Again, and it doesn't work. Uh oh.

He swipes once more. This time it does work. ]

...almost thought we were getting pranked there.

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

[The tension is palpable. You could not only cut it with a knife, you had to hack through it with a mental machete just to put one foot in front of the other. Thank god the door opened because Kaine wasn't sure what he would've done if it didn't.

Tore it off its hinges, maybe.]

Jesus @#$& Christ.

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

Yeah.

[ Inside... is a room. It's clean and bright, but nothing extraordinary. A small bathroom, a tiny kitchenette, a loveseat... and one queen-sized bed. Without considering the implications of One Bed, Miguel walks in and immediately flops on the loveseat, groaning.

And then he starts laughing. ]

I don't feel waves. We're not on that shocking boat anymore.

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

[Kaine doesn't move from where he's standing in the doorway.

He sees the bed. He looks at Miguel, wondering if he sees the bed. When will be see the bed.

The bed is a problem.]

Miguel.

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

No more performances! No more murder! No more weird bonding games! No more meatballs!

[ he's in bliss give him a moment. ]

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

[Mutters,]

No one else had a problem with meatballs.

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

[ nodding solemnly. ]

They were definitely just screwing with me. But that's over now. It's... over now...

[ sighing, satisfied, his crops watered and skin clear and his gaze is falling on the bed........ ]

Oh.

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

Oh?

[I AM WAITING FOR YOU TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR GRIEVOUS MISTAKE]

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

Huh.

[ I'M NOT ACKNOWLEDGING MY GRIEVOUS MISTAKE. ]

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

[YOU BIIIITTTCCHHHHHH]

I think they forgot t'include something in this room.

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

Yeah. Wine.

[ breathes out. ]

It's fine. You can have the bed.

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

[Curtly,]

Fine. I will.

[In a show of dominance to lay claim to his new territory, Kaine proceeds to walk over to the bed and flop down into it. It's the pissiest way anyone has ever laid down in a bed.]

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

How do you manage to make every move you make so mad looking?

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

Because I am mad. At everything.

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

[ what else did i expect. ]

Fine. I'll celebrate our freedom by myself, over here.

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

...

[It does seem callous to underplay this achievement. Isn't it what Kaine wanted too? It felt impossible for so long.]


You're right. We need booze.

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

[ nodding like Kaine has never been more right in his life. ]

There's a bar. I bet I can get us a bottle of something.

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

[Involuntarily, Kaine's lip curls in a sneer as he pictures Miguel chatting up the bartender this time.]

Yeah, I bet you will. Well I don't wanna watch.

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

Okaaaay.

[ WHY DOES THIS MAN, WHO DOESNT LIKE ME, GET SO MAD ABOUT THIS!! ]

Do you have a way to get some?

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

[I'M NOT MAD YOU'RE MAD!!!]

Not unless we wanna get blacklisted from this hotel.

[......the answer is stealing it.]

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

We don't. I'll be back soon.

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

Hmph.

[He doesn't add anything else, just rolls over in bed. GO GET US BOOZE THEN, YOU HUSSY.]

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

[ He feels... kind of sad, for some reason. But it's time to go be a slut for whiskey.

About twenty minutes later, he's returned with a bottle of Fireball and a box that smells utterly divine; chicken wings lay within. He's placing that on the nightstand nearest Kaine, but the bottle gets placed on the table while he looks for cups. ]

It sounds like some of the other ship guests are in a similar position as us, so a lot of the locals are being pretty resourceful. Bartender was pretty fascinated by what happened. I guess it's made the news.

Re: 2/2

[markofkaine]

[In the amount of time it took for Miguel to come back, Kaine had gotten bored and explored their hotel room. The complimentary tea and coffee, the kitchenette, the bathroom.

The mirror in the bathroom...


He stands there for a while, taking in his reflection. It wasn't that long ago when he only saw himself when he looked in the mirror. Now who was he? Peter, Aracha, Kaine... all three stared back at him.

...God. He needed a shower. He'd spent the last week or so in a stupor, either depressed or drunk or both. Not a lot of time for personal hygiene. Who knows when Miguel would be done chatting up the locals, anyway.

By the time he does come back, it's to the sound of a shower running. Kaine can faintly hear what he's saying through the walls - knows enough to rinse off and finish up. Gotta towel off his hair.

Muffled, from the bathroom:]

But did you get the booze?

Re: 2/2

[intelligent]

Of course I did. I wouldn't let you down.

[ Normally, he wouldn't think twice about a man in the shower. But this isn't just a man—he knows every inch of this man's body, dry or wet. Clothed or not.

...he's trying to find the cups a little faster, and—a teacup? Sure. Fine. Whatever. He needs to keep his mind away from the other side of that door. ]