Welcome to Gaia! ::

Kamacite looked from Faustite to Axinite, noted the way Axinite had bristled and looked on edge. Faustite looked like he was about to jump out of the chair and make a run for it.

“I hope you got a second opinion if that was General Bloodstone’s diagnosis,” Kamacite huffed quietly. It wasn’t often that he spoke in a negative light about any of his fellow officers, but he was among those he would consider friends.

Even if they were both acting suspicious.

“You didn’t tell me you wanted to switch to Special Operatives,” he said even softer as he set the bag of lunch down on Axinite’s desk, trying to keep any of the hurt out of his voice. He was a little upset, but it was something Faustite wanted for himself. Kamacite knew he would just have to get over it.

“I have extra,” he added after a moment, trying not to put too much weight on his ankle as he tried to get more comfortable standing at the side of Axinite’s desk. “You’re welcome to have some, Faustite.”

“Please,” Axinite added, and gestured towards the free chair next to Faustite. “I’ll clear off my desk a bit, we can share. I didn’t bring anything exciting today. I have some sausage pie, though.”

It took him only a few seconds to move things and make room, and when he’d finished, he pulled out his lunch box. Everything inside matched, a perfect set. A mostly nutritious lunch, but it appears as if it was something of a comfort meal. The sausage pie was small, only about six inches across, but still more than he could have eaten alone. It might have been habit to pack extra, when he packed anything at all. He liked to have something to share, even if Kamacite didn’t already spoil him with lunch.

“And you know I have a few boxes of cookies back here. They’re not healthy at all, but. If you’re looking for quick sustenance. But here, try this. I’ll cut you both a piece.”

Whatever tenseness he’d had before seemed to be slowly melting away, and he seemed to be settling into something of a comfortable calm. “You both have a hard time taking it easy and letting yourself heal properly, don’t you? I worry so much about the both of you.”

Because–yes, maybe he’d poked around to ask questions, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t see some things. Like the way Kamacite was still favoriting that ankle.

Faustite looked from one boxed lunch to the other, at the food inside, at the utensils packed neatly into hidden compartments or clasping trays, and then scrutinized his boss and his friend. "You two competing?"

Both of them looked like the food porn he'd seen on Instagram, of the few times he watched Waru scroll through it. Maybe this was a collaboration for the ultimate lunch they've ever had, or one of those exercises in meditation, but with food. He hadn't a clue that either of them ate lunch with each other, or brought lunch to the Citadel (as he thought most agents teleported themselves home for lunch, if they bothered to come during work hours). He supposed that was due to him normally being asleep at this hour.

Faustite had learned quickly that he should never object to food; he watched Axinite with the interest of an expectant cat while he cut into the pie. Everything they brought smelled divine to the constantly famished General.

The question had him furrow his brows and lean back against the chair. "Maybe. Don't know what to do if I'm not working." He resisted a sigh. "Might've learned it from you." Because when had Axinite ever looked rested?

He looked at Kamacite, then, who was pink as an undercooked steak. "Hm." The set was cute, but Faustite thought he could do with something more thematic to his uniform, or maybe a set emblazoned with those snowbunnies from earlier. He'd ask Taenite if he ever sponsored artists, or if he knew one that made those lunchbox things.

He hadn't thought about using a fork; since he ate so often, nearly everything became finger food. His long nails kept his hands clean if he needed it. "How do you use chopsticks?" He'd learned ages ago, but never used them since.

Kamacite’s cheeks flushed darker at Faustite’s comment. He was definitely not competing. Misha just thought they were cute, but he wasn’t going to try and force the logic behind it. Misha just liked to film cute things, and Yuuri wanted to help him. Besides, Axinite was able to clarify. Hopefully.

He frowned a little more at the sight of Axinite’s hand, wondering if it did have something to do with too much caffeine, or too little to eat. Or maybe lack of sleep and too much stress.

But for the moment, he held out his hands to Faustite, obviously offering to take his own and show him. He had a set of chopsticks to place between his fingers if he wanted to be physically shown, and a second set if he preferred Kamacite not touching him.

“Hold one like a pencil, and the other like this. But you can use your fingers or a fork,” he offered, because there was no point in stressing out about eating lunch.

“I wish you would both rest more,” he said before he could think better of it. He knew Axinite just said he would try to be better, but Kamacite didn’t believe him. He didn’t believe Faustite, either. He’d know them both long enough to call their bluffs.

“Oh, isn’t it?” Axinite asked, as if such a thing were simply exasperating to think about. “And it’s not like sleep aids are reliable. I can’t take any medication. A very long time ago I had something prescribed to me but it was the worst sleep I ever had. Stuck in a nightmare that just wouldn’t end. Hours of it. I woke up exhausted and dehydrated. Didn’t sleep for days afterwards. Now, I’m just worried about missing something important.”

The pie divided and split amongst them, he finally cut out a small bite for himself. He kept good posture, brought the food to his mouth, and didn’t speak until he’d swallowed.

He had very good manners, but he suspected it wasn’t enough to distract from Kamacite’s hope that they’d rest more.

“I suppose I should look into more relaxing hobbies. I don’t know what to do with myself if I’m not being productive. What about yoga, should we try that, Faustite?”

Faustite blinked at his boss. Can't sleep, can't take medication — and that immediately struck Faustite as a shared experience — and perpetually worried. He shifted in his chair, unsure if he should say anything, but he knew Albite had met with Axinite before and both of them survived the other. So, maybe his boss wouldn't crumble into dust and blow away at an unorthodox suggestion…?

Faustite's attention reached Axinite's face at the mention of yoga. He was silent afterward, as his gaze ticked back to himself, and he started feeling out the articulations to his grate with his fingernails. Faustite never tried twisting in strange directions after he became a Captain, but he also hadn't experienced the grate splintering apart during combat because of bending in a strange direction.

"Might work," he decided, looking back at Axinite. He wasn't sure how holding uncomfortable positions would be relaxing, and was twice as lost for how it would help Axinite sleep. Or rest. Or shut his mind off.

Which led him back to —

Bad decisions, he supposed, but he'd commit the way that Albite always committed to putting his foot in his mouth: straight back until his toenails tickled his uvula.

"Tried having sex?" He asked, leaning on an elbow. He felt, then, that he needed to explain himself. "If it's good, you won't be thinking about… anything." His sentence petered off with his eye contact, where he must have found something of interest far off to the side of the other two.

While Axinite nearly choked on his food, Kamacite did. He quickly covered his mouth and coughed, his face burning red. He didn’t think of himself as prudish (since Axinite brought it up about himself), but things like sex and imitmacy and… well, everything really… he liked keeping private.

Maybe that did make him prudish.

Regardless, Faustite was talking about Axinite, so he just needed to make sure he wasn’t choking on anything and keep his head down and not let his face turn brighter.

Especially with all the talk of how Axinite would have to explain himself, or forget about paperwork, or how it was probably more work than someone was willing to put in.

“You’re worth more than that,” Kamacite heard himself say quietly as he stared down into his food. His face was still red, but it was no longer just because of prudish embarrassment. He was flustered in a way that he couldn’t explain, and he only started feeling that way when Axinite voiced his reasoning.

Maybe this was a horrible idea, to try and settle into something that was supposed to be normal, and something that was supposed to help take Axinite’s mind off of paperwork for a little while each day. It wasn’t enough, and Kamacite wasn’t sure what else he could do other than being supportive.

Besides, he learned long ago that he was better off on his own.

“I apologize. I think I should excuse myself. I’ve intruded and was rude to stay in the first place,” Kamacite decided as he stood gingerly, favoring his injured ankle. He set what was left of his lunch (most of it since his appetite quickly diminished) on Axinite’s desk, but nudged it towards Faustite with the obvious intention of him eating it if he wanted.

He would be back the next day, of course. There was no reason to give up routine just because he was uncomfortable one day. He would just pretend as though the conversation about Axinite’s sex life -- or lack of -- never existed.

Kamacite didn't teleport yet. He didn't want to just leave if they didn't want him to, but he was also willing to accept that he had been rude to intrude. And he felt awkward about the conversation.

“Please stay,” Axinite said, looking up at him from where he sat. There was no demand in it, just a request. If he’d picked up on something worrying from Kamacite, he was certainly acting on it. He didn’t want him to feel unwelcome or go, and even if his arrival had been a surprise, it hadn’t been unappreciated.

He was glad he’d had the opportunity to talk to Faustite. He was glad they got to have lunch together, the three of them.

“I am good at hiding things. Very good at it. Sometimes.”

Not all the time.

Kamacite and Faustite were both clever, and he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he’d have hidden everything from them. Trust, in some capacity, was not easy for him to give. He was not always open with everyone about his own private matters.

“So, let me be honest and say that I appreciate these conversations. Perhaps it is silly, or unprofessional. I don’t know. My work is very important to me. But, so are my friends. I hope you will allow me to consider you as such.”

Being a General King meant there was always the potential of a power imbalance, but he’d never sought to abuse it. He’d been the head of Special Operations before, he’d investigated abuse of power, hostilities within the Negaverse. He made all efforts to carry himself fairly, and he wouldn’t have met either with reproach if it wasn’t a title they wanted to wear.

“You’re under no obligation, of course. But if I’m being truthful, I’d like to say that I am grateful to have both of you. I have a lot to learn, and a long way to go. But you’ve made it easier. And,” he looked at Kamacite, and then Faustite, “I am trying to do better. To be better.”

For the Negaverse, first and foremost. It seemed like it might always be for the Negaverse.

And the people in it.