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Bornes tried to play it cool until he saw the Marines tattoo. He didn't believe it at first, wanted to make sure it wasn't fake. He sidestepped, looking first to the man's face to make sure he wasn't paying attention, then back to the tattoo, his eyes glowing faintly as he tried to make out the marking clearer.

When it was dark, Bornes could see better, that went unsaid. But even the best nocturnal creatures needed some light to see, so it was a subconcious reaction for Bornes to have bio luminance when he really needed to see something important.

It only lasted a moment before the hybrid knew, with no doubts.
"Why would a marine associate themselves with a cult?" he stated, a hint of disgust in his voice.

But a Marine... Bornes kept his distance, his hands to his sides, his back straight and weight evenly distributed -- for the time being.
This man did not make Bornes fearful. The man in his current state seemed no challenge-- broken, old, accepting his eventual fate.
But as a marine, the man had to be something more before now. Something more when he was with Isiah. Marines were intimidating enough without seeing them in person.

Bornes eyes widened in surprise. That was true.
Why did he say that?

"What you did to Isiah was wrong!" He said forcibly, the smallest hint of fear in Bornes' voice. He stayed where he was, watching the other man from his spot near the well.

The other man could walk away and forget it. Part of Bornes was hoping he would.
But part of him hoped he didn't. Bornes felt he had to make up for his stupid decision about the dog.
Why did he care that Isiah cared?

Why did he bother putting his own neck on the line for Isiah, who obviously didn't care about him?
Bornes shoved those thoughts aside. He needed to stop questioning himself. Especially now, where, regardless or not if the other man was a marine, Bornes was not sure he could defeat the other.
And his loss was definitely assured in a physical battle, since the other was a marine. Unless there was some physical problem Bornes had not picked up on, it was assured.

Bornes was stiff, ready to jump. But it wasn't because he was expecting a fight. His brain told him he was perfectly fine, albeit a bit provoking.
His gut told him to run away and not show his disgraceful face here again.
Bornes had technically gone AWOL. He was a disgrace. Talking to a marine.

At least Bornes was brave enough to not be shaking in his boots.

"It is the things..." the hybrid groped for words. "that go unsaid which hurt the most. "

That was stupid. His eyes frowned, and he looked to the ground for a moment. Only a moment. He looked back up to the ex-marine's eyes right afterward.

"Isiah is afraid of you. I doubt you want that."

Bornes seemed unsure, but stood his ground.
"That's why he is afraid."

Bornes shifted his weight to one leg, then seemed to rethink it and reposition himself to the way he was, evenly distributed. He was still nervous.

"He thinks he cannot stay here if he does not accept your offer."

Bornes looked down, ashamed. "No, I.."
He gave an exasperated sigh, bringing his left hand to his head and brushing his fingers through his hair.

"This was a mistake. I apologize."
He shifted his weight, turning his back to the ex-marine, before thinking again and facing him once more, dropping his hand and looking up to the man.

"I did not expect to see you. I acted foolishly. I don't know why I bothered. I do not not know what I'm doing."

Bornes glared at the other.
"Love?" He lifted his lip in a silent snarl.
"I'm not gay."

He snorted through his mouth, he didn't have to vocalize how disgusted he was that the other would even mention that- it shown all over his face.

"The way I'm dressed?" Bornes looked shocked and looked over himself. Black combat boots, black dress pants that had certainly seen better days, and a button-up dress shirt with a red torso and black long sleeves and black collar.

He turned back to his tail. "is it?" He did a full circle, as if chasing it, but managed to regain his senses and look back to the other.
"The tail is real, not a fashion accessory," he quipped. It was natural for people to believe it was fake. But he didn't know wearing a tail made someone gay?

"My clothes are nice. I was on my way back home from work that day," he grumbled. He didn't understand.
"I'm not gay," he said again.

"But Sir," he called after the man. "I'm really not..."

He groaned and gave in, sitting himself on the ground. "He's not even my type," he whined to himself, an octave higher than normal.

Love. Ha.
Could explain things, he supposed. But he didn't want it to.
Bornes stared at the ground for a while, tossing a few pebbles. Briefly the thought of downing some beers himself crossed his mind.

Eventually he got up and wandered around town. Walking comforted him. If he thought about other people, he wasn't thinking about himself.

Eventually the sun began to rise and Bornes put his sunglasses over his eyes with a yawn. He was still insecure about the the gay thing that had happened earlier and thought it best to find some place to sleep on his own. There were people all around, though none of them seemed to pay too much attention to him.

Eventually he found a shack with an overhanging ceiling, and sat under it, leaning against the wall. It wasn't long before he fell asleep there.