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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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 Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:40 pm
"York..." D trailed off and curled his tail around York. He couldn't push York to tell him things, he never could, it was against his nature. He rubbed his head against York's chest. "Take your time." he said. He didn't understand what was hurting his partner so much and he wished he could make it go away. "I just wish I could help..." he said.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:07 pm
"You are helping. You're here for me...that's what I need." He stroked D with his tail. "I'm sorry," he whispered so softly that he could barely hear himself. "I love you so much..." He buried his face into D's shoulder, taking several deep breaths to calm down. I'll tell him someday...but not now. The fact that he doesn't know shows that he's the best of the AIs and that he cares enough not to intrude...I ought to tell him someday.
When he felt calm enough, he gave D a kiss, pulled himself gently away, and returned to his work. "Let's get the lock on the door," he murmured to no one in particular.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:31 pm
D nuzzled and held York tight. "Its alright." he said caressing York's back. "I love you too, York."
He held on tighter to York as he buried his face into his shoulder. I'll always love you...not matter what. D thought to himself. Always... he reluctantly let York go when his partner began pulling away. He was a little mollified when York kissed him but he was still concerned.
D nodded as York moved to put the lock on the door. "I'll help." he said moving to get the tool kit York needed to install the lock.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:53 pm
York smiled. "Thanks," he said. He grabbed the lock, opened the door, and peered out. It was quiet; most of the neighbors were off at work. "Is there anyone out there?" he asked D cautiously before slipping outside and settling down to his work. He wasn't sure what others might think if they saw him putting a stronger lock on the apartment door. On the list of things they didn't need, suspicious neighbors were in the top ten. They might hand York and D over to the law, who might, worse yet, hand him to the government. While that would be a sure way to get his armor fixed, he knew that that was also probably a good way to lose D.
He shoved the thought away. He didn't need another panic attack.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:19 pm
"There shouldn't be." he said opening the kit and handing York the tools he needed. "Benefits of staying up most of the night and sleep late everyday?" he said pushing up his glasses and looking over at York.
He sighed to himself and handed over another tool. He could understand York's concern with their safety, although sometimes he wondered if it was all futile. Even after all the time they'd spent hiding he figured that somewhere somehow someone in the government knew where they were. The odds weren't much in their favor on that little detail.
D idly wondered what would happen if they did get caught. What would they do to York, and would they seal him back up again in storage or would they delete him outright. Either way he'd never see York again and he wasn't sure that he or York could deal with that. Maybe years ago, but not anymore.
D gave himself a mental shake and terminated that line of thought. He had a job to help finish.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 7:47 pm
"That is an advantage," he replied, taking the tools from D. "But you never know." He set to the task with dedication.
Nothing lasts forever; it had been years since they had had trouble from the government and other agents. One of these days, York was sure, one of them would track him down and find him. When they did, he could only hope that they would be ready. The very least he could do was to put his skills with locks to use. Most other agents assumed that his forte was breaking locks, but he could make them, too--and he had, several times. He was useful for missions that involved infiltrating a place, even if his eye prevented him from being any good in combat. He suspected that that was one of the few reasons he hadn't been removed from the program.
York began to whistle. It didn't take long to install the lock. It would take the rest of the day to make the next lock, but once it was in place...then he could breathe easily once more. He liked secure places; he always had...he had needed them when he was younger. He gave himself a small shake. Enough of that. He had moped enough about it today.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:11 pm
D watched as York worked. It was one of his guilty pleasures. Even before they'd really gotten to know each other, D had liked to watch York work with his hands. They were deft and quick and York was a perfectionist about his work. A trait D admired in his partner...even if it was only one aspect of his life.
D smiled as York began to whistle. To most everyone else he could think of York's habit annoyed them, to D it was endearing and made him want to nuzzle his partner. D restrained himself though, he didn't like to interrupt York when he was working unless it was necessary.
Once they were finished and back inside D packed the kit away and watched as York went back to the table. "You can work for two hours and then you need to make yourself dinner. Its on the counter all you have to do is follow the the directions." he said. "You can work again after dinner. No matter how important the lock is, its not worth hurting yourself over." D finished and looked up at York waiting to see if there would be a protest.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:55 pm
"I want to get it done by the time we go to bed," York protested. "I don't want us to wake up to company in the middle of the night." Doing something he liked and was good at had given York a certain amount of confidence and energy. He felt that he could keep going for days now. Some part of him told him that D never suggested anything that didn't make sense, but he ignored it. "What will you be doing?" he asked. "I mean, do we have anything else that needs doing today?"
He settled at the table with his tools and got to work, humming again. As he did, it started to sink in that D would probably be right in a couple hours when his eye would inevitably start complaining. York sighed. His damned left eye got in the way. I wonder where I'd be without it? he thought bitterly. Not here...I'd be with the other agents, fighting...having assignments...D...D would be gone... he realized. He gulped. Perhaps it's better...better that things turned out the way they did. He turned and smiled lovingly at D.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:11 pm
D looked down and tried not to smirk as the protest erupted from York. He picked up the kit and went back into the kitchen to stash it in the box. "No, not unless you want me to go do the laundry." he called back to York.
He went back into the living room and walked towards the bedroom to collect the few things that could stand to be cleaned. He stopped suddenly as he felt York looking at him. He turned and saw his partners expression and felt something fluttery erupt in his chest. He tilted his head slightly smiled back at York.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:55 pm
At his partner's smile, York felt a pleasant shiver flood through him. "I should listen to you more," he murmured. "You're the most intelligent fox I've ever met." Slowly, reluctantly, he turned back to his work and began to hum again. His earlier melancholy seemed miles away as he got to work. He could pretend, for a while, that he had a job to do outside of just securing their home.
Almost makes me miss my old life...I mean, I don't miss the constant scheming and the occasional attacks of freelancers against freelancers, but at least there was something to do all the time. Once this lock is finished...well, I may not have much to do...
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 5:15 am
D shook his head still smiling and turned to go into the bedroom. Once there he stripped the bed and gathered up the few other things that needed to be washed, and put them in a bag to take downstairs to the laundry room.
D came back out with the bag and nuzzled York. "I'll be back in a minute." He then oped the door and went down the stairs to the laundry room. Once there he realized he hadn't changed his appearance and quickly did so after checking that no one was around. He dumped the contents in a washing machine, started it, and fetched the detergent from there cupboard.
As he poured the liquid into the running water D sighed. He could understand York's need to do something, even if for him looking after York was a full time job for him. York needed something to do after this...although what D couldn't think of anything. Maybe he could find a job...? he wondered idly, of course that would require fake id's and everything else D could think of to protect York, but that wouldn't be much of a problem for D to make and get. He then ran a list of all of York's skills and came up rather short of things his partner was actually qualified to do or would want to do.
He sighed again and put the detergent away and closed the lid on the machine. He set his internal clock to 30 minutes so he could come back down and change the load over and then went back upstairs to the apartment. He tapped gently on the door for York to let him back in since he wasn't sure yet how the lock worked.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:18 pm
York nodded as D left and settled back into his work. This made sense in a world that didn't. It always had. That's how he had gotten into trouble in the first place; breaking into things he shouldn't have. There were times he wished he hadn't had such an understanding of locks, but there wasn't much he could do about that. He had always been better at finding ways in than at finding ways out.
A crazy thought occurred to him. Maybe if I were to pretend that D was gone...and I went back to the government? He shook his head at such a thought. They would have ways and means of finding out whether or not an AI had left, and not for nothing was York known as the worst liar in the program. They--or more to the point, D--wouldn't last 15 minutes, and they'd be back on the run. Better to hide in the long run.
A tapping on the door brought him out of his stupor. Slowly, silently, York eased himself out of his chair by leaning it back and swinging his legs over. He crept to the door as softly as he could, surprising himself with the noiselessness with which he made his way forward. Once at the door, he slowly undid the latch and unlocked it. The squeak of the hinges marred the effect of stealth somewhat.
To his relief, it was D. "You startled me," York murmured. "Maybe I should teach you how to unlock the door...
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:27 pm
D merely nodded and shuffled his feet glad that at that moment he was red since he figured he'd just learned to blush. "I forgot to ask..." he muttered still looking embarrassed.
He made a note to himself to fix the door while he waited for the laundry. If nothing else it would give him something to do while York worked. He didn't have much else to do besides straighten up in the bedroom and the bath.
D shuffled his feet again and turned his now blue eyes on his partner. "Please show me." he said trying to to sound to mortified at having forgotten to ask such a simple question.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:38 pm
York threw an arm around his partner's shoulder. He could see the embarrassment in D's expression and the way he shuffled his feet. "Don't feel bad," he murmured, trying to disguise his own chagrin. "I should have taught you how to open it. It's my fault." He went back to the door, opened it, and checked for anyone present. He wanted to make sure that he was only teaching D how to open the lock, not his neighbors as well.
It took about five minutes to show him how to operate the lock. It wasn't that hard for someone who knew how to open it, but for someone who had no clue, it would take far longer to pick, by which point York hoped that either they might return home or have made a successful getaway through the other door. Using force would not open it; only skill, patience, and an understanding of how it worked would.
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Lady Argentum Draconis Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:49 pm
D nodded as York showed him how to work the lock. He quickly memorized the steps. Once he did it once or twice it wouldn't take him long to open it at all. "I've got it." he said once York was finished. "I'll need to try it once or twice but I think I've got the steps down. Its very clever." he said leaning over and giving York a quick peck on the cheek. "Just like you." he whispered in his partners ear and nuzzling him gently.
"Now get back inside, I know you want to work." he said teasingly. "I have a few things I just thought of to do as well." he said nudging York playfully.
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