[PRP] Office Space (Harrison + Rep + Jordan + Robert)

[Baneful]

"Sure, I'll just stay awake to be your ******** alarm clock." he snorted irritably, despite even as he said it rearranging himself more comfortably on the chair and shifting over to get just a bit more body heat. It wasn't particularly cold in the office, but his shirt was out of reach of effort.

He frowned slightly to himself. Maybe one day he'd get to offload these worries and uncertainties and relax. To actually know where he stood. Maybe not. If it was karma, karma was a b***h.
 

[Nio Love]

Jordan's answer wasn't giving Robert the fuel he needed to keep raging, and his anger fizzled to a pathetic whimper, crumpling back down onto the floor and hiding his face in his hands.

"Sorry don't fix everything, boss." He whined, his voice cracking repeatedly. "Jus.. just go 'way. I don't even know what to say right now."  

[prolixity]

"All I can really say in my defense is that two months with no privacy doesn't exactly encourage clear-minded, rational thinking on some subjects," Jordan said, and hesitated in the doorway. Should he leave Robert alone to have his little breakdown?

A slow smolder of anger reignited at the thought. Why the hell should he? Robert was stubborn. Well, so was Jordan. He stepped inside the small room and shut the door, the leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "Nothing actually happened. The sanctity of the office has been preserved."  

[Nio Love]

Jordan could have had a chance to explain himself rationally, at a later date. In fact, Robert would have even understood that reasoning, if he wasn't in the state of mental anguish he currently wallowed in. But Jordan had no chance of reaching his best friend right now. It was a futile effort.

If the look in his eyes as Robert slowly got back up, and glared violently at the man as if he was a stranger - no, as if he was something worse, didn't tell him that now was not the time, nothing would.

"I said get out." Robert's voice had evened out, but it sounded all the more unstable for it. "Every single word you're saying right now is just making me want to fight this anger out even more. If you wanna go that route? Then okay."

The dark room flared with the light of Jezebel's summoning. "Stay."  

[prolixity]

The look in Robert's eyes wasn't the man Jordan knew. He had absolutely no doubt that Robert would carry through on what he was saying; the big man was in a dark and alien mood, the pressure of whatever it was he was feeling altering him and turning him violent and dangerous. Jordan's hand flexed as anger flared in him; Ferros's ring flared with bright red light as the weapon responded to the roiling storm of emotion in his human's mind.

Frustration and irritation boiled over easily into fury, rage stripping away the concerns of a friend and almost-brother, and Jordan found himself analyzing Robert's words, his stance, the details of his body language and expression, too readily finding something to say that would lance straight into Robert's pride and set off the explosion held barely in check. No.

He clenched his teeth, dropped his hand back to his side, and very deliberately turned his back on Robert; he left the small room (too small for fighting), closing the door with calm deliberation, and started down the hallway. Then he paused, cast a glance back towards the small and secret space he'd just exited.

He took a deep, slow, careful breath and closed his eyes, pushing the anger away to arm's length and holding it there until it was back in check, then letting go of it. Control, goddammit. Control. He hadn't been this close to genuinely losing it and doing something inexcusable in a very long time. The closeness of the margin left him shaken.

He turned back and sat down on the stairs to wait. Robert would eventually calm himself.

Toshihiko Two

Baneful

Text to Harrison and Rep: Gotta talk to Robert. Might be a while. Sorry. Give Killer a scritch for me.

Jordan set his phone down on the step next to him and leaned his elbows on his knees tiredly. Too close. He couldn't trust his reactions, not till he'd cooled off; he'd make his apologies to his guys later.  

[Baneful]

Rep didn't sleep. He kept to his word and sat awake. Not that he really could have slept anyway. He was tired, sure, but couches weren't comfortable and he was still stressed out.

His phone went off and he quirked a brow, seemed things were probably pretty complicated on Jordan's end of things. Not much point waiting around.

He nudged Harrison with an elbow, and failing that, nudged him harder. "Jordan's not coming back for a while. Can we go to bed? I ******** hate couches."

 

[Toshihiko Two]

Harrison made an indecipherable mumbling sound, cracking one eye open and asking a bleary, "What?"

Jordan wasn't back.

"Why?" he mumbled, not getting up yet, "he got to bury the body?"  

[Baneful]

"Said he had to talk to Robert. Dunno why. Maybe giving him a lecture about walking in on innocent people, I dunno." he shrugged vaguely.

 

[Toshihiko Two]

"Eurgh, more talking," Harrison pried himself off Rep so he was supporting his own weight, then leaned over to catch Rep's mouth in a brief, lazy kiss. "Okay," he consented, giving Rep's knee a couple of flat-handed pats before getting ready to stand. "Bed." He'd have to lock up, and rescue B0nez from the computer. If rescue was the right word.  

[Baneful]

"Talking is important sometimes" he smiled amicably, not expecting the kiss and looking slightly dazed for just a few moments as a result. "..yes.. bed." he nodded, as if reminding himself what he'd even been saying.

With a stretch and a flex of stiff shoulders from sitting still, he wandered over to finally tug the shirt back on. "I'd have left you sleeping, but I did enough couch surfing growing up."

 

[Toshihiko Two]

"Maybe you oughta see if you can keep that cot," Harrison said. "...The bunks still weird me out. Least it's...I don't know. Not going to wake up to bug zombies in here. Probably. This is closer to the labs," he joked as he unplugged B0nez's flashdrive, but it was half-hearted.  

[Baneful]

Rep looked thoughtful. "They do?" He had noticed subtle things, things he'd disregarded for the most part when he couldn't figure them out. Things that made a lot more sense put into this sort of context. It sort of altered the situation. "Well." He felt they were probably more at risk of bug zombies closer to the labs than further away, but he didn't say that either. His features softened in a faint smile but not a mocking one. "Like I said man, I've done a lot of couch surfing. I don't really care if I end up doing more. We can stick around." If it makes you feel better, he thought.

"Its no biggie to me. I just want to actually ********' sleep this time."

 

[Toshihiko Two]

"Nah, you're right. Beds are a better idea. I don't think we'd both fit, and there's no telling when Robert'll be back." He worked on getting the computers shut down. "I know they're alive down there. But if they weren't- I mean, the tents were lit okay, and we still couldn't tell, and they..." he cut off. "It's okay. We've been sleeping down there for weeks anyhow."

He pocketed B0nez. Checked his phone. Looked at Robert's stuff on the floor, and decided it wasn't worth the effort.

prolixity

going to bed night

"I'm just ready for the dorms to be clear again."  

[Baneful]

He watched Harrison shutting down the computers with a somewhat unreadable expression. It was odd to him to catch that hairline crack of a weakness in the other man and realise he hadn't even noticed it despite sleeping down there all that time. It was maybe even worse he'd noticed the signs but not the underlying issue. There was a very strong undercurrent of affection he really hadn't expected as he tried to look busy, straightening out his shirt and brushing it off.

"If you are sure man." he stated casually, before not quite as casually wandering over to firmly take one of Harrison's hands and fleetingly rub the back of it with his thumb. "I've ******** up quite enough of your sleep today." And he let go, leery of making anything weird, turning on his heel to head to the door.

"And aye, no ******** kidding. I never thought I'd miss the ******** prison standard living so much in my life."

 

[Nio Love]

Robert watched, very carefully, as Jordan considered his next move. His hand ached to make it for him. The rage was uncontrollable, and it didn't even need a reason anymore. It was just there, waiting too long, desperate for an outlet, any outlet, and here it was, just asking for it-

But Jordan turned, and Robert stared at his back for a moment. The sight of it made his well of anger run dry. His face clenched, before crumpling in dismay and utter humiliation, but this was only because Jordan couldn't see him anymore, and he was free to finally let go.

He waited until Jordan was clear of the door before quickly shutting it, and Jezebel disappeared in his hand. She had been astoundingly quiet, as usual, during the fight - but as soon as he put the coin back in his pocket, he was rewarded with the knowledge of what side she'd been left turned on.

Well, I think you did the right thing.

Robert immediately reached back into his pocket, and flipped the coin on it's other side. A soft, gentle weeping began in his head, and he couldn't decide which was worse.

So he chose the lesser of two evils, and just cried with Jezebel, as he slid down against the door.