|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 3:47 pm
[Location - Giza, Egypt]
The mission itself had looked like a very simple one, just a retrieval run to bring back some supplies from an outpost. On paper they were always the simplest and sometimes came hand in hand with a bit of time off island and sometimes if you were really lucky a chance to get something to eat. It all just depended on where you were dealt.
He'd been told to dress lightly by the portal duty hunter and had done so, wearing a light shirt and dressy trousers without his usual coat. He was also wearing a white fedora and had a fancy white bag on his shoulder.
And of course he needed a partner on this trip, so he'd roped in the one person who hated going anywhere with him but had to anyway.
"The air is so dry here." he said almost immediately, stepping outside into the whipping sands. He adjusted his hat lazily. "But there are probably worse places we could be eh?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 4:58 pm
"Whatever," Mik said, scratching the kerchief Lawrence had insisted he wear. He wasn't sure if this was a real "Egypt disguise" or if Lawrence just wanted him to look stupid and an made up an excuse to make him comb his hair. He looked like the main guy from Jurassic Park. They were there "on a dig" or something. Lawrence sounded like their stupid disguise teacher.
"Let's just find this stupid tourist attraction that's been losing tourists."
Jorm hissed happily, appreciating the sun and sand.
"If we're here, they're..." Malk rubbed his arm, "Probably dead, huh?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 5:51 pm
At least no one would be in any doubt they were tourists. There wasn't much point trying to blend in here with both of them looking just about as Scandinavian as it was possible to, the most he could do was try and preserve his complexion a bit.
"Just remember we aren't here to solve anyone's problems." That was the domain of other much keener people, people who weren't him.
"We are here to retrieve the supplies and results of the previous team and bring them back to base. That's it. Let's not go delving into any mysteries above our pay grade."
For him, said pay grade was zero, so it wasn't all that hard to go above it.
He nodded to Malkam. "Though probably.. Anyone missing, anyone who hasn't reported back or any tourists vanished, chances are they are all dead honestly."
Unsurprisingly he didn't seem too bothered about this. "If we get it done quickly we can go sightseeing a bit. Maybe even a bit of local cuisine."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 6:52 pm
"Oh that's why you wanted to come. So why am I here instead of your boyfr- husband," he asked grudgingly. Everything was going to be covered in sand.
He checked his phone, which still had service, and made another annoyed noise.
"Hey, looks like Mik's changing his name too. You must be happy. ...And he's right about that, at least. Stop calling Mik fat, it's stupid and you're just jealous."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 7:08 pm
Lawrence gave Malkam a somewhat long-suffering look for his comment. "Do I always need to give a reason for wanting to do something with my own son?" Malkam certainly knew how to complain, he didn't know where he got it from.
"Changing his name to what?" he asked and checked his own phone, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "I see."
"Well, yes, I am happy about it."
He didn't seem too pleased however about being told what to do. He gave Malkam a somewhat strained look, finding himself torn about the whole thing. The fact of the matter was that as far as he was concerned Mikael /was/ overweight, if it had been him, he'd have.... well, the thought of what he'd do was rather dizzying.
"It is uncomfortable to look at him like that." he said a little more quietly than he intended.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 7:15 pm
"Yeah, because you've got issues, but you don't need to keep trying to make them his issue too. I'm just glad he's been owning it instead of getting crushed, but it's going to get to anybody eventually. Why is being supportive so hard for you? And I guess you don't need a reason."
He mentally felt around for Jorm.
"But if there's, you know, stuff to shoot, I'd probably like to shoot it more than Rodney would. ...Do you ever take Mik out like this?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 6:55 am
"I'm not trying to make them his issues." he said, a little defensively. "If you see the sky as blue and someone keeps trying to tell you it is green, you naturally want to correct them, I only want what's best for him. I'm concerned about his health. There isn't really such thing as too thin, but there is certainly such thing as too fat." Even doing his medical studies and reading about the effects of starvation on the body hadn't really sunk in, he was aware but he didn't want to be.
"Being supportive is hard because I do not have a great deal of examples to draw upon. This, believe it or not is me trying very hard to be supportive."
The road was dusty and quiet, clearly quite a bit outside of the usual tourist areas and along a more beaten path. If he wasn't a superhuman nightmare with summonable claws, he might have found himself concerned about being mugged out here.
As it was, he checked his SPECTRE watch (because somewhere along the line he'd become the guy with two watches) and looked in the direction they needed to head, it was a little bit of a walk.
"No though." he said. "I don't really take him out like this, we have a... complicated relationship. I will admit I don't understand him or who he is. I never know if he likes me or if that is simply a front to get close enough to one day hurt me as much as he can. I honestly wouldn't feel safe alone with him, especially not in a situation where I had to rely on him to help me."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 2:16 pm
"It's not about his health with you, it's about how he looks. I am not even going to begin to argue with you about how unhealthy the other stuff is. You know it's unhealthy, and it's like, also magically unhealthy, because you're starving Butch too. You're the one that keeps getting sent to the Sahara."
Malkam gave Lawrence a suspicious look.
"Well, supportive isn't picking at what he's done wrong and needs to fix."
He took this as another crack at Luke. Luke was a great granda.
He got quiet at Lawrence's description of Mik's goals. Mik had told him something like that, just once, and in private.
"So take Rodney if you're scared. I guess that's what you mostly do." Mik rested his hands behind his head. "Are we gonna kill stuff?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 2:43 pm
Lawrence felt like everything he tried to do with Malkam ultimately fell flat each and every time and he didn't know why. He'd been led to believe with his experiences with Rodney that honesty worked when it came to drawing people closer in a way that lasted. With Malkam it seemed to constantly push him further away. He wasn't even sure there was a way to bring him nearer, even if he'd been able to disguise himself as something else entirely and start over.
Rather than argue about the weight thing, he fell quiet instead, changing the subject by just latching onto the one non-negative thing the young man had said.
"Hopefully not." he said. "Hopefully we have an uneventful pickup. Fighting means rolling the metaphorical death dice, one mis-step and it's the last fight you ever have."
He sighed. "But I'm not optimistic that will be the case."
It was really, really hot, and the walk out of town into the desert felt like a slow march to their doom. It was exercise and Lawrence resented any kind of exercise at the best of times. Adding perspiration and potential sunburn to the mix just made it downright unpleasant. "Speaking of the sahara." he said with a sigh. "This isn't far off."
Butch didn't much like the heat either, panting in Lawrence's head as they trudged, following the SPECTRE watch.
"Honestly though." he said. "Do you even think Rodney could protect me against a sneak attack from something horrible on a mission? Especially if that something horrible was backed up by Mikael?"
(Roll even on a 1d10 to find the camp)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Toshihiko Two rolled 1 10-sided dice:
9
Total: 9 (1-10)
|
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:30 pm
"He likes him," Malkam said simply. "So I thought it might offset...whatever." He couldn't argue like Mikael had no reason to be angry at Lawrence. Or that he didn't. But...Malkam had talked to Lawrence about family, and Lawrence had- sort of been taking it to heart.
He missed Luke.
He sighed at the probably not.
"I don't want to be caught by myself without knowing what I'm doing."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Baneful rolled 1 10-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-10)
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:41 pm
"Yes, I'm glad you've been doing what you can to be stronger, I'm trying to help." After all the island was all about becoming familiar with missions and how to complete them alive.
It was really, really hot. For Lawrence this was better than really really cold or really really wet, but any extreme of temperature was honestly a bit horrible. He wouldn't have minded so much with a chilled cocktail in his hand and a parasol over his head.
"That's true, he does like Rodney. Not enough people do. He tries very hard every minute of every single day and always has. I certainly didn't, it's only through learning from him I've even started to really try at anything. Normally it was all about how to avoid actual work."
He looked at the watch and squinted into the heat haze of the horizon. "Erm. I'm sure it's up this way."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:49 pm
Malkam made a face. "Tries hard at what? He's scared of everything and keeps to himself. He likes Mik's art. And doesn't act like he's smarter than Mik. So, that's okay."
Malkam looked like he was trying to keep from saying something, and then just said it anyway.
"But you guys haven't even known each other all that long, so all the...dad and husband stuff- what's up with that? Like, you were with Melvin longer than that, right?"
He trudged through the sand, giving up on his scarf, which was making his neck hot, and just tying it around his head to give his scalp a sun break. He wished he had sunglasses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Baneful rolled 1 10-sided dice:
1
Total: 1 (1-10)
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:54 pm
"He tries hard at being a good person. It's a lot harder than it seems, especially when a lot of the world is out to needle anyone it thinks is being good. They want to make an example of him or something like that, I'm not sure. Either way he's constantly harassed just for being who he is, when you are as fragile as him that's got to be tough. Mikael seems to appreciate it so yes, that is good, I was always more musical than artistic."
Malkam got a grim look for his comment but Lawrence didn't get annoyed about it. "I was, that's true but I don't think duration is what matters overall. With Melvin things were..difficult. It was founded on essentially a scam that went on a bit too long. He was always testing me and vice versa, it was anything but settled, the furthest thing from simple domesticity." There had been domestic elements but there had been a little too much chaos to consider anything settled.
"It's not hurting anyone is it?" he said.
He fished in his pocket and produced his spare pair of sunglasses, mostly because Malkam was trying to evade the sun and he'd forgotten he even had them. They were of course large and reflective and the kind of thing a celebrity in disguise might wear.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Toshihiko Two rolled 1 10-sided dice:
7
Total: 7 (1-10)
|
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:59 pm
"No," Malkam admitted, "Nobody I care about. It's just weird."
Malkam screwed his face up, not sure if he even wanted to understand.
"It's because he wouldn't date you otherwise, right? And because he's like, an art genius. It's...whatever. It's none of my business. Mik can use whatever name he wants."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Baneful rolled 1 10-sided dice:
7
Total: 7 (1-10)
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 3:19 pm
"He wouldn't be with me at all if it wasn't one hundred percent him and no one else, if that is what you mean. I didn't think it was possible, and it wasn't I guess, in the first few months since I messed it up. But I still said to him I'd try and I intend to keep trying more successfully." he shrugged. "Besides, I like family, I like domesticity. I had a large family growing up, even if it had its problems, it is where I feel most content. It is not just to get into Rodney's pants."
"And I would think it was your business, given that it was your brother, and your home."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
