The texts from Stormy came as a surprise; the girl who never told him anything of note, of substance, unless she was vomiting-drunk finally, finally came to him with a problem and asked him to fix it for her. He was touched. He was honored. Most of all, he was pissed off. "Bet it was those goddamned scones," he growled as he stormed down the hall, intent on finding Lex and tearing him into bite-sized pieces to feed the sharks offshore. Stormy's second text had almost been redundant. Hurt was the least of what he intended to Lex; Stormy's forgiveness was just a nice fringe benefit.
It felt good for them to be on the hunt again. They would track their prey and they would kill it and bring it back to Stormy like the good dogs they were, and all would be right with the world and damn the consequences. Maybe they would drag it out, like they had with that feathery little bit of meat they had found in the Haunted House not too long ago. They would make Lex beg for mercy, too, before they ripped him apart and--
Evan stopped dead in the hall, only the turn of a corner away from the room he had had his chat with Lex in. The anger was still there, still overwhelming, but the bloodlust--that wasn't his. That wasn't him. That was all Gir.
Jesus. When did extreme prejudice become our default setting?
/Everything wants to hurt us, to take our trust and betray it. They do wrong. We do worse./
Not by hurting them, we don't. We don't get to be judge, jury, and executioner.
/Just executioner, then?/ Gir asked, hopeful.
No. We use our words first with other people. Remember who the real enemy is.
Gir whined, anxious and confused. /We can't just let people get away with stuff, or they'll keep doing it and keep doing it and then I'll say I told you so but you'll get all mad about it!/
There are other ways. Better ways. Besides, we're in enough trouble already. Evan ignored Gir's sulking as he turned and walked in the opposite direction, out of the labs entirely.
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Text to Lex:
Training fields. Now.
This way, Evan figured, he could get the answers he wanted out of Lex and kick his a** in a controlled, Deus-sanctioned setting. Win/win, really.
Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 11:14 am
Evan's text certainly wasn't unwelcome, more of just a surprise than anything. Training fields? That meant a spar, more often than not. Lex wasn't necessarily opposed to sparring, but it felt a little odd with his charge. He was supposed to be analyzing the man in a professional setting, making sure he wasn't a threat to the entire island or himself. Sparring with him could compromise things...
Or it could lead to an even greater understanding of Evan's mental state. Battles could be intimate, another doorway into the mind and soul of a person. It was a violent dance, if one thought about it in that way. They'd know each other with their steps and their words, actions and attacks and parries.
Yet there was the problem. As Evan's faux-psychiatrist, he couldn't allow the Marine to fully understand him. That would compromise the hidden assessments and the mental subterfuge he played with. His cards would have to be held close to the chest, maybe even buried inside his ribcage. This would have to be done very carefully.
Ignoring his coat and scarf in favor of a simple shirt and blue jeans, Lex walked to the training fields with Regal holstered in the back of his jeans, tucked under his shirt. He didn't want things to get violent - he didn't even want to make the first move. Let Evan do that.
Offering a smile and an open hand in the air, Lex nodded to the Sun. "You need something?"
inle-roo
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 11:36 am
Lex's friendly greeting was met with a grim scowl. Gir growled at the other man's approach; Evan shushed him, soothed him. They would try this his way, for now. "Yeah, actually, I do," he ground out in response. "I need a good reason why I shouldn't kick your a** like Stormy asked me to."
Gir pushed, and Evan relented, but only a little. Evan summoned him, not unaware of the effect the sword's appearance seemed to have on other people. Gir was not a fancy weapon, he didn't bear any unnecessary ornate flourishes like other Hunters' partners did. He was, quite obviously, made solely for ripping and tearing and biting and little else. "A damn good reason," Evan emphasized.
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 12:05 pm
Evan's scowl was the first indication that things would not be going well today. He didn't know the man to be angry very much (save for the reason he was evaluating him in the first place). His hand dropped with his stomach, smile fading to a ghost. Had he found out that Lex had lied to him and all his notes were incriminating?
No, it was worse. When he spoke, Lex's heart sank as well. So this is what the girl had meant when she said he'd be sorry - she'd sic'd her lapdog on him. He wasn't aware of this relationship, but now that he was, he certainly could put two and two together. She couldn't even be bothered to say something just a few days ago when he'd helped her move, couldn't even get her precious hands filthy with his blood. That was fine. He didn't want her to attack him any way.
The sword, a brute's weapon with teeth that obviously meant to gouge and rip him in shreds was summoned. He looked at it with practiced indifference, much like when he would do experiments on the minipets, or put IV's into Hunters screaming in pain.
< Show me to him. >
<< Not yet. Let this be civil first. >>
"Ah, so you're aware of my... intervention." Lex coughed, folding his arms across his chest. Yes, he regretted what he did. No, he would not let Evan know that, at the moment. He'd done it for the greater good, and Evan would know that much. "Did she tell you that she hadn't eaten for many days? That sleep was a foreign concept to her at the time? She was slowly killing herself - I didn't want that to happen."
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 1:34 pm
"Aware?" Evan snapped. He dug into his pants pocket with one hand, anger making his movements jerky and clumsy. He pulled out his phone and pressed the buttons that got him to his recent texts. "Someone drugged me against my will," he read. "Lex Jamil, tallish, brown hair, gray eyes, Life. Sounds an awful lot like you." He didn't read the rest of the message, or any of the second. That they were here, now, meant he had already fulfilled those parts--or would, soon.
Evan shoved his phone back into his pocket, his hand resuming its grip on his weapon. His fingers tightened around the warm metal as Lex tried to justify his actions. "You think I can't tell that just by looking at her? This isn't something new. It's been going on since--" he stopped, cutting off the rest of his sentence and any blame he was about to place on Nevada's death. It wasn't any of Lex's business, anyway. "That doesn't give you any ******** right to do that to her--to anyone, and you're damn right I didn't eat your goddamn scone."
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Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 3:29 pm
Oh. Well that certainly was problematic, wasn't it? While yes, he did do what he did without Stormy's consent, he did it with the full knowledge that he was helping her out. If he hadn't done what he did, she'd may have ended up doing something stupid, dangerous, or more than likely both.
< He won't listen. You should just attack. >
<< No, let him make the first move. If I provoke him, the whole plan will fall through. >>
"Since what? The death of her roommate? Yes, I know. I'm well aware of the things that happen in Miss Ortega's life." He said a little harshly, defensiveness rising. "And I'll have you know it wasn't in the scone. She asked me to demonstrate the use of an IV on her, and I took some liberties."
< Whelp, you're getting into dangerous territory. >
<< I know. >>
"I realize it wasn't within my realm of rights to do so, but my division is Life - and part of our mission is to keep Hunter's alive."
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 2:06 pm
"Oh, sorry, it must have been in the ******** coffee," Evan replied with a roll of his eyes. "Did she ask you to demonstrate what drugs you use to knock a person out? Because that's going a little beyond taking ******** liberties, and I don't give a damn what division you're in--nothing gives you the right to do that. You think her weapon wouldn't have stopped her from dying of starvation or exhaustion? That's what they're there for, dumbass! Did you even know what drugs you were giving her, or were you just picking some at random and hoping for the best?"
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hi hi hi hihi
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2014 4:55 pm
< Be ready. >
<< Always am. >>
"I'm sure her weapon would have negated any starvation or total emaciation of her person, but a weapon cannot stop some things. I feared she would reach that place." Lex stated, grey eyes set on Evan, containing no fire that could betray him. "And yes, of course I knew what I was doing. You think I would do the girl harm? I'm no agent of Death."
His legs had spread wider, shoulders beginning to hunch. Evan was insulting his medical prowess now. He'd been on the island for over a year, worked in the damn infirmary nearly every day; of course he knew what he was doing.
"What should I have done, Evan? Thrown up a flag of Lassiez-faire and let her personal Hell bubble over and effect the entire island?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 5:47 pm
Lex's "agent of Death" comment struck a nerve, a near echo of Simon as he passed judgment on Evan. It was plain to see that Lex was getting defensive, though, so Evan did what he did best--he struck back. "You should have minded your own ******** business. Obviously she didn't come to you for that kind of help, or she wouldn't be so mad about it. Maybe you're not in Death, but is that really the kind of s**t they teach you in Life? It's a-okay to ******** around with people as long as it's for their own good?" He shook his head, disgusted. "And they asked you to judge whether or not I'm crazy?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 6:43 pm
Evan earned a soft sneer as a reward, a twitch of Lex's left eye as his fingers drummed along the back of his shirt, feeling for Regal's grip. Evan was getting angrier, and words, Lex felt, would soon not suffice. "I think you misunderstand the entire point of my division." Lex chirped crossly, eyes narrowed. Any second now, the man would swing. May as well get his words out now.
"We ******** around with this whole island for everyone's own good. Experiments, testing equipment, creating new runic machinery and weapons based off threats and observations found in mission reports. We tinker with the lives of others, for the sake of their safety and protection." He paused, then snorted. "Have you not met The Doctor?"
He let out another snort of what seemed like contempt. "Evan, it's not that we think you're crazy - we just need to see if you're not so far gone that we can't salvage something of you."
Lex had done pretty well at toeing the line up until then. He might have even escaped getting his a** kicked. Evan wouldn't have been above chalking it up to ethical differences.
But then Lex had gone and called him crazy. That was a bad idea, Lex.
"I am not," Evan insisted quietly, "crazy. I do my ******** job, and I do it well, and my job just so happens to be killing the s**t out of monsters. People who drug little girls against their will? They're monsters, too. If I was crazy, we would be tearing you apart, because that's what we do to monsters. I don't think you're a monster, though. I think you're just kind of a confused a*****e, and I sure as hell don't need a weapon to deal with those."
/Awww, lame!/ Gir complained as Evan unsummoned him, his whine abruptly turning into a cheer as Evan very calmly--very uncrazily-- decked Lex.
Lex wasn't expecting that sort of reaction. He certainly wasn't expecting to be called an a*****e - though he knew he was one. He'd always known he was an a*****e, an idiot, and a clown. He could talk a big, fancy game about himself and seem important, but at the end of the day he was yet another a*****e on an island of cynical ********.
He didn't really know which hurt worse - his jaw or his dignity.
<< Don't! >>
< I'm not. >
Regal was put back into his totem pen, and Lex looked up at Evan with a bleeding lip, void of expression or words. He didn't quite know what to say anymore. So he let his own fists speak, nailing the other man in the gut.
Evan hadn't really expected Lex to fight back--he seemed like he was all talk and ******** scones and very little action. He was pleasantly surprised when he did, though, for oh, so many reasons, the most important of which was it meant Lex was actually a participant in this fight. Sure, Evan may have thrown the first punch, but someone always had to even in the friendliest of spars.
Excellent. Evan's breath left him with a huff, but he was more surprised than hurt. Pain, he could take all day long; he had been conditioned to take it. He straightened, his eyes glittering, his lips curling into a feral grin. Now they could fight. Evan's arms shot out to grab the front of Lex's shirt. He yanked Lex in for a headbutt before shoving him away.
Reeling back, Lex was stunned for a few moments. He hated physically fighting, mano a mano. He was terrible at them, even if he'd been in his fair share when he'd lived in Vegas. Holding a palm to his forehead, and sent another blank look to Evan, saying and implying nothing.
<< Whelp, think on your feet. Get back into the fight. You're not done yet. We can do this. >>
Evan's eyes narrowed as Lex just kind of stood there and stared at him. He knew he had a hard head, but he hadn't figured it would be that easy to scramble Lex's brains. He hoped he hadn't given Lex a concussion or anything; he didn't want to be the one stuck watching over him if he had.
"Anybody in there?" He asked, rapping his knuckles on Lex's forehead. "You done already? Just gonna stand there and take it? Where's your greater good now, a*****e?"
