Welcome to Gaia! ::

Babylon waited for Melanite at the agreed upon spot. He was not literally humming with anticipation, but - he thought he was reasonably anxious about this meeting. The lieutenant’s lack of interest in the philosophy behind the war had certainly rankled him, and he didn’t think he could stand spending another two hours with the man determinedly not talking politics… But he still thought he stood a decent chance of persuading the man.

If Melanite truly didn’t care, then better he do his not caring on the side of order than the side of chaos. The balance would tip either way.

Sensing the lieutenant’s approach, Babylon raised his lantern. The signature had appeared suddenly - Melanite had worn his civilian guise until moments ago. He must live nearby, thought the knight analytically. Not that he was certain he had any interest in learning the man’s civilian identity. It would only make things needlessly complicated long before it would be appropriate.

“Good evening, lieutenant Melanite,” he called. “I see you brought your paints tonight. Any your eye’s healed well. I’m sorry. Again.”

Babylon took a seat on a bench beneath a rose arbor and vanished his lantern, recalling Melanite’s preference that it be gone. He sighed through his teeth when the lieutenant asked about Avalon. It was an obvious connection to make, and he doubted that Melanite cared enough to make a report back to his superiors. “I don’t understand it myself,” he said measuredly. “I think Sailor Cosmos was involved, but beyond that I can’t really say. I wasn’t there.”

As for who she was to him, well, that was complicated - and it could make them both easy targets if someone got it in their head to go after them. Not that he thought Melanite could… but you always had to be on alert when dealing with Negaversers. “She’s my best friend,” he said. “She’s always been my best friend.”

He could hear Arkady asking inside his head: Only your friend?

“And I love her,” he said. “She’s my everything.”

Whatever game Melanite was playing, Babylon wasn’t confident he could figure it out. The flat tone of voice was definitely off-putting, and he had the distinct impression that he shouldn’t give too much away. Even if Melanite had no plan to report to his superiors, he might be planning an action of his own, and he didn’t want to risk that.

“She’s alright,” said Babylon stiffly, “She… she listens to me.” Which was just awkward to admit - he didn’t want to give Melanite any reason to say he was pulling Avalon’s leash, even if that might be an accurate summation. Which was, like, awkward? He’d already revealed enough of a weakness to this lieutenant.

Babylon felt his cheeks burning before he could do anything to try to get himself under control. “No,” he said, although he did question why he was so quick to deny it. He was, after all, twenty-two years old and not a virgin, so why was being asked about his sex life enough to make him all blushy? He’d even- he’d had sex with Avalon, if not this current version of her. She didn’t remember, but… she knew it had happened .

“Not since she lost her memories, rather,” he admitted, not wanting Melanite to think he was a prude. “We used to. She would leave these scratches all up and down my back.” He narrowed his eyes at Melanite briefly. Was he… was he flirting?

God, thought Babylon, glancing away. He was just digging himself deeper the more information he gave Melanite, and it was awful. There was no getting out of this now - if he didn’t tell the rest of the story, he’d look like he had no game and not like he was being a gentleman. Or, well, he was pretty sure he was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t at this point. “No, it was good,” he said, feeling sort of crude about it. He wasn’t the sort of man who liked to boast about his sexual conquests.

“And she still wants me, but she doesn’t have any of her memories. She doesn’t know anyone else and it feels like I would be taking advantage of her if I did,” he sighed. Wow. What a ******** great job he was doing keeping information back. Melanite had set the bait, and he’d taken it every ******** time.

Babylon looked back to the lieutenant, and he knew that he’d ******** up. He’d given Melanite power over him and the only thing he could hope for was that Melanite’s distaste for the entire operation would keep himself and Avalon safe. “I suppose it’s just a matter of personal morality,” he said, which he knew wasn’t going to gain him any points with the lieutenant, based on the opinions he’d just expressed. “I don’t want to do anything with her that she’d hate me for later.”

This wasn’t going well, thought Babylon, but then he hadn’t expected it to. Their last meeting had proven that Melanite wouldn’t be persuaded easily towards purification, and that called for a change of tactics. He’d so far been trying to avoid giving too much information over to the lieutenant, but the more that was coaxed out of him, the more he sought a way to flip the situation to his advantage. The precedence had been set, after all. It would raise red flags to simply shut up.

Perhaps, decided Babylon, there were other ways to win the lieutenant’s trust than by impressing him with brute strength. At the end of the night, he still bested the man in sheer power.

“No, no others,” he said, and it seemed true in the strictest sense. He loved Virgo, yes, but in a way less than romantic. Courtly, perhaps. Whatever that meant. And he’d held something for Vindemiatrix, but if the senshi didn’t hate him now for everything he’d done then he was a better man than Babylon.

On the other hand, he thought, Melanite was almost definitely flirting, and he wasn’t sure how to politely turn him away.

Or he could raise flags anyway. Babylon snorted through his nose, trying to remain good-humored. “No, you haven’t offended me at all,” he said, which was partly a lie. “It’s just not a topic on which I have much to say.”

Turnabout was fair play, wasn’t it? “Do you have people you love, Melanite?” Babylon asked after a moment. He half expected the answer to be no, given the man’s characterization of sex.