These events take place shortly after this and are being posted for record keeping purposes.
Lauri tapped the end of his soldering iron against a damp grey sponge to cool it before setting the equipment down with a sigh. He'd been working on a project for a few hours and would have happily continued to work on it longer, but he was expecting a 'guest' and the strident tones of his phone's alarm alerted the Finn that he ought to set his work down and prepare.
Inasmuch as he planned to prepare for for Archer's arrival, which...wasn't much at all.
The Finn cleaned up his work-space and then went to the kitchen to clean out his empty beer cans, crush them, and place them into the recycling bin. The cleaning took up most of the time and when the knock arrived at the warehouse door, Lauri had only to move from the kitchen area to the door to allow the glamour-touched Archer in. It was somewhat strange to see the General dressed in 'street clothes' - the amount of time allotted for such things was slim, Lauri knew, but it was necessary for the day.
Neither Bob nor Tiberius were available to mask Wolfeite's aura...nor did he imagine the half-youma would wish to have either Mauvian within earshot of what was going to be said.
"Good. You are on time." It was expected, after all. Part of the agreement between Archer and Pasi and likely something that would roll forward into any agreement hashed out between the Wolfe and Lauri since timing was extremely important.
Although the Finn had continued to honor the agreement as it had been hashed out between previous parties, that had simply been a courtesy. Lauri might have been Aue, but he was not Pasi. A new arrangement would need to be discussed and decided upon, that much had been painfully obvious to him after the Botanical Garden event.
Archer would be ushered inside and over to the sitting area between the entry and the kitchen. "Sit. We have much to discuss and your time is limited."
-------------
He had an intense dislike of wanting to do this, but Lauri, unfortunately, had a point when he’d indicated they needed to have a renegotiation of terms. Things were different now with the man on the right side of things; not as different as they could have been, but different enough that it was something that was necessary to be discussed, no matter how much Archer disliked it.
He stepped into the warehouse, dressed in shades of black and gray and several layers, looking, as usual, as though he’d just stepped out of a magazine from several years in the future. Archer’s dark hair was almost halfway to his back now, in unruly, shaggy dark waves over his shoulders, because bothering to cut it had not been a priority, and he was only in a glamoured civilian form a few hours a day at most.
Lauri received a customary glower as Archer moved over to the couch, barely giving it a secondary glance before sitting down, one leg thrown over the other in an entirely proprietary way of sitting for someone who didn’t actually live in the warehouse.
“Don’t speak to me that way.”
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Knowing how little Archer wished to engage in the practical side of hashing out details for their arrangement, Lauri didn't plan on stretching out the negotiations longer than he had to. The irritation and annoyance displayed as the half-youma prowled his way into the warehouse and threw himself onto the couch in a pique amused the Finn though he showed no part of that on his face.
"I speak facts and truths, Archer Wren. I will continue to do so."
He held no fear of the barking of the Wolf, not as General nor as civilian. A generous amount of respect and an understanding that he was a volatile creature with special needs and requirements that must have attention paid to them, yes, but not fear.
"You also enjoy when I debase you, which is part of why we are here." Lauri sat on the couch near Archer and folded his arms across his chest while they engaged verbally; he did hope that the Wolfe wouldn't hem and haw about admitting the things he liked and required. For the sake of clarity and expedience, it would be best if they could speak plainly and openly.
"The agreement you had with 'Pasi'...I take it you found this satisfactory and would like to continue some version of this with me?" Obviously, he was willing to continue, but with some changes, otherwise they wouldn't be sitting together in the warehouse, discussing it.
----------------
A flush decorated his cheeks instinctively. Here, in the privacy of a place where there was no one but the two of them, the rules were different. As General Wolfeite, he held the upper hand, the leash, as it was. He would never let anyone disrespect him in public, and especially not in front of the rest of Wolfeite’s recruits - or Tourmaline, or her recruits.
But he wasn’t General Wolfeite now. He was Archer Wren, civilian, and this was -
Lauri, not Pasi. But their cores were the same, regardless. They both knew what Lauri was referencing, and they both knew what the agreement had been beforehand. Archer folded his arms across his chest, a look of abject mutiny on his face, but he didn’t deny this. It felt pointless to try and argue the point at present.
“Yes,” he growled out through gritted teeth. They felt wrong, somehow, in his mouth without the sharpness to them, canines still a little pointed even now. He disliked not having the extra senses, the heightened abilities, vulnerable and weak.
“What are you implying by some version, exactly?”
---------------------
On a lacquered table between the couches was a very slim folder, Lauri didn't touch it. He knew what the contents were: Pasi had left him a detailed outline of what his 'agreement' with Archer/Wolfeite had been, even if the half-youma (or monster, since Pasi seemed to have refused to use that terminology) and his predecessor seemed to not have spelled everything out as thoroughly as he himself would have liked. But again, Lauri was not Pasi - very similar, yes, but not the same.
"Good." When Archer had complied, Lauri picked up the folder, took out a red pen, and pulled the sheets of paper from within to make notes.
"From the Botanical Garden event it seemed that there were some misunderstandings. I would like to not have that again if we're going to continue engaging in Dom/sub play of this nature." It was more than play, but for the purposes of their discussion, Lauri was going to press the verbiage just so. "When you are 'Archer Wren', it is my pleasure to tease as I see fit. Including offering correction and command in public. The arrangement was, previously, to obey Wolfeite and to show respect in that venue. That I have done and will continue to do."
"Aue obeys the General and behaves in a manner that is suitable to bring only honor to the Pack. 'Lauri Virtainen' however, is under no such restrictions. Regardless of whom we are with."
Which meant that if Archer wished for him to not correct and command before Kat and the others, that would need to be negotiated. "Which seems to have been an issue at the event." Lauri tapped the pen to paper thoughtfully, "As I said, 'some version'. I assume you would like to negotiate dominance around those that know both your civilian glamour and officer status." Feel free to negotiate, mutt. I have not decided if we'll come to an agreement on this. It is far, far too much fun to see you shake with want, humiliation, and repressed rage. You suffer nicely and deserve every minute of it.
---------------------
Archer was also ignoring the folder, since he was pretty sure what it contained. He hadn’t looked at anything that Pasi had written, hadn’t even cared at the time, to be quite honest; but thinking about it now made his hackles rise, because it meant that he had no idea what it was that had been written about him. For all he knew, Pasi could have spun a web of well crafted lies about their arrangement.
His dark gaze snapped towards Lauri, Archer still sitting resolutely with his arms across his chest. Lauri was talking like they were discussing an actual contract, which...he supposed it was, but it still grated, regardless. As a civilian, he had little power and even less ability to control and do what he pleased with those under his command, and it felt wrong.
Archer’s teeth was ground together so tightly his jaw was aching. The calm, unbearably arrogant demeanor was making his blood boil, but it was also having an effect that he didn’t care to think about, except it was the whole point of this discussion in the first place.
”No one is to know what it is we do.” Archer said, practically spitting the words out, forcing them through so that they sounded guttural and low, almost the same growl of a voice as his general self. “I have little desire to be openly mocked by those that fall under my command. There is no need for this arrangement to be of any knowledge to anyone outside of this room.”
Which was his roundabout way of saying you are the only one who is allowed to know, because he was sure as hell not saying that aloud. A muscle in Archer’s jaw tensed.
“What exactly are you implying? That you want to be able to have control over me as a General? No.”
----------------------
Pasi could have written all sorts of fun things about their arrangement. Instead, he'd simply given bullet points and notations about certain interactions and preferences that Archer had expressed. It was less a contract listing than a medical checklist, really. But Lauri enjoyed the wary and discomfited look that the sable haired man gave it, knowing it must grate.
Yes yes, that's well understood. Which is a problem on your side, Wolfe, not mine. But that's something we're about to get to, now isn't it? Before he addressed the former, Lauri addressed the latter statement. "I imply nothing, Archer. You obey me under either guise because you crave debasement. Privately. I spoke nothing stating I wished to control you publicly as a general." Best to soothe that before it set the b*****d to anger so great he'd not listen to anything else.
Lauri scratched a few lines into the paper and then set the pen down with a sigh. "You wish for none to know of your proclivities and both my previous incarnation and myself have done well to respect this. I will continue to do so, it's not a problem for me." Here, the entire folder was snapped shut and tossed onto the table as though he had no further use for it or perhaps was disgusted with it.
"You, however, keep ******** it up." The Finn spoke plainly, eyes narrowed and expression as chill as the wind over frigid lake ice. "At the Botanical Garden, my 'commands' to you would simply have been seen as my being an a*****e in your direction. To our packmates, it would have been a play on your form being dog-like, but you kept acting like a scalded virgin about it."
Sitting back, he crossed one leg over the other, ankle over knee. "Kat spends time here. I assume more of the Pack will as well. So I suggest we figure this s**t out now, privately."
----------------------
Archer glowered at the folder, the instinctive and well honed desire to deny everything rising in his throat. Along with it came the simultaneous shame and the heady rush of unwanted desire for exactly what Lauri was saying, a rush of heat coursing in Archer’s veins.
He hated this, and he hated Lauri, and he ******** hated the world. They could all ******** burn.
“That’s fine by me,” he snapped. “Keeping it between us is all I require. I don’t need the rest of the world knowing what it is we do, and I certainly don’t need that lorded over me by those who could use it against me. I do what it is that I want, and it’s no one else’s ******** business.”
He did not appreciate the accusation. Archer’s head snapped over to glower at Lauri, at that hatefully calm face, the burning eyes he knew so well and yet didn’t all at the same time. Lauri was not Pasi. They were the same, but they were not, two separate entities, two separate people who still felt the same but weren’t.
It was convoluted and a contradiction. Archer’s scowl deepened.
“I don’t ******** anything up, I just don’t appreciate your attempts at humor in public. I don’t ******** care about that slapshod general, she can do whatever she wants, as long as she stays out of my business and you don’t shove her into things where she’s not wanted.”
His eyebrows rose mockingly, voice dripping with disdain. “I didn’t realize you sunk so low, though. Kat? Really?”
--------
Archer's glower was entirely expected and just as summarily dismissed; Lauri had been aware when he'd invited his packmate over that much of the conversation was going to be of a nature to upset the Wolfe. He also knew that for as much as Archer was glowering and grumbling about it, he was just as secretly thrilled….and absolutely hated it, the knowledge of which pleased Lauri greatly.
"Despite your continued assertions that she lacks intelligence, she is quite keen. But if you feel you are doing no wrong, by all means. Continue to give her hints that you are aroused by being verbally abused by me." The Finn's tone was completely flat and his expression held nothing but a bored sort of acceptance; really, he wasn't going to press the subject further - it wasn't worth his time nor effort. If Archer - and thus Wolfeite - wished to ignore cool logic simply because he felt himself better than someone else, or above such things, then that was his ******** business.
Lauri didn't give a s**t if Archer outed himself. As far as he was concerned, even saying something had been going above and beyond - an attempt to protect the reputation his General vaunted so much.
"Ah." Archer's barb caused Lauri's eyes to narrow slightly, though likely not for the reason he might have wanted. Kat - as Tourmaline - had done many things for Aue while Laby had been off, while Wolfe had been off. She was Pack, and she had helped solidify his understanding of just what it meant to be part of the Pack...which meant that when Archer cut at her integrity and skill, he was cutting at the whole of the Pack - for they were not one individual with one person's strength, they were a group made strong or weak on the whole.
It pissed him off and made him wonder if Wolfeite too did not quite understand the full scope of what he'd started. Mind your tongue, you graceless cur - you are insulting the very institution you helped to make, and yourself as well. There was a sharp gleam to his eyes, and the faintest of smiles ghosted his lips as he leaned forward to address the intended slight, which he himself found as no slight at all. "Yes, really. If I will bed a dog, why not a Kat?" While it was true that neither he nor Kat had any intention of repeating what had happened, Lauri could not be shamed over it.
"Jealousy doesn't suit you, Archer."
--------
He had no doubt that Tourmaline was keen; and in fact, he grudgingly accepted that she was a part of everything, in spite of the fact that there was still a great deal of bitter fury and resentment that clawed thick in his throat at the reminder of certain things. Archer did not have the same ears in this form, but if he’d been his usual self, they would have flattened down against his head of dark hair.
“Shut your ******** mouth,” he said instead, though he made no move to back this up by anything physical, instead remaining steadfastly resolute on the couch with his arms still folded across his chest. “I will continue to act as I see fit when I am General. I will not explain myself to those beneath me.”
Which was, frankly, the entire world, but that was beside the point. Archer felt his teeth grinding together, canines pressing down against one another.
His head snapped around to glower at Lauri, eyes dangerously dark.
“Don’t you ******** dare assume that I’m jealous, you shithead. You’re out of line.”
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"I believe," If there were hints in his expression and tone that he was annoyed that Archer was not listening to what he was saying, whether on purpose or not, it was a testament to the fact that he was still able to converse with the tetchy b*****d without losing his temper entirely, "We were discussing your behaviours outside being the General, Archer."
He'd been as tactful as possible, because ******** knew if he came right out and told the a*****e that when he reacted like a git as Archer Wren he gave up the game, it only told anyone around that their relationship was perhaps not as straightforward as it might seem. Do you really need me to spell it out plain? Has the Chaos of your upgrades so addled your brain that my English is no longer sufficient? You're the only one that gives a s**t if people know you bend for me, not the other way around. So ******** listen--
Nope. Obviously it wasn't going to work, the talking.
He was out of line?
Lauri was quite done with putting up with the petulance, with the insults, and Archer's lack of comprehension. It was obvious that his 'guest' wasn't listening and far past time to correct that. With a narrowing of eyes, the Finn grabbed Archer and hauled him forward from the couch, shoving him onto the floor and throwing his full weight down on him at the same time. Lauri's arm went across Archer's throat, pinning him and partially closing off his airway in a manner that suggested he could do it fully if he really wanted, but that he wasn't just yet.
"Do I have your ******** attention now?" He hissed the thickly accented words, close to Archer's face, thick brows drawn close together in ire as Archer struggled. "Be still koira--" Lauri couldn't count on the Wolfe obeying him, not right then, but there was a chance he would - so he would take it, and use it.
"When you are ready to ******** lay still and listen, nod you b*****d."
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Aue was not the sort to snap unless pushed too hard, and Pasi had simply kept ahold of most of his emotions with a dry sort of sarcastic snappiness. Lauri, on the other hand, was a whole new brand of both of those people combined, which meant that Archer did not have a full read on him whatsoever yet. He was the sort of person, after all, who thrived on reading people; who spent countless hours observing just to get into the heads of those he worked with and those he wanted to crush beneath his feet.
He had nothing on Lauri, and this was the most dangerous, frustrating aspect.
Archer found himself on the ground in a matter of seconds, slammed against the hard floor, breath hissing out of his lungs in an instant. He made a choking sound, his body jerking instinctively to try and free himself, hands rising to claw at the arm against his throat, but he didn’t have claws in this form.
He was also not in charge in this form, and they both knew it. Archer’s body knew it too, already reacting, clambering noisily, a heady rush of adrenaline and heat bolting through him, his eyes blazing.
”No,” he snarled, because it was instinctive. ”Let me go.”
-----------
Even shoved against the ground and given the simplest of instructions, Archer wouldn't capitulate, wouldn't follow through. Infuriating.
Lauri fisted a hand in Archer's shirt and lifted, slamming him back against the epoxied concrete flooring hard enough to hopefully rattle some sense into him. "You have a problem." The Finn increased the pressure across Archer's throat, he could feel the quickening pulse and see how this excited the glamour-hidden half-youma, but he wasn't playing games, wasn't trying to get him aroused - his goal was to get a point across.
"You don't listen." Again, he slammed Archer into the ground, painfully. "But you're going to, if you want this."
"And you do, don't you?" If he had to choke the sonofabitch out, he'd do it, by ******** god. "Nod if you ******** understand."
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The concrete was unforgiving. It scraped painfully and viciously through Archer’s clothes, dragging at his skin, leaving red marks and rapidly swelling scrapes that wouldn’t heal as fast in this form. Archer could feel his head spinning, could feel the ringing agony of his skull cracking against the hard surface, a slightly dazed expression flickering across his face even as his hands grasped at Lauri’s wrists in a half hearted attempt at pulling him off.
It was hard to breathe. Lauri was not and never had been a weakling, even if Archer had never given him reason to believe otherwise.
Another crack, another savage crash and now the pain had increased, the dizziness as well, head spinning dangerously. Archer’s grip on Lauri’s wrists was loose and lax, his fingers still holding on, but the rest of his body was uncharacteristically limp.
Blood began to seep from the back of his head, a scrape in the mess of his dark hair.
Archer nodded.
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Lauri ignored the sharp pain in his knees, the way their position torqued his spine in unpleasant ways - he was entirely focused on Archer, willing the man to behave sensibly and listen. There was a dazed look in the dark eyes staring up at him, a softening of expression that stated to the Finn that 'percussive' assistance in getting his point across seemed to be working.
Scrabbling hands became less frantic, blunt nails no longer digging as though to tear with claw. The man looking up at him was pliant and nodding, his eyes tracking sluggishly though the pupils were blown. A concussion wasn't out of the question with how hard he'd slammed the half-youma against the concrete - after all, he'd seen Archer's head make contact. He will live, this is important.
Lauri released Archer, putting his back against the sofa and glowering at him. "Good. Then you listens. I speak plain again. If you want an arrangement with me, it will be negotiated before hand. Your wants and needs - my wants and needs." Red marks from the struggle of moments before were showing against his skin, angry and accusative.
"If you don't want everyone to know you're taking it, don't react like you scalded."
"Were. Were scalded. <******** English." Did he have to reiterate what he'd said before? Likely. Unfortunately for Archer, the Finn was disinclined to rehash things he'd already said more than that single line could express. "You want domination. I want to deal with adult. That is all." Perkele, but he was still so pissed off; a vein throbbed at his temple and he could feel his pulse in the tips of his fingers. Calm down. He gets stupid thinking with pants - he's not stupid. Calm down. No killing generals. Breathe.
"If this cannot happens, then this game we play - it stops."
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It was almost unbearable.
The vicious side of Archer - the wolf rampaging inside of him - wanted to bite back, wanted to sink teeth and claws into Lauri until there was nothing left but blood and bone and muscle and sinew.
The human side of him that was barely even human anymore did nothing. As Archer Wren he did not have the same powers and abilities as he did when he was a general, and he both hated and craved it, loathed it with a passion that made him dizzy sometimes but yearned for it in a way that almost overtook him.
He didn’t sit up, even as Lauri moved away. Instead, he remained where he was on the ground, a small trickle of blood tracking its way out from beneath his head. His hands were still on either side of his face, palms up, exactly how they’d been pinned, and Archer’s chest was rising and falling rapidly with ragged, uneven breaths that hurt his throat.
And even as he stayed there, fuming with rage and at long last acquiescence, his body was already shouting for more.
He could not afford to have it stop.
“...very well,” Archer said, in a low, hoarse voice. “Very well. We’ll have it your way.”
[Fin]
