[closed]

[ofobedience]

Who: Giovanni Rammsteiner (ofobedience) & Rhys (rhygret)
What: Picking up a dog from the pound
When: When Rhys is no longer too sick to get up
Where: Wyver
Warning(s): None that I can think of



[When all is said and done, he supposes he can't really complain. That whole unfortunate episode with the carriage, his fugitive status and subsequent capture-- the interlude had ended in a way he couldn't have predicted, but one that is, for the most part, largely favourable for him. He'd been neither tortured nor executed, not even imprisoned for a particularly long stretch of time and they'd treated him relatively well, compared with his past experiences in captivity.

As such, he shouldn't begrudge the new parameters of his existence here too heavily-- he may be tagged in order to track his movements, may have been paired off with the unpleasant individual who caught and incarcerated him in the first place in order to ensure that he's carefully watched, may have most of his time taken up with community service of late, but he's been reinstated, more or less. Has been given back his previous job, much to his surprise. And whilst he found the command posed as a suggestion that he stay with a small group of the Guard who'd decided to set up a barracks of sorts in one of the Wyvern dwellings for the duration of his stay here a little stifling, it isn't the worst set up he could have asked for. If anything, there's a sense of the familiar in being so closely guarded, something almost grounding in the restrictions currently placed upon him.

Strangely, twistedly perhaps, it only heightens his sense of belonging amongst the Olympians. Makes him more certain that his loyalty lies with them.

Still. It comes as a surprise when, one evening, one of the Guard comes to retrieve him from the room he's been assigned to, saying that someone is here 'to collect him', that an 'upstanding citizen' has taken it upon themselves to offer to keep an eye on him and ensure he stays 'on the right track'. He can't quite think who it would be, feels immediately suspicious, and it isn't until he sets eyes on Rhys that his guarded expression gives out onto one of wry incredulity instead.]

An upstanding citizen, indeed. Lucky me.

[What he means is, 'hello, it's nice to see you,' of course.]

Comments

[ofobedience]

[He'll be devastated :{]

I have the basics. I ought to be able to get by until we're able to return to Olympia.

[Which makes his standpoint clear in that regard, at least. He intends to return. Of course he does-- his loyalty, if anything, has only solidified in the wake of his capture and incarceration. He feels, if anything, more at home than he had done before.

The tightening of the leash, their careful watch on him. It feels familiar. He doesn't dislike it.]

[rhygret]

[ It's okay, Rhys will buy you a bunch of new sad plants that are much hardier ]

Wait, you're really going back there? After you got in trouble??

[ Rhys looks surprised (but not displeased) by this new tidbit of information as he turns to glance at the other man, brows lifted. It's almost comical considering how worn out he looks, but Rhys's face is dumb on the best of days anyway.

The point is that he'd have thought Giovanni would want anything to do with the people who'd locked him up after that whole fiasco. He had run from them after all. ]

[ofobedience]

[Yes pls ;u;

Anyway, Giovanni nods, just once. Perfunctory and sharp and clear, no hesitation in the action, no sign of indecision.]

Of course. Where else would I go? I have a job to get back to. A city I've started to get to know. And what's the alternative? I can't stay here.

[Said with a small modicum of distaste designed to mask his underlying fear.]

[rhygret]

I dunno, I just figured since you were so keen on getting away from them before that you'd maybe stay here? It's not like they can police you if you don't go back to Olympia with them when they eventually pull out.

[ Rhys shrugs and turns to look back ahead of them, gaze directed out towards the thicker crowds. The streets have gradually started to fill up again with the virus gone and the cure distributed. People are recovering and getting their lives back on track. ]

[ofobedience]

[How to answer that? He's not sure he has the words for it, or whether he'd even want to express them honestly to Rhys even if he did. As such there's a lasting moment of silence, and the other man could be forgiven for thinking that Giovanni has no interest in answering at all. Eyes turned ahead, concealed as they are behind orange lenses, he too observes the milling crowds, the dusty streets with their traces of encroaching nature. Their seeming lack of order.

It's disconcerting.

Finally, he shakes his head.]

Olympia took us in during our hour of need. They chose to pardon me for my fault despite that I killed a man who was not their enemy.

[He shrugs, sharp. Quick.]

I know the value of loyalty.

[It's only a partial truth, perhaps. But a truth nonetheless.]

[rhygret]

[ It's passable enough that Rhys doesn't think to question it too intently. The logic seems a little flimsy to him personally but if Giovanni wants to go back that's his prerogative. He won't judge too much considering he's intent on going back as well.

The pair of them might not necessarily get along all that well but it still...nice, knowing that familiar faces will be there. Even if it's Giovanni's derisive sneer. ]

So you gonna keep your job at the guard then? Will they let you?

[ofobedience]

[And oddly enough his thoughts on the matter aren't too dissimilar. Even here, even now, whilst suspicion still edges through him as to Rhys' motives for taking him in like this. The man is an irritation, he's so weak as to seem pathetic and strange to a creature created and raised for violence (his own weaknesses stamped down and locked tight, carefully hidden from view), but there's a lot to be said for familiarity and Giovanni will take what he can get.

He casts a quick glance up at the man walking beside him now, manufactures as smile.]

Yes. I suppose they think they can keep a closer eye on me, from there. Hahah.

[rhygret]

Oh. That doesn't bother you or anything? I hate it when people watch me work. Makes me feel like some sort of...lab rat, or something. Like they're judging me and waiting for me to mess up.

[ Don't mind him, he's just having some Hyperion flashbacks is all. It may suck that he crashed all of Helios into a planet and killed hundreds of thousands of people, but at least he's was his own boss. ]

[ofobedience]

[He tosses the taller man one of his knifey grins, the kind that's all angles and doesn't, in all honesty, have all that much in common with a regular smile. The sort that leaves it all rather up in the air in regard to his intentions-- is he attempting to be friendly, or is he considering how it'd feel to bury those sharp-edged teeth of his in your throat?]

I was created in a lab, you realise. You could say I'm accustomed to being observed.

[He's never been his own boss. Likely never will be.]

[rhygret]

[ Rhys would put money on those teeth winding up in his throat, given the choice. He doesn't trust Giovanni not to kill him if he decides to, but oddly enough he trusts him not do it "just because." It feels like if it did happen he'd probably deserve it.

Bodily harm however remains free game and could happen anytime, anywhere. He still remembers the VR simulation. ]

...Oh. Duh, right. You know you don't really act like how I pictured a lab experiment would? You're all...civilized. Is that insensitive? That's probably insensitive right?

[ofobedience]

[And if he knew, perhaps Giovanni would be mildly put out by the fact that Rhys has him pegged already, at least in that regard. He may not need much of a reason to rip out a man's throat, but he does need a reason regardless. Isn't, contrary to appearances, given to mindless violence merely for the sake of it.

But he isn't aware, and so for the moment he only cocks his head in that starkly dog-like gesture of his, raises one thin blond brow above the rim of his sunglasses.]

You think me civilised?

[He sounds a little pleased, actually. He does strive toward a touch of refinement along with his savagery. Mother always was keen on elegance.]

[rhygret]

[ If it helps it's not because Rhys is a master at reading the inner workings of Giovanni. It's just the sense he gets from most people on Pandora and he's been on the receiving end of it enough to know what it looks like when someone wants you dead, like, all the time. Gio doesn't usually have that look. ]

Yeah? You dress pretty sharp for one thing, and appearance is ninety percent of any impression you're going to make in this world. Actions...ehh, you could use a little work. Beheading people isn't a very good hobby to have. Might want to work on that one.

[ofobedience]

[Well. He does dress sharp-- that's something they can both agree on, something he feels perfectly confident in. As to the rest...well. He laughs his quick, barking laugh. Shrugs those hard, narrow shoulders of his.]

I won't go making any promises, now, but I certainly intend to give it a go. Only government sanctioned violence from here on out. For the moment.

[Until Mother awakens, at least. Then he'll be dancing to a different tune, entirely.]

[rhygret]

See? That's the spirit. As long as the higher-ups say it's okay then anything goes.

[ That is the Hyperion Way^TM.

...Oh ew yuck, Rhys realizes that as soon as he's thought that and his expression narrows a little, unhappily. He's trying not to be them. Right. ]

S-sort of. Anyway, yeah. You're pretty alright. Back when Hyperion was around they apparently had all sorts of weird bioweapons that were pretty much just horrifying monsters. You're a step up from that.

[ofobedience]

[He glances up at his companion then, one brow archly raised, expression all wry amusement.]

Oh, I don't know. I can be quite the horrifying monster, when the mood takes me.

[And he flashes those inhuman teeth again, just for you.]