capeandcowllogs | on the edge where the danger keeps us out of our heads

on the edge where the danger keeps us out of our heads

WHO: Brother Cavil

bestmachine and Kyosuke Kiryu

satisfiedsigner
WHERE: City streets
WHEN: Tuesday, ~5am
WARNINGS: Possibly swearing? Will edit as needed.
SUMMARY: Cavil is having a hard time coping with becoming human and decides the best way to deal with this is self-medicating away some helpful biological behavior. He runs into one of his least favorite people, instead. Surprisingly well-behaved hijinks ensue. We... hope.
FORMAT: Starting with paragraph, the rest can be anything!

It took a long time before he realized what he needed was sleep.

He just attributed it to the human weakness that filled his body and colored his vision, the new sluggishness to his movements, the frail reflection staring back at him in the half-shattered bathroom mirror. His veins were filled with blood made up of real blood cells, and his neural pathways were comprised of a collection of cells that had no silicone, only proteins and receptors and intracellular fluid. This was the weak, old man he promised to be but never really was.

This was everything he feared happening and never imagined would.

It's best to be prepared. No, he knew the Porter could take away the power it gave him with a flick of its mechanical wrists, but he never expected it to take away what he already had, the only thing that made him worthwhile. Every day, the City was taking more from him, pulling at him until he was meaningless and weak and obsolete. His memories. His identity. He could feel the human mortality ticking down like a stopwatch in time with the pulse in his neck. He watched the size of his future narrow.

And he wasn't going to stand for it.

This was temporary, yes, but it still made him livid, determined not to give in and then take revenge when he could. He made a decision to live his life as he had before, refusing to give the Porter the satisfaction of seeing him falter. But then the need for sleep came, the need he hadn't felt for a good twenty years-- and then came the memories of dreams of losing control-- and then the memories of losing control-- and then the fear--

The first time he fell asleep, it was dreamless, his head resting against the chair, his body sprawled on the floor. He didn't sleep for long before he realized he was asleep and panicked, giving himself a healthy blow to the jaw as his face slammed into the chair. The second time, it was longer, but he woke up trembling, sweating, and he didn't know why. The third time he wasn't going to let happen. There were ways to stop humans from sleeping, too, after all.

It was five in the morning when he started his way towards the convenience store. The autumn wind froze his nose in a way he hadn't remembered feeling before, but that could have been how it always was. It was getting hard to keep track these days.

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Kiryu was careful to be as quiet as possible when he left. He'd had practice with moving quietly to avoid Saitou, although he'd never quite excelled at that. And now, with two members of the household with super-hearing...well, he wasn't sure he'd avoided detection, but at least they would know he wanted to be alone.

He definitely didn't take his bike. That certainly would have woken them. Besides, he had his cards and his own power; he could protect himself.

He was still nervous about what had happened last week. Whether the 'porter had some sort of grasp on them or not, it shouldn't have been able to take a Signer's power and transfer it to someone else. Signers was born Signers or granted that power by that damned Crimson Dragon, just like Dark Signers were destined to die and be granted power by the Earthbound Gods.

But it did.

And he didn't get his power from his God anymore, he was sure of that. If he did, he would probably be going through a constant cycle of dying and reviving again as punishment. Besides, he couldn't feel his God's presence here anyway.

But it was just wrong. Nothing should be able to mess with Ruka's powers or his powers...

And Alastair had been affected. It hadn't just been one week or those people. It kept affecting more. What if he was next...?

He blinked when he heard cars start honking at him. He was out here to distract himself, or think about it without worrying everyone else, but he'd forgotten that streets around here actually had traffic. He checked the street before running the rest of the way across.

Of course, to turn the corner, he had to wait for another light. He glared at the lights, annoyed, and jabbed the button to let the system know he wanted to cross. That was the one good thing about Satellite; there was no traffic at all.

The corner store Cavil was making his way to wasn't his corner store. He knew if he wanted his location to remain a secret, he was going to have to take trains. Buses. He was going to have to weave through side streets miles away from his apartment. Take the long way. The inconvenient way. Even today in his sleep-deprived haze, he took a subway and walked another mile and a half, sticking to his old plans in all his stubbornness. When he squinted ahead in the early morning darkness and saw Kiryu on the opposite end of the cross walk, then, it wasn't the tragedy it could have been.

Was that him? Yes. Yes, it was him, and it made his stomach tense and his face flush with the boiling hatred he felt, even with the pressure of sleep behind his eyelids. It was the first time he had seen Kiryu since that agonizing night in the motel, curled up on the ground, hoping for death and mercy all at once. But the death wasn't what bothered him. It was what came after. The hole in his mind. The memories missing. His plan skewed, almost meaningless.

His fault.

But he didn't move to attack. He didn't do anything. As the traffic light flashed red and the crosswalk flicked on, he just waited. The way he had his hands in his pockets, he could almost be nonchalant, but his eyes, bloodshot with a lack of sleep, didn't leave the other once.

Kiryu leaned back against the lamppost, tugging his fingers through his hair. Waiting for the light to change like this was so tedious...of course, there wouldn't be many people waiting this early in the morning anyway. Even more tedious.

But there was someone else waiting across from him. He looked over again, properly, and felt the blood run out of his face. What the hell was that man doing here? Was it possible Cavil lived that close to him? Did he somehow figure out where they lived and was coming after them? Cavil was one of the few people around who he really couldn't easily defend himself against...

But he didn't seem to be doing anything. Even when the lights said it was safe to cross...and Kiryu knew he was close enough to knock him out again if he wanted to.

Kiryu started walking across, his strides long and swift. He'd already told this bastard that he didn't feel any more need for revenge, and that was true, but he never said anything about messing with him. And there was the always the chance to get information; he understood a lot more English than Cavil probably thought he did, even if he couldn't really speak it.

"Good morning," Kiryu said, finally stopping in front of him. That was it, just something simple, but it would at least let him know whether Cavil meant to be hostile or not.

Cavil raised his eyebrows as though he were taken aback by the pleasantry, a sort of are you sure you don't want to kill me right now and dance on my bones? look, but it was all for show. In his exhaustion, it even looked halfhearted. After all, he knew that for the most part, Kiryu stupidly considered them even (not after what he did, no, never even) and that he had been knocked down one too many times to provoke a fight right off the bat. He would have liked a little more fear, though. That would have been nice.

"Good morning," he said. His voice was steady, but hard. Bitter. "What a pleasant surprise, running into you here."

Slowly, he removed his hands from his pockets. Empty.

"If you're wondering, I fully intend to follow through with that promise I made to your friend." The provided you don't mess with me right here, asshole was silent.

Kiryu gave him a brief smirk; even if that expression was half-hearted, he liked seeing it. And the mere fact that Cavil didn't have enough energy to act well...fate had picked a good time for him to run into the bastard. He was tired too, but he was used to it since he rarely got a good night's sleep anyway, so he might actually have the advantage here...

He briefly spread his hands out in front of himself as well, also empty. He was smirking again; he understood all too well what went unspoken.

"Then we are the same. Have no reason to break my own words." For now...

He stuck his hands in his pockets, eyeing Cavil for a moment, hopefully seeming as calm as possible. "It is very early. Most people are not awake..."

He narrowed his eyes at the smirk, at the casual way Kiryu carried on. Oh, how he would love to break his word and tear him to pieces. How he could. He knew the Porter had given him a useful new ability - the way his bathroom mirror cracked and crumbled made it obvious enough - and he could just see Kiryu falling into a million pieces right before his eyes. Restraint was key.

"Yes," he said. "You know, I was wondering why the sun wasn't up and all the businesses were closed down." (All but the one he needed, twenty-four hours, something would keep him going--) "Thank you for, ah, getting me up to speed on that." He stifled a yawn.

"And so what are you doing awake?" He slipped his hands back into his pockets. "'Clearing your head?' That would be 'thinking' in simpler terms. Or are you just wasting your time and pestering me?"

Cavil getting annoyed just made him smirk more for a moment, until he started speaking in that condescending tone. If there was anything Kiryu hated most about this man it was that tone of voice. Especially when he could normally come up with a snappy retort, but normally they were sniping at each other over the network where they had the convenience of translators.

So he tried to mock that tone as much as possible for a moment. "You're welcome. I am always glad to help."

He laughed a little, harsh and without humor. "Pestering? A chance meeting. I am often awake at this time. Thinking seems like what you are doing."

He barked a laugh at the imitation, but like Kiryu's, it was entirely without mirth. It was obvious enough that he wasn't feeling as secure as he usually did. The certain air of nonchalance was no longer as apparent in his voice. Only sarcasm between the glares. The coldness hanging onto his words.

"A good guess, but not really, no. You see, I as well tend to be awake around this hour. Your police friends have made it more than a little difficult to get around during the day." There was that bitterness again. Your fault, your fault.

"I'm sure you understand."

"I understand," Kiryu said, looking uncomfortable for the first time. He didn't like that he had something in common with this man. Perhaps more than one thing, but usually he could pretend the differences in their worlds made them different enough.

Hatred of the local police force...that was something a little too familiar. Especially since, besides Saitou, he hated them all here too. And if he were really honest with himself, he didn't like that more police than Saitou were involved in this whole thing. Police had no business in affairs like this.

Except that it bothered Cavil too. He was more than okay with that.

"But in this city...so little police. Easy to avoid them. I had no trouble. Even to avoid Saitou."

Despite his words, understanding wasn't really what Cavil wanted. He wanted Kiryu to disagree. Argue. Throw up a brick wall so that he could knock it down. 'I understand?' How could he know what it felt like when all his freedom was disappearing down a sieve? How could he know what this City had stripped from him? How it ruined him?

"Of course you do," he said, and he swallowed his rage like it was a bitter chemical, sneering and lowering his eyes before raising them to watch Kiryu once more. "But talk about ironic. Let me guess. You're out here because you're avoiding Saitou as well. How unfortunate that there seems to be trouble in paradise."

Kiryu sneered right back, hopefully effectively hiding his discomfort. What had Saitou said once? Cavil liked to hear himself talk? He liked to guide questions too, it looked like.

"Bad guess," Kiryu said, smirking again. He wasn't about to tell Cavil that he was right. "Out here to get food. Doesn't involve Saitou."

"Yes, but," he said. He leaned forward, dropping his voice conspiratorially. "You did imply that you've avoided him before." And then, straightening up again, his usual volume: "Do the two of you live together? I've wondered. You do seem to be particularly... close."

Kiryu's eyes narrowed a lot at that little whisper. He didn't move away, but he certainly tried to look more annoyed than ever. He hardly wanted Cavil to think they could be so familiar.

Especially if he was going to be asking questions like that. Of course, Cavil could probably find out easily with a quick stroll through the network; they hadn't really been hiding it since Alastair moved in.

"My business," Kiryu said with a shrug. "Friends are close usually. Would be no point in friends if that was different."

"No," he said, narrowing his eyes for a moment, "I can't imagine there would be. But then again..." He frowned suddenly (he feigned it again, but he's feeling more sure on his feet now, more convincing) and waved his hand. "No, no. Never mind. It's not important. I've been so impolite, I've neglected to ask how you are. But then again, why bother? I'm sure I'm going to get a noncommittal fine or perfect or none of your business. Am I right?"

Edited 2009-10-19 05:17 (UTC)

He had to smirk a little at that. He still wasn't sure why he was sticking around here, talking to this man, except that it amused him to try to tick him off. It amused him more to try to knock him off balance, especially since it was usually the other way around, much as he hated to admit that Cavil got to him.

"I am fine," he said. "No point in lying. But you will not believe that, I know. How are you?"

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on the edge where the danger keeps us out of our heads

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