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[tishina]

@deimos.fighter | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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@prom.argentum

[mercurio]

is this dennis? lol did you make a mistake typing in your name
prompto btw!

you get to go out of the safehouse now right?

[tishina]

did you make a mistake typing yours?

i'm already out. why?

[mercurio]

actually i did lol
just checking up on you!

also just to let you know that you can keep the clothes i got you

you got any ideas on where to go and what to do?

[tishina]

hmm. mine's russian, i didn't make a mistake.

...thanks.

no idea yet. looking around.

[mercurio]

oh i know russian! my friend illya cooked some russian food for me the other day
borscht? i was sweating

but it was really good

do you want a digital-text tour? i'm at work right now (lame) so i can't escape but i'm also bored

[tishina]

borscht is the best. shchi and solyanka are also good.

sure. how's that work?

[mercurio]

what's schi and solyanka? could you make them??

uhhh! it's slow today! and my boss/the guy i shadow said he wanted to take a nap so i gotta be all stealth quiet and stuff
not that i'm complaining but
wish i could be home or playing at the arcade

@cain.fighter

[blyat]

hey
they finished setting you up?

[tishina]

yeah i'm all set up
why?

[blyat]

got a job yet?

[tishina]

yeah
know that prompto guy? talks too much kinda reminds you of a nav?
working in the vents with him

[blyat]

yeah i know him
what the fuck are the vents

[tishina]

the vents are like sitting in the fighter cockpit
tight dark and with another man

@cain.fighter

[blyat]

you home right now
?

[tishina]

yeah?
why??

[blyat]

i need a drink
any whiskey left or do i gotta buy some

[tishina]

we have whiskey
i picked some more up on my way home

[blyat]

cool
lets drink it

[ALL OF IT.]

[tishina]

alright
i'll pour us some glasses
see you soon

[And Deimos gets up from the couch, not bothering to slip on pants as he makes his way over to the kitchen in nothing but a tank-top and his briefs. He wonders what could be bothering Cain as he pours the whiskey into two glasses. That's a question he'll probably never get the answer to. At least not at the root of the problem. Cain's irritation usually stems from a core, branching out to what could be considered minor problems. Deimos has learned this from months of silent observation and being close with Cain. He's also come to accept that there are parts of Cain that won't open up and that the best way to avoid Cain's full wrath is to roll with the punches, or anticipate what's going to calm the other down.

Two glasses full of whiskey and Deimos patiently waiting on top of the counter for Cain to come home should do the trick.]

@abel.navigator

[adsero]

Whenever you have a moment, I'm ready to talk.

[tishina]

i'm free. can be out in the living room in a second?

[adsero]

Meet you there.

[Abel tends to spend most of his time out there anyway. Shockingly, he doesn't like to spend all of his time in Cain's bedroom, it feels too much like he's some kind of useless bauble scraping by on coding pet simulations and realistic wind patterns. At least the living room makes him feel like he's got some semblance of a life.]

[His eyes focus on Deimos when he walks in, and he brushes the code he's working on away to give the Fighter his undivided attention. He even scoots over on the couch to indicate Deimos should sit if he likes. Abel doesn't look angry or tense, not even carefully neutral-- he looks worried, like he's preparing to walk on eggshells.]

Cain told me you helped us escape, back in the hangar. I didn't see it when it was happening. I'm sorry if it seemed like I didn't care, I just didn't know.

[tishina]

[He hesitates in his room before exiting for the living room. This confrontation was going to happen eventually, better to face it now before it festered into something nasty. Though hadn't the situation already become such? Yes. But whatever feelings he had on the ship (love, sadness, anger) had burned up and out, leaving behind guilt and remorse.

It wasn't supposed to be like that.

Quietly he steps into the living room, and immediately feels peering eyes upon him. Deimos tries not to flinch, or instinctively hide into the shadows of their apartment. He braces himself as he makes his approach to the couch, not sure what to expect from Abel. Even with all the watching and observing he'd done at Cain's request, Abel still manages to surprise him by his actions and even more so by his kindness.

He slowly sits down on the couch, looking over at Abel's face to try to get a reading of what he was dealing with. Cain told him Abel needed time to think, and Deimos fully expects Abel to let him have it. Maybe not with anger or even neutrality, but with a sternness that would sting for days. Instead, the worried look catches him off guard as does Abel's words. (Sure Cain said he'd talk to Abel but Cain didn't exactly explain what he would talk about.)

Deimos isn't sure how to respond. It shows. By the way his brows furrow, and his lips fumble silently. He almost wishes the drugs from his arrival were still in his system]

Don't apologize. [His voice strains as he speaks with a calm deliberation, taking all the time he needs to properly get his feelings out.] You couldn't have known. [About his last act of treason or why he threw Abel's feelings under the bus.]

I don't know what Cain told you but I owed you for what I did to you. I thought- I didn't- [He pauses, swallowing at nothing. He shyly looks away.] I won't make excuses. I'll answer anything you want to ask.

[adsero]

[Abel had been convinced that Deimos literally never spoke after the incident in the mess hall, but the confrontation before the shipyard run proved him otherwise. Still, it's clear to Abel that it's taking a lot for Deimos to speak out loud and at length. So he's patient and listens even when Deimos fishes for the right words.]

Cain tried to blame himself and Phobos. He said you were manipulated by them. But it sounds like your interpretation of what happened is different. [Abel, despite taking time to think things through, still holds the belief that both Phobos and Deimos did what they had done out of malice. The only difference is that Abel's hurt isn't manifesting as anger anymore, he just needs to hear that it wasn't right.]

Cain told me that you liked him, that you did everything he asked and then he picked me instead. Is that true? Is that why you told me he was a liar and not worth it?

[tishina]

Manipulation is a strong word. I wouldn't use it to describe my relationship with Cain. [The word robs Deimos of his autonomy, and excuses him of any wrong doing. Even as quiet and unknowingly-complicit as he may have been, Deimos still choose to do what Cain asked. He still decided to play along with Phobos plan. ] Phobos... I'm not sure.

[If he would call it manipulation. He's still turning the events of that fateful day over in his mind. No matter which way he looks at it, Phobos definitely manipulated him but he had a choice too, didn't he?]

I did like Cain. He saved me. [From what, Abel will have to guess.] Not a lot of fighters are willing to risk the brig or their own rep for a nobody like me. I thought it was- [Love. He shakes his head, unable to say the word.] Well. Regardless of what I thought, the feelings weren't mutual. But for a long time I wanted to believe that the feelings were mutual. That's why I did what Cain asked. That's why I watched you, and made sure no other fighter got near you. I thought that if I'd helped Cain and do all I could to help his mission that'd he'd eventually return the feelings. I was there for each navigator he had and even helped him climb the ranks amongst the fighters. I felt like I was owed something. Like I had earned the right.

I know now that that's not how relationships work but I never really had friends before Cain. [He breathes deeply, squeezing his fingers together. His own breakup comes fresh in his mind now.]

Cain took advantage of my feelings for him. You came along and changed Cain, for better or worse, and I had to watch it all on the sidelines. You and him were so close and friendly... I wanted that. Yet any time I tried to be intimate or close with Cain he completely shut me out.

He wasn't truthful to me or to you and he had the fucking balls to tell me to my face that he didn't have feelings for you even though I called him out about it. His other navigators... he never called them by name. He never cared for them. That's... how I knew you were different for him.

[Deimos sighs, head drooping low so that his bangs could hide part of his face.]

We stopped being friends that night, you know? And... well. It just snowballed into something awful for me. I had no one else to spend time with on what could have possibly been our last night alive. I let my hurt and anger tear me apart and Phobos... he fucking knew.

I- [Deimos sniffs, wiping at the corner of his eye. Fucking Phobos.]

I know you might not believe me but I went along with Phobos plan to get back at Cain. I didn't do it to drag you down to my level. I knew you liked him and yet... all I could think about was exposing Cain for the lies and deception surrounding your relationship. In truth, I wasn't thinking. I just let myself be tugged around by the frayed ends of my emotions again.