Futuristic Come on! Not agaain! -Sincerely, Adrian.

[Laine]

Ade frowned, not even pursing his lips as Cassidy smooched him. However, he did take his chin in one hand as he pulled away, sighing as he examined the broken nose. “Well, you weren’t exactly running away screaming, were you…” He murmured, his voice peppered with jealousy. He glanced over at their blond-haired kidnapper, frowning as he leaned provocatively over the counter. Now that he thought about it, his face looked vaguely familiar, and it didn’t take long for him to realise that Ade had seen him, several times, in fact – in the tiny black album they kept at home. He had never paid much attention to the others in the book, but he remembered seeing Keve draped over Cas in one particular one, both with Voffs in hand and smiling manically. He glared at him as he continued to try and chat up the waiter.


Ade lifted his arm even further as Cassidy suddenly lunged for the voff. “No, Cas. This is place is dangerous – that guy – is dangerous. He broke into our house, beat you up, dragged us to god knows where, and you’re just gonna sit in this shady-ass bar smoking voffs?!” He pointed to the hopper on the Lieutenant’s wrist, next to the cuff that was still clipped on. He looked at Cassidy with pleading eyes, “You know I hate the future. Please, take us home, before he gets back. I’m sure you can catch up some other time.” The guy behind them was beginning to get more irritated, as Ade was raising his tone without even noticing.

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy touched his own nose lightly, wincing and shrugging, "I can easily get this fixed. I'll just say you've been beating me." He teased, snicked as Adrian muttered under his breath. "A-zaa, I was not. So what?" He pinched Adrian's cheek, "It's no big deal, honestly. I can practically smell the jealousy, Ade." The time agent leaned back in the booth, closing his eyes and grinning, "He's an old friend. He saved my life once. You owe him one; you never would have met me, which is such a blessing." He motioned to the room, meaning that Ade was "lucky" to be in deep outer space, in a dangerous reach of the universe. "Right?"





Cas began to get slightly irritated by Adrian's tone, and he opened one eye, frowning. "Adrian, a-zaa, we are fine. Just because you had one bad experience does not mean you should shut yourself in to a boring Earth life, with a boring job, with ordinary people." Cas grinned, "Adventure is fun. Keve's right, I've been assigned to sit in an apartment fiddling my thumbs for the rest of my life." Cas closed his eyes again, and crossed his arms, "Naw, I think I'll stay a while longer. Why can't you just be more open to try new things. You're a 21st century being, with the gift of seeing the rest of creation, and everything you could possibly imagine. And you just want to go work a day job and watch TV all day instead."

 

[Laine]

Ade rubbed his cheek angrily, “I am not jealous of him,” He snarled. Of course in saying that, he meant the exact opposite – seeing Cas in the arms of someone else, especially someone who probably knew him far better than Ade did, pained him beyond words. The creature behind them slammed a fist on the table as a final warning to keep it down, sending several glasses spilling over.


Ade recoiled, turning to Cassidy, his green eyes burning with irritation. He flicked the voffy away, sending it clinking against the hard floor – still half-full – and hissed back at his partner, “This is not adventure, Cassidy. This is suicide. How do you know this isn’t an ambush?! How do you know you can trust that…Keve guy, who seems a lot more interested in getting into people’s pants than he does for time-travel safety?!”


Keve glanced over from the bar, chuckling softly as he saw Ade struggling to stay composed. He started taking deep breaths, sighing exasperatedly as he pleaded with his love, “Think about it, Cas, you would’ve beaten that guy hands down if he’d come when I first met you. But you’ve been out of action for more than 6 months now – even I can creep up on you without much effort. You really think if anything happens you can protect yourself and me?” He huffed, eyeing Keve as he slowly began to make his way back over, glasses in hand. “Yes, it’s boring. Yes, it’s monotonous. But please, Cas, take me home. That guy gives me the creeps, and – and…” Keve was getting closer, and he felt his chance of returning home slipping away, “- it’s your duty.” He whispered harshly as Keve set the drinks down – one for himself, and one for Cassidy. Nothing for Adrian.


“There, get that down you, Petar.” Keve smirked. He waited for the whole I don’t drink I don’t understand alcohol speech from Cas, but to his surprise, he took a polite sip. Meanwhile, Adrian shuffled away from Cas, folding his arms and huffing again. Keve tried to catch his eyes. “Awh, what’s wrong with your pet? Did you forget to clean his litterbox?” He sneered.

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy snickered the whole way through Adrian's 'not jealous' speech, and shook his head in disbelief. "Yes... Yes, you very much are jealous." Lieutenant Cassidy's snickers died as he listened to the insistent begging, and he let his eyes fall to the side, looking down at the table. "You can sneak up on me, because you are not a threat." Cas still had that superior attitude, despite his lack of action lately. He brushed his bangs out of his face, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah- it's my duty. Great, grand, wonderful. No where in my mission statement does it say I can't do other things. The only thing it outlaws is letting you do the frick and the frack with a lady. I can do what I want. You see, it doesn't matter if we die. Because it just means you didn't reproduce."


Cas shrugged, and shook his head. "I said, no." The Lieutenant didn't even glance at his hopper, to even see it was disabled. "I have trust in my comrade- we trained together, and took our oaths together. I doubt he is a threat to me. He has a crude manner of pulling pranks, though." The loyalty of Cas was double sided. He was loyal to the time agency, and its members. He trusted these members beyond anything, and a 21st century human was not going to change his mind.


The olive-skinned man accepted the drink with a polite smile, and sipped on it as Keve sat back down. As Adrian shuffled out of the booth, and towards some unknown location in anger, possibly a bathroom, Cas drew his gun, and pointed it directly at Adrian's back, "Sit down, now." He growled. "Or I will shoot you, Adrian." He was keeping his words quiet, but he meant business. Adrian would live if he shot him, but he would not if one of these pesky creatures got angry and decided to instead. He was not having Adrian get lost accidentally, or get killed accidentally, by something nasty in this place.

 

[Laine]

Ade heard the door swing, and strode towards it, desperate to get some kind of fresh air from the heat and humidity inside the bar, not guessing that it was just as humid elsewhere on the planet. He heard a quiet, authoritative tone behind him, and he turned slowly, cocking an eyebrow at Cassidy – his lover - with his gun drawn, pointing at him. Keve said nothing and watched curiously, sipping at his drink. The rest of the occupants in the bar seemed to carry on, albeit a little quieter.


Adrian shifted left and then right, smirking in amusement as Cas’ weapon followed him. “You threatening me, Cassidy?” Cas said nothing but held his position. Suddenly, the fearful tone in Ade’s voice left him, leaving only bemusement, as well as possibly shock. Ade raised his arms in mock-surrender, “Just because I said I didn’t trust your friend here-“ He shot a dirty look at Keve before switching back to Cas, “- you’re going to gun me down?”


He started to snigger, dropping his hands back to his sides. “I’m sorry, Cas, but that’s not going to work. You couldn’t hurt me even if you wanted to.” Ade turned back around, reaching for the door handle – a poor move, considering the creature that had been threatening him all night had just exited by that door. “I’m going to get some fresh air. Come find me when you feel like being sensible.” He snapped, figuring – hoping – that Cas would give in, run after him and take him home.

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy narrowed his eyes at his lover, and shook his head. He whistled at Adrian, signaling for him to return to him. "No, I am going to shoot you if you keep moving away. You are my prisoner- I think you have forgotten that." He avoided mentioning time agents, duty, and mission statements in front of these crazy bar-dwellers. He did not need any trouble.


As Adrian continued towards the door, the Lieutenant laughed, a faint bemusement also in his tone. He sharply turned the gun to the left, and shot two plasma blasts right past Adrian's ears. They rapidly flew past, bright blue balls, and slammed into the wall- splattering with the brightly colored substance and colored it with a black scorch mark.

 

[Laine]

Adrian’s knuckles tightened against the door-handle, and his teeth were gritted hard against each other as Cas’ words burned a painful image in his mind. Before he had a chance to throw the door open, he jolted violently backwards as he heard the two plasma shots ring out. The sound was totally unique and unmistakable – and it brought all the unpleasant memories of his last time in space thundering back.


He swallowed thickly. His eyes flicked to the left without moving his head, and he peered in utter disbelief where the shots had burned into the doorframe and the wall surrounding it. “Did you…” Adrian breathed, completely lost for words as he stared at the marks. To the untrained eye, they looked too close to his head to be a warning – to Ade himself, they looked as if they would’ve been a direct hit, had he not exhaled at the last moment.


He felt tears pricking at the side of his eyes. He no longer cared about the attention his foreign tongue was attracting, and he yelled at the top of his voice as he spun around, staring the Lieutenant with eyes that were beyond livid. “Did you just…fire a fucking gun at my head, Cassidy Petar?!”

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy waited for Adrian to turn back around; when he did, the Lieutenant took the barrel of the gun and held it to his lips, blowing the rising smoke away. He smirked, "No, I fired at the wall next to your head. Now sit down." The people inhabiting the bar were staring shock, and intense interest. Some were laughing. Some were obviously interested by the foreign tongue these two spoke.


Cas patted the seat next to him, and motioned for Adrian to come back over. "I am not joking, Adrian. Come here." He was going to deal with this later- and not in front of an entire room full of alien creatures, who looked like they enjoyed murdering strangers for any reason they could come up with. Cas looked over at Keve for backup, asking Keve if they could leave to a private place soon in the universal tongue.

 

[Laine]

Adrian was physically shaking, Cassidy’s calm demeanour and gentle words only making it worse as he petted the seat beside him once again. “Y-you, you-“ He stammered, lost for words and faltering under his partner’s blasé attitude. He felt so hurt, so violated that Cassidy would even pull the trigger anywhere near him, let alone a shot that could’ve killed him instantly at even the slightest error. Completely lost and unsure what to do, he shuffled over towards the booth, sensitive to the excited chatter around him and the threatening tone of his partner. His heart was pounding violently in his chest, and he immediately felt sick as he neared the Lieutenant.


He lowered himself in the chair slowly, eyeing the gun left on the table, as if Cas would grab it suddenly and fire at him again if he did the slightest thing wrong. Keve picked at his teeth, looking disinterested, “Mhmm, I guess so. My place is only a few blocks away, and It’d probably be better to discuss matters there than here, now.” He shot a dirty look towards Ade, who was staring blankly in front of him. “And perhaps in future you can keep him on a tighter leash. Guys around here can get pretty jumpy with foreigners.” He soon finished off his glass (having already drained Cassidy’s during the outburst) and he nodded towards a door at the back of the bar, that ultimately led onto a quieter back street.

 

[chellemrys]

Cas looked relieved, more than angry, when Adrian sat down, and let out a tense huff. The Lieutenant felt a bit ashamed afterwards, but did not regret it. The stakes were too high, and Adrian was bringing unneeded attention to them. And Cas wanted to have some fun before he went back to boring old 21st century Earth.


Cas put its gun back in his holster when Keve motioned towards the back door. He noticed his drink had been downed, and shook his head in slight laughter. "You alcoholic," he whispered in the universal tongue, "I have a request, on the note of.. Adrian." Cas knew Ade would have heard his name being mentioned, and probably would glower at him or something. Or strangle him. "Anyway we can get a room." He smirked, and made a fist, punching his palm with an overly evil laugh, glancing at Ade from the corner of his eye. Now he was just being mean, in his jokes. Adrian would have heard his name, and not have understood anything. Except for that motion.


Cas told Adrian they were leaving quietly, and slid out of the booth with the three, "We need a more private place."

 

[Laine]

Ade looked up as he heard his name, flinching as the gesture that accompanied it. He didn’t meet Cas’ eyes, biting on a fingernail nervously to get rid of the tension. Keve snorted at the request, nodding and giving a hearty chuckle as he stood. “Yeah, sure, I’ll see what I can do.” He waved Adrian and Cassidy over to the door, nodding to another creature with hoofed feet that saluted him as the three were led out of the back. He started pressing buttons on his hopper, glancing up every so often to make sure Cassidy wasn’t reading over his shoulder as they headed out into the street.


“I’ll be honest, Petar, I didn’t think you were…well, the servant type.” He chuckled again, turning around to bite his lip at Ade, “As in, the kind to keep a servant. I was pretty sure that the TA had them banned, but…” He shrugged, “Still, I bet you get through a fair few with a trigger finger like that, hmm?” He murmured, finalising his message and sending it. He turned around, walking backwards to face the two, “It suits you, though. Authority. Did you ever try going for that Commander position?”


--


As they approached, a motor vehicle not unlike the 21st century ones sped off down the road towards them, flashing it’s headlights at the groups faces. Keve raised a hand at them, “Friends,” He explained nonchalantly. “Hate those old-fashioned tin cans. But they’re practically undetectable by the TA, the IPC, the KPA…” He mused, pressing a button on his hopper, which deactivated the security system surrounding Keve’s place. “Luckily for us, this is about as private as is gets on Vos.”


Keve’s place was built like a guerrilla fortress – that is, walls made out of ghostly plaster, ancient security systems on the door locks, and minimal roofing, which made it look like it had been built in a hurry, and then sloppily added to when needed. It was all very primitive – Keve reassured them that it was the “Vos Style”. Inside it was a little more cosy looking, with several separate rooms with beds in them, a spacious dining room, complete with a whole library of different exotic food machines and voffy dispensers. “Here we are. Home sweet home.” Keve murmured, guiding the two in. He led them into a room just to the left from the corridor. “You and er…Aderianne…can stay in here, long as you like. I won’t even charge ‘ya.” He winked at Cassidy. Ade raised his eyes defiantly at the sound of his name, leaning against the wall with folded arms. His brow was furrowed in deep, brooding thought.


Just then, Keve’s hopper buzzed loudly and chimed several times – an incoming call. Without even excusing himself, Keve shuffled out of the room, leaving the two alone. He began chuntering, irritated to the person at the other side, in a Vos dialect that neither Ade nor Cassidy understood.

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy laughed along with Keve, shaking his head the whole way. He sighed, "I must admit, he is not my servant. I'm his protector." He motioned towards Adrian, explaining the mission he had previously been set on, and how he ended up being his eternal over-looker. "And, he's my, you know- partner, partner." He winked at Keve, giggling, "I just didn't want him going out there and getting shot up or something; he isn't the most... Well, smooth. And he hates aliens. Ironic, right?" He pointed at himself, grinning. Adrian couldn't make out a thing they were saying, and Cas enjoyed teasing his lover with suggestive actions, and odd sounding discourse.


*******


Cas stared at all the fancy machines, and his joy almost faded completely. He was not sure where Keve's income was coming from- this all looked very expensive. "Living on a ghetto world, enjoying the high life." He remarked in a whisper, a little uncertain of the compound. When Keve left, his face fell, and he immediately turned to face Adrian.


Cas stalked forward, snatching Adrian's shirt front and swinging him around- gently pushing him with force against the wall. He held him with one strong arm, pushing against his neck, against the plaster, and glared deep into the other's eyes. In perfect English, he hissed, "What the fuck was that, Adrian. Don't you know better than to draw attention to yourself like that? Haven't you learned anything from the last time we were captured?" His voice was hard, but his eyes shone with worry. At the struggle he was expecting, he tightened his hold, pushing his elbow into his windpipe, "Don't you dare ever act like I'd really carelessly shoot you."

 

[Laine]

Ade yelped loudly as his back hit the wall. He pushed back against Cassidy, but was still no match. He gasped as his air supply was partially cut off, forcing him to battle with the already difficult atmosphere, “Let – go, Cassidy…!” he stammered exasperatedly. He tried to wrench Cas’ arm off his neck, ignoring the concern in his partner’s eyes as he scolded him. Failing to overpower him, he kicked out at the smaller Lieutenant in frustration.


“W-well what the – fuck – was I – supposed to do?! You – weren’t listening – “ His voice became clouded with emotion as he spoke, his nostrils beginning to flare, “You – fucking shot at me, Cas – If I had slipped or – turned my head, you could’ve killed me!” He yelled, his chest swelling indignantly as he took in deeper and deeper breaths. He bit his lip, shaking his head and continuing to struggle, “But – I guess since – since I’m your ‘prisoner’ – it’s okay, right?!”

 

[chellemrys]

Cas ignored Adrian's protests, only making sure Adrian had room to breathe, "A-zaa! What was I supposed to do, you say, but the answer to that question is obvious." He felt himself getting angrier, and more defensive as the confrontation went on. "You were supposed to listen to me."





The Lieutenant became insulted more and more as the argument continued, and with a shout of rage he pressed his forearm sharply into Adrian's neck, before moving his hands to his lover's chest, bunching up his shirt and grabbing on as the other sputtered. He lifted the other off the ground with ease, carrying him with his feet swinging in midair to the bed, before slamming him down on the mattress. Cas climbed atop Adrian, leaning in so the tips of their noses were touching and he was staring into Ade's eyes with intense distress . "Adrian, don't you dare think I would have missed and killed you. I could have to shoot a cigarette out from between your lips. If your life depended on it, and you wanted anybody to be shooting at you, you'd want it to be me."





Cas had Adrian pinned still, but sighed and shut his eyes, leaning forward only a bit more, to rest his forehead on Ade's, and to relieve his wince-worthy nose from touching Adrian's. The prisoner remark caused the piqued expression to falter, and an emotional affliction began to peek through, like some emotional layers were being excoriated by Ade's words. "Have I ever called you my prisoner before? I was ready to say anything, to stop you from going outside- because that guy sitting behind us left, and would have torn you to pieces."

 

[Laine]

Adrian gasped as finally his throat was release, still sputtering words but not making a lot of sense. He continued to thrash indignantly as he was shoved onto the bed, blinking hard at the Lieutenant’s dark eyes as he stared him out. Finally, he spat, “Cassidy, when we were on the Iridium ship - you asked me to shoot you multiple times, and even when I had the opportunity to, I didn’t feel even remotely tempted.” He breathed, “The fact that you would even point a loaded gun at me just because I didn’t do what you wanted me to – And then you laugh straight afterwards, like it’s a joke-“ Adrian turned his head against the pillow, and tried again to push him away. His anguish at the powerlessness of the whole situation was making tears begin to form at his eyes again, and he bit his lip hard to prevent them from coming.


As soon as Cas spoke again, he turned his head back, sighing as the Lieutenant pressed his skin against his. He hadn’t noticed at the time that the alien at the bar had left, and Cas’ eyes seemed to be tinged with a fear of his own. Ade whispered with a tone of doubt, “No,” but he shook his head, shaking his wrists against Cas’ hands, “But you think that, don’t you? Because at the end of the day I’m just a boring – 21st century idiot - who you have to babysit for the next 50 years or so.” He rambled, getting more and more upset, wanting to hurt Cassidy equally as much as he had been by his betrayal, “You don’t love me at all. You’re only pretending to so your prisoner stays put.”

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy had to keep Adrian pinned; he was afraid he would get pushed away otherwise. The Lieutenant inched back at the comments, and his face took on a vexed grimace. With a sigh, he shrugged. "Yes, you caught me." He pushed himself upright, legs still straddling Adrian's hips. "Hmm.." Cassidy was acting -one of the things he was trained briefly in-, but his stomach was still doing nasty flips from the words Adrian had just uttered.


To prove a point, Cassidy drew his gun again, and played with it near Adrian's face, clicking various buttons and cocking it playfully. "Mm, well, you are just my prisoner. I shouldn't have asked to be stationed there. I should just kill you- get out of the next fifty years of service or so. I mean, there are two ways to accomplish my mission. Love you, or kill you, after all." Cas pinched Ade's cheek with his free hand, waving the gun around carelessly with the other.

 

[Laine]

Adrian shivered at Cas’ tone, shaking his head as his lover once again pulled out the gun and started toying with him. “You don’t mean that,” he whispered, searching Cassidy’s face for any sign that he was telling the truth. He felt a sharp panic rise in his chest as he cocked it, the sounds inches from his face. He raised a hand grabbed for the gun, desperately trying to push it away from his face. Cassidy waved it out of his reach, and as Adrian recoiled he moved it back. “Stop it, Cas.” He pleaded, his eyes following the barrel of the gun fearfully. He could feel his legs trembling underneath the Lieutenant, and he swallowed hard, turning his head and closing his eyes as he sobbed pathetically. “Please.”

 

[chellemrys]

It was tough for Cassidy to carry on with the point he was trying to make, because of Adrian's fearful reaction. "I don't know- you're the one who said you were just a prisoner. I mean, you also said I didn't love you." The Lieutenant twirled the gun on a couple fingers, a sadistic smirk forming as he leaned down again and pushed his nose into Ade's, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through his face.


The olive-skinned male just twirled the gun for a few moments, keeping their noses touching and his grin obvious. "You want me to stop?" The smirk melted away, and a vexed scowl replaced it, as he yelled, "Then take it back!" He tossed the gun above their heads, and scrambled to find Adrian's clenched hands, "Genuinely!" Cas had to stop there, because he was genuinely insulted and hurt by Adrian's careless commentary, and it was beginning to show in his voice as he continued to speak.

 

[Laine]

“Yes – please, please stop,” He whimpered, almost hyperventilating as he stared into his love’s eyes. He winced as Cassidy started yelling again, and Ade could hear the tinge of hurt in his voice as he spoke. Adrian fought pathetically against his partner, pressing his head back into the bed in an attempt to get Cas’ face away from him. “T-take it back?!” He said with a tone of disbelief. He played dumb for a second, although he really couldn’t tell which comment had hurt Cas the worst “Take what back?!”


He felt Cas’ hands tighten around his wrists in frustration, and Adrian stammered, “OK- OK – I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Cassidy.” He said. It was far from the genuine apology that Cas was probably looking for – more like the hurried words from a kid expecting to be punched by a bully. He could feel Cas glaring at him, and he hissed genuinely to him, with Ade huffing desperately as he tried to speak. It took a few seconds for steady words to form, “I’m sorry for saying – I was just a prisoner.” He whimpered, blinking his emerald eyes at him. “Please, Cas, you’re scaring me.”

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy waited for the more genuine apology to come out, before wrestling Ade's hands up above his head, holding them down in the sheets. "I hope you actually meant that apology, Ade." The time agent leaned in and planted a tender kiss on Adrian's lips, before releasing his lover. He had terrified him enough, he believed, and rolled off Adrian, laying to his side. "Fine."


Lieutenant Cas rolled over, turning his back to Adrian as if he had been rejected, and drew his arms in close to his body like he needed more warmth, despite the humidity. "Do you not trust me, or something, Mason?" That was the first time Cas had used Ade's formal last name since they first met; this caused Cas to squeeze his eyes shut, hating himself for using the purposefully unfamiliar tone and name. "Helmi, you went into hysterics. Love, in my book, means absolute trust. I'll always have your safety in mind. So... Thanks."

 

[Laine]

Ade shuffled to sit up, looking cautiously over at Cassidy, who seemed so much smaller than him now he was curled up, back facing him. He swallowed hard, still trying to calm his breathing down as he tried to get his thoughts straight. “I…I don’t know.” He said truthfully, biting his lip. The gun that he had flung was lying between them, mocking them both. He raised his head slightly as he heard the far-off slamming of a door, before sighing and pressing himself up against the wall behind the bed.


He pressed his fingers to his lips, his voice almost a whisper. “So you do love me, then…?” He had no doubt in his mind that he did, but at the same time he felt that he needed to hear the words leave his lover’s lips. He avoided looking at the Lieutenant as a silence descended between them.

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy glowered, despite his back being turned, at Ade's reply. He visibly tensed, and seemed to be shaking slightly. The time agent forced down his initial instinct to turn around and begin screaming at his lover. Instead, he silently waited for Ade to say something, hopefully a change of heart.


Instead he got that question.


Cas shot up, turning around as he began shouting at the Scot in the universal tongue, an obvious hurt in his tone and eyes. He switched to English, and mocked Ade perfectly, in a lower voice than his own, the stuttered, "I... I don't know!" In reply to Adrian's question, of if he loved him or not. The Lieutenant dug at the covers, pulling them down and scooting himself beneath them. Cassidy pulled them tightly around himself, embracing his own body.


"Of course I fucking love you, Ade!"

 

[Laine]

“Does that mean you trust me, then…?” Adrian murmured after a while. At first, he had felt relieved that the Lieutenant had answered him at all, and a small, almost shy smile graced his face. But as Cassidy huffed dejectedly under the sheets, he couldn’t help but wonder if he truly meant what he was implying. Eventually, the curiosity got the best of him. The sheets crumpled softly as he leaned over towards the Lieutenant. He swallowed thickly as his hand brushed against the polished metal of the gun, his facial expression a mixture of tension and pain. His heart was still pounding from the adrenaline of their fight. “Absolutely trust me?” He lowered his eyes down the shuddering heap on the bed, with only Cassidy’s wild, dark hair visible at the top of the sheets.


The gun clicked as he loaded it - he remembered briefly how to from his time on the Iridium ship. Slowly, he exhaled, lowering the barrel until he felt it lightly touch his lover's head. “…How about now?”

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy refused to respond to the first question; he wanted to shout that imitative phrase back at Adrian: 'I don't know.' But he held his tongue, grumbling under the sheets. Cassidy would never had expected Adrian's choice to pick up the gun, loaded and ready, and hold it to his head. He began to respond Ade's second question, sounding irritated, "Trust is a mutual thing too, Adrian. If I want to trust you, I can't if you don't have the same care for me-" He froze when the barrel brushed against his skull, and he lifted his head out of the covers slowly to stare at Adrian from the corner of his eyes.


Cas was only afraid to disarm Adrian because of two things: The position Cas had in comparison to Ade- the only way to disarm him would be to push it up with his head, rather than sweep it to the side out of harm's way. And then, Adrian was really upset, and frightening him could end in an accident shot being fired.


Lieutenant Cassidy swallowed hard, and answered truthfully, "Helmi, I trust you not to purposefully blow my brains out. But you aren't the most coordinated, so I'm a little worried about accidentally right now, to be honest." The Lieutenant was speaking softly, but the eyes that peaked above the covers were sharply staring at Adrian's face, verging on a glare. "Give me the gun."

 

[Laine]

Adrian ignored the command initially, beginning to loathe the authoritative tone of voice Cassidy was beginning to adopt to bark orders at him. “But it doesn’t feel good, does it?” Ade he snarled, his expression tense, despite his hand shaking. The plasma cartridges in the gun rattled as he struggled to hold it upright for so long. “Having someone you love point a gun at you.”


Cassidy’s eyes watched him, harshly narrowed as he continued, “And to be honest, I’m a little worried what you’re going to do to me after I take this away.” He was being honest – Cassidy was notably stronger than him and had already strangled him and pinned him to the bed – the yelling and arguing that came after was just as bad, perhaps worse. He realised that pulling the gun his partner had probably been a poor choice. “…And I’m sorry. But I wanted you to see how I felt. I wanted you to realize how much you’ve hurt me by doing this, Cas.” He sighed as tiny beads of perspiration formed on his forehead.


“I do trust you, Cassidy.” Adrian began to slowly pull the gun away from Cassidy’s head, the loose waves of hair falling back down to their natural position. “But if you ever make me question that trust again, you’ll know about it.” He tried to sound threatening, but it fell empty, as he knew he lacked the willpower to go through with it. He lay the gun on Cas’ side, sighing again as he covered his face with his hands.