DAY 45: Sun Room (Second Shift)

[violent-varmint.livejournal.com]

There was something fishy going on in the Institute today. All over the bulletin board, people were talking about having "woken up", having been "cured"... and it seemed as though ZEX was one of them. Tanaka wouldn't have recognized the note at all if it hadn't been signed - his wording, his handwriting, even his name had changed - and a part of him still wondered if it had been an imposter, trying to pull the wool over the Captain's allies.

But it'd be easy enough to find out the truth. Whoever it was had agreed to meet him, and Tanaka was waiting for him just outside the cafeteria doors, ready to catch him as he came from breakfast. If "Max" was an imposter, then he'd discover the identity of a hidden enemy. And if he was really ZEX...

...well, he'd have a whole new set of things to worry about.

[for a spoiled rich brat brainwashed Admiral]

Comments

[brooklynisangry.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, 'm just so fuckin' polite, couldn't bear ta be all selfish like that. So, what, we gonna talk about you now?" He got more comfy in his chair, turning sideways to it, letting his legs dangle over one of the arms. "'m all ears." Eyes, really, what with the tattoo.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Lance sardonically said, "Well, ain't you just a little peach?"

He decided to just play along with Derek and indulge him. Kid was actually kind of entertaining and he wanted to see where this went. Might be interesting. "Was raised by a Japanese guy, have had at least four lovers, and own a body shop." Speaking of Dai, whatever happened to the old man? Guy had probably kicked the bucket for all he knew. Lance had chosen to forget about him after moving out.

[brooklynisangry.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, 'm just such a sweetie." Okay, enough sarcasm for now, time to listen.

He made a sort of weird face sometime during that sentence without quite realizing. Why the hell was he being told how many people Lance'd been with? Anyway, there was an easier topic to pick up on. "Wish I had my own shop. Was still workin' with the guy who took me in."

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Lance grinned at Derek. He hadn't missed that face the kid made. There was now no doubt in his mind that Derek was a virgin. A virgin who probably thought fucking was gross. Under those tattoos and tough guy front, Derek was probably some prude who didn't know what he was missing. Lance wasn't a sex addict, by any means. He just knew the joy of a good fuck.

Okay, he'd indulge the kid in non-sex talk, for now. "Kid, when I was your age I was workin' in construction. Get up at 4 am, blast some rivits, and make cat calls during lunch."

[brooklynisangry.livejournal.com]

Oh, great. That was a real friendly smile. He did his best to just ignore it and keep going full speed ahead. "Yeah, okay, so I got it better than that. Did, anyway. Whatever... Hope my bike's still back at the shop." He loved that thing.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Lance let the sex thing drop. That had probably gone as far as it was gonna go. Let the kid be a pruish little virgin.

"You like bikes, huh?" Lance had worked on the occassional bike at his shop. James rode one that was black and gold, a fine piece of machinery. Complete with police lights. One of the more interesting bikes he'd worked on was designed to look like it had a ram's head. Owner was a real weirdo.

[brooklynisangry.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. Changed out so many parts on mine by now it don't matter what model it was when I got it." It sure as hell looked nothing like any other bike that came through the shop. Just thinking about the thing made him happy.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Now that Lance could relate to. "Yeah, got myself a custom muscle car. Finest ride you've ever seen." First he'd just fixed it up, had to use parts from a completely different model even. Then he'd set out to make it look cool. Added some spikes, tinted the windows red, painted it black and green. He even customized the inside, giving it a chain steering wheel and skull on the stick shift. Hopefully he'd be able to get it back when he got out of this shithole.

[brooklynisangry.livejournal.com]

"Nice. Wish I could call ta see if my bike's still there... Nurses ain't bein' any help at all." He glared a little halfheartedly at the nearest one. Sure, he didn't know if his one true love (in motorcycle form) was still okay, but he did feel bad about how he'd gone and tried to hit one of them.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

"Tell me about it," Lance grumbled. "Damn Stepford smilers." The only even remotely useful thing he'd gotten out of a nurse was letting him know he was crazy. He had that Stefan guy to thank for the specifics.

Lance idly glanced around, seeing that a lot more people were here than before. The ones who stuck out most were some kid who looked like a zombie, some purple-haired kid, and some guy who looked like he'd gone a little heavy with steriods sitting by himself shaking.

[brooklynisangry.livejournal.com]

"Don' think they trust me after I tried ta deck one of 'em. Whatever else ya can say about 'em, they can hit ya damn fast with sedatives and then there ain't nothing ya can do." Yeah, he'd done real well his first day.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Once again, Lance raised a black-inked eyebrow at Derek. "You tried to beat up a nurse?" He snorted. "My God you're dumb. Or the crazy you is dumb, whatever." Though he could honestly say that Derek wasn't the brightest blub around either.

[brooklynisangry.livejournal.com]

"Hey, I wouldn' do something like that, I was actin' crazy an' thought I was someone-- uh, somethin' else." He didn't really want to try and explain the whole thing. He could, but it wouldn't help any.