InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "getting mixed messages"

Cath Delaney (dian_cecht) wrote in inpoormerit,
@ 2010-03-20 17:34:00

Entry tags:

cath, cath and eden, eden

Revelations
WHO: Cathair and Eden
WHEN: Morning
WHERE: The Gym in town

To say Cathair was getting restless was an understatement. Two nights in a row of drinking hadn't made things any better, although today at least, his groin didn't hurt. Reading was no good, he'd already read all the books he had, and his mind was far too busy to concentrate on reading. Praying hadn't help much either.

So he was down to beating out the stress. Luckily, there was a small gym in town. He didn't need much, just a heavy bag and a few hours. He was dressed simply in a black sleeveless tee shirt that's screen printed design had long faded to a collection of dots and a plain gray pair of sweats with his usual heavy boots, his hair clubbed back and his hands wrapped up with athletic tape he'd nicked from the druggist's shop. After warming up, he started taking out his frustrations on the heavy bag.

His fighting style was nearly pure boxing, with the occasional knee shot or cross jab with an elbow. Effective and brutal. This was what he needed, to work up a good sweat and off some of the nervous energy that was building. They were waiting for the axe to fall and it had set his combat nerves to nonstop twitching. This would hopefully keep him from making another mistake like he had with Eden.

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dian_cecht
2010-03-22 01:25 am UTC (link)

He wasn't certain he liked his mother being compared to a hyena, which weren't animals with a very good reputation. That said, since he'd already proven many times over already he knew jack all about animals, he didn't try to.

Cathair was used to being in charge. That didn't mean he didn't know when to bow to someone who had greater knowledge in an area than he did.

He scoffed lightly at her comment about not hurting him. "Yes, let it not be told I don't learn after the first go," he drawled cryptically. And really, it would be good cover if anyone happened past and looked in the window. It would look like they were having a casual chat.

All warfare was based on deception, after all.

And now he was thinking. They had to figure out how to organize without seeming to organize, and make their captors think their plans were working when in fact they were only making dissention stronger and unifying the prisoners.

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.

"No," he corrected. "Be straightforward. Show fear, even though you're not afraid. That'll draw out the other victims. Then we can track them down and reassure them in private. From now on, when communicating in public, we give them exactly what they want. Then in private, somehow, we plot together as one. If they get too suspicious, then we let off for awhile. We don't know enough about what their plans are to mount any sort of counter attack. We're in danger here, they know us and know themselves, Which gives them the advantage. Until we know more what they have in store for us, we're just fumbling around in the dark."

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inthedarkness
2010-03-23 12:47 am UTC (link)

Hyenas were misunderstood in her opinion. Yes, they were scavengers and vicious but a lot of what was said about them was mythology... Still, maybe that was her and maybe she liked them because they were the creatures on the outside.

She laughed a little, "Oh I'm sure you do." Her tone was positively sultry and quite on purpose too. If she was going to be using him as a pillow, she was going to be naughty about it. Too bad for him.

Apparently he was misunderstanding her a bit. She was afraid. She was terrified. Eden supposed she was just good at hiding it. You kind of had to be when you worked with animals. You had to learn how to control it as the lightest scent of it was going to ruin everything. "Maybe you should tell me exactly what to write. Or write it for me at my computer and I'll go through and add my own bits to make it sound personal."

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dian_cecht
2010-03-23 01:09 am UTC (link)

Cath never claimed to know much about animals besides the hunting dogs his grandfather kept. And even then, he didn't interact with them much. His mother had kept a cat and he'd acquired one somehow at both of his shops. Likely because he made the mistake of feeding the little beasts once. Beyond that? He knew nothing about animals.

Or women, if he were being honest. It wasn't bad for him so much as distracting. He was trying to recall strategies from The Art of War while she was distracting him a bit.

He was misunderstanding her and he was likely not being clear. "I didn't meant it that way," he said. He was certain she was afraid. He was afraid. But giving in to that fear would only serve to put them more where their captors wanted them.

"It's strategy. We're at war with these people, they have the advantage, which makes planning counterattacks tricky." He looked away. "They've already made the first moves..."

Saints, explaining vague strategy was never easy. Especially when he had no idea about the enemy they were facing. Only some assumptions based upon what he had observed. All of that pointed to a military organization forcibly recruiting them. Even the punishment was designed to make them think as a troupe as opposed to individuals.

"All warfare is based on deception. So we have to figure out how to find out as much about our captors as we can without them finding out. No fortress is impregnable, there's always little gaps and such. We have to figure out where those gaps are."

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inthedarkness
2010-03-23 05:28 am UTC (link)

"I know all that, mate," she said in a slightly exasperated tone. She'd been doing this whole warfare thing for years. She knew that much. It was just... "I'm just no good at the word thing. Or the leading thing. I'm more of an ass kicker so I'm kind of useless. And you want me to do something important. I don't want to fuck it up. Hence why I'm asking you to at least word it for me." Hopefully that made sense to him. He was going off on some tangent. Maybe she was distracting him too much.

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dian_cecht
2010-03-23 11:41 pm UTC (link)

No, he was thinking. Aloud. Thinking always led to tangents. That was just how thinking went. He nodded when she explained she was not a leader, nor very good with words. He could understand that.

"The problem is finding out who's all been effected without causing a panic," he admitted. "Perhaps we do need to be careful and vague at first. Just as to avoid making everyone more upset than their going to be. I still think no one being alone at night will be helpful. If all else fails, at least they won't be alone when they wake up from...whatever."

It was something, even if it was false comfort. Something they could control themselves. Cathair heaved out a long breath. "I need to find the computer hacker. RiffRaff. She was working on spying robots." They needed more information and more time. Neither of which they seemed to have much of.

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inthedarkness
2010-03-24 01:57 pm UTC (link)

Eden arched an eyebrow at him, momentarily confused, "So... we're right back to what I said in the first place as my suggested journal entry to fish? Just to clarify." Although she did agree that they shouldn't at all be alone anymore, how in the Hell were they going to convince people that they needed to group up without causing a panic.

She thought for a moment, totally distracted, "Riffraff... Why does that sound familiar... Oh, right. Rocky Horror." Ed laughed at herself a little bit, glad that wasn't going to bother her all day now. "That's assuming she found cameras or microphones which I doubt they're going to just leave lying around the island, yeah?"

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dian_cecht
2010-03-24 03:12 pm UTC (link)

Cathair gave her a look. "I'm not used to not trying to start a panic," he reminded her. "This isn't the sort of battle I'm used to." Really, they were in the worst way strategically. They didn't know much about each other, anything about their enemy or the battlefield. Which all pointed to disaster. "It might be impossible not to have people panic, but we need to keep each other informed."

Yes, that was where he'd heard it from. He'd caught the film on AMC late one night. Brilliant music, insane plot, and men in stockings and heels. He wasn't quite sure how to classify it, but he couldn't hate it. "Never had much of her sort around, hmm?" he said. "Most of the time, the ones like her can build whatever they want given enough time and materials. When I met her, she was raiding the hardware shop."

Speaking of cameras. "I've already tossed my place twice looking for cameras and such. No luck. Which either means there aren't any or they're very well hidden."

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inthedarkness
2010-03-26 12:01 am UTC (link)

Well at least she knew what she had to do then. "I agree... I'll do my best not to start a panic but if it happens, it isn't my fault," she noted ahead of time, grinning a little in a mischievous Cheshire cat way.

"It wouldn't have done us much good to have a hacker and robotics in the bloody desert fighting guerrillas, mate." Out there in the wild it was all brawn and no brains really. Finally, she sat up, turning to face him properly all in one very smooth movement for being so very tired.

"Likely well hid. Pinhole cameras probably," she'd heard of those anyway but never seen them... Those things were smaller than a fingernail but could record in high definition. "I'd better go and post the message then. You know where to find me," without really thinking about it, she leaned forward and kissed Cathair's cheek before starting to stand up.

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dian_cecht
2010-03-26 12:57 am UTC (link)

"Considering the situation we're in, I'll be surprised if there's not," he admitted wryly, shaking his head at her grin.

He had to admit there was more use for that sort in urban warfare as opposed to the sort she'd been doing.

Pinhole cameras were a possibility, but they weren't good for recording large areas. Even he knew that. The idea sort of made him want to smash mirrors to see if they were behind them. That didn't make any sense either.

Of course, his thoughts were utterly derailed when Eden kissed his cheek. He looked startled, wondering if she wasn't trying to wind him up again. She seemed to take perverse pleasure in tormenting him. "All right," he said in a stunned voice.

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inthedarkness
2010-03-26 04:13 am UTC (link)

Yeah, her warfare wasn't exactly urban... it was the savanna and the ocean and the mountains... Everywhere but urban if they could manage it. Sometimes though, sometimes they had to hit an underground shop.

Well, she didn't know that so all she knew was a little terminology. It didn't really matter to her if they were being recorded right now. If they couldn't find the cameras or the recording devices, then there was really no point in trying to plan around them. They were likely everywhere and every word being recorded no matter what. Why bother worrying over the uncontrollable?

She arched an eyebrow at the look on his face. Apparently he didn't even get platonically kissed by women much. Quite thankfully, she hadn't stood up much at all by the time he looked like a startled rabbit. And he was too right in that she loved to torment him. So she sort of fell back to her knees and half onto him to press him into a much better, firmer kiss to his lips. Just because he looked so startled at something so innocent. If he was going to go wide-eyed, she was going to make it worth it.

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dian_cecht
2010-03-26 04:52 am UTC (link)

Yes, and all he knew was urban warfare. Which was likely one small advantage. Between the two of them, they pretty much had both sorts of guerilla warfare covered.

That was true enough. Perhaps they would have take their captors overconfidence as a flaw to work with. Pride was a flaw.

Generally not by women who were under the age of 60 or relations. Some of his long time customers in Belfast had been so affectionate with him, treating him like a son and trying to set him up with their daughters. But young women? No, not at all.

Yes, startled. Because this really wasn't the time nor place for this. Not that he wasn't kissing her back. He was paranoid and careful, not bloody dead. And if he were being honest, it'd been far too long since he'd let a woman get this close.

This was a distraction and she was definitely tormenting him. He managed to pull away, trying to gather his senses enough to protest properly. "You're distracting me," he informed her rather stupidly. Yes, she was clearly trying to distract him. And succeeded.

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inthedarkness
2010-03-26 05:02 am UTC (link)

It really wasn't and she knew it but that's what made it better. It was a way to break the air around them, the tension in both of them. The bigger surprise was that he was kissing her back but she wasn't about to pull away just because he'd startled her right back in turn.

Her hands were settled on his shoulders just so she wouldn't fall over and she licked her lips lightly when he pulled away, not fighting him on it. After all, she was the one being evil. "Mm, yes. But you like it. Besides, a distraction like that is necessary when all you have is plotting and paranoia," she smiled at him, not exactly backing away from him but not going in again.

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	dian_cecht 2010-03-26 05:06 am UTC (link)
	Well, he wasn't dead. Just paranoid and self-denying. "All I've ever had is plotting and paranoia," he informed her wryly. "My entire life, both of them, have been complete lies. Not exactly something you want to inflict on anyone else." At least no decent person would. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

inthedarkness
2010-03-26 05:11 am UTC (link)

She shrugged her shoulders, "Unless that's the other person's life too. Trust me, I know. You need the distraction or else it'll eat away everything inside you. Even after it's over." Eden kissed him a third time, lighter than the second before finally standing up properly and stretching her arms over her head. "Think about it, yeah?" She wiggled her fingers at him before starting towards the door. Had she really just propositioned him now? In the middle of all this? She really was insane.

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dian_cecht
2010-03-26 05:19 am UTC (link)

All right, she needed to...stop being right. At least in this instance. After all, she'd just blown away his best argument for never letting anyone get close.

Saints, and then she went and kissed him again. Sweet and soft. Which was the most he'd been kissed in God only knew how long.

What could he say to that? If he told her he considered being alone penance for his crimes, she'd likely thump him. Even if he probably deserved it, he didn't want to go there.

He gave her a half wave, still a bit too stunned to get up. Now he had more nervous energy to burn off and plans to start making.

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