Freelancer New York (freelancer_york) wrote in knowhereic, @ 2017-09-24 00:30:00 |
|
|||
It had been over a week now since North had appeared on Knowhere, and though the man had technically met Harry, they hadn’t really met. So, York being the dedicated friend he was, had resolved to fix that issue. After waking up a little late, the darker blonde had hauled his lighter friend to Harry’s place. Through the lab and up the stairs, he’d unlocked the door and headed inside without hesitation. “Harry!” He called out into the house. “Mouse! I brought North!” Yeah, he’d started addressing the dog, too, so what? On the way over, he’d explained about the large dog, who looked like a small bear. He’d also explained that Tex and Harry were, well, you know. And atop that, he’d explained that sometimes Harry could get.. Pretty territorial. And it was best just to stand your ground when he did. That was it. There was no more to explain. Harry was amazing, North was gonna love him. “Mouse? Where’s my big hairy baby?” Of course he’d brought the dog a treat-- he’d given one to North, too, so he could be assured to make fast friends with the beast. *** North was overwhelmed by the amount of activity happening on Knowhere. Not to the point he’d fall over and throw a tantrum because of the noise, but more that he was definitely the odd one out being the new guy on the block. He didn’t know anything that was happening, who was in charge, or what the ultimate objective was. There was no direction, no carefully constructed order. How was North supposed to know where he belonged in the chaos? Fortunately for him, he wasn’t alone. The two connections he did have here were lucky chances. His best friend York and their mutual acquaintance, Texas. Without them? North would be far worse off. It was a terrifying thought. Of course that meant North stuck closer to York, without smothering him, without stepping on his toes so the man could go about his daily activities as he normally would without North being there. North went out and did his own thing, most days, then came home to his friend. The night before was no different, but waking up today, York had a plan that involved dragging North across the civilian residential block toward the warehouse district. From the outside it looked plain, but the closer they got, the more Theta started reporting details. But he did it with distracted interruptions, We’re getting a dog?! No, Theta, the dog belonged to the wizard Dresden. But they were definitely going to see a dog for the first time. Theta shut up when they crossed the threshold into the apartment, which was concerning. He’d been going on and on asking about why they couldn’t keep the dog before then that North paused and blinked at the sudden silence in his head. A slow pressure started building up behind his eyes, but North set it aside for the moment. He ignored the growing sensation as they stepped into the apartment proper. “York?” It was all he got out before a large, lumbering thing came out of the kitchen and approached. It was covered in a shaggy coat, walked on four legs, had teeth the size of razors, and looked at North with an expression the soldier couldn’t read. The dog. “Look, Theta-” The wizard followed after, the tall, dark man looking North over with a strange expression on his face. It was his eyes that North noted first, there was something inside them... Mouse sniffed around at York for treats, tail swishing, then his attention settled on North at exactly the same time Harry’s did. The wizard had positioned himself defensively and hadn’t quite looked at York properly. “Hey, man. Don’t you know the meaning of the word ‘sleep?’” Harry asked. *** Inside York’s own head, Delta was giving unheard advice to Theta. It was time to focus on lockdown. Brace yourself, alert him-- not North-- if anything started to go wrong, if he started to fail. Delta knew all too well the trappings of coming out to try and warn your host. Thankfully, the bracelet Harry wore helped to dampen his power in a way that would be beneficial to both Freelancers and their AIs. Something he hadn’t had when he’d first met with York. When Mouse came bounding in, York knelt down (like always) to greet the dog excitedly and give him whatever delicious treat he’d brought. He always spoiled him. Of course he did. And when Harry appeared, the shortest of the three giants stood up and gave the darkest man a smile, his hand coming to fall on North’s shoulder. “Hey, Harry. I got three hours--” Of sleep, that was. “I really wanted you to meet North. Harry, this is North Dakota. North, this is Harry Dresden.” Both of them, of course, had heard so much about the other.. And both, of course, had a taste of what the other could do. The wizard had seen the Spartan battling with Tex, and the Spartan had been given a taste of the wizard’s magic. They both knew what the other was up against. Three Titans in the room, but the golden boy was easily ignored. Winter knew him. And they were standing so close, with York’s hand on North’s shoulder, the purple soldier’s arm brushed against his friend’s chest. York stood very near to Harry and Ed, but he stood inappropriately close to North. It was a Spartan thing. One Texas didn’t adhere to. *** Three Titans in the room.. Harry’s brain reported details about North Dakota that he hadn’t noticed before. But when the biggest detail was ‘went up against Texas and came out alive’ what else really mattered? She’d thoroughly kicked Harry’s ass. Twice. The pair of them had been done in by her, too, which salvaged the wizard’s ego a little. But he wasn’t worried about that, because the dark presence behind his eyes was too focused on the other behemoth in the room. The clear threat. York had come across Winter and passed as neither predator nor prey. North wasn’t so fortunate. It occurred to Harry that North looked a little on edge because Mouse, given the man’s blue eyes were pinned on the dog, but for Winter it was all the wrong signals. North was staring at Mouse. It was so big and York had pet it like nothing. North didn’t have Texas’ reservations about it but he also had about as much of the same knowledge on how to go about touching it. Instead, his eyes came up again and locked onto the wizard. The ‘wizard.’ North had witnessed the large man slinging around elements like he owned them. It was a little nerve wracking when you thought about it. How had he done it? North smiled though, because he had heard a ton about the man and had inferred that York valued him, which made the Spartan all that much more willing to believe the good in the man. Lots of people said that North wasn’t suspicious enough, lots of people were right. He extended his hand to shake Harry’s, who… looked almost like he wasn’t going to return it. But the wizard reached out. “Nice to meet you,” North said, “York’s said a bunch of good things about you.” Harry snorted, “Yeah, he’s pretty chatty. That’s Mouse, if you give him the treat you’re holding he’ll stop staring at you like he’s gonna take your hand off.” North blinked and looked down again, pale blue eyes moving from the treat to the dog, before he reached out and offered it to Mouse. Mouse was gentle about taking it, North’s smile blossomed. Inside North’s head, Theta’s distraction intensified and the pressure behind the Spartan’s eyes deepened. What was that? He rubbed his forehead, Harry’s eyes followed the motion. He was noting weak points. It wouldn’t go well for Harry if he attacked. Winter didn’t really consider it. But the wizard exhaled a breath. *** “Mouse is great.” York assured. “He’s just a big, fluffy bundle of love.” He bent again to rub the dog’s head and flash him a bright smile. The Spartan couldn’t help himself, Mouse brought it out in him. And that hand finally slipped away from North’s shoulder. He’d taken note of Harry’s eyes not straying far from North and had decided to step in. Well, step forward. Far enough he could wrap his arms around the taller wizard in a customary hug. “Hey, man.” It was good to see you, Harry. A hand gave a pat to his back before he released and backed up a step to stand adjacent to, but between the two taller men, so the three of them formed a little triangle. Mouse in the middle. “I just wanted North here to meet the greatest wizard alive,” yeah, but York was bias! “And the guy who has survived Texas living with him.. Think that sort of makes you a legend.” “Thanks, York.” Came the bored-sounding tone of the only woman, who had come to lean in the hallway, watching the three of them, her arms crossed over her chest. Tex wasn’t coming out to join this odd little love-fest, thanks, she’d keep her distance and watch from afar. *** York, always the shield, stood in front of North, placing himself between Harry and his target. It was a good choice, on the soldier’s part, because Harry’s protective instinct when it came to York wouldn’t allow the wizard to put him in danger and he wouldn’t go through York to get to the man at the back. It also told Harry that North was someone that had to be defended. The wizard part of Harry’s brain knew that wasn’t true. North had volunteered to fight Texas and came out of it alive. The Mantle didn’t care. But then York was hugging him and Harry’s eye contact finally broke away from North to look at the shorter blonde. He smiled at him, pat his back, and then shook himself mentally. North wasn’t a threat. He was a friend. He was a friend who was now kneeling on the floor to pet the massive dog whose tail swished back and forth excitedly at the attention. The Mantle noted the advantage of Harry’s position, before his attention switched to Texas behind them. The other predator in the room. Great. “Smartass. I’m a wizard, but I know a bunch of others who can outclass me.” He grinned though, because Harry was a badass wizard and it never hurt to have his ego stroked a little. His dark eyes slid to Tex, “She’s a real riot as a roommate, nice and dirty,” Harry said dryly, but he winked at the woman. On the floor, North pushed his hands through Mouse’s fur the same way he’d seen York do it, ruffling the fluffy ears and grinning. “Theta, we’re not keeping him,” He said out loud, bringing Harry’s attention around to the dog and the man. The AI had listened to Delta’s instruction to remain on lockdown, but his focus was leaning heavily toward the dog and his information relay was being interrupted with facts about canines. North smiled. “Theta really adores your dog, Harry. May I call you, Harry?” He rose to his feet and met the tall man’s eyes then moved off to Texas in the background. He waved a hand in greeting. “Yep, that’s my name!” Harry said lightly, and then he leaned in and clapped the soldier on his shoulder. He was giant. He was solid muscle under Harry’s hand. He made the wizard look small. Jesus Christ. “... why are all of you so gigantic?” Harry asked. North laughed. *** “Something about being awesome.” The shorter Spartan volleyed back, grinning away. “The more badass you are, the bigger you are. And Spartans are the biggest badasses around.” York gave a nudge to the huge wizard and then smiled back at Tex. “Hey, Tex.” “Hey yourself.” She responded, slowly weaving her way over to the three larger men and standing opposite York, glancing down at the dog. She still wasn't sure about him and when he came to sniff her, she crossed her arms to keep her hands up. The three Spartans sized one another up for a moment before Tex leaned a shoulder against Harry and watched North. After a moment, her hand came out for a shake. “Welcome.” Because Spartans always acknowledged one another somehow-- and because someone had told her that when new people arrived at your house, who had never been there before, you were supposed to welcome them. And. Well. This was her house. Her home. Was she doing it wrong? She must have been, because she got a strange look from York. But what did he know, anyway? He was just as dumb as her when it came to what normal humans did. *** “Except all of you are giant nerds and nerds can’t be badasses,” Harry said brightly. Who was he to talk, though? But that didn’t need commenting on, so Harry plowed on through and … stood there awkwardly for a second when Texas came closer. He’d automatically looped his arm around her waist which was fine, it felt nice, the awkwardness came from the fact the three giants all sized each other up. Assessing one another the same way Harry had assessed them. Weird. He suppressed a shiver. But it occurred to him just then what a mess of creatures he was standing amongst. These were human war machines, and while he’d known that from his conversations with York and Texas both, having finally seen them in action? Well, it was hard to lose the memory. It was terrifying and they were frightening beings. Harry leaned into Texas, blinking when the woman shook North’s hand. North, of course, had reached out and took it, if he thought anything weird about Tex and Harry’s close proximity, he didn’t say anything about it. “Thanks, Tex. Theta says hello, he also wants to express his jealousy that you get to have a dog.” His eyes dropped to the canine again. Mouse, in the spirit of leaning, leaned against Texas’ legs. She was sturdy enough to support his massive weight. “We’re one fucked up little family,” Harry said aloud. “... are you---are all three of you from the same Spartan program?” He asked, then looked at Texas. “Did you go through it?” Given she was a clone… did clones get trained the same way York had? “We did, yes,” North said, “Though we didn’t know each other until Freelancer.” “Right,” Harry replied. “Did they keep you isolated?” “No, we worked in units. Teams. Most of our units didn’t survive.” “Oh,” Harry said, “I hear you.” *** York took a brief glance at Texas when Harry asked that question. He was curious about that answer, too. “I remember it.” Was all she’d say. But Texas hadn’t been a Spartan II. She hadn’t even existed as Texas before Project Freelancer. She remembered the Spartans-- the Spartan Program-- for an entirely different reason. One she knew, but couldn’t remember. Couldn’t even fathom. Tex was complicated. Her answer had York glancing at North, but he said nothing of it. “I remember North from when we were just kids.” They’d never really been kids. “They were the only twins. Only brother-sister pair. Only siblings, actually. I think everyone remembered them.” But York, apparently, had been the only one to remember their names-- or, what passed for names, anyway. Cold blue-green eyes dropped to Mouse and the way he leaned against her. The female of the group backed up a little but Mouse just slouched further against her. Ugh. But.. she allowed it. For now. *** North glanced at Texas, unsurprised by her brevity, but concerned with the words she’d said. She remembered the program. Well, he reasoned, they all remembered it, it was alright if none of them wanted to talk about it. None of the Spartans assembled here denied that what they’d been put through was one fucked up series of events, but it had been for a good cause. North and York talked about it sometimes, and they’d agreed that in the end, humanity’s survival had been worth the harm caused to them throughout their lives. The lighter blonde met York’s good eye and he smiled at the mention of South, though it pained him to think of her. She’d be fine on her own, but some part of him was deathly concerned she’d do something stupid. He needed to be there to guide her… Focus on the present, North. You weren’t going anywhere anytime fast. “We were freaks in comparison to everyone else,” the soldier said. “Yeah, I can see why,” Harry interjected. “When Thing One and Thing Two are as big as you are..” North quirked a brow. “....was that. Dr. Seuss?” Harry snickered. “Bingo. So why you two?” He asked. “Why any of you… what... I don’t understand why you were chosen.” North frowned a little. “We matched what they wanted.” “As kids?” Harry asked. “I get it, I mean, my adopted father was an asshole to us too. But christ.” North shrugged. “We didn’t make the rules, we just live by them.” The wizard shook his head. “Come on, you guys want a beer? If we’re going to be depressing we might as well get drunk doing it.” *** Getting drunk was difficult when you were a Spartan, but York had managed twice since coming to Knowhere. It was spectacular. He gave North a nudge with a grin. Of course, neither of them would be getting drunk on Harry’s beer (he didn’t have enough, and there was no way they could manage to drink enough in a short enough time period to actually get drunk.. They needed something much stronger if they wanted to achieve drunken happiness. “Want a beer, North?” The shortest male of the group asked, tilting a little more to actually lean against North a second before he pushed away and headed around the remaining trio for the kitchen, giving a whistle. “C’mon, Mouse!” He’d give Tex a break. The woman kept her eyes on North Dakota for a few seconds longer before she finally released him from her stare. She’d never shown any dislike for him and honestly, she liked the purple Spartan quite a bit, thanks to his having saved her ass back on the Mother of Invention. But he didn’t know that. There were too many things they didn’t know. She felt, for some reason, that she needed to tell them. She didn’t like hiding it from either of them. They deserved to know. “You need more furniture.” The blonde woman told Harry, before slipping away from his grasp and heading for the loveseat. At least she’d let North and York have the couch, she and Harry could share the smaller furniture. *** North and York gave Harry very confusing signals. Confusing, because Harry had filled in details about York that were now being challenged by his apparent closeness with the tallest of the Spartans. Was that---were they…. But wasn’t Carolina York’s love interest? What was with the looks the two shared? That, there, when York nudged North in passing and North replied with his own Look. And if they were how did they manage on a tiny bed? There was no good way to ask that (and he didn’t want to know the details of that last thought anyway), so Harry just kind of looked at them stupidly before Texas was pulling away and drawing his attention with her sudden loss. “Hey!” He said, pretending to be offended. “It’s not my fault all my friends are space giants. I don’t usually have this many people in my house.” Truer words had never been spoken. Harry Dresden lived alone with his bear-like dog and an overgrown tomcat named Mister. His life was sad. Fuck you. He followed after Tex. “Hey,” Harry said again, turning to look back at the two men, North who’d follow after York to help him with beer. He’d never had one.. Or a close approximation to earth’s beer at least, before. “Are all of you blonde with blue eyes?” Harry asked. He was the only one of them with dark hair and brown eyes. Weird. *** That question gave York pause as he passed a beer over to his friend, looking up over the door of the ice box at Harry. “Wash is..” He straightened some. “South is, of course. Wyoming isn’t, Maine isn’t.. The triplets weren’t. Georgia is.. Illinois has green eyes.” That blue eye shifted to North, then went back to Harry. “Not all of us, but a decent amount. More than brunettes for sure.” Tugging out two more beers, he closed up the door and would bump his shoulder into North as they slowly headed back to the living room. And with the couch all theirs, York would take a seat and stretch his legs out, crossing them at the ankle, and await North to settle down beside him. Tex was, similarly, waiting for Harry to sit down next to her. But while he was still on his feet, York held out the two bottles for him. North had the two bottles he and his friend would be drinking. “We all had genetic markers that made us more likely to take to the experimentation. Maybe it’s something more likely to happen in blondes.” It actually made sense, as strange as it was. *** “Triplets? I thought you said he and his---you said sister?--” Harry looked at North, who nodded, “were the only siblings.” “They weren’t related, it was just easier to call them that. They were close,” North explained. ‘Close.’ What did that mean when York and North were close, too? Harry tried not to stare at them when North joined York on the couch, because it was large enough for them to sit comfortably given their sizes, but North sat close enough to York that they were touching. This was some fucked up date night. Morning. Whatever. Not that Harry cared if they were gay or anything. That was fine, it was none of his business. It just… it was working against the narrative he’d created for them. Without their input. North looked at York briefly, “And Carolina’s a redhead.” The only one. Harry eyed them for a second as if the mention of this Carolina chick would make a difference in his understanding before he took himself and the offered beer and sat down beside Texas, popping the cap off a beer for her then himself. Beer for breakfast. They were fantastic adults assembled here. Though, if Harry were honest, he often considered York, and now North, kids. It got weird when he thought of Texas in the same light due to her age, given their relationship. *** Carolina. The very name caused a change in York’s face, in his expression. His eyes closed down partly and his smile softened into something that could only be explained as wistful. Then those eyes turned onto North and his free hand came out to pat his friend’s thigh. “Yeah, and Carolina.” He hadn’t said her name purposely, he hadn’t wanted to drag her into any of this. And that expression, surely, would just confuse Harry even more. What in the Hell was going on with these Spartans? The triplets were ‘Close’, and York and North couldn’t stop touching one another. But York didn’t do that with Tex. He’d never actually touched her, not that Harry had seen, anyway. The first time he’d see her touch another one of the Spartans was that handshake earlier. During the fight, they’d been in armor. This was different. And York had gone around the group instead of passing through it. York and Texas, though, were friends. They acted like it. Hell, North had said it-- York had said it. Tex had implied it. Friends. The dynamic of the team was impossible to understand unless you were in it. Unless you’d lived through what they had. York tapped the bottom of his beer against North’s and gave him an encouraging nod, then he had a drink of his own to lead by example. *** North lamented the look on York’s face. He knew, of course, who didn’t? York wasn’t subtle and Carolina didn’t know the meaning of the word either. Despite that, something had kept the idiots apart and what was left was York’s regret and Carolina’s own denial. North shook his head a little then pat York’s hand mildly, leaving it there. Weirdos. Harry watched this exchange and determined that he didn’t know anything anymore. Typically he thought he was a pretty good judge of… of that kind of thing, but these two? They confused the hell out of him, and their entire dynamic was just strange. Texas didn’t seem perturbed by any of it. Harry cast a glance at her. “Your friends are weird,” he said loud enough for the two other men to hear him say it. He grinned, took a drink of his beer then watched like a hawk as North had a drink of his own for the first time. As predicted, the giant of a man made a face at the utterly disgusting taste. Harry laughed. *** Texas rolled her eyes but smirked, taking another drink of her own beer. It was all she seemed to drink, really. If she wasn’t having whiskey or scotch, that was. In fact.. Could Harry recall her ever drinking anything other than alcohol? York was fond of juice, he didn’t even bring alcohol into the apartment (a wise choice on his part), but Tex? Well. Hell, she didn’t even seem to drink water. Maybe her AI ran on beer. “Yeah, it’s awful, isn’t it?” The question had York breaking into a wide smile and he took another drink and lifted the bottle some. “It’s like drinking urine.” Or worse. Probably worse. Definitely worse. At least when the wizard thought about their ages, he could remember that York and North acted more like children sometimes. The female Spartan only seemed unsure around Mouse, as if nothing phased her, as if nothing was new and she’d done it all before, even if she hadn’t. A master of everything. Always. It was surely hard to remember that most of them were just like her, instead of more like the two humans masquerading as Spartans. *** North quirked a brow, “... depends on whose urine we’re talking about.” The way he said it had Harry confused again. North grinned at the wizard’s expression, “Hard times, man. Urine gives you an extra day or two,” and they were soldiers accustomed to difficult times. He shook his head a little, then charitably gave the beer another chance. Still disgusting, but far from the worse kind of drink North had ever had. “Your guys’ lives suck,” Harry informed them. And that was saying something, because his life sucked, too. Speaking of Mouse, the mammoth of a dog lumbered over to York and North again, given the two of them had been the pair to feed him. He surprised North by half climbing onto the couch and therefore both of the Spartan’s laps, his nose practically in their faces as he sniffed one then the other in search of snacks. “Hey!” Harry said. North fumbled his beer but held on, leaning back away from Mouse’s face and his probing nose. It was wet! Dogs were strange. “No, Theta,” North said. “Mouse belongs to Harry.” “Are you all completely crazy?” Harry asked, “Or do you all have AIs inside your heads?” Why hadn’t Harry asked all these questions before? Oh, right, he’d always been too angry about the details he learned to continue the conversation for long. “Can they hear your thoughts or do you have to give them verbal responses?” *** The laughter that rose up from York when Mouse climbed into his and North’s collective lap was deep and easy, his beer moved a bit to the side, but when Mouse found no food to probe from the larger man’s face and inevitably turned to York, the shorter blonde met him head-on and let the beast sniff all over him and lap at his face. Hell, when he went sniffing for the beer, the golden boy didn’t even mind letting the dog lap all over his beer bottle. What? The man had drank urine. He was fine with some dog slobber. But when Mouse was finally done sniffing, having found no food, York rubbed his head and urged him to simply lay down in his lap.. Well, both of their laps. The dog took both and fell off both sides. Huge beast. Absently, Texas dragged her tablet closer and lifted it, taking a photograph of the two idiots on the couch and the dog. She ended up with a picture that showed York smiling up at North, who looked vaguely disgusted, and a rather happy looking Mouse. Neither man had realized she’d done it at all. The tablet was set aside. Tex was a strange woman, who would have expected something like that from her? “Only the top Freelancers got the implants. There were fifty of us to start.. And we had a leader board. We were all pit against one another for the top nine slots. You didn’t want to be a Double-Digit.” And the Spartans who had once been inseparable, a tight-knit group who would do anything for one another, had been torn apart, forced to fight one another. “And not even all of the Single-Digits got them.. South never did.” The only Single-Digit that hadn’t. It had really been a horrifying experience for all of them. It’d been more traumatic to tear them apart like that, than it had been to force them together in the first place. “And we can hear them all the time, if they’re talking to us. Delta talks. A lot. He’s talking now.” It really screwed York up sometimes. “He runs calculations all the time.. And while he doesn’t talk while he’s doing it, I can actually see the numbers he’s running in my head.” No wonder he slept so little. How could he, with all that mess going on in there? “I don’t think Theta talks inside North’s head quite as much.” That blue eye turned onto his friend in question. *** North stared at York in disgust. “You’re so gross. You don’t know where that’s been, man,” the dog, of course. Who’d lapped at just about everything he could reach on York, before the golden soldier was inviting the beast up onto the couch with them. He was heavy, but it wasn’t as if York and North weren’t accustomed to laying all over each other. So, really, the dog’s furry weight wasn’t anything new. Except he shifted to get comfortable and then stopped moving like a rock. Dead weight. North settled his hand in the fur and stroked the dog with interest. He was so soft. It wasn’t how he imagined a dog to feel. He didn’t know what he’d imagined, but it was pretty cool. Were they all so big? These were questions Theta was peppering him with but none which he’d ask. He stayed quiet at the discussion of the AIs and the Freelancer competition. North loved having Theta, but he didn’t love what having Theta did to South. A blind man could see it bothered her. At the mention of her name, North kept staring down with a fixed expression at the dog, reaching for one of his large feet to look at the dark pads that covered his toes. The dog paw fit into North’s palm. He smiled a little. Harry watched this with interest. “So it’s like that, huh?” Harry said, drinking some of his beer again. “I get it, a little. My sister Elaine and I-” Had he ever mentioned Elaine to Texas or York? “We were trained to work together, too, no one knew us as well as we knew each other.” He smiled a little darkly. “When she stabbed me in the back it was a little bit jarring.” And you wondered why Harry was so paranoid? Everyone turned on him eventually. North looked up when Harry spoke, “South and I are closer than the others. Except this guy-” he tilted his head toward York. “I’m sorry your sister had to make that choice.” He was confident South wouldn’t do anything so cold. Harry shrugged, “Me, too. But it was a long time ago, so whatever.” Sure. Sure it didn’t bother you anymore, Harry. Looking at York, North furrowed his brows slightly. “No, Theta doesn’t talk too much when I can’t see him. He doesn’t run numbers outside of combat or missions. When he’s doing something that needs a lot of concentration he stays quiet. He’s quiet now, except for the questions about the dog..” North pet Mouse again. No one asked about Omega. Harry knew, and North had spoken to Texas about him a while ago. They both understood her reluctance to discuss him. *** Everyone in the room understood her reluctance to talk about him. Only one person in the room, aside from the host, knew it was because the AI was currently urging her to break her beer bottle and kill the man beside her, then enjoy the show as he hopped into one of the two blondes across from her, and made them kill one another. Texas took another slow drink of her beer. Her eyes turned onto Harry briefly as he spoke about his sister, then they went to North as he mentioned South. Tex, somehow, managed to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t, however, manage to keep her hands to herself, as her free hand found Harry’s and she linked their fingers together loosely. “If Little T has questions, D’s always happy to answer them.” Because Delta was an insufferable know-it-all, though he didn’t understand what that meant, really, and that made it even worse. Beer finished, York set it aside and then put both hands on Mouse’s head and rubbed it absently, quite content to have the beast right there. “Maybe one day we’ll get a dog, or a cat. Al loves cats.” And York quite liked dogs. *** Harry’s eyes slipped toward Texas when she linked their fingers together; his lips curled up a little at the corners and he squeezed her hand lightly. Blame his caveman brain, but he should have noticed the cause and effect there. But he wasn’t anymore aware of what Texas knew about the two men in front of them than the men were (except for the fact Harry did know York was a dead man on his return to his timeline). Harry chose not to think about that. Ever. He would never tell York, either. North laughed a bit, causing Mouse to raise his head to look at him before happily flopping back into York’s lap. “Delta intimidates him sometimes, but I tell him not to take offense. He’s gotten so much better..” Little T. Theta liked it, it made him sound more like family. He really was too human for an AI. Harry blinked then before he could stop himself from asking, he said, “Do the Elrics ask you weird questions about being together?” *** Do the Elrics ask you weird questions about being together? Texas spit out a mouthful of her beer and coughed, tugging her hand away from Harry’s and pressing it over her mouth. Fuck. Growling softly, she shot Harry a dark look before getting up to go find some napkins and wipes to clean herself (and the coffee table..) up. The golden boy watched her go curiously. The gutter-minded woman had heard something York clearly didn’t. “Er.. no, not really. I mean, Al slept in the bed with the both of us last night. He drapes himself all over me when I’m on the couch. I’m pretty sure he’s comfortable with all the touching going on in the apartment. I think he’s thrilled with it, actually, Ed isn’t really the touchy feely type and I’m pretty sure that Al’s actually a cat in a human body.” Because.. Really. Really. Come on. Really. “Ed thinks it’s a little weird, but he thinks it’s him who’s weird, since he doesn’t do it.” Poor Ed, what a strange group of friends he’d chosen. *** They all had different responses. Texas choked, York remained weirdly oblivious, and North just looked about as awkward as Harry’s felt. “It’s not like that,” North said, when Harry’s eyebrows started climbing into his hairline. “Alphonse just sleeps in bed with us sometimes.” Not making it better, North. He seemed to realize this, because he raised both hands in a conciliatory gesture and looked helplessly at York for a moment. Then he remembered he was typically the diplomat in these scenarios. “What York’s trying to say, is it’s not weird, since Al’s comfortable with a level of physical affection Ed isn’t. I’d argue Ed’s more catlike, since he only likes being given affection on his own terms. The rest of the time he bites or hides.” Theta, informing North of cat behavior, so he’d know just how much dogs were better. *** Ah, there it was. “You’re a jerk, Harry Dresden.” Now York got it. “And maybe Ed’s the cranky old cat who hates everyone, and Al’s the nice cat who just wants to sit in everyone’s lap and purr.” Were there different kinds of cats? York didn't know. Delta was currently reminding him of that fact. In the kitchen, Tex took her time cleaning herself up, rolling her eyes at the idiots in the living area. They were stupid. So stupid. “And yeah, that’s all I was saying. Al came home the other night from the Colonel’s apartment and he was pretty shaken up. He just wanted to crawl in the bed with the two of us and go to sleep. So we let him.” Of course they had. Why wouldn’t they? The Spartans were used to having a Spartan-pile. It didn't matter that Alphonse was tiny in comparison. They could be gentle. *** Right. That didn’t clarify anything but worked to make Harry more confused instead. They slept in the same bed. Okay. Okay, stop wondering Harry and just let it be. If neither Ed nor Al found it weird that was fine. Whatever happened in someone else’s home wasn’t any of his business. So Harry just drank the rest of his beer, pushed himself up and collected York’s bottle. North was still nursing his, so Harry threw the others out, looked Texas and her beer spill over and grinned. Her mind lived in the same gutter Harry’s did. So what? Caveman, meet cavewoman. Harry pushed a hand through his dark hair and leaned against the island counter, his head angled toward the two men still cuddling his massive dog. Cute, if they weren’t terrifying giants. At least Mouse matched in size. North rubbed his head again. Harry furrowed his brows. “You okay there, big guy?” the wizard asked. North looked up. “Just a headache,” he replied smoothly. “Yeah, it’s my magic and your little dude duking it out inside your head.” Harry wasn’t the only thing giving an output, after all, the morons were all standing in the middle of his home over his lab. Magic was everywhere. *** “Yeah, it can get pretty bad around Harry sometimes. We should probably get you home, this has been pretty exciting for your first wizard interaction.” He leaned some, closer to North. “Come on, big guy.” With that, he was nudging the dog a few times to urge him to jump off, then he was standing and offering a hand. Well, a wrist. And when North grasped on, the golden boy helped pull him to his feet, standing close. “Thanks for the beers, Harry. We appreciate it.” He kept his hand on North’s back, as if to guide him. To urge him onwards. “Night.” Texas drawled to the pair of them, lazily leaning her shoulder against Harry in an almost possessive manner. She'd gotten herself a new beer by then. And with that, the two Spartans were headed out, the shorter guiding North with a hand. “You'll start to feel better once we get back home and far away from here.” *** North set his empty beer bottle aside, rising with York's help. He half turned toward Harry and offered him a smile. “Thank you, Harry, it's a pleasure to meet you.” He meant it. Anyone who looked after York with such dedication and care was someone that North could respect. His friend meant the world to him, but York had a habit of never putting himself first. So the wizard making York a priority was the best thing in North’s mind. The golden blonde deserved it. North leaned into him, looping an arm around York's back as they turned, weirdly in sync, and headed out. Harry looked at Texas, kissed her hair lightly, and then smirked. “So, what should we get them as a wedding gift?” *** “Ten credits and a blowjob says they never make it past kissing and hand stuff.” Tex turned her face up to give Harry a little smile, eyebrows raising some in a challenging way. She was such a horrible person.. But it was obvious she cared about the two idiots who’d just left. And the idiot she was leaned in against. Even the stupid dog standing in the doorway of the kitchen staring at them. |