Log: Cree (Ethan) & Nando Who: Cree Slavin (mostly as Ethan) and Nando. When: January 13. Nighttime. Where: Base; Cree's Room. What: Nando sleeps over. Ethan comes out. Uh-oh.
Cree was feeling more and more comfortable these days with inviting Nando over to spend the night. He liked it, when the other boy stayed over and slept in his bed. It made it all easier to sleep, somehow, comfortable and safe. Between Nando sleeping next to him and knowing that Jacob was only a room away, Cree slept well most nights.
And that was what he was going right then. Sleeping. Cree was curled up on his side, facing Nando, a hand touching the other boy's arm. His dark hair was spread out on the pillow in a mess around his face. His eyes were closed. He was breathing softly but deeply, lips slightly pursed, the breathing of a sleeping person. Content and quiet, Cree was stil as he rose out of a REM cycle and back into the lighter sleep.
Before Nando had decided to stay over, he'd double-checked with Cree to make sure that it was still OK. He'd just been there two night ago but Cree had been pretty adamant. Luckily, Nando had worn his own pajamas this time around. Not really lucky, but Nando didn't want to borrow any more of Cree's clothes than he had to. It just wasn't good sleepover behavior.
Nando adjusted his position, his arm slipping a little, Cree's hand resting more prominently on his bicep. They were having a snowball fight in the front yard. But it wasn't outside of Stargate. Nando, Cree and Jacob were in front of some old brick house, but there was plenty of snow on the ground and it was like they were a close family. He smiled in his sleep, wheezing just a bit as a tiny cold started to take hold of Nando from the snow angel escapades.
Ethan normally came aware in the middle of the nigh while Cree slept, due to the post-hypnotic suggestion the Doctor had planted in his mind all those months ago. Most of the time, he didn't do anything about it, because what was the point? Sometimes he got up and checked out the TV, looking for some violent movie or soft-core porn or something else Cree wouldn't watch. Most of the timer, he just went back to sleep. Cree's life was boring. Cree was boring.
Tonight he decided to get up, in only because he wanted to get out of the bed. Cree was two hair's away from cuddling and Ethan did not cuddle. He sat up and shoved the blanket off of him and slid out of the bed, not making any effort to be quiet or to keep from disturbing Nando. He didn't care. Ethan got up and stretched his arms over his head, padding across the room with a supple sort of grace that Cree never possessed.
"WHa? Creeeeee," Nando's voice was low and full of sleep, coming out in a moan that had an edge of a shiver in the extended end. When the covers were pushed off Cree, they were pushed off Nando too! The air in the room seemed to cling to his bare arms, Nando trying to get the covers back up. If Cree had to use the bathroom, he could have been more quieter than that.
Snorting and sniffling, Nando pulled the covers up and curled into a ball, trying to tuck the blankets under his side to cover his shoulders and arm. A quiet groan and Nando rolled over slowly, wondering what had happened to his friend. "Cree? Come back to bed please. Chilly cold." His eyes tried to focus, but it looked like Cree was gliding over the floor. Was he still dreaming?
Ethan's eyes rolled sharply, and he turned to face the bed. Even his posture was different than Cree, he stood tall, shoulders back, looking confident and sure of himself. The corners of his mouth flicked upwards in a bit of a smirk.
"God, could you sound any more like a fucking twelve year old girl?" he asked before he turned his back on Nando and the bed and went to check out the mini fridge Cree had in his room. Not that he expected to find anything good since Cree didn't drink. Hell, he didn't even have any pop.
The tone of Cree's voice set off alarm bells in Nando's head. He was sitting up in bed and wiping the sleep from his eyes. Once all the crust was out of his eyes, Nando felt them narrow. "Ethan, go away." As if those three words could banish the other back to the mental static in the back of Cree's mind. It suddenly felt like there were little bugs crawling up Nando's back.
"I don't like you. Cree doesn't like you. You're not getting out of this room so you might as well just go back to being angry inside Cree's head and leave him alone." Even Nando was surprised by the strength of his voice, but when it came to Cree, he figured anything was possible.
"Yeah, I know he doesn't like me. I'm crushed, really," Ethan said with a snort. He was glad Cree didn't like him. Nando too. They weren't the sort of people he was looking to please. With a slow movement he looked over his shoulder, pale blue eyes sharp. "It's my head too. Now. I'm not going anywhere."
He dropped into a crouch and pulled open the mini fridge to inspect the contents. Pulling out a bottle of juice, he twisted the cap off. He nudged the fridge door shut and then turned to lean against the nearby table.
Nando knew what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to grab his clothes and leave before Ethan could get out the door. Maybe he should knock on the wall and wait Jacob up. It would be a lot simpler that way. But there were things Nando wanted to say to Ethan, even if Nando didn't know how much more fire he had left in him.
"If I hit you in the head with something, would that make you go away?" The question had started out as a threat but had petered out into actual curiosity. He didn't figure Ethan would give him a real answer, so it was futile and a waste of breath, but curiosity got the better of him.
"If you try and hit me on the head with something I'll break your neck," Ethan replied, looking almost amused at the suggestion. He wouldn't mind a chance. Violence ranked up there with sex as ways to get out all his agression and frustration.
"But no. I'm here. Permanently." He took a swig from the bottle of juice and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Shouldn't you be calling Daddy by this point?"
That sounded like the truth, coming from Ethan. First he wanted to do sexual stuff and now he wanted to break Nando's neck. This guy was bad news. Bad news and Nando felt his breath hold in his chest.
"No you're not," he said, though it sounded more meek than anything else he'd said. "I...I don't need Jacob to take care of you." God, he wished he could tell if Ethan was lying or not! What if Cree really was gone? It made sense, in a way, that maybe the two took turns to being in control. Nando slinked out of the bed, the covers sliding off him as he got to his feet and went to pick up his jeans.
"And he's not my daddy, or father or anything. You can...you can just fucking go to hell you fucking piece of shit!" The anger soared inside Nando in such a way that he felt possessed, if he was, in fact, feeling anything else. First Cree was just gone and then Ethan called Jacob his father. Worse, his daddy. But nando's parents were dead and he had had enough of hiding it. Dropping his jeans, he launched himself at the other, fingers curled like talons.
Ethan just laughed, and it wasn't a pleasant sound. Nando came at him, and Ethan side stepped and smacked at his wrists. "Don't tangle with what you can't handle, little boy," he said with a smirk, eyes sharp on Nando, watching his every move. "Maybe you don't need him to take care of you. You help him, don't you? Keep Cree all locked up." He stepped backwards a little bit, moving on the balls of his feet. He wasn't going to strike out at Nando just yet, but he would take him if he came at him.
He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Someone's all wound up. Not getting any?"
This was bad. Badder than Nando had thought it would end up. He wanted to get a few swings in, even if he had to explain them later to Cree...if that would ever happen...again. But Nando didn't even get that sort of satisfaction. And now Ethan was in front of the door and Nando didn't know if Ethan would just move to the side to let him through. His eyes glanced at the wall beside the bed, then at the door. Thankfully it was still relatively dark in the room.
"Cree likes being in here, he likes being safe. You don't keep him safe because you don't care. You don't care about anyone but yourself." Eyes narroed and his hands curled into fists at his side. "I don't need any. Only pigs like you think that you need to touch someone like that to be happy." Nando forced his fingers to uncurl, taking a deep breath. He was doing what Ethan wanted him to do. "You're a horrible person." So there!
Ethan's smirk turned to cat-that-ate-the-canary proportions. "Does he like being in here? Are you sure about that?" he practically purred out. "He's a prisoner in this room. It may be a guilded cage, but it's still a cage. Don't think he doesn't notice that." Ethan could have a bit of fun with this. "Remember, I share his mindspace. I know what he thinks better than anyone." Way more than he wanted to know. Sitting around listening to Cree's thoughts was not his idea of a good time.
"Yeah yeah. I'm a horrible person." He was still grinning. As if taking the insult a a compliment. "Cry me a river why don't you?"
"He's told me a lot of times that he likes being in the room better than being outside. Because it's safe. And Cree wouldn't lie to me. He'd tell me if something was wrong." There was a solid backing of truth to Nando's words. But it was the truth only as he saw it and Ethan...Ethan was closer to Cree than Nando was. No matter how often he and Cree talked, Ethan was still in his head, around all the time.
"You're not worth it. I don't think you're worth much of anything. And Cree will come back because he's better than you and he knows that Jacob and I are here and we care about him. You don't have anybody. Because no one could ever like you."
Ethan snorted. "Have you met Cree? Of course he'll agree with you." Because he wanted to please the people he cared about. It was terribly pathetic, he thought. But oh this was amusing. He was grinning like he might start laughing a lot.
"No one could like me? Cree liked me. How do you think I got into his life? We were friends. Maybe even more than friends." Okay that wasn't true, but the lewd smile on Ethan's face didn't say that. The lewd smile said that it was very true.
"Maybe he'd lie to Jacob, but he wouldn't lie to me. I know he wouldn't." Would he? Nando shook his head from side to side, actually disagreeing with his own thought. No, Cree had never been anything but honest with him, and even though Nando couldn't use his power to verify that, he could only rely on their friendship to be the gauge.
"You manipulated him. Just like you're trying to manipulate me right now. You took someone who was innocent and kind and..." There was more to the insight, but Nando felt his stomach turn over. There was a baseball in his throat that he couldn't swallow down. It wouldn't budge. Nando wanted to punch Ethan in the face just to get that look off his best friend's face. "You can't be trusted, so you're just blowing hot air. And I don't have to take it. Get away from the door." He wouldn't stand there and take this abuse, these lies about Cree. Nando moved over to the bed, leaning over, his knuckles ready to rap on the wall. "Go stand by the table." His voice only waivered at the beginning, but he ended strong and that was what mattered.
"There's a difference between lying and keeping things to yourself," Ethan said condescendingly. He shifted to the side and leaned against the wall, lounging there, bottle of juice still in hand. "And what? I didn't make him do anything." That smirk grew. "Oh wait, I did. It's his own fault for being so fucking naive. He's sheep. And sheep get eaten when the big bad wolf comes along."
"Or what?" he asked without moving. "Youll call Jacob. And he'll come over and tie up Cree because I'm talking? You gonna do that to your friend, have him wake up sore and scared because of some words?" Challenge glinted in Cree's pale blue eyes.
"Whatever," he shot back sullenly, but struggling to remain some sort of sure footing. "And then he gets with a flock of sheep and the trample the wolf until he starves and dies." Okay, it may have been a mixed metaphor - or at least a purely lame one. "You're holding me here against my will. I want to go but you won't move. So you need to move and you can talk all you want to yourself until you finally get bored with it is whatever you do and then you'll go to sleep and Cree will wake up. So either you let me out or I get Jacob and since he doesn't have a problem with tying Cree up, Cree will know what happened. And he'll be glad that I'm okay." Nando was starting to feel a little panic, leaning more against the bed, knuckles grazing the wall. "Now move, Ethan. I don't want to be in here when you're around."
"How am I?" Ethan asked with a smirk. "You could walk past me. I haven't laid a hand on you." He opened his eyes wide in his best innocent look, which was pretty good, considering it was Cree's face. "Yes, Jacob would be okay with tying Cree up. That's what you to do prisoners, after all." Lazily, he pushed himself away from the wall and sauntered into the room. "Go. Scurry away. Tail between your legs is the style, I believe."
"I'm not running away because you scare me. I'm leaving because you're not Cree. For all your talk, you're no where close to where Cree is. He's kind, and nice, and thoughtful. You're just an asshole that never had any friends besides Cree so you jumped into his head or whatever it is you did because you were afraid of being alone. Even when you're in someone as honest and nice as Cree is, you're still alone. You may look like Cree, but you're so ugly, Ethan. You're an ugly, lonely, sorry person. And you may play tough, but Cree has something you'll never have. People that care about him." As he had spoken, Nando had slid against the bed, eyes never leaving Ethan as the almost exchanged places. Nando knew that Ethan would be on him the moment the doors were unlocked. Picking up a boot, he pointed it at Ethan. "You come close to me, I'll bash your head in. Cree wouldn't want to go on living as you, inside your awful mind. I'd be doing him a favor."
Nando was really drained, his jeans over an arm as he held the boot in the other. He'd come back for his shirt...some other time. Or just leave it. Pressing himself close to the door to block Ethan's view, Nando got all the locks done, hand on the knob. "I'm sad that you manipulated Cree," He was pressing himself close to the door, looking down, seeing a shadow pass under the door from the light in the hallway. Maybe he'd woken Jacob up after all. "But I'm more sad that you're a virus he can't ever get rid of. I wish you'd just go to hell where you belong." The shadow had given him courage, Nando beginning to turn his head to look back as he turned the knob.
Nando's diatribe just amused Ethan. "Am I supposed to be upset? Sad? You know nothing about me." Because Ethan had always had friends. Trouble markers, largely, but some who weren't. Because when he wanted to be, he was a charmer. Which made him all the more dangerous.
"Then you really have no idea what Cree wants," he said dryly. "He wants to live. And I've been in him for ages now." He wandered across the room, sprawling himself out in a chair. "And you act like we're two completely seprate entities. We're not, you know. Every day that goes by a little of me slips into him." And vice versa, unfortunately. Ethan didn't want to be like Cree. In the least. but it was sometimes funny to see Cree react to things like he would, although this hadn't become outwardly noticable... yet.
"I'll be seeing you." Every time Cree saw him. Because Ethan was always there.
"You don't feel anything, so I'm not surprised. And I don't care about you so I hope I hurt you. But it's hard to hurt someone with no feelings." Out of respect for Cree, Nando listened, shaking his head and trying to keep his face impassive. "Then when you and he combine totally, that's when I'll decide if he's more important than you." Nando already knew he was, but it would be an odd situation. A situation that he didn't want to actually talk about - or even consider.
"Later." Nando slipped out and fumbled with the locks on the outside and finally got them all sealed. He leaned against the door for a moment, pushing off and going back to his room. Worn, tired, and uncomfortable. Without Ethan, Cree would have such a better life. But nothing could be done as far as he knew. But he'd stay for the good times, be there when Cree came back.