Bittersweet [Rozumbrad]

[Chris]

Chris looked both ways anxiously before he looked at the hole and with a little hop scooted through, not even needing to wriggle his shoulders to fit.

[Rozumbrad]

Rozumbrad's room wasn't particularly ornate or decorated. It was a hole in the old brick-work, with bedding, and some other items around. It stayed quite warm, and a bowel under a pipe slowly filled with water.

The Macavity carving was sitting on a make-shift shelf.


Rozumbrad quickly returned carrying two bloody, raw steaks. He threw them into what was obviously the eating corner.

[Chris]

Chris barely had time to look around though he noticed the carving still there, a slight smile coming to his face, but soon the smell of blood was overwhelming and he dove upon one of the steaks, primitive instincts kicking in as he sunk his teeth and claws in, tearing the meat to shreds as, carnivorously, he devoured it, swallowing quickly, blood smearing over his shirt, dripping down his chin, over his collar, some drops on the thigh of his pants.

[Rozumbrad]

Rozumbrad took his waistcoat off to keep it clean, before starting on his steak. He ate with less desperation, but it was still bloody.

[Chris]

For a few years ago, Chris would have been remarkably silent, though with the new changes, with the way he'd become so bitter after experiencing the pain... it was almost normal.

He chewed hard and swallowed before licking his lips, the steak having been gone. Only then did he seem to process the mess, one he looked at with a bit of embarrassment.

"Sorry, Brad. I uh... I've never been so hungry before... never remembered how good steak was."

[Rozumbrad]

"The mess in normal with steak," Rozumbrad said. "And it helps to have the possibility that your threats are real. Makes them so much more inclined to hand over the good food."

[Chris]

"I guess that was never my job," he said, still licking his chops as he nodded his head. "I still don't really know what my job is here." Factory work, for certain, but one who'd get sent out for hits. An assassin, really, but Chris never perceived his job as that. If he attacked a victim, he went for the kill.

[Rozumbrad]

"My jobs come and go," Rozumbrad said. "I do what is needed, and hey, it got me on the same floor as the Boss."

Even still, he ached for Macavity. His god. He was worse than Chris in that respect.

[Chris]

"You must be ecstatic about that. I don't get to see him very much, not anymore really." He pulled up the base of his shirt as he rubbed over his face again, stomach tight and covered with hard muscle.

[Rozumbrad]

"I still have to work hard," Rozumbrad said. "I'm not there yet. I'm just another lacky for him."

[Chris]

"You might be a lackey until some of the big guys go..." he said more thoughtfully before looking at his clothes and the mess. A frown came to his face, though his appetite was thoroughly satiated. "... it bothers me. That we've been so close... and didn't know where the other was. I had so many nightmares."

[Rozumbrad]

Rozumbrad shuffled closer. "You've got nothing to be scared of," he said. "There's nothing left that can hurt you."

[Chris]

"No... no, there isn't," he said quietly, eyes seeming a bit darker. "There are only things left to break."

[Rozumbrad]

"Hey, cheer up," Rozumbrad said, putting his arm around Chris's shoulders. "We know where to find each other now."

[Chris]

Chris smiled, his arm snaking around Rozumbrad's waist as he nodded his head. "Yeah. Yeah, and I'm not letting you go too far from me. I lost so much. I thought I'd die. But you're here, so it's good now. Banshee'll be so happy for me." He nuzzled the other's neck affectionately. "You can help me get revenge too on that bitch."

[Rozumbrad]

Banshee? Urgh. Why couldn't that disgusting crackpot be the one to die?

"No point worrying about that now. You don't even know where she is."

[Chris]

"No, no, but you'll help me find her. And Fangor said he would. And that something was going down that was BIIIIIIIIG! Oh, I wasn't supposed to say that yet, I don't think. But it was BIIIIIIG!"

A smile, a grin, the old Chris, the happy one.

[Rozumbrad]

"I already know Fangor is up to something," Brad said. "I just don't know what."

[Chris]

He nuzzled the other again before getting a little quiet. "I don't think Fangor likes me so much anymore." A quiet sentiment. "I thought I was his favorite. But he doesn't talk so much anymore. And it's been a little while since I've seen the Doctor."

[Rozumbrad]

"I don't think Fangor has favourites," Rozumbrad said. "More who's most useful at the time. The Doctor just seems to have a short attention span for everyone except Fangor. It made so much more sense when I realised they were banging each other."

[Chris]

"How'd you not realize that?" Chris asked, head cocked to the side, a bit curious. "Oh, I guess because you weren't around before he got sick. I was. It was... it used to be a lot different I guess. But wasn't his fault." He scratched beneath his chin.

[Rozumbrad]

"Well, it didn't take long to figure it out," Rozumbrad pointed out. "I was just surprised on my first day, what the Doc could say and get away with."

"I don't know how he hasn't gotten sick yet," he added.

[Chris]

"He's... different," Chris said, voice lowering, more careful with the words he chose. "I'm not sure what it is, but I don't think he physically can get sick. It's... different. It's strange."

[Rozumbrad]

"It's very strange," Rozumbrad agreed. "Still, at least there is someone who Fangor can do. I'd hate to think what he'd be like if he couldn't do anyone."

[Chris]

"Oh, he'd do it anyway. Then kill whoever it was he fucked." The sentence was said so plain, so disconnected from the horrors of it, but they were trained well.

He squeezed Rozumbrad's side. "So... so fill me in. What's happened over the past few years?"

[Rozumbrad]

"Ah..." Rozumbrad though about it. "Got promoted, did various jobs...and that's about it, really. Nothing unusual."

[Chris]

"So just... normal." He frowned a bit. "That's good. I mean, it's good for you." Fingers twisted into Rozumbrad's fur for some sort of comfort, as if he let go the other would vanish and be gone, or something, or maybe that Chris would wake up.

[Rozumbrad]

Rozumbrad rubbed one of Chris's ears gently. "You are looking good," he said. "Very healthy and fit."

[Chris]

Instinctively, he ducked his head, tilting it into the touch, a light purr coming off his lips. "Really? I just... I don't feel good," he murmured softly with a frown. "It's been really lonely. Really... lonely."

[Rozumbrad]

"Why are you lonely?" Rozumbrad asked. "There's lots of others around. No need to be alone."