text: un: GRAVEMISTAKE

[hellshot]



1. I'm not dead yet. So if you've planned on burying me already, cancel your plans.

2. Your recent nanomachine problem isn't my problem, sucks to be you if you've been infected with them. If you wake up tomorrow morning feeling and looking a little more like a corpse, then maybe I'll consider taking a look.

Comments

[smokedout]

Figured you'd like it better than 'daddy-o'. [He shrugs, offering a small laugh.] You still got my loyalty, Reyes, nothing's changing that.

[At the mention of his appearance, he shoves his arms in his pockets and tries to not look bothered by it.]

Yeah, he did. Someone else ah, caught my attention, that he didn't agree with. So, I got punished. Cause and effect, and all. I'm used to it.

[He'd like to say his old bosses hadn't been as cruel but really, they just hadn't left as much evidence. He vastly prefers this over the sexual abuse and gaslighting he's gone through before.]

[hellshot]

[While he has absolutely no worry that Dodger could handle himself and whatever asshole he'd let sink his claws into him--it's the principle of the matter that boils in his stomach. Those in power who disfigured those who worked under him... he has no tolerance for that.

His teeth show a little more than necessary, even if his next lines are delivered smoothly, no real emotion showing in his tone.]

You call me daddy-o and I'll drop you from the balcony here without a second thought.

[Another exhale, and another cloud of black smoke escapes him.]

Punished, is it? And exactly how happy would this new 'Boss' of yours be if he heard you say something like 'you've got my loyalty' to someone else.

[smokedout]

I can handle myself. [He shrugs again, a bit like a teenager talking to his parent.] He knew what he was getting himself into - I stick with whoever keeps my interest. I won't mind too much if he ends up dead, but for now... he earned my loyalty.

[There's a certain amount of weight to his words there. He would really love his boss to be dead, so he could be free again - and he's so very aware of the irony there. But the man's keeping him safe from his own mistakes.]

[hellshot]

If I didn't know any better, I'd start to wonder if you were giving me off-handed permission to kill him.

[Because that, sir, is how his mind has chosen to translate that.]

And while I did wake up feeling rather hungry, I don't quite feel like going on a stranger-murdering spree, as it stands. Even if they sound like they deserve it.

[Clawed fingers click against the railing of the balcony.]

[smokedout]

Wouldn't dream of getting in the way of your hiding-from-society time. [Though, as he leans back against the railing, he gives Reaper a somewhat curious look.] Really, though? Not gonna tell me I deserve it for being a dumb shit?

[That's a first.]

[hellshot]

I've got a problem with men who try to make themselves feel big or important by disfiguring those under them. Punishment for insubordination or disloyalty is one thing.

Permanently marring up their body is another.

[Something that hit close to home, looks like.]

[smokedout]

[His jaw sets a bit, and for the first time his gaze strays from Reaper. Instead, he's just staring at his shoes.]

It's just normal for me. I grew up getting hit any time I pissed someone off. Hell... it's not the worst I've gotten by a long shot. And- it wasn't outta nowhere, I earned it. At least... in his mind I did. I never knew I did anything wrong, 'til he pinned me down and skinned me.

[Without realizing it, he's started scratching at one of his wrists as he speaks.]

...If we're being honest, you're the first person that hasn't made it my fault.

[hellshot]

[He doesn't speak. He doesn't speak, mostly because he doesn't really have a proper response--he's grown up around plenty of the same. Seeing men who would abuse those under him because they could. Kids taught to live and fight a certain way, to give up their lives for a cause that wasn't their own. Maybe at one point, it had bothered him enough to do something.

But as it stands, he can only think--]

Have you ever taken a moment to look in a mirror. And to think, for five minutes, how much your life would change if you stopped living for others and started living for yourself.

You'd stop finding people who put you at fault if you stopped putting yourself at their mercy.

[smokedout]

[He closes his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath and lets it out as a quiet groan.]

It doesn't matter if I try changing, it doesn't go anywhere. I always end up back in someone else's grip.

[And then he shoots Reaper a somewhat challenging look.]

Unless you're about to tell me you care about me, wanna help, all that mushy shit... not sure it's really your problem. You don't like me, we established that pretty clearly.

[hellshot]

[Yeah, he meets that challenging stare with a quiet glare of his own.]

Buck up, buttercup. I don't like most people. You're not some special snowflake I go out of my way to dislike at any great length, so don't be too disappointed that I'm not about to stand here and fill your head with caring words and mushy rainbows.

[The smoky, echoing voice is absolutely filled with dripping sarcasm, you can almost see that inky black smoke filter between his teeth a little more thickly as he speaks.]

What does become my problem when there are people around who think they can run the lives of others just because they're strong enough or cruel enough.

I've killed men for less.

[smokedout]

[He bristles a bit more, but... then his shoulders slump, and he relaxes a bit. He really has no good reason to fight Reaper right now, for once they're agreeing on something. And all it took was living through a few more months of cruelty and paranoia without him.]

Like I said, I wouldn't object if you killed him. I'm done thinking there's any pride in keeping that for myself. [He pauses to light a cigarette, his white smoke forming a cloud to compliment Reaper's, and moves a little closer to him. At least he's respectful enough to keep his hands to himself.] That is, if you wanna risk getting my attention back.