pain_train | SANCTUM INBOX

[The house smells amazing. He smiles as he joins her in the living room and sets a hand on her shoulder.]

Thought it'd make a nice surprise. [He's carrying himself like he's tired, but ultimately happy.] So what do you think? Good look for me? And is that cake?

"Yep, you get a cake because it'll help basic hurt less." Wrath grins, covering his hand with hers for a second. "I'm so proud of you. And you're fucking hot, are you kidding?"

"Shit, if I knew there was going to be cake I would have enlisted sooner!"

He gives her hand a squeeze and goes to get some of that pizza and a beer. Usually he tries not to drink in front of her, but hopefully she'll understand today.

And, well, fucking hot? "I ... Oh, ah, haha, thanks!" Blush. He knew he was good looking but damn. He wasn't exciting that. Mostly he'd just wonder if he looked like he belonged.

"What, I didn't tell you about the cake? Soldiers always get cake." She sticks her tongue out at him. Dork. He's such a cute dork. And it feels good to be laughing. She's been in a funk the last couple of days, and this gives her something to think about other than everything she's fucked up.

She wishes she could drink. She's been so tempted. But no, she got too fucked up at Mardi Gras, and she's still feeling it. She's going to try to be smart and think a little further ahead.

"Another reason to join the army. Uniform automatically makes you like twice as hot. It's a fact."

"I never would have guessed it, not with these colors." Seriously, they're not flattering at all. " Cake and compliments. I can see why you guys all like it so much. Almost makes the abuse worth it."

He sits next to Wrath, setting his beer on the coffee table and carefully adjusting her feet across his lap so he can sit and she can stretch out at the same time. Hopefully she doesn't mind a little pizza grease on her ankle. He digs in. "Mm. Perfect."

"Are you kidding? Black is the most badass. But the Ghost Wolf uniforms look better because then you get the colored piping. Wrath platoon's the best. Have you seen Maine in his uniform? Fuck, it's so unfair." She laughs.

Wrath eyes his beer, very tempted. It wouldn't take much to fuck her up, the amount of painkillers she's on. Feet in the lap? Perfect. She relaxes back against her pillows. "Heard Bothari's on the warpath right now. Wish I was there."

"Bothari is a nightmare." Day one and he's under no false ideas on how hard the next couple weeks are going to be. He's confident he can make it, though, but it's going to take much more of a concerted effort than anything else he's done here at all. "I thought I was something special, nice to know he's rampaging on everyone."

Once he finishes his pizza, he sets the empty plate on the table and leans back, idly rubbing her foot. He'd probably get another slice or three in a moment. For now, he finally reaches up go undo his hair and scratch vigorously at his scalp.

"Bothari hates everyone equally. That's his charm." Wrath grins. "So unless you really fucked up, everyone else is getting ridden just as hard as you. He's my favorite nightmare. God, I miss that asshole."

She wiggles her toes, feeling relaxed. Then wondering if she should feel bad about feeling a little better. It's all so complicated. She reaches out to steal his beer; just a bit. She's not even asking for her own. "You going to try out for the Wolves? I can try to help you with that maybe. With training at least."

And man that'll piss Maine off, don't tell him. Whoops.

He watches her take his beer, but he doesn't comment. A little sip can't hurt, and he's tired of always bringing her down.

"Yeah. Hob mentioned it when I first went in. I hadn't even thought I'd get a chance so any pointers you can give me, that'd be great." Here, hand the beer back, he wants some too. "Oh, and she killed a soccer ball today." It's very sad, and he can't help frowning slightly. Maybe he shouldn't feel this bad about losing a replaceable soccer ball, but it seemed to mark something deeper for him, a little reminder he wasn't in his element. "There was one in the Tower at home. Don't know who it belonged too, but we'd get it out and kick it around after a strike or patrols or whatever. It was a great way to relax, you know?"

"Army's a meritocracy," she says, glad that she can get away with the following long pull off the beer. She doesn't fight him over handing it back. "Everyone gets a chance if they want it. I think if you work hard you won't have a problem qualifying at all. Just have to see what platoon you're gunning for."

She grins. "You get to relax when you aren't a maggot any more, Orion. Not til then."

He chuckles. Maggot. What a term of endearment that was. "Okay, I gotta earn the soccer ball."

"Yeah, I'm just, seeing how far I can push my best." He feels a little hypocritical using that term after their argument, but she was right. He always tried his hardest. "-- and hopefully not die in the process." Either by his own stubbornness or Bothari's Bothariness.

"Yep! But I know you can do it." Oh, just you wait, Orion. The terms of endearment get even better.

"Pretty far, I bet. You never do less than you best. You'll be fine." She remembers that argument too, and it just makes her tired when she thinks about it. She destroyed whatever relationship she might have had with Orion there, and she'd lost North in the same week just because she is the way she is. She's kind of tired of the way she is, right now. Apparently poison to relationships, but fuck it, like Maine said.

So she reaches to take the beer back from Orion.

No, not destroyed. Just a little muddled. He's still here, isn't he? He lets her take the beer again, and purses his lips a moment before carefully moving her feet so he could go get a piece of cake. He hovers for a moment, taking the beer when she seems done with it.

"You don't want to drink that with cake. I'll make us some tea."

"I'm not really feeling like cake right now," she says. "But you should have some, I don't mind." She's only nibbled on a piece of pizza, not even finishing that. "Please don't get all weird at me Orion. I've had enough of that in one week."

Okay, something's not right. He'd tried to alleviate whatever it was with cake, but that obviously wasn't the right idea. He sets his beer down in the nearest surface and walks back to her, sitting on the floor in front of the couch.

He's not sure what to say, because he's not sure what he did. "I'm sorry. I'm trying." He thinks for a moment. Should be bring the beer back? "What do you need? Tell me."

Oh shit. That's really not what she wants at all. He shouldn't feel bad. None of this is his fault. "No, no. Not your fault. I didn't mean that stuff." At least not entirely. She rubs her forehead with one hand. "Really. Come on, you had a long first day at basic. Relax and don't worry about it."

Not his fault ... ? Hadn't she just said he was getting weird again? He frowns a little deeper and glances away. Maybe he's just so tired he's not sure what's going on anymore. Okay, let's try this again, be honest, not weird. Don't blame yourself.

He missed the simplicity of a Thrall swarm.

"Okay. But, I'd rather share the cake with you, so we'll save it for later when we're both feeling up to it." He gets back up, grabs his beer and the the Tv remote, and settles himself back on the couch with her feet in his lap. That's how he wanted to relax right now, with his friend.

He takes a drink from the beer and sets it within easy reach for her. As for the entertainment for the evening, something mindlessly stupid.

Edited 2015-03-09 01:19 (UTC)

"Okay," she says, quietly. Now she feels really bad about this. She's the one being weird and making things awkward for Orion when she was trying to get things to be fun.

She falls silent, but over the course of the first twenty minutes of the movie, she sort of oozes slowly over to be against Orion's side... if he lets her. She's tired of feeling like shit about everything.

He allows her. He encourages her, shifting himself slightly so she's got a comfortable place to nest. On the surface he's trying to dare himself to get through as many of these SpongeBurt RectangleSock episodes he can get through. Quietly, though, he's just trying to be there for her. He can sense there's something wrong but he can't figure out what, and he can't figure out how to ask, or even if he should.

After a couple episodes, he chuckles softly. "Has, ah ... has Maine said anything? I was expectnig to see him there, but no luck."

Wrath snuggles securely against his side. Well, one benefit of being dumped is she doesn't have to feel weird about this at all. She doesn't even have to feel weird that she doesn't feel weird. Not that it has any kind of special meaning. It's just... not something to worry about.

"Yeah, he ratted you out. That's how I knew you'd started." Suck it, Maine. You can't pretend forever. But she is no way no hell telling Orion about the finer points of the conversation they ended up having. "I have spies everywhere."

She tangles her fingers in the hem of his shirt to give herself something to hold on to.

"Did he see me and run in terror from my superior skills? Poor guy. I should let him beat me up more often if it'll give him a confidence boost." Kidding. Mostly. "I van see him fitting in perfectly there. It's going to be a bit of an adjustment for me."

Just judging by the dead soccer ball incident alone.

Wrath rolls her eyes. "You two are just fucking unreal," she comments. Dick measuring. They should just do it and get it over with. "Maine's a soldier, like me." Like I was. "Maybe some people are just born that way. Or when you've been doing it long enough and are into it, that's all that really fits. But you'll do fine once you get used to the chain of command. Plus it actually gets way easier once you're out of basic unless you go for special ops. Basic's there to weed out the people who can't hack it when they face a challenge or have to work in a team."

"I mean, I can do all that." Except for dick measuring. He's not thinking about that right now. But Wrath is right, they're rivalry isn't much more than Who's Bigger. "I've worked with teams before, but ... small teams, quickly assembled and quickly disbanded. Workung with the same people for months on end? That's daunting. And, yeah, it seems the Chain of Command is a little bit more rigid than the Vanguards or Faction leaders. "

"Yeah, it has to be more rigid, for a lot of reasons. The organization works once you get used to it, I promise." She's having more of a hard time being outside that rather rigid structure now. It kind of boggles her that anyone would have trouble adapting to it. But she also can't remember anything else, quite literally.

"It's nice, having the same people around to work with. They sort of become your family, after a while. At least when you're not on the job. You know them better than anyone else."

He takes in a breath and lets it out in a sigh, pulling Wrath closer for a moment and pressing his lips to the top of her head, not quite a kiss. "Family."

He'd like to experience that. Again? For the first time? At least, in setting where he can remember it.

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