For the Blade

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“Do I joke so effortlessly that it’s not apparently that this… family… is a running gag? Or are you that disconnected with your fellow blades?”

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“Say that one more time ‘I’m not saying…’ and see if I don’t turn off this device.  I’m telling you that I’d rather not be bothered about the technicalities- not everything needs to be thoroughly explained.”

"If nothing else, let me have this. It's nice."

“Well.. If I spend the night with you, I can’t sneak my way out of your room and avoid training. Or oversleep. Or both…”

“… What if I said I’ll show up to training for the rest of the week and take it seriously?”

“What if I said ‘please’? I mean come on Votl found out he was adopted. Somehow. Miraculously…”

“- And that’s what happened. If I had to narrow it down, the family was at it again soooo…  Can I spend the night with you?”

     It had been sarcasm that dripped from his words. He cared not whether this robot could feel fear, know how to be scared or even wanted to kill him at this point. There was no need to know these things. Not when his mission was almost complete.

     All he had to do was take the sentry for its memory core. That’s what he had come here for.

     It was almost over.

“Don’t think to attack,”

     There’s a growl in his voice as he bends his knees, crouching before the automaton before his hand reach forward and snatch his metal frame up. Tucking him underneath his arm and standing once more, there’s a flick of Antok’s tail,

    He is of no stranger to universal, temporal oddities, even if the oddity usually isn’t himself. They’ve already played mirror on the wall, hence the elusive and elaborate dance of sorts that had ended with him against it; if this were a trap from the enemy, he would’ve found out by now. But it’s not. He’s sure it isn’t— few times has his instinct failed him before, why would it now? Trust in the feeling in your gut.

      “ Would you call it something else? ” Anything but curious or fascinating. It’s amusing, in a way. Antok knows all too well that if the same happened to Kolivan, everything in him would be bristling and hissing not to trust it, and yet here he is regardless, pinned to the wall yet more at peace than ever.

Almost, he tells him no, if only to bolster his own sense of security. But why bother? Surely if this was a danger, something would have been done by now. He can count a dozen different ways he could’ve killed or been killed already, yet the killing blow never comes. 

Nose twitching, his eyes flick over the mirror’s face, tail constricting tighter around the thigh as if to remind himself it’s there, that this is real ( at least in the moment; it feels as if in the next he’ll simply wake up alone ). His eyes close briefly in contemplation of the offer, only opening once he realizes he hasn’t responded in a minute.

      “ …Not here. ” And like that, the same tail unwraps itself from his counterpart’s leg, letting itself lay lax as he does. The training hall can only stay locked for so long— and he intends to get to know himself for longer than ten simple minutes. Urging his hand from the grip around his wrist, the opposite rests on the other’s shoulder, pushing gently. “ Further privacy will do us well. You know the way to my— ..our room, do you not? ”

     It’s soothing, how calm he can be. Especially presented a situation like this, presented with himself. And he’s learned, Antok thinks, that this is no trap. That he is real and exists and this is exactly what it seems like. An oddity of the universe, one of many, where someone meets a mirror of themself and it’s a reality.

“Not exactly,”

     There’s a hum to his voice, a playfulness when he answers the question. It’s nothing but interesting. Amusing perhaps and he knows that he thinks the same. They’re two of one, it only makes sense. To be amused, relaxed at such a sight. If he were the one against the wall, his mind would’ve reacted the same because he knows himself all too well. But this self is a stranger to him, even if they’re the same person.

     And he wants to learn more.

     And he knows he’ll be allowed.

     Lips twitch vaguely for a moment, a soft hiss leaving him. Eyes cast down for a moment, to look at the tail squeezing his thigh and as much as it’s a reminder to the duplicate, it’s a reminder to himself as well. That this existed, that it was happening, or at least for now in his mind. The silence eats him for a moment, ear giving a flick before he hears those words spoken. And it elicits the slightest smile.

“Right,”

     A short response for a moment, eyes glancing down once more when the tail slides from his leg. They both knew such learning process would take longer than given, privacy needed for such a ritual. His head tilts slightly, to press cheek against the hand on his shoulder before legs take him back and a ‘come’ gesture is made with his fingers.

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“… It felt like a home-”

    Thace snapped his eyes shut at the force bearing down on him. He couldn’t feel the arm itself through his armor, but the pressure from it cause the chestpiece to dig into his torso. Breathing was difficult, but he hide that well. A brief moment crossed his mind to be set straight like he originally hoped. But a sinking feeling slowly dropped his heart deeper than it already was.

Even if he was set straight. It wouldn’t last.

“Antok, you know what needs to be done. ” Thace muttered and tipped his head back to rest further against the tree, “… If you choose to drag this out any further, you will only make it more difficult for yourself. The Blade of Marmora is not to be compromised.”

    Finally after what seemed like an eternity, his eyes opened and stared blankly skyward. The clouds of water was thick in the air.

“… Smells like rain.”

     Felt like a home.

     That’s right. As far as he knew, Thace never knew what a home was that wasn’t the yard. The place he’d been taken to as a young kit when his home was lost to him. The place he’d met Thace for the first time and became friends with someone.

     That’s what a home felt like to Antok. He could barely remember his home aside from the fact that it...rained.

     He hears Thace talk, teeth clenching behind his mask. He knows what he has to do, what he needs to do. But he doesn’t want to. Not when it’s his friend he’d be getting rid of. And he’d hate to get rid of a piece of home that he’d made for himself.

“Is this really right.”

     A soft question that falls from his lips. A soft sigh being made as he eases up on his weight that presses the other galra into the tree,

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    A thousand different pointed words lingered at the tip of his tongue. Antok risked being caught, jeopardizing the mission as well as their lives, just to hunt him down. What was he thinking? Thace winced at the force brutally pressing against his chest.

    Why?

    Caution was key in the survival and security of the Blade of Marmora, Antok and Kolivan both drilled that into everyone’s minds thoroughly. So why? Thace slumped what little he could against the tree, looking less like a high end lieutenant and more like a lost kit all over again. Staring at nothing in particular as his gaze dropped, flickering about as he struggled internally.

“… I made a mistake,” He started, wavering slightly, “In the beginning, it was easy to keep distance between others. But I made a mistake, and now it’s become difficult to see which side is in the right. More than that… it’s become difficult to knowingly betray a certain few. I made a mistake, Antok, I let allowed them too close.”

    Thace’s ears slowly, almost pitifully flattened back. It was never supposed to happen. They were all taught methods how to believably keep the enemy at a distance.

“I’ve grown fond of them. ”

     Antok is well aware of the risk he is taking. The risk of being caught, of everything being jeopardized but this was the only way. The only way to get Thace to hopefully talk to him. To open up and tell him what was wrong because he didn’t seem right the times he’d seen him, talked to him.

     Perhaps he pressed a little too hard against Thace, but his force just grows harder when the other starts talking.

     He’d let them in? Allowed them to get close? And of all things, his guard had been let down around them? There’s an attempt to keep his growl low, eyes narrowed behind his mask as he keeps his gaze focused on the galra before him. How could this have happened? Antok’s not sure if he wants to find out.

“You let them in,”

     He can’t help but repeat the words, voice somewhat in disbelief,

     How he fell for the bait, Antok would never know how or why. But it got him what he wanted. Thace, right against the tree underneath his weight.

“You won’t be getting away this time,”

     A growl is in his voice, teeth clenching as he presses his forearm further against the other’s chest. His body tenses up, strength being used to hold Thace down, and he nearly shakes from how hard he’s pressing.

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“You know that if we continue to talk that communications may be compromised. If there’s nothing else that needs to be discussed regarding the mission, cease and disconnect.”

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“Understood. Until then, transfers will drop to minimum and top priority… In regards to what you’re suggesting though, they are personal matters and thus- are my responsibility. They are not apart of this mission. Do not mix the two together.”

“Thace.

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“We will need to change the encryption again soon. Is another code ready to be worked in, or do we need time for one to be developed?”