seize the dead

CARI can’t tell if this is a rhetorical question because that is exactly what it looks like. cari doesn’t think he did it alone but he definitely feels as if this guy might be responsible for it somehow. and when he points out that he’s a doctor, cari balks at the idea. “how?” because cari doesn’t believe him, before he made his way into the tent he’d crouched and touched countless necks and wrist in search of a pulse. he called out, moved across bodies with open eyes to press his ear against chest for a beating heart, and only on his ninth or tenth body, when it was becoming too much did he decide that anyone left to save had died long before he arrived.

he’s instantly defensive when the man admits to…something. but cari doesn’t know exactly what he’s taking responsibility for or how they got in the way so he asks. “define in the way, you showed up and murdered them, did they not have a right to be here?” a new kidney? now he’s even more confused but he wants to keep him talking. the more information he has the more he can make a decision about what to do. “swimming in organs? aren’t you a doctor? is that what you do? surgery?”

“i’m starting to think you’re nowhere near a doctor. that it’s just something you’re saying because it makes you feel better or because you’ve got some weird fascination with it.” cari was a doctor, a healer. but he couldn’t bring people back from the dead. and he’s angry that he arrived too late, that he’s had to stumble upon this at all. he reaches for the weapon at his side. “i think we should go. run your name or something. you might be worth some money.” and then this little excursion would be worth it.

He’s not sure if it’s how skittish the other is or the gas he’s continuously inhaling that has him giggling to himself. Bowie smacks his hand against his face, laughing into his palm and trying to squash down his unneeded and poorly timed glee. He just can’t help it. It’s almost endearing how much the other seemed to care. It was something he hadn’t witnessed for a long time and he had the urge to smother it out and kill all hope. 

“You can call it that.” A surgeon? Maybe in a past life. His medical license was suspended so long ago he hardly even remembered what his actual speciality was. Or maybe there wasn’t a word for it. Experiments were highly frowned upon no matter what field of medicine you were in. Sure, when it’s government funded its ethical and needed but when he does it, it was disturbing and torture. Double standards if you asked him. “I have no idea what they were doing here. That’s not my part.” He nudges one with his foot, shoulders lifting in a shrug. “My guess was comparing ball size, isn’t that what army folk do? That’s how it was in the church.” 

Jebediah could have sworn he locked the door.  He also could have sworn he set the alarm and set out the attack Ocampa before heading out to get himself a bite of Tellarian triscuits.  

Oh, his window was broken.  That explained it.  

Still, to find someone sitting in his… “Did you rip the leather on my recliner?  Or is that a shadow?  I truly hope that’s a shadow.” To find someone sitting in his favorite chair was making his eye begin to twitch.   Which was never good.  The ocular implant was super unstable and sometimes even rolling over wrong in his sleep caused him to go half blind.  Bad when you’re faced with someone clearly there to cause you harm if they don’t get what they want.

Removing his coat and setting it on the coat hanger, Jebediah took his gloves off and set them down with his keycard before kneeling down.  “Campa-campa… where are you?  Did the big bad -” He looked up and sized the other up.  “Did the big bad over sized terrarium dweller scare you?  Throw you out the window?  Eat you?”  His eyes glanced up.  “Did you eat my attack Ocampa?  He was expensive.”

“Look.”  Standing again, Jebediah stretched his arms over his head. “I am not sure what scroll you’re talking about.” Oh, he knew.  He knew very well.  But he would be a dumbass to keep it in his apartment. “If I knew of whatever it was you’re talking about, I’d shove it so far up your ass, the person you’re trying to get money off of would have to send another expedition just to dislodge it from your anal cavity.“

His fingers trace over where the leather had in fact ripped, hardly bothered that such an ugly chair had been marred in his warpath. Frankly, this person was lucky Saint hadn’t done more damage. To just be sitting here was practically a gift, as usually he was one of the bunch that left little behind when he was working. He liked destruction, it was good for the soul to get out that chaos. Otherwise who knows what kind of a person he would be? It was terrifying to think of that self restraint, it couldn’t be healthy.

Tongue flicking against the corner of his lips, he resents the statement that he might have eaten something. While he did often feast on the odd human, he did not eat whatever this campa-campa was. Unless it was a pet human, then he might have but he hadn’t run into anything on a leash so far in his visit. “That is repulsive and rude and I won’t even respond to it.” His nails dig into the leather, piercing once more in the fabric as he slowly drags his hands back.

THEY’D been on their way to a planet filled strictly with water, a rumor of something ancient and priceless had grown throughout the galaxy and spread like wildfire in the circles the star crew frequented. their reputation for treasure hunting was unmatched, and several offers were lobbed in their direction in hopes of enticing them to take on the job for a decent payout. moving this far out away from intergalactic federations that kept chaos at bay was dangerous for a lot of other hunters who did not have the survival tactics the stars did. and it was pirate territory. some would say that pirates and treasure hunters weren’t all that different, both seeking riches and pretty self serving in most capacities. but cari liked to think himself above them. he took what others couldn’t keep safe, and while he’d caused a few injuries, the days of killing had been left behind for the time being but every once in a while he stumbled across something that made him reconsider his notion of peace above all else.

the distress signal had been rapid, and compelled by ares’ leadership and above everything else his curiosity they decided to check it out. there wouldn’t be another ship around for miles as far as they could tell. wars raged out in some distant pockets of the planet and cari had seen first hand the horrors it could cause. he was used to it by now. perhaps being a walking void had something to do with it. so as they docked further off from the planet, cari descended with north and river in tow while the others remained waiting for a report. he should’ve been surprised but the death that greeted him was not unfamiliar. it’s origins he did not know, and it’s what he aimed to find out. a dead planet was a sad encounter, but a dead planet was also free for the taking. he could wash his hands of any guilt but they could still emerge rich without feeling as if it’s a wasted endeavor.

“no…i’m not.” cari’s eyes roam over this stranger, the biological scanning he’s capable of is not perfect. when he can’t place what he’s interacting with his brow furrows. he’s not frightened, merely curious. the casualness with which this person greets him turns cari’s stomach. had he not dealt with enough murderers?

“is it your handiwork?” he questions, waving a hand to encompass the destruction. his eyes travel to the pink stickers but they don’t linger there. he suspects that would be dangerous. he doesn’t want a fight, but then when did anyone stumbling upon such grisliness avoid one. “you’re remarkable calm after a mass murder. you must be…a mercenary?”

“Mass murderer? Does it look like I killed them?” He’s crossing his arms over his chest, leaning to the side to rest against one of the machines. There’s bodies littered around him, some still smoking from when they had perished. So okay, it definitely didn’t look to his favour but he definitely hadn’t be the one to pull the trigger... on anyone in this tent, at the very least. “I’m a doctor. I was trying to heal them.” It’s such a loaded statement, one the blond knows the other isn’t going to accept. Thus, he gives in.

“Yeah okay, but we’re not mercenaries. These guys just happened to get in the way.” He goes back to packing up equipment, loading it all to the center of the room for easier collection whenever Cash decides to grace them with his presence. “If it was my handiwork, I would be swimming in organs. Do you know how much damage fire does? Those idiots, I’ve been looking for a new kidney.” He speaks so casually, for a moment forgetting that he is in fact talking to a stranger. 

They had taken down the small army base hours before. While most of the crew had returned to the ship, Bowie had stuck around. First just to poke at the dead bodies, then to look over the medical equipment that had been left over. He was a scavenger, and while he held no interest to the species outside their equipment was catching his eye. Pressing random buttons, he observed each piece carefully, placing a bright pink adhesive to each one he was going to take. 

Whenever Cash got back here with the truck, that was. He was always waiting on that piece of shit to arrive; he had grown overly used to just getting back in time for the ship to depart. Ambrose was fair but ruthless in leaving them on several planets, and he had paid that price more often than he liked. 

“Bout fuckin’ time-” He turns as he hears the tent open, dropping the respirator from his hand to hang by his side. While the oxygen on the plain was perfectly breathable, he liked his tinged with nitrous oxide to spice things up. The patchwork human stares, the face not striking a spark of recognition. “Mm, you’re not Cash.” Bowie hums out the obvious, picking back up his mask to take a deep inhale. 

How he longed for a physical body. It was so hard to find a heart that was compatible, even on a planet full of humans. It made his chest ache, his semi-transparent self leaning against some buildings exterior. Nobody noticed him - and he took solace in that, as much as he liked to play with the foul little creatures, he was not in the mood currently.

He was on the hunt. 

Syn scanned over each and every human that walked past him, tasting the metallic scent in the air as his ears honed in on their beating hearts. Too old, too weak, going to die soon -- ripe, beating crisp and strong. He licks over his lips, kicking off the wall to follow after the young male. 

“Let’s face it love,” The half-reptile hisses lowly, sinking down in the comfortable chair he had taken residence in. The front door of the house is open, the wind billowing through and scattering more shards of the broken glass across the floor. “You know what I want and you’re going to give it to me, no questions asked.” As shameless as he had entered and sat down, Saint licks over his lips. 

He was asking politely after all, maybe a reward should be tossed his way? 

like this post if you would like a starter. i will IM you with a few basic questions ( do you want a certain muse? is your muse(s) earth bound? do you have any triggering topics to avoid? ) 

“Like you want me to eat my way to your heart?” His brows scrunch together, Cassius trying to make sense of it.

“They mean sex dumbass!” Someone shouts from the background. 

“Dead people probably.” Saint brushes his hair back from his eyes, lashes fluttering lazily.