मसकली

“yeah…because i sure don’t know how ta fix her meself…i mean, i can do the usual thing. change a headlight, fix a tire, do some maintenance…but uh, this is a whole new level’a fucked up, ya know?” he peeked up at her, smiling a bit at her joke. “i didn’t know i was that important to ya, i’m real touched. but uh, sure…that’s fine. but i’m serious, it’s nothin. just road burn.” he lifted up his shirt to show her his side, where there were very large, albeit nonfatal, abrasions that he’d gained when he was shot off his bike. “…feel kinda stupid. i mean, moreso than usual…this is what i’m supposed ta be good at.” he said it lightly, with a smile smile, but he swallowed afterwards and ducked his head. he wasn’t entirely great at covering his tracks- he was feeling a bit pathetic.

hera gave a rather insouciant shrug, her safety an indifferent matter. “terribly sorry, mom, next time i’ll try to keep my manners when strangers body-check me out of nowhere.” she took a sweeping glance at her surroundings. “where i’m off to? wherever my feet take me, i suppose. i don’t really have a set destination in mind,” hera explained. she reached out, resting a hand on rhea’s shoulder and a thin smile spreading over her lips. “but thanks for caring about my wellbeing. yet to be decided if i appreciate it though.”

Poseidon sucked his teeth with a rather guilty, though not apologetic, glance to the side. “It’s not actually that tactical a plan. Just the easiest considering the circumstances and the people involved.” He twirled his pen through his fingers. “Zeus and I thought it might be easier to pump knock-out gas through the vents and just load everyone up in the cargo copters and fly to black site location.”

         although she adopted a more serious stance as the subject they dove into required it, rhea was internally relieved when no terms or hard-guessing words were used. sometimes, specialties had their own languages. ❛ and if they try to blow us up again? it worked once, and now there’s only one target. a very tall one at that. ❜ she quickly glanced at the plans before her eyes came back to his. ❛ you know, i still think we should’ve secretly implanted gps trackers on everyone after the attack. or had agents from interrogation to spot the mole over a month ago. ❜

“Fuckin’ ye-yaah! I’m ready to go, like, right now. That stuff only made me hungrier. You know a place… uh, shit,” he lowered his voice. “Is Rhea your cover name? It’s like a normal name, not like, pre-op-us or pandamame or whatever.”

“aw, what! come on, the dude has a big ego but he drops some damn near atomic bombs of wisdom. sort of. relevant to the topic, i mean. i wasn’t missing i was on a mission you could have sent me a telegram or something. morse coded me an ‘i miss you’ letter. damn, you just completely forgot about me. please, even ICHOR wouldn’t resort to that trickery. that’s vicious. not a single drop? shit, you didn’t even drink to your fallen comrades? it’s in the rule book! we gotta toast them. i’m assuming someone here gave them a proper send off, right? alright, queen mouse, is that better?”

         ❛ i guess he has his moments, but anyway... ---and you missed my birthday, so we’re EVEN. you know, i wouldn’t be so sure; ICHOR would resort to the lowest, pettiest of tricks just to earn some extra points. yeah, this whole ‘making sure no other comrades fall’ thing i’ve got going on hindered my binge drinking, so i had to skip that rule until ensuring said comrades’ well-being. and that i wouldn’t know of, but it’s never too late, right? ---fine, i’ll take queen mouse over mouse any day, but for time’s sake, just keep it to queen, otherwise is just too long. alright, keep watch while i get our goodies. get ready to sprint off to our kingdom, titan---if you get behind, no one’s gonna save your ass. ❜ 

“my ego isn’t that big, c’mon. how can you say my ego is humongous when we’ve got people like zeus running around. that’s really harsh, you’re straight vicious, you sure you’re on the right side? well, i mean- wait, what? nipple twisting?…soter’s nipples? that’s uncomfortable. let’s never talk about that again. how long have you been sober, is the real question. don’t tell me to hurry! you’re not my supervisor! and besides i’m coming. when did you get so fast you’re like a little hyped up mouse.”

         ❛ that’s because, with zeus, you learn to block most of his ego out. at the end of the day, all you hear is a mosquito’s buzzing, which yes, it too is annoying but if you blast music loud enough, it just... goes away. that would apply to yours as well if you didn’t go missing 3/4 of the year. alright, i’ll confess; i side with ICHOR. my secret mission is to give every guy in this base a titty twister, so beware. since... i think i haven’t had a single drop of vodka since the explosion; you know, it was mayhem, and alcohol would’ve cost agents a few limbs---couldn’t risk that. arre, first you call me your queen, now i’m a mouse? i could have you beheaded for this, titan. watch your mouth.❜ 

“Dude, dude,” he began, seriously, “I fucking love Indian food.” You know, I hear they got some pretty rad Indian food here. We should hit that up, yo.”

“Rhea,” he chuckled, “I’m saying I would like your company. I just can’t go any where.” He knew he shouldn’t trust her, but man did he want to. Poseidon cleared some space for her and turned some of the plans over. “Well, you could help with this one idea Zeus and I were toying with.”

         ❛ just making sure, just making sure, ❜ she grinned, hands up in a feigned defensive manner. taking seat next to him, rhea scanned over the plans, nodding lightly in understanding as she decoded them. she met his eyes then, once he spoke again and her attention veered to poseidon. ❛ alright, hit me. let’s see put my infiltration/extraction specialist skills to test. ❜

“i know it is! the fuckin’ cunt he knows i love this thing! I love this thing more than i love meself! or, ya know, more than i love guinness or fuckin’ fruity gushers, ya know, the ones from america…the fuckin’ nerve.” he grumbled, a stark difference from his normally upbeat self as he wiped one hand over his forehead, dark with motor oil. “…well, he’s always been like that. and i’m fine, i’ve certainly been worse. a few scraps, got nicked in the arm, nothin’ major…” he sighed, a very clear and almost touching distraught look on his face as he stared at his ruined cycle. “…s’like, the worst thing that’s ever happened to her,” he said, referring to the bike.

Hera wasn’t in any kind of a good mood, even though sparring usually helped her attitude. However, this wasn’t a typical kind of day and everything that surrounded her seemed to be a complication, and frankly, a burden. She was walking briskly through the streets with no aim and her hands stuffed in the pockets of her coat, wandering for the mere sake of clearing her head as best as she could. Of course, that never went as planned, especially on the nights when she needed it most. “The road isn’t two inches wide, you know; mind watching where you’re going?”

“What? Yeah– sorry, I was just– just thinkin’.” Agent Caerus gave a curt nod. Never in a million years did Jem Crouch think he’d ever be fresh out of a divorce case. “You want a drink? Here, it’ll be on me.” He spoke darkly as he waved down the bartender.

“fuckin’ bastard shot me bike ta shit, and he did on purpose the fuckin’ cunt. i mean ya sure he also shot a lot’a people i know but that’s not my fault…i’ve been tryin’ ta tell ya me brother is bad news. touched in the head a bit, me father used ta say.” he paused, and then looked up at the person standing over him as he worked on his trashed motorcycle. “…anything i miss?”

“i know you’re just waiting for me to end up in medical just so you cup my sac. don’t worry, i won’t tell anyone, you’re secret is safe with me. that’s weak, rhea, absolute misery is pretty hard to achieve. is this like, a life long goal? every time a drop a piece of toast i’m going to blame you. ah, c’mon, you’re scared of soter? he’s a grumpy pug. all bark and no bite. do i ever read his e-mails? i send them straight to trash- kidding. i skim them, take out the important bits. and we need to at least take two because i’m sure as shit not sharing. and you know how to get into this sacred land, do you? then lead the way, my queen, together we’ll rule.”

         ❛ sorry to crush your hopes and dreams, but i’ve got better things to do than playing with marbles. but hey---you don’t have to do me any favors! go on, spread a bunch of lies if you must, whatever helps you maintain that humongous ego of yours. life long goal, yes, and i’d proudly take the blame every time to hit your pinky toe on the edge of something; know that, wherever i am, i am glowing with pure joy. pfft, of course i’m not scared of soter. he’s seventy percent tremble and thirty percent grumpiness when i threaten to twist his nipples---that’s why i haven’t done it yet. two bottles is an understatement. i know for a fact that soter has left the building, so let’s go get them---our kingdom awaits and i’ve been sober for way too long. c’mon, hurry!! try to keep up! ❜

“Mint mischief, what the hell is that?” His eyes lit up as he was seized with a powerful desire to try it. “Is it, like, minty chocolate chips? But like, not chocolate chips, chips likes these.” He held up the one in his hand.