((Collab Post between
@Letter Bee and
@Smike.))
Alvin DavionThe night terrors won't leave him; they might never leave him. Alvin Davion, Bastard of Argyle, was as bound by his memories as he had been bound by chain and collar. Those Draconis folk had been thorough in breaking him, to the point where even after his escape and brief return home, he still felt unclean, dirty, and averse to the touch of others, although he could still stand a well-intentioned pat and even a hug.
Not that anyone would give him one; they didn’t know him well enough. And quite frankly, they didn’t want to know him - The Davions were only better than the other houses in relative terms and had their own blood on their hands. He knew this.
Either way, he went through the motions of walking everywhere he was expressly permitted to go, sampling the local cuisine in the cafeteria, and trying to see if there were anyone else other than the Commander, whom it was rumored he should keep away from - With his luck, his very bad luck, there probably were.
Nakano FukaFuka had never been to Rasalhague before. Its protectorate status had been far removed from the duties of her family, none of their resources were invested in the territory. It was some other part of the Combine's problem, a place to be ruled by some unknown governor that the Nakanos would never deal with. She knew the gist of course: the Combined Soldiery had bravely sought to civilize the barbarian Vikings, said Vikings resisted throughout the 23rd century. One of them assassinated the Coordinator in 3004 and then a whole bunch of them sided with the Lyrans during the most recent dust-up.
Now, due to politics Fuka did not particularly understand nor care to look into, Rasalhague was independent and being used as a buffer by two empires. To her that sounded like they were just going to get taken over during the next Succession War (assuming of course, that the Ronin didn't win) but hey, that was a problem for the Rasalites. It was a good thing that they were aware of the danger too, or else she'd be out of a job.
But there was no mission yet, no contract to fulfill. For the moment Fuka was just killing time, taking in the sights of the city. Anyone who happened to see her could tell that she was a native of Kurita space with her resplendent kimono and delicate features, but it was unlikely that anyone would peg her as a veteran. The most obvious of her tells were hidden away for the moment, swords and rifles in the cases strapped to her back and a pistol tucked away in a fold of her robe.
She wasn't trying to scare anyone off, but she certainly wasn't going to walk around unarmed.
It was coincidence after coincidence that led her to Alvin. She had jumped across the Inner Sphere, snatched up the first opportunity she could find to pilot again, and had only walked into the cafeteria out of the vaguest notion of getting something to chew on...and still there he was.
Fuka stared blankly at the dirty blond mop of hair for a moment, trying to calculate just how impossible the situation was. The exercise was quickly abandoned in favor of plopping down next to her old captive, the young samurai grinning at the sheer strangeness of it all.
"Well would you look at that! The slave's managed to stay free."Alvin DavionAlvin looked at her in shock and said, “
Ex-Mistress.”
Then his eyes widened a little less as he said, “Good to know you stayed safe.”
He was surprised to know that he meant it. Either way, Alvin dared to ask, “How’s life been treating you? You seem to be in good health.”
Nakano FukaEx-mistress? As far as Fuka was concerned, she would always be his better. The moment he had allowed her to slap the cuffs on him Alvin had signed away his dignity, even if he wasn't doing hard labor at the moment.
Her devil's grin only grew wider as she reached for a cigarette, giving her captive a look up and down.
"Same to you. I'll admit, I expected you to get caught again." The question of her health drew a shrug.
"Doing as well as ever I suppose, just waiting for my new gig to start up."Alvin DavionAlvin was as good-looking as ever, although it was sheer willpower and a little vanity that kept him taking care of his appearance after what the Draconis soldiers - Not exclusively male - had… Best not to dwell on that. The point was, the young man had grown, become more athletic and well-toned and the softness of his face was more controlled. He was more appealing to women and a few men than ever if Fuka ever thought of him in those terms.
He then said, “I managed to get lucky and stow away on a JumpShip. Got back home, too.”
Only to realize no one did care, he thought before continuing, “I got paid and told to do whatever I wanted. So I went here and hoped to find a purpose in life.”
He would not state that he hadn’t found one yet.
Nakano FukaHe was handsome enough to be sure, but Alvin's appearance rarely entered Fuka's mind. She saw him more as a curiosity than anything, at one point a danger but now broken down and rendered harmless. Like a feral raccoon that had gotten stuck in her garbage can, Fuka had picked the little slave up and housetrained him, only to turn him free. Now here he was coming back to her, his submissive nature driving him to show deference to his captor.
As was fair and right. Fuka took a drag on her cigarette, digging through another pocket of her kimono (every outfit she owned had them sewn into the inside lining, there was nothing more annoying than not having enough carrying capacity) before producing a personal set of chopsticks.
"Kind of them, I suppose. They didn't want you to stick around? Your uh, family, I mean."She figured that he preferred not to have his connection to Davion blabbered about in an open cafeteria, in the same way, she didn't really want him to mention just how
she had ended up in Rasalhague. They weren't secrets per se, but they also weren't necessarily to be casually dropped in conversation while DC troops were still milling about.
"You went through a lot to see them again."An obvious statement said as a test. Fuka was curious to see how her prisoner responded, snagging a piece of what appeared to be herring with lingonberry jam from his plate.
Alvin DavionAlvin nodded and said, “They didn’t want me, and escaping from your family was apparently my only notable achievement.”
He then followed up with, “You know, your own family at least thought of you fondly before… You know. I didn’t even have that privilege. But honestly, even though you had your own reasons, thank you anyway for the help.”
The young man then looked at her in the eye and said, “I know what you think of me. I should have killed myself before letting you take me to hell in this life; that much is true. But somehow I could not bring myself to hate you, if only because you didn’t touch me. That, and I can’t bring myself to try and ‘prove’ I’m stronger than I was before - I’m honest with myself enough to know that I might not be, despite my wishes.”
Alvin then sighed and finished with, “I guess I’m dying without being loved… Or having someone to love. Tempted to latch onto even the slightest bit of kindness, real or perceived. I know you think I’m pathetic, yet I can’t hate you - Your folk did a good job of…”
Of abusing me to submission.For a brief moment, Alvin’s eyes flared with hatred, but this was suppressed and denied, fading away into resignation and acceptance.
Nakano FukaThe morsel was pretty good, a bit oily for her taste but the tartness of the lingonberries mostly covered it up. As far as cafeteria slop went, Fuka placed it near the top of the pile.
"Apparently so."She knew enough about Alvin to know that they had been at about equal experience when they first met, and that utter disaster would have done nothing to endear him to his family. Assuming he had explained how he had escaped, he couldn't even have claimed to free himself!
She snorted at the mention of her own 'escape', smoke curling from her nostrils like one of the mythical beasts Draconis had gotten its name from. Her family life had been fine, nowhere near abusive but not entirely loving either. Knowing her parents, they treated her leaving as more of a stain on their reputation than a reason to worry about her.
Fuka allowed their eyes to meet, letting the bastard explain his feelings. It gave her time for another drag.
"Not what I expected to hear." she admitted.
"Thanks, I don't hate you either!"She laughed, the sound almost musical in its mirth.
"But seriously, that's why you're out here? Looking for love?"The question was asked out of genuine curiosity like it had been posed by a scientist trying to confirm her thesis. The way his eyes flashed with anger suggested that there was something stern within it, but as soon as it had appeared it went away.
The MPs really had kicked his ass well.
Alvin DavionAlvin answered, “Looking for a parental figure. Too bad the commanding officer hates Davions. Well, guess I made a bad choice - Not the first time.”
Nakano Fuka"Lots of people hate Davion, and there are plenty of reasons to do so. You guys turned a federated democracy into a hereditary position, showing the Sphere your hypocrisy while sneering at the Combine."That came straight from the schoolbooks. Fuka didn't really care for the propaganda one way for the other, but as far as she knew it was a true statement.
"You-Davion I mean- like to talk about freedom and whatever, but you've still got lords like the rest of us. People don't like that sort of dishonesty." She said it without any anger or malice, simply explaining things the way she saw them. Every House had people who hated it, that was how things worked when you split the Inner Sphere between warring states.
"All this to say, so what if he doesn't like you? People aren't going to like me either, but that's not my problem Just do your job and don't get blown up." Alvin DavionAlvin latched onto that last statement and said, “You know what? Maybe I will.”
He smiled a little and continued, “Maybe my behavior towards you isn’t because you’re above me, but because you’re unintentionally kind to me. Or I could just be hearing things. Either way, thank you.”
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