Neko-laus 2 : Toy Tiger

Welcome back to the never ending chapters. I sit and try to write and try to write, I watch avi's, read yaoi manga, come back and try to write and still nothing. I decided to sew and bang, fourteen pages in one day. So I've had to chop them into two so here is installment number 10.



Chapter Ten: Fragile

Normally after a night of shagging I prefer to wake up in the arms of my shaggie. I was surprised that the quarters were empty when I finally roused myself awake. The left side of the bed was stone cold so Mags had buggered off a long time ago. I’m not a person to worry about my partner but I was a little rough last night about the third round in. Shit. I sat up. He might as well have been a cherry boy and…

I noticed the corner of the nightstand was a blinking. There was a recorded message waiting for playback. I rubbed at my eyes then winced because I had forgotten about my broken nose and the collateral damage of my back eyes. I scooted to the side of the mattress and shook off the lingering fogginess of morning. I blinked a few times then took a good look at the button. The light was yellow which meant it was an internal recording.

I hit the playback.

Mags voice filled the room. “Don’t ever let me call you little Neko again, Nicky. You are not little. I’m having a hell of a time walking.” His laughter was genuine and then there was a sharp intake of breath. “Wouldn’t change the experience for the world, Nicky but our timing sucks.”

My manhood was secured.

“There are some prep work I have to do before we hit landfall. I’ve requested new clothes for you. I don’t know if they are going to be ready in time, if not, you’re going to have to wear the Latent Grey. I give you authorization to alter it to your comfort level. I don’t have mission particulars yet but I will brief you when I do. Do whatever you got to do to get ready, Nicky. It’s going to hard and fast. It’s a test. Either we work together or we’ll get blown to hell.”

His voice dropped down to a whisper. “I’d rather come back for more of your sweet low kisses, Neko-laus.”

Sprong. Fuck. Who knew there was a direct line from ear to cock?

“You better jerk off in the shower. Think of me, kitten. I’ll be thinking of you every time I have to sit down.”

Mags was right. There were things that had to be done before this landfall happened today. There were things I’d put off long enough. It didn’t matter if I had space sickness. I had to do right by my boys. I quickly showered then moved to the mirror to…that… I shoved the metal collar up to expose what I had spied in the reflection. I had a ring of lover’s kisses around my throat and down my chest. When the hell did he…? I had to laugh.

I walked out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around my hips. Mack was in the middle of stripping the bed clean. There were a pile of grey clothes on the arm of the couch. “You traumatized, Mackie?”

“Close enough.”

“Forgot you where there.”

“My own fault.”

“How so?”

“I shouldn’t have been here.”

“Well you were. That was where Elway dumped you because I was just going to pass out in the corridor.”

“You were ordered back to your room.”

“I believe, you were ordered to take me back to my room. We got as far as I could drag you and then this mountain of a man picked you up and tossed you over his shoulder like you were a sack of flour.” I leaned against the side of the couch and watched as Mack made the bed. “Do you do this with him all that time?”

“I’m a Groomer, Neko. I do this for you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“It’s part of my job.” Mack straightened as looked back to me just as I whipped off my towel and reached for the clothing. “Won’t you put some underwear on first?”

“I just got out of the shower and I found an intruder in my quarters, of course I don’t have underwear on.”

I pulled the grey uniform towards me. It was the dark grey of the soldiers. It was regular soldier wear. I headed to the closet snagged a clean pair of black briefs then quickly dressed for Mack’s tender sensibilities.
“We need to go and get you something to eat then...”

“There’s something I’ve been putting off that I have to do.” I had already decided where it was going to go. I might be citizen chipped, I might have a record listing me as a Shambles scumlord but I am and always will be a child of the wild. Veneration has never seemed to be high on the list to the wider world. Survival is key and when you have to fight so hard to make it day to day, you don’t have the time to be a part of the greater world.

I pressed the three tiles and the weapons cache slid open. Out of this whole room, I could call this mine.

“Neko?”

“Haven’t you ever said your prayers before heading off to battle?” I glanced over at Mack. He wore a puzzled expression.

“No.”

“I’m putting my affairs in order, Mack. It’s a bad thing to leave this world with so many things hanging in the air.”

“Leave this...you’re going to die!”

“Someday.” I began prowling the quarters. “I’m not planning on heading off any time soon.”

The alter that stood in Mom’s house was dedicated to my father. It was tasteful and she maintained it daily. It allowed her to keep a piece of him with her, with us. I knew later that nothing physical was left of my father. He who killed my father had all his belongings razed. The lock of hair that Mom had hidden away was found and tossed in the fire. I think that if He who killed my father could have gotten away with it, he would have tossed me in the fires as well. He had damaged father beyond recovery before Mom could find him but he wasn’t stupid enough to try for me then. This all came down to the coveting of the Witch of the West. The rest of the Wild was not so fortunate to have a stonemason prepare an alter for them. They used what they could. Cups, bowls, natural stone hallows. I had even seen one that was a musical instrument. They were not as elaborate but they were just as loved and cared for as finer ones.

I wasn’t going to find a stonemason on this ship. My crew were not a refined nor elaborate bunch. I crossed to the closet and pulled out an ashtray that Grim had salvaged from the Skulls clubhouse. Mags had absconded with my smokes more because it wasn’t allowed on the ship than it bothered him so that offering would be missing. So that left beer. I took a can from the fridge and came back to the alcove.

“My crew. My boys.” I popped the seal and lifted it up towards the heavens, or where the heavens would be if we were on firm ground. “It was hard enough having to bury one of our own but to have every one gone at once. Well it’s a fucking burden being the last one alive. I know when I showed up, you all thought I was a punk ass of a joke until I took out Radio. I told all of you right there and then that I was going to take you places.”

“We went from a street gang to peacekeepers and then we joined up with the RIPpers, we were like district commanders. We kept the peace. We made those blocks safe for all those people. We had respect, my boys. We earned it. You still have it.” I poured beer into the ashtray and bowed my head to the offering. “I gave Grim your death marker to be paid to your families. If you had none other than the Skulls, I told him to buy medicines for our district under our colors.”

“While our time was short, by Skull brothers, we lived like true family and we died as men. Here’s to the you. Skulls forever!”

I chugged the rest of the beer down but refrained from breaking things like we were wont to do.
Mack stood there a frown on his forehead. “I thought you were from the Wild.”

“I am. I moved to the Shambles and made myself a place there. Just because we don’t share the same blood doesn’t mean we weren’t brothers, Mack. In some places, the bond of our colors was more than family.”

“They’re all…dead?”

The beer was sitting heavy in my stomach. Maybe I should have eaten first.

“Neko?”

I nodded. “They were considered collateral damage when MI came looking for me. Mack, I need to eat and I need to take to Sharon before the rest of the this day ticks away.”

“I don’t think Arron will allow…”

“Let me rephrase it. I will talk to Sharon whether her Groom likes it or not. I would like to meet in the training room on Grey level but if I have to search decks to find her, I will.”

“W...w…why? Why do you have to talk to her?”
“Cause I’m not going to end up like her. I would rather cut my own throat that have to totally rely on someone to survive. That is not my code.”

“But that doesn’t...”

I cut Mack off. I couldn’t explain it properly. Not that I couldn’t he just wouldn’t understand. You had to be able to see the colors and interact with them. “Mack, you’ve seen soliders with gunshot wounds?”

“Yes.”

“Have you yourself ever been shot?”

“No I haven’t.”

“But you would like to avoid getting shot because you’ve seen the damage.”

“Well yes.”

“Same diff here. Sarah is gone. It’s somehow due to her Mage. I need to find out what happened so it doesn’t happen to me. I’m King Tiger’s little battery pack this afternoon and I’m kind of running on a tight schedule here, Mack.”

“But Sarah’s so fragile!”

Fragile my ass. She was alive and well in that body and just needed to conduit to get out. She was more than capable to be made into my right hand man...if I could keep myself intact. I had intended on gearing up but stopped myself. If I was trying to show that I was going to play nice, well I couldn’t go in armed to the teeth.

“You can have her Mage there.” Actually it would be better if her mage was there. She would be my little test bunny. I can’t do it to Mags out in the battlefield. Mack reluctantly agreed then made some calls through the internal system.

“There it’s done. They will meet us down in the training room after you eat.”

I clapped my hands together. Food was sounding good right now. The beer was sitting real hard and heavy in my stomach.
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continued in Chapter 11 - right now untitled