by P. S. Power
With that about fifteen people showed up at a run, including Marcia and Lancaster, after a few moments Mark did too.
“Hey, Denis. I saved some dinner for you, if you want it? Oh, um, the show has been picked up by the network. We have another episode to shoot in two days. Kind of like to get some things worked out first, meeting tomorrow morning, six, in the restaurant?”
“Oh? Cool! Well, I guess I can keep washing pots and pans for a while. I... don't know what this cluster will bring. Hopefully not more prison time. I mean for me at least. Well, if no one needs me, I'm off for the night. Dinner first then bed. I'm tired and have to be up early it seems. I'm reachable in my room as soon as I have some food, which will be the ninth floor dining room. I mean, if that's alright.” He added this for the Director, who just nodded.
“That sounds fine. We'll probably need you here for a few days, so stay local if possible.”
Like he had a choice? No money, no car, barely enough clothing to maintain modesty, what else would he do? Run off and go camp in the woods like a wild man? He'd last about fifteen minutes. Instead of asking the man if he'd forgotten about him basically being on super-secret parole, Denis just nodded and told him that he'd do his best and clear anything with the man's office first if something came up. The Director nodded and said that sounded acceptable and even smiled at him. They were all on camera after all, if congress looked at this later he didn't want to seem uncooperative so he nodded back, trying to act all professional.
When he finally got all the way to the dining room on floor nine, which meant nine down here, Denis found Brian Yi talking to the air. After a moment it answered in a girl's voice.
“No duh. How the hell are we supposed to do our jobs if congress won't let us? I think we should all start making other arrangements. Serious ones. One day soon we may wake up with the military on our doorstep and an order for all of us to report to a camp. If so, I'm not going. I doubt they'll stock my brand of shampoo.”
Yi looked at him with cold eyes. They felt uncaring, like ice had been hidden behind them, brown or not.
“Hey Denis, Mark saved some food for you, it's in the fridge, here, let me get it. I know where he put it.”
The intercom made a noise.
“Hi Denis. Anything interesting happen while you were away?”
Penny sounded less than thrilled with him being there, hard to blame her really, but still...
“Yeah. I need to eat though. I'll let Marcia and the rest fill you in if that's alright? I guess I should add that we just arrested two military men upstairs a bit ago, I don't know what the charges will be, but it looks serious. One kind of tried to kill the Director. He's fine, untouched even, but... Given the topic when I came in, you know, heads up.”
Penny gasped.
“Wait, I'll be back in a while. Brian!” The yell got the man, dressed in a military style black uniform himself, like camo gear but not, to jog out with a plate of food.
“Yes?”
“Situation. Military, we've arrested two. Tried to kill Less. We should go and take a look.”
“Right. Here Denis, just meat loaf, I didn't warm it yet, but...”
“Thanks, I'll eat it this way. Too hungry to wait.” That was just the truth too. He felt half starved for some reason, like when he used his power too much. The little bit he'd done couldn't have been that much though.
Unless one or both of the military men were Infected.
He mentioned it quickly to Brian, Penny apparently heard too, or at least the other man confirmed that she did. They left quickly after that and he finally got to eat. Meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, with a side of green beans and two bread rolls. It was good, even if cold. Half of it had fairly vanished from the plate when a familiar face walked into the room.
Peggy looked like a flesh colored crocodile or alligator through the mouth and jaw. Her teeth were in multiple rows and the woman had a great voice, sweet and rich. Pretty distinctive looking even here on base. Her hair was a pretty and very long brown, with two little braids in it for decoration. Denis had only caught a few glimpses of her before and those mainly when all the prisoners had been evacuated from holding due to that fight Prime had gotten into with nearly everyone. Denis still didn't know the whole story there. No one had mentioned it, except in passing.
“Denis?” She said, her blue-green eyes looking a bit scared for some reason. “How are... you doing?”
Taking another bite of bread roll he smiled a bit as he chewed.
“Could be worse. My life's a mess, but I still have it, so things are looking up. You?”
“The same... I'm sorry.” She said, her big eyes near tears. Walking slowly the large and powerful woman sat next to him, not touching but close.
“Sorry for what?” He asked, suddenly wary. The woman was like the majority of Infected, forty percent or so at least, so kind of the largest group of similar powers. Strong, fast and hard to hurt. In her case her jaw structure made her mouth a real weapon as well. She could lift a car, sure, but also bite a hole in the side.
She let her head droop.
“I should have spoken up for you. I just... I mean, I didn't want them to get mad at me and lock me back up too. I know that it was cowardly of me but I-”
“Wait right there. On the list of people whose fault my being locked up and nearly put to death actually was, you don't rate. Not at all. Definitely nothing to be crying over. For that matter, let's face it, I'm number one on that list. I never gave anyone a real reason to do anything for me either. All me basically. I'll live. Anyway, how are you doing? Things treating you well?” When in doubt, ask a simple, open ended question.
“I live here and can go places, but I need an escort. Kill one man on national television and everyone acts like you're a murderer all the time. It's better than lock up. The food's way better and I have people to talk to. Most of them are even nice. Karen from team one even takes me places every now and then, which is really sweet of her.” Peggy didn't smile, that wasn't physically possible, but her tone said that the whole thing made her feel way better about life.
They talked for a long time about what had been going on, what a prisoner that wasn't locked up anymore got to know about at any rate. A lot of it seemed to be gossip, Peggy mainly spending her days working out and chatting in the gym. Denis needed to do a bit more of that himself, working out. Not because he had to be a super bad-ass or anything, just for health reasons. Mainly he just needed something to do. No TV or even radio in his room after all. If they wanted that they had to pay for it out of their own funds, which he didn't have right now. Maybe he could talk Penny into raiding the store on the fourth level for him? He was pretty sure that was how she got most of her things. The clerks couldn't see her to ring up her purchases after all.
An hour later they both went off to bed, the large boned alligator looking woman giving him a wistful look at the dining room door as they both started to pass through, as if she wanted to ask him something. That seemed to be what her body language said at least. So hard to tell, really, her face didn't work like everyone else's, so expressions were approximations at best.
“What?” He said, his voice pleasant enough sounding he thought.
She shrugged.
“It's nothing really, but, um, would you like to, I don't know, have sex sometime or something? I don't get a lot of chances and I...”
Denis blinked.
Well, Peggy had the face of a large reptile and couldn't even be called ugly really. She looked too different for that. The rest of her looked a bit more like a linebacker than a girl and the chest, the only thing that could have saved her from looking like a dude, just didn't. She looked flat and hard there too. In all her body made him a little jealous really, muscular and low fat.
Her green eyes were pretty though and she had a sweet voice. Denis nearly just said no by reflex, then smiled instead. How many times did you get to collect a reptile woman into your sexual conquests his greedy inner s
elf chirped at him. Besides they were friends. As close as he had to one in the whole world except maybe Yi, and Denis still called him Yi, not even his first name, most of the time. That was the real point he knew. They were friends and if she wanted to hook up, he'd do it.
“Alright,” he said, looking at her appraisingly as if assessing her market value. “But no oral. Well, I mean, not on the first date. A boy has to have standards.”
Peggy chuckled, a sound like deep wind chimes.
6
The pounding on the door didn't stop.
Kind of annoying really, since all Denis wanted to do at the moment involved curling up and trying to hibernate for the rest of the year. Rolling over, cotton sheet pulling oddly, the effect of having another body in the small bed with him, Denis blearily stared at the clock for a long time. Five-forty. Work meeting, he recalled fuzzily, why scheduled at this hour he didn't know. Possibly to punish him for some reason, or maybe just because Mark was a morning person. Walking to the door, still nude, he carefully stood behind it and popped his head around to find Prime standing there ready to knock again.
“Prime? Um, emergency?” He muttered, still reeling more than a little from being woken up suddenly. The hallway lights were bright this time of day for one thing and he squinted a little in discomfort. In the whole time he'd been with the IPB this had certainly never happened before. No team one members had ever come to the ninth floor just to visit. Not him at least.
The large man in front of him glanced at the situation and smiled. He, of all people at the base, got the idea of showing up naked at a door and not just letting someone in. The only difference there, Denis thought, is that Prime would have stepped into the hallway naked, unconcerned about someone else possibly being offended by his nudity. In his mind that just couldn't happen.
Today the man had on his team one uniform, a gold trimmed white and soft yellow outfit that would have looked gay on almost anyone else. On this guy, with his golden skin and perfect looks it still looked a bit “fabulous”. The thing was, women ate it up. Really, anyone claiming Prime liked men was probably a closet homo themselves, reacting to their own attraction to the guy. Almost laughing Denis realized he really didn't have that problem. The man just seemed like another person to him.
Take that “Prophet Darren”. All of that monster's actions probably showed a lot more hidden gay than not, Denis understood in a flash. A whole heck of a lot more...
Like a mental problem's load more.
Prime nodded, “yes. Gabriel is being requested for a meeting at two this afternoon, second floor. Charlot wants you. Dress for possible news coverage, clothing will be sent down. Also, Mark from your team asked me to let you know that you're really needed for the show meeting. I was thinking about getting a part on that show myself, or maybe doing a cameo... what do you think?” The last line was so earnest that it almost hurt to hear.
“Honestly?” Denis didn't really know to tell the truth. Prime had to be the most famous Infected on the planet. Girls from fourteen to fifty probably diddled themselves under the covers each night dreaming about him flying in to rescue them and then “thanking” the man profusely. Denis didn't blame them, but felt a bit of jealousy for a moment, his own greed did not want him to be supplanted on the show and rose to the surface for a second. He almost told the guy it would be a horrible idea. With a bit of mental stomping and flailing he beat the greed back after about ten more seconds.
That really wasn't true, it wasn't a horrible idea at all. Looking at the golden hair and smooth face Denis had to nod. If he didn't look at it like a dick, it seemed like a good idea. A really good one actually. Having famous people on a new show couldn't hurt, could it?
“Yeah. Um, if you want I'll see what Mark says about it? Prime helping me wash dishes or something would probably play really well. No one expects you to be a baker or anything, and your ego is famous, so if you're willing to show that you can control it... That would probably be a really good idea, all around. Good propaganda too.”
Seconds after saying it Prime got a serious look and nodded. If he got the full idea, that of him really slaving away washing pots and pans, it didn't show on his face. Maybe he got it and thought he'd do a good job? His powers certainly wouldn't hurt, that was for sure.
“Thank you. I think that would work well for me. I'll see if the Director and Charlot can help too.”
With that the guy turned and walked off, not even throwing out a good bye. Ah well, it had still been the best conversation Denis had ever managed with the guy. Hadn't called him an ego driven prick on legs even once for instance.
A rustling came from behind him. Bed sheets and blankets moved a bit, then the sound of feet hitting the floor and rooting around for clothing in the dark. For a second Denis felt that twinge of awkward regret that always came the morning after for him. Embarrassment, guilt and a whole host of other things that normally caused him to act like a jerk, usually meaning that sleeping with the same woman twice didn't take place. Prophet Darren called him a sinner in his head for a few seconds before he mentally flipped the guy off.
Fuck that.
OK, so Pegging didn't have the best face in the world and her breasts were a bit smaller than he liked normally. She was also one of the very few people in the world he really counted as a friend. Back in lock up she sang for him and Clark, nearly a world class talent, to help comfort them and pass the time, even though he'd always been more than a bit of a jerk back then. Losing his freedom hadn't helped him fix that a lot. Being rude now would be worse than that even. She'd helped to keep him sane in the first months. Without that he might not have made it at all.
Denis turned into the dark and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
“Hey sweety! I have to go to a show planning session in a few minutes, you can keep crashing here if you want. Um, I'm not very good at this part of stuff, the whole...” Before he could speak a soft grunt came from across the room, slightly derisive.
“The whole “how do I get rid of the monster in the morning” thing? Don't worry, I know the drill. This never happened and if anyone asks I'm not supposed to admit to anything. Thank you for last night though.” Her voice actually sounded grateful, making Denis wince hard. At least she couldn't see his face. Forcing a smile he crossed his arms, foot tapping playfully.
“Um, not exactly what I meant, thanks... I was going for something more along the lines of getting together later. Maybe in a few days so I don't look too desperate? Not that I have to play those games here, since we all see each other all the time. And face it, everyone already knows who I am. If I told them we hooked up they probably wouldn't believe that you'd stoop that low. Makes it harder to pretend to have a full social calendar too, don't you think? Also, don't thank me for sex. Trust me I get just as much or more out of the deal as you do. Probably more. I just don't know the schedule is for the next bit is all. Let's get together and do something though.” There, it had all the hallmarks of being polite and really, he didn't know when he had time for anything. They weren't working him to death, but the plans were kind of irregular. Then most people's lives were here.
“Really? I mean it's OK if you don't want to. I'm kind of used to it. Rare enough that anyone is willing to even... you know. What we did. Even here and this is probably the best place on Earth for a girl like me.”
He laughed a little, it came out sounding harsh, just because his thoughts had turned to Tobin of all people and how he'd been treated in public. Peg had gone silent on the other side of the room, probably, he realized, thinking that he'd been laughing at her somehow.
Oversensitive? That sounded like what would happen. He'd spent his own time doing that, so who was he to judge her on it?
“Yeah, well, anyone not wanting to have sex with you more than once is an idiot. As for the rest, people are stupid in general... Screw 'em.”
Jumping onto the bed he found her shoulders, large and more solid than his own, and pulled her backward into
a hug. Her body was warm, warmer than his by a good five degrees. If she'd been normal this would have led to kissing, given her face that just couldn't happen. Instead, using something he'd learned the night before by accident, Den lightly stroked her lower lip with a single finger. She stiffened at first, then shuddered slightly. When he'd done it the first time he'd thought it had been repulsive to her from the reaction. It wasn't. She loved it and had confided that she could actually orgasm that way if he kept it up long enough.
That took about ten minutes, then he had to run so that Mark wouldn't think he was ditching out on the meeting. Not that he had any great love of planning sessions. Especially before noon. Did anyone though? Really, he couldn't figure out why this wasn't done in the afternoon, but then Mark didn't actually seem to sleep, did he?
He did, but when he fell asleep his protective mechanism would kick in and the whole thing got spent in stasis time, so to everyone else it looked like nothing happened at all. Handy and probably a little hard to live with, because other people slept a third of the time.
The morning hostess in the restaurant didn't blink at his team three sweats and running shoes, the blue and white clothing contrasting with the red and white footwear. They all looked a little like flags of course. Probably the point, some kind of “see how patriotic the IPB is?” move. Given the climate maybe they should get little flag pins too? It kind of made sense. He'd have to bring it up with someone.
Denis saw that at least Kerry, who already sat next to Mark nursing a coffee, looked the same, except the front of her shirt said team two. Mark smiled as he walked up and pushed a very fine china cup in front of him and poured a cup of rich scented black. Sitting he took the warm cup in his hands and held it to his face, first smelling it for a bit, eyes closed, just reveling in how good it was. Then taking a sip, he sighed, knowing it all probably looked a little strange. OK, like he was a freak. Oh, well. Denis smiled gently. It was wonderful and he didn't care who knew.