[RL with Nena]

[bare_my_fangs]

Michael pushed forcefully off the wall outside the infirmary, making his way down the hallway back to his room. Hearing the news hadn't cheered him up in the slightest. In fact, while he was-- was grateful (something that he would never admit to) that he was not getting implanted with that goddamn 'control measure', he was even more pissed off than when he arrived on the Ptolemaios.

It was just like Tieria to fuck around with him like that. To just... issue an ultimatum like that and then expect some sort of gratitude for then turning around and saying 'I changed my mind'. If Tieria wanted him to work with - for his mind whispered - him, then he was going about it the wrong way. Michael felt like a puppet being jerked around on its strings, and it didn't sit well with him. Not at all.

He caught hold of the doorframe, bringing himself to a halt, keyed in the code, and floated inside. Hopefully he could work out most of his anger in there; he was pretty sure that punching out Tieria was against the rules, after all.

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[trinities]

Nena wasn't about to let him run off on his own, not for a second. She rushed down the hall after him and caught the door before it could close, pushing herself inside and tackling him from behind in a hug.

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

Michael didn't know why he thought, for one second, that Nena would let him escape to his room. He really should have known better, especially after everythign taht had happened. Either way, he sure as hell wasn't expecting her to tackle him. He oofed slightly, holding out one hand to stop them from careening into the wall, and turned in her grip so he could hug her properly.

[trinities]

"I'm sorry!" she burst out as soon as he turned around, not letting go. "I'm really sorry, you must have felt like total shit, but no one would have believed we were really going to do it to you unless you got angry! We weren't trying to jerk you around or anything, I promise we weren't!"

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

Michael was silent for a while. He knew that if he tried to say anything straight away, he'd just snap at her, and he didn't want that. Even if he had been feeling kinda betrayed by his sister lately. In the end, she was still his sister.

"You know me too well, sis." he said finally, smiling ruefully down at her, "But that still doesn't change the fact that it was a fucking dick thing to do, and I am so far beyond pissed off it's not even funny."

[trinities]

"I know," she said, not looking up at him. "But we really didn't want to, neither of us did! You should have seen Tieria's face when I pointed out as long as he lied his ass off he didn't actually have to put it in, he was happy as anything!"

She paused, biting her lip. She was pretty sure Michael would forgive her for basically anything she'd ever do, but that didn't mean she could feel good about doing it. "I just really wanted you here, you know? We're supposed to be together."

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

Michael sighed and hugged her tighter. He hated it when she was upset, because he always felt so... so helpless. "I know that, sis. That's the only fucking reason why I agreed to it. You're the only reason why I agreed to it. So I would be able to see you again."

Abruptly, he scowled as his thoughts shifted once more. "And the less we talk about Tieria, the better. Because I am pretty fucking sure I will punch him out if I see him again anytime soon."

[trinities]

She scowled before burying her face in his shirt. "Fine. He's been a total dick but he was happy as I've ever seen him when he figured out a loophole, remember that. He was lucky I was around to be sneaky for him."

But there were more important things to talk about now, such as, "And that was the suckiest month and a half ever, I really missed you!"

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

There it went again: that same sinking feeling he got whenever his sister talked about Tieria. Michael just gritted his teeth and said nothing.

He pushed off the wall with one foot so he could float them backwards towards the bed; he had a feeling they would be talking for a while. "Fucking hell it was awful. I just... couldn't relax with you on another world. And shit just wasn't the same without you there." He flopped backwards onto the bed. "Never again," he said, a note of finality in his voice.

[trinities]

She rolled off of him and curled up against his side, pillowing her head on his chest. "Nope. Definitely never again. Cause no matter how many people I make friends with or whatever, you know you're still the most important person ever, right?"

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

Michael's arms came up around her automatically, the position natural and familiar and something that had been sorely missed.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes; Nena always knew what he was thinking, whether he tried to hide it or not. He didn't know whether she was doing it on purpose, or just unconsciously echoing his thoughts, but to be perfectly honest, he didn't really care all that much.

"Yeah, I know. And you must know that you're the only one that matters, right?" As long as she was happy, the whole world could burn for all he cared. It was the least he could do, after all.

[trinities]

She nodded, half-closing her eyes and relaxing. It wasn't that she was purposely trying to read him; she'd just had years of experience with him, and when your only real connections are with two people for that long a time, you start syncing with their worries pretty damn well.

"We've always got each other, no matter what." And what was unspoken was, as always, that there should be three of them there; but if she couldn't have that, she was going to cling to what she had left as fiercely as possible.

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

Michael felt something in him finally uncurl and relax. Something that had been tensed and on a hair-trigger ever since they were separated. Well actually, it was more like once she left Cross to go and join-- Michael cut that thought off right there. He didn't particularly want to examine that thought too deeply.

It was all too easy for him to sink back into the bed, completely relaxed. "So what was it like out here?" - with Tieria - "You sounded like you were having fun." With Tieria.

Well, maybe not completely relaxed.

[trinities]

She shrugged. "It's a base, you know? Everyone's running around doing important stuff and working fourteen hours a day, you'd think we were attacking someone tomorrow the way--" Tieria works-- "the mechanics work. But I can pretty much do what I want with my free time, so it's not so bad. And there's lots of food, at least, I don't even have to try and cook!"

And her boyfriend was currently sitting in her room eating shrimp crackers and watching hacked broadcasts from Earth, and she had no idea how to work that out so Michael didn't knife him in the head, but she'd do it. Somehow. Possibly by hiding him in her closet.

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

Michael laughed a bit. "Good, because you are shit at cooking anyway. That's probably why they have so much food on board; to keep you away from the kitchens."

He was still grinning when he asked, "So what did you do? You know, when you weren't eating twenty four fucking cups of jello. Why were you one of the first ones to get picked up?" What was so important that we had to be separated for a month and a half?

[trinities]

She punched him in the arm playfully. "Oh, come on, I only burned the ceiling once, no one looks up there anyway!"

Tieria had never exactly told her his motivation outright, but she could figure it out by now. "I help out fixing Drei some, but I don't really do much of the physical stuff, they've got mechanics to burn. It's loads of reprogramming, mostly, and redoing it to run off a new drive, and making sure everything's working right in the base's system, making sure Drei runs right with the backup system they wrote to take the place of Veda..." she ticked them off on her fingers, then wrinkled her nose as she tried to explain what she'd gathered so far. "Whatever we do now, they'll pattern our new units off of. Cause all the internal stuff's gonna be more like the Thrones, but they'll run off the same system as the other Gundams. And I think Drei's gonna be a backup scout unit too, that's why we're fixing it instead of just tearing it down and totally starting again."

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

He laughed even more when she punched him. "You know Cross blamed me for that, right? He totally misses you, by the way."

He nodded at her explanantion, as though she could actually see him doing it. Nena was better at programming than he was; it made sense that she was one of the first ones Tieria picked up. But still... all this drama could have been prevented if he had just been brought back with her.

"So Tieria wasn't lying about new Gundams. What are they like? What sort of upgrades are we getting?"

[trinities]

"I can get away with it 'cause I'm cuter than you~" She missed Cross too, when it came down to it; she wasn't sure what would have happened if he hadn't taken her in, but she was glad she never had to find out.

"Hmm... let's see. Depends on the unit, you know? Like mine's mostly designed for scouting and support, so it's got quicker response time and better particle storage. And I think they're working on something based off those fangs for you, Ian was shouting something about it the other day all excited."

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

Michael grinned; he was ridiculously excited over his new Gundam, especially now since he might be getting his fangs back.

"Huh. Guess I need to talk to Ian then. But won't you get bored just playing support?" And more importantly, they'd fight a lot better if they were together.

[trinities]

She shrugged. "I was usually support for the Thrones, right? It's not like I never get in on the action, so that's fine! I don't have a hard-on for leadership or anything, it's way too much pressure. 'Sides, as long as we get to fight together, right?" she said, turning her head up to grin at him.

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

He grinned back. "True. I don't really care as long as we fight together. I mean, that way I know someone's got my back." His arm tightened around her involuntarily, and he had to force himself to relax again. The last time they were betrayed, three became two; he would not allow them to take Nena away from him too.

"Although," he continued, "having said that, if I don't get to fight, no one's gonna be too pleased. Least of all, me."

[trinities]

"You're definitely gonna get to," she assured him, knowing perfectly well why he'd tensed up. "I mean, we're pilots, it's just what we do, right?"

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

Michael made a noncommittal noise in response. He still didn't quite trust the whole situation, but, well, Nena did, so he was content to just wait and see.

In the meantime... well, he was tired and he was comfortable so everything else could wait. Tieria had better not need them for a while because he was more than ready to go to sleep.

[trinities]

Nena, one of those people who always sleeps better if there's someone she can use as a human pillow, was already drowsy; "I'm gonna stay here," she declared, closing her eyes and leaving no room for argument.

[bare-my-fangs.livejournal.com]

Michael laughed, but it was half-hearted at best, already drifting off in the presence of his sister. "I wouldn't have let you leave anyway." he said, letting his eyes fall shut.

"I missed you, sis." he mumbled, even quieter. He really did hate talking about his feelings, but it was the least he could do.

[trinities]

"Missed you too," she said drowsily, easily dropping off to sleep.