[log] one direction [closed]

[sharktrash]

Characters: Bucky & Squalo
Location: 122 to maintenance tunnels to 273
Date: 293 morning to 293 night / 294 morning
Summary: Bucky and Squalo accidentally meet ,mug each other and travel together for a day while Imaginary Time starts setting in, because why not.
Warnings: there goes the violence, will update as needed

[ Squalo wakes up with a jolt. ]

[ The nightmare fades, but parts of it still linger in the back of his mind. It was just a dream, right? But what was going on back there? He had no doubts his absence would be noticed by -- ]

[ How long has it been again? ]

[ He can't quite tell. Long. Too long. It feels like he can count back the weeks, months spent in cold hell, but he has no idea what day it's supposed to be, nor recount what exactly he'd been up to this whole time. Wandering aimlessly while everything he cares about is in danger, no doubt. ]

[ He sets off as soon as the lockdown ends, braving through the snow with some kind of newfound, almost manic determination. He needed to get out, he needed to make sure the stupid fucking dream wouldn't turn into reality, and that included moving. He had a few good leads for people currently working on things that could potentially aid their escape -- of course he'd gather several over all this time -- and it was long past time to join in. ]

[ It doesn't take long to reach the building that supposedly held the entrance to the tunnels, though of course it's enough time to get cold, even if he's definitely more dressed than on his first day (including a towel-cape, which means he's got a cheerful dolphin picture spread on his back). He swears loudly and slams the door behind himself, shifting from foot to foot a bit and rubbing his good hand against his arm, and then -- ]

[ Someone was already there. ]

[ Immediately, he falls quiet. A moment later, he moves carefully toward the other room, staying by the wall for cover, listening for any other signs of life -- or danger. ]

Comments

[advanced]

I've told you who I am.

[He's not an idiot and he's usually willing to go down any route that's necessary to secure the information that he wants. He squats down onto his heels and just stares at Squalo out of level, dead sort of eyes.]

That's my part of the exchange.

[sharktrash]

[ Alright, now that blows the smirk off Squalo's face - if for all the wrong reasons. He actually looks a bit taken aback; while pity would require him to feel some kind of empathy for this guy, but it's something in that direction, just more on a "that's rough buddy" scale. ]

You're telling me you don't have a name.

[advanced]

Names are for people, I'm a weapon.

[It's said in a complete matter of fact tone. It's nothing he's ashamed of, he knows what he is, it's been taught to him so well that it's branded onto his brain.]

But you have a name, so tell me what it is.

[sharktrash]

[ Someone's messed up here and for once, it might not be Squalo. He stares back at the other man for a few moments, trying to gauge whether he's speaking genuinely or if this some kind of play of his. "Soldier" sounds genuine enough, but of course one merely needs to be good at lying for the same results. ]

[ Squalo's not. He's got a good deal of pride, though, he even straightens up a bit as much as the restraints will let him, the superior expression firmly back on his face despite the fact that he's bleeding from several places. ]

Every great weapon has a name.

[ He'd rather not give up the little game, but if the other man is telling what he thinks is the truth, there's little else to get with this approach. He cants his head a bit to the side, considering. ]

[ His smirk grows wide again. ]

Squalo Superbia is mine.

[ Bitch you'd better have heard of him! ...except he probably won't be too surprised that he hasn't. As far as most people were aware, no such person existed, after all, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed in his murder job this long. ]

[advanced]

[The Soldier disagrees. The most deadly weapons are the silent ones, the ones that appear like a shadow and kill without trace, with no name to find them by. But he doesn't have the words to philosophise like that, especially not with a stranger.]

How long have you been here?

[Unfortunately for Squalo's ego, the Soldier gives no indication that he's ever heard that name before and definitely doesn't seem impressed, just moving onto the next question without hesitation.]

[sharktrash]

[ Okay but what about, like, Excalibur? Or anthrax? Everyone's heard of them. Squalo would argue that being a legend is no less important than being deadly enough to back that legend up, but evidently they have different opinions on the matter. ]

Who knows? Longer than I'd like, that's for sure. [ No amusement this time, because it feels too real. Ever since that nightmare, he'd been feeling as if he's been here longer than the count of days he can actually remember. It's still vague enough to brush off, but it's already unnerving. ] Time sure flies when you're having fun, huh?

[advanced]

[It's not a precise answer, but it's good enough for now, mostly because the Soldier knows how odd time can be in this ridiculous place.]

Do you have any allies or enemies?

[He's sure that there must be some of the latter.]

[sharktrash]

[ How kind of him. Squalo starts working at trying to pull his good wrist free behind his back. ]

None that I know of. [ This time, the smirk he flashes is more a baring of teeth than anything. ] Though there's at least one guy who seems to think he's my ally.

[ Why else would he have given him his own food, right? ]

[advanced]

Tell me his name.

[He doesn't really need the allies and enemies of this man, but he's obviously dangerous and unstable, so keeping an eye on him seems sensible. The best way to do that is usually to know the web of contacts.]

[sharktrash]

[ LOOK YOU DON'T GET TO GO AROUND CALLING PEOPLE DANGEROUS AND UNSTABLE WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE WITH A BEAT UP GUY TIED UP IN YOUR BASEMENT, JUST SAYING. ]

Give me a rations bar.

[ Look just because he answered one question straight didn't mean he would stop "bargaining" for the day. ]

[advanced]

If you give me the name.

[He doesn't mind bargaining, but he wants the name first and then he'll dish out the payment for it.]

[sharktrash]

[ That makes two of them that want the goods upfront, and that just ain't gonna work. ]

Treats first. Or you could say "please".

[ HE WILL WRENCH OUT SOME CONTROL TO HIMSELF IN THIS SITUATION OR DIE TRYING. ]

[advanced]

[He gets out a ration bar and sets it in eyesight but out of reach.]

Please.

[Utterly flat.]

[sharktrash]

[ Well. ]

[ He did, technically, deliver. ]

[ Squalo still gives him a flat look to match. ]

You're really shit at this, you know.

[ BUT HEY, he got the (extremely un-spirited) "please", so he'll play along. It's not like that information is worth anything to him. ]

He called himself "John".

[advanced]

[Oh dear.

There is only one John that he knows of here, and if that's an ally of Squalo then he's made a big mistake. For the first time since they met, the Soldier's expression alters from neutral to vaguely worried.]

Describe him.

[Please be someone else.]

[sharktrash]

[ Well that's an interesting change. For a moment, he was beginning to wonder if this guy wasn't some kind of a robot. ]

[ Instead of answering, Squalo wiggles a bit to present a pocket of his coat to Bucky as obviously as he can in his current position. ]

Still waiting on my bar, mate.

[ Hand over the food. ]

[advanced]

[He really has been thrown off. Normally he wouldn't have forgotten his half of a deal when he's trying to get information, it was the mention of John that messed with his concentration.

He frowns, but he unwraps the ration bar and holds it out close enough for Squalo to take a bite if he wants to.]

[sharktrash]

Do I look like a fucking baby to you?

[ He mouths off, but still takes a bite because he's been running low even on the goddamn dried kibble, and hasn't had a chance to restock. He'd hoped to do so in the new zone before looking for a way out, but he's gotten hold up. Obviously. ]

Pocket the rest.

[ He says, still chewing because what are table manners. ]

Anyway, he's short and fuckin' brutal, and some kinda combat surgeon.

[advanced]

[Well... damn.

He sets the rest of the bar down on the floor near Squalo, but only so that he can move behind him and set a hand on the cuffs he's used to keep him in place.]

He's an ally of yours?

[He's made a big mistake.]

[sharktrash]

[ The floor. He put it on the floor and there's no telling what that thing was cleaned last. Squalo half-sighs, half-growls and rolls his eyes. ]

He gave me all his food, of his own free will. What would you call it?

[advanced]

[Well, damn.

He undoes the handcuffs and slips them off, stepping back as if that's the end of that particular chapter of the story.]

Then we're done here.

[sharktrash]

...

[ that is totally not the end what the fuck. ]

[ The moment Squalo feels freedom, he's going for some kind of a weird half-backflip that ends with a revenge kick aimed at the other man's jaw. ]

[advanced]

[Rude.

The kick hits him full in the face and sends him staggering back a step or two, but he doesn't show much more pain than that. He just takes up a ready stance and stares him down.]

Fighting is unnecessary.

[sharktrash]

What the fuck's your fucking problem?

[ Well. Way to take all the fun out of the fight. Squalo gets to his feet, fists still at the ready, but doesn't attack again. The other doesn't seem to be keen on it, and this has dragged out long enough -- ]

[ Shit. How long has it been? How much more time was he going to waste? He needed to get out of this goddamn place. ]

...I don't have time for this.

[ He finally says dryly, and goes to pick up that ration bar. ]

Where's my stuff?

[advanced]

You're an ally of my handler, I don't have the authority to detain you.

[He just nods towards one corner where Squalo's things are neatly stacked. He would have gone through them later to see if there was anything useful to be looted, but he hasn't got that far yet.

He won't stop Squalo from taking his things and leaving if he wants.]