poly_chromatic | ♦♦ 16th Contract [Video/Action]

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darker than black - hei

♦♦ 16th Contract [Video/Action]

Nothing's changed here. The usual idiotic curses. The usual whining.

But it beats the alternative.

A poisonous plant to symbolize romance. It fits.

[ 'Li' occupies a bench, legs stretched out before him. His head is tipped back to watch the stars, the curve of adam's apple silhouetted against the dark by a streetlamp. The loose lines of his body, the colder pitch in his voice, telegraph an ennui that is ... not very 'Li.' ]

[ He must be tired. That's the safest explanation. ]

......... I guess the City can expect an outbreak of mononucleosis in the coming weeks.

[ Definitely tired. Or. Something. ]

[ Action: Returning to the City isn't as disorienting as it should be. Not with Hei's frame of mind, or the recent pattern of his weeks. He appreciates the (relative) security of not being on the run, looking constantly over his shoulder. Settling into himself, no longer hyper-aware and jerky, will take more time; his mind still has a transient atmosphere he associates with airports. But when is that different from usual? ]

[ By Thursday, he's made an appointment at the hospital and visited a doctor, leaving with a fistful of pamphlets, prescriptions, antibiotics, and a renewed appreciation for modern medicine as opposed to back-alley stitches and homemade anesthetics. He re-checks his apartments, the safe-houses Underground, his Network Device (any newcomers? departures?) and transmits a message to Mao. ]

[ He doesn't stay home to sleep. Still too wired on slow-fading adrenaline. But after walking a while, he does find a bar, and within that bar, a few shots of bitter. (Bitter in, bitter out, huh?) Hands in pockets, he wanders the City, not sure of his direction, feeling disconnected on the unpeopled streets. It's a cool night; no snowfall. The bed of stars above fascinates him. Settling on a bench, he picks out constellations. ]

[ This is good. Just sitting here and taking in the quiet chirr of crickets, no traffic, no bullets, nothing exploding, just. Imperfect silence. ]

[ Too bad he doesn't notice the sprig of mistletoe hanging nearby. ]

[ OOC: Hei is back from his canon update, with a slight distaste for his now-redundant alias 'Li' -- although he'll continue to derp it up for the sake of security/appearances. If you want to run into him for kissus~♥ feel free. But pls note, he may shove you away/bitchslap, or fluster-&-flail like the fakest of mfers. Reactions are upto you<3 ]

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[As if Hei hasn't had enough company for one evening...

Chekov, being Chekov, managed to identify Hei's location after seeing the network post. He sprints to the bench, unbothered by the cold (of course).]

Li! There you are. I have--

[And the mistletoe takes over when Pavel reaches the bench. Unless Li does something quickly, he's going to be on the receiving end of a kiss.]

[ If Hei were operating on pure instinct, he'd meet the kiss with a swift evasion, a right-hook, or a knee to the groin. In his trade, he's shed names and skins enough times to be effortless with the transition between Hei to 'Li.' But tonight he's flat-footed. Caught in slo-mo. Not enough to be a threat to himself -- self-preservation is always his focal point. ]

[ But enough that the kiss catches him off-guard. ]

[ Something like shock flits across 'Li's face. But his kiss to Pavel isn't timid, or clumsy. It's assertive. Practiced. ]

[ Not very 'Li'. ]

[ Fuck. ]

['Li' hadn't seemed very 'Li'-like in his network post. As if that wasn't suspicious enough--and it was, since Chekov has doubts about Hei even if he has missed him--this kiss is not the embarrassed, awkward affair that Pavel would have expected. This is the kiss of someone who knows how to kiss.

Chekov would know. He has been kissing Lucy quite a lot lately; she's quite practiced.

When the mistletoe allows him to pull back, Pavel attempts to do so.]

[ When Pavel draws away, 'Li' blushes and blanches like a thief. Or a secret bedwetter. A near-perfect display of mortification, either way. His hands fly up to scrub at his face, then drop to fiddle with the buttons of his coat, then stuff themselves in his pockets, as if he doesn't know what to do with them. ]

Ah -- [ He clears his throat sheepishly, ] S-Sorry about that Pavel.

[ He already knows he's slipped up. There's a temptation to drop the charade; he's had enough games for one night. But Hei doesn't operate on rash impulse. ]

[Chekov watches Hei with the same interest as he would something of scientific interest, relatively unfazed by the kiss but thrown off by the delivery. He's all curiosity and well-intentioned concern when he asks:]

Did something happen, Li?

[ Did something happen? He almost laughs. What hasn't happened? Back home, it's as if the sky has swung down to replace the ground. Everything's untethered, sinking into madness. He's running for his life. His team is dead. He's made catastrophic (or right) choices, the ripples of which he still feels, not just back home, but here. Yet for Hei, that weight -- the one he's always been so perfectly aware of, making him second-guess himself, push hard, harder, hardest until he's left every Contractor behind in the dust -- it's lifted now. ]

[ He understands he's not a Contractor. He's just human. With all the flaws and risks that go with one. ]

[ He can't tell Pavel any of that, though. ]

N-Nothing, really. [ A shrug, and a tired but good-natured smile. ] I was pulled out of the City for awhile. I guess the transition caught me off-guard.

[For all of his social obliviousness, Chekov's intuition regarding others is fairly astute. He doesn't believe 'Li' and he doesn't have the training or motivation to hide this. Out of respect for a friend, however, he won't pry.

Right now.]

Did you enjoy home?

[ It might be in Chekov's best interest not to pry at all. Even if he does, training is so ingrained in Hei that lying is simpler than telling the truth. There's nothing about home that he could relate to a civilian. So little that he wants to. ]

It had its, um, high points. [ It did, it did. He won't deny that. There's a pause then, and a slow exhale. ] But I'm sort of glad to be back [ One fragment of truth. ]

[Unfortunately, Chekov's respect for the privacy of others can only last so long. Secrets that are kept from him--even small ones--haunt him until he either learns the answer or starts to pester the secret-keeper to no end. He hates not knowing everything.

For now, it's fine.]

I'm glad you are back, too, even if that is selfish.

[ A smile hitches up of its own accord, more at Pavel's word-choice than the sentiment. The boy is so far away from the compass of selfish, he probably doesn't even realize it. Hei has spent a lifetime around individuals who all but embody the quality. ]

[ Hell, he's one of them. ]

Thanks. [ His look turns inquisitive, ] Has this curse been really bothersome? [ Or have you indulged in quality Lucy-times, hurhurhur? ]

[The smile is misinterpreted as friendliness and, maybe, satisfaction on Li's part because he was missed. And selfishness? No. Starfleet might encourage noble selflessness in its cadets, but it has never been in Chekov's nature to be selfish.

It doesn't always occur to him that not everyone is of the same nature.]

This curse? No. [He looks at the sky thoughtfully. Yes, there was extensive Lucy-snogging, but then he ran errands...] Some of the people I have kissed might think otherwise.

[Which leads right back to Li's oddness. He hadn't been hesitant, embarrassed, or fumbling at all initially. That goes against everything Chekov expects from his friend.]

[ It's people like Pavel, like Korra, that make Hei shake his head. They're not exactly cloistered from brutality and deception. Not in the City. Presumably not back home. Certainly, Pavel must have come across his share of morally ambiguous moments and scrofulous individuals. ]

[ Yet he still seems to have this core belief that people are mostly good and life is mostly sweet. It's mindboggling, but Hei chalks it up to the reality tunnel and doesn't think of it further. ]

Really? [ He makes his eyes all wide. Attempts to redirect Pavel away from the telltale pattern of his thoughts. ] You didn't kiss any cranky old men or hobos, did you?

[Korra might be relatively sheltered, but Chekov has seen a lot more than anyone in the City--even Uhura--knows about. Billions of civilian lives destroyed by a sociopath set on revenge at all costs. A spy willing to kill him his first year at the Academy purely to frame a stranger. The casual cruelty of children who are thrown into a class with a younger, smaller child who makes them look like idiots.

It's not tunnel vision or hopeful thinking. Assuming that others have good intentions is a coping mechanism; being affable makes strangers less likely to lash out and friends more likely to help. Maybe Chekov gets lost in his self-deception at times, but he's better for it.]

Yes, really. [He smirks, but his thoughts aren't entirely derailed. Thoughts about Li are going to keep running around in the back of his mind.] No. Mostly, I kissed attractive young women... and one young man, and Naga.

[ The affability, at least, is something within Hei's frame of reference. That's what 'Li' is, after all. A hologram, all tricks of light and color, crafted to encourage others to talk. But that sweet facade of decency can tear at moment's warning. Underneath there's only a sharp-toothed dark. One which even he is only just beginning to understand the dimensions of. ]

Naga? [ Horrified! ] D-Didn't she bite your head off?

[Chekov can't even begin to imagine the truth about Hei. Can Hei tell that he's bluffing, too? Granted, Pavel's mask is in line with who he really is; it only covers unpleasantness and traits that he doesn't think would be desirable to present company--unless that company is very close. He manages to fool everyone else.]

[He just shakes his head with a smile.] She drooled, but otherwise she was most forgiving.

[ No, Pavel. You can't fool him. Hei has developed an uncanny talent for sensing bluffs and untruths -- or perhaps not uncanny, given he deals with both on an everyday basis to survive. It's tough bullshitting a bullshitter. ]

[ Outwardly, he remains amiable, ] Good to know. [ He shifts then, rising from his spot on the bench. ] You know, it's a clear night today. I was hoping to catch up on [ solitude and stillness ] some stargazing. Maybe we could find a good spot. [ A beat. ] Somewhere without, um, mistletoe.

[ He means to keep an eye on you. Despite the personal impulse to retreat, he knows it'd seem less suspicious if 'Li' hung around for chitchat. ]

[Li's good.]

[The prospect of stargazing goes over very well. But don't think, Hei, that Chekov will forget you for long. He doesn't stop until he figures things out.]

Yes! The mistletoe is sparse outside of the City proper, it seems.

[ Something you have in common with Hei, Pavel: the ability to chew an idea, a concept, a suspicion, for hours and days until it's palatable to your tract of logic. ]

[ Unfortunately, Pavel's figuring anything out won't bode well for him. ]

Then let's head there. [ He smiles cheerfully, ] It's another thing I missed about the City. Real stars. [ Never mind that he'd had a chance to keep the real stars, back home. That he'd forfeited it for a life on the run. Needs Of The Many vs. Needs Of The Few, and damned if he hadn't been a sentimental idiot and chosen Option A. ]

[ Maybe he's not that selfish at all. ]

[Unfortunately, Chekov doesn't know that. If he did, he might be able to shelve his curiosity.]

[Before taking so much as a step, Pavel checks for mistletoe. The coast looks clear.] I cannot imagine living in a world without real stars. They are first things I ever loved, I think.

[ There's something ... honest in the set of Hei's smile. Of course, on 'Li', it just makes him seem less chipper, more reserved. ]

Same here. [ Or, at least, stargazing was the closest he ever came to perfect meditation -- even if the sky back home wasn't real. It was more about feeding the habit than the concept itself, at that point. ] Even so, some people back home claim they don't mind the fake stars. Human beings can get used to anything, I guess.

[ Or, for some, the illusion is all that matters. ]

[That smile is different, but Chekov likes it. Sometimes he feels that Li is trying too hard to be likeable (if he only knew); the touch of truth to it is refreshing.]

Did you ever imagine visiting stars? Real stars. [He adds the last bit hastily, remembering the peculiarities of Li's world. A thoughtfulness overcomes him with his friend's final statement.] You say "human beings" like you are not one.

[It's not an accusation. Pavel's simply curious--and possibly concerned. He has met many people who weren't quite human in the City and liked them very much, but Li is human, isn't he? Distancing yourself from your species is a mark of a sociopath. He has read about these things.

Not that Li would hurt him. His world is very difficult; maybe Li has been through something that has warped his thought processes.]

I used to. When I was a boy anyway. [ Before Pai became a Contractor. Before Hei signed away his choice to ever say No by joining the Syndicate. But he couldn't regret it. Pai was out there alone. He needed to be with her. That was always how the equation stood. ]

Hm? Of course I'm one. [ There's no tension or defensiveness in his demeanor. The opposite. 'Li' sounds almost good-naturedly dry. All these years pretending he's a Contractor, not a human. But he's more like something in between. Not a sociopath per se, but maybe he's lost most of his morals long ago. They must've been leeched out of him bit by bit in Heaven's War, by all the death. The death he'd sparked every day. Or maybe this was just the person he's grown up to be. A soldier, numbed out and ruthless. Someone who'd gone on fighting too long. ]

[ Seen too much disaster too many times to be anything soft anymore. ]

Anyway. There's lots of non-humans in the City. But some of them are way more humane than the people I've seen back home.

I'm sorry that was something you were unable to do. [Because Chekov doesn't know what he would have done if he hadn't made it to the stars. Even in retrospect, his present course seems like the only acceptable possibility.]

No--yes, of course you are, but you speak strangely sometimes. [Says the kid who knows English perfectly well but gets lazy where syntax is concerned. But Li has many peculiarities that Pavel highly doubts he will either understand or understand the causes behind them. For as open as Li may appear, he's exceedingly good at not saying much about himself.]

[If Chekov could just read Hei's mind--but no, he still wouldn't understand. There is a difference between seeing a good deal of death and becoming numb to it when it happens.]

From experience, I think that non-humans are no better or worse than humans.

It wasn't meant to be, I guess. [ Choice and retrospect aren't luxuries everyone can afford. Certainly not children caught up in a war -- or killers who've inked contracts to devil-work in their own blood. No matter what your ideals, survival always comes first. ]

...Do I? [ His laugh is meek, but it's a shrug-off at heart. ] Well, everyone has a unique way of expressing themselves. [ Pause, ] Especially if English isn't their first language. [ Certainly, it isn't 'Li's. The poor doofus struggles to keep up in conversations as it is. (Unlike Hei, whose multilingualism was drilled in by the best teacher -- brute necessity.) ]

Hm. You have a point. [ One he's been contemplating for a while now. His old ideas of humans and Contractors, once so black-&-white, feel like photographic negatives now. Every shade in reverse. ] In the end, it's situational. But to an extent, you could say that about everything.

You have another chance in the City--not to go to space, but at least you can study the stars.

[He nods in understanding. Not being a native English speaker is hard, bro.] I think that you speak it well. Your accent is better than mine. [It would be hard to have a worse accent, although Chekov does manage it when he speaks German.]

Li, I had no idea that you are a philosopher.

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♦♦ 16th Contract [Video/Action]

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