Vacationing

[sentryslinger]

[Continuing this thread, in which Spy has convinced Engineer to spend a vacation with him. Fishing, fine dining, and some enemy bonding ensue.


Engineer steps into the elevator, hitting the button for their floor, pulling at his collar to loosen that next button.]

Hey, thanks again for the dinner and the suit. I'll have to put it to use some other time to justify your spendin' money on all this.

Comments

[sentryslinger]

That's right. He was this fella back in medieval times who took from the corrupted nobles and gave it all away to those who needed the money. He was a thief by all standards, but that didn't make him a bad person. Same goes for you, Spy.

[not_onyourside]

Except I am not giving what I have away.

[sentryslinger]

And I guess kidnappin' mercenaries ain't exactly the same thing, but I'll stand by what I said.

[not_onyourside]

I just do not want anyone to end up dead at zhe end of zhis job.

[sentryslinger]

If wishes were horses.

[He leans back a little more, getting very comfortable. Looks like the day and the wine are catching up to him.]

[not_onyourside]

Zhan we would have a lot of horse. And I do not know how to ride. Alas.

Een any case. I zhink today has been a success. Time for well deserved rest, oui?

[sentryslinger]

I'd say so. I'm about there as it is.

[He slides under the blanket, his towel coming off as he does. He just tosses it to the floor and buries himself a little deeper in the sheets to make up for the lack of clothing keeping him warm.]

G'night, partner.

[not_onyourside]

[Spy grins. Guess he won strip poker after all.]

Bonne nuit.

[He snuggles into his bed, wrapping his arms around his pillow and burritoing himself into his blankets.]

[sentryslinger]

[Engineer is sleeping well for a while, the gears in his head ever turning, whatever he's seeing behind his eyes manifesting itself in slight movements of his Gunslinger beneath the blankets. The mechanisms of the device whirr and click together as his builds his dreams.

He can only get so far with one Gunslinger, though. He'd do even better if he had two. Then maybe he could build something to solve those problems for which even he has no solution. Not yet, anyway. There has to be some way to get the mercenaries out of the graves they've dug for themselves.

And so he looks down to his mechanical hands and with them builds one hell of a gun- it towers over the battlefield, protecting his nest, keeping his team from being torn apart by anyone sent from the administration.

His legs grow weary as he gets older, though. It's hard to keep building when your legs give out on you. He'd be better with mechanical ones, like his hands- hands for building the future, and feet to walk him there.

And then he has a complete set of mechanical limbs, ones able to carry more metal than before. The guns he can make are the height of technology; however, he can't build them forever. His own heart and mind will only last so long before they give out, organs running down like the clockworks of an old machine. He hasn't taken as good of care of them as he should have; now he'll have to replace them, too, and while he's at it, the skin and muscles that encase them.

And now, he's nothing but machine, with nothing left to call human, nothing but cold steel and eyes that can't see the world the way he used to. He has outlived his team, and they have outlived their usefulness. After all, if he can build himself a body of steel, why does he need them at all? All he needs are his own weapons, his guns- and now, they're more his kin than anybody has ever been.

And as he watches his monstrous gun spray his team with bullets, he snaps awake, sitting up as he grits his teeth together. His Gunslinger flexes and twitches wildly, still reacting to his nightmare- he grunts as he yanks it from the plug midway up his arm, the metal fingers going lifeless as he tosses it aside.]

[not_onyourside]

[Spy, always a light sleeper, bolts upright at the clunk from Engineer's dismembered arm hitting the ground, looking around wildly for the source.

It's dark, but he can make out the outline of Engineer also sitting in bed.]

Engineer? What ees happening?

[Were they being attacked? Had the administration found them? His fingers found the revolver tucked under his pillow, the ivory grip cold against his ungloved hands.]

[sentryslinger]

Nothing, Spy. Nothing's happening. Everything's fine.

[He wipes at the sweat on his brow, his hand going back to the metal plug on his arm as he tries to ignore those phantom pains in his limb.]

Go on back to sleep, partner. Didn't mean to wake you.

[not_onyourside]

Are you sure?

[The missing limb is lost to the darkness, but Spy can see that Engineer is still sitting up, hunched over.]

Do you need anyzzing?

[sentryslinger]

[He shakes his head.]

I'll be fine. It'll pass in a minute.

[not_onyourside]

Very well.

[He tucks the gun away again, settling back down into his bed. But his eyes are trained on Engineer, unsure if he was telling the truth. Spy himself had been in that situation dozens of times, insisting everything was fine after waking from some nightmare. Every claim a complete lie.

He opens his mouth to say something else, only to stay silent, unsure what comfort he could provide.]

[sentryslinger]

[Another minute of silence passes, one only punctuated by a few, uneven breaths as Engineer manages pain like an expert. He finally relaxes, sighing as he reaches down for his Gunslinger. Back onto the stump it goes, the fingers flexing properly, carefully, purposefully.

Even then, he stays sitting up, his mind turning with his thoughts as he looks down at his hands, one of machine and one of man.]

[not_onyourside]

[Spy is still watching him, not sure what to do, or even what had happened. The rain outside pelts down with a vengeance, the sound of it hitting the window drowning out any sound Engineer might have made.

He can see that Engineer isn't laying down though.]

Would you like to talk about eet?

[sentryslinger]

[He hesitates before answering, his immediate inclination to insist Spy go back to sleep; however, that's not solving the problem. Not that there is a solution for this one.]

It was just a nightmare, is all. My arm sometimes acts up when I get those.

[not_onyourside]

Does eet hurt?

[sentryslinger]

Yeah. A lot.

[not_onyourside]

Oh. I am sorry.

Does eet feel better eef you take eet off?

[He sits up again so he can look over at Engineer.]

[sentryslinger]

Nah. Keeps it from goin' haywire, though. I've torn up a bed or two like that.

[not_onyourside]

Oh.

[Well that's only mostly terrifying.]

[sentryslinger]

Haven't done that in a while, so I wouldn't worry about these.

[He puts on a weak smile in the dark, as though that'd help him.]

[not_onyourside]

[Spy can't see that, but he can hear it in his voice. He hesitates, before climbing out of bed and going to sit by Engineer.]

I am not concerned about the bed.

[sentryslinger]

[He sighs.]

I know.