IC Contact Post

[therushingsky]

"Heyyyy, you've reached the head office of the Atlas Corporation, leave a message and your number, and one of our people will get back to you."

Comments

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

But it's my instrument! I wanna join the band!

[Rhys lets himself be pushed back, but when your music is the music of the raspberry, it can be played on anything!

Rhys wriggles his mouth into the palm of Betelgeuse's hand, makes eye contact, and blows another, tiny raspberry.]

Re: [Spam]

[beejfu]

Hahahaha!

[he cackles, shivering in delight, and wraps his free arm around Rhys to roll with him in a hug]

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

[Rhys laughs as well, lets himself be rolled into the other man's arms.]

Okay, okay-- Can I hear your song?

Re: [Spam]

[beejfu]

[he settles down on his back, sitting Rhys up on top]

Right now? I've gotta go get my guitar.

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

Aww, you can't do it acapella?

[Rhys perches on top of Betelgeuse, resting his hands on Betelgeuse's chest, a sly smile crossing his face.]

I could be your percussion section if you want?

[Aaaaaannnnd I hope you're enjoying Rhys's current joke, which is of course, playing Betelgeuse, so he's going to tap out a little rhythm on your chest.]

Re: [Spam]

[beejfu]

Oh my god. Stringbean!

[he laughs and grasps for Rhys' hands.]

All right, all right! Knock it off, you're throwing off my rhythm. I'll sing.

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

I could do you a whole jazz act and all you'd have do do is sit there.

[Rhys insists, but he's not really protesting in earnest. He finally stills, waiting for Betelgeuse to sing for him.]

Re: [Spam]

[beejfu]

[he totally didn't write a song. He stole it from justin bieber and hopes that Rhys doesn't have an equivalent in his universe. What copyright infringement?

But at least he sings it nicely to Rhys, hugging his hand to Rhys' thighs as he sings]

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

[This is a great scam to pull on Rhys, who knows almost nothing of your lame ass ancient earth pop culture, so he's all set to be wowed.

And look, there's a reason why Justin Bieber has sold that many records, good pop is good pop, and it's pretty impressive to be able to sing like that with a guy sitting on top of you. When the song concludes, Rhys leans down to cup the demon's face with his ,hands.]

Okay you twisted my arm. Apology accepted.

[He plants a little kiss between Betelgeuse's eyes.]

That was really good, by the way. I mean, your songs are always good, but that one was the best. And not even just because it was all about how much you need my forgiveness because you love me.

Re: [Spam]

[beejfu]

[he sucks in a breath at the kiss, flinching but in a teasing kind of way. BJ is 100% a Belieber.

And it seems to have worked, so he grins, satisfied and basking in Rhys' attention]

Hey, thanks. I tried really hard to emphasize how sorry I am.

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

Well, message received.

[Rhys reaches down to lace his fingers with Betelgeuse's, drawing them up gently to pin the man's hands to the pillows of his bed.

It's not like he couldn't be thrown off pretty easily, but Betelgeuse put him on top, so he's assuming that the other man is kind of hankering for a little of this.]

Thank you for-- all of this, actually. Coming to talk to me, the apology, the song... it means a lot knowing how hard you tried.

Re: [Spam]

[beejfu]

[he snuggles down, grasping for Rhys' fingers and allowing himself to be pinned. Betelgeuse is totally a bottom in most of his relationships anyway.

But he sobers up, blinking wide brown eyes up at the other, looking less like a demon for a second and more like a nervous, regular person]

Well, I. I meant it. You're worth it, Rhys.

[he breaks the nervous tension with a short chuckle]

Hey, get this; Hange asked the admiral to make me human. Wild, right?

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

Wow, seriously?

[Rhys snuggles down against him, pressing his hands and arms so that he's flush up against Betelgeuse's body, holding him into the bed.]

You must be excited. Oh wow, you're going to have to be way less-- limb break-y and brain-pop-out-y...

Re: [Spam]

[beejfu]

[he grimaces, double-checking to make sure his skull latch is secured. Once he's sure it is, he wraps his arms around Rhys' back]

It's all I've ever wanted. I'm so excited.

She says it's gonna be a few hours, and that was a few hours ago, so it could be anytime now.

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

Woah, wait, so this is happening now?

[Holy shit!]

That's amazing! Oh man-- what's going to change? I guess your tongue, your dick-- you're going to feel so different...

[He nuzzles in close, trying to be reassuring as well as just-- blown the hell away by this:]

And-- whatever it's like, if it's a lot, I'm right here, okay? If you need time to adjust, you've got it.

Re: [Spam]

[beejfu]

YEAH it's happening now!

[he cackles, beaming]

Oh yeah, everything. I'm gonna get working organs, and finally feel temperatures, and nobody can look at my hair and tell what I'm thinking so I can be even more devious and nasty, and I can feel real things!

[he tilts his chin up so that Rhys can snuggle in tighter.]

Also the smell is probably gonna be different, I think humans smell better than demons based on what breathers tell me.

Hey - I'm good, I'm great. What's there to adjust?

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

[Thank you Betelgeuse, Rhys is just going to slot his face right into the nook of his neck.]

Maybe you'll keep some of your powers as well. I mean, you said you were born kind of demonic, right? Man--

[He rubs his thumb over the other man's cheek.]

It just sounds like a lot of new things, and things you've not experienced in a long time. Even if all of it's good it might be a bit overwhelming.

Re: [Spam] - Human Next Tag?

[beejfu]

[careful, Rhys, that neck is scratchy]

Born-dead demonic. I think. I don't know what the fuck I am so I jut keep on trucking.


Hah, yeah, okay. Like, come on. What do you love about being human?

Re: [Spam] - Human Next Tag?

[therushingsky]

I don't know, I don't have as much to compare it to as you do...

[He pauses, trailing metal fingers over born-dead flesh.]

I guess-- I used to like knowing that there was a deadline, coming. Knowing I get to do something with my life. Build something-- and one day, maybe leave it behind for other people to see.

[Glory. He always wanted glory.]

Re: [Spam] - Human Next Tag?

[beejfu]

Huh.

Yeah, I can see that. You wanna build something that's gonna outlast you. Hard to do when you're dead.

[but, just at that moment, the request goes through]

[Rhys is blown back by an unseen force radiating from Betelgeuse as the lights start going crazy and a wind picks up, inexplicably centered around the not-quite demon in the cabin.

It takes all of five seconds but it feels like forever]

Re: [Spam] - Human Next Tag?

[therushingsky]

[Rhys is thrown from the bed by the force of the wind, but he's scrambling to his feet again pretty quickly.

This has to be it. The lights, the wind, like the last big reveal of a stage show...

He has to shield his face a little, waiting for the wind to finally die down, before lowering his hands to look at good newly living boyfriend.]

[Spam]

[beejfu]

Betelgeuse gasps a huge, huge lungful of his first breath, feeling - oh god, actually feeling - the air rush into him. And cries out;

"I'M ALIVE!"

Because when the dust settles around the room, he sure is.

He sits dumbly on his knees on Rhys' bed, feeling around him. His hair is a dark brown, eyes still a bit bloodshot from lack of sleep and stubble no longer flecked with green. The maniac look in his eye is gone, replaced with something far more shocked.

The general shape of Betelgeuse-the-human remains the same, but he's flabberghasted at how much everything feels different now.

"Oh god. Oh god. Oh god, everything is so much. Wait. Hang on. What's that horrible smell? Is that me?"

He pauses to raise an arm and sniff his clothing. And in a smaller voice says;

"Oh god that's disgusting. Wait!" Betelgeuse leaps off the bed,

"I get it now! I feel disgusting! Holy shit, I didn't know how bad I could feel, I....oh god, ow. Ow, now I'm just...so full of shame, and regret, and god damn I didn't actually know that feelings could hit you right here!"

He pounds his chest where his living heart is, and winces.

"Ow. Wait. Ow? That hurt? Why does pain hurt now? All it did before was tickle." His hands move up around his neck to his head where he normally would have a skull seam and there's nothing. His skin is whole.

"Oh god."

Overwhelmed with emotion, he collapses.

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

Rhys's first reaction, honestly, is just to be kind of floored. Betelgeuse looks-- the same but somehow so, so different. Like all his edges are softened, somehow.

When the former ghoul begins to collapse, Rhys darts forward to catch him.

"Hey, hey, no no no no, you're not disgusting and you have nothing to be ashamed of. You have come so far, babe..."

If he can manage, he'll steer Betelgeuse back a little to sit on the edge of the bed, if only to keep him from falling down entirely.

"If you need clean clothes I can lend you a hoodie-- I use fabric conditioner so it'll probably smell kinda boring and flowery, if that's easier right now?"

Re: [Spam]

[beejfu]

"H-hey there, Stringbean." He's caught by Rhys before his head hits the floor, caught up in the other's arms and gives a startled jolt once he's there because Rhys feels warm-blooded to him now.

"Holy shit. Holy shit you smell beautiful."

He starts to cry, getting a little bit hysterical.

"Oh my god you're beautiful. You've always been so kind to me, and I didn't see it before. Oh my god. I don't wanna argue with you because - "

Betelgeuse pauses to gasp for air. Is that a thing he has to remember to do now???

Exhale;

"-because I was so, so shitty to you, and to Bill, and to Hange, and I didn't see it before. I killed people. And I remember how it feels to be killed and oh god. Oh god I'm a monster."

He's bawling.


"And I'm even worse right now because, I mean, here you are, helping me through this very trying, emotional time and it's like, I haven't even EVER asked how you are because I'm a shitty-"

Inhale.

" -selfish person, you know? Oh god. I need to get away from here, I'm no good, Rhys, I suck. And I wanna make it better, I have to make myself better so I can be deserving of - ow. Ow, okay, no one fucking told me love could hurt."

He feels for his chest, pale and scared. Somewhere on the ship, Hange's communicator flickers to indicate her inmate's imminent graduation.

"I have to go. I have to get away from here, you're too bright for me right now, I'm a stupid smelly selfish demon goblin thing and I've been that way for so long and....I h-have to go."

Re: [Spam]

[therushingsky]

"Okay, okay, deep breaths, babe, take deep breaths--"

This is a lot. And Rhys knew it was going to be a lot, but he hadn't realised that everything was going to come crashing in on Betelgeuse quite so hard and fast as this. He runs his fingers through the demon's hair - and god, it's soft in a way that it's never felt before - trying to soothe his racing heart.

"Shhh, shhhh, listen to me: You don't get to choose what other people deserve. You don't get to decide that I'm too good for you or whatever. You're sweet, and you're funny, and you're handsome, and I love you."

He doesn't know if it's enough to stop Betelgeuse from panicking, doesn't know if it's going to be enough to stop him from bursting out the door and running away to see Hange, but he knows that if Betelgeuse is about to bolt, this is the last thing he wants ringing in his ears:

"Breathe, babe, just keep breathing. I love you, I love you, I love you."