( open ) and if i only could make a deal with god

[kovach]

CHARACTERS: takeshi kovacs & you
LOCATION: various locations on the station
DATE: late october
CONTENT: post-mission recovery, eating, sparring, getting high, etc.
WARNINGS: broken arm, nudity, sexual content, and various types of drug use in some prompts

I. PRIDE ( limit to 1 tag-in only, cw: broken arm )   the infirmary

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[ his fight with cheri had turned out pretty rough, and though his sleeve has its advances with neurachem to make him a little more durable than most, it doesn't negate the rough slam of his body against the wall when she'd thrown him with the rough force of her power, resulting in the broken bone of his arm. when they arrive back at the station, most everybody's not in the best of conditions on account of their shared fights, some left better off than others, and though he's more inclined to just pass out right where he lands, kovacs does eventually make his way to the infirmary, still in the bloody, ripped mess of the clothes he arrived in.

he's not exactly expecting anyone to necessarily help him out here, a bit of stubbornness leading him to search around the room for a sling on his own. of course, while the arm is the only thing that's broken, the rest of his body is still plenty aching from the rest of the fighting and he hisses and grits his teeth in the midst of his search, muttering quiet swears as he looks around.

maybe it'd be helpful for someone to lend him a hand. ]

II. GLUTTONY   the mess hall

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[ once he's got his sling for his arm, along with a fresh shower and clean clothes on, kovacs tries to get himself resettled at the station, at least enough so for him to get some rest after the big fight. starving, he heads on over the kitchen, fixing himself a fairly simply bowl of cereal before he goes out into the mess hall, seating himself at an empty table and picking up the spoon in his bowl with his currently only working hand.

if someone ends up sitting up at his table, his eyes peer over at the rest of the large room with plenty of empty seating before raising his brow at his new shared company. ] No other seats, huh?

III. ENVY ( cw: drug use )   the sunlight room

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[ it might be something from that final fight, or maybe it's the way he hasn't had anything to keep himself busy since he's been back, but kovacs finds something pestering in his mind, something about his being here bothering him in more ways than he can really place. it's those times where his mind becomes consumed with old ghosts, visions in his mind that seem more real than they are, and so he chooses to fight them in the only way that's currently accessible to him.

in the bright pink backpack brought over with him from his own world, he carries not only a small collection of weapons but an abundance of drugs as well, some on the little harder side than others.

working like eyedrops, he lets the veuron fall into his eyes, feeling the effects of it work into him fast. in mere moments, he can see the colors of the sunlight room almost completely shift, the trees and the flowers suddenly brightening like a hologram of neon lights, the false stars above turning into lined waves of light circling around as his head sways.

bag still over his shoulder, he spins in place, mouth gaping and eyes wide like he's seeing it all for the first time, bright and mesmerizing. ]

IV. SLOTH ( cw: drug use )   the sunlight room

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[ the hallucinogens aren't the only thing stored in his bag, and when it all becomes too loud, he finds himself seated against the bottom of a tree in the sunlight room, in the late dark of its nights, dropping the contents of a different drug into his eyes, this one with the effects of slowing everything down, everything falling quiet around him, his heart even slowing slightly.

he doesn't need to be high to see her. no, he can always very well see quell like she's right there in front of him, even when he knows she's gone, either as an aftereffect of still being fairly fresh with the sleeve he's wearing or simply because he can never get rid of her in his head — he'd never want to.

to anyone else who might slip by, he'd be staring at nothing right now, eyes focused with his arms dropped at his sides, bag nestled between his thighs, but for him, he can see every detail, every curve of her face as he remembers it vividly, even the sadness of her gaze. ]

I made a deal to get you back. [ he whispers quietly to her, his own eyes damp as he breathes shakily. ] It goes against everything we fought for. Everything you died for. [ with a swallow, his voice is a quiet rasp. ] But I can't do this without you.

V. WRATH   training room

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[ after about a few days to a week, he can feel the changes in his arm, healing a bit faster than the room, bone repairing from a combination of the tech on the ship on his own body's advantages. and after enough time of his own personal boredom and a frustration is being so limited with his limbs, the first thing he wants to do is make sure it's all in working shape.

heading on over to the training room, unicorn bag slung over his shoulder, his decision on practicing with his hands or a weapon is all dependent on who he may end up fighting against. looking to someone else in the room, he gives them a nod. ] Need a partner?

VI. LUST ( cw: nudity )   shared living space with the darkling

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[ one thing he's definitely taking advantage of with all his current free time is sleeping, at least for as much as he can when he isn't fighting the sleepless nights, sometimes paired with nightmares of his past. sometimes, the exhaustion kicks in where he even forgets he shares a room, going to bed the way he's most comfortable — completely in the nude.

if there's a knock on the door — be it for him or the darkling, who shares the other half of the space — he'll wake with a muttered swear, rubbing his eyes and sleepily dragging his legs off the bed. too tired to even think of covering up, and often not even thinking of it much even if he were more consciously awake, he stands and heads over to the door, opening it with a deep squint of his eyes and body fully naked. ]

What do you want?

VII. GREED   anything and anywhere

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( feel free to discuss with me alternative options of the above prompts or something different altogether. if you'd like to discuss a closed starter for me to write, just hit me up on plurk at hepburns or send a pm. ♥ )

Comments

[laviny]

[She raises her beer bottle in salute.]

Yes, that is me.

[She puts her beer down and grabs her bag of chips.]

Not before she messed you up pretty bad, though. [She's not sure if she should feel bad about that or not. About not being faster. It was an intense situation, though, so she decides probably not.] I took the first opening I had.

[kovach]

It wasn't that bad.

[ maybe he's quick at a defense, only because he still can't believe that many people actually saw him get his ass kicked. not that it isn't an unusual occurrence; despite his large size, he's actually a frequent target for getting beat up. he just usually doesn't have that big of an audience for it. not usually.

but it's fine. he survived somehow, even if he's still got the sling now to show the damage. ]

But you did save my ass. All our asses, actually, so thanks for that.

[laviny]

Men are so sensitive.

[Or it seems that way to her sometimes. It's not like she said you sure got your ass handed to you, huh. She could have, but she didn't. She doesn't argue with him, though, beyond that one comment. It's true enough that it could have been worse. He could have had his neck or skull broken. An arm isn't as bad as it could be.

She shrugs a little at the praise and the thanks. She's not sure how to take it. She's not like her sister. She doesn't buy into the hero thing, she wasn't trying to be heroic. The mission just happened to play nicely to her skill set.]

We were lucky. It was the type of mission I have been trained for since I was a child.

[kovach]

Yeah, they sure as hell are. More than anybody.

[ he's very openly admitting to that. men's egos are fragile things, and their pride is often what lands them into trouble or makes things considerably worse. sometimes he's victim to that too, even if he has more awareness of it than most.

but her response gets his attention — training since a child. now, isn't that familiar?

he spins his spoon in his cereal but he doesn't grab another bite. ] They always like to start young. Better for conditioning the body — muscle memory, innate instincts, morph the body into a natural weapon. [ he shrugs like it's perfectly normal. he knows it isn't. ] Same thing happened to me.

[laviny]

Oh, well, at least you admit it.

[She's a little surprised he admits it, actually, but she can respect it.

She is surprised that he seems to understand the child assassin thing, too, though perhaps she shouldn’t be. Realistically, this place would attract a lot of people with that sort of background. There are plenty of regrets to be bargained with when you grow up that way.]

That’s true. [Body conditioning was one thing, but there’s more to it, in her experience.] It’s also harder for children to fight back.

[kovach]

[ the thing with him is that while he'd certainly started young mentally, they'd instantly put him into the body of a man, of a soldier, for training. why use a smaller frail body when you could condition that easily malleable mind in a stronger body to get the desired results?

jaeger definitely took advantage of him when he'd needed a reliable parental figure the most, making kovacs into one of the most ruthless killers for ctac. before he got out. ]

Harder to fight back, easier to be lied to.

[ just a light hearted conversation over a meal, getting a spoonful of cereal into his mouth and chewing. ]