Rise in Revolution (Chapter Six)
Mar. 22nd, 2016 06:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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saladloveNo?
Well, here it is anyway. :P
Chapter list: https://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/650.html
World map: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Kaldri
Chapter Six
Void in the Habit
Kyir’s house, Sector IAL. January 6, 2272. Time instance 842N.
Kyir groaned as his alarm clock beeped angrily from his nightstand. He slammed his hand into the button to silence it before sitting up. He rubbed his eyes and put on his shades, looking over at the calendar. He sighed, reminded that it was Monday, and quickly got dressed before heading downstairs and into his workshop.
He sighed when he saw an unconscious figure lying on the floor next to the workbench. He stepped over and knelt, shaking Fan’s shoulder gently. “Fan. Fan, wake up. You’re passed out on the floor.” Fan groaned and didn’t move. “If you don’t get off the floor then I will place more and more pieces of heavy machinery on you until your spine snaps.”
“That’s really unnecessary.” Fan mumbled, refusing to open her eyes.
“It kind of is, especially when you’re PASSED OUT IN MY WORKSHOP! I went to bed at four in the morning! When did you sneak in here?”
“Umm…” Fan’s eyes blinked open. “Don’t know?” She sat up but groaned and held her head. “Right. That’s why I don’t drink.”
“Did you sneak into my workshop while drunk off your ass?” Kyir demanded, crossing his arms.
“All of my dealers are in jail and my stock’s run out! It was the next best thing that I could afford.”
Kyir grunted. “Whatever. Have fun with your hangover at work today.”
Fan paled. “It’s not Monday, is it?”
“You bet it is. Now get out.” He stood and stepped around her to retrieve his toolbox.
Fan swore and scrambled to her feet, shooting out the door. Kyir rolled his eyes at her and followed just enough to shut the door behind her before turning to his workbench and stretching.
He could get some work done before breakfast.
~~~
Gali was, as was quite often the case, the first to arrive late in the afternoon. Kyir glanced out the open door- he had forgotten to close it after lunch- and nodded slightly in response to her cheery wave on her way to the Black Market. Devan followed not long after, which was surprising, as sometimes he had to work quite late in the medical center.
Kyir shrugged, supposing that it hadn’t been a very busy day. Hawk and Sub, who were currently in the education system, showed up shortly after Devan did, and soon the miners were trickling in as well, followed shortly by Jimmy. Kyir took little notice of who specifically came in when, as he was still working hard to repair some machinery. He had been working hard over the weekend so he supposed he could stop, but he had never really known how to take it easy regarding his work.
At least he enjoyed it.
He spaced out for another hour or so before he heard someone step into his workshop and his head snapped up, eyes narrowing at Fan as she waved. “Hey, Kyir!”
“What is it?”
“Just wanted to see how you’re doing. You don’t ever take breaks and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out down in the Market. People are wondering where you’ve been- you only show up when Tanadin makes you.”
“I’ve been busy.” Kyir grumbled, pulling the screwdriver away from what he was working on. “Surprise, I have a life.”
“Not much of a life if you spend it all in a workshop, working on other people’s things.”
“Not much of a life if you spend most of it high or drunk. How much alcohol have you had today, Fan?”
“None.”
“Yet.” Kyir rolled his eyes behind his shades and got back to work. “Go downstairs or leave, Fan. I don’t have time to deal with you right now.”
Fan made an upset noise. “You need to take a break. Come on! Spend some time with the peasants.”
“Are you counting yourself among the peasants?”
“If I do will you come down?”
“Not likely.”
Fan sighed and leaned against the doorframe. “You’re no fun.”
“That’s my job.” Kyir raised his right hand and flicked his fingers at her, sending a small spark of electricity her way that died out before it hit her. “Go. Shoo. Begone. I might show my face downstairs but only if you fuck off.”
“Fine.” Fan turned and walked away, pretending to be offended.
Well, she was probably only pretending. Kyir didn’t really give a shit either way.
Eventually he set down his tools and went to wash his hands in the sink in his workshop, deciding to humor Fan and head down to the Black Market for a little while, at least. She was probably on her way to bug him again, anyway, and it would shut her up for a few days. He carefully shut the door to the workshop on the way out, knocking gently on the wall and waiting for Cap’s soft voice to ask for the passphrase.
“Where does freedom live?”
“It’s my own damn house.”
“What’s the passphrase, Kyir?”
“I can’t believe I need to know a stupid password to get into my own basement.”
“Kyir…”
“In our hopes, our hearts, and our dreams.”
The door slowly opened, admitting Kyir into the Market. Cap shut the door behind him but didn’t follow him down, sitting in her seat near the lever with a book. She was often in charge of the door, although almost everyone took shifts.
“What brings you down here, grumpy-pants?” Mars asked as Kyir stepped into the room.
“It’s my basement.” He told her immediately. “And Fan was pestering me.”
Mars frowned. “You’re not giving into her demands, are you?”
Kyir snorted. “No. I just figured I might as well confirm that I’m alive.”
“Not like we haven’t seen you around. You were handing out explosives like candy over the weekend.” Zahnra remarked from where she sat at one of the stands, sharpening a dagger.
“You shut the hell up.” Kyir shot a glare at her, then turned it to Mars. “I’m still mad about that, by the way.”
“Oh, come on! It was a decent plan!”
“Not really. The second plan was far better.” Gali told her. “I just didn’t want to spoil your fun!”
“Second plan didn’t go too well either.” Kyir reminded them. “Scott’s gone.”
Gali sighed and her shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I know…”
“Don’t remind Clash of that.” Mars mumbled. “He’s upset enough as-is.”
“Do you really think he’s forgotten? Do you really think anyone forgets that their significant other is missing?” Kyir demanded, small amounts of electricity sparking behind his shades.
“No, I just…”
Kyir moved past them, leaving Mars mumbling excuses. He went to the back of the room and sat down at an empty table, crossing his arms. He sighed and, after a moment, reached up with his left hand and gently rubbed his scar.
“So the great mechanic joins us at last.” Geek set down her book and raised an eyebrow at him from her seat. “Fan finally pester you to hang out with us?”
“Unfortunately.” Kyir removed his hand from his face.
Geek shook her head slowly. “That girl. She has a thing for you, you know. You may want to deal with that before it becomes a problem.”
“Hmph.” Before Kyir could formulate any other response, he heard Sub shriek and looked up before realizing she was giggling. She took a half-step away from Fan, grinning at her.
“That’s really cool! Teach me how to do that!”
Fan grinned and shook her head, her normally blue-green eyes a blazing yellow color. “No good magician hands out their secrets.” When she blinked, her eyes were back to normal.
“But...but…” Sub pouted.
“It’s simple illusion magic.” Geek told her. “Fan is skilled in minor illusions and anyone with any magical talent can learn very simple ones, such as momentary change in eye color.”
“Oooo!” Sub bounced up and down.
“I would have thought a magician of your power would know that, Sub.” Tanadin teased from the table she was sitting at, where she was playing some kind of card game with Jimmy, Emma, and Devan. Devan seemed to be struggling to hold the cards in his talons.
“I focus on the more practical arts.” Sub sniffed. “Like foreseeing the future!”
“The future?” Emma questioned, raising an eyebrow. Kyir noticed that she looked very tired, likely because today had been her first day at the mines. He had been down there more times than he could count, but he had never worked there and never wanted to. It looked like dull, backbreaking work, but at least they could find the emeralds that they used as currency.
“Yes! I’m a mystical oracle. Want me to tell your fortune?”
Geek snorted quietly, going back to reading. Clearly she didn’t think much of fortunetelling.
“Don’t encourage her.” Tanadin mumbled, glancing at Emma. “She’ll give you the vaguest possible thing and then get really excited when it's right. You know, the ‘you will find something valuable’ but she won’t say how or when. You might misplace a pen and find it later and she’ll insist that she foretold it.”
Before Emma could response, Devan gently tapped the table with his talons. “It’s your turn, Tanadin.”
“Oh, right.” Tanadin set a card on the growing pile in the center of the table. “One seven.”
“Bullshit.” Emma smirked when Tanadin shot her a death glare and took the pile. “I have three of the sevens and I’ve been paying attention- Jimmy has the other one.”
“I hate it when people track cards.”
“You’re just mad because you’re awful at it.” Devan told her, laughing, and set two cards down. “Two eights.”
The game continued, but Sub continued to talk to Fan about magic until she boasted that she was probably the strongest magic user there.
Geek set down her book and looked up. “Are you, now? I was unaware of that.”
“Yep! I’m so good that the Mainframe doesn’t even know it, so I don’t have a collar.”
“Mhm.” Geek sounded unconvinced. “If you say so.”
“Do you doubt me?”
“I don’t doubt that you’re magical, but I doubt you’re stronger than either Sadie or I am.”
“Then...I challenge you to a magical duel!”
Geek shook her head. “No. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me! My magic will nullify your magic and you will be helpless before me.”
Kyir raised an eyebrow. “Can she even cast nullification magic?” He asked quietly, more to himself than anything.
“No.” Kyir looked to his left at the voice that was immediately forgotten, seeing the dark figure of M. “She doesn’t.”
“Look.” Geek stretched her wings as she spoke. “Sub, I don’t want to hurt you. You can’t override my magic so easily.”
“C’mon! Just one spell each? I’ll even let you go first because you have that collar.”
“Knock her down a peg.” Kyir suggested quietly, so that Sub couldn’t hear him. “She’s getting irritating.”
Geek sighed and got to her feet, holding the Nethernomicon in her arms. She followed Sub into the main part of the room, when Sub turned to face her, readying her hands.
“Whenever you’re ready!” Sub bounced lightly on her feet, and Geek nodded. She held the Nethernomicon in her left arm and thoughtfully licked the claw of her right index finger. She casually opened the book and flipped a couple of pages before pausing, reading the words and dragging her claw gently across the page, following the lines of runes. Suddenly her claw froze and her eyes snapped up from the page to lock on Sub, and a slight grin crossed her face.
She made a flicking motion, and Sub was thrown backwards into the wall. Geek mumbled a word to create a cushion of air behind the younger girl so that she wasn’t injured, instead only hitting the wall hard enough to knock the air out of her.
Sub sat on the floor, eyes wide and gasping for air, as Geek snapped the Nethernomicon shut. “Your turn.”
Sub raised a hand but almost fell over, head spinning slightly from the hit.
Geek giggled evilly before turning around and walking right through the wall, tailtip creating small arcs in the air behind her before it vanished as well.
Kyir burst into hysterical laughter, and a few others chuckled as well. Several people got up to make sure that Sub was alright and only shaken- which she was- before they went back to what they were doing.
Kyir shook his head slightly as Sub got to her feet and stumbled over to a chair near Fan, mumbling something about a lucky hit. He ignored Fan as she looked at him, smiling slightly.
He was annoyed that he had allowed himself to laugh in front of pretty much everyone, including Fan, but he decided that it probably didn’t matter. Most of them had seen someone get a chuckle or two out of him before, and he supposed that he was such a vindictive asshole anyway that they deserved to see a less douchey side of him.
A smile threatened to spread across his face, showing itself in the twitching of the corners of his mouth.
Nah. I’m always a douche. He got to his feet and left the Market, heading to bed.
His main motive was to spite Fan, but sleep sounded good as well.
As he went through the door, he didn’t notice Cap watching him, nor did he notice the quiet voice that whispered into Cap’s ear.
“He never changes, does he?”
“Never.” Cap mumbled, shutting the door behind him.
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Date: 2016-03-22 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-22 11:53 pm (UTC):P
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Date: 2016-03-23 03:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-23 11:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-23 01:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-23 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-24 12:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-23 07:28 am (UTC)"Where does freedom live?"
"It's my own damn house."
It's really funny, even three times later. (Yes, I read it that much.) I can't wait for more!
-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: 2016-03-23 11:25 pm (UTC)^^
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Date: 2016-03-24 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-24 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-24 07:46 am (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: 2016-03-23 08:11 am (UTC)would love to see more of her c;
nahhhh i kid, and i love what you're doing! nice to have a filler chapter showing the slower side of things in the black market
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Date: 2016-03-23 11:26 pm (UTC)shady sadie checkin in
Date: 2016-03-23 11:59 am (UTC)Re: shady sadie checkin in
Date: 2016-03-23 11:26 pm (UTC)Re: shady sadie checkin in
Date: 2016-03-24 12:52 pm (UTC)