strangetrip | [EP] Frustration of a Caged Animal

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[EP] Frustration of a Caged Animal - OTA

It was Max's fault, really. She had shown him what freedom looked like back home in Seattle and he had gotten used to not having to follow orders or be stuck within the confines of a complex like this. Had she just left well enough alone, he might have at least been okay with the routine here.

Deciding he needed a snack, he walked over to the vending machine filled with chocolate bars and chips and inserted a coin. Nothing happened. He pressed the retrieve button and still, nothing. He gently shook the machine and still nothing. Frustrated, Alec turned to drive his elbow into the glass to break it. Extreme? Maybe. But he was sure it would be satisfying too.

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Alec stood there looking at her for a moment trying to decide if it was one of those moments where a girl was saying it's fine and it really wasn't or if she was, actually, fine. Alec wasn't good at figuring it out. There was a reason why the women did better at psychological warfare at Manticore.

He walked over to the vending machine and faster than a human should be able to move, he jammed his elbow at the glass and pulled it back quickly. The glass shattered. He then cleared out the broken glass and reached in for an assortment of the chocolate.

This time Corbie really was fine, since her fight or flight wasn't reacting instinctively to something she'd wandered into by accident. She knew what was happening and while she did flinch--and wonder who was going to clean that up--she was otherwise okay.

Though she knew not even Mildmay could move like that. "How'd you do that?"

He looked at her while trying to open up a Snickers with his mouth because his hands were full of other chocolate bars. "What do you mean?" He really wasn't sure what as it came naturally to him and forgot other people didn't see it the same way.

The Snickers' wrapper was thwarting him.

Men. Corbie rolled her eyes and took the candy away so she could open the other end with her fingers before offering it back. "Move that fast," she said.

Alec looked more delighted than he should about the opened Snickers and smiled like a kid. "Thanks" He held out the other ones in his hand and then took a bite of his. Yep, so worth it.

He spoke after he swallowed. "It's how I'm made." Literally. "Helps when I have to fight the bad guys."

He was such a kid in the most unexpected ways, and Corbie found herself smiling at him.

She took an offered candy bar, even though she didn't have the first clue what a Butterfinger was. "So like... magic?"

"No." He said it around a chunk of chocolate in his mouth. Delicious. "Science. Like I was literally born to be fast and kick ass."

"Kitty says science and magic are hard to tell apart if you look close enough," Corbie said with a shrug. It wasn't entirely accurate, but for a layman it'd do.

The candy crunched when she bit into it, and while she had no clue what the hell that was in the center she still smiled.

He shook his head. "I don't think so. I got turned into a cat the first day I showed up - pretty sure science can't do that." And he was grateful for that.

That was the kind of magic you always heard about in stories of wizards, but Corbie had never seen it. She had to laugh. "Who'd you piss off?"

"Someone named Lillith. She took offense to me saying magic was real." Because it wasn't where he's from. "Not exactly something I'm looking forward to having done to me again."

Corbie laughed even harder at this. "Oh, Lillith's a sweetheart, you fucked up good."

"Hey!" His hands came up while he still held onto some chocolate bars. "It's not my fault. I just showed up and she wanted me to believe in magic. Not exactly the first thing I'm willing to accept in a weird alternate dimension thing."

She was not about to give up on teasing him, though. "I'm tellin' ya, if you drove her to that, you fucked up."

"Well, I have been avoiding her. It took like a week for the urge to dig through sand went away." Alec did not find that pleasant. He was thankful only the female X5s had the issue with being in heat.

After clapping her hands over her mouth, Corbie managed to keep to giggling instead of braying. "Oh you poor baby," she said, her eyes bright with amusement.

He made a pouty face to her. "You get turned into a cat and see how you like it." He had wanted to catch mice so bad, it was embarrassing.

"Can't imagine who I could piss off enough to have to," Corbie volleyed back, her mouth full of candy.

He wanted to say 'hey, it could happen!' but it probably couldn't because she was super likable.

"Next time I get turned into a cat, I'm going to come and shed all over you."

Corbie grinned at him, entirely unthreatened. "Next time you get turned into a cat. I'm gonna laugh really, really hard. And then I'mma cuddle you."

Well that made him pause for a second, then grin. "Well now that might actually almost convince me to let Lillith do it again to me." Playfulness hung on his voice.

"Mm..." Corbie popped the last of her candy in her mouth and smiled, crossing her arms... under her breasts. "Cats make for good cuddling."

Alec decided if he ever was turned back - and he hoped he wasn't, but - he would use this opportunity to go find Corbie. Decision made.

"You want any more to hoard in your room?"

"Hell yeah," and Corbie didn't hesitate a second before just taking more candy. "Though I also wanna clean up the glass that got everywhere."

He paused. Did she... did she mean him too? He looked at her and felt guilt. Ugh.

"Yeah, I should help, huh?"

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