[ofpipedreams]

[kandacebuchanan]

"It does." Ace’s lips curled at the edges. Not out of humor, but rather, that he had lost track of what day it was. She had seen that within many of the people aboard. It was recommended that the keep up to date with their calendars, but Ace supposed not everybody was as meticulous as she was. "As much as I know you’d love that, that cannot be the case." She realized that meeting with her was like meeting with a dentist. Slow and painful. She couldn’t control it, though. It was mandatory that every single person aboard the horizon meet with her, and she was going to follow her job through faithfully. 

Suddenly, for the first time since grade school, Ace was wishing she could operate when in the company of others. It was easy to ask questions and to observe, but to actually get them to listen to her.. that was another feat. “I’d prefer you to do your relaxing with me.” The words tasted wrong on her tongue, but there was no going back and re-wording them. Fuck. Ace smoothed out her blouse and tilted her head to the side. “Or I will have to report you for not following through with the mandatory set of guidelines given to you when you boarded.” 

[hatefulchild]

The moment the suggestive words were out of her mouth, Vindictus' entire body rang with smug satisfaction. He said nothing but the smile turned into something even more sparkling than the mischief in his eyes. Standing, he bent forward, sticking his hands deep into his pockets and crowding the other doctor ever so slightly. 

"Well, when you put it like that~" he answered flippantly. In the next second he backed off, stretching his hands high above his head, bony fingers lacing together. Groaning and cracking his neck, Vindictus pinched his eyes shut. "You mean that shit I signed? Ha. Just a piece of paper. Like I'd take that seriously." 

When his lashes had parted and the blonde's face swam back into vision, a distasteful expression settled. "You won't leave me alone will you? How annoying. Fine. Let's get this over with. Then, you have to not bother me for a whole nother month." A childish look of seriousness crossed his face. The universe expectantly waited for Vindictus to hold out his pinky. So he did.

[fuckyesbenwhishaw]

[kandacebuchanan]

Raising an eyebrow in response to Vindictus’s words, Ace crossed her arms over her chest. “The last time I met with you.. was last month, I believe.” Tilting her head to the side, Ace stared down at him. She wasn’t going to be pushed away, especially not by somebody who was supposed to talk to her, even if he didn’t want to. The way he treated her made the red flags raise high above their standpoint, and truthfully, she wanted to pick apart the details that made him act as such. 

"I’d like it if you were to take a break and focus on something that might be a little more.. humane?" Had that even been the proper word? No, it hadn’t, but Ace was eager to learn more about her co-worker. 

[hatefulchild]

"Has it been so long then~ My, how time does fly," he responded drolly, eyes going back to his research. "How about we don't meet and say we did?" The only reason he'd even gone to that appointment was to get out of the medical bay after causing a bit of a...mess. Vindictus was proud to say he'd been incredibly evasive the entire time, something he wanted to keep up. 

He had to give a little chuckle at her insistence and again, turning a smile towards her, his eyes twinkled. "Doctor, this is a break. I'm off duty. See? I'm relaxing." The lanky man bat his eyelashes at her as if to say, Look At What A Good Boy I Am. "And genetics are very human." He had to say, so far, she wasn't giving him enough incentive to pay more than a passing attention to her.

[orpheusxx]

[kandacebuchanan]

Scraping her hair out of her eyes, Ace tilted her chin up at the man sitting across from her. What was he playing at? It was clear that he was trying to get a rise out of her. But why? Because he was some kind of comedian? Did he enjoy putting people into uncomfortable situations? “I would, yes.” 

Her answer was simple and short. To the point, which was how she liked to do things. She wasn’t about to raise hell, but she’d be damned if this man was going to get anywhere near her. 

[hatefulchild]

Her clipped answer made him scrub a hand across his face. Alright. So she was good for a momentary laugh. Sadly, a lot of people were fleeting bits of amusement, hardly worth paying attention to after. Vindictus wasn't sure why he'd hoped she'd be different. Still, after all this time, the most companionable person was Wyatt and half the time he still felt like duct taping the boy's mouth shut.

Waving that same hand nonchalantly at her, he replied, "Good thing I'm not gonna say that then. Go bother someone else, Doctor, I have work to do. Genetic surgery research isn't going to just pop into my brain." He waggled his materials at her in a grand show of busy-ness. 

[orsi-curse]

Wyatt glanced up from the cube. “I don’t know what red is.” He slide the cube around regardless and gave a shrug. “My family was too poor to afford any types of surgery. They could barely afford to send me to the medical school I went to. Still going to be paying the debt off probably until I die.” There wasn’t any bitterness in his voice, but Wyatt felt bitter. Poverty wasn’t something he’d ever asked for but had thrust upon him anyway and his family spent most of the time complaining about it.

His gaze rose to Vind, surprised he’d even been asked at all. “Yes, actually. Feel free to bring me back a sandwich, if you’d like.” He said it slowly and carefully, wondering what sort of catch could be behind his words.

[hatefulchild]

Rubbing at his chin, Vindictus mainly just shrugged. To admit to Wyatt that he'd also spent most of his life in poverty felt too human, too weak. So he didn't. The fact that his mother died from negligent medical care stayed secret and he didn't receive pity. Just the way he preferred it. "Oh, isn't that just fun," the doctor said instead. 

Mildly pleased at Wyatt's surprise, he nodded and slunk out of the medical bay, heading off towards the galley in search of a sandwich and whatever he was hungry for. His scant knowledge of genetic surgery played in his head as he bothered the cooks for leftovers so he didn't have to pay.

He returned with a sandwich for the nurse and a bowl of lukewarm soup for himself. "Here," he said, plopping the plate on Wyatt's desk before returning to his own. Swiping his arm, Vindictus removed all the deformity research and began typing things into the main logs.

[orsi-curse]

"Color blind," Wyatt answered in turn, holding the cube up to examine it. Still wrong, even though, could he ever really be sure? "At least, that’s what the doc told my mother." When he was thirteen and done some ridiculous eye examine and they’d determined Wyatt’s heart and his lungs weren’t the only thing wrong with them. He put a hand to his chest and lolled his head to the side to look at Vind. "That you care," he said, thumping his chest, "it means…so much to me."

[hatefulchild]

"The red's off," Vindictus offered, momentarily ignoring his hunger. "What the hell kinda scrub doctor did you go to that didn't talk to her about genetics surgery?" He gave a hard, annoyed huff at the thought, anyone less skilled than himself immediately placed lower. Crossing his arms, he let his hip rest against the desk. He hadn't done much reading on genetics surgery but...maybe the papers on deformity could be set aside for a bit. 

"Fuck off," he told Wyatt affectionately. "You hungry? M'gettin' food." If he still felt like it by the time he got back to the galley, he'd grab a little something for them both.

[orsi-curse]

Wyatt had met a lot of petulant brats in his life, but none really topped Vind. “Mmhm,” he hummed, watching the man kiss his puzzle cube and toss it. “I’m sure it is. You can borrow it for later if you’d like. Keep you nice and happy at night,” Wyatt retorted with a bland expression as Vind slinked away like a wounded jungle cat, kicking the puzzle. Wyatt was struck with the image of a five year old who didn’t get what they wanted for Christmas, those bratty little kids that screamed and whined and yelled until they got their special toy.

Unfortunately for Vind, Wyatt was never too good at giving in to the wants of the pitiful. Instead he turned his back on the doctor, walked toward the cube with leisure, picked it up and found his desk again; content to sit and fiddle with the puzzle despite his colorblindness.

[hatefulchild]

By the time he had reached his desk, Wyatt hadn't even moved for the rubik's cube yet and that was just fine with Vindictus. Rolling his shoulders as he settled into his seat, he went back to the medical papers in front of him. Case study upon case study that dealt with various deformities and attempts to correct them swam underneath his eyes. Every so often a particularly graphic picture would catch his attention.

He'd stop to look then, trying to figure out what the doctor had done and how he'd do it better. The nurse and the momentary need to kiss him was forgotten until eventually the doctor looked up a bit too suddenly and his head swam. Grumbling, he sought around his desk for something edible and found nothing but crumby trash. 

Clattering away from his desk, he glanced back over to Wyatt, still sitting with the damn cube. "Are you just dumb or something?" he asked in blunt curiosity. "Watching you fuck around with that is annoying." It wasn't really as he wasn't paying much attention, but it seemed the thing to say.

[orsi-curse]

It was surprising to have his own flirtations turned around on him, but Wyatt could only sigh again and throw his hand out at him. “No kissing. Strictly against the rules. And if I ever want any hope of getting to blow our commander, well, I’m going to need to keep myself a virginal prince till the end of our trip.”

Most, if not all, of Wyatt’s come on’s were fake. He actually felt little to no desire for…anyone. Or anything really, but that was his nature. If Wyatt had to pick though, Vind would be pretty low on the list. He didn’t mind the joking, but he really did want that damn cube back.

[hatefulchild]

The rejection was like ice and sudden anything he felt or thought he was feeling disappeared in a blink. "Right. Well. Good luck keeping your virginity intact during that sandwich of yours." Vindictus let his hands work on the cube, sliding it round and round until all the colors were messed up again. 

Feeling petulant, he gave the plastic a peck and then gently tossed (which he thought was admirable seeing as he felt like smashing it) across the room for Wyatt to chase after. "That things probably a better kisser than you anyway. Fetch." Hunching immediately over, forgetting the nurse's lecture on posture and blood flow, he slunk back towards his desk. Vindictus used the toe of his shoe to send the cube skittering lightly in another direction.

[iammarlasingerstwistedmind]

[orsi-curse]

Wyatt’s hands continued their work. Over the neck, to the shoulders, lower. It was easy and satisfying, almost in a way. Mostly because Wyatt was actually good at it and who didn’t like to do things they were actually good at?

"What work?" he snorted, sighing heavily. "I haven’t got a god damn thing to do since I fixed Felix’s paw. Oh and well, Zan and Nesh I guess. But they were really easy." Wyatt finally dropped his hands and stepped away. "Alright well, you should be good now. You know what you should do? Go do a simulation of something. It’ll get…blood flow." Wyatt waved his hand and picked up his rubik’s cube, tossing it was Vind. "Fuck that up again so I can try."

[hatefulchild]

He really couldn't help himself. It had been so long since his body uncoiled that every little ministration was unwinding him so quickly he barely knew what to do. Vindictus wanted the nurse's hands to stay forever. If they got tired, he'd steal someone elses and sew them on. "I research." Already he had expanded on the fields of medicine he knew, started new ones...sometimes it wasn't enough.

Wyatt's hands disappeared and the doctor gave a grunt of dissatisfaction. Spinning in the chair, he caught the cube right before it smacked him in the face. Looking at it for a moment, he paused and brought his eyes up. "Kiss me first. Then you can have it back."  

[orsi-curse]

Not surprisingly, Wyatt was actually fairly good at massages. He hadn’t been joking with Zan when he’d invited him over to clean the kinks out of his back and he didn’t half ass it with Vind either, even if he didn’t entirely like the guy. He forced another eye roll down as his hands moved up the mans neck, squeezing, massaging, applying the appropriate amount of pressure where it needed to be. Wyatt was a master in the craft, but he’d never brag about it. Though, part of him wondered if he ever got fired from his day job, if he could take to the massage parlors back home.

He leaned in closely to whispers a “you’re welcome” in Vind’s ear before straightening his back and continuing his massage. “Why’s your back all fucked up, anyway? Spend less time sitting, more time walking. Standing. Take breaks and do stretches. It’ll help.”

[hatefulchild]

The moment that Wyatt's hand started their work, the lanky doctor couldn't help but be satisfied. He knew the nurse's had good hands for this - he'd watched. Probably not when he was supposed to but Vindictus lived at his desk. It was covered with bits of leftover food, rumpled papers and somewhere in the mess was an extra shirt that was mostly clean. He'd just been in the midst of satisfactory grunt when the whisper came.

He wasn't expecting it and that's what made it so troubling. The skin along his neck prickled. His stomach jumped. Vindictus was tempted to jump up and punch the younger man and demand to know what he'd done. Instead, he hissed and cracked his neck. "I'm not used to being so cooped up," he muttered in a hard voice. "Work keeps me from going crazy."

Without room to roam, a forest to hide in and other countries to escape to, he had to rely on his good behavior which unfortunately was slipping. Sitting like a vulture over a piece of furniture only kept him distracted for so long.

[orsi-curse]

It was difficult, but Wyatt managed not to let his eyes roll so hard they fell out of his face. With much sighing, he gestured toward the seat he was previously lounging in. With nothing to do on board most days, the medical staff seemed always holed up in their appropriate medical bay. Wyatt found the stiff chairs and white lights boring as any other. “Well, sit your bony ass down then,” he said, snapping his finger and pointing at the seat.

"I don’t need your help with Lee. I’m already arranging a threesome with Zan as you demand this back massage of me. It’s in the works. We might even get a fighter pilot involved. Make it a sandwich. Sad you’ll miss you," Wyatt said sarcastically as his hands lined up on Vind’s shoulders.

[hatefulchild]

The chair that he plopped into was distinctly Not His and giving Wyatt a little look from underneath this lashes, Vindictus adjusted himself. Comfortable enough, he let his white coat bunch up around his waist, arms and back free of it. Sighing in deep resignation, he returned, "Ah, I will surely die from disappointment." 

The moment that the other man's hands hit his back, a few things uncoiled in him and the doctor began to relax. This was no where near as good as lounging in a tree in France Deux or catching sun in some forested glen in New Highlands but it was enough. "Round the neck too," he mumbled, slumping over the table. A moment of silence penetrated his throat, but then came the last muffled word which sounded suspiciously like thanks.

[orsi-curse]

"If I wanted to fuck,” a twist of his hands, slide the side around again. “I’d find that,” twist, “cute little blond,” twist, “soldier boy. And I’d fuck him. He looks like he needs it.” Wyatt observed Vind with bored eyes as he rose and walked toward him, half a mind to lunge forward and tear the cube from the doctors hand. Instead, he sat like a petulant child with his arms crossed over his chest and watched the man solve it fairly easily.

"I see what you did there," Wyatt said, pointing to the offending cube and then looking to Vind. "And I very much don’t appreciate it." He swatted at the hand that condescendingly patted his head before rising from his own chair. "And what do you want me to do? Pull your arms while you stretch? Walk on your back? C’mon."

[hatefulchild]

"I'm sure he does," Vind agreed. "Too bad about them rules, eh?" They didn't quite matter much to him but that particular one stayed unbent and unbroken. No one on the entire ship got anywhere near exciting him despite his foul language to...well, just about everyone. 

Blinking in slight surprise as Wyatt swiped his hand away, Vindictus brought it back down, forcing another affectionate head pat on him. "What? I'll mess it up for you again in a minute, just rub my damn shoulders won't you? Is that so fuckin' hard? Five minutes, tops." 

He gave a teasing little smile. "I'll let you assist me when I do that cute little blonde soldier boy's physical." Whether or not he would be the one assigned to that was not the point right now.

[orsi-curse]

Once again, the rubik’s cube was beating Wyatt. There was a corner that needed to be fixed somewhere. Another hole in the middle of one side. How the hell had he managed to fuck it up so bad? Hearing Vind’s voice echoing across the medical bay only made Wyatt angrier as he attempted to slide the pieces together properly. “Help yourself. You’re the doctor. I’m trying to—fuck.” One wrong move and the entire puzzle was fucked again.

[hatefulchild]

Letting his chin rest against his hand, Vindictus snorted in sarcastic amusement. "You're trying to fuck? Sounds like you're doing it wrong." Intrigued enough to stand, he quickly made his way around the med bay, soon, staring down into Wyatt's hands.

"I can't exactly doctor myself you know," he said lazily, snatching up the cube from Wyatt's hands. "Just like a shrink can't shrink their own head. Only goes so far." His hands flew as he spoke though eventually the lanky doctor fell silent. After a few minutes he placed a perfectly aligned cube back into Wyatt's hands. "There. All done fucking." 

He gave the nurse a pat on his head. "Come help me."

[hatefulchild]

Groaning in annoyance, Vindictus rolled his cheek to press against the records he had splayed out on the table. Rolling his shoulders, he adjusted his chair again.. Nothing helped. Lifting his head up, he stared across the room towards the nurse. "Wyatt~" he whined. "My back hurts. Fix it."