you were such a rollercoaster

james holliday. paieon. it's gonna take a lot more than my med kit to fix up that ugly mug.

[electramina-blog]

            She had the odd and almost irresistible desire to pinch his cheeks but instead she settled for glaring at his stupid smug face instead. “Of course you would, you think with your other head,” her gaze trailed pointedly to a part of his anatomy that she was fond of before skimming back up to his face. “I like usin’ my brain though.” She caught his wrist when he pinched her cheek, unable to resist brushing a fond kiss over his knuckles. “Nah, it just means you’re gonna die first,” she teased.

        “Look, if you can’t pull open the door and you’re Mister Muscles then why do you think I’m goin’ to be able to do it?” she shot back, patting Aegis one more time before putting her down next to Bonnie. Even their dogs liked each other. It was so weird. “Cannibalism will be the way to go,” Mina teased, wiggling her eyebrows at him. “Dunno, do you think you taste like chicken?”

[paieons-blog]

                “I think with both, it’s an incredible skill that’s probably deserving of admiration or some kind of award,” he corrected, striking a semi-ridiculous pose as her gaze traveled over his body. “If you would rather be a single tasker, all respect to you. I’m just efficient.” The smugness of his grin softened slightly at her touch, but he then rolled his eyes at her comment. “Thanks,” he said dryly. “You’re so great at building my self-esteem.” 

                “Are you tellin’ me I shouldn’t have faith in your abilities? Golly, Mina, and here I was thinkin’ you were Little Miss Capable.” Mister Muscles and Little Miss Capable, what a pair. “Oh, nice,” he said, making a face. “I have no goddamn clue if I do or don’t, and you will not be findin’ out, thank you very much.”

[electramina-blog]

              “And thy name is not modesty,” Mina chuckled wryly, folding slim arms across her chest as she watched him attempt to posture to her. “If I give you a little more of that, we’d never have any sort of conversation unless it were directional,” Mina snickered before patting his shoulder. “Oh you poor baby.” A scoff escaped from her lips. “Well, if the shoe fits. You should be behaving, you’re older.” 

             “Hercules would have been able to open the door,” she shot back, as she sat on her bed, cross-legged and holding Aegis in her lap. “Do you think it has somethin’ to do with us bein’ locked in here? I don’t know about you but I’m gonna get hungry sooner or later. Won’t you?”

[paieons-blog]

                “Never said it was.” He smiled smugly, observing her. “And would that really be so terrible?” he coaxed. “I mean, honestly, I would personally be just fine with that turn of events.” He persisted even though he knew it was a lost cause -- call it dedication. “Older and wiser,” he corrected, pinching her cheek lightly as if she were a child. 

                “Y’know, all of your negative vibes are really not helpin’ me out here. You want to give it a try?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and gesturing to the door. “I mean, I didn’t think it was, but I don’t know half of what goes on around here. ‘Course I’ll get hungry. We’ve gotta feed the pups, too--” he paused, frowning. “We better not be in here long.”

[electramina-blog]

              “Enough technology to make the modern medical world cry?” Mina guessed, arching an eyebrow at his petulance and pouting. Damn him for it actually being cute. “I have kissed it better,” she remarked pointedly, her doe eyes trailing down his frame before she smirked. “Now, that was fun. A lot of fun.” She made a face at him, sticking out her tongue. “I’ve told you how I deal with horror movies and yet you still insisted on acting like a cheesy serial killer. Dick.” 

              “You’re supposed to be Hercules, James,” she huffed. “So why isn’t that door openin’? What are we supposed to do in here?” She turned and picked up Aegis, stroking her dog’s fur. “And if you suggest sex in front of the pups, I think their eyes have been scarred enough.” A troubled look crossed her features and then – “Why do you think no one has been telling us what happened to Poseidon?”

[paieons-blog]

                  “That is true. We’ve got shit researchers at Johns Hopkins would sob over,” he said proudly, standing up straighter in an effort to appear impressive. James raised an eyebrow at her next remark. “Oh, I remember. I can always use a little more of that, though,” he told her. “And a little less of that,” he added, a pained look flitting across his features at the though of his poor, poor balls. “You’re my entertainment, what else am I supposed to do? Behave?”

                  “I am Hercules, dammit,” he insisted stubbornly, no matter how much the door refused to move. “I think Bonnie’s had enough, too, haven’t you?” he cooed at his dog, idly rubbing his finger over the soft fur on her ear. The lighter mood disappeared at the mention of the mentor, and James looked down. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But whatever’s happenin’ -- if somethin’s gone wrong or if it’s just secret -- I hope they tell us soon.”

[electramina-blog]

             “Telekinesis, genetic modification,” Mina waved a hastily impatient hand as she took a step forward and away from the chiseled physique of James Holliday. It didn’t do well for her brain when she was around him– things got cartoon-y (as in she saw birds and butterflies and stars and all sorts of cheesy things). “I dunno what they’re teachin’ you in there.” 

             The brunette paused, still suspicious and– “This could be payback for my kneein’ you in the balls. Or me tryin’ to cripple you after you jumped out from behind that corner yesterday.” She fixed her shirt, taking another step towards the door and – “Pry it open, Hercules. I need to get out of here.”

[paieons-blog]

                  “How much technology do ya think we have in there?” he teased, grinning. “That was all in good fun, and you hurt me,” he pointed out, pouted lip giving him all of the appearance of a petulant child. “But if I was tryin’ to get you back, I wouldn’t exactly seal myself in here with you.” He had been a bit obnoxious in his efforts to, well, scare the shit out of her -- but it was entirely too funny. Until he got kneed in the balls. 

                  “Pry it open, sure, I’ll just pry open a door with my bare hands,” he muttered, nonetheless approaching the thing. He struggled to even get a good grip on it -- smooth metal, spy aesthetic, blah blah -- but when he did, it refused to budge, no matter how much he huffed and puffed. “I’m thinkin’ this isn’t as easy a fix as you seem to believe,” he told her.

[electramina-blog]

paieons

[electramina-blog]

The door slid closed while Mina was pulling on her shirt and the brunette paused, a look on her face as she studied  James and – 

“Is this your fault?”

[paieons-blog]

                  “My fault?” he asked dazedly, glancing toward the door. There was no possible way it was his fault, even if he had zoned out for a hot second there because of Mina’s chest alone. James shook his head, as if to clear it of his confusion. 

                 “I’m ten feet away from it. Unless that’s somethin’ new you think they taught me in the infirmary, which would be quite interestin’, but --” He stared at the entrance quizzically, tilting his head. "Scout's honor, wasn't me." 

[odessaaldaine-blog]

After taking a sip from her cup of coffee, Aurora made a face that showed her disgust. “If there is one flaw in Olympus’ unbelievably reliable system, it would, sadly, be the coffee machine,” the blonde said as she poured the entire cup into the drain.

[paieons-blog]

Observing the mentor’s dissatisfied expression, James raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever considered that maybe the machine wasn’t the problem?”

[aetasaurearp-blog]

        “Now I’m a rather benevolent person, if I do say so myself — but to whoever ate my sandwich, you’ve crossed the line, kiddo. It’s only a matter of time before I find you, so might as well ‘fess up now while I’m feeling less  ruthless.”

[aetasaurearp-blog]

[paieons-blog]

“Was it a cold cut? Absolutely delicious? Because if so, that was me, and I’m not sorry.”

[electramina-blog]

Mina allowed herself to be pulled closer to the medical specialist and couldn’t help the genuine smile that spread across her face. “No, that’s cheatin’,” she replied with a wink. “You can’t ask me the same question that I asked you. You’ve gotta do the takin’.”

[paieons-blog]

“Cheatin’?” he gasped, like she’d just mortally offended his honor. “Well,” he began, kissing her quickly, “if it’s what I’ve gotta do, then by God, I s’pose I should do it.” With a wolfish grin, he leaned in again.

[electramina-blog]

“Did I stutter or are you just afraid to take what’s right in front of you?”

[paieons-blog]

“Me? Afraid? Hardly,” he told her, looping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer with a grin. “Are you?”

[electramina-blog]

“And what are you gonna do about it?”

[paieons-blog]

“Is that a challenge?”

[electramina-blog]

“Your pants have to be on fire because that was a lie.”

[paieons-blog]

“My pants are perfectly intact, thanks. This is a serious accusation you’re makin’ here, you know.”

[electramina-blog]

“You just didn’t want to tell the most adorable creature in the world a bald-faced lie.”

[paieons-blog]

“I never lie.”

[agentathena-archive]

“Well then it’s good to know that I can trust you. And yeah, nunchucks, katana. The whole shebang. Courtesy of being in martial arts, like a stereotypical Asian, I know.”

[paieons-blog]

“Who gives a shit about stereotypes, that’s cool as hell. It’s comforting to know that I can solidly add another person to the long, long list of people here that could kick my ass.”

[epiohne-blog]

If she hadn’t just woken up, the way James had jumped damn near clean out of his skin would have been funny to her. Unfortunately for him though, she had just woken up. He had woken her up. 

               And sometimes— most times, actually —Epione didn’t like being woken up.

“Boy, don’t you swear at me.” She told him as soon as the colorful language left his mouth. Her patience was thin, and those words would not float her boat at this hour. 

Standing up, she made her way around the desk with her eyes on James the whole time. “Well since you’re already in here I guess I can’t really kick you out, now can I?” 

                    She could— if she really wanted to, that is.                                        But she wouldn’t. 

“Why are you in here? It’s late.” Epione finally asked after glancing at the watch on her wrist. Truthfully, it wasn’t too late. But she was unused to people coming into the med bay at night unless they were there to bug her— which was rarely ever fun —or because of an actual medical problem. 

[paieons-blog]

Feeling as though he had just been reprimanded by his own mother, James scrambled to right himself. “Shit, I’m sor-- damn it, sorry, mm.” Shaking his head as he cut himself off, he regretted the failed attempt altogether. At this rate, she was liable to ban him from the infirmary for the foreseeable future.

               It would probably turn out better if he refrained from speaking altogether. 

“I would certainly appreciate it if you didn’t,” he agreed. James met her gaze and instinctively stood up straighter as she approached.

               How was it possible for one woman to be so intimidating?

“Bandages,” he managed to get out after a moment, gesturing to the area where they were kept. “I stitched a friend up; the dressing needs to be changed.” He didn’t see what the issue was (aside from waking her up) -- after all, this was an infirmary, and he was a medical recruit. Surely he should be free to come and go as he pleased.

[electramina-blog]

“You liar,” Mina huffed, meeting James’ eyes. “You didn’t even look at him while you were sayin’ that. You were lookin’ at me.”

[paieons-blog]

“Well, considerin’ the fact that you’re the one that can speak English, I thought it was appropriate to direct the message to you.”

[wingbeifong-deactivated20160204]

[epiohne-blog]

The med lab was quiet for once. And when it was quiet, Epione generally did two things; work—which was obviously what she would do if it wasn’t quiet  —or fall asleep while her tests ran.

                 Currently? It was the latter, rather than the former. 

Being a light sleeper to begin with, it was no surprise that when the doors slid open she jumped, startling herself awake. 

“God help me, could you be any more loud?” She snapped at the intruder.

[paieons-blog]

It had been a long day, and James’s eyes were bleary as he slowly made his way down the hall that led to the infirmary. Yawning deeply, he whistled softly as he walked, trying to keep himself occupied. He was supposed to be grabbing more bandages for Luke’s stitches -- they weren’t bleeding anymore, but he still wanted to keep them clean. 

                 God forbid the idiot get infected on top of everything else.

He’d barely entered the room when a loud voice reprimanded him.  James nearly jumped out of his skin -- he didn’t think there would be anyone in here, but obviously he was wrong.

                 “Shit, the fuck?”

His eyes landed on Epione sitting at a desk, looking very angry. He held his hands up in the universal ‘I surrender’ gesture, still standing in the doorway. 

                 “Permission to come aboard, captain?”