Sujin Park & Kauri Stunzer (@pozerjacket) hired to intervene with the HANKA ROBOTICS & ARASAKA Ghost-Spec Soldier Program & Spider Tank Drone projects.
im throwing this into the wild before it bites me again. enjoy Victoria not being in a Great Place, featuring the darling Kauri who belongs to @pozerjacket
ty for letting me steal your lad for this <3
No Pairing
Summary: Smasher's dead. Victoria's…coping. Not well, but she's coping.
“Hey-hey ‘Tori! How you doing?”
It’s a familiar enough thing; Stunzer’s voice was always as bright as his mood when he was off-duty – and she was yet to be privy to him not in a good mood. He was one of the rare few who could claw genuine joy out of the shithole that was Night City, a skill she would perhaps envy were she a lesser woman, desperately trapped with no means of leaving the city.
But a lesser woman she was not and she certainly didn’t count herself trapped, not with a first-class ticket booked for London. Trading one shithole for another she supposed but when held against Night City, England’s festering heart was a gleaming pinnacle of opportunity and order.
“Stunzer.” She says, sharp and cold as if she was interrupting someone’s stupidity in a meeting—
And really that didn’t seem far off. She did think him idiotic with that stupid smile and aggressively pleasant mood. Painfully genuine and utterly foolish for it.
But not entirely so. Something flips and that bright smile drops into something more presentable, practiced. Professional. Good. She almost forgot that she kept him around for reasons beyond warming her bed.
“I have a job for you,” and she could do without her voice sounding rough to her own ears; the words rasping against her coarse throat, “no fixers, no middlemen. Meet me on the Ebunike in Northside if you’re interested. Maelstrom shouldn’t give you any trouble.”
She cuts the call before he can speak and wonders why she didn’t just send a text.
.
By all accounts she should be impressed with how quickly he arrives considering he was in Pacifica when she called. Both too fast and not fast enough – a frustrating confliction, riling her annoyance either way. Still, she makes a note to pay for whatever speeding tickets he has as the heavy door slides open, stopping two-thirds across with the distinct cha-thunk of old mechanisms catching.
Unlike Adam, Stunzer doesn’t curse or need to force it the rest of the way. The gap is enough for him to squeeze through without awkwardly contorting himself, something she notes without turning; watching his reflection in the glass.
“You should consider fixing that.” He says in way of greeting, his voice carefully dull now; a lacklustre mimicry of a corpo’s professional neutrality. Maybe he’s mastered it to the untrained ear; to the ratty street-scum and dusty sand-walkers he rubs shoulders with on the daily, but it feels merely passable in this space. Missing that crucial cold edge, that underlying and unspoken threat that’s always there if you cared to look: sewn through words.
He ought to fix that.
“Hardly necessary, I won’t be returning here.” She flicks her eyes from his reflection, focusing instead on the case’s contents. The partial frame of the Dragoon is displayed like a trophy, and likely better cared for than even the most prized. The office is empty now aside from it, and still she’s put it off – like prodding at a loose tooth instead of just yanking the damn thing out.
The thought of leaving it had crossed her mind and twisted her guts in turn, made them churn with a bitter acid that burned her throat on its way up. He had taken meticulous care of it and there’s a…need to continue that. For all that she has left of him.
Stunzer hums, nods to himself as he looks around the space that few were ever privy to. “So, did you fry Maelstrom before or after you called?”
“Not long before. Had a good little laugh to themselves when I asked them to leave.” She sighs softly, but her shoulders still drop with a substantial weight. “I wasn’t for wasting an already…limited patience on them.”
“Uh-huh. Does the big guy want—”
“I’m not one to let the wants of dead men dictate how I conduct my business.”
She thought it would be common knowledge by now, that even Arasaka would struggle to hide the death of one of the city’s few living legends. She was sure there was something on WNS News about it— but either she was mistaken or Stunzer has been under a rock.
The soft breath of ‘shit’ pulls her taut, an unpleasant tension tightens in her chest like a fist curling within her ribcage, squeezing at her heart as she clenches her jaw tight. An ache already blooming. She digs her nails into the palm of her hand, but there’s hardly any relief. No stinging pain. Just a vague sensation of pressure, metal against metal. Of all the times to mourn her natural arms…
His hand rests on her shoulder, heavy, squeezing gently in an effort to comfort. Warm in the way only living flesh can be. She wishes it was his chrome hand instead. At least then she could close her eyes and pretend, just for a second. Just a few precious seconds where the past few weeks were nothing but an elaborate nightmare and it’s Adam’s hand on her shoulder – but his finger span is too small, the press of weight too light. Fucking meat.
In the quiet of the room the shing of her claws is loud, enough of a warning that is well heeded: his hand withdraws. Still she glances over her shoulder, lips pressed tight and eyes flashing with the prime of a daemon until he takes a few steps back along with that. Back to that thin veneer of professionalism; Artees the merc. Maybe when she can stomach company beyond wine and a pair of dogs too affectionate to ignore, she’ll reach out for Kauri the friend again. Maybe.
She rolls her shoulder to shrug off the warmth he left in his wake. Adam had been cold the last time she could hold him. His chill had sunk into her skin, deep enough that her natural bones were beginning to ache. Or maybe that had been from holding him – that heavy husk of metal, so damaged there was nothing salvageable.
So said the technician. There was certainly nothing salvageable left of them.
“And speaking of business,” she nods towards the weapon rack, empty now but for a small box. Black, nondescript. The chip within it is equally basic to the eye, notable only for its pristine condition and lack of corporate branding. “You’re going to find the bastard and chip that into their neural slot. I don’t care how, just get into their neck and keep it out of your own.”
“Doubt finding them is gonna be that simple,” she looks to the reflection once more, watching him cross the room to the box, “if they’ve managed to hide from Arasaka.”
“Arasaka is big, we make too much noise when we move. Disturb the wildlife, so to speak. But you?” She turns to regard him, drags her gaze along his body and hums in approval, “You fit right in.” He presses his lips tight, scrunches them towards the left corner of his mouth and damn him, it’s an effort to keep her own from twitching in response.
“Right…still isn’t gonna make it easy to find them, y’know?”
“I’m well aware. Even with the information Arasaka has, we’d have better luck finding a virgin joytoy on Jig-Jig. It’s why I’ve asked you Kauri, and why I won’t be skimping on your payment either.”
This time he regards her, a little furrow in the centre of his brow as he works through her words, looking for some trap, something spoken but meant differently. And maybe that’s a sign that he knows her too well, or that she was too obvious in the use of his name, but the way his fingers curl around the box is answer enough.
“And this is?”
“A hell of my design,” and she can’t help the smile now – feels it tear her lips apart and bare her teeth, “just for them.”
Thank you @ghostoffuturespast for tagging me! I always enjoy reading your WIPs. <3
I actually have some stuff this week! Been trying so hard to get more writing done in my free time, and it's paying off.
Currently still working on filth, of course. But I'm really liking how it's turning out, so here's a couple of snippets from my PWP, featuring NC's best boy, @pozerjacket's Kauri.
No, I haven't figured out a way to tie the story together. Yes, I love it when Kauri manhandles Vox.
Edit: forgot to tag anyone cause I’m a clown, so feel free to post your wips and tag me! Consider yourself booped.
Explicit under the cut!
Excerpt 1:
A mischievous glint; she boldly toes the line. Chrome fingers take possession of his belt buckle, yanking with enough force to intimate her intention. Kauri eyes her with half-mast amber, scarred brow raised in provocation— he’s daring her to make another move, to lay it all out between them, right here, right now.
Vox takes that dare enthusiastically.
The aggression of her plump lips is a welcome surprise, a much-needed release of the adrenaline still buzzing between them. Teeth and tongue she explores his mouth, insatiable in her hunger, months of lustful pining spilling into one kiss. Her body molds into the planes of his, soft, hot flesh against straining muscle, heat exploding between her thighs at his touch. Kauri’s mouth leaves hers to mark the sensitive flesh of her exposed clavicle, tongue snaking out to savor the sweat still clinging to her skin.
“Better tell me now if this is what you really want,” he hisses against her neck, full lips traveling up to her jaw. There’s an implied threat in the steely tone of his voice, one that sends a thrill running down Vox’s spine. Her hand still hasn’t left his buckle so she merely tugs at it in response, mind too hazy with need to formulate words.
-----
Excerpt 2:
His middle finger grazes her swollen clit, cock twitching at the delicious slickness now coating his digit. Vox arches her hips up slightly, purring as the cool air hits her dripping pussy, slit sliding along the length of Kauri’s shaft. He grips her hip with chrome fingers, tongue snaking out to wet his lips as the head of his cock teases Vox’s entrance.
“Beg for it.”
Kauri punctuates his demand with a hard slap across her ass, leaving behind the bright imprint of heavy rings on her flesh. A sharp exhale manages to escape Vox’s lips, pussy fluttering at the impact, but she holds steady.
“Make–”
His hand is around her throat before she can finish her sentence, metal sweltering against her hickey-studded skin.
“Do I sound like I’m fucking playing, V?”
The sudden lack of air sends a rush to Vox’s head, euphoria threatening to crumble her. Carotid thumps wildly against Kauri’s grip as his other hand yanks at the neck of Vox’s top, exposing her plump, stiffened tits. He rolls a pierced nipple between rough fingertips, metal-tipped teeth buried in the flesh of her shoulder, the onslaught of sensations so sublime Vox can feel tears prickling at the corner of her eyes.
“Please, Kauri…” she manages to choke out, stars dancing behind her eyelids. He loosens his grip on her throat, cock throbbing at that deep, raspy way she whispers his name.
“Gotta do better than that, gorgeous.”
Kauri smacks the swollen head of his cock against her ass a few times, leaving behind a smattering of precum across her flushed skin.
