impure_tale

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[Private to Streetcar Cast and Crew]

Unless someone informs me that they are in need of more time, rehearsals and preparations should continue within the next few days, if at all possible. Please contact me if you do not feel confident that you can do this.

[Private to Pavi Largo]

Please tell me how I can help, Paviche. Do you need anything?

[Locked to Wardens]

In what areas might another Inmate be most needed for work? My Inmate is in need of stimulation and a little character-building. Will anyone be aversed to my placing him on the kitchen staff?

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I don't...

...

There are many things I do not understand right now.

Do you want to talk about it?

~~Not with anybody else.~~

...maybe.

I am always willing to listen, Paviche.

I know.

I just do not know why.

You do not know why I am willing to listen?

No. I don't.

Why? What makes you think I would not?

~~I used to think that it was simply~~

You know of the things that I did. The things that I have done even during my time here. And yet you still...

...nobody else...

I do not understand why you do not find me repulsive.

At times, I have, dearheart, as I am sure you have been disquieted once or twice by my own behavior. After the last port, there was a time I did not wish to be near you for a while. As for your deeds prior to coming here -- is it not the truest way of friendships that our bonds with them do not change even when we are revealed at our worst?

[After a good half-hour spent grappling with the F-word]

We are...friends?

Of course we are, Paviche.

Huh.

May I come and see you?

Of course.

Friends. It's still a category that sits oddly with Pavi - he's faintly aware that he befriended Prefect without even really realising it, but he's found that if he takes the effort not to define their relationship then it doesn't bother him. The problem now is that he doesn't have any rules when it comes to friends. He just doesn't know what to do with them. But if the Marquis counts as a friend, then supposes he's going to have to learn.

After a heavy hit of Zydrate courtesy of Q, he's just about over the withdrawal symptoms but still unsure if he wants to be able to feel again. Not after...

Never mind. Better things to consider. He rights himself a little and taps on the Marquis' door.

[The Marquis knows he will have to be careful. If Pavi's Warden feels he is in a state he needs to be in to get better, then he knows he has to be certain he doesn't undo any progress. It's more still that he has to restrain himself than he's felt pressured to do in a very long time, but for once it's not just his own ends that he's concerned with.

He answers the door, pleased that Pavi feels well enough to be up and about, at least.]

Pavi gives the Marquis a characteristically gleaming smile. He's taken his normal care over his appearance, dressing in a flawless dark suit and leaving an embroidered grey shirt open at the throat.

"Marquis, it is good to see you. I may come in?"

Of course, Paviche. [He graciously steps back from the door to allow him entry. He is not in every one of the many layers he would normally wear when meaning to look fully dressed and respectable; his coat is nowhere to be found and his vest is only half buttoned. He didn't really have much intention to go out of the room today anyhow.]

He steps past him into the room, familiar enough with it now to more or less ignore their surroundings in favour of his company.

"I am sorry that I have been...troublesome, of late. There have been certain circumstances, and..." He gives a slightly theatrical shrug, palms upturned. "Of course it has been a source of some distress."

[The Marquis watches him, and though the man is maskless, his body language suggests the presence of one anyway. He's guarded but he tries not to show it.] Troublesome, pet? Not at all. You are an Inmate here; these things are to be expected, oui?

No mask, but a subtle difference: his hair has been styled differently, hanging in curtains to frame his face rather than being neatly swept back. His face is almost wholly hidden from the Marquis when he turns away.

"I suppose this is true."

So if you require a -- comfortable place to settle and ride it out, you are most welcome for as long as I feel what I am doing will help you.
Ça va?

[The Marquis hesitates to sit down, still watching him carefully.]

Tell me what you feel you need.

Pavi hesitates. The Zydrate didn't really work, not in any way that was helpful - he's a creature of sensation, after all, and the numbness that it offered wasn't enough to let him quite escape the aftermath of the Borg.

Sex and pain are still his drugs of choice, but...since when does the Marquis tag their time together with the proviso that it has to help him? Pavi doesn't know what the Marquis would consider helpful and that bothers him.

He sits down neatly opposite the older man, his expression half-shielded by his hair and almost sulky. "I do not know. There is much I do not know about all of this." He frowns. "And I think that my sister is going to leave. I do not need that."

Leave? [This is news to him -- of course he doesn't know as much about Amber Sweet as he would care to, but he did not suspect she was so close to rehabilitation as that, either. That and -- well, she was playing a part in his play; she wasn't allowed to leave!]

"She has become much...better since coming here. I do not like her Warden very much at all, but whatever he is doing seemes to have...worked," Pavi says with vast reluctance. He didn't know if sobering up would let her conquer her addictions, though, and frankly he hoped not.

"However, if she graduates she will not return here, as you did." It doesn't matter what Q said; Pavi is absolutely certain of this. Why bother with the Barge, with her older brother, when she has an empire to reclaim?

Are you sad that she may leave because you will miss her? [It's an honest question, and whatever misgivings Pavi still has are going to be a stumbling block, right? What if he just doesn't want her to reclaim that empire he speaks of? The Marquis does not know.]

It would be an easy lie, of course - to claim that he will not miss her but the opportunity to best his brother and take GeneCo for himself. But it's simply not true, and Pavi's getting worse and worse at lying to the Marquis.

"I know that I should be pleased for her," he says sullenly. "But she is my little sister and I love her. Of course I will miss her very much."

[The Marquis doesn't pry, but his look suggests that he knows this conversation is just brimming with little details that are being left unsaid. But he realizes, watching him, that he hasn't got much to offer right offhand besides some empty platitude -- that it would turn out all right in the end. What did he know?]

If you're certain.

"Mm." Distracted, Pavi pushes back his hair on one side and tucks it behind his ear, revealing the line of three torn, bleeding spaces where his metal clips used to dig in under his skin. He barely remembers doing it; the Zydrate had dulled the pain at the time.

"I would rather for her to be running our company than our brother. I suppose that there is that much to be grateful for."

[The Marquis starts in surprise and moves toward him when he sees what's hiding behind his hair.] Paviche... [He places a hand on his shoulder and with his free hand tilts his face to the light a little more, to examine the damage.] What have you been doing?

Pavi closes his eyes and his breathing stutters a little when the Marquis touches his scars; it takes him a moment to find an answer.

"I...do not know that I am ever going to wear another face," he says, trying to keep his voice neutral. "There seemed to be no point...in still being able to do so."

You've treated this with something, I hope? To prevent them from being infected? [He eyes him expectantly.]

"An antiseptic. I have." Maybe not as thoroughly as he could have done - and with his room still lacking any mirrors, it was a bit more work than it might have been - but it's true. He's not fool enough to want to make his scars even worse.

And your Warden knows you've done this? [He frowns and smooths his hair back on both sides, fingers coming through its softness.]

The younger man lets out a long, slow breath and leans into the touch. "He does not. Not yet. And there is no reason for it to be any of his business." Not a sentiment McCoy would agree with, but Pavi doesn't much care what his Warden thinks.

You are his business, Paviche. Your well being especially. [He touches his chin to turn his gaze up to his.] And you're going to need him in the future.

It's difficult for Pavi to put together a coherent argument at the best of times; it becomes impossible when the Marquis insists on continuing to touch his scars. Not that he'll ever want him to stop.

"Perhaps." God knows he'll be a little shorter on people to turn to if - when? - Amber leaves. He glances down from the Marquis' face, trailing his fingertips lightly over the other man's hand.

Are you tired, Paviche? [It sounds like he's had a long day. The Marquis feels tired just being in the same room with him as a result.]

"A little." He's not been sleeping well, these past few days, and it probably shows. He gives the Marquis a look with a hint of uncertainty. "If...you are asking me to go, then...I will do this."

No. [He moves to stand alongside him, slipping an arm around him from behind.] I have a bed here, you know. As I said, you are free to relax here, or have whatever it is you feel you need.

Pavi's really got nothing in his mental armoury for this. He's still reeling a bit from the concept of a friendship, and on offer with this level of casual intimacy - and seemingly without obligation or expectation - well, frankly it unnerves him. Although it's tempting to sink into the touch, to relax, on the whole it feels easier not to let this one mask slip.

He pulls away, gently. "I think it would be better if I were to return to my cabin. Thank you."

You're certain. [He feels Pavi pulling away and only slightly begins to let him.]

No. He desperately wanted to stay - he was all but addicted to the other man - but this all had the feel of new territory about it and it was just too much, all at once. The last few days had been tumultuous enough already.

"Yes. I am certain."

I need a few more people on the dinner shift.

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