#nanocoffee | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

illumwriting · 2 years

Text

Negotiations

yogtober day 4. Science. Ridgedog, Lalna, Nanosounds. NanoCoffee/Lividsounds and LividDog/Ridgecoffee SFW. 4,092 words.

Nano arranges a meeting between her past mentor, Ridgedog, and her current one, Lalna. To smooth their pasts over and come to an agreement. Canon divergent, relies on general fandom headcanons about Lalna/Yoglabs/Ridge and Lalna attempting to literally dissect the demigod. On A03. Co-written with an anonymous friend. Preview:

Ridge swallows heavily and digs the nails of one hand into his palm, leaving crescent-marks welling with gold just underneath the surface, but not having actually broken the skin. He's very clearly thinking hard about this. About what he's willing to let go of for the sake of making peace with Lalna. What control of himself he's willing to lose.

"No… no tissue samples." Is what he finally gets out, followed by, "But yeah if, if you keep them out, and agree to let me destroy what you took, I'll allow you to take samples of some things."

Lalna doesn't speak for a moment. Sits in actual stunned silence, drowns it by grabbing his coffee and draining his cup. His eyes finally stop being fixed on somewhere past Ridge, and -really- actually look at and over him curiously and optimistically. A combination of feelings Ridge has perhaps only felt come from Lalna at the same time a very, very small handful of moments.

It wasn't hard to get Ridge to come to their base. Nano has simply pinged the admin, told him that she needed a favor, greeted him outside the building, and guided him in. Making sure to avoid walking past Lalna's lab.

And it was easy enough to get Lalna in the breakroom, tempting him with a fresh pack of Jaffa Cakes if he met her there. She'd made sure she had the keys to the one door in and out.

"Nano, what the 'ell!"

That would be Lalna.

"…I did /not/ agree to this, Miss Nanosounds."

That would be Ridgedog.

Nano points vehemently to the three chairs at the break table, and hands Lalna his promised sweets.

"Sit, both of you."

Ridge looks at Nano, looks at the chair with mild disinterest, looks back to her. He had already started to rise up slightly off the ground when he’d seen Lalna. "Can I just? Sit in the a-"

"Boots on the ground. You know the rules, Ridgedog." Nano has yet to stop pointing.

He groans and taps back down, but still doesn't take the chair.

"I'm not doing it." Lalna grouses, mouth half full, cup of coffee in hand. "You've been trying to get us to apologize for years, and I'm saying no."

"For once, I agree with him." Ridgedog is casting looks at the door, and finally he sighs. "But you've locked us in here, haven’t you."

"Yup!" Nano pulls out a notebook and pen, "You two can make good in whatever words you want, but I'm tired of the bullshit back and forth while you all but ask each other to touch again. You're going to set boundaries. Here. Now. So //sit//."

Sheepishly, and with a second, heavier sigh from Ridge, the two men noisily drag the chairs out and dump themselves into them. Coffee cup and pot are placed on the table, along with the snacks. Lalna slouches down in his chair, legs splayed out in front of him; while Ridge sits neatly with his hands clasped between his knees, leaning forward.

They stare at each other in cold silence, Ridgedog stony-faced and Lalna looking more and more uncomfortable, until Nano is done settling into her chair, a mediator between them, ready to take notes. "This is going to be an exchange. Ridge, you give a boundary, then Lalna gives one. If one of you runs out before the other, then so be it. Just keep going."

"Why-" Lalna's verging on sounding like a child, "Does HE get to go first?"

"Because you're going to whine that you can't think of anything, and he's gonna say that you're the one who kidnapped and dissected him first."

Ridge huffs out a laugh through his nose and yanks his leg back to avoid a kick from Lalna. Alright, that’s as good a cue to start as any. "You… know my basic boundary already,” He says, “No samples. Ever."

And Lalna is already scowling. He crosses his arms in front of him and a snap of tense laughter rolls from him. "You're in the laboratory of a scientist, saying he can go fuck himself with his entire hobby and profession, while being a demigod who can shift at will and can play at being whatever he wants."

His tone is sharp because he really does not know how else to talk.

"I want samples. I'm willing to meet halfway somewhere. No ichor, no organs, no whatever the fuck. Only taken willingly, since I have to say it. Skin, hair, other fluids, I'd like."

Ridgedog flinches. The reminder of what he is, of where he is. That he’d been tricked to be here. In the lab. He turns his head away, tucking his chin into the collar of his coat, sitting up slightly.

"I never said that." Ridge mumbles, directly referring to Lalna saying 'You said I can go fuck myself.'

"Doctor Lalna, I don't want you to examine me in the lens of your profession. I want you to examine me for /fun./"

His eyebrows knit together in worry, that these negotiations would stop before they start.

"I have two absolute boundaries. And 'No samples' is one of them. I cannot compromise on this, I'm sorry."

Lalna seems to flare in place, keeping his arms held tightly against him, an on-and-off sneer flitting into place for moments of cruel thoughts and sliding away as Lalna struggles to remain civil and open.

"You're still asking for the process of examining to be left incomplete and unfinished because of your deep paranoia about myself being able to draw logical conclusions about you in any manner in which you do not perfectly control me! Examining leads to questions, questions need research, and samples allow me to do so humanely and efficiently."

Lalna makes a slightly strangled sound, and that scowl etches deep into his face and eyes as he -bites- his own tongue literally and figuratively, forces his phrasing to be less combative.

"What… What if I can take samples of allowed things. While you are present. They stay in sight. You can destroy them yourself at the end of each… session."

"No… no tissue samples." Is what he finally gets out, followed by, "But yeah if, if you keep them out, and agree to let me destroy what you took, I'll allow you to take samples of some things."

"Do clarify what your non-scientific brain classifies as tissue? I already am very aware of your regenerative capabilities, and am going to assume briefly, to speed this discussion up, that you are worried what I might do if I figure that out. It's the key to killing /a god/, to speak plainly. "

Lalna is -not- being malicious. it is the -softest- irritated tone. it is -informative- and -inquiring-.

"If I killed you, Ridgedog, what would I have left to pursue and study? If I put your skin and muscle and organ tissue under a microscope any more than I already have, what do you have to fear if you believe us mortals cannot comprehend the thing that gives you that spark of divinity?"

He’s getting… some sort of strange, affectionate passion in his words. It's certainly still a man who wants to rip Ridgedog apart in a cruel manner for the thrill of it but- These words almost sound… /Reverent./ Lalna has sat up, leaned forward; but the chair under him creaks and he seems to startle out of it.

"…Sorry. Carried away. Ahem. Definition of tissue, please?"

That was… certainly interesting to hear. Ridge isn't sure how to feel about how Lalna just acted. He's, frankly, ignoring all that stuff about 'your tissue samples contain the key to killing you, right?'- instead focusing on what was said after the words 'what would I have left-'

And thoughts are echoing in his mind, of other humans who have expressed obsession with him.

Parvis.

And Ridgedog is really, really damn close to just losing himself in his own thinking again. Lalna leans forward, the chair creaks. Ridge comes back to reality.

He realizes he started staring at some point during Lalna's speech, and averts his gaze again. The fabric weave on the shoulder of his coat is so much more soothing.

"Uh, my… my definition of tissue is one that excludes hair and nails, basically. I will also allow you to take samples of the outer layers of my skin. Full list of things you're allowed is- skin, hair, nails."

"That's agreeable to me." Lalna is back to being awkward, almost defensive as he realizes the ball is in his court, as he realizes it is his turn to set one of these boundaries.

"I have to say something now, huh…"

It -really- shouldn't take him this long to think of something, right? But any action he can think of that he does not want has stemmed directly from something he has done to Ridge first- anything that he might ask for, something that he does not deserve- His expression has shifted, pained and hurt and lost and so uncertain.

He realizes too late that he’s putting all those emotions out there for Ridge to see. Slams back down the shutter to them, tries to collect his scattered thoughts and put something out there that doesn't sound utterly /pathetic/.

"My life. I want this to stay out of my personal life. Nano, Ryth, Xephos- all my relationships. This… whatever we're negotiating here, has to stay in the sterile space of my lab or… //your// homeworld. No one else involved unless we both agree to it. No mention of it outside of this group that is here, present in the building, now."

Oh good! That's a quick, complete answer for Ridge to give.

"I promise. We involve nothing and no-one except for your lab or my world. And if we want someone else besides Nanosounds to have knowledge of this, we have to discuss it. And we both have to agree."

He looks a little more at ease now, slouching forward, back to his previous position. Hands clasped between his knees. His turn.

"I'm sure you can imagine me placing down this line as well, but you will not touch my heart. At any point."

Lalna's not sure why he feels such a wave of relief when Ridge agrees. Maybe it was his brain, instinctively thinking about how Ridge had brought up Lalna's research papers in the past and fearing that Ridge still wanted revenge for those-

Revenge. He should say something about that. In a minute.

"Yeah, no- don't worry. What exactly does that mean for you, so I don't have to suffer through giving another asinine apology after a vicious beating?"

There's a small laugh from Ridge. Not mocking anyone either. Just, laughing at how poorly-planned this whole thing was, how quickly Lalna admits that their past was rife with bullshit.

"Let's see, okay. If you have my chest cavity open and you brush against it with your hand or a tool or something? That's fine! It happens. However, if a hand or tool /rests/ there, for any length of time longer than, let's say, two seconds? /That/ is not allowed. Is that agreeable to you? If I think you touched my heart with actual /intent/, I will react. And this will partially be an instinctual reaction, and for that I apologize."

"Oh, I can work with that." Lalna sounds delighted, being given such wiggle room around something off-limits that he was sure to -brush- the edges of. Ridge's heart was always like that for him, a temptation that sits there and leads him astray down the path away from factual and perhaps actually useful science, into bizarre desire and immorality. Into Mad Science.

It was one of his favorite things about Ridgedog.

"Hopefully keeping our mood light-” He’s settling, actually settling now into how he can be when he's chilled out. "My second boundary is this- No provoking of me like… back then, and certainly -no- things like that. Ever. Mostly for Nano's sake, more than my own."

He's tiptoeing around the words of harsh violence and quite frankly vile details of their actions against each other for the sake of Nano, but Ridge would know -exactly- the lines they had both crossed. Even though they might have previously agreed to, or silently just stopped, or even like just now, are working to deal with it- It worries Lalna enough that he needs this in writing.

A nod from Ridge. Small, short. But an agreement.

"What I do on absolute instinct aside, I will not ever try to… harken back to things like /that./ Neither of us are like that anymore."

He huffs, thinking his words through, "Reacting because you put your hand on my heart for too long is okay; either of us doing /those/ things again, is not."

"But yes, I agree. I will not feed into that part of us. To the best of my ability. Is that agreeable to you?"

This was an important one for both of them, Ridge could tell; and he wanted to give Lalna a chance to refute or amend his statement.

Lalna considers this for a moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek and lips quirking in the way of ‘I thought of something snarky’. He takes a moment to adjust it-

"Seems we can both only guarantee to /try/. Which is fine, yes. My introspections indicate that if… this particular rule is broken, any resulting consequences would be better handled and doled out by Nano." He looks at her, and she gives them both an even look and a nod.

"You both almost done?" She chirps, taking that moment to roll her wrist and check on them both. They'd been talking for some time now, and Lalna's coffee pot was nearing empty.

"Almost, I have several more actually." Ridge says, unclasping his hands for a moment to adjust his cravat, "But they're things I'm much more open to negotiating. Not hard boundaries like those other two."

"I'd need you to ask me every time you want to do these, Doctor, and not try to spring it on me. And I'd need to give my explicit permission before you continue. Don't cut me open, or attempt to view my insides in general, without getting the OK from me."

His hands are back where they were, and he's looking at Lalna's forehead, as opposed to trying to make eye contact. He's feeling more confident, but it seemed to make Lalna uncomfortable last time he tried looking the other man in the eyes. So he doesn't.

Lalna rolls his eyes, and this time the snark slips. "Ugh, really? Do you not know by now I want to cut you open every time you set foot in this building?"

He winces after it comes out- slouches down even further in his chair.

"I mean. Yeah. Sure. I'll ask. You need to ask then too, if you feel like stomping all over me to get your emotions out or doing some awful thing back to mimic what I've done to you. You always go overboard on it."

Well, Ridgedog is no longer looking at Lalna. Time to look at the floor again! A small start passes through his body when he hears Lalna's admission. He may have been aware of the scientist's pervasive desire to cut him open, but it was another thing for Ridge to hear it directly from the man himself. He swallows heavily before speaking.

"Th- Thanks. And yeah, I'll absolutely ask if I'm thinking about doing that. Uh, sorry for 'going overboard' in the past. I know my… reactions can sometimes be disproportionate to the offense."

"And I'm certainly not without blame for getting carried away and forgetting to view you with some semblance of… humanity. On my end."

Lalna taps his foot, a sign he'd like to perhaps not dwell on it.

"Well, that was technically one of mine piggy-backing off yours. Go again."

Ridge looks relieved, finally hearing Lalna apologize for something. It had been irking him, how he’d come in here and been forced to compromise- to find halfway ground for something that Lalna had started, all because of his former apprentices' insistence that they work it out. "The next thing is kinda related to the last one? It's just that, if you write anything down, I want to know that you're doing so."

"Ridge." Oh. Wonderful. Lalna sounds so -whiny-. And he’s absolutely doing it on purpose- using it to cover up the fact that he's saying antagonizing things and making himself seem like a victim here. Never can let Ridge have a moment of peace. "Do you want me to tell you when I piss? What is this?" Lalna waves his hand around the room as if to indicate the thought of his lab littered with notebooks on tables, lined with shelves that house notebooks, waves at the book that Nano is holding- "Here's what I don't write down: the things that don't mean shit to me. If you care that badly, be my guest and read my notes after, but no destroying. You've already made sure that my good name in science is ruined; I haven't been able to publish anything since then."

Ridge’s head tilts slightly at the way Lalna says his name.

"And this is /my/ body we're talking about, Doctor. I will leave your notes intact, but I want to know what you're writing about me."

He leans back a little bit, his arms moving to cross over his chest, and he raises an eyebrow. There is no smile on his face. "Have you considered writing about something that /isn't/ me, actually?"

Nano can't help but -snrk- at that, as Lalna goes back to looking at anywhere but Ridgedog, and a flush works its way across his complexion.

"…No-maybe-no." He whines, "You're my star subject! Everything else is dull, uninspired! There’s a thousand and one things in this universe, and somehow they all can be connected to you-"

"You're doing it again, Lal." Nano taps him lightly on the leg with her pen.

"-A-h--." Lalna hides his face with one hand. "Forget I said anything. You can read my notes, yeah. Go again so I can think of less stupid things to say."

The characteristic eyebrow is raised further, and an amused smile appears on Ridge's face. A noise, probably a laugh of some kind, almost escapes his mouth at the scientist's apparent embarrassment, but he holds it back. His face falls back into something more neutral, and he crosses one leg over the other. "Got it, moving on! Now, these next things aren't so much /boundaries;/ as they are me stating what you are /allowed/ to do. If I am in the lab room, for a session, you are absolutely allowed to study and touch the outside of my body."

"Oh?" Lalna perks up eagerly. Unslouches, just a touch, moves his hand back down to rest on his thigh where Nano had tapped him. "What do you mean, a session? That sounds like the same bullshit as not taking notes. If you're in my lab, you're in my lab."

“You're the one who used the word Session first, Doctor." Ridge takes a breath, a moment to recall Lalna's exact words from earlier. "'-They stay in sight. You can destroy them yourself at the end of each… session.-' That's what I mean. Like, don't bring out the magnifying glass while I'm having a snack in your break room, y’know?" He tries not to think too hard about the way Lalna phrased his last sentence.

"Oh. Right. Lab Session is what I was saying there - if I were cutting you open." Lalna laughs slightly at what sounds like Ridgedog making a joke and talks with his right hand, motioning. "Here, let me make it clear. This building is the base. It's mine and Nano's. Down the hall-" a point to his left. "Are the labs. Mine is labeled, and has several rooms. I can promise your safety outside of there unless you give me the go ahead."

Ridge follows his gestures, nodding faintly. It still makes him wildly uneasy, to know what Lalna does and does not count as his Lab. And that Lalna is using the phrase 'his safety' to refer to not being allowed to touch him. "And I'm drawing a difference between me just existing in your lab, and me agreeing to a session or examination. You may always observe me, though."

"Observations and existing, like now. Exams and sessions like you've seen-" Lalna nods to Nano- "-her do. I can agree to that. I may never go to your world, but similar immunity would be preferred then." He looks into the bottom of an empty cup and at an empty pot and lets out a little sigh. "Personally, I don't have any further limitations that I wish to propose… Easier to work around whatever the test subject wants and play off of that."

"Immunity will be granted. And actually, I just thought of one more thing I'd /really/ prefer if you did." See, Ridge had grimaced slightly at some of Lalna's wording just then. Frankly, a lot of wording he'd been letting slip had made him uncomfortable. But he was willing to ignore them!

Not that one.

"Can you at least not /verbally/ refer to me as 'Test Subject'? That's just rude."

Lalna blinks, has to think for a minute back on his own sentence. "Huh. Sorry. Slipped out, didn't mean it in a derogatory sense just then, so don't get pissed at me. I'll keep that to sessions too." He's starting to get antsy. "Anything else? I really, really need to start a pot of friggin' coffee again. Soon."

"Thanks Lal-/na/." he sighs back, his body language relaxing again. But not too much, as he hopes Lalna doesn't notice how stilted the second syllable of his name had been just then. How almost tacked-on it seemed. How Ridge had almost just called him 'Lal'. Like he would have done before. When they were friends. "And no, that's it really. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head."

Lalna does notice. Softens. Blames the massive amount of talking they've been doing for his next words. "Lal is fine. I was just angry at you still when I told you that couldn't call me that." A long pause. "Sorry, Ridge. Thanks for giving me another shot."

A soft, genuine smile is on Ridge's face now. It's something Lalna has seen a few times before, but not often. "Thanks Lal, for giving me one too."

Lalna lets the niceness sit between the both of them. Tries to meet Ridge's eyes and realizes that the -pleasant- feeling that attempts to wash over him is something he's not quite ready for yet. Stands abruptly, grabs the pot, and beelines to his coffee maker.

"Ok, that's enough sappy bullshit. Ridge, fuck you and your stupid sense of goodwill. Nano, fuck you for bullying me into this. Open the damn door and get out." He's not really that angry, but he needs to let the vitriol out with his back turned as he dumps an excessive amount of grounds into a filter.

Ridge is about to retort, but Nano snaps her notebook shut. "Alright, you heard him. Out you go." The keys jingle as she rises and unlocks the break room door, holding it open it for Ridge and then following him out.

As she escorts him back to the entrance, Ridge is complaining. "That was so stressful, and I /still/ had to fucking compromise on my two biggest, simplest boundaries and-"

Nano puts both hands on her old mentor's back, shoves him lightly over the threshold of the base. "Yeah, but Lalna's happy, and you know he'll stick by his words. Maybe next time you stop by, you two can even manage to hold hands!"

He pulls an unhappy, but friendly face at her, sticks his tongue out. "Sorry, he's your romantic problem now. Just don't -ever- trick me like that again, ok?"

"Never promising! Go home, you big, stupid goofball. Think about all the progress we've made today." They pause, and both look at each for a long moment, a small, silent sadness hanging in the air.

"I'll get him back." Nano breaks it fiercely. "Lal's still in there. Your friend. Don't forget that."

"I don't ever." Ridge gives her a smile, one weighed down with all the things he'd been through, and a small, two-finger salute. "Good day, Miss Nanosounds. Take care." (Of Lal, he doesn't say.)

"Take care." (Of yourself, she doesn't say.)

And then he's gone, and Nano is locking the doors.

#yogtober2022 #ridgedog #lividcoffe #nanosounds #nanocoffee #lividsounds #ridgecoffee #lividdog #yogslash #yogfic #SWyogs

8 notes · View notes