entrailsandkaijudrifting

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

((Vintage fic from The Old Blog!))

He wasn’t surprised Newton showed up. He’d been expecting it, bracing himself for it. What did surprise him was how quiet his colleague was being. Usually when Newt was upset or nervous, he had a tendency to ramble. Today, he’d followed Hermann out to the train platform without a word.

Hermann shifted a bit uncomfortably under the weight of his second bag. “Here, dude, let me take that,” said Newton.

“No, Newton, it’s…”

“Let me take it. Your knee’s going to get stiff as it is from sitting for…” Newton took the bag off Hermann’s shoulder without so much as a by-your-leave. “…however the fuck long it takes to get to London.”

Newton’s hands brushed against Hermann’s shoulder as he took the bag. Hermann tried not to wince away from the touch. He wasn’t sure he succeeded. Don’t. You’ve made your choice, Gottlieb, time to stay the course…

“You’ll be fine,” said Newton abruptly. “I’m surprised schools aren’t falling over themselves for you already.”

“Hmm.” Honestly, the potential jobs waiting for him in London had been the last thing Hermann was worried about. “A few universities have made me some promising offers.”

“See? There you go.” Newton wasn’t looking at Hermann. He had his gaze fixed on the train tracks. “Tell me who hires you, I’ll let you know if their math nerds have some kind of rivalry with our math nerds.”

“MIT is definitely taking you back, then?”

“Well, there’s nothing official, I mean…I haven’t, I haven’t actually asked yet?” Newt shifted from one foot to another. “But they said I could have my job back when this thing is over, and, well, it’s over.”

Over. No movement from the Breach’s previous location, all the loose ends tied. There was no more space in the world for people like Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb. So back to academia they went, though perhaps with a bit more clout behind their names than before. And with some other things changed, added that irritating voice in the back of his head that always sounded a bit like Newton. The most infuriating part was that it wasn't wrong. The job offers hadn’t concerned him, nor had his lack of a definite, permanent place to live in London. What was concerning him was…

“Everything goes back to the way it was, huh?”

Hermann stared at Newton. The man was still looking out onto the train tracks. The purposefully blank look on his face was shockingly painful to witness. “I…”

A train pulled up the other track with a deafening clatter. Newton finally looked at Hermann. What?Even if Hermann couldn’t hear him, he could read Newton’s lips.

Hermann shook his head, but waited until the train had stopped to speak. “It was nothing. I was just thinking out loud.”

Newton didn’t look away. They just stared at each other for what was only a few moments, but felt like much longer. Newton had that look, the I want to say something but I know if I do you’ll start yelling look. Hermann almost asked him for an explanation. Newton, it’s all right, you can tell me…

The clattering of the departing train threw off Hermann’s train of thought and broke the moment. Newton was the first to look away. That bothered Hermann more than it should have. “Were you going to say something?”

“Nah.”

Now it was Hermann’s turn to look at the train tracks.

What was concerning was that he’d been living alone for a week, not speaking much to anyone in the PPDC, but instead focusing on finalizing the London move and finishing up his reports on the Breach. And it was only here and now, with Newt standing quietly next to him, that he had stopped feeling so wound up. Everything felt normal,blessedly normal. That was concerning.

Everything was going back to normal? “Perhaps not,” Hermann said quietly.

“Huh?”

“I said, ‘what’s it like at MIT?’”

Newton clearly didn’t buy the excuse, but he humored Hermann. “Pretty awesome. Boston’s a great place, little crowded, but you know, you get used to it. I love it.”

“I’m sure.” Hermann glanced Newt’s way again. “I submitted a proposal for a dissertation on abstract mathematics to MIT before K-Day.”

“Seriously?” The confession was enough to get Newton to finally look at him again. “Did they accept it?”

“They did. I probably would have gone if it hadn’t been for the attacks.”

Newton smiled. Hermann was startled by how relieved the gesture made him. “Weird…maybe I would have seen you around…”

“It’s possible. Do you think we would have liked each other a bit better if we’d met that way?” Hermann added with a wry tone.

Newt snorted. “I dunno, man…I mean, I was just starting to feel functional that year, you would have just missed all that adjustment to meds and the crying.”

“Well, thank God for that.”

Newton’s smile only lasted for a few seconds more before he looked away. Why did that frustrate him so much? Hermann fought the urge to grab Newton’s shoulders, shake them, tell him to just look at him, damn it. “Maybe I should try again,” Hermann said.

“To get another phD? Yeah, I mean…that works, too.”

“Do you think they’d accept my proposal again?”

“Who, MIT?” Newton glanced at him briefly, almost hopefully. “Sure, definitely, I’m just…”

There was that silence. There was that blank look. “You just…gotta do what you want, man. Whatever makes you happy.”

There it was.

“The phD might.”

“Sure, but that depends on how you feel about cities.”

“Boston wouldn’t be the first city I’ve lived in.”

“Sure, but…then you’d have to put up with me being in the area.”

“Newton…”

“You deserve a break, dude, it’s been like how long?”

“What if that didn't matter, Newton?”

“Wh-” Another glance, another lengthy pause. “Of course it does.”

Hermann could slap him right now. He seriously considered it. In the end, he decided against it, but he did step directly in front of Newton. Look at me, look at me. “Do you really think things can go back to normal?” Hermann asked, perhaps a bit more earnestly than he would have normally, but it was Newton. The only way to get this through his head was to say it directly. “That some things wouldn’t be different?”

“It’s…” Newt stepped back. “Hyperbole, dude…what’s up with you?”

What was up with him was that he hadn’t looked at apartments, not due to lack of time, but lack of motivation, that his job offer letters had been sitting at the bottom of a stack of papers for weeks so he didn’t have to look at them, that even buying the damn train ticket had felt wrong…

“You don’t like that I’m leaving.”

Newt’s eyes widened. Hermann could see the denial forming, and he killed it with a withering glare. “No, I don’t, I don’t…” Newt swallowed hard. “I don’t. Fine. But what am I supposed to do, say,  'Hey, Hermann, want to come with me to Boston, it’ll be fun’, that would be fucking nuts…”

“Did you think about asking me that?”

“Wuh…well, yeah, but I didn’t. knew you’d say no…”

“Newton.”

“What? You would, because, because I’m a pain in the ass and you have bigger things ahead of you, stuff that’ll actually make you really happy, and you…” Another train pulled up, but Newt just shouted over him. “You deserve something good after all this shit, something you actually want…”

“How do you know this is what I want?” Hermann shouted back.

“You’re going, aren’t you?!”

Hermann didn’t answer. Newt’s eyes widened slightly. “Now you decide to become perceptive,” Hermann grumbled irately. Judging from the look on Newton’s face, he hadn’t heard. “How do you know I would say no?” he added aloud. “You. Didn’t. Try.” He emphasized that last word with a sharp prod to Newton’s shins with his cane. “You didn’t try.”

“I…” Newt swallowed his words and glanced at the train. “This one is yours.”

Damn you, Newton Geislzer. “Newton, do you want me to stay?”

“What?!”

“Do you want me to stay?”

“Yes!”

There. It had been said. Newton was looking at him now, green eyes wide and afraid. Hermann barely noticed the look. That one word had been enough to throw off the balance of pros and cons he’d been working on for weeks now. His mind was re-evaluating things, then and there beside the train tracks. It was completely ridiculous. Completely.

But then, when hadn’t his life been ridiculous lately.

As the last boarding call went out, Hermann realized he had made his decision. Stay the course, Doctor Gottlieb.

When the train pulled away, Hermann was still standing on the platform.

Newton stared at Hermann, then at the retreating train. “That was…”

“I know.” And Hermann found that he felt slightly liberated at the sight. Then annoyed. All that planning he’d put into this trip…

You didn’t want to take it anyway, said that Newtonian part of him.

Oh, be quiet, he told it.

But, again, it was right.

“You’re covering the cost of that ticket,” he said aloud. The sentence came out in a heavy, irritated sigh, but he was sure the look on his face made it half-hearted ire at best. The slowly-forming, completely ecstatic grin on Newt’s face didn’t help in that regard. “Well, come on, then. Let’s go.”

Hermann left the station and Newton followed, with the bag still slung over his shoulder.

#but you have heard of me (fics)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

Kai scoffed dismissively. “There’s lots of stories, all over the world. Birds aren’t the worst thing we’ve been mistaken for. We’ve always been able to sing.”

Since he didn’t seem to be coming closer, she very carefully pulled the rest of the clothing on and stayed where she was against the wall, more sulking now than outright cautious. “Are you going to get them to put me back in the fucking box?”

He was super tempted to say yes. But even with the monstrous rage still coursing through him, Newt wasn’t completely irrational. “I won’t put you back in the box if you don’t knock me out,” he said carefully, “and if you agree to sit down and talk. Man to...uhm, mermaid this time. Not through the glass.”

That was probably not the best plan, but if it got results, then he could ask forgiveness later.

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

She was not any more soothed by the human look returning to his eyes, and her own remained far too wide and yellow-green and reflective as she stubbornly yanked the shirt over her head. 

“I figured that out on my own, thanks,” she retorted, pulling at the fabric where it snagged on her few remaining scales. Still scowling, Kai added, not caring if he knew it was a lie or not, “And I wasn’t going to kill you. You were supposed to sleep, like them.”

She jerked her head toward the unconscious guards, slumped against the wall where they’d fallen.

“Yeah, I don’t have an explanation for that, either.” After a pause, his eyes widened. “Wait...so are you telling me that you’re like...I thought sirens were bird-ladies, not mermaids.”

Had the Greeks fucked that up, or were there two species that sang men to sleep and or their doom?

But also, why the hell was he basing his assessment of things on what the Greeks said? Must’ve been the lingering exhaustion.

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

Kai bared her own teeth in immediate response, still viciously sharp as her change was not quite complete. Despite the threat, however, she was still thinking clearly enough to realize this wasn’t going to get her what she wanted. As much as she wanted to rip his throat out, she had no idea how many more people were between her and freedom; what were the chances she could take them all out before they found his body? And how many more were like him?

With another spiteful hiss, she released him, backing away and curling against the far wall with the clothes still clutched tight to her chest. “Another mutative property of yours?” she snapped.

Newt scrambled into a crouch once she was off of him. There was something distinctly animalistic about his body language, the hunch of his shoulders, the way his eyes fixed on her. “Something like that,” he growled back. A few blinks brought some of his human intelligence back to his eyes. He stayed crouched because it seemed to be getting more results than going Pure Science.

“If you’re thinking about running, we’re in the center of the facility. You won’t get far. You really won’t get far if you try to kill me...”

And really, what was it with sea creatures trying to fucking kill him?

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

From her perch, Kai assessed the situation again, still on edge from the unexpected development, and decided to take her best chance. She was valuable to them, if they’d kept her alive so far and sent someone to try and communicate–hopefully she was more valuable alive.

Taking up her singing once more to give the guards another dose of lethargy, she gathered together her still-damp limbs and pounced, landing hard on Newt and pushing him to the floor beneath her to pin him there. He had no weapons that she could see, and she had several, even in a human shape.

“Sssstop,” she hissed at him, switching easily from song to words. “Whatever you’re doing to resist, stop it. I don’t appreciate being argued with by a scientist.”

That really pissed off his Kaiju Brain.

Unfortunately for his Kaiju Brain, Newt had the physical prowess of a potato, and this was clearly an oceanic predator. Newt still struggled weekly against her weight, his freckles glaring up threatening as his words came out in a half-asleep but still pissed snarl.

“How about you stop trying to hypnotize me...”

The snarl was accompanied by a snapping of teeth, a thinly veiled threat that he would and could bite. He’d done it even before the whole Kaiju Brain thing.

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

The gentle crooning caught in her throat as Kai froze, still crouching atop the ladder, the pile of clothing clutched tightly against her torso with hands not yet fully dulled from their claws. She spared a quick glance toward the two guards–both were out, lolling where they stood as the song lingered in their minds–but Newt wasn’t.

At the back of her neck, Kai’s skin tightened where sharp spines should have been, and she answered the growl with a low hiss of her own. Other predators resisted the song much better than prey, sometimes as well as a siren themselves. He was supposed to be prey, and being so close to him now, like this, in this shape and still trapped, was hardly better than being in the tank after all.

She stayed where she was, ready to jump off the ladder, to scream into his ears, to tear his throat out if she had to. Whatever it took to get out of this and back into control.

Another snarl tore past his lips. It was accompanied by his body moving forward, lurching awkwardly as though controlled by puppet strings.

Unfortunately for Newt, and perhaps fortunately for Kai, that lurching caused him to loose his balance and start falling down the ladder.

He caught himself, barely, but now he was halfway conscious, most of that conscious was kaiju-angry, and hanging onto the ladder for dear life. He was also blinking rapidly, like he was trying to clear the sleep from his eyes.

What the hell is going on, he thought, so vaguely that it was more a flat thought than a question.

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

Even as he backed away to give her space, Kai had her eyes locked on the tank’s lid, wincing now and then as her tail’s elegant undulations became more stiff, inch by inch. By the time the mechanical cover finally began to retract, the distinct traces of leg bones jutted from beneath her scales. She had to give one last agonizing kick with what was left of her fins to heave herself onto the edge of the tank…but even with the effort, she came up singing.

The keening lullaby was a simple one, just the long lilting notes, finally free to resonate without glass and steel to dampen it. A song for rest and weariness and carelessness, to soothe and dull the senses. Not as potent as it would have been in the depths, but enough to keep any of the humans in this room from being able to keep her here a moment longer.

Kai’s singing didn’t waver as she perched on the edge and swung her newly-remade legs over, the last of her scales still fading from the tender flesh. The ladder was cold and hard on her feet, enough to be painful, but still she sung, and reached for the clothes to take from Newt. Maybe once she was dressed, she’d have a bite…

As far as he could tell, this was how it went down.

She started to come out of the water--he could hear the splashing. Along with the splashing came the sound of singing. And after the singing, he started feeling drowsy.

And then, so quickly that it gave him whiplash, the part of his brain that was scarred and stained blue from the kaiju kicked in.

A low, rumbling growl came out of his throat. He still didn’t look at her, and his body was affected enough that he was looking precarious on the ladder. But there was something else in his body language: the tension of a predator protecting its kill.

Or the kaiju part of his brain protecting the rest of his brain.

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

- @jistring

#long post #this place is heaven (save) #i did it a little bit yeah (crack)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

“You won’t have to,” she replied, only a little scornfully. “I can manage.” 

Still tracking his movement closely, Kai moved to follow him where he placed the ladder, bobbing low in the water before finding another grip near the lid. It wouldn’t be pleasant, navigating a ladder with such freshly split legs, but no worse than a rocky shore. Already her scales were fading down her torso, leaving more brown skin where the murky green vanished. “Just open the lid and at least make them turn around,” she added, nodding toward the guards.

It wouldn’t matter, really, once she could sing clearly enough, without the glass and steel in the way, but still.

“Oh, yeah, of course.” Newt turned around, and raised his eyebrows. The guards were already turning around, looking uncomfortable. Newt moved down the ladder enough to give her the room, holding out the clothes with one hand and staring Not At Her as he waited. If he was tempted to speak, it was for the purely scientific reasons of wanting to see actual shapeshifting in action. Water-reactive, maybe, or could she do it just...on command? He made the mental note to ask once she had pants on.

(Hopefully he’d remember to ask and the question wouldn’t be buried by a million other questions, but whatever.)

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

Though she knew she was in no place to be picky, and thus didn’t say anything, Kai’s expression made her opinion on the clothes he produced quite clear. It was better than nothing, but only barely. “Not that I know of. Maybe in some of the bigger rivers–open water is better.”

That last part was perhaps a little pointed, but he surely got that idea already. And if he was getting clothes, that meant getting out.

Newt saw the look. “I swear, I have better clothes,” he said, a bit defensively. He set them down near the decontamination shower (the only really private place in the room, and started dragging the ladder over to the tank. “Okay, so...how does this work? I don’t know if I’m strong enough to carry you.”

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

MEME DESCRIBE YOUR MUSE IN 5 QUOTES / PICTURES!

(Lighthearted edition, 4/5 of these gifs are from the reaction gif folder that I haven’t cleaned out since 2012)

Tagged by: @cajuncur

Tagging: Whoever wants to do The Thing.

#he's a kaiju groupie; he loves them (about) #i did it a little bit yeah (crack) #long post

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

“Every few years or so,” Kai replied, watching his movements closely. Just because he’d finally started to listen didn’t mean he was trustworthy. None of them were. Conversation was fine, however. Conversation could get her what she wanted. “We don’t hang out with you; we just blend in, to hear what’s changed and try new things. On the scale…seven or eight. You’ve got nothing we need, but the movies and restaurants are fun.”

“You know what? That’s fair. Are there freshwater mermaids?” He produced the sweat pants (a bit stained with kaiju blue, but clean), and the first t-shirt he could find, one of his godzilla ones. It was also stained with kaiju blue, but only if you knew where to look. He really should’ve worn more black back then. “Or is this a strictly salt water deal?”

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

MUSE CHARACTER FEARS

BOLD any fears which apply to your muse. italicize what makes them uncomfortable.

the dark ⋆ fire ⋆ open water ⋆ deep water ⋆ being alone ⋆ crowded spaces ⋆ confined spaces ⋆ change ⋆ failure ⋆ war ⋆ loss of control ⋆ powerlessness ⋆ prison ⋆ blood ⋆ drowning ⋆ suffocation ⋆ public speaking ⋆ natural animals ⋆ the supernatural ⋆ heights ⋆ death ⋆ dying ⋆ intimacy ⋆ rejection ⋆ abandonment ⋆ loss ⋆ the unknown ⋆ the future ⋆ not being good enough ⋆ scary stories ⋆ speaking to new people ⋆ poverty ⋆ loud noises ⋆ being touched ⋆ forgetting ⋆ being forgotten

TAGGED BY: @cajuncur

TAGGING: @musesthroughtheages, @athousandstarsshine, @storiestotell all for mun’s choice, and whoever else wants to.

#he's a kaiju groupie; he loves them (about)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

“Helpful.” She narrowed her eyes slightly at the vagueness, but nothing more. At least it was a coastal state, and if he was getting mysterious sea creatures like her, probably not far from the shore at all. It could have been worse–she’d been knocked out in her capture, and the time she’d been unconscious could have been hours or days.

Kai wasn’t about to dignify the bloodletting with more of a response, but with a forced and bitter smile, she answered, “Because when I get out of this fish tank, I won’t need scales anymore, and if I don’t have clothes, I’ll be naked. And in the meantime, if I have to stay here, you’d better be planning on feeding me.”

“...oh. Yeah, uh, I can get something. It’s not gonna be super fashionable, but it will be comfy. Have you done that before?” He was already looking around the lab as he spoke, trying to remember where he’d stashed his space clothes. He’d been there for a few months now, but after the five years he’d spent in Hong Kong, it felt like he’d only been there a few days. Blame that on ADHD brain being bad at change. “Do you do it often? Hang out among humans? And scale of one to ten, how boring are we to you?”

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

cajuncur‌:

“Poo yi-yi!” Marion snorted out a breath as if the odor had come alive in her olfactory. “Ah bet dat stunk worse’n a riled skunk. One’a dem kay-joos you talkin’ ‘bout?”

The guards exchanged their own looks, clearly unsettled. It was one thing to respond to distress signals when the beast was acting like a monster. It felt normal. But hearing it growl out words like a normal human being…Discomfort couldn’t begin to describe the sensations in their guts, all of them eager to get the creature back into its cage, subconsciously picking up their pace.

“Yeah. It was the first intact stomach I’d ever seen. I saw others after that, but they were all...pickled and shit. Not really great for examining. Did you know that people used kaiju bone powder as questionable Viagra? I shit you not. Someone tried to tell me some once.” That had been a hell of a fucking day. “I really need to talk to people about doing a survey on the rate of deaths among populations that used Kaiju parts for ‘medicine.’ It had to be high.”

Newt shot the guards a look, catching sight of their attention. He almost said something, but he didn’t want to possibly make things worse for her. Still, biting his tongue was hard. It was always hard for him.

#cajuncur

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

musesthroughtheages‌:

Great, he wasn’t even in charge. Kai was tempted to hiss at him again, but as entertaining as that was, it certainly wouldn’t get anything done. Her tail moved slowly beneath her as she considered, just enough to keep her head above the water. Patience and thoughtfulness were not really her strongest virtues, but she’d gotten this far, and might as well use the voice she’d managed to gain.

“Tell your bosses that for clothes and safe passage back to the ocean, they can have a blood sample,” she replied, with only a little bit of venom in her tone. She really was trying. “And where the hell am I?”

“Uhhh...I can tell you you’re in Massachusetts,” he said carefully. He wasn’t sure how much he should tell her. That wasn’t even a policy thing; he was just nervous about letting non-human entities that had hissed at him know where he operated. Leftover paranoia from the whole plugging your brain into an alien thing, and to be fair? That was justified, as far as he was concerned.

“I’m good at drawing blood, I promise. What do you need the clothes for?”

#musesthroughtheages (kai)

[entrailsandkaijudrifting]

cajuncur‌:

The beast gurgled out a chuckle that sounded more like a growling gator.

“You gon’ help me get ‘em on? T’ink Ah’d tear ‘em up wit’ dese mits if Ah tried.”

The guards were back, hobbling her with chains again before leading the way back inside. She tracked snow and sludge in on the tile floor, grateful, at least, for the heat moving through the air, but she hated everything else about the place. 

“Gon’ be like puttin’ pants on a hoss. ‘Least Ah won’ kick yuh, ‘do.”

“Listen, I climbed around a stomach once. Putting pants on you wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.”

Newt stuck close, giving the guards the stink eye as he went, making sure they were being polite at least. He knew the rougarou was dangerous, but Marion was good people, and he would start kicking shins if they were assholes to her.

“Did I ever tell you about that? That was a gross day. I found a partially digested shark.”

#cajuncur