Floor 1, Room 6

[annihilator]

MALICE

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[annihilator]

[Malice grins at that and bumps Yamato's shoulder back, which may still be a little too hard given his natural strength, but he's trying to hold back!!]

Startin' over here from this side - I can sense where we need to focus, so follow my lead.

[Probably for the best that he has help on this anyway, because he's really only good at sensing where the barrier is weak and needs help. His own attempts at patching it are... frankly quite pathetic because he's never done this before. But hey, he's trying, and it's not like they need it to be perfect just good enough for right now!]

[dadsandals]

[ He's just accepted that he'll get a little roughed up sometimes by Malice, but the way he flinches may indicate that yeah, it was a little too hard.

But, yeah, time to patch up the barrier! ... Or try to, rather. "Try to". Yamato certainly isn't going at full strength, nor has he done this before himself, either, so this is...not going well, probably. ]

...How's it looking?

[annihilator]

[Sorry, buddy...

But anyway, this is proving to be quite the hassle, one that we are doing very, very poorly at. This is the equivalent of trying to stop a leak with napkins, we are accomplishing a whole lot of nothing here.]

...'Kay, so this is turnin' out to be harder than I thought. Guess we're gonna have'ta put a little more effort in...

[dadsandals]

Yeah, I think so.

[ 'kay, barrier, have more effort (12). This little burst of effort actually helps, because it seems to slowly -- very slowly -- start patching itself up in one of its exposed areas. ]

Oh, there we go.

[annihilator]

That's lookin' better! Here, lemme see if I can copy that...

[He cannot. Malice is rolling poorly tonight (7). His rather pathetic attempt to help has patched it up a tiny bit more, leaving quite a bit of open space in this one area.]

...I really do not have a knack for this, huh.

[If only it involved fire...]

[dadsandals]

Need any help?

[ He doesn't want to just step in and do it himself, because if Malice wants to figure it out, he can. But he'll offer anyway, just in case. ]

[annihilator]

[Malice gives Yamato a wry grin.]

One last time, then I'll let'cha step in.

[And here he goes! Third try's apparently the charm because this time he's able to patch it up quite nicely (19)! The break in the barrier over here isn't completely sealed up, but it's very close to being so, and Malice looks quite pleased with himself.]

Yeah, that's better! Alright, think I've got the hang of it now! Let's try movin' over here next.

[He points out the next spot. Might as well try to mostly seal them, right?]

[dadsandals]

There we go.

[ Good job, Malice. He'll give him a light pat on the back before they move to the next one.

He goes over to the next open patch, and manages to fix it at a slow and steady rate again (10). This is just his M.O., apparently. ]

[annihilator]

[This next one ends up going much better, between the two of them, they're able to get it mostly sealed again, even if Malice still remains a little hit or miss sometimes with his work. It's obvious he's learning, at least!]

There we go, we've only got a few more to look at!

[It shouldn't take long to wrap these up at the rate they're going!]

[dadsandals]

[ They, indeed, wrap up a few more before they call it quits! Good job, boys. After they've finished what they set out to do, Yamato gives him a grin. ]

Time to head back?

[annihilator]

[Malice looks pretty pleased with their work, even though they did intentionally leave it unfinished.]

Yeah, this should be good enough for "amateurs" like us! Let's go!

[said like they aren't actually amateurs...??]

[dadsandals]

[ And back to the manor they go! Smooth sailing, boys. ... Kind of. They can't have been the only ones to have noticed that barrier, right...? Well, anyway. Time to relax.

He looks a little shy when he glances over at Malice. ]

Are you busy?

[annihilator]

[Aww, cute...]

Not really. I was thinkin' of practicin' some more, but I can do that any time. I'd rather spend time with you.

[He grins and brushes his good hand against Yamato's for a second before laughing and pulling back.]

But I gotta put this back first.

[He wiggles the claws on his prosthetic hand in explanation. He'd prefer not to accidentally stab Yamato, thanks!!]

[dadsandals]

[ Oh, that's also very cute, but he can't help but chuckle at the claw. Yeah, that'd be bad. ]

Yeah, yeah, we can head to your room so you can put that away.

[ He'll gently latch onto Malice's good hand, in the meantime. ]

Let's go.

[annihilator]

[Off we go, then! Holding hands. This is both cute and a little... "embarrassing" may not be the right word, because Malice isn't embarrassed at all, but he feels oddly self-conscious. Like anyone in the manor could pop up at any moment and Perceive Them. Usually he does not care about being perceived, but this is new and different... but it's not really a bad thing. He's just a little shy (about this and only this).

Anyway, they make it back to Malice's room and Malice kicks the door shut behind them. He leads Yamato over to his desk where his other prosthetic arm is lying and then turns to his human with a wry grin.]

I gotta let go of your hand to get this off, y'know.

[dadsandals]

[ Joke's on Malice, they have already been perceived- anyway, Yamato will break away from the handholding so Malice can get his claw off. ]

Go for it.

[ He'll just stand back and watch how he does it. Just in case he has to attach it for him or anything like that, down the line. ]

[annihilator]

[Malice gets to work, then! It really isn't particularly difficult - there's a port just below his elbow that the prosthetics connect to, by pressing a couple of buttons on the inside he can release the lock and simply pull the arm off. It's probably fairly heavy given that it is a set of giant metal claws, but it slides out easily and Malice sets it aside the other prosthetic. Then he checks the port and presses another button, presumably to close the port that the prosthetics attach to.]

There we go. You wanna hang out here or head to your room?

[dadsandals]

[ Interesting. He doesn't know if he'll retain all of that, so he'll ask for Malice to walk him through it in the future. For now, though, he's content to stay here. ]

How about here? We were in my room last time, so...

[annihilator]

Fair enough! C'mon.

[And without waiting, he'll move to the bed, sitting down and waiting expectantly for Yamato to join him. Thankfully, his bed is both quite comfortable and quite large, so there's plenty of space for both of them.]

[dadsandals]

[ He'll immediately sit down next to Malice, so close that their knees are touching, though he sort of just. Waits to see what Malice wants to do. Somehow, things are trickier now that they're together. It's mostly because he doesn't want to mess this up. ]

Your bed's comfy.

[annihilator]

[Malice seems perfectly fine with this, and he's not at all hesitant when he wraps his good arm around Yamato's waist and leans his head against his human's shoulder.]

Mm. I got pretty lucky with this room. Imagine if I'd been given anythin' else! Most of your rooms are way too damn bright.

[...obviously his is rather poorly-lit and has the curtains drawn...]

[dadsandals]

[ Oh, that makes him really happy, actually. He leans his head on Malice's and leans into him. He may be cold, but Yamato's plenty warm enough for the both of them. ]

You know you can just ask me to turn down the lights, don't you?

[ He's teasing. He lightly nuzzles him; Malice can probably hear and feel his heart pick up speed. ]

[annihilator]

'Course I know that. I'll ask ya next time.

[That's so nice, though. It's so comfortable just sitting so close like this, and that nuzzle gets one in return from him.]

Good to know you're happy like this.

[That's how he's interpreting the increased heartrate, anyway. It means Yamato's feeling something, and it must be a good thing since it tends to pick up when around Malice.]

[dadsandals]

Of course I am.

[ His tone is soft and warm, and he presses a kiss to the top of Malice's head. He can't help but smile afterwards; he's happy. The happiest he's been in a long time. ]

There's nowhere else I'd rather be.

[annihilator]

[Malice's grip on Yamato tightens for a moment - it's a struggle not to use all the force he wants to, but that would just hurt Yamato. So he relaxes after a moment, nuzzling against Yamato again.]

I'm glad. Still not great at expressin' it, but this means so damn much to me, Yama. I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else either.

[shame about the upcoming east mission, huh—]