01 🩸 the little crow of your lungs kicking

[pillz]

WHO: Joseph Kavinsky, and various CR
WHERE: The White Tower, generally
WHEN: ~2019, at least one fateful night
WHAT: Backdated adventures with the right-hand man of High Chancellor Stark; hit me up at shramp if you'd like something!
WARNINGS: NSFW/ish likely, references to violence, trauma, etc.


closed to josh;

[sneaking around with a teleporter is easier than it might be with someone who has different powers. one minute, you're overlooking the matter-disintegrating cosmic radiation fields of the florida peninsula, in a deserted overlook.

the next, you're snaping across a sequence of rooftops, a boy on your arm. snap, snap, snap, a dream thief's hand on your arm, teeth bright with: hello.

many hotels in the white city are utterly ridiculous. this one, they've been to before, and this is no exception: it has mirror ceilings and floor-length closed-circuit aquariums full of fish that seem to be constantly breeding. most of the furniture is black, the walls graduating ombre from deep indigo to lurid red. the bed is huge. most of their fucking takes place on it, giving the bedsprings a proper workout. if you ran a blacklight over this place, it'd look like a biological nightmare.

kavinsky smokes in here because-- of course he does. ash snowing diminutive grey flurries on the bed, blowing rings over the gold horizon of josh's temple.]

This, [he says, holding out the cigarette by way of demonstration, his hollow eyes crinkled into a smile,] I only do with you.

Comments

[goldtoxicity]

[ he doesn't allow himself much in the grand scheme of things. joshua foley is far from a martyr but he did learn all the wrong lessons in leadership. how taking on the brunt of the workload doesn't make you effective, it just makes you tired and prone to poor decision making. it kills your social life, it kills your zest for life - it keeps you up at night while others sleep easy, afraid for what might come at dawn.

no wonder the x-men made so many bad choices. no wonder they consistently found love in all the impossible places, destroying themselves time and time again for a taste of something good. being with kavinsky was rapidly starting to feel like the only time he was truly able to breathe and be himself... and that left him standing on the precipice of falling head over heels, acting like he doesn't know what's coming when he does.

his golden fingers snap twice and extend to steal the cigarette, head resting on kavinsky's narrow shoulder. his free hand pats his chest, directly over his lungs. ]

I know. [ a little pulse of healing power, playful as the smile on his lips. ] I'm just that good.

[pillz]

[it's funny because it's true, right? the reason kavinsky smokes with josh is that josh will fix his lungs during, after. josh is that good. he's the most gifted healer kavinsky's ever met.

emptied, kavinsky's fingers stay afloat in the air for a moment, still wrapped around the memory of the cigarette.]

You wanna hear something funny? [he asks. but he doesn't wait for the answer; it's obviously rhetorical.] We switched places, babe. Now I'm the one worried about you. [kavinsky's hand descends suddenly. lands a blind prod on josh's cheek, with the back of a finger.]

[if it's true, kavinsky's way with sounding 'worried' is not the same as other people sounding worried. but that's hardly surprising, is it?]

[goldtoxicity]

[ he doesn't doubt it. he takes a drag of the cigarette, enjoys the burst of nicotine sweetness in the addiction centers of his brain. stretches a long golden arm across kavinsky to flick ash into the ornate ashtray on the side of the bed.

its policy to not talk politics. kavinsky is their 'diplomatic liaison'. an enforcer meant to bully them into submission if they ever pull too hard on their leash. what they're doing - this compromises them both. probably opens them up for corruption, though josh is reasonably certain if push truly came to shove he's not the one kavinsky would pick.

it's not smart.

but he's certain they trust each other insofar as anyone can in their positions. he's also certain that under the wrong circumstances, the wrong words could destroy them both. his head tilts with the prodding, taking stock of kavinsky's expression. ]

The Synod's just starting to feel like a vacation, s'all. [ he huffs out a laugh. ] Like, I'd rather be living the worst reenactment of Game of Thrones with a bunch of nutjobs because it means I can see you... [ he trails off, shaking his head. ]

Anyway, [ he sticks the cigarette in his mouth, dropping his hands to walk his fingers across kavinsky's chest. ] you're the one still here.

[pillz]

[there's a little sound from kavinsky, shifting through his narrow chest; some subspecies of laughter. he doesn't usually try to explain himself to about anyone. but sex makes him pliant to new concepts, and besides. he'll compromise most of his habits as point a, on his way to point b.]

I like it here. I like the game. [he elaborates a little further this time, maybe. stretching one arm out over the edge of the bed, until he hears his shoulder give a friendly pop.] I like winning. I even like the risk of losing.

[because winning doesn't count, otherwise.

he lifts his eyes to the ceiling mirror, finding josh's lax golden face in the reflection. his own looks shrewd, but not unkind.] I know you hate it here, but you don't like it there either. You might love it-- you might love them. [all your krakoan children.] But you don't like it. Pretty sure it's starting to be a problem.

[goldtoxicity]

[ he remembers he'd liked gambling, in the handful of times he and his friends had managed to sneak into places they shouldn't have been. the thrill of losing everything was eclipsed by turning two dollars into twenty. it had been intoxicating.

but he hadn't had people depending on him then. his life would've been a lot different if obligation didn't go part in parcel with his powers. ]

This whole world is kind of starting to be a problem. [ he offers the smoke back. enough left for a last drag before it should be snuffed out. ] That's the problem.

lmk if this is wrong

[pillz]

When you say shit like that, [kavinsky says,] it puts me in the real uncomfortable position of trying to be supportive without invalidating your feelings of whatever.

[if there is a version of kavinsky that isn't an asshole, it isn't this one. but he has a lot more finesse than the others. worse or better, that he's married to his job, instead of constantly on knives about some boy?]

If you're not going to settle for anything less than a perfect world, you're going to be a long time looking. [he accepts the cigarette and sits up, taking the last drag. stubbing it out on the nightstand ashtray.] Besides, don't think I don't notice.

I'm trying to talk to you about you, and you start to talk about the world. I know I ain't the first person to tell you you can drop the ranged bio-k field for a couple days of the week. [there's a cheeky slap of kavinsky's bare palm on josh's thigh.]

[goldtoxicity]

[ there's something acidic behind his teeth, burning at his throat. it almost lurches out at the slap, the playfulness almost giving way to something truly nasty. some snide comment about how kavinsky would just love that, wouldn't he?

but it isn't fair. he's the one who left and put them on opposing sides of this cold war.

he folds his arm across his face. ]

What I mean, [ he says after a minute ] is I miss being able to travel.

[ at least that rings true. ]

S'not just the power thing, or like, trying to get the other people who are supposed to be helping me to get their heads outta their asses. It's that - like, at the end of the day, there's - what, a grand total of fourteen spots we can live? And, like, people in them are power hungry and just waiting for someone else to blink to take their spot for themselves.

[ he closes his eyes, tilting his head back. ]

But you're right. I'm not... exactly helping my own situation.

[pillz]

[that last piece of agreement is important to the way this conversation goes. kavinsky needs little excuse to pick a fight. he needs even less to escalate one.]

Joshua Foley.

[his tone makes it a joke. but then he rolls over, on top of josh's legs, the sheet catching and skewing off his body as he does.] Do you want me to take you away on vacation? You gonna hold your self-care hostage, til I do that? [there's a smile as kavinsky gathers josh's hips in his arms, and lays a kiss on the healer's golden belly below his navel.]

Eight hours in Hawaii's better than eight hours anywhere else. Apart from this City, obviously, but I don't mind you're wrong.

[goldtoxicity]

You ever think being here with you is my self-care?

[ his arm shifts, eyes opening to take in the sight. the expression is beyond fond, sparked with just a hint of desire.

the pro (or con) with getting involved with a biokinetic is that he never runs out of stamina. and he can make sure you're on his level. he brings a hand up to brush along kavinsky's jaw. ]

Dead set on Hawaii? Or can we make a travel plan?

Video Message to Kavinsky; ~One Year Ago

[helpdesk_hero]

[There are probably seventeen layers of encryption on the video call David starts. Ones that he knows will get through the White Tower systems because he made so many of the White Tower systems back in the day. And David Alleyne knows that it will be received by the proper person because even at this distance he could reach out and nudge a computer just enough to get it to open up only when it scanned the correct face, heard the right voice.

A device that belonged to one Joseph Kavinsky, right hand of the High Chancellor of the White Tower. The man that David KNEW Josh had been fooling around with, or intended to fool around with. You didn't get as smart as he was and not see that.

But there David was, seething in front of a communication device, hidden deep in his house, glaring on a second, unanswered message on the screen. Still no response from Foley.]

Dammit Kavinsky, open up before I find a way to your side just to throttle you.

video; (lmk if this works)

[pillz]

[light flickers across the screen. kavinsky's off at an angle for a moment, a jittering silhouette. then he's back. sunlight shines through the windows behind him, buildings moving in the background. he's inside of a hovercar.]

I'm heading to a press conference, Alleyne, [he says, his attention off-screen.] Next time I don't pick up once, that means leave a message.

It do

[helpdesk_hero]

With your position, you could delay the press conference for a week and they would still be eager to blow you for reasons passing understanding. Or perhaps just because you’re Stark’s sycophantic shadow.

[It is not suitable language for someone in David’s position to offer to someone in Kavinsky’s. But the language is what is keeping him from pushing his powers out beyond Kavinsky’s communicator and into the hover car and telling it to crash. Chances were, he knew, that Tony probably didn’t have his fingers in Kavinsky’s hovercar’s systems at this very second. So he could. Which would get him nowhere.]

I’ll ask this once, in small words for your sake. Where is Foley?

i mayyy later need to slooow down a bit this thread to see what terms joshvinsky left off on

[pillz]

[there's a flat look from kavinsky on the video.]

Some incredible fucking irony right here, in what you're saying, [he says.] Spoken like somebody wishes he'd closed the vacuum steal on Foley's dick a little harder. He's supposed to be with you, or on a mission you know about.

Why isn't he?

7000% understood, especially with the recent life explosion noises on so many ends

[helpdesk_hero]

[Really? David narrows his eyes. And maybe, just maybe the ride on Kavinsky's hovercar gets strangely turbulent for half a second. Don't forget who you're talking to. Technopaths are a bitch when you're not sleeping with them.]

My relationship with Josh ending was a mutual decision and not your business. And you sleeping with him, as horrid and patently Josh Foley of an idea as that is, also isn't my business. Him being missing is.

[pillz]

Alleyne.

[there's a smile ticking up the corner of kavinsky's mouth.]

If you have to say it's not my business when I ain't asking, and fuck with my car to make a point, maybe I'm not being the little bitch in the equation.

[the phone shifts and seesaws again. kavinsky puts it up on some kind of magnetic holder, and the video stabilizes. fortunately, no one's in the car beside kavinsky.]

Are you giving me attitude because you really think I took him?

[helpdesk_hero]

[Is he being a little bitch? Yes. Does he know it? Absolutely. But everyone involved in the whole damn equation knows Alleyne was still in love with his ex-boyfriend, so... Yeah, goig to be a little bitch.]

Yes. I do. You serve Tony Stark, and if you took one of the Council of the Five, then you could leverage it for him and he would have deniability. So I'm asking for what the hell you want. I don't like the idea of this being drawn out. Present your demands and proof of life, and we will deliver a response.

No bullshit lines. Just the damn bargaining.

[pillz]

News flash, Alleyne. I have no idea what you're talking about.

[though there's a niggling feeling, threatening to break through the flush of irritation kavinsky has been nursing ever since josh stood him up. there are a hundred thousand reasons why a faction leader would ghost on a vacation.

fewer, why they'd ghost on their own faction. he furrows his brow and taps on the side of his ar glasses.]

How long since you lost your boy?

closed to momo; (9 months ago)

[pillz]

[there's a rap on the door. the central towers after which the white tower are named are full of gleaming, elaborately furnished offices, matching the high-powered positions that the imports within them hold.]

You have a minute?

[it's kavinsky. his daywear is a dark grey suit, dimly iridescent, a pair of ar glasses perched on his nose.] Maybe two.

[recommendations]

[ Momo-- Thesis-- is a busy woman. There is always more work to be done in the White Tower, more creations to be made to supply the faction with everything they need to maintain their hold on power.

Momo is sitting at her desk, reviewing the blueprints for her next big project, making sure she has the chemical structure memorized before she begins creating, when a knock comes at her door. She recognizes Kavinsky's voice, and so puts her blueprints aside and goes to answer. ]

Come in. How may I help you, Kavinsky?

[pillz]

I'm gonna be running lead on another project. Classified.

[my ill-chosen lover has disappeared off the face of the planet, i'm halfway done convincing myself it's the resistance, but in order to investigate, i need time off work, so.

he lets the door shut behind him, and leans on the wall, his face carefully nonchalant.]

Was thinking this would be a good time for you to share in some of the production and manufacturing project responsibilities for the Tower. Not just temporary, but a real step up. Weapons, especially. I know that's your specialty.

[he's subtly blocked her before, not wanting to render his own position redundant. but there are many ways that her power is better than his. for one, if kavinsky dies, his dream creations tend to power down. this is a change of heart.]

[recommendations]

[ Momo is surprised. She knows that Kavinsky's relationship with High Chancellor Stark is incredibly close, so though it has always bothered her that Stark would rather rely on Kavinsky's dream creation abilities than her own creations, she hadn't held out too much hope of that ever changing. To hear this, now? That she'll finally get the chance she was waiting for to move up in the world and assume a more integral role in supplying her faction with everything they need?

She does her best to school her expression, knowing that being too visibly open with her emotions could lead to her getting hurt, but it's hard to hide the look of hope in her eyes. ]

Y-yes, of course! I would be happy to step up in any way I can. The well-being of the White Tower is of the utmost importance to me. And yes, I have been working on strengthening my weapon creations with the latest technological innovations. I, I have some blueprints I could show you...

[ She knows she's rambling, but it's hard to get herself to stop. She hasn't felt this excited in many years. ]

oh no she's so cute

[pillz]

[ah, the bright-eyed interest of the bushy-tailed young.

well. that's probably not a really accurate use of phrasing; kavinsky's probably barely older than she is, if at all. but something about her excitement is quite charming! even for a person who's kind of a horrifying murderer scheming politician underneath it all. it's always nice to know you're not the only one drinking the capitalism kool-aid.

he smiles. and it is, in fact, sincere. he comes from the tony stark school of blowing shit up.]

I got time right now, [he says.] Let's see the blueprints. You got anything already fully manufactured you wanna show off?

[recommendations]

[ Momo is halfway to pulling up her blueprints once more to show him, when Kavinsky asks about a fully realized creation. She has a few pieces in her office already made, but they're old, boring, not impressive in the least. She'll have to make up a prototype on the spot. ]

Oh, yes. Give me one moment. [ She hasn't eaten lunch yet today, but that's hardly a problem. She reaches over to the buzzer on her desk and pages her secretary. ] Miriam, would you come in here please?

[ In short order, a plump little native woman comes in the door that Kavinsky had just closed, striding over to stand obediently by Momo's desk. She is dressed in a well-tailored sleeveless ensemble, allowing for maximum skin availability whenever Momo needs it. Knowing what is expected of her already, she holds out her arm and Momo takes it, pressing a palm to her bicep and drawing out a small handheld device in a shower of bright pink and blue sparkles. ]

Thank you Miriam, you are dismissed. Go and have yourself a breakfast pastry.

[ Miriam bows slightly and walks out, looking ever so much skinnier than she had been when she entered. Momo holds the device out for Kavinsky to inspect. ]

It's a portable infrared camera with built in display, a body scanner that I was thinking we could incorporate into the next generation of our security team.

continuing only if you want!

[pillz]

[that is

fucking fascinating. kavinsky watches this whole thing in silence. since we're all capitol trash, he actually is high-key impressed with the pedigree and chic fashion of momo's secretary, as well.

and then the -- what. lifeforce? of the woman is stolen to create this thing, this lovely little device, kavinsky's eyes sharpen. he sits up. his eyes follow the secretary out, noting that she's-- smaller than she was before, and then they cut back to momo, the new prize in her hand. the magic nerd inside of him loves it. loves this.

the practical part of him loves the device. he lets out a low, admiring whistle, then puts out a hand.]

May I?

[recommendations]

[ The whistle just serves to bolster Momo's self confidence. She is feeling incredibly good about herself in this moment. Like all her hard work is finally coming to fruition.

She hands the device over to Kavinsky for him to inspect. ] Please.

[ Momo understands why those in power have been favoring Kavinsky's creations over her own. Creating something out of nothing requires fewer resources than creating something out of something, even if the something that Momo uses to fuel her creations is people's unwanted fat cells. That still requires food to allow her volunteers to regain their weight after she drains them, and there is also the issue of gaining volunteers to begin with. Sure, she is able to sway most natives to her way of thinking, but there are always those that can resist her charms. ]