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forbarrayar2017-05-03 07:28 pm
barrayarmods) wrote in forbarrayar2017-05-03 07:28 pm
Entry tags:
[ may i log: the good fight ]
Who: Everyone
What: The culmination of months of planning and suffering finally comes to bear as the Barrayarans launch their debilitating attack on the Cetagandan base. Politics, as always, go sight unseen but felt everywhere.
When: May 1st - 18th
Where: the Barrayaran camp, the Cetagandan base, Riverfall Village
Warnings: TBD
Quick links:
Riverfall
Barrayar: Camp / Missions
Cetaganda: Base / Missions
TIMELINE
5/5 Eavesdropping
5/7 Hacking
5/11 Mystery Plot
5/15 Attack on the Cetagandan base
riverfall
The village is finally starting to get back on its feet after a few blessedly uneventful weeks. Other than the routine Cetagandan patrols, there hasn't been much activity in the village, and no new strife. The villagers merely continue their rebuilding efforts and tend to their fields, and they'll still gladly accept any help offered by outsiders.
With the village down nearly half its population, there's room to grow, even after last month's fight destroyed some of the homes, so Speaker Gura has been taking in refugees from other nearby hill villages – about ten refugees have moved to settle anew in Riverfall in the last few weeks.
barrayar
The time to strike is now.
All three camps are preoccupied with preparations for the attack on the 15th: as far as Barrayaran intelligence knows, no reinforcements are on their way to the Cetagandan base, and the guerrillas need to strike while the Cetagandans are still down nearly half their forces. It's the only shot they have at forcing the occupying troops to leave Vorkosigan Vashnoi and give them a chance at retaking the city – and they're not throwing away this shot, because they might not get another one.
The political unease surrounding Dorca and Yuri is a quieter tension, plaguing only those politically savvy (or well-positioned) enough to understand the situation, but if you're paying close enough attention to the moody Crown Prince, you'll note that Yuri's primary concern isn't the outsiders, but something much closer to home. He's never been a particularly warm man by anyone's account, but lately he's especially given to foul moods, and only part of it is grief for his most recently deceased son.
All further attempts at hostage negotiation from Zahal have been as curtly denied as the first, and just about as politely. Incorporating a rescue plan into their attack strategy wasn't exactly easy, but they won't get another shot than this at rescuing Princess Sonia – or Byerly, whose cover as a spy was recently blown during a failed attempt at smuggling Sonia out of the base. On the 15th, the Barrayarans prepare for war, some donning Cetagandan uniforms and face paint, others swiping mud over their faces to better camouflage themselves in the dark.
And the attack is a success. There's no real such thing as acceptable loss, but the top brass consider the 70 lives spent on the attack a fair cost for what they got: almost destroying the immediate Cetagandan power supply and the return of their Princess. Plus Byerly. The mood lightens considerably, but there is no rest in war, and just as soon as they take their next victory, Piotr, Dorca and Yuri are already planning the next move: finally retaking Vorkosigan Vashnoi.
camp
All three camps are heavily preparing, officers running drills nearly around the clock, quartermasters taking inventory and making sure every piece of equipment is clean and in working order, medical officers and techs preparing the sickbay tent as best they can for the inevitable injured who will return.
But despite the impending mission, tensions are still rising within the army – while top brass is vocally discouraging the fights that have broken out, it hasn't put a complete stop to them, and no one has openly endorsed the outsiders except for Piotr Vorkosigan. Vorvolk and Yuri are both still staunchly in the skeptic camp at best, but Dorca does not seem to have passed a final judgment on the outsiders before the attack. Perhaps he's merely biding his time, because for all the dissent about the outsiders, the Emperor hasn't barred Piotr from letting them participate in critical missions.
The soldiers make enough noise about it on their own. They're especially tetchy about the outsiders who crossed over from the Cetagandan side – they're as good as spies, as far as some of the soldiers are concerned. But even worse is letting Duv Galeni, a Komarran, not only remain in camp and feed on their resources, but actively participate in missions. For the most part, the soldiers in camp who have known the outsiders from the start and have befriended them are sticking with them, but the half of Piotr's army that was with Vorvolk after the split when the location of their last camp was discovered by the Cetagandans are nearly as suspicious as the Vorbarra battalion. Hostility towards Duv and those who escaped from the Cetagandan camp is especially severe, and it's no secret that some of them would prefer the outsiders dead rather than taking up space and resources in their army, though no one has been so bold as to actually make any attempts. Falco Vorkalloner, one of the Rangers who had been in Vorvolk's half of the army, hasn't been afraid to make his voice heard, though. He's even been heard saying that he thinks someone ought to make an example out of the Komarran and demonstrate just what they think of those who would side with the Cetagandans.
After the attack, the atmosphere of the camp is noticeably changed – the return of the Princess as well as what can only be considered a resounding victory for the Barrayarans has led to a jubilant and triumphant environment. And with Barrayarans, all celebration comes with a whole lot of drinking. Wine, vodka and maple mead are passed around aplenty in the nights and days following the attack, as soldiers burn offerings for their dead comrades and trade stories of action.
The tension with the outsiders begins to lessen after this victory, too. The fact that two outsiders, Wash and Lucy, are responsible for the Princess's rescue goes a long way toward relations between the outsiders and the rest of the army, and after the attack, Dorca gives the outsiders his endorsement as comrades to be trusted and honorary warriors fighting alongside them. Of course, this doesn't mean all hostility and tension merely dissipates – there are still plenty of soldiers like the now-deceased Falco who still think the outsiders are a threat and a parasitic presence. But things do start to lighten up a little after this victory...finally.
missions
General Piotr Vorkosigan himself leads the attack on the Cetagandan base, and Yuri leads his own contingent. Although there are some hitches getting in undetected, their plans to disable base security are overall successful, as is their sabotage of the power supply generators and Sonia and Byerly's rescue.
Meanwhile, Lakshmi and Sisko have found Falco Vorkalloner's dead body, and while it looks like an accident, it also looks like someone might have taken care to make sure it looked like one.
The unabridged mission results can be found here.
cetaganda
The social relief brought by the flower-viewing party quickly fades, and tension settles back over the Cetagandan base, underlined by Zahal's frustration with Piotr's flat-out refusal to meet his demands, or even so much as discuss them. He's sent more than one political ransom demand since Dorca's arrival, too, but to no effect. Given the recent guerrilla activity in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, he knows Piotr must be planning something, but with no informants left in the Barrayaran army, his intelligence is dry, and the investigations into weapons smuggling were ultimately fruitless. All known civilian resistance cells seem to have scattered and disappeared, their bases of operation boarded up or burned down. All he can do is concentrate as many troops as he can afford on the city's occupation, though he doesn't leave the base totally unmanned. But he does add another thousand troops to the occupying force in Vorkosigan Vashnoi in the week before the attack on the base.
Not everyone is being sent over, though, and the transfer doesn't make for as smooth a cover as one might hope. Gail is caught on an unauthorized trip to the city while off duty, and you might hear -- or overhear -- the dressing-down he gets from his commanding officer for it. He doesn't appear to have a ready excuse for it -- at least, not one that doesn't sound flimsy as hell.
Military matters affect those of the Star Crèche, however, and Zahal's frustration does not touch that sphere. Not that it isn't without its own tensions -- anyone who spends enough time with Diya and Sei (and Ba Talim, for that matter) will feel the rising tensions between them, though their origins are as obscure as the haut always are. The Star Gate Project, now officially under the jurisdiction of the Star Crèche, continues on with Micah at the lead, although they haven't for a moment forgotten that they are a prisoner here, or where their true loyalties lie.
After the attack, Zahal's fury reaches a boiling point, and since the Barrayarans did so much infrastructural damage, the consequences of military matters finally reach Diya and Sei, rankling them, too. The power shortage and damage to the science/medical complex has put a serious damper on Star Gate research, although as far as anyone is aware, the gene therapy trials and other related Star Crèche research goes on unimpeded, thanks to the successful protection of the secondary backup generator, which seems to exist only to power the medbay and gene labs. But since power is a hot commodity right now, Zahal is going to start pushing to reroute some of that power to what the haut would probably deem as lower priority needs.
base
The mood around the base is restless, Zahal's frustration trickling down into tensions among his officers and seeping into the very atmosphere. They're hardly prepared for the attack that comes because they don't even know what to expect. The soldiers all seem on edge, nervous, a little tetchy, particularly after Tarn's altercation with Diya and Natasha, and then the failed attempt to smuggle out the Princess -- but that did, at least, lead to the outing of Byerly Vorrutyer as a spy among the Cetagandans, confirming some suspicions held by the higher brass in Cetagandan intelligence. About the only comfort, if one can call it that, in all this tension is Byerly's summary fast-penta interrogation.
The gene therapy trials, despite some...trials, continue, and with much greater success than last month. Sei and Diya are as impassive as ever, but even so, there's a tangible undercurrent of mixed relief and triumph. Micahworks as feverishly as ever on the Star Gate Project with the aid and oversight of the military's scientific division and the exotics working as lab assistants. The satellite launch has proven to be a highly productive venture -- it's yielding data they couldn't have gathered otherwise, which is proving to be critical, and Micah spends time having Kaidan, Symmetra and Pearl put through another series of brain scans and consulting the neurology team as they study the results.
Although Sei is never seen outside of her force bubble, and doesn't actually travel around the base all that much, her presence seems to dominate the more civilian areas of the base, overshadowing even Diya -- although Diya is considerably less visible around the base after her altercation with Tarn. Amai is, of course, somehow seen just about everywhere, a constant social and professional presence that refuses to let anyone forget she's there. But after the 5th, she seems to be troubled -- she's far less impassive than the haut, and her anxiety and discomfort are much easier to see.
After the attack, Diya seems somewhat shaken -- it's almost impossible to tell how Sei is affected, but with facilities down, audits are being done on all existing projects to determine what's important enough to remain active while they have limited power. The base isn't quite in a shambles, but there's a lot of damage -- while the Barrayarans personally only carry swords and bows, they clearly have no issue with taking the Cetagandans' plasma arcs to wreak havoc at home -- and the atmosphere is overall demoralized. Sending more troops to Vorkosigan Vashnoi was clearly the wrong move, and it's a bitter pill to swallow, but Zahal begins to recall troops from the city in small waves to help better man the base, knowing full well that this must have been what Piotr intended.
missions
A few interesting tidbits are overheard in the dark of night, and Amai finds herself in the uniquely uncomfortable position of holding Diya's dark secret in one hand, and Sei's in the other -- and Ba Talim seems to know something, though it isn't clear what. And some creative hacking turns up some unexpected dirt on Sei that makes Diya's illicit ba experiments look like mere misdemeanors.
Despite the best efforts of the soldiers and the exotics and the fact that, even undermanned, they still outnumber the guerrillas by a landslide, the base is still overrun by Barrayarans and their attack is successful. The main and backup power generators are totally disabled for the time being, and it's unclear how long it will be before full power is restored to the base.
The unabridged mission results can be found here.
Note: Gavalas, Olivia, Zahal, Diya, and Sei & Ba Talim are available for threads on request. Hit up Madi (Gavalas, Diya, Sei & Ba Talim) or Ammay (Olivia & Zahal) if you'd like threads with these characters!
What: The culmination of months of planning and suffering finally comes to bear as the Barrayarans launch their debilitating attack on the Cetagandan base. Politics, as always, go sight unseen but felt everywhere.
When: May 1st - 18th
Where: the Barrayaran camp, the Cetagandan base, Riverfall Village
Warnings: TBD
Riverfall
Barrayar: Camp / Missions
Cetaganda: Base / Missions
TIMELINE
5/5 Eavesdropping
5/7 Hacking
5/11 Mystery Plot
5/15 Attack on the Cetagandan base
riverfall
The village is finally starting to get back on its feet after a few blessedly uneventful weeks. Other than the routine Cetagandan patrols, there hasn't been much activity in the village, and no new strife. The villagers merely continue their rebuilding efforts and tend to their fields, and they'll still gladly accept any help offered by outsiders.
With the village down nearly half its population, there's room to grow, even after last month's fight destroyed some of the homes, so Speaker Gura has been taking in refugees from other nearby hill villages – about ten refugees have moved to settle anew in Riverfall in the last few weeks.
barrayar
The time to strike is now.
All three camps are preoccupied with preparations for the attack on the 15th: as far as Barrayaran intelligence knows, no reinforcements are on their way to the Cetagandan base, and the guerrillas need to strike while the Cetagandans are still down nearly half their forces. It's the only shot they have at forcing the occupying troops to leave Vorkosigan Vashnoi and give them a chance at retaking the city – and they're not throwing away this shot, because they might not get another one.
The political unease surrounding Dorca and Yuri is a quieter tension, plaguing only those politically savvy (or well-positioned) enough to understand the situation, but if you're paying close enough attention to the moody Crown Prince, you'll note that Yuri's primary concern isn't the outsiders, but something much closer to home. He's never been a particularly warm man by anyone's account, but lately he's especially given to foul moods, and only part of it is grief for his most recently deceased son.
All further attempts at hostage negotiation from Zahal have been as curtly denied as the first, and just about as politely. Incorporating a rescue plan into their attack strategy wasn't exactly easy, but they won't get another shot than this at rescuing Princess Sonia – or Byerly, whose cover as a spy was recently blown during a failed attempt at smuggling Sonia out of the base. On the 15th, the Barrayarans prepare for war, some donning Cetagandan uniforms and face paint, others swiping mud over their faces to better camouflage themselves in the dark.
And the attack is a success. There's no real such thing as acceptable loss, but the top brass consider the 70 lives spent on the attack a fair cost for what they got: almost destroying the immediate Cetagandan power supply and the return of their Princess. Plus Byerly. The mood lightens considerably, but there is no rest in war, and just as soon as they take their next victory, Piotr, Dorca and Yuri are already planning the next move: finally retaking Vorkosigan Vashnoi.
camp
All three camps are heavily preparing, officers running drills nearly around the clock, quartermasters taking inventory and making sure every piece of equipment is clean and in working order, medical officers and techs preparing the sickbay tent as best they can for the inevitable injured who will return.
But despite the impending mission, tensions are still rising within the army – while top brass is vocally discouraging the fights that have broken out, it hasn't put a complete stop to them, and no one has openly endorsed the outsiders except for Piotr Vorkosigan. Vorvolk and Yuri are both still staunchly in the skeptic camp at best, but Dorca does not seem to have passed a final judgment on the outsiders before the attack. Perhaps he's merely biding his time, because for all the dissent about the outsiders, the Emperor hasn't barred Piotr from letting them participate in critical missions.
The soldiers make enough noise about it on their own. They're especially tetchy about the outsiders who crossed over from the Cetagandan side – they're as good as spies, as far as some of the soldiers are concerned. But even worse is letting Duv Galeni, a Komarran, not only remain in camp and feed on their resources, but actively participate in missions. For the most part, the soldiers in camp who have known the outsiders from the start and have befriended them are sticking with them, but the half of Piotr's army that was with Vorvolk after the split when the location of their last camp was discovered by the Cetagandans are nearly as suspicious as the Vorbarra battalion. Hostility towards Duv and those who escaped from the Cetagandan camp is especially severe, and it's no secret that some of them would prefer the outsiders dead rather than taking up space and resources in their army, though no one has been so bold as to actually make any attempts. Falco Vorkalloner, one of the Rangers who had been in Vorvolk's half of the army, hasn't been afraid to make his voice heard, though. He's even been heard saying that he thinks someone ought to make an example out of the Komarran and demonstrate just what they think of those who would side with the Cetagandans.
After the attack, the atmosphere of the camp is noticeably changed – the return of the Princess as well as what can only be considered a resounding victory for the Barrayarans has led to a jubilant and triumphant environment. And with Barrayarans, all celebration comes with a whole lot of drinking. Wine, vodka and maple mead are passed around aplenty in the nights and days following the attack, as soldiers burn offerings for their dead comrades and trade stories of action.
The tension with the outsiders begins to lessen after this victory, too. The fact that two outsiders, Wash and Lucy, are responsible for the Princess's rescue goes a long way toward relations between the outsiders and the rest of the army, and after the attack, Dorca gives the outsiders his endorsement as comrades to be trusted and honorary warriors fighting alongside them. Of course, this doesn't mean all hostility and tension merely dissipates – there are still plenty of soldiers like the now-deceased Falco who still think the outsiders are a threat and a parasitic presence. But things do start to lighten up a little after this victory...finally.
missions
General Piotr Vorkosigan himself leads the attack on the Cetagandan base, and Yuri leads his own contingent. Although there are some hitches getting in undetected, their plans to disable base security are overall successful, as is their sabotage of the power supply generators and Sonia and Byerly's rescue.
Meanwhile, Lakshmi and Sisko have found Falco Vorkalloner's dead body, and while it looks like an accident, it also looks like someone might have taken care to make sure it looked like one.
The unabridged mission results can be found here.
cetaganda
The social relief brought by the flower-viewing party quickly fades, and tension settles back over the Cetagandan base, underlined by Zahal's frustration with Piotr's flat-out refusal to meet his demands, or even so much as discuss them. He's sent more than one political ransom demand since Dorca's arrival, too, but to no effect. Given the recent guerrilla activity in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, he knows Piotr must be planning something, but with no informants left in the Barrayaran army, his intelligence is dry, and the investigations into weapons smuggling were ultimately fruitless. All known civilian resistance cells seem to have scattered and disappeared, their bases of operation boarded up or burned down. All he can do is concentrate as many troops as he can afford on the city's occupation, though he doesn't leave the base totally unmanned. But he does add another thousand troops to the occupying force in Vorkosigan Vashnoi in the week before the attack on the base.
Not everyone is being sent over, though, and the transfer doesn't make for as smooth a cover as one might hope. Gail is caught on an unauthorized trip to the city while off duty, and you might hear -- or overhear -- the dressing-down he gets from his commanding officer for it. He doesn't appear to have a ready excuse for it -- at least, not one that doesn't sound flimsy as hell.
Military matters affect those of the Star Crèche, however, and Zahal's frustration does not touch that sphere. Not that it isn't without its own tensions -- anyone who spends enough time with Diya and Sei (and Ba Talim, for that matter) will feel the rising tensions between them, though their origins are as obscure as the haut always are. The Star Gate Project, now officially under the jurisdiction of the Star Crèche, continues on with Micah at the lead, although they haven't for a moment forgotten that they are a prisoner here, or where their true loyalties lie.
After the attack, Zahal's fury reaches a boiling point, and since the Barrayarans did so much infrastructural damage, the consequences of military matters finally reach Diya and Sei, rankling them, too. The power shortage and damage to the science/medical complex has put a serious damper on Star Gate research, although as far as anyone is aware, the gene therapy trials and other related Star Crèche research goes on unimpeded, thanks to the successful protection of the secondary backup generator, which seems to exist only to power the medbay and gene labs. But since power is a hot commodity right now, Zahal is going to start pushing to reroute some of that power to what the haut would probably deem as lower priority needs.
base
The mood around the base is restless, Zahal's frustration trickling down into tensions among his officers and seeping into the very atmosphere. They're hardly prepared for the attack that comes because they don't even know what to expect. The soldiers all seem on edge, nervous, a little tetchy, particularly after Tarn's altercation with Diya and Natasha, and then the failed attempt to smuggle out the Princess -- but that did, at least, lead to the outing of Byerly Vorrutyer as a spy among the Cetagandans, confirming some suspicions held by the higher brass in Cetagandan intelligence. About the only comfort, if one can call it that, in all this tension is Byerly's summary fast-penta interrogation.
The gene therapy trials, despite some...trials, continue, and with much greater success than last month. Sei and Diya are as impassive as ever, but even so, there's a tangible undercurrent of mixed relief and triumph. Micahworks as feverishly as ever on the Star Gate Project with the aid and oversight of the military's scientific division and the exotics working as lab assistants. The satellite launch has proven to be a highly productive venture -- it's yielding data they couldn't have gathered otherwise, which is proving to be critical, and Micah spends time having Kaidan, Symmetra and Pearl put through another series of brain scans and consulting the neurology team as they study the results.
Although Sei is never seen outside of her force bubble, and doesn't actually travel around the base all that much, her presence seems to dominate the more civilian areas of the base, overshadowing even Diya -- although Diya is considerably less visible around the base after her altercation with Tarn. Amai is, of course, somehow seen just about everywhere, a constant social and professional presence that refuses to let anyone forget she's there. But after the 5th, she seems to be troubled -- she's far less impassive than the haut, and her anxiety and discomfort are much easier to see.
After the attack, Diya seems somewhat shaken -- it's almost impossible to tell how Sei is affected, but with facilities down, audits are being done on all existing projects to determine what's important enough to remain active while they have limited power. The base isn't quite in a shambles, but there's a lot of damage -- while the Barrayarans personally only carry swords and bows, they clearly have no issue with taking the Cetagandans' plasma arcs to wreak havoc at home -- and the atmosphere is overall demoralized. Sending more troops to Vorkosigan Vashnoi was clearly the wrong move, and it's a bitter pill to swallow, but Zahal begins to recall troops from the city in small waves to help better man the base, knowing full well that this must have been what Piotr intended.
missions
A few interesting tidbits are overheard in the dark of night, and Amai finds herself in the uniquely uncomfortable position of holding Diya's dark secret in one hand, and Sei's in the other -- and Ba Talim seems to know something, though it isn't clear what. And some creative hacking turns up some unexpected dirt on Sei that makes Diya's illicit ba experiments look like mere misdemeanors.
Despite the best efforts of the soldiers and the exotics and the fact that, even undermanned, they still outnumber the guerrillas by a landslide, the base is still overrun by Barrayarans and their attack is successful. The main and backup power generators are totally disabled for the time being, and it's unclear how long it will be before full power is restored to the base.
The unabridged mission results can be found here.
Note: Gavalas, Olivia, Zahal, Diya, and Sei & Ba Talim are available for threads on request. Hit up Madi (Gavalas, Diya, Sei & Ba Talim) or Ammay (Olivia & Zahal) if you'd like threads with these characters!
no subject
Though, well - Byerly. His primary characteristic is, of course, his big mouth. So - so much for being followed without question. ]
Are you looking for a particular type of spot?
no subject
He doesn't answer him, but he doesn't keep moving for too long after -- they were already a decent ways out from the camp, Wash had felt safe enough to demonstrate earlier after all. Wash slows down, stalling, waits for Byerly to catch up, and immediately he's turning, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, drawing him close for a moment before pushing him back again, turning to shove him bodily against the trunk of some nearby tree. In the same movement he's bringing his other arm up, locking his forearm against Byerly's throat, pushing back against the tree, just enough to keep his head in place.
That was maybe a little too rough, honestly. But he doesn't think Byerly would mind. ]
This will do.
[ Still that same look in his eyes, his voice sliding just a little lower. ]
no subject
Glorious spot.
[ He didn't even glance around it - has no idea what the physical features of the spot are. His gaze is locked instead on the other man. He wriggles, very slightly - getting himself more comfortable in the spot, enjoying the sting of the rough tree bark against the back of his neck as he moves. ]
no subject
There's maybe the slightest upward quirk of his mouth, a smile, something amused at his words. Glorious spot. Sure. Wash doesn't know where the hell they are, either, and doesn't particularly care. He drops his hand from Byerly's shirt, braces it somewhere above his head against the bark, keeps that arm braced against his throat. Pushing in a little, still not enough to really do anything, but. ]
Hands on my arm. [ A slight tip of his chin. His voice is calm, matter-of-fact. ] I'm going to count to five, and I want you to be doing that in your head. You might not be able to hear me.
When you get to five, tap two fingers against my arm. Either hand. Your choice.
[ Waiting for acknowledgement, expectant. This is a test. ]
no subject
All right.
[ No quips. No sarcasm. No flippancy. He's quite serious. He brings both hands up against Wash's arm. ]
no subject
He makes some quiet sound in response, affirming but pleased and maybe with a slight rumble that slips into his voice as his hand moves up to lightly brush through his hair, the touch surprisingly gentle. ]
Then start counting.
[ It's immediate -- this a test, after all, he doesn't want to play around, he just needs to know before the game that Byerly will be able to do this, that he'll be lucid enough to tell him to stop when he needs it. He shoves his arm hard against his throat, not holding back, enough to make it entirely impossible to breathe as his other hand tightens through his hair, forcing his head back against the bark. He's counting, his voice low, perfectly steady the entire time, one, two, three . . . ]
no subject
no subject
Wash does immediately ease up, not pulling his arm away but giving him more than enough room to take a full, proper breath, still watching him so closely, gauging the way he responds to it, measuring how he responds to everything -- and drinking it in, too. That breathlessness, the surrender, no matter how brief, his eyes slightly lidded. His hand relaxes in his hair, stays there, a thumb soothing over his hairline. ]
Good. [ There's a definite rumble to his voice, now, something low from the back of his throat. ] You know what that was about, don't you?
no subject
The quip is not as quick or as quippy as usual. ]
What, choking me? I thought it was about fun.
no subject
There's a quiet smile, amusement at his words but also just pleasure from seeing him react like that, just from that from five seconds. No detail escapes him, with how closely he's studying him, and he drinks it all in, every slight tremble, the way his eyes lid, Byerly really does have very, very pretty eyes. ]
Did you think I was done? [ Silly. ]
That was a test. Making sure you'd be lucid enough to signal me. A safe word doesn't work as well for this, for obvious reasons. [ A slight tilt of his head, his voice still in that slightly lower register, maybe even more so than before. ] I want to make this clear, Byerly, I don't give a damn about how long you can last, about whatever pride you might have.
The moment you can't take it, you'll signal me, and I'll stop.
no subject
[ He smiles a little as he hums agreement - an arch, ironic sort of smile - because it's hard for him to be sincere; sincerity can only come in brief little moments. But he does agree. ]
I understand. Safety first.
[ Then, that acknowledgment having been given, he slips his hand up Wash's arm, tracing along his muscles encouragingly. Urging him on. ]
But I can take a bit more, you know.
no subject
We'll see. I'll keep count, now. Only signal when you can't take it, and I'll stop everything. [ Just a reminder, look, Wash always likes to make sure. ] Ten.
[ He does start counting, in his head, locking his arm tight, pushing right against him, and it's always immediate -- he knows just how much pressure it takes to throttle the air from someone's lungs, to cut it all off just at once and make it impossible to breathe. His own expression is perfectly calm the entire time, so entirely focused on taking in everything. This time though, when he does get to ten, while he lets up as promised he doesn't let up entirely. He keeps some pressure there, just as practiced, just enough that Byerly will be able to get some of his air back, but ah, not all of it, just enough that it's challenging to get any real air, any real relief. ]
no subject
And then - and then. His breath back, and he struggles again not to gasp - but his airway is still restricted, so that the half-excited half-panicked ache in his chest barely eases. He struggles not to fight. Struggles not to pant and gasp and struggle for air. It's - difficult. His head swims, and everything seems intensely, impossibly bright.
He can barely even manage a cute little quip. The best he can do is a thready, breathless: ]
Fun.
no subject
No detail goes missed, with how intensely Wash is watching him, with that look in his eyes, intense and focused but strangely relaxed, too. The little sting of Byerly's nails digging into his arm only adds to it, really. He eases off that pressure entirely, just for a moment, just enough for him to get in an actual breath. ]
Twelve. [ Immediate, again that pressure pushing right back in as soon as Byerly's had his chance to fill his lungs. Ten doesn't quite seem to be his limit, yet, but he looks shaken enough that he'll start going slower. He counts in his head, leans forward a little, his voice calm, low and soft. ] We'll see how much it takes for you to stop fucking talking.
[ And again, when he eases off, it's just like before, still not letting him have his air back fully. He likes having that control. ]
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He feels ecstatic already. Floating, suffused. Aroused, too - because there's something intensely arousing about this, that even though he'd said this wasn't sexual he finds himself speaking - half flirting, half taunting and provoking, inviting more - ]
Imagine what else...this lung capacity could do. There are services that a man...who can hold his breath...can provide.
[ Though it's a little hard to hear himself. There's a pleasant buzzing in his ears. ]
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Fifteen.
[ Still probably something that feels within Byerly's capacity. There's only so much to be taken from immediately pushing someone over their limits, after all -- the game is in getting there, testing, teasing, pushing them up to it bit by bit, finding where their lines are drawn and then finding where and for what they'd bend those lines for. This time Wash doesn't just use his strength but shifts forward slightly to push some of his weight against him when he locks off his air again. ]
Natashka told me she hit you, you know. Told me she choked you. [ His voice is lower, now, and he uses that name without quite thinking about it. Tashka, Wash had taken to calling her. He's counting in his head, still, if Byerly can still talk then he might as well give him something to answer to, if he could even hear him. ] First thing I asked her was if you liked it. What'd you think I told her, after?
[ Twelve, thirteen, and release. Mostly, anyway. ]
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Mm.
[ His throat bobs, Adam's apple brushing against Wash's forearm, as he struggles to swallow. He licks his lips and thinks back, trying to recall what the question had been. He pulls it out after only a moment's delay. ]
What did you tell her? I suppose that she was...justified. No?
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Nah. [ He's doing something different, now. Easing back again, to give him just the slightest breath of air, then pushing forward, but it's not sudden, this time. It's slow, gradual, almost painfully so, constricting that airway just a little bit at a time. ] I told her she gave you too much. Told her that you'd use it. Told her that if I had my way, if I had my damn guns here, I'd have already tied you to a chair and shoved one into your mouth.
[ And of course, he had meant that mostly to shut him up and it was about killing him. But where's that line even drawn, sometimes. Still pushing, leaning closer, shutting off his airway a little more at a time, until it would be painful but not impossible to say anything, until it's not that he can't breathe but it would actually just hurt to do so. ]
Told her I thought you'd probably like that, too.
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He can imagine it. Keenly. Unable to move, pinned down - tang of metal in his mouth. Delirious with fear, trusting - fearing - the prospect of death. It's an erotic image, charged through with dripping sexuality, and so the noise that By lets out - it's not words; it's just an unarticulated little whine of desire.
The wetness in his eyes overflows, a tear slipping out of the corner of his eye and rolling down his cheek. He doesn't even seem to noticed, focusing on just getting enough air to keep upright, to keep from surrendering quite yet. ]
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He watches that tear roll down his cheek. Watches him struggle for every not-quite-breath he's managing to take, feels his throat bobbing against his arm. ]
This is a good look for you, Byerly. [ Just on a low murmur, something hard and commanding to his tone even when his voice is soft. He eases up just the barest fraction of an inch. ] I think I can play a little more, but if you want to breathe, you're going to have to beg.
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[ He gulps in breaths as soon as he can, as soon as that pressure is lessened. Takes advantage of the slight relief to refresh his supply of oxygen as much as he can - though that's not so much. His head is swimming. He feels rather like he's floating. It's a glorious sort of sensation. He smiles a little dreamily at Wash, and responds: ]
Vor...don't beg.
[ A challenge, playful. Almost warm. A little smile curls his trembling lips. ]
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Alright, then.
[ He answers without a smile but with some soft, amused sound, his other hand drifting down from where he was resting it against the bark, fingers brushing lightly against the corner of his mouth. And then he just -- drops his arm. Pulls away entirely. Falls a step back, reaches up to roll one shoulder back, a lazy, distinctly disinterested motion. Allows something a little like disappointment to sneak into his expression, like he'd expected more from him. Wash learned a long time ago that denying the pain is the only punishment there is, when it comes to this. That, and a touch of not being enough.
No qualms about stopping here, really. It just depends on what's stronger, that Vorish pride or the need for punishment, or maybe Byerly's had enough. Suits him either way. Wash has no real problem being withholding, after all. ]
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What -
[ Another little cough. A shake of his head. ]
What the hell are you doing?
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Why? Did you want a little more than that?
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[ He reaches up to scrub at his face. There's a rime of sweat on his forehead; his hair is in disarray. He pushes it back into place - a twitchy bit of vanity, no question of that. His hands still tremble. His eyes are still luminous. His voice is husky and hungry. ]
I didn't think that was a secret.
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