[FolkMaster]

Piras chuckled, his eyes softening as he looked at Han-jae. "Dinner later would be great." The pale young man gasped quietly, turning his head to open his neck. "Mn..." His palms were pressed flat against the Korean's hips before sliding upward until Han-jae's shirt gathered under his armpits. When Han-jae pulled back, Piras pulled the shirt off and let it fall on the floor. He reached behind himself and pulled the little chain on the lamp, sending the room into cool darkness with only the holographic window casting the room in a pale glow.

[stoichornet]

Han-jae drew Piras into bed, stroking the other man's skin and hair, feeling his curves. Duty and enjoying yourself didn't have to be mutually exclusive- at least he hoped they wouldn't be right now. A little special attention during the "process" for his friend wouldn't truly make up for the consequences of his stupid suggestion, of course, but it might just be fun for them both, and Piras deserved a little fun.

For once in his life he was quiet as he moved, aside from the gentle creak from the bedframe.

[FolkMaster]

Piras was the quiet sort of bed partner. He only ever made soft gasps, whispered groans, and sweet pleasured exhales. He did like to scratch and grab at Han-jae's back, though not enough to draw any actual blood. His sexual drive was the same as any other healthy young man, seemingly unaffected by the fertility drugs coursing through his system. Soldiers who didn't know any better often assumed breeders didn't have any "oomph" in bed. Those who joined the breeding program were left pleasantly surprised. Even after they both finished, Piras invited Han-jae to lie in bed, in the cool and the dark, and enjoy the post-haze bliss. Even without being lovers, it was still nice lying beside a warm body and knowing humans were still humans.

"Should we go to the mess hall?" he asked after a long stretch of comfortable silence.

[stoichornet]

Han-jae didn't respond right away, but smiled in the darkness. "Let me see if I can scrape myself off the moon first and return to the normal world. That was some amazing stuff." He kissed his friend's forehead, enjoying a few more seconds of the contrast between Piras' body heat and the coolness in the room, and stretched out, his spine arching slightly, before he got out of bed and began to retrieve his things and get dressed again. "...all right, I'm back."

He looked at the picture of the forest that had been glowing the whole time. "Anywhere you know?"

One of the eggchairs served as a pleasant seat to watch his partner get some clothes on, in the few minutes before they left for the land of hashbrowns.

[FolkMaster]

Piras smirked. "The moon, huh? Well, you weren't so bad yourself, hot shot." He teased his fingers along the man's arched spine before Han-jae rolled out of bed completely. He hugged his pillow for a moment, savoring the smell in the fabric, and then swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Hm? Oh! I grew up in Portland, Oregon. The Arrival was coming to its climax, so I wasn't able to enjoy the nature there as much as I'd have liked, but the image of the tall, mossy trees have always stayed with me. I have a few landscapes programmed in there. One is a beach from the Florida Keys, another is the snowy caps of the French alps, and the third is Santorini. My family is from Greece, so I like to see where they came from."

Piras stepped into a pair of Lycra boxer-briefs and then pulled on a pair of washed-out skinny jeans over them. The shirt he picked was just a plain orange thing that rode up a little bit whenever he bent over or stretched his arms up above his head. Finally, he slipped on a pair of sneakers, smoothed down his braid, and then laid his palm on the lock to open the door. "Do you ever miss Seoul or Shanghai, Han-jae?"

[stoichornet]

"Ah, so that's where you come from...It might be an interesting goal to go there once the Sovereign stop stinking up the place, huh?" Han-jae led Piras out the door and continued to talk on their way down the hallway. "Yeah, I miss both places- when it was still a working city Old Seoul was pretty nice. Street markets, people everywhere, tall buildings....I guess they looked even taller to a kid." Shame the government had outsourced critical foundation parts for the tower to the lowest bidder; admittedly, the resulting scandal had changed how the Ministers did things rather drastically, but that hadn't really helped the people who weren't evacuated before an entire residential floor collapsed. Seoul Tower had been made livable again, but he hadn't been back since and the place seemed to be mostly used as a military beachhead these days anyway. "Shanghai, well, I've only seen the tower, although people there keep telling me how great the harbor down below used to be and how big the city was. The tower's impressive in its own right, though." Han-jae shrugged. "I can get my sister to take some pictures for you if you'd like."

Mentioning Ha-in sometimes got derisive reactions from people, so he explained somewhat defensively. "Yes, I have actually got a sister, not making her up. She sometimes gets to send me mail through the tablet network, although I haven't actually spoken to her in a while."

[DragonKnight]

Ryne knocked on the door to Piras' room. "Piras? Can you let me in? Me and Carter had a fight." He cried as he held his belly to comfort himself. Ryne thought staying with someone else for a while would be better then staying with the person he just had a fight with.

[FolkMaster]

"I think it's great you have a sister!" Piras chimed. "Both my brothers died before I was born, so I think it's great you have sibling. I'd love to meet her one day. Is she anything like you? By which I mean, does she like to test the limits of eccentricity with authority figures?" he teased and elbowed Han-jae in the side. Just as they were about to turn the corner, Piras heard a sad little voice coming from the direction of his room. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Ryne standing at his door and looking very sad. "Oh..."

Piras looked between Han-jae and Ryne, now feeling conflicted. He was already giving his attention to the Korean and it seemed rude to suddenly bail on him, but poor Ryne looked to be in pretty bad shape and it would be mean to just ignore him. "Han-jae... Han-jae, I'm so sorry, but I'll have to give you a rain check on that dinner. Come by tomorrow morning and help me with the injections if you can, okay?" He offered a smile and squeezed the man's arm. "Maybe we can do breakfast instead."

Having said his goodbye, Piras back-tracked to his room with a worried frown. "Ryne, what are you doing here?"

[DragonKnight]

Ryne sniffles. "Me and Carter had a fight! I told him that the Sovereign were smart and could hurt him and he got mad and I yelled at him!" He explained as he started to cry, leaning into Piras' shoulder. He noticed Han-Jae and how Piras wasn't pregnant anymore. "Ummm....I'm I interrupting something?" He asked quietly.

[FolkMaster]

"Ohh, sweetie..." Piras sighed and wrapped an arm around Ryne's back. He only knew Carter in passing from around the tower, but he seemed like a pretty serious soldier. Ryne's question prompted him to look back towards Han-jae, but then shook his head. "He and I were going to get dinner, but you seem really upset. Han-jae is my new breeding partner after my miscarriage last night." Piras set his palm on the exterior lock and opened the door, ushering Ryne inside. "Come in and sit down. Let's talk. Why would you say something like that to Carter?"

[stoichornet]

"All right. I'll make it in to see you in the morning, then." Han-jae glanced back to see the little blond breeder knocking on Piras' door and crying, and shrugged philosophically before squeezing his partner's hand in return and bowing out casually. "See you later." He heard Ryne's question as he left, and sighed.

His presence would probably just be pretty awkward if they were going to be discussing just what the hell was going on between Ryne and Carter- he had never liked domestic disputes, and didn't feel right getting involved in that area of other people's business. As he was making his way out of the nest, saying hi to another breeder who looked somewhat unwarrantedly surprised, his tablet beeped obnoxiously, and he fished it out. A long string of Korean filled the screen; apparently Ha-in was finished with the hydroponics project back in Shanghai. And had enclosed some pictures that really didn't interest him all that much, although it was nice to see her face.

He got a few scoops of food off the mess line and found a seat to eat it at.

[DragonKnight]

"Cause they are! They're not mindless beasts! I read everything about them, seen videos and witnessed live footage. They're coordinated, and deadly. I just want Carter to be safe and to take them seriously then just as some dead zombies!" Ryne explained quickly before he tried to catch his breath.

[FolkMaster]

Piras seemed overwhelmed by Ryne's outburst, so he helped the boy sit in one of the egg chairs instead. "Ryne, shh... Deep breaths, okay? Listen, we all know how dangerous the Sovereign are, but I think the soldiers know better than any of us. Sweetie... I think it's great you're trying to learn all you can about Sovereign and I'm sure Carter appreciates you trying to be as educated as possible... but you have to admit that watching a video isn't nearly the same as being down on the surface in an actual battle."

Piras sat himself in the opposite chair and sighed. "Carter and all the other soldiers spend weeks at a time down on the surface. They get into physical altercations with Sovereign. Carter has his scars, Ryne. He's also seen plenty of his armed brothers get killed by these monsters. I don't think for one minute Carter doesn't take them seriously. Those men do everything they can to stay alive, and to keep us safe up in these towers. I think for you to imply Carter doesn't take the Sovereign seriously... is a harsh blow to his pride as a soldier."

[SimonBrownMpreg]

Carter had been brooding down in the gym after his fight with Ryne. The information ticker released the announcement for dinner, so the guy figured he'd distract himself with food. Moving through the line, he piled up on the Sloppy Joe meat, mashed potatoes, baked beans, and three cookies. He started looking for a place to sit, but then a familiar face caught his attention. Han-jae would be the perfect distraction. Carter plopped himself down in the seat across from the Specialist. "Han!" he barked in a friendly manner. "Not too hung over, I take it? Can't say the same for myself. Sweat most of it out in the gym, though."

[DragonKnight]

"I guess. But I saw something strange in one of the videos from a few days ago. I saw Sovereigns talking with one another." Ryne said. "It wasn't actually talking with each other, but two Sovereigns just stood on the monitors on the outside of the city just standing there. Then they just ran off together. I think the Sovereign have some form of hive mind." He theorized.

[FolkMaster]

"That makes sense," Piras mused and scratched his chin. "None of the soldiers or researchers have ever reported a form of verbal communication between Sovereign, so a hive mind would seem like the best logical conclusion. But Ryne, that probably means they've had a hive mind all along. It doesn't change anything that's happened. If you think there are developments in the Sovereign that could affect how we fight them, that's something you need to bring up to the research team. Accusing Carter of being reckless doesn't help anyone. It just hurts his feelings."

[DragonKnight]

"I don't know if Carter will listen now. Plus, we don't know if the Sovereign had one before or they are developing one. I have so many questions. But I want Carter back." Ryne said as he started to blubber.

[FolkMaster]

Piras rubbed the back of his neck. Ryne sure was emotional. "I don't know if you'll be able to fix your relationship with Carter, Ryne. I don't know him personally, so I can't speak for him. If I had to guess, you probably damaged his pride severely. Any soldier would have been offended by the things you said. If he does take you back, it's not going to be overnight." Honestly, Piras was fairly sure Ryne ruined any chance of ever getting back with Carter. He hadn't been there for any of their fights, but it sounded like the little breeder said some hurtful and not-so-smart things to the soldier.

"As for all your Sovereign questions, I don't have the answers. Like I said, sweetie, you'll have to go see the researchers about all of that."

[DragonKnight]

Ryne teared up. "I want Carter. I love him so much. I never had anyone but him. I'll do anything to be back with him." He cried as he held his belly to try and comfort himself.

[FolkMaster]

"Ryne..." Piras frowned uncomfortable. "Ryne, I don't know what to tell you..."