[Closed] Help me understand why you've given in to all these reckless, dark desires.

[dominateartimus]

Who: Nick Burkhardt & Xander Jarle
Where: Briefly at the police station and then to Nick's apartment
When: December 6th, evening
What: After seeing a particular post involving the cops on the network, Xander goes to talk to Nick about his knowledge of the situation and check up on him.


Once Xander was finished with work for the day at the grocery store, he made a detour from his usual route home to locate the police department. He was taking a giant gamble by heading towards one of the enemy's headquarters, but he needed to get in to contact with Nick. Sure, he could have contacted the homicide detective by other means, but there was still a chance that his messages would go ignored. He knew how hard Nick would work and after encountering each other back in October made things a lot more complicated than it should have. That fear of being arrested still lingered in his mind as he walked, even with Nick's warning about not to trust him.

With an agitated sigh, he tries his best to push those thoughts aside as he spots the building a few blocks ahead. He had considered the thought of just walking up to the station and ask for Nick like a normal human being, but he couldn't think of a good cover story for why he was waiting and lying to the cops would never end well. Instead, he turns down a side-street, making sure the coast is clear before merging with his own shadow against the wall with his things. He debated between his options, stick to the roofs and shady areas or risk exposure by using his teleport ability that he hasn't quite mastered yet. Then again, he didn't know if the modified police could detect him from the shadows or pick up the faint traces of cigarettes and two male cats if he was to linger by the doors. Before he could even think of the possibilities of failure, he was off.

Much to his surprise, he was able to travel across the ground with little difficulty; easily dodging feet and tires as they approached. There were no slip ups with him teleporting to a different spot without meaning to and he hoped that not many people noticed his small form as he moved to shadows that were out of reach. He found a spot under a car and against a tire, allowing him to see the police station's doorway. Now, all he could do is wait for Nick to show up.

Comments

[detectivetroll]

Nick's exhausted when he finally gets off work. It's only few hours later than he's technically supposed to get off, and earlier than he's gone home a lot of the time, but he's still beat. With all of his normal cases, on top of handling network cases and trying to get information from Sherman without getting anyone suspicious, well. It's a lot to handle.

It's probably obvious when he steps out of the station, walking along next to a uniformed officer and chatting about nothing in particular. They separate when they reach the parking lot, and Nick heads to his car, climbing in.

When he gets back to his apartment complex, he hesitates outside John and Anthony's apartment, considering knocking. But John has his own troubles at the moment, and Nick doesn't want to burden his friend with more until he can figure out what they are.

So he continues on to his apartment, pausing in front of his door to pull off his gloves and dig around in his pocket for his keys.

[dominateartimus]

It doesn't take long for Xander to spot Nick, but instead of moving right away, he waits. He doesn't know if the other officer was genetically modified or not and he wasn't going to take that risk. But, once they move away from the homicide detective's side, he follows Nick in to his car.

The ride wasn't very eventful, but it gave him time to figure out what he wanted to say to his ex. It was nothing regarding them, but the situation on the network. Nick was his only source of information from the police, even though he felt bad for doing this. The sound of Nick turning off the engine brings him out of his thoughts and he moves to keep up with Nick's shadow. The building looked rather familiar to him, but pushed that thought from his mind.

This was probably the first time he had to compensate for multiple light sources and Nick's feet. At the pause in front of John & Anthony's apartment, he glances at the door, partially wondering what the deal that was about, but returned his focus on Nick. He would wait for the other man to unlock the door, get inside and close the door behind him before revealing himself. He has a feeling he knows what to expect when he materializes from the shadows. It would probably involve being shoved against the wall or grabbed and thrown to the ground before being handcuffed while hearing demands for why he showed up. For now, he would hope that his gesture of bringing no harm and an apologetic expression would be enough to keep Nick from doing that.

[detectivetroll]

There's been something bugging him since he left the station, the feeling of being watched, but when a few glances around had produced nothing, he'd done his best to ignore it. He's getting more paranoid than he used to be, probably, with everything he has to worry about, and how careful he has to keep being.

But he's still on edge, tense as he heads into his apartment and shuts the door behind him. He locks it, knowing that should make him feel better, but - the eerie feeling of being watched even when there's clearly no one there, when he can't explain where that feeling is coming from, what it means or even what to do about it, it's still there, and he can't shake it.

In more ways than one.


(I'm hoping to get Nick an echo here, so I may be a bit slow in replying while I wait for it!)

[dominateartimus]

After hearing the click of the lock being turned, Xander pulls away from Nick's shadow and waits for a moment for any signs of another person in the apartment. When nothing stirs, he takes a mental breath and moves to the wall. It was easier to come out of the shadows there instead of the floor and it was a lot more safer than the ceiling.

"...Nick." He starts, his tone soft and apologetic like his expression as he raises his hands up in a 'I mean no harm' gesture. "I'm sorry for showing up like this, but I had no other way of getting in contact with you."

It wasn't a total lie and hopefully Nick would understand. He was placing a lot of trust in the other man, even though his warning did still circulate in his head. Then again, what he was doing was breaking a fair bit of trust as well. But for now, he would remain still and wait for Nick's reaction.

[detectivetroll]

As he locks the door, he feels the familiar heartbeat sensation of an echo, followed immediately by some kind of - instinct, something that warns him there's something not right, and it might be trouble. He whirls around, one hand on his gun.

As soon as he hears who it is, though, he realizes that whatever it was that'd alerted him is silent now, and the feeling of danger is gone.

"Xan?" he asks, brows furrowing first in confusion, then in concern. "Are you okay, do you need help?" He has no idea why Xander would come to him for help, but at the moment, he can't think of any other reason that Xander would come to his apartment.

[dominateartimus]

He wasn't surprised when Nick reaches for his gun, but he was partially relieved to see it remain in its holster. So far, this was a good start and he would remain where he was with his hands still up.

"I'm fine." Or as fine as he could be with all of his 'pulses'. "...The reason why I came to you was for some information, actually. You're the only person I know who works at the police station and I'd assume that you know what's going on between the police and members of the network."

He pauses for a moment, letting that sink in. Then again, Nick didn't owe him anything and that could be the very same answer that the homicide detective could respond with. Before even Nick could respond, he was speaking again.

"I don't know if you've been on the network recently, but someone got found out by the enemy and are being forced to work for them and there was post stating that some of the officers have been 'genetically modified' among other things. They haven't done anything to you, have they?"

As he asks his question, his voice softens a bit and concern takes over in his expression. It was rather difficult to keep his mind from wandering to the memory of the genetically modified being his preincarnation encountered and an even darker one at the idea of what someone would have to endure.

[detectivetroll]

Nick isn't sure what he thinks of that, of Xander pretty much breaking into his house - if under very strange circumstances of 'breaking in' - to ask him for information about the police. He's not against sharing some of what he knows with Xander, even if him knowing that Nick's a cop makes things a little more awkward, but he's a little bit pissed off that Xander decided suddenly appearing in his apartment was the best way to go about that.

If he was being honest, there's vague feelings he doesn't really understand and can't exactly put a name to that make him even more unsettled, related to the fact that once, this would have been their apartment, and Xander being here like this when he'd gotten home was nothing out of the ordinary. Fortunately, he's not being honest.

But when Xander's voice softens and concern shows through, Nick's attitude softens as well. He doesn't reply to the first part, at least not at the moment, but he can answer Xander's other question easily enough. "No. As far as I know, they've only done it to people who were willing."

[dominateartimus]

Nick's answer about having nothing done to him was relieving to hear and Xander's frame relaxes a bit with the lowering of his arms. He gives a small nod as his expression returns to neutral.

"That's good." He starts before realizing what he said and quickly corrects himself, "I mean about you not being any different than what you are. ...I can't say the same for the 'volunteers'."

His lips shift in to a frown as he exhales, adjusting his weight from one foot to the other. There was an internal debate going on inside of his head regarding a little tidbit of information he got from a 'pulse' and how to address Ray's present predicament.

After a moment of silence, he speaks up. "What they're becoming... I've seen it before -- not me specifically, but the other me. He's seen this before and it's not good, Nick."

There was a flash of concern in his blue eyes again before his gaze lowers to the floor with a slightly pained expression and balled his fists. He could only assume that the process was torturous, handled similarly to the actual torture that his other self endured with a voice that sounded exactly like his twin brother. He tried his best to push that memory away and the guilt tied to it, not wanting to dwell on it in front of Nick.