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Post by Needlenose on Jan 21, 2012 23:11:28 GMT -5
M6W3D4, Private. A loft in trendy Northville, MI. As a warning, some of the subject matter in the thread might be a bit disturbing.
Ned Leonardo sits at the dinner table across from his wife and smiles, taking another sip of his wine.
"This was delicious, darling. You've really out done yourself." Then he yawns. "Oh, pardon me."
Ned has been... distracted for about a week and a half now, something that Esprit most likely has observed. He's also been working heavily on one of his art projects in his art room. But this evening, for the meal, his full attention has been on his lovely wife.
Well, mostly. It's almost as if he seems concerned that he might displease someone if he's too attentive.
"But you never told me wha-" he shakes his head. My, but he's tired all of the sudden, isn't he? "What's the... the special o..." he yawns widely. "Occasssssi-"
And he falls forward, his face planting into his chocolate mousse.
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Post by Spinister on Jan 21, 2012 23:48:54 GMT -5
Esprit Hunt does not smile much. She honestly isn't all that expressive. Still, one would expect a loving wife to show some shock and concern when her husband falls face-first into his mousse. At the very least, she might laugh! Esprit is silent and impassive, and she is anything but surprised. She was expecting this, in fact. Esprit waits a moment and then she moves around to check Ned's pulse and vitals. Apparently satisfied, Esprit lugs him off to the bedroom and leaves him on the bed for a moment. She checks that the curtains, which are faded antique-Victorianish looking, in dusky roses and browns, are fully closed, and then she hangs some heavy black towels up, too, which won't show from outside, but will help block any light or sound. Esprit then puts a portable lock on the door and pockets the key. Then she turns back to Ned, considering. Esprit strips him naked. Then she ties him down to the bed. Not just the hands and feet - she does an extremely thorough job - and gags him. The only wiggle room that he has is his dominant hand, which she leaves free enough to hold a crayon, which she places near his fingers, and a pad of paper. There is, however, always a blanket conveniently covering his lower half, because this is PG-13. Next, she changes, out of what she had been wearing prior - a reasonably alluring nighttime dress - for a pink tank top, a purple jacket, and a teal pair of pants. Then, satisfied with her work, she perches on the headboard like a gargoyle, staring down at Ned, and she waits for him to wake up. It may take a while, but that is fine. Esprit is nothing if not patient.
OOC: Manhandling Ned done with permission.
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Post by Needlenose on Jan 22, 2012 21:17:03 GMT -5
Ned comes around. He's groggy, and he comes around slowly, but still he comes. He groans and starts to move his hand in an attempt to turn over... then realizes he can't do that. He suddenly starts full awake, at which point he finally sees Esprit hovering above him. He yanks on his bonds, struggling against him, eyes narrowed as he looks up at his wife, one brow raised as if to ask, 'What the hell, woman?''
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Post by Spinister on Jan 22, 2012 21:27:08 GMT -5
Esprit does not move. On the one hand, she doesn't want to ask the first question, because she doesn't want to give something away to a potential enemy. He could be a meta, after all, and he might have telepathic powers that would let him alert someone outside, or the power to dissolve rope, or... well, Esprit is going to be cautious.
At the same time, if he is either an enemy or her old partner, he isn't going to want to venture anything first, either.
So Esprit goes with what she's good at: death threats and says, in the best approximation a human can manage of standard Decepticon (her vocal cords hate her so much right now), "I'm Spinister. Give me a good reason not to make you vanish."
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Post by Needlenose on Jan 22, 2012 22:16:56 GMT -5
Ned's eyes open wide in surprise, but then he smiles and actually looks relieved. This is a very odd expression for someone who's tied up, gagged, and has been threatened with death.
He turns his head one way, then the other, and in the process spots the crayon by his left hand. He picks it up and awkwardly scratches out the Cybertronian sigil that represents his name.
His real name.
Then he looks back up at Esprit.
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Post by Spinister on Jan 22, 2012 22:23:40 GMT -5
That is a good start, Esprit thinks, but it does not rule out telepathy. However, nothing is ever going to rule out telepathy. Needlenose did manage to land a pretty big role on that human fashion contest show, though. The humans would know his name - even his bitterness, that wonderful spite that sent an artist stumbling down the golden road. How much have the humans learned of their language?
Esprit prompts, now in English, "More. Not your cowardice in Slaughter City."
She never told anyone about that.
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Post by Needlenose on Jan 23, 2012 13:21:44 GMT -5
Ned keeps writing in Cybertronian, actually, as much as he can, because the symbols are a bit easier to scrawl given his current situation.
Still, the crayon marks roughly translate to, "You could have just asked the man who nursed you back to health after your little Blight problem." 'Blight' is in Pz-Zazzian, but it wasn't a Cybertronian name.
Also on the page. "Do you still cloak?"
Just how many people know about that?
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Post by Spinister on Jan 23, 2012 13:31:33 GMT -5
Esprit made the cowardice crack on purpose to try to gauge emotional reaction. Ned is... snarky and snide in response. Either this is actually him or an amazingly good actor, because he knows what he should and those emotional reactions are all right spot-on.
There is a little piece of Hairsplitter in the back of her head that is screaming about Ned's handwriting being bad, but Esprit ignores it, because the man is tied down and only has a crayon and inefficient human fingers.
Esprit vanishes. She appears again a few moments later standing at the foot of the bed, having climbed down while cloaked. She shakes her head. "If I asked and you attacked or ran..."
Then she would have had to hunt him down and kill him. It's easier to start with him tied up and then ask questions. Esprit walks around the side of the bed and moves to try to take the gag off. She is taking a risk. He could be a fake. The sensible thing to do would be to kill him.
Love, unfortunately, is extremely nonsensical.
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Post by Needlenose on Jan 23, 2012 23:34:45 GMT -5
"Than that would have meant I'm probably a fake and you'd have every right to kill me back," Ned snaps, annoyed. He tests his restraints again, though not too much. If he's going to manage an escape, it won't be while Esprit is watching.
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Post by Spinister on Jan 23, 2012 23:45:52 GMT -5
"Yes," Esprit says patiently and evenly. "That's why I went to this trouble. Why give someone who could be an enemy any chances?"
She reaches to untie his off hand and adds, "You know you would have just tossed me in a human-compatible mind-leech if you'd had one built and got me first."
This is the advantage of the traditional terror treatment: it requires considerably less technology to pull off.
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Post by Needlenose on Jan 24, 2012 22:28:38 GMT -5
Ned looks offended as he pushes himself up, then rubs his wrists to ensure the feeling is there, check to see if he's given himself any burns or anything along those lines.
"How dare you suggest I wouldn't have tested it out on someone I didn't like first!" he objects.
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Post by Spinister on Jan 24, 2012 23:22:05 GMT -5
Esprit tries to rub her cheek against Ned's to nuzzle and soothe him and his wounded pride. The way that these human bodies yield bothers her, though she remembers that Nebulans yield like this, too.
"If you had grabbed me before I grabbed you," Esprit clarifies. Not that she would have been the first test subject. After all, she already... disappeared someone, just to see if she could, in case it turned out she needed to widow herself here. "Have anything concrete on this?"
She doesn't. Esprit could speculate, but she has so little data that it would be pointless. She reaches over to untie his other hand.
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Post by Needlenose on Jan 25, 2012 9:15:22 GMT -5
Ned doesn't really respond to the nuzzling, as if trying to emphasize, 'Angry, here, woman!' When he gets both his hands untied, he attempts to push Esprit off of him so that he can sit up and untie his feet, just in case he has to run. He's not entirely sure if running does any good when the hunter can turn invisible, but he's pretty sure that being able to run is better than not being able to run.
"Not yet, no. I assume it's connected to that thing Scourge and Starscream were zipping off to investigate, but I've got no confirmation. Haven't been able to put a radio together yet, although that should be easier now that I don't have to worry about hiding it from you." He shrugs.
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Post by Spinister on Jan 25, 2012 9:49:42 GMT -5
If Ned wants to untie himself without any help, he can be that way. Esprit is shoved away, shrugs, and busies herself taking down those black towels, never entirely turning her back to Ned. She folds them very neatly; Hairsplitter remembers how to do this.
Esprit nods. She does have some technical background, but she's been pretty busy getting things sorted down at the department, and humanity is a bit... staggering. So she hasn't managed a radio yet, either, though she has also considered just breaking into the appropriate facility and using the radio there.
She offers, "I'll help with the radio. But." She looks down at her hands. "This," whatever it is, "has made me a detective in the MCU. I hunt supervillains. If more of us are... like this, my position has the potential to be extremely useful. I'll get you my on-duty schedules. If you're going to do anything I'd have to arrest you for... just do it when and where I won't be. And don't tell me about it. I want to be as surprised as anyone."
Esprit does not want to have to explain things to Captain Fanzone. At the same time, Needlenoses will be Needlenoses. So as long as she doesn't know, they should both be fine.
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Post by Needlenose on Jan 25, 2012 12:56:39 GMT -5
Ned considers.
This means he probably shouldn't mention that he's pretty sure he's a supervillain, doesn't it?
He nods sharply. "All right, got it."
He swings his legs off the bed and sits up, but there's always something blocking the camera shot as he moves over towards the dresser.
"Why on Earth did you have to undress me for this?" he demands.
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