mikebennet

[mikebennet]

Doesn't it bother you that you'll never really belong in Redwood?

Nope. I ain't the sorter person what frets and wails over what other folk think of me.

[mikebennet]

Didn't you just trade the leash the general had you on for Zack keeping you chained up?

Zack knows what all I done to him, so it ain't hardly the same. Heh heh.

[mikebennet]

[ sexy photoshoot time ]

[mikebennet]

"Whut did big man make you wear an ankle monitor for?" In the time he'd gotten to know Ares -- including the many opportunities for sex between them, during which Ares had been enthused and pliant and willing to accept all manner of rough treatment -- there wasn't anything about the man that made Mike think that he'd present some kind of threat to Redwood. "Did you make you some sort of one-eighty in the time you been here, Daisy? Come in all roar until somebody pet you right and put a collar and bell on you?"

Mike watched Ares slick that mangled tongue against his teeth and wondered if that made him feel good, that physical reminder of his being schooled and put in his place by Isaac himself. The raiders all seemed to have a near cultlike devotion to their rangy leader, even the thundercloud-faced girl who had taken herself off to guard the Ranch like an ill-tempered feral cat. Ares treasured his depleted tongue. It was like he'd earned something, sacrificing part of it.

"I been to the Ranch, though only one time when Zack thought I might be good lending some muscle for digging out they wanted done." Mike shrugged. He didn't mind being used for labour; it was good that Redwood found use for him at all. "It's like to be even better'n what I seen that time. Dunno how protected it is with them two sour women tending it." Mike reached over, pressing his thumb against one of the bruises low against the side of Ares' neck, almost hidden by his beard; his thumb fit perfectly, of course. "You go out there much, boy?"

starter for: @mikebennet

location: Redwood perimeter

"Man,being able to move wherever you want is nice. It's great you can go out here without the whole 'supervision'-thing. Those ankle monitors are a pain. I remember when Ike made me wear one-" Ares groaned softly at the memory and turned his head to cast a gaze at Mike walking beside him. "Was kinda glad when they took it off."

Asking Mike if they wanted to go out together had been a spontaneous thing. Hunters and raiders didn't do much together, entirely different jobs and all. But hey, if they were both gonna head outside the walls, might as well do a few miles south together. Ares paused his chattering for a moment, stretching out his arms and taking in his surroundings with the comfortable attentiveness he'd become accustomed to. It was early, the sun had risen a couple of hours ago, so the summer heat wasn't hammering down at them in full force. And the thick forest surrounding them did it's usual. Nice and cool. No walkers. Damn near perfect weather. It sure felt like it was gonna be a good day.

Ares ran the rugged side of his tongue alongside his teeth as he fixed his attentive gaze back on his companion. Mike seemed to be doing good in Redwood. The ankle monitor had gone a while ago, him being allowed out on his own was recent by comparison, but long enough. Redwood had settled down again, most of it back into routine. Ares' sense of guilt definitely had, by this point.

"The cabin's four miles that way. The raiders use it as a spot to camp out, if we can't make it back. Got water and some food stashed. Figure it's probably useful for the hunters too. You guys stay out pretty long. Though.... I guess we got the ranch now, too." Ares kept his voice low as he spoke, just enough for Mike to hear. "You ever been there? The ranch? It looks pretty good right now."

[mikebennet]

Could you smell when someone ripped ass in the mines?

yeah smelled just like you do

[mikebennet]

Which tattoo is your favorite?

Them swallows. Got em for us Bennet boys and all.

[mikebennet]

has mayra come begging for more attention since that smooch?

who?

[mikebennet]

what day of the week has the worst sewer smell?

monday on account of everyone has big sunday dinner and fucks

[mikebennet]

Why are you constantly provoking people? Are you insecure or something

Go talk to one of the girls in town they all got opinions on what's goin on with me I reckon they'll be able to have a nice long chat with you bout it lemme know what you come up with

[mikebennet]

Don't you think that what you're doing right now is going to come bite you in the ass later? Why not actually try to change?

What am I doing right now that could bite me in my ass that I need to change? you'ns round these parts talk like everything's a fuckin wizard riddle

[mikebennet]

Does it bug you that clint seems more interested in that doctor than you?

so long as he dogs that tail i don't care

[mikebennet]

What about Clint made you decide to give up your place with the Daybreakers? Or were you already looking for an out and Clint was a convenient excuse?

uhhhhhhhh I don't know man! I didn't expect Clint to show up all alive and grown and shit so I made a snap decision. Sometimes it just be like that.

[mikebennet]

If Clint died, what would you do?

Uh keep on going? I didn't have no contact with him most of our adult lives it ain't like my life depends on him. I'd expect same answer from him too.

[mikebennet]

That right there. That was the reaction Mike had been expecting, had been aiming to get, and sure enough Ares provided the broadest possible target. There was no missing, even if Mike's aim had been off, and it hadn't. Bullseye without even trying.

"My house is the one over yonder by Clint's," Mike said, nodding off into the distance. "Used to belong to some woman, Sophie, Silvy? Clint won't shut up bout her. If I didn't reckon her to be a lezzy from the way the place looks, I'd think he got himself a piece of ass in that house." Mike snickered at the thought -- ridiculous, Clint getting up the gumption to get himself laid -- and looked down at Ares' fingers against his belt, one eyebrow arching up before he looked back at Ares with a sidelong smile.

"Yeaaaah," Mike said, clasping one hand around the back of Ares' head as the other man slipped to his knees despite being still jerky, hampered, injured, "I think you know where to go, bubba."

The idea that somebody might come into the laundromat and find Ares gobbling him didn't much matter to Mike; everyone in this town already thought the worst of him anyhow. Naw, that was little Daisy's shit to fret over. And he could do that once he was finished with the task Mike figured he might as well set him to.

"Don't waste none'a my time, blue eyes," Mike said. "Git on it. And you best swallow every last god-lovin' drop."

Ares froze. His heart stumbled in his chest, sending hot tendrils through his entire body, meeting with the sharp pull in his gut. The way Mike was looking at him, the way he said Daisy in that accent. The way he made it clear he was going to take. There wasn't even a need to crowd Ares in, get really close, like they'd sometimes done in prison even though Ares didn't run. Never ran.

"Yeah. I know how it works." Ares mouth filled with spit, pooling hot on his tongue, and he swallowed. Faint memories of what'd happened on the ranch wafted up, its immediate aftermath. The pain, and faint pleasure and all of those feelings he'd managed to wrestle under control after he'd been told to. Now he realized maybe he hadn't really gotten much under control, maybe he'd just accepted there was no chance to act on it, and now there was.

"I gotta know which one's your house." Ares breathed out and stepped a little closer. He reached out, pressing his fingertips against Mike's belt, catching on the buckle and hooking his fingers into it. The cold metal almost felt like it was burning before it warmed below his touch. It took effort but Ares didn't think about it. He sank down onto his knees, still looking up, eyes fixed on Mike's face. His mouth was watering by this point.

"I gotta know where to go."

[mikebennet]

Mike shrugged at Beth's question about the hides, the matter more or less unimportant to him. "Reckon some big shot with some big brain got ideas on how to make use of every lil critter toenail," he said. "Best ask one of them. You been livin' here how long now? Ain't there some sorter method for all this yet?" Mike gave a long, pitying whistle through his teeth. "And here I thought Clint saw the sun rise and set on this place."

He'd abandoned even the pretense of helping in any functional way, now just hanging out and staring at Beth. "The eKY, that's right, yes ma'am," he said, suddenly feeling a pang for what had become his hometown after he'd left Louisiana. With the thought of baby brother completely divorced of location, just carried around with him, Mike had settled there without looking back. "County Floyd and right near the state line."

Beth explained more about her time down in a mine -- a non-working one, of course -- and Mike watched her with a flat, assessing stare. She had an imagination. She had an imagination that was extending him sympathy, on account of working under the earth, not pity and not disinterest. "A body gets used to it," he said. "A body gets used to dang near anything, if it wants to eat and have a roof over its head."

At odds between pressing him and not picking the value of cinema as a hill to die on, Beth decided to let it be for the moment. Instead, she reviewed the assemblage of kills, touching each in consideration. "Anyone tell you what's done with the hide after? I don't think I've ever seen them used. But there's probably something..." She trailed off as she would, completing the thoughts silently before moving on.

"Prestonsburg's Kentucky side, right? Couldn't do it on foot easy these days, but I can't feature it being too far from Beckley." How strange to imagine the proximity between locations. Mike down in the mines while Beth got to work out of a nice, climate controlled office. Made her itch up the back of her neck.

"Oh, sure. Miners guided the tour, hitched us all into carts and down fifteen hundred feet we went." Mammoth Caves had been far less claustrophobic and nerve-wracking. "The old company store became a little museum, with mining hats and tags and the like. The miner scooters in there always got me the most. Picturing a collapse or fire and trying to get out hunkered down on one of those..."

The tickle up her spine wasn't pleasant. "I don't envy it."

[mikebennet]

The way you're treating people around you is alienating everyone. Who do you think would even be in your corner when push comes to shove?

Huh? Ain't nobody alienated from me. I got all them women interested, got my baby bro, got Ares, who you even talking about?

[mikebennet]

How is it to work sanitation with a partner like Drea ?

what can I say girl knows her shit