[For a moment Ax's thoughts are nothing but expletives. How could he have been so careless? This could have been a fatal mistake if it had been anyone other than Ryuji. It would have been, back on Earth during the war. He's better than this. What was he thinking?
But he can worry about all those things later; now is the time for damage control. But unfortunately, he has no idea how to explain this.
[Ryuji's jaw hangs agape in a way that's not attractive in the slightest, and just narrows his eyes at Ax. Is he really trying to Z-files this shit on him? Mully and Skulder would be aghast right now. And as Ryuji tries to push his back up against the wall in the most embarrassingly slow way possible, he feels his center of gravity pull him back to the ground. This shit is a struggle.
And he's.
Yeah, he's butt naked in the middle of the Great War. This isn't exactly how Ryuji thought his day would go. Not in the slightest.]
Yeah, if regular people were like body snatchers or somethin'
[Ryuji manages to take off his military issue jacket, a few steps toward Ax, his face turned away from his body so that he didn't have to
SEE HIM NAKED???
And holds it out to him. To say he's freaked out about the whole ordeal is rather obvious, but then again, what-the-fuck-ever. COST never ceases to put him out of his element when it comes to the recruits it chose.]
Yo... Cover up or it'll fall off.
[The "it" he refers to, well. Ax, you'll have to figure that out on your own.]
[Oh right. The artificial skin issue. Humans have such hangups.]
Thank you, but I already have one.
[And, deliberately passing over the proffered jacket, he instead pulls out his own uniform from where he'd stashed it into a trench crevice, and dresses as efficiently as possible.
It's not fantastic. He's gotten pretty good at remembering which bits go on which parts, but his shirt is untucked, his hat is on wrong, and his shoes are on the wrong feet, and overall he looks extremely rumpled.
He seems to be content with this, however.]
Thank you for your help. I should return to my duties.
Ryuji looks on, not trying to look on as much as wonder... what in the hell this guy had planned on doing. Shove his clothes into a hole, turn into a mole, and just dig around in the dirt or something? Was there even a reason or did he just like... burrowing in his spare time. There are so many questions Ryuji has. So. Many. Questions.
But first things first, and he sighs, putting his jacket back on (thank god, the winter's been brutal), and approaching.]
Alright dude, I come in peace.
[Puts both his hands up in the air, tired expression and eyebags thick under his sockets.]
Let me help you. You're gonna stick out like this.
[Maybe surprisingly, Ax doesn't pull away when Ryuji moves in to adjust him. He's used to fussing from Rachel and Marco, and there's an almost painful pang of familiarity at the same situation being repeated here.
Funny. That used to be what made him homesick, and now it's what he's homesick for. Maybe that's what makes him crack. Just a little bit.]
I apologize. This kind of thing isn't what I'm used to.
[Really, he doesn't mind. If it's going to the demarcation between Ax getting counted as suspicious and him sliding by the fact that he didn't totally just gruesomely turn back into a human in front of him... well, whatever.
He starts with the basics- scratching the back of his head before he goes for it; helping him tuck his shirt back in properly so it didn't look like he just walked off the set of a steamy makeout scene.]
So you, uh... [Don't mention the nakedness
Don't mention the nakedness.] You always got a thing for poppin' outta tunnels butt naked or somethin'?
[Fucking hell.
But, Ryuji notices that he probably doesn't want to talk about the morphing part, so he might as well be embarrassing enough for the both of them to distract from the obvious thing on Ryuji's mind....
heaves a sigh, because of course he couldn't get away with simply pretending like it didn't happen and that being convincing enough. It was a thought, at least.]
You are taking this remarkably well. In my experience [humans] people react with fear to things they don't understand.
[As he steps back a bit, he narrows his field of vision to make sure that Ax has the Right Look, and shrugs. Good enough. In high school, he never actually wore his uniform, but hell, at least he knows how to make it look right. He was a good, law abiding boy.
Once....]
I've seen some shit. [Until you've seen the likes of Mara, nothing should surprise you that much.] 'Sides. Even if you had an explanation, I'm not sure I'd understand it. And the stuff I don't understand isn't the shit that scares me.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
But he can worry about all those things later; now is the time for damage control. But unfortunately, he has no idea how to explain this.
So he decides not to bother.]
You are mistaken. I am a regular person.
[NAILED IT.]
no subject
And he's.
Yeah, he's butt naked in the middle of the Great War. This isn't exactly how Ryuji thought his day would go. Not in the slightest.]
Yeah, if regular people were like body snatchers or somethin'
[Ryuji manages to take off his military issue jacket, a few steps toward Ax, his face turned away from his body so that he didn't have to
SEE HIM NAKED???
And holds it out to him. To say he's freaked out about the whole ordeal is rather obvious, but then again, what-the-fuck-ever. COST never ceases to put him out of his element when it comes to the recruits it chose.]
Yo... Cover up or it'll fall off.
[The "it" he refers to, well. Ax, you'll have to figure that out on your own.]
no subject
Thank you, but I already have one.
[And, deliberately passing over the proffered jacket, he instead pulls out his own uniform from where he'd stashed it into a trench crevice, and dresses as efficiently as possible.
It's not fantastic. He's gotten pretty good at remembering which bits go on which parts, but his shirt is untucked, his hat is on wrong, and his shoes are on the wrong feet, and overall he looks extremely rumpled.
He seems to be content with this, however.]
Thank you for your help. I should return to my duties.
no subject
You're a sketchy guy.
Ryuji looks on, not trying to look on as much as wonder... what in the hell this guy had planned on doing. Shove his clothes into a hole, turn into a mole, and just dig around in the dirt or something? Was there even a reason or did he just like... burrowing in his spare time. There are so many questions Ryuji has. So. Many. Questions.
But first things first, and he sighs, putting his jacket back on (thank god, the winter's been brutal), and approaching.]
Alright dude, I come in peace.
[Puts both his hands up in the air, tired expression and eyebags thick under his sockets.]
Let me help you. You're gonna stick out like this.
no subject
Funny. That used to be what made him homesick, and now it's what he's homesick for. Maybe that's what makes him crack. Just a little bit.]
I apologize. This kind of thing isn't what I'm used to.
no subject
[Really, he doesn't mind. If it's going to the demarcation between Ax getting counted as suspicious and him sliding by the fact that he didn't totally just gruesomely turn back into a human in front of him... well, whatever.
He starts with the basics- scratching the back of his head before he goes for it; helping him tuck his shirt back in properly so it didn't look like he just walked off the set of a steamy makeout scene.]
So you, uh... [Don't mention the nakedness
Don't mention the nakedness.] You always got a thing for poppin' outta tunnels butt naked or somethin'?
[Fucking hell.
But, Ryuji notices that he probably doesn't want to talk about the morphing part, so he might as well be embarrassing enough for the both of them to distract from the obvious thing on Ryuji's mind....
HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?]
no subject
heaves a sigh, because of course he couldn't get away with simply pretending like it didn't happen and that being convincing enough. It was a thought, at least.]
You are taking this remarkably well. In my experience [humans] people react with fear to things they don't understand.
no subject
Once....]
I've seen some shit. [Until you've seen the likes of Mara, nothing should surprise you that much.] 'Sides. Even if you had an explanation, I'm not sure I'd understand it. And the stuff I don't understand isn't the shit that scares me.
[Looks down.]
Your shoes are on backwards, bro.