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[bluecircuit]

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[bluecircuit]

I am not sure if I have every really adjusted. I tried to blow up a SIN facility my first few months here... and I haven't tried that since.

[So maybe she's adjusted enough to not try to blow up the city. Which is something?]

Once I got things here. People. I own the Red Emerald gym, then I stopped fighting so hard. [She doesn't sound happy about saying it out loud. Shouldn't she be fighting harder?]

[sodark]

[He senses the guilt in her voice and he sympathises. Tremendously.]

Don't beat yourself up about losing in a no-win situation, kid. [Gently, but firmly.]

This place is very specifically designed to wear you down. You need to fight smart, not hard. Wait for your opportunities.

[bluecircuit]

What kind of opportunities? [She sounds dubious.] All I've been able to do is give my Submissive as much free rein as I can and... defying their rules.

[sodark]

You won't always know what an opportunity is until you see it. It's a chance, not a given.

But you're strong and you seem clever enough, you'll figure it out.

[He is weirdly optimistic for someone as bitter as he is.]

[bluecircuit]

[There's an embarrassing warmth that flutters in her stomach at the praise, no matter how unsubstantiated the words seem.]

Why do you think I'm either of those things? [Please don't hear the sadness tinges in her voice.] You don't actually know me, Cable.

[How she'd longed to hear anything even half as kind from Thanos.]

[sodark]

I like to think I'm a little observant.

[That is a massive understatement.]

Why are you so sure I'm wrong? [He notes the twinge of sadness, sorry Nebula. It intrigues him.]

You're welcome to try and prove me wrong.

[bluecircuit]

[She's quiet then, not really knowing what to say. Nebula's definitely not about to prove to him that she's dumb and weak. Finally, she starts, jaw tightening to keep her emotions in check.]

Every time I failed, or my sister beat me in combat... he would replace a piece of my body with machinery. All I've ever heard is my failings.

[It's not his fault and it's not his problem. But he'd asked.]

[sodark]

[It is easy to pick up on the fact that Nebula is referring to Thanos. It vexes Cable that they share a voice, but what can you do.]

I'm sorry. [Generally he thinks this sort of response is unhelpful, but maybe there's something useful he can accomplish here.]

You deserved better than him. You deserved love. You still do.

[bluecircuit]

[That makes her laugh, a cynical sound and mostly humorless in truth.] Most people don't get what they deserve.

[She pauses then retracing what he'd said.] ...I still do?

[sodark]

Yes. [One simple word but so firmly stated.]

The person you are now, the person you became from your own effort, she deserves love.

And if you can't give it to her, let someone else try.

[bluecircuit]

[And she's quiet again. The silence lingers for an almost uncomfortable length of time. Letting someone try meant leaving herself open. Vulnerable.]

What if no one will...?

[sodark]

[Cable doesn't try to fill the silences, allowing her time to process before he responds to her thoughts.]

You're a beautiful, fascinating woman, Nebula. Someone will. Someone probably already does.

[bluecircuit]

[She doesn't believe that.] Plenty of people want to fuck me. But I don't think they want anything else.

[Or perhaps he's right, and she just never let them try? Curiosity and a selfish desire to hear him say more, she asks tentatively.] What makes me beautiful?

[sodark]

[Cable chuckles at the question, deliberately allowing himself a pause to consider so he can leave her hanging a moment.]

Your eyes, your lips, your voice.. the way you walk. Like you're stalking prey.

[His voice is soft, amused.]

Should I go on? I can.

[bluecircuit]

[It's perhaps a blessing this isn't a video call because after the teasing pause, she's leaning forward, more eager for an answer than she wants to admit even to herself. Part of Nebula wishes his voice weren't so familiar as he said such things, but also hates what it says about her that it thrills her, too. A long denied need turned to something indecent.

There's a softness to her voice too, bordering on desperation then.] I want you to, yes. [It's all she can do to stop herself from begging.] Keep going.

[Please.]

[sodark]

[Cable exhales into the receiver, a little surprised and very intrigued. He suspects he hears intrigue from her too, although given what she said about his voice it is confusing.

In a good way.]

I like your skin. The soft parts and the hard parts. The way your brows furrow when you're thinking. [He pauses, letting it sink in a little before he tests the limits here.]

I've been thinking about what your lips would taste like.

[bluecircuit]

[Even the exhalation of breath sends a feeling of pleasure across her skull-- like a misfiring of her cranial implants to her nerve endings. Then he keeps going. And those brows that were definitely furrowing release into shock, lips parting, a small gasp releasing from her throat.

Nebula knows the idea of someone with that voice telling her these things should revolt her. She should be cursing at him and shutting off her communicator. Yet, she'd asked for this. It's what she wants.]

Have you? [Nebula hums, her voice getting lower.] And what do you imagine they taste like? Maybe I can tell you if you're right...

[sodark]

[Cable's experience in Duplicity has been a series of moments he's sure he would have absolutely fought against two weeks ago and now he's just leaning into them.

How he feels about Nebula isn't a manufactured impulse, at least. His attraction is genuine, but by god does he feel like his boundaries have fucking blown away in the wind.

But she's receptive, so he hums right back at her.]

I bet they taste sweet. [He says, a little bit of longing in that contemplative tone.]

Soft and moreish. [He continues, thinking.]

Maybe I should try them sometime.

[bluecircuit]

[She finds herself wetting her own lips as he imagines them. And she does want to believe his description will be the truth, but part of her-- the self-loathing part, imagines he'll find them wanting. It's not something she's going to admit to him right then, if ever.]

Maybe you should. [The agreement is quieter than she usually is, a yearning sounding in her own tone. She considers a moment, voice rising a bit in a slight challenge that speaks to how turned on the thought is making her.] I'll try not to bite you.

[sodark]

Nothing wrong with a little teeth. I find I prefer it. [He says easily, fondly.]

You sound like you're enjoying this. [Cable teases, just gently, just to test the waters.]

[bluecircuit]

I'll have to remember that. [And she will, should the time come that this talk becomes reality.]

...I am. [Despite knowing she really shouldn't.] Do you wish I wasn't?

[sodark]

I wish the circumstances were better. [Gotta break out of the sexy talk to make that clear.]

But I'm glad you are-- I want you to enjoy yourself. [He lets that hang in the air a moment before lowering his voice and adding:]

I'd like to think about you enjoying yourself more.

[bluecircuit]

I do too. [Nebula does hate it here. Among other things.] But those circumstances... remain unchanged.

[There's nothing that can be done about it now. No amount of wishing would work. Those thoughts fade as there's another delicious coil staring to her stomach and moving lower.]

So long as you are enjoying it too... [She doesn't want to just be humored, after all.] Would you like to taste more than my lips?

[sodark]

I am. And I would. [Said with unwavering certainty.]

I like to think about you, in that little dress you wore at the casino, with my hands moving your thighs apart so I can bury my face between them.

[bluecircuit]

[The forceful nature of his words hit her, her heart starting to beat faster, finding her own hand following the same path as his words as he talks-- metal fingers sliding between her legs. She's growing bolder too.]

How skilled are you with your tongue? I bet you know what you're doing. Would you plan to make a mess of me? And I also wouldn't mind little teeth, either.