Subject: In a Manner of Speaking
Author:
Posted on: 2018-03-10 00:41:00 UTC

“‘Ey, Thoth! Where’re you going?” Tom didn’t even look all the way up from his console as the Space Marine walked towards the door.

The marine in question was, unusually, not dressed in his armor. He kept a simple robe for such occasions, which is what he was wearing. After an incident involving Luxury in a particularly mischievous mood, a pair of extremely large sweatpants scrounged from somewhere had been added to the outfit, as an extra insurance of decency. He turned to face his partner. “Tom, I am going on a… date.”

Tom blinked, finally looking up. “What.”

“A date,” Thoth continued. “With a girl. I understand you are aware of the concept.”

“Yeah, but… you’re a Space Marine. Don’t you…” Tom let out a sigh. “Nevermind. Whatever. Who’re you going with?”

“Talia Ornix, DoSAT,” Thoth replied. “Now, I believe I must go.” He shut the door behind him, leaving Tom in the gloom of the RC.

Tom got back to work. For all of five minutes. For some reason, he couldn’t focus, his thoughts wandering back to what Thoth had said. Talia was… cool. Good. He was very happy for them.

Tom sighed, speaking to nobody in particular. “Who am I kidding? I something to take my mind off this.”



Rudi’s was moderately crowded, and just loud enough to distract anyone trying to think. That was just fine by Tom. Farah Tahar was up by the bar, and, judging by her expression, was probably explaining to the newbie next to her that no, the name of her species was not “catgirl.” Off in a corner, Peregrin was trying to read, with mixed success. As if any more noise was required, someone had brought in a piano, somehow. An entity with a frankly uncomfortable number of tentacles was currently behind it playing a rendition of “Piano Man” that would have been impossible for anyone with less appendages, while a group of assassins looked on.

Tom took a seat at the bar that wasn’t directly next to anyone. He didn’t really feel like talking to anyone. He ordered a Coke with added Bleep, and tried to lose himself in the music. It wasn’t that he… liked Talia, per se, he told himself. Sure, she was very cute, and she seemed nice, and she was DoSAT, so he could actually talk to her effectively… but it wasn’t that. It was just… well, he supposed he was jealous of his partner’s success. He’d never had a date in his life. And heck, did Space Marines even have an interest? Even if they did, why the heck would someone go out with one? Well, except maybe Gall… He spared himself a grin, recalling her antics at Halloween.

He sighed, resting his head on the bar. Jeez. How long had he been working, anyways, before this? He couldn’t even remember...



The next thing Tom knew, someone was poking at his back.

“Hey, you awake? SYN, anyone?”

“Wha, a– buh? ACK! ACK!” He abruptly pulled his head. “What’s up? I’m up! Things! Stuff! Activities!”

The assailant giggled. “It’s me. Come on, Tom. How’s your day been?”

Tom finally managed to get a good look the person behind him. Tall, short black hair, a smirk on her full lips, DoSAT patch… “Talia? ‘s that you?”

“I can’t think of a tech who looks exactly like me, so it must be. For that matter, how many techs tend to want to touch anything from your universe?” Talia gave a smile. “No, really, how’re you doing?”

“Okay, I guess…” Tom stared back blearily. “So anyways, how was the date?”

“What.”

“You know, with Thoth?”

“Ooooh, that! Yeah, I did go on a date with Thoth…”

Tom sighed under his breath.

“...if by date, you mean upgrading his dataslates to interface with something that’s not terrible. I swear, those things make token-ring look elegant…” Talia frowned. “Glad that’s over.”

Tom shook his head rapidly. “Wait, what? So… not liked a date-date.”

Talia frowned. “Space Marines don’t date, Tom. I’m not even even a field agent, why am I explaining your main canon to you?”

“No, I know that, but… Thoth said…”

“Oh, because that makes perfect sense.” Talia rolled her eyes. “So, just to get this straight, your partner, scary ex-worshipper of the god of lies and deception told you something that conflicted with your view of reality in a massive way… and you just believed him. Wow, great thinking, Tom.”

“...are you implying I’m an idiot?”

“No, I’m telling you you’re an idiot. Subtlety is not my specialty.”

Tom smiled slightly. “Uh… Thanks, I guess? Now I’ll go… not punch my partner in the face, because he’s pretty scary.”

“You go do that.” Talia grinned. “Just so we’re clear, I am never letting you live this down. Well, not until you beat me at StarCraft, anyways”

“Hey! It’ll happen one day!” called back Tom over his shoulder.

“Not a chance…” Talia said. But Tom was already gone.



“Thoth, do you ever lie to me?”

Thoth turned another page in his novel. “No,” he said, dispassionately. “I have not, technically, ever told you anything that is untrue.”

Tom sighed. “But why?”

“Because you must maintain any talent you intent to keep,” said Thoth. “Additionally, I have an abundance of free time. For the first time since I began my training as a Thousand Son, I have had to consider how to spend it.”

“So…” Tom spoke in a tone spiked with incredulity. “You mess with me… because… you’re bored.”

“An accurate summation, yes. Although you are remarkably easy to deceive.”

“You… You…” Tom deflated then, remembering Talia’s words. “Okay, you might actually have a point…”

--

Tom, Thoth, and Talia all belong to me (Jeez, I need to stop making characters with names that start with T). Peregrin and Farah belong to Tomash, used here with permission. The rest belongs to a lot of people, you know the drill.

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