Thanks, all! And here I am to bring you more. >>16 I'm kind of liking writing a Medic who's just high on SCIENCE!, where he doesn't have to worry about keeping his team alive, he's just really enjoying having a new abomination, and he really wants everyone else to appreciate his monster. ~~~Ch. 3~~~ For a moment, the Sniper fumbles with the calipers. The Medic never actually told him what it was he was supposed to be doing with them, and he's not sure. Measuring something, as far as he can tell, but they look like they would pinch something awful if he did something wrong, and 'measure something' wasn't much in the way of instruction, either. He picks up the Dictaphone instead, and offers the Spy a smile. "You want to record a message for the good doctor?" The Spy chuckles. "Please. After all, I must prove that I am a 'reasoning creature', mustn't I?" "He's an ass." "Turn it on." The Sniper does, holding the microphone up to the Spy. "Hello, Doctor. I can see you through the window. If I ever get loose, I am coming for you... and I will kill you. One of these days. You have created in me a powerful enemy, and one of these days, you will see just how much so..." The Sniper clicks the Dictaphone off and sets it down. "I love you." The Spy chuckles again, and one of the tentacles comes up to brush against the Sniper's cheek. As soon as the Spy sees what he is doing, he freezes, eyes wide, and yanks the tentacle back down into the tank to wrap itself around with the others. "I'm sorry." "Don't-- It's fine." He lifts one of the tentacles up out of the water, squeezing gently when the Spy starts to slither out of his grasp. "Don't. Right?" "They're horrible." "They're not going anywhere anytime soon. If it's a choice between letting you go and getting used to a few extra appendages, you know where I stand." The Spy attempts a smile. It falters slightly, but this time, he wraps the end of the tentacle loosely around the Sniper's forearm and doesn't draw back. "Guess I should pretend to... do something scientific..." "You unwind the little screw there, then you fix it back into place once the distance is set." The Spy says, eyes flickering to the calipers. "Oh. Thanks." The Sniper goes about measuring the widest part of one of the tentacles, and seeing no place to take notes, merely records the number into the Dictaphone. He measures the width in a couple other places, at something of a loss for what else to do. A couple of times, the Spy even smirks at him. "Not that those are necessarily accurate." He laughs, narrowing one of the tentacles to slip free with a centimeter of free space to either side. "They sort of... stretch a bit. Or squeeze. I suppose it's the lack of bones." "Fine." The Sniper tosses the calipers off and strokes lightly along the back. "What are they like? Having 'em, I mean?" "Like," The Spy's eyes flicker closed. "You know the feeling... when someone touches your arm so lightly, and your hair stands on end? It is like this, except for the hair. Well, and that the other side is like having hundreds of fingertips... That is the best I can describe it. It made walking across ground painful a bit, but..." The Sniper turns the tentacle over in his hands, tracing one of the suckers. "So this is just like if I was touching your fingertips?" "Mm-hm..." He sighs, head tilting back. "I have rather sensitive fingertips, though..." "I know. Every time I get your gloves off..." "That time..." The Spy smiles up at him, for a moment completely unselfconscious. "That time you nearly brought me off just sucking on them..." "And I always used to think you wore the gloves all the time so you wouldn't leave prints anyplace. After a while I started to think you did it so you wouldn't embarrass yourself." "You're an ass." The Spy shakes his head. "I, ah... I don't have..." "Shh. Doing my job." This time, he runs his finger along the edge of the skirt, gently lifting up the skin that stretched between the tentacles. "Lift yourself up for me?" "I don't know--" "You've got a beak." The Sniper cranes his neck to get a better view up under the skirt. "Oh, merde..." "Look, either I can measure it while you're awake, or he'll put you to sleep and go poking around your undercarriage." "Don't call it that." The Spy spreads himself open as best he can. "Don't call it anything. I want to pretend I don't-- I'm not-- What is it like?" "It's like a beak." The Sniper shrugs. "Like an octopus beak. Only huge. Look-- it's not really that-- I mean, you can only even really see it if you push the... the fleshy part back a bit." He demonstrates by doing just that, so that he can get in with the calipers to get a measurement, and the Spy squirms. "What?" "It... It feels like... Like you are pushing my lips back from my teeth, except you're not touching my face. It's just strange." "Sorry." "Better you than him." He mumbles. The Sniper straightens, setting the calipers aside again and trailing one hand up the Spy's side, angling his own body to hide the intimacy of the gesture. "When we don't have an audience, I'll do something about your lips." "Also better you than him. I... I don't know what to do about my-- my teeth, they're--" "Well, I'll be careful." He shrugs. "Octopus bits and weirdo fangs or no octopus bits and weirdo fangs, still think you're pretty handsome..." "I don't know what I'd do without you." The Spy sighs. "Wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for me." The Sniper looks away. "Then maybe it is worth it." The Spy leans forward as much as he can, the straps holding him fast to the table. One of the tentacles strokes the back of the Sniper's hand. "All right? I am okay, I am fine. I do not even mind. Please, do not start to think we never should have started this thing." "I don't think that." He flips the tentacle over in his hands, studying the underside, traveling up with one fingertip. The Spy sighs, tentacle slipping back underwater, as a different one re-wets the air-exposed mantle. The Sniper reaches for it. The Sniper reaches into the tank for one that isn't in danger of growing uncomfortably dry, and comes up with a different tentacle wrapped loosely around his wrist, the end flicking lazily. He squints, stares, compares it to the others. The end is thicker, and over the last several inches, there's a groove in place of the twin rows of suckers. He touches the underside lightly and the Spy gasps, the full length of the tentacle blanching, even the texture of the skin changing. "Bloody hell, sorry, I'm sorry!" The Sniper jumps back. "What'd I do wrong, did I hurt you?" "N-no..." The Spy's chest heaves against the strap holding him down, and as the colour and texture of his lower half re-evens, he reaches back out for the Sniper. "Ah, quite the opposite, I assure you..." He looks at the difference in tentacles, at the smooth expanse below the Spy's waist, and the slight purplish flush creeping in around the edges of his mask. "Oh. Really?" "Something of a relief." The Spy laughs weakly. "Here I thought I didn't have anything of that nature." The Sniper swallows hard. "Right. I... We've an audience, or..." The Spy looks back up to the window and bites his lip, tentacle withdrawing. "Of course." "I mean, I'd do it. Just... he doesn't need to see." "Yes." "I'll go take the Dictaphone up to him. I-- I'll see you later. When nobody else is around? We'll, ah... finish..." "Our scientific exploration?" The Spy smirks. "Yeah. That. I promise." He nods. "I believe you." There's not much else he can do, even knowing they can only be observed and not overheard, even with his back to the observation deck window, but he blows a quick kiss and winks before taking the Dictaphone and leaving. The Medic meets him out in the hallway, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "You must have a way with animals! He never once strangled you! I thought for a few moments he would. Ah well. And, you got him to change colour! Very interesting." "Yeah." The Sniper tosses him toe Dictaphone, mouth tightening. "Guess I'm... used to... that sort of thing..." "I need to test his natural camouflage..." The Medic ignores him, carrying on. "If it is effective, then I can refine the serum-- after all, the tentacles are really just a bonus, not a requirement. Without the extraneous animal parts, an quick injection to our own spy might make the use of those silly watches obsolete."