DETERRENT - Apply Fic

19

"You don't know when to quit do you?" Titus asks, perched on the hood of the broken down truck with one foot dangling off the side.

Harvey grips his cane tightly.

"Tightly wound, Clockwork?"

"You must not be original," Harvey gestures. "Silver boy with silver eyes and silver tattoos. You should take a creative writing class."

Titus hops off the roof of the truck. He saunters closer to Harvey. They meet eye to eye. Titus then steps around his and walks back to the farm.

Harvey has the perfect opportunity to trip him, but he doesn't. Then, he turns on his feet and follows him. The corn is beginning to grow, at the height of their ankles. The ground is even and Harvey stabs his cane into the dirt to follow him at a quick pace.

"At this point, escaping will take you longer," Harvey calls. "It'll be worse too. Because when I catch you, I'll grind you and turn you into fertilizer."

"You don't kill," Titus looks over his shoulder. Harvey's mouth is slightly agape, a sliver of space between his lips but it's enough to read the shock. "Wangchen likes to talk."

"You're going to wish I killed," Harvey says.

Titus laughs.

There are tools that horologists use when they repair clocks, and all of Harvey's are back in Neo Elysium. Unlike Eurydice, Titus doesn't fit in like any other cog. Faris can be oiled into cooperation, Eurydice banged out into the right shape, but Titus refutes all attempts to behave. He's like a wild animal. And not the bird that tweets out of the clock in the kitchen.

It sings its bird-song just as they enter. Faris stands at the sink doing dishes.

"I think you'll let me get away," Titus points out.

"It'll take you six weeks at least to get back to The Arch, and we've only got eight left."

Titus pulls himself up onto the countertops. Harvey glowers.

"Who said I'm going back to Neo Elysium?" he raises an eyebrow.

At the sink, Faris smirks. It has been like this all week since the party. Already the weekend is nearly upon them. Faris would just lure everyone out of their shack if he thought he could entice Eurydice to listen to him; Titus and Harvey need to have this discussion in private, with fewer clothes on ideally.

The windows are steaming even though it's got to be the hottest day yet.

"Planning on Hell's Haven?" Harvey leans his cane against the table. "Because believe you me-"

"Nice try, Harv," Titus hops down. He grabs a bun off the counter. His hands are callused, thick and with peeling skin.

Harvey feels his beating heart squeeze into his Adam's apple.

Then, Titus is out of the room.

Harvey starts to take over drying the dishes. Faris smirks, standing next to him.

"What?" Harvey growls.

Faris doesn't say anything. He twists his head to the side, slightly. The clock has stopped chirping, but the radio keeps the quiet at bay. It's somewhere in the house, certainly, but it can't enter the kitchen.

"He's just..." Harvey hesitates.

"Someone you want to fuck?"

Harvey smacks Faris in the chest with the back of his hand. The crack radiates in his sternum, and Faris rubs it but doesn't turn his head. For the first time in weeks, Faris feels like he's being watched, but he knows he isn't in the panopticon. It doesn't even feel like it.