ｔｈｅｒｅ'ｓ ａ ｂａｄ ｍｏｏｎ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｒｉｓｅ

[exastris_scientia]

t e r r o r must be maintained.

a mirrorverse open post





1. pick a character and tag them in the subject line.
2. post pictures, starters, whatevs
3. profit!

Comments

[astheyknow]

I would expect nothing less.

[ khan hums in assent. he knows full well that joaquin will make good on his threat, and he hardly had the presence of mind to politely bear so much at once currently. he shifts as he hears kirk finishing getting dressed, and stands, watching joaquin leave. he moves the PADD with the information on tarsus iv out of sight, he'll delete the information later.

he may yet press for answers, he does still want them, but not now. ]

Kirk. [ there's a sudden silence in the shuffling. then a voice. ] Yeah, I'm coming.

[ and true to form, he does open the door to come out, khan taking in the ragged appearance despite the shower, the lingering smell of old, sticky blood from the clothes still laying in a heap near the edge of the tiled floor, fresh clothes and scrubbed pink skin, and a knife in hand. one of julian's, he imagines. ]

Come. [ a more gentle beckoning than a usual commanding tone. there are times for such things, and these are not the games they typically play. he doesn't crowd him, but a hand does cup his elbow to draw him into the bedroom. he waits for him to notice julian, realize there's no blood, and the slow, but steady rise and fall of his chest. jim no doubt recalls his own experience on vulcan and his subsequent death. one that khan had pulled him from as well. he nods to the knife.]

He'll want that back when he wakes. But now, you need rest as well.

[ there's a sleeper sofa on one side of the room. khan will rest there once he's certain kirk is settled, or at least he'll attempt to. he says nothing as he watches jim leave the knife on the nightstand on his side, and crawl into bed next to julian, carefully pressing against his side and wrapping an arm around his middle.

joaquin is the only one, outside of mccoy, who can override the door. so he allows himself a measure of rest as well. ]

[mizrach]

[joaquin is busy enough to leave them be through most of the day. questions, accusations, wrangling the human crew is more complicated than the augments, and he doesn't have fantastic patience at the best of times. his siblings at least knew how to listen, and how to obey. he feels like he's quashed at least one mutiny and any number of rumors.

they'd diverted course to the nearest star, and ejected the bodies of the karidians. their troupe was floating somewhere in deep space, light years away. he's tired now.

he goes to the emperor's quarters after. despite no one but he and mccoy having access, two of their brothers were standing guard outside. he nods at them before inputting the door override.

all three are sleeping. joaquin smiles slightly. khan is probably not going to be asleep for long, though, with his intrusion. none of them are heavy sleepers.]

[astheyknow]

[ khan doesn't stay asleep for very long after, but when he opens his eyes to realize that it is just joaquin, he doesn't find it necessary to sit up. at least not when he'll only be scolded for getting up. he can humor his brother well enough at times. ]

Thank you.

[ for taking care of it. he had no doubt he would. he casts a glance towards the bed, watching the two men still sleeping there. he'll have to check on them soon. depending on how julian is responding to khan's own blood, kirk may yet sleep longer than all of them. khan remembers the haunted look on his face. the shock, and the slight tremble to his frame as he led him over to where julian was. after reading the information on tarsus---

even after the source of his upset and rage has been dispatched, khan doubts kirk's sleep will be easy. he has only the loss of adrenaline and shock to thank for his exhaustion here. ]

[mizrach]

[joaquin inclines his head, conveying 'of course' in the slant of his shoulders and his expression. he's satisfied that khan isn't getting up, and goes to the replicator on the wall to get two cups of strong tea, handing one to his brother and keeping one for himself.]

May this be the last of it.

[for this attempt on the emperor's life, anyway. it's a violent world they live in--if there were no more attempted coups or assassinations, it would be a legitimate miracle and might make joaquin believe in a god.]

How long do you think Bashir will take to recover?

[despite kirk's relationship with khan, he knows that kirk will be best reassured by the younger augment awakening.]

[astheyknow]

[ khan pushes himself into a sitting position and swings his legs off the sleeper sofa so that joaquin can sit next to him with his tea. he takes his own cup from him, and takes a sip before responding. ]

Mmm.

[ khan has already recovered, more or less. he knows joaquin will insist on more, though. ]

Another couple of hours. Not long.

[ jim stirs a little, but doesn't wake up. he'll probably sleep longer than bashir will, simply because he's pushed himself to another limit that he was not yet aware of until this happened. ]

[mizrach]

[joaquin nods. he's never traded more than a handful of words with the man, but he does want to see if he can determine if there's yet more they need to address, where the attack was concerned. unlikely, but karidian could have gained a sympathetic ear on the crew and he wishes to cover all eventualities.

and yes, he will insist on more. food, for one. he is not above glaring at you until you eat something.]

It will be a delicate balance for a while. Many people saw the attack--and Kirk's reaction to it. It could be taken advantage of by someone.

[not that kirk didn't have the loyalty of the augments through their loyalty to khan--but even they weren't a monolith, and there might be some dissenting words. joaquin is more concerned about the human crew.]

[astheyknow]

[ they keep the human crew as more a formality than anything else. it's another ruse. the empire as a whole does not yet know that the augments run the ship more than the humans. another sip of tea and then he shakes his head. ]

It could be. I doubt there will be many who sympathize, and the humans among the crew whom Kirk trusts will be far more likely to root out any dissenting voices before any of us are able. I don't think this Karidian will have gained a following, considering his supposed death he seemed more content to hide for the rest of his life to avoid the ramifications of his actions.

[ he will eat, eventually. perhaps he'll even get something before joaquin leaves the room so that he'll be free of any scathing looks for a time. bones, scotty, sulu, and chekov will keep us informed as to the other humans, as they usually do. they are loyal to kirk, and the only time it ever came into question was after jim was, very literally, dead.

[mizrach]

[it's more than a bit chafing at times. joaquin doesn't like the state that their kin--like bashir--hold in the empire. he would rather strike and burn it all, build something better from the ashes.

but they'd tried that, and it ended with them being exiled from earth. so he can understand the need for patience.]

I wasn't thinking so much of him having sympathizers, but of others using the situation to advance their own ends.

[look at you, answering his concerns before he voices them.]

[astheyknow]

[ khan doesn't like it either. he spent too long under the heel of that infuriating vulcan to be okay with any of this, but needs must. his patience was sorely tested, though. he knows kirk would rather do as joaquin wishes, and strike out against any world that dare oppose. in time. ]

We'll monitor the situation closely. If necessary, we could always use the security feed of what transpired as a deterrent.

[ well, he has known you for long enough to manage, he hopes. ]

[mizrach]

It would be excellent deterrent.

[he says, dry as the deserts he once called home. he watched the security feeds himself, and the brutality with which kirk had tortured and dispatched the two of them was...shocking to see.

he turns at the sound of one of the two sleepers stirring, though. it appears that bashir has recovered sooner than expected--at least enough to stir, though he doesn't expect the man to be at full health immediately, khan's blood in him or not.]

Well, good morning.

[he says, quietly, with some level of false cheer--though seeing kirk's reaction when he truly thought the other man was dead and not coming back, he is glad he could be revived. dealing with the emperor after that loss would be extremely difficult.]

[astheyknow]

[ khan takes another sip of tea, unable to hide the smile that comes to his face. it isn't a nice smile in the least. he has yet to review the footage himself, but hearsay is enough to provoke terror in lesser men. the crew is already whispering.

he sets the tea away, on the nearby nightstand, and moves to get up and go check on bashir. ]

Welcome back.

[ khan is grateful that he'll not have to weather the supernova that would rage across the quadrant were bashir to not recover fully. ]

Don't try to get up, you need to conserve your strength, and you have a bedmate that I'd rather not wake yet.

[namely the emperor who is curled against your side, with one hand wrapped in julian's shirt. ]

[thousandeyes]

[julian's return to awareness has been slow, hearing voices in quiet conversation that he didn't recognize until he was closer to complete wakefulness--khan, joaquin. then there's a sense of pressure at his side, the feel and sound of someone asleep, next to him. there's the smell of dried blood heavy in the air. he feels scrubbed clean, and as if he's been in a shuttle crash.

or, as if he had been nearly decapitated and somehow stitched back together again, which after evaluating his memories, knew to be the case. he wasn't sure why. though remembering jim's frenzy, thomas is gone too, and the one thing they all shared...]

Convenient, then, that I don't particularly care to move.

[victoris]

[ khan actually gives a soft noise that might be construed as a chuckle at the response to julian's self evaluation. jim stirs a little at the sound of julian's voice, pulling in a deeper breath, as if he might wake.

he might have, too, if not for khan reaching out to place a reassuring hand on his arm, grip solid and secure. there is safety here, in these walls, though he may not always be able to speak for the rest of the ship. ]

You might feel that way for some time. Are you thirsty?

[thousandeyes]

[well, he is a doctor, of a sort. he can recognize when he's in rough shape, and considering the last he remembered he was spurting arterial blood everywhere, well.

to say that he's surprised to be a wake is putting it extremely lightly. though he remembers that jim had been brought back from the brink of death too, so perhaps he shouldn't be too shocked. perhaps shocked to be shown the same regard.

...though he has no illusions that the reason they'd even attempted to bring him back in the first place is for jim's sake. considering how he's benefiting, he can't find it in himself to complain.]

Mm. Yes, actually.

[his body's in overdrive to replace all the blood he's lost, even with the assistance, this is also not shocking.]

[astheyknow]

[ jim, in his fit of rage, hadn't considered the possibility of being able to bring julian back from that, but then jim had only been shot in the back with a phaser. julian's throat had nearly been cut through.

khan nods, and goes to the replicator to get him a glass of water. they'll consider tea later once he's in better shape. and though he doesn't want to wake kirk, shifting julian in order to help him sit up to drink may well do just that.

no matter, he comes back over with the glass, putting an arm behind bashir's shoulder to help him up a little. if he feels up to it, he may take the glass, but if not he won't fault him for not.

he did, after all, die very recently. ]

[thousandeyes]

[but even so, showing weakness is unacceptable--julian takes the glass, he has to pause a moment before actually drinking, but he manages it on his own. he's not about to ask for help.

julian really would rather not wake jim up either, which is why he debated answering in the affirmative anyway.

joaquin just watches the two of them interact, legs crossed on the couch and nursing his tea.]

[astheyknow]

[ khan waits a moment, but once he's content that he isn't going to drop the glass--- he tilts his head to look over the younger augment, and then nods. he should be healed fully soon enough.

mccoy will insist on checking them both over later, as will kati, he's sure. though kati will be more for khan's own benefit and joaquin's sanity. ]

The ones responsible for this have been taken care of, you have Kirk to thank for that. The rest of the troupe has been seen to as well. As you can imagine we hardly look kindly on the loss of one of our own, however brief that loss might have been.

[thousandeyes]

[julian doesn't quite know what to do with the weight of that statement. the list of people who he calls 'one of his own' is incredibly short. just one, now. perhaps this is something he needs to re-evaluate. but that's a dangerous thought.]

That's a relief. I'm only sorry I couldn't see it done myself.

[though he had gotten one of them, at least. that he knew. he remembered seeing the knife hit him, and knew the poison on its blade. he'd formulated it himself.]

[victoris]

[ it is a dangerous thought to trust in this world they live in. this empire is hardly one for friends or alliances that last the ages, but they have formed ones against the odds. ]

I'm told it was quite the sight. The footage will be useful in the near future, I'm certain.

[ khan casts a glance over when kirk's eyes finally open, but he doesn't move yet. unless one counts casting a glance up to julian's face. a very alive and awake julian. ]

It was Kodos. It's over now.

[ it's almost a whisper. he's sure julian will ask him to elaborate, but he'll wait until then. while there are many triumphs he will wave as a flag of victory---this is not one of them. only two good things came of that time, and only one of them is alive now. ]

No one will remember their names.

[thousandeyes]

[It's something he doesn't quite know how to deal with. His only allies have been Jim and Thomas, and now Thomas is gone--gone, one of them should have been there, would have been in a moment had he called, the thought hurts terribly--and he'd thought all he had left was Jim.

And now, possibly...

Julian looks down when Jim moves, opens his eyes. He actually smiles, a brief and fleeting thing.]

You should sleep.

[He hasn't always been more concerned with Jim than himself--but his loyalty was well-earned and runs deep.]

[victoris]

[ Jim can count on both hands, maybe just one, how many times he's seen Julian smile. It's such a small thing, but a good thing. Hard to think of their world holding such things. ]

I will. Soon. [ It took a few days for a much younger Jim to learn to trust Julian. The first time he actually fell asleep without being completely exhausted in his company, it was to a Persian lullaby. ]

We have to take care of Martha now.

[ Thomas's widow. The young Emperor won't brook any more horrors happening to her. ]