Summary: Max has a lil' talk with Syl, while Alec has one with Krit.
Rating: PG-13. Basically I wanna keep the language like how it is in the show…
Pairing: M/A. And apparently, S/K!
Disclaimer: All belong to James Cameron (Mr. Sinking-Giant-Loveboat himself. Btw, I haven't seen Titanic *insert very audible gasp here*. I dunno, just never got around to it. I mean it's like 3.5 hrs and the guy dies in the end – sorry, not one for the sad endings. And isn't it like completely overrated? Or is it like the greatest masterpiece since the Monalisa which is another one I can't quite figure out – ehh, call me ignorant on art ?) and Charles Eglee. Now the show's cancelled, so maybe they should auction out the copyrights or somethin'. Betcha some readers of the DA world would just LOVE to get their hands on the, uh, ah, thing (how does a copyright LOOK like anyway? Is it just like a piece of paper that says: 'I own DA and am able to sue anyone profiting from it?').
Dedication: To all my wonderful reviewers!! Wow, I got more than I thought I would! Thank you so much!
Chapter 7: the 'Deal' with Crickets
After giving Krit a revised version of the 'Max/Logan: the Tragic Love Saga of a Rogue X5 and the Great Eyes Only', Alec feels the need to change the subject; it is not in his nature to wallow in things complicated and painful. He glances at his drinking companion and considers his options.
Alec turns toward Krit. "Anyway, since you brought it up earlier… I was just wonderin'… What actually goes on between you and Syl?"
"Whaddya mean?"
"Well, basically, I think you two are doing stuff Brother Zack would frown upon."
Krit laughs at that, "Yeah, Alec. Me and Syl just go CRAZY at those amateur karaoke championships!"
"You know that's not what I meant."
"Spill it out then."
"Alright…" Alec smirks before continuing, "Well are you two 'copulating like bunnies'?"
No gasps of indignation from Krit. No 'what-are-you-nuts-dude-she's-my-sister!' even slips out of the darker-haired X5. Instead, he just smiles to his drink.
"Oh, come on, buddy. You can tell me. 'Promise I won't tell Sister Max…"
Finally after a too-long silence – during which Alec swears he can hear crickets chirping away in the background (which is impossible, really, cause: one, the Barcode's way too noisy for even Alec's superior hearing; and two, no crickets can survive the lovely selection of chemical goodness available at TC), Krit replies quietly, "What made you think there might be something going on with me and Syl?"
"Ahh, just relyin' on my keen sense of Manticore-trained observation…" he mimics the gesture Krit did earlier by winking and pointing a finger to his head.
Krit chuckles, "Ah, someone's learning… Alright, just 'cause you've been so generous earlier, I'll indulge you…" he looks up to see Alec gesturing his hand for him to continue. Krit looks from side-to-side, then leans in conspiratorially and whispers, "Syl and I… we have this special deal…"
***
Max lies on her back on the mat. Her breathing's really heavy, her torso's aching, her legs are sore, and her arm's bruising in several different places. But she can feel none of those because her mind is preoccupied with a particular revelation her sister just gave her.
Krit is her 'heat buddy'?!? Syl's slept with Krit?!? My sister has had sex with my brother?!?
Syl's concerned face pops into her line of sight.
"Maxie, are you ok?"
Max wants to answer, but words are just not coming out. She only manages a half-nod. Her face is still fixed on that shocked expression she sported when she went down.
Syl frowns. Oh boy, she's taking this harder than I thought. Syl decides to lie down next to Max, her head just next to her baby sis'.
"Max, say something… 'You dirty little bitch, Syl, how could you!' Come on, you know you want to…"
After quite some time – during which Syl thinks she may have heard those crickets going on in the background (who would have thought that they'd be so widespread around TC?) – Max clears her throat and answers, "Your… your heat buddy is Krit?!? You slept together?!?"
Syl nods. She figures, if she's going into this with Max, she better do it right, "Sleep."
"What?" Max turns her face toward her sister's.
"We sleep together. As in present tense." Syl, too, twists her head to face Maxie. "Well, whenever I get into heat anyway…"
Max sits up, "I can't believe this! How could you?! He's our brother!"
Syl follows suit, "Look, it's not that big of deal. We're not real siblings, you know, Max…"
"I know that, but… how? Why?"
"Well, first time it happens, he was the only guy around. I… we couldn't help it… Then afterwards, we figure that it'd be safer if I stick to him during my heat, since we're staying together anyway… less chance of exposure, especially with Lydecker breathing down our necks… So yeah, he's been my 'heat buddy' ever since."
"Syl, he's your brother! How can you face each other in the morning?"
"Oh Maxie, it's not that big of deal. It's just sex. Remember, Manticore taught us that sex can just be another weapon…"
"Yeah, well, Manticore also taught us to take out people with a TOOTHPICK! You don't go around 'toothpicking' people to death, do you?"
Syl smiles at that, "…Only when the opportunity presents itself, Maxie. But seriously, Krit is still my brother in the morning. Nothing changes."
"But he's our BROTHER! You are having sex with our brother! It'll be like me, sleeping with…"
"With who, Maxie? Zack? I don't think he's gonna mind much…" Syl chuckles.
"Shut up! Zack's just protective; he's protective of all of us…" but images of Zack flash through her mind: when they were at Logan's cabin after they had to bail out of Seattle, when Zack couldn't remember anyone's locations, when Zack thought they were together… Ok, so there were 'moments'. But still… "You are not changing this subject, Syl."
"Well, what else do you wanna know, Maxie?" Syl starts to get amused by this situation. Max can be so serious sometimes. "Like how much 'our brother' rocks my world?"
Max punches her on the shoulder. "Urgh, DON'T tell me…"
Despite the fact that she thinks the revelation's still a big deal, Max can not help smile at that remark. Then after a few moments, she adds, "Well, are you guys, you know, 'involved'?"
Syl raises her eyebrows.
***
"Man, that's a pretty sweet deal, you got goin' on.... Regular no-string-sex with your sister? It's kinky… I like it!" Alec comments after Krit explains his 'deal' with Syl.
"I figure you would, Alec. Zack, on the other hand, WOULD frown on that. And I got a feeling that Maxie would too. But hey, Syl could be telling her right now; she's been saying that we should break the news to our baby sis."
Alec laughs, "I can just imagine her reaction…" then he makes a high-pitched impersonation of Max, "'Syl, he's your brother! Sex is wrong! You can only do it with someone… AFTER you've danced around each other for a YEAR, eating NOTHING less than gourmet pasta and wine… and then got injected with a VIRUS that makes it IMPOSSIBLE for you to touch him… then, after pushing him away with some cockamamie bullshit about how you're shacking up with a very fine specimen of transgenic, rekindled that 'relationship' by a certain latex-gloves-hand-holding ceremony…"
Alec shuts up when he realises that he said that out loud. Krit looks at him like he's suddenly developed Mole's lovely complexion, raises his eyebrows and throws up his hand, "Man, you got issues…"
"Well, I try… Anyway, you and Syl… Are you like a couple?"
"What do you think?"
"Hey, you're the one banging her…"
Krit smirks, "Nah, dude, she's like my sister! The deal's only for heat. Otherwise, we 'bang' other people."
Alec considers that, "Huh, 'guess in some twisted way that would actually work…" Wow, Krit wasn't kidding when he said this was no-string sex. Now, if only Maxie would share his attitude…
Then, as if reading his mind, Alec hears Krit speaks up, "Yeah, you should try it with Maxie, Alec…"
Alec just shakes his head.
***
Max stares at Syl after the older girl explained her 'deal' with Krit.
"So, basically… every time you got the feline munchies, you go to Krit. But otherwise, you eat someplace else?"
"That's one way of putting it…"
"And it doesn't bother you… that's he might be shacking up with some random flavor the next night?"
"Nah… we're not 'exclusive', Max. It's just a convenient arrangement. We do it like twice a year. Otherwise, he's pretty much free to get it on with any other chicks."
"That is one twisted deal…"
"Yeah, but it's way safer this way. Don't get me wrong, sex with ordinaries is great – I'm sure you and Logan have…"
Max interrupts quietly, "…well actually, we were never like that… and then the virus came… It was just never the right time."
"…Really? Not once??"
When Max gives a silent shake of her head, Syl shrugs her shoulders and decides to continue, "Yeah well, ordinaries are great. In 'conventional' situations. But when heat's involved… you can only go X5. Built-in stamina and all…"
Max feels like Syl's sharing too much.
"… and besides, you won't have to explain the situation. I mean, you can't actually say to an ordinary, 'hey I'm part feline and I go into heat and that's why I want nothing more than to hump you right now, but don't think this means anything more to me than just plain sex'... That's gotta be the worst pick-up like in history."
Max, guiltily thinking of Rafer, has no choice but to agree. He was sweet. But he wouldn't understand. And even Logan… Maybe that's why I didn't go to him... God, can Syl be right?
Syl, unaware of Max's inner pondering, gabs on, "Of course, I'm lucky that I constantly have an X5 at my disposal… But Maxie, guess what, now you can have the same luxury…"
Max snaps out of her Rafer-Logan musing to deliver her snappy reply, "What are you saying?"
"It's time to go heat-buddy-huntin', baby sis. Take a look around! This place is practically crawling with 'eligible' X5s. Take your pick!" Then she leans in to whisper, "Personally, though, I think you should go with Alec."
Max frowns, "Alec?!? Why do you keep bringing him up?"
"It makes perfect sense, Maxie. Out of all the X5s here, you're closest to him. You probably trust him the most. And from what I've seen, he's a decent guy who cares about you." Then, Syl adds with a smirk, "Plus, it doesn't hurt that he's pretty…"
Max has a flashback on her conversation with OC. Back then she said that Alec drives her crazy with his mere breathing. Ok, so I can tolerate him now.
More than tolerate him, Max, you rely on him! Come on, you've seen how reliable he's been…
Max feels betrayed by her conscience and decides to ignore it. "Look, Syl, no offence, but I can't just have sex with anyone. It makes me feel, well, kinda dirty…" Syl nods at that, understanding. "And besides, Alec and I… we can't just have sex and not be awkward in the morning. We're not at that stage…"
Syl looks at Max, urging her to elaborate.
"… We're not that comfortable with each other. We're not like you and Krit. We're not… well, we're not like that, ok?" …
***
"Why not?" Krit looks at Alec after the other X5 explains exactly why making the heat deal with Max is out of the question. Basically, the list includes: Max's a training nun, Log-boy's ever presence in the picture, and Alec's wish not to have his booty imprinted with the soles of Max's boots (at least, not in a non-sado-masochistic kinda way).
But Krit doesn't seem to be digesting any of that, so Alec just says the first thing that comes to his mind.
"'Cause Max & I…" he plasters on his signature smirk, "…Well, we're 'not like that'."
A/N: Ok, I've realised that, in my original plan (in my head), these past 6 chapters take like a page in my head. I've realised that there isn't a plot yet!! Just shows how I can ramble on and on, huh (which you can tell from my long disclaimers and A/Ns anyway)? That's why I just decide to write this chapter quickly and get the M/A post-heat thing out of the way. Coz I actually have a plot in mind!
Anywhoo, whaddya think of the S/K relationship? Pretty twisted, huh? Do you think they're weird and their 'deal' completely sick? Basically I want them to have a special relationship. Way more than friends, not really siblings, but not really lovers. Kinda like M/A. And I don't want them (S/K and M/A) to realize that they're in love with each other yet, coz then the tension will be all gone! Also, what do you think should happen to White?