/ Adrian
It's cold for some reason, the shivering is what made me wake up. My body feels like it's breaking apart, whilst I'm still in it. I sat up. It's dark as hell in here, so I can't see anything. Just an endless smell of hell and faint sounds of something that would make four apocalypse horsemen rethink their professional choice.
Alright, Feng wants to cooperate with the bunker… That I got, but how the fuck is he going to, well, cooperate? Is there a way of communication? Fuck… And if there is? I wonder who is in there. Erick? David? I'd sure get some beating if there's both those guys. Niko might be furious, but not as much as those two.
"Come on, let's go." - Liang shows up next to me, as if crawling out of the shadows, which made me jump in surprise. Liang grabbed my shoulder and pulled me up. - "I said we have to go."
Well he sounds rather pissed off. So I kept my mouth shut and followed him. Though walking through this darkness is like being in a maze with no sense of direction. I assume that Liang is helpful, as for some magical reason he sees his way in this pitch black dark pretty damn well.
Somehow we end up at the door which leads upstairs. He stood there for a moment. I stood next to him. Are we waiting for something?
The door opens from the inside.
In silence we start to walk up. There's the footsteps of someone ahead, there's the firm hold of Liang's hand on my wrist. Every time I had some thoughts to ask anything - I stopped. With this level of caution and pretty obvious silence - it felt like something was afoot, and that something was nowhere near a sense of "good", if Liang was this agitated. So I kept quiet and followed.
As we kept going up - I noticed - there's no lights. Pretty obvious, but now it's more concerning. In these paths, well, metallic halls, there was some sort of light. All the time. Faint, broken, barely functioning - but they were there. Now we're going up in absolute darkness. I hear the creaking of the metal, then what sounds like the opening of the door, and we keep walking up the stairs. All in damn darkness.
By now it seemed like forever. Going up the endless stairs in the dark, with just footsteps softly echoing. Nobody spoke a word. I was too anxious to even try. Not to mention that Liang kept his firm hold on me the entire time. If at first it felt like a damn intimidation, after a while in the dark - it became like reassurance. I even caught myself thinking what the fuck would I do if Liang would let go. That terrified me more than his hold on my hand.
Some time later we stopped. I was able to catch my breath a bit. A faint stop for roughly a few minutes. Then Liang pulled me by the hand once more to keep going.
My legs were killing me. It hurts to keep going up the damn stairs, like an endless workout that does not end. I felt that maybe this would be a good way to use as a torture in hell - to endlessly go up the endless stairs in the pitch dark. What a…
I heard a click upstairs. Faintly there were voices - like a party was going on. Liang halted, I bumped my face into his back. This close to him - I heard his loudly beating heart. The way he balanced his breathing, so it would be more quiet, more even. The person who led the way also stopped. The voices ahead kept going.
Liang pulled me again, now at a slower pace, to keep moving. The stairs still went on. Now it felt like we adjusted the direction, as I felt that we had a flight of stairs twist about, as we walked up. The voices and the party now sounded below us.
Another endless way up the stairs. Another few minute break, then on and on it went. It bloody felt endless. Though through this ordeal I started to feel like I "need" Liang. Not only as the guide through this darkness. But this sense of "if he's with me - I'll be fine" started to drill about in my head ceaselessly, kind of like it was and was not my own idea. A foreign notion that spawned from fear, but became louder by the second, as this damn dark stairwell would not cease to end. At some point I realised that my other hand held onto Liang's hand, which held mine. Like a damn kid, afraid to lose someone dear to him.
Once more it sounded like some commotion was afoot. As we approached another level. The sounds of people, a whirr of machines, the yelling of some military personnel, the buzz. Liang slowed down, but still pulled me up, slowly, making as little noise as possible. I followed suit. By now I could "feel" the darkness. Where it felt more light, where it felt like I could "see" something. Another stair twist, as we kept going up. After we kept on for a while more, we got to a halt.
Liang stopped. The person before us stopped too. I was barely standing, my feet buzzing, as I felt that my own two feet can't keep up. The trembling of my body might have alerted Liang, so he grabbed me around my waist with his other hand, holding me up. How come this guy, who looks like a damn twig, has such abundant strength? Even his body against mine felt damn firm. Wait, wait, what am I thinking about? Calm down.
Just hearing his breathing near me started to get me somewhat agitated in a sense I would not have expected of me. What the actual fuck… I took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but with his free hand, Liang placed his hand over my mouth. What the fuck is this kinky arse setup?! Fuck. I can sense the tension in my pants and I am nowhere near the level of thinking straight.
Liang let out a soft sigh, then pulled me up and over his shoulder. My bulge is now pressing against his shoulder, as my face is on the level of his rear somewhere. Now I feel like a distorted version of a potato sack. Geez.
A bit later, and finally we moved on. Now carried by Liang, as a potato sack, with his hand firmly on my tailbone, as he holds me tight.
Finally I hear a click. The light pours in and we walk out somewhere.
"Play dead." - Is all Liang says in an instant. I try to relax as much as possible, hands and feet dangling like noodles. Eyes closed. Liang keeps walking. This procession goes on for a while. As I hear doors opening and closing, I sense that we might be in an elevator for a bit, then more walking.
As I sense my body aching all over, I'm finally thrown on a couch, like the sack of potato that I am apparently.
"Well done playing possum." - A familiar voice appears. I open my eyes and look at who it is.
Once more I'm in the room with Feng. Liang sits down on the same couch I'm laying on. Feng holds a satisfied grin. Liang leans back, trying to relax. I see Wan at the door. The secretary looking dude, what's his name… Sheng? And one more bloke. Looking more odd, out of the bunch, being blond, but holding up as a military.
"Congratulations on accomplishing the trial, Adrian. You can go wash up now. All three of you. The smell is pungent." - Feng waves his hand to Sheng. Liang gets up, with a sigh, pulling me up by the hand. Then drags me along with Wan to the side rooms of this level - the service quarters, as I might guess.
There's the maids at the entrance of the baths, as I'm judging it. Clothes taken off, maids help scrub up in the showers, then we all get in a large tub of a bath to soak in. The whole thing keeps on going in silence. I'm getting irked by constant silence. I want answers, dammit.
Water smells nice, warmth makes me relax, with my head leaned back on the tiles - I sense that even with this level of being pissed off, I still am too tired. Drifting off into sleep here would be a bad idea… But the whole journey did a number on me, so who am I now to push myself beyond what I can take…
Through my sleep I sense the hands pulling me up. The texture of towels across my body, then the whole lot of being dressed, as I lay there, still tiredly sleeping. I sense the touches and the fabric, but I guess this outing was too much for me.
Laid down on a bed. Or what feels like bed. Someone laid down next to me. Why is Liang sleeping next to me? Have I gotten used to him over the span of this week that we went through this ordeal? Listening to the sound of breathing next to me, by now pretty familiar. Ah shit… I can sense my pants bulging from pressure. Fuck… The whole thing makes me open my eyes. No way in hell can a man sleep with a boner. Just does not work that way.
I look to my left and sure enough - Liang is asleep. How come he now seems so damn handsome to me? The long lashes, the sweetly looking face, body that's both strong and chiselled. Ah fuck… I rub my eyes with my hand and slowly get up, sitting on the bed. It is indeed a bed. And by the looks of it - a service workers room. Is it Liang's room? I look around, but the pressing matter in my pants won't let me be. So I get up from the bed, now checking if there's a bathroom, a toilet, something to get me sorted with this predicament, so I can go back to sleep.
"The toilet is in the corner. You have to push the button on the wall to open the door." - Liang lets out tiredly, as he still lays in bed.
"Thanks." - I let out, finding the damn button and getting into the toilet. What a small thing. Geez. I pull down my pants, letting the size of me fall out and then triumphantly stand with such vigor it hurts.
Why the fuck is this boner in such a raging mode? Geez. I sigh, with my back leaning against the door, as I grab hold of my dick and softly work it.
Typically one would think of a lover, or someone they like, or someone they want to fuck. But I had nothing of the sort in my head. For some reason there was nothing I could recall about whomever I've slept with, nothing which would help me with this situation. And then the hand on my cock stopped, as I simply listened. Barely audible breathing, behind the door, as Liang was there. Fuck, it twitched in my hand. Fine… My mind wandered through all the sensations I came across whilst with Liang. Him putting the gag in my mouth… I pulled the shirt up and stuffed it in my mouth, right then the moan almost stifled me. I held back.
The hands that roughly grabbed me, the warmth of his body whilst he carried me, and my boner that pressed into his shoulder area, whilst I "played possum", his long lashes… His naked body with so many scars on him, with the muscular build…
"Mmmm!" - I moaned out, as I came, still holding the shirt in my mouth, with all that jizz into the toilet bowl. Spasming out from the joy of this predicament ending.
I let go of the shirt, as it fell back into place, now partially moist from my own saliva. I washed up in the sink, towel dried, then went back into the room, after flushing down the drain the evidence of my culmination, whilst thinking of a man that sleeps in the room behind the door.
Liang was sound asleep on the bed.
"Fuck.." - I muttered under my breath, as I ran my fingers through my hair. I should get out, before the damn physiology dares me once more to wank it off whilst having this guy on my mind. So I silently walked out. Right outside the door I met Sheng, who was on his way somewhere. He gestured for me to follow him. As I did. Ending up in the room with Feng. Same room I got used to. Familiar sense of somewhat "edged" security.
"So how was your time looking at the Iron City?" - Feng sat with a calm, serious demeanor, checking at the data on the tablet, which Sheng just handed him.
I sat on the couch. Mulling over what I should reply. Silence hung in the air.
"It was educational." - I finally replied.
Feng looked at me, somewhat tiredly smiling.
"Educational. Judging by what you looked like after all that - you've seen plenty. Gruelling experience, is it not?" - Feng kept his eyes on me, analyzing what I'd do next.
"It was…" - I let out a sigh, as I recalled all the terrifying things I've seen. - "I know I have had flaws, did horrible things in the system, but here… It's way beyond the things even I would do."
"Heh." - Feng smirked. - "Indeed. This place is a pot of the devil with the evil itself boiling daily in each pot so bad, it would be a whole horror to those who never lived here. Ehh."
Feng handed the tablet to Sheng.
"Only two hours left until reconnection." - Sheng let out, as he took the tablet.
"It's that time already, huh?" - Feng looked up for a moment, then landed his serious gaze at me. - "You have to stay here then, for the time being. I have ideas what to do with you."
Two hours seemed to pass by rather relaxed. I sat on the couch, and the maid came by to bring the tea to both me and Feng. Feng was pacing about the room every now and again, as if scheming something, as if worried about it simultaneously. I wonder what he's up to.
Sheng reappeared and came over to the computers. Feng walked behind him, then turned to me and gestured to come over. I got up. The computer started to buzz with static, then the ping of the connection established sounded.
"You there?" - A female voice came through the speakers.
"I'm here." - Feng replied. - "So what have you decided?"
"We have to know more in the practical sense, so I propose exchange of scouts for negotiation. We send three people into the city, you send three people to us. That way we exchange information and learn about each other at the same time." - This woman spoke calmly, albeit authoritatively. - "Is it possible to do?"
Feng sat in front of the computer, mulling over it.
"It's gonna be a bit of a challenge, but I assume we can pull it off." - Feng replied finally. - "How about you send them to the location I'll give you, so the exchange can be there. I'll provide the guides so your people are able to get in safely."
"Based on what you sent - that would be a big help, unless we want casualties right from the start, mister Feng." - She sounded rather mundane in this talk.
"Heh." - Feng smiled. - "Ana, you sure have a way to talk about death in such a nonchalant way. Ha-ha! So who're you sending?"
"Due to what you've got there, I had to grab hold of the three specialists, thank god they're also trained to survive in very dreadful cases, like cockroaches. So they're good. A bit with a character, like many are, but sensible. You might even like them." - She replied.
"Pfft… Then I'll even the field. As well as send one of yours your way." - Feng said.
"One of ours?" - She sounded confused.
"Yeah, you'll know when you get him. He sure ain't one of ours. But he is of your kind. A gesture of goodwill, if you may." - Feng smiled.
"I hope it ain't some volatile joke, Feng. Anyway, once my people get to meet you - they'll hand you the plan, as well as sort out the whole lot on the spot. Though if we need to adjust it along the way - we'll have to meet. You and me." - She sighs.
"Oh that would be tricky." - Feng replied, taking a deep breath. - "Really tricky. But I'll see what I can do about it. I'll send you details now, so that you can get all things ready."
"Mhm, be careful in there, Feng, if we're to work together, you better not die on me. It's already hard as is in this thing. And you seem like a sensible person. It would be a waste, well, a loss, if you'd get yourself in trouble before we meet. Ah, got the data." -She went on.
"Ah, come to take interest in me?" - Feng taunted her.
"Like I would in anything that gets me information on this damn world. Oh, time's up…" - She paused for a moment. - "So exchange it is. Keep yourself safe out there."
"You too." - Feng replied and the connection got cut.
I stood there like a fool, as I watched Feng chat with that person. Standing in front of Feng, who sat at the desk, chatting to her. And then it came to an end.
"Get the team ready. We have a week, so," - Feng looked at me, - "make sure he gets there too."
"Me?" - I asked him.
"Yes, you." - Feng replied. - "You'll be in for a good surprise." - Feng smiled.
Sheng looked at Feng, seriously.
"Sir, are you sure about this?" - Sheng watched Feng.
"They might as well be a good horse to bet on. For what we do." - Feng replied, looking Sheng in the eyes. Sheng gave a nod and walked out of the room.
Feng got up and walked over to get his tea and gown it in one go.
"I wonder what changes they bring." - Feng let out, as he looked out the window. - "Go get your sleep. You'll need rest before the trip."
"Should I go to his room or to mine?" - I asked, feeling rather foolish.
"Oh," - Feng looked at me with a cheeky smile. - "Got attached to Liang huh? He-he. He has that charm about him. But don't get distracted. Liang is as deadly as they come. And getting on his good side is a task that is not for the faint of heart." - Feng looked me in the eyes. - "You're still faint of heart. So go to your room and let Liang rest."
I took a breath, then turned around and walked over to the door.
"Make sure to lay low. Don't get out of your room until I call for you. Let it be a warning, unless you want to die the death of people you saw on your journey." - Feng said coldly to my back. I felt a heavy cold in my bones from his words. I nodded silently and walked out. A maid waited outside, then led me to my room.
Inside my room I stood there - like a lost lamb. What the hell did he mean? What the heck is he planning? I felt colder, making me walk off into the shower to at least warm up under the hot water. Maybe it will wash away whatever it is.
Standing under the water, with the warmth of it as if fleeting… I should just go sleep it off. I rather just sleep it all off.
Fuck…
The bed felt somewhat empty. Maybe I did come to rely on Liang a bit too much over the span of this trip to the netherworld. Hope I see him soon. Hope I just don't break down too much.