rexthebuilder | pumpkin

Rex is laying on César's couch with his legs dangling over the edge, holding his sending stone over his head and looking at it. Today had been a little crazy. They're heading back to Magne's in a bit to turn in for the night once César finishes packing up some extra things for Rex.

He's not sure how he feels about any of this yet, other than weird and at least somewhat relieved he doesn't have to worry about being on the streets....

César's footsteps alight on the stairs, and he makes a mental note that they're probably about ready to head out.

Edited 2024-12-10 21:50 (UTC)

César plops down the bag he's packed next to the door before glancing into the room and catching Rex's gaze for a moment. His eyes soften and he walks over, sitting on the edge of the extended seat on the couch so Rex doesn't have to get up.

Rex wraps his hand around his sending stone before resting it on his chest and glances over to his brother. "So, uh, we headed back?"

He asks that because he knows that look. Adults get that look when they want to talk.

Edited 2024-12-10 21:55 (UTC)

"In a bit." César reaches into one of his pockets and gets out his pocket watch, glancing down at it for the time before putting it back. "I wanted to talk to you first."

... Rex hates it when he's right. So that's why César had him come over to get things. And that's probably why Touya's not in the room right now.

"Uh, about what?" Rex raises a brow, not bothering to otherwise move in order to play it cool, but he can feel his heartrate already starting to go up again.

"First off, how are you feeling?" César asks quietly as his expression grows a bit more serious, glancing over to Rex but not looking him directly in the face.

SHIT

Rex acts as if his eyes didn't widen and his entire body didn't tense, forcing his posture and expression to something relaxed and neutral. "I'm fine."

You're acting different. Again.

A smile twitches at the corner of César's mouth as he looks over to Rex. "Your microexpression and physical reaction says otherwise."

It's said gently. Neutrally. Unjudging.

With that soft smile Rex remembers that César used to give him all the time.

Rex furrows his brows and says nothing. Waiting. Seeing what hand César will play.

"Microexpressions are brief, involuntary facial movements that reveals a person's true emotions. Mine are pretty bad, too. I got much better at controlling my expression, body, and voice in general so I could fool Black Knight, but I'm surprised I still got away with everything."

César lays down his first card on the table, but face up instead of down so that Rex can see it.

Rex's eyebrows relax, and he turns to look at César more directly, a note of bitterness on his voice. "... ... ... Black Knight wasn't the only one fooled."

He lays down his card more tentatively, hand remaining on it with it only half flipped over, still deciding if he wants to play it.

César's a bit surprised but relieved that the card even came out at all. All of this is metaphorical of course. He taps his to activate it.

"But you were never completely fooled. It's why you kept reaching out. And it's why I had to Gray Rock you to keep you safe and act like Black Knight wanted. ... well, as well as I could, anyways. I almost broken down and told you everything both when you came into the lab demanding answers and later when Gabriel told me to."

Edited 2024-12-10 22:31 (UTC)

Rex breathes. His heart is pounding and his stomach is doing flip-flops. He feels a little sick, and this isn't something he wants to talk about now at all. Preferably, never. He'd rather forget it all happened.

But it's also the elephant in the room that's sitting on his chest and making it hard to breathe.

"You tried to collar me." Rex's eyes flash with anger, flipping over and slamming the card down with a shaking hand.

Edited 2024-12-10 22:49 (UTC)

He's so much like our mother. That hot anger about what's just.

"I know." César's shoulders sag a little forward and his eyes close. "The worst moment of my life."

Rex launches up into a sitting position, his sending stone falling forward somewhere around his knees, and he glares at César, spitting with rage.

"Your worst memory? Do you have any idea how that felt?"

César doesn't shrink from the rage, but he lets his pain show all the same. He makes himself look back at Rex. He's the adult here.

"I know that it's safer to feel angry than afraid." As Rex's hand trembles on his card, César's remains steady.

Edited 2024-12-10 23:14 (UTC)

Rex refuses to admit it. "That was torture." Distancing himself from what happened with his words, even as angry as he is.

"It was." César's heart rate is up, and his expression tries to blank, but he forces the emotions to bubble back up.

Rex hardly notices César's expression. "Even if you had to fool Black Knight, fool me—"

Ah, so Rex had processed that.

"—Were you really going to let her do whatever she wanted with me?!" Rex is terrified, and it's safer to act like he's a second away from launching at his brother.

César plays the card hidden up his sleeve.

"No. I was keeping you alive until Six and Holiday could use the intelligence they gained from the robotic Bobo to mount a rescue mission." A beat. "They came even sooner than I could have ever dared to hope."

"You—"

Rex drops his card as confusion slaps anger out of his hand.

His anger is forgotten. Magne hadn't mentioned that, and Rex has a feeling she doesn't know at all. It doesn't make sense.

For the first time, Rex looks vulnerable, afraid, searching for words. "You knew about Robo Bobo? You knew they'd come to save me?"

Please. It's got to be true. He can't live with the alternative.

César finally scoots closer and puts his hands on Rex's shoulders, voice and touch gentle. "Rex... his eyes didn't glow. Because they couldn't. The nanite coherence necessary for the collars to work is impossible outside of a living body. I programmed them that way so we could tell who had a collar at a glance."

Rex fights the relief he desperately wants to feel. César called them collars.. He forces that angry shield partially back up. No. Stay angry.

"But Holiday said he was enough to fool your equipment."

"Mine at Providence, yes. Mine in my mobile lab? Almost." A smile flickers over César's face momentarily. "Holiday might've had access to Providence's computers and Robo Bobo, as you called him, only saw those screens. I didn't let him see my own, and I said to him the anomalous readings on Providence's equipment must've been a fluke."

Stay mad, stay mad. Stay mad!

"Doctor Holiday's work was impeccable; he just wasn't alive." César's voice lightens up with a near laugh as he keeps speaking. "I had to cover for that, you know. Come up with some fake 'theories' and the like. She was still suspicious, but not of me. I knew Providence would likely find you first, and by the time the 'Confine, Constrain, and Control' protocol replaced 'Cure, Contain, Kill', I knew you'd have to get out. Robo Bobo solved the issue of how to communicate your return to the people I knew would keep you safe."

Stop. Making. SENSE!

"Why the collars?" Rex asks coolly. "Why, César?"

He knows to ask because of Magne. But that doesn't mean he still doesn't need to hear it directly from César's mouth.

César's mildly impressed Rex is straight up asking. He thought he'd have to lead into that himself.

"What do you think the Providence protocol became after you vanished?" There's no more cards, now. More walking Rex down the halls of his mind and reasoning.

Rex still hasn't knocked his hands away. He's listening.

"Contain, Kill." Rex knows where this is going. The anger starts to fade, and he stops fighting it.

A nod. César squeezes his shoulders.

"Doctor Holiday and Six left when White Knight was removed to look for you. Black Knight took over Providence as the number of captured and uncured EVOs started ballooning; we were bursting at the seams. She started looking over the books for 'cost savings'. Reducing the number of EVOs were were holding became a priority target."

The squeeze prepares Rex, if only a little. He feels numb. "... Kill."

Edited 2024-12-11 00:19 (UTC)

César nods again. "I had to create a fourth option. One that Black Knight and the Consortium would accept without question. One that would make saving lives a priority. And the languages they spoke were money and power. It was the only possible solution." A beat. "You can't save people when they're dead."

People. Not humans. People.

It rolls off César's tongue naturally. He already made the choice to use it long ago; that much is obvious to Rex. And that, too, is something Rex needed to hear.

Rex's anger is gone. But he's still stubbornly dragging his heals even as he walks through his brother's logic. Looking for hidden enemies in the corridors.

"Why didn't you tell me all this weeks ago? This was important." It's a question only César can answer.

Edited 2024-12-11 00:30 (UTC)

"I was a broken man after working under Black Knight for so long, Rex. I was tired. I didn't expect your forgiveness... or anyone's, really." César's thumbs rub across Rex's shoulders, and he lets out a sigh.

"I've been here ten months. I would've been ready to tell you in one, maybe two, here. Because Magne and so many other people helped me piece myself back together, and the adhesive had begun to set." That timeline is important. "The man I was back home had no one, and he hadn't even had time to grieve for our parents. Which aren't excuses, just... the condition I arrived in here."

Rex is unusually quiet.

"If you meant to save everyone with the collars, then why did you lie to me when I confronted you about them?" He asks, finally.

César blinks at Rex.

Wait. Rex is serious.

Edited 2024-12-11 00:56 (UTC)

"Rex. Mijo." Okay, there's definitely laughter this time in his voice. "Security cameras with audio?"

A little thrill as César calls him by that endearment again before the gears stop turning together in his head.

Edited 2024-12-11 01:02 (UTC)

One gear is spinning freely.

Its teeth almost catch its neighbor.

Edited 2024-12-11 01:07 (UTC)

And then, somehow, the spinning gear finally contacts properly with its neighbor, and Rex's entire brain restarts.

Edited 2024-12-11 01:11 (UTC)

Rex smacks his forehead and leans back, groaning loudly even as the last of his worst fears evaporate. "I didn't think to look for fucking cameras!"

"Language." César's shoulders are shaking with laughter he's barely suppressing. "Why did you think I was so worried and told you to stop?"

"Don't rub it in~nn~nnnn!!" It's not rubbing it in, but Rex shoves his brother by the chest anyway, and César's hands get pulled along away from Rex's shoulders.

Rex is ignoring that comment about language. He's earned a cuss word for going through all this!

Edited 2024-12-11 01:25 (UTC)

César started laughing like a popped balloon, a mixture of post-anxiety relief and Rex's faces always being funny.

"Céssaaarrrrrrrrrrr!" Rex whines.

Annnnnnd he loses it entirely.

"It's not that funny!"

"No, no—you whining my name must be muscle memory!"

"Muscle memory this!" The declaration makes no sense, but Rex is dragging César onto the couch proper to wrestle him anyways.

There's a yelp and laughter as he's pulled on top of Rex who is immediately trying to flip him over and when did Rex get this strong—?

Then there's a wolf.

And this is when Rex remembers wolves are much bigger than they appear on TV.

"Césaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

"No! ¡Lobo malo!" Rex builds out his Smack Hands, carefully picks up the wolf that was his brother, and puts César down on the ground.

He returns to his normal hands and points at his brother. "That was cheating!"

César drops his Wild Shape and stays on the carpet, halfway to a fetal position and wheezing with laughter.

"UGH!" Rex throws his hands in the air and realizes he's no longer holding his sending stone.

Edited 2024-12-11 02:07 (UTC)

Now standing, Rex turns his head one way.

And then the other.

Still wheeze-laughing, César lifts one arm to point at the sending stone starting to slip into the cushions.

Rex blinks and follows the line from César's finger to the stone.

"I-I knew where it was!" Rex lies badly, swipes the sending stone to stuff into his pocket, and then walks the few steps to drop heavily onto César.

"I win!"

IMMEDIATELY WINDED. Now he's wheezing for a different reason.

Cough. Breathe. Rolls onto his back, patting Rex's with one arm as he gives up. "Now who's cheating?"

"It's only cheating if you're the big brother. Those are the rules. I don't make them!" Matter-of-factly.

A wheezing laugh, eyes closed as he tries to catch his breath. "If you say so. Feeling better about everything now, I take it?"

Edited 2024-12-11 02:28 (UTC)

Rex pauses. Using his Smack Hands is so natural that he didn't even realize—

He looks at his hand, concentrates for a moment, and watches the light blue circuit lines appear, sagging with relief. "... Yeah, I guess I am."

Which means he needs to flop completely onto César and just lay there to be annoying.

César has no idea Rex's powers were even gone in the first place, and he still doesn't.

A little oof as Rex lands on him again, and he reaches up to ruffle Rex's hair. "Good. We'll need to talk more about things later, but that's the worst of it out of the way."

Rex closes his eyes and becomes boneless. "I dunno, the fact you landed a babe like Magne is pretty scary."

A teasing affirmation.

César's next laugh is less winded, moving one arm to lay it across Rex's back. "The Salazar charm works wonders."

Rex starts laughing. "No way! You're too old."

"Then how were you born when I was nearly seventeen?" César shoots back, firing off a volley over a decade in the making.

"I—" DEAD. STOP.

His smile flips upside down with confusion.

Realization strikes and his eyes widen, his mouth in a little 'o'.

A full body reaction to that. "Oh, ew!"

César shakes with silent laughter. He didn't see that reaction, but he sure felt that.

"I've reconsidered my position on fratricide. You should come lay on the couch so I can smother you with a pillow."

"Ha, ha. No."

"Jerk." A pause, then very hesitantly, not sure if César's going to tell him a terrible answer. "How come we're so far apart anyways?"

César raises his free hand in a very loose fist that bursts open and wiggles his fingers down back to the ground. "Peeww! ¡Sorpresa!"

Rex attempts to smother himself against César's chest instead, words muffled. "Please tell me that wasn't—"

Edited 2024-12-11 03:04 (UTC)

"It's confetti." César's enjoying himself a bit too much, and wow, Rex, what a dirty brain you have.

"Oh THANK GOD."

"Papí's vas deferens spontaneously rejoined, and Mama realized she was pregnant about when I started university in Geneva. That's why we settled down to start with."

Edited 2024-12-11 03:13 (UTC)

"... Huh." Rex absorbs that. "You just said that in the least gross way possible. Thanks, I think? So I wasn't planned but wanted."

"You're welcome. And you were very wanted." César's voice is full of love. "There was some risk with you being a geriatric pregnancy and all, but Geneva has world class healthcare. Our parents hadn't started new jobs yet, so it was kind of just perfect timing. Both took a couple years off to spend time with you. And I got to spend quite a bit of time with you, too."

Edited 2024-12-11 03:40 (UTC)

"That... sounds really nice. Wish I could remember that." Once again, amnesia sucks; Rex sighs softly.

"People rarely remember their baby or toddler years. You were the same way." César reassures him, free hand smoothing down his hair.

Rex won't admit his relief that the amnesia couldn't have taken that away from him in the first place. "Oh. Right. Baby. ... weren't you like, annoyed that you were helping with me? Or that I woke everyone up crying at night?"

César's told him about their parents before, but he's never been this open and relaxed about it. ... huh. It's probably because they know their parents are alive now, isn't it? He did say he had been grieving—

oh. It's easier to talk about when your family isn't dead, isn't it?

Edited 2024-12-11 03:52 (UTC)

"Quite the opposite. 1. I offered to help. Literal babysitting, and when you were older, occasional adventures. Wanted to help our parents. Wanted to spend time with you. Wanted to see if I wanted kids."

Rex decides he wants to breathe easier and shifts so his cheek instead of his face is against his brother's chest. It's an awkward position and a little uncomfortable, but his nanites don't let him get too sore. There's a soft smile on his face. Brother's don't usually lay on each other like this, but... if César helped with him, he probably likes that. Kids like to crawl all over their adults without any understanding of personal space.

"And? Do you?"

A warm laugh. "I do. Magne's pretty sure she does, too. At least two, I think. I didn't realize how important siblings were until I met you."

A light groan, but he's smiling through it. "Gross. That's so corny. Thanks. So I get to be the cool uncle about the same age you were when our parents had me?"

Edited 2024-12-11 04:08 (UTC)

"Something like that, yeah. Magne might even let you babysit sometime if I can pry the kid out of her arms. Although I'll have to warn you, babysitting can pretty hard work." César is baiting him.

Rex knows he's being baited and gleefully takes the bait. "Aw, come on, little kids are tiny. How hard can they be?"

"First off, they're escape artists that try to kill themselves constantly if you even look away for a second. Secondly, they need constant stimulation and attention if you want them to be happy and their brains to be grow. Thirdly—" And this is when César springs his trap with a widening grin. "—they can't make their own meals and aren't potty-trained, so you gotta change their diapers."

"NO!" Rex rolls right off his brother onto the other side and onto the rug, extremely dramatically.

"Yup!" Oh, this is 'revenge' for something.

"You did not change my diapers!" The neighbors probably heard that, Rex, good job.

César just barks out a laugh and grins over to him.

That's all the horrible confirmation that Rex needs, and he buries his face in his hands, moaning. "NoooooOOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOOoooooo."

And César just laughs at him. "Maybe you can do the same for my kids."

Rex goes silent and shifts his hands so that one is free to point at César, which is close enough that it just becomes prodding between his ribs. "I'm absolutely traumatizing your kids in sixteen years, and then you'll have to pay for their therapy, too."

Edited 2024-12-11 04:32 (UTC)

César gives a little 'ow!' at the rib prodding. "Deal."

"Cool. Hold on, need to die for a minute." And Rex just goes limp, hand sliding off his face and the other one thudding down as he bends his elbow.

César sits up and gets out his pocket watch for affect; he can time a minute himself, but this is funnier. After a minute, he speaks up.

"So, think you're about ready to go? Anything else we need to speak about privately?"

Edited 2024-12-11 04:51 (UTC)

Rex opens one eye to look at him. "Nope, think I'm cool." He sits up with both eyes open. "Learned enough of the deep Salazar lore for one day. If I learn anymore, my brain's going to explode all over your itchy rug."

César pats him on the shoulder affectionately, then stands and offers Rex his hand. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow by making one of Mama's best recipes."

Rex grabs that hand so fast and yanks himself up so forcefully that César almost falls over. "Heck yeah, heal my trauma and buy my silence with good food every day of the week for a month, and then maybe I'll forgive you!"

César's laughter is rumbling. "We cook every night, Rex."

"Yessssss!"

Edited 2024-12-11 04:59 (UTC)

Oh for the love of.... "Rex, neighbors? Night time?"

Edited 2024-12-11 05:01 (UTC)

"Yessssss!"

Edited 2024-12-11 05:02 (UTC)

He's never seen someone this excited over home-cooked meals. Apparently Rex really likes normalcy. ... then again, so does Magne.

César ruffles Rex's hair as he walks past him, rolling his eyes in amusement. "Somehow, I think our lives here are about ready to get a lot louder."

"And a lot less boring." Rex follows, proud of himself for reasons unknown to anyone but him.

César looks back to Rex with a warm smile. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

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As Night Falls, day of his arrival

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CW: Mind control, enslavement, how is this a child's show

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