#i just realized this wouldn't stick with his past with marius

[sweatywagonmakercroissant]

my iwtv headcanon is that armand is trans and just brainwashed everyone into thinking he always looked like this. i don't even know how he transitioned he probably just sucked a guy on T's blood in the hopes that it'd work

[alstroemeriadissonance]

NXX goes to hell, literally: Day 3 - NXX State Secrets

Check the Masterlist for the previous chapters!

Once again a faint milky light flooded through the small peepholes of the tent. Morning has come once again with another round of challenging trials for the men of NXX.

First, for Marius. He woke up without much issue: he was still in his sleeping bag, all limbs intact. Vyn, who he was tasked to cuddle for the past night, did not throw or wrap any of his limbs on him; Vyn was still completely cocooned inside his own sleeping bag, limbs and all, and so his danger was neutralized despite him pressed against Marius's back.

Which meant Marius was safe.

Comforted by this knowledge, the student stayed put on his cot, closing his eyes for an extra few minutes of sleep when he realized something.

Something was pressing against the back of his thigh.

Sleepy as he was, Marius was going to ignore it, but Vyn shifted a bit in his bag and it pressed against him even harder. Vyn's student--despite the sleepiness--eventually understood that for a limb, this something stuck out too much.

This train of thought made his eyes snap open; his heart rate elevated as his brain kicked into full gear of wakefulness.

No. Way.

Yes, it was undeniable at this point that it's Vyn's dick poking against him--that wasn't the issue. The issue was that his pride of being the unbeaten champion of Whose Dick is the Biggest shenanigans in the boys camping get togethers that he participated in--it seemed that there may be a...

Contender.

The thought bothered Marius too much that it made him snap to an upright sitting position; Luke had already left his cot, and is probably up and about somewhere outside already. Good. Marius only needed to pull on his jacket, change of socks, boots and chase after the NSB field agent who had access to the forbidden knowledge that would either make or break his misplaced pride.

Marius found Luke helping out Artem in setting up the fire for the brunch.

As soon as Artem left to fetch the sausages and some cooking implements Marius immediately threw his arm over Luke's shoulders and whispered:

"Luke, The NSB has our dick sizes, you said?"

The NSB agent looked at him incredulously. "What's this sudden interest? But yeah. Yeah they do." Luke kept on working the coals even as Marius's arm weighed down on him.

Marius pursed his lips, then after a thought said, "Everyone's?"

"...Yeah." Luke poked at the fledging fire with a metal stick to break some of the charcoal into more manageable chunks.

Marius's voice lowered: "...Even Vyn's?"

"...Yeah." Luke's gloved hands placed the grill over the fire.

Marius drew a deep breath. "Can you tell me?" He gulped nervously. "I need to, uh. Confirm something."

Luke frowned, setting down the kettle that he was about to fill with water. "No. I can't. That's a state secret."

"What."

"Seriously. I mean it."

Marius looked at him pleadingly. "Just tell me man! Just between you and me! It's my pride at stake here!"

"Ugh. You wouldn't quit until I spill, would you?" Luke sighed. "Fine." He then proceeds to spill Vyn's tale of the tape for both his flaccid and erect measurements.

Marius eyes widened, "Dude. You probably misremembered. Or that's a fucking typo. That's gotta be a typo."

Luke shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Detective photographic memory. Also, no such thing as typos in our DB."

"NO."

"HE'S BIG MARIUS GET OVER IT." Luke tsk-ed and turned his focus once again on trying to fill the kettle with water.

"Little von Hagen, Pearce," came Vyn's irritated voice as he emerged from the tunnel entrance. "Your sotto voce needs more work," Vyn muttered as he took the kettle from Luke's hands and proceeded to do the task. "I will not deign ask how NSB had obtained those numbers, Luke, but as it happens I am too numb, too upset, to even feel violated that my penis has been measured so carefully for whatever dubious purpose it may serve."

Vyn put down the filled kettle onto the charcoal briquettes with a clang. "And von Hagen, if that is the source of your pride then please, kindly step down as the acting CEO of the Pax conglomerate. A sham of a psychic performing seance to call down your brother's spirit would do better in managing your family's business affairs than you ever would," he seethed as he set up a folding chair and sat down.

"...well, at least you're lively, after last night," Marius mumbled as he shuffled away from the fire to escape Vyn's lashing out.

Vyn only let out a long, ragged sigh as he planted his elbows onto his knees, burying his face in his hands as he waited for the water for boil.

===

Second, for Vyn.

He had already stamped down his pride from the very beginning when he was cast out by his own lady love, as if he did not occupy a special place in her heart--shouted down when he only tried to offer better solutions, not even given a chance to speak, as if he was someone beneath her.

(Rosa did have reason, reason being that not only did Vyn participate in the shower of shenanigans that precipitated into their current predicament, his were in fact the hands that quite inelegantly deposited the swivel chair that crashed the glass conference table)

He tried to reach out to her yesterday, and had a brief exchange of messages, which went thus:

Vyn: Rosa, please. Do not be unreasonable. We are currently in dire straits, with dwindling food and water supplies, and we are ill-equipped for the cold. If we call a third party for extraction assistance, can I be assured that you will not tamper with the servers?

Rosa: No. My demands are clear. You and the others will make it out there using your own resources. I don't care how you do it Vyn, but I want you guys to come out there having learned how to work as one cohesive team.

Vyn: Clearly you underestimate our situation.

Rosa: Probably. Same as how you underestimate how you and the other's behavior are destroying NXX internally.

Morose and dispirited, Vyn grabbed the fire poker and moved the glowing charcoal around the kettle, absentmindedly.

In these situations he would usually retreat to the peace and comfort afforded by his home in the Victorian Quarter. Probably in his garden, enjoying the relative peace and quiet surrounded--and hidden from the world--with foliage. Or in worst cases, shut himself up in his room to collect his thoughts before venturing out once again into the world and the madness of it.

However in this case there was no room, no separation whatsoever from the three other men who shared this space in the white expanse. There was nowhere to hide. There was nowhere to collect his thoughts. There was only intrusion of space and thought and now, he had witnessed casual violation of his person, now made aware of the fact that the central government knew the size of his penis when he never as much put a ruler to his genitals.

Vyn did not even know where and how to start with processing his thoughts on the matter.

So he poked at the fire. Hard. Embers scatter and fly out into the air before disappearing into the aether.

Just like my pride, and my grounding. I had thought Rosa would be that anchor.

Another strike at the charcoal with the tip of the poker. More embers fly out and dissipate in the cold.

Clearly not.

"Are you done playing with the fire, Richter?" Artem grumbled as he approached the fire with the cast iron skillet at hand, placing it onto the grill that Luke had readied for the day's cooking.

"I am not playing with fire," Vyn muttered. "I am merely evenly distributing the charcoal so my kettle boils faster. I need my tea, posthaste."

He needed his space, he needed his home, posthaste.

Or he may go off the deep end, never to go back.

For this particular challenge, Vyn has no solution in sight at the moment. But time is ticking, and the doctor may need to look for an outlet lest something may occur...

===

Third challenge for the day, this time for Luke.

As the day before, only the last two hotdogs were in the skillet. After that, all they have are eggs, and they didn't even have a full dozen.

"I'm actually woozy with hunger, guys," Luke groaned when he looked despondently at the two sausages sizzling on the pan. "How long are we going to endure this?"

"Until things improve, maybe," Artem said as he placed some bread slices in the pan.

"That's crazy," Luke muttered. "When things improve--I don't think we would even have the strength to do anything since we don't even have anything left to eat." He massaged his temples. His stomach was grumbling; the hotdogs smelled nice, but it was hard to muster an appetite knowing that the situation was pretty bad. "How's our food situation going, Artem?"

"Not too good, to be honest," the lawyer said as he flipped the bread on the pan. "We do have a few eggs though, and there's a few more packs of frozen bread."

"I'll just have a couple of slices of that frozen bread, if you please, Wing," Vyn spoke up from his corner by the fire. "Let Luke get my share of the protein. I do not feel particularly functional from this point onward."

Luke frowned. "No Vyn," he said. "You're actually the next person to get physical should something happen to me. You need to be on standby. I object."

Vyn threw Luke an irritated glare. "Why must all of you be such slave drivers," he muttered. "But very well then. I retract my previous request, Wing. I will defer to our field agent when it comes to these things."

"Anyway, food is almost ready," Artem said. "Is Marius still sulking in the tent?" He started slicing the hotdogs and distributed the pieces among the four plates, placing a couple of slices of bread alongside the processed sham of meat. "Can someone call him to join us?"

"Ehhh I'll do it then." Luke got off his folding chair in a huff and padded off to the tent in search of Marius.

Leaving Vyn and Artem alone by the fire.

"Must you be such a deadweight, Richter?" Artem said as he set aside the cast iron skillet. "You do know how they accommodate your need to be warmed to make sure you don't off yourself in hypothermia. Despite how you almost maimed them."

"I already know about that, Wing, and I have given it some thought," Vyn snapped. "I could not help what I cannot control."

"You're not answering my question--"

"Oi, don't start again you two," Marius said as he approached them by the fire. "Can't we have some peace for a change? Please?"

"I was not the one who started the damned conversation," Vyn muttered petulantly.

"Sometimes it's a wonder how much you regress when you get grumpy, Vyn," Marius grinned despondently while grabbing a plate to start eating and sat himself down on Luke's spot.

Vyn merely sighed and took his plate.

"This shit isn't enough for a growing kid like me," Marius muttered as he stared as his sparse plate of small pieces of hotdog and two bread slices. "I need to eat more."

"What, you being the tallest one among us isn't enough?" Artem said as he bit into a piece of bread topped with a hotdog slice.

"No, I'm just saying that I can't function without enough food. I learned that when I tried out one of those fad diets." Marius then showed Artem his cleaned out plate, "See, didn't even take me two minutes to finish the damn thing...oh."

Marius spied a plate that was left untouched. "Hey, didn't know there's an extra plate here. Can I eat this?"

"That's Luke's," Artem said as he set aside his own plate. "He left to look for you."

Marius struggled inwardly. Should he or should he not take the abandoned plate of food? He looked to the older men, Artem and Vyn, and none of them actually looked concerned about him checking out the plate of food unattended.

Welp, the spirit is weak, and the flesh is weak, too thought Marius as he took Luke's plate and in one shovel of his spoon stuffed all the hotdogs into his mouth.

"Mmftfg," Marius tried to talk with his mouth full. "Mfth--"

"HEY. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY PLATE--" Luke ran towards the fire, particularly at Marius caught redhanded with the plate. "MARIUS. DUDE. WHY?"

Luke then turned to Artem. "Artem, please tell me we still have some hotdogs...?"

Artem shook his head, "That's the last of it, I am afraid. Next are eggs."

Luke appeared ready to strangle Marius. "Marius. I'm really, really hungry...why the FUCK did you do that to me?"

Marius appeared a little lost. "Er, why were you away anyway?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Luke now grabbed Marius by the collar of his jacket. "I left my seat to look for you, you fucking--"

"Fucking hell," Vyn muttered as he stood up from his folding chair and dumped the remaining tea in his cup into the snow. "I will be in the tent should these idiots need patching up afterwards."

Like Vyn's, there was no immediate resolution to Luke's challenge. Once again time is ticking as the man's energy and sanity reserves are depleting, and something must be done before Luke completely loses his shit.

In the meantime, Luke is debating whether or not to break one or two of Marius's fingers.