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Tae-joon didn't know what he expected Deadly Byte to be like. Vampires existing in this day and age was already a difficult concept to wrap his head around, let alone him being one of them. He couldn't imagine how immortality would affect him. It seemed to him a miserable way to be, sustaining yourself on others' blood while grasping for a purpose to justify your existence. As it was with his body deformed into more machine than man, and his name freed of allegations— Whitelisted — Tae-joon often wondered whether it was worth it. Byte had been alive for centuries as an animated corpse; what sort of vengeful creature was he?
He is relatively harmless, Seeker told him. Though he could be.. eccentric, sometimes.
Deadly byte was loud…
"WHY ARE YOU NAKED?"
..and prissy.
"I am not naked," Tae-joon said, his state-of-the-art speech synthesis more inhumane than Deadly Byte's booming voice somehow, echoing within the parlour.
Tae-joon's body barely resembled that of a human, except perhaps in silhouette. He was a glorified skeleton. There was no need for modesty, no delicacy that needed to be concealed in polite society. No one was going to turn their eyes away, scandalized, when they saw his exposed wires. They all glanced over as they would with a MRVN. It was more practical this way too, nothing could get caught in his ribs, and he could regulate his temperature better without unnecessary clothing restricting the airflow. He wouldn't have worn a coat at all if he didn't need pockets.
"...Seeker said you have the intel I need on Hammond?" Tae-joon shifted the topic to the reason why he was there. He would rather not go into the nuances of nudity today.
Deadly Byte phased across the parlour to where he was sitting in a blink of an eye. So close he was practically on Tae-joon's lap, one knee lifted up on the couch next to Tae-joon's left thigh. He froze under his stare, out of surprise, not fear. Tae-joon couldn't remember the last time he was this close to someone, but Byte approached him seemingly without a thought. Their faces were a mere breath away — not that either of them breathed.
"YOU ARE NOT WEARING — "
"Do not yell into my face," Tae-joon interrupted him. His ears were ringing. "Lower your voice."
Byte looked put off. Was he so out of touch he no longer knew how to interact with other people? That.. made sense. Tae-joon, too, had trouble expressing himself, always coming across as curt and cold. Thousand years of isolation may turn him into a creature with no understanding of personal space, who hissed and yelled uncontrollably.
"You are not wearing any garment under your coat," Byte said, sounding rough, like his vocal cords weren't used to such a soft tone anymore.
"No, I'm not."
He frowned. "That will not do. Join me in the dressing room."
Tae-joon looked at the white ruffled shirt and ostentatious velvet-lined coat he wore. The last place he wanted to be with Deadly Byte was the dressing room.
"Do I have to?" He would rather not.. ever.
"If you would like the information I have of Hammond," Byte said, moving away from the couch.
Fine. He had done worse to gain information.
Deadly Byte didn't phase away this time. He walked instead, careful in keeping a reasonable pace for him to follow out of the parlour to the long, narrow hallway. Tae-joon looked down at the much shorter man in front of him (who only came up to his shoulders) and hoped nothing he had would fit.
They walked up the creaking stairs to the second floor, where Byte stopped and turned to look at him. Even when he stood a few steps above him, Tae-joon was still taller. It had been disorientating at first, coming back to life in a new body and seeing the world from a new perspective. It took him a while to adapt, keeping his head and limbs from hitting everything in his path. He was used to it now for better or for worse.
"You are louder than me," Byte huffed pointedly.
"Hm?" Tae-joon listened.
In the quietness of Byte's castle, the muffled hums of machinery was deafening. Every step he took was accompanied by the sounds of metal being rattled. Tae-joon wasn't built for stealth, despite being a Recon legend.
"That." Tae-joon couldn't do much apart from acknowledging it. "Yes, but it can't be helped."
Byte was satisfied with calling him out on his supposed hypocrisy. He said nothing more, turning back to lead the way.
When he took another heavy step up the stairs, he heard Byte snorted.
Deadly Byte's taste in fashion, as expected, was horrendous.
He chose a tie-front top made out of silk or some other similarly smooth fabric which invoked a feeling of luxury, yet felt horrible on his frame. It hung low on Tae-joon's shoulder, long puffy sleeves falling off his stiff arms. The v-neck cut deep and wide, trimmed with layered ruffles, revealing part of his rib cage. As if these descriptors weren't awful enough, the top came in bright yellow.
"Why yellow?" Tae-joon asked with barely concealed disgust.
Byte looked between him and his reflection. "TO COM— ahem, to compliment your eyes."
Tae-joon blinked at the mirror. They were yellow now, weren't they. He never paid close attention to them before. They happened to come in yellow; he had no say in it. If it was his choice, he would at least make them the same color. The mismatched, black sclera was too intense. He already looked inhuman enough without it. Although, he supposed it didn't matter as long as they functioned properly.
Byte appraised him with a quick look, then moved away from the full-length mirror to the vanity. (He showed up in the mirror, though Seeker told him that without the gold caressing his jaw, neck, and ears—he wouldn't.) Byte pulled open the drawer to retrieve a small jewelry box. He picked through it, searching for something that wouldn't slip and fall through the gaps in Tae-joon's chest. (Unlikely.)
None of the jewelry he owed looked particularly valuable, but Tae-joon was surprised nonetheless to see him own any jewelry at all. Apart from the necklaces he used to wear to keep his data drives, Tae-joon never accessorized. Admittedly, he never dressed well either. He used to own multiple of the same white shirt and slacks. No surprise Deadly Byte did not fare better, considering he was born eons ago. He could look much worse.
Tae-joon felt out of place looking around. Him, just by standing there, clashed with the aesthetic of the room horribly. The natural carved wood closet, plush velvet armchair, and ornate dressing screens. Everything was dyed in varying shades of mahogany. Tae-joon stuck out like a sore thumb in his dumb, yellow top.
Frustrated that he couldn't find anything fitting, Deadly Byte slammed the box shut. He put it back into the drawer, then moved along to find something else that would cover Tae-joon's chest for the necklace to work. His options included an embroidered tunic and a jeogori, both in yellow. They were more palatable, but…
Tae-joon shook his head. "No."
Byte looked up at him quizzically. "NO?" He jumped at his own word, startled by the sudden change of volume.
That was.. surprisingly endearing.
Tae-joon frowned, did he just call himself endearing? What was wrong with him?
"Don't try to cover up the damage," Tae-joon grumbled.
Byte looked at him, then his reflection. "Is that what you call yourself, damaged?"
"What else would I call it?"
Byte said nothing for a while. The clothes were put back into the closet without a word. He laced the front of Tae-joon's ugly, ugly top; his fingers were as delicate as a pianist's.
"It is good to be alive," he murmured, unusually quiet. Short and simple. Human.
Tae-joon looked down at him, his hands, the strands of white hair almost a mockery of his true age. "Just for the sake of it?"
Byte tied a neat little bow on him, the sight of it made Tae-joon want to laugh. "I have unfinished business, " he said.
"All dead things do."
Tae-joon looked at his own reflection and felt nauseated, despite being incapable of getting sick. It looked.. wrong, like it wasn't supposed to be on him. (Because it was meant for people, his subconscious supplied.) The coat didn't bother him because it served a purpose. This was to compliment, to express, and he had no business wearing it.
"You do not like it," Byte pointed out.
You only just realized? Tae-joon thought, but then stamped down his frustration before he uttered it out loud. He needed to indulge the vampire for intel, after all.
"It's not your fault," he said.
"Do you ever wish for death?" Deadly Byte asked all of a sudden.
Tae-joon was taken aback. Was this what he would be like without a filter? When he stopped planning ahead for every word, every movement?
"It doesn't matter what I want," Tae-joon answered, because it didn't. He had a goal.
“You must think this is for my own amusement,” Byte looked up at him beneath his lashes, blue eyes glowing. “Playing dress-up with the vampire so he would pass on the information, but this is for your benefit, my shadow.”
The constant change of topics was starting to confuse him. What was he talking about now? “I don’t need clothes,” he took a guess.
Deadly Byte grabbed Tae-joon by the bow and pulled him into a kiss. A regal creature like him wouldn’t stand on his tip-toes to meet his height, instead, it was Tae-joon who had to bend down. His lips were icy cold; his system flashed a warning against sudden temperature change. The softness of his kiss left a frostbite, and what smelled like wine. Tae-joon ran hot all the time — as machines tended to — he must’ve burned Deadly Byte like a cross.
He didn’t seem to mind.
Tae-joon found he didn’t mind either.
Deadly Byte released him, but not before his tongue darted out to lick the metal plating where his lower lip used to be. Tae-joon felt a shiver across his spine, intimacy tugged his wires like they were heartstrings.
“That was for me,” Deadly Byte murmured. “You can keep the top.”
“I’d rather not,” Tae-joon said, still dazed from the kiss.
He nodded. “Very well, what do you need to know about Hammond?”
Just like that, everything was business as usual. Tae-joon got what he came for, and a little more. Vampires were… strange. What word did Seeker use, eccentric? That was certainly one way to put it. When he met the older Crypto again, he asked if Deadly Byte ever kissed him. Seeker choked on his tea and nearly burned himself.