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Keisuke leant against Cruiser as they watched the sun rise, gradated bands of pink, orange and blue expanding across the darkness of night. She was standing upright by the side of the road, waiting patiently as he sipped coffee from his flask’s cap, the fragrant aroma of Tachibana’s specialty blend wafting from the container.
There was a lone motorcycle approaching, the sound of its engine suspiciously familiar. As it came closer, Keisuke straightened up with a jolt of surprise and trepidation. He recognised who it was. There was only one man who wore an ivory three piece suit while riding his bike.
Keisuke hastily downed the remaining coffee, capping the flask and returning it to Cruiser’s storage compartment. He braced for… A fight? A conversation? This had to be a coincidence, surely? Under normal circumstances, he never saw Apollo Geist coming. He always appeared and disappeared into thin air like a magic trick.
Apollo pulled up in front of Keisuke, giving him the dirtiest look imaginable. Keisuke met it head on, at a loss for words. They’d never had a normal conversation, even the times they’d slept together. Good morning? What did I do wrong?
Before Keisuke could string together a sentence, Apollo’s foot was back on the peg and he was driving off at high speed, leaving displaced air and the smell of exhaust in his wake.
“Wait!” Keisuke shouted, throwing his leg over Cruiser. Without needing to be prompted, she shot off like a rocket, quickly catching up to Apollo. She made a slight adjustment in her path and the bikes were side by side, the wind rushing past as they drove together along the open road.
“Where are you going?” Keisuke shouted. Apollo’s response was another dirty look, paired with turning the throttle.
Cruiser effortlessly matched his speed, moving in unison as he turned off the road onto a dirt path. They came to a stop somewhere Keisuke had been before. There was a defunct GOD base here, its entrance set in the ground.
Apollo flipped the kickstand down and got off his bike, glaring daggers at him and snapping, “Stop following me. I don’t have time for a fight.” Without a look back, he strode towards the base.
Keisuke gave the line of Apollo’s back an impassive look. He took a few steps in his direction and paused, turning to look at his bike. He’d never had the opportunity to see it stationary like this… He traced the stylised A on the front with his index finger and tilted his head, wondering if it could understand him.
“Stop touching it!” Apollo bellowed at him from the base’s entrance, then he quickly descended the steps. Keisuke sighed as he looked up at the sky’s fledgling blue. Forget a normal conversation, he’d happily take one where he wasn’t being yelled at.
“Be good,” he said to Cruiser, patting her. Naturally, Cruiser said nothing. He wouldn’t be surprised if they came back and Apollo’s bike had mysteriously fallen over, though.
Keisuke jogged over to the base, following Apollo's descent into its depths. The building still had power, emergency orange tube lighting dotted along the corridor walls. Apollo whipped around to glower at him, wordlessly seething. His face was in half shadow, the light tinting his suit a reciprocal amber colour.
“You can’t expect me not to follow you,” Keisuke said with a shrug.
“Yes, I can!” Apollo said, prodding his chest and backing him against the wall. “Leave! There’s nothing here for—”
The moment Keisuke made contact with the wall, two roller doors dropped from the ceiling, blocking off their section of the corridor. Then, the floor opened beneath them.
They both screamed, limbs tangling together chaotically as they fell into a dark enclosed space. Keisuke nudged Apollo’s wayward tie away from his face, attempting to push the other man off him and confusion setting in when… He couldn’t?
Apollo was pretzeled on top of his chest, arms on either side of his head. Keisuke’s raised, folded legs were jammed both against his back and a hard surface, as were his head and elbows. What the— Keisuke reached out and his hand immediately hit a wall in every direction. Whatever they’d fallen into was absolutely miniscule, its total area only a touch larger than a coffin.
“No!” Apollo screamed into his forehead. “You idiot!”
Keisuke winced. Since there was nowhere for the sound to go, he was getting a concentrated dose of Apollo’s lung capacity. “What is this? Why’s it so…” He’d been in one of these traps before and it’d been luxuriously spacious in comparison. He could only be glad he wasn’t claustrophobic.
“It was for you. Only you! It’s not designed for two people!” Apollo said.
“What? It can’t fit one person,” Keisuke said in disbelief.
“That’s the point!” Apollo said, voice skyrocketing back up into a shout. “You damned riders, kicking everything— You can’t kick your way out of this! Neither can I!”
Ah, Keisuke understood now. How could any cyborg put enough force into a kick or punch when there was simply no room for it… He had to at least try, though. He pushed against the ceiling with all his might. He wasn’t getting any response when he tried calling for Cruiser, damn it.
Apollo sighed noisily. “Don’t bother. You can’t do anything.”
“You do something, then! Can’t you melt it?” Keisuke said. Apollo’s tie had fallen on his face again. Keisuke squirmed, sliding a hand between their bodies and tucking it back into his waistcoat.
“The temperature I’d need to reach would disintegrate my suit,” Apollo said coldly.
“Just do it! Who cares? Aren’t there clothes somewhere in here?” Keisuke said. There had to be, he’d seen the living quarters in these bases.
He winced again as Apollo slapped him in the face. “It’d also disintegrate you!" Apollo shouted.
Keisuke stared at his neck and shirt collar, confused. “But you want to kill me.”
“Not like this! Idiot!” Apollo howled. With some effort, he put a hand inside his jacket, elbowing Keisuke in the process. He drew out a gold, rectangular compact mirror, pulling up its antenna and opening it. A bright light poured out, illuminating their tiny space.
“I need assistance! Point B-53,” Apollo said, receiving a radioed acknowledgement in response.
Keisuke grabbed his hand, looking at the object with curiosity. He’d never seen it before. The left side of it reflected back the sorry state of them while the light was coming from the other non-mirrored side. Keisuke’s eyes narrowed. There were a dozen out of focus lights in it, the blurry circles winking at him. It was almost like he was looking into… Another place? What—
Apollo snatched his hand back with an angry hiss, arm hitting the ceiling. The mirror was snapped shut and put away, total darkness engulfing them once more. He sagged in defeat, neck pressing against Keisuke’s face.
“My meeting,” Apollo said with despair.
Keisuke’s hand cautiously crept up to cradle the back of his head. Apollo didn’t say anything, shifting against him with a soft exhaled breath. Interpreting that as a good sign, Keisuke’s other hand trailed from his shoulder down to his hip. While the circumstances weren’t ideal, he always took a quiet joy in having Apollo like this, his comfortable weight and furnace-like body heat.
Apollo’s hands were suddenly around Keisuke’s neck, screaming in rage as he did his best to separate his head from his body. “This is all your fault!” he yelled.
“Apollo—” was all Keisuke managed to say, the rest of his name coming out as a choked wheeze. He clutched at his wrists and jacket, trying to get him to fucking stop. Maybe it was his fault, but couldn’t Apollo save this for after they’d gotten out of here? Every movement was causing his body to knock against the walls and it was starting to hurt.
The natural conclusion of Keisuke’s grip on his jacket was an ominous ripping sound. Both of them froze. Apollo howled like he was dying and slammed his elbow against Keisuke’s face. Ow.