[RL with Birkin]

[screwloose]

This time Birkin was coming to him, and that suited Stein just fine. He knew on some level that leaving his world for a bit would do him good, but he was involved in some new projects and still trying to work out how to deliver his last one to Medusa. It wasn't a good time to leave.

But a little company was always welcome, especially if it was like-minded company.

He'd taken a little trip to the store earlier in the day and bought an array of liquors - some bourbon, some gin, some tequila, and some rum. He didn't really know what Birkin liked, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to have a variety on hand.

And now he was at the computer, poking his nose around and waiting.

Comments

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

"Personally, I think 'interesting' is the understatement of the century with her." Birkin sort of wondered if Stein found him interesting but he held his tongue, not sure if he wanted to actually hear the answer no matter which one it was.

He frowned. "I'm sure you took precautions, but precautions aren't always enough. Nothing happened, obviously, but..." With a sigh, Birkin released his hold on the other man's shoulders and stared hard at the floor. "If you ever think about doing that to yourself again, call me instead. I'd rather you experimented on me than run the risk of damaging yourself beyond repair... I don't have many friends and losing any one of them is devastating." He snickered to himself for a few seconds. "I'm going to regret saying that one day, aren't I?"

[screwloose]

Stein grinned at Birkin's assessment of Vanessa, but sobered as he went on, releasing him as Birkin let go.

He couldn't help but stare for a moment as he absorbed Birkin's words. "Probably," he said, half amused, half perplexed. Was this why Birkin was so hung up on Wesker's death? Maybe he really was dead and Birkin just had a hard time letting go.

"Maybe you aren't a sociopath, after all," he murmured thoughtfully, lighting up a cigarette. "Why would you put yourself under my knife? Just to stop me from doing something I chose to do because I wanted to? It makes no sense."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin opened his mouth before shutting it. Why did he say that? Oh, right. "Honestly, I think it has more to do with me just downing several glasses of rum than anything else." He shrugged slightly. "That and... It's the kind of thing friends do for each other, right? Sacrifice and selflessness and all that..."

"Besides, women tend to like men with scars; makes them seem dangerous. I don't need you to get another few and entice Vanessa even more and I realize I need to catch up somehow." Birkin smirked.

Under his breath he couldn't help but mumble a very quiet: "Told you I wasn't a sociopath..."

[screwloose]

Stein's lips curved in a smirk. "You don't really seem the sacrifice and selflessness type, I guess. Nor did I think we were competing for Vanessa."

He sobered and reached out, putting a hand on Birkin's shoulder. "About Vanessa, she's a fascinating girl, and she is a great deal of fun. But I don't love her, like you do. Don't worry about me stealing her from you, because it's not going to happen."

He chuckled. "All right, fine. But if you're not, you still need to remember that I am. I don't... feel things the way normal people do. Attachments are hard for me." He spoke as if reading from a textbook, just a bit. He knew these things about himself, because he'd diagnosed himself, but it was an intellectual knowledge. He didn't understand how other people really felt... he just knew he didn't feel the same.

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin blinked a few times, sort of confused by Stein's last statement. "I don't care whether you are or not. Just because you don't feel things in the same way I do doesn't mean a thing." He smiled. "I mean, I'm friends with Wesker and whatever your mental problems may be, they're nothing compared to his. Although, we'll need to do something about you experimenting on yourself."

Birkin scoffed. "Also, I'm not worried about you trying to steal her. I'm worried about her trying to steal you." As soon as his brain caught up with his mouth, the rest of his face decided to cut in and turn pink. He did not just phrase his thoughts like that. "Or, erm... No, that's... You know what I mean; she just seems so fickle... I wasn't trying to imply that I... Not that you're not... I'm sure most people would..." He exhaled slowly, his cheeks now tomato red.

"Okay, I'm just going to stop trying to explain what I meant and ask for a refill instead." He grabbed his beaker off the table, holding it out to Stein.

[screwloose]

Stein refilled his drink, fascinated by the stammering and blushing. Did Birkin just say what he thought he'd just said? No, surely not.

"What I meant," he said, taking some pity on the poor man. "Was that I don't seem to relate very well to normal people all the time. I'm not good at giving people...emotional connection." He shrugged. "But as you say, you're friends with Wesker, so maybe that's not a problem for you. It certainly has been a problem in the past, that's all."

He grinned. Pity time over. "Steal me in what sense~? I really didn't get what you were trying to say there, Birkin."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin took a quick sip of his newly-refilled glass. "If I have enough of an emotional connection to someone, it really doesn't matter to me if it's repro... Recrip..." He let out a quick groan of frustration. "If the other person gives me one back." Never drinking again. Ever.

"I was just... Because of the rum it's hard to..." The scientist paused and smirked slightly, ignoring the burning in his face. He was still sober enough to be sarcastic. Might as well take advantage of that fact. "I'm just trying to confess how extraordinarily handsome I find you." Birkin tried to bat his eyelashes for a few seconds before he gave up and burst into uproarious laughter. Right. As if.

[screwloose]

Stein smirked back, realizing that Birkin was joking, and laughed along with him, sipping his drink with one hand while he turned the bolt in his head with the other.

"I think Vanessa has had a terrible influence on you," he said, leaning a little closer, just to see what Birkin would do. "I know you're only joking," he went on, reaching for him and curling his fingers around his tie. "But I do find you very interesting. I wonder what you'd do with the right...push."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin quickly glanced down at the hand holding his tie. "Wouldn't it be the right pull in this particular case?" The scientist chose to simply widen his smirk and raise an eyebrow, daring Stein to continue. Just how was his current experiment going to react to that little catalyst he wondered. Shame he didn't think to bring his clipboard to take notes.

"And I'm fairly certain this has very little to do with Vanessa's influence over me. I highly doubt she even knows I'm here."

[screwloose]

"Well, then that's even more interesting," Stein said, curling the tie through his fingers. He leaned and set the half-full beaker of rum down.

Then he reached up and tightened the loose tie until it sat snugly, almost uncomfortably, against Birkin's Adam's apple. "How would you like to go examine my new creation?" he offered in a virtual purr, like a contented cat.

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin swallowed hard, not any easier thanks to the tie. It had been years since he's actually warn his tie properly and had managed to forget just how hard it could be to breathe. "Is it? How so?" He cleared his throat slightly; he was going to loosen that stupid thing as soon as they started working.

"I would love to see her, though in my current state, I doubt I could actually do much." Birkin had no reason to deny it; after four-ish glasses of rum, he was pretty much drunk. He set his own beaker down, wondering what game Stein was playing by asking him that.

[screwloose]

Stein smirked, enjoying the other man's evidence of discomfort. "It's interesting that you claim flirting with me has nothing to do with Vanessa," he said teasingly, and getting to his feet.

He held onto the tie, though, using it like a leash as he started for the door. "We don't have to do anything. You can just admire her."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

"What makes you think it would have something to do with her?" Really, it was all in the name of science. A very advanced and slightly unorthodox Kinsey test, so to speak.

He resisted the urge to mention that he was not about to be led around like a dog, instead just following Stein to avoid his tie getting any tighter. He coughed slightly; he was never going to make the mistake of wearing a it around the other man ever again.

[screwloose]

Stein liked ties.

"A couple of reasons," Stein said casually, pushing open a thick steel door and leading Birkin into the dimly-lit bowels of his laboratory area.

"You've always claimed to be quite straight. Not only that, but Vanessa mentioned that you were quite absorbed in your work from time to time. To the point where she wondered if you had a depressed sex drive." He glanced over his shoulder at Birkin and shrugged. He could relate. "Besides, flirting with me is the sort of thing she would do."

Down a hall and then on the right another door, which led into a surgical suite. On the steel vivisection table in the centre was a pretty dark-haired girl, laying there unconscious.

All but forgetting about the Kinsey testing, Stein let go of the tie and smiled with pride at the girl. "And here we are," he finished.

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin smirked. "Well, I'm hardly working right now. Besides, what would be the point of flirting with you just because she would? Seems fairly pointless to me." He just shrugged. Stein could believe whatever he wanted; he was never planning on bringing any of this up and would deny it to hell and back if Stein ever mentioned it to anyone.

The first thing he did once Stein released him, was loosen his tie with no small amount of annoyance. Now that he was able to breathe properly, Birkin stared at the girl on the table. "So, how were you able to revive her? I meant to ask you before."

[screwloose]

Stein was still not sure what to believe, but he watched Birkin loosen his tie with a smirk. Maybe he'd poke at him about it a bit more later, but for now his project consumed his attention.

He reached out and stroked the soft hair. "It wasn't really as difficult as I expected. She died of an illness that caused liver and kidney damage, so I gave her a couple of transplants and eradicated the virus with radiation and drugs. Then I sent a controlled pulse of electricity through her body to start her heart and jumpstart cell function once more. It helped that she was well-preserved by cold from the moment she died."

He touched the body, between her bare breasts, where there was a neatly-stitched scar. Her chest rose and fell with the soft breaths. "She's on a pacemaker for now, and a respirator. But I think once Medusa takes over the body it'll work on its own. Of course, there's no brain function, but that's just what I wanted."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin nodded slowly, absorbing the information. "Must be fun playing God like that. Wesker would be jealous." He chuckled a bit, staring at the body. Stein had talent with this sort of thing evidently. Must come with the name. "What happens to Medusa if it doesn't work?"

[screwloose]

Stein smirked. "Well, it might depend on how it happened," he said, pushing up his glasses a little higher on his nose. "If the body dies suddenly, it's possible Medusa could die with it. But that's unlikely. More likely she'll scatter her soul again and wind up having to choose another host. It's not her body... her soul won't be as firmly embedded inside it as it was when she was alive."

He reached for Birkin and curled his fingers around his arm, tugging him closer as he pushed the body up onto its side, facing away from them. "But look at this. I added a little surprise for her."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

"Shame that might not work... Don't you ever worry she might choose you as her next host? If I was in your position, that would be the first thing I'd worry about with this little exchange." Birkin stared at Stein for a minute; he was rather protective of his labcoat and didn't usually let other people touch it. Though he seriously doubted the other scientist would even bother listening. He sighed softly and rolled his eyes, but that was all he said on the matter.

Birkin leaned in a bit, narrowing his eyes. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

[screwloose]

Stein's own labcoat was stitched together from different coats of slightly different fabrics. He wasn't concerned with that, but just wanted Birkin to see what he had to show him.

"I'm really not worried about that," he said, settling the body on its side. "If she could possess me, I'm sure she'd have done it when I first killed her. I think she needs a weak host - an animal, child, or a vegetable like this one. My own soul is far too strong for her to dominate so completely."

He let go of Birkin and parted the girl's long hair with his fingers, revealing a very tiny incision right below the hairline. "Paralysis agent," he said smugly. "I can trigger it remotely."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

Birkin looked Stein up and down. "Perhaps it's just because I can't see your soul, but you don't look that strong to me." He shrugged. "I mean, anyone who has a bolt sticking out of their head can't be that formidable. No offense."

He looked at the girl's back, then turned to Stein. Birkin opened his mouth, then shut it, trying to gather his thoughts. He leaned in towards the other man a bit and settled on "You're a genius! She'll never see it coming." He smirked a bit. "Planning on turning it on and cutting her down immediately, or are you actually going to give her a little bit of a head start first?"

[screwloose]

Stein blinked at him in utter amazement. "You do know that I'm the most formidable fighter that Shinigami has ever trained, right?" he asked. "And what does the bolt have to do with it?"

Only the fact that he was pretty sure Birkin would drop like a little girl if he flicked him with a finger stopped him from actually bothering to prove it. Though he might beat him up later, just for fun.

Besides, being called a genius mollified him slightly. "I doubt she'll really give me the opportunity to do it. No, I think I'll wait until she does something to piss me off, like attack me, and then we'll see what she does."

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

"No, I didn't know that. But if someone were to grab a hold of it," Birkin reached up and grabbed said bolt, "I assume they'd be able to damage you quite well. It's a bit of a hazard, wouldn't you say?" And Birkin would, indeed, drop like a little girl and start crying if Stein did anything. But he's not always the brightest virologist in the lab when it comes to human interaction. "Besides, that's really not saying much considering the others I've met are kids."

Birkin chuckled a bit. "I doubt she'd be able to do much of anything after that."

[screwloose]

The only reason that Birkin managed to grab a hold of the bolt was because Stein let him. He stood still, grinning at the other man in a decidedly dangerous way.

"My kids have killed," he informed Birkin. "Killed serial killers with powers you can't even imagine. Maka and Soul alone have taken down over a hundred together."

His grin widened. "And they couldn't even touch me."

He grabbed Birkin by the sides of the head, moving so fast the other man didn't have a chance to react. And then he attacked his soul directly, right through the palms of his hands.

It felt - and looked - like Stein had just electrocuted Birkin. There was screaming, and then Birkin fell unconscious, bleeding from the nose, ears, eyes and mouth.

((If you don't like this I can edit and back up. I was going to ask you first, but you vanished and I wanted to post it so I wouldn't forget. ^_^ There'll be no permanent damage, but it hurt like a BITCH, and when Birkin wakes up he's strapped to an operating table :| ))

[touchofgenius.livejournal.com]

The first thing he noticed was that his head hurt. A lot. Worst hangover of his life. Birkin tried to lift his hand to rub his aching head, then realizing he couldn't move it. At all. Oh, right. Stein electrocuted him somehow or another. His head hurt far to much to focus on the particulars.

Birkin cracked an eye open, noticing that he was still in the lab, which was a bit of a relief but... The fact that he couldn't move and a quick glance around the room revealed that he must have been on one of the operating tables sort of damaged his calm. "I am never drinking again..." Birkin mumbled to himself. He started trying to move to test the limits of those damn straps. He couldn't help but notice how ironic this all was. All those test subjects of his that ended up in this same position with some psycho smiling down on them... He understood why they started screaming when they woke up now.