( so am i with you or am i against )

[linuxes]

( CONTINUED FROM HERE. )

[ there's a blankness to tyrell's expression, a curve of his mouth instead of the roll of his eyes, impatience etched into his very being. there are times when elliot can be, frankly, intolerable, and now is one of those times. they haven't got all day, after all, and here elliot is playing coy, as if tyrell hasn't already felt the depths of elliot alderson and heard the sounds he makes when he's at the brink and too weak to hold on. is this the game they're playing now? ]

If it were important, you wouldn't be here. [ he extends his hand, nods for elliot to take it. it isn't a command, exactly, more of a thinly veiled suggestion. but it remains plain to see that tyrell will be displeased if elliot doesn't do as he wishes. can he force elliot to do anything? no, but he doesn't have to be happy about it. and tyrell has never been known for his outstanding emotional maturity. he's on the verge of an emotional breakdown nearly every second of every day, neurosis and an unhealthy obsession with his own self-worth driving him to the brink of madness when everyone around him is so dimwitted, so excruciatingly dull, and yet still in positions of power he can only dream of. absurd absurd absurd. ]

[ his gaze follows the length of his own fingers, waiting patiently for the contrast of elliot's against his. when it doesn't come right away, he lifts his gaze to elliot himself, staring him down with cold blue eyes that give too little and still too much all at once. how vulnerable a thing they can be when he least wants them to. how easy emotions are to prey on when the eyes are a window to the soul, as they say. tyrell's is cold, ruthless -- but there's a distinct fear that resides there, that he will never be what he strives to be, that he will fail, that he already has. ]

[ but then there's elliot, standing right across from him, and some part of tyrell knows he's won. is this all he wants? no. elliot has never been the true endgame; there's something greater yet for both of them to discover. together, hand in hand. like gods among kings. they are greater than the sum of their parts. they are more, and they are beautiful, and the world should tremble when at last everything falls into place. ]

Now, come here, Elliot. [ he insists, his hand unfaltering. he will have elliot, and he'll have him here. ]