[PRP] Unexpected Reunion (Tamiya x Larque)

[kamileunaire]

A long stretch of time had gone by since the skyscrapers of Civisect had slowly wormed their way up out of the ground, starting out as gaunt, eerie skeletons before being filled out by the countless constructions drones tasked with doing so. The city transformed from a dusty pile of nothing, to a shimmering jewel, glistening in the dark each night after the sun went down. It was just such a night, with the twin moons casting a brilliant reflection on the water, and a pleasant breeze blowing in from the sea. It was the kind of night that begged to be enjoyed, a night for the 'natives' to revel in the renewed affluence of the city, and for the tourists to flood the pier, to visit and have fun. The place was flooded with trolls of every color, enjoying the food and the rides, bickering and laughing and adding their voices to the cacophony that usually reigned over the area. It was a place of revelry for some...and a hunting ground for others.

Larque had watched the city grow from afar. He knew not to trust its glamour, and he didn't particularly care for or respect its inhabitants; it was still a battle ground in his eyes, a place that had been stolen from its rightful owners, built over the graves of those who had died fighting over it. The filth that dwelled there now were only good for two things, which was feeding his greed, and fulfilling his need for a cheap thrill. The majority of the past couple sweeps had seen him sticking to the wooded coastline, doing his best to let painful memories fade. It was easy to while away his days in the wilderness, to visit the coast and the tide pools, to allow Mantismom to teach him to hunt, and eventually, to fight. She seemed resigned to the fact that her stubborn grubling of a son would not take well to city life, and that he would never find his footing as far as making friends went...it wasn't easy, having a shitchild, but she wouldn't give up so easily. Trips into the city were still a mandatory thing, even though she rarely accompanied him anymore. Most areas of the city were not very welcoming towards a midblood and his over-sized lusus.

The city still held amenities that made their reclusive life easier, and as he had grown, going into the noisy, crowded streets had become progressively less scary. He'd become ballsier with age as well, having gone as far as breaking in to a hive or two in the past. It gave him a glorious rush, and he had even managed to obtain his chosen weapon on one of those occasions.

As he stalked over the pier, however, he had no aspiration greater than simple pickpocketing, targeting the rich highbloods, as he always did. He hated the inner city for its posh residents and their stylish trappings, but on the pier, he stood half a chance of blending in. Trolls from all over Alternia traveled to visit it every night, and it was a perfect place to make a dirty living. With bright orange eyes scanned the crowd, he slowly entered a more focused state, trying to single out his first victim of the evening.

sypon

 

[Sypon]

The air was clear now, but it was artificially so. Old Hemisect had a sort of musty honesty to it. It was a blemish on Alternia - a reminder of the tragedies of the past. Lives had been lost, yes, but more than that at what cost? What did the spirits say about Alternia's inhabitants? The husk of Old Hemisect City was alive. It vibrated with the stories of the dead and the deranged. Those lost souls and the reminders of the dark ones deep under the ocean waves were washed away by boardwalk lights of Civisect City. Sticky cotton candy and market sweets flowed year round on the glitzy pier, lit at night by the immense hive structures and technological industries that blossomed in the city. Tourists had stars in their eyes, and locals were still tourists to the stragglers who were native to Old Hemisect. The new crop of trolls living in the city were migrants and opportunists, and standing on the edge of the pier, Tamiya Aiguma looked completely out of place.

She held her arms across her flat chest, her eyes closed. No soul had disturbed her for an hour, at least. A purpleblood with the trappings of the Messiahs was not a troll to be messed with, so while the occasional tourist dropped a few beetles thinking her a pier attraction, city life buzzed around her as normal. She had been muttering chants for as long as she had been standing there. Thick, coarse rhymes dripped thick from her tongue, sounding ominous if not for (or perhaps because of) the whimsically violent content of her poetry. As soon as she finished her nightly prayer, she cleared her throat and spun on a heel, giving aggressive eye contact to any startled trolls.

"You ******** have no idea what you are treading on..." muttered Tamiya.

Tamiya had been confused an appalled upon moving back to the City. Sinter's hive was idyllic. Her old hive was perfection. Everything that Civisect was, was... Overwhelming. Technology was driven by the "puppetshankers and slitwipes of the sciences", the tourism was "a tsunami of dread and miscellaneous pissnuggets taking bona fide shits on each and every spirit who ever lived and died in Old Hemisect, Messiahs give them rest,", and the hip, modern food served to such tourists was "probably produced by a imbecile confused between serving bucket-sludge and actual sustenance."

Regardless, her new confidence in her faith drove her to improve the city, one outing at a time. Her proselytizing became more of a habit and coping mechanism than an attempt to become immersed in her faith, and more frequently she would wander the city during an excursion for groceries to pray, complete rituals, and troll watch. Tonight was a lazy night. She would return to her small coastal hive soon enough, but there was no harm in assessing the pier. It was rather crowded - something that infuriated Tamiya after enjoying the abandoned streets of Old Hemisect. She looked about for an exit in the throng of visitors and decided to just push her way through. Usually, more chanting caused the trolls to part for her.

Kamileunaire

 

[kamileunaire]

By the time he'd gotten halfway down the pier, he'd already managed to lift a couple of wallets, which were tucked safely into the pockets created by his layers of belted clothing. Almost always, he went after the loud, obnoxious highbloods who weren't paying any attention to the world around them, since they were the easiest, and usually had the most beetles. Sometimes he was able to hear the indignant shouts of those who had been picked clean of their currency, trying desperately to pin it on anyone who happened to be near them once they discovered the problem. Most of the time nothing came of it, but in the past his thievery had managed to start a few fights on the pier, and that was always sort of entertaining, when it did happen. Highbloods had the disturbing tendency to blame their friends, and Larque had seen plenty of asses handed back to their owners, at his own hands. The memory almost had him grinning, until he noticed the crowd parting for someone up ahead...

Only one thing could have caused the greenblood to lock up like he did, as he finally saw who that someone was. For a split second he thought it was just an average juggalo-faced purpleblood, but once his brain registered the clothing and the horns, his pumpbiscuit began to pound. Where the ******** had she come from? It was all he could do to snap himself out of it, and he could hear himself growling, hands clenching into fists. It had been quite a while since he'd actually thought about her at all; after all those sweeps, it had been easy to let her fade into the back of his mind, only to be brought to the surface because of a nightmare, or by some other small reminder. It didn't happen often, and he certainly hadn't expected to meet her there in the flesh, on the pier of all places.

Larque was struck with indecision, and instantly tried to melt back into the crowd. She was heading right past him, but had she seen him yet? Even worse, where was that awful lusus of hers? As he tried to swallow the rising lump in his throat, it seemed he would not get the choice. Failing to watch his step as he tried to maneuver backwards, he found himself in a collision course with an ill-mannered blueblood, who wasn't about to let him get away with treading on her expensive shoes. With a curse and a shove, she quickly advised him to watch where the ******** he was going, and sent him stumbling forward, right into Tamiya's path. His face was pallid as he looked up at her, straightening speechlessly with eyes that were wide with horror. He looked as if he were about to bolt any second...this certainly wasn't how he'd wanted their reunion to start.

sypon

 

[Sypon]

"The ********?" Tamiya came to a halt, her eyes wide. It couldn't be. She blinked.

He was still there. The greenblood, her soul-bound mate as she called him, from her childhood. Larque Skopos was here, on the pier, alive and grown up. Any semblance of childishness was gone from his features. He was the rugged result of a self-reliant troll, and while Tamiya hadn't a clue where he was living he didn't seem to fit into the gaudy, high-tech veneer of the city. He still looked... Straight out of Old Hemisect City, like a ghost of the past. He hadn't changed at all, but neither had Tamiya. They may have become more set in their ways, but no one could say they were the same children seeing eachother off abruptly after the war.

Tamiya realized she was paralyzed. She reached instinctively for her chest, feeling a soft bump underneath her garments. The whistle was still there, Larque's totem. And here he was in front of her. Or was he? She was still in disbelief, but managed a hushed call. "Larque?"

Tamiya began to advance towards her long lost friend and soon found that the crowd had begun to clump back together. Bodies moved to and fro, back to the norm after her chanting and shoving through in a crowd of grey and orange. She craned her neck. Surely she'd see the green of his hair. But, amongst the trolls of the pier he became obscured in the masses. She spotted him again and made pursuit. "Larque!"  

[kamileunaire]

"T-tamiya..." His voice nearly cracked as he stammered her name, and he could feel the heat rising to his face in his panic. Larque cursed himself as he froze up yet again, glued to the spot in the same way Tamiya seemed to be. For a very tense couple of seconds, their eyes met, and he knew for certain that she was seeing him, and was aware of his presence. His breath hitched in his throat as she stared, and when she finally began to move, he started to propel himself backwards again, away from her. Her voice cut through the noise of the crowd, and suddenly the memories were flooding back like a punch to the face. He might have growled or made some other primitive noise, if his teeth weren't clamped shut and grinding together. With his pump biscuit about to explode, he turned tail and started to shove through the crowd, caring nothing for whoever he managed to piss off in the process.

All at once he felt a very familiar feeling of self-disgust rising in his chest. He could fight and kill many of the monstrous things that slunk and crawled along the beach and in the sparse wooded areas around his hive, but here he was, fleeing from his childhood 'friend'. Sweat beaded on his forehead as his thoughts raced, as bits and pieces of memories stood out more brilliantly than others. She had wanted to protect him, once. It had been so many sweeps now that he couldn't quite remember if she had been serious, or if it had been some childish nonsense. Soul-bound, she had always called it. Part of him was almost happy to see her alive, thriving, even if her appearance was just as intimidating as he'd remembered. And then, there was the part that recalled the anger he'd harbored for her departure. Swallowing the lump in his throat, the greenblood tried to focus on the task at hand. He began to dodge and weave through the crowd instead of shoving, as he willed himself to calm a bit, and to breathe. Their reunion shouldn't have happened that way, if it had to happen at all. Larque didn't like to be surprised, and he certainly didn't like to be caught unaware like that.

The real question was what would happen next. He didn't want to face her there on the pier, amidst the sweaty, disgusting swarm. Would she try to follow? He slowed down deliberately before tossing a careful glance over his shoulder. If she attempted to pursue him, perhaps he could lead her away, to someplace more appropriate. The adrenaline pounding through his veins hadn't even allowed him to think about communicating normally. It could be her test.
 

[Sypon]

Tamiya jolted. There he went. She rushed into the center of the pier, shoving through every troll in her way with curse-ridden commands. "LARQUE!" She shouted finally, unable to spot him amongst the crowd. He was small - he was quick, and smart. She narrowed her eyes and collected herself. Strategy change.

Slinking along the outside of the crowd, she was finally lucid enough to barely spot him. He was so damn fast. She took quick pursuit, off the pier now and through the city. Just a few blocks north and they'd be on the cusp of the industrial and trade districts, filled with packing warehouses. It was easy to get lost, and by far it was the most likely place for an unsuspecting troll to end up in the shifty (and isolated) part of the city, but for a survival savvy troll it wouldn't be an issue. Tamiya would survive with her club. She gritted her teeth and made chase. Was this really Larque, or his spirit? The first time he came to her he was the same way; part troll, part enigma. Buildings rushed past. Grey, monotonous buildings took the place of gaudy tourist-traps, and soon Tamiya had lost her place in the city. She whirled around, cursing for having lost Larque, and slowed her pace.

Where are you.

Tamiya's hand drifted over her blood pusher, which raced with an uneven pace, and over the form of the whistle under her garments. Where are you. A turn to the left, and she bit her lip. The alley looked the same as every other alleyway, but... Maybe he was down there. He could have been down any of these. Damn it. She rushed down one of the channels at random, whirling with frustration. Suddenly, an idea sprung to the top of her head - she grabbed the whistle from out of her robes. It could be risky. She'd never blown on the token before - it was sacred. But Tamiya was desperate; she needed a sign and she needed it now. Tamiya blew on the whistle hard, and looked around for any reaction from the environment around her.

Kamileunaire

 

[kamileunaire]

Larque did not allow the sound of her voice to distract him again. He used it instead as encouragement to hurry on, out of the crowd and back into the city, where he hoped to gain the upper hand in their game of chase. He knew that she was not following him for the same reason he might have stalked her, had he been the one to spot her first. He cursed his bad luck, imagining for a split second the opportunities that had slipped by due to his carelessness. A frustrated huff left him, but he brushed it aside. He needed to focus.

The industrial district. It was a filthy place, full of drones, thugs, and bad smells...but it made a lovely maze, perfect to confuse anyone who happened to be in pursuit. Even though his knowledge of the city wasn't nearly as good as it had been before the war, Larque still had a few tricks up his sleeve. After darting around a few corners, and a down couple of alleyways, he unhooked and unfurled one of the scythes at his belt, and swiftly spun it up through the open window of the low-lying warehouse he had stopped next to. His chain-scythes weren't just an effective weapon, but he often found himself using them as improvised grappling hooks as well, when there were no other footholds to be found. After testing the grip, he swiftly hauled himself up and crouched on the scaffolding within, watching the sidewalk below like a hawk.

Larque almost thought he'd lost her, before the tell-tale clatter of her sandals echoed further down the alleyway. She passed by his hiding place, and his eyes narrowed with pleasure...until she stopped. Would she give up now? The greenblood held himself tensely, waiting to see what would happen, fully expecting her to turn around and head back the way she came. He could start over again if she did, follow her, see where she went. Figure out if she was living in the city. Larque would have been happy to wait all day for her to turn around, but what she did instead got his heart pounding all over again.

He knew that sound. The breath left him slowly, and he quivered, jaws clamping shut as he recognized it in an instant. Why had she kept it? He realized after a moment's thought that a certain snuggleplane was still hidden away somewhere in his hive, tucked into a spot that was safe but rarely touched; old swag from the past. Like her, he too had retained his deathgrip on the past, but it wasn't enough. She had left him to be eaten alive by the city. Gritting his teeth, he shifted his feet and leapt down, landing behind her with a hard thud, almost as if he had been summoned by the sound.

"It's been a long time." Larque exhaled quietly, struggling to keep his voice calm, and even. "Why did you bother coming back?" He gazed ahead coldly, still holding the scythe. He was a fearsome sight to behold, and he wondered what she would say, how she would react. He had thought of her as a coward for leaving all those sweeps ago, but now another idea had blossomed in his brain. Was she like the other highfilth that used lower castes as tools before casting them away like garbage? Perhaps she had done the same with the little redblood. He kept his mouth shut and waited, body tensed, in case she made any suspicious moves.

Sypon

 

[Sypon]

Tamiya whirled, whipping her club up in a protective, crouched stance. The wind was sucked out of her as she analyzed the green blur materializing in front of her. A sigh of relief. There he was, summoned as she had intended. Tamiya’s eyes flickered to his scythe and back again. Perhaps she should not be so relieved. She returned to her full height.

Part of the purpleblood wanted to run to him – seize him in embrace and thank the Messiahs for his well-being. But something was wrong. The air around her was defensive and nearly hostile. She wouldn’t make the mistake of acting quickly if this were some apparition or doppelganger. It had been too long. The greenblood had surely harbored sore feelings about her leaving for his greater good, but it was necessary for both of them.

“Larque…” Tamiya whispered. Her voice warbled between relief and level explanation. “I was ******** overwhelmed. My job in Old – damnit— Civisect – is… It is not finished. I left because I was not prepared to face the consequences after the bloody shithole of strife we both had to slog through.” There was no pang of regret in her voice. She was confident – as she always was – in her decisions. She had months to mull over her choices, and came to peace with all of them. Guilt was not something that Tamiya frequently experienced. “Doing so I have grown. I am back, and my faith is strong.”

She sighed and took a tentative step forward.

“I am so ******** relieved to see you well, Larque.”

Kamileunaire

 

[kamileunaire]

Larque only flinched slightly as she spun around to face him, retaining his own stiff posture even as she straightened up and relaxed after a moment. He readjusted his grasp on the handle of his weapon when he realized he'd been squeezing it, knuckles white as he tried to ease himself down. He couldn't decide if it was worth his time to pursue his grudge with her or not, whether he wanted to try to eke out some sort of vengeance. Sucking in a breathe, he reminded himself not to be too hasty. As she answered his question, he listened in silence.

"I can't imagine what you could possibly hope to accomplish here." He spread his arms slightly, before letting them drop back to his sides, his tone dripping with bitterness. "It's a lost cause. This city is built on lies..." He hissed an exhale as his voice trailed away. She'd known that already, of course, so it was useless to say. He swallowed hard again. He couldn't blame her for that bit, none of them had really expected the depravity the military had shown once they had won their little war. Blood castes hadn't really provided any protection to the older residents, in the end.

"I thought you had left for good. You said that we were supposed to care for each other." He growled suddenly, remembering the tea they had shared sweeps ago. It almost felt foolish, to hold her to such a thing, but even though he still didn't completely understand, pieces of the explanation she'd given about her 'faith' had stuck with him. She still had the ******** whistle. He'd been under her 'care', they were connected somehow. He felt the heat rise to his face as he recalled the way that used to make him feel, the vague sense of comfort that came from knowing you had a reliable ally. His bloodpusher began to pound as she took a step forward, and he stood his ground.

"Why did you bother to keep that? What's keeping you from running off again, if it suits you?" A few sweeps ago, he would not have accepted her reasoning. She had turned her back on him with no explanation, left him to be eaten alive in a city that did not want him there. He had fled too, in his own way. They had both removed themselves to become stronger, apparently, but it didn't really mean that he could still rely on her, did it?

sypon

 

[Sypon]

He had no hope. This was to be expected. She had been gone for so long. It was a dry thought, burning in her like the bite of the desert. Tamiya took a step forward to explain herself before he continued to speak.

Tamiya frowned. What was Larque going on about? The expression in her face paint baked in a ferocious expression, but now her features were especially tense. Were her intentions that mysterious? She felt as though she had made herself clear. Someone like Larque would – should have – understood. She had left him that day in Old Hemisect a child. But she had always been right. It wasn’t her fault that this had happened – that she had to go away. What more could she have done? Tamiya wanted to be the best friend she could be. She had to leave and find herself, or else she would have been lost for good. He seemed to think it the other way around. It made her quake. He didn’t understand – how could he?

“b*****d! I have committed to you!” She let slip. Her emotions were getting the best of her as he had begun to growl. “I did what I had to… To protect us ******** both! This is what binds us.”

But did it, really? Did her rituals mean keeping Larque the same forever? He was changed. He was not a child any more, and neither was she. But she knew him. She held onto hope that the boy she met was still alive, because if nothing else, he was home. He was her old life. Safety, shelter, dependence. Methods unchallenged, life simple and reclusive. The war came and went – and she’d hoped he too would settle down. But he didn’t. He smelled of danger and despair. His recluse was in isolation and independence. Perhaps it was him sticking to his old ways, but to Tamiya it was a dangerous new concept. Did he ever need her?

She needed him. In Civisect, no one gave her the time of day. Rabble and criminals everywhere of every type. No order, chaos of the unsavory sort reigning. A city built on lies needed to be saved from the foundation up. She had to dig, beyond the golden streets and into the resting place of Old Hemisect’s population. Tamiya wouldn’t be shaken from her faith, but Civisect was no place for her kind. Surrounded by the masses, she was more alone than she ever could have dreamed. Her chest ached.

“I made a strategic retreat. I can save Alternia.” She barked. She took another step towards Larque, giving him unwavering eye contact and demanding for him to understand.  

[kamileunaire]

Larque stared over in silence as he absorbed her words and explanations, once again letting her speak her piece. The way she immediately contradicted him earned her a little sneer, his lip curling up slightly in distaste. Maybe she saw it that way, but running off and cutting ties, even though temporary, didn't really show that much commitment in Larque's eyes. He could see he'd hit a sore spot though, and his feet shifted slightly as her voice gained a rough edge. If nothing else, he could hear the sincerity in her voice, clear as a bell. Her iincredible confidence had certaintly not waned while she had been away, and it aided in her persuasiveness, as it always had.

"Why wasn't I included in that strategy? Was it me, or was it the city?" His tone was still tense, as he addressed the only part he didn't truly understand. He'd told himself long ago that he had only ever been loyal to her, that it wasn't his fault...but had he done something to upset her highblooded sensibilities? He had always wondered what might have happened if he had tried to follow them out to the desert. He had only remained in the city at her urging. It had felt out of place to ask about joining them, to insist on such a thing. His eyes shaded as he pondered the various outcomes, if he had just been more vocal about it. Allies stuck together during tenuous times, after all. Something had happened that he couldn't figure out.

"You can see why I'm hesitant." The greenblood sucked in a slow breath as she took another step closer. He remained planted in the same spot, trying to convince himself not to flee again. As much as Larque hated to admit it, he was vaguely interested in striking up their partnership again, if only to see where things went. Her crazed statement about 'saving' Alternia was ridiculous, but then, when wasn't she spouting some sort of absurd bullshit? His curiosity and boredom were slowly getting the better of him, but he held back carefully. "I need to know that I can trust you."  

[Sypon]

Tamiya's jaw tightened. The situation, she realized, required more strategy than she had originally assumed. Larque had the right to be concerned (even though his reasoning was frustratingly basic to the purpleblood), but there seemed to be no way to make him understand. Her tactics were firm as always, and Tamiya refused to budge in the face of logic and confrontation.

And if she didn't, where would she be? A fear built inside - fear of loneliness, oblivion. It came to her each day and she could never understand why. But even the most righteous of actions were not free of sacrifice. She couldn't lose him. A tight feeling in her chest reminded her that she had no idea what to do - what to say. What was it he wanted from her? He was a living enigma.

"It was... Everything... I..." she relented. "Larque..." Words clogged up her throat and she found herself speechless. Even her scripture was lost on her clipped phrases. After a moment of silence, she reiterated.

"I did what what right. You had to stay for the sake of righteousness." What she thought was right - what she knew was right. An idea formed. Tamiya released the hold on her weapon. She placed it back on her person, and slowly stepped away.

"But now, ******** fate has brought us together. This is a sign that our bond is impenetrable. My... My friend. It is your choice to trust someone pious such as myself."  

[kamileunaire]

Larque couldn't help but feel just a bit of satisfaction over the way she faltered, the words dripping haphazardously from her mouth as she fought to find the right thing to say. With her stumbling, he was finally able to sense a bit of that fear, and as he took another slow breath, he allowed it to soothe him, to shift the direction of his thoughts. In a way, it helped to dispel his own petty anger. She had suffered too, maybe, and she obviously wanted him around, or else she wouldn't have chased him down.

She had answered his questions, offered her reasoning. It was time, perhaps, to try take in the pros of the situation instead. At the very least, she was't like so many of the other highblooded trolls he'd met during her absence. Tamiya had not changed too drastically, she was not acting overly bossy, or entitled, and that was something he could appreciate. Though her resoluteness in the matter of his abandonment was still irksome, there was obviously some inexplicable significance to it, and he wasn't prepared to try to wrench out an apology from her. While he certainly wouldn't have described it as righteous, there had to be some silver lining. His knowledge of certain areas of the city, perhaps, could prove to be a fine boon. It was his ultimate goal to mentally map the city as well as he had before the reconstruction, but it would take time. Would he be able to contribute to her mad plan to rescue their doomed society?

As she put her weapon away, he fixed her with a long, quiet stare. It was a smart choice, the icing on the cake, the key to his tentative acceptance. A good show of trust, on her part. After a moment, he folded the blade of his scythe down and hooked it onto one of his belts, all but mimicking her actions as he let out the breath he'd been holding. "I'm sure we would have met again, sooner or later...but, welcome back." Larque's expression softened slightly as he made his choice. Even if she was a crazed juggalo with a bizarre faith system he still didn't understand, there was no denying that his shiftless existence couldn't continue on forever. Where she needed his support, he needed her direction. Even though uncertainty clouded his thoughts, it wouldn't hurt to try a little cooperation.

sypon

 

[Sypon]

The tension had finally begun to melt. Tamiya lowered her shoulders as Larque put away his weapon, and put her hands together in appreciation. This was a moment for rest, and quiet. She savored his words. That was like Larque. Scrappy and resilient. She could count on him to come back to her, as she did for him. It was simply the way it should be. She ran her fingers over cold knuckles in anticipation. It was a great deal of work, shouldering the weight of the world. She was just a teenager, after all, and even now an odd fluttering remained in her core even after Larque had drawn back.

“I am aware that my capricious nature is ******** forward.” She blurted. Tamiya smoothed her pleats and crossed her wrists in front of her, tapping her fingers together. Slowly, Tamiya smiled. It was a small, sheepish grin and hard to see under her permanent painted grimace. “It brings me mirth to see you again. What… What will you do now?”

Tamiya’s plans seemed far away in comparison now that the night had slipped by. The pier, the chase, and the reunion had changed her horizon.

Kamileunaire

 

[kamileunaire]

Larque drew in a long breath, before letting go of it again, trying to ignore the way his throat had tightened. He could feel the tension ebbing away himself, and as it did, the significance of the situation washed over him in its place. He swallowed the emotion, remaining as stone-faced as ever, before willing himself forward. With their weapons stowed and the hostility gone, he would bridge the final gap between them, seeing no reason to continue speaking at length, with raised voices. As he stopped a few feet away, he glanced around for a moment before letting his eyes settle on her again.

"I'm not sure. We should...talk. Sometime." He swallowed, feeling awkward to make such a request. The stupid truth was that not all of the thoughts he'd had of her had been negative, after she'd taken her leave. After what they'd been through together, it would be impossible to deny that he hadn't been at least a bit worried, or a little bit curious. Larque had never left the city himself...she'd gone to the desert, hadn't she?

"Whatever happens, I'm not going back to the pier tonight." His tone flattened, hinting at the finality of his decision, but he seemed to bounce back, after a split second. "But...how long have you been back? Did they give you a new hive?" He peered over at her curiously, unable to remember the last time he'd spoken so much in a single evening.

sypon