[PRP] Battleship (Tevini + Cerpin)

[Yamashii]

A long time brewing storm unleashes.

 

[Yamashii]

Home sweet home. Even if it was a pile of dust and rock at the moment. It still contained the basics of what was important that Etsali had been able to smuggle out of his tower. A beetle farm hidden in a back room and his precious guitar leaning against a wall. Battered postcards of the moons pinned to a bulletin board salvaged from sweeps of garbage. The heaviest toolbox he'd ever lifted. Two basic recuperacoons dutifully awaiting two very tired trolls.

Cerpin tossed his bag of things on a nice looking table, one of the few pieces of furniture they had at the moment. He had hoped to get some more things but traveling had delayed progress there and then he'd been practicing for the band and brainstorming ideas for the rebellion... Letting out a groan of relief as he stretched his arms up over his head to unkink his shoulder blades, he looked to Tevini.

"Good to be back, ain't it? I mean dusty air's not much better than muggy air but it feels more like us I think." He made random conversation in his usual manner as he tugged two shiny gold boots from his feet and discarded them on the floor. They looked incredibly small compared to the huge cavern that the two made their home in. Cerpin had thought this to be an abandoned warehouse when they'd first found it. The large void of things to make it feel less empty around them bothered him which was why he worked so hard to fill the space with his voice and presence whenever they were here.

"And all that water back there. I don't know how Zeffer's ever gonna get that place hooked up with cameras or traps." Opening the mini fridge tucked in a corner by one of the few currently working outlets, he plucked a bottle of juice out of it. The prince turned to look at Tevini and motioned to throw it to her playfully before catching sight of her face. Something was wrong, she had hardly spoken to him the entire trek home.

"Vee? You alright?" Somehow he suspected he knew the answer. He just didn't know why.

Doutei

it begins...

 

[Doutei]

"Mm." She replied as Cerpin prattled on. When they'd returned she'd carefully placed her bag on the table and removed the items she needed to prepare for sleep. It was normal for her to be quiet and let her partner carry most of the conversation but she'd been even less responsive than before after they'd left the swamp.

"Good question." The redblood made a face as he mentioned the chore he'd signed her up for with Zeffer. Of course he'd bring that up. It wasn't bad enough for him to volunteer her for a task she wasn't sure she could actually do but then with a stranger. To celebrate his genius he was now going to chuckle over how he'd successfully ******** her over with mission impossible. Once the rebels learned she wasn't a prodigal problem solver of an engineer they'd love to keep her around.

"No." At his next question, the girl's reply was so quiet she barely heard herself. She surprised herself by even admitting it out loud. She was the kind of person who avoided conflict always, even if it made her life worse. She'd gone along with everything he'd said so far to do just that- avoid the uncomfortable. And now here she was standing in an abandoned warehouse with no furniture, no privacy, no plan, and no one to blame but herself. She should've spoken up earlier before he'd bought the place. This was ridiculous.

How could there be so much space around her and yet she felt like she was suffocating?

"No." Her voice was louder now so she could hear it. Like an engine she was just starting up. Her momentum needed to build.

"I've lost my home, joined a group of terrorists, have to figure out how to wire a swamp, lose my home again to a nightclub, hide my identity, set up a PO box somewhere, and figure out how we're going to eat next week!" No dammit, it felt like all she ever did these days was cry. Wiping at her face angrily, the girl turned away embarrassed and ashamed. Even when she tried to stand up for herself, she felt like she was going to crumble any second.

"I can't do this."

Yamashii

Cut off because I lost steam. Sorryyyy

 

[Yamashii]

He'd seen her cry before. It didn't faze him.

She'd complained as well. But Tevini had never raised her voice at him before. It was a strange uncomfortable feeling to take the hits like bullets to his ego. Had she really been this miserable this entire time? And it was kind of completely his fault.

"Well. I..." Cerpin seemed to stop for a while as the gears turned in his head. He pulled a chair out from the table for her to sit on. This conversation seemed like it might take a while. Her hand hid her face as she stubbornly wiped at her embarrassment. The redblood sat and turned to face towards the table away from him in a quiet act of shutting down.

He rolled his eyes and slid on top of it to sit directly in front of her. He wasn't someone you could look away from.

"Okay. I shouldn't have piled so much crap on you. You were probably barely making things work before the swamp." His face was a mixture of guilt and awkwardness and it was clear he'd never had to do this before. Opening up to others was easy for him as long as the topics floated in the playful high energy range.

Cerpin had said sorry before in his life. Just not many times.

"Look- I'm sorry! And maybe you can't do this. But I think we can. I've still got beetles, I'll stock us with food. I'll handle the Rebels- I'll get you a PO box." It was kind of weird to link himself to someone as a unit. Wasn't that something that happened when trolls grew older? But he supposed he wasn't quadding with her, just cementing their partnership. Which meant he would have to think of a solution to her problems. Man, she'd brought up a lot. He tapped a nail on the table's surface as he scrambled for ideas.

"Think of it this way. Our hives? Are up there. You haven't lost it. We're just... still on our way there. Until then we live wherever we are." Cerpin shrugged like yes- it really was that simple to him. He'd let go of his giant monument towering in the middle of the city.

It was grand and beautiful but what could really compare to the stars they were gunning for?

Doutei

cry me a river, bby grl i'll fix this somehow

 

[Doutei]

It was easy to let Cerpin romance you with his hypnotic voice and earnest eyes. She knew they'd only spent a small amount of time together but in that time she'd seen how easy it came to him- how effortless his charisma was. She hated the way her eyes trailed to look at him despite herself.

Did she have any resolve at all?

"No." She answered both of them at once. It shocked her how fluidly the word left her mouth. Tevini swallowed her nerves and tried to roll with it. She was pretty mad and if she stopped now she would never work up the courage again. Too many times she'd bowed her head for this boy and things had only gotten worse. Well, with what she needed to say it would still get worse but at least not in an endless loop hopefully.

"You won't. You haven't done a damn thing to help so far. Why start now? Oh wait, I'm sure Byakko will find your ******** guitar skills quite handy!" Her anger boiled over and the words, dipped in spiteful poison. She wanted to hurt him so he'd understand how much pain she was in. The lack of confidence, the inability to believe there was anything you could do. The helplessness of realizing your own limits.

"Don't you get it, Cerpin? You're useless! The one thing you offered is gone!" Her eyes darted to his purple cape, letting the realization hit him. Now that they'd been branded traitors by the Queen, his highblood status was gone. They couldn't use his name or blood to bargain or strong arm anyone into helping out their cause. Sure he had an illegal beetle farm to supply money but that didn't replace the promise he'd originally made with her. There was no way he could take care of them now that they had to start from nothing.

"Our hives are gone! You're never getting that back! Same with our lives!" The redblood's hysteria continued to grow and she was louder than she'd ever been before.

"And I can't even leave! Now Byakko thinks I'm going to build her a spaceship! But do you offer to help me with that?!" The tears she'd tried to hide earlier burned at her eyes.

"No! You're more concerned about your stupid day club! Well fine then!" She jumped to her feet and shoved at the table he sat on.

"Forget the spaceship! Since that's all that ******** matters!"

Yamashii

Firewall disabled

 

[Yamashii]

He opened his mouth to retort several times during her tirade but couldn't get a word in. Something inside him burned painfully and threatened to pour out of his throat. Gritting his teeth, he glared back into her eyes without looking away. Cerpin had never been one to fall shy during a fight. Tevini's hands shoved at the table and his breath hitched in surprise as it wobbled unsteadily underneath him. What a ******** b***h. His feet dropped to the floor and his face hovered just inches away from hers.

"Enough!" His eyes were chaotic with frustration and hurt as he shouted to put an end to her run. A sharp kick sent the chair she'd just been sitting on flying across the room. Instantly he regretted letting his temper fly off the handle but for now he could only hold his ground. Cerpin wasn't afraid of violence but this would only piss her off more he was sure.

"I'm not a ******** genius like you, okay? I can't help you make a spaceship- I don't know how!" His face was bright with angry purple across his cheeks. "The club was all I could contribute! A way to watch the tunnels and look for lowblood sympathizers. But I guess it's just a waste of your goddamn precious time. You're right, it's just an excuse for me to screw around- thanks for asking!" His chest heaved with emotions that he didn't understand how to explain or want to admit. Her eyes bore into him with all kinds of judgment and the boy felt trapped. He couldn't deny how he'd lost everything but at the same time, it was hard for him to accept it. She would never understand what it felt like to hold the world in her hands and lose it. She'd barely had anything to begin with.

It was devastating to a prince so young with a future so bright to know that he'd ******** up badly enough to lose his kingdom.

"Maybe I am useless! But at least I'm not hopeless like you. I have a dream. I have a purpose! Just listen to yourself." He practically spat the words in her face. "Everything's impossible to you. You're ******** pathetic like this. Throw your tantrum on your own time." He was done with this. In time they would both cool off and get over this but wasn't going to take any more s**t.

He could stand here and argue that the ship hadn't been for Byakko to begin with. That they had agreed to make it before that alliance. He could argue that he didn't need his status as a purpleblood to help her- wasn't the Initiative about ability not color? He could even say that he had had these same depressing thoughts about himself and worried he was dragging her down more than he was helping her.

But he didn't. That was for another time.

"I don't think you need to worry about finding a hive. Your walls will keep you plenty safe." He threw a parting shot at her before moving to grab his guitar and slink towards one of the back rooms. His ******** guitar skills were all he had to escape some of the heavier parts of life now that they were criminals. He didn't know if she would stay or not but he was so irritated that he didn't care. Cerpin wasn't used to others hurting him- how was he supposed to deal with this? A few chords strummed loudly into the chamber of the other room.

He refused to cry but sometimes you didn't get what you wanted.

Doutei

Cerpin's passive aggressive singing drifts out... : P

 

[Doutei]

She flinched as he kicked the chair, despite the fact that she'd started it.

She flinched as he shouted many words that she didn't want to hear.

And she flinched as he left, slamming the door.

She didn't have the right to feel sad but she did. It hurt, what he'd said. She was pathetic and she knew it. Tevini hadn't understood his ideas and hadn't had the courage to properly ask him about them, instead she'd allowed herself to think the worst and build it up in her head. That was what she did- analyze everything from a distance. But that led her to miss things. She didn't have a proper vantage point when she could barely see anything.

The empty room blurred as the sounds of his guitar wailed from the other room and she wiped her face. He was right about many things but so was she. They didn't have anything together for their projects, both of them were even competing for the same illegal funds. She couldn't ask the rebels for beetles, they were all out of their jobs. Even though his farm would grow steadily, they'd lost a lot of his resources and could only wait.

"Dammit." Even now she was relying on his money. Couldn't she do anything herself? Frustrated and conflicted, the girl stood in the middle of the room for a long time, staring at the toppled chair.

"I'll show you." She murmured and walked away.

Yamashii

End! I figure we have nothing else to draw out for this scene!