[PRP] If (Elidae + Nucleo)

[Doutei]

only you knew
xXx

 

[Doutei]

It'd been a week since Bloodfest. A week without sleep. He supposed this was how Amonee felt all the time.

Standing outside the Cut and Culler, Nucleo waited. It'd taken him a few days to work up the nerve to come here, as well as convince himself it was a good idea. Xavier likely didn't think it was. He'd been pretty clear in his advice to calm down and back away from the situation. Well that last part had gone unspoken but it'd been in his eyes. So what had propelled him here? Valaon. She'd been right, he hadn't even tried anything before giving up because Elidae had her eye on someone else. How pathetic was that?

'About the same really.' He mused as he stood there feeling like an idiot. Damned if he did or he didn't, Nucleo had made up his mind! He'd come here today to finally tell her. He couldn't leave things the way they were. All he needed was a moment alone with the yellowblood. He didn't want to interfere with her job, nor had he known where she lived so waiting outside was his best option. He'd come approximately an hour before the end of the listed salon hours, just in case she got off early. It appeared not.

'Elidae, it's cold.' The boy rubbed at his arms. He was wearing a coat and yet still felt chilled. Maybe it was just nerves. The jingle of the door caught his attention and he looked up.

"Hey. Can we talk?" His voice came out breathy, it was scary for him to force the words out. The two of them hadn't spoken since that night at the Mo-doll booth. She'd come to his booth a few times to order coffee but always kept a stony glare. Even now her eyes looked fierce. It was a striking contrast to the light that usually bubbled inside of them. How bad did you have to be for someone as nice as Elidae to be mad at you?

"Please, it's important. Do you know a private place nearby? I don't want anyone to overhear us."

blackbird cake

sorry i meant for him to dive right in on the topic but it just seemed awkward to do it on the street! i will have him get started in my next post!

 

[blackbird cake]

Once her shift ended, Elidae excitedly packed her things and headed out the door, ready to jump in her pjs for the rest of the night and enjoy her shows until sunrise. Stopping in her tracks, a very familiar greenblood stood waiting for her. There was a small flare of anger from the yellowblood, but she suppressed this as much as she could.

"Nucleo? What are you doing here?" The question was asked more out of surprise than anger, wondering what the boy was doing in the city when she knew his home and responsibilities were in Busthind. Blinking, she realized he was unusually serious, perhaps also uncomfortable. Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Ah, uhm..." Awkwardly adjusting the strap on her bag, Elidae's face twisted with uncertainty. He seemed pretty intent on whatever it was he wanted to talk about. While she was still a little peeved by their last face to face interaction, she would at least give him a few moments to say his words, whatever they were.

"Sure." She finally said, giving the boy a friendly, but distant smile. She looked up in thought for a moment, trying to think of a place they could go. "Uhmmm! I know a quiet coffee joint just down the street! Few minute walk, tops." Turning from she stood, she beckoned him to follow her. "It's not as good as yours though." Elidae gave the boy another grin over her shoulder, but it had not reached her eyes. Then, keeping her gaze straight ahead in her silence, she vaguely wondered on the importance of what he had to say. It didn't take them very long to reach the small cafe, and Elidae held open the door for both of them to enter. Situating them in a private booth in the corner where the rest of the room was only a small murmur, Elidae kept the amiable mask up, but inside she was overwhelmed with curiosity and apprehension. Setting aside her bag and shrugging her jacket off, Elidae remained quiet. As soon as she got comfortable, a waiter approached. "Cinnamon chai for me, please! Thank you~" She waited for Nucleo to give his order if he desired, before finally settling down for the real reason they were here.

Lacing her fingers together and putting her elbows on the table, she placed her chin on her hands and gazed at Nucleo with mild concern. Her foot tapped nervously under the table. "So, what's up, Nucleo? Everything alright?"

Doutei

 

[Doutei]

'No.' Nucleo responded internally. Everything was not alright. But here they were anyway, sitting and pretending things were fine. He couldn't read her well tonight and that was a bad sign. She was being gentle now despite the obvious anger she'd shown back at Bloodfest. He didn't know how Elidae dealt with anger but he was pretty sure this wasn't a good thing. Maybe it meant she simply didn't care about him anymore.

'Just do it.' Each time he steeled his heart to do this, he came undone. Sitting in awkward silence for a moment, Nucleo braced himself for what he had to do. Then he met her gaze head-on. He had to do this right.

"I..." Really like you. I don't know you well yet but I want to. I want to spend more time with you. "-wanted to talk to you about Kursha."

"He..." Is going to get you hurt. He must have enemies who will find you. He makes you happy. "-started a little trouble at Bloodfest you should know about."

"It..." Scares me that you are close to him. It might happen again. It is out of my hands. "-was a little unclear why but he was threatening to shoot Odette."

He paused, giving her a moment to think. It was hard to do this for him too. He knew this could only end badly for him- no one wanted to be told their crush was a potentially bad person. No one walked away from the messager feeling good about them. This was going to hurt his standing in her eyes, especially after already messing up with her earlier. That made twice actually if you countered her party. She'd been forgiving back then as he wasn't a threat to anything. But now... he was making himself a threat to her happy carefree relationship with that greenblood.

"I was there when it happened. He pulled a gun on her right behind me." The memory was chilling. It was the first time he'd honestly thought he might die. Sure Kursha had moved the gun over his shoulder but to feel the metal against you like that. He'd felt helpess, like he was feeling now. The look in her eyes was impossible.

"Did you know about this?"

blackbird cake

sorry for the wait

 

[blackbird cake]

"Kursha?" Immediately, Elidae straightened with a whole spectrum of emotions crossing her features. The thought of Kursha always brought her joy, but the way Nucleo said the greenblood's name foreshadowed something... awful. As Nucleo continued, her smile faltered. A little trouble? What kind of trouble? Kursha never mentioned any kind of trouble. And he... started it? Fidgeting in her seat and fiddling with the hem of her sleeves, Elidae bit her lip. Kursha's aggressiveness always somehow slipped by her unnoticed- or rather, unintentionally she allowed it to. As good natured as Elidae were, she had difficulty seeing the unpleasant flaws she didn't want to acknowledge in trolls she felt drawn to. Of course, she wouldn't realize this.

But... Oh.

Elidae snapped to full attention. "Threatened to shoot Odette? Odette Cygnet?" She repeated, leaning forward and throwing him an incredulous look. Odette Cygnet, the rising star. The pityable, graceful redblood. What? But... Thoughts ricocheted in Elidae's thinkpan, trying to make sense of what Nucleo relayed onto her. Anxiety flared, Elidae shifted in her chair, a sickening feeling overwhelming her.

"No, he didn't." She replied flatly, deliberately avoiding eye contact. "This is the first time I've heard about it." Something in her wilted. Something in her felt disappointed the greenblood didn't tell her about it himself. Whatever happened, he must have had a reason. He would have definitely mentioned it to her... right? So... maybe Nucleo was lying. Maybe this was just some kind of strange trick to turn her against him. But-

No. Elidae couldn't even believe her own ruse. Nucleo wouldn't lie about something like this. Guilt set in at the very thought; how could she think such a thing? After a moment, the yellowblood adjusted and pulled herself together. Glancing up, she gave Nucleo a sincere look.

"I'm... so sorry that happened, Nucleo. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention." Her tone skewed at the end, almost coming off as a question to herself. She wasn't sure why Nucleo of all trolls would inform her of this. Somehow, she felt like this was some kind of bestowal of newfound responsibility. Apologizing for Kursha's actions and feeling the need to address them felt a little... she pushed the thought aside fro now.

"Look..." She started, unsure where she was going with this. "Kursha... he... um." Her words fell short. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. How was she going to fix this? Only the sound of her shifting uncomfortable in her seat filled the silence. She leaned back, turning her face away from Nucleo and to stare at the other side of the cafe, deep in thought. Closing her eyes, she tried to make sense of it all.

"Kursha Vidari lead the assault against the rebel cause a sweep ago. I was there. I saw him." Vivid memories came flooding back, of the reveal of their mutant leader, the initial fight, the caves, the tunnel. "He knows the names of most former and current members. Odette Cygnet... she is a former member of this group. M-Maybe he felt like... she was a threat...?" Pausing, she bit her lip. Nucleo probably wouldn't buy that. And neither would everyone else who loved the beautiful star, Elidae included. "M-maybe it was wrong of him to draw his gun, but I have every bit of confidence he had his reasons." Reasons she did not fully know or understand, but she held onto her faith in their validity. Behind the faux confidence, however, Elidae feared they were of the selfish kind, born on instinct or... something else.

D0utei

 

[Doutei]

xXx

He watched every shadow in her eyes, unable to look away. Every move she made demanded his attention.

"Is that so?" Nucleo smiled to hide his uncertainty over what to do. He'd had to tell her... but she clearly didn't know what to do. He hadn't wanted to but after stopping to think about it, she needed to know. Kursha was unpredictable and his prowess would protect and endanger her. The curve of her lips broke his heart.

"Well keep an eye on him." So he didn't actually kill anyone. The greenblood badly wanted to tell her more of how the older green had placed the gun directly against him and help her but he couldn't take the spark from her eyes. Based on her reaction, he felt confident now in who she wanted. He didn't have enough to tell her to keep away.

"I'm sure he had a reason." He couldn't stand himself. The smile on his face was fake now, glancing down from her face to their cups on the table, sitting untouched. His hands yearned to reach out and shake her, to take her from this place and run from those piercing unshakable eyes. Bloodfest had changed many things. He hadn't expected to be sitting here now with Elidae, both of them unhappy to be here. It hurt to sit through but he had his obligations here. It felt unreal like a daymare. Each second felt long and heavy, an eternity.

"For not telling you, too. Talk to him." His words hovered carefully now, trying to ease her mind. He was deliberately finding ways to explain Kursha's inaction- wanting to keep her happy. It was selfish of him to want the opposite for his own good.

She couldn't help how she felt.

blackbird cake

 

[blackbird cake]

Talk to him? Entirely unsure, Elidae bit the side of her mouth. She considered him a friend; they kept in contact, even sending letters back and forth. She hadn't seen him since Bloodfest, but that didn't shake her undeniable liking for him. Him having his reasons for not talking to her about what happened still brought an anxious, almost betrayed feeling. Maybe he didn't trust her. Nucleo's words seemed to reassure her enough to keep her insecure thoughts at bay. For now, anyway. A smile stretched on her lips.

"Yeah... yeah, you're right!" Suddenly, her cheerful disposition reappeared with determination reignited in her eyes, and the yellowblood continue the conversation as if "normal". "I will talk to him! We're supposed to hang out sometime next week, so I'll just... bring it up to him! I guess? Uhm- but how would I approach it? I can't just casually bring it up but I guess I could try to get it out of him. Or, uh-" After an unusual carefree shrug, Elidae took a huge sip of her tea to shut her mouth. The thought of having to take care of the situation brought an uneasy feeling. Elidae didn't like confrontation, but she had a pushy curiosity and Kursha endangering both himself and others was certainly an important matter to her. The teacup came down to the table with a shaky hand, clattering loudly.

"How do you think I should talk to him about it?" Elidae asked quickly, leaning forward on the table with hope that Nucleo would have more words of encouragement. Her smile said "help me".

Dooooooooooooooooooooooutei

 

[Doutei]

"Huh?" After a period of thinking to herself, suddenly she was back to chattering like everything was alright. Confused by the shift in her mood, he wondered if she felt an emotional whiplash from forcing herself to try and move past the issue. His brow furrowed as she questioned how to approach Kursha about the subject. He'd been under the impression they were friends, why couldn't she just casually bring up a rumor she heard? Was she afraid? She took another sip of her drink while his sat on the table untouched.

Cold.

"Well, you could start by mentioning you heard a strange rumor." The greenblood began slowly, meeting her gaze. Simultaneously trying to read and comfort her at the same time was harder than trying to balance five plates of coffee. The way she batted her eyelashes was endearing but also caught his attention, how had he never noticed that tick before? Or was he over-analyzing her?

"Be calm but firm. Give him a chance to explain himself." Nucleo didn't know how Kursha would but the troll had to have a reason for doing what he'd done. He might not like it but everyone deserved to say their side of things. And those eyes so badly wanted there to be a reasonable answer, she looked so uncertain of herself. He didn't like it.

"You really care about him, right? I'm sure he cares about you too. He's probably scared of how you'll react." Did she know the power she also held in this relationship? Kursha was a known gunslinger, powerful and smart. It seemed like it'd be easy to get drawn into his pace. It wasn't crazy to think she might place Kursha on a slight pedestal as someone she needed to keep happy above her own needs. But she had needs and they deserved attention too. She was a powerful and smart troll too. If Kursha was paying attention, he would have noticed these things too- Nucleo figured. And he couldn't be friends with someone on his own- Elidae's feelings and opinions were just as important and powerful.

"Sometimes we fear the ones closest to us the most."

blackbird cake

Super sorry for the wait!