[PRP] I Know You Know (Rasali + Ganyma)

[seekingCylem]

Best friends don't keep secrets.

 

[seekingCylem]

It hadn't been that risky to return to the Coliseum, Rasali reasoned. So the last time she'd seen a fight she'd gotten shot a number of times. No biggie. Kursha probably had some kind of ban on attending matches for a while, and Rasali was in disguise. As much as she would have enjoyed it, Rasali wasn't there to spectate anyway. She had more important business that night.

Peikoe Debrow loitered near the side door of the ALG Coliseum, occasionally glancing over at the "Employees Only" sign ever time she thought she heard a noise. It was a little surprising there weren't more fans hanging around. She hoped it wasn't because there was a particularly discouraging security force patrolling the building. She needed to see Ganyma.

It had been far too long since the two had seen each other. Even if she had perfectly good reasons for being out of touch, the guilt still ate at Rasali. They were best friends, and for however brief of a time, they were practically neighbors. If Ganyma had been to her hive recently, he would have seen that it was burned and deserted, or worse, a marked crime scene. The last thing she wanted was to worry Ganyma. The deck was already stacked against her considering she was a wanted rebel agent.

She trusted Ganyma, however. They'd been friends since before either of them had heard of the Phoenix Initiative. Hell, Ganyma had been a rebel at some point. Even if he wasn't anymore, he at least had the capacity to sympathize with the organization. That was all Rasali could ask.  

[Sypon]

Ganyma piled his hair into a bun on the top of his head and pulled his shirt back on. After a night’s worth of exhausting bouts, he was ready to crawl onto his reclining snuggleplatform. Since getting a job at the ALG, watching sports entertainment wasn’t as high on Ganyma’s list of needs. His hobbies of construction and wrestling weren’t exactly subtle or hive friendly in his small space, and with his sudden lack of friendly connections he was a bit lost socially in this new world. Perhaps he could call up Sinter – one of the few trolls who hadn’t been touched by the Phoenix Initiative. Or Rasali, again… Wherever she was. Or maybe he’d just take a nap. Ganyma’s face fell in his tiredness. He picked up his duffelbag and headed towards Employees Only Exit, into the lobby for his departure.

The crowd was fairly thin tonight – low cards were playing as a few of the big names recovered from injury. Only Machia was slated to perform, and his appearance had been a simple sweep with a few jobbers. If anything the crowd got a good look at some criminal punishment he dealt in a one on one earlier, but compared to that this match seemed like underwhelming filler. One day the troll would find his way into the spotlight. Until then, he slinked quietly through the crowd.  

[seekingCylem]

Rasali had been so preoccupied with analyzing her surroundings, she almost got hit with the door when it opened. She dodged less gracefully than she would have liked, and did an automatic check to make sure no one saw.

If anyone had, Rasali didn't notice. As soon as she looked up, she zeroed in on a very familiar, if not immensely broader back that was moving away through the crowd. Rasali hadn't expected to feel this emotional, but pushed it back in favor of tracking Ganyma down before he could wander too far away.

It required a significant amount of effort for Rasali not to barrel down trolls that meandered into her path. Eventually she caught up. She unthinkingly placed her hand over Ganyma's forearm before realizing she was incognito. Rasali withdrew reluctantly.

"G-Ganyma! Ganyma Callow!" she choked, then recovered, "I'm a- I'm a big fan! If you don't mind, could I catch a few words with you, um, outside?" Rasali wobbled her head, indicating the number of trolls parting to maneuver around the two of them.  

[Sypon]

“Oh!” Ganyma pulled his arm back in surprise. A pretty fan stood next to him… A fan? Ganyma didn’t have many fans in the arena just yet, so the enthusiasm was appreciated. “Thanks!” He remarked. Ganyma looked around at the crowd. He wasn’t really in the mood for explaining his techniques or his powers right now, but there weren’t many opportunities for him yet to be fawned over by the public.

“Umm, did you want an autograph? I mean… I’m on my way out now, but I certainly don’t want to turn down a fan.” He scratched at his cheek in thought. Because the ALG worked with wanted trolls, security was as tight as a troll fighting arena could be – granted, fights between fans were allowed to resolve, but potential assassinations were frowned upon. She didn’t seem quite like the assassin type, but who could tell? Ganyma brushed the thought away. “Uh, sure. Let’s go this way.”

He lead the fan out to the east entrance of the arena, where a more reasonable flow of trolls was passing through. “So, what did you want to ask me?”  

[seekingCylem]

Rasali couldn't help but giggle at the idea. "Yeah! I'd love an autograph!" She could tell Ganyma was flustered, but reasoned that the sooner they were out of the general public, the sooner she could sort things out.

She followed Ganyma to a lesser-used entrance that pointed away from the main drag. The trolls passing through were barely a trickle. There was enough distance between them for Rasali to feel comfortable not being eavesdropped upon.

Rasali could barely contain herself as soon as she believed the coast to be clear. She practically hopped in front of Ganyma to command his full attention. "Ganyma!" She hissed in a noisy whisper, "Ganyma it's me!"

While Rasali wasn't about to deconstruct her carefully applied disguise in public, she pointed to her horns. Her long nails traced the shape of her actual horns beneath the prosthetics, while she grinned at Ganyma in what she hoped was a sufficiently "Rasali" fashion.  

[Sypon]

Before he knew it, the fan was nearly jumping around with excitement. Ganyma wasn’t quite sure what was happening – this was not the attempted ambush or excited fan reaction he’d had in mind. He paused. Then, Ganyma furrowed his brows.

“I’m sorry… I don’t know you? I mean, you can tell me your name if you want me to sign something for you… You know?” He slowly drawled. What was she going on about? This sure was a strange way to go about getting his autograph.  

[seekingCylem]

Rasali was caught between feeling disappointed and elated over such a classically Ganyma reaction. She puffed up her cheeks and inhaled before responding in an even tone.

"Ganyma, it's me. It's Rasali."

Rasali bounced on the balls of her feet as much as her heeled footwear allowed. She stood with her arms akimbo in order to properly display her new look. She tossed her thicker bangs aside for good measure. It was all she could really do. She at least had kept her own blood color.  

[Sypon]

Ganyma’s jaw dropped. He narrowed his eyes, then blinked. Then cocked his head and shook it a few times. This couldn’t be. This wasn’t Rasali. He supposed she had the same blood color, but – oh gog. Could this be a trick? Was he being tested? Ganyma wrung his hands.

“R-Rasali? Why are you dressed like that?” He decided to ask a simple question – probing but helpful. If anything she could explain herself, though her sudden appearance still had the troll reeling with confusion. If he was less tired, maybe he would be able to understand this.  

[seekingCylem]

"I'm in disguise, Ganyma! Do you like it?" Rasali did a quick twirl. Her enthusiasm didn't last, especially after seeing how nervous she'd made Ganyma. "Look... I'm really sorry I've been out of touch. Really, I am. This is honestly the first time I've been able to move around freely enough to come find you." Rasali, too, started fidgeting. Her fake nails left tiny crescents in her skin.

"I..." Rasali suddenly found herself second-guessing her entire trip out to Four Fronds. She was about to make Ganyma very unhappy. Perhaps he would have been better off simply not knowing what had become of her. Was she being selfish coming to him after all this time? Rasali bit her lip. It was too late to turn back.

Rasali fiddled with the waistband on her dress, before pulling out something small and shiny. After a second of hesitation, she presented the object to Ganyma. In the palm of her hand sat her Phoenix Initiative pin. It was as shiny as the night she'd received it.

Carefully, Rasali took the pin back and pocketed it before anyone else could see. Rasali was finding it incredibly hard to force herself to read Ganyma's expression.

"It's been... Since Old Hemisect City," Rasali explained quietly, "By the time I found out you were there, you'd already left and I... I didn't want to worry you."

Rasali knew it was never a matter of trust with Ganyma. Even if it weren't for the innate faith in her friend, If Ganyma had wanted to take the Phoenix Initiative down, he could have any number of times. Rasali couldn't blame a troll that was simply unwilling to handle the violence and the stress.

The stress in question was currently eating away at Rasali. She held her breath as she waited for some kind of response or sign from Ganyma.  

[Sypon]

There was a chance this was a trap. A significant chance. The Phoenix Initiative pin meant to bait him into action. The idea fluttered around Ganyma’s thinkpan with his many other confused thoughts before he simply chose one. His gut reaction, that he couldn’t hide.

His face contorted with sadness. She had been there the whole time. They had both lied to each other. Back to back, facing out, carving their criminal history into their own bodies with each affiliation. His nose flared as he tried to steady his breathing with a sharp exhale. Ganyma’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I had no idea.”

Everything fell into place. It was no wonder Rasali had disappeared. She had to be a ghost now – or whoever this new, curvy beauty of a troll was. “I don’t know… What to do about this.”

Ganyma adjusted his jacket. The weight on his brow deepened moment after moment. “I’m not going back.”  

[seekingCylem]

Rasali felt her heart clench. This was what she'd been afraid of. She had never felt shame over her affiliation with the Phoenix Initiative, but she did feel shame over causing Ganyma this distress.

At Ganyma's insistence that he wouldn't be returning, Rasali finally locked eyes on him. "No!" Rasali shouted before immediately forcing herself to hush. "I would never-! I would never ask you to do that."

She could feel herself getting misty-eyed at the very idea. She knew what the two of them had gone through and she wouldn't have wished it on anyone. She wasn't about to cajole him back into those memories.

"I just wanted you to know... that I still consider you my friend. I might not be a very good one, but... I didn't want you to think I didn't care. My hive," Rasali steeled herself, "My hive is gone. It got taken out with the fires. More than that I..."

Rasali struggled to find the words to explain her predicament, but kept stumbling over her own frustration. She couldn't even pick one thing to be upset over.

"...I know about Kursha. What he did to you back then. He... He used to be one of us. Fought side-by-side, the whole nine yards. Then he went and just... ********... betrayed us. Every last one. I couldn't go home even if I had one to go home to." Rasali made a stilted sweeping motion over her body. "Hence this. Aandes has been nothing but supportive. We're all... We're all safe now. Shelter, sopor, community even. It's nice. It's... good."

Rasali took a deep, steadying breath. Her shoulders tensed and sagged with the action. "I just... I just missed you."  

[Sypon]

On one hand, Ganyma could breathe a sigh of relief. Somewhere inside of him he still felt a twinge of melancholy for abandoning the Initiative. Moreover, most of his friends were involved. They could all be lost, at any time, for any reason. He thought he had steeled himself with Luxara’s revelation, but it wasn’t so. Ganyma pressed a thumb to the bridge of his nose.

When he recovered, he pulled Rasali towards him. “I’m happy you’re alright.” He murmured. Ganyma gingerly put his arms around her, unused to needing to maintain someone’s disguise in one of his classic Callow hugs. “I miss you… So much.” Ganyma was quietly weeping.  

[seekingCylem]

Rasali had been doing so well to keep face during this emotional whirlwind. It all came apart when Ganyma embraced her. Even if Aandes hadn't stocked her up with setting powder, she wouldn't have given a flying ******** over the state of her make-up. Rasali sniffled and hiccuped into Ganyma's shirt. She could hardly reach around him anymore and settled for clinging onto his jacket.

"I'm... hff... I'm sorry I- I left you- you behind..."  

[Sypon]

Ganyma deepened his hug. He squeezed his eyes shut and mumbled. “I left all of you behind. I left everyone behind. All I have is the ALG.”

The ALG, Didero, and his rehabilitation sponsor. Perhaps even Odette, though her newfound celebrity kept them apart. “How…” He didn’t have the words. There was no expressing the catch in his throat, the utter fruitlessness of any action. Rasali couldn’t come back. Luxara couldn’t. The kindly Vremea, Milieu…

“I want to be with you…” He began. Ganyma found it tough to breathe. “But I’ve escaped execution twice. Been to rehabilitation twice.”

He thought back to Kursha’s words. How many chances did he have left? What choice did he have any more? For the first time in a very long while, Ganyma felt trapped.