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 Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 12:35 pm
  This is a private roleplay between Yue Lao [Face Your Demons] and Bataar [Kayakurai].Setting:Yet another exciting and exotic hobby, Yue Lao has decided to get Bataar to start beetle-fighting with her. However, he seems to be playing a completely different game: rescue the beetles! Yue is sick of replacing the damn things.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:08 pm
Yue Lao set the wooden cage in the middle of the dirt ring. She had scraped and burnt away a circle of bare earth, and lined the edges with some twigs or something, making a tiny wrestling ring. Although it would not look like a wrestling ring, if one had not seen her previous attempts at this new hobby. The name was beetle wrestling. It involved pitting two territorial beetles against one another and seeing who would win. So far, it was not proving very exciting, but Yue had kept trying simply because her beetles kept vanishing, and it felt like a contest to see how long it would take her to keep them from running away. Perhaps if she tried it long enough, it would start to make sense.
At least it did more than the stamps did. Her current beetle was a hercules beetle with some kind of white paint on its back. Its pincers opened and shut lazily, and Yue poked at the wooden box with a frown. "Hey, Bataar," she began, using the appropriate volume to address him, for once, "how's your beetle doing? Mine looks kind of sleepy..." She poked the wooden frame again, and leaned back, crossing her legs.
It was still pretty hot out, even though the seasons were changing. Yue felt like she was cursed, and that whenever she would spend time with Bataar, the sun would suddenly get cripplingly hot. The Bataar-effect. "Maybe this one is a dud, bugbear," she mumbled grimly. "I wonder if it tastes good?"
Yue Lao looked up at Bataar, shielding her face from the sun, and pursed her lips. She did not really understand beetle wrestling, and thought that real wrestling was significantly more interesting, but she had promised her mother she'd find a new hobby. Or something. She really hoped Chichi had forgotten that rule now, or would soon; she was pretty bored of finding new and exciting things to do.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:18 pm
Bataar caressed the horned beetle in his hand, smiling a little as it tried to crawl up his arm. It was the sweetest thing in the world. "Hey, the ring looks alright this time." he commented, absently kissing the back of his beetle, which was beginning to appear slightly panicked. His beetle was perfect, an absolute winner. He'd found it on the forest floor earlier today when he'd agreed to try out beetle wrestling with Yue Lao and he was very excited to begin. A fun, light-hearted activity he supposed you could call it, although they hadn't exactly been able to put it in action just yet.
With another bright smile(with white teeth, even; I suppose Odval didn't let him neglect at least one hygienic activity) down at his beetle, he responded. "Mine looks like it's ready to win." He declared sappishly, resuming petting the small animal. Still, the Mongol had to admit that the beetles probably did taste pretty good. Cute things usually did, in his experience with hunting as sad as it occasionally got.
He picked her beetle out at the cage and examined it, frowning. "These things need a lot of love and attention, Yue Lao, or they won't be winners." he explained, actually sounding halfway intelligent as he did it. He plopped the creature down into the ring and watched it crawl around in circles, shaking his head as if he was a doctor about to reveal the worst possible diagnosis.
"If he dies, we will have a chef fry him. With rice." he announced grimly. He wasn't about to pass up the chance to eat a delicious animal that was very likely packed full of protein that growing Mongols such as himself needed quite a lot of.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:28 pm
Bataar was caressing something. He was caressing a beetle, in fact. It was about this point, when Yue was recoiling because the image was just so creepy, that Mr. Princess booked it across the field and dropped on Yue's head from a flying leap. He smelled of banana and his fur was matted near the top of his head, making him look like some sort of strange doll. She peeled him off, dropped him next to her, and stared at him. Willing him to be good. And then begging, Please be good?
Which he never was. Except for some reason, potentially because he was blinded by the irridescent reflection of light off the back of Yue's beetle, he sat still and watched the proceedings, chittering occasionally, and grooming Yue's pants leg. Which left Yue to return her attention to Bataar. "There was nothing wrong with it last time," Yue protested, "it just required more.. imagination." An invisible circle with no boundaries is much harder to visualize as a fighting grounds. Especially when the beetles keep wandering out of it. This one had been trained in the art of war, however! Or so the merchant had guaranteed.
The tender way in which Bataar dealt with his beetle began to disturb Yue again. She had never seen him so... gentle. And it didn't help that he kept smiling, too. "Your beetle looks like it drugged you, that's what," Yue said, pursing her lips.
It was another side to Bataar, one which she still had to get used to. The idea that he wasn't always angry at her, and that he could legitimately feel concern or care for other living creatures: it was still a little new to Yue. For someone who typically liked to learn all sides of another individual, Bataar was certainly throwing her off balance. "I just got it. I can only love one thing so much at a time," she protested, poking her beetle's shell lightly with her little finger as it meandered around the ring.
"He won't die, he's a champion!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:39 pm
Bat's evident affection for his beetle was, he thought, nothing to be ashamed about. He was oblivious to the fact that Yue Lao was finding his behavior extremely odd, and he placed his beetle down in the ring carefully, silently willing it to go kick the s**t out of the other beetle. In fact, he barely noticed the arrival of Mr. Princess he was so caught up in this new hobby. "Look at him! Shining like a rainbow." the grown man exclaimed excitedly, referring to the oil-spill hues his beetle had taken on in the sunlight.
He offered Yue Lao a raised eyebrow as she tried to explain away the last ring she'd attempted to make. "That was a horror story. Good luck with diagramming battles." he scoffed, thinking(hoping?) he was very good at that sort of thing. At least it didn't actually require learning how to read or write, or he'd be SOL. He pushed his beetle gently in the direction if the ring's center and frowned a little, wondering how the bug was about to react to the legionnaire's beetle.
"Drugged?" he asked, his brows furrowing. "Well you just watch-- he'll beat yours!" Well, hopefully. Bataar couldn't say that he actually knew what caused the highest rate of success when it came to beetles, but perhaps he'd learn in time. There should be plenty of time in which to cultivate this hobby, in any case, and then they might even be able to gamble! Bat grinned, running one last finger along his beetle's back before encouraging it forward.
He would, he supposed, do his best to ignore Yue Lao's lack of love for her beetle, and he could always pray that it would be a complete loser, unlike his beetle. "Oh, pfft. That's why it's acting stupid." he explained, no longer sounding so smart. In truth, he was simply excited to see how the beetles would interact, and he was ready to watch his triumph.
He snorted. "Oh, sure. Just make them fight already!"
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:49 pm
Shining like.. a rainbow? Yue Lao cringed interally. It was so cute. Bataar's cuteness was hurting her. Perhaps that was his secret weapon, rather than refusing to bathe. Hime-san reached into the ring to poke both beetles individually. He then picked Yue's beetle up, and set it back down further away, and kept on doing this until Yue started to pet his head, distracting him. His fur was warm in the sun. Warm, and soft. She wished she had a giant Mr.Princess to nap on, in that moment. The sun and Bataar's cuteness was making her sleepy. In any case, her beetle now looked thoroughly disoriented. "My beetle is at a monkey-induced disadvantage," Yue grumbled, leaning her elbow against her knee and resting her head in the palm of her hand.
"Since when will they let me diagram anything?" she asked him, arching a brow. Besides, she was not actually that bad at it. It was true her spatial sense was not always very good, but when it came to battles it was as if a sheet of cloud had been removed from her brain. Everything just unravelled to reveal itself in its best possible outcomes. That was not so with building beetle-rings, apparently.
It seemed to be natural, Yue and Bataar's arguments over who would win. If it wasn't for themselves, then it was for their representatives: the beetles which currently trundled around the ring. Yue thought that perhaps they should get started, and so she nudged her beetle into action by ramming it into Bataar's beetle. "So wait, you think that my beetle is stupid because I don't love it enough?" Yue asked, sounding surprised and thoroughly amused. Any other teasing was cut off by the mad beetle action as her beetle was pinned by Bataar's, and managed to pincer its way out.
"...I can't tell who is losing. Or which one is which," Yue said, trying to focus on the beetle she believed to be hers as they had a mad beetle throw-down. Turns out they were not as much fun as stamps after all.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:58 pm
Bataar had no idea that he was currently damaging and degrading his manliness as much as he was. He was simply admiring the beetle, which was as much as he could do now that his mother had visited his tent and exiled all of his very beautiful rats. She hadn't even let him keep one, and she'd guaranteed that she'd be watching him, so he was pretty much screwed if he ever brought home one of the adorable, squealing rodents again. Beetles would just have to make him happy until he could convince Odval otherwise.
"Well, he's still got to fight." he muttered, staring down Yue's beetle threateningly.
He offered Yue Lao a shrug. "I get to diagram stuff." he announced with quite a lot of authority bleeding through in his tone. Being a captain was pretty damned cool, as far as the Mongol was concerned. He got to draw pictures, behead people, and even ride a horse on occasion. Very cool.
And then, before he knew it, the fighting had commenced. He kept his eyes glued to his horned beetle, shifting uncomfortably as he watched the other beetle crawl on top of it for a moment or two. Clearly he was finding this a lot more exciting than Yue Lao was, but he was also beginning to look very anxious as he watched the two beetles battle. His beetle was, he knew, such an innocent beetle. What if it got hurt?
Bat shifted again, biting his lip. "Can we pause this? Time-out?" he asked, and if it had been manly he might have been on the verge of nervous tears(but, of course, it wasn't manly and his eyes were dry).
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:08 pm
Burn, with an inside flame.
Yue did not know that Odval had exiled all Bataar's rats. She likely would have felt worse about making fun of his love for the beetle, had she known it was something akin to an attempt at replacing his rats. Yue had never particularly wanted a pet, or any kind of companion. She seemed to acquire Mr. Princess from a strange stroke of fate: he had looked like such a trophy, that night she had won at the fighting ring with Sakn. She wondered, briefly, if she might find him if she searched through the black market again. It was so big, though, how would she check everywhere? Still, she missed him, and wondered when she could see him again.
"He's obviously going to try," Yue replied. The way he looked at the beetle made her feel like he might ignite it with his eyes. Or pop something staring. Who knew. At least he wasn't carressing his beetle any more.
Yue Lao snorted. "And can anyone read your diagrams?" she asked, gesturing at him with an accusatory finger. Then she laughed. "I'm sure you're a good captain, bugbear." Yue would make fun of a lot of things, but where battles were concerned she meant business. And she would not dare insult someone that way. Well, not Bataar, anyway. She liked keeping her head where it belonged. On her shoulders.
Bataar looked so anxious that she wished she could see what he was seeing. The hercules one, right; she tried to keep an eye out for its pincers to identify it. "How do we 'pause' beetles?" she asked, a little skeptical and also confused as to why it was necessary. Had he forgotten to relieve himself, or something? Yue shifted her sitting position, making Hime-san chitter in irritation and crawl back onto her lap, grooming her braid, instead.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:16 pm
Watching those beetles battle was beginning to make Bataar supremely uncomfortable. After all, he really didn't know how one ought to tend to beetle wounds or anything and, well, what if his favorite new bug lost too much blood or something? Just the thought of it was enough to devastate the man. Rats were a little easier to take care of than beetles, after all-- beetles just seemed so much more delicate. All you had to do was step on one and it would be dead. He tried to shake the morbid thoughts, but the worry was probably shining on his face, confusing his expressions yet again.
He continued chewing on his lip, ignoring the fact that he was drawing a small amount of blood as he observed. This was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences Bat had ever dealt with in his life. Well-- not really, but in his carefree life, yes. He glanced sharply up at Yue Lao as she asked about his diagrams, looking defense. "They're not for reading. They don't have words on them." he huffed, although he was beginning to look a little on the dodgy side.
With any luck the beetles would distract both of them yet again. It at least worked with Bat, who had begun to twiddle his thumbs as he glued his eyes back upon the scene. At last, he put his over-sized hand into the ring and snatched up his only pet, his green eyes narrowed.
"Well, it's just..." he trailed off, checking his beetle for any serious injuries. "I don't really think mine's in the mood for fighting today, see?" Bat held out his palm with the beetle upon it, although the creature looked perfectly fine and just the same as it had before. It was doubtful that it even cared whether or not it was fighting, although it seemed important to Bataar.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:24 pm
For someone as muscular and large as Bataar, he could kill almost anything by stepping on it. At least, that's what Yue would have responded with, had she been able to fathom the inner thoughts of Bataar. She, herself, looked quite fragile standing next to him, and she did not like to consider herself a fragile Lunarian. She was rather short and her muscle was deceptively slight in appearance, despite her constant training.
Yue tilted her head, pursing her lips, as she stared at Bataar. Was that...? It was, indeed, blood. "I realize conversation with me is so very exciting, but you may want to chew on your lip a little less emphatically-- you're bleeding," she said. Then, distracted by Bataar's seeming ignorance, she said:"You have to read a chart. Yeah, you can look at it, but it's information presented in a visual form, which can be called 'reading' in this case. Just like there's no text on my face, but you can still 'read' the expression," Yue Lao argued, absentmindedly. In her youth, she was never so clear when she spoke. As she grew, however, the riddle-like way in which she had spoken only slipped out from time to time
The beetles did not distract Yue. She sat there, staring at them with a very bored expression, until she began to picture one of them as herself, and then one as Bataar. The beetles were fighting for her. She wished she could partake of the action, but at the moment things seemed peaceful enough. Yue gave a heavy sigh, imagining those happier times of combat. Not really. She loved to spar in training, but in battle it became entirely different. Fighting for her life wasn't what she would call "fun."
"I don't think it knows that," she suggested, with a shrug. "But since yours left the ring first, mine is the automatic victor." She couldn't entirely remember if that was a rule or not, but it was now.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:32 pm
Bataar studied the beetle in his hand, wondering if he could really put it up to something so vicious without even knowing it's opinion or emotions. Beetle wrestling now seemed impossibly cruel to the Mongol as the forlorn look in his eyes revealed. The unfairness of it all-- the inhumanity! Yue Lao was no doubt a monster for thinking that this ought to be referred to as a hobby. This sort of thing must only be for people who were extremely messed up in the head! It was alright-- he'd protect his beetle, and Yue's too, if he could.
He brushed some of the blood away from his lip in a rather unconcerned fashion, glancing at Yue Lao as she spoke. "That's not such a big deal." he explained; clearly, the man had dealt with worse than his self-inflicted lip biting.
He paled as she explained the process of reading to her and offered her, for the first time that day, a decided glare. "No, that's not reading." he replied hotly, about to fist his hands before remembering that he had a beetle in one of them. He was fairly sure he knew what reading was, and that was something that he couldn't do. Reading involved looking at words-- text. That was a concrete thing to Bataar. As far as he could see, Yue Lao was suggesting that he was incapable of diagramming because he couldn't read(although clearly he wasn't seeing her point; it was hard not to be blinded by anxiety when he was reminded of his illiteracy at this stage in his life).
As much as Bat hated to lose, he was glad that he'd been able to protect his beetle. He didn't want the creature having any scars like he did, especially since he'd never bandaged a beetle up or anything. "Well my beetle would rather not fight with your beetle, who would've lost if mine had stayed in." he huffed, his lower lip inadvertently beginning to jut out. So long as they got off the subject of reading he'd be fine.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:41 pm
Yue would likely never wrestle beetles again, but for a completely different reason. Her beetles kept disappearing, first of all, and so it had taken a lot of money for her to get to this point. And so when they didn't really do much of anything, Yue realized her hobby was, yet again, a dud. She was going to have to talk to Chichi about this whole "find hobbies" thing; it was pretty expensive, and so far, a huge waste of time. Except on the bright side, she had typically been wasting not only her own time, but also Bataar's time. And that made it somewhat more bearable. She had a hard enough time feeling bad for other Lunarians, so beetles were generally not on her conscience.
Of course it wasn't a lot of blood, or even a bad wound. Yue snorted at Bataar. "Of course it isn't, it's hardly visible. But it's a pointless way to hurt yourself," Yue said, shaking her head. At least she got her injuries by doing things like leaping across rooftops and picking fights with temple guardians. Not biting her own lip in apprehension over beetles. Hime-san tugged at Yue's braid violently to tell her that he was hungry. She glared down at him, petting him particularly emphatically, as if trying to flatten him to her lap.
Why was he glaring? It was just reading. Chichi hadn't been able to read, and Yowai had taught her, but Yue had always grown up reading and writing. "Yes, it is. What's your hangup, anyway? Can't read?" she teased. Hime-san coincidentally looked over at Bataar, as though accusing him of being illiterate. He had really just spotted an interesting bug above Bataar's head, and wondered if it was edible at all, because he was really getting hungry.
"While you're at it, keep my beetle, too," she mumbled, waving at her hercules beetle with a dismissive gesture; it was no good to her, after all.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 10:50 pm
He allowed his beetle to occupy his thoughts for a few moments more, watching it as it crawled almost all the way up into his arm before placing it into his palm again. It was true that it wasn't half as interesting at rats tended to be, but it was alright. He wondered if it would notice that he liked it less than he liked his old pet rats and decided not to mention it around the creature. Animals had a sixth sense-- a way of knowing what you were talking about, as far as Bat could tell. He'd gotten his fair share of rat-bites in the past from misplaced words, in any case(which may have accounted for a few of his scars).
He rubbed his bitten lip again, shrugging. "I don't really care." he mumbled, looking fairly unconcerned. Biting his lip was beginning to grow into a bad habit; it had started upon his getting his scar there and had only increased over time. It was a pretty suckish nervous habit, especially when his mouth started hurting a few hours after he'd go on his chewing rampage. Still, there were a lot of things that stressed the Mongol out these days. He needed at least one nervous habit that didn't involve punching.
Reading was an unbearably touchy subject for the Mongol. It hadn't mattered in the nomadic clan he'd grown up in and, as a result, he hardly knew his letters from his numbers. It could make for some impossible predicaments at times when he couldn't read notes from his friends or his superiors. He also didn't like people to know he was illiterate-- it was just one of those things.
Upon hearing Yue Lao's comment he flushed a deep red, the scales on his cheeks looking almost pale in comparison. "Shut up!" he commanded, putting his beetle down and standing, his fist already flying in the general direction of Yue's face. He really hoped he hadn't just given himself away completely.
And yes, he would take that beetle.
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