vatheon | Landed Fish

Entry tags:

Landed Fish

Who: Orphaner Dualscar, Signless, Expatriate Darkleer
Where: The plaza
When: Now! Dualscar is respawning
Style: Prose if that's OK with you guys?
Status: Closed, though I may do an open one or network post or something with DS later.

Dualscar was pretty disoriented as he arrived in the plaza. He fell to his knees, choking on his gasps, his gills opening with a popping sound and his fins stiff with terror as he scrabbled at his own, unmarked throat.

The last thing he remembered was getting his throat ripped out by the Grand Highblood's teeth. It took a few moments for his body to realize that he actually could breathe, and that he wasn't dying horribly.

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"I wwasn't scared!" Dualscar snarls, too loudly, and he closes his mouth with a snap. Both of them have to know it was a baldfaced lie, and he growls at himself, looking down at the hand on his arm instead.

"Stop pretendin' that you care," he mutters. "I knoww you're only tryin' to be nice to me because you're hopin' to brainwwash me wwith your disgusting fantasies, or keep me pacified. Givve me a bit a fuckin' respect."

"Hardly."

But Signless takes his hand back, although he doesn't move back to the other side of the booth. Instead, he looks up at Dualscar, his face earnest.

"I'm not trying to brainwash you or pacify you or anything of the like. I'm not pretending to care, either. I'm being nice to you because I choose to be, and no other reason than that."

Oh. He's not doing that patting thing anymore. Dualscar tries not to care, glaring at Signless. Maybe if he--yes. He reaches out and grabs the hand, squeezing firmly. It's not enough to hurt, but maybe Signless won't realize that Dualscar is basically clinging to him. He doesn't know what to do about the Highblood, and doesn't want to be left alone, but fighting is easier than showing how very vulnerable he is right now.

"Wwhy wwould you choose to do somethin' like that if it wweren't to pacify me or convvert me? You havve no reason to be kind to me. I havve tortured your friends, killed people you care about. I'm not a fuckin' fool."

You're not fooling anybody, Dualscar. You're wearing a blanket Signless brought you, sitting next to him in a booth, and now holding his hand. Honestly, Signless figured you would have chased him off long before now, and he's a little impressed at how you're showing any weakness at all.

Signless squeezes Dualscar's hand, and shifts his palm to try and intertwine their fingers. He takes a moment to think about Dualscar's question, and when he responds, his voice is soft and thoughtful.

"Maybe it's because I got a chance to know Eridan, a little bit, before you arrived. He's made mistakes, but he's trying to make up for them and before a better person, and I don't think anyone is beyond redemption."

He tilts his head, looking up into Dualscar's face.

"I'm not going to say you haven't done terrible things, even done them directly to me and those I care about. But I believe in second chances, and it seems like now is the best time to give you yours."

Another squeeze of his hand.

What, are you saying his disguise is not flawless? Impossible! He finds himself staring at their entwined hands and wondering how that happened.

"Eridan is young and impressionable," he says distractedly, then looks into Signless' crimson eyes as the shorter troll looks up at him.

"And I havve done nothing to be ashamed of, or to require your forgivveness." He is growing more and more uncomfortable with this conversation, and yet he doesn't want to push Signless away quite yet, and reveal how difficult he is finding this.

"Okay." Signless knows better than to push the issue, and just smiles at Dualscar benignly. He knows you can't force someone to feel things they don't, and so he drops the subject.

Fortunately, that's when the waitress comes back and drops off their food, and he gently untangles his hand and attacks his sandwich. He really was hungry!

The easy acceptance is a little disappointing. And now they're on the same side of the booth, not holding hands, and eating. But he says nothing and attacks his onion soup, feeling pretty hungry considering his recent experiences.

"...Did Her Imperious Condescension say anything about my absence?" he asks suddenly, frowning a bit. He's not sure what to do about his living situation, at all.

Signless drops his spoon at that sudden question, and picks it up with fingers that only shake a little.

"She announced her presence over the network. But no, she didn't mention you."

So much side-eyeing right now, Dualscar. So much.

"You knew she was here?"

He's so not feeling guilty. "She announced herself before I wwas killed, earlier that same day," he said quietly. "She has been staying at my hivve since her arrivval in the city."

And pailing the fuck out of him. He's looking a bit smug, but only a bit. It seems his question is answered by the fact that Signless didn't already know that Dualscar would have know about the Condesce's presence in the city.

Signless knows he shouldn't be disappointed, but he can't help it. Abruptly, he stands up and moves back to his own side of the booth. If asked, he'll say it's so he can see Dualscar better, but really, it's because he doesn't want to sit next to him right now. However, this is interesting... the Condesce was staying with Dualscar, but it was Zelda who found his body and dealt with it.

"We haven't heard from her since she made that announcement," he says quietly, looking down at his sandwich. "And Zelda didn't mention finding another body in your hive... only yours."

Dualscar looks up, frowning in confusion. He can't decide if he's relieved or disappointed that Signless has moved back to the other side, but he has a feeling he knows why. Apparently Signless can forgive him for things that happened in the past, but this is too fresh, perhaps? Strange, considering how much less serious this is, compared to the other things he's done.

But more important is the question of what's happened to the Empress. "The Grand Highblood wwouldn't havve culled her," he says without complete conviction. Then a thought occurs to him. He pulls out his communicator and frowns at it, but he scrolls up and down without any luck. "Her name...it's gone. Does that mean she's left the city?"

It's tough love, Dualscar. Signless is expressing his disapproval of your behavior.

He starts checking his own SFC, though, when Dualscar tells him he can't find the Condesce's name. Signless can't either, which means...

"She's gone."

There's no hiding the relief in his voice.

Of course a criminal like the Signless would be afraid of the Condesce's presence. He certainly can't be blamed. But it still annoys the fuck out of Dualscar.

"Wwell I'm glad you're happy," he growls, splattering a bit of soup as he tosses his spoon down onto the table. "Wwhat the fuck am I supposed to do, noww? That murderous psychopath is probably just wwaitin' for me to try to come back to my hivve so he can kill me again! And noww there's nothin' in his wway at all! She, at least, wwould a stopped him if she had been there at the time. I think I really had gained her favvour."

Signless isn't sure anyone can stay in the Condesce's favor for long, but he doesn't mention that. It's clear that Dualscar is upset by her disappearance, and he reaches across the table and pats the back of one of his hands.

"If you like, there are empty apartments in my building. I could find one for you to stay in."

Dualscar flinches away from the touch, then grabs Signless' hand again and holds it tight, his fins flat against his neck. "In your building? Wwith you?" His voice is disbelieving, and a bit hopeful. He isn't worried about the Signless - or the Helmsman for that matter - taking him out in his sleep, at least.

Hippies don't try to kill anyone in their sleep. It's not their style.

"Well, not with me, exactly, but on the same floor, perhaps?" Signless looks at him seriously, and lets Dualscar squeeze his hand. It's pretty obvious the seadweller desperately needs the contact.

"I didn't mean in your fuckin' hivve," Dualscar scoffed, withdrawing his hand reluctantly. He grimaced down at his soup and picked up his spoon again. "Wwho else livves in that building? Of the trolls, I mean?"

"Myself and Psii, and Aradia lives next door. Others used to, but have since moved out."

Signless returns his attention to his lunch.

Dualscar considers that for a few moments, eating a bit of his own lunch, but his appetite isn't really there. He doesn't like accepting the offer, because it demonstrates that he really is nervous of going back to the hive he had claimed. But he could always go back, later, once the Highblood has been dealt with.

"Vvery wwell," he says grudgingly. "I'll accept your offer, for noww. But I'm not givvin' up my hivve."

Signless is pleased with how this conversation has gone! He finishes his lunch, then stands at the end of the booth, waiting for Dualscar to get up too.

"Good. And of course no one expects you to give up your own hive. This will just be temporary, I'm sure."

Dualscar slips out of the booth and stands as well, frowning faintly as he moves to follow. He doesn't know what the Signless' angle is, exactly, but he's not worried about his physical safety with a mutant, a rustblood, and a Helmsman in proximity. If anything, they had to be more nervous.

He could stand it for now.

"Yes, just temporary."

"Come on, then."

Signless exits the restaurant and starts heading towards the apartment complex, expecting Dualscar to follow him. Once they're out on the street, he'll make sure to walk beside Dualscar, rather then in front of or behind him.

And Dualscar does follow, then finds himself walking next to the Signless, like companions. Perhaps under other circumstances he'd make a point of pulling ahead a bit, but he doesn't right now. He doesn't know where they're going, anyway, so that kind of petty stuff would only cause him to end up looking like a fool in the end.

He looks around nervously as they walk, sensing the Highblood in every shadow. But otherwise he doesn't say anything for now, just wanting to get under cover again.

Signless walks briskly, sensing Dualscar's nervousness, and they arrive at the apartments without anyone bothering them. Once there, Signless has a friendly chat with the landlord (being told twice that he's "much more pleasant than that other kid with the short horns"), and returns to Dualscar with three sets of keys.

"There's a few apartments open on my floor. You can look at them and decide which you like best."

Dualscar nods, glancing around the lobby with a sigh as he takes the keys. It's far less nice than his own place, he can already see. Living in a communal hivestem was never how he had imagined spending his time.

He starts towards the elevator, looking at the key fob to figure out which floor they're headed to.

"I suppose there's no spa in the basement a these hivves," he grumbles wryly.

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