thecapitol | People In Glass Houses...

People In Glass Houses...

Who | Timaeus Nadir and guests
What | Timaeus is hosting a picnic get-together/catch-up.
Where | The picnic will be taking place in the Tropical Habitat Dome.
When| We'll be using a bit of wibbly time so that people who want to attend can.
Warnings/Notes| None as of yet.

(This is an opportunity for me to make some new CR as well as catch up with ongoing relationships, but I also want to encourage tagging around between characters! Feel free to do whatever you like in the setting with whoever you like! Also I will be backtagging this so don't feel you've missed the boat if you haven't tagged in immediately <3)

Timaeus certainly knew how to organise a gathering- even if it wasn't an outrageously opulent celebration to be held on one of his own yachts. This one was to be held under the expansive dome of the Tropical Habitat- the entire location rented out for the day to Timaeus and his guests, a loosely private affair- formal invitations as such hadn't been extended, but those welcome knew they were. Naturally, all tributes and victors were included in this group.

The Dome was a beautiful piece of architecture in itself, though antiquated when compared with the technology used for the Arenas. Rather than invisible forcefields, the climate of the interior was separated from the outside by elaborately curving steel and glass. Inside, tropical plants of all types thrived- there was a still, green pond and, deeper inside, a cascading waterfall. Butterflies in hundreds of colours, sizes and shapes flitted about, tropical birds swooped between the trees, brightly coloured fish darted in the water.
Blankets and cushions had been scattered in the main clearing with hampers of food, but there was plenty of space for the guests to break away from the gathering if they so desired- the dome was full of winding paths through the greenery- some even climbing around the trunks of the largest trees and leading to viewing platforms above. In a temporary gazebo in the clearing, a string quartet played music that wasn't quite the classical pieces Tributes were familiar with.

Timaeus himself seemed in a brighter mood than he had been for months, more than happy to make conversation with anyone who approached him- though he was certainly keeping an eye open for particular individuals. Some that he'd met, some that he'd lost and had returned to him, and others still that he had yet to meet.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sollux. She told him about that troll, Mituna's descendent. She says his name, and immediately, the Helmsman's face comes to mind.

And that's not all.

"THIS TROLL. This is her ain't it? THE ONE WHAT ALL YOU TOLD ME YOU HAD FOR REGRET WITH, BACK IN THE FIRST ARENA."

It wasn't that long ago at all, not really, even if it feels like it now.

The worst, is that it makes sense. He can get it. Maybe where he couldn't before. His head bows, just enough that the loose parts of his hair fall over his eyes. He's quiet for so long.

"What do I do?" He barks out at last. It's sharp and sudden. But not entirely accusing. "WHAT ALL IS A MOTHERFUCKER TO DO THEN INSTEAD? I ain't meaning for no others, I can deal with any motherfucking other. OR TRY. I can try-- THAT'S ALL I CAN MOTHERFUCKING PROMISE, SISTER --whatever all a sister up and suggests. BUT HOW ALL ELSE DO I MAKE SURE THAT MOTHERFUCKER DON'T GET AT THE HELMSMAN OR YOU OR THE NAMELESS OR ANYONE ALL CAUGHT THE FUCK UP IN WHATEVER THE FUCK HE ALL WANTS AT TO DO TO MAKE HIS OWN SELF FEEL THE FUCK BETTER AGAIN? What all the fuck else can I do?"

He looks up to search her face. He hates feeling small, he hates feeling weak, he hates not knowing. But he has to do this.

Edited 2013-12-12 08:33 (UTC)

He asks if this was the acquaintance she regretted making, and Terezi's not sure how he remembered that conversation back then. She didn't think it would have stuck in his mind so firmly... But she nods. There's no use in denying it.

It's the second part of that, though, that really catches her by surprise. She never expected him to ask for help. To apologize, maybe; but she figured that his stubbornness would keep him from admitting that he wants to change. And then she hears that 'you' nestled among the list of people that he wants to protect, and she's downright floored for a moment.

"You talk," she answers, after a long bit of silence. And then adds quickly afterwards, like he had with her: "Don't scoff. I know it sounds dumb, but... You'd be surprised how much more willing to listen they are when you don't attach a threat to your words. So... Talk to him. If he doesn't listen--and I won't be surprised if he doesn't; talk to the others. They're not as unreasonable as you think. But if for some reason they won't listen, then talk to us. We're not so helpless that we can't help you take care of ourselves, you know. You don't have to do it all yourself."

Edited 2013-12-12 17:32 (UTC)

It's a good thing she tells him not to scoff because almost immediately he makes a face and he opens his mouth to argue. His jaws snap shut. He listens, but he looks far from happy to be, every urge to argue leering down on him.

"THEY AIN'T GOING TO BE ABOUT BRING AUSCULTATION AT TO HE," He points out, and sure enough all else tumbles after. "Wasn't no chance never what all to make for squandering, sister. NEVER WERE ALL THEY TO GET HEARKENING ON TO HE NOT FOR ANYTHING. If all you're referring unto any what be of our kind. AND THAT ONE MOTHERFUCKER, HE AIN'T NEVER LISTENED TO A DAMN THING IN HIS GODDAMN LIFE. In his entire life he ain't never listened, I knew him, Sister, I got school fed the fuck up on that personal."

His hand runs through his hair, twisting up and digging claw in. Let the sharpness cut through the mess of his pan, just like he used to do, back when he didn't have no helmsman. But he won't let that simmering rage boil-over here, not yet.

"I NEED ALL TO BE SURE, THAT NO MATTER WHAT THE FUCK ALL HE DOES OR TRIES AT TO DO, HE WON'T MAKE LIKE TO LARCENOUS THIEVING NONE OF ME AND MINE WITH HIM. Let his furtive motherfucking fraudulences be his and his alone, this is what I need. IF I LOSE WHAT ALL I GOT TO HIM, TO THE MOTHERFUCKING CAPITOL, TO ANYONE, I--"

Stop. Recollect. Think of Mituna. Think of maybe not shouting at her.

"We're a collective now we all are. WHAT WE UP AND DO INDIVIDUAL MARKS US EACH. They see us up as our species, not as all we are. HE AIN'T CAREFUL ENOUGH, HE NEVER WILL BE, ANDIF HE AIN'T GONNA STOP, IF WE AIN'T ALL GOING TO KNOW FOR IF HE CAN BE KILLED, WE GOT AT TO FIND FOR A WAY TO CUT HIM THE FUCK OUT. Because they will eradicate our lot together, rid of the perceived poisons togetherlike. I GOT BETTER KNOW FOR HOW ALL IT WORKS THAN ANY, GIRL, AND I AIN'T SURE IT'S ALL BEING TOO FAR FROM MIND."

His breath whistles through his teeth. He can't this is working or if he's only walking deeper into the maw of the beast.

"I can leave him be from here forth. THE LITTLE VANTAS. I can keep at from culling him and the rest of who all you want left be. I WILL HARM THEM ONLY IF THEY MAKE LIKE TO HARM THE HELMSMAN, BUT NO MORE LESSONS AS ALL WAS. Fair? I CAN'T DO NOTHING ALL ABOUT THE SIGNLESS-" He spits the name. "-ANYMORE THAN WHAT I HAVE, BUT NEITHER CAN I LET HIM BE. I need to know that you can take at to pusher, that if I am to talk to she and others as all a means of alternate, I need for her to help get about the listening for it. I NEED BELIEF IT WILL WORK." He sighs, and holds her blind gaze. "Can he ask this without infringement on what all she feels up within her?"

"You can ask that." For the first time in their conversation, Terezi smiles a little. It's only the faintest of pulling at the corner of her lips, but it's something. It's definitely something.

"I understand what you mean... I worry about those same things." About what would happen if Signless got himself into trouble. If he took Karkat down with him. She hesitates, pressing her lips together in contemplation. And then: "That was why I did it. Why I slit his throat the first time. I understand. But it doesn't solve anything."

He still came back. He still put both himself and Karkat at risk. "Karkat came to talk to me, after the arena. So I told him about it. I think he understands. Maybe something will come of that, and maybe it won't; but... If the Signless causes any more problems, you can talk to me. We can figure something out. If he can't be convinced to stop being so vocal... then we'll find some other way to make sure that he doesn't hurt anyone else."

She reaches out, touching her fingers against his, hooking them loosely together. It would be easy enough to pull away, if he wanted to. "...And if you can keep that promise, not to hurt anyone else over him... I think I can be okay with that."

Edited 2013-12-13 03:58 (UTC)

He doesn't return the smile. Seeing her's is somewhat reassuring, at least, for part of all this. But everything else still weighs far too heavy over top.

He can't even pretend to care about Karkat. He'd be surprised if the mutant really did understand anything. Learning why she killed Signless, it makes sense, even as a thing he can be more surprised about. Maybe she does understand then?

He's not sure what they'd do to make the heretic stop. Kill him out here, out of the arenas? Torture? Threatening? The capitol would stop at least two of those- maybe so they could do it themselves. He can't think of anything else.

Her hand startles him, enough to make his breath falter just the slightest bit. Hyper aware of it now, he curiously, slowly, closes his fingers up with hers. His eyes dart up to her face then back down. His ears try to flatten down into his hair, futilely with it pulled back as it is. He's not sure what this is, what this is supposed to mean, but he can feel the weight of it meaning something.

"HE'LL TRY. He'll take what all means to avoid deaths what all be over him."

Terezi's fingers tighten around his when he returns the grip on hers. She can feel the weight of the moment between them, too. Camaraderie. Friendship. Understanding.

She can tell he's embarrassed, or at least that he's uncomfortable... But he doesn't pull away, and she doesn't either. Instead, she smiles up at him with more confidence and brightness than she did a moment ago.

"Thank you. It probably sounds stupid, but... It means a lot. That you're even trying." It was more effort than she'd ever managed to get out of Vriska, as far as she could tell; and it eases her worried mind a little bit. They can do this. They can make it work.

"Don't worry. We'll keep them safe."

He makes a face twisting his free hand in his hair. He still can't think this to be so easy, he's still not completely okay with letting what sins be committed go unpunished, and he certainly doesn't know what to do with what she tells him. There's so damn much on the line. But she's smiling bright, almost like she was before she realised he was there. And her hand is still in his. He shifts about.

"DON'T FIGURE AT WE CAN MAKE LIKE TO LEAVE HERE YET, BUT AFTERLIKE... She still wanted up on them lessons didn't she? HIS ARMS ARE UP AND HEALED NOW."

Jegus, she had almost forgotten--what with all the drama going around lately. Swimming lessons. Terezi laughs a little, swinging his hand between them.

"Yeah! Sure. Since you're good as new." She lifts the hand in hers, like she's inspecting his arm. She touches one of the scars she finds there with her free hand, tracing the length of it. "Well... Almost new."

Edited 2013-12-15 01:17 (UTC)

How to flatten his ears down when all it seems they can't go more so; he's trying to find out, spare himself the worsening embarrassment should she notice the way the tips color. She touches his old scars and causes his him to jerk a little but not enough to pull away.

"Those ain't from here," He explains, hesitantly. "SWEEPS PAST THAT, ALL OF THESE." He gestures to himself. "It's all like to be well as new as all he'll get. THEY DON'T BOTHER NONE. Won't get in the way."

He looks at her, the way she's lit up like this. He still has to tell her about their losses this time, but he's not sure if he wants to ruin that yet.

Terezi pauses at the jerking motion, warily observing him. She didn't think this would be a problem, but... At the same time, she's not sure where the new boundaries of the friendship are.

"Not what I expected." She turns his hand over, palm facing up. "Most of the highbloods I know had it pretty easy... Huge living spaces, very little worries. Not like this." Maybe it was rougher back in the day. She can't imagine that Fraysong spent most of his time sitting on a beach and eating pies, at least.

He looks away when she looks up at him and tries to give her hand another squeeze. It's not that he thinks she can't touch him, merely that he's not used to it at all.

He's not sure either what she means at first when she speaks, frowning in confusion as she turns his hand over. He's surprised that she's paying his marks all this much attention, especially enough to ask of them.

"I WASN'T NO MOTHERFUCKING SLAVE, IF THAT IS ALL WHAT SHE IS GIVING REFERENCE UNTO. No motherfucker would make like to be dragging him off, pretty sure all they chose the lower for that most," He says. That doesn't sound quite right though. He's destined for greatness, he knows this. But maybe he's missing the difference here, the span of time between them, the fact she hadn't likely seen any adults around before here. He wonders about the highbloods of her future.

"LIVED BEACHSIDE," He says then. "Lived... alone, sister. BEACHES WOULD MAKE UP LIKE AT TO SPIT THE FUCK OUT ANY WRIGGLERS GETTING HIVE UP IN THAT MAW, EVEN WITH WHAT ALL PROTECTORS THEY UP AND GOT. But not he." He lifts his chin, as if it is a source of pride and not just something sort of pathetic. "FOUGHT MANY A MOTHERFUCKING TROLL, OLDER THAN HE. Apparently they got some kind of motherfucking dumb-ass taboo up on it here, but all back where he was being, winner was who all was stronger, be they one who stepped on a grub. THERE WEREN'T NO DIFFERENCE THERE AND I AIN'T SURE WHAT ALL IS DIFFERENT NOW BUT BEING OTHERWISE HE'S BEEN UP AND TOLD. Wonder what all they'd say knowing he took them motherfuckers down what tried on him back when all he was being but a wiggler."

Terezi laughs a little at first. "Not a slave... I meant pampered. Soft." Easy-going, carefree. She was never jealous of that kind of lifestyle. She didn't enjoy having to prove herself over and over, but it was a challenge that she could feel proud of. She didn't think a lot of her highblood friends could say as much.

But he obviously hadn't had the life that they did. He'd fought to live, rather than riding on the waves of his caste. She takes in his explanation, nodding a little as he goes along, but one part sticks out to her more than the others.

"They'd probably be impressed. Maybe their expectations would be higher, at least. They should be. But... You weren't completely alone, right?" She raises a brow, a frown tugging at her lips. "Didn't you at least have a lusus with you?"

Every troll did. That's just how the system worked.

His eyes want to flick away. He thinks for a second to change the subject somehow, lie even. But he's got at least a little more pride than that.

"WAS JUST ME. Had an old an old goat for a lusus. LIKED FOR THE SEA. Liked for the sea better. MOTHERFUCKER DIDN'T LIKE AT TO STICK AROUND. So, he up and didn't." Or, the initiate thought he had more pride. He rubs at his neck. It's a distinctly uncomfortable topic and he's certainly not putting detail right now into the fact the fucker changed his mind and then some on him. He wants to insist this doesn't make him weak, that the goat left, it doesn't make him worthless, but he knows insisting such will make it seem the opposite. He can let his own strength speak for him. She just said it was impressive didn't she?

"MOTHERFUCKER'S BEEN GOOD AS DEAD FOR A LONG TIME. Been naught but me, my culls, and the church." With his eyes, he dares her to laugh.

She doesn't laugh. Maybe he thinks that she should or she would, but she doesn't. Terezi just listens, mildly surprised by his answer. She was expecting to hear that his lusus was dead. That's typically the reason why a higher caste doesn't have one. What she hears instead is that it left. It doesn't make any sense.

Vaguely, she remembers a similar situation with another Indigo--but she shuts out that conversation before she can dwell on it. She doesn't want to think about him.

"I'm sorry." Is that the right thing to say? She doesn't know. She follows it up quickly with: "It's hard. Being on your own like that." She sniffs at the scars again, trying to imagine the fights and near-death experiences that he must have earned those in.

"...I didn't have a lusus, either. None of them stepped up to take me after the trials, so I just...left." Fled was more like it, but the meaning is all the same.

He's not sure what he expected to hear exactly, but what she says isn't it. It strips some of the armor from him. He didn't expect to ever hear a sorry from anyone. He didn't expect to hear her tell that she lived much the same.

He stares for a long time, silently. She'd be technical cullbait on that count, but so too would her blindness have made her, even if she was more than capable, more than smart enough, and strong. Messiahs, he wonders why he keeps running into people he technically ought to cull. But whom he doesn't really want to.

"SO SHE HAD NOTHING," He says, and anger rises up. "There should've been one for her. AIN'T NO MOTHERFUCKING REASON AT ALL A SISTER SHOUDLN'T HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, SHE'S A DAMN FINE TROLL." He tries to wash that back by changing his tone, give a little cheer of fuck the lusii, who needs 'em. But when didn't he? "We're stronger at least. YOU AND HE. We're stronger than all we would've been he thinks." He shifts awkwardly, makes up his mind, then slowly lower himself down to the ground, hand still linked with hers.

Despite her best efforts, her cheeks flush a faint teal, reaching up into the tips of her ears as well. A damn fine troll. She's glad that he thinks so. There's certainly been a lot of moments where she's wondered at that lately--if she could even call herself a troll at this point. It's good to feel like she fits in somewhere.

He moves to sit, and without any reason not to, she does too. The ground is warm, but not wet. Still, the dirt probably doesn't do any wonders for their clothes. She doesn't really care, either.

"Probably. Not that having a lusus makes you weak, but... Having come this far, I think we've both proven that we know how to survive." She smiles just a little, challengingly. "If they want to take us down, they won't do it easily."

"I WON'T BE MADE LIKE TO BE WEAK BECAUSE OF THAT MOTHERFUCKER'S CHOSING--" He stops. His eyes close and he breathes out. She's not trying to accuse him. She's just agreeing. mostly. "We shouldn't be seen weak. IT SHOULDN'T ALL BE BECAUSE WE AIN'T BEING GOOD ENOUGH. Ain't no one is gonna take us down easy as all she said. THAT AIN'T WEAKNESS. Maybe once we were like to be but no longer. AND IT WOULDN'T BE ON THEIR ABSENCE."

He wishes he could talk about this all in a way that wouldn't make things awkward. This wasn't something he really talked about. But compulsion, perhaps thanks to a likeness shared, has him carry onward.

"What'd you do?" He asks. "AFTER A SISTER UP AND RAN? What all then?"

"I hid, obviously." She shrugs nonchalantly, like it's not a thing in the world. "I found a forest, took to the trees where larger predators couldn't get to me. I couldn't hunt well yet, so I scavenged. I ate whatever I could. Berries, nuts, fruit. Eggs were a treat if I could get my hands on them without any featherbeasts trying to snap my head off my shoulders."

"Eventually I got settled in, learned how to fight, and things were easier. One day, I... found an egg. A dragon egg. I thought, if no lusus was going to pick me, then I would pick one myself. I decided that egg, when it hatched... That dragon was going to be my lusus. Just like my ancestor had."

But she doesn't sound happy about that thought. The reason why becomes clear as she continues: "It hatched just before Alternia ended. A meteor struck it, and it died within seconds." She laughs a little, an edge of...something not so humorous to her voice. "Guess I wasn't meant to have one, after all."

Edited 2013-12-16 06:06 (UTC)

He nods. That makes sense. It's intelligent, getting up high to stay safe. It wouldn't have been a bad idea for himself but he knows right away he would never have left the shore.

He looks surprised when she mentions the egg. He didn't know the other Pyrope's lusus was a dragon. And hers, just an egg found in the forest. It explains her fondness for dragons. It explains other things too. It's so very her to just decide for herself what her lusus would be.

He doesn't know what to say when she tells him it dies. He thinks of the way he'd see the flash of white on distant horizon, just glancing outside and imediately streaking off for the shoreline. For nothing. "IT AIN'T NO KIND OF RIGHT," He says. "Where all hope gets to be brought up and for nothing." He shakes his head. Then closes his eyes. He's going to have to tell her about the Neophyte at some point.

"BUT YOU'RE STRONG. You still made it all the fuck this far."

He talks about hope being brought up for nothing, and a small part of her understands. He's not just talking about her. He's talking about the both of them, and no... It really isn't fair. She squeezes his hand, still clutched tightly in hers.

"You did, too. Even with all the wrong and injustices done against us. We're still here." There's a bit of a pull to her mouth. A smile trying to find its way back out. "That's not going to change."

He can't. He can't do this motherfucking thing where all she doesn't know.

He hesitates, then squeezes back. He looks up at her.

"NOT FOR NO MOTHERFUCKING THING, RIGHT? For no motherfucking thing would all she be unable to bear. SHE COULD STAY STRONG. Right?"

It's not so much the question itself as the way he asks it that causes Terezi to pause. He sounds almost like he's asking for reassurance... That he thinks he knows of something that she might not be able to bear.

"...Probably." She's not smiling now. There's an uneasiness in her chest that she hopes is unfounded. Any number of fears threaten to invade her thoughts. What-ifs and maybes and could-bes, but she has to ask: "Why? Did something happen?"

"HE WENT AND MADE OBSERVANCE AT LAST. Made at for note of things what be about," He begins. His free hand opens and closes, claws digging. "WE LOST FOUR OF OUR KIND'S NUMBER THIS TIME. The young one only shown up in arena to go again. THE OTHERS WHAT ALL WE HAD BEFORE." All the others, people he could find no relation with except that they knew him, knew him as he was when he was older, the Highblood. This wasn't a connection he liked.

He closes his eyes, holds onto her hand tight, and says, "The Neophyte was one. SHE WAS OF MY DISTRICT. She ain't there no more."

Ain't there no more. Ain't there, like she's a piece of furniture that's been picked up and removed. Terezi stares blindly back at him, the words slowly sinking in. She's gone? Just like that? They were in the same arena only a week or two ago. Terezi came back, and... She didn't.

"No." She shakes her head, just the barest bit of movement. "No, she has to--" She cuts herself off, too conscious of how defensive her voice sounds. Like she's begging him to be wrong because she doesn't want him to be right.

"Maybe you just missed her. She could be out in the city, or in the training room..." Or holed up in her room, like Terezi had been. That would make sense, right? More sense than her just being gone.

"I LOOKED. Weren't no simple inference what all brings this to she. PUT SCRUTINY SOLID UP UPON WHAT ALL COULD BE FOUND AND NOT FOUND FOR. You know they don't always bring us all the fuck back." Sometimes the dead stay dead, he thinks. Sometimes they get bored. Sometimes they want to make examples. None of these are things she'll want to hear right now.

He shakes his head. "SHE'S GONE, LITTLE PYROPE."

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