What's mine is yours.

[pythianjudgment]

Who| Terezi, Initiate, Signless
What| Exchanging some jewelry with the quadrantmates, and starting ashen talks.
Where| Initiate's room, and Signless's room
When| A few days after Mindy's Crowning party
Warnings/Notes| None?


On Alternia, Terezi knows that it was sometimes typical to make bits of jewelry for your quadrantmates. No one ever took it too seriously, considering any sort of solid quadrant was still a long way off for most of them; but now that she's found herself in real-life serious quadrant, maybe that is something that she should consider.

Ultimately, it's the impromptu reaping during the Crowning that forces her hand. She thought that she had more time mull this over, but no. If she's going to do this, she wants to do it before they get whisked off to another arena. Signless could probably use the encouragement, and Fraysong... He could probably use something to hold onto. Until she comes back.

She already has an idea of what she wants, before she even sets out for any of the shops. Something simple, but elegant--and durable. Just three colored rings, woven together. There's nothing like it in the stores, not that she expected there to be. So she requests it to be made--emphasizing the importance that the colors be exact, haggles with the price, and then tosses her credit card at the shopkeeper. She doesn't want to know how much she's accumulated on that thing. Probably more than she could ever hope to pay off. It's a good thing that she doesn't plan to.

Comments

For Initiate

[pythianjudgment]

It's a few days later when the necklaces are finally finished. She picks all three of them up and puts hers on, tucking it out of sight beneath her shirt. Then she goes to the Initiate's room first. Mostly because his is the first floor she reaches on the elevator, but also in part because she wants to talk to him first. It's about time she started getting to know more about this situation.

She makes her way to the Initiate's room, knocking on the door to get his attention. She just hopes he's actually in.

Re: For Initiate

[carnagecarnival]

Terezi is in luck, because it just so happens he is. He opens the door up, expecting Mituna or maybe someone else, but never her. Maybe he should. Well, he's not unhappy to see, in any case.

"Evening, sister," He greets. "WHAT ALL BRINGS HER ROUND THE WICKED BUSINESS UP IN THIS WHAT BE MINE?"

[pythianjudgment]

"I wanted to talk to you. Generally, that means visiting, unless you want to make it a public spectacle." Like someone recently did... She still hasn't quite forgotten about that, even if she's not going to bring it up directly.

"Can I come in for a while?"

[carnagecarnival]

How could he forget that? What a joy. But if she's not bringing it up, neither is he.

"Sure motherfucking thing," He says, and he invites her into his room, making sure to shut the door behind.

His room looks how all it always does. The bed is stripped bare for the pile on the floor, made too of all manner of things. He's got gifts from tributes (and cruentus), stones, shells, bones, feathers and various others things collected on a shelf. there are bowls and bottles of water scattered about for some unknown reason, and there are marks of color and blood and scratches all in this walls. Four tribbles trill away from somewhere in the room. He doesn't direct to sit in any particular place.

[pythianjudgment]

When she first enters, Terezi's not immediately sure how to go about this. Should she sit on the bed? On the pile? Would that be too forward? They're in a quadrant together, but that doesn't necessarily entitle her to pile rights. Ashen is one of the most confusing quadrants. She feels like she's feeling her way through this blind--more so than she already is.

She hesitates in the center of the room before moving to the bed and seating herself on the edge of it. Better safe than sorry.

"First, ah..." She fishes into her pocket and cups one of the necklaces into her hand. She pulls her hand back out, then holds it out to him, elbow straight. She opens her fist to reveal the little piece of jewelry. "I wanted to give you this. I had one made for each of us, so... You know. If you ever need a reminder of what we're trying to do here."

[carnagecarnival]

His breath catches and he doesn't move for long moment, just staring. It's simple, but its meaning is obvious, and in that he finds pause. His indigo interlocked with her teal... with the bright red right there. It winds him. He's in quandrant with Terezi, that alone is surreal. But he's in one with the Signless.

If you ever need a reminder of what we're trying to do here. Right. ...Fuck.

He takes the necklace carefully from her hand. The necklace is pretty, really, both in aesthetic and... the intent, a bit. He puts the necklace on and tries not to imagine the red piece weighing more than it does, or burning through his flesh. He breathes deep, in, then out.

He looks up at her. It ain't hard to guess what all this is gonna be about now. He goes to sit at her side, on the edge of the bed and tries to decide whether it helps that she's almost as terrified as he is.

"SO," He begins, lamely. "What all did you want at to talk on."

[pythianjudgment]

"I think you know what I want to talk on," she says, mimicking his speech a little, if only to ease some of the tense she's feeling. She inhales a deep breath and exhales it again, trying to expel some of the nervous energy she has building up in the pit of her stomach. It helps a little. She rests her hand over his, squeezing it lightly. That helps a little more.

"I want to start this with asking you about the Signless. I only have a vague idea of the problems that you have with each other, and most of my understanding is about the conflict between his rebellion and the Empire. Which might be part of the problem, but it doesn't feel like all of it. So, for now I just want to listen. No mediation. Just... everything that you want to say about him, I want to hear it."

[carnagecarnival]

His hands turns to hold hers and squeeze back. It does help. Even if he doesn't meet her eyes.

He mulls over her words, until finally he can only say, "I AIN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE AT TO START." And the truth is, he's still hesitant about telling her it all. In round-about he says, "I ain't never told no one nothing of... that."

He feels like he's staring down at a broken limb, trying to muster up for when he's going have to set it back.

[pythianjudgment]

He's not fighting her, and that's a relief in itself. At the same time, she doesn't want to demand something personal out of him if he's not ready to share it. She's not under the impression that this is the only time she's going to talk to him. It might take several tries to get the full scope of their issues.

"It's alright. You can start with the small stuff, if that helps. We don't have to jump into the deep end from the start. ...Tell me something recent, if you have to. We can go from there."

[carnagecarnival]

Recent. Starting small. Aight.

He rubs at his neck. "THE FACT ALL HE'S LAUDED AS SOME GODDAMN KNOWING FIGURE OF FAITH IS ANNOYING AS ALL MOTHERFUCK," He tries but it's clear this merely a petty annoyance, even as he makes a face for it. "They always took to him like such. LIKE HE AIN'T JUST A TROLL LIKE ALL THE REST. Always lifting higher than what all he is. IT JUST MOTHERFUCKING FIGURES."

[pythianjudgment]

Ah...faith. Let's not start on something easy that she might be able to comprehend, she thinks ruefully. But no, she knows that's not fair of her. If this is a grievance for him, then it's something that she should try to understand.

"And you...resent that others think of him like that. As a religious figure," she says, repeating it back to make sure she has it right. "Even though you know it isn't true? And even though he says he doesn't think of himself like that?"

She remembers reading something like that the other day, while browsing through that forum of 'questions'. Something about how he didn't intend for it to be a religious movement.

[carnagecarnival]

"Does he not? I ALL GOT FOR DOUBTS," He huffs. "The motherfucker is liar. HE'D DO ANYTHING WHAT ALL TO MAKE HIMSELF LOOK ALL LIKE HE'S BETTER."

It's a jagged thing. There's too many reason to be angry. Trying to pinpoint the singular part is just far too difficult.

"It's what all he does. HE LIES. People believe him. HE CASTS MOTHERFUCKERS ASIDE WHEN ALL HE DON'T CARE FOR THEM NO MORE. You'd think at it'd be damn easy to pick the sinner out but--" He growls. It's not directed at her, but even still.

[pythianjudgment]

She listens, and she notes that she's heard this before. When she first told him about this idea, that she would quadrant the two of them. He had the same misgivings back then as well.

"Why do you think that he's a liar?" she asks, probing gently into the topic. She's careful to keep her tone neutral, as to avoid any hints of accusation. "Do you know of any lies he's told? Not just suspected, but actually told."

For Signless

[pythianjudgment]

After her talk with Fraysong, Terezi takes the elevator up to the 12th floor. She finds Signless's room and knocks. Her thoughts are a little more preoccupied this time, but she's not about to forget the other half of this quadrant that she's managing. And she needs to talk to him, too.

[69problems]

"It's open," Signless says. He's sitting cross-legged on the bed, a book in his lap. It's one Karkat gave him, one written in a simple style because reading English is still sometimes a slow process for him. It's called 'Mutt' and it helps quite a bit that he's seen the movie beforehand (also Karkat's doing) and so has a basic grasp on the plot already. It does ruin it a little to already know that the handsome and mysterious boy is an escaped muttation from the get-go, and frankly he's finding out he doesn't much care for a lot of the plot, but it's good practice. If he's going to be stuck here he needs to make sure he can communicate, even in writing.

His white tribble coos softly next to his foot.

[pythianjudgment]

Terezi opens the door, and she's not exactly prepared for what she finds. He's... reading? She didn't know that he knew how to read. Which sounds bad without the context, but not all trolls were acclimated to the human language--or one of them, at least.

She doesn't pay much attention to the book itself. Instead, she lets herself in and shuts the door behind her.

"Hey. I wanted to talk to you, if you've got some time to kill. You're not in trouble, don't worry." Necessary words, she thinks, considering her penchant for talking to him when he is in trouble.

[69problems]

"I do, and thank you for clarifying." The Signless closes his book and sets it aside. It's good to know that for once he hasn't actually done anything yet -- it'll probably be good for them to have a conversation that isn't prefaced by annoyance or anger on either side for once.

"Do you want to talk about something specific, or just... talk?"

[ooc: HHHHHEY would you like to work on this a little before I come off hiatus, just so I can devote my time to it? Since it's very important to both of them.]

[pythianjudgment]

"Something specific, actually." Terezi lingers in the middle of the room, even more awkwardly than she did with Kurloz. This part was going to pose some difficulty, but she hopes it's just a matter of practice.

While she builds up the confidence to sit down next to Signless, Terezi digs around in her pocket for the other necklace. She's already aware that Signless doesn't do normal quadrants, but... She's hoping that quadrant jewelry is still appropriate. Maybe she should have asked first, she worries briefly... but there's no point in going back now.

"First... here. I brought this for you." She pulls out the necklace, holding it out to him in the palm of her hand. "I already have mine, and I gave one to--... to Fraysong, too." She almost called him Kurloz. Almost. And even though Signless probably already knows his name, it still feels like something she shouldn't go around saying so easily.

"It's just to make it official and all."

[69problems]

The Signless takes the necklace from her hand and holds it up to look at it. It's simple in design but the meaning is unmistakable: they're all three of them bound together by everything that's happened here. There's potential to turn those bonds into something good, instead of something painful. He turns it over in his hand a few times, before undoing the clasp and fastening it around his neck.

"Thank you," he says, and his smile is genuine. The gesture really does mean a lot to him, even if this quadrant is still strange and awkward, even if everyone's still feeling out where they stand with it and each other. "Is the design yours?"

[pythianjudgment]

"Sort of. The jeweler didn't have anything I liked, so I brainstormed a few things. I told him I wanted the rings and the colors, and he made up a couple designs that fit." It wasn't completely her idea, but it started from her idea, and that's what really counts. Probably.

"This one kind of ended up looking like a club, so I picked it." It feels kinda of strange to smell something that she made hang around Signless's neck. Gradually she wanders closer, finally hoisting herself up to sit on the bed.

[69problems]

It's just as strange wearing it. Signless is not at all unused to quadrant jewelry; he barely notices Karkat's ring anymore, to the point that he'll nervously twist it without realizing, but he's hyper-aware of the weight of the necklace and the cool metal against his skin.

"It gets the quadrant across very well, I think. I like it."

He isn't sure whether he ought to ask what else she's here to talk to him about -- he doesn't want to rush her when her role is easily the hardest here. It's encouraging that she's comfortable sitting next to him as opposed to awkwardly hovering in the middle of his room, though.

[pythianjudgment]

Sitting on the bed is certainly an improvement, but not quite a lack of awkwardness between them. She's only barely 7 sweeps old, trying to mediate a dispute between two (mostly) adult trolls. It's all she can do not to feel like she's in over her head.

"Thanks," she returns for the compliment. Quadrant jewelry delivered and accepted? Check. Now for what she considers the hard part: The actual talking.

"I visited Fraysong earlier, and... we talked about some stuff. But before I get into that, I want to hear it from your side, too. Just so I can figure out how this went down between you two." It's the most unbiased way that she can think of doing this. She gets to hear both sides of the story, without them trying to counter what the other one has said already.

"So... if you're up for telling me about how the two of you met--the first time, that would be a good start."

[69problems]

"I can do that." That probably is a sensible place to start, all-told. Go all the way back to the beginning and work their way forward.

"I was very young. My mother and I were passing through a village. I was making a fool of myself in front of a group of older trolls, and he pulled me away to keep me from getting culled. He listened to what I had to say, even the things he didn't agree with, even the things he thought were stupid. He was the first highblood who'd ever, ever listened to me. He treated me like a person first and a mutant second."

If things had been better his tone might have been gentle. As it is he mostly sounds sad. It's hard to reconcile the young indigo he'd known with the one here in Panem; it's like talking about a completely different person.

"And every time I'd come back he'd be there, and we'd talk, and I'd bandage him if he was injured and he'd tell me the things I was doing were crazy, never because he thought I was wrong for doing them but just because he was rightly scared I'd be hurt -- and because they were crazy, whether they were right or wrong. We were friends. He was my first friend, really, outside of my mother. And then I started speaking more and more trolls started listening and things became too dangerous there for me. I had to stop going back. He was always so worried about me being culled, I thought he would understand."

He wonders what Fraysong's rendition of this story was like. Probably very different, but he can't even begin to imagine how. The person Kurloz Makara became is one he doesn't understand at all. He can't read him and he can't predict him and he doesn't want to think there's no kindness left in him -- there has to be, if he's so good to the Psiioniic. It's just hard to remember it has to be there with all the hurt in the way.

[pythianjudgment]

He was the first highblood who'd ever, ever listened to me. The irony is that she's heard this before. Not that exact phrasing, but something close. Close enough to be almost painful. The first troll to speak. The first troll to listen. They went hand in hand so perfectly.

Terezi listens quietly, just as she did with Fraysong. She takes everything in, nodding a little as he talks, but making no judgments. He confirmed what she already knew from listening to Fraysong: They were friends. Close friends. And then something happened, and all of that disappeared like smoke in the wind.

"Tell about that. When you left, what happened? And why?"

[69problems]

"The same thing that always happened if I spent too long in one area. I was too visible; those in power knew I preached heresy against the Empire. I had set times when I would speak, times that trolls could find me, and after a while the Empire would learn them too and then entire villages would be closed to me."

Not that he wouldn't have gone anyway if he hadn't had a six foot tall rainbow drinker absolutely forbidding it, but he wouldn't have been any good to anyone dead.

"I couldn't tell them I was leaving or where I was going. It was safer for everyone for me to disappear, so no one had to lie if questioned. And I did come back, eventually, I made sure to -- but he wasn't there."