thecapitol | And the only thing we know

Who| Meulin Leijon & Terezi Pyrope
What| Terezi catches Meulin doing something she shouldn't be doing. Alliances are revealed.
Where| One of the blind spots in the Capitol
When| Backdated to July 22nd
Warnings/Notes| None so far

Terezi has a particular after-school routine worked out. Once mandatory classes are over, she takes a longer route back to the Tower, if only to stop by her favorite smoothie shop--where she's now recognized as a Regular. As far as Terezi is concerned, she deserves a personal reward for stomaching all that bullshit, day after day. Today's special happens to be a raspberry-cherry mixture, sweet with just a hint of tart. It's all she can do to not inhale the thing before she's even out of the shop.

Another reason to favor this shop is that it's close to one of the blind spots used by the Rebellion. This particular spot is a neglected alleyway--more like a shortcut between two of the busier streets, if you don't mind walking past garbage bins and whatnot. The Capitol has yet to put a camera back here, if only because very few people use it. They can't possibly monitor everything and everywhere, after all.

She turns the corner to enter the alley, weaving past unwanted debris as she sips on her smoothie.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She's unsure if that's a threat or a reassurance. It wouldn't be very hard so she's not sure why Terezi isn't. Because they're friends? Would she overlook this if Meulin tells the truth. Her lips press thin. She wants to say something ill advised, about how one Peacekeeper is plenty for an interrogation because interrogations are rarely about words. She doesn't.

Instead, she writes, slowly with several pauses. She is mostly likely going to end up with her tongue cut out but there must be something there if Terezi already suspects her and hasn't run for backup.

Maybe.

Four above Thirteen but both.

Four above Thirteen. It would make sense for Thirteen to work with the other districts, but it wasn't something that she'd heard about before. Maybe it wasn't something that Thirteen wanted them to know about? She's never gotten a good feeling about Thirteen before, but their goals aligned with the Tributes better than the Capitol did. That was the main reason why any of them worked with the secret district. But she always got a sense that they were being kept at a distance, never given the full picture. Or maybe it was just that much harder to connect the pieces in the Capitol, when a loose word could get your tongue cut out.

Terezi wipes away the old message and presses her marker against the whiteboard. It stays there as she thinks about what she wants to write. It might not show, but she's scared. If Meulin isn't the person that Terezi thinks she is... She might end up like Kurloz--or worse. The punishment for rebellious activities as a Tribute was death. And how was she supposed to help anyone then?

Slowly, her hand starts to move, her brows creasing in concentration. She hands the whiteboard back with a single sentence on it:

C4N 1 TRUST YOU?

Meulin stares at the four words. What? Trusting Terezi was the thing to worry about, wasn't it? But she turns it back to Meulin, implies there's something she needs to be able to trust Meulin with. She gives Terezi a curious look. Just how much of her was a role she played?

I want to say you can but ultimately that's not something I can tell you? Trust is difficult. I can only say I'm trusting you at this point.

She pauses and takes another leap, another guess and a gesture of faith.

I would never betray someone. Least of all a friend.

Trust is difficult. Terezi is not sure that Meulin could have written anything more hilariously truthful, even if she tried. Knowing where to place that trust could be the difference between life and death in this place.

Her attention lingers on the last line, a painful gnawing growing in her chest. It sounds so very much like something her moirail would have written. Terezi would have trusted her Meulin with her life. Was this one really so similar? Could she place her trust on these shoulders and know that it won't falter? For a brief moment, she wants to laugh at the irony of wishing that Meulin was here to give her advice on how to deal with Meulin. In the same span of time, she also wants to cry.

Terezi wipes the words away, keeping them safe in her mind. A friend. That was what Meulin had called her. There was no way that she couldn't say the same.

1 WOULD N3V3R B3TR4Y 4 FR13ND 31TH3R

1 DO NOT WORK FOR TH3 C4P1TOL
1F TH3R3 1S 4NYON3 TH4T 1 WOULD CL41M TO WORK FOR
1T 1S FOR TH3 D1STR1CTS
BUT TH1RT33N 1S TH3 ONLY ON3 TH4T TH3 TR1BUT3S H4V3 H4D CONT4CT W1TH

1M SORRY TH4T 1 D1DNT T3LL YOU SOON3R

Meulin's shoulders sag. The tension does not entirely leave her face but it fades a little. Her lips pull up in a half smile. The same team, the same side, she could cry. She almost does. And she was so worried, so ready to face the consequences. All for nothing.

I didn't tell you either.

I'm sorry. I've had bad experiences with Peacekeepers.
Really it was the worst job you could have chose for us to trust each other with this infurmation.

Terezi still feels a little on edge, but the way that Meulin seems relieved by this response has Terezi relaxing a little bit as well. The feline is out of the bag. For better or for worse, there's no taking it back now.

1 D1D NOT CHOOS3 1T 3X4CTLY
TH3R3 W4S 4N 1NC1D3NT 4 Y34R 4GO
4 BUNCH OF R4NDOM TR1BUT3S W3R3 4RR3ST3D
4ND CH4RG3D W1TH TH3 MURD3R OF TH3 H34D P34C3K33P3R
MYS3LF 1NCLUD3D

MY FR13NDS BROK3 M3 OUT OF J41L
TH3 B4CKL4SH W4S T3RR1BL3
TH3 1N1T14T3 W4S AVOXED
TH3 D1SC1PL3 D1D NOT COM3 B4CK FROM TH3 N3XT 4R3N4

1 W4S BR4ND3D 4S 4 TR41TOR
1 N33D3D TO DO SOM3TH1NG TO CL34R MY N4M3
TO K33P MY FR13NDS S4F3
TH1S W4S TH3 P4TH TH4T W4S H4ND3D TO M3

4LL TH4T B31NG S41D
4R3 YOU OK4Y?
1 D1D NOT M34N TO SC4R3 YOU

She vaguely recalls the incident. She didn't realize her other self was involved. Did she break her out or was it just part of the backlash. It was the incident that sparked so much of her rebellious tendencies but she really knew so little about it. Terezi's choices make more sense now though. What better way to ingratiate herself to the Capitol, prove she's all better, than to go to the Peacekeepers. Like wiping the slate clean.

I understand. Horribly ironic but I understand.

She breathes out, running a hand through her hair and honestly thinking about the question. Relief, just profound relief, but adrenaline still pumping in her veins. She feels like crying, laughing, just collapsing to the ground. Instead, she leans against the dirty wall and wipes at her eyes. The reply comes slow and the whiteboard even slower.

I'm okay.

She had thought her life was over.

She smells relieved more than anything, which is always a good thing; but the way that she wipes her eyes is a little worrisome. Terezi wonders if maybe she's not being upfront with how much that scared her. Not that she could blame her. But that doesn't mean that she can help the protective feelings stirring up in her chest.

For a brief moment, Terezi reaches out to take Meulin's hand as she rests against the wall. She squeezes it tight and throws an sympathetic half-smile her way, before letting go again and taking up the whiteboard.

1 ST1LL H4V3 SOM3 OF MY SMOOTH13 L3FT
1F YOU W4NT 1T

She holds out the raspberry-strawberry smoothie for emphasis.

Meulin smiles back, more because Terezi seems to need it than any real urge. Her pulse is still racing. It's a bit of a slow process, calming down, even if it occurs mostly in her head.

Thank you.

She writes, holding it up and then carefully taking the drink with her other hand. She takes a little sip then another, not too much. The bright sharpness of it centers her a little. It's easy to focus on.

We should leave. I've been in here too long as it is.

4GR33D

1F YOU 3V3R N33D 4NYTH1NG
JUST L3T M3 KNOW

Terezi considers adding more to that, but she's not sure if there's really any more to say. Meulin needs to head off before someone starts to wonder where she's at, or why she's been hanging around in this alley for so long. She'll probably need to check in with her friend, since they probably think that she's all but dead.

She hands the whiteboard back to Meulin and stows the marker back into her purse.

The board is taken back, read, and carefully wiped clean. Stowed away in her purse, all evidence of what transpired is gone except for them. Meulin smiles once more then leans in and hugs Terezi quickly.

"Really, thank you. For helping us. And for not being what I worried you were. And all of that. Thank you."

She lets go quick, pulls on a wobbly smile that seems more for the effect of those outside the alley than those in, and walks out calmly.

And the only thing we know

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