[BATT/PRP] The Door (Cerpin + Etsali + Tevini)

[Doutei]

Tevini listened to his voice through the door, her heart and mind racing. The words he'd yelled at the door weighed on her as he sang. All her life she'd run away from her problems. The first sight of trouble and she was gone. It was a lonely way to live.

She didn't want to live that way anymore.

Cerpin had been the first troll she'd actually gotten to know. He'd forced his way into her life and stayed there, digging his nails in deep. The two of them had fought countless times, each striving to keep each other safe and to broaden their worlds. She wasn't sure if she'd actually succeeded in that for Cerpin but he certainly had for her. He'd made some missteps for sure but he'd also been incredibly patient with her. He'd taken care of her when she lost herself in fear. He'd taken care of her when she was too depressed to get out of bed. He'd done so much to keep her in his life.

A pessimistic voice pointed out that of course he had. She was his engineer. He needed her. He'd invested a lot of time and money in her. Sure he could start over but it would mean uprooting all of his current work and having to first find another to help him. Not to mention explaining everything to Byakko and the rebels. They were both trapped in this arrangement now. She swallowed at this realization, unable to push it completely from her mind. It hurt to think about.

A second voice pointed out that she had spent her life with this man, even fallen in love with him. Cerpin could act fake when he wanted to, sure, but she'd seen his true bad behavior. He was capable of some terrible stuff but he wasn't a terrible person underneath it. He was a boy who'd grown up in a dangerous world and then had it shattered around him. Cerpin had done his best to adjust, to try and change his ways. It was impossible to beat everything out, though, and she didn't hate him for that. She was the same way, really. It wasn't like she'd managed to unlearn lowblood behavior and become a shining role model for other redbloods to aspire to.

They were both doing the best they could. They had both accepted each other, flaws included.

She still loved him, even if he did not.

She couldn't lie to herself. It still hurt. But her life would hurt far worse if she abandoned everything here just because of pride. He'd admitted it first, he needed her- missed her. She was his partner. As the song ended, she understood it was time to answer his call.

"I miss you too."

The door opened.

Yamashii

KitsuneAura

 

[Yamashii]

The door opened and he pushed it further to grab at the troll behind it. Tevini looked somewhat different, her hair was longer and her clothing seemed grungier. But for the most part, it was the same girl he'd met and grown up with. He grabbed her roughly and tugged her into a tight hug. He didn't want to risk her running past him and disappearing again like some kind of trap. The purpleblood's heart raced in his chest.

"You dummy, you really scared me you know." Cerpin let out a breath. "I thought you'd disappeared off the face of the planet and I'd never see you again." That was her end goal, to be honest, but they weren't there quite yet. If they could just get their hands on some military grade materials, it wouldn't be long before they had some huge strides in progress. They had til then to figure out a way to handle these conflicts better.

"Don't run off again. Whatever happens, we can talk our way through it. I'm not gonna hurt you, you know?" At least, he wasn't going to try to. If it happened, he'd apologize just like he was trying to do now. It was part of being a team together. He would right whatever wrongs he inflicted on her. Although he didn't quite know what to do about these strange feelings inside, he wanted to explore them and figure them out together.

"We can take things slow. We'll figure it out at our own pace. I'm sorry for hurting you back then, Vee, I don't want you to think I don't like you." He had wanted to clear this up back then months ago before she'd run into the crowds and vanished onto a train. Mismatched quads didn't have to mean the end of a relationship but rather the start of a new one. His session with Eridia had pushed him to label things one way but it was entirely possible he'd been wrong. Cerpin spent so much time strolling from fling to fling that he'd never had a real long term relationship before other than his partnership with Tevini.

Doutei

KitsuneAura