[PRP] A Little Distraction [Deimos + Cerpin]

[nepsah]

Empty hives make for lonesome minds...

 

[nepsah]

It had been a little bit of time since Cerpin had invaded his hive. Dei had taken more precautions to ensure that none of his astronomy papers could get messed up in case any other weird visitors arrived, since apparently Perore might know some weird people. There were a lot of unanswered questions left over from the visit, though. Was he really a spy like Perore? How close were they to getting into space? If what he was doing wasn't affiliated with the space towers, but he worked for the Queen, what was going on?

Too many questions, no answers, and no way to contact Cerpin. If he even wanted to. That was a big "if." The purpleblood was really annoying, enough so that Dei's curious nature was having trouble overruling his dislike.

It seemed it wouldn't have to. On this particular night, he was settled on a beanbag, thoroughly tucked in to some blankets and a couple of pillows as he read through a sci-fi book. Thypion was out hunting, he'd assured his lusus that he wouldn't do anything dumb while he was away. That didn't necessarily mean that he wouldn't do anything dumb at hive should a certain someone come knocking again...

Yamashii

lemme know if i need to change anything!

 

[Yamashii]

It was too quiet these nights, without the metallic clangs and clinks from behind the workshop door. She'd managed to keep from coming back home longer than he had expected. Cerpin had thought, had hoped, that Tevini would crack and come crawling back. Things wouldn't go back to how they were but life would continue towards the goal they shared. But it looked like the redblood had a spine under there after all, he supposed.

Somehow, his feet had brought him here. It occurred to him that he had no idea where most of his friends' hives were. He knew general ideas but he'd never visited them before. Maybe he should take more of an interest in their nightly lives rather than focusing so much on sharing a dance floor or a bed.

"Wonder if he left it unlocked or not." The purpleblood tried the knob a few times but Deimos was certainly smarter than that. Whatever, like a flimsy door could stop Cerpin Sugall. Bringing his foot back, he loudly kicked the door a few times. That was sure to wake the kid if he'd been sleeping.

"Open up! I'm here to crash tonight." The tone in his voice said he wasn't taking no for an answer. "I'm not afraid to break down the door."

nepsah

Looks perfect to me! No changes needed! : 3

 

[nepsah]

The book was pretty interesting- convincing enough that Dei was going to have to look up some of the terms it was using later to see if it was real or just make believe. He turned a page and started on the next chapter when.... a loud "knocking" sound caught his attention. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment to steel his patience as the familiar tone of Cerpin's voice rang out from the other side of the door. He was back. Grumbling to himself he placed a bookmark in his book, then set it aside. He didn't bother with removing the blanket- still somewhat burrito'd in one of his favorite constellation blankets he shuffled over to the door - taking his sweet a** time.

"Don't break down my door or you're gonna have to pay for it." He fumbled with the lock for a moment, then opened the door and stared up at Cerpin with one of his best sour expressions. "What are you doing here Cerpin? If that's even your real name." He narrowed his eyes- pursing his lips for a moment. Deciding that it wasn't worth it to risk having Cerpin walk all over his blanket, he stepped to the side. "An' what do you mean by crash." He'd better not mean what Deimos thought he meant.

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

What was taking so long? Had the kid suffocated in all the freaking linens everywhere? No, wait, okay the door finally opened.

"What makes you sure Polair is her real name?" Cerpin snorted at Deimos's jab, barely restraining himself from joking about Forera. He cared too much about the older girl than to blow her cover even if he didn't understand the odd game she was playing. A hand reached to muss up the shorter boy's hair and Cerpin used this distraction to shove his way inside the hive.

"Damnnnnn, your place is so messy even your lusus ran away. Didn't I tell you to clean up last time?" Not like Cerpin could really talk, he was just as bad at doing chores. But Deimos didn't need to know that. He shrugged his bag and guitar onto the floor and oozed down onto the couch, sprawling across it like he owned the place.

"But yeah, I'm gonna crash here. Y'know, it means sleep." He stretched like a satisfied cat, taking up as much room as he could. It wasn't like the tealblood was strong enough to kick him out and thankfully the boy's parent wasn't around to eject him.

"Well, aren't you gonna offer me dinner or something?" A lazy hand motioned towards the kitchen, clearly feeling entitled to polite manners from a host even though he hadn't actually been invited in voluntarily. Cerpin just wanted to fill the space, fill the quiet. Bothering Deimos distracted him from the other problems that he couldn't seem to solve right now.

nepsah

 

[nepsah]

"Because unless she's waaaaay better at bein' a secret agent than you are she didn't sound like she was lyin'." He retorted- then immediately sputtered in protest as Cerpin reached down to mess up his hair. He attempted to bat the hand away, but didn't bother trying to fix his hair... There wasn't really any "fixing" to be done anyway. "He didn't run away, he's hunting. An' I don't gotta listen to you." He rolled his eyes, shutting the door behind Cerpin.

He turned to look at the older troll, mouth forming a deep frown as he noted that the teen had made himself at home on his couch. "No you aren't. I decided your name is Leave now because that's what you're gonna do." He placed his hands on his hips, eyes narrowing. "No, I'm not gonna offer you anythin', you invaded my hive again an' I don't got anythin' to get you anyway." It was a lie, he had plenty of food and drinks, he just didn't want to put effort into getting things. Clearly this was a child that did not know how to host guests - even uninvited ones. "Why would you wanna sleep over here anyway? Don't you got friends or at least someone your own age to bother?"

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

He did a good job laughing at Deimos's grumpy ramblings and ignoring the jabs in them. It wasn't that Cerpin wanted to be a bright and shining optimist but that at this point, he didn't want to let people see the frustration and vulnerability he'd been feeling all week. This worked pretty well until the brat started poking at the wound of having no one else to crash with. Ouch, yeah, that stung more than he could cover up. He frowned and let out a huff of irritated air.

"I already crashed at Perore's earlier, I can't bother her all the time. And besides, it's not like I'm interrupting a party of yours or something." He sat up, so much for kicking it back and relaxing. Why did the other boy have to be such a pain about this? He was already emotionally spent after the past few nights.

"I'm hungry. Make me something or I'll do it myself. And as a warning, I don't do dishes." Cerpin clearly intended to dirty every god damn pan in the house if he had to cook for himself. That would show Deimos who was boss. The purpleblood headed into the kitchen, ignoring any whining, and started to poke around the cupboards and fridge.

"What the ********? You have tons of food in here. We're gonna make spaghetti." It was the perfect dish to stain all those pillows and blankets with if the tealblood got too pissy at him.

Cerpin might've been taller than Deimos but he definitely wasn't more mature.

nepsah

 

[nepsah]

Deimos narrowed his eyes, one foot tapping in irritation against the floor as Cerpin huffed at him. So he had stayed with Perore (not fair! He didn't even know where Perore really lived) but was now coming to bother him of all people. Either Cerpin had no friends or he was just being a pain in the a**. It wasn't like Dei could talk about not having friends, but that never stopped him in the past. "So Perore's your only friend. Got it." He rolled his eyes. He was about to object to making Cerpin anything to eat, but the older boy was already up and headed for his kitchen. No!

Hurriedly he tossed his blanket to the side and then trotted after the purpleblood. "No, no, no. Get out of the kitchen you aren't allowed here." Without really thinking about it he placed both hands on Cerpin's side, and began to push with all of his weight. "You aren't gonna mess up my hive again- I was already gonna have noodles so fine I'll make you some too. Just get out of here." He huffed in frustration. "If you're this annoyin' all the time to everyone no wonder you don't got anyone else's hive to invade."

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

"Don't forget Polair." Cerpin quipped back to annoy the brat since it seemed to bother Deimos last time for some reason. The tealblood attempted to shove him out of the way and he let him. The irritation showed on Cerpin's face as the other boy lashed at a sensitive topic. Maybe he was annoying to everyone else. Maybe they were all afraid of him. Maybe he didn't really belong in the Initiative. Or the rest of Alternia. The only place for him truly was out among the stars in a world he could shape on his own. A place where it didn't matter if nobody understood him.

A place where he couldn't hurt anyone.

"SHUT UP!" His voice came out harsh and loud and fast and he slammed a jar of something to the ground to get Deimos to just stop talking already. "What the ******** do you know?! You're just bursting with friends yourself, aren't you? You piece of s**t!" He whirled around to kick over one of the dining room chairs to vent a little more anger. He was the perfect picture of violent highblood stress boiling over, all aggression and all selfishness. No matter how hard he tried to repress it and take on the guise of a modern purpleblood for Salamire, well behaved and peaceful, he never seemed to keep it for long.

"It's not like I haven't tried! You try making friends in a system everyone hates you!" His chest heaved and his heart hurt. His talk with Forera earlier had soothed his insecurities and worries but there were still so many left inside him. How could he express them to people to people more burdened and more oppressed than himself? How could he complain about being alone at the top to the faces of people involuntarily beneath him, struggling to stay in their boxes?

"Imagine how it feels, unable to tell if she respects, likes or fears you! Imagine never knowing if people see you or just your color?"

How could he admit how weak he was to a world that would eat him alive?

nepsah

bang bang smash crash

 

[nepsah]

"Right, Polair." He rolled his eyes. He hadn't completely forgotten, he'd just... neglected to include her in his jab. He supposed it would be harder to go to a seadweller's hive anyway. "She doesn't count right now 'cause you can't just force your way into a seadweller's hive." He shrugged, and started rummaging around his kitchen to find the pots he'd need for some spaghetti.... though immediately froze as soon as Cerpin raised his voice.

He turned, eyes wide - though expression otherwise blank - as Cerpin slammed something down and then kicked one of his chairs, all the while ranting. His mind raced- what should he do? Thypion wasn't going to be back at the hive for at least another hour, but Cerpin was angry. He was bigger, stronger, and probably faster. Despite having numerous little crannies Deimos could crawl into, he was sure Cerpin would eventually get to him- probably before Thypion returned.

Cerpin was talking again- he peeled his eyes away from the damaged chair to look at his face. Was he still angry, or just... upset? About unrelated things..? Either way, he wasn't about to step on that button again. "I'm not much lower than you are, y'know." He commented, "only two tiers." Purple, then blue... then teal. Still a midblood, but a high-mid. He didn't bother himself with blood politics most of the time, but clearly Cerpin did. And it has bitten him in the face. "An' I'm not. Burstin' with friends." Slowly he straightened, eyes glancing to one side where the kitchen knives were...

If things took a turn for the worst suddenly he might be able to reach one... "Everyone hates everyone anyway, I don't get it. Most people I hear talkin' just loooooove purplebloods." He supposed they could've just been saying that just in case, but... again, he didn't bother himself with it. "Are you talkin' about Perore or Polair? 'Cause I don't think Perore is afraid of anythin' smaller than her. And I dunno about Polair. I think she's too smart for that." He shrugged, inching closer to the knives as he spoke as casually as he could muster. Despite his best efforts, some signs of fear had begun to show on his face. He didn't know who - or what - Cerpin was talking about. He may be taller than Perore, but she was definitely more well built.... and Polair was just too levelheaded to be afraid of someone like Cerpin, probably. Not to mention she was higher than him anyway.

Yamashii

ceeerrrrpiiiiiin poor baby

 

[Yamashii]

Deimos glanced towards the kitchen knives and so Cerpin did as well. Before the tealblood could make a move to grab them, the purpleblood went first, yanking Deimos towards him and lifting him off the ground by the front of his shirt. They were face to face, Cerpin's own twisted in rage, pain and fear. Deimos was afraid of him. He was afraid of himself. But he couldn't stop. It was too overwhelming to restrain it anymore.

"Everybody loves purplebloods? Don't you ******** get it?!" He tightened his grip on the smaller boy for a moment before dropping him to the floor again. Cerpin towered over the unfortunate tealblood, now between him and the weapons he'd been eyeing earlier.

"I'm a rebel!" His eyes were slick with frustration.

"They absolutely hate me because I'm everything they're fighting against! For a color I was born with and can't change!" He could still vividly remember Aerona's eyes and the intention in them as she looked over him for the first time. The fact that they'd even debated what to do with him rang in his ears. Forera had spoken up for him then but she would not be able to do so forever. He'd left the swamp soon after, fearing alienation or worse if he had stayed.

"I have to be ******** perfect or nobody trusts me- one wrong move and everything comes crumbling down! And ******** has it all crumbled on me-" He took up a pan and smashed in the side of a cabinet to illustrate or vent his point. There was a beauty in the destruction that he felt great shame for enjoying but an emotional release that spurred him to keep going.

"I wasn't perfect for Tevini and now she's gone! You were right, Deimos, I don't have anybody!" With a swing, the pan went sailing down a hallway to crash into something else, he didn't care what but the sound was satisfying. His body was tense and restless, his breath heavy. Cerpin was struggling to keep control and losing.

He would not realize until later, the gravity of what he had admitted and done.

nepsah

thrash slash yell dwell

 

[nepsah]

He didn't even realize what was going on until Cerpin already had him by the shirt. He'd been too obvious, too easy to read in his attempt to reach the knives. Mentally he braced for impact - what kind, he wasn't sure - but he was certain it was going to happen. He winced as Cerpin yelled, more unsettled by the volume and the suddenness of his motions than having been jerked up from the floor. It didn't last long- he was dropped again, and he hadn't been expecting it. He crumpled, unharmed, but mentally he was lagging. He needed to get away, but his body just wasn't having it.

He'd started to attempt to crawl back toward his livingblock when the admission was made. He froze, eyes wide as he focused back on Cerpin again. A rebel? And he was friends with Perore? Did she know that? He'd... known about her job, that she was an agent... Nothing made any sense, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it just then. He needed to survive this meltdown before he could address these... problems.

He flinched as the pan crashed into one of his cabinets- that... would be expensive to fix, but that wasn't a concern. He needed to find something, anything that could help him. Where had he left the mace that he'd bought..? He didn't dare look away from Cerpin, not even as he slowly began to move backward toward the livingblock. He froze up again, ducking as the pain sailed down the hallway. He... needed to stop this, but he didn't know how to comfort people- especially not people he didn't particularly like. And... doubly not people that were losing their s**t, like Cerpin was.

Maybe... he just wanted to hit things. Dei could understand that at least. "Cerpin." Somehow, he managed to speak. Since when had he been holding his breath? "I didn't mean it I was just pokin' at you 'cause you showed up outta the blue and I was grumpy. I got things to hit outside if you wanna do that. Please? Not in here?" He risked a glance around the room to illustrate his point. God, he hoped he'd chosen his words correctly. He didn't even want to breach the topic of Cerpin's admission to being a rebel at the moment, not until the older boy had calmed down. Even then, did he want to know? He was already at risk knowing about the girl in the forest that saved people from the hunts. Not... that he had much information on her, but still.

Yamashii

mmmm what'cha saaaaaay~

 

[Yamashii]

"Please? Not in here?"

Get out, Cerpin.

Deimos's eyes were so big staring back at his own. The room around them was a wreck and the boy in front of him was visibly shrinking. This was no place for him. Cerpin felt like his heart was going to swell out of his chest with all the turbulence he was feeling inside. The tealblood was begging him to leave. All hints of prior sass and annoyance were gone from the young astronomer's voice. The purpleblood took a few slow steps backwards.

"I-I... I'm sor- ******** this!" He tore out of there, stumbling out the front door with emotion streaked across his face. Opening up was scary. Opening up pushed people away from you. The cool air rushed through his hair and he wondered if Forera would kill him after the brat tattled about this to her. Why did he make such stupid choices like this? If there was a degree in Idiocy, he surely graduated top of his class.

Was she still studying out there? Would she continue upwards to the stars without him?

"What kind of fool am I?" The bubbling sounds of a nearby creek caught his attention and he started towards it, reaching down to pick up a few stones to forcefully toss in to it. The words were familiar, it was part of a song he'd heard before. Cerpin continued on with the lyrics, falling into the melody of it as he ran out of stones. "It seems that I'm the only one... that I have been thinking of." His shoulders rose slightly. Maybe this was what he needed. Music always soothed his soul. It poured out of him.

"What kind of man is this?" He took in the sight of the forest, tinted the color of the moons' light. Pinks and greens glistened on the water, dyeing everything around him in hues he normally ignored.

nepsah

SURPRISE your life is a musical whenever cerpin's around! he's just gonna keep singing and being dramatic in the woods for a bit

 

[nepsah]

He was moving- but not toward him. Still, he couldn't help but feel himself tense up, ready to run to some other place in the hive in case Cerpin came at him. Where, he wasn't sure- he'd figure that out once he turned to run. Probably not a good way to go about things, but... there was only so much planning a kid like him could do when put in a tight spot. But instead of coming at him, Cerpin backed away- then seemed to start to apologize.

Had he snapped out of it? He flinched as Cerpin moved forward again, he'd curse himself later for freezing up instead of moving but the older boy was just making a break for the door. He stood, still frozen, while he watched Cerpin flee the area. He'd... just left. Deimos let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and looked down at his hands. They were shaking uncontrollably- completely useless in a fight if it had come to that. He... needed to train better. He'd ask Perore to help him- later. For now... He needed to decide what to do about Cerpin.

The area he'd run to was decidedly Not Safe. At least, judging in the direction he'd been going- if he hadn't changed course he'd... probably end up in the trappers part of the forest. Did he care? He chewed at his lower lip, hands gripping the hem of his sweater as he stared hard out into the forest while he thought. Cerpin was a rebel, he'd just plainly admitted to it. Cerpin was also annoying, and barged into his hive two times. But... Cerpin said he was going to get into space, he had a team and everything.

Maybe he was a rebel in the sense that his attempts were not tied to the government? After all, Polair was part of his team. Unless Polair was also a rebel? Or did she know? Had he managed to fool her into working with him without explaining what his real goals were?

And then there was the matter of Perore. She was good friends with him. Maybe she was watching him for a reason. That... decided it. It was dangerous to leave the hive without Thypion to protect him, but Perore was probably onto something with Cerpin. That's how he'd justify this, anyway. The allure of leaving the planet was just too much to leave Cerpin to his own devices in the forest... but no one else needed to know that. Turning, the small tealblood trotted upstairs to his hiveblock to retrieve his mace, and slip on a pair of shoes, then made his way back out through the front door. He shut it behind him, at least.

Now... he had to find Cerpin. It was easy, the purpleblood hadn't been trying to hide his tracks in the forest and honestly had made quite a ruckus. He came up behind Cerpin near a creek, once he'd heard the song it had been simple enough to pick his way through the underbrush toward him. This certainly was getting into the more dangerous part of the forest.

Maintaining his distance, one hand secured on his (basically useless) mace, he drew in a breath before addressing the older troll. "You're gonna step in a trap out here- its hunter territory." He braced himself, waiting for the tantrum to continue. "I said I got stuff to hit outside my hive if you just wanna hit somethin', not 'hey Cerpin go run into the woods and maybe die'." He hoped his tone came off as more... amused than nervous. He'd never been very good at gauging his vocal tone, let alone his expressions.

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

By this point, Cerpin had moved on to moodily snapping twigs and branches off of low growing trees. He seemed to have calmed down somewhat but his attitude was still unstable and testy. Deimos's voice registered to him and he glanced at the tealblood over his shoulder.

"What do you care? You don't even like me." He couldn't argue that Deimos didn't know him after he'd just spilled a bunch of his insecurities and fears. But he was fairly certain that Deimos did not like him after he had barged in several times and now wrecked a good portion of his kitchen. He turned his attention forward again, tossing the handful of sticks into the creek.

"You heard what I said. Don't get mixed up with a rebel. You'll only regret it." Cerpin could not deny that he had lonely nights, looking out over the city wishing he had not condemned himself to a lifetime of anxiety, worrying that the drones or royalist army would see through his cover and cull him. The Initiative's cause was something that he understood and supported but it came at a very large personal cost for him.

He took a seat at the edge of the creek, not doing anything to physically scare off the other boy but not exactly encouraging him to stay either. It was a subconscious test that he had unknowingly constructed. Which was more important to Deimos? Self-preservation or curious compassion?

Which was more important to Cerpin? He didn't know.

nepsah