[META PRP] Never Blast Off Without You (Caiden - Engrav)

[Micillia]

 

[Micillia]

Caiden was happy. Yeah he was! He was always happy! But, well, he had some thoughts frying away in his thinkpan, and they were starting to smoke. It made thinking about other things more difficult. When the brownblood did end up signing up for the space race, well, he felt alone. Sure, Forera, Cerpin, Tevini, and even his other friends Nucleo, Amonee, Xavier, they were all signing up as well, but for some reason, Caiden felt alone.

Maybe it was because Autumn had become a star. He was proud of her, he was happy for her, but, he also felt left behind. She still talked to him, still asked him to help her, but her thinkpan was in the future, the future of fame, stardom, and all the amazing things she would do. Without him. He let out a deep sigh. Cerpin and Tevini had plans, had goals and ideas. Caiden felt like he was just floating along, no goals, no plans, just his own plump biscuit flying around.

When he saw his friend Engrav, tho, the brownblood lit up, a small amount. He still felt heavy, but he felt better. Engrav always made him feel better. "Hey! Engrav!" Caiden shouted, trying to get himself back up to his usual levels of excitement and joy. "I FIGURED i would see you here!! How are you doing? Going into space, right? Oh man thats REALLY gonna be something, right?!?"

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

What was that on the horizon? Was it a storm? Some kind of hurricane, maybe a tornado? Nope. If only.

"Oh, uh-" Engrav paused, caught in Caiden's perfect storm of positivity. "Good to see you, I guess." He did a double take, stopped. Caiden... wasn't as over the top as usual. He'd been expecting the brownblood to knock him down in a hug and then gush for about ten minutes about how great it would be to go to space. He searched the other troll's face, scanning for signs. The normal grin was there, plastered to his face like a dumb barkbeast, but it looked strained. Huh. That was interesting.

"Hey, um." Engrav paused. Caiden had all his friends here. He was here, and some of the other trolls he'd told him about, so what was going on here? Was someone giving one of his agents a hard time? "Are you ok? I mean space is great but you don't look quite yourself."

The yellowblood was a little worried. He needed all his agents in tip-top condition.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Caiden was taken aback for a second. Caiden loved Engrav, sure, but he never really got the feeling that Engrav really paid that much attention to feelings, changes in attitudes, or the like. Especially not to his. Caiden knew Engrav loved him, and felt they were friends, but Caiden always felt that he was the one that kept the friendship going. He was the one that got the ball rolling, or went to visit the yellowblood, or would drag Engrav out to do stuff. "Uh, w-what?" Caiden managed. Had he really been that obvious?

The brownblood felt a rush of emotions. First of all, Engrav noticed. Which meant that the yellowblood cared. At the same time, the feelings that were weighing him down also rose to the surface. Caiden didn't really know what to say. He had been upbeat and excited around everyone he knew, or tried to be at least. He wasn't sure he even know how to take off that mask and be serious. The brownblood sighed and finally dropped the fake happy act. "I just, um, i guess i been feeling a little down." Caiden started, not really knowing how to proceed. "Everyone's, you know, making progress, having goals, following their plumpbiscuits." He smiled genuinely, so proud of his best friend, his real best friend. "Speaking of witch, you look good! Like, really good! Like way more confident." It was true, Engrav had less of the shifty eye and suspicious face look. The yellowblood stood straight, looked confident.

Caiden's grin fell a little. He wished he could just be happy for his friend, instead of still feeling his heavy feelings. "I guess i feel a little left behind..." The brownblood said, trying to put his smile on and shrug the sad feelings off.

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

Caiden seemed almost... suspicious. If Engrav hadn't known better, he would have thought that the brownblood was somehow keeping something from him. Feeling down? Caiden? He couldn't see it. Not without something serious nagging in the brownblood's thinkpan. Maybe Engrav wasn't great at empathizing, but he could read trolls. He was good at it. And something serious was bothering the brownblood.

Engrav looked Caiden in the eye. There was definitely a twitch there, a bit of weakness. That didn't seem good. The brownblood was always happy to share his adventures with Engrav. He'd always enjoyed telling a story. Engrav searched Caiden's face, saw the lack of conviction there. He could tell Caiden wanted to tell him what was really wrong. Wanted to, but couldn't.

That meant someone was giving him orders.

Engrav felt himself go distant.

If someone was giving one of his agents orders, and Caiden hadn't told him... Engrav felt betrayed. Hurt. He hadn't exactly trusted the brownblood, not really, but still. He hated being right about trolls all the time, and Engrav had been hoping that Caiden would be one of the honest few.

Clearly not.

"Caiden" he managed, finally. His voice was more like a croak than a sentence. He dropped it quieter until it was barely more than a whisper. The yellowblood wanted desperately to believe Caiden just... hadn't had a chance to tell him what the matter was. "I'm sorry you feel left behind. You know that you can always tell me... anything, right? I'm a closed vault, and I'd like to help if you're in some kind of trouble."

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Caiden had been trying to hold his feelings in, trying not to show what he felt inside. But lets be honest, Caiden sucked at that sort of thing. The browblood breathed in, trying to keep himself from getting too emotional. "You, you know that girl from SuperStar Authority?" His plumpbiscuit felt tight, as he tried not to show how upset he was over this thing. "Seraph was her stage name." He fiddled with the his dog tag necklace and looking at his feet. "Well... we were really close friends, and, i think i, well i mean she meant a lot to me..."

Caiden let out his deep breath, and felt his plumpbiscuit sink with his feelings, with defeat and loss. "Shes a big star now. She won and is famous, and has this entirely new life now..." Caiden finally looked back up at Engrav. He had been battling theses feelings for a long time, trying to convince himself that nothing was wrong, that nothing had chance between him and Autumn. But it was a lie. Saying these things out loud made them real, made him admit that he really had been lying to himself. "Shes, you know, moved on in her life... And im just still here, still just me..."

Caiden tried to give a smile. "I mean look at you Engrav! You look all accomplished, and you've got plans, and you look determined!" Caiden looked at his feet again. "And im still me, here, where i started..."

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

Engrav let out a deep breath. That was it? Caiden was all broken up over a girl? Part of him was incredibly frustrated that the brownblood hadn't shared that tiny part of his life with him, and part of his was relieved that Caiden wasn't mixed up in something more... dangerous. Engrav chuckled as Caiden fiddled with his dog tags, and leaned forward, putting a metal hand on his friend's shoulder. It felt weird, touching his friend like this, but he bulled past it. Engrav could tell the brownblood needed it.

"Trust me," The yellowblood said, serious. "You're more important than Seraph ever will be. You've got a lot of future, Caiden, and I hope it includes being more forthright with me. I can help." He sighed, thought for a moment. He could tell the brownblood was broken up. Maybe he could do him a favor of some kind. "If you need any blackmail on Seraph, nasty rumors started or something, just let me know. I know just where to start." He met the brownblood's eye to let him know he was serious.

Wait.

Something here didn't add up.

If he was really so broken up about a girl... why was he here? Why go to space? Maybe Engrav was overthinking it now, but once Caiden had already hidden something, what was to say he couldn't hide more? He was withdrawing again, pulling himself back into the logic of the brownblood. Maybe if he was concerned that Seraph didn't think he was enough of a star, he wanted to make a name for himself in space. That was, of course, ridiculous. Engrav wasn't interested in attracting military attention to himself as he plumbed the depths of the stars, and he couldn't imagine a reason any lowblood would do so. It did, however, sound exactly like the kind of thing Caiden would do.

Ok.

He could accept that.

"I guess I do feel a bit different," Engrav said, running a metallic hand through what was left of his hair. "I'm just trying to take control of my own life, I guess. I'm tired of everyone telling me what to do. I'd rather take the initiative on my own, maybe make something that helps trolls." And it was true. He had plans, and schemes, and thoughts. He'd like to include Caiden in them but... now he wasn't completely sure he could trust him. That hurt a little. Stabbed right at his pumpbiscuit. "I'd like to help you too, if I can," he finished, giving Caiden a little smile.

micillia

this one took a bit of thought

 

[Micillia]

Caiden didn't flinch in the slightest with Engrav's heavily laden words of telling the truth. Caiden loved Engrav! He told the yellowblood everything important in his life! Like where he had found the best flower meadow, and what it was like to paint the sides of buildings, and what his favorite thing to paint was! There were some other, probably bigger secrets Caiden was keeping from his friend, but to the brownblood, being a rebel was not near as big of a deal as the more important details of life that really made life living. Really, what was the point of being a rebel at all if one didn't really find things that made freedom worth fighting for. Besides, Caiden thought Engrav really needed help noticing these sorts of things. Sometimes Engrav would just look so... sad.

Caiden smiled and wiggled. Engrav was being so nice! It was wonderful having a friend like Engrav, who always knew what to say to make things good again. "What?" Caiden did say at the end, when Engrav mentioned "blackmail". His thinkpan did not really process that part. Engrav was nice, Caiden was sure that everyone loved Engrav just as much as he did, and the same for Autumn. Blackmail was such an... odd concept. "No!" Caiden exclaimed when Engrav didnt follow it up with a "just kidding" or something. "No, no Engrav you dont need to do that. Its just, um, something i need to, work out i guess?"

Phew, then the topic changed, and Caiden smiled again. "Thats really cool Engrav, the taking your own initiative thing..." Caiden needed to spend more time with his yellow best friend. It would be a nice change from the almost, laid back, yet anxious air of the swamp. "Aww!" Caiden said as Engrav offered help. He moved up to give his buddy a hug, but sat back down, and was content just to smile brightly and wiggle in his chair. "I wanna help you more Engrav! I feel like i dont see you enough!"

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

"Don't worry, Caiden. I'm sure you'll be seeing a LOT more of me soon enough," Engrav said, eyeing the brownblood. He'd get the hint that Engrav needed more updates if he had to hammer it right into the brownblood with every single trick he had. The yellowblood could never tell if Caiden was being intentionally obtuse or if it was just a trick of some kind. Probably not. Poor wiggler didn't even know how bad he looked, wriggling on the hook of some floozy like a worm.

Engrav made a mental note to have a... chat... with this Seraph person. If Caiden wouldn't stand up for himself, he'd be happy to do it for him. She sounded like someone Engrav didn't want to have to share Caiden with. And also she sounded terrible. That too.

Engrav endured the hug as best he could, although he could feel himself getting a little bit stiff as Caiden wrapped himself around the yellowblood. Still, it sounded like Caiden was interested in getting back to work for him, which was definitely what Engrav had been looking for. "Taking initiative isn't the easiest thing for us two. Low blood and all that." He looked at Caiden carefully, saw only that familiar eagerness to please. "Maybe you could help me out with a few things. I'm working in Civisect as well as chittentown these days." Engrav flashed a rare smile, looking around to make sure no one else was in the hallway. "What do you know about trolls moving space parts through laundry hampers? I've heard a rumor or two, and I was wondering what was going on." Specifically, he'd heard it straight from Tevini, but he was wondering if Caiden was on the same wavelength. That would imply they were working together.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Caiden smiled, delighted to see more of his friend. Engrav did bring up something kinda puzzling tho, "Laundry baskets?" Caiden said, surprised. He knew the rebels were moving things, but had absolutely no idea how they were doing it. In fact, he figured they were literally carrying things, not hiding them at all. Laundry baskets tho, what a good idea. "Wow i never would have thought of that! Carrying something inside laundry baskets!" Caiden said. "Did you come up with that idea? It totally sounds like a smart Engrav plan." Man, laundry baskets. Caiden was sure Engrav was just full of more ideas like that, and the brownblood felt a pang of longing. Engrav would be a great help to the rebels... he was so smart and, well, Engrav! Besides, having his best friend there with him just sounded like the most lovely thing.

Caiden frowned at the floor. Autumn was the one that had invited him into the group, and he didnt quite feel okay with inviting other people in, even if it was the very most trustworthy troll in the world; Engrav the yellowblood. "But, ill keep a lookout if ya want!" Caiden offered. Since he would probably already be in the area for his "rebel outreach" projects, it would be fine to multitask. "Oh and i have a whole bunch of projects for making Chitten Town pretty if you get bored of investigating!" Caiden grinned wide. "Taking an art break always clears my thinkpan up! Maybe itll help you focus." More time with Engrav also meant that maybe he would be able to invite some other rebels along. If other rebels were to meet Engrav, Caiden was sure they would fall just as in love with the yellowblood as he was.

Buzzwulf