[META PRP] Won't Take This Lion Down (Kursha + Leeroi)

[Green Minuet]

Where: Chittentown space tower
When: Two nights after their team excursion

 

[Green Minuet]

Captain Kursha Vidari

“Attention. Corporal* Furore, please report to engineering bay 4B immediately. I repeat: Corporal Furore, please report to...”

As the speaker overhead blared out a message to the entire space tower, Kursha paced the floor of the former engineering block. All the equipment had either already been relocated or leaned parallel to the walls, giving him plenty of space to wear a rut in the floor. He had done his best to clean up after his fight with Elidae. He bore a bandage on his left shoulder from where she stabbed him, though the gash in the metal of his right arm still needed repair. Given that it otherwise functioned, he saw no need to hurry to get it fixed. He had more important things on his mind: namely patching up his relationship with Leeroi Furore.

As much as it made his digestive cavity curdle, he had to admit he might have taken the wrong approach with Leeroi. While it was fun to tease him, and watch his fuse burn, their mission together two nights before nearly took a dangerous turn. Had Leeroi acted out a little earlier, or had Kursha missed a shot, things could have gone very wrong. They needed to be working as a team, himself included. Unfortunately that meant he owed Furore an apology. The thought made him want to barf.

A steady ache from his arm gave Kursha a reprieve from his thoughts. He flexed the fingers of his prosthetic to chase away the pain. It came out of the blue, often without warning. Something in his body rejected his metallic enhancement, demanding the return of its rightful arm. But that was gone to the snow, and probably the howlbeasts. He hissed, clutching the arm to his shoulder. Forget.

Across the block, the door let out a hiss of its own. Kursha dropped his arms to his side, and looked up expectantly.

Kimbley Kitty

*Unlike Kursha, I'm very bad at remembering rank. Please correct me if this is wrong!

 

[zeflamigo]

Called down to the engineering bay? Leeroi couldn’t imagine what for, but as soon as the scenarios played out in his head, he became incredibly optimistic. Perhaps someone was looking for help, wanting his robotics expertise? Maybe it was Flydra? Maybe Scorpa was there too? Maybe Buffel was having issues with his prosthetic again?

He didn’t know for sure what he was getting into, but he walked into the engineering bay with a big charismatic grin. “Furore is here!” He announced himself with an excited flurry of fist pumps.

When his attention finally fell on the Captain, his enthusiasm sank. The greenblood could watch the joy drain from his face, smile going slack-jawed with realization, then twisting into a slight scowl. Leeroi at the very least made an attempt to cover his indignance, but he did a poor job of it.

Leeroi took a firm stance where he stood, staring Kursha down. He let the uncomfortable silence hang for a moment, then finally addressed him.

“If you wanted to reprimand me, you should have just called me to your office,” He complained.  

[Green Minuet]

Captain Kursha Vidari

Kursha struggled to smooth out the grin that spread across his face when Leeroi made his entrance. It was wildly inappropriate to greet a superior officer as such, but then again he had not given the blueblood any kind of warning. Fixing his expression to something more stern, he merely quirked an eyebrow at the blueblood. As he did, Leeroi's cheerful demeanour vanished, a petulant scowl taking its place. That seemed more like it.

“I didn't call you here to reprimand you,” Kursha replied. He waved the blueblood the rest of the way inside, then clasped his hands behind his back. Mentally and physically he braced himself for the words he planned next. Even though he had run them through his head a hundred times, he could not afford to show any weakness. He took a deep breath.

“I called you here, because I wanted to apologise for how our last assignment turned out.” Despite all his preparation he still had to swallow down the urge to gag. “There may have been certain words or actions that were not in the best interest of the mission. That said, I think we got off on the wrong foot, and I'd like a fresh start.” He extended a hand out towards the blueblood, tense.

Kimbley Kitty

 

[zeflamigo]

Leeroi raised an eyebrow. This was unexpected. He couldn’t help but feel a bit smug on the receiving end of an apology, from Captain Vidari, no less. It meant that he was right, after all. He won. Letting his shoulders relax, he let the feeling soak in. However cold, Kursha had done well enough in his apology.

But then a few choice words at the end made Leeroi question all of it. He crossed his arms, rejecting the handshake.

“Got off on the wrong foot?” Leeroi spoke with restricted bitterness, stomaching the urge yell and curse Kursha out. “Do you think I’m an idiot? Don’t talk to me like we met for the first time on that mission.”

“We got off on the wrong foot, sure. Back at Awassi’s, when you stole my s**t, beat me up, embarrassed me in front of the military and my friends and Elidae!” Leeroi squinted, scrutinizing the Captain for any emotional response. His own breathing was quick, and his expression was pained.

“And then when you recruited me, and tried to pretend like it never happened! And when I confronted you, you said it was funny?!” Leeroi bit down hard on his teeth, doing what he needed to keep himself from crying.

“Are you sorry for that?” Leeroi raised his voice, but it was still restrained. He wanted to give Kursha the opportunity to say yes, that he was sorry. That his apology was genuine, and that he cared enough to fix things so they could work together. Leeroi didn’t expect it, but he wanted to hope.

Green Minuet

hi my name's Leeroi and my favorite pastime is pushing envelopes specifically labeled "do not push"

 

[Green Minuet]

Captain Kursha Vidari

Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Withdrawing his hand, Kursha resisted the urge to grind his teeth. He needed to stay composed.

“You don't think former enemies working together is funny?” Kursha asked. He tilted his head and allowed allowed himself a small smile. Whatever Leeroi thought of it, he could not care less. There was a more important subject to address.

“Anyway, Elidae wasn't there.” he corrected, voice cool. Had she been, things might have turned out a little differently. He returned his hands behind his back. “And my job was to make sure everyone cooperated, including bratty wigglers whose position on the hemospectrum they confused entitlement for responsibility. Any embarrassment beyond our little tiff was all your own doing.”  

[zeflamigo]

Enemies? Leeroi had never really considered Kursha an enemy. The concept confused him, and that confusion was obvious on his face.

“We weren’t enemies. I was a kid who could barely fight for myself. You were just a d**k.” And he still was, as much as Leeroi could tell. Instead of offering any sort of apology, Kursha continued to mock him. It was empty, just as he expected. Still, Leeroi listened.

“Entitlement?” Leeroi couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He laughed out loud. He’d expect those words out of a rebel (and to be fair Kursha had spent a lengthy amount time among them), but it felt strange coming out of the mouth of a military midblood. In his own eyes, Leeroi saw himself far removed from the entitlements typical of his caste. He preferred business in Chittentown, his moirail was a redblood, and he never expected preferential treatment. To get what he perceived as such an inaccurate assessment of his character was hilarious to the blueblood. It somehow made him a little less angry.

Leeroi sighed, looking away. Grip tightening around his arms, he tried to regain his composure. He didn’t want to explain himself to Kursha. He didn’t want to care that much.

“Listen, I don’t want your ******** apology. It sucked, anyways.” It was rehearsed, meaningless crap, as far as Leeroi was concerned. “Who put you up to this? Elidae?” Probably Elidae. “Or were you getting noise complaints from your neighbors? Concerns from Lieutenants?”  

[Green Minuet]

Captain Kursha Vidari

Kursha kept his gaze level, even as Leeroi laughed. It was far removed from the reaction he anticipated. Humility, embarrassment, rage: any one of those would have worked. Instead the blueblood laughed, and Kursha felt as though he had misstepped. Somewhere in his analysis of Leeroi he had made a mistake, and in turn left himself vulnerable. He cursed letting Elidae talk him into this.

The blueblood's following remarks cut a little deeper than Kursha would have liked to admit. Though he made no outward show of agitation, he felt the blood rush to his face. His pump biscuit beat noisily in his chest. This whole time, he thought he had the better of Leeroi. Somehow though, Leeroi had obtained the advantage. Kursha could not afford to let him know how much.

He paused for a second to consider how to respond. Then, dodging the question: “She risked her career for you. It was her rank or yours.” A slight exaggeration, but he needed to test Leeroi's reaction.

Kitty Kimbley

You stumped me with that last one! Sorry for the late response.

 

[zeflamigo]

Leeroi flinched in disbelief, eyes blinking. So it was Elidae, and she did what?

"That's bold. And nice?" Leeroi took another moment to process that, to remember his own conversation with Elidae. She had been so sad when she left. He couldn't stand thinking about it. And then she went and stood up to Kursha, in his name? It was a kind gesture, but to Leeroi it felt unacceptable. He should have left to fight Kursha faster. Elidae didn't need to get mixed up like this. It wasn't fair to her.

"But I don't take charity." Leeroi's answer was delivered deadpan. He frowned, grinding his teeth under closed lips. Matters like rank shouldn't be decided by personal drama, anyways. They should be earned in combat, at least that's what he thought. He unfolded his arms, hands clenched into fists.

"Elidae doesn't fight for me. I fight for me." He pointed a thumb to his chest, exaggerating his point.  

[Green Minuet]

Captain Kursha Vidari

There. For a moment he had thrown the blueblood off guard. And the following petulant response was so predictable Leeroi, Kursha could have scripted it. So, he had not completely misjudged Leeroi after all. He allowed himself a small moment of satisfaction. Even if Leeroi thought he could read Kursha, he still could not read Elidae, and that gave the greenblood a few more cards to play.

“Well, I'm glad to hear it,” Kursha said. He slid the rifle from his shoulder. The stock landed with a sharp thump on the concrete floor. “Since I hadn't gotten around to mentioning the second reason I called you here. How about it, Junior? You and me, right now, no holds barred?”

The greenblood's face spread into an easy grin.  

[zeflamigo]

Quote:

HP: 20/20
Military Weapon: +1 DMG
Artifacts:
2/2 Wrestling Belt — Adept Artifact, Defense Style B
(nullify the damage from the last hit)
2/2 Cannon Arm — Adept Artifact, Offense Style B
(2d6 Deal double damage on this attack. 1 ongoing damage for all turns after. The ongoing damage from these stack.)

Ah. That's why they weren't in his office. Didn't want the place wrecked to s**t. Probably for the best.

Without word Leeroi drew his weapon upside-down, hands firmly on the barrel of his shotgun. He didn't hesitate another second before swinging the weapon like a bat, aiming for Kursha's head with the butt of his gun.

Junior. He didn't like that. He wasn't anyone's junior, especially Vidari's.

"I'LL KICK YOUR ******** a**, OLD MAN." Leeroi threatened, not bothering to back down to preemptively avoid any of Vidari's hits. Close range was smarter— Vidari was a sniper. Leeroi had the advantage when he was up in his face.

Leeroi deals 6 DMG

 

[Green Minuet]

Captain Kursha Vidari

Health: 34/40
Military Weapon: +1
Eagle Eyes: 3/3

“Here comes the airplane!”

[ Kursha does 4 damage. ]

 

[zeflamigo]

Quote:

HP: 16/20
Military Weapon: +1 DMG
Artifacts:
2/2 Wrestling Belt — Adept Artifact, Defense Style B
(nullify the damage from the last hit)
1/2 Cannon Arm — Adept Artifact, Offense Style B
(2d6 Deal double damage on this attack. 1 ongoing damage for all turns after. The ongoing damage from these stack.)

(leeroi smacks spoon away with a cannon)

Leeroi deals 11 DMG

 

[Green Minuet]

Captain Kursha Vidari

Health: 23/40
Military Weapon: +1
Eagle Eyes: 3/3

“Kids who can't play nice go in time out.”

[ Kursha does 0 damage. ]

 

[zeflamigo]

Quote:

HP: 16/20
Military Weapon: +1 DMG
Artifacts:
2/2 Wrestling Belt — Adept Artifact, Defense Style B
(nullify the damage from the last hit)
0/2 Cannon Arm — Adept Artifact, Offense Style B
(2d6 Deal double damage on this attack. 1 ongoing damage for all turns after. The ongoing damage from these stack.)

"you can't MAKE ME"

Leeroi deals 12 DMG