020614nullrilset

 RilSet walkS along the hallwayS of the aStrolabe, humming off-tune. Somehow, the dark corridorS Seem brighter and cheerier than they did before. The few PeoPle he SeeS get a wave or a nod, inStead of the cold Shoulder he would normally give. He can think of few timeS where he haS felt So right with the world. HiS good mood takeS a Sudden blow when he SeeS Nullar emerge from BaliSh’S room, bleeding . “Nullar,” he callS out, coming towardS her. “Are you alright?”

 Null doesn't seem to hear him at first, but when she does look up, the expression on her face is one of pure murder. "You!" she snarls, and waves at him to follow. She doesn't want to have this conversation while Libby is in the next room babying Balish.

 "You talked to Balish,!" she hisses, quietly, as they walk.

 RilSet followS Nullar along the PaSSage, Sighing. He had Pretty much exPected thiS. “YeS, I did. I told him to break off the falSe kiSmeSitude he had enSnared you in, and let you go. In PerSon. I aSSume he juSt did.” He eyeS her bleeding hand.

 "You assume WRONG, we have to TALK ABOUT THINGS," she snarls, getting a little bit louder. All of a sudden, she stops, and whirls around. "And what gives you the right, huh!, How fucking dare you meddle in my quadrants! How fucking DARE you say what's false and what isn't! Like what you offered me was any better, is that it, You just can't fucking stand to see me try to be happy, is that it,!"

“Not when your haPPineSS iS baSed on a falSe foundation, I can’t,” RilSet SayS imPatiently. “Wake uP, Nullar! BaliSh did not conSider you a true rival. He iS So arrogant, he Probably thinkS Jack iS hiS only real match! And for your information,” he addS, “My actionS were not baSed on jealouSy. They were baSed on my concern for your Safety. What Part of ‘Libby iS going to kill you if you date BaliS h’ did you fail to underStand? She outright told me that if I did not manage to SeParate the two of you, that would be the reSult. Your death.” He PunctuateS hiS Statement by jabbing a finger at her.

 Nullar bares her teeth as he speaks, then smacks his hand away from her, surging forward and snarling. "That's MY decision, not yours! I have two lives! If she kills me, he kills Balish. If she's willing to raze the earth if she can't have them, then let her fucking stew in her miserable insanity forever! And he DOES want me, he DOES! You don't fucking know, you don't know SHIT."

 “Oh my dear, you are deluded.” RilSet’S wordS driP with contemPt. “Which BaliSh, exactly wantS you? Hmm? Certainly not the Shaking, SPitting idiot I SPoke to earlier. He PromiSed to give you uP without a Struggle. And the Sane BaliSh we all know haS never given any Sign to Show that he haS genuine black feelingS for you. Your relationShiP iS juSt another one of hiS PlotS. A leaSh, to collar you an d keeP you from acting aS Jack’S laPdog.” He laughS, coldly. “Funny, that you uSe to call me dog, now that you two are the oneS going rabid.”

 Null looks like she's been slapped. "I-- he, he just wanted you to go away. He said whatever he had to to make you go away! He made everyone go away and only I stayed, me! And Libby's pressuring him! If she wasn't around it would be different," she nearly pleads. "And that's Libby, again, Libby, she said I'd become Jack, not him!"

 “I heard it from hiS liPS, dear.” RilSet croSSeS hiS armS, Staring at her intently. “She won’t go full Jackie,” he rePeatS in a falSe, Stuttering voice. “He juSt wantS to Put a chain on you, like he haS with Libby. Do you realize how inSane he haS driven her? He haS broken every PromiSe he ever made, and becauSe of the twink’S Primer buiSneSS, She can’t do anything about it. Not without my helP, a nywayS.” RilSet grinS naStily. “I’m not like BaliSh. I’m not a Slaver. I don’t wraP PeoPle uP in Pretty lieS. I’m a chain-breaker. I Set PeoPle free.” He throwS hiS armS oPen, wide. “So there iS the truth, Nullar! BaliSh doeS not have any black feelingS towardS you. Be free!”

 Null doesn't respond, or even really seem to hear the last half of his speech, crossing her arms tightly across her chest and rocking a little, shifting from foot to foot. After a few moments of that, she runs one hand, then the other, through her hair, staring off blankly at the walls, and the ceiling, and then the floor, obviously trying not to cry. She purses her lips, shakes her head quickly,  <span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">recrosses her arms, then abruptly walks away. She heads away from the rooms and toward her fountain, shaking like a leaf.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">RilSet blinkS, lowering hiS armS. ThiS waS not the reaction he waS exPecting. “Nullar?” he SayS heSitantly in hiS normal voice, walking after her. He had exPected her to laSh out, to Shout at him. Hit him, PerhaPS. Not juSt crumPle like thiS. He PickS uP hiS Pace, going after her.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> "Leave me alone, Rilset," she says, her voice wavering. She makes an abrupt turn into one of the side rooms and attempts to shut the door on him.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> He reacheS out a hand, eaSily holding the door oPen. “No, I will not,” he SayS intently, looking at her. She iS Shaking like a leaf. “What iS wrong? You muSt have had Some inkling that all waS not well between you and BaliSh. IS thiS really a comPlete Shock to you?” He SoundS genuinely Puzzled.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> She half hides behind the door, tears already sliding down her face, though she has the self control to keep from sobbing, at least. She gets a feeling of dejavu from when she's slammed her foot into Balish's open door just a few short moments earlier, and, making a disgusted face, lets go of the door. "I thought she'd get over it. He said he was trying. We were going to talk to our twinks and the <span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">n it was going to be fine," she says dully, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand, smearing blood on one side from her injured hand. Dejected, she sits down with her back leaning against one of the bare walls, her knees pulled to her chest. "I'm very tired of this, Rilset."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> “RelationShiPS? Or the game?” RilSet aSkS, coming Slowly into the room. He StareS at her at a loSS. He doeSn’t know how to handle thiS Nullar. “Either way, you need a moirail, and quickly too. I thought you were talking to the human Sami about theSe SortS of thingS.” He rubS the back of hiS head. “At the very leaSt get that hand bandaged,” he SayS with Some exaSPeration.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> "Fuck off, Rilset," she says, then childishly counters, "YOU need a moirail."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> “Well, I’m not the one having emotional breakdownS, now am I?” RilSet aSkS with a little heat. He SitS down on the oPPoSite Side of the room. “I juSt fulfilled Scarlet’S Primer,” he SayS, watching Nullar’S blood driP to the ground. “And Pailed, for the firSt time. It waS,” HiS face fluSheS a little red. “Good,” he SayS SimPly.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> "You are the one emotionally destroying someone you supposedly cared about so that you can have a chance with her!" Nullar snaps, then sniffles, and continues, "I'm fucking proud of you, good job. Hopefully you didn't break her nose, too. Sorry, I forgot my FUCKING STREAMERS," she says, shouting, but beginning to sob. She hides her head in her knees.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">RilSet StareS at the Sobbing form in front of him. He doeSn’t have any idea what to do, until he SeeS the blood SeePing down her knee. “Oh, by the AnceStorS. Hold Still.” CroSSing the room in a few StePS, he SeizeS her wriSt with one hand, and tearS off a Piece of hiS Shirt with the other. “Move your arm, and I’ll bite you,” he growlS, wraPPing it roughly around the wound.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> Nullar looks at him very deliberately in the face, her lips already puffy and red from crying, and yanks her arm right out of his reach. "BITE ME THEN, you fucking PRICK it's not like you haven't already done worse!" she exclaims, obviously looking for a fight.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> “Don’t be a wriggler. Are you really going to bleed out juSt becauSe a boy didn’t hate you back? Give me your arm.” He trieS to grab it again.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> "It'll scab up on its own!" she snarls, yanking her hand away again and trying to knock him off balance with a sharp kick to the ankle. "KCUF FFO!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> RilSet wobbleS a bit, but doeSn’t fall. “Alright, that’S it. Get uP!” He kickS her in the Side, though lightly by hiS StandardS. “Stand uP. StoP cowering on the ground.”

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> Nullar flinches a little, and wipes her eyes again, and kicks him in the shin again before she does as she's told. She gathers all five foot nothing of herself against the wall and glares up at him, still sniffling a bit as she glares. "Okay, what now, Do you want to tell me about how you spoke to Jack and he's planning on killing me and dating Libby now that she's not helping us anymore, Or, ooh,  <span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">I know, you could tell me that my planet exploded and my lusus and all my plants are gone!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> “What I want iS for you to act like the intelligent, Scheming troll I know you are. Not thiS,” he geSture towardS her, “hySterical meSS. YeS, you juSt had a bad breakuP. YeS, your world exPloded. Tough. You’re alive, and that’S what iS imPortant. AS long aS you are alive and kicking, you can turn thingS around. But you are not going to Solve a damned thing Sitting on the ground, weePing. You might <span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);"> aS well be dead, if that iS what your Plan iS.” He StriPS off what remainS of hiS Shirt. “Be angry, Nullar,” he growlS. “Angry PeoPle are alive. Hit me. I won’t hit back.” He StandS with hiS armS down, wide oPen.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> "I didn't have a bad breakup!" Nullar snarls. "You didn't even fucking LET me! I haven't even SPOKEN to him, not when he was of his right mind, I didn't even get, and he said--" she begins to trail off again, tears welling in her eyes once more. She looks down at his chest, then his face, and groans, putting her hands over her own. "Rilset come on now is not the time," she whines. "Can we not go f <span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">ive minutes without you trying to court me somehow,!" It... is to be noted that the tips of her ears are a bit maroon, though.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">“Come on,” RilSet SayS, grinning. “You don’t want a free Shot at me? After I broke your noSe. Wrecked your relationShiP. Made you eat my fleSh and drink my blood.” He leanS forward, thruSting hiS face towardS her. “You are juSt aS much a cannibal aS I am now, you know,” he mockS her. “Imagine my red blood flowing through your veinS. Tainting you. Making you like me.” He PauSeS, aS if conSidering. <span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);"> “Well, a whiner verSion of me, anywayS.”

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> "Rilset..." she repeats, less whining and more warning now. She removes her hands from her face and lets them hang stiffly to her sides, feeling very trapped with her back against the wall. She hadn't exactly chosen her location strategically when she'd come into the room to cry. "If you're interested in someone, their quadrants are supposed to be off limits, Rilset, not that you'd know that consi <span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">dering you're a mutant fucking hick. You crossed a fucking line, and you'll... and you'll have to do a lot more to get a rise out of me!" she declares hotly.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">“Do a lot more? IS that a challenge?” he aSkS Slyly, StePPing cloSer. “I can think of a few thingS that might get a riSe out of you.” StePPing directly in front of her, he runS a hand through her hair. “PerhaPS I Should court one of BaliSh’S other PerSonalitieS,” he whiSPerS, Putting hiS noSe to herS. “That would be funny, would it not? To watch you twiSt in the wind, alone and fruStrated. RilSet  <span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">the dog with two filled quadrantS, and Poor little Nullar without even a moirail.” He rubS hiS noSe againSt herS in an ESkimo kiSS, before taking a SteP back and laughing.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> Null goes very stiff when he steps closer, cringing a little when he touches her hair, and her lips part in a little gasp when he touches their noses. She's relieved, and angry, and flushed when he pulls back. "Fantastic p-plan," she stammers, staring at his chest, then resolutedly glaring at the ceiling. "Then Libby can kill YOU instead and I won't have to deal with..." she breaks off, waving her  <span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">hands vaguely, close to her chest so she doesn't touch his by accident, "This... bullshit." She glares at him again, and takes advantage of the distance to take a sidestep, trying to get her back away from the wall. "And, I, I have a matesprit, just like you, or do you want to say that's fake, too,"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> “Ah, yeS. Your mateSPrite Jack. I waS wondering if you were going to bring him uP.” RilSet moveS with her SideSteP So they are Still facing one another. “You know what I’ve been doing all thiS time? When I haven’t been working on Scarlet’S Primer? I have been trying to figure out wayS to Protect Scarlet from that SadiStic murderer. He loveS her,” he growlS, “in a way he will never love you. In the <span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">ir SeSSion, he killed her, becauSe he could not have her. So congratulationS on your Prize.” He laughS bitterly. “You’ll continue to have hiS meager affectionS uP until the moment he realizeS that Scarlet iS alive once more. I SuPPoSe I’ll be too dead to gloat if he caPtureS her and toSSeS you aSide, So I gueSS I’d better do it now.” He SPreadS hiS handS. “Let’S face it, Nullar. When it comeS to r <span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">elationShiPS, you are the worSt. It iS you.”

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">Nullar listens with bared, gritted teeth, suddenly vainly hoping it pisses him right the fuck off to notice they're completely healed from their last encounter. "He already knows she's alive," she says, her voice a little too pleasant, a cheshire grin splitting her features. "Because I told him. And he still wants me. The question is, though," she says, leaning forward just a bit, head tilted a li <span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">ttle to the side. She reaches up and brushes a finger along one of his exposed collarbones. "If I'm so FUCKING AWFUL, then why do you want me so fucking bad, Any scrap of a quadrant you can get. All four of them, even, if I'd allowed it."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">“I-I don’t,” RilSet Stammer, thrown off-balance. “I don’t know why. I’ve never known why.” He iS very conSciouS of the finger reSting on him. “I know that you are no good for me. I know that you are a deStructive witch who ruinS everything She toucheS.” DroPS of red Sweat have begun to aPPear on hiS forehead. “Every Survival inStinct I have tellS me to Stay away. That you will deStroy everything I  <span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">hold dear. And yet,” he hiS face contorted in a grimace, Sinking to hiS kneeS, “I want you anywayS.” He reStS hiS forehead againSt her kneeS.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">Nullar listens, feeling rather triumphant... then watches, almost horrified, as he nearly prostrates himself. "God fucking DAMNIT, Rilset!" she snarls, snapping her knee into his face-- not nearly as hard as she could have, just enough to get him off of her. "You're fucking disgusting, you know that,! I may be a piece of work but look at you. LOOK at you!" She takes a step back, then, feeling a li <span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">ttle ill, remembering him kneeing her when she was in a similar position. "You can't try to destroy everything I want and then-- and then go back to being a simpering fool when I finally push back!" She runs her hands through her hair, frantic and frustrated. "I can't... I can't deal with this, Rilset."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(128,128,128);">RilSet ScrambleS to hiS feet. "Then run," he SnarlS. "Go find a corner to cry in. That SeemS to be your go-to Solution theSe dayS." He StormS out, Shoving her aginSt the wall aS he PaSSeS.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(170,0,0);">Nullar lets out a slight 'oof' as she's, for the second time today, shoved into a wall, and snarls, following him just until the door. "Looks to me like you're the one running, Rilset!" she taunts his retreating form.