MEINIR: =After the one Strider kid's announcement about Orphus' whereabouts had reached her ears, it had taken no time at all questioning the locals and figuring out just where it was he happened to be hiding his cowardly flesh sack. Meinir and two of her crew had broken in through the loft window of Dennab's house when they were sure no one was there. It was a simple thing of combined climbs and jumps, and a few deft moments with a lockpick. The three of them sneaking inside and closing the window back up behind them, leaving no trace of their activities. Now Meinir was sitting square in the room, filing her nails with impatient flicks of her tail. The two ladies from her crew standing on either side of the door, back to the wall to keep out of Orphus' field of vision once he were to enter. The stage is set. The yellow bellied little brother will be caught once and for all.=
ORPHUS: -It was later in the day when he returned to Dennab's house. By now his friend had given him a key so it was easy enough to get in and out when he wasn't there, after all Dennab was usually gone and busy by this point. He had left in the middle of the night the day before to go see Taalay on skaia, and it went as well as expected possibly even better considering he was still in the same number of pieces as he was before he left. At this point he was just exhausted from the interaction and he slowly made his way to the guest room where he had been staying the last several weeks.- ORPHUS: -He's hardly paying attention, rubbing at his tired eyes before removing his hood and opening the door. He gets about two steps into the room before he realizes he's not alone and his eyes fly open to settle on his sister sitting right there in front of him.- ................................... ORPHUS: -Hes so fucked, holy shit. His stomach starts churning and his chest feels tight with anxiety and he hasn't even seen the other two ladies behind him. Is it too late to quickly back out and retreat through the door way, he sure as hell is going to try anyways.-
MEINIR: =She doesn't lift her gaze as the door opens, blue eyes trained on her claws. Blowing on them and looking them over. It sure as hell is too late for Orphus to back out, because the large teal standing behind the door slammed it shut the moment he had stepped inside enough and placed herself in front of it. The psionic looming just in the corner of his vision, energy crackling between her horns. Meinir points at him with her nail file.= |)earest, sweetest little brother. How nice to see that you are still among the living. MEINIR: \V/hy don't you take a seat? =There's a chair placed right opposite her. How convenient.=
ORPHUS: -Orphus's attention darts between the fellow teal blood and the psionic. This is a very less then ideal situation and there is no possible way for him to escape while surrounded like this.- ORPHUS: -His pulse is racing and he slowly drags his gaze back to his sister and swallows dryly.- Meinir... ORPHUS: This. ORPHUS: This is a <ivilian residen<e you should not be trespassing here. -He is not going to sit.-
MEINIR: =Looks up at him, legs crossed and tapping her file slowly against her knee. She's smiling, but everything about her is oozing agitation, like she is ready to leap at him at any moment.= | don't believe you are in any position to start lecturing me about, why, just about anything really! I'm honestly shocked you have the fuckin' nerve to try it right out the gate. MEINIR: =Gestures to the psion with her file, then at Orphus, then at the chair.= /|/ow. Sit. MEINIR: =Orphus will find himself surrounded with psionic energy, and will now be attempted lifted and snapped down onto the chair.=
ORPHUS: I am not trying to le<ture you I am telling you that you shouldnt be-- -He really has no way to fight off the psionics surrounding him and moving his body, struggle as he may hes lifted and then dropped into the chair. Of course the moment he is in it he is going to attempt to jump right back up. This is all very stressful for him.- This is redi<ulous!! <ease this! ORPHUS: -Its hard to tell with the baggy sweatshirt on, but perhaps now that they are closer face to face Meinir might be able to see it in his face how he's lost more weight since they last saw each other.-
MEINIR: =Sorry Orphus, but the psion is definitely going to keep pressure on his shoulders to prevent him from jumping back up, and around his ankles to keep him "chained" to the chair. His commentary makes Meinir laugh, a big booming one, her head falling backwards. Her gaze firm and burning once she stops, pupils only tiny slits.= |Y|ou really have some gall to start making demands from me! I shall cease nothing! Maybe if you had kept your promise I would have given you a more gentle escort back to daddy, but we both very well know there's not a chance in hell of that happening now. MEINIR: /|\aybe that's why you're squatting up in this shithole, huh? Too afraid of "big bad Meinir" coming to haul you back to face the goddamn music? You really had me with that story y'know! About how this was something you needed, and that you would really, really, keep in touch and let me know that you were still kicking. MEINIR: \V/HAT A FUCKIN' JOKE!!!
ORPHUS: -His eyes go wide when she says her intentions of carting him back to their father, no, hes not ready for that he can't face his dad yet thats too much. His fear is momentarily forgotten though when she dares to insult his friend's dwelling.- ORPHUS: It is not a shithole!! -He snarls in response, teeth bared and his volatile reaction a little over played but his entire system is on high alert, any reaction at all is going to be extreme.-
MEINIR: =Snorts.= |>lease. This entire planet smells of animal shit and mud. At least it is an upgrade from LOTAM, seein' as there ain't as many zealots high on fairydust fumes laying around in the street. MEINIR: |T|o think you'd rather spend your time in these hovels than go back home-- \V/hat are you so afraid of anyway? That you failed like, what, once? You're acting as if honor and pride is all that matters! MEINIR: §o tell me then! \V/hat could you possibly hope to gain from squatting on one planet to the next, wallowing in your own self pity? Like. REALLY? How is THAT going to fix your wounded pride?
ORPHUS: -Growls.- I am aware it wont do anything to fix it. But it is my <hoi<e to live as I please. But tell me what do I even have to go ba<k to?? Even if I were to pro<ure a repla<ement limb who is to say I will ever regain the same use and skills that I had. And more importantly what do I have left with his <rew after I all but formally burned the bridge by abandoning them all in the first pla<e to fool heartily feed my own ego and ambitions by serving with another?? ORPHUS: I have embarrassed myself and my family name with my a<tions. Even if I had the smallest <han<e of rea<hing su<ess at home I've forever ruined it with my past a<tions. ORPHUS: I dont want to fa<e that.... ORPHUS: .......But I told you all of this the first time we met. You released me then, so you had to have some semblan<e of understanding.
MEINIR: ()h!!! Yes! I certainly did! I bought into all of this shit, hoping that you'd find your way and be honest to yourself and your fuckin' family! But WHOOPS!!! MEINIR: |3IG SURPRISE! Orphus is nothing but a COWARD. MEINIR: |Y|ou're not trying to fix anything, you're just running away. You don't even give your family the kindness to let them know you're alive. =Her knuckles are going white around the nailfile, and for a moment her expression twists, brows furrowing as her mouth twitches downwards. A split moment of something stinging at her eyes, a grief that she swallows down, her shoulders now squared.= | kept my promise you know. I did! Because FUCK ME if I didn't always believe you to be honest. I kept my bleedin' mouth shut the whole time, even as I saw how daddy was shutting down more for each day gone without a word! MEINIR: |Y|ou're a fucking coward Orphus, one that cares more about your own ego than your family. MEINIR: |)o you honestly think I-- that daddy or Taalay or any of us, are trying to haul you back to force you into somethin' you don't wanna do? To immediately force you back into something that cost you your arm? That's left you looking like-- Like you're not even yourself! MEINIR: /|/obody GIVES A SHIT about what you did. We all just wanted to know that you were safe! That you're alive and that we would see you again! GOD!!! =She laughs, almost pathetically, looking down into her lap while the muscles in her arms tense.= MEINIR: |)addy's crew kept muttering about holding a funeral, did you know that?
ORPHUS: -He is quiet over the duration of her short speech. In part because he knows she is absolutely right. He is a damn coward, a fool, a troll too full of himself that it blinded him until the consequences grew too large to come back from.- ORPHUS: -He's dropped his gaze to the floor, fighting back the lump in his throat and trying to ignore the pathetic way his eyes sting as teal colored tears hang at the very edges. It hurts even more to hear about his father, and the pain the rest of his family was put through because of his reckless actions. It had taken him months to understand he wasnt just hurting himself by running away but everyone else suffered for it too. But what could he even do to fix it now?- ORPHUS: .....No. I did not know that. -He sniffs.-
MEINIR: =It's probably a little awkward for the two other trolls in the room witnessing all of this, but they know to keep both their ears and mouths shut. Meinir's grip on the file eases, letting her fists loosen up on her knees. Taking a breath to steady herself.= MEINIR: |'m taking you back Orphus, whether you like it or not. I'm not going to lie for you anymore, I can't do it. I can lie about a lot of things, more and better than most, but I'm not going to fuckin' play along with this shit anymore. I'm not gonna help you hurt our family, I can't do it. MEINIR: |Y|ou're going to gather what little of your spine you have left, and you will see daddy, and you'll apologize for dropping off of the fuckin' starcharts. Just as I will for not telling him the truth about you.
ORPHUS: -He doesnt lift his head, he's not even straining against the psionic bonds anymore.- ORPHUS: M-Meinir please.... dont. ORPHUS: I-I cant f...fa<e him. -Fuck tears are starting to drip down his face. Orphus shuts his eyes tight to try to stop himself from full out crying but its too late.-
MEINIR: =Honestly, even angry as she is, it hurts seeing him cry. It hurts seeing him cry, hurts seeing him like this, and it hurts knowing that she fed into it when she could have just told everyone the truth. She wants to pinch his cheeks, hug him and say that it's okay! Stop the sniffling and let your sister take care of it! But she can't let herself do it. Keep hurting them all for the sake of a lie. Her voice is almost flat.= |f not now, then when? MEINIR: /-\fter he's destroyed your mother's ships in his grieving fury? After he's held the funeral for his firstborn? All while I watch, knowing that you're alive, but sworn on my word to keep it secret while our family burns? I gave you time with the lie, Orphus, time that I hoped you'd use to build yourself back up. You can't ask me to give you more. Not this time.
ORPHUS: -He is a mess of snot and tears, its really pitiful to look at and Orphus would give anything to not appear so vulnerable in front of the other two trolls, its quite embarrassing. He didn't mean for things to get this way, for everything to go so far. But every time he thought about facing his problems it felt like the end of the world and so he grew comfortable pretending like he could just brush off his old life and live in the shadows without consequences. It was stupid of him to think he could have ever slowly acclimated to interacting with his family and loved ones again, especially after Joel broadcasted his whereabouts.- ORPHUS: Im s-sorry I shouldn't have broken your promise I just-- ORPHUS: I didnt mean t-to hurt anyone else...
MEINIR: =She can't bring herself to cry, even if she feels like doing it alongside him. She doesn't really have any right to, having done what she did, or so she feels anyhow. Wearing masks is what she does, and now she is donning one to keep her eyes from watering. Her breathing is steady, her focus on every even inhale and exhale, a form of meditation to place her focus on that rather than her feelings. So she could say her words without emotions muddling them up. She straightens her back, looking right ahead at him.= | know. MEINIR: |'m not going to pretend you didn't truly have a horrible time, that this experience and your feelings are all invalid, but I still think you a coward for running away without a word for so long. This isn't helping you. The longer you run away, isolate yourself, pretend you're dead.... The worse you're just making it for yourself. If I'm not stopping it now, a hard stop, then I don't honestly think you'll ever stop running. =She stands up from her chair.= MEINIR: |Y|ou can hate me if you'd like, but we are going. =Not like he didn't hate her before though, hah...=
ORPHUS: -Hate is a strong word, but he will not correct her. Its not as though his actions or the way he has behaved towards her in their past would prove otherwise. And Meinir has a small point, even now Orphus still wanted to run and hide (perhaps it had something to do with the feeling of being currently trapped against his will but even so) could he ever trust himself to voluntarily go through with returning home? Possibly not...- ORPHUS: -Still, that did not mean he was thrilled about being delivered straight to his father, and while he had nothing more to say he slowly dried his tears gave one last ditched effort at trying to pull free of the invisible restraints holding him into the chair.-
MEINIR: =Having nothing more to say, and Orphus apparently having no words left either, Meinir gives a quick nod in direction of the psion. The yellowblood swiftly applies a sharp jabbing jolt against Orphus' pressure points, not enough to permanently damage, but certainly enough to make him pass out and slouch like a sack of potatoes. Perfect for transport. The teal hoists him over her shoulder, Meinir watching with an expression more blatantly sad and tired than any that had come before. She shakes it off with a sigh.=/-\islin, search the room for belongings and the like. We are taking it, and him, and we are leaving. MEINIR: =The psion, Aislin, nods, making short process of searching the room with their psionics. Meinir, in the meantime, writes a note which she attatches to the chair via dagger. Polite enough to leave behind an explaination, as the room is left abandoned. The Wave Dancer leaves port only minutes after their boarding.=









