scholiast | 🌱 inbox

[Now that they're leaving the less pleasant stuff behind--because somehow, in their twisted lives, talking about their various deaths didn't make it to the unpleasant list of things--Lup leans back into the couch cushions, shifting to throw her feet up on Lucretia's coffee table, arm still thrown around the other woman. She lets Lucretia have the wine, knowing she needs it more.]

Don't even have to think about it. I've got mine. Cycle Twelve. [It was about the time that Lup started to really form bonds with her other crewmates, not always with Taako attached to her hip.] That was the year Mags and I kept trying to outdo each other. All those stupid challenges. [It had all started off innocently enough...] Can't remember who had the bright idea to see who could hold their breath longest, but we found out that day that we both couldn't out-stubborn death.

Good luck beating that one.

(Lucretia nearly chokes on her next sip.)

Is that what happened? (Cycle twelve was so long ago but she remembers this, the way Magnus had come trailing back to the Starblaster like a guilty dog, tail between his legs and Lup nowhere to be seen.)

God, Lup, we all knew it was for some stupid reason but I didn't think it was like that. Magnus wouldn't tell us, said it was too sad. You idiots. (She's fond though, laughing as she leans into Lup's side. Strange how talk of death can be counted as moving away from more depressing subjects, but over the cycles the lot of them had learned how to lean into their immortality: some a little more than others.)

You're right... I can't top that, (she muses, and passes the bottle.) All I have is that time Davenport told me not to go back into a collapsing building for my things but I did any way– that and... uh, seventy-three, I think. But that was a drunk thing, it feels like it shouldn't count maybe.

Hey, I would have totally won if he'd just given up!

[Lup remembers returning at the beginning of the next cycle, immediately doubling over to laugh while Magnus practically stumbled over his words trying to apologize to her. With tears in her eyes, she'd punched him in the shoulder and brushed the whole thing off, but the memory always stuck with her. It felt like the first time in her life that anyone besides Taako had really seemed to care about her wellbeing so deeply. It had been the start.]

And yeah, yeah. We're idiots that you love. Just try and deny it. [Lup takes a swig of the bottle while Lucretia muses. She is not at all surprised by that first story. Could there be anything more Lucretia?] Okay, you can't give me shit for my stuff if you went into a collapsing building for your freakin' journals. [Those books were going to be the death of her. Wait, cycle seventy-three? Now Lup's interested.] Wait, what? Tell me! Drunk things count!

Magnus giving up at anything? You do know him, right?

(Though, to be fair, on cycle twelve they were still shiny and new to each other, and Lup and Taako particularly difficult to crack. Lucretia still remembers the pain of trying to speak to them at first: impossible to catch one without the other, having to be subjected to the little looks they'd swap lightning fast while you were talking. Only a bit intimidating.

Lucretia pretends to sigh, laying the back of her hand dramatically across her forehead.) I can't deny for even a second, Lup: I love the lot of you. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. (She ruins this little mocking performance by going a bit red in the face when Lup gives her a look that she knows all too well: that prying, deeply curious one that means she won't let what you've half-told her go until she hears the rest of it.)

Okay, okay, (she prefaces,) it was just– I dunno, we were drunk, all of us, and we had been on this planet covered in water for most of the cycle. It was called Haling Cove, but Magnus called it Pirate Bay instead and that stuck, it was stupid– anyway, I made a joke about... about skinny dipping and then Taako dared me to go for– uh, a swim, and said that he'd do it if I did and so I... did it. Except I didn't look before I leapt, and I forgot that Davenport had pulled the ship up earlier than evening for some– safety thing. (She shrugs, nonchalant.) So I fell roughly eighty feet and died the moment I hit the water.

Now I do. [Not that it really would have made any difference. Lup was just as stubborn. Even if she knew there was no chance at winning, there was still a fairly good chance she'd rather die than back down. After a half of a century of death being nothing but an inconvenience, it was going to be difficult to train her out of it. Being careful had gone out of style decades ago.

Lucretia throws her hand up dramatically and Lup laughs at the pure drama of it all before taking advantage of the moment to give the other woman a quick tickle against her side. She left it open! She should have known that would happen. Lup always goes for openings!] That's Lucretia. Our very own martyr.

[Suddenly, the other woman goes red and Lup's curiosity over cycle seventy-three grows exponentially. She turns slightly on the couch, just to face Lucretia better for whatever is coming next, leaning in eagerly in anticipation of the tale. And honestly? It does not disappoint.] You...[And here comes the laughter, as much as Lup is trying to hold it in until she can finish speaking. Her slender frame shakes, eyes scrunching together as her grin widens.] You jumped out of the Starblaster. Because my brother dared you to. Naked.

(She's trying to be as dignified and casual about this retelling as possible, but it's ruined of course by Lup making an attack of opportunity against her unguarded side, forcing her to swat her away with little, sputtering giggles.)

I didn't say I was naked, (she protests, because it's true. She didn't say that. It might have been what happened, but she didn't say so and, uh, that makes it a mystery never to be solved.) But uh, yes that is the general gist of what happened. I didn't even really realise that I was falling until it was way too late.

(Coming back into seventy-four had been an exercise in dealing with extreme embarrassment. Taako had hooted with laughter upon her arrival for a good thirty seconds– in very much the same way that Lup is laughing now, actually. Lucretia snatches the bottle of wine from her and takes a big, necessary gulp. These twins will be the actual death of her some day.)

Stop it. (She's starting to laugh too, even as she flips Lup off,) I told you it was a dumb drunk thing!

You, Lucretia, totally went jumping off the side of the Starblaster butt naked. [Oh, it doesn't matter if Lucretia said the word or not, she planted the imagery there in Lup's head and now she's never going to live it down. Damn her mystery, Lup has already filled in the blanks and refuses to accept any other version of this Mad Lib.

Lup's only laughs harder when she gets flipped off, practically cackling by now, eventually having to slide an arm around her stomach while she doubles over, struggling to catch her breath. There's stray tears running down her face and when even she knows it's gotten to a ridiculous point, Lup puts a hand over her own mouth, like she's trying to suffocate her laughter out. Eventually, as difficult as it is, she's left to just some small giggling, no quite able to stop it completely.]

I may have some dumb deaths, but at least I wasn't totally nude for any of them. [She quickly pauses, eyes flicking up in a contemplative look.] Wait, that's right, isn't it? I didn't-- Yeah, no, zero naked deaths for this chick.

Yeah, but I'm not the only one who has! (Lucretia can feel her ears getting hot as Lup cackles away, and resists the urge to set the bottle down so she can press her hands over her face and hide herself from view. This is too much. To be laughed at in this way after sharing her most embarrassing death! Unforgivable.)

Stop, oh my god, (she whines when Lup doubles over, giving her shoulder a shove with her fingertips but Lup carries on regardless for the better half of a minute; honestly, the sight of her doubled up like that, hand over her mouth makes Lucretia struggle to keep a smile off her face. It's extremely stupid. It's just what she needed, after everything that had already happened today.

Eventually she stops, and Lucretia tries to school herself into a deeply unimpressed sort of expression, one she doesn't quite nail because she is still very flustered.) Yeah, at least for– for now. You never know what the future will bring.

Edited (oopsie) 2017-09-21 14:11 (UTC)

Pretty sure you're the only one who died doing it though! That's gotta count for a little more. [Lucretia's attempts to get her to stop laughing are just priceless, especially that unimpressed expression that just barely misses it's mark. Each shove and scowl just continue to draw the last lingering laughs from her, until Lup is left wiping tears from her face, smiling so wide her face hurts.

For her part, Lup tries not to think about how very uncertain her own future is, wondering where she could be and if she'll ever have the chance to do something utterly embarrassing for the rest of the group to laugh at again. Instead, she tips her head backwards against the back of the couch and drags Lucretia closer, squeezing the other woman's arm softly. Not quite an apology, she's not going to apologize for laughing at something that deserved to be laughed at, but something kind and appreciative.

She hates to see Lucretia trapped with the rest of them in Hadriel, but she's so grateful to have her.]

Hey, [she makes a swipe for the bottle back] Up for a little art yet?

🌱 inbox

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject