Author's Notes: Canonically this would take place just before Chapter 19 of DtD. A sad tale about the sad ending of a soul that had to go for plot to work. Forgive me. I kill things.
Eve of Life
There were any number of complaints that one could raise about the waitingblock. The walls were painted an atrocious shade of taupe that clashed with the mauve of the carpet. The carpet itself was far too thick, more like trudging through sand than moving over proper flooring. The chair that she found herself seated in seemed to be trying to decide between swallowing her whole and jabbing its hidden metal frame into every bone it could get at. The magazines on the far too low table were perigees old and tattered to boot, and the coffee cup cradled in her hands was chilly and the drink that had been in it was more than simply watered down. Add that to the fact that she'd been waiting there for over two hours and the intended effect was hard to mistake; one was not meant to be comfortable here.
None of that was a strange concept to Alyssm Waleti. She had been in more than her fair share of waitingblocks that were designed to discomfort. Really, only a healthtender or other professional's office was meant to be inviting, to lull their occupants into a comfortable mind frame before the stress of whatever their meeting might entail. The exception, of course, was in the waitingblocks common to all Enforcer division headquarters. Really, she shouldn't have been surprised, Enforcers didn't want their suspects feeling overly comfortable, didn't want legisticators staying too long thinking they had a right to poke their noses into developing cases, and it wasn't like they were running visiting hours or anything, so comfort wasn't a focus. Efficiency, minimal cost and easy replacement when violent subjects took their aggression out on their surroundings were the focus, not color swatches or tacky floral print chairs. It was hard to connect what Waleti was experiencing now with the deliberate design of an Enforcer waitingblock, and yet the longer she waited, the more she knew that this effect wasn't by chance. It had taken careful planning to make such an abrasive environment.
Honestly, she should have seen it coming, considering who she was waiting to meet.
"Captain Waleti?" a voice questioned from behind the desk that occupied the far side of the waitingblock, a barrier between Waleti and the reason she was here. The young purpleblood's voice was sweet and yet questioning, as if she had completely forgotten that Waleti was waiting here. Not that she had. There was a way that the face twisted itself when it was genuinely surprised, and there was no sign of it on the girl's face. No, she had known that her superior was purposefully delaying this meeting, and that it was meant to be taken as the insult that it was.
"Yes?" she responded, her voice full of a practiced and hard earned nonchalance that one only gained from years of service in the Enforcers. There were too many little power struggles, too many major political plays going on in the service to be respectable, and one had to learn to not only see which way the the waves were going, but when the tide was going to come in. It taught one a kind of patience that they weren't prepared for when they were wide-eyed, impressionable recruits. Live long enough in the service, though, and one could perfect a blasé expression that worked in nearly any situation.
"The Generali will see you now," the purple responded, a wide—and strained—smile gracing her face. Here was one yet to be touched by the cynicism of age. Waleti almost envied her that. Sometimes she longed to go back to the simpler days when it was about collaring perps and not having the sort of conflict of interest she was here to deal with.
"And here I was considering perusing one of these lovely publications," Waleti responded, voice deadpan as she set her mug on the table and rose. For a moment she stood there, tidying the way her uniform rested on her and the way her hair fell around her face. It was a minor way of taking up time, a petty revenge, but it was something. "Through that door then?"
The purpleblood nodded, smiling graciously once more, and Waleti just glided past her to the door that her momentary foe had been hiding behind for hours. Now came the confrontation, and she wasn't looking forward to it one bit. The number one reason being, of course, the self-satisfied smirk that she faced as soon as she opened the door into the private officeblock of Enforcer Generali Tethys Hydrus. There was a small part of her that wanted to snarl and smack the smirk off of that high and mighty face. That part was easily drowned out by the far more dominating part of her pan that instructed her to throw a smart salute and come to full attention before the woman that was, at the end of the night, her ultimate superior.
"Captain Alyssm Waleti of Ristart reporting as instructed."
"Of course. At ease. Oh, and do close the door behind you before you take a seat. Very good. I trust that you weren't held up too long by the delay. I know we were supposed to meet some hours ago, but something urgent came up that required me to push the meeting back."
"Of course, ma'am," Waleti responded as she followed instructions, lightly closing the door behind her and then perching herself on the edge of yet another uncomfortable seat. Was it possible that Hydrus had seen to switching out the normal furniture just to spite her. But no, the Enforcer Generali should have barely been aware of her, even if they had 'met' before. Still, Waleti was certain they both knew the truth of why she was here. There hadn't been any instruction for Waleti to travel to Capitol to meet with the Generali, but the unspoken rules of Enforcer political plays meant that they both would have to beat around the bush quite a bit before they came to the true reason they were meeting.
"I trust that all is well in your district. I can't say for sure, Ristart is so small and out of the way that I don't get much in the way of reports on its status," Hydrus breezed, resting her elbows on her desk, interlacing her fingers, and topping it all off by casually resting her chin on her fingers. It was an image of schoolgrub gossiping, and Waleti refused to stoop to that level of casualness with a woman that was—against all logic and rules of loyalty—her enemy.
"Work proceeds as usual. My post is relatively quiet, and we have sufficient forces to keep up with our task of keeping the peace. That said there has been some minor issues with stalkporters prowling around the Anders hive, but they are coming to understand the necessity of privacy for well known members of our society."
"And how did you pull that off? It's not every night that I hear someone has managed to put stalkporters in their places. It is a daymare to deal with them whenever the Empress or younger royals travel throughout the city or Seaedge."
So they were going to be getting to the point a lot faster than Waleti had expected. Interesting. Someone as talented and experienced with the game as Hydrus had to be wasn't the kind to slip up and make her interest so plain. Unless, of course, the topic was so desperately interesting to her. Well, two could play at that game, could they not?
"The secret, of course, is to have a known, ill-tempered psionic on staff who happens to reside there. After the first, justified, display of his power, the stalkporters started to feel uncomfortable. Questions were raised at our station as to the safety of having an uncontrolled psionic running loose, so we sought to lay the public fears to rest by assuring them that the Enforcers had seen to the youths full training of his gift up to military standards, and that he put them to use in authorized fashions for the Enforcers. We thought they should be aware, as he was stationed as an officer of the peace at the Anders hive."
Hydrus chuckled, truly and genuinely chuckled at the explanation, nodding eagerly all the while. "Oh, I have to give you credit for thinking outside of the block, Captain Waleti. I never would have come to such a creative solution to such a problem on my own. Then again, I do not frequently find myself with a fully trained psionic to put to use. They are not overly fond of service, at least those who train in their gifts and do not have glaring flaws with their pantal health."
"There is nothing in particular wrong with Comtroll Captor's pantal health. He functions quite well while living with his conditions. I do believe he would be happier with medication, but as the only prescriptions that cover his condition inhibit his psionic gift he has chosen to forgo it in favor of improved service."
"So I see," the Generali responded with a clearly fake smile as she brushed a few strands of her long, loose hair back behind a fin. "In our line of work one must use whatever tools are available to them, I suppose."
"Whatever tools there are, within reason," Waleti countered, not even bothering with the smile.
"And you are of the opinion that you are in a better position than I am to determine what is within reason?"
And just like that they had reached it, the core of the matter. The reason that Waleti was here and Hydrus was clearly cross about it. The reason that they were, for the evening and maybe beyond, enemies. Odd, suddenly Waleti could not find it in herself to be bothered by the fact that she was all but throwing her career away over a troll like Sollux Captor.
"It has been said, has it not, that one outside of a situation is in a better position to judge what is necessary than one who is a captive to the situation?"
It was an old proverb, older than the current Empress, and many scholars and trolls who found themselves in the middle of the problem found that it held up well even in the modern day.
"Are you suggesting that you have a better understanding of, and perspective on, my situation? Is that why you thought it was acceptable for you to ignore my sealed orders for Comtroll Captor and came in his stead? Because, just so you are aware, I am quite seriously considering having your rank for pulling this shit."
The words were sharp, scathing even, and were this any other situation then receiving such a dressing down from a superior would have given her pause. As it was Waleti waited for the tirade to run its course, toying with the tail of her braid the whole while, before meeting Hydrus's blazing violet eyes without even flinching.
"Forgive me for being so impertinent as to point this out to you, ma'am, but you have made some assumptions that are quite incorrect. For the first, I have not said that I am necessarily in a better position than you to deal with whatever problem has presented itself to you. I would not assume to suggest such a thing, as I lack your experience, or that of many senior members of your staff. Second, I would never violate the privacy or sacred duty represented by sealed orders from the Generali herself. I would, though, point out that such orders addressed to Comtroll Captor have not, to my knowledge, crossed my desk to be handled."
That part was true in word, if not in spirit. The orders had not reached her desk. Instead she had been in the main officeblock area when the mail had been delivered, and when Grisok had been scowling over discovering a sealed item for Sollux Captor addressed from the Generali herself, well, Waleti had promised to see to delivering it when she went to meet with Cyclos Anders to discuss dealing with the stalkporter issue. It wasn't her fault, was it, that a whole pot of coffee had been accidentally spilled on it after it had slipped out of her hand and in to the breakblock sink.
"Finally, if the Generali feels that I have in some way failed in my duties as an Enforcer Captain, then I will accept her judgment and tender my resignation forthwith. It would be criminal of me to continue to waste the time and efforts of the Enforcers in such a manner as I have been accused of. It would be a burden upon me to seek a new line of work at this point, but I am sure that my skills are useful in the public sector in some manner."
The scowl that Hydrus openly wore was more than enough to tell Waleti that her words had hit their mark. Yes, the Generali was clearly furious behind her designer shades, but that didn't mean that she was going to act on it. There was, after all, no proof that any of what Waleti was saying was a lie. Which was unsurprising, really, since Waleti had carefully chosen her words to ensure that Hydrus could not find fault with what she said.
"Ah, forgive me for the assumptions," Hydrus responded through grit teeth a few moments later, her eyes narrowing. "Well then, I suppose I shall take advantage of you as an external set of eyes to my current problem, and we'll see whether I should go about sending a new set of sealed orders to Comtroll Captor. If you do not mind, of course."
"I am quite honored that the Generali would look to someone so young and inexperienced as myself for assistance. I will render whatever I am capable of."
"Very well then. Two nights ago I found myself approached by a very interesting individual. Of course, when I use the word 'approached' I use it loosely, as the individual only sent me a heavily encrypted e-mail that even the best of my Comtroll division is having issues cracking. The individual in question, who goes by the rather bemusing title of 'Graceful Weavings,' claims to be a member of the so-called hemohierarchist movement."
"The hemohierarchist movement that we have been unable to prove the existence of," Waleti questioned. It was rare for higher-ups to even discuss the potential existence of such a dangerous element in their society. Waleti... Well, she had stopped being so sure that they didn't exist a long time ago. One didn't have to look far to see the symptoms that suggested the infection in their society.
"Indeed. The individual gave me details on an upcoming attack they claimed was being arranged by the group. They say that they never wished to become involved with the group, but when their family and quadrants were threatened and the Enforcers had not believed them, they had felt they had no choice but to join the organization for the sake of protecting those they loved. I am not sure I believe this story, of course."
"Of course," Waleti parroted back as was expected of her, even though she was certain that she would have believed the story herself.
"Unfortunately I can hardly allow myself to become involved with a mysterious individual that could just as easily be pulling a prank, or be a willing member of a terrorist organization seeking to pull Enforcer resources away from true threats. Thus I need to meet face to face with this Graceful Weavings and determine their sincerity. They have rejected the notion, leaving me no option but to crack the encryption on their communication and find them by that method."
"Clearly," Waleti again agreed, even though the very suggestion set her nerves on edge. The very suggestion was bordering on a true invasion of privacy, especially since the laws on going after the true identity of an anonymous informer was definitely far from resolved.
"I did a little research in to our records, and have found that Captor is by far the most experienced and qualified Comtroll, despite his age. Truly we are lucky to have his in our ranks when the private sector offers so much more to qualified individuals than we can."
"Captor serves because he believes in his duty to better the lives of others," she mumbled under her breath, but with the way that Hydrus smiled meant she had heard it too. Wonderful.
"Yes, and I feel it is his duty to assist us in this matter. Don't you agree, Waleti? In fact, there are many similar cases that could be handled by Comtroll Captor. Ultimately if he proves to wrap up this case satisfactorily I believe I would attempt to persuade him to transfer here to the central division."
Central division. Waleti almost scoffed at that. It wasn't the central division that Hydrus wanted Sollux for. He presented a unique set of skills to the Enforcers. His talent with technology was unquestionable, to the point that even the world Waleti gave him was no where near enough to occupy his time. Captor had actually spent the last perigee working on a video game in the very little spare time that he possessed. Then there was his undeniably sharp mind. He possessed an intellect that cut to the core of almost any situation presented to him. If she could have moved him from being a Comtroll to being an active member of an investigation team, she would have. Both of those went without mentioning his psionic gift, which was an immeasurably useful tool in and of itself. Of course Hydrus had recognized at least some of these points on her own, otherwise she wouldn't be trying to collect him.
Collect was the proper term for it, too. Waleti was in the almost unenviable position of knowing just how true it was. Generali Hydrus was said to keep her eyes open for promising young Enforcers, who she moved to central division to not only jump-start their careers, but to make use of their unique or inspiring talents. Once Waleti had known one of those promising young trolls, a young yellowblood named Antees Pithya, who had all but been her moirail when they had been in their early training. Antees had been a cheerful, open girl who looked at the Enforcers as the ideal way to make use of her special psychic gift. Antees had been 'gifted' with the ability to see two minutes into her own future through one of her eyes, which had made movie nights quite amusing, as Antees had insisted on wearing an eyepatch to keep from spoiling things for Waleti. She had been so happy, so hopeful, so idealistic. Then Hydrus had shown up and summoned Antees out of one of their classes one night. She didn't return to their shared respiteblock that morning. Or the next. And the one after that Waleti had returned to find everything that belonged to her not-quite-rail had been removed from their block.
They'd only met one time since then, a perigee later at their graduation. She had run after Antees when it was over, demanded to know why the troll she had been certain was meant to be her moirail had abandoned her. Antees, who referred to herself as the Visionar at that point, had bluntly informed her that she bad been brought into the special unit created by Generali Hydrus, and had decided that the best way to serve was to break her ties with her past. That day Waleti had finally achieved her life's calling, at the cost of a beloved friend.
Now Waleti refused to allow Tethys to get sink her garishly fuchsia painted claws into her matesprit. She had managed to finally find the courage to claim her beloved, and she wasn't letting him go like this.
"I am not entirely sure that he would look kindly upon such an offer, ma'am."
"And why is that?"
"You are aware of his situation, are you not?" Waleti asked, trying to breathe normally and not let her growing anger get the better of her. "Comtroll Captor has recently had an unexpected brush with the mortality of his guardian, whom he is very fond of. There was an attack, right here in Capitol, upon his guardian that he was forced to use his psionics to thwart. It caused him no end of trouble for a while, but has reinforced his desire to maintain a close personal relationship with his guardian. He has requested that his trips in to the station be limited to those times when his guardian is not in town whenever is reasonably possible."
"We can easily move his guardian to Capitol," Hydrus countered, waving the objection away. "I personally know the moirail of his guardian, and could see to an offer being extended for them both to relocate here."
"I do not believe either would take up such an offer. Much of the preproduction for Cyclos Ander's new film is taking place in Ristart. I do believe they intend to do no small part of the filming outside of and around town as well."
"Well that presents a larger problem, but not one that can't be gotten around with enough creative thinking. Plus I would point out that Captor's moirail resides here in Capitol, sweetening the deal for him."
"Be that as it may, a commanding officer must sign off on even transfers to central, and it is my belief that my division would suffer greatly from a lack of Captor's expertise."
The smile Hydrus was already wearing only grew at that comment, her eyes flashing as she leaned forward and her lips parted to show her teeth. A seemingly friendly gesture wrapped around a menacing one.
"Ah, but there are provisions for the emergency transfer of individuals in a situation where their commanding officer has proven to be compromised and thus prevented from making a reasonable decision regarding the well being and deployment of their forces. Such transfers only require the agreement of the Enforcer in question, the Generali, and the Generali's second. If such a method was taken, well, then the only ones with any right to complain would be his moirail, who likely would not, and his matesprit, which is nonexistent."
"Ah, yes... Of course," Waleti agreed, and this time it was her speaking through clenched teeth. Hydrus had her in a metaphorical corner now, and they both knew it. It was forbidden for flushed relationships to develop across such disparate ranks within the Enforcers. If, perchance, a set of matesprits joined the Enforcers together then some care was taken with their positions, and moirails were accepted within a division so long as one did not have great power over the other, but if a superior officer were to allow themselves to develop a flushed relationship with an subordinate, well, the superior's career was pretty much over.
It was one of the reasons that Sollux had accepted Waleti's insistence that their relationship be kept secret. It had, in her understanding, lead to some minor tension in his pale relationship as his moirail had taken her side in the argument, suggesting Sollux turn to the private sector for work and only serve as a consultant for the Enforcers. Together they had been unable to convince Sollux of the necessity of such a course of action. But maybe, Waleti found herself thinking, they wouldn't need to. There was more than one way, after all, to skin a meowbeast.
"Well, I suppose that is all we have to deal with. I will prepare another set of sealed orders for Mister Captor right away. Don't worry, I'll send it directly to his hive this time, so no need to worry that it might be lost in the shuffle of daily business. It was a pleasure seeing you, Captain Waleti, and I would hope you would sign off on Comtroll Captor's likely request for a transfer sooner rather than later.
"If it is presented to me, ma'am, I will handle it as is necessary."
"Good. You are dismissed."
Waleti rose, her legs surprisingly stiff for the fact that she hadn't really done anything with them. It was harder to pull off the salute this time, what with how her hands were trembling. All she could do was hope that Hydrus wouldn't see her barely suppressed rage.
The streets of Capitol always seemed to be far too busy for Waleti's taste. Everywhere she looked there were trolls rushing about, barely even looking up from palmhusks or put down their communication devices and looked at where they were going. It was frustrating, it was confusing, it boggled the mind to think that these people could just move around and not notice how much there was out there to be seen and done and enjoyed while they went about the business that seemed so important now but was utterly worthless. Then again, the big city hadn't really been a thing that she was all that used to. Ristart was more like where she had grown up than Capitol was, though neither were quite like Sandsea. Her home had been a beautiful place, situated on the border of the seemingly limitless expanse of the Kalabar Desert, whose dunes and sands went on as far as the eye could see, all dusted with the glittering pink light of the moon. Sandsea had been somewhere between Ristart and Capitol for size, and quiet and serene in a way that couldn't quite be described.
Truth be told, if Waleti could have avoided it she wouldn't have even bothered to walk the streets now. When she had been dismissed by Tethys she had immediately returned to the temporary residency hivestem to avoid the world around her and reflect on her meeting. Unfortunately all it had managed to achieve was to frustrate her all the more. Hydrus had the upper hand, there was no denying that. The question she had been faced with was just what she intended to do about it. After all, Hydrus had been right in her own way. What right did she have to presume upon Sollux's future when she wasn't even willing to claim him as he deserved? She was a coward, the worst kind of coward, asking of him something she wasn't willing to herself.
It was with that realization and the new knowledge that Hydrus really could steal Sollux from her and she would be able to do nothing about it that had driven her from her slab. She'd hauled on the only casual outfit she had brought with her and made her way out into the night with only an address in hand and the hope that everything would turn out alright. So here she was now, trying to find her way through the confusing streets of Capitol, to escape the busy streets and make it in to what passed for residential districts here.
At last, though, she had made it here, outside of one particular hive, where she had been pacing back and forth for nearly a quarter hour. Turned out that working up one's courage was a lot harder than she'd really accounted for. She could face the most hardened criminals without flinching, but faced with a decision that might change the course of her life... Well that was a great deal harder.
"Either figure out whether you're coming or going, or I'm calling the Enforcers," a voice snapped from a window behind her. It was so unexpected that Waleti found herself whirling to find the source, only to be met by a wide grin on the face of a troll leaning out of the window of the hive she had been pacing in front of.
"I'm... I'm sorry to disturb you, ma'am. Would you be Ms. Terezi Pyrope?"
"Who's asking?"
Well, that was clearly as close to a straight answer as she was going to get. Still, the way that the young troll was still grinning, as wide as ever, was more than enough answer for her. So she tipped her head to the troll she was tied to by Sollux, and smiled.
"I would be inclade to her. Her moirail's matesprit, Alyssm Waleti."
The girl's eyes widened behind her crimson tinted shades, and almost immediately she was gone from the window. Not that Waleti was even remotely worried that she would be left outside. In fact, with almost impossible speed the hive door was thrown open and the younger troll was eagerly beckoning her closer.
"You're Waleti? I should have known it. You would not believe how much Sollux can wax poetic about your horns. Of course, I'm more of an ass troll myself, but to each his own. Come on in, I'm studying for an exam, but I can spare some time. Would you like some coffee? I'm not good at making it, but Pyrali leaves some ready just in case there is company. Or, you know, I've got cherry juice pouches if you'd prefer that."
She continued on at that pace, unrelenting, untiring, as she grabbed Waleti's arm and literally dragged her into the hive, barely taking the time to pause and slam the hive door behind them before herding Waleti in to what could only be described as some sort of receptionblock. There wasn't even time to seat herself before Terezi was all but bouncing out of the room, leaving her behind. Yet even that was only momentary, for almost immediately Terezi was back with a mug of coffee, a bowl of sugar, a small tray of finger foods, and two cherry juice pouches complete with straws. It was all pulled together so quickly that Waleti almost wondered if she had fallen asleep for a while, but Terezi's expression was the same as it had been when she'd left, and so it wasn't likely she had noticed anything.
"So, what brings you to Capitol? No, before that, why are you at my hive?"
"I suppose I am to assume that Sollux has told you about me."
"At length for over a sweep. He had the worst kind of crush on you. I have no clue what changed things last time you two were here, but it was about time. I had actually told him about a hundred times that he should just find a job in the private sector and then approach you. But..."
"I love him very much," Waleti cut in, selecting the mug of coffee to act as a shield between herself and her overly excited host. The statement had the intended effect, of course. Terezi quieted down and her expression softened as she looked at Waleti.
"You have no idea how comforting that is to hear. Sollux isn't... the easiest to get along with sometimes. He's all about his work. Sometimes I think we would never have been moirails if we hadn't been forced into each other's presence for nearly as long as we were. Of course, sometimes I worry he never would have been able to handle all he's been through without me around."
"Well, if you are the reason that my chief Comtroll has been levelpanned since abandoning his medication regiment, well, then I am quite grateful."
"It isn't me," Terezi said with a sigh. "He's changed since that threat to his guardian. I prefer to think that it is for the better."
"As do I," Waleti agreed, carefully spooning sugar into her coffee. "But, if you'lll forgive me for saying it, that isn't why I'm here. Sollux has, more than once, referred to me as 'Terezi's ally' when it came to discussions about why our relationship cannot be as... open as he would desire."
"I understand the Enforcer code," Terezi admitted as she jabbed a straw into a cherry juice pouch. "I don't necessarily agree with it, but I understand it. And when it comes right down to it, it is more reasonable for him to abandon a rather short career for a lucrative private sector position, or even a consulting agency, than to ask you to abandon yours."
It wasn't exactly reasonable to ask either of them to abandon something they truly cared to do with their lives, but it wasn't like there were too many other options. And so Waleti took a deep breath, not to mention a long moment to feel the heat of the coffee through the cup, and closed her eyes. Was this really what she wanted to do?
"I hardly feel it is far to expect Sollux to do something that I myself am reluctant to do. Neither of our goals should be forfeit for the other. That said, if one of us must, I begin to suspect it would be better that I..."
No, maybe that was going too far for the moment. The way Terezi was staring at her seemed to imply that. Yet, somehow, she almost felt that she had not gone quite far enough. All she had to do was think back on her run in with Tethys to worry that she was yet to go far enough. The real question was how hard she was willing to fight for her matesprit.
Then, almost as suddenly as the realization had come to her temporary respite block, the resolve to act was there, refusing to be ignored.
"None of that is important. I came here this evening for a reason," she said, setting her coffee aside. "I came here tonight to seek your formal blessing, as Sollux's moirail, for my flushed courtship of him."
There was something about Terezi that made Waleti certain that normally she wasn't prone to staying still. Which made the fact that the troll was staring at her, mouth hanging open, almost amusing. Certainly it would be a sight to make Sollux laugh, but she was, almost pointedly, not Sollux. All she could do was wait, tense, for a response. It didn't matter that she was certain the answer was yes. If Terezi were to refuse such an open request then she was more than welcome to stand in the way of a formal matesprit handfasting. The fact that there was even a remote chance that she'd be refused, was terrifying.
"How am I supposed to say no when you to have exchanged tokens?"
"You still have the right," Waleti reminded her, moving her hands to her lap to hide how much they were shaking. "And, so far as I know, you are the only one aware of our relationship. I intend to change that. Sollux deserves more than the secrecy we have found ourselves in. He deserves a matesprit who he can take out into the world, who can be open to show their pride in him. I want to be that matesprit, and the only way to do it is to be open."
There was silence for a while, a silence that made Waleti want to gnaw on her lip. Waiting wasn't pleasant when what felt like her life was on the line.
"Alright," Terezi said at last, her grin back and as wide as ever. "But if you hurt him, I'm taking a vacation from my kismesis to make your life unbearable."
"Understood."
In the end it had taken her nearly two hours to pry herself out of Terezi's attentive company, begging that she wanted to get to sleep early so that she'd be awake for her glider back to Ristart when it came. Of course Terezi hadn't quite agreed with that idea because when Waleti had, honestly, told her the time the flight was, Terezi had laughed and said that fifteen hours was far more than enough to prepare. Still, in the end she'd been able to plead her case and escape back out into the strange hustle and bustle of the city streets to seek out a meal and to rediscover the resolve that had fled her after betting Terezi for the right to pursue Sollux. Unfortunately that purrbeast was out of the bag, and while she was certain that she didn't want to put it back, she was still terrified of just what it was going to mean for her life. There was no question that Tethys was going to have her badge for this, once she eventually found out, and then what would there be for her? No doubt she wasn't going to leave the force with a proper pension or even a recommendation.
It was with all of that running on an endless loop through her pan that she set to wandering the streets in the general direction of her temporary residency hivestem. It was because of the loop that, after a few blocks, she found herself now sitting on a surprisingly comfortable stool, staring down into a tumbler filled with a few fingers of rich amber liquid.
Barblocks weren't normally anywhere near the top ten on the list of places that Waleti spent her pre-dawn hours. In fact, they didn't even make the bottom ten. When she did find herself in one it was because an extra set of hands were needed cleaning up a brawl. Alcohol was the root of so many lesser evils of the world—lesser because truly murder and robbery had less to do with alcohol than some would care to admit—and she'd heard the cautionary tales of trolls who had grown up in broken hives, whose guardians had been drunks who abused them because they were weak and unable to protect themselves. Alcohol may not have been the root of all evil, but it was quite vicious.
Still, she sat there, staring down into her drink, trying to figure out just what she had been thinking. What had even possessed her to travel to Capitol? Shouldn't she have had faith in Sollux refusing Tethys? Was she a poor matesprit to have doubted him?
No, that wasn't it. She hadn't been thinking of his reaction at all, had she? All she'd wanted was to protect him as she hadn't been able to protect Antees. Just look where it had gotten her. His moirail was excited, her job was on the line, she didn't know how he was going to react to it all, and her career was hanging in the balance. What a wonderful night it had been.
"Surely it can't be all that bad."
Waleti scoffed, still pondering the amber liquid. "Yeah. Maybe just the end of everything I've been working towards for sweeps. Not bad at all."
It wasn't until the words were met with a pitying sigh that she realized that she'd actually said them, or that she was actually responding to something that wasn't just a voice in her pan. Just what she needed, some troll thinking they were going to chat her up because she had made the mistake of finding refuge in a barblock. Why couldn't some trolls just understand that sometimes people went to barblocks to escape other people, not have other people inflicted upon them.
"Okay, so maybe I'm wrong," the voice responded. It wasn't quite pitying, but it wasn't without a touch of genuine amusement being poorly veiled behind it. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
No, she thought furiously at the interloper upon her peace. Yet there was still something in her that made her look up from the promise of the amber liquid. Maybe it was an urge to make sure that the other woman saw her disdain for company plain in her eyes. Maybe it was some kind of desire to give her a baleful glare that would send her skittering away into some corner. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Who knew how the unconscious turnings of the pan worked. All she did know was that when she did look up her eyes met a pair of cerulean eyes only faintly dusted with the black of youth. They were eyes that caught her and refused to let go.
"By all means," she found herself agreeing as she gestured to the stool beside her and a small corner of her pan cursed her out for the action.
The younger woman didn't hesitate, merely moved to perch on the stool and then wave down the bartender. She must have been something like a regular because the tender didn't do more than glance in their direction before turning to prepare some kind of mixed drink. There was an urge, not an insubstantial one, to card the girl. After all, there was no way that someone with that much black left in their eyes was legal to drink. Yet this wasn't her jurisdiction, and for once Waleti couldn't find it in herself to care.
"Vriska."
"Huh?"
"The absolutely artful construction of untamed troll you're so busy scoping out is named Vriska," the young blue-eyed troll said, smiling disarmingly and holding her hand out in a way that left Waleti with no choice but to shake it. "And before you get it set in your heart to try and butter me up, I'm happily entangled."
That wasn't hard to tell, what with the way that the solid jade ring that could only be a bond token pressed firmly against Waleti's hand as they shook. Nor was it surprising. This Vriska was an attractive young thing, and she clearly new it. The way her long, waving hair fell around her face was clearly deliberately meant to disarm and, if Waleti read it right, intimidate. Nor did it hurt that Vriska's glasses were designed such as to draw attention to her odd, seven pupilled eye. Add to that the sheer confidence that she radiated and this Vriska would be tempting to anyone who really thought about it for very long. Well, maybe not tempting. Alluring was a better word for it. Not that Waleti was buying it in the slightest. Alluring but untouchable was as deliberate of a creation for this woman as the uncomfortable and unwelcoming construction of Tethys's waitingblock. The question was just why a troll so young felt the need to create such a contradictory statement with their appearance.
"Then, forgive me for asking, just what are you doing here?"
"Blunt, aren't you?" Vriska laughed as the tender slid a tall, red filled glass down the bar toward them. Without even looking Vriska raised her fingers, curling them just enough to absorb the energy from the glass and stop it in place without upsetting it or losing a single drop of the thick liquid it held, much less shaking the leafy green stalk that stuck out of it at a jaunty angle. Interesting. Reflexes like that were impressive in anyone, and almost doubly so in a blueblood.
"Allow me to be equally blunt, then," the cerulean continued, smile still in place as she lifted her drink. "You're by far the most interesting person in here. It isn't often that I come in and find someone glaring at their drink. No, maybe that isn't exactly right. They get plenty of that type here. What I should say is that it isn't often that they get someone who is glaring at their drink not because of the problems in their life, but because they don't seem quite sure what to do with it."
"Who says I don't know what to do with it?" Waleti asked, fingering her glass. The girl was perceptive, too much so. Maybe she was one of those poor souls that Tethys had acquired over the years, some little pet sent to keep an eye on her while she remained in town. Wouldn't that just be her luck?
"Because you've been staring into that same glass for half an hour and haven't bothered to take a taste. That is quality rum you've got there, the kind that someone who orders it doesn't waste. Too warm and it loses a bit of its edge. Which tells me that when you ordered you knew you wanted something good, but you still don't know enough about liquor to truly enjoy what is offered to you, or how to properly treat it."
"You've been watching me that long?"
"Why, is there a problem with finding you all sorts of interesting?"
Probably. Still, there was a point in what the other troll was saying, so Waleti gripped the tumbler, lifted it to her lips, and after a moment of hesitation, took the whole thing in one large gulp. It burned going down with all the fire of Sollux's touch, and all the enjoyment of flavor of week old coffee that had been rewarmed far too many times. What other trolls saw in this stuff was beyond her. But the burn was nice. The burn was almost, in a strange way, like being near Sollux.
"No," she said, the word coming out surprisingly hoarse as she replaced the tumbler on the bar.
"Oh my, you really don't understand how to drink well. Okay, if this conversation is going to keep up we're switching you to something less potent, and less lucky to have you hacking up your dinner on my shoes later. Tender, get me a Baleful Maryarch for my friend here."
Immediately the bartender set about making another drink, and Waleti could do little more than stare at Vriska incredulously. Just who did she think she was?
"I would hardly call myself a friend."
"Good point!" Vriska chuckled between sips of her drink. "I can hardly claim comradeship when you haven't even given me your name. And after I'd been so courteous and told you mine. I suppose I'll have to keep that second drink for myself until you tell me what to call you."
For a moment Waleti pondered the offer, weighing the perks of free drinks against the cons of having to continue to speak to the forward and presumptuous ceruleanblood. At last she sighed, pushed the empty tumbler away, and twisted fully on her stool to face the girl. What would it hurt? Not like she intended to ever return to this city, much less barblock, ever again.
"It's Wa..." she started, before slowly shaking her head. "Alyssm. My name is Alyssm. Thanks for the drink."
"Alyssm?You're certain? You don't need another try? I can make this a multiple choice test if you need."
The way Vriska smiled through it all, seeming utterly oblivious to how her words might affect Waleti, was actually enough to make her chuckle. Strange, she hadn't chuckled over something a stranger had said in a long time. So many years of keeping up a strong, commanding facade. It was almost nice to let it slip, even for a moment. The only question was just who this Vriska was to pierce through it so quickly.
"Sorry. A force of habit I believe. In my line of work I'm pretty used to going only by my last name. I haven't had someone other than my guardian or matesprit call me by my given name in sweeps." It was almost strange to hear it said by someone other than Sollux. From him it sounded like it was being drawn out, a precious string of syllables that he refused to ever quite let go of. From Vriska it was more like an affirmation that she was something more than just the Enforcer Captain she'd worked so hard to become.
"Interesting habit," Vriska mused as the bartender slid another deep red concoction down the bar, which was again stopped without a second glance—or a first for that matter—by Vriska. For a moment she held on to it, before smiling and sliding the glass by its base toward Waleti. "Normally you only get that sort of thing from legisticators, defendators, guidance adjustors, and enforcers."
"Fitting, seeing as I'm the last of those."
Much to Vriska's credit she didn't flinch, much less blink at the revelation. Instead she, quite nonchalantly, sipped at her drink as if she had been expecting the response. Another point in the column of a spy for Tethys.
"Honestly, I'm not surprised. I'm friends with a few enforcers. There's this thing about the way that they look around a room when they first enter. They appraise everyone, everything around them. You did that more than once since I arrived. One moment you're sitting there, glaring down at your drink, the next your eyes are darting around measuring up everyone like they were under-weighted sacks of flour. There's also your reluctance to talk. Adjustors treat everyone like a personal friend. Defendators are prone to trying to see the good in people, and thus don't try to look too far past the surface in case they find something they don't like. And legisticators, well, they look for signs of weakness. Enforcers look for strengths and weaknesses and weapons and ways to get out of a room, and a lot of other things. Legisticators just want to find that point where they can jab a spoon in to you and twist it just so to make you sing."
"Someone doesn't like legisticators," Waleti laughed, taking her drink in hand. "Bad run in with one?"
"My ex-kismesis is in training," Vriska admitted, shrugging. "Her and her friends were all alike. Tedious, boring, and narrow-panned. But what can you do?"
"What indeed?" Waleti asked, finally lifting the glass to take a sip. Almost immediately she decided she liked the drink. There was something in the combination of what had to be tomato, the spicy kick, and the background shivers that could only come from some strong alcohol. It was a good combination, not too sweet like all the drinks Sollux favored, but far more complex than the straight rum she had been trying. Her only concern was just how strong the alcohol that was clearly present would be.
"The better question," Vriska mused as she pulled her leafy stalk free from her drink and nibbled daintily at the red coated end of it, "is just why an Enforcer didn't demand that the tender card me before delivering my drink."
Oh this one was perceptive, almost dangerously so. Waleti actually had to chuckle and shake her head. "I don't guess you're going to buy that I'm off duty."
"Nope. That ship has long since sailed. Just in case you're curious, though, the tender knows me and knows I'm just barely underage. He mixes a wicked Maryarch, though. You'll find a pretty serious difference between yours and mine, though. I ordered you a Baleful, which is the version that packs a punch. I only get the Chaste. Soon, though, soon I'm going to be upgraded, and on that night I'm buying drinks for the whole damn bar."
"Generous of you," she conceded, looking up briefly to meet the eyes of the tender, who had been hovering a bit closer than comfortable since the conversation had taken a turn toward with the word 'Enforcer.' She only needed a moment to look at the man's posture, the confidence in his eyes, to be certain that what Vriska was saying was true. Great, just what she needed, to be sauced up by a troll not old enough to drink herself. This was by no means the direction she had intended her night—no, it had to almost be morning now—to go.
"Yeah. I'm nothing if not generous," Vriska laughed, shaking her head. "Now, Alyssm, mind sharing the real reason you didn't speak up? Between you, me, and these drinks, I'm not buying that you're the kind of troll that leaves protocols at the door just because you're not in uniform."
"Should I be utterly honest with you, Vriska?"
"Oh do. Lies are so much more boring than reality."
"I don't trust you."
To say that Vriska laughed at the blunt statement was far beyond an understatement. Vriska just threw her head back and cackled. Strange, Waleti had never actually heard one before. Sure, you heard cackles in wiggler's shows, or from villains on programs aimed at older trolls, but never in real life. It was like this kind of sound that everyone knew was possible, in theory, but no one was quite willing to attempt in reality lest it make everyone think they were creating some diabolical plan or having some evil internal monologue. From Vriska, though, it sounded strangely natural. It sounded as if cackling had been made for this troll and this troll alone, and that she regularly indulged in it just for the sake of the sound itself.
At last the sound died away and for all that all the eyes in the block were on them, Vriska smiled at her as if nothing had happened. She did a little flip of her hair and shook her head.
"Well, you really are pretty blunt, aren't you? I can respect that, and understand it I guess. Here, will this help?"
Vriska's hand disappeared into a pocket for a moment, then returned bearing a card that she happily handed over. For a moment Waleti stared at it in confusion, before she finally took it and examined what it offered as a truth. Vriska Serket, manager of a set of production facilities if the card was to be believed. Not that she believed it, Vriska was clearly far too young to have such responsibility thrust upon her.
"And what is this supposed to prove?"
"I just love the minds of Enforcers. You take everything with a grain of salt and it's fun to prove the truth. You could call the number listed, but you'd hardly believe that I guess. Easily faked if sent through an answering device. The email says nothing. I could take you to the facility if you need. Or, oh, how about this."
Again the hand disappeared and returned, this time holding out a keyring. "For my facilities."
Vriska held the keys out, the ring hooked on a single finger, and didn't move until Waleti held out her hand to catch them. It wasn't much, but Waleti did take the chance to inspect the larger keys on the ring. They were definitely to some heavy duty locks, the kinds that typically weren't used in hives. It didn't prove anything, but it was an interesting point in Vriska's favor.
"Oh, that is not the face of someone who's satisfied with my evidence. Fine then, believe me or don't. I'm bored. Tired of proving myself."
That, more than anything, made Waleti smile and shake her head. She was giving up too easily. An Enforcer spy from Tethys would have tried harder. There was a genuine lack of care from Vriska that was more than enough to win her over. It didn't answer the question of just who the younger troll was, but it relieved some of the tension.
"You're an interesting troll, Vriska Serket."
"I really do try," she laughed around a mouthful of leafy stalk.
"I can tell. The short answer to your question is that I can't be bothered to stop every potential underaged drinker."
"And the long?"
"Get me another one of these Baleful Maryarchs and maybe I'll tell you."
It took five drinks and two more barblocks before Waleti found herself nursing a hot cider mixed with something harder at a corner table in a slightly more upscale bar. The solar protection garments they'd borrowed from the first barblock—Vriska knew the tender better than she had admitted, and had sweet talked him out of spares they could use and Vriska could return later—hung from the backs of the other two chairs, a quiet but effective buffer against joiners. Of the two of them Vriska was by far the more clearheaded of the two, but Waleti was certain that she was barely more than buzzed by the point, seeing as the drinks weren't too strong and she'd been taking them relatively slowly.
For all of that, though, the conversation had long since taken a more serious turn. Casual banter in the first barblock had turned to serious discussion of matesprits, to the problems with their lines of work, to the desire to be involved in something bigger, to the here and now where Vriska was frowning pretty seriously into her cider and clearly trying to figure something out.
"What's wrong? It's not like you to take so long to decide something."
"You've known me for hours," Vriska countered, half smiling as she looked up. "You don't really know me enough to quite know what I'm normally like."
"Sometimes you don't have to know someone long to know what they are like," Waleti countered, warming her hands around her cider.
"Yeah. I guess not. Which is what makes this so hard."
Waleti just shook her head, leaned back in her chair, and rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic. Out with it."
"Fine. But remember, you asked for it. The problem, Alyssm, is that you're perfect."
"I've already told you, Vriska, I have a matesprit and I love him desperately. I have no intention of..."
"Don't get ahead of yourself. You're pretty and all that, but I'm not about to wax poetic about your horns."
In any other situation the comment wouldn't have so much as raised her eyebrow. Any other night she might have even gone so far as to laugh at the very idea. But this hadn't been the first time someone had referenced waxing poetic about her horns. The last time it had been from Terezi, in reference to Sollux. This time...
"I'm not the first person to say that, am I?" Vriska suddenly asked, her expression falling. "Wonderful, just wonderful. Not exactly a common thing to say, but there we go. Sometimes I've got luck, sometimes it's impossible to find."
"Vriska..."
"You know how I was talking about wanting to do something more than just make plastics and clothing and all that stuff? Well, truth of the matter is that I'm kind of prone to that. Doing more than what I should. Trying to get people to do more than they might think they should."
This time Waleti didn't respond. All she did was give Vriska that look she normally reserved for her time in an interoxaminationblock. It usually made trolls flinch, made them want to spill everything. Vriska, to her credit, only smiled at the look.
"I'm going to tell you anyway, so give me a minute. This isn't exactly something that I was anywhere near prepared to do when I found you earlier. But really, I should have expected it, after everything I've heard about you."
"Heard from whom?"
Vriska smirked and shook her head. "I'm not sure you'd believe me, not just yet. I guess I should start from the beginning. I was raised by the worst kind of guardian, you know? He was a hemohierarchist, and don't try to tell me they don't exist. He tried to teach me I was better than my wardmates. He tried to tell me a lot, not that I bought any of it. Anyway, let's just say he was pretty hard on my wardmates, and when the chance came to put that ass in jail for what he did, I leapt at it, though subtly. I used my wards to achieve my ends, because otherwise I knew that my guardian's friends would have been after my blood. They weren't exactly complex trolls. Unfortunately they still wanted to know why I did what I did, and before I could make sense of any of it, I was suddenly a member of the hemohierarchist movement, not because I wanted to be, but because it was the only way to protect the people I cared about."
"You're the one that sent General Hydrus the message."
For the first time that night Vriska's eyes went wide with genuine shock. "You know about..."
"I came to town because Hydrus was trying to use my matesprit to crack your codes, to find out who you were. But I won't let her wrap my matesprit up the way she has so many others."
"He sounds like a great guy," Vriska smiled, shaking her head. "Anyway, the truth of the matter is that for a while now I've been trying to work against the movement from within. For the longest time I only did little things. I helped where I could. But I'm not running on that approach anymore. It all changed when I met a troll who figured out who I was. That I was this ghost that was being whispered about. He came to me to help him save someone he loved, and from that moment, my life changed. I changed. I wasn't just some troll trying to help where I could anymore. I was the center of something far larger. A group that strives to stop the hemohierarchists because the Enforcers, no offense, can't seem to do it."
Waleti just scoffed. "You'd be right. Hard to go after a problem that won't show its face publicly."
"To catch those who skulk in the shadows, one has to walk the shadows themselves."
"And you want me to help you."
"And why wouldn't I? You're smart, you understand the system, you hate what you see is happening, and you've clearly grown disillusioned with your line of work."
"It's hard to believe when you see the methods Hydrus uses."
"Trust me, the other side isn't too much better."
"And you?"
Vriska toyed with her drink, once more clearly trying to come to some kind of conclusion. "I'm more of a spider in a web. I watch. I wait. When something gets caught in the web I feel the tugging, and set out to deal with it."
"Sound like a lot of work for only one person," Waleti mused, leaning back in her chair.
"Like I said, I'm part of a group. I may be a spider in the web, but I'm only one. Granted I'm a large one, nearly the center of it all, but this is too big for one troll."
"Then why do it?"
This time when Vriska met her eyes, it was with a grin on her face. "Because one day I saved a troll that no one else believed was at risk. And when I tried to walk away, the troll who asked for my help didn't walk away. Instead he wove something I didn't know how to handle. Something I hadn't imagined. Connections are power in this world, and he could make them. It's only just starting, this thing that we're building, and every step of the way we realize just how much more we need. And honestly, Waleti. I think we need you. Trolls like you are what can save this world."
"Quite a recruitment speech you've got there," Waleti said, shaking her head. "Give me one reason not to haul you to Hydrus right now?"
"Because you have a glider to catch," Vriska laughed, rising from her seat and collecting one of the solar protection garments. "Because you've got a matesprit to go home to. But most of all, because you're tired of letting him down."
"And how would dragging you in let him down?"
"Because he hates lying to you. He's tired of hiding. Tired of feeling like he's letting you down. Not that he ever has, I think. Disappointed you, maybe. But let you down, no. The only thing he's really failed you in is thinking that you wouldn't be with us if you know."
Waleti could do nothing but watch as Vriska pulled the garments on with practiced ease. Nothing she was saying made sense. And yet, at the same time, it all made perfect sense.
"He's born to lead people. Empress help me, I don't know where he's leading us to, but he's going to lead us somewhere better than this, Waleti. I can't help but think it would be better for him if he didn't have to do it alone. As much as he denies it, Sollux isn't much of one for being alone."
"I don't..."
"You understand perfectly fine," Vriska disagreed as she buttoned up the garment and pulled on gloves. "But if you want to keep pretending you don't, go home and talk to him. Tell him that you met the spider queen and she wants him to tell you about the web we spin. And when he gets past tripping over his own tongue and tells you everything, tell him you're with us. That you won't let him down. Because I know you won't."
"I don't believe you," Waleti heard herself saying, her voice barely a whisper.
"No," Vriska laughed, slipping a pair of shades over her glasses. "The problem is that you do. And what it means scares you. That will pass too. When it does, give me a call."
"Vriska!"
Too late. The cerulean had already turned away and was striding out of the barblock, leaving Waleti alone with her denial and her thoughts.
And the realization that so much of the last few perigees now made perfect sense.
The only question was how she was going to approach this with Sollux. Something told her it was going to be an emotional conversation. As she pulled on the solar protection gear—she'd have to have the main desk of the temporary residency hivestem deliver it to Vriska's production facility—she realized that she almost couldn't wait to see what would come of it. Looked like she was going to have to find an excuse to see Sollux as soon as she got back to Ristart. She wanted to be there as much to hold her matesprit in her arms and promise to be what he deserved as to find out just what Vriska meant.