Chapter 6! Enjoy!
"Good morning, Captain Teemo!" Teemo had heard even before the jingle of the bells that were connected to the other side of the door had finished their tune. The greeting chime had initially drowned out the other noise that was constituting the cool air and atmosphere around the very spacious room. Many sets of voices ricocheted off of the worn, figured mahogany floor that has been stepped on for years and tended to with immaculate care, and were swirled around by the abundance of three-bladed, brown and white overhead fans, causing the diners to be comfortable while sitting and eating. The smell of over-easy eggs and toast came from the fully operational kitchen on the most left side of the diner. And while some were sitting on top classic blue polyvore spinning stools by the main counter getting served a fresh morning's coffee, others sat and conversed with their friends at the number of tables that scattered the floor. As Teemo entered, another couple had just stepped down the two steps on the side of him and exited through the opposite side of the double door that Teemo had entered. His eyes roamed up over the short counter to face a friend that he's known for a long time. The old yordle's orange-ish fur had outgrown over his eye, making it so that he would always look like he was squinting.
"Welcome to Stella's Diner." He said in his old, normal and jolly voice. Teemo smiled upon seeing him.
"Hey Everard." Teemo said, letting the door swing shut behind him. Upon entering, Teemo took his scouting hat off. Knowing that the manager was so old, it would be disrespectful to wear a hat inside of his restaurant. Holding his hat in one hand he walked over to the counter and shook the yordle's hand. "Long time, no see."
"It has been certainly a while, Teemo. You haven't been here in over a month!" Everard exclaimed. Teemo let out a small, and completely guilty, chuckle and moved his hand to scratch the back of his head.
"Hehe, yeah well I've had some… important business to attend to lately." Teemo claimed.
"Well that doesn't count! You couldn't have just come in once to enjoy a nice meal?"
"Well I'm here now!" Teemo exclaimed, and they both shared a friendly laugh. Teemo put an arm on the counter and hunched over a bit. "How's the place holding up?"
"As well as the day it was opened, brilliantly!" He said cheerfully. ""Fifty-eight years and me and my wife's diner is still serving the highest quality breakfast food in all of Bandle. If you ask me, I'd say it's astonishing that no one has beaten us yet."
"Well that's why you're the best." Teemo said. "Speaking of her, how's Stella doing?" Teemo asked, and Everard raised his arm and pointed to his right, over towards the kitchen. It was closed off by a metal door and a wall, further supported by hiding behind the main counter.
"Still cooking her heart away." He said and his tone down shifted, as if reminiscing in to the past.
"You think she's ever going to stop?"
"Never." The old yordle said and shook his head. Teemo couldn't help but admire Everand and Stella's persistence. They would continue to run this place until the very last moment of their lives if they could. But, as Everard had said, Stella would never stop cooking. They looked back at each other and exchanged another smile.
"Table for three, please." Teemo said, and flashed three fingers.
"Ooh, a bit late to the get-go Teemo. Your friend here has already got that covered." He said while looking down at a mapped out version of the tables. They were laid out like blueprints, signifying and identifying every table with a number. Teemo's face turned perplexed.
"Who?" Teemo asked. Everard gestured his head over the stairs to his side.
"Table sixteen." He said, and Teemo had quickly found the table with the white card that painted "16" on it, as well as the yordle that was sitting at it. Teemo's gut wrenched at the sight of his mohawk and blue fur as he had really hoped it was Tristana whom arrived first. Rumble sat on the back end of the table. His arms were crossed and leaned on top of the menu that he was looking over. He wore a white t-shirt, letting the fur on his arms (which were surprisingly muscular despite his scrawny body) bristle up from the fans, and blue cargo shorts. Table sixteen was located in the very back corner of the diner, making Rumble look like a vigilante by himself. Teemo's smile died down in to a frown, and he was mad at himself for it. He shouldn't frown when looking at one of his best friends, but it just wouldn't be like normal because of yesterday. Suddenly, an orange-ish hand waved in front of his face.
"You ok, Teemo?" Everard asked. Shaking his head, Teemo sighed.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you, Everard." Teemo said, giving a nod and a half hearted smile to the old yordle before he pushed himself off of the table. Teemo started walking with heavy footsteps. He hopped up the two steps and made his way out onto the main dining area. The smell and sight of everyone's meals made his stomach churn, or that was potentially caused by approaching Rumble. His footsteps resonated as he turned the corner and made his way down the right-most walkway column. Other yordles eating looked up, recognizing him, though no one bothered to say hi which Teemo was awfully thankful of. When Teemo passed the fourth table down the aisle, Rumble looked up. Them connecting eyes was almost an insult as to what they had said to each other yesterday. However Rumble's amber eyes didn't maintain the same ferocity as it had, which was definitely a good thing. Teemo showed a lackluster smile as he approached. Rumble didn't return the smile. Instead he looked back down at the menu as soon as Teemo did it. Rumble didn't react when Teemo came right up next to the table.
"Hey." Teemo greeted him, though not enthusiastically.
"Hey." Rumble repeated back, having the same kind of monotone in his voice. Teemo pulled a chair on the opposite side of the table as Rumble and sat down. In front of him was the menu, the same one Rumble was looking over. There was also one on the table in front of the seat next to him. Through the laminated cover was a piece of paper. The paper symbolized the age of the restaurant, as its design was that of an old piece of parchment. On the 'parchment' paper read the words in big, bold, and yellow text "STELLA'S DINER - BREAKFAST MENU". Teemo looked back up to Rumble. He was still looking down at the menu, contemplating on what he wanted to order.
Both of them were clearly aware that the tension from yesterday was still here. If any of the customers were looking at the two, they would be able to tell as well. There were a couple signs. The most obvious was that the two, who are popularly known as very good friends, weren't talking excessively to each other by now. The way that they were sitting showed many signs of tenseness and zero clues towards lax behavior. For other people, this was completely unnatural of the two.
Rumble's posture never broke under Teemo's inordinate amount glances directed his way, but his mind was slowly crunching the fact that Teemo was giving him this much attention. The only reason that he had come here was because Tristana had invited him. The only reason he disputed the answer in his head was because Teemo was also coming. There was too much strain about Teemo in Rumble's mind, and Rumble knew this. Sadly there was no way for him to control this, and again he knew this. It was just only natural.
"I overheard you chatting with Everard over there." Rumble finally spoke five minutes after Teemo had arrived. Again Teemo looked up, but Rumble still refused eye contact.
"Did you now? From all the way over here?" Teemo countered.
"I noticed you when you came in and kept my ear open." Rumble said. His tone shown no form of polite manner in the slightest. "Sounds like that you two are pretty good friends."
"You can say that, though I hardly talk to him outside of here." Teemo said.
"He's a good person. He's older than us, so he definitely knows more than us. Who knows? You should talk to him more, you might learn a thing or two." Rumble said, and flipped a page.
"Like what?" Teemo asked, and Rumble shrugged.
"Oh I don't know. Like I said, he's a good person so…" Rumble finally glanced up and looked at Teemo. "... you might learn a thing or two about being a good person." He mocked. His tone whipped as he said that, just like his tone changed on the spot yesterday.
Similarly, Teemo's posture changed instantaneously as well. As soon as Rumble finished his sentence, Teemo breathed in a good whiff of fresh diner air through his mouth which ultimately puffed his chest outwards. His body quickly tensed up as he exhaled afterwards, and he looked over his left shoulder, as if checking to see if anyone had heard him. Teemo looked back, only to see Rumble still looking at him, though this time he was stifling a mocking laughter at Teemo's response. With no means of a reasonable response here, Teemo slumped back in his chair.
"Wh… What do you want from me?" Teemo asked, pausing with his stutter. His voice invoked his precipitated annoyance of the subject and sounded hurt.
"I already told you what I want, Teemo." Rumble answered, and looked back down at his menu.
"No that doesn't count!"
"Why doesn't it count?"
"Because only one of us can have what you want, and right now I have what you want."
"I'm not talking about that Teemo." Rumble finished, his voice dropping in disappointment when he knew that Teemo wasn't understanding what he meant. The confused look on Teemo's face only clarified further.
"Then what are you talking about!?" Teemo said, maybe a bit too loudly. He noticed his raise in voice and quickly crossed his arms on the table, as if he was concealing himself from the noise he had just made. In the meantime, Rumble glimpsed up at him, his eyes revealing mockery and attitude.
"I don't care if you come to understand me or not. If you'd just take the time to remember what I had said yesterday, and come to understand the explicitly simple instructions I gave you, then we won't have so much of a problem." Rumble said. Teemo sat in silence for a while after that, letting the information process in his head. Letting himself realize how much that statement aggravated him.
"Oh I remember what you had said, don't worry about it. It's just… I can relive yesterday and recall how you didn't answer any of my questions. Nor how you failed to respond to me as you stormed out of your own house looking like a kid had just lost his fucking balloon." Teemo had offset. The way Teemo's countenance constituted a forced smile but tense expression easily showed that he was irked. Rumble laughed.
"Funny you say that. I don't remember you showing any sympathy towards my feelings at all yesterday, either." Again, Rumble counteracted.
"I gave you the option to murder me yesterday." Teemo claimed.
"And I already told you why I didn't, which, I would assume, is reasonable enough."
"Oh come on Rumble! You and I both know there's more behind it then just that!" Teemo said, again a bit loudly, though this time he didn't hide it. Instead it seemed as if he had wanted to say it that loudly.
An electrifying shock went off in the back of Teemo's head, and he knew that it was happening again. To this day, he still wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. How this personality of his switches on and off was very peculiar in its own right. The fact that it has been turning on around Rumble was probably the worst thing that could happen though. Rumble looked up, now him with the confused look at Teemo's statement. Teemo looked down and closed his eyes for just a moment. When he looked back up, a cocky grin fell over his face.
"After all, it's only truth." Teemo sneered. With that, Rumble had practically the same reaction as Teemo had earlier to his statement. His body tensed up, and as so his muscles flexed themselves.
"Don't you dare." Rumble growled. However it was too late for intimidation.
"What? You even admitted it." Teemo said, and it was absolutely true. "So what keeps me from saying it?"
"I swear to fucking Bandle itself -"
"I'm testing you Rumble." Teemo said. "I'm testing to see how far your cowardice will take you."
And that set Rumble off, though not visibly. His insides were ravaging from anger and his brain was telling him to punch Teemo in the face this moment. Though this was true, Rumble's expression remained the same. Teemo could see the flames in Rumble's amber eyes, melting away at the shining that consisted there and would eventually turn full black from madness. At least, that's what Teemo foresaw. Rumble cocked his head to the side. Eventually he brought his arms up and clasped his hands together, elbows placed firmly on the menu. As he started talking, Rumble began cracking his knuckles.
"You really are testing me right now." He confirmed, taunting and cocking his head again, this time cracking his neck. Before Teemo had a chance to respond Rumble continued, "No. This is hardly a test. You're pushing me right now, Teemo. You're pushing me over the edge." Teemo shrugged.
"I could tell, you really didn't have to tell me." Teemo said with a smirk, knowing that he was getting the better of Rumble. He said nothing directly after that. Actually, Rumble didn't say anything for a while after that either. He took his fake smile and pointed it downwards. He let his head hang for a while, not once looking up at Teemo, though he never closed his eyes either. But, as in the beginning, Teemo never took his eyes off of Rumble. He observed some weird movements. Every once in a while Rumble would shake his head, as if he had objected something in his mind. Sometimes his body would rattle with a single spurt of laughter. Rumble's tense look waned, but so did Teemo's confident look. In truth, Teemo was quite concerned if Rumble was going insane. And if he did, it was all his fault.
And if it was true, it was surely all his fault. Rumble noted that; how once his friend became his verbal enemy was uncalled for. He had never expected for this to happen, and thus why his mind was having the mental breakdown it was having right now. There was a thunderstorm occurring inside of Rumble's brain, and there was little but time to stop it right now. Rumble was quite glad Teemo was giving him this time, or else his brain would literally explode. The amount of stress concealed within him was enough to scare the entire diner out. He needed to let out, but he just couldn't here. His mind swarmed with swearing words and fighting words, needlessly graphic words that he needed to fly at someone.
Instead his mind resolved with an temporary acceptable alternative. Taking a deep breath in, he let out a long and generally needed sigh. This being the first time he had done this, Teemo raised an eyebrow atop his fur. His face now somewhat perplexed, Rumble looked up. He still had his fake smile on, yet now it somehow mimicked Teemo's cockiness from before.
"Do you want to fight me, Teemo?" Rumble candidly asked. He wasn't screwing around.
Why did this induce so much adrenaline? Something about the question hyped Teemo's senses almost immediately. On the other hand, his mind blurred with horrific, blurred visions. He envisioned the outcome of what a fight with Rumble would be like. No, a real fight. Teemo and Rumble have sparred a couple times, though that was only for fun. His expression maintained subtlety despite the flurry of thoughts, and same with Rumble's. A fight with Rumble… how would that end up?
For a while all they did was stare at each other. It was another test of will. Just like a staring challenge; who could outlast the other? At this rate is seemed as if it would never end. Their bold expressions made it pretty clear about their intentions. Teemo slimmed his eyes at Rumble after hearing the question, and Rumble never let up. It was quite clear Teemo had to debate a serious manner.
"Hey boys!" A female voice unexpectedly said from the side, and Teemo and Rumble's hearts leapt out of their mouths as soon as they heard it. Both being startled, they looked to their sides. They were both relieved that it was only the waitress and not their scheduled other guest. She looked baffled that they were startled so easily. "Y'all need more time or you wanna order now?"
"We can order now, that would be nice." Rumble instantly said, blowing off the subject completely. And again, Teemo was amazed at how quickly he could change his tone of voice. He looked down and picked up his menu, scrolled over it one more time, and closed it. "I'll have bacon and egg grilled cheese sandwich with the side of bacon." Rumble said, and the waitress wrote the order down on her notepad. After she was done, she turned to Teemo.
"Same thing as him." Teemo said, and pointed at Rumble. The lady nodded, and just wrote down a simple "x2" next to Rumble's order.
"And we're still waiting for one more, right?" She asked, holding up one finger.
"Yeah, but I can order for her." Teemo claimed, and the waitress nodded again. "She'd like the Stella's omelette." Teemo ordered. With the whisk of her pen she wrote it off with a line to underline the entire order.
"Alright, I will be out with your meals in just a few." She said. With a quick thanks, she was off to continue her job. Teemo and Rumble looked back at each other. It seems that the intervention was much needed. The waitress doused the fumes smoking from their heads.
"It's her favorite meal." Teemo said calmly. Rumble nodded.
"I know. You really didn't have to tell me. I've known her just as long as you have." Rumble said ironically. "And did you really have to get the same thing as me?"
"Hey I told you about this dish, so you can't say shit." Teemo said. For a brief moment there was silence. But this time it wasn't because of tension. This time both Teemo and Rumble knew this fact was true. It was a funny moment to reminisce in.
It felt foreign to share a laugh with each other. The emotion came through nicely.
Silence fell shortly afterwards, and the same pressure arose with it. Now it was awkward. The brief happiness they felt washed away at the remembrance that the question was still in the air.
They hung their heads low, waiting for the other to talk.
"So, about that proposition then…" Teemo decided to say, taking the conversation directly back on topic. Rumble had no reaction, as if he was expecting him to bring it up again.
"About it?" Rumble asked back. Another rise of tension brought about a small pause.
"Why?" Teemo asked. "Why… even ask it?" He said, and let his words linger about. Their gaze into each other's eyes never let up.
"Because I… want to see if you can do it." Rumble said, his voice low and quiet.
"What? Beat you in a fight?" Teemo asked again, and Rumble nodded. Teemo contemplated his next sentence in his head carefully and eventually decided to say, "We both know who would win that fight."
"Are you sure?" Rumble countered fast, leaving Teemo's voice on the edge of his seat. Despite the involuntary urge to stand up and say yes, he knew he couldn't be for sure certain. After all he is… Rumble. Teemo didn't respond.
"You're not sure, are you?" Rumble asked again, still leaving Teemo without another response. After a while, Rumble smirked.
"We've 'fought' before Rumble, and you remember who would come out on top -"
"If you thought those were real fights then you are surely mistaken." Rumble snarled. The fight in his voice was easily revealing itself, but then again so was his desperation to persuade Teemo into doing so. Every time he talked it seemed as if he was leaning more and more over the table, inching his face closer and closer to Teemo's just to intimidate him. And he wasn't only trying to intimidate Teemo, he was also baiting him into doing it. Knowingly, Teemo didn't fall for it. He pushed himself off of the table, now leaning himself back into his chair.
"No." Teemo answered. After another pause he spoke again, "No. I don't want to fight you, Rumble." He had restated his final answer. Rumble slimmed his eyes at the captain, wondering if Teemo was actually scared of him or declined rather in his own benefit. Either way, it tipped off Rumble that there was something going on with Teemo. A simple question wasn't enough to make him do it.
And was Rumble oh so itching for a fight about now with Teemo.
"Table sixteen ma'am." Both Teemo and Rumble had heard from the side through their heated moment. Both Teemo and Rumble looked over; the sound of their table number announced itself from the front counter. From here Teemo and Rumble could see Everard point his finger right to where they were sitting, along with another familiar set of blue eyes following the destination.
"Thank you, Everard." Tristana said, giving the old yordle a smile and nod before beginning to walk over from the counter. Again today she wore the same white jacket as yesterday, along with a casual set of clothing; a blue tank-top (and from it her bra strap showed) and white shorts extending just below her knees. From there her eyes saw the two boy's were looking at her and she gave them another smile. The two reciprocated the action, and Rumble waved her over.
"Hey guys." Tristana said as she walked up besides the table.
"Hey Tris'" Teemo greeted.
"Hi Trist." Rumble also greeted, and she sat herself down. Her hands migrated up over the table, then she noticed that there was no menu.
"I ordered for you already." Teemo said, ceasing Tristana's confusion.
"Stella's omelette?"
"Yup."
"You know me too well." Tristana teased, and leaned herself back in her chair to get herself comfortable. Teemo chuckled.
"Well, I'm supposed to know you well, aren't I?" Teemo asked. Tristana shrugged, and then laughed.
"Didn't we talk about this yesterday?" She asked.
"I think we did."
"Deja-vu." Tristana stated and yawned, stretching her arms playfully and lazily into the air, cracking her fingers at the top. "Sorry I was late. I ran into Poppy on the way here. She had some important stuff to tell me."
"Like what?" Rumble asked. She looked at him for a second, then turned to Teemo.
"Apparently Teemo and I are supposed to be going with her somewhere today…" She claimed, letting her voice trail off. Teemo looked at her confused.
"Where?" He asked. Her mind was hesitant on saying it.
"We're apparently supposed to go to the Mothership." She said, expecting the reaction that was given. Teemo slumped back in his chair and let out a disappointing sigh, while Rumble's body and mind leaped from themselves, placing his hands on the table.
"What!" Rumble yelled out.
"Why…" Teemo reacted differently, his voice straining the disappointment showed by him. "I've been there too many times, and it's all the same. No progress. Nothing interesting." He said. Rumble leaped up, putting his hand in the air.
"I'll go in place of Teemo, since he doesn't want to go!" Rumble said, pointing at Teemo with his other hand. Tristana chuckled.
"I'm afraid that she specifically requested only Teemo and I. Sorry Rumble." Tristana apologized, slightly hesitant in doing so. She knew Rumble's passion about the Mothership, and Teemo's boredom of it. Knowing this, she wasn't too surprised when Rumble slammed his hands down on the table as he sat back down. Some of the diners looked over at the commotion. Noticing this, Rumble gave them an apologetic smile. He turned back to them, scowling.
"Dammit man, I really want to go!" He said, pausing and crossing his arms in frustration. "I've applied myself to the engineers and mechanics there many times before, and they always reject me. I tell them that if they hire me, that ship will be up and running in no time, but nooo," he elongated, "they won't be able to get a damn mechanic that will be able to fix that piece of art like me. I swear…" Rumble ended his rant.
"I can probably ask if you can come the next time I go, it's just…" She said, feeling bad for Rumble. She looked at Teemo once, though he didn't seem to have advice. Looking back she said, "it's business matters."
"You wanna take my spot?" Teemo asked, seriously and sarcastically at the same time; seriously as in he really did not want to go, and sarcastically as in he couldn't not go. "I'd take any other military exposition trip than this one."
"Can I really?" Rumble asked, wide-eyed.
"Yeah man, go for it."
"No!" Tristana said aloud, interrupting the two's joyful thought processes. Tristana turned and gawked at Teemo. "Teemo, you're a Scout of the Mothership for crying out loud! Have some compassion will you?" Tristana lectured in a motherly voice. Teemo rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, sure. Right after they actually get it to work." Teemo commented, and Tristana jabbed him with her elbow. Teemo laughed. "Are we going to go anywhere afterwards?"
"Did you want to go somewhere?"
"Yeah, why not? We have two days left."
"Where?"
"I don't know. Anywhere that's cool and not hot preferably."
"Ok. We'll just wander around then." Tristana said, both her and Teemo nodding and the short-notice game plan of the day. She looked at Rumble, noticing that he was being left out of the conversation. "So how have you two been?" Bringing about the two in the same subject. Not only for Rumble's sake, but out of her own curiosity. She feared that there was still tension between the two.
"We're fine. Just hanging out and talking." Rumble said, pretty calmly. Since Tristana got here, Teemo was surprised that Rumble had managed to remain stable. But, then again, it was Rumble. He puts on a really good act at times. His appearance seemed normal.
"Ohhh, talking and such huh? Tell me about it." Tristana said, placing her elbows on the table and locking her fingers together to make a flat surface and rested her chin on it. As she said that, Teemo and Rumble glanced at each other. They had known each other long enough that it seemed as if they could communicate telepathically.
"We uh…" Rumble started, "We were talking about you, actually." He said, peaking Tristana's interest.
"Really?" She engrossed herself. "What about me exactly?" The question stumped the two. She was interested. She looked between the boys, noticing their nervous expression and unwillingness to tell, making her laugh on the inside. And about laughing, Teemo eventually smirked and looked at Rumble.
"You owe me 10 VES' "
"What?" Rumble instantly said, crumpling the look on his face into annoyance at Teemo's sudden fib. Teemo conveyed a small chuckle.
"You lost the bet." Teemo claimed. Rumble kept quiet, not knowing where Teemo was going with this. Before saying anything else, he reached over and slung his arm around Tristana's shoulder. Tristana jumped at the contact. "I told you that Tristana would look gorgeous today."
A giant blush befell upon Tristana's face, and another tick of annoyance was added to Rumble's counter. His ear twitched as he repeated what his sentence actually implied to Rumble in his head. Though Tristana hasn't noticed it yet, it was best to come up with an alternative fast. He looked down and gave a low [hmph] noise and smirked.
"Yeah, well doesn't beautiful imply the same thing anyways?" Rumble counteracted, now leaving Teemo looking for a solution and Tristana growing even more red.
"It would if you didn't make the bet and if I didn't upscale it."
"Well my bad then! I could use a different word if you want. She looks absolutely stunning right now, to be more accurate."
"Doesn't count. You said that after the bet was made."
"Then what? Just because you two have your little thing going on doesn't mean that I can't compliment her too?"
"No, it's just you can't compliment her like I do."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm better at it."
"Hmph. Hardly."
"Yeah right."
"Alright y'all." Someone finally intervened, and it just so happened to be the waitress. She set a table down, and on top of it were the three succulent looking platters of food that they had ordered. The waitress looked back at them, but not immediately back at the food. Instead Teemo and Rumble had to follow her gaze to see Tristana who, quite frankly, was as red as an apple.
"A-Are you okay ma'am? You look a bit hot -"
"I'm fine actually! Just peachy!" She said, clearly embarrassed. The waitress, a bit flustered with Tristana's reaction, didn't say anything else as she set each platter in front of them, the tasteful aroma already filling their noses, and left with the table she had placed. They boys looked at each other, then at Tristana. She didn't move for a full moment afterwards.
Teemo and Rumble both burst out laughing.
After the, seemingly long, morning full of interesting, harsh, and funny conversations, the three finally got the time to sit back, relax, and enjoy a morning's breakfast provided by their favorite place to eat together. If there were any words said while enjoying their meals, it was very sparse in between each other and provided only small conversation. The delicious food in front of them was enough to satisfy their minds and palates, and the hands were only used to move a fork over an egg or piece of toast.
The tension between Teemo and Rumble had temporarily ceased during this period, though certainly not forgotten. Through one or two little farce words were said while eating the two involuntarily ended up glancing back and forth at each other. Tristana never noticed this, instead she only chuckled at the two's blows towards each other and, again only sparse in between, she'd pitch in every once in a while. However in the end she found their little disputes funny and annoying at the same time, causing her to continue to think that there's still something between the two that they were hiding from her.
She had noticed this in some other ways too. The way that they acted in front of each other didn't seem as normal as it normally was. It also didn't seem as friendly. The brief pauses in between some of their sentences suggested this. Tristana didn't say anything about it, but nevertheless she suspected it.
It didn't take long for the three to finish their meals. Being practically stomach full and still endorsed by the food, again little talking came afterwards. Basking in the aftertaste, the waitress came over, collected their plates, and gave them their check. After paying the ordinary price of 35 VES', they recollected themselves and left the premises, giving a small thanks to Everard on the way out.
Rumble parted ways, leaving the two to their own business, and began the trek down the road back to his house. Likewise, Teemo and Tristana began their walk the opposite direction, towards where the Mothership was being housed.
The Mothership was taken off display from the central park about three months ago and was now being housed inside one of Bandle City's major scientific powerhouses: the Ruddynip Techmaturgical Park. Through the knowledge passed on to Teemo by Tristana on the hike up there, apparently the lead scientist involved with the study of the Mothership had "game breaking" news to share with the highest of Bandle's ranks. The scientist had already shown Poppy, and Poppy volunteered Teemo and Tristana to be the next to be shown.
The bright morning eventually tuned to a little past noon time while traveling the road upwards to the park, which was located about one kilometer to the east of Bandle City's southern and rural entrance. The sun blazed down upon the two, and by now they both wished they had brought a bottle of water with them for this super hot trail. Just as they were becoming mouth dry, their eyes caught sight of the techmaturgical park in front of them. It was comforting to them, though only because they knew the place had air conditioning.
Take an institute from Piltover and scale it down to a building appropriate for the size of a yordle. That is exactly what this place looked like. Bandle City rivaled Piltover for their scientific studies, since some of the most known scientists were actually yordles. Ever since Bandle City had discovered the Mothership, Piltover has donated many funds to Bandle City in effort to reveal the secret behind it and research its capabilities. With those funds Bandle City was able to create the biggest hextech studying center Bandle City has ever had. The operation was performed with the help of construction workers from both Piltover and Demacia, so with those influences the tall, white, and skinny building in the center of the park was the head of operations, where big hangars that surrounded it were centered on the subjects of construction, deconstruction, innovation, discovery, and research. With these five primary subjects, the park has become a tourist site for many that have come to Bandle City.
A few humans had just passed them as they had just passed a sign that read "RUDDYNIP TECHMATURGICAL PARK" in big, bold letters. They seemed to be pleased by what they saw inside.
The two were instantly recognized by the yordles guarding the outside gates. For the three yordles that did operate the gates, one radioed their presence to presumably the head of the facility, one welcomed them in, and one pulled the gates open. Aware to all of this, they entered.
The outside of the park offered little to see except people walking about between the buildings and yordles entering them. It was a nice setup, though. The times Teemo and Tristana had been here before have been quite nice. Teemo personally liked visiting the hangar labeled "Apothecary and Agricultural Works" and seeing if the workers there have further advanced his poison. Tristana consumed the sensory information around them, remembering the green and dull looking hangars and small houses which housed more experiments in them, only to remember how cool they actually looked on the inside. Her eyes managed to drift off to her left and read the sign of her favorite hangar, "Offensive Weaponry", and remembering how her and Teemo would ignore the big sign "KEEP OUT" to go in and sometimes be greeted by their friend Ziggs, who worked on and off of his station here and his station in Piltover.
"Teemo. Tristana." A stern voice called from in front of them. Looking back over they saw Poppy dressed in a proper, business looking suit heading towards them. In her left arm she tucked an official looking folder, while her right arm waved them over.
"Hi Poppy." They both greeted. Though she was looking authoritative, both Tristana and Teemo weren't accustomed to acting formal in front of a friend.
"You look… formal." Teemo commented.
"It's because I'm actually here on official business, and I've been waiting for you two to show up." Poppy said, and began walking the other way, Teemo and Tristana following closely behind. "Although I'm pretty sure you two will like what the lead scientist is going to show you."
"Is it another cupcake?" Teemo asked wittily.
"No… but the cupcake is still being researched." Poppy stated, and Teemo rolled his eyes wondering why scientists were still wasting their time on a stupid cupcake.
"What is it then?" Tristana asked.
"You'll see." Was all Poppy said. No more was said then those few words as they shortly rounded up to the main 'Research' hangar. Opening the door, Poppy let the couple enter first.
Once again the inside of the hangar made the place look so much bigger than it was on the outside. White tiled walls outlined the insides and it made it look a lot like a giant stereotypical science lab. In front of them was a wall, segregating them from anything in the room beyond it. Poppy again stepped in front of them and led them through the short ways down the left and then into the main hallway. Hardwood floors paved the units of flooring all throughout the hallways, though stopped when entering one of the side offices. Labs turned their flooring into more white tile, while offices kept the same hardwood look. Signs above each room labeled what they were for, whether it was for a more specific purpose or just "Lab 2". There was at least one yordle in each room doing their jobs. Some of the labs gained their attention for the briefest of moments. Tristana could've swore she saw on a whiteboard the word "rocket" next to the word "kaboom", though sadly Poppy dragged her along before her excitement got out of hand.
Through many twists and turns throughout the lab rooms and offices, they finally found their way to one door different than the others. It was a normal steel door, with the lever on it capable of opening the door. She pushed the bar down inwards and the door swung open. Stepping out, they found themselves on top of a balcony high up off of the ground. Teemo and Tristana first looked down through the grates, rebalancing their mind to the sudden height. The ground's surface was cemented all across the field in front of them. The hangar walls continued to surround them and the cement field that was locked in it. Large, metal bars protruded from the side walls and met in the middle. The bars formed a clasp, and with the support of magnetics and sticky plasmid palettes in the middle, the bars became a claw. There were about three of these coming out from each side of the wall. Together they held different parts of the object located directly in the center of the room. In the middle was a tall, lengthy object that almost touched the top of the hangar. The tip of it formed a cone, and the sides were beautifully remastered to form an aerodynamic surface, perfect for the vehicle's suspected point of use. The Mothership was being carefully tended to like the last they had saw it.
Poppy led them down the remaining flights of grated stairs on the right side of them and they eventually made contact with the cement flooring. As they walked closer, Teemo and Tristana realized the group of people circled near the Mothership. They were scientists, dressed in white lab coats and long pants. Among them were mechanics wearing iron gear and goggles on their heads. They were conversing amongst each other.
"Margie!" Poppy called over, interrupting their conversation. From it, the entire circle looked over. One particular scientist perked her ears up and smiled. Talking to someone in the circle one last time she left and strutted over to the three of them.
"I presume you've met Margie Grunbean before, the lead scientist here." Poppy inquired, gesturing her hand out to her. The two introduced themselves to her, and her to them, and they shook hands. "Right. Margie, I'll let you show them."
"Yes ma'am." Margie said, and turned to the two. "Teemo, Tristana, we believe to have found a surplus of a very rare mineral located not too far from here -"
"Mineral? What does a mineral have to do with any of this?" Teemo cut off, already becoming annoyed at this demonstration with just the word 'mineral'. The scientist held a finger up.
"Let me show you." She said, and began leading them to a door on the right. She led them through and they found themselves in a single, small room. The walls were white tile, though this time there was a red tint to them. Except the tiles didn't contain the red. On the back wall there was small capsule sitting on its base atop a small shelf. As they got closer, Teemo and Tristana discovered that the capsule was the object causing the red light. Margie grabbed the capsule off of the shelf and showed it to them. It was a liquid, showing a black and reddish tint, and it seemed to be active. Without Margie shaking the capsule, they all could see the liquid flowing about inside.
"It's called vianite." Margie said. "Earlier studies of vianite suggested that the mineral was a stimulant to living organisms diagnosed with it. The problem was that it was rare. Recently we found a granite deposit a mile south of the danger zone of Icathia, and we discovered that the granite there was imbued with this mineral. With the large deposit at our disposal, we were able to extract the mineral from the rock and conduct more studies with it. And with more research, we were able to determine that vianite can be a stimulant to… well… anything really!" She said, fascinating even herself while saying it. Teemo and Tristana got their faces closer to the capsule. If vianite was a stimulant, it was doing a good job. Small bubbles were forming within the liquid.
"This is a sample of vianite imbued with oil. As you can see, it has turned the liquid into quite an overdrive substance." She said. "Other vianite oil samples indicate that this process, as you can see here, lowers significantly in degree about two days after the vianite is injected."
"So… if it's a stimulant, then this can power anything practically?" Tristana questioned, and they both looked back up at her.
"Yes, that is correct." She said. "As of now, our current power surplus would not be enough to lift the weight of the Mothership off of the ground. However, with this, it could make quite a difference."
"Have you tested this?" Teemo asked, pointing at the oil.
"Of course. We've tested the oil on a miniature sample of an oil powered generator and results concluded that this oil was two and a half times more effective than normal oil." She answered. The room went silent for the next moment, the three still observing the the sample presented to them. Teemo and Tristana looked at each other, both with the same inquisitive look. Both were skeptical about the outcome, and they were pretty sure Poppy was too.
"You… said you tested this on living organisms, right?" Teemo asked, and Margie nodded. "What happened there?" He asked. Her facial expression turned quickly, and Teemo thought that he had said something wrong. In a few seconds, she remembered what had happened and grimaced in horror at the thought of it.
"The results were… conclusive. We injected a syringe of vianite into an ordinary house cat and placed the cat inside a visible glass container with ordinary food and water for twenty-four hours. He uh…" She hesitated. "Within two hours, the cat started making frantic movements, like spazzes, with his legs. In five hours, the cat started pounding with his paw up against the glass frame. At the eight hour mark the cat… broke the glass… and started running around. The cat ran around like crazy and started biting some of the scientists fiercely. It was like the cat had rabies." She stopped there. The three got the idea, making them even more skeptical.
"So the effect varies from each substance it is diagnosed into." Poppy stated, and the scientist nodded.
"But it's not particularly safe…" Teemo also stated.
"No it's not quite safe." Margie said, and looked down at the ground in disappointment. After a moment, she looked back up, this time with confidence. "Although if our studies keep resolving with a non-violent reaction with this oil, we are confident that this is what we need to set the Mothership into motion." She said.
"Isn't there more to be done with the Mothership other than this?" Tristana asked.
"Yes. One of our mechanics had a small… incident… regarding the cupcake. See he, uhh… thought it was an actual cupcake and…"
…
"He may have broken all of his teeth and now he can't talk." She said, cringing under the thought of it. However tragic it must have been, Teemo and Tristana couldn't help but hold back their laughter. Margie shook her head. "So now we need someone to replace him."
"He was working on the Mothership, right?"
"Yeah, he was the voice of vehicle maintenance operations." She said. The three looked at each other and smiled. Who might they know that loves mechanical engineering and product design, and was a genius at it? Hmm…
"But besides that…" Margie said and clasped her hands together in front of herself, "Any questions."
"Nope." Teemo and Tristana both answered. Margie gave them both one brief smile.
"Now get out of here! I have studies to attend to!" She said, shooing them all off with her hands, and backing them up quickly. As soon as they left the room, Margie slammed the door shut and locked it.
The three stood in brief shock at how abrupt that was. Poppy broke the weird atmosphere, turning to the two.
"That was… interesting." She said, talking more about that ending than anything else. "Welp, that's it! Now if you excuse me, I have more business to attend to." She said. The two nodded, and Poppy walked past them. As she did so, Poppy gave a sly smile and wink to Tristana as she passed. "You two have fun!" Poppy said, and Tristana rolled her eyes. Turning around back to the Mothership, they could both see her walk away.
The two stood there still, not quite knowing what to do.
"Well that was…" Teemo started.
"interesting…"
"dumb…"
"weird…"
"random…"
"progressing."
"Let's go with that." Teemo ended the circle of words and deciding on one to describe the whole of events that had happened. Simultaneously, they both let out a deep sigh. The two walked out into the open, observing the scientist and mechanics running around tending to the Mothership. Light reflected off of the shiny surfaces of the ship in front of them. They have done a really good job maintaining the vehicle. It's a miracle that, after all of these years, it might finally be able to move soon. Teemo and Tristana repositioned themselves and found a big moving crate to slouch their backs against, now sitting on the cement floor staring up at the ship. The Mothership, the spectacle of Bandle City. The biggest accomplishment Valoran would ever see if the thing took flight.
"Have you ever thought about going to the moon?" Tristana asked through his thoughts. The question took him by surprise.
"No, I haven't really." Teemo answered, looking at her. She was staring at the Mothership and, surprisingly, a wondrous smile came across her face. The type of smile that even made him happy seeing her smile.
"Wouldn't it be cool?" She asked, and Teemo didn't respond. "I mean, going to a place where no one has ever been. Seeing the stars a bit closer. Seeing your own planet from up there. It would all just be… awesome! I don't know. I would love to go to the moon some day." She fantasized. Teemo could see the sparkle in her eyes, and he absolutely loved seeing her like this. It brought about the joyous personality in her that Teemo loved. The way she was able to joyously experience moments like these and her reaction to them. It brought hope to him. Not only that, inspiration as well. He looked back up to the Mothership with her.
"I will take you there." Teemo declared, and now Tristana was the one to look at him aimlessly staring at the Mothership. "When this ship gets fixed I'll learn how to fly it. And then, one day, I'll fly you up there. Just the two of us." He said. Tristana stared at him.
"You would?" She asked. Teemo looked back at her, now the two staring into each other's eyes.
"For you." Teemo said. The genuine paradise envisioned by both now seemed to form itself on the moon. For her, the ticket up. Now she wasn't sure if she wanted the two way ticket. They both smiled at each other. Soon Tristana leaned her head over, resting it on Teemo's shoulder. Teemo did the same, leaning his head and resting it on hers, snuggling her head between his head and shoulder.
"Let's stay here for a while, where it's cool and not hot." Tristana said. She could feel Teemo nod against her.
"Yeah, that sounds better than the plan before." Teemo said. And there they sat, looking up at the Mothership. What a fantasy.
"Where are they?"
"They're in there obviously. They're almost always there."
"Ok, then why haven't we gone yet?"
"Patience worm! Soon you'll learn. We just need a bit more, then we can finally get them and our prize."
"And the mage?"
"The mage is in there too. Again, just wait. One more shipment, and then we'll be set."
"You sure?"
"Of course. Have I been wrong before?"
"Five years ago you were."
"... Get out."
That's all for now! Not much to say but look out for more! See ya!
