|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 18, 2008 22:36:07 GMT -5
Through this corridor and that corridor, a very tense bat dragged what was probably an equally tense echidna by the wrist. Rouge focused mostly on putting lots and lots of distance between herself and all of the people that had been riding on her last nerve for quite some time, and apparently Knuckles was along for the ride. Eventually, however, she abruptly stopped, and opened the nearest door. It led not to a dorm or conference room, but rather to a janitorial closet. Well, it wasn't what she'd had in mind, but at least it would provide privacy. Flipping on the light switch, Rouge stepped inside and pulled the guardian in after. Just as suddenly she shut the door, and unexpectedly smashed both palms against it in frustration. Rouge didn't immediately say anything, neither to Knuckles nor herself. She didn't even think to herself. She just.... stood there, glaring at the closed door, but didn't look as though she even really saw it. Something else clearly troubled her...
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 20, 2008 23:45:53 GMT -5
Careful not to trip over any of the janitorial supplies, Knux positioned himself on the opposite side of the closet from her, as he crossed his arms over his chest again. "Ok, you got me here...so what is it?"
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 21, 2008 15:08:07 GMT -5
And still the silence persisted. Rouge eventually tore her glare away from the impudent door, opting instead to fold her arms and face the opposite wall. But even that didn't last, and eventually the bat was pacing back and forth. She let out a forceful huff; apparently she'd been about to say something, and then aborted the thought at the last moment.
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 21, 2008 15:37:49 GMT -5
And Knuckles just continued to stare (read:GLARE) accross the closet at her, arms crossed as he fought down the urge to rap his foot in very Sonic-like way.
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 21, 2008 15:57:49 GMT -5
Pace. Pace. Pace. She owed him an answer. She hadn't exactly been all that informative when she'd literally dragged him off. But what would she say? She couldn't even put her thoughts into words in her head, let alone verbally convey it. Pace. Pace. Pace. So many emotions churned together into a volatile concoction. More than anything, in a bizarre way, she felt cheated. It wasn't fair... somehow. Reasonably speaking, her life had absolutely nothing to do with her doppleganger's, and yet, she couldn't explain a feeling of rivalry. Pace. Pace. Pace. Things generally hadn't been going well lately, anyway. It was a constant parade of one frustration after another, each more stressful than the last. Likely enough, the struggles leading up to explosion of just a few moments ago had contributed at least half of the fuel. Pace. Pace. Pace. Stop. ... Rouge caught Knuckles' eye, and crumpled just the slightest bit beneath its power. "Don't look at me like that."
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 21, 2008 22:25:32 GMT -5
"Well then get on with it!" Knuckles snapped impatiently.
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 21, 2008 22:40:32 GMT -5
Rouge sharply flinched, and her ears drooped flat against her head. Letting out a sigh that seemed to deflate her, the bat took a seat on an overturned bucket and plopped her face into her waiting palms. She'd wanted to have this conversation, despite the difficulty of getting the words out... "Sorry. I guess I'm just wasting your time," the bat eventually said. Her voice sounded weak and tiny. " You can go if you want."
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 22, 2008 9:46:12 GMT -5
As much as he was sorely tempted to, her expression gavehim pause. "...No I don't think so. I don't like to have my time wasted, so...out with it already."
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 22, 2008 9:53:17 GMT -5
The bat let out a light exhale of relief, despite knowing that it was far too soon to relax. Unfortunately, and undoubtedly to Knux's ire, there was another long pause. Several minutes (thought it probably felt longer) passed before Rouge looked up, her expression full of uncertainty, and rested her chin on one fist. "Red... where are we?"
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 22, 2008 9:56:44 GMT -5
"...In a closet," Knux said deadpan.
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 22, 2008 10:02:13 GMT -5
Cue facepalm. "Not like THAT!!" Rouge rose to her feet and closed the gap between herself and the echidna, folding her arms after an awkward moment of indecisiveness. "I mean... I mean us. What are we doing?"
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 22, 2008 22:21:05 GMT -5
"...I don't know. It doesn't seem like we're doing anything right now," he said, "That's how you wanted it, wasn't it?"
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 23, 2008 9:11:07 GMT -5
"NO!! ... Well sort of... I mean..." Rouge's stoney composure crumbled a bit more as she frowned and peered down into her hands, apparently simply as an excuse to not look at him. " I don't know..."
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 23, 2008 22:11:31 GMT -5
Knux snorted. "Great...and here I was hoping at least one of us did."
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 24, 2008 1:02:10 GMT -5
Rouge folded her arms and eyed her boots as they scuffed the floor. "I thought I knew... ...Well I mean, I do know... But I... ... Mmf..." Yep, you guessed it, she went quiet again.
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 24, 2008 20:31:17 GMT -5
"So which is it, already?" Knux snapped, getting annoyed, "And don't ask me, because I sure as heck don't know!"
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 24, 2008 20:38:23 GMT -5
"I'm TRYING to!!" Rouge unexpectedly snapped back, looking back up and matching his glare blow for blow. "You think this is easy?! Give it a try instead of just yelling at me!"
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 24, 2008 20:51:24 GMT -5
"I would, but it'd be a lot easier if you'd make up your own mind!" he shouted back. His arms were no longer crossed but held at his sides, fists clenched tight.
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 24, 2008 21:06:08 GMT -5
The bat's chest began to heave as her breaths sucked through her teeth more and more forcefully. These "talks" never seemed to go right, but this one was spiraling out of control even more than the average. Raw emotions were already colliding and conflicting with one another. Why did this always happen? Why could she never say the things she actually meant to say? Why did things always have to result in a shouting match? And even with this on her mind, why couldn't she stop it from happening yet again? "I am doing the best I CAN!!" Rouge screamed before she could stop herself. "This is hard enough without you piling on even more pressure and knowing that SOMEWHERE in the universe that weakling has EVERYTHING that I want five years before I've even taken a step!!" It was all wrong. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. This time was supposed to be better than the others, not worse. She wasn't supposed to feel this way. Anger wasn't supposed to compound resentment. Fear of loss wasn't supposed to knock heads with fear of gain. Rouge was starting to see red, and her eyes felt hot, and her muzzle tingled. Why did this always have to happen? Why?
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 24, 2008 21:41:21 GMT -5
"Well MAYBE if you'd let yourself take the steps we'd be somewhere!" Knuckles pointed out. "Last time we tried you pretty much threw me out the door afterwords!" He was almost five seconds from just leaving and going back to the two echidna fangirls in the other room. Sure they creeped him out a bit, but having them falling all over him was better than THIS.
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 24, 2008 21:48:57 GMT -5
Rouge visibly flinched at that point -- mainly because it wasn't one that she could argue with. At all. Her already slightly reddened face flushed even more, but it wasn't clear why. Embarrassment? Anger? Nervousness? All of the above? "Th-That..." the theif stuttered, desperately glancing about for something else to make eye contact with. " Th-That was different!!"
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 24, 2008 23:05:39 GMT -5
"HOW!?" Knux exploded, "How was that different!?" While she may have been looking away, he was now pretty much boring a hole through her with his glare. "We kissed, and...I actually thought there might be something between us...and then the next thing I know I'm practically tossed into the street on my butt! And now here you are complaigning about how your conterpart has this great relationship when you don't have the guts to even try to start one!"
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 24, 2008 23:17:05 GMT -5
She may not have seen his eyes, but she could definitely feel them, along with each verbal blow the echidna dealt. Rouge's features all seemed to scrunch toward the middle of her face, unable to fight back against a single one of the words that had hit her ears. He was right; she'd always known the things Knuckles confronted her with, but actually hearing them said out loud was unexpectedly frightening. This conversation was heading toward a very sensitive nerve, and without giving an explanation, the bat abruptly turned to make her escape.
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 24, 2008 23:20:31 GMT -5
Only to have Knuckles cut her off by placing himself in front of the door. "Uh-uh, you're not going anywhere. We're finishing this one way or another, right here, right now!"
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 24, 2008 23:32:20 GMT -5
Rouge froze when her escape route was blocked before her very eyes, and her fur stood up on end. Sucking in a somewhat panicked breath, the thief weakly contended in a quivery voice, " Y-You were the one that... d-didn't want to t-t-talk, y'know..."
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 24, 2008 23:33:31 GMT -5
He crossed his arms over his chest again. "Well now I do, so lets talk," he said firmly.
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 25, 2008 20:55:05 GMT -5
Rouge shut her eyes and pressed her mouth into a small, thin line, struggling to control of her rampant emotions. The longer this conversation went on, the more her typically impenetrable barrier had been chipped away. If it continued much longer, she feared that her shield would be broken down completely. The idea of being that vulnerable was absolutely terrifying. Opening her turquoise eyes halfway, Rouge carefully folded her arms and whispered, " What do you want to talk about?" Yes, she knew. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to stall him a bit.
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 25, 2008 21:27:37 GMT -5
His glare narrowed, he was in no mood for games. "You KNOW what!" he growled.
|
|
|
Post by Leedzie on Jul 25, 2008 21:36:26 GMT -5
" Mmph..." Rouge whimpered as she winced. Her heart fluttered frantically in her chest, danger alarms firing in her mind one after another. " I don't know what to say," she squeaked, taking a minute step backwards. This conversation was DEFINITELY not going as planned.
|
|
|
Post by Lans on Jul 25, 2008 22:58:17 GMT -5
"Then...what do you want me to say!?" he asked, fuming. It wasn't exactly a picnic for him either.
|
|