“Who is it?” Lendulin’s voice came through the metal door, seeping through the cracks to find its way to the other side.
“It’s us.” TO said, trying to sound normal, but they couldn't bring their hoarse voice to sound right, “DH and Tio.”
The door opened just a crack, allowing Lendulin to peek through. “Sorry, now not a good-” She stopped as she looked up at the two, taking in their low ears, pale faces, and blue-rimmed eyes. “Shit… what happened?” She said, the mild vulgarity sounding so odd coming from her.
“Do we look that bad?” DH asked, tightening their hand around TO’s. TO squeezed back, wondering how they had spent enough time around Lendulin for her to read them that quickly.
Of course, maybe they just looked that broken; they felt it.
“One second.” She said. The door closed, and several minutes later, it opened up again. The small room looked entirely different; she had pushed aside the barrier that hid half the room to make space for a large, misshapen form hidden under an enormous sheet. She wasn’t alone; Pearla was there, adjusting the corner of a sheet.
They hadn’t expected Pearla to be there, and suddenly decided that they had made the wrong decision to come here. They had spent the better part of the morning and the entire trip to the Outer Ring fighting with themself over whether they should visit Lendulin and tell her a version of what happened, or not. Lendulin would want to know how the date went, and once DH was gone, she’d wonder what happened to the two. TO didn’t think they’d end up visiting with Kei.
“Ah. Sorry.” TO said, their ears dipping down as they saw Pearla, “I figured you’d be alone… I should have called.“ They turned to leave, “sorry, I’ll-“
“Hey, it’s fine. You didn’t have to call. Pearla doesn’t mind, right?”
“Doesn’t matter to me.” She muttered, watching the two carefully, her tail lashing against the floor.
“See, it’s fine!” She said as she gently took TO’s arm, “Come on in. It’s fine. I’m a little busy, but I can make time for friends in need!”
Were they really friends? They had associated with her more to get close to Pearla… but if that was the only reason they were in touch with her, then why did they come here today? Why did they want to leave when they saw Pearla?
Had they actually become friends with a civilian?
“Come on Tio, tell me what happened at least!” Lendulin said, “Was the date that bad?”
“Can’t have been.” Pearla said, a smirk on her face, “They went viral, remember?”
They went viral. The date hadn’t been bad, but it had cost them way too much. They messed up, ruined the evening at the end, and because of their date, because TO had gone and rented a damned carriage, they got caught.
And because they got caught, their superiors would separate them.
The weight of it fell on TO, and despite their best efforts to keep from breaking in front of an insurgent, a sob broke free from their lips.
Lendulin pulled them in, and they sat them at the table. Within minutes, they had warm cups of steaming, weak tea in their hands.
“Pearla, in the cupboard-”
“On it,” Pearla said. She rushed to the cupboard and came back with a silver flask. She popped the lid on it, and the stench of alcohol hit TO from where they sat.
TO knew that it wouldn’t affect them, but the thought of taking anything else into their system, any alcohol or excessive food substances, made them feel sick. They shuddered and pulled their cup away with a shake of their head.
“Alright, no booze for Tio.” She said as she offered it to DH, who also shook their head.
“It doesn’t do much for us.” They admitted, “But no thanks; not today.”
Lendulin rolled up and leaned forward, her arms on the table. “Alright, what happened?” She demanded.
Of course, they had to alter the actual events a little, and had to leave out anything relating to the prison break. Instead, TO just said that their ‘family’ on their home planet had seen the viral picture of them and their carriage. They described Kei as a distant relative who disliked them, and who had found out about them being a couple. Of course, seeing the image, they felt they had no choice but to contact their respective families; for the sake of the business, of course.
“And… of course our families don’t want us involved with one another.” TO said, still staring at their cup. They hadn’t looked up since they started talking, and they worried they might even start crying again. In front of Lendulin, that was bad enough, but with Pearla here…
They should have left as soon as they saw Pearla. No, they shouldn’t have come here. What were they thinking? What made them think that visiting a civilian with links to the insurgency - whether or not she knew it- was a good idea!? Maybe... They just wanted to talk to someone about it. Lendulin was the best civilian they had met so far, and had been so kind to them. She had helped with the date, and TO knew it’d upset her if the two of them just stopped visiting.
“Why not.” Lendulin asked, “I mean, do they have a problem-”
“They think we’re too young.” DH said simply, their ears twitching with the lie. “At our age, we have more important things to do… in their mind.”
TO worried again that Pearla might know what that ear twitching was, but what did it matter now. She already knew that they were a couple, and that they were synths. “Tio’s relation,” DH continued, “The one who doesn’t like me, they’re being sent here. They’re going to help with the business here, and… I’m going home.”
“... No.” Lendulin said simply, “No, that’s not happening.”
TO finally looked up, “We have little choice.” They said.
“Refuse to go!” Lendulin said, “What will they do, grab you, hog-tie you, and throw you on the ship if you refuse?”
“... That’s not impossible.” DH said. “They might well use force if necessary… But there’s worse that will happen if we don’t go.”
“Like what?”
TO and DH stayed silent. There was no way they could come up with a civilian equivalent to what might happen to them.
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“... Hey, what will they do?” Lendulin asked, her voice shaking and her tail lashing against her chair.
“Hey.. they don't wanna talk about it.” Pearla said. It was the first time Pearla had spoken since offering booze for their tea. She tapped on the table before TO to get their attention. When TO looked up, it surprised them to see Pearla’s normally narrowed eyes wide with concern.
“... can you run?”
“... That’s complicated.” DH said. “We’d have no way off Arkane if we did; They have remote access to our ship and our funds, so we’d have no resources either... They could have us hunted down by local authorities if they thought it was necessary. Even aside from all that ...”
“It’s our family.” TO said quietly, “We can’t just leave it.” Once more, they weren’t sure how to describe it really to a civilian, how to explain the privilege and inborn duty that came with being a Synth, the debt they owed for their entire existence, nor could they explain how much of a betrayal, how abominable it would be for them to turn their backs on King Decon.
“Your family shouldn’t treat you like they do.” Pearla said, “And as for the other stuff… We could help. I run a shelter, so-”
“And people died because of insurgents there.” TO said, “If they chased us, wouldn’t it cause you problems too?”
“I can handle problems. Trust me.”
They stopped and looked up at Pearla. Pearla, who knew what they were, and who might know what was really happening if they had gotten the right information from synths.
Synths who the insurgency had tortured.
What did she want? Was this just a ploy to capture them so they could force them to work for the insurgency? She knew what they were, and she was part of the insurgency, so she didn’t want to help them.
TO shook their head and looked away. “No.” they said, hating every millisecond where they considered taking Pearla’s help. “That won't work.”
“If we do what they tell us to do, we’re safe.” DH said as they put a protective wing around TO.
“And… if you don’t, your family might hurt you?” Lendulin asked.
“You don’t understand…” TO said softly. They shook their head, regretting coming at all now, “We just… well, DH is going to be leaving soon, and we have work to do on other islands before that, so we won’t get to see you again-”
“If your family might hurt you, TO, then I don’t think it’s a very good family.” Lendulin said, “Look… we can think this over. We can figure this out. We can hide you two if we need to!”
TO stood up suddenly, their heart racing. “You. Don’t. Understand.” They said, “We didn’t come for help, we came to say goodbye. We can’t run. If we run, we’d be in hiding. Our family can easily have us reported as insurgents and hunted down-”
“Must be some powerful family.” Lendulin said.
“You have no idea.” DH said, standing up as well. “Let’s go, TO.”
“Wait, don’t go! Let me help!” Lendulin said, wheeling forward. She grabbed the edge of TO’s shirt and pulled back. TO stumbled, catching themself just in time to keep from falling, grabbing out for something to help balance them. Their hand grabbed the sheet in the middle of the room and pulled half of it down.
“... What’s that?” DH asked as they stopped, looking at what was under the sheet.
It was a collection of canvases, set on easels to dry. The brilliant, signature iridescence of the clothing on what was clearly Mr. Venturi’s work was still wet, as were the quick, fluid brush marks in black in which he used to define specific parts of his painting.
“It’s nothing!” Lendulin said quickly, pulling the sheet up. “Just practice! I’m trying to mimic his style, right?”
“You said you weren’t an artist.” TO said quietly, remembering that first day they met, “You lied?”
“No, I didn’t. I meant I’m not like... A real artist, right?” She gave a nervous laugh, “I mean, that stuff, it’s not nearly as good as his.”
“It is though.” DH said as they gently lifted the edge of the sheet to see better. “I’ve never seen any of these before, and I’ve been looking at his work since we saw it in the shop.”
“Well, that’s only because…” Lendulin trailed off, clutching the arms of her chair.
“... It’s because these are originals.” Pearla said, “Original Venturi paintings… Or Lendulin Paintings, as they’ll never be called.”
Lendulin turned in her chair, eyes wide. “Pearla! How could you-”
“What, you’re going to stutter until you come up with a better excuse?” She huffed. She slithered over to the paintings and pulled the sheet off properly.
Ten, no, twelve new paintings, each one exquisite and magical, stood in the center of the room. DH stepped forward, taking a better look at them, eying the clothing on the paintings as though they wanted to take them and wear them right away.
“So… Venturi stole them from you?” TO asked. Right away, they were wondering what they could do. As synths, this was well beneath their attention, but they were sure that they could make the right notes in the right file, or alert the right people.
“No!” Lendulin protested, “He doesn’t steal from me; I’m just.. His assistant.”
“More like his meal ticket.” Pearla said. She huffed and went back to the table. “That asshole ‘buys’ Lendulin’s paintings and pays her to keep quiet about them being hers. He then presents them as his own and makes a mint off of them.”
“He’s helping me!” Lendulin said. “You think I’d be able to see them on my own? With this?” she slammed her fists on her tail with such force that TO was certain she’d have bruises there the next day. “No. No, I couldn’t. If I tried to sell these on my own, I’d be working on scrap paper and selling them for almost nothing at the waterfront. This way… this way at least I can live.” She reached forward and pulled a brush from a glass that sat under the easel. “You think brushes and paint are cheap? The inks I use? The canvas? No, it’s all expensive. This way, I can make art, and survive off it.” She threw the brush to the floor. “Without him? Without Venturi I’m out in the harbor, cleaning the undersides of ships and getting oil-lungs from it.”
There was silence in the small room. The sound of water trickling through the side and Lendulin’s heavy breathing was all the noise there was. After several long minutes, DH went to the brush on the floor, picked it up, and brought it back over to her.
“... I really like your paintings.” They said softly, “And.. I don’t think Venturi liked me much, so... I’m happy they’re your paintings. Not his.”
Lendulin snatched the brush, and flushing deeply, she took a rag from nearby and started wiping it down.
“Thanks.” she muttered, “But you’re not changing the subject! Your families are full of asses if they’re doing this to you.”
Pearla gave a sudden snort of laughter, covering her mouth too late to hide it.
“Sorry.” She muttered, but offered no explanation.
“... Couldn’t he say you’re doing the paintings?” TO asked, “And that he’s just... Marketing it? Agents still do very well-”
“They don’t have the same prestige as artists.” Pearla said with a sneer, “He wants to be famous.”
“.. And nobody wants art from a slith like me.” Lendulin muttered.
“Oi!” Pearla’s eyes narrowed, her tail lashed, “Don’t you dare call yourself that.”
“It’s true though. If everyone knew I was the artist, nobody would want any of my paintings. The ones that are on display in museums, they’d be taken down and sold off, probably for pennies. That’s if anyone believed me, that is.” She shrugged, “This is the best I can get.”
“He tells her this shit, I know it.” Pearla said, “He’s awful. I’ve never met him, but he has a reputation.”
“Can we focus on them!” Lendulin said, pointing to TO and DH. “They’re the ones who need help!”
The anger drained from them. TO sighed and sat back down, “There’s no helping this.” They said, “Your paintings wouldn’t sell without him… and we can’t leave our families. We can’t turn on them, and even if we were to, we don’t have the resources to stay safe.” TO’s wings tightened around them. “So... that’s that.”
That’s that. The end of them. DH would go to one place, TO would stay where they were, and their higher ups would keep them separated.
How did C12 get to stay with Snout? TO wished they could ask.
“... Look.” Pearla said, their voice slow and careful “That art show, the party… it’s tomorrow. Are you still coming to that?”
“I am unsure.” TO muttered. On top of the invitations that Lendulin gave them, Minister Sally, who was hosting the event, had invited them as Synths; the formal request for their presence had come as soon as they finalized their plans to go to the Fourth Quadrant.
“Please?” Lendulin said, “It would mean a lot to me.. And it’d be nice to have people there that I actually know.” She gave a bitter laugh, “I’ll probably be the only legless person there.. You might even be protecting me if you’re around.”
“Go on.” Pearla said, “Just… go to the party. It’ll be a last fun time with you three, right?”
“And I really want to see DH’s dress!” Lendulin said.
If Pearla wanted them at the party, that felt like reason enough to not go. Was it a setup? That was TO’s first thought, but the way Pearla was looking at them was different now. There had always been this cold to her, angry and closed off. Now, she just seemed like she was pitying them.
They didn’t want a civilians pity.
It might be a trap. They almost said no right away, but that would mean saying no to Lendulin, too. She’d be alone otherwise.
Would they be protecting her just by being there?
“We’ll see.” was all TO said.