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ase-trollplays · 7 months ago

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Getting Over It

*snap*

The tip of Thiomi's mechanical pencil broke for the fourth time as she was sketching, and the woman silently gritted her teeth and impatiently tapped the eraser to reveal more lead. She was behind on commissions again and hoped to get some warm-up sketches in before starting on her work proper, but her restraint was beginning to wane.

She shouldn't have even approached her. She knew it was going to be an unpleasant interaction. It always is when it comes to her.

Of course she's not sorry. She's never sorry for anything wrong she does, that bitch.

In fact, if not for Thiomi making herself known, she probably wouldn't have even noticed h--

*snap*

"Dammit!"

The sound of paper flapping was followed by a loud THUMP as the sketchbook hit the wall, followed by a thud as it fell uselessly to the ground, and Thiomi balled her hands into fists at her desk with tears threatening to well in her orange-tinted eyes.

She knew talking to her would only make her angry. She knew she wouldn't get the reaction from her that she wanted. She knew it was a mistake, so why did she do it? Why did she bother approaching that spiteful, wretched, insensitive--

"Well shoot, what's got ya doin' all that clickin', miss ma'am?"

Thiomi darted her head toward the doorway to her room where Corali stood with a bowl of sliced pears. Only now did Thiomi take note of the loud throat clicking emanating from her. She quickly unballed her fists and laid her hands flat on the table and unhunched her shoulders as she relaxed her jaw. The clicking slowly subsided as she stood up from her desk and made her way over to her moirail to accept the pears.

"It's nothing," Thiomi responded curtly and took the bowl from her. Corali glanced to the side and eyed the battered sketchbook on the ground before gently picking it up and unwrinkling the bent pages.

"Them eyes a yers're tellin' a different story," Corali remarked with a cross of her arms as Thiomi shoved a large pear slice in her mouth and took her time chewing as if to avoid answering.

"It's just an art block," she lied through her teeth before stuffing her mouth with another large slice. The taller troll narrowed her eyes slightly, then sighed.

"Bullshit it is. Meemaw an' I could hear ya from downstairs. There ain't no amount a art block that could cause that," Corali said bluntly. Thiomi seemed to deflate for just a moment before steeling her gaze, which she kept firmly on the pears. Corali could hear the unspoken "It's not your business" like an airhorn in her ears, and she narrowed her eyes at her and glared like a disappointed parent.

"I'm fine," Thiomi answered curtly and went to angrily eat another pear, but Corali snatched the bowl away from her before she could silence herself again. She now turned her venomous glare at her moirail and opened her mouth to protest, which Corali immediately halted.

"Yer a shit liar. Tell me what's the matter," Corali demanded.

"I s-said it's nothi--"

"An' I'm sayin' it ain't nothin'. You were perfectly fine 'til ya went out, an' when ya came back I could feel the anger comin' off ya like steam out a shower. I thought givin' ya space ta simmer down would help, but if yer gonna lie ta my face then I ain't gonna keep playin' nice about it. I'm yer pale! Why can't ya tell me what's gotcha fumin'??"

"Because you can't help! You can't fix it, s-so why bring it up!?" Thiomi spat with a barely subdued growl. The tears she was suppressing followed through on their threat and came streaming down her cheeks, and she furiously wiped them away on the sleeve of her sweater.

Corali relaxed her glare and sighed before pulling the angrily crying woman into a one-armed hug. As rare as it was to see such a gentle and soft-spoken woman loudly and aggressively angry, Corali didn't flinch at the sight. She knew anger like a childhood friend, a warm security blanket to protect her from fear and abuse like a shield.

A shield she was recently forced to abandon before its heat could burn her any further.

"Maybe yer right, an' I can't fix what's wrong, but that don't mean I can't help," Corali assured her and hugged her just a little bit tighter. Thiomi didn't hug back, but she visibly relaxed against her.

******************************************************

"Her name's S-shadah. We were kismeses s-sweeps ago. The relationship only lasted a s-sweep and a half, and s-she s-spent at least half of it cheating on me before leaving me altogether for her mistress."

Thiomi sat curled against Mousemom's side and leaning against Corali. The bowl of pear slices sat empty in Thiomi's lap as she held her moirail's hand. Her grip was strong and tight with repressed rage, but the metal appendage was more than capable of handling it. Corali couldn't stop a glare from appearing on her face, but it paled in comparison to the scowl Thiomi wore.

"Tch. What a fuckin' bitch. I ain't ever understood the point a cheatin'. If y'ain't happy just break up outright instead a stringin' someone along an' goin' behind their back," she said.

"Exactly! We could have talked and maybe worked s-something out, and if it couldn't be s-saved, then we could have at least broken up on good terms! But instead, s-she s-spent half a s-sweep lying to me!" Thiomi agreed. She growled and ground her teeth as lukewarm tears continued to fall.

"I know I'm not naturally competitive, but if s-she'd just told me s-she wasn't happy, I would have tried harder. S-she was the first person I ever fell pitch for. I hated her arrogance, her selfishness, how loudly and unapologetically disrespectful and rude and s-spiteful s-she is, but s-she's also confident, and headstrong, and determined, and proud... S-she was perfect, and... And--"

Thiomi choked on her last statement and grabbed the bowl in her lap to launch it across the room in frustration. The plastic bounced harmlessly across the floor slinging pear juice with every impact. With a heavy breath, she hid her face in her hands and loudly cried out her rage and hurt. Corali slung her arm around her and pulled her close. Mousemom gave a few concerned squeaks as she listened to her ward's distress, and Corali gently papped her large snout to ease her a bit.

"Why couldn't I be enough for her?? Why couldn't s-she just-- just talk to me!? Why did s-she have to lie to me for half a s-sweep?! I can't-- I can't even think about that quadrant now! How can I trust I won't be hurt again?? That I'm ever going to be enough for anybody!!" Thiomi wailed and slammed her fists against her crossed legs just to release at least a fraction of the tension and angry energy, and Corali made no move to stop her. She'd been carrying around and hiding this anger for sweeps.

Venting was the best thing she could do for herself.

When her rage entered another lull, Corali finally spoke up again. "An' then ya ran inta her while you were out an' about."

"Y-yeah. I was an idiot to approach her at all, but I-I wanted her to be s-sorry. I knew s-she wouldn't be, because s-she's never s-sorry, but..."

"But ya still wanted some kinda acknowledgement that she knew she was wrong. Just somethin', anythin' at all to show she has at least a fraction of a conscience," Corali finished, and Thiomi could only bite her lip and nod in confirmation.

"S-she told me it was my own fault our relationship failed. That not holding her interest forced her to look for s-someone else because I never measured up. S-she called you a downgrade from S-sonja because 'at least he's a highblood,' and 's-settling for the lowest s-society has to offer' means s-she was right to dump me s-since i'm 's-such a joke.'"

Corali could feel her own anger start to well up hearing the brutal dressing down she received. However, rather than contribute to the Shadah hate train, she stood up and walked toward the couch, removed the cushions, and set them in a heap in front of Thiomi.

"What are you doing?" Thiomi asked in confusion as she watched Corali head to the cleaning closet in the kitchen and pull out the broom. She walked back to her, grabbed one of her hands and hoisted the small woman onto her feet with a single yank. Thiomi squeaked in surprise and nearly lost her balance from the sudden motion, but Corali was quick to catch her and straighten her up.

"We're gon' do a li'l thing called catharsis. See, yer gonna take this broom here an' beat the everlovin' shit outta them cushions," Corali told her matter-of-factly. "Hit 'em as hard an' as much as ya need. Trust me, as the expert on bein' angry, it'll feel damn good."

Thiomi stared at Corali, then the couch cushions, then the broom as it was forced into her hands. Broom, Corali, cushions, Corali, broom. Her incredulous gaze went back and forth for a few moments.

"You want me... to hit my cushions?"

"Them ain't yer cushions. They're Shadah's smug bitch face. Show that jackass what for!"

"I... I don't--"

"Here, lemme help getcha started," Corali said with a grin as she lifted up a cushion and held it in front of her. "Yer a spineless li'l wimp what couldn't fight her way outta a wet paper bag. I'm the best yer ever gon' get, an' ya fuckin' fumbled it. An' leavin' a purple fer a rusty? Pathetic."

"Y'all gonna take that lyin' down?" Corali prodded. Thiomi gripped the broom in her hand and gave the cushion a weak swing.

"Y'all call that a swat? I been bit by mosquitoes with more punch than that! Hit me fer real, or are ya too weak??"

"I'm not weak!" Thiomi raised her voice and took another swing, this one noticeably harder than the first.

"Them love taps say otherwise! C'mon, that can't be all ya got!"

"I s-said I'm not weak!" Smack!

"That's more like it! Tell me how ya really feel!"

"I hate you!" Smack! "I wish I never met you!" Smack! "You don't deserve your quadrants!!" Smack!! Smack!!

"An' why d'y'all wish ya never met me, huh!?"

"Because you s-suck!!" SMACK!! "You're a liar!" SMACK!! "And s-selfish!" SMACK!! "And the worst!" SMACK!! "Person!" SMACK!! "I ever!" SMACK!! "Met!!!" SMACK SMACK SMACK!!!

"There we go! Keep goin'! Show that bitch she's a waste a meat an' air!!" Corali cheered as her moirail finally let go and started wailing on the cushion, all the while yelling and venting everything she'd been holding back for sweeps. Her onslaught only stopped when she accidentally walloped Corali in the face. She yelped and dropped the cushion, and Thiomi's rage almost immediately vanished as concern overtook her. She cast the broom aside and tried to get a good look at Corali's face to check for any bruising. Corali, rather than be upset, cracked up laughing as she allowed Thiomi to examine her.

"Oh my god, I'm s-so s-sorry! I didn't mean to get s-so carried away!" Thiomi sputtered, but Corali brushed off her apology with a half-hearted wave of her hand and nudged her away.

"S'alright, miss ma'am! I fight yer matesprit, remember? I been hit with way worse than a li'l ol' broom ta the face. What about you, though? Felt pretty good to let loose, right?" Corali asked with a goofy grin. Thiomi fussed with the hem of her shirt as if she was embarrassed to answer.

"Ye... Yeah, it kinda did," she answered meekly with a small smile.

"Hahaha, the way you were swingin', I'd say 'kinda' is a understatement," Corali laughed and ruffled her moirail's hair before picking up the cushions and putting them back on the couch. As she was about to take a seat, Thiomi grabbed her around the middle and gave her a tight hug.

"Thanks," she said sweetly. "Nothing will fix what happened, but... but I can live with that."

"Good. One li'l beat 'em up session ain't gonna be enough ta heal how bad you were hurtin', but at least ya got some a that anger out now instead a hidin' it."

"Yeah. Next time I s-see Kamava, I'll tell her about S-shadah and s-see what s-she s-says."

"Atta gal," Corali said and leaned down to plant a small kiss on the top of her head. "Yer gonna be just fine."

#things to read #Thiomi Shiaka #Corali Primer #Roll With The Punches #and just because Shadah and Thiomi's relationship is talked about at length #Snake In The Grass

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