Participants:
| Scene Title | Beaten to the Punch |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Kendall finally finds Roux after about a week of searching, only to find out he’s too late and Robyn already met her. |
| Date | June 23, 2021 |
The Pelago
It’s been over a week since Kendall had started trying to look for Roux, which has been a never ending stream of utter frustration. She’s always been hard for him to keep track of, but this time it’s incredibly urgent (to him) that he find her immediately; he even asked the other Lost Boys for help, but nothing turned up.
Increasingly annoyed with this, especially after talking with that ‘I Wear My Sunglasses At Night’ guy, he regards his failure to find her as a personal affront. It is possible she skipped out on the Pelago entirely, which means on top of being irritated, he’s also worried. Something could have happened to her!
Maybe that guy was wrong, and Robyn did murder her. Or maybe she’s avoiding him for some reason, even though he didn’t do anything wrong?
Or maybe… Kendall just didn’t look hard enough. There’s plenty of buildings she could have squirreled herself away in, after all, and with her being a potentially moving target, that means places he looked in already could hide her again. With a sigh, Kendall climbs the stairs of a building, aiming for the rooftop balconies. She does like high places, after all.
Thankfully, Kendall doesn't have to climb all the way up to the top. As he turns the corner to head up yet another floor, a sound filters through an open door and into the dilapidated stairwell: The sound of humming, it's source unmistakable after all these years - he's finally found Robyn Roux.
One of them, at least.
The humming seems to be an slow melody, coming from what clearly used to be living space, and likely would still be were anyone willing to make a move into one of the Pelago's older, more worn buildings. Not falling apart, but certainly not favoured by the locals.
More surprising, though, is when the humming turns into singing.
"Here we are
There's no one else
There's only eyes to hide behind"
It's not a song Kendall's heard her sing beforefore, the sound of something tapping against something else creating a backing beat to her continued words
"And in these eyes you'll always find
A place where you're invited
For they reminded you of the ocean"
Aha. Target acquired. With relief, Kendall follows the music, tentative first but then gaining in confidence once she actually bursts into song, since that's much more recognizable than humming on its own. Stepping up to the door, Kendall knocks to announce his presence before opening the door.
"And you decided there's nothing like it
Then extend your gaze
Toward brighter da-"
"Roux?" He doesn't really want to interrupt her, but he does need verification that it's her and not that other one. He's avoided Lowe's so he hasn't heard that one singing.
Kendall's interjection brings the singing to a swift stop. "It's unlocked," a pensive voice - definitely Roux's - answers back. The room she's found herself in is largely empty, save for the woman herself sitting on a balcony at the back of what looks like it might have once been an old hotel room, long since scavenged and abandoned.
She doesn't look back at the door, instead keeping her gaze fixed out on the ocean through the rusted and twisted metal bars of an old railing.
Kendall was already trying the knob before she said that, and quickly steps into the room. Said room is given a cursory glance out of habit, but then Kendall catches sight of her sitting on the balcony. “Roux, finally-” he breaks off and stares at her. “What the fuck did you do to your hair?” wait. This seems terribly familiar. Then again, she has changed her hair color periodically, a fact which endlessly mystifies him and a few other people; namely, where does she even get hair dye?
“…Just for the record. You are Roux this time right?” there isn’t a third one running around somewhere, is there? Well no, that’s not exactly right, the doppelganger did make a second one of herself there, and… “I am so sick of this.” he mutters. Doppelgangers, clones, and who knows what else?
"~Rude~" is offered in a sing songy voice, Roux shaking her head as her shoulders sag. She leans back, tilting her head back so that she's looking at Kendall upside down - there's no scar, at least. "Zee, now!" She sounds highly amused about this, before she leans back forward and rubs at her neck.
"I just dyed it. Found some teal, an' went for it. It doesn't look that bad, does it?" She turns to face Kendall, looking up at him from where she sits. "You're sick of it?" She sounds both amused and perhaps a slight bit frustrated. "Why?"
More importantly, she doesn't seem surprised.
“I mean, yeah, it’s a great color, looks good on you.” ok, definitely Roux. Relaxing, he approaches, then flops down next to her, bumping her shoulder. “And your singing is amazing as always. Haven’t heard that one before though.” at her repeated words, however, he sighs. “There’s some weird shit going on lately. Strangers in the Pelago. Have you seen any? I’d stay away if I were you.” he’s still not convinced Robyn isn’t shady in some way despite Richard’s words and Nadira’s tacit acknowledgement. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it.”
"You didn't answer the question," Roux replies with a raised eyebrow, still looking out over the water. "You just repeated yourself." A small grin forms on face, bumping Kendall's shoulder back. "Song's Love in our Eyes. Learned it from a musician here in New York when I was in college. I don't… really sing her stuff a lot."
Her grin fades after a long moment, and turns to glance down at a messenger bag on the ground next to her. "Kendall, you're so… Kendall." Not said like this is a bad thing, at least. "So protective. I've been mostly keeping to myself."
He’s so Kendall? “Well it would be a little alarming if I was suddenly someone else, wouldn’t you think?” he rolls his eyes and pokes her in the side. “Well to be fair, sometimes you do need someone looking out for you. There’s some not so nice people in the Pelago, after all.”
When she asks that he answer the question, though, he frowns, looking to the side. “There’s… strangers here. There’s one…” well, here goes. “Who looks just like you. Even said her name was Robyn. Do you know anything about that?” he’s wary about revealing this, since Roux tends to be skittish. “If not, I’d advise to stay away from her, I don’t think it’d be good for you to talk to her.”
"Oh, that." It's uncharacteristically nonchalant, Roux staring ahead for a long moment. "I know about her. She wasn't exactly quiet about trying to find me. Spent, like, a week stalking her for it." That is also uncharacteristic at best. "When I came back from up north, I figured it'd be the last time I heard anything about anything like this." Her tone grows soft and pensive once more, gaze moving down to the floor in front of her.
She huffs a frustrated breath, a hand reaching up to run through her hair. "You're good, Kendall. You don't need to protect me, though." It's far from the first time she's said this to Kendall, but usually it's said with more frustration and defensiveness. This time, she just sounds a bit defeated. "You still haven't said why it bothers you, though. It should bother me, not you."
“Because she’s not you.” Kendall frowns. “Also she kinda kicked my ass.” oh, so it’s mainly because his pride was hurt. Blink. Wait a minute. “Wait, you met her? You talked to her?” ok, now he’s mad for a different reason. “Wait. YOU found HER? How did you even know she was here?” with a dissatisfied expression, he leans backwards in a controlled fall to the ground, arms coming up to cushion his head. “I don’t like any of this.” he repeats. “This is going to mess up our life again. Did she talk to you about…” Kendall hesitates, looking to the side away from Roux. He doesn’t want to make her upset either. “…About your mom.”
This is a subject that’s very sensitive, after all, so it’s like walking on eggshells. He has a feeling that Janestine did talk to her about it, but he was expecting Roux to be more upset about this entire situation, nevermind that.
"Yeah!" Despite the enthusiasm behind Roux's voice, she looks perplexed at Kendall's question. "I already told you! She wasn't exactly quiet about looking for me, or sneaky about it." She looks out at the water again, frowning. "It was hard not to hear about it once she started singing at Lowe's. So yeah, I followed her for a bit. Snuck into the place she's staying at."
And then she grows a bit more sheepish. "Aaaaand accidentally fell asleep. We ended up talking the next morning."
As Kendall lays back, she takes a deep breath and rises to her feet. "Not the first time I've talked to someone like her. In fact, last time I did I got told all about her. Or, at least, who she was at the time." She looks down at him, frowning in a way that now seems reminiscent of her counterpart.
"You don't have to like it," she states bluntly. "There's no our life. Just mine for this one, and I don't- I don't-." Whatever words she's trying to find just won't come to her, and instead she fidgets uncomfortably. Her hands slip into her pockets, and she steps forward to the railing. "It just… is what it is." Her voice is distant. Forlorn. More like Kendall has grown used to from her.
"She said she knew me. Another me. Also apparently she's from a world that isn't destroyed." A laconic hand is lifted, and waves slowly at the edge of the platform. While Roux explains how and where she encountered this otherworldly version of herself, Kendall frowns disapprovingly, but that actually tracks; Robyn wasn't exactly making her presence a secret.
Kendall watches Roux pace about, then with a grunt heaves himself back up to a seated position, sitting crosslegged. "Well I definitely don't like this. Especially since this group of strangers is about to turn our lives upside down again. Morgan heard about this 'other world' and now wants nothing more than to abandon us and jump over to it." The resentment deepens in his tone at that, with touches of hurt.
Kendall stands up at that, moving to stand next to her at the railing. "She also wants to drag you across the entire continent to Anchor. I'm not going to lose you again, so this time I'm coming too. Morgan already made it clear she doesn't want to stay with us anymore, and Nadira… I don't know what Nadira wants, but she's going too." Kendall stares down at the water. "I don't really care about going, but I don't want to stay here alone."
Roux's brow furrows, turning to look back at Kendall. "I know what she wants," she offers in an exasperated tone. "Has anyone talked to Morgan about how bad an idea that is?" She frowns deeply. "Has she talked to Morgan about how bad an idea that is?" She exhales softly, looking back over the banister.
"Kendall…" she trails off, looking down at the railing as she tentatively places her hands against it, testing it for sturdiness. "You know it's not the first time I've left to find my mom. If she's not actually in Anchor or whatever, it won't be the last time…" Leaning an elbow against the railing, she falls silent. "I don't want you to come along because of me. I appreciate that you want to, but… I'm never going to stop moving. Not until I find mom. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment."
Unusual clarity and articulation from Roux, punctuated with a heavy sigh. "I don't want Nadira or Morgan to either."
Kendall heaves an exasperated sigh of his own. “Have YOU ever tried convincing Morgan not to do something once she gets it in her head? She got this idea that her parents are still alive in this other world and that she could see them again, despite the fact that it’s an incredibly slim chance that it’ll turn out the way she thinks. Yes, we’ve had this conversation, but short of tying her up and locking her in a room, I doubt there’s any way we can keep her from going. And with her going, Nadira is going to follow.” he crosses his arms and scowls down at the ground.
“There’s also talk of everyone making the trip anyway, since this isn’t… exactly the best place to live. Anchor is at least solid ground above the waves.” Kendall kicks against the railing a couple feet away from Roux, causing a small section to break off. “Eventually these buildings are going to crumble into the sea no matter what we try to do. They weren’t built for this.”
He looks up and faces Roux, lifting his hands palm up. “So… even if you say that, it’s not exactly true in itself. This time it seems like I’ve got many reasons to go, and very few for staying here.” he averts his gaze and sets his hands on the railing too, looking out. “At least this time I won’t worry you’re dead.”
When Kendall kicks the railing, it lurches, and Roux is quick to back away from it with widened eyes. "What the heck?" Her lips purse and she looks over at Kendall. "I was using that! Don't break it!" She scowls at him for a moment, before her expression softens.
"Why're you so mad, then?" Head hung again, and she scratches the back of her neck. "I mean, I'm not thrilled about all of this, but…" The tip of her boot taps against the concrete for a moment, hands on her hips. "At least we're all going together." The subject of Morgan is either moved past or ignored.
"You realize there's going to be changes if you come, right? Like, I'm going to start going by my middle name!"
“I don’t know, all right?” Kendall bursts out, and shakes his head. “Probably because these strangers show up and are turning our lives upside down. They’re being pushy.” no, they aren’t. “They’re dragging people off to save their world or whatever, when they should just go off by themselves. Why do they need you to go, can’t they just use their own?” Kendall halts his diatribe when she says her bit, and it seems to derail his train of thought. “Middle name?” he peers at her suspiciously. “It isn’t Janestine, is it?”
"What? No. That's her middle name, and it's dumb." A beat, and Roux rolls her eyes. "I mean… it sounds more like something mum would've come up with but- anyway!" She shakes her head, eyes half lidded as she stares downwards.
"Zahava," she offers. "Zee. It was my dad's choice." She wrinkles her nose, thinking for a long moment. "I would go by Jane, though. She hates it, so I love it, and I love how much that would definitely, definitely annoy you." She feigns amusement and a small smirk at that.
"But that's… not how I understand it. They're going to this Anchor place, and no one's being forced to go. And then I guess I'm going with them the rest of the way on their trip? Just me, to see mum."
“Zahava, huh. You’re right, much better than Janestine. Robyn Zahava Roux, huh.” Kendall smiles at her. “Zee Roux also sounds cool. Better than Jane, for sure. Jane is what you name your kid when you have no imagination. Isn’t Jane the generic name they used to call unidentified bodies or something?” he snorts dismissively, waving his hand.
“But I’m going to stop you right there. If you think I’m going to stay behind while you go off to who knows where, that’s not going to happen. I’m not just going to sit back and let them take you away. Like I said before, Morgan is probably going to try and follow them anyway. She wants to get back to wherever they came from and I’m fairly certain that has to do with whatever they want to do with your… mom.”
Zee glares at Kendell for a long moment before speaking again. "Excuse the fuck out of you," she practically hisses. "This is why I didn't tell you when I went to the Ark!" It seems she's done something to anger her, her voice raising steadily as she speaks. "I saw people die there, Kendall! Even before the travelers showed up there! It's dangerous, and I need you to stop being so flippant about it!" Tears form in the corners of eyes, hands balling into fists at her side as she stomps her foot and lets out a sound of frustration.
The railing shudders again.
"They aren't taking me away!" And now she's actually crying. "She's - hopefully - taking me to the one thing I've wanted for a decade, and if she's not I'll-" Her eyes are wide, cheeks puffed. "I could take her."
With that out in the open, her arms go limp at her side and she sniffles. "They aren't going back. She doesn't think so at least. They're… I don't know. Sending some data back home, something my mom and dad have. Morgan's aiming to be disappointed if she thinks otherwise."
“I’m not exactly helpless, either!” Kendall shoots back. “I know it’s a dangerous trip, but if you recall, someone tried to kill me before but I killed them first! Maybe if I was there with you in this Ark of yours, things could’ve turned out differently. How could you know either way?” he crosses his arms and glares at her. “You also might notice I’m not saying don’t go. I do know how important it is for you to find her, thanks. And whether or not they are able to make it back or not, I’m not going to just let someone important to me walk out of my life again.”
Kendall takes a deep breath, looking to the side. “I’m not being flippant about it. It’s probably not going to be a picnic. But I’m not going to stand back and do nothing.”
Zee stares at Kendall for a long moment, cheeks a little redder as she sniffles again. "You should move to Anchor with the other people," she offers quietly. "That's what I hear a buncha people are going for. I'll, um. I'll be staying with mom and dad, but it won't be far, I think."
She tries to muster up a small smile, the glisten of tears still sharp in the corners of her eyes as she reaches forward and takes his arm. "I just… I know it'll be dangerous and I don't want anyone to get hurt because they didn't want to let me go. It's one thing to leave. It's another to lose."
"I have no problems with that whatsoever. In fact, it's the best news I've heard all day." Kendall returns her smile with a happier one, giving her arm a reassuring pat. "It'll be nice to know where you are, for a change. I know how important it is to find your mom, though I'm not sure if your dad ever came up." he adds thoughtfully, tilting his head as he considers it.
"But regardless, knowing where you're going to be once we get there, and knowing you'll stay there, is absolutely okay with me. What I'm not ok with is… whatever they want with you. Frankly, they shouldn't need you at all, if they've got that other one with them." he waves a hand vaguely in the distance, his expression clearly showing what he thinks about that 'other one'. "Go be with your family, and don't give them another minute of your time. Let them go do whatever, but stay out of it. If you don't want me to be hurt by anything, well, same goes for you. You don't NEED to do more than that. Fuck 'em."
Giving her arm another pat, he takes a step back and crosses his arms. "But I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you get to your mom, and don't try and stop me." Stubborn mode, activate.
Zee's expression sours as she regards Kendall for a long moment. "Let it go," she repeats in a quieter voice, a frown forming slowburn across her lips. "They aren't bad. Weird, kinda! But they aren't bad."
Turning from Kendall, she makes her way over to where her bag is discarded, leaning down to it and opening it. "They don't need me," she offers back. "From what she tells me, that's the whole reason she's here! They thought I was dead, and they needed someone to talk to mum." Spoken very matter of factly, as if she's narrating almost.
Rising back up to her feet, she has something in hand, but makes an effort to hide it from Kendall's view before he can discern it. "I don't have to go. Never had to go. But I want to. So turn-" She stutters. "Turn-" Clearly she can't think of the word. "It works both ways," she settles on with a sigh.
With that, she reveals what she's holding - an amber bottle of whiskey. "I stole this from her because she had a little too much of it in one night the other night. Seems to be a whole thing with her. Want some?"
She can say that all she likes, but Kendall remains skeptical of their motives, narrowing his eyes as he looks away. He will drop it, however; they've both made their opinions on the matter known.
As she acts all shifty and furtive with whatever she had in her bag though, he looks back over, a brow raised. When she reveals what she had, Kendall eyes the bottle, then Zee. "If I don't, you might drink it all yourself, huh?" he remarks dryly, moving forward. "You can even say it's my responsibility to make sure you don't overindulge." Smirking, he rolls his eyes. "She an alcoholic, you think?" Further proof in his mind that his Roux is the superior version. A large glass is created out of thin air, and he holds it up. "Split 50-50?"
Zee gives Kendall a withering look, frowning. "When was the last time you saw me drink?" A moment's pause. "More than a single glass." It is true, she hasn't really seemed fond of alcohol in the time Kendall has known her. "I don't think she is, I know she is!" She perks up and preens like she's announcing the results of some major investigation, and not something she figured out by watching her other self for a whole five minutes.
"I've been sharing it with her friends, in front of her." Maybe because that seems like a funny joke to her, though her voice doesn't carry that. "She gets real quiet whenever I do." She musters a smile for a moment, before picking the bottle up and pouting a finger for Kendall, "I'm probably gonna toss it if it's not gone before too long though. Don't like having it around."
"Yeah, I remember. You usually get water instead, when you could. Probably better not to have any of that to be honest." A light shrug, and Kendall eyes the bottle. "So you were basically just… giving it out to anyone who wanted it? Coulda traded it for something." Not that he's complaining since she is offering it. "But, you know, if you do want to get rid of it…" he grins brightly at her, then glances at the cup in his hand, and it disappears into mist. Then he gestures to the bottle. "It'll be tough but I can make that disappear for you too if you like, just in a different way than this."
On the heels of asking for the whole dang bottle, he snorts softly. "Well can't say I'm really all that surprised by that, actually. She seems to come with a whole cargo plane full of baggage. And she even said she had a kid, how disgraceful."
As soon as he mentions that however, it triggers a memory of that conversation and he scowls.
"I mean, yeah… I coulda," Zee remarks as she rocks back and forth on her heels. "But that doesn't prove a point, does it?" Is it proving a point, or just being petty? Zee doesn't seem to care.
"You know, you say that like you don't have baggage. Or like I don't." Zee's rocking stops, hands clasped behind her back as she stares at Kendall. "I don't like her much either, but… there's no reason to be mean to her either. I mean, yeah! The alcohol thing, but what good is she to anyone if she's drunk all the time!"
She puffs out her cheeks and huffs out a frustrated breath. "But I don't think she's a bad person. She's just… a person. Who looks like me." Zee shrugs. "Whatever."
"I'm not being mean to her. I don't trust her." There's a big distinction there as far as Kendall is concerned. He reaches a hand over like he was going to touch her shoulder, but backs off with a sigh. "I just get the feeling like there's some sort of trap involved. Someone who looks just like you shows up out of nowhere and just happens to know where your mom is, when you've been looking for her for ten years?" Kendall shakes his head, frowning out over the water.
"And she now wants to drag you all the way to the west side of the continent to meet her? Are you sure she isn't lying to you about your mom being there just to get you to go? I know how much your mom means to you, I don't want you to be hurt over this if it's just a ruse. A ruse of Rouxs." There's a soft snicker at his own joke, eyes flicking over to her to gauge for a reaction with an anticipatory smile. At that point his eyes slide to the bottle again, but doesn't comment on it.
Zee's expression is flat, staring at Kendall. "Stop it. Stop talking in circles and just- repeating the same thing." She turns to face him, eyes narrowing as she watches him stare out at the water. Her teeth grind for a moment, and she turns away. "If that's going to be your attitude, you shouldn't come anyway," she finally shares, said with a flat and finite punctuality to it. "I don't need the judgement, she doesn't need the judgement. It'll just cause problems."
Zee exhales softly. "And I don't feel like there's much point in explaining why I believe her, why you should, because you're clearly not going to listen." After a moment, she starts towards the door, the sound of her footsteps against the metal reverberating for a moment. "So I'm just gonna leave."
"Yeah, sure." Kendall frowns and crosses his arms, looking away from her. "We're not going to agree with this, and that's fine. We don't need to, but I'm going to keep an eye out anyway. There's something they're not telling us, but you're going to go, and I'm going to follow, that's all we need to take away from this." He closed his eyes and shakes his head, setting his jaw obstinately.
"We're going to have a crowd going anyway, it seems, so whatever."
A sound of frustration bubbles up from Zee's throat, hands balling up into fists. "I'm not a child!" she proclaims, ironically sounding like a child throwing a tantrum. "I know I have a hard time, but stop treating me like a child! I don't need to be watched!" She doesn't look back at him, letting out an annoyed argh and starts towards the door. "This is why I miss the goddamn Ark," she breathes out hands thrown in the air as she steps out of the room, vanishing from sight in a more literal sense.
The sound of her footsteps echoes for several moments more, before fading, and being replaced with a rhythmic thumping sound in the hallway.
"Not a child, huh. Well not sure why you immediately trust someone who drops in out of literally nowhere and just so happens to dangle your heart's desire in front of you. Not suspicious at all, even without having the same face." Kendall grumbles after she leaves, frowning after her. "But it's whatever, charge off into a trap if that's what you want." Ok so he is very obviously sulking as he shoves his hands in his pockets and goes off in a different direction. Maybe he should've tried harder to find her before that doppelganger did.
As Kendall steps out into the hall, the rhythmic thumping grows louder, continuing as he turns and starts off in the opposite direction. Another muted thump, and then a small tennis ball comes rolling out from behind a pillar, followed by the sound of shuffling.
A sigh rings out, a familiar face leaning out from behind the pillar - Robyn Roux, though the scar on her face easily betrays which of the two it is. She scowls at Kendall, before sighing and picking up the ball. She steps out from behind the pillar, watching Kendall with a frown.
"You wouldn't believe me, but you and I actually agree on something," she calls after him, hands slipping into her pockets.
When the thumping rings out, Kendall comes to a halt, turning around just in time to see the tennis ball… and the one tossing it. “Oh…” Kendall sighs audibly, rolling his eyes at her. “Figures it was something like that. Did you two plan to tag team me?” he gestures in the direction Zee went. “And what do you mean, agree with me? That it’s a trap? Are you…” Kendall furrows his brow at her. “Are you admitting you’re luring her on false pretenses? Is her mom not there at all? Because if you are leading her on you better believe I’m not going to let you hurt her over it.” Although Kendall would get to say ‘I told you so’.
Robyn stares at Kendall, expression flat and gaze withering. "No. On both counts." She rolls her eyes and sighs, shaking her head. "I had hoped to ask her about something, but I decided not to intrude when I heard the two of you talking." Ball still in hand, her arms fold across her midsection. "Tried not to listen in, but she made it rather hard not to."
Turning her wrist, she lobs the tennis ball to Kendall. "Clearly I'm not going to convince you it's not a trap. For whatever stupid reason. No, her mother is - as far as I know, as far as I have been told by someone who is essentially Zee's adopted sister - very much alive and at our destination." She points at him, head tilting to the side. "No. I agree that someone needs to keep an eye on her."
“Too many coincidences.” but Kendall will also drop it with a shrug. He’s already done his impression of a broken record. “Yeah, well. I’ve been keeping an eye on her for a while, except when she ran off to that Ark.” and didn’t tell him, leaving him to worry if she drowned or something. “Just trying to make sure no one messes with her. I’m not great in a fight but I can at least mess someone up enough to get them to leave.” a flick of his wrist and he’s holding a knife, He frowns down at it though, and it vanishes. “Rather not if I don’t have to, but…”
"Coincidence is just chaos with a purpose," Robyn grumbles, lips pressed thin as she regards Kendall with scepticism. "Keeping an eye on her? Have you?" Robyn raises an eyebrow, a smug look on her face. "Did you know she was planning to seek me out? Do you know where she sleeps, or works when she's not at the… what did you call it? The House Above The Sea?" She holds up her hand in a stop motion, turning and starting back towards the pillar she had been sitting at.
"I apologise, that's rude. You've both made it clear that you're close," she remarks in a quiet, apologetic voice.She turns, reaching behind the pillar, out of sight. "Do you want to learn how to keep a better on her? How to use that knife, or whatever else?" She pulls out from behind the pillar what appears to be a sword. Low quality, certainly, but a weapon all the same.
Kendall shrugs again, looking away as her words hit home. He really isn’t all that good at it. “I try, anyway. It was a lot easier when we were together.” a fact that Robyn probably doesn’t want to be reminded of, no doubt.
As the sword comes out, though, Kendall backs off, gaze flickering from it to her face. “Where did you even get that?” he studies it, then a similar but nicer looking one shows up in his hand. “Bankai.” he jokes, and with a flash his outfit changes to a red yukata-like outfit and the blade he’s holding turns into fire. Nerd.
Whether or not it could actually burn remains to be seen.
There's a long moment's pause as Robyn stares at him, closes her eyes, and shakes her head. "You know what, never mind. You're not going to take this seriously." She busies herself for a moment, tying the sheathe to the loop of her pants, before looking back up at him. "I had it made for me by Marlowe," she offers to him simply. "A cruder facsimile of the one I had intended to bring with me, but was lost when our trip here went awry."
With it secure, she turns and begins walking the other way down the hall, the way Zee had gone earlier. "She's going to fight you every step of the way, Kendall. I know I would. So be ready for that."
Well. She had offered, he got carried away, and now the offer is rescinded. Damnit. With a blink Kendall returns to normal, looking off to the side. What, he’s not allowed to have fun? He hasn’t even thought about Bleach in years. He never did get to see how it ended, cut short like so many other things. “Yeah, well, I know her well enough too, thanks. She’s just going to have to deal with the fact that I’m not going to give up and let her run headlong into danger. Where in Alaska is her mom supposedly living, anyway? It’s a big state.” he follows as he decides to at least pump her for information. But, well, if she doesn’t want to talk….
"I doubt it's so big anymore," Robyn notes, not slowing down much to account for Kendall following her. Her lips pressed thin, she groans. "Is this what it's like talking to me, always looking forward to the worst possible outcome of everything?" she laments out loud, aggressively rolling her eyes in a way that the motion of which could make it clear what she's doing even from behind.
"On a mountain near the border with the Yukon." She knows the exact location, but she feels no need to share that just yet. "It's a cursed place where I come from. I'm hoping it's much less… foreboding here." That much, at least, is true. She stops, looking back over her shoulder. "You do realise everyone that isn't from the crew I'm with, or Zee, is stopping in Anchor, right?"
Kendall gestures all around himself. “The world ended, I think we’ve hit the ‘worst outcome’ already. It’s not a long shot to expect it to keep shitting on us.” The location is filed away, though it would have been perfectly safe to even give him exact coordinates. He never bothered learning about the geography of a state he’s never likely to visit, and what’s he going to do, Mapquest it?
“I’m aware, yes. And I believe I’ve already made it abundantly clear that I don’t care about that. Wherever Zee goes, I’m going to follow.” and by god, Kendall will dig his heels in on that. “Her mom is important to her, the least I could do is see her there safely. Best case scenario, since you seem to think it’s cursed or whatever, is for her and her mom to join everyone else in Anchor anyway.” A hand is waved vaguely westwards. “And since your whole little group of invaders are here for a reason that I doubt has to do with simply reuniting Zee with her mother… I’m guessing you think it’s going to be dangerous.”
Robyn's brow furrows in annoyance, and she lets out an exasperated sigh. She turns, a hand to her chin as she looks at him, her other hand motioning to him. "Alright then. If you know so much, please. Fill me in on the details," she offers, and it seems all civility has left her as her tone takes a plainly mocking tone. "Go ahead. Clearly you know more than myself, or than a woman who actually lives with her mother, or anyone else even. Please. I'm all ears."
Well Kendall definitely doesn’t have an answer for that, and crosses his arms, looking away. “Is that supposed to be a deflection? Are you saying there’s no way it’s going to be dangerous, whatever it is you’re doing? You’re clearly not expecting a fun roadtrip hitting all the ‘world’s biggest’ landmarks, anyone can see that. You even said you’re not expecting to make it back.”
"No, Kendall, it's supposed to prove a fucking point, that you don't know what you're talking about. You're just repeating the same thing, over and over again." There's a venomous tone in her voice, continuing her descent into being out of patience. She spreads her hands in front of her. "Which you are demonstrating admirably, along with your inability to read between lines and see subtler implications."
Her shoulders sink, her expression going flat again. "Of course the trip will be at least somewhat dangerous. There is very little that isn't. If you think you're making a point, you aren't." She stares at him for a moment, before turning and starting walking again. "I don't expect to make it home. I expect to live out the rest of my days in Alaska, with this world's version of my family. If you don't understand that, you haven't actually been listening to what I've said."
“You can do whatever you want.” Kendall’s been repeating the same things because apparently people didn’t listen to what he said the first fifty times. “Here, there, wherever.” he waves a hand dismissively. “I’m just going to do whatever it takes to make sure life is as best as it can be for me and my friends. That means we’re going to Anchor, and that whatever happens with Zee, she comes out of it just fine. I don’t know why we keep talking in circles, you keep saying things hoping I’ll have some sort of different response, and then complain when I don’t want to change my opinion. What, you want me to say, ‘oh, fine, I’m just going to go home now, have fun’?” snort.
"That would be ideal, yes." Robyn raises a hand, waving it back and forth dismissively. "But no, I don't expect that. I expect you to get your shit together. Stop being so bullheaded, so aggressive." She stops, staring ahead for a moment before she turns on her heel to look back at Kendall.
"Your attitude is going to get people - you, me, Zee, others - hurt or even killed. Calm the fuck down and listen to people. Don't push so hard, or no one's going to want you on this trip to begin with. And all your insisting and posturing and bitching isn't going to help you if the people in charge don't want you along."
Well she has a point about that, but Kendall wasn’t planning on stirring up drama with the rest of them. He already decided to apologize to Elliot. “I’m not.” he replies shortly. “I’m not in the habit of deliberate sabotage no matter what you think of me.” he hasn’t even spoken to most of the other Travelers, and the conversation with Richard turned out fine.
"I didn't say you were," Robyn remarks, tone still harsh. "But sabotage isn't often deliberate." Her pace slows, a hand resting on the sword at her side. "This isn't all about me, it isn't all about you. It isn't all about Zee, either." Her head tilts slightly to the side, and she frowns.
"You can blow me off all you want, but I've been where you are, Kendall. I have the scars to prove it. Learn to give a little, stop pushing and arguing. Things are only going to get worse if you don't." Lips pressed thin, she starts walking away again. "You're going to push everyone away if you don't, and then where you want to be, who you want to be with, won't matter."
"My life has been fine up until now." Kendall points out, gaze sliding away from her. "As much as it could be, with this." 'This' being the apocalypse, apparently. After a moment, the sword from earlier reappears in his hand, though he doesn't go full anime nerd with it this time. "I doubt you've gone through the same things I did. No one has the same experiences."
He swipes at the nearby wall, the sound of metal ringing dully in the hallway. "Zee can resent me all she likes but I'm not going to give up on her just because you showed up."
Robyn doesn't immediately respond, only looking back when she reaches the corner. "Willful ignorance it is, then. Alright, fine." She doesn't seem perturbed or intimidated by the sound of the illusory metal ringing through the hallway. "This'll be the last time we talk until we leave."
She gives him another dismissive, limp wave, and disappears around the corner. "I hope you enjoy being on your own," she adds. "It's something you'll have to get used to."
"Fine by me." What, her not talking to him anymore? Being alone? He doesn't elaborate, staring fixedly at the wall and at the scratch he made. He waits for her to leave and hopes she doesn't bring out that third one to have another painful conversation with, he's had enough talking with them.
All of them.