Fall From Glory

Misery

"I told you not to shout!" Gethen hissed, arms crossed over his ragged old Neverseen uniform.

"Yeah, and I didn't listen!" Ruy shot back from the other side of their cell.

"You should have, we could have gotten stripped of our food privileges. The stunt you pulled last week means we can't even stick so much as a nose out the bars." Gethen reminded him, piercing blue eyes flaying Ruy.

"Boo hoo. It was just one of Circ's tinkered-with, Spark-made bombs." Ruy dismissed. "Not like it did any real damage."

"They could go to King Dimitar at any moment, and we'd be executed!" Gethen argued.

Ruy snorted. "We're too valuable. And besides, King Deadly Diaper wouldn't do anything with us at the moment. Too busy with other issues."

"And I thought we were important." The Telepath rolled his eyes.

"We are, but not as much as you pride yourself on being." Ruy lightninged cuttingly.

"You as well," Gethen lashed, losing all patience.

"Please, if I did, I would've escaped long ago," the azure-eyed Psionipath grinned.

"You did." Alvar cut in, sitting up. "And in this small grail between freedom and captivity, here we are."

"Can you two at least shut up?" Umber added, grumbling loudly.

"When our argument is resolved." Ruy replied snippily.

"At this point, never," she grouched.

"If that's what you want, " he replied sweetly.

She glared venomously. "I'd like you to shut up. It's way too early in the morning to be arguing."

"What's the time anyway?" Ruy glanced around, offhand.

"Judging by the lack of sunlight through that small crumble at the corner, I'd say it's somewhere between midnight and three."

"That's not so bad," he answered.

"Considering we stayed up to eleven and past deliberating, it is," the Shade growled furiously.

"Look, it's not my fault you don't function well on a lack of sleep-"

"Well? I function damn well better than you, half-wit!" She snapped.

"Half-wit? Isn't that you? My, you really are confused in the morning," Ruy answered with a grin.

"What? There's nothing else to do," he added when he caught sight of Gethen's look.

"There won't be by the time I'm curled up, peacefully asleep, and you, peacefully unconscious." Umber flying-tackled Ruy, and the two rolled on the ground, catcalling, cursing, and trying to knock each other out. Ruy was more on the defensive, but he held his own.

From his position in the corner, Gethen dropped his head into his hands.

"I'm a bit jealous of Umber," Alvar sighed.

She ducked a swipe from Ruy. "Don't be."

"Hey, if you're left out...." The Psionipath rolled, grabbed Alvar's pale wrist, and yanked him into the fray, laughing as he did so. From the looks on the others' faces or adrenaline, the Telepath couldn't be sure.

As the three caterwauled and woke up the entire dungeon save Glimmer, Gethen closed his eyes and wished for an alicorn. It was that bad. Nonstop Ruy antics for the past eternity, it felt like. Day and night, on and on and on and on. He was slowly approaching the breaking point of his tolerance. A sudden calm rose and fell, and he glanced up.