Characters: Diwa and King (played by rc.)
Content Warnings: None
Location: Diwa's trailer
King and Diwa don't exactly get along, but their fiancés are good friends that would prefer they get along. Diwa gives King's fiancé, Sam, an idea on how they could make up. Also Diwa's partner is a freak but that's barely relevant.
King and Diwa make a deal to work together in the future. They sort-of make up (mostly King stops vehemently hating them).
King drops Diwa a text.
Diwa. Are you free?
We need to talk.
Sure. Where?
King types and deletes something. This goes on for a while.
Somewhere quiet.
I'll wait for you in my trailer.
More typing and deleting.
Fine.
King, as promised, shows up to Diwa's trailer a few minutes after. They knock on the door a few times. "...Hello?"
Diwa opens the door quickly enough.
"King." They allot him a smile. Their trailer is neat despite its clutter of herbs, books, and writings. They have a humidifier running which fills the air with a light woody scent.
"Come in. How are you?"
They stand by the door awkwardly, fidgeting with the hem of their shirt - an uncharacteristic tic. "I'm OK. Obviously."
"Um..."
"Sam said you had something to tell me."
DIWA BLINKS???
????
"Do I??" King. They seem genuinely confused.
????
THEY LOOK CONFUSED TOO.
"What? Fine."
King pulls out their phone and scrolls for a bit before showing Diwa a snippet of their email.
King points to the paragraph in the middle. They do their best not to look flustered.
"Ignore... Ignore the rest."
Diwa accidentally reads the sexting and takes a second to look away and modulate their breathing to prevent a visible reaction.
"I...will be honest, King, I have no clue what he's talking about." They walk to their laptop and type up a quick email to Sam. "Let's hope he can. Enlighten me."
A scoff. "Fine."
They pocket their phone and follow Diwa over to their laptop. "I think it was something related to...."
"Making up with you." King is hesitant for a second. "Although it's not like we've argued."
"He and Exec both have some strange preoccupation with regards to our friendship. All four of us."
"..oh, my mind went to a completely different route." The way Sam worded it sounded like she wanted her to proposition King for a foursome or something. Their bad.
"Okay. Are we fine? We're fine, right?"
A FOURSOME IS CRAZY. DO NOT LET KING HEAR THAT. THEY MIGHT KMS
"Are we?"
"...." THIS IS WHAT SAM TOLD THEM TO STOP.
"Fine. We are."
King pauses for a second. "I suppose I should be a little gentler to you."
"...he explained." It was not a foursome. Diwa sighs.
"Alright. Take a seat. It may be a while."
...
OKAY. KING LOOKS A LITTLE ......? WORRIED.
They take a seat hesitantly.
"Fine. Explain."
"Hurry up."
Diwa sits on their little seating area. They run a hand through their hair. The way it falls makes them look a little more haggard.
"I despise supernatural beings. I always have. They are interesting, yes, but...I grew up human. I know they never respected us. They only see us as playthings, to suit their whims. Food, worshippers, entertainment, what have you."
"My...goal, on this show, was to steal a powerful being's energy and magic to improve my own. I was drawn to Exec. because she has what I need. I intend to stay with her after, now, but that's not to say I was ever in this show for any noble purpose. Which is obvious to anyone who talked to me."
"I may not be fully human anymore, but you are the only human in our team. In the entire show, probably. I have been at the mercy of supernatural creatures all my life and I despised it." They pause. It may be a little clear that they hate talking about this.
"I...suppose in that way...I have an affinity to tend for you. Though I realise it does not come off that way at all. I had hoped by making it clear to the other team that I was looking out for you, they would know better than to mess with you at all. I do not know if it worked or not. None of this is what Sam wanted me to say, obviously, but you seem to always think I have some ulterior motive. So there you have it."
King bristles, but they don't look hostile. "I don't need your protection, Diwa."
"Nor I your opinion," they answer with a shrug. "I will keep doing everything I was doing before. It's not as if I don't believe you're capable. It's moreso that I do not want you to deal with the unnecessary meddling some of these creatures might see in a human.'
"Do you think you're doing me a favour?"
"It's not like I don't know that they're like that." A haughty sniff. This is the closest Diwa will ever get to a confession that yes, they do indeed feel the same way about things. "...I can hold my own. Against them, and against you."
"No. I do not expect to be repaid. I do it for my own selfish desires, which is why I do not intend to change my behavior."
"I used to believe it unfair humans always got put down for their issues. We lack advantages in the world. It's..hard sometimes, to even reach the capabilities someone is born with. It's always made me a bit bitter."
"I'll pay you to stop it." King looks a little frustrated.
"No. That's not the case, though. Sure. We don't have the same strength that they have. Or the same lifespan. But they lack humanity." A pause. "We can train to become stronger. We can invent weapons that can sear through any level of protection. But they can never find that. No matter how hard they try."
"You have nothing I desire." To that first statement.
"Not even money?"
"Sure," a hand wave. "I renounced it long ago, though. It is what it is."
"Not at all."
"Back to the original subject at hand. Sam...knows of an ability I have that is of use to you. She wanted me to offer it to you. I believe you'll say no regardless, but for the sake of fairness I will put it on the table."
King shifts in their seat slightly, leaning back. "Fine. Let's hear it."
"I am able to turn back time on physical bodies. I usually don't call it that, though. Colloquially, it's healing. The process is...different, however. I would be unable to return something to a state it was never in." There's a pause.
"Or..well..I will. After Exec. and I marry. For now I'm bound to the limitations of time."
"Then you're wrong." They're silent for a long while. "I might say yes."
"Name your price, Diwa."
"You have nothing I desire," they repeat. "I believe that's where the issue lies. I cannot be altruistic, and you cannot believe in my altruism."
"How about..." They think. Their fingers tap against their mouth as it forms a mischievous smirk. "You have a long and happy marriage with Sam?" ^^
A scowl. "If you fix me, I don't see why that wouldn't happen."
"Name a real price."
"I don't care if I have nothing you want. I don't take free lunches."
Diwa laughs.
"It was worth a shot." Might as well, right?
They lean back against their seat and fall quiet. Considering.
"I love watching the Olympics. Competitions excite me and I love observing the technique of the athletes. Ever since I began living on my own I have not missed a single one." Beat. "I suppose you will just have to get me really good seats for the winter Olympics next season, yes?"
King watched Diwa intently as they speak, waiting for the other shoe to drop - it's not until they finish speaking that King lets out a breath they didn't even know they were holding. "That I can do." They nod. "Deal."
"Why are you helping me, Diwa?"
"This doesn't fall under the range of your..." Vague handwavey motion, "Protection. What I do outside of this show is none of your business."
A shrug.
"What can I say?" A lot. "I like you. And Sam. I watched the injury live. And I know athletes well enough. I cannot imagine what an injury like that does to a person."
"Maybe I just want you both to be happy. I do not understand why you would want to go back to all that, and I frankly hope you don't. But...." They tilt their head. Consider.
"My youngest sister loved her dance routines. She was always moving around. I could never get her to sit still, not even to get her dressed or wash her hair. She was a handful."
They allow for a pause to linger in the air for a moment.
"She got sick. We were unable to do much for her. She lost so much of her energy and it was driving her insane. Everyone could see it. I cannot imagine there being something you grew up with as a second nature that you are suddenly unable to do. She died a few years later, so I suppose it didn't matter in the end. But I do wish she had died a happier woman."
There's a silence that falls over the room for a long while. King doesn't know what to say, and it's obvious. Their knee bounces erratically, and for a few seconds, their gaze drops from Diwa to the floor.
"...I'm sorry." They finally get out, hushed and flat. And then, more naturally, "I know it won't do anything. But I think you'd still want to hear it."
"Misfortunes are inevitable." They shrug. "I never cared much for pity. I wouldn't have told you any of this if you weren't so keen on mistrusting everything I say."
King looks a little insulted. "I still don't. Trust you. Not entirely."
"It's not like you've pretended to hide that you're not incredibly mercenary." A grimace. "And you're capable. I can see that. I can respect that."
"So you'll forgive me for not trusting that."
They sigh. "I'm not your pity project. If you fix me, I'll get into the olympics. I'll get you your tickets. I'll even walk you around the damn village and bring you to the other events if you want to. Deal."
^^
"I'll practically be your sponsor!" They sound excited about this.
"Sure. Deal."
"I don't need more sponsors." They scowl, but it doesn't carry any weight.
In fact, King looks stupidly relieved, with a little bit of disbelief. They try to rein it in. "How do I know that I can trust you on this?"
Diwa is still smiling. They look a little more relaxed now that the cat's out of the bag.
"Trust me on...what? Healing you? Holding up my end of the deal?"
"Well, they're one and the same, aren't they?"
King doesn't exactly return Diwa's relief yet. They're as cautious as ever with their fidgeting and bated breath, waiting on the precipice of something.
"I'll be the one holding up my end of the deal first, so even if I don't, there's nothing for you to lose," they start, shrugging.
"I lose if it doesn't happen at all."
"Promise me, Diwa. Some way. Any way."
"Ugh. Let me think...." This is what happens when you have little material desires at all...
"Give me some form of a deposit. I'll give it back to you when you hold up your end of the deal."
"I can lend you something of mine, too."
"...sure. Let me see." They almost stand, but then they think.
They take a golden necklace with an empty vial off of their neck and place it in King's palms.
"Exec. gave this to me."
The meat necklace.
"What a coincidence. I also have this." They pull out a necklace from a pocket - silver, with a circle pendant. "This was supposed to be for Sam."
"Hold on to it for me until I can give it to him. Along with my Olympic gold." They press the necklace into Diwa's empty palm before reaching up to secure the clasp on Exec's necklace around their neck.
It feels weird against their skin, but it's not a bad weird. The weight of it gives King faith, and they finally let out a long-held sigh of relief. "...Though I suppose at that point I'll be winning the gold for all of us. Exec included, even."
Diwa takes the necklace and puts it on as well. A decent trade.
"Indeed you will. I expect good seats for all three of us, by the way."
Something like a smile appears on King's face. "I'll do my best."