"Brainwashed?!" It growled. It wasn't brainwashed, it wasn't! It did what the Overseer demanded because it wanted to and because it respected him! But it only took Beta a moment to wonder...why? Why did it respect the Overseer? Because he was big? Because he was its life-giver? Because it had been told from hatch to respect him?

It's not like it cared about the other Sentinels much. It's other feline siblings were...small, underwhelming, and annoying and the only other spawn of Vargas was a jerk that always bothered Beta's naps. They didn't pay attention to the rest - they did not bother it and it did not bother them. Where they all brainwashed to follow Vargas?

These were stupid questions. It was stupid to think about this. Every single point brought up in Beta's mind could easily be pushed back. It respected the Overseer because he was strong and because he was in charge. The Sentinels followed Vargas because they knew the old ways and knew he was one to be respected and feared. "I am not brainwashed, I just know my place! And that's big coming from a lizard covered in neon feathers!" Perhaps that was a little mean.

"Art sounds like a waste of time. What's the point when I could just be taking a nap instead?"

@Imp

So, Beta brought up a good point. And that was naps. The rest of it Imp could take or leave--the thing was obviously brainwashed--but naps...

"I mean... it's not instead of naps. That'd be stupid. You're stupid for thinking I meant that," he added, retrospectively, but without much venom. "It's, like, for when you're awake. But if you're one of Vargas' kids I guess you can't DO art. You probably can't even DO art. He's too dumb to appreciate it," Imp muttered. "Nemean, too."

Silence, for a beat, as the rest sank in. "FUCK! NEON?! WHAT FUCKING COLOR NEON?!" he cried. ...It'd be pink, wouldn't it? Nemean had done this, hadn't she? So, for good measure: "Fuck!"

@Ruby-Beta

Beta began pacing beneath Imp. This was going nowhere and it couldn't get up there, no matter how many times it yelled at Imp that it had wings, it wouldn't just grow them out of nowhere. "I can probably do art just fine! Better then you, probably, since I have eyes! There's just no point. Art is stupid." It was starting to hit low, but, to be honest, it was starting to enjoy this little bantering. If it ever talked this way to Alpha, the beast would surely just try to hit it instead of throwing a funny little tantrum like Imp was right now.

It let out a strange sound, high pitched sound, like a cat's meow and a cough. It made this sound a few more times, evolving into a short laugh as it wracked its brain for some random colors. "Yeah! Neon! Bright ugly yellow and blue that makes my eyes hurt! You're the ugliest thing I've ever seen!"

...It felt kinda nice just letting lose.

@Imp

Imp went--for once--silent.

It wasn't the silence of being speechless, exactly--he was just thinking.

"Blue and yellow," he muttered; "oh, that's bad." Ugly, sure; but bad. When he'd been tan, he could blend in places. He'd been assuming he could still hide clinging up along tunnel roofs and the like, as he'd been used to, but neon blues and yellows-? Fuck. He'd never be camouflaged; he'd always stick out like a sore thumb, vibrantly bright and blind to danger.

...Fuuuuuuuuuck.

I could live in Eridanus-? It's bright, lots of flowers--no, fuck, too loud, he realized, reminding himself not to live anywhere where the Ruby-Betas of the world could sneak up on him unheard.

Polaris, then-? At least that shit was blue. Not a nice cave, ugly--but he was blind, so what did he care? And it was dim; he could hide in the upper crevices.

Or Cetus-? Again, though, loud. And he, unlike some, didn't want to just run back to daddy.

Imp sighed, adjusting himself on the ledge. "Ahh, fuck it, I was always ugly. Still prettier than Vargas," he added, finding some cheer in that. "Imagine, being fucking purpley-pink and green? Hahaha! That loser. At least blue and yellow go together. I know that, 'cause I do art," Imp added, smugly--because cave graffiti of genitals, he apparently thought, made him an authority on color theory.

"Anyway, when it comes to cowards and how the Masters can fuck me up or whatever, I got some advice for you, pal. You can spend your life being scared and a slave and then die, like that fuckface, or you can say--hey! Fuck you! And sure your eyes might get ripped out but you can still say fuck you. I said FUCK YOU to your stupid fuckin' dad, and I can say FUCK YOU to Nemean, and I'm still alive! -But even if I was dead I'd rather still say: FUCK YOU! Ahahaha!"

Imp, apparently, found this hilarious; but his point--that safety and slavery were not preferable to freedom and, apparently, profanity--stood. Although even safety, he went on to point out, was questionable: "What's the point in being a dumbass slave, anyway, when all they'll do is send you into trials to die-?" If Imp was physically capable of spitting, he'd probably have spat down on the floor, at this, so derisive was his tone. "Nah, fuck that. And fuck Vargas. And fuck Nemean. Fuck all of them." He paused, peering blindly down with empty sockets toward Ruby-Beta.

"So, uh, are you gonna just stay here now, or what?"

@Ruby-Beta

To be honest, Beta wasn't particularly disappointed that its insults didn't hit too hard against Imp. It was nice to just say them for once without getting a few thousand pounds of weight thrown at it. Still, it had thought that the "ugly" comment would frustrate Imp a little more then it had. After all, Imp calling Vargas ugly was hitting a nerve on Beta. Was there a reason for that?

It huffed. "At least the purple is dark and has a use! We can blend right into the shadows. You're gonna have fun avoiding predators with those colors." Beta didn't really understand the whole "going together" thing, the concept of color theory too alien for its mind to understand. "It doesn't MATTER as long as you can survive!" Because that, and of this it was sure, was all that mattered. Survival.

"I'm not a slave," Beta repeated with a growl. "I do what I want. And if I don't want to do it, I won't do it." And that was, at least, mostly true. "You can keep saying "fuck you" all you want. I'll just keep doing whatever I want. And the Trials are to prove your ability to survive. Amazing you haven't learned that already."

It huffed. "Yeah, I think I'll stay here. Unless you'd like to try and kick me out."

@Imp

"Hahaha, yeah, you do what you want until 'your masters tell you otherwise' 'cause they can kill you, right-? Contradictory fuck," Imp added, spiteful. "And yeah, you know what? I went IN blind," Imp said, now crawling rapidly over to the edge of the ledge.

Flying in Pisces, blind, was not wise. He regretted his choice of cave, now; the waterfall rang in his ears and would make bat-like navigation--or Imp's shitty imitation of it, anyway--difficult.

Fuck it. He'd try.

"I went in blind, and I fuckin' DID survive. I saved someone else, too. I was third place," he added, proudly. "I bet you go in and die, fuckhead."

A pause.

He thought quick, cruel and cunning combining into one.

"All right, since you're stayin' here. A little thought exercise for you. Close your eyes and concentrate, right? And count to Beta. Go on, lemme know how long that takes," Imp added, with a snicker.

Then he dropped from the ledge, opened his wings, and tried his best not to crash into anything as he flew the fuck away. He'd have to hole up somewhere in the ceiling; hide, for awhile, crawl along the quieter places, until he was pretty sure he wasn't being followed.

Blue and yellow might make that hard, though.

He used the echoes of the water to navigate, but that wasn't to say he was really good at it; Imp left a stream of muffled grunts as he gently bashed off this outcrop or that ledge, but he was really high up. He also was making the very, very questionable assumption that Ruby-Beta would, in fact, actually close its eyes and try to "count to beta." As far as great escapes went, it wasn't really on the top ten.

@Ruby-Beta

Beta didn't respond to his jibs anymore, mainly because he'd kind of gotten it there. Damn...he's kinda right. It really did only get off of its ass to do what Vargas wanted of it, but, unlike Imp, it really didn't see the problem in that. It liked to make the Overseer proud and to know that it was doing good work for him and the Sentinels. I liked knowing that it was getting stronger...but it liked naps even more.

It snickered back at his suggestion. "Okay." Beta closed its eyes and gave Imp just a moment before it started counting. "Alpha...beta..." Eyes snapped open. "Alright, I'm done counting!"

It watched Imp fly away, making that same meowing laughter as before. He looked ridiculous and Beta couldn't help but laugh at his expense. "Nice flying!" It called up with a snicker.

@Imp

"Yeah, again... literally not numbers, jackass," Imp tossed back, before bumbling off another rock, and swearing under his breath. "Try starting at 'one.' But hey! Where's your flying, huh?" Imp called back down, mocking. It was pretty clear--at least, he hoped--that Ruby-Beta did not, in fact, have wings, now. "Or are you gonna throw more rocks at me? Don't throw rocks at me," he added, and with a snap decision toward manipulation, "That's what weaklings do."

He turned, and flapped up, banging his snout off an overhang--but then pressed against the rock, landing upside-down and crawling here and there, looking for an opening.

He found one, too--it probably wasn't a high point on Pisces' actual ceiling, but it was certainly a ledge he could fit into, nice and high up. "AND THIS IS MY SECRET TUNNEL TO-" don't say Polaris- "-to ERIDANUS, WHERE YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME!"

Imp paused, for dramatic effect, and then hauled himself up and out of sight: where he sat in silence, hoping to hear Ruby-Beta go away.

@Ruby-Beta

Ruby-Beta continued to watch Imp fly into everything in his path, chuckling a bit to itself. For a moment, it came to senses and wondered why it was getting so much joy over teasing this thing that couldn't hope to fight back. It had never spoken so rudely in its life - sure, it had teased its siblings, but that had been far and few between. It wasn't a fan of Alpha slamming it into the dirt.

The flying bluff, then, was a bust but it wasn't like that was going to last a long time anyways. As it watched him arch over and disappear by the ceiling of Pisces, Ruby-Beta waited for a moment, in case he decided to come back, or in case that it wasn't a tunnel at all. It turned towards the water, stepping forward until it caught sight of a fish. Imp had been trying to catch a fish before, hadn't he?

It lunged forward, snatching messily at a fish before it could swim away, pulling it onto the shore to kill it with a swift bite to the neck. It glanced up. If Imp was still there, this would be a hilarious way to spite him. If he wasn't, well, then Ruby-Beta got some lunch anyways. "Well that was pretty easy," it said, loud enough before digging into the fish.

@Imp

Imp remained silent, up in his crevice.

The bastard had caught a fish, and anger bloomed in him--frustration! Injustice! -but he wasn't about to give Ruby-Beta the satisfaction of knowing he'd even heard.

Let him stew down there, all purple and stupid and thinking 'beta' was a number. Imp would wait up here--hidden away, resting.

Hell, he could settle in for a nap, here, regardless. The hybrid made himself comfortable, periodically checking in on Ruby-Beta's whereabouts by ear, as best he could, in a half-assed sort of way.

exit Imp
@Ruby-Beta