Meadowood - Temper Tantrum

[Leda]

With an irritated grunt, Espio rolled and twisted and squirmed in an attempt to rid himself of yet another shedding. It was at least his third in the last 12 hours or so; he wasn't certain exactly, as the layers of scales had been scratched and pulled off in patches, rather than simply shedding one full skin. In this particular case, the young chameleon struggled with a rather large patch spanning the backside of his hide.

Espio glared up at the other chunks littering the floor of his lodge amidst many of his possessions. He hated shedding; it made his skin crawl. But what he hated even more was when he shedded for reasons other than growing -- such as now, when he'd been unfairly punished. The teen crawled along his ceiling on all fours until slithering his way to the wall. He had no intentions of coming down, but the lower elevation was necessary for a clear shot out of his window. Unfortunately for the Meadowood residents, and even nearby flora and fauna, Espio had a habit of venting anger through the use of his slingshot. He also happened to be far more skilled with it than his bow, despite constantly being sent to the archery range.

Rob's such a jerk, the chameleon bitterly thought as he fitted a walnut into the grip pad, soon after stretching it backwards to his cheek. OF COURSE he's gonna assume I'M the one screwing things up... I never do ANYTHING right around here!! With an angry grunt, Espio released his projectile, sending it whizzing through the air like a bullet and eventually crashing squarely into a pinecone several feet away from the boardwalk rails. The pinecone shuddered, and quickly plummeted the long way down to the ground.

"I hate him," Espio muttered to himself as his rage backpedaled into a sulk. Why, why, WHY did Lindy have to screw everything up last night?! He'd been given such an important job, and he'd been doing it WELL! Suddenly the icy attitude returned, and the chameleon ground his teeth. "But if Lindy yells at me, naturally SHE'S the one that has to be right!! Some fair wise leader he is!! He didn't even--"

The teen's tyrade was cut off by a loud growl from his stomach, and Espio groaned and held it tenderly. He'd missed breakfast during all of this; hopefully he wouldn't miss lunch, too.

Just then, the sound of footsteps invaded the boy's lodge, and Espio glanced out the window once more. As if he'd been summoned, there was Rob of all people, moving as swiftly as one of his arrows. The chameleon's shedding brow lowered. Take THIS, old man!! Without even a second's thought, Espio abruptly raised his slingshot and fired a nut directly at the approaching hedgehog.

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[Jamie Lee]

[dice=7]

Even in his weary state Rob boasted a sharp pair of eyes. Spotting a flash of movement heading toward him the hedgehog instinctively turned enough to let it miss him. As his mind caught back up with the rest of him he gave a puzzled blink, glancing over toward the direction the object had come from... Espio's window.

Exhaling, Rob reached back into his quiver and retrieved his bow. "Do you really want to play that game with me, Espio?"[rand=38892646557689376415703489417641220292963127850636346509994149616]

[Leda]

The chameleon's glare grew more fiery. He... he missed?? Actually, no, he didn't miss. Rob dodged. For an old man, apparently he still had good reflexes -- at first. Whipping back the slingshot a second time, the agitated teen silently challenged, Let's see ya handle twice the ammo!! Just as quickly, two more nuts zipped through the air toward the archer.

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[Jamie Lee]

[dice=7][dice=7]

Giving his bow a quick spin the archer managed to deflect both walnuts. Sighing in frustration he then held the weapon out, reaching his opposite arm back into the quiver.

"Last chance to settle down."[rand=5913374791931508857542974660483328216232721376033017031673151007065]

[Leda]

Espio seethed with frustration, and kicked one of the few things not already on the floor -- a rather tired looking plastic truck -- off of the shelf beside him, send it crashing to the floor as well. He could never win against Rob, even when he deserved to!! Camouflaging(ish) and scrambling out of view back to the ceiling, the angry boy spat, "I HATE you!!"

[Jamie Lee]

"Aye, so I gathered," Rob shook his head in frustration as the teen vanished and headed toward his door. All of this tantrum over a silly misunderstanding? He just wasn't in the mood for this.

"I'm coming in now." he said, twisting the knob, one hand still firmly gripping his bow in case Espio tried anything again.

[Leda]

Whiiiich apparently was exactly the case. The door had barely opened a crack before the familiar snap of Espio's slingshot rang through the air for a third time.

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[Jamie Lee]

[dice=7]

While Rob had brought the bow's shaft up to block it, a split second miscalculation instead left him with a now stinging wrist. Gritting his teeth slightly and closing his grip even tighter on the weapon, he flung the door open and marched inside.

"Bloody he-- Espio, this is your last warning! You snap that at me again and I bloody will shoot you! Now get down here and talk to me."[rand=323173145221455701645060446272939341062038301446665425709018203935]

[Leda]

Well, it wasn't exactly what he wanted, but a small victory was still a victory. Hurling the tool of Rob's ire to his already cluttered floor, Espio's vague outline could be distinguished as... Okay it was hard to tell what exactly he was doing, as his patches of shedded scales were so sporatic over his camouflaged body. Eventually, however, he did mutter, "Why should I, you don't listen to me anyway."

[Jamie Lee]

Content enough for the moment with the boy's semi-compliance, Rob slipped the bow back into his quiver and began to carefully step his way across the cluttered floor. Taking a seat beside a small desk he rubbed at his sore wrist and glanced up toward Espio.

"I came with no reason but to listen."

[Leda]

Espio scoffed into his forearm, against which he was apparently leaning. "Oh sure, come listen NOW after it doesn't matter!! NOW give me a chance after the job's all done and everyone thinks I caused all the problems last night!! Now's a GREAT time to actually give me the benefit of the doubt after you TOOK IT AWAY FROM ME!!!"

Suddenly the chameleon regreted having tossed his slingshot away, because now he really wanted to throw it at Rob. In lieu of any other projectiles, Espio shouted and stomped the heels of his shoes into the ceiling.

[Jamie Lee]

Quietly listening to the outburst, he took from gingerly messaging his wrist to folding his arms. It almost seemed as though he had dozed off as he closed his eyes and fought against off his still throbbing headache.

"I acted with what I felt was Nik's best interest in mind," he said, finally opening his eyes and looking up. "I'm sorry if it seemed to come at your expense."

[Leda]

A loud THUMP sounded as Espio abruptly dropped from the ceiling, confronting his guardian apparently high on his to-do list. "You are not, you liar!! You didn't even CARE!!" The chameleon's camouflage slowly dripped away to reveal him clenching his jaw as well as his fists. "I was doing a GREAT job watching the human!! It's not my fault Lindy couldn't keep her big mouth shut!! But you..." The teen paused as his throat tightened up, but unfortunately the silence didn't last long. Espio abruptly kicked a book in Rob's direction as he screamed, "YOUWOULDN'TBELIEVEME!!!"

There was that creepy, tingling feeling again. The chameleon wiggled uncomfortably and pressed his back to the wall in hopes of the friction pulling the dead scales away.

[Jamie Lee]

Rob, however, never flinched, staring the boy down with a grave expression. "I believed you - heard every word, in fact. The point was I had asked you to stay out of sight. And I wanted you to do this alone."

[Leda]

"I DID!!!"

[Jamie Lee]

"You told me that Vic was there with you. And I'm at least somewhat sure Lindy wouldn't stand there squalling at the wind."

[Leda]

Espio gawked back at the hedgehog in shock. "That... that's not fair!! You told me to keep anyone from disturbing the overlander! What was I supposed to do, just let her keep stomping around and shouting like that?! I tried to shut her up so she wouldn't freak it out even more than it already was!!"

[Jamie Lee]

"Aye, what was done was done by then and that's why I stepped in. The only way I could quiet her down was to ask you to leave."

[Leda]

"Or you could've sent HER away!!" Espio shouted with a venomous glare. "You didn't have to take my post away from me, you could've just made LINDY leave!!" The chameleon huffed his breaths as his ire escalated. "You DOUBTED me!! Just because someone ELSE was making a scene, you got rid of ME first and didn't even let me finish my job, you.. YOU..." With nothing else immediately in reach, Espio snatched the pillow from his bed and swung it baseball-style at Rob. "YOUBIGJERK!!!"

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[Jamie Lee]

[dice=7]

Catching the pillow and setting it down in his lap, Rob returned his own steely glare. "Do two wrongs make a right? Acting like a child and lashing out at everything isn't going to change anything! Aurora knows it would make MY problems easier."

Rob drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled it trough his nose to steady his nerves. "I know I don't always make the wisest or the fairest choices. I was tired, and like I said, I was trying to act with Nik's best interest in mind. Do you know where I was earlier this morning?"[rand=41619879542911312054632366639061071198782329586110150202924273133]

[Leda]

"How should I know?! I've been HERE since last night because of YOU, dummy!!" At last, the increasingly large portion of dead scales along the reptile's back split open, and Espio busied himself attempting to squirm loose of them. He hoped there wouldn't be yet another shedding to follow once he was rid of it.

[Jamie Lee]

"Still your tongue!" Rob snapped, rising to his feet and taking another deep breath to steady himself. "I'm not going to tolerate much more disrespect from you! For your information, I was in Mercia! Rouge, Vic, Manic and I had to pull Nik from one of Itzal's jail cells!"

[Leda]

For the most part, Espio paid only the barest amount of attention to the words coming out of Rob's mouth; in that moment, ridding himself of his sheddings was a far more pressing matter -- or seemed to be, until the word "Mercia" came up.

Espio flinched, and turned to look at Rob with... a most peculiar expression. It appeared to be some twisted hybrid of disappointment, shock, and most of all, resentment. "You... You even went to Mercia without me?!"

[Jamie Lee]

Rob only glared. "Did you honestly think I'd bring you along when you're skulking about in here acting like some toddler?"

[Leda]

There was a long pause as Espio wrestled with his emotions. He actually felt hurt by the news more than anything else, but just as he'd done with the pain over having his mission taken away the night before, the teen covered his emotional bruise with anger. "S'yer own fault for not letting me finish my job, old man!!" he hissed through gritted teeth, camouflaging and scaling back up the wall. "If I'D been watching the human it never would've gotten loose!"

[Jamie Lee]

"Oh REALLY?" Rob asked caustically, grabbing the boy by a leg and yanking him back to the floor. "Get back down here when I'm talking to you, young man! I suppose it was MY fault Lindy found you and started yelling right outside his window!"

[Leda]

Espio's eyes widened with surprise as his grip on the bark suddenly disappeared, and yelped rather comically as he clawed at the air before ungracefully flopping onto the floor. A sharp pain shot through his right side; he'd landed on one of his dolls action figures.

However, the injury was inconsequential, and he only idly rubbed at it with one hand while he kicked the leg Rob had latched hold of. "I already SAID you could've just SENT HER AWAY!!" Clenching his eyes shut, the teen thrashed wildly and screamed, "YOU'RESTILLNOTLISTENINGTOMEEE!!!"

[Jamie Lee]

SMACK!

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!" Rob yelled as his hand recoiled from its journey across Espio's face. "This isn't about sending Lindy away for being too loud or any poor judgment I may have made after the fact! This is about YOU not staying out of sight when I deliberately asked you to! Lindy would have never even FOUND you if you had done what I asked! That trip to Mercia would have never even been necessary if YOU HAD LISTENED. Now if you're going to continue behaving like an unreasonable brat, then I'm going to start treating you like one! And so help me don't think I'm beyond bending you over my knee!"

[Leda]

One effect of Rob's disciplinary action was immediately evident: Espio was instantly silenced upon being struck. The teen felt stunned more than anything, but as the sting of his cheek began to register with his brain, along with the shower of scolding that quickly followed, the chameleon's emotional barrier began to crack. His expression contorted, his lower lip began to tremble, and his eyes squinted and welled with moisture. Hoping desperately that the archer hadn't seen, Espio rolled onto his stomach and buried his face. "Go away."

[Jamie Lee]

"No," Rob said flatly. "Get up. We're not done here."