"Doc?" she asked. "You... you didn't send in those forms, did you?" she asked.
He winced, realizing she wasn't quite all there yet.
"Rose, you passed out on stage. Do you remember that?" he asked tentatively.
"Wuzzah stage?" she asked, blinking slowly and still rubbing at the back of
her head... and suddenly things began to trickle back to her. The anxiety of
not having an act, hastily deciding she was going to recite a poem, walking
up to the microphone... and then waking up in the darkness of the backstage
area with nearly a dozen faces looming over her. "Mmnnhh... I really fainted?"
she asked, looking at him doubtfully.
"Looks like you cracked your head a good one on the floor, too." Hubert chimed
in, shoving in beside Dr. Death. "You really alright?"
"I... I guess so..." she murmured, wincing as the tip of her hoof touched
the forming bruise at the top of her neck. "Is the contest over?"
"You've only been out for about two minutes, miss," one of the attendants
told her, "but just relax. You're going to be alright." Rose hesitated as though
thinking some more, and then moved to stand, wincing as another wave of dizzyness
hit her.
"No, no... lay down." Dr. Death told her quickly, attempting to push her back
into a reclined position. She groaned and swatted his hands away.
"Leeme 'lone," she drawled, closing her eyes for a moment and opening them,
willing everything to come back into focus. "I'm alright..." she pulled herself
to her knees and then stood, tottering a bit. Four sets of hands instantly shot
out to steady her, but dropped away as they found that it was unnecessary. She
paused a moment, breathing deeply, before looking over her shoulder at them.
"I'm going to try again," she said hoarsely.
"Rose, don't." Dr. Death told her. "Look, you've got nothing to prove to me,
okay? You showed up, I'm not going to dog you about passing out and--"
"I'm not doing it for you." Rose spat with a ferocity that startled him. Saying
so, she brushed past him and shook her head once in a vain attempt to straighten
her mane a bit before striding back out onto the stage, just as the applause
for the last act's completion began to swell.
"Headstrong." Hubert remarked with a smirk, putting a hand on Dr. Death's
shoulder. "Gotta give her props for that, huh?"
"When I want your opinion, I'll rattle the bars of your cage." the Techo said
snidely, pushing the Mynci's hand off of his shoulder, his eyes never leaving
the stage as Rose approached the microphone again, and the applause died away
to a confused murmur. She waited for silence, the same feeling of insecurity
flaring in her as before... but this time, it was tempered, and she managed
to keep it in check.
"I'm not going to lie to you people..." she began, wincing as her voice reverberated
loudly back at her, and the microphone whined with feedback. "I've... I've wanted
to be up here since I was a little girl. Never really got the chance, given
where I work. I doubt I've gotten a very good reputation." She paused, her sapphire
eyes scanning the audience. Someone coughed off in the distance. "But, just
because my co-worker can be a jerk doesn't mean I should have to sit and stand
for it, right?" This remark was met with a small scattering of agreeing applause.
"I think he's lorded over what I do and don't for long enough, so now I'm going
to get to the point and recite a poem that I learned in--"
"Now, you wait just a minute!" Dr. Death called. Rose whipped her head in
the direction of the backstage as the yellow Techo stormed onto the stage, apparently
heedless of the crowd as Hubert desperately beckoned for him to come back for
the moment before sighing and withdrawing backstage again. The audience gave
mingled gasps and mutters of confusion as the Techo doctor confronted the Uni.
"Don't you go pinning this on me!"
"Do we have to get into this now?!?" Rose hissed. "I'm in front of all the
people!"
"I don't care!" he snapped. "You think you're high and mighty because you
fit pets with new owners and I always have to be the bad guy, Rose?"
"No..." she sighed, glaring at him. She was determined that he was not going
to get her goat... not in front of half of Neopia. A smug smile crossed her
face. "I think I'm better than you, because I don't have the distinct honor
of being at the top of the Faerie Queen's poo list." He blinked as though he
had just been slapped, and the audience exploded in chuckles.
"Cute... very cute, Rose..." he snarled. "You want to get into embarrassing
topics? Fine. Let's talk Fourth Of July." Rose's eyes flew wide.
"You wouldn't dare..." she gasped.
"You remember that, don't you? Someone thought it would be funny to slip a
tin of Flat-U-Less tablets in the punch, and you drank an entire tumbler? It
sure wasn't the FIREWORKS people were paying attention to, now was it?!?" Those
in the audience who had managed to keep themselves under control and not laugh
last time, exploded in hysterics.
"You!!!" she cried, flushing hotly with embarrassment. "Chomby Day, pal!!"
she growled. Dr. Death's eyes widened, knowing which card she was about to pull
as the audience's laughter died a bit so they could hear.
"Rose..." he said warningly. The Uni donned a mocking voice.
"Well, how was *I* supposed to know her boyfriend was a Grarrl? You'd think
he'd be HAPPY to know his girlfriend's scales looked nice! Did he knock out
any teeth, Rose?" she asked in an apparant imitation of something the doctor
had said. With the last plug pulled, the two proceeded to argue. It wasn't often
that Rose and Dr. Death got into spats with one another, but when something
finally sparked one, they were merciless and intense.
Insults flew like wildfire between the two as the crowd roared with laughter.
Just as it seemed the confrontation was about to come to physical blows, the
announcer, wiping tears of laughter away from the corners of his eyes, stumbled
out onstage between the two of them, and gave them each a congratulatory handshake,
ignoring the vehement looks they were still favoring one another with.
"How about that, folks?" he asked, snatching up the microphone, still snorting
and hitching. "And here we thought she didn't have an act... hoo... thank you,
Rose. Brilliant. Just simply brilliant getting your co-worker in on this."
"But that wasn't my act, I was just--" she tried to explain, horrified.
"I know that's a hard act to follow, but next up we have OpalHorn." He interrupted,
giving her a gentle shove to let her know it was time to leave. The Uni bit
her lip, suddenly humiliated beyond belief. It had seemed that her sudden burst
of courage meant nothing. She had publically embarrassed herself anyway, by
taking the bait and allowing Dr. Death to draw her into a knock-down, drag-out
verbal fight. Now, instead of people remembering her fainting which, at least,
she hadn't been able to control, they were going to be talking about her screeching
and making a fool of herself.
Tears spilling down her cheeks, she choked back a sob and walked briskly from
the stage. Dr. Death followed closely behind her, suddenly quite self-conscious
of the fact that he was being watched by hundreds of eyes. Safely behind the
curtains, she allowed herself to break down and begin crying.
"Was that really necessary, you two?" Hubert demanded to know, glaring at
the both of them. "I've seen hyperactive JubJubs act more maturely than that!!"
"She started it." Dr. Death shrugged, jerking a thumb at Rose.
"Enough! Leave me alone!!!" she wailed. "All you do is try to make me miserable,
and I'm tired of it!!!" Dr. Death opened his mouth to defend himself and found
that he had nothing to say as she turned and fled the auditorium.
"You really need to learn when you've taken it far enough, doc." Hubert sighed,
deciding to follow Rose's example and leave the auditorium as well. The Techo
stood alone, blinking and fathoming what had just happened. Taken it far enough?
Why hadn't she just told him he had crossed the line? Why did it take outbursts
like this to get her to tell him *anything*, for that matter?
Story of his life, he thought bitterly, finally leaving the auditorium as
well, not in pursuit of anyone in particular, and not quite sure what he planned
on doing with the rest of his evening.
Rose awoke with a headache the next morning, having cried herself to sleep
the night before. She was still wearing her dress, she noted, which no longer
looked vibrant and glossy, but was now rumpled and tired-looking. The place
where she had hit her head the night before had blossomed into a dull painful
throb, that made her eyes feel like they were being pushed through the front
of her head.
She groaned and sat up, already wondering if she should call in sick. No...
probably a bad idea. She had already taken enough time off to prepare for this
enormous disappointment... and she would have to face the public sooner or later,
after all. She pulled the dress off over her head and tossed it aside, not worrying
about putting it back on its hanger as she shuffled into her washroom and drew
herself a hot bath.
After what seemed like hours, she emerged, dried and devoid of the makeup
she had put on the night before. She had decided that she was going to ignore
everybody, and if they wanted to make fun of her about something as stupid as
the contest, that was their business—but she was washing her hooves of
it from here on out.
Rose paused in front of her mirror long enough to comb the tangles out of
her mane before leaving for work. She kept her head down as she walked, inwardly
cringing every time she thought someone was looking at her. Ignoring them, she
realized, wasn't going to work if she was going to be this sensitive about being
confronted. As luck would have it, she managed to make it to the pound more
or less unnoticed, and ducked inside the building gratefully. Dr. Death looked
up from where he was finishing a cup of coffee and half-heartedly reading the
paper.
"Oh, you DID show up." he remarked.
"Just shut up." she told him coldly as she crossed the room and took her seat
at the desk. "I don't want to hear anything about last night. Not a word."
"I guess you're not interested in this then." he told her. There was a soft
metallic thump beside her and she shifted her eyes to see a glint of bronze.
She gasped and sat up, looking in dismay down at the third place trophy.
"What?!?" she asked, confused.
"Apparently, the audience thought our tiff was an act." He told her. "You
got beaten out by the tapdancer and the striped twins, but they voted you into
third for species. Not too bad for your first contest." Rose, still in awe,
held the bronze trophy up, looking at her name engraved on its side with the
current date. "You ran off before they could give it to you, so I said I'd keep
it for you."
"I don't know what to say..." she said in a tiny and drained voice.
"And next time I'm shoving you over the edge, let me know will you?" he asked
her. "You looked like a complete featherhead running off last night." Rose's
ears drooped in shame.
"I'm sorry, I just.... I guess I was just overwhelmed." she faltered. "And
I just--"
"No, I'm sorry." he interrupted. "Hubert was right; I need to learn when it's
time to stop. I didn't mean to send you off screaming into the night like that."
"You're... apologizing?" she asked, cocking a brow. "Do wonders ever cease
today?"
"Don't push it." He grumbled, clearing his throat. "But there... you got what
you wanted. Can the world go back to spinning now?"
"Ohh... I don't know. Maybe I'll compete next week." She grinned. "Try for
second place, you know?" She cast a sly sidelong glance at the doctor, noticing
that the corner of his mouth had picked up a peculiar twitch. The Uni smirked
and began the day's paperwork. She had only been kidding, and she would be sure
to tell Dr. Death that. Someday.
The End | 
