Temper Tantrums

[Bunny]

Rhett quirked an eyebrow, though frankly, Zipporah's escape plan didn't surprise him in the least. "Really, now?" he cooed. "Wul, I guess that makes sense, because of, uh, everything." A casual bystander may dismiss his words as a reference to Esau's interruption, but he figured the perceptive Zipporah would catch his meaning when he gestured to the tattered room. "Bye-bye, Zippy."

[Dot Dot Dot]

Solomon stood in the corner, his fists clenched and his dark eyes flashing from Rhett to Zipporah. It seemed like the danger had passed, and also that Rhett wasn't going to retaliate. That was better. He had accepted his punishment with grace. Sort of like Esau, who the lady had chased away. "That wasn't right..." he murmured to himself. Isaac had never given orders to ostrisize Esau. Sure, the kid was a heretic but --- Well, it just seemed cruel. He worried his bottom lip.

[Vixen]

Zipporah had turned to go, but Rhett's farewell stopped the teen in her tracks. Her jaw clenched. Her fists followed suit. Did. He. Just. Call. Me. Zippy?! She whirled around and was about to lose the firm grasp she usually had on her temper (except of course when it was tantruming) and just verbally dig into the eighteen-year-old, with accusations of how only a heretic would bastardize the name that she had taken to be closer with her God and other such things, when she heard Solomon.

That wasn't right.

"Wasn't right?" she repeated, the words dripping off of her tongue like water from an icicle. Cold. "What about it wasn't right? That I exiled a heretic from my presence? That I did not want to be tainted by an infidel? Is that wrong?" Her eyes narrowed in a challenge.

[Bunny]

"Wul, no," Rhett answered the question for Solomon, tossing a careless glance over his shoulder at Zipporah. "It's not wrong insofar as nothing is technically, er, wrong.." He didn't bother delving into the philosophy of that statement and instead swept on. "It was rude, however. Esau never, like, told you that you were tainting the air and chased you out of the schoolhouse."

[Dot Dot Dot]

// I made this excuse to Ellie before, and i'll make it to you two, too: life was getting in the way. Sorry. \\

Solomon ground his front teeth into his bottom lip, allowing Rhett to answer ZIpporah's question. But he knew he had to speak up, and couldn't hide behind Rhett forever. "We should try to bring him back to us," he murmured softly, kicking at the dusty ground. "Not send him away."

[Bunny]

OOC: I keep missing you today! You're usually on when I'm stuck slaving away at school, and the one day I play hookie have off, I miss you. Such is my luck... Anyways, I completely understand. I'm having computer problems myself. xD

IC:
Rhett tossed Solomon a lazy look. Frankly, he could've left right there. But he was never one to just bow out, and couldn't help but indulge in the temptation to stir Solomon's tempter just a little more.

"I half-expected you to bow down to Zipporah's creed," he mused allowed, hoisting himself up onto one of the few desks that hadn't been overturned by the previous storm of the female teenager's wrath. He leaned his chin into his palm and offered the other boy a crooked smile. "But you're standing up to her. 'Ya know, you got more balls then I thought you did." His eyes followed, quite obnoxiously, down the path of Solomon's body until they rested on within the crevice where Solomon's family jewels were hidden.

After a lingering there for a moment, Rhett went on. "Not, that, um, that's saying much. You had seemed to be the most henpecked 'fella I ever met. So...what? You apprently have half of, you, erm..." he coughed, "endowment?"

[Dot Dot Dot]

Solomon didn't dignify Rhett with a response. The tick would only feed off of his words and draw strength from it. Instead, he just gave the other boy a look of loathing. To Zipporah he said, "This is the one you should be ostrasizing."

[Bunny]

"Probably," Rhett agreed, examining a smudge that seemed to have mysteriously appeared on Delilah's cheek. "I mean, at least I've done somethnig to you. Esau's just---you know..." he waved a hand around as he absently searched for a word. "Wul, he's Esau. Took guts for him to admit what he was, though," he added.

[Vixen]

"And it took blindness for him to become what he was," Zipporah retorted, crossing her arms around her liberal chest. She flashed her gaze between Solomon and Rhett, measuring the pair before she spoke once more. "Esau is a heathen. He is already lost. I'm not going to allow him to take any of us either. Rhett may be distasteful." She lowered her eyes, the picture, she thought, of feminine innocence. Demure and virtuous. "But he is a child of He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Esau does not have that credence. So he will burn in hell." She dropped her facade and openly glared at the two teenage boys.

[Dot Dot Dot]

Solomon's mouth dropped into a gape at Rhett's nonchalant acceptance of his insult. He hardly heard Zipporah's tangent, until the end when she emphasized the whole 'burning in hell' idea. He withheld a shudder at the idea of the confused Esau burning for all of eternity. Still, it was enough for him to make a move for the door. "Yes, Zipporah, you're right." He figured agreeing with her would keep her agreeable in any future meetings they had. "I'm going to go. So are you, Rhett," he said pointedly. He was not going to have the other boy alone with Zipporah. She may have trusted him, but the teen was obviously immoral. Delilah's existence proved that.

[Bunny]

Rhett caught Solomon's hint. He caught it, but refused to run with it. The edge of his mouth twitched. "I am? I don't remember making any plans to that effect, Sol-oh-man." He dragged out the name, more out of boredom than anything. People were so protective of their names, especially in Gatlin. When he stretched them, the mark often took it as an insult. And, while Rhett wasn't insulting them, it was his goal to make them feel slighted.

So, maybe it was a bit of a barb. He wasn't going to dissect his motives.

[Dot Dot Dot]

Rhett's insult struck true. However, Solomon didn't even twitch. Instead he just answered Rhett as though he hadn't caught the drawled pseudo-barb. "You didn't," he said. "I made the plans. Take the child," he nodded at Delilah, "and let's let Zipporah alone for awhile." He fixed the other teen with a glare.

[Bunny]

Once again, Rhett's mouth twitched. This time, however, he openly allowed it to curl into a smile as he obnoxiously swept his gaze through the room. "Zipporah? Alone?" he pressed. He released a small giggle, which was echoed by Delilah. "She sorta, uh, proved that she can't be trusted alone. That's why the children of Gatlin can't have nice things," he added with a sigh, looking crestfallen.

[Dot Dot Dot]

Solomon had been slouching, but at Rhett's words he rose to his full height. "We do have nice things," he said quietly. "We don't have sinful things. Zipporah only destroyed things from a more sinful age. I'm going to ask you one more time..." he took a step towards Rhett and loomed over the smaller boy. "Let's leave Zipporah alone."

[Bunny]

Rhett cocked his head to the side and examined Solomon for a second. After that second was up, he weighed the pros and cons of continuing this battle. On one hand, he didn't like to surrender and it was fun to get under old Solly's skin. But on the other, he had been doing this for quite some time now, and was growing bored.

Never one to bother with saving his face, he just shrugged his shoulders. "Fine," he said simply, and moved to make his exit.