Chapter Text
Cleo sat in the meeting, uttlerly bored out of her mind, listening to the King droning on and on about the various acts of treason committed by the Resistance this week. Huge yawn. Who even cares that much about a statue?
What's worse, Bdubs was making that face again, watching the King intently, large eyes glittering. Yuck. Get a room already.
Cleo tapped her fingers on the polished wood table, letting the voices of the King and his court melt into the background. It was clear that Ren definitely had a soft spot for Bdubs, one glace at the way they looked at each other would tell you as much. But it also showed in the meetings; whenever Bdubs had an idea it was always "good idea, my hand" and "I agree, my treasure." Gross, gross, gross.
It was also very clear that Ren is like a fish out of water when Bdubs isn't there by his side. Like when Bdubs fell ill one week, and Ren had to check up on him every ten minutes, barely fulfilling any kingly duties and letting his so-called loyal court do all of the work for him.
One thing was for certain though: if Cleo had to watch either of them ogle at each other one more time, she just might puke. Or join the resistance. Or both.
"Lady Cleo? Art thou listening?" the King's voice boomed, as he stood there with folded arms and a raised eyebrow. Bdubs mirrored him, glaring daggers into them. Great.
"Uh, yeah, of course I was! How dare the Resistance do... whatever they're doing now!"
She was lucky that the diamond glasses partially hid her eyeroll.
Honestly, Cleo has had enough. They're barely appreciated in this court, and with the King decreeing new ridiculous laws every day, joining the Resistance started to look more and more attractive to them.
Now, to the average person, what Cleo does next may seem a little... drastic. But it was completely necassary! Besides, the King had it coming anyways, who knows how the Resistance didn't spot his little weakness sooner.
Cleo strode over to Bdubs's door, knocking sharply on it three times. She immediately heard rustling and jangling from within the door, before a muffled voice called out: "Coming, my majesty!"
Ew.
Soon after, the large oak double door swung open and Bdubs emerged, grinning. He was covered in golden jewellery - gifts from the King, presumably - and dark makeup tickled his eyelids. As for his clothes, a dark green corset with a pure white silk shirt and dark trousers, alongside boots with a small heel. White wings, fading to green at the end of their wingspan, sat comfortably through little holes in a moss cape, which now had little pink flowers blooming on it.
Upon setting eyes on the person before him, Bdubs's brow furrowed, and his smile faded. "Cle-?"
Cleo grabbed him and held a hand to his mouth. "Shut up," she hissed, "Don't make a sound."
Bdubs whimpered, trying to struggle away from her vice-like grip, but Cleo simply picked him up and carried him over her shoulder, using her elytra to fly out of a window to remain unseen. He wriggled, trying desperately to free himself, flapping his wings to try and fly away. Cleo readjusted her grip, pressing her arm into Bdubs's wings to prevent them from moving.
"What- what are you doing?" Bdubs whispered, unable to stop the fear seeping into his voice, "I- I have a date with the King, you know! And he- he'll be looking for me! Then you'll see!"
"Do you ever just shush, Bdubs?" Cleo growled in his ear, "It's none of your business what I'm doing."
She suddenly swooped down, causing Bdubs to scream, even after they were both firmly on the ground.
Well, Cleo was firmly on the ground. Bdubs was still lying over her shoulder, and still making a racket.
"Oh my Void you're gonna give me a headache..." Cleo muttered as she entered a cave.
<ZombieCleo> whispers to <Soup Group Groupchat!>: hey, might have something of interest for you
<ZombieCleo> whispers to <Soup Group Groupchat!>: come to these coordinates: ...
<ZombieCleo> whispers to <Soup Group Groupchat!>: ... and be quick about it!
The Soup Group excitedly rushed over to the coordinates that Cleo had sent them. It may well be a trap, Cleo was a part of the Royal Court of course, but she never seemed too loyal to them anyways. Just in case, they went into the cave one at a time, Gem at the front with her sword, and Impulse at the back.
The cave seemed unassuming at first, but they soon noticed a few stone buttons laying around. One of them opened a simple piston door, which led to a narrow spiral staircase. The lighting inside was dim, a few torches here and there - and the walls were a plain stone, dug out in a hurry. Eventually, the staircase opened up into a small room with a door on the back wall. Cleo was sitting on a bench inside the room, and at the sight of the Soup Group, their eyes lit up in relief.
"Thank goodness you're here, I was about to die of boredom," they sighed, before rising from their seat and walking towards the door. "Follow me."
The Soup Group looked at each other, before trailing after her. The new room was also dimly lit, and was cut in half by a wall of iron bars. On the other side, a mossy figure lay facing away from the bars, rope tied around his waist and wings.
"Oh, Void!" Impulse exclaimed, stepping away from the bars.
"Cleo... this isn't right..." Gem gasped, "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing! Yet..." Cleo shrugged, "Just kinda grabbed him and took him here I guess."
Bdubs made a growling noise, trying to roll over to the bars. Once he was facing the others, he bared his teeth. "You aren't doing anything to me! Ever! Because Ren's coming for me and you all will get thrown into the dungeon once he finds out what you've done!"
Cleo smirked. "Oh, yeah, your precious King has been messaging you on your comm. He's so worried about his little treasure."
"HEY!"
"Y'know, Cleo," Pearl began, "I'm all for the chaos and everything, but I agree with the others. This is just way too far..."
"Look," Cleo said emphatically, "We can either get some information out of him, use him to blackmail the King, and stand a chance at winning this war. Or, if you guys are too scared, we can just let him roam free, babble to his King about everything we've done, and sentence us all to rotting away in the dungeons. What do you choose?"
Impulse looked into Bdubs's eyes. He knew Bdubs, he knew that he was trying to hide his fear. And Impulse felt awful about it.
"Let's... let's do your thing then, Cleo," Impulse muttered, firmly breaking the eye contact between himself and Bdubs. He didn't have to be looking at Bdubs to imagine the hurt painted on his face.
The other Soup Group members quietly muttered their agreement; Cleo hummed, satisfied. "Good. So you," she pointed at Bdubs, and he couldn't help but flinch back a little, "Are going to cooperate. Or else."