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"Now you're just bein' seven leagues of unreasonable."
"Excuuuse you! You're the big hiss baby who won't get out of his purrecious water and face me like a real troll!"
Eridan gave a scandalized gasp. "You implyin me to be coward? Come a little closer to the surf an' say that."
The two of them glared venomously from their respective positions, a stark contrast to the serene waves lazily brushing upon the shore. Neither had their strife specibi equipped, but with the parties involved that didn't mean much.
Eridan may not have embraced life underwater, but he was still a coldblooded plunderer of the seas. His arms could withstand the backlash of Ahab's Crosshairs with ease, and his legs were toned from constantly hunting lusii astride his own's saddle. There was a very short list of things that could best him in his element, and an olive-blooded troll with an aversion to getting wet was not on it.
For Nepeta, the inverse was true. She didn't even live in a hive, growing up in caves and hunting for food like a beast. Her small stature was deceptive in regards to her true strength and agility- she'd drawn monstrous freshwater prey from swamp ponds and rivers, slicing them open when they flopped uselessly on the ground. Blood from across the spectrum painted her walls, including the black of His Honorable Tyranny's demonic brood. The land was her domain.
In short, there was absolutely no way either was going cross that ribbon of wet sand, the definitive line between established dominance and assured defeat.
"At least you can breath on land," Nepeta growled, frustrated. "everyone knows it's suicide to go into the water."
"Only if you're a lowblooded illiterate." Eridan said, glowering back. "Honestly, I don't even know why I'm lowering myself for a cave wretch like you, you should be fuckin grateful I'm here at all."
Nepeta kicked a wave of damp sand in his direction, splattering him.
"Oh that's real fuckin mature!"
"No one's cares about the gross things you have to say Ampurra- eep!" A heavy splash of water rose from the sea, drenching her from the knees down and causing her to scurry back.
The two stared each other down with blazing animosity, but now stood further apart then ever.
About a hundred yards down the coast, a third troll leaned blearily out of his hive.
"When ya'll are done with your miraculous pitch jammin', I've got snickerdoodles over here that done shaped like hop-beasts."
The two would-be kismesis gave him a blank look before immediately rounding on one another, spite renewed.
"Well alright, I'll just leave em here."
The bickering continued deep into the night, echoing across the sands, but all throughout neither dared cross the boundary of the tide.