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Post by slayer on Jul 13, 2012 18:24:25 GMT -6
==> SI: Panic [/size][/b] You are currently flipping the fuck out. All of the fuck out. It just dawned on you that you have MISPLACED your SHOWER OF CLEANLINESS. It strikes you as odd that you forgot to pick it back up forever ago when you were being all emotional with LOFORA. You are now searching for it. Silently. Because, whenever you start making noise, someone finds you and it's rarely someone you'd like to find you.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: shower where are youuuuuu? [/spoiler] You whisper, really quietly, to your shower. You hope he can hear you. It also occurs to you that you'd probably be better off not alchemitizing optical and audio sensors into everything you make.
[/justify][/size] |
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Post by rally on Jul 13, 2012 19:27:08 GMT -6
==> Strern: Catch the scent.
Your sitting in your respiteblock, sketching on the floor and just generally minding your own business when you do indeed catch the scent. Its something you've smelled before, or atleast something very similar to another scent you know. Smells like a seadweller, a bit like Lofora. But not quite. You get up to your feet, completely silently, and pad over to the door just in-time to watch a tall jagged-horned troll slip past almost just as quietly. And he's the source of the scent.
Standing up from your crouched position, you clear your throat and clasp your shaking hands behind your back, feeling your sharp nails dig deep into your palms. Hoping you're not going to startle him, you speak up.
SA: uhh...
SA: h-highblood/
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Post by slayer on Jul 13, 2012 19:38:04 GMT -6
==> SI: FUCK! RUN! [/size][/b] No! Bad troll! Stand your ground, it's just some guy. You've been caught, and against everything your think pan is screeching at you, you turn around. It's Strern, a highblood, this is kind of not good. The only highbloods you've interacted with recently are Lofora and Caegar, and the later is insane, coincidentally, you know Strern to be cut from the same cloth as Caegar. Awesome.
Today is the day you die. He is obviously the Grand Highblood's assassin (you should really tell Caegar you decided to give her titles back). You decide to play it cool and feel out the situation,
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: Heeeeeey...
SLAIER: Strern, what's up?
SLAIER: You need me for something? [/spoiler] |
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Post by rally on Jul 13, 2012 19:55:17 GMT -6
==> Strern: Play it cool.
You try your best, but damn. Just, damn. It's Slaier, it's the highblood. You take a shaky breath as he turns, and you know your eyes are so wide they're probably near falling out of your pan but, hey, atleast you didn't seem to have surprised him too badly.
SA: e-excuse me,
SA: highblood
SA: i heard someone
SA: in the hall
SA: and
SA: came to investigate
SA: th-that's all...
SA: a-are you...
SA: are you looking
SA: for something../
It's the highblood. You're talking to the highblood. He's the heir to the throne, he's the prince... This. This just a little bit surreal, honestly. You knew he was part of your session, you've seen him around before, but you've never talked. Ever.
You might have blue blood in your veins, but that doesn't make you nearly worthy enough to strike up a random conversation with the highblood.
No way.
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Post by slayer on Jul 13, 2012 20:09:02 GMT -6
==> SI: Be social [/size][/b] You relax. Slightly. That is bullshit, there is no way he heard you, you were silent as a mass grave! Whatever, you smile in a semi-friendly manner, letting Strern know you're totally okay with him interrupting your lurking, but also that you just might hurt him without warning. You have no idea why your facial expressions are so descriptive.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: Looking for something?
SLAIER: As a matter of fact, I am.
SLAIER: But it's not here.
SLAIER: It would have answered me if it were.
SLAIER: But, more importantly, what are you doing here?
SLAIER: Are you wandering around?
SLAIER: Or have I intruded upon the space you've chosen for yourself? [/spoiler] |
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Post by rally on Jul 13, 2012 21:04:51 GMT -6
==> Strern: Calm yourself.
Maybe Slaier can see you shaking or maybe he's just always this way, but that smile he gives you is chilling, like a cold breath down the back of your neck. You soften your smile a little, glancing back through the doorway with a nod as the highblood asks what you're doing down here.
SA: yeah
SA: trying to figure out
SA: how to get
SA: a little privacy
SA: in this place
SA: so thought i might
SA: be able to make up
SA: some sort of
SA: respiteblock...
Your gaze returns to the sea-dweller before you look down respectfully. Today's not the day you want to meet your end so you decide it's better to play it safe than to risk insulting the highblood.
SA: what you're looking for
SA: will answer you../
SA: maybe
SA: i could assist
SA: in the search/
SA: i'm
SA: pretty decent
SA: at finding things
Maybe today's the day you finally get to do something half-useful around this dump, put your tracking skills to use a little, maybe even relish in the hunt. If the highblood's looking for something that can answer him, it must be something that can be chased... or hunted.
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Post by slayer on Jul 13, 2012 21:14:48 GMT -6
==> SI: Consider [/size][/b] You briefly consider allowing Strern to help you, but you'd rather no one be around to witness you freaking out. You put a hand on Strern's shoulder and smile without the malicious undertones. He's obviously not an assassin, so you see no reason not to be friends.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: Privacy?
SLAIER: I'd recommend claiming the entire complex and banning anyone from entering.
SLAIER: That's what I did, on the other side of the rock, that is.
SLAIER: Flooded it so no one else could use it besides me.
SLAIER: You should come over sometime. [/spoiler] You rest your back against the wall and look at the ceiling briefly, you aren't entirely certain how well this place is put together. You look back at Strern.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: A while back, I was near here with Lofora.
SLAIER: Seadweller stuff, you know?
SLAIER: I left my portable shower somewhere around here.
SLAIER: Near a giant hole, if you can believe that.
SLAIER: I fell right through to the lowest level of the meteor.
SLAIER: Anyway, I need the shower.
SLAIER: Have to keep moist.
SLAIER: Or I'll die. Slowly, painfully. Not something I want to experience after coming this far, you know? [/spoiler] |
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Post by rally on Jul 14, 2012 17:53:24 GMT -6
==> Strern: Seriously, calm down.
Slaier smiles at you, his hand on your shoulder, and you think your ticker might have just stopped. Maybe. Just a little. And the grin on your face, it gives away exactly how excited you are that he's even talking to you, that he thinks you might be able to help him.
SA: it'd be totally
SA: awesome to
SA: visit sometime1
SA: but, you now,
SA: the whole
SA: no breathing underwater
SA: thing
SA: might be a bit
SA: of an issue...
SA: i'd claim a complex or something
SA: but all of the buildings
SA: around here
SA: are pretty well
SA: smashed up
SA: this one's
SA: the only really
SA: stable one
SA: atleast
SA: i hope it is
You laugh a little at the mental image of you drawing obliviously in your new respiteblock as the building crumbles around you, snatching another little sniff of the air as you do so. People knowing you're decended of the Watchdog... You don't know who else even knows about her, knows the role she played in Alternian society way back when, but still... You'd rather keep the whole "raised by wolves" thing on the down-low. The highblood's looking for a shower... It's sort of a strange idea atfirst, you don't think you ever really thought about the sea-dwellers having to keep moist, but it makes sense once you give it a little more thought.
SA: well
SA: if it's near a big hole
SA: there's one of those
SA: a couple floors down
SA: but the footing
SA: is a little unstable
SA: down there...
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Post by slayer on Jul 14, 2012 18:04:41 GMT -6
==> SI: Deploy Creeper bomb [/size][/b] NO. You don't do that. Because that's fucking stupid. Although you don't deploy it, you do pull a miniature Creeper bomb out of your pocket. You like to keep a few on hand, rather than capchalogued, in case of Creeper emergency.
You vaguely recall that Strern cannot breathe underwater. Did you mention that there's an unflooded room below the one you sleep in? You don't think so, whatever, that's not even important right now.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: Yeahhhh.
SLAIER: That whole "everything being in ruins thing"
SLAIER: While time was certainly a factor in that.
SLAIER: I may have detonated a few of these little green things.
SLAIER: To kill monsters, you see?
[/spoiler] And suddenly you have a lead on where your shower might be. This would excite you if it wasn't several floors down. You know you could probably make a hole and fall through, but Strern seems nervous, or excited, or something, and you don't want to give the poor guy a heart attack.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: That.
SLAIER: That is wonderful, it really is.
[/spoiler] It occurs to you that you don't know Strern all that well. You don't know him at all. It also occurs to you that the impersonal approach you took to interacting with the other trolls is likely one of the reasons you've failed to unite the team. You decide to remedy this.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: So, now that I know where my shower probably is.
SLAIER: Tell me about you.
SLAIER: I'm vaguely interested.
SLAIER: Speak to me as you would a friend.
[/spoiler] |
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Post by rally on Jul 14, 2012 19:54:52 GMT -6
==> Strern: Be friendly.
SA: uhh..
You try to think of something to say, but you fail. You fail so hard. Leaning back against the wall beside the highblood, you try to gather up your thoughts, try to think of what you can say. You've never had a friend, not really, so the idea of talking to one is a little strange to you, but you decide to give it a try anyways.
SA: honestly
SA: there's not too much
SA: to tell
SA: my lusus
SA: never really let me
SA: leave the hive
SA: except to hunt
SA: and we were
SA: really isolated
SA: so until the game
SA: i can't actually
SA: remember ever
SA: having met another troll
SA: if you can believe that...
SA: i mean
SA: trollian
SA: counts for something
SA: but
SA: it's not the same
SA: as actually
SA: knowing people...
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Post by slayer on Jul 14, 2012 20:00:49 GMT -6
==> SI: Relate [/size][/b] You do. It kind of hurts. You kind of...stop smiling. You know all too well what it's like being alone and isolated. You feel like you could use this as a stepping stone on the road to being epic bros with Strern, but that shit usually backfires right in your face. You just keep your shit on the down low and decide to give short and simple replies.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: I.
SLAIER: I kind of know how that is.
SLAIER: And you might know why already.
SLAIER: Being alone.
SLAIER: It's not easy. [/spoiler] |
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Post by rally on Jul 16, 2012 1:52:38 GMT -6
==> Strern: Realize.
It takes you a second, but then suddenly you do. Maybe you weren't the only one who was lonely, after-all. It never really struck you that someone such as the highblood could feel that way, and then you realize that it's sort of weird you hadn't thought of that, that being trapped by his duties and by his blood might've kept him just as alone as Wolfmum kept you. So he understands.
SA: yeah
SA: i mean...
SA: she was just doing
SA: what she thought
SA: was right
SA: keeping
SA: me safe
SA: and training me
SA: to be a good hunter
SA: but
SA: now i feel
SA: ...
SA: i don't even really know
SA: you know/
SA: don't think
SA: i can't describe it
SA: i just feel
SA: different...
SA: from the others...
You'll admit it, that stung a little to say and you look over just in time to see the grin disappearing off of Slaier's face. Admitting something like that, it's sort of a big thing for you, not telling people your fears. Well, except for Cali. But, let's face it, you don't have to tell her anything. She just sort of... Well,knows.
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Post by slayer on Jul 16, 2012 11:09:57 GMT -6
==> SI: Console [/size][/b] You'll try. You sort of, just kind of decide that this is one of those moments where you can do something good for someone. Extremely rare are these times when your personal brand of friendship comes in handy.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: A parent's love is divine.
SLAIER: They only want what's best for their charges.
SLAIER: ...There isn't a single second that my heart doesn't ache from missing my lusus.
SLAIER: But, putting that aside.
SLAIER: All of us are different in our own ways, Strern.
SLAIER: No two trolls are exactly the same, even if they share a caste.
SLAIER: Take Caegar and myself, for example.
SLAIER: By all rights she should be my right hand, the one I trust to deliver my judgment.
SLAIER: But because of our conflicting feelings about lowbloods, we are constantly at each others throat. [/spoiler] |
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Post by rally on Jul 27, 2012 2:54:17 GMT -6
==> Strern: Let that sink in.
Nodding your agreement, you drop your gaze down to your feet, sort of just letting the whole mess wash over you. All the lusii are dead, you'll all orphaned... Maybe you weren't as alone in this whole thing as you thought you were. Pushing up off the wall and stretching your arms up above your head, you glance back at Slaier and bare your fangs in a smile, an honest one.
SA: well
SA: maybe if we're both alone
SA: we could atleast
SA: be alone
SA: together/
SA: i mean
SA: not in a
SA: weird way
SA: just
SA: like
SA: i don't know...
SA: friends/
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Post by slayer on Jul 27, 2012 3:16:25 GMT -6
==> SI: FRIENDSHIP [/size][/b] FEELINGS. SO MANY OF THEM. Your face contorts slightly, you're trying not to smile as you are fully aware that your smiles are INCREDIBLY DISTURBING. You would like to be Strern's friend, perhaps this is a chance to make somebody believe you aren't a total fuck up.
[/justify][/size] SLAIER: I'd like that.
SLAIER: There are precious few I can call friend these days.
SLAIER: It seems like all of us either want to kill or kiss each other.
SLAIER: It's ridiculous. [/spoiler] |
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