and all my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open;

[tongue3y3s]

Who: Terezi Pyrope (tongue3y3s) and Ash Trine (bulletwithmyname)
What: Terezi rescuing a poor little fresh meat babby. Continuation of this thread.
When: Day 246 before the dream event.
Where: Loki district.
Rating: PG.


["Magic isn't real," Terezi wants to say, but she doesn't. Just because their universe doesn't have magic doesn't necessarily mean no universe has magic. At least, probably not. Instead she listens to his explanation, smiling faintly as he does. She's impressed that he can imagine the sensation of her perception being inhibited as well as he can with so little information.] Not being able to see clearly is never a pleasant feeling, [she responds, nodding. For a second, she scratches behind her ear, musing over the situation, then she inches forward until their knees are pressed together.]

Don't freak out. I want to show you something. [As carefully as she can manage, she reaches her hands forward and presses her fingers over Ash's eyes. Her blood makes her body cool, so his eyelids feel warm under her skin.]  You won't be able to perceive much like this, but try to imagine what's around you.

[Terezi knows, of course, that it is highly unlikely that a human child could pick up the extrasensory skills she has--especially one who is already in distress and suffering disorientation. But she thinks, maybe, that this might help. Covering her ears had a weirdly comforting effect on her back when she was learning how to smell.]

Comments

[bulletwithmyname]

Okay.

[when terezi's knees touch his knees and then her fingers touch his eyes, something strange happens. he's sure, in that moment, that she's not going to hurt him, that she's going to show him something very important if he can just focus. focusing his hard. his eyes shift beneath her fingers, but then he huffs out a breath, makes his shoulders relax. he tries to spread his senses, as he would if his magic was still there. it doesn't work, of course, but it does make him pay attention to what he still can get, takes the focus away from what he's lost]

Oh. Your hands smell like chalk.

[tongue3y3s]

[Her lip quirks to the side.] Yes! Yes they do. What else?

[It's sort of selfish. She isn't helping him out of charity--although maybe it doesn't matter either way--but rather a more self-centered interest bordering on fascination; maybe a bit of loneliness, too. There could be worse reasons. Terezi likes to think she's matured, even just a little bit, since she was six sweeps old. She tries not to think of other living entities like playtoys anymore. Sometimes it works. Sometimes she chooses to ignore it. (Those aren't her best times.)

Terezi presses her hands against his eyes and lets go of her manic smile in favor of a softer one, an excited gentleness that isn't foreign but certainly isn't common. She inhales his warm, dusty scent and feels like she does with Dave or Sollux; wanting to guide or help them. Yeah. Just a delicate human boy. Like Dave. She wouldn't hurt Dave. (Except she has.) She isn't going to hurt Ash, either.]

Come on, don't be shy. Tell me everything.

[bulletwithmyname]

[ash doesn't realize that his asgard power is telepathy, and he's too knotted up and wrecked inside to really get that much through the fledgling ability anyway. he just thinks that this surety she won't hurt him, that she's trying to help, that this is interesting and important, that these are all his conclusions, not her thoughts leaking into him]

It rains here, often. At least lately. I can smell the dirt, it's more humid here. Might rain soon, actually, the way that wind is. Kind of cold.

[he bites his lip, chewing a place that's already a bit raw, thinking]

We're not far from the street, I still hear people walking. Your skin is tougher than mine, isn't it? I must feel very squishy to you.

[tongue3y3s]

Humans are incredibly squishy when it comes to trolls, [Terezi agrees, nodding emphatically. He's right about the rain: she can smell it in the air, and she knows it's going to come down soon. She should get the little grub to his new room so he doesn't die of cold, which she has been informed is a thing that can happen to humans, as they all have such hot red blood.]

What house are you in? Can you employ the city's energy to guess which direction your Welcome Hall is?

[bulletwithmyname]

The city's energy? Wait, what? Explain that.

[he hasn't really moved, except for a small start and the furrowing of his brows, but she has his full attention now. one of his hands closes gently around her wrist, but the gesture is cajoling, not threatening]

[tongue3y3s]

I can smell trails of things from far away! Once I was familiar with the way my district smelled, I could tell what direction it was from any place in the city. Each district is kind of unique from what I've noted.

[She pauses.]

And there's something else. I think it has to do with the powers they give us here. [But that isn't relevant right now. Terezi tries to ignore those. She ignores the feelings she gets sometimes, because it reminds her so much of Vriska it hurts. Terezi doesn't want to be a telepath; that's never been what she's wanted.

But she still hears the names of gods when she enters their districts, floating on the minds of the occupants. She can't repress everything (even though she tries), and when several dozen people are thinking Loki at once, well...]

[bulletwithmyname]

I don't think I'll ever be that good at smelling. You must have a nose like a bloodhound. Better, maybe.

[there's definitely admiration there, almost hiding the faint disappointment in his tone that she didn't mean what he'd hoped. but that's not her fault, that he wants so badly for something to be true]

I wasn't paying that much attention to the faceless lady. Guess I should've been.

[his eyes squint a bit under her fingers, trying to remember]

She said something...with an L, maybe.

[tongue3y3s]

[Terezi takes her hands away from his eyes and paps his cheek lightly.] Don't feel too bad about it! I don't know if humans can even smell the way trolls can; even though most trolls think it's freaky, too, hehehe. My lusus taught me how to do it.

The thing is, people think of it as a power, when it's really not. Maybe smelling and tasting colours is special, but aside from that, nothing I was smelling was new; it wasn't anything I hadn't smelled before. I just had never paid attention to it. And most of learning how to see without seeing is paying to the sounds, smells, and tastes you never paid attention to before. Sight is really a hindrance to a full sensory experience, you know!

[She scratches her chin thoughtfully.] As for your house... it wouldn't be Loki, would it?

[bulletwithmyname]

Lusus?

[once her hands are gone, he sets his chin on his knees]

You know, I hadn't thought of it that way. But it makes sense. What do colors taste like? Wait, that's too broad. What's your favorite, and what does it taste like?

[he ponders the word 'loki' for a moment, repeating it softly to himself] ...yes, I think it might be Loki. Is that the only L house?

[tongue3y3s]

[She smacks his knee with the back of her hand.] Slow down, kid. One question at a time.

I'm in Loki district, too. [A wide smile cuts across her face.] I can show you to the Welcome Hall and help you find your room. Do you remember the number?

[bulletwithmyname]

Right, right, sorry. Colors, then. What's your favorite and what does it taste like?

Well, isn't that lucky. I don't remember what room, if she said. It doesn't-- [he bites his lip, cutting himself off with a little noise] That'd be good of you, if you could show me.

[tongue3y3s]

Get up, then! [She scrambles out from under the tree, dragging him along with her by the hand, sniffs quickly to discern the direction of the Welcome Hall, and then bounces off down the street.]

My favourite colour is red, [Terezi finally informs him, grinning broadly.] It smells like cherries and candy and apples and a little bit like warm cinnamon and spicy grubsauce. Depending on what kind of red, hehe!

[bulletwithmyname]

[tz is a lot smaller than ash, so she nearly yanks him off his feet while he's in process of unfolding himself and getting out from between the tree branches. it doesn't seem like he particularly minds, though, once he catches up]

Red, huh? I'll take it you noticed my hair, then, although it might count as more like orange now. [his icons are a lie, his hair is wildly curly and nearly to his shoulders, sunbleached on the top and darker beneath. he pulls a curl to eye it before letting it pop back into place] What's grubsauce?

[tongue3y3s]

[She did, indeed, smell his hair; all pretty and red-orangey-burnt like that. Terezi didn't have much exposure to hair colours before their Sburb session so all of the human variation is rather overwhelming sometimes! She's spent an unreasonable amount of time fawning over Dave's white-blonde hair, so different from the coarse troll black that all-but plagues everyone she knew before the game session.

Terezi grins, and as a response dances up on her toes to ruffle his hair, then lets out a spirited laugh.] Grubsauce is something trolls eat. I wouldn't ask any further than that. [Because in truth, no one is entirely sure what grubsauce is, except it just is, and the only thing Terezi herself is certain of is that there are probably a lot of different kinds of grubsauce and some of them may be less mentally appetizing than others. She makes a point not to question it: it's too delicious to ruin.

The streets she leads the wiggler down are carefully chosen; Terezi can smell his anxiety when the natives come near him, and she doesn't particularly relish in their presence either, so she sniffs carefully at the mouths of streets before traversing them, checking for paths that are relatively clear so neither of them have to deal with messily cringing away from the bullish grey people who don't seem to understand the concept of navigating around people who are in their way.]

[bulletwithmyname]

[there's that tiny flinch again when she first touches his head, but he covers it better this time, hunching his shoulders and stooping so she can pet him.]

Oh, I suppose you would have a different diet, wouldn't you. Those aren't really omnivore teeth.

[they're probably halfway to the hall before he cottons on to what she's doing, that she's choosing the emptier streets. she's clever, really really clever, and he's grateful for it. not that he actually gives voice to that thought, but that might be because he's a bit distracted looking around for kieran. the possibility that kieran isn't here isn't one he's willing to entertain, mostly because he has no idea how he'll live that way.

kid's a little melodramatic when he's not being logical and curious. he knows it, too, so he gropes for a distraction]

Have you been here long?

[tongue3y3s]

Not very. A couple of weeks, [Terezi admits, shrugging.] But I adapted fast. [A person like her has to adapt fast or she'll be culled by whatever violent forces are around looking for something helpless to break and destroy. Terezi refuses to be broken or destroyed, and so...]

I can say it's really not so bad of a place once you get used to it! I've found some fun things to do here.

[bulletwithmyname]

I'd say you did.

[ash would feel her on that if he was in his right mind. he's really not, as much as he's trying]

What kind of things? It feels like forever since I've been in a city.

[while not on the run from the law, anyway]

[tongue3y3s]

Well! There's lots of gardens and trees, even if they are kind of weird and ugly and don't smell pretty at all, and I like to climb trees a lot. There's a lot of places in the city to explore, and they have motor powered two wheel devices that some people ride, and there are lots of interesting shops and stores that smell a lot nicer than most of the city does! There are also a lot of people here from many different universes; they're interesting to talk to-- ah! [A fat, large droplet of water hits her on the top of the head, and when she ducks and looks up, another splats on her cheek.]

I should have mentioned before that you were right about it being soon to rain! Can you run?

[bulletwithmyname]

I've got plenty of running practice, just no idea where I'm going.

[tongue3y3s]

Good thing I know, then! [Her voice is bright; she grins and grabs his sleeve, tugging it forward.] Keep up, okay headblind kid?

[And then she takes off running in the direction of the Welcome Hall. It's only a little bit away at this point.]

[bulletwithmyname]

[he's got plenty on her in stride, even if he's about a hundred sandwiches short of proper weight, so he more or less keeps up]

[tongue3y3s]

[Laughter springs from her in delighted bursts as they bolt through the city; he's long limbed and she's quick as a snake in the bush so they manage to keep pace easily until she puts on a burst of speed and snatches the doorhandle to the hivestem, yanking it open for him.] Go inside, pupa! [she commands, laughing as she holds the back of her other hand over her forehead to shield her face from the rain.

[bulletwithmyname]

[no delight from this one, he's spent too much time recently running for his life. he does let out a little laugh when terezi goes out of her way to beat him, though, ducking inside without any protest]

Pupa? I'm not going to turn into a butterfly.

[tongue3y3s]

[She giggles.] Are you sure about that?

[Now that they're out of the rain, she holds out her hand.] Let me smell your bracelet. Your room information is probably somewhere in there.

[bulletwithmyname]

Pretty sure. I'd look damned ridiculous with wings, too.

[he shakes his bracelet down his arm and puts his wrist in her hand, his own hand loosely closed. his hands and forearms are also covered in freckles, and his veins show blue under his skin]

[tongue3y3s]

[She chuckles and sniffs at his hand, thinking he smells nice, but that is not her purpose so she doesn't dwell upon it. Terezi fiddles with the bracelet, then pauses.] You're going to have to pull up your own touchscreen, I can't do it.

[bulletwithmyname]

I'm going to have to what with my what?

[tongue3y3s]

Jegus, wiggler, didn't you pay attention when the greyface maid was trying to schoolfeed you? [Sighing, Terezi grabs his hand and selects a finger, pressing it to the stone in the center of the bracelet. A touchscreen flashes to life.] You'll have to tell me what it says, I can barely smell it!

You're supposed to see a silly guide right now. Do you?

[bulletwithmyname]

No, I was busy worrying about a few other things. And I do see a guide. What kind of magic is this?

[he pokes at it, inadvertently figuring out how to scroll the screen, and reads through the guide quickly. more a skim, really. then the main screen pops up]

O...kay. What now?

[tongue3y3s]

It's not magic, it's... weird technology. Magic doesn't exist. [She says it before she realizes she's saying it, and doesn't seem to catch it, because she moves on.] I can show you where to find your information, I remember the locations of the buttons on the screen. [Quickly, because she's working from memorization not sight, Terezi paps the touchscreen a couple times and pulls up a page of information on Ash's presence in Asgard.] Tell me what it says. Do you see your room number on here?