[OPEN] An Ally Arrives!

[asgardmods]

Who: Everyone!
What: Some weird "elf" guys and their stuff
When: Day 136
Where: Outside the Gate of Fire
Rating: worksafe! If a thread is going to a higher rating, take it elsewhere.

[This is a general open log for the Thunderous Voices event!

You are welcome to assume friendliness from the elves, though they are mostly very polite people. They won't be overly rowdy or rude but they aren't uptight, either. They will trade for medical supplies and any sort of cool clockwork trinkets you can think of, so feel free to get creative! If you think it might be challenging the tech level rules, please ask the mods before assuming an item is OK. Also, their herbs and whatnot as the same as could be gotten in Utgard, but they do have more of the healing flowers from the Spring Party!

Beyond that, you're welcome to explore any of the things we've listed in the linked post above. The elves will not give information about the alliance and the war. It isn't their business to do so, so any info they give is not likely to be something previously unobtainable ICly. They'll also talk about their home, which is described briefly in the world info faq here. They'll speak of it being harmonious with nature and will not take kindly to any less than environmentally friendly things done in front of them. They also won't take anything not 100% environmentally safe in trade. They'll take Runes, though!

If you'd like us to NPC a thread, please contact a mod and let us know! Otherwise, go ahead and assume smaller contact and play with each other enjoying the sights and speculating on what everything means!]

Comments

[samantha_grey]

"Eh, don't worry about it. Really, I'm way too used to there being sort of complicated friendships roaming around. The last place I used to live, there was a lot of fighting over the 'principle of the thing' by friends and former friends. I figure I don't need to demand people ask for forgiveness for what someone else did. We've already got enough crap on our plates personally as is," she said, giving off a shrug and a snort of a laugh. "Plenty enough for me to worry about without adding blaming people for what others've done."

[whatagoodgirl]

"Yeah, I guess that's true." She sighs. "It does get complicated, doesn't it, having friends? It gets even worse when you have a boyfriend."

[samantha_grey]

She coughed and looked to the side, her face flushed red. The talk with Eridan had gone interestingly, and she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. The mere thought that she could have a relationship at all seemed foolish. The closest she'd ever managed had been only because they had a way to 'explain away' her psychotic periods easily enough and he was too much a lump to care.

It hadn't really been a 'real' relationship if you'd looked at the psychology of the whole thing.

"I'm... not sure I could ever really manage a relationship, at least... not something like what most people consider one," she muttered. "NO matter what, it's complicated. That much I'm sure of."

[whatagoodgirl]

"It's... yeah, even for someone like me, it's pretty complicated." She looks sad for a moment, her gaze darting away. "Sometimes I can see why my mom stayed single. But... it's worth it." She's silent for a moment. "It's worth it."

[samantha_grey]

Oh, she was dating someone? Well, Samantha couldn't fault her. The trenches were the sort of emotionally charged sorts of places that led to fast romances, after all. They could be a liability, but she wouldn't deny someone else that happiness, especially if she might consider trying it, given half an excuse.

"I'll have to take your word for it for now," she said. "I'm better off staying away from the normal myself."

[whatagoodgirl]

"I hope you can have it one day." The sadness in her face grows at the idea of never, ever having anything like she's got with Roxas, as hard as it is right now. "However it looks, I hope you can have somebody."

[samantha_grey]

Sam took on a distant look and shrugged. "I'm not sure I'd know what to do with a normal relationship, really," she said. "But... look, do me a favor. If I ever tell you someone's special, try to accept it. I might try something a little difficult to believe one of these days, and I know it's not going to look normal if I do."

Damn Eridan for putting ideas in her head. It wasn't good to get hope up.

[whatagoodgirl]

"... yeah, of course. If they're a friend of yours, then they're a friend of mine."

She looks concerned, though. Samantha shouldn't have to settle because of what she is, and that's what this sounds like.

[samantha_grey]

"Friend... heh, no, not like that, but it's not important right now. They've been keeping scarce lately. It doesn't matter until it matters and I get brain dead enough to try something stupid," she said, sounding almost a little defeated. It was hard not to think it sounded like she was settling, when it was closer to her admitting that the temptatio was too hard to resist.

[whatagoodgirl]

"Samantha..." Now she sounds warning, a distinctly motherly tone she somehow picked up despite having the most lax mother on earth.

[samantha_grey]

"Oh, don't give me that look. I'm not going to try anything just yet. I'm not even sure of it. It's just that something someone said...," she began, having the decency to look sheepish about the whole affair. "I plan to be careful if I try anything, and I haven't decided yet."

[whatagoodgirl]

"I'd feel a lot better about this if you explained it properly." Nakama is still trying to stare her down, despite her tiny frame and small stature.

[samantha_grey]

She broke gaze almost immediately. Samantha hated having staring contests that she didn't initiate. There was something decidedly uncomfortable about the whole situation. She coughed and grunted, shifting her feet and swallowing.

"I don't allow myself to flirt. I don't let myself date. Ever. My only intimate relationships have been bloody, messy affairs, and the one guy I've ever been with who didn't want to kill me for it afterwards was usually too hopped up to care," she said, swallowing thickly. "I gave up trying after him, before him really. He wasn't even a real relationship, if I'm honest. He couldn't have cared less one way or another as long as he felt good afterwards."

She frowned. "I... not being alone forever is a very strong temptation, even if it's not the sort of relationship I think's exactly safe on its own," she said. "I almost wish he'd never mentioned it to me."

[whatagoodgirl]

Nakama is listening carefully, but everything in her look says go on. None of that is the information she really wants - what Samantha plans to do now.

[samantha_grey]

She cast a glace from the side of her vision and chuckled at the look she was getting. "I might ask a second opinion if I don't run into them first," she offered. "I don't entirely trust his judgment right now. Talking to him was a little like talking to a romance novel reader."

[whatagoodgirl]

"To who? Why won't you tell me anything? It's starting to worry me."

[samantha_grey]

She stepped over, uncomfortable, but wanting to calm Nakama a little. The hint of sulfur was on her as she reached up and gently tried to pat her on the cheek. "I learned that I might have been flirting with someone, but they're all very violent," she said softly. "I don't want you to worry if I end up in a relationship that's not exactly safe by human standards, about either of us."

[whatagoodgirl]

Nakama almost winces away from the touch, but she's learned to expect oddly tender gestures from Samantha now, so she endures the smell and accepts the caress gracefully.

"The trolls, you mean? You want to date one of the trolls?" It can't be Gamzee. It can't.

[samantha_grey]

"I... am considering trying 'something' with one of them," she whispered very low. "But I'm not sure it's a good idea, so I'm waiting... seeing how I react to them the next time, if there's actually a reason to try this, or if I need to explore another avenue, because I think they'd probably jump at it."

[whatagoodgirl]

Nakama pitches her voice low as well, since Samantha seems so adamant about it being a secret.

"Like a sex arrangement? No relationship?"

She's shy, but she's not innocent.

[samantha_grey]

"I don't know what to call it, and I won't use their words," she said, her voice unsure. "I'm not a troll, and I'm not going to pretend to be one. This, however, isn't about sex. That might be part of it I guess, but I might have a chance to feel connected to someone, and not just someone pitying me or trying to tell me that they'll be friends despite what I am. There's a difference."

She closed her eyes. "If I can't be loved, I think... that I might be ok with being hated," she whispered. It had been like that with Dusk, hadn't it? "But only if they're actually worth hating."

[whatagoodgirl]

"You're going to have a relationship... where you hate one another?"

[samantha_grey]

"Who knows? Maybe, maybe not. I don't even know if that would work, though I know that it's something they do, and it's something I almost did back home with someone. Hell, I don't even know if he'd hate me back or just think I'm some crazy red-head being stupid. It's not like I know what the hell I'm doing, really. I... haven't decided, and I might talk to Sollux first. You did suggest him, and I really don't think this is Feferi's thing."

Yeah, it was about Gam.

[whatagoodgirl]

Nakama sits down hard, right on the ground, and starts massaging her temples. Samantha wanted to start a hateship with, as far as Nakama knew, the most dangerous and murderous troll there was. And she was asking Nakama not to be worried. How had she ever become friends with someone so suicidally reckless?

[samantha_grey]

Samantha sat down near her and patted a knee before leaning back on her palms. "It ... was kind of fun chasing the idiot around and shouting at him," she said idly, her tail flopping about behind her. "Almost reminded me of that other time, only a lot sillier. She wasn't a clown."

You know, Nakama just had the worst luck in friends. Calling Samantha occasionally suicidally reckless was like saying the sky was blue. It really didn't help that fear of death wasn't exactly a concept she understood in the same way other people did.