[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]

"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.

[whatagoodgirl]

"I still don't see how that can be the basis of a relationship, but... I always tell people not to judge other worlds and customs, so I guess I won't either." Her smile is barely visible, but it's there. "Good luck."

[samantha_grey]

"I... am kind of saying the same thing right now. Frankly, trolls both intrigue me and really creep me out at times," she offered. "There's nothing normal about how they handle things."

[whatagoodgirl]

"They have such hard lives, though, especially some of them... I don't blame them for turning out a little weird to our eyes." She chews her bottom lip thoughtfully. "But if you think... I mean, this could get you killed, a lot of times. I can't say I'm happy about it, and it's hard to wish you well. You know? I don't really know what to say."

[samantha_grey]

"That isn't supposed to happen," she said, shaking her head. "I don't want to kill him, and if it works for him he's not supposed to want to kill me. Just..." And she coughed, glancing to the side. How did you explain that it was 'supposed' to be a desire to kick someone's ass, something like a rivalry or a duel and that the only reason she was considering it was that it had been fun right up until getting knocked unconscious? Well, a little bit anyway.

She really didn't have any clue what the hell she was doing. "If he actually tries to kill me... I'll call it off and stay away from him, ok?"

That much, at least, was true. Probably.

[whatagoodgirl]

"Just fighting." She frowns, glancing down at her hands uneasily. "It sounds like a dangerous game to me, but if you really promise to be careful... I trust you."

[samantha_grey]

"Just fighting, and I'm going to work to keep it between us. I don't like collateral damage," she assured her. Admittedly, collateral damage followed her around like her shadow, so her preferences were somewhat moot in this.

[whatagoodgirl]

"If that's what you want... I wish you luck." She finally looks up and manages a weak smile.

[samantha_grey]

One looked up, and the other looked down. "I just don't want to be alone forever. If it works, then it works...," she breathed, not sounding terribly hopeful at the moment. "Thanks, though, for trying to understand at least."