I'm going on an adventure! (private)

The tinkering lights inside the hive casted shadows from every surface they reached, reflecting trembling shades of pots and molds at the rhythm of bad songs that were, thankfully, being played on the softer side of the volume. In a perch by the window, a phoenix lusus lazily picked locks of hair from the head of Rubedo to pull at them and let them fall again, mimicking some sort of preening action on the not-so-younger anymore troll. Who was by the way gently petting his lusus in a distracted way while busying himself with a telescope , because even if he wasn't 3 anymore, they were in the comfort of their own hive, the night just some hours away of the sunrise, and he just felt like peeking at the sky for a moment before going to bed. Or at least that was what he was planning when he noticed a tent of sorts down there, right in between hive stems, that he was completely sure wasn't there before.

He has been living here for all his life, of course that thing wasn't there before.

Rubedo was curious to say the least. Sure, going out right now was risky.  Not only because of the sunrise, but also because if that was a troll higher than his rustblood (which was almost guaranteed) and he or she turned out to be a prissy ellitist douchebag like it happened at least 80% of the times, well, then he could be in trouble. But what if it was a vendor? What would they be selling? What if they brought some really exotic food to sell and they'd be gone at the sunset? He had a time limit to go, investigate, and then go back home, and maybe to think of some scheme to counter his bad luck with preventive measures, but in his mind it was all worth it.

Enough said. He left his telescope to the side and hurried away from the window after making sure that his phoenix lusus let go of his hair completely, put on a simple black apron to hide the symbol in his chest in bright red color, equipped some knives and some sopor slime, and hurriedly went out under the quizzical gaze of his lusus. The night breeze was chill against his warm skin, but he was a man on a mision. He didn't have any riches or treasure with him, but maybe he could negotiate something else in exchange.

The tent was in front of him in seconds, and he stopped walking. He clicked his tongue briefly, thinking, and finally smiled and asked in a rather amicable voice so he wouldn't appear as threatening: "Oh, jello? Excuse my manners, but I don't think I've seen you here before, and I'm kind of curious. Are you just passing by, or are you by any chance moving in?"

Theiyw had settled down outside his hivetent to watch the sun rise a little bit, and was currently leaned up against his backpack, leafing through one of his all-too-familiar adventure novels. He could probably quote the entire thing by now, but reading it and feeling the pages was half of the adventure in itself. There were places in the margins where he'd scrawled illegible notes, and certain words were underlined for seemingly no reason. Nevertheless, he loved his book, and was somewhat surprised when a troll interrupted him.

Standing up, he set his book down, shrugging. "If you wanted to be particular, you could say both. I'll be here for a while, living, and then I'll leave, therefore being passing through." He was in one of his more thoughtful, introspective moods, thus explaining his answer. Being around so many trolls was different from the mostly desolate forest he'd been in earlier, and he had been wondering what all of the trolls in the hivestems were doing, and what they were thinking. He'd just started to wonder if any of them had been out of the cluster when he'd been interrupted.

"You live here, I imagine." He was contemplating whether to ask the troll in front of him if he'd been anywhere else besides the hivestem cluster, but decided against it, thinking that it might come off as rude. Lowbloods couldn't always help where they lived, in a way neither could Theiyw. He simply went where his lusus did, although sometimes he wondered why he did it. They certainly didn't have an exceptional bond. Perhaps it was that he liked traveling, as shown by his curiosity about the world and the trolls around him.

Deciding that he probably ought to introduce himself, so that he wouldn't bring down a pack of lowbloods down on him, he held out a hand, attempting to appear friendly. "I'm Theiyw. A longer explanation is probably needed, but I'm afraid the sun may have other ideas." He took a glance at the rising sun, looking away quickly to make sure that his eyes did not get damaged from the exposure. They still had a little time, but certainly not enough for Theiyw to go into an in depth explanation about his history.

He seemed to startle the second troll, at least briefly, judging for the surprised look on his face. Apparently he was reading a book before he arrived, but Rubedo wasn't familiar at all with what he managed to make out of the title. Some sort of adventure, maybe? Thanks, but no thanks, talking to a completely stranger before the sunrise was as adventurous as he could get in one—

Oh dear god, right, the sunrise, he'd better hurry up. The sun was getting higher, he was familiar with the color of the sky and this one was definitely a few shades clearer than before.

He nodded through the explanation, patiently listening to all three of his statements. So, kind of a neighbor, except not really he guessed? He couldn't quite make out his blood color, mainly because he didn't particularly care about it unless a troll appeared threatening, but also because some trolls had this incredibly awful custome of wearing colors that weren't exactly their blood color, specially some of his lowest blooded neighbors, attempting to be higher than they really were on the hemospectrum. He always deemed this practice as pointless, but he would be lying to himself if he didn't confess to find it rather inconvenient at times. If there were a bit more light, maybe the tint in his eyes would help, but it was night-time and he was NOT going to wait for the sun.

He patiently waited for the other to be done and as soon as a hand was offered to him, he broke in a new friendly smile while taking the open palm in front of him, a sign of courtesy. "I see. I am Rubedo, and yes, you are correct, I do in fact live here. Although..." He glanced at the sun, clicking his tongue as he let himself quickly consider his possibilities. They really shouldn't stay here much longer. The sky was getting clearer and elaborating that fast on the "why are you here" topic he was really interested in asking had this small, but very plausible chance, of upsetting the new troll. He guessed he'd have no more choice than to wait until tomorrow to ask him again.

Damn. Politeness sucks. Especially at the break of dawn.

He looked at him yet again, letting go of his hand and resuming his previous dialogue, the smile painting his face yet again. "... Although it seems the sky is getting clearer. I'd love to chat some more, but I assume you were just about to go to sleep and it's dangerous to keep you awake any much longer. I'm sorry for bothering you so late at night. But if there is anything you need, you can ask me around. I don't mind at all!"

The troll in front of him was most likely lowblooded, and that put Theiyw at ease. Dealing with highbloods could get exhausting at times, and he found it tedious to have to act so casteist all the time. Lowbloods were typically more tolerable, not to mention more interesting. He found that a life in which not everything was handed to one made them more interesting of a troll. Shaking Rubedo's hand firmly, he folded his arms, wondering why on Alternia this troll was smiling at him so much. He certainly hadn't deserved anything to make the other so cheerful.

"I'll offer you a quick greetings, then, Rubedo. Otherwise, I imagine you might want to go back up to your hive. Don't apologize, I quite like excitement, even if it is being ambushed by a group of angry trolls who are wondering what the hell I'm doing here." He didn't particularly like fighting, but sometimes it made him feel like he was one of the heroes in his adventure novels. There was one character he'd thought to be so similar to himself that he'd actually taken the time to write a quick story which featured him instead of the hero. He'd scolded himself afterwards for making such an incredible adventure unreadable, as he'd gone back over the pages and realized he couldn't tell one letter from the next.

Realizing that he'd been keeping Rubedo waiting with his traveling thoughts, Theiyw pulled out his palmhusk, navigating around on it a little while before opening up a trollian client. "In case I lose track of you, it might do well for you to simply add me on Trollian. If you want, that is. Just look up tumultuousFacade, I'll be there." He hoped that he wasn't coming on too forward, but the truth was that contacting trolls online was one of his favorite ways to stay in touch. That way once he left, things wouldn't end up feeling too different from how they'd felt before. "Besides, I've no idea where you live, so it would be somewhat difficult for me to locate you." He looked around at the hivestems, trying to remember which one Rubedo had emerged from.

Shrugging, he turned back to the other troll and managed a friendly smile. "I'd certainly like to learn more about the area, maybe you could show me around sometime?" Although many trolls in such populated areas were shut-ins, he found it fun to go and explore whenever he arrived at a new area. Everywhere he went seemed to be different in some ways, and it had been a while since he'd been in an area so densely populated by lowbloods.

The grip of the shake was firm, thank god. That probably meant he wasn't suspicious of him. Now, there existed the slight possibility that he was high in the hemospectrum and thus wasn't afraid of a Communal Hive. Maybe not so high since he was living in a tent for the time being and mentioned "getting ambushed by a group of angry trolls". Though, with that complexion, he certainly maybe didn't have problems shoving them off. He didn't look like he cared for blood castes though. And if he did, well, he was certainly hiding it incredibly well! This was actually getting intresting. Maybe getting to know this troll better wouldn't be as painful as he originally thought it would be?

The troll in front of him seemed to get lost in though, and he hesitated for a moment. Should he talk, or should he stay quiet? It didn't seem like he would be paying much attention, yes, but not talking would make the whole thing awkward. He clicked his tongue once and in that moment the other troll moved, although he wasn't quite sure it it had been result of the clicking or just a result of his mind coming back to reality.

Trollian.

Of course.

Rubedo smiled kindly at him while he internally facepalmed at himself. Yes, it would've been much easier to ask for Trollian from the beginning! How did he miss that?! He didn't have paper, so he just looked at the name on the screen, memorizing it and mumbling it under his breath. How shitty was it that right when he was getting an excuse to have a conversation without leaving his hive, he happened to have no writing utensils with him?! Luck was bullshit. In fact, he was quite sure luck wasn't a thing that existed.

"Tumultuous facade. Tumultuos facade. Got it" He mumbled and took a few steps behind, still memorizing the name in his mind. "I'll go back to my hole and I will make sure to add you on Trollian as soon as I'm in. And of course I could show you around the area, It'd be my pleasure! Maybe as soon as the sun sets? I don't know how early you like to be up in the night. By the way, my troll handle would be blazing Entropy, so you won't think I'm some stranger"

The first rays of light were being kind of hard on his eyes, even if still weak, and he closed them slightly. God he wanted to abscond so bad right now. This was exactly why he didn't like to meet new people, it was just so dangerous! Something always happened. ALWAYS.

Theiyw nodded excitedly, he was looking forward to being shown around. Although he wasn't much of an evening troll, he certainly would make an exception for the excitement of being in a new area and being shown around by a local. "Blazing Entropy? Got it...." He bit his lower lip as he squinted his eyes at the palmhusk, looking up Rubedo's trolltag and adding him. If he didn't get a message, it wouldn't take too much effort to simply send the other a quick message. It did seem as if Rubedo had forgotten anything to write down a troll handle with anyways, so his addition was probably for the best.

He frowned as Rubedo seemed to wince up at the sun. Was it that bright out already? Deciding to take a look up himself, he recoiled from it, shielding his eyes. "You had better get back, I don't want you getting blinded. Your place shouldn't be too far, right?" He didn't really want to have to deal with a lodger the first day he arrived in a new town. He was exhausted, and didn't really want to have to welcome anyone into his tenthive unless it was life or death. Worrying about someone possibly killing him in his sleep was already something he had to do, due to the fact that his hive didn't have a way of locking itself. Of course, he took security measures, putting a trap at possible entrances, but that wouldn't stop anyone who was already in his hive from trying to attack him. There were only so many precautions one could take.

Retreating back into his tent, he held the doorflap open as he peered out, not wanting his skin to get singed. He grabbed his backpack and book to pull them inside, and crouched at the entryway, holding the fabric of the flap over his head and horns. "Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night, Rubedo." He said cordially, hoping that would be enough to encourage Rubedo to abscond. After all, he didn't want his new potential friend to injure himself just because he wanted to extend their conversation.

Since the other troll seemed so intently focused on other matters, Theiyw pulled out his palmhusk again and sent Rubedo a quick greeting, just to make sure that his trolltag wasn't forgotten in the light-saturated journey back to wherever Rubedo's hive ended up being.

He silently thanked every coincidence and event in space and time that made it possible for him to meet a troll with enough common sense and consideration in his thinking skull to add him first. Specially since he was rather busy covering his eyes right now. Asking someone to remember a complicated username at the same time of trying to not be permanently blinded could only work so much. And by that he meant not exactly "so much". Or any, at all, for that matter.

It was just a Bad-Idea-I-Should-Have-Considered-Before-Leaving-My-Hive.

"Yes, my place is near here" He answered as he took one, two, three steps back, preparing to flee and barely making out Theiyw's face between half-closed eyelids. He took a mental note to go home the long and roundabout way so he wouldn't know where his hive was at. Also while he was at it he made another mental note remembering himself to remember his trollhandle. And to cover his eyes at the same time. Seriously, he had so many pots in the oven right now. "So that won't be a problem if I go right now. Sorry to leave you so soon but this was kind of unexpected. Ill make it up to you tomorrow, Theiyw— Good bye!"

In a rush, he turned around in his heels and ran in the completely opposite direction, not looking behind him once and taking the long way home. Stinging skin and all. This is what happens when you fail to take the rising sun into consideration, good job there man! As he entered his respiteblock and covered his windows from the sunlight, he noticed a new message waiting for him in his husktop. Which was good because he was kind of already forgetting what his handle was. He sighed deeply, pulling it over to answer... tomorrow would be a long night.


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