Wake up, sleepyhead!

He went to sleep rather late last day. Not as much, but still. However, due to a mix of excitement and nervousness at the prospect of going out a FULL DAY with someone he barely knew, he was fully awake when the sun had just began to set. He could tell by the slightly orange light that was filling his hive, and despite all of his groaning and twirling around in sopor slime, sleep wouldn't come back to him. Round lost! He finally came out of his recuperacoon and, ugh, really, you'd think an advanced civilization like the troll one would've think of a way to make something as common as sleeping less messy by now. This was not the case.

Time to put his energy to use and multitask. If he couldn't go back to sleep he may as well prevent feeling drowsy later. He didn't really want to turn his guard down in front of a troll he didn't know, much less the sleepy kind of guard! So he went over to his ablution trap and, clean and ready one bath later, he went over to the kitchen, ready to make breakfast for two. If there was something good about cooking for more trolls, it was that they warmed up to him.

While waiting for the surface of home-made pancakes to fill up with bubbles, he noticed from the corner of his eye that someone was online. Wait, what? It was too early in the sunset for this! Out of curiosity, and because the pancakes were still cooking at a low flame, he decided to message them. Which them took him to get just a little nervous. He wasn't really used to being teased, what with having not a lot of friends who did that. Or any for that matter. Maybe getting him breakfast was a little too much? No, he was overthinking this. It would be better in the long run. And anyway, he had already get it done and it would be a waste not taking it with him.

Oh for his sweet lusus, talking to AA before this was a terrible idea.

In a fit of anxiety he logged off, not even thinking of saying properly good bye (a fact that later he would have to deal with anyway) and captchaloged the breakfast plate, fed his lusus a seedball, and left to reach Theiyw and maybe wake him up, the sky now a darker shade of diluted orange, pink and midnight blue, the sun not there, stars just beginning to appear between purple clouds. He looked around the area of the tent and chewed on his bottom lip a bit. Taking the plate from his modus, he let the sweet aroma of home made pancakes made from scratch reach him. None of that instant-mix, those tasted awful in his opinion.

"Theiyw? Are you awake? I brought you something just in case." He said, since living in a tent came with the inconvenience of not having a door to knock on, nor a bell to be rang.

Theiyw had spent most of the early morning getting ready to go to sleep. It was a rather complicated process, because although he didn't own much, he almost always had all of it with him. After removing his shoes and rings along with other jewelry, he'd finally laid down on his pillows and curled up to fall asleep, only to spend some of that time speaking with Rubedo despite the fact they'd be seeing each other the next evening. When he'd started to yawn enough that it ended up getting in the way of his responses, Theiyw decided to call it a day, and had said his goodbyes before falling asleep.

Living in a tent makes one more wary than most, and so it was an incredibly good thing that the next evening Rubedo didn't decide to enter the tent. Had he done so, he probably would've been injured a great deal. This was largely due to the trap that Theiyw set every day before falling asleep. It had saved his life more than once, and certainly wasn't meant to be sicced upon new friends.

He woke to the smell of freshly cooked food, which smelled a lot better than whatever he'd had a few spoonfuls of last morning before falling asleep. Rubedo's voice confirmed the fact that he had a visitor, and Theiyw almost invited him in before nearly shouting out to his new friend. "Hold-on-don't-come-in-oh-dammit---". This statement was followed by a loud thump, created by him tripping over his book and landing precariously close to the open bear-trap which he traveled with. The next sound to follow was the one of him removing said security device from the doorflap, which made a loud grating metal sound, followed by a clanging that signified him disarming the metal maw of the trap.

Once he was satisfied that neither of them would be dismembered by any weaponized defense systems, Theiyw opened the door flap, looking outside to see Rubedo. His face nearly lit up at the sight of the good, and he quickly made motions to welcome the other inside the tent. "I guess I probably should have woken up a bit earlier..." He looked down at his appearance - barefoot with messy hair and without any of his usual adornments, not to mention exhausted - Theiyw certainly wasn't looking like he had been prepared at all for the pair's adventure. "Anyways, welcome to my hivetent. Make yourself comfortable..." He looked eagerly at the plate of pancakes. "Could I convince you to share some of those?" He asked, giving Rubedo a winning smile.

Rubedo spent aproximately 10 minutes outside of Theiyw's tent, listening to sounds that seemed to come from heavy metallic sources (didn't he suggested that he worked with metal?) at the same time he seemed to be freaking out. His fingers trailed across the plate, drawing tiny circles while waiting for him. "It's ok, I can wait." He said loud enough for the other one to hear him over the noise of whatever it was that he was doing. He was ok with not entering just yet actually, the last thing he needed for today to happen was to go inside his tent while AA's teasing and winking emoticons were still fresh in his brain.

Then again, a muffled thump came from inside the tent and he was now considering asking him if he needed help with anything as he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Or at least led him to wonder if he was ok. But he chose to keep quiet, mentioning anything at all would maybe led him to more nervousness and anxiety, with the catastrophic result of maybe a few broken horns as well. However, when he poked his head out of the tent to look at him, he quickly smiled again and tried to reassure himself that everything was going to be ok.

Oh god he had to go inside the tent with him didn't he. AA's text came back in full force.

As he gently thanked Theiyw's suggestion, he set a foot inside and was... actually almost surprised at how many things were inside. It kind of reminded him of his very own sculpting studio, the sound of iron and metal taking over the smell of clay and humidity. "Don't worry about the hour, it's just so we can make the most out of one day. I don't know how long you'll be staying, so the sooner you know the surrounding area, the more days you'll have to your own." He didn't see any recuperacoons around though. Poor guy sure should be exhausted. Did he sleep in a pile of pillows? Those certainly looked comfy for emergencies he guessed, but how did he keep the visions away? Unless he had none of those, of course. Yes, let's better not elaborate on The Visions.

He held the place and offered it to Theiyw's. "Yes of course! Suit yourself. I've already eaten some of these while I was preparing them anyclay. I mean anyway!" This is exactly why eight sweep olds shouldn't stay indoors all day long, making clay figurines and cooking and gazing to the sky with zero troll contact. That was certainly embarrassing. Change of topic. "So what would you like to see first? I don't know what your priorities are when you travel a lot"

Theiyw looked apologetic once he realized how long he'd made Rubedo wait. Wondering what the other was thinking of that made him seem so quiet, he started trying to make up for the time that he had lost. This mostly included painstakingly clipping the rings around his horn and slipping on his shoes, which were the ones that Eis had bought for him after he'd saved her life.

Taking the plate thankfully, Theiyw raised an eyebrow at Rubedo's slip of the tongue. Anyclay? What could that possibly mean? Perhaps he worked with clay. That would be interesting, and Theiyw decided that he'd have to look up how hot a clay kiln got compared to the forges that he was more familiar with. "I'd certainly like knowing the surrounding area a little bit more." Shrugging, he smiled cordially, taking a somewhat undignified bite of the pancake and swallowing before he continued. "Not so sure about having nights to my own. Seems like that's a pretty dull way to spend one's time in a place full of trolls." He did like to meet the locals, and with the nice treatment Rubedo was giving him, he hoped that his other new neighbors might be just as welcoming.

"Well, somewhere I can buy more things for the next journey, wherever that takes me. Other than that, maybe just somewhere nice I could spend my time." Theiyw wondered what there was to do around a city such as this. Of course there would have to be stores, probably some form of arcade or other method of entertainment. "Where would you show me, if you wanted to show me what was most important. Besides your hive, at least. I don't think you'd want to be showing me that." Theiyw had realized that other trolls were much more secretive with their hives than he was. Of course, his hive wasn't like most other troll's hives, but he didn't quite understand the secrecy either. It was similar to the way he treated handing his handle out for Trollian. Although in some areas it was obviously seen as a personal gesture, he really only saw it as a way to speak to someone who he'd be leaving in a little while.

"My priorities are minimal. Not getting killed, having something to eat every once in a while, actually making something lasting." He pointed to the rings around his horns for emphasis on the lasting. "I suppose what I mean to say is that I don't really have too many priorities that include doing things that are purely recreational. Aside from the metalworking, that is." He'd found that was one of his few recreational hobbies, aside from writing in his journal and collecting things, which could also be included in the metalworking field, given the fact that he usually would end up taking the things he'd collected and using them in some sort of project when he got the chance.

That thing right there? On Theiyw's face? That had been a raised eyebrow. Way to trip over language. Yet he kept crafted in his face a perfect smile to mask the huge embarrrassment he could feel escalating to his flushed cheeks. "Sorry. An habit" he said. He'd have to keep the clay and cooking puns on the low if he wanted to preserve some of his dignity. Oh, but as soon as his host began to talk he realized that he now had a problem. A problem that could be easily resumed to "my new neighbor is a social troll and I'm not". He nodded to every new statement Theiyw talked to him about, thinking quietly about places where he could take him. But he also wanted to hang out with people. That probably meant hanging out with him, the only other troll he knew around this area.

As friendly and smiley as he was, he himself wasn't actually too keen on the idea. He liked being alone. He was ALWAYS alone, and pretty much used to it by now to the point that being alone with another troll in the same way felt strange and alien-like to him. And it was really uncomfortable not knowing what to say. He decided to just not care anymore some time ago, pointless strifes derivated from misunderstandings were just so stupid and infuriating, and he could think of a million different things he'd rather do. "I see" He murmured to one of his sentences to let him know he was listening, and he was, just that his mind was multitasking as well. Theiyw seemed like a nice enough troll, something he wasn't used to, but what if that was one good reason to maybe not get too close? Because uh. Recipes for disaster. At least when it came to himself.

Oh wait, but maybe getting him to meet someone as genuinely as nice as him would work? Or maybe introducing him to some friendly neighbor, a genuinely friendly neighbor who NOPE NOPE NOPE he wasn't following this line of thought, he SO didn't want to know where it'd end. Doing so would most likely crack his poker face (smiley friendly face, perfectly in place right now) and he really didn't want a feelings jam session with a troll he just met yesterday just because he happened noticed his facial expressions. Plus, his neighbors were either stupid or abscent (some of them had been culled already) and in short, this mental conversation was over. Period. Good thing he decided to stop just as Theiyw stopped talking!

"Well, I do admit that the city is way more interesting compared to my hive. Which I just realized I left all messy before coming here, so now the city seems like a double better option all of sudden" He said, letting out a lightly hearted chuckle. "And I could guide you around it and show you the stores and the good restaurants. There's also a forest nearby here, you could explore around the area as well if one day you have nothing better to do to keep yourself entertained." He finished, looking at the rings that were resting on his horns, wondering if metal and clay were really that different. He then stretched a bit, feeling and hearing some of the bones on his back deliciously cracking up as he did. "So let me know when you're ready to get our little trip started, Theiyw. If you need me to exit your tent so you can get changed or something, I can always wait for you outside." He finished.

Theiyw nodded after Rubedo's brief responses. Continuing to speak, he wondered what kept the lowblood in such a happy seeming mood all the time. It was certainly peculiar to see a troll with such a cheery expression, and he wondered if the other was simply using it as a facade for more sinister thoughts. He certainly hoped not, Rubedo had seemed to be agreeable so far, and he hadn't come to the city looking for a fight. He didn't really go anywhere looking for a fight, actually, but the fights frequently came to him instead. It was the unfortunate result of being a foreigner wherever he went.

After Rubedo had finished making his suggestion, Theiyw smiled a little bit. He had never really had a hive to leave messy, and so the idea of having a place that one could clutter up was not only humorous, but also a little bit enviable. With the introduction of new places to go - such as a forest and restaurants, Theiyw perked up. "Those all sound like good ideas. Take me wherever you think is best, of course. As long as I get pointed in the direction of the forest during our correspondence, all should be good. I don't know if I can go too long without seeing some form of reality other than one that's troll-manufactured." He thought of the hivestems rising out of the ground, and how obtrusive they'd seemed. No matter what city he found himself in, he always ended up thinking that they seemed out of place. Realizing that he very well could've just offended Rubedo with his comment, he backtracked quickly. "Not that it's bad, living here. I'm sure you get used to it.." He made an apologetic face, raising his hands a little bit in a motion reminiscent of a surrender.

Looking down at his own clothes as Rubedo stretched, he nodded a little bit, tugging at the hem of his shirt as he did so. He didn't want to seem unclean, and although he usually wore the same thing several nights in a row, he didn't want to discourage anyone from being his friend due to a lack of sanitation. "I might want to just pull on some cleaner clothes. I've been traveling a while." He smiled encouragingly, lifting up the flap of the tent and seeing if he could usher Rubedo out without being unkind. He briefly wondered if he even had any clean clothes that didn't look identical to the ones he had on. Deciding that they were probably buried deep into his backpack, he let the tentflap fall as he walked over to the bag and began rummaging around in it.

A few minutes of searching and he managed to take out an entire clean ensemble. It didn't look overly different from what he was wearing, and the only difference was that the bands around the hems were a vivid shade of blue reminiscent of his blood color, instead of a more hemononymous black. Sighing, he took a glance back at the tent flap to ensure that he wasn't being watched, either by Rubedo or any wandering troll who might've wondered who was inside the tent, before quickly changing into his new outfit. He also took the time to finish the pancakes he'd been given, making sure to not leave a speck of food left on the plate.

He popped out of the tent with a grin, looking a little bit cleaner and much more put together. The rings were solidly placed on his horns and he was wearing his boots, the only pair of adventure-suitable foot coverings that he owned. The other pair was a lazily tied together pair of sandals, which he'd made himself in imitation of a group of trolls he'd met near a large supply of straw and other materials that could be manipulated to do a great deal of things. They certainly weren't art, but they were a lot less constricting than the leather boots he was wearing now. Looking around for Rubedo, he glanced quickly up at the sky, satisfied that he would have a whole night to see what this new area had to offer. "I'm ready to go now, if you are." Holding out the now empty plate, he tried to look as cordial as possible.

Rubedo stepped out from the tent while Theiyw got his clothes changed out of courtesy, and sat on the floor, scratching the grass. Outside, the clear air of the night seemed to be whispering predictions of what was yet to come in a language he unfortunately couldn't quite make out. Please let there be good weather for today. Even if a little cloudy, it didn't matter, just no rain that would force both of them to seek shelter and make him spend more time being sociable. It's not that he didn't like talking to other trolls! He wasn't a shut-in! He got trollian and all! it's just that sometimes all of that running around playing the troll-next-door game could get a little... tiring. And then when he got time to himself he would discover that, to his surprise, his energy had been drained out from his body.

Had Rubedo followed that thread a little more, he would've very probably ended having a revelation, realizing that he was wearing more masks than necessary with serious consequences to his inner ego, counting amongst them the fact that maybe he had been progressively losing and drowning his real self behind the color of his blood throughout the years. Maybe he no longer would be able to recognize his real self if he saw it in front of himself in the mirror. But alas, now was not the time for him to dwelve on it, not only because the topic managed to piss him off everytime but also because Theiyw came out a little earlier than expected, making Rubedo smile at him, ready to go adventuring with his new friend. Or all the adventure one could have while serving as a guide around the city.

He took a deep metaphorical breathe in. Set. Ready. Chaaaaarge!

"So, blue? Nice!" He said with the smile coating his words in friendliness, noticing that yes, he was quite indeed a blue blooded gentleman. But he was a tad bit more relaxed around him than when he first met him, after all now he knew him! Well, a little more, at least. That was good news in general. "Good choice of clothing, too, because I'm afraid we are going to do a lot of walking. I hope you're comfortable."

He peeled himself back from his site on the floor and lightly brushed the dirt off his pants, stepping back a bit and looking at him. Since they had already eaten, then he guessed he should show him a few stores. "Alright then. Follow me, I'll lead you to the commercial part of the city, if that's ok with you."

It was obvious to Theiyw that Rubedo seemed to be contemplating something, but he wasn't quite sure what exactly he was thinking about. Fortunately, he wasn't the type to be incredibly nosy about other troll's personal thoughts. Despite the fact that he was a social troll, he found that most trolls didn't quite appreciate it when they were asked about their innermost thoughts and ideas. "Blue, yeah." He shrugged a little bit. It wasn't the first time he'd been 'complimented' on his blood, but he always found it to be rather strange, given the fact that he couldn't help what the color of his blood was at all, and it was just a color, after all. Perhaps this kind of thing meant more to Rubedo than it did to him, and he made a point to not talk about blood if he could help it, not wanting to hurt the other's feelings.

"Fortunately, I'm an expert at walking. It's rather vital, actually. If I wasn't, I probably would've died sweeps ago." Given that he did need to walk a great deal to get from one place to the other, Theiyw was quite an expert at the subject. If one could be an expert at walking. At least, he was rather good at choosing his step, and had on many occasions missed a nasty fall from predicting where he was going to place his feet next. The boots Eisire had given him were also rather helpful, and he reminded himself that he'd have to thank her for them every time he went somewhere particularly cold where he risked getting a little frozen. "I'm as comfortable as can be."

"I don't really know where I'll be going anyways, so I did sort of hope you'd lead the way. Commercial sounds fine, as long as you promise to take me to the forest before the night is over." He grinned, wanting both to go there himself, and to hopefully get Rubedo out of the city for a little while. Although the city was interesting in its own right, he couldn't imagine not leaving and seeing the more wild part of Alternia at all. "Lead the way." He said, finally, looking around and wondering which path Rubedo would take him down.

He giggled, and guided Theiyw along, walking among the streets that conformed the city. It was so quiet at this hour and the sky was already a light shade of midnight blue, only an orange line of light visible in the far, far away horizon. Most of the stores would be closed, but he didn't particularly care, since Theiyw seemed like the type to enjoy little surprises now and then. Such as getting to see a store he already knew the location of for the first time. He brushed his long ponytail behind his back to inspire confidence, and smiled at him. "Don't worry about it. The night is young, and I know some shortcuts." He said and then he guided him along. Rubedo wasn't particularly good at measuring time, but he sure knew how to speed up when lines grew tight. However, too little time would mean having to work around a too tight schedule, and although he managed to make those plausible, it took way more effort than they were worth.

The first stop was the market. Or, more like where the market would be completely set up later. Although some early morning trolls were already around setting stuff up for a new night. "This is the market. It's rather cheap and there are some interesting, good quality products here, so I think here you will find everything that's necesary for your survival. Although, I think you mentioned you cooked. There's a store near here too, they sell all this metal and clay and, well, sculpting products in general. I like to buy my material there, but I'm not sure how metal works. I guess you could find some pretty interesting stuff here at the market, though."

Wow that just now was a lot of talking. He was so proud, except he wasn't because Rubedo was already experimenting, throwing a hint or two at his own personal hobbie, pottery, and hoping Theiyw would catch on them, ready to engage in a conversation about ovens, leading him into the field he wanted to. "Is there any store that you really need to know? Or would you like me to keep elaborating on something else?" Hopefully, he'd have him right where he wanted. If he didn't he'd have to tighten the strings just a tad bit more...

If Theiyw suspected he was being slightly manipulated into the topic of pottery and ovens, he certainly did not expect it. He would not have known how to act had he known. It was a harmless enough subject, after all, and although he certainly would have been fine had Rubedo simply asked him outright, his mind was still thinking about the idea of having a crafts shop that catered to his abilities nearby. "Cooked isn't really the right word. Forged, maybe? Despite my interest in the field, though. I'm afraid that all the supplies in the world will not grant me an oven hot enough to meld them to their purpose in my hands." Sighing, Theiyw looked forlornly at the storefront, even now glimpsing some objects on display that would have made him incredibly excited had he known a place where he would have been able to work.

"It'd be a help if you knew of any smith capable of lending their forge for a night or so. Even the pottery heater you mentioned might be of a help to me. I'm capable of making all sorts of things, increasing the value of the metal tremendously, if you're worried about it not being worth your while. Honestly, though, I simply want to be in front of a fire hot enough to crack clay and melt metal again. It's been a while." He admitted forlornly, remembering a time when he had been able to find a forge willing to pay him for his time and had spent almost his entire time in the area standing in front of a fire with his smithing apron and gloves on. "Aside from that, though, this market is certainly going to give me all the supplies I need. Food especially. I'm afraid I am not the expert at cooking as your breakfast proved you to be, although I always enjoy fresh food - fruit especially."

Walking over to a stand that appeared to be selling some local fruit, Theiyw motioned for Rubedo to come over. "Would you like anything to eat during the tour? It's the least I can do to repay you for your efforts." Picking out something that looked similar to an apple for himself, Theiyw paid the vender and waited for Rubedo to make his decision.

Rubedo couldn't realize how silly and paranoid he was being by trying to manipulate Theiyw into normal conversational topics, mainly because that was just how he learned to contact with the outer world. He had no idea how to lead a conversation, he mostly went with the flow and pushed it to the edges he was interested in talking about and, if he had to be honest (and probably his lusus would agree, if he could communicate properly) he didn't exactly have any friends to talk with in a normal way. Only useful and emotionally detached neighbors. And for all these sweeps he thought that was ok. He still did. He never realized how lonely he was and still didn't do.

This was the very first time he had "friends" or at least someone who would call him his friend. He was still experimenting with all of these things that began to happen in the last few days, but he was incredibly good at faking normality. "Forging then. Let me see..." He thought that one. His ovens (all of the ovens) could heat a lot, but he wasn't sure it'd be enough to melt a solid. However, he knew his ovens better than anyone. There was a way for him to make them hold even more heat, more than enough to turn solid, cold metal in liquid lava from hell. Slowly, very slowly, a smile painted his lips when he figured it out. These DIY jobs could get kind of dangerous if one wasn't careful enough, but he was a careful fellow, and exactly what to do and what not to do, so it was an advantage in his favor when he was trying to win over a highblood such as Theiyw. Even if he didn't bother a lot with his blue color (or at least it seemed so) it did certainly matter to people around him.

"I already had breakfast at my house, but thank you for the offering" And even if he hadn't, Rubedo was full aware of the fact that he was a very picky eater and ingredient selector. He wasn't entirely sure of being a good enough cook, but sometimes he felt like he was, either that or he just was used to the flavors of his cuisine. He didn't want to drag Theiyw along the embarrassment of having to put up with his very bad eating habits. "But for the forge, I think I might just have something hot enough for you to work with. Hot enough to melt metal, I think. I do own a few ovens and I think I know exactly how to make them heat up" And he waited for his reaction.

Thieyw nodded at the denial of the food, walking away from the fruit booth and rejoining up with Rubedo. The pause Rubedo made while contemplating the idea of forging excited him, and he listened intently on Rubedo's every word, wondering what was going through his thinkpan. The smile displayed by the other troll only made him more eager to hear the continuation of the thought.

"You have ovens?" His jaw nearly dropped, although he managed to keep his expression relatively even. Of course, for Theiyw, 'relatively' meant that he still looked incredibly excited. His eyes showed a little glint of the adventure that he experienced every day as he stopped himself from hopelessly interrogating Rubedo about what exactly the ovens were like. "What kind? What do you do? Did you make the ovens by yourself? Wait, what's their maximum temperature?" He halted the questioning for a bit to take a breath, after which he looked ashamedly at the ground.

"Sorry, guess I got a little excited. Like I said, it's been a while since I've been in front of a real fire." He gave Rubedo a pleading look. The other troll had shown himself to be reserved most of the time, and Theiyw didn't exactly want to intimidate him by being overexcited. "I really would appreciate it, if you showed me what you've got. It doesn't even have to be now, it could be later tonight. Anytime." He didn't want to be too pushy either. Once he'd been banned from a blacksmith's shop due to the fact that he had showed up every night for nearly every hour they were open, until they finally kicked him out. After that, the blueblood had learned his lesson.

It somehow worked? At least now they were talking about things of their interest now, and it was easier to work in conversation when both parties were interested, at least that's what he had learned from experience. "Yes, I do have ovens. I am a potter and a chef, so I work a lot with them... and I wouldn't mind showing you at all." He said, chuckling in a way that he hoped mirrored a friendly laugh, the kind of soft and light-hearted one. It came out flawless, but he still wondered if he could work around that one a bit more.

After that he paused, trying to think of what his ovens could and couldn't do. Maybe they could heat up more, actually, but he had never actually tried it. "Well, I'm not exactly sure what their maximum temperature is. But I do know it can be much more of what I usually deal with. I mean, my lusus is a phoenix, and I kind of figured our a way to heat them up even more. But I never tried it, since I never had a practical use for such a great source of heat".

But now it would be a really good way to find out, wouldn't it? However, he was still not ready to invite him over to his hive. He wasn't even hiding anything, and yet it was the only place he felt calm at in all of Alternia. "Hey, I think I have a better idea. Maybe I can bring my lusus over and one of my ovens, and we'll check it out. That way, if it blows up or something, it won't set a whole building on fire"

Theiyw had to think a bit. It didn't seem like Rubedo would be the type of troll to  hide things, and yet he wasn't completely sure that Rubedo actually wanted him in his hive. At least, that was the message he got from how he'd been politely denied entrance into the other's house. It was expected that the other troll was somewhat of a chef. After all, the breakfast had been delicious. Theiyw wondered briefly if the plate that the food had been brought on was also one of Rubedo's creations. "It'd be awesome if you let me use one of them."

Maybe the reason truly was that Rubedo was being safe, and not hiding things at all. After all, the logic did work out. In a crowded place such as this, even if they survived, they'd probably be blamed and then hunted down for the destruction of the hives of other trolls and the deaths of their lusii in the oven-induced fire.

"Tell you what, you bring the lusus and the oven, and I'll move my tent over a bit so we can do it in the street. I've got a canopy to make sure sparks don't fly, and I promise I won't burn you with any molten metal or anything. I'm careful." He said this as a last resort, maybe trying to gain Rubedo's trust a bit more so that in the future he would be able to actually visit the troll in his hive. Sure, it might be awkward, but seeing a place like that would always be nice. Plus, the troll had said 'ovens', not 'oven', which meant there were more of the things! "And like I said, I really can make it worth your while. It's kind of incredible what trolls will pay for a good weapon that fits in their strife specibus." He always made sure to make fair trades. After all, with the traveling he did, money and worth were highly subjective. He found that objects such as metal worked better in trades, as their use-values were more easily met. Because of this, he usually paid trolls in goods rather than coin, not wanting to offend them by underpaying them.

"It's fine for me" He said, happy to have an excuse as to why not to go to his hive. It was his sanctuary after all, and no one was allowed inside aside from him and his lusus. He feared the day he'd have to let someone in for whatever reason, because he was completely sure it wouldn't be out of the mercy of his heart, no. And even if no troll did, the drones would, eventually, but that would be ok because afterwards he'd be dead.

"Oh, that's alright. But we should take it to later tonight, or maybe to the forest. Some of my neigbors are really... crusty, to word it gently". But the frown that crossed his face said everything in his place. Bad memories from his teenage years. Not fun times, specially not with a bunch of low-blooded psionic neighbors. "Not to mention some of them have strong psionics."

Oh right, the forest. You perch up a bit and look at him.

"Right. Do you want us to go to the forest now? So maybe we can find a good spot?"

Theyw nodded at the agreement, sighing a bit as he looked around the now familiar marketplace area. "Anything that makes you comfortable." He stated plainly, the expression on Rubedo's face telling him almost more than he cared to know about the troll  in front of him. "It's got to get crowded around here. I bet you meet all kinds of trolls." Taking a second to look up one of the hivestems beside him, Theiyw marveled at how many hives could potentially fit in such a structure.

He shuddered at the mention of psionics, not all that keen on fighting trolls who could manipulate his mind. He was a relatively trusting individual, meaning that in some cases he let trolls get the upper hand who really should not have the upper hand, and eventually giving them more power over him than he originally wanted. It was perhaps a side effect of being friendlier to lowbloods in comparison to highbloods.

"Forest sounds great." Perking up from the psionic-mention induced downswing, Theiyw nodded enthusiastically, spinning around in place until he located the direction he was pretty sure the forest was in. "We should be prepared. I'm up for it if you are!" He flashed a hopeful smile, attempting somewhat to get Rubedo's mind off the thoughts of his neighbors.

Now that Rubedo looked at him up close, by which he mean, saw him move around an unfamiliar environment, he could tell already the blueblood, despite being a blueblood, wasn't very comfortable with the idea of being mind controlled and really, who wasn't? (Well, he was already chill with it, but it could get a bit bothering from time to time). And everyone on these hives were either incredibly strong or incredible losers, or both. He saw him sighing, bored, shivering, and finally nod in enthusiasm. Rubedo smiled a bit.

"I am prepared. I only must take my lusus and an oven with me. And maybe some lunch for later, because it might take some time..." He looked up at the blueblood, he was actually kind of curious about his interest in metallurgics now. Melting solid metal and turning him into something else? he had to see that. "I don't know what other equipment we may need, though. I don't work with metals, so I may miss some of the recquirements. Do you know?"

Maybe now that you were both at the market, he would get whatever things you were missing while you went for your lusus and the oven, so you'd part faster to the forest. Away from annoying angry neighbors.

To be honest, Theiyw had most of his smithing materials captchalogued. Metalworking tools didn't lend themselves to being carried around in a backpack. However, he never traveled with raw materials, preferring to pick up things in the regions where he actually found a place to work. This made the experience a little different every time, due to the fact that all places seemed to have some variation in their quality and kind of available metals. "I'll be right back."

Looking at the shop he'd seen, Theiyw checked the amount of money he had before going in to see if he could purchase some steel. He felt a little bad about leaving his new friend out on the street, although it wasn't as if Rubedo couldn't have followed him. Truthfully, Theiyw just felt bad about flaunting his money and blood status in front of him, and didn't want to cause the other to resent him for it. After purchasing the needed steel - which Theiyw decided he was going to work with - he captchalogued it and went back out into the street.

"Got it. Rubedo?" He asked, looking around for the rustblood. Hopefully he hadn't wandered off. "Hope I didn't take too long." He offered, trying to be friendly about it. In fact, he'd rushed through the shop so quickly that the troll working there had looked at him as if he was going to knock down every shelf in the place. Thankfully, he'd gotten out without breaking anything.

It was as if somehow destiny decided that this was his queue to act like a complete dork. As soon as Theiyw left for the market he tried to act as fast as he could. And of course that was stupid and not going to work.

The first thing he did was to try and call the attention of his lusus. He whistled to him. It took him to whistle three times before his lusus understood that, yes, he was calling him and it wasn't some random troll whistling just for the hell of it. The bird peeked from the window of his hive, really, really high. By this time some trolls were already looking at him and his ridiculous ways of acting, bt really, he didn't care right now. He began to mouth the word "OVEN" to his lusus.

...Who tilted his head in confusion.

Rubedo facepalmed, and then began the whole process yet again. "O-V-E-N". He hoped his lusus at least knew what those were, specially considering he spent at least a third of his life in that kitchen. Fortunately, the lusus understood this time, dissapeared into the hive, and shortly after, slowly, very slowly, descended upon his troll, carrying an oven on his claws and... ok, maybe he DID burn a troll girl's hair but it's not like it mattered much, the girl went running in the opposite direction in the search of water and screaming and flailing and basically calling everyone's attention, so maybe no one would notice whose fault that had been...

His lusus dropped the oven to the floor with a loud THUD before posing himself on Rubedo's left shoulder, preening the flamey feathers of his left wing in satisfaction. The floor cracked and everyone around jumped a little at the "tiny" but very heavy oven falling in the middle of the street. The phoenix chirped. Rubedo's deadpan expression was unamused.

He could captchalog the oven in his recipe modus, so that would be no problem. Well, maybe no more than a few cracks here and there in the street. No one would notice. Except for maybe people with eyes. Theiyw came back, he really hoped he didn't see any of that. "...Yeah. Uhm, this is my luss. He... brought me an oven. He's so kind. We can go now I think." The lusus pecked at Theiyw's hair a bit, then rested again.

The sight Theiyw left the store to find was definitely a peculiar one. First, he was pretty sure there was someone on fire a few blocks down, and there was a crowd of trolls sort of staring at whoever it was that was currently wearing either a very flame-resistant hat, or a very, very dangerous haircut. Secondly, it appeared as if there was an oven in the middle of the road. He was pretty sure that hadn't been there before, and looked at it curiously before realizing that Rubedo was nearby.

Thankfully for Rubedo, Theiyw hadn't witnessed the fiasco with the lusus and the oven, although the blueblood did manage to interpret some of the things just from the way the situation was. He certainly hoped Rubedo wasn't this clumsy while working around hot objects, that could quickly get very dangerous.

Wincing a little bit at his hair was pecked at, Theiyw quickly reached a hand up to 'fix' it. Curly hair was a pain, but thankfully he managed to make it so that it stayed relatively tame. Taking a cautious look at the phoenix, he decided better safe than sorry, and put his hair up into a bun. If he was going to be smithing, this is how it would end up eventually anyways. "Hey there.." He said to the lusus, looking from the bird to the oven and back again.

"This is going to be the most interesting thing since the time I accidentally ended up in a parade." Rushing excitedly over to the oven, Theiyw then turned back to Rubedo. "Your lusus gonna carry it the rest of the way?" He asked, a little unsure of what to do with the large piece of machinery.

He would glare at his lusus if he had in him the necessary energy to do so, and if he didn't look so. Peaceful. Resting on his shoulder, so happy after having done his good deed of the day, the poor thing. He sighed once he noticed he couldn't stay mad at him after all. But still all the little show had worn his energy down a notch. He, however, tried to recover his straight position, coughing a bit into his fist before smiling again. Hopefully it would also aid with the dirty glances he was receiving. "No. It's a portable oven, heavy, maybe, but portable either way. I can carry it with my recipe modus. What do you use?"

Cheering up was made a lot easier when he remembered that yes, they were going to play and experiment with ovens and if it worked really well, maybe Theiyw would finally have an oven of his own for his personal use? That or at least he'd know how to make it heat up hot enough to melt things. Rubedo had never actually seen smithing in action, but it involved melting metal, how awesome was that?


He captchaloged the oven into his modus. Now there was an and prismatical looking empty hole engraved in the ground. Okay, that had been a little more embarrassing than what he was originally intending, but still. "We can go now. My lusus seems to be going to aid us". He caressed his head a bit, and it purred slightly.

The question about his modus had Theiyw feeling a bit embarrassed. He'd heard stories of trolls showing their abilities by having a modus that catered to their hobbies, but he'd found long ago that it was much easier to have a list. The thing resembled a to-do list - things would get checked off and then would be decapchalogued. It was simple and easy, much quicker than rummaging through his backpack for things. However, due to his uncomfortable modus, Theiyw usually just used his backpack for most of the things he could carry. "Oh it's just a list." Trying to shrug it off, Theiyw returned to examining the oven in front of him. He was surprised that it could've sustained such a fall, and was more than a little jealous that it seemed Rubedo had ovens that were so expendable.

Still, he definitely preferred having Rubedo do the carrying, so not to embarrass himself with the simplicity of his modus. Plus, he imagined Rubedo would be quite deft with a recipe modus, giving his apparent skill in cooking.

"Sounds good.." He glanced back up at Rubedo's lusus, wondering if having a flying lusus aided Rubedo in any way in such an area where it didn't seem as if there was anywhere to climb. At least, the things that needed climbing were not cliffs, and were instead staircases.

Turning around, Theiyw took his eyes off the oven before trying to recall in which direction he'd seen the forest. Once he realized that Rubedo was still probably showing him around, he stood still, gesturing for the shorter troll to step in front of him. "Lead the way."

"It's just a list" Said him as Rubedo noticed the slight hunch in his shoulders as he attempted to shrug it off, busying himself with the close and cautious examination of the oven in front of him out of what looked like interest to the untrained eye. Rubedo liftee an eyebrow, yet he said nothing. He couldn't and wouldn't swear on it, but to him it seemed that he was feeling embarrassed for some reason. He couldn't understand why, he had never used list before, and it seemed like tricky moduses were everywhere, getting a good one was lucky. Did Theiyw have an extremely complicated one?

But yeah, better if he just dropped the topic altogether. His eyes were just wandering in every direction now too, and now he had no idea if his original assumption was right at all. He could've remembered something else and that's why he seemed to hunch. Or... Or was he wondering about his lusus? He swallowed. His lusus was tame enough, but he always was getting glares due to the fact that it was in flames. No one could understand why he was picked by such an exotic looking creature. As if he knew! He hoped that Theiyw wasn't getting second thoughts just because of a bird the size of a rooster that may or may not spontaneously combust on their face. Because he himself would.

"Sounds good" nothing.

"It's this way, follow me" He said and began to walk towards a shortcut. Shortcuts were the best. They would be at tge forest in no time.

Theiyw hadn't actually given a second thought to Rubedo's lusus. The fact that he was meeting new lusii and coming across wild ones in his travels all the time had given him somewhat of an immunity to being astonished. Although he was still curious, and something in him wanted to reach out and stroke the Phoenix's feathers, the idea that it was a phoenix and could probably burn his arm off meant that it probably wasn't a good idea to go touching the lusus anytime soon.

Theiyw's own lusus had scales thick enough to resist heat and most other forces, meaning that he frequently hung around whenever Theiyw was near a hot stove. Of course, being a reptile, he depended on outside forces to regulate his body temperature, and was frequently found curled up near  a forge, basking in the heat it radiated.

Glad that Rubedo seemed to drop the reference to fetch modii, Theiyw perked up, following Rubedo quickly as he traveled to the forest. He was in complete agreement with the rustblood on the topic of shortcuts - they were most definitely the best things ever. Second to perhaps ovens, forges, and other really cool hot things.

"So, what's it like? Living in a hivestem." Theiyw asked, suddenly curious about Rubedo's life. After all, a troll that had just managed to have his lusus accidentally set one of his neighbors on fire had to have some interesting stories about the place, even if he was a shutin.

Judging by Theiyw's errand and migratory routes, he could understand why living in a hivestem full of trolls would appear as entertaining to the blueblood. Specially since lowbloods seemed less dangerous and prone to mass-murder than other highbloods and seadwellers, who were (thankfully) pretty far away from his residential system. But "less dangerous" didn't mean "less rude", and he thought of all the times he had to experiment every different kind of psionics available at such a highly concentrated community. Fortunately for him, not EVERY troll around knew he was lower on the hemospectrum than the average troll living around no matter how poor they were, specially yellowbloods. Even among dirt, there were different kinds of dirt. It would've been easier if he had known that when he was a younger troll.

"I'm not completely sure I'm average enough to measure the life quality of a hivestem. There are many trolls around, but the lower castes usually live in rural areas. I suspect I'm only allowed to stay because of my lusus." Rubedo looked at the aggraviated, who rested calmly in his shoulder as he walked in the direction of a forest that was like a teal brush-stroke, flames reduced to a mere welcoming heat. Sometimes he wondered why his lusus had picked him up in the caverns in the first place. He shouldn't have done a terrible job at the trials if such a creature had picked him in the first place, right? Maybe he'd never know. He couldn't remember that much. "My neighbors aren't prone to mass murder, but they don't hesitate to use their psionics when someone really boils them up. And patience is a rare delicacy here. I've seen telekinesis, communication with the dead, mind control, mind reading... too many to list. The food I cook calms them down sometimes. Or my lusus scares them away."

And there, he stopped talking, opting for a long, long pause to let it sink in his mind. There wasn't a problem in leaving a little for the imagination. Theiyw would eventually try and "guess" the many torturous and horrible ways he had come to know these "neighborhood rules", filling the blanks in the story with whatever his imagination wanted him to. That should be more than enough to make the blueblood stay away from his floor.