FLARPing (Open)

You are in front of your hive. You are pretty sure the FLARP session is still running because a guy came over minutes ago and asked you to read his fortune, so you guided him in the direction that would best suit his quest. You guess you already did your good action of the day? He will live to see the sun another day, at least. He left you a small fortune, as well, fortune that you are now keeping hidden inside your FLARP suit, but by now you're too used to getting gold coins to care.

And now you're bored to death.

Your tarot cards, crystal ball and various divination "instruments" are still spread over the table, and you really want to get inside your hive and read a book while you drink something warm and delicious. You are reading, but it's just not the same out here, and it also looks like it's going to rain. Too cloudy to be let the moon shine so you can read in peace, but too peaceful to actually let the waterdrops fall fast enough so you have an excuse to get inside and call it a night. You don't even have your husktop with you, it's too risky with such unpredictable weather.

Oh, someone is approaching.

You sigh and put your book aside.

Your tent had been located not far from the seashore when two trolls had started to fight right outside your hive. You'd wondered if perhaps this was another society-mandated culling, but the fact that they were both dressed in somewhat of an absurd fashion made you think that perhaps this was the activity so many trolls your age participated in called FLARPing. It sounded ridiculous, honestly. They were bashing each other with their respective strifekinds, and were mostly oblivious to the world around them, including you.

However, you had wanted to go and see the water. It had been a while since you'd been able to be near such a large expanse of water, and given the newly discovered FLARP session going on, you figured any aggressive seadwellers would have other things to focus on right now.

The walk to and along the seashore had been relatively uneventful. You had thought some of the sand was oddly colored - perhaps someone had gotten injured here. It didn't sound like that was too unusual of an occurrence in FLARPing. Whatever the reason, you kicked at the sand with your foot before looking up.

Up above, it seems as if you are not going to only be experiencing water by the sea in front of you, but also as a deluge from the clouds above, as you feel a few raindrops plopping down on your head. One hits one of the rings on your horn and sets off a strange ringing sound, like a bell. It stops just in time for you to look up and see a peculiar sight.

A troll is set up with all manner of fortune telling equipment. She appears to be bored, and the fortune telling stuff makes you think maybe she is also part of the FLARPing session, but is perhaps not as enthusiastic at hacking at other trolls with weapons. Perfect, maybe she'll let you get some shelter from the rain.

Walking up to her table, you sit down at what appears to be the client's seat and look across the table at her. You can't seem to get a read on whether she's bored or genuinely unhappy to see you, even though you're a stranger. "Looks like you're having fun." You say, hoping to get on her good side.

You glare at the nightsky for a second when it suddenly decides now it's a good idea to pour some droplets and close your book, keeping it safe under your robes. Then you quickly analize who you believe to be your next client, at least, until you notice his clothes and the way he plops down right at the side of your table.

With a move from your hand, you lift the fabric that is covering one of the sides of your narrow divination table (which is actually just your kitchen table with a dramatically long piece of fabric you bought, but it makes the trick so well you never saw the point in spending more on it) and drop it on his head, so it might serve him as an umbrella or a very improvised coat. He clearly was not just here to chat. And it had just begun to rain, too. Logic did the rest.

"I'd assure you I'd never felt more excited in my life, but I don't know your name and I don't like when those are missing from a sentence" You look at him, a smirk tracing on your black lips.

Yes, you are asking first. He might be a blueblood but you are the one who owns the piece of cloth protecting him from the rain. And, well, you are also the owner of the hive that's behind him and which you are pretty sure is better than a piece of cloth, for a number of reasons.

You briefly marvel at how this troll manages to be nice by providing you with shelter from the rain with this piece of cloth, while she also manages to do it in a rather blunt and rude way. You can't see, after all. Lifting the edges of the cloth so you can give her a questioning look, you can't help but smile a little bit. You're pretty sure that a little rain can't hurt, but she seems willing enough to lend you this...tablecloth?

Her response has you understanding things a bit better. She seems to be one of those trolls. "Well if you're having so much fun, maybe I should just leave. Don't want to intrude on this party." You've dealt with the sarcastic snarky trolls enough to know that being a little courteous usually ends up either confusing them, or just making them more angry. Thankfully, you're okay with either of those outcomes.

Theiyw. Theiyw Hopea, actually. And you?" He asked, even a little bit more amused that she'd actually been courteous enough to ask his name. He'd encountered trolls who never even bothered to learn that particular piece of information - instead choosing to call him something ridiculous like 'rings' or 'blueblood'.

"Oh don't worry, there is more than enough fun for the both of us. Besides, what kind of lady would I be if I didn't invite you to join?" You complete his remark with a highly elaborated version of "yes I am really being slowly and painfully killed by boring myself to death, and I'm taking you with me" complete with a smile on top, like a cherry on a cake of bullshit. Stupid weather.

Well, at least he told you his name.

"My name is Pythia Delphi, 'nice to meet you'. Now that we have successfully completed the 'meeting a new person' ceremony recquired to invite someone to your hive, would you like to come in? This rain is only going to get worse. And I'm done playing for all I care."

You start to collect your various fortune-telling objects while he answers you. You are aware of the fact that you are being kind of blunt, which means it will probably translate in him taking his sweet time processing what you just said, fighting with the voice of his lusus in his mind telling him to "do not get into a stranger's house, they could gut you alive", and trying to make a decision that would preserve his life. In short: enough time for you to pick up all of your stuff.

Theiyw would have been flattered had the invitation not been to sharing the drudgery of a rainy night. Actually, a rainy night was a pretty good reason to be invited to join the boredom party, so he nodded as he stood up from the chair, which seemed to be part of Pythia's whole fortune telling display. It didn't look particularly portable, but he guessed that didn't really matter, since it didn't have too far to travel. "I'm down for that." He said, pushing the chair back into its original spot.

"Nice to meet you, Pythia." He said after she'd finished speaking, almost giving her a mock bow as she finished. "Now we're done with the 'meeting a new person' ceremony." Looking up at her hive, he took about half the typical time to nod, agreeing to her offer. It was going to be miserable getting stuck outside if it really started to pour, and she could probably do a lot more damage by telling his future - since it was almost always unknown - than actually attacking him. Plus, he never had too much time to consider things. He'd be gone far too quickly to spend time making decisions.

"I'm done watching the trolls outside my tent fight with each other, so being inside sounds like a great plan." He smiled, picking up the chair he'd been sitting in so that Pythia wouldn't have to bring everything in herself. "Want help?" He asked, watching her pick up the fortune-telling gear.

This one took a lot less time to say yes to your invitation. Most people took double the time to just tell you "no thanks" and chicken out. Or maybe that was your ill reputation doing the job for you?... Or... or maybe this guy just didn't care, he was probably higher on the hemospectrum than you (or at least you think so, you're not sure) or knew that he somehow had advantage over you. His hair indicated you that he was also a carefree person, do there was that, too. It could be a lot of things!

"Clever boy. Also, a gentleman. But I can take care of this, don't worry, I do this every session after all" you compliment him, and at the time you dismiss his help all you do is pick every corner of the tablecloth and lift them up. There! Now all of the stuff that doesn't break (like the crystal ball) has been stored in an all-purpose, improvised bag. You lift that over your shoulder like you are about to celebrate the 12th perigee's eve and enter your hive, kicking the door to keep it open. "Come in!"

You discard the bag at one side corner. You will arrange everything later, the first thing you want to do is to get changed out of this ridiculous oracle suit. So you head to the room where you keep your clothes. "And close the door. I think I'm going to change in my respiteblock. Do you want anything to drink?"

Theiyw nodded, admiring her capability. At least she seemed to know what she was doing, and the table was sufficiently cleared in the amount of time it would have probably taken for him to actually start being able to help. He wondered if she frequently did this for the flarpers. It seemed to not be as fun as actually being out there fighting, but he didn't think that flarp was that much of an interesting game anyways. It just seemed like another way for trolls to kill each other. Not that he particularly minded that, but he figured that if there was killing to be done, it probably ought to be done outside of a game. Otherwise, it just felt like murdering someone because they lost at a game of go fish.

Following her into the hive, he took a second to look around. Checking out the interiors of hives was always a little fun, although he knew he could never have anything like it for himself. "'kay." He agreed, walking over to a chair and sitting down in it. Perhaps it was just highblood mentality to make one's self at home, or perhaps it was just because he wanted a place to sit. Whatever it was, he was now sitting down on her chair while she went to go and get changed.

"Water would be great!" He called to her as she went to get changed. It was strange that she was so open with the fact that she was going to change, and he shifted around a bit, uncomfortable. Usually, he was the one who made trolls uncomfortable by being so adjustable to his surroundings and the situation at hand, not the other way around.

Finally some normal clothes. Comfortable, adjustable, they cover you instead of you having to fill them in somehow which is a great development already, and the most important thing is that they allow you to move freely. You are lukewarm towards FLARPing, but if it weren't for the rewards it leaves you and your lusus you'd drop it. It was fun sometimes, yes, and you managed to make no one attack you without pissing on their pants (killing the oracle would be OURTAGEOUS and incredibly ill-adviced, a thousand curses would fall on them if they even dared to! Or so you told them) but it can get kind of boring sometimes, just having to go outside when the session began, even if you don't want to.

You emerge using shorts, socks, and a shirt with your symbol, the only touch of color, in brown, and head to the kitchen to serve two glasses of water. "Sorry for the wait. Sit down wherever. Oh, nevermind, you already did. Please don't get up and start apologizing, I just want my visitor to be comfortable." You hand him over his glass and take on your own offer, sitting on a chair and crossing your legs. A bit of body language reading later, you can already see that he's uncomfortable. But that's his problem, you are used already to be exposed out in the light, he just has to learn to deal with it, it shouldn't take him long. Specially noticing how he is in your house.

You guess a little push shouldn't hurt, maybe try and chat with him. You leave the glass dancing on your fingers and grin at him, lifting an eyebrow. "So. How come you are over here? I don't see a lot of blue-blooded trolls around the area."

Theiyw had suspected that Pythia was a lowblood, although her location near the seashore said otherwise. After all, a troll had to be relatively brave to live near seadwellers. Although he was beginning to warm up to highbloods, the seashore was certainly not somewhere he'd like to spend all of his time.

Looking out through the windows, he noticed that it had certainly started to rain a great deal more than it had been when they'd come inside, meaning that he certainly owed her his thanks for letting him out of the rain. Not that he particularly minded, but sleeping in wet clothes was always unpleasant and to be avoided.

He wasn't going to get up and say sorry like she had thought he would. After all, it wasn't as if sitting was some grand privilege granted only to quadrantmates and best friends. Sitting in someone's hive was certainly preferable, especially compared to standing awkwardly while one's host sits.

Taking the water graciously, he took a sip of the drink, glancing at Pythia over the rim of the cup. She seemed intelligent, although snarky, and was certainly a gracious host despite the fact that she was rather critical. He was glad he'd chosen to come inside, instead of staying out while trolls abused each other with their strife specibii.

Some light refracted through Pythia's glass, and he squinted his eyes before adjusting to it. "I travel a lot. Migratory lusus, I'm rarely ever in the same place for more than a few weeks. " Looking around the hive once more, he turned back to Pythia. "How about you? I don't see that many bronzebloods deciding to live near the sea."

He was taking your lead it seemed. Maybe he had no problem in talking a bit about himself, which is something rather intriguing the more you think about it: a blueblood appearing suddenly out of nowhere, talking to a lowblood like it was nothing, and who was apparently moving around because of his lusus, instead of being he himself the one ordering his lusus around and doing what he liked to do, like any highblood could and, in your opinon, should. Having that much freedom and not using it? Really?

Either a weird lie or an uncommon truth. That's why you were curious.

"I like the warmth and the peace of the waves. There are not a lot of seadwellers around, most of them either moved away due to the annoying FLARPing sessions, or because they are too preoccupied playing FLARP themselves." You place the prismatically shaped glass at your side, rotating it around and attempting to make a rainbow reflect on your tiny hive. "I guess that means you are not afraid of seadwellers either? Or did you get lost and found the shore by accident?"

The excuses she made for living near the shore seemed to placate him. After all, he didn't  know a thing about FLARP, and he thought that perhaps the seadwellers didn't kill her because of her role as some sort of...prophet? He wasn't quite sure what exactly her purpose was, but it was probably important in the game somehow. She didn't strike him as the kind of troll to do something that didn't force other trolls to respect her.

He didn't particularly think of the waves as warm or inviting, especially when it was raining quite miserably outside. Still, he didn't want to criticize Pythia. She seemed like someone who might take offense at a statement like that. "Sounds like you've got the situation under control, then." The idea that he might have gotten lost almost had him laughing, and he bit his lip to stop himself from beginning to chuckle. The idea of getting lost was simply so foreign to him, mostly because everywhere he went was already unknown to him. It was simply another adventure. "Lost...no, not lost. Simply bored."

He remembered a time when he had been afraid of seadwellers, but did not see that as a time he could currently relate to, mostly because of Eisire. "No, I'm not afraid of seadwellers. I have friends.." Damn it, now it just seemed like he was name dropping. Shrugging, he decided to finish there before further embarrassing himself.

He bit his lip, perking up her attention and making her lean slightly closer, interested in his reactions as much as in his words. It was all in the body language, that silent way of telling her what was going on with him, and she spied with her little eye something that told her that he was way more experienced in exploring than what he was letting her see.

"Simply bored" and "I have friends". That confirmed it.

But he stopped midway before she could listen more, so she leaned back yet again, her mind already busy working up with what little information she had to bring up conclusions. And she practically scanned him all over with her gaze, looking for more clues to add in to his mysterious profile.

Rings of unpure but strong metals attached on his horns. Unruly, curly hair that he didn't seem to bother a lot with. Clean clothes, if a bit messy. A traveler and... and.... that was it. What else? You couldn't know! Oh, you were now REALLY tempted to try and read his aura, but you contained yourself.

"Oh, so you have friends living near here then? I guess you were paying a visit?" You aren't completely sure on how wrong your argument is. A lot of things seem uncertain with this guy. You smile at him. "Well, no one could've knows today was going to be rainy, so you can stay here while the rain stops and then continue doing whatever it is you were doing. Do you want your lusus to come in?"