[PRP] Cookienapping (Trusci & Nahori) FIN

[saedusk]

 

[saedusk]

The smells wafting out into the balmy night air were almost too much, they almost swept Nahori away with their awful, torturous teasing. Fingers left smudges where they were pressed to the glass, eyes darted back and forth between cakes and cookies and sweets wrapped up in little handkerchiefs with bows. Oh, how she wished she could taste just one thing, but she had no beetles left of her own. Mother guarded their valuables cautiously and whatever small allowances the young orangeblood had were a pittance that required nights of saving to actually afford anything.

Empty pockets should have repelled her away from the bakery, but that only happened on very rare occasions. Maybe Nahori did had a bit of a masochistic streak, or maybe she was just a small child with a self-control weakened by a watering mouth and wobbling legs, but either way here she was, doing the same thing she often did while mother had her back turned over at the produce stand.

One second inside would be fine, right? Just one little up close and personal peek, letting herself truly enjoy the scents and the sights without glass to glare back at her. Okay, it would be fine, surely, surely. Glancing back quickly at Guineamom, who appeared thoroughly distracted, she found her courage. Almost tripping up the one concrete step, she managed her way into the store, and was almost knocked off her feet. This wasn't the first time she'd been here, but it was just as glorious as always. Clutching her hands together, she loitered just inside the door, admiring the displays with chocolates and cakes. To her right was a basket full of individually wrapped cookies, and heaven help her the girl was smitten with just a single look. They were perfect, puffy and round and covered in icing that looked too sweet to be real. Sprinkles shaped like cartoon stars and bloodpushers dotted the icing here and there, but many of them had fallen off, gathering in the bottom of the cellophane.

Nahori's finger's itched. She wanted it so, so badly, but she had no beetles. All she could do was stare, hanging off to the side, unmoving. What an awful, torturous choice this had been.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Do de do...

The yellowblood whistled nonchalantly to herself as she strolled down the sidewalk. It wasn't uncommon for her to be out and about like this, though it was a little unusual for her to be without her trusty notebook. Toy sword at side (just in case!), Trusci was otherwise unprepared and ill-fitted for her usual hobbies. Even the best needed a break sometimes, right? Besides, she had a pretty damn good memory, and was sure she could remember most of the good, juicy stuff.

Okay, truth be told, she somehow forgot it back at her hive. Tessie had been growing restless, having noticed how the yellowblood twin liked to wander off while she busied herself with the other more docile twin, and finally decided to put her foot down on the matter. Needless to say, sneaking out had become decidedly difficult, and once she saw her chance she took it without hesitation. The aspiring journalist was beginning to get a little stir crazy. Besides, she wasn't useless without her journal and supplies. Even if she couldn't jot down every bit of gossip she heard, she could still play the part of a rumormonger just fine. Mostly she was just thrilled to be out of that stuffy a** hive. The air out here...

...Ah, she could smell it now. Pausing her whistles to inhale, she let out a dreamy sigh as she exhaled the sweet scented air. Duckmom rarely indulged her two twin children with sweets; Trusci unfortunately fit the bill of 'typical wriggler' when it came to sugar intake, and often was denied the delicious treats. Coffee especially, doused in sugar and creamers and sweetness, was a huge weakness for her, so good...

But this bakery was good, too. She'd been a few times, sure. Trusci remembered fondly how she would sweet talk the owners behind the counter just before swiping a treat out from under them. Usually it worked out, but she had been avoiding the place since the last time she got caught, bu that was a while ago so it'd be okay now, right? Either way, she was sure she could get away with it by using her powers. God she loved being a telekinetic.

Most of the time, anyway.

Every instance she remembered her pride, so too did she remember her inevitable fate. I won't let that happen, no way in hell, she was going to take control of her own life, ******** fate.

Regardless, it was much too heavy a thing for her to dwell on, or for any child to ponder over really. Life on Alternia had many young trolls facing hardships from night one, however, and this was no different in the long run. Life simply went on. She was fairly certain she'd be able to stick it to the royal hierarchy, or maybe she could be some cool renegade girl eluding the government, or maybe she could be involved in some kind of super awesome conspiracy! Something man, she didn't know, but something good out there was waiting for her, she just had to find it. She had to be close. She could taste it, sweet like cotton candy on her tongue.

Almost as much as she could taste the cookie taunting her in the window. ******** it. They never noticed one cookie when she did it before, hell, they never noticed two sometimes. Okay, maybe the one time they did notice was when she tried to swipe too, but come on she would practically be in the home clear this time, she could feel it. Trusci charged inside with a blissful innocence and bolstered determination, bell at the storefront jingling as the door swung open.

It was a good thing Trusci was so observant, even in her fervor. Almost colliding with another troll, she managed to stop a hairs length away, who the hell stands in the middle of the doorway anyway? She almost gave an irritated scoff until she realized the orangeblood in front of her was... actually vaguely familiar, somehow. Trusci had seen a lot of trolls in her short life, and she prided herself on her abilities to recognize and recall and hoard information, but she couldn't place the girl in front of her, even though it was on the tip of her tongue. Where was it...

"Carrot top!" she proclaimed with realization, eyes lighting up with the recognition, hands clapping together much like the thoughts in her head connecting and colliding. "Didn't think I'd ever run into you again. Glad to see you're survivin'." Now she smirked, any intent of the scoff gone, remembering their first meeting, the conflict with the blueblood, how she'd been stopped. At least the orangeblood seemed like she had guts—sort of—when it mattered, despite her meek appearance. Trusci could dig it, even if it didn't work out in her favor.

"They look pretty good, huh?" Trusci took the time to also gaze longingly at the cookies, childlike wonder taking over her face. Truth be told, she also was a little pinched for beetles, but that didn't matter given the fact she never planned on paying anyway. Whoopsies. "Ma' never let me have them, usually." she didn't even bother to check and see if the girl was listening to her, merely rambling on as she became the focal point of her own little world.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Those cookies, those awful, wonderful cookies, became her existence in that moment. They were her happiness and sadness and as Nahori stood there staring she realized she was in way too deep. There was something undeniably strange and possibly unhealthy about feeling so much emotion over a confection, but when your life held so few glimmers of joy, it was easy to become ridiculously attached to each and every tiny flash.

The orangeblood was so engrossed, so lost, that she never moved away from her spot in the doorway. Had this been any other instance, she would've gotten herself as far as she could from the possibility of getting in anyone's way, she would've pressed against the wall, she would've heard the clear jingle of the bell and went warbling away like a kicked puppy. As it were, she didn't notice anything around her had changed until-

"Carrot top!"

She jumped, she notably jumped, nearly right out of her skin, squeaking in fear. Someone had snuck up on her, they were nearly on top of her, addressing her, exclaiming. Oh no, she messed up, she messed up so bad. In that moment, she was quick to assume they were yelling, shouting at her to get out of her way, cursing her, hating her, she squeezed her eyes shut.

The yelling never came. In fact, the voice was quite amiable.

Eyes fluttered open, focusing on the face that went with the voice. Both were familiar, as was the nickname when she finally had time to process what had been said. It was that yellowblood she'd met a while ago, how could she forget, the one who had threatened the blueblood with her... her powers.

Here she was, standing in the very same bakery, talking like they were casual acquaintances when they still felt more like strangers. Nahori hadn't even given her name! In fact, she was also pretty sure they'd never meet again, and yet somehow it had happened. Fate sure had dealt her an unusual hand this time.

Bubbling in vague confusion as she stood unmoving, her gaze darted between the yellowblood and the cookies she was now bringing into the conversation.

"T-They do!" she burst out in response, much faster than was necessary and more than a little awkwardly. She was able to calm herself, if only a smidgen, when she opened her mouth again. "My mother never, um, l-lets me have sweets, either..."

How strange, there was a sudden feeling of kinship with this yellowblood she knew nothing about, who intimidated her more than anything. If it would last was yet to be seen.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Trusci laughed, far too jovial and over the top and loud. She was a boisterous individual sometimes, but the sound quickly trailed into a giggle as she hid her smile coyly behind her hand. The orangeblood had such a way of reacting that it was entirely too amusing for her to handle. Her eyes slid to the other trolls present in the shop, but luckily for the two children it seemed almost empty. Well, bakeries usually weren't bustling in the middle of the night, she supposed.

So much so that it seemed the owner, or at least whoever was working behind the counter, seemed to be busying themselves with menial tasks to try and stave off the presumable boredom of tending to a vapid shop. While they seemed all too invested in counting the beetles they'd accrued during the course of the evening, Trusci saw her chance, wide open and staring her in the eyes.

Her voice became quiet now, as to stave off any unnecessary attention or suspicion. "You want one?" her face broke into that mischievous grin, voice low, though rather than waiting for an answer (she could already tell the girl wanted one, what with how she was ******** salivating like a barkbeast) Trusci took action. Waving her hand slightly by her side, her fingers manipulated the objects of her focus; teal sparked around a pair of cookies, the individually wrapped delights shaking up into the air just enough to drop behind the counter and around to Trusci's tiny hands.

She stuffed them into her vest with gusto. Smooth.

"Book it." she whispered to the orangeblood quickly, sure that the other troll hadn't seen but knowing that, if they stuck around, they'd probably catch onto their (or rather, Trusci's) antics.

With that she turned on her heels, briskly walking towards the door. It was up to carrot-kid if she decided to make a scene or follow or not, but Trusci at least trusted her not to do the former given how much of a pushover she was.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Awful, terrible, shocking... It all happened so fast. Mere moments away from an answer—a resounding yes, but ah, she had no beetles—Nahori was prematurely silenced by the sudden rise of the cookie spirits. How was this possible at all? They were floating, right out of the basket, away from their sweet, sweet siblings, but there was no hand gently cradling them up. No, it was only air. That and-

A sudden realization hit her. Back in the market those nights ago, she'd been sure whatever teal glow lit Trusci's fingers had been some sort of power. She didn't know much about them, only the vague idea that trolls with abilities existed and that certain ones with tricks of use would serve the Queen as it was meant to be. Mother never went into more detail than that, and Nahori had no real grasp on all the shapes and sizes these powers came in, but it occurred to her in that brief moment of thought that her acquaintance could move things somehow.

Teal glow, teal glow, it all made total sense (even when it didn't). Trusci had just stolen those cookies.

That's when the order came, it was time to run. The orangeblood had somehow been roped into the other child's schemes. Fear of retribution from three different sides, both Trusci and the bakery troll, and worst of all her mother, kept her from speaking up. Oh, her mother could never find out about this, never, never, not ever! It wasn't as if she'd taken the cookies herself, or even wanted to be a part of it. In fact, she probably could've turned the yellowblood in and come out no worse for wear. Yet, she felt like a part of it, felt like somehow wanting and pining for those treats made her equally complacent in the crime.

She was turning, bumbling out of the store, almost tripping. How awful and terrible and shocking. Now she was an accomplice, a thief! Oh no, oh no. As soon as they stepped outside, she immediately veered to the right, and right again, down an alley she knew was there from experience. Guineamom couldn't see her leaving the store, couldn't know, they had to hide.

"W-What did you d-do?? she hissed between clenched teeth. "We're going to g-get in so much t-trouble. Mother is g-going to be so angry... She c-can't know, she can't know."

They had to get rid of the evidence. At that thought, that shameful thought, Nahori's mouth continued to water involuntarily.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Trusci smiled the second the brisk night air hit her. The door flourished open and she was quick to pull her scarf up, looking far too cheery and jolly. Cheeks tinged yellow, just a little, she turned to the orangeblood, about to open her mouth and laugh out some amiable response; she had followed! Of course she would have, silly carrot-kid. Trusci was far too please with this turn of events.

That is, until the girl kept going and spun into the alleyway.

Trusci's smile didn't falter, but her eyes squinted a little as she followed without missing a beat. The heck was she hiding for? It wasn't like anyone on the outside knew they stole the dumb cookies. Ah well. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised either when, upon coming to the girl again, she was stuttering and sputtering and almost seemed a little mad if not for the undeniable panic.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down would ya?" She went to give the startled girl a little pat on the back, sociable and good-humored as always, that was Trusci Modsat for you. "You're, uh, Ma' isn't going to know. We're like, the only ones here anyway..." her nose wrinkled slightly as she looked at the grimy side street, trash collected on the sides though still unmistakable out of the way. Someone probably used this as a getaway route. Cool.

"Look," with a fluid motion, she reached into her vest, producing the cookies. A little smashed—they looked so soft and delectable anyway—but still pretty dandy if she did say so herself, "I swiped one for you, too! No one's gotta know."

Trusci offered—or rather shoved—one of the stolen cookies towards her acquaintance, casually peeling the wrapping back on the one left for her. "Geeze, just eat it already, 24-K."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

No, she wouldn't, of course she wouldn't. Mother would never know, because Nahori would never tell her. As time passed, it felt like each and every night begot a new reason to lie, another opportunity to conveniently withhold information from her lusus. It felt bad, but at the same time liberating. A mixed bag of emotions, that's what the orangeblood's life was becoming. A spiral of freedom versus obedience, feeling great versus feeling so low she might as well be dirt for no other reason than she was beginning to live her life and enjoy herself outside of Guineamom's control.

Disobeying the large rodent to her face still wasn't an option, not even close to so, but as the cookie was shoved into her small, greedy hands, she found the urge to toss it away was only a fraction of the craving that spurred her to unwrap the sweet delight. The soft treat gave way so easily between her fingers. It barely held together as she shoved half of it into her mouth, her sharp front teeth easily piercing straight through. The icing was like a nightdream, almost too sugary, but was that even possible? A few sprinkles escaped their fate and tumbled down the front of her shirt, spotting the starkly grey ground with color.

"It's so good..." she sobbed between chewing. And it was, it was like heaven, how she wished she could experience this every night. Trusci had convinced her to misbehave, but she was surely accepting this fate all on her own now. She was smitten all over again, as she always was, with this rare and elusive chance at dessert.

The cookie was gone as quickly as it came into her hands. The only sign she'd eaten were the crumbs clinging to her lips.

"My, um... My name's Nahori, you know..." The stuttering had subsided some, along with most of the guilt, though she paused a little more often as if trying to think. And think she was, now that the promise of sweets was no longer distracting her. 24-K? She didn't really get it. "Is that... well... is that, uh, supposed to be a nickname...?

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Trusci was already devouring her own cookie—albeit much slower—when the girl began to talk again. The yellowblood listened with wide eyes, big interested blinks as she wiped some of the frosting from her own face. She was really into that cookie, and Trusci again found herself snickering in amusement. What a ********' weirdo. She loved it.

"Well y'know I'm glad. For real!" a genuine smile replaced the snarky smirk, something not necessarily unusual but a little more rare. "You oughta' treat yourself sometimes yaknow?"

She was only about half done when the girl introduced herself and started to ramble again. Nahori? Swallowing the bit of cookie in her mouth, she reached into a vest pocket hidden under her scarf, producing a pen. She might have forgotten her notebook, but she had other ways to go about recording. Popping the top off dexterously, she quickly jotted the name down on the skin of her arm, 'Nahori, orange, 24-K (that's a good one, keep that one)'...

She snorted when the next question came, "Yeah! Sure! 24-K, get it? It's 'cause you're golden." now she laughed, good humored and light. She stopped abruptly though in thought, "Though, I guess you're not actually golden, I mean you're more orange-y. I guess I'm the golden one, huh? Maybe you could be like, I dunno," she made a vague hand motion, "Golden in spirit? Yeah. I dunno what that actually means though." she mused, taking another bite of the cookie, savoring it unlike Nahori who just scarfed it down.

Oh, maybe add that too, "Really likes sweets..."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

It was sort of funny to hear that, to be told she should treat herself. Trusci hadn't been the first troll to tell her so, and something made her believe she wouldn't be the last, either. What was it about taking what you wanted that made everything a smidgen more bearable? Living under Guineamom's claw had made Nahori endlessly accommodating towards things she didn't like, towards getting the short end of the stick, but whenever there was a light at the end of the dark tunnel of her obedient existence it made her think that maybe it was okay to be selfish, if only slightly so.

Maybe the yellowblood was right then. Okay, stealing was probably still wrong, even if it was just two little cookies that wouldn't be missed, but the fact that she'd wanted the cookie so badly wasn't some kind of awful flaw, was it? No, she supposed it wasn't. Watching Trusci scribble things down on her arm, the orangeblood actually smiled. It was a small one, barely there and as fleeting as her bravery would be, but it was there nonetheless.

"Maybe you're right." There was a small flush on her face as the nickname gained an explanation. It wasn't that the name itself was innately embarrassing or anything, it was always just strangely warming when anyone saw fit to pay this much attention to her. Trusci took the time to look at her, see things about her, and that made her stupidly pleased. And she understood it now, that silly alias.

"Ah, twenty-four karat gold... I get it." She certainly wouldn't claim herself golden. In fact, she was more of a rust, perhaps a grime, or on a good day she might consider copper. Not as bright or shiny as gold, but not so bad, either. The yellowblood, though... Nahori thought gold described her rather well. If Trusci thought she could at least be pseudo-golden, well, she'd could be okay with that. "I would... take golden in spirit..." For a moment she sounded uplifted.

And then it was gone, lost in one fell swoop as a loud, shrill wheeking echoed down the alleyway. Mother, oh no. Mother, why? Nahori had felt so good, despite what had transpired, things were going well. Happiness. Such a fleeting, wispy notion. A white nose appeared from around the corner.

"S-She could s-smell me." The stutter was back, the boosted tone was gone. Quickly the orangeblood swiped the crumbs from her mouth, but more than afraid, she felt empty. Adjusting her glasses on her nose, she gave the yellowblood a long, almost lonely look. "I've g-gotta go, I-I'm sorry. P-Please don't, uh..." she leaned in closely, please don't resent me for invading your space, for everything, "... tell her a-about the c-cookie." Aha, it wasn't as if they could communicate, but Nahori worried about her lusus discovering her disgrace regardless.

"I-It was, ah, it was fun..."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

The smile caught Trusci rather off guard. The yellowblood was very keen on noticing other trolls, especially their actions, their words, habits. It was important to know how to read others, especially in body language, in order to get a good grasp on one's personality. According to Trusci, anyway. Seeing the orangeblood light up the way she did made the aspiring journalist a little... well, exuberant is a bit of an overstatement, but something warm and childish and fun fluttered in her chest where her blood pusher was. Maybe Nahori had something golden in her spirit after all, hidden down under anxiety and fear. She hadn't been far off with that statement after all!

Trusci honest-to-god felt as if she made a different here with the stupid cookie. She might be nosy and pushy and downright obnoxious, but she was also fairly amiable and kind when she wanted to be, especially to fellow lowbloods. The girl was meek, and it seemed pretty obvious that she was probably pushed around quite a bit. Trusci meant it when she said to treat herself sometimes; all work and no play was a death sentence, wasn't it? She gave a very thoughtful, very absolute nod. She finished her cookie, brushed the crumbs off her hand.

The sudden change in demeanor came almost like a slap to the face. It felt like she was really going placed with this orangeblood, really hitting it off, but suddenly she was a mess of movement as her composure broke instantly. Looking over her shoulder, Trusci spotted the source in a white snout, nostrils flaring. Nahori's explanation only cemented her suspicions; so that was her lusus? Ah. Made sense. So that was mom.

Trusci wasn't one to care for personal space. She in fact was usually the one intruding upon others, and as a result didn't pull away when Nahori suddenly leaned close, her voice but a shaky whisper. Don't tell her about the cookie? An almost exasperated sounding laugh broke through, "Hey! I won't. Promise. I don't break promises."

It wasn't necessarily unlike Trusci to try and be comforting, but she was always the one calling truces back home with her twin. She knew how to be accommodating when it mattered, and after the recent, silly incident with Nahori, she actually felt bad. Something twinged in her chest. Nahori looked so absolutely devastated. Trusci could stand up to highbloods, sure, but a lusus was definitely a little more dangerous,

It was fun indeed.

All the yellowblood could do was offer that same smile, genuine and not at all (a little) apologetic. Maybe she felt a little responsible—she had dragged Nahori into this—but their moment was light-hearted and happy. Nahori looked like she needed some happiness in her life.

Trusci took it upon herself decidedly then, "Here, I..." reaching out quickly as she knew their time was drawing short, the yellowblood quickly grabbed for Nahori's hand, pen still poised in the other as she hastily scribbled a smiley face on the back of her palm. It wasn't much and it was entirely childish, but well, they were kids weren't they? Their meeting was drawing to a close. She had to do something, even if it was a small insignificant emote doodled on her skin.

"Hey, look, try not to be so down all the time?" she flashed a grin as she moved to cap the pen, "You got a nice smile, it's," she snickered a little playfully, "Golden."

With that, she gave a gentle shove in the direction of that peculiar snout, get goin!. Based on how Nahori was acting, they probably had dawdled for too long as it was.

"See ya' around, 24! Stay gold!" There was a pledge in that. She'd see the girl again surely as she quickly waved her off, notes and words still scrawled on her arm as she did so.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

There wasn't much time to react, not when she was a flurry of upset emotions and Guineamom's mere presence was enough to make her feel rushed and restless. Nahori was fluttering on the edge of panic, though she tried so hard to reign it in, to stay calm, or at least hold onto some vague semblance of control. She didn't want Trusci to see her this way, not now, not after they had actually had such a... such a nice moment. Of course, the yellowblood had already seen quite a bit, but that didn't change her hopes. Please don't think less of me, her eyes said, but in that instant she felt little fingers brush against her own.

There was warmth, maybe Trusci could be her friend.

It wasn't much, just a smiley face. To anyone else, it might not have meant anything, but to Nahori, to see that scribble, to hear that compliment, it made her want to cry. For once, though, those threatening tears were good ones. This simple moment had turned into something she would always remember.

"T-Thank you, Trusci," she managed. She was golden. Trotting towards the mouth of the alleyway seemed to sate her lusus and the snout disappeared, giving her just enough time to turn back and wave, looking a little bashful, before disappearing around the corner.

Melancholies