[META PRP] Second Helping (Leeroi + Flydra)

[Yamashii]

some tastes are acquired

 

[Yamashii]

So his commanding officer was Kursha Vidari. That seemed like an odd combination. Flydra closed the file on Leeroi Furore and sat in thought for a while. She still had no idea what to make of his relationship with Buffel other than the fact that it bothered her to come in second place. But aside from that, the blueblood had been a decent soldier. He'd even worked well together with Scorpa. He was worth meeting with again.

She stood up, touching her midsection. She hadn't eaten since breakfast. The tealblood decided to shelve these thoughts and walk to the canteen for a meal. After this, she would meet with her fellow sirens and they would-

"Leeroi Furore." Her voice was a surprised whisper as she entered through the canteen doors to see the back of Leeroi's head. Those horns were unmistakable. Grabbing a plate of rations from the staff, she approached his table.

"I am going to join you." Flydra remarked, sitting across from him without asking permission. "I wanted to see you again to ask a few questions." Her eyes flickered to his prosthetic.

"You built that yourself? You are self-taught?"

Kimbley Kitty

 

[zeflamigo]

Leeroi had finished his food. Now, it was time to feed his gerbils. Rocket chewed politely on a pile of leafy vegetables- something Leeroi only put on his plate for him. Meanwhile in a metal cage, Leeroi's new feral gerbil, Junior, chewed viciously on a meaty bone, desperately trying to gnaw it open. Leeroi watched wistfully with his elbow on the table, cheek in his hand. With his free hand, he played with Rocket's mohawk and laughed.

He was stirred slowly by Flydra's approach. It took him a minute to process her quick questions. He looked at his arm, then back at the tealblood. "Oh? Yeah, absolutely," He said, vaguely. Picking up Rocket, he held him out for Flydra to observe. "I practiced on gerbils first," he explained, "I've got ten that have had work done. All have unique tech." He even offered to let Flydra hold Rocket, if she wanted.

"Then when I lost my arm as a kid, I made a couple prototypes over the recovery period." He smiled, scratching his cheek. "I grew pretty big over that sweep, so I had to keep making new ones," he laughed, showing off his current tech. "This is model... 7.13?"

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

Gerbils. Why did he have to have gerbils? Flydra tried to keep her eye from twitching at the sight of them. Her experiences at the YTMA had strongly biased her against the cuddly little creatures but she needed to try and be civil in this conversation. At least the one with the mohawk seemed non-offensive. She plucked an apple slice off her plate and inched it in front of the gerbil's mouth.

"Ten gerbils. That is a lot of subjects to study." She supposed it made sense to practice on as many patients as possible if you were trying to develop new tech. And gerbils were fairly easy and inexpensive to get more of. Although she still had reservations about the creatures, Flydra could appreciate his research idea.

"You are a rather large troll. I suppose you would go through several models." It was almost intimidating how muscular he was. The good thing is, that threatening body was filled with a strange gerbil-obsessed brain which made Leeroi less terrifying. She reached to take hold of his hand to study what he had built. Flydra never though to ask permission to inspect the limbs of others.

"It lacks elegance but it is impressive what you have created." She wanted badly to take it apart and see more but she did not have her tools. "How far does it extend across your body? Your entire arm?" A key part of prosthetic limbs was designing a safe and sturdy way to attach them to the damaged parts of the body. Was his whole arm a prosthetic attached at the shoulder or was it connected to part of an arm the way her's was?

Kimbley Kitty

 

[zeflamigo]

Rocket happily accepted the apple slice, nibbling cheerfully on it. Leeroi almost made a pained expression, the gerbil really shouldn't have too much sugar. But Leeroi would feel so bad taking it away from him, especially after it was a gift.

Leeroi was only moderately startled by Flydra grabbing his hand, muttering a small "Oh," as his attention fell back on the tealblood. As long as she didn't make a move to open it up, Leeroi didn't mind being studied. Especially if she was just genuinely ******** elegance," Leeroi scoffed, smirking. He leaned over, regular arm casually propped up on the cafeteria table. "I work from Busthind, maybe make some deals in Chittentown. I'm not in the market to make oversized jewelry." He hummed a small laugh, resting his head in his hand. "But you probably don't see it that way, do you, Little Miss Superstar Authority?"

To her question about his arm, Leeroi had to adjust his seating slightly. In a compression shirt, no amount of tugging would allow the tealblood a good view of his shoulder, but it was clear that the arm clamped down there. "Starts at the shoulder, goes all the way down. Sheer size allows for some wiggle room in the mechanics above the elbow, but the forearm is pretty much hollow for the cannon chamber."

He unhooked his hand from his wrist to demonstrate, a thick cord connecting the two pieces. Looking down the chamber would prove that, save for some important mechanics, the space was indeed mostly hollow.

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

"Scoff all you want, that show got me where I am now." Flydra rolled her eyes at Leeroi's jab. She didn't particularly think Superstar Authority was a high class educational show but it had gotten her the attention of the Queen at least. Getting fast tracked to a military career had been the goal for the Civisect Sirens all along and she was going to take that opportunity wherever she could get it.

"If you work in Busthind... how did you meet Buffel?" She mused out loud, mulling different scenarios over in her head. "What is the relationships between the two of you? Friends? Or something more?" She looked to his eyes directly, not looking away. The yellowblood was not good at explaining such things whenever she asked. Flydra could not tell if Buffel was simply too dense to understand her questions or a sidestepping mastermind.

"He mentioned that you were with him when he lost his arm..." She trailed off, letting him respond to that however he would. She wanted to see what Leeroi's thoughts were on all of this. Depending on his answers, perhaps they could get along nicely.

Kimbley Kitty

 

[zeflamigo]

"Buffel?" Leeroi was surprised by the sudden change in topic. Did he have a thing with Buffel? Leeroi made a face. "Gog, no, we're not a thing. We're just pals. Comrades in arms." Leeroi explained, setting his hand back into place. Pausing to think, Leeroi wondered why this tealblood cared so much about the guy.

"We met in Chittentown, building this space tower. Honestly, I didn't get to know him that well, but he hired me as muscle to fight this big sea monster with him." Leeroi talked idly, cheek in his hand. "S'where he lost his hand. Ran in blindly. Paid the price for it." Shrugging, Leeroi leaned over to pet Rocket.

"He's lucky I was there to hook him up with a prosthetic. I guess he was glad that seadweller was there too— I don't remember her name. She cried all over my operations table, though." Leeroi said, finishing his story. Flydra could pry for more details, but that was the best summary Leeroi could offer.

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

"Interesting. Do you think they're dating?" Flydra propped her chin up on a hand, resting her elbow on the table. She extended her prosthetic hand towards Rocket, the better behaving gerbil, to test if it would bite her. She still felt uncomfortable around them, considering her bad history with the creatures. But maybe this particular one was alright. She patted the top of its head lightly, smoothing down the area between the ears.

"He mentioned losing someone important to him. Do you know anything about that?" Had it been a troll? A lusus? Or perhaps someone symbolic? Flydra took a bite out of her meal. It tasted alright but was nowhere near as good as the food they served in the stylish cafes back in Civisect. She couldn't wait to return to her lab there.

"Also I would love to visit your operation room sometime. Perhaps we could learn from each other." His way of doing things was rough and unorthodox in her opinion but there were some merits to experimental medicine. And if she was going to work on Buffel's prosthetic, it would not be bad to learn more about the engineer who had designed it.

Kimbley Kitty

 

[zeflamigo]

Leeroi made a face at Flydra's question. Meddling in quadrants, gossiping if you will, was not Leeroi's style. Had she styled the question in a less blunt way, it would have gone over his head. Now, he understood her, but he didn't know what to say. He didn't know if they were dating, and he honestly didn't particularly care. It wasn't about him, so it didn't concern him.

"It's not really my business." Leeroi said, expression indignant. Folding his fingers, he looked at the table, then back up at Flydra. "Do you typically like to meddle in other troll's quadrants?" His expression was stern, but humored. There was no intention of being rude to the tealblood, but he wasn't giving in.

"Kid lost his hand and his lusus." To that question, Leeroi was blunt. He leaned back with a sigh. "He was awful close to losing more," he added, a sad smirk turning up the corner of his lips. Leeroi didn't have much more to offer on the matter, but he was sure she could try and pry Buffel with this new info.

Leeroi reached into his shirt pocket and withdrew a crude business card. It was incredibly plain, with large, manly font. He offered it to the tealblood. "You're welcome to check it out if you're in the area." He said, smiling. He was always willing to show off his work.

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

"I don't think it's meddling, is it?" Flydra raised an eyebrow at Leeroi's response. "I'm merely asking if I stand a chance after all." She smiled sweetly, a rare moment of unguarded sincerity. She liked Buffel and it was good to see he had friends that were protective of him. That would hopefully keep him safe from further injuries like the one that had claimed his arm.

"Losing your lusus, I can't imagine how painful that would be. I wonder why he didn't tell me." She frowned. Buffel had been forthcoming about a lot of things in her examination room but not that final piece of the puzzle. It was hard to accept loss but it made her wonder if he was keeping her at arms length like the rest of them after all. How irritating.

"I am thankful that you were there to save him. You have my gratitude." She accepted the business card and tucked it carefully into her pocket. Her first impression of the blueblood had not been favorable due to her own jealousy. But he was presenting himself much smarter and capable than she had given him credit for. Her eyes looked straight into his.

"Should there ever be anything I can do for you, you need simply ask and it will be handled." This might be a friendship worth investing in. She was curious to see where this troll would go in life.

Kimbley Kitty