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xxxxxxDining Block
After his miserably embarrassing display of clumsiness, Hazmas had sequestered himself to one of farther tables so as to avoid any further incidents. The thought of approaching any of the older trolls now mortified him. He was part of that middle caste right between the high and lowbloods. If he approached the higher bloods, he'd be seen as a laughable lowblood - not even worth the bother. Though, when hasn't that been the case? On the other hand, there were those of his cast and below who'd probably think he was just as laughable and not worth giving their respect. Either way, he'd screwed up and was more than happy to dig a hole in the outer green and bury himself in it.

With Eridia's howling laughter was still ringing in his ears, the young greenblood listened as dinner was announced and migrated into the with the swarm of masks and horns. His anxieties were swept away with the passing of the menus, glittering with the the titles of numerous luxury foods and drinks. Soups, salads, and more enticed the child and rather than getting just one thing, Hazmas decided to get samples of everything. Unfortunately hadn't even gotten a chance to dive into his meal before he and the rest of the block were plunged into darkness.

The youngster swiveled in his seat, straining his senses as he tried to peer through the room's inky blackness. His first instinct was to reach for his wrench and prepare to fight - but he'd left his psudo weapon at home. After all, you never bring a weapon to a party, especially if the Queen was going to be there. However, that didn't mean he hadn't brought along some deterrent vials just in case.

He paused when he heard a faint gurgling and a thud. Despite its faintness, the sound reminded him of a drowning drone back in the Rebel's waterlogged cavern hideout.

'That's not a good sound,' Hazmas thought, wanting more and more to have his trusty battle duster and satchel with all his mixtures ready to be thrown at whatever threat might be about. He winced when the lights returned and blanched. Sure enough, there was a corpse on the floor -and not just any corpse, but a purple-blood seadweller!

If the seadweller was the one who gurgled and fell, then that meant he either choked on his food or something else happened. Hazmas only knew of a few things that made you gurgle before you died, and all of them had to deal with poisons. Poison... At that moment, all of his thoughts immediately went to his phials of clogwind and deterrents.

"Mother grub..." Hazmas breathed, his stomach tying itself in knots. It was no secret that he used stuff like that to make his deterrents! Even if nothing he made was really lethal, someone might think he had something to do with Kewrei's death!

'I gotta get outa here or they're gonna think I did it!'

He had just begun to rise from his seat when the most ear-piercing shriek met his ears. Startled, the young green blood flinched, almost slugging his neighbor, and watched in wide-eyed disbelief as two mutantbloods darted out from under the table.

"Holy fletchin' duggers!" he shouted as the entire room erupted with sound and movement. First a murder, now a pair of mutants! 'And I thought the Innitiative was a mad house!' Hazmas thought and looked back toward the seadweller's seat. He knew that Eridia knew about his deterrents and that the only way to keep himself out of the culling circle would be find out who the real killer was. Easier said than done. However, sleuthing did pose an opportunity. Instead of just waiting for trolls to move on to the other outgrowths, he could look for clues and "encourage" others towards less... crowded outgrowths. After all, it wasn't like anyone needed to linger in a room with no clues, right?
With that in mind, Hazmas waited for the speeches of the Queen and a fellow greenblood to end before he pushed his way towards the purplebloods' end of the table. In the midst of the room's noise and movement, the seadweller's body had been hauled away, leaving everything else in terrible disarray. But what really interested the little greenblood was Kewrei's seat, the table cloth and the unusual mess on the floor nearby. If there was anything that could give an insight as to how the finned purpleblood perished, it would be here.

The greenblood's rousing speech prompted Eostre to leave behind Tamiya for the moment. She could always catch up later, when they had all gathered more clues. For now, he seemed like a good bet to talk to.

Sidling up beside the taller troll, Eostre gave a polite cough when she locked eyes with him, and placed a hand on her chest as she spoke. "Hello, I don't believe I've ever introduced myself to you, Mr. Vidari. I would recognize that symbol anywhere, after all," she said, her gaze steady. They were rather interesting looking... matched his symbol, and were surely a sign of some power he had.

"Anyway, I'm Eostre. Eostre Diazzi. Really, a pleasure to meet you, considering how many fans you seem to have accumulated. I never thought I'd get a chance to talk to you in person," she said, giving a little laugh and glancing at the children she'd seen just moments ago trailing him. So many children.

She grabbed his hand between her two gloved ones, giving him a gentle shake. "I'd be pleased if we could perhaps... spend some more time together in the future," Eostre said, pulling her hands away slowly, patting his once more. "I did so admire your work with the rebel leader," she added with a wink.

On the tightly folded napkin she slipped into his hands in her "handshake", she had merely written LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION written in a generic blue pen's ink. Vague enough, should anyone else see the hidden message she slipped him, but enough he would know what she meant...

Katanari

eostre wants to be friends, mr eagle eye! c:

Reconvening in the central hivestem had proven a little pointless in retrospect, since Sarcel only ended up walking back to the same place they started in already. Oh well. They had a mission to do! Sarcel wasn't going to make herself look like a fool; she couldn't, wouldn't. She had to make herself look good. She agreed that this wouldn't be solved with everyone being bent on their own glory, but a selfish part of Sarcel wanted to be extra outstanding. If she were to figure it out, present it to the queen... sigh.

Ah, but that was a ways away, and Sarcel knew better. She halted when she saw the cluster of trolls already surveying the area, pursing her lips slightly. Looking for clues suited her more, but perhaps asking the adults would prove a little more fruitful. Ah, but talking...

No, she could do this, Comedi seemed quiet and reasonable (though despite the face paint, she doubted he was in the same breath) but... Tamiya had approached him easily. Sarce could surely do the same. Despite the fact that he was chatting with the other greenblood, Sarcel mustered her courage, asking both Erilyn and Comedi about Epratt, "I-I um, am sorry t-to ask, but... the seadweller... d-did you know him well?" her voice wavered, but she held true none the less.

Of course, it didn't matter much. Shortly after receiving both of their answers, chinchillamon sprung to life around her shoulders. Had she been sleeping? It didn't matter now; she had seen the disgusting disarray that the room was left in now, and in the midst of her (trivial) rage she sprung from Sarcel's shoulders, darting straight for the Nutrition Block.

Sarcel could scream.

But she didn't, instead offering the two adults a hurried apology before chasing after the small creature, bolting into the otherwise clean kitchen. Her eyes widened when she saw a greenblood child, heart pumping wildly, oh no...

"Y-You there--!" her voice was cut off as her lusus bounced all over the countertops, screeching and barking, "M-My lusus-- o-oh geeze!"

"G-Get out before she h-hurts you!" she wasn't sure if the beast would or not, but it was better safe than sorry. They didn't need another dead troll tonight.

zindel "oh uh I don't know much about dramatic I guess that was fine ALSO SOMEONE DIED?!?!? WHAT THE ********" tagino

When the creature had bounded into the respiteblock, Aconan had blinked, confused, having just shut the thermal hull door. Was that a lusus? An angry lusus, it seemed like. Loupsus, who had previously been enjoying lying down on the cool tile, raised his oversized head and pricked all four ears, eyes following the smaller lusus around. Aconan stepped closer to Loupsus just in case - whilst it looked very much like a preybeast, it might be poisonous or have hidden defenses. (Aconan had quite a lot of experience with Alternian fauna, and she couldn't think of many defenseless creatures. None that lived long, anyway.)

And then the blueblood came almost...pelting into the block, and the lusus began screeching and barking. Aconan made a confused whine low in her throat, almost too quiet to be heard over chinchillamom's noises, and stepped even closer to the beast on the floor.

"G-Get out before she h-hurts you!"

Loupsus wasn't the smartest of Lusii, but he wasn't dumb, either. He didn't speak alternian, but he generally got the gist of it. And what he got the gist of was that the other lusus was /threatening his charge/. Aconan's eyes widened as Loupsus drew himself to his full height, and she had time to say just a few words.

"Wait- Loupsus!"

It was to no use. The large howlbeast's ears flattened (all four of them) and his lips drew back, revealing the traditionally large and canine teeth, and then he growled.

Aconan growled often, a habit she'd picked up from her lusus. But, being a troll and a child, her growls were small and cute despite how hard she tried to make them threatening - a warning sure, but not really intimidating. Frankly, unlike her lusus's at all. Loupsus was larger than any natural howlbeast - easily large enough to carry two adult trolls - and his chest was capable of producing a lot of noise. A lot of dark, scary, deep noise.

All of which were currently directed at the 'threat'.

(Aconan, meanwhile, was flushing bright green and trying to apologize for her lusus's behaviour, but it could barely be heard over the growling and screeching and barking.)

Honestly, Sarcel could be kicking herself. Of course, a child being present obviously meant a lusus was bound to be near by. If there was anything Sarcel had learned growing up, it was that many trolls had lusii far bigger, far more dangerous than say... hers. Now, a rampaging Chinchillamom was nothing to underestimate for sure (Sarcel knew this well; what she lacked in size she easily made in speed and jumping prowess), she was hardly a threat to the enormous howlbeast that reared in front of her, teeth bared and growling.

This situation had easily gone from bad to worse.

She didn't even really know why her lusus was reacting the way she was; hey! This room was spick and span enough, surely it'd calm her down, but in the meantime...

"I-I'm—" I'm what? Sarcel struggled to find the right words to smooth over the situation, obviously shaken and a little terrified: another added bonus of being raised by what essentially was a preybeast. In the heat of the moment, her instincts told her flight, not fight. If she were to run from this however, she was pretty sure she'd have a dead lusus on her hands. Sure she had lived without her lusus being overtly present in her life, but she also wasn't about to let the damn stupid creature die on her either.

"I-I uh—! I-It's okay, e-everythings okay..." she was quick to gesticulate with her hands up, wavering wildly, "S-She does this! S-She does this"

She hoped her reiterations wouldn't fall on deaf ears; they had six between the two of them anyway (not that the greenblood's lusus could understand her, probably). "S-She just n-needs to calm down! P-Please." her eyes glanced nervously to the door while Chinchillamom increased her riot through the Cupboards, screeching and knocking things around but momentarily contained as she tried to find her way out of her new prison.

"W-While she's d-distracted!" Sarce was very perceptive and no fool to her lusus' timely predicament. "I-I'm so sorry!"

She hoped her pleading was enough for the child to get their lusus under control and out of the vicinity. She didn't want to pull any cards; I'm older! And a highblood! because it didn't... suit her, but she was panicked and pressed for resolution in the situation. She'd have to make it up to the small greenblood later; she just felt so guilty. She just wanted a nice evening; the murder she could handle, surprisingly, compared to the tantrum her lusus was throwing. She just hoped that with the smaller troll gone she could have the chance to calm down the small livid beast.

Sarcel watched as the greenblood attempted, and failed, and then finally succeeded to calm the lusus down, scolding the creature rather harshly. For a moment, Sarcel felt bad; in the next, she felt relieved.

"I-I uh... m-me too..." Sarcel added rather lamely. So much for being the upfront totally capable in charge blueblood, right? She felt like a fool in front of the child, but there would be time later to feel like a loser. The greenblood was right after all; they had a murderer to catch and collect.

"S-She'll be o-okay!" the relief was now visible on the part of Sarcel's un-obscured face. "I... t-thank you. I-I'm so sorry for this...."

She mentally flinched at the last growl from the large lusus, but physically stood her ground despite her trembling limbs. The second the greenblood had left, Sarcel let out an audible sigh. She would definitely have to find a way to make it up to the child later, though another part of her said she shouldn't bother, it was a greenblood after all. She would have to grapple with it later.

As it stood, Sarcel made her way over to the door to the room, making sure it was shut neatly after Aconan. Chinchillamom reared her tiny head out from the cupboards, looking ever so pleased with herself; something that miffed her charge a little, though any insubordination went unspoken. Exiting the room herself, Sarcel leaned up against the back of the door, a barrier between any other unsuspecting trolls and her lusus' field day in the Nutrition Block. She was content with letting her lusus ride this one out.

Sarcel would just wait for the moment, take a breather, resist the urge to slide down the door to the floor. No, that would hardly look befitting of nobility. Instead, she found herself a chair, plopped herself down in front of the double doors, and took a much needed break.

Searching the back of the cupboard, it doesn't take you long at all to notice something fastened to the back of the door. [!]