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 Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2016 11:20 am
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2016 11:27 am
Flydra didn't care much for the Harvest Moon Festival. It was a good concept, she thought, but the mud wrestling, the cozy little mooncakes and the strong scent of the stew... It all felt so rural and almost crude compared to the comfortable and modern life she lived in the city. Coming out here was always only for one thing, the crowds. The more trolls gathered together in one place, the better a crop for her blood bank library. And already she'd gotten several (some unwilling) samples.
"Excuse me, would you make a donation for the betterment of Alternia?" She tapped another troll on the shoulder, this time a pretty but scarred purpleblood. What odd markings, what did you have to go through to get something like that? The fact that it was the same s**t she'd gone through herself back in Civisect didn't cross her mind but she did stop thinking about it long enough to curtsy politely to Tzofia. She was a purpleblood after all, Flydra needed to be mindful of their ranks.
"Oh, I don't mean beetles. What I'm after is completely free! Does that sound doable to you?" She smiled dreamily, looking completely harmless in her posture. Hopefully the other girl wouldn't catch on to the bloodlust in her eyes though!
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2016 11:44 pm
Trolls from all over Alternia turned up for the Harvest Festival every sweep, regardless of caste, and though Tzofia had always found a lot of its activities to be a little odd, she'd always liked being one of the many to join in the celebrations alongside Peapop. She'd loved these crowds once, her lusus had reminded her for nearly the entire train ride to Hemisect City, and he seemed sure that she still would if she gave it a chance. It was a strange feeling, drifting from booth to booth in all that hubbub, to look at all the festival decorations and realize that the only thing that really seemed to have changed was her.
It was when she was watching an older troll wrestling the mud, close to the fence to avoid the bulk of the crowd and trying very hard to settle down enough to really enjoy it, that there came a sudden tap at her shoulder. Immediately her heart was racing, and between that and the startled squeak she made as she turned to face the stranger, she barely even heard what the first question had been. She couldn't believe she'd been trying so hard to please Peapop that she'd left her back open to strangers. The fence at her back said she'd taken a step or two back as well, so at least it was less likely to happen again.
Unless the snoutbeast and the troll wrestling it- No, no, the tealblood was asking her something, calm down.
"What kind of donation do you need?" Her lips twitched up towards a slight smile, friendly enough she hoped, even if it wasn't a full one. It still felt too strange, the way the scars pulled when she tried. At least she'd managed to keep her tone from sounding suspicious. "I'm sorry, I don't have any vegetables right now." Trading them was usually a big thing here, and it was her best guess to what the other girl might want.
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2016 11:41 am
The other girl looked alarmed momentarily before pasting a polite smile on her face. Flydra wondered why a purpleblood would be afraid of being approached. It was sort of unusual considering most trolls wouldn't dare do anything to upset someone so high ranking. Only seadwellers could really get away with being rude to them and Flydra hadn't seen many of them around this festival before.
"No, not vegetables. I'm talking about a blood donation." Instantly, a cheerful little medical kit appeared in Flydra's hands and she did not look away from Tzofia's eyes. "It's very important for us all to give blood to help others, don't you think? Especially during festivities, more trolls are hospitalized during holidays than normal nights." This was actually true in Flydra's experience. People got together and did some stupid stuff under the influence of alcohol and inflated egos.
"It won't hurt, I promise. Just a quick pressure."
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Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 7:14 pm
"B-Blood?" Eyes going wide again, Tzofia stared at the tealblood, who held her stare as she continued her explanation. She was almost afraid to even blink and she had to stamp down the urge to glance to where she hoped Peapop was still standing by. No one had ever asked her for a blood donation before, even if it sounded sort of almost reasonable. And no one, except for Static, knew what her blood could do. It wasn't something she was comfortable with yet, and it certainly wasn't something she wanted a stranger to find out.
But...but would it be rude to turn her down? Or weird or suspicious? She'd asked so politely. "I-I don't know," she said finally, and it was as much a response to Flydra as it was to her own questions. "Maybe...Maybe I could help you collect from other people instead?" She watched for the tealblood's reaction hopefully. This way she could still be nice and not give up her own blood, right? Would it be a good enough compromise?
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Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 2:43 pm
Having a highblood to boss people around could help boost her success rate in getting volunteers to submit to the donation process. Flydra thought over the offer. Perhaps seeing the procedure done to other trolls would also soothe the other girl's nerves as well. She was probably just a little scared and would realize there was honestly nothing to be afraid of. The tealblood nodded.
"Very well. I accept and appreciate your help. I'm Flydra Dromen, by the way, junior scientist and nurse in training. I work for Lorata Gorgos." The pigtailed princess introduced herself with a slight bow to the highblood. Her voice noticeably grew warmer when she mentioned her sponsor. Clearly this Lorata was a big deal or at least, Flydra expected Tzofia to be impressed.
"I've been approaching trolls and asking but it's been a 70/30 rejection rate. What do you suggest to help?" People skills were kinda err... not Flydra's thing. She'd been lucky that the other sirens seemed just as socially inappropriate and clueless as herself. Their intense energies and aggressive approaches meshed well together but did not earn her many points with the general public. An outside opinion was needed.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 5:56 pm
"Oh! My name's Tzofia Ocelli. I'm-" She hesitated, not sure what to say. She wasn't an anything in training, not really. But she'd started the sentence and it would be embarrassing not to finish it at all. "From Civisect?" She hadn't meant for that to come out as a question, so she pressed on hurriedly. "And wow, do you really work for Lorata Gorgos?" Oh Gog, why had she jumped on that, she didn't actually remember who that was, it was just a name that was clearly supposed to mean something to her but it only sounded very very vaguely familiar.
"You're so lucky!" Probably? That seemed safe. She finally considered what she'd been asked and found that she wasn't sure at all what to suggest either. Think, think, think. She cast a quick glance away from the tealblood, taking in the crowd beyond her. There was Peapop, looking beyond pleased that she was socializing, and besides him there were all the strangers with their souvenirs. "Well, um...what if..." There!
"We could give them mooncakes if they donate?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 3:33 pm
"Yes, the one and only Lorata Gorgos." Flydra confirmed with a dreamy smile as she clasped her hands together. The seadweller was the pinnacle of troll perfection as far as the young scientist was concerned. She had to stop herself from going into the whole speech on Lorata's greatness though as she had a mission here to focus on.
"I see. Mooncakes are an acceptable bribe." The tealblood squinted and leaned down to look over a table of them on display nearby. They looked to be handmade and it appeared there was a station where you could create your own. She dug through her purse to pay the older troll manning the booth to cover the cost of a lot of ingredients. They would have to make several to hand out and would likely use tons of stuff to make them.
"Have you ever done this before? I don't bake or cook much. It's just chemistry I know but... I go out to eat with my friends instead." Eating together in trendy cafes and restaurants while dolled up to the nines was one of the Sirens' favorite past times as other trolls looked on and saw a pack of glamorous girls living the city life. As they grew older, they would find even more fancy and chic things to do together but... baking was likely not one of them.
Flydra looked to Tzofia for help, a lost look in her eyes. Hopefully this purpleblood knew what to do.
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 10:00 pm
Tzofia let out a little relieved sigh as the tealblood accepted her suggestion, turning to follow her into the moon cakes booth. She spared a hesitant glance up at the older troll in charge of it, and then hurried by when they glanced right back down at her with a welcoming smile. Flydra was already looking over the ingredients, commenting on the fact that she didn't cook much.
"A little. I only started learning very recently though." She hadn't really felt much of a need for cooking either, before, but in truth now she found it easier to make little meals for herself than to go into the city to buy things everyday. Learning to cook had been very hit or miss, though, so she wasn't at all confident in her ability to make cakes as perfect as those on display. She'd heard it was hard. "Peapop still likes it better when we go out to eat, too."
Reaching for dough, she quickly looked around for someone else's example, to see how everyone else in the booth was doing it. Instead, she realized Flydra was watching her, looking completely lost. With a little squeak, she stood up straighter and slid her gaze back down to what she was doing with her hands.
"F-first we have to shape the dough! Like this, and then, um- So there's room for the filling!" She got that far with a couple and then looked over again, to judge whether the tealblood was still following her or if she'd lost her or was totally doing something wrong or-
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:17 pm
Flydra's typical company was much more aggressive and power-oriented than the nervous Tzofia. Watching the purpleblood shape the dough and arrange it nicely, Flydra decided how hard could it be? She reached for a handful of it to follow suit but handled it much rougher than needed. At one point, she pounded it into shape with her fist, it was what Scorpa and Austri would do after all. And the two of them usually succeeded at things.
"Mine seems... lacking." Side by side, the two were very different. Tzofia's looked fairly normal while the doctor's mooncake was more like a pancake with innards dripping out of it. The tealblood frowned and bit her lip, not wanting to be a fool in front of the highblood. This was humiliating.
"I'm going to try again." The desire to not fail was strong in Flydra and she began to rapidly shape more mooncakes. There had to be a science behind this and she would find it. Mass production began and several lumpy weirdly formed clumps of dough were sorted into piles of acceptable and unacceptable. She probably would've gone on forever until she noticed Tzofia was watching her.
"Umm... what next?" Flydra awkwardly pulled her hands back to her sides, stopping the mooncake madness.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 10:56 pm
Tzofia flinched as Flydra's fist came down on the dough, tried very subtly to take a step further away from the tealblood. Eyes wide with fear, she squeaked out an 'Okay!' and watched as the girl started over. Her own mooncakes became sloppier as a result, because she didn't want to seem like she wasn't working but also if she didn't keep her eyes on the other girl something awful might happen. But soon enough, they had a good collection, and Flydra was clearly ready to move on.
"O-oh, um. We just have to stamp them and put them into the oven next I think!" The purpleblood offered a stamper and then leaned in to peer at the oven's settings. Had it said anywhere how long the cakes needed to cook for? As she waited and hoped for the answer to come to her, she glanced back at the tealblood. She wasn't quite sure what possessed her to ask, maybe she was stalling for time so it wouldn't be noticed she wasn't sure on the next step, but...
"If...If you're a junior scientist. Were you at the, um..." She hesitated, fingers clenching harder around the stamp in her hands, and then continued on. "Were you at the Space Ladder?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:14 pm
"Alright, sounds easy enough." As Tzofia instructed her, Flydra nodded along and picked up her tray of cakes. The purpleblood was a little softspoken and nervous but at least she seemed to be competent in this whole baking thing. If only she could introduce the girl to Lorata. Perhaps seeing the confident and charismatic seadweller would help inspire her to blossom into a leading highblood as she ought to be.
Opening the oven door, the tealblood moved to put in her tray of mooncakes. Tzofia was handling the settings for her so she opted to take the other girl's tray as well and load it ins-
"Were you at the Space Ladder?"
Flydra's whole body visibly jolted out of surprise at the question and anxiety at the memory of the Space Ladder. She accidentally steadied on the open inside of the oven and cried out in pain as she jerked her hand back to tearfully peer at the burn forming on her palm. The junior scientist had not been expecting this sort of conversation and she still hadn't really recovered completely from some of the trauma of the Civisect bombing. It wasn't something the Sirens talked much about other than fussing over Austri.
"... yes, I was there. My friends and I tried to stop the bomb but..." Her eyes looked away miserably and she pouted at having to admit their failure. Lorata hadn't said anything yet but... she probably thought the rest of them weren't hero material anymore. Heroes saved the day, they'd barely escaped with their own lives let alone anyone else's. Her pride was burning just as painfully as her hand by now.
"Were you there?" She fumbled through her trusted first aid pack that went everywhere with her. Inside it was a one-use emergency ice pack that activated by snapping it to start a chemical reaction inside. Pressing it to her palm, she tried to shift the focus of the conversation back to Tzofia. Best not to talk about what had happened in the towers as nobody was sure on the real truth yet. Who knew if they would ever find the culprits?
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 3:37 pm
"Oh!" Tzofia startled at the sudden sound, dropping everything she'd been holding and scurrying back another couple of steps. Hands still up and held in front of her, she launched into apologies before she'd even taken the time to understand what had happened. "Oh, oh no, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" And then, finally seeing her hand, "Are you alright? Do you need me to get something? What do I need to do?"
Flydra had it covered, though, apparently. Of course she did, being a nurse in training. Tzofia wrung her hands nervously as she watched and listened to the reply, too unsure to go back to what she'd been doing. "Ah, um, yes. I was inside too." Her eyes dropped to the ground, just as miserable at the topic. "I shouldn't have asked..."
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:26 pm
The other girl fussed around nervously and seemed lost at how to help.
"I don't think there's anything you can do. It's just going to hurt." Flydra looked over her hand miserably, removing the pack to analyze it. "I wasn't careful. A shallow burn takes about ten days to heal. It will be difficult to continue my research..." She grumbled, not blaming anyone but knowing that it would hurt to use some of her normal equipment. Why did she have to be so careless as to burn her palm?
"I'm sorry you had to go through that. It was a dark day for science on Alternia." She murmured, feeling bad for Tzofia. "Is that where you got the scars from? Perhaps I can look into ways to promote healing scar tissue as thanks for helping this festival." While Flydra was somewhat destructive in her mooncake punching, her primary interests were the hemospectrum and troll biology. Helping Tzofia with any health problems would both allow Flydra to suck up to a highblood while also showing off her biology smarts. Two wingbeasts with one rock, really!
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 6:58 pm
Tzofia drooped even more, distressed despite how nice Flydra was being about it. Ten whole days the tealblood wouldn't be able to do her work, and all because she'd gone and asked one stupid question. She definitely hadn't made a good enough impression, not with this to stand out in the other girl's memory of their meeting. If she remembered her, she would remember getting hurt, and that might make Tzofia seem like a threat, eventually. She might start thinking she'd done it on purpose and then that would be it.
Scientists had already proven how far they would go for revenge on slights against them, hadn't they?
"You don't have to do it for me. I mean, you don't have to thank me," she murmured in reply, after nodding a confirmation to the origin of her scars. Awkwardly, she realized that might sound like she didn't think it was a good idea for research, so she continued. "A lot of trolls got scarred in there though, you know?" She thought of Static and Calida and Hawkin, who probably wouldn't have asked for help but also hadn't been the one to burn someone offering and so were the better candidates for it.
Suddenly, she remembered the moon cakes. Flydra's jump hadn't knocked the trays out of the oven, but she'd also never finished adjusting the oven's heat. She still didn't even know how long to leave them in for, but she guessed she could just keep the heat up until they looked thoroughly cooked. Carefully closing the oven, she glanced quickly back at Flydra. "Um, will you still be able to draw blood tonight? With your hand like that?"
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