Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sinter, for the thousandth time that night, brushed imaginary flecks of popcorn from his pants. He was completely overcome with the energy of the coliseum. So many people! So many combatants! The violence! The drama! Sinter doubted he’d ever seen so many highbloods in one place before, much less so many flashy outfits.

And to think Sinter knew one of them personally! It was hard to believe that man down on the coliseum floor had been Ganyma. He’d been dressed to the nines as far as battle-themed costuming went. Sinter could hardly place the soft-spoken troll he’d met in Civisect as the brutal fighter he’d seen duking it out mano y mano in front of hundreds of screaming audience members. To compare him to the child he’d met even longer ago was practically impossible.

He’d really come a long ways. Sinter couldn’t really fault a guy on such a swift trajectory for ending up in the Rehabilitation and Counseling Center. It would have been weird if he wasn’t completely emotionally and mentally drained.

Sinter’s thoughts helped calm him, or at least helped him to repicture Ganyma as a normal troll instead of some kind of superstar like he’d just witnessed in the coliseum proper. Now Sinter hung around the lobby, trying not to get in anyone’s way as he loitered. Ganyma would be heading out soon and then they could have their first official meeting as recoveree and sponsor.



Only Sypon and seekingCylem may post in this thread. Quote the mule when the RP is complete.

Sinter jumped at the sound of his name. In his anxiety over meeting up with Ganyma he’d somehow gotten distracted from, well, meeting up with Ganyma. Sinter responded to Ganyma’s wave with a raised hand of his own.

”Ganyma!” He returned, ”Of course! I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. And I mean, it would have been kind of hard to. The coliseum was definitely an effective choice of landmark for our meeting. More importantly, you did great out there! A good first gladiaterror experience on my part if I do say so myself.”

Sinter could feel the heat of a genuine blush forming under the perpetual red haze cast over his face. ”Y-you can bet on seeing me around here more often! I may have to invite my moirail down sometime. I think she’d enjoy the atmosphere.”

Sinter readjusted his already-immaculate posture. ”Although tonight is about us two, correct? Where would you like to go? You know the area better than I do. On the way here it seemed like practically every establishment was hailing itself as the ‘best in Four Fronds,’ or the ‘official Four Fronds what-have-you.’”

Sinter couldn’t help but feel a little giddy at the prospect of trying the local fair of such a prominent resort town.

Sinter was doing his very best to shake off the jitters that had accompanied the previous hug. "Ah! A walk down by the water sounds rather nice, actually. T-Transition from all the excitement of the stadium before settling down to eat." Honestly it would probably take more of a jog around the lake to calm Sinter's nerves, but a midnight walk would have to suffice. The scenery would hopefully provide some prompts for further small-talk. He still wasn't entirely sure how... involved he was supposed to be in this whole mental healing process; or even what the mental healing process supposedly entailed. It sounded dangerously close to a feelings jam and Sinter wasn't emotionally prepared for any of that nonsense. Hopefully "reintegrating into society" would only require Sinter to be a normal member of society. He could reliably do that much.

Sinter turned on his heel and gestured with a low sweep of his hand for Ganyma to walk with him to the lobby's exit. After that he had no idea where the two of them would be headed.

"So... Are you from the Four Fronds area? It's a really beautiful place," Sinter began with only slight hesitation.

Sinter hummed in acknowledgement as he and Ganyma continued away from the arena at a comfortable place. Ganyma seemed at least candid about his... questionable past affiliations, which helped ease Sinter's nerves. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally open old wounds on their first outing.

"I've never actually been to New Hemisect before! I mean, Chittentown is large enough as it is. I'm not sure the addition of more highbloods to a bustling metro area that much more appealing for a vacation..." Sinter remembered who he was talking to and barely witheld a choking noise. "I-I-I mean not that having highbloods around is a bad thing--I mean, my moirail is a high- Ah, no I mean-" Sinter's mouth flapped open and closed with his staccatoed speech.

"S-Sorry. Lowblood slip. I guess that explains my point. I'd just embarass myself in front of a bunch of highbloods instead of just my peers. And you." Sinter weakly tried to laugh around the foot in his mouth. "As you can see I'm a bit of a nervous wreck," he admitted finally. "I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing..."

Sinter was jostled by Ganyma's shoulder pat. The gesture, much less the force, was enough to break him of his rambling. If Sinter had been embarrassing himself, Ganyma was taking it in impressive stride. Sinter carefully worked his expression into a smile.

"I'm glad... I'm glad to hear that!" It was a concerted effort on Sinter's part, but he was beginning to relax.

"Being company seems to be the point of it all, I suppose. Proving you're capable of interacting with your average troll off the streets or what-have you. I hope I'm sufficiently average," Sinter joked.

The air of Four Fronds was noticeably moister than that of Chittentown, but the light breeze across the lake made for a positively lovely night. The sounds of the city's nightlife were far enough away to be muffled by the surrounding trees. The last time Sinter had been anywhere near a forest he'd been a child in Old Hemisect. This scenario was quite a bit nicer.

"Do you think I should be taking notes? If you have any words of wisdom, I'm all ears."


[quote="Sypon]

Sinter frowned a little at the very suggestion. "There's nothing weird or bad about wanting to be a better troll. Quite the opposite."

Honestly Sinter didn't know much what to think of the Rehabilitation Center as a whole. Psychology wasn't an oft-studied field on Alternia with the exception of punishment and interrogation purposes. The same could be said of many other Alternian professions, honestly.

Still, Sinter wasn't one to speak out against the government, especially when it was attempting to do something helpful for its people. Granted, the rarity of such circumstances made it hard not to be suspicious.

"I wanted to help," Sinter responded. His attention was turned to the uneven road beneath them. He was chosing his words carefully. "I was around during the, ah, 'conflict' in Old Hemisect. I mean, I know that wasn't explicitly the reason for the Rehabilitation Center, but it's hard not to feel a connection to the place given the timing."

Sinter gave a thoughtful pause before continuing.

"I was certainly not cut out for what happened in Old Hemisect. However beaurocracy, diplomacy, assemblage... Those are things I am good at. After everything that's been going on in recent history, I thought it'd be nice to do something positive for a change. Dr. Resmem seems happy enough to accept volunteers of all colors."

Sinter trailed off after that; feeling paranoid that he was over-sharing.

“You’re right.” Ganyma agreed. Sinter was a smart one. The two passed by the broadest portion of the lake on their path. Ganyma looked out over the unfamiliar hives that had cropped up after the crash, displaced highbloods craving new vacation homes and snapping up real estate. It was in stark contrast to the lowbloods lost and hardly found after the Old Hemisect Conflict. He’d come a long way since then. Was he a better troll? If Sinter thought so, he’d take what he could get. Ganyma looked on Sinter with fresh eyes, realizing now that he was in the presence of someone who actually might make a difference. It sure seemed like something was happening now… Hands-on therapy always worked better for Ganyma.

Ganyma flinched visibly when Sinter mentioned Old Hemisect. “I almost lost some folks during Old Hemisect. Thought I lost, uh… You. You know? Lost myself, I guess. Haha.”

He adjusted the neckline of his tanktop. “Turns out I’m pretty good at fightin’, but… That ain’t gettin’ me nowhere without your, uh. Assemblage. Guess ya need both for good health, eh? Maybe not, uh, fightin’. But a fightin’ spirit? Anyway.” Ganyma flushed sheepishly, coupling the reaction with a sincere laugh. “Glad you’re fightin’ the good fight. With your diplocracy spirit and such.”

At this point sharing his life story was purely an automatic reaction for Ganyma. Tell the trolls in coats what you’re about and you can take your leave. Everyone and their lusus knew the sordid story of Ganyma Callow – hell, he’d forgotten who didn’t know about his revolving door of alliances. It was all in his file. This night, however, there didn’t seem to be any illusions of the rehab center. Ganyma and Sinter were simply taking a walk. Whether she had concocted it this way or not, Resmem’s plan was ingenious in its subtlety. Whatever he hadn’t told the royalists would surely be squeezed out of him by Sinter Heilig. Primarily, such information would concern Ganyma’s favorite treat at the café that they had conveniently arrived at.

“Ah! So, here we are. Pond’s in the back. We can get somethin’ to go if you want. My fave’s usually the chili grubdog, but that’d be a bit messy if we’re gonna walk around or somethin’. Whatever you want, boss.”

Commentary about the ring? Ganyma didn’t even consider it. While going up through the ranks and being acknowledged was something key to his sport… The truly Alternian core of it all was apparent. Perhaps he wasn’t protecting and serving, but he was doing what he was meant to. The affirmation of his position was certainly unexpected at the least. He was… Inspiring?

It was a better calling than being a disgrace. Ganyma pushed down a lump in his throat and flushed openly.

“S-sure! Ahh… I think… I think they have tables out here.” He hustled ahead and wiped down his cheeks, feeling a confident glow that for some reason addled his thinkpan. Sure enough around the corner of the building was a patio section. There were a few tables open for the two, and Ganyma turned to give his companion a thumbs up. “Lots of good smellin’ air over here!”

He waited for Sinter to catch up and gestured for him to head inside of the little building. It was a homely sort of establishment, clearly well worn. A pair of midblooded trolls behind the counter were busy with other patrons and were chatting up a storm. Fishing equipment and framed pictures of locals surrounded the place – very humble for a Four Fronds establishment. It was clearly fueled by tourists aiming to find affordable fare in the resort town, and offered comfort food of all kinds. Ganyma ordered his particular favorite, adding – “I’ve got the next one as well!”

He looked to Sinter expectantly, fishing out his freshly earned pay.