[PRP] Better Luck Next Time [Mihail + Knetic + Nanogg]

[nepsah]

Three sore trolls run into each other at a cocoa stand after the Cross-Country Toboggan Run at Bloodfest 2018

 

[nepsah]

Mihail was stiff, cold, and frankly miserable. The toboggan run had taken a terrible amount of energy out of him and all he wanted was something warm, and a nap. Preferably in that order. To top it all off, they hadn't even placed in the finals! All they were getting was a dumb participation trophy. Normally he would try not to care so much about it, but after all the hard work he and Knetic had been doing all week, it was hard not to feel a little sore about losing.

At least there was a cocoa stand nearby for the participants to get warmed up at. He pointed it out to Knetic and then wobbled his way off towards it. Walking was hard. Moving, in general, was hard. Once he'd gotten his cocoa, he sipped at it and looked around, eyes landing on a familiar tealblood. Nanogg, right? He nodded in greeting, assuming the tealblood had also seen him.

DraconicFeline

screamingshark

 

[DraconicFeline]

Nanogg grit his teeth as he went over to the cocoa. He'd said bye to Kerras -- he'd told his partner that he needed to meet up with his lusus, but that was only partially true. He did want his lusus' comfort, but he also didn't want Kerras to see this mood. This dark anger. He barely knew the tealblood, after all.

The scores were in for the toboggan sled. The scores were in for a lot of things, but Nanogg had known that he wasn't going to score big on the talent show or the ice sculpture building. THIS one, though, this one he had had hopes for. He'd run well, and Kerras had too, and they'd stayed in through to the end.

And all he got was a ******** participation trophy.

He was better than this. He was supposed to be better than some ******** sticker that said YOU TRIED. He was supposed to be better than some dumb dull iron trophy. He was supposed to be gold-worthy. Gold.

Nanogg glared at the other contestants as he recieved his cocoa, but he couldn't focus on any of them... until one nodded back. One that he recognized. Mari was still not in sight, and Nanogg felt like he was going to burst. At least he knew that one.

"Hey, Mihail, right?" he said, somehow managing to choke back fury, "How'd you do?" Nanogg hadn't been looking for the names and symbols of the purplebloods on the scoreboard, but he knew that the ones who'd placed gold and silver had been blue, and the ones that had placed bronze had been teal and also no one he actually knew. He'd only gotten as far as that through the teal misting of his furious tears...

nepsah

screamingshark

 

[screamingshark]

Well that was a bust. Toboggan ride his left shoe, that was a scenic joy ride with no actual danger. They only managed to hit one boat once. Barely worth writing hive about. Plus the fact that regardless of how they passed the finish line, they still didn't place because they didn't have enough "points" or whatever that meant. It was enough to make Knetic pout for more than the usual allotted five seconds.

Sitting beside Mihail, he's at least comfortable wrapped up in warm blankets and sipping hot cocoa. It's a meager prize for what they'd gone through all week but at the least it was warm and free.

All was well until that odd tealblood from before happens across them and only acknowledges Mihail. Hm. Maybe he didn't recognize him? So he clears his throat.

"Oh hello, I'm here too. Just as cold and miserable as my dear friend here is. Here to continue to be unpleasant?" Nailed it. After all this troll was just a "delight" at their booth so what's wrong with thinking he's here to make more of a fuss? Nothing, that's what.

Nepsah

DraconicFeline

 

[nepsah]

Something seemed... off about the other kid. He'd given Mihail some weird vibes before, but this was a little more.. Hm... He wasn't sure what to call it, so he opted to ignore it. He was probably just being overly sensitive. He sipped his cocoa, nodding at Nanogg's original question. "Y--yes, Mihail." He glanced to Knetic, too tired to give his usual scolding look. "We d-di--uh, we didn't--" He sighed. Loudly. More of a groan, really. "We didn't pla--aace. Not en-en-enough uh, puh--po-points." God, he wished more trolls new sign language. He had half a mind to ask Knetic to translate for him but that probably wouldn't go very well with how annoyed his friend was.

"Duh--don't, uh, don't-- don't mind him. He--he's juh--just, uh, dis-isss-isappointed. Gues--s-sssing yo didn--didn't pla-place either, huh?"

DraconicFeline

screamingshark

 

[DraconicFeline]

[Oh yeah, there was the other one, that Knetic. The one that had given him a star. He gave the purpleblood a look. Unpleasant? Maybe he was. He really was. He was better than a "you tried" star! He was better than some shitty "you tried" medal!

Nanogg felt very unpleasant, and spreading it around... appealed, in a way. But even Nanogg couldn't summon the energy. He tried, oh he did, but whenever he tried to focus his ire on them it felt weak and tenuous, and quickly went to the board.

Oh that board. <******** that ******** the people who won.
They would one day see his greatness. He would outshine them -- he would outshine them all!

"Not sure if I can be more unpleasant than this." he said darkly. There was nothing he could do -- literally nothing. He would rather be torn to pieces than to feel this way, this helpless and frustrated.

For their previous infarction -- that horrible misshapen star -- this was probably punishment enough.

"Nah, didn't place." he growled, "No ******** clue why not. We made it. We stayed in. We knocked someone out. What the ******** do these points even mean?!"

nepsah

screamingshark

 

[screamingshark]

Not sure if he can be more unpleasant? Knetic finds that hard to believe. He gives the troll a bit to respond completely, sipping away at his hot cocoa before snorting so loudly he almost inhales cocoa into his nose.

"The points obviously mean something, otherwise what are they there for?" Rules do have some merit to them. They have to, why else would people adhere to them for millennia?

"No use in being bitter, just enjoy the warm cocoa and have a seat. It's not like any competition truly matters in the end."

DraconicFeline

screamingshark

 

[nepsah]

"Suh---so, so did we." Well, minus taking someone out. They had hit someone else's toboggan, though. Mihail sipped at his cocoa, eyeing the tealblood for a moment longer before looking to Knetic as he spoke. "Com-com-competition is -- is- is good, for- for growth." He told himself that, anyway. Or did Aligaa say that? Honestly he wouldn't be surprised if it had been Aligaa and he'd just adopted it.

"They-- thuh-they should... uh, they should make the. The standards more clear." He'd given up half way through that sentence, he had more to say but was tired trying to get it out. He finished off his cocoa, then looked to Knetic and motioned for his attention.

"I'm going to sign, talking is hard." he paused, then nodded to Nanogg. "Can you explain?"

DraconicFeline

screamingshark