vvaaaaaaah
almost home
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Keni
Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
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AnasAbdin
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❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
wallacepolsom

Janaina Medeiros

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shark vs the universe
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Sade Olutola
One Nice Bug Per Day
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@absentexpert
vvaaaaaaah
when I can't think of anything to draw I just draw hbs endlessly
==> Meet Internet Acquaintence
Cintil gritted his teeth. Of all the things he had mentally prepared himself for today, the cruel (yet crafty, he’d admit) manipulation of a newfound fear by a suspected fool wasn’t one of them…. Wait.
The puzzle pieces were starting to fit together now; Verdox had challenged his pride for the sake of cornering him in a position where he’d be completely unfamiliar with how to operate, to which he (perhaps had known) the yellowblood would simply submit to his whims out of fear for the alternative. Though he couldn’t say what the higher blood was hoping to achieve by making him ride his lusus, there was no denying that his methods were fiendish, horrible… and admittedly brilliant. He’d been outplayed, and the other was but casually rubbing it in his face now.
He wasn’t sure if his heart was racing out of fear of the drop or excitement at the prospect, though one thing was clear - this could not go unchecked.
“…I’m beginning to suspect this is why you were so eager to get me up here then?” He asked, priding himself on being able to keep up a similar facade by feigning a polite sort of curiosity. “I’m sorry if I’m being rude when you’ve been trying to be hospitable to me, though… Why?”
Perhaps by knowing the motive (provided he was truthful; he seemed more an enigma at this point given the particulars of this study) , the plan would be brought to light. What DID Subject 19O seek by having him mount his lusus? His mind was already abuzz with the possibilities.
Oblivious to Cintil's attempted psychoanalysis, Verdox smiled and folded his arms across his chest, slightly proud of his manipulation. Admittedly, there was a twinge of guilt there, too. Good intentions or not, he was sort of forcing him... kind of. If he really didn't want to, of course Verdox wouldn't leave him up here by himself -- he wasn't that intent on getting him to try this. But frankly, riding flydad down probably was easier than coaxing Cintil to get back on the ladder and make his way back into his respiteblock.
"Hahaha... well, I don't know if I would say this was the only reason." Verdox responded to Cintil's inquiry. "I mean, it did cross my mind before we got up here, but at the very least I just wanted you to check out the view."
Cintil's second question was more difficult to answer. Why? He had honestly never thought about it, at least not until this particular moment. "Because I thought it would be fun." Verdox said, blinking in mild confusion. "There's no way my lusus would let you fall, if you're worried about that, and you don't even really have to look down. If you just keep your eyes on the scenery, it's easy to not get sick or anything." Verdox paused and glanced away, thinking quietly to himself for a moment.
"I guess it's also kinda... huh. I wonder how you would put it?" he continued, picking absentmindedly at a loose thread in his sweater. "I guess part of this is probably because we'll be leaving soon. You know about all that, don't you? I mean, if what Ovisia said is true, then we won't be back for a while. I just kind of figured it would be nice to have someone over for once and do some cool stuff. Try some new things. It's not every day that this happens, right?" Of course, if the troll in question wasn't interested in the "cool stuff", it was sort of a moot point. Shaking his head, Verdox smiled at Cintil. "What do you think? Still want to try?"
bvt yov have novvwhere to go cintil it's my vvay or the highvvay
==> Meet Internet Acquaintence
Cintil listened intently, finding himself curious as to how a lusii raised an grub when it was still in the… well, metaphorical grub stage itself. Or maybe literal, in this particular case. It was definitely possible, he’d heard the stories, though how it actually happened.. was probably a study for another day. Maybe he’d suddenly encounter an entire coven’s worth of jadebloods to ask while digging before the world ended. Well, if they didn’t cull him first, anyway. But this was neither here nor there.
“I can see why you stayed.” He still hadn’t had quite enough of the view - he was still partially in shock that there could even be that much water in one place - though he’d kept at least somewhat aware of his company. It would be rude not to. “It’s nicer out here than it is closer to the cities anyway.”
Cintil just shook his head, slightly amused at the thought. “Not really. He only digs holes he could fit in for the most part. I’m always the one that ends up doing the maintenance after he puts too many in one section of the wall.” Not that he minded the work, it needed to be done and it was sort of relaxing in a way, though Armadad wasn’t cool by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe he’d moved a boulder every once and a while, but… No, he was stupid. And didn’t know when to leave someone alone. He’d have left long ago if the drones wouldn’t have killed him for it.
He’d almost been distracted enough by his own thoughts to miss what Verdox was getting at, though after a moment he came to the realization that he was being offered a ride. “Ah… No, that’s okay.” Cintil replied, unable to keep the nervous twinge out of his voice. “I’m a fair bit heavier than a wriggler… and, well… personal preference, but I reckon if I was meant to fly, I’d have wings. Or a rocket strapped to my ass.” No, Verdox was definitely not going to con him into this one. Even if he had enjoyed coming up here… No. Guilt me once, shame on you. Guilt me twice, shame on me.
His resolve would remain strong.
He hoped.
Verdox's face fell at Cintil's reply, but he wasn't quite ready to give up just yet. He hadn't been expecting him to agree with the idea in the first place, after all. "Oh... really?" he asked, glancing back up at flydad. "As far as weight goes, he's a pretty big guy. I've been on him recently enough to know that someone your size would be fine." He probably couldn't carry anyone who was much taller or heavier than them, though. "And I mean, come on." he said, shrugging. "Sure, we don't have wings, but we have spaceships and all that stuff, right? I mean, not us specifically, just in general. I don't think not being born with something is a sign that you shouldn't try it."
He wouldn't go into the times he had tried to fashion his own flying machines, as that would probably do nothing to instill a sense of confidence in Cintil. He, unlike some other acquaintances he could mention, had given up on making a working version of his brainchild after crashing into a tree and breaking his collarbone, but that was beside the point. What really mattered was the spirit of the endeavor, not the results!
There had to be some way to get him on flydad, even just for a short ride. There was no way anyone could dislike flying, was there? The view from his back was even better than the one from the roof, and if he flew slowly enough, it was really quite a smooth ride. "But Cintil," Verdox said, beginning to see how he might work things in his favor. "when we're done up here, I guess we'll have to climb back down the ladder again. Oh well." Verdox shrugged, trying to keep his face as impassive as possible. "I mean, it's a little more difficult than climbing out. You've really gotta watch your feet to make sure you're aiming for the windowsill, you know? So that you don't fall off."
"Although, now that I think about it, flydad used to give me rides down to the porch. That's a lot easier on the legs. All you really have to do is hop off and go inside. But I guess that's not something you'd be up for, right?"
humandox ???
danceborn
==> Meet Internet Acquaintence
“Aheh, I’m fine, thanks for your concern.” The yellowblood replied weakly, contented that his acting had paid off. Perhaps a bit too well, if the other’s suggestions were any indication. He chuckled. “But maybe I should give that a shot sometime.” Well, once he was well out of here, anyway. Preferably back at home. In the tunnels. With no cavalreapers lurking about. “A champion though? You have competition?” Cintil grinned a little. Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if there was a contest where everyone yelled at nothing. It certainly seemed to happen often enough.
“Mr. Anxious Abdomen?” Cintil parroted quietly, a bemused grin on his face as Verdox whistled to summon his lusus. That was quite the nickna— oh sweet mother of music what was that. Seamonster?
… No, then he would have heard something splashing in the water. Don’t be stupid Suchor. He noticed Verdox grinning and managed a halfhearted smile back, relaxing a bit when oh well then that was a very big fly. As flydad gazed down upon them both, he relaxed a little; huge fly or not, he didn’t SEEM intimidating… He looked kind of friendly actually. Cintil chuckled.
“Nice to meet you.” He gave Verdox’s lusus a small wave as Verdox introduced them. He rather doubted the massive insect quite understood, though lusii did seem to enjoy being spoken to in his experience. ”You’re a lot taller than I was expecting. My lusus barely reaches my knees.” Well, he had to give Armadad some credit, he could reach his hip if he stood on his hind legs, though even then, he had to prop himself up on his side for balance. Though it’d been a while since he’d last seen him do that. Maybe he’d grown in the past several perigees?
But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about him. Turning to Verdox, he offered him a small grin. “He’s really cool! I’m a little envious, almost.” Hopefully it didn’t get too cold around here during the winter perigees; he didn’t know overmuch about insects, though he’d read cold weather tended to do away with them quickly.
Verdox had been prepared to tell Cintil not to worry about his lusus -- big as he may have been, he was little threat to anyone -- but the yellowblood didn't seem all that bothered by flydad. A little hesitant maybe, but it didn't look as though he was half as bothered by his lusus as by his ladders. "Haha, he grew up fast." Verdox said, scratching the back of his head. "He used to be pretty small... and he could only live in water for a little while. That's why I had to come out here to this lake. Otherwise... hm, otherwise I guess I could have ended up living somewhere really different. Who knows?" Shrugging his shoulders, Verdox smiled back at Cintil. "I like it here just fine, though."
Flydad gazed impassively down at the two of them while they spoke, still giving no sign that he could tell what they were talking about, or that he cared much either way. Verdox, being the romantic that he was, often felt as though his lusus had some natural bond that made it possible for him to understand his words, but it was more than likely that he overestimated this ability.
"Aw shucks," he laughed. "I don't know, I'm sure your lusus is really cool! I mean, he made most of those tunnels in your hive, right? That's pretty neat, if you ask me." Verdox put his hands on his hips and looked once again from Cintil to his lusus and then back again, lost momentarily in thought. Should he...? He had been planning on asking since they had gotten up to the roof, but... well. With Cintil's 'aptitude' for heights, maybe it was a bad idea. But then again... well, he was just offering. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity after all -- when would Cintil get another chance to try it?
"You know, my lusus used to carry me around on his back a bit when I was a wriggler and it was too dangerous for me to run around by myself." he said, grinning back at Cintil. "I don't do it so much anymore since I'm old enough to get around on my own, but I'm sure he could still do it..." Raising his eyebrows, Verdox paused a moment to see if Cintil could tell where he was going with this. "What do you think? Want to give it a try?" Flydad's antennae twitched again slightly, but he made no move to fly away or run back under the hive. Maybe if he pitched this right, Cintil wouldn't balk at the idea.
shitty pesudo british accent ahoy pip pip cheerio
hurk i'm not doing these in any particular order
why is cin raising his hands tho
sayarta miki: arms i mean
Nidai Nekomarmousse: he's holding back all the hbs who are constantly calling him a precious babby
nerd with bad hair
WIPs for a thing that i don't know if i'm actually creative or talent enough to do but dadgum i will try
just an average day for the prince of time
(I'M SORRY I CAN NEVER DRAW SERIOUS BIRTHDAY PRESENTS EVER)
more dumb sprites
==> Meet Internet Acquaintence
Oh, sure, it wasn’t too bad, except for the whole bit where he almost fell to his own premature death. That was kind of a bad time. Cintil’s sufficient distraction with the view successfully kept himself from making some form of witty retort at that little comment however, something he was thankful for. It was probably bad form to be rude to the host after all. Even if he was a bit on the dim side. Or maybe sadistic. Did he have a collection of corpses somewhere around here?… Oh, shit, what if he invited unsuspecting trolls out here to feed them to that thing and keep it pacified?!
O-kaayyyyy, maybe that was just a ~little~ over the top, even for him. Attempting to put his worried mind at ease, Cintil opted to listen to the response to the question the other had just asked, raising an eyebrow. “Really? You climb that thing with one hand?” He asked, sounding unfortunately rather impressed by this feat. Granted, this was the midblood’s hive, if he couldn’t navigate it easily, that would probably be a problem….
Verdox interrupted his thoughts. “Something cool?” He parroted, watching Verdox approach the edge and… what was he doing?
Oh.
He could… get surprisingly loud for someone so short. At least having him in sight took the element of surprise out of it… Wait a minute. Was that…
All that for just a little echo? Cintil couldn’t suppress a little chuckle. Echos just seemed so… normal. In the tunnels, just speaking alone warranted them- though he supposed their living conditions were different. After all, he’d scarcely had the opportunity to see water up close in such quantity before that night. He’d play along. “Yeah, that is.” He replied, a small and slightly lopsided grin stealing over his lips. The other’s enthusiasm was kind of infectious, he had to admit. “Aheh. I’m not sure if I can yell that loudly, but all right.”
Approaching the edge himself (and being very very careful as to keep his focus away from what was below him) Cintil cleared his throat, took in a deep breath, and yelled.
“Hel~looooo—”
.. all right there was really no need to hold the last syllable the way he was, it wasn’t a note. In some hasty attempt to cover it up, Cintil covered his mouth and faked a few coughs, clearing his throat again. Unfortunately, by the time he had finished his act, he’d missed any echo that may have rang out from his call. “Ah… did I do it?” He blinked, glancing over to Verdox sheepishly.
“One-handed? Well, I guess I could if I had to,” Verdox said, glancing back at the ladder, “but usually I can just grab a bag and put it on my back. If I squish everything in enough, it usually fits.” Even he wasn’t so sure about clambering up the side of his hive with only his legs and a single arm to support him.
Taking a step back, Verdox made some room for Cintil to get his bearings, aware that the edge of the roof may not have been his favorite place to stand. Still, he could only hope that the impressive view would take the other troll’s mind off of the steep drop. Now that he had both of his feet on solid ground, he seemed to be taking things much better. It looked like some of the color he had lost during the climb was starting to come back. The yellowblood took a breath and then let out a sharp “hello” of his own, letting the last part linger slightly before breaking down into a sudden coughing fit.
“Whoops! You okay?” Verdox asked, briefly considering giving him a pat on the back before remembering where they were and how Cintil would probably react to it. He was hesitant enough to come up here in the first place, no point in making him even more nervous. The poor guy must really not have been used to heights. “That’ll happen!” he laughed. “Gotta warm up the vocal cords first sometimes. Deep breaths, you know? Sing a song or something. Do some spoken word. Rap or whatever! ‘Course, I’m a champion of yelling at nothing by now, so no need for me to bother with that.” Laughing, Verdox stepped back from the edge of the roof and glanced around. Still no sign of his lusus. He’d need to call him up here, most likely. It wasn’t as though he was a woofbeast, though, and Verdox’s calls to him often fell on deaf tympanal organs. Hopefully tonight he would feel cooperative. “Now, let’s see if we can't get Mr. Anxious Abdomen up here.” Putting his fingers to his mouth, Verdox blew a single piercing note, and then cocked his head to one side.
There was silence for a moment, and then a soft scuttling noise for underneath his hive, so faint it was almost inaudible, but still distinct enough for Verdox to recognize it. Grinning, he turned to Cintil. “Here he comes! Sorry, he’s a bit shy around other trolls.” A long, slender leg appeared at the edge of the roof, feeling around inquisitively. It was followed somewhat hesitantly by the rest of Verdox’s lusus. His antennae twitching, he made his way over to Verdox and Cintil, gazing down at both of them with large compound eyes. He was quite large for a midblood lusus, although Verdox rarely thought about such things since he had little to compare himself to. Now that he thought about it, though, flydad was neither particularly ferocious nor very good at defending himself (unless fleeing counted as a means of defense), so it probably balanced out in the cosmic scheme of things. “Will you look at that! Record time.” Verdox exclaimed, giving flydad an affectionate rub on his head. “He must like you! ...Or maybe he was just sick of being under the hive. It’s kind of hard to tell with him sometimes!” If flydad was uncomfortable with the attention, he gave little sign, other than a small flutter of his wings. “So, this is my lusus. And this is Cintil.” he said, gesturing back and forth between the two of them.