#haylle

[goddesstrolls]

Climbing Up

"Hey, Niro. You never call, what's up?" Haylle stood over the sink, the water running over the dozen potatoes she'd been washing.

"I realized something..." Niro's voice came over the other line, and then silence. Haylle turned off the water and hastily switched her phone from one side to the other, using her shoulder to press it against her ear.

The silence continued. Haylle waited patiently, knowing Niro was struggling to find the words.

"...I want to live. But, I don't. I don't know. I just kind of expect that I'm going to die at any point. And it turns out I'm kinda okay with that."

"Yeah?" Haylle replied prompting him further.

"...This isn't about that. Sorta. My question is... How do you want to live. Like, really want to. Not just..."

"Survive?" Haylle finished, and a soft hum from the other end told her that was suitable word. "I'm going to be honest, Niro." She continued. "You need to eat more."

Niro gave an exasperated sigh and Haylle pressed onwards. "I'm fucking serious, jackass. If you feel like shit twenty-four-seven it's gonna be hard to want to keep going. Eat when you're hungry. Sleep when you're tired. Trolls have been living like that for millennia. I know- You've survived off less. But if you want to live instead of survive, you need to take care of yourself."

"It's fucking..."

"Expensive, I know." Haylle cut him off, knowing full well the argument he was about to make.

Niro's drawn-out groan turned into a long growl.

"You've got all that money saved up. Use some of it. Eat three meals a night, big ones. Meat, grains, veggies, fruit, dairy, the works. Sleep eight hours a day. Consecutively."

"Ugh."

"And do that every night."

"Ughhhhh...."

"Yeah, I know. But you won't know if it'll help 'til you try. And I know it'll help. How 'bout for this half-sweep, okay?"

"I'm not going to have time to do fucking anything else. I'll be bleeding money."

"Everyone else more or less manages it, Niro. C'mon now."

"I'm not like everyone else. I need to do all this shit just to stay afloat, everyone else gets fucking money from the fucking Empire, or..."

Haylle cut him off. "I stopped getting money from the Empire sweeps ago! I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, but yeah, if you spread yourself too thin you're gonna fucking break, man. This isn't about toughing it out until you make it somehow. This is about feeling better and wanting to live, right?"

"...Right."

"It's not easy. Especially not for someone like you who's spent every night of his life scraping his shit together to survive. It's really not easy. But you gotta try something, okay?"

Niro gave a deep sigh, and said nothing.

"You're gonna do it, right?" Haylle pressed.

"Three meals a night..."

"Meat, dairy, grains, fruit, and veggies. And eight hours of sleep."

Niro groaned.

"Yeah?" Haylle prompted him again, and Niro sighed again.

"Yeah, fine. I'll figure out how much it'll cost." He grumbled.

"Fine, here. I'll pay out a percentage. Deal?"

"Like hell--"

"I'll make sure I can afford it! I might just send you food too. But if you're doing all this shit on my behalf I might as well pull my weight. Pay me back when you win big at the races."

".......If-"

"When. Because you're a damn good racer, Niro, and so is Remus, you just need to take care of yourself."

"Ugh."

[goddesstrolls]

some npcs for Niro

Haylle is his ex-girlfriend; the two were pretty close once upon a time, they're still friends but not as close as they were. She's trans and helped Niro start to transition himself.

Tir was another assistant for Skyrra and is his medical supply contact, currently works in a major hospital. He helped Niro as much as he could while they were both working under Skyrra but eventually saw the opportunity to leave and took it; Tir stayed in contact with Niro though and helped him out after he escaped from Skyrra.

Johans is one of the ADRF staff and basically a manager for Niro. Former drake racer himself, retired when his mount passed but he still misses the adrenaline tbh. Knows about Niro's mutation and has helped him hide it.

[goddesstrolls]

mooringFarmhand began trolling draconicEmpyreal

MF: hey fucker MF: did you get kidnapped again MF: you last messaged me like a perigee and a half ago

MF: i'm coming over there. asshole. you better not be dead

DE: xI'm alive.x

MF: ok good MF: you ok?

MF: niro.

MF: i'm coming over.

DE: xDon't. I'm probably not going to be there.x MF: yeah? where are you going to be then DE: xHome. I'll stop by on my way.x MF: do you think remus is going to be there? DE: xProbably.x MF: what about your lusus? DE: xHopefully she's dead.x MF: and your girlfriend? DE: xShe'll live.x MF: are you just going to ghost her DE: xYou and I both know I'm not going to figure out what the hell to say to herx DE: xI'm just fucking sick of this, Haylle.x MF: yeah i know. i'm not saying you shouldn't go home i just don't think you should burn your bridges. MF: kind of a once-in-a-lifetime type deal to find someone just like you, isn't it? and it seemed like things are going okay for you two otherwise DE: xI know.x DE: xThe fuck do I say. So long and thanks for all the dick?x MF: from what you've told me i think that'd actually kinda go over better than ghosting her DE: xI'm not breaking up with someone like thatx DE: xLike I said. She'll deal with it.x MF: alright, alright. MF: its going to be rough getting here through all the snow. travel safe, ok? MF: i'll have some shit ready for you. if it really sucks you can stay here til spring. DE: xThanks.x