[OPEN] Soldier On--

[bufudine]

Who: Serph and YOU
Where: The Park
When: November 14th, afternoon
Style: [brackets] preferred, but I can adjust
Status: WIDE OPEN

[It's been quite some time since Sera's departure, and since then, there have been others -- both Tribe and friends -- who have left Vatheon and not returned. Serph doesn't know if they'll return. Maybe they will. Maybe they won't. In the end, the decision isn't in his hands.

Before, there hadn't been time for these departures to affect him.

Which is why he's in the park, kicking a hacky sack. Signless had taught him the game when he'd noticed Serph watching him, so many months ago. In some ways, this is an imitation of that time; while Serph's content to play on his own, he's more than happy to play with people passing by.

Will you join in?]

Comments

[feralfanatic]

[Oh my! It has been a little while since she has played, what with Signless' disappearance, and return as the Sufferer. Fortunately for her, muscle memory takes over her nimble form, and she catches the bag with the top of her right foot.]

[A few kicks sending it straight up in the air, the sack going higher with each subsequent bump.]

Yes.

[Kick.]

Though, I may be a bit out of practice.

[Kick.]

We have not had much time since his return.

[One last kick, which sends the bag back to Serph in a high lob.]

[bufudine]

[Serph tracks the hacky sack's arc with his eyes, catching it with his left foot. He juggles it between his feet for a moment.]

I didn't know of his return until recently. When did he arrive?

[Since he knows he can be a bit more fanciful with Disciple, given her experience with the game, Serph tries something a little different. He kicks the hacky sack up high so it falls behind him, and tries to kick it from behind over to Disciple. He hasn't mastered the art of kicking from behind, though, so the hacky sack flies off to Disciple's right.]

[feralfanatic]

Let us see, he has been back around 40 or so hum-[!!!]

[Oh! It mustn't touch the ground! Disciple throws her leg out to her right, frantically trying to keep the bag aloft. She succeeds, in a way, her desperation kicking the bag higher and back over herself to her left. With a scramble, she shifts herself back and catches the wayward hacky sack on her left foot, and holds it there with her leg outstretched. That is why she liked the game, It allowed her to make use of her lithe frame.]

Phew! I did not know I was gonna have that. [She laughs, goodnaturedly.] Where was... right. He has been back around forty or so human days.

[Her voice drops a little, her emotion becoming harder to read.]

He has been staying over at Dualscar's hive.

[She juggles the bag a couple times in between her feet and sends it back to Serph.]

[bufudine]

[Serph watches Disciple's amazing recovery in interest. He have a certain amount of dexterity, but Serph knows he wouldn't have been able to pull that off. He kicks the hacky sack up and juggles it on his knee for a change of pace.

He notes the change in tone, curious about it.]

Is Dualscar a friend?

[feralfanatic]

[It is a good thing he had not passed it back as he had asked the question, or else there would be a hacky sack on the ground. Disciple flinches slightly at it, trying her best to hide her reaction.]

He... is Signless' moirail. They are very close. [Do not sound stupidly jealous. Do not sound stupidly jealous. Do not sound stupidly jealous.]

[bufudine]

[Fortunately(?) for Disciple, Serph doesn't see the flinch thanks to his attention being taken up by the hacky sack. He does pass it back to Disciple after she finishes talking, though.

Serph knows a little about moirails, thanks to an impromptu lesson when he found out he was on Nepeta's shipping wall. Only a little, though.]

Like you and Signless?

[feralfanatic]

[Well, the conversation was certainly going down a road she had not expected.]

[She reflexively catches the hacky sack, but it is pretty clear her preoccupation has effected her play. She kicks it up a couple times, trying to regain composure.]

Uhm, no. Signless and I are Matesprits. It is a fair bit less... platonic, then the relationship that they share.

[Serph was wading into the ocean of Troll romance, watch out for the drop-off, it goes deep. She kicks the bag once again in a large, high arc to Serph. It was not quite as pretty as the first time.]

[bufudine]

[When the hacky sack arcs high -- too high -- Serph quickly takes a few step backwards so he can catch it on his right foot... but it bounches sharply to the side, its angle too sharp for him to save with his feet. However, Serph's hand snakes out and swiftly catches the hacky sack before it flies out of his reach.

Whoops. Looks like he just lost.

He nods, though.]

I have a basic understanding of troll romance from Nepeta. She explained it to me when I saw her... wall.

[He doesn't really have a word to describe it; "shipping" isn't part of his vocabulary right now.]

[feralfanatic]

Sorry..[In regards to the awkward return kick.]

Oh my, You saw her wall? I was under the impression she showed that to nobody. [Genuine surprise from the Disciple. These things tended to be private. She would know, she had something similar long ago.]

[bufudine]

[Serph doesn't react to the apology -- it's no big deal -- and lets go of the hacky sack, allowing it to drop onto his foot, which he uses to kick it back to Disciple.]

Someone else recorded it while she was painting.

[feralfanatic]

[It was a game, but in her head at least, the apology was really for her sudden case of scatterbrain. Accursed feelings.]

[She taps the incoming bag back into the air, trying her best to better focus. A few taps of the side of her foot as she speaks.]

Oh my, I must ask her about this. But yes, Troll romance varies quite a lot from what I understand of basic human romance. There are a lot of subtleties I am having trouble understanding.

[Then, a much more graceful return of the hacky sack then last time.]

[bufudine]

[It's easy to fall back into simple juggles after he catches the hacky sack on its return. There's something relaxing about something simple while the mind is concentrating on something else.

He'd help with Disciple's understanding of human romance if his own understanding of human things wasn't so fragmented. And... well, at the moment, there's no place for romance in his life.]

The same could be said of troll romance. From a non-Troll perspective, it seems complex.

[He bounces the hacky sack off his knees a few more times before kicking it over to Disciple.]

Humans wouldn't consider three of your quadrants romance, though they bear similarities to other relationships.

[feralfanatic]

[She catches the sack in turn, on her own knee. She drops it to her foot, then tries something a bit more complex. She kicks the bag up, and after bringing her leg around quickly catches the bag with the side of her foot behind the leg she was standing on.]

[Smiling with the first triumph, she kicks the bag up over her head and jumps over her kicking leg. It was not a practiced move, however, and stumbles a bit as she lands leaving her out of position to catch the sack. She makes an attempt for it, but ends up launching the bag a small distance behind her.]

Eheh. Well, Disciple, that is what you get for showboating. [With a smirk she goes to retrieve the downed hacky.]

Oh, I can only imagine what it must seem like to outsiders. Although, the things humans have with their one gets surprisingly complicated. I have been particularly interested in adoption, and uhm... [What had she read in that one book...] marriage.

[The bag is then carefully served back to him.]

[bufudine]

[Serph watches Disciple's attempt at a new trick. Even if she didn't successfully pull it off, it's still quite fascinating to him. He lacks that kind of agility and dexterity to work that kind of trick, so he's quite content to stick to his simpler ones when he receives the hacky sack again.]

What have you learnt of the two?

[He tries the behind the back kick again, and this time it actually arcs nicely to Disciple.]

[feralfanatic]

[She accepts the beautifully returned bag gracefully, catching it with the top of her foot and holding it there, as she balanced on one leg.

Oh, not too much. I sort of admire them in a way. They are wonderful concepts, I think. They just get overly complicated, especially when you start trying to add in bureaucracy to matters of the heart.

[A few kicks up and down from the top of her foot, and the sack was on it's way back to Serph.]

[bufudine]

[Catching the hacky sack with the side of his left food, Serph doesn't immediately trick with it or pass it back, tilting his head instead.]

What do you mean by bureaucracy?

[He hasn't encountered that word before. He passes the hacky sack back without any tricking this time.]

[feralfanatic]

[Catch, tap up, repeat.]

It uhhh... It is a government, or administration. A grouping of people who sit together and try to control what others are doing with laws and mandates.

Human relationships, from what I have seen, have a habit of involving these governments and other ruling bodies. It is done to keep everything 'official' and 'legal', but usually just seems to complicate matters of the heart with paperwork, meetings, routines, and other inconsequential nonsense.

[The sack stops on her elevated foot for a little while as she attempts her explanation. When she finishes speaking, she finally lobs it back, in return.]