6 ♐ Life happens

[aim_exorable]

Who: Expatriate Darkleer and Vriska Sekret
Where: The Nostalgia Nook Quarter
When: Afternoon/Evening, after Darkleer talks with Mindfang and after this thread
Style: Action?
Status: closed

[The white patch beneath his eye feels too noticeable, and Darkleer knows for a fact that it looks too noticeable against the dark gray of his skin and beneath the blackness of his glasses- yet another cheap pair.]

[But he does his best to ignore it and simply waits near the entrance of the Nostalgia Quarter, waiting for a certain young cerulean-blooded troll to find her way there.]

Comments

[f8tal]

[It took Vriska a little bit longer than she wanted to actually find this place, but eventually she made it there. Why she even agreed to something like this she didn't know- after everything that had happened today she wouldn't complete erase the possibility of this just being an elaborate prank on her to make her feel even worse.

But no, she came up to the entrance and caught sight of who must have been Equius's ancestor, Darkleer. His size was incredible and she was sure if he was anything like Equius he could crush her with a flick of his wrist. The thought was humbling. Her wings twitched anxiously behind her.]

Okay, I'm here!

[aim_exorable]

[The sound of wings buzzing now simply reminds him of Summoner, something Darkleer can't quite control because of their constant interactions with one another. Maybe Aradia, if he actually talked with the girl more, but no. It's almost amusing to see Mindfang's descendent instead.]

[He'd make a joke to both Summoner and Mindfang about this, if, one, he were the type to make jokes normally and, two, if it wasn't such a sensitive topic to both of them.]

So you are.

[Stepping away from the wall, he nods towards the various buildings.]

Shall we, then?

[f8tal]

[She keeps a healthy distance between them, still giving him a curious stare.]

Where are we going exactly, anyways?

[aim_exorable]

[What a silly question.]

We're going somewhere to have coffee. I find most people tend to avoid this area because they actually have to pay for what they receive, so it is somewhere to keep in mind if certain company is something you do not desire.

[A slight shrug. He knows there is a small place here somewhere...]

[f8tal]

Where am I supposed to get money around here? [Because she didn't have any to pay for herself. Hope you're prepared for that, Darkleer.]

[aim_exorable]

[Please. Darkleer is generally prepared for most things that life can throw at a troll, with the exception being things like... her Imperious Condescension. Signless. Disciple. His life as a father. Stuff like that.]

From what I understand, you work for it at a shop. There should be a card with your SFC that already has some credit in it. You don't need to worry abut such things for today, at any rate.

[f8tal]

Well. Good!

[How does she show appreciation? Gratefulness? She has no idea and so she lets herself trail off into a small awkward silence.]

Why did you ask me to do this?

[aim_exorable]

[Awkward silences make up Darkleer's life, so, really, it's just another period of no-talking for him.]

Because dealing with Mindfang is enough to drive any sane troll to drink at best. I believe we both deserve some peace and quiet with another who knows how it feels to deal with her.

[Pausing as a small little corner shop with Alternian writing on its front, Darkleer holds open the door.]

Besides. You remind me of someone I once knew.

[f8tal]

You've known her for a long time. [It isn't a question. She remembers the stories Mindfang wrote in her journal, a few of them mentioning Darkleer.

She walks in carefully and takes a moment to look around. She waits until Darkleer makes the next move before doing anything herself.]

I do? Who?

[aim_exorable]

Yes.

[What Darkleer is going to do is find a table off in a corner, away from the door and situated so that they aren't eavesdropped on. Old habits die hard. It is also a booth, although he would have pulled her seat out for her out of politeness' sake.]

A girl I knew from my childhood.

[f8tal]

[She follows after and takes a seat across him. Even sitting down like this she feels incredibly small compared to him.

Instantly she reaches over for a sugar packet to satiate her fidgeting hands.] And what was she like?

[aim_exorable]

I suppose, in one word, difficult. Complicated is another.

[Darkleer doesn't fidget. All of Darkleer's movements are the opposite, composed and careful as he reaches over to browse through the menu.]

And for a very long time, she was simply mysterious. I didn't even know her name.

[f8tal]

[She can't keep still even if her life depended on it. A good showcase of her anxiety. It was one of her many flaws.]

How long did you know her?

[aim_exorable]

[The coffee is probably not going to help that.]

Hmm... We met when we couldn't have been more than... younger than you and the others, certainly. Four, at best. Maybe even three. Then, after seven sweeps, she left.

[He pushes the menu towards her.]

What do you want?

[f8tal]

[It most certainly will not.]

Where did she go?

[She looks at the menu, unsure of what to pick. So she just picks what looks like a very sugary and caffeinated beverage, pointing to it.] This one!

[aim_exorable]

Very well.

[After gesturing for a server and getting their orders placed in, Darkleer returns to the conversation at hand as he tucks the menu away.]

She went off on her own. I was seven when I joined the Archeradicators, and... she never quite approved of that. So she left before I could.

Hurt others before they hurt you, I believe is the reasoning.

[f8tal]

... [She is quiet for a moment, lips drawn tightly together and eyebrows creased. Her nails have already destroyed the poor sugar packet by this point.]

It makes sense.

[aim_exorable]

As I said.

[Reaching over, he slowly slides away the torn wreckage that used to be a sugar packet from her.]

You remind me of her.

[f8tal]

[With nothing left to destroy she set to idly scratching the wood of the table under her nails.]

I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and guess this girl was Mindfang.

[aim_exorable]

Correct.

[...This seems like a moment to intervene with the slow destruction of the table by sliding another sugar packet towards her.]

At least you do not have a habit of breaking into my hive at bizarre hours of the evening to demand breakfast. That is pleasant.

[f8tal]

[Ah good, more things for her to shred.]

You must be pretty good at cooking for her to even bother forcing you to make her breakfast!

[aim_exorable]

[Darkleer is utterly deadpan.]

I knew how to make waffles and pancakes and nothing else. I think she just liked the challenge of breaking into my hive.

[f8tal]

That's more than what Zahhak can make. He's a shitty cook.

[aim_exorable]

[Maybe a faint smile that's gone as soon as it appears.]

I've noticed.

I usually find it better to cook for myself. Not only is it a useful skill for a highblood to have, but there are few trolls which share my particular diet.

[f8tal]

What kind of diet is that? [She stops in her destruction to lean back against the booth, arms folded across her stomach loosely.]

[aim_exorable]

No meat.

[And that sounds simple enough until one realizes just how much meat they normally devour in a day.]

[f8tal]

[You've earned yourself a stare, Darkleer.] What? Why wouldn't you eat meat?

[aim_exorable]

[He gets that response all the time. He's desensitized to it.]

I've found myself preferring animals over people a great many times, along with a few other reasons.

[f8tal]

And what are those reasons? [Nosy nosy.]

[aim_exorable]

Animals aren't quite as complex as trolls can be, for one thing.

[f8tal]

You must get along with Pupa then, huh?

[aim_exorable]

Pupa?

[Blink. Eyebrow raise.]

[f8tal]

Tavros! [Ah nicknames...]

[aim_exorable]

Ah.

We get on decently, I suppose. [He did make him a mechanical Tinkerbull, after all.]