[PRP] A Warm Reception (Sascha + Kaldru)

[seekingCylem]

Not even radio towers do much good at the bottom of a canyon.

 

[seekingCylem]

It was a slow night for Sascha Diasis. He hadn't experienced one of those in a good, long while. He was up to, what, three jobs now? A night off would normally sound like a much-needed relief. It was... For about four hours. By lunchtime Sascha was already feeling the boredom set in.

Such was how Sascha found himself at his old stomping grounds. Well, it wasn't exactly his old stomping grounds. Construction sites came and went over time, even in the most derelict districts of Chittentown. The lot he used to use as a makeshift shooting gallery as a child was now a convenience store. Sascha had to admit he did prefer the cheap hotdogs to the precarious stack of tetanus-infested garbage he used to play with.

That wasn't to say Sascha couldn't have his hotdog and eat it too. The outskirts of Chittentown's factory district had plenty of illegal dumping to go around. Sascha didn't have to do much walking to find a dubiously empty lot that put his old trash heap to shame.

Sascha's eyes nearly glittered as he inspected the castoffs of what looked to be an entire hive vomited out into the dust. There was a whole couch and a busted thermal hull. It was the perfect increase in scale to show off how much his powers had grown over the sweeps. Sascha finished his hotdog and wiped mustard from the corner of his mouth. Time to get to work.

Sascha stood at the center of the lot, looking towards the largest of the scattered trash heaps. He stood far enough back that an accidental avalanche wouldn't end him right then and there. From that point he raised his hands up perpendicular to his shoulders and focused. A familiar, tingling pressure coated his skull, starting at its base and working its way behind his eyes. With a practiced ease, the pressure set into his shoulders and his hands. From there, he could feel the edges of the trash before him. At least, he could acutely perceive the shapes of what the pile was made of. There were a lot of bottles and soda cans. The blades of a busted fan creaked in a lopsided circle. Sascha could tell why the sofa had been abandoned as it threatened to fold in half at the slightest provocation. Once he was certain he'd gotten a consistent grip, Sascha moved his arms with a grunt.

The sofa and a small cloud of detritus sparkled with red electricity. Shakily, it lurched a couple feet into the air, unearthing itself with a noisy clatter. Eyes ever on the prize, Sascha rolled his palms skyward, then brought them in towards his chest. The couch obeyed the silent command and drifted towards Sascha. Twisting at the waist, Sascha brought the couch around himself in a semi-circle and set it down upright in the clearing. Satisfied with its placement, Sascha broke his connection with the furniture. The cushions settled with a soft "fwump" while the bottles and cans shattered on the ground and bounced across the lot. Sascha put his hands on his hips, looking quite pleased with himself.

"...Oh my god is that the upholstery? I thought that was a blood stain."

quiet delegation

 

[quiet delegation]

"That was so cool!"

Chittentown was very different.

While he'd always been warned not to go past Four Fronds or Busthind's settlements, being as his lusus couldn't maintain her communication string of drones that far, Kaldru had always wondered what the other settlements on Alternia were like. He'd heard stories, of course, of the busy streets of New Hemisect or the steep, swarming walls of Chittentown, and every tale he was given only made his desire to explore greater. It was only a matter of time, then, before his stubborn desire wore him down; such it was that he'd been visiting Four Fronds and decided, rather spur of the moment, to hop on a cargo transport heading to New Hemisect.

Sure, he could have simply gotten accommodations as a passenger, but he wouldn't have gotten to spend hours chatting away with the odd orangeblood he found also stealing away on the thing. Some part of him was quite pleased with the decision, as he was fairly certain (unfair as it was) that his blood color was the only thing that saved both of them from culling when they were discovered. The lowblood, apparently, would have been a criminal, but when Kaldru piped up that it was his idea and he'd dragged the other troll along, it was simply a naughty game to the guard that discovered them.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the line he'd fallen asleep ... and he'd quite missed the stop for Hemisect.

When he woke up, startled by a very surprised worker, Kaldru made himself short and escaped the rail transport, though he wasn't expecting what he saw at all! High cliffs and a breeze of sand assaulted his senses, though he was much more pleased than not! Even in the clearly industrial district he found himself in, the young blueblood was completely fascinated; from the piles of scrap to the sand-beaten buildings, nothing matched the opulence he'd experienced in Four Fronds or the hard rigidity he'd seen in Busthind. Everything felt so dry, yet warm in the most pleasant of ways! Why hadn't--

Kaldru knew why Mim hadn't wanted him to come, of course, when he tried to ask her; the oversized, scaly termite on his shoulder simply clicked at him curiously. The drone knew enough to stay with him, but beyond that... Well, his lusus knew he'd be okay, right?

The young troll wandered for a while this way, simply gawking at the sights, not paying any heed to the odd looks he got (what was a highblood child doing here alone?) or the fact that the population seemed to dwindle out a bit as he walked. It was this wandering that brought him out far enough to an old lot, piled high with discarded goods, and such that he just happened upon a certain other troll doing ... something?

Why was he just staring at trash?

Though he meant to run up and ask, Kaldru found himself taking pause as the taller figure seemed to ... concentrate? He watched, curiously, but by the end of it his eyes were completely wide, and the child couldn't stop himself from skittering over excitedly to investigate the discarded couch before running back to the yellow troll, practically bubbling over with glee.

He'd never seen someone with psychic powers before! He knew they existed, but seeing it...

"That was great!" he declared, stretching his arms above his head in excitement. "Can you do it again? How did you learn you could do that? I'm Kaldru, what's your name?"

A million questions seemed ready to burst forth from the excited little thing, who apparently appeared out of nowhere.

seekingCylem

hello sascha i hope you weren't enjoying your day off too much

 

[seekingCylem]

Sascha jumped visibly. A handful of empty cans popped with red sparks and rolled away in response. He immediately wheeled around on the source of the voice. He ended up doing a double-take when he realized said source was below his eye-level. Sascha blinked down at the kid--first annoyed, then confused.

The kid was talking a mile a minute, but Sascha was quick enough to pick up on the gist of it. What began as a nervous laugh turned boisterous. "Well shucks, kid. I'm flattered." He smirked and planted one hand on his hip. Sascha tilted his head at the child appraisingly.

The kid said his name was Kaldru. That was hardly what was important, though. Kaldru was a blueblood, which was an ironically red flag in these parts. He looked a little too fresh-faced to be one of the displaced orphans that skulked around the worse parts of town. Not to mention he had a white animal of his own planted right there on his shoulder.

Sascha straightened and put on a humorously overblown thinking expression. He tapped his chin and smiled. "Name's Sascha. You're not from around here are you?"

This kid was asking to get himself mugged at this rate.

quiet delegation

 

[quiet delegation]

"Nope!"

The out of place blueblood was not only bluntly honest, he seemed practically proud of his answer as he leaned back, planted his hands on his hips, and grinned up at the much taller troll. He was rather pleased with himself; not only had he finally managed to go further than Four Fronds, he'd wound up all the way in Chittentown! He was practically on an adventure! It would be a great way to show Mim just how much of a kid he totally wasn't, too!

"I'm from, um..."

Kaldru paused for a moment, trying to think how to describe where he'd wandered off from.

"Between Busthind and Four Fronds, but closer to Busthind! This is the first time I've ever been to Chittentown... It's so different!"

For a highblood living, apparently, so far away, Kaldru didn't seem the least bit displeased with his surroundings. Instead, he seemed fascinated by it if anything, and soon he was trotting over to poke at and investigate one of the cans that had sparked up even as he continued chattering.

"I'm not supposed to go past the Fronds, but I was gonna go to New Hemisect anyway. Um, I fell asleep on the rail - I snuck on a cargo rail! A guard found me and this orangeblood but they kind of just scolded me and told me I'd have to get off at the next stop but!"

The torrent of words paused only briefly as the younger male took a deep breath, turning his eyes up to Sascha from the can.

"I guess I fell asleep and I didn't realize I'd missed up the stop, because next thing I know some drones woke me up unloading the rail so I decided that if I was here I might as well look around and then I saw you and that was super cool! Can you do it again?! ... Is there anywhere to eat around here, too? I haven't eaten since I got on the rail line! What kind of stuff do you like to eat? I usually trap stuff for dinner, 'cause Mim doesn't like me having to rely on others for food at home."

seekingCylem

the more i write him the more I feel like I should apologize for him x'D

 

[seekingCylem]

Sascha recognized the child's guilelessness as probably not the best tactic for conversing with an older stranger. At the same time he appreciated the immediate and direct answer to his question. Anything that made his life more convenient was alright in Sascha's book.

Sascha noted his accuracy in assuming Kaldru wasn't from the area. He told Kaldru as much. "You're a hell of a long way from home," he said without fanfare. "You know they got passenger trains for that--for like, passengers. They come with cushy seats and everything. Unless you like travelling with the livestock and sundries. Your lusus got you on some kinda allowance?"

Sascha said the words sarcastically as he thought of the average highblood's bank account. On the other hand, he couldn't help the fond nostalgia that seeped in at the memories of his own lusus. Truly the allowance had been a necessity, and not just because he was a lowblood. Even Sascha was self-aware enough to admit his younger self had a significant chance of blowing all of his food money on lawn ornaments.

Speaking of... And Kaldru was doing an awful lot of speaking.

"There's plenty to eat in town--where you most decidedly are not. You need to head at least six blocks up that way before you start seeing stuff that isn't warehouses. Seriously, though, how did you even end up in this part of town? Your lusus allergic to people or what?"

Sascha eyed the termite on Kaldru's shoulder skeptically. Bagwormother wasn't exactly an impressive lusus either, but she at least had teeth. This thing looked like it'd pop if he squeezed it too hard. One handed. Sascha used his telekinesis to pull a can up off the ground. He held it up to the termite and rattled it a little to see if he could incite a reaction.

quiet delegation

compared to the little s**t Sascha was, Kaldru is a delight

 

[quiet delegation]

"I dunno. I was just walking!"

Kaldru's answer was very blunt, to the point, and honest. With his lusus not exactly being fully present, and him having never actually been to a city, the blueblood had no idea what the difference in proper town and a warehouse district was. As far as he knew, this was what Chittentown mostly was! Which, in retrospect, would have been rather disappointing; the idea that he'd missed the actual town pleased the younger troll immensely.

"Ah!"

The rattling can surprised Kaldru more than it did his 'lusus,' apparently. The long termite barely responded, besides a curious tilt of its head and a slight movement of the mandibles. Oddly, the boy pet the little thing, seemingly to comfort it instead of the other way around, though he didn't appear to be terribly upset; he simply grinned instead, rocking in place on his heels.

"Um, but yeah! Yeah but, yeah my lusus only gives me so much to sell, and I didn't wanna pay for a train and not have anything left. I mean, I dunno how much it is, but sneaking on seemed more exciting anyway! It was pretty fun, even if it was pretty dusty... But um, she doesn't, uhh, she doesn't like just giving me beetles! She says it doesn't teach me anything! Sometimes she gives me these things though, um, to sell and practice haggling or something. I think I'm pretty bad at it but it's how I have what I got now."

As the chatty thing rambled off, he unzipped the pouch at his waist and dug around in it. There was a smaller pouch inside, possibly holding his actual money, but what he did procure was ... a rock? Held together by a band?

"Lotta people in Four Fronds really like these!" he declared proudly as he popped the band off, opening it and revealing not a simple rock, but a brilliant violet geode. "Um, Mim says I'm bad at neg-- negotiating! But if I don't sell 'em then I don't get anything."

Unaware of the potential danger of just flashing valuable gems around, the child tucked the item back away into his pouch before bouncing in place. A moment later and his energy overtook him, and he ran a short circle around Sascha in his excitement.

"Show me more~! That's really neat~! I'll, um -- I'll buy you lunch if you haven't had it yet! I should have enough for that! Pleaaaase?"

seekingCylem

hahahaha i'm going to be surprised if he gets to teenhood without being mugged or having the crap beat out of him though

 

[seekingCylem]

"Eh, fair enough," Sascha replied, equally simply. Better for kids to do nonsensical s**t like wander an unfamiliar city while they were still pitiable and easily-forgiven. At least that was Sascha's take on the matter. His lusus probably held a differing opinion.

Sascha was mostly phasing in and out of the conversation, but crouched down to Kaldru's level when the kid pulled out a prop.

The expression of mild interest dropped off of Sascha's face entirely as he gaped openly at the shiny rock. That was a... Where did he..? With how wide Sascha's eyes had gotten, a bystander might have assumed Kaldru had taken the geode and straight up beaned Sascha with it.

Kaldru re-pocketed his geode and Sascha was forced to refocus. It was already a little difficult to do so with how quickly Kaldru was moving around. Sascha stood back up and spun in a little circle to keep track of the child.

"Your symbol should be a bullseye with you flashing shinies around like that," Sascha commented dryly. If the yellowblood had been much younger for this meeting, he'd already be halfway back to his hive, rock in hand. The Sascha of now, meanwhile, found something oddly charming about the youth's enthusiasm for, well, him. Sascha didn't want to trample on that in the name of greed. Truly the pitiable quality of children was a powerful one.

"How's this for a negotiation," Sascha tapped a fingertip to his lips while he paused for dramatic effect, "In exchange for that rock of yours, I'll show you some tricks and make sure you get back to the train station unscathed. And we can still get lunch. My treat. I am the grown-up after all." Also Chittentown street vendors were dirt cheap. Crystals were decidedly not, but that was hardly part of the equation for Sascha. That s**t was sparkly.

Sascha rotated to catch up to Kaldru's most recent location and stuck out his hand for a shake. "What say you, little man? You gotta better deal for me or what?"

quiet delegation

kaldru is getting sascha right in his weak points: praise and glitter

 

[quiet delegation]

"Yeah, oka-- umm!"

Though the young troll had nearly immediately snatched up Sascha's offer right then and there, he did pause, arm extended inches from the other's; he brought his other hand up, an expression of deep thought taking his features as he tapped his own lip. There was something he was forgetting - something about not taking the first offer in a deal? But this was different, wasn't it?

After all, he wasn't selling anything, he was trading it! As long as he got lunch and got on a proper transport back home, how could he argue? Especially if he got to see some neat tricks along the way!

"Okay, yeah!"

Apparently that was enough inner reasoning for Kaldru, as he was soon shaking the bigger troll's hand with both of his own, grin as bright as ever. His eyes sparkled practically as brightly as the geode he'd stashed away; even if in truth he might have gotten a terrible deal, to him the cost of one shiny rock for seeing more of such a fascinating subject and even getting to eat lunch with such a cool guy (because he was psychic, how could he not be awesome?!) was completely worth it to him. Still, he wasn't entirely stupid, and he giggled a little as he released Sascha's hand, clasping both of his behind his back, then.

"But you can't have the whole thing until we get to the station!" he decided, brows raising up high as he thought about it. "That way you can't just change your mind when I hand it over, right? Though you seem nice, you probably wouldn't do that! But still, just in case, that's fair, right?"

Nevermind Sascha could just shake the stone out of him, if he felt like it; if the yellowblood was making a deal, then he wouldn't do something like that, would he? Having never been ripped off directly before, the thought didn't really cross Kaldru's mind. In fact, the only reason he even elected to 'withhold' the stone was because of his lusus' warnings that he shouldn't just immediately accept any deal given him!

"Um... here," he said after a moment, opening the pouch again and pulling the band off the cut geode; he held it up to the taller male with a broad smile. "I'll give you half now, and half before I leave. That way you know I'm not trying to cheat, either!"

seekingCylem

things he has plenty of: shiny stones (his lusus/lusii burrow constantly lol) and childlike enthusiasm and excitement

things he has none of: common sense and a healthy amount of suspicion or distrust

 

[seekingCylem]

Kaldru must have been thinking pretty damn hard, Sascha deduced. This was the longest the little guy had stopped moving or talking. After a whole few seconds, Kaldru returned the handshake. Sascha grinned and shook his hand authoritatively.

Kaldru's stipulations only made Sascha laugh harder. He stood up and smoothed the wrinkles out of his pants. Apparently the kid wasn't a completely lost cause. Sascha felt the tiniest bit proud and also relieved on Kaldru's behalf. A couple unfortunate deals with less easy-going trolls and Kaldru might become a competent businesstroll yet. Or at least not a total rube.

Kaldru reproduced half of the promised geode. He presented it to Sascha, who raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. The kid seemed pretty intent on making sure Sascha knew he was straight-laced. Sascha couldn't relate to the sentiment of the gesture, but was amused by it all the same. "Well then we have a deal," he replied. He took the geode and admired its sparkle briefly before pocketing it in his jumpsuit.

Sascha turned back towards the heaps of junk and raised his hands. "And on that note, what exactly is it that you wanna see?" Red energy prickled around Sascha as he demonstrated his psionics. Small detritus hopped and tumbled around the clearing. They were eventually picked up in a slow moving spiral that Sascha twirled like a pretend dust devil.

quiet delegation

 

[quiet delegation]

"Eeeehehe~!"

Ignoring the question for a moment, Kaldru clapped his hands and just watched the miniature tornado of detritus, enthralled by the whole thing. It only helped to cement his lusus' words in his mind; how could lowbloods be worth less when they were the ones able to do this sort of thing? It was so neat, and it had to be so useful, too, and not only for battle! How many out of reach things could be reached with such a power? Dangerous things steadied, precarious ledges and ridges reached...

"What's the biggest thing you can pick up? How many things can you pick up at once?"

Excitement got the better of the smaller one, and he ran another short circle around the yellowblood. His mouth spread into a broad grin, though soon it faded into a look of wonder as a thought struck him. He covered his mouth with his hands for a moment, then pressed them into his cheeks instead as he wiggled, barely able to contain the thought at all.

"Can you pick me up?"

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

Sascha was an excitable guy to begin with. It was no surprise he found Kaldru's enthusiasm infectious. It certainly didn't hurt that Kaldru was enthusiastic for Sascha himself and how great he apparently was. Sascha laughed openly at the child's antics.

He gave a brief pause to consider what the upper limits of his psionics were, exactly. His time at the research facility had done a great job training him in consistency. However, their regimen was geared towards fostering endurance and control--not force. He was meant to power a space ship, not a trebuchet.

Sascha was considering the logistics of hurling the thermal hull into the next lot over when Kaldru interrupted with a less destructive option. It took Sascha a minute to change gears. He wasn't keen on throwing a child across the block. When he realized what Kaldru was actually asking, Sascha's expression switched from perturbed to thoughtful. The trash twister fell to pieces behind him, forgotten.

"Yeah... Yeah, that's doable," he decided. Sascha had moved plenty of larger trolls with telekinesis. The one caveat was that it was never so much "moving" as it was "punching psychically." Just lifting the kid and not dropping him didn't seem like it would be too hard.

At least... he wasn't going to lift him that far off the ground.

"Don't wiggle too much," Sascha announced, his mind made up. With a flourish, he positioned his hands so they were now facing Kaldru. With considerably more care than he'd shown the garbage pile--high praise from Sascha--he trained his focus on the child.

The red, filmy aura reappeared around Sascha. Within seconds it blossomed around Kaldru as well. A tingling pressure lightly manhandled the latter until it settled on his torso. The sensation was clearly Sascha adjusting his grip on Kaldru. However, there was an uncanniness in its lack of visible source and definable shape. It was like being lifted by a particularly solid cloud.

The telekinesis contracted and Kaldru was lurched three feet off the ground. Sascha opened one eye from his concentrated expression and smirked as he watched Kaldru wobble in the air.

quiet delegation

 

[quiet delegation]

"Okay. I'll try!"

Kaldru's eyes couldn't have been larger in his utter excitement. Not only was he going to see psionics in action, he was going to experience them himself! The idea was positively thrilling; it was difficult to keep himself from immediately jumping around, but the little troll did manage to stand still, even if he was fidgeting with the edge of his shirt.

When the pressure began to form around him, the younger troll twisted his head this way and that, looking at the aura enveloping his rorso. With his pump-biscuit positively leading a dance party in his chest, Kaldru's smile turned into a giddy grin, and when his feet began to leave the ground he couldn't help the excited squeal that left his lips; he kicked a few times, though he struggled to stop himself soon enough. He'd been told not to be too squirmy, right? Even so, he shifted his hands, trying to cling to the energy cloud as he floated over the dirt below.

"I'm flying~!" he cried with the same childish enthusiasm he'd given the rest of their meeting thus far. "Eeehehe~ I wanna go higher~! This is so cool!"

His renewed excitement left him finally unable to resist its effects on him, and he waved his arms eagerly, kicking his feet a few more times as he 'flew,' even if it was only a short distance in the air.

seekingCylem

and now he's going to dream of wanting to fly forever

 

[seekingCylem]

Sascha knew Kaldru was going to flip once he was airborne. For how little time he'd spent with the child, Kaldru was fit to burst with excitement throughout 100% of it. Still, Sascha found himself delighted with the reaction he was receiving for his performance.

The lack of surprise at least aided Sascha in keeping his hold on Kaldru when he inevitably squirmed mid-air.

"You sure about that?" Sascha asked with a mock tone of warning. He lifted Kaldru a couple more feet. He was now hovering at the level of Sascha's horns. The older troll tilted his chin up to keep an eye on Kaldru. Slowly, he drifted Kaldru horizontally in the approximate direction of his wiggling. Kaldru appeared to swim through the air.

After a couple minutes, the pressure began to build uncomfortably between Sascha's eyes. "Alright kiddo, prepare for landing." He lowered Kaldru at a diagonal, giving him a chance to catch himself on his feet. Immediately, the the psionics evaporated, and gravity returned to normal.

quiet delegation

 

[quiet delegation]

When his feet touched the ground, Kaldru was off like a rocket; the excitement of 'flying' had no outlet besides happy squeals and kicking feet while he was in the air, but once the dirt hit his boots he was granted the perfect opportunity to burn off some of that excess energy. He shot off, running surprisingly tight circles around Sascha. He was a rather small troll, but what he lacked in size he apparently made up for in speed and enthusiasm.

"That was great! I was in the~ Air~ And I didn't fall! I was flying~! I bet you can do so many things! That's so cool! I wish I could do that kind of thing! Aaaah it was so neat, it felt neat, I wanna fly foreverrrr~"

At the end of it all, the little one ended by clamping down onto the yellowblood's leg with a fond hug, though he soon popped off and was in motion again, bouncing in place as he simply couldn't seem to sit still. He clapped his hands together in front of him, then behind him, alternating as he kept an energetic beat.

"How did you learn you could do it? Oh wow, I bet it's super useful~ I could get all sorts of out of reach things like that or pick up heavy things or do stuff I couldn't reach or --"

He paused, suddenly, coming to a complete standstill apart from resting his hands at his stomach. He looked down towards his abdomen, then back up at Sascha with wide eyes and a straight, surprised face.

"I got so excited I got hungry!" he declared, cracking a grin and giggling afterward.

seekingCylem

help how do i not bloodfest anymore lmao