[METAPRP] Backstage Munchies [Frendo&Sascha]

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Frendo meets a fellow competitor! WOW!!!

Backstage at the SA competition

 

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About halfway through the introductory interviews, while sitting on that hard little seat, Frendo's tummy had started to grumble. And not just grumble, but growl and groan and rumble as well. So the instant they were herded off the stage as the segment finished, the little orangeblood had quickly rushed over to the snack table. He had seen it before the start of the show, but hadn't felt hungry at the time.

Now he was starving, and was shoving food into his mouth with the voracity of a wild beast and the class of a oinkbeast, which was to say little to none. Not that he cared, he hadn't tried to make himself out to be prim and proper, so he ate happily and without a care in the world for other trolls looks as they grabbed their own plate and quickly walked away.

He had managed to move himself to the end of the table, so he was out of everyones way at least when another troll appeared beside him. Frendo didn't bother to glance up at first, too busy stuffing some stuffed mushrooms into his mouth with happy little groans. SO GOOD! He cleared his plate in record time and looked up at the troll who had stepped up to the table, and inhaled the half a mushroom he had been chewing as he gasped. Standing at the table, probably deciding what to eat, was none other then the yellowblood(SASCHA!) who had come on stage after him.

The one who could FLY. Frendo would have said something, but there was a mushroom lodged in his throat, so all that came out was a, "HHHNNNGRRKK!!!!" and then a boat load of coughing, the kind that turned Frendo's face a flush orange. He pounded on his chest, coughed one more time and managed to dislodge the food in his throat and into a napkin which he QUICKLY TOSSED IN THE GARBAGE. Of course, he knew Sascha had just seen him choke, but maybe he could play it off any ways.

"Hey der, ya was awesome out der!" he managed to squeak out before coughing once more, his throat still tickling from his choking experience, though his eyes stayed trained on the yellowblood, with a mixture of awe and excitement glimmering in their depths.

seekingCylem

:3c lemme know if this works!

 

[seekingCylem]

Sascha left the stage feeling a wild mix of overstimulated, exhausted, hyped as hell, and above all, hungry. Mugging for the camera burned a lot of calories, it turned out. Sascha shoved through the throng of contestants and stagehands buzzing about after the big show. Superstar Authority was a literal class act, and class acts had catering.

Sascha and a number of other trolls sidled up to the informal, but bustling buffet line. What started as a plateful of appetizers was quickly buried under a veritable mountain of fruit salad. Sascha would have had to pay out the sniffnode back in Chittentown for produce like this. He could deal with making his tiny sandwiches a little soggy if it meant he could eat his own body weight in melon chunks.

Another contestant seemed to have similar goals. Sascha maneuvered around the voracious child, reaching over him to grab another spoonful of berries. He vaguely remembered the kid's introduction. It had come just before his own, so he was rather preoccupied at the time. More pointedly, he remembered the glimmering jumpsuit. It was hard not to. Sascha would have been lying if he said he wouldn't have given blood to wear something similar at his age.

The child finally noticed the older troll's close proximity and reacted. He reacted a lot more violently than Sascha expected. Sascha jumped back a couple steps, nearly losing the upper level of his salad structure in the process. Was- was this kid okay? Was he dying!? Sascha looked around frantically for someone else to notice what was going on. He didn't want to get framed for sabotaging the competition.

Luckily for both trolls, Frendo un-choked himself and immediately wheeled back around on Sascha, all smiles. Well, he was mostly smiles and a little bit of residual coughing. Sascha smiled weakly. He was pretty sure he just saw both of their lives flash before his eyes.

"Y-Yeah... You too..." Sascha reoriented himself in the conversation. He shook the panic out of his system and readdressed Frendo properly. "Yeah! You were up there just before I was. Ffffrrrruuhhh...." Well... more properly. Sascha at least had the decency to look properly embarrassed at his faux pas.

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If Frendo was insulted by Sascha not knowing his name, it sure didn't show. If anything his smile grew bigger just because the yellowblood had decided to actually respond to him instead of walking off, and he threw a hand on his hip and gave a thumbs up at the yellowblood, "It's Frenzz! Though, m'real name is Frendo, Frendo Crocut! Yu're Nova, yeah?" he let his pose drop and gently scratched at his facial scars, finding himself momentarily unsure what to say in the presence of such a cool dude. He just kinda stared for a moment, eyes taking in the other trolls looks with a hint of jealousy(one day he'd be that cool!).

Of course, the silence quickly came to an end as he burst into his 20 questions act, "So do ya got powers, or was dat some kinda special effects?! An' an' do you fly everywhere, I'd fly everywhere if I cud! Not dat I can, seein' as I don' got no sparkly powers like ya! Are ya afraid of heights, wait nah, dat's silly, you cudn't be afraid of heights! Not wit dat show ya put on out der," he laughed a little at his own stupid questions, and grabbed a rather nummy looking carrot and carefully ate it(no more choking in front of the cool yellowblood!!!), eyes never leaving Sascha's.

seekingCylem

 

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Sascha returned the thumbs up with equal vigor, though it stemmed from more relief than excitement. Frenz-o seemed like an easy kid to get along with. "That's me! If we're going by real names, I'm Sascha Diasis. I can do either. We're both celebrities now." Sascha grinned.

The exhaustion of having just performed seemed unique to Sascha as Frendo took off rambling. Maybe this catering had some kind of magical restorative properties. Sascha weakly side-eyed his own plate of food while Frendo nattered. Eventually his hunger won out over his meager stock of politeness. Sascha noshed on grapes until Frendo took a breath.

Sascha swallowed his mouthful of fruit, nearly tearing up at the delicacy of it. ('They don't even have seeds!') He tuned back into what Frendo had said. "Nope, all natural telekinesis," Sascha replied simply, but with clear amusement. "I can't really fly. I can pick myself up and hover a bit, but not for very long. It's hard to stay concentrated when you're mid-air getting manhandled by invisible forces, even if they're your own." Sascha looked around with a mock conspiratorial air, then turned back to Frendo. "...It's really fun, though." Sascha laughed.

"So what's your deal? What kinda performing do you do? Been doing it long?" Sascha only remembered as an afterthought that this child was technically competition. Somehow he doubted Frendo had much of a strategic approach to the event.

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"I bet its loadsa fun!" Frendo replied, eyes wide with awe for Sascha. To have the power to move things with his mind(or any power) would be AMAZING. So useful and totally gave a troll cool points. Frendo grabbed a handful of the grapes Sascha had just munched on, curious to try them now that the yellowblood had eaten them, and threw a couple in his mouth. Obviously he lacked the politeness that Sascha did, because he didn't even wait to swallow before talking again, one cheek swollen with grapes as he spoke.

"Naaaah, Imma fresh outta da gate, though I have been practicin' non-stop for a little while! I'm gunna do some dangerous stuff! Like," he swallowed some of the grapes as he paused and said in a quiet voice, like he was worried someone he didn't want listening was right around the corner, and continued, "sword swallowin' and knife jugglin'! I even got some stuff wit fire," he leaned back and put his hands on his hips as he finished a little louder, "I'm pretty good at it too! Imma jaackk of all trades! I can even do a backflip," and that was true. Frendo had a very wide skill set, seeing as he enjoyed learning random things, and besides gardening and testing out his variety of blooms and shrooms, he had a lot of spare time.

Perhaps he should be a little more on edge about sharing his skills with Sascha, but Frendo couldn't help it. He wasn't much of a competitive troll, finding it better to make connections then to put up walls.

"I cud show ya! Iffin ya wanted, not dat it's much compared to telikneesis" he added with a smile, ignoring the fact that he slaughtered that word.

seekingCylem

 

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Sascha nodded in agreement. Telekinesis was totally sick.

Sascha couldn't help the perplexed look that overtook his face as he considered Frendo juggling blades and eating them. He looked the child up and down properly. He supposed despite the sparkles Frendo did look beat all to hell, and not in a recent accident kind of way. Sascha had just watched this kid nearly kill himself by eating normal food.

"Is your lusus okay wi- a backflip? Hell yeah, show me that s**t. You can't just say you can do a backflip and not pay up." Sascha placed his free hand on his hip and spread his legs in an appraising pose.

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sascha is good with kids

 

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Frendo wanted to ask what Sascha had meant to say about his lusus, but the yellowblood was already asking about backflips. AND FRENDO WAS NEVER ONE TO DISAPPOINT! He eagerly clapped his hands together and sidestepped away from the table. Thankfully, a lot of trolls had shuffled passed them and the space around was fairly open(last thing he needed to do was flip into another troll or a table!).

Frendo flicked his hair to the side and gave Sascha a cool cucumber smile before cracking his knuckles, bending at his knees, arms raised half way to help his motion, and then pushing backwards with as much force as he could, arms swinging to help flip him. The world toppled as he went through the air, and then quickly righted itself as he landed with a little bounce on his feet again, a good couple of feet back from where he had started. HE raised his hands and waggled his fingers for a little pizzazz as he cried out,

"TADAAAA!" he grinned and clapped his hands together, "Didja see, I didn' even use m'hands! I've been practicing for a bit on it, I usta have to use m'hands before but not anymore!" he scratched his head, realizing he was bragging, and added, "Still, ya probably got waaaay cooler stuff ya can do," always the semi-humble troll, that Frendo.

Strong emphasis on semi.

seekingCylem

so good with kids. frendo already wants to hang out more

 

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Sascha subtly took a step back of his own. Frendo was a nice kid and all, but Sascha didn't know enough about him to place money on his latent backflip skills.

To Sascha's surprise, Frendo not only backflipped successfully, but his technique wasn't half bad either. Without two free hands to clap with, Sascha settled for an enthusiastic whistle. "Nice one! Looks like you'll be one to keep an eye out for in this competition." Sascha smirked and titled his head. He meant the compliment to be lighthearted. However, if Frendo was close to as skilled with something as complex as knife tricks at his age, Sascha might have an actual contender on his hands.

"I'm not one to brag," A blatant lie made more so by the fact he was just on TV moments ago selling himself to all of Alternia, "But I've got a few tricks of my own up my sleeves. Unfortunately I gotta save something for the big show." Also, more pressingly, Sascha was holding a plate full of precariously stacked fruits and some very wet finger sandwiches.

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When Sascha complimented him, Frendo felt his pumpbiscuit stop. WOW! WOWOWOW! He had just gotten his first compliment from another competitor, and it felt AMAZIN, "THANKS! Ya betta, I'm gunna wow da crowd! This is just a tiny bit of what I gots in store!" The little orangeblood was practically glowing with pride, as he stepped back over to the buffet to rudely grab another handful of grapes(magical little watery fruits), though he listened intently to Sascha as he mentioned his own bag of tricks.

With eagerness sparkling in his eyes, Frendo exclaimed, "I will be watchin'! Intently! I bet ya will be amazin'!" he spoke with sincerity, and there wasn't a touch of aggression or ill will in his tone or body language, though the grapes stuffed in his mouth did make him sound a little silly. While this made him a friendly troll, it could easily get him tricked by someone more manipulative, though he felt confident that Sascha was not going to do that.

Forever optimistic!

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"Yeah, I bet!" Sascha laughed. He got a kick out of how easy Frendo was to delight. He had his doubts as to whether or not the kid could handle the cutthroat nature of celebrity-dom. However it was plain to see Frendo was made to live under a spotlight. If nothing else, he made an excellent little hype man.

Sascha's expression softened at Frendo's sincerity. There was something about honest kids that was so disgustingly endearing. Sascha steeled himself with a grin. He could save the sappiness for his acceptance speech or whatever.

"You'd better! I wouldn't have it any other way!"

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Frendo was all orangecheeked and starry eyed as he nodded eagerly. He would be right there, cheering Sascha on! Just because they were in a competition didn't mean he had to wish ill on his fellow competitors! If anything, making good relations with his fellow stars might make the whole thing a little easier!

And Sascha was definitely a star in Frendo's eyes! He was strong, graceful, and friendly! And his powers were the icing on the cake for the little orangeblood. Even if he didn't win, Nova would definitely be someone he would look up to! If only he could find a way to take a little piece of this moment with hi--

"OH! OH! Wait here, I'll be right back!" he cried out suddenly, face excited with a sudden realization, before he turned on foot and ran off. Thankfully there was a drone near by who had what he needed, and within a speedy minute the little guy was back. Clutched in his hand was a permanent marker, and he quickly grabbed a napkin before presenting them like gifts to Sascha. His face was a bright orange now, flushed and excited, but he gave Sascha eye contact as he asked, "Can I have yur autagraph?" he smiled at the older troll and added, "Yur definitely gunna be a star, an' I wanna be da first to get yurs! Pleeeeease?  

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Sascha was startled by Frendo's sudden disappearance, but didn't question it. He took the brief reprieve to make a sizable dent in his personal fruit platter. By this point, the cantaloupe had tainted pretty much everything on it, but Sascha couldn't complain. He was having a nice time getting distracted with Frendo. Besides, if he didn't want to eat an entire plate of cantaloupe, he wouldn't have put cantaloupe chunks on his plate.

Frendo scurried back, quick as ever. Sascha took the marker automatically before questioning what it was or why. It was easy to catch up to Frendo's thinking, however. Gleefully, Sascha set his plate down on the nearby table.

"Of course!" Sascha replied, taking the napkin. He hesitated a moment, nearly writing his own name before remembering he was a proper celebrity now. He wrote NOVA in his huge, swooping handwriting, and underlined it with his symbol. "Here ya go! My first official Superstar signature. Probably'll be worth something in a few sweeps." Sascha laughed. He was only partially joking.

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When Sascha handed back the napkin, Frendo ignored the fact that he had totally grabbed a messy, used one, and instead held it close to his chest and bounced on the balls of his feet as a childish squeal rose from his throat, "Thank yoooou! OH I will make sure ta put it somewhur safe! I swear! and I cud neva sell it! It's a keepsake!" he gently folded the napkin and tucked it into the small pocket on the front of his knifesheath.

He patted the pocket happily as he faced Sascha again, and after resisting the urge to leap and hug the older troll(it had been very hard to resist, very very hard), he offered his hand with a playful smile and said, "I betta get goin', get sum rest and catch up with my lusus! He's probably outside waitin'," Laughdads had been waiting for nearly an hour actually, but Frendo didn't know that, "But good luck ta ya, Nova! Let's show'm how it's done! An' thanks again, I promise I'll hang it up on m'wall! The amazin' Nova!"

seekingCylem

 

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Sascha waved off Frendo's enthusiasm with a chuckle. It felt good. Sascha wasn't superstitious, but if this was a good omen, he'd accept it whole-heartedly. He accepted Frendo's handshake as well. Granted, he laughed openly at the ragamuffin little discoball choosing to end their meeting with a decidedly professional gesture. Sascha gave Frendo's hand two strong shakes. The intensity probably should have been reserved for a much larger troll, but the intent was friendly.

"That's right! Don't keep your lusus waiting." Sascha filed away the knowledge that Frendo at least had a lusus. They had a dubious track record for responsible child-rearing, but they at least existed. "I'll see you at the finish line, 'Frenzz'!"

Sascha saluted the kid much like he'd saluted at the end of his televised introduction. A successful first autograph-signing if he did say so himself.

...Now where did he put his fruit plate?

stringency

fin~