[PRP] Divide and Conquer [Mihail + Reisio + Oisier]

[nepsah]

Board games are a serious matter.

 

[nepsah]

If there was one positive thing that came out of the experience at Awassi's estate, it was that he'd made two more friends. Or well, acquaintances that were on the way to becoming friends, he wasn't going to get ahead of himself there. The invitation to come to their hive for some games was definitely a step in the friend direction though, right? Aligaa had even been agreeable about letting him go without too much of a fuss! Probably because they also lived in Civisect.

He arrived two minutes before the designated time - fashionably early, just like he'd wanted. Truth be told he'd left plenty of time to find their hive just in case it was more confusing than anticipated - hivestems were a little difficult to navigate sometimes. He shifted the bag of snacks he'd brought along (only polite to bring an offering after all) to one arm and then knocked on the door. Hopefully they also liked fruit leathers. It was about as junk-y as he could get away with without getting the side-eye from Aligaa.

Sypon

seekingCylem

 

[Sypon]

“Ah! Oisier, it is now time. Two minutes prior to the expected time, in fact. Excellent.” Reisio’s head popped up from behind their educational pictoral codex, and they hopped up from their place in front of the prim seating area. They smoothed their playclothes, a simple jumpsuit, and slid across the floor on socked feet.

The one half of the Mirrims got to the door, straightened their posture and reached up to the knob. To their excitement, their new friend Mihail was outside as expected. “Greetings. We are inside.” Their eye drifted down to catch glimpse of the purpleblood’s offering. “Oh! We can take that. We will put it on the counter.”

They gave Mihail a little half-bow and went to grab the snacks, as any troll would do for their superior and also friend. Frankly, Reisio wasn’t totally used to interacting with higher castes (being pretty well off and also around Oisier so much), so the opportunity was exciting. It caused a bit of a hitch in their breath!

nepsah

THE FORGOTTEN RP HAS BEEN UNFORGOTTEN

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

Oisier rubbed their hands together like they'd seen in the movies. They had a plan and it was coming together. Networking. They'd made good with a fellow highblood--higherblood, even--to the extent that they were hosting their own, private game night! Truly the exorcism of the haunted hive was a net gain. Mostly. Oisier didn't enjoy dwelling on that event too often.

"Wonderful," Oisier replied. They folded the newspaper they'd been skimming and hopped down from their own, matching, high-backed armchair.

Reisio arrived at the door first, revealing their playmate, Mihail Kreios. "Welcome to our hive." Oisier bowed at the waist. As Reisio took the snacks, Oisier approached Mihail from the opposite side and ushered the purpleblood further inside.

The penthive was pointedly, overwhelmingly high-end. It was typical of bluebloods nearly bordering on satire. Everything that wasn't granite was glass. All upholstery was dark leather. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic view of the city below, and ocean further out. It made the space unsurprisingly chilly.

"This way," Oisier scampered ahead back into the seating area, where there was a plush rug and a fireplace. Oisier gestured between the couch, the chairs, and the coffee table. "Please take a seat. Anywhere you like," they spoke formally and in near complete monotone, but in truth Oisier was excited. It was a chance to show off for a higher caste and have fun while they were at it.

Planariant rippled out from underneath the couch. Oisier shot the flatworm a pointed look with their good eye. They'd promised to leave the children alone this night. Planariant scooted across the floor and up a spiral staircase in what could only be assumed to be an apologetic manner.

Oisier returned their attention to Mihail and attempted a friendly smile. It was a little out-of-place on their features, but well-intentioned. "How are you tonight, Mihail?" They asked.

Sypon

nepsah

 

[nepsah]

The door opened to reveal... shoot, without the two of them to compare at once, he would have a hard time telling them apart. Something he'd absolutely need to work on. What sort of friend couldn't tell his friends apart? "Hello. Tha--ank you." He passed over the treats, relieved to see the other twin pop up not much later. Right- they were not much easier to tell apart together, but the eyes did help. "Thank you for having me." Politeness called for at least a slight bow in return, so of course he gave one to each twin. It was both refreshing and strange being so formal with friends after spending so much time with Knetic. The other purpleblood hated formalities.

As he followed Oisier inside he looked around the penthive. They had excellent taste, honestly. As instructed he settled onto one of the chairs near the coffee table. One of their lusii appeared briefly, but seemed to clear the space as quickly as one could without looking spooked. An unsupervised playdate? How exciting. Aligaa had only remained behind outside due to his size. "I'm doing uh-- we--well. How aa-aare you two do--ing..? Y--our hive is. Your hive is. Lovely." The smile looked a bit funny on Oisier's face but Mihail returned it with one of his own.

Perhaps if they were interested and this friendship lasted, he could offer to teach them to sign a little like he'd done with Knetic, and then speaking would be much easier between the three of them.

Sypon

seekingCylem

 

[Sypon]

Reisio had just returned with a serving cart full of chips, various dips and sauces, and exceptionally consistently cut vegetables - not to mention what seemed to be a whole pallet of juice boxes on the lower platform. Mihail's snacks were displayed with the rest, given a place of honor in the center of the upper tray.

"Ah." They wiggled where they stood. "Thank you." Appreciation and affirmation by a new friend (but more importantly a purpleblooded friend) was a fantastic first step.

"Well, all things considered." Oisier chose to not mention the brightmares that occurred after their exorcism adventure. They gestured for Mihail to get settled anywhere on the main floor and parked their snack cart next to the rug, then grabbed a juice box from it and settled right down on the couch. "Right, Oisier?"  

[seekingCylem]

Oisier tilted their head minutely. Between the chaos of the haunted hive and their written correspondence, they hadn't noticed Mihail's speech impediment. They'd simply assumed it had been due to their circumstances at the time. Mentally, they shrugged. They were still polite, a highblood, and their friend. Not everyone could be as perfect as themselves and Reisio. Even they had their flaws, small as they were.

Oisier inclined their head to properly view their sibling's return. "Indeed! Thank you. We like to be prepared for any potential social event." Oisier held out their hand for Reisio to hand them their own juice box.

"We are looking forward to when our lusii finally allow us to host proper highblooded dinner parties," Oisier continued, already imagining the glitz and prestige.

They caught themselves before they could be come too wrapped up in their fantasies. "Ah, until then, what shall we do? We have board games," Oisier paused, expecting Reisio to continue the list.  

[nepsah]

Right... all things considered. Mihail had done his best not to think too hard about the events that had transpired at the haunted hive, but it was hard. It had given him more fuel to want to be better than he was currently, at least. As Oisier spoke, he reached out to grab a juice box for himself. "I'm su-suh-sure they will be very-very-uh, very good parties." That was... admittedly one thing Mihail was not a big fan of. Parties were a potential social nightmare, especially when he got overstimulated and had an even harder time getting his words out.

"Oh, I luh-love games." Mihail perked up at the mention, smile growing a bit wider. "What kind do you ha--ave?" Normally he only had one other person to play with, so this would be a fun new experience.

Sypon

seekingCylem

 

[Sypon]

“Dinner parties,” Reisio emphasized. “Lots of structure. Lots of courses. Time to decorate and arrange for social success.” They sighed a bit, sort of a bizarre dreamy sound coming from a child and punctuated with the sound of juice being sucked through a straw.

“We have lots - mostly cooperative. Oisier and I have mastered the difficulty level for two participants, of course... So this will be very interesting with an additional party member.” Would it throw off the balance of the entire game? Would it even be fun with a non-likeminded troll? Reisio began to doubt this whole ordeal before an idea popped into their thinkpan.

“Ah! We have a game that we have not played much of. It is... very ambitious.” They wiggled their eyebrows. “It is an Alternian Emergency simulator- play to fight off diseases and insurgents planetside while fortifying against a possible alien attack. I bet we could win with... the three of us.”  

[Sypon]

Wrapping this up since it's 2020 babey!!!

For posterity:
The kids became friends and played boardgames!