[Trolls and Ghosts go together in D&D][Closed]

[ghostofaqueen]

Characters: vvanquishing & ghostofaqueen
Location: Outside Zone 1 Restricted Area
Rating: PG-13 (No doubt Eridan will cuss)
Time: October 21 (Afternoon)
Description: Both met under the cloud of frustration, and, like a match made in Heaven, she mocked his arrogance until he demanded a chance to pull her trigger.

Comments

[vvanquishing]

It would be nice to say that after successfully arranging a meeting with Lieutenant Sniper Rifle, Eridan calmly relished his victory like the cool, level-headed person he was. But that would be lying. Barely three seconds after ending their first conversation, the kid was on top of the fucking world. Fuck Karkat and his freaky alien partner, fuck Kanaya and whatever the hell her thing was -- Eridan had snagged the cream of the human crop here. Sure, she was a human, but she was also military which basically made her at least a little more respectable than the rest of her race. Anyway, she was a sniper rifle, and at this point he was pretty much willing to overlook anyone's faults to get his finger on a trigger again

[ghostofaqueen]

He arrived faster than she would have expected, but in no less flare than she had been imagining. Of course, in his appearance, she found that he had to be young even by human standards. Maybe these odd troll people aged differently, and he really was an adult somewhere in that package of... cape and scarf and... whatever else he had decided to put on.

Pushing off of leaning on the fence, she dropped her hands down to her sides when he tired to mirror her. Instead, she set a hand on her hip and looked down at the full not-entirely impressive sight of the Prince, and she almost smirked at his mind-burning delusion.

At least at this close distance, she could get an impression of him mentally. "I didn't think the video feature was blurry, so I must be," she replied and allowed her eyes to purposefully lower and rise over his form. "You're a military conscript of your world or something?"

[vvanquishing]

For all his brashness, even Eridan could be distinctly aware of that appraising gaze -- feeling like he was getting sized up like a choice cut of meat, or judged, or even worse, criticised. He prickled a little but, if possible, only raised his chin higher. Steady on, soldier. You've got the upper fin here.

"Yeah, well, practically," he said, ignoring the somewhat sarcastic-sounding reply. "Naval warfare's me speciality, though we're not fuckin' likely to find any a that around here, I'm sure." He sounded somewhat bitter about that: partly because it really didn't give him a chance to show off a little more and also because it really was kind of fucking hot, holy shit why hadn't he looked into dressing lighter yet.

"But I mean, I know practically all there's needed to know about it all and it was just a matter a me waitin' a few more sweeps." Until his planet blew up, anyway.

[ghostofaqueen]

Naval warfare, was it? She had been on a few naval ships, but that was only when she was on Tarsonis and being shipped here and there for training. She had to specialize in everything, and water was generally just crossed by air anyway. Still, that gave her some insight, but not on where all this mound of arrogance was from.

"You might be able to find a puddle from time-to-time, and I hear there is a hot spring," she replied, her lips quirking in a bit of an amused smile. She wondered if what he was wearing was the naval uniform, and if so, they needed new fashion sense.

"How much hard time have you put in as a naval officer?" She may as well pull out as much real background as he was willing to give.

[vvanquishing]

His eyes narrowed infinitesimally. Was this some sort of test? Was he supposed to prove his self-control before this Weapon by not flipping his fucking lid over every insulting quip? It took less disrespect from other, better people to set him off, but here he was, reduced to gritting his teeth and trying not to snap back.

All in the interest of interspecies diplomacy. That, and being able to blow shit up with a high-powered rifle. It was mostly the rifle.

"I, uh, reckon a few solar sweeps or so..." he replied after the slightest of hesitations. One hand fiddled at his scarf. Truth be told, he wasn't so much a naval officer as roleplaying one. And FLARPing, of course, was a legitimate activity -- he'd killed more young trolls than he could fucking count -- but he'd already had a horrible time trying to explain the simple concept to another human, so he felt it reasonable just not to try.

And, well, he had a ship. And he was basically captain. That was practically being a naval officer, right? Right.

[ghostofaqueen]

Well, he had a bit more restraint that she would have expected from him, given how he had shot his mouth off on the communicator. Either he had developed some self-control on the way, was distracted by her tight suit, or he measured her worth as his potential weapon to be worth some restraint. It was clear that he had a bit of trouble, based on his body language.

Tilting her head to the side, she sensed hesitation, and she stalked slowly towards Eridan. "Most soldiers I know proudly know their time served in command," she replied stiffly. "For shooting your mouth off of your greatness, this sudden reluctance doesn't instill confidence in me."

Though, her mask of displeasure cracked at the end as her lips quirked at the edges. "You were the one to cause that stir about hitting that woman, wasn't it? What do you know of Selendis who is partnered to one of your kind?"

[vvanquishing]

His expression -- already bordering on a scowl -- darkened and he stiffened, though he refused to take a step back or show any dismay at Kerrigan's less-than-impressed look.

"Didn't know I was in for a fuckin' interrogation here, is all," he muttered. Then, louder, "Pretty much nothin', considerin' how hush-hush Kar's keepin' talk about himself and his partnership. Then again, he's always dodgy about shit like that so it's not like it surprises me or anythin'.

"And," he added somewhat agitatedly, "That little incident was all a big misunderstandin', nothin' to worry yourself over." Fucking hell, what was everyone's DEAL with coddling little girls?

[ghostofaqueen]

Tilting her head to the side, she didn't believe that one bit. "You should have because I already said I look for qualifications," she offered before it seemed that he knew that troll Selendis was paired with. Maybe they didn't know each other well?

Snorting softly, she waved a hand in the air. "I'm not worried. People coddle women too much, but in general, we can take care of ourselves," she said arrogantly. "If you had hit him, I would have broken your arm off and beaten you with the wet end." Unless she had it coming to her in which case, she wouldn't tear his arm off, just break it.

[vvanquishing]

Yeah, well, he was expecting "qualifications" to entail "grabbing Kerrigan and blowing up a building or two." He didn't say it; the thought was plain on his face and arched brow. Still, he relaxed visibly at her... Reassurances. Threats of bodily harm, he could deal with. Crazy human sexism? Not so much.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," he finally said soberly, "That's the way it's always been on my planet and far as I'm concerned, it's good enough for everyone."

Eridan sighed -- sounding a bit put-upon -- and ran a hand through dual-toned hair. "Right, if you must know, I'm not in the Alternian army, per se." He looked up, glaring fiercely from under thick-rimmed glasses, and added loudly, "But don't think for one fuckin' moment that that means I haven't seen any combat -- I'd been handlin' a legitimate war back home practically single-handedly, and that was before the doomsday game I was talkin' about."

[ghostofaqueen]

His expression was enough to tell her that he wasn't impressed, but she was allowed to run this show for the moment. He waited for her weapon form, and it was up to her to show it off. Though, she was pleased when he relaxed and laid off a bit; that showed that he could.

"Agreed," she said. At least they had made some common ground in that aspect. "People make their own way with the strength they have after all."

Ah, there was the truth. He hadn't participated in what she would consider formal military settings, but he was still high and mighty. That had to mean something, right? "By legitimate, we're talking real-life stuff and not some video game, right?"

[vvanquishing]

"Realer 'n real," Eridan grinned, showing a row of sharp teeth. "The feud between land dwellers and the sea aristocracy'd been goin' on for countless cycles, it was kinda an inherited duty." He rolled his shoulders, adjusting his cape, which billowed softly.

"And it's not all that unusual 'cause unlike the lot a you humans, trolls've got to learn how to fight from the moment they're hatched." Pride seeped into his voice; he could never get tired of talking about this. "You either fight or die, that's the only way to make sure that the armies fill up with nothin' but the best when we all mature."

Not that it really mattered anymore, he supposed. Sgrub had pretty much ensured there was no future in the Alternian military for him although it had made him something better: a Prince.

[ghostofaqueen]

Well, that was certain more real insight than she had hoped to actually garner from his normal speech. There might have been pride there, but she could also tell that there was fact as well. The fact that he could also explain such things calmly instead of shouting or waving his arms meant he had self-control... sometimes.

Though, in some ways, trolls sounded a little like the zerg, just less mindless and killing everything. Perhaps Terran-types weren't involved when it came to there world?

"And how old are you, if I may ask?" His age meant little to nothing for her, since it was skill and trainability. Some adults were useless and children far better when it came to war anyway.

[vvanquishing]

He was so much less on-edge when he wasn't being sniped at, so to speak. The human woman was by no means friendly towards him, but she was mostly not outright hostile or offensive or rejective of him. It was a strange feeling he couldn't quite place -- maybe he'd felt it before once upon a time in a galaxy fucking far far away -- but at least things looked to be finally going his way. If Gamzee wasn't such a stupid shit that could never be right about anything ever, Eridan might've actually believed some sort of (dare he say it) MIRACLE took place.

"Six sweeps old," he replied. There was a bit of a pregnant pause before he blinked, rolled his eyes, and added hastily, "Somethin' like thirteen a your human years, if I'm not mistaken."

Stupid aliens and their stupid cultural and biological differences. Still, he peered up at her -- he'd never seen, only read about, adult trolls -- and hazarded a question: "Why, how old are you supposed to be?"

[ghostofaqueen]

When he clarified his age to her, she made the mental calculation difference for there difference. Double and a bit and that was a Terran equivalent, which was easy to deal with. Considering he also said that he had been raised from hatching to be a fighter of some kind, she was willing to think him qualified for at least a try.

Raising an eyebrow, she shrugged her shoulders to the question. "Double your human equivalent age, and you have mine. So I'm twice as old as you are." However, that didn't matter to her, and she had learned enough by his mannerisms and talk to feel this was worth it. If she burned his hands off, she might smile though.

"Alright, let's try this resonance business," she finally said before curling her legs under her as she dropped to the ground to sit. "Don't get carried away, alright? Shoot at inanimate objects only, and if it hurt, drop me. I'm a tough girl and can take it. Do you understand?"

[vvanquishing]

That sounded old. But probably not too old for him and her to-- NO, let's not think about that now. You're so close, just don't fuck this up!

Luckily a distraction came to him in the form of the word "resonance:" okay, now we're talking. Eridan brightened visibly, practically jumping forward as if Kerrigan was just going to up and disappear into the ground if he didn't hurry. This was it, make or break. If he screwed this up, there really just was no hope for him; this woman was obviously made for him. Come on, she hadn't even really insulted him yet (or all that much, at least) so surely something good was happening here.

"Me, get carried away?" Perish the thought. Karkat and everyone else in the universe might think he was a teensy bit trigger-happy, but what do they know? "You've got nothin' to worry about. On any account, even." The last bit sounded a tad less confident then the rest of his reassurances; the memory of his first disastrous resonation attempt with the fa Toren girl was still burned fresh in the palms of

[ghostofaqueen]

Okay, she took back the idea that he might have self-control. The mention of getting things done clearly had been the entire reason that he had been on any semblance of good behaviour, but she supposed that they were at the point where they would have to give this a go anyway. Sarah just hoped he wasn't going to shoot a random passerby.

"Well good because if I sense a lack of self-control when it comes to your trigger finger, I will do pain upon you," she replied and gave him a stern look. Beyond that, he was on his own when it came to resonance. This would either work, or it wouldn't.

Without much effort at all, she set her shoulders and felt her body shrink and change shape. It was a matter of seconds before her weapon form, which simply settled on the ground. This was the usual phrase that she got to, but now she had an eager troll waiting to pull the trigger.