ass ; kate

[toxicate]

dusty..............

Comments

[sootprints]

Oh... okay.

[ she'll take a donut... ]

That's true. In the other place I was in, we had a clothes store that we could go to... but only for one week, and then there weren't any others.

[ if you didn't stock up, you were out of luck. ]

[toxicate]

[ is mildly surprised she accepted it... wasn't even sure she ate. noted. ]

Can you tell me about the other place? It's one of the locations on the Departures board.

[sootprints]

[ she takes the donut up to her mouth and takes a bite out of it... it kind of looks like a piece of it just disappears into the void of her face. but she does in fact have a mouth there. ]

Scawwy? I don't mind.

It was a village that several of us were summoned to by a cult. They planned to sacrifice us in order to summon their dark god.

[toxicate]

[ blinks. well. that wasn't what he expected. ]

That kind of thing happens far too often. What is it with cults and sacrifices? Truly a bizarre practice.

[sootprints]

Often? You've seen it before?

[toxicate]

Unfortunately. A similar situation was just resolved in my homeworld.

[sootprints]

Really?

... Was the cult defeated, then?

[toxicate]

Apparently it kind of collapsed on its own, but they did succeed in summoning their god. Defeating her was a different issue, but that was also achieved with... minimal casualties.

[ doesn't dwell on that long. anyway, ]

And your game? Did you defeat the cult, as a group?

[sootprints]

... We did.

We allowed them to complete their ritual, but sabotaged it so that their god would emerge incomplete and... in a sort of pathetic state. Then we defeated both the god and the cult.

[toxicate]

A clever method. And yet, you're subject to this as the rest of us are.

[ finishes off his donut with a frown on his brow. ]

If I may ask. What are you, exactly?

[sootprints]

[ it's a fair question. she expects to get it a lot while here. ]

Where I come from, people who look like this are called "shadows." I suppose you could think of them as fairies, of a sort.

[toxicate]

"Them"?

[ not self-inclusive? strange way to word a self-introduction. ]

I see. In my homeworld, those that resemble you would likely be demons, but I've learned that term carries different connotations elsewhere.

[sootprints]

[ ah. yeah. ]

... In that case, I appreciate you inviting me over to talk, instead of reacting in a way that people would normally react to a demon.

[toxicate]

Demons are simply another kind of person, ones of great diversity. For example, Strohl also resembles what would likely be a demon from my homeworld.

[ guys with horns, shadowy beasts, goopy slime creatures. it's a broad category. however... ]

The reason I invited you over to talk is because you are young, so I wished to check in on you, yet you seem like you might not appreciate being treated too much like a child.

[sootprints]

... Ah.

[ at both of those. ]

I see. I suppose that's how adults normally act around children...

[ apparently, she's still not used to it. ]

[toxicate]

[ hm.

he sighs, elbow on the table as he leans his chin on his hand. ]

There's a girl not much older than you as part of my squadron at home. I like her very much, as she's intelligent and extremely capable, but her shyness and my own manner don't go together very well. She usually stutters through short sentences, or hits me and leaves, or both. I don't know how to interact with children as an adult does, really.

[sootprints]

You're probably fine. Some people are just poor communicators.

I'm not allowed to speak to adults back home, so it's taken some getting used to.

[toxicate]

So it's not me...? Many people tell me it's my fault.

[ it is. ]

That seems counterproductive. Some adults are simply cruel.

[sootprints]

[ ... maybe mordalion is one of those poor communicators, too. ]

They are. But rules are made by whoever has the power. Everyone else can only follow them.

... A bit like these "games."