144.98750

[dorkypantsuit]

Hey, I know this is a kind of weird thing to say, but to all you newbies without common sense out there: Do not warn visitors about getting indebted to the carnival. I don't want to see anyone getting in trouble their first week, especially not anyone on my team. Got it?

Comments

[dorkypantsuit]

[Chiaki.]

I'm a troll. Grey skin, horns, claws, and fangs are natural for my species. My eyes are a little less natural, but they were that color before I got here, I just used to only have two.

[waitingforplayer2]

Oh!

[ Look, some people have some really weird changes here, ok? ]

Sorry... I didn't know.

[dorkypantsuit]

That's okay! I shouldn't have assumed you would.

[waitingforplayer2]

Um...

[ She imagines the trolls from World of Warcraft, Dungeons & Dragons, Harry Potter... ]

I wouldn't have guessed you were a troll. More like an... insect person.

[dorkypantsuit]

We're closely related to invertebrates, actually. Troll is just the name we use for people. Just like you call yourself human. It doesn't have anything to do with mystical creatures. That part's just a coincidence.

[He's gotten this before, it seems.]

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She nods. ]

Well... human for now, anyway. [ She scratches her ear again. ]

[dorkypantsuit]

You'll always be you, no matter what changes on the outside.

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She looks at him with a startled smile. ]

I hope so.

[dorkypantsuit]

I know so.

Don't worry, we look out for each other around here.

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She feels a little awkward. She wishes she didn't have this foreign feeling of hope in her heart again. It's betrayed her before.

She leans back on the machine to think. ] You sound like you do a lot of that.

[dorkypantsuit]

Hm? A lot of what?

[waitingforplayer2]

Looking out for people.

[dorkypantsuit]

[Oh... Oh! His spots glow brighter briefly in his embarrassment.]

Do I?

[He knows it's not the way a troll would normally act but, not acting like a normal troll is what got him into this mess in the first place. Still, his life was pretty much forfeit at this point. The least he could do was help others.]

... It's just something that's important to me. I guess.

[waitingforplayer2]

Yeah! Um, Silver, and Carly, and...

[ Well. ... She's happy she's here too. But she awkwardly buries herself back in the machine she's fixing. ]

[dorkypantsuit]

[Frown...]

Are you alright?

"happy HE's here", oops

[waitingforplayer2]

[ She nods.

She's being too optimistic, isn't she? The last people she cared about, and who cared about her, they all abandoned her. Why should this be any different?

... Except she shouldn't think like that. ]

Why do you do it?

i figured :P

[dorkypantsuit]

[He sighs, the feelings are so complicated and difficult to explain. It would be hard to explain it to another troll, let alone a human.]

Because it's the right thing to do.


Someone helped me understand that once. I just want to help other people see that too.

[waitingforplayer2]

Mm.

[ She's feeling a lot of conflicting things right now. She isn't sure what takes precedence. ]

A friend?

[dorkypantsuit]

Yeah. Something like that.


Why are you so curious?

[waitingforplayer2]

Sorry...

[ She'll shut up. ]

It's probably helpful.

[dorkypantsuit]

[He laughs.]

I don't mind, I'm just a little curious myself.

[waitingforplayer2]

That's why we ask questions, isn't it?

[ Which is what she's doing.

She lowers her gaze. ]

I don't know. It's nice, I guess. To see someone like you.

[dorkypantsuit]

We look pretty different if you ask me.

[Though he's guessing that isn't what she meant.]

[waitingforplayer2]

I guess I'll see in a year or two, right?

[dorkypantsuit]

[That gets another laugh.]

Guess so.

[He sighs, smiling.]

If anyone gives you trouble, come tell me, alright?