trans_9 | Tavros: What problems? [OPEN]

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Tavros: What problems? [OPEN]

How long has he been on the ship, a couple of weeks? Three? Time's flown by for the dorky little troll, and he's stopped keeping track. It doesn't seem to matter much, anyway. People go about their business, drama rises and falls, and for the most part he stays out of it.

As much as he's gotten to know and like this mostly-human crew, he has to admit it sucks being the only Alternian on the ship. He'd love to see another grey face or be able to talk about his custodian without having to stop and explain what they are. And of course, there's the matter of the evaluations. He has no idea what to expect or what's going to happen if he fails. When he fails, maybe. Conversations with Alex have made it obvious to him how different troll culture is from the basic human one that governs the ship. Are they going to judge him by their standards? Will he be culled if he answers wrong?

But enough of these depressing thoughts. Alex has been spending time with Luna lately, which has left Tavros free to explore the ship by himself. Today he's decided to see what these sensoriums can really do. First comes the easy part, reconstructing his hive and the area around it purely from memory. Barn, cliffs, and far below, the strip of beach and glittering dark ocean beyond. He's done this before. The darkness is just as comforting as it was the first time.

Now for the hard part.

Tavros closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Happy thoughts, that's how it works, think of good things, and...

He doesn't open his eyes until he feels the wheelchair drop away beneath him. He's still amazed to find himself suspended in the air, nearly seven feet off the ground.

He's flying!

He can't help it. Even homesickness and evaluations can't bring him down now. Grinning happily, Tavros takes off, swooping this way and that, only stopping near cloud level to have another look around. The forest, the ocean, the distant glow and thrum of a city just beyond the horizon, and above him...

Tavros smiles. He's spent enough time staring at these stars to replicate some of the constellations without Stacy's help. And let's not forget the moons, the huge baleful green one and the other tiny and pink.

None of this is going to fix any of his problems, but as far as distractions go, rearranging the stars is a pretty good one.

((OOC: Feel free to hop in! I'm never too busy for another thread. And don't worry, your character should be able to float or "walk" on the open air near him, unless you particularly feel like having them drop like a stone, in which case Tavros will do his best to save them. XD))

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"It's all right," Hit Girl said, idly picking at something on her suit. "No one expects these things. I just forgot how it felt to be around all of that stuff again, that's all. I mean, the background isn't a big deal: I'm used to the city. It's more like the memories I have there, I guess, and the people I won't see again, stuff like that."

She shrugged. "Anyway, I'm trying not to come off as a total basket case. I didn't expect to do this, trust me. I'd rather fly then sit around and mope about my daddy issues."

Not that she had any as far as he was concerned...except missing him a lot.

As if to combat this, she started to fly around, closing her eyes.

Crap. There were still things she really couldn't let go.

Tavros is quiet as she speaks and watches her fly off after she's done. Sure, she can't get into any real trouble in a simulation he created, but maybe letting a human loose on Alternia isn't the best idea.

So he belatedly follows her.

"For, um, what it's worth... I don't think you're, any kind of basket case. Bad stuff happens, and, I don't think, uh, getting upset about it makes you crazy."

He has nothing to worry about: Hit Girl isn't going to go very far, especially in a place she knows nothing about. That's just asking for trouble.

She looked at him. "If we have to go to the psychiatrist, trust me, they'll think I'm a basket case. Especially if they start asking about how I was raised. Not that I'm going to tell them, of course: that's no one's business. Do YOU want to talk about your family?"

Tavros grimaces as she brings up the mandatory psych test. He really doesn't want to have a human stranger judge his mental health. For now he just flies in whatever direction she chose, weird dark Alternian landscape passing beneath them as they go.

"Well, uh, to be honest, trolls don't grow up with, um, mothers and dads, the way humans do. We have a custodian, like I kind of told you about before. Our lusus. Every troll has one, um, unless, something terrible happens to it."

She was really, really not into the idea of somebody measuring her mental health. She knew all too well what he would make of a little girl who could cut people up to ribbons who walked around in a mask. There wasn't any way of faking that.

"What does that mean though, custodian? In my world that means janitor, like, the guy who cleans up a building like a school or hospital."

Tavros has no idea what about him a human would find unacceptable. Maybe the fact that, while he disliked violence, it didn't really bother him the way it bothered the human crew. When you dream about it every time you close your eyes, you get a little desensitized.

"Oh, no, it's, just another word for, um, a lusus naturae. Our guardian creatures, in other words. See, first we hatch, then we, uh, pupate, then there are the trials that, um, I don't really remember. But if we live through all that, we get picked by one. Mine looks like, uh..."

Hit Girl will probably notice the smallish white bull fairy (http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004072) now flying on her other side. Hi, Hit Girl. Meet Tinkerbull. Explains a lot, doesn't it?

"That's pretty cool," Hit girl said, staring at the bull fairy, as apparently fucking weird was now "pretty cool" in her book. Finding out how trolls came about was still pretty interesting. She stared at the bull, who seemed to have no visible eyes.

Still, kinda cute.

"And this is your luscious na-uh, custodian?"

He has eyes, or at least blank orbs where eyes would be, but they're solid white. Hard to tell which way he's looking, though right now he seems to be regarding Hit Girl with interest. Tavros smiles and nods at her question.

"Yeah, that's, um, that's Tinkerbull. He raised me."

"It's...cute, actually," Hit girl admitted, able to stave off the Mindy part of her that wanted to pet Tinkerbull immediately. Really, how often did one get to see a flying small bull anyway?

"So in a way, he's kinda like your parent, right? Or at least your caretaker."

"Thanks..." It still surprises Tavros when people don't burst out laughing at his delicate little lusus. They're generally supposed to be monsters, large creatures that can protect their wards and spar with them.

"That's right, he's, uh, not actually a blood relative, the kind humans have. But he's always, looked after me."

Slight pause.

"Until, I got on the ship, that is."

"So he's like a nanny then," Hit Girl finished. "Um, that's a little weird. Aren't nannies supposed to protect their children and stuff? Shouldn't he be a little bigger?"

She nodded. "Well, we have parents, like, a mother and father and stuff. They usually raise the kid and give them values and morals and shit like that."

Tavros nods. "Yeah, Alex explained to me, a little bit about how, um, human families work. I thought the way you guys do it is, pretty interesting. Kind of weird, though."

Slight pause. Tinkerbull hasn't made any noise this whole time, and by this point it seems unlikely that he will. Tavros glances at him, then back at Hit Girl. "I guess, maybe..." he begins hesitantly, "other trolls might have, uh, a lusus that's bigger or stronger. They're all really different. But that's not the kind I got, um, picked by, which is okay. He's really nice, and loyal. Not every troll can say, that their lusus is their friend too."

"It works if both of the parents are relatively all right, but there can be some really crappy ones too. Mom passed before I was born though, so I don't know a whole lot about what mothers are like. Dad did most of that himself."

She grinned. "That doesn't sound too bad. The whole lusus thing sounds pretty cool, actually. He must be pretty loyal. Nice to have someone like that around. It's too bad he's not really here."

"Oh, uh, sorry, about that."

Really, that's two for two on friends of his with dead moms. Was there some sort of epidemic? He grins back at her as she speaks.

"Yeah, I think, our system is a pretty good one. And Tinkerbull's always been there, when I needed him."

He looks a bit sad, but keeps smiling.

"So, I just keep hoping that, uh, he's sleeping in the pods, and maybe I'll see him again soon."

"Don't worry about it. That's the past, and this is now. Besides, my dad did all right. Made me the way I am now."

She shrugged. "That would be good, but even if you never see him again, you'll have people looking after you here, right? I mean, yeah, they're not flying bulls, but they seem like ok people."

A few of them, anyway.

"That's, good to hear. A lot of people here, uh, don't seem to get along with their dads. I mean, from what I'd seen. And, well..." It's a little complicated. Tavros tries to think of the best way to explain it. "It's not, uh, quite the same, as a parent-offspring human relationship. Ours are less, dependent, and more, uh, symbiotic. I took care of him, too."

He smiles.

"So, I don't really need, um, taken care of, if that makes any sense. But, there are still people, who kind of watch out for me. Like Fate. Alex, too, in a way."

"No, dad was all I had, and he took good care of me. That might not be good enough for some damn psycho analyst, but it was definitely good enough for me. I don't know about the symbiotic thing though. I guess you could say the relationship between a parent and child is pretty dependent on each other though. I never knew, until we had a situation where my dad thought I was killed, how much he had actually cared."

She nodded. "You're also a part of that team right, with the water girl and Beastboy? I'm sure they would watch over you too-super hero act as family and all of that, from what they were saying."

Tavros is quiet for a moment. He wants to ask where her dad is, but he's afraid he already knows the answer.

"He, sounds like a good guy," he ventures at last. "He trained you, and I think he did a really good job. You're a pretty strong fighter, even from, uh, a troll's perspective."

He shrugs as she mentions the Outsiders. He's sort of a fringe member of the group, but nothing special. In a pinch he's sure he could turn to Katara or a couple of the others for help, but seeing them as family? Not so much, not yet.

She shook her head. "It was intense, let me tell you. Absorbing all those gunshots and running through all of those training exercises was tough, but it was worth it. In the end, I'm going to show him he didn't...well, I'll show him, that's all."

There was definitely a show of hesitation there, but more than that, a visible look that crossed Hit Girl's face a moment. That day was still fresh, but she was only allowing herself to lose it in small spurts. Tavros would forget that look, and she'd feel better later.

"Anyway, what's your take on those Outsider guys anyway?"

For a moment, Tavros is tempted to say something sympathetic. Poor Hit Girl. If he lost his lusus, he's not sure what he'd do. Sure, Tinkerbull's not really here, but surely he's down below somewhere in the pods, waiting to show up.

He has to hope so, anyway.

"I think, the Outsiders have a good idea going. It gives the kids on the ship a, place to belong, and, um, people to talk to. And train with."

Pause.

"I guess, I kind of don't like that only adults are in charge of these things. Not that, there are a lot of bad ones here, that I've seen. But, I'm not used to seeing them everywhere, and I like that there's, um, someplace for us too."

Hit Girl wasn't one for pity, so she was glad that Tavros had said nothing concerning her little lapse. She figured him to be the type to know that some things were for sharing and some weren't.

"It's a shame we have to even be under the label of 'kids.' I'd prefer 'those who are trained," 'those who need MORE training,' or 'people not fighting but still useful in kicking enemy ass.' See that way, MORE places for people to fit in. I mean, it should be a general consensus that killing the Ohm is a better idea then them killing us, right?"

Yeah, even if he hadn't learned that from his own life, talks with Alex have made it clear that some things just don't need to be said. Not so easily, anyway. Tavros is happy to talk about a happier subject.

"You should try bringing that up, uh, to whoever's in charge of this place. I've noticed that, a lot of younger crew members are, uh, better fighters than some of the grownups. And, if these Ohm are really as bad, as everyone says, then, there's no reason not to put the, uh, strongest fighters forward."

Shrug.

"It's just common sense, strategically speaking."

"I don't know the first thing about those guys honestly," Hit Girl said. "Well, other than the fact that they seem like a bunch of snobbish asses. I first talked to that Major, and she dusted me off as easily as you please. Apparently didn't think I had the stuff."

She shrugged. "Compared to a lot of the people here, I get that, but I think its stupid. She could have tried training my ass or something. Whatever though. I'll find it my own way to train. Those kids should and kick those damn adults out of their positions."

Yes, anarchy. That sounded fun.

"We need more training, most of us."

Straight-up anarchy doesn't appeal much to Tavros. Kids in power, however, describes his normal way of life. Getting used to adult superiority hasn't been easy. As she mentions training, he looks a bit sheepish.

"Yeah, uh, you're right. I haven't really, uh, been training much either. It's harder, uh, in a wheelchair, than it ever was on a living animal."

"How did you train back in your world?" Hit Girl asked. "I mean, how did you manage to do that with the wheelchair? I gotta know."

What did he mean living animal anyway? And if he knew about kids ruling things, she definitely wanted to know more about that.

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