(no subject)

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Who: Robin
Broadcast: Video!
Action: None!
When: Now!

---

[hey, it's Robin. he's lounging around in his captain's chair, feet up on the control panel. he's twirling something around in his fingers--it looks kind of like a glow stick? it's a glass cylinder filled with some sort of glowing, red liquid.]

Back in those casino stations, I won one of these.

[he stops twirling the cylinder. when he holds it up closer to the camera, you can see that it's capped with silver on one end. the insides seem to be bubbling a little, as if the liquid is carbonated.]

This is a Luxilizer... though most people below the surface just called them Dummy Sticks, as in, you were an idiot if you walked around the lower levels without them. They're filled with a liquid extracted from a luminescent fungus that grows in the caves of my hometown.

[he twirls it again. Robin himself doesn't seem particularly delighted about the thing, he's just casually explaining, perhaps out of boredom.]

They were originally designed as a backup light source, in case a person got lost in the tunnels. It also makes it easier for others to see them. It can get pretty dangerous down there, in the dark...

[after a pause, he grips the glowing tube and smiles at the camera.]

It's funny to me. No one where I'm from would give these a second thought, but I've learned that underground cities are not a familiar concept in most worlds.

---

[PRIVATE TO JASON | TOTALLY HACKABLE, HE AIN'T NO COMMS OFFICER]

Hey, remember me? [waving from his side of the video feed.] Mr. Mean Everything?

Comments

[coppermarigolds]

I've never been. The dwarves aren't always keen to let outsiders in. From what I've seen elsewhere and what I know of dwarves, though, it's full of grand stonework with the ever-looming threat of darkspawn.

[She shrugs.]

But I admit I've never heard of a human underground city -- or elven, for that matter.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Darkspawn again... There are quite a few of you, aren't there?

[which is not vague or weird to say at all, good job, Robin.]

It's all humans, where I'm from. Well--humans and monsters, but the latter hardly counts.

[coppermarigolds]

You've talked to a few of my friends, then.

[She smiles, faintly.]

What happened to the other races where you're from, then?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

I should hope they're your friends, at the very least.

[he sure doesn't know how you people all fit together.]

Oh, there... Were never other races. Not really. Just humans.

[coppermarigolds]

Really? None?

[The idea is sort of... shocking.]

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a city without an elven alienage and racial tensions, but that's not exactly how I'd want to see it happen.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Well, they didn't go extinct or something, if that's what you think. We've literally never had anything other than humans.

[the whole idea of elves... dwarves... dragons? very foreign to him. with a small little exception he'll happily gloss right over.]

I mean, I suppose there are creatures lost in myth by now, but none of them were bipedal, opposable thumbs are squarely in our court, and... a number of other things. You get the drift.

Are things really... Not so good between all of them, where you're from?

[coppermarigolds]

[She has to shake her head. Certainly there'd be some who would want that. She's not one of them.]

How... I don't know even know. Strange, I suppose. Only humans. And whether things are terrible, well. They've been worse. They could stand to be improved, too. Occasionally, I find out one of my guards is turning a blind eye to crimes in the alienage against elves. I have no patience for that. The law should apply to everyone.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

...So are elves just marginalized on all worlds, or...?

[this is not a very polite thing to say. he did not think very hard before saying it. it's not like she could answer him anyway. still, that's what comes out of his mouth.]

not here

[wolfuncaged]

[Go fuck yourself, Robin. ]

also not here

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[fuck youuuuuuu]

[coppermarigolds]

[She raises an eyebrow.]

I don't know. On my world, unfortunately. I don't know about others.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Mm... Well, I'm sorry to hear it, but it sounds as though you do what you can.

[he shrugs.]

Anyway. I'd be interested in hearing more about these dwarven cities, if you ever have the chance to send someone experienced with them my way.

[coppermarigolds]

I do do what I can. It doesn't always seem like much.

[She shrugs, too.]

I mostly know surface dwarves. I don't think I'd be able to help you, but I'll keep it in mind.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he doesn't expect much to the second part, but the first...]

Well, there's a saying on my world about a small ripple moving through the whole pond. Often, it's the little things that matter most.

[coppermarigolds]

[A smile flickers across her face.]

Or the insignificant. Yes, I can understand that.

[buttsbuttsbutts]

[Elves talking about elf problems is annoying. Humans talking about elf problems like they know anything is about a hundred times worse. Annoying in an entirely different way.]

How about you find a stick and marginalize it up your arse?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Ah.

[he... has several things to say to that, none of which he voices. instead, he just. sighs.]

I'm sorry. That was stupid of me to say.

[buttsbuttsbutts]

[Oh. Usually people argue.

Sera's taken aback for all of five seconds.]

Good that you realize it, yeah? Shows you're not a complete prick, just mostly.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[which is a relief to him, because this is not something he wanted to argue about... being called a prick is a pretty light punishment by comparison, and he frowns.]

Nah, I'll take that. I'm kind of a shitty person.

But I will try not to do this-- [he gestures vaguely in front of himself. this thing.] --again.