(no subject)

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Who: Anyone! Everyone!
Broadcast: If you want!
Action: On the FLOOT LOOP stations! Or the planet!
When: WHENEVER time is an illusion.

[you know the drill! this is a mingle for the stations floating around the bizarre forest planet, or the forest planet itself!

want to get away from the forest illusions? are you stopping for supplies? were you just really craving a bowl of Floot Loops for some reason? whether you are backdating for pre-planet shenanigans or just want to mess around, this is the post for you!]

Comments

waystation!

[catamite]

[as disoriented as Merrill is here, Nel seems right at home. he navigates the sea of overwhelming stimuli with hardly a thought. and maybe that's the trick to it, really. just shut off your brain and see where it takes you.

and this time, his wandering takes him automatically drifting toward familiar, pointed ears.

decked out in a feathered boa that he'd gotten from one of the previous sets of waystations, the neon green just happens to fit the fruit-flavored decor here perfectly.]

--Hey! Hi!

[yourdistraction]

[ That is quite a bright boa! In contrast to Merrill's own muted tones of dark leather and chain-mail, although the mantle around her shoulders is a thick, white fur acquired in Exsilium. She still feels naked without any staff, but she doesn't quite expect to find one in a place like this.

It is nice to find other elves, though! Even if they aren't Dalish, she is learning to appreciate what she can get. And this elf is friendly, and from cities different enough that she's quite curious! ]

Andaran atish’an. [ Despite the literal translation, it's merely a formal greeting. ] Nel, yes? Did I remember correctly? Your clothes are so pretty today!

[catamite]

Y'elurah haieh. [--as formal a greeting as his gutter-Elven can get.

and he... stops short once he gets close, kind of eyeing her up and down in wonder.]

--Wow, you look like you just walked right out of a temple!

[and here he is in the much grubbier version of what he'd originally arrived in. faux-leather and mesh club clothes are not meant to be worn so often and run through the wash like that...]

[yourdistraction]

Really?

[ Merrill looks down at her clothes because ??? It's all very basic to her. She's seen human concepts of temples, and they dress nothing like this. Ruins don't really count, because nobody dresses like anything there. They're all dead. ]

Is that a bad thing? Do I look odd? Should I buy different clothing?

[catamite]

It's just... old, I guess.

Like, no one dresses like that anymore, aside from people at the temples. ...And maybe... cults, I guess.

[he at least looks apologetic about that last one.]

[yourdistraction]

It's common enough garb among the Dalish, and many hunters.

[catamite]

Man... you'd get in trouble wearing that where I'm from.

You look like you're ready to go climb a tree or something.

[yourdistraction]

What's wrong with climbing a tree? I just did climb some, in fact!

[catamite]

[hands on his face with a surprised laugh.]

Oh gods. Are you serious?

[sounding very much like a teenager right now.]

[yourdistraction]

Shouldn't I be? Would you like to go with me the next time?

[catamite]

Aah!

[he's still laughing a little in surprise, though he almost looks like he wants to flinch away or cover his ears at what she's auggesting. he hunches up his shoulders instead.]

Wow, you would get in trouble so fast back home. You can't say stuff like that.

[yourdistraction]

[ That has to be the dumbest thing she's ever heard. ]

Are trees a naughty word where you live?

[catamite]

[and he's still laughing like everything she's saying is ridiculous.]

No! But you're not supposed to, like... talk about them. Especially if you're an elf. It's dangerous!

[yourdistraction]

[ What? Why is he laughing?! She laughs too, nervously, because she is so very confused. ]

B—but why?

[catamite]

Because the trees are dangerous.

[seriously why does no one else seem to get this.]

And everybody likes to blame elves for it.

[yourdistraction]

That sounds familiar, at least! What other lies do they tell about elves? I assume they are lies? What was done to the trees?

[catamite]

Well, the trees really are dangerous, but I don't know whose fault it is. The ones outside the city are all crazy and out of control, so everybody watches the ones inside the city so they don't go crazy too.

There are, like... tree cults and stuff that try and get the ones in the city to grow and spread, and so if you talk like that... people think you're one of them.

[yourdistraction]

[ Gasp! Actual gasp. Ehhhhh, those days when you worry about Thedas being a shit hole. Hear something like this. ]

Maker's breath, that's terrible! Such a perversion...

[ And people aren't blaming darkspawn or blood magic? What's gong on? Well elves must be enough of a scapegoat there. ]

The trees here aren't like that, I promise. I climbed them just earlier, and I'm quite fine. I'll happily show you.

[catamite]

I'll just... take your word for it.

[oh, but he's starting to feel kind of pushy with his own story and opinions here, so he scales it back a little]

I mean, I like trees! The whole elf thing--I can't help it, y'know. I like the ones in the city parks, just... not in the wild so much.