Nemaisare

Light in the Dark

He had never heard of any of this. The Reaches he knew was the sky, and even then, no one he'd ever encountered called it that. It was simply what the word made him think of. The Great Break seemed like a place trolls would avoid, which might explain his lack of knowledge of it. But not to have heard the name even once seemed strange. Trolls wandered by nature, not forever, of course, but when you were as large as they were, living communally was not easy. Most spent several years finding a territory to call their own and slowly gathered a family around them. It left very little of their world unexplored, insofar as he knew, anyway. If trolls made maps, which they admittedly didn't do, most would have been able to place, approximately, the forests and rivers and large lakes and mountains and edges that marked their world. All the landmarks were there in the stories they'd shared when they crossed paths and the steps they'd taken themselves.

WIlhelm's brow furrowed further as his thoughts mired themselves about this notion of new land. He was old enough now to have learned a great deal about where he lived, and he knew he had not walked nearly far enough to find anywhere that no troll had found. Still, he did not interrupt the full answer to his question. He understood that there was a pattern to the way a conversation began. When trolls argued, legends said the earth shook, though Wilhelm understood only that too many deep voices at once made everything unintelligible. Hap had no such problem, but the troll afforded him the respect he should have for offering knowledge. Besides which, awake enough to listen did not promise he was awake enough to be coherent, and he found himself struggling to make sense of everything he was told.

Light did not live in a house, she was too bright and sharp to be limited to any particular space. And he did not like the idea of his Mother being held within walls as though she had some definite shape. In truth, the only part of the answer he understood was the practicality of catching food that would otherwise go to waste. But he had to answer the question put to him before he could continue his own rickety learning. He was not even sure he was aware enough to remember this later. "I was walking until I could walk no more." A low note rattled in his throat as though death was trying to escape as he spoke traditional words in a tense they were not meant for. You did not tell someone you had been walking until you could not, because there would be no breath in your lungs to speak, no flesh on your bones and no spirit to recognise the question in the first place. You'd be dead, and the dead had no use for words. You told them that you would be, or you were. "I should not be here, but I think Mother called me."

The words slurred heavily, each background grumble of emphasis or added meaning mixing them further, and he said more than he'd originally thought to. "Why do you keep her there like that? She does not like it, she shines too brightly for living with. She has forgotten the kindness she tried so hard to learn."

The EarthGiver [Nem & Glaw]

No worries, it's marvelous and I shall be sure you don't have to wait nearly as long for the next post. But we're not on any sort of schedule, aye? So I'll not be holding you to anything you need to take a break now and again. Especially when I was being so darned unreliable.

The Alcean Resistance

Haha! No worries, I'm still paying attention. I don't mind a slower pace. And now I'm most certainly excited to see what you're coming up with. :D

Light in the Dark

To have his appetite return would, in Wilhelm's mind, be both good and bad. It would make eating easier, certainly. Of that he could not complain. But it would also mean a return to living that he had not expected. He had thought to move on, not move house. And in these wastes, he worried that his size alone might be an imposition too great for his host to deal with. If he added his usual appetite to it, even winter slowed as it might become once he was healthy again, he might eat everything the little one had cached. For, surely, it had not thought to ready for so large a guest. With so large a stomach...

He merely grunted though. There was time enough to worry about that later. If he was to live, he would focus on living. Recovery. Regaining his strength. His health. Then he would repay this one's kindness. A troll did not leave his host starving when there was food that might be hunted. If he had to, he would chase down one of those bears, but for now...

Wilhelm felt his head settle back against the furs and shut his eyes, Hap's cool fingers against the nape of his neck as refreshing as a trickle of meltwater down his back. He felt the spasm uncoiling between his shoulders blades and slipping down his spine. It made him shiver, shudder and shake his head before the sharp motion made him groan. Too much energy wasted on useless activities. The hand moved away and he was left staring at the backs of his eyelids, advised to rest as thuogh there was anything else he could manage. His lips lifted in a rictus grin, eyes still shut, as he turned his face towards Hap. "Aye, and tomorrow, I'll dance Mother down to melt the snow, shall I?" There was a vaguely derisive note to his words, mocking his own weakness, and perhaps a littleannoyed by it. But he did not blame the little one for it, and quickly opened his eyes to amend any insult he may have managed with further words rumbled from his chest.

"If I am in your way, I might attempt removing myself to a corner then, but there will surely be no dancing." He followed that statement with a heavy snort before shutting his eyes again. And for all he had not thought he would find refuge in sleep again, he was tired enough that it dragged him down somewhere between the beginnings of strange clanking and settled rhythm of fixing frayed wires. A pup had nosed its way beneath the hard warmth of his arm when he woke, and he found himself confused by the sensation of a warm little body breathing there. It was very small. He kept his arm still so he might not inadvertently break it and draw the mother's wrath. Or his host's. It would be a wasted life besides, if he killed it, when he wasn't planning on eating it. But he did turn his head, blinking his nictitating membranes back into place as the light reminded him of Mother's dislike at being stared at and eyed the mess Hap had created.

"Hrrrmmm-" The rumble made the pups squeak and caught in his throat, so he cleared it, as quietly as he could, before continuing. "What are you doing there?"

Light in the Dark

Odd jobs... I have no job. Though I'm trying for editor,and may be building a library this summer. Which is exciting. Cuz books! Even if their environmental waste books of one sort or another....

Hmm, y'know what you should do. You should engineer a new style of wasp... Although I'd have to say rubber bands are pretty rad and hard to beat. Go Closet, go! Make something better than rubber! You can do it! :P

Anywhoodle, I'm making a post now that may or may not be done before I go to bed. And I was stalking you. Are you really doing a recreation of the Highwayman? You are! You're awesome. Yes, yes you are. (alreadyknewthisbuthadtosayitagain)

Think you that sincewe both remember an introduction happening between them we should just pretend it happened in one of the vague moments or shall we wait for another chance for them to remember that knowing peoples' names can be important before we have them knowing each others'?

Looking for an awesome rp partner! :D Ideas inside (mostly no romance involved)

Let's do vampires! *cough* I kid! I kid! Sorry, couldn't help it. *ahem* Let's not do vampires. I'll be PMing you sometime in the next few minutes. As soon as I decide which of these plots I like best. So difficult to decide!

Light in the Dark

Yay! Heh, I can see how that would be a bit frustrating and/or annoying, but at least you did learn new things eventually, right? Also... coffee cake?! *mails self to Closet and steals cake for self*

Light in the Dark

No worries. And hope the conference is going well. :D

Light in the Dark

His ears pinned themselves against the sides of his skull at the sharp tone that met an observation he’d thought would be fairly neutral. The words did not seem to match the manner, and he frowned in confusion as another spoonful was offered him. But he ate it nonetheless, automatically. His mind, however, was too tired to try understanding what insult he may or may not have offered. It won no other violence from the little creature, and without the tone, was almost reassuring. He snorted, relaxing again.

“Nature is not always honest, and wolves belong to her. But a troll will only lie to hide himself.” The depth of the reverberations in his chest as he spoke would have settled the point quite clearly had Hap been another troll. As it was, he wasn’t trying to begin an argument, he’d likely lose. He was merely bringing up a point as he understood it. Deception was not an art reserved for cruelty. And, to a troll, it was not only used in speech.

“I do not think I will be hiding from you anything of myself.” That was his point. And once it was made, he settled into the silence of the moment. There was a rhythm to being spoonfed, and he had to admit, without the worry of having it return the way it came, the food was pleasant as it passed his tongue. The meatsauce that covered the grains was particularly to his liking. But after a time, he was opening his mouth slower, and starting to turn his head away. At the question, he couldn’t help a huff.

“May be I should not find out if more will stay. There is nothing that feels full and nothing empty.” And the feeling struck him as wrong. He shouldn’t eat if he wasn’t hungry, but he hadn’t eaten nearly enough to be full. Still, it was better safe than sorry. “Wait a time, eh?”

Light in the Dark

Have they introduced themselves yet? I don't think they have.... This makes me happy.

EDIT: okay, I swear I remember some mention of Wilhelm saying his name... I just can't find it. Maybe it was in the last few posts we lost.