Cherubplay

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"I hope so," Tavros was having some serious concerns about Karkat - what if he turned out to be too bitter to provide much help? What if he got too angry to cooperate? "I guess it doesn't do much good to worry about it."

The three hours went by pretty slowly for Tavros, who was mulling over the last leg of their adventure, while it went relatively quickly for Kanaya and Vriska. Kanaya had never met anyone so genuinely interested in her work and her story, and Vriska could appreciate the wise business decisions and independence Kanaya displayed so flawlessly. Once the train stopped, the five of them departed, Kanaya leading them from the stupidly flamboyant and lurid station and through the similar Starnette. Everything seemed to be comprised of shining gold or silver or polished brick and wood, very unlike the old-world feel of Undlegire. Nothing screamed antique or vintage, and one would get the sense that the moment something was a couple sweeps old, it was quickly thrown out and replaced with something grander and, supposedly, more appealing.

The other warmbloods were, for the most part, over-dressed, and Tavros felt a little out of place, if only slightly. Petticoats were gaudily fluffed with layers of ruffles, ties were designed and coats patterned, and most every woman had long hair in style of the Queen. Red was the most dominating color, with yellowbloods and brownbloods alike weaving in the rusting hues into their own bloodcolors, even if they were not required by law to wear their shades on their sleeves. Most yellows, though, wore the police uniform, the higher-ups clearly detailed whether by weapon or arrogant superiority, even over their own comrades. Yellows often looked the group up and down, coming just close enough to get a flash of Tavros's brown eyes and keep their distance, but the derogatory comments did not cease because of that fact.

People kept their mouths covered with their fans to give the illusion of politeness, but the murmurs and, sometimes, blatant yells, were still just as obvious as ever.

'Is that a violentblood!?', 'The bronzeblood must have trained that seadweller!', 'I heard that jade is actually one of those /vile/ rainbowdrinkers!', 'Do you think a policetroll could keep us safe from that cerulean? She looks awful nasty, like a barbarian.'

There was an obvious flicker of anger beneath Kanaya's normally composed gaze, and Tavros, upon further listening as they walked on the cobblestone path, -which was startlingly clean- could hear that the superficial warmbloods were taking into account the calm dispositions and fancy clothing.

One passing woman, with her hair piled atop her head in an updo that must have taken hours, made a remark to what seemed to be her matesprit, "That violentblood, you see him, dear? The copper must have trained him, he's in actual /clothing!/"

Tavros wasn't sure to what extent the thoughts of lowerbloods were in Starnette, but it seemed that the further they made their way into the humongous city, the more daring the vastly yellow-blooded population of police became.

The power given to them by their uniforms made their wandering hands and rude comments manifest loudly, and it took all Vriska had not to punch one of them square between his eyes. It was a group, about three, two women and one man, all of which were much too touchy for Vriska's taste.

"And what have we here?" The tallest of them all, a curvy woman with the most ornate uniform, signaling that she was the highest in authority, placed her hands on her hips. "Two purples and what else? Who is the highest amongst you all?"

Tavros, swallowing the nervousness in his throat, stepped forward, " 'Tis I, a brownblood."

She looked him up and down, taking a couple steps forward until she was quite close in front of Tavros, then suddenly grabbed his cheeks between her thumb, index finger and middle finger to roughly jerk him towards her face. She stared into his eyes, Tavros stiff in her grasp as Vriska strained to hold her tongue. When the yellowblood gauged that Tavros was, indeed, a brownblood, she let him go before waving her two lackeys forward, "Frisk them."

The bronzeblood made a sound of indignation, frankly annoyed that they were being searched for any reason, "But I am a /copper!/"

"Listen, dollface, this is all proper Starnetian procedure." She leaned over, and it became quickly apparent that the 'frisking' was more of groping, and Tavros squirmed in her roughly scaling hands. On one occasion, her hand smoothed between his thighs, and he hissed sharply, "That will be /enough./"

People, mostly on the other side of the street, watched as a blueblood quietly threatened to rip the arms off anyone that touched her inappropriately, but their focus was on the little brownblood that was being improperly searched. "You can frisk the purples," The forming crowd snorted among themselves, "But a warmblood is out of question."

2014-08-11 00:08:09
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The train ride progressed pretty quickly for the purple bloods as well, though faster for Eridan who had the fascinating Kanaya to listen to. He, like Vriska, was just as interested in how she’d come to run her own business even through daunting difficulties. He found her incredibly impressive and a joy to listen to. He hoped that these kinds of friendships would become more common when this whole quest was complete and some equality was reached.

Whenever he wasn’t chatting with Tavros, Gamzee read his book on the train. It would have gone quicker if he hadn’t been worrying about his counterpart, who looked pensive throughout the journey. All he wanted was to comfort him a little, even if it wouldn’t do much good because things wouldn’t be over until they were over. Then they were at the station, and everything got packed away again before they shuttled off after Kanaya through the, honestly underestimatedly gaudy city.

The newness of everything was actually a little disgusting to behold. The quick turn around in design had to cost a fortune, so it was wasteful as well as completely tacky. It ended up being easier than Eridan thought to keep his head down as Kanaya had suggested; the decor so bright as to give him a headache. He only kept his temper at the insults by keeping his thoughts overly pompous, mostly finding fault with their lack of real style and sophistication and thinking about all the wonders of the sea that he could see any time he wanted and they would never get the chance to.

The insults were actually kind of amusing to Gamzee, a lot of them being surprisingly new. He’d made a game for himself in the other city for when days got especially bad. It was sort of like derogatory bingo, where he’d pick out how many new ones they could come up with, and how many of the most common ones were used. Certainly he’d never heard the one where apparently violets didn’t wear clothes. It was also ironic that they’d called Vriska a barbarian. He wondered how she felt about being on the other end of that, though without any malice; but it was a strange coincidence. All the training comments were kind of funny for their own reason, as it wasn’t Tavros at all who had perhaps made him preternaturally calm, but indirectly all the abuse of other warmbloods, little good that it ended up doing him. The depth of expected incivility made him wonder if these people had ever even seen a colder blooded troll that was lower than green before.

The police approach was more nerve wracking though. He stayed quiet through the ordeal, flashes of protective anger flickering in his mind when the officer was touching Tavros roughly. The frisking of himself didn’t bother Gamzee much, even though both of the other two went over himself and Eridan, obviously they were a big threat, or they just wanted to humiliate them more. The pair certainly weren’t gentle about it, getting in any small damages they could inconspicuously. Eridan cringed horribly when they touched his gills, something completely inappropriate and painful from their roughness. He regretted reacting though as the second, obviously informed by the first, did the same only worse. The attempted riling of the landdwelling purple did nothing though, and he hardly reacted to their minorly rough treatment.

It was when Tavros hissed at the yellow touching him inappropriately that he actually reacted to something, stepping up closer to the copperblood protectively. Sure it didn’t look the best but he was ‘hired’ to protect him wasn’t he? He growled a little to get her attention away from Tavros. He couldn’t care less what they did to him, so long as they didn’t pester and abuse his matesprit.

There was only the briefest hint of fear in her eyes before she stood and slapped him hard across the face, not at all careful about scratching with nails, and shoved him back a step. “Learn your place, scum blood! You!” she turned to Tavros, “control your animals!” She barked at her subordinates, and when they reported that the group was clean they left in a huff. She’d been ashamed to openly show fear, and left quickly after to save her own face. The brownblood could make a fuss about such matters; otherwise she would have done more to that upstart purple.

Lucky again, Gamzee thought, sure he’d been in for much worse. He’d probably get it for that later, but at least they weren’t touching Tavros anymore. And it had felt kind of good to stand up to them for once. He was almost smiling a little at the exhilaration, but kept from it just barely. After their way was clear they could keep moving on to Kanaya’s friend’s place.

2014-08-11 01:36:36
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There was obvious apology on Kanaya's face; she had never meant for this to happen, and yellows seemed to gloss right over her on normal occasions. It was the suspicous nature of them all, it seemed; having such a large group traveling together did not look safe, especially with coldbloods. "I am so sorry, dears," She murmured, "Come long, let us hurry to Sollux's."

Tavros spent the entire time on the way to the apartment with a hardened determination in his eyes. He assured Kanaya that this was not even close to her fault, and Vriska, quite near to the decision that she was going to chop up every yellowblooded policetroll in the vicinity, simply stomped along with Tavros. The apartment complex, just as horrifyingly tasteless as the remainder of Starnette, was several stories high and quite wide, giving the impression that the apartments inside must be rather large, not that Tavros expected any differently. But, without much thought, he just followed Kanaya, itching to hold Gamzee's hand but refraining; however, he did fuss over him incessantly, using one of Kanaya's handkerchiefs to gently dab at the blood that bubbled to the surface from the clawing to his face, "What a brute!" He had growled, "And they say you are the /violent/blood. Rubbish, absolute rubbish!"

His anger had substantially diluted by the time they actually got to Sollux's apartment. Kanaya, having a key on her and not exactly giving him much in terms of manners, simply unlocked the door and stepped in, giving an excitable, "Hello, Captor, dear!"

2014-08-11 02:27:14
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As they continued walking, the two purples kept close together behind the other three. Eridan was quite out of it from the experience, sensitive gills still burning sightly from the harsh handling. Gamzee however didn't seem all that down in spirit, and smiled a little at Tavros's fussing.

"It ain't so bad, Tavbro, had worse. Are you okay? She manhandled you some. And don't worry over the scratches; they aren't deep, they'll heal up in no time," he was actually a little cheery sounding, especially as they had now gotten to the building, but concerned that she'd hurt Tavros even though he seemed fine as ever, if a little angered. It was still so sweet that he was fussing, something Gamzee suspected he should have expected from the other but wasn't at all something that had really ever happened before.

As they entered Eridan stuck close to all of them, hoping that introductions could be over soon so maybe he could find some cold water to rinse over his neck. Seeing his somewhat pale brother in some distress, Gamzee nudged him gently and smiled a little, which was returned shortly afterward by the seadweller. At least they could all commiserate on the brutality, as none of them had really gotten out of it.

2014-08-11 02:55:51
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A thin young man appeared from an undisclosed room off towards the right, a stack of papers in his arms as he looked over at all the people now crowding his apartment. Kanaya closed the door behind them all, cheery as ever as she set down her heavy tote in the living room. Sollux looked mildly distressed, -he was never a fan of many people, and hardly anyone could get close to him besides Kanaya- but the jadeblood assured him that these were all 'good natured, wholesome people.'

The introductions were made quickly, the proper bows and curtsies demonstrated before Sollux rubbed at his red and blue eyes. He had a disheveled appearance when he was not in the standard uniform denoting his government job, his shirt a little too loose and his trousers something held by just a draw string. He was barefoot and exhausted, and the gruffness that Kanaya had spoken of before was not lost on this one. "Alright. What's the course of action, Kan?" He questioned, his voice having a bit of a lisp to it, "I have work tomorrow. Am I taking you and your whole fucking squadron?"

Kanaya rolled her eyes, "Dramatic as always, I see. Before we get to plans, we should give both Gamzee and Eridan the proper attention they deserve. The policetrolls were particularly rough today."

"They make the rest of us look bad," He spat, giving a shake of his head as he sat down his stack of papers on the coffee table. His apartment was the epitome of an organized mess; papers and maps and blueprints sprawled over every open space, but they were placed in such a neat manner that it was never haphazard. It just seemed that there was an abundance of work related material, and his uniform, a black and white ensemble, was folded neatly on the loveseat. "Come on - Gamzee and Eridan, right? Let's get you patched up, I guess. Before you run off to your dooms or whatever it is Alice has you up to." He led them to the bathroom, where Kanaya followed and instructed Tavros and Vriska to not mess with a single paper - he would definitely figure it out if they did. She assisted with Eridan's gills, taking a cloth and drenching it in cool water before placing it over his sensitive gills, "Awfully sorry, dear," She shook her head, "We may be of the 'Problem Castes', but these policetrolls are savages."

2014-08-11 03:13:04
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Though he was slightly gruff, Gamzee didn't much mind, especially at the comment of the police making the rest of them look bad. So he wasn't going to be like that, which was reassuring. How tired their host looked was something else all together, and since he wasn't really a named member of the quest, Gamzee thought he might make himself useful around the place if allowed. Certainly he could cook, and while Tavros was busy with matters of state perhaps he could do other chores.

Eridan was thankful for the nicer attention. "It's fine, really. They've probably never seen a sea dweller, probably better that they haven't or they would have gone for them right away." He was quick to take the cloth and press it down himself. He was a little protective of them now, feeling a bit foolish for expecting anyone to know that gills were an off-limits area of touch. It almost always hurt and could mess with breathing under water, and had become a cultural taboo early on in their society. It made him a little purple in the face with embarrassment. "Sorry, Kanaya, I'd let you but... it's not something done. Another cultural difference."

Pulling out the same salve that he used on Tavros's scratches and a smaller of the same healing mushrooms which he split with Eridan, not needing much himself, Gamzee patched himself up quickly. He thought he hardly needed anything, really, just touching the worse areas with some of the poultice while the fungus got rid of the small stinging sensation and stopped the small scratches from bleeding anymore. After the small amount of mushroom and cool water Eridan felt back to normal, too, so headed out towards the others with Kanaya and Gamzee.

2014-08-11 03:35:35
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The cultural difference made her flush in embarrassment, "Oh, dear me, apologies, Eridan. Good grief," She was quick to turn the small moment of flustered emotions into a joke to ease tension, "You would think someone would write a book detailing just how different land and sea dwellers are - it would cut down on these moments ,would it not?"

When they all returned, Tavros immediately rushed to Gamzee's side, fussing over him and pressing kisses all over his face. The pent up emotion was good to release; all the affection he had felt was nice to let go of in a safe environment. "My poor darling," He cooed, "How do you feel? Are you alright? Let's get you, some tea."

Kanaya had mentioned underground tunnels to Sollux over the phone, and he had searched every book and map and blueprint he had try to find a clear view of them, but the most he had gotten was, according to a book 'a series of unfinished subterranean tunnels meant for war purposes.' There was an entrance someplace by the Parliament's wing, which was close to where Sollux worked. But he was still not sure how Alice would go about investigating that. Kanaya fixed tea, and one would have thought that she was almost being rude with how she moved around his hive with ease, but she was so familiar with the place that had never changed in so long, along with coming to a mutual understanding that Sollux's hive would always be Kanaya's home, that she felt compelled to move as she wished. She came into the kitchen area with the tea, the kitchen much less messy than the living room, and she waved over all her friends to relax some before what was to come.

Vriska walked into the kitchen and tried her magic, but could manage only sugar cubes; she was too far to pick up a cup or stir her drink, much to her disappointment. After thanking Kanaya and Sollux for their kindness and hospitality, she sipped her tea and watched as Tavros contemplated over his.

2014-08-11 03:49:10
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Giggling at all the sudden affection Gamzee hugged Tavros a little and grinned. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Look, not bleeding anymore, probably won't even be noticeable by tomorrow. Don't feel it at all, Tavbro. ...I think you need tea more than me." He thanked Kanaya and Sollux for the tea and stayed next to his worried matesprit, reassuring him with honest happy smiles, really quite chipper.

Also thanking them for the tea and general hospitality, Eridan sipped his tea as they talked about plans. It was easy to tell that Kanaya was comfortable here, and that helped them to relax too. Surely anyone who was fond of Kanaya couldn't be bad, and it was kind of sweet to see them interact so familiarly, especially with the aloof grouchiness of the other. Their differences played off one another adorably.

Probably Tavros, with whoever he brought along if anyone, would need to sneak in the first time with Sollux's help getting into parliament unless they could find a different entrance from the supposed unfinished plans. Obviously the queen had her tracks of hiding this knight covered rather thoroughly. Certainly the initial finding and getting in stages of finding the tunnels were somewhat challenging, but what about the interior? Would there possibly be something set up to waylay any curious parties? That might need to be prepared for.

2014-08-11 04:09:24
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"The problem is," Sollux began as he reviewed a set of blueprints, "This particular entrance in Parliament looks like its just been built atop it. The entrance itself is covered by flooring."

Vriska, an expert at breaking into places or finding hidden entrances, -all her time searching for treasure would pay off somehow- she shook her head, "Hidden, but still present. There is a way to get to it for sure. A loose floorboard or a bookshelf or something; Passageways like this always follow a pattern."

"But how are we supposed to get into this Parliament building if Sollux does not even work there?" Tavros questioned, thankful that Gamzee was remaining enthusiastic but he would be tense until there were some results, "How am I going to get inside?"

She hummed as she sipped her tea, then thought aloud, "Parliament conducts all the meetings about legislature, yes?"

Sollux looked at her curiously, though he had an idea as to what she was getting up to and he immediately frowned, "No way. Requesting a meeting with those old prunes and actually getting it /approved/ takes forever!"

"But what if Alice here showed them his map or something?" Vriska offered, "That's cause enough to have a meeting!"

Tavros nodded eagerly, "Yes! We will request a meeting today. Can we?"

With a deep, heaving sigh, Sollux rubbed at his chin and jaw before slowly nodding, reluctant to do so, "I suppose we'll have to. We'll know if it's approved by tomorrow."

2014-08-11 04:25:47
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"So if it gets approved...that will get you in to where you need to be to get to this entrance. But then how are you going to have time to find a way to get in and go to this meeting? Maybe not before hand but certainly after you tell them about your mission I don't imagine they are going to like you being around much." Eridan paused, contemplating and sipping his tea.

"I suppose because Vriska knows about such things, we could go in too, but how are we going to get out of being watched so we can get into the tunnels?"

Surely once they got into them it wouldn't be to hard to get out again. They could probably always run away. It was just hoping whoever was inside was too lazy to bother checking for weird occurrences going on, or patrolling the area, or having some sort of distraction.

2014-08-11 04:38:37
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Vriska pondered over this, as did Tavros and Kanaya, -Sollux looking none too interested- before she began, "Sounds like a good old-fashioned break in to me."

"A break in!" Tavros parroted in disbelief, "If they catch any of us, we would be culled for sure!"

"You fret for the wrong reasons," Vriska flipped her hair over her shoulder, a proud look on her face, "Alice, my primary past time before meeting you was treasure hunting, and that took a great deal of breaking and entering. I am pretty sure I could break into this Parliament building. Besides, it couldn't be as dangerous as the actual palace itself."

He looked displeased with her as he set down his tea, "And what? You plan on going alone?"

"It depends on what you all wish to do," She gave a hand gesture that read 'figure it out amongst yourselves' and went to sipping her tea. Nervously, Kanaya looked at the rest of her party, unsure how to progress without further opinion, "Too many of us is risky. Alice must go, definitely."

2014-08-11 05:01:54
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"One of us should go with you two, if you don't think a purple is going to draw too much attention. You should have some muscle along, as it were," Eridan recommended. He looked at Gamzee and then spoke for both of them. "Either of us would be willing to go, but I think you all should decide what's best."

Certainly the indigo would defend Tavros at all costs if it came down to it, and he was tough. Eridan knew Vriska better and actually had some fighting experience if it came to that. Really it depended on if they should go at all. Eridan wondered if he wasn't supposed to, remembering a small amount of the riddle 'thank Hatter and Hare' ...perhaps they were destined to get caught but help Alice escape anyway? He hoped that dark thought was not prophetic, he had a lot to live for.

Nervous about going, and not thrilled that Tavros /had/ to go, Gamzee sat and waited for their pronouncement. His mood had generally gravitated toward neutrality, the initial happier attitude really only as a reassurance to Tavros that he was fine. He'd been so worried about just that little thing, he wondered how he'd react if something worse happened.

2014-08-11 05:14:36
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All eyes fell to Alice, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He couldn't afford to mess up now, so he thought logically as opposed to emotionally. Out of the two, Eridan seemed better at keeping quiet and stealthy, so he nodded to the sea dweller, "I would like for you to come with me." It was still an act of mild affection, though - he did not want Gamzee to get hurt again, it would be too much to handle.

"We still have to request a meeting, though," Tavros rubbed at his eyes, feeling exhausted already, "The Parliament seems to be the step just below, the Queen?"

Kanaya nodded, "That is correct. If you can slide into Parliament's good graces, perhaps you can see the Queen relatively quickly."

"Absolutely," Vriska sipped her tea in such a ladylike manner that it seemed at odds with her personality, "How about you and Sollux go ahead and request the meeting, and Marchie and I will pour over these blueprints, yeah?"

2014-08-11 05:24:28
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Gamzee figured that would be the decision, and didn't mind all that much. It was actually reassuring to know that Vriska had pale leanings toward his matesprit in a case like this, as she would make sure the copper blood was alright. He was a bit worried about all of them, though, as it would be dangerous. Hopefully Sollux would be kind enough to let him cook for the lot of them, so at least he could keep busy while everyone was away assuming they got approval for their visit.

Nodding, Eridan drank his tea and nodded a second time at his ex-kismesis's suggestion. They'd need to know the tunnel system and likely places for 'housing' someone within it if they were going to go about this mission as efficiently as possible. He set his finished cup of tea down and waited for Sollux to take him and Vriska to see these blueprints before getting up to follow. He was a little nervous but more determined about the task at hand. He would like taking a more active part, especially if everything went well.

2014-08-11 05:45:52
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Tavros nodded, hopping out of his seat after he finished his tea, then pressed a kiss to Gamzee's lips, offering him a soft smile before letting him go. Sollux almost made a snide comment, -as he was prone to do- but Kanaya gave a rather quick smack to his arm before he could. "Do be safe, dears. It is right near the midday meal, I am sure we will have something splendid for you both when you return."

Sollux nodded and pulled on the coat of his uniform, checking his pocket to ensure that he had his identification card. He pulled up all his blueprints and a few helpful maps from the living room, giving them to Vriska and Eridan, then took his keys and left with Tavros.

Kanaya looked to Gamzee, giving a nod to the kitchen, "Would you like to take a look-see, dear?"

Vriska peered at all the blueprints once she spread them on the kitchen table, her mouth a tight line as she pushed her bangs from her face, "Seems to me that this isn't even close to what all the tunnels are."

2014-08-11 17:54:16
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Nodding eagerly, Gamzee headed toward the kitchen with his bag. "You don't think he'll mind if we store stuff temporarily?" he asked, removing food from his bag. He thought he'd make something a little lighter for lunch, probably mostly sauteed vegetables and rice....a stir-fry perhaps. He'd save more elaborate dishes for later when they all needed to settle down from stressful days. "Does Mr. Captor like the same sort of foods you like?"

"I'd doubt it would be...if they want to keep this person hidden their not likely to make it easy...do you think there might be a different entrance if we extrapolate what we've got from these blueprints?" Eridan mused, looking closely at what they had and starting to memorize paths.

2014-08-11 18:12:15
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She shook her head, "Of course not! He may be a little rough around the edges, but he certainly isn't rude." Not /too/ rude, anyway. "Ah, mostly. His food is always much plainer, but you may want to fix him only a tiny portion. He tends not to eat much." Kanaya fondly remembered the days when she cooked for him, and Sollux would only eat about half of what she fixed; she learned to only give him half-servings so that he would eat it all, "His tastes are the finickier versions of mine, dear."

"Tunnels like this warrant many different entrances," She pulled a ribbon from her pocket and tied her hair up as she scrutinized the blueprints carefully, "I think most, if not all, would be beneath buildings to inhibit use. There may be a couple out someplace, perhaps by stables or something where no one would think to look."

2014-08-11 18:41:31
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The self-designated cook smiled shyly as he put things away. "Just didn't want to impose none," he said, putting things that he didn't need away in the icebox. He pulled his hair back neatly before washing his hands and the vegetables, then found a cutting board and chopped some onion, which he caramelized while chopping other veggies. Shaved carrots and sliced zucchini, peas, and green beans got added to the mix as he started up rice, then spiced the vegetables, covering the pan so the juices wouldn't evaporate away so there could be a sauce at the end.

"It might be worth it to overlay the maps and see if there's a better exit route than going back out where we came in, especially if we'll be taking this cherry blood with us." Eridan looked at the maps intensely, trying to find a possible alternate route.

2014-08-11 19:03:40
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As mildly meddlesome as ever, Kanaya peeked around Sollux's hive and, as she thought, his respiteblock was an absolute mess. Not the organized dishevelment of his living room, but an absolute pigsty. His clothes were strewn about, among other things, and, a bit annoyed, she began to clean up. It would do him some good to have a clean room.

Vriska wrinkled her nose, "Some of these tunnels do not match up with others. Look at these blueprints," She set out two sets, pointing at them with a contemplative look, "Before we lay the maps out, we should figure out the timeline of these blueprints. The sweep number is in the bottom right corner, I believe."

2014-08-11 19:10:22
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While things cooked Gamzee straightened up the little he had used, washing what he didn't need anymore and putting the instruments away where they had been after they were dried. He got out enough plates and utensils for the lot of them, and read a little between checking the food and waiting for the pair to get back.

Eridan went through the blueprints and ordered them by date. He looked to see if the maps had dates, too, and put those in order if they did. "Things change so much around here the most recent things will probably be he most useful, assuming these haven't been tampered with to be deceptive. Though maybe they're too arrogant to be that clever."

2014-08-11 19:19:31
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Sollux and Tavros returned shortly, and it seemed that it actually took longer to get to the palace and back than it took to request a meeting with Parliament. Sollux was familiar with the process, which shaved off an extra ten minutes or so, and Tavros, growing exasperated, was glad to be going back to the other's hive. Like Kanaya had described, Sollux was a bit surly at times, but he displayed some kindnesses for Tavros that he had not been expecting. He held doors open for him and let Tavros know that he would do all he could to assist him - if anyone disliked what warmbloods were doing, it was a warmblood himself.

Back at Sollux's hive, Vriska was growing annoyed with the tunnels. The earlier blueprints depicted a vast system below the palace, but more recent blueprints showed only the small portion that was by the Parliament building. They had come to the conclusion that the tunnels were still there, just no longer detailed in order to sway more modern public. "I doubt they would destroy the tunnels for a public that didn't even know they existed."

2014-08-11 19:35:41
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Gamzee was just finishing up as they got back, thickening the sauce with the vegetables and fluffing the rice. After everything looked acceptable to him he called to the group that food was ready, serving the just returned Sollux and Tavros first as they ended up being closest and least distracted. He waited until everyone else had food before serving himself.

"No, I doubt that. The older tunnels might not be as well watched if they're not blocked off. They might assume no one would look back much further than the present... c'mon, let's go eat something, smells pretty good." The seadweller tore his companion away from the maps, sensing her annoyance at the charts before them and their incongruity.

2014-08-11 19:48:59
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Reluctantly, Vriska moved away from the maps and blueprints, but her frustration was borne from determination to understand the tunnels better. She almost felt as though the answer to it all was right there in front of her, but it was difficult to discern just what would be safe and what wouldn't be. Lunch did smell good, though, so she allowed her mind to be occupied by food.

Tavros, before he could fawn over his matesprit, was being served food, and his mouth watered as he looked over his plate eagerly. "Ooh. This looks yummy, 'Zee." He grinned and sat down at the table, fully intent to lavish him in affection once he was finished. Kanaya appeared shortly, giving a playfully annoyed look to Sollux, who was taking his plate with a surprised 'thank you' to Gamzee. He knew what she was up to and told her, a bit annoyed, "You didn't have to clean up my respiteblock - I'm not a wriggler."

"Yes, but without me here to look after you, you will continue to act like one." She took a plate of food from Gamzee, giving him a motherly pat on the back, "Many thanks, dear, looks incredibly appetizing."

2014-08-11 20:04:09
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Smiling as he served everyone, Gamzee turned a little purple at all the compliments and thanks. "Uh, don't mention it, I like to, it's fun," he replied to Kanaya. Really it was more than fun. He found it incredibly fulfilling to cook, especially for more than just himself. After Hatter and Hare were served and sat down, he joined them, tucking in politely and not really looking at anyone, still a little embarrassed at their niceness.

2014-08-11 20:23:48
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After taking his plate and sitting down with Vriska, Eridan contemplated the maps in silence. They might need to do some scouting around the city to see if less conspicuous ways of entering were feasible. They'd need to talk to Sollux after lunch since he knew the city better than they did, but he didn't want too talk over lunch. They all needed a break to enjoy their food instead of agonize constantly.

2014-08-11 21:10:39