Cherubplay

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Hailing a carriage over was easy; Sollux stood on the raised cobblestone, his index finger and middle finger forming a signal of sorts that a coach driver immediately noticed. The pair of horses came to a stop in front of them, and Sollux waited for the attendant to hop off the carriage to assist them in getting inside. He paid for the carriage to the coachman, stating where they wished to go as the attendant, a copperblooded female, opened the door of the pale yellow vehicle. She gave a smile to Tavros, taking his hand with one of hers and balancing him with a hand to his back, watching carefully to ensure that his dress did not get caught anywhere. He sat happily inside the carriage, the cushions a soft creamy white and embroidered with pastel flowers. The attendant did the same with Gamzee, and with Sollux once he was done paying, then the carriage was off.

Tavros took hold of Gamzee's hand, looking out the delicately outlined window, the gold around it intricately engraved with vine-like designs. "This is really fun." He hummed, looking over at Sollux, who looked as normal as ever, "Thank you for letting us come along!"

2014-09-21 18:43:56
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Gamzee thanked the attendant politely when she helped him, unused to the kindness and wanting her to know he really appreciated it. It was going well so far, and he sat happily with Tavros, holding his hand with a smile as he looked around the vehicle too.

He thanked their yellowblooded friend too, glancing out the window at what they were passing by. The carriage didn't seem quiet as gaudy as everything else, probably because they were used all the time so had to endure more wear and tear. "Anything we should know before we get out?"

2014-09-21 18:52:59
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Sollux paused, looking out his own window before shaking his head, "No, I do not think so. Just give a short bow to the coachman when we get out, he's a bit of an older man. Just a spot of culture I'm not sure is replicated everywhere," He shrugged, "Same for the owner of the orphanage, she's this elderly woman so give a bow or curtsy when we greet her."

Tavros nodded, storing away that tidbit of information; that sort of thing didn't happen in Alternia, and not anywhere else he had seen so far. The ride was shaping up to take quite some time, and Tavros snuggled up against Gamzee's side since they were in a bit of a private section.

2014-09-21 19:05:31
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Nodding, he opened up his side to Tavros for the rest of the journey when he snuggled in. Draping his arm around the copper's shoulders in the usual fashion, he squeezed him a little with a fond smile. He vaguely recalled the gesture from when he was a child, but it was a long time ago.

He wondered what it would be like. Hopefully there would be no complications or problems. Certainly he hoped not to expect any, with them visiting for Sollux's job. And with so many witnesses there probably wouldn't be any shenanigans.

2014-09-21 19:13:54
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They arrived soon enough, the attendant hopping off the carriage and opening the door, offering her hand to the passengers as they got out. Sollux gave a quick bow to the coachmen, and Tavros displayed a curtsy before they turned to the orphanage. The area that was burned had long since been cleared out, simply dirt and some spare foliage. The children were outside, running about with some of the younger workers, their uniformed breeches and coats stained from their rough and tumble games. There were a few grubs out, as well, cared for by a plump, elderly redblood. They were in a wide crib with toys, swaddled in specially made clothes for their strange little frames, gurgling and hissing and chirping to each other. Some of the children remembered Sollux and waved politely, but many of them huddled away from the men that were walking towards them, finding Tavros and Gamzee to be frightening only on the foundation that they were unknown.

Sollux strode up to her with a kinder smile than usual, giving a small bow as she readjusted her glasses, "Oh, hello, honey! You brought some friends with you?"

"Yes, Mrs. Tourna. This is Tavros Nitram," He gestured to the brownblood, "And Gamzee Makara," He gestured to him, as well. "They are mostly here on visit but I actually have some work to do. Do you mind if I take a look around?"

"Not at all," She smiled widely, "The children are going to come in soon from playtime for lunch and tea. Are you all going to join us?"

Tavros nodded, "Oh, yes, of course. Thank you, Mrs. Tourna."

2014-09-21 19:44:19
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Bowing and thanking the driver, Gamzee looked around the field with the kids curiously. It was bigger than he'd expected it to be. How'd so many younguns end up without parents? It was a bit upsetting, though the looked well taken care of.

He bowed to Mrs. Tourna as he was introduced, remembering what Sollux had said about being a more old fashioned troll. He echoed Tavros's thanks, but was otherwise quiet. At the pleasant nickname to Sollux he vaguely wondered if she was just like that with all the trolls she knew or if maybe it was something else outside of Sollux's work. Obviously he wasn't going to pry, but it was sweet.

Sticking close to Tavros, a bit nervous himself, he wondered if all these kids were highblooded or if it was a mixed orphanage.

2014-09-21 19:58:01
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There were no red children, only browns, yellows and greens and a couple blues here and there. It was strange to see such a concentration of cooler bloods all mingling with warmer ones, but they looked to be friendly enough with each other. They played tag or leapfrog or played with a ball of some sort to whatever game they could figure out. Mrs. Tourna went to taking care of the grubs, and Sollux, deciding that he out to take some measurements and get to work, began with his tools and clipboard.

Tavros looked to Gamzee, offering a smile that he was about to couple with some words, but a little girl, yellowblooded with eyes like Sollux's, tugged on Tavros's dress, "Are you Alice?"

He peered down at her, and it suddenly clicked in his mind that the orphanage was not just for children in general but for those misfits. The ones with the psionics, the mental powers, the anomalies that their parents found unfavorable and gave them up. Tavros smiled, lifting a hand to ruffle her messy mop of black hair, "Why, yes, I am. Do you know about me?"

2014-09-21 20:06:25
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Well, the mingling seemed good to Gamzee, and if there were a few misfits maybe the kids would end up being more open minded since they'd know trolls they'd been perfectly good friends with.

He was kind of edged behind Tavros, almost hiding, except he was much too tall to. It wasn't that he wanted to, just that he didn't want to freak anyone out. He'd had a hard enough time with other kids when they were his age, always the lame one who couldn't play the rougher games because he might get a scrape or something. And then when he had gotten hurt and bled once... well it hadn't been the greatest experience he'd ever had.

So he let Tavros be most of what they saw, though he smiled softly, just to look a little nicer. He listened to the girl's talk, wondering what the kids had been told about the whole thing, or if it was just that she recognized his dress from the story books.

2014-09-21 20:19:41
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She suddenly whipped around, pulling up her breeches, -which were a half size too big- and pointed to a group of children that had been watching her interaction closely, "See! I told you he's the real thing!"

The children, shy now that they had been caught in their skepticism, did not meet her eyes and kicked at the ground with their boots. One of the taller boys, a normal teal by any accounts, frowned, "Y'don't hafta to be mean about it, Marcil."

The girl, Marcil, looked back up at Tavros again, then to Gamzee, gesturing for them to follow her to the group of kids. It was about seven or eight, all of varying hues and ages, the youngest having freshly pupated a couple weeks ago, -and still clumsily falling on his new, solid legs- and the oldest being a cutely chubby copper around five sweeps. Tavros followed eagerly, wondering what their shenanigans could be, his hand having interlocked with Gamzee's as he approached them.

"You look just like the human girl in all the books Tourna reads us." A navy girl, nearly purple, small and scrawny, sniffled and shyly fumbled with her hair, "I think you're prettier, though."

The group of children immediately nodded in agreement, and Tavros smiled, feeling somewhat embarrassed, "The old Alice and I are very different. Did you all know that I have, a knight?" He stood proudly, his free hand on his hip as he inclined his head to Gamzee.

2014-09-21 20:37:39
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"Tavros!" Gamzee whispered, blushing quite violet at the knight comment.

"But he doesn't have a shield or sword or armor or nothin'," one of the boys observed. "Not even a uniform."

One of the girls socked the boy in the arm lightly. "Not /all/ knights have shiny armor, silly. What if they don't wanna clank around and stuff? Maybe it's just back at their hive."

One of the older children looked critically up at Gamzee for a minute, brows wrinkled as a kid's could get. "Are you really a purple? You're not scary or nothin'. You just got real fluffy hair like all those pictures. Are you just real dark blue like her?" The kid pointed at the scrawny girl that had called Tavros pretty.

"Yeah, I'm really purple... we're not all scary, just those old warrior guys in the books. And they couldn't be scary all the time... I think their faces might have gotten too tired." Some giggled at that.

"What if their faces got stuck that way?" called one of the others with a laugh, "Like Tourna tells us if we grouch to much?" There were more hidden giggles at that.

"Well, best not grouch too much like she says, unless you want your picture in those books right next to 'em!" Gamzee smiled. It wasn't going nearly as bad as he'd dreaded.

2014-09-21 21:02:58
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"How'd you know he was a knight if he wasn't wearin' a uniform?" The oldest brownblood asked, brows furrowed in confusion, "What if he was just lyin'?"

Tavros shook his head, looping his arms around Gamzee's waist lovingly, "Untrue! Gamzee is a sweetheart that is always protecting me and taking care of me." He crouched down to their level, motioning for the children to come closer as he whispered, "You know he almost tried to stop the Jabberwocky?"

There was a sweeping answer of 'nu-uh's! and 'no way's! but Tavros nodded gravely, "The Jabberwocky was a fearsome beast! He, uh, nearly lopped off my arm if Gamzee had not patched me up immediately after."

There was still plenty of skepticism, and he unbuttoned his coat, pulling it over his formerly injured shoulder where a scar had already developed. "See? Jabberwocky scar. Without my knight's help, I would not be as pretty as I am now, huh?"

2014-09-21 21:14:50
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"Pff, you'd always be pretty Tavros..." he got down on his knees too, next to Tavros. "And, well, they are right, I'm not a normal knight. I don't have any of those knight things, but you don't really need those... just gotta have the insides of one, like Tav here said," he smiled over at his matesprit.

The kids thought the scar was pretty impressive, looking with wonder. "But what happened to the Jabberwocky? Did you kill it?" one child's eyes widened and she put their hands over her mouth, wide in surprise.

"Nope, he's just like an extra big bark beast. He's real friendly now, he was just scared of people 'cause they thought he was a monster, right? But he just wanted some friends." The girl smiled, happy the strange sounding creature was happy now instead of hurting people.

The littlest wriggler came up to them, stumbling against Gamzee's side and using him for some support as he looked up at both of them. "You're the biggest troll I ever saw," he said to the purple, awed. He looked over at Tavros, "is he the tallest ever?" Obviously Tavros was the expert on such matters.

2014-09-21 21:28:18
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He smiled, seeing that they were really starting to make some impressions on their inquisitive minds, "The Jabberwocky is a darling. You should never kill or hurt what you do not understand, okay?" Just like the Jabberwocky, the persecuted violets should have never been killed simply because of a lack of communication and some already-instilled thoughts. It brought a sour taste to his mouth that he masked with the contrasting pureness of the children's delight.

"Absolutely," He nodded with a factual tone, "He is quite helpful with that height of his. Now all those tricky items, on high shelves can be reached." The children giggled at his words and a few of the smaller ones took to scrambling onto his back or playing with his wild hair.

The blueblooded girl from earlier, curiously, looked up at Gamzee and asked, "Are you Rialan?"

2014-09-21 21:35:22
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The purple was delighted with how this was going, smiling and occasionally giggling at the kids using him like a jungle gym. He looked down at the girl with a smile. "I don't think so, unless we lived there when I was real little before I can remember. My hive right now is in the Tulgey Woods. Has Rial got a lot of purples? Someone told us she'd been there just yesterday."

The littlest had a little frown as he wanted to ask another question and felt interrupted, so he was a little louder than expected. "I wanna be tall too! Can I be tall?"

"Uh, sure, when you grow up you'll be tall..." Gamzee said, wondering if that's what the kid meant.

"No, now! I wanna see," he reached his little arms up at Gamzee, who looked at Tavros questioningly to say 'what the bejeezus does this kid want?'

2014-09-21 21:57:42
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"Rial's all purples and blues," She said matter of factly, "I bet that's where all the violets in the whole wide world come from. I've never seen any violets before you, Mr. Knight."

The brownblood laughed sweetly, nodding, "Of course you can be tall! Look," Tavros lifted the boy, handing him off to Gamzee with an encouraging smile, "Gosh, wow, you are incredible. How does it feel to be a giant?"

Marcil stamped her foot, "Aw, rats! Tourna's taking in all the grubs, that means we hafta go in now," She grumbled some, taking the hand of one of the smaller children as the other workers scooped up tinier kids or some of the somewhat weaker ones into the remainder of the orphanage. There were only two buildings, linked by a hallway with sturdy windows. It was clear now why the buildings caught fire so easy, being of wood and some reinforcements, but not much else.

Tavros noticed Sollux packing things up into his messenger bag, scribbling away on his notepad and being encouraged to come inside by a sweet looking lady that looked very much like Mrs. Tourna. He acquiesced to her and joined them all in the cramped space of the two-building orphanage. The washroom, kitchen, and dining hall all had to be placed into the largest building, while the beds and bathrooms were placed in the second building on the other side of the hallway. The children zipped back and forth between the buildings, gathering items like stuffed animals or blankets or caps or different breeches, many trying to get Gamzee and Tavros's attention.

2014-09-21 22:10:53
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As Gamzee had stood up, telling all the kids climbing on him to hold tight, delighted squeals filled the air before Marcil's announcement. The littlest wriggler, that Gamzee had put on his shoulder and held there tightly while one of his tiny hands took a hold of the purple's hair for extra balance, didn't answer Tavros right away. His tiny face was so full of wonder and he kicked his little feet in delight as he clung to Gamzee, eventually looking down at the brownblood. "Awesome!" he said, almost reverent.

The other kids clinging onto Gamzee roped him in to carting them all over, so he actually led the way for once with Tavros. When they got to the building they either slid down him like a fireman's pole or had the kind purple give them a hand. The last was that smallest one, gently set back on the floor to totter off to do whatever the workers wanted of them before a meal.

Now that the initial encounters were over, Gamzee was much more comfortable with the kids who wanted their attention, interacting just as much as Tavros did. He decided he quite liked the group, and thought that when the time came instead of submitting genetic material maybe he could convince Tavros to adopt instead. Internally he kind of chastized himself for thinking about that right now, and the additional thought of how many they could support with whatever money he'd make with the idealized bakery. There were much more pressing matters he should be worrying about, like their immediate mission.

2014-09-21 22:27:06
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The workers apologized for the state of the orphanage, but Tavros reassured that they were doing splendidly for the turn of events. A few long tables were set up with bowls of soup at each seat with a folded napkin beside it and a thick cup of pre-sweetened tea, and a biscuit of some kind with jam for dessert. Most children went straight for the biscuit, eating boisterously as they spoke with one another, laughing and all fighting for time to speak.

Mrs. Tourna approached them with a kind smile, a grub crawling about curiously on her shoulder and nibbling on her hair, though she did not seem to mind in the slightest, "Have either of you had a chance to see the grubs yet? They are the cutest critters, but there is no room for them out here - I believe Halleo and Rinvah are feeding them now, if you would care to take a looksee."

Tavros nodded eagerly, excited to see the grubs, "Sure, yes, that would be lovely."

2014-09-21 22:38:23
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Gamzee nodded too after coming out of his contemplative reverie, taking Tavros's hand and following along to where Tourna led. He thought they'd done a good job for having to use so much less space. Hopefully the powers that be would let Sollux actually do his job for the kids. For goodness sake, he thought, they shouldn't be depriving others just because they were scared of them.

The grubs, as evidenced by the one munching on the elder troll's hair, were going to be quite adorable he thought. He wondered what Tavros was thinking about, or if he was just cruising along without thought. He'd have to ask him in the carriage back, he decided.

2014-09-21 22:46:35
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There were two cribs in the room holding all the beds. They were bunk beds to try to maintain some space, the cribs pressed against the wall with various toys twinkling above them like multicolored stars. The grubs, communers and psionics and blues with odd eyes or birthmarks, stilled together at the sound of the door opening, then relaxed as they saw Tourna. She placed the grub that was gnawing on her hair into the crib, then held out her arms inside it.

"Now, y'see," She began, watching the grubs lovingly, "You never want to just pick a grub up when he is playing or interacting with something, you may startle the poor thing. What you want to do is hold out your arms, straight and still, and let the little doll crawl up until you can cradle him." She demonstrated this with a greenblooded grub that blew raspberries as she crawled up Mrs. Tourna's arm. "Go on, try it. Tickles a might, but a pair of prospective parents like yourselves will get used to it, eh?"

Tavros felt a dark blush settle across his cheeks at that, and he said nothing to make her think otherwise as he bent over one of the cribs some with his arms out straight. As she had demonstrated, another grub, a slightly reddened copper, shimmied up his arm, making him laugh in ticklishness before cuddling him close. "Wow, I never knew that about grubs."

2014-09-21 22:59:26
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Oh, this was pretty exciting. He could only nod at Tourna's 'prospective parent' comment, not blushing like Tavros at all. He was really taking to the potential for fatherhood. Slowly, gently, he placed his arms like the other two had.

A little time after, a blue with a strange birthmark came up to him, sniffing before crawling up. He smiled at the little darling, with stick straight hair that still stuck out everywhere. Once it was close enough he held it tenderly, adoring the little thing. Damn, he never knew he liked kids this much, but geez, when they just crawled all over him like it wasn't a big deal it really made his bloodpusher soar.

The little one curled around in his arms, lying on it's back and wiggling it's tiny legs up at him. Rubbing the grub's tummy lightly with a couple fingers, the critter latched on, nibbling on one of his knuckles before catching sight of some of his curls, deciding it had to climb higher to investigate this new curiosity.

2014-09-21 23:12:03
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The grubs didn't talk at all, just babbled at one another or chirped, their mouths struggling to try to form words but ultimately giving up for silly speaking. Tavros had always liked being around children and enjoyed taking care of them, but now he was starting to consider adopting instead of sending off the genetic material. As the grub wiggled in his arms, Tavros giggled, watching as the tiny thing shifted to chew with his blunt teeth on his coat.

"Oh, aren't they delightful?" He questioned, absolutely overjoyed with all the grubs. Tourna smiled, her wrinkled face lightened by his enthusiasm, "I wish all thought the way you did, Alice. Most all the children here were, as they say, throwaways." She shook her head, smile fading, "It could be the smallest thing, a birthmark or impaired immune system or a limp or a lisp and the parents just ship them off to here. Isn't it so malicious? These poor sweeties, they cannot help their psionics or their mental instabilities or anything like that, and yet they are regarded so wholly undesirable by their parents, the ones that made them to begin with! My, my, my, the Starnetians around here, especially, have a standard that is unattainable, lads."

Tavros could not believe what he was hearing. The Throwaways. Every time he thought he understood Wonderland pretty fully, there was always something that surprised him, something new that was downright dastardly. "How could anyone do that to a child?" He remarked sadly, pushing back the grub's hair in his arms and kissing his forehead, "At least they all seem to get along here. Mrs. Tourna, you have done such a remarkable job, with this orphanage. Without your guidance, surely things would have fallen apart ages ago."

2014-09-21 23:31:21
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"At least it's not as bad as it used to be," Gamzee commented, carefully watching the little grub on his shoulder now as it sproinged one of his curls, giggling with glee at how it moved. It babbled loudly in his ear, pulling to watch the action again and again, eventually almost tangling itself in his thick locks. "Hehheh, guess I shoulda pulled those back." He let the little one crawl all over, guessing he was a pretty good playground and not minding at all.

"They all get to grow up here together and get a chance at life, rather than what happened when I was little. Ma always picked other kids up off the street and got 'em well before she got a few of her friends who could take care of them to come and get them. I remember they'd come from far away to take 'em with 'em to raise. Some secret hide out or other where they wouldn't be found. Had to keep that we were rescuin' them a secret all the time, since why else would you leave a kid on the street? Glad that doesn't happen anymore... maybe you got a couple of 'em sent through here? I dunno who the people she knew were, I was too small to know much."

2014-09-21 23:48:06
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"It really just depends," Tourna mused, briefly checking the diapers of the grubs in the second crib before determining them all to be clean, "Sometimes they are given while still a grub, or small child. Other times, I travel someplace or one of my children does, and they or I return with one or two. And, on rarer occasions, I will see a psi or a com throwing an absolute fit in an alley or some other dirty, dank place." She sniffled, wiping at an eye before the tears could start, "It just aches my bloodpusher to know people can be so cruel! It soothes me some to know that there are other places like this assisting the young. "

Tavros gently set down the grub into his crib, allowing a different one to crawl up his arms, then a second, and they traveled over his chest and shoulders once he cradled them, "Just dastardly, some people. But you are right, it is good that there are establishments such as these. Find solace in the fact that, uh, you are rearing decent, upstanding people."

2014-09-21 23:55:29
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The blue marked grub had decided that the top of Gamzee's head was obviously the best place to be, standing as tall as it could on it's six little legs and letting out a triumphant squeak. The other grubs looked over at this loud announcement, crawling closer to get a good look. "Uh oh. Good they're in the crib I guess. I think I may be too tall for the kids to handle, Tavros. They all like being high up..." That was only further evidenced by the grubs still in the crib answering with some other little noises of curiosity, looking at their companion who was nearly not visible in the mass of fluffy curls.

He put his hands up as a platform for the little grub to crawl onto so he could place it gently back in the crib. It went along for the little ride enthusiastically, but as soon as Gamzee's arms had touched down, there were others crawling up to check out the sights on this veritable troll mountain. The purple troll was delighted to be so popular, but was worried about the grubs falling or hurting themselves somehow.

2014-09-22 00:05:46
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"Ah, no no, this is not good, I do not think this is safe," Tavros, once he made sure the two grubs on him were safely snug on his shoulders, moved to take one of the grubs, who whined in protest. "Aw, I know, baby, but you are up too high! It would not be so good, if you fell off him," He soothed his whines and protests with little kisses as he deposited all three grubs back into their respective cribs.

Tourna, reasonably impressed with both Gamzee and Tavros's ease with children, questioned good naturedly, "So, what is the parental horizon like, hm? Are you two adopting, perhaps seeing how children are like here before you send off the material? Or, dare I say it, are you two looking at doing things the traditional way? I think they still do it that way in those human countries."

2014-09-22 00:21:32