Cherubplay

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"Yes, yes, we ought to head to bed," Tavros agreed, saying his good nights to his friends and hearing them in return, leaving the room and waiting just outside it for Gamzee.

Vriska stretched some as she gave a 'come along' gesture to Eridan, holding his hand for the very brief walk to their own room, feeling particularly affectionate the later it got. "Are you excited for the meeting tomorrow? It'll be different from anything we've really experienced," In their room, she was undressing, pulling on something comfortable and lounge-worthy, "Being the center of attention for a positive reason as opposed to being monsters. They won't just think, 'oh, the criminal and the seadweller, how /perfect./' "

As they all filed out, Kanaya moved into the bathroom briefly to wash her face and other such ablutions while Sollux dressed into something comfortable and wondered if Gamzee's grandmother would allow them to do some laundry while still in Rial. He didn't think much about undressing and redressing in front of Karkat, who he thought wouldn't be looking much to begin with, but Kanaya giggled as she peeked out and saw Sollux pulling a different shirt on.

2014-11-29 21:39:38
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Sollux was actually mostly right. Karkat thought it was probably indecent to just watch someone unsuspecting of affections directed at them. So he really did keep his eyes to himself. What would the point be anyways? So the mutant changed into more comfortable clothes himself before relaxing back into the mattress. He was too damn tired to even bat an eye at Kanaya's giggling, instead getting comfortable and ready to sleep at any moment.

"That difference will be quite nice! There might even be other seadwellers and perhaps some other pirates. Certainly other blues. You must like not getting looked at strangely all the time." He had other seadwellers where he got to experience being in a place he wasn't an outlier. But Vriska didn't get that much on land. It was warm enough to him he didn't bother with a nightshirt, just loose pants.

Gamzee followed Tavros out, smiling contentedly as he followed along to their room. "Taaaavbro," he half sing-songed quietly. He was just affectionate, not really having anything to tell him.

2014-11-29 22:22:23
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Kanaya, reasonably concerned, stood beside Sollux in the bathroom while he brushed his teeth, thinking Karkat to be asleep, "Captor, honey, your standoffish nature is hindering your red quadrant."

He shot her a look.

"He is interested in you, and you are interested in him, right?"

He spat into the sink, "Well, sure. But I am also interested in getting to the West, rebuilding an orphanage... Oh, and what was that last thing...? Yes, right, /overthrowing a fucking government./ Romance is cute and sweet and all, but I would rather get the heavy artillery out the way so I could actually give him the type of attention he deserved. Otherwise, it would just be wrigglershit."

Kanaya gave a soft smile, "You are much sweeter than we give you credit for."

"That I do," She agreed, slipping into her bed and stretching her arms over her head, "People give me all types of snooty looks for this eye of mine. I have half a mind to say they're jealous." Vriska laughed, pulling her hair down and keeping her hat aside as she tugged her fingers through it, "Aye, Marchie, I think we're both due for a hair trimming. Let's give a whack at it tomorrow, yeah?"

The brownblood smiled at him, returning the singing happily, "Gamzeeee~" It was cute that he would sing his name like that, and once they were in their room, he yawned and plopped onto his bed, "I am exhausted."

2014-11-29 22:48:32
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Since he wasn't paying so much attention, Karkat just heard their muttering dully and didn't internalize any of it. He was pretty much asleep, half covered up and snuggling into one of the pillows on his bed. His usually tense expression had relaxed as his breathing evened. Wow it was so nice to be comfortable somewhere. Sometimes realizations like that would just hit him when he didn't expect it. A deep thankfulness that he wasn't incarcerated in that tunnel anymore.

Eridan purred and hugged her loosely. "If they aren't jealous for your eye they might be for something else," he muttered, kissing her cheek. "Do you really want to trim your luscious locks? They're so nice. But I suppose they might get quite heavy with how thick your hair is." He nuzzled into it some. "One could almost get lost!"

"It's been a long motherfucking day." Gamzee nodded, unbuttoning his shirt and sliding off his pants without a care before stretching and hearing a few cracks from his joints. "Damn..." Yawning once, he dug through his bag to find something to sleep in. "Pretty motherfuckin' productive though."

2014-11-29 23:04:03
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The city hall was more imposing the second time around. Tavros had fully prepared for it to the extent of his abilities, and he felt somewhat more comfortable because he had met Mayor Irelie, but he found that the remainder of their council was still a vast unfamiliarity.

After the meeting, their group would disband - Vriska and Eridan off to the Screechlands, then Tavros and Kanaya off to Starnette while Gamzee, Karkat and Sollux held down things in Rial. As per usual, they were busy, but it was more travel that exhausted Tavros than the acts themselves. The secretary, glad to see them again, directed them to the second floor, which was an entire floor situated in a meeting hall style. The council found themselves situated on the right side of the room, two tiers of long raised desks with seats behind them: the higher tier held Mayor Irelie, an elderly troll named Gargan Norkah, otherwise known as the Social Director, along with other senior members of the council. Their assistants and junior members or apprentices sat in the tier below them taking notes and transcribing events.

There was an identical two tiers across from them where the Alice group was to sit and answer questions whilst the audience sat in the remainder of the room, watching intently or chatting amongst themselves.

Tavros, along with Kanaya, sat down and tried not to look too nervous or fidgety as everyone else filed in and sat in designated spots. Mayor Irelie cleared her throat to get everyone settled and quiet.

2014-12-13 19:34:44
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Once they were in the hall, Karkat took up a seat near Tavros. It would be better for them to be together since they were supposed to be the leaders or whatever. The mutant troll had been questioning this for a while though. Even if at first it had seemed like he was quite integral to this usurping scheme he wasn’t all that sure now whether he would really be needed. From what he’d heard of Aradia she seemed much better groomed toward leading than he did, especially since he couldn’t stand Starnette and she seemed much more able to put up with bullshit. But he would help since he did want just as much as the others for things to be better than they were and equality if at all possible. Karkat sat quietly, looking over at the mayor and waiting for her to start them off.

Gamzee sat where he sat, not really particular at that moment in time. He didn’t think they’d ask him much if anything at all. Tavros was the Alice and Karkat was pretty good at talking, so what did he really have to contribute that was any different that Kanaya or maybe Sollux couldn’t? They both knew how it was to live in Wonderland as much as he did. From the crowd he did pick out Equius and the troll next to him who he recognized from Tulgey City. They must have been the representatives from the Zodiac here to listen.

2014-12-13 20:12:36
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Fidgeting, Tavros perked up some as Mayor Irelie began:

"Welcome, esteemed Alice Group. We have here today the usual council members and their cabinet, as well as two Zodiac representatives, Mr. Zahhak and Ms. Leijon. Our audience is comprised of the upper echelon of our city, scholarly individuals and those tied to the Western portion of Wonderland." Mayor Irelie took a pair of dark rimmed glasses from her jacket's pocket and slipped them onto her face before looking over her keyboard, quill in hand, "Let us begin. What exactly is it that you all stand for? Compared to the last Alice, your protocol is rather different."

"Um," He tried not to shrink into his seat, looking at the microphones situated on the counter-like desk before speaking tentatively. "We wish only to bring equality, in the most peaceful manner possible."

Gargan pulled at the straight beard on his chin, asking, "What strides have you made to reach this goal? And what does 'equality' entail in Alice group's opinion?"

2014-12-13 23:16:56
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Karkat took over for Tavros then. "Equality entails that all are considered equals to one another without prejudice against blood color, place of origin, or gender." He'd thought of mentioning extra things, because why not if they were going to really do this? "Of course, the main issue for the moment is the hemospectrum, though I think we can all say we've notice that there are a multitude of problems in the West that the East ignores or are ignorant to, and certainly something should be done about that.

"Forgive me if it seems bold or idealistic, but we think the hemospectrum ought to be abolished, for it assists none but the very few on top. The only benefit in being a midblood is that they aren't harassed as often, unless one happens to be a 'problem caste' which brings up even more issues. As for strides, we are a small group and perhaps cannot make a large enough impact by ourselves, but we've tried to show, I think, that equality is perfectly reasonable. Since as you know our group ranges over the whole spectrum. To that effect we simply do things together, and during one of the queen's balls we went to perhaps change some ideas by talking with the other attendees who hopefully learned a little and even changed their viewpoints."

2014-12-13 23:32:42
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"It is no secret that coastal cities and islands are close to the West," Spoke Aweran Xaltha, the Economics Director, who tented her short fingers in thought, "What knowledge do you two leaders hold of their troubles?"

Tavros swallowed thickly, feeling his skin crawl in anxiety; being under the close eye of people so genuinely concerned for the world as he was felt more uncomfortable than he had previously anticipated. "The West's turmoil is that of slavery and pillaging begun of the Queen herself and black market humans." He looked down, then to Gamzee briefly to try to assuage his nervousness.

Mayor Irelie laid her chin in her palm, "You have an admirable goal. I believe this is unknown to you all, but Rial finds itself in alliance with the entire coast of Wonderland; from the Sun Sea to the Lunar Ocean. The Alice Group may have been small before, but consider yourselves expanded." She sat back in her seat, "We promise to assist your mission in any way conceivable, as will Zodiac. What say your experiences of problem castes?"

"No offense, ma'am," Sollux interjected, "But we are all a problem caste, by definition. I believe we understand any and all experiences of them."

She found herself laughing, motioning on to Gargan, who shuffled a hand through his hair, "Do not concern yourselves too heavily with the West...become aware of the barbarity with your own eyes, your own ears, but do not, I beseech you, become involved. The West and East are two very different places and must be approached as such. Had you any previous plans for the West at all?"

2014-12-14 00:11:21
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"We hadn't defined much in that way, but we were planning to go exploring a little, and had some idea of cities we might head to to see what was going on and perhaps talk with more people. Or there is a human group we were told of that doesn't enslave trolls and stands against it, I think. So we might talk to them if we could find them and see if that might be beneficial." At least that's what Karkat thought their goals were for the West visits so far. "I think most of what we were going to do is just see what was going on, though. It wouldn't be wise to stretch too thin when we aren't fully aware of the situation. Perhaps after the East is more straightened out that could become a priority, and hopefully won't be so bad once some things are fixed higher up."

Gamzee, sitting next to Tavros, smiled at him reassuringly before brushing the back of his hand lightly to comfort him a little as if to just let him know that he was there and that Tavros was safe and doing well. He was pretty amazed by the extent Rial was connected, though he supposed from all the refugees it made sense. They could come here because they knew they would be accepted or risk the allegiances they had made with the other coastal cities. Certainly they'd need support if any of the less friendly Eastern cities got it in mind to get rid of the population of lowbloods.

2014-12-14 00:36:50
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"Very true, Mr. Vantas - still, there is much need for proper supplies and the like." Mayor Irelie acknowledged, "Even looking requires food, water, transportation."

"I say we put them upon charter," Hummed Aweran, "A solid foundation for their furthered investigation prior to the massive changes they will inevitably construct here in the East."

Tavros furrowed his brows, "Upon charter?"

" 'Tis a legal term," Kanaya interjected, and the Defense Director, Nirawa Ventur, elaborated, "Rial will become your official sponsor, as will sister cities. Should you need money to cover expenses or most any item to ease any stresses of this journey, we will cover it." The middle aged man smiled genuinely, "'Tis our duty to Alice."

"You needn't provide too much in terms of transportation." Kanaya spoke, "Our seafaring duo has departed earlier to retrieve their ship."

2014-12-20 16:42:18
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"So I suppose all we'd really need is food and water. Of course part of that we can probably cover by fishing if that's allowed; I guess Eridan would know about that," Karkat mused. "Otherwise I don't think we need all that much. Perhaps we should draw up an itemized budget and approve it with you?" he suggested, looking at the council members though more specifically those who had suggested the charter arrangement. Karkat wondered if there would be anything else they would need besides food and transportation for the most part.

Figuring he could at least be helpful in that way, Gamzee was making up a list of the essentials they'd need for the journey. He was thinking economically, too, since they'd be using someone else's money. Lots of rice dishes, he figured, and potatoes. Foodstuffs that would keep for a long time in varying conditions. If they could fish that would be best, otherwise dried or cured meats would work best for some protein, or beans and legumes. It was coming together pretty splendidly in his mind.

2014-12-20 16:59:56
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"Whatever works best for you all," Agreed the mayor, who then looked over her next set of questions and asked, "There is much work to be done locally. Even if you all manage to abolish the hemospectrum, there will always be groups, such as HUED that will forever be working against you. Had you considered what you would do to keep them in line?"

Tavros hadn't really thought of that. He had considered HUED more of Zodiac's problem, but now that they were all in an alliance, of sorts, together, he figured that HUED was now just as problematic as before. And with the issue of destroying Kanaya's store in place, he was sure that at least the jade and the yellow would want justice for that transgression, and would jump to the harshest conclusion when dealing with them. He questioned, "In an instance in which we are the controlling force of Wonderland, or in some other situation."

"In an instance in which the Alice Group is the authoritative entity of Wonderland, yes."

2014-12-20 17:11:15
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"Hmm, well..." Karkat glanced over to Tavros. "I think if we could have some way to disable their magic then we could imprison them like normal. If that's not an option though, I'm afraid they'll just have to get dealt with. Since these people are extremists it's not like their minds will be changed all that easily. But I think execution would be a last resort if possible in the situation. If they don't act up it's not all that justified to just capture them all. It could probably be seen as a reversal of the system which wouldn't do, obviously... Though I'm sure the rest of you might have more concrete ideas about what to do." Karkat was sure what he said was probably on line with what Tavros would want, but he looked over at Sollux and Kanaya for more logistics purposes.

2014-12-20 18:11:05
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The questionnaire went on for a fair bit longer than Tavros thought it would have, but they asked much in terms of their principles and morals, and he was more than happy to let Karkat give the details as to what they stood for. They came to the conclusion that Rial and other such supporters would be friendly in all senses of the word, but there would be some further discussion about sponsoring. Soon enough, the middle audience filed out with newfound information, senior members and their apprentices and the like staying about the Mayor and discussing a bit with her before Mayor Irelie came forward to Karkat and Tavros and the rest with slightly furrowed brows.

"I would like to thank you all for attending and answering all our questions," She began, "I do urge you all to, should you find the time, take a brief visit through the allotted refugee sections of town. A visit from celebrities of sorts may boost morale - they have been through quite a lot, and while this is a safe haven, there is still much upon their plates."

2014-12-29 21:48:44
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"We were planning on doing something to that effect while Tavros and Kanaya were away," Karkat responded, gesturing at himself and Sollux. Gamzee would probably venture down there himself, but he'd be more in the Sphinx, raising money for the orphanage. A look of sudden realization came over his face as the purple thought about that, not able to remember from all the exciting and worrying things going on if he had ever asked the mayor about that plan or not.

"Uh, Mayor Irelie?" Gamzee piped up, though he lost a little of his nerve since other things seemed so much more important than what he was doing. "Did... we mention about the ...orphanage thing at all?" he mumbled. She was so damn intimidating being really big and blue and strong looking. Probably she could brake him in half if she wanted.

2014-12-30 01:08:33
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"Hm? Orphanage?" She hadn't remembered much mentioned in the ways of the orphanage, mostly worrying herself with diplomatic relations and how she could effectively hide any dents in money spent if in the case Tavros wished to be chartered and other cities noticed anything strange in taxes. "Orphanages here? In nearby cities?"

Kanaya shook her head, "Yes and no, ma'am. This is a special orphanage back in Starnette. I believe Gamzee would be best suited to explaining the importance of this orphanage and the ideas set aside for it."

2014-12-30 01:21:12
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"Um..." Gamzee hunched a little. "So there's this orphanage back in Starnette we all up and went to visit with Sollux 'cause he's getting his archetect on with the one wing what got wrecked. But it's all these kids who none of those hoity-toity types want 'cause they're all too low blooded, or Problem Caste, or got something not perfect about them..." He frowned, thinking about them all. "But of course their ain't no proper funds for it somehow... so the orphanage has to pay for it and Sollux is covering a hell of a lot of it himself, but there ain't enough so I was thinking maybe we," he gestured to the group, not even really thinking of just taking credit himself, "could do some fund-raising 'cause I can bake some and that might be an alright thing, I thought." It was just kind of a rush of words. He didn't want to seem like he was imposing on all this really important Wonderland saving business. "So if it's alright, I talked to Granma and she said I could use dad's old counter if it was okay to do that here."

2014-12-30 01:35:03
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The orphanage sounded mildly familiar, mostly because the mayor was positive some orphans from faraway Western towns had arrived there through Rial or a nearby city. She wished there was more room within her city to obtain those children and find legitimate hives for them, but Mayor Irelie was positive that they were nearly bursting at the seams with the influx of refugees and immigrants they had to begin with. "I see not the problem with it," She acknowledged after a few moments of thought, "I understand why there is no money being pushed forth for the orphanage - to get those types of institutions up is a tricky business. Unfortunately, though, I believe you must have a business licence to do any such selling here." She smiled sympathetically, "Perhaps you could operate under your grandmother's licence? It all seems much too technical for my tastes, but if you would like the ins and outs of all that, take it up with Ms. Aweran Xalta, our Economics Director. Technicalities and marketing will make much more sense coming from her than from me."

2014-12-30 02:23:04
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"Oh okay! I'll look into it!" He smiled a little. That was better than nothing and he could probably find out pretty easily if he'd be able to help. Now he had something to do and maybe he could keep busy during the absence of the others... he really hoped so since otherwise he had no idea what he'd get up to. Cleaning up his father's old house maybe.

After Gamzee had said his piece Karkat smiled, seeing him sorta happy. "Is there anything else we need to do here?" He asked the Mayor. They had to figure out Tavros and Kanaya's trip still, and just keep themselves busy with waiting for Eridan and Vriska's return, which should take the longest if things went smoothly in Starnette. With the refugees he thought perhaps they could help with getting new ones settled, or just talking to them and finding out more of what the situation in the West was like before they went there.

2014-12-30 03:00:51
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"Oh, no," The Mayor shook her head, moving some as if she had intentions to float about the room and speak with everyone present, "Just keep an eye out for social ventures - a boost in morale is always help-"

Before she could finish, though, the secretary from downstairs rushed into the room, face flushed and eyes wide, "Mayor Irelie! A terrible thing has happened!"

The Mayor, eyes narrowed, strode to the distressed woman, her lips pursed before she spoke, "Whatever has happened here?"

"The Knights," She gasped, "The Queen separated them into two groups - one is finishing their training, while the second returns to man Starnette."

"Well, where are they?" She snapped, "Are they already in Starnette?"

"Close," The secretary paced some, readjusting her glasses nervously, "The radio broadcast says they are a day from Su Jae Mal."

The blueblood pinched the bridge of her nose, muttering a curse, "At most, Starnette will be unoccupied for 30 hours."

2015-02-16 18:48:09
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Well that wasn't good. "If you and Kanaya are gonna all up and go, you gotta make it soon, Tavbro. Don't wanna be runnin' into those dudes no way, not even if you are all up and a highblood and all that," Gamzee said quietly with some concern. "'Specially with Ms. Kanaya with you, they'll all up and persecute the dickens outta her, you know. No motherfucking extra knights necessary for that."

Karkat was equally eager to get them back in one piece. "If you really must go you must go now, on the next train! And then get on the soonest one after you're done. It doesn't matter anymore if they know who's traveling, so long as you can get away." The mutant started herding the group out, waving to the mayor as they exited. She would understand what they needed to do now, and that politeness wasn't the most necessary in this case.

2015-02-16 19:18:58
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At the herding, the Mayor urged them to go off, and ordered the secretary to order a city-wide lock down. In a town full of coolbloods, they could never be too careful.

Tavros rushed out, scrambling to keep up with the urgency of his companions, and desperately looked to them for some sort of extra context. "Yes, of course, straight away, but when is the next, train? And what is Su Jae Mal?"

"Su Jae Mal was formerly a temple for the 12 Gods," Kanaya informed, "A massive place, truly, and nurtured Saints and Priests to spread spirituality through the land. It nurtured magicians of all sorts, you know. Psionics, communing, deathly communication, the whole nine yards. The uppity rich parents normally ship their magically-inclined children, if not already abandoned for adoption, to Su Jae Mal to hone their skills and eventually become Knights or other member of governmental occupation."

"I see," Tavros nodded some as they made their way out of the building, and Alice shielded his eyes some and Kanaya bit her lips. "If they are going to Su Jae Mal first, they may recruit some of the prodigies there for extra protection in Starnette. We really must hurry."

2015-02-16 19:32:21
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"Good thing we got ya all packed up this morning, Tav. Don't gotta spend much time getting all ready then." It took Gamzee some forethought to keep pace with the rest of them. His long strides could carry him pretty quickly, but besides for Sollux no one could keep up with that easily. Soon enough they were back at the hotel, and he and Karkat were sort of running the show. It wasn't that they wanted them to go, certainly not, but a hasty trip out would hopefully quicken their return.

"We might have to leave Rial quickly once you get back," Karkat mused to Kanaya as he looked over their room and made sure she had everything she could need. "If the queen is so worried she's only bringing half of the knights back, and stopping at that magic place first to pick others up, they might come looking. Hell, maybe her rash decisions bode somewhat well for us if we're able to out maneuver her and keep away from her forces. Perhaps it will look like instability, or like she's taking us too seriously. It could spark interest in the whole Alice Mission."

Once everything was ready for their departure, the group walked the pair to the train station to say their short goodbyes.

2015-02-16 19:43:53
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Everything seemed to be happening so fast. One second, Tavros was in his hotel room, pulling a pack over his back and hurrying out the door, next he was on the train, Kanaya next to him as they bid farewell to the beautiful Rial and headed to the chaotic Starnette.

Sollux, as per usual after Kanaya leaves him, looked somewhat lost and grumpy. He was without his moirail after such an elongated time together, and it was surely souring his mood considering the circumstances. Absently, he wondered how Gamzee would fare now that their group was so segmented. He was all alone in that hotel room, no matesprit, just himself and his thoughts. At least Karkat was here, he supposed. Sollux paced around the room, brows furrowed in deep thought as he figured that they may as well come up with a game plan for this orphanage baking stuff. Would they try to now that there was a panic about the Knights? Politically, it was an unwise move because most everyone would be scared shitless - on the other hand, it was a cunning economic move, as stressed people are more likely to indulge to keep the edge off. Still, he wanted to know what his companions thought and opted for sitting on his bed and writing out such plans in a small notepad he brought along with him.

2015-02-20 16:20:17