[PRP] A Fine Specimen (Mirrims + Sonnie)

[seekingCylem]

Reisio's attitude made it clear to Oisier their twin was back to order. They stopped their fussing and joined Reisio in a mirrored pose. "Of course we can!" They agreed emphatically. They sneered down at this... Froggy with their one, good eye.

"Hmph! You should hope," they said, drawing out the word "hope" snidely. It would only be proper for an offending lowblood--er, low-er blood--to attempt to make amends for their terrible transgressions against a highblood. Oisier took another moment to make sure Froggy wasn't trying anything sneaky before making a pointing gesture with one finger. "Put it down."

Planariant adjusted their position so they were floating in the water in front of Sonnie. It wasn't like Oisier was going to leave their twin to approach a stranger on their own. Especially not after such an unsightly display!

Sypon

zeflamigo

 

[zeflamigo]

Sonnie couldn't help but shift his footing backward as the twins' lusus approached closer. Their lusus was frightening, they were frightening, this whole situation was frightening! Being confronted to it even more was testing Sonnie's composure.

Especially because Kermie, noticing his charge's fear, took another protective step forward. Sonnie stammered at this, words finally fumbling into "Stop! Stop stop stop stop!" He didn't want things to get any more tense than they already were.

Sonnie put the poultice down before Planariant. He removed his hands from the jar and took a wide step back.

"S-sorry..." Sonnie repeated, trying to be calm and unthreatening. "There's scary things out here. S-swampbeasts and daywalker things... But I think it's safe to say we, uh, we overreacted! You aren't scary... right?" He smiled unconvincingly.

Sypon

seekingCylem

 

[Sypon]

Reisio circled their jaw a bit, calming the last of the stinging wound. “Mm.” It was a powerful feeling, outnumbering and outclassing someone.

Planariant and Flatparent seemed to consider the poultice before the latter fluttered over it and collected the jar in its frills. There was a quiet pop as the jar was opened.

“Are we scary, Oisier? Do we need to be?” They mused, baring their teeth. They had lightened up a bit since the slap, a dangerous chemical reaction of spite and smugness. Reisio shuffled in the swamp, sense of superiority fortunately dulled by the uncomfortable sensation of swamp flora underfoot. They seemed to consider something. “Where do you live, Froggie?”

zeflamigo

seekingCylem

 

[zeflamigo]

Sonnie thought very quickly for a response. He couldn't give away his hive— not when that hive was in a top secret swamp village home of the rebellion? Surely there was something else he could say... He looked around at the ground in front of him.

"Mud." Sonnie said. "Mud hut." He explained further.

"Forest outskirts. Hard to find. Won't go into town..." He looked over at Kermie, gears still turning on this lie. "... not since the incident." Sonnie shook his head, looking to the ground so his obvious lie wasn't plain on his face.

seekingCylem

Sypon

 

[seekingCylem]

Oisier inclined their head approvingly at Flatparent and Planariant's productivity. Good on them for taking the lead in the retrieval of the poultice. It wasn't like Oisier wanted to get any closer to that awful, floppy lusus with the haunting visage.

Reisio was already appearing to feel better, despite the comically-shaped rash on their face. The change in mood bolstered Oisier in turn. They advanced with Reisio, though their expression was more thoughtful than threatening. "Hmm... I suppose it depends." Their gaze slid to Reisio. Their brow rose at the question posed. A good question. They expected nothing less from their twin. What was a little kid (they refused to acknowledge they were all approximately the same age) doing living out in the swamp like this? He'd said it himself. There were swampbeasts and daywalkers abound. Oisier and Reisio at least had the sense to leave when the sun came up.

Oisier couldn't help but lean in at Froggy's weird, vague answer. It was baffling. Utterly "Fascinating," Oisier murmured. They cast Reisio a look. Oisier turned back to Froggy, clearly delighted by the intrigue. "What sort of incident would lead to the swamp being a better place to live than... anywhere else?" Oisier rocked back and forth on their toes, causing a squelching noise in the mud.

Sypon

zeflamigo

rude kids

 

[zeflamigo]

"It was tragic, absolutely tragic!" A muddy sock puppet spoke up, since Sonnie was at a loss for words. "Not to mention embarrassing..." It laughed rudely, wiggling its googly eyes. Sonnie himself looked elsewhere, looking for opportunities to run away without being caught by the faster lusii and sheer higher number of trolls.

"I mean, I don't think you want to know. You really don't want to know." The sock paused between explanations, buying time. "You won't be able to cleanse it from your memory. I know I haven't. Still see it in my brightmares, to this day."

Kermie, taking the cue from Sonnie, nodded emphatically.

Sypon

seekingCylem

 

[Sypon]

Brightmares? The slapmark across Reisio's cheek seemed to sting as a reminder of how badly this could break. Suddenly, they felt a little uneasy. Angry, uptight, but no longer quite as confident.

It wasn't helped by the strange appendage that was now speaking. They found themselves with a lump in their throat. Another creature, attached to the muddy troll by the arm, speaking alongside it. Perhaps it was the slap, the swamp gas, their bad eye and creeping suspicion of the supernatural, but... The anatomy of this troll was difficult to make out, not to mention the horrifying possibilities of what the incident could have been.

They cleared their throat with a small huff and looked towards Oisier. To show weakness in front of their other half was one thing, but all the hairs were sticking up on the blueblood's neck. They bared their teeth again. "Hm!!" Was all they could manage. Their hands balled up in what they hoped was a tough pose, then (unable to find a place for them) they ended up on their hips.

"Sounds like... You are a real bad specimen to have to live out here. And... Good riddance." Reisio came up with an idea, it obviously lighting up their face. "You know what? We should get out of here. And, then we will see what your story is. And then we will get some answers! And if any funny business happens, then us and the military will find you!"

That's right. Lay down the law and get the heck out of there! Reisio turned smugly to Oisier for support.

zeflamigo

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

Oisier watched the sock puppet with laser focus. To their disappointment, it didn't divulge much more information. Oisier frowned and shrugged, pretending to be less bothered than they were. "Well fine," they replied, obviously bothered. "If you don't want to tell, then don't act so suspicious!" Making a story sound so cool and then not telling should be a crime.

Belatedly, they realized their lusii were having trouble with removing the poultice from the jar and seemed to have resorted to... just eating it. Oisier shooed Planariant away and took the jar. They smelled it and immediately wrinkled their nose. Yup. Smelled like medicine. And old cabbage.

They turned back to Reisio, catching their twin's eye. Reisio was telling the truth, as always. "Not to mention you are being very rude!" Oisier sniffed in Froggy's direction.

Experimentally, Oisier scooped some of the poultice out of the jar and smeared it across the side of Reisio's face.

Sypon

zeflamigo

 

[Sypon]

Oisier sniffed a little as their twin applied the poultice. They tugged on their sleeve, the tension in their face twitching downward and looking more distraught than haughty. Oisier leaned in. "W... Want to go home now." They murmured.

Their good eye flicked towards the greenblood and their puppet.  

[zeflamigo]

Real bad. Suspicious. Rude. Military...

The insults and the threats made by the Mirrims were too much for Sonnie to bear. Already bursting at the seams with their fear and failed apology, the greenblood's emotions finally bubbled to the top. He cried, and he was ashamed he couldn't wipe the tears away with his mud-covered hands.

Though he tried his best to keep his crying silent, his lusus was paying too much attention to not notice. At this point, Kermie was frustrated beyond reason. How dare these little trolls bully his sweet son? That boy didn't deserve this. And it was all his own fault for attacking in the first place.

Kermie turned to the highbloods and their lusii with a disgruntled frown. He croaked at them, berating them like they could understand his tongue. He flapped his arms in an attempt to look threatening, and took a few quick steps forward. If the Mirrims didn't take the hint, he would chase them out.

Sypon

seekingCylem

 

[seekingCylem]

Oisier slowed their ministrations at Reisio's insistence. The poultice smeared on their cheek didn't appear to be making the situation worse, so they'd give the mysterious troll a pass on that one.

Only that one.

"Yes of course." Oisier sniffed reflexively, but managed to pass it off as a derisive gesture. "This is no place for trolls of our standing. We didn't even find a single bog mummy-"

Oisier whipped back towards Froggy and their lusus. They hadn't caught any of the movement with their off eye, and suddenly Kermie was a lot closer. Oisier stumbled back a step, taking Reisio with them. "Wha-!?"

Both flatworm lusii reared up, separating the children like curtains. Oisier and Reisio at their backs, with their bellies pointed at the source danger. The vertical mouths of the worms opened like zippers, revealing dozens upon dozens of tiny teeth. At least one of them made a gargled hissing noise.

Oisier held fast to Reisio, shaken and confused. On instinct their hands had begun to fuse with Reisio's clothing. "Pl-Planariant!" Oisier gasped, wide-eyed and chin wobbling. This wasn't what they wanted at all.  

[Sypon]

What if the poison affected the thin membranes of their lusus more intensely? What if the froggy creature ate them? What if their extra appendage ate them?

Reisio tugged on their twin, but soon fear overcame them. They wailed, again. "I want ... to go home!"

Between being paralyzed, codependent and frazzled, they were stuck to the spot clinging to Oisier. The lusii, however, took the cue. With another airy, wet hiss, Flatparent swooped around and wrapped its form around its charge in a tight embrace, depositing the child on its back. Under the cover of one defensive lusus and the primed for escape, they began to back away from the aggressors. Reisio clung to the soft, slick surface of Flatparent and buried their snotty face.  

[zeflamigo]

Sonnie hated this, but he knew that if Kermie managed to frighten the bluebloods away, he wouldn't have to worry about them coming back with military and trying to find him. At least, that's what he hoped. He really, really hoped for that.

Kermie on the other hand, continued his threat, still croaking and flailing his arms. Suddenly, he started to spit in the direction of the bluebloods. This way, he could keep up his threat while maintaining distance. He wasn't going to be satisfied until the bluebloods and their lusus were out of sight.  

[seekingCylem]

Reisio had been yanked away by their lusus. Oisier yelped at the sudden loss of contact, then a full yell as they could fully see Kermie's approach. "G-Get away!" They commanded, but didn't wait for a response. Oisier was already in the process of fleeing after their twin.

Gobs of lusus spit splashed down where Oisier's boots had been. Oisier didn't know if that was toxic too, but it was gross and scary and that was all the threat the little blueblood needed.

Planariant wasn't keen on continuing to play chicken with the strange lusus either. As soon as Oisier had unstuck themselves from the mud, the flatworm was after them in a flash, bringing up the rear of frightened trolls.

"Re-Reisio, wait up!" faded back into the foliage.