silent, in the trees [open]

[necrocabbage]

Characters: Trahearne, open to everyone
Date: Early February
Location: In and around the Dreaming Bridge
Situation: There's a quiet plant guy lurking around. That might be a little weird.
Warnings/Rating: Nothing yet


A. During the day - outside the Dreaming Bridge
When he's not busy with other matters, Trahearne has been spending some time right outside the Dreaming Bridge building. He mostly walks around the outside of the Quayside wing, though sometimes he makes a circle around the Breakwater wing as well, to cover all his bases.

What exactly he's doing out there might not be immediately obvious. When he's not just walking around, examining the dirt and peering under bushes like he's looking for something, he's been leaving little pieces of jerky in specific, tucked-away places. Trahearne later returns to check to see if the jerky is gone, but even when it's disappeared, he seems to keep walking away with nothing to show for the endeavor.

Whatever kind of animal Trahearne is trying to lure out hasn't yet revealed itself, but he's certainly patient enough to continue trying.



B. At night - in the Dreaming Bridge lounge/lobby
Trahearne hasn't been sleeping well. Tossing and turning is one thing, but after the first night when he kept waking from terrible nightmares, he decided that persisting in a useless endeavor would only end in disturbing his roommates. The idea of having to explain what he was seeing in his dreams to two complete strangers wasn't just unappealing, he knew that it wouldn't help matters any. He'd still have trouble sleeping, and he'd still wake them with it, whether they knew what was happening or not.

Instead, he's taken to slipping out of his room after the others are asleep, taking with him a small pile of books on the Planes that he's obtained from one of the local libraries. Trahearne then curls up in one of the more comfortable chairs in the public lounge, reading by the light of a lamp, up until he dozes off or simply can't see straight anymore. Whether he's found awake or asleep, he's always gone before sunrise, either to get breakfast or to return to his room to prepare for another day.

Comments

[iseeall]

"Oh. Okay, thanks." Leo wasn't entirely sure why he was being offered jerky, but he also wasn't one to turn down free food. It probably tasted better when it wasn't on the floor anyway.

He really, really, wanted to ask about this guy being a plant, but that would probably be rude. "I'm guessing you're the one putting jerky around everywhere? Are you trying to attract mice or something?"

[necrocabbage]

Mildly relieved that he took the jerky, Trahearne shook his head, some amusement creeping into his tone. "Oh no, not mice. Though that might end up helping me in the long run."

Leaning in a bit, Trahearne lowered his tone in a conspiratorial fashion. "I keep seeing glimpses of a cat around here, but when I asked the staff, they had never heard of such a creature. It seems that cats don't exist in this world, but I don't think I'm imagining what I saw. ... Ah, I should explain. A cat is a small, furry creature with four legs, a long tail, and triangle-shaped ears."

He had, in fact, mistaken Leo for one of the city's residents. A homeless resident, to be more precise.

[iseeall]

Leo just stared at the plant man. Then stared some more. The expression on his face, even with his eyes closed, was practically dripping with disdain. Did he just assume Leo didn't know what a cat was??

"Hey, I know what a cat is; I'm not stupid!" He retorted, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out or something like that. He just met the guy, he shouldn't be THAT rude.

[necrocabbage]

Getting a look like that was more than enough to make Trahearne realize that he had just put his foot in his mouth. "You do? But no one - thorns. You're one of the Dreamfolk, aren't you?"

Despite the time of day, Trahearne was starting to quite literally glow purple with embarrassment. That still didn't quite explain the human's behavior - all the Dreamfolk got free food here, surely enough that no one would need to eat off the ground? - but it seemed that his assumptions had lead him astray anyway.

"I'm very sorry. I thought that you must be, ah, one of the locals."

[iseeall]

"Huh? Obviously..." Now Leo was confused as to why this tree guy even thought he was one of the locals. He had opened the bag and started to munch on the beef jerky, but other than his eyes, Leo liked to think he was a perfectly ordinary human being.

"Humans aren't native to this place. Have you not seen humans before or something?"

[necrocabbage]

"Er, no. I see humans regularly. There are still some people here that resemble humans enough..."

Trahearne trailed off before clearing his throat. If he didn't change the subject soon, he'd never get his glowing back under control, and looking like a particularly awkward lamp would only be all the more embarrassing. Pale Tree help him, how did he ever manage to have conversations when he wasn't lecturing or explaining something?

"... Does that mean you haven't seen the cat?"

[iseeall]

Well thankfully for Trahearne, Leo wasn't quite sure why he was glowing. He still thought it questionable that the tree man thought he wasn't one of the Dreamfolk, but shapeshifters existed (and he got free food) so he decided it wasn't too big a deal.

"The only cat owned by someone else I know is Valdis. She has one. He's white and super fluffy, and named Anani. Does that sound like the cat you saw?"

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne perks up a bit at the description. "Why, yes, it does. I've seen glimpses of a fluffy white tail before." That was a relief. If he had really been hallucinating seeing a cat... well, that sort of trouble was one of the last things he needed right now.

"Thank you for your help. Speaking to Valdis directly ought to be much easier than trying to lure it out with food. Though the jerky keeps disappearing, I have yet to catch anything taking it. ... Excluding you, of course." He didn't want to think that Leo had been eating all of the jerky he'd left out over the last week.

[iseeall]

Well, Leo wouldn't judge him for hallucinating a cat; maybe the guy had one he just really missed from home. Instead, he stuck the bag of jerky into one of his fathomless pockets, picking up Steven from his shoulder and holding him out instead.

"I don't know his habits other than the fact he seems friendly, but I've given him treats before. He's probably noticed, but Valdis is definitely the person to talk to. She's tall, kinda scary looking...long hair? She's uh. Human." Well, looked like it at least. He wasn't sure that Valdis wanted anyone to know that she was absolutely the furthest thing from human, if the Void had anything to do with it.

"All I have to offer is Steven here. He's one of my bibirus, and they-hey!! He's not food-Steven, stop that!" Leo pulled the offending creature away as he had begun to nibble on the ends of Trahearne's leaves.

[necrocabbage]

A bit bemused both by the offer of the bibiru and the appearance of the creature, Trahearne took Steven from him carefully, nestling the bibiru safely against his chest as he ran a careful hand over its wings. He hadn't even noticed when Steven discovered that one of the leaves trailing over his shoulder was tasty enough for a snack.

"Scary-looking, you say?" Leo's alarm interrupted him before he could ask more, and Trahearne released Steven back to him with mild confusion, until he saw a little piece of a dull-colored leaf sticking out of the bibiru's mouth.

"Ah, there's no harm done. It'll grow back. It's kind of you to offer, but perhaps a hungry herbivore isn't the best companion for a sylvari," Trahearne commended wryly.

[iseeall]

"Sorry, I didn't exactly think about that..." Giving a rabbit to a living plant person was kind of idiotic in hindsight. "The only other sentient plants I've met have tried to eat me."

That's just the way things rolled in HSL. Leo lifted up the bibiru to his face, while Steven unrepentedly kept chewing on the piece of leaf he stole from Trahearne. "And you're a rude asshole."

[necrocabbage]

"As I said, there was no harm done. There's no need to blame it for what comes naturally." Trahearne couldn't quite help smiling faintly at the way Leo scolded his pet, even if it wasn't very appropriate. The bibiru's total non-reaction just made it even funnier.

"Now, what kind of plants could have tried to eat you?" His smile was gone as quickly as it appeared, his expression more serious now even if his tone was still conversational. "I hope you don't suspect me of doing the same. I eat regular food."

[iseeall]

Leo wasn't being too serious at the bibiru, though he figured the one he named after the ice-cold man would not care if he started eating another person's hair. However he did notice Trahearne's mood shift, reflexively holding the bibiru closer to him.

"Huh? What? No! I wouldn't think that. I mean, you're human shaped and a lot nicer and uh....Look, okay the plants that tried to eat me were all of Mr. Klaus' Beyondian plants and they couldn't actually talk, they just tried to take a chunk out of me because they're honestly kinda scary like that. I don't know why he takes care of them. You're different then that and I'm pretty sure I'd be dead if you want to eat me."

He liked to talk when he got nervous. Please don't hate him, Trahearne.

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne was certainly surprised at first, lifting his hands in a placating gesture to try to slow Leo down. "Wait a moment! I didn't mean for it to be an accusation. It's more that, ah - you can understand why I might be worried when I hear about man-eating plants." Or perhaps Leo wouldn't understand, but Trahearne wasn't inclined to elaborate any further.

He lowered his hands slowly as he added, "I'm not sure what 'Beyondian' is, but - who in the world would want hostile plants in their garden?"

[iseeall]

"I haven't seen anything like that here in this city, so I think you'll be fine. Mr. Klaus is a great guy but he has....some strange hobbies. We're the odd ones out, really," Leo was trying to laugh it off at least, though that was harder to do when he wasn't smiling.

"I mean, one of my friends is a fish man, so it's not too strange meeting a plant person. Really." This was awkward. "I'm...Leo."

[necrocabbage]

"Strange hobbies? I see. If there aren't hostile plants in this place, that does at least put my mind at ease." Thankfully, none of the locals had mistaken him for some sort of hostile wildlife. It seemed that they were all quite used to seeing strange Dreamfolk show up.

"My name is Trahearne, and it's quite alright if it is strange. It's been many years since I was in a place where sylvari were unfamiliar, but I still remember what it was like."

[iseeall]

"Believe me, where I come from it's really not the wierdest thing. I'm just the normal one of my group for always being surprised, if you get what I mean." Libra people were always telling him he was so normal for a city like Hellsalem's Lot, but he couldn't see how anyone would stay normal. None of his friends were normal humans.

"Though I can't say I'm not curious. We've never really gotten plant people around where I live. Stone people, mushroom people and a strange floating glowing orb, yes."

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne tilts his head a bit, regarding Leo with a mix of surprise and curiosity. "Stone people that aren't just elemental constructs? You must be from a very interesting place, indeed. Some sylvari do resemble mushrooms, though I can safely say that glowing orbs aren't common on my world outside of some magical applications." Well... the dwarves could be considered 'stone people' now, but Trahearne wasn't too sure that the single one anyone knew was alive was enough of a population to count.

"Well, I would never judge someone for being curious. If you have questions, I'll be happy to answer what I can."

[iseeall]

"Yeah-wait. I have some pictures you might like." Leo pulled out his camera he brought from home, pressing buttons to pull up pictures on the little LCD screen. He first pulled up a pic of most of the libra members, including his clearly non-human fish human hybrid friend. "There's Mr. Zed! You might be able to see his tank in the background, and these are all my other friends."

He scrolled through a few more pictures, pointing out his sister-obviously-and also his friend Nej, who looked like a small sentient alien mushroom that was wearing a jumpsuit and stuffing a burger in his face, before he got to a picture he really wanted to show to Trahearne.

"To be completely honest, it's hard for me to describe what this place looks like to you. But I do happen to take photos from time to time so...this is where I live." It was the cityscape of a normal New York City, but with many crazy editions. There were normal humans walking around, but also strange alien and supernatural people walking by without a care. There were also several large dragon-like creatures flying through the sky, as well as in the distance the limb of something huge moving around.

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne scooted in closer to Leo to get a better look at the small screen, watching the pictures with clear interest. This particular device didn't seem much like a yimo, but the images were still in crystal-clear color. "Amazing," he murmured. "It's still hard to believe that this technology is so widely available. Seeing these feels like standing in the same room."

He recognized Klaus in a few of the pictures, but the rest of it was entirely new. Even the mushroom person didn't much resemble a sylvari, like he had expected. It's the picture of the cityscape that makes Trahearne truly stare at the camera, leaning in to try to get a better look at all the detail. "This is... I've never seen a place like this." It wasn't only the people - though that was a large part of it - but the tall, square-shaped buildings, and a stylized metal device with wheels that he didn't recognize as a car. Not that the sheer variety of pedestrians wasn't remarkable. This was a wider range of different types of people than he had ever seen, even in Aifaran, though it's the dragon creatures that gives him a shiver. No one in the picture seemed to be paying those any attention at all.

"Thorns and brambles," he breathed, "You truly are from somewhere very different from my home. One of my roommates said as much himself, but this... this gives me a great deal of perspective."

[iseeall]

"Haha..if I had a bigger screen like a computer, I'd be able to show you the pictures better." But Leo was pleased that the tree man seemed fascinated by them. "I will say that Hellsalem's Lot-that city-is strange and terrifying even for me as just a normal human, but like it's still amazing to see. You wouldn't think so many strange things would be able to live peacefully together."

Well, Leo couldn't say perfectly peacefully, as he was part of a secret society that prevented the entire world from being destroyed by the idiots that occupied the city, but well, it still was miraculous they'd survived this long. "I mean, I bet if I saw your world I'd be surprised, though you sound like you have humans already."

[necrocabbage]

"Is it the amount of variety that makes it so terrifying?" Trahearne asked curiously, taking a step back to give Leo a little more space. "It is quite heartening, to see that so many different kinds of people can get along that well. There's only one city on my world that's nearly so cosmopolitan, and it's... had its fair share of difficulties, but bounced back from them stronger than ever." Of course, Lion's Arch was also more openly seedy than any of the other major cities, but that had more to do with the pirates running the city than anything else.

"Perhaps you would be surprised by some of it. None of the cities look much like yours, or even much like Aifaran. But there are plenty of humans, yes. There's five different races that I would count as the most prominent, but there's other intelligent beings that live in smaller settlements."