a partnership in a library?

Corvus dropped a pile of books on the library table to join the ever growing pile of research material that he could carry with his small frame, he was studying in a communal library for the time being so he could unlock the puzzle that amthea had left him, he hated puzzles, but he hated leaving things unfinished even more.
climbing up on to the chair he started going over the note book that his mentor had left behind for the millionth time, it was a fantastic story, and really outlandish, but accompanied with numerous photos, the book screamed out that it was true, at least he hoped it was, or he was wasting his time again, time better spent doing the quad thing, if he was interested in that right now.

♦ THGRUB... what the hell ith it? a twithted game? dam it amthea, could you be anymore vague? ♦

he whispered to himself, a little more loudly than he wanted to. giving a sigh, he put a single headphone in his ear and turned on his tasteful music and continued reading

Rubedo feared falling asleep. Every time he did he had bad dreams. Maybe tonight he'd actually rest a bit in his recuperacoon and leave the investigations for another occasion. If he kept this unnatural rhythm much longer, he would collapse before time and he couldn't do that just yet, plus, the black circles under his eyes were already his most notorious feature. Well, either that or he'd go crazy, which was something he couldn't allow himself to do in such a critical moment. Because he needed his... friends? New friends, at least. To actually listen to him and take him seriously.

Too late, he was already dozing off on a book. While standing. He didn't mean to, but it was just so boring and full of myths, who the fuck even cared about this kind of myths. He yawned and waddled from side to side until finallyOHWOOOOPSWELP.

Yup. He collapsed on top of someone. Shit. A ton of books fell on top of both of them.

"Sorry." He said, surprise and adrenaline washing over his sleepiness like cold water. Great. A cerulean blood. Friggin' mind control already. "My fault. Are you alright?"

Corvus dug him self out of the pile of book that had cascaded on top of and the clumsy troll had that had practically booted him off the chair.
rubbing his poor head where a copy of the )(ic's biography titled ' selfies of the condescension, VOL 9' had struck him, he looked up at the troll that caused the avalanche, a crimson blood, just your luck. taking a further moment to answer the low blood, corvus thought about the implications of how he should deal with him, biting off the poor trolls head would be the expected thing to do here, but that wasn't what you wanted, plus it was very messy. letting it slide wold make him seem weak, or a sufferer sympathizer because of his blood, another thing he didn't want, that really only left him with one real option that appealed to him

♦ would you watch where your going? look at thith methth, your gonna help me with all thith, to pay back all the pain you cauthed ♦

he pointed at the enormous biography that nearly killed him in emphasis to his claim of a debt from the crimson blood, plus he needed help with his research anyway, this would save time.

getting back on his chair, the small troll kept checking the back of his head for blood or wounds that might of been inflicted on him

♦ well i theem to be ok, how about you? im corvuth by the way ♦

Well that didn't work well. Excuses weren't going to work, either. And besides, yes, it was a complete mess already, and completely his fault for deciding to try and sleep on a pile of laundry instead of inside his comforting recuperacoon. Wait. What. Selfies of her Imperial Condescencion? He was quickly losing all faith on trollkind. He didn't even want to know why anyone would want to borrow that.

What for.

"My fault. I'll get to it immediately." He said, picking up the books, and giving preference to those ones that were in danger of getting the most damage from the fall. However, something in the whole equating was not going how he was expecting. Imperative sentences: check. Tiny troll who had more power over him due to the hemospectrum and knew it: check.

Asking you if you were ok and implying he was asking your name: What?

You were really not ok, you were lacking sleep and were a zombie, but despite that being the answer to his question, that was besides the point right now.

"I'm alright. And my name is Rubedo." You try and hide a yawn.

Corvus caught the signs on the badly concealed yawn, and noted the dark rings around his eyes, when was the last time this guy got any sleep? he looked as rundown as a over worked slave that was never fed. feeling bad for being mean to him right off the bat, Corvus helped the Rubedo in the task of clearing up the books, tho he made a point of kicking the hellish biography of selfies under the book case to be lost forever

♦ ermm... nice to meet you Rubedo, thorry for thnapping, thith rethearch ith getting to me... ♦

wait why are you telling him about your project? do you think he would actually care? well it doesn't really matter, the story is looking like nonsense anyway, blowing up the world with a computer game, please, really?

Oh. So that was that? Well, then you two were on the same boat. You didn't know studying and investigating stuff would be so... tiring. Then again, you were almos 100% sure that it was being that rough on you because clearly this involved activities you didn't enjoy at all. After so many sweeps of avoiding camping and any other light form of "adventure", suddenly you had to jump face into a matter that recquired you to be exploring dangerous places to solve riddles during the night, and half sleeping to have really bad nightmares during the day. Aside from cooking, he spent most of his time doing stuff he'd really rather not do. And it was killing him slowly.

So yeah, you can understand him for snapping for something like that. If you weren't so deprived of your own energy, you'd be probably as pissy as him. Maybe. Possibly. Or at least, slightly. He's trying to chat with you, so you might as well grant his wish. You let a smile crawl in your lips. "Oh. You're doing some research as well, then? Well, then that's two of us."

Corvus gave a small grin, well that explains part of the mysteries around this troll, research is tiring, no wonder he collapsed on top of the small troll, he must of worked himself to death, how could you coaxe him to help you with yours if he is falling asleep?

Corvus pulled out a bag of candy he had been secretly eating in the libary and offered one to the Rubedo

♦ here, thith will keep you awake, high caffeine candy i made in my lab, it thhould make you lethth zombie like and lethth prone to cruthhing thmall trollth with bookth ♦

Corvus gave a little laugh and dropped the bag on the table for Rubedo to help himself, the candy worked wonders in keeping Corvus awake during long study sessions, it should give him a pick me up so lone as he didn't live on 100 cups of Coffey a day

♦ tho what ith thith rethearch your doing? i need a break from mine, im not making much progrethth ♦

maybe he was doing medical research? something Corvus was far more interested in...

You look at the bag of candy. Ergh. Ok. Being a picky eater has its disadvantages at times. For starters, you don't trust anything that has been potentially altered in a lab. And how old is he? He looks like a 6 or 7 sweep old! No, you're not eating this. You appreciate your body more than that, even if you are a peasant. You take the candy either way, and smile at him.

"Thank you. But it's not that bad, I just to get some rest later today. It's my fault for pushing it too far."

You wonder if you should ask that last question. Maybe... or maybe not. You're not completely sure? Well, what's the worse that would happen, either way? He laughing at you? You being wrong? You don't see how this could possibly turn bad.

"Well... I've just had some nightmares about the world ending because of a game that fractures laws of reality. But apparently, that game is also salvation. So I want to see if it exists." You can skip the part where you see people turned into corpses for now.

Corvus didn't know what to say, did Rubedo read your note book? no, its closed at the moment, was he crazy? most likely, but who isn't in corvus's opinion, what he just described was the first stages described in the note book, kinda a strange coincidence.
he little disappointed that this means its not a medical project but excited that his own research might progress now, maybe...

♦ Tell me more! wath there meteorth ending the world? building tranthporting them thelveth to new planetth? ooh! the game, did it need more than one player? ♦

he was getting a little over exited now, maybe he had to much candy or that another troll knew what he was looking for, he couldn't decide which maybe both? didn't matter, he had to know!

What.
The.
Everloving.
F... rench fries.

Rubedo looked at him in awe. Those details, well, he didn't know all of them. The building and planets thing, both of those were new. And he never mentioned anything about clocks ticking down to imminent demise, or strange, floating orbs that glowed red (or at least, the one he saw in his dream following him everywhere he went was), or strange devices with that same strange symbol on them.

But, the thing about the multiplayer... he wasn't completely sure, but he knew there was someone helping him in that dream. And that it had the potential to save people's lives, ergo, it should save more than one life at the same time. And the meteorites...

The meteorites.

How could he ever forget meteorites falling down and setting everything and everyone on fire. Way less fun than he'd like.

"Well... I'm not sure about the multiplayer part, but I'm suspecting some sort of cooperative game at least. As for the meteorites. Yes, those were there. Why do you know so much?" He smiled at him. "Is this a saga I know nothing about?"

Please don't let it be some sort of popular game, that'd be embarrassing.

Corvus was practicly vibrating in hie seat now this was good, he might actually know about the game! the one in the note book!
unable to think straight he shakily grabbed the note book that bore a weird circular pattern and thrust it at Rubedo, a little roughly in his haste for answers.

♦ wath it thith! wath it thith! a game that dethtroyth the world and maketh a new one? i know thith ith real but i cant prove it! ith thith in your dreamth!?!?! ♦

he jabbed a little finger at the cover of the book at the symbol, this would be huge if its true, and warrant enough to forgive how insane Corvus must look now, shaking with excitement ans anticipation

oh gog let this be true!

Oh gog please let this be not true.

He recognized the pattern very well. This meant... this meant the game existed. To think something this powerful existed... so. So all the visions of his dead friends were true? But then again, he said it made another world, a new one, right? A vision of blood pouring on the ground crossed his mind for a second. Blood of every color.

Was it worth to play it? Or was it just worsening things? He'd have to investigate more.

"Yes. That's in my dreams" You say with a tired smile. "So... it really does exist then? Is that what your investigation is about? Are you coding the game or something?"

Corvus shook his head

nope when it came to comuters you were a user, you played games and used chat sites, programming was beyond you, however if the question was biology, you could cut someone open and rearrange there organs and close them up no problem

♦ no, im not programming it, it already happened, the world ended and wath remade, by my mentor, thhe played and came back, but thhe warnth that becauthe her team chothe to remake the world ath they left it, it couldn't latht forever, thince itth life thpan wath near itth end already, meaning the game might thtart again, thatth what the book thayth ♦

corvus took a breath, this was exciting, and scary, all this doomsday stuff was fascinating

♦ if the book ith right, then the world will decay and thtagnate, with out an end, it cant continue, time will move no more for alternia, and crumble away ♦

corvus looked a little sad at that statement, which he was, things needed a conclusion, with out it, time would stretch forever and never start for new things

"I see" He said, and then sat down on one of the chairs on an available table. Suddenly very quiet, the dark circles on his eyes adding to his look of grimness. Yes, he really would need some sleep tonight, that was a given. All of that info had been just too much for him. He felt the need to consider it all, if the world was indeed coming to his end. He was... sort of... maybe... ¿Scared?

He had a bit of trouble accepting his own demise at fist, when he was younger. But that was only involving him, now it all seemed to involve more people and it was unstoppable. To think of saving them was delusional, and not only that, it also seemed hellish. He didn't want to make a rush decision, he wanted to get to know the game better! And he knew the correct thing to do would be to let his friends choose, he was a no one and had no power whatsover over other people's decisions and if they decided to survive then so be it but...

1.- He was running out of time.
2.- His life was no longer only his, he was aware that the option of "dying because I chose to" was no longer available without causing unnecessary pain.
3.- ...

...

He actually had friends now. He hadn't realized how lonely he had been until today. Really, really lonely. Always protecting himself and constructing walls, and now he wanted to throw them to the ground and just have fun. He was not lonely anymore. He was maybe being egoist, but... he didn't it all want to end when it had just begun. He wanted to nurse Eisire back to health again, he wanted to get cured by highbloods a bit more, he wanted to talk to Aryane on the chat some more, he wanted Theiyw to keep smithing. He wanted to lull the jadeblood back to sleep again. But... but he shouldn't let his feelings get in the way. This was serious. He had to gather as much information as possible and... and he also very, very, very suddenly wanted to take a nap.

Ugh. Why did his head (and his heart) had to hurt so much?

He smiled at the little blueblood. "Well, it's a bit too much to take at the same time and, I'm tired. I feel like I should go home and take a very, very long nap. But I really want to help you investigate. Is there any way I can contact you, like trollian?"

corvus nodded in agreement, it was a lot to take in, and he did just unloaded a huge bombshell on to the low blood, and it was getting late so they should hit this tomorrow night.

♦ thure, im on trollian ath thoaringBindth, call thoon, i hope we can figure thith out together ♦

Corvus smiled and handed Rubedo a scrap of paper with his troll tag on it, this was as exciting as it was scary, with luck he might get some sleep today after all the caffeine lollies he had consumed

♦ i hope to here from you thoon! hehehe ♦

He smiled at him in a friendly way and fished his phone out of his pocket. He would use the net available in the library to log into trollian and add him right there on the spot, so he would be able to kill two fleathery beasts with one stone. Not like the librarian would mind either way. He was way too far away, and the screen was just too small for him to see.

"soaringBinds, right? Is this you?" He took his phone and showed the screen name to him. "I will be blazingEntropy, just so you know that's me. Ok?"

He was now beginning to hate his own warm, relaxed smile. It wasn't even that big of a smile, it was barely a facial expression at all, but having to wear that nonstop for the past few days when his feelings didn't correspond with what his face was showing was getting really tiring and sickening. He felt like a decorative doll, a problem he hadn't had in sweeps, and now more than ever he just wanted to go to his recuperacoon and resting.

Did he even have friends, though? Yes, he valued them, but did they know his face, was he willing to let his mask slip? What if they didn't like what they saw? He was a disgusting troll after all, wasn't he? He couldn't even cook as well as he'd like to. He didn't excel in anything, he was uncapable of filling his quadrants and paid attention to the hemospectrum way too much in comparison of them. They were going to dislike him and grow apart if they knew the kind of low scum he was, better to keep going on until at least he could solve this game.

Like always, the dark thoughts in his mind never reached his face. He was too well trained to smile by now. He stood up.

"I'm going back to my hive. But it was nice to meet you, Corvus. I'll talk to you soon."

Corvus nodded in acknowledgement and gathered up his things, it was late and this breakthrough wasn't going to happen today it seemed, best to tackle this when they were both rested.
maybe he should deal with the remainder of the test subjects at hive, and finish those experiments? so much work to do, where to start?

before he let Rubedo abscond tho, he opened his medical satchel modus and withdrew a bottle of sopor pills, pretty much a over the counter drug, but helpful nonetheless, and handed it to the burgundy blood.

♦ ok, i got you tag, and here take two of thethe when you get hive, they will help you thleep, you thure look like you need it ♦

giving a earnest smile corvus hopped off his chair and dashed out the library before he could reject the medication, he noticed the hesitation with the offered lollies so better to make him feel that he cant refuse them now because he missed the opportunity, that said, he could of ordered him to take them, useing his higher blood status, but that would go against his Docterror code.

Rubedo stood up and while he was busy leaving the few books he had picked on the table (yawning the whole time, everything was just too blurry in his tired vision and he couldn't give less fucks. He had yet to contact a bunch of trolls, so Corvus was another one on the list. Maybe they could both make a journal or something, to complement it with their different points of view. Uh... that was an incredibly familiar feeling. Or thought? Was he having déja vùs now? maybe he was just having the same thoughts over and over again? Or... or he just didn't voice that out loud? He was just too sleepy to keep coherent thoughts.

By the time he reacted, Corvus had left him some sopor pills. Rubedo watched him just in time to see the library door close, and then looked at the bright green pills again. Well. What could go wrong?

A million of different things, actually, but he was too tired to care. Maybe he would actually take one of these and go have a long, long nap in his recuperacoon. Sounded like a plan. So ke put saved the little bottle in his pants for later, and left.

Time for a nap!