Ustuck: Get Recruited by Troll Mafia [Closed RP]

The newest troll is trying to wipe the honey off, doesn't even ask before charging in and that's only going to make things worse, this is merino woolbeast shavings and if you smear honey all over it's just going to seep into the fibers and harden and if you want to ever be able to wear this again you need some scour bubbles and a knife. But you can't even speak anymore there are so many hands on your hoodie. You can only stand there and whimper.

 

You watch with a sinking feeling in your stomach as Keeler offers Astroh some of her honey. The Kingpin could have mentioned something about (what you assume is) the honey addiction before telling you to contact Keeler. Maybe you could have seen this coming and stopped this... Whatever this is.

And now everyone's crowding around poor Lukasz. They look terrified. You should probably say something.

"Hey!" You shout a little to be heard over Colliemom's growling. "How about giving Lukasz some space? They don't look too well."

"And Keeler," you say gently, "Astroh does not want any honey. Please put it away." You know that won't really release the tension that's building between Keeler and Astroh, but you hope it'll help a bit.

 

"But biohazard! Toxic shit!"

You feel your shirt tugged back and suddenly Colliemom is pulling you away. "But Mom! Drugs! Bad!"

You are briefly dropped, licked, and then she finishes dragging you to the other side of the room, arms crossed and as deadweight as you can go. Fine, Mom.

 

Your honey! Watching Astroh (so that's what it was) smear around your precious honey makes you even madder than being called an idiot, or even having your hard work called awful names. You quickly recaptchalogue it before any more can spill.

"It is NOT toxic! I told you that!"

You lick off what's left on the spoon.

"See? One spoonful isn't going to have any adverse effects. And of course it's a strengthening agent! How else are you supposed to get your psionics strong enough to pilot a spaceship?"

You notice some residue still left on the hoodie. You start inching closer. Maybe you can get close enough to do something about it.

 

Kezria gets the troll away from you. Well, she tells the troll to get away, and then Astroh's lusus has to drag her off. You're so grateful you can't even feel hurt by the reminder of how your own mom used to forcibly drag you away from things you really weren't in the right mindset to be touching.

You shuffle to the side, putting some space between you and the other trolls. And stepping a little bit closer to Kezria. By chance. There's not a lot of room to maneuver with all the junk on the floors, and it is only the purest coincidence that puts you next to the one troll here who hasn't manhandled you or yelled at you in a highblood rage.

"I'm a guy," you say, soft enough that Kezria's probably the only one who hears it. You're sure she didn't mean anything bad by it, but you're not a they. Better to clear that up now.

 

"Oh, okay. Sorry," you say equally quietly. You tend to go neutral when people don't tell you one way or the other. You try not to feel too embarrassed for the mix up.

 

Lukasz is busy talking to Kezria instead of paying attention to you, so you edge closer. Juuust a bit closer.... Maybe you can lick it off. You stick your tongue out.

 

You notice Keeler edging closer to Lukasz. You lean past Lukasz and lightly bop Keeler between the horns and then quickly straighten up. "What did I just say about personal space? Besides what even are you doing??"

 

You pout.

"Cleaning Lukasz's sweater?"

 

That gets your attention.

"With your tongue?" you snap at Keeler, incredulous. "Saliva only works when the stain is small, and isn't going to do much for something with this level of viscosity. To clean a stain like this, you would need water, scour bubbles, and some vinegar at least--" You trail off suddenly, and glance over at Kezria.

"Would you have any..." It itches you to know you haven't done anything about the honey. One of the first things Papillona taught you was to never let a stain set.

 

"Oh, um. I think so. I'll be right back." You pick your way over your CAREFULLY ORGANIZED PILES until you get to the main pathway and then take off for your meal prep block. You should have some vinegar right... there you go. You grab that, a cup of water, the container of scour bubbles, and a few towels and hurry back to the group.

"Here you go." You put your armful of things down on the chair next to Lukasz.

 

Okay. Okay, good. That'll do it, you think.

Although--does she expect you to clean it here? You'd have to take it off in order to scrub it properly. And then...you wouldn't be wearing a hoodie. You'd be hoodie-less. In front of other trolls. You can't--you take a deep breath. Focus, Lukasz.

"Ablutionblock?" you ask.

 

"Oh, right. Down the hall on third door on the left." You watch as Lukasz hurries off.

You turn back to the rest of the group and sigh. You just know something else is going to go wrong soon.

 

Your claws are pricking you through your sleeves. "Can we move on with this?" you ask, a small growl building in the back of your throat. "There are still lususnappers out there, and I would like to get rid of them before they decide they're strong enough to come after my papa again - or after Kezria's mom."

 

Holy shit, has Imperial propaganda gotten its hooks in Keeler. Propaganda and mind honey. You'd be disgusted and alarmed, except that you're too angry at the Empire and at Kingpin's operation for doing this to her.

It'll be hard to turn this around. And yes, you still want to try to save her. It's a rare troll who doesn't get taken in, and while most don't get stuck quite this deep (0h your god, is she trying to lick the honey off Lukasz? that is as sad as it is hilarious), she still deserves help. You have videos and manuals of just how they brutalize helmstrolls. You think you'll be able to reach her, with the right application of them.

But Iglora is right, you have a mission to take care of. You'll find a chance to... talk... to Keeler later.

 

You're still seething about Astroh insulting your honey like that. Honestly, how does she expect to be able to make the cut if she's not willing to put the effort into getting ready for Ascension? You suppose you can try to help her out later, though, after you've calmed down enough to not snap at her, and she's calmed down enough to listen to your expertise. But for now, the highblood has a point. The night is getting on, and you should probably all get going.

> Go already.

Come to think of it, where are you going? No one gave you any details on this front. You turn towards Kezria expectantly.

 

You bloodpusher sinks when Iglora mentions the possibility that they could cone after your mom. You hadn't thought about it until now and the thought scares you more than you'd like to admit. You kind of shake your head a bit to get out of that head space.

Right, you really should get going. Uh, where exactly you're going, you're not exactly sure.

"Right, um. So here's the thing. This is what Kingpin told me," you start counting on your claws, "There's a lususnapping ring. It's operating on his turf. And they don't like highbloods." You look up at the group. "That's all I have to go off of. Keeler, did Kingpin give you any more info?"

 

"All I got from Kingpin was your name, address, and trollian handle. I didn't even know we were dealing with lususnappers until I messaged you."

 

You frown and think to yourself. You brought Iglora and Astroh in, so they don't know any more than you do. Lukasz just got his lusus taken. Oh and he stabbed the Kingpin. He stabbed the Kingpin! Maybe he has more answers for you? You certainly hope so because otherwise you're going to have to ask for help before you've even started and you REALLY do not want to do that.

"I'll be right back."

You go to the ablutionblock, knock, and talk through the door. "Hey Lukasz? Are you almost done? I wanted to ask if you had any information from the Kingpin that might help us know where to start. He didn't give me much."

 

No you are not almost done. This honey is stickier than anticipated and your nail file is doing a terrible job scraping it off. But you've got most of it, you think, and Kezria's question gives you pause.

"He didn't?" you ask. That seems irresponsible. If you were an illegal criminal mob boss, you would give your people more to go off of than that.

You look at your hoodie. Yeah, it's as clean as it's going to get. At least the honey is dried enough that the psionic won't be tempted to lick it. You get yourself reswaddled and open the door.

"Um, he didn't tell me much, either. They're southeast of the forest, that's all I know. Are you saying you can't find them? I came here because I thought you could help me get my lusus back." The blueblood--Iglora?--might be a fearsome highblood, and Keeler might be a powerful psionic, and Kezria and Astroh are probably still better fighters than you, but if they can't even figure out where the lususnappers are then you might as well have just gone after them yourself.