herrin | ♛ IC CONTACT

[It takes almost a month to decide if it's worth it to explore. Honestly, Equius put their conversation largely out of his mind quickly enough, but some of his attempts to understand human romance from Fuuka hadn't helped him one bit, and so he finally decided to attempt this sort of thing in a way he understood better.

And then it had taken time to find who she was, where she was... but finally, on the morning of this day, she would find a pawn on top of a small note, sealed with blue wax. inside was written in blue text]

I wish to test your merits human
Meet me at the library
The tables before the historical studies
Noon
I command it

[He had a feeling that commanding her to do anything would net a reaction.]

( oh, how fascinating. she hadn't considered that he might rise to the occasion, that he might choose to challenge her. and it'd been so long since someone had attempt to challenge her; it almost made her want to take him up on it, as she turned his pawn over and over in her hand. the note is in her other hand, half open, and she's staring out the window, contemplating.

it's the last line that seals it. i command it. it'd been ever so long since anyone had tried to command her. she'd like to see him try.

so, at noon, here she is; it was easy enough to find the table and she's leaning against it, legs crossed, when he approaches. )

You command, do you? Funny, I hadn't taken you for the type to do so.

In my species, I am considered of the nobility of land dwellers. It is expected that most species will be recipients of my orders. Old habits expire with considerable difficulty.

[He gave her a nod as he settled down on the other side of the table. When he did so, he set the chess board down in front of him. Equius had been practicing this game in private for several months, and managed to determine the basic permutations of its rules. Applying good tactics to it was much easier now.]

Besides, I assumed it would get your attention much more effectively than simply asking.

Is that so? ( she does, at the very least, look mildly impressed as she takes a seat opposite him and places the pawn he sent her on the board. she'd kept it with her, just in case. ) But I'm not of your species. I don't have to follow your orders.

( except she's here nonetheless. the gap in logic doesn't escape her, but she leaves it. )

Asking nicely would have worked just as well, I expect.

[He laughed very softly. One hand offered her the rest of the pieces that belonged to her side and began to set his own up. He had offered her the white pieces, wanting to see how she opened the game as much as he was more interested in following for the first game.

No, she didn't need to follow his orders, but as she noticed there she was, and that snaggled grin said he was aware of this fact.]

I'm curious how you react to different stimuli, human. Perhaps I wanted to see if you would show or not...

Perhaps I wanted to see the expression on your face.

Mm..

( her noise is non committal as she sets up the rest of the pieces nimbly, noting that she'd been given white and the significance. he wanted her to make the first move. odd considering he had been the one to summon her here. or perhaps not, he was clearly trying to take her measure. her first move might tell him more about her than the fact that she showed up and responded to his taunts. )

And what do you think of it, then? ( the expression on her face. fairly serene, as usual. ) After you went to all that trouble, you must have some impressions.

[Were Equius a more clever and erudite tactician, the entire goal of this whole exchange might have been to test her through watching her thought process, observe the various reactions she had to his barbs and nudges and even get a feel for if she could manage to decipher some sort of intentional pattern in his behavior.

As it was, no he was pretty much just using this as a cheap way to gauge her first move and what the first three said about her tactical style against an unknown.]

Claim the first piece, human and perhaps I will express my thoughts on your own visage. I think giving away anything without cost in this exchange would feel... inappropriate.

[Besides, he was trying to remember why humans called this a 'poker face.']

( it was cheap, but she'd been known to fall for cheap tricks sometimes. she would have to be on her guard with this one; luckily that was a given. she wouldn't dream of letting down her guard at a time like this. )

Are you testing me?

( her tone is mild as she gently pushes out her queenside pawn two spaces, her opening move. )

It almost implies that you're interested.

I expected that it would be rather obvious to you by now that there is a certain amount of examination at play. [He reached down, taking hold of the opposite knight from his queen's side and moving it forward and inward. Horse-based and centric plots were among his first studies.]

And do you think I would go to this much trouble if no interest were present? If only a touch of curiosity...

( she doesn't seem concerned. instead she moves her pieces lazily, giving no indication that her playing style was rehearsed. if she'd had lessons or prior study, she didn't betray that fact to him. )

This is a lot of effort regardless, especially for only a 'touch' of curiosity.

( she tips her head to one side, offering him a smirk. )

[He laughed at that. It was a rare thing for him, and rather awkward in its sounding. Equius didn't laugh often or well, but he did on occasion.]

The sort of interest of which we've expressed and discussed in the past is the sort where elaborate methodologies are to be expected to a certain amount. You would not wish someone who did not have the willingness to go to no length to show interest, would you?

No, I wouldn't.

( he's read her correctly that way at least. and his interest, no matter how misguided, was a tool. one that she could use at a later date. for now, it was simply flattering. )

Is it often that you make the first move?

[He scratched at his chin, feeling a few beads of sweat on his forehead. A mopping was followed by an uncomfotable shrug. His emotions were hard to mistake, though his motives could be very difficult to decipher.]

The first move. I am not exactly certain that I would say that. My ... tastes in the past have complicated that maneuver due to societal expectations.

( she's studying him; interested, for the moment, in how he seems so nervous despite his bold move (so to speak). was he regretting it? no, that didn't seem quite it. but he didn't seem completely comfortable either. )

You ought to elaborate, you know. Mystery can only keep one interested for so long.

Ah, apologies. [He coughed, again very uncomfortably.] There is a complication in our culture in romantic liaisons. While some shifting of the hemospectrum is expected, drastic ones come with explicitly negative connotations it behooves trolls to remember.

I have a somewhat shameful taste for the rust-blooded and red-blooded varieties of our species. It at times makes potential liaisons with humans both appealing and a little... problematic. The color of your blood is that of our lowest castes, though I accept that your species is not as we are in this.

( perhaps he was just uncomfortable, then. the blood politics (literally) of his species were too fascinating, however, for her to allow him any measure of comfort. )

What comes after red? ( curiousity killed the cat. ) No, humans are not the same way; but we discriminate using other values that may be similar; the colour of one's skin, where they are from, their gender.

I have read something to that effect, though from what I have encountered, your feudal structures and strata are closer than this matter of sub-cultural divides. Our species lacks that sort of sub-cultural division. [He seemed to be more confident when explaining this than romance at the very least. scratching over his chin, he considered.]

There is a symbol your culture uses, a ... rainbow. Strata in the hemospectrum begin at the farthest red, moving towards indigo and purple with fuscia blooded, or Tyrian as we refer to it, at the crest. So an orange or yellow would be the next low-blooded variations.

( she considers this, also considering her next move. the argument that feudal structures were gone was far too naive; no, they simply took a different form in modern society. wasn't she indicative of this? if not her, then surely the holmes boys. they had every advantage, equivalent of lordship. )

Is there a way of telling someone's blood status without actually drawing blood? ( for instance: can it be seen on their face? she's peering at him thoughtfully, now. )

[He tipped his shades back, giving her a look at his yellow eyes. the irises had a deep blue to them, and his eyes had a bit of a sunken look, like someone who didn't get out nearly enough.]

The ocular cavities usually have the color in the portion that surrounds light acquisition. I believe your species calls it the pupil. Most of our race also takes a certain pride in its bloodline and wears the color boldly.

[He put the glasses back in place.]

Only our fearless leader, Karkat, never did that... but I suspect his bloodline was very low.

( she studies his eyes for a moment before returning her gaze to the chessboard, going over the order of the rainbow in her head. blue. close to violet, therefore.. some sort of nobility? )

And yet he was still your leader. You didn't mind following someone with a lower bloodline?

I worked with a person of slightly lesser bloodline but still of noble birth who I have worked several times in the past [In other words, Vriska roped him into it like always]. she would allow him his pretenses at times for her little machinations to play out. In the long run, he proved more competent than expected, so most simply accepted him as such.

I had other concerns than ensuring exact birth order at the time.

Concerns that could trump what sounds to be a very strict caste order? I'm intrigued.

Predominately survival. Regardless of how important the caste system was, our shared and mutual survival was of slightly more pressing dominance in our collective interests.

And what was threatening your survival?

That... is a complex question. At that stage, I would say three things ultimately: Ourselves, the results of our stupidity, and a monster known as Jack. The details would be a touch complicated to get into, but we had locked ourselves into a very close-knit space to prepare for alternative options.

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wow i am a loser for losing this notifs

hehe, no worries

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