We Are Under Attack By Planet Fucking Jupiter

———

“Alright, let’s see… I can use some of that stuffing from the weird doll thing to fill my bedding, maybe some sticky notes to trade with… yeah, think that’ll work!”

John grinned at himself in the hand mirror shard stuck on the wall. His dark hair framed his equally dark skin, with his blue eyes contrasting with their brightness. The thirteen year old boy pulled on his blue striped shirt- handmade, of course- and grabbed his borrowing bag before heading out.

His bare feet padded through the narrow corridor, twisting and turning until he reached the hidden door etched into the wall. Steeling his resolve, he pushed the door open, and exited his small facsimile of the world into the gargantuan reality.

Dave Strider, unaware of his tiny roommate, was spitting out sick fires into a dollar store headset microphone hooked up to his computer in his bedroom. His head was bobbing rhythmically to a beat that he was setting, perched on a gaming chair he had bought himself for Christmas. Engrossed within the music, Dave moves his hands in a record scratching motion, a rare smile gracing his lips as he spins in his chair, tilting his head back and starting to beatbox.

After a few long seconds of a kickass beatbox solo, his short cut blonde hair was flung forward as he went to face his computer screen, reaching a pale hand to his mouse, and placing his foot down on the floor to stop his spinning. He focused on his screen for a while, his pointed shades reflecting the display, a free recording website. Since he was only thirteen, he had to lie on the sign up page to get an account here, and he hoped that when he uploaded his first track his voice wouldn’t give that away.

He taps his foot on the ground impatiently as he clicks the “stop recording” button, and the webpage stalls. He clicks his tongue in annoyance, smile fading.

“C’mon man.”

No. Bad John. Humans are dangerous, and could never be friends with a borrower. John mentally chastised himself for even considering that.

“Shit..I almost got it.”

His hand grasps a small lever at the base of the chair, and he triumphantly pulls it. The chair plummets down around a foot, and he emits an undignified and uncool yelp. Steadying himself in hie chair, his one thought is “thank fuck no one saw that”. He turns to face his computer and desk, clearing his throat and going to drink from his apple juice container, when he spots movement out of the corner of his eye.

Holy shit.

His jaw practically drops to the floor as he sees a miniature guy his age climbing up his desk. He wheels backwards a few inches, staring at John. He glances to the bottle of apple juice and to his tiny visitor, wondering if he’s dreaming or if someone spiked his beverage. He, for once, is at a loss for words, but only for a moment.

“Hey-.. Little dude, am I dreaming right now? Because it’s either that or I drank somethin’ real weird.”

Almost fully over the initial “oh my god” moment of seeing a miniature human (at least it seemed that way outwardly), Dave’s mouth closed and pressed into its signature unbothered line. He is calm, he is cool, he is a blank slate, completely chill at this moment. He is not totally still in shock from the discovery of a tiny guy climbing up his desk. He tilted his head in what appeared to be curiosity at John’s shaky voice. Dave supposed that his fear would be understandable if he was in John’s position.. It dawns on him that he must seem like a giant. Suddenly very aware of how scary he could be, he tries to choose his next words carefully, attempting to calm the other.

“I’m not going to mistake you for a bug, if that’s what you’re afraid of- Shit!”

———

“Alright, let’s see… I can use some of that stuffing from the weird doll thing to fill my bedding, maybe some sticky notes to trade with… yeah, think that’ll work!”

John grinned at himself in the hand mirror shard stuck on the wall. His dark hair framed his equally dark skin, with his blue eyes contrasting with their brightness. The thirteen year old boy pulled on his blue striped shirt- handmade, of course- and grabbed his borrowing bag before heading out.

His bare feet padded through the narrow corridor, twisting and turning until he reached the hidden door etched into the wall. Steeling his resolve, he pushed the door open, and exited his small facsimile of the world into the gargantuan reality.

Dave Strider, unaware of his tiny roommate, was spitting out sick fires into a dollar store headset microphone hooked up to his computer in his bedroom. His head was bobbing rhythmically to a beat that he was setting, perched on a gaming chair he had bought himself for Christmas. Engrossed within the music, Dave moves his hands in a record scratching motion, a rare smile gracing his lips as he spins in his chair, tilting his head back and starting to beatbox.

After a few long seconds of a kickass beatbox solo, his short cut blonde hair was flung forward as he went to face his computer screen, reaching a pale hand to his mouse, and placing his foot down on the floor to stop his spinning. He focused on his screen for a while, his pointed shades reflecting the display, a free recording website. Since he was only thirteen, he had to lie on the sign up page to get an account here, and he hoped that when he uploaded his first track his voice wouldn’t give that away.

He taps his foot on the ground impatiently as he clicks the “stop recording” button, and the webpage stalls. He clicks his tongue in annoyance, smile fading.

“C’mon man.”

No. Bad John. Humans are dangerous, and could never be friends with a borrower. John mentally chastised himself for even considering that.

“Shit..I almost got it.”

His hand grasps a small lever at the base of the chair, and he triumphantly pulls it. The chair plummets down around a foot, and he emits an undignified and uncool yelp. Steadying himself in hie chair, his one thought is “thank fuck no one saw that”. He turns to face his computer and desk, clearing his throat and going to drink from his apple juice container, when he spots movement out of the corner of his eye.

Holy shit.

His jaw practically drops to the floor as he sees a miniature guy his age climbing up his desk. He wheels backwards a few inches, staring at John. He glances to the bottle of apple juice and to his tiny visitor, wondering if he’s dreaming or if someone spiked his beverage. He, for once, is at a loss for words, but only for a moment.

“Hey-.. Little dude, am I dreaming right now? Because it’s either that or I drank somethin’ real weird.”

———

“Alright, let’s see… I can use some of that stuffing from the weird doll thing to fill my bedding, maybe some sticky notes to trade with… yeah, think that’ll work!”

John grinned at himself in the hand mirror shard stuck on the wall. His dark hair framed his equally dark skin, with his blue eyes contrasting with their brightness. The thirteen year old boy pulled on his blue striped shirt- handmade, of course- and grabbed his borrowing bag before heading out.

His bare feet padded through the narrow corridor, twisting and turning until he reached the hidden door etched into the wall. Steeling his resolve, he pushed the door open, and exited his small facsimile of the world into the gargantuan reality.

Dave Strider, unaware of his tiny roommate, was spitting out sick fires into a dollar store headset microphone hooked up to his computer in his bedroom. His head was bobbing rhythmically to a beat that he was setting, perched on a gaming chair he had bought himself for Christmas. Engrossed within the music, Dave moves his hands in a record scratching motion, a rare smile gracing his lips as he spins in his chair, tilting his head back and starting to beatbox.

After a few long seconds of a kickass beatbox solo, his short cut blonde hair was flung forward as he went to face his computer screen, reaching a pale hand to his mouse, and placing his foot down on the floor to stop his spinning. He focused on his screen for a while, his pointed shades reflecting the display, a free recording website. Since he was only thirteen, he had to lie on the sign up page to get an account here, and he hoped that when he uploaded his first track his voice wouldn’t give that away.

He taps his foot on the ground impatiently as he clicks the “stop recording” button, and the webpage stalls. He clicks his tongue in annoyance, smile fading.

“C’mon man.”

Oh, was today going quite well thus far.

On a place certainly much different from Alternia stood a feline-like troll, a few stray strands falling into her face with the slight breeze that had picked up some time ago. It wasn’t anything that bothered her terribly however, with a small giggle escaping her as she reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear— the sound of her own quiet laugh being unheard to her in the process. It was something she had grown rather used to as time had gone on, with adapting to the usage of sign language usually.. that, and reading lips or merely texting often were other options she could easily use alongside her voice, if she truly wished to. Though, the former was certainly much more awkward for her, with how strange it felt to have the rumble of vocalization in her throat without hearing the words that went with it.

Quite quickly shaking off the thoughts, she let her eyes shift to the moons above, blinking a few times. She had only just separated from her friends, if only to get the tiniest breather in before returning. She had been having quite the splendid day, really! Especially with being able to spend some level of time with both Kurloz and Horuss. Few arguments had broken out as well, and god knew how rare of a thing that was. All in all? Things were going almost strangely well, with the friendly communication between herself and her friends. (Not that she herself was one to engage in negative speech, of course.)

This most certainly wasn’t Earth.

David (Dave) Strider, famed actor and director, was looking at the sky, which had one more moon than he was used to. He had stuck to the shadows for the majority of the day, keeping his head low, passing in alleys, watching as weird creatures with horns, grey skin, and different blood colors talked to each other joyfully. They were like the batterwitch, but they’re more docile. Maybe this is her planet? But he’s heard stories about Alternia, cutthroat and unforgiving.. but this place wasn’t that. It was the opposite of that, actually. Everyone here was so kind to each other and treated each other with respect, which he found to be a welcome surprise. Now, he found himself alone, staring at the two moons in the sky. He steps out from the shadows of two trees and stretches, arms reaching high above his head.

His normally pristine suit he usually wears to a showing of his movies is anything but, torn in some places and his dress shirt’s top button has been lost to today’s escapades. Dirt caked his ankles and his dress shoes have been long since discarded for his spare set of sneakers he always carried on him for emergencies. He feels out of his element honestly, and he isn’t usually shaken this badly, but being zapped to another planet in the middle of his (supposed) death might be a blessing in disguise. He always runs out of Time, either that be in being late for breakfast or being too slow to counter a lethal blow, but his own sense of his own time is usually enough to counter it. Not this time, though. He shakes his head then spits on the ground next to him, a wad of bubblegum landing on the dirt. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, and freezes. He just stepped into the line of sight of a troll, how had he not noticed? He must look like some sort of mutant to them. He moves his hands forward, trying to make a nonthreatening gesture.

“Hey kid, I’m not lookin’ for trouble. Just pretend you haven’t even seen me, that’d be for the best.”

Safe to say, Meulin took a moment longer to fully notice the stranger in her line of sight, with her eyes remaining on the two moons for just a second or so more. Alas, when spotting the human? She blinked a few times, clear puzzlement written across her features. Generally, if she were to have her hearing.. well, she would’ve heard the man approaching quite easily. With being down to only four of the five main senses however, she was truly at a bit of a disadvantage for taking notice of any strange figures. She almost could’ve thought it was even one of her own friends at first, if not for the near sickly color of the stranger. The mere sight had her making a face, brows furrowing. Was this odd ‘troll’ okay? It didn’t seem so, all things considered.

There was a pause from the girl momentarily before she raised her hand to begin signing, promptly after he had spoken, the poor girl only able to pick up bits and pieces of what he had said. Lip reading never had been a great strong suite of hers, with her much preferring texting or the usual way of sign language. Only hoping that they’d happen to understand, she continued with the signing, keeping it rather simple. “I can’t hear you. Are you okay?”

The girl held a concerned look whilst signing the particular words, tail swishing back and forth as she tilted her head to the side. The troll held quite the feline-like characteristics, even her horns resembling something akin to cat ears. Not to mention, her slightly olive-green tinted pupils were constricted ever so slightly, yet another resemblance to a potential feline counterpart.

Dave startles at the realization that the troll in front of him is deaf, but quickly recovers, attempting to scratch his mind for sign language training he had when he was younger. He shifts on his feet, and shakes his hands out, readying himself. He understands what she’s saying, but he struggles to make the signs with his own hands. He nods to her and says the letters along with the signs he does, pronouncing and emphasizing the letters, his mouth over-exaggerating every syllable.

“D-a-v-e S-t-r-i-d-e-r.”

He slowly spells out his name in what he hopes to be correct sign language, long pauses between letters as he tries to recall the next letter. He moves closer to her, his blond hair reflecting off the light of the moons. He exhales, and decides to just sign from now on, that’ll be easier.

“Sorry. Hands aren’t good. I am Alien. From Earth. Lost.”

He pauses, clearing his throat, peering at her face. She seems trustful enough.

“Troll?”

He gestures to her after saying and signing the last word.

“Are trolls here bad? My planet..”

He trails off, trying to remember the right word. He settles for something simple, looking at her through his sunglasses, his signs slow and full of finality.

“Planet killed by a troll.”

His hands throb from the complex movements his hands are making, he just had to fight for his life with a sword earlier today, and he’s admittedly very exhausted. He sighs, his shoulders slumping.

“Hands hurt. War. Revolution.”

He reaches out and exposes his palms, which have blisters and scars on them. He then mimes swinging a sword, trying to get his point across. He notices her feline characteristics after he finishes moving, all of his brain power for the past few minutes or so had been focused on signing and forming words, and he hadn’t had much time to really look at her. He can’t help but smirk slightly and bring up his hands to sign one word.

“Cat?”

He nods to her tail, then brings both his index fingers up to each side of his head and points them upward, trying to create the image of having horns. He tilts his head at her for a few seconds, then he remembers something. He scrambles to sign again, his fingers twitch slightly in the effort of trying to get the words across quickly.

“Don’t tell! Don’t tell others me. Danger.”

He struggles to sign the words with his injured hands. He might’ve skipped a word or two..

“Hands hurt bad.”

He shakes out his hands once again, wincing as he does so. He gingerly strokes his right palm as he feels an old scar ache. He looks apologetically to the troll in front of him. He shrugs, and finally answers her question.

Meulin watched as the strange supposed troll shook his hands out, brows furrowing in puzzlement. She was still trying to wrap her head around why they looked so strange, but alas, to no avail. Perhaps Kankri would happen to know? Or.. no— maybe she’d only get a scolding on how calling another ‘weird’ could happen to be triggering for the individual. Really, though? It was something she had grown all too used to, considering how often the particular troll happened to jump in on conversations.

Her thoughts were quickly cut off by the sight of the other beginning to sign however, taking in the sight of the individual letters signed. Dave Strider? Was that the stranger’s name? Giving a small smile, she went to give a signing of her own name, albeit much quicker than his own signing. “Meulin Leijon!” Oh, was she grateful for the odd looking troll to be able to understand her sign language. It made things much, much easier, after all.

Tilting her head curiously, she watched as he approached, making a face when taking in what he had signed. An alien? From Earth? Well, that was most certainly strange… stranger than most things she encountered on a daily basis, for that matter. Gaze flickering to his hands as she watched him sign, she frowned upon hearing that they seemingly hurt. They just look like they hurt, with the visibly injuries on them — both old and new. “Everyone is nice! For the most part, at least.” She soon signed, huffing out a breath.

Cracking a grin of her own with the gestures made alongside the single-word question, she gave a joking show of her teeth. “Yes! Cat!” She signed, giggling a bit with the given words. She most certainly was feline-like, and goodness knew she was prideful of it.

Alas, her small bout of amusement was quick to falter when seeing the next signed words, concern falling across her expression yet again as she kept her eyes on him. “I won’t tell.” She tried to assure, tail beginning to droop. “Promise.” It was a tempting thought, sure, but she wasn’t at all about to do such a thing to this poor alien. Best to not lose any sort of possible trust, after all.

Meulin..what a peculiar name. It sounded like.. He raises his hands to sign again. This girl was certainly very eager to help, but he would be a fool to not feel a sense of suspicion, especially with all that he’s been through today, he’s in unfamiliar territory. An unfamiliar planet, even. He feels a blister become irritated with his rapid hand movements, but he carries on.

“Meulin? M-e-w? Cat?”

He chuckles, smiling. He eagerly watches her sign her responses, and his face momentarily lights up when she conveys that everyone is nice on the most part, but he quickly rushes to make his face neutral again. God, he wishes that Rose was here, she’d be better at talking to people. She’s always better than him with conversations, he tends to ramble..but in this case, he can’t really. His hands can’t take it.

“Keep promise.”

He gives her a tilt of his head, and ponders for a moment at her question. How could she help? She could maybe give him some insight on how this planet works, and if Her Imperious Bitchness is in power. Maybe he went back in time? If so, that’s new to him, and he probably went back at the best time, a moment before he was about to be killed. He starts to sign.

“Tell me-.”

He exhales as a blister pops and a scratch reopens, a drop of red blood forming on the palm of his hand. He stops signing, partially in pain, but he’s admittedly a bit overwhelmed. Fuck, she can sign so fast, he can’t keep up. He barely stops himself from pulling back when she grabs his hand, instead letting her examine his injuries. He bites his tongue, maybe his questions can wait, his hands do hurt, maybe she can help? He attempts to sign with his free hand, letter by letter.

“H-e-l-p.”

He’s never had anyone but himself take care of his battle injuries before, it feels so..wrong. It’s a side of him that’s been extremely personal, that shows the depth of the pain he’s in. He sighs, he needs to trust someone right now, he can’t survive on this planet alone. He’s taking a leap of faith, but where would he be by not taking risks? Probably still making those comics in his shitty apartment, not being a movie star and a revolutionary against a galactic conquerer. He frowns slightly, and begrudgingly signs a new word with his free hand.

The sight of the words signed was enough to have the girl giving a breathless sort of laugh, cupping one hand over her mouth for a split second. He certainly wasn’t wrong, she knew, the troll’s expression showing clear amusement as she flashed a sharp toothed grin in his direction. “Meulin.” She repeated, this time however attempting for a verbal response.. even if it was deaf to her own ears. She had said it hundreds of time before going deaf however, and so? She most certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with the words, even if being unable to hear herself.

Brows knitting together in further concern however as he went on, and when seeing the singular letters signed out to form one word? She let out a breath, examining his hand for a moment longer before shifting her hands to his forearms. Attempting to be gentle, the girl tried to ease him down to the ground, quite relieved for the grass underneath them. Best to have this than to have pavement or something of the sort, after all.

“It’ll be okay.” She tried to assure, having to pull her hands away from him in order to sign. “How bad does it hurt? I can take you to my hive. There’s bandages there!” That, and it would certainly be safer there than out here, in the midst of the public- where prying eyes could easily see them if they wished to.

His eyes widened beneath his shades when she said her name, she said it perfectly too. Maybe she wasn’t born deaf? The thought saddened him, however, what horrible thing happened to her to cause her to go deaf? He shakes the thought off as he feels her try to lead him to sit on the ground, and he lets her. He feels his knees almost give out, and is suddenly aware how tired he is.

“Hurts, but more exhausted. Had to fight hard.”

The fight couldn’t have lasted for more than five minutes, but every second he was parrying, running, attacking, dodging.. it had ended when he was disarmed. He saw his own sword being levitated towards his chest, and he remembers every heartbeat in those few seconds. He reaches up with his free hand to touch where it would’ve delivered the fatal blow..and he feels a hole in his shirt. He pales, and traces his index finger over it. It had gotten that close to killing him. He takes in a shaky breath. He’s alive now, that’s all that matters. He looks up to Meulin.

“Yes. Take me there, please. Out of public.”

Happy to see the human cooperating, she gave a smile. Better for this to happen than for him to be stubborn and refuse, after all. Goodness knew she wasn’t too keen on dealing with that sort of thing at the end of the day, seeing as all she wanted to do was help. She didn’t exactly wish to cause further harm by him resisting, either. Expression growing further sympathetic at the next signed words, she let out a breath.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it stop hurting, okay?” She was doing her best to be reassuring as possible, maintaining that same smile of hers as her tail flicked back and forth. Oh, did she hold quite the amount of pity for the strange blonde, especially with how exhausted he seemed to be. She couldn’t blame him either, if what he had said about fighting was true.

“Who did you fight? Actually, that can wait. Let’s just get going, ok?” She signed out, pleased to see the decision made. She preferred her hive, really, but that was partially due to it being the comfort of her own home— quite literally.

Reaching out to place her hands over his gently next, she shook her head, an attempted gesture to get him to stop signing for now even if her own signed words could be answered. Best to not have him hurting himself further, she thought.

He goes to sign again, but feels her hands lower his, and he (begrudgingly) lets it happen. He needs someone to trust, and she seems like one of the trustworthy bunch. Then again, he doesn’t have much of an option. Soft. Her hands were soft. At least, compared to his. This girl isn’t like him, battle hardened and weary from war. He mouths “thank you” to Meulin, trying to mouth each letter slowly. He looks slightly silly while doing so. He lets himself be brought to his feet, and feels himself blush in embarrassment as his knees wobble. God, everything hurts.

He’s now so aware on how much his body aches. He’s been moving off of adrenaline and survival instinct alone, and now that he’s taken a break, he realizes how much of a toll the battle took on his body..but that ache might be also due to him getting older. Twenty six years young and he’s in pain. That might be pretty bad, but he’s here for a good time, not a long time. He takes a few deep breaths as he steadies, looking away from Meulin, ashamed at his current state. He nudges her, and gestures forward, wanting her to lead him to wherever her house is.

“Y’know, I feel like shit putting my life in the hands of you. You’re just a kid. You don’t deserve this. You don’t know me, why are you trying to help me?”

Meulin had found herself taking notice as to just how.. worn his hands felt- roughed up, and clearly in no good condition. Then again, this man in general hardly seemed to be in any good condition. He seemed quite roughed up, in truth. That much could only be expected from someone who claimed to have just come from a raging fight however, the mere thought having the feline-like troll grimacing. He was safe here at least, she would make sure of that much. Her hive was a good place for him to go at the very least, especially seeing as she knew her lusus wouldn’t be making any hostile moves towards the man. Not if she had any say in the matter, that is.

She offered a toothy grin when reading the words he had said however, quite thankful for her more well honed ability to read lips. If only to help with the ease of conversation, she went to speak up slowly, just hoping that she was pronouncing things properly after such a lack of speech on her part. “You’re.. welcome.” The words came out a tiny bit slurred, her brows furrowing in concentration as she spoke. But, in thinking that she did well enough? She was quick to perk back up, giggling.

With the nudge, the girl happily took that as the sign to get moving, trying to walk slowly for the sake of Dave.

Dave’s eyes had lit up when she had spoke, although his eyes were hidden from view by his shades. He nodded encouragingly as she responded. He tilted his head in a “good!” manner when she had responded verbally, impressed. The sound of her giggling surprised him, and he was suddenly very self conscious for a few moments, before he realized she wasn’t laughing at him, but in satisfaction with her own speech. Good for her. He went to raise his hands to sign, but he guessed she would not let him, so in the middle of beginning to sign a word, he lowered his hands. He walked slowly behind her, trying to not make it look obvious he was struggling to even stand, and he secretly appreciated the kind gesture of her walking slowly so he wouldn’t fall behind.

He shrugs when she asks why she shouldn’t help him, and he opens his mouth to speak, again over emphasizing the words visually and going slow with his speech speed.

“I mean, I’m an alien that could be a danger to you or somethin’. You could’ve just left me there. I could be poisonous or freaky, or just a plain dick and try to hurt you..”

He trails off, but he quickly begins speaking again.

“..but I wouldn’t.”

He he tilts his head.

“I’m not like that. I’d never hurt anyone unless they deserve it.”

The troll had continued with keeping an eye on the other, blinking a few times. It was.. interesting really, having a new face around— especially one so different from those she was used to seeing. It was nearly enough to have her giggling all over again, though she at the very least knew well enough to keep her mouth shut this time around. Best to not make him think she was laughing at him specifically after all.. even if that was partially it. It was still strange to her as well, seeing his puzzlement with her assistance. But, oh well- there wasn’t much she could do to help with that, aside from continued reassurance.

Tilting her head when seeing that he had begun to speak, she tried to watch his lips to read the words, holding a more concentrated look all the while.

“You hardly look like you’d be poisonous at all!” She went to sign, finding herself giving a sharp toothed grin with what she was saying. “You look pawfully defenseless, honestly. You don’t even have horns, claws or fangs! Not like me, or any of the other trolls here!” It was something she still found quite amusing, funnily enough. How in the world could he be any sort of danger? It wasn’t as if he had acted hostile at all, either.

“Yeah, yeah you caught me. I guess I don’t look like those poisonous dart frogs or somethin’.”

He makes sure to be in her line of sight as he speaks, so she can read his lips. Dave taps his chin, the stubble rubbing against his finger unpleasantly. He hums, contemplating the words.

“Or is that venomous?”

He examines her hands as she signs. After she finishes, he mimes himself having horns using his two index fingers and placing them on both sides of his head, seemingly pondering the idea of him having horns. He smirks slightly.

“Fangs? Humans have two sharp teeth that look like fangs.”

He lifts his top lip with his right thumb and reveals two sharp canines in his top row of teeth. They’re smaller than the rest. He retracts his finger.

“We don’t really use them for anything though. It’s more of a leftover from our ancestors. Would’ve been cool though to have real fangs. Could’ve bit the fish bitch right in the-..”

He stops himself. His revenge fantasies against the Condescension for Rose could wait until he’s at least fit to fight. He’s in no good shape the way he is right now, he doesn’t even have his sword. And? This gal might not appreciate someone of her species being slandered. He needs her help. He doesn’t want to upset her either, she seems like an upstanding citizen and is going out of her way to help a disheveled, injured alien who is probably making no sense right now. God, Rose. It was a losing battle, but he should’ve been the one to go first. She was caught by surprise, obviously. Even with her knowledge, her luck, it wasn’t enough to stop a trident to the side. What made him the one lucky enough to survive? He shakes these thoughts off. Just survive right now. He forces a smile.

Upon seeing the inquires, she could only give a meek shrug of her shoulders. Goodness, she couldn’t at all tell any difference. Hell, it wasn’t exactly as if she was too familiar with creatures that held such properties in the first place, really. Eyes remaining on the human, she cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner with spotting the sight of his canines. Well, he certainly had some sort of fangs, as he had said.. though, they weren’t anything in comparison to her own, she thought.

Going to give a show of her teeth, almost akin to an animal baring it’s fangs, she pointed a clawed finger to her own teeth— all seeming to hold a more pointed look rather than being flat at all. Though, of course, her canines were the sharpest of all, especially with the way they still showed ever so slightly even with her mouth shut.

“They look like baby fangs! Yours, I mean!” The words were signed with a clear look of amusement written across Meulin’s features, a smile having tugged at her lips. “I doubt you could even cause damage with those little things!”

Though, with reading the next words? She rose a brow, amusement switching to puzzlement as she gave him a look. “Fish bitch?” She wasn’t at all afraid to sign the more vulgar language, if anything looking mildly entertained with the terminology. Instead of questioning further, seeing how he trailed off, she instead went to make a comment with the mention of his sword.

Dave is taken aback slightly as she signs his words, but regains his composure. He nods. The man audibly yelps when she prods at his chest. He rushes to sign, momentarily ignoring the state of his hands.

“Yes the weapon. I used to have it, lost it in battle earlier. I was good with it too.”

He is suddenly very aware of her having claws, and he subconsciously reaches up to where she touched him to check for injury. Nothing. Signing, he continues.

“Really good. Trained regularly all my life with swords.”

Smiling, he lets his ego show.

“Best swordsman of my time.”

The sight of him once more going to sign had the troll’s brows furrowing, the girl almost looking a tad bit displeased. After all, he was injured— she much rather would’ve preferred him to continue talking, even if she could only read his lips to understand what he was saying. But alas, she made no move to stop him in his movements, only paying attention to what he said.

Though, she did tilt her head ever so slightly when seeing him make the check, glancing down to her claws for a split second. Oh. She couldn’t exactly blame him for the thought, but goodness, she certainly would’ve hoped that she had enough control in herself to not harm someone accidentally.

“I’ve never met a swordsman before.” She signed out, giggling with the words. “It seems very, very pawsome, though!” Nodding to the other, she found herself watching his hands curiously for any further movements.

Now pondering for a split second, she soon found herself glancing ahead, going to point forward before promptly resuming her signing.

Dave nods, allowing himself to have a bit of excitement in his step when she describes being a swordsman as “pawsome”. It was something he had kept close to his chest until recently, he was seen in public with swords sure, but no one actually thought an apparently very eccentric and laid back director actually knew how to use a sword, and to be honest, there wasn’t much practicality in it for the majority of his life. What was the saying? “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight”? That was probably it. He didn’t really have a choice when he first learned, so that saying didn’t stick with him through the years. Jesus. When he first learned..He massages his temples tiredly, sighing and closing his eyes for a moment. Nows not the time Dave, he reminds himself. He forces out a small, Hollywood Star”-esqe smile in an attempt to distract her from his injured hands, one of those smiles that always are the face on magazine covers and on the news. It always distracted reporters and his fans from the more disheveled part of him, so he’s hoping it works here. He doesn’t want her to be upset with him, if he makes her upset he’d feel guilty, and she doesn’t deserve to feel anything bad right now, he doesn’t want to be more of a burden than he probably is. He clicks his tongue, deciding he should just flat out speak to avoid any upset. He makes sure that his mouth is in view, and he tries to mouth the words as clearly as he can as he speaks.

“Yeah, alright. I can’t wait to sit down for the first time today.”

He “tsks” In amusement.

Even with the smile, Meulin had found herself intently watching his hands, holding a particular look of disappointment. Oh, did she not like to see him using his hands. It wasn’t anything good she knew, considering the injuries he quite clearly had obtained through more unknown means to her. Placing a hand to her arm momentarily, she seemed to ease up upon seeing him speak rather than use his hands to sign, offering a fanged smile.

“For the first time? You’ve been on some adventure, huh?” The words signed with a hint of playfulness in her expression, she gave a quiet sort of giggle. There appeared to be some sort of home in the distance- rocky looking and almost akin to a cavern, in a way. But, at least a little nicer looking.

“You can say that.”

He shot her another Hollywood smile, one that says “I’m taking this lightly and I’m carefree”, but that’s anything but the truth. There’s a reason though that’s he’s a Hollywood actor and director. Always a bit aware of how his actions affect a social interaction, he knew that using his hands to sign would catch her attention, and he was proven right as he saw her eyes linger on his signing hands. Shit. Gladly, he saw her demeanor change when he started speaking, and kept to it, not trying to push his luck. Her playful aura and kind nature didn’t fall on deaf-.. he shouldn’t be using that analogy. Correcting his thoughts, he continues.

Meulin was more than giddy when seeing that he had gone to move past her, eyes practically lighting up with joy as the girl trailed after him. The cave was.. well, akin to a cavern— dark, and perhaps a bit claustrophobic feeling. Though, the strange home did have hints of lighting scattered around, albeit dim lighting at that. Watching the strange man with curiosity, her tail just about dragged on the ground underneath her as she stepped forward, hands folded behind her back.

Did he like it? Hopefully. Oh, she should’ve at least tidied up a little before inviting someone over! It wasn’t all that bad, but still! Alas— the circumstance was quite the odd one, and she couldn’t truly say that she could’ve predicted something akin to this to happen. She wasn’t at all going to complain, however.

Dave, immediately after walking in, felt a weight drop from his shoulders, and it was visible. He slouched his shoulders instantly, and his movements became less..refined, slightly dragging his feet on the ground. In this dim lighting, it became apparent how truly exhausted he was. The bags under his eyes lengthened and deepened, and the stress wrinkles on his cheeks were highlighted in what light there was. His heart rate had been high all day due to fear and survival instinct. Here, seeing the cushions and everything blissfully quiet, he started to relax. The place seemed small, sure, but all the more safe due to it being a cave, with long shadows and dim lighting where he can easily hide..no. This was this girl’s house, and he’s not going to reduce it down to places to hide. This is a place of joy, knowing this peculiar girl, he knew this place was brimming with positive energy. As soon as Meulin pointed to the cushions, he dashed towards them and sat down with a resounding thump, the comfort of the items felt beautiful on his aching body, his tense muscles and weary bones settling in. He let out a loud sigh of relief.

“Thank you.”

He mouthed this to her, then signed the next word, making sure to not put too much strain on his hands.

“Questions?”

A soft purr having begun in her throat as she let her tail curl around her ankles, she watched as the strange alien made his way over to the cushions. It was funny in a way, seeing just how terribly rushed he was with the action.. but then again, she couldn’t exactly blame him, all things considered. Stretching, she leaned back with a yawn, only to perk right back up when noticing that he mouthed something.

Tipping her head to the side, she blinked a few times, just watching as he made the motions. And oh, did she certainly have questions. Sitting up straight now, any tiredness that could’ve been given away from her yawn all but vanished, green-filled pupils locked onto Dave.

Dave watched with slight amusement as he saw her sign questions, appreciating her energy. He sighs and starts talking, making sure to make his face as expressive as possible as he explains. He isn’t used to using his face so actively, usually just speaking in a deadpan tone and no emotion, but he feels that he should try to help her understand what he’s saying as much as possible.

“Only me. The one I was fighting with died before I came here. I was lucky too, I was about to be impaled by..”

He hesitates, but signs the next word, mouthing it so she can read his lips better when he says it next.

“Batterwitch.”

He points to the tear in his shirt, then makes an impalement motion towards himself with his hands to emphasize his words. He trails off, but nods when she signs next.

“Hands.”

He shows his calloused palms.

“Ribs.”

He lifts his shirt slightly, only now viewing the extent of his injury. The skin is a deep, sickening purple, the bruise is in the shape of a trident, as if hit on the side with one. He winces, looks away, and drops the side of his shirt down again. He’s in a worse state than he thought.

“Head, was thrown around. Possible concussion.”

He taps the side of his head.

“Aches all over honestly.”

He shrugs, running his hand through his hair. Dave looks away for a moment, but decides he has to know more about this planet, quickly forgetting his current condition.

“…Do you have a ruler here? Fish lady? Mean? General dictator?”

He asks eagerly, wanting to know the answer.

“Is this place called Alternia?”

Oh, was today going quite well thus far.

On a place certainly much different from Alternia stood a feline-like troll, a few stray strands falling into her face with the slight breeze that had picked up some time ago. It wasn’t anything that bothered her terribly however, with a small giggle escaping her as she reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear— the sound of her own quiet laugh being unheard to her in the process. It was something she had grown rather used to as time had gone on, with adapting to the usage of sign language usually.. that, and reading lips or merely texting often were other options she could easily use alongside her voice, if she truly wished to. Though, the former was certainly much more awkward for her, with how strange it felt to have the rumble of vocalization in her throat without hearing the words that went with it.

Quite quickly shaking off the thoughts, she let her eyes shift to the moons above, blinking a few times. She had only just separated from her friends, if only to get the tiniest breather in before returning. She had been having quite the splendid day, really! Especially with being able to spend some level of time with both Kurloz and Horuss. Few arguments had broken out as well, and god knew how rare of a thing that was. All in all? Things were going almost strangely well, with the friendly communication between herself and her friends. (Not that she herself was one to engage in negative speech, of course.)

This most certainly wasn’t Earth.

David (Dave) Strider, famed actor and director, was looking at the sky, which had one more moon than he was used to. He had stuck to the shadows for the majority of the day, keeping his head low, passing in alleys, watching as weird creatures with horns, grey skin, and different blood colors talked to each other joyfully. They were like the batterwitch, but they’re more docile. Maybe this is her planet? But he’s heard stories about Alternia, cutthroat and unforgiving.. but this place wasn’t that. It was the opposite of that, actually. Everyone here was so kind to each other and treated each other with respect, which he found to be a welcome surprise. Now, he found himself alone, staring at the two moons in the sky. He steps out from the shadows of two trees and stretches, arms reaching high above his head.

His normally pristine suit he usually wears to a showing of his movies is anything but, torn in some places and his dress shirt’s top button has been lost to today’s escapades. Dirt caked his ankles and his dress shoes have been long since discarded for his spare set of sneakers he always carried on him for emergencies. He feels out of his element honestly, and he isn’t usually shaken this badly, but being zapped to another planet in the middle of his (supposed) death might be a blessing in disguise. He always runs out of Time, either that be in being late for breakfast or being too slow to counter a lethal blow, but his own sense of his own time is usually enough to counter it. Not this time, though. He shakes his head then spits on the ground next to him, a wad of bubblegum landing on the dirt. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, and freezes. He just stepped into the line of sight of a troll, how had he not noticed? He must look like some sort of mutant to them. He moves his hands forward, trying to make a nonthreatening gesture.

“Hey kid, I’m not lookin’ for trouble. Just pretend you haven’t even seen me, that’d be for the best.”

Safe to say, Meulin took a moment longer to fully notice the stranger in her line of sight, with her eyes remaining on the two moons for just a second or so more. Alas, when spotting the human? She blinked a few times, clear puzzlement written across her features. Generally, if she were to have her hearing.. well, she would’ve heard the man approaching quite easily. With being down to only four of the five main senses however, she was truly at a bit of a disadvantage for taking notice of any strange figures. She almost could’ve thought it was even one of her own friends at first, if not for the near sickly color of the stranger. The mere sight had her making a face, brows furrowing. Was this odd ‘troll’ okay? It didn’t seem so, all things considered.

There was a pause from the girl momentarily before she raised her hand to begin signing, promptly after he had spoken, the poor girl only able to pick up bits and pieces of what he had said. Lip reading never had been a great strong suite of hers, with her much preferring texting or the usual way of sign language. Only hoping that they’d happen to understand, she continued with the signing, keeping it rather simple. “I can’t hear you. Are you okay?”

The girl held a concerned look whilst signing the particular words, tail swishing back and forth as she tilted her head to the side. The troll held quite the feline-like characteristics, even her horns resembling something akin to cat ears. Not to mention, her slightly olive-green tinted pupils were constricted ever so slightly, yet another resemblance to a potential feline counterpart.

Dave startles at the realization that the troll in front of him is deaf, but quickly recovers, attempting to scratch his mind for sign language training he had when he was younger. He shifts on his feet, and shakes his hands out, readying himself. He understands what she’s saying, but he struggles to make the signs with his own hands. He nods to her and says the letters along with the signs he does, pronouncing and emphasizing the letters, his mouth over-exaggerating every syllable.

“D-a-v-e S-t-r-i-d-e-r.”

He slowly spells out his name in what he hopes to be correct sign language, long pauses between letters as he tries to recall the next letter. He moves closer to her, his blond hair reflecting off the light of the moons. He exhales, and decides to just sign from now on, that’ll be easier.

“Sorry. Hands aren’t good. I am Alien. From Earth. Lost.”

He pauses, clearing his throat, peering at her face. She seems trustful enough.

“Troll?”

He gestures to her after saying and signing the last word.

“Are trolls here bad? My planet..”

He trails off, trying to remember the right word. He settles for something simple, looking at her through his sunglasses, his signs slow and full of finality.

“Planet killed by a troll.”

His hands throb from the complex movements his hands are making, he just had to fight for his life with a sword earlier today, and he’s admittedly very exhausted. He sighs, his shoulders slumping.

“Hands hurt. War. Revolution.”

He reaches out and exposes his palms, which have blisters and scars on them. He then mimes swinging a sword, trying to get his point across. He notices her feline characteristics after he finishes moving, all of his brain power for the past few minutes or so had been focused on signing and forming words, and he hadn’t had much time to really look at her. He can’t help but smirk slightly and bring up his hands to sign one word.

“Cat?”

He nods to her tail, then brings both his index fingers up to each side of his head and points them upward, trying to create the image of having horns. He tilts his head at her for a few seconds, then he remembers something. He scrambles to sign again, his fingers twitch slightly in the effort of trying to get the words across quickly.

“Don’t tell! Don’t tell others me. Danger.”

He struggles to sign the words with his injured hands. He might’ve skipped a word or two..

“Hands hurt bad.”

He shakes out his hands once again, wincing as he does so. He gingerly strokes his right palm as he feels an old scar ache. He looks apologetically to the troll in front of him. He shrugs, and finally answers her question.

Meulin watched as the strange supposed troll shook his hands out, brows furrowing in puzzlement. She was still trying to wrap her head around why they looked so strange, but alas, to no avail. Perhaps Kankri would happen to know? Or.. no— maybe she’d only get a scolding on how calling another ‘weird’ could happen to be triggering for the individual. Really, though? It was something she had grown all too used to, considering how often the particular troll happened to jump in on conversations.

Her thoughts were quickly cut off by the sight of the other beginning to sign however, taking in the sight of the individual letters signed. Dave Strider? Was that the stranger’s name? Giving a small smile, she went to give a signing of her own name, albeit much quicker than his own signing. “Meulin Leijon!” Oh, was she grateful for the odd looking troll to be able to understand her sign language. It made things much, much easier, after all.

Tilting her head curiously, she watched as he approached, making a face when taking in what he had signed. An alien? From Earth? Well, that was most certainly strange… stranger than most things she encountered on a daily basis, for that matter. Gaze flickering to his hands as she watched him sign, she frowned upon hearing that they seemingly hurt. They just look like they hurt, with the visibly injuries on them — both old and new. “Everyone is nice! For the most part, at least.” She soon signed, huffing out a breath.

Cracking a grin of her own with the gestures made alongside the single-word question, she gave a joking show of her teeth. “Yes! Cat!” She signed, giggling a bit with the given words. She most certainly was feline-like, and goodness knew she was prideful of it.

Alas, her small bout of amusement was quick to falter when seeing the next signed words, concern falling across her expression yet again as she kept her eyes on him. “I won’t tell.” She tried to assure, tail beginning to droop. “Promise.” It was a tempting thought, sure, but she wasn’t at all about to do such a thing to this poor alien. Best to not lose any sort of possible trust, after all.

Meulin..what a peculiar name. It sounded like.. He raises his hands to sign again. This girl was certainly very eager to help, but he would be a fool to not feel a sense of suspicion, especially with all that he’s been through today, he’s in unfamiliar territory. An unfamiliar planet, even. He feels a blister become irritated with his rapid hand movements, but he carries on.

“Meulin? M-e-w? Cat?”

He chuckles, smiling. He eagerly watches her sign her responses, and his face momentarily lights up when she conveys that everyone is nice on the most part, but he quickly rushes to make his face neutral again. God, he wishes that Rose was here, she’d be better at talking to people. She’s always better than him with conversations, he tends to ramble..but in this case, he can’t really. His hands can’t take it.

“Keep promise.”

He gives her a tilt of his head, and ponders for a moment at her question. How could she help? She could maybe give him some insight on how this planet works, and if Her Imperious Bitchness is in power. Maybe he went back in time? If so, that’s new to him, and he probably went back at the best time, a moment before he was about to be killed. He starts to sign.

“Tell me-.”

He exhales as a blister pops and a scratch reopens, a drop of red blood forming on the palm of his hand. He stops signing, partially in pain, but he’s admittedly a bit overwhelmed. Fuck, she can sign so fast, he can’t keep up. He barely stops himself from pulling back when she grabs his hand, instead letting her examine his injuries. He bites his tongue, maybe his questions can wait, his hands do hurt, maybe she can help? He attempts to sign with his free hand, letter by letter.

“H-e-l-p.”

He’s never had anyone but himself take care of his battle injuries before, it feels so..wrong. It’s a side of him that’s been extremely personal, that shows the depth of the pain he’s in. He sighs, he needs to trust someone right now, he can’t survive on this planet alone. He’s taking a leap of faith, but where would he be by not taking risks? Probably still making those comics in his shitty apartment, not being a movie star and a revolutionary against a galactic conquerer. He frowns slightly, and begrudgingly signs a new word with his free hand.

The sight of the words signed was enough to have the girl giving a breathless sort of laugh, cupping one hand over her mouth for a split second. He certainly wasn’t wrong, she knew, the troll’s expression showing clear amusement as she flashed a sharp toothed grin in his direction. “Meulin.” She repeated, this time however attempting for a verbal response.. even if it was deaf to her own ears. She had said it hundreds of time before going deaf however, and so? She most certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with the words, even if being unable to hear herself.

Brows knitting together in further concern however as he went on, and when seeing the singular letters signed out to form one word? She let out a breath, examining his hand for a moment longer before shifting her hands to his forearms. Attempting to be gentle, the girl tried to ease him down to the ground, quite relieved for the grass underneath them. Best to have this than to have pavement or something of the sort, after all.

“It’ll be okay.” She tried to assure, having to pull her hands away from him in order to sign. “How bad does it hurt? I can take you to my hive. There’s bandages there!” That, and it would certainly be safer there than out here, in the midst of the public- where prying eyes could easily see them if they wished to.

His eyes widened beneath his shades when she said her name, she said it perfectly too. Maybe she wasn’t born deaf? The thought saddened him, however, what horrible thing happened to her to cause her to go deaf? He shakes the thought off as he feels her try to lead him to sit on the ground, and he lets her. He feels his knees almost give out, and is suddenly aware how tired he is.

“Hurts, but more exhausted. Had to fight hard.”

The fight couldn’t have lasted for more than five minutes, but every second he was parrying, running, attacking, dodging.. it had ended when he was disarmed. He saw his own sword being levitated towards his chest, and he remembers every heartbeat in those few seconds. He reaches up with his free hand to touch where it would’ve delivered the fatal blow..and he feels a hole in his shirt. He pales, and traces his index finger over it. It had gotten that close to killing him. He takes in a shaky breath. He’s alive now, that’s all that matters. He looks up to Meulin.

“Yes. Take me there, please. Out of public.”

Happy to see the human cooperating, she gave a smile. Better for this to happen than for him to be stubborn and refuse, after all. Goodness knew she wasn’t too keen on dealing with that sort of thing at the end of the day, seeing as all she wanted to do was help. She didn’t exactly wish to cause further harm by him resisting, either. Expression growing further sympathetic at the next signed words, she let out a breath.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it stop hurting, okay?” She was doing her best to be reassuring as possible, maintaining that same smile of hers as her tail flicked back and forth. Oh, did she hold quite the amount of pity for the strange blonde, especially with how exhausted he seemed to be. She couldn’t blame him either, if what he had said about fighting was true.

“Who did you fight? Actually, that can wait. Let’s just get going, ok?” She signed out, pleased to see the decision made. She preferred her hive, really, but that was partially due to it being the comfort of her own home— quite literally.

Reaching out to place her hands over his gently next, she shook her head, an attempted gesture to get him to stop signing for now even if her own signed words could be answered. Best to not have him hurting himself further, she thought.

He goes to sign again, but feels her hands lower his, and he (begrudgingly) lets it happen. He needs someone to trust, and she seems like one of the trustworthy bunch. Then again, he doesn’t have much of an option. Soft. Her hands were soft. At least, compared to his. This girl isn’t like him, battle hardened and weary from war. He mouths “thank you” to Meulin, trying to mouth each letter slowly. He looks slightly silly while doing so. He lets himself be brought to his feet, and feels himself blush in embarrassment as his knees wobble. God, everything hurts.

He’s now so aware on how much his body aches. He’s been moving off of adrenaline and survival instinct alone, and now that he’s taken a break, he realizes how much of a toll the battle took on his body..but that ache might be also due to him getting older. Twenty six years young and he’s in pain. That might be pretty bad, but he’s here for a good time, not a long time. He takes a few deep breaths as he steadies, looking away from Meulin, ashamed at his current state. He nudges her, and gestures forward, wanting her to lead him to wherever her house is.

“Y’know, I feel like shit putting my life in the hands of you. You’re just a kid. You don’t deserve this. You don’t know me, why are you trying to help me?”

Meulin had found herself taking notice as to just how.. worn his hands felt- roughed up, and clearly in no good condition. Then again, this man in general hardly seemed to be in any good condition. He seemed quite roughed up, in truth. That much could only be expected from someone who claimed to have just come from a raging fight however, the mere thought having the feline-like troll grimacing. He was safe here at least, she would make sure of that much. Her hive was a good place for him to go at the very least, especially seeing as she knew her lusus wouldn’t be making any hostile moves towards the man. Not if she had any say in the matter, that is.

She offered a toothy grin when reading the words he had said however, quite thankful for her more well honed ability to read lips. If only to help with the ease of conversation, she went to speak up slowly, just hoping that she was pronouncing things properly after such a lack of speech on her part. “You’re.. welcome.” The words came out a tiny bit slurred, her brows furrowing in concentration as she spoke. But, in thinking that she did well enough? She was quick to perk back up, giggling.

With the nudge, the girl happily took that as the sign to get moving, trying to walk slowly for the sake of Dave.

Dave’s eyes had lit up when she had spoke, although his eyes were hidden from view by his shades. He nodded encouragingly as she responded. He tilted his head in a “good!” manner when she had responded verbally, impressed. The sound of her giggling surprised him, and he was suddenly very self conscious for a few moments, before he realized she wasn’t laughing at him, but in satisfaction with her own speech. Good for her. He went to raise his hands to sign, but he guessed she would not let him, so in the middle of beginning to sign a word, he lowered his hands. He walked slowly behind her, trying to not make it look obvious he was struggling to even stand, and he secretly appreciated the kind gesture of her walking slowly so he wouldn’t fall behind.

He shrugs when she asks why she shouldn’t help him, and he opens his mouth to speak, again over emphasizing the words visually and going slow with his speech speed.

“I mean, I’m an alien that could be a danger to you or somethin’. You could’ve just left me there. I could be poisonous or freaky, or just a plain dick and try to hurt you..”

He trails off, but he quickly begins speaking again.

“..but I wouldn’t.”

He he tilts his head.

“I’m not like that. I’d never hurt anyone unless they deserve it.”

The troll had continued with keeping an eye on the other, blinking a few times. It was.. interesting really, having a new face around— especially one so different from those she was used to seeing. It was nearly enough to have her giggling all over again, though she at the very least knew well enough to keep her mouth shut this time around. Best to not make him think she was laughing at him specifically after all.. even if that was partially it. It was still strange to her as well, seeing his puzzlement with her assistance. But, oh well- there wasn’t much she could do to help with that, aside from continued reassurance.

Tilting her head when seeing that he had begun to speak, she tried to watch his lips to read the words, holding a more concentrated look all the while.

“You hardly look like you’d be poisonous at all!” She went to sign, finding herself giving a sharp toothed grin with what she was saying. “You look pawfully defenseless, honestly. You don’t even have horns, claws or fangs! Not like me, or any of the other trolls here!” It was something she still found quite amusing, funnily enough. How in the world could he be any sort of danger? It wasn’t as if he had acted hostile at all, either.

“Yeah, yeah you caught me. I guess I don’t look like those poisonous dart frogs or somethin’.”

He makes sure to be in her line of sight as he speaks, so she can read his lips. Dave taps his chin, the stubble rubbing against his finger unpleasantly. He hums, contemplating the words.

“Or is that venomous?”

He examines her hands as she signs. After she finishes, he mimes himself having horns using his two index fingers and placing them on both sides of his head, seemingly pondering the idea of him having horns. He smirks slightly.

“Fangs? Humans have two sharp teeth that look like fangs.”

He lifts his top lip with his right thumb and reveals two sharp canines in his top row of teeth. They’re smaller than the rest. He retracts his finger.

“We don’t really use them for anything though. It’s more of a leftover from our ancestors. Would’ve been cool though to have real fangs. Could’ve bit the fish bitch right in the-..”

He stops himself. His revenge fantasies against the Condescension for Rose could wait until he’s at least fit to fight. He’s in no good shape the way he is right now, he doesn’t even have his sword. And? This gal might not appreciate someone of her species being slandered. He needs her help. He doesn’t want to upset her either, she seems like an upstanding citizen and is going out of her way to help a disheveled, injured alien who is probably making no sense right now. God, Rose. It was a losing battle, but he should’ve been the one to go first. She was caught by surprise, obviously. Even with her knowledge, her luck, it wasn’t enough to stop a trident to the side. What made him the one lucky enough to survive? He shakes these thoughts off. Just survive right now. He forces a smile.

Upon seeing the inquires, she could only give a meek shrug of her shoulders. Goodness, she couldn’t at all tell any difference. Hell, it wasn’t exactly as if she was too familiar with creatures that held such properties in the first place, really. Eyes remaining on the human, she cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner with spotting the sight of his canines. Well, he certainly had some sort of fangs, as he had said.. though, they weren’t anything in comparison to her own, she thought.

Going to give a show of her teeth, almost akin to an animal baring it’s fangs, she pointed a clawed finger to her own teeth— all seeming to hold a more pointed look rather than being flat at all. Though, of course, her canines were the sharpest of all, especially with the way they still showed ever so slightly even with her mouth shut.

“They look like baby fangs! Yours, I mean!” The words were signed with a clear look of amusement written across Meulin’s features, a smile having tugged at her lips. “I doubt you could even cause damage with those little things!”

Though, with reading the next words? She rose a brow, amusement switching to puzzlement as she gave him a look. “Fish bitch?” She wasn’t at all afraid to sign the more vulgar language, if anything looking mildly entertained with the terminology. Instead of questioning further, seeing how he trailed off, she instead went to make a comment with the mention of his sword.

Dave is taken aback slightly as she signs his words, but regains his composure. He nods. The man audibly yelps when she prods at his chest. He rushes to sign, momentarily ignoring the state of his hands.

“Yes the weapon. I used to have it, lost it in battle earlier. I was good with it too.”

He is suddenly very aware of her having claws, and he subconsciously reaches up to where she touched him to check for injury. Nothing. Signing, he continues.

“Really good. Trained regularly all my life with swords.”

Smiling, he lets his ego show.

“Best swordsman of my time.”

The sight of him once more going to sign had the troll’s brows furrowing, the girl almost looking a tad bit displeased. After all, he was injured— she much rather would’ve preferred him to continue talking, even if she could only read his lips to understand what he was saying. But alas, she made no move to stop him in his movements, only paying attention to what he said.

Though, she did tilt her head ever so slightly when seeing him make the check, glancing down to her claws for a split second. Oh. She couldn’t exactly blame him for the thought, but goodness, she certainly would’ve hoped that she had enough control in herself to not harm someone accidentally.

“I’ve never met a swordsman before.” She signed out, giggling with the words. “It seems very, very pawsome, though!” Nodding to the other, she found herself watching his hands curiously for any further movements.

Now pondering for a split second, she soon found herself glancing ahead, going to point forward before promptly resuming her signing.

Dave nods, allowing himself to have a bit of excitement in his step when she describes being a swordsman as “pawsome”. It was something he had kept close to his chest until recently, he was seen in public with swords sure, but no one actually thought an apparently very eccentric and laid back director actually knew how to use a sword, and to be honest, there wasn’t much practicality in it for the majority of his life. What was the saying? “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight”? That was probably it. He didn’t really have a choice when he first learned, so that saying didn’t stick with him through the years. Jesus. When he first learned..He massages his temples tiredly, sighing and closing his eyes for a moment. Nows not the time Dave, he reminds himself. He forces out a small, Hollywood Star”-esqe smile in an attempt to distract her from his injured hands, one of those smiles that always are the face on magazine covers and on the news. It always distracted reporters and his fans from the more disheveled part of him, so he’s hoping it works here. He doesn’t want her to be upset with him, if he makes her upset he’d feel guilty, and she doesn’t deserve to feel anything bad right now, he doesn’t want to be more of a burden than he probably is. He clicks his tongue, deciding he should just flat out speak to avoid any upset. He makes sure that his mouth is in view, and he tries to mouth the words as clearly as he can as he speaks.

“Yeah, alright. I can’t wait to sit down for the first time today.”

He “tsks” In amusement.

Even with the smile, Meulin had found herself intently watching his hands, holding a particular look of disappointment. Oh, did she not like to see him using his hands. It wasn’t anything good she knew, considering the injuries he quite clearly had obtained through more unknown means to her. Placing a hand to her arm momentarily, she seemed to ease up upon seeing him speak rather than use his hands to sign, offering a fanged smile.

“For the first time? You’ve been on some adventure, huh?” The words signed with a hint of playfulness in her expression, she gave a quiet sort of giggle. There appeared to be some sort of home in the distance- rocky looking and almost akin to a cavern, in a way. But, at least a little nicer looking.

“You can say that.”

He shot her another Hollywood smile, one that says “I’m taking this lightly and I’m carefree”, but that’s anything but the truth. There’s a reason though that’s he’s a Hollywood actor and director. Always a bit aware of how his actions affect a social interaction, he knew that using his hands to sign would catch her attention, and he was proven right as he saw her eyes linger on his signing hands. Shit. Gladly, he saw her demeanor change when he started speaking, and kept to it, not trying to push his luck. Her playful aura and kind nature didn’t fall on deaf-.. he shouldn’t be using that analogy. Correcting his thoughts, he continues.

Meulin was more than giddy when seeing that he had gone to move past her, eyes practically lighting up with joy as the girl trailed after him. The cave was.. well, akin to a cavern— dark, and perhaps a bit claustrophobic feeling. Though, the strange home did have hints of lighting scattered around, albeit dim lighting at that. Watching the strange man with curiosity, her tail just about dragged on the ground underneath her as she stepped forward, hands folded behind her back.

Did he like it? Hopefully. Oh, she should’ve at least tidied up a little before inviting someone over! It wasn’t all that bad, but still! Alas— the circumstance was quite the odd one, and she couldn’t truly say that she could’ve predicted something akin to this to happen. She wasn’t at all going to complain, however.

Dave, immediately after walking in, felt a weight drop from his shoulders, and it was visible. He slouched his shoulders instantly, and his movements became less..refined, slightly dragging his feet on the ground. In this dim lighting, it became apparent how truly exhausted he was. The bags under his eyes lengthened and deepened, and the stress wrinkles on his cheeks were highlighted in what light there was. His heart rate had been high all day due to fear and survival instinct. Here, seeing the cushions and everything blissfully quiet, he started to relax. The place seemed small, sure, but all the more safe due to it being a cave, with long shadows and dim lighting where he can easily hide..no. This was this girl’s house, and he’s not going to reduce it down to places to hide. This is a place of joy, knowing this peculiar girl, he knew this place was brimming with positive energy. As soon as Meulin pointed to the cushions, he dashed towards them and sat down with a resounding thump, the comfort of the items felt beautiful on his aching body, his tense muscles and weary bones settling in. He let out a loud sigh of relief.

“Thank you.”

He mouthed this to her, then signed the next word, making sure to not put too much strain on his hands.

“Questions?”

Oh, was today going quite well thus far.

On a place certainly much different from Alternia stood a feline-like troll, a few stray strands falling into her face with the slight breeze that had picked up some time ago. It wasn’t anything that bothered her terribly however, with a small giggle escaping her as she reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear— the sound of her own quiet laugh being unheard to her in the process. It was something she had grown rather used to as time had gone on, with adapting to the usage of sign language usually.. that, and reading lips or merely texting often were other options she could easily use alongside her voice, if she truly wished to. Though, the former was certainly much more awkward for her, with how strange it felt to have the rumble of vocalization in her throat without hearing the words that went with it.

Quite quickly shaking off the thoughts, she let her eyes shift to the moons above, blinking a few times. She had only just separated from her friends, if only to get the tiniest breather in before returning. She had been having quite the splendid day, really! Especially with being able to spend some level of time with both Kurloz and Horuss. Few arguments had broken out as well, and god knew how rare of a thing that was. All in all? Things were going almost strangely well, with the friendly communication between herself and her friends. (Not that she herself was one to engage in negative speech, of course.)

This most certainly wasn’t Earth.

David (Dave) Strider, famed actor and director, was looking at the sky, which had one more moon than he was used to. He had stuck to the shadows for the majority of the day, keeping his head low, passing in alleys, watching as weird creatures with horns, grey skin, and different blood colors talked to each other joyfully. They were like the batterwitch, but they’re more docile. Maybe this is her planet? But he’s heard stories about Alternia, cutthroat and unforgiving.. but this place wasn’t that. It was the opposite of that, actually. Everyone here was so kind to each other and treated each other with respect, which he found to be a welcome surprise. Now, he found himself alone, staring at the two moons in the sky. He steps out from the shadows of two trees and stretches, arms reaching high above his head.

His normally pristine suit he usually wears to a showing of his movies is anything but, torn in some places and his dress shirt’s top button has been lost to today’s escapades. Dirt caked his ankles and his dress shoes have been long since discarded for his spare set of sneakers he always carried on him for emergencies. He feels out of his element honestly, and he isn’t usually shaken this badly, but being zapped to another planet in the middle of his (supposed) death might be a blessing in disguise. He always runs out of Time, either that be in being late for breakfast or being too slow to counter a lethal blow, but his own sense of his own time is usually enough to counter it. Not this time, though. He shakes his head then spits on the ground next to him, a wad of bubblegum landing on the dirt. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, and freezes. He just stepped into the line of sight of a troll, how had he not noticed? He must look like some sort of mutant to them. He moves his hands forward, trying to make a nonthreatening gesture.

“Hey kid, I’m not lookin’ for trouble. Just pretend you haven’t even seen me, that’d be for the best.”

Safe to say, Meulin took a moment longer to fully notice the stranger in her line of sight, with her eyes remaining on the two moons for just a second or so more. Alas, when spotting the human? She blinked a few times, clear puzzlement written across her features. Generally, if she were to have her hearing.. well, she would’ve heard the man approaching quite easily. With being down to only four of the five main senses however, she was truly at a bit of a disadvantage for taking notice of any strange figures. She almost could’ve thought it was even one of her own friends at first, if not for the near sickly color of the stranger. The mere sight had her making a face, brows furrowing. Was this odd ‘troll’ okay? It didn’t seem so, all things considered.

There was a pause from the girl momentarily before she raised her hand to begin signing, promptly after he had spoken, the poor girl only able to pick up bits and pieces of what he had said. Lip reading never had been a great strong suite of hers, with her much preferring texting or the usual way of sign language. Only hoping that they’d happen to understand, she continued with the signing, keeping it rather simple. “I can’t hear you. Are you okay?”

The girl held a concerned look whilst signing the particular words, tail swishing back and forth as she tilted her head to the side. The troll held quite the feline-like characteristics, even her horns resembling something akin to cat ears. Not to mention, her slightly olive-green tinted pupils were constricted ever so slightly, yet another resemblance to a potential feline counterpart.

Dave startles at the realization that the troll in front of him is deaf, but quickly recovers, attempting to scratch his mind for sign language training he had when he was younger. He shifts on his feet, and shakes his hands out, readying himself. He understands what she’s saying, but he struggles to make the signs with his own hands. He nods to her and says the letters along with the signs he does, pronouncing and emphasizing the letters, his mouth over-exaggerating every syllable.

“D-a-v-e S-t-r-i-d-e-r.”

He slowly spells out his name in what he hopes to be correct sign language, long pauses between letters as he tries to recall the next letter. He moves closer to her, his blond hair reflecting off the light of the moons. He exhales, and decides to just sign from now on, that’ll be easier.

“Sorry. Hands aren’t good. I am Alien. From Earth. Lost.”

He pauses, clearing his throat, peering at her face. She seems trustful enough.

“Troll?”

He gestures to her after saying and signing the last word.

“Are trolls here bad? My planet..”

He trails off, trying to remember the right word. He settles for something simple, looking at her through his sunglasses, his signs slow and full of finality.

“Planet killed by a troll.”

His hands throb from the complex movements his hands are making, he just had to fight for his life with a sword earlier today, and he’s admittedly very exhausted. He sighs, his shoulders slumping.

“Hands hurt. War. Revolution.”

He reaches out and exposes his palms, which have blisters and scars on them. He then mimes swinging a sword, trying to get his point across. He notices her feline characteristics after he finishes moving, all of his brain power for the past few minutes or so had been focused on signing and forming words, and he hadn’t had much time to really look at her. He can’t help but smirk slightly and bring up his hands to sign one word.

“Cat?”

He nods to her tail, then brings both his index fingers up to each side of his head and points them upward, trying to create the image of having horns. He tilts his head at her for a few seconds, then he remembers something. He scrambles to sign again, his fingers twitch slightly in the effort of trying to get the words across quickly.

“Don’t tell! Don’t tell others me. Danger.”

He struggles to sign the words with his injured hands. He might’ve skipped a word or two..

“Hands hurt bad.”

He shakes out his hands once again, wincing as he does so. He gingerly strokes his right palm as he feels an old scar ache. He looks apologetically to the troll in front of him. He shrugs, and finally answers her question.

Meulin watched as the strange supposed troll shook his hands out, brows furrowing in puzzlement. She was still trying to wrap her head around why they looked so strange, but alas, to no avail. Perhaps Kankri would happen to know? Or.. no— maybe she’d only get a scolding on how calling another ‘weird’ could happen to be triggering for the individual. Really, though? It was something she had grown all too used to, considering how often the particular troll happened to jump in on conversations.

Her thoughts were quickly cut off by the sight of the other beginning to sign however, taking in the sight of the individual letters signed. Dave Strider? Was that the stranger’s name? Giving a small smile, she went to give a signing of her own name, albeit much quicker than his own signing. “Meulin Leijon!” Oh, was she grateful for the odd looking troll to be able to understand her sign language. It made things much, much easier, after all.

Tilting her head curiously, she watched as he approached, making a face when taking in what he had signed. An alien? From Earth? Well, that was most certainly strange… stranger than most things she encountered on a daily basis, for that matter. Gaze flickering to his hands as she watched him sign, she frowned upon hearing that they seemingly hurt. They just look like they hurt, with the visibly injuries on them — both old and new. “Everyone is nice! For the most part, at least.” She soon signed, huffing out a breath.

Cracking a grin of her own with the gestures made alongside the single-word question, she gave a joking show of her teeth. “Yes! Cat!” She signed, giggling a bit with the given words. She most certainly was feline-like, and goodness knew she was prideful of it.

Alas, her small bout of amusement was quick to falter when seeing the next signed words, concern falling across her expression yet again as she kept her eyes on him. “I won’t tell.” She tried to assure, tail beginning to droop. “Promise.” It was a tempting thought, sure, but she wasn’t at all about to do such a thing to this poor alien. Best to not lose any sort of possible trust, after all.

Meulin..what a peculiar name. It sounded like.. He raises his hands to sign again. This girl was certainly very eager to help, but he would be a fool to not feel a sense of suspicion, especially with all that he’s been through today, he’s in unfamiliar territory. An unfamiliar planet, even. He feels a blister become irritated with his rapid hand movements, but he carries on.

“Meulin? M-e-w? Cat?”

He chuckles, smiling. He eagerly watches her sign her responses, and his face momentarily lights up when she conveys that everyone is nice on the most part, but he quickly rushes to make his face neutral again. God, he wishes that Rose was here, she’d be better at talking to people. She’s always better than him with conversations, he tends to ramble..but in this case, he can’t really. His hands can’t take it.

“Keep promise.”

He gives her a tilt of his head, and ponders for a moment at her question. How could she help? She could maybe give him some insight on how this planet works, and if Her Imperious Bitchness is in power. Maybe he went back in time? If so, that’s new to him, and he probably went back at the best time, a moment before he was about to be killed. He starts to sign.

“Tell me-.”

He exhales as a blister pops and a scratch reopens, a drop of red blood forming on the palm of his hand. He stops signing, partially in pain, but he’s admittedly a bit overwhelmed. Fuck, she can sign so fast, he can’t keep up. He barely stops himself from pulling back when she grabs his hand, instead letting her examine his injuries. He bites his tongue, maybe his questions can wait, his hands do hurt, maybe she can help? He attempts to sign with his free hand, letter by letter.

“H-e-l-p.”

He’s never had anyone but himself take care of his battle injuries before, it feels so..wrong. It’s a side of him that’s been extremely personal, that shows the depth of the pain he’s in. He sighs, he needs to trust someone right now, he can’t survive on this planet alone. He’s taking a leap of faith, but where would he be by not taking risks? Probably still making those comics in his shitty apartment, not being a movie star and a revolutionary against a galactic conquerer. He frowns slightly, and begrudgingly signs a new word with his free hand.

The sight of the words signed was enough to have the girl giving a breathless sort of laugh, cupping one hand over her mouth for a split second. He certainly wasn’t wrong, she knew, the troll’s expression showing clear amusement as she flashed a sharp toothed grin in his direction. “Meulin.” She repeated, this time however attempting for a verbal response.. even if it was deaf to her own ears. She had said it hundreds of time before going deaf however, and so? She most certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with the words, even if being unable to hear herself.

Brows knitting together in further concern however as he went on, and when seeing the singular letters signed out to form one word? She let out a breath, examining his hand for a moment longer before shifting her hands to his forearms. Attempting to be gentle, the girl tried to ease him down to the ground, quite relieved for the grass underneath them. Best to have this than to have pavement or something of the sort, after all.

“It’ll be okay.” She tried to assure, having to pull her hands away from him in order to sign. “How bad does it hurt? I can take you to my hive. There’s bandages there!” That, and it would certainly be safer there than out here, in the midst of the public- where prying eyes could easily see them if they wished to.

His eyes widened beneath his shades when she said her name, she said it perfectly too. Maybe she wasn’t born deaf? The thought saddened him, however, what horrible thing happened to her to cause her to go deaf? He shakes the thought off as he feels her try to lead him to sit on the ground, and he lets her. He feels his knees almost give out, and is suddenly aware how tired he is.

“Hurts, but more exhausted. Had to fight hard.”

The fight couldn’t have lasted for more than five minutes, but every second he was parrying, running, attacking, dodging.. it had ended when he was disarmed. He saw his own sword being levitated towards his chest, and he remembers every heartbeat in those few seconds. He reaches up with his free hand to touch where it would’ve delivered the fatal blow..and he feels a hole in his shirt. He pales, and traces his index finger over it. It had gotten that close to killing him. He takes in a shaky breath. He’s alive now, that’s all that matters. He looks up to Meulin.

“Yes. Take me there, please. Out of public.”

Happy to see the human cooperating, she gave a smile. Better for this to happen than for him to be stubborn and refuse, after all. Goodness knew she wasn’t too keen on dealing with that sort of thing at the end of the day, seeing as all she wanted to do was help. She didn’t exactly wish to cause further harm by him resisting, either. Expression growing further sympathetic at the next signed words, she let out a breath.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it stop hurting, okay?” She was doing her best to be reassuring as possible, maintaining that same smile of hers as her tail flicked back and forth. Oh, did she hold quite the amount of pity for the strange blonde, especially with how exhausted he seemed to be. She couldn’t blame him either, if what he had said about fighting was true.

“Who did you fight? Actually, that can wait. Let’s just get going, ok?” She signed out, pleased to see the decision made. She preferred her hive, really, but that was partially due to it being the comfort of her own home— quite literally.

Reaching out to place her hands over his gently next, she shook her head, an attempted gesture to get him to stop signing for now even if her own signed words could be answered. Best to not have him hurting himself further, she thought.

He goes to sign again, but feels her hands lower his, and he (begrudgingly) lets it happen. He needs someone to trust, and she seems like one of the trustworthy bunch. Then again, he doesn’t have much of an option. Soft. Her hands were soft. At least, compared to his. This girl isn’t like him, battle hardened and weary from war. He mouths “thank you” to Meulin, trying to mouth each letter slowly. He looks slightly silly while doing so. He lets himself be brought to his feet, and feels himself blush in embarrassment as his knees wobble. God, everything hurts.

He’s now so aware on how much his body aches. He’s been moving off of adrenaline and survival instinct alone, and now that he’s taken a break, he realizes how much of a toll the battle took on his body..but that ache might be also due to him getting older. Twenty six years young and he’s in pain. That might be pretty bad, but he’s here for a good time, not a long time. He takes a few deep breaths as he steadies, looking away from Meulin, ashamed at his current state. He nudges her, and gestures forward, wanting her to lead him to wherever her house is.

“Y’know, I feel like shit putting my life in the hands of you. You’re just a kid. You don’t deserve this. You don’t know me, why are you trying to help me?”

Meulin had found herself taking notice as to just how.. worn his hands felt- roughed up, and clearly in no good condition. Then again, this man in general hardly seemed to be in any good condition. He seemed quite roughed up, in truth. That much could only be expected from someone who claimed to have just come from a raging fight however, the mere thought having the feline-like troll grimacing. He was safe here at least, she would make sure of that much. Her hive was a good place for him to go at the very least, especially seeing as she knew her lusus wouldn’t be making any hostile moves towards the man. Not if she had any say in the matter, that is.

She offered a toothy grin when reading the words he had said however, quite thankful for her more well honed ability to read lips. If only to help with the ease of conversation, she went to speak up slowly, just hoping that she was pronouncing things properly after such a lack of speech on her part. “You’re.. welcome.” The words came out a tiny bit slurred, her brows furrowing in concentration as she spoke. But, in thinking that she did well enough? She was quick to perk back up, giggling.

With the nudge, the girl happily took that as the sign to get moving, trying to walk slowly for the sake of Dave.

Dave’s eyes had lit up when she had spoke, although his eyes were hidden from view by his shades. He nodded encouragingly as she responded. He tilted his head in a “good!” manner when she had responded verbally, impressed. The sound of her giggling surprised him, and he was suddenly very self conscious for a few moments, before he realized she wasn’t laughing at him, but in satisfaction with her own speech. Good for her. He went to raise his hands to sign, but he guessed she would not let him, so in the middle of beginning to sign a word, he lowered his hands. He walked slowly behind her, trying to not make it look obvious he was struggling to even stand, and he secretly appreciated the kind gesture of her walking slowly so he wouldn’t fall behind.

He shrugs when she asks why she shouldn’t help him, and he opens his mouth to speak, again over emphasizing the words visually and going slow with his speech speed.

“I mean, I’m an alien that could be a danger to you or somethin’. You could’ve just left me there. I could be poisonous or freaky, or just a plain dick and try to hurt you..”

He trails off, but he quickly begins speaking again.

“..but I wouldn’t.”

He he tilts his head.

“I’m not like that. I’d never hurt anyone unless they deserve it.”

The troll had continued with keeping an eye on the other, blinking a few times. It was.. interesting really, having a new face around— especially one so different from those she was used to seeing. It was nearly enough to have her giggling all over again, though she at the very least knew well enough to keep her mouth shut this time around. Best to not make him think she was laughing at him specifically after all.. even if that was partially it. It was still strange to her as well, seeing his puzzlement with her assistance. But, oh well- there wasn’t much she could do to help with that, aside from continued reassurance.

Tilting her head when seeing that he had begun to speak, she tried to watch his lips to read the words, holding a more concentrated look all the while.

“You hardly look like you’d be poisonous at all!” She went to sign, finding herself giving a sharp toothed grin with what she was saying. “You look pawfully defenseless, honestly. You don’t even have horns, claws or fangs! Not like me, or any of the other trolls here!” It was something she still found quite amusing, funnily enough. How in the world could he be any sort of danger? It wasn’t as if he had acted hostile at all, either.

“Yeah, yeah you caught me. I guess I don’t look like those poisonous dart frogs or somethin’.”

He makes sure to be in her line of sight as he speaks, so she can read his lips. Dave taps his chin, the stubble rubbing against his finger unpleasantly. He hums, contemplating the words.

“Or is that venomous?”

He examines her hands as she signs. After she finishes, he mimes himself having horns using his two index fingers and placing them on both sides of his head, seemingly pondering the idea of him having horns. He smirks slightly.

“Fangs? Humans have two sharp teeth that look like fangs.”

He lifts his top lip with his right thumb and reveals two sharp canines in his top row of teeth. They’re smaller than the rest. He retracts his finger.

“We don’t really use them for anything though. It’s more of a leftover from our ancestors. Would’ve been cool though to have real fangs. Could’ve bit the fish bitch right in the-..”

He stops himself. His revenge fantasies against the Condescension for Rose could wait until he’s at least fit to fight. He’s in no good shape the way he is right now, he doesn’t even have his sword. And? This gal might not appreciate someone of her species being slandered. He needs her help. He doesn’t want to upset her either, she seems like an upstanding citizen and is going out of her way to help a disheveled, injured alien who is probably making no sense right now. God, Rose. It was a losing battle, but he should’ve been the one to go first. She was caught by surprise, obviously. Even with her knowledge, her luck, it wasn’t enough to stop a trident to the side. What made him the one lucky enough to survive? He shakes these thoughts off. Just survive right now. He forces a smile.

Upon seeing the inquires, she could only give a meek shrug of her shoulders. Goodness, she couldn’t at all tell any difference. Hell, it wasn’t exactly as if she was too familiar with creatures that held such properties in the first place, really. Eyes remaining on the human, she cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner with spotting the sight of his canines. Well, he certainly had some sort of fangs, as he had said.. though, they weren’t anything in comparison to her own, she thought.

Going to give a show of her teeth, almost akin to an animal baring it’s fangs, she pointed a clawed finger to her own teeth— all seeming to hold a more pointed look rather than being flat at all. Though, of course, her canines were the sharpest of all, especially with the way they still showed ever so slightly even with her mouth shut.

“They look like baby fangs! Yours, I mean!” The words were signed with a clear look of amusement written across Meulin’s features, a smile having tugged at her lips. “I doubt you could even cause damage with those little things!”

Though, with reading the next words? She rose a brow, amusement switching to puzzlement as she gave him a look. “Fish bitch?” She wasn’t at all afraid to sign the more vulgar language, if anything looking mildly entertained with the terminology. Instead of questioning further, seeing how he trailed off, she instead went to make a comment with the mention of his sword.

Dave is taken aback slightly as she signs his words, but regains his composure. He nods. The man audibly yelps when she prods at his chest. He rushes to sign, momentarily ignoring the state of his hands.

“Yes the weapon. I used to have it, lost it in battle earlier. I was good with it too.”

He is suddenly very aware of her having claws, and he subconsciously reaches up to where she touched him to check for injury. Nothing. Signing, he continues.

“Really good. Trained regularly all my life with swords.”

Smiling, he lets his ego show.

“Best swordsman of my time.”

The sight of him once more going to sign had the troll’s brows furrowing, the girl almost looking a tad bit displeased. After all, he was injured— she much rather would’ve preferred him to continue talking, even if she could only read his lips to understand what he was saying. But alas, she made no move to stop him in his movements, only paying attention to what he said.

Though, she did tilt her head ever so slightly when seeing him make the check, glancing down to her claws for a split second. Oh. She couldn’t exactly blame him for the thought, but goodness, she certainly would’ve hoped that she had enough control in herself to not harm someone accidentally.

“I’ve never met a swordsman before.” She signed out, giggling with the words. “It seems very, very pawsome, though!” Nodding to the other, she found herself watching his hands curiously for any further movements.

Now pondering for a split second, she soon found herself glancing ahead, going to point forward before promptly resuming her signing.

Dave nods, allowing himself to have a bit of excitement in his step when she describes being a swordsman as “pawsome”. It was something he had kept close to his chest until recently, he was seen in public with swords sure, but no one actually thought an apparently very eccentric and laid back director actually knew how to use a sword, and to be honest, there wasn’t much practicality in it for the majority of his life. What was the saying? “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight”? That was probably it. He didn’t really have a choice when he first learned, so that saying didn’t stick with him through the years. Jesus. When he first learned..He massages his temples tiredly, sighing and closing his eyes for a moment. Nows not the time Dave, he reminds himself. He forces out a small, Hollywood Star”-esqe smile in an attempt to distract her from his injured hands, one of those smiles that always are the face on magazine covers and on the news. It always distracted reporters and his fans from the more disheveled part of him, so he’s hoping it works here. He doesn’t want her to be upset with him, if he makes her upset he’d feel guilty, and she doesn’t deserve to feel anything bad right now, he doesn’t want to be more of a burden than he probably is. He clicks his tongue, deciding he should just flat out speak to avoid any upset. He makes sure that his mouth is in view, and he tries to mouth the words as clearly as he can as he speaks.

“Yeah, alright. I can’t wait to sit down for the first time today.”

He “tsks” In amusement.

Even with the smile, Meulin had found herself intently watching his hands, holding a particular look of disappointment. Oh, did she not like to see him using his hands. It wasn’t anything good she knew, considering the injuries he quite clearly had obtained through more unknown means to her. Placing a hand to her arm momentarily, she seemed to ease up upon seeing him speak rather than use his hands to sign, offering a fanged smile.

“For the first time? You’ve been on some adventure, huh?” The words signed with a hint of playfulness in her expression, she gave a quiet sort of giggle. There appeared to be some sort of home in the distance- rocky looking and almost akin to a cavern, in a way. But, at least a little nicer looking.

“You can say that.”

He shot her another Hollywood smile, one that says “I’m taking this lightly and I’m carefree”, but that’s anything but the truth. There’s a reason though that’s he’s a Hollywood actor and director. Always a bit aware of how his actions affect a social interaction, he knew that using his hands to sign would catch her attention, and he was proven right as he saw her eyes linger on his signing hands. Shit. Gladly, he saw her demeanor change when he started speaking, and kept to it, not trying to push his luck. Her playful aura and kind nature didn’t fall on deaf-.. he shouldn’t be using that analogy. Correcting his thoughts, he continues.

Oh, was today going quite well thus far.

On a place certainly much different from Alternia stood a feline-like troll, a few stray strands falling into her face with the slight breeze that had picked up some time ago. It wasn’t anything that bothered her terribly however, with a small giggle escaping her as she reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear— the sound of her own quiet laugh being unheard to her in the process. It was something she had grown rather used to as time had gone on, with adapting to the usage of sign language usually.. that, and reading lips or merely texting often were other options she could easily use alongside her voice, if she truly wished to. Though, the former was certainly much more awkward for her, with how strange it felt to have the rumble of vocalization in her throat without hearing the words that went with it.

Quite quickly shaking off the thoughts, she let her eyes shift to the moons above, blinking a few times. She had only just separated from her friends, if only to get the tiniest breather in before returning. She had been having quite the splendid day, really! Especially with being able to spend some level of time with both Kurloz and Horuss. Few arguments had broken out as well, and god knew how rare of a thing that was. All in all? Things were going almost strangely well, with the friendly communication between herself and her friends. (Not that she herself was one to engage in negative speech, of course.)

This most certainly wasn’t Earth.

David (Dave) Strider, famed actor and director, was looking at the sky, which had one more moon than he was used to. He had stuck to the shadows for the majority of the day, keeping his head low, passing in alleys, watching as weird creatures with horns, grey skin, and different blood colors talked to each other joyfully. They were like the batterwitch, but they’re more docile. Maybe this is her planet? But he’s heard stories about Alternia, cutthroat and unforgiving.. but this place wasn’t that. It was the opposite of that, actually. Everyone here was so kind to each other and treated each other with respect, which he found to be a welcome surprise. Now, he found himself alone, staring at the two moons in the sky. He steps out from the shadows of two trees and stretches, arms reaching high above his head.

His normally pristine suit he usually wears to a showing of his movies is anything but, torn in some places and his dress shirt’s top button has been lost to today’s escapades. Dirt caked his ankles and his dress shoes have been long since discarded for his spare set of sneakers he always carried on him for emergencies. He feels out of his element honestly, and he isn’t usually shaken this badly, but being zapped to another planet in the middle of his (supposed) death might be a blessing in disguise. He always runs out of Time, either that be in being late for breakfast or being too slow to counter a lethal blow, but his own sense of his own time is usually enough to counter it. Not this time, though. He shakes his head then spits on the ground next to him, a wad of bubblegum landing on the dirt. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, and freezes. He just stepped into the line of sight of a troll, how had he not noticed? He must look like some sort of mutant to them. He moves his hands forward, trying to make a nonthreatening gesture.

“Hey kid, I’m not lookin’ for trouble. Just pretend you haven’t even seen me, that’d be for the best.”

Safe to say, Meulin took a moment longer to fully notice the stranger in her line of sight, with her eyes remaining on the two moons for just a second or so more. Alas, when spotting the human? She blinked a few times, clear puzzlement written across her features. Generally, if she were to have her hearing.. well, she would’ve heard the man approaching quite easily. With being down to only four of the five main senses however, she was truly at a bit of a disadvantage for taking notice of any strange figures. She almost could’ve thought it was even one of her own friends at first, if not for the near sickly color of the stranger. The mere sight had her making a face, brows furrowing. Was this odd ‘troll’ okay? It didn’t seem so, all things considered.

There was a pause from the girl momentarily before she raised her hand to begin signing, promptly after he had spoken, the poor girl only able to pick up bits and pieces of what he had said. Lip reading never had been a great strong suite of hers, with her much preferring texting or the usual way of sign language. Only hoping that they’d happen to understand, she continued with the signing, keeping it rather simple. “I can’t hear you. Are you okay?”

The girl held a concerned look whilst signing the particular words, tail swishing back and forth as she tilted her head to the side. The troll held quite the feline-like characteristics, even her horns resembling something akin to cat ears. Not to mention, her slightly olive-green tinted pupils were constricted ever so slightly, yet another resemblance to a potential feline counterpart.

Dave startles at the realization that the troll in front of him is deaf, but quickly recovers, attempting to scratch his mind for sign language training he had when he was younger. He shifts on his feet, and shakes his hands out, readying himself. He understands what she’s saying, but he struggles to make the signs with his own hands. He nods to her and says the letters along with the signs he does, pronouncing and emphasizing the letters, his mouth over-exaggerating every syllable.

“D-a-v-e S-t-r-i-d-e-r.”

He slowly spells out his name in what he hopes to be correct sign language, long pauses between letters as he tries to recall the next letter. He moves closer to her, his blond hair reflecting off the light of the moons. He exhales, and decides to just sign from now on, that’ll be easier.

“Sorry. Hands aren’t good. I am Alien. From Earth. Lost.”

He pauses, clearing his throat, peering at her face. She seems trustful enough.

“Troll?”

He gestures to her after saying and signing the last word.

“Are trolls here bad? My planet..”

He trails off, trying to remember the right word. He settles for something simple, looking at her through his sunglasses, his signs slow and full of finality.

“Planet killed by a troll.”

His hands throb from the complex movements his hands are making, he just had to fight for his life with a sword earlier today, and he’s admittedly very exhausted. He sighs, his shoulders slumping.

“Hands hurt. War. Revolution.”

He reaches out and exposes his palms, which have blisters and scars on them. He then mimes swinging a sword, trying to get his point across. He notices her feline characteristics after he finishes moving, all of his brain power for the past few minutes or so had been focused on signing and forming words, and he hadn’t had much time to really look at her. He can’t help but smirk slightly and bring up his hands to sign one word.

“Cat?”

He nods to her tail, then brings both his index fingers up to each side of his head and points them upward, trying to create the image of having horns. He tilts his head at her for a few seconds, then he remembers something. He scrambles to sign again, his fingers twitch slightly in the effort of trying to get the words across quickly.

“Don’t tell! Don’t tell others me. Danger.”

He struggles to sign the words with his injured hands. He might’ve skipped a word or two..

“Hands hurt bad.”

He shakes out his hands once again, wincing as he does so. He gingerly strokes his right palm as he feels an old scar ache. He looks apologetically to the troll in front of him. He shrugs, and finally answers her question.

Meulin watched as the strange supposed troll shook his hands out, brows furrowing in puzzlement. She was still trying to wrap her head around why they looked so strange, but alas, to no avail. Perhaps Kankri would happen to know? Or.. no— maybe she’d only get a scolding on how calling another ‘weird’ could happen to be triggering for the individual. Really, though? It was something she had grown all too used to, considering how often the particular troll happened to jump in on conversations.

Her thoughts were quickly cut off by the sight of the other beginning to sign however, taking in the sight of the individual letters signed. Dave Strider? Was that the stranger’s name? Giving a small smile, she went to give a signing of her own name, albeit much quicker than his own signing. “Meulin Leijon!” Oh, was she grateful for the odd looking troll to be able to understand her sign language. It made things much, much easier, after all.

Tilting her head curiously, she watched as he approached, making a face when taking in what he had signed. An alien? From Earth? Well, that was most certainly strange… stranger than most things she encountered on a daily basis, for that matter. Gaze flickering to his hands as she watched him sign, she frowned upon hearing that they seemingly hurt. They just look like they hurt, with the visibly injuries on them — both old and new. “Everyone is nice! For the most part, at least.” She soon signed, huffing out a breath.

Cracking a grin of her own with the gestures made alongside the single-word question, she gave a joking show of her teeth. “Yes! Cat!” She signed, giggling a bit with the given words. She most certainly was feline-like, and goodness knew she was prideful of it.

Alas, her small bout of amusement was quick to falter when seeing the next signed words, concern falling across her expression yet again as she kept her eyes on him. “I won’t tell.” She tried to assure, tail beginning to droop. “Promise.” It was a tempting thought, sure, but she wasn’t at all about to do such a thing to this poor alien. Best to not lose any sort of possible trust, after all.

Meulin..what a peculiar name. It sounded like.. He raises his hands to sign again. This girl was certainly very eager to help, but he would be a fool to not feel a sense of suspicion, especially with all that he’s been through today, he’s in unfamiliar territory. An unfamiliar planet, even. He feels a blister become irritated with his rapid hand movements, but he carries on.

“Meulin? M-e-w? Cat?”

He chuckles, smiling. He eagerly watches her sign her responses, and his face momentarily lights up when she conveys that everyone is nice on the most part, but he quickly rushes to make his face neutral again. God, he wishes that Rose was here, she’d be better at talking to people. She’s always better than him with conversations, he tends to ramble..but in this case, he can’t really. His hands can’t take it.

“Keep promise.”

He gives her a tilt of his head, and ponders for a moment at her question. How could she help? She could maybe give him some insight on how this planet works, and if Her Imperious Bitchness is in power. Maybe he went back in time? If so, that’s new to him, and he probably went back at the best time, a moment before he was about to be killed. He starts to sign.

“Tell me-.”

He exhales as a blister pops and a scratch reopens, a drop of red blood forming on the palm of his hand. He stops signing, partially in pain, but he’s admittedly a bit overwhelmed. Fuck, she can sign so fast, he can’t keep up. He barely stops himself from pulling back when she grabs his hand, instead letting her examine his injuries. He bites his tongue, maybe his questions can wait, his hands do hurt, maybe she can help? He attempts to sign with his free hand, letter by letter.

“H-e-l-p.”

He’s never had anyone but himself take care of his battle injuries before, it feels so..wrong. It’s a side of him that’s been extremely personal, that shows the depth of the pain he’s in. He sighs, he needs to trust someone right now, he can’t survive on this planet alone. He’s taking a leap of faith, but where would he be by not taking risks? Probably still making those comics in his shitty apartment, not being a movie star and a revolutionary against a galactic conquerer. He frowns slightly, and begrudgingly signs a new word with his free hand.

The sight of the words signed was enough to have the girl giving a breathless sort of laugh, cupping one hand over her mouth for a split second. He certainly wasn’t wrong, she knew, the troll’s expression showing clear amusement as she flashed a sharp toothed grin in his direction. “Meulin.” She repeated, this time however attempting for a verbal response.. even if it was deaf to her own ears. She had said it hundreds of time before going deaf however, and so? She most certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with the words, even if being unable to hear herself.

Brows knitting together in further concern however as he went on, and when seeing the singular letters signed out to form one word? She let out a breath, examining his hand for a moment longer before shifting her hands to his forearms. Attempting to be gentle, the girl tried to ease him down to the ground, quite relieved for the grass underneath them. Best to have this than to have pavement or something of the sort, after all.

“It’ll be okay.” She tried to assure, having to pull her hands away from him in order to sign. “How bad does it hurt? I can take you to my hive. There’s bandages there!” That, and it would certainly be safer there than out here, in the midst of the public- where prying eyes could easily see them if they wished to.

His eyes widened beneath his shades when she said her name, she said it perfectly too. Maybe she wasn’t born deaf? The thought saddened him, however, what horrible thing happened to her to cause her to go deaf? He shakes the thought off as he feels her try to lead him to sit on the ground, and he lets her. He feels his knees almost give out, and is suddenly aware how tired he is.

“Hurts, but more exhausted. Had to fight hard.”

The fight couldn’t have lasted for more than five minutes, but every second he was parrying, running, attacking, dodging.. it had ended when he was disarmed. He saw his own sword being levitated towards his chest, and he remembers every heartbeat in those few seconds. He reaches up with his free hand to touch where it would’ve delivered the fatal blow..and he feels a hole in his shirt. He pales, and traces his index finger over it. It had gotten that close to killing him. He takes in a shaky breath. He’s alive now, that’s all that matters. He looks up to Meulin.

“Yes. Take me there, please. Out of public.”

Happy to see the human cooperating, she gave a smile. Better for this to happen than for him to be stubborn and refuse, after all. Goodness knew she wasn’t too keen on dealing with that sort of thing at the end of the day, seeing as all she wanted to do was help. She didn’t exactly wish to cause further harm by him resisting, either. Expression growing further sympathetic at the next signed words, she let out a breath.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it stop hurting, okay?” She was doing her best to be reassuring as possible, maintaining that same smile of hers as her tail flicked back and forth. Oh, did she hold quite the amount of pity for the strange blonde, especially with how exhausted he seemed to be. She couldn’t blame him either, if what he had said about fighting was true.

“Who did you fight? Actually, that can wait. Let’s just get going, ok?” She signed out, pleased to see the decision made. She preferred her hive, really, but that was partially due to it being the comfort of her own home— quite literally.

Reaching out to place her hands over his gently next, she shook her head, an attempted gesture to get him to stop signing for now even if her own signed words could be answered. Best to not have him hurting himself further, she thought.

He goes to sign again, but feels her hands lower his, and he (begrudgingly) lets it happen. He needs someone to trust, and she seems like one of the trustworthy bunch. Then again, he doesn’t have much of an option. Soft. Her hands were soft. At least, compared to his. This girl isn’t like him, battle hardened and weary from war. He mouths “thank you” to Meulin, trying to mouth each letter slowly. He looks slightly silly while doing so. He lets himself be brought to his feet, and feels himself blush in embarrassment as his knees wobble. God, everything hurts.

He’s now so aware on how much his body aches. He’s been moving off of adrenaline and survival instinct alone, and now that he’s taken a break, he realizes how much of a toll the battle took on his body..but that ache might be also due to him getting older. Twenty six years young and he’s in pain. That might be pretty bad, but he’s here for a good time, not a long time. He takes a few deep breaths as he steadies, looking away from Meulin, ashamed at his current state. He nudges her, and gestures forward, wanting her to lead him to wherever her house is.

“Y’know, I feel like shit putting my life in the hands of you. You’re just a kid. You don’t deserve this. You don’t know me, why are you trying to help me?”

Meulin had found herself taking notice as to just how.. worn his hands felt- roughed up, and clearly in no good condition. Then again, this man in general hardly seemed to be in any good condition. He seemed quite roughed up, in truth. That much could only be expected from someone who claimed to have just come from a raging fight however, the mere thought having the feline-like troll grimacing. He was safe here at least, she would make sure of that much. Her hive was a good place for him to go at the very least, especially seeing as she knew her lusus wouldn’t be making any hostile moves towards the man. Not if she had any say in the matter, that is.

She offered a toothy grin when reading the words he had said however, quite thankful for her more well honed ability to read lips. If only to help with the ease of conversation, she went to speak up slowly, just hoping that she was pronouncing things properly after such a lack of speech on her part. “You’re.. welcome.” The words came out a tiny bit slurred, her brows furrowing in concentration as she spoke. But, in thinking that she did well enough? She was quick to perk back up, giggling.

With the nudge, the girl happily took that as the sign to get moving, trying to walk slowly for the sake of Dave.

Dave’s eyes had lit up when she had spoke, although his eyes were hidden from view by his shades. He nodded encouragingly as she responded. He tilted his head in a “good!” manner when she had responded verbally, impressed. The sound of her giggling surprised him, and he was suddenly very self conscious for a few moments, before he realized she wasn’t laughing at him, but in satisfaction with her own speech. Good for her. He went to raise his hands to sign, but he guessed she would not let him, so in the middle of beginning to sign a word, he lowered his hands. He walked slowly behind her, trying to not make it look obvious he was struggling to even stand, and he secretly appreciated the kind gesture of her walking slowly so he wouldn’t fall behind.

He shrugs when she asks why she shouldn’t help him, and he opens his mouth to speak, again over emphasizing the words visually and going slow with his speech speed.

“I mean, I’m an alien that could be a danger to you or somethin’. You could’ve just left me there. I could be poisonous or freaky, or just a plain dick and try to hurt you..”

He trails off, but he quickly begins speaking again.

“..but I wouldn’t.”

He he tilts his head.

“I’m not like that. I’d never hurt anyone unless they deserve it.”

The troll had continued with keeping an eye on the other, blinking a few times. It was.. interesting really, having a new face around— especially one so different from those she was used to seeing. It was nearly enough to have her giggling all over again, though she at the very least knew well enough to keep her mouth shut this time around. Best to not make him think she was laughing at him specifically after all.. even if that was partially it. It was still strange to her as well, seeing his puzzlement with her assistance. But, oh well- there wasn’t much she could do to help with that, aside from continued reassurance.

Tilting her head when seeing that he had begun to speak, she tried to watch his lips to read the words, holding a more concentrated look all the while.

“You hardly look like you’d be poisonous at all!” She went to sign, finding herself giving a sharp toothed grin with what she was saying. “You look pawfully defenseless, honestly. You don’t even have horns, claws or fangs! Not like me, or any of the other trolls here!” It was something she still found quite amusing, funnily enough. How in the world could he be any sort of danger? It wasn’t as if he had acted hostile at all, either.

“Yeah, yeah you caught me. I guess I don’t look like those poisonous dart frogs or somethin’.”

He makes sure to be in her line of sight as he speaks, so she can read his lips. Dave taps his chin, the stubble rubbing against his finger unpleasantly. He hums, contemplating the words.

“Or is that venomous?”

He examines her hands as she signs. After she finishes, he mimes himself having horns using his two index fingers and placing them on both sides of his head, seemingly pondering the idea of him having horns. He smirks slightly.

“Fangs? Humans have two sharp teeth that look like fangs.”

He lifts his top lip with his right thumb and reveals two sharp canines in his top row of teeth. They’re smaller than the rest. He retracts his finger.

“We don’t really use them for anything though. It’s more of a leftover from our ancestors. Would’ve been cool though to have real fangs. Could’ve bit the fish bitch right in the-..”

He stops himself. His revenge fantasies against the Condescension for Rose could wait until he’s at least fit to fight. He’s in no good shape the way he is right now, he doesn’t even have his sword. And? This gal might not appreciate someone of her species being slandered. He needs her help. He doesn’t want to upset her either, she seems like an upstanding citizen and is going out of her way to help a disheveled, injured alien who is probably making no sense right now. God, Rose. It was a losing battle, but he should’ve been the one to go first. She was caught by surprise, obviously. Even with her knowledge, her luck, it wasn’t enough to stop a trident to the side. What made him the one lucky enough to survive? He shakes these thoughts off. Just survive right now. He forces a smile.

Upon seeing the inquires, she could only give a meek shrug of her shoulders. Goodness, she couldn’t at all tell any difference. Hell, it wasn’t exactly as if she was too familiar with creatures that held such properties in the first place, really. Eyes remaining on the human, she cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner with spotting the sight of his canines. Well, he certainly had some sort of fangs, as he had said.. though, they weren’t anything in comparison to her own, she thought.

Going to give a show of her teeth, almost akin to an animal baring it’s fangs, she pointed a clawed finger to her own teeth— all seeming to hold a more pointed look rather than being flat at all. Though, of course, her canines were the sharpest of all, especially with the way they still showed ever so slightly even with her mouth shut.

“They look like baby fangs! Yours, I mean!” The words were signed with a clear look of amusement written across Meulin’s features, a smile having tugged at her lips. “I doubt you could even cause damage with those little things!”

Though, with reading the next words? She rose a brow, amusement switching to puzzlement as she gave him a look. “Fish bitch?” She wasn’t at all afraid to sign the more vulgar language, if anything looking mildly entertained with the terminology. Instead of questioning further, seeing how he trailed off, she instead went to make a comment with the mention of his sword.

Dave is taken aback slightly as she signs his words, but regains his composure. He nods. The man audibly yelps when she prods at his chest. He rushes to sign, momentarily ignoring the state of his hands.

“Yes the weapon. I used to have it, lost it in battle earlier. I was good with it too.”

He is suddenly very aware of her having claws, and he subconsciously reaches up to where she touched him to check for injury. Nothing. Signing, he continues.

“Really good. Trained regularly all my life with swords.”

Smiling, he lets his ego show.

“Best swordsman of my time.”

The sight of him once more going to sign had the troll’s brows furrowing, the girl almost looking a tad bit displeased. After all, he was injured— she much rather would’ve preferred him to continue talking, even if she could only read his lips to understand what he was saying. But alas, she made no move to stop him in his movements, only paying attention to what he said.

Though, she did tilt her head ever so slightly when seeing him make the check, glancing down to her claws for a split second. Oh. She couldn’t exactly blame him for the thought, but goodness, she certainly would’ve hoped that she had enough control in herself to not harm someone accidentally.

“I’ve never met a swordsman before.” She signed out, giggling with the words. “It seems very, very pawsome, though!” Nodding to the other, she found herself watching his hands curiously for any further movements.

Now pondering for a split second, she soon found herself glancing ahead, going to point forward before promptly resuming her signing.

Dave nods, allowing himself to have a bit of excitement in his step when she describes being a swordsman as “pawsome”. It was something he had kept close to his chest until recently, he was seen in public with swords sure, but no one actually thought an apparently very eccentric and laid back director actually knew how to use a sword, and to be honest, there wasn’t much practicality in it for the majority of his life. What was the saying? “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight”? That was probably it. He didn’t really have a choice when he first learned, so that saying didn’t stick with him through the years. Jesus. When he first learned..He massages his temples tiredly, sighing and closing his eyes for a moment. Nows not the time Dave, he reminds himself. He forces out a small, Hollywood Star”-esqe smile in an attempt to distract her from his injured hands, one of those smiles that always are the face on magazine covers and on the news. It always distracted reporters and his fans from the more disheveled part of him, so he’s hoping it works here. He doesn’t want her to be upset with him, if he makes her upset he’d feel guilty, and she doesn’t deserve to feel anything bad right now, he doesn’t want to be more of a burden than he probably is. He clicks his tongue, deciding he should just flat out speak to avoid any upset. He makes sure that his mouth is in view, and he tries to mouth the words as clearly as he can as he speaks.

“Yeah, alright. I can’t wait to sit down for the first time today.”

He “tsks” In amusement.

Oh, was today going quite well thus far.

On a place certainly much different from Alternia stood a feline-like troll, a few stray strands falling into her face with the slight breeze that had picked up some time ago. It wasn’t anything that bothered her terribly however, with a small giggle escaping her as she reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear— the sound of her own quiet laugh being unheard to her in the process. It was something she had grown rather used to as time had gone on, with adapting to the usage of sign language usually.. that, and reading lips or merely texting often were other options she could easily use alongside her voice, if she truly wished to. Though, the former was certainly much more awkward for her, with how strange it felt to have the rumble of vocalization in her throat without hearing the words that went with it.

Quite quickly shaking off the thoughts, she let her eyes shift to the moons above, blinking a few times. She had only just separated from her friends, if only to get the tiniest breather in before returning. She had been having quite the splendid day, really! Especially with being able to spend some level of time with both Kurloz and Horuss. Few arguments had broken out as well, and god knew how rare of a thing that was. All in all? Things were going almost strangely well, with the friendly communication between herself and her friends. (Not that she herself was one to engage in negative speech, of course.)

This most certainly wasn’t Earth.

David (Dave) Strider, famed actor and director, was looking at the sky, which had one more moon than he was used to. He had stuck to the shadows for the majority of the day, keeping his head low, passing in alleys, watching as weird creatures with horns, grey skin, and different blood colors talked to each other joyfully. They were like the batterwitch, but they’re more docile. Maybe this is her planet? But he’s heard stories about Alternia, cutthroat and unforgiving.. but this place wasn’t that. It was the opposite of that, actually. Everyone here was so kind to each other and treated each other with respect, which he found to be a welcome surprise. Now, he found himself alone, staring at the two moons in the sky. He steps out from the shadows of two trees and stretches, arms reaching high above his head.

His normally pristine suit he usually wears to a showing of his movies is anything but, torn in some places and his dress shirt’s top button has been lost to today’s escapades. Dirt caked his ankles and his dress shoes have been long since discarded for his spare set of sneakers he always carried on him for emergencies. He feels out of his element honestly, and he isn’t usually shaken this badly, but being zapped to another planet in the middle of his (supposed) death might be a blessing in disguise. He always runs out of Time, either that be in being late for breakfast or being too slow to counter a lethal blow, but his own sense of his own time is usually enough to counter it. Not this time, though. He shakes his head then spits on the ground next to him, a wad of bubblegum landing on the dirt. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, and freezes. He just stepped into the line of sight of a troll, how had he not noticed? He must look like some sort of mutant to them. He moves his hands forward, trying to make a nonthreatening gesture.

“Hey kid, I’m not lookin’ for trouble. Just pretend you haven’t even seen me, that’d be for the best.”

Safe to say, Meulin took a moment longer to fully notice the stranger in her line of sight, with her eyes remaining on the two moons for just a second or so more. Alas, when spotting the human? She blinked a few times, clear puzzlement written across her features. Generally, if she were to have her hearing.. well, she would’ve heard the man approaching quite easily. With being down to only four of the five main senses however, she was truly at a bit of a disadvantage for taking notice of any strange figures. She almost could’ve thought it was even one of her own friends at first, if not for the near sickly color of the stranger. The mere sight had her making a face, brows furrowing. Was this odd ‘troll’ okay? It didn’t seem so, all things considered.

There was a pause from the girl momentarily before she raised her hand to begin signing, promptly after he had spoken, the poor girl only able to pick up bits and pieces of what he had said. Lip reading never had been a great strong suite of hers, with her much preferring texting or the usual way of sign language. Only hoping that they’d happen to understand, she continued with the signing, keeping it rather simple. “I can’t hear you. Are you okay?”

The girl held a concerned look whilst signing the particular words, tail swishing back and forth as she tilted her head to the side. The troll held quite the feline-like characteristics, even her horns resembling something akin to cat ears. Not to mention, her slightly olive-green tinted pupils were constricted ever so slightly, yet another resemblance to a potential feline counterpart.

Dave startles at the realization that the troll in front of him is deaf, but quickly recovers, attempting to scratch his mind for sign language training he had when he was younger. He shifts on his feet, and shakes his hands out, readying himself. He understands what she’s saying, but he struggles to make the signs with his own hands. He nods to her and says the letters along with the signs he does, pronouncing and emphasizing the letters, his mouth over-exaggerating every syllable.

“D-a-v-e S-t-r-i-d-e-r.”

He slowly spells out his name in what he hopes to be correct sign language, long pauses between letters as he tries to recall the next letter. He moves closer to her, his blond hair reflecting off the light of the moons. He exhales, and decides to just sign from now on, that’ll be easier.

“Sorry. Hands aren’t good. I am Alien. From Earth. Lost.”

He pauses, clearing his throat, peering at her face. She seems trustful enough.

“Troll?”

He gestures to her after saying and signing the last word.

“Are trolls here bad? My planet..”

He trails off, trying to remember the right word. He settles for something simple, looking at her through his sunglasses, his signs slow and full of finality.

“Planet killed by a troll.”

His hands throb from the complex movements his hands are making, he just had to fight for his life with a sword earlier today, and he’s admittedly very exhausted. He sighs, his shoulders slumping.

“Hands hurt. War. Revolution.”

He reaches out and exposes his palms, which have blisters and scars on them. He then mimes swinging a sword, trying to get his point across. He notices her feline characteristics after he finishes moving, all of his brain power for the past few minutes or so had been focused on signing and forming words, and he hadn’t had much time to really look at her. He can’t help but smirk slightly and bring up his hands to sign one word.

“Cat?”

He nods to her tail, then brings both his index fingers up to each side of his head and points them upward, trying to create the image of having horns. He tilts his head at her for a few seconds, then he remembers something. He scrambles to sign again, his fingers twitch slightly in the effort of trying to get the words across quickly.

“Don’t tell! Don’t tell others me. Danger.”

He struggles to sign the words with his injured hands. He might’ve skipped a word or two..

“Hands hurt bad.”

He shakes out his hands once again, wincing as he does so. He gingerly strokes his right palm as he feels an old scar ache. He looks apologetically to the troll in front of him. He shrugs, and finally answers her question.

Meulin watched as the strange supposed troll shook his hands out, brows furrowing in puzzlement. She was still trying to wrap her head around why they looked so strange, but alas, to no avail. Perhaps Kankri would happen to know? Or.. no— maybe she’d only get a scolding on how calling another ‘weird’ could happen to be triggering for the individual. Really, though? It was something she had grown all too used to, considering how often the particular troll happened to jump in on conversations.

Her thoughts were quickly cut off by the sight of the other beginning to sign however, taking in the sight of the individual letters signed. Dave Strider? Was that the stranger’s name? Giving a small smile, she went to give a signing of her own name, albeit much quicker than his own signing. “Meulin Leijon!” Oh, was she grateful for the odd looking troll to be able to understand her sign language. It made things much, much easier, after all.

Tilting her head curiously, she watched as he approached, making a face when taking in what he had signed. An alien? From Earth? Well, that was most certainly strange… stranger than most things she encountered on a daily basis, for that matter. Gaze flickering to his hands as she watched him sign, she frowned upon hearing that they seemingly hurt. They just look like they hurt, with the visibly injuries on them — both old and new. “Everyone is nice! For the most part, at least.” She soon signed, huffing out a breath.

Cracking a grin of her own with the gestures made alongside the single-word question, she gave a joking show of her teeth. “Yes! Cat!” She signed, giggling a bit with the given words. She most certainly was feline-like, and goodness knew she was prideful of it.

Alas, her small bout of amusement was quick to falter when seeing the next signed words, concern falling across her expression yet again as she kept her eyes on him. “I won’t tell.” She tried to assure, tail beginning to droop. “Promise.” It was a tempting thought, sure, but she wasn’t at all about to do such a thing to this poor alien. Best to not lose any sort of possible trust, after all.

Meulin..what a peculiar name. It sounded like.. He raises his hands to sign again. This girl was certainly very eager to help, but he would be a fool to not feel a sense of suspicion, especially with all that he’s been through today, he’s in unfamiliar territory. An unfamiliar planet, even. He feels a blister become irritated with his rapid hand movements, but he carries on.

“Meulin? M-e-w? Cat?”

He chuckles, smiling. He eagerly watches her sign her responses, and his face momentarily lights up when she conveys that everyone is nice on the most part, but he quickly rushes to make his face neutral again. God, he wishes that Rose was here, she’d be better at talking to people. She’s always better than him with conversations, he tends to ramble..but in this case, he can’t really. His hands can’t take it.

“Keep promise.”

He gives her a tilt of his head, and ponders for a moment at her question. How could she help? She could maybe give him some insight on how this planet works, and if Her Imperious Bitchness is in power. Maybe he went back in time? If so, that’s new to him, and he probably went back at the best time, a moment before he was about to be killed. He starts to sign.

“Tell me-.”

He exhales as a blister pops and a scratch reopens, a drop of red blood forming on the palm of his hand. He stops signing, partially in pain, but he’s admittedly a bit overwhelmed. Fuck, she can sign so fast, he can’t keep up. He barely stops himself from pulling back when she grabs his hand, instead letting her examine his injuries. He bites his tongue, maybe his questions can wait, his hands do hurt, maybe she can help? He attempts to sign with his free hand, letter by letter.

“H-e-l-p.”

He’s never had anyone but himself take care of his battle injuries before, it feels so..wrong. It’s a side of him that’s been extremely personal, that shows the depth of the pain he’s in. He sighs, he needs to trust someone right now, he can’t survive on this planet alone. He’s taking a leap of faith, but where would he be by not taking risks? Probably still making those comics in his shitty apartment, not being a movie star and a revolutionary against a galactic conquerer. He frowns slightly, and begrudgingly signs a new word with his free hand.

The sight of the words signed was enough to have the girl giving a breathless sort of laugh, cupping one hand over her mouth for a split second. He certainly wasn’t wrong, she knew, the troll’s expression showing clear amusement as she flashed a sharp toothed grin in his direction. “Meulin.” She repeated, this time however attempting for a verbal response.. even if it was deaf to her own ears. She had said it hundreds of time before going deaf however, and so? She most certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with the words, even if being unable to hear herself.

Brows knitting together in further concern however as he went on, and when seeing the singular letters signed out to form one word? She let out a breath, examining his hand for a moment longer before shifting her hands to his forearms. Attempting to be gentle, the girl tried to ease him down to the ground, quite relieved for the grass underneath them. Best to have this than to have pavement or something of the sort, after all.

“It’ll be okay.” She tried to assure, having to pull her hands away from him in order to sign. “How bad does it hurt? I can take you to my hive. There’s bandages there!” That, and it would certainly be safer there than out here, in the midst of the public- where prying eyes could easily see them if they wished to.

His eyes widened beneath his shades when she said her name, she said it perfectly too. Maybe she wasn’t born deaf? The thought saddened him, however, what horrible thing happened to her to cause her to go deaf? He shakes the thought off as he feels her try to lead him to sit on the ground, and he lets her. He feels his knees almost give out, and is suddenly aware how tired he is.

“Hurts, but more exhausted. Had to fight hard.”

The fight couldn’t have lasted for more than five minutes, but every second he was parrying, running, attacking, dodging.. it had ended when he was disarmed. He saw his own sword being levitated towards his chest, and he remembers every heartbeat in those few seconds. He reaches up with his free hand to touch where it would’ve delivered the fatal blow..and he feels a hole in his shirt. He pales, and traces his index finger over it. It had gotten that close to killing him. He takes in a shaky breath. He’s alive now, that’s all that matters. He looks up to Meulin.

“Yes. Take me there, please. Out of public.”

Happy to see the human cooperating, she gave a smile. Better for this to happen than for him to be stubborn and refuse, after all. Goodness knew she wasn’t too keen on dealing with that sort of thing at the end of the day, seeing as all she wanted to do was help. She didn’t exactly wish to cause further harm by him resisting, either. Expression growing further sympathetic at the next signed words, she let out a breath.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it stop hurting, okay?” She was doing her best to be reassuring as possible, maintaining that same smile of hers as her tail flicked back and forth. Oh, did she hold quite the amount of pity for the strange blonde, especially with how exhausted he seemed to be. She couldn’t blame him either, if what he had said about fighting was true.

“Who did you fight? Actually, that can wait. Let’s just get going, ok?” She signed out, pleased to see the decision made. She preferred her hive, really, but that was partially due to it being the comfort of her own home— quite literally.

Reaching out to place her hands over his gently next, she shook her head, an attempted gesture to get him to stop signing for now even if her own signed words could be answered. Best to not have him hurting himself further, she thought.

He goes to sign again, but feels her hands lower his, and he (begrudgingly) lets it happen. He needs someone to trust, and she seems like one of the trustworthy bunch. Then again, he doesn’t have much of an option. Soft. Her hands were soft. At least, compared to his. This girl isn’t like him, battle hardened and weary from war. He mouths “thank you” to Meulin, trying to mouth each letter slowly. He looks slightly silly while doing so. He lets himself be brought to his feet, and feels himself blush in embarrassment as his knees wobble. God, everything hurts.

He’s now so aware on how much his body aches. He’s been moving off of adrenaline and survival instinct alone, and now that he’s taken a break, he realizes how much of a toll the battle took on his body..but that ache might be also due to him getting older. Twenty six years young and he’s in pain. That might be pretty bad, but he’s here for a good time, not a long time. He takes a few deep breaths as he steadies, looking away from Meulin, ashamed at his current state. He nudges her, and gestures forward, wanting her to lead him to wherever her house is.

“Y’know, I feel like shit putting my life in the hands of you. You’re just a kid. You don’t deserve this. You don’t know me, why are you trying to help me?”

Meulin had found herself taking notice as to just how.. worn his hands felt- roughed up, and clearly in no good condition. Then again, this man in general hardly seemed to be in any good condition. He seemed quite roughed up, in truth. That much could only be expected from someone who claimed to have just come from a raging fight however, the mere thought having the feline-like troll grimacing. He was safe here at least, she would make sure of that much. Her hive was a good place for him to go at the very least, especially seeing as she knew her lusus wouldn’t be making any hostile moves towards the man. Not if she had any say in the matter, that is.

She offered a toothy grin when reading the words he had said however, quite thankful for her more well honed ability to read lips. If only to help with the ease of conversation, she went to speak up slowly, just hoping that she was pronouncing things properly after such a lack of speech on her part. “You’re.. welcome.” The words came out a tiny bit slurred, her brows furrowing in concentration as she spoke. But, in thinking that she did well enough? She was quick to perk back up, giggling.

With the nudge, the girl happily took that as the sign to get moving, trying to walk slowly for the sake of Dave.

Dave’s eyes had lit up when she had spoke, although his eyes were hidden from view by his shades. He nodded encouragingly as she responded. He tilted his head in a “good!” manner when she had responded verbally, impressed. The sound of her giggling surprised him, and he was suddenly very self conscious for a few moments, before he realized she wasn’t laughing at him, but in satisfaction with her own speech. Good for her. He went to raise his hands to sign, but he guessed she would not let him, so in the middle of beginning to sign a word, he lowered his hands. He walked slowly behind her, trying to not make it look obvious he was struggling to even stand, and he secretly appreciated the kind gesture of her walking slowly so he wouldn’t fall behind.

He shrugs when she asks why she shouldn’t help him, and he opens his mouth to speak, again over emphasizing the words visually and going slow with his speech speed.

“I mean, I’m an alien that could be a danger to you or somethin’. You could’ve just left me there. I could be poisonous or freaky, or just a plain dick and try to hurt you..”

He trails off, but he quickly begins speaking again.

“..but I wouldn’t.”

He he tilts his head.

“I’m not like that. I’d never hurt anyone unless they deserve it.”

The troll had continued with keeping an eye on the other, blinking a few times. It was.. interesting really, having a new face around— especially one so different from those she was used to seeing. It was nearly enough to have her giggling all over again, though she at the very least knew well enough to keep her mouth shut this time around. Best to not make him think she was laughing at him specifically after all.. even if that was partially it. It was still strange to her as well, seeing his puzzlement with her assistance. But, oh well- there wasn’t much she could do to help with that, aside from continued reassurance.

Tilting her head when seeing that he had begun to speak, she tried to watch his lips to read the words, holding a more concentrated look all the while.

“You hardly look like you’d be poisonous at all!” She went to sign, finding herself giving a sharp toothed grin with what she was saying. “You look pawfully defenseless, honestly. You don’t even have horns, claws or fangs! Not like me, or any of the other trolls here!” It was something she still found quite amusing, funnily enough. How in the world could he be any sort of danger? It wasn’t as if he had acted hostile at all, either.

“Yeah, yeah you caught me. I guess I don’t look like those poisonous dart frogs or somethin’.”

He makes sure to be in her line of sight as he speaks, so she can read his lips. Dave taps his chin, the stubble rubbing against his finger unpleasantly. He hums, contemplating the words.

“Or is that venomous?”

He examines her hands as she signs. After she finishes, he mimes himself having horns using his two index fingers and placing them on both sides of his head, seemingly pondering the idea of him having horns. He smirks slightly.

“Fangs? Humans have two sharp teeth that look like fangs.”

He lifts his top lip with his right thumb and reveals two sharp canines in his top row of teeth. They’re smaller than the rest. He retracts his finger.

“We don’t really use them for anything though. It’s more of a leftover from our ancestors. Would’ve been cool though to have real fangs. Could’ve bit the fish bitch right in the-..”

He stops himself. His revenge fantasies against the Condescension for Rose could wait until he’s at least fit to fight. He’s in no good shape the way he is right now, he doesn’t even have his sword. And? This gal might not appreciate someone of her species being slandered. He needs her help. He doesn’t want to upset her either, she seems like an upstanding citizen and is going out of her way to help a disheveled, injured alien who is probably making no sense right now. God, Rose. It was a losing battle, but he should’ve been the one to go first. She was caught by surprise, obviously. Even with her knowledge, her luck, it wasn’t enough to stop a trident to the side. What made him the one lucky enough to survive? He shakes these thoughts off. Just survive right now. He forces a smile.

Upon seeing the inquires, she could only give a meek shrug of her shoulders. Goodness, she couldn’t at all tell any difference. Hell, it wasn’t exactly as if she was too familiar with creatures that held such properties in the first place, really. Eyes remaining on the human, she cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner with spotting the sight of his canines. Well, he certainly had some sort of fangs, as he had said.. though, they weren’t anything in comparison to her own, she thought.

Going to give a show of her teeth, almost akin to an animal baring it’s fangs, she pointed a clawed finger to her own teeth— all seeming to hold a more pointed look rather than being flat at all. Though, of course, her canines were the sharpest of all, especially with the way they still showed ever so slightly even with her mouth shut.

“They look like baby fangs! Yours, I mean!” The words were signed with a clear look of amusement written across Meulin’s features, a smile having tugged at her lips. “I doubt you could even cause damage with those little things!”

Though, with reading the next words? She rose a brow, amusement switching to puzzlement as she gave him a look. “Fish bitch?” She wasn’t at all afraid to sign the more vulgar language, if anything looking mildly entertained with the terminology. Instead of questioning further, seeing how he trailed off, she instead went to make a comment with the mention of his sword.

Dave is taken aback slightly as she signs his words, but regains his composure. He nods. The man audibly yelps when she prods at his chest. He rushes to sign, momentarily ignoring the state of his hands.

“Yes the weapon. I used to have it, lost it in battle earlier. I was good with it too.”

He is suddenly very aware of her having claws, and he subconsciously reaches up to where she touched him to check for injury. Nothing. Signing, he continues.

“Really good. Trained regularly all my life with swords.”

Smiling, he lets his ego show.

“Best swordsman of my time.”

Oh, was today going quite well thus far.

On a place certainly much different from Alternia stood a feline-like troll, a few stray strands falling into her face with the slight breeze that had picked up some time ago. It wasn’t anything that bothered her terribly however, with a small giggle escaping her as she reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear— the sound of her own quiet laugh being unheard to her in the process. It was something she had grown rather used to as time had gone on, with adapting to the usage of sign language usually.. that, and reading lips or merely texting often were other options she could easily use alongside her voice, if she truly wished to. Though, the former was certainly much more awkward for her, with how strange it felt to have the rumble of vocalization in her throat without hearing the words that went with it.

Quite quickly shaking off the thoughts, she let her eyes shift to the moons above, blinking a few times. She had only just separated from her friends, if only to get the tiniest breather in before returning. She had been having quite the splendid day, really! Especially with being able to spend some level of time with both Kurloz and Horuss. Few arguments had broken out as well, and god knew how rare of a thing that was. All in all? Things were going almost strangely well, with the friendly communication between herself and her friends. (Not that she herself was one to engage in negative speech, of course.)

This most certainly wasn’t Earth.

David (Dave) Strider, famed actor and director, was looking at the sky, which had one more moon than he was used to. He had stuck to the shadows for the majority of the day, keeping his head low, passing in alleys, watching as weird creatures with horns, grey skin, and different blood colors talked to each other joyfully. They were like the batterwitch, but they’re more docile. Maybe this is her planet? But he’s heard stories about Alternia, cutthroat and unforgiving.. but this place wasn’t that. It was the opposite of that, actually. Everyone here was so kind to each other and treated each other with respect, which he found to be a welcome surprise. Now, he found himself alone, staring at the two moons in the sky. He steps out from the shadows of two trees and stretches, arms reaching high above his head.

His normally pristine suit he usually wears to a showing of his movies is anything but, torn in some places and his dress shirt’s top button has been lost to today’s escapades. Dirt caked his ankles and his dress shoes have been long since discarded for his spare set of sneakers he always carried on him for emergencies. He feels out of his element honestly, and he isn’t usually shaken this badly, but being zapped to another planet in the middle of his (supposed) death might be a blessing in disguise. He always runs out of Time, either that be in being late for breakfast or being too slow to counter a lethal blow, but his own sense of his own time is usually enough to counter it. Not this time, though. He shakes his head then spits on the ground next to him, a wad of bubblegum landing on the dirt. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, and freezes. He just stepped into the line of sight of a troll, how had he not noticed? He must look like some sort of mutant to them. He moves his hands forward, trying to make a nonthreatening gesture.

“Hey kid, I’m not lookin’ for trouble. Just pretend you haven’t even seen me, that’d be for the best.”

Safe to say, Meulin took a moment longer to fully notice the stranger in her line of sight, with her eyes remaining on the two moons for just a second or so more. Alas, when spotting the human? She blinked a few times, clear puzzlement written across her features. Generally, if she were to have her hearing.. well, she would’ve heard the man approaching quite easily. With being down to only four of the five main senses however, she was truly at a bit of a disadvantage for taking notice of any strange figures. She almost could’ve thought it was even one of her own friends at first, if not for the near sickly color of the stranger. The mere sight had her making a face, brows furrowing. Was this odd ‘troll’ okay? It didn’t seem so, all things considered.

There was a pause from the girl momentarily before she raised her hand to begin signing, promptly after he had spoken, the poor girl only able to pick up bits and pieces of what he had said. Lip reading never had been a great strong suite of hers, with her much preferring texting or the usual way of sign language. Only hoping that they’d happen to understand, she continued with the signing, keeping it rather simple. “I can’t hear you. Are you okay?”

The girl held a concerned look whilst signing the particular words, tail swishing back and forth as she tilted her head to the side. The troll held quite the feline-like characteristics, even her horns resembling something akin to cat ears. Not to mention, her slightly olive-green tinted pupils were constricted ever so slightly, yet another resemblance to a potential feline counterpart.

Dave startles at the realization that the troll in front of him is deaf, but quickly recovers, attempting to scratch his mind for sign language training he had when he was younger. He shifts on his feet, and shakes his hands out, readying himself. He understands what she’s saying, but he struggles to make the signs with his own hands. He nods to her and says the letters along with the signs he does, pronouncing and emphasizing the letters, his mouth over-exaggerating every syllable.

“D-a-v-e S-t-r-i-d-e-r.”

He slowly spells out his name in what he hopes to be correct sign language, long pauses between letters as he tries to recall the next letter. He moves closer to her, his blond hair reflecting off the light of the moons. He exhales, and decides to just sign from now on, that’ll be easier.

“Sorry. Hands aren’t good. I am Alien. From Earth. Lost.”

He pauses, clearing his throat, peering at her face. She seems trustful enough.

“Troll?”

He gestures to her after saying and signing the last word.

“Are trolls here bad? My planet..”

He trails off, trying to remember the right word. He settles for something simple, looking at her through his sunglasses, his signs slow and full of finality.

“Planet killed by a troll.”

His hands throb from the complex movements his hands are making, he just had to fight for his life with a sword earlier today, and he’s admittedly very exhausted. He sighs, his shoulders slumping.

“Hands hurt. War. Revolution.”

He reaches out and exposes his palms, which have blisters and scars on them. He then mimes swinging a sword, trying to get his point across. He notices her feline characteristics after he finishes moving, all of his brain power for the past few minutes or so had been focused on signing and forming words, and he hadn’t had much time to really look at her. He can’t help but smirk slightly and bring up his hands to sign one word.

“Cat?”

He nods to her tail, then brings both his index fingers up to each side of his head and points them upward, trying to create the image of having horns. He tilts his head at her for a few seconds, then he remembers something. He scrambles to sign again, his fingers twitch slightly in the effort of trying to get the words across quickly.

“Don’t tell! Don’t tell others me. Danger.”

He struggles to sign the words with his injured hands. He might’ve skipped a word or two..

“Hands hurt bad.”

He shakes out his hands once again, wincing as he does so. He gingerly strokes his right palm as he feels an old scar ache. He looks apologetically to the troll in front of him. He shrugs, and finally answers her question.

Meulin watched as the strange supposed troll shook his hands out, brows furrowing in puzzlement. She was still trying to wrap her head around why they looked so strange, but alas, to no avail. Perhaps Kankri would happen to know? Or.. no— maybe she’d only get a scolding on how calling another ‘weird’ could happen to be triggering for the individual. Really, though? It was something she had grown all too used to, considering how often the particular troll happened to jump in on conversations.

Her thoughts were quickly cut off by the sight of the other beginning to sign however, taking in the sight of the individual letters signed. Dave Strider? Was that the stranger’s name? Giving a small smile, she went to give a signing of her own name, albeit much quicker than his own signing. “Meulin Leijon!” Oh, was she grateful for the odd looking troll to be able to understand her sign language. It made things much, much easier, after all.

Tilting her head curiously, she watched as he approached, making a face when taking in what he had signed. An alien? From Earth? Well, that was most certainly strange… stranger than most things she encountered on a daily basis, for that matter. Gaze flickering to his hands as she watched him sign, she frowned upon hearing that they seemingly hurt. They just look like they hurt, with the visibly injuries on them — both old and new. “Everyone is nice! For the most part, at least.” She soon signed, huffing out a breath.

Cracking a grin of her own with the gestures made alongside the single-word question, she gave a joking show of her teeth. “Yes! Cat!” She signed, giggling a bit with the given words. She most certainly was feline-like, and goodness knew she was prideful of it.

Alas, her small bout of amusement was quick to falter when seeing the next signed words, concern falling across her expression yet again as she kept her eyes on him. “I won’t tell.” She tried to assure, tail beginning to droop. “Promise.” It was a tempting thought, sure, but she wasn’t at all about to do such a thing to this poor alien. Best to not lose any sort of possible trust, after all.

Meulin..what a peculiar name. It sounded like.. He raises his hands to sign again. This girl was certainly very eager to help, but he would be a fool to not feel a sense of suspicion, especially with all that he’s been through today, he’s in unfamiliar territory. An unfamiliar planet, even. He feels a blister become irritated with his rapid hand movements, but he carries on.

“Meulin? M-e-w? Cat?”

He chuckles, smiling. He eagerly watches her sign her responses, and his face momentarily lights up when she conveys that everyone is nice on the most part, but he quickly rushes to make his face neutral again. God, he wishes that Rose was here, she’d be better at talking to people. She’s always better than him with conversations, he tends to ramble..but in this case, he can’t really. His hands can’t take it.

“Keep promise.”

He gives her a tilt of his head, and ponders for a moment at her question. How could she help? She could maybe give him some insight on how this planet works, and if Her Imperious Bitchness is in power. Maybe he went back in time? If so, that’s new to him, and he probably went back at the best time, a moment before he was about to be killed. He starts to sign.

“Tell me-.”

He exhales as a blister pops and a scratch reopens, a drop of red blood forming on the palm of his hand. He stops signing, partially in pain, but he’s admittedly a bit overwhelmed. Fuck, she can sign so fast, he can’t keep up. He barely stops himself from pulling back when she grabs his hand, instead letting her examine his injuries. He bites his tongue, maybe his questions can wait, his hands do hurt, maybe she can help? He attempts to sign with his free hand, letter by letter.

“H-e-l-p.”

He’s never had anyone but himself take care of his battle injuries before, it feels so..wrong. It’s a side of him that’s been extremely personal, that shows the depth of the pain he’s in. He sighs, he needs to trust someone right now, he can’t survive on this planet alone. He’s taking a leap of faith, but where would he be by not taking risks? Probably still making those comics in his shitty apartment, not being a movie star and a revolutionary against a galactic conquerer. He frowns slightly, and begrudgingly signs a new word with his free hand.

The sight of the words signed was enough to have the girl giving a breathless sort of laugh, cupping one hand over her mouth for a split second. He certainly wasn’t wrong, she knew, the troll’s expression showing clear amusement as she flashed a sharp toothed grin in his direction. “Meulin.” She repeated, this time however attempting for a verbal response.. even if it was deaf to her own ears. She had said it hundreds of time before going deaf however, and so? She most certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with the words, even if being unable to hear herself.

Brows knitting together in further concern however as he went on, and when seeing the singular letters signed out to form one word? She let out a breath, examining his hand for a moment longer before shifting her hands to his forearms. Attempting to be gentle, the girl tried to ease him down to the ground, quite relieved for the grass underneath them. Best to have this than to have pavement or something of the sort, after all.

“It’ll be okay.” She tried to assure, having to pull her hands away from him in order to sign. “How bad does it hurt? I can take you to my hive. There’s bandages there!” That, and it would certainly be safer there than out here, in the midst of the public- where prying eyes could easily see them if they wished to.

His eyes widened beneath his shades when she said her name, she said it perfectly too. Maybe she wasn’t born deaf? The thought saddened him, however, what horrible thing happened to her to cause her to go deaf? He shakes the thought off as he feels her try to lead him to sit on the ground, and he lets her. He feels his knees almost give out, and is suddenly aware how tired he is.

“Hurts, but more exhausted. Had to fight hard.”

The fight couldn’t have lasted for more than five minutes, but every second he was parrying, running, attacking, dodging.. it had ended when he was disarmed. He saw his own sword being levitated towards his chest, and he remembers every heartbeat in those few seconds. He reaches up with his free hand to touch where it would’ve delivered the fatal blow..and he feels a hole in his shirt. He pales, and traces his index finger over it. It had gotten that close to killing him. He takes in a shaky breath. He’s alive now, that’s all that matters. He looks up to Meulin.

“Yes. Take me there, please. Out of public.”

Happy to see the human cooperating, she gave a smile. Better for this to happen than for him to be stubborn and refuse, after all. Goodness knew she wasn’t too keen on dealing with that sort of thing at the end of the day, seeing as all she wanted to do was help. She didn’t exactly wish to cause further harm by him resisting, either. Expression growing further sympathetic at the next signed words, she let out a breath.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it stop hurting, okay?” She was doing her best to be reassuring as possible, maintaining that same smile of hers as her tail flicked back and forth. Oh, did she hold quite the amount of pity for the strange blonde, especially with how exhausted he seemed to be. She couldn’t blame him either, if what he had said about fighting was true.

“Who did you fight? Actually, that can wait. Let’s just get going, ok?” She signed out, pleased to see the decision made. She preferred her hive, really, but that was partially due to it being the comfort of her own home— quite literally.

Reaching out to place her hands over his gently next, she shook her head, an attempted gesture to get him to stop signing for now even if her own signed words could be answered. Best to not have him hurting himself further, she thought.

He goes to sign again, but feels her hands lower his, and he (begrudgingly) lets it happen. He needs someone to trust, and she seems like one of the trustworthy bunch. Then again, he doesn’t have much of an option. Soft. Her hands were soft. At least, compared to his. This girl isn’t like him, battle hardened and weary from war. He mouths “thank you” to Meulin, trying to mouth each letter slowly. He looks slightly silly while doing so. He lets himself be brought to his feet, and feels himself blush in embarrassment as his knees wobble. God, everything hurts.

He’s now so aware on how much his body aches. He’s been moving off of adrenaline and survival instinct alone, and now that he’s taken a break, he realizes how much of a toll the battle took on his body..but that ache might be also due to him getting older. Twenty six years young and he’s in pain. That might be pretty bad, but he’s here for a good time, not a long time. He takes a few deep breaths as he steadies, looking away from Meulin, ashamed at his current state. He nudges her, and gestures forward, wanting her to lead him to wherever her house is.

“Y’know, I feel like shit putting my life in the hands of you. You’re just a kid. You don’t deserve this. You don’t know me, why are you trying to help me?”

Meulin had found herself taking notice as to just how.. worn his hands felt- roughed up, and clearly in no good condition. Then again, this man in general hardly seemed to be in any good condition. He seemed quite roughed up, in truth. That much could only be expected from someone who claimed to have just come from a raging fight however, the mere thought having the feline-like troll grimacing. He was safe here at least, she would make sure of that much. Her hive was a good place for him to go at the very least, especially seeing as she knew her lusus wouldn’t be making any hostile moves towards the man. Not if she had any say in the matter, that is.

She offered a toothy grin when reading the words he had said however, quite thankful for her more well honed ability to read lips. If only to help with the ease of conversation, she went to speak up slowly, just hoping that she was pronouncing things properly after such a lack of speech on her part. “You’re.. welcome.” The words came out a tiny bit slurred, her brows furrowing in concentration as she spoke. But, in thinking that she did well enough? She was quick to perk back up, giggling.

With the nudge, the girl happily took that as the sign to get moving, trying to walk slowly for the sake of Dave.

Dave’s eyes had lit up when she had spoke, although his eyes were hidden from view by his shades. He nodded encouragingly as she responded. He tilted his head in a “good!” manner when she had responded verbally, impressed. The sound of her giggling surprised him, and he was suddenly very self conscious for a few moments, before he realized she wasn’t laughing at him, but in satisfaction with her own speech. Good for her. He went to raise his hands to sign, but he guessed she would not let him, so in the middle of beginning to sign a word, he lowered his hands. He walked slowly behind her, trying to not make it look obvious he was struggling to even stand, and he secretly appreciated the kind gesture of her walking slowly so he wouldn’t fall behind.

He shrugs when she asks why she shouldn’t help him, and he opens his mouth to speak, again over emphasizing the words visually and going slow with his speech speed.

“I mean, I’m an alien that could be a danger to you or somethin’. You could’ve just left me there. I could be poisonous or freaky, or just a plain dick and try to hurt you..”

He trails off, but he quickly begins speaking again.

“..but I wouldn’t.”

He he tilts his head.

“I’m not like that. I’d never hurt anyone unless they deserve it.”

The troll had continued with keeping an eye on the other, blinking a few times. It was.. interesting really, having a new face around— especially one so different from those she was used to seeing. It was nearly enough to have her giggling all over again, though she at the very least knew well enough to keep her mouth shut this time around. Best to not make him think she was laughing at him specifically after all.. even if that was partially it. It was still strange to her as well, seeing his puzzlement with her assistance. But, oh well- there wasn’t much she could do to help with that, aside from continued reassurance.

Tilting her head when seeing that he had begun to speak, she tried to watch his lips to read the words, holding a more concentrated look all the while.

“You hardly look like you’d be poisonous at all!” She went to sign, finding herself giving a sharp toothed grin with what she was saying. “You look pawfully defenseless, honestly. You don’t even have horns, claws or fangs! Not like me, or any of the other trolls here!” It was something she still found quite amusing, funnily enough. How in the world could he be any sort of danger? It wasn’t as if he had acted hostile at all, either.

“Yeah, yeah you caught me. I guess I don’t look like those poisonous dart frogs or somethin’.”

He makes sure to be in her line of sight as he speaks, so she can read his lips. Dave taps his chin, the stubble rubbing against his finger unpleasantly. He hums, contemplating the words.

“Or is that venomous?”

He examines her hands as she signs. After she finishes, he mimes himself having horns using his two index fingers and placing them on both sides of his head, seemingly pondering the idea of him having horns. He smirks slightly.

“Fangs? Humans have two sharp teeth that look like fangs.”

He lifts his top lip with his right thumb and reveals two sharp canines in his top row of teeth. They’re smaller than the rest. He retracts his finger.

“We don’t really use them for anything though. It’s more of a leftover from our ancestors. Would’ve been cool though to have real fangs. Could’ve bit the fish bitch right in the-..”

He stops himself. His revenge fantasies against the Condescension for Rose could wait until he’s at least fit to fight. He’s in no good shape the way he is right now, he doesn’t even have his sword. And? This gal might not appreciate someone of her species being slandered. He needs her help. He doesn’t want to upset her either, she seems like an upstanding citizen and is going out of her way to help a disheveled, injured alien who is probably making no sense right now. God, Rose. It was a losing battle, but he should’ve been the one to go first. She was caught by surprise, obviously. Even with her knowledge, her luck, it wasn’t enough to stop a trident to the side. What made him the one lucky enough to survive? He shakes these thoughts off. Just survive right now. He forces a smile.

Oh, was today going quite well thus far.

On a place certainly much different from Alternia stood a feline-like troll, a few stray strands falling into her face with the slight breeze that had picked up some time ago. It wasn’t anything that bothered her terribly however, with a small giggle escaping her as she reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear— the sound of her own quiet laugh being unheard to her in the process. It was something she had grown rather used to as time had gone on, with adapting to the usage of sign language usually.. that, and reading lips or merely texting often were other options she could easily use alongside her voice, if she truly wished to. Though, the former was certainly much more awkward for her, with how strange it felt to have the rumble of vocalization in her throat without hearing the words that went with it.

Quite quickly shaking off the thoughts, she let her eyes shift to the moons above, blinking a few times. She had only just separated from her friends, if only to get the tiniest breather in before returning. She had been having quite the splendid day, really! Especially with being able to spend some level of time with both Kurloz and Horuss. Few arguments had broken out as well, and god knew how rare of a thing that was. All in all? Things were going almost strangely well, with the friendly communication between herself and her friends. (Not that she herself was one to engage in negative speech, of course.)

This most certainly wasn’t Earth.

David (Dave) Strider, famed actor and director, was looking at the sky, which had one more moon than he was used to. He had stuck to the shadows for the majority of the day, keeping his head low, passing in alleys, watching as weird creatures with horns, grey skin, and different blood colors talked to each other joyfully. They were like the batterwitch, but they’re more docile. Maybe this is her planet? But he’s heard stories about Alternia, cutthroat and unforgiving.. but this place wasn’t that. It was the opposite of that, actually. Everyone here was so kind to each other and treated each other with respect, which he found to be a welcome surprise. Now, he found himself alone, staring at the two moons in the sky. He steps out from the shadows of two trees and stretches, arms reaching high above his head.

His normally pristine suit he usually wears to a showing of his movies is anything but, torn in some places and his dress shirt’s top button has been lost to today’s escapades. Dirt caked his ankles and his dress shoes have been long since discarded for his spare set of sneakers he always carried on him for emergencies. He feels out of his element honestly, and he isn’t usually shaken this badly, but being zapped to another planet in the middle of his (supposed) death might be a blessing in disguise. He always runs out of Time, either that be in being late for breakfast or being too slow to counter a lethal blow, but his own sense of his own time is usually enough to counter it. Not this time, though. He shakes his head then spits on the ground next to him, a wad of bubblegum landing on the dirt. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, and freezes. He just stepped into the line of sight of a troll, how had he not noticed? He must look like some sort of mutant to them. He moves his hands forward, trying to make a nonthreatening gesture.

“Hey kid, I’m not lookin’ for trouble. Just pretend you haven’t even seen me, that’d be for the best.”

Safe to say, Meulin took a moment longer to fully notice the stranger in her line of sight, with her eyes remaining on the two moons for just a second or so more. Alas, when spotting the human? She blinked a few times, clear puzzlement written across her features. Generally, if she were to have her hearing.. well, she would’ve heard the man approaching quite easily. With being down to only four of the five main senses however, she was truly at a bit of a disadvantage for taking notice of any strange figures. She almost could’ve thought it was even one of her own friends at first, if not for the near sickly color of the stranger. The mere sight had her making a face, brows furrowing. Was this odd ‘troll’ okay? It didn’t seem so, all things considered.

There was a pause from the girl momentarily before she raised her hand to begin signing, promptly after he had spoken, the poor girl only able to pick up bits and pieces of what he had said. Lip reading never had been a great strong suite of hers, with her much preferring texting or the usual way of sign language. Only hoping that they’d happen to understand, she continued with the signing, keeping it rather simple. “I can’t hear you. Are you okay?”

The girl held a concerned look whilst signing the particular words, tail swishing back and forth as she tilted her head to the side. The troll held quite the feline-like characteristics, even her horns resembling something akin to cat ears. Not to mention, her slightly olive-green tinted pupils were constricted ever so slightly, yet another resemblance to a potential feline counterpart.

Dave startles at the realization that the troll in front of him is deaf, but quickly recovers, attempting to scratch his mind for sign language training he had when he was younger. He shifts on his feet, and shakes his hands out, readying himself. He understands what she’s saying, but he struggles to make the signs with his own hands. He nods to her and says the letters along with the signs he does, pronouncing and emphasizing the letters, his mouth over-exaggerating every syllable.

“D-a-v-e S-t-r-i-d-e-r.”

He slowly spells out his name in what he hopes to be correct sign language, long pauses between letters as he tries to recall the next letter. He moves closer to her, his blond hair reflecting off the light of the moons. He exhales, and decides to just sign from now on, that’ll be easier.

“Sorry. Hands aren’t good. I am Alien. From Earth. Lost.”

He pauses, clearing his throat, peering at her face. She seems trustful enough.

“Troll?”

He gestures to her after saying and signing the last word.

“Are trolls here bad? My planet..”

He trails off, trying to remember the right word. He settles for something simple, looking at her through his sunglasses, his signs slow and full of finality.

“Planet killed by a troll.”

His hands throb from the complex movements his hands are making, he just had to fight for his life with a sword earlier today, and he’s admittedly very exhausted. He sighs, his shoulders slumping.

“Hands hurt. War. Revolution.”

He reaches out and exposes his palms, which have blisters and scars on them. He then mimes swinging a sword, trying to get his point across. He notices her feline characteristics after he finishes moving, all of his brain power for the past few minutes or so had been focused on signing and forming words, and he hadn’t had much time to really look at her. He can’t help but smirk slightly and bring up his hands to sign one word.

“Cat?”

He nods to her tail, then brings both his index fingers up to each side of his head and points them upward, trying to create the image of having horns. He tilts his head at her for a few seconds, then he remembers something. He scrambles to sign again, his fingers twitch slightly in the effort of trying to get the words across quickly.

“Don’t tell! Don’t tell others me. Danger.”

He struggles to sign the words with his injured hands. He might’ve skipped a word or two..

“Hands hurt bad.”

He shakes out his hands once again, wincing as he does so. He gingerly strokes his right palm as he feels an old scar ache. He looks apologetically to the troll in front of him. He shrugs, and finally answers her question.

Meulin watched as the strange supposed troll shook his hands out, brows furrowing in puzzlement. She was still trying to wrap her head around why they looked so strange, but alas, to no avail. Perhaps Kankri would happen to know? Or.. no— maybe she’d only get a scolding on how calling another ‘weird’ could happen to be triggering for the individual. Really, though? It was something she had grown all too used to, considering how often the particular troll happened to jump in on conversations.

Her thoughts were quickly cut off by the sight of the other beginning to sign however, taking in the sight of the individual letters signed. Dave Strider? Was that the stranger’s name? Giving a small smile, she went to give a signing of her own name, albeit much quicker than his own signing. “Meulin Leijon!” Oh, was she grateful for the odd looking troll to be able to understand her sign language. It made things much, much easier, after all.

Tilting her head curiously, she watched as he approached, making a face when taking in what he had signed. An alien? From Earth? Well, that was most certainly strange… stranger than most things she encountered on a daily basis, for that matter. Gaze flickering to his hands as she watched him sign, she frowned upon hearing that they seemingly hurt. They just look like they hurt, with the visibly injuries on them — both old and new. “Everyone is nice! For the most part, at least.” She soon signed, huffing out a breath.

Cracking a grin of her own with the gestures made alongside the single-word question, she gave a joking show of her teeth. “Yes! Cat!” She signed, giggling a bit with the given words. She most certainly was feline-like, and goodness knew she was prideful of it.

Alas, her small bout of amusement was quick to falter when seeing the next signed words, concern falling across her expression yet again as she kept her eyes on him. “I won’t tell.” She tried to assure, tail beginning to droop. “Promise.” It was a tempting thought, sure, but she wasn’t at all about to do such a thing to this poor alien. Best to not lose any sort of possible trust, after all.

Meulin..what a peculiar name. It sounded like.. He raises his hands to sign again. This girl was certainly very eager to help, but he would be a fool to not feel a sense of suspicion, especially with all that he’s been through today, he’s in unfamiliar territory. An unfamiliar planet, even. He feels a blister become irritated with his rapid hand movements, but he carries on.

“Meulin? M-e-w? Cat?”

He chuckles, smiling. He eagerly watches her sign her responses, and his face momentarily lights up when she conveys that everyone is nice on the most part, but he quickly rushes to make his face neutral again. God, he wishes that Rose was here, she’d be better at talking to people. She’s always better than him with conversations, he tends to ramble..but in this case, he can’t really. His hands can’t take it.

“Keep promise.”

He gives her a tilt of his head, and ponders for a moment at her question. How could she help? She could maybe give him some insight on how this planet works, and if Her Imperious Bitchness is in power. Maybe he went back in time? If so, that’s new to him, and he probably went back at the best time, a moment before he was about to be killed. He starts to sign.

“Tell me-.”

He exhales as a blister pops and a scratch reopens, a drop of red blood forming on the palm of his hand. He stops signing, partially in pain, but he’s admittedly a bit overwhelmed. Fuck, she can sign so fast, he can’t keep up. He barely stops himself from pulling back when she grabs his hand, instead letting her examine his injuries. He bites his tongue, maybe his questions can wait, his hands do hurt, maybe she can help? He attempts to sign with his free hand, letter by letter.

“H-e-l-p.”

He’s never had anyone but himself take care of his battle injuries before, it feels so..wrong. It’s a side of him that’s been extremely personal, that shows the depth of the pain he’s in. He sighs, he needs to trust someone right now, he can’t survive on this planet alone. He’s taking a leap of faith, but where would he be by not taking risks? Probably still making those comics in his shitty apartment, not being a movie star and a revolutionary against a galactic conquerer. He frowns slightly, and begrudgingly signs a new word with his free hand.

The sight of the words signed was enough to have the girl giving a breathless sort of laugh, cupping one hand over her mouth for a split second. He certainly wasn’t wrong, she knew, the troll’s expression showing clear amusement as she flashed a sharp toothed grin in his direction. “Meulin.” She repeated, this time however attempting for a verbal response.. even if it was deaf to her own ears. She had said it hundreds of time before going deaf however, and so? She most certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with the words, even if being unable to hear herself.

Brows knitting together in further concern however as he went on, and when seeing the singular letters signed out to form one word? She let out a breath, examining his hand for a moment longer before shifting her hands to his forearms. Attempting to be gentle, the girl tried to ease him down to the ground, quite relieved for the grass underneath them. Best to have this than to have pavement or something of the sort, after all.

“It’ll be okay.” She tried to assure, having to pull her hands away from him in order to sign. “How bad does it hurt? I can take you to my hive. There’s bandages there!” That, and it would certainly be safer there than out here, in the midst of the public- where prying eyes could easily see them if they wished to.

His eyes widened beneath his shades when she said her name, she said it perfectly too. Maybe she wasn’t born deaf? The thought saddened him, however, what horrible thing happened to her to cause her to go deaf? He shakes the thought off as he feels her try to lead him to sit on the ground, and he lets her. He feels his knees almost give out, and is suddenly aware how tired he is.

“Hurts, but more exhausted. Had to fight hard.”

The fight couldn’t have lasted for more than five minutes, but every second he was parrying, running, attacking, dodging.. it had ended when he was disarmed. He saw his own sword being levitated towards his chest, and he remembers every heartbeat in those few seconds. He reaches up with his free hand to touch where it would’ve delivered the fatal blow..and he feels a hole in his shirt. He pales, and traces his index finger over it. It had gotten that close to killing him. He takes in a shaky breath. He’s alive now, that’s all that matters. He looks up to Meulin.

“Yes. Take me there, please. Out of public.”

Happy to see the human cooperating, she gave a smile. Better for this to happen than for him to be stubborn and refuse, after all. Goodness knew she wasn’t too keen on dealing with that sort of thing at the end of the day, seeing as all she wanted to do was help. She didn’t exactly wish to cause further harm by him resisting, either. Expression growing further sympathetic at the next signed words, she let out a breath.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it stop hurting, okay?” She was doing her best to be reassuring as possible, maintaining that same smile of hers as her tail flicked back and forth. Oh, did she hold quite the amount of pity for the strange blonde, especially with how exhausted he seemed to be. She couldn’t blame him either, if what he had said about fighting was true.

“Who did you fight? Actually, that can wait. Let’s just get going, ok?” She signed out, pleased to see the decision made. She preferred her hive, really, but that was partially due to it being the comfort of her own home— quite literally.

Reaching out to place her hands over his gently next, she shook her head, an attempted gesture to get him to stop signing for now even if her own signed words could be answered. Best to not have him hurting himself further, she thought.

He goes to sign again, but feels her hands lower his, and he (begrudgingly) lets it happen. He needs someone to trust, and she seems like one of the trustworthy bunch. Then again, he doesn’t have much of an option. Soft. Her hands were soft. At least, compared to his. This girl isn’t like him, battle hardened and weary from war. He mouths “thank you” to Meulin, trying to mouth each letter slowly. He looks slightly silly while doing so. He lets himself be brought to his feet, and feels himself blush in embarrassment as his knees wobble. God, everything hurts.

He’s now so aware on how much his body aches. He’s been moving off of adrenaline and survival instinct alone, and now that he’s taken a break, he realizes how much of a toll the battle took on his body..but that ache might be also due to him getting older. Twenty six years young and he’s in pain. That might be pretty bad, but he’s here for a good time, not a long time. He takes a few deep breaths as he steadies, looking away from Meulin, ashamed at his current state. He nudges her, and gestures forward, wanting her to lead him to wherever her house is.

“Y’know, I feel like shit putting my life in the hands of you. You’re just a kid. You don’t deserve this. You don’t know me, why are you trying to help me?”

Meulin had found herself taking notice as to just how.. worn his hands felt- roughed up, and clearly in no good condition. Then again, this man in general hardly seemed to be in any good condition. He seemed quite roughed up, in truth. That much could only be expected from someone who claimed to have just come from a raging fight however, the mere thought having the feline-like troll grimacing. He was safe here at least, she would make sure of that much. Her hive was a good place for him to go at the very least, especially seeing as she knew her lusus wouldn’t be making any hostile moves towards the man. Not if she had any say in the matter, that is.

She offered a toothy grin when reading the words he had said however, quite thankful for her more well honed ability to read lips. If only to help with the ease of conversation, she went to speak up slowly, just hoping that she was pronouncing things properly after such a lack of speech on her part. “You’re.. welcome.” The words came out a tiny bit slurred, her brows furrowing in concentration as she spoke. But, in thinking that she did well enough? She was quick to perk back up, giggling.

With the nudge, the girl happily took that as the sign to get moving, trying to walk slowly for the sake of Dave.

Dave’s eyes had lit up when she had spoke, although his eyes were hidden from view by his shades. He nodded encouragingly as she responded. He tilted his head in a “good!” manner when she had responded verbally, impressed. The sound of her giggling surprised him, and he was suddenly very self conscious for a few moments, before he realized she wasn’t laughing at him, but in satisfaction with her own speech. Good for her. He went to raise his hands to sign, but he guessed she would not let him, so in the middle of beginning to sign a word, he lowered his hands. He walked slowly behind her, trying to not make it look obvious he was struggling to even stand, and he secretly appreciated the kind gesture of her walking slowly so he wouldn’t fall behind.

He shrugs when she asks why she shouldn’t help him, and he opens his mouth to speak, again over emphasizing the words visually and going slow with his speech speed.

“I mean, I’m an alien that could be a danger to you or somethin’. You could’ve just left me there. I could be poisonous or freaky, or just a plain dick and try to hurt you..”

He trails off, but he quickly begins speaking again.

“..but I wouldn’t.”

He he tilts his head.

“I’m not like that. I’d never hurt anyone unless they deserve it.”

Oh, was today going quite well thus far.

On a place certainly much different from Alternia stood a feline-like troll, a few stray strands falling into her face with the slight breeze that had picked up some time ago. It wasn’t anything that bothered her terribly however, with a small giggle escaping her as she reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear— the sound of her own quiet laugh being unheard to her in the process. It was something she had grown rather used to as time had gone on, with adapting to the usage of sign language usually.. that, and reading lips or merely texting often were other options she could easily use alongside her voice, if she truly wished to. Though, the former was certainly much more awkward for her, with how strange it felt to have the rumble of vocalization in her throat without hearing the words that went with it.

Quite quickly shaking off the thoughts, she let her eyes shift to the moons above, blinking a few times. She had only just separated from her friends, if only to get the tiniest breather in before returning. She had been having quite the splendid day, really! Especially with being able to spend some level of time with both Kurloz and Horuss. Few arguments had broken out as well, and god knew how rare of a thing that was. All in all? Things were going almost strangely well, with the friendly communication between herself and her friends. (Not that she herself was one to engage in negative speech, of course.)

This most certainly wasn’t Earth.

David (Dave) Strider, famed actor and director, was looking at the sky, which had one more moon than he was used to. He had stuck to the shadows for the majority of the day, keeping his head low, passing in alleys, watching as weird creatures with horns, grey skin, and different blood colors talked to each other joyfully. They were like the batterwitch, but they’re more docile. Maybe this is her planet? But he’s heard stories about Alternia, cutthroat and unforgiving.. but this place wasn’t that. It was the opposite of that, actually. Everyone here was so kind to each other and treated each other with respect, which he found to be a welcome surprise. Now, he found himself alone, staring at the two moons in the sky. He steps out from the shadows of two trees and stretches, arms reaching high above his head.

His normally pristine suit he usually wears to a showing of his movies is anything but, torn in some places and his dress shirt’s top button has been lost to today’s escapades. Dirt caked his ankles and his dress shoes have been long since discarded for his spare set of sneakers he always carried on him for emergencies. He feels out of his element honestly, and he isn’t usually shaken this badly, but being zapped to another planet in the middle of his (supposed) death might be a blessing in disguise. He always runs out of Time, either that be in being late for breakfast or being too slow to counter a lethal blow, but his own sense of his own time is usually enough to counter it. Not this time, though. He shakes his head then spits on the ground next to him, a wad of bubblegum landing on the dirt. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, and freezes. He just stepped into the line of sight of a troll, how had he not noticed? He must look like some sort of mutant to them. He moves his hands forward, trying to make a nonthreatening gesture.

“Hey kid, I’m not lookin’ for trouble. Just pretend you haven’t even seen me, that’d be for the best.”

Safe to say, Meulin took a moment longer to fully notice the stranger in her line of sight, with her eyes remaining on the two moons for just a second or so more. Alas, when spotting the human? She blinked a few times, clear puzzlement written across her features. Generally, if she were to have her hearing.. well, she would’ve heard the man approaching quite easily. With being down to only four of the five main senses however, she was truly at a bit of a disadvantage for taking notice of any strange figures. She almost could’ve thought it was even one of her own friends at first, if not for the near sickly color of the stranger. The mere sight had her making a face, brows furrowing. Was this odd ‘troll’ okay? It didn’t seem so, all things considered.

There was a pause from the girl momentarily before she raised her hand to begin signing, promptly after he had spoken, the poor girl only able to pick up bits and pieces of what he had said. Lip reading never had been a great strong suite of hers, with her much preferring texting or the usual way of sign language. Only hoping that they’d happen to understand, she continued with the signing, keeping it rather simple. “I can’t hear you. Are you okay?”

The girl held a concerned look whilst signing the particular words, tail swishing back and forth as she tilted her head to the side. The troll held quite the feline-like characteristics, even her horns resembling something akin to cat ears. Not to mention, her slightly olive-green tinted pupils were constricted ever so slightly, yet another resemblance to a potential feline counterpart.

Dave startles at the realization that the troll in front of him is deaf, but quickly recovers, attempting to scratch his mind for sign language training he had when he was younger. He shifts on his feet, and shakes his hands out, readying himself. He understands what she’s saying, but he struggles to make the signs with his own hands. He nods to her and says the letters along with the signs he does, pronouncing and emphasizing the letters, his mouth over-exaggerating every syllable.

“D-a-v-e S-t-r-i-d-e-r.”

He slowly spells out his name in what he hopes to be correct sign language, long pauses between letters as he tries to recall the next letter. He moves closer to her, his blond hair reflecting off the light of the moons. He exhales, and decides to just sign from now on, that’ll be easier.

“Sorry. Hands aren’t good. I am Alien. From Earth. Lost.”

He pauses, clearing his throat, peering at her face. She seems trustful enough.

“Troll?”

He gestures to her after saying and signing the last word.

“Are trolls here bad? My planet..”

He trails off, trying to remember the right word. He settles for something simple, looking at her through his sunglasses, his signs slow and full of finality.

“Planet killed by a troll.”

His hands throb from the complex movements his hands are making, he just had to fight for his life with a sword earlier today, and he’s admittedly very exhausted. He sighs, his shoulders slumping.

“Hands hurt. War. Revolution.”

He reaches out and exposes his palms, which have blisters and scars on them. He then mimes swinging a sword, trying to get his point across. He notices her feline characteristics after he finishes moving, all of his brain power for the past few minutes or so had been focused on signing and forming words, and he hadn’t had much time to really look at her. He can’t help but smirk slightly and bring up his hands to sign one word.

“Cat?”

He nods to her tail, then brings both his index fingers up to each side of his head and points them upward, trying to create the image of having horns. He tilts his head at her for a few seconds, then he remembers something. He scrambles to sign again, his fingers twitch slightly in the effort of trying to get the words across quickly.

“Don’t tell! Don’t tell others me. Danger.”

He struggles to sign the words with his injured hands. He might’ve skipped a word or two..

“Hands hurt bad.”

He shakes out his hands once again, wincing as he does so. He gingerly strokes his right palm as he feels an old scar ache. He looks apologetically to the troll in front of him. He shrugs, and finally answers her question.

Meulin watched as the strange supposed troll shook his hands out, brows furrowing in puzzlement. She was still trying to wrap her head around why they looked so strange, but alas, to no avail. Perhaps Kankri would happen to know? Or.. no— maybe she’d only get a scolding on how calling another ‘weird’ could happen to be triggering for the individual. Really, though? It was something she had grown all too used to, considering how often the particular troll happened to jump in on conversations.

Her thoughts were quickly cut off by the sight of the other beginning to sign however, taking in the sight of the individual letters signed. Dave Strider? Was that the stranger’s name? Giving a small smile, she went to give a signing of her own name, albeit much quicker than his own signing. “Meulin Leijon!” Oh, was she grateful for the odd looking troll to be able to understand her sign language. It made things much, much easier, after all.

Tilting her head curiously, she watched as he approached, making a face when taking in what he had signed. An alien? From Earth? Well, that was most certainly strange… stranger than most things she encountered on a daily basis, for that matter. Gaze flickering to his hands as she watched him sign, she frowned upon hearing that they seemingly hurt. They just look like they hurt, with the visibly injuries on them — both old and new. “Everyone is nice! For the most part, at least.” She soon signed, huffing out a breath.

Cracking a grin of her own with the gestures made alongside the single-word question, she gave a joking show of her teeth. “Yes! Cat!” She signed, giggling a bit with the given words. She most certainly was feline-like, and goodness knew she was prideful of it.

Alas, her small bout of amusement was quick to falter when seeing the next signed words, concern falling across her expression yet again as she kept her eyes on him. “I won’t tell.” She tried to assure, tail beginning to droop. “Promise.” It was a tempting thought, sure, but she wasn’t at all about to do such a thing to this poor alien. Best to not lose any sort of possible trust, after all.

Meulin..what a peculiar name. It sounded like.. He raises his hands to sign again. This girl was certainly very eager to help, but he would be a fool to not feel a sense of suspicion, especially with all that he’s been through today, he’s in unfamiliar territory. An unfamiliar planet, even. He feels a blister become irritated with his rapid hand movements, but he carries on.

“Meulin? M-e-w? Cat?”

He chuckles, smiling. He eagerly watches her sign her responses, and his face momentarily lights up when she conveys that everyone is nice on the most part, but he quickly rushes to make his face neutral again. God, he wishes that Rose was here, she’d be better at talking to people. She’s always better than him with conversations, he tends to ramble..but in this case, he can’t really. His hands can’t take it.

“Keep promise.”

He gives her a tilt of his head, and ponders for a moment at her question. How could she help? She could maybe give him some insight on how this planet works, and if Her Imperious Bitchness is in power. Maybe he went back in time? If so, that’s new to him, and he probably went back at the best time, a moment before he was about to be killed. He starts to sign.

“Tell me-.”

He exhales as a blister pops and a scratch reopens, a drop of red blood forming on the palm of his hand. He stops signing, partially in pain, but he’s admittedly a bit overwhelmed. Fuck, she can sign so fast, he can’t keep up. He barely stops himself from pulling back when she grabs his hand, instead letting her examine his injuries. He bites his tongue, maybe his questions can wait, his hands do hurt, maybe she can help? He attempts to sign with his free hand, letter by letter.

“H-e-l-p.”

He’s never had anyone but himself take care of his battle injuries before, it feels so..wrong. It’s a side of him that’s been extremely personal, that shows the depth of the pain he’s in. He sighs, he needs to trust someone right now, he can’t survive on this planet alone. He’s taking a leap of faith, but where would he be by not taking risks? Probably still making those comics in his shitty apartment, not being a movie star and a revolutionary against a galactic conquerer. He frowns slightly, and begrudgingly signs a new word with his free hand.

The sight of the words signed was enough to have the girl giving a breathless sort of laugh, cupping one hand over her mouth for a split second. He certainly wasn’t wrong, she knew, the troll’s expression showing clear amusement as she flashed a sharp toothed grin in his direction. “Meulin.” She repeated, this time however attempting for a verbal response.. even if it was deaf to her own ears. She had said it hundreds of time before going deaf however, and so? She most certainly wasn’t unfamiliar with the words, even if being unable to hear herself.

Brows knitting together in further concern however as he went on, and when seeing the singular letters signed out to form one word? She let out a breath, examining his hand for a moment longer before shifting her hands to his forearms. Attempting to be gentle, the girl tried to ease him down to the ground, quite relieved for the grass underneath them. Best to have this than to have pavement or something of the sort, after all.

“It’ll be okay.” She tried to assure, having to pull her hands away from him in order to sign. “How bad does it hurt? I can take you to my hive. There’s bandages there!” That, and it would certainly be safer there than out here, in the midst of the public- where prying eyes could easily see them if they wished to.

His eyes widened beneath his shades when she said her name, she said it perfectly too. Maybe she wasn’t born deaf? The thought saddened him, however, what horrible thing happened to her to cause her to go deaf? He shakes the thought off as he feels her try to lead him to sit on the ground, and he lets her. He feels his knees almost give out, and is suddenly aware how tired he is.

“Hurts, but more exhausted. Had to fight hard.”

The fight couldn’t have lasted for more than five minutes, but every second he was parrying, running, attacking, dodging.. it had ended when he was disarmed. He saw his own sword being levitated towards his chest, and he remembers every heartbeat in those few seconds. He reaches up with his free hand to touch where it would’ve delivered the fatal blow..and he feels a hole in his shirt. He pales, and traces his index finger over it. It had gotten that close to killing him. He takes in a shaky breath. He’s alive now, that’s all that matters. He looks up to Meulin.

“Yes. Take me there, please. Out of public.”

Happy to see the human cooperating, she gave a smile. Better for this to happen than for him to be stubborn and refuse, after all. Goodness knew she wasn’t too keen on dealing with that sort of thing at the end of the day, seeing as all she wanted to do was help. She didn’t exactly wish to cause further harm by him resisting, either. Expression growing further sympathetic at the next signed words, she let out a breath.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make it stop hurting, okay?” She was doing her best to be reassuring as possible, maintaining that same smile of hers as her tail flicked back and forth. Oh, did she hold quite the amount of pity for the strange blonde, especially with how exhausted he seemed to be. She couldn’t blame him either, if what he had said about fighting was true.

“Who did you fight? Actually, that can wait. Let’s just get going, ok?” She signed out, pleased to see the decision made. She preferred her hive, really, but that was partially due to it being the comfort of her own home— quite literally.

Reaching out to place her hands over his gently next, she shook her head, an attempted gesture to get him to stop signing for now even if her own signed words could be answered. Best to not have him hurting himself further, she thought.

He goes to sign again, but feels her hands lower his, and he (begrudgingly) lets it happen. He needs someone to trust, and she seems like one of the trustworthy bunch. Then again, he doesn’t have much of an option. Soft. Her hands were soft. At least, compared to his. This girl isn’t like him, battle hardened and weary from war. He mouths “thank you” to Meulin, trying to mouth each letter slowly. He looks slightly silly while doing so. He lets himself be brought to his feet, and feels himself blush in embarrassment as his knees wobble. God, everything hurts.

He’s now so aware on how much his body aches. He’s been moving off of adrenaline and survival instinct alone, and now that he’s taken a break, he realizes how much of a toll the battle took on his body..but that ache might be also due to him getting older. Twenty six years young and he’s in pain. That might be pretty bad, but he’s here for a good time, not a long time. He takes a few deep breaths as he steadies, looking away from Meulin, ashamed at his current state. He nudges her, and gestures forward, wanting her to lead him to wherever her house is.

“Y’know, I feel like shit putting my life in the hands of you. You’re just a kid. You don’t deserve this. You don’t know me, why are you trying to help me?”

Meulin had found herself taking notice as to just how.. worn his hands felt- roughed up, and clearly in no good condition. Then again, this man in general hardly seemed to be in any good condition. He seemed quite roughed up, in truth. That much could only be expected from someone who claimed to have just come from a raging fight however, the mere thought having the feline-like troll grimacing. He was safe here at least, she would make sure of that much. Her hive was a good place for him to go at the very least, especially seeing as she knew her lusus wouldn’t be making any hostile moves towards the man. Not if she had any say in the matter, that is.

She offered a toothy grin when reading the words he had said however, quite thankful for her more well honed ability to read lips. If only to help with the ease of conversation, she went to speak up slowly, just hoping that she was pronouncing things properly after such a lack of speech on her part. “You’re.. welcome.” The words came out a tiny bit slurred, her brows furrowing in concentration as she spoke. But, in thinking that she did well enough? She was quick to perk back up, giggling.

With the nudge, the girl happily took that as the sign to get moving, trying to walk slowly for the sake of Dave.

Dave’s eyes had lit up when she had spoke, although his eyes were hidden from view by his shades. He nodded encouragingly as she responded. He tilted his head in a “good!” manner when she had responded verbally, impressed. The sound of her giggling surprised him, and he was suddenly very self conscious for a few moments, before he realized she wasn’t laughing at him, but in satisfaction with her own speech. Good for her. He went to raise his hands to sign, but he guessed she would not let him, so in the middle of beginning to sign a word, he lowered his hands. He walked slowly behind her, trying to not make it look obvious he was struggling to even stand, and he secretly appreciated the kind gesture of her walking slowly so he wouldn’t fall behind.

He shrugs when she asks why she shouldn’t help him, and he opens his mouth to speak, again over emphasizing the words visually and going slow with his speech speed.

“I mean, I’m an alien that could be a danger to you or somethin’. You could’ve just left me there. I could be poisonous or freaky, or just a plain dick and try to hurt you..”

He trails off, but he quickly begins speaking again.

“..but I wouldn’t.”

He he tilts his head.

“I’m not like that. I’d never hurt anyone unless they deserve it.”