a welcome;

[mallowmods]

Who: Everyone and everyone!
What: Welcoming in the new members to Mallow Hallow
Where: Everywhere!
When: March 2nd.

[ Once everyone’s settled in their particular districts, no doubt thousands of questions running between each individual mind, there’s an announcement. Not over the devices, but rather in speakers all over each and every district. A familiar voice should ring out—you did, after all, hear the voice of your Queen earlier today. ]

Ahem! Can you hear me? Ah, right then.

Hello loveies! You might recall this particular visage which speaks before you—that is, I am your Queen. Call me Queenie, if you must! I’ve met you all on this particular day, and I find it important to bestow some of my boundless knowledge onto you, sweethearts.

Now! Done with formalities, let’s see where we stand… ah, yes! Might I be the first to welcome you all to Mallow Hallow, our wonderful little country. Not too big, not quite too small either! It’s just lovely, isn’t it? Oh, how all my new babies will love it here! Or—perhaps not. [ She clicks her tongue. ] Either way, it doesn't really matter. You're stuck here for the time, so do try to make the most of it, dears.

Of course, there are our sectors within Mallow Hallow. Six… [ There’s silence for a short moment. ] Yes, there are six, aren’t there..? Well, six different communities you might stem off from! Surely you remember the name from our meeting earlier? If not, I’m sure one of the regular inhabitants of each particular district will assist you in naming your new home!

Live where you’d like, eat what you’d like, do what you’d like! Our homes are now your homes, so please, consider us all a big happy family to you! Remember you can reach me or any of the other rulers of any of the districts, over at our voicemails! [ Somehow, that seems sarcastic… ]

Also, don’t cause any trouble, or I’ll personally end you. [ There it is. ]

I suppose that's all. Well then, bye now, dears! And let the word spread—Mallow Hallow is up and rising once again!

[ ooc: Quick links: Lochwell | Mallowhallow | Orlea | Astralfield | Crystalden | Highcrest | Whitewood | Network ]

Comments

Open!

[whoshotsherlock]

[A single gunshot had rung out through the empty, darkened Las Vegas park. Greg only vaguely remembered screaming out Morgan's name before turning and bolting in the direction he had heard it come from, two cops following closely behind.

After that though... he couldn't remember much. It had been like stepping through a doorway that hadn't been there before - one minute pounding the damp dirt trying to find where his friend and coworker was, the next in some strange land with a self-proclaimed Queen gibbering at him over a device that looked like a cell phone, but didn't work quite like the ones he was used to.

It was more than a little upsetting (and irritating, the way she was being so damn cheerful), especially since he was left worrying about Morgan. Who had fired? There had only been one... but one could mean so many things, and a mind trained to puzzle over every possibility in a crime scene was also really damn good at imagining every worst case scenario possible. In very gory, vivid detail at that.

He scowled at the phone silently. He needed to find a way back, to make sure Morgan was okay, but the woman talking had made it pretty damn clear that wasn't going to be an option. At least not currently.

But what the hell else was he supposed to do?

A sigh made the scowl turn in to something closer to an uncomfortable frown, and he tucked it away in his pocket and started walking. He didn't know where he was going, but it wasn't like he was going to accomplish anything by just standing around.]

[allseeingtongue]

[Terezi had been exploring for some time. She was getting tired of walking. She paused right where she was, in the middle of the sidewalk. All of five foot, and some inches, the slender grey-skinned troll girl stood perfectly still for a moment, sniffing the air around her. The dragon-headed red-and-white cane clutched in claw-tipped hands was planted firmly on the ground, for now. Her burnt-out-red eyes stared blindly from behind her red glasses, and as she turned her head this way and that, her pointed ears twitched. She was wearing all black, save for the Libra zodiac symbol on her shirt - teal - and her sneakers - bright cherry red.]

Such a strange place this is! It smell of injustice.

[She grins, and black lips frame a cheerful piranha grin - a mouth full of sharp pointed fangs. She scratched behind one of her horns: slim and tapered and coloured like candy corn. Then abruptly, she turns into the crowd again, swinging her stick wide to clear herself a path.]

[She has absolutely no qualms about hitting people in the shins, after all!]

[whoshotsherlock]

Whoa, hey!

[It wasn't quite a hit, but the stick did graze Greg's legs before he managed to jump out of the way of it, hands in the air.

Looking at the owner of said stick did give him pause for a second, but his mind quickly reasoned "costume" before he resumed making a big deal over nearly getting whacked.]

Watch where you're goin' with that thing wouldya!

[allseeingtongue]

[Terezi's head swings around at the shout, and she stops and grins brightly at the...she sniffs. Human! There are so many of these around! She hasn't found any trolls yet at all! Very unusual for a dream bubble. She taps her stick until she finds a shoe.]

You're the one getting in the way of a blind girl! Surely it is you who must watch out, as I cannot see.

[She scents after him, lips parted as she breathes, air whistling over her sharp fangs. Hmm, very interesting! He smells faintly of chemicals and glass, of gunpowder and hot dry sand.]

[whoshotsherlock]

[Blind? Oops. Well now he feels like an ass. But seriously, blind or not, what is up with this girl? Those are some pretty wicked looking teeth, and whatever the costume is supposed to be she seems pretty dedicated to it.]

... sorry.

[Wow that sounded really lame, but it's not like anything else he could think of to say isn't going to be less so.]

Permission for Terezi to lick him?

[allseeingtongue]

Apology accepted.

[Terezi pokes the shoe again, then leans on her cane, snuffling. In the interest of interspecies partnerships, she should be generous. A guide through the busy place might be helpful. She is getting very tired of shoving her way through crowds.]

I think we should help one another. I think having someone taller who can see where he's going will be very useful!

[She grins - unfortunately for Terezi, all her grins look just the same. Shades of manic crazy tinged with gleeful malice. It's the teeth.]

ohgod yes do it xD /dying already

[whoshotsherlock]

[Greg's already slightly quirked eyebrow went up even higher. Taller? She could easily be guessing, but it was still weird to hear some one who had just declared themselves to be blind also claiming to know there was a noticeable height difference between the two of them.

And that damn grin was just unnerving as hell...

But Greg was a lot of things, and outright rude wasn't one of them. And generally suspicious wasn't usually either but right then he couldn't help but embrace the feeling of it creeping up on him.]

... yeah, okay, I'll give you that. But if we're helping one another, what am I supposed to be getting out of it?

XD Excellent!

[allseeingtongue]

You will have helped me and I will remember that! It is possible you will need someone prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law someday, and I will be happy to provide!

[Terezi had always hoped to be a legislacerator someday. As an Alternian lawyer, she would chase down evildoers and perform her own executions! This was a perfect way to practice it. She cackled a laugh, wickedly cheerful, and reached out a clawed hand. Hmm, sleeve, frail human hand with thin pink skin. Terezi's own hand was far cooler, her grey skin tough and faintly leathery. She gripped with a great care for her yellowed claws: she knew human skin was very fragile!]

My name is Terezi! What is yours, human?

[Terezi steps closer, pulls Greg's captive hand up to face level, and gives the back of his hand a good lick. Her tongue is narrow and pointed and grey, oddly dry and faintly raspy like a cat's tongue.]

Bluh, you taste beige, how boring!

I'm sad I don't have his good screaming icon available currently

[whoshotsherlock]

I guess that-- ... w-wait a second how did you kn--

[NOPE. Whatever Greg was going to ask was immediately cut off by the fact that he had his hand grabbed without any sort of warning. It was in those very quick seconds that his mind actually connected a few very disturbing facts:

Her skin was definitely not covered in make up.

That was most definitely not a normal skin temperature.

And those claws were most definitely, absolutely real.

But it was the second after that, in which he realized his hand was being licked, that brought all of these facts together in to one frightening realization.

This person was not human.

Greg didn't usually scream, as his line of work put him in plenty of dangerous and startling situations that he'd grown a bit immune to surprise, but he couldn't exactly silence the yelp-like noise that came out after all that.

He jerked his hand away roughly and went stumbling back several feet, staring at Terezi with wide, terrified eyes, and the only thing he could muster verbally after that was a shrill cry of]

WHAT THE HELL?!

[allseeingtongue]

You humans are so flighty.

[Terezi hoped she hadn't scratched him. He'd pulled away very fast! She pouted a little. She scented again - lemon-sharp tang of fear. She sneezed. That always tickled the sinuses, and quite pleasantly.]

Dave did tell me most humans consider licking people rude! But it's part of how I see! I was only trying to get a better look at you, Mister Sandy Beige.

[whoshotsherlock]

Y... yeah well... I've been bitten before so forgive me for bein' a little freaked out!

[Granted there was far more to it than that, but having an insane woman think you're a lizard man and chomp down on your hand hard enough to break skin is reason enough to be weary of letting some one with those teeth get close to your digits again.

But he was afraid, yes. Crazy humans were one thing, but this along with being pulled to Mallow Hallow in the first place was a little much, especially all in one day.

His voice was tense, higher than it should have been, and the way he was holding his hand he might as well have gotten chomped on.]

What are you... ?

[allseeingtongue]

I am a troll! And I would not bite you, that would be very rude of me! And very improper, as we are in public.

[Terezi grins. Not that she would expect a human to realize she was only half-joking on that last. Hate bites between kismesis were not unheard of. But he is still afraid of her! This will not do at all!]

Do not worry. I am very open to the idea of alien friendships! Humans are very interesting anyway.

[whoshotsherlock]

A... troll.

[Well, at least his voice evened out, even if what he just mumbled came out as flat and disbelieving as possible. Part of his brain was stuck in a chant of 'this is not real this is not happening', but the rest of him was more willing to accept it if only because he was also standing in a city in a world not his own right then.

It didn't make the encounter any less strange and unsettling, though. Nice or not, she'd still licked him, and she was still grinning with those damn sharp teeth and an expression that would make even the most cruel gang banger or mobster think twice.

Greg made a face, but after a long pause he finally relented to whatever his fate here was going to be, rubbing the back of his hand off on his vest.]

... it's Greg. Greg Sanders. And if you're blind just how did you know I'm in law enforcement?

[Forensics, technically, but in Vegas there wasn't nearly as much distinction as there was in other places.]

[allseeingtongue]

[He was? How fortunate! Terezi cackled, a bright wild sound.]

You taste of justice! And as I told you, I can see through my other senses! Taste and smell, of course.

[She leans in again, not moving her feet, for another sniff. From what Dave has told her, she knows human legalities are not like troll's; for one there's a lot less conviction on cause of suspicion. The rules are all confusing, too. But anyone who is in such a position will no doubt be very useful and possess helpful skills!]

Those of us who uphold justice must stick together, Greg.

[She nods emphatically, her expression briefly serious, before she smiles again.]

[whoshotsherlock]

Taste of-- ... god this is like a bad trip...

[He couldn't help but mutter under his breath about that, rubbing a hand against his forehead. He had already convinced himself he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating the city, but this was making him question it all over again.]

So what does that make you... Terezi, was it?

Legislator + Lacerate = Lawyer/Bounty Hunter/Invesitgator

[allseeingtongue]

I am a legislacerator!

[Well, she did want to be one, and she FLARPed as one, her ancestor. But as Alternia and that universe is destroyed, well, she might as well be one. Besides, who else will uphold justice? She grins at him.]

I do believe Dave told me the human equivalent is a lawyer. Though they sound more boring and not exactly the same!

[Apparently lawyers are not allowed to hold hangings without a trial, even in the face of overwhelming evidence! This is indeed very boring.]

That helps xD

[whoshotsherlock]

[After so much freaking out and generally being uneasy, that actually earned a faint sputter of a laugh and a smirk. None of the lawyers he knew could really be considered "boring", but from his view of things they were also the ones always trying to make all his hard earned work in to a whole lot of useless nothing.]

Careful, if a lawyer hears you they might get you for slander.

[allseeingtongue]

They will not get me. I am Justice.

[Terezi smiles brightly. He is no longer quite so afraid! The smell has faded into the usual human blend of scents. She likes this.]

Besides, I am an alien! I do not believe your race has any precedent for bringing charges against other species.

[whoshotsherlock]

[This was weirder than a bad trip. This was like being trapped in some fictional show, a scifi or an anime or something like that. Actually hearing some one that was living and breathing right in front of him say "I am Justice"... in Vegas, that would have gotten her committed. Here, though?

Well she was right, she was an alien.]

Yeah, you're right. We don't. Probably not unless they attack us or something cliche like that. Worst they can do to you is drag you to Area 51.

[Which didn't actually exist, not in the way most conspiracy theorists imagined it to. But the United States Government did have a pretty strong presence in Nevada.]

[allseeingtongue]

I must confess I do not understand this 'area 51'. Dave has referenced that before but he has refused to explain it. He says it's too complicated.

[Terezi shrugs. There are many things about human culture that she finds complicated and confusing! But they are aliens, after all. She leans on her staff, tilting her head to track a random conversation through the crowd, before turning her face back to Greg.]

[whoshotsherlock]

Heh, I was joking anyway. It's not real, not like people imagine it to be. It's just a bunch of hoaxes and conspiracy theories, but a lot of it revolves around aliens and "other things the government doesn't want to let out" [Yes, he actually used air quotes here, even if she couldn't see them.] and common thought is that it's all in a secret base located in Nevada.

[allseeingtongue]

Nevada.

[Terezi pronounces this thoughtfully. It must be a human place name. She shrugs, and moves slightly closer to Greg, testing.]

Conspiracies are delicious morsels of mystery. Very tricky to prove in court!

[whoshotsherlock]

[There's a very brief, short moment where he does tense up when she moves closer, but he relaxes not long after. His hands do fidget some, though, eventually settling in to pushing the windbreaker that's tied around his waist back and stuffing his hands in his pockets.]

Even trickier if the government doesn't want you knowing anything about them.

... Nevada is a state, by the way. It's where I live.

[allseeingtongue]

Trickier and possibly fatal! At least it was back in Alternia.

[Terezi notes the tension, the relaxation. She idly pokes at her game-granted Seer powers, and finds in future outcomes that chances of violence are slim here. Very well. She turns her attention back to Greg and smiles at him. Boring beige he may be, but he is with the law and Terezi likes that.]

Dave has tried to tell me about states! It is all very confusing.

[whoshotsherlock]

[He does have a side arm, but unless some one poses an actual threat, Greg has no intention of using it.]

Yeah, I can see why it would be, for some one who's never been to the US. It's a lotta stuff about jurisdiction and who owned what before the government was really formed and borders.

... can't... really say I'd know how to explain it to some one who's never heard of them before, actually! Wow, they don't cover this stuff in school.