video // open (CW: blood, bartering for blood possibly)

[unphase]

[the video opens on Tinya sitting primly in an low backed armchair, Moonlight on her lap with Polly and Smudge playing at her feet. her expression is a pleasant one, though she was dreading the reactions to what she had to say.

but best get right to the point]

I've heard of batcats and that the only way to tame them is to feed them bowls of blood. Unfortunately for me, my blood turns solid when I try that method. So, I was wondering if anyone else would be willing to volunteer? I've found some very pretty geodes that would be good for bartering purposes. Any volunteers would get at least one.

[and a slightly awkward shrug and a smile]

What can I say, I love cats.

((OOC: please be advised to not use harm to cats in responses. thanks!))

Comments

[unphase]

Really? You'd do that for me? Thank you!

[neither is she, she only realized that her blood solidified after trying to get some for a batcat.

a little cautiously]

...sure. As long as he or she is okay with it.

[theindependent]

Oh, it's really not that much to spare.

[He wouldn't push an encounter with an unwilling batcat the same way he would an athlete or coach who didn't want to talk to him back home, but he's always been the sort of person that cats like, and he'd hope it would translate.]

What are they like, the batcats?

[The name sounds self-explanatory, but Trent doesn't like to make assumptions.]

[unphase]

I guess. It's just that blood here seems even more important than money. [a brief chuckle] Not that we have money here.

[she worries because she knows that the various supernatural animals here have some measure of power, even not taking Omens like her Moonlight into account. she's still amazed that this place allowed Smudge and Polly in, but there they were. waiting for her at the beach]

I've seen them sitting on rooftops. One I watched for an evening on and off and the batcat didn't move. I've heard that they're protective, too.

[and that was a big part of the draw. she knew she could summon fire, lightning too, but she still had yet to access her inborn power]

[theindependent]

I take your point, but at the same time, think how useless a blood-based economy would be when we replenish it so fast.

[The writer in him is coming up with all kind of half-formed metaphors about blood from stones and the irony of inflation caused by bleeding people dry, et cetera. He ignores them.]

So they're...like gargoyles, then? Sentient gargoyles?

[unphase]

I know, it's simply a--a comparison. Goodness knows this place doesn't seem to have many of those. It's utterly unlike any world or economy I've ever known, not even as serving as as assistant to my planet's ambassador to the United Planets. [wryly] Or as the daughter to the President of the United Galaxies.

[Winema Wazzo, may she rot in the Void]

Pretty much? Softer, sweeter, and cuter than any gargoyle, sure, but that's probably the best comparison.

[theindependent]

...That's an impressive resume.

[Coming from the guy whose world doesn't even have space travel, let alone evidence of extraterrestrial life, and who deeply wishes it did.]

I've got no basis for comparison at all, except science fiction.

[unphase]

Thank you. On my planet, our foremothers have been serving as diplomats and politicians for as long back as we can trace our line.

[and it was exhausting, trying to live up to her ancestry]

Really? Is there anything in particular you'd like to know?

[theindependent]

[Is there ever. Some of the questions that spring to mind, like oh wow so is your entire culture matriarchal then, seem a bit too obvious, and others would be too esoteric, but he'll go for the basics.]

My planet can't even get all of its countries represented by a single entity. How many galaxies does your mother govern?

[unphase]

[she doesn't mind talking about her culture much. even though it generally reminded her of how she not only didn't fit in, she chose to not fit in further]

Two. One is the standard galaxy where Terra, Bgztl, Titan, Braal, Cargg, and Colu are in. The other is one my teammates found sort of by accident but now is linked to ours by a stable rift between the two.

[theindependent]

[That neatly answers the other question on the tip of his tongue, about which other planets constituted the United Planets and whether Earth--or something like Earth--was one of them.]

I was going to ask how you managed to travel between the two. Who are your teammates, exactly, to be doing that sort of exploring? Is this something different from your job as the ambassador's assistant?

[unphase]

[the United Planets was still fairly young when Tinya left the diplomatic corps]

I'm on a team called the Legion. We deal with intergalactic threats that the Science Police and the military can't handle. All of us have our own separate powers. I kind of quit my old job in the most dramatic way possible.

[theindependent]

Really? That's fun. So did I. Though I'm sure adding powers and intergalactic threats to the menu allows for a level of drama I can't even imagine.

[All Trent did was get himself fired from a newspaper.]

(CW: terrorists, terrorist acts)

[unphase]

It's the best! Though, yeah, sometimes I call us the Legion of Hormonal Teenagers. Most of us are eighteen or nineteen now, but most of us started at around fifteen. And the team is so dramatic when it wants to be.

[she found a bomb in time to make sure no one was hurt and chased after terrorists]

[theindependent]

[Once again, Trent is reminded that he could pretty much be the dad of this entire town. It is what it is. He sounds amused.]

That's got to make for great headlines. What exactly is your power?

[unphase]

[and she's thrilled that she's no longer the "baby," thus encouraged to find her own way]

Oh, it does. The holovid personalities have a field day every time one of us is spotted eating lunch with another, regardless of our relationship status or preferences. And I used to be able to turn intangible. I haven't been able to since I arrived here.

[theindependent]

Some things really are as universal as it gets, aren't they.

[Trent feels perfectly comfortable judging the intergalactic paparazzi here, even though his detractors like to tell him he's part of the same media machine doing the same exact thing. He maintains that they are stupid and wrong.]

But that is a shame about the ability. It's something to do with the blood stuff, I've heard. On that note, when would you like to come collect? I'll hydrate beforehand.

[unphase]

It does seem that way, yeah.

[the paparazzi didn't help with her marriage. every time she did anything with her friend, Brin, the holovid personalities speculated about whether or not they were friends or ~~friends~~]

Mm-hmm. And I have gained powers I didn't have back home. I can generate fire and lightning and that's a little exciting? And a little scary. And I can be at your place in two hours. That's enough time for you, right?