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They've left him alone in his cell.
He can't really be said to be lucid but he has very acute instincts for when there's someone and when he's alone - it's the last of his senses to depart him - and he's alone.
And then suddenly he isn't.
kobold and post-Angband Maedhros
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smol panic
They are readable, if not organized into anything even approximating words.
They miss their tribe, they want to go home, they can't - it hurts, it hurts, a deep bruising ache, not just something wrong but everything wrong, nothing ever going to be right again; they're going to die, they know that; they aren't scared of it right now but that's only one way it's awful and all the rest are still there, untouched, a barely-ignorable ball of misery in the pit of their stomach making them want to curl up in a ball and never move again.
They're not going to curl up in a ball and ever move again, though. They want to live. But the temptation...
The other kobold is a mystery and a touchstone: it's possible to live, here; they're doing it. They don't know how, or if they'll be able to do the same - speaker and mage and healer, really? how, why... - but - there's hope there, and comfort; they want them to be okay, and that's not the same as having their tribe (their tribe, their tribe), but it's something.
And now a new person. The other kobold invited them, and this one trusts them - well, they'd have trouble not doing that, right now, but, trusted them when they ate the plant, trusted them when they came back - this might kill them (just an observation, not scary to think about right now) but they at least trust that it'll be better than what would have happened otherwise, so, here they are. They had an impulse to greet them, and that's weird, why does that keep happening, they hope it stops - but it passed, and now they're not doing much of anything - waiting to see if they're going to panic, probably, but they're not; this is by any reasonable standard terribly dangerous, but they don't feel it, they can wait calmly and see what happens.
Shouldn't use osanwë, they experience it as impulses to do the thing we are sending. I think.
She sits down on the floor.
lurkingkobold
That'd explain the panic. Okay.
Tirinquo looks from the Quendi to the other kobold, unsure what's expected of them. She pats their hand reassuringly and slips off the bed to sit at the Quendi's feet - you can pet me, it'll probably help.
Tirinquo is conflicted, but stays put for now.
lurkingkobold
She leans into it and closes her eyes. After a couple minutes, though, she opens them to check on Tirinquo and gives a questioning chirp.
smol panic
That sure is some singing.
Tirinquo joins them on the floor; the other kobold scoots over to make room.
smol panic
Tirinquo does too.
They're briefly tempted to try to get the Quendi to pet them; after a moment's indecision, they snuggle up to the other kobold again instead.
lurkingkobold
I think this is about as much progress as we're going to make today, the kobold reports after a little while. Thanks for your help.
lurkingkobold
They go cuddle on the bed for a little while, and then the original does some spellcasting work - the Quendi have been bringing things to a nearby storage room for her to enspell when she has time, and there's quite a backlog.
And then the stress-plant starts to wear off, a few hours later, and it's pretty obvious; Tirinquo moans and curls up again and trembles, and she stops working and goes to hold them.
Fifteen minutes later, they've calmed down enough that they're just clinging quietly to her, and she osanwës Maitimo. Busy?
lurkingkobold
About as well as it could've. They took the plant; it helped a lot - they were still nervous about some things but calm enough that they could handle it. They still wanted me around for reassurance, but I'd've been kind of worried if they didn't, really. The one thing that didn't go so well was the osanwë, it seems like they can't tell osanwë'd thoughts from their own; we might be able to figure out how to explain it, but I haven't figured out how yet.
