thecapitol | Cream, sugar, invasive species questions

Who| Elsa and Kankri
What| Elsa spots Kankri in her favorite coffee place and things happen
Where| A coffee shop in the Capitol
When| Present day
Warnings/Notes| N/A

For a while now, ever since her little meeting with Joel, Elsa's been coming to the same coffee shop almost daily. Each time, she tries something new, whether it's one of the pastries in the display or a new coffee from the menu. It's been an exercise in freedom and getting the hang of being independent- back home, everyone did things for her. They brought her food and the like. Here? She has to do it herself.

In a way, it's really nice.

But that isn't what's on Elsa's mind today. As she's turning away from the counter with her cup of coffee in hand, her eyes land on someone sitting in the shop a few feet away. She's seen a troll by now, of course, but she's never had the chance to talk to any of them one on one.

Either out of curiosity or simple nosiness, she really wants the opportunity to talk to one and ask a few questions. Are they anything like the trolls from back home? They're gray, but they don't seem to be made of rock- and they're taller.

Can they do magic? What are they like?

These are all questions that have been burning in her mind for a while now, but it's only today that she's finally getting up the courage to actually approach one. Well, it's now or never. He doesn't seem particularly busy.

So she takes a step forward, her hands clasped in front of her. She stops once she's close to where he's sitting. "Excuse me?" she asks. "My name is Elsa. Are you busy? I saw you sitting here and I thought you might like company."

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Kankri's still hard at work trying to learn to read, particularly after Karkat found out and started getting on his case about it, acting smug and superior. It's paying off at least a little bit now; he can recognize most of the letters, and he's even managed to figure out some words. It's still slow and frustrating work, though, and the people of the Capitol thinking of him as their new darling hasn't helped his mood one bit.

So when Elsa interrupts him, he scowls at his paper. "Of course I'm busy, does no one here have any respect for- oh." When he looks up he realizes he recognizes her from some of the Arena footage, and an embarrassed flush rises to his cheeks. "My apologies. I've had a lot of attention from the, er, natives, regardless of whether I want it or not, so I thought...please, do sit down, I didn't mean to be so rude."

Hurriedly he stacks up his notes, sticks a bookmark in the current page of his remedial-level book, puts it atop the papers, and stows them all away in his bag. He clears his throat, trying to act collected and as if he didn't just snap at a fellow Tribute who was only trying to be friendly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Elsa. I'm Kankri. I wasn't doing anything I can't continue later."

Elsa's first thoughts when he replies are that she's made a rather large mistake. Are they all irritable like this? She had met Psii and well. He's not the most agreeable sort of guy, all things considered. Is that just a thing with these trolls? Should she give up now before she gets in too deep and really makes him angry?

But then he takes on a completely different tone all of a sudden when he sees her, and she's a little surprised. Pleasantly so, but surprised nonetheless. She lets out a small chuckle to show that she's not put off, giving him a small nod as she sits down across from him.

"It's alright, really," she says, "No harm done. What were you reading?" she asks, a touch of curiosity in her tone. She hadn't had the opportunity to glimpse the book's title before he had stowed it in his bags.

Kankri's cheeks go even more red. "Oh, just...something to help me learn the local language," he mumbles, staring down at the table. "I've never read it before, so." He's still not comfortable with his lack of knowledge there.

He glances up at her again. "So, ah, what brings you here?" Subject change, yes please.

Elsa is starting to realize that Kankri is pretty embarrassed, so she won't pry anymore. "Good luck, then!" she says with a small nod, knitting her fingers together on the table.

"As for your question," she says, trying to think about how best to broach the subject. Maybe if she's just... honest? "Well, I guess to be perfectly honest with you, I've... never talked much with your kind before." It's obvious she's trying to sound delicate and friendly, not wanting to sound like she's put out at all- because she isn't, but she's aware that it could also be a touchy subject, possibly. "And... Well, curiosity has finally gotten the better of me."

Kankri's face lights up perceptibly, though he's obviously trying not to look too eager. He always appreciates meeting people who want to learn more about others. Especially here, where the alternative is people who think they know everything about him because they've seen him televised. It's part of why he's so readily warmed to a lot of the other Tributes even while he quite actively dislikes the humans of the Capitol.

"Well, you certainly don't need to sound so apprehensive," he assures her. "I'm always happy to assist in a genuine pursuit of knowledge. I myself am still learning new things about human culture all the time - or cultures, I should say, since so many people here appear to come from such varied backgrounds. Please feel free to ask whatever you'd like."

If she says anything offensive he can just set her straight, after all.

As he speaks, she can't help but smile at him. It's nice to know that he's so open to questions! She'd been afraid he would be offended. In a world where he's surely the odd one out, she can imagine how defensive one might easily get, so she's glad that isn't the case here.

"I apologize for my apprehension, then," she says. "I just didn't want to offend you by mistake." Now that she was actually in a position to ask questions, she suddenly didn't even know where to start. It seemed like there was so much that she could ask, with no one good place to actually begin.

She lets out a thoughtful noise, shifting in her seat. "What... is it like where you come from?" she asks after a moment, figuring it's as good a place as any.

"I appreciate your sensitivity to the sensibilities of those not from your culture," he replies with a smile and an incline of his head towards her. He folds his hands over each other on the table.

"As for your question, well, that's rather open-ended. And perhaps a bit complicated. But Beforus, where I was hatched and raised, was certainly very different from this place. Hmm." He considers what he might even say about it - to him, Beforus was simply his home, and though he can easily talk for hours on specific aspects of his society, as a whole he finds it hard to describe. Perhaps if he focuses on the most obvious differences, that will make it easier. "Where I lived wasn't a large population center, so having so many other people around has been something to get used to. And of course our cultural values were extremely different. While trolls are subject to baser impulses, of course, Beforans valued self-restraint in the service of cohabiting with others peacefully. I won't say it didn't have its problems, and there was certainly plenty of it I would have preferred to work towards changing, but that at least is one thing I believe was right about my society. It's been a very harsh departure from that, coming here."

Cream, sugar, invasive species questions

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Sorry for the delay! I had family over all yesterday.

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