thecapitol | i knew you were tribble when you walked in

Who| The Signless and Kankri; The Signless and ANYONE WHO WANTS A TRIBBLE.
What| Signless and his past life are sad together and Signless realizes if everyone had a small soft friend to comfort them things might be marginally less terrible.
Where| D5, D12
When| The thread with Kankri is backdated a little, the tribble giveaway is happening now.
WARNINGS| Nothing; will change if anything comes up.

[For Kankri]

If he's taking Karkat's disappearance hard then he knows Kankri must be too. Whatever their relationship was or was not, Kankri and Karkat were close. With that in mind the Signless makes his way down to District 5, his tribble Friend tucked under his arm. He's had his time to grieve and now he's more than ready to take care of someone else while they grieve -- and even if Kankri isn't as distraught as he thinks he might be, visiting his past self is something he feels he should do more of.

With all that in mind he knocks softly on Kankri's door.

"Kankri? Are you there?"

[For Everyone Who Wants A Tribble]

Within the next few days signs pop up all over the tribute center in all the common areas and inside the elevator. They're all a little different from each other, as though whoever made them either couldn't find a copier or didn't know copiers were a thing. They all look basically the same, though:

The Signless is now in possession of a lot more tribbles than he was just a few days ago. Between Friend, Sekhmet and Tribble Will Smith all having healthy appetites he now has a healthy stock that range from bright white to deep black (and a good deal of colors in between) in plain or stripes or spots. He's gathered them all in the District 12 common room where they cover the couches and chairs and spill onto the floor. The combined cooing isn't so much a gentle murmur of sound as it is a dull roar.

He's set up another hand-written sign by the couch that says TRIBBLES HERE and there is a small stack of cards on the table that he made by tearing up larger pieces of paper. They're each labeled with Tribble Care Instructions and the only thing written on them is DO NOT FEED underlined several times.

It just seems to him that having a small, soft thing to hold when he feels particularly horrible always helps. Logically it follows that it might help other people too, and since tribbles are so easy to multiply there's no reason not to offer. He sits back amongst his herd of puffballs and waits (and desperately hopes someone shows up, because being stuck with this many tribbles is not something he exactly wants).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Anna of Arendelle, certified Disney Princess and lover of things small and soft, has never actually heard of a tribble. But from the posters she's been seeing all over the Capitol, they sound sort of nice--whatever they are. So on a free day, she finds herself taking the elevator all the way to the top floor of the Tribute Center, traipsing into the commons with a curious look on her face. She feels awkward being in here, and it shows, but only until the moment she sees the pile of tribbles, and then her eyes light up, and she rushes forward to kneel down next to the pile, cooing softly.

"Oh, my goodness." She's already piled two of them into her arms before she glances up at Signless. "They don't have these where I'm from." She nuzzles her cheek into a spotted one. "Did you make them?"

See, this is exactly the sort of reaction he was hoping they'd get. What good are small soft round things if they don't make people light up with joy?

"Not the original ones -- those were given to me by a native friend -- but these are all ones I bred recently, yes. I've enjoyed having mine so much that I thought others might like to have one or two as well."

Anna grins. She doesn't even bat an eye at the alien man; she's already met a couple of his kind, after all--

--actually, one of his kind just brutally hanged her, but she won't dwell on that.

"That's so nice of you!" She's already trying to decide which one she likes best. There's a sweet black-and-tan spotted one, and a white-and grey striped one. "Wow, they don't have--faces, do they." She rears her head back. This is so strange. Strange and wonderful.

"Not that I've ever been able to find." Up until now he's tried not to think on it too much. Tribbles are just weird.

"It does beg the question of where exactly they make noise from and how they eat -- which you should not allow them to do if at all possible, unless you want to suddenly be in possession of this many or more."

Anna turns one over and over in her hands, delighted by the soft cooing it emits. "So weird," she breathes. "But so cute!--Oh, but I'll keep that in mind." She definitely does not need another mess on her hands.

It's at that point she realizes that she's being rude. "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm Anna!" She holds out her hand toward the nice grey alien man, grinning cheerily.

"It's not a problem, they're very distracting. My name is Signless," he says, taking her hand and shaking warmly. The movement causes some of the tribbles that had found their way onto his lap to tumble to the floor, but at least they don't seem to mind.

Anna's handshake is enthusiastic, and she giggles when the tribbles fall from his lap--it's pretty obvious that they're sturdy enough to withstand the fall. "It's so nice to meet you! You're a troll, right?"

Oh, wait. Is that a rude assumption to make? She keeps forgetting to think before she speaks. Commence backpedaling. "Sorry," she amends, cringing. "Was that rude? I never know. I'm never quite prepared for dealing with other sorts of people than the kind I grew up with!" But an open mind and a friendly demeanor, helps. That and the fact that it's not in her ability to be judgmental.

"Oh, no, it's not rude at all. I find that in a place like this where so many people are from wildly different backgrounds it's often better to ask questions than to make assumptions. Yes, I am a troll. You've met other trolls, then?"

Not that he's surprised with how many trolls are currently in residence, scattered across the districts. It's almost impossible that she wouldn't have met one.

Anna considers this. "That's probably true," she replies cheerily, nuzzling her cheek into the spotted tribble. She's already pondering names for him.

At his question, the princess nods eagerly. "Mmhmm!" She cocks her head. "One of them had all this hair, and her horns were like cat ears. She was very nice." She counts off on her fingers. "And then I met Kankri, in the Arena. He helped me make a teddy bear for my sister, Elsa." Then she pauses on the third finger. "And then there was the one who--who, you know. Sent me back here."

His stomach twists just a little when she mentions the Disciple -- who else could that description mean? He's still coming to grips with losing her, even if outwardly he's forced himself to move on, is putting on a happy face because it's the safest for him right now to not outwardly let on exactly how unhappy he is. She might notice a momentary hitch in his expression, but that's all. Instead, he focuses on something else entirely.

"Elsa is your sister?" He knows this vaguely, he's watched the recaps even if he hasn't watched them closely out of a desire to keep his negative feelings on lock. From his tone it's clear that this has earned Anna some brownie points.

Anna perks up when he seems to recognize her sister's name. "Mmhm! Do you know her?" She's always excited when she meets Elsa's friends, and the way Anna smiles makes it clear that she adores her sister just as much as the Capitol would make it seem.

"She's the best," Anna sighs. "Actually, I wonder if I ought to bring one of these back for her!" After all, what could possibly go wrong?

"We've met before. She was wonderful company." Which is as close to 'she looked on in mild disapproval and confusion while I drew increasingly elaborate dicks on various walls' as he can actually say.

"And I don't see why you shouldn't bring her a tribble, or perhaps even a few. If she doesn't want them I'd be perfectly willing to take them back, but you can't know until you ask."

"I bet she was!" Anna's got three tribbles all picked out now--the two for her, as well as a snow white one for her sister. She shakes her head enthusiastically.

"Don't worry! I'll get them off your hands for good. If she doesn't want him--her?-- I know a few other people who will!" She scoops them all into her arms. "It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Signless," she says diplomatically, dropping a neat little curtsey.

"Likewise, Anna," he replies, executing a rather awkward half-bow. He feels ridiculous, but he likes her already and he'd like to be polite. "I'm sure we'll see each other again."

'Hopefully under good circumstances', he doesn't say.

Anna has to resist the urge to giggle. Not because he's ridiculous, but because his attempt at a bow is sort of adorable. "You too," she agrees eagerly, her innocent-by-default princess mind not even thinking about arenas at the moment. It's just not quite ingrained in her that seeing someone you like isn't always a good thing.

Cheerily, she scoops up her triad of tribbles and flounces toward the elevators. "Have a fantastic day!" she calls over her shoulder. Sunshine and daisies as usual.

i knew you were tribble when you walked in

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