i knew you were tribble when you walked in

[69problems]

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).

Comments

[69problems]

For the first time in a long time it's the Signless's turn to look visibly taken aback by the appearance of someone else. Not that he isn't aware of Iskierka; she's been around quite long enough that he's seen her on playbacks and there's even a blur shaped a little bit like her in his jumble of memories from the tail end of the fog arena. Still, it's very different to be seeing her up close and in his right mind.

"I believe so, unless there are other signs I haven't seen. Were you thinking of adopting a tribble?" If more trolloid species could benefit from them, why not dragons?

[letthemburn]

If there are another signs, Iskierka hasn't really seen them. In fact, she generally hasn't seen many signs around the place. Which certainly goes a way to explaining why she's been quite as curious as she's been about this one. Not to mention that she's still not entirely certain what a tribble is.

"I suppose it cannot hurt, to have one. And there are ever so many here as it is."

She wants one more than her words say, but she hasn't ever had anything to care for but herself and sometimes her Granby. (She's no doctor, but she has been known to worry, from time to time.)

[69problems]

He interprets her statement correctly (though that may also be because he's hoping people will want more than one, it's the only way he'll get rid of all of them).

"You can have as many as you like, so long as you leave some for others," he says. "With how easy they are to care for, the only difficulty when you have a lot is finding places to put them."

[letthemburn]

She considers for a moment, but it's not a terribly long moment. Curiosity wins out in the end, and it's clear in her expression too.

"What do they need, if anyone were to take care of them?"

That they're easy to care for is simple enough to understand. But she knows too that most things require at least something in order to not end up dying, and better to know that before hand if at all possible. And if she's using the time to have a look at the various tribbles that she can see and their respective colors surely that's time well spent?

[69problems]

"As far as I can tell, nothing. Being left alone for an entire arena doesn't affect them. All I've ever had to do for mine was give it affection and I'm not sure that's something that it needs so much as something it enjoys."

So they're perfect pets for tributes, really. They won't starve and die if they're left in one's room for the length of an arena (or the length of a stay in a peacekeeper cell). If they need water they seem to be able to find it fairly well on their own.

[letthemburn]

"Oh," Iskierka answers with a blink. "That is ever so much easier than anything else."

Easy enough that even she probably can't mess things up. Not to mention that it's at least company. It's still not as good as actually having someone from home, but it'll be company of a sort. More to the point, perhaps, is the fact that one of the tribbles in the multicolored pile does seem to have caught her attention.

"I would like that one then, if it is not too much trouble."

The one she's pointing to is a sort of bottle-green. The same bottle-green of the uniforms of the Aerial Corps back at home, not that it's likely to mean much of anything to anyone but her. But it's familiar, and that's worth more than very nearly anything else.

[69problems]

"It's no trouble at all. That's what they're here for!"

He follows where she's pointing and reaches over to gently dislodge the tribble from the pile of other cooing fluffballs, causing a small tribble avalanche in the process.

"This one?"

[letthemburn]

The small avalanche of tribbles catches Iskierka's attention for a brief moment, but she bobs he head in something like a nod, once he calls her attention back to that specific tribble as opposed to all the others.

"That one, yes."

[69problems]

Here they run into a small problem: he isn't sure how to hand her the tribble and he doesn't want to offend by assuming incorrectly. Can she hold it in her front feet? Will she want to carry it in her mouth, as parent lusii do? Crap.

Eventually he just settles for holding it out toward her at a neutral height. It coos and warbles and in general seems completely unperturbed that its new best friend is a very polite dragon.

"There are also cards on the table with instructions for their care, though they're really just reminders not to feed them. I want to be sure that no one forgets. You needn't take one if you don't want to."

[letthemburn]

She can indeed hold things in her front feet, fortunately enough, and she takes the tribble with one of her foreclaws without so much as seeming to thing about it. On the other hand, it'll be terribly awkward to try and walk on three feet instead of four, if only for the fact that she hasn't had a lot of practice with it. Fortunately, there are any of a number other places a tribble can be placed, and with a bit of work - and a little bit of getting one of her wings involved in the process - she manages to get the tribble onto her back.

Fortunately, it seems to not mind the overall spikiness of its new perch, and seems - as far as anyone can tell - to be perfectly content to remain there for the time being.

"I do not think I shall need one. It is not a hard thing to remember, after all."

[69problems]

"You would be very surprised. When they were first being sold I knew several tributes whose rooms wound up flooded with them." He delicately glosses over the fact that, at least in the Helmsman's case, it was entirely deliberate. Attempts at trolling don't count.

[letthemburn]

"Then I shall just have to make certain that no one tries to feed them," Iskierka answers, without really so much as missing a beat. It shouldn't even really be hard, or so she assumes - there aren't a lot of people she invites over to her room in particular and she certainly prefers to eat elsewhere where possible.

[69problems]

"Excellent! And I hope you do enjoy it. If you find you want another, you know where I am."

She seems competent for a dragon, though he has no real basis for comparison.

[letthemburn]

"If I decide one is hardly enough, yes."

For now, though, the one will do well enough, and there's a bob of her head as if in thanks before she turns as if to leave, newly-acquired tribble still resting quite happily on her back.