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The streets of the troll market bustled with busy shoppers looking for a good trade. The walk ways were loud and crowded, but for those who lived in the area it was easy enough to navigate.
With his many eyes Blinky could easily find his way around the other citizens while still jotting down notes on his shopping list. The list was there to keep Blinky in budget, though it never tended to help. The librarian had a habit of needing anything that struck his fancy. Mainly old artifacts, human tools and an assortment of junk he thought were treasures.
He always thought himself to be so clever when It came to haggling. He’d find something of great value at Bagdwella’s gift stall, talk her down a bit, both of them ending the transaction thinking they had been the victor. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.
“Aaargh do we need an Autio compact disk player?” Blinky looked towards the bigger Troll who was scratching his head, in thought?
“What is it?” Arrrgh asked leaning close to sniff at the cheep plastic. Seemed edible.
“it is a digital optical disc data storage reader.. humans use it to play sounds that they find pleasant” Blinky explained
Arrrgh started to scratch his beard “Hrrm. Can I eat it?”
“No! It could be of great value. An ancient artifact displaying humans technological evolut— Arrgh you seem distracted” the Krubera troll had his back pressed against a rough stone wall rubbing up and down its hard surface.
“itchy” the troll of few words complained.
“Hmm.. have you been disallowing the gnomes to groom you again?” Blinky put his hands behind his back, looking disappointed, but not surprised.
Arrrgh just huffed like a scolded child.
“Let me have a look” Blinky approached his good friend, he looked closely into the fur that coated most of the Trolls body, using his hands to look deeper into the thick mane.
“Fleas, just as I thought” Blinky removed his hands from Arrrgh with haste. “We will have to leave re-stocking for a later date” Blinky began walking, Arrrgh followed closely behind as he tended to do.
“Where are we going?” Arrrgh asked
“The Oil pools of course”
Arrrgh scowled and grunted, stopping in his tracks, no longer following after Blinky. His friend noticed immediately.
“don’t act so sullen” Blinky says “you’re filthy”
“Thank you”
“In any other instance your odour would be welcomed , but you are attracting parasites, which bring vermin. I will not have gnomes nesting, chewing and stealing my books. No matter how good you smell. Now get Into the Gyre!”
Arrrgh walked passed Blinky, with a pout he made his way towards the Gyre station and hesitantly got into the nausea machine
After one short ride Arrrgh stumbled out of the Gyre eagerly, happy to be out on solid, still ground.
Blinky left their form of transportation more calmly then his friend had. Arms behind his back as he waited for Arrrgh to find his balance. He could smell the fumes from bubbling oils surrounding them.
There were a few trolls in the area enjoying a relaxing soak in the boiling black waters. Blinky picked a smaller pool that had formed in a deep creator in the rocks. It was along the outskirts, but They could still hear the sounds of the other trolls speaking and splashing from afar.
Arrrgh almost shielded his eyes on instinct when Blinky began pulling the straps of clothing off his shoulder. Living with a human had some lasting effects, mainly their insistence of privacy and fear of nudity.
Wearing clothing was never a popular trend among trolls. Unlike humans their hide was tough and didn’t require the extra layer of protection. Only the higher classes wore clothing regularly, or those who wanted the convenience of pockets, like in the case of a certain historian.
Blinky carefully folded his overalls and put them neatly away from the black oils, where they wouldn’t be splashed by accident.
He descended into the pool with a relaxed sigh putting his upper arms on the edge of the pool while his bottom two were engulfed in water. The pools were all shallow, anything deeper then a troll was tall was potentially deadly as they sunk like literal stones.
Arrrgh looked at his reflection in the black muck, he tested the water with his fingers, then his whole hand before he let his entire body sink into the blackness, stepping into the middle where it was deepest. The water level raised above the edge, spilling over. He could see Blinky’s relief that his pants were stored away safely.
Arrrgh smirked and knelt further into the water, increasing the flood levels. Blinky gave him a warning look, seeing the mischief in his friends eyes.
“I will have you reorganize my entire library based on the authors preference of cat breeds if you get oil on my pants”
Arrrghs eyes got wider from the threat. He let the oils recede back into their pool, he didn’t want to risk the wrath of Blinky.
Arrrgh looked towards the caverns rooftop, an infestation of glow worms made the caves look more decorated then the night sky. “Pretty” The pacifist smiled. Blinky looked towards his friend, then to the suspect of his attention.
“Ahh, looks like the real thing huh? Aside from the obvious constellation inaccuracies” The illusion of night had a relaxing effect, a time when the sun could not turn their bodies to stone. Blinky ventured off topic, discussing where the worms would have to wiggle to for a realistic depiction. Arrrgh enjoyed his friends ramblings, getting a satisfactory feeling when Blinky could vent about his passions so openly.
Blinky pulled a rock from the cavern floor. He scrapped it against his hide, He was able to buff out most the scratches and chips he’d received from his recent run in with Dictatious. But some would take a lot more time to sand out. His outter crust was looking smoother by the minute.
“oh.. Arrrgh let me assist you” Blinky says as Arrrgh struggles to reach his back.
“Blinky not gnome” Arrrgh states the facts.
“I may not have the small and dexterous hands of a gnome but four hands are is still better then two” Blinky leaned towards Arrrgh, his fingers brushed through Arrrgh’s green, mossy hair, releasing the natural smell of overturned soil from his mane. “Besides Arrrgh you know I enjoy helping you” Blinky was sounding as academic as ever, though Arrrgh recognize the unique fondness Blinky used only for him.
Arrrgh agreed to the special treatment, although out of the ordinary for trolls to groom one another it beat gnomes crawling all over him.
Blinky stood behind the Krubera troll, although Arrrgh could not see him he could feel Blinky’s recently smoothed fingers collecting his unruly hair in batches, intending to tackle it in parts.
Hours must have passed, but it was impossible to know for sure, the only Measure of time was watching new trolls come and go one after the other.
It must have been after the other trolls left that Blinky began to hum a familiar tune Arrrgh had heard the kids listening to. It was quiet, but added to the calm ambiance.
He was getting lighter by the minute, feeling the old layers of rock crumble from his stone hide to reveal a bare, smoothness below. His colours looked rejuvenated, and by the end of it Blinky’s large buffing stones were no more then pebbles he tossed into the oils.
Finally Blinky put all four hands in the air “Done!” he sounded so cheerful, like he’d just finished reading a long book.
Arrrgh smiled, he didn’t really care if he had fleas, but was happy he’d be able to sleep at home tonight “thank you” he dipped himself into the water one last time, washing off the dust.
Arrrgh climbed out and shook his entire body, his hair waving wildly as the black liquid flew off him, and onto everything else.
Blinky turned away and covered his face to avoid any drops in his eyes. When the feeling of rain stopped he looked again to Arrrgh, a smile pulled at his lips.
“What?” Arrrgh asked curiously, liking the way his friend tried to hold back laughter
“My dear Arrrgh you look jovial. I wish I had a mirror to have you look at yourself” Blinky motioned to his hair, prompting Arrrgh to look up, realizing his fur had yet to flatten out.
He rolled his eyes in a playful manner at the shorter troll. Patting his hair down with his hand. But each time his hand pulled away the green locks would jump back up, making Blinky smile even wider every time. Arrrgh almost didn’t want his hair to flatten, he’d simply do it for Blinky’s amusement. Until his dear friend had a thought.
“oh! Arrrgh I have just the thing to help you in your predicament” the blue troll strolled over to his shorts pulling them back into place over his body
He reached into one of his many pockets to pull out familiar barrettes “Claire has been using these to mark pages in my books. She should really just finish the books in one sitting” Blinky says as he pins down Arrrgh’s fluffy locks with an assortment of mismatched barrettes in a variety of colours.
“I thought Claire was being foolish to have such bright colours on her. Although it is inconspicuous, it looks good on you, Arrrgh”
Arrrgh blushed, he patted Blinky’s back in thanks, careful not to knock the short troll off his feet with his strength. He removed one bright green clip from his mane and placing it underneath Blinky’s horn. He gave a big thumbs up “looks pretty”
Blinky chuckled, he knew he had no use for a hair pin, having very tame hair himself, but he kept it anyway, he liked how the bright green clip matched Arrrgh’s eyes perfectly.. Maybe his brother was right, maybe he was too sentimental.