#ankiro ic

[goddesstrolls]

Ankiro, for no reason whatsoever, have you ever considered wearing a crown? Maybe a bit of chainmail? Do you have a noble steed, by any chance?

"~\ Huh? /~"

>> There is someone in your fencing group who wears chainmail, and offered to make you a coat. You haven't taken them up on it though, and that was sweeps ago.

"~\ ...I have my truck. That's abOut as nOble and valiant as yOu're gOing tO get. /~"

[bastsoldtrollblog]

> For once, you sit at the front desk in the visitor center, finishing up some paperwork. You finally decided to bite the bullet and take on someone else to help with at least some of the work at the sanctuary- You like having total control, but with the weeks you spent away, you realize things won’t fall completely apart without you. You’ve built something solid despite your fears that it’ll all come crashing down. You think.

> Anyway, you scheduled for them to come by at two, which is fast approaching. You hope they’re on time, but...

> You also wouldn’t blame them if they underestimated the walk from the last bus stop to the sanctuary. It’s a solid three miles on a flat, albeit rocky dirt road. It’s bone dry and rather hot out there to boot, despite it being well into the night.

> Unbeknownst to you...

> Phiroe was driving up the road to the sanctuary in his beat-up jeep, and if he spotted your new hire, he would’ve offered a ride.

@ase-trollplays​

[goddesstrolls]

36 for Ankiro!

[36 - Rain]

Ankiro lay in bed.

It was just the rainy weather. Making him ache, making him tired. Once he got up and moving, he'd feel better.

His phone screen lit up the dark room, the loud chime signaling that it was time to get up. Groaning, Ankiro extended his arm and pawed at his phone until the chime stopped. He shivered with a sudden chill, and sat up.

He felt worse now that he'd moved at all, actually. Slowly, his limbs noncompliant, he dragged his feet to the floor and hauled himself out of bed. He shuffled down the hall to the bathroom and flicked on the light, squinting as it stung his eyes, adjusted to the dark of his room.

He looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was a haphazard mess, damp with sweat. His face was pale, and his eyes were bloodshot and looked bruised with the bags under them. Ankiro ran the water in the sink and splashed some on his face before looking at his reflection again, half-hoping that magically cured him.

He hadn't been feeling great last night, but he worked in the rain to dig out a new pond in one of the enclosures anyway. That was probably why he felt sore...

...Who was he kidding. He was definitely running a fever.

He rubbed his face with his hand, thinking about how Kasora would chew him out for coming in sick.

Maybe with a shower and some ibuprofen, he could pass it off and still get some work done tonight.

[goddesstrolls]

send "why are you so cute? stop that!" to my muse for their reaction.

Eureve @ Ankiro 👀

>> You give them a look akin to a deer in headlights.

"~\ Uh... /~"

>> Ankiro.exe has crashed.

[goddesstrolls]

Aw come on Ankiro why the glum look amidst the blushing?

"~\ NO idea what yOu're talking abOut. /~"

[goddesstrolls]

Hehe Ankiro handsum

"~\ ...... /~"

>> Look away.

[goddesstrolls]

Kicking my feet and giggling still over Ankiro's glow up <3

"~\ What is that even suppOsed to mean? /~"

[goddesstrolls]

Phiroe left? How come?

"~\ FrOm what I can tell, KasOra just tOld him tO fuck Off. I'm amazed it wOrked, but frOm what I've heard frOm mutual wOrk friends, she can be pretty brutal. /~"

"~\ I haven't asked and I'm nOt gOing tO. /~"

[goddesstrolls]

“Ankiro, hey.” Kasora jogged down the hall to catch Ankiro before he got to his office. She’d only had that... Conversation with Phiroe the night prior, and she still felt a bit sore. She was trying not to let her annoyance bleed through.

“Can we talk?”

Ankiro hesitated, brow furrowing slightly, and then he shifted to face her and lowered his clipboard. “Sure. Just make it quick.”

“Right. I was just wondering... If you knew who Talura was.”

Ankiro paused to think, only for the briefest of moments. “No, I don’t.”

Kasora heaved a heavy sigh and dropped her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. Ankiro seemed put off, brow furrowing further. “What? You can’t expect me to know everyo--”

Kasora waved a hand to stop him. “No, no. It’s not your fault. It’s Phiroe’s.”

Ankiro stopped, and raised his brows slightly. It took him a moment to recollect himself. “Well.” He said. “Color me surprised. That’s the first time someone’s said something is Phiroe’s fault. Who is Talura?”

Kasora closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “A lot of things are Phiroe’s fault, I think. He’s being a dumbass and he’s been one for the past ten sweeps. As for Talura... I... Don’t even know where to begin.”

Ankiro looked shocked- But it wasn’t unwelcome. In fact it seemed to be quite a pleasant surprise. “-By all means, please begin somewhere, because I am completely lost. But you had me at my ancestor being a dumbass.”

“Yes.” Kasora took another deep breath. “Talura... Talura was my moirail. And Phiroe’s matesprit. She was as much your ancestor as Phiroe is, there is no doubt about that.”

Ankiro furrowed his brow. Mildly confused. “I thought there...Might’ve been someone. That, or Phiroe just plucked me out of a pitcher plant in the jungle somewhere. I thought- I don’t know, that it wasn’t that important. He never mentioned her.”

“Yeah-” Kasora pinched the bridge of her nose again. “Yeah, I don’t know why he didn’t. He didn’t even want me to mention her when I spoke to him, and she was my moirail. He’s... Acting like he’s the only one who lost someone important. She died- Not long before we found you.”

“I... See.” Ankiro still sounded a bit confused, but sorrowful for the loss Kasora spoke of.

“She...” Kasora sighed once more, trying to find the words. “She was an amazing woman. You and her would have been thick as thieves. And... You lost her, too. You didn’t even get to know her. She would have been here for you. Maybe that means nothing to you, but...”

Ankiro was silent, as though making a decision. Kasora decided to continue.

“Speaking of. I owe you an apology, too. I was an idiot, I trusted Phiroe to take care of you, and he didn’t.”

“...He didn’t,” Ankiro said slowly. As though trying to keep himself from agreeing, but the words just came tumbling out. “He really didn’t. I was alone from the time I was three.”

Kasora exhaled through her nose, her shoulders sagging, and closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Ankiro. I’m really...Truly sorry.”

[goddesstrolls]

Ankiro stepped into his office, staring at the thick stack of paperwork in hand as he shut the door behind him.

He hadn’t gotten a few steps when he heard a voice- Having previously thought the room empty.

“Look at how big you’ve gotten!”

He looked up to see a lithe young woman seated on his desk, a wry grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. He stared for a long moment, trying to put a finger on the reason why she looked familiar.

An apologetic look flickered across her face.

“Kas. I’ve worked with Phiroe since you were...Well, since before you were hatched.”

“Ah. Apologies, I couldn’t recall your name.” Ankiro replied dryly as he strode over to set the paperwork down on the desk. Kas showed no sign of moving. “If you’re wondering where Phiroe is, I haven’t seen him in about a week.”

“You saw him as shortly as a week ago?” Kas folded her arms, leaning curiously towards him. “Lucky! It’s been about...Oh, three sweeps since I saw hide or hair of him.”

“Mm, that sounds like him. He’s gotten a wild hare up his ass about my work lately, hence why I’ve seen him around.” Ankiro said, still poring over the paperwork.

“Speaking of,” Kas unfolded her arms to grip the desk edge on either side of her. “I’m looking for work, if you’re hiring. I hear you run this place on your own, and that seems like a lot for someone your age.”

Ankiro shot her a dark look, and Kas raised her hands quickly in defense.

“I don’t mean any offense! I just- Look, everyone talks about how incredible everything you’ve done is, and it is! It is, really amazing what you’ve done with the ranch- I just, can’t help but hear that and worry about you.”

“Did Phiroe put you up to this?” Ankiro straightened, tone laced with suspicion, glowering at her.

“Hah?” Kas gave him a startled look. “I told you, I haven’t heard from him in sweeps. Ah...” She deflated, waving a hand in defeat and shaking her head. She hopped off his desk, brow knit.

“I apologize, Ankiro, I was overfamiliar. I am genuinely interested in the work you do here.” She swiftly produced a card from her jacket and offered it to him between two fingers. “Can we start over?”

Ankiro’s furrowed brow eased, and he accepted her card. It read only her name- Kasora Shevir- And her contact information.

Huh. He’d never known her full name.

“I’ll be around if you ever need an extra set of hands.” Kas continued. “I’ve got a Fleet-certified degree and twenty-two sweeps of experience, and I’d love to put it to good work.”

Kas shoved her hands into her pockets, a mildly worried look painting her face at her own inability to read Ankiro’s expression. Ankiro deigned not to reply immediately, and glanced at his watch.

“I need to give the animals their medication. Would you like a tour?”

[goddesstrolls]

Ankiro do you work with other sanctuaries to assist in helping as many animals as possible? I heard of another sanctuary that works with discarded exotic pets in the pet trade. It's so sad how many animals get dropped once trolls realize how much work keeping them is!

"~\ DOn't even get me started On highblOOd impulse purchases... /~"

"~\ Yes, I keep a lOng list Of Other sanctuaries and wOrk with thOse that I can. SOmetimes places get viOlent megafauna that need care but are tOO much tO handle. ThOse are the transfers I take, because Otherwise culling Or release withOut care is inevitable. /~"

[goddesstrolls]

Ankiro, do you have any animals you particularly love at the sanctuary? Or do you try not to play favorites.

"~\ The latter. MOst Of Our residents are very tempOrary- We're talking nights tO weeks- And the mOre lOng-term residents dOn't tend tO stay fOr very lOng either. Time, space, resOurce cOnstraints, the wOrks. /~"

"~\ Scar, the manticOre, thOugh... He's been with us the lOngest. But he's a lusus, sO he's very tame and friendly with trOlls... COmpared tO 98% Of the Other residents. I dOn't have it in my heart tO send him sOmewhere else when he's bOnded with me, sO he's with us fOr the rest Of his life. I guess that's the clOsest thing tO a favOrite I'll have. /~"

[goddesstrolls]

“~\ Things seem like they’re finally back tO nOrmal. /~”

“~\ Of cOurse nOw that I’ve said that, sOmething’s gOing tO gO sOur again... /~”

[goddesstrolls]

Ankiro stood outside the sanctuary, arms folded.

There was a young wyvern, presently half-sedated, in his sanctuary. It was not supposed to be there. He’d found it harassing the residents- Fortunately, it had done no harm.

By the wyvern’s harness, it belonged to a delivery company. It didn’t have a full saddle, though, nor did it seem big enough to carry an adult troll, so it was really a wonder how it’d gotten this far.

He knew of the aforementioned delivery company. They took great pride in the care of their wyverns. By rights, one should not have gotten all the way here without being wrangled. A gross oversight that could have resulted in the wyvern or the residents of his sanctuary getting seriously hurt, or killed.

Ankiro stewed in these thoughts as he watched a flatbed truck with posts and netting to form a cage, emblazoned with the company’s logo pull up; Preparing to give them a piece of his mind the moment he had a chance.

The truck slowed and he stepped up, gesturing for them to follow. He guided the truck around to the structure the wyvern was being kept in- A warehouse-sized building usually for temporarily containing particularly large or unruly beasts. As the truck rolled to a stop outside the building Ankiro stuck his head inside to make sure the wyvern was still sedated, and then began to open the overhead door.

Behind him he heard a thud from the truck door closing, and then he heard wings flapping and looked up.

A saddled wyvern descended from the sky and landed just a few feet off, and a troll wearing the delivery company’s uniform slid out of the saddle to the ground. She strode up to Ankiro, head held high.

Athyre Zirike. Descendant of the company’s founder and a senior staff member. Ankiro had met her once or twice; She had a demeanor like a block of ice.

“Mr. Melzau, good evening.” She said as she approached. “I see you have the hatchling detained. Very good.”

“Good evening. Of course, I can handle as much, Ms. Zirike.”

“Regretful that you saw fit to sedate him,” Athyre said, clasping her gloved hands behind her back as the other employee who had arrived in the truck stepped into the building. “He could have simply flown back with us if you hadn’t. Waste of gas, bringing the truck here.”

The corner of Ankiro’s mouth twitched. It was clear she disapproved of his methods, through her monotonous and dry tone.

“Well. I hope this was some freak mistake, Ms. Zirike. Your wyvern could have brought harm or even killed some of my charges, or been hurt itself. I expect it won’t happen again, you have sealed enclosures, correct?”

Behind them both, the employee guiding the sedated wyvern to the truck visibly winced. Athyre took an inhale through her nose and that was the only warning Ankiro got.

“No. We do not have ‘sealed enclosures’. Wyverns of flight age must fly more than 300 miles nightly to be healthy and fit. We do not cage our wyverns as that would be severely detrimental to their mental and physical health. This one is, as you can see, quite young and has not yet learned homing techniques- And, due to this incident, may in fact drop out of our program and be located to our ancillary sanctuary. If you would like to criticize our company I suggest you do your research before you open your mouth, Mr. Melzau.”

The wyvern she had ridden on trotted over to the younger one being guided onto the truck, and chuffed sharply at it.

Ankiro had to take a moment to process that.

“...So. You cannot promise this won’t happen again.”

“Must I make it more clear why I cannot do as much, Mr. Melzau? I will gladly do so.”

“No, that won’t be necessary, Ms. Zirike. I only wanted to clarify that I should be on the watch for more young wyverns breaking into my sanctuary.”

“If any damage was caused, please document it immediately and submit it along with a formal complaint to our customer service department. The same holds true to future incidents should they occur, and once more: While I cannot guarantee that a stray wyvern will not come this way, I should clarify that there is only a narrow window during which our wyverns are old enough to fly great distances but have not been trained to home. This window depends entirely on the wyvern’s personality, as does the direction and distance it may fly, and what it may do should it come across something interesting. I expected some base understanding of animal psyche from you, Mr. Melzau, and you have disappointed me.”

Athyre adjusted her hat on her head and looked to her coworker as Ankiro bristled with rage. She insulted him thoroughly with such flatness to her tone, she barely even seemed annoyed herself. Before he could formulate a response, she turned on her heel- Her coworker had already gotten the young wyvern securely caged in the back of the truck and was starting up the vehicle again.

Athyre climbed into the adult wyvern’s saddle and turned her attention to Ankiro again.

“Thank you anyway for your assistance, Mr. Melzau, and have a good night.”

[goddesstrolls]

Geez Ankiro need some ice for those burns?

"~\ Shut up. /~"

[goddesstrolls]

Someones salty uwu

"∽\ PrObably because sOmeOne is sticking their nOse where it dOesn't belOng. /∼"