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It was a warm, sunny September morning, the new day looking set to be full of sunshine and warm weather. The sky was a beautiful cerulean color, and the leaves were just beginning to turn the gorgeous colors that they changed into every fall, their perky light green beginning to turn red at the edges. It looked like a perfect day to be out and about before the colder weather came.

But you couldn't care less about the weather at the moment. Heck, it was the furthest thing from your mind. At the moment, you were trying to finish outlining what was potentially one of your best story ideas ever, and nothing, not even the most beautiful autumn day you'd ever witnessed, was going to keep you from getting these thoughts on paper.

At least, that's what you thought.

Your phone chose to go off just as you started to jot down the more exciting parts of your story idea, cruelly ripping you from your thoughts and scaring you half to death and causing you to fall out of your chair. With a groan, you picked yourself up off the ground, walking over to your phone with a death glare on your face. Whomever had decided to pester you just then better have one very good excuse for interrupting your train of thought.

Are you coming or what?

Well, drat. You'd completely forgotten that you'd promised some friends that you would go on a walk with them today if the weather complied, and, unfortunately for you, it had. You groaned loudly, not wanting to go anywhere with anyone at this particular moment, but friends were friends. Even if they weren't particularly good ones. You replied after a few long seconds of frustration, saying,

Fine, sorry, I forgot it was today. Give me a second.

Sighing unhappily, you snapped your notebook shut and slipped it into your (f/c) satchel along with your phone, pulling on a light (2 f/c) jacket as you threw the strap of your satchel over one of your shoulders and headed down the stairs towards your door. When you opened it, you came face to face with aforementioned group of 'friends', and stared for a second, surprised by how quickly they'd gotten there. You joined them without any question, however, locking the door behind you as the group started to walk along the street.

"Uhm, so, are we going anywhere in particular today?" You tried to make conversation, hoping that one of the people in the group would bother to answer you.

"We're planning to stop at the coffee shop after we're done with everything else," a girl you barely knew answered, barely even looking at you as she spoke.

"…Everything else?" You asked uncertainly, but the girl had gone back to talking with someone else, and you sighed, shoulders slumping slightly as it registered that most of the kids around you honestly couldn't care less about talking to you.

You were never one for gossip, and you didn't have much of an interest in popular trends, not to mention that you had almost nothing in common with any of the people you hung out with. And yet you'd stayed with them since freshman year, and, now being a senior in high school, your patience was beginning to wear out. And yet you stuck with them, as you knew that, without a group to hang onto at the sort of school that you attended, you were basically viewed as a social pariah and treated very unfairly. With that being your only other option, you could put up with being 'invisible' for just one more year.

After all, you had grown accustomed to this sort of company. Things could certainly be a lot worse.

~~~~(Short time skip)~~~~

When the group finally got around to stopping at the coffee shop, you almost cried in relief. Evidently, 'everything else' was referring to going inside every single shop on the way to the cafe other than the ones that even remotely interested you. Not to mention that you'd ended up having to give second and third opinions on several different outfits, when most of the time you weren't even sure what they were asking you to judge.

You were definitely looking forward to sitting down with a nice, refreshing iced coffee, and stood impatiently in line to order your drink, wishing that said line was nonexistent. You really, really needed something cool and caffeinated at this particular moment. Trying to entertain yourself until you were able to get your drink, you looked around at the other patrons in the shop, deciding to entertain yourself with trying to come up with stories about the strangers around you. You often did this to pass the time.

There was one man who seemed to be in his early thirties, his hazel eyes somewhat darkened by obvious fatigue as he typed away on a laptop, engrossed in his work. He was dressed oddly professionally for just a leisurely day at a coffeehouse, and you immediately came up with a backstory for him. He's a businessman of some sorts, probably trying to finish up a very important project before meeting with someone of a higher rank in his company. This project might even be… top secret… You nearly laughed at such a ridiculous but entertaining thought, and your eyes swept over him and landed on your next challenge, an older woman dressed in a causal outfit with a scarf, greying brown hair swept up into a messy ponytail, her eyes set on the world outside as she seemed to study it intensely. There was a sketchpad on the table beside her, and you smiled slightly as you came up with a slightly more realistic story. An older woman who's taking some time to relax and do what she loves, and is content with the world. She is more perceptive than most, and stands out, even without meaning to. She's a remarkable yet unknown artist, admired by those who know her and her work, and is not bothered by what strangers might think of her. A small smile graced your face at this, and you sincerely hoped that, one day, you might be able to act the same way.

When your eyes swept over her and to the next person, you were taken by surprise. He wasn't exactly a person…

You'd never met that many trolls in your life, as many didn't live in your hometown and you seldom went anywhere else, yet here one was, seemingly deep in thought. He was rather short looking at a glance, yet still a bit taller than you, and his red-irised eyes were trained on the stack of paper in front of him; he seemed to be revising something. He was dressed in a bright red sweater, and a pair of neatly-pressed dark grey slacks. His hair was slightly messy, but in an adorable sort of way, and his horns were so short that they were barely visible. You shook your head slightly at that thought as it registered in your head - adorable? It was then that you realized that he didn't look all that much older than you.

Actually, he is kinda adorable in general… Waitwaitwhat. Stop thinking that! You mentally scolded yourself, before wondering, Is he actually revising something he wrote? Now curious, your eyes now rested on the stack of papers, trying to make out what was written on them. Failing to do so, you glanced at the troll's face, and saw an expression of intense concentration and even a slight bit of satisfaction on his face.

One of your 'friends', (g/n), saw you looking at him and leaned towards you conspiratorially, whispering, "I wouldn't looking at him like that if I were you."

"What are you talking-" You protested quietly, but she cut you off.

"That's one of the new students at (s/n), y'know, the chatty one? I'm honestly surprised you haven't run into him yet. I have, and it was… Just… Ugh. You even so much as feign interest in talking to him, and he'll go off on such long rants that your ears will literally bleed after awhile. Seriously, it's like he spends all his free time planning that stuff," as the girl said that, her eyes took on a somewhat dark gleam, "And, from what I see here, it looks like it does. Y'know, it makes me wonder something…"

You shifted, slightly uncomfortable at the malicious tone of voice the girl had now switched into. This sort of thing didn't happen often, but when it did… Well, you usually weren't around. And, at the moment, you kinda wanted to disappear, but found yourself rooted to the spot as your 'friend' made her way towards the troll, an indifferent look on her face as she intentionally brushed against his table, her oversized purse swinging on her arm, and 'accidentally' knocked the voluminous stack onto the floor, effectively scattering and disorganizing it. You felt a flare of anger build up in your chest as you watched this happen; if someone messed with your writing, you wouldn't hesitate to let them feel your wrath, regardless if their meddling was intentional or not.

"Oh, 'scuse me," she said sweetly, but her words were laced with scorn, "Didn't see you there."

The troll got up from his chair, clearly very annoyed and somewhat angry as he started, "Miss, I do not believe that you have any idea just how triggering your actions-"

(g/n) cut him off nastily, "Save it for someone who cares, motormouth," she then turned to the rest of our group, most of whom had seen this atrocity play out, ordering, "Come on, we've got more important places to be.

That was it. Forgetting all intentions of fitting in and lying low, you did not move an inch, standing there with a cold but angry look on your face as you wordlessly stared (g/n) down.

"Come on!" (G/n) rolled her eyes, obviously confused as to why you were refusing to follow the group.

"No," you replied simply, breaking eye contact with the girl and walking over towards the troll, your voice surprisingly frigid-sounding, even to you.

(G/n) stared at you for a moment, opening and closing her mouth in surprise before turning around and leaving, clearly not sure how else to react. You then bent down and started to collect the scattered papers on the ground, glancing at them as you picked them up. You weren't able to read much of what he'd written, but it was clear that this guy, whoever he was, had a very elevated vocabulary and some pretty interesting ideas. You stood back up, and realized that the troll had been staring at you in surprise and slight confusion.

"I honestly must say, I did not expect that anyone would stick around to help me recollect my papers," he began, adding, "Though, if I may be so bold as to say so, you have a very strange taste in friends."

This earned a slightly bitter laugh from you, "That's certainly one way to put it."

"… They're not your friends, then? From observing how you were amongst their group, one would only assume that you were part of them."

"The whole thing's complicated. But I don't think I'll be seeing much more of them after this," you sighed, handing him the papers as you added, "But that's not really important. Since I know they won't apologize for their actions, I'm sorry that they bothered you."

"Their behavior was rather triggering, especially considering that I have been working on these for quite awhile, not to mention the offhanded and rude way I was told to be quiet by one of them as I attempted to confront them on their unkind and childish display of disregard for my pastimes, which is also triggering, especially that they would call me such a disagreeable name…" the troll shook his head, and looked as if he were about to continue when he interrupted himself, saying, "I don't believe I know your name. I find it slightly triggering that I don't know it, and I'm currently conversing with you."

"It's (f/n) (l/n). Might I ask yours, then?"

"Of course. My name is Kankri Vantas. I hope I haven't triggered you in any way by not telling you sooner."

You found yourself smiling at Kankri's amusing use of the word 'trigger', replying, "Heh, nah, I'm not bothered by those sorts of things. But it's nice to meet you."

Extending your right hand for a formal handshake, you noticed that he stiffened slightly, staring at your hand before replying in an uncomfortable tone, "I find any sort of physical contact extremely triggering, (y/n)."

"Oh, uhm… sorry about that?" You withdrew your hand quickly, feeling awkward and slightly confused.

"You wouldn't have had any way of knowing beforehand, so it is easily forgivable."

"So... What were you writing about earlier, if you don't mind me asking?"

The young troll looked stunned at your question, and stared at you for a moment before replying, "You actually want to listen to my lectures? ... If you're teasing me, that was an extremely heartless and-"

"No, no, I'm not kidding!" You shook your head quickly, cutting him off as you continued, "I enjoy listening to other people's ideas. If you've got something you want to say, I'll listen. If you want, that is..."

After hearing this response, for once in his life the troll who always had something to say found himself speechless.

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

It was a warm, sunny September morning, the new day looking set to be full of sunshine and warm weather. The sky was a beautiful cerulean color, and the leaves were just beginning to turn the gorgeous colors that they changed into every fall, their perky light green beginning to turn red at the edges. It looked like a perfect day to be out and about before the colder weather came.

But you couldn't care less about the weather at the moment. Heck, it was the furthest thing from your mind. At the moment, you were trying to finish outlining what was potentially one of your best story ideas ever, and nothing, not even the most beautiful autumn day you'd ever witnessed, was going to keep you from getting these thoughts on paper.

At least, that's what you thought.

Your phone chose to go off just as you started to jot down the more exciting parts of your story idea, cruelly ripping you from your thoughts and scaring you half to death and causing you to fall out of your chair. With a groan, you picked yourself up off the ground, walking over to your phone with a death glare on your face. Whomever had decided to pester you just then better have one very good excuse for interrupting your train of thought.

Are you coming or what?

Well, drat. You'd completely forgotten that you'd promised some friends that you would go on a walk with them today if the weather complied, and, unfortunately for you, it had. You groaned loudly, not wanting to go anywhere with anyone at this particular moment, but friends were friends. Even if they weren't particularly good ones. You replied after a few long seconds of frustration, saying,

Fine, sorry, I forgot it was today. Give me a second.

Sighing unhappily, you snapped your notebook shut and slipped it into your (f/c) satchel along with your phone, pulling on a light (2 f/c) jacket as you threw the strap of your satchel over one of your shoulders and headed down the stairs towards your door. When you opened it, you came face to face with aforementioned group of 'friends', and stared for a second, surprised by how quickly they'd gotten there. You joined them without any question, however, locking the door behind you as the group started to walk along the street.

"Uhm, so, are we going anywhere in particular today?" You tried to make conversation, hoping that one of the people in the group would bother to answer you.

"We're planning to stop at the coffee shop after we're done with everything else," a girl you barely knew answered, barely even looking at you as she spoke.

"…Everything else?" You asked uncertainly, but the girl had gone back to talking with someone else, and you sighed, shoulders slumping slightly as it registered that most of the kids around you honestly couldn't care less about talking to you.

You were never one for gossip, and you didn't have much of an interest in popular trends, not to mention that you had almost nothing in common with any of the people you hung out with. And yet you'd stayed with them since freshman year, and, now being a senior in high school, your patience was beginning to wear out. And yet you stuck with them, as you knew that, without a group to hang onto at the sort of school that you attended, you were basically viewed as a social pariah and treated very unfairly. With that being your only other option, you could put up with being 'invisible' for just one more year.

After all, you had grown accustomed to this sort of company. Things could certainly be a lot worse.

~~~~(Short time skip)~~~~

When the group finally got around to stopping at the coffee shop, you almost cried in relief. Evidently, 'everything else' was referring to going inside every single shop on the way to the cafe other than the ones that even remotely interested you. Not to mention that you'd ended up having to give second and third opinions on several different outfits, when most of the time you weren't even sure what they were asking you to judge.

You were definitely looking forward to sitting down with a nice, refreshing iced coffee, and stood impatiently in line to order your drink, wishing that said line was nonexistent. You really, really needed something cool and caffeinated at this particular moment. Trying to entertain yourself until you were able to get your drink, you looked around at the other patrons in the shop, deciding to entertain yourself with trying to come up with stories about the strangers around you. You often did this to pass the time.

There was one man who seemed to be in his early thirties, his hazel eyes somewhat darkened by obvious fatigue as he typed away on a laptop, engrossed in his work. He was dressed oddly professionally for just a leisurely day at a coffeehouse, and you immediately came up with a backstory for him. He's a businessman of some sorts, probably trying to finish up a very important project before meeting with someone of a higher rank in his company. This project might even be… top secret… You nearly laughed at such a ridiculous but entertaining thought, and your eyes swept over him and landed on your next challenge, an older woman dressed in a causal outfit with a scarf, greying brown hair swept up into a messy ponytail, her eyes set on the world outside as she seemed to study it intensely. There was a sketchpad on the table beside her, and you smiled slightly as you came up with a slightly more realistic story. An older woman who's taking some time to relax and do what she loves, and is content with the world. She is more perceptive than most, and stands out, even without meaning to. She's a remarkable yet unknown artist, admired by those who know her and her work, and is not bothered by what strangers might think of her. A small smile graced your face at this, and you sincerely hoped that, one day, you might be able to act the same way.

When your eyes swept over her and to the next person, you were taken by surprise. He wasn't exactly a person…

You'd never met that many trolls in your life, as many didn't live in your hometown and you seldom went anywhere else, yet here one was, seemingly deep in thought. He was rather short looking at a glance, yet still a bit taller than you, and his red-irised eyes were trained on the stack of paper in front of him; he seemed to be revising something. He was dressed in a bright red sweater, and a pair of neatly-pressed dark grey slacks. His hair was slightly messy, but in an adorable sort of way, and his horns were so short that they were barely visible. You shook your head slightly at that thought as it registered in your head - adorable? It was then that you realized that he didn't look all that much older than you.

Actually, he is kinda adorable in general… Waitwaitwhat. Stop thinking that! You mentally scolded yourself, before wondering, Is he actually revising something he wrote? Now curious, your eyes now rested on the stack of papers, trying to make out what was written on them. Failing to do so, you glanced at the troll's face, and saw an expression of intense concentration and even a slight bit of satisfaction on his face.

One of your 'friends', (g/n), saw you looking at him and leaned towards you conspiratorially, whispering, "I wouldn't looking at him like that if I were you."

"What are you talking-" You protested quietly, but she cut you off.

"That's one of the new students at (s/n), y'know, the chatty one? I'm honestly surprised you haven't run into him yet. I have, and it was… Just… Ugh. You even so much as feign interest in talking to him, and he'll go off on such long rants that your ears will literally bleed after awhile. Seriously, it's like he spends all his free time planning that stuff," as the girl said that, her eyes took on a somewhat dark gleam, "And, from what I see here, it looks like it does. Y'know, it makes me wonder something…"

You shifted, slightly uncomfortable at the malicious tone of voice the girl had now switched into. This sort of thing didn't happen often, but when it did… Well, you usually weren't around. And, at the moment, you kinda wanted to disappear, but found yourself rooted to the spot as your 'friend' made her way towards the troll, an indifferent look on her face as she intentionally brushed against his table, her oversized purse swinging on her arm, and 'accidentally' knocked the voluminous stack onto the floor, effectively scattering and disorganizing it. You felt a flare of anger build up in your chest as you watched this happen; if someone messed with your writing, you wouldn't hesitate to let them feel your wrath, regardless if their meddling was intentional or not.

"Oh, 'scuse me," she said sweetly, but her words were laced with scorn, "Didn't see you there."

The troll got up from his chair, clearly very annoyed and somewhat angry as he started, "Miss, I do not believe that you have any idea just how triggering your actions-"

(g/n) cut him off nastily, "Save it for someone who cares, motormouth," she then turned to the rest of our group, most of whom had seen this atrocity play out, ordering, "Come on, we've got more important places to be.

That was it. Forgetting all intentions of fitting in and lying low, you did not move an inch, standing there with a cold but angry look on your face as you wordlessly stared (g/n) down.

"Come on!" (G/n) rolled her eyes, obviously confused as to why you were refusing to follow the group.

"No," you replied simply, breaking eye contact with the girl and walking over towards the troll, your voice surprisingly frigid-sounding, even to you.

(G/n) stared at you for a moment, opening and closing her mouth in surprise before turning around and leaving, clearly not sure how else to react. You then bent down and started to collect the scattered papers on the ground, glancing at them as you picked them up. You weren't able to read much of what he'd written, but it was clear that this guy, whoever he was, had a very elevated vocabulary and some pretty interesting ideas. You stood back up, and realized that the troll had been staring at you in surprise and slight confusion.

"I honestly must say, I did not expect that anyone would stick around to help me recollect my papers," he began, adding, "Though, if I may be so bold as to say so, you have a very strange taste in friends."

This earned a slightly bitter laugh from you, "That's certainly one way to put it."

"… They're not your friends, then? From observing how you were amongst their group, one would only assume that you were part of them."

"The whole thing's complicated. But I don't think I'll be seeing much more of them after this," you sighed, handing him the papers as you added, "But that's not really important. Since I know they won't apologize for their actions, I'm sorry that they bothered you."

"Their behavior was rather triggering, especially considering that I have been working on these for quite awhile, not to mention the offhanded and rude way I was told to be quiet by one of them as I attempted to confront them on their unkind and childish display of disregard for my pastimes, which is also triggering, especially that they would call me such a disagreeable name…" the troll shook his head, and looked as if he were about to continue when he interrupted himself, saying, "I don't believe I know your name. I find it slightly triggering that I don't know it, and I'm currently conversing with you."

"It's (f/n) (l/n). Might I ask yours, then?"

"Of course. My name is Kankri Vantas. I hope I haven't triggered you in any way by not telling you sooner."

You found yourself smiling at Kankri's amusing use of the word 'trigger', replying, "Heh, nah, I'm not bothered by those sorts of things. But it's nice to meet you."

Extending your right hand for a formal handshake, you noticed that he stiffened slightly, staring at your hand before replying in an uncomfortable tone, "I find any sort of physical contact extremely triggering, (y/n)."

"Oh, uhm… sorry about that?" You withdrew your hand quickly, feeling awkward and slightly confused.

"You wouldn't have had any way of knowing beforehand, so it is easily forgivable."

"So... What were you writing about earlier, if you don't mind me asking?"

The young troll looked stunned at your question, and stared at you for a moment before replying, "You actually want to listen to my lectures? ... If you're teasing me, that was an extremely heartless and-"

"No, no, I'm not kidding!" You shook your head quickly, cutting him off as you continued, "I enjoy listening to other people's ideas. If you've got something you want to say, I'll listen. If you want, that is..."

After hearing this response, for once in his life the troll who always had something to say found himself speechless.