had an idea for this first

[iconoclassist]

[So, camp's been made, displacer beast has been discovered to not be a delicacy any-goddamn-where, and grievously injured or not, certain elves don't sleep much, so they've chased other people off watches and are, currently, flopped in the cart and reading.

...Look. No one said she was a good patient, and she heals remarkably quickly, anyway.]

Comments

[fieldarcanum]

You should be getting some rest...

[Says the man nearly gored by a barbed tendril.]

[iconoclassist]

I've rested plenty.

[Looking over her book at him. This venture has definitely made her a touch more irritable.] Besides, shouldn't you be, as well?

[fieldarcanum]

My wounds have largely knitted. You are more likely to risk reopening yours.

[iconoclassist]

There's no need to worry. In truth, we didn't need watches to begin with...nothing's going to come to a displacer beasts' den, and this one clearly didn't have a mate.


I won't fall behind. Worry not.

[fieldarcanum]

So then, why are you still awake?

[He shrugs a bit. Her explanation is satisfactory but now he's curious.]

[iconoclassist]

We don't sleep that much, if you hadn't noticed, Konstantin.

[Snorting a bit.] Don't need sleep. Don't need watch. Can't have any fun with stomach injury. Gnome cheats dice, anyway.

[...She must still be a little out of it if her accent keeps slipping.]

[fieldarcanum]

You are tired; you're talking like your cousin.

[Gently, but it clearly amuses him.]

[iconoclassist]

I lost a lot of blood, I'm pretty sure you noticed.

[In the dark, she likes to pretend he can't tell she just blushed.] I haven't seen Miali in a long while, I can't help it.

[fieldarcanum]

Is it common for elves to speak like that, then? They weren't uncommon at court, but... not precisely the most friendly.

[Well if he was human then maybe he couldn't?]

[iconoclassist]

How do I put it...Common has a lot of things that feel redundant. So many words to say so little...Er. Not that...it seems to work just fine, but...[Rubbing her neck and sighing.]

I learned common during the Betrayal War. Learn a language from human soldiers, loose the accent fast. The elves in the courts would be diplomats; studied in how not to sound like this. Miali's accent...'s closer to high court speech, to be honest.

[fieldarcanum]

This would imply a great deal about your cousin...

[He is considering something now.]

[iconoclassist]

...Imply? [Peering at him strangely.]

[fieldarcanum]

It would seem she was more than a simple bard, then, yes?

[iconoclassist]

Probably. But why not ask her? I don't know everything my cousin's ever been up to.

[fieldarcanum]

Perhaps at another time... As the journey winds on. No need to be too familiar all at once.

[iconoclassist]

...Worried we won't be with them all when we get to Ra-Zehman?

[Well, now she's going to put down the book and lean over the side of the cart near him.]

[fieldarcanum]

No, I just understand that most who choose the road do so because they value their privacy.

[iconoclassist]

Hard to tell which reasons you're choosing not to speak, sometimes.

[Poking him in the cheek.] Can't force you to open up if I wanted to, but you know, Konstantin, a little less caution might net you some new friends.

[fieldarcanum]

You seem rather intent on the idea that I make friends, aren't you?

[iconoclassist]

Well, you seem pretty lonely, is all. Friends are the obvious solution to that, aren't they?

[fieldarcanum]

Perhaps.... In time, we shall see, Shirin.

[iconoclassist]

...Alright. [Ceasing the cheekpokes, and just...staying comfortably leaned there. She can take a hint, so...abrupt subject change, go!]

It's a shame, really. This close to the wastes, I'd have liked the time to take a better look at the local flora. But we're on a schedule, and I don't really have the tools to take cuttings or seedlings.

[fieldarcanum]

[He seems to have no objections to her staying so close.]

It is impressive how quickly nature has returned to these areas...

[iconoclassist]

It's a tenacious and fiercely expansionist thing, nature. You wouldn't believe how many of these settlements we've had to move because of the danger they'd be in...It's one thing to explain that dryads are incredibly and violently territorial but it's another thing to try and keep an entire town from having their children stolen.

[...Given what he now knows about how elvish works and what it implies about elven culture, a lot of so-called 'elven raids' may make a whole lot more sense now.]