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Post by Briar on Oct 17, 2019 20:03:09 GMT -6
It had been a while since Aubrey had last visited the quest board. Some of it was the change of seasons. Maybe it was the... the change; he'd never quite felt so out of sorts when he had been smaller, but now the coming of fall filled him with a strange listlessness. It was harder and harder to get out of bed in the mornings.
Of course, things were a little different now--- Yeo-reum had reached his full growth, and with it, he had gained the ability to push his way more insistently into Aubrey's life. Which included shoving his snout under the covers and bodily rolling Aubrey out of bed if he thought Aubrey was taking too long.
Yeo-reum... probably meant well, but Aubrey also knew that he was bored, and had a great deal more energy than Aubrey himself did these days. And Yeo-reum could only entertain himself for so long, even with his newfound freedom.
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Post by Briar on Oct 17, 2019 20:05:44 GMT -6
That was why Aubrey decided to come check the quest board again today. It had seemed like a good idea, at least in theory... It would get them both out of the house, and give them a task they could set themselves to. That might be a good diversion for an intelligent creature like Yeo-reum. There was no telling if he would take to it, of course; Aubrey had never presumed to have anything like command of Yeo-reum, and Yeo-reum himself had delighted in pranks when he was still confined to water... But at least he might find it interesting, then, to upend Aubrey's attempts to get anything done.
But what Aubrey had been hoping for was a simple, small, straightforward task. His last one had been like that. Unfortunately, it didn't look like the request that had been put up this month would be quite as simple as he'd hoped.
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Post by Briar on Oct 17, 2019 20:26:29 GMT -6
He hadn't expected someone to ask him to... well, camp out outside their house, essentially, and... find vermin. His confusion gradually turned into something like dismay as the man flippantly pressed the flyer into his hands and walked off.
He read it, and the dismay grew. He couldn't just refuse, could he...?
Aubrey wasn't normally someone who was so reluctant to try something, but the idea of just squatting outside someone's home seemed... Maybe it was different if you were being asked to do it specifically, but even then, he didn't know if he had the heart to 'take care of' this person's 'pest problem'. Not that this necessarily meant that the quest giver expected him to kill anything, but Aubrey had only really ever worked with... It was pretty much just Yeo-reum, when it came to creatures. He didn't know a whole lot about dealing with creatures of any kind, vermin or otherwise.
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Post by Briar on Oct 17, 2019 20:29:36 GMT -6
When he turned back to see how Yeo-reum was taking this development, Aubrey saw that he was staring after the man who had already left. If he felt any sort of way about how things had gone, however, it didn't exactly show on his features. Aubrey had gotten better at reading Yeo-reum's moods right about when he went and grew up, and now Aubrey was finding that he had to learn them all over again. It was easier when Yeo-reum was being open, and wanted Aubrey to understand. Yeo-reum generally got the idea across, and he was much more expressive now than he had been. But if he wanted to be inscrutable, then he was; Aubrey hadn't gotten good enough at interpreting his body language yet to do much about that.
"Um," he said. "Did you get the gist of it? If not, I can explain what we have to do..."
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Post by Briar on Oct 17, 2019 20:40:41 GMT -6
It took a while to explain, as it turned out. Aubrey tried reading off the flyer first, but Yeo-reum didn't seem quite sure of what was happening after he had done that, so Aubrey explained it again using his own words and his own understanding... which he wasn't, admittedly, completely certain of either, but at least afterwards, Yeo-reum seemed more comfortable.
The idea didn't seem to faze him, anyway.
"I honestly don't think I have any camping equipment," Aubrey said. He didn't have the money for things like that. That was the other thing; quests weren't a bad way to earn a little extra coin here and there... theoretically, anyway. He'd done one quest though, and it hadn't been anything like this one.
He was starting to rethink his initial assessment.
But Yeo-reum seemed to be on board, so Aubrey clapped his hands a couple of times, to shoo away dispirited thoughts.
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Post by Briar on Oct 17, 2019 20:43:22 GMT -6
"Okay!" he said. "Let's do it! We can just go over to the address on the flyer, and figure everything else out once we get there."
If he was being honest, maybe he was hoping Yeo-reum would stop him, or at least offer a useful suggestion. But the Tat-lung's eyes merely twinkled in excitement, and he offered absolutely no deviation from what Aubrey was proposing.
Thus, they ended up on the front lawn of the property in question in the late afternoon. It wasn't quite evening, but at this time of year, that was still early enough for the sun to be creeping towards the horizon. Which wasn't anything unusual, but still, seeing it happen made Aubrey feel a little gloomier anyway.
"Where do you think we should stake out?" he said, trying to think about something else. And if he was changing the subject, focusing on the job at hand wasn't a bad idea.
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Post by Briar on Oct 19, 2019 12:30:55 GMT -6
Now that he had asked Yeo-reum a direct question, the Tat did at least seem to be thinking about it. He inclined his head this way and then that way, looking over the grounds themselves and then the house. Aubrey waited for a moment, but when it didn't seem like Yeo-reum was going to give him an immediate answer, he decided to apply himself a little as well.
The man had mentioned some sort of pests stealing into his workshop... Aubrey couldn't help but think that things would be a lot easier if they were allowed inside, so they could look for more evidence of what was happening. But then, he supposed it was also a bit much to be letting a stranger into your own home while you were away.
What sort of business was that fellow off to anyway, that he had left in such a hurry, and only left his flyer behind?
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Post by Briar on Oct 19, 2019 12:45:20 GMT -6
It must have been something urgent, but that left plenty of possibilities open, and Aubrey really didn't know enough about him to make any kind of useful conjecture in that general direction.
But if they were going to investigate, then the house itself did seem like a good place to start, even if they only had access to the outside of it. Aubrey made his way to the side of the building, hoping to see something that might be worth looking into. He wasn't sure whether it would be just that easy; if it were, logically, then the man wouldn't have needed to hire someone else to look into it for him, right? Still, it could just be that he really was that busy, and hadn't had the time to spare for something like this, even if it was causing him grief.
Yeo-reum broke off from whatever he was thinking at Aubrey's movement.
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Post by Briar on Oct 19, 2019 12:49:36 GMT -6
Not one to be left behind, he trailed behind, though in a meandering sort of way that spoke to his own lack of urgency. His investment in all this was still no more than idle curiosity, and the desire to occupy himself and his time with something more diverting than staying cooped up at home all day.
When he moved into Aubrey's view, the Tat gave him a quizzical look, and Aubrey offered him a quick explanation. "The flyer said something about things getting into his workshop, right? I'm seeing if I can find out how they got in. I'm looking for holes or gaps in the walls, some place where a little creature can slip through. Do you want to help me look?"
Yeo-reum didn't so much communicate his assent as he did apply himself to the task immediately, poring over the wall of the work shed and looking for holes.
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Post by Briar on Oct 19, 2019 12:56:16 GMT -6
His quick turnaround startled a laugh from Aubrey. Admittedly it was a little hard to tell whether his enthusiasm was just for show... Or, for that matter, whether he was actually interested in finding a gap, or if he was just happy to have something to do. Maybe the whole thing was an act or a joke, the way that Yeo-reum liked to do sometimes. Aubrey distinctly remembered that this was the creature who had decided to accompany the reveal of his newly limbed form by performing what Aubrey could only have called jazz hands.
There were certain advantages that Yeo-reum had that Aubrey himself lacked, however. One of these was undoubtedly that of height. Aubrey wasn't the smallest humanoid he personally had seen, and he was certainly a great deal bigger than he used to be, but he wasn't exactly tall either. The shed, at least, had been built for someone taller.
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Post by Briar on Oct 19, 2019 12:59:34 GMT -6
Thus, it wasn't possible for him to see the higher parts of the wall very well, let alone the roof. Aubrey's own thoughts were more along the lines of searching along the bottom of the building, suspecting rodents or some kind of burrowing animal, but after having seen Yeo-reum searching the higher areas, it occurred to him that there was something of wisdom in the Tat's first instinct being to look up. It wasn't out of the question for the culprit they were looking for to be some kind of climber as well.
"You can look up there, and I'll search down here," Aubrey proposed. "You're so much taller than me anyway."
Yeo-reum broke off from his search just long enough to place the claws of one foreleg on Aubrey's head and ruffle his hair a bit, not unlike the way the shopkeeper from the Herbologist shop had done a few days ago.
(note to self: posts counted)
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Post by Renathan on Oct 19, 2019 18:27:05 GMT -6
You have rolled a success! Your QP has been added to the bank, and your prize will be sent out shortly. You may continue roleplaying if you wish!
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