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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 14:53:58 GMT -6
"This is so stupid." A man and a dragon were standing at the edge of a park, flanked on both sides by a small army of saplings in burlap sacks. The man, young and of short-to-middling height, wore a tank top over old, ratty jeans, and a button down tied around his waist. There was a straw hat on his head, tilted at a jaunty angle. He had one hand on the grip of a shovel, though mostly, apparently, so he could lean his weight against it. The dragon was unadorned. It was also decidedly unimpressed with the man's words. {The job isn't going to do itself, you know,} said the dragon. "Oh hush, Ichaival. I don't see you making a move to help." The young man gave the dragon's shoulder a solid shove, not that it did him much good. His gloved hand slid off the dragon's smooth scales, and he stumbled a couple of steps before catching himself.
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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 14:58:43 GMT -6
The dragon narrowed its eyes at the man, who righted himself and very pointedly did not turn back to look at the dragon. "If you laugh at me, then you're dead," he said, a threat that did not faze the dragon in the slightest.
{Isn't it a little too early in the day to be drunk, even for you?} it replied.
The man let out a laugh. "Oh, didn't you hear? I'm not allowed to drink anymore. Mhm. Yeah. In one of his scathing little journal entries, he said alcohol 'destroys the body and dulls the reflexes'. Could you imagine hating fun that much?"
{Maybe he's tired of dealing with all your hangovers,} the dragon said. {He does seem to be around for more of them than you are.} It inspected the shovel, discarded when the man was taking his stumble, which now lay in the dirt, momentarily abandoned by its owner.
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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 15:02:50 GMT -6
"That's what made it such a good arrangement! I got to have all the fun, which he doesn't seem interested in anyway, and he can deal with all the boring parts like drinking water and eating horrible fish soup." Now the man did turn to face the dragon once more, grinning, hands braced on his hips. "Taking one for the team."
{Hmm,} said the dragon, who wisely declined on responding to this latest bit of folly. Picking the shovel up in one of its foreclaws, the dragon handed it back to the man. {Seveth. You dropped this,} it said.
"Ugh," said Seveth. "Must I?"
{We have been hired on for this,} said the dragon. {Or more specifically, you have.}
"I haven't been hired on for anything," Seveth said. "He's the one who took the job. Why can't he be the one to do it?"
{Because you were the one who woke up today,} the dragon said.
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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 15:07:56 GMT -6
"Yes, well, maybe he should have thought of that before he accepted," grumbled Seveth, but he did snatch the shovel from Ichaival's outstretched claw.
As he muttered further condemnations under his breath, the dragon said, {Well, we do need the money. And what was that you'd said? Taking one for the team?} Seveth didn't reply to that one, at least not verbally; he only turned his head to glare at Ichaival as though the dragon had betrayed him in the gravest possible way.
Ichaival watched the other humanoids who had gathered for the planting for a moment. They were already hard at work, some chattering as they dug or prepared their saplings, laughing in the warmth of the early afternoon sunlight. A few children were running around, and a few creatures were too--- dogs of all kinds, and also some other more unusual creatures, though maybe none quite as striking as Ichaival itself.
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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 15:21:22 GMT -6
Glancing back at the sullen figure of Seveth, Ichaival tried again. {Come now, it cannot be so bad. You planted herbs all the time,} the dragon coaxed.
"Yes, but herbs are small," said Seveth. "They're these lovely little things that you can grow with a little dirt and love in an old coffee can. These are trees, Ichaival. This is hard labor. I'm not made for this! Look at these hands!" He took off one glove and waved his now naked hand under the dragon's nose.
Ichaival looked down at the hand, palm rough with callouses, the light scars all along the skin, lightly tanned, with the fingernails trimmed short. It looked back up at Seveth, who seemed to have realized his error. Snatching his hand back, he buried his face in the palm of it. "Ugh," he said. "Right. Of course. I forgot about that," he said. "My beautiful hands..."
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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 15:32:41 GMT -6
{Well, if you look on the bright side, at least you don't have to worry about tarnishing them.}
"You're right. He's got no good looks to ruin because he doesn't have any," Seveth muttered darkly. He jammed the glove back onto his hand. "Fine, I'll plant these stupid trees. And then when he wakes up tomorrow with blisters and sore arms, he can take that one for the team."
Once again, Ichaival wisely said nothing, and stood back as Seveth righted himself, holding onto the shovel with both hands and renewed conviction. "Alright, public project, prepare to meet your maker!"
Ichaival watched as Seveth rushed out, planted the tip of the shovel into the ground as if it were a lance, tried to shove it in further with his foot to very little effect, then pull on the grip to no avail. He tried again, but the shovel stayed right where it was.
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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 15:37:31 GMT -6
A couple more attempts later, and Seveth had apparently abandoned the idea of pulling up any dirt with the shovel. Now he was just trying, with increasing desperation, just to get it back out of the ground. He tugged, then planted his feet and tugged again; and finally, after putting his weight into it, the thing slid free all at once and sent him stumbling backwards to fall onto his back.
{If you laugh at me, you're dead,} said Seveth.
{Wouldn't dream of it,} said Ichaival drily.
Seveth didn't immediately get up, even though he knew it wasn't making him look any better to stay sprawled there on the ground. And okay, he had been a little unfair about San's looks when he said the guy had none to lose. It wasn't that San--- or Linyü, since that was what they were going by right now--- was ugly, per se, it was more just that he was... plain.
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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 15:41:40 GMT -6
Or rather, he could have been cute under the right circumstances, but San certainly wasn't interested in making those circumstances happen. And Seveth was still wrapping his head around dressing someone completely different from what he was used to, never mind their budget constraints, and the lecture he got whenever San found out that he'd been wearing anything even remotely interesting.
'We need to keep a low profile,' the journal entry had said. 'We cannot afford to attract too much attention.'
This really was such a shitty deal.
"Mister, are you alright?"
Seveth blinked, and found himself staring up at the face of a little Mammalian girl. No, that wasn't quite right, he realized; it was an Ungulate. They could look a little similar sometimes, excepting the legs. Her brows were furrowed in concern, and a moment later, her mother materialized by her side, staring down at him with a much more amused expression.
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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 15:44:52 GMT -6
"Oh, he'll live," said the woman. "Won't you, dear?" She reached out a hand and Seveth took it, letting her haul him to his feet. Except she did it with a lot more force than he was expecting, and he stumbled again, though fortunately he managed to stay upright. That got another laugh out of the woman, while the girl chided her mother.
"Mama," said the girl. "Don't bully him. Papa says we're not supposed to bully boys."
"Oh, your father would like that, would he?" said the woman, arching a brow at her. "Well, you're alright, aren't you?" she said, turning to Seveth.
"Certainly," said Seveth, though he took a little step back just in case she was one of those types that liked to thump you right on the back. There had been sailors like that on the ship they'd taken to arrive here, and he'd had just about enough of that, thank you very much.
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Post by Linyü on Mar 15, 2020 15:52:25 GMT -6
"See?" The woman grinned at her daughter. "What'd I tell ya?"
The girl didn't seem convinced. Addressing Seveth, she said, "If Mama's mean, just you let me know. I'm Sana. Who are you?"
"Delighted to make your acquaintance, Sana," said Seveth, bowing with a little flourish. Righting himself, he pinched his fingers together, then opened them to reveal a little corsage of flowers. "For a pretty little lady like yourself," he said, presenting them to her. The girl gave a soft gasp of surprise, eyes wide and bright, and gingerly she reached for the flowers, only to have them burst into a shower of illusory sparks. She gasped again, and looked at Seveth, who grinned at her and winked.
"You're a magic man?" said Sana's mother, who was less impressed by the spectacle, but at least she looked amused. Giving him a deliberate once over, she said, "You don't look the type, if you'll pardon me saying so."
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Post by Renathan on Mar 15, 2020 16:00:42 GMT -6
You have rolled a success! Your QP will be added to the bank and your prize will be sent shortly. You may continue roleplaying if you wish!
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