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Post by Malcolm on Jan 30, 2022 19:40:04 GMT -6
There was a great deal that had surprised Malcolm since having come to this city, but nothing had quite managed to outdo the debacle of having come into ownership of a… what was it they were called? Tat-lung. Some fancy name drawing from the language of a far-off place, and probably bastardized in the process. Apparently they were dragons, though as far as he could tell, the one that he had right now looked more like a fish than anything else. They were also not supposed to just show up at your house as an egg -- or at least, not the typical breeds, anyway. The one he had was special, or so the books said, if it was showing up unlooked for the way that it had. Malcolm had considered just selling the thing, of course. It would have been a quick and relatively painless way to profit from the situation. 1
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Post by Malcolm on Jan 30, 2022 19:40:50 GMT -6
But between a series of research conclusions and a slight sense of dread about the whole affair, he had elected, after much deliberation, to keep the creature after all. The caveats of keeping such a beast had been many and varied, not the least of which was some cautioning about forming a bond with the creature while it was still young enough to be impressionable, or else you ran the risk of having it utterly disdain you upon reaching its mature and most useful stage.
Malcolm wasn’t really a warm fuzzy kind of guy, and the whole notion of ‘culturing a bond’ with what was essentially a fancy fish struck him as absurd to the point of comedy. And yet, what else could he do? There was documented proof that they did turn into dragons, some of whom wielded power that was quite the envy of most other beasts.
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Post by Malcolm on Jan 30, 2022 19:41:03 GMT -6
If this thing really was as special as the information made it out to be, he had to humor it until it decided he was its friend. Which meant that he was now in the curious situation of carting around a glass tank full of water and its single, sad-looking inhabitant wherever he went.
If he thought it was bad minding Cashew… Well, in some sense this was actually a slight improvement, as being confined to the water meant that the fish couldn’t exactly wander off as it pleased. But carting around the tank was more than enough to be its own punishment. It was heavy, if he walked too fast it would slosh, and forget about going up or down even shallow inclines. It was a massive pain in the ass, and he was going to have to do this until it was grown, however long that was going to take.
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Post by Malcolm on Jan 30, 2022 19:41:40 GMT -6
He also had to endure comments from other people who thought they were being clever by offering him the advice that there was a loch where he could take his new fish for a nice little swim. He was sure there was, but there was nothing of interest for him there, and he wasn’t about to put his whole life on hold just to raise this fish until it stopped being one. He had business to do, money to make… And in today’s case, quests to pick up and fulfill, hopefully.
At least by now he had sort of gotten the hang of carting the stupid tank around, so it wasn’t like it had been when he had first started out, where a trip into town that might have taken him an hour without took three times that length to accomplish, and by the end of it he was ready to flip the damn tank over.
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Post by Malcolm on Jan 30, 2022 19:41:54 GMT -6
Now it would take perhaps a little less than twice that if he was unlucky, or simply an hour and a half if terrain and fortune were in his favor.
Still, it would be a stretch to say he enjoyed the walk to the quest board with his cumbersome charge. It would be a stretch in the general sense to say that he enjoyed going anywhere these days. By the time he arrived, he was already cursing his decision afresh, if only in his mind. He didn’t know how quickly these creatures acquired language, but if they were as intelligent as everyone said, then eventually they ought to gain some understanding through osmosis if nothing else. And when that time came, he didn’t want the creature to recognize the things that he had been saying about it this whole time, since that would certainly not be conducive towards forming any sort of tender loving bond, such as it were.
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Post by Malcolm on Jan 31, 2022 22:37:47 GMT -6
Now that he found himself at the quest board though, Malcolm was granted a brief reprieve from the curse of having to pull the tank and its contents along. At least he could peruse the listings while standing still, and for as long as he was doing that, he could pretend that it wasn’t here with him, waiting for him to go somewhere else, to afflict misery on him anew.
Truly, he could not wait until this fish was no longer bound to the water. Why couldn’t it fly, like that other species of magical fish? He had found some writings on it while doing the research on the strange egg that had suddenly appeared in his home, and while he had thought it was a little strange at the time, now he would have given almost anything to have that be the case for this fish too.
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Post by Malcolm on Jan 31, 2022 22:38:03 GMT -6
Even with the added hassle of having to mind it, the way that the had to mind Cashew or Yoru, when they were out and about together.
Chasing these thoughts from his mind, he looked over what was available. The pickings were… Well, to be honest, there wasn’t much that caught his interest this time around. A lot of the requests seemed to involve tackling some large beast or another, and Malcolm wasn’t really equipped to deal with those sorts of matters. He could defend himself well enough if things came to that -- say, if a business discussion went south in a dark alley somewhere, he felt reasonably good about his odds of making it out alive.
Or, well, he would in any city other than this one. It was hard to know what to expect here, where even the most innocuous looking creature could level a breath of fire at you and incinerate you on the spot.
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Post by Malcolm on Jan 31, 2022 22:38:14 GMT -6
And the people here were, on average, a little too well armed, possibly because they also had to contend with these strange beasts on the regular.
… He really would be so glad once he could finally take his leave of this place.
Malcolm’s expression darkened as he read over each listing, and with increasing impatience he flitted from one to the next. There had been one that he was avoiding, owing to its bright coloring and loud text -- the kind of posting that begged you to read it, and in his experience, those tended to promise some sort of odious proposition that he would find incredibly distasteful. But as it became increasingly apparent that none of the other postings were within his means, he turned, with great reluctance, to this overly decorated posting.
With even greater reluctance, he skimmed the contents of its proposal… then read it again, more closely, when he realized it didn’t involve fighting anything.
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Post by Malcolm on Jan 31, 2022 22:38:31 GMT -6
Or rather, it could, but at least it offered him other options, which was more than he could say about anything else he had seen thus far.
But his prediction about it proposing he do something inane that he would hate was also proving to be accurate. This was a request for assistance in preparing some sort of holiday feast.
“I guess it has been looking a little decorative around here lately,” he mused to himself. He spared a glance back at the tank, to make sure that the fish inside was still… well, inside. There was a lid to the tank, but you never know. If these fish really were as clever as children -- and the book said they were more so, which he couldn’t really imagine a fish being, to be honest -- then they would find a way out of their confines if they were really determined.
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Post by Malcolm on Jan 31, 2022 22:39:01 GMT -6
The fish was still firmly inside the tank, which was what mattered. But it had begun swimming its restless circles again, and Malcolm knew that if it got agitated enough, it would begin running into the glass, or sloshing more of the water out of the tank than he wanted to deal with.
With a sigh, he took the listing from its tack on the board, stuffed it into his pocket, and reached into the tank with his hand. He didn’t know how exactly you were supposed to soothe a fish -- even if it was an intelligent one -- and it had been a lot of trial and error in the last few weeks. But sometimes this worked and, like a child seeking the comfort of a guardian’s touch, it would come up to him and wind its slippery, scaly body around his hand for a while, and the agitation would abate temporarily.
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Post by Malcolm on Feb 1, 2022 0:23:50 GMT -6
It wasn’t a permanent solution, but it kept the thing from having a fishy tantrum somewhere inconvenient, Malcolm supposed. And ramming into the glass was the sort of self destructive behavior that could actually impart lasting harm, and he did want this creature to be functional enough to be useful. There was no point in raising it if it was simply going to mutilate itself into permanent damage.
Sure enough, the fish wound itself around his hand, and Malcolm had to repress the urge to shudder. Really, the effort of convincing this thing that he enjoyed its company and valued its well being on top of providing for it like this… The number of times in a day that he had to tell himself it would be worth it were increasing at an alarming rate. Maybe if the sensation wasn’t so unpleasant he would bear with it easier.
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Post by Malcolm on Feb 1, 2022 0:24:13 GMT -6
As much hassle as Cashew was sometimes, he really felt that Cashew’s presence was preferable to the one he was babysitting now.
Once he figured it had had enough, he withdrew his hand. The fish swam up against the glass, perhaps as an entreaty for him to put his hand back into the water, but he wasn’t about to spend all day like this. “Alas, my dear, we have a job to do,” he said. “You understand, of course.” He actually rather doubted that the fish understood him at all, though if it had managed to pick up Common after these, what, two weeks? If it had managed that, then it really was as clever as people made them out to be. He had been talking to it somewhat, even if it made him feel rather silly to do it. He had to keep reminding himself that it was comparable to raising a child.
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Post by Malcolm on Feb 1, 2022 0:25:22 GMT -6
Of course, that line of thought would feel more convincing if the fish looked like any child he had ever met. Not to mention the fact that he wasn’t exactly big on kids to begin with.
But maybe going to this feast would be enough of a change of scenery to give the fish something else to think about too. With his mind made up, he began the arduous process of lugging the tank all the way to the address written on the job posting. He didn’t feel particularly festive, and helping organize celebrations sounded like a drag, but the sooner he started, the sooner it would be over. That was the hope, anyway.
By the time they arrived at the address, Malcolm was beginning to hope that they would give him some sort of organizational role, though realistically he doubted that was going to be the case.
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Post by Malcolm on Feb 1, 2022 0:25:38 GMT -6
The exertions of pulling the tank on its little cart all this way had not done anything to improve his mood or his constitution, and now he was thoroughly tired out… But he probably only had a long day of chopping vegetables to look forward to.
Still, in the spirit of keeping up his own appearance if nothing else, he forced himself to straighten and smile as he knocked on the door. He had rapped on it but twice when the door was yanked unceremoniously open, and a singularly frazzled-looking woman eyed him up and down.
“You’re here to help, right? Well, come on in! Nice of you to bring some seafood, though I dare say that one’s a bit small,” she said. She grabbed him by the arm as she spoke, and didn’t even give him time to get a word in edgewise before she hauled him into the house with her.
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Post by Malcolm on Feb 1, 2022 0:25:49 GMT -6
He tried to wrench his arm from her grip, and was discomfited to find that he couldn’t manage it. He didn’t consider himself to be particularly weak, even if he didn’t possess any unusual gift of strength… But upon looking at her, he wouldn’t have guessed this woman to be possessed of such either.
“The fish is my companion,” he said. If he wasn’t worried about the possibility of the fish remembering and holding a grudge about this later, he wouldn’t have bothered to clarify… Though, no, perhaps he would have anyway, to prevent it from being confiscated and consumed without his consent. But the woman simply glanced back at him, arched a brow, and shrugged.
“Weird choice for a pet to walk, but I won’t judge,” she said, in a tone that made it clear that she had already made her judgment about him.
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