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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:42:52 GMT -6
It seemed that now, after Seveth had managed a couple of jobs without burning anything down or grievously injuring himself, San was trying harder to put him to work. Seveth didn’t like this development. He’d been enjoying their previous arrangement, where San did all the difficult, boring stuff, while Seveth did all the interesting things, like buying nicer clothes or spending all day at the library. It wasn’t as if he didn’t contribute anything. Their cover identity was a student, and of the two of them, Seveth was a lot better at studying. Or at least he was pretty sure he was, anyway; the way they were now didn’t actually let him inside San’s mind, so it was hard to know for sure. But San didn’t strike him as the bookish type, with how much he threw himself into that brutal workout routine. 1 (first time doing this quest)
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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:43:03 GMT -6
Seveth didn’t know what exactly it was San did every day, but the ache in his body when he woke up told him it was invariably awful.
Still, a little soreness wasn’t the biggest price to pay for a new lease on life and this much freedom.
Too bad it was all coming to an end.
You can handle this. Thus read the note that San had left for him, on top of a piece of paper that looked like it had come from the quest board. Seveth gave it a skim, and found that it was an invitation to some sort of feast. At first his eyes lit up. San was asking him to go to a party? So the man could be considerate, Seveth thought -- though frankly, as much fun as it sounded, he would rather San had the opportunity, if only so he could get out and live a little more.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:43:13 GMT -6
Seveth didn’t know what the whole deal was with San or what he was on the run from, but nothing had happened to them since they got here, so would it kill him to learn to relax and have some fun?
… But then Seveth read a little further, and got to the part where it said something about helping with the feast, and escaped poultry… And the color of his face began to pale a little. Not a lot, mind you, but well, it was pretty disappointing. And a little daunting. He hadn’t had to catch chickens before. He hoped they had other jobs for him when he showed up.
… If he showed up. Wait, why was he agreeing to this anyway?
{Because you spent almost all the earnings he brought back last week,} Ichaival offered helpfully.
“Whose side are you on?” Seveth said, letting a slight whine creep into his voice.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:43:25 GMT -6
Ichaival didn’t dignify this with a response, and merely closed its eyes. They were out in a garden not too far from the apartment building, so that Seveth could read the posting and its accompanying note in the sun, though he was sort of starting to regret his decision to come out. It was still February, and still cold. Spring was around the corner, but it wasn’t quite here yet, and the cold was already creeping into Seveth’s fingers despite his best efforts. The fact that he was so skinny and underfed probably didn’t help… though it wasn’t as if he had been eating all that well in the years before this had happened either, come to think of it.
{It isn’t such a terrible thing to shift for yourself,} said Ichaival. And then, more gently, it said, {You’ve done as much before.}
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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:43:37 GMT -6
“Yeah, but that was because I had to. Besides, after going through all of that, don’t you think I deserve to retire?” Seveth leaned back and looked up at Ichaival through the dark fringe of his hair. He had mostly gotten used to the color, if only he didn’t think about it too hard. He sort of wished he could grow it out, but San probably wouldn’t like that.
{If your habits were more frugal, perhaps,} Ichaival said. There it was, that ‘tactful’ little tone. Where had Ichaival picked that up anyway? Seveth certainly never spoke to it like that.
Seveth breathed a sigh. “If he wants me to go, and you want me to go, I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?” He squinted at the posting one more time, scrunching his face up in displeasure as he imagined the work it would involve.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:43:47 GMT -6
Even if they didn’t make him catch chickens, he would probably end up having to peel vegetables or do other drudgery kitchen tasks like that. Really, San should have gone. He was the one doing all the cooking in their house anyway, and it was readily apparent that he was better at it than Seveth would be.
{You wanted to improve your skills with a knife,} Ichaival pointed out. {This might give you the opportunity, with a teacher whose expectations are lower than San’s.}
“That’s where you’re wrong, Chai.” Seveth turned around on the bench he was sitting on, propping his forearms across the back and resting his chin on them. “I don’t think anyone expects less from me than San.”
{If that were true, he wouldn’t send you on these jobs,} Ichaival replied.
Seveth blinked, then brightened. “You think I should just do worse?”
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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:44:00 GMT -6
Ichaival breathed a long sigh. {... That wasn’t what I said.}
Seveth laughed. “I was kidding,” he said. Sort of. He was sort of kidding. If he thought it would work, he would have tried it, but they were already at this point now and he was pretty sure San would just accuse him of deliberately being dead weight... Which would have been true, unfortunately. He often thought that it was a good thing San couldn’t yell at him in person. He was a man of few words over text, but those words usually weren’t very nice.
He tried to see it the way that Ichaival wanted him to. It was true that he thought it would be sort of fun to learn the crazy skills that San had with a blade, and it was true that San was also good at cooking… Maybe one was training for the other.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:44:11 GMT -6
But it had been more fun when the prospect had been muscle memory, his body recalling skills he hadn’t actually practiced before. It wasn’t quite so exciting if he had to learn it the normal way. … And there were some nice shoes that he had had his eye on. It would probably be easier to talk San into not skinning him for buying them if the money was something he’d earned himself. “Fine,” said Seveth. “At least the feasting part sounds fun… If I survive that long.” ----- Ichaival had probably meant for Seveth to go alone when he took the job that San had foisted on him, but Seveth had wheedled Ichaival into accompanying him for ‘moral support’. Which Chai clearly found to be bogus, but actually, Seveth meant it. It would have been nicer if Ichaival could do some of the work for him, of course, but Chai was too big. 8
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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:44:21 GMT -6
And even if it could fit inside the house, Ichaival probably wouldn’t have been allowed in the kitchen -- not that it had any knife skills to speak of either, for that matter.
Still, going around in the company of a dragon wasn’t all that unusual in these parts, and it would be nice to spend a day with Chai, just the two of them, the way that it used to be all the time.
Also, Chai was the one who talked him into this, so Chai should have to listen to him gripe if it turned out to be awful.
{You haven’t matured at all since you were a hatchling, I see,} said Ichaival. But it had acquiesced, in the end. The walk to the place was pretty pleasant, despite the cold; the sun was out, and by the time they arrived, Seveth was actually in good spirits.
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Post by Linyü on Feb 28, 2022 23:44:31 GMT -6
There was no telling what sort of horrors awaited him beyond those doors, but he was going to enjoy this good mood while it lasted.
{Go on,} Ichaival said, when Seveth took his time on the front step. {You’re already here.}
“Don’t rush me,” Seveth said, though was true that he was sort of just delaying the inevitable. Still, as he lifted his hand to ring the doorbell, there was a part of him that was anticipating seeing what he would find within. What sort of person threw a feast celebration and invited any random person who could pitch in to attend? Maybe it was just a friendly sort of person, but there was also a chance that it was some eccentric with an agenda... Or maybe something more sinister could have been afoot. He'd read a novel once about a cannibal who hosted lavish dinner parties to lure in his victims.
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Post by Linyü on Jan 28, 2023 0:22:38 GMT -6
Ichaival breathed a sigh. {I would warn you if the hosts intended to consume you,} said the dragon. {In fact, I can assure you that there is no one in that house with any such intent.}
Seveth laughed, though the sound was still a little nervous. "Yeah, I guess you would, wouldn't you? Alright then, here I go." He swallowed once, then lifted his hand and knocked three times, neat and sharp, on the wooden door. How bad could it be, really? He went to new places and met new people all the time. Liked it, even. This was just that, except with a little more elbow grease involved.
... Oh, who was he kidding? He wasn't worried about being cannibalized. Seveth was worried about the chickens. As he stood there, waiting for someone to come to the door, he couldn't help but strain to see if he could hear the sound of clucking.
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Post by Linyü on Jan 28, 2023 0:22:56 GMT -6
The chickens in these parts were no joke either. What did those creepy labs call them? Chickens of doom? The name might have been an ironic one, but given the nature of the creatures here in general, he wasn't sure that he wanted to take that chance. Did they even have ordinary chickens to eat here anymore, or was every chicken farmer in the trade now expected to risk life and limb?
Gods and angels, was he ever glad that San hadn't taken an interest in agriculture. For that matter, he was very glad that he hadn't ended up with a farmer for a roommate. Or whatever he and San were.
The thoughts in his head cycled through pretty quickly, but he was having an awful lot of them. Or rather, he was being given the time to have a lot of these -- admittedly useless -- thoughts, more than Seveth had expected.
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Post by Linyü on Jan 28, 2023 0:23:12 GMT -6
Why hadn't anyone come to the door? Seveth couldn't hear anything through it, though it looked to be pretty sturdy, and the rest of the house that he could see looked to be sporting thick walls of stone. Maybe they just hadn't heard him? He was just lifting his hand to knock again when Ichaival said, {Someone is at the door.} This was all the warning Seveth had before the door burst open -- thankfully it opened inward, or he might have been knocked onto his ass -- and a round-bellied Mammalian man greeted him.
"Oh, you must be here for the feast!" The Mammalian's eyes crinkled merrily in the kind of jolly smile Seveth expected to find in a holiday painting. Seveth was just beginning to smile back when the man grabbed Seveth's wrist with both of his hands, and tugged him bodily inside, before Seveth could even confirm his assumption.
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Post by Linyü on Jan 28, 2023 0:24:07 GMT -6
To be fair, it was a fair assumption, given the job notice that had been put out, and the fact that Seveth had shown up around the right time, but... "Wait, wait, wait!" Seveth said, trying to tug his hand free from the man's surprisingly firm grip. For a person who wasn't very tall, this fellow was strong. "Where are you taking me?"
The man did stop, though he didn't let go -- or at least not entirely. He now held Seveth by one hand, though apparently only because he needed the other to open a drawer and pick through its contents, searching for... whatever it was that he was searching for. It wasn't Seveth's house; he wouldn't know.
The man didn't seem perturbed at all, or any more inclined to release Seveth, even in the face of Seveth's protests. Seveth cast a desperate glance back in the direction of the door.
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Post by Linyü on Jan 28, 2023 0:26:05 GMT -6
It was mercifully still open; the man had forgotten to close it behind him. Or at least Seveth assumed that was what had happened, anyway. Maybe the Mammalian man had left it open deliberately, so that Ichaival could also make its way inside, though if that was the case, the gesture was misplaced. Ichaival wouldn't fit through this door.
Ichaival also didn't seem as if it was going to intervene. Which meant that the man wasn't dangerous, not in a way that Ichaival was concerned about. But he sure was awfully pushy, if Seveth's welcome so far was anything to go by.
"What do you mean, where am I taking you? To the kitchens, of course! You didn't read the ad?" The man only now turned to look at Seveth again, squinting at him a little. "You do know how to read? Well, I s'pose we can always tell you what to do if you don't."
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