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Post by Linyü on Aug 10, 2023 18:12:07 GMT -6
"No, it's going to be easy, I promise," Seveth was saying. He was walking through town, accompanied by Ichaival, who kept pace beside him. Presently, the dragon shot him a dubious look. {It's fascinating,} Ichaival said. {My confidence wanes every time I hear you utter those words.} "Oh, stop being so sour about it. It's just a little job! All we have to do is clear out some bugs from someone's garden. How bad can it be?" Seveth waved the little slip of paper in his hand with the job posting written on it. Having gone to the job board, he'd picked the easiest task he could find. There had been some real tough ones on the list, and for a moment there he had almost despaired of finding something he could handle, but things had worked out in the end. Right? ... Or maybe not. {You were saying?} Ichaival said. 1
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Post by Linyü on Aug 10, 2023 18:16:01 GMT -6
They had arrived at the address that had been on the listing, and someone at the property -- presumably the person who had posted the job -- led them to the garden. There, Seveth took in the sight of massive caterpillars chewing away at everything in sight. Watching them all wiggling and writhing around... Seveth had to repress a shudder. He was, truth be told, never the best with bugs, but he had thought he could handle a few caterpillars of regular size.
A few. And certainly not ones this large.
"Hey, so how much--" he began, turning to the person who had brought them here, but they were already gone. They must have made their escape while Seveth was still getting over the initial shock of seeing the state of the garden.
{You had best get to work if you want to finish this by sundown,} Ichaival said, ever the helpful companion.
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Post by Linyü on Aug 10, 2023 18:24:47 GMT -6
The mention of sundown brought San to mind, and for a moment, Seveth entertained the idea of leaving this for San to deal with. San probably wasn't afraid of bugs. He'd just pick them off by the handful and crush them in his hands. Their hands. Hands Seveth would have to use the next day. Hmm, maybe he shouldn't leave it to San after all. Not to mention the fact that San had been pretty angry with him about the whole eviction thing, and they were still living out of an inn room, which meant it was probably a little too soon to be asking him for any favors.
"Ugh," Seveth said. "This is the worst. Did they at least give us any gloves?"
Fortunately, the job poster hadn't been completely heartless. There were, in fact, gloves. There were also tongs, probably meant for picking up litter, and a bucket.
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Post by Linyü on Aug 10, 2023 19:41:40 GMT -6
What there noticeably was not was bug spray of any kind.
{Well, it is a garden. Presumably they didn't want to kill their own plants,} Ichaival said.
Seveth made a face. "I think their plants are basically already dead. But I guess they won't pay if I don't do it their way, huh..." Seveth grimaced and began putting on the gloves. These had obviously seen some use, but they were still passable for use. Picking up the tongs with them on was a little more unwieldy though, and Seveth prayed that he wouldn't accidentally drop one of the caterpillars on himself once he got started.
They were just bugs. They were big for caterpillars, but they weren't like... the size of houses... Just the size of his hands! Yeah! That wasn't so bad!
He had to spend a solid ten minutes psyching himself up -- and telling Ichaival not to rush him -- before he could start.
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Post by Linyü on Aug 10, 2023 20:55:53 GMT -6
It was, in a word, dreadful. His grip on those tongs were chancy at best, and his worst fears were realized: he did drop the caterpillars on himself several times. He didn't know how exactly he got them off; at those points, his memory devolved into a lot of screaming and flailing, and possibly a few out of body experiences. Eventually he gave up on the tongs and just started picking them up with his gloved hands, but then he had to feel the squish of their bodies. And then some of them started crawling out of the buckets...
By the time he was done, it really was nearly sundown. He didn't remember eating. Adrenaline and near-paralyzing levels of disgust had gotten him through the day in a kind of high-strung fugue state. Ichaival's only contribution was to roast the bugs once Seveth dumped them out of the bucket.
"Never again," Seveth said with a shudder, holding his payment to his chest.
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Post by NPC on Aug 15, 2023 12:17:19 GMT -6
Congratulations, you have successfully completed the quest! Your QP will be added to the bank, and your prize will be sent out shortly.
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