Abraxas | Inbox

[aquilus]

Comments

— a week after the lost are discharged

[theidlemaiden]

[ Once Claude and Sylvain are properly back in the Sarstina, Hilda turns her attention towards the new charges that they had somehow acquired over the course of the tumultuous four weeks. She doesn't have the faintest idea how to care for lizards, but a quick trip to the library at least tells her that she's done a piss poor job of it so far.

She tries to keep an eye out for Altair in the tavern, but he proves elusive and slippery as ever. Or maybe she's just lazy and figures sending a message is easier instead. Take your pick. ]

𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘪 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵? 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦.

[aquilus]

[Little does Hilda know that Altaïr doesn't come to the Sarstina all the time because he sleeps on roofs and other weird places.]

Who?

[Social niceties, what are those.]

[theidlemaiden]

𝘞𝘩𝘰?!

[ If outrage could be translated through text, it would be. ]

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘶𝘯𝘯? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵? 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦.

[aquilus]

[Children? His sex life is bad, but he's not that desperate.]

Ah. The experiment and its mate. What about them?

[theidlemaiden]

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.

[ Honestly, the audacity of this man. ]

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘝𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘶𝘯𝘯.

[aquilus]

[Yes, he remembers now. At the time they hadn't seemed all that important.]

He isn't. The clockwork removes that possibility.

We have what?

[theidlemaiden]

[ Somewhere in her room she mimics his text to her, the word "smartass" coming to mind. ]

𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘺! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?

[ Emphasis on "we". ]

[aquilus]

Do we?

Why?

[theidlemaiden]

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

[aquilus]

Yes. You wanted to take them.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘜𝘨𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯! 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮?

[aquilus]

[RELUCTANTLY]

I am. The lizard should be dead. Yet it seems in good health.

[theidlemaiden]

[ VICTORIOUSLY - ]

𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵!

𝘝𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢? 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴.

[aquilus]

I can be.

[He's on a rooftop somewhere at the moment but whatever.]

[theidlemaiden]

𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯!

( ooc: throwing yet another thread here. )

[carmesi]

Hilda is feeling very particular about your naming skills.

[aquilus]

[A deep, deep sigh of exasperation cannot possibly be conveyed through their mental text connection but perhaps Wanda can hear it anyway, somehow.]

Names are for humans. Designations are sufficient for animals.

[carmesi]

You know it's important to her.

[aquilus]

Which is why I am allowing her to have her way in the matter.

Eventually.

[carmesi]

I had to tell her that she could name them after precious gems.
But I think you could name at least one. You can still do numbers, but in another language.

[aquilus]

They would still be numbers and I am certain she would object to that, coming from me.
In which case it's better to just acquiesce.
That doesn't mean I won't make her work for it.

[carmesi]

[give her more credit, altaïr.]

I think—and I know it isn't an excuse—but I think looking after these lizards is distracting her from something that is upsetting her.
Make her work for it, but give her her win a little earlier, if you could?

[you know... girl things, but wanda's a little worried.]

[aquilus]

What is bothering her?

[Does he need to kill someone?]

[carmesi]

It’s… complicated. Feelings are complicated.

[no you don’t sir. yet.]

[aquilus]

That they are.

[Okay, but he will at a moment's notice. No one tell Hilda.]