[ There's another delay while he flips through a journal previously provided to him by Sawbones, and takes his time reading through a dog-eared page. ]
[ Compared to the state in which she kept her bunk, Athessa's room is rather tidy. That's probably just because there's more room between every individual item. There's definitely a chair piled high with clothes, and the bed isn't made, and a number of pillows are scattered on the floor for comfortable fireside lounging.
There's also an eagle-sized white bat and five kittens in residence but they're minding their own business so don't worry about them. ]
Come on in, make yourself comfortable. [ She's clearly got a designated spot by the fire where there's a little tray on which she's been rolling joints while waiting. ]
He stops in the doorway, looking from Athessa at the fire to the hulking dandelion pelt, the membranous, translucent wings, and particularly the oversized mouth of Batty Batkins. Then from the mouth to the kittens.
Back to Athessa, he nods to her welcome, and enters without voicing the obvious question.
The fire provides a welcome respite from the cooler confines of his own shared quarters; he folds himself down into a cross-legged seat among the pillows. It’s only like 70% awkward. ]
The literature on elfroot I was provided was very light on details around the side-effects of smoking it, [ he says, very seriously, for a grown man sitting among pillows in front of a fire. ] Is it considered addictive?
No more than wine or ale, [ said with a shrug as she picks up one of the joints and lights it in the fire. ] And light on lasting side effects. No hangovers or anything like that as far as I've experienced.
[ With a light shake of her hand she puts out the flames that catch on the paper, then breathes life into the cherry before taking a drag and holding the smoke in her lungs for a few seconds. Second benefit to smoking fireside: blowing the smoke up the chimney. ]
[ Richard watches with keen interest, much the same way he might watch a bird poke a stick into a hole, or a giant bat roll a kitten up in its long sticky tongue. His curiosity is a little clinical, but it’s also genuine -- he is at least as interested in the process as he is the end result.
He’s also a shade scruffier than he was when she saw him last. Not much. Gradually sliding down the gradient between a freshly groomed designer terrier and one that ate too many shoes and was sent to live on a farm. ]
It's best if you inhale through your mouth and your nose at the same time, if you can. And you don't have to suck on it or anything, just breathe in like normal, but hold it in for a bit before breathing out, then wait a few minutes for it to kick in.
[ The pinch of his fingertips around the joint is awkward around the middle; he gives it a cursory sniff before he rights it round and goes through the paces of breathing in, holding for a few seconds and -- stifling a surprised cough.
Not a great sign.
The expelled smoke hangs in the air a beat -- he’s quick enough to hold the joint back out to her before he spirals fully into a dry, muffled fit. ]
[ She laughs, but not maliciously. She just can't help it! But, taking the joint back she hops up and fetches him something to drink. ]
Sorry, [ about laughing ] it helps to chug something when that happens.
[ With the drink handed off, she takes another hit for herself, holding in the smoke for a moment and then letting it stream out her nostrils as she laughs some more. ]
[ He manages to curtail his coughing long enough to sip whatever’s offered, and sits for a moment after that struggling to keep it from kicking back up. A second sip and a dusty clearing of his throat, and he’s recovered enough to nod along with her assurance. ]
Thank you.
[ His voice rasps thin; he clears his throat again -- bleary from the coughing, but still quite sober. ]
[ It takes until after she hands off the joint for Athessa to realize he means Batty Batkins. As if there were some new, interloping giant bat in the room. ]
Oh! That's Batty Batkins. Me n' Mhavos found him a while back, [ She moseys over to Barty and gives him a few affectionate scritches. ] I decided to take him in.
[ The joint spindles smoke in Richard’s fingers while he watches her drift over to scratch into Batty Batkin’s fur. Even now, his poker face is pristine -- absolute confusion limited to a non-judgmental slant at his brow. ]
Are they … native to the area?
[ Should he be looking out for these things on the towers after dark?
He takes a drag -- more confident than the first, and held substantially longer before he kicks it out through his sinuses with another cough. ]
[ Batty Batkins chitters happily about the scritches, and Athessa let's out a soft scoff. ]
Hardly. Best I can figure is someone used magic to make him like this, and then he got loose. The type of bat he is seems to be a relative of the tent making bats they have in Rivain, [ She returns to the pillow she was sitting on before and approximates the size of the Rivaini bats with two fingers. Barely bigger than a coin. ] Which are about this big and brown with stripes.
[ Dick half-listens as he stifles another bout of burning coughs into his drink, joint pinched aside for her to reclaim at will. ]
Any kind of permanent physical transformation is very difficult to achieve where I’m from.
[ He’s distracted, as he says so. Behind his eyes, gears and axles are starting to slow out of their locomotive chug. He lifts his drink, lowers it again. Lifts it. ]
A very powerful, very well-educated mage, [ says Richard, who successfully remembers to sip his drink before setting it aside on a flat stretch of floor. ] In lieu of that, there are pacts with devils, divine interventions, certain rites fueled by ritual sacrifice.
Naturally any of the latter might have unforeseen consequences.
[ He pauses again. Buffering. Then he chuckles, low in his throat.
It’s too self-deprecating to be wholly sinister. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2020-03-16 10:50 pm (UTC)[ ‘If so, I have an idea for how you might experience such a thing.’ He reads over this line several times, and before he writes (much more slowly): ]
I’m not sure I follow.
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Date: 2020-03-16 11:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-17 01:33 am (UTC)Is this something you do often?
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Date: 2020-03-17 01:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-17 05:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-17 06:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-17 06:44 am (UTC)Where should I meet you?
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Date: 2020-03-17 07:03 am (UTC)[ She's moved into a private room since she first met him taking stock of the group quarters, and she's definitely not making moves on him. ]
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Date: 2020-03-17 07:10 am (UTC)[ Richard Dickerson dwells in a world of absolute certainty that nobody is ever making a move on him. ]
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Date: 2020-03-17 01:02 pm (UTC)There's also an eagle-sized white bat and five kittens in residence but they're minding their own business so don't worry about them. ]
Come on in, make yourself comfortable. [ She's clearly got a designated spot by the fire where there's a little tray on which she's been rolling joints while waiting. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-17 07:24 pm (UTC)He stops in the doorway, looking from Athessa at the fire to the hulking dandelion pelt, the membranous, translucent wings, and particularly the oversized mouth of Batty Batkins. Then from the mouth to the kittens.
Back to Athessa, he nods to her welcome, and enters without voicing the obvious question.
The fire provides a welcome respite from the cooler confines of his own shared quarters; he folds himself down into a cross-legged seat among the pillows. It’s only like 70% awkward. ]
The literature on elfroot I was provided was very light on details around the side-effects of smoking it, [ he says, very seriously, for a grown man sitting among pillows in front of a fire. ] Is it considered addictive?
no subject
Date: 2020-03-17 08:11 pm (UTC)[ With a light shake of her hand she puts out the flames that catch on the paper, then breathes life into the cherry before taking a drag and holding the smoke in her lungs for a few seconds. Second benefit to smoking fireside: blowing the smoke up the chimney. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 12:10 am (UTC)[ Richard watches with keen interest, much the same way he might watch a bird poke a stick into a hole, or a giant bat roll a kitten up in its long sticky tongue. His curiosity is a little clinical, but it’s also genuine -- he is at least as interested in the process as he is the end result.
He’s also a shade scruffier than he was when she saw him last. Not much. Gradually sliding down the gradient between a freshly groomed designer terrier and one that ate too many shoes and was sent to live on a farm. ]
May I?
[ What are the rules, he doesn’t know. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 12:18 am (UTC)It's best if you inhale through your mouth and your nose at the same time, if you can. And you don't have to suck on it or anything, just breathe in like normal, but hold it in for a bit before breathing out, then wait a few minutes for it to kick in.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 02:45 am (UTC)Not a great sign.
The expelled smoke hangs in the air a beat -- he’s quick enough to hold the joint back out to her before he spirals fully into a dry, muffled fit. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 02:51 am (UTC)Sorry, [ about laughing ] it helps to chug something when that happens.
[ With the drink handed off, she takes another hit for herself, holding in the smoke for a moment and then letting it stream out her nostrils as she laughs some more. ]
If you have a mind to, you'll get better at it.
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Date: 2020-03-18 07:30 am (UTC)Thank you.
[ His voice rasps thin; he clears his throat again -- bleary from the coughing, but still quite sober. ]
May I ask you something?
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Date: 2020-03-18 07:42 am (UTC)[ One of these days she'll stop ruining her own jokes by smiling through them, but today is not that day. ]
Yeah, of course you can.
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Date: 2020-03-18 07:57 am (UTC)Why is there a giant bat in your quarters?
[ He lifts his left hand in silent request, following her lead. ]
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Date: 2020-03-18 08:14 am (UTC)Oh! That's Batty Batkins. Me n' Mhavos found him a while back, [ She moseys over to Barty and gives him a few affectionate scritches. ] I decided to take him in.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 08:43 am (UTC)Are they … native to the area?
[ Should he be looking out for these things on the towers after dark?
He takes a drag -- more confident than the first, and held substantially longer before he kicks it out through his sinuses with another cough. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 03:44 pm (UTC)Hardly. Best I can figure is someone used magic to make him like this, and then he got loose. The type of bat he is seems to be a relative of the tent making bats they have in Rivain, [ She returns to the pillow she was sitting on before and approximates the size of the Rivaini bats with two fingers. Barely bigger than a coin. ] Which are about this big and brown with stripes.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 06:39 pm (UTC)Any kind of permanent physical transformation is very difficult to achieve where I’m from.
[ He’s distracted, as he says so. Behind his eyes, gears and axles are starting to slow out of their locomotive chug. He lifts his drink, lowers it again. Lifts it. ]
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Date: 2020-03-18 10:27 pm (UTC)I think it's probably difficult here, too, but I don't know how it's done at all. What does it take in your world?
[ That's a funny way to not drink a drink, Richard, what on earth? ]
no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 11:34 pm (UTC)Naturally any of the latter might have unforeseen consequences.
[ He pauses again. Buffering. Then he chuckles, low in his throat.
It’s too self-deprecating to be wholly sinister. ]
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