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 Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:46 am
Through this generalized dreariness paced a tall hybrid wyrm; purple of scale and orange of flame. His stride carried none of his usual pride and energy; one foot was placed in front of the other gracefully but without any great gusto for their owner’s destination. Perhaps that was because he didn’t really have one, so far as he knew. It was the twelfth day now since they had returned to Red River City and the eleventh afternoon of aimlessly wandering the streets after his bonded.
He’d tried being sympathetic at first, but he was terrible at that and had given up after only a couple of hours. Then he’d tried being reasonable, but after about half a day he’d realized who he was trying to reason with and given that up too. For a few minutes he’d tried being angry, but that had just got him shut out completely until he stopped. After that, he had run out of ideas somewhat and taken to shadowing his friend to make sure he didn’t get himself run over by a cart in his half daze.
Besides, the blond had always come out of his bouts of what the half-shadow thought of as ‘artistic temperament’ one way or another in the end; he just had to assume it would be the same this time too.
Giving a weary sigh, Angetenar padded on after the thin gnome and privately hoped the grey man snapped out of it before he died of worry, boredom or some combination of the two.
For his part, Beetle wasn’t much aware of where he was going any more than he had been the other eleven days. There was cobbled street ahead of him, Angetenar was behind causing folk to keep their distance and anything was better than the guild, even wandering about the city with neither destination nor purpose other than to avoid thinking as much as possible. Part of him felt rather guilty for keeping his wyrm at the very edges of his mind but the rest of him overruled it. Last thing he wanted was Tenar tramping about inside his head and giving him more helpful suggestions on why he was being daft and oughtn’t to be upset in the least.
A gust of wind picked up a moment later, cutting off the small creature’s train of thought and causing him to snug his cloak a little closer about himself as he turned onto Market Street. His brain might not be working very well, but his body still remembered that it didn't like being cold. It had been cold in the mountains too, by that statue of the wind wyrm where Dahne’s sister had died and where-
The bard yanked his mind away and gave another shiver. No matter how he tried, the image of the elf woman crept back into his head with a bolt between her pretty blue eyes. When the whole mess had begun, he had said that sometimes there were no good choices, and Angetenar had parroted that back at him many times over the last several days. It still held true, of course it it did, but the whole point of the lesser of two evils was that the choice you ended up making was still an evil. The fact that it would have been worse to let the elf’s wyrm kill Tenar didn’t make it any better that he had killed her.
Cursing softly at another rush of chill air, the gaunt bard quickened his pace and tried to focus on the movement of his legs rather than on the turmoil inside his head. Sometimes, he thought a touch bitterly, it would be a lot easier not to care.
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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:50 am
From a nearby alley mouth, Clara watched the pair making their way along the street. Her eyes narrowed as a gust of wind tugged at her cloak, and she pulled it closer around her thin frame. She'd lost weight. Zita's long period of weakness had made for hard times, particularly in the absence of Seth and his brother. Blessed be Fharlanghn, god of the roads, for seeing them safely back to the house last night, loaded with the spoils of their foray into the North - and blessed twice over for bringing the very two people she'd wanted to see back to the town today!
"And yonder goes the source of all our troubles!" she called to the wyrm, stepping just far enough out of the alley to be visible. The wind tried to carry her voice away. "Angetenar, bring your gnome over here, will you? Get in here out of the wind - I'll take you to the house the back way. There's something you should see."
She doubted that the wyrm would pass up the chance to see Zita again. If he refused to come with her, well, she knew her bonded wouldn't be in the least bit pleased.
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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 7:26 am
Angetenar, who had been thinking distantly of food and a comfortable place to flop down, all but jumped out of his scaly skin at the sudden and familiar voice. It was only a moment later that his vivid orange eyes located the human he knew must be nearby. She was thinner than he remembered, he thought. Seemed that everyone was having a tough time of it at the moment for one reason or another...
...Having laid eyes on her, the striped wyrm got around to processing what she had actually said.
The source of all their troubles? He frowned. What could he possibly have done to cause them troubles? He and Zita had got on well, very well indeed; he’d got her fixed up just fine after their match and everything... Still, he’d probably find out what was up if he went with her. To her house. Why in the name of all Gods did she want him to go to her house? He hadn’t done anything even remotely wrong... Perhaps something had happened on the human’s night out with his bonded? He couldn’t imagine that; he’d seldom met a more inoffensive creature than ‘his gnome’. It was certainly odd that she’d referred to Beetle by his species, though, she knew his name well enough, surely her memory wasn’t so poor as to have forgotten it already...
All of these thoughts ran through the tall wyrm’s mind within a moment or two, and once they had finished their confusing wheeling he gave a nod. “Umm... well hey there Clara. Sure. C’mon Bee.” Thankfully the gaunt bard had stopped when Clara had called to them; any evidence that he was concentrating on the world around him was most welcome indeed.
Glancing over at Clara again, the hybrid wyrm poked his bonded pointedly in the shoulder with a claw. Getting out of the cold and the wind sounded like a good idea to him, and he did like the idea of getting to see Zita gain even if something weird was going on.
The blond half turned to bat away the prodding claw before setting off towards Clara; damn pushy impatient wyrm, he’d been getting around to walking, he’d just been thinking. The result of this thinking was that he had no more idea than his wyrm friend what the hell was going on. Still, going along was something different to do and he’d quite liked the sharp-witted pair of females. As he drew near to the alley mouth, the sorcerer tried to smile up at the dark-haired woman. Somehow he doubted that he’d succeeded, he could practically feel how stiff and drawn his face must look. Oh well, she didn’t exactly look over the moon either. Shivering as the cold wind nibbled at his wasted frame again, the sorcerer paused just in front of Clara and waited for her to lead the way to wherever it was they were going.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:33 am
Once she'd got them out of the worst of the wind, Clara grinned at her two charges. "The house is this way," she said, leading them along the alley and around a corner. "Zita's been asking for you, Angetenar - and you too, Beetle, would you believe. She reckons you'll want to have a hand in bringing this mess of ours under control. Can't think why."
Because he's responsible, Clara. Why else? We need all the help we can get.
Clara chuckled, shaking her head at her bond-mate's internal voice. True. I can't wait to see their faces when they get inside.
No, nor I...
She headed down another alley, checking the chalk marks on the wall as she passed. Tag had gone back to the house. Hopefully he'd be helping Seth with dinner. Warn the boys we've got two more for dinner, will you, love?
...Done. Seth says good, he's got a half-ton more meat than he thought he was going to need.
"There'll be dinner soon," Clara called back to Beetle and Tenar. "Hope you boys are hungry: Seth's back in town, and he cooks a mean roast."
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:01 am
Angetenar grinned, his worries and confusion temporarily allayed by the promise of food. “Starving,” he said with a chuckle, “and I’m sure we’ll be able to help with... this mess.” Whatever the hell it was. ”Any ideas Bee?” the hybrid asked tentatively, realizing as he did so that it was the first time in days he’d tried to reach across their link. Perhaps he ought to have kept trying, maybe that was what the damn confusing little man wanted; he never did know.
The bard nodded. “Yes, happy to help.” It didn’t sound like his voice to him; was it his tone that had changed or was he listening with different ears? Or then again maybe he was just being dramatic and reading too much into it... Angetenar’s voice was almost alien too when it reached him. Perhaps they both just sounded odd because he had grown unused to hearing them over the last few... was it days? Yes, had to be.
”I’ve no idea,” the blond relied eventually, testing his own mental voice. ”I imagine we’ll find out soon enough.” Privately he felt that he couldn’t face the thought of eating no matter how good it might be. Still, Tenar always gave him the sad eyes when he didn’t, so he’d just have to try no matter how not-hungry he might be... How not-hungry, now he was losing his eloquence too. Yippie.
The fire-backed wyrm gave a sigh and shook his head. At least he’d got a reply this time, it made him feel a shade less useless and lost. “Haven’t had roast in ages,” he added to Clara with a grin, summoning his good mood back as best he could. “The guild doesn’t exactly serve the most interesting stuff and we... haven’t really been getting out to the market to get anything else. We’ve been back here about twelve days actually but... well yea like I say, not been out and about at very normal times.”
He looked forward to this whole damn mess being over with, looked forward to the departure of the damn water serpent and his starlight slut too along with their bondeds, especially Bella. Bella. She and her headstrong wyrm were the ones to blame for all this. Whenever he saw them he found himself hard pressed to do no more than growl at the females. Cloelia who couldn’t keep her damn promises, and Bella who wanted what she couldn’t have. If it weren’t for them he and Beetle would never have got tangled up with that damn cult; Dahne’s twin would still be alive and his bonded would be his usual unstable, insecure, warm, quick to laugh self rather than... Well, rather than whatever he was now.
Still; stupid females aside, he was soon going to get to see a very intelligent female and to eat nice food. Tentatively, a little more spring entered the male wyrm’s stride and his pointy-tipped tail perked up a shade. One way or another everything would come out okay. Sure it might take a while but hey, Bee was forever telling him that patience was a virtue he needed to gain. Perhaps they both of them would come out better for the experience; himself a shade more patient and his bonded a little less worried about... well, everything. The wyrm grinned a little at the idea of either of those things coming to be; him, patient! Well anything was possible, he supposed, but really! The grin widened a shade and the tall tall wyrm bent his head down to snort warm air against his bonded’s cheek. Everything would be fine.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:43 pm
"Well, all that's about to be fixed," Clara said firmly as she turned the key in the lock and tugged the back door open. "Seth?" she called, stepping over the threshold and beckoning her two guests in behind her. "Seth, do we have any food ready yet?"
A large, hulking figure emerged from a nearby room with a large joint of roasted meat in one hand. His skin, which was probably (given the colour of his broad palm) supposed to be a greyish-green colour, had tanned to a rich dark green in the sun. He grinned, showing off an impressive set of teeth. The distinctive tusk-like canines on his square lower jaw marked him as orc-blooded, but, although he also had the distinctive orcish nose, his human ancestry was clear in his vivid green eyes.
"Dis just came off der fire a few minutes ago," he said, tearing a piece off with clean, clever fingers and offering it to Clara. She took it and chewed at it, and the half-orc - Seth - grasped a larger piece and offered it to Tenar. "Venison, friend. Der best. Tag un' I went 'untin' yessurday."
The smell of cooking, both meat and other food, drifted through the house. In the kitchen, someone was murmuring a song to themselves as they worked.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:16 pm
Well, a half (or part at any rate) orc hadn’t been what he’d expected but hey, people came in all weird shapes and colours and the guy had meat! The hybrid grinned and, stepping inside, reached out carefully to take the piece of deer from the large greenish hand. It was delicious. The wyrm opened his mouth to say so but before before the words had reached his tongue he realized that during the time he had been distracted by the sight and smell of meat, the quality of his bond had changed. Glancing down and around he saw on his grey-skinned friend’s face the fear he could now feel thrumming through his mind.
”Hey...” the hybrid began uncertainly, ”it’s okay, he doesn’t seem like he bites...” And that was about the best he could do. He never had been very good at this sort of thing. Actual threats that scared his bonded he could take care of in a heartbeat most times but when the thing the bard was struggling not to shrink away from was not an enemy it all got very complex.
Beetle had stumbled back a few paces on spotting the tall humaniod and even as Angetenar spoke he continued to move away until his back came into contact with one of his wyrm’s hind legs. Tenar was right. He knew Tenar was right but he could feel himself trembling and the blood draining from his gaunt face all the same. Pathetic. Always had been, always would be. Pathetic murderer now too, and didn’t that just make things better?
”Tenar?” Tenar what? Oh the black phoenix could drain his fear but he didn’t want that. The emptiness scared him, that cold logic that thought about all the things that consciousness and feeling usually muffled away.
Biting down hard on his tongue, the gnome raised a shaking hand and placed it on the smooth scale of his friend’s leg. There was nothing to be afraid of, he was just startled was all and that was a grin not a snarl damnit. Wishing that his body and whatever part of him controlled fear would listen to sense for once, the thin man managed not to retreat any further, and for him at least that was an achievement.
Angetenar turned his head back around and offered the part orc, Seth as Clara had called him, another grin. “That’s the best thing I’ve eaten in ages, I gotta say. I’m Angetenar, that down there’s Beetle.” He wanted to add something to that, but apologizing for the small creature felt wrong. It wasn’t his fault he was afraid... Yet would Seth be insulted? Probably not actually, he was probably used to it living among humans and that.
Well, nothing he could do if the broad man did take offense; he’d just have to hope that he was right, he had other things to think of right now than a stranger's sensibilities. Feeling rather annoyed with the part of his mind that was wondering if he could have some more meat, the striped dragon reached out along the days-neglected silver link to offer his friend what assurance he could. It wasn’t much, he knew, but again it was the best he could do. Ah well.
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:49 pm
"Ange? Is that you, darling?"
Zita's unmistakeable tones drifted out through a nearby doorway. Seth grinned knowingly at Tenar. "We better go see der lady, 'an't we?" he said, heading for the doorway with the meat still in tow. "Come on. Boaf o'yer'll want ter see dis."
The room he entered was softly lit by a fireplace at one end. All the furniture, carved wooden chairs and a heavy oak table among the collection, had been moved to one side and carefully stacked. That left a fair amount of floor space, and at the end of the room closest to the fire the need for said space became clear. Zita was lying in a makeshift nest, looking the worse for wear but surprisingly happy. Her belly was slightly distended, in sharp contrast to her gaunt frame and haggard face, and though her eyes were tired they still sparkled with life. She raised her head when Seth entered, sniffed, and sighed.
"You brought me dinner, Seth, you saint," she said, the roughness of her voice immediately obvious to anyone listening. "Ange, Beetle, come in, darlings, do - steady as you come, I've just got these three settled and I'd rather not have them rolling away again."
And "these three" had to be what Seth had wanted them to see. There, nestled snugly among the blankets, were three boldly-coloured eggs - and anyone looking at their markings for a moment could have no doubt as to their parentage.
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Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:38 pm
The hybrid wyrm froze; physically froze with one foot in the air. His mouth opened, closed it and then opened again. A glance at them had been enough; his tan markings, his purple, her angular marks, her red, her black... This had to be a dream. He had been having some pretty odd dreams lately, this was probably just another. Alright, the meat had tasted very real, everything looked very real and he felt very alert but... But this had to be a dream. He wasn’t a parent sort, he couldn’t have a clutch of eggs with his blood in them.
Zita looked awful.
Angetenar put his foot down on the floor and closed his mouth. He opened it again and stared at the nest and its occupants. He closed his mouth. Surely there was some mistake. Maybe a spell had misfired or a potion had got into his food at the guild and he was hallucinating.
Zita, three eggs.
The source of all their troubles.
Oh s**t. Oh shitohshitohshit.
”Bee?” Surely the blond would respond with something along the lines of ‘wake up you dingbat’ and he would find himself a few weeks ago having been hit on the head with something. Yes. The last few weeks had been far too surreal... Yet the meat had been meaty, the wind had been windy and the ground under his feet was very groundy indeed.
Angetenar moved forward very slowly until he stood before the nest. He peered down at the the shelled things, at Zita, at the eggs again and then plaintively back over his shoulder at Beetle... Who wasn’t there; the gnome had come along by his side, it seemed. He looked plaintively down instead and opened and closed his mouth again. This couldn’t possibly be real.
The bard, for a moment, found himself robbed of all thought when he laid eyes on the mother with her three eggs. Ah. So, he had been right about that daft grin on his wyrm’s face when the scaly twerp had returned to the guild after his night out, and in as well it seemed, with Zita.
As his tall companion set off across the room, the blond moved silently along by the wyrm’s side.
He’d never seen a dragon egg before. They were bigger than he’d expected. More beautiful, too. He wanted very much to reach out and touch the shells, but it was not his place and he stilled the hand that had raised and stretched forward without his permission. He did not notice Angetenar’s helpless gaze; he was too busy looking up at Zita. His brain seemed to have given up on providing him with words, and so the bard was left to hope that the shadow wyrm would read in his face the desperate need to reach out and affirm the reality of the three beginning lives.
This couldn’t be real... could it?
Beetle wasn’t being any help and so, feeling somewhat unsteady, the long-limbed wyrm sank to the ground and stretched his neck out a little further to study the eggs more closely. He was beginning to suspect more and more by the second that he was not asleep or stunned or drugged in the slightest. The flickering fire was real, the lingering taste of meat on his tongue was real, the confusing tumult of feeling pouring off his bonded was real. The eggs were real. Oh s**t the eggs were real.
The hybrid gulped and turned his gaze onto Zita. He had no idea at all what he ought to say, and so he held his tongue. The source of all their troubles; three eggs that were hers and his. Oh s**t. This was not good in a very, very big way.
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:59 pm
Zita's green eyes settled upon the gnome approaching her nest. She mostly ignored the piece of meat that Seth set down within her reach for the moment, and smiled at him as best a wyrm could.
"Flat hands," she said gently, "and be gentle. They're not as flimsy as chicken eggs, but I'd rather not take chances. Come on and sit in the nest with them. They need keeping warm."
She turned her attention to the father of the three eggs, grinning at him. "I'm not as bad as I look, Ange, really," she said cheerfully. "Come over here and have some meat - we can do our talking after everyone's had a decent bite to eat. And look...don't worry. Really. I didn't think about kids, but now they're here...I want them. So much."
Clara entered the room then, slipping silently into the nest and curling up with her bond-mate. Zita nuzzled her fondly, and had her nose kissed in answer. As tough as the last few weeks had been, they'd brought them closer than ever. Even if she had the chance she wouldn't change a thing. Not now, with these three new lives in her care.
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:28 pm
The gaunt bard smiled for the first time in weeks and stepped forward to run his hands carefully over each shell in turn. They were smooth and warm. Still smiling to himself, the blond clambered into the nest and settled himself down comfortably with his legs folded to one side. Sitting down thusly, the top of each egg came pretty much to the top of his head. The grey sorcerer reached out to run his hand down the one closest to him again. He still didn’t know what to say, so for the time being he held his tongue. Besides, this was Tenar’s show, not his.
The hybrid wasn’t sure he liked the thought of this being his show in the least, but as his bonded settled himself the fire-shadow stretched his head toward each egg in turn to study it closely and sniff at it. He didn’t have gentle hands like Beetle did, or even a gentle nose; sharp tusks protruded from his jaw and he didn’t want to bring them too close to the eggs. His eggs even.
“Well I... This is... Umm... Unexpected.” And that had been a really stupid thing to say. Everybody else seemed to be extremely happy with the whole situation. Why was the only thing he could summon a sense of terror and impending doom? What did he know about being a parent? Hell, even if he did know what he ought to be doing he didn’t want to be a parent. Maybe he’d come around once the shock wore off. He certainly hoped so.
“So... Food then?” Stunned though he was his stomach was still in working, grumbling order. More of that meat would be good, perhaps it would help him think. ”And you eat too,” he remembered to send to his bonded, ”no excuses.” That was as close as he could come to being responsible; reminding his friend that food equalled survival which equalled good. He was going to be awful at this.
The gnome sent an internal nod to his wyrm companion and dipped his head down, closing his dark eyes as he felt tears p***k behind them. Why was it that he always had to cry? Sad, now that made sense, but tired, happy, frustrated? All those and several other emotions were really daft reasons to cry and you tended laughed at or sneered at when you did cry because of them. Well. Perhaps these people wouldn’t sneer. They were practically family now, right?
Giving a snort of amusement at himself, the bard raised his head again and grinned, swiping the back of one hand at the tracks of salt water running down his face. “Don’t mind me,” he said with a shake of his head, reaching out to stroke the egg at his side again, “I’m an idiot.”
Well, that was one good thing he supposed; Beetle had swung back down to the other extreme of mood; insanely happy Beetle was much to be preferred to insanely depressed Beetle. Part of the striped wyrm felt rather guilty for not being overjoyed as his bonded apparently was, but the rest of him was too busy freaking out to much care.
“That’s okay Bee,” he managed after a moment with a nervous grin, “I’m used to you by now.” So saying, the hybrid shuffled across the floor and to settle beside the grey gnome before flicking his forked tongue out to wipe away more tears. ”What in hells name,” he asked silently, ”am I going to do?” Dear deities all let the bard have an answer for him.
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Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:56 am
"I cried, you know."
Zita turned her head in mild surprise. She hadn't expected Clara to be so open about that - she'd been sworn to secrecy upon catching her human bond-mate in tears. But the merchant sounded calm and solemn, and not in the least bit ashamed. Perhaps she liked Beetle more than she would openly admit.
"I thought Zita was just ill," Clara explained quietly, probably addressing Beetle but staring into the fireplace. "It didn't get any better, and for a while I thought she might die. All through that I didn't cry once. And then the eggs came along. Times had been tough, with her sick and me holding the fort alone. We barely had the money to keep up the house and get by, let alone support three children. And I cried. I was scared, I was tired, I was angry - with Tenar for being the cause of them, with Seth for not being here, with Zita for her terrible timing, but mostly with myself for not being able to cope better - and I didn't know what else to do. ...It took me a while to get used to the idea of being a second mother. Zita's been...patience itself with me."
Her white fingers were working at the joint of meat now, tearing off several ragged strips and working them until they were soft as cotton wool. Zita watched her fondly. Clara had done this for her all the time she was ill, softening her food to help her eat, and even though she was getting her strength back now it was a soothing thing for the human woman to do. It made her feel useful.
"The fact is they're here now," Clara went on, a little more firmly, "and we're all going to have to deal with it one way or another. Of course, you boys could very well just bugger off if you wanted - goodness knows Zita's parents did - but it'd be a damn sight nicer of you if you didn't. And I don't care what you think your parenting skills are like. There'll be things you can help out with."
"Just don't be cruel," Zita put in, looking at Tenar. "That's all I ask of you. You've told me about your mother, and I don't want my children to have a parent like that. So long as you do that, I'll be happy. We'll muddle through."
Clara held the soft piece of meat out, and Zita opened her mouth to let herself be fed. The merchant was undaunted by her jaws. To Zita, it was a mark of trust.
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Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:25 pm
The hybrid wyrm paused, unsure what to say in the face of everybody else being so sincere. Such things had never been his strong suit, he tended to dance about the deeper things in life, trailing off into ‘you know’ and ‘well of course I... yea’. As ever when lost for what to do next, Angetenar turned to his bonded. ”What ‘m I gonna do, Bee?”
The gnome wiped his eyes again and grinned. ”I’m sure you may do whatever you like,” he chuckled, ”but I swear if you try to make me bugger off and not come back I’ll use your skull as a drinking receptacle... after I’ve killed, you, naturally.”
The striped creature gave a throaty chuckle and turned back to Zita. “We’ll not be going anywhere... well we will, but we’ll be coming back every time. It’ll be nice to have a city that’s home, and Bee’s friendly with the mare in charge of the branch of his guild here so... Yea. We’ll be around. I can’t speak for my ability to deal with kids but Bee did great with me so... Yea. We’ll be here.”
It was a scary prospect, a terrifying prospect come to that, but it wasn’t like he was going to be alone in this and he couldn’t have lived with himself for deciding to walk away from something that made his miniature friend smile like that.
Grinning nervously, the hybrid licked his bonded’s face again, and made a happy rumbling noise as the forest gnome stood up in the nest and wrapped thin arms about his muzzle. ”I have never been so terrified in my life,” he informed his friend as the blond kissed his nose.
The blond grinned and drew back rubbing his hands down his face as he did so to clear the last of the tears. He had to admit to being more than a little shocked at Clara’s admission; not only did she not seem like the crying type, but she didn’t seem like the type to admit to it in a billion years. Still, you were honest with your family, right?
“Right,” the gnome said with a nod as he settled himself back down in the nest, “like Tenar says, we’ll be here.” Thank Gods for that; he’d been worried that his wyrm friend would want to leave and never come back.
“I’ve always found,” the dark-eyed man went on as he ran a hand down the shell by his side again, “that the very best things in life are the things you do not expect or plan.”
The orange-flamed wyrm grinned and nipped lightly at his bonded’s ear. ”Like meeting me?”
The sorcerer turned to him and grinned back, rubbing at the nibbled spot. ”Yes, exactly like meeting you, you great brute.”
Angetenar grinned again, and licked the pale man’s face again for good measure. “Okay then, now that’s settled how about some meat?” He was starving!
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:17 pm
Seth laughed and headed for the doorway. "I wuz waitin' fer someone ter say dat," he rumbled. "I'll see wot else is ready ter eat. Tag? Tag, we got anyfink else cooked yet?"
A sharp little voice answered him with an audible toothy grin. "Yeah - coney stew just come off the fire, an' the spiced meat's been coolin' over there. Watch out, it's 'ot..."
"And in the meantime," Zita said warmly, "you boys can help me with this joint. Can't they, Clara?"
Clara, who was holding the meat, smirked. "I suppose so. But only because Mother Says."
Zita blew a raspberry at her.
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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 4:40 pm
Beetle jumped at the part orc’s deep voice and half-turned to inspect him once more. ...Perhaps his fear had been mostly shock; the tall man didn’t look nearly as intimidating now... And who was the owner of that other voice? It wasn’t another large creature, that much he could tell but that much was not very much. Still, presumably he would find out soon. When more food came. More food. Geh.
Lifted though his mood was he still wasn’t hungry, and the issue of the elf woman was still there in the back of his mind unresolved. Still. Now at least he was confident that it would be solved in the end. He could hardly wander around being depressed and loathing himself when there was a trio of young dragons to think about. Sighing slightly to himself, the thin blond turned his eyes to the joint of meat and tried to summon something that resembled hunger. He failed, but resolved to eat until Tenar was satisfied with him in any case; Gods knew the poor purple b*****d didn’t need anything else to worry about right now.
Angetenar grinned and lent towards the meat, snuffing eagerly. “Y’ know,” he commented with a throaty chuckle, “eggs or no eggs I’d come back here just for the food...” Was he supposed to tear off his own, or to wait for Clara to give him some? He wasn’t sure, and so the striped dragon remained still for the time being. His stomach made a disgruntled growling noise at this, and the half shadow grinned. “Hehe, ‘scuse me.”
Rabbit stew and venison and spiced meat... yes, he was definitely going to eat himself too fat to walk tonight if he was allowed.
”Fine by me,” came his bonded’s mental voice, ”I don’t much fancy going back to the guild tonight in any case. Much rather be here.”
Angetenar grinned again and licked his chops. ”Good good, cos if I get my way you’d’ve had to drag me back there.” The hybrid’s belly made itself known again, fully agreeing with its owner’s sentiments. Food, it and he felt, should always smell like that joint smelled, that or as the faint scents wafting from the kitchen did.
The fire-backed male’s tongue flicked out again and he regarded the joint hopefully.
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