Random 78

Sebastian didn't quick twitch, but he turned to look at her slowly, blinking and putting on a smile. "Hi. Got stuck in my thoughts back there." That and watching shadows move, though they didn't really get the chance.

"Did I interrupt something important?" She didn't sound too worried; his look had reminded her uncomfortably of yesterday back in House Crow.

"No, just chasing shadows," he said, pointing at the ceiling. "And resting my eyes and mind in case I need said faculties. Might argue that I haven't been using the latter very well lately," Sebastian continued, tilting his head with a rueful frown before looking at Riya and Garren. Mael had apparently left; at which point? He didn't know.

Riya responded by staring at the untouched food in front of Sebastian, smirking as if that was evidence about his usage of mental muscle.

"Mhm. Nothing to do but wait, eh?" She had picked up on Riya's look, and sighed. "You know, I am not opposed in principle to figuring out how many meals you can skip before your faculties suffer - scientiffic curiosity, you know - but is this the time?"

"Something like that," he said, looking at the food with an expression mild surprise, as if he hadn't noticed it before. "I could tell you how it affects me, from experience, but I concede your point," Sebastian said, digging in -- but not before apologising to Garren and Riya (the latter thought the whole matter somehow amusing and admitted to having waited to see how long it took for the stranger to notice the food).

Sylvie went upstairs to put some of her things in order, partly because she remembered how much worse Sebastian had been affected by the tannery smell. She left the door open so the others could easily call her downstairs.

He didn't rush his eating, politely answering any questions and replying to small talk calmly. Any questions he answered as best he could. His innermost thoughts he kept to himself -- specifically how much he would have liked that riverside camp right now. It was starting to become almost nostalgic by now, and lit a small but steady flame inside his head. The sooner they were done...

Sebastian sighed once done. "Thank you. I think it high time to get to work. If you would excuse me..."

"I more than half hope you find that the pair of them are fraudsters, and this will be over by tonight," Gemma told her present family when they were alone.

Garren embraced her. "We'll be careful, I promise."

Breakfast over and all effects gathered, Sebastian (trying to ignore the faint smell of the tannery) got clothed and said a last thank you. Once out the door, Sebastian breathed in the scent of drying moisture (all the while worrying about what mosquitoes would do once they emerged... if they emerged) and began to lead the four of them first to the site closest to Old Ivy; he looked all business when entering the building and showing the artifact (the water damage in the building and what was in the tin containing the thing spoke volumes). Sylvie and Sebastian had to answer some questions (Sylvie got the most of them), but soon enough the half-elf shepherded them on the streets again.

Throughout the trip he was mainly quiet, giving only noncommittal answers. Riya on the other hand waved a few times to familiar faces, something Sebastian at least wasn't too happy about but it couldn't be avoided. If not for the sake of propriety, then for the fact that it would be odd if Riya didn't give the occasional yoohoo or wave.

The weather continued to clear. The closer to Fortuna's shrine they came and the older the morning grew, the more obvious it was. People were out on the streets again, in various moods and of varying opinions. But at the shrine... things were a bit different.

Sebastian nudged open the door and, before he ushered in Riya, Garren or Sylvie, was greeted with the stink of stale alcohol being processed by one or two bodies. Surprisingly, Auker was still awake, drinking coffee fortified with brandy and it appeared Brice was sleeping under a table. Ayu-Asra... well, that he didn't notice until later and until after he'd said: "Wakey, Auker. Guests and news."

"I'm still awake, Fortuna damn it, he drank most of my-- oh. Hello!" she said, tone turning chipper upon seeing Garren, Sylvie and Riya.

Riya settled for staring at Brice, still holding on to a bottle of port.

Sylvie and Garren wished her a good morning, the latter adding, "Sorry to intrude, but this seemed important."

Wondering just how Brice had folded himself up like that, Sylvie pulled out a chair from the table. Its front legs had stood left and right of his head. The scraping noise made him twitch, but not wake. She looked at Auker. "Any problems this night?"

"Intrude? Nah, this is nothing. That guy --" she pointed out semi-drunkenly at Sebastian "-- showed up out of the blue, stoked the fire and sat there half-naked until I woke up, from, uh..."

"Your drunken stupor," Sebastian said helpfully, crouching down to look at Brice, gently removing the bottle of port, which he set on the table as quietly as possible. "So, trouble?"

"Nah, he got drunk off his ass and complained a lot about his cousin and how terrifying you were and stuff like that. Anyway, refreshments, coffee, pastries? Spent the last night baking," Auker said, with a slight groan as she sat up (bones creaking), and looked at Garren and Riya. "I know the girl, but you must be...?"

In the meantime, Sebastian was gently poking Brice until he moved into a position where he wouldn't suffocate on his own vomit should he hurl. At the same time he was trying to envision Auker baking.

"Thank you, but we just had breakfast."

Sylvie asked for a pastry, anyway.

"I'm Garren, of Old Ivy, and this is my daughter Riya." He shook Auker's hand. "Sylvie has been working with me before she got involved in this business. It was thought we could be of assistance."

The front of Brice's shirt rippled and squawked when Sebastian rolled the man further on his side. A reptilian head on a long neck poked out of the loosened collar and hissed at Sebastian, drawing a low unhappy noise from his oversized cushion, before disappearing again.

Auker, having fetched a pastry (and, quite unbidden, a bottle of beer) for Sylvie, positively gleamed with a grin suited for someone who was tipsy and had been up all night. "Well, I'll be damned," she said, her grip on Garren's hand a bit more stronger than one might have assumed. "Welcome to the shrine, then. Now, I'm not superstitious or anything, but I assume you're here because that guy wrestling with the dragon there and Sylvie are part of why you're here."

"Bad dragon!" could be heard from the background, right before a cooing sound -- and the jingling of a pouch of coins.

Auker looked utterly calm and continued: "So, he finally dragged more people in to this, eh? So much for his reputation. Sylvie was a surprise, you're a freaking riot." The priestess glanced toward the table. "Old Ivy, huh? Haven't been there for a while. Thought you looked familiar."

Riya looked far more interested with what the combination of Sebastian, Brice and Ayu-Asra were up to.

Sylvie watched from the sidelines and gave Auker's baking a try. Flaky dough, a filling involving ground nuts and raisins, topped with sugar frosting. Delicious.

"Yes and yes. He invited someone from the Old Lady's clergy to come here, too."

Ayu-Asra poked both heads out of the collar and jingled back. He easily ducked Brice's hand swiping at the man's ear.

Meanwhile Sylvie asked Sebastian, "Am I ruining your reputation?"

Auker didn't look too surprised, judging by the grin. "Yeah, that'll be fun. Been a while I tangled with her folk." Sebastian almost hit his head on the table when he heard that, but didn't. Riya, for one, looked suitably shocked/amused by Auker's tone.

That left Sebastian trying to coax Ayu-Asra out and answering Sylvie's question: "I wasn't aware I have a reputation to ruin anymore." For all intents, it was an answer full of amusement. He whistled the melody the orb gave out, hoping it would get Ayu-Asra out, adding: "There's food and a hot fire in it for you..."

"That makes 'I'd stake my reputation on it' a huge bluff..."

Before Sebastian could answer to that, the dragon swarmed out of Brice's shirt and up Sebastian's arm, on the way yelling "Food!" at the top of his lungs. That drew an inarticulate yell from Brice. The man jerked, knocking over the chair at the other head-end of the table, and ended up on his back, not very awake, but moreso than was comfortable. Why was the ceiling so close?

Sebastian hit his head on the table this time, halfway falling backward and staring at the dragon with a wild grin. "Yes, food. Auker? Pastries?" he asked, only then noticing that... oh dear, Brice was awake.

Riya had started snickering in the background but quickly fell silent when she noticed the sudden stillness in Sebastian's mien. Auker, on the other hand, didn't give a damn and was busily getting more of the baked stuff, muttering something.

It was at that point that Sebastian, having had a few seconds to consider things, grabbed the bottle of port from the table, cleared his throat and said to Brice, softly: "Hair of the dog?"

"Wasting those pastries on the dragon would be awful," Sylvie said.

Ayu-Asra nipped Sebastian's ear twice, neither head approving of the taste, before launching himself over at Sylvie. She gave one head a raisin and the other some crumbs, and jerked her shoulder up to encourage him to fly off, which worked.

At the offer, Brice made a sound halfway between a groan and a whine and shook his head. He rubbed his face, hitting his elbows on a chair and a table leg.

"M'mother used to point folks at the goats' salt-lick. Made sure they wanted to drink plenty of water." And the embarrassment discouraged repeats, come to think of it.

Garren had mercy and pulled out the two chairs on the closer side of the table to get the young men a bit more room, one after the other, lifting them to reduce noise.

Ayu-Asra didn't even have time to get a hiss before Sylvie got his tame two-headed compost back. "Smart mother you have," Sebastian commented, nodding his thanks to Garren and extracting himself from under the table. He would have offered a hand to help Brice up, but suspected he might have been a bit jumpy at that offer. "Well, Auker's made pastries and there's water and coffee around."

"'s right," said Auker, eyeing bottle of port Sebastian was holding -- but blanched when seeing his expression. With a sigh, she said: "Fine. Water, coffee, pastries. I know a hangover when I see one."

"...why am I not surprised," Riya and Sebastian said simultaneously and glanced at each other. The difference being, Sebastian had a swig of port and wrinkled his nose. Apparently it wasn't very good.

In any case, Auker was ready with the promised goods in less than a minute.

Did that just actually happen? Good gods have mercy, I hope there are fewer people here than it sounds like. Brice would have preferred to stay put, but once he figured out he was under a table, he worried about getting stepped on. With some difficulty he turned himself face down and crawled out, squinting in the bright light. He even got his legs under himself, and sat up, swaying gently.

When Auker offered him coffe, he thanked her with a sigh and added, slowly and quietly, "Excuse me for not getting up yet. I'm af-- Is that sunlight?"

"Yes," Sylvie told him.

"You did it." He sagged with relief, hitting the back of his head on the edge of the table and spilling coffee over his hand.

Sylvie leaned forward, grabbing the side of his collar to steady him, and pulled him to the side a bit so he could lean against one leg of the table. If nothing else, his confused look was worth it. She patted his shoulder before getting up to swap the beer Auker had given her for a drink of water, and left Brice to try to clear his head a little.

Garren took a seat, out of Brice's circle of vision.