Random 82

"I hope you are. I also hope you'll sleep better this night." Sebastian moved his chair closer to Sylvie. It seemed as though he didn't care what people thought anymore.

The half-elf kept quiet until Garren addressed him: he considered the question for a moment. "It depends. There are... places where it's possible. I've come to suspects that places where stories of monsters or outlandish creatures or odd, very odd people are seen are the hotspots. Personally, I seem to find that once I've... well, done something for my patron and begin to wander and look for a vacation, I end up somewhere else. It's a bit harrying. I've been here before, you might guess." Pause. "Before you ask, I found my way here by pure chance this time as well. The last I knew, I was watching a spectacular sundown in a world full of nomads and found myself wandering near... Haran, was it? I think so."

"That area is quite settled." Garren nodded thoughtfully. "There are stories about fairy hills in which time passes differently, but this is the first time I hear of entire different worlds."

Trying to think of anything but Fortuna playing games, Sylvie said, "I've been to a place the people near it called a deserted fairy world. It was something in between, and very strange. I spent more than a month there and there was no rain, but the streams did not dry out. The sun was dimmed, and the sky and moons a different colour, as if seen through a violet veil. The same cycles, though."

"Did you say moons? More than one?"

Sylvie nodded and sighed. Her voice wound down to a whisper. "I guess I did. My home has five of them. I lost my way. I'm sorry." I'm a lot more dishonest than I like to pretend.

Garren was speechless for a moment.

Sebastian wasn't, although he felt a bit better for not spilling the beans concerning Sylvie's origins himself. Nonetheless, he placed a hand on her shoulder and, by way of explanation, said: "That's how we met. At a crossroads. So, we're both foreigners in a place that's never been home to us. We haven't even been born in the same place. And... well, that's how we know each other. Strangers in a strange land from strange lands."

After that had sunken in, Garren said to Sylvie, "Well. You were rather vague on where you're from exactly." The same had been true for Sebastian, come to think of it.

Sylvie twitched a half-smile at him. "It's hard to place a country on a world map when it's on a different world. The places I named were all real."

"But nowhere we'd ever heard of, I remember." Garren thought back to those conversations, gaze growing distant.

"I downplayed size and such to make that more plausible."

He nodded. They had dropped the topic because Sylvie had obviously been uncomfortable with it. He had assumed she wanted to keep her real home secret for personal reasons. And the memory that he had sensed her prevarications then inclined Garren to believe her now, which would carry implications much bigger than a flooded city and a legendary figure in your kitchen. "It's probably possible to find a stiff drink in this kitchen, isn't it?"

Sylvie wished she had kept her mouth shut.

The half-elf listened intently, squeezing Sylvie's shoulder for a moment as he took it all in. Eventually, he cleared his throat and looked toward the fireplace. "Auker probably has more stiff drinks than your regular platoon of soldiers," he said, getting up and heading for the bottle that Riya had been eyeing with suspicion. "A bit too much, all this information?" he asked on the way back toward Garren, bottle open.

"A bit," he said dryly. "And I have no idea what to do with it." He accepted the bottle with a "thanks" and sniffed the contents before taking a swig that made him grimace. Then he put the bottle on the table, not in easy reach.

"Compartmentalise, put it forward as a theory -- or keep it to yourself. Extraordinary claims require equally extraordinary proof, so that in mind I was fairly certain you wouldn't take what I said seriously. A grain of salt, perhaps, but it's just a claim without hard proof," Sebastian pointed out, not even paying attention to the bottle. Whatever it was in the bottle, he wanted no part of it. Then he smiled. "In any case, that's what I can tell you by way of summary."

"Yes, obviously," Garren said, meaning the extraordinary proof. He gave a little chuckle, followed by a sigh. Rubbing his forehead, he tried to decide if he should take the opportunity to ask more questions. Seeing Sylvie's worried look tipped the scales. "Well, that needs some time to settle. What were we talking about before? Passing the time?"

"Passing the time, indeed," Sebastian said and looked around. "I'd suggest a game of cards or a game of dice, but I think that might be a bit rich, seeing what's going on next door." Having said that, he threw another coin toward the fireplace, just to keep Ayu-Asra amused.

A little chit-chat, nothing more. Sebastian at leasRät assailed the danger that was Auker's booze supply and measured two fingers of the stuff that had sent Garren coughing, but overall they didn't even get the chance to decide how to pass the time when Rosz opened the backdoor. He led in a pudgy old man, still wet and stinking of old sweat. His beard was badly trimmed and he barely had any hair left otherwise, but he still walked in with some dignity.

Sebastian stood up while the man muttered coarse things about most everything. Rosz looked around and asked: "Where's the sister?"

"Next door," Sebastian said, noting that the man he was trying to help out of his cloak stiffened for a bit. "Enjoy the quiet while it lasts."

Rosz contemplated this for a while. "Well, I didn't sleep much..."

"Neither did I, so go get some sleep, all right? I'll deal with Auker if she gets uppity."

Rosz grinned and said, as he left the room: "Hold you to that, mate."

It was at that point that the pauper spoke up, turning to look at Sebastian and, carefully, non-threateningly took hold of his collar. He stared for a while, then grinned, teeth gaps showing. "I'll be fucking damned." Sebastian, for his part, looked confused. "Been a while, hasn't it?"

The half-elf looked even more confused. "Probably?"

Sylvie watched at first a little worried, until she realised this was apparently someone who recognised Sebastian and didn't fear for his life. Nice change of pace.

"About sixty years, was it?" she asked. That was what Sebastian had said.

Sylvie got the pauper's attention with that and grinned again. "My, my. Someone quick on the uptake, and pleasant to the eyes, too." The man sketched a bow, and said, "Why, yes, ma'am," before looking at Sebastian again. "Not that you'd recognise. We've all heard the rumours, of course."

The half-elf, now with no hand grabbing his collar blinked owlishly. He felt a little insecure, now that he'd dropped his act -- usually he could cover his confusion, but he couldn't quite bring himself to put it back on in front of Sylvie anymore. "We've met," he said quietly, hoping he could at least lead the conversation on a track that he could follow. "Back then."

"Oh, I was just 'bout yay high, about ten, I think. I'm Hetty's kid. Name's Jon."

A glint of recognition sparked in Sebastian's eyes. He relaxed and put on a lop-sided grin. "I was about to ask which of the five. Go on, sit down. We can catch up later. Not that I remember much about you."

"Probably be-- what is that?"

Sebastian looked at Ayu-Asra.

Smiling, Sylvie returned a nod for the bow.

To Jon's question she said, "My pet. Don't let him bother you." The dragon had just flown up to a shelf, a coin in each mouth. One head looked around behind the pots and jars for a place to start a hoard, the other turned to have a look at the new arrival.

"I... won't." Jon was calculating how valuable Ayu-Asra would be for a moment, but then remembered something about proper manners. He cleared his throat and, just out of politeness, took a seat as far away from Garren and Sylvie as he could. Sebastian thought that a smart move in a couple of ways. "So, I see Auker's pet project got out of the ditch, more or less."

"Rosz? Yes. She does pile work on him, quite some," Sebastian said. "Did he tell you what this is about?"

Jon enjoyed looking smug, grinning as Sebastian casually poured him a drink from the bottle Garren had sampled. He didn't even mind that it was Sebastian's tea cup that it was poured into. "If it's you, it's bound to be something really bad," the nominal priest said and swigged down the entire contents of the cup.

Sebastian didn't look at all phazed by that and simply responded by nodding -- and filling the cup again. He'd always had a soft spot for the poor, even if they looked to be in good eats. He glanced at Sylvie. "We're probably going to wait until everyone gets here. I don't want to tell the tale too often."

"Suits me," said Jon. "Any grub around here?"

Typical.

Sylvie passed the plate with pastries over the heap of Sebastian's possessions to the other end of the table. After a short fight with her manners, she also helped herself to a second, figuring that there seemed plenty to go around.

Garren watched with some bemusement. He had put off asking Auker about Sebastian's identity waiting for a fitting moment, but maybe it would not be neccessary. Hearing the confession from Brice had been more important, anyway.

Jon had no such manners. He took three for himself and muttered compliments to the cook between bites. Having downed the drink and two pastries, he hissed out a content sigh and looked about, slipping the third pastry in his pocket. Again, Sebastian looked utterly unsurprised. "You've not changed a bit. A bit more quiet, though. How bad is it?"

"You'll want blood on your hands afterward," Sebastian replied. "One favour, by the way?" The thought had occured to him. "Mind putting some of yours to keep a watch on Old Ivy and the Saba estate and --"

"Ears on the streets? You got it. Got a specific reason?"

"You'll figure it out later," Sebastian said, rubbing his eyes. He could already feel a headache coming. "Sylvie? Fancy a bit of fresh air? If you don't mind," he added, looking at both Garren and Jon. Jon, at least, didn't seem to give a whit. He was happy as a pauper with a bottle could be.

Figuring that was about more than just fresh air, Sylvie looked at Ayu-Asra, who was still climbing around the shelf.

Following her gaze, Garren said, "I think I can handle him if he gets annoying."

"Thank you." She got up and went for the door, waiting for Sebastian.

She only noticed how thick the air had been in the kitchen once they were outside, and the backalley hardly smelled of flowers.

Knowing full well how the alley smelled, he walked on almost to the front corner of the shrine where the stink wasn't as bad. The air wasn't very pleasant there either, but at least he could relax now. Some of the tension seemed to almost ooze out of him once he got to lean his back against the wall and exhale deeply at the sky. He eyed it for a while and then looked at Sylvie. "I didn't expect that, obviously," he said, almost apologetically.

"It's nice to see someone not turn white as a sheet when they realise who you are, actually." She sounded tired, mostly because she worried that was not what he meant.

Sebastian didn't quite laugh, but instead exhaled his chuckles. "It is. It really is," he said, smiling at her with a glad expression on his face. It took some willpower to keep himself still and not advance toward Sylvie. He wasn't sure if it showed, and and unsure if it were good that it did. Trying to think and act professionally was getting to be a little difficult.