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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - EARLY MORNING
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Annika: In the Minnow, Annika was asleep. She had a 'breakfast' in front of her, of now rather cold toasted cheese. Her head was down, just barely missing the food, and glass of juice. She had quite clearly managed to make it here, order food, before conking out asleep before she actually got to eat it.
Bracvar groggily wanders out of his room, shutting the door with a low thud before skittering downstairs. Upon entering the larger main room, Brac looks about, spotting only one patron, chuckling to himself as he sees the full plate of slowly cooling food. He looks about for watchful eyes, then lowers his stance and leans down as he slowly creeps toward the table, quiet as he can manage.
Annika turns over briefly with a mumble, but he successfully managed to not wake the foxgirl up. The food is fully cold, the juice is perhaps a touch too warm now, and her coin purse is in sight too, Annika falling asleep before she can fully return it.
Bracvar grins as he reaches the table, careful to keep his shadow away from the fox as he reaches across and slowly plucks the cheesy toast from her plate. It might be cold, but the seafaring crab wasn't particularly picky with his food. Straightening up, he raises the toast to his mouth and chomps the whole piece with one crunch.
Annika: It was quite good! Annika had made it herself, toasting it over the fire. There was maybe a hint of spices in there that Annika had splashed out for. Annika's ears flicker a little with the crunching sound, but she doesn't wake up.
Bracvar takes a moment to savor the taste, impressed by the choices. Not really expecting much more than cheese and bread, and lets out a satisfied grunt. As for the texture, well, it was a little dry, and Bracvar eyed the glass of juice for a moment as he finished the morsel off.
Annika: The juice is freshly squeezed! Even given that it was out for a few hours and past that 'perfectly chilled' point, it's still probably really good! Orange juice, by the looks of it.
Bracvar wiggles his fingers for a moment, then quietly takes up the glass, peering out of the corner of his good eye at the sleepy fox before drinking it down. He's again surprised at how tasty it is, even warm, and sighs with satisfaction as his thirst is quenched, placing the glass back on the table with a soft thud.
Annika: "!?" Annika stirs, and opens her eyes "!!" She looks up at Bracvar, down at her table, back to Bracvar..then back at her table "...." She looks just..so hurt, her eyes welling a little "...My..breakfast..."
Annika looks like she might cry now.
Bracvar looks at Annika, a little startled to be caught. "Oh! I didn't mean to wake you little friend!" He lowers himself down, trying to appear less imposing.
Annika: "But..you..ate my breakfast..." Her lip wobbles "..Why?...I made it..and...you ate it"
Bracvar blinks, then looks aside, embarrassed. "I didn't know you made it, honestly! I was going to leave some coins on the plate so you could buy another hot meal when you woke up."
Annika: "...but it was on my table...I don't want money..I..just wanted by breakfast..I.." She looks out the window "Oh..it's...already that late..I..suppose I have to go" She just sounds so defeated "I..don't have time to make another breakfast" She looks at her plate, and her glass one last time, both empty "I..hope they were tasty" She says, with a trace of hurt sincerity, before getting up, and slowly trudging out to wherever she has to go to work at barelypastdawn o'clock.
Bracvar hangs his head in shame, resting his hands on the tabletop. "I really am sorry." Raising his head to look directly at her; "But yes, that was delicious, and I would honestly like more sometime, if you would be so kind as to forgive me! I promise I will make amends, if you'll let me, little friend!"
Annika looks so hungry at being told that "No..it's okay. You don't need to bother, I'm..used to it. It's my fault, for not protecting it better and falling asleep" She sniffs, and continues out the door. "You're forgiven though..but.." For a moment, she turns back, with a little edge under the despair. "Please..don't try and call me friend after stealing my breakfast" she turns back again, and goes to work. Hungry.
Bracvar hangs his head again, looking at the empty plate and unable to find words to fix the situation. Looks like he's going to start on the ale extra early today.
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NEAR THE WATERFALL - MORNING
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Doc Plume takes off their linen cloak and sets it neatly on a rock. Now only dressed in an undershirt and drawers, they begin stretching out their wings. After a few seconds of this, they look to Nesseth, not quite sure of this whole exercise. "You're sure this is the best way?"
Nesseth shakes his head a little as he likewise removes clothing until he's standing in just his drawers. "I'm afraid I don't have much experience with wings, but the way I see it, you'll only get stronger if you work them routinely. If you fall into the water, you won't get hurt, and I can jump in to help if you need it."
Doc Plume laughs a bit. "All right..." They step over to Nesseth and give him a soft kiss before stepping back.
Nesseth hums warmly into the kiss, then smiles and nods as he steps back to give Plume some space. "Want me to be in the water already, or should I just wait on the edge of the pool?"
Doc Plume laughs a bit. "I'm not /that/ weak of a flyer, so do whatever you like..." They blush a touch as they roll their shoulders a bit. "But anyway, I guess let's do this..."
Nesseth chuckles and nods as he immediately jumps into the water. A few moments later, he resurfaces and starts to tread water. "Alright, Plume. I'm ready when you are."
Doc Plume rolls their shoulders and flaps their wings one more time before standing up straight again. "Right..." They start jogging slowly before starting to pick up speed as they spread their wings. With a couple of flaps, they're airborne and gaining height. They do a slow rising turn, bringing them back parallel to the mountain face as they mostly glide, flapping to gain height when
Doc Plume needed, but deciding to focus on stability for the moment. "How does it look?" they call down to Nesseth.
Nesseth watches Plume take flight with a careful eye, tracking their upward climb. As they stop and call down to him, he nods and calls back up. "Looking great, so far! How are you and your wings feeling?"
Doc Plume flaps up a fair bit before banking carefully into a spiralling descent that takes them right over the pool where they dive in with a big splash over Nesseth.
Nesseth watches Plume coming back down, his expression growing a little more worried the closer to the water they get. When Plume splashes into the pool, he shields himself with an arm for a moment, then swims over to where they went under. He dives down and starts his search.
Doc Plume surfaces quickly and swims to the side of the pool to get their wings out of the water as soon as possible. They laugh happily as they lean against the rocky ledge.
Nesseth gets a little confused when he can't find Plume underwater, though he relaxes once he picks up on the sounds of their movements heading towards the edge of the pool. He resurfaces and looks around. "Haa...! That was pretty good, Plume!"
Doc Plume clambers out of the pool and sits on the edge with their feet in the water. They smile at the compliment. "Thanks. It feels fine as long as I'm not pushing too hard... I know you can't fly, but did you see anything wrong?"
Nesseth shakes his head a bit as he swims over to the edge of the pool and leans against the side. "Nothing glaring, best as I could tell. Though..." He tilts his head curiously, "Normally, you're supposed to keep your wings in sync all the time, right?"
Doc Plume nods. "Other than angle, yeah..." They frown a bit as they pull their feet out of the water and hug their knees to their chest. "Where did I mess up?"
Nesseth shakes his head. "Nothing big at all, really. Just a really slight hitch in the rhythm of your flaps when you were making that turn into the dive. I don't know if it even matters overall, but that's the only thing I saw."
Doc Plume stands up. "All right then... I'm going to try again..." They shake out their fur and feathers, water beading off for the most part, though the shorter fur around their elbows and ankles still looks a bit sodden.
Nesseth nods as he pushes away from the water and floats closer to the middle of the pool again. "Alright. I'll be here, Plume."
Doc Plume stretches out their wings and flaps them to get out any extra water before they move back from the pool and stand jogging, taking off much quicker than last time and then beating their wings much more intensely to gain height, soon gliding at a level above the top of the waterfall.
Nesseth looks up and squints as he watches Plume flying higher than before. He lifts an arm out of the water and shields his eyes from the sun as he watches.
Doc Plume focuses on maintaining height as they mostly glide in lazy circles above the open plain in front of the mountains, flapping their wings occasionally to regain any lost altitude.
Nesseth watches Plume tracing a calm flight path up above, starting to relax as he watches them. He almost wishes he could fly with them up in the sky, but alas, no wings...
Doc Plume angles down into something of a lazy dive as they even out at about ten feet up and then slow down to a jog of a landing near the pool. Plume smiles at Nesseth, but definitely looks a little tired as they walk over and sit down on a rock, panting just a bit.
Nesseth smiles in turn as Plume lands, then swims over to the edge of the water again and pulls himself back up onto land. "That was really nice, Plume. How are you feeling?"
Doc Plume dips their feet in the pool and closes their eyes. "Tired... back is sore... and chest... not muscle strain though..."
Nesseth moves over to Plume's side and takes a seat. "Sounds like you just hit your limit for the day, is all. The muscles are still a bit weak, but they'll build up as you keep practicing." He smiles softly, and a little sheepishly, "And you might be a little sore tomorrow, too..."
Doc Plume leans against Nesseth and smiles. "I think a nice soak would help. You up for helping me with that too?" They blink a bit. "Did you hear something?"
Nesseth smiles warmly as he slips a wet arm around Plume's shoulders, then blinks as... something echoes over the landscape. "Huh... yeah, I did." He flexes his ear frills, listening, then shrugs after a few seconds, "...Whatever it is, the folks in town can handle it. As for the soak, I'm always happy to help, Plume."
Doc Plume slides down into the water, pulling Nesseth in after them. "If you're sure." They kiss the handsome lizard as the two just relax for a while in the quickly-warming pool as the morning heat begins to bake the valley in the sun's rays.
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ELSEWHERE IN THE CITY
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Narrator: There's a soft rumble of thunder overhead, followed by a second, slightly louder..then with a *CRACK*, a bolt of lightning fires down from the sky to a point in the city, followed by a second about thirty seconds later...then silence. No follow-up after that, and there's no further thunder.
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WESTERN WALL - LATE MORNING
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Nesseth strolls along the solid stone structure of the perimeter wall of the town, his gaze angled out towards the flat lands beyond. His crossbow, unloaded but ready to be loaded and fired in a moment, rests against his shoulder, supported from below by his hand. Not much to report at all yet so far, even with the town's shield still being down.
Vix quietly approaches Nesseth (from behind, naturally) as he continues his patrol. She seems to be rehearsing some words in her head.
Nesseth doesn't notice Vix's approach as he continues his patrol, which seems to be taking him along a decent stretch of the western section of the wall. Occasionally, he gives his head a bit of a stretch to keep it loose after looking in one direction for several minutes in a row.
Vix silently shadows Nesseth, waiting for him to turn around.
Nesseth eventually comes to a stop at the apparent endpoint of his section of the wall. He turns to look straight out across the land, just breathing in the warm air as it flows across the plains, before he turns back towards Vix and resumes walking, his gaze still angled out.
Vix meows in greeting as Nesseth turns toward her.
Nesseth nearly runs into Vix before she meows, and he staggers back in surprise, flailing at the proximity of the sound. "Aaah!!"
Vix smiles. "Umm...rawr! I'm an intruder!"
Nesseth takes a few moments to figure out who's standing in front of him, his free hand pressed firmly against his vest, right over his heart. In his flailing, he managed to get his crossbow set up to fire one-handed, but obviously can't aim in his panic. "V-Vix...?"
Vix ducks out of the way as Nesseth flails with his crossbow. "Whoa! Y-yeah, it's me! Stand down, soldier!"
Nesseth settles down after a few moments of flailing, though he's out of breath as he tries to will his heart to slow down again. "Good gods, Vix... I don't know how you can keep sneaking up on me like that..."
Vix giggles. "I'm just testing your awareness! You ARE standing watch, aren't you?"
Nesseth nods as he slowly stands up straight again and puts his crossbow back against his shoulder. "Y-yeah... for things outside of the town."
Vix grins. "The real menace is right here~!"
Nesseth sighs as he manages to get himself calmed down again, then smiles a bit. "Right... Haa... So, what's the real menace here for? To turn herself in?"
Vix fidgets a bit. "Well...sorta. You remember the other day when you found me sleeping on your couch?"
Nesseth nods, then motions Vix to walk with him as he resumes his patrol. "The day I accidentally flopped on you? Yeah, what about?"
Vix: About me asking you for um...practice...I heard you chatting with Doc the other night and listened in and they got really mad and cried and I'm really sorry!
Nesseth looks at Vix as they talk. "Oh, right, you asked about practicing." He raises an eyebrow, "You were listening in on the talk I had with Plume?"
Vix covers her face a bit as she looks at her feet. "I know, I'm terrible..."
Nesseth tilts his head. "I don't know about terrible, but did you listen in on the talk we had the next night, then?"
Vix tilts her head. "You had another talk...?"
Nesseth nods. "Yup. Plume and I spent the day away from each other to kind of get our heads back on straight. Later in the evening, Plume stopped by for another visit to chat. We both kind of let our emotions get away from us during the first talk, so we were able to be a bit more rational the second time around."
Vix nods.
Vix: That's good. I'm glad I didn't cause too much trouble...
Nesseth hums. "You didn't cause any trouble at all, Vix. In fact, you probably helped Plume and I establish some pretty important boundaries between us."
Vix seems very relieved. "Oh! That's very good!"
Nesseth nods again. "And one of those boundaries centered on, well... things like what you asked me about."
Vix blinks. "Um...I thought they weren't into the idea? Something about traditional relationships..."
Nesseth shakes his head. "They weren't, but they also agreed that our views on that sort of thing aren't anything alike due to differing cultural expectations."
Vix scratches her chin. "Hm...sooo...what now?"
Nesseth shrugs as he continues to walk along the wall alongside Vix. "So now, all I'm saying is that if you want to practice, I could help you. Plume would rather I not, but they're taking a sort of 'what they don't know won't hurt them' stance on it."
Vix blinks and blushes. "H-hang on...you mean...?"
Nesseth shrugs a little. "If you want to, I don't mind. If you were listening in on the talk, you should remember hearing what I said about the culture where I'm from."
Vix tries to pat the blush out of her face. "It's uh...just a friendly thing? For friends~?"
Nesseth shakes his head a bit. "Well, not quite like that, but I suppose the idea's the same."
Vix: For REALLY good friends?
Nesseth raises an eyebrow at Vix. "Well, more that it's just not that big of a deal in terms of romance. Of course, it makes more sense that friends would enjoy it."
Vix smiles. "I think we're pretty good friends~! I'll try not to get too attached, though..."
Nesseth chuckles and smiles a bit. "Just remember, Plume's my significant other. If you're hoping for more, I'm afraid I might not be able to give it."
Vix nods. "No attachments. That's the deal!"
Nesseth nods. "Of course, you're still welcome to hang out around my house and whatnot, as before. That's not going to change."
Vix tilts her head. "Won't it get awkward if you have Doc over and I'm there?"
Nesseth chuckles again. "Well, of course, especially if you're lounging around topless like last time." He reaches over and lightly scritches Vix behind one of her ears, "But I trust you'll use your discretion on the matter. You've been great about it so far."
Vix purrs as Nesseth scratches her. "I'll...uh...try not to do that. Honestly, I was actually trying to seduce you that time..."
Nesseth blinks, then smirks wryly. "Well, I guess I can rest easy knowing I can't get seduced too easily. But, hey, at least you still can get what you want, right?"
Vix pouts a bit. "Is it really alright if I don't have to work for it?"
Nesseth tilts his head before casting a short, perfunctory glance out across the plains too continue doing his job. "How do you mean?"
Vix dips into a city accent for a moment. "I come from the streets! I 'ppreciate the hustle~"
Nesseth looks back at Vix and laughs as he sets his free hand against his hip. "So, what? You mean you want to make a game of this, then?"
Vix bites her lip. "Could be fun, but um...how about later? I still need to practice if we're gonna play for stakes!"
Nesseth chuckles. "Well, I didn't mean now. I'm still on patrol for another, uh..." He pauses and pulls out his pocket watch again, "...Five hours."
Vix: Aww! That's gonna feel like forever!
Nesseth shrugs and smiles as he tucks away the watch again. "If you're wanting something today, just... I dunno, build anticipation?"
Vix blushes, then gives Nesseth a quick hug and zooms away across the rooftops. "Gotta go! See you in five hours~!"
Nesseth stumbles a little at the hug, but waves with a smile as Vix zooms away, raising his voice a bit so she hears. "Guess I'll see you soon, then, Vix!"
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STREETS OF RESPITE FALLS - AFTERNOON
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Annika is walking back towards the Minnow, slowly shuffling along, with a similar sense of lethargy she had in the morning, if not even more so. She's looking rather scuffed in her clothes, plodding along, head down, just focusing on getting home, and maybe being able to get something to eat..then a little bit of sleep. All that would be great. Her hands are crossed in front of her, supporting each other, just focused on..well..getting home.
Annika briefly glances up at the call out, but it wasn't really her business, and Annika was focused on one foot in front of the other. Just get home. Food. Sleep. That's all that mattered right now. She continued her aching trek back, anyone looking at her for long enough, might also note a small limp in her right paw.
Narrator: A cloaked figure walks along the road, their footsteps almost missing in the soundscape, like a wraith. They're tall, and staring at the ground, muttering under their breath just loud enough that they can't hear whoever approaches.
Annika didn't notice the figure, she's not really focused on sounds, just one foot in front of another. However, if the cloaked figure doesn't move out of the way, she's very likely to walk right into them!
Narrator: So it must be...
Annika crashes into the cloaked one, and sorta..bounces off, falling to the ground. She lays there a moment, before slowly sitting up "Oh..ah..s..sorry..um.." She looks up "..." She starts scooting back jusssst a little. They're scary!
Narrator: The figure speaks in a very strange voice. "Small one. Will inquire name?"
Annika: "Wait..um..ah.." She mumbles quietly "Annika?"
Om ponders the small fox with their red eyes. "Hmm... now questions location. Unknown to me. As are many things."
Annika: "Ah..um..Res..pite?" She picks herself back up slowly, trying to put more distance between herself and ..whoever this is "..I..can't stay..I..got to go..get back..and um." She tries to turn, stumblingly.
Om: "Apologize for presence. Am trying to learn."
Annika: "Uh..well..am..I..just don't really know. I'm new here too. I don't want to lead you astray" She stumbles again, verbally, and physically "Maybe if you ask a guard, they can help?"
Om considers the possibility. "Town security. Must know area like back of hand. Will question later."
Annika: "Yes! That..uh..sounds great! Now..I..got to just..go" She starts to limp away, moving faster than she perhaps had wanted to.
Om: "Hmm... Must seek out instruction. Holes in mind. Only lead... magic within town. Have to find."
Annika continues her limp away, she's hoping she's not followed!
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MARKET SQUARE - MID-AFTERNOON
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Maybelline wanders back towards the generator building a bit happily, humming to herself as she licks a non-conspicuous bit of frosting off her muzzle. She's rather pleased with having found a secret shop in town, and having kept her cloak up and snuck through the shadows, is confident no one saw her. Her mission complete, she now abandons secrecy for the walk home.
Vix waves to May from behind her shop blanket as she recognizes the familiar cloaked stoat passing by. "Oh! Hi, May!"
Maybelline stops as she hears a voice call her name, spotting the black cat waving at her. "Oh, you're... the town greeter... Wanna say it starts with a... W? Winx? Wrix? Something like that... Ugh, I'm terrible with names."
Vix smiles. "Oh, I like Winx! Maybe that should be my name~"
Maybelline blinks, then chuckles, "Oh, well, guess that means I'm wrong but uh... yay?"
Vix chuckles. "You were close. It's Vix! Like "vixen"!"
Maybelline nods, putting a paw to her chin, "But you're not a fox..." She shrugs, "Ah well, I'll try to remember that for next time then."
Vix shrugs. "It's more of a name some old pals gave me. I like it better than my real name."
Maybelline steps closer to Vix, "Well, I mean... don't tell anyone, but my name is Maybelline. Always felt a bit overwrought... and that's not even my full name." She looks over Vix's blanket, looking down at all the various knickknacks with a bit of a raised eyebrow. "So what's all this then?"
Vix grins. "My wares! I sell the things I find around town that nobody seems to want! There's some herbs and stuff too. There's some real good stuff sometimes~
Maybelline glances around the array of... stuff, trying to take it all in. "I guess a few people I mentioned you too were confused when I called you the town greeter. Makes sense if selling stuff is your usual job."
Vix nods. "Yeah, unfortunately, greeting new folks doesn't pay anything~"
Maybelline shrugs, "Thought it might be like, paid for by the town? I guess that wouldn't make much sense for a little hole like this, would it?" She picks up a piece of the random junk and tilts it. "That's... not a bad coupling... I bet I could get that to fit on the Generator. Come to think of it, I think I heard there was a vendor in the market who might have a lot of nice odds and ends for engineering parts. I think it was that Nassy guy? The lizard?"
Vix taps her chin. "Lizard, lizard...oh, Nesseth? Yeah, he's one of my regulars!"
Maybelline nods, "Ah, right! Nesseth! I think that's him! He was with Doc!" She hefts the coupling, then starts looking over the other parts. "There's a lot of stuff I think I could use, actually... uh, how much is all this stuff?"
Vix: Hmm...6 gold apiece. But I could give you all ten pieces for 50."
Maybelline starts to shift through the pieces, examining each of them carefully. "They're all in really good shape... 50 gold though... I mean, don't get me wrong, that's a great deal compared to the mainland costs, but the generator budget..." She bites her lip. "These would be a huge help, I'll still be mixing some key components but... you have a capicitor here!"
Vix 's ear flicks a bit as she recalls that her customer works on the generator. "Hmm...if they're going on the generator, I suppose I could cut the price a bit. That thing has seen better days!
Maybelline sighs, "You're telling me. Half the parts on it are damaged and the other half are missing, and whoever the last engineer was, they didn't leave any stock of replacement parts. It's a miracle the damn thing can still supply what it does."
Vix: Tell ya what: 35 for the bunch.
Maybelline frowns, knowing she can't pass this up. "Alright, you got it." She pulls out her pocket book from one of her pockets, counting out the coins before she pulls them out. "Uh, I have... 24. That's supposed to last me the month, but... I'll talk to Doc about the funds they're supplying me for parts, and should be able to get you the rest. The amount of time and effort these pieces will save us in getting the generator back to one hundred percent is worth it."
Vix gratefully takes 22 of the coins, leaving May with two. "Cmon, you still at least need to eat tonight~"
Maybelline hmphs, "I filled the pantry when I got here." She scratches her head and replaces the two coins in the coin purse, "But... appreciate it."
Vix grins. "Thanks for your business~"
Maybelline packs up the parts carefully, sliding the smaller ones into pockets of her overalls and breathing out a sigh, "If you come across anything else, please let me know! Especially a Capacitor. A big one. I need a 33S. If you find one of those... you'd be a lifesaver."
Vix gives a thumbs up. "I'll be sure to let you know~"
Maybelline grins, her good mood lifted even further at this sudden windfall of extra parts. "Later, Vix! Uh, thanks again! This is just, wow. Thanks!" She turns to excitedly head back home, excited at the prospect of being able to make real progress!
Vix thinks to herself once May is out of earshot. "Big capacitor...didn't I sell one of those to Nesseth a few weeks ago...?"