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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - LATE AFTERNOON
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Elizabeth is sitting at one of the tables, idly sipping at a glass of wine and staring into nothingness. The skunk is dressed in a moderately fancy purple dress that covers most of her, though the hood of the dress is down, showing her big white bun of a hairdo to the world. She is clearly deep in thought, with the occasional small frown interspersing her otherwise neutral expression. "Wasn't what I expected...", she mutters to herself.
Annika steps downstairs. She's on an off day, and after working on some sewing upstairs for the morning, and early afternoon she's coming down for her supper. After ordering a mild stew, she looks around for anyone she recognizes. Seeing Elizabeth, she gives her a polite nod of recognition, but doesn't actually approach. For now, continuing to wait for her food to be ready.
Elizabeth glances at Annika upon seeing some movement from her corner of her eye. After a brief moment of doubt, she nods at the fox with a small smile: "Hello there."
Annika: "Oh!" She smiles back "Hey, I..ah..seen you around, but I don't think we've ever actually spoken. Annika, pleased to get to talk to you" Her bowl of stew arrives, and she holds the tray, hestitating a moment. It wasn't an invite to join her, but it hadn't been -not- an invite either, and Annika didn't want to be too forward.
Elizabeth nods at her table, gesturing with her hand: "Please, do join me. And you may call me Elizabeth."
Annika: "Thanks" She scoots to the table, putting down the tray, and moving the bowl, and a glass of apple juice to her table "Elizabeth then" She pauses awkwardly a moment "So, um..how are you finding it? You've..uh..moved recently, right?"
Elizabeth nods, taking a sip of her wine as she muses. "Yes, I just movied into Respite. It's... quaint. Small. Calm."
Annika: "It is? Oh..well, I moved here from the countryside, so it's always been a lot more hectic for me..are big cities even more busy?"
Elizabeth gives a soft chuckle, looking at the much-younger vulpine: "Glaushire is good twenty or thirty times the size of Respite, if I had to guess."
Annika: "oh..." Her eyes widen a little "...How could one city even get that big.." She recovers a bit "So..um, how are you helping Mr. Shaw?"
Elizabeth lifts her hand a bit, letting a few purple arcane runes dance around her fingers: "I... you could say I provide magical assistance. It was an opportunity I could not miss." She smiles, though there is a degree of hesitance behind that smile.
Annika: "Oh! You must be very good then!" She ooohs at the runes, her eyes following them around her fingers "Magic must be super hard to learn too..."
Elizabeth looks at the runes, thinking: "It... well, I have had a lot of time to learn. Some of it the hard way."
Annika: "..Oh..is..is there an easy way?"
Elizabeth chuckles, giving a wry smile as she flicks her wrist and the runes are gone. "Not really. Some ways just contain less hard knocks to the head."
Annika: "Ah!" She smiles, feeling a little silly "Of course..magic has always seemed so neat! I bet there's loads of cool stuff you can do"
Elizabeth takes another sip her wine, musing on this: "Some have called me something of a witch. There's... maybe some truth to that."
Annika: "Oh! So, what can witches do? They can like..ride around on broomsticks and stuff, right?"
Elizabeth blinks in surprise, then lets out a genuine laugh: "Oh, heavens no. I don't know where that idea comes from. Even if it was magically feasible, it'd still be painful as heck to fly on one..."
Annika: "I mean...you could like..sit side saddle?..." She winces "The other way would probably be bad though...yes"
Elizabeth laughs a bit more, shaking her head: "I don't think I want to find out. My feet are quite happy on the ground."
Annika: "Oh..um...How about..turning people into frogs?"
Elizabeth gives a bit of a devilish grin: "If I had done such things, would you really want to know?"
Annika: "I mean..you're nice! You probably would only do it if they deserved it"
Elizabeth shrugs, still smiling: "Possibly. You're right."
Annika: "No doubt at all" She nods, smiling too, missing the connotations "So..if you can't do those things..what can you do? I'm super curious"
Elizabeth pauses, pondering what to say. "I identify magical items, both good bad, for Mr Shaw. Make sure they're up to par, as it were. Magical manipulation is my forte, somewhat." She flicks her wrist, and levitates her wine glass a bit. "That kind of thing."
Annika: "Oh!" Her eyes follow the wine glass "Cooool, so you're able to know what things do!" She nods "Oh, and..uh..there's lots of people around here that seem not to like Mr. Shaw, but don't mind them. I got hurt" She motions to her sling'd arm "And I think they blame him"
Elizabeth nods, looking over Annika: "I... see. Well, it is not my nature to... talk of others, behind their backs. What Mr. Shaw does beyond the business with me is... none of my business."
Annika: "Yeah, that makes sense" She nods, looking around, thinking of a change of subject "Have you found a place to stay in Respite yet?"
Elizabeth winces at this particular change of topic, but nods with a sigh after that. "I... I have. It's not much, but it's... definitely not much. An old wooden shack on the Northern side of town."
Annika: "Oh! But it's your own though! I'm hoping to get a place soon. I've got the money, but I promised May I'd wait until she can look for places with me"
Elizabeth winces again: "Yes... is is my own now, for better or for worse. Some 'manor'." She huffs a bit.
Annika: "Oh! Was it not what you wanted?" She frowns a little
Elizabeth sighs, raising her hand: "I was sold a 'beautiful, if slightly worn-down manor' down here. Spent good chunk of what's left of my money to buy it. Come here and it's... well, not."
Annika: "Hmm..maybe you could do it up!"
Elizabeth lets out a bit of a surprised guffaw at the idea. She swallows a bit, then looks back at Annika: "Even if it was possible to spruce up that mess, I can't do it."
Annika: "Oh? Why not?"
Elizabeth gives a wry smile: "In my sixty-something years of life, I have never held a hammer in my hand."
Annika: "Oh! Well, I'm able to do some stuff, and I know another few people who can do hammer stuff. We could help!"
Elizabeth now blinks in genuine surprise: "...you? But I barely know you? Why would you do that?"
Annika: "Well, you seem nice..and you need help...That's what people do. You help people out who need it" She tilts her head, confused "Is that not a thing in big cities?"
Elizabeth looks almost equally confused: "...not really, no."
Annika: "Oh. Well, it is! Don't worry though, you'll get used to it" She pats Elizabeth's hand
Elizabeth looks at the younger fox in confusion: "...I guess I will. You haven't even seen the house."
Annika: "I mean...it can't be thaaat bad"
Elizabeth winces slightly: "...weeelll, bad is most certainly subjective. You can judge for yourself."
Annika: "Well, no matter how bad it is, decoration can make anything look better"
Elizabeth takes a bit of a breath: "...well, I can not fault you for lack of optimism, at least."
Annika lets out a small giggle "People say that a lot"
Elizabeth: "Might want to hold onto it, if you can."
Annika: "It's worked for me so far"
Elizabeth takes a sip of her wine, nodding: "Let us hope that it keeps, then."
Annika: "I hope so too" She takes a sip too, though of her juice. Which perhaps has a different vibe.
Elizabeth continues conversing with Annika for a while, before the two part ways.
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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - EARLY EVENING
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Louma finds herself at the door of the Minnow, the rest of the day before a grey blur of nothing. She lets herself into the fine establishment, slithering to the bar to order a bottle of wine and a glass, then finding a table to the side where she curls up and waits for her drink. She sighs as she coils up and rests on her tail. She lets out a sigh and plops her chin on the tabletop, closing her eyes to think.
Vix sits at another table, examining the colorful feather that she came across the other day. She holds it up to the light and squints.
Louma flinches as the bottle is set down near her head, rolling to thank the bartender. She sighs as she raises her head, about to fill her glass when she spots Vix at a nearby table. She smiles as she begins filling her glass. "I don't think they take pretty feathers for drinks, unless policy has changed since I tried it."
Vix giggles. "Nah...but I wonder if it's worth something? It's not from any birds or birdfolk I've seen around..."
Louma shrugs. "Perhaps, it does seem to be pretty unique, in that case. If you don't mind, may I see it closer?"
Vix makes her way over to Louma's table and passes her the feather. "Here ya go!"
Louma takes a drink as Vix walks over, accepting the feather with a little nod. "Oh, hm... This really is quite pretty, what an unusual coloration. The shape is vaguely familiar, though, are you sure it's not from a local bird?"
Vix 's eyes light up. "Maybe it's from a mythical bird! A magic bird!"
Louma giggles at Vix's excitement, holding the feather up to shine light on it. "That's entirely possible, maybe it's from a phoenix that passed overhead." She traces her fingertip along the edge of the feather. "It's too bad about this crease, though. Did it get bent in your pocket?" She holds the feather out toward Vix, gesturing to a chair at the table.
Vix shakes her head. "It was like that when I got it. A snake lady dropped it at my stall after she bought a lunch."
Louma feels her smile fail, looking at Vix directly. "Snake lady? Was she the same green snake that Nesseth-" harassed at the gate "-told me had recently arrived?"
Vix scratches her chin. "Hmm...Yeah, I think so. She was a little ornery..."
Louma drops a dark chuckle, sighing as her tail tip taps the floor in mild nervousness. "I'd bet she was."
Vix tilts her head. "I wonder why she'd be carrying a feather like that. Lucky charm?"
Louma looks at the feather, tilting her head. "I was just thinking the same thing, Nesseth said she didn't have any plumage or wings." Louma gives Vix a sideways glance. "Was he mistaken?"
Vix shrugs. "I guess that's our mystery for the day~"
Louma sighs, taking another sip of her wine. "I mean, there's only two snakes in town I know of, me and her. It'd be pretty hard to miss a detail like these, hm?" She smiles, extending her own wings outward slowly, so as to not knock anything over.
Vix: Oooh~! Yours are very pretty~"
Louma grins, shaking them slightly, partly as display, but mostly because it just feels good to stretch. A couple feathers shed as usual, mostly fluffy down with a couple larger tip feathers with a familiar shape.
Vix picks up one of the shed tip feathers and holds it up to the light. "Hmm, seems inconvenient, maybe a little messy..."
Louma shrugs, returning her wings to resting with a satisfied sigh. "It's actually pretty useful if I can't find a pen and need a quill." She chuckles, picking up her glass as she looks at Vix, stopping when she notices the feather she's holding.
Vix holds the white feather next to the bent colorful one. "Hmmm...how about this?"
Louma would blanch if she could, picking up the two feathers. The rainbow one is larger, but the overall shape is almost identical. Louma manages to find her voice after a few moments looking at the feathers, turning to Vix. "Did you get a name from them?"
Vix scratches her chin as she takes a second to remember. "Mmm...So...Cho...Xochi? Yeah, Xochi!"
Louma feels her hand shake, the name is vaguely familiar, one she may have heard through the acquaintance of a friend a decade ago, but anyone can just use any name to introduce themselves. She sets the feathers down on the table, taking a drink to collect her nerves. "Yeah, it could be anyone using a royal sounding name, and the feather could just be a keepsake or a charm or whatever, right? How would you even hide wings as big as a coatls..."
Vix shrugs. "Magic? Some real secret royal tricks?"
Doc Plume walks into the bar looking a bit more harried than normal. Their shirt is soaked through with sweat and they look exhausted. They sit down at the bar and order a mug of beer and a bowl of stew.
Vix instinctively sinks under the table a bit as she notices Doc enter. "Ack..."
Louma takes a calming breath, looking at Vix. "Possibly, but you can't just van-... Um, what... Are you..."
Vix peeks over the edge of the table at Louma. "N-nothing, don't mind me!"
Doc Plume sips at the dark ale and gives a satisfied sigh before digging into the stew with the gusto of a starving man. Only after half of their dinner is gone do they even think to look around the rest of the tavern, though they give only a passing nod in the direction of where Louma and Vix are sitting.
Vix whispers. "I don't think they noticed me..."
Louma turns and spots Plume, giving them a small wave in greeting before turning back to her own table. Vix's odd behavior succeeds in distracting Louma. "I have to ask. I obviously have to. Why in the world are you hiding from Plume?" She whispers, picking up her wine bottle and finally refilling her glass.
Vix: It's a long story. Personal reasons...
Louma grins mischievously, setting her elbow on the table and chin on that hand, lifting the wine glass to her beak with the other hand. Her voice is oversweet when she speaks. "Oh come now, after all the discovery we've just been through together?"
Doc Plume finishes their stew and ale and replaces the mug with one of seltzer. They turn and look to the others. "Someone drop something you can sell under there, Vix?"
Louma chuckles, glancing at Plume.
Vix eeps. "U-um...yeah, there was...a rare coin!" She holds up one of Xochi's gold pieces from the other day.
Louma spots the coin, frowning.
Doc Plume cocks their head. "Uh huh. Sure. Don't hide on my account. I don't have the energy to even try to be angry right now, not that I would want to be angry with you, I think?"
Vix sighs and nervously makes her way over to the seat next to Doc, leaving her coin on the table. "There's been somethin' bothering me and Ness said I should talk to you about it..."
Louma watches Vix wander off, then finds herself staring at the two feathers and the coin on the table, forgetting about her wine as her mind returns to an unfortunate set of what-ifs and whys.
Doc Plume shakes their head. "I know that you and Ness maybe did stuff together... and while I might not like it, it's something I can abide. I just don't want to hear about it, OK?"
Vix blinks. "Wait, that's it?"
Doc Plume shrugs. "For now... Might have more to say when I'm not exhausted." They sip their seltzer and don't say anything else for the moment.
Vix sits awkwardly next to Doc. "Sorry for avoidin' you for so long..."
Doc Plume smiles a bit at Vix. "No harm to me really, I mean, we barely know each other..."
Vix hums. "Yeah, that's true...Oh, did those herbs I gathered come in handy?"
Doc Plume nods. "Yeah, they're good. Thanks." They let out a little yawn before standing up. "Anyway, I should get back, grab a nap..."
Vix: Oh! Okay, take care! Good uh...talk!
Louma looks up, noticing Plume heading out. "Oh, doctor, mind if I accompany you part way? I'm heading up that direction anyways."
Doc Plume nods to Louma. "Of course, Captain..." The two then head out together on the short walk back to the clinic.