Muttonhawk

The Hallows Inn

Well, alright, I'll make a post then.

The Final Fantasy

Well, I haven't played FFX in ages, and I never got to finish it (stupid Seymour, expecting me to grind more), but I got the gist of the ending from other people. Regardless...

The Hallows Inn

Evershadow, has your internet been shunted again? I'm a bit disappointed that this has died down. :(

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

When Ahnasha embraced Fendros where he lay, he put a hand on one of her arms and scrunched his eyes shut. For the first time in a month, his heart started to ache. His feelings for her became painful to bear, knowing that they would be lost. He was so tired now. So tired. He relaxed his eyes and let himself try to drift off to sleep instead of thinking. There were still plenty of tomorrows with Ahnasha, and it was no use trying to determine anything now.

When Meesei came back to the campfire, Ariel was at first a little too dazed and drunk to fully process her question. "Hmm?" She was still wide eyed when she turned her head to see Meesei, "Oh, I'm fine," She patted her hand on Meesei's leg reassuringly and grinned, before being interrupted by Janius.

"Drink!"

Ariel turned her entire torso around to face Janius, "What? But I didn't think we were still playing with all the other talk!"

Janius angled his head forward with a smile, moving his mug side to side with his wrist, "Drink..."

Angling her own head forward, but in a disapproving manner, Ariel lifted her mug for the umpteenth time. "Ah," her eyes were on Janius now, "Janius, can you drink more than Lorag?"

"Oooooh..." Janius leaned back and squinted. Ariel had opened a can of worms with that question, one that would be fully opened later tonight if they had enough drink left. Janius drank for his hesitation, then quickly answered, "Yes." He was far too intoxicated to regret saying such a thing. "Meesei, did you really ride a troll when you were last drunk?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I have to head to a shift, be back in several hours. :|

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei's words brought up Fendros' previous reservations. With more justification being behind her words, in that they were based on knowledge more than hunches, Fendros backed down. "You're... you're right, Meesei," he said, disappointed and a little defeated. "I just don't know what else there is..." Suddenly, they were back where they started, facing a problem neither of them knew how to approach. Fendros hung his head and reached out to hold Ahnasha's hand. It was upsetting and frustrating just how little he felt he could do. "Thank you for your counsel, Meesei," he said in a low voice, before letting go of Ahnasha's hand and heading to his bedroll. He had to have a serious think about whether he wanted to find out more about this magic. The dangers were real, but so was the hope. Whether he would be able to go through with it was no simple question to answer. He lay down on one side, awake on his bedroll, hunched and quiet. He was hiding just how uncomfortable he was with it all now, while at the same time trying to think over the noise by the campfire. Even if it was years ahead, to look to Ahnasha's death and the curse that would follow, and with so little control over it all, it was only taking away more of his spirit. He didn't realise at the time that he was worrying more than he was thinking, but it would likely not help him any more with getting to sleep.

"Oh!" Ariel went rather wide eyed at Lorag before looking away. She supposed she had no one to blame but herself for giving Lorag such an excuse to strip down, but it was confronting all the same. She was so distracted that she quickly forgot what the question was. "Um, yes- I mean no- I mean... oh I'll just drink." Ariel took a large swig of her full mug of sujamma and tried to think of a question for Janius, who was laughing heartily. "Janius, do you... do you all do this?" She asked slightly nervously.

"Well, of course!" Janius said proudly, before leaning over and putting his hand on Ariel's shoulder clumsily. "I can take off my clothing as well, if it pleases you."

With cheeks as red as beetroots at the entire situation, Ariel stammered. "N-no, that's- it's quite alright. Lorag, could you please dress yourself? I'm sorry, I'm-I'm not used to it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Yes!" Janius retorted through a chuckle, drinking as obliged. "Ariel, is Lorag not the most stereotypical Orc you have ever met?"

"Well, yes, a bit."

"Drink!"

Ariel laughed, feeling a tingling of her extremities as the sujamma started to quickly set in. "This game is going to be the death of me..." she said with a grin after she drank again. She passed her mug to Janius to fill up before asking another question. "Lorag, do you enjoy walking around in the nude?"

Fendros looked away, thinking. He understood why such knowledge would be locked away, if not because of the power hungry nature of its curators. "Right," he said, "... well, how dangerous could these organisations be, right?" Fendros thought out loud optimistically, "We have fought our way through the den of a group of hunters trained to kill us. I'm sure we'll find a way around this." Fendros looked to them both again and half shrugged, "Perhaps we could investigate at some point? It won't be easy, but finding such an organisation might give some insight. It might be a glimpse into this area. I would at least like to know how to recognise the dangers. What do you think, Ahna?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While it sounded like a good idea for Ahnasha to expand her knowledge of conjuration, Fendros felt as if the topic of the necromantic magic had been left unfinished. Fendros didn't know whether he had a strong mind or an iron will either, but he felt strongly enough about it that he wanted to find out more. "Meesei, I would like to find out more about this life-extending magic, at least so we can find out what we're dealing with," He said firmly, "Is there a starting point? A book, or someone we can talk to?"

In an effort to try and get better at the game, Ariel didn't really think about her answer. "No." Her answer was immediately followed by small laugh at Lorag's behaviour.

"Drink," Janius grinned once again.

Ariel hung her head and smiled, before raising her head to Janius and sipping from her mug as asked. "Janius, do you intend to get me very intoxicated tonight?"

"Yes," Janius said with a tone implying that it was obvious, "Ariel, do you drink often?"

"No," Ariel shook her head, now getting into the spirit of the game, "Janius, how is... oh, for-" she stopped and drank again. "Janius... do you like magic?"

"Yes," Janius looked to Lorag now. "Lorag, is your favourite colour blue?" Janius felt like a bit of an amateur for falling back to something so out of place, but at least the game kept going.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

What Meesei was describing was most of what Fendros was afraid of in this matter. He exhaled, feeling conflicted. He acknowledged that Ahnasha stated she wouldn't fall in blindly to whatever would be involved, but he couldn't completely put his worry to rest. "I don't know much about any of this, about what you mentioned," He said, showing a serious expression in an effort to hide his own fear. His tone became faster and similarly pleading, but for different reasons. "I love Ahnasha,-" He glanced to Ahnasha, "-and I don't want to lose her either." He looked to Meesei again, "But..." he let out a frustrated breath, "...this makes me afraid that I might lose her sooner if we're not careful. At the same time, if she could live longer I would have nothing else to wish for in life." Fendros looked down and his tone became more solemn, "I don't know what to think. I was hoping I would after finding out more about this."

Over by the campfire, Janius let out a low laugh at Lorag's enthusiasm in comparison to everyone else. After Lorag finished explaining the game, Janius spoke up before Ariel could agree to even play. "Remember, a yes or no question. I'll start. Ariel, is your hair blonde?"

Ariel taken off guard, tried to answer. "I- well- of course I'm not-"

"-Drink," Janius interrupted her, smiling.

"But I-"

"-Y'didn't say yes or no," Janius said in a patronising tone, "drink." He pointed his mug in her direction.

"Well, alright," Ariel sighed, before putting her mug to her lips.

"Now it's your turn."

Ariel pursed her lips in thought, before pointing across to Lorag. "Lorag, is... your knee feeling better?"

Ariel had some drinking to do before getting to the level that Lorag and Janius were now, so she had an advantage. How much that would diminish would likely depend on how quickly she could pick up the game.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sorry for the shorter post. Been a bit busy today.

I suppose other than the discussion with Meesei about lifespan magic (if you wanted to do that in this scene), there's not much else I can think to do tonight.

I'm still not sure how I want Janius/Ariel to end up, but I'm leaning towards hilariously right now.

EDIT: Okay, I've just been informed that I'll be running a fundraising barbeque tomorrow, so, yeah, sorry. I'll probably be back for posting around this time tomorrow, give or take a couple of hours.