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High On Life (And Also Drugs) [Armorend]

Started by Eckhart_Von_Musel, June 04, 2017, 06:59:09 PM

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Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal grinned. "Oh, her plants are only magic because she is!" he said cheerily. "Like, she's just planting normal seeds. I think her magic somehow messes with the soil?" He scratched his head. "I'm not sure. It's not a spell, I think..."

Randal suddenly blinked. "Wait... Finniss can talk?" the boy asked, eyes lighting up. "What does he sound like? Does he tell jokes?"

***

*tch*

Taza gazed at the waitress's body, eyes cold. "Well." she said as she stood up, directing her attention to the man on the floor. "So much for her."

The man sputtered something incomprehensible, limbs twitching. His eyes flicked from side to side, as if watching something that wasn't there. Standing above him, the dealer smirked. "Randal must have given him the fenshade root pills." she thought, chest swelling with pride. "It doesn't take much to overdose on that stuff. He'll be dead in a few hours." The woman's shoulders relaxed, a calm smile emerging on her face. "I could leave you to your fate," she said out loud. "But you know what? This will make me feel better."

In an instant, Taza violently slammed her foot down onto the man's neck. His throat gave way with a sickening crunch, and the man's spasms stopped. The dealer took a deep breath, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Next time, don't touch my kid."

Armorend

Kartuun wrinkled his nose at Randal's incomplete description of Taza's ability to affect plants. "Hrm... I know there's a lot of different kinds of magic users out there, but I haven't heard of too many people directly using magic on plants to do what Taza does. And then you can take drugs and make people feel what they feel, I guess."

After thinking a bit longer, he remembered Randal's other inquiry. "Oh! Well, yeah, he can talk. But he doesn't actually talk much to answer questions, since a lot of them can be answered just by pointing or something. His favorite color is gray, he likes nighttime instead of daytime, and even though he doesn't get tired when 'active' he prefers being a blanket." Kartuun instinctively stroked one end of the worn fabric, losing himself in the calmness of the moment for a second.

"Er, I've never asked him to tell jokes, though. Never thought of that. I haven't heard him laugh either now that I think about it. But he sounds like a deep voice echoing inside of armor. I can't tell whether it's a man or a woman's voice, though... Not that it matters. I don't even know if enchanted objects can be one or the other." Kartuun finished his brief rant on the machinations of his partner with a sigh and a shrug.

"I mean he's nice to have but I guess it's better to have someone like Taza, huh? It seems like you two do this sort of thing a lot. Must be nice. Except the uh, i-injuries and stuff I mean... Those are really bad..." Kartuun stopped talking, not wanting to dig a deeper hole than the one he thought he just dug.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"This is actually my first real mission with her!" Randal said excitedly, seemingly unaware of his friend's embarressment. "Before I just helped at her flower shop, but now that I've been with her a year she trusts me to do other stuff too!"

The boy gave Kartuun a sly grin. "Well... why don't we ask him now?" He pumped his fists in the air, chanting. "Jokes! Jokes! Jokes! Jokes!"

Armorend

"Oh, well, that's cool!" Kartuun broke a smile at Randal's cheerfulness regarding his partnership with Taza. He found it somewhat difficult to stay equally positive as Randal turned to insistence regarding Finniss telling jokes.

"I-I mean... I guess we could. Dunno what will happen." Kartuun wasn't annoyed at Randal's suggestion, but rather his excitement and almost presumptuous tone, that Kartuun would be on-board with asking his best friend to do something he wasn't even sure it could do. Either way, he tried to make it a positive experience, and tugged Finniss from around his neck before extending his arm out while holding one end of the blanket, about one-fifth of the cloth touching the floor and creating a small pile. "Finniss, wake up."

The part resting on the floor grew out into a pair of legs, and Kartuun let go as the rest of it filled out into the armored being, sitting on the floor. Instinctively, he turned to Kartuun.

"Hey. Can you uhm... Tell us a joke?" The being's response was to tilt its head. Even without eyes or a facial expression, Kartuun could see the confused look on its face. "Y'know, something to make us laugh?" This gave no result, either. Kartuun looked to Randal. "Any ideas?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Hmmm..." Randal scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe he doesn't know what a joke is? Like, maybe if we start, he'll join in?"

The boy cleared his throat. "Ahem-hem... Finniss!" he called to the armored being. "What do you call a vampire with makeup on?" Randal didn't wait for a response. "A glampire! Geddit?"

Armorend

The armored figure looked on at Randal. He didn't move his arms, but it seemed that if he had, he'd be scratching his head trying to understand the point of what Randal said.

"... I don't know if he knows why it's funny. He might not have ever heard of a vampire before. We certainly haven't seen one, at least not as far as I know."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal's eyes lit up. "I saw a vampire once, I think!" he said excitedly. "Back home in Zantaric, this one guy came into our flower shop and asked for..." The boy giggled madly. "Blood red roses!" he finished in a deep, accented voice. "He was a pale guy in a cloak, too! Crazy, right?"

Randal tilted his head. "Have you ever met any weirdos?"

Armorend

"Wow... Are ya sure it was actually a vampire, though? Maybe it was some weird guy." Kartuun wasn't opposed to the idea of it actually being one; quite the contrary. But what Randal was describing sounded kinda fake.

"And, yeah. I've met a few. A while back I met a boy our age who said he was a wizard. He got me into some weird stuff. But at least I got a cool new power with Finniss out of it!"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"A wizard our age?" Randal said, tilting his head to the side. "Yeah, I think there's like, a school somewhere? Um..." The boy scratched his head in thought. "Uh, I think it's called Weirdwood or something..." The boy shrugged. "Anyway, I totally know this guy was a-"

The door opened with a soft click, and Randal abruptly stopped. "Taza! You're back!" he exclaimed to the Thanati woman standing in the doorway. His guardian had an oddly satisfied look in her eyes, and dark red stains was clearly visible on her pant leg. Randal stood up excitedly, then his face face fell as he realized what this meant. "So... so this means..."

Taza nodded, smiling gently. "Time to say goodbye."

Armorend

Kartuun and Finniss looked on at Taza. The former's face showed far more surprise than the latter's.

"W-wait, what?" The boy asked. This was so sudden! He almost felt like he and Randal had spent a month together in just a few short hours. His eyes shifted over to Taza, and her clothes, but then quickly moved off as he connected the dots. His heart grew dim. Those two people they had met were crazy, but... The conflict welled up inside Kartuun again, mind wrestling with itself. If he wanted to, he could always turn Taza in. But then... What about Randal? He didn't do anything wrong. Those two people had their lives stolen. Was it worth messing up Randal's too, when both of them had made it out alive, albeit with Randal injured?

Kartuun stood up as well, and Finniss followed suit, standing behind his owner. He gingerly hugged Randal, afraid of breaking the injured boy, but at the same time enjoying the closeness and warmth of another person. Finniss was a great companion but lacked in the intimacy another living being could provide. At this point, Kartuun was even considering not letting go...

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal froze in Kartuun's embrace, arms stiff at his side. "No no no, don't touch me!" he thought as his breathing began to grow sharp. "I- I don't want it!" After a few seconds, the boy uneasially slid out of his friend's grip. "Um... I'm not really a hug person... sorry..."

Randal looked at Kartuun, tears beginning to fill his eyes. Did goodbye really have to come so soon? He waved slowly, sniffling. "G-goodbye... I'm gonna miss you..."

Taza sighed, and pressed a small piece of paper into her protege's hand. "Why don't you give him this? You can't be Friends, but you could be penpals!"

Quote
Blue Orchid Flower Shop
14 Ogre Avenue, Zantaric

Randal's eyes lit up, and he quickly handed the small, blue business card to his friend. "Oh yeah! You can totally write me letters! You will, won't you?"

Armorend

A mild feeling of hurt surged through Kartuun as Randal freaked out at his embrace and subsequently slipped out of it. He figured there might be a reason for it but that didn't stop the now somewhat-scorned boy from feeling a little upset. Though it was immediately replaced by sadness when he saw Randal's tears, a sign he did care about Kartuun, some reassurance that assuaged the boy's feelings as quickly as they had been damaged.

"I'm gonna miss you too! I really hope you..." He paused, swallowing. "Hope you get better. And don't get into any trouble you can't--Can't get out of."

Then Taza handed something to Randal which was passed off to Kartuun. A card with an address! "O-oh! I've... Never had a penpal before. I'll try to write when I can. I dunno if I'll be doing as much interesting stuff as you two, but...!" He tucked the card away in a pocket. At least he had others he could contact when out in the world, now.

"So... Where are you two going, now?" Kartuun asked, taking Finniss' hand, as the being shifted back into a blanket he helped work back over his shoulders.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Home!" Randal said, a bittersweet smile on his face. He knelt over and began to scoop up his marbles, returning them to their pouch. "We have Friends there who need us." He slipped the pouch into his pocket, and began to grab his spare clothes from the bed and put them in Taza's bag. "We have a shop to run, too. You can visit sometime, if you'd like! We have all kinds of plants, not just the bad guy ones."

What about you, Kartuun?" Taza asked, packing up a small chemistry set that had been on the desk.. "Where are you headed?"

Armorend

"Ooh. That sounds fun. I'll try to come over at some point." Kartuun wondered what the shop they ran looked like. Was it run-down and ramshackle, or was it a rather clean, modest-looking affair obscuring the more questionable wares being sold?

The brief aside was interrupted by Taza's inquiry about his next destination. "Hmm? Oh! I'm headed to uh, Wyrdwood Academy of Arcane Science to find my parents. Or, well, a friend of mine thinks the academy can help me find my parents. So..." Kartuun stood there awkwardly, not knowing how their departure was going to work. Both he and them were leaving this room. Would he leave first, or they? If he left, would it be a betrayal of their friendship, because he would seem so eager to leave?

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Wyrdwood, huh?" Taza said, lifting her bag over her shoulder. "I hear that place is very competitive. I'd be careful."

"Kartuun will be fine!" Randal exclaimed. "He has Finniss, he can beat people up if there's a competition!"

The woman laughed, shaking her head. "Not that kind of competition, goofball." Grinning, she walked to the door and held it open. "Come on, we'll miss the carriage."

Randal looked at his friend, his eyes watering. "Thanks for saving me from those guys..." he said quietly. "I owe you. If you need, like, anything, write me a letter, 'kay?" With a final smile and a wave, Randal would leave the room behind his guardian. "Bye! Write me even if you don't need anything too!" he called behind him. "Have fun at school!"

~Later~

Randal's heart swelled as he looked out the carriage window, sighi g as the city slowly faded into the distance. "You really think he'll write?" he asked quietly. "I've never had a friend who wasn't in the gang before..."

Taza smiled, gently stroking the boy's hair. "I'm sure he will." she said comfortingly. "You two went through a lot, people don't forget things like that."

Randal nodded. "Mm." he mumbled. His eyes began to grow heavy, tired from the day he'd had. "I'm not gonna, that's for sure..." The young dealer drifted into sleep, head resting on his mentor's shoulder...

~fin~

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