fairyland fun! (your levels of fun may vary)

[fair_trouble]

[New day, new town, and hopefully new opportunities. Specifically opportunities to make some money because Zel and Emery’s funds have been running kind of low after their most recent misadventure. This has meant a temporary separation while Zelgadis goes to look for merc-type work and potential cure leads and Emery goes around chatting up the locals without terrifying them.

Or at least that was the plan, until Calanthe showed up.

By the time Zel gets back to the inn, Emery’s still busy talking to Calanthe in their inn room, although the conversation’s just about wrapping up. If he’s perceptive he might even catch a bit of Emery’s words.

“...some funds this time? ...Seriously, is that it? He’s always such a cheapskate. …Okay I got it. I’ll see you later.”

A few moments later a woman wearing a green cloak exits their inn room. Her hood is up, partly obscuring a pale face and hair, and she barely spares anyone a passing glance as she drifts down the hallway.

Emery is still standing inside the inn room looking pensive, but when Zel enters he’ll give him a bright smile.]

Oh! Hey, Zel. Did you manage to find anything?

Comments

[fair_trouble]

[That earns Zel a sideways glance.]



Are you trying to insinuate that I have a plain face?

[Are you saying that Emery has a HOMELY COUNTENANCE that is BENEATH NOTICE? Huh???]

[chimerad]

Eh-?

[beat. blink.

he looks down and sees that look and flushes.]

N-no, I meant...mine's...ugly enough to draw attention. You know that.

[fair_trouble]

[Emery resists the urge to sigh and gets to his feet so that he can give Zel’s cheek an exasperated poke.]

You're not ugly, and if you draw attention it’ll be because everyone’s wondering who that mysterious, handsome man is. What is his agenda? Is he on a sacred mission? Running from a tragic past? Does he have a girlfriend? Perhaps five girlfriends?

[chimerad]

Fi-- [he makes a face, scoffing.] No sane person would be thinking that. Let's move on. What's your plan?

[fair_trouble]

[Emery might protest that he had similar thoughts when he first met Zel, but that wouldn’t exactly be disproving Zel’s point, would it? And fine, it’s time for serious plan talk.]

Nothing elaborate. I figured I’d use my abilities to disguise myself- [Zelgadis’s appearance may be more alarming than Emery’s, particularly in the human realm where being part rock is generally unheard of, but Emery’s fair beauty does attract attention in its own right.] -and we’d use the fishing trip as a cover story. Once we’re in the area we try and get close to the palace to do some recon, and I’ll chat up the locals. There’s always someone who wants to gossip. And if not… I can use my fey charm.

[Hopefully it won’t come to that! He's only deliberately used his charm abilities on a few occasions, but he's always felt kind of. Icky, afterwards.]

And maybe we’ll try sneaking into that tower to see what’s in there.

[chimerad]

Do you expect any resistance, or...chance that things might get dicey? [ie: is he going to have to throw magical hands? because he kind of had the impression he might have to.

then again, he was painting this mission based on his own past experiences rather than...black-souped reality...]

[fair_trouble]

…A little. Merry Morgan obviously wants to keep something under wraps, and I don’t think she or her underlings will look too kindly on anyone prying into her secrets.

[As much as Emery would like to pretend otherwise, nothing he’s heard about Merry Morgan indicates she’s the pacifistic type. The Field Lord certainly isn’t, and wouldn’t have any compunctions about Emery risking his life to fulfill the Field Lord’s whims.]

But let’s try and avoid that, alright? I don't like it when people get hurt.

[chimerad]

Right. [he won't instigate for the sake of it...not unless someone else starts kicking up a fuss first.

after a beat, Zel glances down toward the water and the wobbly reflections of the both of them. how is this going to work, then? Zel might actually be more burden than boon if it's all social wiles at play... he frowns thoughtfully.]

If anyone can go on excursions out there without too much suspicion, then, it may be easy enough...

[fair_trouble]

[As is typical, Zelgadis frowns and broods and Emery smiles and decides to take Zel’s statement as optimistic despite Zel’s usual everything. He claps a hand on Zel’s shoulder- Calanthe’s well out of town by now, so touching his boyfriend is back on the menu.]

That’s the spirit~! Let’s think of this as almost a real vacation.

[chimerad]

[his brow ridge raises a bit.] Vacation? [what the hell are those. it's weird enough as it is! he's on a mission entirely divorced from the end of the world or his own personal cause...this is rare for him, okay?] Is that the angle we're taking?

[fair_trouble]

Exactly! If even we think of our trip as a leisurely thing, then people will be even less likely to realize we’re up to something.

[It’s quite practical when you think about it, not at all just an excuse for Emery to fuck around.]

[chimerad]

[we. right.

together. perceived...together.

that hamster wheel's finally turning, giving him cause to properly flush.]

Y-yeah. That should...work. Probably.

[fair_trouble]

[Emery quietly admires that flush and slips his hand into Zel’s.]

So, did you want to look around town before we leave?

[chimerad]

[he notices the handhold via reflection before sensing the pressure on his palm and it makes him blink a couple times.

look around...hand-in-hand? that's awfully attention-grabby, isn't it?

or...is it? in a town where people have cow tails or are very very tiny...

he scratches at his cheek with his free hand.]

Is there something I should be looking for? [that he wouldn't be able to see elsewhere.]

[fair_trouble]

[Emery shrugs.]

Nothing in particular. We’ll need to get proper fishing gear at some point just for our cover story, but I think we’ll be able to rent some when we get to Zennor Lake. [And no sense hauling all that stuff all the way from here to there if they don’t have to.] But I thought you might be curious.

[He could gawk at all the tiny winged people and their dovecote-like houses like some kind of boorish tourist!]

[chimerad]

[thought he might be curious? why would he think that? besides being in a whole new world. does he think he's a nerd or something??

...he is a nerd, though.]

I...I guess if there's an archive or something around here, then maybe...

[fair_trouble]

[Yes. Emery thinks Zel is a very cute nerd, and accordingly he grins up at him.]

We won’t know until we take a look, will we?

[chimerad]

[he looks past him, his mouth pulling in that way it does when he's trying to avoid reacting to something he wants to react to.]

...Okay. For a little bit. But if we waste too much of the day, that'd put you behind, right?

[fair_trouble]

Eh. I suppose.

[Pffft, Zel says that like Emery’s job is important or something! Alright, so maybe if Emery dawdles too much Merry Morgan will be able to pull off whatever it is she’s up to and they’ll have missed their window of opportunity to gather information, and then Emery might be in trouble with his boss but. But!

But he really prefers fooling around with his boyfriend over doing his job.]

We’ll multitask, then! Look for an archive, and look for transportation to the next town.

[chimerad]

[the carefree Lina energy of it all... Zel looks skyward with an unspoken question on that before accepting any nudging or pulling to get himself moving back toward town proper, mindfully averting his focus toward that inn and it's damn solarium.

something something wandering montage, expecting more oddities and hesitating to really poke his nose anywhere without being properly goaded to. what's really the novelty is letting himself be led around by the hand: mulling about a town with travel companions is one thing, but not like this! usually he'd be grudgingly tailing behind one hothead or the other, you know?

...is this a date?? Zel glances at reflections in windows in bewilderment as that question pops up to mind.]

[fair_trouble]

[If this were really a Lina moment then Zel would be being dragged back to that inn for a ten course meal. Fortunately it is not a Lina moment! It may or may not be a date, however; Emery isn’t really thinking about it anywhere near as much as Zel is, just happy to be here with Zel.

Although it’s a Poor Provincial Town in many respects, the village isn’t entirely without interest. It’s almost ludicrously picturesque, with plenty of flowers and greenery, not to mention the whimsical architecture.

Shopping-wise, there’s a curiosity shop that sells enchanted items, in case Zel has ever wanted a set of cutlery that sings and dances. (This set is on an extreme discount; it appears to have been in the shop for a while.) (Emery is delighted by the set but not enough to actually buy it.)

There’s also things that are actually useful, ranging from everyday items like teapots that will always keep your tea warm and lamps that will light up without need for a candle, and things that might be of interest to adventurers, such as a dagger that spells can be channeled through for greater effect. However those are all fuck-off expensive and way out of their current budget, and the curiosity shop has to be left behind.

A proper archive cannot be located but there does turn out to be a book shop. The bookseller isn’t the sort who appreciates customers that browse without buying, so Emery takes it upon himself to distract the man with idle chatter so that Zel can peruse the collection of fae realm books in relative peace.

The whole time, Emery keeps things relatively proper… Sure, he’s usually holding Zel’s hand or arm, but nowhere more untoward than that. Theoretically this could be totally platonic handholding! Hopefully Zel is not dumb enough to conclude that, because come on.]

[chimerad]

[no. no singing cutlery. no talking inanimate objects in general, for personal reasons.

he appreciates the support in keeping the book vendor off his back while he peruses...perhaps there'd be a chance to properly sit down and tear through a whole lot of them in a day or two...

but if they're going on a lake, there's a risk of books getting ruined before he can even dig in. hm. HM.

he'll just take note of titles of interest for later and leave empty-handed this time.]

...All set.

[fair_trouble]

[Emery gives a quick glance at the lack of books Zel is carrying and breezily bids farewell to the bookshop owner and escorts Zel out. As they’re on the way out, he asks:]

Have fun?

[Emery’s tone is light but he is watching Zel very carefully when he asks. Books seemed like a pretty safe bet for something Zel would enjoy and he’s hoping it at least got some of the sting out from the soup incident earlier. He’d rather hate it if Zel’s primary impression of a fae realm town was “that terrible place where something embarrassing happened to me.”]

[chimerad]

[to be fair, the terrible place where something embarrassing happened isn't a monolith: he can be horribly embarrassed most anywhere regardless of realm; he makes it so easy. that won't be the lasting impression of anything unless he faceplants hard enough to leave a lasting impression somewhere on it!

that aside:] Mn. There's a few things I'd want to try and check on later, if there's a chance afterward... No sense picking anything up and risk it getting lost in the middle of what you're here to do.

[fair_trouble]

[Ah-ha! So Zel is interested in coming back here. Emery will take that as a win, and accordingly grins. It means that Zel doesn’t totally hate it here!]

Sounds sensible. We’ll have plenty of time for this later.

[...As long as the Field Lord doesn’t give Emery another assignment right after this one, anyway.]

So I talked to the bookseller a bit about the roads around here, and the northwest road leads to a city on the bank of the Ganaranth. Nobody in town’s heading that way anytime soon so we won’t be able to hitch a ride out of town, but once we’re in the city it should be easy to find a ship headed up the river.