headlocked | Sprezzatura PSL

[How Sprezzatura got here, well, that's up to her. There's enough interdimensional bullshit going around, and she's a DnD, surely she can narrow things down to Quincy's rough location.

But "rough location" is, unfortunately, a dense forest teeming with life and magical energy and colorful beasties. And poachers. And traps for poachers.

That is to say that Sprezzatura, bless her heart, is getting hoisted aloft and dangled from a high branch by a (well-made!) rope around her ankle. Yay.]

[ she's here to burgle your turts.

but up she goes with a shriek of outright rage, one leg noosed and the other loose and nearly kneeing her in the nose. her arcanabula sweeps from her hands and lands facedown on the lush forest for beneath her hanging place. ]

Damn it!

[in most cases, Quincy's catch would get to wait like that until the next morning.

luckily for Sprezzatura, Topper is out on a play date with some animal friends when he hears that an unfamiliar youkai has been caught in one of Quincy's Human Traps, and his curiosity inspires him to come investigate himself!

which means a very familiar fluffy weaselcreature is popping out of a nearby shrubbery within, oh, thirty minutes, and goggling up at her, then squeaking an excited greeting.]

[ after 30 minutes, she has managed to lever herself half-upright, using both her tail and a lot of muscle. she's flushed and irritable and sawing uselessly at the rope with her claws when...

a squeak. ]

Topper! Get me down!

[Topper answers with a volley of conversational squeaks, ending with an authoritative tailflick and... fucking off again.

In another fifteen minutes there will be a Quincy.]

[ he arrives to find her hanging there, all the blood in her face making it purple.

arms crossed. ]

Some good welcome.

...So it really is you, little scribe.

[he doesn't waste time in untying a length of rope near the base of the tree, lowering her slowly.]

[ annoyed tailflick. ]

Of course it is me.

"Of course".

[wryly. resetting the trap and looking her over.]

[ her hair is in disarray from hanging upside-down, as is outfit. her temples throb from the blood that has rushed to her face. and she's picking her spellbook, Sophrosyne, from the dirt with tender care.

at last, she looks up at him. ]

Well? Here I am. I found my way, as I said I would.

You did.

[stepping in to draw her into a hug.]

I missed you.

[ there we are. that's what she wanted. and she'd forgotten his sheer size, the solidity of him. can't even get her arms fully around to hug him back. ]

I miss you also.

Let me show you my home?

[so tempted to simply scoop her. she is so small.]

[ boy. you know better than that. ]

Oh, it is more than rope tricks?

If you're a poacher, no.

Hmm. Good that I am not poacher, then, and merely good friend come to visit.

That's right.

[withdrawing from the embrace just enough to look at her. the man, he is smiling.]

There are still some rope tricks, though.

[ make no mistake: he still looks tired. in fact, so does she. but he's happy.

good, she thinks, achy. good.

the slightest tip of her head. ] Hm. You are going to walk in front of me, then.

Good call.

[tipping his head, then, and starting to walk.

it won't be an easy trip-- it's all dense forest, with no real pathways, but he's patient with her as she navigates, and Topper rejoins them after a few minutes to squeak encouragingly.]

[ still not the biggest fan of small animals, even ones as dapper as Topper, but she no longer flinches away as if expecting to be bitten. she trudges on behind him gamely, with all the patience of a woman whose live centres around researching tombs and crypts and ruins and then venturing into them to delve their secrets.

a forest should have been fine. she can't help rolling a 1 on checking for traps, okay? ]

So... you have been doing well.

[in her defense they were traps made to trap trappers-- he's good at what he does.]

Well enough.

[he says it as if by default, then, after a brief pause, amends.]

...I have. Have you?

As can be expected.

[ also by default. she scuffles over a root. ]

For some time it all felt as dream, and my waking life had no ills. But... reality always creeps in again.

[a low noise in the back of his throat, sympathetic, but he doesn't ask for the details.]

Almost there.

[ she wouldn't want to give them, anyway. and that wouldn't come as a surprise.

but she is definitely getting nosy, peering around like she means to see it before he does. ]

Mornings must be nice here.

[ sunrise through the trees ]

They are.

[simply enough. he likes all times of day here, really. he loves this place.

his home blends into the nearby forest pretty well. it's clearly made from local wood, and moss and vines encroach on it just a bit. but it is still constructed with the sturdy, straight lines of a human home, with some adornments typical of his tribe, so it's simple enough to spot before they step into the clearing that serves as his garden.]

[ oh! it's—peaceful. ]

Hmm. This suits you.

Built it.

[it doesn't look like a new building in any way. well cared for, but not new. he leads her through his little garden with its drying ingredients, all just to the left of something recognizable.]

I like it.

[ she wants... to go poke around those drying racks. there could be spell components! ]

[takes the compliment silently, but he is pleased by it... following her with an air of amusement.]

Looking for something?

To see how you live.

[...cute...]

Look all you like, little scribe.

... I miss that name.

[ as she pokes at some of the herbs left to dry, sniffs them ]

I'm glad you're here to call by it.

[one seems to be... something like a cross between sage and garlic in one plant? another, feverfew and ginger. there's strange mushrooms and mosses as well, none of them quite what would make sense with her experience.]

[ that academic curiosity he so infrequently got to see flares now. she wants to take samples...

but, with a fond scoff, she looks over at him ]

Soft.

[she just gets a raised eyebrow.]

And?

And you are clearly comfortable here being lighter hearted.

It's home.

[he supplies, then, considers further.]

Less alone, too. Than I was for a time.

Your little devil.

[ without thinking about it, her hands are moving to nab a little bit of the garlic-sage. no matter her character development, asking before doing still rarely occurs to her ]

Yes... And the others around him.

[with a little hesitation, somewhere between amused and tsundere.

Topper squeaks, and he sighs.]

And Topper.

[he makes no move to keep her from snatching bits of herb, at least for now, seeming more entertained than anything.]

[ don't laugh!! into her components pouch it goes. ]

So it is parties every weekend at Quincy's house?

[makes. a face.]

Troublesome.

[He Would Die]

Of course they would be. Terrible things, parties.

[ unless she is the one hosting ]

Topper hosted one recently. But the little devil and him arranged it, and kept me out of it. Mostly.

[ now she's playing with the feverfew-ginger. ]

Only mostly?

Disaster-prone.

[d r y.

then, tipping his head, apparently taking in ambient forest sounds...]

It's going to rain.

Right now?

In an hour or so. I should get these inside.

Hm. Very well.

[ she turns and just. picks up the nearest thing that looks like it ought to go inside. ]

Sprezzatura PSL

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thank you for your nearly a fucking month of patience,

RUBS of course!!

Re: RUBS of course!!

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