| Logs |
2024 September 02
| Goblin Town |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Goblin Town Logs |
Alarums and Excursions
At the Infirmary, Thorn comes in from the back -- and stops short, blinking at Shane. He glances to Cinnamon, then back to the half-beansidhe. "Uh... what hit you, Shane?" he asks warily.
Cinnamon turns pink again! "M-me!" She blushes even more at the not-quite-ultrasonic squeak, then mutters, "Ohmygosh this is so embarrassing everyone is going to know I'm even more clumsy than they thought Shaney -- I'm still really sorry even if you don't seem to mind!" She takes a deep breath after that word-blurt, then gives Thorn unwitting sad-puppydog-eyes, "Please, Thorny, can Shane have just a smidge of healing please? I... er, I, um, would be happy to buy you lunch too?"
Shane finally tips his head back down so Thorn can see the swelling, though he's turned a bit away from Cinnamon, "Big package, tiny dragon..." He holds his hand at the top of the package, then at the top of Cinnamon's head, demonstrating the height difference. "It created a blind spot and I was being... a beansidhe? We move like the shadows... oooOOoooo..." That makes him grin at his own corniness -- though, if Shane said it... it may actually be something more than a joke? Cinnamon blinks startledly -- and then can't help the giggle-snort!
Thorn laughs softly, stepping up to take a look, "I think that's doable." He uses a little bit of healing magic to visualize Shane's impending shiner into not be so blatant. However, as Thorn tries to push the healing into Shane, he can feel something's just... not right -- it's not working... which is strange. In fact, Thorn feels it... bounce, his fingertips reddening slightly. Cinnamon watches a bit anxiously, her head tilted to one side. Thorn blinks, then tries again... then stops when he feels it not working. He looks at his hands, seeing the reddening, "This is... odd. I'm not able to heal you, Shane, I'm sorry. It's... bouncing."
Cinnamon looks shocked, then horrified, "He... you... oh, no! Did I -- oh, this is all my fault!"
Thorn smiles gently, "I doubt that, Cinnamon. Likely it's just been a long day for me. Come on in, both of you, and have a seat. We'll treat it the old-fashioned way."
Shane shakes his head and squeezes Thorn's shoulder, looking concerned at the reddened fingers, "It's okay, dude. I don't think it's broken... or at least not badly. I'll just look like I got whacked -- which is fine!"
Cinnamon looks horribly guilty, but nods to Thorn -- then indignantly replies to Shane, "You being whacked is definitely not fine, Shaney!"
Shane looks down at her and smiles, "I was being vewwy, vewwy quiet." He actually looks abashed as he looks at Thorn, flushing, "Lorcan was trying to be suave and I think he misunderstood something my acushla said to him... and I wanted to see the look on his face when he realized she wasn't flirting with him."
Cinnamon blinks at that, glancing between Shane and Thorn, "Wait... what? Who was flirting with Lorcan?"
Thorn blinks as well, "I... think I see? Basically you sneaked up, Cinnamon turned, and... what she was carrying intersected with you? What was it?"
Cinnamon still looks confused, but obligingly holds up the (easily) 2' x 3' package, "This!"
Shane leans over and kisses the top of Cinnamon's head, "No one was. But I think he thought you were. Did you ask him something about experimenting?"
"I haven't had a chance to open it yet but, um..." Cinnamon blinks... then beams at the kiss, unwittingly giving a small, happy squeak! A moment later she blinks again, "I... wait, what?! Ohmygosh, did I -- did he -- but Lorcan -- b-but... but I was just talking...!" She cuts off, thinking for a second... then sighs in wry resignation, "Well, crabcakes... and flirtation is just talking, right -- Aisling and Quinn taught me that." She sighs again, giving Shane a wry glance, "Should I apologize to Lorcan for... well, for, umm... er, what do you call it when it's not really flirting but it sounds like it?"
Shane shakes his head and smiles, "Nah. He pivoted just fine... which is what I was waiting for. Lorcan's good people." He slides an arm around Cinnamon and actually groans in relief when Thorn's assistance seems to relieve some of the pressure.
Cinnamon sighs remorsefully, even as she tries to support Shane a bit, "Oh, Shaney! Why didn't you say it was hurting so?! I'd've run faster here if I'd known!"
Shane takes Cinnamon's shoulders in his hands and smiles gently at her, "My love, I'm a guardian. I'm gonna get hurt sometimes. Accidents happen. It's minor. I'm not upset and it was kinda my own fault."
Cinnamon still looks worried and apprehensive, "W-well, yeah, but... b-but it shouldn't be me hurting you, milseán!"
Shane shakes his head and hugs her tight, "People accidently bump and trip and thump people sometimes, acushla. It happens. I'm amused at myself being all sneaky-sneaky when I should have said something. That's why I normally call people's names when I'm walking up to them."
Cinnamon hugs back tightly, then sighs in relief once it's all completed, her small smile still rueful, "Well, I still feel dumb... and thank goodness it wasn't worse! So, Thorny, want to come to Currier's Hall with us? Lorcan said he'd let us test some oakwood with him! I wish Hilde or Marcus were here, though -- I know they're both really curious about this too, after all. Oh, and afterwards, we can do lunch -- is Bunch o' Grapes okay with you guys?"
Shane nods, "I think having a medic there would be a good idea."
Thorn blinks and nods, "Yes, I think it'd be a good idea for me to be there, just in case!"
"Cool! Let's go, then -- don't wanna make Lorcan wait!" As she patters out of the infirmary, Cinnamon whispers to Shane, "Hey, Shaney? Do you, um... I mean, I know you have, er... distressed jeans since I've seen them, but... ummm, do you have any of those shirts like the one Lorcan was wearing today?" She turns a little pink as she asks!
Shane blinks and arches a brow, managing to keep the grin off his face, "Henleys? Yeah, I think I have one or two somewhere. Why do you ask?" He knows exactly why she asks, of course -- but he loves how pink she gets! Plus, he wants her to be comfortable asking for what she wants.
Cinnamon abruptly turns bright red! She mutters a nervous, "N-n-nuh-nothing!" as she speeds up a little... but then sighs as she realizes: she likely just hurt her poor sweetheart again -- darnit! She waits for him to catch up, her gaze determinedly on the street ahead of her -- and not glancing at all guiltily up at her Shaney not at all nopenope! -- and whispers, "Lorcan, umm... h-he, ah, his, uh... um, like... his departure? -w-was, er, was... uh, I, I th-think... Aisling would've liked it?" She slaps both hands over her mouth, realizing she's both starting to babble -- and getting squeaky!
Shane murmurs, "You mean his ass looked good in the jeans? And you'd kinda like to see me in jeans and a Henley, a ghrá?" His voice is low and playful, like it gets when they're alone -- and right up against her ear. He's clearly teasing a little bit! "I'd be happy to wear that for you, acushla."
Cinnamon squeaks in spite of herself, and her face feels like she could light a fire with it! She blinks a bit nervously up at Shane... but he actually... doesn't seem disapproving at all? He's even... smiling at her? Her return smile is a little hesitant, "You -- y-you... don't mind? It's... okay?" She nervously nibbles her lower lip -- but then bravely decides to go for it! "'C-cause if not? Uhh, I... I -- y-yeah? Please? Maybe?" She takes a deep, courageous breath... then nervously squeaks, "A lot?!"
Shane winks, though it makes him wince the tiniest bit, "I'll dig them out and wear them for you sometime soon. All you gotta do is ask. I want you to like looking at me as much as I like looking at you." By then, they've reached Currier's Hall, and he's grinning -- he's proud of her for asking!
Cinnamon stares in astonishment at Shane for a few seconds as she patters along next to him. Wow, that -- that was the nicest thing for him to say! She blinks, refocusing as they head on into Currier's, though her brain is going a million miles a minute: does this mean... does he maybe actually really like looking at her?! What a truly lovely thing, if so! A heartbeat later she glances around reflexively -- then waves, "Lorcan! There you are -- c'mon! Let's go experiment -- oh! Also, is Bunch o' Grapes okay for lunch for you?" She patters for the rented room, then carefully sets down her bulky package to find the key in her bag, "Also, we brought Thorny along! He wanted to observe, and be present in case of any emergencies or stuff, okay?"
Lorcan pushes off the wall he was leaning against, smiling. Hilde is with him; she's got a large tote full of... things. It's hard to tell what, though it's lumpy. Marcus is also there, dressed down a bit. Lorcan smiles and nods, "I'm good with almost anything if I'm not buying my own lunch." That dimple appears again, but then disappears.
Cinnamon brightens, "Oh, awesome, Lorcan -- thanks for finding Hilde and Marcus too!" She laughs at his comment, happily heading into the room and chattering about setting things up -- and completely missing the lovely innuendo! "Okay, let me get the steel ready and the wood but we're not going to tell you which is which okay so to make it more objective?" She wonders suddenly if Marcus has gotten his mail yet today -- eek! No, wait... even if he has, it's okay... Ingrid won't tell on her about the affirmation note thank-you! She's thinking about that, so it doesn't register at all that Lorcan has never seen her display her strength -- so she just lifts up the sheet of steel and leans it against the wall, then sets the stack of wood nearby. Once she has everything set up, she turns back to the others, dusting her hands off, "Okay! Everyone ready?"
Hilde moves toward Cinnamon, as the guys move to help the little dragon get the wooden layers ready, and murmurs, "Have you ever seen Lorcan out of uniform before?"
Cinnamon glances at Hilde, her eyes wide as she whispers, "No! Doesn't he have a nice, um... behind?" She giggles as she adds, "I bet Aisling would love it!" Her eyes sparkle with delight as she happily adds, "Plus, guess guess guess what I found out?!" She glances around to make sure no one else is near -- then whispers excitedly, "Shaney has Henleys and jeans like that too -- and he said he'd wear some for me, eeee!"
Hilde grins and nods, "I was tempted to head right back out the door and get her over here. He does fill those jeans out rather nicely!" The ljósálf laughs softly and murmurs, "Good for you asking your man to wear the pretty clothes!" She gently bumps Cinnamon with her shoulder and winks, lowering her voice, "Now to get you asking him to wear just jeans, half unzipped."
Cinnamon squeaks in shock at that last suggestion, her hands flying up to her mouth and her face flaming red again! That's about when Marcus wanders over and asks, "And what has the pair of you grinning like Cheshire cats?"
The little dragon is so flustered at Marcus abruptly (to her) turning up just then, that she can't even verbalize properly, "N-nuh-nothing! Er, I, I, n-no, it umm -- oh, crabcakes! Wh-what, again, please?" Yikes, this is not working! So Cinnamon hastily changes the subject, "Oh! Oh, also -- Marcus, if you wanna come along to lunch feel free I'm gonna open my package!" The she beams at Hilde, internally praying that her face isn't going to turn permanently flame-red, at this point, "It's really cool it's my new instrumentation wanna come see too?!"
Hilde smiles sweetly as she asks, "Marcus, do you own any jeans at all?"
He looks a bit confused, "Only a few old pairs from when I stayed in the trod a bit. They're good and sturdy. I think I even have a couple of thermal undershirts and flannels as well." He tips his head in perplexity, "Why?" Then he smiles at Cinnamon, "That's sweet of you to ask. I would like that very much."
A heartbeat later, both elves agree they'd like to see the new instrumentation. Cinnamon sighs in relief: successful subject change! "Awesome! Uhhh -- right! Right, okay -- l-let's go see if Lorcan's ready, right!" Moments later, Cinnamon picks up the first layer of wood, placing it between the steel and the rest of the room, "Okay, Lorcan! Come as close as you comfortably can -- then stop and tells us!" She's almost desperately trying to not think of Marcus and Shane there... both in distressed jeans and Henleys! It's not helping tremendously that Lorcan keeps reminding her of that mental image, alas!
Lorcan watches Cinnamon easily hefting around things that have to weigh well over 100 pounds! He quietly asks Shane, "Is this... normal for her?"
Shane just smiles and murmurs, "Dragon."
Lorcan raises a quietly impressed eyebrow! At Cinnamon's invitation to begin, he eyes the steel sheet and starts slowly walking toward it, "The wood is oak, right?"
Cinnamon grins excitedly, "Don't know yet! We're trying to do this without influencing you, remember? So it's most accurate? So stop as soon as you're uncomfortable -- we don't want to hurt you, after all." She knows, after all, that the group used magic marker to identify the wood types on the back... so once Lorcan stops, she can tell him.
Lorcan nods and mutters, "Now to see if I psych myself out." He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, "Gonna do it this way. Literal blind test." He's sidhe, so he doesn't veer off-course -- just walks... to within about two feet of it -- at which point he winces, hurriedly stepping back a couple of feet, "Nope." He opens his eyes to see how close he got, sounding surprised, "Damn... closer than I thought."
Cinnamon nods interestedly, "Close! But not leaning against it, so... I'm gonna guess this isn't oak. Let's check -- er, once you back up a bit more, please? Don't want you hurt from me moving the wood... okay, thanks!" Lorcan quite easily moves out of the way; he doesn't want to get hurt either, after all! Once he's back across the room, the little dragon tilts the wood forward, reading, "It's ash! Okay, next type..." She shifts planks around, then grins hopefully at Lorcan, "When you're ready?" She adds to Hilde, "Who's taking the notes today, please?"
The gealsidhe repeats what he did last time: closed eyes and walking unerringly toward it. He gets a little closer this time, but then shakes his head and takes a step back, "I'm gonna need bread and honey after this... but not much."
Cinnamon looks relieved, "No problem -- Bunch o' Grapes has both bread and honey, and baklava, if you'd rather!" She curiously adds, as she's shifting the planks, "This one's mahogany. Can I ask how old you are, Lorcan -- if it's not rude? Or... maybe it'd be politer to ask if you're over a century, I guess?" Cinnamon is guessing he is, since he's clearly much stronger than Marcus... but she figures she should check. Maybe guards are toughened up or something, for all she knows! She glances over and grins at Marcus, at that silly thought... and her grin unwittingly warms a bit as it registers: he looks nice when he's calm and in less formal clothes!
Hilde holds up the notebook she's jotting things down in, including how close Lorcan is getting each time and how uncomfortable he is on each iteration. Lorcan replies, "I'm two hundred and thirteen years old. Why do you ask? It's not rude to ask, just rude to insist if I don't want to answer."
Cinnamon nods and thanks Hilde, then grins at Lorcan as she waits for him to advance on the next set of planks, "I was asking because your reactions are different from Marcus's, and his are different from his father's, so I guessed age was possibly an indicator of strength?"
Lorcan nods as he starts walking forward again. The pine has him stopping short a lot further from the steel, though. He wrinkles his nose, "Is that a softwood of some kind?"
"Umm..." Cinnamon leans back to check the wood type, then curiously asks, "Is pine a soft wood?"
Shane nods, brows going up, "Yeah. It's almost the definition of softwood."
"Okay! Didn't know that -- thanks!" Cinnamon waits until Lorcan steps back again, then changes the wood paneling again, "Ready!"
This time, Lorcan walks right up to the wood until his hand bumps into it. He blinks his eyes open, muttering, "Stars and stones!" Tipping his head, he adds, "I can still feel it there, but it's... that's so strange..."
Cinnamon beams excitedly, bouncing slightly on her toes, "Awesomesauce! Can you lean on it, like Marcus did?" Lorcan shrugs, turns around, and leans back against the oak plank, crossing his ankles and his arms. Cinnamon laughs delightedly, clapping her hands, "Yay! How much you guys want to bet it's oak?!"
Shane is sitting on a table near Hilde; he grins. He first murmurs to Hilde, "That's a modeling pose. Think he's doing it on purpose?" Then he calls to Cinnamon, "I don't take sucker bets!"
Cinnamon laughs and nods to Shane, then grins at Marcus, "Just like with you -- isn't this cool information?!" She's propping up the second to last set of wood paneling and waiting for Lorcan to move... and so she pretty much misses the intended impact of the 'modeling pose.' As it turns out, Lorcan didn't actually realize he was looking like man candy; he stands and moves away. Cinnamon checks when she swaps the paneling -- then beams at Lorcan and her friends, "Oak! Okay, only two to go!"
Strangely, Lorcan gets closer to Elm than the others, but not as close as Oak. Cinnamon nods interestedly at that, checking with the two sidhe as she shifts the last panel into place, "So are elm and oak both... what, hardwoods or something?"
Marcus nods, "Elm is considered a soft hardwood." He tips his head and asks Lorcan, "What's your ancestry? Oak all the way back?"
Lorcan flashes a smile, "Great grandmother on my mother's side was Elm."
Cinnamon blinks interestedly at Lorcan as she pushes up her glasses, "Really? That's so cool -- so it sounds like this really is a trod-connection sort of thing!" She grins as she adds, "Last one! Want me to tell you what it is, or just walk first?"
Lorcan shakes his head, "Let me just try it out." He does the walk again, and gets about as close as he did for the ash.
Cinnamon grins excitedly once they're all done, and she's covered the steel and neatly stacked the wooden panels again, "That was willow -- and thank you so much, Lorcan, for helping out like this!" She patters over to give him a quick hug, if he doesn't seem to mind, as she adds, "Now: lunchtime!" Lorcan blinks in surprise, obviously not having expected the hug -- but he happily hugs back. Sidhe are physical people after all, and he gives good hugs. When she steps back again, Cinnamon beams at all her friends, "This was so cool! Marcus, if I remember your reactions correctly, I'm guessing your ancestry is all Elm, right?"
Marcus nods, "Indeed. Both sides going back as far as anyone remembers."
Cinnamon flashes a cheerful grin at him as she moves to link arms with Shane, "Very cool! C'mon, everyone -- let's go eat! I'm starving."
Everything gets tidied away and Shane puts an arm around Cinnamon's shoulder, leaning down to give her a warm, lingering kiss, "Food. Food is good."
Cinnamon mmms blissfully, her face still upturned and her eyes still closed for a few seconds... then she blinks and grins shyly up at Shane, "Okay!" She scoops up her package on the way out, happily adding, "This is gonna be so pretty, if Frazey was right about this artisan -- can't wait to show you all!"
Once everyone is seated at the Bunch o' Grapes, and orders have been made -- and Cinnamon has verified she's paying for both Thorn and Lorcan, please! -- the little dragon excitedly opens the package. She squeals delightedly when she sees the new harness part, carefully removing it from the packing materials and laying it out across the table, "Look, look, peeps -- isn't it beautiful?!" The leather backing is a rich mahogany shade, and clearly has some sort of stiffening material within it, as it's got a gentle curve so it will lay smoothly across Cinnamon's draconic shoulders. The motif appears to be somewhat steampunky, with a number of instruments laid out in a useful dashboard-sort of layout. Cinnamon trails her fingertips with gentle appreciation across them all as she explains.
"Eeee, this is so cool and beautiful! Look, isn't this nice?! Here's the magnetic compass and a gyroscopic heading indicator, for cross-referencing each other... this is the astrolabe and sextant for day or night navigation if needed... over here is some basic smart stuff to have, like an altimeter, a regular mechanical clock, and a speedometer... ah! Look, this is really helpful -- the barometric pressure thingie will warn us if a storm is building! What else... ah, there's also these other gyroscopic instruments, see? This is the attitude indicator, which tells if I'm tilting off level with the horizon -- and the vertical speed indicator says if I'm rising or descending without realizing it."
Cinnamon beams, tapping the last item, "And this is just a darned useful thing that the crafter suggested to me -- a large pocket for a logbook or other stuff, with flaps that unfold for laying out laminated maps or astronomical charts while I'm flying!" She sighs happily, "This is so awesome! I should send something nice to the artisan... cookies or a present or something!" She picks up the astrolabe -- then blinks... then brightens, "Oh, wow -- look, guys! Best of all: all these things are either firmly pegged down onto the leather backing -- or have very light chains fastening them to it, where they belong!" She grins exuberantly at her friends, "Now we'll be able to fly more safely, over longer distances!"
Thorn looks impressed, "Oh, that's great, Cinnamon! Uh... do they make a dragon-sized sextant?"
Cinnamon laughs! "Oh, it's not for me to use -- see how this is all sized?" She holds up the sextant, "This is for whomever is coming along with me to use!"
Shane grins and says, "Whoever's in the seat on the harness behind this will be reading the sextant."
Thorn smiles, "Oh, I see! Heh... we'll have to get more lessons from the Havvarger."
Cinnamon nearly glows with happiness at Shane, her grin still somehow slightly shy, "Will you, umm... help me out with this, asthore?"
Shane rests his hand over Cinnamon's as he nods, "Of course, acushla."
Cinnamon nearly gleeees at Shane, entangling her fingers with his! A moment later she remembers herself, and grins a bit sheepishly at her other friends, "Oh! Also, important cool thing? It's all touchable even by sidhe or werewolves -- the guy covered any steel bits completely, and there's no silver at all!" xxx
The next time Cinnamon sees Marcus is at staves practice. It's a good one, as Baird and Shane are patient and thorough teachers. Interestingly, two more people from Coblyn come in and ask to join... and Cinnamon has to cover the giggle when they both blink and do a doubletake at seeing Marcus there, working out just as hard as everyone else! Only once the hour is up, and everyone has thanked their teachers and headed off, does Cinnamon turn to Shane and Thorn to bemusedly ask, "Is it just me... or is Marcus turning up all over the place recently?"
Shane arches his brow, "I... hadn't actually noticed? I haven't seen him more than normal."
Cinnamon tilts her head thoughtfully at Shane, and mentally reviews the times she's been out and about with her lovely asthore. Hmm... "Huh! Actually... I think you may be right, Shaney! He usually seems to appear here, and when I'm with Jalil, now that I think about it." She grins uncertainly at Thorn, "What do you think?"
Thorn blinks a bit, "I... maybe? He's certainly not brooding... he actually comes off as very pleasant. Definitely not how he was when I first met him....?"
Cinnamon nods several times, "Right?! It's so weird -- he's being so... so nice!" She giggles, adding, "It's like he's a pod person but nice, you know?"
Shane cuts his eyes toward Thorn and grins, "So... when you examined him. You're sure it was him, right? Not a pod person or a bug in a Marcus suit?" Cinnamon giggles again at that!
Thorn arches a brow. "Most definitely not a pod person," he says wryly. "Nor an insect in a Marcus suit. No, he's not showing any sign of being anyone other than he is... so the only thing I can think of is that little time with him being lost with the unhoused people... did him a world of good!"
Shane nods slowly... then groans, rubbing a hand over his face, "So basically we've got a reformed Marcus. I'm honestly not sure how to deal with this." Cinnamon laughs again!
Thorn shrugs -- not unsympathetically -- and smiles, "Deal with it just like it sounds. If he's indeed reformed, he'll be a pleasure to have around. In my experience, someone can't 'fake' being reformed for long. At some point the truth will out."
Shane nods and sighs, "It's hard to fake being reformed around someone that can hear when you're bullshitting." He's befuddled enough not to censor his language... but then he smiles at Cinnamon, "Though I'm pleased he's not giving me reason to break his nose again, acushla."
Cinnamon blinks at Shane as she pushes her glasses up... then smiles uncertainly, "Oh, well, umm, p-please don't feel -- I mean, not on my account... or anything... umm... okay?"