coerthantorment | ABRAXAS INBOX

[ Himeka comes back in from the farm's storage to find that Estinien discovered the surprise.

In the worst way! ]

...What are you doing??

[Estinien turns to stare at her, carrot still in hand and mouth.]

...Eating a carrot.

[ She sets down the bowl she'd filled with pickled vegetables so that she can appropriately ~~emote~~ motion at him. ]

Those where his legs!

[Estinien stares at the carrot and then at Himeka. He feels that's he's done something wrong, but he doesn't know the shape of it yet.

He doesn't know what to say.]

...

The carrot?

Yes!

[ Now it just looks like a weird body without limbs. It may not have had arms to begin with, but the way that it's little legs were positioned were just so funny! She wanted to share that with someone. ]

Didn't you see it? It looks like a person.

[Maybe he had noticed something odd about its shape, but his reaction had been more aligned with 'what a freak vegetable' without drawing any further associations. He's still paused, like he's not sure if he should swallow, though it's already too late.]

Mn...

[He genuinely doesn't know what to do. She seems really upset.]

I suppose I noticed the legs.

[He squints at the part of the carrot that remains.]

[ It's mostly a little fat body and weird head with green hair now. Hells, it even has a little face! But that Estinien admits to noticing the odd posture of the legs is apparently enough to satiate most of her worries. ]

I did ask that you look at what I found, not eat it.

[ She shakes her head, but his transgression has been forgiven. ]

I was in town with Maeve's grocery list and saw this little fellow in the carrot basket and I just could not leave without him.

[ Who could turn down this tiny friend?

She puts one of the stone pots on it's hook above the fire pit. ]

So I thought we could make him a bath of beef bone stock and boil him with his friends. A little "sauna send-off" of sorts.

[He frowns, feeling sort of put upon by this whole situation. He squints down at the remains of the carrot he's holding, commiserating with the humanoid vegetable for a moment. Bewildering, isn't it?

He contemplates arguing that usually when she says she's left something in the house for him, it's for eating, but he doesn't. He'll be happy enough to put this behind them.]

Well... you can have what remains of him.

[He sets the top of it back on the table.]

[ Himeka hums in a sing-songy way as she works on starting the fire the traditional way--with a fire spell. ]

Now he'll really want the bath after what you've done to him.

[ Mutilation. How terrible! ]

How are the sheep today?

[Estinien shrugs a shoulder and sits down at the table as she works. He watches her light the fire, and curiously starts playing with flames he's summoned up between his fingers - something he's been practicing.]

They're fine. The worst of the hoof rot I've found has healed up by now. The fences will be ready for spring, but until then, I'm going to be busy doling out hay.

[There was plenty of work to be done in the summer months, but the sheep mostly fed themselves. As it is, they'll be relying more on their keepers for sustenance.]

[ She catches sight of the flame as she always does, but doesn't bring attention to it for the moment. A small smile forms on her lips as she unwraps the cow bones she'd gotten from the butcher. ]

And there's enough of that still, right?

[ Feeding livestock like this em masse is foreign to her. Oysters just filter feed in the water. ]

We'll need to find a decent seller before the snow falls.

[This part of the job Estinien knows little of, but with Maeve being the one managing most of the finances, they've discussed the topic.]

From the Secondary Settlement, most likely. Maeve mentioned a few names but insisted that frugality was our primary concern, for the moment.

[It's not much surprise given that the run-down farm is still in a state of repair. It's been a while since it was fully profitable. He pauses for a moment.]

You'd be shocked how much the little bastards eat.

[ In many ways Estinien is in his element. She wonders if this was really what it was like for him day in and day out before the Calamity, before he lost his hometown. She doesn't ask much about it though she has learned bits and pieces over the course of the years. It's an understandably difficult topic.

He calls them bastards, but she can't miss the fondness in his voice. ]

Would I?

[ Debatable. She can put away quite a bit herself despite her stature. ]

They have to eat to grow all that wool--

[ In that same breath she suddenly flings a turnip at Estinien's head. ]

[Estinien jolts in his seat, leaning sharply to the side so that the turnip mostly just skims across his hair, knocking his white hair askew. The fire in his hand flares for a moment, as if it may erupt like it's been met with fuel - when Estinien loses focus, his fire doesn't fade, it combusts.

Thankfully he manages to hold it in, neither letting the fire blaze out of control nor extinguish. He braces himself and growls softly.]

Himeka.

[ She just shrugs. ]

You did better than last time. See, you didn't even lose the fire!

[ She's helping. He can't be mad about that. ]

[HE CAN, but he won't be... at least not much. He furrows his brow, sitting back.]

'Twas a perfectly good turnip.

[He opens the palm of his hand, balancing a somewhat larger orb of fire within.]

[ Himeka shakes her head as she walks across the kitchen to retrieve the root vegetable that she yeeted. (Yote?) ]

It's still just fine, don't look so sour.

[ She picks it up and lazily dusts it off as she turns to the large wooden table, setting it down. ]

Anyway, it's clear you've been practicing.

[Well, given that he wasn't forced to destroy it on impact, he supposes that's true. He figures he could have, given the necessity.]

...Aye.

[He says it tentatively, appraising his work as it flickers and dancers with between his fingers.]

I find it... easier here, to wield these magicks with a lighter touch. Nidhogg's strength is not want to be released gently.

[But there are benefits to being able to release his magic more carefully. It seems different, somehow, than administering aether had been.]

[ She nods. He touches on something she'd been considering too but, as she is wont to do, she hasn't voiced many of her thoughts on the matter.

It would be something she may bring up to Y'shtola or Urianger were they present, both being highly skilled and knowledgeable in aetherology. Despite her prowess for the art, Himeka doesn't feel like an authority on discussing it. Even now her spells are cast mostly through her own practiced techniques that formal teachings. Powerful, but unrefined. ]

It's different.

[ But Estinien is a friend--a trusted one. She knows that he wouldn't be searching for the dissertation Alphinaud might deliver. That is one way they are alike--creatures of instinct.

Himeka lifts her own hand, calling fourth four balls of gentle light. ]

If I were to do this as I would back on our world, I would be...you know, shifting the alignment of the wind-aspected aether around us into something I could ignite or compress it enough for it to burst and create light, but--this...

[ Himeka bids them to glow brighter and they simply do. ]

--it's like...you can simply summon it as is.

[He hums in agreement. It's something he struggles to put words to, also. He can sense the presence of it, too, like he can with aether... but it's different, even if it functions the game.]

Aye. I can interact with aether as I normally would, but... there's a difference to it. It does not deign to function according to the laws of our world.

[He sighs, leaning back.]

'Tis... more permissive, in a way. I suppose this should be no surprise, given how different each land connected to this place seems to be.

[ She nods in agreement, letting the balls of light she summoned dim out of existence. ]

It really does give some, um...weight to the idea that this might be a hub of sorts, right?

[ Himeka turns her attention back to creating her soup stock. ]

At least it's something we can probably use to our advantage. The more tricks we have the better.

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