[Try as he might to keep much of himself an entirely private affair, the simple truth, undeniable in these rare, fleeting moments of vulnerability, is as inescapable as their shared stubbornness: Ze is far greater a mystery than Li'to could ever hope to be. If he cared for such things, he might wonder if that isn't exactly why he can't quite bring himself to feel entirely at ease around the elder Miqo'te: for all that they may share in common, the gulf between them spans a lifetime.
Ze chases after him with an insistent headbutt and Li'to's ears flatten into his mess of hair; Ze tosses an apple his way and he barely finds his hands enough to catch it, surprise etching itself onto his features before he can reel it in. Briefly, he thinks he may never quite understand the man at all.
He feels altogether far, far younger than he is.
With a shake of the head, he shuffles himself back onto the bed as best he can without putting Ze's hard to waste, his back landing against the wall with a thump. Cool, calming aether soothes the burn that follows, and he turns the ripened fruit over in his hands as he exhales through the slowly numbing pain.]
I'll give you the benefit of believing you haven't healed me in the interests of poisoning me immediately after. [There's no bite to the words, the way there might usually be, spoken into the air rather than at their designated target; that's saved for the poor apple. A mouthful of sweet-sour flesh is as good a balm as any paladin's spell.
A swallow, and another turn in his palm. He watches Ze only in his peripheral.]
Ze knows well there is no point in giving voice to the emotions that fuel his actions- and that they come terribly close to pity. It is neither affection nor concern that drives him, merely a sense of obligation and duty. The selfsame desires that would have him stop to help an ailing traveler beset by the dangers of the road… or a produce merchant whose wares ended up halfway across the lane.
It isn’t kindness, it is simply having the ability to help and being unable to deny the need of it. (Or so he tells himself.)
When rooting further in the sack doesn’t yield the items he seeks, Ze settles for upending the whole thing, flicking it aside to join the mess on the floor without remorse once emptied as a half-dozen apples go rolling across the table. Joining them is the source of that earlier, ominous clinking- two poorly wrapped bottles of wine. As if in deliberate taunt, Ze picks one up and pulls away the shoddy scrap of cloth to make sure the bottle isn’t cracked.]
Sadly for you, it hasn’t been a bell yet, much less two. And I’ve yet to hear how you ended up in so piss-poor a state. [Without permission, he goes hunting through Vassa’s shelves for cups- answer enough in itself, surely.]
Unimaginably, [he grumbles, like a child, because he's in pain and tired and he can. Naturally, according to the laws of the known universe, that only means that there will be neither poison nor the pleasant company of no company at all anytime soon.
By the time Ze's bell fetish is appropriately catered to, his eyebrows will be due a nice, long vacation; they furrow indiscriminately as the elder Miqo'te rummages through his shelves and he breathes a sigh, shaking his head once again, and with it any passing thoughts of getting any peace.]
On your left. Two over.
[He'll find a half dozen of the things collecting dust, all of varying sizes, all of obvious disuse, sitting behind a stack of equally untouched plates. Believe it or not, Li'to doesn't exactly entertain guests on the regular -- nor has he called this particular space home for very long, in spite of the mess littering the floor. Better to keep moving, after all. Better not to grow attached to pointless sentiments like throwing back glasses of wine with -- acquaintances.
Drawing a leg to his chest with some effort, he continues his hawk-eyed observation, for whatever semblance of control it might offer in his current state.]
Do you always make a habit of snooping through other people's things?
[Ze snorts, that insult still hanging in the air between them- like a barely weaned brat.
It’s more than obvious Vassa has no inclination of disclosing the events of the last 24 hours, which only makes Ze more curious as to what actually transpired. Obviously the other took the brunt of whatever it was- calling it a duty (though Ze can trust that as much as he can trust anything out of the other’s mouth.) would imply it had something to do with someone in need of his strength. Voidsent? They’ve the claws and blades long enough to do that sort of damage. But for the smaller marks, scratches and bites- a beast?
He shakes his head, knowing the folly of trying to guess when he knows not where the battle even took place. Besides, whatever he thinks of Vassa’s state, it’s clear that he at least won, and that will have to suffice. (For now, in any case.)
Moving as directed, he shifts his attention to the cupboards to the left and comes away with two cups, noting the fine layer of dust that covers everything he touches. Wiping those too on his coat, he inspects them before the light to ensure they’re at least passable before he picks up the bottles and makes his way over back towards the bed, snagging a chair with a finger and dragging it unceremoniously across the floor to take a seat.
With a thunk, one of the bottles ends up on the floor while the other’s cork is dragged from its mouth by a pair of fanged teeth. The cork itself, predictably, joins everything else on the floor.]
Only when I have to care enough to bother. [He replies smoothly, well aware of the implication of those words as he fills both glasses and sets the other bottle down before holding out Vassa’s towards him. It is, perhaps, not the wisest thing to do to someone who very nearly bled out on the floor of their own home, but it will take the edge off and, from his own experience, Ze is sure that’s more than worthwhile right now.] To your health, brat. [The toast is a mocking one before he knocks it back, working the taste of the wine over in his mouth before grimacing. It’s not the worst he’s ever had, but it’s certainly not…
He sighs, refilling his cup regardless and knocking that back like a shot as well. Now he knows why the man was willing to give him so many.] When did you move in?
[Reasonably, he should owe Ze something of a proper explanation. He had, after all, shirked an invitation in his grand quest to make something of a hero of himself -- to say nothing of the inconvenience of now having to play the perfectly imperfect patient to a man who would be well within his rights to leave him to mope on his lonesome. The awareness does little to coax the words to his lips, least of all when there's something far more palatable to busy his mouth with.
... Well. Barely. He shares Ze's grimace as he takes a testing sip from his glass, the cheap, bitter taste clashing immediately with the tartness of apple on his tongue.]
... Remind me to stick to the food next time.
[Petulant, as always, but in this, at least, they agree. Scrunching up his nose, he decides against following suit and throwing it back before he can register the taste a second time, nursing the glass atop a thigh instead. He's childish like this, too.]
I came here a sennight and a half ago. [Longer than he'd like. He should have moved along by now. He should have a lead to move on for. Now he'll be set back even longer, his face an ever growing familiarity to the locals. Troublesome. None of Ze's concern, at any rate. A grievance he bites into the remaining half of the fruit, before reaching out to set its gnawed-on remains atop the bedside table.]
Before you say anything, not all of this was my doing.
[The mess had been reflected in the cost of the lodgings, and Li'to is far from the sort to complain about a cheaper roof over his head so long as it does the job. Something about a long history of housing rowdy travellers and up-and-coming adventurers alike; he wouldn't count himself amongst either of their ranks, but some of what had been left behind had, if nothing else, found a second life in his own arsenal.]
[He snorts, accepting the ungracious remark with ease- knowing its true mark is the less than palatable wine. Still, for a poacher raised in the Shroud, it's no small understatement to say he's had worse and willingly. The wine passes for its purpose- easing the tension of the day.]
Huh, practically settled. [The tease is light and meaningless. He knows what it means for the likes of them to stay in one place too long. However where Vassa seems to get defensive and skittish over the matter, his own wanderlust is born merely from lacking a place to feel at ease. No inn or lodging has felt as a proper home in a long time, the normalcy of unfamiliar beds and unusual scents when his head hits the pillow (if there even is one) a familiar sensation at this point.
He wonders, in that aimless way, if Vassa envisions his future much in the same way Ze does- to wander, homeless, until the life takes them in a miserable, rain-soaked ditch somewhere in the wilds.]
You needn't be so prickly, I know the kind of lodgers this area keeps. [And he pours himself another glass, a little pink in the nose already, as he tips that back as well.] You were planning to move on soon?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Ze chases after him with an insistent headbutt and Li'to's ears flatten into his mess of hair; Ze tosses an apple his way and he barely finds his hands enough to catch it, surprise etching itself onto his features before he can reel it in. Briefly, he thinks he may never quite understand the man at all.
He feels altogether far, far younger than he is.
With a shake of the head, he shuffles himself back onto the bed as best he can without putting Ze's hard to waste, his back landing against the wall with a thump. Cool, calming aether soothes the burn that follows, and he turns the ripened fruit over in his hands as he exhales through the slowly numbing pain.]
I'll give you the benefit of believing you haven't healed me in the interests of poisoning me immediately after. [There's no bite to the words, the way there might usually be, spoken into the air rather than at their designated target; that's saved for the poor apple. A mouthful of sweet-sour flesh is as good a balm as any paladin's spell.
A swallow, and another turn in his palm. He watches Ze only in his peripheral.]
... I assume you'll be on your way.
no subject
Ze knows well there is no point in giving voice to the emotions that fuel his actions- and that they come terribly close to pity. It is neither affection nor concern that drives him, merely a sense of obligation and duty. The selfsame desires that would have him stop to help an ailing traveler beset by the dangers of the road… or a produce merchant whose wares ended up halfway across the lane.
It isn’t kindness, it is simply having the ability to help and being unable to deny the need of it. (Or so he tells himself.)
When rooting further in the sack doesn’t yield the items he seeks, Ze settles for upending the whole thing, flicking it aside to join the mess on the floor without remorse once emptied as a half-dozen apples go rolling across the table. Joining them is the source of that earlier, ominous clinking- two poorly wrapped bottles of wine. As if in deliberate taunt, Ze picks one up and pulls away the shoddy scrap of cloth to make sure the bottle isn’t cracked.]
Sadly for you, it hasn’t been a bell yet, much less two. And I’ve yet to hear how you ended up in so piss-poor a state. [Without permission, he goes hunting through Vassa’s shelves for cups- answer enough in itself, surely.]
no subject
By the time Ze's bell fetish is appropriately catered to, his eyebrows will be due a nice, long vacation; they furrow indiscriminately as the elder Miqo'te rummages through his shelves and he breathes a sigh, shaking his head once again, and with it any passing thoughts of getting any peace.]
On your left. Two over.
[He'll find a half dozen of the things collecting dust, all of varying sizes, all of obvious disuse, sitting behind a stack of equally untouched plates. Believe it or not, Li'to doesn't exactly entertain guests on the regular -- nor has he called this particular space home for very long, in spite of the mess littering the floor. Better to keep moving, after all. Better not to grow attached to pointless sentiments like throwing back glasses of wine with -- acquaintances.
Drawing a leg to his chest with some effort, he continues his hawk-eyed observation, for whatever semblance of control it might offer in his current state.]
Do you always make a habit of snooping through other people's things?
[Ignoring that other part, yeah.]
no subject
It’s more than obvious Vassa has no inclination of disclosing the events of the last 24 hours, which only makes Ze more curious as to what actually transpired. Obviously the other took the brunt of whatever it was- calling it a duty (though Ze can trust that as much as he can trust anything out of the other’s mouth.) would imply it had something to do with someone in need of his strength. Voidsent? They’ve the claws and blades long enough to do that sort of damage. But for the smaller marks, scratches and bites- a beast?
He shakes his head, knowing the folly of trying to guess when he knows not where the battle even took place. Besides, whatever he thinks of Vassa’s state, it’s clear that he at least won, and that will have to suffice. (For now, in any case.)
Moving as directed, he shifts his attention to the cupboards to the left and comes away with two cups, noting the fine layer of dust that covers everything he touches. Wiping those too on his coat, he inspects them before the light to ensure they’re at least passable before he picks up the bottles and makes his way over back towards the bed, snagging a chair with a finger and dragging it unceremoniously across the floor to take a seat.
With a thunk, one of the bottles ends up on the floor while the other’s cork is dragged from its mouth by a pair of fanged teeth. The cork itself, predictably, joins everything else on the floor.]
Only when I have to care enough to bother. [He replies smoothly, well aware of the implication of those words as he fills both glasses and sets the other bottle down before holding out Vassa’s towards him. It is, perhaps, not the wisest thing to do to someone who very nearly bled out on the floor of their own home, but it will take the edge off and, from his own experience, Ze is sure that’s more than worthwhile right now.] To your health, brat. [The toast is a mocking one before he knocks it back, working the taste of the wine over in his mouth before grimacing. It’s not the worst he’s ever had, but it’s certainly not…
He sighs, refilling his cup regardless and knocking that back like a shot as well. Now he knows why the man was willing to give him so many.] When did you move in?
falls in from the abyss
... Well. Barely. He shares Ze's grimace as he takes a testing sip from his glass, the cheap, bitter taste clashing immediately with the tartness of apple on his tongue.]
... Remind me to stick to the food next time.
[Petulant, as always, but in this, at least, they agree. Scrunching up his nose, he decides against following suit and throwing it back before he can register the taste a second time, nursing the glass atop a thigh instead. He's childish like this, too.]
I came here a sennight and a half ago. [Longer than he'd like. He should have moved along by now. He should have a lead to move on for. Now he'll be set back even longer, his face an ever growing familiarity to the locals. Troublesome. None of Ze's concern, at any rate. A grievance he bites into the remaining half of the fruit, before reaching out to set its gnawed-on remains atop the bedside table.]
Before you say anything, not all of this was my doing.
[The mess had been reflected in the cost of the lodgings, and Li'to is far from the sort to complain about a cheaper roof over his head so long as it does the job. Something about a long history of housing rowdy travellers and up-and-coming adventurers alike; he wouldn't count himself amongst either of their ranks, but some of what had been left behind had, if nothing else, found a second life in his own arsenal.]
NOT IF I DO IT FIRST
Huh, practically settled. [The tease is light and meaningless. He knows what it means for the likes of them to stay in one place too long. However where Vassa seems to get defensive and skittish over the matter, his own wanderlust is born merely from lacking a place to feel at ease. No inn or lodging has felt as a proper home in a long time, the normalcy of unfamiliar beds and unusual scents when his head hits the pillow (if there even is one) a familiar sensation at this point.
He wonders, in that aimless way, if Vassa envisions his future much in the same way Ze does- to wander, homeless, until the life takes them in a miserable, rain-soaked ditch somewhere in the wilds.]
You needn't be so prickly, I know the kind of lodgers this area keeps. [And he pours himself another glass, a little pink in the nose already, as he tips that back as well.] You were planning to move on soon?