<< Springing Spring Snow | Scroll And Sword Logs | An Old Girlfriend >>
The residence of Arkadi turns out to be a surprisingly spacious mansion. A small, neat garden lines the front. As you enter and are showed to the livign area, you note that the vast majority of the rooms are either empty, or their contents covered with dropcloths of some sort...apparently the owner doens't seem to use very many of them.
"Don't stay here much, Arkadi?" asks Malic. "Or do you just prefer the abandoned furniture depot style?"
Arkadi looks up from his book. "The place is too damn big. What do you expect?"
"I guess he's not the entertaining sort," says Hollow Moth.
"Entertaining sort? That'd require people wanting to see me. You're confusing me with someone who manages to not piss off people."
Hollow Moth blinks. She glances at Malic, then at her hands, then inquiringly back at Arkadi. "But we are here to see you."
"I piss everyone off and I have friends. Lots of friends. Everyone loves me. Right, Moth?" Malic puts a too-friendly arm around the Purple.
The living area where Akradi is seated however..is actually fairly nice, in an extremely mundane, comfortable way. There's a wet bar in the corner, and a fireplace crackles.
"...quite so." Hollow Moth gently slithers out from Malic's grasp and moves a few feet away.
"Can I offer eithe rof you a drink?" asks Arkadi.
"No, thank you, I'm fine," Hollow Moth declines the offer.
"Bet if you talked to some folks, you could swap this place for a smaller appartment," Malic speculates.
"...this is a manse, Malic. I'm not totally dumb."
"Or charge rental of the extra rooms from some of those wastemongers in the ruined sections. Or just some bums."
"Not many people like living with former Internal Affairs, Malic."
"Dragoncrap. You'd find someone," opines Malic.
"Well, that depends how internal the affairs are, doesn't it?" Hollow Moth chuckles to herself.
Arkadi blinks at Moth, then shrugs and gets up to fix himself a drink
Malic blinks at Moth. "I think you made a joke. I didn't know you had a sense of humor."
"No, that's me Malic," says Arkadi.
"You don't have any sense of any type," replies Malic.
"Obviously not, I mean..I hang around with you, don't I?"
"But Malic, my dear, I'm an undertaker," Hollow Moth reminds him. "Of course I have a sense of humor."
"A very grave one, I'd wager."
Hollow Moth titters at Arkadi's "joke".
"Proves you have taste, but not in jokes," Malic says. "Puns are something used to punish theives..⚠ <br>
"Well, aside from a sense of humor, what else hides behind those deep purple eyes, Moth my darling?"
Arkadi mutters, "A total lack of interest, Mal." He fixes himself some utterly bizarre concoction and sits down.
Hollow Moth smiles and leans back against a wall.
Malic glares at Arkadi "I resent that. Moth is a co-worker. I don't date my co-workers. I'm just being ⚠ <i>polite⚠ </i>." He puts on an afronted face.
"Whatever," Arkadi replies.
"Why not? What's wrong with us?" asks Moth.
Malic shrugs. "Too much work to do. It doesn't give me an excuse to skip out."
"With you particularly, nothing. In my experience, the average God and sidereal is s tuck-up jackass with such delusions of their own importance that they no longer give a rat's ass abotu the denizens of the very exitence they're supposed to be proctecting...⚠ <br>
"Sorry...residual bitterness there," Arkadi apologizes.
Hollow Moth raises an eyebrow briefly at the outburst.
"Long day...had a bit of an argument with the PT Bs?," explains Arkadi.
"So, obviously Arkadi is a bitter old man with issues with authority figures. What're you?" Malic peers at Moth.
"I'm not old," retorts Arkadi.
"Why, a beautiful maiden, of course. Couldn't you tell?" Hollow Moth looks dismayed.
Malic snorts. "Maiden.."
"But of course! You know, in many lands it's the custom to have a physician certify a young woman's virtue before her marriage. That isn't done in my homeland, but I had heard of the custom, and so I certified myself."
"..." Arkadi boggles.
"Really. How'd you do that?" asks Malic.
"It worked out very conveniently."
Arkadi takes a swig of his drink.
"Well, of course I needed a hand mirror."
Arkadi spit-takes
Hollow Moth smiles innocently.
"...moving right along," Arkadi chokes out.
Malic shakes his head. "Well, tell us something about yourself that won't make Arkadi choke."
Hollow Moth ponders.
"She likes long candlight dinners, long walks on the beach..." speculates Arkadi.
Hollow Moth titters. "Well, I'm originally from Lookshy, I believe I've mentioned..."
"...no shit?" exclaims Arkadi.
"And you're a funereal worker?" asks Malic. "And a self-examining physician.."
"None whatsoever, Arkadi," Moth informs him.
"...huh." Arkadi pauses for a moment to light up
Hollow Moth nods to Malic.
"Well, tell us a bit about your life in Lookshy," Malic prompts. "I've never been there."
"Funerals were the family trade, but not terribly useful in the field force, so I became a medic instead. It's not really all that different, when you get right down to things. The live ones are just... messier, that's all."
Hollow Moth ponders. "Oh, and they tend to scream."
"...oh God, don't remind me," says Arkadi.
Hollow Moth raises an eyebrow at Arkadi.
"...ex-cop, remember? Ever been called in to break up a barfight and find someone stabbed in the gut? Not fun"
"Can't say I have. But I've stabbed people in the gut during a barfight.." volunteers Malic. "Well. A person. He deserved it though."
"I can't say I've had the pleasure, no," Hollow Moth demurs. "Ex-cop, you say?"
"Yeah...Lookshy, oddly enough. Justice Directorate."
"Lookshy?" asks Moth. "My my. It seems quite a popular hometown these days."
"Biggest little city in the threshold," says Arkadi.
"I much prefer Chiaroscuro to your little military habitat," Malic informs them.
"Yes, you would, I suppose," replies Moth.
"Why am I not shocked?" asks Arkadi.
Malic smiles. "Because I'm a former Southern Trader?"
"..." Arkadi has nothing to say to that.
"Trader?" asks Moth. "Mm..."
Malic nods. "I traded all across the Southern Coast and into the middle desert. Firedust and gems, mostly. Some sand-art, that goes for a lot in the East."
"I see," says Moth.
"Don't I look like a trader?"
"Firedust..." muses Hollow Moth. "I hear that's used a lot in southern battles."
"It's ammunition. Very flammable," Arkadi informs her.
Hollow Moth muses, half to herself. "That would make for an interesting medical tent..."
Malic does, in fact, not look like a trader. Not with the faint scars on his face, chest and arms. At least, not the normal sort of trader.
"No, you look more like a legbreaker," observes Arkadi.
Malic smiles at Arkadi. "Well, sometimes people didn't like my prices."
Arkadi pinches the bridge of his nose "Only 5000 more years until retirement."
Hollow Moth snickers.
"I'm getting too old for this shit," says Arkadi.
"You're not old." Malic yawns. "I'm tired, though. Got anything for waking you up in that bar?"
"...it's ALCOHOL...it's a depressant," Arkadi points out.
"Well, get some stimulants."
"Might have some coffee in the kitchen..." Arkadi rings a bell.
"Did you hear how the outing went, Moth?" asks Malic.
"Well, actually I-" Hollow Moth is interrupted as a small shimmering serpent with human hands flutters up next to her, carrying a clay tablet.
"You get those a lot," observes Malic.
Hollow Moth irritably snatches the tablet from it and quickly scans it. "Not again! That bastard..."
"Marriage troubles?" Arkadi inquires.
"I'm sorry, I have some business to take care of." Hollow Moth glares at Arkadi briefly before hurrying out.
Malic nods. "Bye Moth!" He glances at Arkadi. "I guess I'll head back to the Bazaar. See you around, Arkadi."
"You too," Arkadi bids him farewell.
<< Springing Spring Snow | Scroll And Sword Logs | An Old Girlfriend >>
Stryck Wiki