Post by Varga on Nov 7, 2021 18:45:15 GMT
or Awkward Seaside Conversations Over Tea and Biscuits
co-written with wonderful Soph and Celina Zabinski
This time Glint actually sends a letter upfront so that Root would be less surprised to see him. Which Root happily receives - it allows the purple tiefling botanist to actually prepare for having guests with a more refined outfit and an inviting spread of black leaf tea with biscuits that he is currently preparing in the kitchen.
There’s a familiar knock on the door.
‘Root, are you in?’ A voice asks with a bit of a forced cheer. ‘I know you are, I can smell the tea from here! That and, well, you’re always in...’ he fades away.
Root gives a startled shout from the back of the house to Glint’s arrival, “Yes! Yes. Apologies, I lost track of time making said tea.”
There’s some slightly more hushed talking from inside, only the words ‘Bessie’ and ‘please’ make it through the thick wood of the front door, and soon it swings open. Patiently waiting there is not Root, but Bessie the fern plant dog, a leafy paw pressed against a contraption set into the wall by the door frame.
‘Hello, Bessie, dear, how are you today?’ Glint cautiously extends a hand to give the dog a careful pet on the head, as she looks at him almost suspiciously. He should be more confident around animals, but is still afraid to set something on fire accidentally and harm the poor dear, so he walks in, hugging the door and staying a respectful distance away from a potential fire hazard. Deeming the pets acceptable, Bessie leads Glint further into the hallway, taking a sharp right into the parlour room nearby. Inside, the genasi takes a good look at the room, this one is decorated with large arrangements of bright and vibrantly coloured flowers.
He goes through the ever changing greenhouse that is Root’s residence to the back, where the smell of tea is coming from. Rounding the corner to the kitchen he almost bumps into Root holding a tea set on a tray, the fine porcelain rattling only slightly.
“Glint! I was just coming through, is everything okay? Bessie wasn’t giving you a hard time, was she?”
“No, no, of course not!” He says hurriedly, instinctively helping to support the tray, and ending up in a rather awkward arrangement of having to stumble backwards to allow Root to place the tea tray on a table. His eyes dart to the tray momentarily, as if searching for something, and, failing to find whatever it was, turn away, his face unreadable.
“Well I’m glad, I do think she is growing on you. Oh!” He reaches out suddenly to grab Glint’s arm, stopping him retreating right into a side table. The movement brings Root right into Glint’s space, faces oh so close to each other, and there’s a moment as Root’s eyes move up to catch Glint’s….
And then the doorbell goes.
Root startles, softly pats Glint’s arm and makes an apologetic look as he leaves the room to see who’s there. Glint follows immediately, half-expecting it to be another instance of the Academy trying to get at him for his impromptu, and completely unsanctioned, absence. But as Root opens the front door for the second time that day, it’s not the figure of a staunch academic or a tired postman standing there.
Celina is pleased with herself managing to steal one of the shiny iridescent apples from her latest job. “Sure, Root won’t mind one apple missing”, Celina thinks happily. Celina places the apple on her desk and smiles at it happily. However, as the day progresses, every time she looks at the shiny apple, she can hear a displeased voice in her head “This was not yours to take...”. Celina quickly dismisses the thought. However, more time passes and days go by. The voices get louder each time she looks at this apple. More words come to her mind when looking at it: “Thief...”, “Bring it back....”, “It was your job to bring all the apples”. The words get louder in Celina’s head and they refuse to go quiet until eventually, she snaps. Celina is confused as she’s stolen many things before but this is the first time she’s felt any guilt. “We feel guilty over a freakin apple?”, Celina argues angrily with herself. She stares at the beautiful apple, focusing all her thoughts. After some time, she curses loudly, grabs the apple and walks towards Root’s house in a bad mood.
The walkover calms her down somewhat. However, she starts to panic about what she’s going to say, eventually deciding she’s going to wing it. She gets to the door, rings the doorbell and waits for an answer.
When the door opens, Celina sees Root and is about to say something when she notices Glint behind him. She looks confused for a moment and then catches herself. “I… eh… Root. Can I… eh… talk to you for a moment?” She says as Glint goes perfectly still in the background, even the fire on his head extinguishing to a barely-there smolder, eyes growing wider.
“Oh, um, Celina. A most unexpected visit. I...” He looks over his shoulder to Glint, expression of uncertainty obvious, but getting no legible response, he turns back to Celina. “I sense this is somewhat important, so, let’s talk then. I hope you are okay with the company present for this conversation, Celina.”
“Oh, it’s alright,” Glint finally perks up, his manners kicking into gear before his brain does. “If you’d like to discuss… anything, I can visit another time,” he smiles awkwardly, and glances at the tea tray again, this time looking somewhat affronted, as if the tray betrayed his trust in some way.
Root puts a hand on his arm for a moment, as if afraid he’ll run away, “No, but you only just got here.” He turns expectantly back to Celina still standing in the doorframe.
Celina curses again in her head. “Another person to hear her do this... apology or whatever... and Glint of all people. Why is he here anyway... and looking so... awkward”, Celina thinks to herself. She hears the way Root and Glint are talking and starts putting the pieces together in a way people tend to in such circumstances. Eventually, she interrupts and says:
“I... eh.. No... it’s fine. I won’t be long. Glint can be here. I don’t mean to be... interrupting anything here”, Celina says smirking at both Root and Glint. The tension in the room is quite obvious. Root only blushes slightly. Glint does not, but then, how does fiery red blush?
“Look”, Celina says and reaches into her bag to pick up an apple “One of the apples from the job accidentally made it into my bag... and I eh... thought I should return it... as... it was yours”, Celina says very awkwardly. She equally awkwardly reaches over to hold out the apple and offers it to Root.
Root’s expression drastically changes at the gesture, initial surprise of seeing the item settling to a more stern look.
“Yes. What an accident indeed. Well, let’s continue this inside shall we? I would certainly love to hear what you have to say.” Root motions her to come inside, making no move to take the apple back from Celina, so she is left there holding it out like a strange statue.
Glint follows him back into the parlour room after the shortest moment of hesitation, his brow furrowed a bit, glancing from Root back to Celina in contemplation.
Celina stands there for a few moments, holding out the apple as Root and Glint walk away, unsure what to do. Eventually, she drops her hand with the apple and heads in, panicking.
They all sit at the coffee table amongst the vibrant flower bouquets, a thin wavering line of steam from a cooling kettle rising like a question mark over the three of them. The silence is only broken by Bessie and Bark shuffling on their cushions in front of the fireplace.
Celina breaks the silence and says “Look, I thought I could give you back the apple and I’d be on my way. I am obviously keeping you both from… a lovely evening. Maybe I should go… now”.
Glint clears his throat, and Celina suddenly hears his voice in her head as he sounds uncharacteristically stern.
“I think you presume too much. Please, my dear, show our host the respect he deserves.”
Celina just glares at Glint and takes a deep breath. If it was anyone else she wouldn’t care but she likes Glint and sees him as a friend. She turns her attention to Root.
“Ok fine. I was rude. I took your apple. It was me. I accidentally or not so accidentally placed it into my bag. I thought it was so beautiful. However it was not mine… so I… eh… I am sorry I tried to steal it”. Celina immediately avoids eye contact and looks down to the ground. Then she reaches out and places the apple on the coffee table in front of them. Celina suddenly feels horribly uncomfortable and vulnerable. She immediately gets up to leave. “I really am sorry… I do have to go now”, Celina says as she gets up and starts making her exit.
Glint all but jumps from his seat and catches up with her just as she places her hand on the front door.
“I know it’s hard, but I think you did the right thing,” he says in a quiet but pointed tone. “I hold you in very high regard, my friend, but I don’t think I’ve ever had more respect for you than I do now. Just wanted you to know that,’ he adds quickly, and turns back to the sitting room. Celina blushes at the compliment but looks away.
Glint makes a step forward, and stops abruptly, once again clearing his throat.
“May I just ask you to keep your… theories private for now? Not for my sake, but for his?” He asks in a much more timid tone. “I don’t want others to speculate. Just so that there’s no pressure on him… one way or another.”
Celina hears the message in her head, looks at him and grins before replying. “Your secret is safe with me. It’s the least I can do for your help with the whole… Sammy thing...”
“It’s not… ah, never mind. I’m sure you’re dealing with him better than I’m faring here.” She hears as Glint makes another step towards the parlour.
Root, still sitting there, turns his curious gaze from the apple on the table to the two of them having a silent conversation, and says: “Glint, thank you, and Celina, please sit back down. You’ve barely given me a chance to reply to what felt like a very heartfelt apology.”
The two rogues walk back briskly, eyes down, shoulders hunched, like two very guilty puppies.
Root sighs lightly before addressing Celina, eyes a little softer now, “Celina, thank you for admitting that you stole this apple from me when I had hired you explicitly to retrieve them. I do think highly of all the adventurers that have come through my door to help me with the work they do, you included. I would have preferred if you hadn’t stolen from me in the first place, of course, but an apology is an apology, and I accept yours. I just ask that you please don’t betray my trust again, I hope that isn’t too much of a request?”
Celina smiles, and replies cheerfully.
“It definitely won’t happen again. Sure, I can’t do that again to a fellow tiefling.”
Root returns the smile before getting up to retrieve a pen and paper from the side table, immediately he starts writing something down while talking again. “Well, I feel now I can explain what that apple actually does. It’s intriguing in its ability to become a non-traditional compass that points to a specified location. I have written instructions on how to do so here.” He hands the paper and the apple still on the table to Celina. “May you find just as intriguing ways to use that ability.”
Celina stares at the apple and note, realising this is far more generous than she deserves. “Thank you”, she says sheepishly, unsure what else to add at this moment.
Glint, looking over Root’s shoulder, momentarily loses himself to academic curiosity.
“How did you manage to discover this property in the first place?” He asks Root absentmindedly. “Wouldn’t it require you to be interested in at least one location outside your house?”
Root stutters slightly as he tries to reply, “I, I have plenty of interest in places outside my home. Like the market, certain shops, people’s abodes potentially. And when I do, it would be much more efficient to get to those places quicker.”
“Does it work on people, too?” Glint asks, his interest piquing. Celina also listens intently.
“My initial investigations show that this apple only works on guiding the way to locations, not people. Perhaps there is a different fruit that could achieve that.”
“Are you sure?” Glint presses on, completely sucked into the scientific potential of the golden fruit in front of him. “I mean, have you checked? Maybe it works? Like, different attitude, different wording?”
Celina interjects “Root, you say it doesn’t work on people. How do you know? Have you tested this out on someone?”
The silence that follows this question was not as much palpably awkward, as it was materially desperate. It wasn’t broken even by the sounds of breathing, mostly because none of the attending had the courage to take another breath. Finally, Root swallows audibly as he looks to Celina.
“Well yes I did test it on people I know, who do and don’t live in this house.” His eyes dart lightning fast to Glint before looking back to Celina. “And it didn’t work, but it did on the arcane materials shop I like to visit.”
Celina grins, working out who he was trying to locate. “You know if you’re looking for someone’s address… you could always just ask them”, she says. Root just gives a slightly confused look at her suggestion. Celina looks from Root to Glint. Then she casts message and grins before saying to the genasi: “I don’t think you’re doing too bad here. Someone likes you...”. Glint, who up to this moment has been completely focused on the apple, raises his eyes slowly as the realisation dawns on him, and stares into the distance with a smile growing on his face. Celina winks at Glint discreetly, and then does a fake yawn.
“Will you look at the time! Now I really do have to go. I have a shop I need to get back to. Root, thank you for your time, and Glint, always fun. I will let myself out.” Celina rapidly packs up the note and apple, and leaves, Root giving a small friendly wave at her retreating figure, oblivious to the information Glint now knows.
As the entry door locks behind the visitor, the two scientists are left sitting in a silence that has way too many subtle tones to it to be completely comfortable.
“So,” Glint smiles, barely repressing smugness, as he adopts a bit more relaxed pose in his chair, subtly leaning towards Root a bit more. “How much do you want to tell me about these magical apples you found and all their properties? Alphabetically and chronologically, in order of discovery?”
“Oh, you’re asking about everything I did? Well um...”, and he blushes like someone who’s just realised he might have revealed more than he thought.
co-written with wonderful Soph and Celina Zabinski
This time Glint actually sends a letter upfront so that Root would be less surprised to see him. Which Root happily receives - it allows the purple tiefling botanist to actually prepare for having guests with a more refined outfit and an inviting spread of black leaf tea with biscuits that he is currently preparing in the kitchen.
There’s a familiar knock on the door.
‘Root, are you in?’ A voice asks with a bit of a forced cheer. ‘I know you are, I can smell the tea from here! That and, well, you’re always in...’ he fades away.
Root gives a startled shout from the back of the house to Glint’s arrival, “Yes! Yes. Apologies, I lost track of time making said tea.”
There’s some slightly more hushed talking from inside, only the words ‘Bessie’ and ‘please’ make it through the thick wood of the front door, and soon it swings open. Patiently waiting there is not Root, but Bessie the fern plant dog, a leafy paw pressed against a contraption set into the wall by the door frame.
‘Hello, Bessie, dear, how are you today?’ Glint cautiously extends a hand to give the dog a careful pet on the head, as she looks at him almost suspiciously. He should be more confident around animals, but is still afraid to set something on fire accidentally and harm the poor dear, so he walks in, hugging the door and staying a respectful distance away from a potential fire hazard. Deeming the pets acceptable, Bessie leads Glint further into the hallway, taking a sharp right into the parlour room nearby. Inside, the genasi takes a good look at the room, this one is decorated with large arrangements of bright and vibrantly coloured flowers.
He goes through the ever changing greenhouse that is Root’s residence to the back, where the smell of tea is coming from. Rounding the corner to the kitchen he almost bumps into Root holding a tea set on a tray, the fine porcelain rattling only slightly.
“Glint! I was just coming through, is everything okay? Bessie wasn’t giving you a hard time, was she?”
“No, no, of course not!” He says hurriedly, instinctively helping to support the tray, and ending up in a rather awkward arrangement of having to stumble backwards to allow Root to place the tea tray on a table. His eyes dart to the tray momentarily, as if searching for something, and, failing to find whatever it was, turn away, his face unreadable.
“Well I’m glad, I do think she is growing on you. Oh!” He reaches out suddenly to grab Glint’s arm, stopping him retreating right into a side table. The movement brings Root right into Glint’s space, faces oh so close to each other, and there’s a moment as Root’s eyes move up to catch Glint’s….
And then the doorbell goes.
Root startles, softly pats Glint’s arm and makes an apologetic look as he leaves the room to see who’s there. Glint follows immediately, half-expecting it to be another instance of the Academy trying to get at him for his impromptu, and completely unsanctioned, absence. But as Root opens the front door for the second time that day, it’s not the figure of a staunch academic or a tired postman standing there.
Celina is pleased with herself managing to steal one of the shiny iridescent apples from her latest job. “Sure, Root won’t mind one apple missing”, Celina thinks happily. Celina places the apple on her desk and smiles at it happily. However, as the day progresses, every time she looks at the shiny apple, she can hear a displeased voice in her head “This was not yours to take...”. Celina quickly dismisses the thought. However, more time passes and days go by. The voices get louder each time she looks at this apple. More words come to her mind when looking at it: “Thief...”, “Bring it back....”, “It was your job to bring all the apples”. The words get louder in Celina’s head and they refuse to go quiet until eventually, she snaps. Celina is confused as she’s stolen many things before but this is the first time she’s felt any guilt. “We feel guilty over a freakin apple?”, Celina argues angrily with herself. She stares at the beautiful apple, focusing all her thoughts. After some time, she curses loudly, grabs the apple and walks towards Root’s house in a bad mood.
The walkover calms her down somewhat. However, she starts to panic about what she’s going to say, eventually deciding she’s going to wing it. She gets to the door, rings the doorbell and waits for an answer.
When the door opens, Celina sees Root and is about to say something when she notices Glint behind him. She looks confused for a moment and then catches herself. “I… eh… Root. Can I… eh… talk to you for a moment?” She says as Glint goes perfectly still in the background, even the fire on his head extinguishing to a barely-there smolder, eyes growing wider.
“Oh, um, Celina. A most unexpected visit. I...” He looks over his shoulder to Glint, expression of uncertainty obvious, but getting no legible response, he turns back to Celina. “I sense this is somewhat important, so, let’s talk then. I hope you are okay with the company present for this conversation, Celina.”
“Oh, it’s alright,” Glint finally perks up, his manners kicking into gear before his brain does. “If you’d like to discuss… anything, I can visit another time,” he smiles awkwardly, and glances at the tea tray again, this time looking somewhat affronted, as if the tray betrayed his trust in some way.
Root puts a hand on his arm for a moment, as if afraid he’ll run away, “No, but you only just got here.” He turns expectantly back to Celina still standing in the doorframe.
Celina curses again in her head. “Another person to hear her do this... apology or whatever... and Glint of all people. Why is he here anyway... and looking so... awkward”, Celina thinks to herself. She hears the way Root and Glint are talking and starts putting the pieces together in a way people tend to in such circumstances. Eventually, she interrupts and says:
“I... eh.. No... it’s fine. I won’t be long. Glint can be here. I don’t mean to be... interrupting anything here”, Celina says smirking at both Root and Glint. The tension in the room is quite obvious. Root only blushes slightly. Glint does not, but then, how does fiery red blush?
“Look”, Celina says and reaches into her bag to pick up an apple “One of the apples from the job accidentally made it into my bag... and I eh... thought I should return it... as... it was yours”, Celina says very awkwardly. She equally awkwardly reaches over to hold out the apple and offers it to Root.
Root’s expression drastically changes at the gesture, initial surprise of seeing the item settling to a more stern look.
“Yes. What an accident indeed. Well, let’s continue this inside shall we? I would certainly love to hear what you have to say.” Root motions her to come inside, making no move to take the apple back from Celina, so she is left there holding it out like a strange statue.
Glint follows him back into the parlour room after the shortest moment of hesitation, his brow furrowed a bit, glancing from Root back to Celina in contemplation.
Celina stands there for a few moments, holding out the apple as Root and Glint walk away, unsure what to do. Eventually, she drops her hand with the apple and heads in, panicking.
They all sit at the coffee table amongst the vibrant flower bouquets, a thin wavering line of steam from a cooling kettle rising like a question mark over the three of them. The silence is only broken by Bessie and Bark shuffling on their cushions in front of the fireplace.
Celina breaks the silence and says “Look, I thought I could give you back the apple and I’d be on my way. I am obviously keeping you both from… a lovely evening. Maybe I should go… now”.
Glint clears his throat, and Celina suddenly hears his voice in her head as he sounds uncharacteristically stern.
“I think you presume too much. Please, my dear, show our host the respect he deserves.”
Celina just glares at Glint and takes a deep breath. If it was anyone else she wouldn’t care but she likes Glint and sees him as a friend. She turns her attention to Root.
“Ok fine. I was rude. I took your apple. It was me. I accidentally or not so accidentally placed it into my bag. I thought it was so beautiful. However it was not mine… so I… eh… I am sorry I tried to steal it”. Celina immediately avoids eye contact and looks down to the ground. Then she reaches out and places the apple on the coffee table in front of them. Celina suddenly feels horribly uncomfortable and vulnerable. She immediately gets up to leave. “I really am sorry… I do have to go now”, Celina says as she gets up and starts making her exit.
Glint all but jumps from his seat and catches up with her just as she places her hand on the front door.
“I know it’s hard, but I think you did the right thing,” he says in a quiet but pointed tone. “I hold you in very high regard, my friend, but I don’t think I’ve ever had more respect for you than I do now. Just wanted you to know that,’ he adds quickly, and turns back to the sitting room. Celina blushes at the compliment but looks away.
Glint makes a step forward, and stops abruptly, once again clearing his throat.
“May I just ask you to keep your… theories private for now? Not for my sake, but for his?” He asks in a much more timid tone. “I don’t want others to speculate. Just so that there’s no pressure on him… one way or another.”
Celina hears the message in her head, looks at him and grins before replying. “Your secret is safe with me. It’s the least I can do for your help with the whole… Sammy thing...”
“It’s not… ah, never mind. I’m sure you’re dealing with him better than I’m faring here.” She hears as Glint makes another step towards the parlour.
Root, still sitting there, turns his curious gaze from the apple on the table to the two of them having a silent conversation, and says: “Glint, thank you, and Celina, please sit back down. You’ve barely given me a chance to reply to what felt like a very heartfelt apology.”
The two rogues walk back briskly, eyes down, shoulders hunched, like two very guilty puppies.
Root sighs lightly before addressing Celina, eyes a little softer now, “Celina, thank you for admitting that you stole this apple from me when I had hired you explicitly to retrieve them. I do think highly of all the adventurers that have come through my door to help me with the work they do, you included. I would have preferred if you hadn’t stolen from me in the first place, of course, but an apology is an apology, and I accept yours. I just ask that you please don’t betray my trust again, I hope that isn’t too much of a request?”
Celina smiles, and replies cheerfully.
“It definitely won’t happen again. Sure, I can’t do that again to a fellow tiefling.”
Root returns the smile before getting up to retrieve a pen and paper from the side table, immediately he starts writing something down while talking again. “Well, I feel now I can explain what that apple actually does. It’s intriguing in its ability to become a non-traditional compass that points to a specified location. I have written instructions on how to do so here.” He hands the paper and the apple still on the table to Celina. “May you find just as intriguing ways to use that ability.”
Celina stares at the apple and note, realising this is far more generous than she deserves. “Thank you”, she says sheepishly, unsure what else to add at this moment.
Glint, looking over Root’s shoulder, momentarily loses himself to academic curiosity.
“How did you manage to discover this property in the first place?” He asks Root absentmindedly. “Wouldn’t it require you to be interested in at least one location outside your house?”
Root stutters slightly as he tries to reply, “I, I have plenty of interest in places outside my home. Like the market, certain shops, people’s abodes potentially. And when I do, it would be much more efficient to get to those places quicker.”
“Does it work on people, too?” Glint asks, his interest piquing. Celina also listens intently.
“My initial investigations show that this apple only works on guiding the way to locations, not people. Perhaps there is a different fruit that could achieve that.”
“Are you sure?” Glint presses on, completely sucked into the scientific potential of the golden fruit in front of him. “I mean, have you checked? Maybe it works? Like, different attitude, different wording?”
Celina interjects “Root, you say it doesn’t work on people. How do you know? Have you tested this out on someone?”
The silence that follows this question was not as much palpably awkward, as it was materially desperate. It wasn’t broken even by the sounds of breathing, mostly because none of the attending had the courage to take another breath. Finally, Root swallows audibly as he looks to Celina.
“Well yes I did test it on people I know, who do and don’t live in this house.” His eyes dart lightning fast to Glint before looking back to Celina. “And it didn’t work, but it did on the arcane materials shop I like to visit.”
Celina grins, working out who he was trying to locate. “You know if you’re looking for someone’s address… you could always just ask them”, she says. Root just gives a slightly confused look at her suggestion. Celina looks from Root to Glint. Then she casts message and grins before saying to the genasi: “I don’t think you’re doing too bad here. Someone likes you...”. Glint, who up to this moment has been completely focused on the apple, raises his eyes slowly as the realisation dawns on him, and stares into the distance with a smile growing on his face. Celina winks at Glint discreetly, and then does a fake yawn.
“Will you look at the time! Now I really do have to go. I have a shop I need to get back to. Root, thank you for your time, and Glint, always fun. I will let myself out.” Celina rapidly packs up the note and apple, and leaves, Root giving a small friendly wave at her retreating figure, oblivious to the information Glint now knows.
As the entry door locks behind the visitor, the two scientists are left sitting in a silence that has way too many subtle tones to it to be completely comfortable.
“So,” Glint smiles, barely repressing smugness, as he adopts a bit more relaxed pose in his chair, subtly leaning towards Root a bit more. “How much do you want to tell me about these magical apples you found and all their properties? Alphabetically and chronologically, in order of discovery?”
“Oh, you’re asking about everything I did? Well um...”, and he blushes like someone who’s just realised he might have revealed more than he thought.