Running the Jars - Glint - 14/12 (+DT)
Dec 17, 2021 16:55:27 GMT
Pieni, Wixspartan, and 2 more like this
Post by Varga on Dec 17, 2021 16:55:27 GMT
If Glint had to summarise his most recent adventure, the part understandable by everyone would go something like "well, that one didn't go as expected, did it?", with some of the more colourful cant idioms peppered here and there to emphasize the emotional component of
Sheer
Bloody
Panic
He went to Sigil expecting an opportunity to study some swarms, maybe have another tea with Amaunet if she was still around. That plan quickly flew out of the window. First, Concord said they were averse to being studied before he could even pop the question, and the wizard was happy to be just standing in silence as Tayz took most of the scolding for the suggestion. Then their party was roped into securing some suspicious "delivery". It's not like he spent the last decade running away from any shady activities! Speaking of running, he still felt winded from their rooftop chase after the thieves who almost cost them their mission.
Glint sighed and looked around the Drovers’ Yard where the abovementioned thieves, already fitted with their courier harnesses, were poking fun at each other and going through the list of sibling insults that are often exchanged whenever one gets anything nice. Glint was very thankful to Pipper for keeping them company on the way back to Daring Heights. Without the young engineer and her roller skates he'd never be able to keep an eye on four young overenergetic tieflings at once. Thanks to her and the others, their travel to Daring Heights was mercifully uneventful.
In the heat of the moment, in the marketplace (why did it always had to be marketplaces with him?) all he saw were four youngsters terrified of going back to their former bosses empty-handed. And all he wanted to do was to make sure they won’t end up like he did. So, it was easy to offer looking after them. Actually doing it would be a challenge. Understandably, he had his doubts. A lot of doubts along the way. Nothing but doubts, in fact. But when he saw their child-like wonder at the sight of the sky, something they’ve never experienced living in Sigil, the same wave of protectiveness washed over him, and put his mind at ease. He'd manage. His father managed to rein in three kids whenever mother went out, so Glint would definitely cope with four young adults.
"So, gramps, the money you promised us? Or are you gonna go back on your word now that your nice friends ain't here?" The girl cocked an eyebrow at him.
That hurt. Not as much as it did when Marto and Tayz suggested that the only reason he was unwilling to give the tieflings money they've stolen was because he wanted to keep it for himself. He did lose his temper and told Tayz off rather rudely, a slip-up he was now regretting. But Glint also knew better than to give people money without assurances that something would change for them. It's not like he had never pretended to ‘see the light’ to swindle money from his family.
The tieflings looked tough, which, as Glint knew from experience, was exactly how you have to look when you are very alone and very vulnerable. It made sense – they've just left their entire lives behind. Even if those weren’t particularly great lives, it couldn’t have been easy. Fighting against another wave of overprotectiveness, he reminded himself not to crowd them. They weren't kids, they would not appreciate a nanny.
"The money is yours," Glint said evenly, approaching the group. "But you don't want to go around the streets of Daring Heights with that much on your persons. I am bound to agree with one of my nice friends – your skills aren’t up to par yet."
"Yeah, we'll decide what we want, thank you very much!" Kairos extended his hand expectantly.
Glint shrugged and gave him the pouch. The tiefling grinned and pocketed it without looking.
"Good luck trying to spend it," Glint sighed theatrically, observing the young man's expression morphing into that of confusion. The wizard rolled his eyes and took out the real pouch from his pocket, the illusion he'd created waning immediately. "See what I mean?"
There was a bit of embarrassment spread out across the four of them, and Glint hoped his little trick didn't put too much of a dent in their self-esteem. He approached them and put hands on Kairos's and Amraca's shoulders.
"I told you I'm here to help you settle in, and I meant it. Just trust me, Ok?" He gave their shoulders a light squeeze, and summoned a mage hand to gently steer away Damcius's fingers that were trying to snatch the real pouch from him. "I've got you new jobs, haven't I?"
"Yeah, of porters!" Rolrus grumbled. "You people promised us adventures and stuff!"
"All in good time. You still need a bit of… uhm… training. Maybe you should visit Kavel back at the fort, that might help,” he mused, somewhat lost. He didn’t quite have an educational program at hand. Feeling a rise of panic in his chest, he shook his head, and put on a brave smile. “Listen," he approached the curl-horned youth and inclined his head to look him in the eye. "You've just gotten to a new plane. Things work differently here. Why don't you look around, get to know the city, meet new people? Besides, it's almost Mid-Winter! Hardly anyone hires help this time of year, everyone's too busy celebrating!"
Even someone as inept at reading people as he couldn't help but notice as four tieflings at once pouted gloomily.
"'s dumb holiday," Amraca scoffed, trying to dislodge a cobblestone with her heel. "For little kiddies and old folk like you."
A realisation hit Glint, and that one really did hurt. They probably haven't had anyone to celebrate with for years, if ever. He knew critical moments in conversations when they came, and that was one of them. He had to do something quick, or he would lose them. Luckily, being a professional sweet-talker, he had little trouble formulating a ridiculous plan on the fly.
"Oh," Glint frowned, feigning disappointment. "It's a pity you don't like the holiday. I was going to take you on a nice trip to Port Ffirst, but if you'd rather work through the festivities, hey, I'm the last man to judge." He concluded with a helpless shrug.
Four pairs of eyes peered into him like a range of cougars. Glint has been through enough negotiations to know that as soon as the hook was swallowed, you didn't want to rush and snap the line. So, he said nothing. Sure enough, the float dipped in just a moment.
"How nice we're talking?" Kairos frowned. "Running across the rooftops nice or sitting at the table drinking tea nice?" He added air quotes around the last word.
"I just wanted you to meet someone you might find… inspirational. To illustrate the options available for bright energetic people outside of stealing shit," Glint said, casually leaning against the nearest wall. "He has a rooftop terrace, I'm sure he wouldn't mind you running around it. And the dogs could always use the exercise."
"Dogs?" Rolrus nodded as he struggled to keep a straight face.
"Yes, plant dogs. They are quite charming. And there's plenty of tea if you want it. Also something stronger, although you boys can't hold your liquor,” he continued, pretending to veer off his intended topic. “Don't want you falling asleep in the greenhouse. The cacti might just get you. And I doubt Ted will be able to do anything about that, other than hawl you around like Kavel did. He's a strong golem, but can't cure hangovers."
There was an air of poorly concealed excitement in the air, and Glint couldn't refrain from grinning with satisfaction. Perhaps getting four young thieves excited by a holiday trip wasn't the biggest achievement of his life, but looking at their lit-up faces, it somehow felt like one. The tieflings were glancing at each other in a mild panic, clearly aware they’ve set their own trap with their dismissiveness.
Glint shrugged again.
"Well, let's see how your work is going. If you feel like the sudden change in occupation is a bit too much, maybe you could use a small trip if simply to… unwind. Let's discuss it next week." He waved nonchalantly.
The others started nodding, enthusiastically feigning indifference.
"Well then, off you go, your work day started ten minutes ago, I'm not going to make any excuses to Phillip on your account," Glint nodded politely.
The tieflings nodded back, and rushed off. Even from 50 feet away Glint could hear Rolrus shouting to Damcius something about the dogs. Now the difficult part of the plan remained. Glint opened his spell book and took a deep breath. There was a spell he wanted to try for a long time, but it didn't quite work for him. Perhaps now was the time to try again. He put a piece of wire to his temple and thought about another tiefling, the one he left in Port Ffirst.
"Hi Root. Sigil was alright, but I'll have to stay in Daring Heights for a bit. I… seemed to have adopted four tieflings, former thieves." He said, realizing immediately, and belatedly, what a terrible idea it was.
There was a very long second, during which Glint had a hope that the spell failed…
"Oh," came the telling reply.
"You won't mind me bringing them over for Mid-Winter? They're sweet. In their twenties, act more like five-year-olds. Never had a holiday at home, too."
Glint could almost hear Root's high-society manners using a very large mallet to beat down a perfectly reasonable question of "WHAT THE ACTUAL F-"
"Do these splendid young adult tieflings have names?" He heard as the manners won over.
"Kairos, Amraca, Damcius, and Rolrus. I thought you'd be a great example for them. You know, of an actually decent person."
"Well then. I shall set the name plates at the welcoming tea party accordingly. See you... then."
As the connection created by the spell dropped, Glint released a breath he was holding for the last two minutes. Feeling lightheaded and drained, he slid down the wall to sit on the cold cobblestones, clutching his head in his hands. Three sending spells in a row took a toll on him. That and… getting a gang under his wing.
Running around the city doing errands to get them jobs and lodgings.
Inviting them to a house party which threatened to turn into a model Mid-Winter feast with a Yule log, tea and presents.
Oh, fire and brimstone, he now had to procure meaningful presents for four complete strangers! And he thought getting that metal apron for Ted was a mathematical problem!
And there he was only yesterday, hoping that maybe he'd get a nice quiet holiday with Root, alone, and give him that quartz ring, and maybe they'll make a couple steps further, and-
"Well, no use crying over spilled camel milk," he told himself, stifling the oncoming panic attack. He rose, used prestidigitation to make himself presentable, and put on his best smile. It wasn’t the first time his life took a turn, it might not be the last. He briefly considered writing back home to ask his father for advice, but decided against driving the man into an early grave. Perhaps just a postcard would do.
Sheer
Bloody
Panic
He went to Sigil expecting an opportunity to study some swarms, maybe have another tea with Amaunet if she was still around. That plan quickly flew out of the window. First, Concord said they were averse to being studied before he could even pop the question, and the wizard was happy to be just standing in silence as Tayz took most of the scolding for the suggestion. Then their party was roped into securing some suspicious "delivery". It's not like he spent the last decade running away from any shady activities! Speaking of running, he still felt winded from their rooftop chase after the thieves who almost cost them their mission.
Glint sighed and looked around the Drovers’ Yard where the abovementioned thieves, already fitted with their courier harnesses, were poking fun at each other and going through the list of sibling insults that are often exchanged whenever one gets anything nice. Glint was very thankful to Pipper for keeping them company on the way back to Daring Heights. Without the young engineer and her roller skates he'd never be able to keep an eye on four young overenergetic tieflings at once. Thanks to her and the others, their travel to Daring Heights was mercifully uneventful.
In the heat of the moment, in the marketplace (why did it always had to be marketplaces with him?) all he saw were four youngsters terrified of going back to their former bosses empty-handed. And all he wanted to do was to make sure they won’t end up like he did. So, it was easy to offer looking after them. Actually doing it would be a challenge. Understandably, he had his doubts. A lot of doubts along the way. Nothing but doubts, in fact. But when he saw their child-like wonder at the sight of the sky, something they’ve never experienced living in Sigil, the same wave of protectiveness washed over him, and put his mind at ease. He'd manage. His father managed to rein in three kids whenever mother went out, so Glint would definitely cope with four young adults.
"So, gramps, the money you promised us? Or are you gonna go back on your word now that your nice friends ain't here?" The girl cocked an eyebrow at him.
That hurt. Not as much as it did when Marto and Tayz suggested that the only reason he was unwilling to give the tieflings money they've stolen was because he wanted to keep it for himself. He did lose his temper and told Tayz off rather rudely, a slip-up he was now regretting. But Glint also knew better than to give people money without assurances that something would change for them. It's not like he had never pretended to ‘see the light’ to swindle money from his family.
The tieflings looked tough, which, as Glint knew from experience, was exactly how you have to look when you are very alone and very vulnerable. It made sense – they've just left their entire lives behind. Even if those weren’t particularly great lives, it couldn’t have been easy. Fighting against another wave of overprotectiveness, he reminded himself not to crowd them. They weren't kids, they would not appreciate a nanny.
"The money is yours," Glint said evenly, approaching the group. "But you don't want to go around the streets of Daring Heights with that much on your persons. I am bound to agree with one of my nice friends – your skills aren’t up to par yet."
"Yeah, we'll decide what we want, thank you very much!" Kairos extended his hand expectantly.
Glint shrugged and gave him the pouch. The tiefling grinned and pocketed it without looking.
"Good luck trying to spend it," Glint sighed theatrically, observing the young man's expression morphing into that of confusion. The wizard rolled his eyes and took out the real pouch from his pocket, the illusion he'd created waning immediately. "See what I mean?"
There was a bit of embarrassment spread out across the four of them, and Glint hoped his little trick didn't put too much of a dent in their self-esteem. He approached them and put hands on Kairos's and Amraca's shoulders.
"I told you I'm here to help you settle in, and I meant it. Just trust me, Ok?" He gave their shoulders a light squeeze, and summoned a mage hand to gently steer away Damcius's fingers that were trying to snatch the real pouch from him. "I've got you new jobs, haven't I?"
"Yeah, of porters!" Rolrus grumbled. "You people promised us adventures and stuff!"
"All in good time. You still need a bit of… uhm… training. Maybe you should visit Kavel back at the fort, that might help,” he mused, somewhat lost. He didn’t quite have an educational program at hand. Feeling a rise of panic in his chest, he shook his head, and put on a brave smile. “Listen," he approached the curl-horned youth and inclined his head to look him in the eye. "You've just gotten to a new plane. Things work differently here. Why don't you look around, get to know the city, meet new people? Besides, it's almost Mid-Winter! Hardly anyone hires help this time of year, everyone's too busy celebrating!"
Even someone as inept at reading people as he couldn't help but notice as four tieflings at once pouted gloomily.
"'s dumb holiday," Amraca scoffed, trying to dislodge a cobblestone with her heel. "For little kiddies and old folk like you."
A realisation hit Glint, and that one really did hurt. They probably haven't had anyone to celebrate with for years, if ever. He knew critical moments in conversations when they came, and that was one of them. He had to do something quick, or he would lose them. Luckily, being a professional sweet-talker, he had little trouble formulating a ridiculous plan on the fly.
"Oh," Glint frowned, feigning disappointment. "It's a pity you don't like the holiday. I was going to take you on a nice trip to Port Ffirst, but if you'd rather work through the festivities, hey, I'm the last man to judge." He concluded with a helpless shrug.
Four pairs of eyes peered into him like a range of cougars. Glint has been through enough negotiations to know that as soon as the hook was swallowed, you didn't want to rush and snap the line. So, he said nothing. Sure enough, the float dipped in just a moment.
"How nice we're talking?" Kairos frowned. "Running across the rooftops nice or sitting at the table drinking tea nice?" He added air quotes around the last word.
"I just wanted you to meet someone you might find… inspirational. To illustrate the options available for bright energetic people outside of stealing shit," Glint said, casually leaning against the nearest wall. "He has a rooftop terrace, I'm sure he wouldn't mind you running around it. And the dogs could always use the exercise."
"Dogs?" Rolrus nodded as he struggled to keep a straight face.
"Yes, plant dogs. They are quite charming. And there's plenty of tea if you want it. Also something stronger, although you boys can't hold your liquor,” he continued, pretending to veer off his intended topic. “Don't want you falling asleep in the greenhouse. The cacti might just get you. And I doubt Ted will be able to do anything about that, other than hawl you around like Kavel did. He's a strong golem, but can't cure hangovers."
There was an air of poorly concealed excitement in the air, and Glint couldn't refrain from grinning with satisfaction. Perhaps getting four young thieves excited by a holiday trip wasn't the biggest achievement of his life, but looking at their lit-up faces, it somehow felt like one. The tieflings were glancing at each other in a mild panic, clearly aware they’ve set their own trap with their dismissiveness.
Glint shrugged again.
"Well, let's see how your work is going. If you feel like the sudden change in occupation is a bit too much, maybe you could use a small trip if simply to… unwind. Let's discuss it next week." He waved nonchalantly.
The others started nodding, enthusiastically feigning indifference.
"Well then, off you go, your work day started ten minutes ago, I'm not going to make any excuses to Phillip on your account," Glint nodded politely.
The tieflings nodded back, and rushed off. Even from 50 feet away Glint could hear Rolrus shouting to Damcius something about the dogs. Now the difficult part of the plan remained. Glint opened his spell book and took a deep breath. There was a spell he wanted to try for a long time, but it didn't quite work for him. Perhaps now was the time to try again. He put a piece of wire to his temple and thought about another tiefling, the one he left in Port Ffirst.
"Hi Root. Sigil was alright, but I'll have to stay in Daring Heights for a bit. I… seemed to have adopted four tieflings, former thieves." He said, realizing immediately, and belatedly, what a terrible idea it was.
There was a very long second, during which Glint had a hope that the spell failed…
"Oh," came the telling reply.
"You won't mind me bringing them over for Mid-Winter? They're sweet. In their twenties, act more like five-year-olds. Never had a holiday at home, too."
Glint could almost hear Root's high-society manners using a very large mallet to beat down a perfectly reasonable question of "WHAT THE ACTUAL F-"
"Do these splendid young adult tieflings have names?" He heard as the manners won over.
"Kairos, Amraca, Damcius, and Rolrus. I thought you'd be a great example for them. You know, of an actually decent person."
"Well then. I shall set the name plates at the welcoming tea party accordingly. See you... then."
As the connection created by the spell dropped, Glint released a breath he was holding for the last two minutes. Feeling lightheaded and drained, he slid down the wall to sit on the cold cobblestones, clutching his head in his hands. Three sending spells in a row took a toll on him. That and… getting a gang under his wing.
Running around the city doing errands to get them jobs and lodgings.
Inviting them to a house party which threatened to turn into a model Mid-Winter feast with a Yule log, tea and presents.
Oh, fire and brimstone, he now had to procure meaningful presents for four complete strangers! And he thought getting that metal apron for Ted was a mathematical problem!
And there he was only yesterday, hoping that maybe he'd get a nice quiet holiday with Root, alone, and give him that quartz ring, and maybe they'll make a couple steps further, and-
"Well, no use crying over spilled camel milk," he told himself, stifling the oncoming panic attack. He rose, used prestidigitation to make himself presentable, and put on his best smile. It wasn’t the first time his life took a turn, it might not be the last. He briefly considered writing back home to ask his father for advice, but decided against driving the man into an early grave. Perhaps just a postcard would do.