Scene Archives

drops the basket filled with food at the top of the hill, but well outside the hedge of bushes. “Do you want to eat first or shoot first?” She shifts from foot to foot, clearly restless.

: “I could, basically, always eat. And you seem ready to roll. So.”

flicks his wrist, producing the revolver he was using the other day. Tosses it to the ground. Flicks his wrist, produces a double barrel shotgun. With a wand stuck in on barrel? He non-nonchalantly pulls that out, tosses it behind him as it vanishes back into his inventory, before dropping the gun next to the revolver. Then flicks his hand a third time, this time producing a massive rifle, which strange clear tubing wraping itself around the barrel and gun, through which you can ocassionally see a dull blue liquid pulsate through. He places this one on the ground, more gently.

: “Alright so the first rule about guns, is never do that because they could misfire and hit someone when dropped.”

: “The second rule is to never point one at anything you don’t potentially want to kill. Y’know, normal loaded crossbow rules. Since guns are almost always loaded.”

: “Could you just kill someone with a gun? I mean, with the Rite and all?” She crouches down, peering at the pile of guns, and then looks up at him. “Your other lives. The Rite wasn’t a thing there at all, was it?”

: “Well, no, guns have shit power in the world in general. And then the Rite would… probably intervene? I don’t know, ‘died in a tragic misfire accident after a gun was dropped near them’ seems like a way to go so dumb the rite would intervene.” A pause.

: “…I don’t know if I’d say at all, there’s usually some kind of… ceremony to the violence, I suppose, but it’s certainly far more pronounced and deliberate here. Off world you could just walk up and slug someone in the jaw without any warning and a force of nature wouldn’t stop you, at least.”

: “Hmm. Sounds simple,” she says, with a bit of longing. “Okay, the massive one is probably not going to be my thing, but explain it first.”

: “Okay so there’s like, ROUGHLY, four kinds of guns. Got your handguns. Got your shotguns. Got your machineguns. And then got your Sniper Rifles. We’re missing the third type, since Jorule was never anyone that fought with one before. The Big one is… special, even as far as weird shit goes. It was designed as much for utilizing magic was it was shooting physical rounds. So you might be wondering what the point of something this fucking big is. And the answer is, generally, that the longer, larger barrel means you can shoot the bullets much, much further than the other ones can, and often with better accuracy to boot.”

: “This is probably kind of a non-factor what with the Rite and all given how much a pain in the ass lugging it around would be.”

: “But! Assuming the Rite didn’t exist, you could theoretically, with training, shoot someone on the far end of the island aaaaall the way from the top of one of the cloudset towers.”

: “But with the Rite I think it’d mostly be unwieldy and slow you down.”

nods. “I agree.” She pauses. “Will you show me how it works anyway?”

nods, kneeling down to pick it up. He stays kneeling as he lift the stock up to rest on his shoulder, holding up the body of the gun just below the barrel with his other hand. He takes a few breaths, each deeper and slow than the last, before eventually closing one eye. Holds it for a few moments, then pulls the trigger after letting his breath out. There’s loud crack from the barrel, then a second later a loud thunk from one of the larger trees growing near shore level as opposed to on the hill.

lets out a low, impressed whistle. “We’ll have to let Luĉja know there’s a tree downed. They might want to carve something from it.”

: “…Still feels kind of wrong using that name before they’ve even told us they remember it, but.” He nods, before gently setting the massive gun down.

: “Hm.” She looks up at the sky, almost expecting to see the Centrelight, but seeing only the ever-moving clouds of Samudra instead. “You have a point I suppose, but also it feels almost worse to keep calling them by a name that isn’t theirs when we know their true one.”

: “I know I’d be bothered if people had continued to call me Daina, though I suppose everyone was present for that reveal.”

: “Yeah. Well, to me at least it’d be more like… Calling you Salme instead of Daina day two, but. Well, neither here nor there, I can’t imagine it’ll bother them either way, really.”

: “Okay, so stepping down from sniper rifles you have… well, practically speaking probably non-sniper rifles, but they’re mostly the same and just less extreme and easier to wield when you can see your opponent. But I said four, not five, anyway, so SKIP.”

laughs.

reaches over and grabs the shotgun before standing up.

: “Which would be… machine guns! Which we don’t have an example for. But basically they’re designed for rapid fire sprays of bullets and a minimal concern for accuracy, since who needs finesse when you can shoot ten plus bullets per second.”

: “High cost, fairly deadly, but also a lot of potential for collateral, especially if you’re not used to the kick back. Hard to recommend to anyone with a conscious, really.”

nods. “Is that why … Jorule, or you, or the Spark, have never used one?”

: “Also probably the kind we’re the least likely to see in Beast, anyway.”

: “Hmm… I guess given that I described them that way instead of any other way… probably.”

nods again. “Well, while I can appreciate the kind of power the sniper rifle had, I can’t imagine indiscriminate carnage would be all that useful during a Rite.”

: “Yeah. Fairly at odds with it, really.”

: “Which brings us to this, the humble shotgun.” Aurelius lifts it up, spins it in his hand once, then aims at a large nearby tree. “So, shotguns. They’re also a kind of Don’t-Need-To-Aim-As-Much option, because of the way their bullet work make them cover a lot more space than the others do. Which also means that if you’re up close to something and have good aim, they can pack a hell of a punch. They don’t hold a lot of ammo at once though, so they have to reload fairly often.” He then shifts his body to the side to align with the gun, holding it with both hands before pulling the trigger once, and taking a large chunk of bark out of the tree.

: “Hm. Requires both hands though, doesn’t it?”

: “TECHNICALLY, if you are Cool and Strong enough, no, but practically speaking unless you want to dislocate your shoulder from the kickback, yeah.”

laughs a little. “Can I try? I’m sure the kickback will be … a lot, for me, but I’m curious.”

nods once, before handing it over.

had watched him carefully, so she also shifts to the side to align with the gun, resting the butt of it against her shoulder. She keeps her finger far away from the trigger, because she was listening and isn’t a complete idiot. “Is this about right?”

: “Yeah, that looks fine.”

aims for the same tree and fires a shot. The shot goes wide, but not so wide it doesn’t clip a respectable chunk from the tree. The butt off it slams into her shoulder, and she lets out a hiss. “Yeah. No,” she says, pointing the muzzle of the gun at the ground before offering it back to Aurelius.

: “You could also try shooting from lower down, though that’ll definitely be less accurate and probably needs more familiarity with the kick.” He smile slightly while taking it back and disappearing it, then taps the rifle with his foot and vanishes it as well. Then leans down to scoop up the revolver. “This one you’ve seen before, of course. But it’s a fairly standard handgun. Light weight, decent ammo capacity, easy to use in close quarters. Not a lot of downsides, but they won’t do as much damage as the other types, and aiming can be a bit difficult.”

: “Now, if you’re cool, you can just kinda do whatever and it’ll work,” He tilts his head to one side before extending his arm with the gun fully, pulls the trigger, and hits the same tree without much effort. “However this is actually deeply impractical, and secretly you actually wanna use both hands with any type of gun.” He turns to face the tree correct, then uses his off hand to hold the bottom of the stock before raising it up enough to line the sights up with his eyes. “These little notches on the top of the barrel are sights, by the by, and they help you aim when using them correctly.” Another shot. “They still have a surprising amount of kick for being so small, so I’d recommend using both hands at first. Though unlike the shotgun, one handed firing is a bit more practical, as you saw with the other fighting style that used this and the knife.”

nods. “This is the one I thought would work best for me anyway.” She pauses before asking to try the gun. “You were different, when we fought. Still yourself, but not entirely yourself. Was that … whoever you were channeling?”

tilts his head to the side, thinking.

: “Oh, yeah. I guess I was focusing pretty intently on her memories and sort of… acting a bit more like her, while going through her motions.”

: “Yeah. You actually used your tail and your ears.” She pauses, and then before she can think better of it, asks, “Do you remember her name?”

: “Makes sense, she was a fox type dri…metahuman, too.” A pause. “Yeah, her name was Elizabeth.”

: “Are those becoming clearer? The other lives?” She doesn’t mean to frown, but she finds herself frowning.

: “Hmm… not really? It takes a fair bit of focusing on it, and even then it’s mostly surface stuff. Name, lived on a small island and ran a salvaging company. Close with her maid. Some kind of regrets about something…? Duno. The motions, the muscle memory and reflexes though? Those are easier to tap into.”

: “I wondered … hm. No. Here probably isn’t the time. May I try the handgun?”

hands it over. “You sure?”

: “Depends. How’s your eidesis, Aury?”

: “Better than yours.”

tests the weight of the gun in hand. It feels comfortable—easy, though she’d probably want something smaller. She takes careful aim, off hand on the bottom of the stock, lining the sights up. She laughs without a lot of humor. “Don’t know if it counts as better if you’re dissociating half the time.” She fires, and it does go wide, and the recoil is a bit stronger than she was expecting, but she nods and adjusts.

: “Compartmentalization is a LARGE part of good Eidesis, are you kidding?” He nods at her shot.

laughs. “Well maybe my eidesis the fucking best because I feel all my emotions and keep it together anyway.” She then realizes exactly what she just claimed and says, “Okay. Well. Mostly. But okay, fine. You’re the champion of eidesis.” She fires again, aiming for the already mauled tree. Still wide, but it hits the edge, chipping off more bark. She’s ready for the recoil, so it doesn’t move her. She nods to herself, thinking. “But I was talking with your bird about what makes a person a person. About where you draw the line. And right now you two are different, but. Do you ever think, as time goes on and you gain more of his memories that … that difference might disappear?” A third shot, still not perfect, but close to where she was aiming. She lowers the gun. “How often do you have to reload this thing?”

: “Hard to imagine now, at least. Also that one has six shots.”

: “Now?” She hands him the gun to reload, because that’s been six.

takes it back, then pops open the chamber before snapping his fingers and loading six more rounds in. Closes the chamber again, before handing it back.

: “Thank you.” She aims again, a little bit worse than her last shot as she finds her footing again, but the second shot goes almost exactly where she wants it to. “By ‘hard to imagine now’ do you mean as opposed to in the past, or—“ the third shot goes really wide, and she lowers the the muzzle to the ground. “Worrying about everything all the time is really annoying, Aurelius,” she says, looking at him a little helplessly. Like he’s going to be of any use whatsoever here.

reaches up and places a hand on top of her head. “If anything, it feels like we’re getting more distinct as time goes on, doesn’t it?”

: “Yes. Also the more I interact with both of you. But then I also notice similarities that I hadn’t before.” She laughs. “Your library commentary is certainly more useful than his.”

: “Messing with you in person is much more fun than doing it slowly over text.”

laughs. “Oh yeah? Is it the annoying little sister energy that just makes you want to bully me?” She raises the gun again, aiming for a knothole in a new tree. Hits it, but it was, granted, a very large knothole, spanning most of the trunk. She shoots a fifth time in the same area and hits about the same place.

: “Probably closer to the primal instinct that makes boy tease girls they like really.”

blushes at that, because of course. “Unfair.” She aims for her final shot, and is just shy of her target. She nods. “Okay. Something like this. Maybe even lighter. I’m guessing Elizabeth was taller than I was. The kickback is fine though, for what I need. Is that something we can find on the Beast?”

: “Hm… in my head she was fairly short, though I suppose she was comparing herself primarily to an elf, and you’re also pretty short so…”

: “But yeah, we should be able to find a light handgun there. Beast firearm development isn’t as advanced as off world was anyway.”

: “An … you know, I doubt ‘elf’ is a necessary bird term for me to know.” She hands the gun back to him, hopping up onto her tiptoes to kiss his cheek briefly. “Thank you, kulta.”

nods, vanishing the gun as it returns to him. “Tall person with long ears, not that weird.”

: “Oh. So. Like Wolf?” she wanders over to the picnic basket, pulling out a bowl of rice with salmon on top. Samudran technology sure is impressive, keeping all this cold and fresh

: “…Kind of, though less, uh, wolf-y.”

plops himself down on the ground next to her.

: “Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense.” The picnic basket does not contain burgers, alas, but it does contain many delicious Samudran footstuffs, provided generously from the kitchen at Cloudset. “You know, Ksenija said I could name the island. And I want to, but I have no idea what to name it. Don’t suppose you have any ideas?”

: “Oh, Goddess no, don’t ask me that. I hate naming places.”

laughs. “Okay, okay, fine. But. Opinion: our language, or the language I keep … reaching for words for you and Awa in? I keep thinking it should be the first, but then I remember the creatures we fought here, and that they were named in that language too, and perhaps … the best way to honor how it came into being is with a name that speaks to their existence.”

tosses some rice into his mouth and chews thoughtfully. “Probably not a terrible idea, and it has a strong meaning for you, if nothing else.”

: “I’m just concerned that it will become unwieldy for the people who actually have to keep using the name, but I guess I could present Ksenija with multiple options.” She takes a bite of salmon, savoring it, before looking at him. “Have you thought any more about who you, Aurelius, might want to be?”

: “I mean you’re talking about a plane on which we finally heard enough worlds in a long dead ancient language that you started compiling them so….” He shrugs.

: “The kind of person and finishes weird quests set before them…?”

: “Sure, but aside from that.” She flicks a grain of rice at his ear. “It’s like—I don’t know, we talked about you farming chickens, what, a couple days ago? Possibly being a bard? It’s like you just accept whatever you’re presented with and I’m worried—“ she makes a frustrated noise. “I guess I’m worried that you aren’t happy. That you’re just. Letting things happen to you. And I know I keep bothering you about this and it obviously isn’t helping.”

flops backwards on the ground. “Light, I’m so annoying.”

: “Why do you assume that that me being able to just go with whatever’s happening means I’m unhappy?” He flicks a grain of rice at Salme’s forehead.

: “Have you really known zero people in your live with any chill?”

: “I’ve known people with my life with chill. I haven’t known people that don’t seem to ever want anything at all even a little bit. You know. It’s all about balance. Pellucid, burning, and flourishing together. Being both tenebrous and radiant. Even Jorule at least seems to want to be a nosy weirdo, which, relatable, but nevertheless.” She plucks the grain of rice off her forehead and flicks it back at him.

: “Okay,” Aurelius pokes her in the forehead this time, before tossing some fish into his mouth. “So then why brush it off when I say I wanna save the world, as if that’s not some large worthwhile goal?”

: “Because sometimes it seems like you only want to do that because you were set on this path? Because the story is about saving the world, so you’re going to do that?”

: “And,” she adds quickly, “that still matters, obviously. It really … doesn’t matter why someone wants to save the world as long as it gets saved. But in terms of your goals and … dreams, I guess.”

: “Did you never consider… that one part of me grew up hearing tales of legendary hunters and the insane things the Queen could do and went, ‘damn, one day, I wanna be one of those heroes too…!’?”

sits up and looks at him more seriously. “I try not to make assumptions about what you are or aren’t thinking, Aury, because I’m often wrong and want you to tell me.” She considers him. “You don’t talk about that part of yourself that often. I’ve never been sure how much of it you remember, or how much of it you still identify with.”

: “Mm… that’s fair, I suppose.”

: “I don’t know, bits and pieces come and go. It’s just one memory in a sea full of them, even if it’s mostly the same body.”

draws her legs up to her chest. “That’s sort of why I worry, in a way. I trust you. I trust that you want to protect us, I trust that you want to save the world. I trust that you care for me. But I just …” she shakes her head and looks at him. “I don’t want you to get swept away by the waves or—something. That metaphor got away from me.”

: “I certainly don’t plan on going anywhere, even after we’re done.”

: “Will we … have a choice? Your bird keeps talking about … Sparks, and how he’s the … core of yours? Will I not see you after this? Will it be like … Elizabeth? Just an echo?” She frowns. “And then the other thing I keep thinking about. He implies you’ve lived multiple lives and that—certain others have too. But some of us haven’t, I don’t think. Will I persist? Can I? Am I … newly-made, then, in a way you aren’t?”

shoves the rest of the rice in his bowl into his mouth, then plops down on the ground on his back next to Salme.

: “Duno, probably depends.”

: “Ah. Well. I mean. I suppose it doesn’t really, actually matter, considering less than a month ago I was fairly certain I was simply going to die young.” She looks down at him. “What does it depend on?” She asks, because she literally cannot help herself.

: “Well, what you mean by ‘persist’, for one.”

: “But I think the answer’s probably ‘yes’, in any case. So, depends on what you want, if I had to say.”

: “And… as far as I can tell… he’s familiar with Awa’s Spark… but none of the others? Being new to him doesn’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think. If they’ve travelling between different worlds, they’d naturally have to find new people on occasion, yeah?”

nods thoughtfully. “What do you mean it depends on what I want?”

: “Mm…”

: “You remember how when we talked about this before, you said that stories were important, even if they don’t continue on forever, right?”

: “There’s nothing wrong with just… deciding to stay on the world you were born into. Being content with what you know, what you lived with, what you helped build up and protect. But there’s also nothing word with deciding you’re a weirdo, and you’re going to open your third eye and see all sorts of things that might not even be real, and join up with the Caravan to have wacky adventures traveling between unknown worlds as the mood strikes you.”

: “And, also, we’re not even in Act 2 yet so it seems a bit premature to start wondering about what comes after the end, but that’s just me.”

: “Yes, well, I can’t not wonder about these things. But I’ll probably want to go with you and Awa. In whatever form that takes.” She flops down next to him. “Assuming Awa doesn’t turn into a raging God-Beast.”

: “Naw, he probably destroyed the world on accident, not on purpose.”

: “You think Awoken destroyed the world?”

: “Was there at the end of it and probably involved in some way, if I had to bet.”

: “That makes him hundreds of thousands of millions of years old, Aury.”

: “With dementia, yeah.”

laughs.

: “…Was thinking more Valais, honestly, but. I don’t know. There’s clearly something weird and fucked up going on with his backstory.”

: “I mean. Yes? He knows where the True Sun is. He’s always known, apparently. His memories and fears are filled with a million grasping hands. He does the impossible in a way that … not even you do.”

: “I don’t think he’d destroy the world on purpose. Not unless he truly thought the world had to be destroyed, and I can’t imagine … what would have to be true for him to think that. I’m guessing we probably won’t know until we get to Valaïs, which will take ages, I think.”

: “‘not even I do’, psh.” Rolls his head over to look at her. “Right, not on purpose, that part’s going to being important, I can feel it.”

: “Everything about him drips with regret, even though he tries very hard to pretend otherwise.”

: “Do you really think so?” She reaches down to card her fingers through his hair, mindful of his ears. “I thought he simply fled the easy path. The kind that would call him home and save him from his great destiny.”

: “The tattered cloths, the old flowers, the fact that he adamantly refuses to actually disregard the past and clings to to any scraps he had more fiercely than anyone else…? He positively reeks of tragedy, from where I’m sitting.”

: “And yet the fact he fears remembering in a way he doesn’t fear anything else,” she adds, thoughtfully. “It doesn’t actually matter, I don’t think. What he did or might have done. At least not to me. Though it might matter to him, when he finds out.”

: “At least we know he’s probably not the one eating Almachadta?”

: “Yeah, I don’t think he can unhing his jaw that far.”

: “…Eating Almachadta?”

: “Oh. Did you not see in the folio? When speaking with Bahamut, it described, at the end of everything, the fire, and then a sound, like something biting in to a ripe fruit. Wolf thought it might imply something is—farming the planes, for a lack of better term. And it makes a kind of sense, I think, considering at the end it’s not about hunger but rather about … deliciousness?” She frowns in distaste talking about it.

: “Right.”

: “No thoughts on that one?” she asks wryly

: “Hmm… Nope. Scales a bit big. Maybe brings to mind certain world ending wolves or snakes but… yeah. Not sure what I’d do with ‘some kindlike being is growing planes to eat them’.”

: “Well, the Duelist’s Mask thinks something ate the stars that used to exist where the Empty Space in the Sky is, so.” She shrugs.

lets out a forceful sigh. “Though, if my aggressively worrying at you was going to yield any fruitful information we’d have solved this mystery long ago.” She flops down next to him.

does not point out that that’s the six time she’s flopped down, somehow, despite laying down first. “Very true. But it helps to vent from time to time, I suppose? Seeing as how we have no Swifts here to continuously push us towards our next goal.”

resists the urge to sit up, just to flop down even more aggressively. “I guess.”

: “Do you think you could ride a Kushtaka or are they too small?”

: “That feels more like a Wolf question than a me question…”

: “But very much too small.”

: “Why is that a Wolf question? You think he does a lot of Kushtaka riding?”

: “I. Think. It could be in the cards.”

laughs. And then laughs a bit harder.

: “So. Question. I have a theory that Wolf kind of reminds you of Jorule, who is kind of a father figure, and thus your authority issues. Does that hold up, or am I full of shit?”

blinks slowly.

: “Can’t imagine either of them ever wanting you to hear you say that.”

: “Also like.”

: “Legitimately, you cannot tell me you don’t realize you seem to start interrogating people after a while.”

blinks. “Oh. I thought I was making conversation? But, er, I guess I see your point.”

laughs.

: “I can be quiet? Or we can leave?”

: “It’s just so bluntly pointed…!”

: “I was mostly just trying to make you laugh by comparing Jorule and Wolf,” she confesses.

: “Unfortunately for you I gave up trying to have any finesse when speaking with you one entire plane ago.”

: “Well, mission accomplished there.”

bumps his head against Salme’s.

: “You didn’t laugh at my comment, you laughed at me, which I think counts as mission not accomplished,” though she doesn’t sound very upset about it.

: “Close enough.”

bumps her head against his. “Unfair that you’re smart and handsome and talented and good at fighting and funnier than me. You’ve gotta leave me something here.”

: “You have nicer handwriting…?”

looks at him, suddenly, like she’s older than the oldest noöplankton. “Thank you, Aurelius, Second of his Name,” she says.

: “Your welcome, Salme.”

lets out an exasperated huff. “I’m truly blessed you put up with me. Thank the Light and various Goddesses and whatnot.” She rests her forehead against his again. “Could I convince you to take a nap with me here?”

: “Could you imagine if i decided to randomly start being assertive here and now and said ‘no’?”

: “…But you can, of course.”

: “I mean if you said ‘no’ I’d respect it because I’m not an asshole?” She pokes him in the side.

pokes back.

: “Sure, sure.”

: “No. You don’t understand. I wouldn’t—“ she presses her lips together, and then sits up, looking down at him. “You know, Jorule said something that bothered me a little. And I wasn’t going to bring it up with you because he didn’t actually say it, just said he thought about saying it, and it wasn’t true anyway, but. It was about how, if we ever got into another nasty fight, he was going to say that … you weren’t actually real, that he was humoring me the whole time, that he was just. Acting at being you. And I tried to explain how fucked up that would have been, but. I’m not sure either of you get it? Like that, obviously, not true. But if it was, if Jorule had thrown that at me it would be really awful. Feelings for you aside, the idea that I’ve been sleeping with … wasn’t the person I thought he was, someone who was explicitly not interested in me—ugh, that isn’t important, but it’s the same thing. I trust you to say no when you need to. You have to know I’d cut off my own arm before I—“ she sighs. “I know I’m overreacting, but it really matters to me.”

just stares at her for a few moments, bewildered.

: “Yeah that. Wasn’t. … Even. … Remotely about any of that, just. ‘wow this would be a silly place to decide to not go with the flow, huh?’ … Eesh. I don’t. Hm.”

: “I think I have severely underestimating the degree to which you worry about things, perhaps.”

is halfway to pressing her hands to her face in despair, and so she just ends up laughing at her hands. “How have you managed to underestimate that?”

reaches up to wrap his arms around Salme and pull her down to his chest. “Much lower baseline expectations I suppose.”

lets him, and immediately untenses. “Again. The … joking about it. Like I didn’t give you a choice. It’s fine, most of the time. When it’s clear that it’s a joke. But sometimes it hits a little unpleasantly. You know I would never …?”

: “Yes, I know. And I had certainly never intended to imply otherwise.”

: “Oh Light, I fucked that one up. You’re using the serious register on me.”

: “…Well… after that torrent of words it’s hard to imagine a flippant response would have been terribly reassuring?”

: “It was a torrent of words, wasn’t it?” She groans. “I’m so sorry. I. Could have been more normal there. This,” and she runs his hand over his chest, “just matters to me so much. I keep trying not to fuck things up and. Ugh.” She buries her face in his chest this time, because it’s easier than trying to bury her face in her hands.

gives her a squeeze, before gently patting her back. “I don’t think normal is a word anyone would ever use to describe you, in any context, Salme.”

snorts. “That is at least indisputably true.”

: “You’re a wonderfully unique person, try as you might not to be, don’t think there’s any stopping that at this point.”

: “‘Wonderfully unique’ is what you say about someone who doesn’t have any otherwise redeeming traits,” she says dryly.

: “And, very seriously, if anything I’ve ever said seemed to imply you were forcing me to do something… it was probably a misunderstanding on some level.”

shakes her head. “I had just been. Ruminating. About these sorts of things. You’re plenty clear. Well, about these sorts of things, I think.”

yawns, and snuggles in closer. “At this point, though,” she yawns again, “we’re taking a nap here or you’re carrying me back to Cloudset.”

: “You do seem like you could use a nap, and I am perfectly happy to stay here with you.”

nods, and makes a sound that … might be words, but mostly comes out in a tuneless hum.

shakes his head slightly, before running a hand through her hair.