Logs for October

[stickyflippers]

Who; Caelan and you!
What; Phone troubles, pillow forts, discussions on the weird goings on, and a seal in the tub
Where; Red building, and the docks.
When; End of September / Early October
Warnings; Mentions of nudity (Not descriptive, shape changing just doesn’t work with clothes), references to alcohol abuse (marked in thread with Nida), references to suicide (marked in thread with Nida)



What Do You Mean It’s Not Water Proof?

Caelan was experiencing some very obvious levels of confusion and frustration as he wandered up from the docks post swim that evening. His hair was still dripping and damp as he walked, eyes glued to the tell-phone that was looking rather... Less functional than it was meant to be. He hadn’t even bothered to button his shirt all the way, after the damn thing slipped out of his pockets and into the water when he was getting himself dressed and presentable by human standards.

At first, he’d only been annoyed because he’d had to stop what he was doing to fish it out of the water. Now he was doubly annoyed because the screen wasn’t lighting up. It was like the damn thing didn’t have any life in it...

Weird and very inconvenient if he had anything to say on the matter.

Which he was... At length, muttering under his breath and his accent growing a touch stronger than usual as he forgot himself. “The bleedin’ hell kind of joke is this? Really? Give the man who spends copious amounts of time near the water something that up and dies just because it gets a little wet. Can’t handle your drink at all, can yah? You finicky little box of nonsense.”

Speaking of a drink, he had a feeling he was going to need one very soon. Between that weird energy pulse a while back, the nightmares and now this? He was willing to admit he might need several.


A Fortress Fit for a Princess

Caelan wasn’t asleep when a mist slipped under his doorway, he’d come to expect at least one interruption a night since a few prior when something exploded somewhere and released a shockwave of mysterious energy. It had upset a whole lot of people (him included, for all he said he wasn’t bothered). Holly had become the most frequent guest, especially when the nightmares had begun.

Tonight he was ready though, and hoping to get the kid to talk a little more rather than the sullen insistence that she was completely fine and whatever other absurd excuses she came up with for her visit that night. Because honestly, she wasn’t the only one having nightmares, and he was starting to worry more about what they actually might have meant.

Hard to tell though if there were any connections or similarities if you weren’t talking.

Thus, tonight he was more than prepared for the visit. The living room space in his apartment had been entirely disrupted, cushions and pillows moved to the floor along with some of the chairs from the dining area, the sheets from his room and the pillows for good measure. All because he’d gotten it in his head that he was going to try one of those ‘Pillow Fort’ things that Holly had mentioned once or twice in one of her super-fact-filled-rambles.

When Holly materialized into a solid form again, she would be greeted by the sight of a very large, very chaotic looking fortress of pillows and blankets. If she ate food, there would have been all manner of sweets and snacks. Unfortunately, as happy as he was to make sure she could feed safely, he wasn’t confident in grabbing a random person off the street for her to snack on.

Someone would be bound to ask questions if they saw him lugging an unconscious body up and down the stairs... right?

So... No snacks, only a structure that was only slightly stable, but magnificent to behold (in his personal opinion).


Splish-splash

If there were any human creation that Caelan favoured over any other (aside from motor cars, they were fun) it was most decidedly the bathtub. A place to soak and relax at the end of a long day? A place where you could safely just splash around or doze off for a little nap without worrying about a predator?

It was brilliant. A private bath was practically a requirement when he was staying somewhere on a job. It wasn’t a replacement for the ocean by any means though, it did little to quiet the call in the back of his mind. It was, however, the nicest substitute on days when the call wasn’t loud, and he couldn’t be fussed with sneaking down to the shore.

Even the Lighthouse he’d purchased had a nice one installed, despite the fact that the ocean was just down the cliff side.

So after he’d finished a day busking in the market he hadn’t taken long to run a nice hot bath, grabbed his pelt, and slipped into the water like the delighted seal he was. It wasn’t as though he didn’t have the time, he wasn’t expecting any company for a while yet. Usually his visitors tended to show up slightly later.

Wildcard!
Have something you want the seal boy for in particular? Throw it at me! Also, if anyone wants something specific in a starter they should let me know. I can totally write one. <3

Comments

You Taking A Bath?

[skyward_eyes]

Usually his visitors DID tend to show up later, but Nida? Nida had found seafood curry at a specialty stall in the market. He'd been so excited he'd bought two portions, containers to put them in, and rushed off. He'd talked about the dish with Caelan before and had sworn to himself that if he ever ran into it, he'd share. Which was why he was there, slipping through Caelan's open window.

Such a nice friend, leaving that open for Nida. Still, the other man wasn't in, so Nida sighed and went toward the kitchen because he could at least put it in the cold box and reheat it later.

Or he frowned until he heard water shifting in the bathroom. Well, nothing to be done but to peak his head in.

"By-The-Way I found seafood curry! I brought you a b-"

Um... He can't see Caelan by the tub. Weird?

[stickyflippers]

Caelan honestly should have anticipated something like this happening, even if Nida’s window visits tended to be a little later. He probably could have even locked his window as he had his door for the short times he spent in the tub in his seal form. Then again, Caelan also tended to take silly risks sometimes, and it had been a long time since he had. So... He was probably due for one.

Plus, he might have been a tad concerned Nida might take a locked window to mean the man had changed his mind about him being welcome in the apartment.

So, careless or not, the window stayed unlocked.

He hadn’t even noticed someone walking across the apartment (though he’d be willing to admit that Nida was excellent at being sneaky), too wrapped up in enjoying the warm water and splashing a little as he got comfortable in the tub for a little nap.

Then he heard a very familiar voice and the selkie rather forgot himself. A seals head popping up out of the water curiously, neck stretching over the side as if he were going to greet his friend.

Then it hit him... Wait a minute. Can’t talk. I’m a seal. Shit.

Large, expressive eyes stared at Nida for a long moment before he pulled his neck back rather dramatically with a sound.

[skyward_eyes]

There's... a seal. In the tub. Nida just stands there, frozen for a moment. A seal.

That felt like magic. That felt like the same magic as Caelan.

"Oh Hyne damn you, you punk," Nida laughs, shaking his head. "This is your damn secret, the second magic. Oh you little ass. THAT is why you have water magic. Holy fuck. What ARE you? Other than cool?"

[stickyflippers]

At least Nida wasn’t shouting for all the world to hear as Holly had (not that he had a leg to stand on there, he’d yelled just as much), it was still mildly alarming though. So he continued to wait, blinking at Nida while he waited for the guy to process that there was a seal in the bathtub belonging to one ‘Caelan By-the-Way.’

Then the guy was laughing, which admittedly was nice to see considering it had become something of a personal goal to make the guy smile or laugh a little more after their initial meeting. Shifting and sliding a little in the tub he leaned forward, throwing his flippers over the side and hanging his head over the edge. Being called a little ass only getting him a very sarcastic sounding response as he stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry.

He is the pinnacle of maturity here, Nida.

Of course, if he was going to actually answer his friends questions... He was going to need to not be a seal, or at least less of a seal. So that meant shifting, which would either be fine or another whole layer of weird for Nida.

A moment later, there was no longer a seal but a half seal half Caelan figure hanging his arms over the side of the tub, one drawing up to rest his chin in his palm. Alright, it wasn’t precisely Caelan as Nida was used to seeing him, but he’d be damned if he was going to fuss about with putting on his gloves or applying all that glamour he usually had to hide his less human features. “You know, most people knock before they enter a lad’s bathroom.”

He was teasing, because the door had been partly open anyway. Gesturing at himself lightly, he let out a little dramatic sigh, “And I suppose with the cat outta the bag, I can tell you I’m a selkie, a sort of water fae.” Slapping the water with his hind flippers he grinned cheekily, “And yes, I suppose I am very ‘cool’ as you put it.”

Not Water Proof?

[areasontohope]

Yuki had been out on the docks that evening not sure what the hell was going on here. Between nightmares and teddy bears he was done with this place already. Despite that, he'd gone and applied for a job both where Jacob worked and at the tavern. He had no real life experience with either thing, but he figured he could try his hand at something. He needed money to be able to eat while he was in this weird place.

Sighing up at the sky, he tried to figure out which job would call him on his tell-phone but it had only been a day or so. Surely there were a lot of regular people there who would've applied before him so it was a shot in the dark. But the next thing Yuki knew, he heard someone ranting about..was it a phone? The accent the man had was something he'd never heard before and it made him look over though he didn't stare because it wasn't polite.

However, he knew a thing or two about phones so he politely coughed to get the man's attention and when he did, he shook his head. "If you put it in uncooked rice, it should soak up the excess water in a day or two so that it'll work correctly."

[stickyflippers]

Caelan was still pushing buttons, staring at the device sternly while he spoke to himself. As if a look might smarten the blasted thing up a bit, a hilarious idea considering Adelaide never took such an expression seriously. Even when in the form of an easily broken whisky glass, both her and the phone clearly knew him well enough to know he’d never go through with breaking them on purpose.

Then there was a cough from near by, what the heck? Head turning and tilting (not unlike a curious dog seal) he stopped and stared for a moment at the young man. At least the pause gave Yuki enough time to offer his very good, sensible advice over his little issue. “You got a cold, lad?” We’re his first words, because it had been what stopped his wandering rant.

No! Hold on! Wait a minute! He’d also said something about uncooked rice and making something work correctly? The phone? Glancing down at the phone and then back at Yuki he spoke up again. “So... Let me see if I got that right, you’re saying I shove this in some rice and it’ll stop being a useless little paperweight?”

[areasontohope]

There was a small shy sort of smile at the question because it didn't sound insincere at all. But he just shook his head with a small "No." for a reply. But then it seemed the man was listening to what was being said and that was definitely a good thing.

A quick laugh was the man's reply to the 'shove this in some rice' question but but he nodded. "At least it's something that worked back home. But it doesn't seem like the rules for it would be any different here than what worked back there." This part was true because Yuki heard of other kids having to deal with things like this and their conversations were overheard in the hallway.

Somehow he got the mental impression of the man in front of him literally shoving the phone into uncooked rice, but he didn't say anything regarding his thoughts. At least being in such an odd place, the silver haired man had been of some assistance.

[stickyflippers]

Listen, Yuki. That was exactly what he’d do. Well... After he went to the market and bought some rice, because he doesn’t have any. His cupboards are mostly bare considering, again, he doesn’t cook. There’s whisky, some snacks, and some freshly caught fish in his fridge for when he got hungry.

Caelan couldn’t say one way or another if this all worked the same as it would back in other worlds or not, “It’s possible, but I couldn’t say. Haven’t got anything like this where I’m from. I also get the distinct feeling the Aspects really know the inner workings of these things themselves. It all seemed like a slapdash decision on their part to give us all these tell-phone things.”

He might be griping a little, because the crystals were so much more convenient to him. Also more familiar, future tech is weird. Caelan shrugged a little though, offering a quick smile of thanks as he gets back on topic with the fix for his issue. “Well I’m willing to give it a try, it’d be mighty inconvenient if these things were so easily ruined.”

Tucking the waterlogged phone in his pocket, he offered a hand. “Don’t think I’ve seen you about before, what can I call yah?”

What Do You Mean It’s Not Water Proof?

[abreedapart]

For the most part Shalimar preferred being outside. Maybe it tied into her being a Feral or maybe it had more to do with her dislike of the shared housing. Bit of both more than likely. Most of her life had been spent with a very small and select group of people. Ferals were territorial by nature and she'd never been an exception to that. Made it difficult to feel comfortable in shared housing with a bunch of people she barely knew. Of course she could try to get to know them, but she was picky. Yeah, picky was definitely what she'd call it. Not afraid of getting hurt by new people. Definitely not that.

That was the thought process that lead her to spending most of her time exploring this place. Today had been the docks and the surrounding area. She hadn't expected to run into anyone, least of all someone she was somewhat familiar with. Then again she didn't have much in the way of expectations here. Most of her exploration amounted to getting familiar with scents and then ending up in dead ends. It all amounted to a frustrated Shalimar running into a frustrated looking Caelan who was muttering to himself.

"Your giving this place a lot of credit if you thought their shit would be water proof," she said with a tone that hinted that she might just be a bit amused at his mutterings.

[stickyflippers]

Caelan’s head snapped up at the familiar voice addressing him, he hadn’t seen Shalimar much since their discussion at the bar. She seemed to keep herself busy, which wasn’t surprising. He’d been doing much of the same himself after all, what else could you do in a situation like this? His scowl lessened slightly, though only slightly, he was still very frustrated. “Well considering the crystals we started with were, I find myself wondering why would they have switched to something so clearly inferior?”

Yes, he’s whining a bit...

Sorry, Shalimar.

“And they certainly never said anything about their flaws? How was I supposed to know they weren’t ‘water proof,’ we don’t have things like this where I come from.” He held up the phone, gesturing at it with a huff.

[abreedapart]

"They downgraded?" That was weird. "Maybe if we find the Aspects we can ask about that." At the very least she'd be curious to ask, but then again, what cat wasn't curious? An amused chuckle slipped her lips at his whining. Couldn't really blame him for being frustrated, but there was no denying it was a bit amusing.

"Might be a suggestion to make. Maybe give us a manual along with the welcome package," she said with a casual shrug. Honestly, she meant it. At least then everyone would be on an even page. Didn't seem like this place really wanted people on the same page though.

[stickyflippers]

“At least to me they did. The older method was more convenient even if it needed a little work.” Caelan responded, missing the crystal and its easy to wear accessories. He could have gone swimming with those, which would have come in handy for exploring with a group.

At the idea of finding the aspects to ask, he nodded with another huff. “Trust me, the minute I get an audience with one of them again I’ll be giving them a piece of my mind.” This is said as someone who hadn’t really calmed down enough to think about the fact that the aspects would probably want to know why it was such a big deal. He could just be more careful, considering he really wasn’t keen on telling anyone (let alone the people in charge) what he was or what he was accustomed to doing in his own world.

Tucking the ruined device in his pocket, he pulled his hair out of his face and finally wrung it out a bit. “They don’t even give new folk something for them? Damn, they at least gave people instructions for the crystal! Bloody careless that is.” Not that he could say much. He hadn’t really thought to check in on what the new care packages might have included since the switch over. Then again, most people he’d met seemed to have a good idea of what the phones were and how they worked. Holly had called him an old man (a geriatric to be exact) a couple of times already.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[mobprincess]

Holly Genovese did not scare easy; that was just a fact.

Until it wasn't. Until an earth-shaking death pulse of creepy mystery energy shook the city like a shitty $4 snow globe, and since she'd jumped on the nightmare band wagon. Bad dreams weren't anything new to her - most nights she got reminded how her family had looked that night, all lined up and bloody and staring at nothing.

She never slept well those nights, and these ones weren't much different. They had a different feel, kinda - the just felt bad, and even if she couldn't always remember the details, she'd wake up feeling...'off'. Which wasn't a feeling she wanted any more of, thank you. She wasn't even embarrassed about sneaking into Caelan's place anymore. As independent as she was, she wasn't used to being blocked off in a whole apartment to herself, she wasn't used to not having people all around there to protect her.

And, maybe worse than all that, she wasn't used to being so hungry. A few more people in the city had been picked off to stop her from literally starving, but she knew she wasn't well. And with the shit just about ready to hit the fan in the city at large, she was pretty ready to admit she needed help. Or support. Or maybe just some kinda semblance of control, which Caelan offered.

Plus, he had a couch, so. Here she was.

She wasn't feeling up to doing her usual misty trick, but luckily his door was open, so Holly let herself in and closed the door behind her with a click. Expecting him to be reading or about to play his violin or something, finding him admiring a....well;

"You made a pillow fort..?" Despite the gloominess stuck to her like gum, Holly had to smile at least a bit at the sight of it. "Ain't you a little old for this sorta stuff?"

/GRABBY HANDS

[stickyflippers]

The fact that Holly had actually used his door as doors were meant to be used was enough to get a raised brow as he turned to face it, half expecting to see someone else there considering he was expecting her usual tricks. Yep, she was definitely not at her finest if it had come to her using doors.

Yeah, he was getting far too accustomed to people who didn’t enter his apartment through normal means.

His expression shifted to a more normal, and definitely proud tone when she asked him about what he’d done. “I did, and a fine fortress it is. Don’t you think?” He gestured at it with a theatrical little wave of his arms as he turned back to face it. Ignore the side that was teetering precariously and the blanket that was starting to slip off one of the chairs that hadn’t been weighted down properly. He’s not an architect, he’s a thief Holly. He planned heists, not buildings.

The question of his age gets a very dramatic little huff, as though she’d offended him (she hadn’t, and she would now it by now). “Too old? I’ll have you know that I’m only...” A pause, a very seal like tilt of his head, and then a hum... “I’m only like... a hundred and something. Maybe two hundred at most.. That’s still practically a youth by my kind’s standards.” He flapped a hand at the fortress again, “Besides, everyone says us seal-folk are too fond of playing and childish antics. I’m just living up to the cliche so no one feels bad!”

[mobprincess]

It...could use a little work. But wasn't that half the beauty of blanket and pillow forts? They weren't supposed to be super neat and tidy, they were meant to be messy and cozy.

And it did look cozy. If a little structurally unsound.

"I do think, yeah- it looks great. But looks ain't everythin', pretty boy. If I crawl in there and it falls on me, then I'm gonna hafta sue."

Because having blankets and sheets fall on her would truly be a life or death situation. Fuck the mystery death pulse and the creatures in the cemetary - this would be her undoing. As she dropped down to sit down and kick off her shoes, she carried on chattering; not with her usual fervour, but effort was being made regardless.

"You know what happens if you get buried alive in a collapsed buildin'? If y'don't die right away, like if y'get pinned under a whole metric shitload'a cement and shit, and then they get you out, you get this thing called 'compartment syndrome'. Sucks, bro."

Said like a person who has...definitely never suffered from said issue. Crawling inside the fort, after some interior appraisal, she stuck her head back out. "How much is this on the market for? I got some gum I can trade you for it."

[stickyflippers]

“I’ll be sure to give you the number of my lawyer then, they’re quite good I’ll have you know.” And nonexistent, as if anyone had ever pinned him down long enough to lay charges against him. Still, he was quite pleased to hear that she at least approved of how it looked, he’d never built a pillow fort before!

Of course, Holly’s explanation about what happened when a building fell on you was appropriate horrific and sounded just about on par with what he would expect as a follow up topic as she explored the fort to make sure it was up to her high standards. He dropped into a crouch, balancing on the balls of his feet as he waited for a full report a moment or two later. “Lucky for me, most of my jobs don’t take place inside buildings that are bound to collapse on me.” Rich humans built such nice homes...

“Sounds like it would ‘suck’ a lot though, but I assure you that if this collapses I’ll make sure you get out alright. Would be terribly improper for a gentleman thief to let a partner get crushed.” He added with a mock sincere tone, before he moved forward to sit next to the opening. “You know, the seller was hoping it would go for a couple of chocolate biscuits, but I’m thinking they might let you have it for a stick of gum. Mainly because they’ve never had one, and they expect it’s a worthy trade.”

Not Water Proof? (~ Let me know if this is okay)

[tapestryoftime]

The visions she'd seen were unclear. This wasn't unusual but after seeing a series of bears in her nightmares, Syeira was more focused on the animals that crossed her vision. It was an animal... of sorts. It was too fuzzy for her to make out but she knew that it was somewhere around the water.

A wet animal.

Syeira was walking along the docks when she heard the familiar grumbling of her inhuman friend. She was still wearing her usual attire though there was a makeshift cloak wrapped around her shoulders. When she got closer, it was clear that this was a throw blanket that she was using as a cowl like cloak.

"Caelan? What are you doing here?" She walked up to him and was staring at his hair. "Why are you wet? It's cold. Isn't it?" Her brow furrowed before she turned back to see something splashing in the water but... nothing was there.

It’s perfect /o/!

[stickyflippers]

Caelan was still grumbling when she walked up to him, staring at his phone somewhat distractedly. “What? Oh, Syeira!” He looked up from the waterlogged device, pushing his sopping hair back a bit to get a better look at the woman. His frustrated expression at least lessened slightly for a moment. She wasn’t the issue here... His phone was.

So the selkie was quick to answer her questions, shaking his phone for emphasis. “I could ask you the same thing, but I was out for a stroll. Dropped this stupid thing off the side of the docks, had to go in after it!” He huffed, “Did you know these things aren’t waterproof? It’s not bloody working now!” This is all the honest truth, just with some details omitted.

Was it cold? Yeah, now that attention had been drawn to it, he supposed that it was. His seal form had lots of blubber to make up for it, but his human form lost a lot of that. So it was a bit chilly, and it prompted him to lower the phone so he could finally wring his hair out a bit and work on buttoning his shirt. “I guess it is a wee bit chilly, now that you mention it. Seasons must be shifting... Have to start remembering my coat when I go out at night.”

Caelan paused, brow raising slightly when she turned to look back at the water, “See something, Syeira?” How odd...

Yay! \o/

[tapestryoftime]

"Huh?" She turned back towards him, as if forgetting that he was standing there. "Oh. Yes. You wanted." She reached for his phone and gently took it apart, drying each piece before putting it back together again. "There. Just wait for it to dry fully and it should work again. If not, you might need to ask the Aspects for another."

Her head turned back towards the water and she heard a question that Caelan didn't put into words.

"Have you seen any animals in the water? I thought I saw something. It was bigger than a fish. A lot bigger but I think it's gray. I'm not sure. It looked... wet."

Splish-Splash

[brotherofagod]

Jacob didn't enjoy bothering people but he also didn't want to be alone. It was an awkward balance and one that left an uncomfortable gnawing guilt in his stomach. Even so, he was here, standing outside of his friends place hoping to convince Caelan to play his violin.

"This is stupid." He mumbled to himself before knocking on the door. There was a brief pause as he listened before checking to see if the door was unlocked. Jacob wasn't the type to just walk into someone's home but Caelan made it seem like there was an open invitation, so he was feeling a little more bold than normal.

"Hello?" He called out. "Caelan? You home?"

[stickyflippers]

Caelan had thought he’d locked his front door, really he did... But sometimes thinking you did something and doing it? Two very different things... So in his rush to relax after a long day busking at the markets, he didn’t get around to actually locking it. Slipped the silly seal’s mind entirely!

So when Jacob entered, there was no answer. At least not a verbal one...

No, instead the man would hear some splashing noises coming from the bathroom. The entrance was open as the light inside filtered through the doorframe. If Jacob investigated further, he would find a very interesting sight. In the bathroom, in the tub to be exact, was a large grey harbour seal looking quite content and pleased with itself. It was splashing around, trying to get comfortable in the steamy hot water.

[brotherofagod]

The door swung open, revealing an empty apartment.

Jacob frowned. He was ready to turn and go home when he heard the splashing in the bathroom. That would explain why Caelan didn't answer the door. The thought of his friend in the bath made him blush but he fought it down. He'd just knock on the door and let Caelan know that he was here. Maybe he'd be allowed to wait. It was better than going back to his room.

So he walked towards the bathroom, only to find the door open and a seal splashing around in the water. "What?" His expression completely dropped before he started to laugh. "Leave it to Caelan to have a pet seal."

"Hey there little guy." He stepped forward, careful not to spook the create. "Whoa. Not so little." Jacob laughed. "Aren't you pretty. Though I don't think this bathtub is big enough. We should get you to the ocean where you can be free to swim around as much as you'd like. I bet if we ask Caelan he'd get you there. He's a good guy."

Jacob loved animals. It didn't matter that seal's were wildly dangerous creatures. At the moment, this one was stuck in a bathtub, so he hoped that it'd be able to sense his good will.

After the Advisor, Before the Bear

[skyward_eyes]

If there was anyone to go to when Nida was excited with something changing in his life, it was the 'family' he had found here in Caelan. He managed to get a jug of what the two of them had decided was the best spiced cider, and climbed in through the window early one evening, waiting.

Waiting.

"Dammit Caelan get in so we can fucking GOSSIP!"

He’s a tardy little seal man, I swear

[stickyflippers]

See, the problem was... Caelan’s schedule was incredibly varied. Some night he was home early and either splashing about in the tub or fussing with some new composition, other nights he’d linger around the tavern or the markets before heading down to the docks for his necessary dip in the ocean. Then there were nights he was either playing the role of elder brother to a certain vampire that really needed one right now, or being a pest around the Gullwings office when Jagger worked late.

So, unfortunately for Nida, he was waiting for a little while. Couldn’t even call him on the tell-phone, it was still a useless paperweight on his kitchen counter from dropping it off the side of the docks.

So the waiting went on, especially since it was one of his ocean nights. It wasn’t until quite late that he traipsed into the apartment, fussing a little with his Inverness coat’s fastenings as he entered. He almost missed Nida entirely, before he turned to see the guy waiting.

“Nida? You looking for something, lad? Afraid you don’t get a peak at anything tonight, I’m fresh out of the sea instead of the bath.” He joked, tossing the coat over the back of a kitchen chair. “Really though, what can I do for you this fine evening?” You know, like there hadn’t been a report of bears or anything. And don’t mind the pile of blankets on chairs, waiting to turn into another pillow-fort at a moment’s notice.

[skyward_eyes]

"I don't need a peek at you, I have someone who will let me do far more than look over," Nida said with a grin as he tapped his jug of spiced cider. "You're going to sit down and listen because I need someone to talk to about this!"

He doesn't care about the pillows, he's never made a blanket fort, he doesn't even know what they are. Just sit and talk with him.