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[icasm]

crystal ⚔ action ⚔ correspondence

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[apocalypsegrown]

I've not seen the non-red version.

[ She's been here hardly a blink after all, despite how busy she's been. Sylvie huddles up a bit more in her cloak as she jogs down the steps to the dock, just barely catching the ferry. She crosses despite the gap between the boat and the dock or the dockmaster's shouts, slipping slightly as she lands on the deck and hurries into the group of people and into the more sheltered part of the boat. She tucks herself into a corner, knees up inside the heavy fabric and nose buried in the high collar as she fiddles with the stone to speak into it again. ]

I'm on board.

[icasm]

One of the native mages could probably tell you more about it than I could. I haven't exactly asked around about it.

[ There's not much Loki can discern from the series of sounds that he picks up of Sylvie making her way to the ferry but he does let go of a breath he hadn't fully realized he was holding when she says she's on board. ]

Good. Great, really.

Other than sore, how are you?

[apocalypsegrown]

Fine.

[ Its said with more seriousness, a soft inhale through the nose. ]

How’s your girlfriend?

[icasm]

[ He's about to ask after that, and then Sylvie's question hits him first.

He'll have complicated feelings about her calling Alexandrie his girlfriend... later. ]

Recovering. I'm told it's going well.

[apocalypsegrown]

[ There’s a pause —because he made no attempt at denying it, and it makes her a little sick to her stomach despite the fact that her mind insists she's come to terms with it— and then a little more quietly: ]

You sure you won't be missed at her bedside?

[icasm]

We have a schedule.

[ Or, they did. Three nights with Loki, three with Byerly, one alone. On the days that would have been his, he goes to visit. Sometimes on the other days as well. Mostly he tries not to be in the way. ]

I can only do so much.

[apocalypsegrown]

Ooh a schedule. Mmm.

[ That doesn’t sound strange at all. For as concerned as he was she had thought he’d be more involved; but perhaps she wasn’t as badly injured as it had seemed in that moment. ]

Well as long as I’m not keeping you.

[icasm]

[ He hears that tone and noise and has to snort a little. ]

She has another lover. Plus a husband who she keeps vigil for, should he return. I am new, and not a healer, and thus... [ He hums. ]

You're not keeping me. I would make time, either way.

You're still important to me, Sylvie.

[ Not as intense as 'I love her like I know how to do nothing else' but not untrue. ]

1/2

[apocalypsegrown]

[ Well THAT I’d information she wasn’t expecting, and if anyone had been watching they would have seen the expression that went across her face. ]

2/2

[apocalypsegrown]

[ She’s not sure how to feel about that second part at all though, and it throws her from being slightly impressed at his actual hedonism to more complicated emotions.

Still.

She has no frame of reference to stage that word upon. Nor the word important really.

For her important has only been used in that way once in her life. And he doesn’t even know what she—

So instead of answering she changes the topic. ]

I didn't bring a towel.

[icasm]

[ She changes the topic so strongly in that moment that he has to take a breath, which comes out as a chuckle in the next moment. ]

I live here.

There are towels. You can use them. Do you need clothes too?

[ An honest question. ]

[apocalypsegrown]

Only if yours are more comfy.

[ Yes. That’s better. That he follows along let’s her breathe a little easier. ]

Otherwise I picked some up in Val Chevin.

[ A pause. Might as well make a thing of it. ]

A robe would be nice.

[icasm]

Well. [ Can she hear the way his brain is turning that over? He'd said it purely on jest but now...]

I'll let you be the judge of that.

[ He has SOME comfy clothes. Mage robes. Sweaters. Soft pants, things like that. Things for days when he's alone and goes nowhere. ]

A robe, then. What else did you pick up in Val Chevin?

[apocalypsegrown]

Quite a bit actually. I recommend going to war right after being tossed into a new world; helps you build up supplies.

[ After all, it’s not like those trinkets and clothes would be missed. When he sees her he’ll probably notice how much more she blends in, even though the layers of black fabric and (now tailored) black pants are reminiscent of her old look. Instead of her high necked armor though she wears a delicately constructed white shirt with sleeves that vanish into heavier leather arm guards and fingerless gloves, swirled details edged into all of it. Similar but different enough for someone who’s been wearing the same thing pretty much for centuries. ]

[icasm]

I'll keep that in mind for next time, if there is one.

[ She's probably better than he is at that sort of thing, he realizes. Getting what she needs out of unfortunate circumstances, whereas Loki is used to throwing money and power and magic at a problem until it buckles for him or becomes something useful.

Sylvie is a little more 'apply brute force directly' in dealing with her problems.

Loki makes his way through Hightown and towards the docks. He could have taken a carriage out, but he figured the time it will take the ferry is roughly the time it will take him to stride across town. ]

Have you eaten?

[ Bother, bother. ]

[apocalypsegrown]

Are you offering?

[ Meals at the Gallows are...basic. She misses MSG and canned food. ]

[icasm]

Yes. Though I daresay I wouldn't be able to find or replicate anything familiar from, say, Roxxmart.

But a meal, I could manage to procure.

[ Not cook, mind. He doesn't know how to do that. ]

[apocalypsegrown]

Ugh, don't even say that name. I may die from longing.

[ She really does miss it, realizes now how important that little get away was to her. Also the food court. ]

I will take you up on a meal after the bath. My muscles are more needy than my stomach.

[ She could also do both at once, but she's sure his tastes are more complicated than that of the gallow's galley food, and probably more expensive than anything she could afford. She'd rather take advantage. ]

[icasm]

[ Remember how we first met and you tried to strangle me with a vacuum? Good times— things Loki thinks but will not be saying aloud today.

Instead he just kind of chuckles on the magical line and wonders what her favorite apocalypse was but there's no comfortable or good way to ask that question so it also gets set aside. ]

You could eat in the bath, you know. [ Okay that solves it, he's at least going to grab some pastries before he meets her at the ferry. ]

[apocalypsegrown]

But I'll be soapy.

[ It's a joke, but also one that she knows is evocative. But she can't help it. There's just a line that is begging to be toed. ]

You'd have to feed me in that case.

[ Or they could eat in the carriage she supposes. ]

[icasm]

Ah right, you'll be soapy. [ Ahem. ] How terrible.

[ She might be toeing a line; in his mind, it's getting obliterated in the sand by the tide coming in. His fantasies about her, nudity, soap bubbles, and eventually wearing his clothes just about skyrocketed just now.

The swallow it takes for him to pull himself together from that is audible. ]

I think I'm up to that task.

[apocalypsegrown]

Are you certain? I wouldn't want to put too much on your shoulders.

[ She can hear it, the way his brain almost shuts down, and she tucks her knees up a little more in her sheltered bend on the ferry, trying not to laugh audibly. It's hard not to fall into this rhythm with him-- teasing and banter and poking. Knowing that what is between them is more than just... friendship... but at the same time.

She tries not to sober herself too much with memories of the citadel, tries to push it out of her mind. She would tell him eventually. ]

[icasm]

[ Don't think of her legs on your shoulders, don't...

Too late.

Loki pinches the bridge of his nose. ]

I've gotten to host precious few since arriving; it's not too much, I promise.

[ Ah, a bakery. Let's see if he can manage to have this conversation, breathe, and order food items at the same time. ]

Besides what sort of person would I be if I couldn't meet the needs of friends?

[apocalypsegrown]

[ She can hear distant activity around him now, and she presses her lips together. ]

I wouldn't know. [ He's the only friend she's had after all. ] I'll see you at the docks yeah? Let me know when you're there.

[icasm]

[ Hm. A slight tonal shift has him worrying he said the wrong thing, but there's little to be done for it now. ]

You will, and I will. [ A pause. He is loathe to hang up despite knowing he'll see her soon. ] Do you like raisins?