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Post by enchilada on May 6, 2019 10:02:16 GMT
Enchee put some on her sandwich, like Thea had suggested. It was definitely the nicest thing she’d tried so far. It wasn’t plain like the foods she’d gravitated towards for the most part of her life, given choice, but it was still really good. There was a bit of burn, but just a little bit. It was still very nice. She supposed if you couldn’t get past the little bit of hot, then it wouldn’t taste so good, and also it would be painful.
She then sighed. Enchee knew she was an incredibly messy eater, so she’d have to follow Thea’s instructions, with the napkin. She didn’t see much of a point pushing that one. Even if she wanted to.
“Yeah, you’re right. Everything I could ever need to try, and it’s in Waterdeep.” Enchee smiled. She knew that wasn’t what Crucible meant. “Ah, looks like I can stay here in the city forever then. Where it’s safe. And there’s guards. And no adventurers who might mix up a perfectly good citizen of the world with a different perfectly good citizen of the world, when they’re both doing absolutely nothing wrong except keeping to themselves.”
Enchee bit into her sandwich, automatically making a rather big mess with it, wiping what she got on her face onto her hand, and then onto the napkin. She shrugged again.
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Post by moralhazard on May 6, 2019 15:16:11 GMT
Enchee’s response struck Thea as exceptionally specific, and clearly part of an on-going conversation with Crucible. She remembered the little goblin’s panic about leaving the city the day before.
On the other hand, if Enchee had been nervous about new and different food, the distraction had sorted it. Thea’s lips twitched as Enchee bit into the sandwich and dropped half of it down her front. She took another small bite of hers; there wasn’t even a single drop of sauce on her napkin-bib.
After a moment, Thea had her approach. “Well, not everything is here in Waterdeep,” she grinned at Enchee. “After all, I never saw a kraken here, other than my glass one.” She left that, casually. It wasn’t so much that she thought Enchee would want to see a kraken - honestly they were a bit scary - but it was true that there were things that couldn’t be experienced here in Waterdeep. “I would never have had kraken stew here either,” Thea added, and took another bite.
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Post by 3personal5me on May 6, 2019 16:36:10 GMT
The warforged nodded along with Thea. "That's true. And I never would have seen a dwarven great hall. It was beautiful. Statues and precious gems and good everywhere. You would have loved it". He neglected to mention that he only saw the great hall once, in passing. Thay part wasn't relevant.
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Post by enchilada on May 6, 2019 17:59:54 GMT
“Those things aren’t important.” Enchee didn’t want to budge on the topic. She didn’t care about krakens, she didn’t care about dwarves. Well. That sounded bad — as people, maybe, if they weren’t raging meanies, but she didn’t care about ‘great halls’. Enchee cared about Queso, and staying warm, and staying fed, and having fun. She didn’t really care if she didn’t know anything else.
If she happened to experience things in Waterdeep that were new or interesting? Cool. But she didn’t need to, it wasn’t part of her, there was no inbuilt desire to see new things or whatever.
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Post by moralhazard on May 6, 2019 18:14:18 GMT
“Oh, that sounds incredible,” Thea grinned at Crucible. A dwarven great hall! Waterdeep was lovely – her business was lovely. Thea had had all sorts of strange adventures already since arriving here, and she didn’t think she was anywhere near done.
But… part of her felt a strange longing for adventure, to see new places and sights, like the glaciers of the north or Dwarven great halls in the Vast. Then again, there was something new every day in Waterdeep; she didn’t feel like she needed to leave now, or, really, any time soon. She had more than a century stretching before her: plenty of time to wander as she pleased.
“What is important, then?” Thea asked, smiling at Enchee. Her sandwich sat back on her plate, and she settled her hands in her lap to listen.
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Post by 3personal5me on May 8, 2019 14:15:57 GMT
Crucible shrugged. It seemed that Enchee would continue to be stubborn. He supposed she still had time to change her mind.
"Well if I know this little girl as well as I think I do, I'm guessing her answer will be somewhere along the lines of 'queso, beef stew, and a warm bed'. Just a guess".
He was almost certain he was right. It wasn't that she was predictable. He just knew her fairly well.
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Post by enchilada on May 9, 2019 18:46:46 GMT
Enchee... seemed pretty offended. She furrowed her brow and crossed her arms.
“Queso and beef stew, and warm bed, and, and, gold, and Crucible, and Thea.” She listed, somewhat flustered
Those things were important.
Queso was her little mouse friend, and, moreover, the only friend she still had from almost as long ago as she could remember. She helped Enchee more than anyone else ever had, she really wasn’t sure if she would have made it without the mouse. Beef stew was delicious, and hot, and it reminded her of home. It was dependable, and it was filling. It was the best meal she could ever ask for, at the end of a busy, productive day, or the end of a bad one. Either way, it would calm her and ground her. A warm bed was self explanatory; a luxury, on one hand, and a necessity on the other. It made her feel cared for more than anything else, somehow. Gold bought things. It was security. Crucible was her new friend, but he was very important. Enchee loved Crucible more than everything else in the list, except Queso, who she loved the same. He was the reason she was safe. Thea was a new new friend, but she was also extremely kind and, in the few times she’d met with her, dependable, and soft, and comforting, just like Crucible. And now that she had at least two big, grown up friends, Enchee could almost pretend she was never a weird little abandoned goblin girl, and just a weird little one instead.
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Post by moralhazard on May 9, 2019 21:48:44 GMT
Thea froze when Enchee listed her as an important thing, eyes widening. She looked down at the little goblin. For once – for all her easy smiles and cheerful conversation – Thea had nothing to say. She couldn’t imagine what Enchee’s life had been like, that one adult who’d chatted with her on the street the day before, who’d offered her the bare minimum in terms of help – would make her list of things most important. The thought of it hurt somewhere deep in Thea’s chest.
Thea didn’t put it past Enchee, on principle, to pretend such a thing against getting out of future trouble. But what Enchee had said – the look on her face as she’d said it – make Thea think it was genuine.
She had, Thea realized, been frozen too long. She managed a smile, soft and a little trembling, and reached out to fix the flower behind Enchee’s ear, straightening it. “Does Queso want some food too?” Thea asked. “Do you think there’s anything here Queso would like? If not, we can ask for something special.”
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Post by 3personal5me on May 9, 2019 23:28:53 GMT
Crucible wasn't entirely surprised to hear his name on that list. He was, in fact, quite attentive, and had noticed the bond growing between them.
But he didn't entirely expect Thea to be on that list. He supposed it was obvious, in retrospect. It seemed inevitable she would find someone else to latch onto. From what he had seen, Thea appeared to be a good fit for the role.
He was disappointed that he didn't think of gold.
Thea was obviously reeling. That was fair. She was dodging the subject.
"Perhaps a fancy cheese for Queso? Or bread?"
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Post by enchilada on May 10, 2019 16:35:51 GMT
Enchee fished around in her hair for Queso. She was at the back, probably. Yeah. Enchee pulled out the mouse, carefully, and picked off little pinches of crumbs from the top of her sandwich. Mice could eat bread, or anything like that, like pasta. Enchee didn’t really get to feed Queso much like that before, but she could do pretty much anything after Crucible. Speaking of, she fished in her pocket, and pulled out a few nuts, loose in there. They were just in case Queso needed a snack.
“That’s okay.” Enchee smiled. “I already thought about that.”
Queso didn’t really look like a house mouse, more like a fancy one. Enchee had never really been able, or even thought to, differentiate. Maybe Queso had gotten loose from a pet store, or maybe Queso had been thrown out. She didn’t know, she didn’t care. Queso was brown and white, with a long pink tail.
Enchee also didn’t know if Queso was a boy or girl mouse. She decided that it didn’t matter. Enchee just always called Queso, Queso.
“Are you okay, Thea?” She’d just noticed the oddness of the reaction. Enchee thought she probably said something wrong, but ultimately did not care.
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Post by moralhazard on May 10, 2019 20:06:23 GMT
“Oh, fine,” Thea said, cheerfully, shoving past the feeling of sadness for Enchee. There was nothing worse than being pitied.
Her smile this time was much more genuine, and she extended a finger to Queso, curious if the mouse would let Thea pet her. “It’s smart to carry around food for her,” Thea grinned. “Is Queso friendly?” Thea raised an eyebrow at Enchee. “Or does he – she? – only like you, Enchee?”
If Queso seemed to shy away from her finger, Thea would leave it alone; if nobody objected, she would do her best to put the mouse’s soft-looking fur.
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Post by 3personal5me on May 11, 2019 1:29:06 GMT
Crucible was curious to see what happened. He had never actually seen anyone else touch Queso before. He didn't know if the mouse would flee, or cower, or attack, or enjoy the attention. "I'm sure Queso wouldn't hurt you on purpose. Right Enchee?"
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Post by enchilada on May 12, 2019 9:49:46 GMT
“Ummmmmmmmm.....”
Enchee shrugged. She generally didn’t let people touch Queso, because she was worried they would hurt her. But Thea was a good friend, and she was trustworthy and important. Thea wouldn’t hurt Queso and she wouldn’t hurt Enchee.
Queso was quite a brave mouse, and very friendly. She was absolutely fine with being pet by Thea.
“I guess that’s a yes from Queso. Queso is friendly to other people and not just Enchee.’ The goblin smiled. She was happy to see that Queso was nice to Thea, because Enchee liked Thea, so it would be awkward if her mouse friend didn’t like her person friend.
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Post by moralhazard on May 12, 2019 14:15:36 GMT
Thea stroked Queso’s fur, smiling. “Queso is a lovely mouse,” she told Enchee. “With such soft fur! I can tell you take good care of - Queso.”
With the mouse’s gender left ambiguous, Thea decided to follow Enchee’s example and just use the mouse’s name, awkward through it was. Before Crucible had said it, it hadn’t really occurred to Thea that the mouse might hurt her; she didn’t imagine Queso could do worse than bite her finger, although that certainly wouldn’t be fun.
Thea pulled her hand back, leaving the little mouse to a meal of nuts and bread pinchings. She took another careful bite of her sandwich, and set it back down.
“So,” Thea said, smiling at Enchee again. “Do you like the sandwich?”
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Post by 3personal5me on May 13, 2019 22:13:58 GMT
Crucible watched the mouse. He had never really asked where it came from. He was just glad that she had Queso. She clearly loved the pet. "You know Enchee, maybe later I could help you make a little house for Queso! With his own room and bed and everything. You could keep it on your desk". He was good at making things. He imagined a dollhouse/rat cage, sans door of course, would be easy to make. "If you draw it, I'll build it".
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