[OPEN] A Dog's Life

[lahire]

Who: Jack La Hire and You
When: After being hired by Magne
Warning(s): May reference fantasy captivity, might slide into PTSD territory

1. Chases dreams, so it seems [Winter Market]
George had offered advice on finding preferences for himself--how to figure out what Jack himself liked, in the aftermath of what he's been through. While visiting the library had been a wholly overwhelming experience, he's still trying to explore the world and its bounty.

Today, that's brought him to the Winter Market, before it dries up and blows away. He's sniffing scented candles and examining patterned pocket squares, trying to figure out what it is that draws him to certain things. It's a process. He might solicit help picking out decor for his new room or updates to his wardrobe.

One thing he's certain he likes, though, is the stall handing out warm mulled cider. If you're not encountering him during shopping, you might see him holding a cup in both hands and looking the closest he's been to content.


2. He shines in his master's light [Velvet Ambrosia and Silk]
Jack has a job now! It's not dealing cards! Everything should be great now, right?

Well, tending bar isn't the simplest work in the world, it turns out. While he's glad to be doing something, there's a learning curve going on here. Perhaps you're a patron who's just gotten the wrong drink. Perhaps you're a fellow staffer wondering where Magne got this doofus. Perhaps you're just watching him in horror as he goes to shake a Moscow mule.

He really is trying his best.


3. Looking good, so he should [Minor Fae Bullshit]
Here's the thing. Jack isn't a changeling in the same sense that George is a changeling, but he has very much been altered by his time serving The Golden Wheel. Less so by the Black Stag, that was a very brief captivity. But what this means is that there is something vaguely fae about him.

Unfortunately for him, he's still figuring out what this means in practice.

Catch him outside somewhere when he thinks he's alone, animating a small pile of sticks and leaves into a little poppet with glowing eyes. Or catch him literally scuttling against a wall in the manner of a spider rather than walking on an icy patch of sidewalk, as if that's less treacherous territory. Or perhaps you see him alone, shuffling his deck somewhere, before he flicks his wrist and the cards assemble themselves into a fucking sword for a moment, before collapsing back into their usual form.


4. For the choice is very narrow [Wildcard]
This is your chance to wildcard me. PM or catch me on Discord to plot, or just throw yourself at me.

Comments

Chases dreams, so it seems

[misbegottendreamer]

“A marvelous blend, is it not, muthsera? I admit, I cannot bemoan this weather too much when there are comforts like this on offer.”

The womer seems to have just recently come from the stand herself, a cup of warm cider clutched in clawed, spidery hands.

“Have you had this drink before? Apples were an import in my homeland, and this sort of thing was not customary.”

[lahire]

"Nothing so fancy as this. When I was young, there was powdered apple cider in packets. You would add hot water and stir and it would be...a very pale imitation of this."

Jack stares at Drelasa's hands for a long moment. Oh, his aren't much better, fingers far too long and spindly, made to handle decks of cards. So...it might ought to be reassuring, seeing her hands. Maybe.

[misbegottendreamer]

“In packets… like how they sell alchemy reagents? I’m having trouble imagining it, muthsera.”

[lahire]

"They'd sell six packets in a cardboard box at a time. It wasn't nearly as good as the cider here. We'd microwave the water and stir the powder in." He doesn't actively remember who else was 'we'. A sibling or a friend, perhaps?

[misbegottendreamer]

“A… microwave? You would bombard it with electromagnetic radiation?” Ooh, someone’s been hanging onto the astrophysicist’s lessons and is now very confused as a result.

[lahire]

"It was the quickest way to heat water. We were not allowed to use the stove by ourselves at that age." Beat. "I cannot explain how it works, though."

[misbegottendreamer]

“It sounds so complicated,” she replies, slightly mystified.

[lahire]

"It was probably complicated for the scientists who discovered it, but it is much simpler for in-home use now."

Really, it's like scrolls. Some mage made a spell and they were smart and it was hard, but today anyone can grab a scroll and get its effect.

[misbegottendreamer]

She nods.

“Like cars. They sound rather unfathomable to me, but I hear that in some worlds, they are commonplace.”

[lahire]

"Is yours a world where there are primarily horse-drawn carriages for transportation, then?"

No one expects the insects and reptiles.

[misbegottendreamer]

“They use horses and oxen to the west and south. In my homeland, we mostly relied on guar and kagouti. Silt striders do not pull vehicles, but they act as a form of transportation on their own.”

[lahire]

"I have no idea what guar, kagouti or silt striders are." He sips his cider thoughtfully.

[misbegottendreamer]

“Guar are hardy bipedal reptiles that come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. The smallest ones are about the size of cats, and the largest are comparable to horses, but they’re not nearly as frightening. Kagouti are also bipedal reptiles, but they’re more like bulls, with formidable tusks and a notorious temper. They can serve as mounts, but it’s less common. And silt striders… bless them, they’re struggling after the Red Year, but when their numbers are greater they were a fantastic method of transportation between cities. They’re large, long-legged insects with a striking call.”

[lahire]

"...beg pardon, did you say the large reptiles are not nearly as frightening as horses? You have pack-dinosaurs and ride bugs, and find horses scary?"

[misbegottendreamer]

"Well, I grew up around nix and guar. There are very few large mammals in my homeland, mostly just rats. So to encounter one that is so large... with the musk of their sweat and the way their legs move and those long faces with mouths ready to bite... they're just so alien, you know?"

[lahire]

"Yes, but are you not a mammal yourself? You're more akin to a horse than one of these 'guars'."

He's assuming so, at least.

[misbegottendreamer]

"Yes, but I am not so large a mammal! Horses are so terribly large!"

[lahire]

"And how large is a silt strider? If you're using them for transport?"

[misbegottendreamer]

“They’re about three stories tall, and large enough to comfortably seat four.”

[lahire]

"That is much bigger than a horse!" But he's laughing at it now, because this conversation is ridiculous. And then he catches himself at it, and folds his mirth back away.

[misbegottendreamer]

“Ah, but they are insects!” she laughs. “Imagine a giant nix-hound pup. A Silt Strider isn’t so different than that, and I don’t find their mouthparts nearly so dangerous.”

[lahire]

"I have never seen a nix hound, though. Bah, we are confounding one another."

[misbegottendreamer]

“It would seem so,” she chuckles.

“Oh, here we are talking in circles, and I haven’t properly introduced myself. Drelasa Veloth, at your service.”

[lahire]

"An honor to meet you, Drelasa Veloth. I am called Jack La Hire." He realizes a polite bow might be lost on her, so he reaches out to gently touch her sleeve. Handshakes are weird; his hands have been Changed.

[misbegottendreamer]

“It’s good to meet you, Jack La Hire. I would like to talk with you more, but perhaps first we might sit and enjoy our drinks while they are still hot.”