leetle | INBOX | noctium

Oh, no, I'm pretty sure Sprinkle is, like, deeply traumatized.

[Which is totally her bad. She's not...a great pet owner, she's realizing. Not that it stops her from wanting to hoard animals; even here in Noctium she's had to restrain herself from bringing home pets.]

It is pretty special. And, yeah, it's also really unusual. In, um, the interest of full disclosure, though, The Traveler isn't tech-nick-ally a real god? Just a really powerful Fey being.

maybe is just same as with many other people
so so few married like i! so so few have child like i!
so sometimes hard to feel like is older…

even if one hundred? strange
i never think of why before

[and one of the main reasons that comes to mind… she could never say because men have their dignity and she Would Never (if she wasn’t drunk on andromeda wine).]

yes!
i will send a address
is barn in EMERALD PARK but is house for i

you know where to find something of future world, is called BALLOONS?

Edited 2022-01-07 05:46 (UTC)

i'm pretty young for my species so i'm not married or anything either!
do you think malachite tries to bring single people here on purpose and just messes up sometimes?

[not the point, Jester!!]

sounds great, i can't wait to see it! 🥺🥳
oh don't worry there WILL be balloons!

i do not know if is MALACHITE trying or other thing trying
but i think yes
i ask before many people to answer
and almost no other people is married just two
only few say has child no marriage

it does feel like this
like is mistake i is here
unsure

[ahaha… hah… anyway!!!]

look for large linden tree landmark
good news!
i hear balloon is much important.

LIEM ‘s attendance is now secure.

[ Oof, well, sad for Sprinkle. Matt figures the best they can do is move forward, and focuses on the very interesting theological point Jester's just raised. ]

Well, admittedly, I don't know what makes someone a god to begin with. We don't have enough regular, verifiable contact with spirits where I come from to have much of a taxonomy.

I mean, belief is a big part of it. I've definitely communed with spirits who've claimed to be various deities from my world's history, and there's really no way for me to be sure apart from just believing them.

Wow, your world sounds kind of boring. No offense, it's just that life's no fun without some spooky spirits!

[It's also probably safer in some ways, but Jester's not the kind of person accustomed to a life of safety anymore.]

How did you commune with them? With a spell?

[oh no]

oh no!
I don’t think it’s a mistake that you’re here! i’m sorry if what I said made you feel that way!
not that I want anyone to have to be here of course…

[Anyway.]

but!! I’ll let you know if I have any questions about decor…i’m thinking lots of streamers and garlands! maybe black and gold…fancy like Liem!

oh no
is fine!
i do not mean mistake like i feel bad mistake
mean mistake like i do not match so possible i’s selection was mistake mistake
so is fine.

but
i think blank and gold is good choice
dark blue and gold
or dark green and gold
dark and gold
yes good
thank you for thinking

[When it comes to thirsty behaviour, it’s bad enough to send a friend a thirsty text after spending half the month having almost nothing to do with them. It’s especially egregious to be so caught up in sending said thirsty message that you send it to the wrong person—especially when it’s a different friend to whom you have been just as unavailable of late.

But Noctium makes clowns of us all, and this month it’s Liem’s turn to wear the red foam nose, so on the first day of monster week, as sunset is closing in on Sumarlok, the following message arrives:]

Matt

How would you like to spend the evening telling me what to do?

[The brief message comes with an attached image: Liem sitting on his bed, sporting a pair of small antlers, velvety black bunny ears, and a head of equally black hair (save for the silver streaks threaded through it). Dressed in a crisp white shirt with a black vest and bow tie, he looks rather like a host or bartender at a high-end restaurant—but the flirtatious look on his face is anything but professional.]

[Jester is just minding her own business when her device pings from the edge of the bathtub. Having woken up transformed into some kind of seal...mermaid? Whatever it is, it's fun and cool and she's spent most of the late afternoon-early evening in the bathtub, splashing her flippers around and just generally enjoying being in the water. Not that she didn't already enjoy it; being half-Water Genasi means she's always loved baths, or even better hot springs.

Drying off her hands, she reaches for her phones and grins as Liem's name pops up on her screen. The grin fades as she reads the name he's addressed the message to. Oops, he meant to send this to Matt, not her! They do have awfully similar phone names...

...oh. This message is definitely not just a friendly greeting. She didn't know the two of them were...'involved,' as it were, but she can certainly guess they are now by the phrase "telling me what to do" and the flirtatious look on Liem's face, made even more adorable by the ears and antlers. He always looks handsome, dignified and all that, but now he looks downright cute.

But there's the matter of the mix-up. She doesn't want to embarrass Liem, and risk him not speaking to her anymore because of it. Jester chews her lips, her fingers slowly tapping over her device as she composes a reply.]

oh! hi Liem!
you're looking extremely handsome tonight, I love the ears!! 🐰😍

buuuut i think this was intended for Matt, not me! sorry to disappoint you!!

Well, I mean, I have regular contact with spirits. I just don't always know how to classify them.

[ Though some are undeniably spooky. ]

There are spells that I've used to communicate with spirits, yeah. And also meditation techniques? I'm not as good at reaching them that way, but there's an element of meditative practice in a lot of my spells, so.

[Wait... Wait wait wait. This was not supposed to go to Jester. It takes Liem a moment to process what his mistake was, and once he does, he takes another moment to lean his face in his hands and lament that this is now his reality.]

I'm so sorry, Jester. You're right, this wasn't supposed to go to you. They say look before you leap, but clearly I didn't.

What would you say are the chances of you pretending that you never saw this? 🤫

it's okay! our phone names are VERY similar so i don't blame you at all!

hmmmm....i don't know! that picture of you is very cute, i might have a hard time forgetting!
and...i'm not Matt, but if you're looking for someone to tell you what to do
well
i'm PRETTY good at it. 😇

okay! okay good
phew

[MISUNDERSTANDING AVERTED...]

i'm glad you like my idea! oooh, green and black and gold would be a really good combination!
no problem! thanks for thinking of me, Konoha!!

Are you now?

[It's true that Jester isn't Matt, and it isn't as though Liem tried to ask him just because he was the first person he thought might be interested when he woke up with kink on his mind (though, obviously, he was). He could just try again, and actually message the right person this time.

But he's intrigued now. He can try again with Matt another day; he wants to see where this goes.]

What if I don't promise to behave?

[She'd shot her shot not really expecting anything other then a polite decline, which is why her eyebrows shoot straight up to her forehead when she gets that reply.

Oh. Oh, this is going to be such good fun.]

well that's even better isn't it?
because if you don't behave it means i get to think up fun punishments for you!

[Oh yes, he's very interested to follow this rabbit hole all the way down. He can't read fun punishments and not immediately want to pursue that wherever it leads.]

Now you've got me curious.

What can I do for you, then, Jester?

well, let's see...

[She's already getting out of the bath, sitting on the edge and getting momentarily distracted by watching her seal tail turn back into tiefling legs.]

i have to dry off from my bath, and get dressed ✨
and then it'll take me a little while to get to your house...

so in the meantime, why don't you get a couple things ready for me?
can you put a nice comfy chair in your bedroom for me? in the middle of whatever open space there is.
and then put a nice soft cushion right in front of it!
if you do that for me i'll give you a nice reward!

As you wish.

[He does linger on her message a little bit before he actually moves from his bed. She hadn’t said before that she was texting him while she was in the bath—but now that she does, he can’t help but recall the glimpses he’d seen of her when they swam together in Haustram, can’t help but imagine how she might look reclining playfully in a porcelain tub, tapping out phone messages amidst clouds of soft foam. Despite the lack of photos or extra description, he finds himself tempted to spend another moment or two on that thought, and he has to remind himself that he has a task to complete.

The matter of the chair is far from convenient. His only armchairs are downstairs on the second floor—but fortunately, while his transformation this month did rob him of some height and mass, the increased influence of his emerald more than makes up for the difference. He retrieves a cream-coloured chair, richly embroidered in pink, gold, and sky blue, and carries it upstairs like an ant transporting a crust of bread. By contrast, the floor cushion is easy to manage. His renovated garage is now rife with floor-seating options, cushions included, so he simply pilfers one and arranges it at the foot of the relocated chair. Lastly, he unlocks his front door before going back upstairs—just in case Jester isn’t inclined to knock.

The whole arrangement now sits at the foot of his bed, perched atop the plush rug in close to the middle of the room. Jester didn’t ask for him to send her a picture, but since it doesn’t take him very long to do as she’s asked and she isn’t here yet, he sees no harm in taking the initiative and sending her an update. Using the combined powers of his camera timer and a recently-purchased phone stand, Liem snaps a picture of the setup—with him seated cozily in the chair itself, leaning on one armrest as he regards the camera with playful impatience. It’s the work of only a moment to retrieve his phone and send the picture to Jester.]

[While Liem gets everything ready, Jester takes her sweet time getting ready. It's partly on purpose, just to see how long Liem will wait before getting impatient, but also partly because she's got new body parts to deal with, namely the little seal flippers that now hang from her hips and make it even more annoying to put on clothing than her tail sometimes did. And gods, she misses her tail. She never realized how much it does for her balance until now, though thankfully she's had the day to get over the worst of it.

Her phone chirps as she's braiding her hair up into two little buns between her horns, and she gasps as she sees the picture. So cheeky! Oh, he's already pushing her buttons and she hasn't even gotten there yet!]

looks like you've got everything set up pretty good
too bad you're in my chair!

i'm about to leave, so when i get there in twenty minutes I want you kneeling on that cushion, okay? make sure the door's open for me!

[Little does she know, he's way ahead of her!]

Edited (typo X() 2022-01-12 03:15 (UTC)

green and black and gold is even more good yes!
three colors.

is no problem!
actually is joy
with this, not just celebrating LIEM ‘s birth
but JESTER and i will become more fast friend
is nice.

Ohhhh. Maybe you need to, like, start a classification guide? Like make a journal and write down what they're all saying to you and stuff. [Jester seems momentarily contemplative.]

Y'know, I've never actually meditated? My brain is too full of, like, a million ideas all the time.

[She gestures at the street corner ahead of them.] Ooh, this is my street I think! ...Yes! Ha, I was sort of worried I was getting us lost for a minute there!

[ Matt chuckles. ]

It's definitely not intuitive. I get lost a lot, just on tangents. But that's an interesting idea about classification. I don't know who but me would wanna read it back home, but ... it'd be nice for me to have, just to remember them all.

[ He brightens at Jester's gesture, squeezing her hand. ]

You kept your cool for somebody who thought we were lost.

three is a lucky number i'm pretty sure!

awww! Konoha that's so nice!
i'm very excited to get to spend more time with you!

That's what I do with my sketchbook. Write everything down, and draw so I can look back and remember it all!

[She laughs sheepishly, tilting her head sheepishly up at Matt.]

I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of you unless I absolutely had to.

[A few scant minutes later and they're approaching the front door of the home Jester occupies along with Essek Thelyss and the rest of the Mighty Nein here in Noctium. She skips up the steps without letting go of Matt's hand, and stops at the top to turn and look at him.]

Thank you for eating all the pastries with me. I had a really good time with you today.

INBOX | noctium

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text | un: FatherTalbott (dated to Jan monster week)

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