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 Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:00 pm
"Your mum sounds very wise," Barth said. "...Those aren't err, slow-worms are they?"
He leaned forward hopefully.
"Well," Barth began, "While I am assuming you're a watery sort, I just get soggy, and wet, and cold. My hair will get managed eventually, I'm sure. ...A Doom Buggy is a vehicle. Over there, near the bed. The very largish one with wheels."
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:04 pm
"Yup. They're slow-worms. I told you I'd bring some treats. Not as good as me mums, but ...well, I had to make them myself this time around." It wasn't like he could just pop into his parent's place and ask for food while he was passing by. He was going to visit them once he saw Barth and Christof.
"There are some more treats in the tins too. Help yourself." He rose up, moving over to where Barth had directed. "Vehicles....huh." Seeing as he had four legs for moving, there really was no need for a vehicle where he came from. They had carts if someone was tired and boats, but that was as advanced as technology as he was accustomed to.
Moving over, he eyed the massive contraption that looked like a metal cage with wheels and some chairs inside. "So.......you move in this?" He said, tapping a hoof against one of the wheels. "Doesn't seem very.....reliable." It looked like it would fall apart.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 6:57 pm
"You made these?" Barth asked, plucking another one from the jar. He looked over to where Calder was examining the Doom Buggy.
"It's my design," Barth said, a touch defensively, "and Christof does good work. It's...probably extremely safe."
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:03 pm
Calder perked back up from where he was crouched and examining the Doom Buggy up close, not all that clear on how it worked, and more or less just looking for looking sake. "Um...yeah. It's not bad, is it? I'm not really good at it like others are. Never thought I'd have to make it on my own so never bothered getting the full recipe down." The idea of writing a kelpie cookbook seemed rather entertaining now that he thought about it considering no one of his kind actually wrote or wrote about things other than clan histories and maybe the occasional song for history's sake. The rest was all passed down through the generations, much like their cooking.
"Don't know much about vehicles. Can't say I've been on too many. They all seem weird to me. I still think trains are scary and amazing. No legs, not really wheels, look like a box, and yet they go so fast." He reached out and touched the side of the Buggy. Wasn't even warm. Just cold.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:39 pm
"No," Barth said, biting off the eel's head with a kind of slow precision. He chewed before answering. "It's sweet." ...Barth was not a picky eater, and had sometimes managed a little worse than trash, but he had also eaten meals that would have made kings blush at the price tag, and always very well at his father's table.
He did like the eels.
"They're like any other device. You set the pieces together and they do the rest."
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:45 pm
"Most of kelpie cuisine is." Calder pointed out. "We don't like bitter or sour things. Salty. Sweet. Savory." He pointed out, leaning into the contraption and looking at the various knobs and some long stick in the middle of it. How the heck did this thing even work? It was just like sitting in a tv or a fridge. Well, maybe not exactly the same, but he didn't see how boxes like these moved. Not that he hadn't seen a few carriages move about but they were pulled by horses of some breed or another. They relied on other things to move them.
"I guess it's just one of those things you guys make that I'll have to see to believe. Not that you two do bad work. You made that lepus get up and move and I've seen you guys lay about and work on lots of other do-hickies that did something or other." He wasn't always clear on the purpose and sometimes didn't get to see the end product. They always seemed to be in the middle of something, Barth and Christof.
"So you two made it together? Did you guys take it about yet? Push it down a hill or whatever you do to get it moving?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 8:25 pm
"Christof made it from some of my blueprints while I was away," Barth said.
"We're going to finish it when he gets back." He took his time with the rest of the slow-worm. The marina was gooey, but he liked goo. He even liked the animal's name. Slow."You're err, back to school for the summer then?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 8:33 pm
Calder leaned back out of the Doom Buggy, near smacking the back of his head against the side before leaning more down and standing up straight once more. "Um...no. I just turned the age where I'm allowed to travel on my own. Had to get permission first to go and visit all of you. Takes me a while to get to place to place though, so I only get a bit of time to see you before I have to make the long trek to Christof's." Calder walked over, scratching the back of his neck as he thought about it. It had been like pulling teeth to get permission to go even if he was somewhat entitled to it. It was like a right of passage. While some boils and ghouls go something like Barth just made when they were old enough, kepies got to just go traveling on their own without supervision. It made him feel very independent and grown up, but it was all very exhausting.
"Took a while to get here. Got lost at one point, and I don't sleep much. Not unless I can find a really deep lake or river nearby, and you don't get too much coming this direction at times." It was scary sleeping alone....without anyone there.
"Thought I'd get all my visits in now. Then I head back to my parents for a time." He was going to visit them last, and then he had to go to Murchadh's place........and then he had to get permission to come back to campus. That would be a discussion of a whole different difficulty.
"I thought it would be a fun surprise. Seeing everyone during the break. Sorta stupid........" He sat down, reaching over for a slow-worm. "....but I miss you guys."
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 8:56 pm
"You're going to visit Christof?" Barth asked, with sudden and obvious interest.
And then, with the same amount of attentiveness, only this time with very clear worry, "...and you haven't been sleeping? Very important thing, to rest properly. Encourages anxiety, not sleeping." He hesitated at Calder's last words. "It's been...quieter here on campus, certainly." Barth wasn't sure if he had been pining for company the same way Calder had. He knew everyone would be back eventually, and he had gotten...preoccupied.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:05 pm
"Rather hard to sleep when you don't have anyone watching your back. Do you know how many creatures are out in the woods an don't care if they take a nibble off of you when you're sleeping or curse you or trap you to work forever in their stable? I'm not about to be someone's pet if I just lay about in the open just waiting for anyone to come and do horrible things to me." He flopped back, enjoying the soft, warm plush of Barth's couch. It even smelled familiar. "...so I make do. Sleep standing for a few hours, and if there is good, deep water, take a good rest in there. Not too many creatures dare brave a strong current." Which explained why Calder's food were preserved in tins and jars. Keeping anything in a bag or box would have made everything soggy.
Leaning forward, Calder took one of the tins and opened it to reveal a bunch of soft, black, mushroom tops that seemed to be lightly dusted in powdered sugar. "I could image how quiet it could get with no one about. Couldn't you go home for a bit?" He popped one of the mushrooms in his mouth and closed his eyes a moment to enjoy it as the soft fungus melted on his tongue.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:22 pm
"The lease on my apartment ran out," Barth said with a shrug. "I don't have any other pressing engagments. ...You're not going to rough the countryside not sleeping all the way to Christof's, are you?"
He was growing steadily more horrified at Calder's account of his travels.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:27 pm
Calder leaned back on the couch, placing the tin on his stomach as he looked over at his friend. It was nice to relax in a shelter and not under some tree. Yes, sleeping in the woods or in the soft rot of a lake bottom was pleasant in it's own way, but at least here you could lock your door and know nothing was coming to get you. At least the probability was certainly a lot less.
"Well...yeah. That's how ya travel. As lovely as it would be to stay on your couch and sleep till my break was up, I don't have that long to be out and about before I have to return back home. I can't make the time if I sleep in where I can and that's if I don't get lost. Then I'll really be hoofin it to get there. Christof certainly doesn't live a stone's throw away, that is for certain. Probably longer to get there than here. It's going to be murder getting back home afterwards." He tossed another mushroom in his mouth and lifted the tin for Barth to pick one and try it.
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:35 pm
Barth accepted the mushroom. Some of them, he knew, could taste almost meaty. This one didn't particularly, but Barth found it less important than the subject at hand.
"I could make some alternative traveling arrangements for you. Something faster than going on foot. And certainly with more resting opportunities."
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:42 pm
Calder had been saving the most substantial foods for travel and the treats for now. He had a bit of salamander jerky in his pack still left, but he was mainly living off of grazing and fish. At least he knew how to forage. Still, he did enjoy the treats he brought with him, and helped himself to another mushroom as Barth made a suggestion.
The idea of other means of travel made him a tad hesitant to ask. "...like what?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:54 pm
"Like carriage. A good carraige, with a soft interior and decent suspension. And distinguished, of course. With enough room for luggage. I don't think I could immorally allow you to go on hiking places and carrying things without any sleep."
Barth tried some of the marina and powdered sugar together, sucking on his claws.
"In any case, it isn't the...safest practice to visit strange demons without a getaway vehicle on standby."
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