16th of Saun 716.
They'd barely known each-other for a day. Granted they'd both more than enjoyed themselves, educating one-another on the different sides of the eight-foot-tall social wall erected between them. Still, it seemed a little early in their acquaintanceship to go out of the way, as both of them had, for an evening playing chess. Funnily enough, thinking back on it, he couldn't remember asking her whether she played at all, but that was a rather redundant afterthought considering that he'd never played it himself. Bars were too open, streets too crowded and neither of them owned a house of their own to go and play a solitary game of intellect, so they'd settled for the one middle ground that the two of them could at least somewhat-comfortably share; the same forest that they'd both met in.
Archailist fidgeted on his shoulder, apparently completely unable to sit still for all of a few bits before they arrived. "But what am I supposed to do?" he whined. "Chess is boring." He was acting intentionally childish and annoying for one reason or another, but every time he tried to ask why or simply look into his thoughts and find out, his mind switched tracks and diverted somewhere else. He was hiding something, that was for sure. He was playing along, acting like an idiot simply because he thought he could. Still, it was actually a welcome break from his normal all-work no-play stern personality that seemed to dig from a bottomless hole of frustrating logic. "Hey!" With Arch's temporary mold broken, Nir'wei smiled as he strolled into their little playing grounds.
A few trees had fallen recently. Not enough to disrupt the gentle shade of the canopy overhead, but enough to break apart the bulwark holding back the cool breeze that drifted through the trees and smothered some of the sweat forming on the back of his neck because of the dry sun. It also, conveniently, left just enough spare wood to make two seats and a chessboard mounted on table legs and complete with all the pieces, set out in perfect order. A helpful beaver had made them earlier, at his request, and spent all of five minutes masterfully crafting a work of art that would make most sculptors and woodworkers surrender their careers in a heart-beat and take up something much more productive. Then again, to be fair, if most woodworkers could use their own teeth instead of their saws and drills, they'd likely do a much better job too. "Mm. If there was ever a better day, I can't really imagine it," he said mostly to himself.
A deer wearing a maid's outfit turned and did the equivalent of raising an eyebrow - which, on a deer's face, was admittedly rather horrifying. "You kidding me?" it asked incredulously. "It's fucking boiling out here, I feel like I'm gonna pass out!" To be honest, he blamed the outfit, but he didn't say it, just smiled and nodded his head while the deer went about cleaning up the fallen leaves and shooing away some poker-playing spiders in preparation for their game.
Archailist leaned over. "You thinking any of this is striking as weird, yet?" He seemed to be probing for some specific reaction but Nir'wei shrugged his shoulders with indifference.
"Well, since you asked, I think the skirt on that deer's maid outfit is a little short, a bit slutty if you know what I mean, but I didn't want to say anything and look rude in front of the wildlife," Nir'wei whispered back.
The squirrel looked very surprised, but seemed to forget about it quickly as he threw both of his little arms in the air, hopped off and floated away to a smaller enclave at the base of one of the nearby red oaks. Well, to be fair, he didn't think that Arch had the mental capacity to sit still for long enough to last a game of chess, but the moment that thought ran through his mind, the squirrel launched a giant clump of mud straight at his face, ruining his perfectly unclean shirt! "Damnit, I dressed in my best clothes for this, too!" Now they were ruined though. All the natural dirt was heavily contrasted by the fresh soil. He might not be the best expert in hygiene or fashion but at least he knew that these colours clashed horribly. "Ugh. I hope Faith doesn't take too much notice."
They'd barely known each-other for a day. Granted they'd both more than enjoyed themselves, educating one-another on the different sides of the eight-foot-tall social wall erected between them. Still, it seemed a little early in their acquaintanceship to go out of the way, as both of them had, for an evening playing chess. Funnily enough, thinking back on it, he couldn't remember asking her whether she played at all, but that was a rather redundant afterthought considering that he'd never played it himself. Bars were too open, streets too crowded and neither of them owned a house of their own to go and play a solitary game of intellect, so they'd settled for the one middle ground that the two of them could at least somewhat-comfortably share; the same forest that they'd both met in.
Archailist fidgeted on his shoulder, apparently completely unable to sit still for all of a few bits before they arrived. "But what am I supposed to do?" he whined. "Chess is boring." He was acting intentionally childish and annoying for one reason or another, but every time he tried to ask why or simply look into his thoughts and find out, his mind switched tracks and diverted somewhere else. He was hiding something, that was for sure. He was playing along, acting like an idiot simply because he thought he could. Still, it was actually a welcome break from his normal all-work no-play stern personality that seemed to dig from a bottomless hole of frustrating logic. "Hey!" With Arch's temporary mold broken, Nir'wei smiled as he strolled into their little playing grounds.
A few trees had fallen recently. Not enough to disrupt the gentle shade of the canopy overhead, but enough to break apart the bulwark holding back the cool breeze that drifted through the trees and smothered some of the sweat forming on the back of his neck because of the dry sun. It also, conveniently, left just enough spare wood to make two seats and a chessboard mounted on table legs and complete with all the pieces, set out in perfect order. A helpful beaver had made them earlier, at his request, and spent all of five minutes masterfully crafting a work of art that would make most sculptors and woodworkers surrender their careers in a heart-beat and take up something much more productive. Then again, to be fair, if most woodworkers could use their own teeth instead of their saws and drills, they'd likely do a much better job too. "Mm. If there was ever a better day, I can't really imagine it," he said mostly to himself.
A deer wearing a maid's outfit turned and did the equivalent of raising an eyebrow - which, on a deer's face, was admittedly rather horrifying. "You kidding me?" it asked incredulously. "It's fucking boiling out here, I feel like I'm gonna pass out!" To be honest, he blamed the outfit, but he didn't say it, just smiled and nodded his head while the deer went about cleaning up the fallen leaves and shooing away some poker-playing spiders in preparation for their game.
Archailist leaned over. "You thinking any of this is striking as weird, yet?" He seemed to be probing for some specific reaction but Nir'wei shrugged his shoulders with indifference.
"Well, since you asked, I think the skirt on that deer's maid outfit is a little short, a bit slutty if you know what I mean, but I didn't want to say anything and look rude in front of the wildlife," Nir'wei whispered back.
The squirrel looked very surprised, but seemed to forget about it quickly as he threw both of his little arms in the air, hopped off and floated away to a smaller enclave at the base of one of the nearby red oaks. Well, to be fair, he didn't think that Arch had the mental capacity to sit still for long enough to last a game of chess, but the moment that thought ran through his mind, the squirrel launched a giant clump of mud straight at his face, ruining his perfectly unclean shirt! "Damnit, I dressed in my best clothes for this, too!" Now they were ruined though. All the natural dirt was heavily contrasted by the fresh soil. He might not be the best expert in hygiene or fashion but at least he knew that these colours clashed horribly. "Ugh. I hope Faith doesn't take too much notice."
