• Solo • Heatwave II

[Devin]

Part 1

Ashan 105, Arc 720

Devin awoke to the sounds of birds chirping which was a somewhat unusual sound to wake up to, although it was a sound that he liked, of course. For a moment, he was a little confused because he was clearly not in his own bed – or someone else’s bed, for that matter – and because it was a little cool, and he could feel a light breeze upon his face, and then he remembered how Aidan and he had set up a tent in the garden the evening before because sleeping outside might make the terrible heatwave a little easier to bear.

That heat was gone for the time being, although it would without a doubt be hot again soon as the trial progressed.

Carefully, oh so carefully, he pushed the blanket away and leaned over to the slightly older man next to him, looking at him. The student’s eyes were closed, and he was still sleeping – he looked so content and peaceful at the moment - which caused a mischievous smile to spread across the Mortalborn’s face as he considered the potential of the situation at hand.

In the end, he simply snuck out of the tent and made his way across the grass, towards the door rather than waking his roommate and friend with benefits in a nice or not so nice way though.

He went into the kitchen in order to make breakfast. The evening before, Aidan had refused to let him make dinner and claimed that he still had nightmares from his entry for the Food Fayre, but he'd been practicing since that event.

Besides, he was in a good mood that morning because he’d finally been able to sleep well and not sweated almost to death during the night only in order to wake up feeling sticky, disgusting and exhausted.

So, when Aidan finally came into his house, there would be a delicious meal waiting for him!

[Devin]

Devin was not a very good singer. He did have a pleasant voice (that was quite a bit deeper than people generally expected it to be, considering his slender and perhaps slightly feminine build), but he’d never trained as a singer and could barely hold a tune. That didn’t keep him from singing a popular Scalveen song as he cracked a couple of eggs open and dumped their contents into a pan, still dressed in his pajamas (that were dark purple and made of silk; as a vain follower of Delroth he only wore clothes made of expensive materials).

He loved singing, and even though he couldn’t sing well now, he would without a doubt be better than his rival Kalortah one trial, and he had come to enjoy cooking nearly as much. So, once he had lit a fire in the stove, he grabbed a piece of bacon and cut it into thin slices that he put into another pan, still singing, perhaps a little bit too enthusiastically.

While the bacon hopefully turned nice and crispy, he opened a cupboard, retrieved a loaf of bread, cut it into slices, and proceeded to make coffee before he prepared his own breakfast (he didn’t like eggs particularly as they came from birds; fried eggs were one of Aidan’s favourite things though). A few moments later, just as the older man walked into the kitchen, still looking a little bleary-eyed, a pleasant smell wafted through the house.

Aidan looked at Devin, surprised.

Devin looked at him, grinning.

“This smells amazing, Devin”, Aidan remarked and briefly kissed the Mortalborn on the cheek before he sat down at the kitchen table where Devin had already arranged two plates as well as forks, knives and napkins. “You’ve really improved”, he complimented Devin as the Mortalborn put two fried eggs and a couple of slices of bacon on his plate. He cut a piece off the first fried egg, speared it with his fork and put it into his mouth. A moment later, he swallowed hard and shuddered.

“Devin”, he remarked as he set the fork down again before he hesitated for a moment. He was about to tell the Mortalborn that the bottom of his fried eggs was burnt (it tasted like charcoal!) and that his bacon was nowhere near done yet. When he saw the hopeful look on the younger man’s face, he just didn’t have the heart to criticize him again though, so he smiled instead, ate another piece of that burnt fried egg and claimed, “This is truly delicious. You’ve outdone yourself to-trial! The coffee’s especially great!”

It really wasn’t. It was rather watery. It was just the least bad part of Devin’s breakfast.

Devin smiled brilliantly when he heard how much his roommate supposedly liked his food and opened another kitchen cupboard in order to retrieve a bottle of rum before he sat down opposite of Aidan. He poured a bit into his coffee because alcohol improved the taste of most things in his opinion - which had the added benefit of him never discovering that his roommate hadn’t been truthful, and then he started eating as well.

Approximately fifteen bits later, they had finished their breakfast. Aidan was doing the dishes (not because Devin had told him to; Aidan had actually offered to do them), and Devin was sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, wondering what they should do with the rest of their trial, if they should really buy a pool (they had talked about it the evening before as it might make the heatwave easier to bear) or just head to the beach.

It was just then that a loud sound could be heard – and then another one. Devin abruptly jumped up, his eyes wide. Fates, it had sounded as if … the sound had come from upstairs, where their bedrooms were located! He exchanged a look with Aidan. Aidan abruptly dropped his towel, Devin grabbed his sword from the stand in the hallway, Aidan grabbed another sword, and then the two young men snuck up the stairs in order to find out what was going on – and if somebody had broken into their home while they had been eating their breakfast.

[Devin]

A moment later, they were standing in the entrance to Devin’s bedroom and staring at a man that was rooting through Devin’s wardrobe. When he noticed that he had company, the man turned his head and stared at them, a look of panic on his face, before he rose to his feet and raised his arms. As he did so, he dropped a bag full of shiny nels – Devin’s nels.

“D … don’t hurt me, please. I … I can explain everything”, the man stammered. He sported the most interesting pair of wings (black with hints of silver and deep blue) that Devin had seen in a while, which explained how he had gotten upstairs without them noticing; he had likely flown through the window that Devin had accidentally left open overnight.

He was an Avriel.

He was perhaps a little younger than him, with grey eyes and platinum blonde hair, and his face didn’t look too bad either (and it could be improved with Perfection In A Bottle). So, while Aidan moved towards the window in case the thief decided to take his leave, Devin remarked, smiling perhaps a bit too brightly because he was just so excited,

“Perhaps, we can come to an arrangement. I’m a doctor and a dentist, you see, and I need teeth to practice.” He was not lying. He was a doctor and a dentist, and he needed teeth to practice – his magic. Using teeth to make totems was much easier and much more convenient than amputating limbs. He didn’t like maiming people, it was messy and bloody, and what more, you could go to prison if someone found out; and the people whose limbs were amputated at the hospital unfortunately rarely met his incredibly high standards.

Aidan’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment as he heard Devin talk about teeth before he nodded curtly. He didn’t always agree with the Mortalborn’s decisions, but this was something that he was fine with, for the most part. The man had entered their house and planned on robbing them, after all.

The thief’s eyes widened as well, but they did so for a different reason. He was starting to really get worried. He had already been worried before, when the two armed men, one of whom had bright violet eyes and freaky black claws had arrived, but now it was much worse.

He didn’t know what exactly these two had in mind, but it didn’t sound good. It didn’t sound good at all!

“It’s okay”, Devin told the thief who looked rather uneasy now and leaned against the doorway in an almost overly casual manner, still smiling. “It won’t hurt too much. I just need a single tooth. I’ll even examine the rest of your teeth and fix them, in case there’s something wrong with them. So, you’ll ultimately get free dental treatment. Normally, such costs money”, he explained to the thief who eyed him warily.

“So, what shall it be?” he asked somewhat impatiently. “Free dental treatment – or an extended stay in prison? I’m someone quite important, you know? People that try to steal from me usually get punished pretty severely”, he explained which was, again, not a lie. He was a member of the council.

[Devin]

“Do I have a choice?” the Avriel asked.

“No!” both Aidan and Devin replied at nearly the same time, and then Devin remarked, “Actually you do have a choice - if you want to go to prison, that is. Slag’s Deep is a pretty nice place, from what I’ve heard!” he added and smiled, revealing his teeth that were, of course, perfect as he regularly brushed them and flossed on top of it. “Come on, you’ll get treated by one of Scalvoris’ best doctors!” he told him and tried his best to look friendly and helpful. “It will be fun!”

The thief looked at Devin as if he wasn't sure about that, and then he looked at Aidan and finally nodded curtly. “Alright”, he replied. “I’ll let you practice your dentistry, and I won’t tell anybody what happened here either”, he added in order to make them more inclined to not alert the guards as he walked over to the two young men.

When he stood next to him, Devin quickly patted him down in order to make sure that he didn’t have any weapons hidden under his clothes as he wasn't particularly keen on being stabbed. Fortunately, he couldn’t find anything. In the meantime, Aidan picked up the bag of nels and pocketed it.

Truth to be told, the Avriel still wasn’t particularly keen on getting free dental treatment, but he was even less interested in going to prison.

Getting dental treatment, he decided, was the lesser of two evils; besides, he would have had to go to the dentist sometime anyway (like most members of his race, he was kind of vain and didn’t like bad teeth as a consequence); so, without further ado, he followed Devin and Aidan into the makeshift dental clinic that had been Devin’s second bedroom once upon a time in order to get it over with lest they suddenly changed their mind and sent him to Slag's Deep after all.

[Oberan]

Review Rewards

Drop those nels and gimme your teeth!

Points awarded: 10

Knowledge:

Cooking x2
Singing x2
Intimidation x2

Magic: No magic exp

Other: N/A

Notes:
I don't think I've ever seen anyone offer free dental care in such a threatening manner, and I'm sure I never will again. Not sure how I feel about that.
I also still can't get over the fact that Devin actually is a doctor. With master rank in the medicine skill. I don't know why, but it still cracks me up. Where are the times that Devin was bullshitting when he claimed to be one of the best doctors in Scalvoris... or just a doctor in general.

Anyways.

A very pleasant read, as always. I don't think there is much left for me to say that I haven't already in previous reviews. You know I like your PCs, and Devin's ... randomness?... never fails to amuse me.

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