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[weenwoon]

HYTHLODAEUS

---

OFFICE 413, BUREAU OF THE ARCHITECT, AMAUROT
LEAVE MAIL ON HEAD

© EFRYNDIEL

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[weenwoon]

[Hythlo hums, imagining the dried bubbles.]

I wonder if they have some manner of a storage of those... Mayhap I could ask the barista to let me try some.

[He takes a thoughtful sip of his boba and hands Lucy a berry. The Sentret takes it furtively, then hides back into his hoodie, only her beady eyes and long ears visible.]

But I digress... You offered to tell me of your friend? And mayhap I could tell you more of my world, as well.

[scension]

Oh! Yeah, I would like to hear more about the kind of place you come from. It sounds nice.

[Not so coincidentally, the reason he sounded distracted was because he was still thinking about what exactly about Marno is left to tell. Whether that merits looking as sheepish as he does now that it comes up again is an open question.]

Um... who first?

[weenwoon]

[Oh! Hythlo knows how to solve this.]

Ah, I was just recently taught the game of rock, paper and scissors. Do you know it?

[scension]

A game? Why?

[He looks confused - except then, suddenly, a flash of inspiration strikes. It's less a lightning strike than a minor sizzle, but it's there.]

...Wait, you mean the kids' game. Paper-gator-thorns. Right? With the - hand gestures, for deciding things.

[He mimes the gator one, two fingers out. The gator eats paper, paper covers a ball of thorns, thorns pop the gator. It's a kids' game, it doesn't have to make sense.]

I know that one. Sometimes Marno would help me pick.

["Help". Anyway, that's what bridged that particular logical connection. Don't expect him to manage it often.]

[weenwoon]

[Hythlo mimicks the gestures too!]

Indeed! What is a gator, however? A thing of this world or yours?

[scension]

Well... there might be a kind of Pokemon that looks like a gator. I haven't seen any yet.

[Shrug. It feels like the wackiest of things in this world could only mildly surprise him at this point, and yet he keeps getting surprised.]

It's just one of the monsters that's common in the woods we'd play in as kids. Round like a ball, kind of stubby... They can roll at you pretty fast if you annoy them. The two fingers are supposed to be its jaws.

[He mimes the gator again, moving his fingers this time. Snappity snap.]

Gator beats paper, paper beats thorns, thorns beat gator. It's like that.

[weenwoon]

[Round and stubby... that sounds kind of cute to Hythlo.]

Now that I come to think of it, mayhap 'twould be an interesting event to exchange information about everyone's worlds. The flora and fauna all of us are used to appears to be quite different... Can you draw, Sagi?

[Well, guess who's likely to go onto another tangent about how you should totally draw him a gator.]

[scension]

[Sagi laughs a little.] Only if you want stick figures. I never had to learn.

[He kind of likes the stick figures, sometimes, but he has to be honest.]

[weenwoon]

[Hythlo gives an interrogative hum.]

Ah... are children not taught the arts in your world? 'Tis quite a pity... Mayhap I could teach you some, should you have the inclination?

[scension]

Wait, you're an artist? [He regards Hythlo with genuine wonder.] I had no idea.

[He isn't sure what he envisioned Hythlo doing, actually. Probably not crying. If anything, he would have thought... soul things... were a full-time job, considering how common it is for people to die. Then again, he wasn't good at any of his full-time jobs.]

[weenwoon]

[Hythlo laughs and waves a hand.]

I would not go so far as to call myself that, but I do enjoy the arts quite a lot. 'Tis not uncommon among my people. Of course, after the promotion I've had less time to engage in it... Mayhap I should pick it up again now that I am here.

[scension]

You should, if there's time. I'd like to see it.

[But since there aren't any art supplies here, and he isn't really thinking about whether Hythlo can create those or not...]

OK, count of three? Three, two, one...

[He hesitates for just a barest instant too long before going with "gator" again; it's not that he's trying to cheat so much as, yeah, he's used to having someone else help him decide at the last second. Oops.]

[weenwoon]

[Hythlo is sufficiently distracted by the fact that Sagi started counting backwards instead of one-two-three, as he is used to, and ends up with... paper, because he didn't think to form his hand into anything else.]

Oh dear. Well, I suppose the honour falls to you first, Sagi! You said I remind you of Marno, yes?

[scension]

[Hythlo's revenge comes in the form of throwing Sagi off immediately, because he'd assumed the winner would get to decide, and he would have chosen the topic that seemed, you know, interesting. He's not put out, though. He just scratches his chin for a moment.]

A little, yeah. In some ways. You're a lot more talkative.

[It's not an accusation. It's just true.]

[weenwoon]

[He laughs. Well, it's not wrong...]

'Tis an accusation oft laid at my doorstep, that much is true. But if not my eloquence, then what is it? My general disposition?

[scension]

Hmm... maybe? He does like making strange jokes sometimes.

[Again, no value judgement there. It's just the way Hythlo seems to be when not crying.

He could leave it at that, but he's clearly still thinking. He wants to pin it down a little better for his own peace of mind, too.]

The world was a different place when he was alive. I don't know if he ever got... culture shock. I never asked. You just made me wonder. That's pretty much it.

[Yeah, that works. Thinking time over. It's now time to absently poke at his boba cup with one finger until it starts to turn around.]

[weenwoon]

[Hythlo gives an inquisitive hum.]

Are my jokes truly strange? I thought them to be rather good!

[That's obviously the most important part there... or, well, he's aware there are more serious things to tackle here, but look, his sense of humour is supposed to be good!

He leans back in his seat to sip his boba, looking thoughtful but not at all disturbed.]

Hmmm... I would guess that he must have been shaken at first, too. Abrupt change is always scary, is it not? Particularly when it is so drastic... and when there is little and less you can do to change the world, only submit to the new laws.

[He stares out the window. Fortunately, it seems as though the earlier crying helped ease the burden on his mind and while he's not happy about the things he's talking about, he's more philosophical about it.]

[scension]

I don't know. I think it depends.

[But when he said that was pretty much it just now, he really did run out of coherent philosophical commentary. He takes a potentially unwisely large gulp of his boba, instead. Glug.]

[weenwoon]

[He actually ponders that answer for a little while.]

I wonder... Mayhaps the people of this world, too, would be shocked and scared should they find themselves in mine, even if there is naught to be afraid of there.

[He takes another sip of his boba, too, but more moderate, unlike Sagi.]

I believe 'tis my turn now? Mayhaps it would be easier if you asked me what you wish to hear more about.

[scension]

Mmf.

[With a little difficulty, he manages to swallow without choking. It only took him three visits to this particular boba shop.]

I was just curious what kind of place it is. Is it an island? A city?

[weenwoon]

[Hythlo nods. Basics are easy enough to cover.]

Ah, yes. Our world is a star, like many others, [he makes a circle shape with his finger], - a sphere with immense energy at its core. Amaurot is the capital of my people, the biggest and most illustrious city on the star. 'Tis where I have abided all my life, but there are many settlements out there.

[scension]

[It may be basic to Hythlo, but the blank look on Sagi's face suggests that Hythlo has already lost him.]

You live on a star? Wow... I've never heard of anything like that.

[So the kind of star he's talking about is... a sphere? Is it constantly on fire or something?]

[weenwoon]

[Cultural misunderstandings ahoy... Hythlo looks confused, too.]

... Hmmm. What do you call your world? As in... how is it structured?

[He's trying to... pose his questions so that Sagi doesn't misunderstand them...]

[scension]

Structured? Well... it's the sky.

[He picks up his unused straw and gestures vaguely above the table.]

All the islands, floating. The stars, somewhere above. [He points a little higher, above the top of his cup, then lower again.] Below us, the Taintclouds. Then below even that, the earth.

[Punctuated with a tap on the table. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if he's not explaining well even with the gestures - he remembers how overwhelming it was to see the earth for the first time, so he expects it's equally hard to wrap your head around the reverse. Still, he's trying his best.]

[weenwoon]

[Hythlo listens with interest. That's a very unusual setup, indeed... but one that sounds fascinating.]

Hmmm... If the islands float, they must needs have a particularly strong source of energy, am I correct? 'Tis not too hard to overcome gravity with the aid of magicks, but doing so on such a grand scale with such massive structures... truly impressive! I would love to learn more.