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[heartofthestar]

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[placation]

Ah, great! Thank you so much!

I leave that up to you. I haven't had time to see much of this place outside the garden and the woods near the housing district. The perils of trying to establish a business...

[heartofthestar]

Then I suggest we travel up the Starlight Cliff. Both the view atop it and on the way to it are marvelous.

[placation]

Oh! Near the all seeing, all knowing, all powerful crystal of dubious accountability, right?

I saw it from afar when I went to get my business license. Yes, let's!

I'll meet you at the base.

[ This is going to be the most he has hiked in half a decade at least. Oh boy. ]

[heartofthestar]

Splendid! Argos and I will meet you there anon.

[placation]

Argos?

[heartofthestar]

Ah, I forget you have not met him. He is my familiar.

[placation]

Oh! Like a pet, sort of, right? I know that's simplifying things, but...

Haha, hopefully he likes me. I love animals, but they rarely feel the same.

[heartofthestar]

So long as you do not attempt to ride him. Argos is particularly picky about who he chooses to carry. But as we cannot fly on the path anyway, that will be quite unnecessary in any circumstance.

[placation]

Ride him? Fly?? Ah, how big is he...???

[ And is he sized down to scale like she is????? Probably better not to ask. ]

[heartofthestar]

[Rather than use words, Venat sends over a photo she'd snapped. ]

[placation]

Holy...

Wow.

Okay, I hope he likes me, because if not I think he could actually eat me.

[heartofthestar]

He has yet to eat anyone that I am aware of. If you go missing during this trip, I shall have to start considering whether I need to investigate more thoroughly.

> action !!

[placation]

"If"... So you're saying there's a possibility...

Hah, just kidding. See you soon!

[ As ever: What the hell is he doing?

He's packing up his satchel to go hike a cliff and sleep under the stars with, by and large, the most fascinating person to him in Somnius. That's what he's doing.

He doesn't really have anything suited for sleeping outside, but he stuffs one of the blankets Akechi bought him into the satchel, swings through the kitchen on his way out, and leaves Aubrey and Akechi to their goddamn rampage.

It isn't a terrible walk over to the base of the cliffs, and it's nice to be out on a crisp night, even if he has to dodge a couple stray locals caught in their throes of their strange fervor.

When Venat spots him, he'll be carrying a thermos in each hand, never one to arrive to a... get together... without something to share. ]

Hail and well met, Venat-san, or whatever the phrase may be!

[heartofthestar]

[Venat lifts a hand in greeting, while by her side, Argos looks at Maruki with a faint, vaguely snobbish and vaguely jealous dispassion. With a gentle tap to his nose to remonstrate him, Venat crosses the distance between the two to greet him properly.]

You look well. Whatever risk plagues you must not have set its teeth in too deep, quite yet.

[placation]

[ WHAT THE DOG DOIN??? He's HUGE. Maruki can't help but stop and stare behind her as she approaches, transfixed. ]

Oh, wow. You weren't kidding.

[ Eyes back on Venat, smiling hugely! He's so glad to see her again. It hasn't even been long, but her wandering ways and his... well, everything he has going on means it's not half as often as he'd like. ]

Thank you, I managed to make it through the town in one piece, which isn't always a given. It's a banner day. Ah, here!

[ A thermos extended. ]

I made tea so we could have a treat once we get... all the way up there...

[ It really is a cliff, huh... ]

[heartofthestar]

[Venat would happily spend more time with Maruki, but quite reasonably assumes that 'everything' he refers to would make her more of an inconvenience than a welcome companion for most of it! But time with a friend is never to be shunned.]

[She accepts the thermos with a smile.] Tea truly is a popular drink here, is it not? I think I may have had more here than in my lifetime before, though do note that's no complaint. And all the more reason we ought to start climbing. Would you care for a proper walking stick?

[placation]

[ VENAT PLEASE YOU ARE NEVER AN INCONVENIENCE SAVE HIM FROM ALL THESE YAHOOS HE IS SURROUNDED BY ]

Ah, a walking stick? Please! That would probably help.

[ A little grin. ]

Are you going to summon it, or should I start finding particularly sturdy looking branches on trees?

[heartofthestar]

You already have the measure of me, so keenly! [Laughing, a soft and quiet thing, she closes her hand around a coalescing shine of blue energy. It becomes a walking stick, but of blue crystal rather than wood, save for a comfortable grip set into it.]

[She offers it over, with a smile and eyes still bright from humor.]

[placation]

[ God, it's so cool. Maruki has no poker face for how impressive he finds any display of her powers, so wildly different from everything he's ever known. He accepts the staff gratefully. ]

I'll treasure it. Thank you.

[ He means it sincerely, too. Dork.

Maruki peeks around her again at Argos. ]

Should I say hello? How much can he understand...?

[heartofthestar]

Everything. He is, after all, a familiar.

[Argos looks rather expectantly at Maruki, clearly anticipating an apology for talking over his head -- metaphorically, anyway.]

[placation]

Oh! I didn't know that's how they work. Some people talk to their pets in my reality, but they can't understand...

[ That conflation is probably offensive, so he immediately winces apologetically and extends a hand to Argos. ]

Hi there. Thank you for letting me interrupt your time with Venat-san.

[ ... ]

Are you also normally five times your current height too?

[heartofthestar]

[Argos quite solemnly puts his paw in Maruki's hand to shake, proving that he is obviously the best of all possible familiars. Venat's familiar seems far more staid than she does...]

It would have been difficult to ride him otherwise.

[placation]

[ ABSOLUTELY the best of all familiars. Good dog, best friend!!! ]

That's still unbelievable to me! Is that how you got around while you were a traveler?

[ Please, Venat, spin him a tale while they set off on the path up the cliff. He'll need the distraction from how much he forgot he is Not A Hiker. ]

[heartofthestar]

We crossed the length and breadth of Etheirys. There is far too much for anyone to see no matter how long they spent doing it, but we saw more of it than most anyone else.

[Venat is, of course, quite unfair as a hiking companion. Her steps are sure and unhesitating, her robes somehow never getting tangled in undergrowth or caught on a tree's bark. Might as well be a stroll in a meadow for her.]

In many ways, I saw two different sights for every place -- one from on high, one from the ground. Of course, when it came to islands and suchforth, the difference was not so incredibly great, but instead that showed the isolation of those small patches of land amidst the ocean.

Perhaps I shall convince Argos to carry you, someday. A new perspective will doubtless be useful to you, in your work.

[placation]

[ Oh, it's INCREDIBLY unfair. And she's taller than him, too! Longer, more graceful strides! How is that legal!!!

Maruki does his best to keep up, though. The walking stick really is an immense help, and it adds a certain mystical air to a comparatively simple trek than what she's describing. Atmospheric, almost. ]

That would be incredible, of course, but I'll be sure I've earned his favor and trust first! No need to force it on my account, hah...

Did you ever find that you preferred one view of a place over the other?

[ It's a genuine curiosity. He thinks of Tokyo, how he could continue living there all his life and likely still never see all that there is to see – would he prefer a bird's eye view of the whole beautiful, crowded sprawl of the city, or his well worn routes in densely packed subway stations and quiet suburb alleyways? Both have their appeal, which he figures is the point, but the question stands anyway. ]