[being that this is a Magical Texting conversation, kit is completely oblivious to therion's discomfort.]
Mmm, that's true as well. But they usually have your best interest in mind when they do. It's a matter of whether or not you feel that you should change...
...Or whether or not you CAN change. Despite my best efforts, I fear I'll never be one for the culinary arts!
[the tavern in grandport is a little more expensive than most, on account of the fact that his patrons tend to be wealthy merchants, and travelers with less coin aren't exactly in the position of being able to freely walk to another tavern, given that the next closest pub is in goldshore. outside of the bar, kit rifles through his coin pouch, counting out his leaves in hopes that he'll be able to safely afford one pint of ale for himself, and maybe two or three for alfyn, assuming that the apothecary's broad frame is an indication of how much he tends to drink.
it makes him a target for thieves, really — not the slick, cool sort like therion, who can pickpocket the candy straight out of a child's hand, if so inclined, but the crass kind of thief, the brutish kind. with his coin pouch out like this, kit is vulnerable to the type of would-be thug that would snatch his purse out of his hand and outrun him into the night.
fortunately, this is the better side of grandport, and no such unsavory individual has approached him... yet.]
[Alfyn loves Grandport, even though it's too overwhelming for him most of the time. They have so many different things to look at and the selection of herbs for sale is unbelievable and he's absolutely been dragged away by well-meaning friends more than once for things like food and sleep.
Luckily for Kit, his single biggest weakness is a friend in need, so he can forget all about the market once he's done his business and hurry off to meet him there. He comes up behind him with a big grin and an easy clap on the back.]
[with the arrival of the big, strong apothecary from clearwater, maybe kit looks a little less like a target for bandits — nevertheless, he puts his coin-purse away. if he doesn't have enough leaves for the evening, perhaps he'll just help the bartender clean some glasses at the end of the night...]
I'm fine, thank you. [...a statement that seems directly at odds with his messages from earlier.] Shall we? It looks like there are two good seats at the nearest table!
Then they must be just waitin' for us to take 'em!
[He spends the majority of his life smiling like this.
While Kit claims the seats, Alfyn heads over to the bar to order them both drinks. He...doesn't know what Kit likes, actually, so they'll get the same pint of the same mead for now.
Then he sits with a lot of flop and a more relaxed smile. No drinks are harmed in his arrival.]
No, I've not eaten yet. I could do with something hearty, like... potatoes with gravy... or soup. Soups are ever so soothing.
[alfyn seems the sort of person who takes up space with his mere existence, though kit doesn't mind — he's very much the opposite, and tends to shrink into corners, smaller spaces. unlike the majority of drinkers, who calmly hold their mugs one-handed by the handle, kit seizes his pint of mead with both hands, like a squirrel tending to a beloved acorn between its paws.]
[His favorite food is on a plate in front of him.]
Potatoes with gravy, though, that sounds amazing right about now. Something that'll really fill you up. Since this is Grandport, I bet they've got some kind of fancy merchant potatoes just waiting to get eaten.
[kit cracks a smile at alfyn's enthusiasm, though he heaves a sigh for the opulence of grandport, with its abundance of wealthy merchants and coinpouches heavier than the would-be actor's. again, he sips at his mead.]
I'm not sure as I can afford the fancy merchant potatoes. Much as I enjoy my life as a stagehand, it does not pay in leaves. But mayhap the fancy merchants will tip well at our latest production...
Wait, they don't pay you for all that traveling and acting?
[Alfyn's one to talk, but he chooses not to charge people for his work. He could always take coin if he needed it.]
Shucks, I know we helped you get in with the troupe an' all, but I don't think any of us wanted you to starve for it or anything. [He takes a quick drink and claps Kit on the shoulder.] Hey, order whatever you want, okay? My treat.
[...Or H'aanit and Tressa's treat but this is why they don't discuss matters of finance with outside parties.]
Oh, I'm paid well enough in room and board! I don't starve in the least, I assure you!
[it seems kit doth protest too much, with his hands raised as though he means to stop alfyn from somehow marching up to the impresario and demanding better wages for his traveling friend — but he is smiling, and he laughs as he is clapped on the shoulder (the impact seems to shake his small frame).
in the end, the traveler in blue relents, ordering a small dish of potatoes with gravy alongside his mead. alfyn will have to pay for it at the end of the night, no doubt — or rather, alfyn will pay for it with tressa's money — but the cost of the potatoes is a pittance compared to what young madam colzione makes in a day's work, and tressa would probably not want to see kit go without dinner, either, were she here for their meeting.
after their order is placed, and the tavernmaster relays their request to the tavern's cook, kit folds his hands atop the table, tugging at a strap on his gloves.]
...And you, my friend? When the acting-troupe passed through Goldshore, I thought I heard something of an apothecary who asked for no coin...
[Alfyn orders a stew, feeling a sudden ache for the simple but hearty sense of home. As a bonus, it goes very well with his drink. He's sure Tressa won't mind. She has an unimaginable amount of leaves waiting for her if she ever wants it, one plate of potatoes is nothing in the face of that!
He's mid-drink when Kit mentions the rumors around Goldshore and he laughs before he's quite through putting down the mug.]
That's probably me! [Alfyn shakes his head, still grinning, and drums his fingers gently on the handle of his drink.] Guess that's always gonna be kind of a surprise to people. But they were gettin' swindled in Goldshore, on top of havin' something of an epidemic, and that just ain't right. I helped them as much as I could.
[It still speeds up his heart to think about a real apothecary forcing people to suffer from her cures so she could make money on more of them.]
I get chargin' for your work. Most apothecaries don't feel like I do about it. But making people sick just to get paid is despicable.
[kit listens with an appreciative glint in his eyes, breaking eye contact only to take another sip of his drink. the tavern-maid returns with their potatoes soon enough; kit accepts his bowlful with a smile, but he meekly pulls it closer to him, as if he is afraid that someone else will steal his food.]
My father would have never stood for something like that, either. He was an apothecary too, you know, and he was the sort of man who was incapable of turning his back on a person in need. I sometimes wonder if he never came home simply because he found someone else in a crisis...
[Alfyn thanks the tavern-maid with a big bright smile, taking a bite of his food almost immediately. Traveling all 'round the continent is hungry work! Shucks, even a turn around the city's enough to make him need a drink. He pats Kit's shoulder again, a little more gently this time.]
I bet he was a great one, too! ...Still sorry about him not coming home, though.
[Most of all, Alfyn hopes that isn't quite how his own story ends. If Zeph and Nina spent the rest of their lives wondering what'd become of him...that would break his heart.]
It's pretty impossible not to want to do something about it, if I see somebody needing help. Even when I don't exactly know what to do to help them.
[He runs a hand over his hair, sheepish enough to take another bite so he can avoid another sentence right away.]
Please, think nothing of it. There's nothing for you to be sorry over.
[from the lips of any other person, that might sound a bit cold, but kit seems sincere about the sentiment. truly, alfyn has nothing to do with the disappearance of his father — beyond that, it shouldn't really concern him. kit does not expect others to be emotionally invested in his business.]
How many others have you helped so far? I wish I could say that I walk the same path, but I was never very good at mixing potions...
[Maybe a really good, professional, seasoned apothecary would've kept count. Maybe he should've been keeping count all this time?]
This is a little embarrassing, I guess, but shucks, I don't know how many. As many as I can! But I reckon it's always the one in front of me right now that matters the most anyway.
[And he turns his sunlight grin on Kit and his potatoes.]
[That came out of nowhere; Alfyn damn near chokes on his swallow of drink, putting the mug down to wipe his mouth on his sleeve while he goggles at Kit.]
I'm not- uh, that's- what I'm sayin' is-
[He's a little red and still half-coughing some. Get it together, Alfyn.]
I don't think so? No more popular than any other regular guy, I'd guess. You want a man who's a real ladies' favorite, then you'd need to talk to the Professor. He'll tell you you're mad, though. Just doesn't see it.
[But...is that really what Kit was asking? Alfyn runs a hand through his hair.]
I mean, I guess women like me fine? Ain't really had any unsettling advances from one I wasn't treating.
...So you've had advances from women you were treating?
[kit's tone... is so flat... that it's impossible to know what he is thinking. even worse is the fact that he seems to be squinting at alfyn from over his mug of mead!]
People aren't always at their best when they're sick or in pain. They say stuff they don't really mean, even when it's just 'cause they're relieved it doesn't hurt anymore.
[alfyn is even more considerate than kit originally realized — not that kit ever thought of him as inconsiderate, but it's a matter of the depth of it, the sincerity. secretly, he's a little impressed.]
Even so, I'm sure you have your own share of admirers. It's just not as obvious as it is with Professor Albright.
[He doesn't know what he'd do if too many of them (or any of them) started showing up and admiring him in person. It'd get uncomfortable fast, that's for sure.]
What about you? Bein' in the theater must get you noticed a lot!
Oh, no, not at all! I'm just a stagehand, remember?
[kit waves his hand as he laughs and shakes his head, using that same hand to scoop up a spoonful of potatoes after another moment.]
Elizabeta gets the most admirers — being our dancer, and very beautiful besides. And of the men, Theodor — that's the man your friend introduced me to — I daresay he is the most popular. But I only appear between scenes to adjust things on the stage and so forth.
[a troubled expression crosses his face...]
...Though... Theodor did tell me once that there was a man who asked to meet me specifically. The impresario shooed him away, though. Said he'd be disappointed. I wonder why?
[Even though Kit says he's just a stagehand, Alfyn has had a good time picturing him doing the acting. He's not the biggest or strongest looking fella but he has...something, a kind of charisma that makes you want to talk to him, to find out what he's about.
Alfyn Greengrass, certified theater expert, thinks he'd be great.]
He didn't even describe him or anything? ...And hey! That impresario'd better get a better idea about you, and fast.
[there is something about kit that seems to buzz beneath the surface. it doesn't boil, or bubble, or anything like that — rather, it's more as though it simmers, perhaps with a gentle burble every now and then. if "untapped potential" had a sensation to go with it, that's the strange quality that kit seems to have, when he looks at you, and he smiles.
or maybe it's nothing, and he's no one, just like every other "no one" one passes on the street.]
Ah, no — as I said, the impresario is very kind! I got the impression that he was trying to, er, protect me? Somehow? But I'm not quite sure how... or why...
[Alfyn was plenty of no one, too, until he started trying to be somebody, even if only for himself.]
Yeah, I got a good feelin' from that guy, even if he was really tied up in his work. I guess you've gotta be.
[From one cheery workaholic to another.]
Good to hear he's on your side, though. I couldn't believe how many darn questionable characters we kept runnin' into, when we first started out. After a while I had a better sense of 'em, but...let's say the price for that was pretty high. So I'm really happy to hear your troupe looks out for its own.
[He tilts his mug in not quite a toast and grins.]
All righty. What's the best part of bein' a stagehand?
[kit reacts as though he's never had cause to think about it — eyes wide, he ponders the slope of alfyn's face for a moment as he considers how he should answer.]
...Well, to be honest, I don't much care for working on the night of the show itself. But the preparation beforehand... I enjoy setting up the stage, and painting backdrops, and making props, that sort of thing. We recently did a show about sailors, and I had to knot quite a lot of rope for that, but I enjoyed it.
[he laughs, embarrassed, into the bottom of his mug.]
In another life, perhaps, I could have made a fine apprentice to a craftsman! ...But I choose to travel, so I can't very well do that now.
There's no reason you still couldn't, is there? If life in a traveling troupe stops being what you want to do, there're plenty of places looking for apprentices who're as dedicated as you, I bet.
[Plus he damn near lights up when he talks about getting to do useful things with his hands. Alfyn recognizes that feeling.]
Think you all'd consider coming through Clearbrook sometime? We're pretty simple folks but we'd love the show all the same.
[in truth, something like a painter's life might suit kit — somehow, he doesn't seem sturdy enough to be a blacksmith or an armorer, and his thoughts aren't nearly occupied enough with fashion for him to be a skilled tailor. he's a surprisingly deft hand with a brush, though, just as alfyn turns more careful when it comes to mixing potions and poultices to help others.
like kit's father.]
Oh, I'd be honored! The impresario took us to Atlasdam to perform there for a time, but the people there were all — well — too analytical, you understand. Everywhere else, people simply want a second glimpse of Elizabeta, but there, the scholars would not stop asking me how I made a certain stage trick work, and it was a little overwhelming. I'd much rather perform for children... or "simple folks," as you say.
[He thinks of how Nina and Lily would enjoy a show about sailors, about all the things they could only imagine in stories, things that were and weren't in the big wide world around sweet Clearbrook.]
If you decide to do it, let me know! I'll meet you there if I can, show you around. The fresh air and the fishing can't be beat, not even by the sea!
[In his personal and wholly unbiased opinion.
Of course.]
Couldn't fit your whole troupe in my house, but some of you're welcome to stay there - it'd save you the cost of a night at the inn.
[kit fixes alfyn with a soft smile as the young man rambles on. it is somewhat later into the evening now, and the bar has more people in its seats now than there were before, but the cloaked traveler pays the hustle and bustle around them no mind as he focuses on alfyn's good cheer and good company.]
You really do love your hometown, don't you?
[did my father ever love our town half as much? kit wonders, but this is not a question that anyone can answer for him, and he keeps it to himself.]
...If there are people waiting for you at home, though, you should stop by and visit them every now and then. Unless you swore some sort of oath to not return until your quest is complete...
Oh, nah, nothin' like that! When we pass by I make sure and stop in. It's always great to see everybody, and always hard to leave.
[He has a lot more he could say about Clearbrook but he can sort of tell he's...rambling, a lot. The rest of his traveling party made him more aware of this tendency a long time ago. Besides, Kit looks a little distant and sad.]
You sure you don't have something else on your mind?
No... or rather, I don't mean to make the conversation about me...
[anxiously, kit taps his fingers against his glass, ]
...I can't help but think of my father when I see you, that's all. Ah — it's not a resemblance or anything like that — but he was like you, in certain ways. The same occupation, as I've said, and a similar build... a similar ponytail, too.
[kit laughs to himself at that, self-consciously pulling his own long hair over one shoulder.]
He told me he would be gone for a long time, but that he would return. And then he didn't, so...
[Oh, wow. Alfyn runs a hand through his hair and actually looks a little...embarrassed? Flustered by the attention, for sure.]
Shucks, Kit. I did know you cared, but it's still real sweet to hear it outright like that. If it helps your worry any, I don't try to get into any big trouble while I'm on the road.
[Sometimes it just...finds them.
Missing a lost parent, though, that's something Alfyn can understand.]
What'd he go away to do? Do you remember if he told you?
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trustfallen
He can't save me from myself!
[at least he's self-aware...]
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No one can stop you from being the kind of person that you are.
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... i guess not.
Doesn't stop people from trying.
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Mmm, that's true as well. But they usually have your best interest in mind when they do. It's a matter of whether or not you feel that you should change...
...Or whether or not you CAN change. Despite my best efforts, I fear I'll never be one for the culinary arts!
apothecarry
[the tavern in grandport is a little more expensive than most, on account of the fact that his patrons tend to be wealthy merchants, and travelers with less coin aren't exactly in the position of being able to freely walk to another tavern, given that the next closest pub is in goldshore. outside of the bar, kit rifles through his coin pouch, counting out his leaves in hopes that he'll be able to safely afford one pint of ale for himself, and maybe two or three for alfyn, assuming that the apothecary's broad frame is an indication of how much he tends to drink.
it makes him a target for thieves, really — not the slick, cool sort like therion, who can pickpocket the candy straight out of a child's hand, if so inclined, but the crass kind of thief, the brutish kind. with his coin pouch out like this, kit is vulnerable to the type of would-be thug that would snatch his purse out of his hand and outrun him into the night.
fortunately, this is the better side of grandport, and no such unsavory individual has approached him... yet.]
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Luckily for Kit, his single biggest weakness is a friend in need, so he can forget all about the market once he's done his business and hurry off to meet him there. He comes up behind him with a big grin and an easy clap on the back.]
Hey there! Everything going all right?
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[with the arrival of the big, strong apothecary from clearwater, maybe kit looks a little less like a target for bandits — nevertheless, he puts his coin-purse away. if he doesn't have enough leaves for the evening, perhaps he'll just help the bartender clean some glasses at the end of the night...]
I'm fine, thank you. [...a statement that seems directly at odds with his messages from earlier.] Shall we? It looks like there are two good seats at the nearest table!
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[He spends the majority of his life smiling like this.
While Kit claims the seats, Alfyn heads over to the bar to order them both drinks. He...doesn't know what Kit likes, actually, so they'll get the same pint of the same mead for now.
Then he sits with a lot of flop and a more relaxed smile. No drinks are harmed in his arrival.]
Did you eat yet? We could make a meal out of it.
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[alfyn seems the sort of person who takes up space with his mere existence, though kit doesn't mind — he's very much the opposite, and tends to shrink into corners, smaller spaces. unlike the majority of drinkers, who calmly hold their mugs one-handed by the handle, kit seizes his pint of mead with both hands, like a squirrel tending to a beloved acorn between its paws.]
What sort of foods do you like?
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[His favorite food is on a plate in front of him.]
Potatoes with gravy, though, that sounds amazing right about now. Something that'll really fill you up. Since this is Grandport, I bet they've got some kind of fancy merchant potatoes just waiting to get eaten.
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I'm not sure as I can afford the fancy merchant potatoes. Much as I enjoy my life as a stagehand, it does not pay in leaves. But mayhap the fancy merchants will tip well at our latest production...
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[Alfyn's one to talk, but he chooses not to charge people for his work. He could always take coin if he needed it.]
Shucks, I know we helped you get in with the troupe an' all, but I don't think any of us wanted you to starve for it or anything. [He takes a quick drink and claps Kit on the shoulder.] Hey, order whatever you want, okay? My treat.
[...Or H'aanit and Tressa's treat but this is why they don't discuss matters of finance with outside parties.]
An' they'd better tip you!
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[it seems kit doth protest too much, with his hands raised as though he means to stop alfyn from somehow marching up to the impresario and demanding better wages for his traveling friend — but he is smiling, and he laughs as he is clapped on the shoulder (the impact seems to shake his small frame).
in the end, the traveler in blue relents, ordering a small dish of potatoes with gravy alongside his mead. alfyn will have to pay for it at the end of the night, no doubt — or rather, alfyn will pay for it with tressa's money — but the cost of the potatoes is a pittance compared to what young madam colzione makes in a day's work, and tressa would probably not want to see kit go without dinner, either, were she here for their meeting.
after their order is placed, and the tavernmaster relays their request to the tavern's cook, kit folds his hands atop the table, tugging at a strap on his gloves.]
...And you, my friend? When the acting-troupe passed through Goldshore, I thought I heard something of an apothecary who asked for no coin...
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He's mid-drink when Kit mentions the rumors around Goldshore and he laughs before he's quite through putting down the mug.]
That's probably me! [Alfyn shakes his head, still grinning, and drums his fingers gently on the handle of his drink.] Guess that's always gonna be kind of a surprise to people. But they were gettin' swindled in Goldshore, on top of havin' something of an epidemic, and that just ain't right. I helped them as much as I could.
[It still speeds up his heart to think about a real apothecary forcing people to suffer from her cures so she could make money on more of them.]
I get chargin' for your work. Most apothecaries don't feel like I do about it. But making people sick just to get paid is despicable.
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[kit listens with an appreciative glint in his eyes, breaking eye contact only to take another sip of his drink. the tavern-maid returns with their potatoes soon enough; kit accepts his bowlful with a smile, but he meekly pulls it closer to him, as if he is afraid that someone else will steal his food.]
My father would have never stood for something like that, either. He was an apothecary too, you know, and he was the sort of man who was incapable of turning his back on a person in need. I sometimes wonder if he never came home simply because he found someone else in a crisis...
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I bet he was a great one, too! ...Still sorry about him not coming home, though.
[Most of all, Alfyn hopes that isn't quite how his own story ends. If Zeph and Nina spent the rest of their lives wondering what'd become of him...that would break his heart.]
It's pretty impossible not to want to do something about it, if I see somebody needing help. Even when I don't exactly know what to do to help them.
[He runs a hand over his hair, sheepish enough to take another bite so he can avoid another sentence right away.]
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[from the lips of any other person, that might sound a bit cold, but kit seems sincere about the sentiment. truly, alfyn has nothing to do with the disappearance of his father — beyond that, it shouldn't really concern him. kit does not expect others to be emotionally invested in his business.]
How many others have you helped so far? I wish I could say that I walk the same path, but I was never very good at mixing potions...
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[Maybe a really good, professional, seasoned apothecary would've kept count. Maybe he should've been keeping count all this time?]
This is a little embarrassing, I guess, but shucks, I don't know how many. As many as I can! But I reckon it's always the one in front of me right now that matters the most anyway.
[And he turns his sunlight grin on Kit and his potatoes.]
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...A-Alfyn, you're popular with women, aren't you?
[or maybe it's exactly the opposite, but...]
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I'm not- uh, that's- what I'm sayin' is-
[He's a little red and still half-coughing some. Get it together, Alfyn.]
I don't think so? No more popular than any other regular guy, I'd guess. You want a man who's a real ladies' favorite, then you'd need to talk to the Professor. He'll tell you you're mad, though. Just doesn't see it.
[But...is that really what Kit was asking? Alfyn runs a hand through his hair.]
I mean, I guess women like me fine? Ain't really had any unsettling advances from one I wasn't treating.
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[kit's tone... is so flat... that it's impossible to know what he is thinking. even worse is the fact that he seems to be squinting at alfyn from over his mug of mead!]
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People aren't always at their best when they're sick or in pain. They say stuff they don't really mean, even when it's just 'cause they're relieved it doesn't hurt anymore.
[Then he shrugs.]
I'd never act on somethin' like that.
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[alfyn is even more considerate than kit originally realized — not that kit ever thought of him as inconsiderate, but it's a matter of the depth of it, the sincerity. secretly, he's a little impressed.]
Even so, I'm sure you have your own share of admirers. It's just not as obvious as it is with Professor Albright.
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[He doesn't know what he'd do if too many of them (or any of them) started showing up and admiring him in person. It'd get uncomfortable fast, that's for sure.]
What about you? Bein' in the theater must get you noticed a lot!
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[kit waves his hand as he laughs and shakes his head, using that same hand to scoop up a spoonful of potatoes after another moment.]
Elizabeta gets the most admirers — being our dancer, and very beautiful besides. And of the men, Theodor — that's the man your friend introduced me to — I daresay he is the most popular. But I only appear between scenes to adjust things on the stage and so forth.
[a troubled expression crosses his face...]
...Though... Theodor did tell me once that there was a man who asked to meet me specifically. The impresario shooed him away, though. Said he'd be disappointed. I wonder why?
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[Even though Kit says he's just a stagehand, Alfyn has had a good time picturing him doing the acting. He's not the biggest or strongest looking fella but he has...something, a kind of charisma that makes you want to talk to him, to find out what he's about.
Alfyn Greengrass, certified theater expert, thinks he'd be great.]
He didn't even describe him or anything? ...And hey! That impresario'd better get a better idea about you, and fast.
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or maybe it's nothing, and he's no one, just like every other "no one" one passes on the street.]
Ah, no — as I said, the impresario is very kind! I got the impression that he was trying to, er, protect me? Somehow? But I'm not quite sure how... or why...
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Yeah, I got a good feelin' from that guy, even if he was really tied up in his work. I guess you've gotta be.
[From one cheery workaholic to another.]
Good to hear he's on your side, though. I couldn't believe how many darn questionable characters we kept runnin' into, when we first started out. After a while I had a better sense of 'em, but...let's say the price for that was pretty high. So I'm really happy to hear your troupe looks out for its own.
[He tilts his mug in not quite a toast and grins.]
All righty. What's the best part of bein' a stagehand?
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[kit reacts as though he's never had cause to think about it — eyes wide, he ponders the slope of alfyn's face for a moment as he considers how he should answer.]
...Well, to be honest, I don't much care for working on the night of the show itself. But the preparation beforehand... I enjoy setting up the stage, and painting backdrops, and making props, that sort of thing. We recently did a show about sailors, and I had to knot quite a lot of rope for that, but I enjoyed it.
[he laughs, embarrassed, into the bottom of his mug.]
In another life, perhaps, I could have made a fine apprentice to a craftsman! ...But I choose to travel, so I can't very well do that now.
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[Plus he damn near lights up when he talks about getting to do useful things with his hands. Alfyn recognizes that feeling.]
Think you all'd consider coming through Clearbrook sometime? We're pretty simple folks but we'd love the show all the same.
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like kit's father.]
Oh, I'd be honored! The impresario took us to Atlasdam to perform there for a time, but the people there were all — well — too analytical, you understand. Everywhere else, people simply want a second glimpse of Elizabeta, but there, the scholars would not stop asking me how I made a certain stage trick work, and it was a little overwhelming. I'd much rather perform for children... or "simple folks," as you say.
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[He thinks of how Nina and Lily would enjoy a show about sailors, about all the things they could only imagine in stories, things that were and weren't in the big wide world around sweet Clearbrook.]
If you decide to do it, let me know! I'll meet you there if I can, show you around. The fresh air and the fishing can't be beat, not even by the sea!
[In his personal and wholly unbiased opinion.
Of course.]
Couldn't fit your whole troupe in my house, but some of you're welcome to stay there - it'd save you the cost of a night at the inn.
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You really do love your hometown, don't you?
[did my father ever love our town half as much? kit wonders, but this is not a question that anyone can answer for him, and he keeps it to himself.]
...If there are people waiting for you at home, though, you should stop by and visit them every now and then. Unless you swore some sort of oath to not return until your quest is complete...
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[He has a lot more he could say about Clearbrook but he can sort of tell he's...rambling, a lot. The rest of his traveling party made him more aware of this tendency a long time ago. Besides, Kit looks a little distant and sad.]
You sure you don't have something else on your mind?
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[anxiously, kit taps his fingers against his glass, ]
...I can't help but think of my father when I see you, that's all. Ah — it's not a resemblance or anything like that — but he was like you, in certain ways. The same occupation, as I've said, and a similar build... a similar ponytail, too.
[kit laughs to himself at that, self-consciously pulling his own long hair over one shoulder.]
He told me he would be gone for a long time, but that he would return. And then he didn't, so...
...Perhaps I just worry about you by extension.
no subject
Shucks, Kit. I did know you cared, but it's still real sweet to hear it outright like that. If it helps your worry any, I don't try to get into any big trouble while I'm on the road.
[Sometimes it just...finds them.
Missing a lost parent, though, that's something Alfyn can understand.]
What'd he go away to do? Do you remember if he told you?