A Forest Interlude
Log Info
- Title: A Forest Interlude
- Summary: Following recent events, Jarik and Skyler discuss magitech, the edibility of fiendish beef, and reckless acts over watch.
Late watch is something Jarik likes to handle himself. Or rather, there's something about the solitude of the night that he enjoys. Though the darkness is not as deep as usual, the snow taking what little ambient light there is and casting it back over and over to create more the feel of twilight than midnight. The half-oruch sits close enough to the smoldering low fire to feel some of its warmth, but has his back turned to it to spare his night vision, and looks out into the wintery woods in near silence. Grey wing hoots softly on a tree branch overhead, keeping his own watch from on high.
When the two were on their way to Alexandria, Skyler usually took the early watches. For one thing, he doesn't have any kind of night or low-light vision. For another, he is in infamously deep sleeper that after years on a sky ship has learned to sleep through anything short of pitched battle... and he might even be able to manage that! The fact he was down for the count and still fairly badly injured doesn't help him stay awake.
Which is why it's probably a surprise to the half-oruch when he feels a familiar presence settle in beside him. Skyler's got a blanket wrapped around him against the chill, but offers a tin cup of hot cider to the witch-man. "Well." He says brightly, "That was a day, huh?"
The sound that comes from Jarik at the question is somewhere between a grunt, a laugh, and a snort. Though he accepts the warm drink with a grateful nod. "That's one way to describe it." He says as he rubs at his chest with a wince. The injury had long been magicked away, but the memory remained. "It's not time to swap watch yet, is it?" He asks, looking up into the sky with a squint as he tries to judge what time it is.
"Naah." With his dark vision, Jarik can see the broad grin that stretches across the Myrrish pirate's face, along with the worrisome gleam in the pale grey-green eyes that usually presages an act of utter recklessness, "I'm just too keyed up to sleep. Something about healing magic makes my toes itch." He begins to spread his legs out in front of him, but grimaces at the chill and pulls them back.
He gives Jarik a shoulder-bump, turning to frown as his friend touches his chest. "You good? I saw you get gored pretty bad." He frowns, "You let that inquisitor patch you up, right?"
The wood witch just shakes his head at his companion's roguish grin. IT doesn't work on him, no siree. Jarik just keeps his eyes focused out into the woods. "The itch is how you know it's working." He shakes his head once more at the question. "No, I handled most of it myself." Well, just barely, but as a healer himself he doesn't like having to admit someone was helping him on that front. Professional pride and all that. "I'm good as new."
If the former pirate believed that, he'd probably jab Jarik in the gut to prove it. That he doesn't? Well. That shows he's not buying what Jarik is trying to sell. Instead, he just unwraps the blanket, throws it over Jarik's arms, and scoots closer so they're side by side and he can make sure they're *both* warm.
That or he's attempting to steal the body heat from the half-orc.
"So what do you think we're getting ourselves into?" He asks instead, cocking his head slightly, "I admit, I was kind of surprised but not really when some fiendish dude popped out of the woodwork. Think we're gunna have to kill'm?"
Jarik smiles faintly as the blanket settles around his shoulders, not that he lets Skyler see the smile. That would be giving too much away. He shifts his arm to let the former pirate lean in and pilfer some heat though.
"Makes sense a herd of demon cows would have a demon rancher who is in charge of them." He says, shrugging. "Never been shot by one of those.. what're they? Dragonspitters? One of those before.."
The lean is companionable but not intimate, just two friends sharing warmth in a cold camp, right?
RIGHT?!
"Dragonspitters." Skyler confirms with a frown, "Couple of my old crew used them.. They're a good ranged option, if you can get the trick of reloading down." He waves a hand in the air dismissively, "I never figured out the trick. Misfired and nearly took an eye out. While having one eye would certainly be *dashing* it'd probably kill depth perception and make for difficulty fighting." He wrinkles his nose, "Hard to leap on someone's back when you can't quite see it clearly, yeah?"
Jarik wrinkles his nose a bit at the talk of the firearms. "Seems unnecessarily loud and flashy." He points out. "Crossbows and bows are much better, and not that hard to reload." He adds with a scoff. "Speaking of.." He says when Skyler mentions jumping on someone's back. "That was.. dangerous. I worried you were going to get gored." And technically he did.
"It's the start of new and exciting magitech, my friend." Skyler says amiably with a grin over at the other man as he bumps shoulders with him again under the blanket, "They're quite a bit stronger than a crossbow bolt, and easier to enchant from what I hear." He chuckles, "Not that I'd know. I tried to study magic back in my misspent youth and I couldn't even figure out how to open the damned lock on the magic book."
When the talk comes to his recklessness, he sucks in a breath through his teeth, rolling his shoulders to keep from tensing up defensively. "I technically did." Skyler says ruefully, echoing his friend's thoughts. "But the plan was to steer them into the bigger mass you lot had gathered, and then jump before they made impact." He shakes his head sadly, and adds, "But it wasn't like it was the same bull I tried to ride. *That* one is dead." Beat. "We should have carved the meat up. Do you think Fiendish beef is pre-cooked? Or is it like a spicy tartar?"
"Magitch." Jarik mumbles, not sounding overly pleased with the concepts, and he looks even more rueful as Skyler brings up magic books. "I manage just fine without a book." He states simply, taking a gulp of his warmed cider. He doesn't chastise Skyler about his stunt either, simply giving him a look and saying, "Try not to be too reckless tomorrow?" He doesn't actually expect and answer, but his eyes flick up to the sky.
"Probably tainted, bad eating." He nods after a moment of skyward watching. "Your shift." He murmurs, moving the blanket off his shoulders and back to his companion's. "I need some sleep." He pats Skyler on the shoulder before getting to his feet and trudging over to his own bedroll.
As the half-oruch moves to leave, Skyler reaches up to grab his wrist, pausing with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. His mouth opens like he's about to say something, but he pauses, slowly letting go and letting his fingers slide off the other man's wrist.
"Sleep well, Jar." He says instead, and grins with his usual cocky expression, "I'll be sure to wake you first if anything fun pops up." He then shifts to sit in the warm spot left behind, pulling blankets tight against him, turning his face into the shadows.