Snails and Puppy-Dog Tails (Phobius)

[Summer Dole]

Fall of 514AV, 11th

Summer stepped into the street with nothing but satchel and coin. The street itself wasn’t significant. It was cobbled; held houses along either side, and would take Summer from point A to B. If she could find B. If she was at A. Alvadas was tricky like that. Each and every step took her somewhere else. What she needed was someone or something that knew where the somewhere else would be.

Luck, chance, fate or the grace of an unknown deity lead Summer to the Sanity Center. She had been there once. She went there then. The satchel she tucked into her belt, out of the way (and hiding her coin), as to open the door. The sight that greeted her was the same as when she first arrived. Crowded. Summer was positive someone had gotten lost in the mess, never to emerge.

“Back so soon?” The counter woman welcomed unenthusiastically.

“Yes.”

“Well, out with it. You need to find a place?”

“No...I need someone who can take me to a place or take things to my place. It doesn’t matter which.”

“An Alvadas guide? I can’t think of anyone who’d be willing. There are a few couriers who might have some free time. Try Phebe? Phobe? Phobeaus? Something with us at the end, nice kid, red hair. Can’t miss him.”

It was a dismissal if Summer ever heard one. She gave the harried woman a nod of thanks and stepped out into entrance of the city. It was at that precise moment that she knew she would never find the ‘us’ red-head. The woman had said ‘might have time’. Who would have time if they spent the day running about? Then Summer would have to pay him. That hadn’t been factored into her food budget and she didn’t want to buy anyone food…maybe he would take tasting (testing) as payment. At worse he’d die from eating something inedible. Not that hers was that bad. At least, not all the time.

It took some time, and several passerby’s before Summer remembered she was supposed to be looking for someone not just walking and staring at nothing. But there was nothing to go by. No landmarks, no acquaintances. Summer would roll her eyes and walk more; there was nothing else for it. Just to walk more. Until she thought she might have seen tents but, there it went, altered before she could turn back. As such when she completed her turn she would be right back where she started. Not strictly speaking the exact same just…in the sense that it was a street. Though this street, unlike the other, had people and one of these people happened to be a red-head. “Us!”

Summer shouted but no one actually looked. Without further ado she snapped forward, “You! With the red-hair! You can take stuff places, can’t you? You’re a courier? I have places to go.”

Subconsciously Summers hand rested on her coin. But her gaze never strayed from his face. Her eyes seeking his should they try to break contact. His were a shade of yellow-gold and his hair was truly red, redder than meats blood that shifted her gaze for a moment and no more.

“Will you take me?”

[Phobius]

Phobius had grown lonely.

The feeling itself was one that was much too familiar to the boy, but it'd taken a while for him to be able to put a name to the unkind, empty feelings that seemed to be swirling within his stomach. He'd woken up earlier than usual, this morning, and had gone through the day in a strange state of lethargy. Miss Georgia had been the first and only person to notice; having become used to the boy's cheery, energetic manner, seeing him act so listless all of a sudden was enough to worry her. She'd asked him if he was alright, if he'd felt ill at all, but the boy had shaken his head and said that he didn't. He'd claimed to be fine, and was surprised that she'd thought that something was wrong.

But something was wrong. The concerned innkeeper was sure of it, and suggested that Phobius go out into town and take a walk to "get some fresh air." And that's just what he did, giving Miss Georgia a less-than-energetic wave as he walked out the door. Since then, Phobius had been wandering about town for a good three bells or so, not really caring too much about where he was going or where he'd end up. It was nice to be outside—the air was crisp, and the sky was blue—but the boy was still troubled, and he had no idea why.

Then it hit him, like a rock had been chucked at his head. He'd been pretty much on his own for the last few days; Kuvarakh hadn't been needing his services as of late, and that left Phobius with a lot of free time. The problem was that he didn't know what to do with all of that extra, unoccupied space. Miss Rana and Rey were still very much friends, in the boy's mind, but he doubted that he could just show up at their doorsteps and ask if they wanted to go and do things, together. They had their own things to do and, as much as he longed for company, Phobius didn't want to be a bother.

He'd gone to look for Krovard a few times, too, but the man almost always wasn't in his room. It seemed as though he had his own things to do, too.

Busy, busy, busy...everyone was busy, except him.

I need a friend, Phobius mused as he walked, his eyes drifting down to the paved sidewalk. Or somebody to talk to...or something to do. Just...something.

That was when, all of a sudden, someone shouted. The Inartan boy raised his head and looked around, a bit startled at the sound. He was even more startled when he noticed that no one else had bothered to turn their heads and look, save for a few curious people. Busy, busy, busy...

Then the shouting started, again, only this time Phobius could tell that it was closer. “You! With the red-hair! You can take stuff places, can’t you? You’re a courier?"

He turned around a few times, searching amidst the thin mass of people until he spotted the apparent owner of the voice approaching him. She was a small woman, with an odd little walk and thick hair that fell past her shoulders. They weren't too far apart from one another, but Phobius assumed that he was taller than her, which was odd, considering that the boy was used to others either being his height or towering above him.

How'd she know who he was...? Maybe Kuvarakh had been talking about him to other people.

Phobius stood and blinked at her, his golden eyes somewhat brightened with curiosity. Quiet for a moment, he eventually brought a smile to his face, though it was a bit lacking in luster, unlike his normal smiles. "Hi! Uhm...yup, I'm a courier. And I take stuff places. If you need to go somewhere, I can probably show you where it is...I've been getting good at not getting lost. ...oh! My name's Phobius. What's yours?"

As he introduced himself, Phobius held a hand out to the woman, encouraging a handshake.


"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Summer Dole]

It was just a boy.

A stuttering, less-than-sure-footed boy. Summer tore her gaze from his face to his hand. She ignored it. He had said probably. Probably meant probably not in most cases. Summer didn’t think he would be different but it wasn’t like she had a lot of options, was it?

“Phobius?” It was close to what the woman said. Summer looked at him silently for a minute, “Mine is Dole. And I don’t shake hands with people I don’t know. I need you to take me to…a place with a lot of food. Not a restaurant. I’m going to make food.”

The thing about Summers cooking was that Summer couldn’t. Well, she could but it wasn’t very good. Sometimes it wasn’t even edible. She never knew what she was going to cook until she seen it, which didn’t help. Ingredients people would never use, she thought to. It was curiosity, plan and simple. Although, it was not always to make the perfect dish, sometimes Summer liked to watch people eat things then tell them what it was. Their faces were priceless and informative.

And that is where her lack of directions got her. Taking directions from a red-headed boy with the ‘us’ name. Summer looked around the street as if she expected the place to appear since she now had her guide. When it didn’t, her gaze sought his again. “I can pay you.” She said shortly. Her hands tightened around her hidden coin. “Some. If we find the ingredients.”

“Where do we go?” She added a few minutes after an awkward pause. Summer wasn’t sure Phobius would know. If he began to walk she followed him, eyes glued to his face anytime words were exchanged. “For that matter, what do you people eat? I haven’t seen anything besides birds. And fish. I don’t like fish.” Summer informed him darkly. Days aboard a ship with soup and fish. It was the least amount (but the most consistent) food she’d ever eaten. At least when she had traveled to Syliras there was squirrels, rats, and nuts for flavor.

“Do you eat fish? What about the fruit? I like peaches. Have you tried them? They’re good in anything. Even dried. You can dry them out in the sun, it’s hot here. It’ll work.”

As Summer talked it could become apparent that she was talking at him, not to him. She didn’t know it but this was something she did frequently when speaking of food. It made her hungry. Literally and metaphorically. Summer was hungry for the things she might be able to do. The things she could cook…speaking of cook. “I’ll cook for you. As payment.”

The half-Zith said as she looked him over. He looked like he could use a good meal (good being a relative term). Having voiced her thoughts Summers hand finally, finally, left the satchel. Content with the knowledge she probably wouldn’t have to pay. Perhaps probably didn’t just mean probably not. It was a new concept (even if she thought it was still wrong and this probably would end with her paying and feeding him).

[Phobius]

Dole? That was a nice name. Admittedly, though, Phobius frowned a little when the woman said that she wouldn't shake his hand. He supposed that it made sense, though; it could be hard to tell whether or not other people were sick or something just by looking at them, and you could probably get sick by shaking hands with the wrong people. Then again, he wasn't feeling woozy or feverish, and made a point to bathe whenever he could.

Maybe Dole just didn't like strangers.

Welp, I guess I'll have to stop being one. I bet when we're friends, she'll be okay with shaking my hand.

It was an encouraging thought, if nothing else. Phobius was used to getting people to like him, and understood that it'd take more time for certain people. In the end, though, he usually at least succeeded in bringing a smile to their faces.

At the woman's request, the boy furrowed his brows a little as he thought. A place with lots of food...a funny thing to ask about, but... "I think...I think the Bizarre would have a lot of food if you went there," Phobius replied after a moment, sounding a lot more questioning than he was confident in is own words. "A lot of merchants from the city set up shops there and sell things. All sorts of things. And sometimes they're from other cities, so they bring weird foods and little trinket-things with them. I've been a few times, too. I bet taking you there would be a snap!"

Wanting to put emphasis on his pseudo-promise, Phobius tried to snap, only to remember that he actually couldn't.

Then the woman mentioned paying, and the boy shook his head. "That's okay, I don't want any money. You should keep it for the things you need to buy. Do you need a lot of ingredients...?"

But then she was moving on, and Phobius let his question hang in the air as Dole went on about food. She spoke a bit quickly, though, and the boy soon found that giving her any answers was hard, considering that there was barely enough time between her questions for him to step in and...well, speak.

“Do you eat fish?"

"A little b—"

"What about the fruit?"

"Oh, I love eating fruit in the mo—"

"I like peaches. Have you tried them?"

"Peaches are really sw—"

And the woman went on and on and on, leaving the poor boy in the dust. He recovered from the onslaught of questions, though, and motioned to her as he started to walk, bringing up his ever-expanding mental layout of the city as he tried to figure out where he was and which way he needed to go.

"You will?" Phobius replied when she offered to cook for him. "That's really nice of you. I don't think I've ever had anybody make food for me before...order food, yeah, but the cooks were the ones who did the cooking, that time...I guess you're a cook too, huh? Do you like cooking a lot? Have you ever worked in a restaurant, before?"

The words didn't run off of his tongue as fast as they seemed to slide off of the woman's, but Phobius' just about as eager (and inclined) to talk as Dole seemed to be.


"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Summer Dole]

Summer gave a snort. “Bizarre? The whole city is bizarre.” Not that she had room to judge but Summer thought calling something within Alvadas bizarre was ironic. Phobius regaled tales of finding great foods which sent her mind spinning. Did she want meats? What of fruits? Would they have peaches? Most of all, could she cook any of it? Summer stilled for half a second to realize she had nothing to cook it on. Mentally she added it to her list while the boy made some strange gesture with his fingers.

Watching the boy gave her a strange sense of amusement. Summer held it down with a subtle shake of her head, unsure if she was laughing at him or with him. He seemed so excited. It reminded her of a puppy. Or a squirrel. The half-Zith felt on edge. Her hands twitched back to her satchel, she couldn’t be sure it wasn’t an act. It brought a bitter taste to her mouth. Summers shoulders hunched forward as she shuffled after him, the city becoming a background of colored noise. Every changing and unimportant.

“Your parents made you food.” Summer argued without heat. “It’s payment, not a gift. But…I wouldn’t mind cooking extra if you wanted some again.” She didn’t want him to think she was doing this for charity. It was payment, not some sort of…kindness. Though perhaps Summer would give him the leftovers. The talk and thought of food was enough to drop her hand again, her shuffle became a looser. Her arms swung gently at her sides then raised in excitement as she spoke. “Yes, I’m a cook. I love it! But I’m still learning. It’s not so hard, you mix things or measure then throw it on fire. The best part is the food! You can try anything. Some things can get you sick. I don’t care much for bland foodth. Have you tried salt? Thalt makes even bland things pathable. Today I plan to make thomething new for the new city. Your foods are strange, Syliras got some of them to trade. I with to try some of them. It’s what I’ll make you--”

She trailed off abruptly, hearing her own words come back. Her lisp was growing present in her excitement. A copper taste filled the back of her throat. She’d cut her tongue again. Summer wet her lips and could feel the sting now that she had stopped talking. The silence brought the rest of Phobiuses questions forth. They halted any momentary good feelings. Did he not see her? Hear her? What restaurant would hire her? She had been lucky to get people to pay her for the food she had made! All Summer had done was steal peeks at what the cooks had done as she had swept up any trash and threw away (or pocketed) the scrap food. Summers shifted away, her head turned to hide her face while she talked. Softer, sharper sentences.

“No. No restaurant. I cook for kids.”

If Phobius noted the change, Summer didn’t notice her eyes caught sight of buildings. She lifted her head. More buildings. The background chatter became louder. “Is this the bizarre?”

OOCIt doesn't have to be the bizarre, she is just bad at subject changing.

[Phobius]

"...Oh."

Parents made food?

Phobius blinked at the woman, looking mildly confused. He considered telling her that he hadn't known his parents, so he wasn't really sure what it felt like to have someone cook for him, let alone be required to, but then decided against it. Even if he'd wanted to bring it up, Dole was quick to talk, again, filling up the somewhat awkward silence that the boy would have otherwise continued to create. She sure likes food, Phobius mused as he watched her go on and on about how much she loved to cook, the sheer excitement that was starting to spill out of her making him smile.

Then she fell silent, all of a sudden, and his smile morphed into a frown. The boy couldn't help but tilt his head a little when the woman turned away from him, a moment later. She hadn't said anything wrong...and he hadn't said a thing since she'd begun to talk about food. Why wouldn't she look at him, anymore?

“No. No restaurant. I cook for kids.”

She doesn't sound too happy about that. I guess it isn't a very fun job...

Phobius frowned a little, suddenly worried that he'd upset Dole or brought up some unkind memories. He opened his mouth to apologize, whether he needed to or not, but then the woman came to a stop and asked if they'd reached the Bizarre. Looking up, Phobius studied the gnarled buildings that were around them; the streets didn't look familiar, as they almost never did, but the number of people that were around seemed to have grown since a chime ago. They walked in pairs or by themselves, and all seemed to be heading in the same direction. "I think we're close," the boy replied, already following the scattered crowd. "It's usually crowded during this time of the day, so I bet that's where all of these people are going..."

Lo and behold, Phobius followed then until he came upon one of the largest buildings on the street, the outer walls entirely windowless. People were streaming in and out of the doors, some carrying baskets of goods while others hefted their purchased things in their arms. The boy couldn't help but stare in awe as a brawny man with a sparsely-stubbled chin came walking out with a sword, the blade long and curved, its metal glinting in the midday sun. He seemed very proud of himself.

"Yup, it's in here," the Inartan boy confirmed, smiling a little as he went politely nudging his way through the crowd to get to the door.


"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Summer Dole]

Summer listened to Phobius curiously. To Summer although the city was always on the go, the buildings looked the same. One stone was the same as another. That didn’t make every building the same, each was different. Summer could recall brilliant colors and such but…they held no interest for her. Even with their colors or shapes, a building was a building. She thought it odd that Phobius could look at them and know where they were. “How do you tell? Or not get lost? The streets move.” She told him, as if he didn’t already know.

“Crowded?” The half-Zith echoed. Lots of people would mean lots of stares. Summer looked straight ahead. She could handle it. It’s not like they hadn’t stared at her before. Here less so but she didn’t hold much hope for it to last. Although, Summer had to admit, there were some seriously strange sights and people in Alvadas.

And, as if summoned by his words, the bizarre appeared. It was less and more than what Summer expected. It was huge, filled to the roof with trinkets and shouts. It was the most colorful thing she had ever seen. Scents of perfumes and foods (even animals!) hung in the air. It was organized chaos at it’s finest.

She found herself trailing after Phobius while he parted the crowd with supposed ease. Summer on the other hand…she felt every misstep on her feet, every shoulder smashing into hers, the bags and trinkets crushed against her sides. One man even held jostled by with an unsheathed sword! Summer found it was easiest if she pulled her shoulders in more and pushed her elbows out. It protected her shoulders. People avoided her elbows. Now she just had to follow her nose. Which was easier said than done. The crowd was tall and the scents were many, she had to strain to her the call of the merchants who advertised their wares.

It was at that moment an idea struck her. Summer would speed up behind Phobius, place her hands on his shoulders and pull herself up to speak in his ear.

“What do you want to eat? Take me to the stall.”

She would release him and fall into step beside him. It was difficult at first but the crowd was nearly thinner than previously. There was room to breath at least. Summer wondered what he would pick. It was hard to tell by looking at people what they could eat. Would he like meat? Or would he like vegetables? It was enough to make a half-smile-half-grimace appear on her face. Who on Mizahar would like vegetables?

As they walked Summer kept a close eye on her guide. She didn’t trust him not to disappear since he had technically finished his job. “You could help cook too…if you want.”

[Phobius]

Phobius smiled a little when Dole asked him about how he knew where he was going. "Having to run around a lot and deliver things to people helps me know where I'm going. I still get confused sometimes, and lost if I don't pay enough attention when I'm walking somewhere, but...I guess I've just gotten used to it. All the changing and stuff. I look at other things to tell me where to go."

It was a bit difficult for him to explain, but the Inartan boy tried as hard as he could to put his simple thoughts even to even simpler words. And not because he felt that the woman wouldn't be able to understand him, otherwise; he barely understood his navigational abilities, himself, and could describe them no other way.

"You get used to it after a while," he added after a moment's pause.

The Bizarre was about as crowded now as it was on any other day. Phobius was used to the crowds, having wandered about the area a few times beforehand, but Dole seemed to be new to the city. He peeked back at her before they headed in through the main entrance, telling himself that he probably needed to keep an eye on her as they moved. It'd be bad if they got separated.

Then an odd thing occurred to the boy. Was he still supposed to be leading her around, or was he supposed to expect her to go off and do whatever she wanted? Dole had only asked him to bring her to a place that sold food, and here they were, surrounded by all sorts of fruits, vegetables, and meats. All things considered, his job was done, and the woman was free to do whatever she wanted, now. But maybe she'd need him to lead her back out once she was done buying ingredients...? The Bizarre was quite large; much larger than it looked from the outside, and much prettier, too. For a person who had just arrived in Alvadas, Phobius figured that all of that space could be daunting.

Leaving now probably wouldn't be nice. And besides, she told me that she'd cook me something for helping her.

All of a sudden, Phobius felt hands grip his shoulders. He involuntarily flinched, but calmed himself when he heard what sounded like Dole's voice speaking to him. When she stepped up beside him, he turned and blinked at her, a thoughtful expression on his face. What did he want to eat...? That led the boy to thinking about what things he liked to eat, and he frowned a bit when he realized that there were all sorts of foods that he liked...berries and nuts, for example. And meat. He loved meat. Fruits, too, especially the sweet ones.

But he could only have one food. Well, she hadn't necessarily told him that he wasn't allowed to choose more than one, Phobius didn't want to burden Dole with a slew of his favorite things to eat. Gee...why's this so hard? I just need to pick my favorite-est of all favorite things, the boy mused, lifting his chin a little so that he could look over people's heads at a few of the stands they passed by. If he couldn't think of a single thing himself, then the next best thing was to just hop on over to whatever looked interesting.

After a few ticks of dedicated searching and standing on the tips of his toes, Phobius' face suddenly lit up. Without a single word of warning, he grabbed Dole by the hand and darted off to the right, weaving through bodies until he could stop in front of one of the stands, pulling the woman up next to him. It was one of the more vibrant-looking ones in the Bizarre, characterized by colorful strips of cloth that seemed to be strung all around it. The stand itself was made of a smooth, dark wood, and at its head stood friendly-looking wearing a cloak that reminded Phobius of his katinu. The boy's focus was quick to settle on other things, however; like the tantalizing array of sweets splayed out in front of him.

The entire stand-top was covered in them; buns, rolls, and sweet breads glazed with different kinds of icings...more deserts than Phobius had ever seen, before. The sight of it all nearly made him start to drool.

"These," he announced, turning to Dole with a wide smile, somewhat-triumphant on his face. "Can you make something like these?"

"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.

[Summer Dole]

“But if the streets always change, how would look to other things to know?” Summer persisted but it wasn’t accusing. Her eyes were distantly curious and at his next statement she nodded, putting the matter to bed. “Yes, you do.”

Summer couldn’t say she’d gotten used it. She could, however, say she had resigned herself to it. If nothing else, it kept things interesting and it was always fun to see how long it would take her to get home. The conversation trailed off after that, leaving lingering pauses in the air. It wasn’t bad, just quiet. It gave Summer time to look around properly (even if her eyes darted to Phobius to make sure he was still leading and not run off somewhere).

For such a tiny building Summer didn’t think her eyes could see where the entrance began and the bizarre ended. Sights overwhelmed her and became nothing but colors. It didn’t help that she was looking for nothing in particular. It took Phobius’ excitement and the saccharine smell of sweets to capture her attention. Summer took in the wide array of cakes, some towered while others where so small they couldn’t constitute as a bite. Each looked delicious and colorful. Could Summer make something like this?

“I’ve never tried.” Summer said rather than admitting complete defeat. “I can make a cake. I’ve a recipe I’ve never tried before. It shouldn’t be too hard but we will need the ingredients. There is no hearth at the inn too cook, we’ll have to find a portable fire pit or something. I have the recipe with me. You can help me find the things we’ll need…”

The half-Zith trailed off while she search the near empty satchel. It was rare for her to take the paper out and sure enough it was crumpled at the bottom. Summer took it out and smoothed it. She stepped closer to Phobius to show him the list. “Sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, flower, baking powder, and milk. We need a food stall so we can get these…the butter, eggs, and milk will probably be at the same stall.” She glanced up to the desserts stall owner. “Where can we buy baking goods?”

The expression that met her eyes was shocked and annoyed, “Why would I tell the competition?”

“Because I asked.” Summer replied evenly.

“Not unless you buy something.” The half-Zith considered this and faced Phobius. She handed him her recipe and addressed him.

“What do you want, Phobius? We can compare the two to see what is different.”

While Summer waited for her guide to pick she quietly argued with the stall owner for directions. It was like not that hard, he was pleased she was buying something. “There’s some just down the way, we stick together. Competition is good for business.”

Summer snorted then ignored the stall owner. “Have you decided?”

[Phobius]

Phobius watched as Dole went rummaging through her bag, bouncing a little on the tips of his toes. It was hard for him not to be excited, at the moment; all of this talk of ingredients and cooking was making him eager to get to work. Really, though, the entire idea of cooking was enough to make him smile. All one had to do was put some food things into a pot, stir it up, add some heat, and there'd be more food! It was like a magic trick!

The woman pulled out a list, and Phobius stared at it, squinting a little as though he was intent on memorizing every individual item that she'd written down. Sugar, butter, eggs...he'd seen those things, before. Better yet, the Bizarre probably had all sorts of different versions in stock; there'd be butter that'd been shipped in from Syliras, milk from goats all the way in Eyktol...the possibilities were endless.

Dole began speaking to the dessert merchant, just then, and though the Inartan boy was distracted with studying the ingredient list, he looked up when the man pretty much refused to give her directions. Confused, Phobius blinked at the man. That's not very nice. All he has to do is tell us which way to go...

Turning his gaze over to the woman, he studied her face for a moment, wondering if the man's stubbornness would bother her. But it didn't—or, if it did, she didn't show it—and she simply ignored him.

Wow.

The next thing he knew, Dole was handing him her slip of paper and asking him to make a decision.

What did he want? Between her recipe and something else? Phobius blinked at her, then looked down at the slip of paper again, re-reading the ingredients and trying to make a mental image of what the finished cake would look like. Then he turned his head and looked carefully over each and every sweet that was on display, sniffing a few but making sure that his face didn't accidentally touch any. It took a chime or two, but eventually the boy came made up his mind.

"Could we make it look like this one?" he asked, pointing at a decent-sized pastry that was sitting off to the right. It was coated in an orange icing, and had little frosting-strawberries dotting the top. Phobius turned his head to look at Dole and smiled, happy with his decision.

"It looks pretty, don't you think?"


"This is speech in Nari."

This is thought.