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Post by Trebias on Apr 10, 2008 3:28:36 GMT -5
“Ah, shut up,” the canine said amicably.
El agreed with the equine’s assessment of the moonshine. “Yeah, that homemade stuff leaves a little bit to be desired. That’s the sort of cheap stuff that people either buy because they can’t afford better, or because they can buy a lot of it cheap and get drunk fast. As for the taste of it, it’s not so much making it taste good as mixing it with stuff to water down the taste a little, or cover it. I’ve heard of people using it for mixed drinks. I don’t know if I would myself, there’s better booze to use for that. It’s possible though. Probably same people would do it, the kind that want to get a cheap drunk on.”
When they passed the water jug, El poured some more for the kid. “Drink up. The more water you down, the more it helps. You’ll be peeing a lot soon, and that seems to help a little, too. It’s getting it out of your system, anyway.”
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Post by seraaches on Apr 10, 2008 11:20:02 GMT -5
Rai gave a small snort, but did drink more water as bid, even as he was absorbing El's information. He finished off the whole bowl of water fairly quickly then returned to walking his circles. Despite the alcohol so strongly in his system that he was still ill, there wasn't quite enough to totally muddle his mind, which was either a blessing or a curse. Rai didn't know enough to know which one it might be, so he didn't bother thinking about it at all.
"If that's such cheap stuff," he finally asked sardonically. "Why are you drinking it?" There seemed to be an under-text of expectations; that El was better than stuff quite that cheap, that if there was better alcohol around El should not have passed the moonshine on to the colt. One ear tilted towards the man as he waited for a response.
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Post by Trebias on Apr 10, 2008 15:17:33 GMT -5
El thought about exactly how he wanted to pass that information on to
the colt. He decided that there wouldn't be an easy way, and that the
colt would be upset no matter what, so he just told him straight faced.
"I don't usually drink that. It's booze, but it works as a paint
thinner, too. It's cheaper than paint thinner on top of it." He tried
to fight for an expression that would be appropriate to the colt's
reaction, then gave it up. He knew he would laugh either way.
"Yep," he continued. "I just don't drink a whole lot, myself. If I
have the extra scratch laying around, I'll try to find a good book or
something like that. Extra food to squirrel away in case the rains wash
everything away. Stuff like that. But hey, if I've had a rough day,
and need a buzz, I'll sit back with the old jug of paint thinner booze
for a while and get my kronk on." He was chuckling at this point. Of
course, the lion's share of his extra money went into his savings
account - that was what he called the hollowed out stump in the yard.
He'd probably tell the kid about that some day, but for now he wasn't
sure the kid wouldn't go hiring mercenaries or something like that. No,
that was a disservice to Rai. He knew the kid would want vengeance with
his own two hands.
"Come here, I'll show you something," El said. "This is where the
biggest part of my extra money goes." He led the way to the stump and
pulled off the false top.
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Post by seraaches on Apr 10, 2008 15:34:30 GMT -5
Rai paused, tail flicking from side to side in a horse-y thinking gesture before he finally said, "You made me drink paint thinner." Oh, yah, that was just grand. He quietly listened to the rest of Elias' explanation. Books? He sort of filed that away but, for now, he really wasn't that interested in books. There was still far too much to do in the real world to go on fits of fancy.
El was a bit of a jerk, Rai realized. Someday he was going to grow up to be the exact same way and wouldn't that just show the man! Ha! He followed after canine when called, though his steps were still a bit uneven and his head was beginning to pound. Great. Felt like he was beginning to really move into the hangover stage.
El moved the false lid, however, and the boy's eyes nearly bugged out of his school. He was absolutely speechless at first. ". . . Wot are you going to do with all of that?" Awe filled his voice.
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Post by Trebias on Apr 11, 2008 12:34:09 GMT -5
Elias was pleased and maybe a little baffled by Rai's awed expression. He'd never given much thought to the money he had in the tree, just that he had it if he needed it for something.
"Well," Elias said, still thinking. "I don't know. I just have it if I need it. Maybe it'll go toward a nice house some day, or something big. Maybe I'll help a buddy out of a tight jam. Maybe I'll just throw a big party, but I doubt that one. I guess the important thing is that I have it. It's rainy day money." He scratched his ear a little. "What would you use it for, if it were yours?" He wasn't really going anywhere with the question, just keeping conversation going, and hopefully keeping Rai's mind off of his impending hangover.
"Maybe we'll buy a bunch of skins to sell to people who want fancy insulation for their houses, huh? Make a killing, right?" He was smiling. "I still think there might be something to that, if we can work out a few kinks."
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Post by seraaches on Apr 11, 2008 12:38:42 GMT -5
Rai started to wave a hoof, as though to wave away El's thoughts on skins, but he nearly fell over and swiftly stuck the foot back on the ground. The world swayed slightly before righting itself and the colt began to walk again, mind now on El's puzzle for him.
Wot would he do with a whole butt-load of money? It was a good question and as his feet move his mind was slowly working to do the same. It was difficult with his head hurting and his stomach still aching, and he really wasn't coming up with any good ideas.
"I don't know yet," the Marshdweller boy finally answered slowly. "Not throw a party though; that'd be a waste." His entire face was still thoughtful. "Let me think about it for awhile." Because now there were possibilities he did not have before, as long as El was willing to continue to work with him.
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Post by Kiki on Apr 12, 2008 6:21:00 GMT -5
Sera and Trebias receive 3 tokens each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe.
This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe.
Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!
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Post by Trebias on Apr 17, 2008 10:46:07 GMT -5
“Remind me to reintroduce you to sarcasm when you sober up, kid,” El said wryly, referring to the party. “But go ahead and think about it, I look forward to hearing your thoughts. It’s a nice change having another perspective out here, I’ll tell you what.” He walked around with the kid some more, making sure he would be okay. When he was certain that Rai wasn’t going to pass out and choke on his own spit or go into a coma, he went inside to make dinner.
~~sometimelater~~
Elias was up with the dawn, enjoying the crisp air and the stillness before the day began. That was the nice thing about living out here in the boonies, he decided: nature spoke to him in the mornings. Maybe nothing he could understand, but he didn’t really need to understand the ripples in the water or the wind in the grass to be soothed by it.
Rai was inside, sleeping more soundly than Elias had seen him since he’d stopped taking the meds to knock himself out. Elias pondered that a moment. It had been a while since Rai had seemed jumpy, or just plain weird, like he had when El had taught him to throw the bola. Whatever it was, he was glad it seemed to be past. Maybe it was just some aftereffect of his ordeal. El thought he might mention it somehow to the kid, if he could think of a way to remind Rai of the odd behavior without causing it again.
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Post by seraaches on Apr 17, 2008 23:55:45 GMT -5
It took a few more hours before the colt rose, groggy, slightly dehydrated despite their efforts the day before, and with the continued run of an absolutely hideous headache. Still, he'd had a dream and he rose and pottered off into the woods to take care of business and tried to make sense of wot his mind had been telling him all night.
He finally blearily made his way to the canine's side and plopped down in the dirt almost bonelessly. "I would start a business," he announced, his voice mimicking his gaze. It was blurry and a bit slurring still, though he was trying to wake himself up the rest of the way. Fortunately, he wasn't too sore from all of his walking the night before, but that was probably only because El had been pushing his physical stamina so much lately. "Something to show people just how great the Marsh is. Get public opinion on our side."
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Post by Trebias on Apr 19, 2008 15:14:55 GMT -5
The poor kid was a trooper, El would have to give him that. He didn’t suppose the kid would be dipping into his paint thinner any time soon now, so that was a worry he wouldn’t need to have. He seemed to be the type to take things in stride. An outside observer might not have seen that had he or she just peeked in during the kid’s recovery period, but then, how many outsiders had been through half of what Rai had been through?
Interesting, Elias thought. The kid definitely had quite the brain on him. “Public opinion, huh?” He liked that thought indeed. It meant that the kid could become more than just a walking kill all lowlanders he saw vengeance machine. The kid could be a general instead of a foot soldier, and that’s more of what El would need some day, if he could get things working right. “And what would you do with this public opinion, Rai?”
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