"Choking on the Circumstance" [Urs]

[Destyn]

Choking on the Circumstance

Tranquil Gardens - 6 Glade, 122

Destyn tilted his head, adopting a bemused expression upon his boyish countenance.

"You did not grow up in the city?" He repeated, canting his head in the opposite direction, now- A sharp gesture that might bring to mind the sort of insect that bore wings like Destyn's.

"I thought that the Midden was considered to be part of Kalzasi. I have never been there, but... Is it more, um..." He struggled again to find the phrasing in his second language, "...belonging to nature than the city?" In Destyn's mind there were really only two places to live- In cities or in nature. Towns and villages fell into the former, while anything from the woods to the desert fell into the latter. Cities were, to his mind, synonymous with civilisation and civilisation was not a virtuous concept to Destyn's worldview.

"Sivan was, when we met, very quiet." His shoulders relaxed and his expression softened. "Not shy, I would not say, but, um... He did spoke not often which put much weight upon his words. Much, um... gravity." He nodded sagely,

"But now he is very warm and affectionate, which feels rewarding, I think. Like a coconut." He smiled at his own allusion, but then realised it may not be clear without explanation.

"Because they are hard to open up, but once you crack them what is inside is that much more delicious because of the work it took to get at it." He paused,

"...Do you have any coconuts, though?"

Choking on the Circumstance

[Urs Wardell]

“No,” he said, shaking his head.

“The Midden isn’t Kalzasi. They’re separate places, one above, the other below. I think it’s always been that way.” Urs spent his life looking up towards the brighter half of Kalzasi, believing that as sure as he looked to them, there were those who looked below. He hadn’t spent more than a season in the city proper before he realized hardly anyone so much as spared not even a thought for the Midden.

“A bit, I suppose. But less green and more dark and wet and cold,” he smirked, thinking about Mother and her stories.

“I learned it was gilded once, a place where everything lost could be found, but something happened and it’s hardly more than a cave now. Rocks and moss and fungus and whatever else that crawls in the dark.”

The Midden - Mother, and his childhood, those weren’t ever happy conversations. Not now, ruined by the mystery of Mother, and her strange book.

He happily switched topics to Sivan - a much more pleasant subject.

“No - not here, anyway,” he smiled, “I didn’t think coconuts grew in Kalzasi.”

He smiled, wider, as the conversation about the elf continued. “I do like him. I met him when I was drunk, and -,” he paused, the pink of his blush returning. “It was embarrassing. Still, he was so kind and nice, even then, and he’s so…handsome.”

Urs bit his lip, lost in his own thoughts.

“He’s still very serious. Academic. I wonder if he’s ever tried a coconut.”

[Destyn]

Choking on the Circumstance

Tranquil Gardens - 6 Glade, 122

Destyn nodded thoughtfully. He could tell that he was touching on sensitive matters and, though he thought to elaborate upon the ways nature could present itself- Even in the dark, wet, cold places- he decided to let that matter rest and focus upon things that didn't darken Urs' expression... Like Coconuts and, apparently, Sivan.

"No, I suppose you are correct. But Kalzasi is, you know, very cosmolopitan..." That was a difficult word for one who was not raised speaking Common and so he mixed up the syllables a bit, but didn't notice his error and continued on apace. "So I thought, perhaps, they might be imported?" He shrugged a bit sheepishly.

"I am not very, um... accustomed?" He checked in to make sure that was an actual word before continuing, "...accustomed to being drunk, but it is, to me, a very odd sensation. I am what the humans call, um... 'light weight'? I have a little thimble of wine and I am bleary and wobbly." That was a bit of an exaggeration, but that was how it felt.

"He is handsome, but so also are you, Urs." He tilted his head, "And he has definitely had a coconut." Destyn confirmed. "We have many meals together and I am certain there have, at times, been, you know, coconuts." He nodded effusively, before pausing.

"Why, though, was it, as you say, embarrassing when you met him?" Destyn knitted his brow and canted his head to one side quizzically.

Choking on the Circumstance