Unearthed Legacy

[Zach Kaiser]

While the last phrase before wasn't one Garv understood so much as gathered its meaning from her reaction, this one he actually understood perfectly as it was close to the Common equivalent.

"We're going to my house...well, my temporary house, rather."

An economist would find the situation in Greoul very interesting. While the cost of just about anything else had skyrocketed in the more or less destroyed country, housing was at an all time low. Between the attacks themselves and people fleeing across the sea to safer countries (such as Cizok, which Garv found incredibly ironic) in the aftermath, the population had decreased significantly. If it weren't for the fact that people needed a good stiff drink now more than ever, inns would be out of business.

And while the outer half of the city was in shambles, the further towards the harbor they went, the better shape everything else was in--many buildings even all but untouched.

Garv himself shelled out for a small place down the street from one of the remaining taverns, which weighed heavily in his decision. It wasn't a very secure place, as the windows were all broken and in one of the corners part of the roof collapsed, but given that he was alone and kept anything of remote value on his person, it wasn't much of a problem.

Well, he was alone. "Here we are. My home away from home--well, if I had another home. So I guess it just makes this home, I suppose." It didn't quite feel like a home so much as a really big inn room, but it was his, he supposed.

"Well, what do you want to do first, eat or sleep?" he asked as he opened the front door.

[Nayt]

Xibtrae mentally smacked herself numerous times to avoid thinking about how bad of an idea it might be to go to Garv's house, and how she shouldn't be trusting this stranger as much as she was, and how she couldn't fight back well enough on her own and should just go out on her own.

Really, thoughts like those were just counterproductive by this point. If he was going to take advantage of her, or thought something different about her than she would have preferred, he'd have done that last night, and wouldn't have waited until today when he had her in privacy again. He didn't even need to wait for nightfall, either. Were he not carrying her, he could have gotten back into this city by nightfall, and if he had mal intent regarding her, then it would have just been smarter for Garv to get it over with when he first met her than to wait all this time before trying for it.

The only chance of something going terribly wrong was if they had a misunderstanding or something; Xibtrae figured that she'd just have to be careful with things she said and make sure that he understood that she wanted her personal space to be respected--that was all.

. . . . food . . . .

The thought interrupted everything else, and even trumped the idea of sleeping. Sleeping on an actual mattress would have been great right about now, even if they only had one bed to share together. The room may not have been in the best of shape, but there was still a bed.

"I-ic béo . . . hungrig . . ." she whispered, feeling a little ashamed to have to admit it.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Food it is, then."

To say it was Garv's home wasn't quite right, because in no way did the inside look like someone's home. Inside it was almost completely bare; the previous occupants presumably fled the island, leaving only furniture and other items too big to take with them behind.

Carefully, he set her down in a chair in front of the dining table. "I'll have something fixed up in no time." Rolling his shoulders and neck, he entered the kitchen.

In very little time, he returned, complete with...well, had Xibtrae not spent the last few millenia in isolation, she'd recognize that the meat and vegetables were canned goods.

"Sorry, since I'm out most of the time I can't keep anything fresh in here. Once you're back on your feet, I'll treat you to something decent at the tavern," he said as he placed one of the two plates in front of her.

He then went back into the kitchen, this time only being gone for a few minutes before he returned.

"However, I do have a fine selection of drinks," he explained cheerily, holding up several different bottles of alcohol for her to choose from.

[Nayt]

This place was something. It was all beaten up like the homes that she saw whilst they were on their way into town, both on the inside and outside, but he still had a few things that were in tact--like food. Food? Was that even food? Xibtrae narrowed her eyes and quirked her brow as she stared at him.

A plate of food was set out before her--just something simple, canned vegetables and meat, not that she'd ever notice. With a fork provided, she lightly stabbed at these little yellow buds, checking to see if they were what she thought: corn . . . just shaven off of the cob, or something. Xibtrae didn't recognize any of this as canned food, nor did she even know what that sort of thing was. The taste was great, though. No matter how hungry she was, though, she remained sitting up prim and proper, her back straight, just as she had been taught to so long ago. These sort of habits never went away, it seemed. Eating, to her, was a slow process, but that was for the best. One gained excess weight when they ate too much too quick!

Bottles, though . . . she remembered those. They had those where she had come from--but not canned food. That was a little too advanced, and thusly confusing. Most things where she came from were kept in bottles, both beverages and spices (liquid or solid) of any kind. There was no mystery behind those bottles he came back with.

She didn't recognize any of the bottles as alcoholic or non-alcoholic. They were just bottles with labels that she didn't understand. Her written language was more along the lines of a runic alphabet, so she didn't understand a damn thing that was written on the bottles . . .

So, she just shrugged her shoulders. Xibtrae figured that she'd just go with whatever he thought was good to drink. Anything was better than nothing at the moment. She had felt dehydration since the moment she was outside again, after all. If it helped her throat feel not so dry, then Xibtrae was going to enjoy it. Taste simply didn't matter at the moment, not with food or with drink.

[Zach Kaiser]

Garv shrugged in response, went back to the kitchen, and returned with two glasses of a brown liquid. Liquor was a must with any meal, in his opinion, though it was something a good portion of the rest of the world would have disagreed on.

"Here you are. Heh, guess I don't need to tell you not to wait up," he smirked. He sat down next to her and began eating with considerably more gusto; some meals should be savored, but this was definitely not one of them. He only slowed down when he took a drink, which was something he always took the time to enjoy now.

This meant he'd finish long before she did, but he sat and waited patiently for her to finish as well...pouring himself another drink while he was at it.

[Nayt]

"Ic þancie þē," replied Xibtrae with a much more upbeat tone of voice.

Now that she was eating, everything seemed so much better. She had food, drink, and she was going to have a bed to sleep in--it couldn't be bad, now. Not yet, at least. Not until she was trapped again. That was something she definitely wasn't looking forward to, but a pact was a pact. For now, though, Xibtrae wasn't going to focus on that--she was just going to try and enjoy a few days worth of real rest.

Each bite tasted better than the last. How could this be considered low quality food?! It was delicious! In reality, though, it was just the simple fact that she hadn't eaten any real food in so long--just about any moderately pleasing taste was going to be gourmet for her. Not to be confused with the choice of drink, though. After she had eaten enough, Xibtrae decided to lift the glass to her lips and finally get over this terrible dehydration by drinking the glass down to the last drop--and this wasn't necessarily an amount of that particular type of drink that was suppose to be chugged down (despite the fact that she did it quite elegantly!). When she set the glass down, the effects finally started to hit her . . .

Xibtrae couldn't breath--not at first. She could do nothing more than cough. She held one hand to her lips, coughing hard, while lightly tapping on the middle of her sternum. The burn that drink came with was . . . incredible! Incredibly terrible! It made her feel . . . dizzy. Was it the drink or the coughing? She didn't know for sure--but she wasn't going to drink that again, not if she could help it.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Eh, you might not want to..." But by the time he got the words out, she was already done with the drink. That...probably wasn't a good idea. A person normally wouldn't do that with whiskey, and while he'd personally done it before (and thus knew that it was usually a bad idea), he guessed he had quite a bit more tolerance for alcohol than her, and could actually appreciate the flavor...

Well, at least she wants to sleep right after anyway.

Excusing himself from the table once more, he took her now empty glass with him, returning shortly with it refilled--this time, though, with water.

"Here...I guess I probably should have given you this to begin with," he noted wryly.

[Nayt]

Seeing a glass of water was mu~ch better. In actuality, she remembered water to be a much different color, but the sky and grass were a much different color here on this world. The water must have been clear, while the water she was used to was a bit on the colorful side.

The taste--or lack thereof--was the same, though. Not that Xibtrae actually tasted it or anything. No other flavor filled her mouth except that of the whiskey. She held the glass of water with both hands and tilted her back whilst she chugged down a much less painful drink. It was set down all in the same movement as she leaned forward and let out a sigh. The flavor was washed out of her mouth and her esophagus no longer felt like it was on fire--which was definitely a plus. Now she could at least speak without talking.

"H-hwā wæs þæt . . .?!" Xibtrae asked with a gag.

Whatever it was, it tasted like refined oil. Xibtrae just couldn't help but gag when she thought about it, now. Brown water was a terrible idea.

[Zach Kaiser]

"That was whiskey. Guess you aren't much of a drinker, then." Garv made a mental note to give her alcohol that didn't taste like alcohol if they had another meal together.

It was admittedly possible that they wouldn't. For all he knew, after a meal and good night's rest she'd be up on her feet and on her way. He sort of hoped she'd stick around, though--she was attractive, fairly nice (if a bit jumpy when it came to her personal space), and generally pleasant to be around. Heck, she was even cute she was mad at him.

Pouring himself another glass, he sat back down. "I'll try to remember to warn you if it's something you should take your time with."

[Nayt]

". . . á riht . . ." Xibtrae nodded.

Another glass of water would've actually been pretty nice at the moment, but she wasn't going to complain. Xibtrae had a full meal thanks to Garv, regardless of the incident with that "whiskey" stuff. At the very least she knew to not try drinking that stuff ever again.

By the time she finished her meal, Xibtrae was feeling particularly tired. Either she was originally tired, or the drink was effecting her--whatever it was. Whiskey wasn't something they had on her world. Alcohol was; they had that. It seemed universal amongst cultures all over the universe, even. They had wine, and that was good. She actually kind of liked wine. Nonetheless, not knowing she had just ingested alcohol, and it having been so long since she had a drop of the stuff to drink, Xibtrae didn't recognize the signs. It helped that she was already tired, though--exceptionally tired, even. It wasn't going to hurt to get some sleep, that was for sure . . .

It was early, too--that was the strange part. Xibtrae wasn't used to getting tired this early, but lo and behold, after she had finished her meal, she wound up leaning back and stretching out her arms over her head, as well as arching her spine back (which incidentally puffed out her chest a bit more than she'd have been comfortable with, what with the shirt already tight around that region and all, but she didn't notice), and letting out a stifled groan--albeit a content one--as she let her limbs stretch out better. Xibtrae finally relaxed with a sigh, and though she wanted to remain proper at a dinner table, she wound up leaning back in the chair, relaxed.

"Ic þancie þē tō se wist, Garv Phibrizzo . . ." Xibtrae stated contently as she relaxed, thanking Garv for the lovely meal. She had a bit of trouble pronouncing his name, but she managed--in her own accent, of course.

[Zach Kaiser]

Garv watched Xibtrae stretch with interest, but was fortunately well behaved enough not to be obvious about it--not that she probably would have noticed if he was, in her current state.

At her thanks, he smiled playfully, stood up, and bowed to her, responding, "Think nothing of it, mi'lady. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

He didn't think she'd respond with take me now, you handsome bastard you, but he could dream.

[Nayt]

Xibtrae looked across the table to Garv with cream colored eyes. It was a wonder that she could even see, with her eyes such a light color. Usually when someone's eyes were so light, it meant that their eyes could no longer receive and report light to the brain--effectively blind. Xibtrae could see everything, though.

Sitting down across from him really made her realize how much they were similar in height. Xibtrae was tall for a woman and Garv was sort of short for a man. He was only about an inch taller than her, in fact. It was a seemingly random realization, but a testament to how much her mind was drifting at the moment. She was having trouble focusing on one thing at a time--fatigue? No, she hadn't been all that active today, not nearly enough to warrant fatigue. Maybe it was just the urge to lay in a real bed after all these years and take in the comforts that it offered. The liquor and the full stomach were also having their effects, making her just a bit more tired.

She shut her eyes and shook her head. There wasn't much more she could ask for at the moment--well, except one thing . . .

"Is hit āc intinga gif . . . gif ic . . . ālecge . . .?" Xibtrae asked. The woman had always been polite, and even when she had been yelling at him earlier for invading her personal space, she had been quite soft spoken. Now, she was asking permission from him. It was just the polite thing to do, especially in someone else's house.

Is it a/n ---- if . . . if I . . . [lay down] . . .? She was tired, obviously, and wanted the comforts of a bed--the comforts of a nice long real sleep . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

Garv didn't know enough science to know that someone with eyes like Xibtrae's shouldn't have been able to see. He did find it interesting that someone else had eyes just as unusually colored as his, though given that she wasn't human he supposed it shouldn't really count.

"Nah, it's no problem," he answered, filling in the blank for the part he didn't understand. "Here."

Figuring that he wouldn't need to completely carry her such a short distance, he instead offered her his arm; hopefully she had enough to strength to at least walk with assistance.

[Nayt]

Seeing Garv extend his arm to her, Xibtrae understood what he was getting at. She stood up, shakily at first, but inevitably managed to stand straight up without wavering. Walking was going to be a different story, though. Had she spent the time traveling on her own feet, she'd have gotten more used to walking, but that just didn't happen. She'd wind up stumbling and having to hold onto something for balance every so often. It was annoying; she'd have preferred to walk and run as if she'd never forgotten how to--athletic in all respects and capable of sprinting long distances before tiring, with such a degree of stamina that she didn't necessarily need that long to rest . . .

Those days seemed over for now. Fortunately, Garv was there with her. Xibtrae was starting to wonder if she'd have even survived this long had she not found him. Her appreciation for this was actually quite vast, but not enough to let him violate her personal space.

But him acting the part of the gentleman and helping her walk was perfectly fine. She nodded to him and wrapped one arm around his, with her other hand placed against his bicep for the sake of better balance. He was strong enough to carry her for such a long way, and if she fell, Xibtrae felt confident that Garv would be strong enough to not tumble down with her if she clung to him to avoid such an embarrassing trip.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Easy, now...here we go."

Garv was exceedingly careful with her, and while he wasn't exceptionally strong, he was strong enough to not have any problems supporting her. He helped her into a bedroom that looked just as bare as the rest of the place. It could have easily been mistaken for an inn room had she not just come from a dining room.

"I've got some business to take care of, so I'm going out--if you wake up before I'm back, feel free to make yourself at home," he said as he helped her onto the bed.

"Is there anything else I can get you quick before I go?"

And before you fall asleep? he thought--she looked like she was ready to nod off any second.