Quoted By:
You meant to spin the chair all the around, for a dramatic flourish, but spotted something halfway that made you screech to a halt. Eloise is leaning in the doorway. She is smiling coyly.
"Hey!" you say. Gil looks out and blanches.
"Nice interior design," she says, and meets your eyes. "You two are very cute. Anyway, it's done, so I'll be heading off. If something starts going funny with it, please let me know and I'll patch it up, okay?"
You narrow your eyes.
"Alright, going!" She vanishes.
You spin your chair back around to Gil, who appears to have shed a good decade of lifespan. "I, uh... well..."
"Mngh."
"...Maybe I should be going? Yes! I should be going now. To my own tent! Where I live! So I can go to sleep, and—"
"It's barely evening," Gil mumbles.
"It's been a long day! Very long day. Anyways, I'm right across there if you need me. We shall continue our important heroic work... tomorrow!" You complete a 270º spin and hop off. "Fare thee well, Gilbert! Bye!"
"...Bye..."
-
You scurry across to your tent, tie the door firmly shut, and— wow! Your tent! It's been three whole days since you were back here, and... okay, the models are all still there, and in order. Horse Face has been sufficiently deterred. You grab The Sword off your hip and fling it down, and pull your boots off, and untie the ribbon at your neck, and glance over at your bed, with the— is that the Headspace goodie bag stashed underneath it? Did you even open it? Whatever. And right on your pillow, there's—
You pace closer. There are two things on your pillow: a black-and-yellow snake, coiled up, and a note. (Okay, three things. A snake, a note, and a pillowcase.) The snake looks out beadily as you approach. The note says
"For company.
—Love, Richard"
in small neat block print. You exhale.
The first order of business is picking the snake up and putting it anywhere other your pillow. Maybe under the bed with the goodie bag. The second order of business is getting these damned clothes off, finally. The third is sleeping. You weren't kidding about that. It might be early evening, but with those extra hours in the manse, your clock's way ahead. Plus... you don't know. You're tired.
These three things, and then it'll be tomorrow.
>[1] Submit up to three words that describe what you dream about. Can be anything within IC reason. They will be subject to extremely freehand QM interpretation. (Write-in.)
