Come Sail Away IC Inbox

[crushed_pearls]

Erin's voice mail message is in a weary voice: "Erin Peters. If you called in the middle of the night and I didn't answer, I'm dying. If I pick up and someone on your end isn't dying, they will be shortly. Text otherwise."

Comments

delivery/action

[goodweather]

[ Phil hasn’t got a way to deliver this in a way that’s comprehensible to a blind person, so in-person it is, much as he’d rather just leave it at the door.

So he hauls the thing out there that morning after the Silence and knocks. ]

Re: delivery/action

[crushed_pearls]

Later on Erin will wish she'd made herself presentable. Right now a weary and drawn elf opens the door for Phil, still at least a little keyed up; when she sees it's him her free hand conspicuously lets go of something that's next to the door.

"Morning Phil. Merry Christmas."

Re: delivery/action

[goodweather]

“Morning, Erin,” says Phil, quite a bit more put together than she; though he’s been running himself ragged lately, getting up much earlier than is reasonable has been standard fare for his job back home.

“I’ve got something for you. I would’ve just left a card, but I’m not sure how to do that. So, merry Christmas. Careful grabbing this one.”

He holds up… a pair of full-sized antlers, glued to some kind of sturdy headband, which has ribbons tied around it so as to be fastened under the chin. Accompanying this is a set of plastic rings. Don’t ask where they came from (answer: Somewhere In The Hotel, IDK).

It’s. A wearable reindeer antler ring toss game.

Re: delivery/action

[crushed_pearls]

"...Oh my god." Erin's disbelief is heavily seasoned with excitement. "I can cause people to understand the exact emotions engendered by the Taco Bell quarter game! Phil! You went to all this trouble for me and I never figured out what to -"

A thought dawns in real time.

"You ever take up whittling when you had ah, free time?"

[goodweather]

There’s this very reserved sort of look of satisfaction that he gets. Just the littlest quirk at the corner of his mouth.

“A little, but not much; I ended up taking more to ice sculpting. Why do you ask?”

[crushed_pearls]

"Care to learn? Peace of mind, moving hands, the inexplicable urge to make a chess set - it's got a lot to suggest to it. Fun way to kill a day, y'know? The main learning curve up front is not cutting yourself but if you're in ice sculpture you've got a leg up on knife safety."

Listen.

Listen.

Even now, when she's not a it Satrap, the Lost are a bartering people. She can't just not offer something back.

[goodweather]

Luckily for Erin, Phil is in the market for a go-to distraction; piano is good, but he knows it too well and he’s settled into too much of a routine with it to be sufficient on its own anymore. Learning a new art of making sounds as good as anything.

“I did it with a chainsaw a couple times,” he comments idly. “I think I’d love to learn. You were pretty handy with those trees while we were making the maze.”

[crushed_pearls]

"Sounds like a plan! And to think I thought lessons were off the table as a Christmas present when I had a different idea for Tear." Erin's Mantle sizzles happily. "This'll see use later, I just need to find my moment. And coffee."

[goodweather]

There’s a half moment where he gets distracted as Erin’s burning mantle makes itself known again, but he brings himself back to attention quickly. “Oh—do you mean to do this today? I mean, I’m sure we’ve got time and I won’t say no, but… well, I don’t know, it’s Christmas. Maybe someone’s planning a party.”

Also Révellion just happened and he’s running on all of two hours of sleep at current.

[crushed_pearls]

"No, god no - wait, might be a culture issue again." Erin offers a wan grin. "Favors and lessons are kinda the gift cards of gift-giving for the Lost. We uh. Tend to be broke."

[goodweather]

“Oh! Oh, I’m sorry.” He bows his head slightly in apology. Gold; he remembers. “Right, no worries. Hey, if you ever need me to foot the bill here, my wallet’s open.”

Get it? Because there’s no money here? But also he absolutely would anyway if there was. “Anyway, I’ve gotta run, but I hope you enjoy that. I thought you’d like it.”

And scene

[crushed_pearls]

"I very much do," Erin agrees. "Enjoy your Christmas!"