#eldritchblastingcutie

[taika-taika]

@eldritchblastingcutie

This dimension was yet another disappointment. It had only been a few hours since Taika had dove through the rift, but she was already certain this wasn’t the right place. Nobody was tall enough here. She remembered everyone being tall when she was a kid, and of course she’d expect them to be a similar height to herself.

She walked aimlessly, head bowed, only barely keeping the tears back. She should have picked a dimension and stuck with it many dimensions ago. But every time she was lucky enough to spot a rift forming, she couldn’t fight the feeling that this might be the one that took her home.

Taika gave a frustrated groan and rubbed her eyes under her glasses. Starting over AGAIN. She can’t keep doing this forever! Someday she needs to just settle for what she has. She sighed, and when she righted her glasses again, she froze.

That is the tallest person she has seen in her adult life.

Oh god, don’t stare! But don’t avoid looking either. How do you look normally?? What do I do with my HANDS. Oh god why am I walking towards them whyyy- “Good- good afternoon! Same- same hair?? Hahah…”

Braids! We both have braids. That’s a normal thing to point out to a stranger, right? Not being weird at all.

[taika-taika]

"I'll do my best to make it back here, then." Just had to find their sibling first.

At the offer of payment, she shook her head, waving it off. "No, you don't have to pay for it, it's a gift! I want you to have it. For being such a great introduction to Faerûn." She smiled, rubbing her hands on her pants before stuffing them in her pockets to still them.

"If you really enjoy it, I'll try and bring you more next time too." Having a friend to share comics with would be a dream come true, are you kidding?

Kat had no idea about Wonder Woman-- though she had met plenty of wondrous women-- but this character was so cool! And their costume! She wanted one just like it!

"Oh! Yes, with the sword!" She had nearly forgotten, but yes, "Oh, please do visit again if you get the chance! Faerûn is such a beautiful place, and I'm sure lots and lots of people would love to see and buy whatever you make!" Herself included, of course.

She would gasp in delight, looking between the comic and Taika, hesitantly reaching to take to comic and look over the cover, "Are you sure...? I can pay for it, if you'd like?"

[taika-taika]

The comic Taika had currently was something Wonder Woman adjacent; like something you might imagine coming from an alternate universe. Keep the cool woman with a magic whip, miss the red white and blue.

Taika touched her own cheek lightly, felt like it was flushing again as Kat looked over her shoulder, and particularly with the encouragement. And was hit by a thought! "Oh! If I find home- if I find Kaida, I probably CAN come back!"

Somehow this never occurred to her, the idea that she could actually revisit universes once she reunited with her sibling. That strengthened her desire to actually find them rather than settling for another universe.

"Um- but for now...do you want to have this? I have others I can sell, but this one was my favorite of this batch." She held out the comic with a smile. "You don't have to keep it forever or anything, they're kinda fragile to be honest, but if you'd enjoy reading it..."

"It's still cool though..." Don't mind her, she's absolutely peering over Taika's shoulder to get a better look at the contents of the comic. The colours were one thing but the pictures! "I've never seen illustrations like this before..."

"I hope you do! If you do it here, or... If you're able to get back here once you've published it, I'd love to buy a copy!" She would shake her head, "It doesn't matter if you write weird stories, weird stories are usually the most interesting and cool ones!"

[taika-taika]

"O-oh no, I could never make something like this, hahah. I'm learning lettering, but my drawing skills aren't very good." HOWEVER she is just as proud to be the owner of a thing to be admired.

She looked the comic over again herself, flipping the pages. She'd already read it multiple times, so about time to sell it. Usually she'd try to get a new one first, but alas, not the universe for it. "I'd like to do this someday, maybe. But just as an illustrator, not a writer. My writing would be pretty weird, considering I've been through so many universes. Hard to keep track of what's normal in each one."

Kat would blink as the comic was pulled out, leaning closer to look at it after adjusting her glasses slightly. So many colours! All so bright and vibrant! "I.. There are some books in colour, but they're not common or mass-produced... Did you make this yourself??" Colour (hah) her impressed regardless!

[taika-taika]

Unfortunately, Taika has decided it's important she impress Kat, so that means she cannot under any circumstances admit she's broke.

She can however show her nerdery and take her backpack off her shoulders, and pulled out a comic book, showing it to Kat. "Think I could make any decent money off this? Do you have full color printing like this around here?"

"Well, there's a market you can either set up a stall at or ask around to sell things. Depending on what you want to sell, you could go to specialist stores and ask if they would buy from you..."

If Taika had told Kat she was low on funds, she wouldn't have hesitated to give the other woman some coins.

[taika-taika]

"Oh, um-" Taika smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Yeah! Maybe. Do you know where uh, I could maybe sell some stuff?"

Wasn't about to up and say she had no money for this universe. Every new world had a rough start, she'd sell off some belongings and work from there.

"Yeah..." She hardly seemed excited about the prospect. Kat had already left people behind in the town she and her party had been brought together in, and it sucked! But she couldn't voice that because bigger, more important things were happening, and she didn't want to complain about something that might be seen as so trivial...

"I hope you do too! And hey, you should stay here! The nightly rate isn't too bad and the food's pretty good too!"

[taika-taika]

Kat’s apparent unawareness of a classic pickup line is a boon to Taika today, even if it means she looks fucking goofy for laughing about it and tripping over her words.

Actually, either way is probably equally silly and not a big deal. But still.

“Nancarrow? Oh.” Well, she doesn’t know where that is. She could probably find out, but at this point it was seeming to her like Kat wasn’t particularly interested in maintaining a connection. Maybe she's reading too much into things, but well! That's fine. She doesn't keep friends for long, may as well not get her hopes up. "Well, I hope you have a good journey. I should probably get to finding dinner and a place to stay for tonight. It was cool meeting you!"

"Hm?" She would cock her head slightly as Taika struggled to get her words out, blinking when the other laughed, unsure what was funny, but, smiling politely regardless until she finally gets her question out,

"Oh! That's okay, you don't have to be sorry-- I'm not really sure how long we're going to be here for, though... I think we're heading to Nancarrow soon, maybe in a few days?"

[taika-taika]

"Do- um-" She started, then stopped. Don't ruin this by being weird. Is this too weird? God she hopes it's not too weird. "Do you um- live around here? Or well- no I mean, do you come here often-"

Taika snorted HARD at herself and covered her face for a moment, laughing at herself to cut the embarrassment. Do you come here often???? really asked that in real life, dear god. Shut up and never speak again. But she's going to laugh it off instead of being that upset at herself. It's a skill! "Sorry, I'm just asking if I would see you around here! If I stayed awhile."

Kat's mouth opened to respond, only to hang open momentarily before closing, as she stared at the ground for a few seconds. "...I hadn't even thought about doing that, but now I have to! I'll absolutely try to find you again, and let you know how it goes!"

"Oh, um, it would depend on where you live, I suppose. Some places have higher taxes than others. I know a lot of inns and things offer board for their workers, so, you could work somewhere like that to save up and get your own place."

[taika-taika]

"Aaaaa that's so cool. You need to try sleeping upside down and tell me if it rocks!" She said that with all the enthusiasm this conversation had pumped into her, but then quickly deflated a bit. "Well- you know, if we see each other again after today."

Kat's hesitancy about the source of her power wasn't a huge red flag to Taika. After all, she had her own secrets. Somebody as cool as Kat could only have COOL secrets.

And anyways, she was more concerned with once again thinking about whether it was time to throw in the towel and just...stay. "um- so...how's the cost of living around here? hahah. Think it's worth the trouble...?"

"Yeah! It's a little hard to, and I can't exactly do it for too long or go too far, but practice makes perfect, right?" Finding time to practice, as well as finding a way to do so without making the poor friend she was sort of tethered to suffer or be dragged about whilst she flew, were a different challenge altogether.

"Oh, um. My patron?" She would offer a toothy grin that erred on the side of nervous. Technically, it wasn't a lie. The vampire that sired her was a patron of sorts, if you thought about it!

[taika-taika]

"A bat? Oh- does that mean you can fly??" Taika's hands clasped together and she couldn't help but immediately imagine the sensation of flying. She couldn't imagine being good at it, but it had to be so freeing, being above people's heads but not in the way she usually is. Up and out of the way.

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

She would blink before letting out a guffaw of a laugh,

"All the time! It's not too much of a problem in bigger cities, but the smaller ones, and the ones in towns and villages? It's the worst!" Not everywhere was made with orc accessibility, which was understandable but still so, so annoying! "Oh, that's such a good idea! I wish I--" caught herself real quick with that. Couldn't be using the 'w' word, but, in pausing, she has a sudden realisation, "Oh! I can do that now too!! Um, not as a cat, though, but a bat!"

[taika-taika]

"Maybe what we're both missing is a four foot tall detective." She laughed too, could only spend so much time worrying about what she couldn't control. It was nice to have somebody with her on that for a minute.

But speaking of Being Tall. "Oh! have you had that problem where your feet always dangle off beds? I usually have to sleep as a cat so I can fit. Um- you know, shapeshifting." Remembering she hadn't mentioned that yet, oops.

She was a hugger, she couldn't help it! Loved to give them, loved to receive them, so of course when Taika returned the hug with a big 'ol squeeze, she would squeeze back.

"What? No, I wish I could help you!" She would find herself chuckling despite both their situations. It was nice to meet someone new, and nicer still when they had the same amount of kindness as her, "That's so sweet of you, but I don't think there's ever been a top shelf I couldn't reach."

[taika-taika]

She was a tad embarassed for calling it religion, but then she was getting hugged? She should be the one doing the hugging! YOU need the hug!

After a moment of shock (because usually she's the one initiating hugs!) Taika gave a big ol' hug right the hell back. She does not give baby limp-armed hugs either, she's full BEAR HUG mode. She's a bit thin and bony, but she makes up for it in passion and stupid long arms. "Y-yeah! Of course."

When the hug was released she was smiling big. Kat might be the nicest person she's met in her whole life. Taika rubbed her arm and ground the heel of her sandal into the ground. "I wish I could help, but, well. Most things I can do, you could do just as easily with a step stool, hahah."

"Oh, no, it's not a religious thing. We have more of a... boss-employee relationship. I do what he needs doing and get 'paid' with magic." Her patron was just a questionable boss, was all.

Kat wasn't able to stop herself, just pulled Taika into a big ol' hug, "Aw, you're so sweet, thank you!I hope so, too."

[taika-taika]

"That's so frustrating. The whole idea of it. I'm not...anti-religious, but, that's why- or, well, part of why, I've never been too into religion." Taika was feeling majorly frustrated on Kat's behalf. Cryptic stuff, not answering normally...eugh! Just, why? Why not communicate clearly?

Taika frowned and shook her head. "I'd chew him out for not communicating. But maybe he just has...bad reception...? I hope he gets back to you soon."

"So weird..." No believing in magic or unicorns? She honestly couldn't imagine it-- and she didn't want to!

Kat was a sensitive soul. Someone yelling boo from across a street would make a smile drop from her face, so Taika shouldn't feel too bad about that, "I.. used to be able to. He didn't always answer but if he did, it was usually cryptic or just things along the lines of 'you're on the right path', but now..."

She would blink before letting out a hearty chuckle, "Oh, no, definitely not. If what I'm doing right now is what he considers a break, I'm going to need to chew him out, ha..."

[taika-taika]

"Well, most people there also think magic isn't real either, so um...I mean, there COULD be unicorns." She shrugged.

Taika saw Kat's expression fall, and quickly worried she'd said the wrong thing. "Oh- um, that's...so you can't like...call...your boss...? Your patron?"

Was Kat being left alone? The thought made Taika's heart twist. "Could um- could you just be getting a break?"

"What-- really??" The plane Taika sounded so weird, how could it not have unicorns? Sure, it wasn't commonplace to bump into them all the time, but not having any at all? Wild!

"Ohh, I completely understand that." Being bossed around sucked, but before she could delve into that, or further downplay the whole quest thing, her smile falters ever so slightly, as she unconsciously begins to pick at her nail polish, "I'm... not sure, actually. I think so. I was told to go to Unleth and I did, and, um. It's kind of been non-stop since then, but I've not been given any other instructions yet..." Or any other communication at all.

[taika-taika]

"A unicorn? Whaaat. Unicorns are a myth where I come from." At least, she thought so. Could exist in secret. She'd always suspected.

Downplaying of quests wouldn't lessen Taika's excitement, only temper it. She nodded and settled back on her heels. "I don't know, that's still pretty cool. I always have to decide what to do on my own. I don't want people to boss me around or anything, but if I had a quest to do...it sounds so important! Oh, are you on a quest right now? I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?"

Kat tended to have that effect on people. And she didn't mind one bit!

"Oh, yeah. I think anyone with enough power or magic can be a patron. I even met a warlock once who had a pact with a unicorn!"

She would blink at that response, lifting her hands (and mage hand) in a shrug, "Yeah? It's not as exciting as it sounds, though; it usually just boils down to 'go to this place and do this thing'. And sometimes just 'go to this place'. Powerful and mysterious beings like to be cryptic sometimes, you know?"

[taika-taika]

This high five will carry Taika through the next week. You've done her a great service. She smiled and clasped her hands back together after that to stop herself from fidgeting with her braids again.

"Oh, I didn't know somebody could um- y'know, provide magic, like that." Then her eyes got BIG again. "You go on QUESTS? Real-life actual quests??"

She absolutely could poke a woman on her nose, no one could stop her! Nor could anyone stop her from giving Taika that high five with the mage hand, with a giggle to boot.

"Oh, no, no. I have a patron, they're the one who supplies my magic." It felt odd to have to explain that, and even more odd to actually say it out loud. "I made a pact-- they provide my magic and spells and stuff, and in turn, I do tasks or quests for them."