Bring that back in a timely fashion

All of Sana’s interest in the flumphs diminished the second she saw who was giving her an answer. She hadn’t seen another jerbeen since this all started. In fact, the only jerbeen she’d ever met was a tailor that she couldn’t remember the name of. A sense of relief washed over her as she looked into eyes that looked exactly like hers. She hopped to the ground with fervor, the flumphs dispersing when she got a bit too close to them. 

“May I ask - and excuse my wording here - what you were before?” The moment she finished speaking, Sana saw the flumphs in her peripheral vision disappear from sight. She turned her attention to where the six of them used to be, letting a small whine escape her lips. They had been pretty cute, and her time with them had been so fleeting. It was a pointless little surge, but now she’d get free drinks for the rest of the night. She supposed it was worth it.

“Oh! I’m an Earth Genasi usually. You know like a rock looking guy. I’m like normally like 2 feet taller,” Sarkesh took this as an opportunity to make a new friend. “Being this small is so inconvenient for me. Like I was a short king before but now I’m like extra short. The ears are adorable though.” That was the only plus to being a small brown mouse like creature. No one had been taking him seriously all week.  “I dunno about you but it’s really hard to be intimating when you look like a little field mouse. It’s making my job like twice as hard.” His curiosity was peaked and he was probably going to talk this poor ladies ears off. ”So what were you before you know all this crazy stuff happened?”

Jax was back in Khaggon, for the Fight Club, but not to fight. She hadn’t been back in a bit, and definitely not yet with her new face. She’d fight as Amadeus eventually, but not just yet. Tonight, she just wanted to watch and enjoy herself. She’d been feeling off for a little while and just wanted to relax. Well, relax maybe wasn’t the right word to use when she intended on spending the night in the Fight Club, but as rowdy as the place got, she knew she would always enjoy herself there. She’d already swung by the establishment to see who was fighting that night. The organizer of the fights was a bit disappointed when she made it clear she wasn’t intending on fighting that night, but still gave her the information freely. She’d fought Sarkesh before, and knew he was good. It was definitely going to be an entertaining night.

But for now, food. She wove her way through the market to find a good place to eat. The food was okay at the Club, but the booze was always better and she wasn’t looking to get drunk this early. Jax just wanted a good meal right now. When she spotted a familiar figure ahead, she smirked and made her way forward towards him. “Hey,” she called out as she reached Sarkesh, smirk still present. “Well, good. So am I. We can go together.”

A grin crept it’s way on Sarkesh’s face when Cass said she’d join him for something to eat. “Oh fuck yeah! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you! Army’s been keeping me busy how have you been?” Sarkesh asked. He was walking while he was talking. He always had tiem for Cass. she’d beaten his ass a few times but he’d also beaten hers so they were on equal footing right now.  

“I see you’re up the board a bit since the last time I was in town. Did you destroy anyone I know?? Oh more importantly what cool thing did you say when you won?” Sarkesh’s brain was going a mile a minute. He liked to think he got a long well with everyone in fightclub. Perhaps he was a little too friendly, but he believed in good sportsmanship. 

Rose continued to stare at Sarkesh as the interactions continued above her head, but when the earth genasi reached down and tapped her nose, she wrinkled it before breaking out into a small giggle. It almost made Thea concerned at times with how quiet she was, especially considering who her parents were, but she might just be taking after her uncle a lot in that department. Ewin was apparently a very calm baby as well.

Thea laughed with him. “I grew up in a household with seven siblings. Pointing out one or the other as someone from an entire different plane of existence was common among us.” She shrugged. “It’s part of being among family, I suppose. You lift each other up, you bring each other down. I can recognize the stubborn part as well. It appears to be a common trait among the desert folks.”

She didn’t wish to presume anything about him, but from her experience, most of the genasi were from or originated in Kaivras.

Sarkesh smiled when he got a giggle out of Rose. Kids were so adorable this made him almost want to have some of his own. Maybe once the war was over he could think more seriously about that. 

“Oh yeah my entire family is like a herd of stubborn goats. Family events are awful if someone falls out with another. Dad used to say it was because they were always out in the sun. I think it’s just hereditary though.” It’d been a while since Sarkesh had seen his Family from Kaivras he’d been lucky enough not to run in to any of them in the battlefield so that was always something. “Haven’t seen any of them for a long time but you know, no news is good news as they say.” 

It was then that Sarkesh Remembered his manners. “Oh I’m so sorry I was about to get something to eat would you two like to join me?”

The past few days had been a nightmare. Roksana had just finished a job the night after the earthquake; she’d had her sights set on home the following morning. But then she woke up as afucking mouse. How was she supposed to return to Zari like this? She spent the entire day looking for someone to contact Zari, to make sure she was safe and unaffected by all of this, and the following days were spent willing herself to turn human again. At this point, she wasn’t sure she would turn back. She hopped onto a bar stool, her jerbeen feet balancing gracefully on the edge of it. She’d head home soon, human or not. She just needed a drunken night out first.

It was nearly impossible to get anyone to take her seriously when she looked like this. Damn these fuzzy cheeks and these gigantic ears. Damn this tiny, squeaky voice of hers. No one heard her over the cacophony of conversation that flooded the bar, and she wasn’t sure the bartender saw her beady little eyes peaking up past the counter. Damn it all, she thought, I should leave tonight. Then again, if she’d taught Zari right, returning home with this unrecognizable face could be dangerous. Perhaps she should have mentioned the race-shift in her message.

The moment Sana had given up on flagging down the bartender, a dark blue energy crackled at her fingertips. It looked like the beginnings of any spell she cast, except she hadn’t been aware of casting anything. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes again there were six small tentacled creatures floating around her. They seemed to shake as they looked at her, their blue tentacles veering away. The applause that followed couldn’t have helped. “Flumphs!” Someone a few seats away from her shouted, and a few others echoed them. People clinked their drinks and laughed as though the strange occurrence had happened to them.

Sana took the opportunity to wave the bartender over. “Two shots of your strongest spirit,” she shouted, her voice still sickeningly soft and adorable. The bartender nodded, and Sana finally allowed herself to sit back in her stool and relax. She reached out to one of the flumphs, and it cowered away from her. “Anyone know anything about flumphs?”

Sarkesh didn’t hate his new form. More it was general annoyance than a hindrance. He’d been patted on the head by at least six children that afternoon. He wasn’t sure what had happened but after the earthquake he’d woken up, found it strange that his shirt had gotten bigger over night and screamed when he looked in the mirror to shave. Of all the times to be turned in to mouse?....rat?..creature? during a war was the worst. He hadn’t been intimidating to begin with but this was ridiculous. He was absolutely adorable. Who was going to find this scary?  He walked in to the inferno he needed a stiff drink after the day he’d just had. Trying to order stuff for the army had proven to be more difficult that he’d thought. For one no one was who Sarkesh had expected them to be. Damien, the human tanner was now Damien the Arakorca. It’d all been too confusing for his litlle fuzzy brown head to handle. Sarkesh Moved out of the way of some drunk patrons and made his way to the bar.  He heard a voice that sounded just as squeaky as his and went to investigate. 

“Oh I only know a little bit! Uh it’s blue right now so I think it’s sad. Blue’s like a sad colour.”

Avi weaved through the crowd of the market, trying hard to keep his head. So many people were out and about at this time that he started to feel a bit confined. He looked around deliberately, noting all of the gaps in the crowd and the places he could escape through if he needed to. This managed to calm him a bit, but he was still on his toes - just in case. “I’m sorry to hear about you and Rowan,” he said, turning his attention back to Sarkesh. He couldn’t help but the upward twitch of his lips when Sarkesh explained the rumor. “As if he’d leave you for some lady. I hope nobody actually believes that.”

“I’ve been…,” Avi cleared his throat, much less willing to talk about himself than he was Sarkesh. It didn’t quite seem like the right time to mention how awful he’d been. Luckily, the past couple of months hadn’t been all bad. He decided it was best to focus on the bright spots. “Ewin and I are still together. He’s incredible-” he paused. Okay, perhaps it was best to focus on the bright spots that didn’t involve his flourishing relationship. “-Sorry. I’m still living with my brother. It’s him and I, my parents, a lot of occasional guests, and my duck. I have a duck! His name is Mickey.”

“I’ve had a lot of time for…hobbies. Uh…I built a house for Mickey out of branches and pine cones. He doesn’t go in it, though,” Avi took a breath. Gods, he sounded pathetic. “Anyway. Have you been up to anything exciting lately, outside of the army?”

“Oh I hope everyone believes it Avi. Everyone has been so good about cleaning their gear and not breaking anything!” Who knew that being at the center of horrible gossip would work out in his favor.  “OH! I have to meet Ewin! If he any hot friends please put in a good word you know?” Sarkesh grinned giving Avi a quick wink. it was nice that Avi was still together “Oh you have a duck now?? Okay sorry can i meet Mickey first THEN Ewin. You know priorities and all that.” 

“Oh that’s cute! Once we made a house for our dog but you know some cat started living in there and well now she cant go in that that’s a cats home. Oh the cat isn’t Rowan in case you’re wondering we don’t have like a whole Tabaxi living in our dogs house.” Sarkesh thought how best to solve Avi’s dilemma.

 “Oh you know how you could get him in there? put some duck treats in the duck house. I’m talking like put some bird seed and some fish in there! That’ll get him in the duck house. Like how if we want our dog Puca to leave the kitchen you just throw a bit of cheese in to the other room. Works every time.” 

Grim openly made a face at that. The army was for people who wanted to follow rules and wake up too early in the morning so they could make themselves look decent for their bosses. No point to it, when you could fight wherever you went anyway, without having people breathing down your neck. Gross. “Okay, if you wanna kiss ass instead of figuring stuff out the fun way…” he drawled. Couldn’t Sarkesh just…beat the leaders in fights to get them to tell him shit? That’s what Grim would have done.

“Nah, you probably couldn’t, but it would be fun to try, yeah?”

“LIsten okay I am not kissing ass in the army! The army has to kiss my ass becasue I order new stuff for the stuff they break. Also my Granny says if I leave the army she’s going to beat my ass and I dunno Grim I think she’ll do it.” 

Sarkesh sighed. “Oh man I would love to figure out stuff the fun way but you know I’d end up in prison. And if I end up in prison someone other than you is going to be kicking my ass.” 

With a chuckle, Rovasha shook her head at her friend’s enthusiasm. She knew that’d get him going - just like old times. She weaved her way through the streets, with him close behind, as she kept an eye out for restaurants and pickpockets.

“What kinda friend would I be if I didn’t? You even have to ask?” she said, incredulously. “Anyway, this curry was on fire - I’m lucky I’m resistant, but you… well, Sark, you might just become lava.”

“Oh holy shit Ro, could you like just imagine if I was made of lava?” Sarkesh had a stupid grin platered on his face. The kind where you could tell that his brain had stopped working and he was about to have the stupidest idea imaginable.  “I would be quite literally untouchable Ro. Could you imagine all the fights I’d win? I’d be number one on the billing in no time.” but then his face fell a little. “Oh shit but Ro If I was made of lava I wouldn’t be able to touch anything. I do still want this curry though.” 

There was a tension that came with Avi’s poor ability to read people. Especially after messing up so badly, he felt a deep discomfort in the not knowing. People had reason to dislike him now, and his intuition was so weak that he might never know who actually did. But today, his insight spared him. He saw something genuine in Sarkesh’s smile, something that put him at ease. Even if the man thought him to be reckless or foolish, it didn’t seem as though he was opposed to having company, and that made it easier for Avi to continue walking with him. 

“I would kill for some stir fry- not literally. Well- I suppose it depends on how good the stir fry is,” Avi paused. It wasn’t a funny joke, but he smiled regardless. “How are things? A bit quiet, I hope?”

“Oh no Avi I get it! I mean If I was really really hungry and I had like no other option I would kill a man for a really good stir fry. It would have to be like the best stir fry I’ve ever had though. Don’t worry I know this great place where we wont have to like kill a man.” Sarkesh laughed shaking his head. Sarkesh led Avi through the market passing by some stalls that were just making him feel even hungrier.  “Oh well you know as quite as things can be with a war on and like a billion soldiers who don’t look after their gear. If you’re missing the gossip from the barracks I’ll fill you in.” Sarkesh honestly didnt have much to report outside of his duties.  “Rowan broke up with me because he’s being stationed somewhere else but... word on the street is we broke up because Rowan has a secert love child with some lady he met on leave. Also I’m apparently not supposed to know this so keep it hush hush.” “How’ve you been? We miss you in the barracks, or well I do at least. You never returned anything broken unlike a few people I could mention.” Sarkesh flashed Avi a wide grin. “You better be sleeping in for me.” 

“That’s motherfucking right.” Rovasha grinned, elbowing her friend in the arm. She picked up the pace, walking just ahead of him, backwards. With a tilt of her head, she beckoned her friend to follow down the streets. “Oh, I know just the place, Sark. You’re gonna fucking wish you were fire-born after this. Near the farmer’s market - it’s not far.”

“Yeah I’m ready to to fucking die! I can handle it! If you see tears coming from my eyes it’s because the food is so good.” Sarkesh insisted. He followed Ro though the streets. When was the last time they did this together? Probably too long ago. Either way Sakesh was ready to be destroyed.  “You coming down to watch tonight? Not gonna lie I feel pretty confident this time.” 

Koda grinned his easy people-grin, the one that was half for show. But it quickly melted into an actual grin, interested at the question he was asked. It was an odd one, but it gave him something to think about. He felt his eyebrows knit together a bit as he considered.

“I don’t think I have…” he said slowly. “But I can always keep an eye out, if you’d like? I’m bound to run into everyone eventually.” Especially with the time he spent near battles, provided he didn’t die first. “If I do see them, should I say you said hello, or something?”

“Ah.” Sarkesh sighed looking a little disappointed. “They’re my parents. We haven’t seen them in maybe twoish years. But if you happen to find out any information would you let me know?” Sarkesh knew he was asking a lot but he’d seen this man hanging around the battlefields since he’d joined. He might over hear something eventually.  “The army either don’t know where they are or they know where they are and just...won’t tell me. Either way it’s a mystery I’m trying to solve.” 

Thea reached down to take her daughter into her arms, who was keeping her eyes firmly on this striking stranger before them. “I was really worried when you wandered off, young miss,” she chided her daughter softly, pinching her cheek gently for good measure.

“Mama, no pinch!” Rose exclaimed, putting on her best possible pouting face. It was so adorable it was almost convincing, but Thea knew better than to trust those large hazel eyes of hers.

Instead, she focused her attention on the stranger. “Sorry for the inconvenience,” she said, finding herself slipping fluidly into the Primordial tongue. “She’s usually really calm, so calm in fact that I wonder whether she’s related to me or not at times. Unfortunately, I have memories that say otherwise.” She looked him over, a smile forming on her face. “Yeah, I’d say so too.”

“You out helping her shop? That’s very grown up of you!” he spoke to the girl. “Remember to stay close to your mama in the market it’s very easy to get lost in here.”  Sarkesh had a grin plastered on his face. He reached out and gave Rose a quick boop on the nose.

He turned his attention away from Rose to speak to her mother. Sarkesh was imminently taken by surprise when Thea spoke to him in Primordial. It wasn’t very often that someone outside his family used it to address him.  “Oh really don’t apologize! It’s the cutest interruption I’ve had all week!” Sakesh assured Thea. 

“Oh my father used to say that about me. We don’t look alike he’d always accuse me of being someone else’s son.”  Sakesh let out a laugh. “Unfortunately for him we have the same stubborn personality”

“You could always be like me and have fighting be work,” Grim reminded him. It worked pretty well for the half-orc, but that’s because he didn’t make himself cost much. Lived somewhere bad, never got new clothes unless he had to, fed his dog more than himself. Easy shit.

“Soldiers,” he grumbled, shaking his head. Not that Sarkesh was very included in that. Just kinda. “It’s goin’ fine, I don’t think I’m gonna get beat anytime soon.” Mostly because he wouldn’t let anyone beat him, and if they did…they could say goodbye to some body parts.

“Oh you know yourself I did that for a long time...and I’d love to do it again but, oh man I dunno Grim. I just got...I got a lot of questions that need answered and the only way I think they’ll be answered is if I’m in the army.” Sarkesh sighed hoping that by the grace of some god that he’d be out of there soon. “Once they are answered though I can go back to my regularly scheduled ass beating.” “Honestly I don’t even thing I could beat you, Maybe if I got a real lucky blow to the head but look at you.” Sarkesh gestured to Grim’s body. “You’re a wall of muscle.”

Koda took a second to actually look at this guy who apparently recognized him. He saw so many soldiers that it was a bit of a surprise that any of them remembered him, but…Koda remembered his taste in clothing. Not exactly battlefield-appropriate. Must have made him more memorable.

“Uh. Don’t know if I’d call it hanging around, but yeah, that might be me.” Unless there was someone else out there trying to write a book, in which case Koda had competition to squash. “Aw, it shouldn’t be too weird, I’m a city boy, after all.” Not like Koda was ever good at blending in, being red and all, but. “I think I have seen you a few times, Sarkesh. I’m Koda.”

Sarkes has seen Koda around a few battle sites and he wondered if Koda would have known his parents. He was always taking notes and writing things down in his journal. “Oh well I just didn’t expect to see you in the city is all.” Sarkesh laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I actually wanted to ask you something I’ve been meaning to but you know with the war on and all I just didn’t find time to ask you.”  “You haven’t happened to come across any other Earth Genasi in the army have you? Other than my younger sister?” Sarkesh asked. “They’d look like me, bit taller that me, bit shorter than you. They’d be early 50s, a man and a woman.”

Avi didn’t have much in the way of a plan for the day, but something took a vague shape the moment he saw the familiar face of Sarkesh. He’d always known the man to be a skilled fighter- in the army, he’d both admired him and enjoyed his company - but it was only recently that he’d caught wind of his reputation at the fight club. It’d sparked an idea somewhere within him. He’d never actually been to the fight club, but lately he felt bored and weak - and his magic? Well, it’d done nothing but cause problems.

“Actually, Sarkesh, I was hoping you might be able to help me with something, yes,” Avi replied after approaching him. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, but I’d love to join you if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Oh! Avi! It has been a while!” Sarkesh had heard of what’d happened at Arx. Word traveled fast in the barracks. When Scrag broke up with Sarkesh the whole army probably knew in a matter of hours.  Sarkesh smiled when Avi mentioned that he wanted to join him. 

“Oh hell yeah man of course you can join me! You have anything in mind? I’ve been craving a stir fry to be honest, but I’m game for anything i’m as hungry as a horse.” It’d be nice to catch up with Avi and see how he was adjusting to being out of the army. 

That’s how it went most nights. Idle banter about nothing at all - nothing important. It was mind-numbing, much like the sort of feeling Rovasha would have to chase with a drink or a smoke. It was probably healthier in retrospect, but it’s not like it stopped her.

“Flatterer. Now, if you can take that glowing recommendation to my commanding officer then, well…” Rovasha said, rolling her eyes in exaggeration and let out a scoff. She let his playful question trail off into nothingness as she eyed the plaza. “What’re you craving anyway?”

“Oh don’t worry I’ll leave a glowing review for your superior. Leave it on their desk and all. Ro leaves all her stuff in excellent condition, give her a promotion xoxo Sarkesh.” He was teasing again but that’s just how their friendship worked. Sarkesh thought for a minute about what he wanted to eat. There was so many options it was difficut to decide. “Something spicy. You know burn your taste buds off spicy. We could go to a curry house or something.” 

“He looked a lot worse. Big fucker, too,” Grim half-mumbled, popping his knuckles for something to do with his hands. He knew that he wasn’t supposed to go ahead and punch Sarkesh anyway, but it was a weird habit of his to break with friends. “Look, if you didn’t have to go runnin’ off every few days, it would’ve been you all beat to shit in an alley. All you gotta do is stick around.”

“Oh you know as much as I’d love to stick around and get beat to death in an alley by you, I still have to go to work and stuff.” Sarkesh sighed he missed being in the fight club most nights he was only back often enough to keep his name on the board.  “You know Arx and all that got the lads in the barrcks pretty shook up. Someone has to beat them up for forgetting to return their gear you know. I have like 17 left boots and no one has returned the right ones. Enough about work how’s fight club? I see you’re up on the board again. Congrats.” 

Hanna wasn’t sure how many city blocks they’d followed the stranger for, but it was becoming very clear that his stride was far greater than theirs as they kept losing him and having to find him again in the afternoon crowds. They thought about shouting after him several time, and every time were stopped by the mere idea of raising their voice in public. Finally, it seemed he’d noticed Hanna following and turned around, with the kind of charming smile Hanna had read about in adventure books as a child. 

“Um,” they said lamely, and held out a small parcel that Hanna had seen slip out of his bag at least twenty minutes ago. “You dropped this.” Nervously, they added, “Sorry.” 

Sarkesh looked at Hanna in mind confusion for a few seconds before he realised what they had.“Oh my god thank you so much!” He sighed. Trust him to go out and drop the one thing his sister had asked him to get her. There would have been a war worse than the one that was currently brewing. That sounded dramatic but Sarkesh wasn’t allowed to fight back when it came to his sister.   “Thank you for returning this to me! It’s purfume for my sister she would have commisted cold blooded murder if I went home without it.” Sarkesh gently took teh parcel from Hanna and put it in to a more secure pocket of his bag. “Is there a way I could repay you for your kindness? A hot meal maybe? Oh! Uh...what’s your name?”