CLOSED | She said, "Where'd you wanna go? How much you wanna risk?"

[notathreat]

WHO: Ellie & Jude, Various
WHAT: Various closed prompts in one convenient place!
WHEN: (Spanning) Fantasy September
WHERE: Gallows, Kirkwall, Arlathan Forest
NOTES: Gonna have some fallout/followup threads from this log re: Abby's canon update! Mind the warnings. Graphic injuries. Spicy/sexual content. Hookah use. More TBD.

Comments

[notathreat]

Yep, somebody's skunked.

Ellie opens the door and pokes her head in, only to pull a face at Benedict.

"Fffuck, man, I can leave," she offers.

[altusimperius]

He scoffs, shaking his head and waving her in. "Come on," he calls lazily, and, with all the grace of the high-class host he is, offers out the hose upon Ellie's approach. Sharing is caring.

[notathreat]

Ellie's shoulder is still killing her on and off, but thankfully she can cross the room and unfold herself onto one of the pillows, reaching for the hose.

"Never used one of these before," she admits, waggling the hose. "Just like smoking?"

[altusimperius]

Bene seems confused by the question, and gives a little shrug. "It is smoking," he replies, in no mental state to separate the finer differences between a hookah and a cigarette.

"You breathe it deep into your lungs," he sighs, resting his head back down.

cw: drugs/smoking

[notathreat]

"Gotcha."

Ellie puts the hose to her lips like she's seen Bene do; it's not her first rodeo with smoking something, so she doesn't end up coughing. The taste is a huge surprise, though. She's used to weed, and the flavor's different. So's the kick.

After the first testing puff, she takes a longer draw, lets the smoke curl up out of her mouth and nose.

"It's good," she says, handing it back. "What's this thing called?"

[altusimperius]

"Hookah," Bene answers simply, with a smug little smile to accompany his retrieval of the hose; he knows it's good. He's a connoisseur.

"I brought the pipe from Minrathous. It's the only thing I have left from there." He's casual about declaring this, too relaxed to make it any sort of big emotional deal. If anything, the subtext of the statement is 'so be careful with it'.

[notathreat]

"Good pick," Ellie says honestly, settling down on the pillows with a sigh, letting her eyes droop half shut.

"We used bongs back home. It's kinda like this, but a lot smaller and shittier."

[altusimperius]

This elicits a quiet laugh, either because he's trying to picture it or just feeling good enough that everything is funny, or perhaps both.

"Bong," he repeats, enjoying the sound of the word.

[notathreat]

"Bong," Ellie repeats, her expression crumpling as she ducks her head to crack up.

It is stupid. It's a good kind of stupid.

[altusimperius]

Her laugh results in further laughing from Benedict, and though he doesn't say anything, the word is enough to sustain his amusement for now. It takes several long moments for his mind to wander away from the subject of the word 'bong', and he's gazing at the ceiling as he plucks the thread of a previous thought.

"You looked peaky when you came in here," he observes, blandly.

[notathreat]

"The fuck's that supposed to mean?" Ellie asks, without heat and with genuine curiosity. That's not a word she's heard used in a dog's age, at least not applied to her.

[altusimperius]

"Like you ate a lemon," Bene explains drolly, "or had put one somewhere else it shouldn't be." He grins, because he's an idiot.

[notathreat]

Ellie picks up a pillow one-handed to thump him in the face with it, but she snorts a laugh anyway.

It hurts her shoulder a little, but fuck it.

"It's fine," she lies, searching for the hose to take another puff. "Just hasn't been a great week, is all."

[altusimperius]

"Mmf-- what makes a great week anyway," Benedict reasons, grabbing the pillow away from her with a disgruntled little snort, and tossing it out of range. How rude.

"Girl trouble?" He might be poking fun, but it's hard to tell.

[notathreat]

Ellie picks up another pillow. There's a lot of them. Pick up your floor pillows, Bene.

She takes another puff, hogging the hose for a thoughtful second.

"Yes," she says, like that's a whole sentence. It is, but still. She gives Bene a slow glance, passes him the hose.

"... I owe somebody an apology, and they don't want to talk to me. So- kinda stuck with a thumb up my ass until they change their mind."

Feels bad, man.

[altusimperius]

They belong on the floor because there's no chairs, Ellie--

He takes the hose back and pulls on it as he listens, eyebrows raised with interest. "How long ago did you piss them off?" he asks after a moment, smoke spilling from his mouth.

[notathreat]

"The first time or the last?"

Pissing off doesn't quite cover it, but she hunches her shoulder until it aches, pinches her mouth shut. It's not a super great conversation, but she feels compelled to have it.

[altusimperius]

Bene shrugs, handing back the hose. "Whichever."

[notathreat]

"Three years ago, and three days ago."

Respectively. She puts the hose to her lips, doesn't quite look at him. She hasn't been here three years yet, so that narrows down the list considerably.

[altusimperius]

"Huh." He's silent for several long moments, mulling it over-- it takes a little longer than it normally would, for obvious reasons, but then he props himself up on an elbow to look at Ellie.

"Her?"

[notathreat]

"Her," Ellie confirms, taking a long breath in, letting it all out through her nose and mouth with a sigh, until it circles around her. It's nice, tingly, tastes all right.

Nothing really to be done about it, and it's her own damn fault. Gotta get through it somehow.

[altusimperius]

"She doesn't seem like the type with easily hurt feelings." In fact, he might wish they were hurt a little more easily.

[notathreat]

"Well. Something about me just gets under her skin."

It would come off like a wry joke, if it weren't said with a kind of... sharpness, almost. It comes off like an anger but it's more of an edge of something painful, and she lets it go quickly.

"... she's not a bad person," she adds, somewhat more quietly.

[altusimperius]

"Yeah?" This seems like a topic worth delving into deeper, but Bene is too languid at present to do so properly.

[notathreat]

Ellie, growing similarly languid, doesn't particularly want to delve into the sadder stuff. But she does give a low hum of agreement (with her own statement) and shuts her eyes.

"I wish she were easier to hate."