travelerscurse | (no subject)

Not that Gustavain engages much in the practice of judging things before he's seen them for himself, but he was all set to really hate Sharlayan. It being the home of many of his friends notwithstanding, the idea of a city being neutral and hoarding knowledge doesn't sit super well with him and never has. So too, were his original feelings about the Students of Baldesion, however, so maybe it's not too odd that he finds Sharlayan surprisingly and aggressively pleasant.

The food, however, does leave something to be desired and even though the Annex has decent cuisine, he finds himself mostly eating at the Last Stand whenever he has more than a day to sleep and recover, few and far between though those times have been in recent days. He could spend hours here if they would let him, drinking coffee and warming his hands on the cup, watching the people pass. But it's rare that he gets to finish more than a single cup before someone comes to disturb him.

Still, today he's had a longer time than most-- long enough for his food to be gone and for him to be drinking a second cup of coffee, just enjoying a bit of a lull between things.

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He sounds sincere in that. Rael is struck for a moment by the implicit approval, that need to prove himself worthy of it all but roaring to life in his breast. But he's able to strangle it back to something manageable for the moment, just grinning back at Gustavain in response with a cheeky little wink.

"Glad to be here." And he really was. He felt infinitely better when he could be useful, especially with everything going on lately, to say nothing of getting to fight alongside Gustavain. Especially at that consideration- he'd heard tell of the elezen's skill in battle, how easily he could shift between disciplines. The chance to see it was one he was definitely excited about.

Even if the sudden silence of the woods around them made him distinctly uneasy. He'd not spent much time in the woods before, but even he knew that dead quiet like this never meant anything good.

Rael may not know what the silence of the woods means but he does hear it before Gustavain does and Gustavain in turn reacts to Rael looking around, reaching back and pulling his staff from his back. He holds up a hand to bring them both to a stop for a moment while he looks around, ears straining to pick up any movement in the woods.

When the creature bursts out of the underbrush, it takes a moment to resolve into a giant boar, rushing for them. Gustavain cries out in something like panic, but it's a little more... delighted than that as he dodges out of the way and light springs to his hands, lancing out at the boar as it skids to a stop and turns back around, bearing back down on them.

The gesture brings Rael to a halt, ears pricking as he tried to pick up a sign of the impending trouble, even as he was drawing his blade, focus in his other hand.

He had just enough time for that before there was the burst of movement, the viera leaping back out of the way of the giant boar's charge with a curse, though the tone was a bit more exhilarated than afraid. He can hear Gustavain to one side, can see him moving in his periphery. Rael has to stop himself from charging in- old habits die hard- instead channeling his magic, lashing out with red energy at the creature, almost immediately accompanied by a burst of lightning. It was a familiar enough dance nowadays, casting and dodging, for all stubborn habit wanted him to plant his feet and lift a shield he no longer carried.