TRP: Ba'ob and Mahto (Good Plans)

December 6, 2018

**Muse:** at 1:34 PM

[SETTING: Azriel's house. Chronology- after freeing Asenka
sometime.]

Ba'ob hated pigeons. They didn't taste all that good. They
stunk. They made big messes. And they were nesting in the chimney. "Get
over here!" he yelled at one of them, chasing it around the roof and
grabbing at it. Course it didn't come to him. Just babbled about 'danger' and
'predator' and 'gonna get eaten!!'. Stupid birds. Why couldn't they make the
'feed to the wolf' plan easy?

**Jen:** at 1:45 PM

Mahto hadn't planned on falling asleep but once he got
settled in on the bench behind the house, with the tree shadows softening the
heat of the sun and a breeze ruffling his hair, he could almost imagine being
back out in the wild again. No stinking, crowded city with its tangling alleys
and ever present noise like - Mahto started up out of his drifting state as he
heard someone scream. He rubbed at his face, head spinning from the sudden
movement, limbs heavy from the weed smoke . Another yell and a high-pitched
squeak made him squint up at the roof. There, perched beside the chimney and
looking dangerously close to tilting over Ba'ob the wolf child swatted after
pidgeons.

Mahto got up and padded around the house to get a better
look at what was going on, still looking up and shielding his eyes against the
bright sky with one hand. "Ba'ob?" he called. "What are you
doing?"

**Muse:** at 1:58 PM

Ba'ob heard a voice and glanced down. It was the other elf.
The pigeon took advantage of Ba'ob's distraction and flew away, diving back
into the chimney. Stupid elf. "Get lost!" he yelled. Maybe there was
something Ba'ob could throw at him too? Didn't see anything though. Whatever.
Ba'ob ignored Mahto and stuck his arm down the chimney. The nest was just a bit
too far for Ba'ob to reach.

The wolf, sitting only a few feet from Mahto, let out sigh,
her ears pinned back and looking worried. Pup was going to hurt himself.

**Jen:** at 2:05 PM

"What's with him?" Mahto asked the wolf. She had
no answer but briefly glanced at him with that look that said "I got no
idea but someone needs to stop him from falling. Someone with thumbs."

Mahto exchanged a few more silent looks with the wolf, then
sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll go get your pub." He leaned his staff
agains the wall and looked for a way up. Man, this house was high. How on eath
would he do that?

"Ba'ob!" he called again and tried finding a
foothold on the facade. "Hey, Ba'ob! How'd you get up there?"

**Muse:** at 2:11 PM

"Your mom!" Ba'ob yelled. Something he'd overheard
wandering around town. Had sounded like an insult. "Pigeonbrain!" he
added, for good measure.

**Jen:** at 2:23 PM

"Ow, don't be mean! I'm just trying to help" He
hoisted himself up onto the window sill and, hands pressed to the wooden
paneling. Oh god, oh Ilmater look after him. Okay, he got this. Mahto turned
his head to look down at Wolfy. Wolfy looked back, head tilted. "I got
this," he said and went searching for the next handhold.

After what felt like climbing a hundred foot cliff face,
Mahto's fingers found the edge of the roof and he pulled himself up, then
perched on all fours on the sloping tiles. He could stand up but - he was
already two stories high above the ground. No need to add extra height if not
necessacy.

**Muse:** at 2:30 PM

Stupid elf. Wouldn't go away. Ba'ob briefly gave up on
catching the pigeons, keeping the chimney between him and the elf. Wolf was
down below. Couldn't help him, if he needed it. Ba'ob hated how the thought
made his heart race. He growled at Mahto, keeping a wary eye to see what he'd
do next.

**Jen:** at 2:35 PM

"Oh... hey." Mahto stopped crawling up the roof.
Instead, he held his hands up, palms out. "It's alright, Ba'ob. I just
want help you." Poor Ba'ob. Must be hard to be always so on edge. Mahto
knew, he'd lived it, and for nothing in the world would he want to return to
that state. "I got no weapons. See?" He spread his arms to show him,
which he realized was maybe unnecessary since he only wore his pants.

**Muse:** at 2:46 PM

...Stupid elf. Not s'posed to notice Ba'ob was scared. He
growled a little louder. And, elf was unarmed. Ba'ob ducked around the chimney
and punched Mahto's arm before ducking back behind it. "Don't need help
from elf."

**Jen:** at 2:53 PM

"Oh! Hey!" Mahto barely managed to supress the
ingained reflex to counter the attack. Instead, he yanked his arm back and
reeled on his heels. Damn it, this kid has problems. "Don't - don't do
that," he said when he was sure of his balance again. He shuffled a bit
closer, keeping a close eye on Ba'ob who glared at Mahto around the corner of the
chimney.

Huh, wait. There'd been something. Oh, right. "Elf?
You're an elf," he said. "Not me."

**Muse:** at 2:56 PM

Ba'ob glared at the elf. Sitting there lying to him. Ba'ob
could see for himself it was a lie. "You elf," he repeated, pointing
at Mahto's ears. He was- right. About Ba'ob being an elf. But that didn't mean
Ba'ob had to like it.

**Jen:** at 3:03 PM

"What, these?" Mahto shifted to stand of his knees
and tugged at his ears with both hands. "My grandma was an elf. Not me,
though."

Yeah, the kid had shown he really, really didn't like elves.
Had been pretty obvious with Gwydion. And of course Mahto knew what he looked
like; had been feeling the effects of that all his live. Still, as far as he
remembered he hadn't given Ba'ob any reason not to trust him.

Well, maybe it was the other way around. Maybe Mahto needed
to give Ba'ob a reason to trust him first.

**Muse:** at 3:06 PM

"What then?" Ba'ob asked. Curious, but still a
surly. He'd known there were those out there that had mixed blood. Hadn't thought
much about it. Hadn't mattered. But now Mahto was saying he had elf blood and
still not elf and Ba'ob didn't get it.

**Jen:** at 3:11 PM

Hm, good question. An elven grandparent? That made... one
out of four, so that... no, wait. That were six people who weren't all elf, and
he'd gotten all the elven looks from his mother (as many as she'd gotten
anyway) but had never been able to keep up with his sisters playing hide and
seek in the dark. Ugh, trying to figure that one out made his head hurt.
Instead, he opted for shrugging and grinning crookedly at Ba'ob.

"I'm human, but my ears aren't I guess."

**Muse:** at 3:17 PM

Human. Humans weren't so bad. Jasper was human. Ba'ob was
quiet a moment, studying Mahto. Maybe he'd just watch him a bit more, see if he
was an okay human. But for now. "Hate your ears then."

With that settled, Ba'ob popped up and stuck his arm down
the chimney again. "Catching pigeons," he said simply as once more squawks
and coos erupted form inside.

**Jen:** at 3:22 PM

"That's okay, kid," Mahto chuckled. "Lots of
people do."

Ba'ob had turned away from him and Mahto took that as
permission to come closer. A panicked bird exploded out of the chimney,
scattering feathers and small stick everywhere and Mahto found himself lunging
after it without even askingwhy exactly. It was alright, though. The bird had
been too fast for him anyway.

He coughed out a few feathers and retrieved one stuck to his
gum with his fingers. "Why? Why are you catching them?"

**Muse:** at 3:25 PM

Ba'ob lunged after the bird, also failing to catch it. He
growled in frustration, again wishing for something to throw. "Feed
wolf," he said shortly, not looking at Mahto. Should have brought his bow.
Could shoot it down. Maybe should go get it.

**Jen:** at 3:28 PM

Eh, that was actually a good point. They had been buying
meat for the wold off the market but a wild animal probably preferred fresh
kills. Still. "There's got to be easier ways," Mahto muttered.
Nonetheless, he finally stood up from his crouch, getting more comfortable on the
roof. Not the most difficult balancing act he'd ever done after all.

"Shoo them up and I'll try to grab them," he said
and held up with hands in pidgeon-catching position.

**Muse:** at 3:37 PM

Hm. Maybe this'd work. Ba'ob leaned over the hole, counting how
many were left. Looked like just the one. "GET OUT HERE SO WE CAN EAT
YOU!" he bellowed. Spell should still be running. That'd scare it.

It sure did. Pigeon came flying out so fast it ran right
into Ba'ob's face. He staggered backwards. Went too far, ended up stepping on
air. Flailed his arms, calling out in distress.

**Jen:** at 3:43 PM

"Here, birdy!" Mahto called when the pidgeon came
fluttering out. Why it would react to that since Mahto planned to feed it to a
hungry wolf? No idea. But he didn't speak pidgeon anyway.

His call quickly turned into a shriek as the bird knocked
Ba'ob backwards. "Oh no! No no no!" He sprinted forward, lunging
after the kid and grabbing for his shirt with both hands. Pidgeon-catching
position turned to elf-saving position. He caught fabric and they both went
down, Mahto landing on his belly on the roof's peak (fucking ow!) and Ba'ob dangling
over the edge. His shirt almost got ripped out of Mahto's fingers but he
managed to hold on.

**Muse:** at 3:46 PM

Ba'ob's sudden descent was halted. Mahto had him. He reached
up, grabbing for the gutter on the roof. Not quite making it. Grabbed onto Mahto's
arm instead. "Up!" he whined, fearful. Down below he could hear the
wolf barking, also sounding frantic. "Don't fall!"

**Jen:** at 3:50 PM

Ba'ob grabbed for his arm and when Mahto was confident he
had a good enough hold, he let go with his other hand to grab for Ba'ob's free
arm. "It's okay!" he huffed to the wolf and Ba'ob and himself.
"Got it!"

He braced himself up on his knees and shuffled backwards,
pulling the elf kid with him.

**Muse:** at 3:56 PM

As soon as he was able, Ba'ob grabbed the roof and dragged
himself up. Then lay there, panting for a moment. That had been scary. And the
pigeons were sitting there on the edge of the chimney. Watching the whole mess.

**Jen:** at 3:59 PM

Mahto rubbed the spot on his ribcage where he'd hit the
roof. That'd hurt like hell later. They could both be glad he hadn't taken a
tumble himself with that stunt. That would've.... looked dumb. Really, really
dumb. He snorted and giggled. "That was a close one. Are you okay?"

**Muse:** at 4:18 PM

"No fall," Ba'ob answered, still not moving. Didn't
mean that the pounding in his chest was slowing down. "Heart-
scared," he said, resting his hand on his chest. "Be okay."

**Jen:** at 4:27 PM

"Yeah, you will," Mahto said when he'd gotten the
meaning of it. He turned to look back at the pidgeons perching on the chimney.
Beady eyes fixed on them, feathers ruffled. "I never saw pidgeons fight
back like that. Man, I hope they're not cursed or something."

**Muse:** at 4:36 PM

"Won't be cursed after we eat 'em," Ba'ob
muttered, glaring back at the pair. Enough lazing around, Ba'ob pushed himself
to his feet and lunged at the birds. Once more starting the cycle of flying
feathers all over again.

**Jen:** at 4:40 PM

"Eh, not sure we should be eating pidgeons. They got
nasty disease." Mahto scrambled to his feet to got after Ba'ob. He was
doing to same thing as before and not looking to have any more success with it.

Mahto crouched next to the chimney and reached in, hoping to
get out the nest but could only brush a few sticks with his finger tips.
"That's not gonna work," he said and wiped a bit of pidgeon poo from
his hand. "We should try something else."

**Muse:** at 4:41 PM

Ba'ob gave up, watching the birds fly away to perch on some
other corner of the roof. "What?" he asked, crossing his arms and glaring
at the pair. Stupid birds. So hard to catch.

**Jen:** at 4:44 PM

"I don't know..." Mahto looked after them,
scratching his head. "They're too fast for us. Do you really need to feed
those pidgeons to Wolfy?"

**Muse:** at 4:46 PM

Ba'ob let out a long, patient sigh. Seemed that nobody
seemed to understand how this worked. "They gonna have baby birds,"
he said slowly, condescendingly. "Parent birds and baby birds make big
mess. Stink up house. More birds see safe, and come to. Feed wolf, no baby birds,
not safe, no stink."

**Jen:** at 5:00 PM

"Yeah, I mean - I get that. Baby birds, mess and stuff.
But..." he waved around in the air, trying to conjure up the words. This
had gotten exhausting. He liked helping Ba'ob but Mahto had also liked just lying
in the shade, all drowsy and floating with the Hash haze. He went for the pack
and pipe in his pocket out of reflex, then stopped himself. Wouldn't be too
damn helpful to smoke up here, when they were still hunting pidgeons. Or...
maybe it would?

"Hey, Ba'ob. I got an idea." Mahto took the little
pouch out of his pocket and began unfolding it. "You got something to make
fire with?"

**Muse:** at 5:04 PM

Ba'ob grinned wolfishly. "Don't need." He snapped
his fingers and off to the side a fire blazed up, lasting all of a second
before vanishing and leaving a small scorched patch behind. "What we
burn?" he asked, leaning forwards eagerly. He liked setting things on
fire.

December 7, 2018

**Jen:** at 8:50 AM

Mahto started when the fire flared up. Shit, he'd forgotten
how much that kid liked fire.

"Uhm, we...ah..." He'd thought they could just set
a batch of his Hash to smoldering on the roof and fan the smoke over to the
birds. Maybe lure the closer with some crumbs but... maybe that was a bad idea.
If Ba'ob could make fire at will, it was a wonder he hadn't used that to just
set the birds on fire yet. Better not give him ideas.

"You know what, nothing. Uhm, nothing up here anyway."
He shuffled over to the edge of the roof, rolled onto his stomach and dangled
his legs down. "Come on, I got an idea. But we need to go inside."

**Muse:** at 9:08 AM

Ba'ob shrugged and started climbing down the building. Lots
of hand and footholds, was easy. Why they'd need to go inside for pigeon
catching, wasn't sure. He'd go along though.

**Jen:** at 9:14 AM

"Okay," Mahto said when they had solid ground
under their feet again. He was not a bad climber but Ba'ob still beat him down.
"You go inside and make a fire in the hearth. I'll be there in a minute,
just need to get something." He had a pack of the smoking resin in his
pocket, but maybe they'd need more. Fortunately he'd only yesterday bought a
new clumb of the sticky herbs. They were tucked away in his jacket which was
still on the garden bench, rolled up into a pillow.

**Muse:** at 9:23 AM

Ba'ob grinned excitedly and charged inside. Got to set
things on fire. That was always fun. The wolf was by his side, right where she
belonged. While Mahto went to do- whatever- Ba'ob piled in a good amount of
wood onto the hearth and snapped his fingers. It roared into flames and he sat
there, watching it. Fire was pretty.

**Jen:** at 9:29 AM

When Mahto entered, the fire was already going and Ba'ob sat
in front of it, entranced. There was already some smoke billowing out from the
stuffed chimney, however. Hm, might be a problem but - they'd figure something
out. Fan it up, maybe. Yeah, that'd work.

He crouched down beside Ba'ob and began crumbling apart the
resin and rubbing it onto a few pieces of wood. "Here, this'll make them
all sleepy and chill. It's going to be much easier catching them then."
And maybe they'd not suffer so much when they eventually got eaten. Poor
birdies. Mahto threw the sticks on top of the pile and a moment later, the
resin began to blister and sweet smelling smoke rose up.

**Muse:** at 9:43 AM

Huh. That stuff smelled funny. Ba'ob leaned closer and
sniffed at it. Weird. Wasn't sure if he liked it. Wasn't bad though. He stayed
put, crosslegged in front of the fire. "How long?" he asked, reaching
out to stroke the wolf's head.

**Jen:** at 10:02 AM

He laughed. "I don't know. How long does it take a
pidgeon to get high? Oh, hey." Mahto got up and looked around for
something to fan the smoke with. Maybe they should stay out of it, if they
wanted to climb back up to the roof later. He found a wooden serving plate and
used it to drive the smoke up the chimney, instead of into the room. There.
Looked good. "I guess we'll just wait a bit. Fifteen minutes maybe, then
go check on 'em."

**Muse:** at 10:06 AM

Ba'ob tipped over, collapsing against the wolf with a moan.
"Too long," he said grumpily.

**Jen:** at 10:12 AM

"Hey, see it like this." Mahto shifted his seat to
cross his legs under him and get settled in, still fanning. A good deal of
smoke was getting out and the room already smelled strongly of Hash but he was
positive most of it was rising up to the nest. "You swapped fifteen
minutes of chasing birds and falling of roof for fifteen minutes of cuddling
with wolf. That's better, isn't it?" He smiled at Ba'ob.

**Muse:** at 11:00 AM

"Gueeesssss so," Ba'ob said, reluctantly. Liked
doing things though. But not falling off roofs. "That right?" he
asked, pointing at the smoke billowing out and into the room. From his experience,
smoke was supposed to go out of the house. But this was special smoke. Maybe it
was different.

**Jen:** at 1:10 PM

No, no that wasn't quite right. Dammit, there was more smoke
coming out of the hearth now than he'd expected. Mahto started fanning faster but
only managed to spread the smoke, not push it up the chimney.

"Uhm... ah, damn. That's not really working. Sorry,
kid, maybe-" he inhaled a big gulp of smoke and started coughing, bending
over. Ugh, the bliss of getting Hash smoke in too deep.

**Muse:** at 2:15 PM

The wolf's head came up, looking towards Mahto with perked
ears. Ba'ob was pretty sure he'd be fine and didn't bother moving. "What
next?" he asked. Mahto had plans, all Ba'ob had was enthusiasm. Sometimes.

**Jen:** at 2:20 PM

"We- uhm. Oh, man." Mahto coughed a couple more
times and rubbed the tears out of his eyes. Huh, he'd gotten more smoke into
his lungs than he'd realized. The familiar cozy heaviness began spreading
through him and his head felt stuffed with wool. Damn, that hadn't worked at all
but - at least now he knew this dealer had the good stuff.

Mahto giggled at that and put the plate away. Maybe they
should put the fire out. Yeah. Yeah they should do that. He looked at Ba'ob and
flapped a hand back and forth between the elf and the fire. "Can you...
can you uhm, un... un..." Dammit, what was the word? "Un-light the
fire?"

**Muse:** at 2:36 PM

"Yeeeeeeah," Ba'ob drawled, glancing back towards
the fire. Attempted to concentrate but- huh. That wasn't his fire any more.
That was just- a fire. "Nooooooooo." Could get up. Didn't feel like
it. Didn't feel like doing anything, all of a sudden. Just staying here,
relaxing, and enjoying the smoke. Weird.

**Jen:** at 3:09 PM

"Ah." Mahto stared at Ba'ob as he squinted at the
fire. Then broke into laughter when the elf flopped down onto Wolfy again.
"Man, how much smoke did you inhale? You're - oh shit!"

Speaking of smoke. A big, white plume had formed and was
billowing out of the hearth, making the air foggy. Mahto scrambled to his feet
fast as he could and tried putting the fire out with his magic. Wasn't working,
though. He'd not yet managed to pull that one trick off. Looking around for another
way, he found a vase and promptly dumped the contents into the fire, flowers
and all. It hissed as it went out, producing more smoke and steam.

**Muse:** at 3:18 PM

Ba'ob watched, fascinated by the way the smoke billowed and
scattered. "Smoke," he said, unconsciously sliding back into Elvish.
"Pretty." He reached up, trying to grab at the smoke, and giggling as
it all wafted away. Felt really floaty. Felt really- calm. Was nice. "What
is this?"

**Jen:** at 3:30 PM

"Hmm water. And air." Mahto put down the vase,
then sat next to Ba'ob again. "Ohh you mean the stuff? Yeah, that's Hash.
Or... Dreamweed. Makes everything a bit better." He lay down and ran his
hands over the rug under him. The rough fibers tingled his finger tips. There
had been something. Pidgeons. Feeding poor pidgeons to Wolfy but sitting on the
carpet was also good. Nothing died that way. Mahto glanced over at the wolf.
Maybe she'd forgive them for not feeding her the birds. She looked like a nice
wolf. A fluffy one. Very, very soft. Maybe she'd let him pet her?

**Muse:** at 3:45 PM

Dreamweed. Had Ba'ob heard that term before? Couldn't remember
if he had. Didn't matter. "It's nice," he said. He'd never realized
how beautiful the smoke patterns were. Always been too fascinated with the
fire. But the way the smoke curled and twisted, almost like it had a life of
its own... "I feel floaty."

The wolf was lying down, looking very peaceful and relaxed.
Maybe even asleep.

**Jen:** at 3:52 PM

He hummed in response, eyes having fallen shut. The sizzling
of the cooling embers turned into a kind of calming rythm in his head and he
begann wagging his toes to it and drumming his fingers on the floor.
"Yeah. Yeah, it'll do that to you." Wait, that sounded weird. Had he
just said that in common, or...? No, elvish. Funny, he hadn't used that in a
while. But now that he thought about it, Ba'ob was also talking in Elvish.
Must've just compelled him. Neat.

**Muse:** at 4:00 PM

Ba'ob made a noise of acknowledgment, still staring at the
fading smoke. Didn't think he'd been this relaxed in- well- ever. Felt like he
could stay here for days. Just existing. Living in this calm, floaty, stillness.

And that's when his stomach started to growl. "Mahto?
I'm hungry."

**Jen:** at 4:05 PM

Now that he mentioned it... "God, man. Me too."
Mahto opened his eyes again and turned his head to look at Ba'ob. Licked his
lips. "There any food in the house?"

**Muse:** at 4:13 PM

"There's always food somewhere." Hm. But where was
it? Hey, Ba'ob knew where to go to find out. "Let's go ask Azriel."

**Jen:** at 4:25 PM

He would've just looked in the kitchen but asking Azriel?
That was a good plan, too. Mahto liked Azriel, even though the tiefling often
gave him strange side glances. And he was up to something shifty but none of
that seemed to involve Mahto so he could push that concern far back into his
mind. There, already gone.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's ask Azriel." He sat up and
pushed to his feet. Stretched a bit when standing upright and scratched his
chest. Ba'ob was still on the ground, looking glued to the floor. Mahto held
out a hand. "You coming?"

**Muse:** at 4:40 PM

"Yes," Ba'ob said. And didn't move. "Any
minute now." Still no moving. "The floor's really comfy. And so's the
wolf."

**Jen:** at 4:51 PM

"Ba'ob, we're hungry," Mahto declared and reached
for the elf's wrists to hoist him up.

**Muse:** at 4:56 PM

Ba'ob was pliant as a ragdoll, nearly seeming like he wasn't
going to stay up on his own. But he did. Staggered into Mahto to get his
balance, but stayed on his own two feet. "Yes. Hungry. Food. Azriel,"
he agreed, and started heading for the study.

**Jen:** at 5:10 PM

Mahto went after him, calling out "Azriel!"
halfway to his room. They reached the door and Mahto leaned into it, trying to
push in but it wouldn't budge. Weird, that was... oh, right. He pulled the
handle and it swung open.

**Muse:** at 5:11 PM

Ba'ob tumbled in after him. Literally. He'd been leaning on
the door too and ended up flat on the ground when Mahto swung it open. It was
an effort but he rolled over onto his back. "We want food!" he
yelled. In Elvish.

**Izzy:** at 5:21 PM

Azriel had been highly focused on the encoded letter he was
sending to his parents, updating them on his situation. There'd been a bit of a
clatter, before, but he'd blocked it out. He was learning that he couldn't rush
into the room every time he heard some commotion or another, because there was
always some commotion.

Then there was noise more directly outside the door, and the
handle jiggled, and he had just enough time to think, what in nine hells --
before it burst open and Ba'ob rolled in yelling, with Mahto standing over him,
snickering.

He jumped and fumbled with his papers. His first thought was
that they'd gotten into a fight or something, but then he looked at them more
closely, and realized what he'd smelled. He narrowed his eyes. And here he'd
just assumed they were setting fire to things like normal.

"Mahto," he started reproachfully, "did you
get Ba'ob high? Why would -- you know what, actually." He looked down at
Ba'ob lounging on the floor. "Never mind. It's fine. Ba'ob, you're going
to have to use words that I'm familiar with, friend," he said calmly.
"Try Common."

**Jen:** at 5:50 PM

"He says we want food," Mahto said after he got
his laughter under control. "And I didn't get him high. Wanted to get the
pidegons high but it's their lucky day - oh damn!" He bent down to pick
Ba'ob up. He was still limp as a doll and Mahto only managed to get him into a
sitting postion. "We gotta go look for the pidgeons. Forgot all about
them."

**Muse:** at 5:55 PM

Ba'ob stared at Azriel for a good solid five seconds. Use
words he was- what? "What are you talking about?" he asked. But now
that Azriel mentioned it... That was Elvish. "Um. F-food?" he tried.
Came out weird. Dreamweed made it hard to concentrate on how to shape the
sounds. Ugh. "Pigeons," he repeated, managing to keep to Common at
least. Nodding like that was meaningful. "Pigeons food."

**Izzy:** at 6:43 PM

Azriel looked between them, deadpan. He silently got up and
walked towards the kitchen, catching Mahto's necklace on the way and pulling
the both of them along.

"This," he said patiently, gesturing to the
cabinets, "is where the food lives. You can feed the pigeons or -- eat the
pigeons, I don't know, whatever it is you're doing."

Ba'ob was having a difficulty staying on his feet, so Azriel
bent over to pat his cheek, kindly saying, "Ba'ob, you are the bane of my
existence, and I love you so much."

Then he brushed past them to head back to his study, patting
Mahto's shoulder as he went. Idiots.

**Jen:** at 6:56 PM

"Thanks, Az!" Mahto yelled after him, then
breaking into giggles again. Az. Ass. "Sorry, Azriel!" he called, for
good measure. No need to offend the guy.

"Aaaaanyway." He flipped open a cabinet door and
peered in, scrutinizing the storages therein and checking back with his stomach
what the both of them would like this fine day. A bag of dried fruit caught his
attention and he snatched it out.

**Muse:** at 6:59 PM

Ba'ob watched Azriel go, and then stared at the door when it
shut. He'd been talking. Ba'ob had understood- one word. "Common is
hard," he said. Back to Elvish now. "Hey gimme," he made grabby
hands motions at Mahto, staring at the fruit. That looked really good.

**Jen:** at 7:02 PM

Mahto stuffed another fruit in his mouth, then let go of the
bag. "Elvish is hard also," he said chewing. "And then letters
are weird." He found half a loaf of bread wrapped into cloth and began
rifling through the kitchen to hunt down some cheese.

**Muse:** at 7:05 PM

"Letters are stupid," Ba'ob said, already stuffing
fruits in his mouth. Kept having to crane his neck up to see Mahto. Didn't like
that. There was a table right there. Ba'ob reached up and hauled himself up on
it, laying across the table and stuffing more fruit in his mouth. "Elvish
is stupid," he added, though garbled through the mouthful. "Easy though."

**Jen:** at 7:11 PM

"Hey, listen to this," he said and piped out a few
words in high-pitched, babbling Gnomish. His pronounciation was terribly off
but it sounded funny enough.

**Muse:** at 7:14 PM

Ba'ob stared for a minute and then burst into giggles.
"You sound like a bird!"

**Jen:** at 7:17 PM

"You think I can catch pidgeons with that?" Mahto
had uncovered quarter of a small cheese wheel and was slicing up pieced of it
on to his bread. Hmm, maybe some of the dried fruit on top of it for good
measure.

**Muse:** at 7:19 PM

Ba'ob made grabby hands at Mahto's bread and cheese. That
looked good. "Pigeons are too stupid to fall for it," he drawled.
Hey, Mahto wasn't wearing a shirt. Ba'ob didn't think he felt like wearing a
shirt either. He sat up and started tugging it off. Wolves didn't need shirts!

**Jen:** at 7:47 PM

"What are you-" Mahto moved his bread out of
Ba'ob's reach and started laughing again as his shirt came off. "What are
you doing? Why?"

He went over to put the bread in the oven - still warm from
preparing lunch - and made to prepare a second one for Ba'ob.

**Muse:** at 7:49 PM

"Wolves don't need shirts!" Ba'ob declared. And
then chucked his (Azriel's) filthy nasty shirt at Mahto's head.

**Jen:** at 8:12 PM

"Holy lord Ilmater!" Mahto plucked the shirt off
his face and grimaced. "When did you last wash?"

**Muse:** at 8:13 PM

Ba'ob shrugged and started counting on his fingers. How long
had it been...? "Dunno," he finally said, giving up with a shrug.
"Months."

December 8, 2018

**Jen:** at 8:19 AM

Mahto squinted at the thing in his hand with a grimace.
Yeah, smelled accurate.

He went over to where Ba'ob sat, wrapped the short around
his head like a turban, then took him by the shoulders. "Wash," he
said and shook Ba'ob lightly. "Wash."

**Muse:** at 6:01 PM

"Wolves don't need baths!" Ba'ob protested,
batting at Mahto's face. "Bathing's for people."

**Jen:** at 6:40 PM

"Wolfs wash too. I've seen it." Mahto let go of
Ba'ob and looked pointedly at Wolfy, who came patting into the kitchen. He
pointed at her. "Ain't that right?"

The wolf stopped, tilted her head at him, then shook out her
fur.

"See, she - oh damn, no no no!" He'd all but
forgotten about their bread in the oven! Mahto rushed over and pulled it out,
burning his fingers but managing to balance the bread slices with the gooey
cheese up onto the counter. They'd actually become perfect.

**Muse:** at 6:47 PM

Ba'ob snickered, grabbing one of them and shoving it in his
mouth. Too hot! He spat it back into his hand, shaking it around slightly
before shoving it in his mouth again. Still too hot, but swallowable. "Not
this wolf," he said, muffled through the mouthful. Took another bite of
his cheesy bread and closed his eyes, feeling like a nap. Half-naked and on top
of the counter.

**Jen:** at 7:34 PM

"You know what," Mahto said around a mouth full of
bread, "we should really take care of those pidgeons." He stuffed
another bite in his mouth, followed by a dried fruit, for good measure. This
eating was making him drowsy, though. Full stomach, contented... and Ba'ob
looked the same. Eyes closed and swaying lighty on the counter and he chewed
his bites.

Eh, they'd do that eventually. But before, they should
really get a nap in. And another slice of bread. Then nap, then work. Yep, good
plan.

[END]

Title: Ba'ob and Mahto (Good Plans) Ba'ob and Mahto try to
get rid of a pidgeons nest that is clogging the chimney. They come up with a
really good plan to do that but it turns into a stoned kitchen raid.