milliways_bar | (no subject)

"Hello, Sara!"

Asar-Suti wanders by, with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Hi, Sooty!" She gives him a grin. "How are you today?"

"I overslept," he admits. "Gods shouldn't really need sleep, of course, but I still overslept, after being so busy yesterday."

He looks rather sheepish.

"Nothing wrong with that," she says with a quick grin. "I'm going to try to get into the habit of regular sleep here."

Asar-Suti grins. "Didn't you get that, at home? Why not - it is very bad for mortal humans not to sleep, you know."

Asar-Suti has some strange views about things that are harmful to humans but gods can still do. Smoking, for example. Not eating or sleeping, too.

"From pulling triple shifts every week, and horrific nightmares the other nights I could sleep--well, it's not a habit for me." She shrugs slightly. "But part of that problem is gone now."

Her termination had happened after Sooty went to bed.

"What do you mean, that problem is over? Are you Bound? Won't the door open for you any more?"

Perhaps she got bound because she didn't sleep enough? And will be let out again once she's all right? Asar-Suti, of course, doesn't know about the termination; the omniscience thing is definitely not done for a mere god in Milliways; you have to be an Endless for that.

~~His mun, though, has read the post, being in the habit of looking at everything that happened in the main comm since she went offline.~~

"No, I'm not Bound." She smiles bitterly. "I went home to take care of some business there. The lab director called me in. I was fired." She sighs. "So no more triple shifts, at least. And maybe the nightmares will let up too."

She appreciate's Sooty's concern. He reminds her a bit of Mikey--endearingly sweet.

~~The mun does that as well, but wanted to lead up to this naturally. :)~~

"You mean, you lost your job? That you were so dedicated to? They just kicked you out?"

The small purple god of magic looks both angry and concerned.

"Those bastards - why did they do that?"

"Offically, because of budget constraints, meaning they could no longer afford to pay me. Even though they could afford to upgrade the lab's equipment." There is heavy sarcasm on the words.

"But unofficially--because Ecklie is an asshole and has wanted to get rid of me. And I'm tired enough to not fight it."

She stares at the table top. "I'm happier here."

"But won't you miss your job? The sense it all makes? All the things you told me when we were at the building site?"

Asar-Suti was under the impression that Sara's life rather took its meaning from that work. Also, the people Fighting Crime are mostly very dedicated to it.

"Oh, I will miss it. Very much so." Shaking her head, she is struck by how much she really will miss it. "But I was getting very close to quitting. Seeing the death, devastation every day wears on a person." Quietly, "And I'm only human. I'm growing tired of waking up screaming for the people I couldn't help."

Sara's life did take a lot of meaning from the job. But now it's time for her to figure out truly what her life is.

"So, you are going to stay here for a bit? It is a very good place for taking a break from your life, from all I know."

For Asar-Suti, it's a bit more than a break - his position had been terminated the way Dark Gods get terminated in High Fantasy, that is, he was vanquished by the Good. And had, in this instance, a whole fortress thrown on top of him. Going back underneath there is not really an option.

"Yeah." She looks back up, giving him a brief smile. "I have a room and everything...brought some things here. And I've made the necessary arrangements back home for things. I'll just have to be sure my friends won't worry."

"So I'm going to see you around more? That is nice."

Asar-Suti finds that he quite likes Sara. She is easy to talk to, and pleasant to work with.

"The staff quarter expansions are finished, though - some people have even moved in already, and Gil is painting his new room, and everything is mostly ready for living in," he says. "We might like to find ourselves new things to do. Your world does not have any magic at all, does it?"

"I'm afraid not. At least, none that I am aware of. Theoretically, it could exist," Sara muses. "I'm handy with physical labor, and if I start getting bored, I'll find a staff position here."

She smiles again, cheering up a bit. Sooty is good for that. "If nothing else, it makes things easier for getting ready for Mikey's party. I was wondering how I would manage that."

"Oh, the party - I will have to gatecrash that, Raph said. He sorta invited me sideways. Or I could ask Gil to 'take' me - he has been invited."

Asar-Suti would enjoy going somewhere as Gil's 'date'...

"I think I just had an idea - I will have to ask Bernard first, though, before I get my hopes or anybody else's up. And if you like, I might try whether you can do basic magic. Many can learn our kind - Richard did as well, and so did Todd, a fellow who hasn't come back for quite a while."

"Gil? Your significant other?" Sara smiles at the sparkle in his eye when he mentions the name.

She looks a bit startled. "Could I? Really?"

"What is a 'significant other' - Gil is my lover," Asar-Suti says. And yes, there is a definite sparkle.

"He is a wizard who is the cook here, the chef, really, if he weren't too modest to call himself that. You might have met him? He's got brown hair and brown eyes and brown skin and mostly wears brown clothes, and an apron, if he's on duty, and he's really nice and friendly and gentle to everybody - okay, I must stop gushing, right?" Asar-Suti smiles a bit selfconsciously.

"And yes, you might be able to do magic. We can try that one of these days. If so, I can teach you."

"Sorry-it's a term for a lover or someone one is courting."

"And I have met him--gave me the best veggie pizza I'd ever had in my life. He seemed like a really nice fellow." She grins. "You two are a good match."

"I would like to find out. Wow..magic. Never would have dreamed this." She's grinning again.

"Yes, we are a very good match," Asar-Suti says proudly. "We're both magic users, both short and skinny, both used to be something quite different at a time, and doing things together is fun, and we can quarrel and make up without anything getting lastingly broken - wich is important. And we love each other, of course."

Asar-Suti is grinning as broadly as a gingerbread horse.

Then, he lifts his hand - there is a spark of purple fire glowing on his forefinger. "Touch your finger to mine," he simply says.

Sara laughs as he describes their relationship. "In other words, you're both reasonably well adjusted, know how to compromise, and love each other dearly? Sounds like a good match indeed."

She blinks once. "Okay." She extends her own forefinger and touches his gingerly.

Asar-Suti smiles brightly at her summary. "Yes - that's exactly it."

There is something of an electric sparkle on Sara's finger, and then the purple spark clings to hers.

"Look at that spark, and concentrate on what it feels like, there on your finger," he intructs her.

She frowns, concentrating. "It feels like it should burn..but it's not."

"No, it's not real fire, it's what my Ihlini called godfire - magic energy made visible," Asar-Suti explains.

He lifts his finger again, and draws a sparkling violet circle into the air, with a wavy line through it - and when the line touches the circle again, the whole sparkling purple sign fizzes briefly, and a fat drop of water splashes onto the table.

"That's the rune for 'water'. Do that as well - it will work, because I gave you the godfire," he says.