RP: Lamb of the Hunt [Elisha & Hastur]

Juni - Elisha

There was nothing worse than a fruitless day. Many businesses had paused for people to go out and help with the cleanup situation, Lorelie's included, and at first Elisha had been excited about the situation. 

Now though? Now he was covered in mud, for the second day in a row, and had been foiled at every turn by the forest and its inhabitants. It would have been embarrassing if everyone else hadn't also been having a hard time. And now, he no longer wanted a possum for the novelty of it-- he wanted to put the miserable little creatures in their place. 

Elisha went around to the back of the house to find the water spout again, stripping down to underclothes so he could try to salvage his outerwear and not make such a mess in Lorelie's house.

Cory - Hastur

"You might have an easier time of it jumping directly into the lake. Just a thought." Hastur leaned his crossed arms against the railing of the back porch, watching Elisha with subdued amusement. The younger man's shuffling about and the sound of the water had drawn the half-witch outside to make sure nothing out of the ordinary was afoot. But it had just been Elisha. Or golem that had Elisha's silhouette.

Juni - Elisha

Elisha froze as Hastur's smooth quip ground against his thoughts. He honestly had not beeb expecting anyone to be home, and especially had not expected them to seek him out-- in a rare moment of embarrassment his ears burned red beneath all the mud. Despite that, he stood straight, casually shaking his wrinkled wet jacket out, muddy water splattering the hedges. 

"Knowing my luck today, I'd just drown!" Though he tried to keep his voice chipper, there was an audible edge of frustration to it, and the fact he was having difficulty concealing it made him more irritable. Halfheartedly he threw the jacket over the hedges and whirled around to face Hastur. 

"Though maybe you wouldn't mind that so much, hm!"

Cory - Hastur

Hastur watched as the jacket was tossed, smiling casually as Elisha faced him. "It certainly would be quieter around here, that's for certain. But then who would we have to so deftly redistribute sediment across town, hm?" 

Hastur, in his own right, could understand the frustration that Elisha was wrestling with. He felt it too. For someone that was supposed to be a professional at finding and reclaiming things, this past week had done everything it could to prove that Has was quite possibly the most inept at next to everything. 

Though he had put on a great effort at looking unbothered and uncommitted to the hunt, despite how much it nagged at him. Elisha had gotten his ego caught up in it and now he was at his limit. Has could remember a younger version of himself that had gotten wrapped up in similar personal setbacks. But that familiarity only made Elisha's frustration more amusing rather than prompting sympathy for the younger man.

Juni - Elisha

"You'd be forced out of retirement, probably--" he ran a hand unhelpfully though muddy hair, though it stayed slicked backwards. Elisha set to work on rinsing out his skirt. "--smile is certainly grimey enough," He was muttering under his breath. 

Then sighing, Elisha began to wring out the fabric. 

"What have you been up to anyways?" It was a big wood, but he hadn't personally seen Hastur out and about, and the older man never reported his status on the Wizapps to request the help of the perimeter guards to fetch him out of pits or holes or whatever.

Cory - Hastur

Hastur had straightened, planning on leaving Elisha to his misery as the man's voice being unintelligible, but paused as he was addressed again. "Same as you," he admitted simply. "Just with less..." He gestured at Elisha's state, "...detours."

Juni - Elisha

Elisha paused, straightening a little. Was that... Hope? 

"Did you catch one--?"

Cory - Hastur

Hastur tilted his head slightly to one side, smiling like he wasn't going to say, but implying as if the answer was one Elisha wanted to hear. He gave a slight shrug. 

"Do I look like I caught one? Really, Elisha, have some respect for your hard, dirty work. If anyone was going to catch one, surely it would have been you."

Juni - Elisha

In most circumstances, he would have laughed at teasing like that-- Hastur wasn't wrong, and Elisha's ego wasn't particularly huge. If it had been, he would have given up days ago. But it still took considerable effort not to huff or roll his eyes our of frustrstion-- he couldn't refrain entirely from giving Hastur the satisfaction of amusement from a pout. 

"Noo, I'm afraid creatures like that only jump into the arms of the pure of heart." He groaned. Had Dawn caught one yet? It would not surprise him if airheaded Dawn had succeeded. 

"Just bugs and demons for us, I'm afraid..." He tossed his skirt next to his jacket, shivering for a moment from the cold before bracing to rinse himself off. 

"Do miserable little me a favor? Get me a towel?"

Cory - Hastur

"Only to eat said heart, surely," Has responded. The look of the creatures didn't exactly inspire holy purity—not in his opinion at least. 

He made a small hum to indicate he had heard Elisha, but made no verbal promise before retreating inside the house. Thankfully it wasn't long before he reemerged, towel in-hand. "Shall I throw it down there, or would you like me to make you try and jump for it? An easy successful hunt as a consolation prize?" he asked, waving the folded cloth over the edge of the railing at Elisha.

Juni - Elisha

Hastur's joke prompted an unexpected bark of a laugh from Elisha-- he looked surprised at himself, but then grinned and shook his head. Mood dispelled, he probably wouldn't have given a second thought had Hastur gone inside and stayed inside-- but the older man did come back by the time he'd mostly rinsed off. 

He really did think about the teasing question. It would have been super simple and easy to just ask Hastur to toss it down. But as if he had to prove something, Elisha rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner, then jumped up to try and snatch the towel while clinging to the banister. 

That didn't work super great. His wet shoe slipped, and if he hadn't caught himself on the wood he might have fallen and made even more of a mess. Flushing red and blowing out a snort while clinging on the wrong side of the railing, he gave up and held out an open hand to Hastur for the cloth. 

"Set aside a plot for me and commission a headstone, while you're at it. 'Here lies Elisha, mighty lamb of the hunt.'" He lamented, though in a little more of his usual manner rather than his earlier overly frustrated state. He even managed a small smile. 

Cory - Hastur

He nodded slowly, acknowledging. "Of course. I'll be sure to invite rodents of all shapes, sizes, and head quantity to the wake as well," Hastur said gravely. But the self-deprecation from Elisha was enough to earn him the towel and Has relinquished it without further fuss. 

"It would have to be an exceptional service and a prime plot. Lest you feel the need to return as a ghost." 

Juni - Elisha

"Ha! Yes, I'd be quite the nuisance if I didn't feel properly remembered." Elisha patted himself down before wrapping himself in the towel and finally allowing himself to step up onto the deck proper. Thinking about his own grave was something he did often, and when he did he could feel the edges of melancholy pluck at his heart. To fend it off, he continued rambling. 

"I'd want each of my organs in its own little jar, ideally pickled. And to be buried in a red dress, not a black one. And if you were to salt my grave to keep me there, I wouldn't mind-- I think it'd be very ominous if nothing grew over it." The hypothetical taken way too literally and far too far had him beaming by the time he reached the back door. He looked over his shoulder at Hastur. 

"Oh but if I did come back, what kind of bug would you put me in?" 

Cory - Hastur

Hastur stepped to one side to give Elisha room to stand next to him on the deck once the man was somewhat dried off. Has tilted his head slightly to one side, smiling in what was an uncomfortably genuine way at Elisha's further detailing of his funeral. "Ominous indeed. Pickling the organs might tempt grave robbers, though." 

He gave Elisha an appraising look for a few seconds before answering. "I think you'd prefer a scarlet tiger moth. Though with me choosing... perhaps a red-headed centipede." His smile widened in what was almost in earnest teasing. "Or a hissing cockroach. Would hate to subject you to an eternity of silence." 

Juni - Elisha

Most would be offended or unsettled by Elisha's casual treatment of these topics, but those associated with Haven Services took it blessedly well in stride and Hastur was no exception. Elisha liked that. 

It did take him a moment to try to visualize the bugs Hastur described- his lexicon of insects wasn't as vast as the older man's, and he had to wonder what had drawn him to the hobby. Elisha did know what a moth, a centipede, and a roach were though, at the very least, and he nodded along at first-- moths were quite beautiful, and a centipede at least was appropriately grotesque and fierce. A hissing roach though? He gave a little show of looking miffed as he opened the door a little too hard. 

"How considerate, father Rais. Now I really must be sure to try my hardest to haunt you after death!"

Cory - Hastur

Has turned his head to watch Elisha move towards the door. "The roach would be easiest to come by on short notice so do let me know a month or so beforehand if you plan on dying if you want a rarer host. You can only get consideration if you give it, Elisha." He straightened and brushed himself off absently as he stepped down from the deck to the lawn.

Juni - Elisha

"Yes, Father Rais," Elisha droned flippantly to the somewhat tongue-in-cheek preaching, taking one step before pausing again. 

"Where are you headed?" He asked, unable to help his own curiosity.

Cory - Hastur

Hastur couldn't help but look over his shoulder at Elisha in response to the unexpected nosiness. He raised a hand and pointed towards where Elisha's discarded clothes lay across the shrubbery.

Juni - Elisha

It hadn't occurred to him that Hastur would go out of his way to pick up after him. 'Probably for Lorelie's sake, more than mine.'

"I was going to bring them in after I'd changed--" he insisted, though didn't make any motion to get ahead of Hastur or stop the old man. "--But! Thank you!"

Cory - Hastur

Has waved his raised hand dismissively before going to collect the clothes so they could at least dry off enough for a proper cleaning on the clothesline along the side of the manor. "Thrilling for you to be in my debt," he called cheerily to Elisha before the other man could completely disappear inside.

Juni - Elisha

Debts, hm? Elisha had heard frequently that those were something of a serious matter among fae, though he personally didn't see them as a negative thing. Favors were just excuses-- things that tied people to one another, and allowed them more reasons to interact. He would of course pay it back, and thinking of how to do so succeeded in entirely distracting him from the woe of his day.