out of my shell

Sohalia

As they roamed along, arms linked, Soh took in the sights of Halo. Even in the height of Longheat, she could still tell that she was in the tundra, and she would have been cold if not for Tal's cuff. She'd have to think of a suitable thank you for him; it was exceedingly kind for him to allow her to borrow it. Halovians bustled around them, heading to and from the skyport and various shopping outlets, and Soh took in the different fashions with a great deal of interest. She already saw a few things she'd be interested in picking up for herself.

"Hmm," she said in relation to the Oerwoud. "It's hard to say, exactly. It's just - so full of life and color," she explained, her voice growing excited as she talked. "I feel like I could explore for weeks and still not catalogue all the different plants and animals there. There's always something new to find." Then, she grinned up at him. "What about you? You travel just as much as I do, probably more. What's your favorite place?"

Sure, the cuff had maybe made him a bit soft for relying on it so much since he'd received it, but Tal was still Halovian down to the tips of his toes, and he was perfectly comfortable in the Longheat 'warmth' (relatively speaking) with his lightweight parka and gloves to keep away the seasonal chill of the Tundra that never really thawed here in the Eirachi's domain. He tucked Soha's arm in his and led the way, showing her around Snowcloak and the market before heading towards the Greenhouse that Frey had helped them build.

"Hmmm... yeah, you're right about all that," he agreed, a wry grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Molten tigers're real lively an' colorful! But it's not th'worst. Treeflits're pretty cute, an' I'm partial t'the Walkin' Palms that've moved in." He'd had a personal hand in that, and he looked smugly proud of himself for a moment before Soh's question brought a surprised laugh from the courier. "Oh, I've seen more'n my share of Caido," he agreed, grin returning immediately. "Little bit of everywhere, 'cept the Draig an' the Merfolk city. But th'best place in all the world has gotta be Halo. Nowhere else even comes close!" he boasted proudly, pausing outside the large glass structure and gesturing to it grandly. "Can I get y'some fresh fruit t'snack on while we walk?"

Sohalia

Despite Soh's time in the Oerwoud, she had yet to see a molten tiger (much to her dismay). So she made a face at Tal, a wistful sigh falling from her lips. At least she'd seen the treeflits and the walking palms. "Every time I go, there's something new to see," she said. "It just makes me want to spend more and more time there."

She smiled as Tal bragged about Halo, laughing a little at his exuberance. "We'll see about that," she teased. "You'll have to show me all the best parts."

Soh marveled at the appearance of the greenhouse, gasping softly as she admired the structure. "Fresh fruit?" she asked, curious and excited. "All the way up here? What kinds are there? What all can you grow here? What grows naturally, and what do you need to grow in the greenhouse? Is there enough for all of Halo?" Her questions came quickly and without pause as she considered the greenhouse and its implications. When she finally took a breath, she looked up at Tal expectantly, pausing briefly to wait for answers.

Considering the molten tigers he'd seen had been trying to kill him, he made a face right back at Soh, sticking his tongue out at his friend until she sighed. "Yeah, well... there's worse places," he said again in gruff agreement, thinking of the Hak Etme desert. Or Suvahasi, which was like the Oerwoud but so much worse.

But the Greenhouse provided a distraction and a chance to show off one of the Citadel's most notable Frey-blessed structures, and Tal's grin grew slowly wider and wider as Soh's questions came thick and fast, reminding him of the early days of their friendship, back when they'd first met.

"Well, here's a start. An' yes, yes, lots, all sorts, mostly the latter, and no, but it's enough for the Citadel's needs," he shot back in prompt response, ready this time for her barrage and meeting it head on, smugly. "Next?"

Boreal snorted and rolled her eyes, ambling towards the Greenhouse door. Maybe Soh didn't want a snack, but the dragon sure did! And she was perfectly capable of begging an apple from the volunteers who staffed the place after the time Tal had put in there himself, back before the War.

Sohalia

That Soh was once again capable of throwing an excited volley of questions towards Tal spoke volumes of her mental state, which had improved greatly in the weeks preceding her trip (not that it had anything to do with a certain someone back in Torchline). It seemed that her attack back in Stormbreak had failed to break her spirit, and as time went on, she grew more and more like the person she'd been before. If anything, she was perhaps a bit more wary around strangers - but although she'd have preferred to learn that lesson any other way, she had to admit that a bit of caution wasn't entirely a bad thing.

In any case, Soh laughed with delight as Tal answered her questions in a barrage of his own, leaving her dizzy with new information and impressed that he'd managed to keep up. "But that's so impressive!" she said (and it was unclear whether she meant the greenhouse or Tal's response). "How did you build it? I've never seen anything like it. Can we go inside?" And she tugged on Tal's arm, following Boreal toward the greenhouse doors.

Tal might not have known whether Soh was talking about him or the greenhouse, but fuck it, he was going to take the praise regardless. He puffed up his chest preening a bit as he grinned over at her. "Thanks." Boreal rolled her eyes, amused and exasperated with her human, and rumbled impatiently for someone with thumbs to come help a dragon out.

With Soh in agreement with the dragon, Tal was more than happy to lead the way, tugging his friend along to the entrance. There was an anteroom with a few other coats and scarves hung up and Tal's quickly joined them as he spoke. "Frey helped! One o' the old outlander Wardens had the idea," he admitted, managing to keep his scowl to only a faint grimace. One of the Launceleyns, in fact... but at least it had been Loren and not one of the others. "Anyone can come in an' pick fresh stuff for dinner. I spent a couple months helpin' out in here one Deepfrost when th'caretaker got sick."

He led the way into the main glass structure as he explained, and a wave of warm, humid air enveloped them as they stepped in. "There's root veggies over there, an' fruit bushes over here... herbs across the way there... an' fruit trees towards the back..." He pointed out the Greenhouse's various plots and organization as they walked around the circular path.

Sohalia

Soh was more than happy to shed her coat once they were inside the greenhouse; it was almost too warm for her parka outside with Tal's cuff, much less in the hot and humid environment inside the glass walls. She nodded as she listened to Tal. It made sense for Frey to help with this - nature Frey, anyway. She didn't ask for clarification, though, figuring that regardless of whether it was nature or sex Frey, the greenhouse was still quite the feat.

She beamed at her friend when he mentioned helping out. 'I'm not surprised," she said, squeezing his arm affectionately. "Is there anyone in Caido you haven't helped at some point?" She knew he'd had quite the adventures, what with the Walking Palms and the greenhouse and gods knew what else.

As the entered the greenhouse proper, Soh looked around with obvious curiosity, taking in the beauty of the fresh fruits and vegetables. It was all so organized and colorful and welcoming, and for a moment Soh felt right at home amongst the plants. "It's so wonderful that you can grow all this even in Halo," she marveled. "So much more convenient than having to establish trade routes, although I'm sure you have those as well."

Graceful at taking praise as always, Tal blushed straight up the back of his neck and jammed his hands in his pockets, stammering something mumbled and only half-coherent at Sohalia's admiration. Boreal glanced back, chortling to herself at the two friends and her companion's discomfort in particular. the courier did his best to ignore his dragon's wicked glee and hurriedly changed the subject to the Greenhouse's layout. Having Soh appreciate the work of Halo in general was much easier to accept and his grin returned, a quick flash of teeth as he nodded his own agreement.

"Well, we made it 'afore there were skyships or Ports or anythin' like that," he explained. "Back before th'War. Even before most o' the portals were open." He waved a hand to the north. "We didn't have any open water for a sea port back then." Then he gestured to the south. "An' the Fangs were too treacherous t'take trade through, back in those days. They were still proper mountains, all ice'n'cold'n'ursur an' Frost Giants an' avalanches," he listed off with a faint grimace at the memory. "An' beyond all that was the Climb. So we were pretty isolated. Then when th'first portal started up again, for awhile it was just the Hollowed Grounds." He shrugged. "An' they were about as hard up for food an' supplies as we were after bein' stuck in that barrier."

He looked around at the Greenhouse with a mix of satisfaction and bittersweet memory. "So back then it was outta necessity than anythin' else. Now, sure, we have a lot more options. But it's still a lifesaver in Deepfrost."

He led her around the path and back towards the door during his explanation, stopping to snag a couple of apples as they passed a tree that hung with ready fruit. "Where d'you want t'go next?"

Sohalia

Making Tal blush and stammer was amusing to Soh if only because she was usually the one blushing in uncomfortable situations. To her, though, giving compliments to a dear friend wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest; it was simply the way she was. She listened to Tal's explanation of the greenhouse's origins, nodding in all the right places. She hadn't really thought about what things must have been like in Caido, back before the war and the skyships and everything else that they took for granted these days. She'd been sheltered in the Grounds during all that, and she didn't even know what she had missed. "It must have been difficult, back then," she murmured, although 'back then' wasn't particularly long ago in the grand scheme of things. "Halovians must be very hardy, to withstand all this."

In any case, they soon reached the end of their greenhouse tour, and Soh paused as she considered where she might want to go next. She'd read up on some of Halo's points of interest, but just now she was more interested in whatever Tal wanted to show her. She could wander the region to her heart's content in the days to come, but just now, she wasn't prepared to go beyond the Citadel. "What do you want to show me?" she countered. "I'm not sure what all there is to see - aside from some of the local geography, as I'm sure you've guessed." She laughed lightly, always excited to do more mapping.

'Difficult' barely scratched the surface of those days. Isolated from the rest of Caido, fighting against the eternal winter in every season, fighting off cannibals and cultists for survival... Tal gave a nod that was perhaps a little more grim than the conversation warranted, but quickly shook off the lingering chill of those icy memories and looked instead to the present and the future. The near future, at least, with their tour just getting underway.

"C'mon, I'll take you by the Academy," he suggested after a moment's thought. Heading back to the cloak room so they could bundle back up (or at least, so he could), he grinned over his shoulder at her. "An' then maybe Hotaru's spa. I won't go in, but you'll know where it is next time you're in town! An' maybe after that... hmm... how about the new hot springs?"

Sohalia

"The Academy - it's for magic, right?" she asked eagerly, wondering what it must be like to have magical powers. Of course, as an Attuned, she had her own variant of magic - her ability to shift - but there was something different about the Abandoned's abilities that had always fascinated the girl. As she replaced her parka, if only so she didn't have to carry it, she asked, "Are there many Abandoned in Halo?" She thought of home and their ban on magic users wistfully. If only there was something she could do about it.

Shaking herself, she paid attention to Tal. A spa sounded lovely, and certainly like something that she could check out at some point. It would be even better with a friend, and her mind started wandering through her list of friends to see who she might be able to invite to join her. Maybe Soleil? The girl had said that she was from Halo, right? But then Tal said something about hot springs, and Soh tilted her head to one side, a faint blush mantling her cheeks. Her most recent experience with hot springs had been with Koa - something she looked back on with both pleasure and sadness, knowing that she was going to have to end things with him sooner than later.

But Tal didn't need to know the struggles of her love life, so she banished those thoughts from her mind. "That all sounds lovely," she told the courier smoothly. "Although - I wasn't really prepared for hot springs. I didn't bring anything to wear."

"Yup," Tal agreed, leading the way down the street towards the impressive edifice that housed the Academy. "It's got a bit of a, uh, history here," he admitted with a grimace that turned to a scowl at the memories. "Thanks to Zariah." The Tyrant, former leader of the Hollowed Grounds and power behind the throne in Halo for too many seasons. The courier kicked a chunk of ice out of the street as if he was kicking something - or someone - else, but he took a deep breath and deliberately tried to shake if off. "But Hotaru's runnin' it now, so it's all good. One o' my sisters goes there," he added, thinking fondly of bookish Dierdre.

"We've got plenty of Abandoned, for sure," he agreed. "Halo's rough enough, we don't turn down anythin' that'd help us survive, y'know?" Whether animal shifts or elemental spells, anything that made the endless winter a little easier to bear was welcome.

"There's the spa," he pointed out on the right, his grin returning. "My sisters love it." He hadn't noticed Soh's blush in the crisp Longheat air, but since he didn't know the details of her romantic entanglements he was blissfully oblivious to the reason for her demure rejection. "Oh, that's not a problem!" he assured her. "We can swing by my place first! Y'look like you're of a size with my sister 'Lexi," he added, glancing over to take a quick height and weight measurement of his friend. "We can just borrow a suit from her." She wouldn't mind, he was sure. Or at least he figured she didn't need to find out about it until it was too late to protest.

Sohalia

Soh didn't know who Zariah was, or what the history of the Academy was, but she gathered quickly that it wasn't all good, especially as Tal kicked a piece of ice down the street. Hotaru, at least, was a name she recognized, though she'd never had the pleasure of meeting the woman herself. "I wish Stormbreak was open to Abandoned," she confided. "It seems wrong to keep them out now just because they have magic." If only she knew that she would soon be in a position to do just that.

As Tal pointed out the spa, Soh made a note of its location, fully intending to take advantage of it in the future. When Tal suggested that she borrow a swimsuit from one of his sisters, she looked at him in surprise. It had been some time since she'd helped Tal learn to swim, and in the months since, she had grown considerably less shy about her body and her minor crush on Tal had passed, so it wasn't the suit that concerned her. "Are you sure that would be okay?"

Tal nodded glumly at Soh's confession, sticking his hands into his pockets as they walked along. "Yeah, me too. I always feel guilty talkin' about it with my friends..." Many - most? - of whom had magic in one form or another. "Seems kinda dumb, anyways. I mean, y'got folks like Ru who've been given blessin's by th'gods, an' Attunement an' stuff, an' they still can't go to Stormbreak, just 'cause they've also got some magic they didn't even ask for." He scowled down at his feet for a moment before glancing to Sohalia with a faintly furrowed brow. "Actually... how'd it all come about, anyways? That, uh, stone-spell thingy that keeps 'em out?" He'd never heard the history of it. "Was it somethin' th'gods did? Or somethin' humans asked for?"

Caught in the historical and moral quandary though they were, Tal still remembered to point out sights of interest and useful landmarks as they walked. Of course, the hot springs were outside the Citadel, but it wasn't very far, and they wouldn't even have to walk... "'Course it is," Tal reassured Soh breezily with a wave of his hand, retrieved from his pocket for just that purpose. He spoke with all the confidence of a little brother who didn't intend to get caught. "She's out doin' the Tundra circuit on her sled right now. Won't be back for a couple weeks yet. It's no problem at all!"