Third Floor Common Room, Tuesday Afternoon

[bitchprince]

With the cold and his so-called 'class' being what they were, Arthur could no longer avoid spending at least some time within the dorms. So he took a broom into the common room, perched it somewhere against a wall nearby, and then cast a questioning eye over the room's contents.

At least a chair was a chair no matter where you went. He took a seat, a great, big, space-claiming seat, and leaned the elbow that wasn't contained by the sling on the arm of the chair. From that position, he took careful stock, including a wary one of the black box that rested in the room.

The locals seemed to have a thing about boxes.

[[ open post and open CR ]]

Comments

[the_merriest]

"Apparently, more of one than you are," she said huffily. "Or did you think I couldn't be, 'cause I'm tiny? I usually beat up guys who think that."

[bitchprince]

Now it was his time to roll his eyes. "I've seen women half your size wield a sword with pride," Arthur said, "So don't even start with me. I'm no ignorant coward."

[the_merriest]

"How should I know?" Rikku said lightly. "You're the one who can't kill monsters properly."

It was possible that she was starting to enjoy herself.

[bitchprince]

"I have killed a great deal of monsters," he shot back, "And beyond a trophy horn or some meat, they have never supported any loot."

[the_merriest]

"Did you look?" she grinned. "Underneath the body, around where it landed, all that good stuff? Maybe they've been dropping gold coins all along and you just missed it. Wouldn't that totally tick you off?"

[bitchprince]

"None at all," Arthur countered, shooting her a look that, while not amused, was certainly starting to bear some hallmarks of it. Although he had his pride to defend here. "And even if they did, the villagers who'd find it afterwards would need it more."

[the_merriest]

"You could have just given it to them," Rikku smiled. Very amused, now. "Spare them the trouble of having to go out and dig through rotting Questing Beast carcass. I mean, I'd have to be pretty poor to start looking there. How big are Questing Beasts, anyway?"

[bitchprince]

"I could have, if there was any. Which there isn't." Exasperated, a bit, but in the fashion of an argument you knew had no end and you kept up regardless.

"And a questing beast is about the size of two homes, put side to side," Arthur answered, going by what he remembered of the time before the beast had taken a bite out of him. "With the head of a serpent and the body of a leopard."

[the_merriest]

Rikku's mouth was making an impressed sort of O. "That sounds badass," she said. "Does it breathe fire or smack you around a lot? Armored? How fast does it move?"

Already making strategies for a monster she was never going to encounter: yes.

[bitchprince]

"It's a creature of nightmares that feeds on the people." Well, at least she knew what questions to ask: more like Morgana than Guinevere in that. "It's incredibly fast, it's incredibly strong," Arthur began, and then he reached up to touch his shoulder, "And it's got a nasty bite." Understatement? Yes. "But no fire, and thank god for that."

[the_merriest]

"Ugh." Rikku shook her head. "That's what fiends do. They hang out on the roads, just killing anyone that walks by. It bit you? It's not poison or anything, is it? Some beasties inflict all kinds of nasty stuff like that. How'd you take it down, anyway? Something that big, a normal sword's not gonna penetrate very far."

[bitchprince]

It wouldn't particularly help his earlier point if he admitted to having been unconscious at the time it was destroyed, now; so Arthur glanced at the wall in front of him for a moment before he answered. "From what I could tell, one of the knights managed to penetrate its head with his sword," he finally said. Then, after another moment, and a touch of his sling, "It was poison, yes. But survived, and taken care of."

If you asked Arthur, at least. Merlin's constant mothering begged the idea that he thought otherwise.

[the_merriest]

Rikku had ended her shares of fights unconscious, too. It happened.

She shuddered. "I have antidotes, if you need any," she offered. "I mean, you said it's all healed up, but if it's not, and it starts getting all fester-y or whatever."

For the rest of it, she was nodding. "Head shot. Good strategy. I probably would've been looking for soft spots on the underbelly, since the head was moving around so much, but that's just 'cause I wouldn't know if I could get a clear shot at it."

[bitchprince]

"Like I said," he replied, changing his posture in the chair to get more comfortable, "The entire creature was incredibly fast. Once it'd escaped into the caves, it was impossible to get a good shot at its belly without winding up bitten."

It was always nice to talk shop. Even if he didn't frequently do so with a woman.

[the_merriest]

"Caves?" Rikku asked. "Flooded or not? It's always rough when you hit some flooded areas, and only half your team can swim really well."

She was now musing. "Small cave, large critter. That's rough, unless you can find a way to use his size against him. Trap him in somewhere, kinda thing."

Way, way too long since she talked shop.