THREE HUNDRED FIVE: An Eager Arm and Angry Noodles
Next Update: July 21 (approximate)
******
From a flyer that hovered high above the only honey locust tree in Rapport III, Alden watched dawn change the sky.
Sunrises sometimes made him think of Neha. Her goal of seeing as many on Earth as she would have during an average human life seemed to be something that was going to stick in his memory for a long time.
I should keep a record of all the ones I watch and where. Just for myself. A knight must get to see morning come on a lot of different planets.
It was still January. Not too late to call it a New Years resolution. Creating the list with his interface only took a minute.
Beside him, Stuart was musing aloud about what he was reading on his eyerings. He should have been back at LeafSong by now, asleep, but Alden liked having him around too much to point it out again.
He was accessing information about enchantments, looking for some Alden could cast on a piece of honey locust. The thorns they’d collected lay in a spiky heap on the seat across from them. Their plan to take just a couple had changed because they’d come up with too many uses for such exceptional, symbolic, sharp things.
Alden wanted to keep one just as it was, enchant another, and have a third made into something wearable. The driftwood brooch that indicated he was a traveler in search of rest wouldn’t be the best message for most of his future on the Triplanets. Stuart wanted one thorn for safekeeping on his person and one to be left in a drawer in the supply library along with several of the seed pods.
He’d also said it would be nice if one could be kept with his trove of patient creatures in the siblinghold’s stream. Then he’d said that a stream really wasn’t the best place for a thorn. Then he’d said that he knew of ways to waterproof it that weren’t disrespectful.
He’d been talking to himself about it like it was a difficult decision, but Alden was almost certain the patient creatures would be getting company from Earth.
He picked up one of the thorns himself and spun it slowly to admire it from different angles. It was a big one, with six sharp points that couldn’t hurt his hands while he had on the protective rings. The sky behind it was a deep gold.
“This will work,” Stuart said. He’d found something he approved of enough to start writing instructions for it on Alden’s tablet. “Enchanting’s time consuming, though.”
“You keep warning me. I should try it at least some, shouldn’t I? It might give me insight when it comes to pulling enchantments with my skill.”
“Every aspect of yourself is worthy of your attention. If you want to enchant, you should. Maybe you’ll like it. It can be a meditative process for some wizards, and having pieces you’ve enchanted personally is satisfying.”
He showed Alden one of his hand-warming rings.
“I’m giving you a starter spell for Burrow of the Raintail, as well. If you try it and don’t like it, that’s fine. There are other masterpiece spells that will suit you.”
“I’d give you helpful homework, too, if I had any idea how to,” Alden said.
“After first binding, you’ll help me learn English.”
“It’s on my schedule for whenever you’re ready.”
Stuart paused for a beat. “Even when I can’t cast, I should still be able to observe the effects your skill has on enchantments well enough. I could learn from that observation. It will benefit my own wizardry.”
Alden put the thorn back with the others. “That’s something you want to do?”
“If you don’t mind. It would be like the training you’re doing with the ingredients I gave you, but more advanced. Trying to sense what aspects of different enchantments are damaged or altered by being moved to new objects would be interesting. And useful.”
Alden wished Stuart came with a countdown floating over his head. One that showed x-number of days until first binding. A dial that indicated his confidence levels wouldn’t be bad to have either.
But this didn’t work like that for either of them.
I found my own answers when I found them. If there was some way to do it faster or better, I don’t know what it was.
“I’ll look forward to breaking all kinds of enchantments when the time comes, then. Maybe I’ll even learn how to move a few without damaging them. You pick out the things you want me to use as test subjects.”
“We should be able to learn much from fewer than a hundred objects if I choose them carefully,” said Stuart. “Actually, may I closely observe you as you remove the enchantment from one of your temper spheres?”
“Right now?” Alden was already picking up his bag. He had a sphere with him.
“If I understand how much it strains your authority, I’ll be able to select more appropriate practice objects.”
“If we’re going to be going through a hundred of those practice objects in only a few days, I’m really glad you’re in charge of them. I felt like I was spending a lot on my education just buying some temper spheres and mover discs.”
“Those are fine to start with. You practice on several of those each day?”
“Several a day?” Alden knew he shouldn’t be shocked by the assumption, but the surprise hit him before his thoughts caught up.
“You can’t do that many? I didn’t think moving the enchantments on the spheres was that hard for you.”
“It’s not. I could do several a day. But I’ve mostly been practicing on the spheres that have survived a few harsh experiences in gym. Having their enchantments stolen is their reward for a life well-lived.”
“How many have you practiced on?” Stuart asked the question like a teacher who knew his pupil’s answer was going to be the wrong one.
“I’ll do more from now on. They’re expensive, but I do have money.”
“They can’t be more expensive than all those meals I watched you eat when you were in intake.”
“Natalie’s meal preparation service? The temper spheres are more expensive. Or they were. She managed to get a lot of jobs over the holiday break, so I think she’ll start charging more.”
“She’s not being paid her work’s worth!” Stuart said, outraged. “The food you’ve shared with me should have cost more than a temper sphere!”
“I personally agree. She does charge a lot for a meal service, but since she’s so good at it and it’s magic—”
“That sort of dining experience is supposed to cost a lot. I can’t believe you’ve been eating her food for less than the price of a disposable pest control ingredient!”
It sounds terrible when he says it like that, but the disposable pest control ingredients are six hundred dollars each. What kind of pests do they have to deal with in Jatonta anyway?
“She was charging other people the same amount. I was just her most frequent customer. If you want to help me help her, she’s given me a list of Artonan food she wants me to bring her sometime. Could we order it or go to a manybaskets together? Maybe after Eeaner-ket’s party.”
That way he could tell her to count on it, and she’d have a whole weekend to play with fresh ingredients.
“We will do that. And I’ll get you plenty of temper spheres.”
“I can buy them.”
“Ten a day perhaps?”
“You can buy them.”
Alden pulled out the glass orb. He removed and replaced the enchantments on it a few times, describing the network of light his skill let him see and feel while Stuart sensed the process in his own way.
Then they moved on to different variations of the experiment.
It didn’t feel intrusive at all to have Stuart “closely observing” with his authority. They’d been practicing existential closeness ever since he’d arrived, the degree changing only slightly depending on whatever else they were doing.
It’s so cozy and unlonely. Stable and easy.
“I’m glad nothing has managed to kill me yet. There are so many cool experiences I never even guessed might exist.”
Stuart was startled by Alden blurting that out of the blue. He looked up from examining the temper sphere. Its enchantments were badly damaged from all the interference, especially from a brief transfer to the ball of crumpled paper that was currently perched on top of their thorn pile.
“I can have a new temper sphere delivered to us right now if this practice is that exciting for you,” he said. “Do you want one?”
Alden laughed. “No. I can play with spheres later. While in Rapport III, I should probably do things that are only easy to do here.”
He could take in the view from every direction through the clear, curved walls of their vehicle. Another flyer was coming in at an angle to land not far from his honey locust. Gardeners or people in need of supplies, he imagined, getting their day started.
“What do knights and votaries our age do other than school and fighting chaos?”
“Those two activities take much time. Especially if you include training.” Stuart frowned a little. “I’m not sure what I’ll do in the future if I’m not studying, away, or socializing with people I care for. As a knight, I will enjoy being able to go to more skill display meetings.”
“Is that other knights showing off their skills?”
“Yes. The seasonal displays are meant to be entertainment for everyone in the Rapports, but I like the small ones more. Knights meet to observe each other’s progress and discuss the nature of their skills together. Declared can go to some of them if they’re considering the skills for themselves. I attended a few in the last couple of years, but Father took me to a lot of meetings when I was younger. They’re not for children, but he likes going to them, and he preferred not to leave me.”
“Are the small ones like book clubs?” asked Alden.
“How would they be like book clubs?”
“Groups meeting to discuss one topic. Snacks. Mostly calm. Maybe some mild arguments over the nuances of magic and smart people referring to things they’ve read about theory.”
“They are like that.”
“Yes.”
Stuart tilted his head but didn’t comment on the amount of enthusiasm in Alden’s yes.
“Many knights also enjoy participating in competitions against each other,” he said. “Events take place in every Rapport, but especially this one. Observing hunt or duel might be something you could do even today. If someone puts it on the local tellingbush, then they don’t mind people showing up. Or maybe…”
He mentioned several more possibilities, but after a few minutes, they just told the flyer to take them to Esh-erdi’s house so that they could show him Alden’s tattoo choice and see what he was doing.
“This is it,” said Alden as they got a clear view of a line of small brown houses that faced the river. Each was connected to its neighbor by either a shared room or covered walkway. The roofs extended forward over the fronts like the bills of baseball caps, sheltering balconies.
Despite being two stories tall, the houses weren’t much larger than the streamview cottage at the siblinghold.
“For some reason, I assumed he’d live in a big place,” said Alden. “But he said his is that one on the end. His sister lives in the one beside it.”
As he said it, the balcony door opened on the second house, and two little girls came outside. They immediately started arguing with each other over who got to hold a silver, oval-shaped object that seemed to have been waiting on the balcony for them. It was impossible to hear them from the flyer, but their body language made it clear that the object was desirable and that your sister getting it instead of you was very unfair.
Alden watched them curiously as the flyer dropped to put him and Stuart out on the dock in front of the houses.
“Those are Esh-erdi’s nieces,” he said, gathering his belongings. “I don’t know what they’re doing.”
“They each want to be the one who gets to bring in their first meal,” said Stuart, adjusting his LeafSong uniform before stepping out onto the dock.
“Bring it in?” Alden asked, following him.
A splash drew his attention. He looked toward the middle of the river and saw something like a clear garbage bag full of angry yellow worms rising above the surface.
“Is that thing dangerous?”
“Are you being funny?”
“It’s coming toward us.”
“No, it’s going to…ah, it is coming toward us.”
The worm bag suddenly accelerated, and Alden flattened himself to the dock. Merely ducking didn’t seem sufficient. The thing or things in the bag were writhing like they planned to burst out of it and burrow into the first soft flesh they encountered. He saw bulbous parts like eyes in too many places as the creepy bundle zoomed through the air where his head had been. It headed toward the houses, stopped, then came back to circle him, shedding drops of river water.
Childish shouts of excitement let him know who was responsible.
Stuart, clearly unconcerned about the risk of getting hit with whatever the situation in the bag was, looked down at Alden, a smile spreading across his face.
<<Oopsie-oopsie,>> he said. “How will you intimidate anything if one harmless crosswater animal makes you fall to your stomach? Shall I fan it with my fan to protect you?”
That’s a crosswater? They called those crosswater things in the pot at the siblinghold noodles.
“I was just demonstrating my reflexes.” Alden sprang to his feet and leaned back to smoothly dodge the river-dweller as it flew around in what must be a fish trap controlled by the silver oval. “I didn’t even chirp.”
“Can you chirp?”
“Wow! Look who thinks he’s good at being funny-mean all of a sudden. I give you pieces of my birth tree, and this is what I get in return?”
Alden shook his head and started toward the houses. A rivulet of water, dropped by the trap, trickled down the side of his face.
Fortunately, Brim had decided to take a closer look at the crime against pasta. The trap and its passenger headed up to the balcony, where she stood holding the remote while Droon waved at Alden with both hands. He waved back.
It’s an interesting morning. And there’s a breeze…kind of a strong breeze. On the back of my neck.
He looked around. An elegant casting fan was flapping at him with what had to be an improper amount of gusto.
“I’m fanning your feelings of competence,” said the Primary’s son. “Do not be afraid of crosswater noodles.”
******
A few steps before they reached Esh-erdi’s arched front door, Alden stopped Stuart with a hand. “Wait. I forgot. Aren’t we…?”
“What?” Stuart asked.
Alden felt the weight of the privacy ring on his hand. “Noticeable.”
He withdrew from the closeness. Just a little to make his point clear.
Stuart blinked. He turned his back to the line of houses. “I forgot too. It should be fine. But if someone…”
[Authority greets you?] Alden suggested by text message.
Stuart nodded. “It should be fine even then if they’re being normal. But although Hn’tyon Lind-otta will surely be polite, she’s like me. Sensitive.”
Stuart withdrew a little too. His lips pressed together. His brows lowered.
Some dissatisfaction. Some unhappiness.
“I’m—”
“Not sorry I hope,” said Alden. “You were right when you said we’re not ready. And we’ve agreed that neither of us are idiots. If we need space from other people to say whatever we like, we’ll just call another flyer. It works for now.”
“For now.” Stuart said it like it was a promise.
Alden saw the door opening over his shoulder. Esh-erdi was standing there in a long robe.
“An art’h in our Rapport?” he said loudly. “Hide the bundlefruit and tell anyone who’s loved by the vines to run!”
“What does that mean?” Stuart asked. “Alden, why are you laughing?”
******
******
The erdis had been hustling and bustling before Alden and Stuart arrived. Their presence didn’t make things any calmer, since the twins were excited about them, but Alden didn’t think their arrival had caused problems either. This was just a busy place in the mornings.
Homes can work in lots of different ways, can’t they? he thought, cleaning Esh-erdi’s wevvi cups so that Stuart could fill them up again.
The wevvi prep area was on one side of the room that connected Esh-erdi’s house to the next. Alden stood beside a round window, dipping the cups into a basin that he wanted to look at the enchantments on one day when he knew enough to understand what was happening. The basin was clamshell-shaped, possibly made of an actual shell, and it held a pool of water that cleaned things.
A dirty wevvi cup went in. A clean, wet wevvi cup came out. The water never got murky or spilled over the rim of the shell no matter how many dishes went in at once.
Does it have to be trained on these specific dishes so that it doesn’t dissolve them along with the mess? What keeps it from peeling off my skin to make my bones cleaner?
Stuart was at his back, preparing what would be the last boiler full of ceremonial wevvi unless some of the votaries talked themselves into ordering another fruit in honor of Esh-erdi and Lind-otta being here.
Alden could hear Lind-otta chatting with someone in Esh-erdi’s house right now. A different set of voices came from his sister’s place. Her house connected to the one where Brim and Droon’s father lived, and his was only a few steps away from a friend’s. The rule in the community was that an open door meant all were welcome, and the doors to most people’s main rooms were open at this time of day.
The girls, who were surprised that anyone in the universe might not be familiar with this arrangement, had demonstrated for Alden and Stuart how they could run “but not too fast” through four open houses, go outside around a closed fifth whose resident wasn’t up yet, and then continue on through several more.
So the cottage-sized houses became more like one large house, and adults flowed through just like Brim and Droon, minus the running.
“Cups,” said Alden, as he set the last clean cup on the drying shelf.
“I entrust you with all of them,” said Stuart.
Alden looped his fingers through handles and dried the cups with his skill instead of using the shelf’s features. He’d wanted to clean them that way, too, but the basin was hard to compete with.
He caught Stuart yawning as he turned to set the cups on the counter by the boiler. He was beginning to feel tired himself. It was night according to his internal clock and late night according to Stuart’s.
After being given the tour by the twins, they’d both gone to say hello to Lind-otta. She’d been drinking wevvi, and Alden had mentioned that Stuart made the best he’d ever had. That had rapidly turned into all the Artonans present debating wevvi technique, and the next thing Alden knew they’d ended up on drink duty.
It had worked out. Stuart’s wevvi really was good, and he was proud to share it with people. A sophisticated example of a “silken thin cup” according to one man who’d pulled a chair closer to the wevvi prep area specifically to talk to Stuart while he brewed it.
[Alden: I dare you to dip bread in it when that wevvi connoisseur comes back.]
“You just made me drop an extra teb grain in the spice blend!”
[Alden: Add bread. That’ll fix it.]
It was beginning to quiet down. Fewer people passed through. Brim and Droon had been sent off to lessons, and a lot of wizards seemed to have gone to their work. The crosswater animal had long since been dispatched and turned into noodles. One waited on the edge of the drying shelf, coiled in a bowl so that Stuart could have it later.
Alden hadn’t seen Esh-erdi since the knight had installed them here with the boiler and basin, and he’d begun to wonder if maybe Esh-erdi was the only one around who didn’t like Stuart’s take on the drink.
But he appeared as if he knew exactly when the last three cups were left, coming in from his sister’s house and closing the door behind him.
“Usually the host serves,” he said, taking one. “But you’re not really guests. Alden wants to make himself at home among the Rapports. And Stu-art’h must be here to frighten weaker wizards and take the fruits of our land across the ocean to his snow-blooded people.”
“It’s been a very long time since any art’h did anything of the sort,” Stuart said. “I’m not sure your history is even correct. I haven’t read anything about that specific incident in ours. I’ll check when I get home.”
Esh-erdi sipped his drink. “I look forward to hearing what you discover! Your wevvi is very good.”
“Thank you.”
“Alden, have a cup if you like. Show me our new tattoo.”
Alden sent him the design he’d chosen for the Matadero contract. Three waves that partially obscured a square. It was about the cube, but it reminded him of being saved from the wave by the two knights. He thought he’d want to keep the mark even after the contract was no longer active.
“Upper right arm,” he added after Esh-erdi asked where he was planning to put it. “Right here. The Contract can show you.”
“I like it,” said Esh-erdi. “How do you want to do it?”
Alden had been thinking about this all night. “I want to ask a lot of specific questions about how you understand my obligations, even though the terms are so simple. And I don’t think I need to be drugged or have a professional involved unless you want one. Can Stu help?”
“If he naps first,” said Esh-erdi.
Stuart swallowed a bite of the crosswater noodle. “I probably should sleep a little if you want me to help. I’ll need to concentrate. Is the standard tracing spell fine to steady my hand?”
“It’s fine,” said Esh-erdi.
“It’s fine with me,” said Alden. “Not that I know the difference between a standard tracing spell and any other kind of tracing spell.”
He’d almost expected Stuart to protest that he wasn’t qualified, but he didn’t even seem surprised to be asked.
Hey, there, he thought toward the gremlin. We’re going to do a thing in a few hours. I’m going to agree to some promises wholeheartedly, and you’re going to pay attention to how agreeable I am. Don’t make this weird.
******
The main room of Esh-erdi’s house was low-ceilinged. Legless tan sofas, rounded and soft-looking, faced each other. End tables made of stone hovered beside them. An intricate lattice separated the room from the house’s entryway, where Alden and Stuart had left their shoes. The walls were painted with murals of historical river scenes in muted colors.
Other than those decorative details, it was all simple and immaculately clean.
Alden knew Esh-erdi and Lind-otta were buying a ton of souvenirs on Earth. And Esh-erdi seemed like the one likely to be responsible for the bulk of the purchases. But if he did own as many curios as Alden thought he must, they weren’t down here.
Maybe upstairs is cluttered, or he keeps a lot in Lind-otta’s house.
“Two,” said Esh-erdi, motioning toward his sofas. “One for each of you. They’re good for sleeping. I’ve done it many times. I’ll be around if you need me.”
He left through the front door.
“Are you too hot to rest here?” Stuart asked, sitting on the middle of one of the sofas.
“I might have a little trouble, but it’s not too bad.”
Stuart took out the case that said “humans” and passed Alden an inhaler like the one he’d used on the Here-to-There. “You’ll need something better than this eventually.”
Alden took it and inhaled before sitting on his own sofa. It sank beneath his weight.
“Did you hear Droon describing me to people as someone who still has his navel? What kind of first impression is that?”
Stuart chortled.
They both laid down.
“He said that crack in the wall by the front door was the first thing he ever did with his skill,” Stuart said after a minute.
“I heard.” It was just a large crack, noteworthy only because nothing else in the house was broken.
“Do you think it felt like enough to him? On that day?”
“We’d have to ask him,” said Alden. “It was the start of what he is now. So in hindsight, it was enough.”
“That’s true.”
He waited so long for another word that eventually the waiting turned into sleep.
When he opened his eyes hours later, Stuart was already awake, practicing the tattoo on his own forearm with an ink brush. “Esh-erdi and Lind-otta came in a little while ago,” he said. “They’re in the next room. Are you ready?”
“My arm is eager.”
“That’s good to hear!” said Esh-erdi, poking his head through the door. “What were those specific questions you wanted to ask?”
Alden got into it right away, even asking things he suspected made him sound crazy, like, “If Earth loses all contact with the Triplanets, would you still feel like I should keep the location of Matadero’s flood traps a secret?” And, “If I’m a hundred percent sure that telling people where the bathrooms are would save my life, can I?”
Esh-erdi answered promptly, but Stuart was giving him strange looks.
“I’m just trying to make sure any cross-cultural misunderstandings are found before we get started,” said Alden. “There don’t seem to be any.”
He still had a little anxiety about the gremlin, even as Stuart touched the tip of the brush to his skin and began to recite the terms of the contract. The ink was heating up. Alden could feel a lot more going on magically than he had last time, and he wanted to focus on it, but it was hard to when he also felt the gremlin getting very alert.
Flawed, flawed, flawed! he expected it to screech in that wordless way it could.
“You’re tensing your arm,” Stuart said after the first recitation.
“Sorry.”
Ro-den made a big deal about how hard it was. He called me ‘your majesty’. Maybe I should have gone with the calming, mind-aligning drugs after all.
Stuart recited over Esh-erdi’s calf. Then over Alden’s arm again. Back and forth several times.
The gremlin only observed.
It didn’t complain at all throughout the process. Not even once.
“I think that’s enough repetitions, don’t you?” Stuart asked eventually. “It’s well set.”
Esh-erdi’s ridiculously strong authority was close enough that Alden was very aware of it. He had been through most of the process.
“It’s well set,” he agreed. “We’re done.”
We’re done?
Alden took the deepest breath he’d been able to take since they started and stood. He tried to get a look at his own arm. The new addition to Esh-erdi’s calf was the same, but smaller. It looked good. It was over.
Esh-erdi righted himself on the sofa and smiled at Alden. “That’s a nice tattoo.”
“Thank you,” said Alden. “Yours too.”
“Do you want it gone?”
Stuart made a quiet, offended sound.
Alden blinked at the knight. “What do you mean?”
“If you have any doubts or regrets now that it’s done, I’ll just get rid of it for you, and we’ll try again some other time.”
Esh-erdi crossed his freshly tattooed leg over the other.
At this point, last time, Ro-den told me I needed to learn to compromise on my end of things if I was going to be so fussy.
“I was naive. And he was uncool.” Alden said it in English. He realized he’d said it aloud when he saw Esh-erdi and Stuart reading the translations. “I mean Worli Ro-den, not you, Esh-erdi!”
“He is uncool,” said Esh-erdi, still smiling easily. “How did you get such an uncool person to cancel that contract the two of you had? I very much wanted to erode it myself. I’d been resisting. But now it’s just gone.”
Alden avoided looking at Stuart. “Ro-den decided to cancel it after he was asked,” he said steadily.
“We gave him a chance to behave with honor,” said Stuart.
Esh-erdi’s smile broadened. “We?”
Clearly, avoiding looking at Stuart had been wrong. He must have needed some eye contact or a signal to let him know not to say anything while Alden was covering for him.
Alden tried to give him that eye contact belatedly. “Don’t worry about it, Hn’tyon Esh-erdi. It all worked out, and nothing bad happened.”
“Ro-den is unharmed,” Stuart confirmed, “and all is now as it should be with Alden.”
“Unharmed?”
“He was never harmed,” Alden said firmly. “The word ‘harmed’ implies much more drama than there was. I got confused, and threw some cantaloupe at him. That’s all Stu means.”
Esh-erdi leaned forward, a wide eye on each of them, his expression mirthful. “Tell me more.”
Comments (174)
When he's doing his next affixation, Alden should request his appeal goes towards expanding vocal range. He's been constantly reminded of his limits, and it should help with casting.
It was delightful to see Stu acting mischievous 🤩 I love seeing him act more relaxed and like the teenager he is around Alden. It’s such a contrast to what we used to see of him. And Alden and Stu being “close” without consciously noticing it was adorable and soft. Those kids can use some happy non-traumatizing or stressful time.
I’m confused about the tattoo. The design the contract helped with goes from shoulder to below elbow and has a line, a gap for the auriad and several symbols. Is he not getting the placeholders today? If so, when is he getting them? What’s the point of the design if there’s no placeholder tattoos and each one is designed to be symbolic of its contents?
We too are patient creatures
Scratch that
*wiggles in chair*
*wiggles on sofa*
On the n-th reread while eagerly awaiting the next chapter, I noticed that the master spell name seems in limbo: in chapter 281 "Unquiet Mind" Alden calls it "Burrow of the Stormtail", while in this chapter Stu calls it "Burrow of the Raintail". Now I wonder if that was intentional or maybe just Alden not quite translating things correctly 🤔
It was originally Raintail. Sleyca changed it to Stormtail when doing edits for RR release. Maybe she forgot? I prefer Raintail anyway!
The scene of them sadly disentangling their selves from each other before heading into the house was a little heartbreaking. It reminds me so much of queer kids preparing to pretend they aren't dating so their homophobic parents don't find out. Though the explicit mention that Lind-otta is extremely sensitive to authority use does make me more believing of the people saying EshLind already have awareness of Alden. I have found it curious that she has almost no contact with Alden at all, and even scenes where they are together, like the hyper specific tattoo negotiation, she sits in the background. >>> Stuart should have been back at LeafSong by now, asleep, but Alden liked having him around too much to point it out again.
I keep coming back to Lind's conversation with Alden and Lute after their successful Bash-nor bumping, and how inesvul means that it's very likely a portion of Lind's minds are constantly with Esh and responding to Esh's private messages. Lind watches more than speaks, but what she says is worth attending to.
ETA: about 12 hours.
It's going to be another good one, I can tell! Have a good sleep Sleyca!
Words?
No comment is a good thing
"He waited so long for another [chapter] that eventually the waiting turned into sleep." Good night everyone! Sleyca, as always, take all the time you need or desire. The writing is always worth the wait.
Sleyca needs a summer vacation. What are some good options? My favorite summer activity is to get out into the woods. See some trees and canoe outside of the range of any other people.
I think Sleyca should take a week away from publishing anything every ten weeks or so. How can you do story planning and R&R when you constantly need to be productive? I have five weeks off from work every year, why shouldn't she?
I am so curious whether Esh is able to use his skill to detect more metaphysical weak points (social, mental, etc). He certainly narrowed right in on one of the Big Secrets Stu is now bearing with Alden, and the one he's surely been tormented waiting for his family to find out about (Alden certainly seems to be distinctly nervous about it on Stu's behalf). Esh was right there next to Alden during that tattooing, and we know from Stu's POV on their initial authority greetings that that kind of proximity enables quite a lot of emotional information to be conveyed if one doesn't take special care to keep those feelings back. Alden really does trust Esh with so much these days. I bet that came through quite clearly. Alden also clearly Went Through It getting his previous contract with Ro-den; I expect all of his gremlin anticipation came across as bracing himself for metaphysical wrestling over terms with Esh, a tension he doesn't quite drop until the very end when the contract is confirmed well set.
Ohhhhhh good point
So if this was a book how many volumes would be be by now?
We would be early in volume 4 (previous ones ending on end of Thegund, Sinker Sender disaster, and the Joedown), but volume 3 showed signs of fired-their-editor syndrome and is twice as long as the other two.
Reluctantly getting excited
Next chapter predictions in limerick, or otherwise? HOW TO TELL ESH-ERDI There once was a young wiz named Stu Who yearned to join the hn'tyon crew One day he got mad And big stick soon had To free friend he brewed Ro-den's rue
I am unskilled in the way of verse, but I do always enjoy yours. Predicting that secrets stay secret, but Stu comes away with the mindset of "esh and lind will be supportive" and gives Alden the okay to tell them whenever he wants to.
Alden’s choosing season reminds me of my recent struggle to narrow down my Dota hero pool to 3 heroes It was so hard to pick the 3 heroes that resonated the most with me, like pruning my tree of endless possibilities into a narrow yet strengthened purpose Though, it does sound like he had a harder time than I did
I haven't played dota in 10 years. Why do you need to narrow your hero pool to 3?
Hoping that approximately meant a day early this time.
I keep having the same dream, alas it’s unlikely to happen.
I just reread this chapter to get ready for the next and I started wondering how long IRL it had been since Alden arrived in Matadero, requiring him to get the contract tattoo that features in this chapter. Two years and a bit. I love this story so much. It takes the slice of life concept to a truly sublime level. And now that his understanding of contract tattoos is so much better, maybe he can talk to Stu about getting the contract that Earth wants before it will let Boe chat about his secrets. That came up in Chapter 88, sometime in the second half of 2023 so it should be ripe for harvesting.
Still wondering what Boe wanted to say. The only think we know is that it's something within Alden supposition [“You did something you feel guilty about. Or something bad happened to you. Or you know something about the System, powers, or me that I don’t. And you think not telling me about it now, after everything that’s happened and after coming clean about other things, might be like…a betrayal?”] So the part about the system knowledge should be how U-type come to be, and that is now known by Alden The guilty part I think is what happened to his parents and is probably the result of his affixation or the chaos around him before his affixation But both are related to why U exists, so the tattoo might not be necessary anymore Thanks for making me reread again that part, it made me realised that Boe speak of his mother making him actively move when he was 8. So she is probably not yet in the apathy mode his parents seems to be. Then Boe probably affixed between 8 and 10 (looking at his mood when Alden met him, he probably was already a U-type) When I think about the pace and details of this story, it makes me think to when I read Les Misérables. It is a long story (5 heavy books) but it was such a delight to read due not only to the story that had great details but also to the quality of language. I probably can’t judge as well (English not being my first language) but Sleyca always use the right word (I learn at least a word every chapter) and the structure seems so fluid that it support the emotions that she put in her story. Thanks Sleyca for all the work you put in this.
I wonder what (if any) benefit Shapers could get from interacting with items that Alden is preserving. If Alden preserved a rock, could Maricel move Alden+rock around? When I was thinking about this, I finally realized how Alden could preserve a bit of air for Vandy to play with. Fill a balloon. Then preserve the air inside. There's a simple division between air outside and air inside the balloon, so it shouldn't be conceptually impossible. Or even too difficult, really. We've seen Alden preserve stuff that is touching what he is touching: when he was holding a glass of water, he didn't stick his finger in the water before he preserved the water.
for generic parts of the world like air and ground, i think the shaper needs to already be in the process of shaping it for Alden to not just make it inaccessible. Ignacio already had authority ownership/control over his knife before Alden took it, so i think that sort of rule will still apply to shapers. its been a while since he tried, but Alden cant even touch his own preserved objects after boab takes over them. If its a Hn'tyon shaper with authority sense then they might get around that restriction because they will be able to sense the thing Alden is preserving and maybe Alden can let it happen much like he did with Ignacio, but avowed wont have that sense. an Insesvul bond would have no restrictions as shown by Esh swimming through the slowed ocean water, so its possible at least.
This exchange from back in chapter 146 seems interesting in the current context “I wanted to congratulate you both on your esvulgivnas,” Alden said … Esh-erdi finished chewing. “Thank you. I’m not sure if my usual response is appropriate for…well, I see no reason not to. I hope you also find someone worthy of yourself with one day.”
Esh-erdi finished chewing. “Thank you. I’m not sure if my usual response is appropriate for… well, I see no reason not to. I hope you also find someone worthy of < breaking > yourself with one day.”
> Observing hunt or duel might be something you could do even today. Thought sparked: Stu once explained (first visit after the family fight) that the Laughing Silver Denial user could lose the fight by the opponent doing things to the environment or trapping the Denial holder's arm. Marsha was chopping wood when dueling Alden during chap 167 "Notion". If Alden can be entrusted by another S-rank (Lute, Ignacio, Kon) before getting on the dueling floor, things he observes in a duel at Rapport III could really mess Marsha's plan up. For example: if he insta-sheilded (using air and a S-rank's borrowed authority for the distance between the dueling blocks) and placed it right in front of her arms, she couldn't swing her mutable-haft and *neither* of her slashes could happen. If he can press her backward off the block against the wall with that shield, she'd lose. Epically. I think Alden could learn an awful lot watching Declared and Knights duel, with Stu to explain what he's seeing. He would learn an awful lot more in Dueling vs S-ranks, all before he affixes twice (i.e. while he's still B or A).
While your core idea of getting ideas for dueling is true, i don't think we've seen any evidence that Alden borrows any authority from his entruster. His practice with ignacio proved this since Aldens authority drained rapidly with every attempt. IMO, stus comment on entrustment power up is for more efficient usage of Aldens own authority when it lines up with the entrusters own abilities. So in your example, a sky shaper like Vandy could entrust some shaped air, and i think that could get a bonus because she already has authority over the air. But Aldens ability to grab the air is probably a free authority grab and not something he can do yet.
Fantastic, do we think Alden is going to disclose the gremlin to Stu? It feels slightly important to magical related things. Maybe Alden could ask Mother?
Unlikely, it is a secret of a friend, he can't risk Gorgon getting turned into klerm.
Completely unrelated to the chapter but got hit with this thought like a thunderbolt: Stu and Vandy should hang out.
Years-funny!
So... how much would we all bet that "of course we aren't going to tell anybody Alden is a knightling" followed by Stu's inability to keep his foot out of his mouth about Ro-den leads to the truth coming out to Esh? Just gonna say, "we're in total agreement we aren't ready to tell anybody" ALSO sounds like famous last words.
I‘d rather they tell Esh and Lind than anyone else first. Esh must have noticed the huge change in confidence in Stu as well has Stu behaving and being treated like a normal teen when with Alden. He certainly will share that positive development with the Primary who will be pleased. I hope the good news reaches him before the fall out from the demon hide/Ro-den incident hits them. Better to have Esh on their side there, too. At some stage Stu will agree to share their secret with Esh.
How are they going to explain the "Ro-den had a change of heart, and besides he was totally unharmed"? If Stu says "Ro-den's contract prevented Alden from talking about his skill. So I persuaded him to dissolve the contract", then two questions come to mind immediately: "How did you get Ro to change his mind, anyway?" and "What is Alden's skill? Why was it important to Ro to keep it hush-hush?" Which blazes a trail to either "Oh, I have BOAB", which leads to consequences they wanted to stay away from, or "I'd rather not disclose my skill now", which would make Esh even more curious, I'd guess.
With any luck, they can just feed Esh the fun parts without requiring him to know the extremely personal details of the contract. Maybe it’ll come off as Stu being extremely cool to Alden instead of Alden having an extremely interesting secrecy contract?
I love that Esh is the kind of guy who’s totally comfortable strolling out of his house and greeting the son of one of the most powerful living things in the universe with the Rapport equivalent of, “Look at this colonizer!”
It probably helps that Esh has strength enough to go help the primary in his endeavours. If they are familiar, then it becomes way easier to tease the family without the risk of seeming disrespectful. I love Esh so much.
“Add bread. That’ll fix it.” I’m going to start saying this to other things as an inside joke 😆. “Why is my coffee salty instead of sweet???” “ Add bread! That’ll fix it.” “ I just had a stomachache and needed to run to the bathroom…” “Add bread. That’ll fix it.” 🤣 Ok ok. That’s actually pretty awful, I know.
If you really think that's awful, add bread.
Does Artonan have the concept of the royal "we", that would be funny if Esh expands upon his funny-mean because Stu treated Ro-den as one of the weaker wizards to frighten.
Esh is probably my favorite side character
I have developed the headcanon that Esh connected the dots of Alden having free authority shortly after Lind told him that she felt a youthful authority greeting on Earth.
Honestly I'm a little surprised we haven't seen Alden do the unfocused authority greeting again given that he doesn't know that there is risk in doing it. Also... Didn't something pick up on the spell he cast during the flood? Shouldn't something have caught some or all of the other spells he has cast after?
Thanks for the chapter!
With things escalating this quickly, Alden will be Declared at the end of the day.
What do you mean? I don't mean to be confronting or anything but it seems like he's about to go home and the timetable for his declaring is still totally ambiguous.
I wonder if Stu developing a sense of humor isn't going to be the more shocking thing to his family. Don't think we've seen him behave this way with anyone else so far. I also just love how Esh doesn't just want all the tea, all the time, but isn't above schadenfreude if it pertains to individuals who definitively deserve it. He probably would've paid top dollar to get a front row seat to what transpired.
It's so nice seeing Stu coming out of his shell and being able to also just be a teen and have fun.
If this were an anime there’d be a cut scene to Ro-den sneezing.
We can doodle it in the side of the page in ten years when the paper version is out.
> I can’t believe you’ve been eating her food for less than the price of a disposable pest control ingredient!” Foreshadowing! Alden gonna go pest control.
I wouldn't be surprised if Alden asked Mother to put his name forward the next time Jatonans want to have some pests dealt with. Just so that he can say he did it once. He can do it while wearing his 'B-rank Avowed' hat, rather than his 'human knight' hat and it should be good.
Thank you to everyone who let me know about the pirated copy on Amazon UK! It's not me. Definitely don't buy it. The formatting looks awful in the sample, and you guys know where to read the real Super Supportive for free. :) I'm looking into how to file the report now. It might take me a bit to get it taken down, but I'm working on it. Feel free to report that person, and definitely get your money back if you did buy the ebook. Super Supportive will have a revision before it goes up. I've thought of scenes to add, things to trim down, and I know there are errors throughout that I need to correct. I want to do all of that and make it as good as I can before it gets its final official ebook and audiobook, hardcover, etcetera... It'll be awhile. Hundreds of hours of work need to go into it, and those hours have been hard to find. Plus, the farther along we go, the more I see to smooth out and set up behind us. I'll also make an official post about it, at the very least. The other day, I was getting ahead of myself daydreaming, and I was trying to think of what would be the most fun for patrons once the revision of Book 1 is done. It would be so cool if those of you here who enjoy rereads could all read the final version of it together, before it's released to the wider world, and discover whatever's new at the same time. I don't know what we'll ultimately do, but it definitely won't just appear one day on kindle with no fanfare. Thank you again for telling me about the problem! I really appreciate it.
I will look forward to that revised book 1 someday! Getting to reread and enjoy finding all the changes together sounds like so much fun,
Lovely! I imagine Alden carrying around his thorn in a small velvet pouch along with Stu's foot bone. Very pleased for Esh, too. What a lovely little story he gets to hear.
Is he still carrying stus foot bone around? I thought he gave it back to him
'Their plan to take just a couple had changed because they’d come up with too many uses for such exceptional, symbolic, sharp things.' :) '“I’m fanning your feelings of competence,” said the Primary’s son. “Do not be afraid of crosswater noodles.”' XD 'What keeps it from peeling off my skin to make my bones cleaner?' Heh '“You just made me drop an extra teb grain in the spice blend!” [Alden: Add bread. That’ll fix it.]' Ha 'And Stu-art’h must be here to frighten weaker wizards and take the fruits of our land across the ocean to his snow-blooded people.”' Hah 'I’m going to agree to some promises wholeheartedly, and you’re going to pay attention to how agreeable I am. Don’t make this weird.' XD 'The walls were painted with murals of historical river scenes in muted colors.' Nice :) 'Stuart took out the case that said “humans” and passed Alden an inhaler' Ha 'Alden got into it right away, even asking things he suspected made him sound crazy,' Ha Thank you for the chapter >:D
' “Wait. I forgot. Aren’t we…?” “What?” Stuart asked. Alden felt the weight of the privacy ring on his hand. “Noticeable.” ' And people say this isn't a romcom
They were genuinely just going to stroll into the house while holding each other's soul hand lmao
>>> “Usually the host serves,” he said, taking one. “But you’re not really guests. Alden wants to make himself at home among the Rapports. And Stu-art’h must be here to frighten weaker wizards and take the fruits of our land across the ocean to his snow-blooded people.” Esh-erdi is so savage. He makes every scene better!
>>> “Are the small ones like book clubs?” asked Alden. The real book club was the magic-using friends we found along the way.
🥺🥺🥺 more more more
Something that I love about this book is that through 300 chapters of exploring alien culture and growing as a person I can appreciate the significance of everything that is done it doesn't need to be pointed out to me I can just read a small description about something and fully understand why it is like that
After the story is pried out, I can totally see Esh attending functions with Ro-den present with a cantaloupe in hand.
XD
Last chapter Stu was thinking about how ryeh-b't Alden's birth changed everything around her. Now Alden is thinking about the dawn changing everything around it, while his first encounter with Esh rescuing him from the drowning dark into the light, and their subsequent Matadero conversation during the dawn hum resonance for the tattooing to come. I wonder what dawns and what newlings Esh might be thinking of going into his side of preparing for the tattoo. Is he thinking of himself and his early Declared friends as an outsider newling? What memories might he be sharpening the pleasure of the day against?
Right at the end there, Esh might well be thinking of Brim and Droon when they are trying to sidestep confessing something that want to keep secret. Stu is very unpracticed at deception! and Alden is unwilling to lie to Esh, which makes his attempts at nonchalant understatement increasingly funny.
Stu must have been *so thrilled* to be asked to do the tattoo drawing for both Alden and Esh. I've been waiting for a living crosswater noodle animal encounter, and the reality did not disappoint! I really want art of Alden being menaced by the flying crosswater animal bundle with Stu fanning his confidence and Esh's nieces in the background giggling maniacally over the magical control device. Esh hearing about Worli Ro-den getting pelted by a cantaloupe is Esh living his absolute best life. Sometimes there is justice, and that justice includes devastating teenage judgements upon a guy who repeatedly compromises good sense in favor of looking 'cool', only to whack his head on every branch on his way down from aspired glory.
Yes! I’d take a cute chibi manga/comic style, jojo animation comedy style, just a static scenery etc…, I want to see them all!
Sleyca, I do have to ask again. I might have missed where you mentioned it, but did you start selling Supper Supportive on Amazon?
Was wondering the same thing. If it is not, Sleyca would need to use https://www.amazon.co.uk/report/infringement to report and remove it.
Esh sees points of failure… Can he recognize the solidifying relationship between Stu and Alden’s authority for what it is?
I would say yes even if it's a fringe utilisation case of his skill But as cold is just the absence of heat, he might judge the solidity of something by the absence of cracks
Yunno, it occurs to me that Alden is carrying at least 4 worlds-destabilising secrets*, and must light up like a christmas tree to Esh's sense for the cracks in things. * - in rough order of when it happened 1. He's the partial inheritor of the only other species to have native magic. The last known practitioner of which is imprisoned by the Tri-planets. 2. He's a human with one of the original skills. 3. He's been given potentially contract-destabilising information around levelling up by Ro-den. 4. He's a non-Artonan with an authority sense.
His friend Boe is an unlicensed Avowed with a Unique class, and has smuggled himself into, and out of, the only Avowed homeland in a cat.
If they tell Each the story of how the tatoo was lost, they are building part one of the stories he'll tell about their legendary friendship. #TowerOfConfidence
Esh is having a great time! xD
Yeah. Is this his first time seeing them together? He seems to really care about both of them, so it must be awesome to see them both happy and relaxed.
Gods I love Esh and Lind. Also, Joe should be terrified right now.
Stu threatened Ro with Esh, Alden threatened him with Alis-art'h. Ro-den's got to be extremely wary of the next Hn'tyon or votary he sees, and I feel if he sees any of Jeneth-art'h, Stu, Alis-art'h, or Alden, he will run in the other direction screaming "Eekeekeek!" in that high note 'C'.
TFTC!
I can totally see a future Esh-erdi at a party that Ro-den attends loudly telling the story. Possibly without names, but with obvious glances at Ro-den
What a good chapter! Alden and Stu get a larger taste of what their future could be like. Stu experiencing friendship with Alden, and Alden steeping in a home for a while. The little scene where they realize they’re being obvious about their secret is so pained. I think there’s a lot of similar experiences people in general have to compare with that moment, but that’ll be something I look forward to them shedding in later chapters if we’re lucky. Also looking forward to Eaner-ket’s party bc I think Stu’s gonna fit in more than he thinks after being friends with Alden. Or fit in less if people get weird about Alden. Either way, I’m excited!
I’m guessing the party is going to go super bad. By virtue of the fact that Stu will now be able to fully compare any shallow, wrong-hearted interaction with the deep friendship he has built with Alden.
Esh POV: They were absolutely ready to kill Ro-den.
Oh boy. Now they have to fess up. I think Esh will enjoy this story.
I was so excited at the end of the chapter that I forgot to mention Natalie's cooking! I have had a sinking feeling for a while now that "Cook of the Moment" is far more limited that skill descriptions made for humans lets on. Other people have probably guessed at this, but I haven't really seen it brought up often.... But Natalie's skill is partially based on memory, we never see her cook the same exact thing twice, and during Matadero Thanksgiving one of the wizards said something along the lines of "no one else will be able to enjoy a meal like this", or at the very least implied as much imo. What if Natalie is literally losing her memories as she imbues them into food and doesn't realize it? Even if it isn't that horrific, what if she can only do it once per memory? Alden will feel so incredibly guilty for paying her for food, and Stu's disbelief at Alden paying so little for it would make a lot of sense. Hopefully it's not nearly anywhere as sinister as that, but the more we hear about Natalie's skill the harder it is for me to shake the feeling that something isn't quite as advertised about it.
I agree that she cannot reuse memories, but I would not say that these memories are fading. I think this class requires you to keep making amazing memories and live a happy life. Trauma and depression can become a career blocker and force a self perpetuating loop - and vice versa, you can live a happy enchanted life driven by your class..
What keeps it from peeling off my skin to make my bones cleaner? --- Very important question. If I saw one, I'd ask the same thing.
It actually does peel the skin off your bones. However, it also provides illusionary hands. So you never notice.
Esh discovering an amusing story and wanting to know more reminded me of when Alden first visited the Rapport school and met the kids Stu grew up with. When he told them he met Stuart at Leafsong they sensed a story and wanted all the details. If I remember it right Sleyca described it as puppies who smelled he had bacon in his pockets
Stu is learning to be funny-mean! What a delight
He still isn't learning when to keep his mouth shut though 😭
Yknow, I kind of really appreciate the thematic parallel here between how Alden thinks about Ro-den, and an inexperienced partner learning their controlling/abusive partner was a bad one. Sometimes we don't know what *normal* is, so we assume someone mistreating us is just how things are.
Exploitation of the young/ignorant is something of a pattern in soup. Lute’s family, Boe’s parents, the Contract shaping people who can’t even feel their authority, Li Jean’s Elites, everything Ro-den does, Manon, etc. Wouldn’t call it à parallel? I think you mean that it is realistic enough to be comparable to an abusive partner. If it was a parallel, there would be a different abusive partner in the story focus to be parallel to. But I do agree that it’s very appreciable. Certainly, Esh is a parallel to Ro-den in that both are more powerful alien adults that took interest in Alden. And formed contracts with him. And taught him about chaos.
Knowing Artonians, the cantaloupe will become something like a significant historical artifact and its seeds will be planted to make extra-special cantaloupes with a richer magical meaning.
I just thought of something. Is there only one « we » in Artonian? In North American Algonquian languages, there is a property called clusivity that makes them have two distinct we : the affixes ni- + -nan are a we that excludes you (Esh-erdi here), and tshi- + -nan are a we that includes you. In Algonquian languages, Stu’arth would have used the exclusive we here. Would Artonian grammar have such distinctions?
Bro, if you want to make the language difficult, think of the slavic languages inflection. Because having 7 inflections in both singular and plural forms makes the language acquisition a disaster. Thoug it does make the language very efficient in expressing what you wanna say, once you learn it sufficiently.
Omg I love how each of them just kept digging that hole deeper at the end of the chapter.
*rabbit hole
Mother was laughing to herself knowing that Knight book club and Knight sporting contests were the low key sense of belonging things Alden was looking for when she told him that he was assuming almost all the difficult parts of knighthood without the welcome and support parts but he insisted on intensity level 4, with earth book clubs.
I think we can count this as another bit of definitive proof that ro-den was trying to get even more out of the contract than he ended up getting.
Grab-greedy Rodent!
I love that Stu is comfortable enough to be funny mean to Alden and be silly
So that means that Esh is going to get all the details about the time Stu managed to inadvertently but quite literally recreate big stick diplomacy...
I'm not sure if building an enchanted house and making the Alden yours (okay, so I was typing land there but too fast, and it started out aldn and autocorrected and I'm leaving it) counts as walking softly. Definitely did bring the big stick energy though!
Don't let the gremlin distract you from the fact that Stuart foreshadowed a Tournament Arc! He may have glossed over it, but those seasonal meetings sure sound like Tournament Arc to me. Sure, Alden will enjoy the book club style meetings more, but then how will he show off to Stu?
OH MY GOD I WANT a tournament Arc so badly, let me take your luggage and a freaking train??!!!! WHAT (YOU HONOR THEY ARE MATCHED)
I wonder why Artonans lose their bellybuttons? And are they mammalian like us?
Are Sways allowed to talk here? Maybe it was evolutionary advantageous to lose the button. Maybe it was an esthetic choice their elders made millenia ago and edited their DNA. Maybe it is just the side effect of being born from artificial womb? Maybe they come from eggs and it is another of their secrets kept from humans. Sleyca has removed the part where she discussed this "missing artonian titty" topic, so it is pointless to bring it up here. A proper reply would either be wrong (as that part of story is subject to major change) or worse, a spoiler.
Love esh so much, also stu and aldens relationship is as lovely as always. This story is the only one that still gives me that sense of excitement i used to get from chapter updates when I was younger
Operation Odin’s Revenge is also cool. It’s a shame we haven’t heard of Lute’s schemes in a while.
Oh, another full chapter with Stu? I must be in heaven!
“We will do that. And I’ll get you plenty of temper spheres.” “I can buy them.” “Ten a day perhaps?” “You can buy them.” 😂
EXACTLY! lol Alden sure knows when to quit...
Alden dug his own trap then. Esh keeps just being cool.
Alden's excitement about magic book club is the cutest thing since Kibby
Stuart: And I would do it again
Esh just squealed internally when he heard Alden threw a cantaloupe at Roden, didn't he? This story is going to be one of his favorites of all time...
They are not escaping Esh without spilling the tea or the wevvi. Alden trying his best to distract Esh while Stu is being his honest self is hilarious. I think Esh would approve of what they did to Worli Ro-den. He would have cheered if he was there and would have given live commentary. Lol. Thanks for the chapter Sleyca.
I only recently learned the term "spilling the tea" from a mandarin language drama. Where I'm from it's "spilling the beans". Think I like the tea one better.
Stuart and Alden almost walked into Esherdi's holding hands with their souls 😳 At this point, their secret will only survive the month due to the fact that the arths are nearsighted with their authority senses. Esherdi is sooo salivating to hear about the Roden story. Once Esherdi and Lindotta join the Primary on his misson, Esherdi will immediately go: "Hey Primary, did you know what your son did to a naughty wizard? An certain eek eek wizard barely escaped with his life, threatened by bloodthirsty stick and a fruit lobbing rabbit."
Esh and Evul seem to have a lot in common, and I bet it will be very similar to when Evul was describing Stu and Alden to .... I believe it was brother Joz? Joss? in the kitchen
Unfiltered, relaxed and contented Alden: “I’m glad nothing has managed to kill me yet. There are so many cool experiences I never even guessed might exist.” Stu may not realise it, but that's a deep level that nobody else gets to see. Except Mother.
Maybe even Kiv bee!
Gremlin mentioned! It's been a while. Esh-erdi making Alden and Stu spill the beans on Ro-den was awesome
Nice that the gremlin cooperated on not giving itself away, though I'm curious what it was that Ro-den felt that he didn't accuse Alden of using some weird magic outright.
Esh-erdi is going to love hearing that story! He is such a lovely character. Every time I read about him he makes me smile. ☺️ Thank you for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter! Always love Stu and Alden together, and seeing the Esh's house was fun! Alden is finally getting his book club, but not at intensity level 4 as he originally imagined it. He also made the critical error of mentioning throwing food at someone to Esh. Did he forget that Esh was already sad he missed the rice pranks? And now he dangles a story about more food throwing?
And fruit throwing (*Earth* fruit throwing), no less! There's so much narrative interest implied in just that reference. Alden trying to use some of his storytelling seminar techniques could not have hooked Esh's interest more thoroughly than the implication of secrets with increasingly outrageous, surprising references like *Worli Ro-den* being the one at most risk of being harmed out of a contest of wills between that former Distinguised Master, his first year university student, and the formerly naive young Avowed he previously contracted to absolute secrecy.
I love the house design Reminds me of some friends that live in an urban commune 🎬
Yesssssssssssssssss. I really like that balancing of a small personal household that can open or close its doors to connecting up with multiple adjacent households at will - it's such a nice balancing of being able to opt into more company when you want company and more privacy otherwise.
Alden starting a record of sunrises is such a cool detail. It feels like there is potential for poetry in it. Maybe part of the ’wholeness’ of Alden is reflected in him doing stuff like that. It’s good to be doing things that are personally meaningful to you and bring you joy. Here Stu says that every aspect of yourself is worthy of your attention. If you want to keep a list of sunrises, you should.
Fantastic ending ! Give Esh the slightest hint of an amusing anecdote and you can bet he'll be right on it. How will they get out of this one?
Someone needs to start telling stories of their legendary friendship, right?
Alden found his bookclub ❤️ Master story teller Esh found a new story to amplify! I like this arc (well i liked nearly all the others too), thanks Sleyca
nothing ever seems to go wrong anymore! i'm getting antsy for Alden to have a problem that cannot be finessed, avoided, or talked around
Problems are just one step away, I'm sure. I'm enjoying them gradually occupying the new situation
Stu: “It’s been a very long time since any art’h did anything of the sort” Esh: So how did you get Ro-den to remove the tattoo? Stu: …
We gave him a cantaloupe!
uh oh! gossip queen Esh strikes again. Soon, everyone on the triplanets will know about Alden's failure to grow out of a toddler's predilection for throwing food.
Don’t forget that Lind and Esh also heard the radish-dropping story from Lute during the Christmas market debacle.
Would you like to know more?
Loupe Loupe Loupe Loupe Loupe!
Esh is the best kind-hearted but mischievous uncle.
Just as I needed a way to kill some time waiting for a dentist appointment. Well timed !
Wait, wait… did Sleyca just add the Flying Spaghetti Monster to the Soupverse?
We did at least know it was an animal of some sort, since the gremlin objected to it when Alden got one for Stuart.
An interesting, if odd, set of chapters. It is very reasonable for us to focus on Alden's fledgling attempts to build a home, however it is unusual that it doesn't appear to be building tension, not even to Stu's binding. Eventual conflicts, certainly, but none that jump off the page. "He belongs here" is a bell that can only be rung so loud before I have to ask why there is a story of it, especially if the bell is not showing widening cracks.
I disagree. The extraordinary lengths Stu went to with Rodent only make sense because Alden wants to be a knight. So their secret is in real danger, and they are not ready for it. How is that not tension?
I’m pretty sure the reference that Lind is sensitive was a clue that she has felt Alden use magic and his authority. We already knew she could feel things at great distances, so the information doesn’t tell us much. The reminder however at the point when Stu and Alden have been a little lax is significant to me. Just as Esh was patient with the tatoo, I bet she or both of them are patient with the secret
You make a good point. I wonder if she would be able to recognize Alden from that distant, unfocused greeting she picked up on. It seems like your authority itself would be very distinct and recognizable, but we don't really know how much of Alden could have been felt in that greeting.
I think they just made Esh’s day. I love it when Esh is mirthful. It’s a perfect look for him.
I have a feel that Joe the uncool will be getting a surprise visit from the very cool Esh... Just to check up on things.
Esh with any story 🤲
Fantastic soup
intensity... intensifies! "That story... it still isn't ready to be told, Hn'tyon Esh-erdi."
Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
The real book club was knighthood all along?
I'm delighted for Alden! He gets his book club! It just wasn't where he thought it might be
Thanks Sleyca. You allways brighten my day.
Yes! 🙌🏼 thanks for posting. Needed some 🍜 before 😴
Soup!
Thanks for the chapter! (good discord bot)