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[obeir]

KD6-3.7
3313 Creampuff Way


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[obeir]

The day after tomorrow it is.

Regards,
-K

[ That'll give him time enough to figure out a dish to bring. ]

[devoutish]

[The house will be quiet and calm, when he arrives. Alfie will be in the kitchen (possibly alongside Royce), cooking up a stew with the rabbit that Royce had hunted earlier, and there's already-baked bread warming in the oven. The aforementioned terror of a dog is lying stretched out in front of the fireplace, snoozing peacefully, and there's a cat skulking around the tops of the cabinets.]

[obeir]

[ It wasn't specified, but K opts to dress more formally for the dinner in a dress shirt, waistcoat, and slacks similar to what he wears while working at the Phone Tap. He's brought along a bottle of wine and a kosher apple cake in a box, whch he'd asked Phil to make for him.

Knock knock.

(Where's that dog he was promised? K wants to pet him.) ]

[devoutish]

Come in!

[Alfie calls out, and indeed, the door is unlocked. It's a nice little homey place: small, with lots of dark wood, and a general old-fashioned air. Most of the furniture is in a vaguely early 20th century Earth style.]

Ah-- look at that, you've brought us a whole meal yourself. Thank you, mate.

[It's subtle, but there's a change in Alfie's demeanor from how he was during the RPG extravaganza. He's diminished, somehow: a bit more tired-looking, a bit more drawn. His shoulders droop more.]

[bywolves]

[ That dog is the size of a pony, and he is very excited to see K. He's well behaved enough that he won't knock any of the food items out of K's hands, but he does get all up in K's space and snuffle-licks him. Hello!! New friend!!

Royce is dressed in relatively nice clothing as well, helping Alfie cook. The cat leaps down from the cabinets in order to land gracefully on K's shoulder, sniffing at him. ]

Sorry about the zoo. [ Royce says, glancing over his shoulder at K. ]

[obeir]

[ Oh— that's quite a bit more dog than K had expected (and he has to wonder whether Royce just rides him like a steed), but he's also happy to make a new friend. Once he's set down the wine and cake, Bear gets all the petting he wants, and K doesn't startle when the cat joins in. She'll get some petting too if she seems amenable to it. He sounds amused. ] I'm getting used to it.

I spend all day surrounded by wolf puppies, a fox, a chicken, rabbit tribbles, an owl, and a cat that's sometimes a panther. It's the people that're hard to deal with.

[ The latter not really being a joke even if he makes it sound like one. Even as he gives the pets his attention he's subtly observing Alfie and Royce, and does easily note the change, wondering at it. He also notes how this seems to be routine for them, cooking together. It seems... nice. ]

[devoutish]

Fucking hell.

[Alfie lets out a low whistle.]

And are they all yours?

[bywolves]

[ Lady, the cat, purrs happily when she's petted. Bear nearly wags his whole body. Thankfully they're both friendly creatures. ]

Including the people? [ Royce jokes, adding onto Alfie's question. ]

[obeir]

[ Well. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, having a human serving him for a change, but he isn't going to joke about it. At least not until he has a better idea of what their respective senses of humour are like. ]

Phil and Jeremy's. They have a real menagerie going on at the Phone Tap. [ And something that he thinks they might appreciate: ] Heard House was stealing silverware the other day and the panther almost got him, but Phil stopped him. Shame.

[ He looks to Lady as he lightly scratches her chin, telling her: ] Maybe you'll get him. [ Oops K sort of isn't a very good cop. ]

[devoutish]

You've already run afoul of House, have you?

[Alfie definitely doesn't sound surprised here, but interested? Definitely.]

What's he done, then? What sort of ass is he making out of himself now?

[bywolves]

[ Lady meows in response. She'll get him alright. ]

Invited himself into K's house and ordered him around, if I remember correctly. [ Royce says, vaguely annoyed as he goes through the cabinets. He's looking for a specific spice to add to the stew. ]

[obeir]

[ The mention of being ordered has K lowering his eyes to the ground in a manner resembling shame. (Until Bear intercepts, anyway, and K's glad for the distraction and resumes petting him.) There's clearly a specific context to that, but he isn't sure this is the time or place to get into it. Android enslavement isn't exactly good dinner conversation. ]

He looked ready to keel over on my doorstep. I helped him; figured Zephyr would want me to. He didn't make it easy.

Royce mentioned what he did to the both of you in Norfinbury. [ Some of it, at any rate. He's sure there's more to the story. ]

[devoutish]

Yes, he's got a particular talent for making himself a thorn in people's sides. I cannot believe the man keeps a job at home.

[Alfie turns down the heat on the stew, letting it simmer while he gets out bowls and silverware.]

[bywolves]

[ Sorry, K. Royce at least tries to keep it vague so they don't have to get into uncomfortable talks. ]

Should've just left him out there, Zephyr's will be damned. [ Royce grumbles. ] If it gets worse, tell Alfie. House is terrified of him.

[ Which is endlessly annoying to Royce, stupidly enough. ]

[obeir]

[ Dryly: ] I didn't want a corpse rotting on my doorstep.

[ That's interesting to know. Royce murdered House, but he's terrified of Alfie? But K isn't naive; he fully expects it's because Alfie may have done something worse to the man. It isn't hard to imagine that there are some things worse than murder, particularly if the murder isn't permanent. ]

Why's that?

[devoutish]

Am I not a terrifying sort of man?

[He says seriously, fully aware that from K's perspective, the answer will likely be no.]

[bywolves]

About as terrifying as Lady. [ Royce teases. He's amused that K has known House for about two seconds and already is on the same level of dislike as Royce and Alfie. ]

[obeir]

[ Some humans have the potential to be terrifying to K, for a number of reasons tied to the absolute obedience that he'd mentioned to Royce.

But he'll attempt some levity, making a show of sizing Alfie up. ] Maybe a bit more terrifying now than when you had the appearance of a very pretty elf, certainly.

[devoutish]

Yes, I suppose I'll never hear the end of that one.

[He nudges Royce in the side.]

I was very graceful; I've got no regrets.

[bywolves]

[ Royce laughs. ]

The prettier you are the more likely people are to underestimate you. [ He nudges Alfie back, and scoots over to K to collect his cat. Lady mrowls and jumps to his shoulder. ] You were possibly more graceful than me as a full elf with a bushy beard.

[obeir]

It was an interesting choice. Most went for Dragonborn. [ Compensating for something, he thinks but doesn't say. ]

Is it unusual for elves to have facial hair? [ As he's eyeing Royce's, presumably the result of being half-human. In fantasy novels he knows it's an extremely rare occurrence for elves, but he's curious about the real people from Royce's world. ]

[devoutish]

I wanted to be an elf, because of--

[He gestures to Royce. And then he goes quiet, waiting for his answer to K's question.]

[bywolves]

I've not seen many. But it was unusual for the ones I've seen to have any hair at all, except for their eyebrows. [ Sniff. ] I'm half. I don't count.

[obeir]

[ —Oh. That detail about why Alfie chose to be an elf is rather more interesting than elven facial hair. It seems sweet. K looks between the two with a slight smile, asking Royce: ] Then were you a human in the game?

[ It's the logical conclusion to draw, clearly. But he also isn't going to ignore what seems to be self-deprecation. ] There's that saying about the best of both worlds. [ Hopefully Alfie won't mind his househusband being complimented like that. ]

[devoutish]

[Apparently he doesn't, because he agrees:]

The best of both worlds, yeah. Imagine you bald.