The elf hummed, her head turning towards Polaris's entrance down the tunnel.
It was, little did she know: the bounties would eventually change and the tavern would be in need of new things-- but even if they took a nap and did it all tomorrow, it'd still be there. Either way, Aurelle wasn't in much of a rush.
Did she fantasize about things? Was there anything she'd fantasized about the found the reality much dimmer? Lichen didn't know. The only thing she yearned for was the occasional compliment from Aurelle, because it made her feel happy, but she couldn't say she fantasized about it; which was the whole truth, and she wasn't lying to herself about it, not in the slightest. But, those were usually as good as she imagined.
Lichen tittered, a bright snickering laugh.
Then she thought to ask,
Aurelle huffed with laughter.
Her pale head turned again, away from the entrance to Polaris and back down to Lichen. She considered it for a beat, and decided...
Lichen's tail tip wriggled, unable to contain her delightful feeling of silliness. She'd be almost tempted to ask how much Aurelle was willing to bet on it, not that it would've been of any consequence, since she couldn't think of a single thing they didn't already share.
Ah, the cherimoya. The fruit had completely slipped her mind after she'd got overwhelmed by mycelium chatter, it made her wonder if the ones that sprouted on her so frequently had been part of that conversation. More traitorous things living on her body.
Aurelle hummed, reaching back into the bindle and slipping the cherimoya out of it. She felt the skin of it for a moment, checking the ridged scales-- but it felt fine beneath her fingers. It passed the sniff test, too. She moved it from her face and took a deep breath, holding it for a moment.
She'd really only intended to make sure there weren't any imperfections-- cuts, bruises, that bacteria was seeping into. Aurelle wasn't able to tell for sure. No, somehow she'd managed to get a read on not just the cherimoya, not just the tunnel, but she'd managed to sense what was in Polaris, Scorpio and Orion, too.
There's no way to describe suddenly becoming aware of each individual microbe within a few miles. Billions wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket. Up the walls. On the ceiling. On the other gembounds passing by Scorpio. There was a pitch rat, somewhere, and Aurelle could sense each bacterium writhing through its fur.
On Lichen. On her. No-- inside her. No-- both. Everywhere. In and out. She wasn't usually so squeamish, but there were so many...
She turned, back hunching and then convulsing as she regurgitated everything she'd eaten that day: thankfully not on Lichen, though the noise was definitely far from pleasant to the dragon's ears. And even as she threw up, she could sense more and more microbal life, ever-moving, ever-present, ever-duplicating over and over and over again.
Aurelle retched loudly, dry-heaving.
Lichen was thankful she hadn't thought to open her mouth before waiting a little more. At first, she'd thought the sound to be Aurelle doing an odd impression of her, perhaps as a joke or to mock her concern over the fruit. Both rather silly outcomes, it was when the acrid smell hit her senses that it occurred to her, this wasn't a joke. Or at least not a good one, she'd never consider losing your food a good joke, you usually needed that to survive.
Lichen rose to her feet, trying to avoid stepping in the mess by walking around where the smell wasn't so strong.
Once her two front feet splashed into the small stream, she sat back on her haunches. Without another way to carry the liquid, she moved her two front feet together. Cupping them as best she could to scoop up a meager handful of water. With the weight of her tail, she could stay relatively upright without issue; the challenge would come from moving like this...
It wasn't easy, she swayed and staggered off course. Her footsteps were heavy and clumsy, and she lost most of the water she'd been trying to bring over. By the time she setting down back on her haunches by Aurelle, there was barely a mouthful left.
Aurelle didn't quite notice Lichen hobbling off-- not intentionally ignoring her, but she was busy dry heaving until her insides were thoroughly wrung out. The spell was beginning to wane, but a few miles less was still a lot of microbial life kicking around. Her head thrummed with the figurative sound of centillion heartbeats pumping in her ears.
She only realized Lichen was behind her when the Lichen-shaped lump got up onto her hind-limbs and sauntered over. The elf turned, face pale, half-realizing what was happening, but...
Good, bad, it didn't matter. She didn't want any of that inside her right now.
Her hand lifted, nearing Lichen's wrists. Though Lichen couldn't much see it, she could feel the warmth of magic gathering at Aurelle's fingertips-- and then, like static feedback, a dim zzzap as the spell backfired (albeit much more kindly than the last) and sent a shock up the elf's arm. She shook her head and turned, not that Lichen could see that, either.
Lichen remained sat, unable to tell Aurelle's choices without much verbal confirmation. So she remained sat, water cupped in her big, lizard hands. She'd almost look like a statue that someone may leave an offering at for good fortune, if she were a little greyer.
It wasn't until the zap and confirmation that water wasn't the answer, that she dropped the handful unceremoniously where she sat; away from where Aurelle was. Her nose wrinkled as the picture came a little more into focus, magic, again. She gave the lightly zapped hand a little wriggle, but she otherwise felt fine compared to the fresh hell Aurelle was likely going through.
They really weren't good at this bountying stuff.
It should have been a simple question, but honestly, Aurelle just didn't know. Talking about what she'd sensed might have been a smart thing to do, but she really didn't want to impart that exact knowledge onto Lichen. She didn't need to know just how much little things were always on her. And inside her.
Aurelle felt queasy again, but she kept it down this time.
Half of her wanted to be alone, untouched, left to curl on the ground until it stopped. The other wanted to be held and taken home to sleep. She made a face and conceded,
And at last, Aurelle used her big girl words.
Bile rose in her throat again just saying it. She was going to keep the exact extent to herself for now, though, as she curled up tighter into her little ball.
Lichen tilted her head downwards, turning one of her ear holes towards Aurelle to catch the words she was saying. Lots of things, like mushrooms but not. That was new. But, the sensation of being taken really far, was not. So, she thought back on the things she would've liked when it happened to her. Well, the top need had been to run away, but she didn't want Aurelle to leave, not while she was so unwell.
It was tough, you couldn't simply get rid of sensations. Well, you could, Lichen had heard of certain hallucinogenic spores, but that seemed like a poor time to start delving into other things that could change the senses. Lichen let out a small sigh through her nostrils, now wasn't the time to stand here frozen, but she couldn't think of anything at all helpful to do.
She winced to herself, this didn't feel like the right thing, but it's the only idea she had. So, she slumped down next to Aurelle, avoiding the smelly parts around her. Putting her head down, not too unlike a dog sprawled out on the floor. In reach, but never touching.