[PRP] Water We Doing? (Chester & Preacher)

[The Semblance of Unity]

One evening, hands heavily bandaged, Preacher gingerly toted her laptop down into the kitchen. She was ******** mad about everything and they were going to get this damn business squared away. Maybe she could write Ezra out of the will... the charter, she reminded herself.

"Chestaaaaaaa!" she yelled out, hoping it reached wherever in the house he was. She really didn't feel up to bouncing around to find him. She felt like s**t. "Let's do s**t! C'mere!"

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[Smerdle]

Chester was working up in his room when he heard someone calling him. He knew that realistically it could only be Preacher, unless she had invited over a friend who sounded exactly like her, but this person had called him by his real name—kind of—and he had quite literally only heard her do that three times since they had met. It gave him a moment's pause. He was aware of the s**t she wanted to do, however, and even though he wouldn't have been doing anything but lying in bed had he been as messed up as she was, he knew suggesting as much would not go over well at all.

He joined her in the kitchen, barreling down the stairs like a baby elephant rampage, his own laptop under one arm. He had a notebook as well, and he spread it out between them before starting his computer.

"Let me know if you want to stop." It was all he would say on the subject.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yeah, yeah. Yer loud." Baby elephants, indeed. She waved her hand dismissively. She wasn't going to give up just because her body asked for a bit of rest. Preposterous.

"So we need like a thing that syba'lizes water n' entertainment, yeah? I wish we could jus' use m'cat fountain." From somewhere, Mink yowled in protest. Of course one of the first things she'd bought for Mink had been a cat fountain, so he could always have running water. "It's like makin' sure tha caster don get dehydrated."

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[Smerdle]

"I was trying to hurry," he said absently as he shuffled through his notes. "Unless you wanted me to take my time when we have so little of it left?" Chester turned an innocent enough expression on her, but it held the barest twinge of sarcastic amusement too.

"So... I'm not sure we should be entertaining them too much or they'll be too distracted to cast. But something revitalizing would be welcome, I'm sure. And I would use your cat fountain, but it sounds like Mink would miss it. The people equivalent, maybe?" He read down the brief list he had made. "Hose, water gun, spray bottle, chalice, watering can, sippy cup, I don't know. I can understand not having fire or clods of earth on the scene to mess things up, but... why not just enchant water?" He knew it was far too simple to work, but he was also sure he was nowhere near creative enough to come up with something better.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Nah, big foot. Y'alright." She snorted loudly. "How we gon drag a fountain to Silk, tho... I feel like if we coulda enchanted water, they woulda flat out said it. Plus water's gon evaporate in tha time from getting it done ta castin'." She frowned, also loudly.

Slowly, she typed in something on her laptop and turned it to Chester. Pictures of stones with holes filled the page. "What 'bout somethin' what's been shaped by water but ain't water? Or issat too obscure?"

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[Smerdle]

He leaned in, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he took in all the images. Hag stones were prevalent in the books he had read as a kid, even if he couldn't remember what they were called at the moment, and few things sparked thoughts of magic on sight the way that they did. Chester tapped 'stones with holes' into his own laptop, skimming the Wikipedia page and nodding shallowly.

"I don't think it's obscure at all. I actually think it's perfect for what we're trying to do. The problem would be getting an authentic one, since they all seem to come from overseas. But maybe it's the thought that counts."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Iffin we go wit' a modern interpretation, it can be from anywhere's. I think it actually might mean more if we found a one here, in Ashdown. Or in bullshit magic land. A natural-like one." She flicked through pictures of stones - it wasn't always easier to spot the real versus the fake.

"We could go poking 'bout in tha rivers n' creeks til we find one?"

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[Smerdle]

"We could." He had never been in a river on the other side. They were probably filled with all kinds of death. "Yes. Sure."

Chester swallowed. "Let's do that."

It really was the most fitting idea, he was just hesitant over the possibility of being accidentally turned into some sort of werefish.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Water's water's water, El'phant." Chester looked kind of worried about it, but what could water even do to them? Wet was the same in both places. "Bullshit's closer ta magic, o' course, so I thought a rock from over there would like... take the s**t we tryna push on it better, y'know?"

She wanted to make some notes but her hands ******** hurt and it seemed like way too much effort to do anything with them at all. Instead, she stared at her computer screen, willing it to write. It didn't work.

"Anyway, I mean, 'less you got an alt, we kin go for that'un. When, though?"

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[Smerdle]

That was easy for a mink to say. No matter how he felt about the process though, Preacher's idea was an excellent one.

"I'm not disagreeing." He watched her for a handful of seconds, vacillating between helping and not helping, mentioning her injuries or not mentioning them, until he settled on, "We can either wait until your bandages come off or I can carry you into the water and go where you point. And as long as I'm not in class or at work, I'm free. Or I could take a day off. So, whenever." Getting to the other side would be another issue, but at least they would be making an attempt.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher's opinion of Chester carrying her around was clear from the expression on her face. Riding someone's shoulders was alright, but being carried? Gross. "We can't wait. This s**t gotta be putall tagether asap. N' I'm offa work for a bit, so you can jus' tex when ya good ta good. Y'ain't carryin' me, though." She sighed.

"So ya pick a day n' we wander 'round 'til th'other side decide to snatch us then it's rock time. Worst case I'll just gotta replace m'bandages when we get back." She shut her laptop, controlling her wince at the movement. "Sound good?" IT felt kind of nice to have decided on something.

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[Smerdle]

Or they could choose option number three.

Chester rubbed his hand across the lower half of his face in an effort to hide his smirk, sitting back in his seat when it was gone. He had thought she might react the way she had, but he'd hoped she would have considered the 'wait until you're better' choice rather than just barrelling forward. But she was right. They barely had any time at all. He nodded.

"I'll text. It'll only be a couple of days. Three at the most."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher rolled her eyes. She saw that twitch of a smirk. "Yeah, ya got m'number, Elephantitus." She yawned.

"I'm gonna go sleep. Wake me if ya think of more s**t, dude." She gave him what might have been a thumbs up, if she could move her hands properly. (Later on, he would find her asleep in the hallway, after deciding it was too much effort to go back downstairs for cereal.)

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fin?