Completed Hotbox

[Zaire]

“You think I could buy a growth potion? Maybe one from Elbion?” He sat straight up, suddenly eager before remembering one of the first rules of magic: it wouldn’t last, there would be an end. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the cost of a potion that lasted for years, much less one that would last decades. “Maybe stilts would be the first thing to try.” He said, just as quickly as excitement had washed over him, the morose was back.

There was silence, not uncomfortable to Zaire. He preferred the silence more often than not. It was comforting and soft in a way that noise was not.

“Hey. Are you pretty high right now?”

Zaire

 

[Thraah]

Thraah blew gentle raspberries into the air and felt soft flecks of spittle rain on her face. In truth she didn't know much about potions it just sounded like something that would be a thing.
"Stash... I am toasted as a bun."
She let out a giggle and rocked her knees gently side to side.
"What's in that Mac? Never mind. I don't care. Just keep talking."
She wanted to hear a voice and Stash had a nice one.
"Talk about..."
Her upside down eyes fell on Dav's bed.
"... Talk about Stormy. When you get tall and go find her, what are you going to say?"
She hugged the pillow tighter. Pressed it into herself.

Zaire

 

[Zaire]

He followed her gaze. Another long pause of silence, which he suspected Thraah wouldn’t realize if she was as baked as she claimed. He didn’t even complain about her getting her hands all over his pillow.

“Can I talk about something else?” Zaire asked, hesitant and hopeful at the prospect that she would say yes.

Thraah

 

[Thraah]

"Yeah, whatever you like Zee."
Thraah's words were languid but she wasn't sleepy. Just in a deep state of chemically induced relaxation.
"Just talk."
In the time she had known Zaire this was probably the longest conversation they had ever had together. It was nice.
"I want to hear your voice for a bit."

Zaire

 

[Zaire]

And so Zaire opened his mouth and did as Thraah suggested: he just talked. He would speak of many things, anything that popped into his mind in that moment and even things that had been there for a long time. When Thraah was ready to talk, he’d take his turn to listen, all the while thinking that maybe he wasn’t that different from Thraah after all.