Half of the Kingdom(ft. commentary)

~Apr 14

Miryanna looked hard at him for a minute or two before speaking again. "Well, tell me how you're feeling. Hungry? Tired?" She asked. She had an educated guess that he was both, but she wasn't going to push anything on him; for the moment.

He didn't answer. Just stared listlessly at the ceiling.

"Iphnis?"

"Hmm?"

"Tell me what's wrong." It was an order.

No response.

"Iphnis." Miryanna said firmly, "There is no way you can fool me by telling me nothing's wrong, or it's not important, or anything like that. Clearly something happened to you that has thrown you into this wretched state, and I want to know what it was. Or is. You are my friend, and I owe you much for helping me when no one else would. Now tell me what your troubles are so I can return the favor and help you."

Iphnis' gaze drifted wearily over to her. "I can't say... yet."

Miryanna narrowed her eyes. "You mean: won't?"

He tried to shrug. "I... I really don't want to talk about it."

She took a deep breath. "Alright. I'll let it lie for now. But I want to know." She added.

He nodded weakly. "I can imagine," he said, closing his eyes.

"So, are you hungry?" She asked again. But he didn't reply, for he was asleep. Miryanna got up to leave him in peace. She silently went to the table where she'd deposited his pack. She paused, wondering if he'd be offended that she looked in his belongings, but curiosity won out. She open the top flap and peered inside. There were some clothes, which she removed; a small box; a leather case; and in the very bottom, a few small, carved figurines of animals. They were delightfully realistic, and in lively poses, and she smiled to look at them. She saw a fox, sitting demurely with it's tail curled around its legs, a sly expression on its face; a falcon or hawk in flight, its wings spread wide and talons outstretched; a trotting horse, mane and tail flying in the wind, and well formed feet stepping high. She wondered who made them, and if it was Iphnis. He was quite the craftsman if he had.

Something that I like to see is characters having stuff. Yeah there's the special ring, or magic amulet, or favorite pair of jeans, but what about the stuff you have lying on your dresser. I have like three bottles of lotion from my job sitting on my dressers, along with a whole stack of dried up flowers from bouquets I picked and because I'm an INFP, never threw out. In a drawers I have a stack of cheap masks, leftovers from one of my dad's coworker's kid's birthday party that she brought to work for some reason, all my old and broken earbuds... People have weird stuff and a personal connection to it.

After some fiddling, she opened the leather case to reveal an array of tools. Some small blades, some little stylus-like things meant for the shaping and carving of things, and a small pliers and screwdriver. She closed the case and looked at the box. It was about the length and width of her outstretched hand, and two inches high. There were beautifully intricate designs carved into the top of it, and around the sides. It had a lock, and Miryanna had no key. Probably for the best, she thought. I've probably taken too much liberty already, she scolded herself and put the things back into his pack in the order she'd taken them out.

Idk what's in that box.

Beside the pack were his bow and quiver, and his sword. She picked up the sword and looked at it. She'd never gotten a close look at it before, and could now see that it was beautifully made. The sheath was decorated with inlays of silver around leather in intersecting designs stars and leaves. Miryanna had always heard that Gnomes were superb craftsmen, but she'd never expected such loveliness. Just looking at it could evoke pleasant images of night in the mountains, peering up between the green leaves to the bright, silvery stars above.

alllllll the pretty swords please. aaaallllll of them.

"Pretty, isn't it?"

Miryanna started and almost dropped the sword at the sudden sound of Iphnis' voice. His voice was never loud, and now it was softer than ever, but she was nervous about rifling through his things.

She nodded and looked down at the sword again. "It's beautiful. No human craftsman is capable of such smithery, I think," she commented. "The Gnomes are truly amazing."

At the mention of Gnomes Iphnis closed his eyes and a pained look came over his features.

Miryanna didn't want to push him, but her curiosity would soon outweigh her respect. "Iphnis?"

"Yes?" He asked, his eyes still closed.

"What happened?"

He opened his eyes, and they were clouded with pain. "I don't want to talk about it." He said through clenched teeth.

could i at least have done some sort of time skip and summed it all up with "Iphnis' deppressive episode showed no signs of stopping whatsoever" anyway a few days later...

Miryanna didn't know what to do with him. She guessed she should just give him more time. But she wouldn't let him off forever. If he didn't recover on his own, she'd help him; even if he didn't want to be helped.