IC Inbox

[vrdantwind]

"Hey, this is Claude! Pretty sure I'm doing this correctly. You can leave me a message here, and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Talk to you soon~."

Comments

after his secret santa post

[fingersandteeth]

So. While I don't know everyone, I do know quite a lot of people and generally keep track of who knows who, unless they are *very* new. I can probably figure out who you should ask if you tell me who you got.

(Pending, of course, that your recipient isn't me, but I did do a public post about three weeks ago, so I'm assuming it's not.)

[vrdantwind]

Hey, thanks for the offer! And yeah, you're correct, it's definitely not you. I'm supposed to be buying for a guy called Dirk Strider. That's a name with zing.

[fingersandteeth]

[Okay. Steven is going to take a moment to just... completely crack up.]

Okay. Okay, yeah, I... actually know Dirk. We're friends. Basically, if you get him anything with horses or puppets, you're good.

[vrdantwind]

Well, that's convenient! And a slightly strange shopping list, but who am I to judge.

Horses is straightforward enough, but I have to ask - what kind of puppets are we talking about here? Even in my world there's a variety, and I've got no idea what they might be like here, or wherever he's from.

[fingersandteeth]

I suppose if I had to rank Dirk Strider's puppet preferences from what I've observed, it would go something like this:

Muppets (and various other types of off-brand -uppets) > Marionettes > Hand puppets

Take that with a grain of salt, however, given that I am not the man himself.

[vrdantwind]

Hey, that's enough to go on! And a lot more than I had before this conversation, so I owe you. All the more so since the man himself didn't seem willing to bite at my post.

I wouldn't mind getting you a little something as thanks...but frankly, all the gift-buying I have to do may not leave me much left over, so it might be a little while coming. I want to get to Goldenrod before I actually look for any steady work, so I'm not exactly making money hand over fist here.

[fingersandteeth]

It's fine. You can owe me a favor instead if that's easier?

[vrdantwind]

Hah! Easier, but riskier. What could a man like yourself want favor-wise from a charming and attractive individual like myself?

[The lighthearted tone and false arrogance are smokescreens for genuine caution. If it sounds enough like a joke, Claude can bring up a real concern without offending. It's the sort of nuance one has to be able to pull off with easily offended nobles. But Claude's aware he doesn't know this Steven guy much at all, so he's leery of promising anything without knowing what he might be asked.]

[fingersandteeth]

Honestly, I have no clue. I just figured it would be easier than getting me anything tangible.

[vrdantwind]

That's fair enough. Still, I don't want to promise a favor to someone who's still mostly a stranger to me without knowing what it might take the form of...would you accept an agreement to keep a particularly open mind to any favor requests coming from you?

I'm not trying to be suspicious of someone who's already done me a favor without any promise of reward, for the record. I've got no reason to suspect you of anything at all! I've just known too many people who would take advantage of loopholes and vague wording, so it makes me nervous to promise anything without defined terms. I hope you understand.

[Among the people who'd take advantage of that sort of thing is himself.]

[fingersandteeth]

Of course I understand. And it's fine. I don't mind that at all.