AFTER JULES MOST RECENT NETWORK EXPLOSION

[hiding_honor_in_darkness]

This is Zaknafein Do'Urden, and I am speaking in regards to a recent alarm called by the lurkglider Jules. He acted as I had instructed and as he should have in the event of encountering drow. The danger my kind pose is not not a threat to be taken lightly.

That said... there is no danger to be found here. The drow in question is in fact, my son, Drizzt. He is, perhaps, the only drow who has ever existed who is honestly and truly...

-=he seems to be struggling for a word=-

Kind.

-=another hesitation, though this one more contemplative=-

If I may ask, I am hoping to find a proper shelter for the two of us, or a way to create one. I cared little when I was alone, but with him here now the lack is unacceptable.

-=he's a father, he can't help it. he's actually feeling a bit more like himself so the last thing he says sounds rather amused=-

As well as a means to a bath. It appears my son has become some form of beast in my absence.

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[naturaltwohands]

[Drizzt listens quietly at first, smiling. Smiling more as his father speaks of him, and as his father asks for shelter. All of that is replaced by a look of horror at the mentioning of being a beast. He will not argue that he in fact could use a bath, and that one indeed sounds wonderful, but Drizzt does not want his reputation to be "smelly elf ranger"!

He sounds more like a teenager, like the actual young elf that he truly is, than he has in many years with a simple, indignant protest, spoken in Drow:]

Father! Must you introduce me as a 'beast'?

[hiding_honor_in_darkness]

I did no such thing.

-=he says with a faint smirk. technically he's always speaking Drow, regardless of who he's speaking to=-

I introduced you as kind.

[naturaltwohands]

[Drizzt looks at him for a very long moment, looking quite thoroughly annoyed, and then he just gives a world-weary sigh as he gives in.]

It has been several tendays since I have seen much more than saltwater....

[Because one cannot bathe in what little stores of freshwater that the Captain shared with Drizzt for drinking since he preferred it vastly over the stores of other drink on the ship.]

[failgoyle]

...so I didn't screw all that up and we all just got lucky?

[naturaltwohands]

You certainly made it easier for me to find my father.

[Someone sounds amused.]

My apologies for startling you earlier.

[He's being generous. You ran away screaming. It's not the first time for Drizzt, though.

... Also he's going to pretend the whole smell portion of this fiasco has not happened. BECAUSE REALLY]

[amourtician]

[ Jay just barely stifles a giggle. ]

Oh, come on, darling! Beast? Really? At least I bet yours doesn't hoard poisonous plants in his bedroom—

[hiding_honor_in_darkness]

He may. It has been quite some time since I have seen him last.

[hiding_honor_in_darkness]

No, you did the right thing. The chances had seemed so impossible that I did not consider that it could be anyone I knew, let alone my son.

[naturaltwohands]

My father exaggerates greatly. There is simply no way to get oneself clean on the open sea without fresh water. Even our impeccably dressed Captain smells. There is simply no escaping it.

[And a pause and a chuckle.]

... If only my bedroom could grow plants. I am afraid it is inside of a mountain, and I have not seen it in six years. One can only hope it has not been buried under dust in my absence.

[But you know having a plant does sound kind of nice. Drizzt misses them on the open water.]

[amadine]

I can't offer lodgings, but if your son's the source of the ungodly reek that tattooed idiot so kindly shared with the rest of us, I'll gladly offer the use of my apartment for the length of a bath.

Give me an approximate size, and I'll even leave fresh clothing.

[hiding_honor_in_darkness]

I am certain you will feel much more comfortable when you are clean.

-=he reaches out, hesitating a moment, but then brushes at the white powder caked on Drizzt's face=-

This is salt?

[naturaltwohands]

I must admit that it does sound refreshing.

[Drizzt blinks when his father reaches up to his face, but he doesn't pull away, and instead smiles widely.]

It is. It's also in my hair and cloak. And shirt. And likely everything and everywhere else.

[Drizzt lifts his hair with a grin. It's suffered the most, leaving his hair dry and brittle from the salt. It's definitely not as shiny or luxurious as his father's. At least it is still thick... with tangles. Yeah. Drizzt normally doesn't care that it's a mess, but he suspects his father may put up a bit of a fuss.

And he can't help but admit that being fussed over by his father sounds so pleasantly normal that he cannot resist goading his father on.]

[failgoyle]

That's okay...it's not like startling me is all that hard to do...

...and I'm glad you found your dad, at least!

[failgoyle]

Okay, so if I see another one of you guys...am I still supposed to scream about it?

[hiding_honor_in_darkness]

Any help you are willing to offer would be much appreciated. He claims to have been doing something called sailing? In which there is an apparent lack of means for self care.

-=he finds the whole concept rather distasteful to be honest, but he is not going to judge. or at least try very hard not to. for a while at least=-

[hiding_honor_in_darkness]

Yes,

Yell even louder if you encounter a female.

[video]

[neverfeltthatway]

There are always extra rooms available in Leonardo's workshop.

[He's... not really going to touch the rest of that.]

[amadine]

It's a manner of travel by water. And it can get unpleasant if the weather's turned cruel, or the supplymaster plans poorly.

Look for the door marked with the...well, they're little more than overlapping circles at the moment. I'll leave it open for you. Let me know when you're done.

[naturaltwohands]

[Drizzt has gathered as much by now, but he is too diplomatic to say such.]

There is no ending to my joy of being reunited with my father, thank you.

[A pause.]

"Dad"?

[failgoyle]

...really?

[Probably a good thing to tell a guy with a history of hitting on dangerous women.]

[failgoyle]

Yeah, it's, uh, a more informal way of referring to fathers where I come from.

[naturaltwohands]

Ah. I suspect I will not use it soon, but it is good to know all the same.

[hiding_honor_in_darkness]

-=fussing over someone other than himself isn't something he's ever been known to do. it's not their way, but to hell with their ways. his fingers drift to the boy's hair and he pulls a face at how dry and brittle it feels, as though it could simply break off in his fingers.

there's a moment where he looks as though he's going ot say something, but nothing comes of it. the look in his eyes changes though, to something more far away and a little bit lost.

it finally hits him hard in the chest. this is drizzt. this is his son, standing in front of him, so close that he's actually touching him. the focal point of his obsessive need to return to the underdark, to faerun, to find him. but now he's here, and the mirth in his eyes slips to one more of wonderment, and a bit of that fear that he's never capable of shaking, finally speaking in a hushed whipser=-

You are truly here...?

[naturaltwohands]

[This is embarrassing but Drizzt is going to shove through it. While it is awkward to be using someone's home for the bath, it's best to get it over with.]

Thank you. There is simply not enough fresh water to afford the luxury of the bath on a ship; what is there is for drinking or cooking only. I believe Zaknafein is quite frankly horrified by this, and it will take many tendays to comprehend the truth. [Drizzt, you're a brat.]

I am about the approximate height and weight of many human women, slender in the shoulders with muscles built for speed and agility, not strength. I will of course return the clothing once I am properly able to. If it is not too impertinent to ask, is there a cloak that I may borrow as well, or at least, something with a hood? I am more used to the surface's light than my father, but sometimes it still bothers my eyes.

[hiding_honor_in_darkness]

That is the door all the images point to?

-=forget the rest, he's confused at why there is now an image in his head=-

How is it that I can see you?

-=if 'see' is even the right word for it=-