...This is just a section of a bigger scene...
Ben nods to Calliope as in a farewell."Be safe out there." He says to the Summer courtier before turning his attention back to Kip."I'm not part of any of the subgroups so all I can offer you is my own help. If you need. But healing and health care are not in my list. As I told you, I'm a Magi. I can head inside the Hedge and see what I can find. But if you never had anything to do with it, I'm almost sure whatever you have has nothing to do with the Hedge." He explains calmly.
"It's where--" Kip goes quiet as Betsy bustles back in from the back room and heads to the other side of the shop. His voice lowers. It's already a quiet one, almost a whisper really. But still. It lowers a little. "I was in the Hedge with November. Something there got me... sick. That's what they figured out. Took 'em a few days to realize that's what it was." He pauses a moment and closes his eyes, squinting them lightly as his hands grip onto the edge of the counter and he breathes in and out slowly a few times. "I think it's getting worse. Everything starts spinning once in a while."
Ben seen to analyze that but of information for a little while before nodding sagely. His wicked eyes following the mortal until he judges it is safe to talk again."Would you mind giving me more details about what you were doing there? If you touched something or if something touched you." He asks in a lowered voice too. Just in case.
The tip of Kip's tongue brushes across his lips in a way that shows he's dep in thought, trying to remember. It's a motion he does a lot without even being aware of it, apparently. "Uh, we were... looking for some sort of berries or something. November had me lead us home which let me tell you, it took us a hot second to get there, but took us /hours/ to get back. I'm clearly not a boy scout. And that was... that was it. I mean aside from being covered in troll snot which was apparently more funny than it was anything else." He did not appear to find it funny. Everyone else thought it was hilarious, though. So he's sulking about that.
"Troll snot? How did that happen?" He asks as if he was trying to put the pieces together in a puzzle. His yellow eyes focused on the horizon lost in his own thoughts.
Mumble mumble. What's that? Did Kip just mutter 'Fucker sneezed on me' or something? Sounds like it might have been that. "They're trying to figure it out. Someone said something about some... spores or something. There's some magic fucking pear that's supposed to cure anything though that they're talking about trying to find but it's, well, rare."
"Hera Pear." He says as a matter of fact."If it were spores and you inhalled then, you're probably infected." He adds a bit later as he puts together one more piece into the puzzle but still doesn't look satisfied."How was it? This spore thing? Was it a plant?"
Kip's fingers snap. "That. Hairy pear." Hera, Kip. /Hera/. "Uh-- I don't know. It was... it might have been something in what that thing got all over me and they think I might have inhaled it or gotten it in my mouth or-- I dunno. I just know that everything was fine for a few day then... crazy happened. And the bouts of being /normal/ or as close as I apparently get are fewer and farther between."
"Kip. If I'm going into the Hedge looking for what caused that to you, I'd need you to be more specific on where those spores came from." He says before taking another sip from his mug."What thing was that? Can't you describe it?"
"I was-- we were..." Kip shakes his head a little, like he's trying to dislodge cobwebs from memories. "We were just in the Hedge and then this... hob came by and sneezed and it was disgusting. That's it. I-- I don't know. The whole thing is kind of fuzzy, really. I'm sorry I can't... I can't remember."
"Do you remember how this Hob is? His appearance, I mean." He asks idly as he retrieves his notepad that was on the side table and starts taking notes."Anything. Whatever you remember about this Hob can help me tracking it down."
"Uh, he was uhm-- well I /think/ it was a he. It uh... was uhm about that tall?" Kip raises a hand up into the air. "No. More. And... big." His face pales a little and he takes a slow step backward. "I uh-- it's not really here. It's uhm..." He shakes his head a bit and steps back again until he hits the back wall. "November was there. James... was... uh, was there, too. They might... C.B. was there. Alexander. I think. Until he stomped off."
Ben arches a brow and he sees the other man starting to get strange."It's not here, Kip. We're at your bookstore." He says as he puts his notepad aside after taking some more thing written down."I'll try to talk to those you mention and see if one of them can give me a better description of the Hob that caused this to you." He assures the other Lost.
"I know," Kip says quietly, looking back up through the hair in his eyes. "I know. I just-- it's... sometimes I can't tell what's real anymore. And that's why I'm supposed to... to stay upstairs. Because what if I... what if I hurt someone?" He frowns, which is an actual display of some sort of emotion. "Okay. I'm... I'm gonna go back upstairs. Before I start talking to yself again. Thanks. I don't know if you'll find it or not but... thanks."
"I'll try. If you need me, I live at my family's hotel." Ben tells Kip before picking his book and mug back and returning to his readings.
"BETS!" Kip calls out, though even the shouted word is quiet. "I'm taking the inventory book upstairs." Betsy doesn't seem to give even half a crap about it. "I'll... thanks. I'll let you know if I do," he says with a bit of a smile that doesn't go past the edges of his mouth. It doesn't even come close to touching his eyes. "I-- thanks," he murmurs again before grabbing his book off the counter and heading to the back room and the apartment upstairs.
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