The Devil's Adieu

"But why are we shooting a senile old man in the first place? Maybe that has some significance!"

The big grin he was wearing said enough about how serious he was with that question.

"And yeah... Tailoring was not part of my studies nor my training. So I could probably only make, like, a wearable bush or something. At best."

By that time in their excursion, they had walked quite a ways toward their destination and the foliage was starting to become less and less familiar to Orion. The trees and grass and shrubs were recognizable enough, but sprinkled amongst them were little sprouts and sprigs of things he could not identify. Even though he was not THAT well versed in botany, Orion could still tell when something was normal or not. When it was not, he veered off their path of travel slightly to pluck it up before returning to Bell's side.

"Time to impress. What are these, and do they do anything?"

In his grip were several plants and a single mushroom that he thought were interesting enough to maybe have magical properties that Bell could identify. And he eagerly awaited any answer she gave.

At first, Orion tried handing the one remaining plant to Bell, thinking that she may have missed it or something. When it became clear that she was leaving it with him, he kept to himself and even inspected it a little. His first thought? That it was just a regular plant and of no interest. Still, he held onto it in case she had something insightful to say about it anyway.

He listened quietly as they walked together and she gave him a quick rundown of each plant or, in the case of the first one, fungus. Just like before, Orion was at his most respectful and polite while others demonstrated their expertise. He only wished he had his glove to record it all.

The mushroom, the apricot jelly, he thought possessed a strange name. He could maybe see where the fruit comparison came from: it's color. But jelly? Other than being kind of rubbery, he had no idea where that name came from, and even then it was kind of a stretch. Magic sometimes had weird naming conventions.

The first portion of Angel's Trumpet description got Orion interested. He might not have been one to indulge in drugs, but after that first potion he found he kind of liked a mild trip. However, his happy and curious smile turned into one of distress after she described what it did to one poor (former) fellow.

Wolfsbane sounded like something he had heard before, possibly in a role playing game. It was pretty straightforward and it made the most sense to him. Outside of magic, toxins were often used to make antidotes to that same toxin.

The last plant, the one he had forgotten in his hand was immediately tossed away when she told him it was poisonous. He tried wiping his hands on his pants, but he figured the oils or toxins or whatever had already seeped into his skin.

"Aw, dammit! You waited to tell me that last didn't you?"

He was halfway tempted to rub his hands on her in retaliation, but thought against it and just took his punishment for grabbing random things.

"Anyway, that was really impressive what you did there. Identification by sight and details from memory. Always good traits to have in a person of the sciences. I can do that too, but with machines. So I'm curious, do you ever indulge in the more... trippy herbs and potions? Like the one you gave me before?"

Orion did not consider that Bell might have been pulling his leg regarding the rash-causing plant. For a moment, he was hopeful. But his skepticism was coming back to bite him and he found himself second guessing that hope. Bell was a mischievous girl who might joke around about that kind of stuff. But she might ALSO be wicked enough to give him a sense of hope just to watch him crumble...

Thankfully, she could also distract him from his possible rash by actually answering his question instead of being disgusted at the notion. The way she explained it, he immediately knew what she was talking about.

"I get you. I get you. I do the same things with cool gadgets I've never seen before."

He raised an eyebrow at the notion of keeping her spirits up during long walks, and then even more so when she produced an actual wooden flask of some sort. He had read about traditions in ancient cultures that had a similar point. Go out in the woods, alone, possible hopped up on something, and discover the meaning of life or some such.

He took the flask with little hesitation, but paused before drinking it, thinking back to the first potion she had ever offered him. A shrug later, he sipped too and handed it back. He was quickly overcome with a sense of warmth and comfort, like a hug from inside. He was still very lucid and coherent, but more relaxed.

"Naaaah. Maybe if it caused colors to run, Bell. But something like this just FEELS more at home in a liquid state, if you ask me. Also, if you ask me, I think this little hike just got a bit more interesting now that I know you got something like that already prepared."

He casually slipped and arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side as they continued to walk. The pain of the thrall didn't even register in his relaxed state.

"We must look like a couple of hippies up here..."

"Yeah. I think you mentioned the smoke bombs before... Yeah! That's why you had me drink that potion when we first met. So you could test the mixture. I don't know how effective a trippy smoke bomb would be though. I mean, yes it would be distracting..."

Orion was stopped short by the sensation of Bell of pulling closer to him, and the mild tug of the thrall it created. The relaxing juice was still keeping most of the thrall away by keeping most of Orion's indecent thoughts at bay. Even as the lovely Bell got nice and comfy with him, Orion kept his intentions (mostly) innocently affectionate. For once, it was nice to have a nice lovely stroll with a woman without thinking lustful thoughts. It was almost liberating in a way.

The talk of his vest, however, drew him out of his walking cuddle.

"Silly? Is it? I think it looks quite nice."

He plucked at his vest, now slightly self conscious about it.

"I always thought that it accentuated me fairly well. Better than just going full shirtless. Well, what about you? Aren't you wearing JUST that poncho?"

"Now you SAY that wouldn't mind me coming shirtless, as I could say the same about your poncho situation..."

Orion's hand around Bell's waist slid up the front of her poncho, staying above the fabric, to give her chest a playful and gentle squeeze to affirm that her words were true. The softness of her flesh he could feel just under the fabric was proof enough. He did not linger for too long though. The thrall was taking notice.

"... But I think it proves my point. It's much sexier to wear a little something that going with nothing at all~"

His hand still lingered beneath her chest as he leaned over to nuzzle his nose into her hair. From there, he could take a look at their surroundings and notice just how far they had already come up the mountain to the spring. They were all alone, only partially dressed, and already hopped up on a little something something. The mood seemed right...

"Alright! Quiz time!"

But Orion was feeling playful/teasing. Plus he did not want to get any rash oils on Bell and the thrall still needed to be dealt with before they committed some hippie free love. So after giving Bell a playful kiss on the cheek, he pulled away to pluck another herb, a single Angel's Trumpet. The cheeky smile on his face let her know that he knew he was being a bit of tease.

"I've been wondering. Are there dangerous magical plants? Not just poison ones. but monstrous ones like giant fly traps. Something I should be wary of if I'm ever in some deep magical woods?"