15.06.02| Jungle outside RMW - Afternoon

[Shoki]

It was about that time again. It was time for R’le and Quiorith to goof off. To them it was a very important part of the day. Some other dragons were content to sit in the sun and relax, but not Quiorith. Yes, now was the time to race through the sky with his rider. If only they had someone to race against.

The Cloud hovered near the edge of the Weyr, enjoying a nice breeze in the air. R’le was looking down at the area that they were over, admiring the view. They had been swooping about for a while now, and this was just another pause to enjoy the view. They could never get enough of the view. The dark haired man turned his head back to front and gave Quiorith a pat. Taking the cue, the cloud zoomed off again, dropping in altitude to gain momentum. After a moment the dragon gave another wingbeat and swung upward with the added speed and started turning in a wide arc. It gave the pair a wonderful rush, moving so fast while looking down at the lovely scene. The jungle was particularly beautiful today.

‘Quiorith, set down over there, I need to stretch my legs.’ The time limit on these ventures was always the rider’s need to move. As much as he loved being in the sky, he could only sit so long. They had been at this quite a while so the cloud did not protest and just glided down to the edge of the jungle. As he landed, R’le dismounted and started to take off his shoes. “Much better.” With his boots off he tied them together and started walking around, feeling the dirt underfoot.

R’le-Mine, you should have a run or something. Too bad you cannot carry me around. The thought often occurred to the cloud dragon, and it was one of the strange things about the dragon R’le really liked.

“Guess so.” He glanced into the jungle and suddenly grinned. “I have a great idea. Let’s go!” The rider started trotting into the forest, with Quiorith trying to follow. After a few steps he backed out and took to the sky, flying over the canopy. He’d rather fly anyway. R’le grinned and continued on, trotting through the jungle. He was oblivious to the fact he might get lost in here, as he was feeling too good while stretching his legs.


Some time later R’le had slowed down for two reasons. One, he realized that running barefoot in a jungle was not the wisest idea he had ever had. The third branch he had stepped on had got that idea firmly in his head. The second thing was that he really did enjoy it here. Quiorith’s rhythmic wingbeats above him made it soothing and the scenery was very nice. The pair were enjoying themselves as R’le went deeper into the jungle.

[Jay Kitten]

The Southern Jungle was home to some of the widest variety of life on Pern, the rest of the planet stripped bare by Thread as it were. No, this place was sacred compared to the other Continents, the jungle devoured everything- Thread and Hold alike. Given enough time, the jungle would eat the planet.

Eyes of gold scanned the canopy, looking for the tell-tale signs of a bird's nest in one of the trees- a perfect place to get some eggs to fry. Elraishsa the Wild, Queen of the Jungle, Matriarch of her own little world. And what a world it was.

Pointed nails dug into the trunk of a tree, once her target was found. A well-practiced motion allowed her to shimmy up, clawing her way until she reached the top. Her strong legs hugged the top of the tree as she looked through the leaves, searching for the morsels she so desired. Maybe if she was lucky enough, she would find a clutch of fire-lizard eggs? She still had never tasted them, and she so wanted to after being attacked by a wild pack of the nasty winged newts last Turn.

Her trained eyes spotted nothing. A few more seconds and she was back on the ground, rushing through the brush, spear in hand. Ten feet, and she froze.

Dead silence.

That meant only one thing, in the jungle. Something that didn't belong was nearby. She could almost smell it... The quietness of the jungle life was eerie enough for her, she was so used to hearing it's constant sound that to not hear it was one of the most foreboding things for her.

Elraishsa turned her ear to the sky, and that was when she heard it. The distinct sound of dragon's wings. Easy enough to hear, those over-sized lizards were everywhere in the sky, she couldn't go a day without seeing at least one, somewhere. But this one she didn't see, only heard. She growled to herself, her knuckles turning white on her spear as she stared in disgust towards the source of the noise, before she whipped back and sped off in the opposite direction. Twenty-seven paces and she halted again.

It was here where she set her trap. It was simple enough to locate a vine long enough for the job, she lay the length along a tree's trunk, over a branch and looped on the end. She placed the loop between two more trees, taking the loose end in hand and perching herself high enough to be out of sight to anybody on the ground. When the time was right, whatever it was that was headed this way was going to be caught by her. Whether it was pray that the dragon was hunting, which could be her dinner, or even it's Rider... She didn't know what it was yet, but she would drop from her tree and pull it up by it's legs, dangle it from the canopy. Perhaps poke it with her spear a few times, just to make sure it was dead?

She exhaled sharply through her nose, clearing her nostrils of dirt before she took a deep breath, trying to smell whatever it was that was different from the jungle. Nothing yet.

[Shoki]

R’le had been walking for a while through the jungle when he paused to look up. The canopy obscured the light, making it mottled as it fell down. He could spot Quiorith’s wings as he pondered this, which was not much of a surprise. Clouds had very large wings and Quiorith was always in the mood to stretch them. It only took a moment for the dark haired rider to note this, and then he continued, swinging his boots as he did so.

We’ve been out here a while. The cloud was more reminding the rider then suggesting anything. They both could lose track of time rather easily when they were involved in doing something they considered fun.

“That’s true. I’m not headed for a sheer cliff or something, am I?” R’le’s voice suggested that he was joking, and a slow smile spread across his face. A low rumble from above indicated that Quiorith was amused. “Guess not.”

I’m not telling you.

“Uh-oh…” R’le snickered at Quiorith’s playful response. He really was best friends with his dragon. He was enjoying himself enough that he was most certainly not playing attention to where he was going. Where he stepped on another sharp branch. “Ow.” He brought his foot up to check the bottom of his foot. No physical evidence, just like the last three but it had hurt. His feet were made of stern stuff, and they were more used to this sort of thing then most riders. He carefully replaced his foot, on the nice dirt, and continued with more care. Quiorith made no comment, as he knew that R’le still preferred to be barefoot even with the possibility for injury. If he ever actually broke the skin then he would put his boots back on. So they continued. They were heading right into a trap, not that they knew that.

[Jay Kitten]

Lying in wait was a predator's specialty, and this one was no different. Her eyes never blinked, fixated on the spot she had set her trap, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Her teeth were bared, pointed and sharp, just like her nails. She hoped she would be eating well tonight. Dragons could scare wherries from miles away, and if they were fleeing, they wouldn't be paying attention to her.

But much to her surprise, ahead the bushes parted to reveal not a wherry, but a man. He was barefoot and walking as though he owned this place, trespassing in her jungle. She withheld a growl, for to give away her position was to provoke a fight with a Rider that she couldn't have. But to hold him captive would keep his dragon away, though she was feral she knew all about a rider's death leading to the dragon's.

He paused and looked at his foot. She ground her teeth impatiently, just a few more feet and he would be in the perfect place. He spoke, she heard, nothing very important, simply an expression of pain from whatever he had stepped on. What a fool, barefoot out here? That could mean a poisonous attack from a snake or any sort of insect or spider. Herself? She wore thick fur-lined hide boots, for that specific reason. This imbecile didn't belong here.

Finally, she had her chance. He began to move again, and a few more steps brought him right where she wanted him. With an intense growl she jumped from the tree, using all of her weight and strength to pull down on the vine, causing it to slide along her makeshift pulley and to slide backwards from where the rider was standing. It caught around his ankle, and the pull caused the knot to tighten and yank backwards, throwing the rider upwards to dangle from a tree. She tied the loose end around another trunk, and ran towards her capture, her spear thrusting upwards to poke at his ribs, though not hard enough to break the skin.

"...Rrrwwrr..." she made a sound, similar to a purr, though much deeper and from a human throat. She was questioning him, wondering what he was doing here, and her eyebrows showed that curiosity easily. She also seemed angry, tense, like she were about to pounce on him, and she circled where he hung, looking him over, checking for any weapons he could use to free himself.

[Shoki]

A moment of confusion was all it took. R’le sense of direction was utterly shattered as his feet were pulled up from under him. His head hit the ground for a moment until he was strung up in the branches like a tasty slab of smoked meat. His first reaction was to grab his head and check for blood. While letting out a nice commentary for his feeling.

“Shards that hurts.” He was quickly introduced to the end of a spear, making his gaze move to its owner. She looked very much at home here, and it seemed like she had done a brilliant job with catching him up here. Her clothes were very strange compared with the ones he was used to seeing, at it make her seem like she was part of the scenery, rather then his bouncing about the forest. Her low feline-ish communication was something of a puzzle to him, but he did not have time to make any sort of comment before he had to clap his hands over his ears. Quiorith’s cry was extremely loud and more then a little angry. It did not help that he was so close to them. R’le could tell the cloud was going to do something stupid. They were similar in that respect.

“No you don’t, stay there!” The rider could just feel the cloud ready to try and break his way down, and he would have none of that. He was busy enough in this half mental battle he did not notice that she was circling him and looking for any weapons. He did not carry anything short of a bit of dried meat when he went racing with Quiorith, since he had no need to. Currently the dragon was buzzing the canopy, still wanting to crash through. He was slowly calming down, feeling R’le confidence. “Just relax, we are having a nice conversation, er, we are sharing meaningful information.” That was more true as she was communicating, not conversing. He could tell she was curious but tense. He was certainly not expected here. He actually got that a lot.

I reserve the right to do something stupid.

R’le chuckled then muttered, “Yeah yeah.” He turned toward the wild looking woman then frowned. He really hated having his blood rush to his head. This was the third or so time with him being strung up like this. The last two times were less elegant compared to this, something he rather appreciated. “Sorry about that, he’s really nice, but hated being left out. Nice work by the way, this is the best one of these I’ve seen. I mean, that I’ve been in. So, I’m R’le. That’s Quiorith. Were you planning to catch me, ‘cause I was not really planning on hanging out here today. The jungle I mean not this particular branch.” He really did seem completely fine with being strung up like this, as his voice was same old conversation pitch.

[Jay Kitten]

The rider was speaking to his dragon. That much she could tell, and when she heard that noise of anger from the beast, she pointed her spear at his throat, to get the point across. From what she could tell, he called the thing off. She moved the point to somewhere less threatening, though equally deadly, between his ribs. Her head tilted and her eyes narrowed, she somehow knew he wouldn't allow his dragon to attack. That would certainly be stupid indeed.

By now she noted that his face was turning red, which was good for her, a bit bad for him. Too long and he would pass out, but it was just enough to get him thinking about how bad of a situation he was currently in. She growled again, her nostril's flaring as she neared him, sniffing around, her hands groping for his clothing as she felt around until she found the meat he was carrying, quickly stealing it and chomping down, making sure to keep her spear pointed at him, even giving him a false lunge at one point to scare him a bit.

From his words, Elraishsa could tell that he was used to this sort of treatment. Well, that was good, because if he was going to get out of this alive, and with his dragon still in this dimension, then he was going to have to cooperate. She bared her teeth once more, speaking in a strange accent as she responded.

"You're rider. Don't belong." Simple enough, she didn't seem to think any more words were needed to express what she was trying to say. But her words held a distinct hint of curiosity still, and her narrowed eyes were indicative of her feelings.

"Yet somehow..." These words were a bit lighter, almost musical in tone. "It's fitting." Her voice went up and down in an almost mocking manner here, and if he wasn't about to pass out from too much blood to the brain, he would be able to tell her voice was quite feral, yet somehow alluring.

She poked him in the ribs again. "Used to it..."

[Shoki]

R’le was poked in various placed with the spear, which barely registered with him. He tilted his head forward, already aware his face was red. No surprise there, his face turned red really fast compared to other people. He glanced up at his ankle and sighed. If she moved the spear he could hoist himself upright for a bit, at the expense of the feeling in his free foot. He doubted she was interested in letting him do that though. He was busy looking at his entrapped foot when he felt the bit of meat he had on him get looted. Oh tragedy.

She started to speak again, and R’le turned to look at her as she spoke. Suddenly he was a thirteen turn brat again, and he had trespassed on Terves’ land yet again. It was not exactly the same situation, but it felt the same to him. He had snuck onto someone’s property to have fun and they caught him. He had respected Terves for his capture as well, but he had fallen the opposite direction there. It had been an amazingly well crafted pitfall, and he had taken the time to pack down the sides so he could not dig into the sides and make foot holds. That what he got for climbing the big tree he had.

“Amazing how this happens. A lot. When I am on the ground anyway. So, gonna kill be for trespassing or are you gonna let me right myself so I don’t freak Quiorith out?” Honestly, she did not seem like the kind of person to just kill him on the spot, but he could be wrong. Either way, it never occurred to him that he should do anything but converse with her like this. He did not even catch the subtle bash at him being a rider, but it would not have bothered him anyway. “I would appreciate the later of course but I aint you.” It was interesting how her voice was kinda soothing in a weird way. He wondered if that to do with her curiosity. With any luck he was interesting enough not to kill.

Quiorith was still sweeping over the tree tops where the two humans were, expressing his annoyance and calming down at the same time. The cloud was never comfortable sitting still, and not particularly in the mood to hover. His eyes were whirling with impatience, but he was somewhat assuaged by his rider’s mood, not particularly the subject matter.

[Jay Kitten]

The woman looked over him a third and fourth time, before she finally moved towards the tree that he was hanging closest to. Leaping upward and grabbing a branch, she balanced with her feet on the trunk of the tree enough to move outward and with one hand holding her spear, cut him down. He would be sure to feel the fall, though his hands would likely be able to block him from falling flat on his face.

"There." She dropped from the tree, landing in a crouch next to him. Her spear was still in hand, and she poked him in the ribs with it. "Up. Let's go."

She would have to take this guy prisoner for a bit, she couldn't trust him to not go back to his rider friends and tell them that she was a crazy woman that needed to be hanged or some other likely story. She didn't trust men, never had. But this one didn't seem to be a threat to her, however she needed the time to make sure. Elraishsa could never be too careful, that's what her mother had taught her.

"Towards the coast," she mentioned, gesturing fluidly with one arm in the direction of the shoreline. It was a good ten minutes from where they were.

"See sand, you call your dragon." This didn't seem like a normal order, more like she was giving him permission to reunite with Quiorith, though her eyes did burn with a hint that if he were to try anything she wouldn't hesitate to destroy him. They trailed on him as she turned her head and finally looked away, marching toward the coast, expecting him to follow. If he wanted to run, he would have to gamble at how much faster he was in the jungle than her. She expected he was quite a bit smarter than that, though.

[Shoki]

R’le watched the strange woman look at him, then go up to the tree. He knew what to expect, so he lifted his upper body toward his feet and held onto his ankle. When he fell, he fell onto his back, not his head. It still hurt, more so since his boots were under him. He had completely forgotten about them in recent events, but supposed he should return them to his feet. He shoved them on his feet quickly, to encourage her to put her spear back. It was no time at all before he was up and heading toward the shore. “The beach it is.”

There was an audible change in Quiorith’s flight pattern, as he changed from flying to more gliding. The cloud would get to the sand first obviously, but even with his impatience there was nothing to do. Once he landed on the sand and stretched his wings out he started to pace. R’le Mine hurry hurry.

‘Why don’t you play in the sand for a while? I’ll get there soon enough’

The cloud thought about the rider’s suggestion then pushed his snout into the sand. With a little effort he could make a pile of sand. Suddenly fascinated by the way he could impose his will onto the tiny rocks, Quiorith started to mess about with the sand.

R’le smiled a touch when he felt his friend relax, and then started focusing on walking more. “Uh, by the way, you never gave me a name. Got something I can call you?” The rider still did not have much of a clue what she was all about but he would very much like a label for his head other then ‘that woman who trapped me’. It was a bit of a mouthful anyway.

[Jay Kitten]

The girl was pretty much silent at this point, and not just in word. Her footsteps seemed not to make a sound on the jungle floor, padded as they were by furs and hides. She was crouched ever so slightly in her walk, and her feet rolled fluidly along the soft ground. She never seemed to brush into loose leaves or even breathe hard enough to be audible. Spooky.

He was lucky it wasn't night time. He might have been dead.

As the Rider questioned her about a name, she looked sideways at him without turning her head all the way and then back toward the shore.

"No." Just one word, it appeared she didn't want to give him a name. Yet. By the looks of things it would be rather obvious she was someone who's trust had to be earned, not asked for. Until then, she figured he was free to call her anything his "civilized" brain could come up with. She wasn't much for names anyway. Her own was special, though, it was a remnant of her mother, in her mind. That and her necklace, that was all she had. Of her father, the man she never knew, she had tattoos. Her face looked like it was bleeding them from her cheek bones, however that wasn't the case.

"Hungry?" she asked, even though it was a friendly enough question for her guest to receive, it still sounded like an order. More like he was a prisoner and she was going to feed him slop. That probably wasn't the case, but if she were a prison warden, it would be a fitting role at this point.

[Shoki]

R’le sighed. He had really hoped she could make it easier on him. He was reduced to referring to her as ‘you’ for the entire trip. His reasoning felt sound as to why that had to be. First, calling her girl or lady sounded very bad in his head. He reasoned that thinks always sounded better in his head then out loud so he had immediately struck those two from the table. A pet name, like sweetie or honey did not fit her in his eyes. What was he going to do, annoy her even more? If he called her sweetie he would. Trying to guess her name a la Rumpelstiltskin would just annoy him, and therefore was out. He was bad at guessing names anyway. He could remember a name to a face just fine but he didn’t like guessing, even so far as spelling a name went. The only one he was tempted to call her was buddy, but for some reason it did not fit her very well. R’le called a lot of people buddy but sometimes it just didn’t work. Last of course was Ma’am. He would never call anyone Ma’am. So that left him with ‘you’. Well, whatever, he would deal with it.

R’le turned back to the very silent woman when she asked him a single word question. He mentally double checked to make sure it was, in fact, a question then shook his head. “Don’t worry about me any, I ate earlier.” Technically true, no matter when he would have said it. He only brought the snack for when he did get hungry, and even though he had been riding on Quiorith for quite a while he rarely got hungry until after his second break to stretch his legs. Of course, he would want food faster after this little adventure, but he did not want to bother her any. With how fast she had taken his snack he presumed she was more interested in food then he was. That was just a wild assumption though. It was equally possible she just liked dried meat a great deal.

“So, you have lived here a while?” He could guess that fairly easily from how well she had trapped him and how silent she was. Oh, he naturally rolled his feet as well, but he was not watching where his feet were going. Leaves and such made sound underfoot. “Seems like you like it here.” He got this feeling from the fact she was part of the scenery, not as much any emotions he caught from her.

[Jay Kitten]

The female continued on her way, and as he explained to her he wasn't hungry, that he'd eaten earlier, she simply shrugged, as if to say "suit yourself." After a few more paces, she seemed to pause for a moment, and lifted her spear, before hurling it into the woods. She sprinted off after it, and returned with her spear, on the end of which was a small fowl. More than enough for her right now. With a wicked grin that showed off her pointed teeth, she turned back towards the ocean and pressed on.

In a few more minutes, they were on the white sand beaches of the northern shore of the Southern Continent, where they found the Cloud dragon waiting for them all ready. Elraishsa pointed her spear toward R'le, just to make sure he got the point, before she gestured to the west, away from Rainbow Mists.

"Come." By now, Rukbat was starting to set on the distant horizon of Pern's oceans, and they would need to get inside before dark. The jungle was a lot more hostile towards humans during the night. She could make it alone but certainly not with a bumbling fool following her around, being noisy and the like. Especially not with a dragon.

His questions went ignored, for now, she didn't seem in the mood to answer them. She did, however, remember them for later, when she knew him to a greater extent, enough to tell him who she was. Of course, R'le probably figured she had no intention of making friends, when in reality it was simply that she couldn't trust him yet. The other humans she had run into in the jungles were no where near as seemingly harmless as this man.

[Shoki]

R’le continued following the strange woman until she suddenly readied her spear. He was pleased to note, not at him this time. He stopped for the moment, watching her sprint into the forest, though it was only a few moments before she returned with her quarry. He smiled quietly after noting her grin. He had been right about her liking it here.

They soon arrived on the beach, making the dark haired man grin. Quiorith looked up from his work, and bounced closer. Mine, I made a volcano! His wing stretched closer to the pile he had made, which had a hole in the middle. It was the most complicated thing the cloud could think to manage, and he looked proud of it. It was rather big too, which Quiorith thought would be good. He was less pleased to note the strange woman was pointing a spear at his rider again. Oh, she still has a spear. The cloud did not look at all pleased at that, and folded his wings up as his tail whipped about with displeasure.

“Relax buddy.” R’le went up to the cloud and put his hand out. The gray muzzle went to meet it, and the rider gave the dragon a reassuring rub. “Nice volcano by the way.” He turned back to the strange woman and trotted after her, as she was pointing somewhere knew. He was very curious about where she wanted him to go now, so he kept on. The cloud watched the two humans for a moment then started after them on foot. Sand kicked up when he took off, and he was kinda small. Quiorith was still not in a particularly good mood, which he blamed wholesale on the odd woman.

The lack of communication left R’le thinking she still didn’t like him. From what he could tell her mood had improved a bit but he wasn’t a mind reader, so he didn’t see if she was going to ever answer. Most of her communication thus far had been kinda clipped anyway, so maybe she didn’t like explaining herself at all. It did not bother him too much though. He just waited to see what she did next.

[Jay Kitten]

The girl began to walk in the direction she had indicated, and at an even pace that she was sure he could follow. Her mobility on foot was impressive, to say the least, as she was completely sure even her walking pace could outstride him easily. The moon was starting to rise, and they had the dying light of the sun to go by, so she wanted to move swiftly.

To be honest, she hadn't ever really seen a person like him before. Most people were a lot more tense, more on edge, more wanting to stab her in the chest twice and leave her to die. It was a good thing she knew how to defend herself. They followed the shoreline a bit more before the waves were broken by sharp rocks. She knew where to go, though, and sure enough she had a path to go around. They dropped over the other side of the rocks, and downward, toward a cliff face that extended along their left. It was just over their heads, and quite small, but grew with time and soon consisted of smooth, ocean-battered rocks. In the middle of the highest point of the cliff side, was a small cave, and that was her destination.

She led the male to a set of stairs in the stone, they were makeshift and dangerous when slippery, but weren't wet right now. The rock salt helped the grip, too. Up she went, and into her cave.

Their wouldn't be room enough for the dragon, that much was obvious. Even the entrance was much too small for him. She pulled her body into the rock face and slid down, into a small cavern in the rocks, made by the crashing tides some Turns passed that were higher. In here, the only light was from a small fire of embers smoldering over a pile of burnt wood, with dry logs next to it. She placed one on, and looked back to where her guest would be coming from.

A second hole extended from the roof of the small cavern, outward to the top of the cliff. She used this to channel the smoke from the fire, out into the air, without flooding their cave with it. She was lucky to have found this place. She tossed the bird she had caught down onto a flat part of the rock floor, and took out a knife, beginning to skin the feathers off of it. She removed the head and feet, and placed her spear up through the center, to hang over the fire, as it started to light up once more. The light illuminated a pile of twigs and leaves on the far side of the cave, where she slept. It had been a fire-lizard nest at some point. She had added feathers from her kills as well, and bound together some soft hides for a blanket, as well as stacked furs for a pillow. Very cozy.

[Shoki]

R’le started to trot after the still nameless woman, following where she lead. Today was sure turning out to be interesting. He lucked out, as most of the days before had been kinda routine. Well, maybe he was not lucky with the getting hit on the head while being strung up in a tree bit, but that was par for the course. He had a weird childhood. He vaguely noticed it was dark, so he kept up more closely so he didn’t get lost. Quiorith kept pace with the humans, spreading his wings for balance as they crossed rocks. R’le bounced forward, enjoying himself. The cloud and his rider were similar in that they were not afraid of having fun with the little things. Neither of them were dallying too much at the moment though.

The strange woman led them to a cave in the cliff face they arrived at, making the cloud a little disappointed. It meant he was not allowed inside. He had only just been reunited with his rider so he looked a little dejected as he slid against the cliff face and sat near the entrance. R’le gave a pat on the large shoulder before following her up the natural looking stairs. He entered the cave proper, watching as she threw a log on the embers of a fire. The sparks were a momentary distraction before he looked at her home. It was a nice place, the kind of place made by nature. It seemed like a really good find for someone living out here, and with a little bit of effort it was livable. He went a little farther in, getting closer to the now growing fire. He watched her prepare the bird, looking interested in bother her home and in her actions. She was a very interesting person, odd, but in a good way. The spear was busy cooking her dinner so he supposed now was a fair time to continue the one sided conversation he was in.

“This is a really nice place. Lucky you.” He flopped down, a bit tired of standing up. He was not tired exactly, but he did not want to remain on his feet anymore. “Looks like a good place if you are interested in fishing.” Not that he had any idea if the fishing around here was any good. Not like he had gone fishing around here before, he usually did not go to any of the beaches around here anyway. R’le glanced at the woman again, wondering idly what she was thinking. She was a mystery to him, which made him want to find out more. He got the feeling that he would find out as much as she wanted him to. He wondered if she would give him enough to satisfy his curiosity. Probably not. Oh well.