Tesh

Talnic turned to face the others who had drawn to a stop behind him, curious. Oddly, Valzwyn seemed to be crying. Talnic watched the scene unfold with interest, but kept his distance. It would be best if he didn't meddle in things he didn't understand. However, as he watched, the faint sense came to him that he was being watched. To the left, back in the trees a ways. It had taken Talnic several months to learn to interpret the promptings from the ring, but now it was as instinctual as breathing. He pulled out his knife, and began creeping through the snow towards the hidden person, hardly making a sound.

Me too! I read a few, but not very many. I remember reading the Titanic one, though.

Yes... I would sit in the library and read... Oh, that's why I would read outside during fifth grade! We got a new librarian, and she was mean. The old one had been one of my favorite people ever. But then I started hanging out with some cool kids, and we'd pretend to be adventurers and stuff, and we'd go find griffin eggs and other things like that. (I did stuff like that up through seventh grade, if we're being honest here.) What were your guys's favorite books in elementary school? Mine were Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Septimus Heap, Fablehaven, and The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flammel. (This was a genuine list I had, by the way.) Oh, and there was that one time I tried to start a book club! But everyone read really slowly, and so I got bored. And in the end, only one person showed up regularly, and I think he might have liked me. I have some really weird, random memories of this kid.

Not as often as I used to, mostly because I don't really have a quiet place to go and sit where I can be alone. I stayed in one of my teacher's classrooms the other day to finish test corrections, and when I finished I spent the rest of the time reading. It was really nice, and I'll probably do it some more. There was only one other person in there, too. When I was in elementary school, I would go into the library every single recess and read or work on my book. (If you want to read said book, I'll send it to you. It's hilarious how terrible it is.) My teachers used to force me to go outside. Then in fifth grade, after my best friend decided I wasn't really her best friend anymore, I would read on the swings, or play with a few friends who's imaginations were just as crazy as mine. *sigh* Elementary school. Back when things were simple.

Hi! *waves*

This is really neat! Thanks for sharing! (I'd say more, but I really need to get working on my math homework.) I'll try to come back later!

Of course! *tips hat* Yay! I'll see you there!

Completely taken aback, Talnic found himself unable to reply at first. No one had ever offered to go with him before. He'd always asked others, and a few had gone with him in the past, but none had ever willingly accompanied him. It was an odd feeling. Of course, Minuet would likely just leave after whatever had to be done at Traxel, but he found himself unwilling to part with the idea of having company. "I would welcome any help I could get," Talnic finally said.

Talnic was silent for a moment, his mouth pulled into a tight line. "I should probably go back after we're done with this dragon thing," he said. "See what I can do to help the situation."

Talnic cocked his head, genuinely confused. How could someone he'd known for only a few hours empathize with him already. "Have you been to the Ice Plain lately?" he finally asked. "The bandit problem was getting out of control the last time I went there. I could only sleep for a few minutes at a time. It was a mess." They would have to pass by the Ice Plain on their way to Tarboda, but the Tarbodin law enforcement was as strong as any Talnic had seen, and so those who haunted the wide expanses of the Ice Plain rarely traveled far enough East to pose any issue to their current escapade. "Traxel is practically overrun, most of the regular inhabitants turned away."

*hugs* I feel pretty confident that I can speak for all of the Shard on this: I extend an invitation to you for all the roleplays and social groups and everything like that. You don't need to join any of them if you don't want, but know that we're more than willing to have you. If you ever need anything, let me (or probably anyone else on here) know. All of can see where you're coming from, and many of us have had similar experiences. (This goes for everyone, by the way.) I relate to your post in particular, though. (I call myself a vampire sometimes, too.) I'll often join something, like a conversation or a group on here, and then after getting the sense that I'm not welcome (which almost always happens, even though I don't know if it's an accurate impression or not, due to the fact that social ques are rusting complicated), I just sort of disappear. I avoid things like stake dances and game nights, club meetings for school, working with people who don't know me, and stuff like that. And books are a great way to just... Not have to worry. It's so much easier to read a book than it is to have a conversation where you have to watch your own responses to things as well as what other people are doing.

Talnic shrugged. "You get used to it. Besides, if you avoid letting people get close to you, there's nothing they can use against you," he said. He could say that, right? It wasn't personal information in and of itself, and... Talnic stopped himself. What was he doing? "Where have you heard of my reputation?" he asked, trying, not very well, the move the conversation away from his insistence that he avoid making friends. Of course, if he truly was as insistent as he pretended, he wouldn't be talking to Minuet at all.

The book I'm reading most actively at the moment is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It's this historical fiction novel about Dracula and Vlad the Impaler. I'm really enjoying it, if I'm being honest here. (I'm rather fond of gothic horror.) I'm also listening to both Les Miserables and Oathbringer (again) on audiobook, as well as reading Lord of Chaos (very slowly). After I finish The Historian, I need to finish both my MB era one reread, as well as my Percy Jackson reread. After that (or before) I'll probably read either Dune or Theft of Swords. I need to read that one Leigh Bardugo book, too... *cough* Books.

"I've been around," Talnic replied. "I've been almost constantly on the move for the past few years, moving from one city to the next, occasionally taking on a longer-term job helping out a thieving or adventuring crew for a few weeks before moving on." Grimacing, Talnic continued. "Unfortunately, I've grown quite the reputation for myself in the underground, especially among the more... adventurous groups. Many heard about my success with a dragon a year or so ago, and I haven't quite managed to shake that off."

Sorry for the double post... I am practically the exact same way! Especially when it comes to talking a lot about books. And getting nervous before posting something like that... (Seriously, no judgement here on anything you say. At all.) Relaxing is a great word to use to describe it.

This is a greatt video I have found on the subject. It's fantastic. It really helped me when I started doing all sorts of research into it, though, and recognizing why some weird things about me were weird. Like the fact that I learned how people think by reading books? That was a conclusion I had reached in elementary school, but only attributed it to Asperger's in particular when I started looking into it. When you've always felt out of place, it's very nice knowing why that is. (It is really nice to hear from another person who has had (at least in part) an experience similar to my own in this regard. Thanks for sharing.)

That's the reason why I feel comfortable sharing this at all.

I think it's a relatively new thing. I've been on pretty consistantly for about the past three years, and it's just popped up within the past few months. That I've seen, at least. Not everyone, as evidenced by @Ookla the Grammatical. (I do prefer to avoid stereotyping/generalizing, though, so... um... yeah?) This is kind of tangentially related, but I've really been wanting to share this for a while, and haven't really been able to. So, I haven't really been super open about this as it is a little personal (I'm not actively hiding it, either, though), but I think this is as good a time/place to share as any. I'm about 90% sure I have Asperger's, which is definitely the root of many of my social issues. (I say 90 as I haven't been officially diagnosed or anything, but I've put so much time into researching the subject that I'm pretty confident in this.) It's a very misunderstood thing, and, honestly, it's fascinating. When I first started looking into it, everything I found that listed traits of aspies and the like as, in a way, a more extreme version of what I experience. But the more I looked into it (I do a lot of reading on psychology and stuff anyways), a few things came to my attention. The biggest one was that girls with Asperger's show that differently than boys do (and more boys have it than girls). So then I started doing research into Asperger's in girls, and it seemed like it described me very accurately, and explained a whole heck of a lot. I have a really good video by this one guy that explains a lot about Asperger's in girls (he has a lot of other stuff as well, all of which is fantastic) if anyone is interested. And if you want just a quick summary (I'll see if I can actually write something that's short for once) I'm more than willing to give that a go as well. There you go! That's what I've tried saying dozens of times, but never really have before! Sorry if you didn't follow my train of thought- it was a little sporadic. And it's just a weird thing to come out and say!

That's great advice, thanks!

Talnic nodded, trying not to let his amusement show. "Have you traveled much before?" he asked, turning his gaze back to the road in front of him.