Archive for tora

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by on March 6, 2021 at 12:06 am
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of glass and she heard it shatter on the ground.

“Look I get it haha I do! But uh, here’s the thing?” He gave her a quick twirl and she swore she heard something clink in his pockets—or had they knocked off another glass? “I’ve said so much shit to so many people! Mostly I’m jus’ some guy from LA, but from there? All bets are off! I got some folks thinkin’ I’ve got a lost love, some others thinkin’ I wrestled a bear… I’m in a motorbike gang (actually that part’s true)… Oh and at least one guy thinks I’m part Djinn!”

“Part Djinn?!”

“Yeah!” He snorted. “I have no fuckin’ idea how I got away with that. Hilarious!”

It was hilarious and Ariscille couldn’t help grinning.

“That… is actually fantastic! But what do I say then?”

“Whatever you want! Look here’s my point, I’ve made up so many stories tonight and there’s so many people calling me so many different names…” He suddenly dipped her then and leaned in close, his eyes sparking with the energy of a lightning bolt. His manic grin widened and he whispered in her ear in a rush. “I don’t even know who I am anymore!”

And with that he danced away from her, cackling into the arms of another dancer, and making it more than clear that she was on her own. She’d have to be very careful talking about him.

If only the birthday girl wasn’t so sharp. Oh gosh, oh golly! Ariscille really nearly blew their whole cover with Miss Mina! She stuffed a few breaded shrimp in her mouth and scanned the garden. The last she saw Miss Mina she was at the fountain dancing with Tora. She’d watched him sweep her away into the crowd and hadn’t seen either of them since.

Hopefully he’d managed to keep Miss Mina off their scent, but she wouldn’t know for sure until she talked to him next. It was probably fine though. For now she may as well continue indulging in appetizers.

Just as she reached for another shrimp though, she heard someone call for her.

“PROFESSOR?! PROFESSOR!”

She spun around to see Tora walking briskly towards her.

“THERE YOU ARE! WE NEED TO GO.” He brushed past her and nabbed a couple hors d’oeuvres. “We need to go go go!”

“Right now?!” Ariscille blinked. “Wait, did Miss Mina—?!”

“Oh no, she fuckin’ loves me.” Tora shoved a few finger sandwiches into his pockets and another in his mouth. He talked as he munched. “Mmm what is in these? So damn good. Anyway, it’s her suitors that hate me.”

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by on March 6, 2021 at 12:09 am
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“Suitors?” She took the cue from Tora, and followed suit: stuffing food into her mouth and purse. She had a feeling this would be her last chance for that.

“Yeah, I’ve got like seven or eight duels I don’t plan on doing. That Mina is well-liked!” He ate a couple mini cheesecakes and continued moving rapidly down the buffet. “There’s also a guy who’s mad at me because I’m Cleandro? Or he’s Cleandro? I’m unclear. Anyway, people want me dead is the point.”

“Oh dear.” Ariscille grabbed a silver tray of devilled eggs and poured it into her purse as she followed Tora. A fellow guest at the buffet watched them dumbfounded, holding his glass of champagne numbly in front of him. Tora grabbed the glass as he passed, drained it in a gulp, and handed it back before the man could even blink.

Voices from the crowd bellowed behind them.

“LORD AMBROCIO! YOU WILL DUEL ME!”

“COME BACK, YOU FIEND! SIR XANDER!”

“WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, EREL?!”

“Right. Think  thas’ as much as we’re gettin’.” Tora said as he shoved a few more cured meats into his jacket.

“Well at least we didn’t set anything on fire this time.” Ariscille shrugged as she grabbed a handful of olives.

“BY THE GODS! WHO SET THE HEDGES ON FIRE?!” A voice cried in the distance.

Tora and Ariscille paused in the midst of their looting and exchanged looks.

“Does it count if I don’t remember how that happened?” Tora tried.

“Let’s just say no,” Ariscille said decisively.

The two nodded in agreement; Ariscille grabbed one more tray of food; Tora snatched a bottle of champagne; and the two scampered off giggling like teenagers, accidentally knocking over a garden statue of some old man as they went.

*

Tora stood in the dim light of his shoddily made thief den: a single mattress for a bed surrounded by junk, hidden in the depths of some ruins just outside a human village. Shrouded on all sides by crumbling stone with only the moonlight to guide him, he deftly shuffled through the mess towards his bed and started emptying his pockets onto it.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

A variety of small colorful glass bottles dropped one after the other onto the bed into a small pile. He reached over and spread them out so he could see them better.

Perfume bottles. Lots of them.

He pulled one last bottle from his pocket: a seashell shaped cologne he’d swiped

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by on March 6, 2021 at 12:12 am
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CLICK HERE TO READ PARTY CRASHER FROM PART ONE

CLICK HERE TO READ PARTY CRASHER FROM THE START OF PART TWO

off someone in Lion’s Arch before the party, and the first of his new collection. Its label read “Sea breeze.”

Tora grinned, going to a human noble party was exactly what he’d needed. If anyone was going to carry pretty little scents on them, it was going to be the rich, and they certainly delivered.

“So you track me by scent, eh Blu?” Tora smiled and tossed the bottle onto the bed with the rest.

“Let’s fix that.”

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by on March 20, 2021 at 12:04 am
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The longer he stared at the sylvari, the more he could see it: his twin brother, vividly snoring on the couch at Trip’s home by the bay. He’d always been such a mess, that brother, leaving his clothes everywhere and forgetting to do his share of the chores. They’d fight and fight and Trip would push him to find a job already.

Then one day they fought so bad, he just up and left. Trip hadn’t heard from him since. He missed him though, terribly.

…Did sylvari have brothers?

Trip reached down to gently shake the plant boy awake, but before he could even touch him, the boy had scrambled up with a start. He was brandishing a knife that he must have had hidden. Well that part’s not really like my brother… but he saw the fear in the boy’s wild eyes, and the way his hand with the knife shook.

“Good evening. My name is Trip Leonardis.” Trip gave him his best gentle smile, though he wasn’t sure how well that worked with his armour on. “And you are?”

“T-Tora Zollun.” The kid stammered seemingly without thinking. His eyes widened with regret the moment he said it. “I-I mean—!”

“Tell me Mr. Zollun, do you have a place to stay right now?”

Mr. Zollun only looked at him, confused. He looked just like a lost puppy, scared and desperate. Just a child really. Trip gently took the knife from the boy’s shaking hand and placed it aside.

“Would you like to stay with me?”

*

He wasn’t sure why he’d offered really—loneliness? Because he reminded him of his brother? A spur of the moment thing? It was hard to say, but he’d offered all the same, and the young Mr. Zollun took it. He’d followed Trip cautiously back home, jumping at every small sound: a rat, a cart moving nearby, the creak in the wooden bridge they crossed… It seemed fairly obvious that he’d been through a lot, but Trip didn’t bother asking.

When they reached the threshold of his humble little abode, a tiny wooden structure crammed beside several others against a cliffside near the bay, the

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by on March 20, 2021 at 12:06 am
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small sylvari stopped. He looked unsure, as if he was having second thoughts. My, what has this kid been through? But Trip simply unlocked the door and calmly ushered him in.

“I’m afraid it’s a bit of a mess at the moment, but do come in.”

It truly was a mess, but Trip simply hadn’t had the time to finish his regular chores. The floors were swept, the windows cleaned, the kitchen and bathroom spotless, laundry folded and put away… but he forgot to dust! And where were the fresh flowers for the vase in the living room? And he hadn’t put that book he was reading away! And was that a coffee spill on the counter?! Deplorable! How absolutely embarrassing!

“It looks pretty clean t’me…” Mr. Zollun said timidly. He stood awkwardly in the doorway, scrutinizing Trip’s home with the curiosity and caution of a stray cat.

“Oh, you’re too kind.” Trip laughed, relieved. “But uh, come in! You can hang your coat there.”

He gestured to the coat hanger by the door, and Mr. Zollun reluctantly shook off his ratty coat and hung it. The coat wasn’t the only thing ratty about the boy’s attire, Trip realized. Under the coat was more torn clothes, covered in stains and cuts. In all honesty, he shouldn’t have been surprised. What a mess this poor boy was.

“I’m going to start dinner in a bit.” Trip said as he moved towards the kitchen.  He was still wearing his work armour, but that could come off later. “Did you want to borrow the bath? It’s upstairs. First room on the right.”

“H-Huh?” Mr. Zollun had been examining Trip’s house plant in the foyer, his prized majesty palm. “But—”

“You can borrow my clothes too if you like, but they might be a bit big for you.”

The boy was quiet, fidgeting uncomfortably, and holding his arm in a nervous grip. He looked to the floor, seemingly embarrassed.

“…Okay.”

And he pattered off, past the kitchenette, past the couch in the living room, and up the creaky set of stairs to the bath.

*

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by on March 20, 2021 at 12:08 am
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Trip spent the rest of that evening more or less tending to the kid: putting his dirty clothes in the hamper to wash later, bandaging up his wounds (he had several), handing him a set of fresh clothes (they were, as anticipated, too big), and finally serving dinner.

He hadn’t really known what to expect when he’d decided to take Mr. Zollun in so suddenly, but he hadn’t expected him to be so… meek? Not that the boy threatening him with a knife earlier had scared him much, but Trip had supposed he’d put up more of a fight. Instead, he was just, quiet… and very shy. Trip didn’t really know sylvari ages all that well, but he figured Mr. Zollun must have been a sapling—a sapling very far from home.

Weren’t young sylvari almost always in The Grove somewhere? Was that not how that worked? Trip wasn’t exactly sure. He’d never really been there himself, but he’d had a few sylvari coworkers and that seemed to be where they all spent their youths. So why was this young plant here? That was the question but…

Trip looked away from the stove a moment to check on Mr. Zollun who was sheepishly sitting (incorrectly) at the kitchen table. He’d had to put a lot of bandages on him. There was at least two on his face.

Trip remembered how his brother had looked when he found him by the docks: covered in cuts and bruises. At the time, it’d been years since they’d seen each other. He’d ran away from home to Lion’s Arch against their parents’ wishes in their teens. Trip only saw him when he’d gotten a job there himself and moved. That’s when they’d started living together. He never did find out where those bruises came from.

Looking at Mr. Zollun, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever find out where these ones came from either. Perhaps that was for the best.

Trip returned to his cooking, a lovely seafood stew he’d learned to make from a coworker’s recipe, and set a bowl of it in front of Mr. Zollun. The sapling looked startled—did he not realize it was dinner time? He didn’t touch it at first either, waiting for Trip to take the first bite as if expecting it to be poisoned. He did eat it though, slowly and carefully as if he was unsure he was allowed to.

They didn’t talk, which felt a bit awkward, frankly. Trip figured he should fix that.

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by on March 20, 2021 at 12:10 am
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FOR THE FIRST PAGE OF THIS SHORT STORY CLICK HERE

“How is it?” Trip tried.

Mr. Zollun didn’t respond, and Trip wondered if he’d heard him. But then he heard sniffling and looked up to find the boy sobbing. Fat ugly tears rolled down his cheeks and he had to stop eating to wipe them away. Oddly enough, Trip wasn’t taken back by this response.

Haven’t I seen this before?

He remembered the face of his twin brother the first night he stayed over and Trip had cooked dinner. It was their favourite meal as kids, just macaroni and cheese—nothing fancy. Yet his brother had wept at the table like a child. He could still see the way his face broke, eyes swirling in sorrow and relief. The tears had seemed endless.

Ah. Trip realized as he watched the same endless tears fall from Mr. Zollun.

They really are the same.

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by on April 17, 2021 at 12:00 am
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Hey folks! I’ve got a bit of news here.

I injured my arm pretty badly so I’m taking about a month off from the comic. In that time you’ll still get new goodies, it’ll be these: character playlists! 4 of them total.

This week’s playlist is Tora’s. A bit of electric swing, alternative rock, and so forth.

I’ve got the next comic episode scripted and thumbnailed and ready to go into production, so we’ll be getting into the next episode: The Amulet of Bolli after the break!

And once that break comes, they’ll be some other changes to the patreon and the comic, so look forward to that! See you next week with Terin’s playlist.

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by on May 15, 2021 at 12:00 am
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And today marks the start of a new story: The Amulet of Bolli – Part 1 (this one’s a two parter, so two episodes). This is another story that was originally conceptualized by Trip and then built up and written into an actual episode by me. It’s a real fun one – I hope you enjoy it 🙂

Oh and some news!

I’m starting a new webcomic project called Apocalypse Child, so updates on the comic will be bi-weekly from now on! You can read the full announcement post on my Patreon here!

If you’re not a patron and you’re interested in following my work unrelated to Tora Steals Things, I’d highly recommend following me on my other social media links listed here on my milkshake bio!

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