The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5

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>Adler: You wait patiently as a detachment of ixies go to fetch Vernier. The ixies that stayed to guard you bemoan that they cannot place bets on how long it takes Burnside to wake up. They claim those were always the most exciting. You vaguely remember hearing that it takes 21 days to break a bad habit. And since you were gone about 3 weeks that's close to the mark. Obviously their gambling addiction goes deeper if they are still going through withdrawals. Or was it that it takes 21 days to start a good habit. Hmmm... Maybe you could test your powers by magicking up a book on the subject.

"Buzzella, Flitterwit, and Hortense," Typantronn ordered. "Thou'rt with me to go get Miss Vernier. The rest of thee stay here and keep watch about our Sire."

"Three aphids I reach her first," one of the Ixies (maybe Flitterwit?) cackled as they buzzed away into the woods.

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"Tis a shame we cannot wager on how long it taketh Burnside to awaken," grumbled one of the Ixies that remained behind. "Those were always exciting."

"Tis not mission critical," another one pointed out with a shrug.

"Can we bet on when or if her slumbers ever will be mission critical?" the first Ixie asked hopefully.

"Doubtful - but methinks we can bet on how soon the detail returneth with Miss Vernier."

Several of them flew into a huddle and I could hear bets being exchanged.

Hmm. I vaguely recalled reading something from Wise Professor Skunk that said it took twenty-one days to break a bad habit. Or was it to start a good habit? I had been gone slightly longer than that, and it appeared that some positive discipline had been instilled in my Ixie troops. However, they were still in the grip of addiction. Clearly this problem went much deeper than I had supposed.

>Adler: Some time passes as you try to conjure up a book on how to deal with addictions, either from nothing or without knowing where one is. You are not having much luck, until...

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I decided to pass the time trying to apport the self-help book I had been thinking of, but it turned out to be quite difficult. I couldn't remember the title nor where exactly I had seen it. I wasn't even completely sure it was by Wise Professor Skunk. Maybe it had been a Mephitist pamphlet I picked up one time at the temple. Or maybe I read it in the herbalist's waiting room when I was little.

I produced a bunch of scrying theory books from the tower library, and a couple of lectionaries and hymnals from the temple, but none of them were what I wanted. I tried imagining the book and pulling it from nothing, but my mental picture of it was too vague to produce anything. Casting about at random, I got an Elvish grammar, a guide to ant-cart repair, a few issues of Running Sores Quarterly Digest, and a slim volume entitled How To Score With Lowfolk Femmes. I tucked that last one into my Elfintory to peruse later. I couldn't take the chance that Vernier might arrive and see me reading it!

>Vernier: You push your way through the overgrowth into the clearing, upon seeing Adler you call out to him, ecstatic to see that he is alive and well.

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"OH SIR!!" she called out at that very moment. "You're alive and looking well! I'm so glad to see you!"

"Ditto," Rebecca waved from a few paces behind.

>Adler: You are immediately excited to see Vernier so excited to see you. So excited, in fact, that you summon a massive pile of books. Directly above you.
>Vernier: You rush over to help dig Adler out from under a giant pile of books.

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My heart skipped a beat and I accidentally apported a huge pile of books.

"Oh goodness," Vernier exclaimed. "I thought you understood by now that you don't have to show off to impress me."