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 Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 2:53 pm
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Nervit nodded - she could understand that. Having your legitimate place of work turned into a base for FLARPers - especially, she admitted to herself, ones like them, would be irritating. As the woman grumbled, Nervit turned her thoughts to her own future. What would she do now? Well. After healing, she guessed - because wow did she hurt. Well, best to keep her mind off that for now - especially as Caryst was talking to her.
"Nervit Lafute, ma'am. Thanks again for you know, not leaving me to become a corpse."
She nodded when Caryst brought up the payment issue. She didn't want to leave a debt unpaid, especially when it was her life in the balance. As the question was asked about Salamanders, Nervit closed her eyes and pushed down the swirl of emotions that threatened to overtake her. (Again.)
" Salamanders can represent lots of things, but one of the repeating ones is Rebirth - they can regenerate lost limbs, after all."
Relying on the facts pulled back the urge to burst into tears, to scream and wail and whine that the world was unfair. The world was unfair, she'd always known that. Now it was just a bit more....personal, that's all.
Listening to the next segment, Nervit stiffened as she realised her dad lay in that box. Unbidden, anger rose and she clenched her fist, pain stabbing through her remaining arm as she did so. It pulled her back from the edge. She nodded.
"Just...put him to good use. I have a stash of beetles I can give you, and...frankly, I don't want to stay in my hive. It'll remind me too much. So I'll sell my stuff on and give you most of the beetles from that. I'll need to keep some to buy myself travelling gear. In the long-term, I can either do jobs for you, or I can keep coming back with beetles if I do jobs for others." |
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 2:53 pm
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”Veeery good,” Caryst drawled. It seemed to apply to both of Nervit’s answers. Her claws curled possessively around the edge of the box. Meanwhile, she kept her gaze trained on Nervit.
”You’re a lucky duck in more ways than you realize,” Caryst continued thoughtfully. She took a few steps forward and hooked a boot under the handle of a trunk that was sitting under the workbench, pulling it out. ”Or perhaps my misfortune is your fortune, and vice-versa… Circle of rebirth and all.” With another precise kick, Caryst unhooked the latch on the trunk as she paced around the table. ”On a planet like Alternia, preventative measures aren’t quite as lucrative as one would hope.”
Caryst pushed the tiny box to the far edge of the table as she bent down to open the trunk. Inside was a meticulous arrangement of tools, ranging from a sizable bone saw, to a selection of scalpels with wildly varying blades.
”Quick fixes to big mistakes, however. That makes a shiny beetle or two on the black market.” Caryst’s grin returned tenfold. ”Gotta love a species consisting of hyper-violent psychos.”
Caryst propped one leg up on the edge of the open trunk, arms folded in what would pass for her as a “serious” pose.
”I may not be a real witch, but I’m a doctor, a business woman, and reluctantly a mechanic. The… ‘legally supported channels’ don’t like lowbloods doing highblood work. Least of all on highbloods. ‘Fraid we might glue their horns to their asses or somesuch. Can’t say it’s not a temptation. Thankfully, criminals and underfunded rustbloods forced to operate on the barter system aren’t the picky types when it comes to replacing a missing appendage. When the choice is arms or no arms, purse strings get a hell of a lot looser, orangeblooded biomechanic be damned.”
”So! Let’s just say I can hook you up with some of the shiniest limbs lowblooded money can afford for the low, low price of my expertise, my materials, my medicines, food and board for the duration of your recovery, the crutches you’ll need while you work here to pay off your debt… All in addition to the price of me dragging your scraggly body out of the trash pile left behind the building,of course...” Caryst ticked off the surcharges on her fingertips.
”Not to mention the priceless service of my… discretion. Sure would be a shame if word got out that blueblood-stabber was still alive and on the loose.” Caryst tapped her chin with a serene smile.
”Let’s just say your stumps will be good and healed up by the time you’re ready to leave this place.”
Granny yawned a long, rumbling croak from the shelf above Nervit. Caryst extended her hand for a shake.
”Have we got ourselves a deal?”
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:26 pm
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In one way, it wasn't a good offer. Nervit was going to be here for a long time, when all she wanted to do was run. Run, run, run away. And keep running. But she couldn't run anywhere like this, she reasoned to herself. And frankly, even with her new devil-may-care attitude, the idea of letting her debt go unpaid left a sour taste in her mouth. Caryst had saved her - and even better, she was offfering to fix Nervit up completely. Sure she was charging for it, but that was how life worked.
It hurt to raise her working arm, but she did so, eyes narrowing in determination as she grasped Caryst's hand and shook it.
"Deal."
--
It was a good few perigrees later when Nervit stepped out of the shop for what would probably be the last time. She flexed her arm, still enamored with the way the overlapping plates of metal responded to her commands. Turning, she pressed her living palm to the doorframe as a goodbye - to Caryst and Granny, to the shop...to her old life, the old Nervit.
She was a new troll, now. Shrugging on her travel pack, she set off.
[FIN] |
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