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Gracious Conversationalist
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 Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 12:27 am
Private Metaplot-related RP between Rugovin (Graficcha) & Faloan Grady and Ziazan (Jynk)
Location: Farstep => A lone abandoned military station
Time: Afternoon
Weather: Sunlit-windy
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 12:42 am
Faolan leaned against a post under the shadows cast by the darkened interior of the main tent, watching the trapeze routine high overhead. Zia peeked out from the hood, watching as well and wishing it could fly with the acrobats. At Keagan's behest, Fao had taken to hanging about during performances to watch for anyone sneaking in, acting as a part-time roustabout. After all, his fortune telling con didn't start till after dark, so it was a good way to kill time during the day.
Plus, and much less something he was ready to admit, it kept him from Ellandra since he wanted some time to sort out the whirlwind of feelings he had there for the girl. That and Keagan was still pissed at him for ******** up the performance the other night, so he owed his dad by working extra hard for the good of Farstep to prove that he was in it for the carnival and wasn't ditching them for a girl, even if he loved the girl more than air.
The crowd gasped at the death-defying acrobatics in the air and Faolan smiled. He got the pride his adopted father felt for the carnival and performers, even if he had been able to take time to enjoy it less these days. Zia got a tiny handful of hair in side the hood and tugged. Fao winced slightly, but made no other visible acknowledgment of the tiny creature hiding in the raised hood of his jacket.
"Will I still fly when I'm older?" Zia whispered in its master's ear.
Faolan kept his eyes on the trapeze act, though his smile had faded some. "La, Zia, I have no idea. We'll ask Banning next time we see him."
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 1:03 am
Hah, the kid was out. Again.
He wasn't too far away this time, how handy that was. Yes, you go do something useful for a while hmm, before you get permanently drunk off that girl.
Rugovin had been on the prowl for a while now, appearing much like an only mildly interested visitor during the day, like a predator in the night. It had taken some time to find out more about this duo, but unlike certain other encounters he felt he was reasonably prepared now. Not to allude himself, not with ages of prep time would he be able to foresee the outcome of his actions. That wasn't his intention, either.
What exactly it was that drove him to this he didn't know quite so well either, though, but he'd given up on fighting this urge to meddle. And hey, it was more fun then he'd given it credit for. It'd been a while since he'd played with his... brethren. Nobody was even aware he existed anymore here in Vargash, it was about time he stirred the pool a little.
So here he was, keeping his essence signal suppressed even more carefully then usual. Faolan'd be buy for another short while, Ziazan was with him... yup, time to play.
The tall man strode through the loose crowd, looking once again like a grumpy twentier in his black hood -thank ye gods people never took a second look-, casually made his way to Faolan's vardo, and without a second thought, entered it. Okay, he wouldn't lecture him about keeping his doors locked later, it was almost touching to find a place where people trusted each other. Oh woe, the naiveté. No lock on a wooden door could keep him out anyway, and he preferred not damaging anything really. Locks were a pain to fix.
What a mess.
Vin surveyed the location with a dull glance-over, made his way through, and retrieved Faolan's most precious deck of tarot cards. Yup, right where it belonged. Zia's essence traces were on it still, it must have easily recognised the value of them to its master.
Mere seconds later, the door closed again, and Rugovin left the perimeter. He'd retreat to a calmer place now, not far from Farstep. To allow his playmates to follow him, he'd left behind a token of the location he was going to, a deserted military station not far from the Vargash border, but still withing its boundaries.
Don't worry, that bomb shell's inactive.
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 1:40 am
Faolan had stayed during the other acts, laughing during the clowns (those drunken bastards), yawning from boredom through the juggling, and taking special interest during the magician act in the finale. He'd felt Zia's little fingers and toes dig in during the magic routine, the Essentic taking note. As the crowd began filing out, Keagan made his way over and clapped his hand on the boy's shoulder, almost knocking him over.
"Good job, hellspawn. Go rest up before work tonight," the old man said, reaching up to ruffle the younger man's hair affectionately. "And stay away from those deep-fried twinkie dogs or I'll dress you in drag and have you perform in the burlesque show. The late one. With all the horny drunks."
"Gee, thanks, Da," Fao chirped with mock enthusiasm, then gave his dad a "sod off" look. "You wouldn't dare. The last time you did that, the girls complained I got more tips than them."
Keagan chuckled. "Can't help that you're so pretty, lad. Be off with you." He shooed Faolan out of the main tent and the young man was all too happy to leave. He strolled idly across the carnival grounds, making his way to his vardo.
Along the way he stopped by the food vendors and got himself a twinkie dog, walking along and singing as he ate, "I got a twinkie dog and my dad doesn't know." He stopped a moment, almost expecting the old man to appear in a puff of smoke like a ninja, slap the food from his hand, and disappear again, but no such ill luck. He continued his snacking on the go happily.
His mood, however fell when he got inside and noticed the deck of tarot cards missing. Although sure that he'd left them on the table to not lose them in the main tent, he checked his pockets anyway to no avail. Moving around the tiny living space, he began checking every possible--and a few impossible--places that the deck could be.
Ziazan wriggled free of the jacket's hood and flew away from its frantic owner, sitting down on the table the tarot cards had recently been occupying. It looked down as soon as its pudgy rump touched the table, sensing something--no, someone had taken the cards. Also, there was some sort of weaponry shell on the table and Fao did not keep weapons. Perhaps Trystan was having a bit of fun with Faolan, the Essentic thought and reached out to touch the shell, images flooding through it.
"The cards aren't here," Zia said, rainbow eyes wide. "He took them."
Foalan stopped searching and looked at the small creature, noticing what it was touching on the table. "Holy s**t!" He rushed over and took Zia away from the thing, turning to shield the creature when the bomb went off, eyes tightly closed.
...
Nothing happened. Slowly Fao opened one eye, then the other, then looked over his shoulder at the old, inactive bomb on his table. He released Zia and walked over to the table, more annoyed now than concerned. "I swear, if Trystan's playing some joke, I ain't laughing."
"Not Trystan. Another one. An Essentic," Zia said, perching on Fao's shoulder. "Someone new. They're waiting at an old military base not far from here. It'll be dangerous."
"Danger or not, those cards are my livelihood . . . and they're the only thing I have left of Grandmother," Faolan said, moving the hood to hid the Essentic again.
"I know," Zia said softly from within the hood, hugging its wings around its owner's neck.
Faolan's thoughts were far from the hell he'd be catching for disappearing from Farstep without word as he made his way through the throng of people and out the carnival grounds. He followed the directions Zia gave him and it wasn't long before he arrived at the station. Slowing down to a cautious walk, he approached it, wary of any signs of an ambush.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 5:36 am
Waiting.
Rugovin spent a lot of his time doing that lately, he never had before. Yet another revolution in his lifestyle, and he was reduced to having to rely on others to push his life forward. He didn't mind, it was a welcome change from the frantic pace of before.
On the flipside, he had time to think now. And there was so much, too much to think about. Initially he'd tried making sense of it all, but he could find no certainty, no answers. So he'd given up, and allowed his mind some silence. By the time his new 'friends' made it here, he still wouldn't know what to do exactly, but his goal had been achieved already, in a way.
He'd sat here for a while now, almost immobile, with the deck in his hand. Somehow, he'd resisted the urge to take a look at the top card, he hadn't even shuffled them. They weren't he kind of cards he could play with, none of those rugged games he'd learned. These slabs of coloured cardboard were old, and demanded respect.
Mother Iris before you know it I'll start feeling sorry. It's not like I'm pushing the elderly around...
A faint signal pulled Rugovin from his reverie, and he stood up on the battered roof, that had once been a second floor. Weather and wind had free reign here. Sunshine made the floor comfortably warm, the wind swept up the concrete dust. On the lower floor there were tables, chairs, all withered and scratched from the occasional desert sandstorms sweeping past, even an old Source-operated refridgerator. It'd probably explode if used again. That's where he'd found a crate of blown-out bombshells and grenades before, hidden so 'cleverly'.
The Essentic took his time to stride to the roof-edge and glance around, spying out Faolan and his companion in the not-so-far distance. Eventually he just sat down on the ridge, fifteen feet above the ground, and watched them come. His hood kept the wind out of his neck and dulled its whistles through the cracked walls, and he waited.
At least younglings tended to come unarmed.
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 2:55 pm
"Where to next, Zia?" Faolan called above the wind, stopping to pull the hood closer so he could hear the Essentic's small voice by his ear. A tiny hand almost hidden by a colorful wing pointed in a direction.
"The shell came from there," the creature chirped. Faolan nodded and made his way across to the old building, hoping to find the thief and deal with him quickly.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:29 pm
'Deal with him'.
Good luck with that buddy, you'll need more then justice on your side to 'deal with' Vin. Heheh.
"So you made it."
A call from above, just as they were about to slip into the building -the dooron floor level was torn down, had been for a long time by the looks of it.
The Essentic's call wasn't as rough as one may have expected from someone like him, although his oily voice did have a gravelly undertone. The more he spoke, the less hoarse he'd sound, but he still had a ways to go before he got his natural clean timbre again.
Sitting on the semi-roof, legs dangling down without a care in the world, he was far out of reach for Faolan, and made no move to get down. The deck was still in his hand. There was still a treacherous wind whipping about, if Ziazan tackled him it'd have to be careful.
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:39 pm
Faolan looked up and froze, though he was far more focused on the deck in the rogue Essentic's hand than the creature itself. His muscles twitched with the need to rush forward and rescue the precious deck of cards, but he stayed put, unsure of the Essentic's motives. "What do you want from me?"
Zia clung to Faolan's neck with its wings and looked up at the older Essentic warily. It knew enough that the wind was dangerous, and the strange Essentic probably more so. It would not interfere unless there was a dire need to do so, but if the other creature let the cards fall, Zia would do its best to catch them before they were scattered to the winds.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:44 pm
Ouch, but that'd be mean.
"From you? I assume you want something from me, kid." Yeah, I'm just messin' widcha. Rugovin didn't even feel the need to speak any louder then necessary. Just enough to be heard, as he wasn't boasting.
"How about you come and get me..." He shifted his gaze away from them, to the door below. If you can add one and one you could technically assume I got up here using my own legs, not magic.
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Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:55 pm
Fao looked at the door and headed for it, giving one last cautious glance to the man above before entering the ruined building. He located the stairs easy enough, on guard in case the Essentic had friends lying in wait. "Zia, if this is a trap, go get Trystan, okay? Don't stay and try to help, just go find Tryst. Understood?"
"Yes," Zia responded, unsure if it really wanted to comply with that order. True that Fao's new friend might be some aid in this, but Zia didn't want to leave the young man's side, scared of what might happen to it or him if it did. At the first skipped beat of the young man's heart, Zia gasped and held tighter. "Fao . . ."
"I know, little one, but I have to get the cards back," the young man answered, climbing the stairs. He could keep it together long enough for this, he was sure of it.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 12:05 am
Good boy, at least he wasn't just standing there glaring.
After the duo had vanished into the floor below him, Rugovin calmly got up, taking his merry time to get his legs back up the ledge and stand. For a moment he hesitated to crawl himself behind his ear. That hood always gave him an itch there, and then he shrugged and shoved it down casually. Nobody here was keeping watch, and it's not like they didn't know he wasn't fully human anyway.
By the time Faolan and Zia made it to the top, he was sporting a pleased cattish smile, relieving himself of that dull irritation by his temples by flicking the pale grey feathers loose out of his hair. Muuuch better. They might as well have run into a cat giving itself a bath.
When the duo was there to face him, he stuck his hand back down his pocket and looked them over, keeping a distance that balanced between aloof proximity and I-could-jump-off-the-roof-the-moment-you-look-at-me-wrong.
"We haven't even started and you already look like a mess. Kid, what DO they feed you." It didn't even sound much like mockery, more like wonder. Don't get your panties in a twist about me kiddo, there's much worse out there. ... it had been ages since he'd just conversed with someone like this, and not concerning a fight about food.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 12:13 am
Fao stopped at the top of the stairs, keeping a wary distance between him and the rogue Essentic. He was taken back a little by the comment, then glared. "A concerned thief. That's refreshing. Now give me back the deck of cards and I'll forget we ever met."
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 12:19 am
Heh. Not in the mood for small-talk hm. Well, I can hardly blame you.
"Nah. First you call me a thief and then you want them back? That's cross... Thieves don't return stuff, last time I checked." Rugovin made a sharp clicking sound, sounding slightly disdained.
"Tell me, how's the little one doing at your place?"
A casual question, completely ignoring the situation he'd created himself, but it was laced with a slightly threatening undertone. You better work with me here. Even if I make no sense at all, I'm the one who can whup your a**. I hold the best cards, ohoho.
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 12:27 am
At the mention of Zia, Fao's hand immediately went to his hood to touch the little creature protectively. So, that was what the rogue wanted. Well, too bad. Fao'd fight the strange Essentic to the death before letting it pry Ziazan away from him. "Why do you care about Zia?"
Ziazan moved to peer out of the hood more, rainbow eyes wide open. It didn't like the agitated feeling from its master nor did it like the situation on the whole. The little Essentic felt like the air was getting thick, as if there was a storm about to break. It wiggled free more from the hood where the other Essentic could see it more clearly. "I do well with my master. If we answer your questions, lost one, will you return the deck of cards?"
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 12:37 am
Why would I care?
WHY. Would I. Care? Are you serious? Pah, as if that's not completely obvi-...
Well, why DO I care.
"Because he's a little sibling of mine, of course." Vin answered his question, slithering lowly. Something had hit a nerve somewhere, and his controlled gaze shifted to something slightly less stable. "Unlike you."
"Your master you say... Who's the lost one out of both of us now." a faint smile, eerie in its subtitlity, crept onto his face as he now kept his keen eyes on Ziazan. He tensed, imperceptibly, then in a flicker of motion, crossed the distance between them. Two long, eager strides, so fast he nearly jumped, that was all it took to suddenly loom over them.
"You are lost without him, aren'tcha. You're tied to him." Hah, how hilarious. There was an undeniable glimmer of humour in those pale bird-eyes, however deranged. Sweet, sweet irony. He'd tucked the deck into his pocket now, still holding it. I wouldn't try to fight him for them, you'd just hurt yourself trying to wrestle a rock down.
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