Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sherry knew she was going to be sore. One would have thought she was used to physical exertion, but apparently she just didn't do enough mountain climbing. Her muscles were letting her know all about that already. She had a feeling they would continue to remind her for another day or three.

"It'll be a good ache," she muttered as she stretched. At least her burns hadn't been too bad. There likely wouldn't be any lasting scars, either. Still, she was glad she's stopped into the infirmary to have them looked at.

The weapon meant more training. She'd had fun on that little escapade, and actually seemed a bit sad Sherry didn't plan on revisiting that temple anytime soon.

I know. It had been useful on several levels. But, training will have to wait. I'm going to be sore tomorrow. Besides, we have other things to take of, too. Like getting this nifty item checked out. She wasn't quite sure about what it did, or how it did it, or anything really.

She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at it again. A pretty little vial, full of a lovely red liquid. It smelled like wine, but she hadn't dared to taste it yet. No, it needed looked at by the professionals.

Armagnac sounded annoyed. Sherry had left the infirmary, and headed straight to the dorms. They both knew she'd be heading back out the labs next.

I already told you. I want to know what Jake did with his item. Sherry just wasn't sure if Jake knew where to take that thing he picked up. He's still new, Armagnac. We have to help him out.

The lindwyrm made a noise. That was how she felt about the matter.

Sherry just rolled her eyes and continued down the hall. Really? These things could be hazardous or something. They need looked at. It made sense to her. If her vial could be full of some kind of poison, then what about that tooth thing he'd picked up? She was pretty there was Fear in the vial she held, at any rate. And since dropping her item off only come back and later with Jake had seemed like a silly idea, she was stopping by to talk to him first.

And there it was. It was a good thing he'd given her his name, since it made it much easier to track him down.

knock! knock! knock!

Three quick knocks on the door, and then she waited.

She was pretty sure she heard him say something about the door being open. Clearly that meant she could go inside. So she did.

"Hey," she said, poking her head in, "how are you doing?" The rest of Sherry followed her head through the door. "Good I trust?" It seemed like a safe assumption, seeing as he hadn't bothered to stop by the infirmary.

Curious eyes did a quick scan of his room. It was sparse, but considering he was still new that wasn't surprising. She very quickly averted her eyes from the pile of clothing on the floor, half a second before her brain processed it seemed to be made mostly of hunter coat.



Hush. The fact that someone, even Armagnac, called her out on the tiny moment of uncomfortable only made things worse. She felt the slightest bit of flush creep up her neck as she tried to communicate her reasoning to Armagnac, attempting to use her feelings more than words. So what if she'd spent a fair a amount of time living in close quarters with other hunters? There were still some things that were just plain personal, especially in personal rooms. Some things she just didn't want to see, or something.

Armagnac scoffed. Sherry decided it was best to forget the whole thing as soon as possible. Pretend it had never happened.

"So. You learn anything about that yet?" She made a small gesture toward the tusk Jake was holding. "Because I was thinking, it might be a good idea to have someone take a look at it. I was planning on taking this," she held up her little vial, "by the labs, if you if you wanted to come with."

"Great!" Her smile was followed by a look of genuine curiosity. "Hold on, what do you mean by 'portable television'?" Her brain had taken a second to process what he said.

She took a few steps into the room and leaned in, hoping to get a better look a the tusk Jake was holding.

She returned that unpleasant with one of her own, though hers was more feigned grump than anything. "Yes. But you are coming with me. That was the whole point of me coming all the way down here." She shrugged. "Unless you want to run around the labs alone looking for the right place to go."

She took a step back. "Tell you what, put your shoes on, and we can head down there right now. While they will still be willing to talk with us."

She watched as she wordlessly complied with her request. She had seriously been expecting more of a....not a fight, necessarily. But something. This was Jake, after all. Perhaps mountain climbing had worn him out?

Of course, then he had to open his mouth.

Armagnac laughed.

Sherry rolled her eyes, and then walked out of the room.


----

She didn't say anything the whole walk to the labs. Nor anything as she led Jake though the building. Being in the Life Division was useful in situations like this, she knew the building well enough.

"Hey," she said when they finally reached their destination, "I think you are just who we need to see." She was pretty certain, anyway. She hadn't had too many dealings with this particular department, but something told her she was in the right place.

"And why might that be?" one of the techs behind the desk grinned.

She got straight to the point. "We picked up a couple of...interesting items. I would like to have them checked out. For safety's sake and all that." She pulled out her vial and held it up. "Found it as a temple for the Greek Gods."

"Oh, yes," the tech reached out and took the vial from her. "I know just what to do with this." He looked up and continued on without explaining much of anything. "You said a couple of items?"

Sherry turned and gave an expectant look to Jake.

Sherry just stared right back at Jake. He was going to be difficult. She was somehow not surprised. "You really should let them take a look at it."

The tech raised an eyebrow. "She's right." He held up Sherry's vial. "In this state, the artifacts are useless. Extremely dangerous, but totally useless to us. They won't even last very long like this." He gave the vial a little flourish. It was possible he was exaggerating a little. Possibly.

"However," the tech leaned in a bit, as though he were telling some kind of secret, "you can hand us the artifact, and we can fashion it into something that is actually useful to you." He sat back in his chair, examining Sherry's vial again. "For a price, of course. But, you are more than welcome to hold onto your useless piece of junk if you want. I don't care." He shrugged.

I see, thought Sherry. So that's how it was. The part about the price hardly surprised her, she knew how things went around here. Anything interesting had a price. The part about the artifacts being turned into something useful was new to her, but very intriguing.

She gave Jake a look that said, 'Well?'

"Ah. That's more like it," the tech gave Jake a wink as he took the tusk. "Very nice," he muttered, turning it over in his hands. "Alright," he set both artifacts on the desk in front of him. "before we proceed any further, there is the small matter of price..."

"But of course," Sherry smiled. "And what, exactly, will we be getting for our money again?"

"Well," the tech clearly loved this part, "for a few hundred, each, I can guarantee some kind of functional runic device. Toss in a bit more, and I can even take requests. You know, if there is anything in particular you would like us to fashion these things into."

He's grinning like the cat that's about the get the canary. Sherry would have rolled her eyes, but that would have killed her poker face. She turned to Jake instead. "Any requests, then?"

Sherry had, by this point, figured she would be paying for both of them. She hadn't known what to expect when they had the items looked at, and dropping a few hundred plus for each one had been unexpected. However. She was determined to not even bat an eyelash at the situation. She refused to show any amount of weakness in front of the tech. Same division or not.

Armagnac approved of such attitudes.

"And for mine," she began, as her hand went inside her coat, "Something useful, but pretty. You know, something practical, and as easy to carry as it is, now." Not that she actually knew what her item would even do, but it was in the hands of the techs, now. She pulled her wallet out of it's pocket. Purses were impractical in this world, and Sherry didn't dare leave super important things in her room anymore, so she had her money on her. At least I'm prepared.

"I think we can work something out," the tech nodded to both of them while Sherry flipped through her wallet.

"When can we expect to pick them up?" Sherry set at least a grand on the desk as she asked the question. A tiny little part of her died as the tech's hand slide the money away from her.

"Come back in two days."

"Great," Sherry smiled and turned to Jake. "Well, shall we?" She started walking back the way they had come.