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+--- Thread: Innocence and Avarice [closed] (/showthread.php?tid=6812)
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Zhavi - 04-09-2014
Was he dense? Maybe the problem was that he was too sharp. It was entirely possible he'd seen through her act -- either way, he'd not responded the way she'd hoped, and now she was stuck playing a part that blushed and stammered like some twit of a girl. Disgusting.
"A-aye," she responded, following him out.
They parted ways.
It was hard, even for Zhi, to pretend that she didn't feel the relief come pouring out of her gut. Alive. She was alive. She tried to cloak it in irritation that things hadn't gone her way, but even that hadn't worked. Nald'thal was tipping his scales, she was sure, but she couldn't figure out which way. Gods knew that meant bad things for her, always had in the past. It was enough of a deterrent that -- after having made sure she wasn't being followed -- she considered dumping the job entirely as she went into the dilapidated inn she was temporarily staying at to change her clothes. Yeah, so she was angry at the lalafel. She'd been taken for a ride, had underestimated the little runt, had been trapped and made to look the part of a fool. Logic dictated that she should take a step back and evaluate the situation to make sure she wasn't making a piss-poor mistake.
Her hands were shaking as she pressed them flat to the sole, shitty table in the cramped room. "Come on," she whispered.
She didn't want to take a step back. Even though she knew that screwing up with the wrong sort of people meant death, she didn't want to let it go. The fear, the uncertainty, the rush of adrenaline -- they were as good as some highs, good as getting piss drunk with dice in her hands and coin on the table. She slammed the table with both hands, and caught up the bottle of swill she'd bought the day before. Three gulps later she was out the door, hat on her head and back to the threadbare clothing that was her trademark. She had some time to kill before she went back to teach the little runt not to mess with her. Nald'thal be damned, she would tip the blimming scales herself, rot on him if he thought to screw with her.
Thirty minutes later she had her regular informant, Brindle, up by the ear. "It's ruttin' past afternoon, y'churl, what y'doin' sleepin'? I don't keep ye in coin t'be sleepin'."
"Ow, ow ow! Lemme go, lemmego, ya slattern!"
Zhi let him go. She grinned. "What, that all ye got?"
He glared back. Mute defiance, his latest brattish scheme to get under her skin. How cute.
She chuckled. "New job fer ya, if yer not too cockered fer't." His expression shifted: slight, but enough. She kept talking. "I need ya ta run some questions 'bout Lolotaru Lalataru. Wi'care. Don't go bawlin' it out t'the topmast else I'll have yer tongue fer true this time."
"I don't never go bawlin' like a scrag." Sullen, but not unwilling.
Zhi ruffled his hair, and he leaned back from her as if she'd just shown signs of some plague. Her grin widened. "I need some base rumors on 'im, his reputation."
"Didn't that get sorted?"
"I need it fresh."
"Yeah?" Brindle's voice had a distinct sneer in it; he knew well enough what it meant to go back to ground on someone.
She kicked him before he could start making insinuations about her lack of skills, and they parted with a few choice insults as they always did. The remaining time she spent dicing at one of her favorite haunts, plying her fellow players (most known to her) with cheap alcohol and careful questions. Gaming for her was always done with a purpose, and always carried with it expectations for something. Sometimes coin, sometimes information, sometimes illicit substances. Never for no reason, never strictly for fun.
Once the time got closer she went back and changed into the same clothes Lalataru had seen her in earlier, adjusted her bearing to suit some dumb scrag with naive hopes, and went to the indicated bridge a whole hour before the eleventh bell was supposed to ring. Seemed about right, with how desperate she played earlier. She looked out over the water, and settled in to waiting.
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Goodfellow - 04-09-2014
Was he dense? Was he trying too hard to be sharp, seeing threats that weren't there?Â
He sat the whole afternoon in his room at the Mizzenmast, replaying the day in his mind over and over again. Limsa Lominsa was a city full of half-heard whispers and misdirected rumors. It was a city of wind and water, with people coming and going and rarely stopping to get names, faces, or facts just right. It could be nothing, he thought to himself. But it could be so much more than that, as well. He had summoned a retainer, thinking of any old contacts, or rumors of contacts, that might be found on short notice so far from Ul'dah. By the time the retainer arrived, he was halfway through a tall glass of red wine and was suitably mollified by his own machinations so as to dismiss her almost immediately without assignment.
That's not who I am anymore, he reminded himself. He wouldn't let the fear of being found out force him into old habits. He had worked hard to divorce and distance himself from that person and it would be all too easy to slip back into him. He had been good at it. A natural.
No!
Before leaving his room again, he freshened up and changed into a simple trouser and half-robe set, lighter and more mobile. He would have liked to be more discrete, maybe wear a cowl, but he also wanted options; no more falling on his face like earlier that afternoon. He summoned Ben again. He had thought about calling forth the smaller, more discrete fairy Ariel, but somehow couldn't. He hadn't had her in the old days and he didn't like the idea of exposing her to any of that baggage. No, Ben had been with him longer, was more a part of himself. He focused on the open, almost languorous pattern of his personal carbuncle symbol and absentmindedly pulled him back into form.
He looked down at the eager creature before him and nodded before walking out. The eleventh bell would be tolling soon.
As he approached the appointed area he could make out the girl's figure in the moonlight. He stopped and sent Ben scampering on ahead to sniff and snoop.
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Zhavi - 04-10-2014
That time of night, weren't too many people hanging about. Zhi had stopped on the stone platform between the two bridges that connected the Wench to the Hyaline, and so she'd ample room to see who was coming and from what direction. Gazing out at the ocean as she was, however, she had to keep to checking with her peripheral vision, which wasn't exactly ideal. She'd sneak glances left and right on occasion, keeping in form with a nervous streetrat, but she took care to not show the paranoia that would not apply to someone like Joz.
So, it wasn't until Ben had crossed the first bridge that Zhi reacted to his presence. She squeaked, and jumped back a little, overbalanced and caught herself before she could fall. She looked around hastily, both to see who'd seen her misstep and to see where the carbuncle had come from.
"Umm," she said, and turned in place. Hesitantly, she called out, "Lolotaru. . .sir?"
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Goodfellow - 04-10-2014
Ben stopped by the girl and turned back to gaze at Lolotaru, head cocked, before continuing on to the other end of the bridge. He hopped up on the railing and began flitting intermittently across the bridge, halting to peer about and sniff at the air. To the unobservant it may have appeared that he was playing.
"Yes, Miss Joz, I'm here," Lolo said as he stepped closer, out of the shadows.
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Zhavi - 04-10-2014
Son of a. . .. He was playing that game, was he?
"Y-ye wanted t'speak wi'me. . .sir?"
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Goodfellow - 04-10-2014
"I believe it was you who wished to speak with me."
He took another step forward.
"So tell me, Miss Joz, what is your interest in arcanima?"
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Zhavi - 04-10-2014
It took everything she had not to back away. They'd been speaking earlier. He'd requested this meeting. No one was around.
It was a long drop off the bridge.
She wouldn't survive if she was to have an accidental fall.
"I want ta be someone. I want ta be looked at like I'm more'n gutter trash. Anyone lookin' at me, they sees --" She shrugged. "But th'Gate. . .'sdifferent, there. Think jes anyone'd take me? Nah, I'm gutterborn, but -- but if't was someone who understood, then. . ."
She looked at Lalataru. She tried to meet his eyes. She wanted to see his intent.
"I want ta learn."
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Goodfellow - 04-10-2014
Lolotaru could empathize with the desire to make something different of oneself and if Joz was being genuine, he couldn't in good conscience refuse her that opportunity.
He took one more step forward.
"What do you want to learn?"
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Zhavi - 04-11-2014
"Whatever ye can teach me."
Zhi faced Lolotaru with her ears back and her tail rigid behind her -- but there was determination on her face and in her voice.
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Goodfellow - 04-11-2014
After a long pause, he responded.
"Fine. I'll teach you. On one condition."
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Zhavi - 04-11-2014
Zhi let out a gasp of breath, half relieved sigh and half laugh. Her knees bent a little, and she sagged. Somehow, she remained upright. "Anythin', anythin'! Name it!"
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Goodfellow - 04-11-2014
Lolotaru seemed somehow less relieved than Joz. His aspect as yet unchanged, he spoke.
"I want to know who gave you my name."
Maybe she was being honest, maybe she really did just want to learn, to improve herself and her lot. And that was respectable, commendable even, if Lolo was of a mind to believe her. But whether she knew a lot or a little, she had heard of him from someone, and he still needed to address the leak.
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Zhavi - 04-11-2014
Her tail flinched. It was a small movement, hidden behind her sudden relief and enthusiasm. "That it? Fer true? Huh, well I ain't got 'is name, but," she couldn't sell out her informant, "after I heard tell there was some wi' dirty pasts at th'Gate, I'd start gamin' th'dicers when I was swingin' 'round th'bars. Was some ol' sailor wi' a face full of hair what stank o' spiced meat oo gave me yer name, 'Lalataru,' he says. So I starts askin' if there was a Lalataru up at th'Gate, and sure as hooks ye are. That good? I can take ye t'the bar I was at, if't pleases ye."
Overeagerness to please shone in her eyes. She took a step forward. Her heart was hammering in her chest, in her ears: she had to force herself to breathe. Oh, but smiles for Lalataru. All smiles.
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Goodfellow - 04-11-2014
I shouldn't go myself. Not yet, at least. Too much overt concern would only lend credence to rumors.
"That won't be necessary just now, Miss Joz. Thank you. But you're sure you'd remember his face?"
RE: Innocence and Avarice [closed] - Zhavi - 04-11-2014
Zhi scratched along her jawline with one finger, the eagerness dimming a little. "Mebbe? I'll try me best, sir!"
She felt so alive.
"What we doin' now, then?" Excitement colored her voice and swam in her eyes. Her ears pricked forward, and her tail swept back and forth behind her.