Spirits of the Earth

Essyrn => Moraki Desert => Topic started by: Magyar on December 25, 2017, 08:09:23 PM

Title: Falsification
Post by: Magyar on December 25, 2017, 08:09:23 PM
"Uh... nah." Bolion - despite his extensive nagging about plans and ideas - had not planned or had any ideas regarding the actual entry of the target's estate. And so, now when faced with the last leg of his contractual journey and the immediate need for a façade to hide behind, he had to improvise.

Not like that was a new thing for him, anyway, "Unless you're a professional counterfeiter, I'm not sure there's anything we can forge..."

He turned to his contract partner, Deloria Lavellyan (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=21865.msg328413#msg328413), and smiled. It was mischievous, wry, and just behind the eyes... a little crazy.

"I say we wing it."

@DragonSong
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: DragonSong on December 25, 2017, 08:24:52 PM
Della stared at him for a long, long moment in complete silence. "You," she decided after much apparent deliberation, "are utterly bonkers."

But they didn't exactly have a Plan B. With a sigh she pinched at the bridge of her nose and waved her hand toward the estate. "On your head be it, then. If this job gets me killed, I am so haunting you. Just so we're clear," she muttered.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: Magyar on December 26, 2017, 10:22:26 AM
"At least I'd have company," He muttered, turning back to the estate. Gargantuan and seemingly self sustaining, he had no doubts it would be a hard location to infiltrate... he eyed the giant lizard they were both riding, and thought, At least as we are now...

"If we could sneak into the working staff, like the farmers, without the upper management noticing..." he thought aloud, "But the staff probably know each-other well enough that it wouldn't work. Alternatively, we could also just murder our way to the target, and abandon all premise of stealth."

He'd meant that last part jokingly, but only half so. It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility, and they'd certainly performed similar tasks before.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: DragonSong on December 26, 2017, 10:48:28 AM
His partner leaned back to give him a look. "Madman," she muttered with another shake of her head. Then she sighed, sort of slumping forward to lean against his back. "Well...I don't know much about farming, and I tend to stand out a bit. Not to mention your tendency for lack of subtlety..."

She drummed her fingers absently against his side where her hand curled over his hip as she thought. "What're the chances we're just...lost in the desert? Stumbled upon the estate and we're in need of some water and a place to shelter for the night?" Her lips pursed. It wasn't the best cover story, but it might work. Long enough to get them in, anyway.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: Magyar on December 26, 2017, 11:52:02 AM
"Assuming they don't recognise our totally recognisable descriptions from any of the recent stories and rumours about our violent and publicly dangerous escapades... it might work," He supposed, though with a tad of snark, "It also might not, just for the nature of it." He considered the course of action, silent for a few moments. A rare event, his silence, even if only for a few heartbeats.

"Let's do it." He said, suddenly confident. Whether he was really, he couldn't say. Fake it 'til you make it. But one thing was still in the way, though it was easily solved, "So what's the guise? Who are you to me and who am I to you, why are we travelling together?"
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: DragonSong on December 26, 2017, 12:03:01 PM
She tilted her head in consideration and the beat she was drumming out against his hip became more syncopated. "Well, we could keep going with the slaver and slave thing. Maybe I tried to run off and you had to track me out into the desert to find me so you could get me to a wealthy client?" She shrugged. "Or...Well, newlyweds is always an option. You're native to Essyrn, I'm not, you had to fetch me from a caravan before you could get me into the city...um...."

Her lips pursed and her brow furrowed, then she shrugged again with a sharp sigh. "I'm drawing a blank. You got any ideas?"
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: Magyar on December 26, 2017, 09:09:10 PM
"Well, I mean, in the event the plan goes sour our cover will mean nothing..." Bolion theorised, and added, "Although after a certain point I feel that will happen regardless of our chameleon quality. So-" He paused, turned in his saddle from the hip, and stared Della in the eyes. A picture of sobriety and grave seriousness, he said, "Deloria Lavellyan, will you marry me?"

He managed to keep a straight face for about ten seconds, before a grin began to tug at the corners of his mouth. As his acting broke, his eyes took on a mischief that he normally kept at least mildly suppressed.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: DragonSong on December 26, 2017, 09:31:09 PM
Della's eyes widened- at first in some genuine surprise that that was what he'd decided to go with, then with faux shock at his proposal. "Oh, Bol..." She laid a hand over her heart and fluttered her lashes, sniffling dramatically. "Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!"

Her smile started to break through even before his did, and she snorted and gave his shoulder a quick shove. "Alright, eyes front, hubby. We've got an estate to crash an an asshole to kill."

In the back of her mind there was a niggling doubt, but she honestly wasn't sure if it was about the job or...well. Something else. Teasing was all well and good, now that she'd gotten accustomed to Bol's brand of humor, but there was something else, something bothering her about that particular joke...

It struck her, suddenly and with no warning, that Adrien had never actually proposed. They'd just sort of- sort of understood that they would be married; there wasn't even thought of another option?

How had she never thought of that before, never realized?

Della ducked her head and her grip on Bol's waist tightened briefly, nails digging in. Guilt lodged in her throat and she had an awful suspicion that she was going to cry. She didn't want him to notice; clearing her throat, she said quickly, "C'mon, get the lizard moving then, chop chop."
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: Magyar on December 31, 2017, 11:53:47 PM
Bolion winced at the pain, but didn't do much else.

"Yeah, alright, calm down," He chastised, "Impaling me isn't going to bring down a tyrant any faster." He punctuated his sentence by kicking at Erthas' ribs, and sending them jolting forwards. After momentary whiplash, and an eccentric giggle, Bolion was again alert and focused on keeping their mount from running off with them riding along.

He absentmindedly moved to probe the scratches at his hips, but involuntarily recoiled when his searching fingertips found the back of Della's hand. It was the sort of movement that happened when unexpectedly running into someone, that brief apprehension and confusion before logic and memory prevailed. Nonetheless, it was something that seemed cold, even hostile to Bolion, so he muttered a quiet, "Sorry," and promptly pushed the thought from his mind and took back the reins.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: DragonSong on January 01, 2018, 08:30:01 AM
"Oh." Della jerked her hands back, curling her fingers into nervous fists at her sides. "Sorry, I didn't mean-" She sighed and twisted slightly to look out at the desert around them rather than at the back of his head.

After a moment, she hesitantly reached forward again to lay the pads of her fingers over the scratches she'd left. Lightning may have been her forte, but her magic offered her a limited and sometimes finicky control of temperature. With a bit of focus, she could pull the heat from her fingers, leaving them chill to the touch as she pressed them to the scratches, a silent apology.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: Magyar on January 17, 2018, 09:09:29 PM
While he let her hands stay for a moment, Bolion didn't want this to be more than it was. He brushed her hands away, gentle but firm. "It's fine," He began, but decided that wasn't enough, "It's more than fine, it isn't your fault. Don't think of it."

He knew very little of her inner turmoil, only privy to the fact that it was happening most times. He could, however, get the general gist of her hurt. It only ever seemed to surface at times when he alluded to the future - but more importantly, their continued future - or to her past. Perhaps she thought of her husband still quite often. Maybe what he said was what reminded her. He did not think that to dwell on such things was wise, and cast the thoughts from his mind... but they still held quietly, on the edge of his consciousness. The sun only seemed to grow hotter as he rode on.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: DragonSong on January 19, 2018, 07:25:35 AM
"Mm." Della pulled her hands back to her sides. "Well, at least with the number of wounds you've picked up in the last month those scratches are probably the least of your problems," she tried to joke, though her tone was just a little too forced.

Trying to shove anything but thoughts of the job out of her mind, she leaned back slightly and raised a hand to shield her eyes against the sun. "I can't believe this is almost over," she murmured without really thinking about what she was saying.

She's gotten so used to Bol, it was...strange to think that they really were just together for this one job. They'd both acknowledged that, knew that once this task was done they'd collect their pay and be on their merry ways. But it was...strange. Thinking about it brought a sharp ache to her chest, and her mind instinctively shied away from the inevitability.

She'd forgotten what it was like to have a friend.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: Magyar on March 31, 2018, 08:19:17 PM
"It certainly wasn't what I had in mind when I met that old bag in Zantaric," Bolion chuckled, eyes scanning the ridges and patterns of Erthas' scales, "I think it went well though, over all. I wouldn't take it back, is what I mean."

His thoughts were far more abstract than his words could interpret, though he tried. It was not the first time he had privately wished that he could share the raw feeling of a moment with someone, as opposed to fumbling through an inadequate vocabulary. Probably wouldn't be the last either. He found himself staring at the back of Erthas' head, the dusty scales drawing his eye to its patterned spirals again. Just then a thought occurred to him.

"Della, I think we need to ditch Erthas," He said, although his voice was hesitant. He didn't want so much as felt that he needed to suggest this. "He'd just be too conspicuous, and considering how we're planning for this to go down after the fact... we won't need him to make a speedy two man escape." Bolion turned to look at Della as he said the last few words.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: DragonSong on April 01, 2018, 12:20:55 PM
She sighed and leaned over the lizard's side a bit to pat his flank. "Yeah," she murmured, not meeting Bol's eyes. "You're probably right."

Della bit her lip and her brow furrowed. "Think he'll be able to get back to the oasis on his own? I'd feel bad leaving him out in the middle of the desert- he's not really built for that."

She was quiet a moment longer, then sighed again and leaned into Bolion, sliding her arms loosely around his waist. "Me too," she mumbled, hiding her face against his shoulder. "I wouldn't take it back either. Even if you are a pain is the ass." Her lips twitched up in a soft half smile, though she still didn't lift her face.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: Magyar on May 23, 2018, 05:56:34 PM
"Ah, he'll be fine," Bolion replied, unconcerned, "These guys are built to live out here, and he'll be able to run much faster without the extra weight..."

He took another moment to watch the horizon, before stopping the lizard's steady clip -  which was somewhat jarring, as a steady clip for Erthas was much faster than any animal Bolion had ever ridden before, and Erthas didn't have a command for slow down so much as he had one for stop, so it took an unexpected amount of balance correcting to avoid flying over the giant lizard's shoulders.

After regaining his composure, wide eyed and startled, Bolion said, "Might as well let him go now, yeah?"
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: DragonSong on May 23, 2018, 06:53:31 PM
"Gahck!" Della nearly slammed into his back as their mount came to an abrupt halt. Her arms flew around his waist instinctively to steady herself, legs clamping down on the lizard's sides.

Once they'd settled, she huffed out a breath and sat back. "Yeah, um...sure. Makes sense." She swung her legs over Erthas's side to slide down onto the sand, then turned and patted the massive lizard's shoulder fondly.

"Thanks, old boy," she murmured, smiling. He flicked his tongue out placidly.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: Magyar on July 02, 2018, 01:29:53 PM
"Let's be off then," Bolion said while hoisting the last of their packs off of Erthas. He'd decided to leave the saddle, as they'd have no need for it and it might benefit the next rider to find him. Knowing mount breeders like he did, Bolion wouldn't hesitate to bet that Erthas would be back in the custody of the woman they'd bought him from within the week. Like carrier pigeons, desert mounts were.

He'd given about forty percent of the packs to Della, and taken sixty for himself, balancing the load as well as both his ailing body and his failing pride would allow. Their destination glistened on the horizon, no more than a day's walk away. Soon. Very soon, all of this, would be over. He sighed inwardly, motioned for Della to follow, and started trudging towards the shining palace in the sand.
Title: Re: Falsification
Post by: DragonSong on July 10, 2018, 05:03:29 AM
With one last pat for Erthas and a few, almost forlorn glances back over her shoulder at the lizard, she hefted her portion of their baggage and trudged off after Bolion.

"Here, give me some of those." Quickly realizing he hadn't split the packs equally between them, she grabbed for one of the packs he carried. "You're still healing you know, technically."