2017-05-24: Likes Repel
- Log: Likes Repel
- Cast: Lily Keil, Loren Voss
- Where: Adlehyde - Starfall Saloon
- Date: May 24th 2017
- Summary: Loren, following up on the Malevolence phenomena under the guise of his alias, tracks down a promising source of information on Port Timney. Somehow, Loren and Lily fail to get along. Takes place before Adlehyde is invaded.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
If one actually looks, Lily Keil can be found. She doesn't talk much, but she didn't make a secret of who she was in Port Timney during the invasion or afterward when she made her outings into the Baticul Grotto--the Otherworldly Hollow. Harder to find is the fact that she went to Adelhyde.
...Luck might be involved if someone finds one of her bounty posters, marking her as a very, very wanted woman by both Kislev and Aveh. They could be found, or they could not.
Today however she's not in Port Timney. A woman by Lily's description--pale, black hair, gold eyes, tall, kind of scary--is seated alone at a corner table, back to a wall, at the Starfall Saloon, with two books open beside her, a plate of food, and a bottle of whiskey with a glass. She is not looking up towards the door. Instead she's making notes.
It's daytime still, and the place is relatively quiet accordingly. It's not an unusual day.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It had taken a little asking around to collect a list of names, but the inhabitants of Port Timney had proved more than willing to answer a few questions coming from a curious medical student.
There had been first responders, of a sort, after the initial incident in that settlement -- and those afflicted with what Loren now had to accept was a sort of mysterious energy that failed to leave even the slightest impression on his senses called 'Malevolence' had received treatment at the time. Given the Lt. Commander's report on the state of the Lambs who had become mutated from exposure to this Malevolence, it seemed prudent to look into this, especially if this /wasn't/ going to go away.
Naturally, he wouldn't have the luxury.
Following up on those who had been treated in Port Timney was fairly easy. Following up on the first responders...
Well, they had scattered. Naturally. One woman in particular, though, had seemed to have left a bit of a trail somewhere along the line -- judging by the wanted posters, that is. A medic, too, according to the notes regarding the bounty -- which made her a desireable source. It gave him a face to work with, and from there...
Luck must involve itself more heavily at some point, even beyond the posters.
"Are you Miss Keil?"
The relatively expressionless young man is bold enough to approach her table dead-on, in spite of the description used earlier being explicitly 'scary', and likely the vibe she emits as well. 'Do not touch', perhaps.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Definitely 'do not touch.' That's sure a vibe she gives off, from her posture to the fact that she's wearing /gloves/ while working with her books.
But there's another aura tht she gives of, of that mysterious energy called 'Malevolence' that Loren is unlikely to sense today.
It so happens that she's looking into it herself... When she's interrupted by Loren's voice, her pencil pausing on her page. It might seem as if that's the first time she's noticed him, but a life on the run and years at war have made her more observant than that. It's some kind of luck, though.
"Yes," Lily answers Loren. She doesn't look up at him. Her voice is dark, and her pencil remains still. Long moments pass.
"...What do you want?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
The same energy that he's completely ignorant of -- he can't get even a hint of it. If the Lt. Commander hadn't confirmed what that boy had claimed, more or less, it's likely he'd /still/ be writing it off. As it is, he's taking it on faith.
Describing Lily more or less exactly -- without giving away who she was, he doesn't want to tip off the local bounty-hunter population needlessly and ruin his own lead -- took some doing. Still, it almost seems as if things are working out for a change.
Blue eyes flicker downwards to what she's writing. His gaze lingers there a moment. As she maintains her silence, so too does the young man. He looks more or less like he wandered out of some lecture hall fairly recently, his fashion oriented around the point of 'dull and stuffy'.
What does he want, she asks. He pushes his glasses up his nose. "My name is Thomas Blackwell, a medical student from Bledavik." He pauses, as in hesitation before attempting to push onwards in the conversation.
In reality, he's considering his options. It seems the helpful passersby weren't kidding about the 'unfriendly' part, either.
"A... friend of mine who assists the surgeon in Port Timney had said that a women of your name and description had been quite helpful after the incident with the diseased animals," he picks up with after a moment's thought. "I happened to see you sitting here and recognized you. I'm interested in the your account of the survivors." Another pause. 'Thomas' wrinkles his brow slightly. "Consider it... academic interest."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Faith is a way to take what that is. Lily hadn't been sure about it herself that night, save for a strange feeling that didn't tell her anything. Now, however...
Well, now there's the matter of not tipping off bounty hunters, which is the last thing Lily needs at the moment. SHe's had more than enough problems with them already. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Loren is one of them. Sh's not wearing her gun, but that doesn't matter much.
Lily is wearing a black dress, and while part of her outfit is covered by the table, it's clear how covered up she is. There's only the neckline for shown skin below the neck. As for what she's writing, she's writing what look like citations; page numbers, book titltes, paired with others and underlined terms. 'Wolf' is one of them. She's cross-referencing something.
She spots the dull and stuffy look from her peripheral vision, but remains quite still when Loren introduces himself, mentions where he's from.
...Except to let her golden eyes finally flicker up towards him, a serious look in her eyes. They're sharp forward.
She's silent listening, judging his statements with a certain wariness. Academic interest...
She considers for a few more moments herself. "...You should know that I'm Kislev military, Thomas Blackwell." Pause. "Or I was. I'm from Nortune. If that's not a problem for a medical student from Bledavik, then sit down."
She sits up at that, writing two page numbers in the margins and closing both of her books. If he looks, they're books on local folklore.
"Regardless, your friend heard correctly that I was there. Combat trauma is my specialty."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Loren's attention doesn't linger on her long. The contents of what she's writing is more of a draw.
Cross-referencing the books -- the few titles he picks out in the space he has to read it in -- might be difficult, and more than likely, not even remotely helpful given the state of what passes for science among these nations. The repeated mention of 'wolf', though...
A code? A reference to something?
He doesn't have the time to surreptitiously read her notes for long.
She meets his gaze. Sharp, almost predatory yellow to his impassive, almost bored blue.
He ever so slightly tilts his head to the left as she explains a few things. Namely, that they're from nations at war with one another. 'Thomas' continues to regard her in silence. Then:
"And we're on neutral ground, Miss Keil. Unless you're interested in bringing the battle to Adlehyde?" He doesn't raise his voice. He doesn't sound -- or look -- upset. If he seems anything at all, it's likely dispassionate, tinted by the faint amusement of someone able to assume a stance above such ordinary concerns.
He pulls the empty chair back and sits. "It doesn't concern me." Staring at her from across the table, he retrieves a small notebook from the depths of some pocket in his jacket, along with a short pencil "...So, tell me a thing or two about the presentation of the victims. I heard that some of the animals were also treated. Did you notice anything unusual."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Of course, 'Thomas' could ask her about it. As it stands, Lily says and explains nothing about her notes or her books, just watching where his eyes go. That's not suspicious; rude to read her notes, but curiousity is a student she'd expect in a medical student. She was curious herself when she was learning.
That much after all she /can/ spot. But then...
She can appreciate the lack of emotion in his gaze, in his entire demeanor, even if it's not something she expected here. ...Besides; she's already still sharper than she would ordinarily be given his introduction.
He might not have a problem with it, but on some level she does.
She ignores it. "It's very distant from you, isn't it? ...No, I'm not interested."
'Thomas' sits down, and Lily glances at his notebook herself before back up to him... and refills her glass of whiskey.
"Certainly. You should know that as I participated in the battle myself, I had an opportunity to gather additional data in that fashion. In general, some patients spoke of monsters rather than crazed animals and savage humans. Their wounds were consistent with this description, rather than the ordinary foes I saw at the time. That is to say, my wounds appeared to be inflicted by claws rather than fingernails; this was consistent with all those who were injured by the humans assaulting the town. There was no apparent transmission of this unusual transformation, though I treated with an eye to infection in mind. I didn't stay long enough to completely rule it out, but no particular disese seemed to be associated with the mania presented in these subjects. In short, I found no scientific explanation whatsoever for the discrepancies or for the talk of this 'Malevolence' that was mentioned."
Lily has very little inflection in her voice herself, but her cadence is consistent with the story she was given.
"I treated no animals; I only saw someone claim to purify them, at which point they ceased to fight. In short, yes, I noticed a great deal that was unusual."
"I further investigated the source of this incident in a place that the creatures gathered, called the Otherworldly Hollow. In the course of my investigations I noticed that this force could impact even the earth itself." A pause. "...There's more than that; I've gained the ability to sense this force and these alterations for myself. But finding patterns is difficult for something that can barely be observed. Science without observation..."
Lily shakes her head. "Any questions?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It's both pretty dang rude, especially before even introducing yourself -- and pretty hypocritical, given that this tops the list of Loren's own numerous pet peeves.
The chances of him becoming suddenly enlightened about either are effectively nil, though -- why should he care?
It's not like this is a human being.
He shrugs as he makes himself comfortable. Or something akin to comfortable -- this 'Thomas' looks like the type to overstarch shirts. "It's particularly distant out here. I don't think the guards would take a re-enactment of the latest battle in the streets too well, do you?" He doesn't smile. He just briefly rolls his eyes heavenwards before readjusting his glasses.
Across from her, the page is naturally upside down. It's also -- the writing on the opposing page that is -- in shorthand. Very neat shorthand, but still shorthand. A few terms are written out in full, 'Malevolence' most notably among them. He meets her gaze again, and pauses, his gaze slowly lowering towards the page. As if he had noticed what she was looking at, he turns the page to a clean one.
Pointedly.
Yes, he sure did notice.
The pencil moves. More shorthand, perhaps annoyingly so.
"So in spite of the fact that a human had inflicted those wounds, your injuries were consistent with that of a beast's claws."
No apparent transmission. No agent. No obvious medical cause whatsoever except some... force he can't see or sense. Loren furrows his brow. It's as the Lt. Commander had written -- it's something that can't be explained by medical science.
How... absolutely annoying.
The tip of the pencil taps against the next empty page.
"And what did this... 'purification' entail? What was the status of the afflicted afterwards?"
This is also falling in line with what he knows. It shouldn't be possible, and yet...
This one causes him to look up. "Exposure within those caverns allowed you to sense this force?" Like radioactive contamination, except...
Wait, hadn't van Houten started to claim she'd been seeing things? He'd written it off at the time, but...
Dutifully, he takes a few quick notes, then leaning forward reaches up to rub at the bridge of his nose. "Difficult doesn't even begin to cover it. This is ridiculous..." he mutters, closing his eyes.
"Are you aware of anyone else who began to... see things after exposure within the caverns?" he asks at her prompt, dropping his hand away.
Not being familiar with Lily, he's not yet aware that she's said more to him in a few minutes time than most people get from her over a period of hours.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
There's rudeness to choose from, Lily is finding quite quickly.
Lily lifts an eyebrow when 'Thomas' continues on with what she's said. She gathered already that he doesn't have a lot of stake in the war, to her mind. What he says here is just mockery. She considers what it is that she's going to do about it.
But while she's talking, she doesn't really care; she doesn't bother making any further effort to look at Loren's notes, but it tells her a little bit more about him as a person what he does about it.
But she doesn't leave things unfinished.
"Correct," Lily answers about her injuries, in simple tones. She doesn't sound amused, but then, she never does.
"I don't know, I was busy killing things," she answers about purification. "Some still had injuries, and those were treated as well. Some disorientation."
Loren asks about the exposure, and Lily shrugs. "Something like that." Not precisely exposure, she imagines, but she doesn't really know for sure.
For her part, Lily at that point picks up her whiskey and downs about half of it at once, sighing softly before she puts it back down.
"No," she answers simply, and tilts her head at him. "Here's a tip for interviewing. Don't insult your subject if you want her to give you much more information. You must be early on in your studies, but I'm sure you'll do well if you work hard.
A beat, "But I'm tired of talking to people today. If you want to discuss this more, you can come back another time."
"...As a free help I'll tell you that it's more than seeing. Now get out of my table, Thomas Blackwell. Maybe learn some manners."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Loren doesn't know her from Adam, so to speak -- beyond her rap sheet and what a few people had mentioned in describing her appearance. How she acts on a normal day to day, what she prefers to do...
In the end it's all irrelevant anyway. She's a means to an end.
"So you didn't see the so-called purification event itself..." His lips move, briefly, as he skims his notes, reviewing what he's written so far. "Unfortunate," he says at length, looking back up at her. "Were they injured before or after combat had ceased?"
That one, he's not going to get an answer to, as it happens.
And her answer regarding exposure is barely an answer at all.
And as for his last question...
He gets a chiding instead. Silent, Loren looks her in the eye, as evaluating her. "...'If I work hard'?" 'Thomas' echoes. He lifts his chin slightly, angling his head as if to stare at her down his nose. It could even be called imperious.
Even with his family's flagging fortunes, no one has spoken to him like that before. Not to his face at least -- instead just when they think he can't hear them, when they think someone won't pass that information along. His left hand, resting on the table, begins to slowly curl inwards, dragging across the wood. It's not a fist, but it could be called a dull echo of one.
She says she's done talking. He regards her a moment or two more, stare unflinching. His hand moves at last. "Then, we're done here, Miss Keil. For today." Closing the notebook, he tucks it and the pencil away, still staring at her from across the table as if trying to make sense of her. Then, at last, he shakes his head and rises, pushing the chair back.
More than seeing, is it?
Someone else might be frowning by now. Loren doesn't, his face as much a bored mask as always. "How gracious. Perhaps I'll simply have to trouble you another time."
With that, he heads of in the direction of the bar proper. He might as well try to blend in and listen to what the Lambs are saying while he's here. It might even be of use.