2017-07-26: Loser Pays
- Log: Loser Pays
- Cast: Josephine Lovelace, Morgan Newkirk
- Where: Gounon
- Date: July 26th 2017
- Summary: Josie and Morgan cross paths once again. Cat meets Penelope.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Gounon is a quiet town, rich in nature and life in a way that most places in Filgaia -- and Ignas in particular -- can boast, these days. It almost feels like a storybook picture of a town -- all cute houses, cottages, and trees, trees, as far as the eye can see.
A town like this takes her back to her childhood.
In a good way, not in the bad ways.
Leaning against a railing, Josephine Lovelace has taken root in, of all places, the graveyard in Gounon. Not out of any morbid or unusual sentiment. And certainly not because anyone she knows rests here. It's just the place where her feet took her, and the place where she decided to stop and watch the sky and its swiftly-moving clouds for a time. The sky is blue today...
Not far from her, perched atop a headstone, Penelope is busily preening, going over the feathers in her wing with exacting precision.
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
The first hint that Josie and her most excelent companion might have company is a soft russling in a tree nearby. One that resolves itself into a sandy-colored paw that pokes out of a clump of leaves. Its a large paw, and feline. Claws extending to scratch along a branch as something seems to wake up in said tree.
The face of a rather large cat pokes out of the tree next, narrowed eyes peering at the two in the graveyard in curiousity.
Clearly more intrested in the pigeon than in the hairless two-leg looking at the sky.
The second thing that breaks the spell of the pleasent scene laid out below the lady and her bird is a voice and the sound of footsteps on gravel.
Warm, amused, pleasent, and familiar. There is a tinge of amusement, and curiousity both in the tone.
"Gella for your thoughts, pretty eyes?"
Morgan Newkirk can be quiet when he wanted to be, though creeping up on her wasn't his intention. His footsteps at least hearaled his arrival.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Briefly, Penelope pauses mid-preen, tilting her head to one side. She is very, very still.
Then, almost with extreme deliberation, returns to the task at hand.
If Josie has noticed that they have company (up in the tree) she gives no notice, her attention nowhere but the sky above.
It's only when boots crunch on gravel nearby that she finally straightens and pushes off the railing, flipping one end of her scarf over her shoulder as she turns around to face whoever's intruded.
And then, as brightly as usual, she smiles.
"I bet you say that to all the girls, Morg. How's it going?"
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
"Not all the girls," Morgan assures her with a twinkle in his eyes. His ears perked up and tail swishing just slightly in the gentle breeze he glances out over the cemetary for a moment. "I was lookin' for a pardner of mine. Four legs, ears, tail, and likely asleep somewhere up high." A smirk. "The only one of a pet shipment that I couldn't find a home for."
He ambles up towards her. "Had a bit of business in town and he decided to head for less crowded pastures."
Cat totally as seen birb. The sandy colored lynx's eyes slowly widen as they fix on Penelope. The tree limb he's on starts to shake just slightly as his tail lashes from side to side.
Morgan slooowly raises his eyes. "...I think I've found him."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOy6hqzfsAs
"Sure, sure," Josie replies, waving a hand through the air. She's still smiling, though.
"...A partner, huh?" Four legs, ears, a tail... "Let me guess, this friend of yours has whiskers and likes to say 'meow', right?" A pause. "Nope. Can't say I have. Have you checked down by the market? Maybe he's off trying to get a bribe from the butcher to go away."
Josie knows enough about cats to know that they're a pain.
Which, speaking of:
The branch rustles, and once again Penelope freezes, as if scenting the air.
Birds are prey.
But birds are also (somewhere, in this universe at least) tiny dinosaurs.
An ancient blood pulses through Penelope's veins, in that sense.
Slowly, Penelope tilts her head, as if bringing sights to rest upon her would-be ambusher.
"Penelope!"
The pigeon freezes.
Then, abruptly, takes flight, winging away for higher ground.
Cat might never understand what he has avoided today.
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
Cat is about to jump when Josie shouts and the lynx freezes at the sudden sound. Just long enough for the pigeon to take wing and fly off and away. With a annoyed chuff the feline leaps silently down from the tree anyway to pad towards Morgan. His coat is a sandy color, ears trimmed in long tuffs of black fur with a tail on the short side. He's still two and a half feet tall at the shoulder.
Morgan just quirks an eyebrow.
"I thought you went this way. Penelope is not food, Cat."
Cat looks unsure of this.
"Also she would likely kick yer ass, she's mean with a glass shard."
Cat looks twice as unsure of this before he just sits and leans against Morgan's leg. Which on most people would cause them some distress, but Morgan is either used to it or stronger than he looks. As he just reaches down and scritches the feline behind the ears.
"Josie, this is Cat. Cat, Josie."
"And technicly he doesn't say meow, but he does purr on occasion." The Drifter says with a grin.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Well, mystery solved!"
Penelope's new perch as it happens is another gravestone, or miniature-obelisk rather, to judge by the relative height to the other tombstones. She stares down, almost balefully, at humans (well, human and demi-human) and feline alike, hunching up on high.
Josie doesn't notice.
"Damn, he's bigger than I thought," she comments, resting a hand on her hip as Cat makes his way down. "You know how to pick 'em, huh?" The archaeologist shakes her head and shrugs. "...Anyway, you don't need to worry about that, I took it away from her afterwards."
She neatly omits the part where the bird had repeatedly gotten it back again and the part where she had to have Lily destroy it. It was... actually somewhat concerning.
"Well, it's good to meet you too, Cat. I'm charmed." She pauses, tilting her head to one side. "I think."
She tilts her hands palms-skyward, in a little shrug as if to say 'what can you do' when Morgan says that Cat isn't much for meowing.
She leans against the railing again. "So... anything interesting going on in life? Or same old, same old?"
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
"Yeah," Morgan smirks slightly at the cat. "Someone captured him, then tried to sell him as a pet after they declawed him. Couldn't just let him go back out in the sands unarmed so..." He shrugs. "...I'm stuck with him."
The fox doesn't seem to mind at least. Being stuck with things.
"...always intresting things goin' on." A twitch of a smile. "That big fight in the area with the Demons, helped a pirate fix a Gear, found an engine for my Gear." He pauses a moment as he ambles up to the railing, leaning his back against it to let his gaze wonder from the woman to the skies and back to the woman.
Rolling an idea around in his head it seems.
"And trying to find a reliable way to get information past that damn blockade. There are some things I need ta talk to people about in Kislev."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Declawed..." That prompts Josie to pull a face, somewhere between disgust and mute anger. "...Assholes." It's not a practice she's familiar with, but she can put two and two together; she can figure out what's going on without asking for clarification.
So they stole the cat's ability to defend himself, just so they could keep him locked up?
She shakes her head, dark eyes drifting briefly in the direction of the caracal.
She doesn't dwell on the subject, ultimately.
"Sounds like you've been busy. Glad you've been able to get something for your Gear -- all I know is that unless you know the right people, getting parts can cost you." In more ways than one.
Speaking of, she did have the chance to see a pretty interesting Gear recently...
"Memory cube's no good, huh? That one's a puzzler. I was heading over that way a while back but ran into a bit of trouble." Which is a nice way of saying 'got impaled randomly'. "Still, there's bound to be a weak point somewhere for a girl to slip past. Has Noah said anything?"
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
"My thoughts too," Morgan replies with a shake of his head. "They won't do it again, if you're worried about that." A twitch of a smile. "And no, I didn't kill them. If you do that they don't learn anything."
Cat seems to have made his peace with it, at least judging from the way he's playfully trying to chew though Morgan's boot.
"Thankfully I am one of those right people, so I suppose I cheat." Comes the grin from the Drifter. "My crew knows a bunch of salvagers. So I can come by parts...more often than most."
They also on occasion create salvage, but that's not here or there.
He nods though. "Sometimes you don't want a Memory Cube, some things require a more person touch." The fox replies with a grin. "But Noah is working on one way, I'm working on a different one, I'll need to get hold of him soon though. He's been keeping busy." There is a quirked eyebrow. "Just want did you need to get over that direction anyway, if you don't mind a fox being nosey."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"I don't know," Josie opines, raising a gloved hand briefly to touch her cheek. "You could always kill them and let someone else learn. How else do you think people learned what plants not to eat?"
Death is educational sometimes!
She tilts her head slightly to one side, as if to regard him in a new light. "Sounds like you're the right guy to know, huh? Pretty lucky for me. Well, if I'm ever in the need for parts." She pauses, as if remembering something. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have a Gear's left arm, would you?"
Though come to think of it, she's not sure if those girls even still need it. Well, it never hurts to ask.
Josie waves a hand through the air, as if to cut something down with the edge of her palm. "Yes, yes. I know aaaall about that~" Sometimes you don't know the person, and sometimes just voice or text isn't enough. "Well, let me know. I might end up trying his way once we've done a little legwork." There's a bit left to go, honestly.
"Me?" She gestures towards herself. "Just scouting, honestly -- ran into a very unfriendly person in the process, and... well." Her shoulders rise and fall. "Let's just say I almost didn't walk away from that one, okay? But I lived."
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
"Left arm? Thats oddly specific but...yeah. I'll keep an eye out for one." The fox promises as he looks towards her. "But I can get my hands on lots of things, if you're looking for anything else. Kinda what I do as a side job." The man flashes her a grin. "And I'll defintally let ya know, I'll see if Noah needs any help too. Two smugglers are usually better than one." He adds eyes dancing with amusement. "Unless they are in competition, then it just gets bad."
There is a touch of concern. "Sounds like a very seriously unfriendly person, I'm glad ya pulled though. Who am I gonna compliment about their eyes if you dissipear eh? So. No dissipearing, else I loose a whole string of well formed compliments."
The man taps a finger against the railing. "Personally, I just need to find out information about a Gear that came out of Kislev. Something that shouldn't be able to come out of Kislev, at least not when I was there last. So my curiousity is up."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Let's just say it's for a pair of little birds who need a good home. Okay? If you get lucky and hit pay dirt, I'll let 'em know. Any payment's between you and them, though. I don't have the money!"
And how!
"Sure. Just keep me in touch, okay?" She quirks a slightly lopsided smile, here. "If there's something you want me to look out for, let me know. There's more than one way to skin a cat." Josie pauses, glancing downwards. "Present company excepted." She leans back again, bracing herself on the railing.
"I didn't even get a name!" Josie mock-laments, throwing her hands up in the air. "How am I supposed to handle someone who just cuts and runs?"
Phrasing.
"Anyway, more seriously, watch out for a blue-eyed man in a white coat. And when I say blue-eyed, I mean it. Those were the bluest eyes I'd ever seen."
Her mouth twists as if in distant irritation, and she glances away.
"A Gear that came out of Kislev, huh..." Fingers drum against the railing. "Sounds familiar, somehow... but I can't place it. Well, who knows, huh?" She shrugs. "There's all kinds of rumors around these days. It probably wasn't anything important."
<Pose Tracker> Morgan Newkirk has posed.
"Well I do always like helping out little birds," There is an amused eye cast towards the brooding pigeon up on her perch for a moment before turning back towards Josie. "I'll keep an eye out for him, can't be too many people in white coats around. White is damnably hard to keep that way I've found." The man smirks at that before that smirk slowly transforms into a grin.
"You know, speaking of rumors. I seem to remember one that went that someone with pretty eyes and a pretty smile can drink any ol' fox under a table. And, since we are in a town that specalisies in some of the best drinks in Ignas. I think it would be a shame to let that rumor go untested."
He pushes off the railing. "If you're up for it." He adds, a hint of a challenge in his bright eyes.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
At least Shalune and Lunata might have another option here, assuming that they haven't already lifted one from a Gebler Gear in Lahan or something. You never know.
"You heard a rumor, too, huh?" Already, that lopsided smile widens. "Go on, tell me more."
She lifts one pale eyebrow, and straightens. "...You want to put that one to the test, huh? Well, sure. Let's do it." Pushing away from the railing again, she starts to head to the stairway down to the rest of the town, gesturing as she walks to beckon Penelope to come along.
Which the pigeon eventually does, swooping down to land on her arm.
"Loser pays."