2018-01-19: Never a Dull Moment
- Log: Never a Dull Moment
- Cast: Josephine Lovelace, Leon Albus
- Where: November City - Market Street
- Date: January 19th 2018
- Summary: Josie and Leon do a little light shopping. Plans are made for an expedition, possibly also trouble.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
November hosts a number of markets within the city limits, ranging from the legal to the not-really-legal to the incredibly-illegal-are-you-a-cop.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, given the fact that Josie is the one accompanying Leon on a little shopping trip today, the first port of call is... of the first category.
Fairly solidly so, at that. "So, what're your thoughts?"
She lifts two reasonably identical-looking dusters for his appraisal, one after the other; inevitably one gets draped over right forearm.
The one thing Leon would have noted when they met up would have been the complete absence of her old battered coat. If asked, she would have muttered something about Gear-sized flamethrowers and the loss of a dear old 'friend' but otherwise -- aside from the mild grousing -- brushed the subject off.
"This one's about the same weight and seems pretty durable, but this one's got more inside pockets." She grins, briefly. "...Girl's gotta have a place to store the essentials."
Whether she means tools, guns, ammo, booze, or cigarettes, she doesn't specify.
From atop an awning nearby, Penelope merely waits, watching.
A moment or two later, she leans in. "How's Tiger doing?"
Meaning, in this case, Lily.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Hrm."
Some people would be at a loss, but Leon also wears dusters. He has learned the value of a good one; some of his earlier ones were too flimsy, substituting style for durability. and he ended up with a rag in the short part of a month. He has learned a few things about them, but that early lesson sticks with him. So when she offers them out, he rubs his thumbs over each.
"The one with pockets might get torn up faster," he says. "It depends what we find and run into. I imagine nothing would handle..." His nose wrinkles. He did ask, and he repeats, with some trepidation: "A Gear-sized flamethrower."
He pauses, a moment, though at the question. Not at Penelope, who is blessedly out of sight.
"Lily--" He says it with a little emphasis. He can't bring himself to call her Tiger, even if he is a little more casual with Josie. "--is doing... well enough. I think events down in Hadal Temple unnerved her. She is recovering, though."
He feels like he has said 'Lily is recovering' a few times too many in the last several months, though.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"So, as usual, it's utility versus durability... Hmm, hmm." She tilts her head to one side, as if considering this one with care. "It's a shame, really -- you should be able to have both. Maybe even a stylish one with both, for a price that won't break the bank..." Lopsidedly, she flashes a grin. "Oh well, you can't always get what you want. And, anyway..."
Josie just shrugs her shoulders.
"What can I say? I wasn't expecting a Gear to pop up in Solde. You make the best of what you've got."
Her eyes hood, and she emits a bitter laugh, no real mirth on her face. "...Though it was really the kind of 'make the best of it every stinkin' time' sorta situation."
And you only have to lose once for it to count.
"Well. Durable it is. All the pockets in the world aren't worth losing the whole damn thing in a fire."
Does she... expect it to happen again?
Honestly, given the way things have been going: yes.
Whereupon Leon answers her other question and her expression proceeds from 'vaguely miffed' into 'openly annoyed'. "That girl..." she mutters, turning just long enough to put the loser of the two coats back where she got it. "I don't know how you put up with it. It's enough to drive me demented, and believe me, I've got a whole lifetime's experience with reckless behavior!"
But she sighs. There's no changing a person.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"I think making them more stylish tends to weaken them," Leon says. "I'm no tailor, but it seems like the extra flare would add more points for it to fall apart." He shakes his head, and then glances sideways at her. He raises an eyebrow.
But he nods. Yes, Leon thinks, he wouldn't expect a Gear to show up there either. He frowns, though, before he looks forward and tucks his hands into the pockets of his duster. Durability wins out, it seems. He nods, before he glances to the side -- to look at some of the coats.
Maybe he should consider a new one, soon.
He looks back towards Josie, and then he shakes his head. "It's always been how Lily is," he says. "Even when we were young, under that exterior, she has a penchant for throwing herself headlong into things. I'm the more reserved one, if you'd believe it." And even he has a habit of doing things that might be dangerous.
"She seems to be on the mend, however. Which... is good," he says. "We've found a lead the ruin we were searching for. The one we heard about, at Mount Eldrin."
He sighs. "So it's for the best she healed, because she would go anyways."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Probably. Probably," Josie says, punctuating each word with a short nod. "Every so often I see one where someone's added some extra frills, like lace... looks nice, but it'd probably only last a day or so out in a ruin."
Or in a sudden firefight. Even the time she'd had a cute dress -- up in Kislev of all places -- it had gotten somewhat damaged.
On the other hand, at least it was only a 'borrowed' dress.
"Well, simple is best, as they say. This one should work." And in spite of some lingering sourness over 'cheaters and their Gears' she still manages a quick grin. "At least, until someone sets me on fire again."
Overhead, Penelope stirs, as if slightly agitated.
"I can believe it," Josie says, exhaling a sharp breath through her nose. "Though, you know... I'm not so certain either of you count as 'the reserved one'." Tossing the coat over her right forearm, she moves to clap him on the back. "But don't worry about it! Think of it this way: you're not boring."
Good cheer is fleeting; annoyance settles again over Josie. "Mmm... Well, at least she's not running off in bandages again."
He mentions why she might; Josie's interest is piqued. "Did you, now. Maybe I should tag along." She falls silent for all of a moment before leaning in. "That reminds me... do you remember that little mystery she was assisting me with?" Her gaze briefly flicks outwards, as if to check for anyone being a little too interested in conversation. "Looks like that one's not the only one. I'm thinking of doing a little work in some of the older ruins in the area, just to see if I get lucky."
She pauses. "......Don't suppose you've got an age range for that ruin of yours?"
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Simple has a style of its own," Leon says, with a slight smile. Which, in a way, is ridiculous; this is a man who wears vests into combat. Of course, his vests tend to be made of sturdier stuff than most, but still. He looks at her and flashes a brief grin.
It fades, slightly, when she says that neither is reserved. "I won't argue with that," he says. "Neither of us is reserved. ...Or boring."
He looks around, too. Despite the fact that Lily is the more cautious of the two, he isn't careless; he keeps an eye out for someone listening. And then, he explains more: "You'd be welcome to. Besides, I have a feeling if I didn't offer, then you might come anyways."
She did last time.
He tilts his head, then nods. He hadn't forgotten. He intended to help in any way that he can. "An age range?" he asks. "Mm. Yes. From the Zeboim era, apparently. You don't suppose...?"
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Hmm, that's true. Still, a little accent here and there..." Is that why she's wearing the little red ribbon around her shirt collar? It certainly has no pragmatic purpose.
There's nothing wrong with a vest. It's a little extra padding against the slings and arrows of ruin expedition, a little more (minute) storage. It's why Josie wears one.
"With you two, it's never a dull moment." Fleetingly playful, Josie flashes again that bright smile. "Boring's the proverbial fate-worse-than-death, you know."
For someone like Josie, being interesting is much more important than, say, a sense of self-preservation.
Though there's times when she wouldn't mind a little bit of the latter. But just sometimes.
"If I found out you two ditched me again?"
She plants her free hand on her hip. "I'd find you, come anyway, and I wouldn't share my flask with either of you." The attempt she makes at a severe stare is perhaps undercut severely by the distinctly... mischievous smile on her lips. "So, tell me more. Do you know what you're walking into?"
Before he mentions the age range.
Her dark eyes widen. "You don't say." She rocks back a touch on her heels, as if thinking. "Hm. It could be. It's not the only one I know of in the region -- Colisea Arcadia springs to mind -- but it's too tempting not to chase up." She pauses. "Assuming I wasn't already going to. This just makes things easy!"
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon smiles, for a moment, knowingly -- then he nods, as he looks forward. Never a dull moment. He doesn't argue with that. It hasn't been a boring year, since he became a Drifter. It still feels strange to think it has been a year.
"I thought that might be the case," he says. He rubs at his chin, and thinks about this for a moment while he considers. His eyes are narrowed -- and he looks to Josie. It's a thoughtful expression, as he considers the coincidence. "It may be worth checking. This one is named... the name is strange. Ash Hare," he says. "I can't figure out why it would be named after a bloody rabbit."
He sighs.
"But, it's supposed to be one where no one has ever quite managed to get inside. It matches the region that Gryndille was retreating to--and what little people have seen... it matches the Zeboim-era ruins that others have seen," he says. "So, in short: a remote ruin, which no one has fully explored, and we have no idea of what exactly we will be getting into."
He shrugs. "It should be fun. I've sent word to Jude, Fei, and Elly, too."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Above, Penelope settles down and closes her eyes. For once, the pigeon doesn't seem to be up to anything overtly malevolent.
It's certainly been a year. Another year older, another year... well, probably not wiser, not in Josie's case.
Another year.
"The desert's littered with ruins and there are a few older ones out there. ...Though, usually they're pret-ty well known and picked over to boot, yeah?" This smile is a little more chagrined, if that's an emotion Josie's actually capable of feeling. "I suppose I'm not really helping with that one."
She gazes up towards the skies above, as if thinking about something. "'Ash Hare', huh... that's a new one. Here I thought I knew all the sites. I guess that's what I get for leaving the area for a while..."
That or another possibility, which presents itself.
She gives Leon a glance, then smiles tightlipped. "That, or everyone who went in died. Well, I do like a challenge!"
Ash Hare.
Fire, perhaps?
"I'm sure it'll be fine." She purses her lips, as if thinking. "Elly, Elly... the red-head?" Fei, she knows.
And Jude. Who has been holding out on her. Who might still be holding out, come to think of things.
Such as whereabouts of a certain fossil skull.
"You know, it's awfully good timing of Jude to come along. I had something I wanted to ask him."
That look in her eyes: this can only go well.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon still gives Penelope a look. He may have grown to accept Penelope, but this is more like preparing for her, rather than trusting her. He looks at the pigeon for a moment, before he looks back at Josie.
He sighs, and then nods. "Mm. As you say," he says. "Most ruins have been explored at least once. I wonder if it's true--or if it's overblown. We'll know soon enough."
He rubs his chin, thoughtfully, as she talks about a challenge. He nods in agreement, quietly, before he glances at Josie. "Yes, her," he says. "Nice enough girl. Her and Fei get along. They appear to be a thing, though I don't know for certain."
Telling Josie this may not be the nicest thing that Leon has ever done.
Then, she says she wanted to ask Jude something. He turns to her and gives her a long look. He opens his mouth. Then, he considers the bill for Jude's dry-cleaning. "I'm sure he'll be excited to answer you," he says, with a smile.
Nor is that the nicest thing that Leon has ever done.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
To be fair, it's best for no one with a sound mind to fully trust Penelope.
Or any bird, if we're being honest. They haven't forgotten about dinosaurs.
"Two sides of the same coin," Josie agrees, ducking her head in a quick nod. "I guess we'll just have to see which side it lands on. Well, that's the beauty of ruins-delving."
Also, possibly, why she started doing this for profit and not just for the sake of academia. "Well, I'll do a little shopping for supplies, once I pay for this coat. Sounds like I might want to be prepared." For... a change?
That earns him a raised eyebrow. "Got lucky, did he? You know, when I was that age, ruins were not my favored dating location. How times have changed..." This lamenting sigh is strictly mock. "Of course, I suppose I could ask the same about you."
That look she gives him suggests trouble.
Almost as much trouble as Jude may face.
"Oh, good. I would hate to be a bother~"
It's going to be a good expedition already!