2020-04-03: Hunting For Wolves
- Log: Hunting For Wolves
- Cast: Loren Voss, Leon Albus, Lily Keil
- Where: Meria City - Central Commercial District
- Date: April 03, 2020
- Summary: Loren, in search of the Black Wolves on orders from above, finds a couple.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
The orders had been handed down from on high, ultimately.
Passed down the chain of command through Gebler, the general orders had eventually coagulated into an actual assignment on Loren's desk. And just think, it's all because of his past experience with the people in question.
What fun, had been his more private assessment of the matter. But at least it might finally lead to him getting something he wants, in the same breath.
After all, when you got right down to it, the Black Wolves were certainly, without question...
...
Meria City is a busy place. Worse, his targets are the type to move around. Intelligence might put them in one location one day, but they could have already left by the time he arrives -- even using what resources he has available that are appropriate to the assignment. After all, just because you can theoretically use a shuttle doesn't mean you absolutely will be able to use that shuttle -- and he didn't even bother to ask, because he's not an idiot and knows the answer will be no, for reasons of operational secrecy.
So, fine. He's left to do catchup. Word had it that they were heading to Meria, and maybe he'll get lucky and find them here... or maybe he's been left behind again.
Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Loren squints at some papers posted on the billboard outside a meeting house of some popularity. Does anything here seem local, relevant, and likely?
If he were a witch and her paramour, where would he go in town?
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon Albus has gone to some lengths to hide the Karlsefni from Solaris. He does not dock it in large ports; he does not bring it anywhere near a large military engagement. It isn't that they do not know it exists, but he does not want his brand new battleship besieged at this juncture. This is why, when he and Lily are in Meria, it is just them -- and no sign of the black-hulled vessel they found.
He walks down the street, wearing a collared white shirt, vest, and brown trousers with boots. It has more of a Drifter look than he ever did before. His shotgun is at his side, and he glances sideways at Lily, as he walks down the street.
"I always thought this city was too bloody picturesque," he says. "It has its charm, but really. Ignasian cities have so much more..."
He waves a hand. "...character? They're rougher about the edges."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily Keil agrees with the need, and is more than willing to take longer walks now and then as necessary. Besides; it's not as if she has particular trouble getting around land without it. So it's just them...
Lily is dressed rather similarly at the moment, save that she's in a long skirt with boots instead. She has an ARM at her side, a knife in her boot.
"I think at least half that charm is the prevalence of cats," Lily muses. "But it's certainly more sprawling than Nortune's close arrangements. It does feel less like a city for that."
"But I'm not quite sure grime counts as character. Does make me miss November, though."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
In fact, while certain sections of Solaris might have noticed that the Karlsefni exists (a fact which might be causing a bit of a stir in certain parts of the intelligence division) they have yet to figure out who is in control of it. (Current odds in intelligence are favoring Odessa.)
Its existence hasn't yet been divulged to anyone further down the governmental/military foodchain.
Which has indirectly impacted Loren's search for the Black Wolves, given that attempts to scope out just what ship they're on this week has invariably turned up some dead ends.
A pair of people are having a conversation near him. He barely notices it, instead reading something about an event at a... wait, this was last month. Forget that.
Which is when the voice of the woman in the pair registers.
Loren turns his head.
Aside from his overall him-ness, he'd actually pass as an everyday sort of traveler, sword at his hip and all. The shirt's a little too fussily pressed, perhaps, for the average Drifter, sure. The pants have never been mended even once, and the shoes look perhaps like they are only a few weeks worn. And the overall effect of the otherwise unremarkable outfit might just be give the impression of being a bit too 'careful' in its composition, certainly. But to the average observer--
Leon and Lily are anything but average, of course.
He tails after the both of them for a spell, making some attempt at nonchalant.
Then:
"Keil. ...Albus. What are the odds," he says, flatly, as if to imply this is anything other than fortunate for him.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"You have a point," Leon says, with a sigh. He glances around the portion of the town they're in; the harbor in the distance, the fountain ahead of them, and then the various news stands and other places selling books. He seems to consider stopping at one.
But he stops, finally, when he hears Loren speak. Leon doesn't turn; he actually glances, calmly, at Lily. And he finishes his thought:
"Grime just has a way of showing up in those cities, like an unwelcome guest you can't shake."
Then, he turns around, and looks at Loren with a placid smile that hides the fact that -- the last they spoke -- he had to be convinced to not shoot Loren dead, while he bled out.
"Why, Voss!" he says. "Hello."
His hand is already on his shotgun, resting there. It is not an idle resting.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"And apparently in these," Lily says. Specifically after Leon greets Loren. Only then does she turn his way, looking Loren over carefully--and that careful look is clear. The last time she saw him, after all, something was very strange, she was certain. And now...
Well.
"You didn't strike me as the type for social calls, Voss." Her hands, meanwhile, aren't on her weapon. They are quite conspicuously empty of anything at all, free at her sides. It isn't as much a wary kind of careful, the way she looks--if Loren catches the look, it's more like she's assessing his condition than assessing his threat level.
"I assume you aren't here to pick a fight in the middle of the street."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Or potentially like a bad Gella coin.
You know, in the sense that it just keeps turning up.
Here they are at last -- or at least, two of the lot of them. A certain pilot and a certain traitor have rather more unknown whereabouts, but the medical officer will take what he can get. This is as good a place as any to start.
...Loren had not of course been particularly conscious at that time, otherwise he might have greeted Leon with a bit more vehemence than the current audible disdain in his tone. Still -- his gaze shifts downwards to take in where Leon's hand rests.
His own just touches the hilt of his sword.
"Of course not," he answers Lily, his gaze sliding her way. "The last thing I would want is to cause a disturbance." He looks, perhaps pointedly, over at Leon.
Though, what was with that look she'd been giving him there?
"Is something on my face, Keil?" he asks her, taking but one step closer to the pair of them, narrowing the gap. An aggressive move, in spite of his earlier statement, for someone who typically acts defensively.
When he's not on Drive, that is.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon sighs, a little. Whether it is with relief or disappointment, on the gods could say. His hand leaves the gun, and he folds his arms. There is still a practiced looseness to his posture; a way of carrying himself that reveals the truth of how he is ready to strike, if need be. His eyes narrow, a little, as he steps closer.
"Far be it from me to be rash or foolish," Leon says. "I'm always careful and measured. Though... I have to ask."
He glances about.
"Why are you here?" he asks. "Something you're looking for, in this city? Something your masters on high sent you to retrieve?"
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily watches Loren lay a hand on his weapon, and takes a moment to calculate who would be in the path of any immediate difficulties, what would be necessary to counter an opening movement. Would it be the sword, or Ether?
But that doesn't happen. "Good," Lily answers. "But I did mean that." She nods to Leon's question, as if to emphasize it, but there's--he takes the step closer, and asks. Lily blinks. "What?"
Ah, right. "No," she answers after a moment. "It's nothing you need to worry about. I'm more interested in why you're here."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It's neither, Loren's hand moving from the hilt of his sword as soon as the subject of the law comes into play. But despite his statement that he doesn't intend on disrupting the peace, he still steps closer.
"...Do you think I'm an idiot, Albus? Why should I tell you what I'm doing?" This, at least, is classic Loren--
Even if he's behaving somewhat to the left of normal, for him, than Lily may be accustomed.
His gaze shifts towards Lily; he inclines his head slightly to the right as he regards her.
"Same reason as anyone. Or am I suddenly not supposed to be here? I should ask you what you're doing."
He pauses, his attention now on Lily alone--
Because, in the end, he has a better idea of what moves her.
"Come to think of it, have you gained any control over that 'magic' of yours? Or are you still running wild?" He pauses, and glances over at Leon. "You know, one of the first things we learn is just how much damage Ether can cause to the untrained... and their loved ones."
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"If I thought you're the sort of idiot to answer such a question honestly..." Leon gives Loren a cold look. It's easy, really, with those silver eyes. Then he smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Well. I did ask it of you, didn't I?"
His opinion of his intelligence may be higher, but Leon Albus is -- above most things -- not very nice.
He seems fine to fall back for a moment, and let Loren and Lily speak. He glances sideways at Lily -- wondering what she sees -- and then he looks back at Loren. He scowls, then.
"You're not a greasy black smear," he offers. "So, I think, you can estimate how much control she has from that."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Ask a question, get an answer...
He is behaving more strangely than Lily expects as a rule, but that if anything justifies extra scrutiny. She gives a low laugh at Leon's assessment. ...This probably isn't too much of a surprise.
"More why you approached us," she allows, perhaps surprisingly patient. Or maybe because she doesn't want to waste the time caring about semantics.
Her eyes flash with an immediate anger as Loren makes that accusation, but Leon's statement holds true; she does not so much as let loose little flashes of power, not a hint of the magic that she might feel like unleashing. "Yes, I learned that young, myself. Or was your magic just not powerful enough to hurt you before you learned control? Ah, wait--you had to be taught to use it at all. One of the limitations of the great people of the sky, hm?"
"Would you like a demonstration?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
If looks alone could kill...
...Leon would at least be severely wounded.
"Ha ha," Loren says, utterly flat. "Very funny, Albus."
He doesn't answer why he approached them. Not... directly, in any case.
"And somehow," he pauses, just long enough to shoot Leon another murderous look for that second comment, "you managed not to set fire to you own home. How commendable. Really, I'm impressed that you, of all people, refrained from causing injury to those dearest to you."
Something by his eye twitches when Lily comments on the apparent weakness of his magic -- touched a nerve there, perhaps.
"Save it, Keil. I'm saying this for your own good, you realize. I know you've given refuge to van Houten." Actual ire alights in his gaze for a moment before it burns out. "Did she ever tell you about what she did?" He pauses, as if to reflect on it. "I imagine she didn't. Things like the death of your classmates at your hand," and there is almost a touch of familiarity, there, "tend to weigh on you. And she was one of us."
He glances between the both of them, folding his arms over his chest. "I wonder how many you'll take out with you when it happens?"
He pauses for a moment, as if to consider them both.
"Of course, learning control is always an option."
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon's glower back at Loren is rather murderous. The remark about injuring those he cares about seems to have struck its mark. He isn't the sort to visibly flinch, grow sullen, or appear upset. There is just a tightness to his jaw that wasn't there before; a hardness in his eyes that is familiar.
"Careful, Voss," he says, his tone even. "You wouldn't want me to behave rashly, now, would you?"
He glances at Lily; he tries to judge her reaction, which isn't that hard for him. Then, he looks back at Loren. "So, you're warning us out of the goodness of your heart. I'm glad to see that you have one. And honestly surprised, to boot."
He folds his arms. "And yes, van Houten left. We didn't demand every detail of her past, I'm afraid. If she lost control... she hasn't since."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily's control doesn't slip, but she smiles very, very unpleasantly at the matter of injuring those closest to her. "No," she answers, "Someone was kind enough to do that for me."
She takes some pleasure in striking that nerve, at least. Some. For her own good, though? She lifts an eyebrow, and notices--maybe feels--that emotion towards 'van Houten', as Loren describes it. One of them...
She nods to Leon, not feeling the need to repeat what he said. Leon can easily see, though--Lily is thoughtful instead of simply dismissive. She remembers times that it's been close. "So exactly what are you getting at? I hope you realize that you're never getting those dampeners near me again."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
That, perhaps, makes the two of them.
Or possibly the three of them.
He almost seems to consider Leon's words -- as if they were some sort of offer, instead what they really are.
"Is that a threat?" he asks. The look in his eyes is strange -- nearly flat. Nearly. "...But I suppose I should be the better man," Loren says, unfolding his arms to shrug expansively. "And you aren't worth running afoul of the local law here, anyway."
He glances over at Lily.
"Have you? Or have you just convinced yourself that?"
Before looking back at Leon. He sounds almost affronted. "I'm a medic, Albus. And it's not your wounds I'd lose sleep over, I assure you." He gestures out to the city at large. "But I'll get to pick up the pieces when she does go off. And I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you." He darn near rolls his eyes when Lily brings up the dampeners. "If I thought you would take one willingly, I'd be an idiot," he says, shaking his head. "No. I'm offering you control. Call it... mutual interest. You learn how not to blow up a city, and I don't have to deal with a blown up city. Understand?"
On Elly, his response is at first to pull a face like he's just found a cockroach in his oatmeal. "Hmph. It's not her I'm worried about. But just remember: she's trained, and she still lost control like that. Keil isn't."
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"It absolutely is," Leon answers, with another of those cold smiles.
He frowns, glancing at Lily. He starts to understand what Loren is getting at, perhaps. Unless he means one of those dampeners, and Leon has no illusions about whether Lily would agree with that. He straightens his back out, a little.
"What sort of control?" he asks. "Are you offering her lessons? Or some blasted Solarian technology?"
His opinion of that is rather low.
But he doesn't question Loren's interest. He, too, has no real desire to see a city blown up -- though his faith in Lily's control is rather higher.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily moves on easily from Loren's shrug, and his glance. Has she? Lily glances back to Leon for a moment, thoughtfully, and then back to Loren again. 'Go off'. It annoys her, the way he says it, but she doesn't even take the bait of calling him an idiot this time. This time, anyway. Mutual interest...
With Elly's power, it's entirely sensible to Lily that a loss of control could have dangerous consequences, but she must apply the same to herself as well. "Yes, that's the question," Lily adds after a moment. "Are you actually offering to teach me your methods?" Leon has seen this particular look before--the look Lily gets when there's something to Know, to understand, one that is more and more common these days. She watches Loren less like an enemy and more like a particularly relevant test subject. "Considering how much I've learned to amplify my abilities," she mentions to Leon, trailing off. Her own faith in her control is a little less so; strong, but still concerned. She waits for an answer.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Training, of course," comes Loren's response to Leon, coupled with a shake of his head. "If you think for a moment that I'd let her have any of our technology--"
This had been the Major's -- and the Commander's, come to think of it --lesson to him: give them what they want. With everything else, he can be as himself.
And what, in the end, is the one thing he knew Lily was interested in?
With the rest of it, he can more or less be himself. That, itself, the Major had implied, was its own sort of strength. Though he had wondered if the Major had meant that as bit of a blunted jab in and of itself.
"But yes, to answer your question, Keil, I am. Don't forget: you're still my enemy. But if it prevents a disaster," and here he sort of sighs and shrugs slightly, "I can call a truce, for now. The real question is, can you?"
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Hn."
Leon folds his arms again.
He stays quiet on it. Part of him wants to reject it out of hand, but that could be foolish. This is a chance for Lily to have something she never did before. Part of him, too, knows this is not his decision.
At least, it is not his alone. Leon glances sideways at Lily, head tilted to the side, and then nods.
He plans to follow her lead.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Right," Lily forestalls about any further technology. Lily just watches Loren for a little while longer, as if she could divine more answers that way. But still, if that's what he means...
Something she didn't have was right. She could've benefitted a great deal from that when younger; she could benefit now, if it means not worrying as much in crowded places. And it makes sense that Solaris would want to keep things quiet...
"Nobody involved wants a disaster. All right, Voss. If you're calling a temporary truce, I can do that. I'll see if what you have to show me is worth it."
...What interests Lily? Well...
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Lily might be the key here, as far as he can determine...
But that doesn't mean he doesn't keep at least one eye on Leon, as he makes his offer to her.
He exhales sharply. "...Good. So you do have some sense in you, Keil. I'll meet you here in a week and we can talk then."
As if to sweeten the pot, he adds, glancing Leon's way, "This extends to the rest of your Black Wolves. For now. I'd love nothing more than to take van Houten in, but this takes priority."
Because even Solaris, it seems, has standards for what it's willing to accept, even to the surface-dwellers.