2020-05-01: A Fractured Perspective
- Log: A Fractured Perspective
- Cast: Josephine Lovelace, Leon Albus, Lily Keil
- Where: The Karlsefni
- Date: May 01, 2020
- Summary: Josie drops in on Leon after hearing he was injured... and is a little surprised when she finds out how much and why. The blue-eyed man is discussed, as are other topics of the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
There is a knock on the door to the medical bay, aboard the Karlsefni.
"Room service," comes the familiar voice of one Josephine Lovelace, who scarce waits for a reply before waltzing on in.
She does, in fact, come bearing a bottle of something. It's set down on a nearby counter heavily. The contents slosh promisingly, though knowing Josie, is anything in there likely to be other than 'throat-searing'?
And then she turns and takes in the scene before her.
"..."
Any mirth that might have been there fades once her gaze settles on the sight of Leon.
"I heard you were in a bad way, Lion," she remarks, shaking her head, "but I wasn't expecting this."
Her gaze flits over to Lily, her dark eyes questioning.
And then she heads on over and grabs a chair and sits herself down.
"So. Tell me what happened."
Her words, by contrast, aren't phrased like a question at all.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon sits on the bed, shirtless -- but his chest is wrapped in bandages, across one shoulder and down all the way to his waist. The bandages are tight and, mercifully, still clean. They still need changing; it will be another couple of days, really, before the wound is fully healed, even with Lily's magic making it safe for him to move.
"A madman with a sword," he says. "He stabbed me through." He glances, sideways, at Lily. Then, he looks back at Josie.
He sits up a little straighter -- grimaces with the jostling -- and then eyes the bottle of liquor.
"You might have heard of him. The one who does illusions, with some connection to Solaris. I'm afraid I don't know his name."
He glances at Lily. "We've both had run-ins with him, now."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"The 'blue-eyed man' is the best we've gotten. ...I don't usually do a lot of talking with him when I run into him," she admits. "Like that last time in the Elw ruin..."
It was a fairly recent run-in, even. But for now, Lily looks over to the liquor looks over at Leon again. She'll probably have some, buuut...
"He'll recover fine though," Lily explains, just to be clear. "And there shouldn't be any trouble from Sielje since we got out of town before it all got ugly and started with the quesstions."
For Lily's part, she's seated just now, in a chair beside the bed; she has supplies out that imply recent use, but isn't moving around just this instant.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie's gaze darkens.
Her response is a simple one:
"Him."
A moment's silence passes.
"Yeah. I met that bastard. You ain't the last one he's got clean through." Her gaze tilts again Lily's way; something perhaps passes between the two women. After all, Lily had been the one to find her and patch her up.
After all...
"Wish I had something to tell you. Hell, the news he's with Solaris is new to me," she says, planting her one good hand on her left knee. "But he's a ghost or somethin' like. Blue eyes. Sooner kill you than explain himself."
She glances away.
"Plays with illusions, right enough."
She shakes her head.
"I figured. Lion doesn't look like he's on his last legs yet," Josie explains with a wry smile, "and you ain't the type to let him get there. ...So what's all this about Sielje? Should I be expecting a friendly-like knock from a lawman or what?"
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"You've met him, then," Leon says, after a moment. He looks between Lily and Josie; he can guess, even, what passes between them. Lily has patched up most of the Wolves, at some point. He looks back at Josie, then he sighs.
"Well, if he has attacked three of us," he concludes, "that does tell me something. Our lot has his interest. For some reason, which we might not be able to grasp at."
Then, he shakes his head.
"I doubt it. It was in an inn. Ah, Gwen Whitlock was there, too. He trapped us in the inn and set it ablaze. We had to flee -- she'd been shot by me, in the illusions." He feels a little bad about that.
"And I'd been ran through," Leon says. "But... they may put us there, but not him. I saw him enter--and I felt like I might have been the only one."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily remembers; they've all dealt with him before, after all. And it's not the first time she's cleaned up the aftermath.
Something does pass there--Lily rememebers that well. But she doesn't comment aloud. Instead...
"Tries to teach whatever strange philosophy he has. Somthing about pain..."
Lily shakes her head. "I guess that's true, isn't it? Three makes a trend. I'd worried he might have come after you specifically becuse of my dealings with hijm, but... maybe not."
Gwen's, too. "That's why we left in a hurry, just in case. I doubt we'll have any law problems with them, but there was no sense in tempting fate. Sielje has enough problems of its own right now. Particularly if someone like that was in the area."
Lily remembers, too--places that never seemed to heal from the conflicts there, back on Lunar...
"Gwen also recovered."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Sure did. He's a friendly sort, ain't he?" she quips, smiling far too broading for that expression to be in any way genuine. "Tiger, here, too. Probably a whole lot of others, I'd wager."
Some of them might have even survived!
"Who knows," she remarks, shrugging her shoulders as Leon and Lily theorize. "Maybe there's rhyme and reason to it. Maybe there's nothin'. Maybe it's just random and he thinks it's got meaning. You ever have to deal with a mad dog, Leon?" She leans back in her seat and sighs. "...Sometimes things just are, and the only way you deal with 'em is taking them out." She smiles, again in that way that doesn't meet her eyes.
"Heh heh, maybe I am getting too old for this business..."
Pain, suffering.
And above all else, loss.
"...Gwen, huh? Don't you worry none about her. She's a bright little thing, and I daresay she'll blame you none." Josie pauses, then glances about. "...She is alive, right?"
BECAUSE SHE HAS TO CHECK okay
"Good," is her reply on that when Lily confirms it; Josie reclines in her seat some and breathes out a weighty sigh, perhaps wishing she could smoke in here or something.
"...Bad business all around. Good move getting on out of there," Josie remarks, as they explain what happened. "Don't think you need more of a price on your head. Someone's bound to collect at this rate..."
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"I can't say for sure. I thought I might have just... come across him, but Gwen raised a point. If he wanted me dead, then I would be. He didn't miss my heart," Leon explains, as he sits up a little straighter. He frowns, for a moment, at the mention of a mad dog.
He nods his head, and then answers matter-of-factly: "We had a couple of the hounds that guarded the camp get hydrophobia. You're right," he says. "The most we could do for them was a swift end."
He runs his hand down his chin, more stubbled now. "Good that she is. She's a tough girl," he says. "And I owe her my life, now, I would say. I'd have burned up in there, if it weren't for hger."
Then he sighs, and shakes his head. "We're sure to attract bounty hunters, sooner or later."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Friendly. Lily's expression is sour, contemplating the man. Probably others? "Definitely others," she remarks. She remembers, too--the cut to her eye in that first meeting with him, the way she reacted for a while after.... How it changed things in November for her for a while.
Things just are. Lily watches Josie for a few moments through that eye-missing smile. It's a thoughtful, calculating kind of look, the kind Lily gives when she's observing without considering her expression, these days. But it doesn't last long.
"True." The hounds... Lily shakes her head.
"She's too bright for her own good," Lily decides. "She helped me out after one once, too. Though I think I worried her more than anything. ...Either way, we do owe her." Lily and blood have a different relationship than most.
"We will," Lily admits. "We have, if you'll recall," she points out, thinking all that way back to first meeting Jude Moshe. "But that's why the secrecy. We can at least make it difficult for them to keep track of us."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Hmm. Could be. I felt like my little run-in was sure random enough, but who can say?" She shakes her head. "If he wanted something from me, he ain't collected." She pauses, her mouth flattening into a line. "That, or he already got it, whatever it was. Might just be into this business for the fun of it, yeah?"
In other words, a mad dog.
"Right you are. So, I wouldn't waste my time hearing him out. Learning more about what Solaris is would be a treat, sure, but not if it comes at the end of a swordpoint. And not if them that's telling it can't be bothered to make a lick of sense."
What had he said to her then... even thinking back on it, she can't make head or tails of it.
"Now that's a good girl," she remarks, on Gwen. "Dare say we owe her a little something for all that trouble. But I don't think she's the drinking or smoking type, yeah?" She grins, and dips her head in a nod, before glancing over at Lily. "So, how about I leave it up to you two?" She adds, with a sheepish grin, "I spent my last gella already anyhow." Again?!
"Somehow I doubt all of 'em will be as friendly-like as Moshe," Josie remarks, smiling that lopsided smile. "But good. I ain't seen many listings for you two lately, but trust me, they're out and about."
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"He has a goal. I'm sure of it," Leon says. "He mentioned knowledge of Solaris. And he wanted us to... kneel to him?" His shoulders shrug, lightly, and then Leon shakes his head. "Not that I'm arguing--the goal may not be one we can understand that well."
He glances between the two women, then leans back and sighs. "All of your gella. Again, Josie?" Leon sighs. "Well, we'll need more work, then. But yes, we should do something--at least, keep her ind mind."
He looks at Lily, considering, and then says: "Well, for the best, really. We had a lot of heat, and Moshe was the best of that," Leon admits. "But... I think Odessa's likely attracted most of the attention, lately."
He frowns a little, at the mention of the terrorist army.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"It might relate to whatever warped perspective he has in the first place. 'Truth'..." Lily shakes her head. "I'm not interested in being whatever it is he has in mind. I'm not arguing there, either." She tries to think back to it, but the images, the feelings overcome much of the words.
"I don't think so," Lily agrees about Gwen not being the type, though she shakes her head. "Of course," she replies, amused enough. "I had a feeling. Maybe I'm just learning to tell the future."
Or maybe it's a habit.
"We did, but... It's as you say. Right now there are bigger problems for them to worry about," she says, frowning. "Odessa..."
"And before that, on Spira, the conflict there. It seems we mostly have the cover a grenade throws up. But it's inevitable that we'll have to deal with them sooner or later."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie just shrugs.
"Who knows? I don't doubt the connection -- from what I remember of his style, it was kind of like yours but not quite, Rose-of-Sharon," she says, only to shake her head. "But what he wants, and how he's doing it...? Maybe there's better ways to work out their deal than him. Like Red, for instance."
Or a certain doctor, if Josie knew more about that particular man.
But yes, Josie has apparently once again spent all her money. "Sure did," she says, without a lick of actual shame. "I've been hunting down Eos, and it doesn't come cheaply. But I've got a good lead or two on Kasutho, and it's in the right sort of place." Which is to say, it's on the correct longitudinal line...
...but so have a lot of islands, and that's assuming the business isn't back in Ignas or something.
Still.
Josie shifts in her seat. "Right you are. Maybe it'll slip by the wayside, or get chalked up to that lot's doings, yeah? ...Least we don't need to worry about Spira down here."
Unless, of course, events take them back there. But what are the odds of that?
(never ask about the odds)
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Very well could," Leon says, with a glance at Lily. "That 'truth' of his..."
He shifts again, but then thinks better of it. Sitting still has never been all that easy for him. He looks sideways at Lily, and nods at her. It will come up, sooner or later. "All we can do is prepare for it," he says. "And try to not draw ourselves into the line of fire too much."
Then, he looks back at Josie. His eyes blink -- but there is a nod. "You've a lead, then? In Kasutho?" Leon asks. "Well--if we can help you with it, you know you only have to ask us, Josie."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Mm. Yeah. He's kind of..." Lily shakes her head. Instead she says, "We do have other angles on Solaris anyway. Those that make more sense, as you say. We'll just have to prepare, yeah."
"Leads," Lily says with some interest. "Now that's interesting. I'm definitely up for investigating if you think this one is going to pan out."
Then to Leon, "Try not to move so much," she suggests, noticing the last attempt stop with some approval. But here,
"At least Sin didn't follow us," she allows.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"I'm just saying," and Josie opts for a lopsided smile, "that I'd think real carefully on using Mister Blue Eyes as a source, yeah? And it's me telling you to be careful, so you know." She stretches her arms out wide to either side and mock bows while remaining seated. Reckless? Guilty as charged.
"Cheers to that," Josie remarks, on the subject of 'not drawing themselves too much into the line of fire'. If only she had a drink to go with it.
Then he asks her about Kasutho.
"Call it more, hmm... a handful of leads," she says, gesturing vaguely. "A few sites that are suspicious enough, or old enough, or have rumors enough to make me think about looking a little bit closer. Once I have some money in my pocket I'm thinking about seeing what comes up when I ask about. And if I hit something likely..." She flashes a grin. "Well, we'll just have to see now, won't we!"
Which is when Lily mentions Sin.
"Thank Fengalon for small favors," Josie nearly groans.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"You raise a fair point," Leon says to Josie. "I'll keep it in mind--and make sure I'm not relying on him." He rubs a palm against the side of his head, mussing up his shaggy blonde hair even further. He should, really, get a haircut. Maybe eventually.
"A few leads?" he asks. "Well, all the better. Let us know, and we can help--at least, once this is healed." He glances at Lily. "Another few days, it sounds like."
Then, he sighs.
"Sin," he says. "I'd rather not. Of course--I wonder how Lady Yuna is fairing. She is on Filgaia, I'd heard."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"You being the one to say be careful? Maybe I hit my head somewhere," Lily answers Josie. Reckless? Well, yes. But she doesn't offer drinks for the moment. Instead, she nods again anyway, thinking it out. "Relying on him... Hmm."
A handful of leads, kis it? Lily thinks it through. "Sure, then. A few. Right, let us know. I want to see this place of yours, too."
And maybe end up footing some bills, but that's less a want, really. Lily does keep track of spending better, though...
"Last I saw her," Lily says of Yuna, "She and her Guardians are trying to help out while they look for a way back. I was out at a Dig with her, at this old ruin devoted to Equites."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Sure seems like the world's gone belly-up now, eh, Tiger?" Josie remarks, still smiling.
"Sure enough, cap'n," she says, ducking her head in a nod. "But only once you've healed up. I don't think Tiger's gonna let run off anywhere just yet, anyhow. Seems like our fates really are all tangled up, though, huh..."
If she hadn't fallen in with them, she would have never had that lead. Funny how it all works out.
Leon mentions Yuna. "She's here too, huh... Well, that makes sense."
Pause.
"Guess there's no sense trying to finish the job now, huh?" She grins, then shakes her head.
Another pause then follows.
"Wonder if she's mad, any. Doesn't seem like the type, but them good girls can surprise you sometimes, heh heh..."
Maybe it's best not to ask how Josie knows this.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"The world has a way of being absurd, and thus surprising us," Leon says with a shrug of his shoulders.
Leon looks sideways at Lily, then he nods. Good, he thinks; it is for the best that Yuna does something with herself, while she was here. He crosses his arms, though, at Josie's question.
"No," he confirms.
"We were hired by the Al Bhed, to abduct her, to not make the scene that would come of her agreeing to meet with their leader," he says. "Well. Then her party, allegedly, killed a Maester."
Leon sighs. "So that's out the window. I've a mind to ask her to meet with their leader, whenever we should get back, though. So... I should try to find her, I suppose."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Can't argue that. It does," Lily admits. Similarly the way they're all entangled--it is funny, in its way. Absurd... "Yeah, maybe that's it."
She shares a look with Leon--and then shakes her head to Josie. "Or if she is she's some kind of absolute master at pretending to be someone entirely different," the witch allows wryly. "...True. The mission's purpose is moot beyond us being all on Filgaia now, considering."
"At least she's not that hard to find--she and they... Well, they stand out, that much is sure."
"I've a mind to discuss some of my work lately on machinery with Rikku, anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Thought as much. After all that mess, I'm assuming the deal's off." She arches a pale eyebrow when Leon mentions the other part of it. "...See, what did I tell you about nice girls?"
Josie pauses then, tilting her head to one side as Leon suggests they talk to her anyway and see if she'll meet with the Al Bhed. "Unless... hmm, maybe we'll get something for it even after the fact, yeah?" she offers, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, I'm in, if we can find the girl."
Even if they do, as Lily says, stand out on Filgaia.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"That they are trouble?" Leon says.
He sighs, then he nods his head in agreement. He glances at Lily, as he considers that. They do stand out; it would not be so hard to go looking for them, if they ask the right people, even if they lack the fame they had on Spira.
"In that case," he says, "let's see what we can find. After I've healed up. Might be good to have a nice chat."