2017-04-17:A 1/13,000 Chance
- Log: A 1/13,000 Chance
- Cast: Gwen Whitlock, Seraph Ragnell
- Where: Adlehyde - Near the Fairgrounds
- Date: 4/17/2017
- Summary: As Gwen recovers from her trip to the Berry Caves, a certain trickster Seraph sneaks into her room, giving Gwen the scare of her life. What happens next, and the alignment of factors that led to it, lead to something unexpected. Too bad Ragnell didn't explain to Gwen what exactly happened, but Gwen's smart enough to eventually figure it out on her own, right? ... Right?
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
All in all, Gwen still thinks it was worth it. As it turns out, you *can* make yourself be the power source for a centuries old terminal, provided you have an ARM that uses electricity as a means to power itself. You just can't do it for very long.
An ARM that is powering something more than an ARM needs an outside power source. That power source turned out to be Gwen. Gwen is an ordinary human being. Thus, after a short span of time Gwen fainted, leaving her in the care of the crew that came down to investigate these ruins with her. Turns out one of them was a doctor. Who knew?
BUT IT WAS STILL WORTH IT.
Holed up in a miscellaneous hotel room to rest, Gwen hasn't done a whole lot. It's probably been the first time in a while she's stayed so long in one area, and in a room, no less. Arleph has provided a good means of care, occasionally keeping an eye on the courier's vital signs and making sure her health continued to improve. Lots of sleeping, some grumbles as she moved her body around to keep her muscles from getting too stiff, more sleeping, sneaking out to check on Gulliver, getting caught by the innkeeper, sleeping, reading a dog-earred book out of boredom, sleeping, eating-
Oh yeah, there's been a whole lot of eating, too. Lots of gurgling stomachs, Gwen staring at her coin purse as she tries to see how much she can stretch out her funds to pay for her extraordinary craving for anything sweet. Porridge with honey, maybe? Not that out of bounds. Maybe, just maybe, some cake- nonono, no cake. But, Gwen reasoned, none of her companions needed to be held responsible for the other side effect of her first and hopefully last foray into battery-dom.
There's also just... the boredom. There's nothing to focus on. Nothing to focus on, except what little stimuli her brain can try to access. The soft murmurs of people outside. The creak of floorboards. The flickering of a nearby candle. Each and every crack in the ceiling. It's been forever since she's had to deal with this. She used to be good at it.
How long can she take this without her brain beginning to latch onto things that aren't there?
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Hey, if you're going to be discovered by anyone after using your own life force to jump-start an ancient terminal, it'd better be a doctor. As for Ragnell, she can respect that kind of gumption. Certain things are worth risking your life for.
That said, she technically isn't here for her. Ragnell's actually searching for the Shepherd--she knows that, at the very least, one of his travel companions was in the city not too long ago, and even if he isn't here still, she might overhear some information about him and where he might be currently. After all, she keeps hearing his name in odd places.
For now, that means that Ragnell is basically snooping around in whatever hotel rooms she can enter. She might be a Seraph, but that doesn't mean she can just phase through doors; they've got to be unlocked, first. Of course, most people aren't so daft that they'd leave their doors unlocked, which means that Ragnell has to go knocking on quite a few of them... which means letting herself in when the door opens and people wonder who's playing a prank on them. She's starting to get bored of this prank, though. For one, she's not actually getting any real information this way.
So, after letting herself out of another room, she moseys up to the room where Gwen is holed up and sizes it up. Should she make this one the last of the day...? Maybe she'll just keep going until she's finished this floor at least. Either way, Ragnell knocks on the door and waits for someone to respond. Of course, if no one does, she'll just move on.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
There was a knock just now.
Wait. Did she order something and not remember? A visitor, maybe. Gwen groans as she shifts off her bed, rubbing her back. Shuffling to the door, she pauses to look in a mirror and frowns at her horrible case of bedhead. And that scar is peeking just out of her shirt. And god, her gloves are off. What the hell is she going to do-
"Gimme a sec-!" she calls to the person on the other side.
When she does open the door, Gwen is dressed in a plain blouse, pants, and, oddly enough, gloves, and a handkerchief tied around her neck, the courier'd at least look familiar to Ragnell, if paler and looking like she survived a night of binge-drinking. "...." She squints, looks to either side, then sighs in open defeat. "I'm hearing things now..." Plenty of time for Ragnell to slip in, if needed.
And when she does, the door gets closed, and Gwen promptly takes the handkerchief and gloves, throwing them onto the nightstand as she lumbers back to bed and collapses onto the cushion, limply staring at the window. The metallic, very not human hand reaches behind her to scratch her back, then limply falls into place beside her. "Maybe I can convince the doc that I'm okay if I at least look it..."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Huh.
Gwen opens the door and peers straight through Ragnell. Ragnell, meanwhile, stares straight at her. She knows this lady. She saw her literally like, what, a week ago? Less than that? Either way, an open door is an invitation to scalliwags like Ragnell, so once she recovers a second later, she slips in under and around Gwen--no mean feat, since she's a pretty decently tall woman. She has to take off her hat to do so. Still, once inside, and completely unsuspected, Ragnell saunters inside to take a look around. Finally, she might've hit the jackpot. As she recalls, this woman had something special on her--and when Ragnell leans up against a window and turns around, she sees exactly what she didn't know she was looking for: a metal hand. Yup. That's the one that had the bit of electricity... Ragnell smiles slightly to see it, then takes in Gwen herself. She looks like she's seen better days. Dangerous life, being a Drifter--or a courier, in her case. She approaches, watching Gwen's eyes to make sure they don't focus by accident, leeeans over her... separates two of her fingers, between which jumps a static shock... and then reaches out and...
"Poke!"
*Zorch*. It's not a strong shock, but static electricity is still startling at best.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
A metal hand. If it was a prosthesis, it'd be out of place for someone with a courier's pay to have, and likely not as flexible as Gwen's ARM is proving to be. It bends and twists as any natural human arm and hand would, betraying its nature only in the textured sheen of each moving part.
As for Gwen herself, that blue-grey gaze of hers looks more tired than anything. With the way those eyelids slowly begin to drift downwards, she seems to have trouble focusing on keeping awake now, much less focus on any Seraphs that may have slipped in unannounced. As her head begins to nod and ease towards the bed surface, Gwen yawns, trying to keep awake.
Ragnell, whether she meant to or not, provides a jolt to make that neccessary. Gwen *springs* up with a yelp, landing in a mess of feet, arms, and hands. Judging by her dazed expression as she stares through Ragnell, it seems more out of shock (no pun intended) than actual pain. Uncurling from her awkward landing position, the courier lifts her right hand into the air, staring at it.
The fingers flex, producing a visible arc of electricity between to digits, flowing through the air in a small loop. She squints, then shakes her hand, confused. "... C'mon... don't break down on me now..."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Either way, it's a fine piece of work. Ragnell's never seen anything like it before. She's heard of ARMs before, of course--she decided to start using guns upon coming to Filgaia in part because she could easily fake them with her Seraphic magic--but she's never actually seen one before now.
Somehow, it seems natural that an ARM would be, well, an arm.
When Gwen all but leaps out of bed, yelping in surprise, Ragnell roars with laughter as she backs away, giving Gwen plenty of room to flail and freak out. It's only natural after a shock like that that Gwen would assume that it's the result of her electricity-wielding hand, right? Which is good enough for Ragnell, who grins wickedly at the courier's shock and confusion. She waves a finger, and more electricity begins to dance along that ARM. It's not enough to bust it up, but it's certainly enough for Gwen to feel it. ...she probably won't like it, all considered.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
The courier's eyes go wide in terror as she sees the sparks flicking across her ARM. She grabs at it with her other hand, her panic-addled brain subconsciously resorting to an action that, for something like a wound or a snake, would've worked. 'Get it off'. But this is her hand. Her arm. The fact that her left hand feels the pain of a shock makes her panic even more. It's never happened before. Her ARM never went out of control to this degree- everything was tied to her own thoughts and actions.
Ragnell would have had no way of knowing what would happen next, as a confusing assortment of energy traces past her shoulder, disappearing within the courier's own body. The redhead didn't even utter a sound or plea for assistance. She seems, even as pain registers on her face, wholly confused, as she focuses on trying to remedy the problem, mentally commanding a rapidly disjointed arm. It wouldn't have been enough to bust the ARM, and in normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been enough to take down Gwen. This isn't a normal circumstance, something evident in how Gwen clutches her chest with her left hand. She still hasn't cried out for help.
Gwen collapses.
A second passes.
The ARM then twitches, some unknown mechanism springing to life the moment they are able to recover from Ragnell's shock. A heart is out of order. It restarts it. Gwen's mouth opens, sucking in a breath. She breathes. Her heart pumps in a proper rhythm.
Gwen's eyes flick open. They focus.
"... gh..." Those pale eyes are trying to focus desperately on something they aren't supposed to see.
They're looking up at Ragnell.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell is no fan of humans, but her goal is to kick them around a little, not outright murder them. As such, when the lightning plays off of Gwen's ARM and into her heart, and she clutches herself and collapses and convulses, Ragnell's actually taken aback. "Woah! Hey!" she utters, leaning over her on the bed. "Ah, damn, did I use too much? Get a hold of yourself, human!"
...She says like she expects Gwen to hear her. Ragnell frowns at herself when she realizes what she's done, but before she can actually do something *else*, Gwen twitches, then sucks in a gasping breath. She stares up.
And focuses on her.
Ragnell stares back. She stares for another moment longer. Then, experimentally, she waves a hand in front of Gwen's face.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen's eyes focus on Ragnell, as her brain and body slowly regain some semblance of sharpness. There is a very tall person in this room. Someone. Man? Woman? She can't tell. Not that she's at the best angle for doing so, being she's on the hard floor. Why was she on the floor, again? Did she fall?
Wait. Did she order something and not remember?
Slowly turning over so she can place her hands on the ground and slowly lift herself up to a sitting position, Gwen wets her lips. "You're..."
Ragnell can probably see the dazed cogs turning in Gwen's brain.
Her face falls. "... not the hotel staff." She then notices her openly displayed metallic ARM, then whips it behind her in a vain attempt to hide it. "Er, uh. Did I make a fuss?" She attempts to stand, stumbling as she gets to her feet.
She's still recovering from... whatever that was that just happened, it seems. And still confused, as those eyes look past Ragnell to the door beyond. "... Must've forgotten to lock it..." She stumbles to the door, then stops.
Waitwaitwait. A suspicious frown draws the courier's lips thin. "... Did you come in here to steal my stuff? C'mon, there's nothing here you can steal! Get outta h-" The doorknob resists Gwen's hand.
It's locked.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell *does* see those dazed cogs. It's still quite a surprise for her that those cogs are turning in the first place, though. Generally speaking, people don't just *poof* and suddenly see Seraphim when previously they couldn't! The obvious cause here is her messing with that ARM arm, but how the hell does that even work?
Looks like she'll have to stick around until she can figure it out. She laughs a little, not particularly kindly, when Gwen whips her ARM behind her back. "Little late for that, little lady," she drawls. As Gwen goes over to the door and tests the knob, Ragnell picks out a chair and drapes herself onto it. "Despite that fancy tool you were trying to hide, nope, I didn't come here for thieving. Just a little espionage, for the fun of it. Didn't expect you to suddenly focus in on me, though."
Ragnell lets that note hang in the air for a few before she drops, "So, what manner of ARM is that you got there? I can see you can use electricity with it--unusual stuff, that! Tell me, an' I'll tell you how I got in here without you noticing, with the door still locked." She grins toothily. "Not a bad trade, am I right?"
*Is* she right? Damned if she knows. She's basically bluffing at this point, but she really is curious about Gwen's ARM now.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
There's a missing puzzle piece here. The ARM jerks slightly, expelling a residue of electric energy from Ragnell's prank a few moments ago. People don't suddenly see Seraphim.
They usually don't nearly die(?) from a shock to their ARM, either.
Gwen doesn't seem like she's about to give any answers to Ragnell, as she squints upwards at the rather tall Seraph. Closed door. Person is here. Gwen has no idea of how much time has just passed. Sure, it's still the same time of day, but Gwen didn't exactly think to look at a clock before her ARM suddenly backfired. It could have been a minute, several minutes, even an hour. The only clue is that there's a person here, and the door is locked. Clearly, this person came in, saw that she was collapsed, maybe saw her exposed arm, and locked the door to block her exit, should she wake up. And the reason for this is because-
"Y'mean you tried to steal it, but found out you couldn't," Gwen assumes a bit too quickly, her eyes settling on the strange visitor. "Clearly you came in here while I was, uh." She hesitates, an embarrassed tint coloring her cheeks. "... out. Then you locked the door, because you wanted somethin'. But I ain't tellin' you anything."
She shrugs, then dons her biggest smile. "Because it's a prosthetic. There ain't anything to tell."
Clearly Hiro wasn't the only one present at that bonfire who was horrible at lying.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Yeah, that's... that's pretty fair. Near death experiences will do a lot to a human. Gaining a certain spirituality that allows one to see elemental spirits is one of them. ...apparently.
Ragnell waits patiently as Gwen squints at her, then comes to her own conclusions about what just happened. She grins, then laughs uproariously, slapping one knee. "I didn't try to steal nothin'," she replies, "and you're a damn poor liar, Miss Courier." What was her name again? Damned if she knows, but Ragnell will attempt to tease it out of her anyway. "That's an ARM, hun, a capital A-R-M ARM. And you know I didn't come here to steal it, 'cuz if I wanted it that bad--" She shows off wide, very toothy grin. "Ain't no reason I couldn't just take it, ARM and arm and all."
She pauses, then adds, "D'you even know how long you were out? It wasn't even a minute, Miss Courier. What'd you think I did, teleport?"
Does Gwen even know what "teleport" means.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
At Ragnell's laughter, Gwen's wide grin slips to a wincing wrinkle of dismay. "Y'can't blame me for tryin'." She itches the back of her head with her right hand in a subconscious gesture, her body forgetting the drama that had happened minutes before. "I'm just gonna find that silver lining and be glad that even you know I'm a courier." She moves over to her bed and unceremoniously slumps down into a seated position on it amid the minute squeaked protests of bed springs.
"Then you'd have a part of it," she shares wearily, rubbing her face. "Most of it, but not all of it. Not that you ain't right, though."
That tired expression lifts when Ragnell reveals it was merely under a minute that she was out. "C'mon," says the courier. "There's no way."
... The same courier who was willing to suspend disbelief over the matter of a fellow Drifter possibly being from a lush, vibrant moon that didn't look anything like the moon she was familiar with.
Wait. "Tele... port?" Gwen's forehead wrinkles, her brain desperately sorting through the assortment of odd words she's heard once or twice before. Ah, yes. It's one of those words, one that she's heard tumble from Auntie Frea's mouth some odd moment or another. "Teleport, as in... ports? Sea ports?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Most, but not all of it, huh. "So there's pieces of that ARM that you can't see from the outside, then," Ragnell concludes. "Interesting, interesting. Where else does it connect to?" Of course, if it's part of not just her arm but her whole body... Ragnell eyes the weapon again. In living creatures, electricity is part of their life force. Sharks can track by it, and lightning Seraphim can sense it too. Then is there something special about the lightning that flashes through this human's veins...?
"What, you believe in aliens from the moon, but you don't believe you coulda been out for only a minute?" Ragnell points out, raising an eyebrow. "You got some weird things you won't believe, Miss Courier."
She pauses when Gwen stumbles over the word teleport. Ragnell smiles and shakes her head. "Never mind, never mind. My bad for making a bad joke." She folds her arms behind her head. "I mean... do you think I popped in outta thin air?"
Which, you know. Technically she did, in a way.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen's sudden silence, as Ragnell openly critiques her willingness to believe one thing versus another, probably speaks louder than anything the courier could've said at this moment, as does the pink color that flushes through her freckled cheeks.
In fact, it takes her a few moments to even figure out what to say. "... Dunno who told you that, but the person who told me that wasn't standing over me when I woke up," she states irritably. "I also didn't feel like they were tryin' to con or steal somethin' from me. All they did was try to give an explanation for something. If they told me, 'I'm from the moon, buy this rock', I'd probably be a bit more critical of them, okay?" She sighs. "Besides, why's it my job to do that? I'm a courier with a damn electric ARM. Y'think I'm gonna be the one who'll tell people that something's too silly?"
The hard line of her brow softens, along with her voice. "I just... don't like bein' the wet towel, denouncing something just because it's strange or doesn't make sense, okay? I just don't like to be that person. Especially when someone's looking for someone to listen."
Her eyes slowly move back to the tall Ragnell that sits in the chair by her with a sulking look. "I'd believe you if you give me a reason to how you got in here in one minute. Or who you even are. Do you have a name?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
The sudden silence and the pink flush that spreads through Gwen's cheeks just set another wide, not entirely friendly grin across Ragnell's face. The explanation gets another laugh, although more of a quiet, guttural chuckle than her uproarious laughter from earlier. "That so? Well, you two did seem awful friendly. As for who told me--" She waves a hand from side to side. "No one. I just happened to be a fly on the wall, so to speak. Not that there were any walls there at the time. I don't remember sayin' it was your job or anything, though, Miss Courier. Then again, if I were you, I'd be hidin' that ARM, too. The less people know your secrets, the better, right?" She winks.
So she doesn't like being the skeptic, especially if someone's just looking for a listening ear. Ragnell studies her for a moment, then nods slowly. Nothing wrong with that, she guesses. No problem on her end, either. "If it works for you, it works for you," she says.
Then she snorts. "Woah there, little lady. Didn't I say earlier I'd tell you that if you told me more about your ARM?" She points a finger-gun at Gwen. "Don't go thinkin' you can trick me there, sweetheart! Strictly speakin', even if you holler for help, you'd be in load of trouble if I just happened to mention I saw a cute thing like you toting around a valuable artifact over at the local bar, am I right?" She shows her teeth again. "So there's no need for hostilities. We can get good an' friendly afterwards, Miss..."
Hmm. What *was* her name again... Glen? Guin? Something like that... she thinks.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"You saw?! And no, I know you didn't mean it that way, I just-" Gwen's body tenses, then, slowly relaxes as she takes in a breath, then slowly releases it through her teeth. "Then you would've noticed that, for all I listened to him, I didn't say anything about an ARM. I'm just a nice courier that listens to people. That's all anyone needs to know until I gotta reveal it. And by then, hopefully, they'll just accept it."
Gwen's breath hitches a moment later. She's getting anxious. Okay, she'll just keep moving on. Talk, and maybe the strange person'll leave.
But man oh man. Gwen can't just get away with being nice and friendly. This person's sharp. Gwen rubs her neck nervously with her 'prosthetic' hand. "Gwen," she answers, hesitantly. "Gwen Whitlock." An automatic part of her wants to amend the name with that title. Her mouth even twitches from the habit, but Gwen keeps it closed. "It's connected to my heart. My ARM. Keeps it beating right. If I didn't have it, I doubt I'd be my healthy self. Probably dead, even. It just has the side benefit of being an ARM." Gwen studies Ragnell, then looks to her own ARMs. "What about yours? You got two ARMs there, though they look a bit off. What's your story? Why're you snooping around hotel rooms?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Sure did--though you and your friend didn't see me," Ragnell replies, tone still easygoing. Sure, *Ruby* saw her, and carried on a conversation with her, but clearly the Red Dragon didn't see fit to mention this to Gwen. "And you sure didn't. I saw you usin' it a little before that. I've got a sense for electricity, y'see." Winking, she points another finger-gun at Gwen--and this time, a tiny zorch of lightning leaps off her fingertip and sizzles for half a second in mid-air before burning out.
Gwen Whitlock. Ragnell nods slowly, thoughtfully. "I bet a courier like you gets to go lots of places, see tons of people, hear all kinds of interesting things," she remarks. She nods again at the explanation of the ARM. "Keeps your heart beating, huh... That explains a lot, then." She rubs her chin, looking Gwen up and down. It's assessing, but not particularly predatory, though Gwen might be made uncomfortable by it anyway. "If your ARM got a jolt, it'd go straight to your ticker... and somethin' like that could have deadly consequences."
Ragnell sobers then, and all of a sudden she swings up to her feet. "Miss Gwen, it looks like I owe you an apology," she says, removing her hat and placing it over her chest as she's seen many a local do. "Truth be told, I came here with nothing more than a bit o' mischief in mind, and when I played a trick on you, it looks like it damn near stopped your heart instead. I wasn't aimin' to see you dead, and I'm sorry for that." Her grin returns then, wide and wolfish, and she rests her hat back on her head. "Not that I wouldn't kill ya, mind--I just wouldn't kill ya's part of a prank. What's the point, when I could take you on mano e mano?" Or womano e womano, as it were.
"As for me... hmhmhm. I'll give you a choice, and we'll see if you'll be useful after all. Either I can tell you my name, and we'll have ourselves a maybe-fun little chat... or I'll git and leave you be--with the mystery of the break-and-enterin' stranger. One or the other." Her toothy smile doesn't abate. "What'll it be, Miss Courier?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
'Though you and your friend didn't see me.' Naturally, Gwen seems to not take it literally- for all the stranger's height, it's possible for someone that tall to hide. The strange hobo she calls Mr. Arashmatash has managed to sneak into her cart at least one without her noticing, after all. What's a cart compared to a forest?
And if someone was hiding before then, they would've seen Gwen's metal hand. Gwen tsks underneath her breath. "Damn... Shoulda checked the area three times over instead of just once." THe courier sighs and rubs the back of her head, seeming to enjoy the natural comfort of being able to feel her fingers itch through her hair. As she moves, a strip of scar tissue moves on the side of her neck, something that would be normally hidden by the handkerchief around her neck. "A sense for electricity? Like you can-"
Oh. Gwen squints. "You one of those symbologist types, then? Or someone handy with a crest? I know the Baskars have some skills with that sorta stuff too." She shifts and sits cross-legged on the bed. "That I do. The fact that my ARM is hidden is a plus too, in that case. People wouldn't normally be friendly with someone openly carrying an ARM, 'specially in these parts, but it's dicey to not carry one."
When Ragnell mentions her heart, Gwen gravely nods her head. "Not always. I think the ARM can stand some amount." Wait. Apology? Gwen's eyes blink several times at Ragnell's apology, then grow wide as Ragnell reveals the source for the apology. "Waitwaitwait." The redhead holds up her hands. "That was you? But you weren't even in the room. You can't take the hit for that; my ARM was just messing u... p..." Her face goes white. "My heart did... what?"
Just give Gwen a moment to press her hands over her face and compose herself.
After a few awkward moments, Gwen uncovers her face and rubs her hands together. "H'okay. Right. So that was something you somehow did. From the window? I mean, I guess I wasn't paying attention to there being a source."
Ragnell then offers a choice. Ask for information and face possibly the consequences of incurring more of her company, or tell Ragnell to leave and suffer none but the lack of information as to what actually happened.
Gwen seems pleasantly surprised by this, even managing a small smile. Whatever note Ragnell managed to hit upon with her, it seems to have momentarily distracted Gwen from the fact that she just NEARLY DIED over a prank. Which, indirectly, means it was kind of her fault, too, for putting herself in this state in the first place.
"As long as I'm in control of that usefulness, yeah, I can see what I can do there." Gwen tilts her head. "Sure, yeah. Tell me your name. And tell me how you threw electricity at me. That'll help me figure out what happened. As well as, uh, what your deal is, I guess."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell just laughs when Gwen grumbles that she should have triple-checked. It wouldn't have helped her--but if she's not getting what she's saying, or if she hasn't heard of Seraphim before, then Ragnell isn't going to elucidate the matter just yet. In fact, it might be fun to see how long she can go until Gwen realizes she's a Seraph. It probably won't be that long... or maybe Ragnell's overestimating this human. When she guesses that Ragnell's a symbologist, she shrugs, still smiling. "Not quite... though you're not too far off, either."
Keeping a weapon hidden is just a smart move. Ragnell nods. "I hear that. You never know what kinda weirdo's gonna pop up outta nowhere, am I right?" She grins again; yes, she's talking about herself. As for the apology, she waits until it's really sunk into Gwen before replacing her hat and sitting back down; then she waits a little longer for Gwen to pull herself together mentally. Man, these humans. If Ragnell had really wanted to do something bad to her, she'd have had a million opportunities. Then again, Ragnell muses, it's probably because Gwen realizes that that she feels she's got the space to take her time to recover mentally.
But then Ragnell gives her a choice on what she wants, and she'd meant that as more of a tease, but somehow it strikes a positive note in Gwen. Huh. How about that. As long as she's in control of that usefulness... Ragnell gets that too. Heh. She might come to like this human... or at least dislike her less than most. "Ragnell," she replies. "Just Ragnell. I'm a wanderer. I like a good challenge and a good snoop, and both'a that's why I came in here. As for the lightning toss..." She draws one of her guns, twirls it on one finger, aims at a large roach crawling languidly up the wall, and fires. ZORCH, goes the bug, which falls off the wall and twitches into lifelessness before it even hits the floor.
"That's how," Ragnell says pleasantly. "Mind you, I can fire stronger shots than that, but what's the point in going all-out against insects?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
If there's a downside to being generally easy-going, it's that a lot of things can pass you by. Even with all the clues that Ragnell may not be who she (or he) appears to be, Gwen's mind seems to pick on the most mundane explanations when nothing else is given. "So not that. Hm." She lazily tilts her head, considering what the other possibilities are before simply shrugging. "There's a lot out there I just don't know about." That mantra is the coping mechanism of a child raised by a secret Veruni. ... Not that anyone knows that, just yet.
Gwen's head bows in a single nod. "People like an easy mark. And I look like one. But that also means they're more easily scared when things don't go their way." She leans her head on one upturned palm and gestures with the other- an odd sight, considering their mismatched nature. "People like you, tho. Different matter." She smiles slightly at that. "Gotta hand it to ya, you had me in a corner. I should've probably asked you to leave, but you're willin' to least let me choose how I'm gonna spend my evening." SHe twirls a finger in the air. "'Should I keep the dangerous person in my room and get to know them, or should I make them leave, and never know what exactly happened, and then be scared that it could happen again?' That's my thinkin' anyway."
When Ragnell introduces herself, Gwen reaches out her left hand, offering a handshake. "I can't shock you with this one. It's just a normal hand," she explains.
Watching Ragnell draw and aim her guns, Gwen blinks, a spark of interest in her gaze. "So you got some ARMs of your own. And they project electricity? Huh. I'm supposin' the synchronization is allowin' you that ability to sense electricity, too. I mean, I've never seen it before, but I guess it's possible. I'm not entirely sure how it all works, even if I've spent most of my life now getting used to one."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Being easygoing can, to a certain type, look like stupidity, too--or at the very least, complacency. Ragnell doesn't exactly assume the worst of Gwen--she got that ARM somewhere, somehow, and being easygoing can also mean having a level head--but she does note that she shrugs it off with a 'well there's a lot I just don't know.' She chuckles a little when Gwen even remarks on this, after a fashion.
"When you're mostly goin' it alone, you learn fast how to back people into corners, make yourself have the advantage," Ragnell replies with a slight shrug. She half-smiles. "S'not a bad philosophy. Knowledge is power, as they say. Though you probably won't get a scare quite like that one again. Probably." Probably.
Gwen offers her hand for shaking, and Ragnell blinks, surprised. Still, she's not one to back down, so she accepts Gwen's normal hand for a regular shake. Ragnell doesn't even give her a magical joybuzzer. A little overplayed by now, that. "Somethin' like that," she replies, now taking up a position next to the window and leaning on the wall against it, holstering her weapons and folding her arms. "My understandin' is that there's as many different kinds of ARMs as there are stars in the sky, after all. You never know what someone might be capable of. S'why I took an interest in you, I guess." A pause. "Incidentally, as a courier, you see a lot of places, meet a lot of people, hear a lot of things. That right?"
It would be just a confirmation, but Gwen's also made it clear there's a lot she doesn't know, and she's willing to shrug off what she can't figure out. It's better to double-check these things.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"I suppose that's one way of going about the world. I couldn't do it, myself." Gwen studies Ragnell, her eyes beginning to squint. "But it definitely works, here. You saw my hand and were able to figure out a way to approach me real quick-like, even if you had no intention of approaching me in the first place that day. Still, I do have to say that I've had people convince me much faster to help them out just by chattin' with me for a bit." She leans backwards on her palms, her hands sinking gently into the bed mattress. "Then again, you wouldn't 'ave known that I'd be the sort to do that, even. I mean, I am an average, normal, hard-working, everyday courier, easily frightened and possibly likely to judge you because you're just a tad different, if only for my own safety's sake."
Her tired eyes, hooded by heavy eyelids, easily refute each word. "As for future scares, I kinda doubt that, but I 'ppreciate the sentiment," the redhead says, in a rare moment of negativity. Then, twisting that thought over in her mind, she adds, "But the world'd be a sad place if nothing surprised me."
Gwen's head turns to follow Ragnell as she shifts to the windowsil. "That I do." Her lips slowly spread in a coy smile. "Y'think I get to listening to explanations of people coming from the moon without batting an eye because I haven't seen or heard things just as strange that turn out to be true? But yeah. I'm in a lotta spots, and I have a good reason to be there without being suspicious, military hijinks aside."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
It's true that maybe things would've gone faster if Ragnell had just approached her like a normal person... if she were a normal person in the first place. As it is, the red-eyed gunslinger shrugs her shoulders, as if to say 'Hey, what d'you want from me?' Besides--she's a troublemaker, looking to test the mettle of others. And Gwen has some pretty decent mettle to be able to handle a situation like this with such grace. Is she worth tempering, though? Hmmm... Well, that's to be seen, isn't it?
Gwen's self-description gets her a snort and then a laugh, though. "Oh, you think so?" Ragnell replies, letting irony ring in her voice. She laughs again at the negativity twisting into positivity, too, though. "True enough," she acknowledges, nodding when Gwen points out her attitude towards moon people. "Then I don't suppose you'd be interested in a deal, would ya, Miss Courier? One where you let me in on some of the nitty-gritty of the continent--stuff you wouldn't see in the papers or books, type o' thing. A steady feed, mind you. Like I said, knowledge is power, and I bet a courier like you can get a hold of some juicy tidbits someone shady like me might get locked out of. What d'you say?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen raises her hands and waves them, laughing. "Not really, no. Kinda pullin' yer leg there. But, it's easier to move around from town to town if I at least seem that way." That lazy gaze grows sharp as it meets Ragnell's own, but not unkind. "But that's as far as it goes. It was my choice to accept this ARM, much like a lot of people. Probably like you did. It's still scary to me, sometimes, but at the same time, I'm glad I have it. Hopefully, you feel that way too about your own abilities, no matter how your deck of cards is stacked."
A deal? "Possibly," Gwen considers, frowning thoughtfully, a hand rubbing her chin. "Gotta tell me what you're lookin' for. I have my limits, too. No shady business, and if it ain't something I can't at least reveal to someone that 'a client' is interested in it, it's best to find someone else to look into it. Knowledge is power, but connections are too. You gotta show that me helping you doesn't come back to shoot me in the foot." She shrugs. "Besides, I'm more useful to ya if I ain't burnin' bridges everywhere I go."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"I've got no regrets about what I do," Ragnell replies in all truthfulness. "In my opinion, that's the most important thing--that you can give your chosen path in life your all. But that's neither here nor there." After all, they're talking potential business here.
Gwen's response is to lay down a few ground rules. That's fine. After all, Ragnell left the offer pretty open-ended. She nods a couple of times, thinking. Gotta tell her what she's looking for... Well, that's reasonable. But when she thinks on it, the biggest things she's looking for right now, she already has an in on--Edna with the Shepherd's group, and Ruby with the Lord of Calamity's. No point in pointing Gwen in a direction she's already got covered.
"That's fine," she says. "If you wanna ask around 'bout me, that's fine by me too... Though I 'spect you won't hear much." She grins a cocky little grin. After all, only a few people on this world even know her name. "Then, I'll take that as a 'I'm open to it in the future, long as it's on the up-and-up.' I can't guarantee it'll all be aboveboard... but if there's trouble, I'll make sure you don't get your share of it."
Ragnell rises to her feet then and stretches. "For right now though... all I'm lookin' for here is an establishment of a future deal. Long as you're fine by that, I'll see myself out."
And she will--through the door, which she'll unlock and saunter through like it's no big deal, leaving behind the question of how she got in in the first place.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen nods slowly to Ragnell's statements. "I can admire that, a bit. Even if I don't understand it totally." She places a hand over her right arm. "Yeah, I agree with that, too. Being able to choose your path in life's important."
But first, business. "I figured that was the case," Gwen asks. "Never heard your name before, but, there's a client of mine looking on info on a woman named Agatha. That one... I'm kinda iffy on pursuing too much. The stuff I know already makes me feel a little queasy on pushin' further. But anyway." She sits up on the mattress. "That's right. If I feel something's too shady for me, I'll refuse, so keep that in mind. This ain't my main trade, but you know that already. But yeah."
She stands up, wobbling slightly, then moves over to offer her hand once more. "We'll shake on it." Regardless of whether or not Ragnell does, Gwen lets the stranger go with a wave....
.... and promptly slumps back on her bed to go to sleep.
It's odd, but refreshing, to find a common ground with someone like this. It was a strange, confusing, even scary period of time, but looking at how things changed around to an offer, it's heartening.
... wait, what did she just get herself into