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abraxasooc2022-07-20 10:26 am
abraxasmods) wrote in abraxasooc2022-07-20 10:26 am
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TEST DRIVE MEME #8
TEST DRIVE MEME
Welcome to the eighth test drive meme for Abraxas! This meme is run a little bit differently than most in that you'll be asked to choose one of the three different arrival scenarios below for your character to take. If you have any questions about this mechanic or anything else related to the TDM, please take a look at the questions below or ask one of your own under the Questions header below. For general game questions please still use the FAQ.
Our Setting pages are full of information on the world of Abraxas, and an overview of the story so far can be found on our Game History page! Anything on that page - including information about the Horizon and the Singularity - can be assumed to be told to newcomers after they arrive, no matter which faction they are received in. For more information on Ambrose and the apprentice mages, Marlo, and Rowan, please see our NPCs page.
You can also find answers to questions asked on previous TDMs in their respective questions threads.
◎ Rumor has it that two emissaries - a werewolf and a vampire - visited from Nocwich in early July. With them came some wares distributed to shops throughout each faction. A few sparse items may remain for purchase, such as glowing flowers or fine ales, but much of it has now been sold.
◎ New arrivals in THE FREE CITIES may hear a bit of chatter around Cadens about art, politics, and recent performances involving its sister city, Libertas. It's all standard fare - the kind of topics spoken about over a beer or in line at the market - but there's a small stir in the air.
◎ Lately, locals in SOLVUNN have begun to approach the Summoned with a sort of awe and respect. New arrivals will find themselves treated much the same way and may be asked for advice or given gifts that seem like offerings such as wine, harvest bounties, or some delicious goat cheese. Your character is free to turn these down and should they turn down enough people, they will not be bothered further as no one wishes to offend them.
Arrival
You awaken suspended in the abyss, silent darkness stretching out in all directions. If you try to yell, you'll find that the sound doesn't carry. If you try to move, you'll find it's impossible to tell whether or not you're actually getting anywhere. If you reach for an item you were carrying last time you remember being awake, your hand will only touch bare skin.
You're naked and floating helplessly through the void, and what little air you have in your lungs is running out.
There's a pinprick of light that almost looks like a faraway star but as it grows it becomes clear that it's actually quite close. Through the opening you can see a bright room, but it's hard to make out any individual objects, as if you're looking from beneath rippling water.
Scenario One: Welcome to Thorne
A hand plunges through and you realize water is just what it is. Whether you take hold of the hand or not it will grab you and yank you up through the surface, lifting you out until you're sprawled on solid ground. Once you catch your breath, you can get a better look at the surroundings: tall trees and even taller stone pillars surround the platform you're laying on. Behind you is an ornate fountain, the base of which is so deep and so dark you might be compelled to scramble away from it lest it suck you back in to that endless abyss. Ahead of you are the walls of a large castle with several tall towers reaching up towards the sky.
If you had any powers, they feel unusually weak. Attempts to use magic or enhanced strength or powers of any sort fizzle out without any effect, but they don't feel completely gone, either.
Set into an indent on a marble slab behind the fountain is a card bearing the image of one of the arcana.
An apprentice mage - the one whose hand lifted you out of the fountain - brushes the water off on their robes and runs back to join a group of three others, who all stare intently at a mage with highly decorated robes and a large, heavy book. He peers up at you for a moment and starts flipping through the book.
"One moment," he says, not bothering to look up from the tome. He looks tired. "I am Ambrose Rhett, the High Mage of the Kingdom of Thorne. We’ll explain everything in a moment, but for now, please calm down. You’re completely fine."
Regardless of your response, he keeps flipping through the pages, until he stops on one specific passage, stares at it for a moment, and then sighs with relief:
"Finally!"
Ambrose's expression brightens, relief visible across his features. He waves one of the apprentices over with a fine silk tunic, pants, and some basic sandals and with a wave of his hand they reshape to fit you perfectly.
"Oh, thank heavens," he says, closing the book and approaching you with a sort of worn-out relief. “I was beginning to believe we’d never get it exactly right.”
Now that he's not hunching over the book, he doesn't seem quite so stuffy and inapproachable. The apprentices all seem to visibly relax, and the one that handed you the tunic stops to take the tarot card down from the marble slab. If you show any curiosity about the card, they'll let you take a longer look, but won't let you touch it.
"Please, come with me," he says, motioning for you to follow him towards the castle. "As promised, my pupils will explain your current situation. And, ah - if you had any magic of your own, or other special abilities you can't access right now, fear not, they'll return within the week. The summoning takes a lot out of you."
One of the apprentices steps forward and rattles on and on about the castle, Thorne itself, the names of a bunch of royals and nobles, and of course, your reason for being here. The Kingdom and the world itself is in great peril, and tales of your exploits have reached far and wide across universes. If asked about these exploits, the apprentice will simply smile and shrug. The High Mage was happy to see you and that's good enough.
Once inside the castle you're taken to the North Wing, which has been set up as living quarters for you and your fellow newcomers. There are four people to a room, but each generously-sized bed has opaque curtains that can be drawn around it. You can meet your roommates here and discuss your shared situation (those who were previously brought in may have a great deal of information to tell you), or you can wander around and meet the others.
There's also a dining hall stocked with a rotating 24/7 buffet in celebration of the new honored guests. Somehow, your very favorite food is part of the rotation (or at least an attempted recreation of it given the limited technology available to the Thorneans). The town surrounding the castle is all abuzz as well, with most shops and services willing to give free samples of their wares to the new arrivals.
You may also notice that your sign is embroidered on your tunic: the same image you saw on the card from before with the name of the sign itself beneath it. If you ask the castle residents, they'll tell you a little bit about your sign (and will mostly stick to the positives, although some might point out the negatives).
Last (and, if you ask anyone else in the castle, least) there is a worn stone staircase leading underground to the dungeon. You can go there, if you wish, but all powers are restricted in the dungeons and most of the cells stand empty.
Scenario Two: Welcome to the Free Cities
You find yourself pulled from the water by a pair of strong hands. Dry warmth hits you at once as you're set on a warm hard floor. As your senses return you realize you're on dull ruddy stone and surrounded by strangers. Men and women in unfamiliar uniforms of brown and red leather stand in a semi-circle around a small pool of water. The very pool you were just pulled from. The water is still now, rimmed in pale gold tiles with odd symbols etched into them. Across it on the far side is a raised pedestal with a card propped on it. The card bears an arcana symbol.
You feel weak. Drained. Any abilities or magical powers you have seem far away and impossible to access. You're in what looks like a cave lit by dozens and dozens of torches set into the wall. There's no furniture or decoration to be seen besides the pool. It's almost uncomfortably warm and there's the sound of rushing wind somewhere in the distance. Flickering shadows obscure the faces of the guards. A robed woman stands off to the side, looking at you anxiously and then to the authoritative woman standing before you. She's grinning, dressed in a fancier uniform than the others. There's a sword at her hip. A guard covers you with a blanket and returns to their place in the semi-circle.
The woman with the sword gives a nod of approval and smiles warmly.
"Sorry about the circumstances."
She gives you a good hard look before standing again.
"Take a minute, catch your breath, you've had quite a shock. Take it nice and easy. I'm Prime Minister Marlo Reiner and you're in The Free Cities. That nice lady over there will explain everything to you and get you settled." A nod to the robed woman off to the side.
Marlo Reiner steps back and the robed mage approaches to help you up.
"Come with me, please." She brings you out of the cave through a corridor that angles upwards until you emerge in what looks like some kind of storage facility. Shelves of wooden boxes and cloth bags line them, unidentifiable parts of what might be machines are tucked into corners and propped against shelving units. "This is one of the Free Cities' outposts," the mage explains as she leads you. "We're honored to have you with us, I'm sure you have many questions but please save them. You need to recover!"
You'll learn you're in the Cadens Desert Outpost 003, a military outpost on the outskirts of Cadens city. You're brought to a room in the barracks that's been prepared. Each barracks room is rather sparse and utilitarian. Six simple beds set against the wall, three on each side of the room, each with a trunk at the foot of it. You're told the world is in a delicate and dangerous times and you're needed to help. You're important, you're told, and they're very grateful you're here.
You're asked to stay close for the time being, but to make yourself at home. The outpost is more a proper military base than the name implies, with full facilities. The barracks have a communal bathing room at the end of the hall, with curtains that can be pulled around the individual raised round tubs for privacy. There's a mess hall that has food available from sun up till a few hours after sundown. You're even encouraged to make use of the training grounds, if you'd like, with non-lethal training weapons available for use and obstacle courses set up. And the city of Cadens is only a couple of hours away by wagon - though you're asked initially to please be back at the outpost within a few hours of the sun going down.
For your own safety.
Scenario Three: Welcome to Solvunn
The feeling of floating is the first sense that comes to you as the edges of unconsciousness start to ebb. Sunlight filters through the rippling water as you open your eyes, making you squint. Before you have the chance to panic and inhale, firm hands grasp your arms and pull you to the surface of the water. Moments later, soft warmth is wrapped around your shoulders as you're guided on unsteady legs out of a pool of water. You're lowered to the soft grass. Men and women in simple garments with lavish embroidery stand by, waiting with bated breath, glancing seriously at an old man in an ornate robe. He holds an old leather-bound book in one hand and in the other is a card bearing an arcana symbol. His eyes move quickly over the page, and he mumbles idly to himself.
Any strength you may have possessed feels as though it has slipped through your fingers. Any abilities or magical powers you have don't come to the surface no matter how hard you try. You're in a grassy clearing in the midst of a circle of large stone slabs stacked to look like doorways. In the middle is the same glimmering pool you were just pulled from. A gentle breeze blows through, carrying the scent of flowers and herbs from an ornately decorated altar set off in front of one of the stone doorways. The mage closes his book and steps out of the water, addressing a matronly old woman. Behind her are two younger people, a rough-looking man, and a meek young girl, both of whom are also watching the mage.
“I detect no ill will from the gods, it seems we've been blessed with success.” Those that had gathered all breathe a sigh of relief and now seem pleased.
The old woman smiles and steps forward, offering to take your hands and help you stand. “Any gift the gods give us is one we will happily take. I'm certain you have many questions, and they will all be answered in time. For now, rest and know you will be taken care of.”
She pats the top of your hand and steps away with a serene smile, letting one of the others come forward with some clothes that seem to fit you perfectly. Once you're dressed, someone approaches to drape a delicate-looking charm depicting a long-horned creature with large wings on a thin chain over your neck. Ask around later, and you may find that it is a symbol of Vielehauffe, the God of the Herd.
The rough-looking man from before steps forward once you're decent and motions with his head outside of the stone circle. His speech is informal, his consonants harsh.
“Hold your horses, I can see all those questions coming about! Rowan March, at your service. I'm one of the council members of Solvunn. There's a lot to discuss, but it's best talked about over a hot meal.” He leads you to a horse-drawn carriage and helps you up into the back. He talks the entire ride to the settlement.
You find out you are in the Primary Settlement, the first of three that make up Solvunn's great territory. The settlement is situated between two lakes and is humming with life. You're brought to the center of town and escorted to an apartment above one of the establishments in town. Rowan explains that the living conditions are temporary if you'd like them to be, that local families would also be happy to host you in their home. That there are others like you who have also taken up residence within the three settlements. You're told that the world hangs upon the brink of disaster and that there are those in this world that are happy to see it fall to ruin with their meddling.
You're important. The gods have graced them with your presence. They're delighted you're here. Welcome to Solvunn.
Everything you need has been provided in this humble apartment, and if it hasn't, there are shops that line the streets and a marketplace in the center of town. Owners of some establishments or stalls are more than happy to give out samples or barter with your time for their goods. Babysitting can be a very lucrative business. You're told of the other settlements, that they'd like you to stay here for now, but if you can find a family to host you, the secondary and tertiary settlements are best to get to with an escort.
There are tales of travelers visiting the secondary settlement without invitation disappearing without a trace. The gods are as hungry as they are protective, young traveler.
You’ll find that there are more than enough activities to throw yourself into to better settle into your new life in Solvunn. Work is done in the first part of the day so that families can spend the rest of it together in leisure and work on their crafts - whatever those may be. For those children who are not of school age, they need nannies or storytellers, and there’s always a gaggle of them running about unsupervised. Families with livestock can always take a spare hand, especially since farms are so spread out, they have a tendency to wander. Whatever skills you may possess can always be of use to the community or to honor the gods.
If any of these options are no good for your lifestyle, the main roads between settlements can always use a bit of monster clean-up… just make sure you don’t go alone.
How many slots are open?
Please check the Taken page for how many player, franchise, and canon slots are available. Activity check will be processed before applications open, so the count may change between now and then. Existing players can apply for a second character without restriction.
How do I choose a scenario for my character?
Pick whichever situation appeals to you most. Which faction your character is drawn into has nothing to do with their personal morality, beliefs, or how highly they regard themselves and their own accomplishments. Anyone can be put into any one of the situations.
Can I try out more than one scenario?
You can! But please keep in mind that only the one you eventually choose can be game canon, if you decide to keep any of your TDM threads.
What happens if my character refuses to comply with the NPCs?
They will be forgiven for their moment of panic or anger if they have one, and the faction leaders will try to calm them and persuade them further. If they put up too much of a fight and/or start actively attacking anyone, they will be warned once that everyone is willing to put them back in the well where they came from (see below), and if they continue to fight they will make good on that promise.
My character intends on causing a lot of trouble (destroying parts of the cities, murdering the NPCs, etc.), what would happen to them?
Characters who make too much trouble for the mages and other NPCs would be thrown back in the well (which will mean drowning in the void, not returning home). Brawling with other PCs and causing minor damage is fine and will be greeted with a cranky attitude and intervention from various NPC guards, and there will be plenty of opportunity for destruction and murder later, but for now the Abraxans have no desire to keep huge liabilities around.
I want to wildcard a prompt or use one of the prompts from an earlier TDM that isn't on this one (eg. the library), can I do that?
Yes, in terms of the settings. As Thorne is no longer imprisoning any newcomers, that option is no longer applicable.
Is the power loss for characters permanent?
No, but it does take a week or so for their powers to be back in full, and certain powers (determined on a case-by-case basis) may require nerfs. If your character has world-breaking powers, please discuss with the mods what modifications may be necessary.
Can my character leave the bounds of the faction?
In Thorne, characters can leave the castle but not the city. In Cadens, they can take a trip from the outpost to the city. In Solvunn, they can explore the entirety of the Primary Settlement.
Can my character eventually change factions?
Yes. While the faction borders are currently closed, there will opportunities in the future for characters to relocate. For the time being, they are stuck where they are.
How much will my choice of scenario affect my character's plot later on?
This choice will determine where your character initially lives as well as the bias of the information they receive from NPCs (although other PCs can and most likely will give it to them a bit more straight). This decision - and every other major decision you make in game! - will also be used to flavor some mod surprises that will be coming down the line.
Don't get too anxious about this choice, though; this is just one choice you'll get to make in a game that has a lot of them, and every character in every scenario can work their way towards many, many individual goals and outcomes. You're not locking yourself out of anything in the future via the choice you made on the TDM. It will primarily impact the immediate future with the far-reaching effects being up to each player.
Are TDM threads mandatory for my application?
No, you may use other samples, but we encourage you to post to the TDM and get a feel for this game and its mechanics before you join. If you do not have a TDM thread you will still need to choose one of the three scenarios on your application.
What if I haven't settled on a sign yet?
You can ignore sign-related prompts if you're undecided (or try out different signs in different threads).
Can my character go to the Horizon?
First time visitors to the Horizon must be taken there by other characters, through either shared meditation or a physical journey to the Singularity, and all first-timers experience memory loss. For the purposes of the TDM, we suggest against using the Horizon.
What about making use of the network?
Much like Horizon they would need to be introduced to it by another PC, as no NPCs would be aware of the network or be able to access it. Because of this we would advise against using this mechanic for TDM top-levels.
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no subject
"Like a job?" There's a searching kind of blandness as her gaze flits across people in this street doing that. Working jobs. The types of jobs that would make her want to stab her own eyes in with eating utensils before two weeks were out. Just being here, in this place, this world, this strange renfaire city, was nails on the chalkboard.
She had places to be. She has a real job to do.
Not this bullshit. "Not yet."
"But they keep handing out things to us," Jo says with a shrug. "Rooms, food, transport. So, it's not like I'm now starving for staples."
Fuck all, though; she'd rather it was a familiar handgun. Or a good knife.
Weapons and anything like more study clothes were going to involve some kind of work.
no subject
"Less a job at this point and more coin to pay for drinks is what I was thinking. At least at this stage."
He makes a face at that, at least considering his words. Wouldn't do to alienate anyone that could prove useful later.
"Doesn't that make you wonder though? They bring us here against our will, call us summoned as if we are invited guests in a way and then provide us with all they need and all they seem to ask is if we maybe might consider joining their Army. You don't find that suspicious?"
But then he finds a turn of the wind suspicious on a windy day so he might not be the best judge of such things.
no subject
"I find everything about this place suspicious." There's no hesitance in it or blunting of its razor edge. No apology in the whole cloth judgment — and under that whole cloth rejection — of it. "Pulling people naked out of portals and asking them to play soldier is indenturing no matter how you spin it."
She didn't believe the mess about how they could choose not to fight. Even if she was just waiting to show someone exactly what she thought of that and how much of a fucking fight she'd put up before any of them made her do anything.
no subject
She's right though, about all of it. Especially about the slavery turn of it.
"Do you know of anyone that's accepted their offer? We have to wonder about how long they're going to ask before it turns to true enslavement if no one is taking them up on their offer."
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"But some of the people they pull out probably do, if they haven't stopped doing it, right?" This one does come with the shrug. Even if the question is far more factious than it is a real question at him.
no subject
"You're right in that. Though you have to wonder how long before they begin making it less of an option. Depending on how many turn them down," he points out, even as he steps forward with that careful, mincing gait to open the door for her. "After you."
no subject
She walks through casually, tossing him back a smile. It's all determination, and a little wildness, when the words roll out easy and expansive as anything, "Please. Let them try."
It's the face of a girl who'd rather go down fighting than get on her knees for anyone. The kind who already betrayed all that was family and foundation just to be herself. If she could take on her mother, no one in this new weird place could make her do a thing.
From there, it's a survey of the place again. So weirdly rustic.
no subject
"You might get your fight," he admits in a careful voice now that they're inside where others are likely to hear them. "I can't imagine they're just going to keep accepting no for an answer."
He wouldn't, so why would anyone else.
"Do you have a preference where you sit?" He does and he always will, but he also knows the offers to make to try and put others at ease.
no subject
Easy peasy, Jo rolls off: "Dealer's choice."
She pauses on her heels, waiting for his choice. "I've got a lot of history with the hissy fits people throw when I don't like being told no isn't an option. I'm not afraid of stupid men in cloaks with a naked person kidnap fetish."
no subject
He heads for a table though, moving to one in the corner of course. It's a standard operating procedure for many and he even sits in such a way that she isn't forced to put her back to the crowd either.
The look he gives her though is assessing, and maybe even amused though he isn't one much given to smiles. "Seems we share a background in a way then. Including the stupid men in cloaks, though thankfully without the naked kidnapping thing. I'll give them that. It's original and a good way to catch a person off balance." Even one without his phobias.
no subject
She's been cleaning out hunters two and three times her age since her mid-teens. Pool, poker, shooting games, you name it. Everything they did outside to make money between cases. Give a girl a bar to be born in, an inch of ever-laced biting impatience to get out, and she found her way into and over anything she got interested in that her mother said she shouldn't.
"I'd rather use my poker face with my cards rather than standing around waiting pretty on people who can't keep one to save their lives." She'd rather be back home hunting. She'd rather be playing the perfect sweet poker faces on whoever she needed to get by and getting what she needed to stay on the road, moving from case to case to case.
no subject
"Different sides of the establishments and all," he points out. "Not that I have plans to go back to that sort of work here. Considering something new," he admits, not adding that he wouldn't do that to Jesper. "And your plans for not being another pretty face?"
The acts of being social aren't unfamiliar to Kaz, but they come to him as a persona, an act, something he knows he should do but that he isn't entirely good at. But he tries.
no subject
They're good because they have to be. There's no job that holds down while you do the work they do. You never know where you might end up in two days' time or if you'll never see a particular state or the whole side of the country for years. Jo's damn proud that she's one of the few that could show up the lion's share of them out before she was even twenty.
She knows the answer to his question as well as she knows her own heartbeat, but she can't help but pull the rug out. It's a whole other brand of what she does best, too.
Jo gives him a pert smile, leaning her cheek into a finger and letting her hair tumble in one direction. It's shameless, with the golden delight of a smirk, and there's not one cent of seriousness in the tone of her voice when she asks, "Is that your smooth way of saying I'm pretty?"
no subject
He isn't so many men though.
Kaz watches her, his expression transforming from scowling wet cat to something akin to wonderment. Slowly he leans in a bit towards her, ever so careful not to get close enough to touch her. So careful about that despite the ruse. He smiles. It isn't exactly friendly. More a shark showing teeth.
"I wouldn't have thought you insecure enough to need to ask that," he taunts, pushing back to her comment. "Nor dull enough not to know exactly who and what you are."
no subject
That wonder, that smile, even when his mouth is just the best sort of
we only play with the razor side of our knives here.
Admission-concession and taunting rebuke, all in one.
A few more points for the comeback king.
"Mmm." It's a slight sound as she presses her lips together. Still leaned close but had not shifted her arms from the space right in front of her. You don't always with their kind, not the first time they come in those doors for sure, and he's already proven himself to have touchy edges he'd have kept hidden. But he's still here, still met it. Meeting it. Again.
Instead, that fist at her chin shifts, as does her other arm, coming up, and she laces her fingers together under her chin as a rest instead. Her words placed almost like a poker chip. "Convenient non-answer compliment."
no subject
Even as she moves and he tenses. Not a lot, not even that most would notice. Just enough to worry that she push it one step further, to take the game to another level and move from words to the physical realm. He's not sure he could handle it without revulsion and a poor reaction.
Yet she doesn't and he's thankful for that, even as he feels the slightest hint of a cold sweat along the back of his neck.
"Isn't it though? Perhaps we should ask another party?"
He shifts then, leaning slightly away from her as if it was only for what he's about to do and not a need to put more physical distance between himself and another. He raises his voice slightly though not that loud at all. He knows she's heard every word.
Yet he doesn't look to where she is, still watching Jo as he speaks.
"Inej? Would you like to join us?"
no subject
She has been listening to them, the whole time in fact, as soon as she'd seen him set up at a table, perfectly positioned so no one is behind him, and he has sights on as much of the room as possible– some habits never die, she thinks.
She doesn't appreciate being called-out, however. She was doing just fine sitting with her knees drawn up in the booth she was perched in. There was a tall backing between them, he had no way of seeing her, but... he always knew anyway, didn't he? Ever since that first time he'd caught her. Stupid boy.
For a very brief moment, Inej considers ignoring him, making him look a fool in front of the other woman. It's petty and childish, and she ultimately decides against it. But it could have happened. Might have, if she'd have listened to more of this coquettish banter before he called attention to her presence.
"Don't let me interrupt," she says, tone somehow both light and flat at once as she peeks over the false wall between the booths.
no subject
"No, do." Fast, complete, and a gamely-warm smile.
"Apparently, Kaz can't answer straight questions with straight answers."
This is entirely untrue, given the rest of their walk here, and her question was nothing like straight in the slightest, but she gives him an overtop look for it anyway. "Be a dear, and scoot over—" This with a slight wave of her hand in one direction at him. "—and move over so she can have a seat."
As though Jo is not taking up the whole of her side, same as him.
no subject
He doesn't hesitate, moving to one side, nearly pressed to the wall, giving Inej space if she chooses to sit with him and not leaving himself in a place where he might endure panic.
"You're not interrupting and I wouldn't have invited you to join us if I didn't want you here. As for my direct answers..." Because he wants both of them to hear this. "I doubt you have need for my compliments, and I won't damn you with blatant lies. You have classic Fjerda beauty which many find delightful. Subjectively it isn't my taste but I can recognize it when I see it."
no subject
Her gaze lingers on him for a moment longer before drifting back toward Jo at the beckoning. Do join us. Come take a seat.
The shuffle that’s happening in the booth causes both brows to arch curiously upward, an unspoken comment thrown in his direction. Something full of incredulity like, “Really?” or more cautious like, “You’re sure?”. Something she either gets an answer to, or doesn’t wait for one at all, before she uncurls herself from the neighboring table and slides into the booth they’re at— noticeably as near the edge as possible without risk of falling off of it.
She doesn’t say a word, isn’t entirely sure what to say in the wake of being caught and called out. So instead, she just reaches for whatever may be in any glass in front of Kaz and downs whatever’s left like a shot.
no subject
But she pushed. And Kaz gave.
He even defended himself in his answer.
Which is when she truly gets to give up the sunshine shell game.
That he's been playing the wrong game the whole time.
The do-or-die dilemma having never mattered at all.
"Aww. How sweet." Her head tips and she smiles, golden and untouchable as the dawn. Before she says very clearly, "And to answer your question—" The one her words press on as though dredging it back into existence, that she'd gotten him to forget utterly with the shift of a single question, and then some flirting and helped-badgering."—as Inej already knows, I'm a hunter."
She might not have even let him get back to that thought if it weren't for Inej showing up and knowing him well. After all, why lie to your marks when you can get them to utterly distract themselves from the fact they asked you something first to begin with? Because whatever Fjerdan women look like, she doubts he's been flustered back from picturing her up her elbows in monster gore.
no subject
And yet most of his attention is on Inej. How she's sitting. The line of her jaw. Mentally assessing how armed she is. All things he needs to know, as well as the things he wished he could tell her. Such as that he wasn't that far over because he didn't want contact with her but that he wouldn't risk an episode of contact wherein he fainted once more. Once in their lifetime was enough.
Though her announcement brings his attention in laser focus before glancing at Inej and then back to Jo.
"Please tell me it's not witches. I've had enough of that sort of thing to last a lifetime or two. Though it does explain the Fjerda looks, doesn't it?
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She can feel Kaz’s eyes on her, and it’s everything not to turn and look at him as he takes stock of every part of her he can at the moment. He knows better than to assume he knows exactly how many knives are in her person, even if he can see a few of them at a glance. Reading her temperament may prove more difficult at the moment, though.
“It doesn’t explain anything,” Inej says, words clearly meant for Kaz, but she can’t help keeping her eyes in Jo. It’s… almost protective in nature, somehow. A guard and her King, perhaps. “And she doesn’t know anything about Fjerda, so you may as well stop.” This does earn Kaz a sidelong glance, at least. “Our countries mean nothing in other worlds.” Though, sometime later, back in his room, she might admit he wasn’t wrong— Jo does have the classic Fjerdan look to her, it just doesn’t mean anything in the moment.
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Jo wrinkles her nose, and she lets it roll out the way she knows he doesn't expect her to answer like she was talking to anyone who already knew the question they asked and the answer. "I mean, if I have to, but it's a pain. All that blood and ash just gets everywhere once they implode. It's hard as hell to get out of your clothes. I'd take 'em over nothing, but they aren't exactly a preference."
She likes her monsters more monsters. When they're actually people, and they are still making these stupid choices, it just takes whatever minuscule faith she had in normal people and kicks that bucket even lower down the rungs.
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"Why would I stop? It's literally what she reminds me of. Relating to what I know." And making a commentary to Inej only that he she is the farthest from those he might well turn his eye too, because it's obvious there's something bristle beneath that beautiful surface and he knows it's directed at him.
A brow arches at that commentary about witches, his expression going almost hollow in that moment.
"Oh well, forbid you have to murder those that aren't your preference. What a sad lot in life that must be?"
From someone known for being cold hearted and ruthless it says a lot, but then one of his own was now actively practicing as a Grisha and his view on things has changed as well.
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