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 Hard +0 | Cool +0 | Hot +2 | Sharp +1 | Weird +0 Harm 0:00 | Experience: 1/5 | 1-armor | 2-barter Lots to do. The Eye's quiet, nearly empty except for me, a few early-bird customers, and some staff. They're sweeping up, getting chairs and tables set back up, while I get the bar set. Decidedly not here is Jackson. Should have known he'd be unreliable. Begged for the job, even as he snorted and sniffed from his latest huff high. Easy on the eyes, thought he'd be a draw, but who cares what you see when he can't serve a drink for poo poo? No me. No, I'm not even sure I'll pay him when he shows up - I told the whole crew Market Day could make or break us. Screw him. The bar looks nicer on their side than mine. They see smooth wood and smooth polished metal facing out. I can see the slapped-together shelves and the rough timbers holding the whole thing up. Still, it's big enough for three comfortably, four in a crunch, which is what we need for big events, like market day. We'll clear the booths out as we get closer to the big concert tonight. For now, plenty of dishes to finish washing. The few customers here won't mind. "Boss! Boss!" Always funny to me. Megan's known me for years, since before the Eye, but she still calls me boss. She drifted out and back, took up a fair bit of mercenary work, which taught her the 'boss' bit. A reminder of the different lives we've led. "What?" I asked, knowing she had that tone, the something's gone wrong tone. "Edith ain't coming." "Fuuuuck!" I cursed, shouting up at the ceiling, my voice echoing around. Edith and the Valkryires could light up a show. Hard, fast, sexy, intense. Crowd pleasers. I shouldn't be all that surprised...Edith and I didn't leave on the best of notes when she left on her last tour, thinking I valued the Eye over her. Think it pissed her off most that I didn't really argue the point. But Market Day! loving Market Day! She said she'd come...her people had, at least...and they'd get paid. Business. I never let the personal stop good business. Particularly since last time this happened, a couple years ago, we'd had to improvise. That lead to a minor riot and half my lighting rig getting destroyed, which cost so my jingle it still pains me, deep down. I pound my fists on the bar. "She's in town, isn't she?" I ask Megan, who just replies with a non-comittal, you didn't hear it from me shrug. "I'm..." I'm actually half way over the bar when I stop myself. Arguing her into playing isn't going to get me much. Best case I get a bad show, destroy her and me both. I relax and sit on the bar, kicking the metal front with my shoes. "Track her down," I say to Megan as if she doesn't know where the Valks are. "And *ask* her to reconsider. I'm willing to renegotiate and...hell, tell her we need it." Which is the truth. As I contemplate the best way to survive another riot, I spy somebody slinking into the Eye. It's Xon, a rather ragged wanderer. Used to be a regular, about a year ago, until he stopped showing up. Figured he'd drifted away or gotten himself dead in the flats - if he'd been killed would have heard about it or seen some of his stuff. I slide off the bar and land already walking, heading to him. "Xon! My brother!" I call and catch his hand and pull in for a greeting. He does not look good. Eyes tired and puffy, and...there's dried blood down his side and the leg of his pants. Everything he wears is exceptionally dirty. I take a step back and look him over. "gently caress happened to you?" <Platonicsolid> Reading Xon <Platonicsolid> .roll 2d6+1 <Platonibot> Platonicsolid: 10 (2d6+1=6, 3) Maestro D' posted:
Eye of the Storm posted:
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Oct 19, 2016 02:40
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Hard +0 | Cool +0 | Hot +2 | Sharp +1 | Weird +0 Harm 0:00 | Experience: 2/5 | 1-armor | 2-barter Belated roll to find Edith with Fingers in Every Pie Platonicsolid> Fingers in Every Pie: Finding Edith <Platonicsolid> .roll 2d6+2 <Platonibot> Platonicsolid: 13 (2d6+2=5, 6) I watch Megan take off. She might look non-commital, but I know she'll do her best. She's solid like that. I have more pressing problems. I slide up to Xon and get up under his arm, helping to boost him up and get him to a chair. "Better when my floor's not bloody." I make a face, then grab a chair and take a seat opposite him, leaning in to press on his wound, which oozes slowly. I take one of the cleaning cloths and press it to Xon's injury to help stop the dripping. "So you're saying you can pay your tab?" I say in half-jest. "poo poo, you are not going to hold out long." I straighten up and call out, "Mastiff!" in response to her own hails. "Gonna need a hand getting my brother here to Needles. Then we may have a dispute to settle." I focus on Xon again. "Want to tell me who did this?" I ask in a tone of studied neutrality.
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Oct 20, 2016 14:49
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Hard +0 | Cool +0 | Hot +2 | Sharp +1 | Weird +0 Harm 0:00 | Experience: 2/5 | 1-armor | 2-barter With Mastiff's help, I haul Xon towards her robo-donkey. It'll still be the best way to move him to Needles, better than hauling him through the streets like this. And the gently caress is Duchess doing here? With a crowd, no less? "He'll live to annoy another day," I tell Duchess. Her, probably me, but Xon and I go way back. I'd rather have him annoying me than not annoying me. Duchess' offer seems unexpectedly magnanimous. Xon groans, reminding me I don't have a lot of time for a choice. I hold him until the car swings in and help hustle him into the back seat. "I need to be going with him?" I ask Duchess, looking her right in the eyes. If she's got real beef with Xon, really wants him dead, nothing I can do to stop it, but damned if I'll be the one to deliver him. That said, I'm distinctly not eager to go with the crowd filling in around the Eye. Something seems...off about it. Platonicsolid fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Oct 25, 2016 |
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Oct 25, 2016 21:07
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Hard +0 | Cool +0 | Hot +2 | Sharp +1 | Weird +0 Harm 0:00 | Experience: 2/5 | 1-armor | 2-barter "Needles," I say with clear relief. I pass Xon off to the folks to get him laid down. Just having Needles here makes me calm down. I can't be too pissed with Mastiff for taking off. Xon's going to get taken care of, and she needs to get paid, and if she gets paid, I get paid. "Doing our best," I tell Duchess with a guarded smile. "Can't let the people down on Market Day." Which is true, there'd be lost of upset, not to mention a lack of jingle in my purse. The crowd gives me pause. "Y'all are early!" I call out to the crowd. "Open for lunch in a few hours!" Because even if some special customers, like Mastiff, get in, we're really not ready for a crowd this size.
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Oct 27, 2016 20:04
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Hard +0 | Cool +0 | Hot +2 | Sharp +1 | Weird +0 Harm 0:00 | Experience: 2/5 | 1-armor | 2-barter I rub the back of my neck. poo poo, this is going to be a day. Xon's taken care of, at least, and the crowd is...still restless. More than I'd like. I spot Gregg milling about, under that ridiculously shabby bowler hat of him. fancies himself something of a lawman out of the old old world. Would have been a relic even pre-fall, seems to think having a gun on his hip lets him tell people to do things his way. Even if you're thinking that way, best to remember who has more guns than you. Last scene he caused, got right up in Raina's face about bringing her husbands in. drat petty moralizer. Got a strict rule on him now - no tab, and gets bounced soon as he even opens his mouth. Everybody gets to come 'n drink in peace, I say. Didn't expect to see Edith heading things up - figured Megan would have to drag her back. My whole body tenses, until she starts reassuring me and... ...poo poo, was I holding my breath? Did I really think Eed would leave me high and dry? Explains a lot, why I've got so few hands to clean and set up. It's not Edith pulling up stakes it's something...worse. "Eeeeeeds," I say with a grin and then I roll my eyes. "Like I'd muss a pair of socks just for you," I tease her. "Farn's been with you a long while. Others might drift, but him?" I shake my head. "Sounds like trouble. Who'd you piss off this time? Beyond me." I'm close to her now, and my hand twitches halfway to her waist.
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Nov 1, 2016 03:46
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Hard +0 | Cool +0 | Hot +2 | Sharp +1 | Weird +0 Harm 0:00 | Experience: 2/5 | 1-armor | 2-barter Here she is. / "Always," I say, trying not to embrace her, or worse, in front of Duchess and my staff. Edith leads us both away from the group, to a quieter spot up against the wall of the Storm. "Black Earth," I hiss, and frown. "gently caress." In a world of crews and cults, Black Earth gives me the shuddering heebies. They're not murder happy - I almost wish they were, because then they'd inevitably turn against each other. No, the Black Earthers are focused, intense, and organized. Way more dangerous. Living in the mines makes some kind of sense - it's safe, protected, only one entrance. Get down there too long and get some weird ides in your head - that the coal is life, the distilled essence of god, that mining is the mark of strength, and other weird poo poo that I haven't been able to make coherent. I deal with them like I deal with some of my pre-fall stuff, delicately, like it could break at any moment. I buy some coal from them, and the occasional piece of equipment they've salvaged. The Storm can run on eco for normal ops, but there's not enough wind or sun to keep everything on when a show fires up. Those lights and amps suck down the volts like crazy, and for that I need to fire up the generator. Which means dealing with the Black Earth. I run my hand through my hair. "I....I suppose I could find a way to buy his debt. He'd owe me," I make sure to point out, "but I'm less fantatic than the Black Earth." When did I start holding her hand? "Pretty sure I'm free."
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Nov 15, 2016 14:39
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Hard +0 | Cool +0 | Hot +2 | Sharp +1 | Weird +0 Harm 0:00 | Experience: 2/5 | 1-armor | 2-barter Deep breath. As much as I'd like to, I have to admit, "No, we'll need to go ourselves," I tell Edith "Much fun as it'd be otherwise. Let's go now, it's only a half hour ride out there." I look around the grounds, and spot Megan. I flag her down and give some basic instructions - really, nothing she didn't already know, since we're going ahead with the show as planned. "You...are coming with me," I ask Edith as I head for the ramshackle little bike we use for errands around town. Happy Thanksgiving food coma, everybody! Platonicsolid fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Nov 26, 2016 |
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Nov 26, 2016 05:07
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