((SB10: Abel Kuntz and assoc. continued from the cargo floats))
"...Huh."
Abel stood near the check-out area of the shop boat, gawking with his hands on his hips at the few inches-wide hole in the ceiling.
It wasn't really that interesting. It was just a dinky little hole, barely even wide enough for the midday sun to shine down on the rickety and slowly decaying floorboards or the knickknacks on the shelves and aisles that had also seen better days and whatnot. He just couldn't stop staring at it for some reason.
Well, until he had enough of that anyway and went back over to Virginia checking her bag again on the counters.
They hadn't seen anyone else since those other girls back at the cargo crates. Good or bad, he couldn't really tell, but at least no one played target practice with his head so he was doing rather fabulously as far as longevity was concerned. So, maybe it was good. They still had to find the other people on their team, though, and wandering around aimlessly among the boats was working out fairly well so they might as well have stuck to that.
So here they were at the shop boat, and enough about that because it didn't matter.
He twinged his mouth, thinking of something to say, but he didn't. He wandered over to a table set up with sunbleached tshirts of SOTF and generic marine animals as if they were remotely even in the target demographic. He thumbed through the shirts with his right hand, his left hand clutching onto the bilious excuse of weapons engineering that was his knife-gun.
He kept idly thumbing through the shirts as he said, "...You know, there is something rather ironic about how antediluvian this whole production is and the genius network big-wigs dumping us on a boat that sold all this decaying crap from a decade ago."
Consumer Culture
(cw for eye stuff) noonish, private because y'all already know wtf going on!!!!!!
((Virginia Burns continued from Revolution No. 9))
"Antediluvian" was a word that sounded more interesting than it really was. Sort of the opposite of the Bible as literature, honestly and ironically. Yeah, Virginia had read the Bible. Parts of it at least. She'd gotten entertainment out of it, which wasn't what you were supposed to do with it, but her dad had made a career out of borrowing the name of the big book's most famous traitor and her mom had a Satanic cross literally tattooed on her lower back, so just going by genetic predisposition, Virginia had never stood much of a chance as far as using the Word of God for its intended purpose.
Anyway.
"Antediluvian" was a word that Virginia liked the sound of in her head, but it actually just meant that something was very old. She'd never heard anyone say it out loud until just now.
"I guess it'll go up in value after the season," she murmured. She hadn't found anything of note in her bag that she really wanted to dwell on at the moment. There was a pink string bikini that she absolutely was not putting on under any circumstances, and a red, white, and blue dress that looked a bit like a glamoured-up Japanese school girl uniform, which was a solid "maybe" depending on how dirty her regular clothes got. There were some other clothes too that were less interesting, and the food, and a first-aid kit, and ammo for the shotgun that she was still lugging around.
...Now would probably be a good time to actually check if that was loaded. Virginia fished around in her bag for the gun manual she'd briefly noticed earlier so that she could figure out how to open it up without damaging the gun or anything around it.
"Would you buy that, if you knew it was from here and authentic?" She nodded towards the stack of shirts, which had some vaguely tropical-themed SOTF logo stamped on the front. You could probably make one yourself for a fraction of the price on any t-shirt generator website, but if it bled, it led, and it sold.
"Antediluvian" was a word that sounded more interesting than it really was. Sort of the opposite of the Bible as literature, honestly and ironically. Yeah, Virginia had read the Bible. Parts of it at least. She'd gotten entertainment out of it, which wasn't what you were supposed to do with it, but her dad had made a career out of borrowing the name of the big book's most famous traitor and her mom had a Satanic cross literally tattooed on her lower back, so just going by genetic predisposition, Virginia had never stood much of a chance as far as using the Word of God for its intended purpose.
Anyway.
"Antediluvian" was a word that Virginia liked the sound of in her head, but it actually just meant that something was very old. She'd never heard anyone say it out loud until just now.
"I guess it'll go up in value after the season," she murmured. She hadn't found anything of note in her bag that she really wanted to dwell on at the moment. There was a pink string bikini that she absolutely was not putting on under any circumstances, and a red, white, and blue dress that looked a bit like a glamoured-up Japanese school girl uniform, which was a solid "maybe" depending on how dirty her regular clothes got. There were some other clothes too that were less interesting, and the food, and a first-aid kit, and ammo for the shotgun that she was still lugging around.
...Now would probably be a good time to actually check if that was loaded. Virginia fished around in her bag for the gun manual she'd briefly noticed earlier so that she could figure out how to open it up without damaging the gun or anything around it.
"Would you buy that, if you knew it was from here and authentic?" She nodded towards the stack of shirts, which had some vaguely tropical-themed SOTF logo stamped on the front. You could probably make one yourself for a fraction of the price on any t-shirt generator website, but if it bled, it led, and it sold.
"I'll pass," Abel scoffed and replied without missing a beat. "I don't have a use for such kitsch other than selling it to someone with too much money and not enough sense to know what they're actually buying."
Actually, that wasn't too bad of an idea. The only monetery worth something had was the price someone else was willing to pay for it, and there were certainly enough wackadoodles out there that'd pay bank just for a soda can that Jewel girl so much as spat in. Someone could certainly call that the art of the deal if they wanted.
...Maybe that was more like a deviant art if anything.
Abel set the tshirts back down on the table with a gentle pat on top of the salt-stained fabric. He looked over at Virginia, now thumbing through what looked like the same sort of manual he got with his gun. Not that he didn't read his or anything, but honestly it was a little insulting the producers thought he was some sort of lunkhead who couldn't figure out something someone from a century ago could do with ease. But whatever, he had to pick his fights; he still wanted a word with the snickering intern that threw the Japanese schoolgirl uniform in his bag. Of course, "word" here being euphemism for a bullet.
His glasses got smudged again. He set the gun down on top of the tshirts and wiped his glasses with his shirt a few times.
"Anything enlightening in that manual?" he asked, angling the lenses towards the light and he saw he just made the smudge worse so tried to clean it again.
Actually, that wasn't too bad of an idea. The only monetery worth something had was the price someone else was willing to pay for it, and there were certainly enough wackadoodles out there that'd pay bank just for a soda can that Jewel girl so much as spat in. Someone could certainly call that the art of the deal if they wanted.
...Maybe that was more like a deviant art if anything.
Abel set the tshirts back down on the table with a gentle pat on top of the salt-stained fabric. He looked over at Virginia, now thumbing through what looked like the same sort of manual he got with his gun. Not that he didn't read his or anything, but honestly it was a little insulting the producers thought he was some sort of lunkhead who couldn't figure out something someone from a century ago could do with ease. But whatever, he had to pick his fights; he still wanted a word with the snickering intern that threw the Japanese schoolgirl uniform in his bag. Of course, "word" here being euphemism for a bullet.
His glasses got smudged again. He set the gun down on top of the tshirts and wiped his glasses with his shirt a few times.
"Anything enlightening in that manual?" he asked, angling the lenses towards the light and he saw he just made the smudge worse so tried to clean it again.
Virginia could respect that. She wouldn't have bought the shirts either. Bad vibes.
"Making sure I know how to load it in a pinch," she explained without looking up from the manual. There were tool marks on the barrel, she had noticed while looking over the shotgun now. She'd thought that it was illegal to saw down guns like that, and maybe it was, just not when you were floating in international waters. After following along with the instructions, she managed to load a few shells into the gun. It seemed to feel heavier with them inside, but that was probably her imagination.
There was a folding part too that Virginia wasn't entirely sure what to do with, but-
The back of her neck prickled. An itch at the back of her head. Virginia had never been entirely sure if there really was such a thing as a sixth sense that humans had, but she'd spent enough time sitting alone in the cafeteria back in middle school with glances and whispers thrown her way.
She knew when she was being watched.
She turned.
"Making sure I know how to load it in a pinch," she explained without looking up from the manual. There were tool marks on the barrel, she had noticed while looking over the shotgun now. She'd thought that it was illegal to saw down guns like that, and maybe it was, just not when you were floating in international waters. After following along with the instructions, she managed to load a few shells into the gun. It seemed to feel heavier with them inside, but that was probably her imagination.
There was a folding part too that Virginia wasn't entirely sure what to do with, but-
The back of her neck prickled. An itch at the back of her head. Virginia had never been entirely sure if there really was such a thing as a sixth sense that humans had, but she'd spent enough time sitting alone in the cafeteria back in middle school with glances and whispers thrown her way.
She knew when she was being watched.
She turned.
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VoltTurtle
- Posts: 491
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:41 am
"Oh my! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you two."
((Ugh, they just had to turn around at the last second, didn't they?))
Before Seo-yun found herself in her current predicament--stuck in an aisle in some terrible floating gift shop with two armed and potentially dangerous people right in front of her with nothing to defend herself with except for a cooking implement--she had been making her way across the arena with Mandy after they had left the Captain's Quarters. Mandy had suggested going to the Shop Boat after looking at the map, and seeing no reason to disagree, Seo-yun went along with it. The trip over had been fairly uneventful, and when they had originally arrived at the Shop Boat, it had been completely empty. That was, until about fifteen--maybe twenty, she didn't have a watch--minutes later, when these two arrived. Seo-yun and Mandy had opted to hide behind some of the shelves and simply spy on them for a bit, until Seo-yun thought she had the prime opportunity to ambush them and take their guns.
She wasn't dumb, she could see that the two of them were on the same team and were clearly working together. Walking up to them, for anyone else, would've been a death sentence, but she was Seo-yun, star in the making. She wouldn't die here to these supporting characters. She had, however, overestimated how easily she could sneak up on them. Today just wasn't her day apparently, between the earlier confrontation with Leo and Mary and now this. Oh well, she was good at improvising and thinking on her feet. Surely she could talk her way out of all of this, and maybe she could even coax them into making the fatal mistake of letting their guard down.
"Abel," she continued, keeping her voice low and calm. "It's been far too long since we last talked. Virginia, I don't think we've had the pleasure of speaking before, but Bethan has told me a lot about you. Positive things, I assure you."
Seo-yun couldn't say she was friends with either of the two in front of her, not like she had been friends with, say, Mary. Still, she had chatted plenty of times with Abel and the two of them had gotten along quite easily during those conversations. Virginia meanwhile had always avoided her, but Seo-yun was more than familiar with her escapades with the ever-talkative Bethan, and Bethan was her friend, so that had to count for something. Beside all that, though, she was Seo-yun! Everyone at Mangrove Garden knew her, and almost everyone loved her. That must still carry some sway in the here and now.
"S-Sorry," she stuttered. "I've just had a really rough day so far," she gestured to her injuries, "and I was holding out hope I'd run into some friendly faces."
Mandy wasn't next to her. She was probably still hiding behind the shelves. Come to think of it, Seo-yun hadn't actually signaled what she was intending to do to her only ally here, silly her. Oh well, though, the past is the past, and there's no going back to change it now. She'd be fine, it wasn't like Mandy would really be able to help much, anyway.
"If you're worried, don't be, all I've got to defend myself is," she hefted her skillet, which had been lazily hanging at her side up to this point, "this thing here. Just my luck, huh?"
((Ugh, they just had to turn around at the last second, didn't they?))
Before Seo-yun found herself in her current predicament--stuck in an aisle in some terrible floating gift shop with two armed and potentially dangerous people right in front of her with nothing to defend herself with except for a cooking implement--she had been making her way across the arena with Mandy after they had left the Captain's Quarters. Mandy had suggested going to the Shop Boat after looking at the map, and seeing no reason to disagree, Seo-yun went along with it. The trip over had been fairly uneventful, and when they had originally arrived at the Shop Boat, it had been completely empty. That was, until about fifteen--maybe twenty, she didn't have a watch--minutes later, when these two arrived. Seo-yun and Mandy had opted to hide behind some of the shelves and simply spy on them for a bit, until Seo-yun thought she had the prime opportunity to ambush them and take their guns.
She wasn't dumb, she could see that the two of them were on the same team and were clearly working together. Walking up to them, for anyone else, would've been a death sentence, but she was Seo-yun, star in the making. She wouldn't die here to these supporting characters. She had, however, overestimated how easily she could sneak up on them. Today just wasn't her day apparently, between the earlier confrontation with Leo and Mary and now this. Oh well, she was good at improvising and thinking on her feet. Surely she could talk her way out of all of this, and maybe she could even coax them into making the fatal mistake of letting their guard down.
"Abel," she continued, keeping her voice low and calm. "It's been far too long since we last talked. Virginia, I don't think we've had the pleasure of speaking before, but Bethan has told me a lot about you. Positive things, I assure you."
Seo-yun couldn't say she was friends with either of the two in front of her, not like she had been friends with, say, Mary. Still, she had chatted plenty of times with Abel and the two of them had gotten along quite easily during those conversations. Virginia meanwhile had always avoided her, but Seo-yun was more than familiar with her escapades with the ever-talkative Bethan, and Bethan was her friend, so that had to count for something. Beside all that, though, she was Seo-yun! Everyone at Mangrove Garden knew her, and almost everyone loved her. That must still carry some sway in the here and now.
"S-Sorry," she stuttered. "I've just had a really rough day so far," she gestured to her injuries, "and I was holding out hope I'd run into some friendly faces."
Mandy wasn't next to her. She was probably still hiding behind the shelves. Come to think of it, Seo-yun hadn't actually signaled what she was intending to do to her only ally here, silly her. Oh well, though, the past is the past, and there's no going back to change it now. She'd be fine, it wasn't like Mandy would really be able to help much, anyway.
"If you're worried, don't be, all I've got to defend myself is," she hefted her skillet, which had been lazily hanging at her side up to this point, "this thing here. Just my luck, huh?"
Abel glanced over to the vague blob of some raven-haired maiden. He threw his still-smudged glasses back on and reached for his gun, knocking a few of the t-shirts off the table. His mouth twitched as he realized who it was.
Seo-yun. The most odious woman alive. It figured she'd be here, too. He couldn't fault the casting crew; with the inane and braindead pitiful excuses of intellectual conversation they shared back in Miami, she seemed the kinda gal well suited for this role.
"Yes, it is." He kept his gun cradled in both hands and pointed at her, in case she tried anything with that frying pan other than catering for lunch. "We already had a crossbow pointed at us more times than I'd like today so forgive the precautions."
Abel glanced over at Virginia and then back to skillet girl, at her gaudy ensemble, at the bruises on her face other than the scars already there from being beaten by an ugly stick, at her red bandana that didn't coordinate with either of the pink ones but did kind of work with her color scheme not that Abel was jealous or anything.
Would be nice if he believed her little old me act, but something was off. He didn't know Seo-yun that well but he knew her enough to know she was plotting, well, something; moreso than girls usually did.
He grumbled a few times under his breath, kept the cumbersome gun pointed at her. "...What happened to your face? Kiss a glass door again?"
Seo-yun. The most odious woman alive. It figured she'd be here, too. He couldn't fault the casting crew; with the inane and braindead pitiful excuses of intellectual conversation they shared back in Miami, she seemed the kinda gal well suited for this role.
"Yes, it is." He kept his gun cradled in both hands and pointed at her, in case she tried anything with that frying pan other than catering for lunch. "We already had a crossbow pointed at us more times than I'd like today so forgive the precautions."
Abel glanced over at Virginia and then back to skillet girl, at her gaudy ensemble, at the bruises on her face other than the scars already there from being beaten by an ugly stick, at her red bandana that didn't coordinate with either of the pink ones but did kind of work with her color scheme not that Abel was jealous or anything.
Would be nice if he believed her little old me act, but something was off. He didn't know Seo-yun that well but he knew her enough to know she was plotting, well, something; moreso than girls usually did.
He grumbled a few times under his breath, kept the cumbersome gun pointed at her. "...What happened to your face? Kiss a glass door again?"
They'd only had a crossbow pointed at them once, but Vriginia could agree that any amount of times over zero was more than she preferred. Seo-yun didn't have a crossbow. She had a frying pan. Virginia didn't think she looked very threatening with a frying pan, and so though Abel's gun came up, the shotgun stayed loosely pointed at the floor.
It was loaded now. Seo-yun had probably seen her load it. Probably hadn't wanted to startle her, in case Virginia spun around, and-
Well. She hadn't had her finger on the trigger when she turned, and that was good. Probably. She'd watched SOTF like anyone else. She had seen what guns of this size did to human torsos. Putting a new peephole in Seo-yun's chest wouldn't have done her any favors, visually or otherwise.
Anyway. Buried the lede a bit there. Virginia knew Seo-yun, because they had a mutual friend in Bethan, and because Seo-yun was the kind of person who made herself known if you didn't already know her. They might have talked in passing, actually, but Seo-yun didn't seem to think so. Who knew. Virginia didn't keep track.
"Are you okay?" She followed up Abel's less tactful question more quietly. Good cop-bad cop, maybe. Mostly she felt that she ought to say something, rather than stare at the bruises forming on Seo-yun's alabaster cheek.
It was tiring already, not being able to go anywhere or see anyone without seeing hints and remnants of violence.
It was loaded now. Seo-yun had probably seen her load it. Probably hadn't wanted to startle her, in case Virginia spun around, and-
Well. She hadn't had her finger on the trigger when she turned, and that was good. Probably. She'd watched SOTF like anyone else. She had seen what guns of this size did to human torsos. Putting a new peephole in Seo-yun's chest wouldn't have done her any favors, visually or otherwise.
Anyway. Buried the lede a bit there. Virginia knew Seo-yun, because they had a mutual friend in Bethan, and because Seo-yun was the kind of person who made herself known if you didn't already know her. They might have talked in passing, actually, but Seo-yun didn't seem to think so. Who knew. Virginia didn't keep track.
"Are you okay?" She followed up Abel's less tactful question more quietly. Good cop-bad cop, maybe. Mostly she felt that she ought to say something, rather than stare at the bruises forming on Seo-yun's alabaster cheek.
It was tiring already, not being able to go anywhere or see anyone without seeing hints and remnants of violence.
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MurderWeasel
- Posts: 3442
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:56 am
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
((Mandy Gross continued from 명성과 재산))
The shop boat had been a moment of inspiration on Mandy's part, but one that didn't really work out enough to justify the term. In theory it had been a nice fun relaxed thing. A shopping trip in SOTF? That sounded way better than the alternatives, a good way to decompress a little. But all the clothes in the boat were old, crumbly, ratty, or abjectly uggo, so Mandy had ended up just changing into the stuff in her pack after all.
She was thus wearing loose blue track pants paired with a blue tank top featuring a high collar line and straps that would've easily passed muster in school because they were less spaghetti, more lasagna. She'd put on the swimsuit underneath too, because she'd found a good hiding spot to get changed and was just a bit worried about falling into the water given that it was everywhere and they might be roaming around the rickety planks and jetties for the foreseeable future. And, of course, she still had her hat snugly on her head, now with the bandanna peeking out from underneath it.
On the whole, her spirits were high, possibly higher than they should've been. Yes, thinking about Mary and Leo still stung, but they hadn't seen the pair again or encountered anybody else. Yes, there was still some uncertainty and she was still worried, but Seo-yun had rallied admirably and seemed to be returning to normal. Yes, the shop boat had been a bust for salvaging anything of worth, but there was room for some laughs and if nothing else the narrow rows of densely-packed shelves made for an interesting backdrop. It was kind of Disney, so Mandy liked it. She even found a little snow globe version of the scene in Lucky Lara's season where Alyssa lost her fingers.
But then the others came. Virginia wasn't really cause for concern as a person. Mandy thought the girl was basically the good sort of nobody, where she was quiet and liked her weird stuff and didn't cause trouble for anyone. She was cool in this aloof way, but a natural one? But Abel on the other hand, Abel was in Mandy's grade and he'd always seemed unpleasant and aggravatingly stubborn when he was even doing things notable enough to get on her radar. And he had some sort of gun too, which meant Mandy and Seo-yun were way outmatched when it came to armaments.
At least in some ways, this was easier than with Mary and Leo, because as best Mandy knew Seo-yun didn't have any special affection for these two either. So they could just lay low behind the shelves, count on the creaking of wood and the crashing of waves to mask their movement, and sneak away. They just had to find the right moment, and finally it came: the others were distracted talking about something and messing with their guns, and that meant Mandy and Seo-yun could just scoot right on out.
She turned to whisper as much, and found herself alone.
Immediately, Mandy started to panic, something only intensified when she glanced around the edge of the shelf she was hiding behind and saw that Seo-yun had made it halfway across the floor of the shop boat already, charting a beeline for the others. This was bad. Seo-yun was kind and social and did her best to help others, but hadn't she and Mandy just been talking about how they couldn't trust anybody anymore? Wasn't that the take-away from what happened on the cruise ship? And these two weren't on either of their teams, and even from here Mandy could see that they both had this tacky hot pink color on them and she was pretty sure Abel wasn't the sort to rep that willingly. So they might already be working together for their own good and nobody else's.
A whole bunch of terrible possibilities flashed through Mandy's head in an instant, as her fingers worked the snap that kept her umbrella from being able to engage, popping it open and shut, open and shut, open.
She couldn't leave Seo-yun alone. But the other two both had guns. But Seo-yun was in danger.
Mandy didn't even want to admit it to herself, but she did briefly consider cutting and running.
It only lasted a second, though. Then she took two slow, tentative steps, inching closer to where her friend was meeting with the others while staying as hidden as she could, crouching behind a tall rack of faded t-shirts bearing pictures of people who'd died in this game before them.
The shop boat had been a moment of inspiration on Mandy's part, but one that didn't really work out enough to justify the term. In theory it had been a nice fun relaxed thing. A shopping trip in SOTF? That sounded way better than the alternatives, a good way to decompress a little. But all the clothes in the boat were old, crumbly, ratty, or abjectly uggo, so Mandy had ended up just changing into the stuff in her pack after all.
She was thus wearing loose blue track pants paired with a blue tank top featuring a high collar line and straps that would've easily passed muster in school because they were less spaghetti, more lasagna. She'd put on the swimsuit underneath too, because she'd found a good hiding spot to get changed and was just a bit worried about falling into the water given that it was everywhere and they might be roaming around the rickety planks and jetties for the foreseeable future. And, of course, she still had her hat snugly on her head, now with the bandanna peeking out from underneath it.
On the whole, her spirits were high, possibly higher than they should've been. Yes, thinking about Mary and Leo still stung, but they hadn't seen the pair again or encountered anybody else. Yes, there was still some uncertainty and she was still worried, but Seo-yun had rallied admirably and seemed to be returning to normal. Yes, the shop boat had been a bust for salvaging anything of worth, but there was room for some laughs and if nothing else the narrow rows of densely-packed shelves made for an interesting backdrop. It was kind of Disney, so Mandy liked it. She even found a little snow globe version of the scene in Lucky Lara's season where Alyssa lost her fingers.
But then the others came. Virginia wasn't really cause for concern as a person. Mandy thought the girl was basically the good sort of nobody, where she was quiet and liked her weird stuff and didn't cause trouble for anyone. She was cool in this aloof way, but a natural one? But Abel on the other hand, Abel was in Mandy's grade and he'd always seemed unpleasant and aggravatingly stubborn when he was even doing things notable enough to get on her radar. And he had some sort of gun too, which meant Mandy and Seo-yun were way outmatched when it came to armaments.
At least in some ways, this was easier than with Mary and Leo, because as best Mandy knew Seo-yun didn't have any special affection for these two either. So they could just lay low behind the shelves, count on the creaking of wood and the crashing of waves to mask their movement, and sneak away. They just had to find the right moment, and finally it came: the others were distracted talking about something and messing with their guns, and that meant Mandy and Seo-yun could just scoot right on out.
She turned to whisper as much, and found herself alone.
Immediately, Mandy started to panic, something only intensified when she glanced around the edge of the shelf she was hiding behind and saw that Seo-yun had made it halfway across the floor of the shop boat already, charting a beeline for the others. This was bad. Seo-yun was kind and social and did her best to help others, but hadn't she and Mandy just been talking about how they couldn't trust anybody anymore? Wasn't that the take-away from what happened on the cruise ship? And these two weren't on either of their teams, and even from here Mandy could see that they both had this tacky hot pink color on them and she was pretty sure Abel wasn't the sort to rep that willingly. So they might already be working together for their own good and nobody else's.
A whole bunch of terrible possibilities flashed through Mandy's head in an instant, as her fingers worked the snap that kept her umbrella from being able to engage, popping it open and shut, open and shut, open.
She couldn't leave Seo-yun alone. But the other two both had guns. But Seo-yun was in danger.
Mandy didn't even want to admit it to herself, but she did briefly consider cutting and running.
It only lasted a second, though. Then she took two slow, tentative steps, inching closer to where her friend was meeting with the others while staying as hidden as she could, crouching behind a tall rack of faded t-shirts bearing pictures of people who'd died in this game before them.
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VoltTurtle
- Posts: 491
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:41 am
So, there was a gun being pointed at her now. That was a new, novel experience. Not one that she could say that she ever wanted to go through, but it was new and there was a certain value in that, however small. Seo-yun's hands started to fidget almost imperceptibly in response, as her heart rate began to pick up. Going by Abel's callous demeanor, he didn't seem to be buying her act. Had she gotten sloppy, or was he just being understandably paranoid? Hopefully it was the latter, she couldn't bear to think that her acting prowess had diminished in any way.
At least it didn't look like he was going to shoot her, though he was just one errant finger twitch away. She was doing her best to remain still to keep him from doing anything he might come to regret. It was obvious that he wasn't actually going to shoot her, though, and even if he did, he would definitely miss, and even if he didn't miss, it wasn't like it would do any real damage. If she ended up getting shot, it'd just be to keep the audience on their toes; the hero always gets at least a little scuffed up, after all.
Thankfully, Virginia seemed to be much more open to conversation than her colleague that was currently way overstepping his bounds. That was good, that was something that she could leverage to get herself out of this mess. Maybe she could go the extra mile and convince them that she just wanted to be their friend, and then if they gave her the chance, she wouldn't mess up the execution like she had with Leo a few hours prior.
"I'm alive, which has to count for something," she responded, fighting to keep her voice just as calm, despite her rapidly fraying nerves. "I'm sorry to hear that someone threatened your lives. I ran into some trouble myself when one of my friends betrayed and attacked me. That's how I got the bruise on my face."
What was Mandy doing while all of this was happening? Did she bail on her now that she was in trouble? Oh, if she had, Seo-yun would make sure that she would pay for that. Hopefully she was still in here, somewhere. Maybe even coming up with a plan to help. Ah, actually, who was Seo-yun kidding with that thought. It wasn't like she could actually rely on that girl.
"C-Could you lower the gun, please? We're all friends here, and I really don't appreciate that any more than you likely appreciated having a crossbow pointed at you."
At least it didn't look like he was going to shoot her, though he was just one errant finger twitch away. She was doing her best to remain still to keep him from doing anything he might come to regret. It was obvious that he wasn't actually going to shoot her, though, and even if he did, he would definitely miss, and even if he didn't miss, it wasn't like it would do any real damage. If she ended up getting shot, it'd just be to keep the audience on their toes; the hero always gets at least a little scuffed up, after all.
Thankfully, Virginia seemed to be much more open to conversation than her colleague that was currently way overstepping his bounds. That was good, that was something that she could leverage to get herself out of this mess. Maybe she could go the extra mile and convince them that she just wanted to be their friend, and then if they gave her the chance, she wouldn't mess up the execution like she had with Leo a few hours prior.
"I'm alive, which has to count for something," she responded, fighting to keep her voice just as calm, despite her rapidly fraying nerves. "I'm sorry to hear that someone threatened your lives. I ran into some trouble myself when one of my friends betrayed and attacked me. That's how I got the bruise on my face."
What was Mandy doing while all of this was happening? Did she bail on her now that she was in trouble? Oh, if she had, Seo-yun would make sure that she would pay for that. Hopefully she was still in here, somewhere. Maybe even coming up with a plan to help. Ah, actually, who was Seo-yun kidding with that thought. It wasn't like she could actually rely on that girl.
"C-Could you lower the gun, please? We're all friends here, and I really don't appreciate that any more than you likely appreciated having a crossbow pointed at you."
"We don't appreciate being snuck up on with a frying pan either, my dear," Abel spoke for himself.
He kept his gun up and watched his hostage's face and hands, fidgeting on the handle of the frying pan.
...Something didn't feel right. Something was off, even moreso than usual about Seo-yun. He couldn't place his finger on what it was, but-
He took his eyes off of Seo-yun for a moment, scanning the area from his spot like a prairie dog. Was she alone? She had to be, right? If this was some sort of team effort Abel definitely wouldn't put Seo-yun in charge of anything and he didn't take her for the kind of person to put herself in danger and be the scout and the lapdog of someone else. Again, he didn't really care enough to know her that well, but he knew her well enough to know none of that made sense.
But still... he didn't like this feeling of dread.
He glanced over at Virginia, to the door out of the shop boat, and then to Seo-yun. He took a step back, gun still raised at the ready.
"Wh-why don't you drop the skillet, and then we can parley?" He jerked and pointed the gun towards the ground for a moment, both as a demonstration and as a betrayal of his cool exterior.
He kept his gun up and watched his hostage's face and hands, fidgeting on the handle of the frying pan.
...Something didn't feel right. Something was off, even moreso than usual about Seo-yun. He couldn't place his finger on what it was, but-
He took his eyes off of Seo-yun for a moment, scanning the area from his spot like a prairie dog. Was she alone? She had to be, right? If this was some sort of team effort Abel definitely wouldn't put Seo-yun in charge of anything and he didn't take her for the kind of person to put herself in danger and be the scout and the lapdog of someone else. Again, he didn't really care enough to know her that well, but he knew her well enough to know none of that made sense.
But still... he didn't like this feeling of dread.
He glanced over at Virginia, to the door out of the shop boat, and then to Seo-yun. He took a step back, gun still raised at the ready.
"Wh-why don't you drop the skillet, and then we can parley?" He jerked and pointed the gun towards the ground for a moment, both as a demonstration and as a betrayal of his cool exterior.
Virginia's eyes slid between Seo-yun and Abel, a slow and unsteady metronome. She wasn't sure that was necessary, Abel's demand. Seo-yun already had one gun on her and another that could come up at any moment, even if Virginia didn't want to fire it. She opened her mouth to say that, to reassure, but she closed it again without speaking. Seo-yun didn't know what Virginia wanted. Even if Virginia said she didn't want to shoot, there was no way to confirm that until the whole encounter played out.
Asking who had attacked Seo-yun wasn't very necessary either, not least because Virginia probably had no idea who half Seo-yun's friends were. Arguing with Abel wouldn't help, even if it was true that Virginia didn't agree with what he was asking. He was keeping them safe. Or trying to. If they fractured in front of a more immediate audience than the one at home, it would cause problems. Virginia wasn't a fan of causing problems.
So she stood. Gun in both hands, though she wanted to lower it and shift it to one, make herself less threatening than she felt. Was Abel going to shoot Seo-yun? It seemed like they had history, of the bad sort. If Abel shot Seo-yun, was Virginia going to do anything about it?
No. Not even if she wanted to. And she would want to. But if Abel shot her, Virginia wasn't going to run to save her, because her bandanna was of a different color.
If she were back in school, maybe she could have come up with an essay on some kind of social commentary that this demonstrated. Instead, she was in this tacky floating souvenir shop, holding a gun, and so Virginia did what she did best and stood still, quiet, and now perhaps menacing. She shifted her grip on the shotgun, finger brushing over the trigger guard as she tried to find a more comfortable way to hold it while this played out.
Asking who had attacked Seo-yun wasn't very necessary either, not least because Virginia probably had no idea who half Seo-yun's friends were. Arguing with Abel wouldn't help, even if it was true that Virginia didn't agree with what he was asking. He was keeping them safe. Or trying to. If they fractured in front of a more immediate audience than the one at home, it would cause problems. Virginia wasn't a fan of causing problems.
So she stood. Gun in both hands, though she wanted to lower it and shift it to one, make herself less threatening than she felt. Was Abel going to shoot Seo-yun? It seemed like they had history, of the bad sort. If Abel shot Seo-yun, was Virginia going to do anything about it?
No. Not even if she wanted to. And she would want to. But if Abel shot her, Virginia wasn't going to run to save her, because her bandanna was of a different color.
If she were back in school, maybe she could have come up with an essay on some kind of social commentary that this demonstrated. Instead, she was in this tacky floating souvenir shop, holding a gun, and so Virginia did what she did best and stood still, quiet, and now perhaps menacing. She shifted her grip on the shotgun, finger brushing over the trigger guard as she tried to find a more comfortable way to hold it while this played out.
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MurderWeasel
- Posts: 3442
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:56 am
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
"Parley" was a word Mandy was pretty fond of, but wasn't sure she'd ever heard a person in real life say in sincerity before. It made her think of Pirates Of The Caribbean, which had one really good movie and a few sort of okay ones and then kind of trailed off the way most Disney sequels did. Pirates Of The Caribbean had been a ride before it was a movie, and a lot of the old fans from before Mandy was born were unhappy because references to the film (which had more or less nothing to do with it apart from also featuring pirates) had been shoehorned in and changed the atmosphere of the experience.
Come to think of it, there were a lot of Pirates touchstones around this place in general.
Too bad it wasn't a better situation to appreciate all of that. In the movies, parley was normally called by the weaker party as a way to wiggle out of trouble. Here and now, though, it was Seo-yun with a skillet against Abel and Virginia both with guns and menacing attitudes, and the word was being used as part of an implied ultimatum.
Mandy was up against the shelf. She wasn't actually pressing her back against it, because she wasn't an idiot; nothing in this place was sturdy and most likely her backpack would drag along pulling mugs and keychains and miniature replica collars to the ground in a grand cacophony, and that was assuming she didn't just push the entire display over. But she was close to the action, and creeping closer, step by quiet step.
The bag of powdered pepper had found a home in the pockets of Mandy's track pants, which were honestly in the upper echelons of pocket depth of her whole wardrobe even if you counted the stuff in her closet back home. She pulled the plastic baggie out and squeezed it tight in her right hand, feeling the gritty contents grind around like one of those plush lizards filled with sand. If she had to, she could—she would—use it. She'd dropped her guard before, and Seo-yun had been put in danger due to that negligence, but this time Mandy wouldn't be the last to act.
Judging by the voices, she'd actually pulled past Seo-yun now, some ten feet or so, and was more parallel to the others. Mandy took another two slow steps, then slowly raised up from her duck-walk, peaking over the shelves again. She only gave herself an instant. Seo-yun was there, facing the other two. Mandy was closer to Virginia, who also had the substantially scarier gun and was shifting it around in this way that made Mandy nervous. Abel was moving his weapon around too, and that got Mandy's breath speeding up as she dipped back down, left hand worrying the umbrella once again.
She was pretty sure she'd passed undetected. She hoped.
Come to think of it, there were a lot of Pirates touchstones around this place in general.
Too bad it wasn't a better situation to appreciate all of that. In the movies, parley was normally called by the weaker party as a way to wiggle out of trouble. Here and now, though, it was Seo-yun with a skillet against Abel and Virginia both with guns and menacing attitudes, and the word was being used as part of an implied ultimatum.
Mandy was up against the shelf. She wasn't actually pressing her back against it, because she wasn't an idiot; nothing in this place was sturdy and most likely her backpack would drag along pulling mugs and keychains and miniature replica collars to the ground in a grand cacophony, and that was assuming she didn't just push the entire display over. But she was close to the action, and creeping closer, step by quiet step.
The bag of powdered pepper had found a home in the pockets of Mandy's track pants, which were honestly in the upper echelons of pocket depth of her whole wardrobe even if you counted the stuff in her closet back home. She pulled the plastic baggie out and squeezed it tight in her right hand, feeling the gritty contents grind around like one of those plush lizards filled with sand. If she had to, she could—she would—use it. She'd dropped her guard before, and Seo-yun had been put in danger due to that negligence, but this time Mandy wouldn't be the last to act.
Judging by the voices, she'd actually pulled past Seo-yun now, some ten feet or so, and was more parallel to the others. Mandy took another two slow steps, then slowly raised up from her duck-walk, peaking over the shelves again. She only gave herself an instant. Seo-yun was there, facing the other two. Mandy was closer to Virginia, who also had the substantially scarier gun and was shifting it around in this way that made Mandy nervous. Abel was moving his weapon around too, and that got Mandy's breath speeding up as she dipped back down, left hand worrying the umbrella once again.
She was pretty sure she'd passed undetected. She hoped.
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VoltTurtle
- Posts: 491
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:41 am
Okay, well, this was starting to look bad. Between Abel acting as if he was getting antsier by the second, the fact that he was still pointing a gun at her, and Virginia's seeming indifference to the fact that someone could very well be murdered right in front of her, Seo-yun was almost beginning to think that she might actually get a little hurt here. How horrible of both of them to be treating her like this, under these circumstances. Sure, she might've betrayed and attacked someone when their guard was down, but they didn't know about that. All they should know was that she was scared and hurt, and treating a terrified, injured girl like that only made them look like villains.
Regardless of why she was in this predicament, she still needed a way out of this. She tried to weigh her options. Cutting and running would be preferable, but at this proximity she could very easily be shot before she managed a few paltry steps, and besides that, running away was hardly what the star did. That was how the Leos and Marys of the world acted. She was Seo-yun, and she wouldn't just admit defeat; to do so would be asking to die. Perhaps then the better choice would be to talk her way into an uneasy departure. Instead of absconding like a coward, she could frame that as a clever retreat that she had to work for. If she wanted to keep both her life and her dignity, that was clearly the only choice, but it wouldn't be easy.
"I could drop it, but then how would I be able to defend myself?" she replied, her hands continuing to fidget. "I can tell you guys don't want to partner up, and that's fine, I can accept that. I've been stabbed in the back once already today, and I don't need to be shot in the face on top of it. I'll leave you two alone, so long as you let me."
She was unfortunately still relying on their good graces to back out of this before it had to get messy, but she made the best choice. The only other alternative was trying to fight, and frankly that was even dumber than just fleeing like a coward. She was two against one, and both of them had guns. The best she could hope for by trying to fight would be throwing the skillet just right so as to kill one of them instantly, only for the other to blow her away once she used up her one and only attack. Truly, it would be a foolish maneuver, unless she just so happened to catch a glimpse of her ally's hat poking out from above one of the shelves, just a few feet away from where her adversaries were standing.
Oh, well, what do you know. Maybe fighting really would be the solution.
The fidgeting in her hands finally stopped. If Mandy was doing what Seo-yun believed that she was doing, then that could very well distract them enough to give her the opening she needed. She could use it to escape, but there was opportunity here. She wasn't afraid of these two, they were two easy kills ripe for the taking. As dangerous as a fight with them might be, Mandy would be shouldering the brunt of the danger by initiating it. Her death was a sacrifice Seo-yun was willing to make, so long as it meant she'd be a few steps closer to victory and stardom.
Her grip tightened around the handle of the skillet. The muscles in her arms tensed.
"Just lower the gun, and you'll never have to see me again."
Regardless of why she was in this predicament, she still needed a way out of this. She tried to weigh her options. Cutting and running would be preferable, but at this proximity she could very easily be shot before she managed a few paltry steps, and besides that, running away was hardly what the star did. That was how the Leos and Marys of the world acted. She was Seo-yun, and she wouldn't just admit defeat; to do so would be asking to die. Perhaps then the better choice would be to talk her way into an uneasy departure. Instead of absconding like a coward, she could frame that as a clever retreat that she had to work for. If she wanted to keep both her life and her dignity, that was clearly the only choice, but it wouldn't be easy.
"I could drop it, but then how would I be able to defend myself?" she replied, her hands continuing to fidget. "I can tell you guys don't want to partner up, and that's fine, I can accept that. I've been stabbed in the back once already today, and I don't need to be shot in the face on top of it. I'll leave you two alone, so long as you let me."
She was unfortunately still relying on their good graces to back out of this before it had to get messy, but she made the best choice. The only other alternative was trying to fight, and frankly that was even dumber than just fleeing like a coward. She was two against one, and both of them had guns. The best she could hope for by trying to fight would be throwing the skillet just right so as to kill one of them instantly, only for the other to blow her away once she used up her one and only attack. Truly, it would be a foolish maneuver, unless she just so happened to catch a glimpse of her ally's hat poking out from above one of the shelves, just a few feet away from where her adversaries were standing.
Oh, well, what do you know. Maybe fighting really would be the solution.
The fidgeting in her hands finally stopped. If Mandy was doing what Seo-yun believed that she was doing, then that could very well distract them enough to give her the opening she needed. She could use it to escape, but there was opportunity here. She wasn't afraid of these two, they were two easy kills ripe for the taking. As dangerous as a fight with them might be, Mandy would be shouldering the brunt of the danger by initiating it. Her death was a sacrifice Seo-yun was willing to make, so long as it meant she'd be a few steps closer to victory and stardom.
Her grip tightened around the handle of the skillet. The muscles in her arms tensed.
"Just lower the gun, and you'll never have to see me again."
He glanced over at Virginia and the shop exit one more time.
He took another step back.
His mouth twitched, the gun shook ever so slight.
"Can't do that. Apologies."
He took another step back.
His mouth twitched, the gun shook ever so slight.
"Can't do that. Apologies."
"Abel-" Virginia said as he moved, but she didn't know how to follow up. It was always awkward, addressing someone by their first name out loud for the first time.
She turned slightly to look at him, trying to gauge what he was doing, what she should be doing in suit. She still had Seo-yun in the range of her vision and could move if Seo-yun moved, she was pretty sure. Pretty sure.
She turned slightly to look at him, trying to gauge what he was doing, what she should be doing in suit. She still had Seo-yun in the range of her vision and could move if Seo-yun moved, she was pretty sure. Pretty sure.