You're all my friends

[totallytrustworthy]

Date & Time: Before groundhogging it or after depending on preference
Location: Exsilium proper/ wilderness/ various
Characters: Chloe Frazer and you as a fond farewell
Summary: a year and a half of thievery and trouble hits its last few notes
Warnings: VIOLENCE some of it

A: E x s i l i u m 

She's back to normal now. Residual lacquer stuck to her nails, hair still neatly trimmed at the edges and her trousers aren't the dirt-stained mess left behind of a little over a year's worth of close calls and fire fights, but she is herself again, and whatever magic that Facilier had carefully stuck in under her skin with a few nice words and a friendly gesture have-- for the most part-- been shaken off. Which is to say it's almost dysphoric having to readjust after being recalibrated so completely that even her old routines and habits feel unfamiliar: walking to the market to trade off another batch of heavy (only slightly roughed-up) furs is something more akin to watching video of the ground shifting forward, of footsteps in the snow and crowds filtering off out of focus.

Doesn't feel like there's weight in her arms or the sting of bitter cold on her cheeks.

Doesn't even feel like she's capable of recognizing any of the familiar faces she passes-- and she does pass them: without a second thought or even the uncertain shift of her attention that comes from purposefully dodging someone close.

How bloody rude. Particularly when she's not careful enough to keep from clipping the occasional passerby.


B: E x s i l i u m   w i l d s

This, though. This is where she flourishes. These days, anyway. After too much time spent snagged on emotions and vital decisions, solitude and silent snowfall are more comforting than things like central heating or idle banter. Simple tasks are easy to fixate on (pull wire, wrap twig, bend branch, insert bait and wait), numbing pinpricks running just under layers of insulated clothing precede pain from too many hours of it spent out in the cold. Veins going tight in an effort to cling to any remaining heat. Unappealing, unattractive, inhospitable work.

And Chloe's smiling to herself through the chilled cracks of her frost-split lip as she goes about it.

Not that most people would feel right at home in a yeti-infested wilderness.

C: Wildcard

OOC: pick a different scenario or location, whichever suits you best, and we'll make it happen!



 

Comments

[hyanaimne]

"Our little field trip to that city stirred things up a bit." She says, with all the sarcasm she can muster.

Stirred things up by making her wear a dress, which she won't mention.

[totallytrustworthy]

"Yeah, well unfortunately my memory of all that's a bit fuzzy." And not even a proper hangover to show for it, either.

[hyanaimne]

"You didn't miss much." No sarcasm there. She did a lot of nothing, and not enough drinking. She should've brought more than she did back with her to make up for it.

[totallytrustworthy]

"What, you didn't gamble?" Come on, Tempest, that's like Vegas 101.

[hyanaimne]

"No? I am not the gambling sort." You don't gamble when you have terrible luck, after all.

[totallytrustworthy]

"Your luck," Chloe starts, hunkering down in the snow near a patch of briars, "is nowhere near terrible."

[hyanaimne]

"It is nowhere near good, either." She counters.

[totallytrustworthy]

"Please, you met me: your luck is unparalleled." It's a half snort, half grin, huffed out beneath the fur of her hood.

[hyanaimne]

The answer makes her blink, and there's a pause before she just gives in and laughs. She shakes her head, crouching down next to her.

"I cannot argue that."

[totallytrustworthy]

"No you so can't." Chloe squints into the tangled mess of branches, thins her lips against the cold. "Spot any tracks in there?"

[hyanaimne]

Reaching out, Tempest is careful to move some of the branches just enough. "No—ah, wait, here." A gloved finger outlines the tracks. "Small ones - scurrying off in that direction." She nods past the briers.

"A rabbit, most likely. Around that size."

[totallytrustworthy]

"Perfect." she huffs out, frost from her breath clinging to the air. Her gloved fingers dig deep into her pockets for the chocolate candies she'd left stashed inside as bait. "Dig out that wire while I bend a few of these branches."

[hyanaimne]

Tempest nods and pulls out the wire, then unravels a bit of it - about as much as she'd figure you would need, compared to the string-made traps she's used to.

"More or less?"

[totallytrustworthy]

There's a quick, cursory glance spared for Tempest's question as Chloe brings one of the branches low and pins it in place using heavy frost and hardened snow: it's not meant to be the heart of their trap, just the mechanism, and she can afford to be a bit careless with it till the wire's set up properly. "Nah, should be fine. Bend the end till the aluminium snaps-- should take a little elbow grease but it's nothing you can't handle."

[hyanaimne]

The aluminum snaps easily between her fingers, and she tilts her head, eyeing the end of it. Such strange material; she'd never get over it.

"Did you do this sort of thing often where you are from?"

[totallytrustworthy]

"What, trapping animals?" Chloe grins into the wind over the slope of her shoulder as she reaches back to take the wire from Tempest, wrapping it up into a sliding noose. "yeah, actually. Not every other month, mind you, but it's been a real life saver."

[hyanaimne]

"Ah, are there no . . . " Oh, what was the word. "Grocers? Or were you somewhere that did not have them?" Peter and Isaac had told her about packaged meat and just going to the store to buy it, which both interested her and grossed her out. There were butchers where she was from, of course, but . . . then again, that grossed her out a bit, too.

[totallytrustworthy]

"Oh most places have them, sure: food's a business even where it's scarce, after all." There's a slight pause when she goes to double check the sturdiness of the loop she's tied off. "But in the wilds? You'd be hard pressed to find anyone that's not scraping together whatever there is to get by-- if you find anyone at all."

[hyanaimne]

"The wilds? Do you mean your worlds' forests, or something else?" She knew England and New York; that was the extent of her modern world knowledge.

[totallytrustworthy]

"Mmm. Forests, tundras, mountains, jungles..." The loop's left as is, drooping listlessly. She pulls a twig loose from her pack. "Big world out there; just as much left uninhabited-- unexplored-- as there are cities."

[hyanaimne]

"Ah . . . " She doesn't know what a tundra is, but then again, she can get that most of the world is unexplored. Hers is that way - and that's just the island country she lives on. She has no idea what lays beyond that, aside from stories.

"I did not think the, ah - modern world was like that."

[totallytrustworthy]

"Well it's not all granite and steel." Wan smile present as she says it if only that thought's-- Christ, it's bloody depressing. "Sunshine, the world is made in places like this."

Personal, quiet, beautiful places like this.

[hyanaimne]

"Good." It is a depressing thought - especially since this sort of world, out in the middle of the wilderness, it's what she's used to.

"Though I admit I am a bit biased towards places like this."

cries on your shoulder

[totallytrustworthy]

"Me too." It's a genuine confession, given out on the edge of her heels in knee-high snow. As she ties off the bait-laden stick and lets the trap sit while she dusts her hands. "Think we could all use the freedom, sometimes."

sadfaces into the night

[hyanaimne]

"Sometimes." It's an agreeing tone, if a bit distant; thoughtful. Idly, she plays with the wire in her hands.

"Sometimes I am reminded of my village, being here in Exsilium. We were not allowed to leave, without approval from the Elders. And even then . . . we had to be careful."