sunseeker | an ill-advised venture (for sarcaskick)

an ill-advised venture (for sarcaskick)

[ It's another frigid night in Ishgard, and M'ahina finds herself arriving somewhat earlier than the appointed hour. She's content to order some wine to at least warm herself as she waits, but in spite of the good drink, she grows bored almost comically fast. Left to her own devices she would probably strike up conversations with other patrons or the like, but in this case, there's a fear it may be somewhat counterproductive to make friends of everyone.

So she simply waits obediently at her own table, idly tracing the rim of her goblet with a gloved finger and a small sigh. Seeing her, one might think she's waited ages rather than several minutes. Keeping to herself is not her forte, it would seem. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That works for me. I can set some time aside.

Please don't die, though. Then I'd have to find you and beat you up.

threatening a corpse isn't very Warrior Of Light of you

who do i file a complaint with

It isn't? Was I not supposed to fight those necromancers, then?

"dead" and "undead" aren't the same, don't pretend like you don't know that

Only until they become the dead undead! Then they're just dead twice, much as you will be.

are these violent threats common for men you sleep with, or am i special?

What do you mean? I'm simply concerned about your welfare.

strange way of showing it.

work calls. send me the location of the bath house and i'll let you know when i'm done with the job.

Sure thing.

It's in the Firmament district, East Risensong. You can't miss it.

gotcha. i'll keep you posted.

[ It's several hours before he replies again - most of the day, actually, as the job goes sideways about six times and he comes to the conclusion that all of the other hired help is totally incompetent, but good news: ]

i lived. could really use that soak. how soon can you be there?

A few minutes? I can go now, if you'd like.

[ She isn't not rearranging her whole schedule to make time she doesn't actually have... ]

now would be good. meet you there.

[ She'll probably arrive before him - he's not in the area just yet, and he needs to swing by his place briefly before heading back out. It might be obvious why when he does arrive, sporting a fresh bruise on his jaw and a cut near his hairline - not deep, thankfully (honestly, he was more worried that it might ruin his hair).

He raises an arm in a lazy wave once he spots her, fighting back a wince in doing so - the minor wounds on his head aren't the only ones he suffered. ]

Oh, my darling, I have had a day.

[ Oh but good news! He's still got a mouth! ]

[ She's sitting at the bar and has changed into a bikini, in spite of the faint bruises on her back and the extremely obviously teeth marks down her neck. She even has a drink; fruit juice this time, rather than alcohol. She actually brightens at the sarcasm, though it fades to a frown as she takes in the sight of him. ]

... You look terrible. I'm not much a healer, but I can at least close that cut, if you'd like?

[ She's already reaching before she receives an answer, though she'll back off if asked. ]

[ It's impossible not to notice some of the marks marring her skin, especially given that they were entirely his fault. Admittedly, he likes to see them. The marks on his own skin were from a far less entertaining endeavor, so he isn't as fond of them - and yet he reaches up to catch her wrist before she can perform any magic. ]

I like to let things heal on their own. Pain's a good reminder not to make the same mistake again.

[ A pause. ]

"You look terrible"? Gosh, you have such a way with words.

Hmm. Suit yourself.

[ She's not certain she agrees with the philosophy, but he does seem to be a glutton for pain. She won't press. As for the rest, she shrugs. ]

Oh, sorry, I guess I was supposed to say it makes you look rugged and massage your ego and so forth. Are you at least going to tell me what happened?

[ What? Mercury might not have an altogether healthy mindset towards life and living? Perish the thought. ]

Yeah, exactly. Apology accepted.

[ Accompanied by a crooked grin, letting go of her wrist to rest his hand on his hip. ]

Risk of business - when you're hired onto a group project, things go south fast when some people don't pull their weight. [ A beat. ] Things go south faster when some of them just flat-out run away.

But if you're asking what the job was, let's just say I was doing my part to lower gang violence in the community. Like an upstanding citizen.

... Ah. Happens too often, doesn't it? [ Suffice to say, she knows the feeling of carrying whole ventures on her shoulders and then some. It's rarely appreciated, either, though she has learned to live with it. ] I'd be careful, though. I'm sure you know what you're doing, but there are people here who don't take kindly to outsiders.

[ To put it mildly. Then again, he seems he might enjoy that bit, unlike her, always trying to find friends in unlikely places. If whatever's happening between the two of them didn't make that painfully obvious. ... Ah well. She pulls herself to her feet for the time being; they can continue the conversation as they walk. ]

People don't usually take kindly to me in general. I'm doing fine anyway.

[ ... Excluding present company, apparently, but that goes unsaid. He walks beside her as she gets up to head towards the bathhouse proper; he'll still need to change, of course. Clearly, she's a bit more ready than he is. ]

But your concern warms my heart, really.

... Really? I can't see why.

[ It isn't sarcasm, either. He can certainly be a lot, but he doesn't seem so bad, to her. Then again, it takes quite a bit to really get under her skin, and they don't know each other all that well yet. Maybe she'll start to recognize more with time.

The bulk of the place is a fairly large heated pool; she continues a little further down where there's some smaller little hot tubs that allow more privacy. It's still technically public and they can see out into the mountains, but it's much quieter here and they're less likely to be bothered. ]

What do you think?

[ He doesn't respond to her first remark - truth be told, he knows why. It's because there's something about her presence that makes him... act better, maybe. Which is hard to imagine, given what he coaxed her into just last night, but given that his original intent was to go there and start a tavern-wide brawl for the sake of getting the target? She hasn't seen him at his worst.

Which he... usually is.

But rather than dwell on that he looks out at the view, breathing out a content sigh before nodding. ]

I think I'm overdressed.

[ He'll just go on and... start fixing that, then, wasting little time in unzipping his jacket to peel it off. Is there a proper changing area? Probably. Who cares. ]

[ The motion catches her off guard somewhat, but she ends up laughing. It's not strictly frowned upon--there's the odd naked or towel-clad person around, especially near the steam room, and they're so nestled away from view in this particular spot there's not much of anyone to raise a brow anyway. She steps down in the water, herself, fully submerging herself before poking her head up with the most contented sigh. It's much hotter than a typical bath--closer to a man-made hotspring, and it feels wonderful. ]

Did you know I helped build this place?

Warrior and architect? What don't you do?

[ His shirt goes next, tossed to where he set his jacket down. There are some more fresh bruises on display, one on the left side of his chest, another further down towards his abdomen, and a bandage wrapped around his upper right arm indicates a wound there as well. There are also quite a few less-than-fresh marks marring his skin, scars of various shapes and sizes. Some seem to have been from cuts, some from punctures, a few small burn wounds.

Comparatively, the bruises aren't really much to care about. ]

[ She has a response to that, but the full sight of him stops her short. It is a lot to take in. It's a small wonder she's not covered in old scars herself, but she never did seem to scar easily. This seems a bit more, especially compunded with his legs. And that he mentioned he doesn't care much for healing magic. ... It worries her a bit, if she's being honest. There's many questions in her eyes, but she attempts to bite them down. ]

It seems you've been through a lot.

[ But who hasn't, truly? ]

[ He stops midway through unfastening his boots, glancing her way with a pause. ]

Like I said. Risk of business.

[ ... Though most of the scars predate his days as a sellsword but that's a story for another time. Or maybe never.

A shrug, as he gets back to undressing to take his boots off and start working on his pants. ]

I'm sure I'm not the only one. Bet you've got stories.

Hmm.

[ She'll have to be satisfied with that answer. She wants to know more--much more--but how long have they truly known each other? There will be time. At least she thinks (... hopes) there will be. ]

Too many. Sometimes I start hearing stories about myself that even I didn't know. Think I could be sleepwalking?

an ill-advised venture (for sarcaskick)

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