crystal

[undergrunn]

( Behold, a new voice on the crystals. Soft, good-humoured, with an accent that sounds Scandinavian / relative equivalent. The crystal catches a quiet breath of laughter before she speaks. )

I don’t know if you’re really lucky to have an engineer turn up, or if I’m really unlucky that I need to figure out the machinery.

I mean, learning about the infrastructure of a city in a whole different world isn’t even a “once in a lifetime” kind of opportunity, and pretending I’m some sort of genius at kinetic motion just because I know some mechanisms from home would be pretty fun, but…

Wow.

( Maybe that sounds a little weightier than her first "wow.")

Oh, I'm Abella. Riftwatch, you’re gonna have to have a lot more ramps by the time I’m done with you. Somewhere has to accommodate wheelchair users, even if it’s some kind of fairy tale world.

( Hmmm. )

Wait, can you just make them float, here? (More softly, ) Flying wheelchairs would explain the lack of ramps. I mean, this crystal thing is remarkable, so... let me know if I don't need to think about the ramps.

Comments

[laruetheday]

[ There's a long, heated pause, but Clarisse does seem slightly mollified by Abby agreeing with her. ]

Fine. [ She bites the word out. ] I'll turn it off.

[cozen]

Hello, Abella. I’m Bastien.

What is your world like? Is it one of the ones with the computers?

[thereneverwas]

No, no, think about ramps. By all means think about ramps.

[wheelchair schmeelchair, let's talk trebuchets]

[dissolving]

Reckon you're ahead of schedule, then. Took me about a week.

[ joking. sort of. a slight pause, before he adds: ]

Not a bad thing to stay busy. Going from — everything, to nothing like this, 's a lot. But if you need a break, there's a pot of something going in the kitchen yard.

[elegiaque]

( more often elfroot, in truth, but: )

From time to time.

[rowancrowned]

This is chronic?

[ pot, very forgetful kettle. ]

[armd]

Okay.

(Okay... she is trusting, here!

She hands back the crystal.)

[laruetheday]

[ Okay.

Clarisse takes the crystal back and makes a show of turning it off so Abby can see her doing it. Then she tosses it in the direction of her bedroll and stares at her half of the tent, the bedroll and her bag and Ellie's bag and some dirty clothes and other random things scattered around. Ugh.

Now that the immediate thrill of the conversation has worn off she just feels low. ]

I'm going out for a while. See you later.

action.

[undergrunn]

( It doesn't take long, all things considered, for the Captain of the Guard to hear a knock on the door. If it's already open, she leans in just far enough as necessary to catch sight of the office resident, but if not, she'll wait patiently.

She's tall and muscular, although given the physical work and combat training so many here have to do, maybe she won't stick out like so much of a sore thumb. There's a plain, sleeveless shirt beneath her overalls, which have a couple of patch ups where they've worn through from use. With the heavy boots it screams practicality and work, but they're as clean as she's been able to get them since arriving in the Gallows.

Once the door opens or she has the person's attention, she smiles warmly. )

Hello. I'm Abella, I'm looking for the Captain of the Guard? I didn't catch the name.

[undergrunn]

( He gets a quiet laugh out of her. )

True. Thank you.

( For the understated reassurance, of sorts, and the information. )

Are you a-- uh, a Rifter, as well?

[undergrunn]

It comes with the profession, we need to be as efficient as possible.

( She'll take the joke. )

Oh? ( It's hardly unique, communal sharing and pulling together, but when they're speaking so directly about the need to stay busy, it highlights exactly why she needs to stay busy. )

That sounds nice. I think I need to get to work as soon as possible, but I'll stop by when I can. Is this a regular thing?

private

[undergrunn]

Hello, Cosima.

( Her tone is still friendly, but less light-hearted than the original post. Faintly guarded, perhaps. )

I understand.

( She... does not know that disclosing anything of home has a place, here. Not when they have their own war, and she's already started off on so poor a foot.

There's a wry tone to her voice as she goes on, )

It's placement in the bay made me wonder. Either you're keeping people out, or locking them in. When I am able to have more of a look around, I can see if my knowledge of buildings from home and adapting them has relevance.

( There's a brief pause. )

I didn't mean to condescend by talking about wheelchairs or ramps. It's just been on my mind because I only just started to understand how bad things are at home for a friend who uses a wheelchair. Even saying that-- I know I'm here now, and home doesn't matter to the people here, especially with everything going on. I was just excited to try out the crystal.

[undergrunn]

Hello, Bastien.

Yes. I've done a little work with them, but only more broadly, as part of electronics. They're fascinating, I'm-- I'd been excited to see how they can be used for projections and improving safety in engineering. They've... made things more complicated and dangerous in the Second Great War, but all great inventions have their good and dark sides.

What would you like to know about home? Are you from here, or...?

[undergrunn]

( There's a pause. Cautiously, just because she really managed to put her foot in it already: )

Is that... a genuine point of interest, or are you another person who's annoyed?

[cozen]

From here, ouais. We are a little touchy about the—you know. The fairy tale world business, from rifters. [ Kinder than outright labelling it condescension? ] But now I have seen some of what your worlds are like, with the enormous towers and the lights and Wiki-pedia.

[ Beneath the extremely fantasy-French accent, there's also a touch of someone pronouncing an unfamiliar word they only read rather than heard. ]

I understand better that it must be a big adjustment. And I would like to know anything. What does a civil engineer do? Were you involved in your war? What do you mean by projection?

[grindset]

I am.

[But enough about him—]

If you'd care for some reading material, I can provide a list of relevant recommendations. The library here is comprehensive, and, ehh... quarantine tends to go by a little faster if you sprinkle some books on it.

[elegiaque]

( the office is clearly meant to be shared, but equally obvious is that there is for the time being but one occupant, and from how extremely clean everything smells, probably a relatively new appointment— the shelves on the captain's side not yet properly filled, the desk still looking reasonably clear. some of that is probably just gwenaëlle's fastidious tidiness, but not all. as for the woman herself,

she's standing, a map of kirkwall spread out over the vice admiral's desk that she's been annotating, so it's immediately obvious that she is not tall. petite, and not at a glance what one might be expecting in a tightly laced dress of dark burgundy, hitched out of her way with skirt-hikes, a set of reading glasses on the end of her nose. the other most striking thing about her, at once, is that only one eye looks back at abella, impassive and measuring. the other is no twin to it, blank and golden, and it's worth noting that her blind side is not nearest the door. it's not the only visible scar, either, the beginnings of a rage demon's claws swiping at her emerging at the low neckline of her dress.

the voice, of course, when she says, )

Gwenaëlle Baudin, ( to supply that name, is distinctly recognisable. ) Come in.

[dissolving]

Cook does a few meals a day. Surroundings are... well, you already heard.

[ tinge of a smile on the end of that ]

Any rate, I'm posted up in the Prayer Garden. You need anything, swing by, 's the one with the statue.

[undergrunn]

( The NLU taught her not to make assumptions based on appearances. Termina added on a few lessons. Still, it all adds up to the Captain being an imposing figure, even if Abella technically takes up more space.

She obliges, moving across the space. Her overalls are all practicality, have seen years of hard work, and while she feels less shy when she is wearing them, when she is working, right now it's hard not to be aware of the disparity between them and the sharp, elegant practicality of the Captain. The flicker of discomfort doesn't make it to her expression. )

Thank you for letting me come by on such short notice. It looks like you have a lot you're doing, so I can drop these off and get out of your hair, if you aren't due for a break.

( Abella holds out a box, patterned in blue and white and a little dented. )

I don't know if people here smoke cigarettes or use pipes or a different method, but it's a full pack. I'm sorry I got carried away.

[undergrunn]

I would really appreciate that. Anything I can get hold of to help me be more useful.

I'm sorry to pry, and I can stop asking if you prefer-- are you from Bohemia, by any chance? Your accent reminds me of some friends.

[undergrunn]

-- Are there multiple Prayer Gardens?

( Or multiple gardens? She feels like there's definitely multiple statues. )

[undergrunn]

Hmm?

( She'd forgotten she'd even said that, and there's an audible oh of horror. )

Oh, Alll-mer help me. ( Sounds like: I am an idiot. )

I've-- I didn't mean it dismissively, I've only just started to realise how many fairy tales are far more true and alive at home than I knew. Magic here is known by everyone, it seems, so it felt--

( A little sigh. They didn't know what it meant, only felt the insult of how it must have been used many times over. )

I'm sorry, that was rude, especially when I am a guest here.

As for your questions... are you at the Gallows, Bastien? I could explain better in person.

[grindset]

[Oh no, that's sweet. Not the kind of thing he can simply pass over without feeling a little guilty for it. (Not in his present mood, anyway.)]

Ah... I'm afraid not. The last place I lived was called Piltover.

[It sounds very ordinary, phrased that way—too plain to snag on sentiment. Ideal.

After a short pause,]

We did have ramps there. And wheelchairs. Not the flying kind.

[thereneverwas]

Genuine point of interest.

[He clears his throat,]

Barrow, Master of Works. Siege weaponry and the like. Another engineer being around can only be a good thing.

[brennvin]

( The vaguely happenstantially-familiar accent has Astrid perk up a little when she first hears this voice over the crystals… until it becomes exceedingly clear that this is in fact a rifter, not someone from the Frostbacks, and Astrid has no idea what they’re all talking about (schematics? engineering? what). But she barrels cheerfully into the conversation regardless: )

Heyo Abella, I’m Astrid.

I’ve not seen a wheeled-chair before but it sounds like an interesting idea, for the folks who need it. In the mountains, if a bear chews off your legs then you’re just sort of— Not fucked, the community takes care of you obviously, but it would have been nice. If they could get around on their own instead of always needing a stretcher or carrier. There was one fellow we called the Boneless and he could still fuck you right up with a sword but it must’ve been hard, most days.