[EP] a rage against this toneless, flat, normal and sterile life* - backdated

[captaincorsair]

Yasmeen "refused to be bored, because she wasn't boring."**

She'd read that in a book in Gotham. But then, Gotham had a library, bookstores, and her Lady. Not being bored was a lot easier. So, when the city opened, Yasmeen all but bolted through the portal into the wet jungle heat in search of anything interesting to do.

It didn't take long for her to discover there were no airships, no weapons modern even by her standards, and very little for non-natives to do. But there was always work in a port city, even in a river port, and she knew how to find it.

On day two, she met Ek Sothea, a young woman with a gift for spotting an opportunity. By day three, she'd agreed to front her the gold for a salvage operation in the river. It barely touched the reserves of what Yasmeen had with her when she arrived from Gotham, but it was enough to finance the operation and get Yasmeen a tip on a bar by the docks where Ek Sothea had gotten the initial information and the name of the man who'd supplied it. Soksan.

The third night, she staked out the bar and by the fourth, she'd met Sar Peou and his contact Hu Chariya who needed an ancient and valuable map retrieved from the business partners who'd kept it after a deal went bad. Early on the morning of the fifth day, she'd slipped into the third floor above the Phann Raksmei bank, picked the locks on the safe chest, and obtained the map. On the evening of the fifth day, she met Sar Peou at Soksan, slipped into his back corner booth and delivered the map in exchange for a healthy payment that covered her investment in Ek Sothea's salvage operation.

Business transacted, she bought herself an ale to nurse while scoping out her next job.

~*~*~*~
* Herman Hesse, Steppenwolf
** Zelda Fitzgerald

Comments

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

"As in hobbies? None of those, I'm afraid." Ignis threw another dart. "My focus is quite narrow."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

None of those what? MacCready wondered, frowning a little bit. Probably hobbies in general. Just as well. It wasn't like he really knew what people outside the wastes did for hobbies even after living at the hotel for so long. He thought for a moment and then took another swig of his beer to screw his courage, pinching his cigarette out between two fingers. "Dance with me?"

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

...what? Behind his shades, Ignis blinked, all thoughts stalled out briefly. What?

It wasn't an unwelcome question or even an unwelcome idea, though neither question nor idea was one that had ever been put to him before. And certainly it fit the definition of something else coming up, but... "I don't dance. I'm sorry."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

"Oh," he said quietly. MacCready cleared his throat. "Just seemed like something to do in a new place you ain't gotta be able to see for." Maybe better if- Well, it wasn't like Ignis could see anyone staring. Yeah, the music in the bar wasn't really the kind to dance to, but it'd be something. Lucy'd always managed to get him to dance with her to nothing at all. "I'll uh... I'll leave you to your darts."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

"I am sorry." After a moment, Ignis added too quietly for anyone else to hear, "This is the only way I know how to be." Especially among strangers. Anything like an actual human being - a blind, unarmed, and unarmored human being - as opposed to a remote and unapproachable danger could too easily be labeled 'target'. And Ignis hadn't survived ten years in a daemon-infested and ruined countryside by allowing himself to be an easy target.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

"You ain't too old to learn otherwise." Mac took a deep breath. "Come for a walk with me, then. Or something else you are willing to do."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

"I think you're underestimating how set in my ways I can be." There was a note of teasing in his voice, but Ignis was otherwise completely serious. He'd been himself, as he was, for as long as he could remember. It wasn't a situation likely to change. "But a walk, I can do."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

Really, the goal was to spend more time with Ignis. Dancing gave them excuse not to talk. "You care where we go?" he asked, getting out of his chair finally.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

"Not at all." One advantage, at times, of being blind was that to a greater or lesser extent, one place was the same as any other. There was more or less to trip over or avoid falling into, true, but... well, 'the sights' was never exactly a draw.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

There was another nod that Ignis couldn't see as Mac made mental notes. "You need an arm or are you good?" He was willing to help however he needed to, he just needed to know in what way it was needed and what things Ignis was gonna be too precious to accept a hand for.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

"Keep a step or so ahead of me," any more and they wouldn't be walking together, any less and Ignis wouldn't be able to tell where to put his foot next, "and I should manage quite well, I think. You may have to warn me if there happens to be a pit ahead or anything along those lines."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

"Will do," he said, starting to walk, hoping that it'd be a decent pace for Iggy. If not, he'd figure it out.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

Ignis followed easily, sticking close enough to make it hard to tell that he was following. It had been one of the earliest things he'd trained himself to do, primarily to reduce or eliminate the use of his cane as an obvious mark of disability. For Gladio's benefit, primarily; Noctis and Prompto hadn't needed the constant reminder that he could manage.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

When they got to the bar door, MacCready held it for him if only just to make sure he didn't accidentally smack the guy in the face with it. "You hungry? There's some food cart stuff that looks pretty decent." Pretty decent on what he thought was Ignis' scale. MacCready himself was fine with basically anything.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

"I'm always interested in new food." Sometimes, yes, it was revolting, but more often it gave Ignis ideas for things to try doing himself. And on the bad occasions, he consoled himself with the thought that it couldn't possibly be worse than ruining behemoth meat by adding it to a Cup Noodle.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

"This way, then," he said, giving Ignis a place to orient himself before he started walking. At least the guy seemed pretty able to manage on his own and MacCready could keep an eye out for dogs or children or whatever that might fuck that up. He was good at being lookout. He could do that for Ignis. "So you got some moral thing against dancing?" he teased a little. "Weird little upper stands creedo or something? Thou shalt not have anything approaching fun."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

Ignis kept his little flinch on the inside. What did it matter, really? He'd heard all of that before, put more bluntly and less like it was supposed to be funny. Don't bother, Scientia's a robot not programmed for fun. Honestly, it would have hurt less had be ever been able to find any reason not to agree with that assessment.

Ah, well, it was hardly Mac's problem. Ignis even managed a thread of lightness in his answer. "Moral, no. It's simply not me."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

"Then what is you?" MacCready asked, genuinely interested as he turned his attention to the other man. "I'd like to know. Maybe figure out something we can both enjoy doing even if it's just back hom- at the hotel." He liked Ignis. A lot. Yeah, okay, maybe it was a foolish, stupid thing, but the guy'd been good to him.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

"A great many boring things, I assure you." Ignis shrugged. "Economics, politics, contracts and treaties, diplomacy, strategic command, logistical order. I used to drive. As you know, I cook. And for the last decade prior to the Inn, I hunted daemons."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

MacCready rolled his shoulders in a lazy shrug as he lead them over to the food carts. "If it's not boring to you, then it's not boring," he said. Just 'cause his world wasn't one that had any of that official government stuff didn't mean he couldn't imagine someone else liking it. He cleared his throat and puffed up his chest a little. "'Sides, I was Mayor once," he said, though he was sure Ignis probably wouldn't approve of the life he and the other kids lived. "What was it like, driving?" he asked, "Only stuff you ever saw moving back home was the Brotherhood's vertibirds and fuck those guys. There's wrecked cars and trains all over the place. I bet the roads were better back then and it was probably fun to just get in a car and go somewhere instead of walking."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

"I enjoyed it. Which is to say, I preferred to drive rather than be a passenger while one of my friends drove." Noctis's driving, for example, was often an excercise in sheer terror as far as Ignis was concerned. "In good weather, we put the top down and felt the wind." And risked losing Noct off the back of the Regalia. More terror, not that it got any of them to wear a seat belt. "I refused to drive at night, for the most part, because daemons. And these-" he held up one hand to draw attention to the glove, "are for driving. And before you ask, I wear them out of habit."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

"Wasn't gonna ask. If you wanna wear 'em, I ain't gonna try to stop it." He shrugged again. "On the scale of weird shit I've seen people wear, driving gloves is way on the low end." He cleared his throat. "Did think they were for baseball or somethin' though."

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

"Ah, no. I've never been one for sports." That was always Gladio, of the four of them.

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_rontium]

"Really? Because you play darts like you are," MacCready teased a little, nudging Ignis just enough to be playful and not to knock him off balance. "So were you like...government or whatever where you came from?"

Re: Yasmeen definitely, anyone else if they like

[st_eadfast]

Darts was a form of combat practice, not intended as a sport... of course, the same could be said of many sports, so Ignis declined to argue the point in favor of answering the question. "I was a member of the Crownsguard and a direct retainer to the Crown Prince. Chamberlain, advisor both military and economic, cook, driver, bodyguard. So, yes. I was government."