strangetrip | [GP] Shoot that poison arrow

[GP] Shoot that poison arrow

None of the guests noticed when the spiky-haired man-child in jeans and purple t-shirt, wrists wrapped in cheap leather and metal bracelets, arrived at the Madonna Inn a few hours before midnight on February 13. That, in itself, wasn't all that surprising. Eros, otherwise known as Danny Valentine, had millennia of experience doing his job without being spotted.

What was surprising was that the dude at the front desk did see him. Tall and Nondescript waved him over and then gave him a room number 'in case you wanted to rest'. But Danny didn't.

Want to, or rest. He spent the time before the clock struck midnight polishing his love gun. Not like that. He'd find a girl to spend his nameday with. He always did. No, this little beauty was made by Hephaestus himself. It shot love darts that disappeared on contact.

At midnight, kitted out with more love darts than there were people in this pink and gold monstrosity, Danny left his room and shot the first person he saw--and didn't wait to see what would happen.

No point getting a slow start. He had a lot of work to do.

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"Perhaps he lacked the experience of being forced to satisfy the whim of someone he didn't desire," Yasmeen replied, for once unguarded in her response. He impressed her with his observational skill and his calm demeanor.

"In any event, she needn't worry about the bleeding. It's stopped already and I didn't drip anywhere but the coffee cup." Nevertheless, she took the kit from him and wiped the mug down with an alcohol pad that she hoped would denature the nanites in her blood.

"Perhaps so. Still, none of us are injured, and neither of the two of you was forced to continue the unwanted contact." There was no need, at present, to doubt her word about the blood, so Ignis just nodded. "Do you need more coffee, then?" If what she'd had had ended up bloodied.

"Neither of us, but what of you? It was clear enough you didn't want me to kiss you." She'd known that and been unable to do a damned thing about it. Maybe that was why she seemed unable to let this go so easily. "The coffee's fine, thank you." She'd only smeared blood on the cup.

What of him? Ignis shrugged. "I wasn't forced into an unpleasant and uncharacteristic act with someone I'd not have thought twice about otherwise. I was not, in fact, forced into anything more than a few uncomfortable seconds," those seconds had occurred at different points, but they'd occurred nonetheless, "and I'm not without defenses if it had come to that. Nothing of me, thank you, I'm well enough."

Yasmeen's gaze narrowed on him and beneath her headscarf, her ears twitched irritably at the implication he was somehow distasteful. "If you mean because you're blind or bear scars, I couldn't care less."

"I'll admit those hardly help, but no." She didn't need another cup of coffee, but he did, so Ignis fetched one for himself. "I'm simply not the type. My talents are elsewhere."

"Not the type for romance? Understandable. Don't let me go soft for a man, ever." But he meant something else, and she shouldn't care, but for some reason, she did. "I expect my opinion counts for very little, but were you interested in women, I'd take you to my bed willingly enough."

"A pity I'm not, then." In one sense, anyway. It was certainly a compliment, and meant as one. "But less of a pity for you, as I expect I'd be fairly soft if I had the option."

"And were I so inclined, I'd count it as a compliment if you did." Finally, she found something to smile about, if only sharply and somewhat wry. "So we're a perfectly ill-suited for romance, and therefore well-matched as friends. Already you remind me of a very dear friend."

"Is that all it takes?" Ignis was amused, and not even despite himself. The mix of head-on directness, perception, and quick answers reminded him of Gladio. That had been all it took, to start, with him as well. "Oddly enough, I find you remind me of an old friend of mine, as well."

"Hardly." Yasmeen's voice dropped into a richer, more normal register. "But any man who can handle knives as you do without the use of his eyes is a man worth knowing. I'd wager you handle other weapons with similar ease." She'd be very surprised if she were wrong about that. She rarely was.

"I prefer knives. Daggers, really, if you're talking about combat." She was observant, in addition to pleasant company. If nothing else, whatever was driving people today had done him that much of a favor. "But I've also a fair amount of skill with lances. And some training but no expertise otherwise." There had been a fair amount of testing and basic training, in order to determine where Ignis had talent and didn't."

Yasmeen grinned at that, willing to let the rest of it go for now. "I also prefer daggers. Ranged or close, and lethality is a choice. I never pull a gun if I'm not going to use it." Brandishing a weapon you didn't plan to use was pointlessly showy, and it foreclosed any solution other than killing.

"Even with my eyes, I was never especially skilled with guns." His accuracy had been abysmal, or at least nowhere near his personal standards for skill. "But yes. I hate to lose tactical options when I don't have to."

"Yes. Not to mention that threats are a weak woman's weapon." She had no need of them. The occasional warning for those who didn't know her, but not the threat of a waved pistol.

Threats were a weak weapon for anyone, or rather threats alone were weak weapons. Any threat not backed up was merely a suggestion, after all. "They're certainly ineffective in most scenarios."

"I find people remember only that you made a threat and didn't act on it. I prefer to act when I mean to act, and let that speak for me." Her teeth flashed in a sharp smile. "It's served me well."

A strange conversation to be having in a kitchen, after an unwanted kiss, but she supposed it was better that bellyaching about the Inn. "Tell me, what did you do before you found yourself here?"

"Immediately before, I hunted daemons." And his efforts hadn't reduced their numbers at all, but it had been something to do that felt more useful than huddling under the lights of settlements. "Before that... let's say I was in service." It was true enough, if not entirely complete.

That was unexpected, and provoked a narrowing of Yasmeen's gaze. "By in service, you don't mean enslaved..." It wasn't a question, precisely, nor was it a statement. But Yasmeen wasn't the sort to express a hope related to a near-stranger, nor expose her own history on the spur of the moment.

"Not at all. Advisor, bodyguard, driver, and cook to the Crown Prince," and later king, "of Insomnia. Quite well paid, I imagine, or would have been had the world not ended."

"Ah." Thus his skill with weapons and cookery. "I am Captain of the Lady Corsair, the finest airship in any port." Which ought to tell him anything he needed to know about her skills or where she'd gained them. "Did I have my Lady, I'd invite you aboard and offer you a commission. As I don't... my friends call me Yasmeen."

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[GP] Shoot that poison arrow

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally

Re: Ignis - for Yasmeen, Vax, and OTA - in the kitchens, naturally