|
Roger
Roger entered the Winter Hollow with a smile on his face. There was something to him that just released when in the Hedge or other places away from normal eyes. That just above human grace in the fluidity of his moments.
He greeted a few of the pages and other archers that he recognized. The Courser wore a simple green tee and jeans over his furry frame.
Lucia
Lucia is seated by herself on the front step of one of the cottages with her knees pressed together and her feet a bit wider apart. She's dressed in a black turtleneck, jeans, and flat soled boots, and there's a notebook sitting on her lap and a pencil in her hand, which she's using to draw some kind of diagram on the paper in front of her. Every fifteen or twenty seconds there's a pause as the glowing green gaze goes from the page to glancing about her, a degree of vigilance that's probably abnormal for most people but not all that unusual for the Lost, especially those in Winter.
When that gaze lifts and finds Roger there, a face that isn't familiar to her, it doesn't just go immediately back to her work but fixes itself upon him and watches his progress through his greetings to the other present Winters.
Roger
A new face catches his attention, and he advanced to meet her. Roger waved to the Wizened with a smile.
When in polite conversation range, which varied greatly for the Lost, he gave a slight bow, from the waist, and spoke "Hello there. I am Roger Gimlin, Archer of the Lonely March. You are unfamiliar to me, so I wish to say hello. May I join you?"
Lucia
When Lucia raises her left hand, the one not holding the pencil, to push a few strays curls away from her face, the movement comes with the faint whirring of clockwork mechanisms inside of her. "Hi," she says tersely, in a voice so soft it's barely audible. "Lucia Diaz. Also an Archer." She tilts her head back down and returns her gaze to what she was doing. "Feel free." She seems to be a woman of few words, and clearly some degree of obsession if the detailed electrical circuit schematic she seems to be drawing out by hand is any indication. After a few seconds of continued work her eyes move up again, even if her head doesn't. "Do you need equipment?" she asks, already returning to her work.
Roger
Roger moved towards a seat next to Lucia and spoke, softly, "I have my knives if I really need something mundane. A Hunting knife to help with surviving the wilds or the Hedge as it may be, or my ol' k-bar fighting knife if need be. Otherwise I tend to use," he held up his claws, "...though, armor. Armor would be good..." he mused as he touched the right side of his torso. Now that he was closer, the scent of old blood was likely noticable.
Lucia
Lucia pauses and looks up again, this time letting her eyes roam over Roger. That kind of close study could possibly be uncomfortable for some people, but at least it doesn't seem to be sexual or anything. It's more that she's literally sizing him up with her gaze, like she's taking mental measurements. "Okay," she says as she returns to her work.
Roger
"Oh. Are you a crafter of sorts? DO you make things for Winter?" his gaze studied her quietly. He wasn't used to cybernetic appearance in real life, though he had recently played Cyberpunk so it was just strange to see it in person.
Lucia
"Yes. No." Lucia stops and looks up again. "Not only for Winter," she clarifies. She doesn't seem to be big on conversation, or at least not with contributing more words to the conversation than she needs to, but she also doesn't give the impression she wants Roger to go away or leave her alone. It's more like a tendency to take up as little space in the world as possible, including auditorily. For a few seconds she looks him over again, apparently unaffected by the way he's looking at her cybernetic parts, before she flips the page over in her notebook and starts on a new sketch. This one's direction becomes quickly apparent when a quick-and-dirty illustration of Roger starts resolving from the strokes of her pencil. "Material?" she asks.
Roger
"Oh. Um. SOmething light and maneuverable, if possible. I use my ability to move swiftly through a fight, or as a scout, rather than pure brawn."
He stood and did a slow spin, so that Lucia could get a look at his entire frame, which was evident with the tight shirt and pants, "I was thrown into a tree by a giant briarwolf the other day and broke my ribs and got some deep gashes as well, so I realized that armor wouldn't be a bad thing."
Lucia
Lucia nods in silent understanding, starts to look back down at the page, and stops that motion as she instead rises quickly to her feet. For a second it seems like she'll set the notebook down, but with a suspicious look at Roger she holds it against her chest instead and asks, "may I go inside to get something?" She seems to be genuinely asking for permission to leave his presence, like she doesn't feel as if she's allowed to just go, even for a moment, without his leave to do so.
Roger
"You are always welcome, in my presence, to go where you wish, when you wish, to get what you wish." He with kindness in his tone.
Lucia
Lucia manages to almost conceal her dubiousness about that statement before she turns away to hurry inside, moving like someone who expects to be reprimanded, or worse, if she delays in even the slightest. She's inside the cottage a matter of seconds before she comes out again with a leather duster over one arm, sized for someone about her size, or more likely for her in specific. "Something like this?" she asks as she holds it up for him to take if he wants a better look.
Roger
He blinked, and then nodded, moving to take the jacket and study it quietly. Roger usually made things for the stage or his tricks, but he still knew a little bit of how to make other things, and so his amateur craftsman's eye looked over it.
"Oh, yes. Something like this would work wonderfully."
Lucia
The leatherworking itself is clearly of high quality, with everything hand stitched and clearly custom, even if there's little in the way of adornment or decoration on this particular piece. There also seem to be some ballistic plates stitched set in the material between the leather and the inner lining, placed over vital spots to afford at least some minimal protection against firearms while not losing any flexibility or maneuverability. It's probably something that would cost a small fortune to have done by mundane artisans in the real world who are trying to make a living off their work, or even just properly valuing their time and materials.
"One week," is all Lucia says, with no comments about what kind of payment she might be expecting, if anything. Only those two words, and her hand being extend again like she's waiting for him to hand the duster back.
Roger
He folds the duster up properly and hands it back to the Wizened, "And what cost or service should be given in return for such a great piece?"
Lucia
Lucia's glowing eyes meet Roger's for only a heartbeat before she looks down again and reaches for the duster, the machinery within her whirring and humming as she takes it from him again, cautious not to allow any contact between them. "Stay alive," she says.
Roger
"Fair enough. Just know that I feel like I owe you one, so if you need a Courser Helldiver to get you something, let me know please."
Lucia
Lucia slips the duster on, a process complicated only a little bit by the notebook she's holding, and has to pass from one hand to the other through the process, but it doesn't appear to pose much challenge for her. Once it's on again she spends a few seconds staring at Roger before an actual smile, even if it's a faint one, touches her lips. "For someone who recently let himself be thrown against a tree by a briar wolf, you seem to be under the impression what I asked for in payment is an easier task than it might actually be." It's by far the longest string of words she's put together since they met, and if not for the fleeting presence of the smile it might be mistaken more for being chastisement than a hint she might have a sense of humor.
Roger
"We Beasts are not known for thinking things through, are we?" he retorted with his own smile.
"What do you do, day to day, for work or fun?"
Lucia
"Some do," is the answer she gives, going right back to her more typically laconic conversational style. Duster on, she sits back down and returns to the sketch, where she starts adorning the quick outline she did of Roger with a duster. Once in a while she glances up again before making small notations about measurements which are, in actuality, peculiarly precise, if he happens to know those measurements from getting a suit fitted or similar.
The initial answer his inquiry gets is for her to pause long enough to tap the notebook, like that's an answer by itself, but some words do come shortly after. "I like to make things," she says. "It serves both functions." She stops to glance briefly up. "You?"
Roger
"I am a magician. I perform both for charity works at hospitals and the like, or on stage and street for paying crowds... It's recently grown a little more difficult, as I remember more of my story."
Lucia
"Why more difficult?" the Wizened's soft voice inquires as she works.
Roger
"Well, I'm ... too good? Even the best magicians in the world can't see some of my movements at this point. I've forgotten more about sleight of hand than some know."
Lucia
"Suck on purpose," Lucia suggests during a brief pause to look up. "I have to sometimes, when working for ordinary people." She looks over the sketch that she did, seems to decide it's sufficient for now, and closes the notebook. The pencil gets tucked behind one ear.
Roger
"Yeah. That's what makes it harder. To limit my own internal skills, but yeah, it's handy none hte less... especially if I'm in another realm... no one is going to see what I take if I don't wish them too.." a laugh.
Lucia
"It can be harder than it seems," she says, like she understand to at least some degree. "It feels wrong to be be worse than I know I can be."
Roger
"That is certainly true. But... I should go see if the Queen or the Knights need me for anything at present. Here." he left a business card near her, before standing and heading out.
|