open;

[trifurcate]

Characters: Bryn Zethir and your character /o/
Date: April 7th to 13th
Location: Atam!
Situation: Bryn in various places on the mainland, see thread starters for details!
Warnings/Rating: None expected, will warn in subject lines if that changes...


[Having finished her mandatory quarantine, Bryn ventures into the city of Atam. Well, one of Bryn does anyway, having left a second version of herself behind in Keeliai to continue working both in the fields and for Wayne Enterprises as she has been for some weeks now.

Intending to both explore the city as well as shop for a variety of necessities, she pays for a week in advance at the communal housing establishment and heads into the city...]

Comments

ARMOR/WEAPON SHOPPING - 7th to 13th

[trifurcate]

[One thing Bryn has taken advantage of during her time in Keeliai is her splitting ability. As she's able to be in three places at once, she's been able to work 2-3 jobs a day. It has by no means made her rich, but it has however given her the opportunity to start saving money up more quickly than if she were only working one job at a time like most people.

Even with all of the money she used to spend on alcohol before the rationing, Bryn as a tidy sum of money available to her during this trip to Atam. Before the decay, she might have spent that money on luxury items and the like, but with growing tension in Keeliai, it seems wiser to look for armor and more weapons on the off chance that she has to use them.

Dressed in her clothes from home, she seems at ease wandering from shop to shop during her stay. Her form-fitted pants give her easier movement than some of the longer skirts she used to wear back home. Her high-collared tunic remains unbuttoned at the top (despite the fact that it's clearly not meant to be worn that way) and reaches down at points to mid thigh. The sturdy leather belt slung around her hips holds both the sheath for her knife as well as the holster for her gun, rather than simply one or the other as is typical for her in Keeliai, and over it all is her knee-length leather coat that does somewhat obscure her weapons from view.

She can be found examining most everything, from swords to guns to Kevlar armor.]

[epigrammatical]

[Henry's meanderings have taken him to a row of shops devoted to weaponry. He has only ever handled guns for pheasant-shooting—at which he is not an unskilled shot—and he isn't terribly interested in purchasing such a thing. He is curious, though, to see which of the Foreigner cohort might be shopping here.

He didn't quite expect to see Bryn, though, mention of military service in her native land notwithstanding. On catching her eye, he smiles and raises his hat to her.]

Good afternoon, my dear.

[trifurcate]

[Bryn, currently examining a rifle, turns only her head at the hail and immediately greets Henry with a wide smile.]

Good afternoon, Henry. What brings you out this way?

[Because truthfully, she's surprised to see him near here as well. After all, Henry doesn't seem like anything more than a game hunter at best, a luxury that can't really be indulged in Keeliai.]

[epigrammatical]

Exploration and nothing more—I had not been down this street before and am pleased to have done so at last. [He glances at the rifle that she's examining.] I would ask what you're doing here, but your purpose seems clear enough.

[trifurcate]

[Bryn looks down to the rifle, strange in its modern style, and shrugs lightly.]

It's getting dangerous, more than usual in the city. A pistol and knife will only take me so far...so I'm looking for other things to work with, just in case.

Though, I have to say some of these seem more complex in design than I'm used to.

[epigrammatical]

The principle is no doubt the same, but yes, this is rather far removed from that which I am most accustomed to—which is to say, a shotgun for pheasants.

[A small frown.] The mood of the city is increasingly disturbed; you are quite right. Perhaps one cannot take too many precautions.

[And though he won't say it out loud, he is well aware of his own uselessness, not to mention vulnerability, if things go seriously bad. Still, there's some humour to be found...]

I had not expected to find myself surrounded with Amazons. [Pause, then he remembers.] Legendary women warriors in my world, so they say.

[trifurcate]

[Having heard somewhat of the women of Grantaire's world, and others, she can imagine that the women of Henry's world must be similar in many ways. Certainly the ladies.]

My mother would be pleased to hear you make the comparison. For a long while she hoped I would follow in her footsteps.

[She puts the gun down and picks up another, simpler looking rifle, then offers it up for him to examine.]

If you're looking for something yourself, this one might suit you well. The mechanics seem closer to something you or I might be familiar with.

late-ish...

[demon_brat]

[Look, Bryn... this is an eleven-year-old kid.]

[Shopping for a sword. A good sword, since he seems to be pretty well-aware of how to gauge one.]

No such thing /o/

[trifurcate]

[He's...a bit young to be sword shopping, even by the standards of Askoupur. Oh sure, she might see a Kouhyaran child shopping with a parent or older sibling, but alone? Not so much.

Still, realizing he may not have come with family, Bryn approaches casually, looking over the swords herself.]

Find anything decent in the lot?

\o\

[demon_brat]

Maybe.

[He looks up, then back at the blade he is holding, even if it's clearly long, for him.]

The work here is better than in Keeliai. These are meant for use, not so much for luxury items.

[trifurcate]

So much the better. Looks won't get you far in a fight.

[Her fingertips trail over the hilts of a few blades before she settles on a simpler looking one. The blade is a bit thicker than she's used to, a bit longer, but the hilt feels good in her hand.]

You've had training I assume?

[demon_brat]

[Damian makes a sort of an eight with the one he's been looking at, easily, despite the size and weight of the weapon, and expertly. He makes sure the blade and tip stay clear of anything and anyone, and the motion is controlled, one he is used to. But he must test the balance.]

Ample and quality training, yes.

[He looks up.]

And this is not for me.

SUDDEN SHOWERS - 9th and 12th

[trifurcate]

[Bryn's been around freak weather before, during sunny, cloudless days along the Asarian coast that quickly turned sour. Having traveled as much as she has, she can recount a slew of moments she's found herself caught in downpours, storms, wind strong enough to almost knock her off her horse, and one awful kick in temperature that gave her heat stroke and left her hiding in the cool shade of Kouhyar for a week before moving on.

Still, it's no less shocking when there's no sprinkle of rain to warn her before sheets of rain fall onto the streets of Atam. Only a couple blocks away from the communal house where she's staying, she forges on through the water, but by the time she makes it inside she is drenched from head to toe.

With a bewildered expression on her face, she looks out at the rain from her spot just inside the door, dripping water onto the floor and debating whether she ought to go for her things or try to wring her clothes and hair out first.]

on the 9th

[shadowroads]

[Just coming in from the rain is a gentleman that Bryn might have noticed before- tall, lean, and gorgeous. Of course, the semi-murderous expression on his face makes him look... not less gorgeous, but gorgeous in a dark and brooding sort of way.

Tybalt hates water.

As he slams the door behind him, something odd happens- his face wavers for a moment, and then changes altogether, as though a mask has been peeled off. His true face is even better-looking, the cheekbones slightly sharper, and the eyes malachite green with cat-slit pupils. His hair changes too- the black receding until it's simply tabby-like stripes, the point of an ear poking through the wet locks. When he speaks, it's clear that his teeth are pointed. "Oak and ash, where did that come from? There was no sign of it!"

He turns to look out at the rain like it's personally offended him.]

[trifurcate]

[By the time Tybalt comes through the door, Bryn is tucked in a corner of the room, perhaps out of sight as he walks past her. However, she still has a perfect view of his face as he stands there. Oh yes, she recognizes it, having seen him once or twice in the communal housing area before.

What's entirely new is the way his face changes and takes on more catlike features. People who can change shape in Askoupur aren't unheard of, but rare. Truthfully she's never seen one before so her eyes widen as she takes in Tybalt's ears and change in hair, even the look of his eyes.]

Deities, that storm certainly caught us both, didn't it?

[Don't mind her, she's just...squeezing out her hair and looking at his ears curiously.]

[shadowroads]

[He hasn't noticed the change, distracted by the fact that he is wet and he hates it. Besides, there's no mirror around them. He turns at the sound of her voice and his mouth twists into a grimace.]

Any decent storm would have come with a drop or two of rain as a herald. It would give you enough time to dodge inside somewhere, at least.

[He'd gotten wet so quickly that he had figured he might as well just keep going.]

[trifurcate]

I suppose that means these storms are entirely indecent because one moment it seemed clear and the next time I looked was when I felt the first drops of rain.

[Sighing, she looks away to peel her jacket off. Hanging it on a nearby hook, she lets the water drip off as she glances back to him.]

I hope you don't mind me pointing it out but that shift you just did was incredibly smooth. Was that an ability you were born with or magic perhaps?

[shadowroads]

Entirely indecent.

[He's in the middle of sliding out of his own jacket (revealing a physique any runner would envy) when she continues. It's just a brief pause and then he finishes the motion, arching his brows.]

Shift? I'm not certain what you mean.

OUTSIDE THE PUNISHMENT BLOCK - 10th

[trifurcate]

[It's not until four days into her stay in Atam that Bryn stumbles upon the Central Stockade.

The militarized feel to the city doesn't bother her, not being from a country with a well developed military and constabulary, and not from a family with a long-standing involvement in said military, but the blatant show of torture devices is shocking.

She's not naive enough to believe that torture doesn't happen in her city. The Council Agents have been known to be ruthless by necessity, especially during the last war when Rhevidjan invaded, but punishments and executions have never been a public spectacle. Certainly, devices like this have never been found sitting around in public to intimidate the citizens, and most she could say with confidence simply aren't used because they're just too inhumane.

Unable to draw her eyes away, she resolves to walk around the perimeter of the stockade to see what is held within.]

EXPLORING AND OTHER SHOPPING - 7th to 13th

[trifurcate]

[While already giving her rationed alcohol to Grantaire, it seems wise to attempt to build up her stocks while in Atam. During her wandering around the outer reaches of the city, she alternates between giving the imposing black walls a look and shopping for more alcohol for Grantaire, as well as tobacco for Henry.

And if she happens to find something she wants for herself while there, well, so much the better.]

[cynisme]

[Where else would Grantaire be, on the mainland, but in search of alcohol? That's the purpose, after all, of going through the trouble. Through quarantine, through his own chills and severe discomfort, through his sober, withdrawing loathing for the world and his newly achieved limp. There's a voice in the back of his head that tells him that he's there for the Amis, for Enjolras and the rest of his friends, but it's not true.

He's here to find relief, and so he's checking out bottles, looking at price and proof.]

[trifurcate]

[Well if it isn't her favorite grumpy Frenchman. Bryn can't say she's surprised to see him there, or wonder what it is he's doing looking at bottles. The rationing has been extremely hard on him, in ways that she can do little to help with. As a result, she's done her best not to be a nuisance. There when she's not working, when he'll allow it. Helpful however she can be, and clear often that he's welcome to shove her out whenever he doesn't want anyone keeping an eye on him.

She approaches and stops only when they stand shoulder to shoulder.]

Have you found anything good?

[cynisme]

[The fact that he's there, holding what seems like the ultimate treasure in his hands again, is enough to lighten his mood. He shrugs, glancing at her and nudging his shoulder against hers halfheartedly. It's the closest thing to a hello he cares to manage at the moment.]

I don't give a damn whether this is good, only that it is strong and doesn't too much.

[trifurcate]

[She's cautiously optimistic about his mood, but doing her best not to let her hope color her observations. The nudge still makes her smile and she returns it gently before picking up a bottle herself.]

I can chip in if need be.

[She already has a bottle or two with her things back at the communal housing. Unscrewing the lid to the bottle, she gives it a sniff, and then tilts it toward him.]

Check this one out.

[cynisme]

It would be much appreciated. [For as much disinterest drips from his voice he does mean it, he's simply in far too terrible a mood to be genuine about it.

He takes the bottle from her and sniffs, whistling before taking a sip from it. If the owner is watching, so be it, he'll buy the damn bottle, if not...] It's not bad. Grainy, but strong.