Goriel and beyond, part 4

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC No apologies needed bud. Just getting my timing right. /OOC

[Drusia]

"Therese," she repeated, blinking several times; her first introduction had gone unnoticed in the shifting of seats, apparently. "I -- I hope my disguise didn't disturb you. Such things are necessary sometimes in Goriel."

"I can imagine," I reply, smiling. I can't help it - I really like how she's looking at me. "You're beautiful either way... although I hate to see such gorgeous hair hidden away like that."

I pause, then blush slightly - speaking of disturbing, that was a little bit overly forward of me. I'm used to the easy compliments of the getera. Therese doesn't seem to mind, though.

"... so," I say, attempting to push past any awkwardness, "I don't think I ever got your story. How did you end up traveling with Rose and the rest?" Since we're out of Goriel, I make no pretense about Argus being in charge. I have to admit, I'm curious as to where she's from and how she came to be in a city like Goriel dressed as a man.

-- Desiree

OOC: So... not false labor - prelabor. And now full labor. I'm currently in the hospital on some very nice painkillers - they have WIFI - but since everything's going smoothly I will hopefully be back posting... tomorrowish? Albeit slowly.

[Drannin]

The wagon crested the hill and Argus got a look at the occupants. They didn't look Gorielan, really, although one of them...

Argus blinked. He was a bit older than Argus remembered, obviously, but even so...

"Rupert? Rupert Ricordiel?"

[Graybeard]

[OOC: I think Rip and Shorty are on foot, but it doesn't really matter, so ...]

"Rupert? Rupert Ricordiel?"

Nobody outside Ysabel had used Rip's full name for years, and then, only a bill collector. He'd managed to give the man the slip, with the aid of an artfully prepared Illusion spell, a willing barmaid, and a passing basking shark, but one still couldn't be too careful; his initial inclination was to try to hide in the limited cover provided by the fairy timber. However, this didn't really seem like the kind of place where a bill collector, even a Farrelian one, would be likely ... and that voice seemed familiar ...

And then Thurston's beaver comment sank in.

"Argus Cleiviein? What are you doing here?"

--------------

"I don't think I ever got your story. How did you end up traveling with Rose and the rest?"

Therese hadn't just made a regular practice of keeping a straight face in her travels in Goriel; it had become an out-and-out survival skill. Now, for the first time in years outside her sanctuary-home of Refuge-Nouveau, she blushed vigorously.

"I ... we ... I mean, we have some -- interests in common. We're -- trying to find an evildoer. Someone who -- I --"

She shook her head, hard, having the effect of turning her hair into a veritable cascade of flame. When she'd finished, she at least had control of her tongue again, although the flush remained.

"Please, forgive me. It is just that you remind me so much of someone who was dear to me once, someone who was my companion when we were trying to find and stop another band of evildoers, years ago, a long way from here. They might have something to do with this man that your friend Rose is seeking." She swallowed, hard. "We failed. She died."

[Drannin]

Argus raised an eyebrow. "I might ask you the same." He found that there was no bile rising in his throat; he was past his instinctive hatred for all people of Tsuiraku. Instead, he was curious as to the presence of an old acquaintance. Suddenly the parrot made a bit of sense. "Still have your parrot, I see. Thurston, was it? I lost track of your dealings a long time ago, I'm afraid."

[Graybeard]

Rip shrugged. "Gonna write a travelogue one of these days," he said. "If I do a decent job of it, it'll pay better than being a sociology prof at a community college." That was true, of course. It was also true that for several years now, it had been quite irrelevant. "Been meeting some curious characters up here." He guffawed. "Not the typical place you'd expect to run into a catgirl."

Noticing Shorty looking uneasy -- they really weren't supposed to talk about the paying customers on this mission -- he tried to change the subject. "So where's your familiar? I don't see him along with you. Beaver, wasn't he? Harlow, Harley --"

"RRAAWWK. Harker, boss," Thurston squawked around his cigar.

"Oh, right." He chuckled. "As I recall, his, uh, artwork might be able to make you guys some money in Goriel, eh?" A conspiratorial wink seemed appropriate as the two men remembered the good old days.

[Drannin]

"Oh, Harker's around. Never could keep track of him. As for me... well, life got complicated, and I'm keeping busy these days, you know. Moving on with life, that sort of thing." Rupert clearly had no idea what Argus had been through, and Argus didn't feel like enlightening him.

Community college, eh? Well, who was he to judge. Sociology? Well, there was probably a need for that subject...

Okay, he had to stop it. Still, Argus was never too impressed by the soft sciences. "So. That travelogue sounds interesting. Any other publications pending?"

[Alberich]

Tim's eyebrows had gone up briefly at that mention of a "catgirl" - remembering the strange creature he and Eli had seen in Port Lorrel - but he didn't interject. The odds of it being the same one - he had no idea about, and anyway, this conversation was for Rose and Argus. He went back to watching for dangers.

[Graybeard]

"No, not at the moment," Rip answered, suppressing a wince. That was still a bit of a sore subject. It had been a sabbatical, after all, that had brought him to Ysabel, a sabbatical that he'd planned to spend researching the mercenary guilds of Farrel and writing a scholarly paper about them. It ... hadn't worked out that way. Once again, it seemed time to change the subject. "How's your lovely --" Wait a minute.

Argus and Cirella had always been inseparable, he remembered. Even after their daughter was born, they'd still gone everywhere together, done everything together. They'd just bundle the young'un up, haul her along to wherever they were going, and set up some magical special effects to keep her occupied while they did whatever they'd set out to do.

He realized, however, that there were women in the wagon along with Argus, several of them, but none of them his wife or daughter. Several women. Very attractive women. He let his gaze drift over Sister Rose (occupying the seat that Cirella ought to occupy, he thought with a combination of puzzlement and concern), Lillith (was this Fayna? she seemed to have some of Argus' features, and the right age, but ...), Desiree, Therese, and back to Rose. This ... well, it didn't look good.

"I ..." There was just no graceful way to finish the sentence, so he didn't.

-------------

Rose, for her part, was feeling uncomfortable under the scrutiny as well.

Damn. I wish I'd thought to put on the Empathy, she thought. Somehow it just hadn't seemed like the most urgent spellcraft to have available up here -- saving her energy for offense or defense seemed more important. It would have come in handy here. On the other hand, there was a need for another bit of miscellaneous magic in this situation too ...

<"Argus? What's going on here?"> she thought at the man beside her, even as she tried to keep a pleasantly noncommittal face to the world.

[Drannin]

"Cirella passed away several years ago," Argus said calmly, feeling a slight wince but nothing more. It had been time to move on for quite some time. "I've been... traveling ever since." Technically true. "It's a long story, Rupert, I hope you'll forgive me if I gloss over it a little bit."

<"Rupert's an old... well, I wouldn't say friend, but friendly acquaintance from Tsuiraku. I haven't seen him in years. But I find myself wondering what he's doing up here exactly.">

"In any case, we happen to be searching for someone. A bit bit of personal business, you understand. His name's Blaise. I don't suppose you've heard of him?" Argus watched Rupert's reaction very carefully.