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[She's still in the clothes she arrived in, though she's taken the advantage of being able to wash them so at least they're clean. This was, of course, after she'd ventured out into the city to plumb the depths of allies and dumpsters in order to collect materials to make goods to sell so she would have money for clothes and food.]

[It was a very practiced ritual of hers.]

[So now she's got a blanket (dumpster behind a home goods store) spread out with some cuff bracelets and woven wire necklaces that she'd been working on diligently for the first few days. Even as she sits patiently waiting for customers, she's got her hands busy wrapping feathers and bones into the wire and gear framework of a larger wrist cuff.]

[Dictated into the grimorie, which she's got laid open by her side,] So this whole gears and steam aesthetic ... it was pretty popular in my world among the more financially endowed. I never had the means for it, so it's interesting to be able to experiment with it here on a limited income.

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Really? And why do you think that?

[She pauses from giving passerby the evil eye to glance up at him, curious. She hasn't had enough experience in this world yet to discount any of those theories, but it certainly sounded like he had.]

Because it's too much fun.

[and he would know. It is his tower, after all.]

So, what do you think? [The conversation was helping to distract her from the stares they're getting. How she wishes to just blend into the background right about now.]

[A certain dead guy is observing the work the woman made, invisible to the naked eye as he calls upon the shadow. He can't do much about the smell of old rot and embalming fluid, but these streets weren't the cleanest.

Or the safest.

Gabriel isn't a jewelry-type of guy, but her method is similar to his leatherworking... and he had a bit of an interest in making a shark-teethed woman a present.

Moving closer, he pulls up his hood - and then invisibly throws a stone against a nearby vent in an attempt to distract her.]

[Sandrine's nose wrinkles at the smell as she continues working on her jewelry, glancing up now and again to find the source, but dismissing it as the city's ambiance. The stone hitting the vent, however, causes her to jolt upright in surprise and look around to try to find the culprit.]

[he's never been to the place they're heading, but it's a short and uncomplicated walk from the station. He can keep most of his attention slid over to his companion]

I'm still half-convinced that none of this is real.

[She's devoting more and more to him just to ignore the passerby, unconciously edging a little nearer.]

So, it could all just be a bad dream? [She smirks,tilting her head at him. It felt too real and too vibrant to be a dream, certainly.]

[and he does what he can to accommodate--holding himself at a lazy and nonthreatening stroll. As entertaining as she is while she's high-strung, he'd also liked to see her relaxed]

It's the only explanation that makes any real sense, right?

[As soon as she looks away, Gabriel drops his invisibility so that he's seen crouched next to her blanket. Maybe it was just the need to freak someone out or the fact that rogues in general loved the feeling of adrenaline, but there just wasn't a good way to start a conversation when you were a walking corpse.

So why not have some fun?]

Who says an explanation has to make sense? If this place is true and it does drag us from all over, something I find very normal might seem extremely odd to someone else. So, an explanation that makes sense to me might not to -- to someone else.

[She sort of fades off at the end, looking off into space for a moment as she realizes her opinions are colored by her magic, and What Would A Normal Human Say is probably not What She Has Been Saying.]

[What she needed now is a subject change.] So what's with all the steam power stuff anyway?

[Yes, that definitely catches her off guard. She gasps, startled, and immediately goes into a defensive pose, turning slightly where she sits and balling her hands into fists. She catches herself long enough not to lash out, but seeing he's ... well, not quite what she would call normal, she doesn't drop her stance.]

What are you?!

[ha, and that was precisely what he'd been looking for. So, another thing to tuck away for later, and he lets her change the subject]

I have no idea. It's been quite an adjustment, but I find it fascinating.

Dead.

[Gabriel replies with a deadpan voice, his eyesockets glowing dimly. He picks up one of her finished pieces and studies it with interest.]

How are you with leather?

[Yeah, that was not a smooth move on her part. She's already mentally kicking herself for that.]

So you're not from here, how did you end up with the tower?

[Okay she can't help staring for a few more moments, still tense. Necromancy on her world was a rare and dangerous thing.]

[And why was he interested in leather? Did he want her to fashion him a new jaw or something?]

[She forces herself to relax slightly and makes a motion to her wares.] You can see for yourself; I'm pretty good.

I took it over.

[aka, no one else was claiming it]

What, was there a battle or a confrontation or anything? [He's being frustratingly vague.]

Not with whoever owned it before. [frustratingly vague--he has that down to an art]

Well, lucky you. Hope it doesn't turn around to bite us all in the ass. [She snarks back. Her stomach adds a little gurgle of hungry protest.]

[He grins at her look, the rotted sides of his face stretching and splitting wide.

Reaching for his pack, the rogue picks out a couple of rolls of leather he had recently tanned.]

I don't do girly shit like this, but what would suit a shark-mouthed crazy bitch?

[luckily, it only takes another few minutes of walking before they arrive at a flashy little Asian restaurant. And, like a perfect gentleman, he'll even open the door for her.]

[She flashes him a smile, and walks through, turning away to let it fall when she realizes just how out of place she is. Then nope, not going to let him see that weakness, when the hostess comes to seat them she gives him a little side-eyed smirk.]

Maybe a nice, dark corner? [So she can hide, but let him think it's for something else.]

[whether he sees through it or not, he approves of the suggestion, and returns the smirk.

They'll be seated in a nice cozy booth near the back of the restaurant, then. There's no seat to hold our for her, but he at least lets her lead and choose where to sit first]

[She puts her back to the kitchen so she can see the entrance, without trying to be overt about it.]

So. Sushi. I have to say that's something I don't get the luxury of having.

[ah, he'd guessed as much. He makes a note to himself to sit there the next time they're out somewhere, to see if it bothers her]

I've actually never had it. Is it good?

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