t.w.o

[tigerhound]

[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.

Comments

[heresyandlace]

[he tends to prefer the flashier shiny things in the market, but he's enough of a fan of jewelry that he simply must go investigate when he notices a corner occupied by a new 'vendor.'

So, Sandrine gets an absurdly pretty man wandering over to her blanket. Hands in his pockets, he leans down to get a slightly closer look]

...Bones?

[tigerhound]

[Sandrine's already watching him carefully as he approached. Way too pretty people weren't generally people she trusted.]

[But then he speaks, and she recognizes the name, she trusts him even less.]

[She smirks, leaning slightly forward and catching his eyes with a knowing glance, hanging onto the silence intentionally long before answering.]

For the morbidly curious, there is a certain beauty in death that can be celebrated, in my opinion.

[heresyandlace]

[and his is definitely on the inhuman side of pretty. He doesn't seem to be putting any effort into making himself seem particularly trustworthy at all, really.

Ah-- and the pause catches him. That knowing glance gets him to pay attention enough to recognize her voice right away when she responds, and a smile slithers across his face]

You don't need to convince me. I entirely agree.

[tigerhound]

[Okay that smile is a little disturbing along with everything else, but she tries to hide her unease as she leans back casually against the building behind her. She waves a hand over her current collection of goods.]

See anything you like? I might be able to give you a discount.

[heresyandlace]

[he lowers himself into a graceful crouch so he can really get a good look at the selection-- and, more importantly, so he can touch them.

The only ones he bothers with are the ones with bones, and he gravitates towards pieces that shine. Anything with chain, metal, beads.]

You're quite the entrepreneur. You wasted no time at all, did you?

[tigerhound]

[She's noticing that, thinking it's more a matter of preference than anything else.]

It's what I do. Even with free housing, I still need to afford food and clothing. The sooner I get started, the better off I'll be.

[heresyandlace]

Smart. I'm a little surprised at how long it has taken anyone else to take up ventures of their own. Very few have.

[he's playing with the pieces as he talks, whether he'd been invited to or not. He's thoroughly inspecting them--the bones especially. Picking up each and closing in his palm, it's as if they're frozen and he's trying to thaw them, inspecting each of them the same way]

[tigerhound]

[She's used to people handling her goods, trying them on, trying to filch them. She doesn't comment but she is watching him with a very close and careful eye. His actions are odd, and she files that away for future reference.]

Let's just say I've had plenty of practice.

[heresyandlace]

I can tell. These are--

[oh, he opens his fingers as if the bracelet he's currently clutching surprises him, and he trails off to get a better look at it. A pretty little wire bracelet with snake vertebrae woven in.

He turns it around in his hands. The bones are good, it meets the minimum sparkle amount, there isn't anything that clashes with his general color scheme...]

I like this one.

[ladiesss]

[ugh, Krista haaaates it out here. the whole steampunk thing should make it candyland for her, but the banality levels out here are pretty harsh. it's like a migraine. she'd kill to find a balefire out here, or anything that isn't drenched in a stubborn disbelief in magic and dreams and the very stuff she's made of.

so when she notices someone not completely non-magical hanging around, she kind of drifts towards them out of a mix of curiosity and 'god finally something that won't give me a splitting headache'. but when she gets closer, she realizes that they're selling jewelry, and that feathers and bones are fairly prominent in the designs...

...and so Sandrine will get Krista, dressed mostly in black and speaking quietly as usual, crouching down to peer at her face as if she can figure her out like a puzzle.]

Hey, are you...?

[tigerhound]

[Sandrine watches curiously, and as soon as Krista speaks she gives her a small, careful smile.]

Sandrine. Yes, we talked over the Grimorie ... ?

[ladiesss]

Yeah, wow...! [she leans back a little, looking more natural now that she knows she was right.] It's always weird to see the voice suddenly attached to a face.

[tigerhound]

It is, isn't it? I'm sorry, what did you say your name was? [Trying not to appear paranoid, but she feels off-kilter, having just given away her name with nothing for it.]

[ladiesss]

Oh, I'm Krista. [she holds out her hand. handshake? 8>] I dunno if I ever actually introduced myself, I'm kind of bad at social interaction. [haha... ha. :'D]

[tigerhound]

[Yes! Handshake! Sandrine's hand is calloused and strong, her handshake firm.]

Krista. That's okay, I'm not the most socially rambunctious either. [She'd be just as happy sitting here selling goods without getting recognized at all, but she felt she'd probably need some allies at some point. As long as she could just keep them at arm's length, that is.]

[ladiesss]

[Krista... has a delicate, girly handshake. she's impressed (and a little caught off guard) by how much of a badass Sandrine seems to be, wow.]

Well, neat. Kindred spirits, or something. But uh, no worries--I actually just wanted to ask you something.

[tigerhound]

[It comes from living on the streets,and constantly working with her hands like she is now; leather, bones, metal, not the softest of materials.]

Oh? What's that? [Sandrine looks at Krista curiously.]

[forourqueen]

[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.]

[tigerhound]

[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.]

[forourqueen]

[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?]

[tigerhound]

[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?!

[forourqueen]

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?

[tigerhound]

[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.

[forourqueen]

[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?

[tigerhound]

[Sandrine looks at the leather and reaches out to feel it. She frowns slightly at his question.]

A muzzle, maybe?