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

[ladiesss]

Do you know... what the Kithain are...?

[she's kind of hesitant in the way she asks that, since she's more than used to the idea that she'll be locked up in an institution for talking about these kinds of things. but hey. weird world.]

[tigerhound]

[Sandrine pauses for a moment in thought, frowning slightly. She shakes her head.] No, sorry. Haven't heard of them before. Is that ... something from your world?

[ladiesss]

...Yeah, there're a kind of magical being. [then, casually, like she doesn't think it's weird at all:] I just wondered, since you look kind of like one.

[...of COURSE she's doing that on purpose, but.]

[tigerhound]

[Sandrine narrows her eyes slightly, trying to keep her expression blank but unable to shake the suspicion she'd been found out.]

What makes you say that?

[ladiesss]

Just a feeling I have. [awkward laugh!] It's kind of a talent of mine.

[tigerhound]

[Sandrine's still more than a little suspicious, although she's still attempting to maintain a casual appearance.]

So ... what are these ... 'kithain'? How am I like them?

[ladiesss]

[that makes two of them. she wants to find out how Krista is able to tell something about her, and Krista is trying to get more details about what she's like... but with her denying she knows what Kithain are, it's pretty obvious she's really not one of them.]

They're fairies, kind of. They're a people made of dream-stuff.

[she points a little at Sandrine, mostly just to gesture.]

They just feel different than normal humans. You don't feel quite like their magic, though. Not like a vampire either, but that was pretty obvious...

[tigerhound]

[Sandrine's gone stock still. Fairies ... Faeked ... It's not exact but it's similar enough that she's highly disconcerted by it. Her response is thick and tight, a little chink in the mask.]

So you can ... detect magic?

[ladiesss]

Yeah.

[...oh, it hadn't occurred to her that Sandrine might also be something that hunts people like her. damn you, lack of foresight! maybe she should... not dig a further grave, if so.]

But I'm not, uh, out to mess with you or anything. Sorry.

[she stands back up, like she's stretching.]

It's really none of my business. It's just rare to see magic out here in the city, so I got curious...

[tigerhound]

[She's watching Krista carefully, feeling a little bit trapped and exposed. She turns away for a moment to take a deep breath.]

Yeah, you don't want to mess with me. [Her tone is soft and careful, but serious. She looks back at Krista with hard, dark eyes. She's upset that she's been so easily unveiled here, even if Krista may not know the extent of her abilities or mean any harm by it.] I may still be learning the ways of this place but there are ... certain things about myself I don't want found out. Are we clear?

[ladiesss]

[...eek.]

Yeah. Totally clear. Like... Windex-treated windows, clear.

[she nods a little, clearly not wanting to make it look worse than it already is.]

So with that established, I think I'll... go back to wandering. See you... around?

[tigerhound]

[Sandrine gives a stiff, forced nod back, her expression not softening in the slightest.]

Yes. Be seeing you.

[Her heart's pounding and she's pissed, livid that it was that easy, seemingly.]

[ladiesss]

[yeah... yeah, she figures it's time to go. so she takes a couple steps back and re-asserts herself into the line of people wandering through this particular way, heading back out into the headache-causing, dream-dissolving city proper.]