I looked until my luck ran out, and then I saw your face [Open Thread]

[liberatingamble.livejournal.com]

Characters: Setzer and any potential gawkers.
Progress: Ongoing~ (but if there's no biters, it can work as a solo log)
Summary: Poor, luckless Setzer's down and out in Burmecia and about to make (yet another) unpleasant discovery.
Location: Burmecia.
Date: backdated to Feb. 12th, 1804
Warnings: Potential for mild language? Really I don't foresee anything objectionable happening here.



What a world, indeed.

When Setzer had ascertained that the device was clearly not going to be of any more use to him, he'd folded it back up (clever little hinges, Edgar would love it), steeled himself, and stepped back out into the rain. Time to find an inn, and hope the innkeepers weren't the kind to charge what few pitiful travelers they did get an arm and a leg. ...Though, he thought as the damned, damned, damned bird nibbled at his hair yet again, Maybe they'll take a chocobo in barter.

As it turned out, the innkeeper was indeed not the type to overcharge. She was, however, a rat. Not merely with rat ears, like Mjrn, but seemingly an honest-to-gods rat, white as any pet rat one could care to find. Trying not to stare (it's impolite to draw attention to a lady's shortcomings), Setzer paid for room, board, and a stall for the chocobo (against his better judgment--but if she had an owner, he hardly wanted to be held liable for a replacement due to the stupid creature catching her death of cold following him around) and with a hefty tip--recompense for staggering in like a tramp. Gods, were he an innkeeper, he wouldn't have tolerated himself.

Inquiries about a laundress were met with a blank stare, so with a sigh and another mental note to find a tailor whenever he got out of this place, he laid the coat over a chair back to dry and set himself outside once again. There was a covered area over by chocobo enclosure, and even though it was cold, especially in just his shirtsleeves and those wet to boot, he hurried over there. Precisely one thing was going to assuage this particular headache and tension all through him, and now that he had a moment to himself and out of this rain, he was damn well going to have a smoke before sleeping off the remainder of this hangover.

Back against one of the posts, ignoring the stupid bird once again gently headbutting his shoulder, Setzer took the match tin (he kept cigarettes and matches alike in a waterproof tin; one too many ruined boxes had lead him to that choice) out of one pocket, the cigarette tin out of the other, almost reverently he opened the case...

...and found, instead of concoctions of dried tobacco leaves, an assortment of fresh, leafy greens.

Lo, the mysteries fall away, and the morning stands before him, explained.

"Kweeeeeeeh?"

Dumbly, he offered a leaf to the chocobo behind him, and when she took it with a delighted wark, he offered another. So what if he was just encouraging her to follow him? The way his morning was going, he might need her to beat a hasty escape anyhow.

Comments

[knightofcrimson.livejournal.com]

Passing through the narrow halls of Gizmaluke's Grotto for the umpteenth time, stood the crimson-cloaked dragoon knight at the city gates. Walking briskly through this gloomy town, Freya was welcomed by the endless drizzle that fell from those murky gray skies. The knight felt haggard, far too exhausted after the events that transpired within Memoria. With the sudden revelation of both Kuja's and Garland's return to Gaia, the dragoon knight was at a loss for words. There would be no words to express the way she felt now, nothing that could be said to calm the fear that rose within her. Clutching her lance tightly within her pale palms, the knight continued along her way through these cobblestone alleys.

She eventually came to a halt once several children ran up to her to tell her news of a white-haired stranger dressed in black. Frowning at the thought of yet another unwanted visitor roaming through her land, Freya made haste towards the local inn in search of the man while the children giggled at the thought of ‘Auntie Freya’ tossing out another bandit. Wandering down the winding streets and alleyways, the knight finally emerged a few feet away from the inn.

[liberatingamble.livejournal.com]

Setzer'd gone through about half the chocobo greens by the time someone else arrived (and yes, he had given them all to the chocobo. Yes, the notion of seeing if they could be smoked had crossed his mind, but there was a difference between being devil-may-care and daring Dame Fortune to smite you, and given how today was going...). He glanced over--was that the innkeeper, or--no, this was another lady rat. Much taller, with green eyes, and much better dress sense.

Also armed.

"Hello," He said with a wave and the sort of smile worn by those who have just come to the conclusion that nothing they do is going to improve their situation, so they might as well take what's coming.

[knightofcrimson.livejournal.com]

The dragoon knight slowed in her approach once the man greeted her. He looked like an average human, one most likely hailing from the neighboring Lindblum rather than further away kingdom of Alexandria. Giving him a rather stern gaze, Freya eyed this poor fellow from head to toe with a disapproving stare. "What business do you have here in Burmecia, sir?" Her tone matched her demeanor in seriousness for she has grown tried of strangers roaming up and down these rain-drenched streets.

With both Kuja and Garland on the prowl, the pathway to Burmecia will most likely be sealed to ward off any unwanted visitors. The guards were already on alert at the Grotto, so Freya was a tad suspicious as to how this fair-skinned man ended up within the city. Perhaps this poor soul is no looter but merely another Sky Person sent from the heavens. Whichever the answer, Freya planned to pry them from Setzer no matter how unwilling he may be.

"Speak. What business do you have in Burmecia?"

[liberatingamble.livejournal.com]

It was harder to read a rat's face than a human's, but Setzer guessed she was annoyed as well as armed--and when she spoke, she erased all doubts. Was he still making up for all the good luck he used in bringing down Kefka? Really, there was no other explanation. As if in reminder of this fact, the chocobo nipped his fingertips hard, and he withdrew them with a hiss to massage the pain away.

And the lady rat grew ever more impatient, it seemed. "Me? I'm playing the role of Dame Fortune's latest plaything. And you?" Setzer sounded congenial enough, though he suspected she wouldn't appreciate it in the slightest.

[knightofcrimson.livejournal.com]

"Dame Fortune, eh?" She repeated with a slight gleam of annoyance flickering within her eyes. Burmecians in general lack the same facial expressions as humans, making them seem less emotional than their more ape-like counterparts. However, whatever emotion they lacked within their facial features is quickly made up by how expressive their eyes are. Unfortunately, for Setzer, this dragoon knight was feeling a tad testy right now, for she was glaring at him hotly.

"I am a Dragoon Knight, one of Burmecia's many protectors. I suggest that if you have business here, you better finish it before daybreak tomorrow." If she had been a little grumpier, Freya would have just yanked the poor man by his collar and tossed him over Burmecia's gate with a mighty throw.

She has done that to Zidane plenty of times.

[liberatingamble.livejournal.com]

Ah. That was a threat. And contesting the fact would only lead, Setzer was sure, to whatever was behind it (he rather suspected the spear was involved) being carried out.

He inclined his head, respectfully, before shrugging and saying, "I have no business here but to wait for my friends to come find me. I'd love to be finished with that affair by daybreak, but I don't see that happening."

Maybe when she kicked him out, she'd kick him out in the general direction of Figaro. He was careful not to hope too hard, though.

[knightofcrimson.livejournal.com]

Fortunately for him, Freya hesitated to toss the man out once he mentioned that his allies where seeking him. "Then I trust they are aware of your current stay in Burmecia." It wouldn't be wise to toss this fool out even though he looked like a heap of trouble. While Lady Luck certainly seemed fond of torturing Setzer, Freya was not as cruel as her.

"Then I suppose you will be staying at the inn for short time, especially if they travel by chocobo." Was that concern within her voice? Maybe, Freya isn't that cold.

[liberatingamble.livejournal.com]

Setzer nodded. "Celes and Locke know where I am." When in doubt, namedrop. Besides, she neither looked nor sounded like the nefarious sort that always seemed to wind up enemies of those two. "I think they are traveling by chocobo," He said, swallowing a sigh--not his favored way of getting around. "I've already booked a room in this inn here." And he'd be retiring there soon--even if it was the middle of the day. Damn hangover. Damn withdrawal.

[knightofcrimson.livejournal.com]

It was then at the mention of 'Celes' that Freya's eyes blinked a tad owlishly. "That name, I’ve heard it before." She mentioned idly with a rather quizzical look upon her rat-like face. Was he speaking of 'General Celes Chere', the woman who saved her life along side young Terra at the fields near Cornelia? Deciding to ask a few more questions before drawing to that assumption, Freya began with this mock interrogation by asking a simple question.

"How do you know her?" The dragoon knight asked.

[liberatingamble.livejournal.com]

"Celes?" Setzer said, just now noticing that he'd unconsciously been scratching under the bird's beak and drawing away. "I've known her for some time. I helped her, then she helped me, and together with the rest of our friends we stopped Kefka." A pause, and then he added, for clarification, "In our world." It felt strange having to say that, but considering that Kefka was apparently alive and well in Gaia...

Hopefully she wouldn't ask about the precise circumstances of their original meeting. Not that he regretted it--never regret--but given her apparent sensibilities, he might find himself kicked out a little harder than he'd have liked.

[knightofcrimson.livejournal.com]

"Kefka!? You and General Chere fought against that lunatic, Kefka?" It seemed as if the silver-haired man said the magic words by stating his claim of being one of the noble few to thwart the madman's efforts. After news reached Burmecia of Kefka's attempt to assassinate the Queen of Alexandria, Freya's been searching for any news regarding that villain. Between him and two foes of her homeland, Gaia is just teeming with all sorts of dangers as of late.

"Speak no more." The dragoon knight replied quickly. "There is nothing else that needs to be said if you are a foe of that villainous mage." The idea of letting Setzer stay here no longer seemed foolish to her for the man clearly needed somewhere to rest his head. It seems that Freya wouldn't get the chance to test out her strength by crossing blades with him but she wasn't morose about losing such a chance.

“Dine, sleep and stay as long as you need. No one will deter you.”

[liberatingamble.livejournal.com]

Now that was the kind of reversal he needed. Although... "Sounds like Kefka's been up to his usual tricks here, then," Setzer said, a little more exhaustion in his voice. He hadn't really expected otherwise, but it's one thing to suspect and another to have suspicions confirmed.

He offered her a small smile and a nod in thanks. "It's much appreciated, m'lady...?"