Appointments for Luceti

[mindgooshed]

You have reached the desk of Barnaby Brooks Jr. ; please leave your name and a brief message, and I'll get back to you at my earliest convenience. Thank you.

You know the drill. Got something you want to play out? A missed or dropped tag? Retconning, backdating, etcetcetc? Or do you just want to leave a message for the hero? Here's where you drop it. Please remember to leave times and dates in the headers of your threads, so I can keep things chronologically ordered! Thanks!

Comments

[Action, 29 December 2011]

[mikangirl]

[You wouldn't think Nami knows where you live, Barnaby.

...okay actually, she doesn't. But she knows where Kotetsu lives and he mentioned you both live on the same floor, so it's not going to take her long to knock on a couple doors and either (a) get lucky and find yours by mistake or (b) get redirected there by various neighbours. Either way, early afternoon there's going to be a knock at your door.]

[mindgooshed]

[ he's ..

.. kind of surprised by the knock. at first he doesn't answer because he thinks maybe he misheard, maybe it's someone else's door being knocked on, but when it comes again he sighs, and stands, and pads his way oer to the door, hesitating for a moment before turning the knob and opening it.

it's. nami. how does she know where he lives. ]

.. Ah. Miss Nami.

[mikangirl]

Just Nami is fine.

[Folding her arms and leaning on your doorframe. Which actually looks more uncertain than anything else. 8|]

How are you?

[mindgooshed]

[ she .. doesn't look so great, does she/ well, she doesn't look bad, just - just different. he hasn't seen that expression on her face before. ]

I'm fine. [ pause. ] But I'm not certain that you are.

[mikangirl]

[She looks a little taken aback at that. Then she gives him a wan smile.]

I think ...we're sort of in the same boat this week.

[mindgooshed]

[ barnaby rests his hands in the doorway, leaning into them. his expression is unreadable, but mostly because he doesn't even really know what to feel right now. so he isn't feeling much of anything. ]

.. Ah.

[ he doesn't need to ask why. it's pretty obvious. after a beat: ]

Would you like to come in?

[mikangirl]

Thanks.

[And she kind of edges through the door. Keeping her distance, because she's aware she's probably treading on boundaries here.]

...I'm sorry. About Kotetsu.

[mindgooshed]

[ her words rip through him, and he's taken aback for a moment, standing stiffly in the doorway for several long seconds before he finally shuts the door. his voice is guarded. ]

It's fine. Thank you. Would you like something to drink?

[mikangirl]

[...you're one of those kinds, huh. Nami can't really ...fault him for that. She gives him a crooked grin.] Sure. I don't suppose you have anything alcoholic.

[mindgooshed]

[ hey he's mr. independent okay, and though he might be growing marginally fond of you he's still keeping his secrets. ]

Wine, if it suits you.

[mikangirl]

[Well mr. independent can learn to accept empathy >E But Nami's decided to be pretty delicate where Barnaby is concerned. Anyone that kinda flinches when you touch them clearly has their own issues, and she's just not going there. Not for a long time, anyway.]

Wine's perfect! [I even have wine icons.] Man of refined tastes, huh?

[mindgooshed]

Of course. Please, make yourself comfortable.

[ barnaby disappears into a side room and resurfaces a minute or so later, carrying a bottle of rosé in one hand, and two long-stemmed wine glasses in the other. ]

[mikangirl]

[...that is even her favourite kind of wine, if only for the colour. (Nami's a simple creature, really.) This is an appreciative smile as she sinks down into pretty much the closest chair.] Did you pick that up from the bar or the grocery?

[She does have a point, but she's wondering if she should talk about it here. So for now, small talk.]

[mindgooshed]

The bar.

[ it's chilled already, so barnaby sets it all down on the side table beside her, then brushes past again to fetch the corkscrew, and a silver wine pail filled with ice (barnaby drinks a lot of wine okay he is always prepared - he'd filled the pail less than an hour ago because tonight is drinking night).

popping off the cork, barnaby lifts one of the tall glasses and fills it. ]

It's decent enough. Not quite the quality I'm accustomed to, but it serves.

[mikangirl]

[...holy shit, Barnaby. Her eyebrows are going up. That's classy.]

You're...pretty well off at home, huh.

[Are you single]

[mindgooshed]

[ whoops he didn't really mean to flash his wealth around, sometimes it just. comes through. barnaby's brows knit, and he holds out the glass for her to take. ]

Well enough, I suppose.

[ which translates to filthy stinkin rich. ]

[mikangirl]

[S'okay, he's not the first person to serve her champagne in a bucket. Memories of the last time make her smile a bit wistfully, though.]

Everything being free here kind of takes all the fun out of it, doesn't it? [It's a light question, but her eyes are watchful.]

[mindgooshed]

[ barnaby pours himself a glass, corks the bottle and plants it in the pail. ]

I suppose so. Honestly, I haven't given it much thought.

[ he's been. kind of distracted. by all of the things. ]

[mikangirl]

Can't blame you on that score. Money's a big priority for me back home. [Deliberately blunt on this point.] In a place like Luceti, I've found more important things to think about.

[She's halfway through her glass already.]

[mindgooshed]

[ barnaby doesn't sit, and instead cocks his hip and leans back against the wall beside her. ]

Money has .. never really been an issue, for me. [ because i have tons of it. ] So I never really thought about it. But I have to say that the economy here is .. distressing. These Malnosso must have a great deal of influence. It takes a lot to feel and clothe so many people.

[mikangirl]

Part of it's their Shifting technology. [Which okay, would take a lot of effort to begin with, but...] I suppose if a villager can build a teleporter, the Malnosso can do it pretty easily. They're just pulling in stuff that already exists from other worlds. With exception of the food.

[mindgooshed]

I see. I hadn't considered that.

[ barnaby swirls the wine in the glass, then takes a slow sip. ]

But I'm sure that technology like that doesn't come cheap, either. And I doubt that we're their only .. investment.

[mikangirl]

We're not. There's villages like this all over ...wherever this world is. You'll run into other people if you do one of their missions.

[mindgooshed]

[ AS EXPECTED. he takes another sip. ]

Right. Have you been on any of these .. 'missions'?

[ he's just gonna assume yes. ]

[mikangirl]

[In this case, alas...]

Nope. I've just talked at length with someone who has. [Sssip.]

I signed up yesterday, though.