Apr 17 00:58:44 105 PA

From Chronicles

The current game time is: Fri Apr 17 00:58:44 105 PA.

The highly attractive woman known as Lucy enters the Museum's Garden with her hips swaying gently, allowing the horrible weather to pass by overhead. Yes, there's rain in the courtyard, and yes, there's wind, but nothing like the Plaza Park, or simply walking around outside. It's actually quite romantic, if one took the time to think about it. She takes up a position on a marble bench near the fountain and looks back at Renos with inviting eyes.

Renos is still carrying the guitar, and the flowers he gave her, because he's like that. He then stops and looks around, not really been here at all. "Nice, will have to come back sometime." He then smils over to her and sits down beside her. His hand lightly touches hers as he gives her the flowers once more. "Its a bit cozy, isn't it?"

Lucy shivers a little at his touch, but doesn't pull her hand away, accepting the flowers once more with her left hand. "Yes, it is cozy," she says. "I come here to think, sometimes. It's quite peaceful. Of course, I'm rather a bit out of place among the scholars."

Renos smiles at that, but frowns a little at her shiver. "Don't let what that cat said bother you. I think its just that he was trying to make you upset. Or...is it me?" He looks at her with a smile. "Yes, but I doubt you would be out of place here. I think that youa re pretty smart, actually."

Lucy unconsciously flutters her lashes and looks down to the floor. "I'm not smart," she says with a small laugh. "I only know how to do two things. Service.. and fight. And it doesn't take a lot of brains to do either one of those." But she stops and says, "It's not you, Renos, it's just me. I'm.. not used to real relationships, so they seem foreign to me." She swings her legs off the edge of the bench.

Renos nods softly at that. "Well, you'd be my third. And I doubt I could even call my second relationship a real one. Since all Kat wanted to do, or so it seemed, was to get pregnant, by any means necessary." He then shrugs a little at that. "I will help you as much as I can, and as much as you will let me. But you have to let me. Just like I have to let you help me. We can't force help on others."

Lucy looks up at Renos with big doe-eyes. "I can help /you/? What on devastated-Earth could I possibly do for you?" Then, "I thought that Katsumi was a stalker. Can she even get pregnant by a normal human?" She looks puzzled.

Renos chuckles at that. "As you might have noticed, I am great with tech and magic, but lousy with people. I just don't understand them, really. They aren't like machines, where you can predict based on laws and physics and the like. They are complex and eemingly unpredictable." He then smiles. "Yes, a stalker is a mutant human. IN a way, she's mostly human, but only feeds on magic energy. Thats abuot the only difference. And most of the hair's usually gone."

"Oh, I can help with people!" Lucy says excitedly. "But I didn't know that about stalkers," she says with a strange tone in her voice. But it passes quickly. "And maybe.. you can teach me to use your magic machines?" the woman asks with a polite tone in her voice. She strokes Reno's arm gently with the flowers.

Renos smiles at her and then nods. "Of course. I wouldn't want to do anything else differently. Besides, its not too much of a secret." He then gently touches her hand with a bit of a smile. "But yes, as far as most people can tell, there really isn't a difference. Of course, that means that the DNA is compatiable, but not integratable. Which means they can produce babies, but it won't be a blend. Its either a human, a psi-stalker, or another type of mutant human."

"That's really.. a little disturbing, actually," Lucy comments. But allows it to blow over quickly. "How did you get involved with Katsumi in the first place? Random encounter?" She beams a smile at Renos, remembering their own encounter.

Renos just shakes his head a little. "No, she was hungry, and I...I let her feed on me after we got back. I don't...want to see anyone starve." He then looks down. "When Iw as travelling along the road, sometimes, I would be really hungry, not really sure what was good to eat or not. Sometimes, I would pull into a village or twon, and could buy foodstuffs there, but unless I was really starving, I didn't want to chance the wilderness for food."

Lucy nods slightly. "Yes, I suppose the wilderness can be a dangerous place, if you're not prepared," she smiles. "Where are you from, originally, Robert? If you've been wandering the roads, you must have come from some exciting, far off place, no?"

Renos laughs softly at that. "Nope, not really. A place called Forest Falls, in what used to be Ohio. Was sort of a boring existence. My village had maybe 200 people in it. Mostly farmers, and a few craftsman. Had Dyelessia, though, and she fixed most of the tech things the villagers needed. She's the one who taught me. She came, about 25 years earlier, from some palce called Palladium, and wanted to know about this tech magic, so she learned it, but also learned there was a lot of unfriendly people, so she hid. I guess she was the only one she really opened up to."

Lucy cuddles up to Renos. "Now, see, that /is/ and interesting story, Robert. Nothing at all like mine, but I think that I already told you about that, didn't I? What is this 'Palladium' place? Another city? Another dimension? How did she hide?" She then looks at the ground through lowered lashes and undoes her coat a bit. "I'm sorry, I'm asking too many questions."

Renos smiles a little at that. "Well, our village is sort of...um...polite. And don't really poke our noses in where it didn't belong. You knew your neighbors, and if you didn't, there's probably a good reason." He then strokes her hand a bit while she cuddles him. "Palladium, from what I understand, is another dimension. One of more...think medieval times. With no tech, and no medicine, or anything, but simple weapons, simple people. And she hid by simply having a cloak over herself. They didn't pry. I sort of...um...did. I was pretty curious."

"Oh, the curious young lad, huh?" Lucy teases. "What do you mean that she had a cloak over herself? Like.. Dr. Kelley.." she frowns at that, "Or something magic? Can anybody become a uh.. techno-wizard.. or do you have ot have something special to do it?"

Renos frowns a little at that. "Well, its like a profession, so first, you need a grounding in technology, and how it works. Second, you need to be a latent psionic, so that you can be trained to feel the machines. And lastly, you need to be able to believe that not only is magic real, but that with training and focus, you can use it too to do what you want."

"Oh," Lucy says. "Well, I have some magic and psychic energy in me. Not a lot, but a little. So could I have been a techno-wizard? Although.. I'm not sure that I would have believed that magic could power a machine like that."

Renos laughs lightly at that. "The trick is to know that its not that magic powers the machine, but that the crystals used in its constrcution acts as converters and batteries. Able to store and direct energy. And yes, I suppose that you could have been. The part about technology is simply...a focus if you will."

@emit "Oh yes, now I remember. I believe you were going to give me some of those gems," Lucy says with a husky voice, then laughs, a gorgeous bell-ringing laugh. "I hardly expect gems on the second date, Robert."

"Oh yes, now I remember. I believe you were going to give me some of those gems," Lucy says with a husky voice, then laughs, a gorgeous bell-ringing laugh. "I hardly expect gems on the second date, Robert."

Renos smiels at that, and then shrugs a little. "Maybe I will, some day, when I have more money and resources, and my business gets off the ground. I expect that once adventurers begin to be able to afford my inventions, and items i can make, I will make a lot of money."

Lucy takes in a breath. "You invent, too? I thought that you just made things that people already came up with! I didn't know that you were an inventor." She leans her head down on Renos' shoulder, and says, "Play something for me, Robert. Something with.. soul."

Renos smiles a bit fondly at that. "Yeah, all ready made a magic detector device. Its based on more scientific principle, seperating magic into 'classifications'. Yet, I have to know the readings, and what they mean, before it makes any sense." He then nods softly, "All right." He then moves to get the guitar out once more, and sets it into his lap. "I played, mainly, to help me take a mind break form my work." He says quietly, and his fingers strum the guitar idly. "You are pretty much my first audience." He then starts on simple, at first, full of the wonder he finds in the world. A slightly plucky little tune, and then shifts into something a bit sturdier, not menancing, but stubborn, unwillingly to bend for any hardship, presevere through anything.

Lucy closes her eyes and enjoys the sound of the guitar, one of her fine legs swinging with the beat. "Robert, I don't pretend to understand most of what you say, but you seem like a good man, and that is a nice change. I practice with my weapons when I want to get my mind of off things." She opens her eyes and looks at Renos. "I'm quite good."

Renos smiles at Lucy, and then nods softly, still struming along, tapping his foot to help keep the beat. "I do imagine that you are. I have never found satisfaction in fighting, though. I found that, to me, satisfaction comes from people willing to stay with me, as either friend or lover, and to have good times. Yet, I find that I am wanting to build things. My dream, is to make a power armor that uses techno-wizardry, and to be powerful and rich too." He then gives her a wink.

Lucy gasps again. "My, that would be powerful - but I imagine that it would have a rather slim market; what with only magic users able to use your power armor. You have to think of your market, you know." The woman looks at the man as if she has a clear view of how the supply and demand system works. "Power is nice. I like power, though I don't have much of it. Rich. I don't know what rich is. Except when I was with my adopted parents. Then I was rich." She sighs. "But that didn't last forever."

Renos chuckles softly at that. "Only magic users, psychics, and other beings with enough magic energy and the ability to focus it. Normally, magic users and psychics can't use their abilities inside normal power armor. WHich is why they hardly ever use it. After all, why use tech when you have magic?" He then nods somberly. "Never been rich myself, except in family, friends. And I left that behind. I find I miss that the most."

Lucy snuggles closer, pressing her whole body against his. "If you miss your family and friends so much, why don't you return to them?" she asks in a quiet tone, playfully plucking random strings as Renos plays his tune. "Are they humans, or D-Bees?"

Renos smiels a little at that. "Because, in a way, I want to be here instead." He feels her pressing her body into him and strokes her back, stopping long enough in his playing to do so. "Mostly humans, a few DBs, nothing too out of the ordinary. Dyelessia was a DB herself after all. And there are humans who are DBs."

"Oh, I know there are human D-Bees. They're the hardest ones to spot," she comments with a bit of a hard edge in her voice. But it vanishes as she says, "I grew up among D-Bees. A small clan. Just twenty of us. Then they were all killed. But I think that I told you this already." She snuggles her head against Renos' neck, her hair still up in a tight blonde bun. Renos just shakse his head softly. "No, I don't think you did. Do you not like them?" He asks, a bit curious as to her answer. Feeling the breath on his neck, he gives a little sigh of contentment. "You ever let your ahir down?" Its pretty obvious, since he can see the top of her head.

Lucy says, "I let my hair down when I feel comfortable. Not that I mean anything bad against you, Robert, but, well, we have only just met. It goes bun, ponytail, hair down." She looks up at Renos and smiles, "It's a three step process, you see." She winks. "I don't mind D-Bees, after all, I grew up with them," she says, with that hard edge in her voice again. "I just don't.. I'm not sure how to say this.. perhaps, respect them as much as I do a pure human." She frowns. "Certainly you don't want to hear my boring life story, do you?" Her perfume is beginning to waft around the garden; plumeria and lilac, one would guess.

Renos breathes it in a little and then turns a little, sitting the guitar down for the moment, and faces her. "Actually, I would. I want to get to know you, if you would let me." He then takes her hand, if she lets him, and holds it gently in his, and thats about it, nothing but simply holding her hand.

Lucy hesitates for a moment, and then allows Renos to take her hand. "Oh, Robert, it's not very exciting. I was born into a clan of about twenty people, southwest of Chi-Town. They were all killed when I was six, but I escaped. I ran and ran, and ended up at Chi-Town, in the 'Burbs. One day this pair of upper-crust Chi-Towners came looking for a child; they couldn't conceive themselves, and I suppose they just wanted to do something good with their lives. They adopted me, and I was integrated into Coalition life. I learned at the best schools, the best athletics, the finest military minds. When I was sixteen, I was sent to the Tolkeen front, and fought on the southeastern edge of the battle. I was called back when things started to turn, and then.. there was.. a, ah.. disagreement between myself and the Coalition.. and I was.. ah, well, ah.. tossed out. I escaped to Canada, Ishpeming, and learned the ways of the mercenary. I wandered the whole of North America, from ocean to ocean, north to south. I traveled with a circus in the southwest, and ended up killing a vampire with my own hands. I was only seventeen. I wandered around and eventually ended up heading a group of female mercs named 'bitch 'n bandits'. We fought around Kingsdale, and that's when I had my accident - but I don't want to go into that right now. Then I ended up here. See, pretty boring." Lucy shrugs, as if it really is a pretty boring life.

Renos blinks a little at not only the speed with which she told it, but the removal of details too. He then rubs her hand lightly. "Its not very exciting, I suppose, since you left out a lot of things. BUt it sounds like you have done far more than myself. And is the CS actually fighting tolkeen? Or is still more border skirmishes? Like the one that happened in my village?" He then frowns a little. "I think it could be pretty exicting, if you talked about some of the things you did. BUt I can udnerstand you might not want to. And even this accident...well, I won't push for anything."

"I left out details?" Lucy looks genuinely surprised. "What else would you like to know, Robert? But yes, there are border skirmishes with Tolkeen. And larger actions, though I'm not sure if you could call it an all out war, yet. But what else would you like to know?" "I left out details?" Lucy looks genuinely surprised. "What else would you like to know, Robert? But yes, there are border skirmishes with Tolkeen. And larger actions, though I'm not sure if you could call it an all out war, yet. But what else would you like to know?"

Renos smiels a little at that. "Well, I am not sure. I think most of the interesting things I want to know, you wouldn't tell me. Like why you were tossed out of the military, and what was this mysterious accident. But then, I like mysteries, and being able to put the pieces together. Much like a machine."

"Oh. Yes, well, those two things I wouldn't want to share right now." Lucy looks doe-eyed at Renos. "I hope that you understand. Maybe in the future.." she allows her voice to trail off, then pokes Renos playfully in the face with her handful of flowers.

Renos blinks a little and laughs at beiong poked in the face with the flowers. He is abuot to say something, when his face scrunches up a little, and he turns and coves his nose and mouth, and lets out a sneeze, and a pretty body wrakcing violent one. "Sorry." He then pulls out a handerkief and wipes his hand off. "Yeah, its all right. Some people might find the battles exciting though."

"I'm sorry, Robert! I didn't know that you were allergic! I assumed, since you'd bought them, that, well.. you know, I think," Lucy says. "I guess I could write down accounts of the battles, but I doubt that the perspective of a sixteen year-old girl would be very interesting. I'm sure that no one would read it just by the title." She raises her head and smiles at Renos.

Renos laughs and then shakes his head. "I am not allergic. I think one tickled my nose or something." He then smiles and shrugs a little. "I didn't really mean that you should publish your life story, Lucy. But you'd be surprised at what people find interesting. I know I am, most of the time. And what people don't find interesting."

"Well, it's righ here," Lucy says with a purr and a smile, opening the bottom of her trench coat to reveal a shapely pair of legs with a pair of C-18 Laser Pistols strapped to the calves. She expertly pops the E-Clip out of the left pistol and holds it up for inspection. "It's not draining properly," she says, suddenly all business, an expert with weapon, "I'm only getting half power out of it, and I can't seem to fix it this time."

Renos hrms a little at that, and then takes it into his hand for a moment. "Well, I can tell you whats wrong it now, and you can get it fixed, or I can take it back, and find out whats wrong with it, and maybe try and fix it." He then goes a little glassy eyed, as his mind goes over the ports, the storage fuel area, and everything else.

"Would it be better if I took it to this Caliopa person that I've heard about? Is this not quite your forte?" Lucy's tone, though still friendly, has changed significantly from the wallflower of a few seconds before.

Renos blinks at the sound of her voice. "Cali? Well, she and I can do the same sort of things. SHe has an e-clip recharger, I think. But not sure if its going to do any good." He then taps the clip on his leg, and there is something rattling around inside it. "I think you broke it. Did your bad day happen to involve smashing this into someone's head?"

Lucy's personality snaps back to what it had been. "Maybe," she giggles, biting her lower lip. "Some of the guys get too rough sometimes, and, well.. you have to beat them over the head once or twice." She offers a blushing, shy smile.

Renos smiels a little at that. "Well, maybe a few days ago...anyway, it apparently had some contact with something hard, and it broke inside. I would need to drain the power source, and take it apart, then fix it, then put it back together. The ionization bars in the e-clip have snapped in half, or a piece. Its a bit hard to tell."

Lucy snuggles back against Renos again. "Can you fix it? I don't have the tools to fix something like this." She closes her eyes and takes deep breaths, beginning to fall asleep.

Renos nods softly, and then looks at her for a moment, watching her drift off with a bit of a smile. "Yeah, I can fix it. Come on, lets go back to my place, and you can sleep there. Though, its not like your business. It will be in seperate areas, if you wish,a nd with clothing, also, if you wish."

Lucy opens her eyes just enough to look at Renos, and smiles. "That's very kind of you, Robert, but I have a place at Raleigh's. It wouldn't be good for your reputation for you to be seen with me right now."

Renos snorts, forcefully, at that. "Nonsense. I don't give a damn about my reputation. If you want to come over, and spend the night, in whatever fashion you want, then I say do so, and damn the others and what they think." He then touches her hand once more. "I care about you, not those brainless idiots out there."

"Well.." Lucy hesitates, ".. your place is nicer than mine, if a little spartan. Perhaps you can visit my place sometime. Though it's rather spartan as well. But if you truly don't mind, and perhaps have a sofa and a blanket, I would be happy to stay in a different room with you," she says, carefully spelling out the terms of the agreement.

Renos smiles at that, "I have an extra matress that I would be more than happy to sleep on, while you take my bed. Still in different rooms, of course. I wouldn't want you to be sore or anything." He then pats. "I want you to be comfortable. And safe, around me."

Lucy gives Renos a fully, squeezing hug. "Thank you, Robert, that is very kind. I will take you up on your offer. Just do not be surprised when I sleep with my guns. Old habits and all." She offers a sheepish smile.

Renos chuckles softly at that, and puts his arms around her as well. "Only if you don't shoot me. I don't mind otherwise. I try and be a gentleman." He then moves to stand up with her. "Well, shall we go then?" Tags:lucy, renos