Jan 09 07:19:29 108 PA - Brief Encounter on the Road
From Chronicles
Jan 09 07:19:29 108 PA.
KINGSDALE CITY GATES
Valeriya is pushing. She is pushing a large fancy motorbike through the snow drifts. This would be nigh impossible for a normal person, but Valeriya is very far from normal. Some speculate if she is even human but that's another matter. Relentlessly she pushes, plowing her way towards town, and is almost there.
Somehow, the gentleman from Kentucky seems to have made the hike back to the City without being accosted by some beast from Hell. Truly a miracle. Despite his excellent conditioning, he's trudging more slowly than usual, probably due to not just the high snow, but the weight of armor that he's yet to become completely accustomed to wearing. Gabriel's just beginning to bend off toward one of the game trails leading west. A very nice singe mark is displayed clearly as a dark spot across his shoulder. The funny thing is that he does stop for a moment, right here in the early morning winter, to remove his helmet and breathe deeply the clear air. "Fuck yeah," is a whispered phrase.
Valeriya blinks with surprise, not stopping with it like Gabriel did. Nope rather her pace is increasing. Not only has she managed to gain on the clumsy or just unlucky Colonel, but she can also see the foglights of the city wall shining dimly in the distance. She is almost there! Oh yes, she is moving much faster now after and utter phrase, as if the bike weighed nothing at all as nearing completion lifts her spirits.
Gabriel may be a blur in the snow right now, having painted his armor in a temporary white-out pattern. Thankfully, the fact that he had removed his helmet allows him to spot the tall woman coming up behind him, plowing snow as she goes. Truly, a rather strange sight. He takes a proper moment to step to the side of the trail, then waves one of his rifles in her direction. "Not willing to wait for the thaw, Miss Valeriya?" comes the probably ironic question/statement in a Kentucky drawl.
Valeriya doesn’t want to pause but finds she must reluctantly do so as she turns to consider Gabriel. "Thaw? you mean this isn't the climatic constant for this part of the planet? This stuff will all melt and be so much more hospitable in time?" She asks through her helmet with clear intrigue. Yes this sounds like very important information.
"Well," Gabriel begins, "I suppose I can't actually promise you anything. This is my first winter here, too. But the last time I heard about winter in Missouri, it thawed. Perhaps you weren't here before it began to snow?" An eyebrow is quirked, and his breath comes out visibly. Still, the short man wears a smile on his face as if he truly is once again enjoying things. Peaceful things, like snowflakes, and watching giant women with mystical powers push two-wheeleds through two-and-a-half foot high snow drifts.
"Nope, wasn't snowing where I arrived, but was just starting to pile up when I got to here from there." Valeriya answers with a nod before she continues, the gates do await after all.
The older man cocks his head off to the right as his helmet is clipped to a loop at his waist. "Well, unless things have drastically changed - and I assume that they haven't changed *THAT* much," he emphasizes the qualifier. Gabriel actually raises his gaze up to the gray clouds hanging above, then returns them to the Amazon-like woman. "Decided that you wanted to walk away more with some of this scrap, did you?" He hoist some of the metal in his arms. Apparently he had somehow been hiding it from view.
For someone from another world in another galaxy it is perhaps odd she speaks perfect American English, no accent or anything. But when misspoken she does still get hung up like anyone else. She slows but doesn’t stop again, figuring out the question. "You mean decided to walk away with this bike? Yeah, not point in leaving it there to become scrap after all. Cel wants the lasers out of it which is fine by me. Seems a fair split." She replies, counting on her way into town.
With a rolling motion of his armored shoulders, Gabriel takes up position behind Valeriya, simply following her into the city. He then offers a social commentary. "Miss Celaeno is an odd one. More reckless than I feel safe with." Then a total non sequitur. "Incidentally, if someone can point me to the motherfucker who shot me in the chest, and the one who trapped me in fucking net with the enemy, I'd appreciate it." He doesn't expect much of an answer though as they move toward the gates. Silence would be acceptable.
