Jul 07 08:09:47 105 PA
From Chronicles
The current game time is: Tue Jul 07 08:09:47 105 PA.
Cheapo Apartments - Kid's Rooms
Wall to wall hot pink shag makes for a sharp contrast against the whitewashed walls of this cozy(cramped) apartment. The loud carpeting looks brand new, but the off-white tone of the walls suggest it's been since a fresh coat of paint was applied. There are a few cracks here and there to add to the weathered state of the place.
In the front room, a long desk with hutch is shoved against the wall across from the entry door, the surface of it a mix of order and chaos. To one side a modest computer monitor sits, a clear space of worm wood separating it from where a handful of small baskets sit, each one overflowing with parts, pieces and wires that are mingled together with no apparent rhyme or reason. At the center of the room, a rough circle is made up of a ratty, but serviceable couch, two partial armchairs and a trio of aged wooden chairs. The walls, save for the space taken up by a single window, is plastered with a few dozen posters depicting underground bands, anarchistic slogans and pithy tidbits of impudent humor.
A short hallway with two doors leads to a bathroom, the door left ajar when not in use and the bedroom, the door always closed and locked unless otherwise stated, leaving the contents obscured.
Having met at the library gardens, at the appointed time, Caliopa suggests meeting Kid at her flat, to discuss the matter in private. The petite oil covered pocket venus is wearing coveralls that are ancient and have seen better days. She leads the way, her chatter friendly, and her smile sunny and warm, the hint of the worry for Kalvin hidden badly beneath both. As she leads up to the door, her forehead wrinkles and her pace hesitates, midstep, as her gaze takes in the door and its locks.
The locks on the door look fine save for one that has broken off the door itself, the wood of the doorframe splintered in a few places where wood gave in before locks. But some patching has been done already, making the door partially secure, if not the bastion of protection it once was.
Etienne follows along in Cali's wake, carefully not looking at the woman. At least, most of the time not looking. When the redheaded woman stops, Etienne pauses as well to take in the apparent damage before stepping around Cali to knock on the door. He looks down at the woman, and then steps back to his former place at her back. It seems to be a place that he's at least somewhat familiar with. That being behind someone else.
There is silence within for a good space of seconds before the litany of unlocking starts. Three heard from interior locks before she even gets to the remaining four exterior locks. Each one thrown with a practiced precision, though there is a slight hesitation when she reaches the spot where one lock is missing, a hitch thrown into her normal routine. Then the door opens slightly and Kid fills the space. "What you want, Cali girl?" There's a sense of tenseness in her voice and a lingering air of displeasure. Her eyes snapping to Etienne. "What's he doing here?" Her flinty voice lacking in the usual flippant air, a weight of seriousness mingled in. She's wearing her light homey garb.
Caliopa greets Kid with a warm smile, giving the door locks a faintly worried look. "Something happen to your door?" She questions, her forehead wrinkled. "I bought him. Figured you could tell him the stuff you got 'bout Kalvin for me..." Her brown eyes fix their gaze on Kid then, giving her a look of appeal, "He might be able to find Kalvin's trail..."
For his part, Etienne stands quietly, letting the two women chat, for the moment. His sword is in place on his hip, and he has on a light jacket and his hat. One of the ear pieces on a pair of sunglasses hangs out of the upper pocket on the lefthand side of his jacket. His attention remains mostly focused upon Cali and Kid, but his eyes do rove a little, watching up and down the hall.
Kid considers Cali's pitch for a moment, her eyes slipping back to Etienne to give him a firm eyeballing. Ultimately she seems to accept what is said, moving back a bit to let the door open fully. Which reveals a grenade held in her right hand, which was hidden behind the door. She casually pops the priming switch back into safe mode, extinguishing the red ready light next to it. Though the precise nature of the explosive is hidden as her fingers remain firmly curled about it. "Get in," she states, waving both to enter with her grenade holding hand.
The interior of the place is still in a state hovering between neatness and total disaster. Prior, someone had gone through everything and ransacked the place. Kid's been cleaning up and taking a precise stock of things for a good while, the process a slow, painstaking thing. Her desk in a partial state of worse disarray, though the few other items she has in the main room have been tossed about and not yet cleaned. Her bathroom still a shambles, the door at the end of the hall closed up, but slightly askew on its hinges. The kitchen space is still a disaster area, some of her culinary effects still tossed about, some scattered just into the main living space.
Caliopa moves forward slowly, her eyes widening, the look of startlement on her face almost comical. "Kid, it ain't normal to answer the door holdin' them, you know?" She looks around, her gaze taking in the room, her mouth opening slightly as teeth catch her lower lip hard. "Something blow up? Someone been in here, Kid?" A protective note underlies the words as she turns towards Kid, facing her, hands resting on her hips, the reason for the visit, and Etienne, forgotten for the moment.
Etienne's eyes slip from his watch of the hallway to the grenade in Kid's hand when she opens the door. He raises one brow slightly, but decides not to ask. Probably safer that way. For his health. Or something. He steps forward when Cali does, blue-grey eyes taking in the chaos of the room. He comes to a stop, clear of the door, and looks over to Kid. "Do ye know if they took anythin' ye'?" he asks, his voice soft, and void of anything resembling mirth. For the moment, he's completely serious.
"You know me, Cali, I like to take precautions," Kid replies without batting an eye. Turned to relock all seven remaining locks the moment both are in and she can close the door. Though closing it takes a moment as its still unsteady on the hinges. A low curse given before she gets it all shuttered down again. She then moves into the room, casually tossing the grenade up and down in her hand. A good look at the thing while its in the air might give note to the presence of 'HE' branded on the side amongst a series of numbers. "Someone broke in. Ransacked my shit.. and didn't seem to take anything. Still confirming that, I keep track of everything.. and I'm not doing going through it." Her tone speaking volumes about the lingering haze of suspicion she holds when it comes to the incident. She pauses and turns to Cali, fingers playing still with the grande, spinning it between them slowly. "But enough about that, I'll handle mine. What'd you want him to know about Kalvin? I told you everything I know before."
"Broke in and took nothing? It ain't normal that..." She looks around, her eyes thoughtful, her forehead wrinkling as she looks back at the door. "Something you workin' on got you in shit, Kid?" Kid's comment about Kalvin draws her back to the task in hand and she shakes her head, clearing it. "Jus' in case he got some idea of where you can be askin', or you got somethin' I didn't mention or...ain't it work tryin' anything, Kid?" The appeal in her voice is direct, matching widened brown eyes that fix on her friend's face.
Some emotion finally shows on Etienne's face, in the form of a slight frown furrowing the skin between his eyes. "Migh' no' 've found wha' they were lookin' for." Beyond that, Etienne says nothing, simply staying where he'd stopped near to the door, but far enough away as to not interefere with it, or Kid. He relaxes enough to clasp his hands behind his back.
"I'm looking into it" The only thing she has to say about what might have caused her current situation, readily applicable to both of their offerings on the topic. Quite fine with letting the topic shift, though the heartfelt appeal from Cali does get a frown out of the girl. More of a lightly annoyed lean than really angry. She breathes out a low, melodramatic little sigh as she turns her eyes on Eti. The two toned orbs given a slight narrow. "I'll break it down simple for you. I dug through his life and turns out he up and vanished without a trace. Left all sorts of crap loose, last seen at the Nut and Bolt leaving with an old wilderness nut named Sev Avris and some merc I couldn't get a name for. Taken out in the wilds somewhere. More than that I dunno, cause I don't do shit outside of the walls."
Caliopa nods slowly as her comments get brushed off, her eyes holding the worry for both Kalvin and Kid now. "When I read his stuff, kinda seein' stuff, there wasn't anything to tell about his past and the now..." The worry and despair rising in her brown eyes speaks volumes about the girl's feelings, and she glances between the pair.
Etienne listens quietly, the narrowed eyes ignored for the moment. The frown deepens at the mention of Sev Arris. "This is th' third time I've heard tha' name, from four people, in three differen' conversations. 'tis givin' me a feelin' tha' this guy migh' have somethin' ta do with yer friend's disappearance." He looks from one to the other of them for a moment. "Do either o' ye know anythin' abou' tha' Sev Arris?"
"No, I don't know him. But obviously he has something to do with it. He and the merc left with Kalvin the night be disappeared after the Nut and Bolt," Kid details. "He has no roots here and no recods. Might as well be a ghost as far as Kingsdale is concerned. So there ain't no clues here as to where he's been off to." She frowns and turns, speaking as she walks over to her desc, where she's been cleaning, still organizing her baskets of spare parts, which are still half spilled all over. She picks up a chipped tumbler, still half full of her drink of choice. "I really don't see how I can help you guys anymore, really. I'd have told you if I found out anything, Cali." She turns, casually lifting the glass to sip from the contents.
"He gave Atti a robot hand, claimed he fought and killed some guy it came from. Only thing, it weren't from anything. No memories in it at all, it were made all up. Then he vanished." Caliopa nods slowly, her eyes worried, her hands in her pockets, shoulders hunched. Kid's words deepen the worry and misery in her expressive face, "Must be something to do with that Sev."
Etienne thinks for a moment, and then turns his attention back to the two women, "Doctor Kelley, he said Sev Arris is a wilderness scout. If he's go' anythin' ta do with i'..." Etienne turns his eyes to Cali and shakes his head a little, "'tis goin' ta be hard ta find yer friend, Cali. I'm still goin' ta try, bu' th' chances are slim."
Kid shrugs and glances at Cali. "I already told her trying to track em is a long shot. If there is a trail, it's weeks old at least. Don't know much about what's out there, but I know its like the Dregs. Always changing, never staying just the same. With, like, rain and wind and suff." She shrugs her shoulders slightly and turns, laying the grenade on her desk before she approaches with glass still in hand.
Stubbornness rises in Caliopa's face, setting her jaw and tightening her lips. "Long shots sometimes work, and folks make mistakes when they ain't tryin' to ..." She searches for the word, the upset in her eyes obvious, "cover up stuff they done." She hunches her shoulders, moving her hands to curl around her waist, hugging herself. "Ain't givin' up on a friend." Stubborn. Oh yes.
Etienne glances to Kid and nods. "Several weeks a' leas', with lo's o' rain. 'tis no' th' wind I'm worried abou' so much. We can even work around th' shiftin' o' th' fores'. I'm hopin' tha' he was in enough presence o' mind ta leave a trail o' some sor' fer us ta follow." For the first time since intering the apartment, Etienne moves now, over to Cali. He stops in front of her and raises his left hand up to her right shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, "We're no' goin' ta give up on him, Cali, I promise ye tha'. I jus' need ye ta understand how slim th' chance o' findin' him is. Trackin' in th' wilderness isna easy, even fer an experienced wilderness scou'. I promise ye, I'll give i' my bes' try, 'n I'll brin' in th' bes' help I can ge'."
Kid gives Cali a -look-. "And sometimes you gotta know when to quit too," she returns, though there's a distinct lack of enthusiasm, as if the inevitable response is expected. She tosses back her glass, drinking down the remnants within in a single go before she asks, "You guys need anything more in specific from me? If so, state it now. I still ain't done going through my stuff and after that I need to get a new door.. a better door."
Brown eyes lift to look at Etienne, fixing on his face for a moment before they drop to the ground. "I get it. It aint easy, and it ain't likely. But I ain't gonna quit when there is something, else I'll wonder if we'd have found him if we'd done..." That is almost a rant, triggered by Kid's words, the stubbornness staying in her face. "Ain't nothing more." She turns towards the door, her shoulders hunched.
Etienne looks to Kid and shakes his head. "Ye dinna give up on friends, no matter how lon' i' migh' take ye, no matter how hard i' migh' ge'. Ye jus' dinna give up on friends," he says, voice soft. He looks back to Cali and gives her shoulder one last squeeze as she toward the door. He turns to follow her, tossing one last, almost troubled, glance in Kid's direction.
Kid gives her shoulders a slight roll. "You do what you want. I got things to deal with. But if you get something I can look into, let me know." Her response lingering in the middling area. She lays her glass down on the desk and will follow the two over. The locks aren't hard to deal with and she'll let them open their own way out. Though when Eti looks back towards her, she frowns at him slightly. "What?"
Caliopa moves into the hallway, absorbed in her own thoughts, comforted a little by Etienne's words. Her shoulders stay hunched, the misery showing in every line of the girl's body. She turns, waiting on him, her gaze lowered, the troubled expression in her eyes obvious.
Etienne pauses for a moment as Kid speaks. He starts to shake his head, and then stops. "When all o' this is over, I'd like ta se' up a meetin' between ye 'n me. Ta discuss a business proposition," he replies. His eyes linger on the woman for a moment longer, and then he turns to follow Caliopa on out the door.
Kid narrows her eyes slightly as Eti speaks. Perhaps it means something for her, but if so she doesn't give any more tell or not. She pauses just inside the door and nods, saying simply, "Yeah, sure. Whenever." A pause before she glances at Cali and murmurs, "Try and relax, Cali girl. Shit happens, you just gotta get past when it does." And with that little nugget of worldly wisdom, she closes the door carefully. And goes through locking those locks.
For a moment, Caliopa stares at the closed door, an unaccustomed spark of temper showing in her face for a moment, before she hunches her shoulders again. "Kid don't always get it. She don't mean nothin'." She mumbles, ducking her head, her voice holding a lack of conviction.
Etienne watches the woman close the door and then turns his attention back to Cali. He nods to her words, "Kinda makes me wonder if tha' woman's ever had a friend she'd be willin' ta die for." Etienne shakes his head a little and reaches out to gently pat Cali on the shoulder. "C'mon, le's ge' ye back home. I've go' some thinkin' ta do. I'll mee' ye in th' park on th' morrow, a' dawn, 'n we'll see if we canna pick up a trail."Tags:caliopa, etienne, kid
