Gleam
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Post by Gleam on Jan 12, 2013 18:35:51 GMT -5
"Succe-"
BOOM.
Smoke drifts up from the mangled remains of what had previously been an outboard engine, a rubber raft, and a great deal of duct tape, and now resembles a giant mess. Jagd sighs from the depths of the rubber wreckage and extracts himself from the remnants of the bungee cords he had secured for safety, as the last of the air escapes the punctured raft.
"Well, this was an experiment that could have been better tested in a controlled environment." Jagd mutters, rolls off the raft, and balances himself on a branch carefully.
Then he starts to climb down out of the tree the raft had landed in. Pressurized air and an unsecured propeller did not combine well, it seems. The black rubber rubbed off on his hands and face, leaving him even dirtier-looking than usual, and that was saying something. Even Magnus, his husky, had chosen to abdicate this experiment, still waiting back at the home base.
A twig falls past Jagd's head as wood cracks, and he hastens his descent. Having the remains of the raft fall on his head would be - unhealthy.
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Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 12, 2013 21:24:55 GMT -5
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ugh.
it had been weeks since kit had a decent shower. any chance of finding a decent water source was made impossible by the abysmal gang of incompetent hooligans she had to associate with. unfortunately for her, kit had yet to stumble upon a more reliable pack of peers. for now, she would have to bear with smelling homeless (which she technically was) and eating salvaged packages of beef jerky.
fed up with the group for what like the millionth time that day, kit decided to wander off on her own. what seemed like a good way to cool her head (unsurprisingly) turned out to be the most effective way for kit to lose herself it what she dubbed 'a hellish forest of hobos and other miscellaneous debris'. ie, central park. what was supposed to be a serene trek through nature was starting to become more like a scene out of those cheesy horror flicks where the heroine's brain seemed to have dropped down to occupy her chest. kit brooded over the thought of those wildly stupid girls in horror movies, her footsteps gaining speed as the vivid image of a masked madman armed with a chainsaw flooded her thoughts.
"i'm fine, this is nothing," kit murmured to herself, her brisk walk becoming something akin to a frenzied scamper. "if someone were following me, i would have heard them-" the sound of a boom interrupted her fretting. "where would someone even get a chainsaw?" her formally composed tone was long forgotten and traded for an embarrassingly girlish squeak.
forget keeping her cool and her sensibilities, kit fled to wherever her legs carried her. unfortunately, her legs didn't have much brains and had her stumbling off towards a plume of smoke. perhaps her legs thought it was a friendly plume of smoke. whatever it was, kit was running towards it, all common sense forgotten.
she pushed past some brush and stumbled upon a scene quite unexpected. a man was making a slow descent down a tree, what appeared to be a mechanical beast of the underworld seemed to be following him down.
"what are you doing up there, sir?" kit quipped, her formal tone miraculously finding its way back to her. she smoothed her hair down- all that running must have caused some terrible flyaways. "you look silly, come down this instant!" said the girl who, just moments ago, believed a deranged chainsaw killer in a hockey mask was chasing her through central park's remains.
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Gleam
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Post by Gleam on Jan 12, 2013 21:35:46 GMT -5
"I," Jagd declares, as he hops off the lowest branch and lands not-quite-gracefully, stumbling into the trunk for a moment, " . . . ow, okay. I - ohshit-"
The scarred man flings himself backwards and out of the way as the deflated raft descends to the ground in a thunderous crash, leaves and stray twigs scattering into the air around it and the whine of the jammed motor loud for an instant before it chokes up again on green bark, supple and strong.
A few feet away, Jagd winces and sits up, brushing the leaves from his shirt. "Hopefully done with the interruptions by catastrophe for the moment." he notes. "I was attempting to make a hovercraft to cross the bay and the flooded parts of the city - would have been real useful. Unfortunately the propeller and the raft got in a fight, and as you can see, the raft lost."
He waves an arm at the mangled carcass of the rubber raft and grins a bit. "Fun, though."
A moment later, he pushes himself up to his feet and wipes the dirt from his pants, planting one hand on his hip and cocking it. "Jagd Asimov Metschulin." he says, with a straightforward nod. "Er. That's my name, I mean."
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Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 12, 2013 22:02:16 GMT -5
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she could only manage a look of mild bemusement as the stranger successfully rammed his body into the tree trunk before throwing himself to the ground. a single eyebrow (that was in desperate need of touching up at a salon) cocked upwards as kit watched the cluster of mechanical nonsense toppled down after him. a cloud of dust rose after a disastrous crash, kit's eyebrows creased in distaste. "how unsightly."
the man's explanation only caused her to pull another puzzled facial expression. "hovercraft? how on earth could you accomplish building that? i doubt you'd find anything left in this wasteland that could produce anything functioning or beneficial." she shook her head dramatically, pouting as she did so. "and look at this mess! i know this city is an eyesore, but there's no need to contribute to that." she scolded, as if this mess was done purposefully.
but kit was a lady and ladies must always mind their manners. she smoothed her face of its previous displeased expression before exchanging it with a pleasant, ladylike simper. "oh! are you quite all right, mister...?" her head tilted to the side after hearing such an unusual name. "jagd metschulin, was it?" she stretched out a hand to the eccentric man. "kit esmane. a pleasure." she blinked expectantly at him, her polite smile never wavering.
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Gleam
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Post by Gleam on Jan 12, 2013 22:49:38 GMT -5
Jagd blinks. "One engine split through a gearbox provides air pressure to the skirt and provides an air cushion that allows the vehicle to move over terrain easily. It's not hard to gather materials for it - standard V8 car engine, a gearbox from a turbine of some sort, say - an industrial air conditioner, some kind of pressurized rubber container like a raft, and a frame to provide stability. Presto: hovercraft."
He scrubs at his head for a bit before he offers a smile again. "And the mess wasn't intentional. But I mean, imagine what would have happened if I hadn't safety-tested it first and taken someone else for a ride! Catastrophe! I think I'm doing excellent things, here." He glances back over to the raft, just a quick flicker of eyes back. "Although - yeah, from a distance, this looks pretty bad."
Jagd starts to reach for Kit's hand to return the shake, but freezes halfway through. "Ah." he starts apologetically, "I'm sort of - covered in engine grease and sap now. I'd shake your hand but I don't know if you'd enjoy the additional flavoring." He ponders for a moment and settles on a compromise; his fingertips touch her palm in a distant sort of grip, as the other hand folds behind his back.
The scarred man slides into a bow, eyes bright and laughing, as he releases her hand again - as much of a release as was needed, anyways. "Glad to meet you, miss Esmane. One thing worthwhile already about this test and I haven't even checked what went wrong yet."
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Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 12, 2013 23:28:57 GMT -5
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a slow series of blinks partnered with yet another round of confused looks were kit's only reply to that mechanical blabbering he went on about. feeling silly for forgetting herself, kit smiled pleasantly again. she nodded, as if interested and peppered a few standard 'mhm's and 'how nice's for courtesy's sake.
"well, i suppose i must commend you for at least trying...." she admitted, though the wreckage still made her eye twitch. "at least someone left on earth still puts any effort into anything." she murmured off to the side, recalling that pesky gang of her's that she ditched earlier today. she wondered what they were doing for a moment, before realizing that she didn't really care. she turned back to jagd with her staple smile as he reached out a hand to her.
she paused when he stopped abruptly, but accepted his excuse. "how thoughtful," her smile grew a tad wider. she nearly gasped when he bowed. under normal circumstances such courteous behavior was expected, but as someone who had traveled with a group of tactless cavemen, kit nearly wept. however, that would have been humiliating, so she opted for a somewhat disarming expression- kit was all sparkling eyes and trembling smiles at the sight of a bowing jagd.
"how lovely! you would not believe how long i've waited to run into someone with manners!" kit clapped her hands enthusiastically. "you see, i've been traveling around with a few of my peers for- for- god knows how long! and-and- they're so unsightly! you can't imagine. they act as if they have been living in caves all their lives! the brutes-!" it wasn't her intention to rant, but jagd's small gesture of politeness had triggered something. "they made me eat beef jerky!"
her wails were cut off short when the engine of jagd's fallen contraption produced a guttural sound. kit flinched and hopped towards jagd, her hair flying wildly as she skittishly looked around her for any chainsaw wielding freaks. "shhhh," she hissed loudly, grabbing jagd by the front of his clothes. "someone's following me. i was running from him before and-and-" her jumbled rambling halted when kit got a good wiff of her captive jagd. all thoughts of murderous men fled her mind and she peered up at him, eye narrowed and nose wrinkled in disgust.
"you. smell. homeless."
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Gleam
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Post by Gleam on Jan 12, 2013 23:47:02 GMT -5
Jagd listens with half an ear as he slides his thumbs into his pockets, and his brain starts to doublecheck the list of components on his hovercraft that might have malfunctioned and caused his crash. Fortunate too - he'd been about to defend beef jerky when the crash sounded and Jagd found himself with much less personal space than he'd possessed previously.
"Have you gotten a good look at -" Jagd starts, and then is cut off again. He blinks down at the lady and abruptly has to suppress a smile. He's good at it; his face blanks entirely into a sort of polite disinterest and his hands fold behind his back in a military rest. "I beg your pardon for the disorderly state of my current self but such a status is, unfortunately, unavoidable when one deals with the inner mechanics of such unsanitary machinery. I assure you that I intend to return to my demesne as soon as possible in order to shower and restore some semblance of cleanliness."
He lays the slightest emphasis on shower without batting an eyelash. All those games of Texas Hold 'Em with the boys in the Outfit had gifted him with a hell of a poker face.
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Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 13, 2013 16:00:02 GMT -5
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kit nodded absentmindedly as jagd gave a long winded response explaining his current unhygienic state. "well then, next time you ought to-" she was ready to lecture her new companion again until he uttered that magic word. shower.
her first response to this was a series of owlish blinks, paired with a subtle tilt of the head. kit then regarded her similarly ruffled and dirtied status, head bowed slightly to take in the current state of her clothes that were already undergoing the process of wear and tear. a hand, with some nails broken and others overgrown and others still sporting chipped splotches of nail polish, reached up to brush back a tangled bunch of locks that bore little semblance to the once luscious golden mane that kit held so much pride in. her lower lip, currently chapped and pale, was pushed out and quivered slightly.
kit slowly raised her head to regard jagd. her eyes were wide and shone with a certain light and life that had been absent since the collapse of the world she once knew. without control of her body, kit reached up and grasped jagd by the collar of his shirt, hands trembling lightly. with all the strength a nineteen year old girl could summon against an adult man, kit tried to wrestled jagd down until they met eye to eye. "shower? why didn't you tell me earlier?!" she gave him a little shake, all pleasantries and courtesies be damned. face scrunched up like an impatient child, kit released a frustrated yowl (one that sounded perhaps too catlike for her liking).
she quickly released him before crossing her arms, expectant leer directed his way. "well? show me where it is!? hurry now." she ushered towards him with her hands, gesturing for him to lead the way. "i don't have all day! look at me! i'm a mess. quick, jagd, i have very little patience."
with her facial expression and crossed arms, the only accessory kit seemed to be lacking to complete her mistress look was a whip.
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Post by Gleam on Jan 13, 2013 16:12:54 GMT -5
"I was busy not being crushed by a falling hovercraft." Jagd points out, perhaps pointlessly in the face of Miss Esmene's current total focus on being restored to her presumably luscious normal state. Only with great focus does he avoid smiling as she demands access to his shower and probably soap and shampoo to go along with it.
Though, honestly, it's almost irritating the way she just expects things. Jagd clicks his tongue as the lady releases his collar and folds her arms. "True, why didn't I think of that at first." he murmurs. "I wouldn't call you a mess, just yet, but - alright, tag along."
He reaches back to the complete wreck behind him and jerks off the steering wheel, and then begins to amble towards his home in Hudson River Park, gesturing over his shoulder for her to follow. "It's a bit of a ways, so try not to get lost." Jagd mentions absently, just to see what she'd do. "It's fifteen minutes walking, and maybe eight if you run."
He's a cruel, cruel man.
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Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 13, 2013 16:32:14 GMT -5
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fantasies of bubble baths with suds that reached the ceiling and soaps of every color and fragrance pillaged all other thoughts. sponges and loofahs with the softest of touch would scrub her til she gleamed pink and fresh. that impossible (and potentially hazardous) shine would return to her hair and her nails would be clipped and polished to their former glory. kit squirmed giddily in her shoes, eyes closed and a ridiculous smile gracing her face.
her reverie ended abruptly when her 'savior' began walking off without her, seemingly rubbing in the fact that she would have to walk there. herself. "wait!" she yelped, scurrying after him. "where is this place, anyway? ... are there others?" she skidded to a stop and placed herself directly in front of jagd, effectively blocking his path. with an innocent expression plastered on her face, kit raised both arms wide at him. she blinked as charmingly as she could, her hands opening and closing in unison. "up?"
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Post by Gleam on Jan 13, 2013 16:47:14 GMT -5
"Hudson River Park." Jagd answers easily, walking along with his thumbs in his pockets. "I redid a broken water tower, and some of the plumbing involved still works. Damn useful, I should say. And no, I don't really share it with anyone else. I could have taken an apartment, but, eh, I don't like being told what to do by civvies."
Then the scarred man pauses, and raises an eyebrow at miss Esmane when she spreads her arms.
"You want a ride?" Jagd says, and he sounds entirely too delighted about this turn of events. "I know just how to help you." He purses his lips and whistles, high and piercing. A moment later, a resounding bark shakes the leaves on the nearby trees, and a fully-grown Malamute - a husky, for the dog illiterate - came trotting out of the bushes ahead of them, water dripping from its wet coat and tongue hanging out of its mouth, panting.
"Magnus!" Jagd cheers, and kneels for a moment, rubbing the big dog's ears, as it paces to a stop in front of him. "This is my best companion in the world. Magnus is his name, as you might have guessed."
His grin grows wider, and he gestures to the dog and continues to walk towards home. "Hop on! He won't bite."
The wet dog woofs again, and begins to shake.
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Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 13, 2013 17:20:54 GMT -5
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"br... broken water tower...?" dreams of baseball field sized tubs made of marble and gold were abruptly shattered. kit was tempted to pout, but decided to be a little thankful for this blessing. "ah, well thank you for sharing your very private shower, mister jagd," kit piped gleefully, under the presumption that he would share. he was sharing, of course. no one would leave a lady unassisted like that.
kit felt a tad suspicious at how pleasantly he reacted to her demand to be carried. even the most soft-hearted gentleman would react with less delight. she watched silently as jagd whistled and a huge dog came bounding from the woodwork towards them. it might have been cute, had it not been soaked to the bone. its tongue lolled out in a way kit supposed was endearing (she was always more of a cat person) and she gave the dog an unsure smile.
"magnus..? like magnus p.i.?" kit asked as she watched the two companions interact. her eyebrows shot upwards at jagd's suggestion to mount the beast. "i really doubt that that is a very good idea... if you don't recall i did ask you..." at that very moment good ole magnus decided to give a little shake, perhaps to give kit a preview of that sought after shower.
unfortunately, those catlike reflexes of hers failed her at the very last second, resulting in a shower of water that left her smelling vaguely of wet dog. "...wet dog. not exactly tropical breeze or cherry blossom bloom, but a decent fragrance, ain't it?" kit snapped at jagd, throwing off her once-white cardigan from her now wet figure. she strode quickly past the dog and his master, but not before tossing her soaked and foul-smelling cardigan at jagd's head as she passed.
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Post by Gleam on Jan 13, 2013 17:36:43 GMT -5
"A good guess." Jagd replies warmly to her supposition, right before she's showered with dogwater. It's a good thing he's facing away, as the resulting snicker and helpless smile are quickly swallowed back into his pleasant politeness. The cardigan smacks him in the face, and he peels it off with a slight tic of his eyebrow. "By all means." he replies pleasantly, as his longer stride allows him to catch up with Kit easily. "Continue disrobing, if you are so eager." He tucks the cardigan under his arm and uses the other hand to scratch Magnus's ears, as he catches up and trots alongside the pair. ~*~ The water tower is a walled in circle of steel rising from the ground, with a ladder drawn up off it to prevent access. Jagd indicates it with a wave of his hand. "Home sweet home." he declares grandly, takes two sprinting steps forward, and rebounds up off the wall to snag the base of the ladder and drag it down. Above, the rooms are a sort of composite of sheet metal and stolen paneling, layered over with cushiony rugs and mats stolen from apartments around the city, very nearly soundproofing the entire structure. The fabled shower itself sits in a corner, shower tiling around a drain with a little showerhead installed into the ceiling.
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Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 13, 2013 17:57:19 GMT -5
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though still a bit peeved from her warm welcome from magnus, kit went without complaining for most of the trip there. a few grumbles were expected, but kit had already dropped her posh facade in front of this man she just met a few moments ago and she wasn't going to allow her temper to escalate further.
she pulled to a stop at the sight of a water tower, which jagd had introduced to her as his home. it was no beach house or offshore mansion, but it was a better gig than what her current posse had produced (ie some erected branches with a tarp flung over it). kit waited until a ladder was pulled down before scaling up without a single 'excuse me', her skirt-clad status long forgotten.
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Post by Gleam on Jan 13, 2013 18:09:56 GMT -5
Jagd reaches up to catch Kit, but the skirt flutters and he blinks at her pink panties, the ladder doing her skirt no favors in concealment. "Nevermind." he says, blinking again, not quite sure how to feel at the moment. "Next time wait for an invitation, yes?"
He climbs up after she's reached the main level, and then follows, shucking off his boots into a corner and pointing at the shower. "Over there. Soap and brush are on the shelf." A touch of asperity enters his voice as he throws himself back into a beanbag with a sigh. "You require anything else of me?"
He hadn't noticed it at the time due to adrenaline, but he was sore as hell. The wreck had put some strain into his neck and shoulders, and what he wanted at the moment was to be still for awhile.
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