Gleam
Global Moderator
[M:0:]
Resident Guru
Posts: 75
|
Post by Gleam on Jan 14, 2013 15:14:36 GMT -5
"Military." Jagd answers, pausing at the entrance of the room. "Combat medic. Not much different than the standard soldier outfit, since insurgents don't sign the Geneva Convention and shoot first at anyone wearing the red cross."
Then the water hisses on, and he descends the ladder, knowing the conversation is, temporarily, over. On the ground he exhales and scuffs a boot against the floor. Magnus rises from his patchwork bed of rags and cocks his head at his master, bright blue eyes curious.
"She's trouble." Jagd explains wearily, certain that the patter of water gave him some level of privacy. "And the sticky sort too."
Magnus snorts and sits down, ears lowering flat.
"I can at least give her the one night of hospitality." Jagd insists. "That much I'd give anyone, no matter how prickly they are."
A low growl, followed by a sneeze.
"At least she isn't wearing perfume." Jagd offers in response, and the taciturn dog replies with a huff before lying back down and closing his eyes again. His master shakes his head, trots over to the hollowed-out dell where a firepit sits, and begins putting together firewood that he'd taken from the River Park.
Dinner was wild-caught, as was Jagd's preference; a pair of bass from the lake that the city had stocked before the cataclysm, and had since multiplied into a pest species, along with a scattering of clams, even though they were rather an acquired taste. Honeysuckle, St. John's wort, and fireweed from his back garden were mixed together with mortar and pestle to produce a natural if simplistic herbal seasoning, which Jagd carefully slathered onto the deboned and descaled fish with a brush. The resulting mix would be sweet with just a hint of spicy tang from the fireweed.
It was a hell of a lot more effort than what he usually put into cooking (shoot animal, skin, consume), but, shit, he was a host. And it did good to stretch the cooking ligaments every once in awhile, otherwise he'd forget the spice ratios.
|
|
|
Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 14, 2013 16:23:21 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true] [atrb=style,float:left,true] |
once assured that her lovely host would not make a spontaneous reappearance anytime soon, kit slipped out of the shower and made a hasty grab for the towel she had neglected earlier. once the towel was secure, kit gathered up her clothes and tossed them onto the shower floor. with her body pressed comically close to the wall of the shower, kit slipped over to the shower handle and gave it a twist, drenching her once repugnant clothes. she plunged her arms into the downpour and began scrubbing her clothes together. once finished, she wrung them out, pleased with her work.
"spares, spares, spares..." she muttered to herself, shuffling around the unfamiliar environment in search of a fresher wardrobe for her to don. it looked silly; kit was ducking and diving around jagd's nest for clothes, her mutterings increasing in volume. her expedition reaped no rewards, much to her dismay. in her desperation, she began crawling on the floor, peeking under cushions and other pieces of furniture, unwilling to give up her search.
|
|
Gleam
Global Moderator
[M:0:]
Resident Guru
Posts: 75
|
Post by Gleam on Jan 14, 2013 17:24:24 GMT -5
Jagd's clothes were stored in a rough but cleanly-made wardrobe, essentially a tall box with wooden partitions placed in a corner. The interior contained a variety of dark green to brownish color, with adjustable straps for either changing size or hanging things off of the user. None of them are particularly flattering, but the insides are comfortable and insulated from both cold and water.
A knock sounds from the floor as Jagd pokes it with a broomstick handle. "Hey, Esmene, dinner's ready when you're finished." he calls up. "I hope you don't mind fish. It's fresh, if that helps."
|
|
|
Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 14, 2013 17:39:58 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true] [atrb=style,float:left,true] |
luckily, kit narrowly managed to avoid throwing all sensibilities out the window at the very last second, sparing jagd's abode from certain destruction. the savior of jagd's home and kit's mental state came in the form of a wardrobe standing almost jeeringly behind her. feeling particularly stupid, kit scrambled over to the wardrobe, pulled open its doors, and began looking for any decent article of clothing.
a knock from the floor echoed, making her jump. with her stomach urging her to hurry, she pulled on the over sized clothes and tripped over to the door. with only the strength a famished person could exude, kit pulled open the door and all but slid down the ladder in her haste. she plopped onto the ground, and fervently asked, "food?"
|
|
Gleam
Global Moderator
[M:0:]
Resident Guru
Posts: 75
|
Post by Gleam on Jan 15, 2013 18:34:11 GMT -5
Jagd turns as Kit descends the ladder in a jumbling mess and offers her a plate of the carefully prepared, aromatic seafood, complete with silverware - which was becoming an increasing rarity in the city of late, along with all the other tiny useful things like screws or batteries or rule triangles. "Food. Yes. Eat. Consume." Jagd intones, face perfectly straight as per usual. "I can get something for you to drink as well, but that's basically just water. Nothing special compared to this."
Magnus stirs and walks up beside his master, poking him in the thigh with a wet nose, making him jerk.
|
|
|
Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 15, 2013 19:00:49 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true] [atrb=style,float:left,true] |
with all the grace and poise a girl draped in over sized clothes, kit took her meal and utensils from jagd. questions already began popping up into her mind, most of them related to the cuisine and its preparation, but she decided to save that for later. for now, she would feast like a queen. or rather, a feral cavewoman, what with the lack of manners kit expressed as she shoveled bite after bite into her mouth. she shook her head at his offer to fetch her a drink.
"sho, ow'd chu get all dis?" she inquired, chewing on her meal as she did so. kit had long forgotten her manners by now- she was hungry, damn it, and she was sure not even the most proper of ladies could retain their poise in such dire situations. she shamelessly attacked the fish with vigor, humming in approval. " 's good. where'd you learn how to cook?" kit let her eyes roam from her meal to spare jagd a glance. since his unexpected change of character back in the water tower, kit had been itching to know more about him. it was like discovering a new species. a new, very menacing species.
"i never learned how to cook," she commented offhandedly, in hopes that revealing a bit about herself would coax him into speaking. "... come to think of it i never had any special skills. unless talking counts." she smirked and continued on. "or waiting tables, but i doubt that has little use now." kit added. her (ex)part-time job wasn't something she liked to discuss, for it shattered her illusion (or rather, delusion) of grandeur.
|
|
Gleam
Global Moderator
[M:0:]
Resident Guru
Posts: 75
|
Post by Gleam on Jan 15, 2013 19:13:26 GMT -5
"The fish are from a lake nearby that was stocked with bass before everything went to hell." Jagd replies, leaning back in his chair. "They've multiplied since into a sort of pest species. All over the damn place. You need a fishing rod to get at them though."
He flops down on his can in the dirt and commences eating his own fish, though he doesn't even try to match Kit's manic pace. "My mother was an anthropologist traveling between different nations for cross-cultural studies. And she sucked at cooking." Jagd explains with a smile. "I learned a lot of different cuisines between all the different places we visited. It was a cosmopolitan upbringing, and a pretty awesome one. I saw Paris when I was nine. That was great."
He frowns momentarily. "Well. Except for the riots. That sucked."
Jagd recovers quickly and shoots a devious glance over at Kit, waggling eyebrows. "Your infatuation with your previous occupation rings clearly in your intonation, miss Esmane."
|
|
|
Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 15, 2013 19:38:11 GMT -5
kit hummed over her food as jagd spoke, watching his facial expressions intently in case he was going to pull another 'tranquil fury' on her. far too immersed in her observation of his expressions, kit didn't realize how telling her own expression had become; her eyes were narrowed slightly and her mouth was pursed in concentration.
her eyes followed after him as he moved, nodding as she listened intently. her concentration was broken, however, after his mention of paris. "you've visited paris?" she asked brightly, envy lacing her tone. but she quieted immediately as he continued, pouting despite herself. her eyebrows shot up when he regarded her almost playfully, clearly catching her off guard. he didn't seem like the joking type, but kit considered this as an opportunity to continue her prodding.
"are you implying that i may have disliked my old job? that i hated waiting on middle aged soccer moms who hated me almost as much as they hated their own spawn? that i hated that degrading, frilly, pink thing they had me flouncing around in all day? that i died a little on the inside every single time i had to plaster on this painfully cheerful grin and tell someone to 'have a nice day', when i would have rather much enjoyed punching them in the throat, telling them to suck it, and to do the world a favor and never reproduce ever?" kit was red in the face at the end of her little rant, but she regained her composure with a sharp breath. she cocked her head to the side and gave a tight smile. "how silly of you to think so."
"and what about you? no horror stories to tell about working in customer service?" she chirped amiably, though her left eyebrow twitched every now and then.
|
|
Gleam
Global Moderator
[M:0:]
Resident Guru
Posts: 75
|
Post by Gleam on Jan 15, 2013 20:24:26 GMT -5
Jagd nods amiably. "Paris is a great place. One of the few I've seen that really welcomes outside visitors. Most of the people there are multilingual too, not like here in the states. The younger ones, though, they were all fairly pissed off. Not a good time to be going through their educational system then."
Jagd listens to her rant with a composed face and at the end nods thoughtfully. "You should probably get a job as a social worker next to prevent exactly that from happening ever again. Or at least dividing the pollution from the as of yet uncorrupted souls they hoard. As for me - yes. I do have some. They mostly involve being shot at while attempting to remove successful shots from the gut of a man who's screaming at me. That's mostly unpleasant."
|
|
|
Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 15, 2013 21:04:03 GMT -5
kit shook her head at his suggestion for her next occupational endeavor. "do you really see me as being a good social worker? what traits do i possess that make you think that?" she asked dryly, eyebrows raised skeptically. they furrow together at jagd's next statement, her confusion evident.
"i take it you didn't wait tables as a living. either that or you just worked at a cafe in a really rough neighborhood." she picked at her plate, which was now occupied only by a lonely assortment of fish bones. kit was conflicted; as much as she wanted to pry, she didn't think he'd take too kindly to her questioning about a possibly sensitive topic. then again, he had mentioned it himself (with little prodding from her, kit reminded herself). now feeling a bit more justified, kit asked: "is that how you got that?"
her fingertips brushed lightly against her own neck, a gesture referencing to his scar. doubt began to bubble and resurface in kit. "you don't have to answer that."
|
|
Gleam
Global Moderator
[M:0:]
Resident Guru
Posts: 75
|
Post by Gleam on Jan 15, 2013 21:25:22 GMT -5
"Well, you'd enjoy your work." Jagd points out reasonably. "And people would be terrified of you and have to do what you say. Does that sound appetizing?"
He snickers at her guess and waves a hand. "Nothing so dramatic. I was a combat medic in the army. Flew evac missions for wounded personnel - basically Lifestar but with guns. Made every day exciting, I can tell you that."
His smile doesn't really falter as he flicks at the white line of scar around his throat. "And no, this wasn't really related. It was a razor wire noose. Kinda got cut up getting out of it." Jagd indicates his hands, which are laced with tiny white scars around the knuckles and fingers, far less noticeable than the one around his neck but still visible.
|
|
|
Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 16, 2013 0:17:49 GMT -5
though she didn't appreciate the snickering, kit was surprised to find herself relieved that jagd wasn't upset with her. which was strange, mostly due to the fact that earlier that same day kit had been purposefully attempting to get a rise out of him. what was wrong with her? was she going soft? a little scare like the one back there was handled completely out of character for kit. she liked getting under people's skin and she enjoyed making people upset with her. perhaps it was the peculiar way jagd had expressed his frustration with her. that must have been it. kit was so used to being called every profanity in the book whenever she made someone's blood boil that she completely forgot how to handle herself when someone wasn't screaming at her. she would have to remedy that- and fast.
"combat medic? well, that makes me feel unaccomplished... then again i am only nineteen, so no one is expecting much out of me." his flippancy towards his scar made her feel a twinge of concern, before she decidedly killed that feeling the moment it surfaced. "you're awfully casual about that. if i were you, i'd be crying over it years after it happened. but then again i can't stand having a broken nail."
kit regarded him silently, contemplating her next move. she was still bitter about jagd besting her back at the water tower. it was petty and childish, but then again so was she. "have you ever been genuinely furious at anyone?" she asked suddenly, her tone forward. "have you ever cursed at anyone? called them names? damned them to hell? you know, things normal people do when they're mad."
|
|
Gleam
Global Moderator
[M:0:]
Resident Guru
Posts: 75
|
Post by Gleam on Jan 16, 2013 2:40:37 GMT -5
Jagd flaps a hand. "You're young yet. You have plenty of time to decide what you want. Truth be told, I only joined the military because my best friend did, and I wasn't going to leave him high and dry."
He stands up and takes his plate to a plastic tub full of water, where he rinses it off and sets it in to soak. "I have been angry." the scarred man agrees, as he adds the silverware to to washbasin. "Furious. Sworn at people, hit them, shouted, screamed. All those things. All people start with that anger, even if it takes a lot to pry them out."
He rolls his shoulders and turns back to Kit, his eyes closed and a tiny wry quirk at the corner of his mouth as he spreads arms in a gesture of helplessness, but it doesn't quite match; it's too controlled, too smooth, and a sliver of ice blue smiles out beneath his eyelashes. His fingers are spread wide and slightly crooked.
"I decided," Jagd comments, light but definite, "that it was a poor use of my anger, to say things that I did not mean."
"I would rather be concise, and clear. So that no one misunderstands me. So that no one claims that I did not mean what I spoke. And so no one deigns to doubt my judgement, not under stress nor personal involvement nor bias."
His head tilts, and that smile grows the slightest bit, before he folds his hands in his lap and looks at nothing for a long moment. Then the smile brightens and his eyes open again, merry. But they do not blink as he twinkles down at Kit, and his hands lay at his side, motionless and still. "To thrash is such a waste of an excellent tool."
"Does this explanation satisfy you?"
|
|
|
Post by Kit Esmane on Jan 16, 2013 16:00:39 GMT -5
kit blinked slowly as jagd explained his strange manner of expressing his anger. she lets him finish before creasing her brow as she tried to string the right words together. "no," was her blunt reply, a subtle shake of the head accompanying it. "i mean, i get what you're saying, but do i feel satisfied with your answer? no, i don't."
kit cleared her throat before giving reason to her dissatisfaction. "is what you do when you're angry enough? i understand not wanting people to misinterpret what you mean or to doubt what you say because they think you're running on raw emotion, but does that really satisfy you? backing people up into corners with that smile on your face? and that smile." she frowned and pointed at him, expression close to that of a lecturing mother. "you weren't fooling me back there. i know you were mad at me- all that smiling was a facade. trust me, i know a thing or two about faking smiles."
"and don't you ever miss being mad, yelling and swearing as much as you want? not that it's a good thing, but don't you like the freedom of it? not having to pretend to feel anything but what you feel at that moment? people go overboard and say things they don't mean- i get it- but they don't care about how others will perceive them anymore, there's no more regard for someone else's feeling and there's no more pretending to be anything but mad." kit paused her speech, walked over to the basin and placed her plate and utensils in. "i doubt you like having to smile like that all the time."
in the spur of the moment kit slides in front of jagd, arms spread open invitingly. "come on. scream at me. curse. hit me even, i don't care. just do something." as batty as she seemed at the moment, kit couldn't bring herself to care. a bright smile stretched on her face as she rocked back and forth from heel to toe in anticipation. "go on. do it. i'm not leaving you alone until you do."
|
|
Gleam
Global Moderator
[M:0:]
Resident Guru
Posts: 75
|
Post by Gleam on Jan 16, 2013 16:36:20 GMT -5
Jagd smiles innocently at Kit. Instead of yelling at her or hitting her, the scarred man simply leans back until he lies flat on the ground and folds his arms behind his head. "I think you misunderstand me." he replies simply. "And that if you want to take care of your masochistic urges, you probably need to find someone that won't go to jail for it."
Jagd squirms a little bit until he's comfortable, edging out a rock that had been in the small of his back, then asks, "Where are you planning to go? I've got a pretty comfy niche here, but I dunno anything about what you're trying to do or where you're hoping to go."
|
|