inbox_a bastard son and a rebel

[in_theworks]

WRENCH

missives | encounters

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un: skyguy | text | backdated to 10/13

[chosenfordarkness]

Hey, you got a minute?

[in_theworks]

Yep yep.

What's up, dude?

[chosenfordarkness]

From my understanding, we have the same benefactor. I've witnessed something I should get word out about to the others discretely.

[in_theworks]

You want me to help you build something to send this message? Or are we, like, The British Are Coming-ing this?

[oh, wait. he probably won't understand that reference]

Going door to door, basically.

[chosenfordarkness]

Probably best to keep it as low-profile as possible. Figured the first person I tell from Macalusso should be someone I trust with the information. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what to do with it.

[in_theworks]

Aw, I'm touched.

[he is, at least, assuming that the first person Anakin's told is him]

But okaaaaaay. So, what's the information?

[chosenfordarkness]

[ Wrench might be the only person he's befriended, but that's beside the point. ]

Hermione and I infiltrated a secret meeting Donna Rigarda had. Her guests were undead and the Doxe is funding them with magical weapons while also pretending to keep the city safe from their invasion.

[in_theworks]

[same, to ne honest. most people find him to be a bit much and that's kind of the point]

Holy shit, seriously?

[yeah, that seems bad]

[chosenfordarkness]

Wish I weren't, but here we are.

[ Well, undead are typically pretty bad in general. ]

Audio!

[airbender]

[So like, Aang is just glad the healers decided to talk to him in order to give him this mission!! His fearsome reputation is really making it hard to be a social butterfly around here, so he's very eager to aid them.] Hi! The healers are having some trouble, and they seem to think we can help each other out with it! [What they'd said was that Wrench would help him, and what they probably meant was that Wrench would corral him, but that's not what Aang wanted to hear so he pointedly didn't.] I'm Aang. [Just in case they said it was Ahn-Salack, which it is not!!!]

[in_theworks]

[him, corralling someone? clearly, they don't know him very well]

[still, he got the message that he's supposed to meet up with someone and do something about the healer's missing supplies, and he is here for that. he would be even if he wasn't pretty sure they were offering some sweet loot, if and when he managed to pull it off]

Ooh, ooh! Are you the bad luck kid?

[they did, in fact, say it was the Ahn-Salack. sorry, Aang]

[airbender]

[NOOO]

No! [A beat.] I mean, I guess. I didn't do anything. [He clamps his mouth shut for a moment and centers himself so he doesn't keep grumbling under his breath. But it's real hard! He just wants to be good and help people!! And besides that, being seen as bad luck personified really takes the fun out of being mischievous and making trouble, so he's bored on top of everything.] Anyway, I can get us there, they said the canals lead right up to where they're staying. [It's the rest of the mission that he isn't really sure how to get done.]

[in_theworks]

But do you have, like, cool bad luck powers?

[sorry, Aang. he's a little hung up on this. on the plus side, though, he seems almost excited? cool bad luck powers would be pretty awesome! and probably useful for getting them where they're going, somehow!]

[airbender]

No, I'm the Avatar! [That doesn't... mean anything to anyone here. Hang on while Aang's brain catches up with his mouth.] I can bend all the elements. And talk to spirits, and stuff! Good things, not bad things. [Though he has felt pretty unlucky since arriving, which is ridiculous given how much money has been thrown at him ever since. But still!]

[in_theworks]

Bad luck isn't necessarily --

[bad. he realizes belatedly how stupid that sounds, though, so. yeah, excuse him while he takes a minute, for his brain to catch up with his mouth]

Anyway, uh.

Okay, so.

Bad guys. [a beat] I'm pretty sure there are more bad guys than two guys can take -- not unless everyone gets really cool about a lot of stuff really quickly. [not unless someone can get him some sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter real quick, so he can make gunpowder to make explosives. he couldn't resist quoting John Mulaney to make that point, though]

[airbender]

Well, I only really know Zuko. [Zuko is the opposite of "cool" but that's not the point here!! Since the reference flies right over Aang's bald head.] He'll come! [Obviously, that's a given. Even before they were friends, Aang got Zuko to follow him literally to the ends of the Earth.

But otherwise, Aang can count on one hand the number of people he's struck up conversations with since the merchants who saved him stopped talking to him and started skirting away to avoid his approach.] And Slick, maybe? [Two firebenders walking through a canal feels like a bad idea, but it's all he's got.] Do you know anyone else that could come?

[in_theworks]

Wait, you know the fire wizard guy and the language guy? Holy shit, that's like half my friends group.

[he knows some other people that he might trust enough to ask along, too, but. small world, man]

action ➦ ellethia.

[valeas]

( Wrench and Emilia have been paired up together for one of the night shifts. Wrath isn't too far away really, but he's been having a Time of it with their gear, necessary though it may be. She thinks he might just be needing a moment. Emilia herself will be grateful once they can take them off for good.

For now, she's gritting her teeth and pushing on through. With a sigh, she turns to her companion for the evening. )

Tell me something. It'll distract me from the slight itch on my nose.

( She can no longer tell if it's real or imagined, just a desire to see her helmet off. )

[in_theworks]

[the mask displays a (?_?) followed by a (^_^), the latter reading as almost sly, somehow, in the flickering firelight]

I like big butts and I cannot lie.

[there's something about his cadence that suggests that this is another recitation from one of the musicians from his world. either way, yeah, sorry, but he can't help but lead with a joke. he'll give her something more serious here in a second. maybe]

[valeas]

( Her eyebrows arch somewhat high, and her mouth twitches a bit, as if threatening an amused smile. The joke would've left Emilia flustered prior to going back home. Pre-beacon Emilia hadn't met Gluttony and hadn't attended his NC-17 parties. But once you're familiar with his tryst gardens...

She eyes him with exaggerated skepticism. How is it that he would say...? )

You're pulling at my legs again, aren't you?

[in_theworks]

[gently, he corrects:] Leg, singular.

And eh? [he shrugs] I'd say my anaconda prefers buns, but not necessarily that it doesn't want none unless you got buns, hon.

[a pause follows, largely for effect, that said. it's just shy of going on too long before, finally, he admits:] Nah, I'm just fucking with you. It's from a song, where I'm from.

[valeas]

( In many ways, Wrench and Emilia are still learning each other's languages, with or without translators. But she doesn't particularly need a translator this time, even before Wrench acknowledges he's fucking with her.

Emilia huffs out a soft snort. )

Songs about buns and anacondas sung by spin doctors. California sounds like an interesting place, Wrench.

[in_theworks]

Yeah, something like that.

[does she realize what he's actually talking about, when he says buns and anacondas? does he really want to know, either way? probably not, in both cases, and so he's more than willing to shrug it off with a bright (^_^) before he lets himself sober a little]

Seriously, though. What do you want me to talk about? Because I always kinda failed this part, in school. [or at least got as flippant as he did, just now, to avoid saying anything of consequence. he doesn't necessarily feel like he needs to push her away, right now, though. maybe it's because she's starting to feel like someone he can trust]

[valeas]

( that is the question, isn't it?

when they met, Wrench wielded a similar flippancy to conceal what Emilia now understands was apprehension. she couldn't possibly blame him for that, considering how eager many are to exploit a weakness. she herself has learned to better hide her soft spots, or to sharpen them where needed.

the alternative was to be consumed by the underworld, or defeated by its princes.

she wouldn't want to broach a topic Wrench may be uncomfortable with, but she'd also like to know him better. neither of them have an issue with telling someone to fuck off if they must, so she trusts in that, as well. that he'll tell her if she crosses a line, as she's more than capable of handling that. )

Did you? Were you close to anyone? ( anyone that might've made it less difficult to share. )

[in_theworks]

In school? Pfft, nah. No one wanted to be friends with the kid voted Most Likely to Call in a Bomb Threat.

[no one wanted to be friends with him because of the way he looked. he got weird and loud as a response to that. he was small and quiet and shy, once. he still is, underneath it all, he's just very reluctant to show it, because yeah, like she said -- or didn't]

I've got some people I'm close to now, though.

[a beat]

I'm kind of -- I'm part of this collective of hackers? People like me who can manipulate the internet. [people who do his brand of magic, if they're still going with that metaphor] And we're all kind of tight.