An Errand or Two - 06/24/20
[Pipino]
It was a rather beautiful day, Pipino thought as she took her first breath of the fresh air of the early evening, a day of sketching and inkling at last completed, attempting to get them all accomplished before she would find her desk filled with more drawings of flora after she and Vinalo's planned excursion in a few days hence. She makes her way for the docks, planning on making her way into Gridania the long way today as she hums to herself softly.
[Eligor]
A loud clanging could be heard nearby, along with frustrated grunts of exertion. The noise continues to grow more grating before a sudden splash brings an end to the metallic cacophony. The source of the noise seemed to be a small clearing not terribly far from the docks.
[Pipino]
She jumps at the sudden splash and furrows her brow debating about whether or not it would be good for her to interfere with whatever it was. After a moment's indecision, she releases a little sigh and diverts her path, making her way toward the source of the noise.
“…Hello? Is everything alright here….?”
[Eligor]
In the clearing was Eligor, holding a small sword to the throat of a Sun Seeker male. From his build, the boy was not even an adult yet, and his body was already sporting several cuts along his arms.
[Pipino]
Pipino widens her eyes in absolute horror before becoming extremely angry. “What do you think you are doing!? Let him down!” she demands, rather shrilly walking toward him.
[Eligor]
“Let him down? You need his corpse?”
[Pipino]
She examines the body for signs of life rather frantically. “Well I should think if that is what you have made him that he would better off away from you regardless.”
[Eligor]
Eligor turns to face her, but the boy takes the opportunity to lunge at him. This turns out to be a poor choice, as before he can make contact Eligor waves his hand—which in turn causes the boy’s arm to scrunch unto itself much like aluminum. His screams are muffled through some other strange ability as well, but one could clearly see he was doing so, crying in a heap on the ground now.
“What business for you have with me?”
[Pipino]
“Asking you to stop torturing people so close to home has quickly become my first order of business!” she says in a rather shaky, frantic voice, jogging over to the poor boy to try and see if there is anything she can possibly do. “Stop this madness!”
[Eligor]
“This affair has nothing to do with you. If anything, I’m the wronged party here and I find it more than insulting that you assume I just torture people out in the open.”
[Pipino]
“Well, what would you call this then? It is hardly in private if I stumbled upon it while simply trying to make it to the docks.”
[Eligor]
“Self defense would be what I call it. Did you not see him just try to attack me when you came to his aid?”
He raised a hand now, doing nothing yet in particular.*
“Or were you interested in seeing torture?”
[Pipino]
“…N-no, of course not, but you have clearly done enough….” *she says with a little less confidence.*
[Eligor]
He wordlessly looks back at the lad before shrugging. If one were to look, they would see that the Seeker’s clothes were quite expensive looking, and his hair well cared for.
“So you’ll oppose me even without knowing the details…I’m almost sad.”
[Pipino]
“Feel free to enlighten me if you wish, but without the context, you simply look like a bully.” She looks down at the boy as if to see if she could tell some truth in his pained expression.
[Eligor]
“Very well.”
Eligor stretched in place before stabbing his blade into the ground in front of the boy’s face before continuing.
“I was going on a walk with my daughter you see. She wanted to show me this thing she’s been studying called flower…arranging, or something. A rather peaceful afternoon out. Then on our way back this waste of skin shows up.”
“Tells my daughter he fancies her and wants to have her for the night. She refused of course. Then he called her a harlot, and tried to drag her along. Naturally I stepped in and informed him that I was her father. So he tries to pay me, and convince me that it would be *my* honor to give him my daughter. I refuse, so he draws his blades and attacks my daughter. So I told her to run and tripped him up. Then the brat saw fit to chase me all the way here to appease his anger.”
“I gave him a final warning to move along, and instead he tried to stab me. So I took one of his swords, relieves him of the remaining one, and right as I am wrapping up the affair, YOU butt into my business and immediately take the side of this future grass stain.”
He exhales a smog of black smoke.
“And you think my reaction too much?”
[Pipino]
She looks between the both of them, clearly conflicted. “I…I see.” She rises and steps back a bit, wringing her hands in an uncomfortable sort of way. As the smoke rolls over the area, the woman clearly a bit nervous. “His…his behavior certainly was… repugnant. Something that perhaps…. perhaps guards should be seeing to if it were anywhere else… ”
[Eligor]
“How cute. You think the guards would satisfy me? This gnat thinks he can simply claim my children. Besides. Guards can be paid. Corrupted. Steel justice is quite clear.”
[Pipino]
“I…I suppose they would not. And…Well, the Brass Blades are an example of that, for certain. The corruption,” she says in a bit of a defeated voice. “I suppose I will…. leave so you can do whatever you deem appropriate,” she says turning to go, clearly wanting nothing more to do with it.
[Eligor]
“No, come closer.”
[Pipino]
She stops in her tracks and closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. “Why, so you can force another image I wish not to see into my mind?”
[Eligor]
“You spoke with the intent to stop me but lost your resolve? You think it’s that simple to just leave now?”
[Pipino]
“It could be if you allowed it to be.”
[Eligor]
“Your lack of trust is contagious then. Besides I have business with you now.”
[Pipino]
She turns and cautiously makes her way back toward him, those words being part of their contract. “Alright then, what is it?”
[Eligor]
“You spoke of bullies, which reminded me: have you spoken to my daughter yet?”
[Pipino]
“I have not. I cannot say I know where to find her even if I have figured out what I wanted to say. She came to me last time and seems to know where to find everyone else so….so it will only be a matter of time before we cross paths again.”
[Eligor]
“You think you’re valuable enough to get her to approach?”
[Pipino]
She sighs. “I would not pretend to know. Apparently there is enough value to have seen me in the first place, but I am not going to play a guessing game about what continues to be valuable to a girl who is clearly actively dealing with her own confusion.”
[Eligor]
Something like a growl rumbles from Eligor’s chest, but aside from a dull glow in his eyes he does not give a response. Instead, he walks back over to the young man, pulling the blade from the ground before grasping his head, directing it so that the blade rest against his cheek, biting into the flesh unevenly.
“Thank your fortune boy. This fool woman is barely worth enough to buy your life. However…”
He slowly drags the blade across the boy’s face, a sadistic smile spreading across his face as he wriggled and jerked in pain. Apparently he was being held in place by the same force that crumpled his arm, preventing his resistance entirely.
“You tried to scar my daughter’s face. You owe me this flesh.”
He stood back, chuckling like a kid with candy.
[Pipino]
Pipino looks down and away as soon as the sword touched the boy's cheek, having no desire to see the result.
[Eligor]
“Don’t worry. Women like scars. If anything, I’ve done you a favor rich boy.”
He turns towards Pipino, still chuckling.
“Anyway have you eaten?”
[Pipino]
She continues her determined gaze away from the scene, having no desire to see the result of the judgment. “No, I have not. I am not entirely sure how much an appetite I yet have, truth be told.”
[Eligor]
“We—“
He is cut off as a fourth person arrives behind Pipino, clearly out of breath. It was another young seeker, but this time a female. Unlike the boy, her clothes were modest attire one might see around Limsa Lominsa. In contrast to her dull looking clothes, her dark red and pink hair seemed to stand out quite a bit, along with her almost snakelike greenish yellow eyes. She took one look at the situation before promptly taking off one of her shoes and throwing it at Eligor’s head.
[Pipino]
Pipino steps back from them abruptly as she sees the shoe whizzing in front of her, letting out an involuntary yelp of surprise.
[P'Lami]
“Bad dad! Look at his arm! Arms aren’t supposed to do that! Why couldn’t you just…throw him in a pond or something?”
The girl screams, her tail bristling before her eyes catch on Pipino again, freezing in place a bit.
“G-give me my shoe so I can storm away from you!”
Eligor tosses her shoe back without a word, and after about a minute fighting to slide it back on, she lowers herself to swing an arm around Pipino’s shoulder, directing her in a pushy manner.
“C’mon, if we stick around this old man might smash *our* arms next in his temper tantrum!”
[Pipino]
Pipino immediately tenses as she is touched and stumbles forward a bit with the sudden direction from the newcomer. She looks over her shoulder at Eligor, but decides that, honestly, he is rotten company and she should welcome the change of pace.
“O-oh..o-okay. Um… where are going then?” she asks in an uncertain tone as she is shepherded away.
[P'Lami]
“I dunno, you have any friends nearby?”
[Pipino]
“A-ah well… None that would appreciate a..um… s-sudden intrusion,” she stammers.
[P'Lami]
She suddenly picks up Pipino like a princess before jumping into a nearby tree, quickly hopping from branch to branch in seemingly random directions.
“I guess we can visit Aeka then!”
[Pipino]
Pipino screams as she is swept up high into the trees, and she finds herself, despite not knowing this person in the slightest, burying her head against them to keep from seeing how high up she was, heights being a definite sore spot for her.
“Yes, fine, whatever you would like! I just would appreciate being on the ground again, thank you!”
[P'Lami]
“Oh?”
There is the feeling of weight being shifted around like a rubber band before the sound of sliding across grass. Finally, Pipino is placed directly into the ground, the miqo’te nearby staring down at her with an interested and unblinking smile.
[Pipino]
Pipino places a hand to hear heart seemingly as if to keep it from beating straight out of her chest. She looks up at the Miqo'te as she smiles down at her, and it almost seems as if Pipino is actively leaning away from her a bit the longer it goes on.
“So… Um… I am not quite sure why… w-why you have decided to… to take me all this way,” she says awkwardly, knowing it isn't tactful, but also feeling like it was permissible after the treatment she has received this far.
[P'Lami]
“You said you want to be on the ground, but that would be a bad idea in the sylphlands, so I stopped here!”
[Pipino]
“Oh! Well, y-yes of course. I appreciate that just…. Just why you felt the need to… To take me anywhere really is…is puzzling me.”
[P'Lami]
She continues to stare.
“I want to know how you know my dad.”
[Pipino]
“Oh… Well, I tried to help him a long time ago and… Well, it is a bit complicated. Essentially I had seen him at his worst and had been trying to keep away from him for….for fear of.., I suppose drawing his ire. Now, for some odd reasons, I pledged to be loyal to him in exchange for some protections for myself and my loved ones. I do some small tasks for him from time to time but… Mostly we just debate and argue these days. I cannot say we get along that well,” she explains, figuring being truthful would be for the best.
[P'Lami]
“So it’s not an affair?”
[Pipino]
Pipino blushes deeply at that and finds herself laughing at the idea. “No! No, most certainly not!”
[P'Lami]
“Well that’s good.”
Suddenly, the girl pulls a sandwich out of her top and starts eating, still staring.
“Well I’m P’Lami.”
“Apprentice merchant.”
“Also occasionally a maid.”
[Pipino]
“Oh… Well, a pleasure to meet you,” she says in an automatic way as those in polite society tended to. “I am Pipino Pino. An artist and calligrapher. I suppose an occasional markswoman these days, but I would prefer if that is not something I am well known for.”
[P'Lami]
“Do you do self portraits? I’ve seen drawings of you.”
[Pipino]
“Drawings… of me? N-no….I do not. I hardly find myself that interesting to be that vain.” She tilts her head and furrows her small brows. “Where have you seen these?”
[P'Lami]
“The naked or the clothed ones?”
[Pipino]
The blushing is probably the worst it has ever been in some time as she gazes at the girl in horrified, stupefied silence before coughing.
“E-excuse me…. But… I beg your pardon? There are… nude drawings…?”
[P'Lami]
The girl suddenly starts laughing, bits of bread flying from her mouth.
“You’re so uptight!”
[Pipino]
“Yes, I am! Proudly so! Now, out with it! What are you even talking about?”
[P'Lami]
“I can’t believe you don’t know about these things. It’s not like it’s an uncommon thing you know.”
[Pipino]
“What do you mean? I am and artist and I hardly go around drawing random individuals nude, let alone ones so obscure and unimportant to the public interest.”
[P'Lami]
She stuffs the rest of the sandwich in her mouth and chews slowly, the joy slowly leaving her eyes.
“…I’m talking about jokes. Do you really work with my dad?”
[Pipino]
She shakes her head and folds her arms in a rather grumpy way, muttering some comment about something being ridiculous.
“I try my best *not* to work with him to be fair. I cannot say he is very humorous around me.”
[P'Lami]
“He’s too grumpy. I could teach you some tricks, but you’re so serious you might not get it.”
“I hope I don’t get that serious when I’m old.”
[Pipino]
“I can be less so, but it is hard to do so with those you do not entirely trust.”
[P'Lami]
“Why do you need trust?”
[Pipino]
“Well… It is difficult to feel at ease when you have the feeling that the person you are with is unpredictable. That they are capable of anything and everything. You begin to wonder if that capability would break such fragile things as promises and assurances.”
[P'Lami]
The girl smiles at Pipino like she were a small animal caught in a trap and pushed her hands against her own cheeks, a slight blush coming to her cheeks.
“So you don’t know.”
[Pipino]
“What do I not know?”
[P'Lami]
“Have you ever been betrayed by someone so close to you, it’s impossible to imagine them doing it? Like the very thought was wrong.”
[Pipino]
“I… do not think I have. I have not had many close relationships.”
[P'Lami]
“It’s an unfair expectation though right?”
“I’ve been nice to you, but you’re still not at ease.”
“What about me? You’re more dangerous than I am if you work with dad.”
[Pipino]
“I suppose… I was raised to assume people wanted things from me. My money, my body for ransom, my possessions… I have always been suspicious. It is… difficult to turn off such instincts. And honestly, I would not fault you for being wary of me. It is partly why I find it so strange you so willingly took me here to have this conversation in the first place.”
*[P'Lami]
“You look a loooooooot like my sister.”
“So I thought it was an affair.”
*[Pipino]
She sighs. “Novine?”
[P'Lami]
The girl continued to stare, but finally blinks.
“I thought he would get tired of us when he had a real kid, but he’s the same. I almost wish he changed though. I get he wants us to be safe but like….there’s a limit? I think it’s somewhere before someone is crippled for moons on end you know?”
“But then he gets all grumpy and…”
She sighs
“Is he happy at work at least?”
[Pipino]
Pipino shakes her head in confusion, not sure where she should even start with those comments. “I… Well, the only evidence of happiness I have seen from him have been largely ones where he is exercising some sadistic tendency, so I could hardly say. Again, we really have not spent all that much time together.”
[P'Lami]
“Just in bed?”
“Bolder than I thought!”
[Pipino]
“Not funny,” she says with a raised eyebrow, not falling for it.
[P'Lami]
“Alright. Well it’s been nice meeting you and all but you should calmly walk away soon. I’d hate for you to get caught in it.”
[Pipino]
“Caught in what?”
[P'Lami]
“I’m about to get kidnapped.”
She spoke calmly, but she finally looked away from Pipino and towards the ground before picking idly at the grass.
“Keeping me alive has value but if they don’t know you it might be less so for you.”
“I’m not great at fighting but I can hear them.”
[Pipino]
”…Who…? Does your… father know? Shall I tell him?“
[P'Lami]
“Telling him would be…you don’t know my big sis do you?”
*[Pipino]
“Probably not.”
[P'Lami]
“…Then yeah, tell him. But…I dunno, calm him down somehow!”
[Pipino]
“Alright then… Um… I will walk away but… But I will let him know over linkpearl so… So just… Hopefully he will be quick.” She pauses, feeling conflicted. “You are sure you will be alright?”
[P'Lami]
The girl smiles and waves in dopey fashion over her head before calling out loudly.
“Bye friend! Tell me about those cute skirts again next time, I’ll save up!”
[Pipino]
She catches the girl's drift and waves with a smile while walking away. “Ah, yes! Next time. I shall see about snagging a discount. Until next time then!”
She walks away calmly but her mind races in heavy contrast as she keeps going, her senses feeling hyper aware as if expecting some disturbance.
After a time, Pipino slips the very seldomly used linkpearl into her ear and speaks into it quietly.
“Your daughter…. She said she will be fine and not to worry but… I asked her if you should know. She says she is about to be kidnapped. She asked me to leave so I would not get swept up in it.”
She swallows largely as she waits for some type of reaction.
[Eligor]
“….Numbers?”
The response is cold and unsurprised.
[Pipino]
“She did not say. I know not who or what is after her even though I asked…”
[Eligor]
“But you did leave her.”
[Pipino]
Pipino's voice hesitates a moment, feeling like things were taking a dangerous turn.
“N-not knowing what was coming I could not be sure I would have been in a position to… To ask for your help… She said they might not see my value and keep me alive so… So, since she asked I.. I thought it might be better to make sure you knew!”
[Eligor]
There is a long silence.
“Fine. Continue on wherever you were going then.”
[Pipino]
“A-alright…” she finishes lamely, looking over her shoulder as she keeps walking, not exactly sure where she ought to be going. If she doesn't come axross a landmark soon, she would simply teleport back to Gridania.
[Eligor]
Pipino was not terribly far from a beaten path, and depending on how well she knew the forest she would realize that she was not actually far from the entrance to the Lavender beds, just in a small clearing that appeared more wild than usual. |
[Pipino]
Having journeyed enough with Vinalo and on her own a bit, she lets out a sigh of relief as she comes across the familiar scenery, gratefully making her way back. She walks through the district, deciding whether or not she should bother heading to Gridania after all. Perhaps staying at home would be the wiser choice after the excitement.
Home –> Roleplay Scene Index –> Discord Roleplays
Home –> Character Index –> Pipino — Eligor — Plami