Passing Time (Open)

[Smoke]

Compromises had to be made when doing business, usually concerning any sort of business. Originally her newest client wanted Toya to cross between the kingdoms to make a meeting, however Toya didn’t want to do so unless more gold was involved. Seeing as she had no idea what the deal in mind would bring her, she did her best to try and arrange for her new client to meet her in The Black Dog so she wouldn’t have to enter Caedere and have to deal with all the trouble that usually brought.

Now she had brought her Mobile Workshop and parked it close to the inn and had spend the last few days between her moving home and the pub. The client couldn’t give her an exact date on his arrival to the place only a circa week, so Toya had equipped herself with a handful of patience. Having sold a few smaller arms to by-passers, she had now on the third day decided to set up a little stall in front of her 20 ton heavy and 25 feet long steam powered mobile home, to pass time with a few sales.

She had already used the two first days to refill her vehicle with water and its storage with coal, so she was just about running out of things to occupy her time with. However, having set up the stall that morning by noon she had already sold a few boxes of ammunition, apparently some people could afford the quality she offered with her precision crafted cartridges. The common man would normally buy his ammunition made in one of the mass productions in Sideris, even if he lived in Caedere, simply because of the cheap price. However experienced riflemen and hunters usually knew to keep an eye out for private manufactures for some quality ammo, the cheap stuff had a tendency to fall apart once fired and could often damage the firearm. So in the end, despite costing more than ten times of the common ammunition, one would invest in ones weapon by buying ammo such as Toya’s.

On the stall table she had mostly laid out ammunition and cleaning equipment for firearms and not many weapons to avoid them being nicked by anyone with klepto tendencies. She did however have a somewhat cheap rifle laying about and while leaning against the huge steel wheel of her home she was polishing a quite fine saw-off double barreled shotgun that she intended to sell. However the shotgun didn’t much need shining, she was mostly just rubbing the cloth against to look the part while having a weapon at that, to scare off anyone who may have bad intentions.

[Rip]

The tavern smelled of disinfectant, beer and hamburger grease. Men with sweat stains under their arms and wrinkled foreheads wandered around the circular tables, discussing their business with slurry lips. Some sat in groups and laughed, spanking the waitress when she brought their drinks. Others huddled alone in the corners, nursing glasses of perspiring alcohol. A handful sat on the stools, and the young man with bright blue eyes and dark skin was the only one with his arms crossed across the bar. He watched the dull light spark and swing and cast a pale yellow over the dingy wooden grains. Not bright enough to hurt hangovers. It was still the afternoon—he could see the sun streaming dusty beams of gold through the windows—but no doubt more than a couple of these bar hoppers needed those dull lights already.

Someone beside him was discussing politics. Hush hush tone. The Black Dog owed no allegiance, but that didn’t stop soldiers from enforcing their country’s laws. The Sid kings were mad; the Caederian house was fun by lunatics. Same old same old. Other stories drifted in the air. Stale and spent. Shaw tuned them out, drumming his fingers over his bare arm. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he took his glass and left a few coins on the table. He walked across the Black Dog and pushed open the door. Sunlight burned his eyes, but it was a pleasant burn. Anything to get away from the cigar smog. That place was like a cave.

A huge wagon, or what looked like a wagon, was parked beside the tavern. It was riddled with clockwork and pipes, and he looked over it with mild interest. He crossed his arms below his chest, and it was a few moments before he noticed the woman with her gun.

Shaw considered himself well traveled, and he certainly looked it. He wore no shirt, not on such hot day, and had a scimitar sheathed by his waist. His short hair was cut roughly, probably with a knife, and he carried himself with easy balance and intent. Still, he hadn’t seen many women selling firearms.

“How’s business?” he said.

[Smoke]

Releasing the barrels from the handle and framework, Toya took a quick glance down the wide tubes and was just about to close it up again when she thought she noticed something in them. Narrowing her eyes she blew some air down one barrel a few times and then was finally satisfied enough to close it up again. The shotgun had gotten so clean and shiny it was almost silly, so she decided to lay down on the table, after all people often thought a well shined weapon was polished that way to better sell it due to lack of quality. Though, when people saw that she was actually operating her monster of a home and creating her weapons from scratch, they usually didn’t dare to make such assumptions, especially not to a woman with a rather large arsenal behind her.

Noticing someone approaching out of the corner of her eye, Toya took off her welding goggles from her forehead and wiped her cheek in her shoulder sleeve. However the attempt didn’t remove the black smutch still there, though people who’d know her wouldn’t recognize her if she hadn’t got some sort of oil or the likes somewhere on her skin. She did her best to put on a wide cheerful smile as the man came closer. When she smiled she usually looked quite younger, almost teenage like, despite all the involuntary makeup on her face.

“Business is slow, people mostly use their money in the tavern here. Only sold a case of quality bullets to a rich hunter who passed by here with all his staff and whatnot. But I don’t expect to get much business here, merely waiting for a client to have a meet. Would be quite stupid to come all the way out there to set up shop, people don’t spend too much time ‘ere, can’t blame them eh?” Toya explained with a grin and ended it all up with a thoughtful smirk. She usually talked too much once she just met strangers, she generally didn’t get much talking done with people and so she usually made the most of it when someone actually approached her.

[Rip]

ooc: I'm really sorry for the late response. I'll try to not let it happen again.

--

The woman had black streaks smudged across her face, and when she removed the brass goggles from her forehead, they left behind circles of clean skin. Shaw did his best not to laugh, but he wasn’t sure how affective it was. Amusement was hard for him to hide.

To his surprise, she replied in a stream of conversation. Well, that was different. Most people didn’t take much to small talk around here; they were either drunk or looking for sex. Maybe it was too hot to do either and thus opened up a new door for casual interaction. How ironic.

“I guess not,” He said, leaning up against the tavern’s scratchy walls. Truthfully, he thought a weapon manufacturer would do well near the Black Dog. All the travelers, refugees and deserters needed something to fill their guns with. Perhaps that was unkind. Judgmental? He wasn’t sure. Shaw considered himself well traveled, but when faced with situations that required real worldly knowledge, knowledge that didn’t hide in books, he supposed that maybe he wasn’t really. Maybe he was just one of those annoying people who pretended to know how the earth turned.

“You must see some weird things? Selling to strangers wherever you go.”

[Ocean-Pearls]

From a clean military marked car steps out a woman wearing a laced dress with summer friendly sandals and a short pearl necklace, clearly far away from home and on some sort of unfamiliar business. She looks around as if wondering, where’s the next step?

Alana thinks to herself “Oh please, let this be the place!” Clutching a note from her detached sister that says, “I need to meet with you. Find the tavern by the name of Black Dog and wait for me there.” Alana looked around, the place seamed desolate and hot. Usually Reenie, her sister, would appear unexpectedly and leave unexpectedly, to request a meet by note was very unusual.

In a short distance she could see two men conversing next to a mobile home. One was very dirty and appeared to be organizing various things. The other was medium build and seemed to be looking for some sort of amusement. “Should I ask them where we are?” She thought to herself. Determined to not be a coward Alana approaches the two men, unsure but resolute to try.

As she got closer realized the dirty one wasn’t a man at all but a very tall lovely woman hiding behind a table full of weaponry, and a face full of black grease. Women are almost always less intimidating than men so Alana put hand out to the woman, even though she was rather greasy, “Hello,” she said in a cautious but friendly tone. “I’m Alana Ocean.”