exsilium | 02

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02 | Video

[ Baaa Baa-aa-aaaaaa Baaaaaaaaaaa! ]

I say, hello, hel-looooo! I have a question for you all--

[ The grime-smeared face of Xerxes Break appears onscreen. His white hair is discolored with dust and stuck together. There's a semicircular wound under his right cheekbone, and the shoulder of his jacket looks chewed. Despite all of this, he seems terribly pleased with himself. ]

Does anyone here have qualifications in animal husbandry?

[ More angry bleating and a yelp! Break turns. Visible in the background is another (also dirty and disheveled) man, desperately fending off a sheep. It’s not going at all according to plan; with a single headbutt he’s out of the camera’s line of sight, followed by a thud and worrisome tinkling noises. ]

Why, Gilbert. I think she likes you! ♥

[ Moving right along... ]

Anyway - yes. I'm looking specifically for people with experience or interest in shepherding, as well as shearing, spinning, knitting, cheese-making--

[ Another CRASH! and a voice yelling, “Break, look out!" ]

--and hand-to-hand combat! Kindly respond to this post, or apply in person to the botanical gar--

[ Break’s face suddenly disappears. The last image visible onscreen is… this. ]

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[He's about to answer with something generic, something safe. Maybe even an apology for apologizing, but before he can say it, he cuts himself off and takes a breath.

And then lets it out with a small, humorless laugh.]

Nothing. I'm apologizing for nothing, huh?

[Well, now that that's out of the way.]

I'll go in with you just in case they start attacking again.

Alright . . . [what a strange young man]

Though . . . is there a way in that will give us higher ground?

Higher ground...

[He repeats, turning towards the building.]

There was a loft up above, but I didn't see a way to get to it.

Then I suppose we will have to figure out a way once we are inside, yes?

Right.

[He moves to the door, gets ready to open it but glances back to make sure that she's ready to hurry in behind him first.]

[she gives him a nod, signalling that she's ready]

[As soon as she does, Gilbert opens the door as slowly as he can to avoid making any noise and peeks inside. The sheep have all congregated at one end of the garden, some chewing up the remnants of plants that used to grow here. The roof is missing large shards out of it, and the walkway that leads up to the loft above is worn and rusted. But it's narrow enough for one person to walk up it at a time, and not wide enough for a sheep to follow, so that's going to have to work.

Gil opens the door wider and points out the staircase to her, gesturing for her to hurry towards it first.]

[Tempest nods her understanding and slips through the door, tugging her hood down in the process. She pauses there, eyeing the sheep curiously. And warily.

She doesn't move towards the staircase, though; instead, she waits for Gilbert to follow]

[He follows her in, keeping close to the wall so that they can hopefully sneak by quietly without being noticed or heard. So far so good, halfway there and there's no activity on the sheepy side of the room.]

[it's about a fourth of the way there that she stops and motions Gilbert to continue ahead. If the sheep decide to attack her, she at least has defenses to protect herself.

And really, the poor man has experienced enough sheep-related trauma today]

Edited (WOW WRONG HTML TAG) 2013-09-06 18:49 (UTC)

[He'd rather be the one to act as the shield, sheep-trauma or no, but he does as she orders, keeping a close eye on her rather than the sheep as he goes.]

[she waits until he's close enough, then heads over to the sheep, slowly. Might as well try this head on rather than any other method, right?]

Ah -

[He's about to call out and tell her that getting that close is a bad idea, but he doesn't want to alert the sheep. Instead he simply stands with one hand out awkwardly in an aborted gesture to get away, and a stupid look on his face.]

[I'm sorry you got Tempest to help you. Once she's close enough, she purposely shuffles her feet a bit, so that she doesn't startle the sheep upon her approach]

[Heart rate is going through the roof here!! He takes a step closer as well; if the sheep go nuts, he can at least grab hold of her and use Raven to zap themselves out in a hurry, but he has to assume that she has faith in her abilities to get through to them if she's willing to do so like this.]

[she glances behind her and stops, making a "wait there" gesture to him. Honestly, why was he following her? The last thing she wanted was her own semi-recklessness to end up with him getting traumatized again.

She turns back to the sheep, watching them for a moment. Then, she tentatively speaks up, in the language she mentioned earlier. It might work; she doesn't know if they're magical sheep or not, or if Sylvan would extend to farm animals or how any of it really worked. Hell, she'd barely spoken it herself in years. But it was worth a shot]

Excuse me . . . ?

[He stays back as she instructs, head tilting slightly to the side as he watches carefully. If he hadn't already seen some wild things in this city, he might just disregard this entire thing outright. But they really do seem to be listening, and not in the false way that they had earlier.]

[well then. A little more confident, Tempest kneels down where she stands, so she isn't looming over them. Her arms drape over her knees as well, trying to seem as casual and non-threatening as possible]

I've a few questions for you, if I may take up a bit of your time. In return, I will come back with some vegetables for you. Is that alright?

[Vegetables! Vegetables are good. Especially if they're the mutant type from the Outlands.

They're listening.]

[she can do that. She gives a nod, and lifts a hand, motioning Gilbert closer without taking her eyes off the sheep]

You need to be polite to my friend, too. Behave, and I will sneak in some extra vegetables for you.

[negotiating with sheep; this is what your life's become, Tempest]

[Gilbert takes a step forward and the sheep begin bleating as they did before. But they're not attacking, which is a step in the right direction. Still, it's safe to say that Gilbert didn't make the best impression earlier in the day.

He halts after two steps, hesitating with one foot off the ground until he's sure they're not getting ready to charge again.]

[she does turn around at that and watch him, entirely amused]

They will be nice, I promise. Come on, you had questions, yes?

[Well, he can hardly ask now if they're safe to eat They really will finish off the rest of him.

Sighing, he takes another step forward and mumbles:]

We're wondering...if their wool is safe to use for clothing.

[we can find out the answer to that later. She nods, and turns to the sheep to repeat the question]

[Of course they're safe! they bleat in return. And they sound offended that anyone would think otherwise!]

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