1st Card Dealt [Action]

[kineticcajun]

[Luceti, today, there is a very large, sturdy cardboard box lying in the plaza. It’s not walking around, just sitting there, with one foot poking out at a somewhat awkward angle from one corner. It was dumped, at some point in the night, on the front step of the Item Shop, and there it remains. Its occupant has only just now woken up, and he’s not too thrilled. From time to time, the box rustles, and occasionally there are muffled curses in Cajun French.

It’s a tight fit in this here box when you’re too tall to really fit in it.

Eventually, once he’s managed to untangle himself from the knot the Malnosso have practically twisted him into and gotten out of this box, Gambit will be making the rounds through the shops in the plazas. Dressed in just his New Feather pants. He is bent on at least finding his coat. The half-naked part doesn’t bother him in the slightest, but he likes that coat. From there, it’s time to get a feel for the neighborhood. If he’s gonna be stuck here, he’s gonna know his way around.

Feel free to run into Gambit at any point in his adventure~]

Comments

[touchofrogue]

[Oh dear. And just when she'd been feeling so cooperative to. The 'Rogue shuts down' process is a remarkably quick one to behold, blink and you'll miss the way her eyes suddenly go wide, and then the firm downward tweak of her lips until they form a straight line, and then like a shutter drawn, her face is a mask.]

Enough.

[She is looking anywhere but at him.]

[kineticcajun]

[That. Is not a good sign. Gambit pauses, decides that he's not going to push it, and sighs. Sorry, chere. She may not have said much of anything, but it still speaks volumes all its own.]

...Gotcha.

[touchofrogue]

[And not pushing was the exact right thing to do. General information, she can give.]

They're organized by different villagers each time, if ya wanna listen to 'em. Bunch of military strategists from different worlds usually talk among themselves, an' most folks listen. There's - no choice about goin' out there. Just like we can't get out of the barrier, we can't stop 'em from taking anyone.

[kineticcajun]

Didn't sound like we had much choice. An' their little messengers are immune to whatever we can throw at 'em, non?

[Which is probably the part that annoys him the most. These Malnosso have to have some kind of weak point. Those kidnapping drones shouldn't be exempt from being blown sky-high by a well-placed charge, thanks.]

[touchofrogue]

I wouldn't know - my powers don't exactly work against robots. [Just a touch annoyed there. It's not like you'd set her up with a date with a Sentinel, or anything.] An' they haven't come for me yet.

...but they managed to grab Kurt. And he's pretty hard ta catch.

[And thus the source of her extra annoyance is revealed.]

[kineticcajun]

[Merde. There it is. They caught Nightcrawler? If that doesn't defy logic...

But ah, Rogue, for all your tough act, you are a sensitive soul, aren't you? For just a shade of a moment, just long enough to show some support but not long enough to set her off too badly about it, he rests a hand against her back. And then it's over. He knows full well how she is about people getting touchy-feely on her.]

Bound to be some way t'beat 'em, chere. [Although he's starting to wonder what that way might be.] That elf of yours might be the one to find it.

1/2

[touchofrogue]

[Just this, when he touches her.

...

...damn him.]

[touchofrogue]

[She looks away, then. It wouldn't do for him to see the play of wistfulness and vulnerability on her face.]

Maybe. Either way, the drafts are bad news. They'll take anyone. An' it ain't pretty out there.

[kineticcajun]

[Looking away is just as incriminating, you realize.]

Guess I just gotta keep on my toes, then.

[Especially if they really do have those energy-absorbing monsters out there. The Battle Dome will probably be a pretty frequent haunt, he's thinking... that is, if it's worth the time.]

D'they drag people out there very often?

[touchofrogue]

Every few months or so. It seems ta alternate with the experiments.

[kineticcajun]

Jus' full of all kindsa fun here, ain't it?

[If by "fun" we mean "pitfalls."]

[touchofrogue]

C'mon, it ain't all bad. They gave us an amusement park last month.

[kineticcajun]

[That'll earn her an amused look.]

An' I missed it? Lousy timing on showin' up here, I guess.

[touchofrogue]

Lousy timing showin' up here any time.

[Least it wasn't February.]

[kineticcajun]

Can't argue wi' that.

[For the record, he has no idea where he's leading them. It could very well be in a circle. But that's fine, right?]

[touchofrogue]

[That's absolutely fine. If you want to be mocked for it.]

So, settling' in all right? Gettin' the lay of the land?

[kineticcajun]

[Oh, laugh it up. Just wait until he really does know his way around, then you'll never have a moment of peace.

He can keep a straight face as he wanders around lost, though.]

Guess you could say that. Got a lotta ground t'cover.

[touchofrogue]

If you're gonna swing past the Seventh Heaven three times, ya may as well go into it.

[Just don't expect her to join you. The cook is weird and flirts with her. Hearts form in his eyes. It's. Disturbing.]

[kineticcajun]

You got a point... Care to join me, chere?

[Clearly the answer to sass is flirting.]

[touchofrogue]

I think I'll pass. Wouldn't wanna spoil my supper.

[Just as the answer to flirting is more sass?]

[kineticcajun]

[It's a neverending circle!]

You sure? Maybe on my fourth time passin' here, den.

1/2

[touchofrogue]

Seein' the outside of that place again ain't gonna change my mind about seein' the inside of it. [With a small smile.]

[touchofrogue]

'sides, as I recall the last time we ate together I got a bad case of indigestion.

[She says this mostly to remind herself that no matter how easy talking to him is, and no matter how strongly she still feels that pull, that connection towards him... they are not friends. They aren't even close to being friends. She doesn't know what they are but 'friends' feature no part of it.]

[kineticcajun]

Jus' have to pick the next place more carefully, then.

[This is part teasing and part actually meaning it. But mostly teasing. He knows she's not going to agree with the idea.

...Maybe not "friends", but it's something.]

[touchofrogue]

[Maybe it was the company.

But - she doesn't say it. She said she didn't want to hear it before, and she meant it, and now that feels so long ago... she didn't forget and she didn't exactly forgive but that was the past. And this is Luceti.

And yeah. It's something.

Instead it's a lightly scoffing sound and a relatively mild:] Good luck with that.