Old Home New Strays!

[Kami-Gaz]

The incoming quip about red heads having nothing on him made Veera giggle and she lowered the barrel to the floor and stopped her flow of energy to the weapon of death. As the magnets ceased to rotate around the barrel, she listened to the red head come to a realisation. Then he spoke her full name, something that had not been uttered in these four walls for quite a number of years now.

Newt confirmed it for the man and he finally made his identity known… Shinsei, Shinsei Zen Shinsui. “No. Buzzing. Way. SHINY SHIN!?” She asked in retort with her jaw dropping to the floor and her eyes widening as a spark of energy danced over her skin making a small crackling noise. Of all the people to be slumming it in her old workshop she had never expected Shinsei to be the one that commandeered it… he had a family, a wife and kid, maybe more now.

Then he asked his questions. What had happened to her since they last met? What was Newt…? That was rude but okay. And finally, could he have a smoke? Well Newt seemed to catch the second question… if a bit confrontational on it. This was going to be a lot to unpack because even Newt didn’t know the intricacies of what happened to her… or who she was before that incident.

“Well… Since last time Shinnie I became a bounty hunter. Joined a crew of unlucky pirates and turned in bounties for them after they beat up actual pirates.” She started to explain, getting all excited and bubbly as she locked her eyes on the old friend and former employee. “We adventured all over and did so much! We rescued some people from slavers and I married one of them, it was amazing and he was perfect… I actually settled down and had a kid of my own… Bella she is called.” The smile became face and her voice strained as she wandered to the side and picked up an inconspicuous box.

The small thing made a cracking noise and then the explanation came out of it in a robotic and static filled voice as the box translated the Electric Eel Merwoman’s bioelectricity into words. “The slavers came back… killed my soul mate and took Bella from his arms after they threw me broken in a ditch.” The box in the woman’s hand began to squeal with a high pitch static that grew louder and fiercer until the box popped in a puff of black smoke.

“On the bright side I found my voice and I turned thirty so my tail split in to two so I can walk normally on land… So that’s a bright side to it all.” Veera said with a flash of a smile before pointing to her eye patch. “I got drunk chasing a lead and met a giant, she helped me hunt them down and saved me when things for bad and I lost my eye.” Her eye flashed to Newt and she smiled. “Then she introduced me to Newt here, he’s not a demon he is just horny.”


She giggled for a moment then nodded. "And sure you can smoke."

[Bobbie]

Shinsei’s attention was divided between the two other people in the room, one seemingly more confrontational than the other. It seemed that the horned man believed everything that he just said, but didn’t take too kindly to Shinsei calling him a demon.

Has this guy never seen himself in a mirror? He couldn’t help but wonder. Next came the threat to lop his arm off. The expression on Shinsei’s face was a mixture of shock and irritation, “Now that’s uncalled for…” he grumbled, before his own explanation was followed by Veera's.

She recognises me, good. Ugh, not that cringy pet name- actually, I could get used to it coming from those lips. He watched Veera as she went on to tell her story, his focus now on both her words and her figure. She really did change a lot, they probably both did. However, even Shinsei knew when to sober up and treat a situation with the severity it deserved, and his facial expression shifted to one of absolute seriousness and sadness as she got to the real tragedy. Of course, there were good bits scattered throughout her story but how could any of it dull the pain of a family life so deeply desired being stripped away from her so violently?

“I’m so sorry, Ms Falcone. That is tragic.” This really was a blast from the past, as he addressed her as he would have back in the day as her employee. This was no time for jokes.

He wanted to say more, but wasn’t sure what could be said to ease such a broken heart. With a deep frown, he was about to make an offer to assist her in anything that she needed, viewing such villains with nothing but disgust; however, Veera’s next comment brought an involuntary chuckle out of him instead – now, it was time for jokes!

He glanced at Newt, then back at Veera, “Well, who can blame him?” he replied with a teasing snicker, before returning his gaze back to Newt. The redhead was clearly not happy to have anything to do with this man, and he wasn’t quite convinced that there was nothing demonic in his blood – but whatever he was, Veera seemed to consider him an ally, and so an ally he must be.

“If she’s cool with you, I’m cool with you, mister Definitely-Not-A-Demon.” He offered a smile and a big dramatic shrug that communicated his scepticism better than any words could before sticking his cigarette in his mouth. “Honestly, I was just looking for a roof over my head, found this place that seemed uninhabited. I didn’t know it belonged to anyone until I made it inside and found all this stuff on the tables.” He explained, one corner of his mouth holding his cigarette in place. While it was clear this was Veera’s warehouse, his answer was more directed toward Newt than to her, simply because he didn’t fancy losing a limb. Veera lowered her weapon; Newt did not. “Currently hopping from one place to another, seeking out odd jobs.” He continued, before turning to Veera again, but was really speaking to both of them – maybe if he just continued on as if the sword wasn’t held menacingly between them, it would magically disappear.

“Speaking of… I currently happen to be very available, and one of you already knows that I’m hard-working and pretty flexible, so…” he paused and sighed softly as he turned to the young man who seemed to be the more impatient of the two. He took the cigarette out of his mouth to blow the smoke in a direction away from both of them – not that it would have reached them anyway.

“Either of you looking to hire?”

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Shinsei: #ba0303

[Fennec]

-- CHAPTER 4 // New Strays!

Just horny? Really? Newt stared at Veera with a blank expression and shook his head. Well at least she confirmed to this whacko that he really wasn't a demon. At this point Newton began to put his cutlass down and sheath it seeing as Shinsei wasn't exactly a threat now that Veera identified him. His duty was to protect her after all... Tia had ensured that much was drilled into his head before they departed. After Veera had told her story again, something Newt had become more than familiar with... wow that woman had history.

"Right... well... I am cool with you or whatever."

Newt folded his arms and looked between the both of them. Seemed this Shinsei fellow was sort of wandering around? People did that? For no reason? Well his reason was probably survival but still.

"Well, the good news is that we are actually hiring. I say... we but Veera and Tia are hiring."

-- NAME // Newton M. Icarus

-- CLASS // D
-- TECHS USED // None.

[Kami-Gaz]

“Shin!” Veera called out after Newt replied to the man stating that she and Tia were hiring. He was right! They were hiring and Veera knew she could trust this man with her lively hood, hell her life if it was needed. He did so much to help her in the past, that may have been because she wanted to help him provide for his family. She remembered seeing his partner and the scamp of a son running around and realised that was what she wanted… Well she did have it for herself for a time.

“I am looking for skilled individuals to join our ranks. We’ll be assaulting the fort on Mt. Obsidian, there are lots of bounty holders there and it will make us a fortune. The first mate of the pirates that control it also knows where my Bella is.” She spoke, with a smile at first then as she spoke the last sentence a flickering intensity overtook, her eyes focussed, and it seemed like a thunderstorm raged in her eyes. A storm that was casting bolts down with such intensity it was like each bolt was a blade of grass in a field.

“I don’t know anyone better to be by my side when we do it. I pay good too.” She spoke her smile coming back before shifting to look to Newt and grinning. “Don’t I Newty?” She asked with an innocent grin… Veera didn’t pay anyone; it was Tia and her hoard that was dolling out all the cash for the current operations. Veera herself barely had anything to her name aside from this drydock workshop and the inventions she carted around.

[Bobbie]

Shinsei nodded as Newt confirmed that they were indeed hiring. “Clearly, you and I got off on the wrong foot.” he added, once they were both in agreement that they were ‘cool with each other’ at the very least... whatever that stood for.

Turning to Veera, he listened to her explanation of the situation with a smile. A full on assault on a place like Mt Obsidian for the purpose of collecting bounties? That was something he could get on board with... but hunting down any leads to find Veera’s beloved Bella? That was something he couldn’t stand not being a part of, as his smile faded when hers did. There it was... he hadn’t seen the woman go through her trauma, but he knew Veera well enough to understand that the electricity that danced in her eyes, building up into a wild storm, was capable of ravaging anything in its path... that was something even he wouldn’t dare get in the way of.

He was flattered when she indicated that she knew nobody better to join them and make the journey through it all by her side. Nodding again, he snickered, “Count me in. I don’t need excessive riches.” he admitted with a shrug, that part of his character having stuck with him from his previous life. He was never one to chase after the lavish lifestyle. “Just enough to keep me going.” he raised his cigarette, gesturing toward it as if to say as long as he had those, he was good to go, and then put it back into his mouth, where it belonged.

The trouble of working alone was the inconsistency of income - without knowing when he might receive his next stack of beri from any odd job here and there, he had to make sure the amounts were large to take a possible drought into account. If he had a stable source of income, that shouldn't be a problem.

"Put me to work, Miss Falcone, you know I'm good for it. So... when do I start?" he divided his attention between his two new co-workers.

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Shinsei: #ba0303