[surprisingly enough, he can be found actually doing his damn job! amazing. if you happen to be in the same area, or if you were looking for him, you may come across emet-selch buried in a few different texts. his chin is propped in his hand, slouched forward and bracing himself on one elbow while his free hand turns page after page; at a glance, he looks-- well, pretty bored, probably, but only at a glance. he does, in fact, seem pretty focused if you're paying attention, he's just out here ruining his posture while he's at it.
you might also catch him murmuring under his breath, as he pulls his attention from the pages and turns toward the other various materials here-]
-where did that timekeeping reference get off to.
[adjusting to a new world in general is one thing, and then you get into figuring out exactly how long ago 2:45 whichever-age was. anyway, he'll be at this intermittently if you want to wildcard any form of bothering him while he tries to sort through info.]
part 2: this was just important to me, thanks.
[when not at work, emet-selch tends to be out and around; he is still somewhat new and still not fully acclimated, though he's grown more comfortable here. so you can also catch him around town, checking out parts of the city, maybe just keeping a bit of an eye out to see if anything interesting is going on, maybe just relaxing while he has downtime.
this seems to be the last of those. he's found somewhere to just sit and vibe, possibly observe people passing by, except this time he is very pointedly ignoring an orange cat that's sitting on the hem of his coat.
it stares up at him, eyes wide, not a single thought in its fluffy head. he does not look at it. the cat meows; he nudges it with his foot (lightly) and the cat just rubs against his ankle before sprawling out. it then busies itself batting at the laces of his boots.
when he realizes he's not alone, here, he glances up, exhaling a sigh.]
It'll wander off when it realizes it isn't going to be fed, I'm sure.
[it looks perfectly content where it is.]
part 3: whatever else
[if you have something you want to throw at me, feel free to! i am here for all of it. come at me. hit me on plurk at probabiliteej if you want to make specific plans or have questions! other possible options include just daily stuff around the gallows/town; he tends to be awake into the night and likes to find somewhere higher up to observe from, you can catch him stargazing or just hanging around while things are quieter.]
[Sitting nearby and eating a little bag of almonds is an enormous man in loose, comfy clothing. He smells of wood oil and has the look about him of a well-fed bear who might drowse off at any moment, if there isn't something more interesting to do.]
"Maybe," Derrica agrees. "But that cat looks very comfortable to me, so you might need to give it some encouragement to move."
Having taken up the seat next to Emet-Selch on the low stone wall, Derrica's cursory attempt at help is to cluck her tongue sweetly towards the creature. Upon receiving a single, sidelong look, but no movement, Derrica seems to consider her demonstration sufficient.
At which point she studies Emet-Selch for a long moment, and perhaps comes to some conclusion.
"Are you waiting for the cat to leave?" she asks, not unkindly.
When the cat fails to move on her encouragement, he just exhales a little huff of a breath and gives it another nudge; it meows, but it just stretches up to put its paws on his knee, which he brushes off with a hand (though not with too much force.)
"Stop that," he mutters to it, before he turns his attention to Derrica.
"I don't particularly care what it decides to do, no," he says, with a wave of one hand. "But neither am I inclined to leave simply because it won't. It will have to find somewhere else to go when I decide to return."
This was his spot first, is the thing, the cat just so happens to have shown up before he was quite done with it.
"Do you come here often?" Derrica questions. She's reached down to give the cat a little scritch behind the ears, moving slowly so as to be careful of errant claws. "Maybe it's taken a shine to you."
There's a slanting smile up at Emet-Selch as she proposes this. He doesn't seem all that interested in having acquired the affections of a friendly neighborhood feline.
This is just a very clingy cat, basically, that has decided it likes him-- much in the way that any cat can identify an indifferent or allergic person with laser focus and immediately decide to hang around them. It doesn't at all mind the attention, though, leaning into that scritch behind the ears.
"I'm afraid it will have to live," he says, watching this, "with its inevitable disappointment."
[ Glimmer is in the midst of wandering by, coming from a foray out into the city to pick up a few things for herself. Mostly a bit of tea, ink, other supplies she might need for scribbling down her thoughts or keeping to herself. She pauses, a half-eaten meat pie in one hand, and peers down at the cat that's placed itself so firmly across Emet-Selch's ankles. She smiles, glances up as Emet-Selch speaks. ]
I dunno about that. It looks comfy.
[ She crouches down and uses her free hand to give the cat a little scratch behind the ears. It meows and nuzzles into the hand, then goes back to winding itself around Emet-Selch's ankles and chase his bootlaces. ]
[He has a keen memory for these sorts of things, regarding her with a faint, detached sort of curiosity. A face to go with the voice and name, at least-- but he doesn't remind her of his own immediately.]
[when it came to choosing someone to drag along on this little adventure-- well. of course it wasn't a hard decision, although good luck getting emet-selch to admit to that. he trusts astarion to be capable enough for this, and doesn't dislike his company, which are absolutely the only two reasons his name came to mind. it's fine.
the trip, at least, was not a terribly eventful one. he's kept to himself for much of it, outwardly as detached as ever, but he's kept a close eye on his surroundings ever since they departed. it's all unfamiliar territory, now, and he isn't one to be caught unaware, nor is he one to take unnecessary risks; he'd insisted on leaving enough time to properly prepare after arriving, to evaluate and observe and decide upon their course of action, and to find where to discuss that safely enough.]
Just how adept a climber are you, exactly.
[a reasonable enough place to start. if they can't go up from the exterior, that'll be one route struck from the list.]
Impressively adept. [Astarion offers proudly, still a touch transfixed by their afforded surroundings: Antiva's a far cry from its southern parallels (and near-parallels, in fact) and the balmy sea air coupled with only the most bustling trade-filled streets or sprawling vineyards is a remarkable change of pace.
It's entirely possible, were the world itself not tilted on its axis under the sway of a bastard Magister with delusions of grandeur, Astarion might simply take this opportunity at face value, and stay.
But that's not the way things are, right now, and the present moment is demanding.] If you'd like me to scale up onto the roof, I'd be more than happy to...but the matter of that excessive moonlight might make even my own pale silhouette stick out like a sore thumb.
The balconies would be safer, of course— although staff could easily be flitting about.
They could very well be, which is why it may be best to split our efforts. Move separately until we can join up once more-- at which point I ought to be able to let you know whether it is safe.
[because, yes, he is physically fit enough, but he would prefer not to have to scale up to a damn balcony. he's yet to test whether his so-called teleportation, as it is now, works going up quite as well. it should, but then many things should work better than they do.]
Fair enough. Far be it from me to dictate how to orchestrate your delectable show of subterfuge. [Yours, he says, as though this mission was entirely Emet-Selch's doing.]
But if you're not scampering along ledges with feline grace, where will you be headed?
After the decision has been made, there was not much else to say. So they've been mostly quiet in the process of observing the village, the aftermath of the hanging, the mourning, and the departure of the responsible soldiers.
"We'd best trail them a few miles," Ellis has says. "If we're lucky, the road will narrow and it'll make our work easier."
There hasn't been a discussion of exactly what it is this man is capable of. But Ellis can only assume he's been dispatched on this mission because he can deal with trouble.
Swinging up into the saddle, he watches the receding cluster of Imperium soldiers. Behind them, the village is blanketed in a miserable sort of quiet. Ellis doesn't look back at them.
He's watched all of these events impassively, for the most part. Not quite detached-- but only due to the measure of effort he puts in not to appear that way, to seem more resolute than simply... unaffected. The casualties of any war are an unfortunate thing, yes, but these aren't people he knows or particularly cares about. These things happen.
Emet-Selch doesn't bother to look back, either, once they both turn away.
"And if it does not turn out to make our work easier-- well. I take it you intend to proceed regardless?"
To Ellis' credit, there is a moment of real consideration. A weighing of what they allowed to happen to pursue this opportunity,
"Aye."
Is this any surprise? While they might not know each other very well beyond what they've decided together, there'd been some illumination in it. And for Ellis, ten men having lost their lives means that the pair of them must follow through on the trade off.
It'll be harder to deal with these soldiers in open combat, certainly. But it must be done. One way or another.
"Will you?" is maybe the crucial question. Ellis shouldn't take Emet-Selch's participation as a given.
Well, at least Ellis considers it. He's known plenty who would answer with no hesitation at all, with eagerness, and those he would be more tempted to just leave to their heroics. As it stands--
"I hardly intend to just leave them be, or to leave you to run off after them alone," he says, with a wave of one gloved hand.
(Just think of the report after that. No thank you.)
"We will handle them regardless... but I suppose I ought to ask what your preferred methods are, as well."
A better idea of how to approach this won't hurt, after all.
[It's not strange to find Emet-Selch at work at any sort of hour, honestly. He tends toward odd ones by default, often up late (or early, depending on how one looks at it), generally focused on whatever texts he's going through on that particular day.
It is less common, however, to find him in this sort of mood. He's just stalked out of one room, shutting the door behind him harder than necessary, and in fact very nearly walks right into Loki on his way out.]
Do you mind? [he snaps, before taking a better look. Well. That's a somewhat familiar face, actually.] -ah. I wouldn't have expected to find you here.
[ Loki's hands are open at his side, and gloved; a sign that he's not put off by Emet-Selch's apparently bad mood. He's just come in from Hightown, and was curious to see what some of the people he knows that still stay in the Gallows are up to in the Research department. ]
One day you'll learn that I tend to place myself in unexpected locales for fun and occasional profit. [ He tilts his head a little in greeting. ] Everything alright?
Well, I suppose it is good to know your history does not put you off the place entirely.
[Whatever has his feathers ruffled, though, he seems to quickly set it aside, exhaling and smoothing the tension from his posture as he does.]
Just some difficulty locating the correct materials. [His tone is airy enough, accompanied with a lazy wave of a hand.] A common enough problem, but hardly insurmountable.
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[surprisingly enough, he can be found actually doing his damn job! amazing. if you happen to be in the same area, or if you were looking for him, you may come across emet-selch buried in a few different texts. his chin is propped in his hand, slouched forward and bracing himself on one elbow while his free hand turns page after page; at a glance, he looks-- well, pretty bored, probably, but only at a glance. he does, in fact, seem pretty focused if you're paying attention, he's just out here ruining his posture while he's at it.
you might also catch him murmuring under his breath, as he pulls his attention from the pages and turns toward the other various materials here-]
-where did that timekeeping reference get off to.
[adjusting to a new world in general is one thing, and then you get into figuring out exactly how long ago 2:45 whichever-age was. anyway, he'll be at this intermittently if you want to wildcard any form of bothering him while he tries to sort through info.]
part 2: this was just important to me, thanks.
[when not at work, emet-selch tends to be out and around; he is still somewhat new and still not fully acclimated, though he's grown more comfortable here. so you can also catch him around town, checking out parts of the city, maybe just keeping a bit of an eye out to see if anything interesting is going on, maybe just relaxing while he has downtime.
this seems to be the last of those. he's found somewhere to just sit and vibe, possibly observe people passing by, except this time he is very pointedly ignoring an orange cat that's sitting on the hem of his coat.
it stares up at him, eyes wide, not a single thought in its fluffy head. he does not look at it. the cat meows; he nudges it with his foot (lightly) and the cat just rubs against his ankle before sprawling out. it then busies itself batting at the laces of his boots.
when he realizes he's not alone, here, he glances up, exhaling a sigh.]
It'll wander off when it realizes it isn't going to be fed, I'm sure.
[it looks perfectly content where it is.]
part 3: whatever else
[if you have something you want to throw at me, feel free to! i am here for all of it. come at me. hit me on plurk at
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[Sitting nearby and eating a little bag of almonds is an enormous man in loose, comfy clothing. He smells of wood oil and has the look about him of a well-fed bear who might drowse off at any moment, if there isn't something more interesting to do.]
Not sure your friend agrees. [Crunch, crunch.]
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[he glances down to the cat, there-- it's persistent, he'll say that much for it.]
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[He might be fucking with him, but he, also, has decided he has nothing better to do.]
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[there are always some of that type around, after all.]
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part 2.
Having taken up the seat next to Emet-Selch on the low stone wall, Derrica's cursory attempt at help is to cluck her tongue sweetly towards the creature. Upon receiving a single, sidelong look, but no movement, Derrica seems to consider her demonstration sufficient.
At which point she studies Emet-Selch for a long moment, and perhaps comes to some conclusion.
"Are you waiting for the cat to leave?" she asks, not unkindly.
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"Stop that," he mutters to it, before he turns his attention to Derrica.
"I don't particularly care what it decides to do, no," he says, with a wave of one hand. "But neither am I inclined to leave simply because it won't. It will have to find somewhere else to go when I decide to return."
This was his spot first, is the thing, the cat just so happens to have shown up before he was quite done with it.
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There's a slanting smile up at Emet-Selch as she proposes this. He doesn't seem all that interested in having acquired the affections of a friendly neighborhood feline.
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This is just a very clingy cat, basically, that has decided it likes him-- much in the way that any cat can identify an indifferent or allergic person with laser focus and immediately decide to hang around them. It doesn't at all mind the attention, though, leaning into that scritch behind the ears.
"I'm afraid it will have to live," he says, watching this, "with its inevitable disappointment."
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part 2;
I dunno about that. It looks comfy.
[ She crouches down and uses her free hand to give the cat a little scratch behind the ears. It meows and nuzzles into the hand, then goes back to winding itself around Emet-Selch's ankles and chase his bootlaces. ]
You made a friend.
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[That's exhaled nearly as a sigh. She's not the first one to say that about the cat, clearly.]
I shudder to think what your standards must be.
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[ Glimmer retorts with a smile. She makes a soft 'pspsps' at the cat, then straightens up a little, her head tilting to the side. ]
You sound familiar--have we talked on the Crystals?
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[He has a keen memory for these sorts of things, regarding her with a faint, detached sort of curiosity. A face to go with the voice and name, at least-- but he doesn't remind her of his own immediately.]
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(for astarion)
[when it came to choosing someone to drag along on this little adventure-- well. of course it wasn't a hard decision, although good luck getting emet-selch to admit to that. he trusts astarion to be capable enough for this, and doesn't dislike his company, which are absolutely the only two reasons his name came to mind. it's fine.
the trip, at least, was not a terribly eventful one. he's kept to himself for much of it, outwardly as detached as ever, but he's kept a close eye on his surroundings ever since they departed. it's all unfamiliar territory, now, and he isn't one to be caught unaware, nor is he one to take unnecessary risks; he'd insisted on leaving enough time to properly prepare after arriving, to evaluate and observe and decide upon their course of action, and to find where to discuss that safely enough.]
Just how adept a climber are you, exactly.
[a reasonable enough place to start. if they can't go up from the exterior, that'll be one route struck from the list.]
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It's entirely possible, were the world itself not tilted on its axis under the sway of a bastard Magister with delusions of grandeur, Astarion might simply take this opportunity at face value, and stay.
But that's not the way things are, right now, and the present moment is demanding.] If you'd like me to scale up onto the roof, I'd be more than happy to...but the matter of that excessive moonlight might make even my own pale silhouette stick out like a sore thumb.
The balconies would be safer, of course— although staff could easily be flitting about.
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[because, yes, he is physically fit enough, but he would prefer not to have to scale up to a damn balcony. he's yet to test whether his so-called teleportation, as it is now, works going up quite as well. it should, but then many things should work better than they do.]
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But if you're not scampering along ledges with feline grace, where will you be headed?
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forgive my delay.
After the decision has been made, there was not much else to say. So they've been mostly quiet in the process of observing the village, the aftermath of the hanging, the mourning, and the departure of the responsible soldiers.
"We'd best trail them a few miles," Ellis has says. "If we're lucky, the road will narrow and it'll make our work easier."
There hasn't been a discussion of exactly what it is this man is capable of. But Ellis can only assume he's been dispatched on this mission because he can deal with trouble.
Swinging up into the saddle, he watches the receding cluster of Imperium soldiers. Behind them, the village is blanketed in a miserable sort of quiet. Ellis doesn't look back at them.
absolutely zero worries
Emet-Selch doesn't bother to look back, either, once they both turn away.
"And if it does not turn out to make our work easier-- well. I take it you intend to proceed regardless?"
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"Aye."
Is this any surprise? While they might not know each other very well beyond what they've decided together, there'd been some illumination in it. And for Ellis, ten men having lost their lives means that the pair of them must follow through on the trade off.
It'll be harder to deal with these soldiers in open combat, certainly. But it must be done. One way or another.
"Will you?" is maybe the crucial question. Ellis shouldn't take Emet-Selch's participation as a given.
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"I hardly intend to just leave them be, or to leave you to run off after them alone," he says, with a wave of one gloved hand.
(Just think of the report after that. No thank you.)
"We will handle them regardless... but I suppose I ought to ask what your preferred methods are, as well."
A better idea of how to approach this won't hurt, after all.
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(for loki)
It is less common, however, to find him in this sort of mood. He's just stalked out of one room, shutting the door behind him harder than necessary, and in fact very nearly walks right into Loki on his way out.]
Do you mind? [he snaps, before taking a better look. Well. That's a somewhat familiar face, actually.] -ah. I wouldn't have expected to find you here.
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[ Loki's hands are open at his side, and gloved; a sign that he's not put off by Emet-Selch's apparently bad mood. He's just come in from Hightown, and was curious to see what some of the people he knows that still stay in the Gallows are up to in the Research department. ]
One day you'll learn that I tend to place myself in unexpected locales for fun and occasional profit. [ He tilts his head a little in greeting. ] Everything alright?
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[Whatever has his feathers ruffled, though, he seems to quickly set it aside, exhaling and smoothing the tension from his posture as he does.]
Just some difficulty locating the correct materials. [His tone is airy enough, accompanied with a lazy wave of a hand.] A common enough problem, but hardly insurmountable.
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[ Loki shakes his head a little. ]
I moved out because I no longer wished to deal with shared accommodations and people singing on the stairs at ridiculous hours of the morning.
[ A nod; Loki puts his hands in his pockets. ]
With the war front approaching so close and the trouble on the Minater, I imagine correct materials are rather difficult to locate.
Can I distract you with food? Or something else?
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