ANNOUNCEMENT 012

[intercom_voice]

[Whoops. She's running a little late it seems, for today, the intercoms buzz into action a little late.]

Ahem. Attention, students!

[The husky voice of - well, the Voice that speaks over the intercom - echoes through the halls.]

Now that we're all done with our bout of spring sickness, it's time to buckle down to our studies! Remember that tests may appear at any time, and it would be such a shame if you were all to fail and be kept back another year.

And don't forget to be welcoming to our new arrivals, won't you? They're quite behind the times, after all.

[Click.]

Speak to the Voice
General Mingle

Comments

[vengeance_driven]

Lots of cards there?

[He knocks some down and grumbles, starting to fit them back into a deck so he can start over.]

My cousin Roman used to keep cards around. I am not so good at gambling, and neither was he, but he liked it more. Always with dreams of making it big and always with me trying to pay off his debts.

[He sounds like he misses him, though. So he could qualify as a poor sap. He leans back in the chair to shuffle the cards a little more.] So is getting warmer. I was thinking of making a try for the barrier at some point.

[wildcard_of_the_desert]

[She laughs merrily.] I live in New Vegas, in a casino. Hell, almost every building left in the city is a casino.

[At the mention of seeking out the barrier, her smiles and laugh die down some. Tilting her head a little, Sibyll watches him curiously.]

What're you hoping to find?

[vengeance_driven]

Like Monte-Carlo or Las Venturas then, ah? [He is shuffling some more. Just for something to do with his hands.]

I have no idea. Something that is not weird bullshit like this school. Or more weird bullshit. It's hard to say.

[High ambitions Mr. Bellic has. He half-shrugs helplessly and offers her the deck.] Big gambling place teach you any tricks?

[wildcard_of_the_desert]

Monte-Carlo? Las Venturas?

[She blinks, thinking.]

Oh, right, your world's like mine, but with some weird change. Like the Statue of Liberty was... something else.

[Says the woman from New Vegas, where Elvis has his own cult.]

So...maybe it's like Las Ventanas?

[The mention of gambling tricks makes her laugh again.]

What have I learned? House always wins in the end, so if you wanna win, control the house.

[vengeance_driven]

Happiness. In Liberty City. [That's still confusing to him. But he just shrugs and laughs his mean little laugh.]

This is why I don't like to gamble. I never like owing the house. But yeah, ah, big city. Elvis. That sort of thing. Lots of lights. Never been there, though. Monte-Carlo is like that too, but it's by the coast instead of the desert. I've been there. It's nice. Loud, like most cities, but nice.

[He's still very much a country boy, and coming from Serbia his definition of "nice" leaves something to be desired.]

[wildcard_of_the_desert]

So Las Ventanas is also in the desert? Maybe it's your version of Las Vegas. Is it still the city of sin?

[She laughs throatily. Some things never change, despite the name.]

And what's this 'Monte-Carlo'? Never heard of that before. Where is it?

[vengeance_driven]

Maybe. It is in the desert, in the state of San Andreas. [Which is a little different. But the question of Monte-Carlo makes him think of the ships again.]

It's in Europe on the French Riviera. I was in the Merchant Navy [and he was a smuggler] so I saw a lot of travel. I've never been good at settling into places.

[wildcard_of_the_desert]

[She listens to him reminisce with naked curiosity. For ever common trait their worlds shared, there was also some vast difference that was as alien as any science fiction holovid.]

You were in the navy? What's living on a boat like?

[vengeance_driven]

It was fine. You're trapped on the open ocean with a ship full of men that can barely keep it in their pants and you sleep in a bunk so you hear everything, even when they think they are being quiet.

Everything stinks, too.

But then when you go on the deck? Everything smells salty and fresh. Sometimes you hear gulls, and sometimes you only hear ocean. You can see for miles around you, and when the ocean is being good it's just patterns of small waves. The sound of them can put you to sleep at night, and the rocking of the boat too. Where there are no cities at all, the stars are at their brightest. And the wind that hits you is always at least a little cool.

[He liked it. Despite what happened on Bulgarin's ship, he liked it.]

You've been in the desert your whole life?

Oh wtf DW? No email notifs?! >:C

[wildcard_of_the_desert]

[From the way he described it, it certainly sounded unpleasant. But she couldn't miss the sincere fondness in Niko's voice.]

I don't think I have the stomach for it. 'specially not with such close quarters. I hadn't even seen an ocean for myself until I got to this place. Back home I never went that far west. Takes too long to get there just on foot.

I think it's been dumping Niko's in spam for some people.

[vengeance_driven]

I get tired of the cities. Most of the people are assholes and treat each other badly. A few over-horny sailors that learn to be decent to one another is much better to put up with.

[He laughs about that.]

Have you been in a place for so long as you have been here?

Poor Niko. You're not spam

[wildcard_of_the_desert]

[She's silent for just a second too long. The smile's still there, but her eyes have an odd light to them.]

Nah. Even though I like the cities, but I am still a courier. Just can't help but wander. Though this'll be a new record for how long I've been gone. Last time I really dropped off the map was only for about a week. Felt like longer, though.

[vengeance_driven]

[He raises one of his thick brows at that.]

What happened the last time you drop off the map? [He... tries with English. He should switch back to Serbian but the fact is he's worried he'll get out of the habit.]

[wildcard_of_the_desert]

[At the memories of the Sierra Madre, Sibyll's eyes light back up with an almost fevered gleam. Her grin goes from an uncertain mask to a sharp, feral edge in a fraction of a second.]

I made a man very, very sorry he thought about trying to enslave me.

[Her desire for revenge may be her undoing, but Sibyll doesn't regret trapping Elijah in his tomb for a second. She still clearly takes pleasure out of it.]

[vengeance_driven]

Too bad you didn't meet some Russians I knew. [He would have liked to have seen some of Bulgarin's "stock" turn on him. Niko hadn't liked his job, hadn't liked Bulgarin, and still resents that the man is allowed to live. He only leaves it because his cousin told him to. But if he has his way-]

;A; Sorry for sucking so much and falling behind.

[wildcard_of_the_desert]

[Sibyll has a peculiar relationship with slavery. The Legion practiced it so heavily that most women were slaves. However, she was fairly confident Caesar would make an exception for her. He was not stupid and had seen how destructive she could be when it came to her enemies.

And yet she still grinned like a shark when Niko mentioned Russians and slavery.]

I know I'd have fun with them. Hope you didn't have to spend too long with that group.

Is fine! You had a powerful sick.

[vengeance_driven]

[Niko had hated it. Always hated it. Hated the trade, hated the people behind it, hated everything. But if asked to do something he hated for someone that he loved, he's always found it a difficult choice. For his mother to remain safe, he would have done anything. So that's why he gets to carry around that and many other crimes on his shoulders.]

Any time with those men is too long. They treat everyone like shit.

No I just have no excuse /shot

[wildcard_of_the_desert]

I suppose just killing them wasn't an option?

[Sometimes there were just some groups of people who just needed a good, old-fashioned killing. It wasn't usually Sibyll's first option, but sometimes there was just a prison or vault full of scum who just needed to be removed from the face of the Mojave.]

[vengeance_driven]

They are dead enough now. But there were I'm from, you kill one, another rises to take it's place. Like the head of a... that snake from myths. That that. It's just how crime works.

And once someone gets into it, you need permission from everyone to leave. Even then, they do not let you go.