InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Stick 'em with the pointy end"

Colonel Rawdon Crawley (cpt_crawley) wrote in spinningcompass,
@ 2020-05-11 23:32:00

Entry tags:

blank, brynhild, jacob frye, scarlet, shepard, sophia peletier (oe), suzume

Who: OPEN
Where: Bryn's club
When: Evening, May 11th
What: Surprise party for Sophia!
Open: Yes
Rating: TBD

When Sophia first arrived at the club, she would find only Rawdon sitting with two champagne glasses and a bottle. She might notice the party decorations, but Rawdon would have left the lights off everywhere except just at the area he was occupying.

After initial greetings of 'happy birthday' and so on, Rawdon popped the cork on the champagne - and everyone else knew that that was their cue to leap out of their hiding places, for the club lights to switch on, the music to start, and everyone to shout "SURPRISE!"

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-18 05:35 pm UTC (link)

"Why would I be jealous? I can have his attention whenever I want it, and I don't just mean when I'm lobbing oranges at his head to prevent the scurvy." Jacob made a face then gave her a wink. Maybe he was a little jealous, but he knew himself well enough that it was more about the attention rather than who was giving or not giving it. He'd perhaps gotten too used to being the boss in London, to having men tip their hats and ladies shoot him flirtatious glances when he passed. Relative anonymity might be good for him, might deflate his ego a little.

What a horrible thought.

"Clearly you've got your eye on some driftwood now it seems." His mind didn't need much stirring, it always went to the lowest places first. "I take it your condition explains why the smell of sun and sea are much more appealing than the smell of London and," he paused to consider himself a moment. If he smelled of the work he did she likely would have mentioned it, so much blood would have been strong in her nose. Everything else he came up with either wasn't pleasant or came back to blood. "Whatever else might be clinging to me. We all want what we can't have."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-19 03:21 am UTC (link)

What could she say, she was amused by pervy humor. "Well, I was a shieldmaiden. We traveled by ship to most places we wanted to free of their riches. Does that not sound a little familiar?" She knew what it sounded like. "But I don't dislike your smell, I made my home in London for a little while. There is just a little heartache that goes with that, is all." And broken promises. "But I can go out in the sun, now, thanks to this little trinket." She held up her arm, and on it lay a simple bracelet.

"But I meant actual woodwork. Would you like to see? My apartment is just there." She pointed to the pair of doors just a few feet. They would have to be quiet, because there was an infant inside, but she didn't have a problem showing him.

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-19 03:38 am UTC (link)

"London certainly is the city of heartache, I wouldn't argue with you on that one." He'd been so light and naive when he first went to London and while the city had torn at his heart until it broke more than once he'd somehow managed to retain that light. Maybe some of that naivety too, though he liked to think it more assuming the best of people. He hadn't been wrong every time. "And that's quite the nifty little trinket then. If one of the doors allows it we'll have to get you and Kenway out on a boat."

Better on the water than in space, no matter what the Pirate tried to tell himself, even Jacob would know it wasn't the same.

He finished his drink before he answered, "Actual woodwork? Honestly, I'm intruged. If you can promise me we won't be gone so long as for me to miss my chance to pay my respects to the birthday girl, I would be honored to see what you've made."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-19 06:12 am UTC (link)

"I have hopes that there will be another door. There was one to Tortuga, but it was a while ago. I did do a little bit of pirating. But I will say, going out on the ocean, and going out into space are two different things." Bryn actually shuddered. "The rapscallion has talked me into flying with him. I haven't ever taken an airplane, and I'm going to be getting in a spaceship." Because of promised stories. And gods knew what else.

Bryn stepped back and placed her hand against the pad that would open the doors. "Actual woodwork. What did you think I'd use a line like that to have you sneak off with me so that I could have my way with you?" She could hardly help the tease. "I would try to be a little more subtle than 'come into my apartment' I promise." She winked at him as she backed her way in through the doors.

As soon as he would walk in he'd find the area looking more like a Viking longhouse instead of an apartment on a space station. Down to the 'thatched roof' over head. There were modern aminaties too of course, she was spoiled by them after all. The room was one great room, with the kitchen exposed to the sitting area, with a couch made of wood, and furs, a chair that was much the same. The kitchen would only look like it was made of stone.

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-19 06:51 am UTC (link)

Jacob's brows went up at the notion of her flying with Edward, "Better you than I, I refuse and I will continue to refuse. If you see him carrying me off to a ship one day I would hope you would do the kind thing and put one or the other of us out of our misery."

He put his glass down where he could and then followed after her, "How kind of you. And while I may flirt and be the most charming man in this area of space, I promise you it takes more than a simple invitation to one's rooms to get into my trousers." Which wasn't truly a joke when it came to Jacob. He liked to flirt and for the most part, he was good at it until he wasn't, it made most assume that he was a little freer with himself than he actually was. It hadn't always been like that but having to keep a part of himself hidden away from everyone, even his twin, had taken a toll. "A man would have to be a fool not to be disappointed with that not being on the table though."

Any other words that might have come slowly faded away as he took a step inside and was struck by the interior. Not only was she a vampire with a hunger for pirates and excellent taste in brandy, but she was also a witch of some description. Or it was the technology. In any case, it was incredible and Jacob found himself staring slack-jawed. "Bloody hell."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-19 08:05 am UTC (link)

"I don't know if I could do that, when one of you could woo me onto a ship with the line 'I have stories of Anne Bonny' and the other... well..." Bryn gave him a long once over. His shoulders were broad enough to fill out that coat, and she was sure that there was more to it than just the frill. "I think I like you too much for that. Besides if you do get coaxed on, and I took you out of your misery, who would I complain about charming driftwood to?" She was also sure that he could take her out, if he had the want. There weren't a whole lot of people she had that sense for.

She smiled at him though, and came up and patted his shoulder lightly, and with a slight chuckle. "Now would you like to change that? Or are you not quite impressed enough that I couldn't whisper in your ear..." She leaned in closer and whispered, "It's not completely off the table." Though she wasn't serious at all. If she felt that his flirty nature was more than just flirty, perhaps she would think it over more seriously.

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-19 08:34 am UTC (link)

"I am weak where capable women are concerned." He admitted quietly, feeling gooseflesh start to rise, and a pleasant chill race down his spine. He told himself it was because of what she was. She was a creature of legend that could kill him if she got a little too hungry, and they always went for the neck, didn't they? That was very Jacob though, facing down a whole city of templars and Blighters made him excited with not even a drop of fear, a woman like Bryn though, there came his nerves.

He felt like he did an admirable job of hiding them as he screwed a smirk on his lips and tried to keep himself looking confident, "Madam, if I wasn't certain that I wouldn't just be an aperitif, something to keep you warm for the man you intend to have later, I might take your closeness a little more seriously. You're welcome to my throat if it pleases you, anything more than that? Well, it's all a little too intimate for me just to be thrown over for Kenway in the morning."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-19 08:57 am UTC (link)

"I was only teasing you. But I do thank you for the offer. I don't take from the throat though, that's dangerous. And me being as old as I am, I don't have to feed that often. And I did so just the week before you and Edward showed up. For reasons I don't understand, because I'm no scientist, the blood of enhanced humans can sustain me for a month, maybe longer." It had shocked her to the core that he'd offered to feed her. He was not only a flirt, but kind too. That in itself rang something deep inside her.

Bryn lightly bumped his shoulder with hers. "I would not throw you over for Kenway. But you deserve far better than me." Most did, that didn't mean she didn't want though. But before things could get to serious she grinned at him, before pulling away to a respectable distance. "And anyway, I said I would do more than invite you into my room if I wanted to seduce you. You are a man of London, you would be wined, and dined before I asked you to remove your trousers. I just didn't expect you to be that impressed with my craftsmanship. The only thing here that would be difficult for your average human to do is the thatch work." She pointed toward the ceiling.

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-19 09:14 am UTC (link)

The notion of different sorts of blood doing different things for her probably shouldn't have surprised him yet he found himself fascinated by the idea. If this place brought all sorts of people together she could likely have her pick of the best blood for her, she could be quite the gourmand and take different blood for different occasions. It was a wild thought and he would have to ask her about what she could do when he got his thoughts about it in order.

"I've said those words often enough myself," he admitted with a more genuine smile as he watched her move. "I have yet to find someone who actually listens. Maybe nobody wants what they actually deserve? No, that's too close to deep thought and that is to be avoided like the plague. And while I may have come from London I was not there long enough to completely blow the Crawley dirt off me, I promise I am not nearly as fancy as my taste in brandy suggests." He glanced down at his coat briefly then back up to the ceiling, "Alright, so perhaps I like fancy. Call it being appreciative of craftsmanship, it sounds better and it explains away why I might be so impressed by what you've been able to do with this place. I'd call it magic but I don't want to be disrespectful to the obvious skill and care that went into it."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-20 04:01 am UTC (link)

"Oh, so when I do decide to seduce you, it doesn't all have to be all caviar and fine cuts of meat?" The teasing was to fun, especially since deep thoughts had threatened to darken things. Why not drag them back in the gutter, where it was light and teasingly flirty.

Bryn was tickled at the complement though. "Well, my services are free, if you want to change the inside of your apartment, or you want to learn, I can teach you. It takes time. But..." She shrugged. What else did she have if not time? "I did the inside of the little unnamed club too. Will do this one to, but I have to have a large amount of lumber that I like, because I want it to look like a Grand Hall." Like it had that one Halloween... That had been fun.

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-20 04:40 am UTC (link)

"I intend to make you work for it if you do, I was knighted by Queen Victoria herself. I ought to be a little harder to get, don't you think? Not very many of us left kicking around, I'm a limited edition." he teased right back. "As much as I like nice things, I am not so easily bought. It will take more than a nice meal, I can promise you that at least." Not that he would admit these days, but there were a few ways that were relatively quick shortcuts to his heart and body. It had taken him a long time not to wear them on his sleeve for all to see.

He finally looked back to her with a shake of his head, "I'm too impatient to learn, and practice isn't something I've concerned myself with for a very long time. But engaging you to make something that would make my space a little more like home isn't out of the realm of possibility. Though I would feel wrong to ask you to do any sort of work like that for me without recompense. Sadly, most of my skills are much more destructive than constructive."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-20 07:23 am UTC (link)

"Good, it's no fun if it's not a challenge." Which wasn't exactly true, she knew she would lay with anyone she had interest in, without the fight. But it did sound better. And she was just teasing him. It wasn't often that she found she liked a person as quickly as she did Jacob.

All joking aside Bryn raised her eyebrows at him. "With all the time you will have, you don't want to pick up a new skill? It's not hard. It's more repetitive than anything else. I hadn't done this in more than a thousand years, and my muscles just.. remembered most of it. I just had to work out how to adhere it to the walls." She'd shaped the logs and all of that herself. "But, if you come up with a design, if you can draw, you can help me bring it to life. It's more hands on things, than books and learning."

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-20 07:49 am UTC (link)

"I've never shied away from the difficult, I simply tend toward restlessness in mind and body." His twin would have made several jokes then about Jacob and his attention span when things were not explicitly about him. Evie was at least understanding with her teasing, it never came from somewhere cruel, and she'd often done her best to help him in the times when he'd fallen short of their father's expectations. He did the same for her when he could. He hoped she was living a happy life with Henry in India, she'd seemed so happy during his visit.

"Not sure I have had enough time to grow restless enough to start considering new skills. But I may have a talent for carving, I have a way with knives." And to illustrate his point he turned his wrist, exposing the underside of his gauntlet as he extended his hidden blade. Of course, as soon as he'd had it out he flexed his arm and made it retract with that same metallic scraping sound. "Or maybe I just have a lot of knives. I will have to get back to you about a design."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-20 10:49 am UTC (link)

Bryn started nodding when he mentioned carving, but whatever she was going to say died on her lips, when his blade ejected from his sleeve. And then retracted. She had known he was a deadly one. It was her turn to get gooseflesh. She shivered. And it wasn't entirely in a bad way. She backed up a step and started fanning her face lightly.

"I'm going to be forward and say that was a very odd thunderous turn on. And one of the weirdest ones ever." Her words were slightly lisped as her fangs had clicked down out of their sheathes. She leaned down tossing her braided hair down in front of her, as she breathed. Maybe it was partially fear based? But the vampire could say that there wasn't much that scared her. "If my heart beat was faster it would be slamming against the inside of my chest right now." She admitted with a chuckle.

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-20 05:00 pm UTC (link)

Jacob laughed, he couldn't help himself. It shouldn't have surprised him, many of the women in the Rooks had responded in the same way to him after seeing him work, though their interest had been less obvious. And there were the ladies who frequented the fight clubs who stared at him like they wanted to devour him after his victories. Other Assassins didn't seem to be immune either, he was fairly certain that the child his fiancée was carrying had been conceived the night they'd gotten a little overexcited and cut her skirts and corset from her with his hidden blade. She had a blade of her own and knew how to use it, the other women had been him fight, Bryn just seemed excited by the idea. That was new.

"If you have a fondness for blades, I have several on me, if you'd like to see them." He offered with a smile. Maybe he shouldn't have been encouraging her, but Jacob was very good at bad ideas. "If it was just that one, well, I have excellent news for you about our dear Captain Kenway and that gauntlet you've seen him wearing. Ask him nicely and he might show it to you. It might be more fun than his pirate stories."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-20 08:31 pm UTC (link)

Bryn slowly stood straight. Humor in the her narrowed eyes, she 'glared' at him. "You know some would say you are a cock tease." There would be no relaxing her upper jaw enough to retract her fangs for some time. But she chuckled. The sharper teeth had slid smoothly, and seamlessly if you didn't have a microscope, in place elongating her canine teeth.

"It is more the danger behind the blade than the blade itself. But... If you show me yours I'll show you mine." She stayed a good distance from him as she moved to a wall just before the kitchen started. Not that she was afraid of him, or what he'd do. But she'd made a promise, to him, and she aimed to keep it. "It doesn't hurt the fact that I've been reading some steamy novels that are considered 'bodice rippers'."

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-20 08:55 pm UTC (link)

"Bodice rippers?" He made himself ask rather than making some sort of joke about what she called him. It may have revealed that he was not as picky about what was between his lovers' legs as society would have liked him to be, and he wasn't entirely sure if that was a safe thing to admit on the station. The lower number of people who knew the safer he felt back in London, though he doubted he would have been thrown into prison for life if he'd been caught on the station. "I can't say I'm familiar with that term but that does sound rather intriguing as I someone who has ripped a few bodices in his time and often found it very enjoyable."

He pulled his coat open more, showing that he was as armed as he implied. On one thigh was his kukri, the handle of the blade started at his hip and the point stopped just below his knee, the leather of the sheath close enough to the color of his trousers that it didn't stand out if someone caught a peek while he was walking. On the other thigh and snugly set in that same leather was a row of eight throwing knives and above that on his hip was the holster for his Self-Loading Pistol Model 1868. There were other things on his belt as well, they looked like grenades, round ones on one side of the belt and more cylindrical ones on the other. Of course, there were more things hidden in his coat and in his boot but he had to leave some mystery.

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-21 03:25 am UTC (link)

"They're romance novels that lean more towards the getting to the sex part, than actual story. Some of them can be very bad, as in throw them out the nearest port hole bad, but some of them... Can be..." It was right about then that she noticed the kukri. If her hand hadn't been on the wall she would have easily slid to her knees.

Bryn gave herself a little shake. "Some of them do very well at erm, starting fires and stroking embers." She finally lifted her gaze back to meet his and gave him a grin, quite proud of her innuendo. "I'll let you borrow one if you'd like." She did her very best not to point out that if anyone were to walk into the room and only see just over his shoulder, they would probably think he was giving her a peek at something else. "But it is a good thing you are not easy. With that large coat so packed with sharp pointy things, a girl could step into your personal space and have her pick." Of course she refrained and pressed her hand against some pads she'd had installed. Flinching slightly, with a hiss that was given away because of her fangs.

The wall behind her popped back and slid away. "Your collection is very impressive though."

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-21 04:01 am UTC (link)

"Ooh, we are having fun now aren't we?" Jacob chuckled, letting his coat fall back into place. "I do need to brush up on my reading, seems I'll have the time now. I'd appreciate any recommendations that will keep me away from looking at any twentieth-century history books." He'd never encountered a woman who was so excited about a man with a weapon, or who was excited in the way she seemed to be. He wasn't sure if this was a great thing or if the universe was trying to show him a massive red flag and he was just too blind to see it.

Maybe he'd ask Edward, after all she was drooling over him first.

"If Kenway and I can decide on an armory you'll, of course, be welcome to come take a tour," he said watching the walls move. "Until them we both have to keep our collections down to what we can carry on us."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-21 06:08 am UTC (link)

"Well, my knees were weak Jacob. And you can hardly blame me." She teased lightly, her shoulders lifted slightly in a delicate shrug. "And I have just the starter book for you. But before I get you that, welcome to my armory. And storage... And a bit of a library." It was mostly storage. It had to be for her to be able to have two working clubs, and keep them stocked. Bryn stepped back into the room, beckoning him to follow. There were many barrels and boxes and storage for wines. There was also one whole wall that was taken up by shelves of books, most of them aged, the spines covered in illegible scawl or ancient languages.

Then on a second wall housed swords of different shapes and sizes and axes, all held up by different brackets. There were also shields. All of it looked well used, and old. Aged back from when she still took 'spoils of battle' before she realized how unimportant it was. There were only three items that seemed to hold importance. A sword and shield that were housed on a pedestal and a large battle axe that shared it, stored away from the others. As if it were kept so one could come in and grab it, and go.

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-21 06:33 am UTC (link)

He followed her without hesitation, his eyes drawn to the weapons right away. He couldn't help himself, there was hardly anything that felt better than a well-made weapon in his hand doing exactly what it had been made for. Not that he was snobbish about it, he was happy enough to kill a man with a broken chair leg if he had the opportunity, but as with his coat and with her living space, he appreciated craftsmanship.

He knew he looked a bit like a child in a sweets shop, eyes large and appreciative as he looked over the weapons. He kept his hands to himself, though it seemed that was particularly hard for him when his eyes fell on the axes, fingers flexing a little. He knew better than to ask to pick one up as his problem would be putting it back down again and not reaching for every other weapon in the room. "Bryn, this is glorious," he said when he looked back to her, his eyes falling to the weapons on special display. "Something like this, exactly what I need."

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-21 07:44 am UTC (link)

"Well, probably without all the booze. This would be enough to probably do both you and Edward in, possibly a hundred times over. You can touch anything you want to touch. The only ones that are still sharp are the sword, and axe there." She nodded toward the items on the pedestal. "Just be careful with the sword, my daughter needs it soon, when she gets married, and it's freshly sharpened." She figured he knew how to handle blades, with as many as he had on his person.

Bryn leaned against one of the bookshelves and just watched him. Her arms crossed loosely over her chest. "I'll even let you keep one of the ones on the wall, if you can find one that is well weighted to you." There were longswords, short swords, scimitars, halberds, all ranging from the ninth century until swords became obsolete chachkis. Dust collectors.

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-21 08:07 am UTC (link)

"I may have spoken too soon about not being able to be bought." He said with a light smile and quick wink before returning his attention to the wall. "We were taught sword combat in our teen years, mostly rapiers, but even then we knew they were on the way out. I was desperate to get my hands on firearms instead, but they were much too loud for the work we were supposed to be learning. I did eventually get my pistols, but smaller blades, ones that can be concealed or simply ones you can hide under a coat, and the ones in the canes, that is where my heart decided to stay. Them and my collection of brass knuckles since sometimes one needs to hit someone else very hard."

He picked up one of the short swords, giving it a little spin. It was apparent that he knew what he was doing with it, but it didn't quite match up with what he was looking for. He put it back carefully before much more carefully picking up a halberd. "Sentimental then? These are not collector's showpieces. Are you planning on going to war again, shieldmaiden?"

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Bryn/Jacob

brynhild_ingouf
2020-05-21 08:55 am UTC (link)

Bryn couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I'm not trying to buy you. I'm simply being neighborly." Like offering a cup of milk or sugar. In this case it was something sharp and pointy. She had admired his collection, why not add to it with something older? And possibly from his own people.

She watched him swing the sword. "I've tried using the knuckles, they hurt more than helped, but I can hit pretty hard without aid." It was part of what she was. Stronger and faster than she had been when she was human, though that had waned a little as she'd gotten older. She wasn't nearly as strong as she had been when she'd been first made. "No, they came with my things when I arrived here. And they seem... not as good as what other people have to offer so I've never offered them. They are simply weapons I've taken from people I bested in battle, across the european nations. Except the ones on the pedestal. That sword, my husband made for me to replace the one he gave me when we were wed. The shield is one I made myself before our first raid together. And that was his battle axe. Everything else.... I have no attachment to. It's just hard to not take care of them at least a little."

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Bryn/Jacob

derailedatrain
2020-05-22 06:10 am UTC (link)

He didn't doubt that she could hip pretty hard. That was part of the stories, wasn't it? Undead creatures were supposedly incredibly physically strong. Then again they were supposedly horrible grotesque monsters out to kill innocent young maidens and wayward young men. She was far too beautiful in his eyes to match any part of that description. He settled on the old stories being nonsense and wisely put the halberd back before he did any damage to anything.

"No point in letting them fall into disrepair, you may need them again. Either to fight with or as a way to bribe two very handsome gentlemen of a certain occupation to do your bidding." He picked up one of the scimitars, testing the edge of it with his thumb, thankfully not breaking the skin. He did a small test swing with it, a smile coming to his face as he enjoyed the weight and balance of the weapon. "Well, you can bribe one with these, the other might prefer the rum but he could probably do with another set of swords. He's still in the middle of his battles as far as I understand it, not a great deal of time for maintenance. I've had the time to take care of my weapons."

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Bryn/Jacob -

brynhild_ingouf, 2020-05-22 07:28 am UTC

Bryn/Jacob -

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brynhild_ingouf, 2020-05-22 08:54 am UTC

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derailedatrain, 2020-05-23 04:24 am UTC

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brynhild_ingouf, 2020-05-23 05:25 am UTC

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