milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Makita is sitting at a table. Without her coat. The lack of the oversized garment makes her seem somehow smaller. It's much easier to tell that she spent much of her life without enough food.

On the table in front of her lies an impressive pile of weapons. Grenades, a number of pistols, a stack of magazines. And her room key. She's looking at them, trying to figure out how she's going to carry them all around now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well, yes, but we each have our own specialties. He knows about selling flowers, Audrey knows about arranging flowers, and I know about taking care of flowers and plants in general. We're a very well-oiled machine." There's a touch of pride, there.

Teamwork. That's something Makita understands. "Oh, that's good. I'm glad you've got a team." She thinks for a second, "So, Mr. Mushnik is your boss. Who's Audrey?"

Seymour brightens the second Makita mentions Audrey's name. Like someone turned on a switch.

"Audrey's our shop girl. And she's my best friend." Which is the truth. Mostly.

"She's really stylish, so she knows a lot about what colours and shapes go together. She's done all our best arrangements. And she's amazing with people - she knows what they want the minute they walk in the door."

Makita thinks about this for a second, "It sounds like she's the one who knows about selling flowers then. What does Mr. Mushnik do then?"

"No, Mr. Mushnik knows about selling flowers too - what to price them and what people want this year and stuff. He works the cash, handles the money, orders flowers and other things."

Seymour thinks about that for a moment. "Okay, so I guess he handles more the business side of things." He'd never actually thought about how much overlap there was between their jobs. "But we're still a well-oiled machine."

Makita gives Seymour a grin, "Well I'm glad you've got a team that works so well. Some people back home have trouble managing that kind of coordination."

Well, um, if they did have lack of teamwork, at least it won't result in anyone dying. Seymour opens his mouth to mention that, his internal censor says 'um, no, you moron' and he changes it to....

"We just...we know each other, is all. We've worked together for a few years."

"Yeah, Proto and Turko are like that back home. They don't even really need to talk much to know what the other is going to do." Makita says Proto's name in much the same way Seymour says Audrey's.

Seymour actually manages to pick up on that. His expression is suddenly more sympathetic.

"So, they're your teammates, back home? ...Where is home for you, anyway? I'm from New York, in the United States. If you know what that is."

She looks away and blushes slightly. "Um... yeah, we are."

"I met someone else from there? But I'm from Bahamut, in Nogorka. You probably haven't heard of it."

"It's good to care about your teammates," Seymour says inanely.

"Never heard of it. ...Kinda getting used to that," he adds. If he can get used to Knox being from Gotham, strange names aren't so bad.

She nods. "No one else has heard of it either. Which is good, I suppose, since it means that there aren't any Reds here. I don't know if I could follow the 'no business' rule if one showed up."

If Seymour knows anything, it's that he'll never have an enemy he hates so much that he'll violate the rules of Milliways.

"Yeah, I guess not. Especially if it was someone really important to the Reds." Hmmm. If Hitler came here, would someone try to assassinate him?

"So...uh, how are things...going? In the war? If you wanna talk about it. Which! You don't have to. Uh, at all. If you don't want to."

Makita doesn't mind talking about it, but most people don't find it to be a very comfortable topic. "We kill a bunch of Reds, they just send more. For the most part we fight, and we die."

People like Seymour!

He was hoping for something more general and less blunt.

"No hope for peace?" he asks tentatively.

"Well, I suppose the Reds could always choose to give up. But I don't think that's going to happen. They've only done it once that I know of."

"Oh, when was that?"

"Al'istaan. About ten years ago. Kar Dathra... All reports say that he wiped out the invasion fleet with a single Protokol." Her eyes are wide, she can't imagine someone having that much power.

"Wow," Seymour murmurs, suitably impressed.

Then, "Uh, Protokol's a gun, right?"

He wants to know what exactly he's being impressed about.

Makita eyes Seymour. Everyone knows what a Protokol is... Back home.

"Oh. Um, Kasting? I think I've heard it called 'magic' around here?"

"Um!"

Magic. Right.

"Okay. Uh. Magic. ...Like, chant a few words and something happens?"

"Well, it's something like that. I'm not a sorceress myself, so I don't know how it works. The Reds use it for all sorts of stuff. Like Gates. It lets them send reinforcements wherever they want."

"Can your side do stuff like that?"

She shakes her head, "The Reds can detect Kastings too, and they'll turn any area where we try to use on into an inferno. Their Skyfurnaces control the skies, so there's nothing we can do to stop that."

Seymour looks over at her weaponry. "Maybe, uh, you could sneak onto a Skyfurnace and blow it--" Wait, if Skyfurnace = jet airplane? No.

"Nevermind," he adds quickly. "I'm just a florist."