[centre][h1][color=00ff64][u]Ibraham : Part 1[/u][/color][/h1][/centre] [centre][h3][color=00ff64]Location: Balmung Castle | Banquet Hall | Mentions: n/a[/color][/h3][/centre] [hr] [b]“That’s bollocks.”[/b] the Faye nobleman cackled, the tint of his cheeks signifying that he was well into his cups by now. Beside him, a scruffy man sputtered and shook his head, gesturing across the room with his mug. [color=00ff64]“No no, I swear it on me life - hells, I swear it on me mum’s life. Fuck a Blight, I found the Mother right then and there. Thought she was gonna crush my head with ‘em.”[/color] he said, drawing another fit of laughter from the well-dressed drunkard and a rolling of the eyes from the women across the table from him before she turned her head away from the conversation. The scruffy man noticed her avert her gaze out of the corner of his eye. He brought his mug to lips as the laughing waned, the mead only splashing his closed lips before he pulled the mug away and wiped his forearm across his mouth, which prompted the Faye to follow with his own drink. Ibraham then turned in his seat closer toward the man, laying a hand on his shoulder and looking at his face. [b]“Stop. Stop. You did not bed the Limbtaker.”[/b] the man said, shaking his head with a grin. [color=00ff64]“Hear me out: she does this thing with the ears-”[/color] he started which spurred another fit of choked laughter and a strained gasping of [b]"Earfucker"[/b] from the mark. The man turned his body partially toward Ibraham, who dropped his hand. Ibraham shifted his eyes toward the next table over and reached across his neighbor, pointing with his mug at the sullen looking robed Mystrel woman as he nodded towards her. As he moved in, his free hand found its way to the strings attaching the obviously wealthy man’s gilpurse to his belt. He pinched a string, only beginning to pull lightly when the man moved to follow Ibraham’s gesture. As the man’s body turned in that way drunken folk tend to when they’ve imbibed enough alcohol to make moving one’s neck too daunting a task, Ibraham deftly tugged at the knot, freeing the gilpurse that he pinched with his remaining fingers, stopping it from falling to the ground. He moved the purse to his own coat, storing it inside before returning his free hand to his own side, undoing the knot on one of his own pouches before palming it. It would be about that time that the woman in question would speak up to insult every person in the room. As the conversations in the room died down due to the outburst, Ibraham leaned towards his drinking buddy, [color=00ff64]“Bet she’d slap the piss outta me if I went over there.”[/color] he said quietly to his mark with a chuckle. When his companion didn’t immediately turn to respond, instead seemingly fixated on the woman, the pickpocket moved the dummy pouch to the man’s side. [b]“Then do it.”[/b] the man said. For a brief moment, Ibraham froze, thinking that he’d been made, but then he relaxed again as the man turned back toward him snickering. [b]“Fifty gil says she doesn’t even give you the time of day.”[/b] he challenged. Ibraham laughed, hiding his relief. [color=00ff64]“So either I get slapped, or I give you fifty gil? That’s a pretty shitty deal, don’tcha think?”[/color] he asked. The drunk grinned. [b]“That a no, then?”[/b] he asked. [color=00ff64]“I never said that.”[/color] Ibraham grinned back. About that time, the king gave his response. Blah blah blah shadows at the gates, blah blah no hope, blah blah - Ten million gil? Ibraham’s eyes shot over to Leonhart. He blinked, stunned at what he had heard. Ten million gil? As the excitement spread over those gathered, Ibraham’s eyes flicked over those seated at his table. They seemed capable enough but… His gaze flickered back over to the walking war crime that had been his distraction for the evening. She had a reputation. He had heard the muttering when she first entered the hall and then during the outburst. She was a known quantity. By that alone, it seemed like she might give the best odds of actually doing this…whatever the fuck it was. The gears began turning in his head as he altered his plan. He had originally intended to just hit what marks he could and be out of the city by sunrise but now… Ten million gil. What a ridiculous amount. Fuck it. Ibraham bumped his knee against the Faye’s leg to disguise his snaking one of the strings on the dummy purse past the man’s belt. Luckily, the man seemed to be too engrossed in the chatter that had erupted around the table to notice. With one hand, Ibraham raised the mug to his lips and took an actual drink. With the other, he deftly tied the strings into a knot, securing the dummy bag full of mostly sand along with a few spare junk metal disks to clink together to the other man’s belt. [color=00ff64]“Alright, I’ll do it. But that fifty gil’s bumping up to fifty thousand if she knocks a tooth out, so you better pray you win that money.”[/color] Ibraham said as he clasped a hand on his drinking buddy’s shoulder to support his rise from his chair. The Faye man hooted and said something unintelligible before he greedily sloshed down another gulp from his glass, blissfully unaware that he had just made a wager with the man who robbed him. [hr] [centre][h1][color=FF7F50][u]Noelle Laurents[/u][/color][/h1][/centre] [centre][h3][color=FF7F50]Location: Balmung Castle | Banquet Hall | Mentions: [@Lucky][@Psyker Landshark][@Dezuel][@Ambra][/color][/h3][/centre] [hr] Noelle met the smiling Viera woman with her own smile in return. She had started to say something when the king began his speech. As Lord Leonhart spoke, Noelle first watched him with disinterest. The grandstanding aside, he hadn’t been wrong about the beasts. They were making travel rather complicated. It could be good for business, but…Noelle would prefer them gone. She was better geared toward felling man than monster, truth be told. Certainly had more of a stomach for it. Monsters were little more than creatures of instinct. Men…men chose their actions. It sat better with her when she knew her target actively chose to do something that put them in her sights, knowing full well the potential consequences of their actions. Of their greed. In a warped way, monsters were pure. Ruthless, brutal even, but there was still a purity to the simplicity. But there was little room for idealistic fantasizing in her world. Assuming the reward was split evenly amongst all members of the team and assuming that all members survive, a million gil was more than enough to justify working an unofficial assignment. She would need to treat this as any other job she had been assigned to. Reporting to Xu was a priority, but there was a strong likelihood that the handler was already well aware of the terms of the job when she directed Noelle to attend the gathering. Noelle softened, allowing herself to appear intrigued at the proclamation. She didn’t join with the cheering or hooting that had begun to rip through the hall, but she wore excitement nonetheless. She turned to look at her new companions, sizing them up now as allies rather than potential targets. There was…potential. She would needs discover their strengths and weaknesses, but overall there didn’t appear to be any overt weak links. If she needed to use them to achieve her goals, that suited her just fine. [color=FF7F50]“The meal’s quite good, actually. I’d almost argue that it alone was worth the trip.”[/color] Noelle offered the Mystrel woman in between bites. [color=FF7F50]“Would be nice if our task was a little less vague, I’ll admit.”[/color] She continued, more for herself than the others. Stopping to take a drink of her wine, Noelle turned her head to the right, posing her next question to those downtable from her. [color=FF7F50]“Any thoughts on how to turn the Light back on?”[/color] Not quite a question she ever thought she’d ask in this context, but here she was. They would do well to pool their knowledge, establish what they did and didn’t know. Her gaze went to the standing man, who had just said… Wait. What? She turned her head towards the woman across from her, visibly confused as she mouthed the phrase ‘pretty missy’ silently. Had…had she heard that correctly? She didn’t make out everything he said, given he was a couple seats down but…pretty missy? Now, Noelle had about as much romantic experience as your average rock, but even she knew that that one was just…awful. What? Was this really the time or place for…whatever that was? Absolutely shameless. He’ll be dead in a week. [hr] [centre][h1][color=00ff64][u]Ibraham : Part 2[/u][/color][/h1][/centre] [centre][h3][color=00ff64]Location: Balmung Castle | Banquet Hall | Mentions: [@Lucky][/color][/h3][/centre] [hr] As he crossed the hall, Ibraham swiped a chair out behind a portly man attempting to sit down, who then stumbled back into a man in furs who in turn swung around then swung, sending the portly man to the ground. Luckily enough, neither of the men seemed to have noticed who caused it. As Ibraham approached table Kirin, he pulled the chair in front of him and plopped down at the head of the table. [color=00ff64]“Heeeeeya buuuddddies~”[/color] he lilted, flashing his smile to the rather dour collection of faces seated at the table. As he scanned each, his eyes settled on an older man at the end of the table, across from a Viera beckoning for butter. [color=00ff64]“Daaamn, Gramps, what’d these folk do to you? You look miserable.”[/color] he called across the table. The older Mystel man scrunched his face indignantly before scoffing. [color=00ff64]“My table’s a bit more…mellow if you’d wanna trade.”[/color] he continued, hiking a thumb over his shoulder. The Mystel man squinted at Ibraham before peering past him. After a moment of consideration, he harrumphed, got to his feet, gathered his belongings, then wordlessly accepted the offer by striding across the hall. Ibraham smiled at the man as he watched him go, waiting for the man to leave earshot before he spoke up again to nobody in particular without turning. [color=00ff64]“I was standing near him earlier and noticed he had fallen asleep, right there on his feet.”[/color] he explained, before finally turning back to the table after the old man found a seat.[color=00ff64]“I was just about to wake him up when he cut one and spooked himself awake.”[/color] he continued, helping himself to an empty glass and the bottle of wine in front of the redheaded woman. [color=00ff64]“No joke, he must have jumped ten feet easily. Damn near gave himself a heart attack, I’d say.”[/color] he said as he tilted the bottle, unleashing a red waterfall into his glass. [color=00ff64]“So, you’re welcome.”[/color] he finished, turning towards the Viera woman to his left and raising his glass before shooting the red liquid back. [color=00ff64]“Call me Ibraham and let’s all get rich together, eh?”[/color] he announced to whoever happened to be listening, leaning back in the chair smugly.