Coin Tricks
| Coin Tricks | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 19 May 2013 |
| Location: | Narshe |
| Synopsis: | Some fool gives Minette a briefcase of money; she does 'coin tricks' with it. |
| Cast of Characters: | Minette Odam |
| Tinyplot: | Other People's Money |
Narshe, Minette decided, was an ugly place. Flipping a gil through her fingers absent-mindedly, she stared out her room's window at the soot-encrusted grey snow, the unfriendly black basalt the town was carved out of, and the profusion of impersonal brass machinery that produced heat, noise, steam, and smoke for reasons that Minette couldn't even begin to guess. And by the Gods, it was cold, to boot. She attempted to palm the coin, but didn't clasp her palm tight in time. The gil slipped downwards, forcing her to catch it with her off-hand, utterly ruining the illusion. Darned thing.
All in all, Narshe reminded her of a bastardized hybrid of Shiva and Titan, at least what she'd seen of them in books and spherecasts. And that made her homesick, so she found herself turning away from the dreary view the window offered to flop back down on the bed of her private room at the inn.
A private room. And at the moment, it truly was private, for her constant companion Thirza was out and about to survey the property that they'd been dispatched to purchase and the four tall gentlemen that look not dissimilar to gorillas stuffed into immaculate business suits that had been sent along as additional security had the good professionalism to stand outside of a lady's room while guarding the door. The thought of them brought a sigh from Minette, though, for she knew that they weren't really here to protect her. They were here to protect the briefcase sitting on the table, with it's current contents of nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine gil. Add to that the gil she was awkwardly twirling about between her fingers and you had a lot of money. Or rather, she did.
It was a staggering thought.
The gil in that briefcase was an alien thing to Minette. Everything about it felt so strange. From the lack of dents, dings, and scratches caused by circulation to the seemingly unnatural polished luster that she didn't know coins could carry. The only coins she'd ever held in her youth were made grubby by passage between human hands. There was so much of it and in one place, and strangest of all, she had actually come to think of it as not being that much! When she'd realized this the first time, about a month after being originally given access to the Murasame Zaibatsu's accounts, she was shocked at herself. It was a rare day growing up on Leviathan when she had two gil to rub together, and now she thought of what was then unimaginable wealth currently as being 'small'. She'd heard a rumor of an eccentric quail millionaire that piled all his wealth into a giant vault and actually swam in it! Of all things, swam in it!
The idea sent a perverse spasm of glee shivering down Minette's spin, causing her to bite her lip in a failed attempt at killing a perverted smile as the thought of stripping down and rolling in a million gil just because she could crossed her mind. And maybe, just maybe, when she got enough money, she could roll in it after stripping down wit--no.
That thought alone killed the fantasy. She would always be Minette, no matter how rich.
Well, the deeps take them all, she'd at least make something of herself. Then the rich kids would have no excuse. If they still found excuse to hate her, then it would just prove how ugly they were on the inside, where it mattered, and if they fawned all over her then it'd just show how shallow. Minette palmed the gil in her hand and tried a false transfer to her other hand, succeeding only in dropping the coin onto the bed. The gil bounced off of the stuffed quilt, hit the floor with a thud, and rolled underneath the bureau. With a sigh, Minette rolled off the bed and went after it. She wasn't too proud to hunt after a single coin, not yet at least. It still had worth to her.
It had value.
Fishing the coin from it's resting place up against the base-board, Minette dutifully, almost reverently, brushed the dust from it's shining surface. She tried another false transfer in front of the mirror, but her eyes caught sight of the glint of metal in the reflective surface. Another flub. "Gods... why is this so haaaaarrrrrrrrrd?" She'd seen children do this trick. Children!
"Meh. Doesn't matter." Minette told her reflection, tossing the coin up, then catching it. "I'm going to take this gil and turn it into twenty four gil. In fact, I'm going to make each of those coins turn into twenty four coins... the whole darned thing! Let's see someone else do THAT! Ha!"
Reaching over to drop the coin back in the sole, empty slot in the briefcase, Minette paused. She glanced from the case of money, over to the bed. She caught her off hand fiddling nervously with her belt buckle. W-well. The guards outside won't come in unless called. And... and Thirza wouldn't be back for at least an hour...
