Unspoken Business

Unspoken Business
Date of Scene:	18 November 2013
Location:	Mysidia
Synopsis:	Thirza receives a business proposition from a mysterious samurai from Vector. Unfortunately, the fact that he doesn't speak may be the least of her problems!
Cast of Characters:	Thirza Ingersleben, Queegmaa

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Queegmaa has posed:
Vohstra was a samurai with a robotic arm, and towered at a height of six and a half feet. There were humanoids even dwarfing that in the World of Ruin, but he was still well above the norm; other features distinguishing him were the two horns protruding from his forehead. His sky blue hair was long, and he wore eastern armor that had a motif that looked like it was infused with the element of water, given how it had a wavy, flowing style, which wasn't fully practical, but it could give one an inkling of his manner, if they were highly intuitive.

The only thing that didn't fit with his gear was one piece of armor emanating wicked vibes, and which was a dark purple in color-- it truly had no place in the fashion world, so one might've been inclined to ask why he wore it, but most people gave him a wide berth, because of the ominous sensation the strange piece of metal radiated. Even in the inqusitive city of Mysdia, known for its black magic and eldrich rituals, there was something comparatively outlandish about that one shoulder pauldron of Vohstra's.....

No, a six and a half foot man would not intimidate a good number of these wizards, for they were hardy folk, but only the bravest, or most naive of persons would consider approaching him, and typically.... the bravest people in the land were too busy doing jobs far more important than making acquaintances with some strange retainer waltzing through the metropolis; Mysdia had a heavy flow of people going and coming, so Captain Vohstras Egress(often shortened to Vohstras, or Vohstra) wasn't so otherworldly that anyone was going to make a huge deal about his presence. Commerce simply didn't work in paranoid societies where air-tight security was more important than trust in one's fellow man.... Besides which, the most valuable stuff was probably hidden away in some tomb a hundred feet below the surface of the city, where it couldn't easily be damaged by would-be troublemakers.....

Thirza Ingersleben has posed:
Thirza Ingersleben, by her nature as a surveyor, travels widely and travels often. She goes far and wide to collect data and prospective money making ventures for the Murasame Zaibatsu. In the process Thirza sees all sorts of interesting places, both on and off the clock, and an equal assortment of interesting people.

Today her travels have brought her to Mysdia. Why she's here isn't entirely clear. Perhaps she's passing through. Maybe even Thirza herself doesn't know (sometimes she gets lost among the sights). On the note of sights, however, Vohstra is certainly one.

One whom Thirza does not notice as she walks down the street, carefully balancing a stack of supplies. She seems set on a course where she might run head-on into him if she keeps going, her vision half-obscured by a crate she is carrying awkwardly.

Queegmaa has posed:
A man of acute observational knack, Vohstras turns to face Thirza just as she's about to collide with him, and then sends a telepathic message to her, unless she blocks it. If this is the first time she's received one, it may be a little uncomfortable, if not baffling, akin to when one allows a fingernail to grow for an exceptionally long time, only to cut it off, and feel for the first time in ages, the senations at the tips of the fingers that one hasn't felt for mayhap months to years; new feelings can be good or bad, or simply weird.

Whatever the case, the voice she will hear in her head unless she stymies the transmission should be quite clear. After attempting to send the transmission, the mute-samurai stands his ground, unwilling to move out of her way, even though he has such deftness that in defiance of the cumbersome armor he bore, it would be a trivial matter to side-step and allow her to pass. He's not doing this to be belligerent, but he has a few principles that he lives by, and one of them is to stand his ground when a clutz is foolishly on course to run into him, when they should be more responsible for themselves-- he believes strongly in personal responsibility, and it'd be Thirza's own fault if she wasn't paying heed, or had stacked supplies so high that she couldn't see even if she'd yearned for it.

Then again, the voice of Vohstra ringing in her mind might just be enough to warrant a slip of the wrist, or foot, and cause her to falter, but that is also not his concern..... yet!

Thirza Ingersleben has posed:
Thirza blinks and stops, shifting the boxes around a bit to look around her. She first notices Vohstras, and he seems to be the one who addressed her. She hasn't quite figured out it was telepathy, it would seem, because she simply speaks back to him instead.

"Oh, sorry!" she shifts the box around and moves to alter her course. What she winds up doing is setting the boxes down out of the way to take a break.

"I'm really glad you said something so I didn't run into you," Thirza says, panting a little bit and resting her palms on her thighs and she hunches over to catch her breath. "I knew I was going to run into someone," she sighs, "but I really couldn't make two trips to get everything. I'm already off-schedule." A pause.

"Wait. Did you say something? I could have sworn you said something, but it was weird." She pauses. "Sorry, not that you're weird. I'm Thirza, by the way," she says, bowing politely. "Um, sorry for talking to you, randomly, it's just the people around here don't really say much to foreigners."

Queegmaa has posed:
Staring quietly at her, Vohstras peered over at the boxes curiously for a second, and sent her another message, after listening to her assessments of the situation that was at hand. He has a displeased look on his face, as if to insinuate that he thinks she just said some of the most absurd things he'd ever heard; no, it wasn't her stammering, but that didn't help matters. All the same, he pulls out a strange three-legged device connected by a strong fabric, and spreads it apart, so that it converts into a makeshift, portable chair; it's small, but sturdy enough to hold him, apparently.

This fellow truly prepares for everything for which one can make preparations, or close to it! Seating himself calmly, he folds his hands in his lap, and bows when she gives her name, touching his fingers to his chest as he 'introduces' himself, as well. Suddenly, he gets a serious look on his face as he lowers his hand, decidedly making mention of one more thing, as he intently focuses on trying to relay a third message to the woman before him.

Thirza Ingersleben has posed:
"Oh, well, I guess that's true," Thirza says sheepishly. Now she looks embarrassed that she didn't consider that option. She straightens her boxes a little bit. "But I wasn't sure what to do with the rest of them while I made the trip because I don't know anyone here--"

Thirza's eyes widen a little bit, and she seems just a bit startled at being addressed as someone he was looking to speak to. "Oh, well, I'm not sure what you would need from me, Captain Egress." Thirza bites her lip.

"May I simply address you as Captain, sir? would that be acceptable?"

Queegmaa has posed:
Nodding slowly, as if trying to instill in her the importance of thinking ahead, without being sardonic or patronizing, he raises his hand perpendicular to the ground, with his fingers slightly opened up, but not fully, as if cradling something between his phalanges, inspecting it curiously, which could've easily been a punctuation of how he was analyzing Thirza, as he sought to speak in her head about some sentiments of his, regarding her last thoughts. When her eyes widened, his eyelids drooped lazily as he adorned a peaceful, if not somewhat bored expression, hinting that she shouldn't get so uptight and upset.

Although to accompany this gesture of his, he folded his arms across his chest impatiently, as he raised a brow, trying to clarify what his intentions were, and why he introduced himself with his official title. At the end of it all, he nodded his head, making a concession that he had no objective feelings towards, regardless of Thirza's attempt to be cajoling-- but Vohstras doesn't seem to be judging the girl too harshly, nor is he being especially generous.

Thirza Ingersleben has posed:
Thirza is spoken to telepathically again. She doesn't entirely seem to get that she doesn't need to speak, most likely. She does keep things quiet, though, and tries not to draw too much attention to herself with what she's saying.

"Yeah, I--" Thirza sighs. "That's a good point. I'll try to plan better. I mean, I've been trying to plan better, but I've got so much to plan for that it's taking some time to learn it well."

"Oh! Well, is there something I can help you with? I'd be glad to offer a hand, though I think my boss much prefers if he's reimbursed for lost time or at least notified so I can take time off to do work for someone else, Captain." Thirza smiles, a little less nervously now. Only a little less nervously, but it is a bit of progress.

Queegmaa has posed:
Vohstras' lips become flat as he listens to her intently, being more stern in how he approaches the intake of Thirza's words; he doesn't want to be disrespectful by not paying attention, and naturally, his facial expressions follow his emotions, which should've clued the woman to the fact that to him, she was not a joke..... not yet, even so.... if she exhibited enough clumsiness in his presence, he might eventually come to devalue her as insignificant. So far, she hadn't botched up too much, and she was at least courteous enough to reciprocate the heed he was giving, which was more than he could say for some ninja who had a propensity towards disregarding his queries. No... Shadow didn't actually -owe- him an answer, but it certainly would've been more polite of the assassin to've at least stated verbally, or mentally, that he didn't feel comfortable answering the question as to who the mysterious ghost was that visited him on the Farplane.

Still, between Shadow and Thirza, Vohstras would've pegged the dark-clad spy as more professional any day of the week, given how chatty this girl was. Limply allowing his fingers to drip towards the ground as his wrist dangles, almost giving the impression of tiredness, even though his arm is still quite straight and hardly lethargic, he signifies that he's trying to 'downplay' certain worries in Thirza's mind, but this required he explain what his plan of action is in a more elaborate fashion.... since they were on the topic of how valuable plans were! Therefore, he delivered unto her another thought non-vocally..... At this point, he does appear mildly annoyed, but not terribly so.

Thirza Ingersleben has posed:
"Yes," Thirza says, nodding. "I think I understand. I'll have to contact him before I can confirm a contract, of course, but I think we might be able to work something out depending on the job and the scale of it? Is there, um, somewhere better to discuss it in detail? I'm not sure how private their business is."

Thirza still does not entirely 'get' telepathy, but she does seem to at least appreciate not spilling too much, too loudly.

Queegmaa has posed:
Scratching the side of his head, Vohstras raised a brow quizzically, asking her mentally, a very simple thing, before his normal, deadpan expression reclaimed precedence over the Mtek's face, at which point he twisted his head from side to side, slowly scanning the area, as if to clue Thirza to the fact that she was being a little.... obtuse, once more, by not noticing what should've been obvious.

Vohstras is glad she holds in regard the matter of privacy, so he tries not to be too judgmental, even though it's rapidly becoming clear to him that this female is something of a ditz; already he's questioning the orders of his superiors to've beseeched Thirza for assistance on such an important job-- inwardly only, however.... a samurai does not cast doubt, or question the bidding of his master, that is insubordination, and would result in dishonor. What Rakassa says, goes, and that was the bottom line. With that silently understood, he resumed course, and bombarded her with another sentiment of his.

Thirza Ingersleben has posed:
"Oh, that's doable," Thirza says, now considering that passerbys may think she's a crazy person. Then again, it's a village of mages. Perhaps this isn't too unusual for them. She shifts around slightly on her feet, trying to make herself more comfortable.

"I can certainly look into it. It wouldn't be the first time I've documented some things on various species, I mean, I do like animals quite a bit. I'm sure we can work something out."

"Of course we'll need a formalized contract, but I think that's something that'd be better for once I've talked to Mister Murasame. Maybe I should exchange contact information with you or someone in your organization, Captain?"

Queegmaa has posed:
Not being overly ceremonious about what Thirza had just said, Vohstras nodded his head, then pressed a button on his cybernetic arm. A tiny hatch flipped up, revealing a slot which was filled with miniature business cards. Withdrawing one, he then closed the lid and extended his arm towards Thirza, however..... on the card itself, was the name of someone other than the Captain, or even Rakassa. Evidently, Vohstras was not a contractor, but merely a scout, in this scenario.... and since Admiral Rakassa was so important, Thirza was going to have to go through proper channels before dealing with her personally; an interview would have to be arranged, credentials reviewed, and that sort of thing.

As a rigid, militaristic operation, Vector was anything but sloppy, and that meant that important folks were only bothered with these kinds of things when it was vital. Why Vohstras was sent on a mission like this is probably an enigma in of itself, since he was high on the totem pole, but maybe it just so happened that he was in the neighborhood, so this had been assigned to him, after it was discovered that Thirza was in the territory.

Thirza Ingersleben has posed:
Thirza takes the card politely when it is offered to her. She bows politely again. She seems to appreciate the value of interviews and professionalism in an organization, be it a government or a corporation. This much, at least, she's learned well from working at Murasame.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Captain. I--I'll try to follow your advice, sir. I'll speak to my boss as soon as possible to not delay your business any more than absolutely need be." Thirza bites her lip a little bit.

Queegmaa has posed:
Vohstra opens his mouth wide as though he's laughing, and his chest, if she could see it beneath his armor, actually expands and contracts as he does something equal to a laugh, but without any sound, due to lack of an available larynyx. It might be one of the weirdest things for Thirza to've ever seen-- a man laughing, without actually laughing, and just making the physical motions of such. As he settles down, following his little 'nonburst'(as opposed to outburst), he rubs the side of his cheek, sending a message to the girl before him, then arises from his little portable chair.

Folding it up, he packs it away, and bows to her, as is customary for the samurai, and though he is actually something of a disgraced retainer who didn't even have the decency to commit seppuku, Vohstras /tried/ to live by some of the codes set forth by his order. Promptly, he turns on his heel and continues on his way, to do whatever he'd intended before the interruption..... the one that actually turned out quite providential!

Thirza Ingersleben has posed:
Thirza tilts her head a little in confusion, both because she's confused by the laugh at first and because she doesn't entirely understand what it's so weird for her to say that. It does make her think, however.

When she picks up her boxes she is careful to separate them so she can carry them more safely. If nothing else, she has certainly taken that lesson to heart.