un: sling shot | audio | after wedding no. 2 goes awry

[slippin]

Hey. [ The voice coming through your magical doohickey is low and maybe congested. Whatever this is doesn't sound like good news. Then the speaker clears his throat, continues in lighter tones, his cadence practiced: ] Are you somewhere private? Because that would be a good place to be right now.

[ There's a good twenty-second pause filled with ambient train noise. Time enough to close your communicator, make your excuses. ] Great. [ Again: it doesn't sound great! ] Um. So, uh, earlier this afternoon as I was leaving the movie theater, I bumped into the bride-to-be...or not-to-be...Like. [ A single solid clap. ] Bam. Well, her little attache case went flying and in the course of helping her, you know, recombobulate herself I may have glimpsed a thing or two relevant to our present circumstances.

[ A beat. Hastily: ] Not weapons. Nothing like that. [ Please don't commit unilateral or joint murder based on his intel! ] But, okay, before we go any further, I've got a few questions for you:

Do we know anyone onboard whose name starts with C? As in crazy, or camembert.

Have any of you talked to Prassenze? [ Rest assured: he mangles the pronunciation. Maybe he'll figure it out by the third wedding. ] Had a little heart-to-heart?

Uh, and last but definitely not least, what the hell?

Great. [ Great! ] Thanks. Over and out.



[ ooc: threadjack away! mod-provided deets on the suitcase's contents are here, since jimmy will share all that info but it'll be run through a jimmy-filter and he's allergic to being direct.

(also if your char would want to talk to him in person, lmk and I can do a starter for that!) ]

Comments

[slippin]

[ As much as the snippiness gets his back up, it's familiar enough that he can roll with the conversational punches. Maybe it's even welcome, in its way. ] Ah, but a certain berobed individual has advised that the “C” in question might be the Conductor himself. [ Personally, Jimmy doesn't buy it—why would the Conductor care what Firo does or doesn't deserve?—but if it helps him sidestep the direct approach, he's happy to float the idea.

The rest he gives some time to sink in. Sounding slightly preoccupied, he recites: ] Um, it was vague. The sender said that what she—Prassenze—wants done is possible but dangerous. But to reconsider because Firo deserves to know the truth. Signed "C."

[ Okay, sinking-in-time over. He lets out a sigh that he doesn't bother to divert from the communicator. ] He just told you about the tracking? Do you know how it works? [ If this question sounds somewhat resentful, it's because he's pretty sure the answer is: magic. ]

[mashiara]

If it were the Conductor, you'd have been reading more about tickets. Sacred limited numbers of tickets. That he mourns.

( It's a dry delivery, but it's factual, too. She cannot imagine him having a vested interest unless it becomes dangerous for the train as a whole, and even as a second hand summary, that's far too blase for the sorts of concerns their creepy conductor might actually have. )

Light, if I could tell you anything other than magic, I would. But it's magic driving this train, magic that deals with dreams, dream elements that some smuggled on board, if that woman, Karsa, had her way. Which she did. We know it. When was this letter dated?

[slippin]

[ What do you know, that surprises a laugh out of him. Almost under his breath, but genuine. ]

Oh, February second. [ A beat. ] It wasn't. But the paper had that crisp new feel and you could tell it was written in a hurry.

Did he say what he was tracking everyone for?

[mashiara]

Theft. I don't know that he pays attention unless it alters the train in some way, or someone destroys a ticket, if that even registers. But it does mean he can tack people for complaints of theft.

( Just saying. Not even pointedly, in reality, though the dryness she'd started this exchange with means she holds as much water in these Accidental Occurrences as, well, a pail with a hole in the bottom. )

New letter, recently written. If it's from the Contessa, either written before this most recent journey, or on it. Which might mean anything, but would seem to mean that she at least knows who the bride is. That Firo might too if she saw her unveiled, but how that's meant to get better other than what... what about this train, or this place, makes it doable but inadvisable? Other than the sheer stupidity of clearly attempting to fool your new spouse because of whatever reasons you decided not to talk with her first.