A question of safety

[rogueinladysclothing]

This Winter has been a harsh one, and the Nexus' resident rogue shows signs of it. Where before Amelia had been comfortable enough to walk about the Nexus with relatively few weapons on her person, she now carries her full armory every time she steps out of the inn she currently calls home. For weeks she's been pondering how to tackle a problem on her own. Now she's come to the Forum to seek advice, as anyone who's been here long enough usually does.

"I've had many thoughts and worries relating to the safety of myself and others after certain events in the last several weeks." Her lips draw into a thin line and she crosses her arm in front of her chest. That's enough context for everyone who might answer, surely. "What do you do to feel safe? Or, rather, when your safety is threatened, how do you respond?"

Comments

[smartass_captain]

"I keep this on me, for one." Jim removes the phaser from it's holster and offers it out for Amelia to see. For a world that doesn't even have guns yet, the phaser must seem a very odd choice of weapon. It's impossibly light, for one thing.

"But when fight or flight is triggered, I tend to fight." Unless it's a giant Jim-eating-monster. Then running is definitely the way to go.

[rogueinladysclothing]

There's a face Amelia hasn't seen for a while. She nods to Jim and carefully takes the phaser from him. She's been doing plenty of reading lately about weaponry, bu t she hasn't gotten past projectile weapons yet. This phaser is on a completely different level of understanding for her. "How does it work?" she asks curiously.

"I tend to fight as well, when it comes down to it. But in times like these, when there's no one to fight and there's just the feeling of something being not right... I don't know what to do." She sighs, her face softening a bit as she does so. "The worst part of all of this is that I'm not worried about myself. I can take on anything that comes at me. But I can't protect everyone else if something happens when I'm not around. How the fuck am I supposed to protect someone I care about if I can't get to them?"

[smartass_captain]

"Think of it like a crossbow, except lighter. Aim and pull the trigger." Jim licks at his lower lip, before adding "Don't actually do that at anyone. It's set to stun, and since that doesn't really hurt folks I don't want to take a chance of it actually hitting someone if you shoot it at someone. But you can fire at the sign or whatever. It won't hurt anything."

Jim listens to the rest of Amelia's concerns with a small nod. As the man responsible for his entire crew, he knows this fear all too well.

"You do the best you can to teach them how to protect themselves. You be there as much as you can....but at the end of the day, you either make peace with the fact that you can't be everywhere at once and can't save everyone....or you resign yourself to having to mourn every time you can't save someone. I'm not very good at making peace, but I'm also a pretty fucked kinda guy."

[rogueinladysclothing]

"Aim and pull the trigger..." That sign is an ugly sight. Amelia takes aim at Naugus 'improvement' and fires. The sudden burst of energy, the sound, and the feeling of the electrical discharge in her hand causes her to jump and gasp loudly. "Whoa!" Her finger comes off the trigger and she inspects it a little more carefully. "And this... can kill people?" The sign sure as hell didn't care about the shot, but the sign is eternal or something.

His answer gets a wry smile. "I'm at least as fucked, then, because I'm worried about an entire world that no one can find right now. There are so many things here that my world wouldn't understand, that it would revolt against. I fear what might happen... if I were to let something through." It's not something she could really stop, but that won't stop her from blaming herself if something did happen.

[hellburger]

"Like Jim said, it doesn't hurt to have a sidearm handy, but it looks like you've already got that covered." Miller nods to her equipment. Meanwhile, his only visible weapon is the pistol holstered at his belt.

"I've found perception to be a great, underrated defense. You know, being aware of your surroundings, potential threats, your own limits. That kinda thing. Makes for fewer surprises."

He grimaces, body swap still fresh on his mind. "But ... I'll grant that it's a little more difficult around here. This place doles out some special surprises."

[rogueinladysclothing]

"They come in handy from time to time, yes." One pistol may be all Miller needs, seeing as it works both at a distance and close up. Amelia's got to cover both combat options a little more thoroughly with her weaponry, hence the slingshot on one hip and rapier on the other. Plus at least a dozen easily noticeable daggers and a short sword. Talk about weight training in the most secure way possible.

"It's the special circumstances that I worry about. How am I to defend myself against magic when I know none? Worse, how am I to defend others when I have no defense against it?" Her lips draw into a thin line. "Something about this whole place doesn't sit right and I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. And I fear I'll find out a moment too late."

[hellburger]

"Well, I come from a world where 'magic' means shitty card tricks, so hanging out here has been interesting." The shadows of his irises flick sideways behind his sunglasses, as if keeping his eyes peeled for the next LOL.

"There's gotta be hard science behind this stuff, and once that gets pinned down should be easier to defend against. Or harness for yourself."

He returns his gaze to the rogue. "Did you get caught up in that crazy body swap business?"

[rogueinladysclothing]

"I come from a world with no magic." More or less, anyway. "There have been too many things going on to make me comfortable with many uses of magic, though."

She shakes her head. "Not personally, but most of my friends got hit with it. And those that didn't had to deal with all of the effects, myself included. Seeing them all like that... it was very confusing and I felt utterly helpless in all of it." It's not a feeling she enjoys at all, by the looks of it.

[smartass_captain]

"Good to see you back in your own skin." Jim quips with a small smirk. He's wagering pretty much everyone is glad to be themselves again.

[hellburger]

"Mya? Whaddaya mean, Meatsack?" Miller says in his very best Nekomata voice.

[smartass_captain]

"...Wait, what?" Jim gapes for a good minute, looking positively horrified.

"You're not that catgirl still are you?"

[shardofwinter]

"Sometimes feeling safe is the last thing you need." It is entirely coincidental that the Winter spirit has a rifle in hand. Unusually pale and glistening, it would be a safe bet to assume that it was constructed with icy Winter magic. Reynard inspects it thoroughly, almost paying more attention to it than Amelia.

[rogueinladysclothing]

"If it were just me I was worried about, safety would be the least of my worries. However, my fears lie elsewhere." It seems rude of him to pay less attention to her than his rifle when he's answering her question, but she's not about to ask and risk starting a scene. That has never ended well between the two of them.

[shardofwinter]

"Safety should be a concern, but fear... fear is far too valuable a weapon to ignore." He rests it against his shoulder, looking up at her properly now. "I guarantee you that the greatest thing to ensure your safety will be the desire to survive. The terror of death drives a person to abandon who they are, to become whoever they need to be to survive danger. Ruthlessness, my dear. That is what you need to remain safe."

[rogueinladysclothing]

He really is the picture of a Winter hunter when he stands like that. "Will ruthlessness help me protect my world from threats it cannot, will not, understand should they break through from this place?" She shakes her head slightly. "Fear may be a weapon, but it can also spur the senses and set the mind to action."

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

Given the Nexus was still cold and snowy as far as she could tell, Dia was still wearing her long coat, heavy pants, and boots, rather than the loose robes she usually favored (and frankly, preferred).

"Honestly like the others, I tend to stay armed." She pats the dualsaber hilt on her belt, and she'll probably show it (Or 'them', since it's literally two joined at the hilt) to Amelia if asked (though she probably wouldn't be as brave as Jim and let her test one--Lightsabers are dangerous to the untrained, given how easily they sheer off limbs), I'm not entirely sure I trust this 'anti-violence' field when there's plenty of non violent ways to deal with someone, or passive ways to do so. Gassing or something similar."

She shrugged. "Frankly, I'm always going to be a bit bloody paranoid, but I've come to accept it as a caution, rather than an obsession."

[rogueinladysclothing]

"This anti-violence field lets much happen that I would consider violent. Not all violence inflicts visible wounds, after all." That body swap did more than just hurt those who actually got swapped, too.

"Caution is a part of my nature, but it doesn't make me feel safe against forces that I do not know or understand enough to defend myself against. That is my problem." Amelia sighs heavily and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "And as far as I can tell, there's no way to help that."

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

"No, no it bloody does not. I don't trust the bloody thing for that reason alone, not to mention the fact we don't know how it works or what powers it. Mysticism, technology, or some unholy combination of both."

Which she's seen quite a bit of, in her short life thus far.

"Caution's much of my nature as well," Through the lifestyle she used to lead, "Alas, the only advice I've got in that case is really to watch and learn everything you can. At a distance, at times, if you must. See how people react, how others defend themselves, and learn from it."

[rogueinladysclothing]

"It would be worth knowing if only to feel a little better about it. I may not like how it's being done, but any kind of explanation is better than none." She shudders slightly at that thought.

A soft sigh escapes her and she nods in agreement. "That seems like all I can do from here. It's not much for comfort, but I suppose that's to be expected when trapped in a place so different from one's home. Learn and adapt." It seems to have worked so far, but it's not a great strategy for protecting her world from a place like this.

[betarade_spill]

"Salutations, Amelia Ronsam." The space horse man with the comfortable back has returned at an opportune time to field this question.

"No minor query, doth thou posit." After a pause, he adds, "Flight be helpful..."

[rogueinladysclothing]

An opportune time, indeed. The offer of a flight brings a small smile to her face. "Ahh, but I believe I owe you something first, do I not?"

She reaches into one of her many pouches and pulls out a folded and wax-sealed piece of parchment. "I can't vouch for the recipe personally, but after speaking with many people in the Commercial District, I've been told this is the best recipe for lizard stew that there is to be had in the multiverse. I've also been sworn not to reveal its secrets to anyone but you, hence the sealed nature of the recipe." She holds the recipe out to him with a smile. The rogue certainly took his request seriously, it seems.

[betarade_spill]

Bill still has twelve joints in his three big alien fingers. Sharp claws are only thinly veiled, concealed under his perfectly bleached glove, as he delicately plucks the parchment from her grasp. As ever, his white eyes give away little, but even on his alien face the emotion of being touched must be obvious.

"Verily shalt I make use of this, in haste."

It disappeared somewhere into his armor.

[ixis]

"I always feel safe! On account of knowing I'm the most skilled mage in any present situation. Any threatening matter is easily quelled or rendered null when you command fire or can turn into stone."

Naugus is...eating an ice cream cone. In this weather? Maniac. Some kinda orange flavour. He gives it a few licks before adding, "Very secure. You should try it sometime."

[rogueinladysclothing]

"But of course you always feel safe," she answers in a sarcastic tone. "Because magic makes everything better, right?" Obviously she thinks it's not, but she's certainly he will.

"Did you ever stop and think for a moment that perhaps it's not my well-being that I'm worried about. Did that thought ever occur to you?" No, no it didn't. She knows that already.

[ixis]

"Pah! You speak as if I've never been in charge of the well-being of others! My child, I've been the court mage for nearly three generations of kings, my counsel directing the entire nation to a golden age. And even in exile, I extended my protection to all the others unjustly trapped in a zone of wild and unpredictable environs! I am no stranger to acting as protector and shepherd."

He takes a nibble from the ice cream and rolls it around in his mouth, letting it melt against his tongue. "I was the rightful king of Mobius because of my capabilities, you know. I think that speaks volumes, doesn't it? And I all but secured my place on the throne. And yes, all of this thanks to magic. Fancy that."