a day in the life.

[tropfatale.livejournal.com]

Who: Sonja Garin, open
What: Errands!
Where: Assorted.
When: Rebecca Black knows what's up.
Warnings: Sonja exists. Put on a real shirt, Sonja.
Note:

Since returning from the boat trip, Sonja has settled a little bit. Not, notably, to any degree that indicates she has given up on going home, and that probably won't stop for a while, but she has the little house in Raven's Gate where she and Ilde stay, and that's good enough for right now. She leaves early, armed beneath her jacket, but not before going over a list of what they need for the household with Ilde, which...has some specializations. They're particular girls. Sonja's aware she needs to stockpile magically as much as she does weapons, but that's considerably more obscure in terms of resources.

Her first stop involves seeing a man about jailbreaking her CiD, a process which is turning out to be more involved than she thought. The neighborhood is dubious, and she at one point has to side-step a fairly inept pickpocket, who receives nary a backwards glance--the withering one she sent him moments earlier was enough. Not long after, she hears a woman cry out, and watches the boy go racing through the crowd, inexpensive ladies' handbag clutched in his fists.

Next, weapons stores. This takes her all over the city, comparing and contrasting what it has to offer--there are a couple of locations, but they tend to vary considerably due to the diverse neighborhoods. Ammunition is extremely difficult to come by, so the fact that there are places which sell more modern arms is fascinating (what is there to equip them with? They're treated almost like collectibles, not functional items), though she observes bows and swords are in greater supply. She ends up picking up some throwing knives, figuring she can at least amuse herself with practice.

She walks along the river's side for a while afterward, at one point hopping deftly up onto a tall stone wall that should be...entirely too narrow to walk the length of, and yet she manages. Bar one Skyrail trip, she's mostly spent her time traveling on foot--it gives her a better idea of the city.

There's a pretty nice-looking bar nearby. That's where she's headed. Predictably.

[ OOC: How this works! Sonja will be at each of the locations mentioned throughout the day and evening, and can meet characters at any ol' location. Just specify the where, and we're good to go! ]

Comments

[armory]

[patricide]

Lex is admittedly one of those people looking at weapons as collectibles, but it is also in conjunction with how well the weapon still functions. He is doing his best to recreate his home from before Baedal where the walls are littered with close range combat weapons and various guns are kept in more hidden areas. One of the many lessons Lex was taught growing up was that "you're not a Luthor unless someone is trying to kill you." He couldn't yet tell if that were true here, but it didn't hurt to be prepared.

When he sees the woman in the shop also looking at arms he notices that she hadn't exactly arrived empty handed. "Excuse me," he says by way of getting her attention. "May I ask for your advice?"

[tropfatale.livejournal.com]

She turns to look Lex over--he doesn't seem the sort to hang out here, but it takes all kinds. One thing she's learned in the past five years is that almost everybody feels better with a gun in the house, even if it's not always as practical as they'd think. Sonja's pause is brief and considering, concluding in her deciding there's no harm in lending her not inconsiderable experience; she was the attack dog at home for a reason. (And that reason is she's just unsettlingly good at killing things.)

"Sure."

...she's talky. But she's genuinely interested!

[patricide]

"I'm looking to arm myself." That much is probably obvious. "I don't have the funds right now for anything too extravagant, but I am trained in the use of firearms and close combat. If I could only leave here with two items with which to defend myself, what would you recommend?"

[tropfatale.livejournal.com]

She takes a moment before responding, and her second-once over of Lex is more analytical. Sonja rests one hand on her hip, shifting the sit of her leather jacket.

"Don't get guns here. I'd tell you to get a microgun if bullets were more readily accessible, but..." She shrugs. "If you're looking for concealment, get a flick knife to start out with. That's your basic physical weapon. Your last resort, excepting hand-to-hand combat."

Sonja reaches out to pull a switchblade off the shelf nearby. It's technically not something she should be messing with, but the clerk up front isn't paying attention, and frankly, she knows what she's doing. With one barely-there flick, she opens the switchblade up, and then closes it again. She extends the knife to Lex.

"Show me."

Her nonchalant confidence is a little distressing sometimes, but she just wants to see how he handles the knife.

[patricide]

Lex is more than proficient with swords, guns, and hand to hand combat, but knives are a huge blind spot in his training from back home. He couldn't back down now after seeking this woman's help and decided to use what he did know and apply it to the blade.

Taking the handle he has no trouble opening the switchblade and not a moment later lunges at Sonja with it, knife directed at her neck. His manner of movement most likely gives away that he is primarily a swordsman, but what he lacks in technique he makes up for in audacity.

[tropfatale.livejournal.com]

Well.

That was unexpected, although she finds it charming. Sonja's reflexes, agility, and strength are all supernaturally augmented, although the last is her weakest suit if only because she is not a very big person and plays to her strengths--still, she's quick on her feet, and that serves her well, here.

Her hand comes up under his wrist, instinctively, and she moves forward to essentially pin his knife-wielding hand to the wall with her own. Her height is a bonus here, too; she can meet his eyes with ease, and does, at the proximity. This is probably a hell of an introduction to Sonja, but no one who dresses like she does and knows that much about weaponry is bound to be normal.

"Not bad," she says, and when she lets go and steps away, she's smiling.

"What's going on over there?" The clerk calls, having heard...whatever that was.

[patricide]

Sonja's not the only one who is charmed. When she pulls away Lex grins, pleased that he's found exactly the kind of experience he'd been looking for. When the clerk calls to them, Lex replies with a pleasantly nonchalant answer of "shopping."

He then turns to Sonja, closing the blade and holding the knife alongside his face. "I suppose this means I'll take it. Is there anything else I need to take for a test drive?"

If the clerk gets too uppity, Lex is prepared to pay him for his troubles. He doesn't have nearly as much funds as he does back home, but old habits die hard.

[tropfatale.livejournal.com]

She raises her eyebrows with mild amusement at his answer to the store's employee. The question requires only a few moments of consideration--they have close combat covered, now it's time for something that extends across a distance.

"Single-hand crossbow. Bolts are easier to find here, and the nice thing about a crossbow is that body armor is pretty much moot where they're concerned. They'll go right through it and out the other side."

...helpful, young lady.

She steps back a pace and glances over her shoulder to discern where the bows might be located. None of them are nocked, of course, but she moves over there, anyway.

"You'll want to try a few and figure out what you like the feel of, but you strike me as the kind of guy who knows what he likes."

[patricide]

He hadn't even considered anything of the arrow variety. What Sonja was saying made sense, especially if guns weren't an option. He follows Sonja and regards the weapons thoughtfully, dismissing those that seem too heavy to be practical and too light to be effective.

Setting the knife on a nearby counter where he can reach it again, Lex begins to lift a few of the crossbows, testing their weight. It doesn't take him long to settle on one that he likes the feel of and he holds it up as if to shoot. Lex knows that he is most likely doing this with completely wrong form but he's here to learn and a Luthor is never one to be bashful.

"Is it too much to ask for a demonstration?"

[tropfatale.livejournal.com]

She shakes her head a little in response, and reaches for a crossbow of her own--she already can guess what make will suit her best. Sonja demonstrates the grip required. "Watch how you're holding this--here. Not too tightly. The thing about a crossbow is they're powerful, and unlike with a gun, you need a lot more precision to aim correctly. You never depress the trigger too hard; a light tap can still go right through someone's heart."

There's a pause.

"You're used to guns, you said. Hand-to-hand. Anything else?"

[patricide]

Lex does his best to follow her lead, mimicking the hold on the crossbow. He then lightly presses his finger against the trigger to gauge just how much force is needed. Sonja was right, it didn't appear to be much.

He then sets down the crossbow next to the knife, forming his own shopping cart. "I fence back home. I realize that it's not the same as what you have," he nods his head to the sword strapped at her back, "but I'm more than proficient with both the foil and saber."

It's not bragging if it's true.

[tropfatale.livejournal.com]

"Those aren't bad." She prefers the saber, a bit, but she can appreciate fencing on its own merits. While some people might ask how or why he learned, Sonja's less inclined to ask questions like that than average--people will volunteer the information they want her to know, she assumes, and she's sparing with her own details.

This she does say, however: "Not as ideal in my line of work, but they serve their purpose."

[patricide]

"I want a sword," he declares frankly. It's not as a spoiled rich boy who feels like he can't live without with toys, but as it is a weapon he has quite a bit of proficiency with Lex would feel at a dangerous disadvantage without one. "You know the city better than I, is there a shop that sells anything better than 'not bad'?"