SCAWWY ⇢ KARLACH (FLURRY)

[shirtbag]

Comments

[ablazement]

[she huffs, turning her hand and holding onto his.]

You've haven't got to thank me. You deserve kindness. [she thinks, maybe the world would suck a little less if everybody just held out their hands to each other one more time than they had to. it wouldn't be perfect. but it'd be better.] Besides. Not like I've got room to talk. I've been told my own numbers keep popping up.

... It's all going to end, but you know what? We've got a wild fucking ride we can take until then.

[shirtbag]

[ squeezes her hand. that's something he didn't expect—more solidarity. ]

Heh. If that ain't the truth. Place feels like hell in a handbasket, but that don't mean we can't have some fun on our way out.

[ he leans away, turning his shoulders just enough to meet her eye. he grins again, a little devilishly. ]

But hot diggity fudge. Ain't known I been speakin' to a fellow outlaw this whole time.

[ wyll was apparently hunting her, but that doesn't mean it was for a bounty. or maybe it does! ]

[ablazement]

[they have a surprising amount in common which is hysterical

she grins when he does!]

You've probably got a bit more variety. Zariel had me hunting demons for ten years. Not all of them did something wrong - they just got on her bad side.

I'm one of her best. Bet she about pissed herself when she realized I was gone. Wish I could've seen the look on her face, the old hag.

[shirtbag]

[ I KNOW AAA

laughs!! he squeezes and shakes her hand a little. ]

Said goodbye to yer ole muddle-fudgin', good-for-nothin' boss? Now that's what I'm forkin' talkin' about!

[ablazement]

[laughing, her tail wiggles a bit from where it's still settled around him.]

Sure did. And I'm never gonna see her again. Gods, that's satisfying, isn't it?

[shirtbag]

[ 🥺 boothill sits in the tail wiggler ]

How's that work? She ain't dead, is she?

[ablazement]

[THE TAIL WIGGLER]

Nah. She's like, the Archduke of the Hells or something, really hard to kill. But she can't get her claws in me when I'm out on a different plane. She hasn't got the jurisdiction.

[shirtbag]

You keep mentionin' this place. "The Hells." What's that about? That your home turf?

[ablazement]

[tags this back belatedly.......]

Nope. [firmly.] Baldur's Gate is my home.

Hells are nowhere good.

[shirtbag]

Don't sound like nothin' good.

[ he squeezes her hand a little. ]

So how'd a rough 'n tough lady like you end up workin' somewhere like that?

[ablazement]

Someone sold me out. You only ever really end up there if someone makes a deal.

[shirtbag]

Some ash-vole done it to ya'? [ unreliable friends. he knows all about those. ] Better count their blessin's that I can't reach 'em from here.

What kinda deal we talkin'?

[ablazement]

[she gives him a little smile at that.] Bet you'd like smashing his face in. He was a dick.

But - yeah. He sold me out for money. He needed cashflow, the devils needed someone for this.

[taps the engine in her chest.]

1/2

[shirtbag]

[ boothill is quiet for a moment, searching for any sign of emotion across karlach's face.

then, very seriously: ]

First off, you said "was." Past tense. That son of a nice lady better hope he's already dead.

2/2

[shirtbag]

[ then he nods to her chest. ]

Anyway. They needed someone alive carryin' it? What's this for anyhow?

[ablazement]

[she's - somber, maybe? she's not a hard person to read in general, so it's easy to see. the kind of tired that comes from someone who found out revenge really didn't do it for her at all.]

Yeah, I put an axe through his skull right before I got here. [for the first part.

and then:]

It's a little like you, actually. Not you, but you said there was an operation, and it'd benefit you if you survived it. [she gestures.] Same. You put a Soul Coin in there and I can rip a score of demons in half with my bare hands.

[shirtbag]

[ she does read like an open book. boothill nods at her initial answer, but he hones in his focus on her and her body language. it's his turn to switch his hands—to hold hers in one and snake his other arm around her, if she's comfortable with it. he rests his hand in the middle of her back. his thumb gently passes over her knuckle.

just two friends being pals by the pyre!! ]

They wanted a soldier themselves. [ that's what it sounds like. ]

[ablazement]

[history will call them very good gal pals

he moves, and she eases into it easy. ten years of never being touched, never being able to be touched because she ran so hot. she holds onto his hand and eases against his side. relaxes, even, eyes closed briefly.]

A frontliner, yeah. Someone to fight their war for them.

[shirtbag]

[ karlach ):

she's tall—a head taller than him, but he's a solid support against her weight. she likely leans her head over his and he tilts his head to meet it. at least his hair is soft. the hand at her back gives it a gentle, circular rub before it falls around her waist. ]

'Gainst those demons, you said. What for, anyway?

[ablazement]

[his hair is soft, and he's a little cold - it continues to be a relief. when his arm settles around her waist, she carefully slides her own around his in return. maybe she's taller, but it's nice, to fit neatly.]

No idea. [snort.] Territory? Power struggle, maybe. I don't think any of them knew. Fucking pointless.

[shirtbag]

Ten whole years'a pointless war. This underground too? No sunlight? Nothin' green?

[ablazement]

No sunlight. Nothing green.

[she confirms, her grip tightening on him just a little.]

The first thing I did when I was out was lay in a patch of grass.

[shirtbag]

[ he squeezes back. he really, really likes this woman. ]

I can't even imagine. Musta' been like heaven on earth for ya'.

[ablazement]

[she takes a deep breath. fills her lungs with air - with fresh air, not the smell of brimstone and ash.]

Understatement, even. [she says, finally.] This is good too, though. I like this.

[shirtbag]

[ he laughs softly, shoulders shaking. ]

You can't be serious. Kidnapped to live in a dump like this, with all this goat cult mumbo-jumbo, screamin' bibles 'n leeches 'n whatnot.