Secret Agent Meg [open]

[hadesandback]

Characters: Megara and anyone from any ship who'd like to get backtalked meet her~
Content: Megara is wandering around the marketplace, doing a bit of sightseeing, but mostly looking for people to tell Aizen about to socialize with.
Setting: All around the makeshift town
Time: All day
Warnings: TSUNTSUN. Sass. But she'll be a heck of a lot

Comments

[theschmotone]

"Come on, pay op!" Dimo chided the startled man standing next to him. He clapped a strong hand onto the fellow's shoulder and gave him the Jager version of a companionable smile. For any normal person, though, it was a pretty damned unsettling expression to be confronted with. "Hyu bet me six francs dot I couldn't tell vhere dot plane vas from vithout looking at it. Hyu lost, keed. Now pay op!"

Six coins were dropped mutely into Dimo's hand, and the fellow wandered away, stealing confused glances over his shoulder. He didn't need to know that Dimo could tell the difference between steel forged in Ivona and steel forged in Vohemar by scent.

[hadesandback]

That was interesting. Meg wasn't sure exactly what sort of demihuman that man was, but he'd be worth talking to, for certain. "Gambling away kids' pocket change?" she asked, eyebrows raised. Her tone and expression were far from condemning--on the contrary, she was amused.

[theschmotone]

"Ho, iz even eazier den dot!" Dimo scoffed, tossing the coins lazily in the air before putting them away in his belt pouch. "I doezn't have to do any vork at all, und dey zeems perfectly happy to pay to vatch me do zometing vhat I does naturally." He flashed her a happy and pointed smile. "Iz a simple vay to get zome spare pocket change."

[hadesandback]

So, according to this guy, the kids were paying for a show. Meg wouldn't quite call it that -- she'd call it "tricking kids out of their pocket change" -- but she didn't really care. This guy had some interesting points she wanted to learn more about. Meg took a step closer, far from intimidated by the claws and teeth. "So, what's the magician's secret?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Come on, you can tell me."

[theschmotone]

Dimo raised his own eyebrows curiously. The girl obviously wasn't afraid of him, especially to move so close so quickly. He was pretty certain that she wasn't interested in having him take her out for a drink or anything of the sort, which left him to wonder what her game was. His left hand crept down to the coin pouch on his belt as they talked, just in case.

"Magic, dollink? Dere's no magic to it--iz just zometing dot I can do vell." Dimo glanced quickly to the left and then to the right, just to make certain that no one was listening and picking up on the secret. "Schteel made in Ivona haz a different scent den de schtuff vhat's made in Vohemar. Different blacksmithing technique." He tapped the side of his disfigured nose with a clawed finger. "Vhen hyu gots as goot a nose as I gots, hyu picks up on dese zorts of tings."

[hadesandback]

Oh no, she wasn't a pickpocket. She was after something far more valuable: knowledge. "Can't say I ever made a habit of sniffing metal," she replied with a shrug. "But hey, if it gets you quick money, who am I to say no?"

Something told her that a sharp nose wasn't all this guy had. "Name's Megara," she offered. Maybe if she offered information about herself, she'd diffuse a bit of the tension. "And relax. I'm not about to pick your pocket."

[theschmotone]

"Glad to hear it," Dimo laughed. "If hyu vas trying to schteal anyting from me, I vould vonder vhy hyu had qvite zo much of a death vish. Vould be a pretty schtupid ting to do, after all."

He companionably offered his right hand for a handshake. "De name's Dimo, Megara, und iz not zo much dot I goes around schniffing metal. Iz more like I can't help but pick up on scents. I can track pipples halfvay across de Badlands."

[hadesandback]

Meg took the hand for the handshake, then closed her fingers around it and pulled it closer to her, turning his hand from side to side as she inspected the claws. "Something tipped me off that it'd be a bad idea," she said, tapping one of the claws with her left forefinger, before letting his hand go.

"Well, you've got sharp claws, sharp teeth -- 'course you've got a sharp nose to go with it," she shot back. "So, what else can you do? See in infrared? Jump buildings?"

[theschmotone]

He couldn't tell whether she was flirting or not, and while the thought of someone else besides himself starting the innuendo amused him, there seemed to be another level to the conversation. One that he wasn't quite aware of the intent of yet. Most girls didn't find the claws appealing, after all.

Dimo decided to play along for moment, to see where this was going. "Even I iz not zo amazing az dot, sveethot. But I can zee in de dark pretty vell, Und I iz pretty near indestructible. Been around for about three centuries or zo," he smiled smugly as he rolled up his left sleeve to show off the ragged stiches that the Mistress had used to sew his new arm on, "und lozing an arm iz de vorst ting dot's heppened in all dot time. Even den, I got a replazement, zo it all vorks out hokay in de end."

"Zo, iz hyu looking for a bodyguard? I haz done mercenary vork before."

[hadesandback]

Meg raised an eyebrow. "You've aged gracefully, I'll give you that," she remarked, an impressed look on her face. "No, I'm not in the market for hired muscle. I can take care of myself. I've just never seen anything like you before. Can you fault a girl for being curious?"

It sounded like flirting, and yet not like flirting. This was just how Meg dealt with people when she wanted to be charming and friendly.

"So, are you one-of-a-kind, or are there other great green sharp-nosed people I should look out for?"

[theschmotone]

"Can't fault hyu for it," Dimo replied with a self-satisfied smirk, "but I can decide dot hyu gots interesting taste in de company hyu keeps. Goot, but interesting." He shrugged. "Most pipples doezn't get dis close before running avay. Ve Jagerkin gots a reputation here in de Badlands. More zo down further south. Ve's not all green, but ve's all sharp und pointy, und not zomevun vhat hyu vants to run into in a dark alley at night."

[hadesandback]

“I’ll keep my eyes open next time I’m in a dark alley, then,” she replied with a smile, her tone surprisingly warm. Her next words were idly curious. “You Jagerkin make a habit of mugging girls in alleys?” Meg didn’t get the sense that Dimo was about to try anything here, which was one of the reasons that she was completely unafraid, but it helped to know if she’d have to look out for them in less public places.

[theschmotone]

Dimo paused to consider for a moment, stroking his goatee with his left hand. How long had it been since he'd mugged someone in a dark alley? Years, thankfully. He liked his fights face-to-face and honest, and besides, there were more enjoyable ways to get money off of people. "Not usually," he said, finally. "At least, not gorls. I might be a monster, but I gots zome standards, thenk Gott." He smiled back, a little less teeth showing this time. "Can't speak for any odder Jagers, but hyu's safe vith me, sveethot."

[hadesandback]

"It's the human-looking monsters you have to look out for." There was a dark undertone to those words, but her face brightened almost immediately. "Besides, if you want money, you can just go off and smell steel. Not all of us have so many talents."

[theschmotone]

"Dot it iz," Dimo agreed. "Ezpecially if hyu doezn't vant to end up a lab experiment." The ones who looked human were, indeed, generally the worst. It didn't really occur to him at the moment that the family that he served might be included within that description.

"Vell, dere iz dot, but being a pirate pays pretty damned goot too, dollink." He looked Meg up and down again. "Hyu looking to join up vith a new ship? Ve's had zome pipples leave not too long back, und could uze a few more crew members." Whether Megara was actually searching for a new ship to work on or not, Dimo certainly wouldn't mind having someone with her particular charms on board the ship.

[hadesandback]

"You almost sound like you're talking from experience," Meg noted, with a bit of a grimace. Whether it was sympathy or dislike of human experimentation -- or even familiarity with it -- was difficult to tell. "A pirate ship, mmm? I don't know if that's quite for me." She was indulgent, contemplative, almost like she was giving the idea serious thought.

After all, this Jager didn't need to know that she had absolutely no say in where she worked.