[Bold of this android...person...woman to assume that Lys can read. Which she can, but not without difficulty, thus the small grimace and resigned air with which she accepts the document. She could handle the threat of a gun or knife; at least the danger they posed was straightforward and blessedly simple.]
That so?
[She doesn't sound particularly optimistic, one eyebrow cocked archly as her gaze flickers intermittently from the paper to the stranger's veiled face. Her other hand draws apple juice from one of the shining silver taps behind the bar, filling the glass to the foaming brim without needing to look.]
Well, I'm sure the rancher barons and alfalfa farmers will be happy to see you, Miss Zechs. Hopefully you'll find time to check out some of the local farms before you leave town. [She slides the glass across the bar, but not the document, still laboriously poring over its contents.] Did your fancy college arrange a place for you to stay?
[ The girl blinked for a moment, tilting her head at the other woman's choice of words. The class dynamics of the town were pretty much alien to her, but more than that... ]
My imperative is to help anyone that needs it, ma'am. Whether they're one of the rancher barons or the local farmers, my aid is extended to all. I am a servant of this public.
[ Oh, but the other thing too... ]
As for lodging, I was told I would be able to procure some at this establishment? That this public house was connected with the inn.
[She glances at 6O, the brilliant blue of her eyes narrowing in sharp focus. Clearly expecting to catch 6O laughing at her after saying something so nice and helpful despite only showing up thanks to a well-connected politician's influence...and looking faintly confused when she doesn't.]
Guess we'll see about that.
[There's a beat of uncomfortable silence, but then her gaze drops back down to the document, the thin press of her lips relaxing into a more neutral expression. She goes back to reading, her halting progress made all the more obvious by the calloused finger gliding slowly over the paper and hovering for long seconds over words and phrases she doesn't immediately understand.]
The hotel across the street has more rooms, but mine are cheaper. [The possessive sounds strange to her own ears, still not wholly confident in her ownership even after five years, but somehow she keeps her voice from wavering on the word mine...at least to any degree within the range of normal human perception.] Meals are served three times a day, every day, with twenty percent off for lodgers. You'll get a key and have to pay for any damages. Still interested?
[ Nothing about 6O's tone or expression beneath her veil suggested she was joking. Something about her whole presence seemed distinctly alien to everything around her, and not just down to being a researcher from the YoRHa Institute. She didn't even really seem to get why that was a strange thing to ask, socially. ]
[It's almost funny, the way a perfectly normal, perfectly reasonable question could sound odd when spoken by someone already submerged in a miasma of strangeness. From her clothes to the way she carried herself, even the lilt of her voice and how she pronounced certain words, 6O's presence was totally discordant to the dusty desert town enfolding them.]
Unless they decide to eat in their rooms, I do. If they want.
[Finally she pushes the letter back across the counter for 6O to take, struck all over again by the unfamiliarity of those clothes and that veil. Just another bit of strangeness, something else to parse and dissect and file away...and with so much strangeness to mentally wrestle with, it only made sense for her to pay attention all the more closely. Right?]
[ She took the letter, folding it neatly and placing it back from which it came. If Lys was coming off as staring, the girl didn't really seem to... mind? Or perhaps she didn't notice? It was very difficult to tell. What's more... ]
I would like to have every meal with you as possible, as I plan to ask you many questions about this town, its culture, its people, and the current ecological concerns!
I shall consider you my liaison from here on, Ms....
[ It was then, she actually floundered a little, realizing something as she spoke. ]
[Despite nearly five years of living under a false name, of learning to mask her true feelings when survival demanded it, her eyes widen in a flash of startled surprise that shows openly on her plain, narrow face. Foolish, maybe, but she can't seem to help it; to be so freely offered that kind of trust and goodwill is so unexpected as to be disarming, mollifying the worst of her frustration like a gentle hand smoothing down ruffled feathers.
As 6O flounders, Lys finds herself speaking all the more steadily, relaxing just a little.]
Elisabeth Monet. But you can call me Lisbeth, if you want.
[Privately, she wonders about the logic behind 6O's choice...but why speak up and risk 6O changing her mind? If anyone was to be given this kind of privilege, allowed to bend the ear of an agent from the esteemed YoRHa institute, better it not be a big-time rancher or alfalfa baron, or anyone else who cared nothing for the town except where it affected their bottom line.
Reaching out across the bar counter, she offers her hand for 6O to shake.]
I'll do my best to answer all your questions. So...let's work hard together, okay? Miss Zechs.
Lisbeth, then! [ She could forgo formality, it seemed, when someone implied they had a preferred name.
She took the hand in hers to shake, her grip perhaps a bit too strong, her movement well too stiff and awkward. But the sincerity of her enthusiasm didn't seem to wane. ]
I look forward to learning all I can! About you, this town, and what I can do to help!
[The tight grip should have felt like a threat, but it didn't. Hypervigilance meant looking for the faintest hints of danger in another's face and posture, but she can't find a trace of either in 6O's — just more of that sunny enthusiasm. So Lys simply opens her hand rather than yanking it free, ending the handshake with a polite nod and the first hint of her own smile.]
Well, first things first... [Behind her, a row of keys hang from their wall-hooks in a neat line. Turning around, Lys scans through them at a glance and picks one up, coming around the counter with it in hand.] ...I'll show you to your room. We can get all the boring questions out of the way before I show you the town.
[Indicating for 6O to follow, she starts toward the open stairway leading up to the second floor, then pauses as if suddenly remembering something.]
You brought more luggage than that, right?
[6O was only carrying the one bag, but maybe she'd set the rest on the front porch before coming inside? Surely even one of the reclusive YoRHa androids from the capital city needed a change of clothes.]
This will be all I require. [ The strange girl answered, chipper. Whether or not that included a change of clothes was left unsaid, or even what was actually in the bag. It was probably something that would be answered soon enough, one could suppose.
Either way, she fell in step behind Lys, her boots once more hitting the wood floor a bit heavier than anyone else her size probably should be... ]
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no subject
That so?
[She doesn't sound particularly optimistic, one eyebrow cocked archly as her gaze flickers intermittently from the paper to the stranger's veiled face. Her other hand draws apple juice from one of the shining silver taps behind the bar, filling the glass to the foaming brim without needing to look.]
Well, I'm sure the rancher barons and alfalfa farmers will be happy to see you, Miss Zechs. Hopefully you'll find time to check out some of the local farms before you leave town. [She slides the glass across the bar, but not the document, still laboriously poring over its contents.] Did your fancy college arrange a place for you to stay?
no subject
My imperative is to help anyone that needs it, ma'am. Whether they're one of the rancher barons or the local farmers, my aid is extended to all. I am a servant of this public.
[ Oh, but the other thing too... ]
As for lodging, I was told I would be able to procure some at this establishment? That this public house was connected with the inn.
no subject
Guess we'll see about that.
[There's a beat of uncomfortable silence, but then her gaze drops back down to the document, the thin press of her lips relaxing into a more neutral expression. She goes back to reading, her halting progress made all the more obvious by the calloused finger gliding slowly over the paper and hovering for long seconds over words and phrases she doesn't immediately understand.]
The hotel across the street has more rooms, but mine are cheaper. [The possessive sounds strange to her own ears, still not wholly confident in her ownership even after five years, but somehow she keeps her voice from wavering on the word mine...at least to any degree within the range of normal human perception.] Meals are served three times a day, every day, with twenty percent off for lodgers. You'll get a key and have to pay for any damages. Still interested?
no subject
[ Nothing about 6O's tone or expression beneath her veil suggested she was joking. Something about her whole presence seemed distinctly alien to everything around her, and not just down to being a researcher from the YoRHa Institute. She didn't even really seem to get why that was a strange thing to ask, socially. ]
no subject
Unless they decide to eat in their rooms, I do. If they want.
[Finally she pushes the letter back across the counter for 6O to take, struck all over again by the unfamiliarity of those clothes and that veil. Just another bit of strangeness, something else to parse and dissect and file away...and with so much strangeness to mentally wrestle with, it only made sense for her to pay attention all the more closely. Right?]
All they have to do is ask.
no subject
[ She took the letter, folding it neatly and placing it back from which it came. If Lys was coming off as staring, the girl didn't really seem to... mind? Or perhaps she didn't notice? It was very difficult to tell. What's more... ]
I would like to have every meal with you as possible, as I plan to ask you many questions about this town, its culture, its people, and the current ecological concerns!
I shall consider you my liaison from here on, Ms....
[ It was then, she actually floundered a little, realizing something as she spoke. ]
Um... Actually, I didn't get your name, did I?
no subject
As 6O flounders, Lys finds herself speaking all the more steadily, relaxing just a little.]
Elisabeth Monet. But you can call me Lisbeth, if you want.
[Privately, she wonders about the logic behind 6O's choice...but why speak up and risk 6O changing her mind? If anyone was to be given this kind of privilege, allowed to bend the ear of an agent from the esteemed YoRHa institute, better it not be a big-time rancher or alfalfa baron, or anyone else who cared nothing for the town except where it affected their bottom line.
Reaching out across the bar counter, she offers her hand for 6O to shake.]
I'll do my best to answer all your questions. So...let's work hard together, okay? Miss Zechs.
no subject
She took the hand in hers to shake, her grip perhaps a bit too strong, her movement well too stiff and awkward. But the sincerity of her enthusiasm didn't seem to wane. ]
I look forward to learning all I can! About you, this town, and what I can do to help!
no subject
Well, first things first... [Behind her, a row of keys hang from their wall-hooks in a neat line. Turning around, Lys scans through them at a glance and picks one up, coming around the counter with it in hand.] ...I'll show you to your room. We can get all the boring questions out of the way before I show you the town.
[Indicating for 6O to follow, she starts toward the open stairway leading up to the second floor, then pauses as if suddenly remembering something.]
You brought more luggage than that, right?
[6O was only carrying the one bag, but maybe she'd set the rest on the front porch before coming inside? Surely even one of the reclusive YoRHa androids from the capital city needed a change of clothes.]
no subject
Either way, she fell in step behind Lys, her boots once more hitting the wood floor a bit heavier than anyone else her size probably should be... ]
I look forward to seeing the accommodations!