LHG100 — Roleplayer Guild

JOSHUA RAY
BARRACKS, NEW ANCHORAGE

In the room of Joshua Ray, the man himself was writing in his log while in his bed, facing downwards with one of his legs kicked up and eating a bag of gummy snacks. Pinching up a bear, in his mind, its inter-racial family of worms, fellow bears, and other assorted gummy candies were already in tears as they watched him being ripped apart limb from limb above their heads. Like a starving animal, he went in to grab a few more to add to the tomb of gnarled bits and pieces of gummy flesh within his stomach. He wrote down his experiences related to trying to join this team of misfits.

With his own trusty pencil, 'So far I've only had the pleasure of getting to know one other guy, Joe Verona, in this place. He's a nice one I can tell, seems dependable.' He bit the eraser before continuing, the man of few chicken scratchings wondering what else to put. 'I've been trying to identify the others but the only one recognizable is some older lady, I already forgot her name like the dumbass I am. That guy I talked to on the train went berserk and tried to kill Graham Crackers, but since he's a total badass presumably, he shot first.' Happy for now, he decided to get up and find something to pass the time with.

He always wanted to try a certain game... Grabbing his knife, he slipped it into his pocket nice and snug, before going into the mess-hall, to try and make a new acquaintance with this little game.

JOSHUA RAY and ELI
Mess Hall, New Anchorage

It was lunch, and the NC pilots were called to eat once more, but at least one, Ray, was looking to do something else aside from that. He decided to randomly select one of the pilots who were walking in and sit next to them and squawk at them for a bit, get to know them. It’s been two weeks, might as well, right?

He decided to sit down with an icier looking girl, the type he’d recognize from his endless stories as the one that needed a bit of careful defrosting. Of course, that was just an assumption, but those were still useful. Plopping down at a table in the corner with her, he decided to get the obvious finished with immediately.

Opening with a ”Hi there, I’m, y’know.. Joshua Ray. Nice to meet you?” he then thought sarcastically, Starting out smooth as butter as usual, Ray., before he smiled a friendly grin, until he resumed his standard facial expression of mild interest.

She didn’t turn to him until he’d actually spoken, and even then it was from the side up to his last word. Icy had been an accurate observation, for sure, and when she did face him, he didn’t receive a smile in return. 

From the past days, it might have been expected that at this point, a younger, peppier voice would chime in to make the proper introductions, however a passing glance showed that the young woman was, in fact, alone. 

”Hello,” her voice was a dead match, cold, official, mechanical. ”Is something the matter?”

”Well, yeah, I was just wondering if you wouldn’t mind talking and, you know, goofing around a little to get to know each other. I’ve never been one for big teams but, y’know, it’s a good idea to sorta… know the other people you’re working with, right?” He went to grab something from his pocket, taking a bit and continuing to speak. ”Wanna play a game? I think it’s a traditional game for tough people like us, soldiers and stuff?” Eventually, he got out a knife, blade covered by a scabbard.

”Five Finger Fillet? Safe or Ballsy?”

Her eyes narrowed, swapping from him to the knife, then back to him. Her stature went rigid, but it seemed more a point of form than any true apprehension. ”You want to cut your fingers off,” a question, even if it sounded more like a statement. 

”That’s why I asked ‘Safe or Ballsy?’ Scabbard on or off?” He had a short little laugh before admitting ”I usually play it safe. I’m not too brave at all.”. He put the knife on the table between them before asking again, ”Interested or not? Might be fun.” The knife had the man’s initials, JR, and apparently a little name. ‘Chance the knife’ was on the other side of the handle. 

For a few moments the young woman was quiet, studying the knife now entirely. At length she offered a brief nod, and pushed it back to him. ”Leave it on, dismembering yourself now would be unwise.”

With that she turned full and sat watching, waiting for a demonstration. Perhaps she’d never actually played the game. 

Joshua grabbed the ‘safe’ knife and put his left hand down on the table, spreading his fingers apart widely, and twirling the blade in his right hand until it pointed downwards. ”Never played, right? I’ve been told that you go something like this...”, Ray stabbed the knife sideways in between each finger, narrowly missing each time until a second or two later he ‘cut’ his own thumb on his second go around. He went to check on his finger reflexively before handing it over, ”As fast as possible. Poke your hand, pass it.”

””Uhh… huh.. Usually there’s a bet or something involved. And a ‘first one to stab themselves thrice loses’ and stuff. At least where I come from.”

”So it’s gambling,” she said, flat but not accusatory. She took the offered knife and weighed it in her hand, tested the scabbard point against her palm, and, apparently satisfied, splayed her fingers out on the table as he had done. 

Her pacing was steady, slow at first and gradual, but her accuracy was most noteworthy. On the fourth pass she nicked the edge beneath her pinky, and let a small “hm” rumble her throat, before handing the knife back over. 

”It’s not a bad blade.”

”You got that right.” He agreed as he went to grab it. Before resuming himself, he inquired, ”Care for the story behind it?”. He then started quickly, going at a somewhat lethargic pace himself and with comparable accuracy, but that probably came from a bit more experience with stupid games such as this instead of him being good with a knife. Or was he good with a knife? Either way, he did screw up right as he reached the fifth pass. He slid the knife over. 

”It’s a knife. It doesn’t have a story,” she said as she hovered it over her hand once again, ”Though I assume then that you have a story, involving the knife.”

This time she started with a swifter pace, pinpointing between each finger, her figure hunching slightly as intense eyes focused. It was the eighth pass this time before she tweaked the blade at an odd angle and caught it sideways between her middle and ring finger. 

She set it down for him. ”I’m not interested in that either. If we’re sharing information, I’d more like to know how often you use knives, if you do at all, for more than simple recreation.”

”I used them often enough while I was still figuring out my NC, y’know the Apollo? Big red one. I actually got this knife in an accidental bar brawl. I was just present for one, didn’t participate, but I picked it up on the way out of dodge. Guy’s probably still looking for it.” He had a shit-eating grin on his face, proud of his act of extremely mild thievery. 

”I haven’t killed anything with it yet, and for that I’m pretty glad I guess.” He went to continue the game, going quicker this time and ‘nicking’ himself on his left hand’s  middle finger in the eighth pass too.

”I believe that’s three,” she stated. ”In lieu of a wager, I’d rather know why you’re here.”

Joshua, with a hint of sarcasm, simply said ”Because the demonstration sure counts.”, before putting his hand to his chin. Looking to the side and resting his head on his now-free left hand, he thought about what he could say for a bit.

With another grin fit for some sort of trickster, he dryly asked ”Did you mean that theologically, physically, or historically?” while smirking.

Once again she did not share his levity, cold gaze stern, lips pulled taut. ”Whichever convinces me why I should trust you, when we’ve already had mutiny, drop-outs, and traitors.”

”Physically, I’m here cause I used my legs to get on a train. Theologically, there’s hundreds of possibilities. Fate? Deus Vult? Because an angel told me too? Historically? Because some guy made giant robots, I pilot one, and I need money I can get from here because that Graham fellow needs pilots.” He then put his knife in his pocket. ”Really, though, I’m just here for a combo of things. Money, for one, and because Graham seems decent compared to the alternatives.” Joshua shrugged his shoulders and pointed to himself, then to Elizabeth. ”Us NC pilots are sometimes just tools, so I’m happy I get to choose who gets to use this tool too. Feels pretty nice, yeah? Graham seems like he’ll treat me decent. Besides, the other pilots seem cool so far anyway. Can’t stay a lone wolf forever, and this is a nice pack, I guess.”, Joshua smiled.

She clicked her tongue in her mouth, sat up straight, and subtly glanced around the room. Her voice went lower, not in a whisper, but grave nonetheless. ”You don’t choose your home. Our job is to protect New Anchorage, even if that means protecting it from people who were also meant to. I trust you understand?”

Joshua had a certain look in his eye. He started to answer, ”Ah, I think I know what you mean. I can be underhanded, but I’m pretty sure neither of us will have to worry about that.”, before he got up from his chair and went to actually get some grub. ”Besides, as I said, I’m not that ballsy anyway.”.

”As I hear, the most dangerous ones rarely are,” she said, and returned to her own meal.

Before moving away from the table, he shrugged once more, in agreement. ”I suppose.”

He lifted his left hand, moving his fingers. ”After all, I’m a lefty.”
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