kissintime | IC Inbox (El Nysa)

[ Well, this is something of a big step for someone like 76, but Ermes has an ability that might be of use to him, according to Riza, and it's in his best interest to follow up on it. The directory on his device makes it simple enough to look her up, and with any luck she won't be too weirded out by a random fellow refugee contacting her out of the blue. ]

We've never met, but I heard from someone that you have an ability that could be pretty useful to me. I'm wondering if we can work out some kind of deal.

[ He goes straight to the point. This is business for him, not any attempt at friendship. ]

[Oh oh?]

Which of my abilities? I can beat up alligators and replicate items.

[Beating up alligators is definitely a skill.]

[ Why alligators specifically? Well, 76 will leave that alone for now. ]

The second one.

[because she's a professional alligator hater that's why!]

Yeah I have that power. What do you need replicated? We can work out a deal depending what it is.

[ What did alligators ever do to you??? ]

Ammunition, maybe some healing items, depending on the limits of your power.

[ It sounds a little too good to be true, to him. ]

[they messed with her first ok!!]

Ammunition alone is tricky. If you have a gun, I can replicate that, and any ammo inside at the moment comes packaged along. I can give a demonstration to prove I'm not shitting you.

[ This may as well be music to his ears. You mean he gets as many guns as he wants??? ]

I have a gun, and yeah, I'd like to see a demonstration. [ Play it cool, play it cool. ]

As far as payment goes, what did you have in mind?

Usually I'd say money is king but we're all kind of broke? Sucks a lot!

How about this: demonstration is free. Anything after that is gonna cost you something once we start actually making cash. I've been making the same deal for some others here, so I'd be cheap to not extend it to you.

That works for me. I'm not expecting hand outs, don't worry.

So where are we doing this demonstration?

Wherever you want? So long as it isn't in outright public. Maybe your house or mine, I'm good with either. It won't take long to do.

I can come to you. What house are you in?

House 17. Roomies are out right now, so we got the place to ourselves. Just knock when you come by, I'll be here for an hour.

[Luckily for him, she hasn't gone out hunting yet for her usual work routine or she (and the house) would smell awful.]

I'm not far.

[ At least, he doesn't think he is. He's in House 6 and it seems like the numbers at least attempt to follow a logical order. Sometimes. ]

Be there soon.

[ About twenty minutes later he manages to find the house in question, rapping on it with a firm knock. ]

[A few seconds after he knocks, the door will open a crack only large enough that Ermes can see right through it. Then she opens the door the whole way through.]

You're not a cop are you?

[Her smirk betrays it's a joke, but he definitely has that vibe from the look.]

[ Well, that's a new one. 76 realizes that he has a certain authoritative quality to him that he's never quite been able to shake, even all these years later, but he shakes his head.

Yes, she's joking, but he may as well make it clear that she's got nothing to worry about.

He takes a moment to look her over. Interesting hairstyle, young, though not a teenager as far as he can tell. At least there's that. ]

Why, is there something I'd need to bust you for?

[ Look, he can try to be funny sometimes too. ]

[She pauses for a second, gauging the mood, letting out a crackled laugh and tapping the palm of her hand against the doorframe.] Not today. [Said with a turn, going into the house and wordlessly inviting 76 to follow.]

[The house interior is more or less the same as the others in this district. There are scattered items and belongings of her housemates, personal touches and evidence of being lived in. She leads him into the communal area, taking a seat at a small coffee table.]

Said you had a gun right? Olympia isn't much for getting good weapons. At least, not on the level some of us might be used to.

[ Not today. Good answer, and it's enough to make 76 curious while also still being more or less a joke as far as he can tell. If she's letting him into her house, then she must not have much to hide, or she's at least shoved all of that under the rug in anticipation of his visit.

He takes a look around. There's not a whole lot that stands out to him about the place, and when they reach the living area he stays standing for the moment. ]

Yeah, it's a pulse rifle. It's a prototype, so it's one of a kind. [ He didn't bring it because she'd only promised a demonstration today, and he knows that wandering around with a gun that big will only earn him some worried looks from the natives. ] And... yeah, I've noticed. It isn't that easy to find a good firearm around here.

Sucks, right? I'm not really a gun type of gal, only when I really need it, but it's pretty limiting. Beggars can't be choosers when the world has ended.

["World" being a more general term here - all their worlds have ended, and it seems like they don't all come from the same one.]

Ok, well enough chit-chat. You have something you want me to demonstrate on, or should I just do whatever?

[ If she's not a gun type of gal, then what type of gal is she? The fact that she has familiarity with shooting a gun at all already gives 76 some idea of what kind of background she has, but he wouldn't ever call a rifle "limiting." Huh.

At the question, he shakes his head. ]

Doesn't really matter what it is. Your choice.

[ He settles his weight back on his heels, preparing to watch the show. ]

Alright.

[She takes a quick look around the room, trying to find something that can either be replaced or won't be relatively missed. After a moment of contemplation, she settles on a small decorative clay bowl on the table, taking it in her hand and moving it in her hand. Ermes smirks and places it down in front of her, and outstretches her hand so 76 can see a pink sticker square in the middle of it.

Her fingers move over the corner of the sticker and peel it off her skin by the thumb and index, and slap it onto the inside of the bowl. The bowl vibrates for a second, and a mirage of the bowl comes out of it. When the vibration fades, what's left in its place is a second bowl - an exact appearing copy - sitting right beside the first.]

That's all there is to it. This is my Kiss.

[ Hawkeye had mentioned something about stickers, though 76 hadn't really known what to make of it. How does a sticker help to duplicate an item? Especially when that sticker appears to be in some way a part of Ermes. Or at least, 76 doesn't think he had seen it on her hand before the moment when she shows it to him.

Even watching it with his own eyes (and with the visor to pick apart anything that might be an illusion), 76 still stares at the two identical bowls in confused silence. How did that even work? It would take a brain more scientific than his to answer that question. ]

Kiss? [ He looks up from the bowls to look directly at Ermes. ] Gotta say, never seen anything like that. What's the sticker got to do with it?

It's... [she waves her hand, propping her chin up with the other on the tabletop.] Ok, honestly, beats me. I got this power one day 'cause I got scratched by a stone, and far as I can tell? No real science to it. It's just magic bullshit.

But the replica is legit. You can take it out of here, move it to the other side of the continent, and it would still work and function exactly as the original. Except... [she points down to the sticker inside the duplicate bowl] if you take the sticker off.

[That's all she says before reaching in and peeling it off. The duplicate vibrates for a moment, rattling in place, before slamming on its own into the original bowl at top speed. What's left? Only one bowl - now with a long crack going down its side.]

[ Scratched by a... stone? It sounds like something out of a comic book. But if Ermes doesn't have the means to explain any of it to him, then 76 will just have to accept it at face value. Given that she might be willing to help him stay well-supplied, he isn't going to question it too much. If all it takes is making sure a sticker stays on his gun, that's fine by him.

He watches as two bowls become one again, taking note of the small amount of damage caused as well. He approaches the bowl to get a closer look, but doesn't reach out to touch it. So there's a consequence to this too, a gamble of sorts. He's had worse odds in the past.

His visor meets Ermes' eyes. ] How many times can you do it to the same item? Is there a limit?

[ Or does he get as many guns as he can pay for? ]

No limit that I know of. But, the second the sticker is removed - BAM. [ a hand slaps the table to emphasize her point. ] Anything that came from that sticker, even duplicates of duplicates, is smashing together and breaking down. And the more times something smashes together - well I don't think I gotta tell you how physics 101 works.

So the more duplicates there are, the more damage is gonna be caused if a sticker is removed?

[ That means that he'll need to exert some restraint with this, as he doesn't want his original rifle to become useless if for some reason the sticker gets removed.

Of course, his wallet will limit him too. ]

Precisely. And they're just regular stickers. Not the kind that like... you know when you want to peel off a sticker but it's on there really hard? So you peel it and it rips and leaves behind this gross shitty leftover crap?

My stickers aren't that hardcore.

[ 76 does know what she's talking about, oddly enough. The point sticks, which is that it wouldn't be that hard for one of these things to get peeled off if he wasn't careful. Duly noted. ]

All right. I'll get in touch with you once I actually have some silver to burn, and we can talk about pricing. How's that sound?

[ Now that he knows the process and the risks, he can also take some time to decide if it's really worth it. ]

Good shit. [ she smirks ] Just don't go blaming me if you ruin your stuff by accident and we'll be cool.

[ 76 shakes his head. He has no intention of doing that, though he doesn't blame Ermes for being concerned about it. He can see how this sort of thing could backfire on her.

Not wanting to overstay his welcome, he makes for the door. ]

Thanks for hearing me out. [ Sometimes he can remember his manners. She didn't have to give him the time of day, let alone allow him into her home. ]

I hope you like this. If you don't, I'll try again. Just leave it there.

[ There is a sort of awkwardly wrapped box that contains a rather... unique sculpture.]

[ sent about a few hours after he leaves the gift: ]

hey? hey did you leave the gift for me?? dont think i got the wrong person but if you arent the person then you should give me a gift anyway.

I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you if I left the gift. I was a little confused on the rules.

oh sweet so it was you! shit looks dope, i love it. did you make it yourself or did you buy it?? it's real damn fancy.

Bought it.

I thought it was pretty.

Dope is good?

dope is dope. means good, but like a laid back kinda good where you're happy but lowkey about it.

it's good. i like it! colors are rad.

(that's also good.)

Is there a reason you don't just say 'good' if it all means 'good'? Or is it different kinds of good?

[ He really has no idea. ]

sometimes good isn't enough to describe how good something is! sometimes your goods need flavor in them.

dope, the shit, bitchin, sweet, bangin, all words for good.

What's the difference between them?

What's the different between 'dope' and 'bangin'?

'dope' is more lowkey and bangin is like SUPER GOOD. all in the tone.

So 'sweet' is more like 'dope' and 'the shit' would be closer to 'bangin'?

[Around Christmas, Ermes will receive a wrapped box containing a flannel coat and a pair of matching gloves and socks. There's a note attached:]

Have a warm holiday season. - V

[ about an hour after she finds the package at her door, and combs her mind to figure out if she knows a "V", she texts him: ]

hey man! did you leave this box on my door? i dont know many v's so im guessing its you.

Yes, it was me. I just hope it's to your liking.

IC Inbox (El Nysa)

text | un: 76

un: KISS

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