TRP: Goro and Larkin (Repayment)

## Setting

The Sugar Glider, night.

Two days after the crew returned from the ruins of Whitehelm. The soft sounds of Larkin's footsteps were swallowed up by the creaking, cracking and groaning the ship produced as it rocked at anchor. Much like the first and last time she'd been on here, she tried to stay unnoticed. Difference was, this time it was even easier. No one was on watch, there were no trip wires, nothing to alarm of intruders. How anyone of her team mates could sleep on here like this was a mystery to her. Let alone Goro. Finding his room was easy enough. It was the only one that had locks on it. Six of them, in fact. This was more like what Larkin had expected of him. She tapped along the door frame to find where the bolts were, then picked the ones accessible from the outside. Decent quality, all of them, but a bit on the out-dated side. She considered how she could tell him this without giving away that she'd been in his room, then remembered he would know anyway. When he found the gold. The remaining bolts succumbed to her tools and a helping of her magic a moment later. She pushed the door open, felt it connect to what was probably a bell above the frame. From outside, she reached up and silently placed it on the other side of the door so it wouldn't chime, then slipped in. Larkin didn't bother looking through the room. She was here to give, for a change, not steal. She took out the money pouch and placed it on a shelf right next to the door.

Player 1:

A hand, belonging to a dark figure crouched behind the door, flies out and grabs her ankle.

Player 2:

For a moment, Larkin is thrown off balance but manages to stay on her feet. Steadying herself with one hand on the shelf, she yanks her foot free of the grasp, then kicks it foreward into what she hopes is the attacker's face.

Player 1:

Goro tries to dodge out of the way, and he misses the brunt of the kick but the intruder's toes still bonk his teeth. "Ow, fuck," he snaps, covering his mouth protectively and pointing his finger at the intruder to blast them to pieces. But when he gets a look at her face, he lowers his hand. "Oh, it's you. What the hell are you doing in my room?" He smacks his mouth and tastes blood. "Hey, fuck you. You ever heard of knocking?"

Player 2:

Larkin's recognizes Goro's voice in time to stop herself from setting him on fire. "Ahh..." She had not thought about what she would say if he was there. "You alright? Sorry for the kick. You startled me. Should've just said something, really." She takes a step back, showing a lopsided smile.

Player 1:

"I startled you. When you came into my room. Well, alright." He climbs to his feet and examines his door, with all six of its locks foiled. "Alright, when you've got time, I'm gonna have you show me how to actually secure a door. What are you doing here?"

Player 2:

"I..." Larkin scratches her head, feeling much less confident all of a sudden. Why is it so hard to find words to express I wanted to do something nice for you? She turns around to retrieve the money pouch from the shelf and holds it out to him. "I wanted to give you this. It's... it's the money you paid me for the cloak. Remember? I want you to have it back."

Player 1:

He stares at the pouch suspiciously. "Why?"

Player 2:

She squints at him a bit. This is the reason she does not like to do these things up front. She can understand it, though. She'd be suspicious as well in his place. No one ever did anything out of the kindness of their heart. "Because I changed my mind about you. You are... well, shit. Forget it." She puts the bag back onto the shelf and turns to leave. "I just felt I still owe you. Take it or don't, I don't want it anymore."

Player 1:

"Now, hang on a second." He reaches out and grabs her by the back of her shirt, immediately letting go when he thinks the better of it. "Alright, fine, I'll take the money. You're rich as fuck. But don't think of it as you paying me back for anything. You saved my life back in Whitehelm, twice. I'll accept it as 'this poor bastard needs all the help he can get' money. We've got each other's backs still, don't we? We don't have to owe each other."

Player 2:

She stops in the doorway and is silent for a moment, looking out into the corridor as if still wanting to leave. She scoffs a bit at the money comment. "It's not charity," she says when he's finished. "I'd have given you the money even if it had been all I had." She actually grins then and looks at him again. "Okay, maybe I'd have held a bit back then. Probably."

Player 1:

Goro studies her a while. An odd choice she made, sneaking into his room in the middle of the night to give him something. Maybe she found this kind of thing just as embarrassing as he did. Fuck. How does he keep ending up with friends lately? Must be Ripley's fault. "Hey, Larkin. You have a minute? I... I want to tell you about something." He could smack himself. It's the middle of the goddamn night and she's on her way out the door.

Player 2:

Her grin vanishes and she looks a bit disconcerted. "Uhm, sure. I got time" She takes a step out of the doorway but not much farther into the room. She looks over to an unlit lamp, relizing they had been talking in the dark the whole time. "Maybe we should get some light?"

Player 1:

He moves to the lamp and touches it. Instead of lighting a flame inside, the whole thing is now glowing with a bright yellow light. He takes a seat on the bed. "I'll try not to waste your time. You were there the day we first met Diva, right? When I got a wand and a ring from her?"

Player 2:

Her interest peaks at the sound of Diva's name. She closes the door then and leans against it. "Yeah, I remember. Hard to forget a sight like that. You know, actually..." she pauses, thinking of how to express herself. "I kinda had a mind to ask you about it - about what happened in the ruins I mean. But I respect people's privacy, so... " she trails off, looking a bit embarassed. "Sorry. You wanted to say?"

Player 1:

"How closely did you listen to the wording of the deal I made with her?" He holds a hand up and points to the ring he's wearing. "The deal for this thing, specifically."

Player 2:

She thinks about it, chewing on her lower lip. "Diva gets sixty seconds to control your body. She won't use them to harm you or anyone who workes for the guild. Or, worked for it back when you made the deal. "

Player 1:

"No." Goro half-closes his eyes, gaze on the wall across from him. "No, those were not quite the words."

Player 2:

Larkin tilts her head at him, puzzled for a moment and re-thinks. Then it hits her. "Ripley."

Player 1:

Goro smiles. Damn, the man's got a creepy smile at times like these. "No one else noticed. Including me, until about an hour after it was too late. I wasn't going to tell anyone, but I gave in. I had to tell Ripley. Give her a chance to off me. Seemed only fair."

Player 2:

For a moment, Larkin sees a kind of loneliness behind that smile. She'd seen its kind often enough. It comes with a certain kind of life the need for emotional self-defense. "Damn, that's... that sucks." She doesn't know what else to say to this. Suddely it feels awkward to be still standing at the door as if ready to bolt. She looks around for a chair, finds a stool and sits down on it a few feet closer to Goro. "Well, I wouldn't have noticed either if you hadn't asked like that just now."

Player 1:

"I'm sure that's exactly what Diva was banking on. Fuck, I'm an idiot. Fuck. You know, I knew there was something. I knew there was some catch. I just figured it would be small enough that I'd be able to live with it." He rubs his face vigorously like he's trying to wake himself up. "I have to kill her. Me and Ripley, we swore to find a way. But..." His eyes dart around the room. "I wonder if she's listening."

Player 2:

"Who? Diva? Can she do that?" Larkin looks around the room as if expecting to see something suspicious but quickly realizes how stupid that is. "What do you think would happen if she finds out? I mean... fuck, Goro. That's one shit ton of crappy news you got there."

Player 1:

Goro's quiet for a minute. When he speaks again, it's in Infernal. "She has some way of gathering information, and I'm not sure what it is. Other than her hosts, that is. But somehow she knew I told Ripley about the deal, and I think I would have noticed if there'd been a black-eyed abomination sitting in the room with us. I think she might be Scrying on me. I know she can't read my mind, because of, well." He points to the ring again and laughs unhappily. "Was it worth it, Goro? Ah, was it worth it?" He tips his head back to rest against the wall. "How do we kill her, Larkin? What do we do?"

Player 2:

We? Fuck, when did trying to pay off her debt into fighting some demonic creature? And when did she decide she liked Goro enough to go along with it? Larkin does not say anything for a long moment, just sits and looks at Goro. Was it worth it to risk her life? Damn it, at least if I die I don't have to pay off Renar anymore. "I'd kinda expect a demon or whatever she is to speak Infernal," she says with a tentative laugh but she's also changed languages. "Look, I -" she pauses again to wait and see if he moves but he doesn't. "Yeah, Goro. I got your back. It'd be a damn shame to lose you to that bitch, I gotta admit that, but... fuck. I got no idea how to deal with Diva. That's not what I usually do, y'know?"

Player 1:

"Oh, I didn't mean for my sake," he says, slightly embarrassed. "I mean, yes we have each other's backs, but... fuck, I wouldn't expect anyone to go up against an eldritch abomination for my sake. This time, I'm talking about everyone. As in I'm afraid Diva's going to fuck over all of Skyport, just like she did to Whitehelm. And I'm at a fucking loss. No clue how to handle her. I've done research, I've talked to Ripley, I've talked to Ombre, I've... hell, I guess I could ask Mishka if he has any ideas."

Player 2:

"Oh," is all she says. She hadn't thought to consider the wider implications but of course, he was right. The sight of the dwarfen city should have been enough of a warning to anyone. "Mishka that is... isn't that Hansel's ex husband? The one who tried to kill his kid? How could he help?"

Player 1:

"I don't know. He's a sorcerer, and he's old. He might know something. Then again, you could say the same about Ombre." Goro shrugs. "Mishka's paranoid, and creative about coming up with ways to save his own pretty face."

Player 2:

"Hm. Might be worth a try. Let's hope he's as interested in saving Skyport as you are." She stops to think, then smirks. "Else we'd have to make it a bit more personal for him."

Player 1:

Goro's eyebrows lift. "Oh. Yes, I... can think of some ways we might do that." He looks a little ill at the idea, however.

Player 2:

Larkin opens her mouth to say the dark quip she's got at the tip of her tongue but thinks better of it. This whole conversation is only slowly losing its awkwardness and she doesn't want to make it worse again. "Well... good. But let's just assume we won't have to, alright? Let's just, uhm, let's just go speak to the guy."

Player 1:

"Right now?" Goro opens his window hatch a crack. Going to be dawn soon. "Eh, sure, why the hell not." He wasn't planning to head that way again anytime soon, but he leads Larkin on the walk out to Mishka's estate. He knocks on the door when they arrive.

[Continued in TRP: Goro and Larkin and Mishka]