[closed] yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down

[sageprincess]

Who: Zelda and others
When: Throughout the month
Where: Dorchacht
What: Another catch-all log for Hell City shenanigans
Warnings: None atm, will update if that changes

[PM this account or hmu on plurk at jamizoid if you wanna plot out some Dorchacht shenanigans this month!]

Comments

[fulgency]

[The marketplace here was abysmal. Aside from the blandness of the wares themselves, there seemed to be no liveliness to the merchants or the customers. No one was enthusiastically attempting to haggle for lower or higher prices than what the goods were actually worth. No one was attempting to steal customers from a nearby stall. For a market of this size, it was simply...quiet.]

[But he needed to have a better lay of the land than what he saw in the dream. And so, he was idly and quite barely perusing the goods that were on offer when he's bumped into by the escaping, accused thief. Ozymandias is almost relieved that something is happen, but that becomes dismissed quickly as they look to the rooftops. If he weren't interested in before, he certainly is now.]

[Ozymandias is not particularly tall, but he is tall enough to see their pursuers. They're making a surprising amount of ground quickly despite the crowd's general unwillingness to move. He nudges the accused.]

I would suggest moving in whichever direction you're intending on taking now.

[He's not usually one for unlawfulness, but he cannot imagine that the punishment for a thief is at all lenient or proportional to the crime committed.]

[sageprincess]

[The "thief" bristles at the touch, shoulders tensing, but their arms stay at their sides despite the obvious readiness to spring into more violent action. There's an instinct to scoff or argue at the advice the Pharaoh gives - no, they were planning on just standing here and getting caught, why keep running - but it's something that is easily bitten back by the urgency of the situation. The urge that is more difficult to ignore is the one to start giving orders - give me a boost, distract them, help me - and for a brief moment, the thief looks up at Ozymandias as though they're going to say something to that effect.

... But then they shake their head, pushing past him instead and earning the ire of a few nearby vendors as they clamber up their stalls to reach the facade of the buildings behind them. Ozymandias would never submit to the orders of a suspicious, hooded stranger, and to reveal themselves as anything else would jeopardize both of the missions they've come to this city to accomplish.

Doesn't mean the deception doesn't make the princess underneath the disguise a little sick in an unfortunately familiar way, however. But there's no time for regrets. The guards catch up sooner rather than later and push past Ozymandias themselves to reach the wall of the market just as the accused heaves themselves up over a balcony.

Oi, get down from there! they yell.

The red-eyed stranger shows no sign of complying.]