Battletech: Planet's Fall

Leaving one of the gambling tables early was Tessa. She'd lost all her tokens. Luckily, she hadn't lost her six shooters or lasso. They were vital.

The cowgirl drifted across the room, over most of the dancers, to get to the drinks table. She helped herself to a wine sippy cup.

"You're not an outlaw causing trouble, are ya?"

The other cowgirl approached the bar, locking in her magboots and leaning against it. The homemade sherrif's badge was easy to see.

"Out already Lady Wentworth?" Klaus has a few more tokens in hand, a veteran gambler who had been keeping his skills sharp with Gianna and Yoko.

"A run of bad luck, or just playing for fun?" He looks her over for a moment, a tad surprised to see her decked out as a cowboy.

He himself picked out a fairly ostentatious court outfit, faux military appearance not out of sorts for a merc company, but adorned with a tailored cape.

Klaus looks over at the other cowgirl. "Am I about to be in the middle of a shootout?" He asks playfully

Eilonwy Ainsley wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 29, 2021 1:46 am

Tessa recognised the voice and, with her spare hand, she quickly reached for one of her fake shooters. She points it in the doctor's direction.

"You've not heard of the great Tessa "Two Hands" Wentworth? Your mistake sheriff."

She spins the gun and grins. "Hey Elle." Her gaze moves up and down her friend. She was really rocking the cowgirl look. "Wow, are you sure you're not the outlaw here to steal hearts?"

Tessa giggles a little before she hears Klaus.

"Yes, it wasn't my bad. I played the odds and went bust every time. Twelve, jack. Thirteen, queen. Ten, five, eight." She smiles and shrugs with a 'what can you do?' expression. The toy gun is slid back into its holster, which is clipped shut again.

"This is Klaus, one of our strategists. Klaus von Zinzer. Klaus, this is Doctor Eilonwy Ainsley, our newest medtech." She initiates introductions for them both.

"Doktor" Klaus' pronunciation is a bit stilted, the drinks making his Lyran accent pop more than normal as he gives a nod to the other blonde. "Ach. The math is right. The trick I stick with is when I go with a group. You have someone bet low to feed cards. The more you see, the more possibilities are eliminated. I can invite you to the next card night if you like"

He peers over at the two cowgirls, eye falling on both before returning to Tessa. "If you don't think there will be a stickup with all of those C-Bills on the table."

Klaus looks back to the Doctor. "Forgive me for talking shop, but how are you finding things? Is everything well stocked? How much do we have to spare?"

He looks back to Tessa. "I promise. I will not be a stick in the mud all night Lady Wentworth. I made a point to have it pulled out of my ass for the night...wait, that came out wrong"

"Clearly, I'm not a great sheriff. You got the drop on me." She raised her hands in surrender.

She touched the brim of her hat and nodded to Klaus when they were introduced.

"I've gotten all the supplies I've asked for. I've nothing to complain about. Short of a string of very unfortunate casualties, we should be fine."

Eilonwy Ainsley wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 29, 2021 2:40 am

"Clearly, I'm not a great sheriff. You got the drop on me." She raised her hands in surrender.

She touched the brim of her hat and nodded to Klaus when they were introduced.

"I've gotten all the supplies I've asked for. I've nothing to complain about. Short of a string of very unfortunate casualties, we should be fine."

"Enough that we could treat civilians if necessary?" Klaus asks honestly. "We may need to, and if so I will see about commandeering more supplies"

" I swear to ComStar that will be last shop taking for a minute." He looks at the pair. " Perhaps you'll have to lasso me if I keep going"

She frowned. "It depends on how many. We can certainly handle some. However, if there's potential for casualties of disastrous proportions, we'll need more. I can make you a list. But, even with an abundance of supplies, there's only so much we can handle."

"Hm." She considered the invite. "I'm not really into card games that much, but maybe. Who else is there?"

Tessa shook her head and smiled at the stickup comment.

"Pfft." She gives Klaus a wide eyed look as she suppresses a giggle. "Very wrong."

Then conversation was serious all of a sudden. She just sipped her drink. It was a bit weird to sip wine, but it was better than no wine.

"We will figure it out. There, no lassoing needed"

Klaus offers Tessa a smile. "You can save your rope for later tonight. I do my best not to be a sour ass on a fun night, but I give you leave to rein me in."

"It's surprising at how many parties I've heard conversations like that." The doctor laughed, after a sip from her bottle.

"Medicine, or me being an ass?" Klaus asks wryly

"Plans for tying people up." she shrugged. "Among other things."

"E-Elle." Tessa stammers, embarrassed. She looked at the doctor with an expression of 'you're joking, right?'

"Don't worry. I doubt this is anything like those parties." she smiled. "This is much more fun so far."

Klaus turns an equal shade of color to Tessa and hurriedly takes a drink to hide it.

"That sounds like a creative use of medical gauze" he manages to cough. "How do you get invited to...those parties?"

Though I have a few guesses

"Klaus!" Tessa is shocked at his question. Then she remembers it isn't her business and she shuts up about it.

She felt a bit annoyed as she scanned the room. She spots a familiar face in the crowd. "You two have a nice chat about those kind of parties. I'm going to see how Laks is doing."

"Tessa, we're done discussing it. I promise." she assured her. "It was a dumb comment and I'd rather forget those days anyway. It really isn't what you think."

"I'm sorry. I was trying to be polite. That's... really not something I have a frame of reference on" Klaus holds up his hands, in apology.

The Chief Admin looked sceptical. She held one arm across her chest as she pressed her lips together. Then she sighed gently. "Okay. Sorry for overreacting."