Check My Brain [social, closed]

When that person stumbled through the lounge, Natalie was busy reading a newspaper, lounging on one of the comfortable, wide chairs. Naturally, she acted in a somewhat refined way, sitting almost proper without fully letting herself go. Admittedly, she was not really reading a newspaper as much as scrounging this proclamation for possible jobs worth taking. They did not really have a guild board in this temporary retreat.

Even so, it was impossible not to notice those foolhardy attempts going on not too far from her. Every now and then, she would look up from the paper and check the progress. The issue was fairly easy to grasp. Her older sister had done much the same, back in the day. Personally, she had never really seen the appeal. Making yourself a little bigger at the cost of comfort was a bit odd in general. But each their own, she always said and tried to stay out of the ongoing performance of ‘the walking of the shrewd’.
It would become impossible not to chuckle at the curse spewn towards no one in particular, though. Nat just couldn’t help herself at some point. And once she realized that she had probably been heard, she really couldn’t just let it all stand in the room like that. “If you don’t like them, why would you wear them? They don’t go well with armor anyway.”

Morgan Laroux

Oh? It was part of a set? Nevermind then. No one could ever conceivably break up something as holy and static as that! Natalie chuckled to herself, but did not speak that out loud. It would be rude, yet also true. Her smugness was usually restricted to her innermost thoughts, as was making fun of others. It was always best when she had what at least seemed like legitimate reasons for it, too.
This one, she felt, was one of those cases. The strange woman that had recently joined the guild seemed to get upset about things mostly under her own control. Had someone forced her to wear that kind of outfit? Who would ever want to? Granted, she certainly did not pick the most practical clothes in existence and was not above being enticing, but never to the point where she was uncomfortable or could not move freely.

“Are you sure that you cannot just take them off? The heels, that is. I fear that you will have to live with those breasts, like we all have to. It really is not as difficult as you make it out to be,” she eventually noted. While still remaining somewhat polite, these words had at least a little bite. And why not? That was how stubborn people learned best, in her experience. Someone who kept getting up and failing for the same reasons was certainly stubborn, if nothing else. But since she was not actually doing anything to improve her technique, it was doomed to fail forever more.

Morgan Laroux

There was an actual reason to that. Interesting. Her point still stood, however. That girl had chosen to don it in the first place. She could take it off whenever she wanted. It would simply make her weaker. But what was power like that worth if it was not your own? Especially when one could not control it. This woman was making a fool out of herself, clearly. Even more so when she finally did realize just who she was talking to, shifting gears to something that probably was meant to sound dashing or so.
It fell fairly flat, though. Natalie really had to hold back on her reply to not make too much fun of him. He was invading her personal space though, so he would get at least some of it. Natalie was not really uncomfortable like that, though the odd fabric touching her skin felt a tad bit weird. She clearly was someone who preferred wearing light, clothen fabrics, not something as rigid as that.

“Given that you are neither devilishly handsome, nor a lad, I will have to decline that question,” she ultimately replied. It was a simple enough thing to do, the woman having served herself in that regard. Natalie was still being gentle, however, and would take to giving a proper answer, regardless. “But so you know, I am a member of the Southern Wolves, and I am currently looking for some work. Or rather, I was until you came in and fell onto your face. It was really cute, though.”

Morgan Laroux

One way or another….if that person didn’t seem like, um, an idiot, that would have been a very troubling statement. As was, Natalie did not feel like she had much to worry. They were apparently in the same guild, too. That didn’t make it impossible for anything bad to happen, but made it much more unlikely. Still, it was probably best to clear that up, so the other did not cause severe issues for herself down the road.
Briefly, she harrumphed, her hand in front of her mouth. “You might want to choose your words more likely. I am able to tell you mean no harm, but someone else might understand that as you taking them against their will, should they object.” That was probably the most concise way to phrase this. That might have sounded a bit dark and everything, but with these kinds of things it was best to come clear immediately.

Given that the other would likely be taken aback by that, Nat went easy on the stranger with the rest. “You also should not talk about your bare butt so publicly. Though I am curious why anyone would put it there to begin with. It is supposed to let you identify yourself. Hiding it on an intimate place that is covered by that very armor that causes you so many issues seems…inadvisable.”
The healer still did nothing to get out of the other’s embrace, of course, but she certainly had taken to more ‘aggressively’ pointing out problems. Her demeanour remained pleasant, but this one triggered her big sister instincts, which did include some tough love here and there. Especially when one’s odd antics could reflect badly upon the guild.


Morgan Laroux

“Red King?” Her words did not express amazement or disbelief, but rather confusion. She had heard that name somewhere, sometime, but could not really place it. The other said that as if she should immediately know who that was but she really did not. Briefly, she furrowed her brows trying to figure out where she had heard it. Now, she was not trying to be rude or anything here. This was not her playing games. This was just her being caught unawares by someone who probably overestimated her infamy. It was certainly not helped that she apparently had some form of different form.

But no, Natalie could not dig up much, though she could think of something. “Hmm, I think I remember someone talking about a Red King who was some kind of big shot, but then fell on his face spectacularly and has not been seen since. Would that be you? I mean, it would explain the different physical form thing. You certainly look like a lot of things, but never a man.” Again, this was just her being honest and while she spoke incredulously, yes, she did pick her words in that regard to poke just a teensy bit of fun at him. No one could ever scold her for that.
Besides, she did follow it up by answering his question. “And my name? I am Natalie Chevalier. Most people just call me Nat, though. That is usually just fine.”


Morgan Laroux

“Oh,” came a soft response, that still said a lot more than might have been intended. This was a rather outlandish tale after all, even in a world where magic existed. Natalie did not know how this person had reportedly died. But it was probably a more believable story than what she was currently being given. Stuck in a limbo for decades, then randomly dropped out of it in a new body. That didn’t make too much sense to her. And it also struck her as awfully convenient. Anyone could claim that sort of thing for an identity. It would be quite hard to disprove.

The healer was still somewhat inclined to believe. It was a bit too outlandish a story to make up. While that kind of reaction might have been just as much intended, she liked to not go down too many rabbit holes. Best to stick to one degree of bacon. There still was no motion to stop the other from doing whatever cheesy thing they’d planned next. As someone almost too comfortable with herself, it would take much more to faze her. “Our ancestors might have had. But it seems neither of us truly cares much about our families anymore to join this guild, so I doubt people none of us ever knew will matter much,” she stated. It was not meant to discard the other’s thoughts, just to give her own perspective. Nat liked to judge people on their individual merits and behaviour.
Though there was one thing that intrigued her. Now, she did not think the other was lying. But what if she wasn’t, yet still spoke falsehoods? “Do not take this the wrong way. I would believe your story. Yet, I wonder. If this is neither your time, nor your body and you should have died…how do you know that you are yourself? You might just have been someone obsessed with that story who was hit by a strange spell making her believe all of that.”


Morgan Laroux

“Best not dally on the small details,” she replied, inwardly chuckling at the pun. Nat also meant it, though. These kinds of questions were fairly pointless, as she could never hope to discern the truth anyway. Morgan could say any kind of number in this context and it would all mean exactly the same. Nothing. That was not a way to prove one’s identity, just one’s commitment to what might have been a lie. It didn’t matter either way. There was little difference between ‘deposed king in a new body’ and ‘delusional girl in her own body’. So far, neither really offered any benefit to her, meaning they were equally meaningless to her.

But if everything was meaningless, she might as well indulge herself in the ‘what if’. It was better than nothing, so Morgan had that much going for herself at least. Natalie shrugged lightly. “In either event, it is as you say. This does not really matter to me. I tend to judge people by their actions in the present, not by their past. Mostly, I wondered because it might matter to you. Wouldn’t you want to know, whether or not you are living a lie? It does seem like you do not really enjoy your current state, after all. Maybe it will turn out that you truly are a woman that has been cursed to think herself another. Then, getting rid of that course would be quite useful, wouldn’t it?”

Morgan Laroux