It wouldn’t be a Realmgard Daily Writing month without me doing a “Two Characters Try to Bluff Their Way Into the Enemy Base” scene
“Gosh, Cousin Amy,” Egeria says. “We gotta get in there! But they done locked it up tighter ‘an the taxman’s piggybank.”
“Yes. It is rather vexing,” Amara says, looking at the locked, barred, and guarded gate.
“But we gotta get in there!” Egeria repeats. “How else are we gonna bust that circle o’ art counterfeiters?”
“I’m open to suggestions,” Amara says.
“Well, we’re just a couple o’ well-bred and elegant young ladies,” Egeria begins. “I suppose we could try an’ get by with our feminine wiles.”
“Absolutely not!” Amara exclaims.
“Come on, Cousin Amy,” Egeria insists. “It’ll be fun.”
Before Amara can rein in her cousin, Egeria has sidled up to the guardsman and is alluringly smiling and batting her eyelashes at him.
“Say,” Egeria offers. “Is there a Mrs. Handsome Doorman?”
The guard blushes and chuckles nervously. “Unfortunately, no,” he admits. “I’m told I come across as clingy and needy.”
“I just can’t believe it!” Egeria says, feigning outrage. “A strappin’, handsome, dutiful guy like you. Why, you should have all the ladies just throwin’ themselves at you. What do you think, Cousin Amy?”
Amara rolls her eyes. “I think you’re not dragging me into this sorry spectacle,” she mutters.
“That is exactly what my last girlfriend said!” the guardsman exclaims. “It’s not my fault I get weepy at the Opera. It’s Opera! It’s supposed to make you cry!”
“Well,” Amara concedes, “that’s true at least.”
“Y’all can just ignore her,” Egeria assures the guardsman. “Cousin Amy’s just a bit of a spoilsport.”
“I am not!” Amara insists.
“Now,” Egeria continues. “As for a handsome guy like you, I bet you’re real good at unlockin’ gates an’ such, right? Reckon you might be able to unlock this here gate right now.”
For her part, Amara would have tried a less direct approach. In more ways than one.
“Wait,” the guardsman says. “You I’m think handsome?”
“Sure as sugar,” Egeria says. “Yeah, a big, strong, handsome fella like you. Makes me sorry I gotta go something like … this.”
Egeria shoves out her leg, twists suddenly and flips the guard over and dumps him onto the ground.
“Where did you learn to do that, Egeria?” Amara exclaims.
“Girl’s gotta protect herself, Cousin Amy,” Egeria answers. “‘Sides, Daddy knows some folks from Yamatai. I been learning the martial arts. Oda-sensei says I’ll be knockin’ out bad guys with just my thumbs in no time!”
“With your thumbs?” Amara repeats. “How in the world do you manage that?”
“Well,” Egeria says, hauling the dazed guard back to his feet. “First, you take your thumb, and then just kinda jam into the guy’s pressure point like so.”
Egeria does just that, shoving her thumb in the side of the guard’s neck. He slumps back to the ground.
Amara stares in horror.
“Egeria,” she gasps. “Have I just become accessory to murder?”
“Gosh, no, Cousin Amy,” Egeria answers, far too happily considering. “He’ll be fine in an hour, or so. So, we’d best make like beavers an’ get busy. So, Cousin Amy, how ya thinkin’ we get in there?”
Now, I think I’m describing Egeria doing a Judo hip toss. But, 1) I lack the knowledge of the actual biomechanics to Judo to know if that description is even remotely correct and 2) that sort of sudden but complex movement is hard to describe in words.
For a real story, I’d do more homework, but for an exercise where the point is bang out 500 words, this is fine.
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