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(Closed) Deceuer Catch All
Who: Asura + Plotted CR
When: Deceuer
Where: Various locations in Aefenglom, the Outer City, and the Wilde.
What: Quest and event threads, along with a healthy dose of clowning. I'm always down for building new CR, so if you'd like a thread starter, feel free to hmu @ the Dec plotting post!
Warnings: Light violence.
When: Deceuer
Where: Various locations in Aefenglom, the Outer City, and the Wilde.
What: Quest and event threads, along with a healthy dose of clowning. I'm always down for building new CR, so if you'd like a thread starter, feel free to hmu @ the Dec plotting post!
Warnings: Light violence.
no subject
She eyes his colours – the red and gold – and raises her brows. It's like the stripes they wore, and it elicits a swell of pride in Lightning's chest. A part of her does miss that part of the job... walking around the city with the citizens trusting that they were safe, but this isn't so different.
Which is why she'll do just about whatever she has to to ensure that they take care of the job here. Keywords being just about. Especially as they come up to their first target destination – a high-end club with its music blaring from behind the walls.]
I'm thinking that'll be me.
[There's her answer.
Lightning sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. She remembers coming to places like this in Bodhum – it was a party city on the beach so of course there were more than a handful of clubs just like this one – and how far out of her element it brought her. But someone's gotta break up the fights when they get so out of hand that the bouncers can't do anything about it.
She slips an arm through Asura's and eyes the man guarding the door.]
Shall we?
no subject
This scene? It's familiar territory for Asura, his Court largely funded off of the profits secured from Milan's nightlife: those who were Summer Knights by day blended in seamlessly with mortals by posing as bouncers and security after sundown. And Asura...? W e l l, let's just say that he's no stranger to having a good time in the establishments beneath his Court's oversight—though he is Summer through and through (his heart for justice and for warfare), he's got a fair measure of Spring (desire) in him too. ]
It'd be my pleasure. [ To see the both of them granted access to the wild hub of lights, sound, and color beyond the door. And this, Asura manages without a hitch: green eyes set to smolder, he presses the cover-charge (and then some) into the door-guard's hand, commenting that he's going to show his very good friend the best night of her life. And who knows? Maybe Lightning will have a fine time, if they're able to suss out the lowlife bigots from the club's normal patrons. It wouldn't be the best night, but hey, a win—especially one that brings extremists to heel—is a win, no matter how you look at it.
As they walk, nearing the bar, Asura's eyes are everywhere, flitting over the entryways, noting the locations of the VIP rooms, the smoking terrace, and where he suspects the owner's office might lie. Overhead, there is a balcony which oversees the whole of the club, and with the amount of people collected along its rail, away from the music and immersed in frivolity and chatter, the addition of a certain pink-haired patron would go largely unnoticed. Or, at least it would after Lightning settled in and shed the coat from her shoulders.
Bowing his head, Asura murmurs into Lightning's ear: ] Think the way I can be of most use to you is if I have a good time and piss some people off in the process.
[ Especially if he touts the reputation of the Mirrorbound, how they fended off the encroachment of Shades and blighted creatures, defending the Bright Wall when the snowstorm and ensuing magic outages beset the city. ]
Luckily, both those things are in my area of expertise. And if you're watching from above... [ Green eyes flicking up, to the balcony, Asura continues on: ] ...you'll be able to keep track of those who rise to the provocation.
Give me the chance, and I bet I can even get some of the management and VIPS to leave their private rooms and offices.
[ So that Lightning can investigate them with the time bought, turning them through. Straight-forward enough, right? But then, Asura's partner might be of a different mind. ]
no subject
And it takes every ounce of self control for her to not shove them away.
Her gaze follows Asura's to the balcony overlooking the busier part of the club before moving to the bar on the other side of the dance floor from them.
A brow quirks.]
Good thing one of us is decent at having a good time.
[She knows her strengths, and her weaknesses! Talking to people, dancing, and anything that comes with looking like you belong in the night life is one of them. If it walks like a cop and talks like a cop, it's probably a cop.
Her head nods in the direction of the bartender working a cocktail shaker.]
Let me get us some drinks first. For your trouble.
no subject
[ Like the one Asura orders (because Lightning's buying, isn't she?) with a honeyed drawl that earns a (flirtatious) positive response from the bartender. Y e a h, they're definitely not one of the people Asura and Lightning have been tasked with finding—they're too damn charming. ]
And the thing is, though you've gone and called it trouble, I think we're in for a bit of fun. [ Starting with those two empty glasses set before them, the bottle on standby. And with the bartender dismissed (and back to working that cocktail shaker), it looks like Asura's opted for self-serve for the night. Now, what did he order, anyway...? Ah yes, t h a t looks like it's a rather high proof of whiskey, which means it'll be just enough to take the edge off of Asura's (latent) wrath, and Lightning's.... extremely apparent distaste for rave-styled lightning and bass which shot right through to the marrow of the bones. ] I know parties aren't exactly your thing, but the atmosphere here isn't at all like the masquerade—
[ Which she'd lived through, despite everything. ]
—it's electric, yeah? [ Like her name, full of possibilities. ] If you move with the currents instead of going against them, you'll blend in just fine.
[ Glancing up at Lightning from his lower, slouched vantage-point, Asura grins, his kajal-smudged eyes glinting and bright as he pushes one of the glass tumblers he's filled her way. ]
Hope you like your whiskey neat. [ Because there's no mixers here. Who's got time for those, anyway? They don't, that's for sure. ]
no subject
[She's a simple woman with simple tastes. They're okay once in a while, but fancy cocktails were never her first choice. Being a part of the Guardian Corps meant being surrounded by plenty of men who would all go out for drinks after work. Lightning, being one of the few who preferred not to drink in uniform, would only go to make sure they stayed out of trouble, and got home safe.
That isn't to say she never helped herself to a sip or two of something while she was there. She takes pride in being decent at holding her liquor, and so a bottle of beer or a glass of whiskey or vodka would always hit the spot just right. Glasses of wine would always be saved for when she could wind down in the comfort of her own home.
So, she unceremoniously throws back a sip of whiskey, wipes her lips clean, and pushes the glass back to Asura for another shot of the drink.]
I don't usually like moving with the currents.
[She spins so that she can prop her elbows on the counter and look out at the unsuspecting patrons. Icy blue eyes sharp, Lightning scans the room for anything that catches her eye, nose wrinkling in disgust as she watches some of the moves on the dance floor. More specifically, the two girls sandwiching a single male between them. Electric is... one way to put this atmosphere.
That's when she sees it.]
You think that room'll have anything?
[She nods to the door at the back of the club, and above it flickers a neon purple sign.
"VIP ONLY".]
no subject
But then, his attention is drawn to the VIP only lounge instead. Mulling the question over, he answers with: ] There's a chance. A room like that would go for a price only Aefenglom's elite can afford. Inside, they could be meeting. Or...
[ He gestures, then, to the very same ménage à trios which Lightning had wrinkled her nose at before. Guess he'd been paying attention to Lightning's line of sight, even as he slowly nursed his own glass of whiskey. ]
...it could be a continuation of that, but behind behind closed doors. [ And that seems like it'd offend Lightning's sensibilities even more. ] That being said, I've got no problem with smoking whoever's in there out, but we should also consider something else.
[ But what is that something else, exactly? Asura reveals that in short suit when he lifts his head, signaling for both the bartender's ear and attention: ] Who is it that makes the reservations for the VIP rooms? Could you call them up here? I'm keen on having a chat with them. You've heard about the masquerade which the Mirrorbound held on the Coven's premises, haven't you? My friend and I, we're interested in holding a similar gala using this fine venue.
[ The bartender hesitates, uncertain for a moment, perhaps two, but Asura presses and dials up the charm, promising the employee that he'd request their presence at the gala (sure to be the next talk of the town, no different than the masquerade had been) if this one favor could be done on his behalf. Eventually, the bartender gives, pausing in their service to see about grabbing the on-duty manager for the night. ]
Management's got to keep track of their room bookings somewhere in their offices. That might prove to be worthwhile information, yeah? [ Especially if the reservations were consistently made under the same name at recurring times. ] I can stall whoever our bartender brings up with plenty of party talk if you'd rather head there instead, and spare your eyes from all this rampant public indecency.
[ And here, Asura huffs a laugh, making it clear that he doesn't mind the sight of the dance floor or the potential of what further indecency might lie behind that VIP door.
So then Lightning, what'll be? Tail the bartender to the management office, or have Asura cause a scene and forcibly evict some VIPs? ]
no subject
No. Let's not think about that right now.
After a long sip of her whiskey, she sets the half-empty glass down, a bitter sigh in the back of her throat.
Having to bargain for something as simple as who makes their reservations leaves a sour taste in her mouth. Any business that's secretive about those processes isn't worth her while, and if this didn't leave a bad enough impression on her already... Would she really be remiss to suspect the entire establishment for dirty work? Hell, Lightning wouldn't put it past them to be involved in some way, if her hunches are true.
When she's prompted by Asura's question, she pushes her elbows off the bar and straightens.]
I say I run in, guns blazing.
[Where's Snow when she needs him, to stand up on the bar and scream something about heroes not needing plans?
A quiet snort before she corrects herself.]
I'm thinking you're on the nose.
[She'll happily head over there and snoop around herself, and even fakes a smile when the bartender returns with the manager – a stout man with a perfectly waxed moustache and a pinstripe suit who greets them in an equally perfect accent. Seems fake, but alright. It takes every little bit of willpower she has to not laugh at him because wow, she was expecting something, but it wasn't what she would call Stereotypical Rich Guy. How tacky.]