Pre-Game Catchall | the grass grows greener on the other side

[graftage]

Who: John Steinbeck + people who are unfortunate enough to talk to him
Where: everywhere and anywhere
When: time is a construct (various)
Summary: pre-game CR catchall time
Restrictions/Warnings: steinbeck is his own warning (will update if needed)

[This log is for pre-game CR closed prompts catchall! If you're interested in getting CR with Steinbeck, just PM or hit me up in a PP over at vampirize and I'll write out a prompt for you!]

Comments

for Lapis

[graftage]

[In the hustle and bustle of the city, Steinbeck can't help but be drawn to places that are a little less chaotic. It's not that he has anything against that sort of thing, but he finds a certain comfort in places that take it a little easier, that are a little calmer in nature.]

[This bar is one of those places. It's not only the atmosphere he likes, but there's a person here who he can't help but return to. She's a nice girl, she's found, but she certainly knows things that even he, with all his charm, can't get on his own.]

[He's more than happy to listen to her performance - her voice is such a treat to hear - and after she's done, he'll wave at her from the table he's sitting at, smiling gaily.]

Hey. [He gestures to the seat next to him - come and chat, Lapis!] Good job, like always! It's always nice to catch one of your performances.

for Jack (first meeting)

[graftage]

[He met the woman a while ago - an elderly lady, using him as a sympathetic ear as she talked on end about her grandson, how she had such high hopes he would be a Scarback, how she had done all her best to show him the true light of what he should become, and how it had never come to fruition. Steinbeck wasn't too interested until he heard just who that grandson was.]

[Ah. Here was a nice little opportunity he could use. Steinbeck, ever so warmly, had taken the woman's hands, assuring her that he would show her grandson what many had failed at doing so before.]

[He knew just what Jack is about - he had a reputation, so to speak, one that he had cultivated and reveled in like no one's business. It would be useful to rub elbows with a man like that. And so, Steinbeck made his way to the Company, managing to find himself in Jack's office after a few tries of getting past the security. It's a nice office. He hates it, instantly.]

[The door opens, and Steinbeck turns, hands clasped behind his back.]

Hello. [He smiles wide, friendly, ever so disarming (though he knows perfectly well, with a man like Jack, that this is not an easy task, said disarming).] A certain mutual friend of ours sent me to talk to you? I think you know who she is.

for Kanda

[graftage]

[It's harder than he thought, to find a man like Lavi. Steinbeck's been searching for him all day throughout Old Town not for any particular reason - it's just because he's bored, and the Resistance isn't doing anything at the moment, and Steinbeck is metaphorically running as hard as he can away from that indescribable feeling called "loneliness".]

[He's checked all the spots Lavi could be, and now the only one left is a certain bar he knows Lavi hangs around in. He enters, casting his gaze over the crowd inside, before he steps up to the counter. There's some guy with purple hair next to him, but Steinbeck ignores him, turning to the bartender.]

Hey, have you seen a man around here? He's kind of average looking, he's got bright orange hair, wears an eyepatch? Does that ring a bell?

[He says, not even knowing that the person next to him might have several bells ringing by overhearing that description.]

for Alice

[graftage]

[For Steinbeck, it seemed like his life was cut in half. There was the Steinbeck of the past, the Westerley native, a cheerful but dark soul whose appetite for violence and bloodshed somehow didn't overshadow the nice, pleasant life he had with family and friends. And then there was the Steinbeck of now, who had turned to dark extremes and found solace in faith and strange ideas of roots and earth and vengeance. Somehow, connections between the two remained, and more often than not, they came in the form of people.]

[And one of those people was a young girl he thought he'd never see again. And yet, as he was passing through the streets of Westerley, he had stopped in shock, because he had suddenly seen that young girl just pass right by him in the crowd. The long black hair, those deep eyes...it couldn't be.]

Alice? [He blinks. It can't be. It's been so long. She's older now, it can't be her, and yet...he turns around, quickens his pace, raising his voice to get her attention.] Hey, Alice...hey, Alice, turn around! Is it really you...?

for Rhys

[graftage]

Come on now, you look so upset to see me.

[Another day, another time to mess with the people he hates the most. Namely, Company people and people from the Nines. And more specifically, a man by the name of Rhys, who had oh so unluckily fell under the heel of the Resistance.]

[They're somewhere out in Leith in a less crowded section of the city. Steinbeck's been tasked with keeping an eye on the man. Yes, he seemed stupid, but any wrong move, and a nice little tie would be lost for good, and Steinbeck can't have that. So, he's here to do a little check-up, so to speak.]

[They've met in an alleyway, where they can discuss things in secret. Rhys is a nervous little thing, in Steinbeck's opinion, and it's good to have him here in a place where he won't get any help from anyone if he wanted to.]

[Steinbeck smiles like a snake.]

Tell me, how have been things going for you?