another pre-game catchall!

[fledges]

Who: Kate and whoever!
Where: Westerley, mostly.
When: The past two years.
Summary: Just a log to establish pre-existing cr. Feel free to put up a top level if you want to do anything, no need to contact me first!
Restrictions/Warnings: n/a, but will warn in the subject if anything comes up

Comments

[fledges]

[Kate is starting to get impatient. She's not sure why she's tailing Takasugi, and at this point, he hasn't done anything suspicious or even particularly interesting. She follows him dutifully regardless, trying to figure out what the hell she's going to tell her client. Well, he hung out at a bar most of the night and didn't even pay for his own drink. Here's a picture, I hope you like it.

Unluckily for Kate, Takasugi stops right outside the bar, and there's nowhere for her to really go. He'll see her in the alley, and the street is empty enough that she'll be visible anywhere she can keep an eye on him, so she's forced to hover awkwardly, pretending to check a message on her comm.]

[shikomizue]

[The woman had caught his eye inside the establishment no more than anyone else - most patrons blurring into a drab backdrop to the lush but dated decor. Had she simply walked from the bar when he had and staggered down the street, she would have faded almost immediately from his memory.

But she doesn't, so the man gives her a lingering sidelong glance before lighting his pipe. She's checking her phone, not irregular, except her poise implies more sobriety than one would expect.

Then again, so does his.

To dull the time he'll pass here, embers smoldering and releasing a thin trail of smoke, Takasugi would indulge in idle conversation. She can't be worse than the men he'd been surrounded by moments before.] The price here isn't worth the substance - it's no surprise people leave sober.

[fledges]

[Well, this isn't... ideal. Kate is pretty sure you're not supposed to actually speak to the person you're tailing, but at this point, it would be far more suspicious to ignore him than to respond. So, she glances up, sighing as she tries to play it cool.]

Yeah, they're totally scalping people. I don't know how they get away with it.

[shikomizue]

[Overpriced drinks were hardly the most severe crime the bar committed regularly, but to Takasugi, they were equally offensive. Quality in alcohol so clearly reflected the quality of the evening, the company.]

There's a place down the road, between the flickering sign and dead-end alley - you might miss it, a door that looks locked with no windows illuminating it's business. [He gestured the direction with pipe in hand.] They have much better supply there.

[Casual chatter and no more - the establishment he recommended was no less illicit than the one they'd just exited.

But they did have better drinks. He wasn't headed there now himself, though perhaps he'd end his night there.]

[fledges]

Hmm. Sounds kind of sketchy.

[Now she's not entirely sure how to keep tailing him without being incredibly obvious, so...]

Do you think you could show me?

[shikomizue]

[Takasugi replaces the pipe between his lips, teeth brushing metal audibly. The bar he'd recommended was less likely send someone down it's steps bleeding or dying than the establishment they'd just exited, but it was far less lawful.

A gathering place for members of the resistance, most would assume that anyone inside had some role to play in the fight against the Company.

He gives the woman a lingering glance - though not to appraise her trustworthiness. If their was a traitor in their midst, the patrons of that bar would know.]

Sure. [He gives a tilt of his head to signal their leave, and ambles his way through the dim light of the street to their destination. When they arrive, he presses his knuckles into the damp wood of the door, turning the knob for the woman at his side.] Go on in.

[fledges]

[She recognizes the bar, of course, but she feigns hesitance when he tells her to go in, anyway. Kate doesn't want to lose him, but it doesn't seem like he's going to follow her in. So, she cocks her head, smiling softly and reaching out to brush her fingers against his arm. This is definitely not how she usually does things, but she's being forced to improvise.]

You can come with me if you want.

[shikomizue]

[Her caution is believable, the door opening to reveal a nearly empty room, two or three tables populated - and only by more than a single occupant. It doesn't look like a fun time, but he never advertised it's social charms.

Takasugi watches the woman's hand extend, impassively observing the contact until her hand falls away.] I have business to attend to... [He glances over her shoulder, nodding to someone at the bar.]

But if you find yourself lingering, I'm sure we'll meet again.

[fledges]

[Well, that didn't work at all. Kate can't really do much here. There's no way for her to follow him now without being incredibly obvious, so all she can do is nod and shoot him a big smile.]

Right, sure. Thanks for the help.

[And then she'll head into the bar, a little reluctantly, and park herself at one of the tables, hoping he'll show up again so she doesn't have to start from scratch tomorrow.]

[shikomizue]

[A subdued smile is Takasugi's reply to the woman's appreciation, his hand falling away from the door slowly, feeling it's texture as it drops.

He doesn't linger to watch her take a seat, returning to the street to see to his business. A contact met, then a smoke shop visited, the man would return to the bar a few hours later.

Typically people would come and go in that time, but no one had taken their leave, and only two more had trickled in.. No one spoke to the unknown visitor, all either taciturn or quietly conversing in hushed voices between one another.

When Takasugi arrives he first approaches the bar, a drink already waiting for him on it's rough, but not sticky, surface. No Joy exchanged, he crosses the small venue to join at the woman's table.] What do you think? [Of the drinks, mostly, but he welcomes any commentary.]

[fledges]

[Kate watches the exchange again, trying not to look too perplexed by it. This guy clearly has connections in a lot of places. She had to pay for her own drink, of course, but by the time he joins her, it's only half gone.]

Not bad. They're not trying to empty my wallet for one drink, so that's a plus.

[shikomizue]

[No compliments to the hokk itself he sees - in her glass as much as in her reply. Takasugi sips from his own with less restraint, time taken to savor the taste even as he lowers the level of his drink to match hers.

It burns in his throat and in his nose, a sharp but velure quality to the liquor's bite.]

Their profits are made elsewhere... [He lets that statement stand alone, resting a beat before he continues.] Many receive their drinks as a complementary offering. [Another leading fact given to inspire curiosity to outweigh caution.]