♦ ♦ 12th Contract

[mortemscintilla]

A breach in the City's barrier?

[ He's noticed this population-influx in past Network entries. Tourists. Some leave with the weekend, taking Citizens with them. Others stay behind -- semi-replacements. A law of equivalent exchange -- something gained for something lost? ]

[ He doesn't know. ]

[ He's caught between observing the phenomenon up-close, or retreating Underground. But parsing his separate threads of choice, he decides to stay Topside. To, for once, maximize instead of satisfice. There might be familiar faces. There might be outsiders with answers. He wants to learn more about the City. He wants out. ]

[ And solving any problem is predicated on understanding it completely. ]

It's really crowded today, isn't it? [ Li sits in a bustling little caff, enjoying breakfast. He slices into the strawberries with a fork. The juice runs out, dark-red, like blood. He smiles at his device -- calculated, a perfect mix of innocence and sweetness. ] It almost reminds me of rush-hour in Tokyo. But hopefully there's no need for train-tetris or pushmen. It's sort of a Fact Of Life back home. But not everyone here would enjoy that, would they? [ He skates the strawberry around with his fork. Bites into it neatly. ] I wonder how many of these visitors have been here before...?

[OOC: Gimme all the trolling! Gimme! Just please avoid spilling his real identity over the Network :3 ]

Comments

action?

[retry]

[ Amber has been watching him from across the street for some time, eyes trained on his figure even as people pass, all the residents, intruders, visitors bustling about. She has waited for as long as she can manage before finally crossing the traffic, stepping into the cafe and walking straight for his table.

She pulls out a chair for herself to sit across from him, all smiles. She is young enough now, almost sixteen, and her pink suit fits snugly. ]

Action~! <333

[mortemscintilla]

[ In the split-second before he spots her and she draws her chair to sit across him, the streetscape has flattened into a plane of dull colors. His head pounds in time with his slow-burning rage. She's different from their last meeting. Younger, for having used her powers to reverse the moment that should've been her last. ]

[ But it's unmistakably Amber. The poisonous spider whose little cobwebs he sees everywhere. ]

[ There's a moment-- a long moment-- before he speaks. Because no matter how much time passes, how rife the City is with lookalikes and apparitions, her presence stops him cold. He looks up, not a hint of emotion in his eyes, he's too well trained for that. ]

[ But his hands tighten on his fork. Like a dagger, a weapon. ]

So you're here too.

[retry]

[ Amber lowers her eyes though the smile remains, turning wan for a moment but only a moment, because when she looks up there is only fondness in her eyes. The sadness is far away, buried deep. ]

Hei. It's been so long.

[ Her eyes drift to his breakfast and she giggles. ]

That is so little. You'll be hungry again soon.

voice;

[practicingforhell]

You taking a poll? [Lazy Jersey accent. No hostility in the tone.] I've been around a few times.

voice;

[mortemscintilla]

[ 'Li's own is open and friendly, full of interest. ]

Really?

Can you count how many times?

voice;

[practicingforhell]

It gets hard to keep track. Four? Five? Not counting living here.

actionish?

[moonlitrequiem]

[A familiar observer spirit can be seen peeking out of the nearest bit of water (the sink of dishes, maybe). She doesn't approach, not when he's working. It's not the same as his Reaper mask, but it's still a mask.]

[As long as he knows she's there, he might approach her. If not, she will find Hei, later. And, of course, Yin's at the fountain.]

action! >3<

[mortemscintilla]

[ It's been awhile since he's glimpsed a specter -- once ubiquitous scenery -- in his peripheral vision. But this one, so familiar, arrests him like a well-known name swimming up in a page of blurry text. ]

[ Outwardly, he offers no reaction. But his eyes fix on the bluish glow with a pindot intensity. To passersby, he seems lost in thought. But inside, his mind is sifting through venues for meeting-places, brush-passes, possibilities. ]

[ Yin. ]

[moonlitrequiem]

[After she learned her time was limited, Yin relocated to across the street from the cafe. Better opportunity.]

[Meanwhile, she ordered only a glass of water. She'll continue to spy for him, to map out the City, seemingly contemplating the menu and very focused on her water to anyone who might see her.]

[protecttheweak]

[And at another table not too far away, Misaki Kirihara sits enjoying a cup of tea, a quick meal and wondering just how she ended up where ever it was she was.

Of course, she recognizes a familiar face.]

Imagine meeting you here.

[mortemscintilla]

[ The look on 'Li's face is almost comically incredulous. ]

Kirihara-san! [ Anticipate. Don't be surprised by anything. Cardinal rules in his trade. Especially in the City. He keeps them in mind, even as 'Li' fumbles and stutters. A perfect put-on. ] The City kidnapped you too?

[protecttheweak]

[Luckily for him, she has no clue.]

A bit unusual for a kidnapping, but stranger things have happened.

[Contractors, disappearing gates...who was she to say?]

action!

[regressor]

[Tables, even small ones, tend to have two chairs.

A thin hand, a few fingers suspiciously crooked, alights on the empty one across from Hei. One attached to a woman with the hauntings of poverty on her frame, but vibrant crimson hair and soft green eyes.

Cry Ha-]

Is this seat taken?

action!

[mortemscintilla]

[ Cry Havoc indeed. But the name he associates with her is always Carmine. Monster. Teammate. And, in their final encounter, friend. His eyes skip from her crookws fingers to her face. There's an uncertainty in his silence, and his gaze. But it lasts for only a split-second. ]

No.

[ He doesn't smile. But he is totally sincere, because to them, social amenities mean less than nothing. ]

[stillnotshion]

[And another person who is probably not so familiar wanders in to hear the tail end of that message.]

Hei? Who are you talking to?

xDDD

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei? ]

[ His face expresses neither concern nor alarm. But the gears in his head are whirring. His codename isn't something he bandies around carelessly. How is this girl privy to it? Who is she? ]

...I'm sorry.

Do I know you?

[ action ] because why not?

[alwaysatthebar]

[ April flopped back against the counter, surveying the quaint little cafe with a half smile and a cup of coffee in her hand, her breakfast already demolished and whisked away. Honestly, at this point, she just wanted information and a little bit of handy company would do just the thing.

Nodding to Li from across the aisle, she raised her glass. ] Starving for company along with all that food? I've still got a coffee to finish. [ she could have had the coffee made to go, but that would have defeated the whole business of stopping for breakfast in the first place. She was nothing if not calculating. ]

\^^/

[mortemscintilla]

[ He doesn't flinch-- he's hard to startle. But he recognizes the woman instantly. M16. In his mind, calculations zip, scenarios form. She's not here to enjoy coffee and admire the scenery. Same as him. Every Contractor plays an angle to suit their own end. ]

[ And the art of disguise is hiding in plain sight. ]

S-Starving? [ 'Li's facade slips in place -- eyes wide, cheeks coloring. ] I wouldn't say that. Just curious about all the visitors. [ A shy smile. ] Is it your first time in the City?

[video]

[sleepiness]

[oh it's -

......squints. is it? (it is, and isn't this strange and awkward!)]

...I've never been here before. [but you'd know that.] Or maybe I have. No one has shown recognition as of yet.

[she feels like she should be expecting a plethora of people to know her (but she doesn't - care, or hope, or want), and this crowd is a bit stifling if anything. so many people.]

[video] TRAUMA O RAMA <33 1/?

[mortemscintilla]

[ And the surreality quotient hits the charts!!! ]

[video]

[mortemscintilla]

[ What is this? This can't be. ]

[ The City is playing tricks on him. Just like in the Gate. ]

[video]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Except he knows the voice. That face. It makes the skin of his nape crawl, the heat rush up into his skin, his pulse judder for a long terrible moment before committing two sharp beats at once. He has to take hold of himself. ]

[ That face he'd never thought to see again. That he sees, always, in sporadic dreams. ]

Private|Unhackable ~fin!

[mortemscintilla]

[ For a moment that lasts too long, all he can do is stare at the device, a thrill of unreality climbing up his spine. ]

Pai...

[ No masks, no pretenses or shields. The look on his face is clear. Is it really you? ]

action;

[anatural]

[Korra is out and about, desperately hoping that she can find anyone from home. She has her device on her in case someone contacts her.

She stops by the cafe and looks around to see if Bolin or Tenzin or anyone is eating there. She doesn't see any of her friends.

But she does see Hei.]

action <333

[mortemscintilla]

[ The weekend has pulled his steel-trap mind into misshapen taffy. Yin. Amber. Misaki. A strange girl he didn't know, but who knew him. Pai. He can't absorb it all at once. He has to shut down, to process everything. He sits hunched in his seat, his expression flat and strangely empty. From the corner of his eye, he spots Korra. Normally he'd observe her: he always functions in terms of recon and defense. It gives him a script to follow, a role to play, a scenario of how to behave. ]

[ But today, he can't look at her. He cuts his eyes to the side. ]

[ There's a tension in him that's reminiscent of earthquakes, tectonic plates grinding against one another. Near breaking point. ]