poly_chromatic | ♦ ♦ 12th Contract

~~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 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She says nothing as Hei leaves, not that she has to. When the ten minutes expire, she exits, quiet as when she picked the table. Her actions, bland as they might seem from a distance, might be her status as a doll; however, no one gave her instructions when she first arrived.]

[It's the same when she takes a seat at the same bench, though there is a small amount of distance between them. He only asked her to meet him there.]

[ Yin's always been special that way. Subtle in nuances of emotion, action -- but different from a normal Doll. ]

[ When she settles beside him, he's at liberty to study her. Just the way her silvery hair catches the light reminds him of a hundred things he's almost forgotten. Meetings in empty playgrounds, with Mao and Huang, trading information, cutting aside glances. ]

[ She's always been an asset. A valued teammate. And -- he can admit now -- a friend. The feeling has present for awhile, and he isn't caught up to it. He'll have to figure out exactly how long, but later. ]

[ Later. ]

You said you sensed Pai. Where?

[Those are two things missing from this place - Huang and Mao. For her, thinking of Hei as more than just a contractor she works with was likely some time ago, though it never gained introspection. It simply was. She's aware Hei is focused on her, but for Yin, as the time apart has been nothing, she falls into what might be referred to as routine.]

[Insert Pai's location here.] She has not been there long.

[ He tucks the information away -- clutches it, rather, like a map marked X. He has to get there to confirm what Yin said. He has to see Pai with his own eyes. ]

I'll find her. [ Thank you is something he rarely says. A superfluity in their profession. But he needs some way to express it. To her, the timespan assuredly hasn't been long. But for him, it's been months since he's seen anything familiar. Rising, he glances down at her. ] Come with me. The crowds can't be trusted. [ Strategically, she'd be more useful, stationed somewhere with water, maintaining a communique with him via the device. But he doesn't want her so removed from his sight. Not now. ]

[Seeing how obsessed he's been about her in the past, Yin had given up the information with the slightest reluctance, but none of it obvious. How could she deny him that knowledge? She simply couldn't. A thank you, or any gratitude, isn't necessary.]

[When he says to follow him, she merely nods and rises to do so. Yin only tried one other time in the past, and was rejected when she did; she doesn't consider it, only reaches for his hand. He said the crowds can't be trusted, what better way to keep track of each other in a crowd, right?]

[ The obsession can't be helped. Pai is -- always has been -- his Be All and End All. With her in his sights, everything else fades to white-noise and backwash. But despite his impatience, a fragment remains alert enough -- human enough? -- to be aware of Yin. His hand closes on hers, perhaps too firm (when has he ever been good at handling anyone tenderly?). But there's a purpose, a message, implicit in the way he squeezes it. ]

[ He's glad she's here. And while she is, he's not letting her go. ]

[She finds no real fault in it ~~would just rather have Hei all to herself while she's there~~, otherwise she wouldn't have told him, in the end. But when he takes her hand in return, when she feels the pressure, she realizes just how long he's likely been in the City. Yin's eyes widen, by the merest fraction, and without comment she follows wherever he leads.]

[ Perhaps he'll tell her how long it's been (Once his search is over, once he finally has Pai.) But for now, he just guides her along. Conscious of nothing but the slow burn of determination -- urgency -- fueling his swift stride. And the delicate joints of Yin's fingers tucked in his. ]

[It is a small hand in his. Thin, deft fingers that used to dance across the keys of a piano. Still, it isn't uncomfortable for her. Yin, however, will not be sharing much with Hei. How she learned of the trades and the deities, and that once he is busy enough to have left her side, she will speak with them. She is not leaving so easily.]

[ If he wasn't so preoccupied, he'd ask who she spoke to while here. He'd order her to check if they were being followed. But Pai -- the chink in his armor -- has a way of cracking all strategies and rationale to dust. ]

[ A few paces from Pai's location, he stops at an ice-cream vendor. Buys a small vanilla cone, carefully curling Yin's hand around it. Almost reminiscent of the candy he'd left at her counter back home -- Thank you, Yin -- before going about his business. ]

[ This time, he leaves her settled under a shady tree. Close enough to return to, before he hurries off to find Pai. ]

[She kept check for being followed, anyway. If asked, she wouldn't have admitted to the conversation. The ice cream is greeted with that barely noticeable look of surprise.]

[As Hei leaves, she's already delicately licking at it. You're welcome. But, of course, she won't be there when he returns, not that either of them are aware of it.]

[ Gone? ]

[ One more regret piled atop the many this weekend. ~~He needs to invest in a Loli-leash.~~ ]

[~~She would simply accept it.~~ At least she attempt to stay with him. But the City is fickle and cruel.]

♦ ♦ 12th Contract

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All this leading up to an ice cream cone?

Behold!

That is so amazing

>3<

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