♦ ♦ 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

All this leading up to an ice cream cone?

[moonlitrequiem]

[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.]

Behold!

[mortemscintilla]

[ 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. ]

That is so amazing

[moonlitrequiem]

[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.]

>3<

[mortemscintilla]

[ Gone? ]

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

[moonlitrequiem]

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