Video / Action

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[As was his tradition, Meyer headed in to work at the casino far before it opened, far before the rest of the employees got there. On the way, though, he noticed something on the ground -- or rather, quite a lot of somethings. Picking one up and turning it over, he discovered that it was a photo.

By the time he's arrived at the casino, he's collected quite a few of the photos, recognizing various people from the City in them, but hasn't found any of himself. Perhaps there aren't any at all, but that sounds far too easy and too kind. When his video feed clicks on, he's looking slightly confused and slightly concerned.]

I'm hesitant to even ask a question like this, but has anyone found anything that might belong to me?

[A pause as he sets down the photos he'd found on the bar.]

I just hope this curse doesn't have any of us jumping to conclusions about each other.

[And then that charming, trustworthy smile.]

I do hope some of you will come on down to Lucky's tonight. As I know all too well, sometimes these curses make us need a little... distraction.

[[OOC: Yes, of course there are pictures everywhere. Here are just a small sample of them:This man has a gun, ...and another gun, ... and gee, he really seems to like guns, ... it seems to be a fixation, he also has a business partner, who is kinda his best friend, but he doesn't want to talk about it, ... and also there was that one time he got kidnapped. You're also welcome to find any pictures of him with, say, a large quantity of heroin.]]

Comments

action;

[wouldnotkindly]

[Jack has seen Meyer's post by now, but given that he hasn't found any photos that seem to belong to him, he hasn't seen much point in answering it. So he heads to the casino for his shift as usual, like any other day.

Well, with the exception that he's a little more on edge than he might normally be. So far there's no telling if anything worse than what Ryan found has turned up, but he isn't feeling too optimistic about it.]

Re: action;

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[As soon as he walks into the casino, he'll find that Meyer is in an argument. A rather heated one, from the looks of it, although Meyer, of course, is remaining as calm as possible under the circumstances. Two large and angry men are standing a bit too close to him, waving a photo at him menacingly, speaking loudly.]

Gentlemen, gentlemen, there's no need for all of this.

[Meyer's a logical guy, and his tone is almost too placid, under the circumstances. He doesn't even notice Jack walk in.]

[wouldnotkindly]

[Looks like trouble. Maybe this wasn't a good day to leave his gun at home.

His entire demeanor changes in an instant, though the change is hardly visible. He approaches the scene with cautious steps, his body tense, wrist flexing and ready to fire up a plasmid if it's necessary. Maybe some intimidation is all it'll take to get these guys to back the hell off. Hopefully.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[Maybe it wasn't a good day to leave his own gun just a little out of reach -- it's within grabbing distance if he really has to, but he knows that the second he makes a move for it, neither of these guys would hesitate to attack him, and he'd really prefer not to get attacked. After all, they've only just cleaned up the casino from the drunken idiot Theo and Al had had to deal with; he doesn't need another mess on his hands.

He notices Jack, finally, but doesn't acknowledge him, not wanting to draw the guys' attention. If they haven't seen Jack yet, all the better. They can do their screaming and cursing at Meyer without seeing the bouncer. Meyer keeps talking, trying to calm them down.]

Like I said, curses like this happen all the time. You can't necessarily go by what's in some photo. It might not even be real.

[This, apparently, is far too offensive for one of the guys, and he grabs for the lapels of Meyer's jacket, swearing at him profusely, something about 'cheating' and 'lying' and 'stealing' interspersed amongst the foul language.]

[wouldnotkindly]

[Someone puts his hands on the boss, that's more than what Jack needs to step in.

He grabs the guy by the collar of his jacket and roughly jerks him back, and in the same motion puts himself between him and Meyer. He does it without a sound, but even without words, his intent should read loud and clear in his eyes and the expression on his face: Back the hell off.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[Unfortunately, the guy is either too pissed off or too stupid to comprehend exactly how dangerous Jack can be, and takes another step back towards Jack as soon as Jack lets go of his jacket, this time raising his fist with the obvious intent of punching Jack right in the face.

In the meantime, the second guy, who seems a little calmer but still pretty damn pissed off, has managed to get himself involved in a scuffle with Meyer. Now Jack has a choice -- deal with the guy attacking him, or break up the fight that seems to have started spontaneously in the few seconds Jack had been distracted by getting in between Meyer and the first guy.

On the bright side, Meyer seems to be handling the scuffle pretty well. So far.]

[wouldnotkindly]

[Sorry, Meyer, but Jack's instincts direct him to deal with the most immediate threat, which would be the guy about to punch him in the face. He's not quite quick enough to dodge or counter with his own fists — he's never really fought like this before, after all, completely bare-handed — but before the man can swing, the veins of Jack's arms glow bright blue and a bolt of electricity shoots straight towards him.

That should put him down, right?]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[Meyer sure as hell doesn't blame him for dealing with the immediate threat, because that guy looks pretty angry, but he also can't help his response to... whatever that electricity thing was. It had been extremely effective indeed, knocking the guy to the floor in a twitching heap.

Unfortunately Meyer's response involves looking away from the guy he's scuffling with for a moment, expression of surprise on his face -- which promptly gets him punched, hard, in the eye. He reels for a moment, always forgetting just how damn much getting hit in the face at full force hurts.]

[wouldnotkindly]

[Jack can't help the sound he makes after that, the inhumanly low grunt that comes from his throat as he turns to deal with the other one, but the bellow he makes when he sees Meyer get punched is most definitely deliberate. He grabs the guy by the shoulder, roughly jerking him back and away from Meyer, and cocks back his still-sparking fist to punch him square in the face.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[Today's just full of surprises -- Meyer had no idea Jack could make any noise at all, having assumed his inability to talk extended to his inability to vocalize at all, but that was definitely a pretty damn loud and intimidating sound, and he can't help but be a little pleased that it seems to have the intended effect on the two guys, who stare at Jack wide-eyed for a minute.

And a minute's really all it takes for Meyer to regain composure, gesturing dismissively at the two and addressing them as they stand, obviously not wanting to try their luck attacking Jack again.]

If you ever come back to my casino, I'll break every single one of your fingers.

[He glances at Jack, who the guys are still staring warily at.]

And that's a hell of a lot nicer than what my friend here can do. Now get the fuck out.

[The guys retreat, but the one Jack had punched seizes the opportunity to pick up a glass and hurl it in Jack's direction as he leaves, obviously having decided Jack is the bigger threat here. Are you gonna stand for that, Jack?]

[wouldnotkindly]

[He manages to raise his arm in time to shield his face from the glass, but apart from that it hits him dead-on. Something seems to switch on in Jack's mind; that's it.

Within the span of mere seconds, Jack scans the room, switches his readied plasmid to Telekinesis, locks onto a chair — that's it — lifts it with a gesture of his hand, and sends it hurtling at full velocity straight towards the man who threw the glass at him.

If that doesn't put him down, then he'll do it again. As many times as he needs to.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[The chair hits the man hard, sending him staggering back, then crashing to the floor, one of the legs snapping off of it. The two men finally beat a hasty retreat, not wanting to deal with Jack, or whatever other powers he might unloose upon them.

Meyer, meanwhile, stares first at the broken chair -- why do things keep getting broken in the casino this week? -- and then back at Jack, raising an eyebrow.]

I wasn't aware you could do that.

[wouldnotkindly]

[It takes a moment for Jack to come down, down from whatever switched on when that glass hit him. Only then does he lower his hand and let himself relax, and only after another moment does he turn to face Meyer.

He knew when he took this job that, sooner or later, using his plasmid powers would be inevitable. But what he hadn't expected... He hadn't thought that he could lose control so easily, that it would take so little to put him back in the same mindset that had him mowing down splicers in Rapture.

His throat feels hoarse, and he absently rubs at the scars on his neck as he looks directly at Meyer. He hadn't expected to make his voice heard, either, but perhaps that was an inevitability as well. Either way, his unease is plain on his face as he waits for whatever Meyer has to say next.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[He can see Jack's unease, and that's not what he wants Jack to feel, not at all. The way he sees it, Jack saved him from taking a much worse beating -- he probably could have handled one of those guys, but not two of them, especially not when he couldn't get to his gun. So Jack has powers of some kind; many people in the City do.

He offers him an encouraging smile.]

I hope you know how to fix chairs.

[It's a joke, kind of, hoping to ease the tension a little, but he feels that he needs to say more, so he does.]

Listen. I didn't know you could do that, and I don't know what else you can do, but I'm not gonna ask, because I don't want to treat you like some kind of circus performer. And I'm pretty sure you know better than to destroy the casino with electricity or telekinesis or whatever the hell that was.

[water_wine_wizard]

[Someone has found a picture of him and his "best friend" and waves it a bit.]

No wonder you're reluctant to go on a date... you've already got someone back home. You're an adorable couple.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

What?

[A pause.]

We're not a couple. He's my partner.

[He means 'business partner,' of course.]

[water_wine_wizard]

[Of course he does.]

Yes?

[And?]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

My business partner.

[Maybe he hadn't been clear enough. She still seems to have some odd impression.]

[water_wine_wizard]

[She looks at the picture and then back at him.]

Are you sure?

[recognize_an_opportunity]

What do you mean am I sure? We've worked together since I was a kid. Of course he's my business partner.

[water_wine_wizard]

Yes... well... I mean, I'm not saying you're not business partners, lots of couples are business partners...

[recognize_an_opportunity]

That may be true, but we're not.

[A frown.]

A couple, that is.

[water_wine_wizard]

Oh. Well...

[Denial maybe?]

[Bounce back.]

Does that mean your still free for a date?

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Um...

[A long, thoughtful pause.]

Are you asking me on a date, or just wondering in terms of idle curiosity?

[water_wine_wizard]

Asking.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

[He's pretty sure that if he says no, she's going to take that as a tacit admission that he's got someone waiting back home.]

I guess.

[water_wine_wizard]

[Possibly. Possibly.]

When?

You can try some of my wine.

[See.. it could be a working date...]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

It'd have to be before work sometime. We could get lunch.

[A working date sounds like a great idea. Much better than the other kind.]

[water_wine_wizard]

[Hah.]

That's fine.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Okay, well, sometime in the near future then, I guess.

[He doesn't usually sound this indecisive.]

[water_wine_wizard]

How about Monday?

[She'll be decisive for him.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Monday sounds just fine.

[At least he can appreciate decisiveness.]

[water_wine_wizard]

[Hopefully he can appreciate more. IfyouknowwhatImean.]

Where would you like to meet?

[recognize_an_opportunity]

How about...

[He's thankfully smart enough not to name his own casino. That would just be bad manners. Instead, he picks a fairly nice place, but not an at all romantic one.]

That okay?

[water_wine_wizard]

[Anything can be romantic if you try hard enough!]

Yes! That's fine. I'll bring a bottle.

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Good. I look forward to it.

[The alcohol. And maybe the date. Maybe.]

[water_wine_wizard]

Monday then!

[She'll blow him a kiss.]

[recognize_an_opportunity]

Yeah. See you.

[He'll just... ignore that kiss.]