Roleplaying
2004 Archive
2005 Archive
Seminars
| When: | 22 November 2004 |
| Who: | Alexander, Adlai (as Tad), Damien, Elizabeth, Ellen, Keitaro, Megumi |
| What: | Megumi brings Elizabeth a parting-gift from Zachary, followed by... The Great Briefcase Robbery! |
Fado Irish Pub and Restaurant
Fado's has become a hotspot for many of the locals. The place is split between three different sections, the bar and tavern in one room, another room for the restaurant, and an outside patio area as an extension of the restaurant; all of which are no smoking. The owner, Tyrr Ceallaghan, opened Fado's two years ago and has advertised and made enough deals to watch it grow.
The bar and tavern room has a counter top bar where any of the patrons can sit and talk with the bartenders or their fellow patrons. Near the bar there are a few tables where anyone can sit with friends, share a drink, and just have a good time.
The restaurant and patio area is your classic walk in dine-in restaurant, with different celtic elements on the walls and in the way the rooms are built. The waitresses and waiters are dressed in all black, and always very courteous, as the owners insist on top quality customer service.
Clad in her horribly businesslike suit and pearls, Elizabeth has commandeered one of the tables in the tavern area and has spread her papers out all over it. Stacks of student homework sit in neat array around the table, about half of them bleeding liberally with the red ink of grading. Nestled neatly amid the papers sits a solitary cocktail, pink and syrupy and garnished with maraschino cherries impaled upon a little plastic sword.
Damien sits at the same table as Elizabeth, on the opposite side. He has about 2 square inches to himself, and in those inches he has a mostly-empty glass holding ice. He's wearing his black suit with blue power tie, and is sitting half-turned on the chair, one hand covering one ear, the other hand holding up his cellphone.
Megumi steps into Fado's, and yawns. She looks rather tired, and glum, but she manages to make her way inside without tripping or stumbling ver anything. She sees Damien and Elizabeth and takes a few moments to shift in her pockets as if looking for someething. She takes a couple steps forward, pauses, and stops. She mumbles, "Where'd I put it..." mostly to herself.
Elizabeth finishes her current stack of grading. She raps the sheaf on the table to square the edges and switches its place with one of the ungraded stacks. With an apologetic grimace she looks up at Damien and mutters too quietly to actually interrupt his conversation, or even really be heard, "Sorry about being such a bore."
Damien glances over toward Elizabeth and gives her a completely distracted smile and nod, and goes back to his phone call. He's fused to his phone.
Megumi finds it! She fishes a ring from out of her pocket and says, "Elizabeth, I'm sorry, but I was asked...for -some- reason...to deliver a message to you. Do you mind..? Or are you busy?", she glances to the ring, "It, er, -isn't- an engagement request, before you ask, but it may be ... bothersome. Hate to bear bad tidings but it was a request and I wasn't given much of a chance to refuse."
Elizabeth raises her eyebrows and says, "What on earth are you talking about, Megumi?" She glances briefly at the ring but does not move to take it.
Damien glances at Elizabeth, and then looks up at Megumi, and then down at the ring. He says into his phone, "Look, Jack, I gotta call you back. No... No, something is going on. No, I'll call you back tonight. Yeah, stay cool, baby." He hangs up his cellphone, slides it into an inner suit jacket pocket, and turns toward Elizabeth and Megumi.
Megumi puts the ring down in front of Elizabeth, "There's an inscription.", if Elizabeth says, it's 'Zaman'. "Zachassary says that he 'can't speak properly to you anymore'. He seems to be leaving town, so to speak, and he asked for me to give this to you. No, I don't know why he picked me, probably to inconvenience me, but there you have it, and that's all there is to it. Says he had a falling out with his partner," she shrugs, "Won't be able to do the job he said he would either."
Elizabeth frowns, looking down at the ring. "A falling out with his partner?" Elizabeth repeats slowly. "How... interesting." Her brows draw together in thought. After a moment she looks up and says politely, "Thank you, Megumi. Can you tell me more about what he said when he gave you this message?"
Damien watches the two ladies patiently, his hand reaching for the pack of cigarettes crammed between his glass and Elizabeth's piles of papers.
Megumi says, "To be honest...There wasn't much that he did say. He said that he couldn't tell me where he was going because if he did, he'd have to kill me. He even had to quit an important job. Well, it seemed important, the client looked pretty damn rich.", she shrugs her shoulders, "He primarily said it was a falling out between his partner, but I never met his partner, so I don't know if that's the truth or anything."
"Oh?" Elizabeth inquires politely. "You actually met one of his clients, then? How very peculiar. But..." she sighs, and admits, "I'll miss Zachary. And somehow, it seems very typical of him to say that he'd have to kill you; he does have a certain fascination with cloak and dagger intrigue." She smiles wistfully.
Damien just listens quietly while he lights a smoke.
Megumi nods, "It was very 'Zach'.", she glances to Damien and tilts her head at him, "I believe I've seen you somewhere before, haven't I..? Refresh my memory, would you?", she looks back to Elizabeth and adds, "He said he was Mr. Vormannen, or something, but I don't think that was his real name. He referred to Zachary, Ellen, and myself as 'mixed company'."
Elizabeth gestures over towards Damien and says by way of introduction, "Megumi, this is Damien Hirsh. He's a political consultant. Damien, this is Megumi. She's in high school, but she's taking the occasional class at the university. And Megumi? The phrase 'mixed company' traditionally refers to a mixture of males and females. Do you think that might be what Mr. Vormannen meant?"
Damien hisses out a cloud of smoke between his teeth, and taps some ash into the ash tray in the middle of the table, and then nods to Megumi. "Hi. Pleased to meet you. I've only been in town for a bit."
Megumi says, "Nice to meetcha, Damien. Name's Megumi, though you already know that.", she shrugs her shoulders, "No, don't think he meant that. It seemed like a ... Confidentiality issue. Well, he might be a sexist bigot, buuut he invited two women along anyway, so whatever."
Elizabeth purses her lips. "A confidentiality issue? That would make sense if it was something pertaining to the lawyer-client relationship, but it seems odd to use the phrase 'mixed company' in that context. Ah well, it might well be used by an old-fashioned gentleman declining to share an off-color ancedote or something." She waves her hand dismissively. "Whatever. Thank you for delivering the message, Megumi." She peers intently at the ring.
Damien leans over the table a bit to peer at the ring, doesn't see anything that interests him, and leans back again.
Megumi bobs her head, "Yeah, pretty odd. No problem. I think you're right, though, old fashioned sorta guy.", she glances to Damien, "Uh, I intruded on private stuff, right? Want me to head on back out?"
Damien leans over and taps more ash into the ashtray. "No, we weren't doing anything exciting. Elizabeth was checking papers and I was just working. It wasn't terribly private, and I can call my friend back later."
Elizabeth nods in agreement. "I was just grading some projects. Nothing uninterruptable." She reaches down to grab her briefcase off the floor, snaps it open, and starts putting her papers away neatly.
Megumi totally pulls up a chair and sits in it, "Oh, okay, cool. Been busy so I want to be a total SLOTH today, if y'know what I mean. I'm drained, tired, kaput!", she rubs at her eyes again, "It's been a really blechy week, y'know?"
Damien stubs out his cigarette. "I don't know. It's been a rather good week for business. There was that big omnibus spending bill, and all sorts of havoc broke out. And we've retained Gallup to run polls on rather strange things. It was all good. Have you seen a waiter? I could use another double."
"If Zachary's moving out?" Elizabeth murmurs softly, "I'll say it's blechy. I'll miss him. Other than that, though-" She winks at Damien. "-I'd say things have been pretty good." Her papers finally stashed away, her glass is finally revealed, all alone on the table. With a blink, she picks it up and takes a sip.
Megumi says, "Damien seems nice and non-uber-crazy-and-violent.", she slouches in her seat, "What the 'eck is the omnibus spending bill..?", she slouches more, "What's going on...?", she seems a bit bewildered.
"Damien's a political consultant," Elizabeth repeats. "He's talking about politics."
"I am non-uber-crazy, at least while I'm on my medication," Damien says smoothly. "An omnibus spending bill is when Congress passes the spending for the budget for the next fiscal year. But there's no oversight. So the Republicans, the so called party of fiscal responsibility, have weighed it down with some crazy bookmarks. Of course, our job is to remind our clients of the people they represent, and what those people really want..." He looks pleased with himself for a moment, and then it passes. "Anyway, it's work."
Megumi nods to herself...in response. But she seems to get this -epiphany- suddenly, "Y'know.", she says after a moment, "No matter how much school learning you do, it seems like the best way to learn is to go out and talk to people. Followed by reading. If you listen, you get a lot more out of it. All the good classes are discussion anyway."
Elizabeth rolls her eyes at the mention of "the party of fiscal responsibility" and says, "It's pretty useful work, Damien. After all, someone bloody well should remind the politicians of what they're supposed to do, even if they generally don't listen." Turning to Megumi, she says, "Megumi, you're forgetting that the /really/ best way to learn is by doing, with someone there to show you how. You're not going to learn good chemistry lab techniques from talking or reading; you learn them by getting out there in a lab and doing."
"Or you can just sit around and read..." Damien says as his phone starts play Schubert. He pulls his phone and says, "I have to answer this." He turns away from Megumi and Elizabeth for a moment to take the call, and then puts his hand over the phone. "I have to go home and take care of some things. Can't really wait. Um, Elizabeth, you call me when you're done or something? It was nice meeting you, Megumi." He stands and says something into the phone, then hangs up. "I'm sorry, I have to go."
Megumi says, "Oh, but I don't -care- about -Chemistry-. I'm talking about the important class-...", she looks up, "Oh, I'm sorry for intruding then. Have a good evening, Damien. Hope politics spins in your favor soon. Treat that like a fortune cookie message.", she taps her fingers at Damien.
"Of course, Damien," Elizabeth says, "I'll be in touch, and good luck with your work." She idly nibbles the cherries off of their skewer before answering Megumi, "It doesn't have to be Chemistry; any class that's more than just memorization, you learn by doing. Calculus, you learn by doing boring homework assignments. Writing you learn by sitting down and writing. Sketching you learn with a pencil in hand, not by having discussions about it."
Damien leans over, phone in hand, to give Elizabeth a quick kiss, but the phone is going off again. He straightens and says, "Lame duck season is so bad it's Kafkaesque. I gotta go." He walks out of the bar talking on the phone and manuevering around people at the same time.
Megumi says, "Calculus, Writing, all really -pointless-, especially once you know the basics which is something that's long far gone, but Real Knowledge. The Useful stuff. You might need a diploma to get a job, but it doesn't mean anything, and it doesn't make you smart. Most of the stupidest people in the world have graduated from the most prestigious universities. No, real knowledge comes from the experience of being with other people. And once you learn how to handle them, then Bam! You could be a retard in everything else and still get by.", she pauses for a moment before adding, "Hey, are you and Damien...?"
Elizabeth says archly, "Are Damien and I /what/, young lady?" She draws herself up in her chair and tilts her head back just so that she can look down her nose at Medumi. The effect is spoiled by a faint twitching of her lips that threatens to erupt into full-out laughter.
Megumi takes a few moments before saying, "Are you fuck-partners? I'd say lovers, but I don't know if love is involved or just a kind of almost-love affection. I can't say boyfriend because I don't know if he's the only one. I would ask if you sleep with each other on occasion, but I don't know if you actually sleep or just stay up all night long...So...There it is. Apologies for the language."
Elizabeth stares at Megumi. Then she STARES at Megumi. Silently.
Megumi watches back, and bites down on her lip as if she was haing trouble keeping it closed. She grabs ahold of the table as if to prepare to -bolt-.
"Megumi," Elizabeth says carefully, her voice slow, controlled, and precise. "One. You have less tact than a bull elephant in rut. Two. ince when is my sex life any of your business? And three. 'Lover' or 'boyfriend' are both accepted terminology for a male partner in a romantic relationship, regardless of the details of emotional state or the exclusivity of the realtionship, and it is common knowledge that 'sleep with' is a euphemism for sex. Did somebody scoop out your brain and give you a transplant from Remy or something?"
Tad walks into the bar and exhales heavily, blowing out. He puts his hands on his hips and looks around with a shrug before walking over to the bar. He is a young man who looks a lot like the description on Adlai. Tad is currently carrying a satchel under one arm on a shoulder strap and it appears to weigh a bit heavy on his thin frame.
Megumi says, "One, I wasn't trying to be tactful. Two, it isn't, but that doesn't stop me from asking. And three, I try to be accurate since if you're not accurate in language..miscommunication is so easy. Why should I hide behind euphamisms that are merely in place to serve as bindings to insufficient reality. And I happen to respect and admire Remy very much. All the same, I haven't seen him in a while, and I wanted to chat with him more. All the same, that does not answer the question."
Elizabeth smiles and says, "You're right, it doesn't." And she takes a long, deliberate drink.
Megumi laughs, "Okay, you got me, Elizabeth. You win. I surrender! Victory is yours. Still...How Remy of you.", she is practically -winking-.
Tad nods pleasantly to Elizabeth and Megumi en route to the bar. "Evening, ladies," he says before hopping onto a barstool and resting his satchel across his lap.
Elizabeth shrugs and says casually, "I'd object more strenuously at the insult, but it would be rude to imply that I disrespect poor Remy. Especially when talking to a young lady who professes to respect and admire him so much." She smirks at Megumi. She's at a table in the tavern area, talking to Megumi.
Megumi is talking to Elizabeth! "Evening...uh...Evening?", she gives Tad a suspicious look before shaking her head clear of it, mumbling something about 'imagination'. She continues, however, "I -do- respect and admire Remy, I wouldn't say he's Perfect, but I don't know many people personally who are -perfect-. But he's honest and -tries- to be, ah, well, -good-, I'd think. He's a lot nicer than me, for sure."
Tad gives the pair a pleasant look, then rests his elbow on the bar over his satchel, pulling out a twenty. "Set me up, please," he implores the bartender. "Midori Sours?" he asks.
The sounds of a roaring motor reign outside in the streets of the downtown district as a bright set of lights widens as a vehicle comes ripping through the southern side of town. The roar of the engine only gets louder as the driver appears to have downshifted, followed by a loud screech as headlights appear to streak across the windows of the Fado Irish Pub!
The engine roar comes to a stop as the vehicle slides into a parking spot and before long enters, Keitaro! International Man Of Myste--, just humble Keitaro. He enters the bar with his passenger not far behind him as he holds the door open politely to let her through. With a bit of embarassment on his face and a weak smile, He speaks through the door, "You know I never knew you haven't been street car before. I apologise if I made the ride a bit rough, Miss E."
Elizabeth's lip curls and she says, "Oh, I'm sure that Remy is 'nice' enough; 'nice' is a vastly overrated quality, in my opinion. I prefer to go with a more interesting crowd. The bad boys may be more dangerous, but at least I'm less likely to get bored." She moistens her lips and smiles.
Ellen steps in, walking a bit dizzily. "It was... faster than I am accustomed to. I do hope you don't get a lot of speeding tickets, Keitaro," she chuckles. Yup, Libertarian she is. "But thank you for the ride." She's still alive, she can't complain. She looks around the room with light curiosity.
Megumi says, "Oh? Well, Nice and Honest together combine a lot more than both seperate would be, I admit that...But while I expect you are the sort who likes danger and thrills more than safety, I expect more people would prefer a net in case they fall off the tightrope.", she looks over to...Keitaro and Ellen as they enter, and tosses a wave towards them. Oz! El! Me? Unfortunately, it doesn't go that far, but there are two El's here now, Megumi reflects, and giggles at herself. Oh she kills her. "Enjoying another stay at your favorite bar, Oz?"
Tad gives a short half-cough, half-laugh. He has a zero shot tonight, he suspects, but that is alright. He leans back on the baras he waits for his drinks, watching the new arrivals as they brush in.
Elizabeth looks up at the newcomers and gives Ellen a quick half-salute half-wave before asking Megumi, "This Oz guy a friend of yours?" She smirks and adds, "Notice how I delicately don't ask if he's sleeping with you?"
Keitaro chuckles sheepishly at Ellen's response and adds in, "Hehe, haven't yet. So obviously someone up there must like me."
However, upon hearing Megumi's voice and gulps loudly as he turns around looks at her momentarily with a serious look, . o O (I am really hoping im wrong about what i've found out... I really do.)
He smiles and waves over to Megumi, "Evening Sync, I figured I'd stop down here for a beer or two and luckly for me, I brought a friend." and points to Ellen, "Found this young lady walking all by her lonesome down in the eastside." and then strikes a sexy hero pose, complete with virturious laugh included!, "A gentleman can't let a lady walk all by her lonesome in the middle of danger at dusk can I?"
Keitaro says, "Ha ha!"
Megumi says, "Notice how I quite clearly say he's not.", she pauses and then murmurs, "Elizabeth, there is one thing I will always appreciate about you: You are Fun to talk to. Very few people have quite the same way with language as you do and even less are willing to use it.", she notices, however, Keitaro's 'look' and she twists a bit more to gaze into Keitaro's eyes, "Guess not ... It looks like you had something on your mind, Oz, is something the matter? Ha ha?"
A patron looks over as Keitaro does his sexy hero pose and shakes his head, thinking, . o O (That kid plays too much Fable...)
Tad watches Keitaro with an expression of disbelief. "It is like watching an anime charater walk off the screen," he says with some disbelief. Subsequent to that nonplussed statement he turns back around to face the bar and see if he has not already been drinking. Ah, and there is his drink. "Radioactive alcohol," he says with a drawl, raising the Midori Sour.
Ellen smiles to Elizabeth and Megumi, "Good evening." At Keitaro's words, she says, 'Now, I wasn't /too/ far east on the eastside. Just looking at the stores near Midtown.. but I do appreciate the lift." She smiles faintly, "Even if it seemed a few times like I'd be lifted higher than I expected. She pauses at the exchange of looks between Keitaro and Megumi, looking them over thoughtfully.
"Why, thank you, Megumi," Elizabeth murmurs. "I do so enjoy... wordplay. It's part of why I'll miss Zachary so; he has a definite talent for it. It's a pity I never got to find out what else his tongue was capable of." In a louder voice, she prompts, "So, Megumi... introductions?"
Keitaro wanders over to the bar and shoots a glance over to the barkeep, "The usual bud.", which the barkeep responds with a nod, beginning to make his drinks.
Oz turns to Megumi with a smile and shakes his head, "Don't worry about it, it can wait.", while thinking, . o O (Im just dreading the thought of inquiring.)
Megumi says, "Oh, so there is something, well whenever you want... Elizabeth? This is Keitaro, or Oz, whichever you prefer I imagine.", she gestures back and forth between Elizabeth and Keitaro before looking to him, "He doesn't know what words -mean-, Liz, and has little capacity for subtext. Not like you, I assure you.", especially since Elizabeth just used some. Shuuudder!
"Keitaro doesn't, or Zachary doesn't?" Elizabeth asks Megumi.
Tad starts to drink his Midori and shakes his head. It is calming down at least. Once he has had a good drink, he sets down the glass, half-full. From there he begins to rifle through his satchel.
Ellen watches Elizabeth and Megumi murmur to each other, with a slight quirk of her brow. Girl talk? She smiles to Keitaro, "'Oz'? Is that a nickname of yours?" In the meantime, she takes a seat near Keitaro and within easy listening distance of the other two.
Keitaro gets his beer from the barkeep and slips him three dollars for the beer. However, as he moves the glass up and takes a drink it mearly spits it back out at the mention of Zachary's name. He continues to cough loudly for a few moments, grabbing his head for a moment, pretending to hide his reaction by trying to fake off a headache, "Unnnh... Oy that came out of no where.." and groans lightly. He looks up and asks the barkeep, "Got any asprin?"
Megumi replies, without any vitrol, anger, or acid behind her words. None at all! "Zachary. He does not know what he says.", she looks again to Keitaro and frowns again, "Is something wrong with you today, Keitaro?", she glances briefly to Ellen to nod at her.
The door to the pub is shoved open, the wind outside blowing in a swirl of thick blue-grey smoke. The source of the smoke enters shortly after, tossing the cigarette out into the street. Alexander cracks his neck thoughtfully, gazing around the place before shouldering his way towards the bar.
Tad gives Keitaro a look. "Are you alright there, man?" he asks, still rumaging in his satchel.
Elizabeth sighs and says, "Look, if you're going to keep talking to the guy, Megumi, how about inviting him over to the table instead of shouting across the bar all the time?" She looks him up and down and says brightly, "Besides, there's always the chance that he might be either nice and honest or else mad, bad, and dangerous to know. According to taste."
Megumi says, "I am not shouting at him, don't be such a liar, Elizabeth.", she smiles and stands up, "It's called annunciation.", she walks towards Keitaro all the same however.
Ellen catches the name Zachary this time, and quirks her brow lightly. She doesn't connect the name with Keitaro's coughing fit, however. She orders another one of her sissy drinks for herself -- a pina colada this time.
Keitaro closes his eyes and sighs deeply, . o O (Better get it out into the open before I less embarass myself even more.)
He takes another drink of his beer and turns over to Ellen, his eyes seeming to hide a kind of hidden tint to them, almost as if he wants to speak but is holding something back but firmly replies, "Yeah.. Its an old name I got back while I was in japan." and just sits there for a view moments to collect his thoughts.
Elizabeth splutters into her drink at Megumi's creative choice of words. Banishing the thought of Megumi as Gabriel and Keitaro as the Virgin Mary from her mind, she dabs at her lips with a napkin, carefully setting her drink down.
Tad shrugs and kicks back his Midori again. "So. It appears everyone knows each other and I am the one standing out?" he asks, throwing out a line.
Ellen nods to Keitaro, smiling. "It wouldn't have any connection with the American movie, 'The Wizard of Oz', would it? Or does it have some meaning in Japanese?" She watches him with a bit of concern, as he sits pensively. She looks over at Tad, smiling, "I'm afraid so, or at least I know these few people. I am Ellen Lane."
Megumi says, "It has to do with the White Comet.", lazily as she watches Keitaro carefully before glancing towards Ellen again, "I'm actually not sure I remember the whole story. It stood for something, it's on the tip of my tongue but..nnhh..."
Keitaro turns back to Megumi as she approach and smiles weakly with a lowered tone, "I need to speak with you..." and glances around the room momentarily, "... In private preferably."
Elizabeth, from her table, watches Keitaro and Megumi talk.
Alexander spots Elizabeth at her table, and with a faint feral smile... fades into the crowded room. His posture changes, making him less noticible as he starts towards where she's sitting, moving such to keep from attracting her attention as he moves to end up standing behind her.
Tad replies to Ellen, "Tad. My name is Tad, miss Lane." A hit or at least a target lock. "Pleased to meet you," he continues, setting his Midori down. "What brings you to Fado's tonight?" he inquires.
"Pleased to meet you, too, Tad," Ellen smiles back to the guy. "I am here at the bequest of Mr. Keitaro.." she casts a glance at him, "who seems to be about to wander off into a private conversation now." She chuckles a little.
Keitaro says, "My apologies, miss E. I don't mean to hit and run, but there are a few things I need to discuss along with Megumi here.." and then he nods to Tad and then back to Ellen, "I will return shortly."
Megumi says, "I had the feeling," softly, "Outside'll do.", she looks to Ellen, "I only came here to drop something off myself, it shouldn't be too long...right?", she looks to Keitaro. .. and then nods again as she heads for the exit.
Keitaro departs outside, following Megumi.
Elizabeth raises her eyebrows as she notices the twenty-something asian guy making excuses to run off with the female high school student. She sips at her drink and continues observing the scene, oblivious to what lurks behind.
Alexander steps up behind Elizabeth and drops his hands onto her shoulders just hard enough to push her down somewhat - not /quite/ bruising hard, but certainly not friendly. Keeping the pressure there, pressing Elizabeth down into her seat, he leans down to position his lips next to her ear and hisses something softly, pitched so only she can hear it.
Tad smirks. "Sure you do not," he says, extending the "u" of the sure. He rotates his stool towards Ellen and asks, "Abandonment is as good a reason as any to stay at a bar, is it not?" His tone has a light tease to it. "Although," he notes, looking at Elizabeth, "It it seems that we are not the only ones left alone by our companions; your escort has taken the friend of another."
"I suppose I have nowhere else to go for the moment," Ellen nods to Tad. She, too, glances in Elizabeth's direction as Tad speaks of her. "It looks like she's found another 'escort'," she frowns deeply, setting her drink down.
Elizabeth stiffens as Alex's hands land on her shoulders, twisting ineffectually to get away. As he hisses at her, she manages to turn her head enough to see who it is - not that she's terribly surprised, given how he grabbed her. "You," she hisses right back, louder. "And here I thought after you'd left me alone for over a week that you might finally have grown bored with this game. Now let me go!" She reaches up to try to pry his hands off of her shoulders.
Tad frowns at Alexander and puts down his drink. "No, that looks wrong," he says to Ellen, getting up from his stool to head over. "We should perhaps help her," he says as he hands the satchel across the bar to the bartender.
Alexander just tightens his grip as her arms wrap around his wrists - probably hard enough that Elizabeth is going to have bruises from his fingers. "Thought wrong, Elizabeth. I've just been... busy. So we'll get to play some more... but I see 'help' is on the way." He releases her shoulders and takes a step back, grinning at the approaching pair.
Nodding to Tad, Ellen gets up and walks over towards Elizabeth's table. "Please stop bothering her, sir," she says quietly but firmly to Alexander, standing before the pair.
Elizabeth's breath hisses out between her teeth as Alex squeezes. She gasps a bit when he steps back, putting one hand to her chest while she recovers her breath. "Thank you," she says gratefully. "But, Ellen-" She glances quickly back at Alex. "-aren't you afraid of him?"
Tad stares coldly at Alexander. "I believe that you should let the lady go, sir," he says, deepening his south Texas drawl to add some weight to his thin frame. "Some Southern traditions, like politeness to a lady, should not be discounted," he continues.
Ellen stands next to Tad, grateful for his backup. "Alone, I would be," she nods to Elizabeth, "but I think Tad here can be more convincing than I could."
Alexander takes a step back, cracking his knuckles loudly. And ignoring Tad for the moment, he simply... stares at Ellen. Not saying anything, as his odd yellow eyes bore into her face, noting each and every detail. "Oh, Elizabeth and I understand one another. And I'm never rude. Just... forceful." The grin becomes a smirk. "Some other time, girlie. After all - nothing says I have to focus completely on Elizabeth. Better lock up at night. Never know who's out and about, hmm?"
Elizabeth shudders and clutches her arms around herself, edging out of her chair to skitter behind Ellen and Tad. She doesn't even bother to grab her briefcase off of the floor next to her chair. "Why don't you just go away and leave me alone, Alex?" she challenges shakily.
Tad unclenches his fist from something under his jacket as he watches Alexander moves away. Gangly and young he may be but he seems to have a lot more confidence than he might otherwise appear to be justified in having. He keeps his eyes locked on those of Alexander as long as he may.
Ellen shudders, too, at Alexander's words to her, and moves a little closer to Tad. "I assure you, sir, I am used to taking precautions," she responds to Alexander, trying to keep her voice even and her eyes steady.
"Because you don't want me to," replies Alex to Elizabeth's inquiry. Still, he's keeping his distance from her, and not making any moves to follow her. His gaze does flick to Tad's fist in his jacket, and just shakes his head slightly at the kid, before giving Ellen one of those nice big grins. "Sure. Guess we'll find out." He gazes at her for a long moment more, before turning that piercing gaze on Tad.
Elizabeth says shrilly, "Ellen, please don't do anything to anger him; he's a terribly dangerous man!" Suddenly, she darts between Ellen and Tad, lunging forward to grab a small object - a ring? - off of the table in front of where she was sitting.
Tad stands there with a determined air of confidence and antipathy. He does not give a single inch save to say, "I believe the lady has requested you leave, mister. I would take that as a highly placed suggestion or better yet a command." The hand remains inside the jacket but it remains relaxed for the moment.
Ellen's eyes widen as she notices the ring, just for a split second as Elizabeth grabs it. She regards Alexander even more thoughtfully, as she steps aside to leave room for Elizabeth to dive back into cover if she is not prevented. Plainly something has caught her attention.
Alexander cracks his neck from side to side and smirks. "I only take commands from one lady, buddy." He glances down as the ring is snagged from the table, and happens to spot the briefcase as well. With a wide grin, he bends down, hooking the handle of the case into his fist as he backs up. "But yeah - I'll be gone for now. See you later, Elizabeth." He gives a little wave, and turns to walk off with the briefcase.
"My briefcase!" Elizabeth shrieks. "Somebody, stop him! Alex, please!" She makes as if to chase after him, then checks herself, looking around nervously. "Please..." she says weakly.
Tad begins to chase after Alexander. "Someone phone the police- tell them Tad Abraham asked for an officer," he says, unwilling to actually bring out the gun inside Fado's.
Ellen watches, eyes narrowed. Was Alex trying to steal the ring? Does he know whose it is? Could he be working with them? After a few moments thought, however, she decides she doesn't have enough clues now to connect him definitively with the gang she knows of. As he snatches the briefcase, however, the fact that he is at best a common thief doesn't heighten her opinion of him.
Alerted by Elizabeth's shriek, several other people get up to step between Alexander and the door. "Hey bud," says one guy, "she said that's not yours. You gonna give it back?" The bartender seems rather calm about all this, however.
Alexander just... shoulders through the people blocking his path as he bolts out the door - each impact ringing softly in the Symphony, since this time the bum isn't holding back as much as he normally does. He moves very quickly, and with a suprising economy of movement - almost... trained. Very trained. To the trained eye, it's clear he could have done much worse to the people in his way as he bursts out the door, leaving chaos in his wake.
Elizabeth follows after Alex - at a safe, ineffectual distance. After he's out the door, she runs over to peer out through the front windows, to try to see what he's doing to her precious briefcase
Tad is not that well trained of course. He does begin to grasp his gun now, muttering, "Do not do it; do not do it," to himself as he chases after the disheveled bum.
Ellen follows Tad outside, perhaps unwisely, weaving through the chaos of bruised bystanders.
Downtown - Austin
The downtown of Austin is well-maintained and not too hard to get around in for a large city's downtown. The streets are frequently lined with trees, many quite large and with several predating the city, such as the last of the Council Oaks, Treaty Oak; poisoned by vandals in 1989, the tree still lives, and some say that it is now a symbol of Austin's resiliance.
Downtown Austin has many places to go and things to see, ranging from historical landmarks like the Capitol building and the Governor's Mansion, to museums such as the Bob Bullock Texas State Museum. It also has the usual and more modern stores and businesses of any modern city, skyscrapers included. Nearby is Town Lake, along the Colorado River.
Alexander bursts out of the doors of the Fado pub, a briefcase in one hand. Once he's clear of the press of bodies inside the pub - and there's more than a few muffled curses and yelling from inside - he turns down the street and starts running. Full tilt. Laughing deep and low, like a lunatic.
Megumi's eyes widen as Alexander bursts out of the door, she makes a 'quiet down' gesture at Keitaro before he replies. She waits for Elizabeth to come chasing out. Yeah, she knows what this is about.
Tad hurtles out of the building after Alexander, pulling a browning out of his jacket as he goes. Despite his somewhat nebbish appearance he carries the weapon in a rather professional himself. "Stop, thief," he calls out but given his scratch-tenor voice, this is something of a negative to the intimidation factor.
Ellen follows Tad out the door, her pace faltering as she sees Alex is running much faster than she ever could. Then, her eyes widen as she sees the gun. She stops still, watching, keeping out of the way.
For many moments, Keitaro just rests there with his hand in a nearby wall, it dripping slowly but surely with blood that plops to the ground, 1, 2, 3. He continues to listen to Megumi's words and looks to her with a stern look about his face but also a hint of cheer within it, as he speaks quietly, "Thank you.... I promise."
Then out of nowhere, the doors to the Fado fly open and the burly man from earlier leaps out and starts running down the street like a maniac? He spins around and shoots a confused glance towards the crowd and then notices Tad yelling out those simple words is all enough to set him off. He looks to Megumi and calls out, "I'll be back soon!" and makes a run for his Mazda RX-7, running and sliding across the hood as he gets into the vehicle! Soon, the loud roar of his engine ignites and zoom zoom zoom baby! He peels back and stops in front of the bar, Yelling at Tad, "Hey! You Get in!"
Elizabeth's head peeks out the door, watching.
Alexander ignores Tad's order - even though he does glance over his shoulder for an instant - spotting the gun - but it clearly doesn't worry him all that much. Other people, however, scatter at the sight of the gun and the running man, yelling and shouting as they dive and run out of the way - and the line of fire. Although he's /not/ running at his full speed - after all, people might loose track of him if he went that fast. He keeps the briefcase against his chest. "Come and catch me... if you can!" His eyes widen at the sight of the car. "Aw, fuck."
Megumi stares in horror at the unfolding scene.
And wishes she had helped bring it about.
She smacks herself in the face and groans. "This is inconceivable..." Megumi mutters. "Ellen... It would be safer for you to take Elizabeth inside... This could get ugly."
Tad hops in with Keitaro to chase after Alexander. "We should have police officers here very soon," he tells Keitaro. "Just run him down as much as you can," he finishes, holding the gun carefully.
Ellen watches the two Hero Guys chase after Alexander. "Oh dear..." she murmurs. To Megumi, she responds, "I think we are safe enough here. He's already down the street." She frowns as she watches the scene unfold.
Keitaro says, "You just keep a bead on him and I'll do the rest." and with that he slams on the gas, burning rubber as the two speed off towards the Alex! The RX-7 begins to quickly catch up to speed, chasing after the THIEF!
Keitaro says, "Try to aim for the guy's hand, Get him to drop whatever it is he's carrying."
Alexander keeps running, but he begins to sing under his breath as he runs, the words resonating with the Symphony as he gestures with a hand in the vague general direction of the car - and there is a clear bell toll of spent essence as he focuses...
Elizabeth tiptoes out as the action recedes, peeping out from behind Ellen. "That... that's my briefcase," she says weakly. "He just grabbed it and ran off!"
The street slightly behind Alexander - and directly in front of the car as it accelerates - bursts into roaring hungry flames. There's nothing to fuel them as the lanes are crossed by a blazing sheet of fire, even as the Song of Fire echos in the Symphony.
Megumi says, "Fuck! What the hell was that!?", she nearly jolts back and looks to Ellen, "You're saying you shouldn't go inside for this?! Sheesh, look at how bad that is! Did he blow a gas main or something?", she frowns and crosses her arms, "Really, it's that gun-guy's fault for acting so gung-ho over a briefcase.", she jabs her finger at Tad...and then glances to Liz, "No offense, I know it's probably full of important stuff, but still..this is a little overdone, don't you think?", she realizes she made a joke, and snickers a bit, "Oh overdone...I should remember that one."
Keitaro may be bold, he may be daring but he ain't stupid. He glances around to see if there is anything he can do to possibly perform a drift around this fire!
Keitaro says, "Damn we got nothing! Alright old man! This is all up to up!" and then swiftly spins to his side and attempts to stop dead a few inches before the edge of the fire, "If you're gonna do something then do it fast!"
Tad holds on to the last-chance bar on the car as Keitaro swings around wildly. "You are kidding, right? Shoot a hand in a car moving like this? There is nothing I can do except maybe hit whatever he used to start the fire! Pull over and get out of traffic, the fire is more important and people may be hurt!" he yells.
Ellen gasps as the street erupts in flames. She senses Disturbance, but is not sure from where. "Oh no..." She is just frozen with shock, which matters little since there's not much she can do about the situation anyway.
Elizabeth just stares for a long moment, and then sags back against the front wall of Fado's, giggling helplessly. Her shoulders heave and shudder as she tries to gasp for breath between bouts of laughter.
Alexander just keeps running, his own ears ringing with his own Disturbance. Relying on the chaos and confusion caused by the flames, he darts around the corner, briefcase still clutched to his chest. Behind him, the flames continue to roar - but aren't spreading. Whatever he used, it doesn't seem likely to spread - out in the street like this, it does cause a number of screeching car stops, but doesn't seem to be setting anything else on fire - aside from the lane paint and plastic markers.
(Damn! He got away... Oh well maybe next time.) O o . rolls through his mind as Keitaro easily begins to make his way back into the opposite lane and pulls over near the bar, "Well that was a complete waste of time."
Turning the car off, he steps out and immidately begins dialing on his cell phone 911 for fire emergency.
Tad gets out of the car, swearing as he does so. Once free of the car he begins to look around to find out what is going on. There is a momentary expression of confusion on his face and then the sight of the flame crystalizes his decision. He rushes to see what he can do to help.
And mere moments after Tad starts to run towards the flames... they vanish. Sure, the lane markers and such are still burning, but since pavement doesn't normally burn very well, the flames denied their more supernatural fuel... just die. What was a conflagration is now a few small fires - dangerous ones from burning plastic, but small nevertheless.
Ellen lets out a sigh of relief as Keitaro's car evades the blaze. She turns to Elizabeth worriedly, walking over to the apparently hysterical woman. "It's okay, Elizabeth, Tad and Oz are safe. No one got hurt," she soothes. "It's going to be okay now." Well, except for Elizabeth being minus one briefcase.
Elizabeth shakes her head, still leaning against the building wall for support. "He... they... my briefcase..." She gives up and just points at the site of the recent fire, laughing helplessly.
Pressing a button on his keyring to engage his car alarm, even admist this chaos you can't be too careful, Keitaro returns over to the group of Elizabeth, Ellen and Megumi as emergency response begins to show up to setup and save the day like the rescue heroes they are. He turns back to the group despite his hand still slightly bleeding and asks, "Is everyone ok?"
Megumi says, "....This is a little crazy, Oz.", again, "I'm glad someone's enjoying the drama...", she looks to Elizabeth, "I bet you were the one least concerned about getting that back too.", she sticks her tongue out.
Elizabeth finally bows her head, bracing her hands on her knees and breathing slowly and deliberately. Once her giggles are under control, she looks up at Keitaro and Megumi and says carefully. "Thank you, I'm... I'm fine. I can't say the same for my papers, though." Glancing at Megumi she grins and says, "Please, don't get me started laughing again."
Ellen smiles gently and steps back as Elizabeth regains control of herself, then quirks an eyebrow at Megumi's reaction. "I think we're all okay, just a little shook up," she nods to Keitaro. "How about you, Oz?.. Your hand is bleeding," she notes.
Keitaro now looks strictly confused and glances towards Elizabeth, "You sure are... calm for this situation, lady. Exactly, if you don't mind me asking that is, what was in that brief case?" and he glances towards Ellen with a quirked brow and then down at his knuckles, "Oh this..." and looks away with the closing of his eyes and lowered tone, "It's nothing. I had a little accident thats all."
Keitaro looks back to Megumi and nods to her, reassuring her of his promise.
Elizabeth snorts, and bows her head again for a moment to cut off the hysterical giggles before they resume. After a moment, she looks up at Keitaro and says, "You, sir-" She slams a hand over her mouth to stifle more laughter, and then very very carefully continues, "-have a very odd definition of 'calm'." She snickers, which opens the floodgates for another round of giggles.
Alexander just vanishes into the night, mayhem and chaos - and just a wee bit of destruction - left in his wake.
Megumi says, "Sorry, Liz, it's not like it's har-...My Liz, it doesn't seem like I have to do much of the reinforcement here.", she rubs at her temple, bobbing her head briefly to Keitaro before looking over to Ellen, "He must have hurt it during all that escapade with the driving and crashing and so forth. It was pretty chaotic."
"She's just a little hysterical, Keitaro," Ellen says softly. "Just give her a little space, I think she'll get over it." She offers poor Elizabeth a comforting pat on the arm, then looks over as Megumi speaks. "Maybe," she nods simply.
Elizabeth slowly sinks down to the pavement, sitting with her back against the wall of Fado's. "I..." she starts, then trails off. "It may be difficult," she says slowly, "to explain to my students just why they're not getting grades for that project."
Megumi says, "I'm sure they'll be happy enough to hear the story with explosions and so forth. And they say that the teacher's life is a boring one. You have many adventures for such a position, Elizabeth, perhaps someone is was looking out for you to make sure you're not bored.", she rubs the back of her neck, "Still, how do you think all that fire came up...Elizabeth? Did you get a good view?"
"I didn't see any sort of incendiary device," Elizabeth says softly, shaking her head. "It was just... one moment there was no fire, and the next thing I noticed was FABOOSH! Fire. Did you see what happened, Megumi?"
Ellen listens to the discussion of the fire. "I didn't see what caused it, either," she remarks. "Whatever it was, there doesn't seem to be any left of the road," she notes, peering at the burned stretch. "It's a good thing it didn't spread to anything." She looks at Megumi curiously.
Megumi says, "Like us." cheerfully. "Not any more than you," she adds to Elizabeth before looking over to Keitaro, "I suppose we better finish our conversation before the city explodes."
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