Leben und Tod (Mae-Lim)

[Valencia Donahue]

Valencia was given a job. As someone who was scrambling to make the most of what little time she had left on the campus as a student, she carried it out. With connections in the Network at her disposal, it wasn’t too difficult for the Vietnamese blonde to have her message sent to Mae-Lim, especially because of the latter’s connections to Revelation as the Black Horseman of Death. To be honest, she didn’t really care much for Revelation and its doings, but when the job description reared its nonchalant head, she knew she had to take it.

To: Toshiba Yong Mae-Lim
From: Layla Hamilton

Come alone to the football field. I’ll be waiting there on Saturday morning. There’re a couple things I’d like to talk to you about and I think it would do us both good if you choose to show up.

She waited there, calm and resolute with her argent eyes staring off into the depths of the thick, white, San Franciscan fog. The field was wet, but Valencia didn’t mind sitting on the damp grass as long as her white windbreaker kept her warm and her “blonde” hair was tied back. Sure, her jeans may get a few grass stains, her boots may get mucked up, and it took a while to find a patch that wasn’t muddy or slippery, but she figured that there was no point in dodging dirtiness when it's inevitable. Besides, God made dirt, so dirt won’t hurt. There’s always the cleaners.

The cool morning air was refreshing to her and it felt like the cold you feel after stepping out of a relaxing hot shower. She closed her eyes and hugged her legs as she rested her head against her arms. She took in the peace until she could hear the sound of crunching grass, typically signaling arrival.

The things I’ll do when I graduate… I need a regularly paying job… Maybe on campus where I can still keep in touch with people I like who aren’t graduating… That might mean I’ll have to talk to that devil of a man, but it’ll pay my bills…

[Mae-Lim]

Football field in the morning. Here she was. She could of been peacefully sleeping in bed today until the very earliest....1 pm. Ahh but no! She was searching, instead for a certain Layla (whom she'd never heard about mind you) in a thick fog. See but that was curiousity for you, and Mae-Lim was full of it.
'That message was weird.' she thought, remembering it clearly in her mind. 'It almost sounded like a threat. But that could just be me.'

She wandered aimlessly through the fog, exhaling in slight annoyance. All she could do was follow the lines on the ground and use that to guide her. She figured as long as she could see a line, she was still on the field. Hopefully. This search however was getting bothersome. How was she supposed to find someone in a fog? She didn't even know where on the field she was.
Although just when she was about to give up, her eyes had finally picked up on something. There was a certain feeling on relief then. While she couldn't be 100% sure this was the person she was supposed to meet, she figured that not very many people would be sitting, ironically enough, on the football field in the fog. 'Course, you never knew. But just to make sure...

"Layla Hamilton?"

Her voice was soft but loud enough. She hadn't waited for an answer, though, and continued to make her way towards the figure until she could clearly see it as a blonde woman. Mae came to a stop then, looking down at her for now until she was sure of the girl's identity. Once she'd receive some form of answer, if she was indeed whom she'd had to find, then she'd proceed:

"We needn't linger on introductions, I assume?"

Her eyes would look down at the wet grass hesitantly, almost as though Mae was unsure if she wished to take a seat on it. Hnn, but this way she would be on a fairly equal level with the blonde asian whilst they spoke. 'Suck it up, its just water,' she thought, pressing on her long skirt and lowering herself onto her knees. It would be more comfortable this way.

"Please. Talk."

[Valencia Donahue]

Valencia heard Mae-Lim’s approach and only lifted her head after hearing her alias. It was moments like this that prove that having an alias was handy. Gets rid of what isn’t needed and keeps what is. Like people she shouldn’t meet and people she should… It was also handy for all sorts of other reasons, but there was no point to elaborate upon that when there were more important things at hand. The Vietnamese senior took note of the sophomore who wore a dress and sat on her knees before speaking. Her pale, blind-looking eyes didn’t meet Mae-Lim’s face as her voice was steady and firm…

“’Glad to see that we agree on something already. I’ll get straight to the point—I accepted a job where I have to get information about you. Obviously, a sign that my employer is probably staging something unfortunate or alternatively, he just has something against your gang and wants to take it out on you. Now, I know how ‘politics’ can get…”

From personal experience…

“…I’m just doing my job. As long as I get my information, I’m fine, and since there weren’t any requirements on keeping my mouth shut, feel free to pummel the living daylights out of your potential enemy. Before I move on, is that alright with you?”

She decided to be civil for the time being. Everything she described was just as her message said and this meeting was basically a trade off. You can say that Valencia was playing off of “politics” to get more moolah out of this, but it’s not like she was making it that obvious… Maybe a tad, but she wasn’t saying it outright while she shifted her weight forward onto her left hand to get in a more comfortable position. The moist earth felt strange between her fingers, and there were a few early creepy crawlies poking out before the birds showed up, but she was concentrating more on where her feet were and keeping them from falling asleep.

[Mae-Lim]

(My Brain's not working like I'd hoped. If I mis-interpreted anything just tell me~~ @....@

Mae-Lim's attention was, contrary to 'Layla', completely on her, her eyes unshifting from the blonde's face. The hamsters in her head were working non-stop and Mae-Lim almost let slip an amused smile at the thought that someone wished to harm her in some way. Oh joy~
Still that didn't truly cause a concern in her, instead, it simply made her wonder who this "employer" was.
'Surprise, surprise. I can already think of two people who would dislike Revelation...or me and possibly pull something like this. Although it would be amusing to find out it was one of the two, I can't help but wonder if it's someone else.'

"It's fine. Go on..." she replied then, barely a taking a second to think and letting the air escape from her nose in almost what could of been a sigh. She wasn't even sure just what she'd agreed to, to tell the truth. Which felt a bit foolish to her now that she thought about it. However, going through what she'd already been told, there was nothing she truly objected to, anyway. Even the whole being "targeted" thing. The fact someone was going out of their way to get information on, what she presumed, was her specifically almost made her feel all fuzzy inside.

'I feel special.'

Mae would of stopped things and asked a few questions but quickly changed her mind. Maybe her questions would be answered as things moved along a bit more and if they weren't, she'd simply bring it back up. It wasn't all that hard. Besides, she was more interested in listening for the moment.
'I do expect to find out who this employer is in the end...' Mae thought then, shifting her eyes away from Layla to take a look at...er the fog. She was beginning to feel creepy staring at someone so intensely without truly realising it. As usual.
'As for the information she needs, I don't know what someone would want with that. Not that I have a problem with "sharing" some things. Unless we're talking about dorm room numbers and stuff. That'd be creepy. I'm gonna start sleeping with a bat next to my bed and a mace under my pillow...'

Disturbing thoughts aside...

[Valencia Donahue]

((OOC: No worries. As long as it mostly interprets what's needed, it's all good.))

“Good, good. I’ve got your consent and no one has to fill out any release forms. Remember not to take this too personally and all this is just a game of pretend. Make-believe. Fantasy. Bibbity, bobbity, boo.”

Okay, fine, it was rude to not divulge what kind of information Valencia required right off the bat, but information was information and for the senior to suddenly launch herself at Mae-Lim counted. Because Mae-Lim to be wearing a skirt and on her knees, Valencia found it advantageous to pounce forward to her (Mae-Lim’s) right and hook her right arm around her opponent’s neck before having momentum and gravity do the rest. The blonde hated striking first, but this was for the sake of research and she didn’t mind the one-dimensional attack for the time being. We’ll see how this escalates.

[Mae-Lim]

'What a nut-job'

Mae's eyes had returned onto Layla as she began to speak once more, clearly Mae was weirded out by the older girl's choice of words. Not that Mae should be considering it was no more odd then the daily thoughts that crossed her mind. Ahhh what a hypocrit she could be at times. Not that that was uncommon of human nature.

If Mae hadn't been paying enough attention, then she wouldn't of noticed Layla's move towards her. Even still, there was little time to react to the sudden 'clothes-line' attack, and with her natural reflexes, Mae lowered her head and brought up her shoulders, almost like a turtle retracting into it's shell. The arm would strike her at the chin and shoulders instead of the neck (and while it wasn't exactly a love-tap, it was better there then getting it on the neck) barely seconds after. She hissed out the pain, which sorta sounded like a whispered "tchaa".

'Son of a-'

She let herself fall back, slipping her legs from under her to avoid an uncomfortable landing.

Assuming there was nothing to restrain her then, Mae would follow through the motion, giving a backwards summer-sault (her skirt was quite spacious and wide, so her movements weren't usually hindered by it) before landing on her knee and foot. It didn't take her long to push herself up and take a few steps back, her eyes lowering into a glare.
"I see, then..." she said softly, rubbing her chin with her left hand before stancing herself into a more solid pose. Her legs were slightly parted, the right foot ahead of the left and her arms raised close to her mid-section and chest. At least this way, if the blonde came at her again, she'd have a better chance at defending herself.

'Unexpected, now I know how Conner felt when I cheap-shotted him' she thought in slight amusement, 'She's a tad more built then me, though...Hn. I had a feeling I should of stayed in bed today. Curiousity might really kill the cat. Even if it's bibbity bobbity boo.'

[Valencia Donahue]

So much for escalation, but what’re you gonna do when hypotheses don’t go the way you want them? Take notes and keep testing. Mae-Lim rolled back and ended up on her feet after defending herself. Valencia felt annoyed that her opponent didn’t give her something to work with, but like any person who’s pitted against odds, you just gotta deal with it. With nothing to grab hold of, “Layla” landed roughly on all fours in the grass, crouching. In all honesty, this was someone who has her share of fights, but never really had formal education about stances or fight mechanics beyond “Person A hurt Person B” or what she learned in the movies she participated in. If anyone was able to see through all that fog at Mae-Lim and Valencia, it was as plain as day that the two had contrasting styles to make up for their mostly physical similarities. This test was about technique, not strength.

You’re lucky that I’m being nice… For now. Or I would’ve nailed you the moment you began rubbing your chin and opening your mouth to talk.

Valencia made her steady and silent approach towards Mae-Lim, mindful of the wet grass and some muddy spots that may betray her position. The fog was only helpful until one got too close… So she advanced like a stalking animal, walking right-left-right-left with her arms and legs instead of alternating like most animals would. Then, Valencia darted out with her left arm between Mae-Lim’s legs, then twisting back around the leg (Mae-Lim’s right leg) as she rolled forward and barreled into the Horseman of Death. Depending on how this turns out, Mae-Lim might be caught with low mobility or end up with a very twisted, if not broken leg.

((OOC: Let me know if you need clarity.))

[Mae-Lim]

((Dear Gawd that took me longer then I thought X.........x;;
Hopefully I comprehended the move well enough so this makes sense. ^ ^;)

Mae's eyes stayed fixed upon the blonde, making her way in a truly strange manner. The animalistic pose would of made Mae raise a brow, however she hadn't left herself the time to ponder it. Something to think about later...if she remembered.
For now, she waited, her body tensing every step Layla was closer to her.

Then came the leap to her right, Layla going past her. In her attempt to keep the blonde in her sights, Mae turned to her right, pivoting on her right leg. First thing her mind registered was the fact that her opponent was on the ground.
'Pin her'
Bending her legs at the knee, Mae leaned forward and let herself drop. The forward momentum would push "Layla" onto her back, Mae landing on the blonde's torso knee-first. The forward motion didn't allow Mae to land gracefully however, and she'd be forced forward a bit, leaning over and pressing her hands on the ground before her to stop herself from toppling over. Mae couldn't help but give a soft "oof!" after her slightly rough landing but regained herself in little time. If the Senior's arm was still wrapped around her leg, then it would be trapped between Mae's leg and thigh as she lifted herself up and sat back (still on her knees of course), happily on Layla's torso.

[Valencia Donahue]

((OOC: PM sent, negotiations are encouraged in the event of misinterpretation. Please pardon the wait because of finals, but I should be free this winter break.))

Practically any sudden movement on mud was going to make some sort of squishing or slippery noise. Practically any noise that can be heard probably will be. As soon as Valencia’s left arm wrapped around Mae-Lim’s right leg, the Revelation member pivoted on that very leg as the Network member continued forward in her roll, since it’s not like she can cancel what gravity can do to her. But the moment the stuntwoman met the ground, she was free to control the roll however she liked as long as it was within her capabilities. From Valencia’s position, it was hard to know for sure how much Mae pivoted, by degrees, quarter-turns, or whatever, but she wasn’t one to find out when it’s too late. The most she knew from holding on to the leg was the pivot was to her opponent’s right… And Valencia had a free right arm to do as she pleased with it.

Point of reference. Does the world some good.

Valencia gripped Mae’s leg even tighter with her left arm and rolled to her right, adding extra leverage with her right arm. Doing this essentially pushes her opponent forward and can even lift Mae off her feet, thanks to the bending position she put herself into. Once the rotation frees up Valencia’s arm, she can grab Mae’s other leg and keep pushing Mae forward into a low throw. Doing this would lead to Valencia landing back on all fours to pounce back and see what Mae has to offer on her own accord.