|
|
Post by Kazuki Akimoto on Apr 3, 2007 4:01:38 GMT 1
"Another drink, sir?"
The nod as he flicked the glass toward the waiter, glancing up from the cards that he was glancing down at despite his hand set atop them, he gave a polite smile as he turned his head a little...
"Just rum, no ice, a cold glass."
"Very good. I'll put it to your tab...."
Taking one of the chips off his reasonable stack, he palmed it back to the waiter with a nod and let him go back to his job...His attention returned to the table as the cards were turned for the flop, he took a few moments to examine the other players before pushing his own into the centre.
"Fold...."
-Later-
Walking to the chip desk with the small holder he had been given when he walked off from the table, paying his dues and taking his winnings, he set them down in front of the grated window and leaned loosely at the side, smiling and nodding along with the idle chatter that the person exchaning the small coloured discs sent his way...He wasn't interested in that, hell, he wasn't even interested in playing poker tonight.
He'd come here with the sole intent of finding Shamino around the main floor, perhaps mingling with the tables and hustling a few people out of their money, but as far no such luck. Completely adamant he would not stroll up and demand an audience with the man, he decided upon a slightly....Different tactic, one improvised almost completely as a result of a bartenders chatter a few minutes later...
"You really cleaned up on that table, huh...?"
"It wasn't bad, they were amateurs throwing their money away.."
"Well, it was certainly one of the quicker games I've seen today. You've clearly played some poker in your time..."
"You could say that...Hell, I was wondering if you could help me out there, I know that this place is run by a pretty big-shot guy from out of town, I was wondering if he was much of a player himself....?"
"...I wouldn't know all that much about that, sir..."
"...Oh, well nevermind about it then. Just another drink, before you disappear..."
Shrugging his shoulders loosely, he let the conversation drop there, content he had made the 'slip' he had...If Shamino was actually here, then he was likely keeping track on anyone that brought his name up or made reference to him. If nothing else, he'd hopefully find out something...The glass being set down in front of him, he raised it to his lips with a slow sip, his eyes skimming around the room for cameras.
'You've got some gig going on here, Shamino...Who'd have thought I'd bump into YOU again...?'
|
|
|
|
Post by Shamino Warhen Ph.D on Apr 4, 2007 7:00:17 GMT 1
"And that's when I hit him."
Shamino's extendable slipped out of its wrist holder and extended in his hand. It was brand new, freshly polished 100% chrome. He smashed it against the table, leaving a rough indent and no mark on his chrome... Nothing can scuff chrome. Not even
"Blood?"
"Nah. It was a solid crack to the arm. I dislocated his shoulder and it turned out he had more than enough to pay me." Shamino fished for his phone with his other hand, removing it from his ivory pant pocket. "Ya."
A pause. He looked over to the cameras, frowning slightly. "Ya. So? Oh... Oh. Describe him to me."
Shamino's eyes seemed to squint towards a particular camera as his guest looked at each one in turn, as if trying to spot what the hell the young tycoon was looking for. "Someone causing trouble?" The man asked. He was a hairless, middle aged man comprised of New Money that Shamino particulary did not care for. He waddled around his ship blowing tens of thousands of his New Money without a care in the world. Shamino had brought him up for some idle chatter to make sure his trophy wife and her girlfriends would come back one day too. Perhaps he'd sleep with her, blackmail her, and then use her husband's business as a laundering area or secret business. So he had to get the man to trust him now... Trust was very important in a business of lies.
"Yeah. I know him. Let him come up, and let one of the top deck guards ask him what his best gift was. if he says a Cadillac, money, fame, respect, any of that. Send him away..." Shamino mumbled as the fat man in front of him leaned in to the women's bathroom camera. "...But if the guard hears the name Hanzo anywhere. Let him in."
The phone slid shut just as the man before him turned back to view him with a convicing smile. "Take the rest of the bottle, a gift from me to you- i'm trying to stop drinking as is. Enjoy the rest of your night, Mr.Jones." Shamino leaned over to give a firm grip of the man's sweaty hand over a handshake. He wiped his gloved hand on his pant as the man exited with a half-bottle of whisky. Shamino's glass was still chilled and full, and the man had walked out drinking the half that was missing. Idly he pressed the glass over to the former seat of Mr.Jones, so 'Taiku' would have something new to drink upon entering.
Shamino fished out a small medalion from his back pocket, rubbing his thumb over it. AA 2006-2007 it read on it. Warhen on the other side. He pocketed it promptly and opened his laptop, typing in his password with one hand. He had left the extendable on the table upon the man leaving, and decided to, with one hand, smash it against the table so it slid back to its original hidden length of 7 inches. He tucked it into his sleeve as the melody of the login spewed from the speakers.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kazuki Akimoto on Apr 4, 2007 7:38:20 GMT 1
With his wallet set lightly under the palm of his hand, in turn resting under his forearm as he drank, he gave a quiet sigh as he sipped away at the glass. Looking around the place, it was hard not to be impressed even by his own standards of taste...Shamino had outdone himself from Crepps by a long shot with this little number, and the fact it was seaborne simply added to the fact. Smirking briefly at the thought of him using it as some method of escape, he was disturbed by a hand resting on his shoulder. Barely turning his head, he spoke with a near contradiction of curtness yet manners...
"I won't lie, unless you're a very beautiful woman I'm going to ask you to take your hand off me...."
"You've been requested to go to the top deck, sir. We'll escort you there..."
His slow shift on the stool as his palm slighted his wallet back into his coat pocket brought him around to face the two men with a nod, smiling as he stood with his glass in one of his hands, a slow twist of his wrist swirling the rum in the glass steadily.
"You'll have to leave the glass here, sir..."
Sighing with a shake of his head, he tipped back the last quarter of the glass with a quick breath, turning and sliding the glass slowly onto the bartop before speaking to the bartender quickly..."In a few minutes, have another of those sent upstairs, if you would...."
Following the two through and out of the main gambling den of the ship, he was led to a small elevator. Waiting a moment or two for the doors to open he was ushered in and joined by the guards, the sway of the small steel box as it climbed to the top section of the ship barely notable.
Stepping out to the top deck, he barely got a few steps out before another of the guards stopped him from walking any further forward, throwing a very interesting question at him. Chuckling back a moments laughter, he nodded at the remark, pausing a moment as he considered it...
'Knowing Shamino he's not talking about anything of financial value, after all he did say GIFT...Heh, clever...'
"It's outdated, I guess, but the best gift I ever received? ....Hanzo."
Nodding over Taikus shoulder, the guards stepped aside and opened the way for him, passing them before making his way across the rest of the top deck...Along the way, passing the various small cubicles and such that lined the top floor of the ship, he continued on before finding the much larger, separate space near the opposite end.
Pausing a moment, his eyes skimming over the door, he gave the guard a glance as he turned, greeting him politely before pushing it open, allowing Taiku to pass inside, stepping into another hallway. Rolling his eyes at it a moment, smirking faintly, he continued down the small corridor before tapping his knuckles against the main lounge door, getting no answer he stepped in once more with a furrowed brow, slightly annoyed at the long-winded path...
''Couldn't have just put the elevator on THIS side of the ship, huh...?'
Two doors left in this lounge, and one of them was for a utility of sorts, probably a bathroom or something, and with a few steps across, he rapped his knuckles against the door once again, waiting for the voice that had to come from this room.
Stepping inside afterward, he laid eyes on the guy for the first time in very nearly a year, giving him a simple nod before speaking with a curt, but slightly joking tone...
"You'd think so little of me to have your lackeys play guessing games? I'm shocked and appalled, Shamino...."
He didn't sit down, nor did he say anything else as he let his eyes wander around the office, sizing the room up as well as admiring the decor momentarily as he slipped his palms into his pockets, standing a little away from the slightly younger man as he waited for his responses.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shamino Warhen Ph.D on Apr 6, 2007 6:47:10 GMT 1
"Lackeys... Hnn. I wonder how you treat YOUR Employee's? We're a family here. No matter how big or small."
Shamino's initial thoughts were grave. With Varron kids entering the city, he knew that Kazuki would tag along too. "Kazuki Shinato. At least, thats what I remember you by. Arn't all the kids getting kicknames now a days?" Shamino was typing one handed while the other rapped against his desk. Not pausing in his typing, he looked up at the man that entered his office. "I can't just have any kid coming up and asking to see me. If it worked like that, you'd have a triple digit number in your hand, waiting in an all-too-long line. But its you, the real deal from the past."
Shamino hit enter and a CTRL+S coupled with a quick enter key combination with his pinky, and promptly closed the laptop to a closed position, pushing it back slightly. "Drink's for you." Shamino said as he spun around, idly dropping a folder into a filing cabanet for no particular reason at all other than to busy himself. Noticing his guitar out of the corner of his eye, he picked it up and spun back to face Kazuki, holding the electric guitar against his left thigh, producing a pick from his desk drawer. Playing an improvised lick in A minor blues, he looked up at him without stopping his unplugged playing. "So like Maverik, you're here for a reason."
|
|
|
|
Post by Kazuki Akimoto on Apr 6, 2007 10:12:38 GMT 1
Nodding, he smiled very lightly as he approached the desk, setting himself against a chair to lean against, not quite sit against as he gave an initial smirk...
"That may be true, but my employees know enough about you, from my own memories, to show you directly to me. Whilst we may have parted initially on less than polite terms, I'm a firm believer that time changes a man, and an even firm believer that certain men remain the same, however much their lives change...It would seem, that despite your changing location things are still rather similar for you. You've got a booming business, money coming in nicely, not to mention a queue of people waiting to get a chance to speak with you...."
His eyes paid only a moments attention at the fingers tapping over the keyboard, idly noting so little that he simply looked up at the gesture to the glass...Smiling lightly, he knew that whilst Shamino knew enough about him, enough to be considered one of the people who knew enough of him for the slightly older male to recognise him as a wild card, if not a threat, there were some things that Shamino Warhen had missed out on over the last year....Shaking his head very lightly, he spoke with a calm and pleasant tone, pushing the glass away from him just a touch...
"Thank you, but I've given up drinking whiskey. Aside from it bringing out the worst in me, making me oddly violent, it also gave me terrible hangovers...I'm a rum-drinking man now, so if you get a notice that someone was asked to bring a drink up here for me, that'll be why. I placed an order before making my way up...I hope the whiskey won't go to waste, and that you'll join me for a drink....?"
The guitar that was produced was slightly offputting, enough for him to question to himself exactly what was the situation, but he thought better of it after a moment and smiled, sighing quietly...Shamino, even whilst in a relaxed mood as he such was, was quick to the point....
"Like Maverik, y'say...? Well, I'm here for a reason, but if I were to be honest and say it was nothing more than to speak with an old acquaintance, to find out how you've been, would you be surprised or call me a liar?"
Rolling his shoulders slowly as he took a quick breath, a result of the drinks he'd had before making his body crave oxygen that little bit more, he shrugged, smiling at the younger man..."I didn't come here because I wanted anything, or that I needed anything, I simply came by with the hopes to see an old, familiar face. Maverik aside, you're the first person I met when I arrived in Varron. Finding out you were here was like striking gold. You don't believe your luck until you know it's true, and even at that you have to see it with your own eyes to be certain...Plainly put? I came by to say hello and, I suppose, to find out how you've been. Though I'll admit to being curious, why did you vanish from Varron so quickly?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Shamino Warhen Ph.D on Apr 16, 2007 23:15:48 GMT 1
"Got too big, i'm not going to lie."
Shamino was busy placing the guitar back on the stand as he answered the question. "I own the place, even now. I got a guy in the police, I got people in city council. It just got boring. Not to mention all the highschool drama that Varron students have..." He paused. "And bring." He nodded promptly. "I figured it was time to move on, especially when I was accepted into a university here. But you Varron kids... You just can't leave me be, can you? And acquaintance my ass." Shamino spun in his chair once before stopping himself with his foot.
"So here you all are. Several hundred students brought across the country. I must admit that I had a hand to play in it, but it was more to keep you all away, not bring you in further. Most of those kids won't be able to realize the real world. The world beyond teachers with fists and students with bigger fists."
He stopped a moment, but before Taiku could begin a retort or a change of subject, Shamino opened a drawer swiftly, peering idly down at the contents. "But i'm old money, what would I know about a normal life? I mean, I've offered students their first kill..." He brought up a leather sheath, with eight and a half inches of collapsed chrome inside. He tucked it into his inner coat pocket, loosening it for easy grip. "So its quite obvious how life's treating me, Kazuki. so how is it treating you?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Kazuki Akimoto on Apr 16, 2007 23:48:23 GMT 1
"Makes sense. I stuck around too long, it would seem."
The words were quick to respond to Shamino, but his eyes were quicker to follow the partially hidden movements behind the desk with a moments attention. The slip into his coat pocket was easy to catch, and it was enough to speak volumes about the situation.
He shook his head, a simple little motion at the typical manner directed upon him at the clearly threatening action. He knew the Swede well enough to know what he was up to when he was fiddling in a drawer. It might have gone with little notice in other circumstances, with other people, more to the point, but Taiku was far more attentive than most. Speaking with a controlled even-ness in his tone, his arms folded loosely over his chest as he kept sublime attention on the man opposite him.
"Just damned peachy, wouldn't you know it? It's good times to start fresh in a new city, but I'm sure you already know the feeling that brings with it...I see you still trust people about as far as you could spit out that window, of course. You have the guards and all the cryptic shit, and even now, when I've made it clear I had nothing more than talking in mind with you, you're still quick to distrust me..."
Raising an eyebrow very slightly, a smirk emerging on his face, he continued.
"Are you going to offer me a seat, or shall I stand here like an addition to the furniture....?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Shamino Warhen Ph.D on May 20, 2007 18:46:43 GMT 1
From his desk his foot gave a small kick to the chair opposite of him, which sent it sliding out two feet, tilting back, and landing back on all fours. Shamino rested his chin on the palm of his hand, the other one gently gesturing towards the now usable chair. "Well then, there you are. I would have thought you more of a standing man anyways." Shamino looked off to the side a moment before peering at a probably sitting Kazuki. "Cryptics and guards and 'shit' is the way for me to live, nowadays. I figure I got another life expectancy of ten years if all this keeps up. So I may as well try and survive every day some how. No one's given me a better plan..."
|
|
