6/23/2003
02:20
PM
Logfile
from Chase.
The
East River Docks
The
farther east you go in this part of New York City, the darker it seems to get.
Shadows cast by the Brooklyn Bridge and the raised parkway, the F.D.R. Drive,
seem to keep this area in constant shade and perpetual semi-darkness. The air
is somewhat cooler here as well, nearer to the waterfront. Apart from the South
Street Seaport, which is located slightly north of this location, the area is
mostly deserted by the tourist trade. Only hardened New Yorkers come here - the
ones that can fend for themselves.
Dirt
and grime are the keywords as they blanket every dark corner. The smell of fish
permeates the air as a number of old werehouses, each probably garnering at
least ten different building code violations, line the shores of the river.
With so many places to hide and lurk, the dredges of New York consider this a
haven.
Sayuri
is here.
Obvious
exits:
Bowery
St. (WE) The Mended Drum Abandoned Warehouse
Chase
tries not to flicker a none-to-obvious glance around before beckoning to Sayuri
with a finger. He reaches over to lift up a bit of wire fencing away from the
ground to help her crawl through. They are down some alley or another that
eventually leads to yet more abandoned and dilapidated buildings. Yes, he holds
that ever-present smug grin, "Just a little bit further. Got to be sure
we're away from the street some."
Sayuri
just cocks an eyebrow as she scrambles under the fence and across the dirt on
the alley's floor. "Anou, remind
me why we're doing this again, Tomi-chan?" She's not a prissy girl, but who knows what mixture of nastiness
she's crawling through right now. It's
enough to make her skin crawl. See,
she's trusting him again. Sorta.
Chase
crawls after and then releases the chain link fence with the jingle if metal-on
metal. He dusts off his hands on his thighs and leads her around the corner and
through an area where the weeds are taking over through the cracks of the
cement, abandoned sections of cars abound, and who knows what other junk.
"Because I don't want anyone surprising us, or getting in the way."
How is that for cryptic. He leads her towards the shell of what could have been
a factory or warehouse or who knows, made of brick and cinder block, with plenty
of broken windows and some that aren't broken yet. He slips through a door that
rests askance with a broken hinge, calling for her to follow. "Just inside
here."
"Is
this some sort of kinky fetish of yours, Tomi-chan," Sayuri teases as she
makes her way down the alley, trying to brush the muck off of her knees and
palms of her hands. The littered junk
is given a curious perusal before she follows him towards the emptied out
warehouse. "Because sometimes
girls like at least an idea of what they're getting into." But although she seems reticent, senses
primed for any indication that they're being followed, she steps gracefully
through the broken door, peering around the gloomy inside as she waits for her
eyes to adjust.
Chase
rolls his eyes at the mention of a fetish, quirking her an odd look, "Not
exactly. But I'm told that some guys do get off on this sort of thing."
Making sure she is following him, he crosses through a hallway of sort and then
through what was once a set of double doors and into a huge open area, lit up
because half of the ceiling is missing and through the grimy windows. Whatever
is scattered here and there, but mostly it is wide open. He quiets for a
moment, listening. "Hello?!" he abruptly yells at the top of his
lungs, voice not really echoing but it does manage to cause a scattering of
birds to take wing through the ceiling. "Nice... Okay, ready?" And so
he'll turn to look at her, smiling.
"Some
guys get..." Sayuri'd balk with
any other guy leading her towards who knows where. Well, okay, obviously where is an abandoned warehouse. For what is really the question. But since it is Chase who's guiding her
further into the warehouse, she follows with a light step, anticipation and
curiousity dancing in her eyes. As she
yells out into the empty building, she crosses her arms and waits with him for
a response. As he gets none, she quirks
up an eyebrow in askance to the seishi.
"I'm always ready, Tomi-chan.
Demo, what am I ready for?"
Chase
drags in a deep breath, glances to the ceiling and then reaches around to his
back to pull out the handgun. Not all that flashy looking or exotic, just a
handgun with a clip. Well, it is empty right now, no clip is in it, but there
promises to be a couple in the pockets of his pants. He twirls it about by the
index finger of his hand, watching her. "Ever fired a gun before?"
Sayuri's
eyes alight with mischief as the gun makes its appearance.
"Didn't
your oniisan take your gun the other night, Tomi-chan," she asks as she
saunters over towards the seishi, admiring the guns sleek lines. It's not pretty, but it's functional. Looking up into the seishi's startling green
eyes, she just beams and shakes her head.
"Iie, my weapon of choice is my dagger. Demo, I'm always willing to learn new things. New, interesting things," she adds,
looking over towards the gun again as he twirls it on his index finger.
Chase
smirks. "Have you ever tried carrying around a bow and quiver in the city?
Doesn't work all that well. So, I improvise, and Brice knows well that Murphy's
rule tends to apply to most circumstances, so it's better to be prepared."
An out-dated seishi needs to upgrade every now and again, and Genbu's strategy
rearing it's ugly head once more. He does smile back across to her though.
"You want to try it? Just as long as you promise that no errant bullets go
my way. Some of us don't bounce back as easily from a hit as others do."
Sayuri
laughs, now, and tsks at the Genbu.
"Lover, it's my policy never to carry a weapon around in the
city. They set off all sorts of nasty
detectors and cause all sorts of attention that I'd rather avoid." And really, there's no need for her to carry
around evidence of her afterschool activities.
She's discrete that way.
"And exactly what are you prepared for, hrm? Another mugging of a drug dealer?" At his question, she just quirks up her
lips, eyes dancing. "What do you
think, lover?" And then she makes
the crossing her heart motion. "I
promise not to shoot at you unless you deserve it."
Chase
chuckles darkly, "Again, some of us aren't quite a gifted as others."
He flashes her a wink before delving a hand into a pocket to pull out a clip.
Removing the safety from the gun, he points it towards the floor. "In my
line of work, it always helps to be prepared for anything that might happen,
because anything will." You know, like mean-tempred oni or tentacle
monsters, and the occasional telemarketer. Before handing the gun to her
though, he asks, "Have you ever held a gun before, Sayuri? Besides in the
arcade?"
"In
your line of work... what is it that you do again, Tomi-chan?" Sayuri's never really found out. As for the gun question, she glances up at
Chase and lies easily. "Hai, of
course I have. You spend enough time on
the streets, you not only see guns, but get to hold them, ne?" Forget that she usually turns her nose up at
those that use guns, all the power very little art in that. Just point and shoot. But she's starting to get curious about
them, after all, the Genbu uses one. So
perhaps there is *some* talent involved in using one. She makes a face, thinking back to the little blow-up she got the
last time she commented about guns versus melee weapons. "I've held all sorts of them, just
never fired one."
6/25/2003
12:20 PM
Logfile
from Chase.
Chase
chuckles once again, "Whatever they pay me to do. You could say that I'm
a... professional hunter." He isn't being mysterious, just trying to find
the best way to describe it. A shrug of his shoulders, he does smirk at her though.
"Disbeliever." He turns around and points, aiming at the cinder block
wall and proceeds to fire off a volley of shots that aren't quite as loud as
they could be. And, when he is done, but what should be adorning the wall? A
smiley face. Now he'll hand it over to her. "Well, now I'll give you a
chance to do that."
"A
professional hunter, hrm?" Sayuri
draws her own conclusions about the profession. No one's ever accused her of being thick. "Interesting." Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she accepts
the gun, aiming carefully. She doesn't
fire off a quick volley at the wall, like Chase does, but she purposefully aims
before she shoots, creating a passable copy of the Genbu's smiley face. "Like that," she quips blandly,
handing the gun back. She doesn't just
use her daggers as melee weapons, but also throws them, depending on her
need. Her aim is true, just the
kickback of the gun has her targetted results a little off. She's never had to compensate for that
before.
"Its
generally tax-free too... that is when I get work. You realize that was what I
was doing when you tried to kosh me that first time. Cost me a thousand for
that distraction," Chase murmurs, glancing askance at her with a hitch to
his lips. His smile grows though at her responds. Okay, fine then. He rolls his
eyes, peering back at her. A sigh, a moment of concentration, and then erupting
from the floor about twenty five yards from them are thick spikes of ice in a
long and jagged line. "Maybe shattering things will interest you more then
the walls."
"Was
it?" Sayuri considers for a moment
and then grins broadly, "Awww... poor baby. So you lost a thousand dollars, Tomi-chan. Look what you get in return." And she's all but beaming up at the seishi,
winking and giving the victory sign.
Rather a kawaii move for her.
Rather out of character, in fact.
"Shattering things? Why
Tomi-chan, you really know how to show a girl a good time." Her eyes dance, but she holds back,
gesturing for Chase to go first.
Chase
sighs pitifully. "Yes, imagine all of the... food that I could have
actually stocked the fridge with. Ah well, I suppose that I'll have to make
do." At that last, he flashes her a wink to mirror her's, only to break
out into a bright grin at the sign. "Still more fun to shoot at moving
things." Lift, aim, shoot, and then one of the spikes erupts with a
shatter, sending ice shards into the air and to rain down upon the concrete
floor. Oooooh, sparkles.
"Who
are you kidding, Tomi-chan. You
would've spent the money on games and anime," Sayuri counters with a
snort. "You forget, I ran into you
at Penguin Village, I know your spending habits." And then she's frowning. "Make do?" Can't you just hear the growl in her voice
as she repeats that. She sniffs,
lifting up her nose and rolling her eyes.
"Demo, if you'd prefer the money, I can easily leave, little
boy." But then she's putting her
huffiness on hold as she widens her grin.
"Then let's shoot at moving things, ne?" Even if the ice is rather pretty as it shatters.
Chase
doesn't exactly look all that guilty, but he does offer her a broad grin.
"Yeah... well, maybe." Okay, definitely. And then his grin broadens
at her growling reaction, for the teasing barb has hit its mark. "No point
in that now, is there. And I think I made out just fine." He gives her a
bit of a nudge, chuckling. "Do you see anything moving around here? You
are the only thing moving, and I'm not going to shoot at you. Restorative
powers or not."
"You'd
better think that you made out just fine, Tomi-chan, or I'd have to hurt
you." Sayuri gives the seishi a
narrowed, sidelong gaze, looking a little bit more appeased. "Iie, I didn't mean you or me,"
she shakes her head. "Demo, what
about... what is it that they show on television all the time. Clay pigeons. Why don't we shoot at those?" She doesn't reach for the gun, though, just conjures up a dagger,
not the same one that she uses for hand-to-hand combat, this one's a bit
smaller, the balance more delicate.
Pinching at the tip of the blade, she
aims and releases the blade in one delicate motion. It crashes into another iced peak, lodging
into it, before it disappears with a puff of smoke.
"Promises.
Promises," Chase chides, looking all the more smug though. But in the next
breath that look is gone and he is giving her a genuinely warm smile.
"Sure, we could shoot at those. Have someone launch those off the top of a
building or by the river -otherwise we'd have to go out of the city for
that." Thus the reason they are
here to save from people coming in on them. "Maybe next time, okay? That'd
take a bit of planning."
Sayuri
doesn't like to be considered all bark and no bite, thus she'll attempt to
sneak up on him and leg-swipe him, knocking him down. She's violent that way.
"So what you're saying is that I've got you, an empty warehouse,
some icy spikes and a gun for entertainment, hrm?" She taps her finger against her chin,
looking thoughtful. "I suppose I
could work with that." And then
her eyes are dancing as she asks, "Anou... what else can you do with this
little ice ability of yours, Tomi-chan?"
"You
make that sound almost paltry," Chase counters, flashing her a broad
smile, and nearly paying for it as he is attacked. You know, once upon a time,
he'd never have fallen for anything like that. Fallen being the operative word
here. This is what soft city living does to a guy -that and assuming that Say
is going to play nice. "Dammit." *thump* From is place on his pride
upon the floor, he'll peer back up at her. "What do you mean?"
And now
Sayuri'll just stand over Chase and gloat.
"You're getting soft, Tomi-chan," she teases, smirk well in
place. "I'm disappointed." She'll tsk now, just shaking her head sadly,
but her eyes are glimmering beneath her lashes. And then she'll attempt to pounce on the seishi, pinning him to
the dirty floor. "What I
mean," she drawls slowly, "Is that I've seen you create ice slicks,
knives, and now spikes. What else can
you do, hrm? You know all my nasty
little secrets, seems fair that you tell me yours ne?"
Chase
dusts his hands off on his thighs as he sits there, squinting up at Sayuri for
the moment. "Well, this floor is hard enough to make up for it."
Ouch. Of course, as she pounces him though, he is more than happy to allow it
to happen, flopping back and stopping just shy of having the back of his head
bounce off of the concrete. "Just takes imagination is all. If you can
think of it, I can probably do something with it."
Sayuri
sits on top of Chase and ponders, head cocked to the side. "So, you could create a small Tokyo
tower out of ice, ne? Or The Grand
Canyon? Demo, if you have this ability,
why don't you use it to make money, Tomi-chan.
Not that I'm saying you're a bad hunter," she adds just a little
too quickly. "Iie, it's just...
well ice sculpting seems to be an easier way to earn that thousand dollars that
you missed out on with me." See,
she's being helpful. "I know that
a lot of people like having ice sculptures at their banquets, ne? And really, it'd be so easy for you. You could make a name for yourself. Always wondered what it would be like to
sleep with an artiste, Tomi-chan," she adds with a teasing kiss.
Chase
wrinkles his nose. Oh, now he wrinkles his nose. "Now that requires more
imagination than even I have." He tends to pay quite a bit of attention to
detail, but not that much detail. "Because it is boring? I like hunting
more. Not making swans out of ice or other garbage like that. Nothing beats a
rousing game of stalk the guy that just tried to cheat out a loan shark. That
and just conjuring ice all over the place is like a beacon to all of the others
that can chi sense in the city." Although he doubts anyone has as finely
tuned sense as he does. Ah well. Hand closes briefly, he licks his lips in
concentration, and then opens his palm to produce the crystaline image of a
lotus bloom in ice. "How about that?"
"Nothing,
Tomi-chan," Sayuri asks with a slightly raised brow. "I don't know, I rather enjoyed our car
stealing escapade." But she's teasing
as she sits back a bit. "Hai, I
suppose it's not as dangerous, ne? And
then you'd probably be labeled a pouf, too.
Most artists are, you know."
Take Malachai and Sebastian the other day. Definite poufs.
"Don't suppose you'd let me come along on one of your hunting
jaunts, will you?" And now she'll
look all big-eyed and pleading, even going so far as to bat her lashes. Looking down at the lotus flower, she smirks
slightly. "Doesn't seem like you
mind using your powers all that much, Tomi-chan. Demo," and she takes the bloom carefully, shivering slightly
as the cold water melts down her forearms.
"It's beautiful."
Chase
reaches his hands over to rest on her hips, peering up at her. "Well, that
wasn't work. That was fun." And as brazen an attempt to impress her as
they come. Worked though. "I'm an artist in my own right, but not like
that." Thank you very much. Oh great, not the Look. Look away! Look away
now before it is too late! "Maybe...depends on what it is." She'd probably
distract the hell out of him, which could be both a good and bad thing.
"That was just a little bit... that other stuff took more effort. And...
it was for you, so it doesn't matter."
"Funny,
hunting doesn't seem to be too much like work to me, Tomi-chan. Seems like it could be awfully fun,
too." Gotta love those
life-threatening situations. "An
artist in your own right? Anou... what
other secrets have you been hiding from me?" Still, Chase knows just the things to say to her to make Sayuri
melt. And thus she's easily diverted
from hunting with Chase - but don't think she's forgotten! - to getting all
mushy on him. Which means that he's
probably getting wet from the melting ice flower as well. She doesn't get all gushy, but there's a
pleased flush that alights on her delicate features and she leans down to kiss
the seishi again. "Wo ai ni,
Tomi-chan," she whispers against his lips, almost too soft to really hear.
"You'd
be surprised by how much work it takes. Although I'm not sure you have the
patience for it," Chase admits to her, rubbing his hand over her back. His
smile softens slightly though, "No secrets that would need to concern
you." As she kisses him though, his arms briefly tighten around her, only
to tense a little. No, clearly he didn't hear what he thought he did, and a bit
of a puzzled frown shows before he is quickly erasing it.
"I'm
patient," Sayuri grumps, transferring the ice flower into one hand so she
can thump Chase on the chest. "In
fact, I'm incredibly patient when I need to be." She melts into him with the kiss, but because she's so attuned to
him, she notices when he tenses, drawing back to glance down at him
worriedly. Because she's just realized
what's slipped out. At his puzzled
frown, she's blanching and quickly trying to disentangle herself from him,
trying to rise up and away from him.
"Gomen, Tomi-chan, I... I need to go."
"No,
wait," Chase is quickly saying, trying to reach for her to make sure she
remains. "Say, please?" He looks briefly uncomfortable, definitely troubled,
and annoyed. Although that would most definitely be mostly at himself.
"Don't leave yet. Please? I just..." Apparently she did say what he
thought she said. "Sorry, I wasn't sure."
"Iie,"
Sayuri shakes her head, though his hand makes contact with her wrist, keeping
her from fleeing as she'd like to do.
"There's nothing to say, Tomi-chan. Gomen nasai, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." She twists her wrist out of his grasp and
rises, her head hanging low so that the dark fringe of her bangs hides her
eyes. "Iie, there's nothing that
you need to say, to apologize for. I...
I know how you feel."
Chase
is working to scramble to his feet, not wasting any time to dust off his hands
or anything. "Sayuri, please..." he requests, slipping back up to
her. "How can you possibly know how I feel when I have no idea?" He
tries to move around to stand before her, reaching in an attempt to tip her
chin back up. "There are things you don't know... that I don't know.
Please?"
"I
know how you don't feel," Sayuri temporizes then, chin tipping up at his
hand's encouragement. There's hurt
that's swimming in her eyes as well as shock.
She never expected to say those words to him. To anyone. And
vulnerability, something that he's rarely seen in her display. Something that she doesn't like to admit to
at all. "I thought you said that
you had no more secrets that concerned me, Tomi-chan? I... what do you want me to do," she asks, shaking her head
out of his grasp furiously. "I
can't change how I feel. I can't take
the words back. And I can't make you
feel what you don't. Iie, I need to
go." She needs to cling to her
last tattered shreds of pride. She
doesn't want to see him feeling sorry for her.
"No,
I..." Chase winces, looking over her with a studying gaze. "Oh, gods.
Wait, please." That was about the last thing he ever expected to hear come
out of her mouth. Ever. First she wanted someone to care for her, and now this.
Oh boy. "I don't want you to do anything other then just stay here for a
moment and listen to me. Please, just give me a moment here, okay?"
Sayuri
stills in her retreat, head still hanging low.
She represses the urge to shake her head, to continually push him
away. To cry because her heart seems to
be twisting up painfully. "Hai,
Tomi-chan. I'll stay and listen. Because you're asking me to." But she doesn't turn around to look at him,
doesn't leave herself open for any more hurt.
Chase
hesitantly drags his fingers back through his hair, briefly pulling it away from
his eyes only to have it fall over once more. "I reacted bad to that. It
was my fault. I just didn't expect you to say that to me. It shocked me, I
suppose. You aren't exactly the most forthcoming with what is going on in your
head, you know..." He twists his hands together a little nervously.
"And I don't think you expected to say that either, right? It just
happened, I'm guessing." Another hesitant glance about. "Say, I don't
want to hurt you. I really don't. That's the last thing I've ever wanted to do.
And I don't like to see you like this, because I'm being an ass."
"Iie,
you reacted to it honestly," Sayuri notes sadly, her voice trembling with
emotion. "That's why I have to go,
because I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable, or like you owe me
anything, Tomi-chan. We both agreed
that there would be no strings and I had hoped..." She shakes her head again. "Iie, it doesn't matter. I couldn't keep things the way they
were." She laughs softly, a little
broken sound. "Hai, it... it was as
much as a surprise to me as it was to you.
Demo, you're not to blame.
Onegai, believe me, I don't blame you.
I blame myself."
Chase
features tense at her words, remembering all to well him thinking those exact
same things when a certain Byakko figured into the picture. A certain Byakko
that he is still having problems resolving over, which is making this all that
much more difficult. And seeing Sayuri like this is even worse. He sighs
softly, "I didn't think any girl would ever say something like that to me,
but coming from you, Say..." He tries to draw a couple of steps closer to
her, "Hoping what?"
"I
didn't think I'd be saying those words ever, Tomi-chan," Sayuri notes
softly. "Demo I'm glad I said them
to you." She turns towards him,
her heartbreak evident in her gaze.
"If I had to say them to someone, I'm glad it was you." At his question, she shakes her head. "Iie, it's not important. I-"
She pauses, and then changes her mind, confessing. "I'd hope that it would have been just
what we said it would be, just another adrenaline rush, ne? Just another adventure. Demo, you're addictive, and before I knew it
I was..." She shakes her head, not
wanting to say those words again. They
make her far too vulnerable. "I'm
sorry, I said that I'd stay and listen, but this is far too painful for
me. Please let me go," she almost
begs, looking up at the seishi with unshed tears shining in her eyes.
Chase
has absolutely, positively, no idea what to do now. He is simply at a loss of
how to react or act or anything. And then she had to go and look at him with
those eyes. Ugh. Just... ugh. He crumbles right then and there. Weakling.
"I don't want to let you go though." He continues, "You're the
first girl who has ever even allowed me to care about her like I do for you,
Say.... and to say that you... dammit, that just goes straight to the heart,
you know?" He looks troubled for a moment, indecisive, but keeps going,
"Say, you've got to know that I love you too." He isn't going to quite
say 'in love', at least not yet.
"Honto
ne, Tomi-chan?" Sayuri blinks up
at Chase for a moment, almost as if she can't believe his words. And then she's running to him, encircling
his waist with her arms, and placing her cheek against his chest, eyes closing
at the contact. "You love me,
too?" Warmth flows through her
whole body and she finally understands what this elusive thing called love is. "Demo, I... I don't understand,
Tomi-chan. If you love me too, then
why-" She leans back to look up at
him, curiosity evident in her happy gaze, "Why did you react the way that
you did?" Even if she's never been
in love, she's rather certain that's not the normal reaction to confessions of
that sort.
Chase
looks almost tentative for a moment there, even a little embarrassed. Curiously
he watches her, still unsure of what to say or do. As she grabs onto him, he
curls his arms around her, hugging her tight and close. Eyes squeeze shut, a
touch of guilt there before he murmurs, "Yeah. Yeah, I suppose that I do."
He opens his eyes to look down at her, his smile faint, "I already told
you, I was being an ass. I don't know why I did. Maybe I was a little stunned.
You can't fault me that, can you?"
Sayuri
had caught the tentative look, puzzling over it slightly, only then he's
hugging her back and she can't seem to dwell on that anymore. She shakes her head against him, "Iie,
you're never an ass, Tomi-chan. Demo,
we were both stunned, ne? So perhaps we
both reacted poorly." She knows
that she didn't react well herself. She
doesn't like knowing that she's got that sort of vulnerability within her. It's rather disconcerting, even.
Chase
tightens his arms about Sayuri, hugging her as close to him as ever. "I'll
try to do better," he murmurs. "A lot better." And oh, how he
means that. He looks down at her for a moment, fingers playing with the ends of
her hair as he simply watches her and murmurs, "I do love you." He
does, although not quite the way she was hoping, more than likely. He leans
down to take her lips with a kiss before murmuring, "We probably should
get out of here."