2/28/2003
04:38
PM
Logfile
from Ichijin.
Royal
Elizabeth-Penthouse 1
It is a
penthouse, a swanky penthouse at that. Plenty of windows, wood flooring,
elegant lines and a modern look. You've got your sunken living area, long and
dark dining table close to the windows that overlook a balcony decorated with
topiary and such. Off to some side is the way towards the bedroom, double-doors
left open just enough to get a hint of a large bed and more expensive
furniture. All in all, it looks like a place that could use a far better
description.
Obvious
exits:
Exit
Sebastian
is settled at the dining room table, once more with an array of papers about
him, a lap top before him, and busily crunching away at numbers with dollar
signs and other various monetary symbols.
Lexie
slips out of her shoes and coat, nodding to Sebastian as she passes and opens
the balcony door. "Here, Benito!"
She kneels to pull out a raw surloin, opening the package with her
nails. After she has it open, she
tosses the steak out to her rottweiler. "Here, baby!"
Sebastian
isn't exactly the dumbest of oni, so he sits and types away, waiting for the
dog to be tended to. The man hesitates at some record or another, consults
another paper, and then goes right back to typing away, muttering, "The
Hong Kong office clearly needs a new set of accountants."
*muttercursemutter* Type-type-type. "Good day, Lexie."
Lexie
loves on her dog some, before closing the door, and tossing out the remains of
the package. "Hey, Sebastian."
She answers, rummaging around in the fridge for a beer. "Hard at work, huh? I'm going nuts
without a job anymore. Just doesn't feel right." She whacks off the cap to the bottle on the edge of the counter,
deftly tossing it in the trashcan.
"You
could always try to gain employment at Ms. Breslin's establishment. I'm sure
they would be more than happy to have you join," Sebastian suggests, an
almost sunshine-like quality to his voice. "Parading around in one of
those delicious outfits. Might just be the perfect thing for you." He
finishes the number crunching, pushing back in his seat, and then moves to
stand.
Lexie
arches an eyebrow, plunking down on the couch. "Oh, ha ha. Cute.
No, I don't think so. The seishi
mainly despise me and I'm okay with that." She leans back, taking a swig.
"Not that I'd mind the chance to hang around with Kai, but on the
other hand, it'd kinda suck to always be looking at what I know I can't
have. That's life. But I'm flattered, Sebastian, truly. I'd started to think you didn't know I was a
woman, since you've never called me 'Lady Alex'."
Sebastian
moves over to stand behind the couch, directly behind the miko. "No? I'm
disappointed in you, Lexie. Just letting them get the better of you so easily.
After all, I was so sure you enjoyed talking with the seishi. I mean, you do
have quite a few run-ins with them, why not make the most of it. Instead of
brandishing your guns, you might want to try other assets." He blinks for
a moment, frowns, and then looks down at her, "Well, I /suppose/ you could
call those assets."
Lexie
arches an eyebrow, looking up at Sebastian with a bland expression. "Sebastian, while I will admit we're in
a religious war, there's a difference from tricking someone into helping out
your side in the short term, and using them in the long term. I don't believe
in that. I'm pretty sure this is about
Kourin, since you usually don't PMS in my direction. So sorry to rain on your parade, but I want Hiroshi's dream
discredited. If it's true that the yang will change their objective to bind the
gods, it means they have more than snowball's chance in hell of stopping us
from summoning the Yin outright. A war
of attrition is purely preferable to something that we /can't/ effectively
combat, as we have next to no informationon it." She takes another swig of
her beer. "Besides, she's Trevor's
girlfriend. I'm sure that doesn't mean much to you, but did you ever stop and
think about how Reese would feel about it?
I'm not blind. She's got it for you bad. I pity her that way."
Sebastian
listens quietly, as always. He continues to peer down at Lexie as he adds,
"Granted." Something of a pregnant pause, and then the man continues,
"What you believe and don't believe in is not the point, my dear." A
sigh, "There are reasons that I am doing this, some of which I have
already told you, and still you felt the need to approach the young singer
about this. Sometimes, I truly do question whether or not you actually have
your mind in the... proverbial game." His gaze lifts up, "I'm sure
that Reese understands the difference between what I do for /us/ and what I do
for her. There is a large difference." Cool, his voice is.
Lexie
shakes her head. "He brought it up, Sebastian. I just told him I thought
you wouldn't do well by Kourin, which I firmly believe. Anyways, so he causes more of a ruckus in
the Suzaku. Isn't that what you wanted? Or did your objectives
change?" She stands, turning to
face him, and setting the beer aside.
"They want to bind our gods to their gods, Sebastian. I think I
have my mind on the proverbial game more than you think."
It's
those days that begin and end both literally and figuratively bloodless that
are the biggest pain for Reese; lack of excitement at a job that should, under
all circumstances, be enormously fun is both a disappointment and a chore.
Everyone has their off days - coming home to spatting family is just swell. She
can feel Lexie and Seb's power both from a long ways away, and having them both
upset is just something that she can't help but notice, so when she cracks open
the door, she says no chirpy hello. Instead, she hears Lexie's comment in full,
blinking a little. "Um." Kourin? Do well? Take two: "Um, what's
going on?"
Sebastian
watches as she rises, slowly shaking his head from side to side. "My
relationship with Kourin is a means to an end. While, undoubtedly, the girl is
a fascinating prospect, she knows full well what she is getting into when she
associates with me. I have never lied to her, nor have I filled her head
altruistic promises." He frowns across to Lexie, is more than ready to say
a few more things, only that Reese is there now. "Just a bit of a tiff.
I'm... disagreeing with Lexie's rather large mouth right now."
Lexie
waves a hand in the air, dismissively. "Allright, you want to use the Yin
as an excuse to mess around with the seishi?
That's fine. But don't come fussing at me if I do the same thing. But really, Sebastian.. Reese is right here.
Why don't you tell her? She doesn't
look like you ran it by her first.
Funny, that. "
Reese
blinks at both Yin, oddly, mouthing the words 'fascinating prospect' with a
dubious eye. Swinging her bag off of her shoulders, the girl murmurs,
"Well, Lexie does have a big mouth sometimes, and it's not necessarily all
agreeable stuff that comes out of it, but she usually means the best by it. And
I'm sure," she adds towards the miko, gaining a little momentum,
"that any of Sebastian's machinations are not solely so he can mess
around." Yes, let's take the non-anger-invoking meaning to the phrase.
"Uh. Ran what by me? I get the sinking feeling that I'm missing
something." Mmm-hmm.
Sebastian
is genuinely confused now. He frowns over at Lexie, and then on to Reese.
"Lexie, I do not understand where you are going with this. Why do you seem
to think that there is..." He frowns deeper before continuing, "Mess
around? That is the least of my intentions. My relationship with Kourin is
purely, /purely/ for us." There you go, women bringing in emotions and things.
"If Reese so wished to drag into bed every last one of the Genbu,
including the girl, or even all at the same time... /all/ as a means to our
end, then I would wish her well of it. There is a /difference/."
Lexie
rolls her eyes. "You believe the
end justifies the means. I believe the means justify the end." She wanders over to slip on her jacket,
hunting around for Benito's leash. "We're not going to agree on this. I
don't feel sorry for warning the guy, and couldn't change anything I said even
if I did. " She whistles for
Benito, clipping on the leash.
"Have fun, guys. I'm going for a walk. Back when I feel like
it."
"Hold
on," Reese says, beginning to frown just a little bit. "Wait a second
here. There's just something really odd about this situation. Namely..."
The girl crosses her arms over her chest and just glares at the rest of the
room, venting just a little. "Am I the only onisenshi who isn't thrusting
her hands into some seishi's pants? Dear Homasubi, people, do you have that
little attention span that you can't keep the proverbial dick in your pants? At
least Lexie's kinda dumped her man, but you keep meeting up with that whore
Kourin, and Rathan wants to get with Byakko no miko. The miko, for god's
sake!" Distinctly upset, she growls. "Does /anyone/ here see
something wrong with this?"
Sebastian
glances after Lexie, but returns right on back to Reese, "Excuse me?"
It clearly must be that whole joining of the Yin and Yang thing, but we won't
/even/ go there. "If you truly must no, I've never had sex with that
woman. Granted, she nearly drug me home last evening, but that is besides the
point." He frowns for a moment, "I still do need to talk to that boy
about that."
Lexie
mutters under her breath, storming out while the oni are distracted. She just doesn't have anything else to say
about it.
Lexie
walks out of the apartment.
"Comforting,"
Reese says glibly, cracking her jaw with a sigh. "Whatever. Hey, it's just
a matter of time, right? All for the job? You're so devoted to your job that
some seishi can get her hand on it and still not blow it." Ooh, she's in a
punny pissy mood. "Quite honestly, I'm disappointed. I haven't bonded with
Rathan at all, and I can't even touch you; if I need a rescue and you're too
busy getting yer freak on for the sake of the job, I'm going to be terribly
disappointed in you. Now Lexie's pissed, and my list of allies is growing real
thin, Sebastian." And going to Malachai for TLC would just be weird.
Sebastian
frowns across to Reese, completely dismissing Lexie's leaving. "I still do
not understand why this is important, Reese. You know full well that you come
before them. Before that Suzaku. We are oni from the same god, and you /know/
that I would do anything and everything for you, and Rathan, and even that miko
of ours." He shakes his head from side to side, "Why do you think I'm
abandoning you, Reese?"
"The
flirting. The phone calls. The conversation just now." Reese holds out her
arms to the rest of the room, as if invoking some kind of need for help.
"The fact that you would so willingly jump into her bed for no other
alleged reason other than 'for us'. Who exactly is 'us', Sebastian? Your
excuses and your wang?" A smirk. "One in the same?" She pauses,
considering something for a moment. "Perhaps there is some humanity in you
still. It just found its focus in the soul, got bored, and went lower."
"For
Homasubi, who else?" Seb is still awfully confused over the fact that they
are even having this conversation. Tired with trying to defend himself for something
that he still has no clue is even to be questioned, the man shakes his head
from side to side. "I do not understand why this is so important to the
both of you. My relationship with Kourin and what I'm trying to accomplish with
her is no longer to be discussed seeing as it seems to have managed to make you
both cross with me, and for reasons that I cannot begin to fathom. This is all
done for my god, and for you to even question that it is anything but... that I
do /not/ understand." He turns away from her and moves back towards the
dining room table.
Reese
sniffs, crossing her arms back over her chest. "It's not that I doubt your
devotion to Homasubi," she says, calming a little. "It's that I doubt
your attention span. Ever notice how the letter Y and the chromosome it
pertains to are missing a leg? Guys are crippled like that." And if that's
not motivation to turn lesbian, what is? Although the man said the conversation
was to be dropped, Reese, very stubbornly, continues it. "I don't want her
wiles to distract you from what we have to do, or any emergencies that might
come up. I don't want you to be put into a weak position." She pauses, and
finally adds, "And dammit, I'm jealous. Happy now?" Thppbt.
Sebastian
moves to arrange the papers upon it into a more orderly pile, closes the
laptop. "Her /wiles/ have nothing to do with it, Reese. I have absolutely
no emotional attachment to the woman as you seem to think that I do." He
is very serious on that point, possibly a little too much so? He sits, moves
back away from the table to approach her, "Jealousy is a poor emotion, and
you need not feel such a way, Reese. There is no point in it." The
slightest of frowns appears, "You are... different."
Reese
winces, gripping her arms at the elbow and looking away from Sebastian. "A
light reminder, if I may: poor emotions or no, some of us still have them. You
should see Lexie when she talks about her dad, or Rathan, when he's desperate
for me not to blow his cover. I should start remembering that getting a rise
out of you is pointless. Sorry," she mutters, sighing. The man is glared
at, her tone demanding. "How am I different, hmm?"
Sebastian
is not liking this discussion at all. Emotions. Why does it always have to lead
right on back to there when he starts talking to these women? "Reese, you
know damn well that getting this... rise out of me that you seem to want to
provoke will lead to nothing good. There is a /point/ why I am like this."
He frowns abruptly, looking awfully uncomfortable. "You are different
because you are like me. We share the same god. You've... managed to stop me
before. I just wish you would please stop with this."
Women
feed off of emotions. That's why they have longer life spans. "Nothing
good. You'll go crucial, and I'll find myself at ground zero again." Reese
sighs, and lets her arms drop, slouching miserably. "I know there's a
point. I know you're completely devoted to your duties, and I know there is no
end that you wouldn't pursue to get that goal. I wish I could understand it,
and be so devoted." The young woman winces, shaking her head from side to
side. "Stop pushing this limit? I wish I could. But I'm bound to take it
apart, and see why you work this way. At least, try my hardest."
Sebastian
blinks at her for a long moment. "It is to Homasubi that I owe my life,
and in that I give him my devotion." Pious to the very end. He continues
to search her before moving forward, reaching out as if to try to take her
shoulders. "While I appreciate the... sentiment, Reese, you do not need to
try to do anything. Please, just let it be." Again, that touch of
desperation to his tone.
Reese
shivers at the touch, but does not ultimately move away, closing her eyes.
"What did they do to you?" she asks, taking a deep breath. "Answer
me this, and I swear to you it will be the last you hear about it. What did he
save you from, what did he offer to you?" Her demands are quiet, solemn,
eyes wide and childish. "Let it go? And give up on you? No good," she
says, smirking cockily. "I will, however, not put myself constantly in the
line of blastfire."
Sebastian
is not anywhere close to blasting anything. No anger or anything from that one
evening. "He offered a young boy the chance to be relevant. And for that
chance, I gave him all of me. I am but a vessel for his will, Reese. My sole
purpose is for our god's glory. Those damned emotions you seem to keep
mentioning and whatever shred is left of that boy... are to be left locked
away. Okay? Is that enough for you. Reese, I'm not often one to just blithely
tell people these things. So please, just let it alone."
"A
pity, that, Sebastian," Reese replies, and her face is indeed contorted
into a pained expression, an analytical mind at work. "Well, be alert. The
people who turned Minai and Dylan either can go inside to peoples' heads, and
make those old feelings resurface. As well hidden you may think they are, your
emotions are weaknesses. I think you would rather unlock them on your terms,
then the Yang's." On impulse, she pushes herself to her toes, and pecks
the man on the cheek. "Okay. It's left." Bink!
Sebastian
looses all of his tenseness at her words, gaze searching her. "Well,
nobody will be going anywhere inside of me if they don't know... and don't have
a chance to," he articulates rather pointedly. A breath later and he
actually gathers Reese up in a hug. Yes! You heard right, a spontaneous hug.
Hah, he can beat that peck. "Again, thank you."
Reese
beams, dimpling brightly and smiling upwards. Dang it, why do they grow so high?
"Just make certain that it doesn't happen. I wouldn't recognize you if you
were all- oomph." Hug. Blinkblink. "Cuddly-like." She blinks
again, a smile on her face. "Who are you, and where have you put
Sebastian? And no problem - who would I be if not a fellow Homasubi? Now...
what are you planning for Kourin?" See? She's not /so/ forgetful.
Sebastian,
eventually, does release her. He draws a step back, his smile wry.
"Cuddly?" At least he just stares at her and doesn't begin a fit of
the twitches or anything. That'd be like calling Lexie virginal. A frown shows
up, "Cultivating a relationship with her was originally intentioned to
garner information. I did not seek her out, initially, but seeing as the girl
was so eager to tell me things, it is only natural to try to continue this. If
it tears apart the Suzaku, all to the better. I do admit, she does have quite
the engaging personality, but she is not one of us." Another frown,
"I meant that before, Reese. I will use friendships and sex if it will get
me exactly what I want, just as I would assume the same of you." Emotions
can get awfully messy in that.
"Yup.
You'll be a teddy bear in no time," Reese quips. "You'll be able to
start passing out 'Sebastian Davis' plushies as corporate motivational gifts."
She nods her head quickly, wincing a little as she considers something,
speaking finally. "You would do Machiavelli proud, you know that? All save
the devotion to Homasubi, he would look down upon you and smile. As for sexing
up the seishi, it seems that they're either too busy being spiteful, or getting
their asses kicked. Things are going well on my side."
Sebastian
arches his eyebrows at Reese, nearly horrified at the prospect. "Its bad
enough I was given a warthog plushie, but the very idea..." The very idea
leaves him speechless. "Your side is always looking well, Reese," he
adds with something of a wink. "No, we really need to do something else to
increase tensions. They've been left to their own devices far too long."
Reese
grins impishly, her eyes lighting up. "Ooh, that's what we should do! We
should commission someone to make little boar dolls, and have our names
embroidered on them! Our real names." Oh, look, now you've given her
resources /and/ ideas. "You're right. The Genbu have had time to reinforce
themselves, and they're well-protected and powerful. The Suzaku..." She
giggles. That's all. "The Seiryuu have been quiet for too long. Byakko is
not much of a problem either, I don't think. Dylan didn't attack me; neither
did Minai. They're not on guard, yet."
Sebastian
winces just the slightest. "Yeah... I'll buy out a plushie company right
away, give it to you, and have you come up with all kinds of ways to spend my
fortune." They way the Yin are going, he'll be in debt in a month, tops.
"Inconveniences and annoyances, while often petty, will be enough to cause
them to not think too greatly upon their own goals. As they say... guerilla
warfare. Again, the placement of a skeleton or two in the proverbial closet
would be good -or a body. Purchase a couple of ruffians from the street with
vague resemblances to a couple of the seishi and set them loose on an evening
of mayhem. Those sorts of things."
"Yay!"
Reese cheers, and there might just be the hint that she's joking. She's hidden
it pretty well, though. "Honestly, though, are we getting low on funds? I
know the economy isn't too great, but at this point, I've got enough credits to
just get the forensics major and quit school. Working with the police is
turning out to be to our advantage; I think that'll be pretty good. And there's
always Morwen - I think she could pay half the rent, despite not living here.
She's my special friend." Wai! "Sounds good. We shouldn't hit the
easy targets, though - we need to find a way to implicate someone powerful, who
we could use out of the way for a while, without them coming after us."
Sebastian
chuckles softly, "Reese, most of my holdings are international, and I've
enough real estate to fill up the whole of the state of New York. There is no
need to worry." He frowns for a moment, "Immediately, my thoughts go
to the Seiryu sorcerer. He is due to contact me soon, your teacher. But... if
we ever get off that idea to impersonate him, we might want to wait a bit. I
would say the Byakko. They seem awfully... quiet. I know of the police officer,
but that is all."
Reese
smiles, the reassurance glowing on her face. At best, she seems a child, her
features calm and trusting. Sebastian has yet to see her worst. "I know -
but he knows me. If we implicate him, he'll be coming after me a holy terror,
and I don't think that would be good for us in the least." She agrees with
a firm nod of her head, finally weary of standing up and flopping down on the
couch. "Let's see. There's Lee - Tokaki. There's two women that I've met
so far, Mina and Cat. Dylan and Minai you're already familiar with. Dylan,
however, is intimately involved with one of the Genbu, Setsuna. That will
complicate things."
Sebastian
smirks, "They all have relationships with one another, and with Rathan and
his Byakko miko, it will always be difficult." A heavy sigh, "And
they band together faster than a swarm of bees. If we do give them annoyances,
it will have to be anonymous. And, again, we need to find a way to pit them
against each other."
Reese
nods her head and sighs. "Don't worry yer pretty head about it. Knowing
her, and the tendency that those type have, she's going to break his heart when
her One True Love shows up. I think I've learned that much, already." She
nods her head and cringes. "Okay... points of breakage. People are
obviously afraid of Nicholas. There's no question about that, but his girl
seems to have him reined in - I haven't heard anything about him recently, and
he always seems stable in class. They don't altogether trust Dylan, and they
aren't reliably strong, any of them. Until we have the numbers, though, that's
still not a weakness we can really trust."
Sebastian
nods his head slowly in understanding. "Dylan I have yet to come across.
We should try to create a time to meet up with him, alone. And /without/ Lexie
present." He frowns a moment longer, "Maybe... we could create a
situation where he will be seen talking with us, furthering the impression that
he is not to be trusted. Or even Minai as well."
Reese
shakes her head, vetoing that thought immediately. "Dylan I can agree
with. He's dangerous, especially the link to the Genbu. We should try to sever
that immediately. Minai, on the other hand, I don't want touched until we get
desperate. She turns into a kitten, for god's sake." Maybe Reese just has
a soft spot for kittens. "She's not going to be too anxious to attack us
any time soon, unless we make the first move."
Bah.
Fondness for an ex-oni. Sebastian is immediately scowling, "Reese, tread
carefully there. She is still one of them. Just like Lexie's fondness for a
certain Seiryu, make sure your own warm-fuzzies for the girl don't effect you
as well." He sighs, pushing away and moving towards the office area,
"But, we will start small. I'll try to corner Dylan, alone, and begin
things." And with that, he leaves.