Post by Jasper Bloom on Aug 10, 2014 0:48:38 GMT -5
Another day, another fruitless search for anyone qualified to assist in the construction project of Jasper's. He had the plans all ready, the schematics mostly, some backing from his firm, and his own private fortune. There was even a contractor ready to start construction, but without another person or two work with the project was as good as dead. Things had taken a major turn for the worse when the two people who were going to help before had backed out, and Jasper had been floundering afterwards for quite some time. Dates had to be pushed back almost indefinitely, plans delayed, and new people looked for. So far, there weren't a whole lot of options as far as competent engineers or researchers went. There wasn't much time left on the clock either, all of his backers were starting to get antsy for some progress on the damned thing.
The lone engineer sighed as he sipped from the mug of hot tea on his favorite table, in his favorite local cafe. A hand rose up to gently massage the bridge of his nose as he thought a few things out, and then made a small note in the corner of a pad of paper with some sketches on it. The situation felt almost comically similar to the young engineer, and the thought that maybe those two people would show up again made him snicker quietly to himself. "If only I could be so lucky..." he mused to himself as he took another sip out of the mug in front of him, and then slid it back into it's place on the table. Jasper turned his head to take in the view of the outside world that he had been mostly neglecting for the past few months, and relished in the peace of it. So far it was turning out to be a pretty quiet day, both inside of the cafe and out. Well, it was quiet save for the small television they had mounted over near the back of the main room, which was displaying some bogus reports or other of increases in "gang-related violence" in the 'States. There would be no gangs or any such thing on his airship, if it were ever actually built. There may be a few fancy turrets, but with any luck they wouldn't have to be used either.
Post by Varik Cendrillion on Aug 12, 2014 20:32:42 GMT -5
Varik stood outside the small cafe, he'd heard from several of the locals that this was a good place to wind down and enjoy some solitude. The building itself seemed quite simple in its make, but had that odd at home feeling about it. Varik entered curious to see if the inside was as inviting as the out. To his surprise it was; the tables were spaced far enough apart to give everyone separation, but close enough you had the opportunity to meet someone. There didn't seem to be many people here despite the warm atmosphere of the place. Varik brushed aside a lock of his hair that hand been blown in his face by the fans in the cafe and noticed a rather stressed individual sitting at the table to his right. He had papers splayed all over his table and seemed rather focused on something. He was half tempted to talk to the man; however it seemed kind of strange to. Instead he took a seat at a table in the corner by a window, with a nice view of the town. Varik placed his riding bag on the table and sat down. I really need to get this thing cleaned" he thought to himself. Opening up the dusty bag he pulled out his Ukulele, it wasn't one of the fancy ones you see in the store; yet Varik loved it more than most anything else. His Kumu had given it to him for his 18th birthday. It was also one of his few escapes from the bustling world around him. Varik plucked each of the strings a few times letting the sound resonate in the air. It seemed to be in tune. He puzzled over what to play and settled on Lemonade by Jeremy Passion. In a small part of his mind he hoped that his playing and singing would help the stressed man a few tables down. He'd been told by many in the islands that when he played it was like his fingers weren't plucking the strings on the instrument ,but the strings in their soul.
Post by Bethany Barone on Aug 13, 2014 19:14:17 GMT -5
It was a while since she had been back to her home state. If it was up to her she would never have come back, but her parents wouldn't have been too happy with that. It was a nice visit overall, she stayed with them for only a couple days. Just long enough to catch up. Her mom attacked her with all the little annoying questions, such as if she was dating anyone, if she had enough money, and when she was coming home. Her parents thought her new lifestyle choice of moving place to place was a bit odd, and they worried about her. If only they knew.. Beth wouldn't dream of telling her parents of monsters she's seen. Even if she did they probably wouldn't believe her. But really, who would?
She arrived to the airport early. After she went through security, she sat down at the gate and waited for her boarding time. She waited, and waited. There was of course bad weather where she was headed, so they kept pushing the time and eventually cancelled the flight until the next morning. Great. Beth really hated airports.
Back outside, into the Arizona sun. She had plenty of time to kill, so she called for a cab. The driver headed off to the nice little café she had heard was nice, but never got the chance to go to herself.
Post by Rae-Star Berii on Aug 14, 2014 9:25:33 GMT -5
Rae was a well-travelled individual.
From family holidays, to running away, to working and following the trail she was on.
All of these aspects of her life involved travelling.
She’d even gotten Eli as a passport, she took the dog everywhere with her.
A large, thunderous sound resonated outside the café. People gazed to see what had pulled up in the parking lot.
It was a motorcycle, but not like any others that would frequent such a place as this.
It was a large machine, grey, sleek, metallic looking. The tires were as big as that used on a truck and there were no noticeable commodities about the vehicle. Even the hand bars, seemed to be hidden inside the body work.
The machine roared for a moment longer, before the rider killed the engine and set the beast to rest.
On the back of this monster was a girl, lithe in her leathers and a blood red trench coat.
She stepped from the back of the machine as if it was a stallion and unhooked her jet helmet.
From out of the helmet poured long, pink hair. Rae reached up and touched back a strand, letting the wind sweep her hair up and brush it loose.
She tucked the helmet under her arm and locked the bike’s ignition.
Then she turned and headed to the café, pulling open the door she strode up to the counter and looked like a woman who was here on business.
People, naturally, moved out of the girl’s way. But despite her dramatic entrance all she ordered was a coffee.
[p.s. if you want a visual for the motorbike = here]
Last Edit: Aug 14, 2014 9:25:56 GMT -5 by Rae-Star Berii
Post by Jasper Bloom on Aug 14, 2014 22:40:59 GMT -5
Visions of the interior of his project, and fantasies of it's use played out through Jasper's head as he slowly closed his eyes and sunk deeper and deeper into his own twisted skull. He thought back over the schematics for his balloons, for the turrets which would be mounted on them at regular intervals, the 'wings' which would connect each body to one another, everything. So immersed was he in his own head, that Jasper didn't even notice his phone was ringing until it had almost gone to his voicemail. When he picked the phone up to answer and check who could possibly be calling him, he let out a quiet and dismayed sigh.
The voice on the other end of his phone was, to put it lightly, furious. All of the frantic yelling and screaming through the small speaker at the top of the phone made it hard to grab on to anything the little voice was really saying, but Jasper thought he caught something about progress and manpower, maybe something about a salary thrown in for good measure. Another drawn out sigh pushed it's way from the anxiety-filled engineer's lungs as he started to collect himself enough to give the voice on the other end of the line a response. "Well... Nothing is stopping you from just packing up and leaving sure, but the contract we a-" was about as far as he got before he was cut off again, and the other end resumed screaming. This time about "The god damned contract", along with some obscenities and similar items thrown in. The engineer once again signed quietly to himself, this time choosing to end the situation by just hanging up his phone and sitting back down with his head in his hands.
Post by Varik Cendrillion on Aug 18, 2014 13:07:41 GMT -5
"So much for quiet" Varik chuckled to himself, as he heard the beast of a bike pull up outside of the cafe. Whoever the rider was sure had great taste in motorcycles; he wasn't much of one for big blaring engines but it was still a beautiful piece of machinery. As he watched the rider remove their helmet he realized that it was a woman and she had pink hair."I've met my fair share of bikers, but this is the first on with pink hair" he said to himself.
He decided to nickname her bubblegum until he learned her name.Bubblegum walked into the cafe with a powerful stride. She carried herself with pride and that I don't take shit from no one kind of attitude that most bikers had. Despite this proud gate she only ordered a cup of coffee.
Varik's gaze was drawn to a couple tables down where the distressed man seemed to be ready to pull his hair out. He debated for a moment wether or not to approach the fellow. He didn't seem particularly, but Varik knew that you could only rely on the look of a person so much. In the end though he puput his Uke back into his bag and walked towards the man's table.
" Sorry if I'm interrupting something important, but you seem a little razzled. Is there something I could help with?" Varik said in a calm voice trying to seem nice." Why am I doing this again he thought to himself? "
Waiting for the man's response he noticed Bubblegum wasn't at the counter anymore.
Post by Bethany Barone on Aug 20, 2014 19:47:18 GMT -5
The cab arrived at the front of the cafe after about a fifteen minute drive. Bethany kindly paid the driver, and stepped out of the car. She only had one bag with her so it was easy enough to carry at least. She always traveled light.
Once she walked into the building, Beth immediately noticed a familiar face. It was Varik, the man she had seen at the bar all the way on the other end of the country. She found it strange he would be here too. What was more strange was when she spotted the rainbow haired girl as well. What were the odds of that? Perhaps she had been followed?
The yelling from the man's phone broke her thoughts. Whoever was yelling from the other end seemed pretty pissed off at him. She decided to mind her own business for now and get into line to order a coffee.
Post by Rae-Star Berii on Aug 21, 2014 0:43:00 GMT -5
The pink haired biker chic, in the tight leathers, strode into the café and up to the counter. If she was aware of those in the café around her she wasn’t let on. She appeared so confident that that confidence exuded from her like arrogance. She appeared so aloof that she appeared unapproachable. Her eyes were laced with dark and smoky make-up, her lips ruby red and in her beauty she was intimidating. Her figure was lithe, slender and petite and in those hip-hugging leathers that she wore not an inch of those apple arcs were left to the imagination. A little over five foot, she was well in proportion, youthful and playfully curvy.
Rae placed her jet helmet on the counter and unzipped the top of her leather suit. From within a concealed pocket she took a couple of dollar bills to pay for her coffee with. She gave the spotty teenager behind the counter one of those rare and alluring half-smiles and flicked her hair over her shoulder, the pink strands falling into place at her command.
Of course, this was all part of her façade. If a hunter showed fear, showed herself in the daylight as something other than a warrior then that particular hunter was dead, dead and gone. Rae, may have been many things but she wasn’t ready to die.
Then she turned her attention to the rest of the café, taking her coffee in its paper cup. She’d gotten it to take away, having no intention of staying. But as she turned, taking her helmet once more in her hand, she realised that two of the people here she knew. Including the one that appeared to be shouting at his phone. She had never learnt the other man’s name, if she had, she’d have remembered it because there wasn’t a lot that Rae didn’t remember. For example, she remembered that he was so caught up in his paper work last time that he’d put a four in an equation instead of a seven and that he was interchanging He and H in his invention. Rae had pointed it out to him, she had also offered to help him with a machine; but Adam had spooked her at the time.
The other person she knew, of course, was Beth. Rae didn’t believe in coincidences, nor did she really believe in fate.
Noticing a handsome stranger approaching ‘Four’, she turned her attention to Beth. She didn’t say anything to the girl, just indicated that once the girl had gotten her coffee order she follow Rae.
Then the biker-chic strode across the café and sat in the booth just behind Jasper. If he were to look out his hands, he would see her sat opposite him, but in her own booth. She placed her coffee down, and continued to unzip her leather skins, revealing a coral coloured vest top underneath. She let the skin sit at her hips, straightened her shirt and nursed her coffee for a moment, until something new happened.
Post by Jasper Bloom on Aug 23, 2014 14:30:03 GMT -5
The only-recently-off-of-his-phone man took a sip from his beverage before he looked up to the newcomer standing nearby and talking to him. With a sigh, he would answer by quietly muttering "Not unless you're savvy with frame construction or somewhat shady business practices, no."
Almost as an afterthought, he would say "Or unless you've got any background in engineering or something like that, which nobody seems to have anymore."
With that being said, Jasper would look up from his table and guide his eyes around the room until he found the waitress doing her best to wipe dry a few glasses. He managed to wave the kind-hearted lady just as she finished dropping off someone else's drink, with the intention of topping his own mug off. He didn't see exactly who the other drink went to, but he was too preoccupied with trying to figure out what he was going to do about his contractors to care.
Post by Varik Cendrillion on Aug 23, 2014 17:18:01 GMT -5
Varik was slightly surprised about the man's response to his offer for help; he almost seem pestered by his offer, but Varik could understand that things weren't going to great in his business venture. As far as shady business transactions: he was all to familiar with that area.While in Tokyo Varik had helped organize the street races, drug deals, and illegal exports, and smuggling new tech and weapons. Japan may be home to some of the most honest and kind people around the world, but every city has a darkside. He could remember one of his last jobs before leaving: it was suppose to be a sale of some research stolen from a bioengineering company, for access to the homeland defense forces personal armory. The meeting was to take place off Tokyo Bay.
-The night air was crisp with the smell of the ocean; Varik waited with two men for his contact who was now 15 minutes late. He didn't like the feeling about this at all but Mr. Nakumora wouldn't be happy if he left the peer. What could be taking this man so long, and who was he to keep to Yakuza waiting? As if on cue a figure descended the stairs a few feet away, but he wasn't aline there was a squad of 8 fully geared men with him. He spoke in fluent Japanese "Good evening, as you can see I took the liberty of raiding the armory my self. Now if you'd be so kind as to hand over my research, I'll let you three live" his voice was filled power and arrogance. Judging by the sound he must be in his mid forties, and he was obviously well funded. Varik could care less about his squad of men behind him, he wanted the security codes to the a mores security system. Varik replied with an icy tone in his voice " You have to the Count of three to give me what I want...." His grey eyes piercing into the new threat.
The shadowed man simply laughed and told his men "He is a fool, he only has two swords. Blow him to bits". "One" varik said his voice seemed to resonate across the water.One of his squad stepped forward with a flame thrower prepping it to incinerate Varik. "Two" and he reached for his swords. The goon lit his flame and pulled back on the trigger releasing a stream of flames from the devices mouth. "Three!!!" Varik charged head first into the blaze with his swords, his enemies began to laugh thinking he was a goner. The expressions changed when they realized he was still coming and the flame seemed to dance around him and his swords like a flowing stream. It was to late by then for them.....-
He sat down at the table with the man, "What kind of shady business are we talking?" Varik spoke with a clear and serious tone. His piercing grey eyes examining the man more closely
Post by Bethany Barone on Aug 24, 2014 23:06:24 GMT -5
The line moved fairly quick for a busy little cafe. She decided to order the large with little cream, extra sugar. Beth had a feeling she would need the extra caffeine today. After paying the one behind the counter and receiving her drink, she turned around to see Rae looking at her to come sit. She walked over to Rae with no hesitation and sat across from her inside the booth.
Rae had followed her before, but in the end Bethany doubted the girl would follow her to another country. Still, it was interesting seeing her all the way in Arizona. Of course she must have a reason to be here, but she wouldn't ask at this time.
"You said you preferred the sunlight. Plenty of that here." She made small talk just to break the silence as she opened the top of her drink and took a sip of her coffee. She watched Rae as she glanced at the man that was being chewed out over the phone. The girl probably knew him too if she could guess.
Post by Rae-Star Berii on Aug 25, 2014 11:26:16 GMT -5
That was a question, wasn’t it? What was Rae doing here? The answer wasn’t a simple one, but it wasn’t a difficult one either. Though Rae liked to keep herself secret and she liked to avoid America, she had no reason to believe the man that hunted her would be here in the back of beyond. The last time she had seen him had been Asia, almost a year ago. She had no knowledge of his whereabouts, nor did she really care. The longer she could avoid him, the better and the easier her life would be. So why here? Rae was looking for some parts for her next invention. She’d built the bike that sat so proudly outside the café and now she was looking to further her use of the AI technology the woman had been working on. Rae was incredibly smart, she was good with her hands and creating was something she hadn’t done in such a long time that if felt good to think about something other than hunting and revenge.
"You said you preferred the sunlight. Plenty of that here."
In a much more social mood today than she had been in the dark streets of London, Rae smiled at the woman, sipping from her paper cup as she said; “And already I feel healthier, just being here.” She smiled to the woman. But her eyes flitted to Jasper often and they narrowed a little when the handsome man sat down too and blocked her view of the inventor. Rae didn’t believe in coincidence, but if she did, she’d say meeting the man who was trying to build a sky-boat when she was in the need of a little creativity- well, it was too good to be true right?
“How are you?” She asked the girl before her, noticing that the girl was aware her attention kept shifting to the man. Rae, realising this, felt she should explain herself just a little. “The man behind you- the one who seems to be having a rough day – he’s an inventor. I met him around here several months ago. He wasn’t in a happy place on that occasion either. I- I would’ve help him, if I could, but there were too many obstacles in the way at the time.”
Post by Jasper Bloom on Aug 29, 2014 23:47:43 GMT -5
Laughing was the only thing he could think of doing. He had been looking for someone to help him manage construction and planning, someone to just help out, and now here was this random-ass piece-of-shit who thought he could just waltz right in and pull a few jokes out of his ass for the enjoyment of all. So Jasper laughed, and he kept laughing until he bothered to catch his breath, take a drink, and look up at the man sitting in front of him.
"Christ, you're serious aren't you?" the jaded engineer sighed out, and then shortly followed by saying "Tell you what, you manage to kick my contractors' asses back into working and following the very clearly outlined agreement we've all got with one another, and I'll find some way to pay you when things get sorted out on my end. Unless you're looking for a trip around the world in a dirigible then you'll probably be waiting for a good six months or so though."
Jasper's voice would be kept hushed as he spoke, and when he finished he would immerse himself back into his mug, and wait. Oblivious to the people behind the man he's talking to.
Post by Varik Cendrillion on Aug 31, 2014 16:08:38 GMT -5
The man simply laughed at his question; which Varik found very rude. Here he was attempting to offer help in some way and this man simply laughed. The stern look never left his and the man stopped laughing and replied "Christ, you're serious aren't you?"
Varik only sat there staring the man in the eye until the stare was broken by a sigh. "Tell you what, you manage to kick my contractors' asses back into working and following the very clearly outlined agreement we've all got with one another, and I'll find some way to pay you when things get sorted out on my end. Unless you're looking for a trip around the world in a dirigible then you'll probably be waiting for a good six months or so though."
Varik sat and contemplated the man's proposal; it wouldn't have been the first time he'd shook down some corporate high ups to get what he wanted. "50,000 for my initial service and laughing in my face. You'll need to give me any information pertaining the targets. I don't care how miniscule the detail I need everything you have." He said swiftly and only loud enough for the man across from him to hear. He did not break his gaze, and now waited for the man's response
Post by Bethany Barone on Sept 1, 2014 18:51:39 GMT -5
Bethany returned the smile to her friend Rae. "That's good. Glad to see you well." Beth took another sip of her coffee. "I am doing good. Was visiting my parents and was headed out, but my flight was cancelled. So.. here I am." She guessed that the girl realized she had been wondering why Rae was watching the person behind her. So she offered her explanation. "Is there anyone you don't know? Someone is popular." She teased Rae and smiled again.
Apparently someone had started a conversation with Rae's acquaintance, although rude Bethany couldn't help but listen in. Her body didn't move but she did stop talking in order to listen. One man laughed at the other, and in return the new man demanded money. He also spoke about targets. "Interesting.." She thought. Bethany got up out of her seat to get a look at them. She walked to get a packet of sugar and glanced at them casually. If they were that into their conversation then they wouldn't even notice. And if they did happen to see her they would most likely see she only wanted extra sugar in her coffee.
So the demanding man was the one from the bar in New York. Even more interesting. As she got to her seat again she added the sugar to her cup while speaking. "What was he inventing? Sounds pretty serious."
