Post by Xavier Darnai on May 27, 2014 21:41:41 GMT
Xavier Darnai: Keeping things quiet over the last few weeks had been one hell of a trick, but it was manageable. Still, it did mean that occasionally business needed to be managed. With the more trusted members of his network handling the more sensitive tasks, it left a few openings that needed to be filled, and there was no better way for him to handle that than through the Daily Specials. Parking the Bishop in the back alley lot around the corner, he made his way into the diner at a slow enough pace, nodding to Natasha at the hostess station as he motioned for one of the menus. It got a look of surprise, he hadn't ordered off the Daily Specials in quite some time. Still, he was handed the menu before moving into the common eating area, taking a seat in one of the corner tables. Loosening the buttons of his suit jacket, he settled into the seat and took the Dailies up in his bandaged hand, giving it a slow glance over. There was quite a lot that needed to be done, and there were always workers, it was just a matter of the right meal for the right price.
Obvious Illusion: Haried. That's how she looked. If one wouldn't know her better - it was possible she had just rolled out of bed after a lot of great sex. Sex. Yes, the intercourse kind with deep penetrating thrusts and kisses. She sighed, juggled her paperwork, her folders, her magazines, and bolted past the poor Hostess. "No! It's alright! I just saw my party, thanks!" She called over her shoulder when the woman seemed to be flagging her down. Xavier. There was nothing wrong with following that man in a suit. He filled it out quite nicely, after all. She took a deep breath, though unneeded, and managed to curse the day flats were made. Who wore flats?! She grimaced, plunking herself down into a seat that was across from him. It was across, no? Or maybe next to at his table. As she sat, she looked beautiful; but felt like a fool. Dresses made her rather irritable and this particular one was a little black number which was classic in all the meanings of classic little cocktail. Her hair that had been once braided was let loose, pinned up, and tumbled down in a fashion that had a little volume to the rings of auburn and brunette mingled like a precious honeyed chocolate. She even - gasp - wore jewelry. A simple gold chain with no pendant, a tennis bracelet - ugh, why do they call it that? - and two carrots of something in her ears. She hated jewelry. And she smelled wonderful. Much more than just her shampoo and body wash. It was a dab of something a little unsure - fruity with a hint of underlying ... her. She didn't pick it out, at least. She gave the man a miserable look, crossed her arms over her chest as she sat back, and left the papers and piled up mess a disarray stack upon the table. Yes. She gave him a classic, 'I'm very irritable' look while the cap sleeves and the sheath dress refused to give with her body's natural movements the way her suits would. ::_
Xavier Darnai: Reader continued to surprise him, which was a rather unique talent. Catching Xavier of guard took some fairly significant doing. Perhaps it was less surprise and mor that her actions were so routinely unexpected, though that in and of itself should have been enough to set a pattern. As she settled down at the round table, somewhere between across and next to him at it, he raised one brow and lift a hand to tug at the knot of his tie just a bit, loosening the silver silk. It seemed relatively unfair to remain so unfettered in his own appearance considering her rather pleasantly disheveled state of being. "I believe there's a fitting bit about cats and being dragged that'd apply at the moment, neh?" Offering a quarter smile, he reached under his suit jacket to withdraw the lighter and his cigarettes, managing to pin one between his lips before the pack was set on the table. Flipping open the well worn lighter, he struck his bandaged thumb across the wheel, sparking the thing to life. Rust red eyes watched the flame dance for a moment before he took in the first hit, quickly snapping the lighter shut after and dropping it to the table. For the moment the menus could be disregarded, as Reader always managed to add something worth note to the evening. Her irritable look not withstanding, he relaxed back in the seat as he exhaled the smoke in her direction in a custom made taunt for the woman who so frequently seemed to desire his cigarette as opposed to one of her own.
Obvious Illusion: "Men! I am done with them all! You know, how hard is it to find someone that will wash your car for you, keep you company, and fuck you like a whore at night? Or..." Reader surmised as if this were an absolute afterthought "During the day? Is it really too much to ask that we get ourselves all dressed up, with makeup -" She motions to her smokey eyes and her dab of blush "and we do something to our hair, and spritz on a little bit of something that collects dust in pretty bottles on our lingerie chests so that men can sit down and go on and on about today's economy crisis, their ex-wives, and how they over-salted their fucking baked potatoe?!" Obviously, she was in a snit. So she reached across, or perhaps next to and towards the man that blew smoke at her. Delicious, wonderful, lung-clogging smoke and she snatched the cigarette right out from between his lips. Yes, that is exactly right. She narrowed those beautiful emerald and navy blue eyes his way and plopped it between her painted, red set. She inhaled deeply like one would after a good orgasm and immediately began attacking her wrist then. Note - no exhale just yet. "And this fucking thing is itchy!" Obviously, she had a date-gone-wrong. ::_
Xavier Darnai: "I can honestly say I've not run into that particular string of complaints." Pulling in another hit off the cigarette before he reached down to the nearby tray to flick the ash off of the end, he let out another exhale. The simple play on her issues with men was nearly impossible to avoid, but she had made it particularly easy. Still, from a compassionate point of view, she would also be out of luck. Xavier sat there in a finely tailored suit, the sort that people typically reserved for ensuring a positive reaction in a business setting, or at the very least while attempting to impress someone. His own motives were hard to nail down, however. He'd gone to take another drag, but as had been her habit, his cigarette was stolen. Staring down at his hand for the moment in the absence, he tapped his bandaged fingers against the table in a four-beat drum, twice. Looking up to her again, he motioned to her with his empty hand, briefly regarding her attire. "Though I do imagine my reasons're rather... different than yours."
Obvious Illusion: She mucked up her face into a rather disgusted look for a short moment. It didn't last long because soon the smoke parted her lips and she, perhaps rudely, but no doubt on purpose; blew the white twirls in his direction. Those narrowed eyes didn't last for long, instead - they rounded and she plunked her bracelet upon the table after nearly ripping the crab claw clip thing apart. "Stupid, stupid pretty things women buy and fawn over. Blegh." Reader wasn't the traditional lover of anything shiny. No, she enjoyed her gadgets to a degree. Her books. Her studio of fabric and her recent uptake on ... quilts. She needed to sew and not so much apparel at the moment. She was having a brain fart. A delay. She wasn't feeling completely creative at all. "Are you kidding me? I might as well go to a club and have a quickie in the back room with someone not even nearly an eight of my age just so I don't have to sit through that mindless -crap- again! Mindless! And then he wanted ME to leave the tip! Are you serious!?" The waitress looked almost afraid to approach the table as Reader shrieked, but needless to say she swallowed and stood there, giving Xavier a look as if she'd rather be dismissed instead of taking care of the drink order for the raging woman. So, with a sigh, she thumped her forehead into her hands which just got her eyes caught on the reflection of the pretty gold chain. And so - that was next to come off as Reader tug-of-warred on that too while keeping his cigarette firmly between her lips. ::_
Xavier Darnai: Sitting there still as death as she ran through the details of her miniature rant, one brow still raised, he turned his head slightly at the approach of the waitress. Lifting a hand, he finally spoke whether Reader was done or not. "Just a bottle for me, not going to be eating tonight. The Balvanie Double Wood'll do. As for my... guest... I believe she'd like something've the dessert variety. Tell Yuri not to hold back on a treat for the woman." As a general rule, Xavier always spoke fairly deliberately; sometmes people picked up on it, sometimes they did not. But in a world where double talk and coded language was the common tongue, he had no doubts that the order for a woman who had a rather frustrating night would be properly relayed. "Honestly I can't say I've thought much to the dating scene in quite some time. Haven't needed to bother."
Obvious Illusion: "Yes, well, I didn't do it on purpose. I did it because I lost a very dear bet. Well. Not even a bet. A ... competition." She narrowed those pretty eyes again and looked absolutely sour about the whole thought that was running through her head. More like, a projection. A number. She inhaled deeply, murdered his cigarette quietly, and stubbed the most recent ash with a flick of her finger upon his nearby tray. "Flats. Xavier. I wore flats." She almost sounded morose. And, with a little huff of a temper, she wiggled her toes and promptly two -thuds-, though soft were heard from underneath the table. "Not even Prada." Yes, there was the designer huff of her nose in the air and she to inhale that cigarette. She finished in in quick succession, stubbing it out within the tray and sitting there with those two jewelry items upon the table as he ordered her a dessert. "He was five five, Xavier. No more friendly competition for me. No. None." She shifted, squirming uncomfortably in that dress. She reached below the table and tried to tug the material lower. To no avail though, she simply looked ... irritated. Yes. This no doubt was a percarious situation. With the work load off to the side, she didn't even bother it. "Ugh." Yes. Ugh... She seemed to finally just take a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to deflate from the awful experience and take in Xavier's finely tailored suit, like porn for a woman. ::_
Xavier Darnai: Her specification of shoes was met with a dull stare for reasons unknown to all but a select few. Lifting his right foot off the floor of the diner, he crossed his ankle over his knee, carefully setting it down as softly as could be managed. Another drumming run of his bandaged left hand was offered against the table before he reached down to the flip top lighter, turning it over and over in his hand idly as he fidgited with both hands. "I've rarely taken any sort've bet that I knew wouldn't pay off in the end, even if it wasn't with the cash in, but considering the poor sod's height, perhaps flats were a touch on the necessary side. Something tells me that the sight've you in heels would've just made him feel that much smaller." Glancing to the snuffed cigarette for a moment before looking back to the woman, he gave a quiet scoff of laughter at the rather frustrated state she was in. Perhaps it was that she was suffering at all, or the fact that there really wasn't much that could be done for it, but there was something about her situation that he took a minor amount of amusement from. "Of course, living up to high expectations such's yours's probably a bit've a tall order for anyone." Whether or not the height jokes were intentional, the world may never know.
Obvious Illusion: Stretching her toes out underneath the table and atop of the pretty flats, Reader gave the man in front of her a sullen look. Quite, like a spoiled child would when they were being told no to something they had asked for. But, in Reader's defense - she had not thought about all the implications of losing a bet of tolerating a date night with someone that she was just instructed to 'wear flats' with. She pursed up her lips and then let out another sigh as the man played with his lighter, occupying his fingertips while she watched him from the other side - er, next to him. The little cups of her sleeves were rather cute - not to mention the gathered bust that accentuated cleavage pale once again and the Glamour of a sun-kissed appearance had faded over the painfully cold winter. She shook her head, the long curls bouncing readily against her shoulders and back, slipping forward to play with the edge of the table. "I doubt he felt small at all. He told me all about how his ex-wife raked him through divorce court and then he sued her for defamation of character when she slathered him up to her friends and got his money back. Ridiculous. Can't people just key cars and slash tires? Anyways, the whole time I thought about work and how never to make that bet again. One... day was all I needed to finish the design and she told me it was too elaborate. Too elaborate!" Honestly, Reader accepted her 'punishment' well if she could say so herself. The manicure matched her mood - black finished nails and a set of toes to match. "May you never know my misery, Xavier."_
Xavier Darnai: "I doubt that'll be a problem." For any number of reasons, certainly. Catching movement to the left, he looked up just long enough to spot a waitress coming out with a bottle in one hand and a tray in the other. "Could always try and drink it away. Used to do that myself. Spent the better part've a decade in the bottom've a bottle. Served me well enough." Nodding his thanks as the girl approached, he took the bottle from her in his left hand, freeing her up to set down the molten lava cake, set of silverware, and his tumbler before retreating quickly in order to avoid any backlash from the woman whose evening had been sub-prime. Removing the stop cap cork from the bottle, he took a quick sniff before tilting the Scotch down and carefully pouring himself a double. It wasn't exact as so many others he poured were, but a good portion of that would be corrected on the second pour. "Besides, flats seem perfectly sensible." Smirking slightly, he set the bottle down on its base, taking the tumbler in his bandaged fingers and lifting it with a slow stir.
Obvious Illusion: "I don't care much for alcohol. To be honest with you, I'd rather ingest copious amounts of Starbuck's Mocha something or other drink and read all night long than feel like my eardrums will implode. He didn't even have a nice voice, Xavier. His was far too... much." She was not even sure how to describe it. But, distracted by the waitress and the smell of chocolate; the Toreador's face instantly seemed to relax into that sensual fall of her lips opening and those eyes went half mast at the love affair in front of her. "Thank you..." She murmured to the waitress, took up the fork, and delicately cut into the cake while the stopper at the other side of the table was pulled. Her eyes lifted briefly, washing over Xavier's face as she arched a brow and managed a moan; however light - around the tines of the fork as the chocolate seemed to melt upon her tongue. "Not sensible enough for me. I prefer a taller view." And power. And the hint of seduction. And how much longer they made her legs seem - even in slacks. She let her eyes venture over Xavier's pour. She was quite aware of his well placed jokes. A belated smile curled the corner of her lips. "Now this. This is beauty." She waved the end of the fork at the mini-lava rush. ::_
Xavier Darnai: "To each their own vices. I don't much care for sweets." Tilting the glass back as he took another sniff, he followed with a quiet sip, appreciating the flavor imparted onto the twice-aged single malt Scotch. His eyes closed for a moment as he let the slight burn subside, replaced by the smooth complexity. Lowering the glass again, he gave it a slow stir once as he opened his eyes again to watch her enjoy her cake. The pleasure that some people took in such mundane acts always confounded him, but to deny them their flavors would be hypocritical considering his stance towards the glass in his hand. Tak Tak Tak. His finger bounced against the side of the tumbler with a metered pace. "What, he have some sort've affectation, terribly thick accent? How utterly horrible." Again he smirked, raising both his brows as he closed his eyes again. Tak Tak Tak.
Obvious Illusion: "No, not at all. There was no spark. There was no connection. There was no pull, even if his dinner conversation was so very boring. Don't you have to feel some sort of... chemistry, to want to get to know a person better, Xavier?" She seemed genuinely interested, wondering just how the man functioned. Was he alone for so long that these subtle little hints weren't even registering to him anymore? She seemed to frown now, even over the succulent, decadent chocolate that the pastry chef in the back no doubt toiled over. Granted, it wasn't the cake. She lifted her foot, and arched a brow at the man across from her. Her dark hair didn't even bother to move as her head remained still, her chin slightly thrust out as he tak'ed away upon that glass. There were so many things she constantly avoided doing - that perhaps it was second nature for him now to just ... be a sole entity. ::_
Xavier Darnai: "I may be the wrong person to ask." Lowering the glass to the table again and letting it rest there, he leaned forward and rest both elbows against the table. Fingers folded together, carefully interlacing without tugging at the skillfully wrapped bandaging. Setting his chin on his thumbs, the bridge of his fingers covering his lips, he stared at her for a brief momen over his knuckles. "I can't say that there're lots've people who've managed to meet what you could call a spark've chemistry, but there're plenty who've been interested in trying to get to know me better, and I suppose it's worked the other way about." Xavier has made a study of plenty of people without any sort of connection to them, but being able to do that was all part of the job. In truth, he hadn't missed the hints that she had dropped, but he also knew that playing back to them could be a very dangerous game. Rule one was still no touching the art, after all. The few times that had been even remotely blurred had meant rather serious injury to more than a few involved parties.
Obvious Illusion: "Ah, yes. We need to find you a female companion. No?" Reader was teasing him. And in doing so, she just brought another bite of that wonderful cake up to her lips. She inhaled slowly, much like she had with the cigarette as if things tasted so much better with oxygen struggling to be extinguished within her system. The moment passed, and she brushed her toes on -purpose- against his shin; the one that he still had his foot connected to the floor. It was a gesture meant as teasing, a playful nudge perhaps that went along with the bounce of her eyebrow. It seemed her mood from earlier had dwindled into the light conversation at hand. "So what do you know about me then, Sir?" She said in an ever formal manner. And Reader so very much liked to touch. And if anything, the subtle push could surely be felt from time to time. But Reader considered herself to pick her victims well; not others picking them for her. Her date, after all was good for one thing - he saw her to her blazing SUV and she left him in the parking lot a little ... dazed. ::_
Xavier Darnai: He didn't notice the push against his shin, despite the fact that her flats probably made it easy to apply a proper amount of force. "I've go to imagine that going and looking for a female companion's likely to get someone shot, and possibly more than once." Breaking his hands apart, he took up the glass again, motioning it towards her once before bringing it back for a quick sip. "I know you keep particularly eclectic company, your love life's hardly what a person could call in line, and you're fond've your periodicals and print." He had run into her actually reading more than a handful of times, after all. "You've a sense for fashion and design, despite not particularly being one for what some'd consider the 'fineries'..." There was a particular inflection in the word as he motioned to her dress. "Though I can't say I blame you, honestly. Always been partial towards business wear myself." With a bounce of his brow, he took another sip, staring into the glass for the moment. "But to be quite blatantly honest, I can't say that I know much about you on a personal level. I haven't really gone digging like I would with most. I'm sure I've got my reasons for it..."
Obvious Illusion: "Oh? And what are your reasons, handsome?" Reader liked to tease. She certainly enjoyed catching a man off guard and took a bit of pleasure in it. He was certainly handsome, though. His genes were top-notch and his sense of style was definitely one her inner tailor-fingertips enjoyed. While his tie had been loosened long ago, Reader had so many inappropriate thoughts the middle of her tirade that she was surprised he hadn't noticed her stumble over her own words. But of course, those toes nudged against his leg again a little more insistent than before and she eventually swiped her foot back, bouncing it over the other knee as her legs had crossed and the dress rode up her bare thighs underneath the table. She wanted so much to gather up her long hair, twirl it, and clip it together at the back of her head. However, out of luck with a band or a claw, she suffered with it down. "I don't know too much about you, either. So I suppose fair is fair."_
Xavier Darnai: "Don't feel bad, most probably don't." Tak Tak Tak. The press against his shin continued to go without response, and after a glance at his glass, he tilted it back to drain out the last measure of the Scotch. Spinning it around in his grip, he lowered it to the table again and smoothly traded the tumbler for the bottle. Coiling his grip around the shoulders, the Balvanie was tilted and splashed against the inside of the glass before being rotated just enough to avoid wasting so much as a drop. Letting it rest on the table again next to the cap, he pulled his hand away from the bottle, but took up his lighter and cigarettes instead of the tumbler. Holding one of the filters between his teeth as he tugged it free of the pack, the lighter was flipped open, snapped to life with a quick fwashh as he watched the fire dance, and the first hit was drawn in swiftly. Snapping the lighter shut again, he set it down on the table and exhaled swiftly, giving the cigarette a quick bump against the tray where the previously murdered filter remained. "Full plate, making sure I know exactly what it is I still don't know yet, occupied resources, take your pick I suppose." Raising his brows, he pulled another deep hit off the cigarette, exhaling slowly around him.
Obvious Illusion: "Occupied resources? Occupied resources!?" As if that was enough to tick her off even more. Granted, she was sure that the man was certainly busy in his many business ventures. So, even though he seemed obtuse to the fact that she first, in a playful manner had nudged his leg, then... in a flirting manner had drawn her toes down his shin, now - she kicked him. She kicked that man's leg underneath the table with her eyes narrowed and a huff on her breath that set the curls bouncing and the table rattled just ever so slightly. As he had drawn that first breath in of the cigarette; she landed the strategic blow; per say. "As if I am not good enough to be 'looked into.' That's just about as bad as him asking me to pay the tip! This is why you don't get a date." She waved the fork at him. And in truth, she seemed back to being mildly irritated but indulged in another swipe of the chocolate over her tongue and seemed to not only sigh, but swipe his glass too! And she grabbed up his bottle, splashed a mouthful inside of the glass, and totally did not do that liquid justice as she brought it to her lips to swallow down and with the last mouthful of molten deliciousness. ::_
Xavier Darnai: PLUNK. As the echo rang out and he felt the weight of his leg shift, his right ankle came off his knee and planted to the ground. Raising an eyebrow, he looked down to the table, tilting slightly to the side as if to examine the front of his suit pants, he straightened up again and picked up his glass. "You're plenty good enough to be looked into, Reader. There's a bloody mystery surrounding you'n the lot you've spent your time with, but I'll be damned if I going to put a target on my back with the people I'd likely cross in the process've pulling up more information about you. I might still manage to congratulate you on finding out a bit about what I've got in my pants regardless, though I can't say that the method was particularly... typical." Lifting his leg back up, he set it onto his knee again with a lightly muted thunk. Stirring the glass around once, he lift it to his lips to take a sip, but paused first to briefly add. "And that's not why I don't get dates."
Obvious Illusion: The grimace perhaps was belated if not masked by the muffled sound she made into his glass. The liquid burned down her throat and she ended up sputtering up a cough that she quickly muffled the groan of her poor foot. She let loose a look of her narrowed eyes at him and yes - perhaps blamed him for not telling her sooner! She brought her injured foot back. Granted, it was only minimally tingling while she flexed her toes and knew it was oh so inappropriate to rub her bare feet at a dinner table, no matter where! Continuing with the conversation, she licked her lower lip. "What do you mean 'the lot I've spent my time with?' That business was nearly two years ago now. What is it that still might interest you about the time I gave to them and the time that I spend alone?" She arched a brow, still holding his glass hostage now that the burning at the back of her throat subsided and she sipped that too strong of a drink for her. No, she preferred her coffee. "I've no doubt, one day, I'll find out much more about what you've got in your pants let alone just how big it all is." Yes, Reader could be ruthless. ::_
Xavier Darnai: Xavier's eye twitched as his glass was taken away from him. He had shot people over less, but he had made promises to the establishment here that he wouldn't raise any trouble, especially after the incident with Ghost. Clicking his teeth once, he took another deep hit off the cigarette, staring at his tumbler for a moment as he exhaled slowly. "Sixty per cent've military intelligence work's knowing when to take credit for being lucky, Reader. The other forty per cent's all conjecture. Can't say I've got a lot've details about what you'd been mussing about two years ago, but that does certainly give me a good place to start when I go digging." Tapping the ash off his cigarette, his left hand rest against the table top. Tak Tak Tak. "Mostly I'd meant Walker and the few that'd call themselves familiar with your presence these days. Walker alone's a minefield, and snooping about in anything he considers his territory-- as erroneous as that may or may not be --is a bit like playing hopscotch in the bloody field." The allusion to his particulars hadn't gone unnoticed, but he did give a light shake of his head. "I imagine that the results've that inquiry'll likely disappoint, love."
Obvious Illusion: "Ah, then you don't mean the other lot of peoples that I once had thought more than mere acquaintances. An ex-fiance and all that business up and gone in a battle of misconceptions, aggrivation, and devastation. Loss, is all I can call the time before that. Walker... He's a good friend. I tease him mercilessly too. I've helped him out a time or two and he's helped me in return. I come and go and do as I please and I can't say there is much in between that. I once had a dream that I would fall in love, marry, and have a family of my own but that doesn't seem to be happening within the last couple of decades at least. So I work, and I sleep, and I feed, and I wonder if the man for me is out there or has yet to be reborn. Not... Of course that I'm too religious." She said nothing on consequence of his prosthesis. It did not surprise her, either. Oh, what could be done in today's age to make a leg look natural. She licked her lower lip and returned his glass to him. She even went so far as to gather her expensive cloth napkin and wipe the rim from her lipstick stain. "There isn't really much to know. You should just ask me instead of wasting your time talking to Walker. He wouldn't budge, as you've said. Might as well get it from the horse's mouth, no?"_
Xavier Darnai: It was amazing what a person could unintentionally fish up. A good portion of the intel he had ever gathered had been done without any real direct approach, though in this particular case it hadn't even been a goal. As his glass was returned, he looked to it and took the bottle, refilling it smoothly enough as both brows raised in agreement. Walker was not likely to budge, except to push back for perhaps the wrong reasons. "Family's the sort've thing that can end in bloody disaster if you're not careful about it." There was experience in his tone. "Especially if you or your partner're the type to hold a grudge." Most definitely experience in his tone. Picking up the glass and giving it a slow stir, he tilted his bandaged hand back and pulled a deep haul from the tumbler full of Scotch, lowering it again before bringing his cigarette up for a slow hit. The smoke spilled out of him as he spoke. "I've no doubt you're more than willing to share your history, or at least I'd hope that's the case after seeing others so willingly hand out details I know some'd prefer to keep quiet, but I've always believed that listening to an account's fine, and verification's never a bad idea. It's true you can never be certain, but some times you can be bloody well sure."
Obvious Illusion: "No, you can never be cautious enough. I'd like to think my existence here within [REDACTED] has been a decent one. I don't have too many kinks or bad habits unless you count lonely Saturday evenings spend poolside with a good book. And even then, that's not much of a bad habit as it is a dash of pathetic, a hint of resistance, and a slice of not knowing anyone I'm willing to spend my time with. You, Xavier, are perhaps the only one I'm not so sure about lately. I enjoy this, though. Our little meetings. I like the time I spend with you. You aren't like those that look pretty, open your mouth, and shit comes out. You've not sat there and judged me for something I might have done. You've not asked something of me and expected an answer and charged me sin for it. I couldn't live my life knowing that someone I thought I loved only loved the idea of being with someone because they couldn't stand to be alone. It hurts. But one gets over it in time. So history... Well, as far as the past two years go? I have an estate, and I keep to it if I'm not working. I should invite you over sometime, maybe... On a Saturday." She finally took a breath, and looked down to her plate. There were a lot of emotions that had crossed her face, from disappointment to frustration; but all of her words were true. She ate the last bite of cake and sighed. She played with her hair again, pushing it to lay against her back once more. ::_
Xavier Darnai: It was a lot of information to take in at once, but he had a habit of doing that when people didn't quite expect it. Sitting back a bit he let the cigarette rest in the tray as he started to push up the sleeves of his jacket, then rolling his shirt up to match. "Everyone makes judgements, calling out the one you've made's rarely a self sacrifice worth making. Occasionally it might put a person in their place, but only if you're the smartest person in the room. Otherwise you just look like an insufferable twat." Taking the filter of his cigarettein his right hand again, he lift his glass and took another sip of the double-aged liquor. "Can't say I've much in the way've personal holdings myself at the moment. Had to give a lot've it up when I had someone put a round through my chest a few years back. Downside to having possessions is that people willing to kill you tend to know how to track you down through'em." Unfortunately, giving up all your legal posessions had downsides too. "Still, where's this estate've yours."
Obvious Illusion: "There is nothing wrong with judgement, in truth. It is how those do it when they say one thing and expect something different. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander and when it is not, there is hell to pay." She let out a breath, watching him pour more of that substance into his glass and she took to her pile of 'work' off to the side. She pulled it in front of her and gave herself something to sort while she spoke to the man. "It is just on the border of [REDACTED]. It's called The Death Estate. I had a fancy sign put up on the gate and everything." But that didn't keep anyone away, Reader thought. It only let the demons fester. There were no regrets in her past actions. When they were misinterpreted; it was her gain and the other's loss. "How much of your body is metal?" She asked, not quite wanting to change the subject - but she was curious. ::_
Xavier Darnai: He was familiar with the estate by name, a mental relic from a time when he had spent most of his days pouring over intel reports meant for various agencies. Keeping the glass slightly off balance as he sat there, he spun it around in his bandaged fingers on the tilted axis, idly watching how the golden liquid rolled over the smooth surface. A simple nod was offered in acknowledgement of her home's location, but it was the question that followed that captured the majority of his attention. Tak Tak--. Pausing for a moment, he brought the cigarette to his lips for another hit, exhaling swiftly after. --Tak. "I suppose that'd depend a bit on the perspective." Snuffing out the cigarette after one last hit, exhaling shortly after, he gave a slight tilt and turn of his head. "More than enough to make commercial travel complicated. Somewhere around half by volume." It was a rough estimate at best, after ll it was hardly as if it was a perfect split down the middle.
