Arrival, why are the trains always late in Italy?

[l_giuseppeadama]

WHO: Giuseppe Adama and Open
WHAT: Gipo arrives in Reggio
WHEN: December 8, evening
WHERE: Reggio Calabria Centrale Train Station, the beach between the station and the Don's house

Comments

[cheapredlights]

There's a classy guy right there. Roger ran a hand through his bleached hair and snuffed out his cigarette as he half-eyed the guy heading out of the train station. He had a newish sort of look to him, not the defensive look civilians had or that aggressive, subtle thing about the mafia. This wasn't to say that he looked harmless, exactly; given his clothes and his posture, Roger guessed that this was some rich guy coming in from some place else, maybe to work for some house or some contractor or to make his own name. He chewed his lip and scratched his arm before tugging a sleeve over the tractmarks and thinking. Integral had told him to lay low after his sheer genius; he had for a while.

It was getting pretty boring. There was something lame about doing tiny gigs being generally solitary. But this looked like a fun person to talk to - maybe he'd even had something interesting to say.

"Hey man," he said, from the building where he was leaning. He pulled another cigarette out. "Got a light?"

Gipo Adama

[l_giuseppeadama]

Gipo turned toward his questioner not allowing himself to display any tension but still alert. The guy in front of him had blond spiky hair and was perhaps a bit older than himself. By his clothing he didn't seem to be anyone overly important, but Gipo never assumed about such things. Slumming could be an interesting diversion.

As he walked toward the guy he pulled his grandfather's lighter out of his pocket. His father had given it to him and then taken it back but somehow he'd ended up with it again. He wasn't sure how. Opening the cover he flicked the striker and cautiously held out his hands to the other man.

"Do you know where Via Crocifisso is?" he asked innocuously.

Re: Gipo Adama

[cheapredlights]

"Thanks, dude," he said, taking a deep lungful of cancer. Roger was a man of his vices, all right, but he savored every last bit of it, all the relaxing in smoking and doing drugs and playing guitar and having a good time. "You want one?" He offered the pack to the alert-looking guy, silently sizing him up. He knew what he was getting into, with that kind of look. Maybe mafia-involved.

Maybe. He'd ask Intregral when she got out of jail.

His Italian geography was sketchy at best, even living in the city for a while. Generally he tended to walk around in somewhat of a haze. But he was pretty sure he knew where the guy was talking about. "Yeah, down that way." He pointed. "You new around here? Why the fuck would you come to this shithole?"

Gipo Adama

[l_giuseppeadama]

"Prego" He waved the pack away, "Never smoke the things, I much prefer a good cigar."

Lee started walking in the direction the guy had indicated. "New? Perhaps."

"Why the fuck would you come to this shithole?"

So maybe not a player but apparently one who knew at least something about the situation. In any case he preferred to keep his confidences until he knew a little more.

"Perhaps I have interests here, perhaps not. New places always intrigue me and this was the next one to turn up."

"Have you had dinner yet? Maybe you can show me to a good local restaurant, nothing fancy just an excellent sauce will do, and tell me some more about this shithole. On me of course."

He was not above appearing magnanimous to gain some up to date information on the struggle going on here, even if it was just from the perspective of the local populace.

Re: Gipo Adama

[cheapredlights]

"Well, the mysterious type, huh? I can play that game." He laughed a little, sort of derisive. That wasn't suspicious at all. Not at all. "Can't believe that out of all the new places you had to choose our lovely Reggio di Calabria. Then again, that's how I wound up here too, you know?"

Dinner? Roger was always up for the prospect of food, and especially delicious food that he didn't have to pay for. He found he could put up with almost anyone at the prospect of being paid for. He scratched the inside of his sleeve and shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, sure. You like diners? I know a rocking one on the other side of the river, but it's kind of in the other direction. Great fucking food, though. And pretty cheap."

And how did this guy like the idea of being in Vescovo territory anyway? If he was mafia-aligned, it was something he would know. They were in Monacello now, but going to the other side of the river...

"What do you think?"

Gipo Adama

[l_giuseppeadama]

Gipo remained nonchalant and held out his hand "It's Gipo, by the way. So you chose to come here too? Reasons are for later though I think."

"Is the place too loud? Like I said it doesn't have to be fancy, and families, kids and such are fine. But let's just say I am in the mood for a more relaxed dinner."

And how did this guy like the idea of being in Vescovo territory anyway? If he was mafia-aligned, it was something he would know. They were in Monacello now, but going to the other side of the river...

OOC - Actually I was meaning the Centrale Rail Station which, along with the Pensione, is in Vescovo territory. Calabria Train Stations. Although it does look on the map like there is something extending to the tracks in Monacello territory it's not shown as a station on this map. The other two stations are in the outskirts of each territory.

Re: Gipo Adama

[cheapredlights]

"Roger, nice to meet you."

Sort of a fucked-up name, but Roger wasn't going to start going to town on this guy until after he'd been bought food. And then probably not after because he found himself generally a nicer guy after he'd been fed.

"Yeah, sort of wandered here. Personally, I don't think it's loud, especially if you get a corner booth. I mean, it's bad at noon and dinnertime, but this late it should be fine. I'll show, we can have a little tour. It'll be a good time."

Gipo Adama

[l_giuseppeadama]

Gipo retained his outwardly placid appearance but remained wary. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of wandering around in an unfamiliar place in the dark. He'd memorized the maps of Reggio Calbria and knew exactly where his pensione was. So he wanted to retain a picture in his mind of the quickest way to get there taking into account the route they took to the restaurant. Wandering around wasn't conducive to that imperative either.

"Not likely I'll see much in the dark," he said genially. "Perhaps we should leave the tour for another time, after we get to know each other better. Besides, like you said, it's rather late and I'm ready to eat. You can tell me all about the town over dinner. Lead on then."

Re: Gipo Adama

[cheapredlights]

He lead them deeper into Vescovo territory, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck raise but trying to keep cool. After all, he was totally uninvolved from the recent bombings, or so everyone thought. He made a note to call Integral again after all of this and meandered over to the diner, un morso di mangiere - definitely his favorite place to go when strung out. He wasn't really always here, mostly because it was pretty far away to where he was, but special occasions were special occasions. He found them a booth to sit at and scratched at his head again, then glanced at the menu brought to him.

"So, how'd you end up wandering here? You play, too?"

Re: Gipo Adama

[l_giuseppeadama]

((OOC - sorry for the delay in responding. We had an ice storm and the power was out when I woke this morning. It did not come back on until almost 4 PM))Play? An interesting word that could mean many things. He would continue to play the game for a while longer. He was well aware that the two of them were now dancing around one another. He sat and leaned forward with his forearms on the table, hands clasped in front of him

Re: Gipo Adama

[cheapredlights]

"Yeah, as in music. What do you think I meant, fuck? I mean, fucking is cool too, but making a living out of it seems basically like a huge bummer. A lot of sex involved, but maybe with seriously ugly people. Don't look at me like that, dude."

He reached for the pack again and held out his hand to Gipo, obviously expecting the lighter to be placed in it. "That's how I ended up here, at least. I used to be in New York City, but my band fucking sucked so I wandered around Europe till I found a pretty cool bunch here. So now I'm here. Experiences?"

He grinned wryly at that. "Oh, plenty. A could of attempted-muggings, all solved with a knife and a solid right hook - and some good gigs. Pretty boring, if you ask me."

Gipo Adama

[l_giuseppeadama]

Gipo shrugged his shoulders and continued to look at Roger returning the character of his dinner companion's smile. He pulled out the lighter, flipped it open, and struck it, leaning forward again to light Roger's smoke.

"Play then no. Music is not something my early life offered me much experience of, really no purpose in trying it now."

"So you make a living with your music then?"

He leaned back meaning to get comfortable in his seat again but just then the waiter arrived. Brushing the menu away he told him, "Un piccolo antipasto, pasta marinara, con una caraffa di vino rosso, piacere." He nodded and pointed to Roger and settled himself back comfortably again.

Re: Gipo Adama

[cheapredlights]

"You're the best, dude."

Sweet, sweet nicotine. Roger loved being a man of his vices. "Oh, that's weak. Music's fucking rickin. been playing since I was like, five years old, you know? My mom got me a fuckin' little tykes guitar and I loved that thing. But yeah... that's how it is. I mean, it's kind of a shitty life, you know, because you don't spend that much time in fancy restaurants and shit, but you do what you love. I fucking love music. I play in gigs all around the city, you should come some time."

Let's see, the guy was paying for him? Well.

"I'll have, uh...a double cheeseburger with everything on it, and baked potato, fries, and onion rings. And a coke. Thanks, dude." After the waiter had gone, he leaned back and felt pretty good about himself. "Sort of attached to American food, could you tell?

Gipo Adama

[l_giuseppeadama]

Gipo nodded in response to the thanks.

He chuckled at Roger's assessment of his order. "Whatever works. A good meal is a pleasure no matter what you like."

"I'll consider coming for the music sometime. One should always consider broadening one's horizons."

"So you were going to tell me about the city. How does one catch the pulse of the life here?"

((OCC - When I was in Naples on a brief active duty Mom asked me to get her some of the cheese she uses for grating. I was shocked when I went into the deli on the base and found all they carried was the American stuff that they shipped over there! Utterly ridiculous; I went and found a deli off base.))

Re: Gipo Adama

[cheapredlights]

"I spend a lot of time in bars, people talk, you know?" He took a drag of his cigarette. "They just go on and on about their stuff and whatever, because I guess in bars no one cares who's listening? And then people figure shit out and stuff happens. Also, the network. Just hang out there and pick up some hacking skills and I bet you could learn a fuckton of shit. Not even a little bit of shit. But you know, most of the time it's just people whining about their lost kittens and their lost boyfriends." He rolled his eyes. "So I don't know, those are probably the two big onds, if you ask me. "

Re: Gipo Adama

[l_giuseppeadama]

Gipo realized he was going to have to re-learn to cultivate the virtue of patience. That was not something that made him tremendously happy, he'd grown fond of the almost instantaneous gratification his last few months of activities had brought him.

A computer though? He'd gleaned much in the time just before leaving his father's company, knowing he'd planned to be going elsewhere. Knowledge was a valuable thing when one had a bone to pick.

"Lost kittens and boyfriends, surely there are more, shall we say, relevant topics discussed."

He reached to pour himself a glass of the wine that had just been delivered then picked up his fork to sample his antipasto.