Tactics [Closed]

[smokeandwires]

WHO: Youji (smokeandwires), Jade (necroshmancer), and Peony (peony_the_ninth)
WHAT: Info-gathering meeting
WHERE: Moonflower Teas
WHEN: Before Youji visits the Madam.

Comments

[smokeandwires]

Youji nodded, completely understanding. "As I had things to speak to you about as well, it might be for the best to let His Highness come on his own time."

He waited for Jade to place his order and for the waiter to walk away before speaking. "I'm not sure what you know about me, what others have said or what you have gleaned from the journals, but I assure first and foremost that I'm only trying to gather information in order to get everyone home. Some people may be content to stay here-" A subtle jab at Weiss. "-But I for one would like a full explanation as to what's dragged us here, why it did so, and how we can get ourselves dragged back."

He leaned forward, elbows on the table and resting his chin on his folded hands. "That's one of the reasons I wish to talk to the Emperor. I've seen in his entries that he's very well read when it comes to the journals. He's also been the only person who's had his journal successfully hacked, for good or for bad. It might be a sensitive subject, but I figured that there must be something we can learn from it after all."

Scanning the place quickly for eavesdroppers, he continued after a moment of silence. "The reason I'd like to talk to you, Colonel, is because of the officers. You are military, you understand the hierarchy and mentality better than I could hope to. But most importantly," he finished, hoping he wasn't assuming too much. "I was hoping you were something of a strategist as well."

[peony_the_ninth]

It had taken Peony a little while to find the tea-shop. The Emperor wasn't terribly good with directions, and he had been distracted by how nice the weather had been. A scenic route to the 'Moonflower' had taken a bit longer than expected. If Jade tried to complain about tardiness though, Peony would remind his Colonel that he was lucky Peony was coming at all. After that ham sandwich and his best friend's lack of empathy, the Emperor wasn't quite sure he felt like eating at all ever again! (The idea of tea and biscuits however, had already caused his stomach to growl.)

Pushing open the door, the blonde man smiled to a serving girl and looked around the room. He caught sight of Youji and Jade right away, and smiled with a wave. His irritation at Jade was quickly dissipating, aided by the large assortment of sweets and pastries on display.

[necroshmancer]

"The officers..." A smile slowly etched itself on Jade's features, but it held no warmth, on the contrary, it was downright sinister, "To be frank, if these were my men they would have been stripped of their command and thrown in the brig... or worse. The Malkuth military is for soldiers, not for boorish rodomonts. We must always remember our role is but to serve..."

Jade caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over his shoulder to see Peony enter the teahouse. He seemed to be of a much better disposition than earlier, smiling and waving. Hopefully, none of the cookies served in this establishment contained lard...

[smokeandwires]

It was actually a good thing that Jade was pissed. The officers really weren't doing things by the books. Although maybe they were just serving the nonsensical wants of their Queen, but killing a prisoner without provocation didn't seem like something even she would do.

Then, Peony arrived. Still playing the role, and having no desire to find out what Malkuthian customs dictated for those disrespectful to the throne, Youji stood up from his seat. He planned on treating this situation with the utmost care... Though diplomat he was not.

[peony_the_ninth]

Before he headed over to the table with the two men, Peony wanted to pick out one of the delicious looking pastries from behind the counter. He loved it when they were flaky and still warm from the oven, and didn't want to chance getting one after they had cooled.
The blonde pressed a tan finger to his lips, gazing over the vast selection before settling on a chocolate danish. "Thanks!" Now that serious business had been acomplished, he walked over to the table where Jade and Youji had stationed themselves.

"Hey! Youji was it? Nice to meet you." Peony smiled warmly to the man, taking a seat at the table beside Jade. "It's still warm, I think I found my new favourite place." Taking a bite out of the treat, he motioned for Youji to sit down casually.

[necroshmancer]

Jade watched Youji as he stood up respectfully at Peony's arrival. He probably should muster something, if only a jaunty little salute, to keep up appearances, but after the harangue he received over his sandwich, he felt like being a bit rebellious.

Not that he had really bothered with formalities since they arrived in Rivelata... which as a result put them both in a very uncomfortable position that made a very tangled mess out of their lives... or at least his own.

Jade stood up.

"Your Highness."

[smokeandwires]

Youji sat after Peony directed him to do so. He immediately noticed a rather cool air between the two, which, after Jade's comment, made sense. He knew he'd have to speak carefully if he wanted both men to cooperate with him and with each other.

"Thank you for coming, Your Highness," he said, bowing his head. "I've already begun speaking with your Colonel, but my purpose here this evening is to get some information.... hopefully, information that will help get us out of here."

[peony_the_ninth]

"This is the most amazing danish I've ever had. You two should get one before they're cold!" Peony preferred a casual approach to business. It was much more to his advantage to play a 'fool' than to play a very aware and serious ruler. People were more likely to slip up, more likely to show him their true nature. Youji didn't look like an upstart, but Peony wasn't about to drop his smile right away.

"Information?" He brushed away a few crumbs from his lips with a tan thumb, leaning back in the wooden chair. "Or do you mean gossip? Because I have a lot of one, and not much of the other." A relaxed laugh, followed by an inquisitive smirk.

[necroshmancer]

Jade sat back down, pushed back his glasses, and added to his friend's comment, his posture as stiff as Peony's was informal:

"I have to agree with His Majesty: solid, useful information has been hard to come by here. Everything seems to be shrouded in secrecy, and the people who know are definitely not talking to us."

Almost absentmindedly, he brushed away the crumbs Peony had liberally sprinkled on the tablecloth.

"That being said, His Majesty does know a considerable number of people in Rivelata... I on the other hand, am more of a soldier than a diplomat. I do not really... mingle."

[smokeandwires]

Youji waved a hand casually to dismiss the serious air. "Actually, gossip would be incredibly useful. Especially since I see that His Highness is an avid follower of the journals.

"I'll be upfront with you," he decided at the moment. "In the world where I come from, I was an investigator. My goal here is to find holes in the bureaucracy at this point. I want to find where the Queen or her men have slipped up. If there is a weak spot, I would like to exploit it. Reveal them for what they really are and give others the opportunity to deal out justice."

He took a deep breath. That was the plan in a nutshell. Not the typical case for him to take on, but good enough. "Surely, the two of you are tired of just sitting around waiting as well. I'd just like to know if anything I've just mentioned has appeared in any journal entries."

[necroshmancer]

"I won't lie", answered Jade, "I am very interested in any possibility of returning His Majesty to our world. And while I intend to cause as little trouble as possible while I am here -for the sake of self-preservation, of course- I am open to investigating and information gathering."

The only question was... how much to share.
And whether or not he could be trusted to share information back.
Jade briefly pondered his usual intimidating parlor tricks, but he thought Peony might dislike such tactics.
But then, Peony disliked his bacon-and-egg morning routine and it never stopped him.

"Feel free to ask your questions... the more specific the better... although", he added casually almost as an afterthought, "I would like to make sure that information will be flowing both ways. Otherwise I might be... very cross."

He pushed his glasses up his nose, and startled exclamations rose from the table next to them, as the tablecloth burst into flames nearly high enough to lick at the ceiling beams. Waitresses rushed forward with pitchers or water to put it out as panic took hold of some of the customers, but Jade's crimson gaze stayed fixed on Youji.

Inwardly, Jade cursed, he still had difficulties controlling the intensity of his artes, now that he had unlocked his fon slot seal, and that was a bit more than he had planned...

[peony_the_ninth]

Peony raised a brow as Jade's display.
Sometimes he had to wonder which of the two of them was the rash one. It certainly wasn't Peony all the time.

"Gossip is about the only thing I can give you." A smile and nod, ignoring the tea-shop workers milling up the now partially blackened and soggy table. "However as my Colonel mentioned, I think it's only fair that we have an equal trade. If you don't follow the journals enough to know the gossip, what exactly do you have to offer?" A smirk touched upon his full lips.
He remembered well what had been said in almost entry, Peony had a good memory. He wasn't sure how much of it would be useful to Youji, but if Youji had something useful for them..

"It's already quite apparent the Queen is an evil bitch, you don't have to look hard to find that out." Peony didn't usually swear, but in her case, it was hard not to use more than a single profanity.

1/2

[smokeandwires]

Jade's display was probably overkill, but Youji only flinched a little. He was used to people with abilities and most of the time having those abilities used against him. He quickly shrugged it off.

Of course, Youji knew what came next in the little dance of negotiation. They wanted to know what their cooperation was worth. What Youji could possibly give them in exchange.

He had of course dwelled on such things before the meeting. He still had another person to meet with after this, so it wasn't as though he could use information from them. However, he did have a few points of interest to bring up.

"I'm afraid that I'm nowhere near as informed as the two of you are, seeing as you both have been here longer," he began. "But I have found several things on my own.

"First of interest would be to find out if either of you know a boy named Hitachiin Kaoru. There was a theory that he mentioned that I thought might mean something. Some superstition about twins.

"Secondly," he said, reaching inside of his pocket for a folded piece of paper. "My... friends and I are staying in a house, the same as anyone else. However, the house that we were in was strangely furnished, as if someone were still living there. There was barely any dust on the furniture. Upstairs in the house, I found what looked like a child's room. On a vanity, I found this letter."

2/2

[smokeandwires]

He laid the letter out on the table for Jade and Peony to inspect. It was written in a childish scrawl and looked jagged at the end, as if it had been abruptly cut off.

"Today, Mama said she'd take me shopping. I'm so excited! Papa says that the Queen is going to make an announcement soon. I wonder what"

Youji sat back, letting them read. "If there were people in these houses before, then all this stuff I've been reading about a field of bodies is highly suspect. I think that's what happens when the Queen gets bored with her toys."

Re: 2/2

[necroshmancer]

Jade held a carefully construction expression of intense boredom etched on his face. That was what Peony called his "negotiation expression", which he would usually follow with a quip about how Jade should play cards.

Jade hated cards. Although he had to admit he had won quite a bit of gald in the Keterburg casino... when there was great need for it.

So they were... tolerable, he supposed.
As long as one kept them close... and made sure not to give their hand away.

"A field of body, you say. Did anyone see this field of bodies or is it just a rumour. What do you think, Your Highness, should we cooperate with the detective?"

Re: 2/2

[peony_the_ninth]

"I've heard about the field of bodies on multiple occasions." Peony tapped the tip of his nose, glancing over to Jade. Youji's info rang true, though the letter was obviously nothing anyone had ever found before.

"From what I saw and heard, your opinion is shared amongst most of who went and saw the field. As Batman's rescue team headed back to the city though, they mass-cremated the entire thing. I doubt there's any evidence there now."