Booze And Intimidation

Participants:

dong-tian_icon.gif gael2_icon.gif melissa_icon.gif

Scene Title Booze and Intimidation
Synopsis Dong-tian decides to make a business proposal to Melissa, and Gael holds potentially useful information.
Date November 27, 2010

Tartarus


Since it's winter in New York city, it might be expected that people would dress for the weather. But apparently goths are not that smart, since they're dressed…well, the same as they dress in the summer. Which means a large percentage are scantily clad. But then, Saturday night, the club is packed and on the dance floor it's got to be warm enough to accomodate such dress.

Even Melissa is guilty of dressing for style rather than warmth, though she did wear a coat that's been left in the office. Tonight it's black leather, pants and corset, both covered with straps shiny silver buckles. She's long since gotten over being worried about showing her scars, which…she's doing. Shoulders, arms and forehead. Scars are sexay, dammit.

For the moment she's perched on a stool at the end of the bar, one foot propped up on a rung, a glass of amber colored liquid in one hand, the other resting on her thigh as she scans the club for signs of trouble.

The one smart thing about the fashion is that it involves a lot of heat-absorbing black, so the ones who don't look like strippers are quite warm indeed, despite the harsh cold outside. Not nearly as bad as the deep freeze last year, but still.

From Gael's perspective, the club and its predominant style offers another advantage: with the lights turned down, and many of the young folk dressed to draw attention to themselves, it's easy to overlook the older man hanging out near the end of the bar. Black jeans, dark blue shirt, nothing flashy. With money tight in recent months, he's sticking to a glass of water for the time being.

"«I hate when old creepy men sit alone in these places..»"

The Chinese sentiment is all but lost on it's target in a far section of the club. This part of the club seems mostly.. well all asian. A perimeter of tough looking Chinese young men surround the inner circle, who stand near each other quietly. A few young women fawn over a few of the gang members, though as they are want to do the men act like they barely notice them. The two most immaculately dressed triads hang at the wall, watching the club quietly. Identical to each other, the men only vary in their dress.

One in a white suit, the other in black. Bu xiu the Immortal twins, sip on their drinks quietly with their eyes on everyone in the club. Xue's eyes flit on the old man one of the younger triads had mentioned, his eyes sway down the bar slowly. When they land on Melissa an elbow goes out to nudge his twin. A motion with his chin has the other Ghost Shadow looking on the young woman.

Oh hey, it's a familiar face, and one that isn't pale white with black makeup slapped on. Melissa slips off her stool, moving towards Gael, looking amused. "Can't say I expected to see you in here. The goth thing really didn't seem to be your sorta scene. You seemed more…I don't know, something more dressed and classier or something," she says, shrugging and lifting her glass to sip, then leaning an elbow against the bar.

Gael gives Melissa's outfit an equally amused once-over, but - perhaps to the surprise of the Chinese contingent - there's no hint of leering to it. What is he, gay or something? "A year ago, I would have been," he admits. "These days— well. Cover charge here is cheaper." And staying home would be cheaper still, but he has his reasons.

Shoving from their perch, the Immortal twins move in perfect unison. Even to the very way they hold their drinks, the brothers fluidly move away from the wall. As soon as they start to move, a few of the outlying Ghost Shadows move as well. The crowds make a small buffer for the gangsters to move through. Arriving at the bar, two of the triads stand on either side of the twins.

Despite their new perch, near Melissa and Gael the twins hardly seem to look at the pair. Dong-tian knocks on the bar gently, hardly close to the level of noise needed to gain attention in this bar. Despite the half assed effort, a overworked and busy bartender rapidly moves to await Dong-tian's order. "Tequila sunrise." The lightly accented voice sounds out smoothly. His twin flails a hand out with two fingers up.

"Don't normally charge friends a cover charge. I'll put you on the list for next time," Melissa says, nodding to Gael. "And all things considered, it'd be shitty of me to make you pay a cover charge." Going into space is a bonding experience, after all. The new arrivals have her glancing over, studying the twins then their shadows, not even trying to hide the scrutiny. The bartender is glanced at, and a mental note made to give him a big tip later.

"I didn't know this was your club," Gael replies, "otherwise I might've said something at the door." Then again, maybe not; he's been trying to avoid calling attention to himself whenever possible.

"Who's the guy with the muscle?" he adds, inclining his head in the general direction of the twins. "If they're looking for revenge…" It seems like an outside chance, but one worth paying close attention to, regardless.

When the drinks are served, the Chinese twins look down at their glasses stoically. After a moment Dong-tian, the one in the black suit lets out a disappointed noise. Looking up at the bartender, the triad leans forward slowly. "You.. You forgot my cherry." Xue shifts uneasily at the bar as well. Leaning closer, the other twin points at his drink.

"Mine. As well." The two triads flanking them, turn to stare at the bartender impatiently. Dong-tian glances down the bar, his gaze fixing on Melissa for a long moment. Despite that, he remains silent.

"It's not mine, I just manage it. But the boss gives me pretty much free reign since I do a damn good job managing it," Melissa says with a shrug. Another glance at the twins and she shakes her head. "I doubt it's revenge," she murmurs to Gael, her brow furrowing as she watches them harass the poor bartender. "Gentlemen…It's an honest mistake. It's busy as hell in here tonight. He'll get your cherries as soon as he can," she says, flashing a bright, but fake, smile.

Gael shrugs. "If you say so." He's run across Chinese toughs on a few occasions in the past, but he's still not exactly familiar with them. Keeping watch out of the corner of his eye, he makes a show of studying the rack of bottles behind the bar, for whenever the twins decide to let the bartender move on.

As soon as the cherries are delivered the heat that practically emanates from the twins eyes dissipates. And in complete unison the twins turn perfectly in synch to face Melissa. The drinks are picked up exactly the same time, and tipped back into their throats as well. Placed back down on the bar, Dong-tian eyes Melissa for a long moment.

"You are… manager?" The last word is said as if it is very difficult to say. The drink is tilted back once again before delivered to the bar.

Melissa straightens, no longer leaning against the bar, and she nods. "I am. Is there something I can help you gentlemen with?" she asks, keeping the same bright smile on her face and accompanying it with a friendly tone. At least for now.

"Name?" Dong-tian asks, rather politely despite being a brooding gangster. Xue works on his drink more fastidiously while Dong-tian plays politics. "I am Dong-tian. Do you know who I am?" He asks with genuine curiosity, arching his brow lightly.

Brows lift and Melissa's head tilts. She glances to Gael, then back to Dong-tian, before she shakes her head. "Can't say that I do. Should I?" She can be polite as well, since he hasn't done anything, yet, to warrant kicking him out of the club. "And I'm Melissa."

Gael doesn't volunteer his own name, at least not right away; he waits for the latest arrival to explain his own importance, while he takes advantage of the twins' departure to order a shot of something 80-ish proof for himself.

"Perhaps." Dong-tian smiles broadly. "Should you be expecting a triad hitman?" Dong-tian asks quietly, leaning forward with emotions drained from his face. Finally the blank stare at her is broken, a smile gracing his face. Laughter rings out, as he waves a dismissive hand. A joke! Right? "I may have a business proposal for you and your employer." Dong-tian offers levelly. "We have a few grand investments in the city now… We are doing our best to expand. And we have a few… developments that could make both of us a lot of money."

The smile doesn't fade, but something changes in Melissa's eyes, and she leans in a little bit too. "I don't have jack to do with the triads, no. And as you can see, others have tried, and failed, to kill me in the past," she says, lightly tapping her newest scar on her right shoulder, the one that's still healing.

She leans back and again perches on a stool. "I can't say if me or my employer will be at all interested until you expand a little more on that. Developments doesn't exactly give me any information, now does it?"

Meanwhile, Gael's drink arrives, and he closes a hand over it, pulling it closer but not lifting it just yet. He continues to listen in on the others, remaining quiet himself: if Dong-tian wasn't following the conversation earlier, then he's not in the mood to lay all his cards down on the table unprompted. Not for something that could easily turn sour on short notice.

"It was a joke. Miss Melissa. I am trying to be mysterious and enigmatic." Dong-tian explains swiftly with a hint of agitation. "Yet slightly intimidating." He gives a solid nod. Not seeming to mind his need to narrate himself any longer he continues on. "Loud beats is not the place for business talk. If you are interested, we can meet for lunch at some point." His hand comes upward as if expecting something. Xue slaps a card into Dong-tian's hand. The white card is slapped on the desk in front of Melissa. The card has only a phone number printed on it.

He doesn't seem to be succeeding on the intimidation, since Melissa looks unworried. She does pick up the card though, glancing it over before she nods and slides it into the top of her corset. No pockets, where else is she supposed to put it? "I'll consider it," she says, picking up her drink and sipping, giving Gael another glance, one brow arched.

Gael indulges in a brief eye-roll while the other man's attention remains trained on Melissa. It's like a pick-up line with a side order of 'shame if something happened'. He still doesn't directly comment - the offer is too open-ended, yet - merely lifts his drink in silent acknowledgment before taking a sip. And wincing, discovering that the 80 has built up to more like 100 during its shelf time.

"Good." Dong-tian murmurs gently. Taking his drink, it is tilted back so the rest is drained. Slamming the empty glass on the bar, Dong-tian gestures to the rest of the Chinese men. "«Let's go.»" Taking a step away from the bar, the Chinese contingent makes their way for the exit.

The Chinese men are watched for a moment before Melissa shakes her head and turns to face Gael directly. "Well that was fun," she says, sarcasm evident in her voice. "Wonder if he's wanting to use the club for drugs or money laundering," she says, nose wrinkling before she tosses back the rest of her drink.

"Maybe both, if you're lucky," replies Gael, shaking his head. The Evolved may have made prominent headlines in recent years, but the old traditional vices are far from disappearing. "Supposing he doesn't take no for an answer?"

Melissa arches a brow and smirks faintly. "You remember what I did on our trip, right? I can do the opposite. Giving instead of taking. A couple of triad punks don't worry me, even if they happen to be evolved." Man she's cocky. Or just doesn't care anymore.

Oh, he remembers just fine— and he got an idea of the flip side too, for that matter. "You're assuming they attack you. At close enough range. Which they might, but… it wouldn't hurt to have a backup plan, in case."

"Well the only other person they could attack is somewhere they can't get to, or otherwise under the protection of people scarier than I am," Melissa says, shrugging. "I don't have a lot of people who matter anyway." A thought which seems to put her in a more thoughtful mood. Sad, but thoughtful.

Gael inclines his head. "Fair enough," he murmurs, working his way through the rest of his drink a little at a time. "I should probably head back out before long— have to limit how much I go out, at least until certain watchdogs are called off." Not bloody likely, his tone suggests.

“Mmm. Well, I doubt they'll be looking for you here. I mean, I've never seen them in here. Which is a damn good thing. I won't have those jackasses in this club," Melissa says, going from sad to fiercely protective in the blink of an eye. "You don't get out much anymore though? Sounds sucky. You get bored though and wanna hang or get a drink without worrying, there's always my office," she offers.

"Appreciated. I've been trying to pull together enough people to do something more than just hang… but it's a slow process." He used to know what a personal life was like; these days, he's mostly lost touch with the idea. "I'm sure I'll be around from time to time."

"What do you mean more than just hang? What is it you've got in mind?" Melissa asks, brows lifting, and she motions to the bartender with her empty glass, not looking over. But he knows her well enough to just give her a refill without hesitation. Must please the boss!

Gael sets his glass aside, not pushing for a refill yet - the first round is plenty for now. "No one specific thing right now— but the issues we dealt with at my old job are still out there. The old crowd's still in hiding, and you know about the new crowd."

Melissa's nose wrinkles. "Let's not talk about your old job. We're getting along so well. But yeah, I know about the new crowd. I despise the new crowd even more than I did the old one." Which is saying a lot given that the old crowd shoved her in jail. "And I get what you mean. May be able to help you with that, but I'll have to check a few things first."

He doesn't take it personally, the Company was a big organization after all. "Again, I appreciate it— every little bit, at this point. I'll keep you posted, there's someone working from the inside but nothing definite yet."

"Really?" Interest shows on Melissa's face as she falls silent for a long moment, then nods. "Yeah, definitely keep me up to date. I'd like to hear more about this inside person. Anyway. Enjoy your drink. I should probably get back to work," she says, rising to her feet.


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