That Poor Barista

Adam Compton] She had taken all of the paperwork with her, and it had been driving him crazy for the past two days. He'd called her. Twice. Left messages, and finally when he couldn't get ahold of her he'd left this message. Meet me at the Coffee Bean on such and such a street at ten tomorrow morning. And had left it at that. Which is why he's standing at the window of the Coffee Bean glancing at his watch in agitation. A coffee steams happily on the table in front of him as he peers out at the street. Distracted from the brew by his anticipation of her arrival. He wants to win this case dammit, and that is just the half of why he's so interested in finding out what she found out. He wants to know why Wellington's ghost was creeping around the office building, but most of all he wants to know why someone tampered with the elevator. And who that someone was... One can imagine that he's running on adrenaline. Not having slept much in the past two days. Call him paranoid, but when a mysterious figure messes with mechanical locomotion devices with the intention of harming you. Well, paranoid is a good way to be. [K. R. Jakes] Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 5, 7, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] Academics + Investigation Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] The Coffee Bean isn't too far from Kage's apartment, but it's far enough away that Kage contemplates whether or not she should take her pickup. It looks like rain, and it's cold. Not cold enough for the heavy winter gear, not yet, but nonetheless: it's cold. In the end, she decided to take a walk. That old fog blue raincoat, the one with elegant lines, is in place. The left side of the collar is up when Kage comes into Adam's line of sight, and she is just pulling it up. Her other hand is in her pocket, and she looks away with the fairies. Alone with her own thoughts, although the perceptive will note that she glances over her shoulder once, as if she's heard a remark addressed to her. She disappears from his line of sight when she reaches the door, only to reappear inside in the next moment. There are clear drops of rainwater scattered like pearls in her hair, a drop on her earlobe in lieu of any actual earing. Her hair is a mess, and she runs her fingers through it, absently, a cool glance cast around the shop for Adam. He'll note she also has a large (feminine) briefcase. Waterproof. [Adam Compton] He turns on his stool, lifting a hand briefly to alert her to his location before he picks up his coffee and takes a long bitter swallow. When she arrives at the table by the window, he looks at her with pale gray blue eyes, tired eyes, his expression one of solemn annoyance. "I called you. Like. Three times." He glances down at the briefcase, and then back at her features, his dark blond brows raising. "You could have warned me that you don't answer your phone when you're researching." He pauses, his weight shifting on the stool. "You have been researching right?" He isn't the sort of man to stay annoyed, or agitated for long. Unless it's to his benefit, and that is obvious as his mouth forms a subtle charming smile upon his last words. [K. R. Jakes] When Kage joins Adam at his table, it's after she's bought herself a drink and a croissant. The drink is an ice blended hot chocolate. It won't pull the cold from her bones, but it will satisfy a craving she's had since yesterday. The croissant she had heated up, and it is buttery, full of gold flakes that curl like all it wants is to dissolve against the tongue. Kamikaze food. And she looks amused by his annoyance, if the expression in her eyes is anything to go by. And for the first time since Adam's met her, not as weary as usual. Almost lovely, almost. "Three's the magic number, Adam. And you may consider me in complete harmony with Welly's -- " a dark, melancholic note enters her voice on the dead man's name " -- research. Do you have questions to ask?" She has questions to ask, but she's holding them for now, in favor of sipping her ice blended hot chocolate. When she does, her eyebrows go way, way up. [Adam Compton] "No, you know I just figured that I'd pester you uncontrollably for three days straight, force a meeting with you in public, just so I could stare into your eyes all afternoon." It could be said spitefully, but it isn't. His words are drenched in amusement as she takes a seat beside him. Settling in, making herself comfortable. He takes a sip of his own coffee as she does, and when she's fallen still and turned toward him, her expressive eyebrows enjoying her cold hot chocolate, he speaks again. "What did you find out?" That of course, is the question he's been wanting answered since they parted way at Wellington's office building. [K. R. Jakes] It could be said spitefully, and it isn't, but it still gives the Orphan a moment's pause. He can see it. The pause. The way she looks at him, as if she's not quite certain that - well. It doesn't matter. Kage's mind wanders away from the very, very charming and yet also incredibly, incredibly frustrating willworker to the events of the past week. To her weekend. To thanksgiving, and her family. To Welly, and the elevator. Back to the very charming, very frustrating liar/lawyer. "Well, I don't want to talk and distract you from your original objective," she says, mildly sardonic. Will meet his eyes, and fold her arms along the top of the table. Kage is poised, just now, and very secure in her (arrogance) position. For a second, she just looks at the cultist, as if she were weighing him, personally; as if she were curious. And she is, really. After a second, maybe two - enough for style, a decent sense of timing, she says, "I seriously doubt that you would like me to tell you everything I found out. Or would you like a complete course on the history of voudon in the United States and charlatans who have attemped to use it for gain? What about the Hollywood version of Voudon or the popculture version of Voodoo, the books found in any Barnes and Noble? What about the differences between Haitian voudon or Carribean voudon? If you want to utilize my expertise, it would be helpful if you told me what it is you think you have - or even merely what it is you have. And I will do my best to provide you with knowledge." A moment, and she's a little off balance. "As for the other," no. She leaves it there, and looks expectantly at Adam. Come on, lawyer boy. I'm trying to help you. [Adam Compton] Correction. She has to help him, but Adam is a firm believer in the old adage, you catch more flies with honey. So he smiles, and breaths a soft chuckle through his nostrils as she schools him on the many ins and outs of voodoo. When she's through, he lets silence linger. Meeting her gaze, and for the the briefest moment it seems that he would be more than content to just sit here and stare into her eyes for the afternoon. Finally, he rolls his shoulders in a slow shrug, lifting a hand to swipe at his tired features before turning to look out the window. "She's being charged with fraud. Basically, she was commissioned to enact voodoo rituals. The people who paid said commissions are unsatisfied with her work, and think she's a fraud." He looks back at Kage after having spoken to the plate glass window, a brow arched. "I believe that they are correct in their assumption, and intend to get them their money back." It's a pro bono case for him too. Which means he's volunteered, and he's not getting paid. Mostly because he was intrigued by the voodoo aspect of the case, but also because he's got some ownership in the use of magic and he doesn't like seeing something that is so huge a part of his life used to steal money from people. Wether said people have good, or bad intentions. "It's a fluff case. No murder, no gangsters, no real bad people. Or... you know. So I thought." [K. R. Jakes] "Christ," she says. "Voudon rituals aren't puppy dogs and rainbow cakes. Who exactly are your clients?" The question may as well be put down as rhetorical. Kage shakes her head once, then says, "Can you give me details on just what 'rituals' your client commissioned this woman to do?" His or so I thought garners a quirk of her mouth. Her expression is serious, just now. Not put upon, not irritated, not anxious, not even grim -- just serious, a little wondering or bewildered. A beat, and the corner of her mouth twitches up further, responding to some mental amendment to some thought about fluff cases and bad people. There may be worse things than dying, than being beat up or stolen from. [Adam Compton] He looks away momentarily, and then lets his gaze sweep back a moment later. "So, one of my clients is an alcoholic." She's serious, and he proves that he can be as well. There is a certain allure to being serious that he explores from time to time. "She commissioned the voodoo lady to expel a demon. The demon whom, she is fully certain, has caused her alcoholism." Nobody ever said that people with court cases were rational individuals. "She was promised results, and she didn't get them. From what I know... the voodoo lady mumbled some stuff, threw together a disgusting tasting concoction... which by the way my client is hoping to also sue for because she is certain there have been residual effects... though I'm not taking that case." He smiles broadly, then returns to his charming version of serious. "Psychological mumbo jumbo aside... she failed to expel the demon that makes my client drink herself into oblivion." His shoulders roll in a slow shrug, and he starts to smile again. It seems that he's almost incapable of keeping the smugly charming expression from his features. They were just meant to smile. "I hate to lose." He says it because he knows that there aren't many shreds of logic in this case to grasp. He likes a challenge. But he hates to lose. [K. R. Jakes] Kage, it must be admitted, looks mildly relieved. A sort've that's all reaction. "Well, this is tricky. Tell me: do you know what the voodoo lady calls herself? Does she give herself a title of office? And what did she call the 'demon'? Honestly, Adam, this one may be hard for you to win. Your client sueing this lady is like sueing a priest because you don't feel like you've really been cleansed of your sins after confession. And the priest could just say that you sinned again -- so this woman could say, and not necessarily be wrong, that the demon was just too strong for her. Or that it repossessed your client. Or that your client has an enemy who is deliberately casting bad magic on her." Hey, it could happen. Kage believes, she truly does, in the possibility. [Adam Compton] "I get that. The thing is, priests don't send you a bill after confession. I mean, sure they take donations, or offerings or whatever, but this woman put a price value on the services she offered my client. In my mind, and in the minds of every day citizens, if you pay for a service that you don't get... that's theft. Or fraud." Leaning back on his stool he grips his coffee cup and takes a slow sip, then looks back at her. "I said I like to win. That doesn't mean I like to be handed a win." He chuckles, more so at himself than at anything. Finally, he returns his focus to Kage, his eyes flitting to the brief case and then back. "She calls herself Mama something or other. I'll have to check over my own paperwork... I don't know if she gave the demon a title." A pause, then. "Are you going to tell me what you found out or not?" [K. R. Jakes] "That depends entirely on the religion," Kage says, rather wryly. Scientology, for instance. The redhead combs her fingers through her hair again, undoing elf-locks; she slips out of her coat, finally, and sets it on the adjacent table's top. "Mama something or other -- but does she have a title? And how did your client find her? An advertisement?" Then, with an easy smile, one that touches her dark eyes with a dream of something a little bit longing, a little bit abstracted, she says, "Listen as closely as you can. I'll try to go easy on you," and there, her mouth quirks again. Her eyebrows quiver in challenge. And what follows is what she found out. About voudon, anyway. About Welly's research. And, truly, Kage knows what she's about when it comes to unearthin knowledge, when it comes to excavatin secrets. And she knows that the topic is fascinating, so she keeps it fascinating, reciting even dryer details with assurance. A sense of adventure lurks behind this whole damned thing, and also something darker. A lot darker. Adam may interrupt, ask for clarification at any point; Kage will give it. And drink her ice blended hot chocolate, and eventually offer Adam a sip (from the cup, not the straw, thoughtful child), because she often offers people some of her food. Ditto the croissant. "There," she says, when she's just about done. "Hopefully, that gives you something to work with... at least as far as the case goes." [Adam Compton] "As far as the case goes... I'm glad you've done your homework. We might have to do away with the attitude for court. Nobody likes a know it all Ms. Jakes." His smile becomes a playful grin as he lets his gaze sweep over the cafe before it trails back to Kage again. "A title, like Dr. Voodoo Lady M.D.? No. Nothing like that. They found out about this woman by word of mouth. She's got satisfied customers too, and I'm sure some of them will be called to the stand." If she'd only ever had dissatisfied customers, it wouldn't be much of a case now would it? His own coffee is drained as well, and out of the corner of his eyes he catches sight of a man who is vaguely familiar to him. He's not sure how, or why, but the man draws his gaze. He watches him for a moment, before looking back at Kage. "The court is going to want your expert opinion. They're going to ask questions like "In your professional opinion Ms. Jakes, could the clients alcoholism have been caused by a demon of some sort? And if so... could the voodoo lady have expelled this demon using voodoo? And so on. Just answer them honestly. I'll be the one to go into more detail. If you say yes to those questions, I come in with questions like "How would one go about expelling such a demon? And in your professional opinion as the ritual has been described to you.... I promise at some point it will be described to you... is it authentic, and should it have worked, and what have you." He's too tired and frazzled to think of all the concrete details of questions that will be asked at this point. This meeting was basically to assure him that she knew her stuff. That's all he really needs of her. And then, he glances back at the strangely familiar man. Musing. "What about Wellington's ghost? You think all that has something to do with this fluff case?" [K. R. Jakes] "No, more like - Mambo or Houngan. Hounsis. Whether or not she claims 'bossale.'" That was an answer for his what like Ms. Voodoo Lady whatever. Then, Kage's turn to listen. "I suppose I could try to look unsure of myself when I'm called, Adam. You know: oh dear, and then I think that I found in my boss's research, well, I believe that we researched this together, that perhaps I am on solid footing when I say that this is perhaps the way of things..." She trails away, to follow Adam's gaze to the man. Then she looks back at Adam. Hey, people want to look at Adam, don't they? Wellington's ghost, he says, and again -- a note of darkness enters her speech, touches her countenance. Uncertainty, unhappiness. "I don't know. You said she had some satisfied customers. Any customers satisfied enough to kill to keep a woman out of jail? With a heart attack?" A pause, and Kage resettles, pulling herself across the table, leaning closer. Her voice is low, and intimate. And anyone watching might assume that Kage was about to make her move, or had just succumbed to one of Adam's. There are unlikelier things. "I need to know this: would you describe yourself as traditional or conventional?" There are hidden capitals there. [Adam Compton] She leans in, an act that looks sultry from other angles. He listens to what she says, his gaze meeting hers in silence for a long moment. Gauging, and serious. Though only briefly, before a smile spreads across his features, and he shakes his head. "Is this how you're playing it then?" A laugh erupts, and his smile becomes and all out grin. Once his amusement has played out, he leans toward her, and if she pulls back in distaste in the wake of his laughter, he becomes apologetic. "No... seriously. Hear me out." Leaning in again, his breath warm against her skin as he lowers his voice as she had hers. "I'm Ecstatic." Which, in his view, is neither conventional or traditional. When he pulls away his gaze meets hers, expectantly. An unspoken question. Well versed in voodoo, she knows her stuff as far as that's concerned. But does she catch his meaning now? [K. R. Jakes] Kage does not pull back when Adam laughs or when he smiles. She does not always know when it is wise to withdraw. She does not always choose to withdraw when she knows that withdrawing would be wise. She is proud, Kage, and she waits his amusement out with an expression that is still mostly serious. Both of her eyebrows quirk. Then he leans back in, and Kage keeps her eye on him. You can't trust Adam. She wouldn't trust him far. But she inclines her head toward him, the better to catch his (confession [rebuttal]) voice. And then he pulls back, and Kage is still leaning forward, poor lost little abandoned creature look how well she's played, just hanging there, wanting. "Oh really," she says. And finally leans back in her chair, lets space recede. Picks at the last crumb of croissant. Refrains from snark, for once. Does this mean you're the man to go to if one needs some weed. Her experience with the Cult so far has been an uneven one, and she isn't quite certain what to expect -- perhaps less so, now that he's named part of what he does. "I don't have so clear a path," she says, by way of answering the question in his eyes. Kage does not think of herself as an Orphan. But that's what any magi in one of the Nine would call her. [Adam Compton] For his part, he's more inclined to trust... or rather, to like an orphan over most any of the nine. They're open, where most any of the other traditions have defined boundaries and lines that they cannot, or will not cross. He himself is closed minded about some things... for himself only. He is not one who would draw boundaries or define lines for others. "So, now that that's out of the way." He leans back then, glancing over the Coffee Bean, catching the somewhat familiar man looking in their direction. "What do you really think about this whole voodoo thing... and what happened at Wellington's office the other night?" While he should be waiting for a reply from Kage, his gaze has wandered again to the man in the back corner. [Do I know you?] Mind Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 4, 7, 7 (Success x 3 at target 4) [K. R. Jakes] Fuck NO You Don't, Boy Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 5 (Failure at target 7) [K. R. Jakes] (and just for the record - how well's this guy doing hiding that he's doing a trail general. subt+manip.) Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 6, 8, 9, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] (and uh! kage's percept awareness roll) Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] There is absolutely no fault in the man's technique. The mage's technique, actually. He is adept at fading into the background. Adept at being just another person, and this without the aid of that arcane quality so many magi possess. But that doesn't matter: Adam is perceptive, and Adam perceives the guy to be familiar, so he reaches out with his mind. And he can pretty much hear whatever it is he wants to hear . . . a fine gloss of surface thoughts . . . Why didn't they just make my job easier before. Why are they meeting up again. Thought that this was over. This eggnog mocha thing was a mistake. There's definitely a familiar quality to the man's thoughts. Kage, for her part, is ready to answer Adam. Indeed, she licks her lips, and then -- and then he looks away. He looks away, and she narrows her eyes (coolly) while his glance bears with it the energetic toil and smear of magick in action. Adam's magick tastes like an energy drink, and her spine straightens a little, and she is aware, keenly aware of each tiny nuance of his working, of the Will that works it. Her eyes remain narrowed, though. "What are you looking at," she says. [Adam Compton] His attention returns to Kage, and he keeps his expression light. He smiles, and to anyone else in the room it might look like she's just said something interesting, and funny. He is practiced at telling stories with his features... even if those stories are bald faced lies. It's what he does. He's good at it. "The guy in the back corner." His words are casual, to match his expression. "He's the elevator tamperer." He doesn't bother looking back at the man, and he hopes that Kage has the good sense to keep from turning abruptly and staring. "He's annoyed with us." He sips his coffee, a crooked half smile still on his handsome features as he reaches out a hand to tap Kage's briefcase. "It might have something to do with what's in there... " Then again it might not. He's not entirely sure about that aspect of it just yet. "And... he's not a fan of eggnog latte's." A brow arches in self satisfaction. "Any ideas on what he's looking for?" Again, even as he asks the question his eyes are closing in concentration. His back is to the man now, he doesn't have to look at him to know he's still there. His mind has already reached out, and he does so again. Looking for the answer to his own question. [What you want tough guy?] Mind! Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] (manipsubt EVERYTHING IS FINE.) Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 2, 5, 7, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] (unfortunate dude's awareness) Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 6, 6, 7, 8 (Success x 4 at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] Dude: !!!!!! Life 2, You Gotta Toss Your Cookies, Right Now. Directed at Adam! Diff 7. -1 diff unique foci. Burning a point of quintessence! -another 1 diff. With some WP tossed in! Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 1, 9 (Success x 1 at target 5) [WP] [K. R. Jakes] "Who does," Kage says, when Adam gets to the part about eggnot latte. "Those things are vile. As for what he's looking for ... I really don't have the faintest." And Adam goes further. This isn't as easy as just recognizing the man was -- as tasting his thoughts and the warp and weft of his being was. But he does manage to dig, a little. And what the man wants is for Adam to lose his case against Madeline but that desire is incidental to his desire that Wellington's research be forgotten and uninvestigated. What the man also wants is -- look, he rears back in alarm, sits right up, puts a hand to his head and looks straight at Adam and Kage. Then he grips something underneath his shirt, a small lump. He points at Adam. And Adam abruptly feels the need, nay, the urgent desire to hurk all over the table. He can try to swallow, but it's coming up; his stomach is a rebel. And the man probably did it. Kage, for her part. She was a good girl. Didn't look at the man, or anything. She is continuing her thought, while all of this is going on around her, sideshots fired in a magickal showdown. "Perha - " But she doesn't finish that word, arrested by the man, standing up, pointing at Adam. Can't ignore that. Kage stands up, too. Fingertips on the table. [Adam Compton] The man points at Adam, and he has an instant wet sensation in the back of his throat. His mouth fills with saliva in anticipation of the meal that is about to revisit it's point of entry. He swallows reflexively, his stomach churning as he does so, and he has time to rise and turn before he gags, retches, and vomits onto the floor of the Coffee Bean. The first splash of vomit to hit the floor is on the elevator man. The second that comes quick on the firsts trail is all Adam. A physical reaction to the first bout of vomit. As the bitter smell of it hits him, he reaches a hand out to grip the edge of the table and folds in on himself, his body caving into the precipice offered by his knees as he crouches and adds to the mess on the floor. "Fuck me." He moans amid the vomit, working residual chunks around in his mouth and spitting them into the mess on the floor. He breaths through his mouth, because the backs of his nostrils are burning with stomach acid, grumbling the traces of it from his throat with a grating sound he spits again and turns to glare over his shoulder at the man across the room. A hand lifting to wipe chunky saliva from his chin. "Asshole." Is muttered under his breath as the patrons of the Coffee Bean stare and turn away in the same repulsed gesture. In his glare at the elevator man, he's noticed a woman seated at the table next to him whose hand has gone to her mouth as she's turned away from the sight of Adam puking his breakfast onto the floor. She gags into her hand, her eyes shut tight, turned as it should happen, toward the elevator man. Adam's eyes narrow, and he mutters something like an apology under his breath and focuses on the woman. [What are the odds that with a little help she'll puke on Mr. Elevator? Pretty good I think.] Mind + Entropy (adrenaline focus, vomiting induces endorphin rush!) Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 4, 4, 7, 7, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) [Adam Compton] ((whoops, total wrong roll... retry that)) [Adam Compton] [What are the odds that with a little help she'll puke on Mr. Elevator? Pretty good I think.] Mind + Entropy (adrenaline foci, vomit induced endorphin rush!) Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 2, 5 (Failure at target 5) [K. R. Jakes] (man: run the fuck away roll! dex&ath) Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 8, 9, 10 (Failure at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] (man: re-try at higher diff!) Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 2, 2, 5, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 7) [K. R. Jakes] (kage: I FOLLOW YOU. because i'm an idiot!) Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 5, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] ! Kage, wide-eyed, grimaces faintly and shoots a look from Adam to the man. Because that is the appropriate response when it comes to your charming, devilish companion hurling all over the floor, kneeling in a pool of his own vomit. Too much intimacy, too quickly. As the Ecstatic goes down the man (is satisfied, for once) turns from the table and flees. That was his plan, anyway. At first, the fact that the table is there slows him down. He crashes hard into it, knocking it askew, and he curses. This slows him, but he recovers and flat-out races down the hallway that leads to the back door. All Coffee Beans have them: they border the counter where one is to claim one's drink, and that's where he was situated, and not by chance, as it would happen. Adam's murmured apology is unnecessary, this time. The woman closes her eyes, reaches for serenity, and... attains it. Swallows back the bile. And Kage, after a brief and concerned look for Adam, does a thing that is very, very silly. Kage, already standing, follows the man without more than a moment's hesitation. The redhead leaves behind her coat, and she is a very unlikely pursuer: slender, fair, even delicate. But hey, she had a good sleep, and she isn't actually unathletic -- so, skirt flapping around her knees, she stays as close behind the man as possible. And at first, this is quite possible indeed. Breathe. Run. This'll be fine. Think about what you're going to do as you go. [Adam Compton] "Christ!" The exclamation comes with a clamor of sound as the man knocks his eggnog mocha latte thing flying and it spills onto the floor. A moment later he's all out running through the Coffee Bean for the back door. That's not suspicious at all. Then Kage, his redheaded companion is dashing after the man, and Adam is left feeling woozy on the floor. It takes him a moment to gather himself, and his coat. Along with Kage's, and her briefcase. He makes his way to the back door with as much composure as he can muster, casting an apologetic look at the onlookers as he goes. Swiftly, but not at an all out run. That he saves for the open air when he hits it. [K. R. Jakes] (man: RUN AWAY.) Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 5, 7, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) [Adam Compton] [give chase] Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 9, 10 (Success x 1 at target 7) [K. R. Jakes] (kage: I FOLLOW.) Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 2, 3, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) [Adam Compton] [Try to keep up Adam] Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 1, 3, 7 (Success x 1 at target 7) [WP] [K. R. Jakes] (man: totally run away) Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6) [K. R. Jakes] (kage: FOLLOW!!!!) Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP] [K. R. Jakes] Maybe it is the residual effects of his stomach upset. Maybe it is just because of his lifestyle. Those catch up to you, sometimes. Maybe it's even because he's laden down with thins -- and Kage's briefcase is fairly heavy. Either way, Adam lags behind. Kage, however, manages to keep up fairly well; her boots drum out a rapid tattoo and she leans into the wind, head down, fleet thing, kicking up skirts, avoiding cracks and pitfalls. Behind the Coffee Bean, an alley. The alley spills out into a parking lot, and the man -- The man is determined to get the fuck out of dodge, you see. He manages to pull ahead just enough that he has the advantage. That he gets to his car, that doesn't fumble the keys -- that he hops right in, cranks it. Adam's still the alleyway when the man's pulling away, and Kage has stopped running, cheeks pinked and flushed from the exercise, even more windblown than she was when she first came in, breathing a little heavily. She leans close to the wall, gum-stained and cold. [Adam Compton] Adam arrives in Kage's wake, puffing clouds of strained breath into the chill air. "What the hell?!" His words are aimed at Kage's back, even as he spots the car pulling away. He looks from the retreating car, not even bothering to check the license plate, or make and model. It doesn't matter. He knows what the mans mind feels like now. He's been a guest in his head for however short a time, and he'd find it just as easy to search for the mans mind from the comfort of his own home than to get a police check done on the license plate. "You chase down vomit inducing criminals in your spare time Kage?" He's crouched forward, his hands on his knees as he catches his breath. Her briefcase set on the concrete, her jacket tucked under one arm. "My mouth tastes like shit." Guess a make out session in the aftermath of a good old foot chase is out of the question. [K. R. Jakes] The weather has a sense of humor. This is when it begins to rain, and it picks up quickly from a drop or two here and a drop or two there to all out needles. "Apparently," Kage says, wrapping her arms around herself to turn back to Adam once the man has (been) driven off. "You all right?" she asks, almost unnecessarily, still catching her breath. He just vomited; she can see that he's not the worse for the wear, even if he is bent over double. And she'll collect her coat from the pavement, where Adam dropped it. She'll even put it on, although she's warm, warm right now. "Welly said that a woman killed him." [Adam Compton] "Yeah. I'm fine. It's just a little puke right?" As he rises, he notices a few flecks of said puke stuck to the front of his jacket and clinging to his tie. He swipes at them in disgust, and looks with a disgruntled expression at the traffic in which the man disappeared. "That was a low blow." Smart, on the elevator mans part. But low as far as Adam is concerned. He looks back at Kage, having caught his breath, and in dire need of a cigarette. "Voodoo lady you think?" He should really know the woman's first name. And last. Considering that he's prosecuting her case, but he couldn't be bothered to have remembered it. He will be bothered now though, and as soon as he's back at his own office he's going to look it up. Memorize it. [K. R. Jakes] "You left it for the barista to mop up?" Kage wrinkles her nose. Another tiny-grimace. Yes, there may've been more important things to do, but the unfairness of that poor barista's fate strikes her right about now. This is perhaps influenced by how often she comes to this Coffee Bean. Then she shakes her head. "Is this woman in jail or out on bail or what?" Now, she's getting cold, again. The rain kisses her colder, and she pulls her coat shut at the neck. Then slips her hands into her pockets, and pulls out a roll of breath mints. These, she offers to Adam wordlessly. "And, well, you were rummaging through his thoughts. I'd've made you yack, too. All's fair." Absentminded, that. [Adam Compton] "I was rummaging through his thoughts because it struck me... as kind of important, to figure out why the fuck he was hoping we'd get in an elevator to dead ville the other night." He swipes at another speck of vomit as he looks up at Kage, his expression incredulous. "And as for leaving the mess for the barista to mop up... " He's about to say something cutting about that's what you should expect when you work a minimum wage job. Instead, he pauses and shakes his head. "...I feel a little bad about that. Things were a little.. you know.. rushed." Would she have had him stay behind and allow her to potentially be alone with Mr. Elevator in a dark alley? He thinks not. "She's not in prison. It's a fraud case, not murder." [K. R. Jakes] When Adam doesn't immediately take the breath mints, Kage turns her head to look directly at him. As it happens, she looks at the Ecstatic just in time to catch the full force of his incredulous expression. The entire picture: the handsome, suave blonde man looking up from his vomit-specked shirt with a look of what in the. And she cannot help it: she laughs. "I'm sorry," she says, and the laughter makes her eyes almost lustrous, the same way the rain makes the city streets almost lustrous. Draws lines around her mouth, brightens her. "And ... thank you." And that she means, is acknowledment of just how rushed things were. As for the rest, she says, "Then maybe it was her. And this guy is her -- client? Maybe she's awake." The vocal equivalent of a shrug. Kage's expertise in no way touches upon the law. "I have Wellington's research in the briefcase. I was going to return it to you. There may be something in there," and she leaves that sentence hanging. [Adam Compton] She laughs, and as she does so, he takes the breath mints and unravels himself one from the pack before handing it back. Her laughter is like the rain in more ways than one, and it's refreshing to him. Or maybe that is the mint doing it's job. Whatever the case may be, he's smiling his easy charming smile by the time she catches her breath and gets serious again. "Maybe." He muses in respect to the voodoo lady being responsible for all of this. In respect to her being awakened. "Then I guess we've got some work to do." He glances down at her brief case, and then looks at his watch. "I need a shower. A change of clothes... and something to eat. I'm starving." He did just hurl up his only meal of the day, and it wasn't due to a stomach upset, or a flu bug. "You want to meet me at my place in say.... " With a frown he looks up out at the street, and then back at her. "...maybe you should just come with me now?" It's not a pick up line. Though in retrospect, it is kind of smooth. There is however, concern etched across his boyishly handsome features. "If she is awakened, then it's possible she knows more about us than we do about her." Like addresses. [K. R. Jakes] Kage's first instinct is to reject that thesis. How could the woman know more about them? Even if she was awakened, she couldn't be much stronger, and - but still. Still, the man did get a tip off about Wellington's office. The day, it would seem, that the lawyer decided to go and collect his evidence. His very, very tampered with evidence perchance? Or maybe that was just dumb luck? "I," she begins to say, and then dead air, as something horrible occurs to her. Kage tries to keep it out of her expression -- tries to keep it under wraps, and smiles, faintly. "Maybe. Okay. Lead the way, Adam." (i am tooootally fine! manipsub) Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 4, 6, 6, 7 (Success x 3 at target 6) [Adam Compton] A person can't just pause mid-sentence and expect people around them to ask, or of not ask, at least think questions. She stops, dead air ensues, and he looks at her with an arched brow. He briefly watches her keep her expression under wraps, and rather than pry or inspect her thoughts (he could you know!) he just nods. Accepting of her words as just a stray thought she'd had that briefly hiccuped her thought process. "Alright." Mint tingles his tongue as he turns back the way they came. He crosses the street away from the Coffee Bean so as not to pass in front of the window and have to watch the poor Barista mopping up his lunch. Pulling keys from his pocket and hitting the alarm button that goes with his Saab across the street. The car chirps a greeting as they make their way toward it. "We can order out." He says it likes it's just another day at the office. Ordering out because there's work to be done. "You like Chinese?" [K. R. Jakes] "I'd prefer Thai," she says, not to be contrary. They cross the street away from the Coffee Bean to get to Adam's car, and Kage can see it up ahead. It's still raining, and her hair is getting more and more sodden, darker and darker, until the bright of the red gleams all the more vivid in graywashed street. She pauses, frowns. Says, "Wait up. I'll meet you at your car." Then she turns deliberately, and walks, rapid, back to the Coffee Bean. Pulls the door open, and disappears inside. If Adam actually followed her (maybe she was going to run, too? Maybe she was in on it? Naw) he'd get a truly hating look from a barista (not enough charm in the world, dude) and a front row seat to what follows. Which is, basically, Kage goes to see if any of their mystery man's trash has been removed yet. There was a napkin, and the egg not latte which went spilling across the floor. Sadly, the latter has been trashed, but the napkin is still there. Kage picks it up, pockets it. This might mark her out as odd, but she also apologizes to the barista on behalf of her companion, says that he's a bit under the weather. They don't ask what all the running was about. And then she rejoins Adam, or turns to find him already there: either way, no more obstacles on the road to his home.