[Johnny’s lips quirk, partly because the other guy is right, and partly because he has a retort loaded and ready to fire back.]
What, not gonna try to sell yourself to a potential client? Wanna hear your own opinion about what you can do, what you specialize in. Helps a man decide whether or not he wants to throw his hard-earned dough at you.
[On the tail of such a claim, it’s telling, then, that Johnny waves it away in the next breath. Normally he can stew in the back-and-forth, let them both marinate in it until they’re sick of each other. This time? This time maybe his patience isn’t quite as thick, maybe this has a sense of urgency to it that the rockerboy hasn’t bothered to let on since the moment he strode in, trailing cigarette smoke.]
How about this, then: you capable enough to find someone missin’ without so much of a trace? Of a sort. The kind of person that usually makes such a splash that they leave some kinda trail to follow, but this time that trail is…
[An inhale of smoke. An exhale. It clouds the space between them.]
[ He seems to realize the guy is just blowing smoke when he doubles down on wanting to know if Juzo is “worth it”. Juzo worked hard to come by his rep, and anyone who walks through his door is going to know it. Whether this dude believes it or not is another story – one Juzo doesn’t frankly care to know, because it’s clear matters are much more urgent than they first appeared. Urgent enough to dispense with the banter. ]
That’s quite the pitch.
[ He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little curious, but with an explanation as bare-bones ad that, he’s going to need to know a lot more before he commits. ]
[This time, Johnny takes a moment before replying—takes an extra long drag of his cigarette—as though he had already let too much of him unravel via his eagerness to let the problem be known. For all his casual flippancy, he’s always been guarded in everything else. Makes him hard to like sometimes, but also makes it hard for other people to find those cracks in the armor.]
Mean what I said. Tricky.
[Helpful.]
Woman I’m lookin’ for is a big time merc. Made a lot of connections in her time — lots of friends, lots of enemies. Doesn’t take small potatoes work anymore, unless she’s feelin’ particularly soft on any given day. [From that alone, it’s obvious there’s at least a keen sense of familiarity between the two.] But this job? This job was somethin’ else.
[Johnny idly wiggles a foot crossed on an ankle, still hiked up on Juzo’s desk.]
[ “Tricky” doesn’t tell him much other than taking this job is going to be a pain in the ass. Still, he listens, turns the meager information over in his head for a few moments. There could be a lot of reasons for someone like that to go missing - namely the many enemies someone in that line of work tends to make.
This guy seems to think there’s something more to this, however, and Juzo has to admit he’s intrigued. ]
Not much of a gambler, myself. Only room for one vice in my life.
[ Said as he lifts his cigarette back to steel teeth for a deep inhale. ]
Goes by V. The only name anyone’s gotta know her by.
[V was the name everyone knew on the street; the name that anyone called up if they needed a job done; the name known for giving megacorps the big middle finger, and even left one a big pile of smoldering ashes because they did her wrong.
V was the only name anyone needed to work with. “Valerie” was for people of a closer sort, and even then, that name hardly ever rolled off of Johnny’s tongue.]
Not a gamblin’ man, but you’re gonna be. You hear of the Crystal Palace? Used to be a space station, billions of dollars sunk into it all for the military. Back in the day, there were rumors that the most elite assassins in the world would descend from that station, fallin’ straight into their targets’ laps.
[He huffs. Sounds ridiculous. But so are a lot of things in this world.]
These days? Ugly piece of metal still hangs in the sky, but it’s the world’s largest casino now. A playground for the rich and powerful; all manner of fun both above board and under the table.
Last she told me, V had a big job — kleppin’ some datachip or whatever. Had no idea where she’d gone off to, but I did some digging in her apartment. All signs point to the big dollar symbol in the sky.
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finalflight2021-08-03 07:16 pm
no subject
What, not gonna try to sell yourself to a potential client? Wanna hear your own opinion about what you can do, what you specialize in. Helps a man decide whether or not he wants to throw his hard-earned dough at you.
[On the tail of such a claim, it’s telling, then, that Johnny waves it away in the next breath. Normally he can stew in the back-and-forth, let them both marinate in it until they’re sick of each other. This time? This time maybe his patience isn’t quite as thick, maybe this has a sense of urgency to it that the rockerboy hasn’t bothered to let on since the moment he strode in, trailing cigarette smoke.]
How about this, then: you capable enough to find someone missin’ without so much of a trace? Of a sort. The kind of person that usually makes such a splash that they leave some kinda trail to follow, but this time that trail is…
[An inhale of smoke. An exhale. It clouds the space between them.]
Tricky.
no subject
That’s quite the pitch.
[ He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little curious, but with an explanation as bare-bones ad that, he’s going to need to know a lot more before he commits. ]
What do you mean “tricky”?
no subject
Mean what I said. Tricky.
[Helpful.]
Woman I’m lookin’ for is a big time merc. Made a lot of connections in her time — lots of friends, lots of enemies. Doesn’t take small potatoes work anymore, unless she’s feelin’ particularly soft on any given day. [From that alone, it’s obvious there’s at least a keen sense of familiarity between the two.] But this job? This job was somethin’ else.
[Johnny idly wiggles a foot crossed on an ankle, still hiked up on Juzo’s desk.]
You like casinos?
no subject
This guy seems to think there’s something more to this, however, and Juzo has to admit he’s intrigued. ]
Not much of a gambler, myself. Only room for one vice in my life.
[ Said as he lifts his cigarette back to steel teeth for a deep inhale. ]
This missin’ friend of yours got a name?
no subject
[V was the name everyone knew on the street; the name that anyone called up if they needed a job done; the name known for giving megacorps the big middle finger, and even left one a big pile of smoldering ashes because they did her wrong.
V was the only name anyone needed to work with. “Valerie” was for people of a closer sort, and even then, that name hardly ever rolled off of Johnny’s tongue.]
Not a gamblin’ man, but you’re gonna be. You hear of the Crystal Palace? Used to be a space station, billions of dollars sunk into it all for the military. Back in the day, there were rumors that the most elite assassins in the world would descend from that station, fallin’ straight into their targets’ laps.
[He huffs. Sounds ridiculous. But so are a lot of things in this world.]
These days? Ugly piece of metal still hangs in the sky, but it’s the world’s largest casino now. A playground for the rich and powerful; all manner of fun both above board and under the table.
Last she told me, V had a big job — kleppin’ some datachip or whatever. Had no idea where she’d gone off to, but I did some digging in her apartment. All signs point to the big dollar symbol in the sky.