2017-11-20: A Dangerous Man
- Log: A Dangerous Man
- Cast: Kahm Yugh, Cassidy Cain
- Where: Hotel Renais, November City
- Date: November 19, 2017
- Summary: Kahm returns to November City and seeks out Cassidy Cain, looking to settle a score.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
The road back to November had been a long run, and hard, but Kahm Yugh had walked it.
Well, ridden it, to be more precises. The newly-christened Major had made all due haste across the desert with Lieutenant Voss in tow, the pair of them aiming to make contact with various 'flare ups' in drifter activity throughout the region, and hopefully warn a few embedded agents of the danger they might be in with recent events.
Before that though, the Major had to tie up a loose end. After tying up their horses and making arrangements for their lodging, the man had beat a path with all due haste to Hotel Renais, his mind dark with the memory of his encounter with the unknown agent he had code-named as 'Azazel'.
"Beyond the golden-haired woman and the Baskar, I will be kindest of all to you, you who will monument my investiture."
A golden-haired woman'...by itself, the description wasn't much to go on, but given that Cassidy Cain had pointed him in the direction of Lacour, and that his investigation there had so conveniently pointed him in the direction of Azazel, he had reason enough to be suspicious and motivation aplenty to leave no stone unturned when it came to knowledge about that man, not after what he had seen.
The entrance of the Hotel Renais loomed before him like an the ominous entrance of a sepulcher. Kahm straightened his hat and took a moment or two to calm his breath and still his heart, less the growing impatience in his heart spill into his actions. More incidents were the last thing they needed.
He stepped into the hotel's lobby, adorned in the customary black clothing of Marcus Rider, investigator of Smith & Luio, and glanced at the paper he'd kept from his last meeting. This should be around the time she'd mentioned was best to call on her.
His eyes lingered on the illustrative tracing of the note's text. She was taught fine penmanship at a young age. He reasoned, thinking it an odd trait for a drifter to possess. "I'm looking for a woman by the name of Cassidy Cain at the following room." He announced to the front desk, displaying the room number written, "Tell her that Marcus Rider has come to call on her, and that should be enough. I'll be waiting at the bar."
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
Odd, yes, but he had surmised before that Cassidy Cain would not be the first black sheep from an illustrious family to venture forth into the sands and make her fortune her own way. If nothing else, he would not be wrong there.
It takes about half an hour for the pale-tressed thief to finally show herself at the hotel bar, once again cutting the languid, but striking figure she has always has whenever she makes an entrance. Dressed in her preferred leathers, and with her weapons visible, an easy, confident gait takes her straight to where Kahm has perched himself, albeit there'd be a little bit more of a delay when she stops by Billy the Bartender and asks for a drink.
Toeing a chair sideways, she straddles the seat, setting her tumbler of whiskey down and folding her arms across the back rest. Lowering her face to perch her chin against her forearms, green eyes shot with gold, perpetually filled with mischief - as if privy to a secret joke that she would never tell anyone - finds his. Lips pull up at the corners.
"Was nae that long ago when we saw each other last, Marcus," she observes, a finger hooking lightly into her glass, though she doesn't take a sip from it yet. "I take it you found sommat from your great hunt?"
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Half an hour was a little more than Kahm had wanted to wait, but he also didn't have much else to do for the day. Cassidy will find the man sitting as his typically inexpressive self when she pulls up her seat, albeit with a notable exception: On their last meeting, the man had sipped of nothing but a perpetually-refilled glass of water. Today he has a glass of amber whiskey sitting in his hand.
A slight ripple disturbed the drinks surface when she asked about his 'hunt'.
"Miss Cain." He said, speaking that familiarly neutral tone of voice. "You could say that. The quarry was of consequence. I learned a good deal."
His eyes narrowed, their blue sheen staring through her like cold-edged darts, "I learned, for example, that he encountered a woman with golden hair at some point in the past, along with a Baskar woman. An interesting coincidence, and perhaps just that."
He took a moment to take a sip of the drink by his side, allowing the fiery liquid to settle in his stomach before continuing. It reminded him of nothing like the drink he'd shared with Kent Hauch, which was a good thing.
"But then, it did seem going to Lacour was very lucrative. A very pointed to suggestion. So I thought I would return to see you again, and clear the air."
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
Since the only piece of information she has given Marcus had been about Isiris, and purported rumors and nothing more at that, it doesn't take long for her to discern who the quarry is. Cassidy's smile doesn't change in character however, finally plucking her tumbler and taking a quiet sip. "If I knew sending you tae Lacour would have yielded that much fruit, I would have asked you tae pay me straight off," she tells him. "But at the time, it seemed silly to me tae charge for rumors. I see you made it out alive and in one piece, however. You're more fortunate than all of his other victims."
Mention about a woman with golden hair has her laughing. "Ay, did he? And you thought of me immediately, did you? Cannae be the only blonde you ken around these parts. But if it's clear air you want, I s'pose I can oblige you...as much as I can in a place like this, anyway."
She leans forward; the chair creaks at her shift, wood protesting as she applies unwanted pressure against its hinges. "So what do you really want tae ask me, Marcus?" she wonders. "I'm nae a mindreader, y'ken. Methinks you're going tae have tae spell it for me."
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
What does he really want to ask her?
"What other victims?" He says, finally, after a moment of silence. "The only victims we'd previously discussed were survivors. But yes, I did face him and sit here before you know, left only with more questions. Questions the need answers."
Those blue eyes locked with Cassidy's. They were blue like the very man they were discussing, and yet wholly different from him. Something unknown simmered in their depths. "Per our agreement, I should pay you for any information that was useful for me. But before I do that, I would ask you anything else you happen to know about this man. Anything that, perhaps, may have just escaped your notice the first time we had this discussion."
He leaned ever so slightly forward-not as much as the drifter woman had, but just enough to be potent.
"I've already lost three men on this case, Miss Cain. I'd like not to lose more."
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
What other victims?, he asks.
"Oh, come now, lad," Cassidy wonders. "The man's a killer. You ken as well as I that he's put more bodies on the ground than he's let them live."
Her lips find the edge of her tumbler, teeth clipping faintly against it, listening quietly as he professes his need for answers. Amusement, faint but perceptible, plays along the line of her mouth where she presses it against the crystalline surface holding her drink, but for a while she says very little. She simply watches him from across the table, with a stare both humored and silently assessing.
"Do you ken why I dinnae insist on payment, at first?" she wonders. "It's nae out of honor, but from the desire not tae be contractually obligated tae answer any of your questions should I choose tae. You're after a verra dangerous fish, luv, and certainly, you cannae blame me if I dinnae want tae invite that sort of trouble on my doorstep if I get tae talking." There's a hint of an absent smile. "I'm a solo operator in a verra dangerous world. I'm nae part of an illustrious outfit like yourself where you have resources and protection afforded tae you when a man like that decides he's had enough of the bullshite. I'm simply looking out for my own skin - if you wonder why I've managed tae survive a decade in a dangerous profession, now you ken why."
She waves a hand. "I dinnae say this out of the desire tae acquire protection from the likes of you and yours, either. I prefer working alone. Hmmm...decisions, decisions."
She lifts a hand to signal for Billy, making a few gestures from across the way. After a few minutes, he returns with a pad of paper and a stylus, the latter which she picks up and scrawls a number across the page.
"My fee," she says, ripping the sheet off the rest of the pad and folding it in half, sliding it towards him. "If you're agreeable, I'll sell you what I ken."
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Each point Cassidy made was certainly logical from her perspective, and an inner voice chastised Kahm for being the one to put too much stock in what he'd gleaned from the mouths of random drifters. Of course they would withhold information, of course they would not comprehend what they were dealing with. What more could be expected.
And yet the desire to lay blame was strong-stronger than the Major had expected. Another sip of the whiskey goes down as Cassidy tears off the piece of paper and names her price. Moralizing and and denouncing her would serve no purpose whatsoever-that men died because of withheld information meant not a thing to this freelance. And force...was not the way he wanted to handle this.
If he said it long enough, maybe it would be true.
"I'd say you don't look much like a woman who needs the protection of others, anyways." Kahm said, taking the slip of paper and flashing his eyes across it. There was a pang of indignation, quickly stifled by the knowledge that his exactly the sort of thing he'd been provided those very 'resources' for. That was the mission: operate low-key and under the table, without attracting undue attention to themselves.
Quietly, and with motions that seemed painstakingly slow, the man in black pulled a coinpurse from within his jacket and slid it forward. Within was more than enough to match the woman's price.
"Details. A name. A past."
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
Of course not, why would she care? It is none of her business if this man and his lot wanted to pursue someone incredibly dangerous, but it is definitely very much hers when the man decides to go after her again for doing so, and she might not be so lucky this time to escape him. It only takes one decisive blow, after all, to end a life....and she is very much attached to her own.
Cassidy takes a quiet sip of her whiskey, feeling it leave a smooth, burning streak down her throat, and warm her stomach when it hits it. Seeing the chagrined look, brief as it is, on the man across her brews some measure of satisfaction, but she doesn't let it show. "What are you talking about?" she wonders, lifting a hand and showing him the breadth of her wrist. "Delicate bones, luv. Easily snapped when grabbed. Like I said before, I'd rather run than fight, but you ken as well as I that sort of luck eventually runs out."
She reaches out once the money is slid across the table, her stylus moving to hook it within the top and take a look. Whatever she sees appears to satisfy her.
"Have you ever heard of sommat called the 'Nexus Hours Theory'?" she wonders. "That's what he practices. Maybe a personal art of his own devise, maybe not. But perhaps you'll find better luck getting in touch with Gebler, see whether anything in their records match up. He claims tae have fallen from the sky, if you ken what I mean."
Her eyes flash from under her lashes.
"His name is Ra. Dinnae ken whether it's his true name or an alias."
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Two things keep a soldier alive, Kahm. Said the voice of Elricht Sophard, ringing still in his Kahm's head, Discipline, and luck. You can only run out of one.
Ra. Nexus Hours Theory. Neither of those names had relevance to Kahm, but he knew of one person who might have something to say about the latter. It wasn't terribly much to go on, but it was something.
"I've never heard of it, and if I had more time i'd explain the particulars of how being being from Bledavik doesn't mean Gebler simply opens up their archives whenever I make an inquest." He said, gradually dawning on how tired he'd been feeling the last few hours. Even for citizens of Bledavik, Gebler was a fairly mysterious presence-no one knew precisely where they came from, though some suggested they came over from Aquvy. They largely kept to themselves aside from joint operations with the Aveh military forces.
With that, he doesn't have anything to left to say. Indeed, he doesn't particularly want to look at the woman's smirking face anymore-or anyone's face, for that matter. He'll rise to his feet, casually buttoning up his jacket as he prepares to leave.
"I am also a dangerous man, Miss Cain." He says, just as he was about turn on his heel, one pale, blue eye watching her with an eagle's mien. "Remember that the next time you decide to play coy with information.."
The whiskey he left on the table.
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
"Then I dinnae ken what else tae tell you, luv," Cassidy replies. "Methinks if anyone has more information about the man, it'd be them."
Kahm's tired body rises from the chair, and the faint smile remains. Lashes lower to her glass while she takes a sip, though at the last words directed at her, and emphatically communicated with a sharp stare, she tilts her face up to look at him.
"Play coy with information?" she wonders. "Methinks that's a little hypocritical coming from someone like you."
Propping her chin on her hand, she watches his half-turned back for a moment.
Anyone would rise to the threat, throw it back at his face. But there's none of that from the thief. If nothing else, she gives him the very faintest look of contrition.
"I'm chockfull of advice, but you've got a long hunt ahead of you, methinks." She lifts her tumbler towards him in a faint salute. "So ay, best get some rest. Would hate tae see what would happen from a dangerous man who wakes up from the wrong side of the bed. Safe travels, Marcus Rider."