Snippet #2283266

Another voice cut through the background murmur, a voice he recognised. Without even needing to look around, Strength knew. Cursing inwardly for not noticing the Chariot's approach, he spoke without looking back, face calm, voice steady.

"Yeah."

The single word held no inflection, no indication of what was running through his mind. It was almost bait, a lead in, for the Chariot to respond to, to open up first. Despite himself, Strength was intrigued as to what the other man would bring up, what he found important.

Chosing not to sit down, Chariot stayed standing, glancing around the coffee shop. "Not much of a crowd today." The murmer of casual conversation probably irritating, Chariot almost seemed disinterested. Instead he chose to furrough his brow before striding around into his compatriot's field of vision.

"Wonder who the deliveryman with the package is." A flicker of a smile, then, for the crowd, or lack thereof, in the cafe. "Wouldn't be out on the street where delicate things could be ruined..."

Casting an appraising eye over his companion, Strength grunted an assent, raised an eyebrow in question. "Honestly, I expected you to know who we were here to meet." Between the apparent apathy of the Chariot and the fact that neither of them knew concrete detail, still, alarm bells were ringing in his head.

Giving the room another quick glance, Strength leant forward, fixing the Chariot with a steady stare. "Do we have nothing to go on? At all?" A slight pause, one almost followed with criticism, but held back. Either way, it seemed their organisation didnt believe in handing out detailed briefs.

"Judgement is one of the more caprious superiors." The reply was fired back, casually daring the obvious criticism that even Chariot, not a skilled conversant, knew hung behind the comment. "He leaves information willy nilly, but nothing coherant. It's supposed to make the operatives think on their feet."

Frowning as he stared closely at the renewed giggling in the corner, Chariot's eyes thinned to slits. "I hate peaceful missions."

Whatever Strength was going to say was interrupted by the waitress bringing over their drinks. Giving her a nod of thanks, he reached out, taking his own coffee, staring down into the murky liquid as if in deep thought. Purposefully stretching out seconds, he took a sip, set the mug back on the table, every movement slow and controlled, designed to put the Chariot even less at ease.

"I have no strong feelings either way. Whether it's peaceful or not. I just dont like not knowing exactly what I'm doing." He stressed the last few words, waited for the other man to reply, watching the steam from the two cups twining patterns into the air.

Accepting the cup, but immediately discarding it in favour of the constant stare around the room. It was almost as if the Chariot couldn't help but keep a constant surveillance on the entire shop, just in case an enemy burst from somewhere.

"Then you'd prefer several of the other superiors. It's a pity that Judgement is the most common one to give out orders." There was... not very well hidden irritation in this comment, though much less of Strength's distaste for the lack of details. "Package means it's large enough to be noticable."

From his seat, back to the wall, Strength could see the entire room, even with his attention focused on his coffee. The seat had been chosen for this purpose, and he'd also known, in the back of his head, that the Chariot would have to sit with his back to a blind spot. Glad to see that the other man was at least keeping his eyes open, Strength took another long slug of the coffee, set the cup back down with a decisive snap.

"Well, Judgement said something about the backstreets. I came in here as we didnt seem to have a timeframe, and, honestly, to get out of the rain." He stood, pushed his chair back under the table, fished a note out of his pocket and tossed it onto the table, set a spoon on top of it. "Sitting here is accomplishing nothing. The sooner we start searching, the sooner we can find this package."

Again, Strength noticed that he was taking charge, despite the assertations that Chariot was to be the leader of the two. Calm and steady as a mountain, he simply stood and waited for the younger man's response.

Flicking his eyes back to Strength, Chariot turned his lips up in a smile. It certainly wasn't the casual cruel smile, more of a.. somewhat startled, but completely amused smile. He had always found those with initiative despite put in a lower position an amusing type. And certainly one that Itex could use. That she could...

"Indeed." Still not having touched the coffee, he stood with Strength. "The package wouldn't be out in the rain. More likely it'll be in a public meeting place out of the rain. This shop is actually one of the few places that could be described like that around here. But obviously is barren of the contact. So, all that remains is the small local mall down the road, and the covered food court that competes with here." The eyes had flashed cold, as the minutae detail of the map of the area was recalled. He paused long enough to almost imply he was deciding where to go...

Then. "So, which do you suggest?" The smile returned as he stared. Eyes unblinking in a gaze which seemed to expect something.

'The package wouldnt be out in the rain.' So Chariot did know something about this mission he wasnt sharing. Interesting. Strength met his gaze, returning the smile with one of his own as he spread both arms in a half shrug.

"What do I suggest? I seem to remember you being put in charge." The smile widened, fractionary, for a moment, then was gone, replaced by a pure and focused, businesslike calmness. "What do you suggest?" A slight pause, then a semi-sardonic, "Sir"

The smile from Chariot vanished just as fast as the eyes narrowed again. He never was good at expecting changes in conversational flow, and the persistant feeling that Strength was trying to get something from this that he couldn't fathom irked him.

"I suppose I was." The admission ruined the attempt to draw a suggestion, but then, the other had chosen that route quite intentionally it seemed. "On a rainy day, the Mall is likely the least likely place to be spotted in a clandestine meeting, so I suppose that is my suggestion of where to start."

"Well then." Gesturing to the door, Strength kept his face carefully straight. On a rainy day, a mall, the only covered place in the area, would be the least likely place to be seen? Still, it didnt matter, every word, every passing moment brought fresh information forward. Like how the Chariot was still deferring to him, or at least acting at it.

For some reason, Strength couldnt grasp the other man. Couldnt read him. The erratic changes in personality, the twitchiness. None of it was congruent with what he'd been expecting. Filing it away, to be dealt with another time, he nodded once. "Lead the way."

Well, game over. The new recruit was more than what had been expected, certainly. And Chariot hated how the conversation was turned around on him. Oh well, the game was over, the report would be filed back after this was over. Closing his face into the cold reflection of a perpetual icy stare, he nodded and headed towards the door himself. It was time to get this done with. No more reason to loiter, after all.

Striding out into the rain with nary a glance to see if the other was following, the Chariot seemed to ignore the wetness, despite the coat not being much protection against the heavy driving rain. And he never stopped his roving eyes, taking in anyone on the street. Anyone passing by. The very fact that Itex suddenly called a meeting not originally scheduled, and upping activity around the place, meant that something big was happening. And whenever something big happened, there was always danger.

(Written by Alasund De'astion and Harlequin Smile)