IC Aeaea City

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PASHMINA

The conflict flew past them at a dizzying pace. She hadn't been planning to confront McKay, not until she'd found something more substantial to accuse him with, but wasn't this proof already, that he'd done something to their brains? Cole, keeping a hold of himself, made better threats than she could and Pash nodded furiously to show that she supported him. And yet, despite it all, instead of fighting, instead of trying to take them back under his spell, the libitine turned tail and sprinted away with a cry. Pashmina blinked, suddenly feeling like the bad guy in the situation, but she steeled herself, swallowing the lump in her throat.

This... This had to be an act. He'd gotten antsy because he was outnumbered and being called out, even if the location was only semi-public. That had to be it. Pash let out a heavy breath, when Ike disappeared from view, pressing her lips together and idly realizing that they were dry. In an attempt to comfort herself somewhat, she wordlessly reached into her pocket and reapplied her pink lip gloss, breathing slightly uneven. Her fingers shook despite her asking them not to.

Only when she finished, did she speak again, eyes flitting to Cole, "... What should we do now?"
「 @TerraBooma 」
code by wren.
 
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ADÉLARD
It's been a while since Adélard has been on a beach. After his sister's death, it took him six years to even go near one again, and it still felt too early in the moment. He could remember the entire event like it was yesterday, that same overwhelming guilt rising from the bone marrow it had soaked into to torment him for the umpteenth time. After that, he tried gradual exposure until he could at least stand on the sand without his stomach trying to empty its contents all over his boots.

He's still moved to distraction, while he stands here on a beach in Aeaea City, playing his violin as usual, eyes cast out where the sea meets the horizon whenever in the moments they don't fall closed as he feels the melody. He's grown accustomed to the feeling of eyes on him, so it's easy enough to tune out the onlookers. He is here for their entertainment, after all, as he always means to be with this. Normally, he lets their emotions guide his hands and finds the right strings to pluck to bring them what they crave. Right now, in this midday summer heat, he should be playing something upbeat to match the mood, but his hands won't cooperate, and his songs keep sounding more melancholic than intended.

The sound of screaming interrupts his reverie, making him jump back just in time to see a young man run past in a particular state of dishevelment, his baggy shirt having slipped nearly entirely off his shoulders. A few things drop from his pockets, glinting in the sunlight. Curious, he walks over to them, finding a few glass vials filled with mysterious liquid. He's sweating enough that he has to wipe his palms on his shorts to avoid dropping his violin. How long has he been out here now? Half an hour?

He carefully picks up the vials, placing them in his pocket. He has no intention of stealing from some innocent bystander, so he might as well hold onto these until he returns so that no one else steals them. Of course, that means he'll have to stand here for the foreseeable future. Well, at least he brought sunscreen.
「 @LashL 」
LOCATION | INTERACTIONS | MENTIONS
 
TIME STAMP: HALLOWEEN

The first official time skip. There has been a fast-forward of two days later and the city falls on the day of Halloween.

FORECAST​

DATE: October 31st, 2035. Sunday.

TIME: Up to the players for their scenes.

WEATHER: 81.7°F (27.6°C). Hot with a pleasant breeze.

CITY ACTIVITY​

Despite the bright skies and hot weather, there are still costumes and people out to be seen. It is a whole day off for the nation after all.


 
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Cole Warfiln (And Smoke)
Fire Magi, Investigative Journalist, Snoop.
@PavellumPendulum​

For many, Halloween was a day of celebration and joy. For others, it was just a good chance to get drunk and party. For others still, they really didn't give a shit. Cole was none of these people, however! As Halloween presented a different kind of opportunity for the private journalist. He wasn't much of a fan of the dressing up, and he could care far less about scares and getting spooked and all of that. But everyone liked to liven up a bit at a party or a gala, which meant it was the prime opportunity for some A+ snooping and digging into places people didn't want you to in the middle of a debaucherous party. Usually a solo mission, tonight marked the second of what seemed to be many paired escapades for the truth, and the little nuggets of secrets that would hatch for their trouble.

Normally, following up such an important opportunity would be something he would be content to slip into the background in his usual attire. Which is to say, he'd do nothing new to spruce things up or try and stand out. A certain someone however had demanded from the moment he told her about it that there was no way he was showing up to a costume party undressed. His explanation that he was still technically dressed (in street clothes) hadn't seemed to win him any favors anyway. So now he found himself driving in his old crap car to pick up a certain Medusa for one of the more high-profile events that happened in this little corner of paradise. The goal? Simple. To see if they could dig up a few of the rumors that Cole had been digging through over the last couple of days. Word on the street was that there were a few gangs that liked to hang out at these high-end events, and getting a big lead could lead to a bust and plenty of juicy juicy finders' fees. There could even be celebrity gossip, the most valuable secrets of all!

For now though, he had to wait at the meeting point. Which was allegedly her house- he wasn't sure if he believed it though. Drumming on the wheel of his broken down car that was over twenty years old, Cole idly stared into space as Smoke cawed before flying laps around the vehicle, once they had the maiden of the hour they could get into business mode. But for now? Well, it was paradise. You could afford to take it easy and take in the spectacle even when a piece of shit car was clogging up the idyl atmosphere with choking chitters and bangs. He eventually turned to trying to get the radio station to work. An endless and eldritch quest that never ceased to elude him. Other people could get the fucking thing to tune to a station for a bit, but it was like he was cursed. He'd manage to get the dial turned in just the right direction to listen to about three seconds of music before a rock would jostle under the car and he'd loose the whole frequency by a few ones places. Needless to say it was infuriating, and needless to say he had not let the damn car get the last laugh. With a mental jolt (that was mostly irate due to the whole radio thing) Cole orders Smoke to go poke at the windows until the little bird could get Pashamina's attention, alerting her to his presence as if a car held together by duck tape and cigarette ashes wouldn't be plenty noticible idling on the driveway.

However long it'd take Pash to come outside, Cole would still be out there trying (and failing) to get the stupid machine to actually cooperate, sputtering curses and old family hexes at the thing that would be faintly audible through the glass as she approached.
 
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PASHMINA
Halloween.

She couldn't think of a day when her talents mattered more. Though her clothing usually sold decently well online throughout all months of the year, with the peak seasons being summer and spring (since most of her work tended to gear towards clothing best for Aeaea), October always had a strong spike in business for her. The uninspired masses would go purchase their shitty costumes at soulless bulk providers, but those who wanted something unique, something made tailored just for them, would go to Pash. She respected those who made their own garments, even if they didn't look particularly nice! It was all about putting in the effort, rather than throwing a meagre amount of money to get the bare minimum!

So... It was pretty obvious that she took Halloween quite seriously.

And Cole didn't! You would think that he would, considering his silly omnipresent tinted sunglasses and goofy low-fantasy steampunk-esque everyday get up, but apparently his lack of care was lost on him. Pash tutted quietly to herself, both in focus and frustration as she finished off the last few stitches in the piece that she was altering just for him. It wouldn't be as perfect as it could've been if she could've just had more time, but someone had decided to pitch this adventure to her late as all hell. The big work, she'd handled with her trusty sewing machine, but the finer details were all being done by hand.

The sudden pecking at her window made her jump, nearly stabbing herself with her needle. Her snakes hissed in the direction of the sound with irritation and Pash herself pouted, standing up straight and making a face at the window. Smoke. Cole couldn't have even bothered to walk up to her doorway? Her fangs pressed against her glossy lips, her brows drawn together, before she stomped over to the window and threw it open, pointing at Cole, stationed in his car outside of her house, doing absolutely nothing.

"YOU! Get in here!" she commanded, though it was hard to take it seriously, since her voice really did not lend itself to an authoritative tone. He would see partially how she was dressed through the open window, the sight of her puffy Queen of Hearts costume on display. Her snakes wound around the crown, rearing up with aggression, feeding off of her energy.

Cole would find the door to her modest home unlocked, the plaque near the door 'Posh-mina: check us out online!' alerting people to her business.
「 @TerraBooma 」
code by wren.
 
Cole Warfiln (And Smoke)
Fire Magi, Investigative Journalist, Snoop
​
Cole didn't need Smoke's telepathic indgnified squawking to tell that he had done something to tick off Pinky. It was adorable though, something about her small frame trying to order people around was a funny kind of contrast- fortunately he was in a good enough mood to comply. Stepping out of his rickety old car, accepting that despite the fact that the machine had not yeilded to his mighty thwacking attempts, that it would surely not evade him for long.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Cole saunters up to the window while mentally telling Smoke to snuff it. The crow gives one last distressed squawk and flees away from Pashamina's head of snakes. While the bird shared much of the confidence and cockiness of its master, it also didn't want to be near that many snakes at head height. That left Cole to brave the snakeden alone, walking inside and looking around the place with something akin to a critical eye- to all of his insufferable credit, he had to admit that the place looked good.

"You got a nice place there Queenie!" He echoed from the front door entryway, closing it behind him and slowly ambling about as he tried to find Pash directly. "And your costume looks great. You made that yourself yeah? You got the like...buisiness thing." He motioned to the sign. Maybe he should have done a little more diligence in looking up exactly what she was doing. "Honestly- you do good work. I don't have much experience with actually sewing or anything, but I know what looks good. And you look pretty good right now." He grinned at her, slapping his camera and clicking the shudder to snap a picture of her. Somehow, the interaction had the same energy as someone racking a shotgun before launching themselves into a warzone; this was his weapon of choice after all.

"So, why'd you pull me in anyway? Wanna go over the battle plan before we hit the party?"

@PavellumPendulum
 
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PASHMINA
As the seconds ticked by between Cole receiving her extremely convincing command and him pushing through her front door, Pash grew more and more irritable, her face scrunched into one of undeniable impatience, her dress now squished by her arms being folded stubbornly over her chest. Like some sort of cartoon character, she was even tapping her foot in vexation when Cole ambled in. He looked completely out of place among her mannequins of exquisite clothing in progress, sheaths of different fabrics arranged on hanging clips against the wall from the ceiling. A drink sat on top of her little rolling work cart stood right next to the outfit she'd finished modifying for him, the fizzy strawberry soda within flat, the condensation on the outside of the glass long gone in a small puddle on the surface of her cart.

She remained silent, her sour face not changing even when he complimented her work, having the gall to take a picture of her pout. With exasperation, her snakes reared up with even more hissing as she stomped forward and grabbed a fistful of his dreary shirt. There was absolutely no way she was showing up to a party with him dressed like this, even if it was only to snoop! He had no respect for anything, not even the aesthetic, which was near unforgivable to Pash. "We're not going over any plan until you get out of this potato sack!" she whined, in no way intimidating even with his shirt in her surprisingly tough grip, "We're going to a party and you look like someone scraped you up off of the pavement. What were you thinking?"

Pash let him go with a long suffering sigh of sorts, before pointing at the costume on the mannequin she'd just been working on. It matched with hers, being a spiffy blazer and pants duo in the same baby pink as her dress, embroidered with hearts and carefully laid patches of some sort of metallic fabric, as if to simulate armour. A tag stuck out of it with her sweet, looping handwriting in pink gel pen, 'KNIGHT OF HEARTS'. A line of hearts was doodled next to the name.

Now, her pointing finger shifted to the direction of her washroom, only a few steps away. "Go change!"
「 @TerraBooma 」
code by wren.
 
Cole Warfiln and Smoke
Fire Magi, Investigative Journalist, Snoop
Interactions: @PavellumPendulum ​

Unfortunately for Pashamina, she was absolutely adorable when she was riled up. Cole had long since discovered that attention of any kind was a hell of a drug, he had a dopey shit eating grin on his face when he walked in through the front door, one that was only partially shaken off when she literally grabbed him and started tossing him around like the potato sack that she accused him of being. He had maybe been underestimating her (or he was just equally weak) but she was pretty strong for her size! There was a fierceness to her shaking that made him realize that he needed to smarten up and take things just that little bit more seriously. Evidently, his new partner in crime took costuming and fashion a little more seriously than he did. If he wanted to continue working alongside her Cole got the feeling this wasn't the point to press on too hard. That, and up this close those snakes did look a little intimidating. Admittedly he had never paid enough attention in other species biology (or his own for the matter) But he had no idea how much direct control she actually had over them. If it was more of an emotional thing he was pretty sure riling her up any further would be a good way to get his face bitten off.

"Thought it'd be a little high brow to wear something flashy, yknow? We're trying to lie low here! Hard to do that if we're stealing the show yknow? I mean look at you! The crowd's not going to be able to pull their eyes away from ya. Not exactly the best approach if we're trying to gain information all sneaky like. Buuut I can tell this means a lot to you, so I'll play ball." He held up his arms with a resigned shrug. Surrendering to her whims and her wrath and agreeing that he was going to change up his outfit. He didn't think pink was really his colour, but he wasn't about to be so insecure to refuse to wear it because of any particular number on the colour wheel. Plus he had to admit, it did match her pretty well. He moved over to the mannequin and went to pull the costume off- pausing just before he made contact. "I...huh. That really looks like armor. How the hell did you do that?" His voice is incredulous and impressed at the same time, and his inner child is admittedly excited to wear some knight kit even if it's not the colour his childhood self imagined.

"Alright alright though. I'm changing." He bundled up her costume (carefully, he was respecting the craft at this point) and shuffled into the bathroom, closing the door and calling out as he started to change. He did leave his camera outside, which left it prone for snooping if she wanted to play around with it. Smoke could see her from the window- but if she looked at the bird it would give a "CAW" which seemed to indicate 'i ain't a snitch'.

"So fine. You dont' wanna talk shop till I'm changed? That's...whoop- that's fine! Tell me about your store then. This party's a good spot for connections yeah? Minus the gangsters, so fill me in on what you do exactly so I can help pump you up if we stumble onto any good connections while we're hunting for leads. Help me help you yeah? It's basic symbiosis and all that. Like me and Smoke!"

"CAW!"

"Oh go fuck yourself you don't mean that!"

"CAW!"
 
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PASHMINA
His reasoning was stupid, as was he, but his compliments did dust her cheeks with blush, though her pout held strong. "We'll stand out even more if we look like we're dressed to go make a visit to the local garbage dump too..." she mumbled quietly as he rescinded his complaints and moved to take the costume off of the mannequin, her eyes off to the side in childish irritation, but she lit up when he spoke of her work. Though she could remember to still be mad at him, she would never turn down an opportunity to be excited about her work, straightening up and stating, with no lack of pride, "They're hand sewn rows of metallic sequins and buttons. I made the pattern myself and stitched every piece individually." Luckily, she'd made these costumes beforehand, so the alterations had taken less time than making everything from scratch, but she'd never deny how much love and effort had gone into this pair of costumes.

As Cole disappeared into the washroom, Pash's snakes calmed down and she sauntered over to her work cart to slurp down the rest of her fruity soda concoction, an imprint of pink glossy lips coating the rim. Noticing Cole's lonely camera on her workshop table was akin to something like Pandora seeing the fabled box, so with barely any hesitation (she wasn't even sure if she would've stopped snooping, even if Smoke hadn't given her the apparent okay to do so) she turned the thing on and began sifting through the various photos. He was a journalist after all! If they were gonna work together, she had to see his resume, even if it was without his consent (yada yada and every other excuse on the planet Earth, she was too nosy to care.)

She rolled her eyes at Cole and Smoke's back and forth, only taking a brief break from scanning her eyes over the pictures, before calling back out in response, "It's Posh-mina. I sell online mostly, cute summer stuff and custom costumes or commissions. Sometimes I custom fit and tailor stuff." She paused, before adding, faint embarrassment forming the base of her tone, "Um, if you remember Lutz Tailors, that's what used to be here, when my papa owned the place."
「 @TerraBooma 」
code by wren.
 
Cole Warfiln (And Smoke)
Interactions: @PavellumPendulum ​

It was nice to see Pinky soften up a bit, and watching her exposit over the things that she was clearly passionate about? Yeah it was a little cute. Much as he hated all the effort into figuring out the costuming stuff for himself he had to admit that she had a point on a tactical level given the party they were going to. Plus it was obvious she had put some effort into it. He didn't even know how you were supposed to sew metal shit like this, but it had to be a total pain in the ass right? "Tell you what! When this is all over and we've done some digging. I'll reach out to a few contacts. See if they're willing to run you an ad or something. Newspaper is mostly dead, but it means that the space is cheaper yknow? Low budgets and all that. Could be a good way to get it out. And...hell, you do stuff this good? Maybe I'll order something from you myself." His voice was muffled both by the door and by exertion, as it took a considerable amount of effort

Cole's camera was warm to the touch, and even a Sarpa could probably pick up that there was some magic woven into the camera itself. It was surprisingly light for how bulky it looked, and the grip seemed to melt a little bit as she pressed her hands against it, morphing to give her the most comfortable fit for her hand size. For someone who drove a broke down piece of shit car and harassed random tourists on the beach, Cole's Camera was a pretty pricey piece of magical technology.

At first, it was everything you could expect to see on Cole's camera roll. Pictures of tourists and goers by. Pretty ladies getting lots of shots and the occasional family group broken up by idyllic shots of the beaches or the wilderness outside. It's idyllic if uninspired, the kind of thing that you see mass produced on every post card that came out of Aeaea. As she continued to roll back however Pash would start to see little hints of the darker spots in paradise. A few homeless merfolk gathered around a desolate shrine. A long distance shot that looked like it was covering some kind of handoff, seen in reverse order to the shot right after it of two pissed off looking goons getting concerning closer to the camera (this second shot is in considerably less focus. Everything being a little blurred.) There were a few shots of local authority figures and even a few that had lower level politicians and celebrities rubbing shoulders with some shady individuals, though they lacked any particular 'gotcha' photos to really seal the deal. There were photos of damage- of bricks through glass and burnt down buildings. All signs of some kind of intimidation or strongarming by...someone.

There was also, in the rarest of cases were shots of beautiful glasswork. Evocative images of blue and green stained glass set up in the middle of what looked like a kitchen. The patterns were basic, but they were clearly something the creator had put a lot of effort into. The images themselves were usually contrasting to the frail nature of the glasswork they found themselves in. Monsters and violence captured in glass for someone to gaze upon through the tinted light. Even rarer were pictures of wildlife. Of animals simply existing in nature, or of Smoke flying against a volcano in the background.

At that point, Cole opened the bathroom door. "Ta Daaaaaa~" Striking a dramatic pose. Only for that to fall apart as he saw what she was doing. "W-Woah!" He called out, actually flustered for once with red striking his face. Rushing forward to try and scoop the Camera pack. "Don't you know you're not supposed to handle a man's camera without asking first!? Hand it back!" Despite his speed, his tone is full of more flushed embarrassment rather than any actual anger or indignation.
 
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PASHMINA
Pash did not take Cole's possible promises to heart. Though she was the optimistic type, she'd never been the kind of person to blindly believe other people would keep their ends of a bargain without some proof past a silver tongue. It didn't really help that Cole definitely seemed like the type that would run his mouth just for the sake of it, so as she browsed through his camera without consent, she replied with a dismissive and mostly non-committal, "Sure, I guess." Her pink eyes sifted through the various shots, sometimes lingering when she thought she recognized someone. Even her snakes relaxed, their heads pointed towards the camera in strange deference, what with Pash's non-aggressive interest towards it.

There was the good and the bad. Fluff pictures of how beautiful life could be in Aeaea, some that made her lips tip up in a slight smile and others that reminded her how things could be if you did not go looking. Perhaps Cole was actually half-way competent at his job? She'd have to read some of his articles to get the full picture... The gorgon's head flicked back towards the man in her house when he burst out of her bathroom, striking a pose. She was in no way ashamed of her actions, even when he reacted as loudly as he possibly could. Pash held the camera by its perfectly sized grips as though it'd always been hers, as though she'd lived entire lifetimes with it.

She rolled her eyes and handed it back to him without much of a fight, knowing how expensive the piece of tech was without even having to ask. Better to get it in his hands before they made a mess of it, after all. "Shush! I had to make sure that you were actually trustworthy and like... Good at your job, or else this is all a waste of time." she insisted as though it'd been perfectly reasonable to breach his privacy while he was in her bathroom, as if her time as an amateur snoop actually made her time all the more valuable.

Pash scanned over Cole with a cursory glance now. She'd gotten his measurements perfectly, down to the damn inch. Her smile was wide, her pearly fangs making it even toothier as her eyes crinkled up in a pleased manner. "You even look a little more buff in that. I think I've outdone myself."
「 @TerraBooma 」
code by wren.
 
Cole Warfiln (And Smoke)
Interactions: @PavellumPendulum ​

He felt conflicted that she had gone snooping in his camera. On one hand? It was an inquisitive move and one that displayed a sense of investigative panache and a willingness to learn things even if it meant breaking a few social norms. It was that exact kind of snooping nose for information that had done him well in his investigations so far! And partially what lead to his success as a journalist limited though it was. Being willing to go places people didn't want you to go and do things they didn't want you to do was how you got to the bottom of secrets and exposed them for all the crap that they were trying to hide away. And yeah it sometimes meant you got chased by armed guards or banned from a few corporate vistas for life but it was all part of the hunt for the truth! It was the right thing to do, and downright clever by half. Cole only knew too well the little thrills of going somewhere you weren't supposed to.

But it wasn't supposed to be used against him like this! Not his baby!

Cradling his camera, Cole does a rapid swipe through the pictures as the grips readjust to his own posture and method of holding the camera. There's a few taps of tension before he's realized that she hasn't gone and deleted anything nor done anything more than swiping back through the images themselves and he relaxes just a bit. Flattery was the salve to heal all wounds, as they say and it was evident that it had an immediate effect given the relatively minor infraction. "Oh yeah? Well y'know. I work out, gotta keep these guns honed yknow?" Sure it was mostly just the occasional bit of cardio when he could actually be assed to get off of the couch, but Pash was clearly a woman of good taste. Flexing his arms, he nods in approval at her comment. "Yeah you're right, this is a great outfit there Pinkie." With a wild grin, he lowered his camera and shifted around her, giving her a playful bow before motioning to the doorway. "Your majesty, your chariot awaits."

Play aside, Cole shifts down the hall and leans against the wall itself as he pulls out his phone. There's a cawing from the windowsill which prompts Cole to roll his eyes before Smoke up and takes off, heading somewhere else for the time being. "Games aside; you look fantastic, and now I look fantastic. I'll admit you maybe have a point about the dressing up thing. You need any reminders about the operation though? I gotta state; I cannot stress how helpful it is to do a last minute check. Make sure you got all your stuff cause the last thing we want is to be chased by goons and it turns out we're all outta bus tickets. Yknow? A lot harder to get away from these kinda guys exclusively on foot and let's just say the Chariot is...less reliable." He points twin fingers her way. "What do you know about the Dolmatti's anyway? Consider this a...test of your current resources, your majesty." He winked at her; she may have earned a second playful nickname tonight depending on how well things went today.
 
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PASHMINA
It would be good if Cole didn't take her current and future snooping (aka invasions of privacy) too personally. She'd always been nosy to begin with and that nose of hers had certainly gotten her into trouble before, but it was all in the name of good satisfying her curiosity. Her father used to always tell her (somewhat affectionately) that she'd land herself in prison someday, just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It'd never inspired much confidence in her, but it never really stopped her self-serving investigative instincts. Totally casually after she made super to smooth everything over with a well-timed compliment, she grabbed her admittedly empty glass of fizzy soda while letting Cole flex for himself, noisily slurping on the remains, which was mostly the faintest taste of sugar and melted ice.

When she turned, he was bowing and gesturing towards the doorway, perhaps looking even one tenth more chivalrous than before. "The chariot better be well-driven, knight. I'm not in the mood for a crash." she responded easily, giving him a slight smirk before she headed out before him, waiting by the door to lock it. With her house key slipped into her pocket, she turned her pink eyes back towards him, a brow slightly quirked. "Why're we taking the chariot if it's not reliable?"

Stepping over towards the car, which was kind of an upgrade to her, since she didn't even have a vehicle of her own, even if this thing was supposedly not the ideal getaway vehicle, she let her eyes glide over the chips in the paint. The urge to idly scratch at the openings in the thin layer was only halfway tolerable. "The Dolmatti's son, Francisco, has me tailor his suits sometimes. I know he complains a lot and all his measurements." Pashmina told Cole with a shrug over the car, "I don't know how much he knows about his parent's business. He's always grumbling about having dandruff or something."

Her eyes turned over to the sky, the sun near to melting by the horizon like an egg ready to burst in warm yellows and oranges. "What are you even looking for anyway? His parents do something bad?"
「 @TerraBooma 」
code by wren.
 
Cole Warfiln (And Smoke)
@PavellumPendulum ​

Fortunately for the both of them snooping was a fundamental part of both of their intuitive intuitions. He had for example, not been able to resist poking around in some of the drawers of her bathroom to see if there was anything particularly unexpected. He wasn't going to mention it, and he didn't think he had seen anything too important. That was just what you did when you had the chance though wasn't it? The old adventurer's wind! If you saw a chest, you just had to open it up and see what was inside.

Regardless, they were out the door as fast as Pashmina could finish her drink and lock up, leaving the pair facing a much less fanciful looking vehicle. To say that Cole's car had seen hard times was an understatement so much as saying getting murdered was kind of a bad time- it just wasn't a particularly necessary metaphor. It was old, that much was obvious. Somewhere around twenty to twenty five years based on the rust. He had a mirror duck taped on and one of the back passenger windows was just...missing, there not being much of anything to replace it save for a towel placed on the seat which seemingly existed in order to catch anyway wayward droplets of water coming down from skies of plenty.

A wonderful chariot indeed, since a string of bad luck meant you'd need a horse or two to pull it to actually get it to go anywhere. Cole had even spent a few nights dragging it around the island by hand with the help of a kind passersby or even by his lonesome, trying to lumber the thing to the closest mechanic. It was a broke down piece of shit, but it was his broke down piece of shit. He wasn't about to give up on it! Also he didn't have the money to give up on it- which presented a far larger barrier than his pride ever could.

"It's not so much that the Chariot isn't able to do what needs to be done. It's just as the old adage says, crime pays a shit load of money and mostly expensive imported cars. And those guys can outrun mine in a heart beat. I've been in exactly one car chase in my life, and I'm not looking to repeat it." He motions to one of the mirrors of his car; which was plainly also duck taped back on. "Got side-swiped getting out of there, and she's just not been the same sense. I can't ever get the damn radio to work...." As if to accentuate his point, Cole slipped into his car as he listened to Pash talk about what she knew about the Dolmatti's. True to his ever looming curse, he fails to get the radio to spring to life for all his fumbling.

"You've got the long and short of it. The Dolmatti's are a real big buisiness family, as you know. They handle a lot of the exports. Bottled water and shit. That's its own can of worms, and I'd give my left arm to get inside of one of those factories." He rolled a hand off to the side, knocking on the dash. "Allegedly anyway. Rather fond of my arms to be honest." He shrugs before continuing on. "Regardless, that's the usual high level shit they got going on. Rumors is though that they got connections to the underworld, and that water isn't the only thing they're exporting out and importing in. Francisco's a real loudmouth, and while there's no proof he's connected to any of the rumours he's our best shot at getting a little bit of intel. He's allegedly one hell of a loud mouth when he's drunk. His daddy likes to try and make sure he's got a few handlers for these big parties, but I haven't seen anything of the usual big hitters attending as a guest. Francisco might just be trying to throw this one on the downlow to get away from his dad's rules or whatever; that's our chance to get in. Best case scenario? We get ahold of something big. Worst case scenario? We get a little bit of gossip about Francisco being a playboy and learn a little bit more about the high society sleazes and who's sleeping with who. You still in?"
 
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PASHMINA
Unfortunately for Cole, there was nothing mindblowing inside of Pash's work bathroom. Perhaps that wasn't the height of trendiness these days, to hide your deepest, darkest secrets inside of the same cabinet in which you kept your menstrual products. He'd find a frankly quite ridiculous amount of personal hygiene products, making it seem like four full grown women lived here instead of just one, but nothing much outside of that. At the very least, it would explain why she smelled so nice... Like Tropical Sunshine Sundae specifically, according to the nearly empty perfume bottle.

In the car, Pash sat back, not even bothering to look unimpressed at his finagling with the car radio, nor his mention of car chases. It wasn't as though she was indifferent to high speed investigations, but the history of his chariot wasn't really striking to the brain, in her opinion. All she was hearing was that he was broke, but for once, she kept her mouth shut and did not tell him that. What a saint she truly was. "Ooookay."

To hear that the Dolmatti's were likely dipping their hands into some illegal baskets didn't surprise her, but it certainly did excite her. That unending curious sparkle in her eyes nearly eclipsed her pupils, her smug expression sweeter than any dessert she'd ever tasted. "I bet they're doing something craaazy. Cocaine. Elephant fentanyl. Horse tranqs." she listed off the drugs as if they were the only things that could possibly be illegally imported and exported, "Francisco's an ass, but he's definitely an okay rich boy sometimes. He usually tips me 100 just for an alteration... Even if he leaves a trail of dandruff in and out of my workshop."

Still, Pash had no loyalty to crime doers. She would miss his patronage if he ended up in cuffs eventually, but sticking her nose where it didn't belong was far more important than big tips! She'd never been in it for the money, only for the satisfaction. "I'm in though. I gotta see where this goes." she nearly squealed, her grin fanged and bright, "What's our attack? How're we gonna get him drunk?"
「 @TerraBooma 」
code by wren.
 
Cole Warfiln (And Smoke)
@PavellumPendulum ​

With her house thoroughly snooped and his camera prestigiously recovered from unabashed scooping in its own right, Cole was ready to move. He had an easy going air about him, and this didn't phase that per se, but there was a noticible shift in his focus as he pulled into traffic, eyes flitting around in a pseudo seriousness one might expect from someone who actually did this kind of snooping professionally. He was well familiar with the illusions of paradise, and the darker sides of Aeaea and the people who lived there. As long as there were secrets there was always some kind of dirty laundry worth exposing to the world. It was worth it just to see the look on a couple smug bastard's faces when all their illicit deals were brought up the surface and they had to deal with the court of public opinion. It wasn't really about justice, Cole just liked making people who were popular feel a little uncomfortable. Make 'em squeeze a little bit. Whether that was airing celebrity gossip or unveiling a mafia's hidden plots, it was all basically the same thing right?

"I dunno if they do anything particular. My guess is that they're more of a middle man kinda deal. They own a good chunk of some of the more popular ports and docksides and such. Would be pretty smart to keep it as a no questions asked import-export thing. But who knows? Why rely on other people to use your routes if you can do it all yourself? Cuts out a lot of the competition anyway. Plus you could do the real big stuff. Fruit's a big one, especially from further out." He shrugged. "All I knows is every time I follow around one of their suits, I get a few thugs telling me to quit sticking my nose where it doesn't belong. Had my camera smashed a few times too- it's why I bothered to pay out and get the thing enchanted with a little more durability. I'm working on a trick with Smoke- Tossing it up in the air and letting him carry it away. Only problem is the guy can barely hold the thing. Does nothing but complain the whole time he's stuck with it, not to mention he can't carry it worth shit. I only make the hand off a good 30% of the time, so its a pretty dead end move." Cole laughs to himself, fondly remembering the many times he was almost punched to a pulp by mafia goons. It was a strange thing to laugh at, but the not-actually getting punched part of the memory was a fond instance of him getting one over on someone stronger than him.

"Shouldn't be too hard to get him talking once he's sloshed, and it shouldn't be too hard to get him sloshed. He's a playboy yeah? Guy basically drinks himself under the table. The trick is to make sure that his goonies don't get sus of us if they're there, and that nobody else drags his ear first. We might be the only ones taking this particular angle of attack, but we ain't the only people trying to get the ear of a fancy rich boy and whatever influence he might have. Sabotage a couple gold diggers, keep folks from pissing him off too much that he leaves early, and we're in good." Cole thumbed the wheel of the car before scratching his cheek with it.

"Now, the real prize if we can get it is up the ladder. If we can figure out where Mr. Dolmatti's having his big gala coming up, we got a better shot of getting in. That's when we get a shot at some real snoopage. Buisiness deals and behind rooms dealing kinda stuff. So, once he gets drunk enough, we start seeing if he's willing to whine about his pops. I've heard a rumor that he's got a soft spot for sarpas- something about them being his type. So you'll have an edge over me once you're in there." He gives a dramatic sigh, obviously playing up his irritation. "For some reason, nobody ever wants to hit on the guy with the camera. I think I'm cursed. Might have to get some other magi to check it out."

While Cole's car was a piece of shit, he was actually a decent driver. Able to weave through what little traffic there was, but mostly content to roll through the slow lane. The party started at island time anyway, which meant it started whenever enough people actually got around to starting it- he wasn't in any rush.
 
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PASHMINA
Cole very obviously liked to talk. Normally, Pash would see this as an infringement upon her rights as a loudmouth and incessant speaker who constantly needed attention, but since the topic at hand actually interested her, she watched and listened with glittering, rosy eyes. His supposed information extraction method with Smoke likely wouldn't do them much good at this huge party they were going to, since when she'd looked up the address, it seemed to be at a gigantic warehouse rather than out in the open, but maybe it would be useful in the future... If they kept working together.

She nodded along excitedly until he brought up Francisco's apparent enjoyment of sarpas, which made her cringe visible and press her back away from Cole, as though he was the one with the preference. From her expression, she'd very clearly never clocked this specific fact about him, despite having served him at her business multiple times. "Ewww, a sarpa fetishist? They're always weeeeeird about it. I always get some gross messages in my store's inbox about how they wanna make me their seamstress with benefits through SAP... Like, that's a threat more than anything." she gagged loudly to make a point, shuddering, "Now you're making me not wanna talk to him."

Pash sighed, adjusting her puffy dress sleeves, "Whatever. I'll make it work. But if he starts getting handsy, I'm kneeing him in the balls." Her hand slapped her trusty knee as though it were a favoured weapon, her smirk both silly and confident, "He won't know what hit him."

In time, they eventually hit an industrial area, where it was warehouse galore. It took some especially important detective work to figure out which damn one they were supposed to go to, since all of them looked the same, but eventually, they found the one with the most cars parked by, ranging from dingy to ridiculously expensive and souped up. Pash exited the vehicle almost triumphantly, having been the makeshift GPS of the trip, as though they had already succeeded in their task that had not yet started.

They could hear the music pumping from within. "You taking a fake name? I can't, 'cause I think he might remember me."
「 @TerraBooma 」
code by wren.
 
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