An unusual meeting in Duskvol

Laudius looked at the sheet of paper he had been handed. He recognized the street the address belonged to, and it was surprisingly downscale from what he had expected to be given from a academic. Still better than where he was, but not by much.
"I work wherever my boss tells me to, usually on the eastern side."
Laudius set the paper down and put his boots off to the side before turning on a single lamp. The inside lacked almost any kind of furnishing. There was a simple bed across the room, just barely large enough for one person, a corner where the sink lay, and off to the right was the only other door, with a large basin next to it.
"Listen girl--Cyrene--I appreciate the thought, but if I had the money to visit a restaurant, I wouldn't be living like this."
 
"Who said you're buying?" Cyrene's eyes twinkled. "Besides, I'm sure I could convince Grandpappy to make an exception for a friend." She could see his shock at where the address was and probably was going to be struck by the revelation that the owner of the restaurant was her Grandpappy. "Don't judge a book by its cover, Laudius. And certainly never judge a Dupont; it may be the last thing you ever do." Cyrene winked at him and chuckled.
 
"I see..."
Dupont. That was not a name he had heard before. He might ask around about it in work tomorrow.
"Well, thank you again for the drink and getting me home in one piece. I'm going to go sleep this off before I get to work in the morning."
Work was going to come far too early in the morning. Laudius bade the young lady farewell and let her start to leave before closing and locking his door. Odd night. Very odd night. He found most women either didn't give him the time of day or were from the red lantern district, and here came along one who out of nowhere bought him a drink and gave him the address of a restaurant. He couldn't help but wonder if she was attempting to fool him or use him, but how? He didn't have anything worth stealing, no information worth giving up, no ties to any major individual that actually cared, and he didn't have many skills outside of working with his hands. Was she looking for a handyman that she could use without pay? That seemed a fair bit of a stretch...
Laudius shook his head and collapsed on his mattress, which squeaked in protest. He was too addled and tired to try and think this all through tonight. Most likely he wouldn't even see that girl again...
 
Cyrene had a skip in her step on the way back to home. Her father and mother both raised their eyebrows at the girl, but dismissed it as it was her birthday night. She tossed off her attire for the night and dove into bed. East side, huh? Which manager was that? She knew them all because the managers of each side had gone to the Academy. Zelgius. That was Zelgius' turf. A mischievous smile covered her face; looks like she was going to have to go visit Zelgius to find out more about this guy. For now, though, sleep was calling and she blissfully headed off to dream land.
 
A few days passed uneventfully. Well, most days were uneventful for Laudius, the night in the bar had been an outlier. It was now three days after that night. Laudius had not gone to the restaurant as of yet... but he also had not tossed the address. Currently, he was elbows deep in a generator. Softly humming beneath him. This was one of several power stations around the wall, not even one of the main ones, but a secondary to keep the flow steady. The sheer amount of electroplasm flowing throughout the wall was enough to fry a man completely into the ghost field. This particular generator needed another cell to keep working properly, a pair of coworkers were coming in with said cell, about as large as a man, and pulsing with a violet light.
"Get that thing up here, and be careful."
There was one incident of a mishandled cell the previous year. The one doing the mishandling had ended up losing both his legs when it was finished.
It took 20 minutes of careful maneuvering to get the cell into its proper place and power on, but it was done. Laudius wiped his brow and waved the other two men away before walking a few hundred meters down the eastern side of the wall. There was a possible electroplasm leak that he either needed to reinforce or straight-up fix. No rest for the wicked.
 
"That's the one right?" Zelgius raised an eyebrow from his office as he looked through the security cameras. The visit from Cyrene was interesting enough. The fact that she was looking for someone that worked under him was unthinkable. But he had found the guy. "He should be heading there to fix that leak."
"Thanks you so much, Zelgy-poo." Cyrene blew him a kiss before waltzing out of his office. Zelgius shook his head; that woman was something...

Cyrene walked through the workers, ignoring their jaws dropping as she went. No dress today; just a tight of pair of slacks and a tight, corsetted shirt that left plenty of cleavage. She came up behind her target and put her hands on her hips.
"Laudius!" She shouted from behind him, taking full advantage of the element of surprise.
 
A bit of a scowl appeared on Laudius's face at the shout from behind him.
"I don't know who sent you down, but I'm already heading to the--"
The man stopped dead in his tracks as he turned around. He had assumed the voice behind him came from someone in management. It wasn't uncommon for them to remind workers of their assignments even after they had been given in the morning. Whether that was because they didn't believe their workers capable or because they enjoyed throwing their weight around, Laudius had never managed to figure out. But that wasn't who was standing there.
"What the hell are you doing here? No, more to the point how did you manage to find me along a several-mile-long wall?"
Laudius shook his head and started to head towards the possible leak. Hot chick or no, he wasn't going to be able to use an excuse for not getting this done
 
"I have my sources." Cyrene chuckled. "I figured since you decided to not come to the restaurant and ask for me, I'd have to hunt you down myself." The fellow workers around seemed to be flabbergasted that she was talking to him. "...I know that you're doing work and I'll definitely stay out of your way. But I've never had someone turn me down for a date and I'm not going to let that stand!"
 
"So let me be sure I understand you..."
Laudius began speaking as he continued to walk along the wall, mentally going over the process of reinforcing electroplasm channels to calm himself down.
"A man doesn't follow up with you within 4 days, so knowing only what his job is and a general idea of where he works, locate his exact position, go to his workplace while he is still actively working and call him out on it. Instead of the much simpler option: find another date."
Laudius was having a hard time figuring out what was going on in this woman's head. Was she just too proud to let this go? Did he have something she wanted? Had she become infatuated (highly unlikely)? It just didn't seem to make logical sense
"You do recognize that I'm not just going to look at pretty lights right? There's a possible electroplasm leak? Something very dangerous if you aren't familiar with them?"
 
"I know people everywhere. You weren't that difficult to track down." Cyrene crossed her arms. "And I can have another date at a whistle's call. But I find you interesting; thus, I am being stubborn. As for the pretty lights..." Cyrene rolled her eyes. "I'll be staying back far enough away that it won't be a problem. But I am going to take your out for a night on the town, one way or another. I'm sure I can find out from Zelgius when your next day off work is." A victorious smile crossed her face. "So, you might as well give in and come have fun with a lovely lady."
 
There she went, calling him interesting again. What about him exactly was interesting?
"What makes you think I have days off?"
Laudius gave a minute for the words to sink in, and by the time another word might have been spoken, they had reached the point where the leak was supposed to be. When he opened the hatch to the possible leak, he was greeted by several flashes of violet light, along with the violent scent of burning metal.
"I thought this was supposed to be a leak, not a damn fireworks show!"
Laudius shook his head and threw on his black-shade goggles. He wouldn't be able to see otherwise. Without another word, he moved through the hatch and into the mess. One of the conduits had a gash in it about as wide as a man's arm, and about a meter long. Electroplasm randomly jettisoned from the opening, and the edges were burning with a white-hot flame that would be unbearable without his goggles. The man let out a sigh, pulled on of the slabs of insulated metal from off the wall, and got to work.
----------------
20 minutes later, he walked back outside the hatch, with the smoke starting to clear. He had a couple of burns on his arms, where his leather gloves had stopped covering, and his apron was covered with several scorchmarks. The supervisor who was there was given a clipboard that had several rough scribblings on it.
"It's been repaired and reinforced. It looks like some idiot tried to carry a piece of piping through there without proper procedure, and then scraped open the conduit."
 
Cyrene had heard his last words and they had stumped her. How could a person not get a day off? This was ridiculous and she wouldn't stand for it. Her heeled boots clicked as she went up to Zelgius' office to give him a piece of her mind. Anyone who passed there would have heard the shouting of an irate female while the manager had his face in his hands. After about twenty minutes, she exited with a satisfied look on her face. Her eyes caught onto Laudius and she marched right towards him.
"There's going to be an announcement soon." Her eyes sparkled. The power of being female always surprised. A begrudging voice came over the intercom.
"After looking through worker's statutes for this facility, it has been noted that workers have not been allowed time off properly. Thus, beginning the day after tomorrow, you may put in applications for a day off and we will try to fill demand as it goes. Which means a lot more paperwork..." There were some inaudible words that came from the intercom and a glare from Cyrene up towards the man speaking from the office seemed to end them. "Just keep things orderly for me and we'll get things operating in the best legal sense again." Zelgius appeared to go sit down at his desk and start drinking something. A loud murmur came up from the workers as Cyrene looked at Laudius with a wink.
"Laudius, I already scheduled your day for tomorrow. So now you have no excuses."
 
Laudius could only stare, dumbfounded, at the woman in front of him. Had she seriously gone to management and forced them to change their policies--for the purpose of taking him out on a date. His chance meeting with the woman had gone from odd to completely absurd.
"Who... are you?"
The words were less spoken more than they fell out of Laudius's mouth. He couldn't really form any other coherent sentences right now, as he stood their smelling like a burning tire completely caught off guard.
 
"Cyrene Dupont." Her smile brightened. "You'd do well to never forget that name." Her eyes fell on the burns on his arms. "I think I'll go find something to make those burns sting a bit less. I plan on taking you dancing tomorrow; wouldn't want your arms hurting from spinning me." Cyrene let out a light chuckle. "...I do hope I can depend on you to come find me at the restaurant tomorrow, around noon. That should give you extra time to rest so you can keep up with me." The girl's whole body exuded how drunk she was in her female power. There was a confidence to her that seemed to know no bounds. "So, will I be seeing you at the Dupont Restaurant tomorrow? Or will you force me to come find you again to drag you out?"
 
"I mean... I don't really have a choice in the matter do I?"
This woman was not ordinary. Ordinary people did not hear about others' predicament and then proceed to force changes upon it through immediate action. Ordinary people did not find a man like him amongst a sea of similar workers. And ordinary people did not go after one person with this kind of tenacity. Laudius felt like he was going to have to be careful.

Truth be told, he had no idea what to do with a day off. He had worked every day of his life, barring a few days from grievous injury, for the last 6 years of his life. His 'leisure time', if it could be called that, was spent drinking in the bar after work most of the time.
"I'd... better get back to work."
He waved his arm away despite the burns
"This isn't enough to keep me from work."
 
"Then come meet me tomorrow at noon at the restaurant. There should be an older man cooking in the back that you can be directed to. Tell him Cyrene wished for you to come here and meet her." Cyrene gentle fingers touched the skin around the burns. "...I'll take care of these too tomorrow." Her brow furrowed, her mind obviously filled with thoughts. She shook off those thoughts seemingly and looked back up to him with a smile. "I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow." With that, she turned heel and made her way through the droves of workers towards the exist.
 
Work went on as normal for Laudius the rest of the day, but he couldn't escape the thoughts of what had happened. All throughout the day, people were talking about the sudden change in position regarding time off. Several of them were even discussing plans for what they would do with said time. For his part, Laudius kept his mind on his work--for it was the only thing that seemed to remain as it had been today. When he was finished for the day, he went to the bar, drank a couple beers, and then went home, all as normal. But the usual looming exhaustion that plagued him would not let him sleep immediately as it usually did. His mind couldn't keep mulling over the following day--a day that for the first time in 6 years would break his routine. What was he supposed to do... and more to the point, why had that girl, Cyrene, allowed for it? It was eventually the mental exhaustion of thinking through everything that caused Laudius to pass out.

When he woke up the following morning, Laudius began his regular routine--before stopping and realizing that he actually was not supposed to head to the barrier today. The realization hit him like a rampaging goat. Should he rest some more? His body was not used to being able to sleep in. He ended up just lying down on the bed, mulling over his thoughts from yesterday. When his clock ticked 10, he figured that was enough lying around. His body was antsy, not used to being without activity for this long. So he put on a cloak, one that was usually reserved for bad weather, and headed outside.

The restaurant in question was a moderately sized place. Well-lit too. Not too fancy, but also not run-down. Part of him was shouting to leave, and forget the address for this place. It almost felt like he was standing on the edge of a precipice, and he had a choice to make a leap of faith... or turn back. Of course, if he turned back Cyrene would probably just find him again and drag him back. With a deep inhalation, Laudius stepped into the restaurant. The place was relatively busy, it was lunchtime after all. So Laudius calmly made his way up to the bar, and waited for the gentleman to be open.
"Hello... I was told to ask for Cyrene?"
Laudius braced himself, half expecting to be dragged off to some unknown fate.
 
"...ah yes, the young man my granddaughter told me about it." There was a kindly look on the old man's face. "See those stairs up there? Go up them, first door on the right. I'd suggest knocking; that girl was in a tizzy all morning trying to figure out what to wear today." He raised an eyebrow. "You must be something special. Don't hurt her, though. The rest of the family might make you sure you disappear and are never seen or heard from again." The casual way he said that was honestly chilling, like these words were no big deal to him. The old man then went back to his usual jovial self as he worked with customers and food.

Up the stairs, Laudius would be greeted by a line of doors. The one on the very right had a very fancy C and D on it, a crafted piece of wood. There was also a note on the door that had "Laudius" on it. Upon reading the note, he would discover it said "Make sure to knock! I have been rummaging through my closet so it may be a zoo and I may not be decent. But as soon as I am done, we are going to have a lot of fun."
 
Laudius was initially disarmed by the man's jovial attitude and welcoming smile.
Initially.
Then his was just about certain his heart stopped, as the man gave a threat that in most scenarios, Laudius would have considered a jest or at least an exaggeration. He received the distinct impression that this man was neither exaggerating nor bluffing when it came to his daughter. Laudius tipped his cowl to the man, trying his best to stop his hand from shaking in the process, and headed up the stairs. What else could he do? He was clearly all-in at this point, at least until the young lady was satisfied. If she wasn't, then it seemed his boring life would come to an abrupt end.

In the hall, Laudius noticed the letters C and D upon the door, presumably standing for "Cyrene Dupont." His eyes ran over the note beneath it, and he took in another breath. There was no turning back now, he was already too far in. Laudius just hoped he wouldn't come to regret this.

He knocked three times on the door. "Cyrene? It's... Laudius."
 
"Coming!" The sing-song voice from inside drew closer to the door and it was opened to him. Near, the closet, yes, it looked like chaos. However, the rest of the room looked pristine. There was some soft jazz playing from a record player. A small table with two chairs and two cups of tea sat against the window. The bed was a bit larger than his and had a plethora of pillows on it. The walls were a deep purple color, with the floors a beautiful dark wood. The woman in question had opted for a pair of black slacks and a simple green shirt, her hair falling down her back in waves. Her feet were currently bare, making soft noises on the floor. She was far less made up than usual, her natural beauty glowing.
"I thought we could sit and talk for a few minutes over tea before we go out." Cyrene winked and gestured towards the table. Going further into the room, he could see that there was a door partially blocked off by the closet chaos that appeared to be a full washroom. "And what better way to get to know each other than a game?" She had borrowed one of her aunt's many chess boards and set it up behind the tea cups. "Aunty always says that playing a game can teach your the mettle of a man far more than his words."
 
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