Anonymous
Mar 2, 2013 23:21:06 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2013 23:21:06 GMT -6
[tag: Kami]
Business had been good lately. What with all the goings-on with the Equalists and Amon attacking the Probending Arena, worries were piling up, and the best way to assuage them was with alcohol to drink and beautiful dancers to watch. The Golden Fan Saloon had both in abundance, and so had found itself full to bursting pretty much every night since everything had gone down. That meant more money flowing into the establishment, but also meant more hours were required of the Saloon’s employees, especially the women. Of course, more hours led to more money, so Katsumi wasn’t going to complain. She wouldn’t have minded a break, though; she hadn’t had a day off in a couple weeks now, and downtime during her shifts was practically nonexistent. At the end of each day it was all she could do to crawl home and into bed to get what rest she could before the next day of work. Dancing and waitressing were exhausting, especially with the added burden of having to keep a constant smile on her face. Still, the job was paying her bills, with a little on the side as well, so she’d deal with it as best she could.
The music was as boisterous as ever, and those men still sober enough to focus on anything other than the floor had their eyes fixed on the stage, where the Saloon’s dancers—Katsumi included—moved in time, their short kimonos whirling around them, leaving little to the imagination. Catcalls were constant and loud, and a steadily growing pile of yuans covered the edge of the stage. In other words, business as usual.
The song ended, and as the audiences clapped and hollered their appreciation, Katsumi took a moment to stand still and just breathe. She was already exhausted, and she’d only been dancing for an hour, with several more to come before night’s end. She would kill for a break. Luckily, one came in the form of a look from the Saloon’s bartender, who was swamped and looked a bit panicked. He caught her eye, and his face was a clear plea for help. She was only too happy to oblige; waitressing was less tiring than dancing. She could move at a slower pace when delivering drinks, flirt with a few guys as an excuse to rest for a bit. Sighing in relief, the dancer nodded and slipped off the stage to head toward the bar, stopping to grab a few coins from the edge of the platform along the way.
The bartender was elated to see her, and he expressed his thanks repeatedly as let her know where to take which drinks. Katsumi smiled—a real expression this time, not the one plastered on her face while she danced—and glided away, a round in her hands. Her arrival at a table full of drunks was heralded by much cheering, though she couldn’t tell if the men were more excited by the drinks she brought or her revealing ensemble. Whichever it was, she was used to the attention, and moved on, offering nothing more than a coy smile as she headed back to the bar. So it would go for the rest of the night. She would switch back and forth from dancing and serving drinks as needed until finally she was allowed to go home. She was content with that, but allowed herself to hope that something might happen to shake up her routine. She could use some excitement.
Mar 4, 2013 23:38:45 GMT -6
Post by A Long Display Name Here on Mar 4, 2013 23:38:45 GMT -6
[tag: tenshio]
Her jacket was an unmistakeable, if not lately scarce, sight; any regular at the fan would'e recognised the khaki belted coat, even if the wearer's face was obscured by a brimmed khaki fedora. She slunk into an empty, isolated booth in the corner, her eyes averted. She didn't feel like playing games today or running a scam. She was up to her ears in worry, up to her neck in paperwork and investigations. Ever since Hyuk-jae had come into her life — not that it was his fault — Ling had gone through experience after experience without reprieve.
Being a private eye was a lot less exciting than she had thought it would be. There were less daring rescues and exciting smuggling-ring busts, and much more sitting on her arse doing nothing while waiting for some dallying spouse to exit their lover's abode.
Not to mention that she was working her mother's case, either; the police had expressly forbade the Yao sisters to work any angles on the case, but Ling had never been much to listen to directives that went against what she felt was her family's best interest. She had to be extra careful, double-, triple-, and even quadruple-checking her tracks to make sure no evidence submitted to the polices' conscious would be traceable to her work. Not, of course, that she had much success. Just fragments of a case, whisps of information that may or may not be interconnected. She felt like she was trying to untangle a giant knot of string without knowing where either of the ends were.
The harassed looking bartender glanced over at her, but Ling paid him no nevermind. She just needed a moment to think. To let off some steam. Maybe she'd pick a fight with someone today, letting her barbed sarcasm egg a drunk into throwing the first punch, making her physically absolved from instigating a fight. At the 'Fan, it was always about who threw the first punch — and it was never, ever her.
She finally looked up, trying to catch a server's eye. Her wearied gaze fell on Katsumi, and for the first time all day Ling grinned. Her arm shot up and she waved it, trying to call the other woman's attention.
She hadn't heard from Raeya in a while since their date. Maybe she could count on Katsumi instead to blow off some of her steam, in more ways than one.
Anonymous
Mar 5, 2013 3:07:27 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2013 3:07:27 GMT -6
When she had first shifted over from dancing to serving drinks, Katsumi had told herself that the change would be good for her, that it would give her more time to rest. Unfortunately, she had underestimated just how much people could drink when their home was in turmoil. As grateful as she might feel for the boost in money the extra work hours were giving her, the job definitely took its toll on her, both emotionally and physically. She would have killed for a chance to sit, even if only for a minute or two.
Luckily for her, a certain familiar figure in a trenchcoat slid through the door, and it looked she would get that chance after all. Seeing Ling brightened her night considerably. The other woman hadn’t visited in the past few weeks, and Katsumi had missed her. She was friends with a few regulars—the Saloon was always full of interesting people—but Ling was a special case. Things were always more exciting when she was around, and the gambling tricks the two had set up got extra money in both their pockets. And what with Ling’s recent foray into the detective business, there were new and exciting stories to hear every time she made an appearance at the ‘Fan. Hopefully tonight would be no exception, and she’d get to relax with her friend and learn of her recent exploits.
Apparently Ling was just as enthusiastic about catching up as she was. Even across a crowded room, her waving arm was easy to spot. Katsumi answered her friend’s grin with one of her own, mouthing the words, “Be right over,” before turning away to deliver the latest round of drinks that needed her attention. That done, she made her way back to the stage, getting the attention of another dancer, who agreed to take over for a bit while she spent some time with Ling. With a grateful smile and the promise of a similar favor at some point in the future, Katsumi drifted over to the corner where her friend was seated, sitting across from her with a sigh of relief.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you. Work has been way too busy lately, and I haven’t had anyone else around to talk to. It feels amazing to just sit down for a little while.” As she spoke, Katsumi studied her friend, noticing how tired she looked. Her smile softened into an expression of concern. “How have you been doing? You look as tired as I feel.”
Mar 5, 2013 8:50:27 GMT -6
Post by A Long Display Name Here on Mar 5, 2013 8:50:27 GMT -6
[tag: tenshio]
"Hey there, beautiful," Ling said silkily, flashing her gap-toothed grin as Katsumi slid into the booth across from her. "You're always welcome here," she added, with a grand, obviously exaggerated show of magnanimity.
How have you been doing? You look as tired as I feel.
Ling waved her hand. "Things have been pretty crap," she said with a grin, her voice light, belittling the worry and concern of the past few weeks. "The agency's been pretty busy, but it's mostly cuckold wives and husbands trying to get the goods on their partners. Nothing that we can't handle, really, but it's boring. I spend more time sitting on my arse than I do anything else, even paperwork." She laughed again, the corners of her eyes crinkling good-naturedly. "Not to mention that apparently my mother was murdered, but hey, you know, par for the course in this cesspool of a city." The young woman grinned, but this time her grey-blue eyes glittered like ice, and were just as cold.
She said it for shock value, and partially because she still couldn't deal with it. Even now, she couldn't do anything but laugh away her troubles. Obviously, she was beyond angry that her mother was dead-by-murder, but that anger and her incredible sorrow always came out of her mouth in some form of jest.
"Not that I'm being insensitive, exactly," she added after a moment, knowing full well that it came across like that. "It's just... well, Mei's not taking it well. We can't afford to have both Yao sisters feeling like crap, yeah?"
She reached over and put her hand on Katsumi's arm, winking and rubbing her thumb gently along her skin. "So how's it been with you, pretty lady? Any good stories for me?"
Anonymous
Mar 5, 2013 15:17:50 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2013 15:17:50 GMT -6
[tag: Kami]
As many times as Ling had sent similar compliments her way, Katsumi couldn’t help blushing a little when Ling called her beautiful. It was such a change from what she normally received—filled with some measure of actual sincerity, to be precise—that it got to her, made her breath catch in her chest for an instant. She really needed to spend more time with the other woman, preferably not at her place of employment.
It was never easy to tell how things stood with Ling. Her initial statement forecast bad tidings, but the words were uttered with a smile. As someone who made her living off of faking emotion, the dancer probably should have been better at deciphering her friend’s true feelings, but at the moment she was just too exhausted to make that much of an effort. Ling had never lied to her before—at least, she didn’t think so. She’d just have to trust that that was a trend that would continue.
Ling’s tale was pretty unexciting, letting down Katsumi’s expectations of the grandeur of life as a private eye. She needed to stop reading so much detective fiction. It seemed like art did not imitate life, at least in this case.
That was, until her friend casually slipped in the bit about her mother. At that, the dancer’s face went blank, eyes wide with shock. “W-what? That’s awful!” She didn’t understand how that could have happened, or why her friend seemed so flippant about it. She knew that the Yao sisters’ mother had been unwell for a while, but murder was unthinkable, even in Republic City, which wasn’t as much of a shining beacon of justice and hope that it pretended to be. What else could she say? “I…I’m sorry, Ling.” That was completely inadequate—something like this deserved more than the emotionless words uttered every time a tragedy occurred—but nothing more was coming to mind.
Katsumi listened, still somewhat numb, as her friend explained the reason for her attitude. She was trying to keep things together for his sister, and that was certainly honorable, but the Waterbender still wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel or respond. The light touch on her arm helped her come back down to Earth, but also added to her state of general confusion. She could never quite figure out what the nature of their relationship was. Casual flirtation was the norm between them, but occasionally it seemed as though things moved beyond that. The two had never ended up in bed together, or anything so concrete as that, but if something like that were to happen, it wouldn’t entirely unexpected—or entirely unwelcome. But that was a line of thought for another time. For now, Ling needed a distraction, and that was certainly something she could provide.
She wanted good stories…that might be a bit difficult. Working in the ‘Fan provided plenty of entertaining experiences—she could write a book about the stupidity of drunk men based on the past week alone—but she had to sift through all of that to find the truly worthy tales. Finally, one came to mind. It started off simply enough: a drunk got a little too possessive of one of the dancers, put his hands where they weren’t wanted, unfortunately a frequent occurrence in this particular establishment.
“But then—I still don’t know where she learned this—Meilin grabbed the guy’s arms and somehow managed to flip her over her and onto the ground! It was amazing! You should have seen his face! He was fine, I think, just embarrassed, but the rest of us just stared until finally one of the bouncers started clapping. Meilin got a standing ovation…though, I did hear the manager later asking her not to do something like that again in the future. But I’m pretty sure I saw a smile on his face during that, so I don’t think any harm came of it. I do know that the loser who tried to touch Meilin hasn’t been back since!”
Mar 6, 2013 8:39:42 GMT -6
Post by A Long Display Name Here on Mar 6, 2013 8:39:42 GMT -6
[tag: tenshio]
Ling waved away her friend's apologies. She hadn't come to the Fan looking for a pat on the head and a poor-little-baby, she had come to blow off some steam. Or drink. Or both. In any case, sympathy-seeking wasn't on the agenda.
The freckled woman listened with interest to her friend's story, grinning at the conclusion. "Good for her!" she said at the end of the tale. "You girls get such a lousy time of things." Ling rolled her eyes at the thought. "I don't know why the men think that just because you show a little skin, that automatically means it's a grabby free-for-all."
She glanced at the bartender and held up two fingers; he nodded, still looking rather harassed, and soon another girl put two tankards of ale down in front of them. "On me," Ling said, waving her hand so Katsumi would take the other tankard. She grabbed the one closest to her and took a long drink, smacking her lips with satisfaction. The Fan was really the best place to get drunk; she had gone to another pub somewhere else in the City not too long ago, and the ale was so diluted she might as well have been drinking water.
"Oh, so, we're renting out Ma-ma's room," Ling added casually. "Met a poor kid — well, not really kid, just a couple of years younger than me — during one of our first investigations. He wound up getting a string of bad luck and lost his place, and... well, the room was free by then, so Mei and I figured why not." She shrugged nonchalantly. "He's a nice guy, real sweet. Has some mobster boyfriend or something." Ling laughed. "To each their own, I guess. He helps out and whatever, but it took ages for him to come out of his shell. Didn't like Mei at first, if you can believe that." Ling could barely believe it herself, still. Everyone liked Mei-zhen. In her twenty-some-odd years, Hyuk-jae was literally the first person that didn't.
Ling took another long draw from her tankard, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Say, Katsumi," she said suddenly. "You been seeing anyone lately?"
Anonymous
Mar 6, 2013 16:27:44 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2013 16:27:44 GMT -6
[tag: kami]
Her story seemed to do the trick. Ling still looked tired, but Katsumi could sense a definite improvement in her friend’s mood. That had been her goal in telling that particular tale, and she was glad to see that it had had the desired effect. It was a pretty great story, not soon to be forgotten. Word of Meilin’s act of valor had spread quickly, and now men thought twice before putting their hands where they weren’t wanted, as with naught but a look any girl made uncomfortable could summon the Ruiner of Men. Still, Katsumi nodded knowingly when Ling bemoaned the situation of those who worked in the Saloon. Right now things were great, but eventually the tale of Meilin would be forgotten and the drunks would be back to their lecherous ways. It was a condition of this job, and all the girls knew that every time they came in to work, but that didn’t make it any better.
Ling signaled for drinks, and, surprisingly quickly given the busy night the bartender was having, one of the other girls came over with ale for the two of them. “Thanks, Saki,” the dancer said, with a smile. The waitress smiled slightly, muttered something about Katsumi remembering the favor she’d promised, and went back to her other customers. Katsumi grimaced slightly at that. If she wasn’t careful, she’d end owing a lot more than she could handle, and she did not fancy the idea of being forced to work extra hours just because she’d taken some time to catch up with her friend. She wouldn’t drink more than this one tankard of ale, just to be sure. Really, she shouldn’t be drinking too much anyway. The manager didn’t mind if the girls joined in the customers’ festivities occasionally, but only so long as they kept clear heads. And technically, though she might not look it now, she was still on the clock. Getting drunk could wait until her next day off—if she ever got another one. The way things were now, she had no idea when that would be.
The Waterbender began sipping her drink as Ling filled her in on the acquisition of a new tenant, some kid Ling had run into. His story sounded a little dodgy to her, but Ling didn’t seem to have any problems, so she’d let it go. Her friend didn’t always think things through completely, but somehow seemed to know exactly what she was doing when she made seemingly unwise decisions. Besides, the kid wouldn’t be living in the Yao household if he had any serious issues, she was sure of that. The mention of Mei made Katsumi laugh. “That is hard to believe when she’s so nice,” she agreed. To be honest, she hadn’t immediately fallen in love with the older Yao sister when they’d first met—she seemed like much less fun than Ling, and a little naïve—but she’d come to appreciate the balance Mei brought to her younger sister’s life. Ling needed someone to keep her in check, and Katsumi couldn’t be around often enough to do that. It was good, then, that Mei was around to keep her sister from going too crazy. “That’s definitely interesting. You’ll have to bring the kid here sometime so I can meet him.” She winked with a smile.
The question about her relationship status made the dancer put down her tankard with a sigh. She shook her head. “Not unless you count the guys who tell me they’re going to whisk away from this life before passing out mid-sentence. And even if I were with anyone, I haven’t had the time of energy in the past few weeks to do anything more than sleep when I’m not working. I’d be terrible on a date, and one-night stands would probably just consist of me snoring into my pillow until the other person got fed-up and left. My life kind of sucks at the moment.”
Mar 8, 2013 4:34:31 GMT -6
Post by A Long Display Name Here on Mar 8, 2013 4:34:31 GMT -6
OOC: Want to have the girls meet up elsewhere after this? Either Ling's apartment, the PI office, or Katsumi's place?
[tag: tenshio]
Ling nodded her understanding of Katsumi's reply, but said nothing, thinking. She signalled to the bartender, who huffed and sent yet another girl to refill Ling's tankard. The freckled womman drank instantly, missing whether or not Katsumi got a refill herself. Once the other girl went away, Ling spoke again.
"What time d'you get off tonight?" she asked, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips at the unintentional innuendo. A little voice in the back of her head demanded indignantly what she was doing, but she waved it away. It wasn't like she and Raeya were an item, at that point. They hadn't seen each other at all after their first date, and Ling wasn't even sure how that date ended up. Sure, they had a good time during, but... well there had to be a reason the woman hadn't called or stopped in, right? Maybe Raeya had decided to leave City after all. It wasn't like she had originally planned to stay, anyway.
The next swig of ale tasted a little bitter; Ling made a face of displeasure into her cup and set it down, looking up at her pretty friend with an easy grin. "Maybe we can cut loose or something." It was an invitation, full of maybe's and possibilities. "Spirits only know I could use a break too. The quiet home life may be good for Mei and Hyuk-jae, but I get antsy sitting still."
She hoped Katsumi would agree to go with her. Not, exactly, that Ling had any plans. Flying by the seat of her pants was the younger Yao's speciality, and she wasn't about to abandon tried and true methods now.
Anonymous
Mar 8, 2013 5:54:16 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2013 5:54:16 GMT -6
OOC: Sure. They could meet at Katsumi’s place. Gives me an excuse to figure out what it looks like, and I’ve been meaning to do that.
Ling’s silence in response to what she said was a little strange—she was the type to always have a comment, no matter how small or insignificant—but Katsumi wouldn’t worry about it. It sounded like her friend had quite a lot on her plate these days, and it wasn’t her life was exciting enough to warrant much discussion. The dancer sighed, and when another waitress came to refill Ling’s tankard she asked for more ale as well, though she knew she shouldn’t. It was obvious to her that if things continued the way they did and she remained sober, any possibility of having fun tonight would be buried under gloomy thoughts. She might as well drink until she felt better. If she wasn’t as attentive as she should be for the rest of her shift as a result, well, it was just a couple hours more. She could live with that.
“I’m done around twelve,” she replied, grimacing as she realized that still left her with over two hours of work left. She sipped her ale to wash that knowledge go away. Ling’s suggestion that they do something together got her to smile, though she was hesitant, at first, to agree. “I don’t know…I’d love to, but I get off late, and I’ll probably be tired by then…” The woman drank some more, then, setting her tankard down with a decisive thud, stared at Ling, her gaze filled with new intensity. “No, you know what? Let’s do it. I need to get some fun back into my life.” Of course, Katsumi had no idea what it was they actually planned on doing after her shift—and neither, it seemed, did Ling—but that wasn’t about to stop her. Even if nothing particularly memorable came of the evening, at least she would have done something. And who knew what this spontaneous outing could lead to? At this point, she was up for whatever came her way.
