we do what we must, not what we want.

[wondie]

Who: Diana of Themyscira (wondie) & Giovanni Rammsteiner (ofobedience)
What: guard duty!
When: recently!
Where: Entertainment District
Warning(s): hmmm violence possibly?



( the bustle and activity of the entertainment district is warm, enjoyable, though Diana is not here to appreciate the sights. there is a broach of the guard pinned to her chest, though it's currently swathed beneath the heavy black of her cloak.

she stands next to a fellow guard, dark eyes watching the movement of the people. she makes point of admiring the play that is currently running on a park stage as she watches, before she leans slightly closer to her company. )

There. In the red, leaving to the left. ( that's their mark... and they need to spot him in the act, a fact Diana gravely dislikes. why allow him to continue to victimize someone instead of simply arresting him? ) I do not care to let him get away with this long. We should follow.

Comments

[ofobedience]

[And for Giovanni, dressed in sleek blank lines himself, it isn't hard to make it seem as though he's fully engrossed in the play. The fact is, he's always wanted to see one, only knows of the theatre through books furtively purloined from Mother's library, back in the world he's lost. Has always had a flare for the dramatic. It's not something he believed he'd ever have the chance to see for himself, and whilst the play itself is nothing that he would recognise, this being an alien world, it enthralls him all the same.

Enthralls him, yes, but doesn't detract from the goal at hand-- stalking and subterfuge are both things he knows, actions he's accustomed to taking, and as such he keeps his wits about him even as he watches the stage with rapt attention, keeps the comings and goings of those around them in the periphery of his vision.

When his partner speaks his eyes move quickly to their target, and without turning from the scene before them, he gives his quiet answer.]

Then let's go. Pity as it is to miss the rest of the show.

[And he stands then with casual grace, begins to move unhurriedly in the direction their quarry had taken.]

[wondie]

( they make quite a pair, standing slightly apart from the style of Olympia in the choice of their style. Diana has made a slight concession in her work as a guard, favoring black when she seems more fond of lighter colors. she's conceded to slacks as well, though certainly not any that will limit her if she needs to move. if they do, then the cloth will rip. she won't mourn it.

she glances toward her partner at the mention of missing the show, before returning her dark gaze to the ending refrains of a middling act. Diana had been watching as well, though just enough to play the part she needed to. still, he isn't wrong, it does seem a pity. the performance is done well, clearly presented with care and thought. )

After we succeed, there is like to be another showing. ( she wouldn't even protest attending together, though both of them seem aware that it can no longer be their focus as they move into the crowd.

the man moves quickly, though the red he wears makes him easy to track. ) The girl he's been harassing, she works not too far from here. She's fair, golden haired. Terrified. ( that's mentioned a beat late, a little less dispassionate than the rest. this isn't just work for Diana when there is a clear victim involved. she'd do it even without the pay. ) It is up to us to change that.

[ofobedience]

[And with that comes the brief flash of his crookedpin smile, even as his focus remains on the bright red clothing of their mark, his eyes behind their orange lenses now focused ahead on that retreating back.]

A fair point. All the more reason to get this done quickly. It would be pleasant, to catch the whole show.

[Casual words that don't quite match the seriousness of their situation, perhaps, but if there's one thing he knows it's the weight and pressure of duty. A familiar shape, if a little different, and one he feels at home with labouring beneath. He'll do what they've been sent here to do.

As such, he fully attends to her words even as he very subtly picks up the pace, his movements still smooth and easy enough to hide his true intentions. Their mark turns a corner, briefly disappearing from view, but Giovanni has his scent now, doesn't intend to lose him.]

And, well. Their rolls will be reversed soon enough.

[At his sides, his trigger fingers twitch.]

[wondie]

( Diana can't claim to have a scent on their target, though seeing him is surely enough. knowing the fear and panic he's caused the servant girl is enough. she will find him and she will see to it that this is the last time he terrorizes anyone.

she can't smell, but she can hear. better than a human might. so when the mark pulls away, she listens to his footsteps, and hears the sharp bark of his voice. Illana, the name of the girl that had reported him. a shout is not evidence of harassment, but it did mean that they were running out of time. Diana looks up to the rooftops above them, before glancing at their partner. )

I will take to the rooftops, you remain on foot. We'll be sure to spot him.

( she waits only a moment to make sure that he's heard, before she leaps to the rooftops, managing to skitter along the top with surprising silence. between the two of them, there's no way the man will escape them. )

[ofobedience]

[If he feels any surprise in the wake of her dexterous ascent, he gives no sign of it-- it's a feat he himself can perform, after all, and whilst he's hardly what one would call the norm for his world, he's been here long enough for surprise in the wake of the actions of others to have faded. They are all aliens to each other, here. Everyone is strange, a little different.

And so he keeps moving without breaking stride, having only given a fractional nod of the head in order to indicate acceptance of her plan, and once she's up and above him - the sound of her footfalls discernible even now to his sensitive ears - he begins to move faster still. Predatory, now. Stalking his prey.

He turns the corner, begins to move in.]

[wondie]

( she hopes that skittering along the roof will mean she can stop him the second it is obvious he means to do more than simply shout the girl's name. and he does; he runs up even as the girl stumbles to try and unlock a door and escape him, grabbing him by the arm and whirling her around. shoving her back into the wood, accusing her of lies and more and plenty Diana doesn't care to hear.

it's the promise that he'll take out her tongue for speaking out of turn again that does it. that's plenty proof for anyone that harassment is occurring; now they can take him in for the crime.

Diana reaches the man first if only by virture of her perch, landing with a heavy thud beside the pair. the girl screams in terror and the man's hands both lift in alarm, excuses slipping from his mouth. Diana brusquely takes him by the collar and shoves him from the stoop, winding him as he lands in the dirt. she expects Giovanni can intercept him as she checks in on Illana.)

Are you all right? ( she inquires, voice lowered as she looks the girl over. )

[ofobedience]

[And it's for the best, perhaps, that she reaches him first. That she's the one to rip him away from his victim, that she tosses him to the ground. It's a little harder, at times, for Giovanni to control the volatile instincts in him, and the sight of the man caught in an act of violence may have been enough for the warhound to have been a little more heavy-handed than necessary, himself.

As things stand, he rounds on the terrified girl and her displaced tormentor mere moments after said perpetrator hits the dirt, sees him trying to scrabble back and away, to unsteadily gain his feet. Like this, he seems vaguely pathetic, a bully reduced to his true parameters in the wake of a stronger threat, and as such Giovanni only clicks his tongue against his teeth in an expression of mild disgust as the guy starts spouting garbled excuses even as he attempts to stagger to his feet. Tries, of course, to get away.

That won't be happening. As he rises, Giovanni swoops down with a movement so fluid and graceful it barely seems violent at all, right up until the moment his closed fist meets with the other man's jaw. He holds back the full extent of his strength, isn't trying to break anything, isn't trying to kill. Merely stun (and perhaps release just a little of the pent up aggression he always feels).]

Come on, now. Give it up, will you? You're not going anywhere aside from with quietly along with us.

[And like his partner before him, he'll reach for the man's collar. Yank him abruptly to his feet.]

[wondie]

( Diana doesn't pay overmuch mind to the altercation beyond her, focused on the victim instead. the girl is understandably shaken but she does seem to realize that the worst of it is over. she nods and answers questions, agrees that the man on the floor is the one she had reported for harassment. Diana hears the impact of the blow, and spares only a passing glance, before she continues the murmured conversation with the girl.

it's only after she's turned away and slipped into her apartments that Diana joins them, the dirty and shaken abuser with her partner in crime. the man looks terrified, and theres a sheen of red and darkening purple from the blow to his jaw. Diana doesn't seem to care.
)

You will pay for your crimes. If you struggle, I assure you the journey will only be made worse on you. ( Diana takes the man's arm in a surprisingly strong grip and nods at Giovanni. they'd deliver him to face punishment for what he'd done. together, they'd managed to protect a girl that had desperately needed it. Diana would remember that he was a trustworthy partner when it came down to the next piece of work she was given as a guard. )