hangman is coming down from the gallows [closed]

[personalwar]

Who: Soldier: 76 (personalwar) & others
What: Catch-all log for October event! 76 is a fugitive, but that isn't going to stop him from digging for information. Part 2, escape and Wyver exploration!
When: October
Where: All around the dark shady parts of town, primarily in the Red Light District. Part 2, all over Wyver territory!
Warning(s): People may be trying to bring him in, so expect possible violence, language, etc!

[ This is a closed catch-all for me to put starters for any plotted threads. My plotting comment is here if you would like to do something! ]

Comments

for cayde

[personalwar]

[ Out of all the businesses in the red light district, Shades Darker is the one that attracts the most attention and the most people. Not to mention that this is the place where 76 first spoke to the man who gave him the carriage job, so it's logical to start looking for him here.

The thing is, he knows security is going to be extra-tight with everything going on, which means trying to get through the front door is a no go. What he ends up doing instead is scaling the side of the building to slip into one of the second floor windows, which as far as he can tell lands him in an empty hallway.

The coast looks clear at first, and he's just on the verge of thinking he's made it inside without alerting anyone, but then someone turns the corner and he recognizes it as another refugee. Shit.

Pulling his cloak up further around his head, he makes an attempt to walk past Cayde without drawing any more attention to himself. There's still a chance he can pull this off, and if not? He's prepared to leap back out the window and make a getaway. ]

[exorion]

[Sure is a good thing he decided now was a good time to do the rounds, huh.]

[People don't wander the halls of Shades Darker unaccompanied unless they work here, and Cayde's pretty sure he knows everybody who works here. Their faces at least. He's not so great at names. Either way, he doesn't know this dude. Cayde tilts his head to catch a glimpse at his face and it's totally unfamiliar, but Cayde seems pretty nonchalant about walking up the hall and letting the dude pass by.]

[You know, until he rounds on Jack just after he's out of peripheral vision and claps a hand on his shoulder, grip much too tight to be friendly.]

You lost, friend?

[personalwar]

[ Well, so much for that. And he'd almost thought he was in the clear, too.

76 holds back on the frustrated breath he wants to let out, keeping his calm as he slowly turns to face the omnic-like figure. He recalls them speaking briefly back on Thesa Station, but he doesn't think that he ever got his name. Besides, if possible he'd like to pass off as a native, so he isn't about to bring up any of that. ]

I hope not. [ He shakes his head, his hood remaining in place to hopefully cast plenty of shadows over his face. ] I was on my way back downstairs.

[ He can sense that he's somewhere he isn't supposed to be, but he can also hope that the lack of panic in his voice will allow him to get away with a slap on the wrist. ]

[exorion]

No escort?

[He's clearly not buying it, and he's not about to let up either. Sorry buddy he's got rent to pay and a nerd to feed, he can't be lax about this.]

[The guy's got kind of a familiar voice though, but Cayde can't place it so he's just gonna brush past that and move on to dealing with this whole thing. He glances aside at the way this dude came from and back to him, tilting his head to try and get a better look at his face. Because that hood totally isn't suspicious.]

Who were you seein'? They're not really supposed to let clients walk around on their own. Might get lost and wander into the wrong room or something, you know.

[is it an accusation or a threat? who knows! not Cayde.]

[personalwar]

[ If 76 starts shifting his head around to make it so that Cayde can't get a look at him, that's only going to make him more suspicious, and so he stands his ground with the hope that the dim lighting will do most of the work in keeping his features hidden.

While he's learned a few names of the workers here due to past trips he'd made when looking for intel, he doesn't mention any of them. That would only get him trapped in an even greater lie, when Cayde decided to go check up with whoever he named.

Which means that he's going to have to come up with a simpler excuse. ]

Wasn't planning on wandering in anywhere. I was just looking for a bathroom, the line downstairs was getting long.

[ He makes to move away from Cayde again, toward the stairs. Come on, give him a break here. ]

Sorry for the confusion.

[exorion]

[Nice try buddy.]

[Still, he's willing to let this guy go with just a cursory pat down and a look at his face, maybe a once over of the rooms on this floor. Maybe he really was just looking for a bathroom, but a guy's gotta make sure. Something else is nagging at him though, and Cayde narrows his eyes at this guy for a moment. It's that sense of familiarity he can't seem to shake.]

Don't I know you?

[personalwar]

[ And he'd been so close to being in the clear, too.

76 still makes an effort to salvage this, shaking his head and shrugging one shoulder under his cloak. ]

Must just have one of those faces. Or you've seen me hanging around downstairs.

[ That second part isn't untrue. This is where he'd first picked up the job that's gotten him into all this trouble, after all. ]

[exorion]

Yeah, I can't actually see your face.

[jack pls]

[Cayde puts his hands on his hips, leaning his upper body forward as if to try and get a better look at him, and then suddenly he's got it.]

I've never seen your face!

[GOT IT]

You're that guy-- sounds like he drinks a big glass of cement every morning. Wearing that mask. [He gestures up and down at Jack] You've usually got that jacket? Y'know, it says--

[wait]

Ohhhh.

[personalwar]

[ The sense of panic creeps up 76's ribcage toward his throat as he has to listen to Cayde have this revelation out loud in the middle of a semi-public hallway. It's true that they're the only two here, but who knows who else might be listening in? The walls here are thick for obvious reasons, but it's still enough to get under his skin.

As much as he wants to shove Cayde against the wall and tell him to keep his (glowing) mouth shut, that isn't going to help him keep his cover.

He's bristling, but his voice remains low and calm. ] You never saw me here. I'll leave. Deal?

[ He'd really wanted to ask around downstairs and see if anyone could tell him where to find the man who'd given him the carriage job, but it isn't worth getting the royal guard called on him. ]

[exorion]

Woah, woah, woah-- wait, wait, wait.

[Cayde glances up and down the hall, and then gestures to one of the rooms. It's empty tonight, they can talk without someone walking upstairs and overhearing them.]

Come on, let's talk.

[personalwar]

[ 76 eyes the empty room uncertainly. This could be a trap, and it might be in his best interest to simply leap back out the window he came in through, but that would make more of a scene and there's the possibility that Cayde actually wants to hear him out.

If that's the case, he might have useful intel for him too.

So after a few moments of internal debate, he follows Cayde inside, lingering near the door once he shuts it behind them. ]

[exorion]

[Cayde leans against the door when it closes behind them, casual with his arms folded over his chest. It's not 76 he's worried about; he can see the window from here, the guy has a clear shot to it if he wants to leave. But here he can easily hear anyone moving up and down the halls.]

I know you were set up-- all of you.

[That's a way to break the ice, right. Cayde's not gonna fuss around on something like this, and there's a seriousness in his voice that's almost a bit out of place on him.]

Been lookin' into the guy who offered up the carriage job, but the guy's practically vanished into thin air.

[It's times like this one really misses having scouts to do this stuff instead.]

[personalwar]

[ The fact that Cayde is suddenly speaking openly about the situation, not to mention the way that his voice has sobered, gives 76 reason to believe that this room has offered them privacy. He's still on edge, waiting for someone to burst in to seize him and having to make a quick escape, and that's what has him edging closer to the window. Just in case.

This is the most solid information he's gotten about his search so far, which is pathetic given its sparsity. But still, he'll take what he can get at this point, assuming he can trust anything that Cayde says. ]

You know? How?

[ If the guy has vanished, there isn't much that 76 can do about that, but he'd like to know where Cayde's inside information has come from. ]