( OPEN ) FIGHTING CRIME BY MOONLIGHT

[transmit]

WHO: Every Outsider interested!
WHAT: Catch-all log for cleaning up (or making more of a mess of) Neo Tokyo's crime scene! Refer to the OOC post here for details. Neo Tokyo's current social and political climate can be found under the World / Setting section here.
WHERE: Neo Tokyo, Japan.
WHEN: Nov 2024 & onward.
WARNINGS: Violence, drug use, threats and coercion … whatever else that happens where crime and criminal activity are involved. Please mark for other CWs if necessary!


From the month of November and onward, Outsiders can find recruitment posters around the base for a specialised subsection of an anonymous Neo Tokyo security agency! Feel free to assume that's where most of the directives come from.

Current quests relating to this player plot can be found under < STREET FIGHTER > and < RISE AND THRIVE > on the QUEST BOARD.

People are free to use this log or their own for open and closed starters. However, if you'd like to contribute to the quest chain or setting changes, please remember to eventually submit your links and a summary under the associated quests! Otherwise, go wild!

Comments

🥚 kaladin.

[yuwon]

[ admittedly, covert missions weren't exactly his forte. he had long exhausted such acting abilities when he regressed, and for the most part, he didn't exactly enjoy playing along to some farce. despite this, he also comprehends that there is no shortage of situations in which they were explicitly required. he did agree to exert some form of effort into the missions as when he initially discussed these plans with elysium and wriothesley...

... and while there were some clear hiccups and inopportune tragedies along the way, it only solidified his own resolve to properly see these matters through. what's the most awkward detail in all of this, however, was finding himself face to face with someone that he had once clearly told through the network that he had zero desire for teamwork.

this is probably all the more exemplified in the way his own expression seems to flatten momentarily, before he simply seems to speak as if he doesn't fully recognize kaladin. regardless, it works out perfectly since they were needing a cover, anyway. ]

Hey, we're pretty much almost there, but you have thought about your cover, right?

[ they were meant to infiltrate and the first step was introductions with the group, but what the easier angle here? siblings who are joining the ranks together? two hosts looking for a good time with them? the possibilities were endless, but the real question was could they pull it off? well, it's not like yuwon was the sort for doubts. ]

[gyve]

( anyone trying to change him should first practice on a rock. like a rock, he can be broken into fragments, scattered, and still traced back to his origin. and those fragments, collected and reconstituted, will form more or less the same shape, albeit with new pockmarks and fissures.

kaladin.

always storming kaladin.

this makes him a terrible actor, and he knows that. he's not proud of it. he's too honest to be clever, and he's only good at improvising in battle. so, when yuwon breaks their silence to ask him about his cover, he's had his answer ready for the past three hours. )

I'm in way over my head here. ( the look yuwon's given is uninspiring. stopping them short of their destination, his shoulders sink with the regret of not voicing the concern earlier. ) Make no mistake, I have thought about it, and I'm committed, but this isn't my strong suit. I'd be open to a suggestion or two.

( no wonder yuwon prefers to work alone. kaladin would, too, if this were the common result. unfortunately, there's an alethi competitive streak in him that won't give up on earning the trust of revelation, even if he has to make a fool out of himself to do it. )

People say I look angry all the time, ( he says, looking angry. ) How about a bodyguard? Does that work with what you have planned?

[yuwon]

[ while some would praise the other man's careful honesty, yuwon can feel nothing but the lingering feeling like this is all about to go awry. while his countenance doesn't reveal his innermost thoughts, the way his eyes settle on kaladin's figure for a moment for too long was probably answer enough. if that was too subtle, he releases a heavy exhale, as if he was already exhausted. is this the second sigh he's pushed out in the past minute? maybe. ]

Do I look like I need a bodyguard? [ he offers a slight shrug in spite of his punitive words. if this was the best within the man's comfort zone, it probably was better to leave it to that than try and create a front he was comfortable with. discomfort, lack of confidence, and the emotions that peek in between those two factors were enough of a tell for most, and he'd rather avoid causing a ruckus if he could. ]

Well, it's fine. You're my bodyguard and I'll be the one facilitating the trade. [ that seems fair, right? he tilts his head slightly. before reaching out and giving the man's arm a squeeze, as if testing it for a moment. ... well, this seems fine. ]

[gyve]

( kaladin expected defensiveness with a large helping of egocentric blustering, but all he gets is a weary sigh. the rhetorical question is therefore taken in stride; yuwon seems like a straight-shooter, and he prefers curtness over the hesitations of someone who lacks a backbone. better still is that the man is willing to put aside his feelings to work.

and he has this charitable thought as his bicep is palpated.

...

pulls his arm away, crossing it over his chest with its opposite. )

You know, I know a man who was once a peerless warrior. People tell me he was an unstoppable terror on the battlefield. So, if he can have guards, you can have guards. Don't act proud, ( kaladin adds. then it's his turn to give yuwon a lengthy stare. ) Our real roles tonight are two men on the same page, working as a team to finish the job. I can do it if you can.

( his own pep talk reminds him that he has a character to play, which removes his real and civilian names from the plan. ) I'll go by the name... Kholin. We should have an emergency signal to know when to get out of there.

[yuwon]

[ akin to his prior reaction, he basically doesn't have much of one, even as kaladin roughly pulls away from him. he figured it was the easiest way of assessing his physical body, or see just how convincing or justified the man's presence was as his cover would indicate. in reality, it may not have meant a lot, but yuwon figured that if neither of their acting abilities were up to par, they should at least match the role in other ways.

...

but, it looks like he's opened a whole other can of worms alongside it. ] I get it.

[ does he? or is this his attempt at cutting all lectures short? he rubs the side of neck, less awkwardly than it is a method of stretching it out. ] But, most warriors where I'm from don't come touting around bodyguards, either. That's all I'm saying. [ clarifying this point rather than the one about teamwork. the less he focused on the t-word, the easier it was for him to carry onwards with the clear stance he always had. ]

Kholin. [ ... ] I'll go by the name Midnight. [ almost in partnership with edge of nightfall, or his civilian name being related to m*plestory. at least, he didn't choose... avenger, which was next on his list. regardless, he doesn't seem to focus on it for long. ]

The signal can be coughing twice. For everything else, we can leave it to the oculars.

[gyve]

( kaladin grunts. this has a dual purpose: begrudgingly acknowledging what yuwon's saying and committing to "agree to disagree" with a single noise. they'll complete their mission regardless, and their debate feels like a footnote compared to the novel of what they'll be contending with soon.

acting. acting sucks. )

Alright, "Midnight." We have our roles, and now we have our plan. I guess it's time to... impress LILITH. ( if that's even possible. ) I'll announce you. They shouldn't turn us away; there was an open invitation, or so I was told.

( there are bouncers at the door of their destination, their first hurdle before gaining access to the men and women of the city's underbelly. approaching midnight's side, kholin adopts a glower that looks too much like his default expression to be inauthentic. mean-mugging people is his forte, as is angling his face down so that strands of hair fall across his scarred forehead and before dark eyes. even friends considered him intense—but controlled.

that's what he channels now. )

Step aside, we're due. ( kholin commands, glancing at midnight with a nod. ) You going to turn away one of the arena's most esteemed sponsors? You two must be new if you've never heard of Midnight.

1/2

[yuwon]

[ impress LILITH...

that alone gives him a lot to chew on internally. is that what his motivation was? there's a cursory glance, one indicating a vague level of judgment, but yuwon seems to cast it aside. not too unlike their prior disagreement. kholin was a lot more rigid an individual than he expected. it shows even down to the way his countenance shifts and he wears something intense... maybe even too intense for a bodyguard. do most bodyguards even do their jobs this seriously?

or was he the one who would out of touch?

his brows furrow slightly, especially at the namedrop. he really is going in deep for his first time. ]

[yuwon]

[ he doesn't give so much as a glance after that. he figures he should stay in line with whatever character kholin seems to have created from him. instead, he almost wears an expression that borders on disinterested. as if he's been through this enough times, and the funny part is... he definitely has. it's not his first covert mission, but hopefully this would end in success instead of however his actual first ended.

not that he divulges his prior failure to kholin. ] Cut it out. [ when the two bouncers seem to look at each other confused, midnight takes this point to interject. ] You don't have to scare them. [ or does he. ] But, you heard him. If you're not going to clear out then maybe I won't need to put any more money into this place.

[ that's a bold statement coming from two people who are lying between their teeth.

the bouncers then... call upon yet another bouncer to try and "verify" who they are. help. ]

that icon... blushes...

[gyve]

( folding his arms at the reprimand, kholin acts mildly intimidated, and to great effect: one of the patrons waiting in line on the opposite side of the entrance leans to her friend and whispers about midnight. "handsome" and "dangerous," two words he catches over the din.

unfortunately, the bouncers don't seem impressed. the third bouncer arrives and claims he doesn't recognize them, which makes kholin's anxiety spike. uh-oh.

think, think. )

You hear about that kaiju attack in Las Vegas? Well, who do you think organized the clean-up effort? Midnight's people got so many... worm parts— ( his confidence flags spectacularly at the most critical moment ) —that, uh... that the... the illegal substances you can make with those worm parts won't be distributed anywhere near here. You're—You'll be cut off.

( ... CLEARS HIS THROAT... )

Isn't that right, Lord Midnight?

you mean your icon... it's so cute

[yuwon]

[ while it's true that midnight had attempted to exert some semblance of faux authority, he didn't exactly expect kholin to react in the way he had. the awkwardness is apparent to him at a glance, or maybe he's more conscious of his own expression threatening to crack.

the second he sees the proverbial wheels turning in kholin's head, he's about to open his own mouth, only he's entirely beaten to the punch. if they're attracting attention, he can only blame his company (it's not all kaladin's fault, but is yuwon going to blame him, anyway? yes). now that he thinks about it, his stature already made this unmistakable. a belated oversight, right along side... "many... worm parts" and "You're—You'll be cut off." he'd send a message through the oculars, if he wasn't worried it'd be just as obvious.

if midnight were the sort to laugh in a situation like this, he might have. instead, he brings a hand up, as if he's nursing some sort of headache. ] That's right. [ is it... he shoots kholin a look, as if to remind him to keep it together.

it's unclear if they believe them or not. but, perhaps persistence was as much a virtue as any as they do seem to relent. it looks like they don't want to draw an even larger crowd. even if they don't entirely ease up. they seem to discuss amongst themselves for a minute, before deciding they'd permit them in if they were willing allow themselves to be searched. his peripherals travel to kholin, looking him over, as if to silently ask if he had anything incriminating on him?

well, it's too late to worry about it now. ] Just make it quick. You can search me first. Or better yet, you can have my bodyguard search me right here. [ if they were wanting to evade detection by the wrong people, he figures this would speed along the process.

at the very least, yuwon's kept all his weapons in his inventory. ]