Rinkaiel, Part 2

[Graybeard]

[OOC: First, to resolve a potential point of confusion:

Tess immediately spotted the woman she'd be speaking with later on the airship, but she was never one to mix business with breakfast.

Unless there's a very significant plot twist about to happen, whatever airship Tess is about to board would be different from the one Layla and company flew in on. That one is a "private" airship belonging to Gewehr big-shot Peter and piloted by Layla's developing boyfriend Ace (who's one of the people there at Rice's food stand), and it very definitely is not available to the non-Gewehr public. There are two possible solutions. One is that Tess is going to catch a different airship, and may incorrectly expect Layla to be aboard that one. The other is that Tess IS boarding Peter's airship, but on Gewehr business -- which, of course, could coincide with her own. That'll take some definite finagling with what's going on here, but it can be done. Which way do you want to play it? Either can be made to work, but we need to work it out. So /OOC:]

"Uh, we're not really in that much of a hurry, dear," Faye protested to her daughter. "We could stay and eat these here. I --" She broke off, seeing the look on Layla's face.

"No, I think we'd better hit the road," Layla said, with an expression that clearly said don't argue with me, dammit. "Having all this good food for the trip will make it seem shorter." She turned her attention back to Rice and paid, smiling her thanks as a bag of dumplings and other good things was handed over. Food in hand, she walked briskly away from the stand, leaving Faye, Ace and Joe trailing behind in puzzlement. As they boarded the hack, Faye started to ask, "What was that all about?" However, Layla shushed her and they headed off.

A block later, Layla's tight-lipped expression gave way to something else. "Sorry I was so curt back there," she said, "but I recognized that Tsuirakuan who was hanging around the food stand. His name is Kitaura and he's the head of the Tsuirakuan Homeland Security outfit in Kiyoka -- an outfit we never managed to penetrate the way we did the local cops. He is supposed to be a real hardass, completely humorless, incorruptible, ruthless, all that crap. And I would very much like to know what he's doing here ... but no way in hell am I going to approach him."

[OOC: For a bit of background on the sinister Captain Kitaura, check this thread from the distant past. This guy is significant... although it is not yet clear exactly how.]

[koshkoo]

((Damnyu! you folks just can't seat down and eat like normal people could you he he... I shall not be denied my customers!))

The Pale figure shy off after eyeballing the group for a while, almost certain to return when the coast is clear it would seem, staying out of sight for now...

Rice blinks at the request, looking a little bewildered by the odd request, she certainly recognize the smell of one of them, this Faye lady who the night before had cater her to make dinner for a group of people, she was even trustworthy enough to leave some coins as material expenses.

The crack of a smile of confidence announced it was possible, "Madam sure want to take with you?" Getting a confirmation nod Rice asked for some time to prepare and how many covers of serving she was making. "Might need two to take" she announce with her back facing the group, she got to work only after serving the group some green tea while they would wait.

Before long there was a few small urns on the counter. Rice explains as she opens the lid of a 12 inch pot, "Soup." The soup was pretty clear with a thin layer of oil covering the top, steaming hot as well. "Hot." she taps the ceramic pot quickly and shakes her hand implying it's quite hot.

She opens the wooden stopper of a smaller urn showing them within a thin piece of plank that separates it into two compartments, one with fresh chopped spring onions which she points at, "make not oil." she points at the ceramic pot holding the soup and then point at the other compartment which seems to hold paper thin slices of white radish, deep fried. " Butterfly." By now some of them were already giving her a confused look, yet she carried on.

"Have to mix right." she tries to explain, thumping to wooden cork back onto the small urn, and present them a flatter urn filled with what seems like green fine noodles. "Special noodles." and then one last urn which within holds a lot of dumplings, carrot slices that's carved into tiny pebble shape.

"Rice show." She explains taking out a ceramic bowl, grabbing a handful of the green noodles at the base, mix with one or two pebble of carrots. She scoops some steaming hot soup with a wooden ladle, carefully pouring it into the bowl, now filled half way. The noodles after absorbing moisture begun to swell, and along the length thin fine cuttings branches out, and with some air trapped between it 'float' upwards, mimicing pine like seaweed that sways erect. She takes one dumpling and slides it into the bowl, the dumpling itself was wrapped with a thin layer of slippery pastry, the dumpling itself fashioned into a small triangle shape with a 'tail' at the longer end of the triangle.

Upon being cooked by the heat of the soup, which the layer of oil had manage to trap, the 'skin' of the dumpling begin to turn translucent, and the dumpling begun to look like a gold fish, tiny red eyes decorated within with goji, and the body showing a pattern of pink, prawn like meat and white stripy meat patched around with black spots which were the meat within; The tail fluff up taking moisture and Rice had seem to have made a small spot at the mouth part of the 'goldfish' trapping a little bit of air there, making the gold fish bob up at the surface as if breathing air like a real fish would. Finally she sprinkles the spring onions and radish on top of the soup, the radish begun fluttering like butterflies beating its wings due to the rising steam and begun sinking as it absorbs water everytime the 'goldfish' breaks the surface tension of the water and oil, as if the fish was dragging the 'butterfly' down.

After the quick display, Rice explains, "Add little cold water to make fish swim. Understand?" With the speed of how fast she had place the prepared ingredients together to display such a lively effect for food, no wonder she was serving it on the spot...

Rice points at Faye, "Nice madam ask Rice to make dinner, give back pots then." She explains the reason why she was willing to lend out the crockery to the group for take out, perhaps the deposit Faye had left her for material for dinner. "Now all can eat, Rice made 8 for each sir and madam, or want more?" She asks the group, considering they understood the sequence of adding in the stuff, or simply dump everything in at once.

((OOC: long post results in missed post timing is blahness, mine before the above then))

[Graybeard]

[OOC: LOL, not a problem, that was worth waiting for ... It fits well as what's going on while Layla is trying to avoid the notice of our ominous Captain Kitaura. So now to pick up the action again:]

The Tsuirakuan remained silent until both Layla's group and the two women had been served, then stepped behind Rice's wagon and muttered a spell. When he returned, he was speaking Rice's dialect fluently.

"Miss Hong, it is good to see you again," he said, in tones equal parts honeyed, cordial and menacing. "I hope you have been able to reflect on possible customers from Tsuiraku, as we agreed when I saw you yesterday. Your cooperation in identifying any such customers will allow us at the embassy to make it so much easier for you to do business in this fine city." He let that hang in the air for a moment, then continued.

"So with that understanding, may I humbly inquire whether, in fact, you have served any Tsuirakuans since the last time we spoke?"

[koshkoo]

((OOC: I would assume Dallen's characters have been served a bowl each and are either sitting down having their meal or had left then...now on with the fun stuff, let's hope the 'good' captain wouldn't think Rice is playing him as a fool, probably it would seem he might have to intervene and help Rice a little more if he is to want her as surveillance he he))

Rice blinks, recognizing that distinct tone and smell of that man that by now approached her the second time, she even assumed he could speak her tongue fluently since it seems only he alone was able to speak her tongue and no other, then again, she didn't speak with others while the translation spell was still in effect but him afterall.

"A delight to meet you once more sir, I understand you work for your people and I admire that," Rice bows accordingly, fully respecting a man of duty just as she'd see it is for the good of the community in her village, such enforcers are usually respectable people. "However I am not sure how exactly to differentiate who your people are, since to be honest, all of you look very similar to me," she explains, while turning to a counter to pull out a rolled up paper, opening it and with an enthusiastic tone continues.

"However, a good customer told me these two were your people, so I asked their name and drew to the best of my ability how they look, although I must say I am not good with drawing." she presents the paper to the 'good' captain.

On the paper were charcoal drew faces and profile of the two men, their height compare to the counter were noted, and the sketch of their clothings resembles some dock worker's outfit, down to the colour and tiny patches on their clothing and hair style were noted. Sadly, their faces certainly lacked definition. an inverted 7 as a nose, the number 6 laying down as a representation of their eyes and a simple straight line for their mouth. Pretty much a step better than stick figures. Below written in Rice's block characters were the nearest Rice could pronounce their 'names' they had given.

The drawing was poor as Rice had mention, in fact barely recognizable. though the small details Rice noted down with arrows and description, showed she was quite observant of smaller things which was probably what she rely on recognizing people, meaning a change of outfit and hair style could easily had fooled her if not for the scent she would rely on to distinguish people apart. It also confirmed she at best could only write in her own language, block characters that some would have close resemblance to ancient Tsuikaruan letters, while others are lines and odd looking scribbles.

Rice points at the names, "This one says he is call 'no-un o-fu yu-o bi-se-ne-se', the other says his name was 'ge-tu lo-tsu bi-te-che' , I must say, your people certainly have long names, good thing I have a good memory." she thought she had done her best, " I hope I had been able to help." her strong nasal tone and body attire was of the most sincere, pushing the two papers to the captain that by now should be quite annoyed by normal standards.

While waiting for the Captain to either get pass his temper or aweness of the 'art' she had presented him, she had quickly brew him a cup of sweeten tea brew with some Jujube (chinese red date), offering it to him, "Your work must be quite busy, this should give you energy, would you like breakfast as well?" she offers.

[Dallen Andair]

[ooc]Gah! Rapid posts! I'm PMing Greybeard, so I'll respond after I get confirmation[/ooc]

[Graybeard]

[OOC: LOL, that was excellent...]

Kitaura's face went blank for a second while he tried to wrap his tongue around the incomprehensible name. "Ge-tu lo-tsu -- Ah." He figured out what it meant, and improbably, a smile crossed his face. "Most excellent. That is highly informative. What a pity, that our country should be represented abroad by such ill-mannered members of its citizenry. I apologize on their behalf, and I must have a word with them regarding their discourtesy." The smile turned into something else, something that did everything but expose fangs, but it only lasted a moment before the expression passed and he sipped his tea. "If you would be so kind as to allow me to take these drawings with me, I would be most grateful. Your tea, and your powers of observation, are deeply appreciated." He bowed slightly and sipped the tea again, pausing to put a coin, in an impressively large denomination, on the counter, with a gesture that indicated that he didn't expect any change.

----------

"Kitaura? Name doesn't ring a bell," Faye said. "Did you ever report on him?"

Layla felt mildly chagrined. "No, and I probably should have," she conceded. "Honestly, it never occurred to me, but now I can see why it would have been useful. Sorry."

Joe looked puzzled. "So you know this guy?"

"Not personally," Layla said. "Some of the people we cultivated in the police force had to deal with him. They all say he's a complete sunuvabitch. He came to Kiyoka about six or seven months back, replacing some guy at their homeland-security operation who'd gotten too close to one of the nuns at the Veracian temple. I can pin it down better than that if you want; this little guy was just about to put in his appearance." She paused for a moment to tickle Zachary's tummy, producing a gale of seven-month-old laughter, which in turn led to an exchange of sloppy kisses between mother and child.

That very important digression done, she continued, "We never did figure out exactly how the cops and the homeland-security people worked. The cops seemed to have jurisdiction over all the small-time, local stuff. They never really did much, seemed more interested in saving face and making it look like they knew what they were doing. That helped us in some ways and -- hurt us in others. For example, nobody is ever going to learn much about all the crap that happened on the waterfront." Layla's face clouded over at the thought. "Of course, neither are we ... unless this Kitaura guy has got involved in it."

Now that was an uncomfortable possibility, Layla thought as she paused to catch her breath.

[OOC:

[ooc]Gah! Rapid posts! I'm PMing Greybeard, so I'll respond after I get confirmation[/ooc]

Rapid posts, indeed; the kind of thing that happens on a quiet Sunday afternoon... I'll reply to your message momentarily, but events at Rice's operation can proceed apace, more or less independent of the thing you and I need to discuss.]

[koshkoo]

[OOC: LOL, that was excellent...]

Kitaura's face went blank for a second while he tried to wrap his tongue around the incomprehensible name. "Ge-tu lo-tsu -- Ah." He figured out what it meant, and improbably, a smile crossed his face. "Most excellent. That is highly informative. What a pity, that our country should be represented abroad by such ill-mannered members of its citizenry. I apologize on their behalf, and I must have a word with them regarding their discourtesy." The smile turned into something else, something that did everything but expose fangs, but it only lasted a moment before the expression passed and he sipped his tea. "If you would be so kind as to allow me to take these drawings with me, I would be most grateful. Your tea, and your powers of observation, are deeply appreciated." He bowed slightly and sipped the tea again, pausing to put a coin, in an impressively large denomination, on the counter, with a gesture that indicated that he didn't expect any change.

((OOC: I would assume that snake is still at the bar counter, sitting down having his tea, while Tess and friend is sitting at the far table having their meal then, not sure where this is heading further though))

The chill Rice got shooting down her spine held her tongue from asking what was it he was apologizing for, something made her certainly felt uneasy about this man, he smelt quite healthy, meaning he is quite well fed and the hint of ink and distinct smell of brimstone (I'd denote that as what Rice would smell on typical magic users) tells her he's some sort of officer. Which only means his claim is legit upon being a law enforcer of some sort, business Rice wouldn't think she has any need to get involved in.

The amount of money the captain presented made her eyes went wide, seeing that the captain had sat down (SIT! ) he is a customer, and she assumed he would dine as well, so quickly she made him a bowl of her gold fish dumplings, with a chinese soup spoon to go with it. The tea certainly bears a strong aroma with it, and the nerve soothing element that came from Jujube fruit.

"Well, you did request of such assistance sir, naturally these were meant for your use. " Rice replies, not daring to swipe the coin off the counter. "Is there anything else? I might add I travel around, so my time here isn't set."

((This would be more for Tess reference on what she would taste, if not something for her to interact with, seems like grey and I had power played our way past any chance for character interaction just now))

The gold fish dumplings in all it's glory isn't large, a scoop of the soup spoon was adequate to pick one up with some soup and noodles, the translucent skin was slippery and one could almost suck the dumpling into their mouth with a gentle slurp. The clear soup had a salty taste with a light seafood sweeten taste. Biting down on the dumpling would feel like a gummy mass that once the skin was broken loose, a symphony of taste erupts as the juice of the stuffing was released.

One could taste the distinctive chunk of prawn, smoothness of fish and tangy crabs meat within, coupled with a light herbal taste that spurs the appetite to chew on another, and another. Tiny as they were they were quite a mouthful and quite stuffing, the spring onions certainly cut the oily taste of the soup and gave a certain freshness to it, and before long most would have drained the bowl of soup that nicely clears the strong taste of the dumplings. Leaving a satisfied feeling of 'I had seafood', sitting by the sea front, what more could one ask for?

[Graybeard]

Kitaura ate in silence, apparently enjoying the meal, although he looked like he was trying to hide it. When he was finished, he stood and returned the dishes to the counter. "Very well, Lan Hong who is called Rice," he said, still in Rice's home language. "My compliments on your fine cuisine, and my thanks for your information. I trust that you will continue to provide both as needed. You can look forward to more of my business in the future." He bowed slightly again, then took his leave, leaving it unclear which "business" he had in mind.

-----------

"You think this Kitaura was here looking for you?" Faye asked, concerned.

Layla thought about it. "I don't think so. It looked to me as if he was staking out that food shack. He wouldn't have had any way of knowing that we'd be going there, would he? It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, after all."

"Fair enough." Faye looked like she wanted to say more, but they were arriving at the airship pier, and for the time being, unloading the hack took precedence over continuing the conversation; they could talk on board the airship. However, Ace noticed something as they were boarding. "Message on the ball," he said. "Joe, can you hang around while I take this?"

[OOC to Kalin: stuff coming shortly to get you back into the action, sorry it's been slow for you lately...]

[4uk4ata]

Kalin sat down, cross-legged, just inside the door. He had told Sharo to stay away for a while, and given him a piece of bread soaked in water and what passed for dog-food here. Of the two, the bread was definitely the better option - the only reason why Sharo had even sniffed the unidentifiable goo was that he was tired of all their escapades. Kalin had left the tin cup behind the main house, knowing that the meal would give Sharo a good nap. There were some things for which a dog was not man's best friend.

He had spent quite a bit of time trying to clear his mind - he hadn't tried this for quite a while, so it wouldn't be exactly easy. Now he reached for a small bag of seeds (not that he actually needed them, it was just... right), and sprinkled a handful of seeds in front of himself and out the door. He whistled a shrill bird call, and then just waited, trying to make himself... not there, somehow. Several minutes later, a curious (and, under normal conditions, quite stupid) finch fluttered over and started pecking, eventually following the trail inside. Then it looked at him, and he looked at it... and kept looking.

[Graybeard]

"Well, that took an odd turn," Ace announced as he rejoined the others after retrieving the message. "It looks like we may have a passenger for the return trip."

Layla was confused -- and suspicious. "I thought this little junket was supposed to be all hush-hush. Very few people know about it, even within the Gewehr. And after the bloodbath last night --" which I'm still going to get to the bottom of when I get back, Peter be damned -- "who's left here but Joe and Stevo? -- Oh." The significance of the two women at the liquor store sank in on her at the same time as it did Joe and Faye.

----------

Meanwhile, Kalin was discovering that the little bird that had dropped in for a snack wasn't so stupid after all.