peoplewatching - OPEN

[jaclynwhitaker]

It had been two weeks since Jack had begun work for Mr. Videz. He was a rich man. All things considering, he was a very rich man. In between three estates – one in Drachma – a half dozen horses he entered in the races and was fond of calling his ‘babies’, and possibly the most connections that Jack had ever known anyone to have, there was not a day that he wasn’t socializing, schmoozing or getting into some sort of trouble.

Videz was by far one of the most unruly charges Jack had ever been assigned to. She was a private bodyguard, but she worked for a company that hired her out to clients. Until she was older and had a stronger background and reputation she didn’t have too much a choice when it came down to whom she was given to guard. It didn’t matter too much though, Videz was a rather portly, slightly old man that seemed only to live for his next big dinner or bigger woman. It was funny, but tiring. He never seemed to want to sit still or keep to his schedule – which was by far the most worrisome and frustrating thing that Jack had to deal with.

There was a detail of eight men and two women in the group assigned to Videz and his various relations that travelled with him. So far Jack had been introduced to two ex-wives, two current wives and a good dozen children. Far as it was to judge Videz sometimes she couldn’t help at marvel at how ridiculous and aggravating he was. Every night, two people had off to go out, take a break from the 24/7 grind and just relax. They were generally given from eight PM until eight AM the next day. Jack had been so stressed out by the constant changes to the schedule that she had opted out of her last break simply because it would have kept her up all night wondering about the next location they were going to bring Videz into.

Not tonight though, Jack thought happily. Videz, despite being a willful and taken to flights of fancy, was oftentimes very predictable. For example, today he started the morning with a horse race followed by an after-party, then he had a dinner meeting and Jack had been given leave, but not before she saw a rather portly woman hanging on Videz’s arm, as well as a bottle of champagne on the floor, another on the table, and wine in their glasses. No, they weren’t going to go anywhere quickly with Mr. Videz tomorrow.

It was muggy outside, but Jack didn’t care. She went for a run anyway, knowing how nice it would feel when she finally finished a proper routine. She had barely been able to get thirty minutes in the morning to go for a run, and now she had hours to herself. It took a while to get into the pace of running, and she was well out of breath and nearly exhausted after forty seven minutes running. Putting her hands over her head she headed back for the hotel, walking another thirty minutes, dragging herself to her room and nearly collapsing into the shower, taking a hot bath while she was at it, deciding that if she thought this was spoiling herself, her priorities weren’t too off base.

She decided to go out. This was a rarity for her, considering how very little she drank on the job, but one beer wouldn’t do anything. She just wanted something cold. Renly was off tonight as well, but she didn’t feel like inviting him along at all. Instead she found her usual outfit – she didn’t even bother packing casual clothes and just packed variations on her dark shirt, tight black pants, and a couple different coats, depending on the weather. Jack debated for a moment whether or not to bring her alchemy gloves – she had multiple pairs – and decided to keep them in her pocket, at the very least. She’d leave the gun at home.

Jack ended up at a relatively cheap restaurant with an attached bar. She ordered a local ale, a good steak and what the locals called ‘Holly Pie’ which was just spiced mashed potatoes over a bed of vegetables and salad greens. Sitting at the end of the restaurant in a table meant for at least three people, she had an excellent view of the entire restaurant. The ale came to her table and she thanked the waitress, sipped at the drink and set it down, watching the entire establishment keenly, wondering if this would be as relaxing as she hoped it would.

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[ezio]

From his home in Aerugo to the heart of South City took Ezio seven days to travel. He had arrived by train, carrying only a small bag’s worth of his possessions. Ezio did not intend on staying in town for much longer than a week’s time. The mission that Ezio had agreed to take on would definitely be a lot easier than what he was used to. Normally, Ezio went after men of great power and skill who had committed unspeakable crimes without an ounce of regret. That was not the case with this man. In this particular case, the man hired other people to do his bidding. He was a man who had not taken the life of another, but was responsible for the life of many traders and gamblers of Aerugo and Amestris.

When Ezio had settled into his hotel, he began gathering information on his target – a wealthy and influential man about town by the name of Videz. He lived in a large estate on a hill that overlooked the town, had numerous sexual and romantic relationships that led to fathering at least twelve children, had a strange fixation with horses and horse racing, enjoyed parties and socializing, and seemed to be harboring a gambling problem. Just as Ezio had assumed he would, Videz had surrounded himself and his most notable companions with bodyguards. With just a bit more investigating, Ezio learned of Videz’s plans for the weekend – horse racing and a dinner meeting. Both of those were easy enough to crash if Ezio played his cards right.

When the day of action came, Ezio woke early and showered. He styled himself a touch differently that day so as to fit in the appearance of a wealthy merchant. Ezio slicked back his usually unruly hair and dressed in fitted black dress pants, a white collared shirt underneath a black waistcoat with a black tie around his neck, and a black knee length coat. To top it off, he traded in his boots for black dress shoes. On his person, Ezio concealed his revolver (which was no use until he transmuted it into his gunblade), a small dagger, another handgun, and a miniscule vile that contained his deadliest weapon.

Ezio took a cab to the horse races, where he made a few bids to get his presence noticed by Videz. He began socializing with the wealthy men that Videz associated himself with, introducing himself as Leone, a merchant from Aerugo. Ezio easily settled into their good graces, charming them with anecdotes, laughing at their jokes, and participating in their conversations. Even though Ezio was naturally a very introverted person, he knew how to act around people like them. He was an assassin; he had to have two personalities. Not to mention having been raised as an Aerugan nobleman.

After the races had finished, Ezio made his way to the after party. He mingled with the people there, sipping lightly on champagne. Just as Ezio knew he would, Videz eventually approached him near the end of the party. He asked a few questions, such as his nationality and occupation. Ezio found it easy to charm Videz. He made all the conversation about Videz, asking questions that would allow him to boast about his wealth and success. It didn’t take long for Ezio to earn an invitation to the dinner meeting, which was apparently a gathering of many influential traders throughout the land. Ezio, of course, pleasantly accepted.

The dinner meeting was being held at an extravagant restaurant in the middle of town. Videz’s party had a private room, which held several tables, all full with at least a dozen people each. It pleased Ezio that there were so many people, and even more drinks, floating around the room. Ezio bid his time, getting friendlier with Videz, watching as he and his friends and women became more and more intoxicated. Thus the reason why it was so easy for Ezio to slip the concealed poison into the drink Videz asked him to pass over. Ezio took a glass that had been poured of the same bottle, toasted with Videz, and took a drink. It was an odorless, one of a kind poison, and when Videz went to sleep that night, he would not wake up.

Ezio left within the hour, excusing his departure on an early train home in the morning. He left the restaurant and took a cab the thirty-minute trip back to his hotel. Ezio stared at the front door of the building, trying to decide whether to go in and sleep or go around the corner and do some drinking. Obviously, the latter won.

As Ezio headed towards the restaurant, he ran a hand through his hair several times so it would fall back to its natural state, loosened the tie around his neck, and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. Ezio entered the restaurant, was seated, and promptly ordered a glass of red wine and linguini Alfredo. He leaned back in his chair, surveying his surroundings out of habit. Ezio’s eyes quickly scrolled past every face in the restaurant, stopping on a woman sitting at a table alone who seemed to have been looking at him, too. Right at that moment the waiter brought Ezio’s drink with the promise of his dish coming out soon. He sipped as his wine, occasionally looking back at the girl across the room.

[jaclynwhitaker]

The restaurant she was in was very homey, with a fire cackling in the tavern area and a steady flow of local customers. Pleased with her choice, she sipped at the hoppy ale in front of her and felt quite content. She wasn’t thinking about Karlos Videz, she wasn’t thinking about Renly Bartson who had made it very clear he would like to ‘meet up’ with her tonight, she wasn’t even thinking about the dull ache in the back of her head that meant she had exercised too much on too little food and water. Jack was really not thinking at all, and that was when she found herself watching a man who just walked into the restaurant rather interestedly.

He was tall, well dressed, and he had an indifferent confidence that was curious for a man of his age. He looked to be mid twenties, maybe younger, and he had the appearance of a stranger in this town where so often people were greeted at their usual restaurants by first names or the names of their parents. Most locals had light hair, and his was distinctly darker than any blonde or burgundy color. She was the last person to talk about fitting in though – her dark hair had a distinctly purple sheen that she blamed on her mother. No, there was something off about this extremely well dressed man with his tie pulled just off his neck and mussed up hair (product still in, but why would it be messed up if he had taken care to do something to it?).

He seemed so incredibly comfortable in this land of obvious strangers that it led her to believe that he had some sort of weapon on him. There were only so many places that one could hide a gun or sword, and she quickly settled on the former, not assuming that the average man at the bar was an alchemist (the thought, in fact, didn’t even cross her mind.) and instead began giving his body a once over as he walked over to his table. Under his left arm, just below his pectoral, there was a bit of an irregularity. She couldn’t be sure that it was a gun underneath his vest but it wouldn’t be a terrible guess. The vest either had a pocket or concealed the holster.

Jack looked away and continued to look around at the other men and women at the establishment but couldn’t help but continue to find herself drawn to this man. After about five minutes of awkwardly trying not to look at him it dawned on her that perhaps he was someone she had already met. She sipped at her ale and tried to place his face without looking at him, but the lighting in the tavern was shoddy and she couldn’t get a good look at the man without attracting more attention to herself.

For all her attractive qualities Jack assumed that her curiosity wasn’t one of them. She sighed, and the next time that her waitress came by (just eight more minutes miss!) she kept her for a few extra seconds.

“I’m sorry, but what do you know about that man? The one who walked in? He’s drinking some sort of wine. . .”

“Oh him!” The woman glanced over her shoulder. “Funny sort. Asked for wine and pasta. I’ve never seen him around, and I’ve been working here just about six years.”

“Great, thanks.” Jack said, smiling as the woman walked away to wait on a few other customers. Jack pursed her lips. That was hardly informative. She tried to forget about the strange man with a gun sitting just across the tavern but was having a hard time; she was by this time absolutely certain she had seen him before.

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