Bullet 01 - Gin - [In Person]

[coldnlondondry.livejournal.com]

[There is a rather angry looking man with long blond hair, a fedora and a black leather trenchcoat, who seems to be currently wandering the streets, looking for someone. He is openly carrying his handgun, however, as though he's about ready to violently demand answers out of the first real person to cross his path.]

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[stalking_horse]

[Oh bloody Hell.]

[If that wasn't a "confused new person liable to end in bloodshed" sign, he didn't know what was.]

[Well, it wasn't like he wasn't used to having guns aimed at him and threats made.]

[He's going to actually consciously have his hands visible - after all, he's not that far down the street, and it's pretty noticeable he's not one of the faceless "people" - and start walking over slowly.]

[coldnlondondry.livejournal.com]

[Still maintaining gunpoint, there is cautiously taking a step or two towards the stranger.]

Alright. What the Hell is going on here? Where the Hell am I, how did I get here, and who's behind this?

[Not like he'd admit to being scared or anything, but this DID NOT LOOK GOOD and GIN DID NOT LIKE IT. Randomly finding yourself in a strange place with a bunch of lifeless pseudo-people is the sort of thing that's only asking to set off one's paranoia-senses.]

[stalking_horse]

[Siiiigh. He's going to walk until he's within comfortable speaking range without being close enough to seem actively threatening. And keep his hands held up where it was visible he was unarmed.]

[Honestly, esp. going by what he could tell by looking at the guy, being paranoid as all Hell was easily excusable.]

This is going to sound entirely insane, but you're the newest addition to a scattered mess of victims of a very strange sort of kidnapping. We're currently in some kind of mock-up of Paris. The normal location is a large manor-house with grounds blocked off from all exit. Nobody knows how any of us got here really, or we'd have a better head start on getting out. And as for the culprit, they're a nebulous personage that is apparently female and only known as "The Author", about whom nobody knows much of anything other than that she's managed to accomplish some mildly terrifying things with who she's kidnapped and kept here.

[coldnlondondry.livejournal.com]

[Pause] So, you're saying that I'm stuck here for God knows how long? Great. That's great. [It's likely obvious enough that Gin is still less-than-thrilled about it all.]

[And another pause, eyes narrowing slightly with recognition.] Hey, you're that international detective, aren't you? Son of the police chief?

[stalking_horse]

[He's comfortable with that gun and good with it, that coat's real leather and EXPENSIVE and well-kept, he's got almost as much predatory bearing as Shiki and has probably been in that business most of his life, this is someone experienced and not a small fish, used to getting away with things and has to be damn capable of doing so, and just recognized Saguru.]

[And he doesn't trust the author's sense of dramatics.]

[There's this funny little half-grin that crops up. It's actually a fairly normal reaction for him to having his heart decide to skip a couple beats, and pretty good cover for the corner of his mind that is now swearing like Nakamori.]

Aah - yes, I am; I have to admit, most people here haven't caught that. [Because they're not from the same world.] But yes, as far as we can all tell, we're all stuck here until either the Author sends us back or we figure out her game and manage to find an escape route.

And if that were easy, I wouldn't be here talking to you.

[coldnlondondry.livejournal.com]

[That gun is still pointed. Lowered a little, but still pointed. Suspicious Gin is still very suspicious.]

So, what are we expected to do in the meantime? Sit on our asses and look pretty?

[stalking_horse]

Apparently, be entertaining. [Oh, the sarcasm is thick and slightly pissy.] The Author seems to pull things regularly to "keep things interesting"; you might want to be careful - there's currently monsters roaming the city, and normal weapons don't hurt them.

[coldnlondondry.livejournal.com]

Monsters? You gotta be shitting me. [If this isn't turning into some kind of amazing crack nightmare, I don't know what is. Next thing this guy's going to say is something ridiculous like people can't stay dead in this Hell hole..]

You tempted me.

[stalking_horse]

Afraid not. Some people have figured out some tricks to hurt them; I'm not one of them - I've mostly been ducking out now and then to get things or look for people and otherwise staying off the streets.

[He sighs; may as well go over what's relevant...he's ticking off on one hand and while he's still minding the gun, he doesn't seem to be paying as much attention, and has dropped back to being relatively calm.] For the time being, the only real people in the city are the other 'residents'; we have basically free run of the city. There doesn't seem to be any way out here, either. According to people who've been here longer, things like this usually last a week or so, which should put us back at the Manor around Monday. It's a very small population in a very small space normally, which means it's incredibly unpredictable, and everyone here is some variety of unusual; there are some people with powers, just to make things even more chaotic. Also, killing people is pointless, since apparently one of the "tricks" of this place is that the dead recover in a week with full memories of what happened. [No, Mr. Assassin, you can't actually kill people here to get rid of them.]

[coldnlondondry.livejournal.com]

. . . [Gin is not amused. Gin is so not amused. Gin is so very clearly not amused. Because seriously, now what? Goddamnit. It's damned hard to be intimidating as a cold-blooded killer if the people you make an example of DON'T STAY DEAD.]

[stalking_horse]

....[It would figure.] And no, that's not the only reason I was so cavalier about walking up to an obviously very good assassin who was armed and agitated.

You can't be a small fish.

And you don't get to survive to be a bigger fish, without being caught, if you're stupid.

And you'd have to be stupid, in a situation like this, to kill the first person who might have a clue what's going on that you run across.

[coldnlondondry.livejournal.com]

[Shit. And there's a low growl. Sure, there's plenty of temptation to just shoot the twerp right there. EXCEPT for the fact that, playing to his ego or not, that'd STILL be a waste of a perfectly good bullet on someone who WON'T STAY DEAD. Assuming he's telling the truth, that is. Though, until there's seeing something like a week-later-resurrection first-hand, is it really worth wasting ammunition so soon? Just going to attempt to play this as stoic and cold as possible. This sure as Hell isn't the first wise-ass he'd dealt with.] So, genius, what else have you picked up on?

[stalking_horse]

That's about it. You haven't been the most discreet with your entrance. Normal people might not think to question you much, but there's basically no normal people here; I doubt I'm going to be the first to notice things or ask questions.
And honestly, not only would I not have enough to go on to even try to call you anything other than suspicious if we were back in our world, there's even less point to it here. We're in an isolated small population cut off from society indefinitely. For all I know, after this is over, we're never going to see each other again.

And frankly, who's the real enemy for either of us - the other person trapped here, or the one responsible?

[coldnlondondry.livejournal.com]

[Well, if nothing else, the detective made a point..]

..You got me on that one. Besides, if people don't stay dead here, it's pointless to kill them. Unless you have enough ammunition to kill them on a weekly basis; Waste of time, money and resources.

Fine. I'll play nice with you for now, detective. I can't promise I'll show that same mercy to anyone else from home. Just so you know.

They may not stay dead, but I could still use some level of..closure. Even at the cost of my limited ammunition. Get it?

[stalking_horse]

[The attitude at least drops more flat serious.]

Fair enough. Don't expect there to not be consequences - there aren't many people here, so you can't exactly skip town or disappear. I also haven't seen much in the way of ammunition - what we arrived with is probably all we're going to get. [Oh, whoops, did he just imply that he's armed? Oops.]

For the time being, I'd rather focus on the more direct problem; I'd be a special kind of hypocrite to be willing to deal with criminals who weren't from home on this one but not one that recognized me.

Is there anything else?

[coldnlondondry.livejournal.com]

[Gin snerked a little at that implication.] Japan's got all kinds of restrictions on firearms. Not even the cops carry them. I'm surprised they let you get away with carrying one.

I can't think of anything else. Our paths will probably cross again sooner or later, detective. I'll be seeing you.

[stalking_horse]

Who said I let them know I have it?

[He nods to Gin, turning to walk around and away - and seemingly not caring about turning his back to the assassin either.] You as well.

By the way - [And he does hold up the revolver, although clearly not even trying to hold it as if he has plans to use it - ] I wasn't joking about normal weapons working on the monsters. Just as a word of warning.

[And he's going to continue on.]