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Gidget (gigisbeachparty) wrote in haunted_roads,
@ 2008-01-29 07:12:00

Entry tags:

gidget, keisuke

Week One: Wednesday
Who: Gidget and [Open]
Where: Commons room
When: Just after dusk
What: Gigi is popular and spendy

"Whoot!" The exclamation was more out of surprise rather than excitement, but Gidget Pei-Pei knew how to blur those lines rather well. A tiny woman of Chinese descent, she made an impressive presence. Or maybe it was just all the light radiating from her outfit that made her seem bigger. It could easily be said that most people could not pull off a strapless yellow short-fibre terry-cloth baby-doll knee-length dress, but Gigi had the magic touch.

And that magic touch was called gorgeous metallic purple D&G platform heels and a gorgeous lightest pink trenchcoat with clear vinyl waist sash. Gigi complimented this with a modernized 60's beehive, wide oval sunglasses, bright red fingernails and toenails, dramaticly curved eyeliner, pale lips, and a huge bracer/bracelet of thin wire mesh and pieces of amethyst.

Around her neck was a collection of lockets in silver and gold she had collected over the years.

Her outfit made it clear why such volumes of shopping was strictly required. Seattle was a new city to her and there were 'treasures' that had been waiting for her everywhere. Certain designers that were local were definitely trying to cull her patronage. A comped pair of shoes there, some bracelets here, it added up after a while. Of course, this came with the promise of returning when there were photographers around, but that was par for the course. Gidget wasn't on the cover of Star, but you could see her in a magazine fairly regularly. Perhaps lest regularly now that she wasn't primarily residing in the Big Apple for the first time in her life.

What had really killed her was checking her mail. Dozens of letters and packages were waiting for her. Gigi tended to get everything done last minute, so tons of random little things were still trickling in through the mail, as well as cards from just all kinds of people. Mix that wither dozen small to medium bags, and one larger bag filled with fabric, and this little lady was overloaded. Just a moment ago half of her pile had just straight tipped over.

After rebuilding her pile (rather noisily and with a lot of swearing), Gidget stepped back with her hands out to make sure it was built to last. An entire large, plush armchair was overtaken with her goods. The elevator seemed so close by. Maybe she should shuffle everything over and just drag it along? That would take a lot of time to redistribute her bags and she had a couple of party invitations for the evening. Nothing major, but there was a lovely evening dinner and cocktails function going on. Politician, probably just wanted to meet the little p(art)y star of his city. As long as the wine was good and free, she would consider going.

Didn't they have a busboy in this building? Ah, fuck it. Gigi would just find the nearest available soul for use. Not like they might not need something someday! "Ecsusi moi!" She called, waving one hand dramatically to get their attention (as if she probably didn't have it already). "Do you have a moment?" She smiled fetchingly as she presented them her pile with so much flair Bob Barker was somewhere having a hot flash.

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catchyourshadow
2008-01-31 12:56 am UTC (link)

Keisuke had been wandering. It was a way of moving, a mindless lifting of one leg then the other, his hands slipped into his pants pockets, the dark grey jeans much too large on his form. His head was slightly bowed, his hair a little messy from the wind blowing outside. It had seemed a good idea at first, to explore the new city he would be staying at for who knows how long. But all the stores, buildings, painted faces, laughing figures, the cars driving down the long winding streets, after just twenty minutes of that, he realized he'd had enough for the day. Maybe tomorrow night he'll go out and buy a guidebook for Seattle. Until then, he was perfectly satisfied holed up in his new apartment room, unpacking the bag of supplies he hadn't finished clearing away from last night.

Pausing in front of the north elevators, which conveniently (or perhaps, not so conveniently) spared a perfect view of the entrance to the building's common room, his eyes caught a bright figure in multiple colors and fabrics. Swearing, she'd finally gotten what seemed like much more things than a woman of her size should be capable of carrying onto a chair. The pile threatened to tip over, the legs and bottom of the plush armchair being all that was left visible.

He was just wondering if he should bother asking her if she needed help when she turned heel and quite calmly waved a perfectly manicured hand in his direction, the pretty little wrist of hers even giving a twirl as if she were show-casing the packages.

"Do you have a moment?" She said, smiling.

He just looked at her for a moment before tilting his head to the right a little and nodding. It would do no harm to help her carrying the bags. Besides, she'd probably make more of a fuss if he left without doing anything, not that he would.

He stepped forward to start collecting the many different sized bags, boxes and letters.

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gigisbeachparty
2008-01-31 07:56 am UTC (link)

What a cute little thing, although someone HAD to get him into clothes that fit. Her first impression of Keisuke in a nutshell. Appearances meant a lot to Gigi, but her eye was very sharp and she could see past a lot of posing. It took her a moment to register things other than his appearance. Notably, his nonverbality.

"Hold on, darling. I need to organize myself very quickly or I will never find half of these things again!" For living in such a small apartment in New York City, she'd had to rend a good-sized UHaul and leave her mattress and boxspring there for lack of space. Gigi collecting items like pockets collected lint. She emptied one bag of tissue-wrapped accessories into a bag with nail polishes and acrylic paints. Then used the free bag to start stuffing postcards and ads into another. Or envelopes that looked like invites.

Bills got put wherever was closest. Gigi hated bills, they were so depressing.

"Do you speak English?" She asked plainly. Not that she worried so much, as her previous statements had probably showed, she gestured with her hands and arms so much that it was almost as if she had her own form of sign language. Unless she was putting on a 'show' or hosting, it was a shadow play for one. At any rate, she spoke some Mandarin, French, Spanish, and the tiniest hint of Japanese, just the hintest, that she figured they could get by on something.

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catchyourshadow
2008-01-31 08:31 am UTC (link)

"Yes, I do." Keisuke was used to the question, although only in the States were people this blunt. Usually he got the question when new editors or publishers met him for manuscripts, doubtful that the young-looking man was capable of speaking correct English or Japanese, much less perform translations on professional works. That was one of the reasons why Keisuke found it just so much easier to work from the computer. Technology and internet, it just made life so much easier. He heard from another vampire once, before he'd left Japan, that you could even find Blood Partners online these days. The perverted lusts of humans were sometimes too hard to contemplate.

Keisuke gave a polite half-bow to Gigi, his neck and back aligning themselves in the way that he'd been drilled to address people since he was young, especially to a woman. Time may slow or even halt for the undead, but old habits never quite die. He rested his weight solidly on his feet, resisting slouching too much. For his second real day in a new city, it wouldn't do to get off on a bad start with anyone. After all, moving in the dark might be an eccentricity allowed for artists, but it didn't make it any less of a hassle.

He took back the paper bag she'd finished packing little wrapped packages into and held out a second bag, waiting for her to finish. Somehow, he always found himself not quite able to turn down anyone, not even strangers, when they asked for help. He remember being mocked by Himiko, who'd laughed so hard, her canines gleaming as they caught the light in her room, when she'd found out he'd been neatly maneuvered into carrying boxes for an old grandfatherly figure he'd bumped into on the way to her residence. He hadn't bothered to defend himself, just leaning back and letting her smirk at him. "You call yourself a Vampire, Kei-chan?" she'd sneered, in her playfully mocking way.

"What floor do you live on?" He asked the flamboyantly decorated woman, her presence dominating even as she shuffled through letters and mail, tossing them into one bag or the other. She could be worse, he supposed. At least she didn't smell too bad.

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gigisbeachparty
2008-01-31 08:41 am UTC (link)

"Darling, why didn't you say something before?" Now really, Gigi was trying to remember if she knew any Korean or Vietnamese, she heard there was a growing population out here. With her wild form of dress, for some reason alot of old Asian women assumed they should be able to scold her in their own languages. Which meant Gigi could say a smattering of things in all kinds of random languages. All of them very dirty and vulgar. But don't ask her what was in Cambodian and what was in Mongolian or whatever the languages were. She just knew it meant that your mouth smelt like a festering asshole or your children must be mistaken for hairless rats. Which she never quite understood the insult of the latter, but by some of the red faces, she suspected it might actually mean something else.

"I'm on seventh somewhere." Gigi constantly was forgetting her apartment number, but it was of so little importance right now. She knew which way you turned and recognized her mat. Demonstrating this knowledge, Gigi centered herself at the closest elevator, turned around as if she was in it and then envisioned the floor. Holding her arm out straight, fingers splayed, she turned her body to the left. Then a little further, until she was almost going to trip over her feet. "I'm right. there!" She sounded fully certain, unravelling herself to face Keisuke again.

"You're so tall, darling. How tall are you?" By the speed she was moving in picking up her things (that is, not even moving to pick them up), Gigi was obviously not too concerned for time. Oh, she'd be late to the little dinner party, but she was very often late.

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catchyourshadow
2008-01-31 08:56 am UTC (link)

He was slightly amused. A younger him might have cringed at the directness of her speech and the instantly familiar way she moved and spoke around him, but the years had smoothed out paying notice to little things like that. It would be different if this was in ancient Japan, but it was a new century, a new year. It was always a new year, it seemed...

The woman seemed quite assured of herself, from the way she carried her presence to the satisfied attitude she had, ignoring everything when she had her attention on what she wanted. Namely, turning until she could physically demonstrate her ability at orientation and directional senses.

He watched her with a slight hint of a smile touching the faintest corners of his lips. He was trying a lot harder to express his emotions and this had been one of his new goals, to show his reactions physically more. As a child, he'd been trained to maintain a perfectly masked face. As a vampire, he could have cared less about what people saw on his face. But smiling, laughing, crying, all of those made humans feel more at ease, more comfortable. Perhaps it was because revealing your emotions gave a sense of vulnerability? It was always easier to lure and feed on those that were emotional, it seemed.

Tall..? He heard the question, her face and posture poise and waiting for an answer.
Mentally Keisuke did a conversion of 178 cm. from the metric system to that American standard of feet and inches. He didn't understand why the country was the only one who refused to standardize, but then again, he'd slowly come to realize that Americans (and America) was special. In many aspects.

"About 5 foot, 10 inches. I believe."

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gigisbeachparty
2008-02-01 06:14 am UTC (link)

He might as well be a giant to Gidget. If he stood straight up and she stepped out of her shoes, she couldn't reach much further than the crown of his head. But she was a good judge of height and thought it was a damn pity that he didn't dress more stylishly. Good height, lovely face, he could be rather striking. She'd definitely have to find out just what type of person he preferred. Maybe he just needed a little love life to fix him up.

One of Gigi's many talents was keeping a running roster of potential romantic interludes in her brain. There was nothing she loved more than making a good romance and then telling everyone she introduced them. A couple of people had even gotten married and Gigi got: a) free champagne, b) a chance to sing drunkenly in front of a crowd, c) make hilarious toasts, while d) getting to whatever the hell she liked to the wedding and getting congratulated for it. All in all, it was a huge win-win situation for her.

"You are just lovely, you know that?" She even leaned to the side to get more of a profile shot. Perhaps it was her natural inclination to start mentally measuring outseams and sleeve widths, but Gigi's eyes, while climbing all over his body, never strayed to the erotic. Sex was so banal. If she wanted sex there were always dozens of social climbers beautiful to the eye and eager to please that she could have if she tried. Gigi was attracted to brains. The loves of her life were eccentric true geniuses, whether it be in arts, sciences, or even obscure sports.

"What's your name, sweetie?" She asked, looking up at him, one hand on her hip and the other hanging loosely at her side. It wasn't that she was posing, just that so much of her day involved standing around and talking without looking stupid. It was a living! As for her original purpose for calling him over, it could way. Interests and fashion above practicality.

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catchyourshadow
2008-02-01 08:43 pm UTC (link)

Keisuke was in the slighly taller than average range for a Japanese of his time. Of course, his time meant a few centuries back, but who knew? He looked at Gigi with a forgetful looking face, lips slightly parted as he watched her looked him up and down. Sometimes women had more of a hunter's gaze of stalking a prey but thankfully she didn't look like she had that intention. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd landed himself in an awkward situation with a sexually aggressive female. He had no real sexual lusts, and feeding off of such aggressive females only was good if they were stupid on that of that. Being very drunk also helped.

But this did not seem like one of those instances and so Keisuke calmly and quietly let the short Chinese woman look him over, a thoughtful expression on her face. She asked his name, even tagging on an off-handed sign of endearment at the end.

"I'm Keisuke." He tagged on as an afterthought, " I'm new here."

He also remember to smile. Even if she wasn't the type to be fed on as a blood partner or even a random prey, it didn't hurt to be on good relations. It was amazing what smiling or being on good relations with the general public could do to help ward off suspicions.

The pile of letters seemed to have been forgotten, the packages resting in there bags half on the chair, half held in his hands.

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gigisbeachparty
2008-02-02 07:00 am UTC (link)

Gidget was not a total stranger to vampires and their ilk, but she was no privy in their blood work. She barely got enough sleep as it was and could not afford to be slowed down. His smiling was definitely appreciated. Her mother had told her that to smile was to invite happiness and she wanted all the happiness she could get. Maybe her return smile, so easy and genuine and intense, would show him how it was really done. Of course, that was easier to do without fangs and it was hard to get those, and Adam's apples, by Gidget.

"I suppose we both are, Keisuke. My name is Gigi." Pronounced jee-jee, as Gigi with a french accent attached. It sounded a little outrageous and, therefore, was almost perfectly fitting for the lady in question. Who, like Jem, was totally outrageous.

"Where are you hailing from, darling? You have the most adorable accent!" Gidget was very big into accents. All of them. Sometimes for herself even! When she was 19 she had a bad habit of speaking broken english to assy hipster interviewers for the band. There had been some red faces when they'd realized through the grapevine that the joke had been on them. Oops! Maybe calling her the 'rice angel of punk' wasn't as radical as they'd thought it was. Lots of things seemed radical when you were raised upstate in a single family duplex with spare bedrooms.

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catchyourshadow
2008-02-02 11:11 am UTC (link)

Keisuke noticed the way she leaned forward, her interest expressed as much in her body language as in the open way she spoke with her voice and hands. He fingered his handkerchief, the black piece of silk wrapped and tied almost stylishly around his wrist, peeking out from the edge of his coat sleeve.

"I am from Japan. Tokyo. I moved to LA for a while, but it was too crowded, so I came here." Although he had not lived in Echigo for many years-now known as part of the Niigata province, no one in almost 100 years had probably referred to the area as Echigo, but he still had to catch himself from stating that he was from the side city in Honshu, the main island of Japan. Echigo, the land of his master, for he did not and would not ever consider his sire his real master, would forever remain in his heart. It was not something that could be explained to humans though, and for consistency's sake, he told people he was from Tokyo. His current alias and "life" as Uesugi Keisuke hailed from Tokyo, though one would be hard-pressed to find his actual school or childhood home.

"Are you new here in the Towers? Or in Seattle?" Although Keisuke spoke and understood perfect English, you had to as a translator, he still retained some of his Japanese accent. This meant the swallowing of some V's, L's, and an almost flowy, almost musical quality to his speech.

He remembered his sire stating that English was "crude and ugly", the choppy way the words came out, harsh and cold, unlike the graceful flow of Japanese. Keisuke found amusingly, that many foreigners in Japan enjoyed the "asian-ness" of an accent, and this quality was the same in the United States as well. While in Los Angeles for a short time, when he first moved over, it had proved quite easy to find a convenient one time meal by just talking to someone in a bar or club. Often times, the "exotic-ness" of a foreign accent made the recipient ever so willing to lead him home for a night of mystery. Keisuke had to admit that he more often than not plied his victims with wine or used Persuasion to get them sleepy or passed out, if only so he didn't have to sleep with them to get blood. Unlike his more sexually aggressive sire, he was under the belief of "you never know where they've been" when it came to blood meals. At least those that weren't more long-term Blood Partners.

He gave Gigi a small smile, his lips covering the slightly longer incisors.

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gigisbeachparty
2008-02-04 05:34 am UTC (link)

Gigi too, knew the power of big cities and getting one-time meals. Except she'd advertised herself as an "asian flower" over an early internet dating site and let bussinessmen buy her expensive meals. Because she was having trouble buying food at the time. If only material and costume jewelry hadn't been so expensive!

"As if it could compare to Tokyo!" She had been to Tokyo once for exactly four days and had herself a grand time. Ironically, it had been her art that had taken her there, not her forward fashion design, music, or celebrity. Someone had hired her to design their new 'corner exhibit' shop. It had apparently gone under since, but had been lovely. That had been her first official job doing interior design. Right onto her resume it had gone!

"I've been to Seattle before." Layover. "But this is my first time nesting here." Gidget wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it. She did have to admit that New York City...just wasn't what it used to be. The city had felt like her lifeblood, but as her star rose higher in the sky, the world picture became so much larger. Being summoned here and there she had met so many interesting people and heard so much interesting music. She began to realise just how tired things in the city had seemed. Gentrification had sucked out all the glitter in the gutter and replaced it with sensible linoleum plating.

Even the Harness, her mother said, was getting renovations to look a little more posh. When the drinks were being delivered she said they'd replaced the industrial ceiling hooks with ornate, wrought iron. It was the end of an era. But Gigi being Gigi, any sort of ill feelings from that she was sweeping aside. So much to see and do! There was no sense worrying about the past when you had such a cute man in front of you.

And one so desperately in need of a quick makeover. He was just quiet and lovely, probably believed in all those hyperomance films out of Asia. So many women would find that adorable. She was pretty sure he was straight. Maybe a straight bottom. "Tokyo has some of the most wonderful fashions. I was actually there for design work, but have been dying to go back. You absolutely must teach me Japanese!" Although her English and Mandarin had gone a decent way when she went on her own. It appeared Tokyo, unlike New York, was growing more diverse rather than less in the past decade.

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catchyourshadow
2008-02-05 06:27 am UTC (link)

"Yes. Every big city seems the same."

Tokyo had been crowded, especially in the post-Restoration days, the wars (human) having driven the country to the ground and back up again. He heard rumors of vampires driven to ground or forced to feed on half-alive victims of the great Hiroshima bombing, but he'd yet to ever see that city. Tokyo, Nagoya, even Hokkaido, all major cities were his pick when he'd left Echigo. Compared to the small villages and cities, the diversity compact, hungry metropolitan cities swallowed up dreams and drove its occupants power hungry. Everywhere you went, over-worked and dead-eyed businessmen, housewives with their schedules and dramas, short schoolgirls with their standard uniforms and even more standard faces walked around, trying to duplicate dreams they saw everywhere else.

"Tokyo has very interesting designers, yes. Many people trying to be different there."

Things hadn't been much better in Los Angeles. Every major city seemed the same as the next, people wandering the streets in cold attainment of their goals, the faces and eyes all the same. Keisuke made plans to leave there almost as soon as he arrived. The tasteless and bitter memories of the deaths in Japan were what he wanted to leave behind, and yet they still haunted him in the metropolitan sprawl that surrounded him in the Southern California city.

He shifted his weight a little, his old white converses standing out from his baggy dark slacks.

"Ah...If you are interested, perhaps." He gave a little half-smile.

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gigisbeachparty
2008-02-07 06:27 pm UTC (link)

"Of course I'm interested!" That was probably the truest thing Gidget could ever say. She was interested, at least at a base, intellectual level, in everything. Her love for irony, glamour, showmanship, and art was a way of plugging multiple factors at once. Nightclubs with people, conversation, music, drinks, general revelry, and just excitement was the multiple stimulus she craved. People accused her of always performing, but just walking and being were just so boring. She was very interactable.

"But you know I'm a city girl." She mentioned casually, although Gidget oozed metropolitan. Apparently she also decided it was time to pick up her bags. Without looking she somehow managed to slip all the leftovers into one bag and hook her hands through. Carrying shopping bags with her was second nature to herself.

"And there is a large distinction. Of course, darling, anyone you ask will tell you that visiting a city with me is very different than going without." Gidget went far over egoism with the statement, looking awash in self-pride, that she went right into parody, which was always a lot more fun. As soon as she had the bags in her hand, she was off. Gidget walked at a quick pace for someone so tiny and on, essentially, stilts. She just sort of expected that he'd follow, talking a mile a minute as she went to the elevator and mashed the upgoing button with an elbow, her purse neatly tucked under one arm. If anything, the lady could make the time pass by while waiting for the elevator.

"I have to say that those japanese designers make some of the cutest dresses. Although I think I still prefer New York shoe designers. Have you seen any of the vintage stores around here? They are just wonderful. You have to understand darling that I'm so little that I almost always find something very special that they've held on to for years waiting for me. You're so tall, it must be hard for you to find vintage, but I tell you they left very generous hems. You should definitely check out this store, I forget the name, but I have their card somewhere, but don't ask me to get out my purse right now, I am overloaded. It has a green sign like a big C, but with all kinds of interlocking curves like one of those party-favor puzzles that you spin to get the marble in the hole."

She had been turned away from the elevator, looking at Keisuke as she rattled on about shopping, but she was loud enough and spoke with enough enthusiasm to usually make even simple things interesting. When the elevator doors opened she waited a moment, still looking and chatting at Keisuke and walked inside, doing a perfect point turn to stare forward. "Everything they make in pants is much too long, but would be just right for you. Don't you eat anything, sweetie? You're like a stick! Can you hit 7 for me?"

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