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playing the game -- rick austin ([info]takingsides) wrote in [info]bellumlogs,
@ 2010-01-13 22:40:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:beauty, cheshire cat, meg giry

Who: Rick, his willing volunteers, and OPEN to unsuspecting bystanders press-ganged into assistance.
What: Moving in.
Where: Starting in the lobby.
When: Late afternoon.
Warnings: None!
Notes: Assume Rick posted a date and time. See this post.

Rick generally went with the flow. When his Giancoma contact hinted strongly (with cross-streets and an address, no less) that he move into this building when his last apartment building was condemned (that's progress for you), he had no overwhelming objections. He was smart enough to know that a change of location would neither help nor hinder his own personal game plan. Rick tried not to get too attached to material objects, but somehow he always ended up possessive of space, a habit he had tried to avoid even though the job pretty much defined 'territorial.' His private occupation as informant, his public profession, and his personal preference all supported the idea of working on as much information as possible, and that meant getting to know his neighbors.

Acquaintances and almost-friends from the department helped him haul most of the skeletal furniture into the lobby. Most of it wasn't anything all that impressive, everything masculine in color, rich brown leather for the armchairs and couch, an oak bedframe, a thick pseudo-Persian the height of a man, and, the pièce de résistance, a wide entertainment center made to fit a modest widescreen. Boxes of dishware and bedding was already upstairs, this was the stuff he couldn't haul up on his own. To all appearances, Rick was an utterly normal, bachelor type, who probably liked to watch some seasonal sport on his television, didn't smoke, and had no family. He'd already locked up the gun and the badge upstairs, and he wore jeans and a Mets sweatshirt.

Still wondering (without apparent concern) if anyone was going to show up for this, Rick leaned against his upended bedframe and pocketed his cellphone.



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[info]takingsides
2010-01-16 12:31 am UTC (link)
Rick didn't take part in the conversation until they'd reached the landing, focused on keeping the thing in his hands from falling--since it would probably crush Ed into pink paste if he did. Finally he called out directions and set it down, pulling his fingers out of the way in time, and leaning up against it to catch his breath. The sweatshirt, even with the cut off sleeves, was starting to be a bit warm, but he ignored it. The material would protect his arms, and he wasn't in danger of becoming overheated yet. Rick knew himself, and he knew his own limits.

"James," he said, blinking at her with the first trace of uninhibited expression anyone had seen on his face all evening. Surprise, then--nothing. His expression went blank, erased. Then he smiled an enigmatic smile that must be natural. "James," he said, in tone of greeting this time.

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[info]ex_peepshows656
2010-01-16 06:28 am UTC (link)
The sailor's voice was like a trickle of ice water down the rail of her spine, making quick work of turning bones into rust. But when her overcast eyes settled on the seawoman, it was without a shred of surprise. Or sanctity.

"Monopolize?" The word was less than amused, even as James' attention swung away from the sailor in order to scrutinize the entertainment center as it was jostled toward the stairs. "I thought Sorry! was more your game."

Regardless of the lingering threat of vegetables, James stepped forward when Li mentioned helping. "Sure, I--"

Rick.

James went very still, frozen from a gorgon's stare. She gave him a very deliberate dose of eyes that were at once cagey and amazed. "You're moving in?"

His smile looked effortless, natural. She didn't buy it for a second.

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[info]takingsides
2010-01-16 06:50 am UTC (link)
"I didn't know you lived here," he said, utterly friendly, and with a very male sweep of eyes to accompany the smile.

Rick liked James. She was strong, humorous, confident. He felt he didn't have to worry about her when they knew each other; she could take care of herself. Now, he just didn't want her to get caught up in his business. It was a business she could get hurt in, and he wouldn't like to see that--even if he did like seeing her, clothes or no clothes.

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[info]ex_peepshows656
2010-01-16 06:33 pm UTC (link)
"It's close to work," she explained. Meeting his gaze the same way she always had, with the sly challenge that he keep his eyes wrangled above her neck. It was impossible.

James wasn't a woman to be flittered over or preserved. Her honor -- however paperthin it might be -- didn't need defending. Rick, in their time together, had at least understood that. James remembered it as only one of the reasons they'd gotten along.

"And you are?" Pivoting her attention onto the other man that had greeted her. Dealing through him or Li felt safer somehow. Jude was out of the question. And she wasn't entirely sure what to make of Rick, after all this time.

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[info]fond_affections
2010-01-16 06:43 pm UTC (link)
Ed's eyes flicked to Rick's face and he tried to sort out the undercurrents that were suddenly swirling around the little group gathered in the stairwell. He was man enough to admit he was relieved when Rick had ordered them to lower their burden and he flexed his left hand to ease the ache that the strain of gripping the heavy furniture had caused.

He smiled at the woman when she addressed him, "I'm Ed. I moved in recently and thought I'd be neighborly and help out...although if we get this thing stuck in here, I'm not taking any of the blame!" His tone was light and friendly and he resisted the urge to look from James over to Jude, despite wondering about the way Jude had addressed James.

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[info]snaked
2010-01-16 07:30 pm UTC (link)
Li, once started on a task, was the sort of person who would drive herself to unconsciousness doing it. It was how she was raised. Once the entertainment center was set down she looked uncomfortable. "I can take over for one of you if you are tired? I do not think my part is as heavy."

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[info]takingsides
2010-01-16 08:11 pm UTC (link)
Rick turned the smile at Li before letting it fade naturally, taking little notes in his mind where no one could see. "We're just taking a break, Li."

He and Ed were of the same mind about James and Jude, and he certainly wasn't going to get involved in whatever was passing over their heads about that. Rick found that observing and letting the silence talk generally informed him of more than pointed questions or demands. There was a time for those.

Just at the moment, however, James dominated his attention. Former lovers can do that, because generally you automatically picture them naked and in the dark. It was a nice picture. "I'd ask you how you've been, but you look great."

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[info]fond_affections
2010-01-16 08:19 pm UTC (link)
Ed noted Rick's comment to James without changing expressions. He leaned against the wall of the stairwell, relaxing his shoulders and letting his eyes go to Jude. He hadn't sought her out since slipping out of her apartment sometime after they'd fallen asleep on her bed and he regretted that; something told him there was more to Jude than what he had seen so far. He let his eyes linger on her for a moment and then looked back toward Rick and Li. "Li--you're job is going to get rough when we have to round those corners..." he said with a serious look up the stairs.

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[info]ex_sepulchre370
2010-01-16 08:21 pm UTC (link)
Jude sat quietly through the introductions, and she didn't speak until she had a pretty good read on the situation with Rick and James. "She's great in bed, isn't she?" she asked, her lips quirking into a smile made cruel by her own uncertainties about everything right now.

The other girl, Li, she seemed sweet and innocent enough, and she grinned at Ed. "Ed, ask the cute girl out. She can even carry furniture, should you need assistance with manual labor."

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[info]ex_peepshows656
2010-01-16 08:37 pm UTC (link)
Formalities could be dropped in the face of scalding hostility. It wasn't difficult to read the cruelty in Jude's smile, the catty twitch of her words.

James had never in her life blushed over sexuality, and she didn't show signs of flinching now under Jude's assessment.

Eye contact still framed on Rick, her smile flickered briefly. It was a calculated, stormy thing. Even with Rick's compliment, she raised her hand. Index finger lifted in a gesture of hold up.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Attention whipping onto the sailor, successfully incited by whatever spell she was stirring up.

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[info]ex_sepulchre370
2010-01-16 08:41 pm UTC (link)
"I was complimenting you, baby," she said with a wink, leaning her elbows back on the stairs above her, as if she didn't mind this conversation in the slightest, because she didn't.

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[info]snaked
2010-01-16 08:48 pm UTC (link)
"You should leave," Li suggested to Jude with an uncharacteristic seriousness. "I think your complimenting needs practice."

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[info]takingsides
2010-01-16 09:24 pm UTC (link)
"Think Li might have a point," Rick said, genially, giving Jude a steady look. He was undisturbed by her question, but he didn't answer it, either. It wasn't a threat; he didn't fight James' fights for her. He didn't fight anyone's fights for them.

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[info]fond_affections
2010-01-16 09:31 pm UTC (link)
Ed stepped away from the wall, turning to stand so he could see both up and down the stairs with minimal effort. He wasn't interested in a fight, not even witnessing a proverbial cat fight. He knew Jude's determined, fuck you attitude but he had no idea what James was like. At least Rick didn't seem interested in jumping in and stirring things up, which made Ed think favorably of Bellum's new tenant.

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[info]ex_peepshows656
2010-01-16 09:47 pm UTC (link)
"I know exactly what you were doing." Despite the tempered sheen in her siren eyes, James' tone was cold. She didn't wear an offer of violence, only confidence.

"And just because you treat people like idiots, doesn't mean we all are one." She took one slow step forward, bristling like a tigress with her assertion.

"You're trying to make me uncomfortable. Or Rick." Her attention momentarily ticked the man's way with mention of his name, but it was nailed back on Jude in one blink. "In either case, I can tell you that you're wasting your time. So go ahead, keep playing the untouchable, uncaring source of bad news.. and go jump off your boat, bitch."

And on that note, James turned to leave the building altogether. Too irritated to move furniture without breaking it.

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[info]ex_sepulchre370
2010-01-16 10:01 pm UTC (link)
Jude's smile was gloating, and she stood and brushed her thighs off. "Well, my work here is done," she said, casting one lingering and almost non-existent glance after James. "You fine people enjoy your moving." She stepped off the stairs and headed toward the entrance, turning back to look at Rick at the last minute. "She is amazing in bed, isn't she?" She winked and disappeared out the door.

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[info]snaked
2010-01-16 10:07 pm UTC (link)
Li stared when the two of them left, frowning.

"I do not think I like her," she said of Jude.

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[info]takingsides
2010-01-16 10:14 pm UTC (link)
"She doesn't like to be liked," Rick said, smoothly. He looked after James for a little while, and not as if he was admiring her. Thinking. Then he focused on his two assistants. "Shall we get this up the stairs, then?" He bent to pick up his end of the entertainment center again.

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