damian calls the shots (forthecowl) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2012-03-17 05:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | damian wayne, loki |
Who: Roger and Louis
Where: Bar
When: Last weekish
What: Aw yeah you know you like to see a bounty hunter playing nice with a private investigator.
Warnings: Roger swearing probably.
Roger was itching for something to do. He was sick of working on all the boring parts of starting a business and wanted to get down to the hunting. It had been a couple months since he had chased down any criminals and nearly a year since it had been interesting. He had mixed feelings about private investigators in general. A majority of them were scummy retired cops who liked taking pictures of women cheating on their husbands or had some agenda. This guy seemed all business though. Probably a guy who got kicked off the force or just left. Either way didn’t matter to Roger. He had worked with psychopaths, wannabe vigilantes and hackers to finish a job.
Sitting at the bar, he took a minute to enjoy how quiet it was. Vegas was loud, vivid and somehow still so damned cold. At least in the low buzz of the bar it felt justified. This was also the first time he was going into an “interview” cold. Usually, he had the resources to look up information on potential teammates, but he had been preoccupied with Damian and the stupid drama his brother was going through. That was fine, though. This Louis character could find him. And, Roger was a hard guy to miss. He looked like he was better suited for either a life of crime or exploring a wasteland.
The bar was a modest affair, not too far from where Louis lived. He hadn’t invited to meet him at The Griffin, which he preferred, mostly because he was not interested in having a potential business associate see the looks the bartender might give him after the show he’d made of himself there the other night. No one knew him at this bar, as far as he was aware - he’d been there only once, just long enough to see that they were well-stocked, frequented by locals, and a little on the dark side, though a little too respectable to be called a dive.
He entered the bar and spotted Roger immediately, as expected. It was relatively quiet at this time of day. He walked up to him, and offered him a hand to shake. “Roger Darman?” he asked. Louis had dressed as impeccably as usual, his clothes well-pressed and suitable for a business meeting, while not standing out in a bar - button down shirt, dark slacks.
Roger shook the man’s hand heartily with a smile. “Louis Donovan. Have a seat.” He picked up the small glass of water on the bar and took a sip. “So, you’re new in town? Las Vegas is a hell of a place to start up business. Plenty of interesting jobs, though. Way better than trying to be a cop or a guard.” Those were the kinds of people who died first. Roger knew some good cops that were tied up by red tape every time they tried to get something done. Then they ended up getting in the way of people like Roger who knew how to twist the system to get things done.
“It is a hell of a certain kind, yes.” Las Vegas was not really Louis ideal city. He would take the rainy streets and the intense, businesslike bustle of London over the flashing lights and tourist trap of the Strip any day. “Thankfully, I don’t know that they allow foreign nationals into the police force, so I’m safe from doing that all over again.” A small smile at that. He sat down beside Roger at the bar, and ordered a small sake from the barman, mostly to be polite for using his business as a meeting spot. “On the side of starting up businesses, however, I am hoping you can help me with that.”
“I’d be happy to. Now, I’m not unreasonable. If you just need me to rough some guy up or protect your ass, I don’t need half or even a third of what the job is paying. Just kick me a quarter of it and we’ll call even.” Roger smiled, sure that he was a rare find in the bounty hunter pool. “But, if I’m digging up clues for you or roughing up quite a few mooks, I want a fair share. That shouldn’t be a problem since hell, if you’re in that kind of trouble the pay has got to be good.” He knew hunters that had flat rates for what they did. Those guys didn’t get a lot of work. “If I find drugs, I turn them in to the police. If I see some kid got hurt in the crossfire, making sure he gets to safety is the priority. And, if I don’t like the job I won’t do it. I’ll probably give you some good reasons why, too.”
“That all sounds perfectly reasonable and amenable to me,” Louis said. “My goal isn’t to get you to do anything which you would object to, or wouldn’t like to do, and I want you to be paid a fair wage. A fairer wage than you would get in the police force or in run of the mill security work, to be sure. I’m not interested in violating the law. I’m just interested in steady employment, and getting people what they ask for. I don’t take jobs I myself am uncomfortable with, but if by chance you take issue with a job I choose to take, you will be under no obligation to assist.” Louis would be more than capable of hiring someone else, were that the case - not that he’d like to. But Roger was forward, up front and direct. He had a difficult time believing there would be any cases that he would be willing to do that Roger would not.
“I had a good feeling about you.” Roger smiled and then pulled a USB card out of his jacket. “Since we’re going to be working together, I thought I’d share some contacts with you. People who need people like us or know folks who do.” One thing his mentor taught him was to be helpful to people who could be potentially helpful back. Roger had spent most of his fall collecting this information and knew it would take Louis just as long or even more. This way the guy could get cracking on cases and Roger would be the first guy he’d think of to help out. “There’s a list of guys on there you want to avoid, too. Mostly cops and old mobster money types. Both are harmless unless you shake the damn bear awake.”
Louis took the USB from Roger, flipping it between long fingers, looking at it for a moment, and then tucking it into his pocket. “Thank you,” he said. “This will certainly help us both get exactly the kind of headstart we’ll need if we’re going to develop a suitable reputation to get more clients.” He tilted his head. “If you were looking to prove your worth, you’ve succeeded in spades.
At the back of Louis’ mind the trickster was already thinking of all sorts of uses he might have for those names that would have nothing to do with helping out or doing good.
Roger laughed and clapped Louis on the back. “Well, it ain’t nothing you wouldn’t find on your own. Just saving you some time.” He stretched and gave a yawn like a big dog that needed a nap. “Now, do me a favor and call me when you need to point a gun at something.”
“I can, and I will,” Louis said. He slid a bill across the bar to pay for his drink. “I appreciate your time, Mr. Darman. I’ll call you the moment something comes up. I expect it will be soon, possibly in the next week or so?”
“Sounds perfect.” Roger grinned and walked away from the bar. Damian was surprisingly quiet. He understood what it meant to make allies, but Roger also thought that the little vigilante simply didn’t give a damn about Vegas.