InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "this man's got eyebrows!"

Jasper Hale / Jasper Whitlock (i_sparkle) wrote in indarkness_logs,
@ 2010-09-05 00:37:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2032 09, hiei, jasper hale

RP: A Walk in the Park
Characters: Jasper, Hiei
Time/Date: Wee hours, September 5
Location: convenience store
Warnings/Rating: None
Summary: Jasper wants to explore a little
Status: Complete

Since his powers had been fairly well crippled when he'd gotten here, the complete absence of them didn't come as a big surprise. Or a big inconvenience. He'd been spending his time almost exclusively with Alice since he'd arrived, very likely annoying everyone around their respective rooms with their ... less than quiet activities.

He'd seen at least one reference to it in the network, and that had kind of made him grin. They'd have to try harder to be ... quiet in the future. If he remembered. Which he doubted he would.

Parting company from Alice, he wondered how long it would be before she found him again. Not that he was in a rush to separate from her to begin with, but he did want to poke around a little and ... well, she tended to be a distraction. Especially if they were anywhere near a wall. Or a horizontal surface.

Jasper hadn't seen much of their world outside of the hotel, aside from glimpses out through windows. They didn't need the items in the food store, and there were no possibilities of anything in the mall strong enough to lure him away from the comfort of Alice and one of their beds. Given that he'd been here a while now, he thought it was high time he got a proper feel for the place. It was remiss of him not to have learned the layout from the beginning, but he'd rectify that while things were more open.

He had every intention of learning every inch of their prison. Crippled though he was, reduced to near-human senses as he was, Jasper was still a military man with military training.

He'd start in the store, learn the layout, explore it as well as he could, determine what sort of things were stocked there, and how they might be useful in the future if they were anything other than food. He'd seen a few lighters (or smelled the cigarette smoke, which meant there was a fire source somewhere), and that was filed away in the back of his mind. He wasn't ready to cut off noses to spite faces, but there was every possibility he might want to burn some things down at some point, if only to make a point to their captors.

With his hands in his pockets, his shoulders slightly hunched in an attempt to make himself look less aggressive than he was feeling, Jasper made his way across the barren land toward the store that had once been part of a gas station - apparently. Letting himself into the store, he bypassed the displays and refrigerated compartments and went right to the backroom of the store. The fact that the door wasn't locked made him assume one of two things - there was nothing worthwhile back here, or they were arrogant enough to believe their defenses strong enough to thwart everyone here. He was sure they were careful about what sorts of people they brought in, what sort of weapons they allowed ... but Alice had shared a story that proved they'd slipped up at least once.

If they'd screwed up once, they'd do it again. Everyone just had to be ready for that moment to take advantage of it.

Poking around the back room, he found nothing of interest among the scattered boxes and crates there. So he began tapping on the wall, listening to hear if it echoed. It stood to reason, didn't it, that they had a back way in and out of every place they stocked; if it was back here, he had every intention of --

Jasper grinned, and rapped against the wall again. The difference in sound was faint -- possibly too faint for normal human ears, but it was there. Solid wall. Solid wall. Less than solid wall. A door? There were no marks, no handles, no visible seams, nothing at all to indicate from this side it was a door. So maybe an anomaly in the construction? A hollow spot in the wall that was nothing at all? It was possible, though as Jasper continued his investigation, he wasn't sure sure that was all it was.

Maybe he'd have to start taking up a guard dog position in the back room of the store. Just in case.

Grinning, he let himself out of the back room to explore the store for material that had the potential to be used against their captors, though he didn't honestly harbor much hope of finding anything horribly useful.

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forgottenmoment
2010-09-06 11:20 am UTC (link)

Hiei had not been impressed, at all, when he had awoken and discovered that his katana was missing. That those foolish humans had used their drugs to poison him and steal his precious items was beyond humiliating, and he felt truly violated because of it, empty without his weapon. It made him tense, and worried, and hyper aware of all the people who were coming out today to test the limits of the line. And he felt foolish for it, but he spent a lot more of his time slipping out of sight rather than trying to engage any of these beings in typical small talk or any form of discussion.

He would deny that it was fear that kept him to the shadows. But he could think of no reasonable explanation for it.

He watched a man cross from the hotel with a different air about him than the other residents with made Hiei think of battle, and strength. It intrigued him more than anything, and he stalked - keeping enough distance to keep himself subtle. He, unlike other residents, at least knew how to be. He watched as the man slipped into the store and waited a few minutes for him to come out. When he didn't immediately, Hiei slipped in after him, knowing full well that he would likely be forced to identify himself because it would be difficult to hide in closer quarters.

But he was curious. Particularly when he heard the tapping. So he slipped inside, and was quiet for a moment when he came face to face with the other man.

Instinct made him want to ask immediately what was going on. Awareness of the social constructs that humans lived by, and curiosity, made him aware that he would have to go about it in a more roundabout way.

"My apologies for intruding," he said, inclining his head in greeting. "I am known as Hiei. I was curious about..." he gestured. "What you were doing." It was about as close to polite as he was going to get.

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i_sparkle
2010-09-06 11:51 am UTC (link)

Jasper wasn't startled by the man's presence. Or rather, he was slightly surprised and of the mind he shouldn't be at all surprised, so he made himself not be. It worked fairly well, though he mentally damned his reduced senses. The man shouldn't have gotten anywhere near this close before Jasper had become aware of him.

It was unnerving, and he did his best to shrug it off.

"Jasper," he replied with a smile to Hiei's introduction. "Pleasure to meet you," he added with just a touch of his Southern drawl. "I was tapping the wall," he continued, the smile morphing slightly into a something closer to a smirk.

He wondered if that answer was going to be acceptable, or if the curiosity delved into the why rather than just the what -- though Jasper was content enough to wait and see if that came up or not.

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forgottenmoment
2010-09-07 04:55 am UTC (link)

There was something altogether irritating about the humans here, and Hiei wondered if it was the close proximity that made them more irritating than usual or if all humans really were as dumb as Urameshi and Kuwabara. He had heard the tapping on the wall, he wasn't an idiot. He wanted to know why it had been so important to continue the incessant tapping.

He closed his eyes in aggravation, exhaled sharply to bring his temper back under control, and tried to think of how he wished to phrase his next question to make it abundantly clear what information he was requesting.

"So I observed," he said, the syllables heavily punctuated in the frustration he wasn't very good at keeping in check. He closed his eyes again, and when he next spoke it was a bit more natural. "My main curiosity was why you felt it necessary to tap on the wall in that fashion. What were you hoping to accomplish?"

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i_sparkle
2010-09-07 05:08 am UTC (link)

Jasper couldn't help but be amused. It was probably wrong to be amused, and he was well aware he may be inviting antagonization because of it, but he'd deal with it if that came up.

"Oh that's what you were curious about," Jasper said, lifting a hand to rub thoughtfully at his chin. "I was trying to find out of there was some sort of back door to the place. Some way our captors accessed the store without us being aware of their presence."

Granted, he wasn't going to elaborate on his findings, and he wondered if the guy would push for more information, or if he'd leave it at that. Jasper did kind of wonder where the line of patience was, and he wondered if he'd find it.

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forgottenmoment
2010-09-09 04:38 am UTC (link)

Surprisingly enough, Hiei felt his question had been answered, and nodded his head, managing to get his temper under control. He was eager now, himself, to check it out as well, and annoyed with himself that he hadn't thought to do the same.

"An... interesting thought," he muttered somewhat grudgingly, though it did give him pause to wonder if he wasn't the only demon here, as he'd previously though. Surely no human could have come up with such a clever thought. "One I had not thought of myself. Did you discover anything useful?"

He prepared himself for the inevitable smirk, shrug and departure that usually accompanied this attitude. But at least now he knew what to look for after the other man left.

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i_sparkle
2010-09-09 05:02 am UTC (link)

Jasper smirked and shrugged, but didn't depart. It was kind of entertaining, really, and this entire place was short on entertainment. "Trying to piggyback on my success?" he baited, a touch of his drawl creeping back into his words.

"If I wasn't a sharing sort, I'd say go knock yourself," he pointed out, dark amber eyes gleaming with amusement. "But there's a hollow spot on the right hand wall of the backroom, about a quarter of the way from the back. Could be a defect in the construction. Could be a door. I didn't hear any hollow knocks anywhere else though."

He supposed the other guy would go knock anyway, and why not? It was something interesting to do ... but he wondered if the guy would be able to hear the hollow spot -- he barely could -- and would simply dismiss him as a liar.

Not that he cared if that was the case ... it was just interesting to consider.

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forgottenmoment
2010-09-11 02:10 am UTC (link)

Hiei's eyebrows raised in genuine surprise at Jasper's question. That actually had not been his intention at all. Jasper had discovered the door in the back of the gas station - assuming that was what it was - and while Hiei wished that he had been the one who had thought to look for it first, he had not been and that was all there was to it. "No," he said honestly, and with some confusion. There were those who would try to claim... but he supposed that was a silly thing to be surprised about. He had seen plenty of examples in his life of traitors and others of the sort who had no honour to speak of. He supposed they would not be below taking credit for another's work.

"I had intended to search myself, but I appreciate the hint," he said with respect, inclining his head slightly. "I assume this has been the first building you have checked for such a... defect? I find myself now curious if it exists in any other buildings as well."

He was specifically thinking of the mall, at the moment, though now found himself wondering how many rooms in the hotel had a secret access to the scientists main lab.

He also wondered, though he kept this thought to himself, how many of these secret spots would now be moved, or locked down and reinforced with unbreakable materials now that they had been 'discovered'.

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i_sparkle
2010-09-11 02:43 am UTC (link)

Jasper chuckled at the other male's apparent surprise at the question. He hadn't honestly thought that, but it had been wortht the reaction to make the joke.

He did nod to the question though. "First one I checked," he agreed. "Hadn't given much thought to where I was going next though," he added with a casual shrug. That was true enough. This had mostly been a whim, but now his curiosity was piqued.

Maybe he would try some of the other buildings just for kicks. He might strike it lucky and save them all. Jasper grinned at the sheer ridiculousness of that thought before he shook it off.

"Have you found anything interesting here?"

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forgottenmoment
2010-09-13 01:57 am UTC (link)

If he'd been more interested in prolonging the conversation, being helpful, or teaming up with someone, he might have offered some suggestions. The mall had several floors and places where potential hidden entrances and exists would be. And if he had to guess, within the hotel he'd suspect a hidden door on one of the floors behind the elevator. Or within the shaft itself. Though he supposed any of the floors could have one. It might be worth combing the place to find them...

But he wasn't interested in offering his assistance, so since he wasn't asked, he didn't offer. He supposed the other would find his own way to go about it, now that the idea was on the table.

He raised his eyebrows at the question, and shrugged one shoulder. "Besides what has clearly been laid out to find, I have not. Though it isn't as though I've been searching." A prison was a prison, and the simple human world town that he'd been limited to since his theft of the Makai items was really not that different from this location, minus of course the obvious theft of his blade. Escape had never been on the forefront of his mind. "It is sometimes intriguing to watch, though, as they move captives or items in and out of the buildings. Particularly if there is more than one of them doing so. They will occasionally say things they may not otherwise wish the captives to know if they are unaware they are being observed."

He supposed the other could view that however he'd like, though Hiei considered it a tip for a tip. He had been clued in to the location of a potential secret entrance and exit from the establishment should he ever need to go in and wring someone's neck for touching his things - in exchange, he'd offered his own clue - or at least he thought that it could be considered one by someone concerned about staying alive here, or escaping here. Either way, he had yet to overhear anything that he wished to take advantage of.

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i_sparkle
2010-09-13 03:33 am UTC (link)

Jasper nodded slightly, accepting the information for what it was. Maybe he'd make a point of hanging around outside every now and again. When Alice cut him loose, anyway. He grinned slightly at that thought, wondering if she was waiting around in their room for him.

He figured they were about done here, anyway, so he lifted his hand in a wave before he nodded his head toward the hotel to indicate he was going to head in.

"Well, thanks for that," Jasper offered, letting his drawl exaggerate slightly. Sometimes it was fun to not have to try to mask his origins and his accent like he did in Forks. "Maybe we can help each other out again the next time we meet," he added with a grin.

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forgottenmoment
2010-09-13 05:42 am UTC (link)

He nodded his head at the parting words. "Perhaps," he said, because he thought it was considered polite to acknowledge someone when they spoke - not that he cared. But this man had proven his worth above and beyond that of the typical human captive, and had earned his respect.

He watched Jasper walk away, vaguely curious still and wanting to follow him to see where he went, but not really wishing to be caught doing so. He only watched for another few moments before he turned to explore the backroom and the glitch in the design that Jasper had mentioned.

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