InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "feinted rules!"

noli timere messorem (defyuntildeath) wrote in paxletalelogs,
@ 2017-02-08 07:05:00

Entry tags:

kali, loki

all my life
Who: Jayati and Nishka
What: Introduction, deal making
When: Nov 1 2016 (backdated, date may change after mun discussion)
Where: Outside area of a coffee shop, New Port Beach, CA (subject to change after mun discussion)

Getting your information under the table from 'shady' sources could be a little touch and go when it comes to both availability (intermittent on occasion) and reliableness of it. This time however the information had been good; Nishka Adeline Bariss, 35, currently living in Newport Beach, CA after only recently moving there. Lawyer, very good at her chosen profession, not dirty but perhaps open to persuasion.

However she tried to go by her own assessments instead of staking her life on other people's judgements, not doing any of your own scouting could get you killed. At that thought she rubbed at the scar along her jaw as the waitress came back by to refill her coffee.

She had watched Nishka for a week after finding that the current address given to her was good, and had considered just knocking on her door like a normal, semi civilized human being. But there was a wariness in her bones that had not been there before what felt like a still fairly recent betrayal. A need to keep whatever advantages she had and that included a division between work and personal, and to keep things out of possible enemies territory and on neutral ground.

Instead, she had picked out a route that Nishka was most likely to take in the early evening towards one of her favorite locales and found a sandwich shop/deli where the seating area would put them in easy visual range of one another and waited until she saw the other round the corner.

Truthfully, she had only been in California for a week, after spending nearly two weeks on the road. But she could only pace in her motel so often, she was antsy and needed to get shit going before her money started to burn away in earnest. So she had cut a few inches off of her hair, put some blonde streaks in it from a box and tried not to dress like a former thug yankee and made herself busy.

Finally, she saw her round the corner and as she approached a boot extended to kick out the metal chair in front of her noisily, "Nishka, fancy seeing you here! Have a seat, I'll buy ya' a cup." Curbing her accent wasn't something she was good at, and she didn't even try.

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nishka
2017-02-08 02:38 pm UTC (link)

Nish had only been in LA for two weeks, and had only just recently passed the California Bar Exam to get her licence to practice in the state. Two days ago she was added onto the roster of public defenders down at the courthouse, which was excellent because she was starting to run low on cash. So far, her decision to pick up her life and move had been a rocky one, at best.

Still living in a hotel close to the courthouse, still walking as much as possible to save on gas, she took her usual route home after a fairly full day of walking new arrests through the arraignment process. Her head was elsewhere as she walked, thinking through her day and simultaneously wondering where she'd order dinner from today, when a patio chair slid in her path with a loud scraping noise, startling her out of her reverie.

Her eyes snapped to the girl seated there, wide with alarm, confusion settling on her at the slightly creepy use of her name by a complete stranger in a city where she literally knew no one but the courthouse staff. She didn't strike her as courthouse staff.

She didn't take the offered seat, but approached her with measured caution. "Do I know you?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

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defyuntildeath
2017-02-08 04:30 pm UTC (link)

Were they friends, or even colleagues Nishka would have been chastised for getting so lost in her own head making herself oblivious in public. Along with taking the same route too often, though she was older and lived a life where such concerns were obviously unnecessary.

However they weren't even acquaintances yet, so instead she took a drink of her coffee while watching her as she prepared for the possibility of her bolting. Unlikely, but people acting strangely when they were accosted in the street by a stranger, even if it was just verbally.

She held her hands out with a smile, trying to look disarming but admittedly probably failing. Soft features were never in the real of possibilities for her, and she had been told her default expressions were predatory and made people feel anxious even when she was just planning dinner.

"Sure ya' do, I'm your next client. I'm here to buy you coffee and give you a lot of money." She gestured to the open chair expectantly, a challenging spark in her eyes to contrast the other's wariness. It was a wonder what people would do when money was involved; what fears and rationality they would put aside.

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nishka
2017-02-08 05:17 pm UTC (link)

Her eyebrows rose a little higher and a slight smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. "You're awfully sure of yourself," she said, still not sitting, but looking closer at the woman. She didn't even attempt to lie to herself on this - the words 'a lot of money' got her attention right away. She'd do anything to get out of her crappy hotel room into something a little more permanent. And her long-term goal of setting up a practice seemed far too distant at the moment.

"I'm a public defender," she said carefully, finally taking the offered seat and crossing her arms, "the State tells me who my clients are. But I'm guessing you already knew that." She knew her name, she knew what she did, what else did she know? She surreptitiously glanced around herself, as if she might spot cameras poking out from nearby bushes.

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defyuntildeath
2017-02-08 05:49 pm UTC (link)

In all reality she really wasn't that sure of herself in this instance. In her corner she had her most likely reliable information from a friend of a friend of slightly skeevy ally, brief observations and gut instinct. In this instance and this fucked up situation she found herself in all that would have to do, along with her ability to talk a big game all day, "All day long."

Pleased with the progress no matter how small she leaned forward and waved to the waitress and lifted her mug to ask for more before redirecting her attention back to her 'guest', "I know the state will only do so much to put food in your belly. Besides, you look like a woman that can handle a challenge." The waitress joined them and poured coffee in both their mugs, returning the smile offered to her as she did so before heading off again.

"I'm not asking you to defend me in a murder trial," Casual and almost reassuring like, "I have some bridges I burnt that I need the ashes buried fast and a new life I want started in a hurry, I have the money and money talks." The coffee was slid to the side so she could lean forward more and tap the table with a short nail, "But I heard you can make it sing, while doing the paperwork I don't have the know how for." Or patience. At least no one can say she pussy footed around the issue or was too vague.

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nishka
2017-02-08 06:10 pm UTC (link)

She didn't bother arguing when the girl mentioned her meagre pay. She was right, she was just getting by, barely covering food and hotel rental. She wouldn't admit it, but she obviously didn't have to.

She smirked at the talk of a murder trial, but chewed on her lip when she continued. She sounded almost like an echo of her own life. Burning bridges, moving on to a new life. It had been difficult for her, and now someone else wanted her help for almost the same thing. "Where did you hear that," she asked quietly. She had a reputation, but that was back home in Chicago. Nobody here knew her, at least that she was aware of.

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defyuntildeath
2017-02-08 06:24 pm UTC (link)

Another drink of her coffee as she watched her mull it over, for a lawyer she wasn't the best at hiding her feelings or thoughts but neither was she when her emotions got heated. It was a hard habit to be trained out of.

"I have friends in low places, and those low places happen to overlap with yours." What was Nishka wanting, a papertrail? That wasn't going to happen, she was lucky to have the connections she still had after what her Ex did to her, like hell was she giving up the network she had been able to retain.

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	nishka 2017-02-08 06:47 pm UTC (link)
	She chuckled silently. That could mean pretty much anyone she comes into contact with as a public defender. She reached forward and sipped her coffee; it was black and bitter and it helped to focus her a little. "So what is it you need?" she asked. This didn't at all sound like her area of practice, but...she needed the money. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

defyuntildeath
2017-02-08 07:06 pm UTC (link)

Something she said got to Nishka, and she wasn't entirely sure it was just the dangling wad of cash that she hadn't brought out yet. But she wasn't clever enough by far to figure out what it was yet, that wasn't her job. Before. Now.

A deep breath before she plunged into the deep end of the pool face first, "I need a new name without having to justify why and hopefully not a too obvious trail showing it" There were some states where you had to place something in the paper saying someone was changing their name, and that shit wasn't going to fly, "I also need a few business licenses expedited, it's not Public Defense, but it's still law, and it's still talking." You're still getting paid wasn't said out loud but it was laid out on the table as plain and blunt as their words were.

"I'd owe you a favor." It was said with the sort of quiet gravity that was meant to convey that her favors were given out less than her money, though she she wasn't sure still if Nishka was the type to properly appreciate--or take advantage of such a card up her sleeve. But that was how important this was.

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nishka
2017-02-08 07:20 pm UTC (link)

Nish listened to her, hesitating to answer right away. That...wouldn't be easy. She had, once upon a time, looked into changing her name when she was running from Stephen, and it's a lengthy process, and not one that can be easily manipulated. But there was a way.

I'd owe you a favor...

She looked up, her eyes met the woman's sitting across from her. That was tempting. The money would be excellent, but having a favour...though that would depend on just what she could collect from that.

"There is a way," she said quietly, careful now so they wouldn't be overheard. "It won't be easy, and it won't be cheap." But it could be done.

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defyuntildeath
2017-02-09 02:38 am UTC (link)

"I'm listening." Her fingers drummed on the metal table as she waited, impatience getting to her. It had been too long since she felt control over her life, and now when she thought about it she was probably lacking that even before she realized it which made it even worse.

So now that she was finally starting on the road to taking it back? She would have to be given a little leeway for feeling tense and antsy. The fact that she was giving out a favor so easily was a mark of how much she needed this.

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nishka
2017-02-09 02:54 am UTC (link)

She took a deep breath, chewing on her lip for a moment before speaking. "There's a way to go through the system to change your identity, but without it being made public record," she said quietly. "This process is meant to protect victims of domestic violence from being located, but I could get you in with a little...creativity." She didn't use her 'influence' if she could help it, but this...it was too good an opportunity to pass up. She needed the money. And from the looks of the woman's expression, she needed to disappear.

"The business licences shouldn't be a problem. It's not my area of expertise, but I have a working knowledge of the system." She'd just retaken the exam to get her licence for her new State, so it was even still fresh in her mind.

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defyuntildeath
2017-02-09 03:48 am UTC (link)

There was a sigh of relief and visible relaxing of her shoulders that she couldn't stop. Between her ex and the people he had put behind bars using information he had stolen through her she didn't want people to just be able to google her name and find out who she was and where she was now.

That's why she was keeping her tattoo hidden and planning on staying out of any well, affiliations again. The people who she didn't already know didn't need t know her.

"Thank you." A pen was dug out of her pickets and she grabbed a napkin from under her mug and wrote her new name she wanted on ot-- Jayati Guerra along with the little motel she was currently staying at and her phone number, "Text me when you know how long and how much, I can get it delivered to you the same day. Cash."

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nishka
2017-02-09 04:33 am UTC (link)

She took the napkin and looked at it, reading what was written before folding it up and stashing it neatly in her shoulderbag. She had a full caseload tomorrow at the courthouse, but there were breaks between appearances, and she could use their resources to get this done. "I'll be in touch tomorrow," she said, drinking the last of her coffee and standing.

She had been thinking about going out for dinner, but quickly changed her plans to ordering in. She'd spend the evening typing up the required forms on her laptop and print them at the courthouse in the morning. Getting the right forms though the system would still take time, but she would make sure they were accepted without question. Her future in this city depended on the money this woman could provide.

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