2008-07-22 14:55:26 Hyde rolls 6 dice to Manip+Perf(Mask) (Diff 7) 10,2,9,6,5, 4 (2 successes)

A rather large man with a white cane and large, dark sunglasses wearing dirty clothing sits at one of the park-benches. It would seem that he is blind. With his head turned upward, he looks to be listening intently, scanning with his ears, as if he were waiting for something.

Mikey, who seems to be the most clever of the homeless kids in the park, and has a bit of a hero worship problem with Reina since he saw her beat up a guy twice her size who was trying to rape one of the homeless girls, runs up to Reina with the news.
"Miss Reina, miss Reina, there's a really huge  guy with a white cane sitting on the bench near your tree, I ain't never seen him before, thought I'd let you know," he grins.

Reina turns, interrupted in her nightly patrol "How in the world do you always manage to find me, Mikey? Alright, I'll go check it out." She ruffles Mikey's hair and turns around in time to miss the adoring stare he directs at her.

She saunters off towards the bench, notes the man's huge size, but is curious. She will sit herself down next to him. "Nice night for it, don't you think?"

He does not turn to look in her direction, but continues staring off in the general direction of some young gang-bangers leaning against a building near an alleyway. His voice is calm and deep when he finally speaks. "Pardon me miss, but it would seem that you have me at a disadvantage. What precisely is the 'it' of which we are alluding to?"

"Oh, sitting on a park bench, I'm sure," she answers, a smile heard in her words.
She turns her eyes towards where he is looking, and watches the gangbangers as well. always watching for trouble in what she now firmly thinks of as her neighborhood.  

--Last edited by Reina on 2008-07-22 22:58:52 --

"Indeed. Well, I suppose that now we can both be sure." He grins a touch at the many words thus far exchanged which have amounted to nothing.

"You must be new around here." he states this as if he already knows it to be true before adding There is too much insouciance in your voice for you to be a denizen of this hopeless place."

The gang of thugs appear to be waiting for something as well. They are nearly motionless but for their constant scanning up and down the street.

"Me? Yeah, I've only been here a few weeks, I like the place, though..."She trails off as she watches the thugs.

She speaks quietly, as if to herself. "I certainly hope I'm not going to have to break some heads...what are those assholes up to over there?"

Her attention turns back to Mister Hyde. "Well, you see, I'm trying to bring a little hope to this area. Clean things up. Got some professor who's sent us some blankets and food, trying to make them a little bit more comfortable, even if it's not a real home."

'Like the place?' he thinks, who in the hell could possibly like this place? Well, that is to say, other than himself.

"Casing." he replies to her query as to what the boys are doing. Before he can elaborate, she gives her white-knight speech.

Hyde quickly snaps his head in Reina's direction at her last comment, as if to say something, his brow furrowed in anger.

2008-07-22 21:38:28 Hyde rolls 4 dice to Instinct (Diff 5) 3,4,8,8 (2 successes)

Though he quickly regains his composure "What on earth would make you want to do something like that?" Turning his head forward once more, he adds "People around here do not want hope."

The bangers are getting restless, one of them continually checking his watch.  

--Last edited by Mister Hyde on 2008-07-23 00:05:34 --

She shrugs. "Someone asked if I could keep an eye on the place. He did me a favor, so I'm doing him a favor too. I started to like some of the people who live here, so I'm trying to keep them from getting raped and killed, by criminals or hunger or cold. Not that the cold is a problem in this season. This place is my home now, anyway. So yeah, I like it here."

((2008-07-22 22:15:18 Reina rolls 6 dice to Perc+Alert 5,9,1,2,4, 8 (1 success) Yeesh, that was lousy))

She looks at Hyde, noting his moment of rage. "Look, I'm sorry if I said anything that pissed you off, it wasn't intentional. I'm just worried about what those thug-looking motherfuckers over there are...casing? And I don't have any manners anymore."

She sighs. "And if they don't want hope, I'll see what else they want, I guess. I told the damn professor not to send his charity, but it did make them happy for a little bit."

She takes another look at the assembly of thugs. "Sure looks like those assholes are waiting for something. Wonder what it is."  

--Last edited by Reina on 2008-07-23 00:20:41 --

Hyde chuckles briefly "Keep an eye on the place, heh, crazy bastard. "Listen... Reena? Is it?" He butchers her name, not being very familiar with it. "I wish I had time to sit and play this game all night, but unfortunately, I do not. You've been duped." No, she hasn't told him her name, he wasn't sure it was her at first, but he is now.

"What I haven't figured out, is why he would send you to The Rack under the impression that it was now yours, unless it was to test you. Or just wanted you dead."

He follows her gaze back over to the thugs and smiles "Truth be told," he says "they're watin' on me. I sent word up through the grapevine that a wannabe, enterprising young man would be in the area to collect a stashed case of ipods tonight."  

--Last edited by Mister Hyde on 2008-07-23 00:58:35 --

She looks slightly panicked, then swallows her fear. "Yeah Reina, Reena, however you wanna say it. You've obviously got me at at disadvantage here, since I don't know who you are. How do you know my name?"
She frowns. "What do you mean I've been duped? What is the rack? He just told me to keep and eye on or guard the park. If he wanted me dead, he'd have had Zaine kill me right there and then, or killed me himself. I think. This would really be taking the long way. Nobody's really bothered me here."

She suddenly pays attention to the last thing Hyde said. "I'm sorry, what? Are you actually fencing stolen Ipods, mister...?"

"...Hyde. Folks call me Mister Hyde." he says casually, finishing her query. "And no, I ain't got no ipods, all I got is hunger. The chap that those punks are expecting to meet up with an' work over doesn't actually exist. They're waitin' fer me, they just don't know it. Meanwhile I'm waitin' fer all but one of 'em ta bugger off. The weaker ones'll leave eventually, and the one that really wants it'll stay behind, figgerin' that it's all the more fer 'im.'

The illusion of the blind man scans across the remaining three thugs, "An' when his boys never see 'im again, they'll jus' figger' that he managed ta get 'is 'ands on'at crate an' skipped town. Happens all the time."

"But ta answer yer other questions, me an' mine know a lot of things. Ya might even say that we traffic in information." He turns to her once more, lowering his chin to look over the rim of the geriatric sun-shield-glasses, trying to gauge whether or not she understands his meaning.  

Turning to watch the gangsters again, he continues to drone on, his accent coming and going with his concentration on his false persona, "Duped, tricked, hornswoggled, hoodwinked. As fer killin' you outright, where'd the fun be in that?  Maybe you ain't heard, we are under the rule of a madman. You were sent to the crummiest part of this whole godforsaken town, to the communal trough, with some vague notion that part of it now belonged to you. That equates to a territorial dispute in which someone is bound to get their feelings hurt." He grins at his downplaying of the situation.

"Take me fer example, I been coming here to eat for... oh, ages now. Me an' mine don't usually have much of a place to call our own. Leastways not up here. This is as good as it gets. Everything else is owned by someone, and it's very bad manners ta just show up at somebody's place an' start riflin' through their fridge, especially unannounced. But The Rack, as we call it, allows fer all of us lowlifes to have a place to go when we need a bite. Sure as hell ain't good food, most of it is polluted or rotting, but it's better'n no food. It's a lot like dumpster-diving."

"An now, somebody has told you that this little slice of it is yers? An' yer takin' it upon yerself ta fix the place up. make it all nice and happy." he pauses watching one of the three thugs give up and walk off.

"This puts you and I at a conflict of interests."

"See, I come here because it don't belong to nobody, an' nobody much notices when some of the food goes missing. Seems ta' me that you are working at changing that. A lot of folks might consider that something ta get upset about. So I thought I would come an' see fer meself what you know an' what you don't before I did anything... drastic."

"Oh fucking great. How fucking perfect. Fucking kooks. Well, Mister Hyde, I must say I don't mind sharing, 'specially not with someone as nice as to let me know what bucket of shit I've been dropped in. Fucking Christ. Playing games worse than the goddamn..." She cuts herself off before finishing that sentence, takes a deep breath, then resumes talking.

"You see, Mr. Hyde, pleasure to meet you by the way, most of what I've been doing around here is some, well, you might say gardening. Pulling up the weeds that have been choking up the good plants, know what I mean? The place feels a little safer, fewer dead bodies lying around, the population thrives, and badabing, badaboom, more food for me. Well, and for you, now, I suppose. Fucking hell! So yeah, I'm not really the hero of the hour, just doing a little pruning here and there."

She thinks for a moment, scratching her chin. "So here's how I see it. I'll keep the population growing, you and yours who live below come eat here, or let me know who else is. Everyone's happy. Right?" She smiles, thinking this is a smart way to not get killed and make friends.

"So look. I didn't know I was stepping in your shit. I'm sorry I stepped in your shit cuz the Prince told me to. But I think we can all stay out of each others' shit, no? All I'm asking is that I feed here in peace, and that people don't fuck with my shit or my trees. I'd rather people not fuck with the little kids around here, but if what you're saying is completely correct, I can't do shit about that without getting my ass ashed. I'm in a fucked up situation here, and I'm more than willing to compromise if it saves my.." she flinches, then continues, "hide."

 Hyde cocks an eyebrow as she cuts herself short, surely she was going to say Toreador... or something.

"Sharing?" he says the word almost as if it is foreign to him "Don't misunderstand me here, I wasn't coming by to be nice, and I sure as hell wasn't asking. But if it makes you feel any better, I don't normally hunt in or around the Park anyhow."

He smiles at her gardening metaphor, "So happens I do know what you mean. Trouble is, that you're weeding the compost heap. You end up makin' this place too nice, makin' it into a garden, an' people are bound ta start lookin' at it, and then they start takin' pictures. We can't have that. This town has more'n enough electronic eyes as it is. An' besides, without the compost heap, the rest of the garder 'roun'ere would shrivel up and die."

He half frowns as both of the gang-members walk off in opposite directions, then turns back to her again.

He listens carefully as she suddenly seems to get a bit more passionate about her stance, and grins long and wide at the 'hide' fumble "To be blunt, I got no problem wif you bein'ere. You can 'ave yer park, yer trees an' yer... 'shit'. None of this belongs ta me, I jus' wanted ta let you know that I got no intention ta stop eatin' round'ere, and if somethin' comes up that puts the kibosh on my habits, I'll be doin' everything in my power to till the garden an' start over. A man's gotta eat."

He turns back to the street, seeing movement in the corner of his eye. It would seem that one of the hoodlums only pretended to leave.

"It's really nothing personal miss, I jus' got no other choice, same as you."

Reina smiles, then. "Whether you wanted to be nice or not, you've done me a favor by letting me know how it was out here, so you let me know if there's anything I can do for you, Mister Hyde. I got no problem with you eating out here, and I got no problem with your...family eating here either. You've done me right by talking to me, and I'll do you right."

She ponders the other things he's said for a moment. "Compost heap, huh? Yeah, I can see that. I'll cool it on the weeding, then, just take out the ones who pick fights."

"Maybe yer not as bad as all that." He says almost to himself, but far more jovially than he had been up until now "Fuckin' rumor mill, here I was half-expectin' you ta get all hostile." He looks to the lone thug across the street once more and back to Reina,

"Sounds like a decent compromise ta me Miss Reina," he thrusts an open hand toward her to seal the deal "I think you'll do jus' fine aroun'ere."

"I'm glad we had this chat, but, I've got an appointment ta keep. Wouldn't want to keep him waiting. I'm sure I'll see you around."

If she has nothing further, he will stand and use his white cane as a probe, milking the blind-man routine as he makes his way towards a shadowy corridor of trees.

2008-07-25 10:29:46 Hyde rolls 6 dice to Manip+Perform(Mask) (Diff 7) 2,8,2,8,1, 7 (3 successes)

As he slips into the darkness, his outline will shift, becoming noticeably smaller. As he emerges from the shadows on the other side, he is wearing the form of a nearly comical poseur, what many refer to as a 'wigger'. High-dollar, pop-culture-gangster clothes, sagging very low, topped off with one of those fuzzy Gilligan-hats and a pimp cane as he struts toward the building the thug has been casing.

While Hyde's perceptions of the situation may or may not be entirely accurate, he is sure that they are, but that is the inherent problem with Potemkin Villages. It's not that they can suddenly fall over every time the wind blows, destroying the illusion, it's that they rely entirely on people's perceptions of them. The angle from which they are viewed can make all the difference.

{Continued in: 'Building a Better Mousetrap' - 'Hunting'}

Reina chuckles. "Well, I can get aggro, but I'm still finding my footing around here, doesn't do to just come out swinging all the time."
She shakes Hyde's hand. "Deal."
She grins, and as Hyde departs, whispers "Enjoy your dinner!"