The Streets of LA, Saturday Night

[gunslingerpose]

So, Thanksgiving with Nikolai's family had gone fairly well. His mother had scolded him for vanishing for so long without saying anything, as was absolutely her right to do. Then he'd spent a little while dodging questions about whatever that mysterious sickness was that had left him with eyes so sensitive that he had to wear shades all the time. From there, there had been a lot of catching up to do, a lot of family to catch up with, his sister and his brother telling him all about the cousins and nieces and nephew and informing him that in no uncertain terms, he was going to have to hang out with the kids while he was here if he was planning on going back to that middle-of-nowhere town in Maryland again this week. Thursday had been busy, and while Friday hadn't exactly been slow either, full of quality time with his brother's kids, today was really Nikolai's first chance to have some time to himself since portalling clear across the country for the holiday.

Today had started with a visit to his much-neglected apartment, leading to the revelation that he was going to have to have someone come in just to clean up almost two years of dust. The place was nasty. But after giving his sheets a wash, at least his bed could be slept in, which meant he'd have somewhere to crash tonight. He had a shower, just for the sake of showering in his own damn apartment for the first time in a while, and then he'd called a few of his clients to tell them that he was in town, and to schedule a few meetings with them in person to discuss what directions they wanted to take their careers in the future. Supper had been a pit-stop at a hole in the wall diner that had been a guilty pleasure of his for years, and another hour was spent catching up with the waitress there who had practically mentored him in the ways of the ladies back when he was still an awkward little high school brat contemplating where the hell he wanted to go in life.

And then, all that aside, came the really important part. He'd been gone for a couple of years, but so far as Gorgon was concerned, he'd never been here before at all. And his sister had been complaining about gang activity near where she lived, courtesy of the South Seventeens. Drug activity entirely too close to home, getting bad enough that they were afraid to let the kids walk to school these days. Shit, when the hell had the neighborhood gone so far downhill? He couldn't remember it ever being great, but flipping through a newspaper at supper time had struck a nerve that was jangling even as he set out to spend an evening on the town.

A few thwarted muggings later, and a figure in a long black leather duster was moving across the rooftops at a superhuman pace, quietly wishing he'd brought his motorbike across the country with him, but thrilling in the ability to get out there and do something in the city he called home all the same. Nikolai could worry about everything from his family to his career to whether or not he even wanted to bother booking a portal home tomorrow.

Tonight, Gorgon was making his Los Angeles debut.

[NFB for distance, but open for phone calls or anyone who has any reason to be in Nikolai's LA. He'll be going the merry way of the expat from here, probably with the occasional pit-stop to the island for old time's sake.]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

"It doesn't matter," Banzai said, voice tight. "He's just talking crap because that's all he's got left. We got his money, his drugs, and his guns, so all he can do is run his mouth and hope for the best. I say strip him and be done with it."

//That eager to see me naked? I don't normally go for--// The slur he used was in English this time. Banzai sucked in a shocked breath, hand clenching by her side.

"That word was coined for people of Vietnamese descent," she said. "You are in Koreatown. If you're going to try to insult me, try not to be an ignorant fuckwit first."

Right now, Banzai was kinda missing Baltimore.

[gunslingerpose]

The sudden switch to English was almost jarring, and Gorgon's head turned toward Rodney, eyebrows furrowed.

"And that's enough of that," he growled. "You've got two options, buddy. You can shut your mouth or open your eyes, and I promise you one of those is going to be infinitely more unpleasant than the other."

"And what if I choose to do neither?"

"Then I do this."

So, yeah. Don't mouth off Gorgon when he's riding what he figured had to be tier four, by now. It would only result in a ringing clang sound and what was probably a concussion.

Gorgon dusted his hand off on his pant leg after removing it from Rodney's forhead, and then pocketed the rest of that asshole's wallet. Fuck it.

[spin_kick_snap]

"My hero." Unlike times past, Banzai did not sound like she was fawning over him when she said it. Her voice was far too sardonic for that, even if she was grateful. "Who is this jerk again? And can we tape the drugs right to him? I don't want him back here."

Koreatown was closed to Rodney Casares! Even more than to the rest of the Seventeens! Banzai had spoken!

[gunslingerpose]

"We can empty the bullets into the car and then cover these two fuckwits in guns and drugs," Gorgon replied with a shrug of his shoulders as he reached for the kid's wallet, next. Rifled through for a moment, and then just kind of smirked.

"Rodney and Fernando. What a pair of classy assholes you two are."

That license was pocketed too, along with whatever cash was in Fernando's wallet, and then he threw the rest back into the Seventeen's lap.

"You want to finish up here while I get back to their buddies, Banzai, or did you want to tag along? Could be good to get to know your friendly neighborhood SS, after all."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You make accompanying you sound so thrilling," Banzai said, striving to sound casual and flippant when all she really wanted to do was kick Rodney a few more times in very sensitive places. "But sure I'll tag along. It'd be rude to hang around these guys and gloat when the cops bust their asses. Where'd you leave their friends?"

[gunslingerpose]

"By this diner I like," Gorgon sighed. "Gonna have to stop inside to make sure none of the bullets strayed too far from their mark."

If anything had hurt his waitress friend, he was making his way back here to castrate this Rodney asshole. He lit a flare and left it on the sidewalk, right at the Seven's feet.

"Keep up, hm?"

And then he was off running again.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Really?" Banzai called out after him. "Are you serious?"

And then she was dashing after him at top speed, a trail of infectious laughter following them both.

[gunslingerpose]

"I'm serious until you stop eating my dust," Gorgon called back to her as he ran, his own speed pretty damn impressive, given the double hit he'd taken back there and how it made up for the energy he'd lost chasing that car in the first place. "Think you can catch up, back there?"

[spin_kick_snap]

In a straight race, right now? The answer was almost certainly not. Banzai might be able to run a mile in under a minute, but her speed remained fairly constant. Gorgon's was more of a bell; she could outrun him when he was still rising up tiers or falling from them, but when he was at his peak, there was no keeping up.

Which meant that she had to race smarter, was all.

"What's the name of the diner?" she called out to him. "Where is it?"

[gunslingerpose]

"Pickle Hut," Gorgon called back, because he had absolutely zero shame, and sometimes you just needed to eat a lot of pickles in everything. "Ever heard of it?"

Best kept secret in his neighborhood.

[spin_kick_snap]

"...I have no idea what you're talking about?" Banzai said, trying not to laugh. "Address?"

She had no idea the diner he was talking about, but she knew the surrounding neighborhoods very well. And once he told her what street his pickle shack (or whatever) could be found on, she immediately stopped chasing him and beelined for the closest building. Sure, climbing took some time but the fastest way between two points was always a straight line. Gorgon might be tearing up the streets, but he was still following the layout of the city. And a straight line that was not!

[gunslingerpose]

That was Pickle Hut, thank you very much, and who was to say he was planning on staying on the streets? He wanted to get to those criminals before they could wander off, after all, and once he noticed her taking to the rooftops, he was up there after her, winking as he caught up, and then deliberately slowing down in order to keep pace.

"Trying to lose me, Banzai?"

Because that was easier said than done.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah, a little bit," Banzai admitted, before teasing. "Being fast is kinda my thing, and you're stepping all over my toes."

[gunslingerpose]

"Give it twenty minutes and race me again," Gorgon chuckled. "I might be able to beat you now, but this high only lasts so long as there are fresh assholes to drain."

[spin_kick_snap]

"...There's a mental image that will never leave," Banzai said, choking down a laugh. "Thank god I know you don't mean that whole sentence literally."

There was a gap between buildings coming up. She leaped, somersaulting in the air and landing in a handspring. "I guess it's not so bad, though. Even when you can beat me for speed, there are still some tricks you can't match. So I'm not terribly obsolete!"