Agent K | Log 001

[most_feared]

Who: Agent K | Misc
What: A Day in the Life (and the investigation)
When: Between now and a little prior to the next news post.
Where: Around
Notes & Warnings: Just Kay's mouth. Doing this in action style just because it's easier right now.

(This isn't a real cut, it's a fake cut. Look at comments for starters.)

Comments

Paging Smiley and OTA - at the diner having pie

[most_feared]

[Kay is spending his average lunch time having pie at the local diner. He's getting attached to the pie here, thought the "apples" don't quite taste like "apples" and "cheddar" doesn't happen the same way when you wander off to strange animals to make it. Still, it's not bad, it's worth eating, and it gives him some quiet time to scroll through things on his communication device.]

[Though he is expecting company. A certain older gentleman who he quietly enjoys his lunch with, not appearing to have much conversation beyond what seems typical of older, quiet reserved gentlemen. In his career, he's gotten good at that sort of discussion.]

[He's not really enjoying the alien music at the diner today, though.]

[likeaswift]

[Lunch hour. Smiley hands off the keys to the bookshop to another assistant manager and strolls down to the diner and tries not to feel any pleasure at all in the upcoming meeting with Kay. The thing is, this kind of interaction is comfortable, and some part of him hates that.]

[He takes a seat at the counter to Kay's left and orders a shandy and the day's special, which is a meatloaf in reddish gravy with a mash of the local potato-like tuber. It is, Smiley has to admit, far better than anything similar he's had in England in a very long time. Then again, better food than English food in his era is not a very difficult challenge.]

[There's a pause as he casts a sidelong glance at the jukebox, which is emitting noises he doesn't much care for either. Only then does he finally murmur a greeting to the man sitting next to him.]

Good afternoon.

[most_feared]

Afternoon. [He says simply in response, raising his alien coffee to Smiley and giving him a quick smile.]

So how's it goin' at the bookstore? [Then as he waited for a response he opened up an extra sugar, deciding that the coffee was even a touch too bitter for even his blood.]

[likeaswift]

A man could scarcely wish for a more peaceful occupation. [Said very dryly. The fact is, Smiley is already starting to get a little bored, much as he'd wish otherwise. Perhaps it's this fact that actually prompts him to bring up the latest excitement.] The same cannot be said for others, I gather.

[most_feared]

I'm sure it's a whole weight off your mind. [Kay could read between the lines. He sounds like he's bored to tears, save for an odd customer or two. Even the novelty of whole other species can wear off with enough mundanity, he knew that.]

[He finishes stirring his coffee and takes a sip.] So what do you think about the talks going on now?

[likeaswift]

[Smiley's food arrives, and he stabs at it with his fork. He doesn't take a bite until after he answers Kay, and he seems to have very little relish for it, even if it is rather good.]

I have little taste for politics. [Which is entirely true.] But there are those for whom passions can run high, and one wonders to what that will lead.

[most_feared]

Oh yeah. Breeds all sorts of bad blood.

[He isn't going to smoke in the diner, but he pulls out his pack of cigarettes and packs them against his hand. He's just moving idly as he thinks, tutting quietly to himself.]

There's a little bit of talk startin' that it might have been one of us.

[likeaswift]

[Smiley looks bored, uninterested. His expression is impassive. But he's paying keen attention to everything Kay says.]

How much store do you set by this talk?

[most_feared]

Just enough to know that if it got too far around, it could give the lot of us a real hard time here. [As is the problem when everyone is a suspect.] The only ones of us that come from a place with strange explosives are the army man, the ghoul, this undead lady, and the tech that I know of. I'm still askin' around but it's still right strange. So far it looks like the most "normal" guys we have wandering around are you and the Eastern European guide.

Not real sure what his job was before he came here.

[likeaswift]

Nor I. I've seen the gentleman in question about, though we've never spoken.

[A small frown.]

I was under the impression that the goods we brought with us were heavily vetted by our hosts.

[How are weird explosives going to get in, then?]

[most_feared]

So was I. I took some readings. The technician was sniffing around there too so I let him try a sample orally- they have a good sense of taste. Basically confirmed what I found out. Right helpful of him. [He says in a way that suggests he doesn't always trust "helpful".]

[But as he is talking he is pulling up a text version of a public conversation on his communicator. Rather than sending it, he does the old-man thing of handing it over for Smiley to see on his screen.] Here, this is a pretty funny story. You oughta read it.

[likeaswift]

[Smiley takes the communicator from Kay and scrolls through the transcript as he picks idly at his food. There's not much in the way of a reaction, for the most part, but as the "technician's" story appears to slowly break down, a ghost of a smile twitches at the corner of his mouth.]

What a remarkably well-connected and opinionated person our technician appears to be in his native world. [A beat.] A highly developed sense of taste?

[most_feared]

Well, sometimes people are lucky enough to have chemosensors that can pick things apart. Personally- [He taps his plate with his fork] I like a little bit of mystery.

[likeaswift]

[Smiley grimaces in agreement.]

I cannot disagree with you on that. [A brief silence, then:] As yet I have heard little else about these matters. But people will talk, one way or another. [And he will be listening.]

[most_feared]

Let's hope people don't get the wrong idea about anything. [He takes a bite of his pie, letting Smiley take what he wants from that]

It's not often I get to be the alien with these things. Usually I'm on the other side.

[likeaswift]

Every damn thing about this place is new to me. [Said with some ruefulness and a touch of asperity.] You, it seems, are much better prepared than I.

[most_feared]

[Kay folds his hands in front himself.]

I've figured out that it's pretty easy to teach an old dog new tricks, but there's no guaranteeing he's gonna like 'em when he gets around to them.

[likeaswift]

[Smiley actually chuckles softly at that.]

True words.

[He'd eaten about as much as he could of his lunch—more than he often managed—and reached into the inner pocket of his jacket for his wallet.]

As for the current round of "tricks"—should I hear anything more, I shall be sure to let you know.