[PRP] Clowndestine Meeting (Sinter + Engrav + Tamiya)

[seekingCylem]

A night of fun and games.

 

[seekingCylem]

Sinter honestly liked the Civisect Amusement and Religious Cultivation Pier. He'd long since found his footing among the Cult of Mirthful Messiahs. He knew how to keep his head down and politely extricate himself from evangelical types. Tamiya's presence helped significantly. That left Sinter to enjoy the lights and colors, rigged games and fried foods. The latter of which he was more fond of than he'd care to admit. He'd already lost more than a couple beetles on a few games of ring-toss.

He would have been content to eat a cinnamon-crusted dough platter by the ocean. Sinter had official business to attend to, however. He'd made plans to meet Engrav once again, this time with Tamiya in attendance. The pier provided more than enough distraction from a small gathering of trolls. The throngs of people in attendance were far more interested in the food and games and rides than whatever a couple of lowbloods would be chatting about. Tamiya herself looked like an attraction.

Sinter assumed Engrav was already on the premises, likely having cased the location beforehand. He trusted the yellowblood would turn up when the circumstances suited him. In the meantime Sinter and Tamiya loitered about the edge of the boardwalk, admiring the performance of a nearby contact juggler.

Sypon

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

Engrav closed his eye and rubbed it, trying to get the after-image of the dancing, flashing lights of the carousel to clear themselves. He could feel an ache worming its way into his thinkpan, not aided by the pervasive miasma of sugar and grease and sweat. On one hand, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to pick him out of the crowd here. On the other, he wasn't convinced anonymity was worth the headache.

The yellowblood took a nibble off his crenelated cinnamon dough tube and glanced around. There they were, loitering nearby the crusty juggler like a couple career criminals. Well, not exactly. More... actually they looked like they were enjoying themselves. He crouched deeper into the shadows of the carnival tent he'd concealed himself behind to escape the crowds of fanatics and listened.

It was a good opportunity to collect intel. Maybe Sinter would be so kind as to brief the tall purpleblood with the... makeup... Engrav could get the intelligence officer's unfiltered opinion of their first meeting. That information could prove invaluable to an operative, especially if he could glean some kind of insight into how the redblood interacted with his superior officer. He settled for a moment to listen.

It wasn't because the purpleblood with the facepaint was intimidating.

Not at all.

Sypon

seekingCylem

 

[Sypon]

Tamiya was becoming impatient, if only for the want to take part in her favorite festivities. She scratched at the joint where her metal finger met flesh and hummed. “Look at the goddamn mirth of it all, Sinter. Can you not believe this gauzy cotton candy bullshit? Look at those ******** twinkly lights over there. Must be new and fresh as a grub’s rubbery a**. ********.” She put her hands on her hips and shook her head in awe.

“I should hope our generous jester is on his way, hmm? Or else I am about to up and murder someone for a fried oily batter-tangle delicacy with custard on top.” She muttered.

Buzzwulf

I AM SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG!!!

 

[seekingCylem]

"Oh I'm certain he's already here," Sinter replied easily. He followed Tamiya's indication to the decorative lights. However, part of him maintained the barest amount of attention on the shadows at the outskirts of the crowd. Engrav would only be inconveniencing himself if he chose to dawdle. Sinter was having a pleasant evening and this was hardly a locale where he needed to waste energy keeping a leash on Tamiya.

Still... It would be impolite of Sinter as host not to cut Engrav some slack. This was hardly home turf for the notoriously paranoid yellowblood.

"He has my approval after all. At least based on our cursory meeting. It certainly speaks to a troll's salesmanship to spontaneously drop by an officer's hive requesting military contract work. To say nothing of doing so and succeeding." An inscrutable look pasted Sinter's face. He had truly wandered into a hare-brained scenario--to say nothing of the location where they found themselves. This had better pan out for his dignity if not his personal or professional well-being. "I can only imagine what that brand of charisma can do to an enemy." Sinter huffed through his teeth.

"I'm sure no one would mind if you got yourself a batter tangle." Sinter added, realizing Tamiya's threat of violence as an afterthought.

Buzzwulf

Sypon

 

[Buzzwulf]

Engrav bit at a metal thumb as the two older trolls talked, thinkpan whirling as he struggled to place the highblood. They were an odd pair. Courtesy and barely-restrained violence oozed from every pore of the two, clear as the moon on thier faces. The inventor had figured this was about what he was due for, moving into a military chain of command, but he was still nervous, jittery. Full of energy. Careful, Yellowblood. Move careful. He was going to do this. Really do it. And this was probably his last chance to back out, disappear, run to the other side of Alternia somewhere and live in a hole. Maybe find a way into space.

He waited until they were nearly passing by him, and then took a step forward and gave a low whistle to draw their attention, two quick descending notes that pulled the strings of his future closed in an inescapable knot. The inventor stepped out into the thoroughfare, joining the pair as they ventured down the dock. His nerves jangled roughly, jarring him with every step. Engrav tried to hold it in, press that electricity back into the center of himself and drown it. He refused to show weakness. Not here.

"Sorry for the cloak and dagger routine," the inventor murmured with a winning smile as he walked alongside the pair down the boardwalk. The jovial exterior didn't extend any further than his eye. It coldly surveyed the area as they walked, watching sight lines, eyeing heavy-looking pockets, counting paces of nearby walkers and checking if anyone was matching stride. "I find it never hurts to be too careful. Lieutenant..." Engrav wracked his thinkpan, running back through his previous encounter with the redblood. "Augima, correct? I assume Sinter has already briefed you on the operation?"

seekingCylem

Sypon

 

[Sypon]

Tamiya honked aloud with surprise at the whistle - of all trolls to be snuck up upon or invited into an act of subtlety, she was not the best. Overcorrecting, she coughed and spat, clearing her throat in an attempt to mask her excitement. The good news about being a juggalo: odd behavior was expected, ignored. Tamiya was acting as naturally as was expected of her.

“Your secrecy is noted as stylish but goddamn troublesome,” Tamiya noted, tone low and husky. “Aiguma is correct. Sinter has mentioned your intentions. Intentional rhyme. I am interested to hear the sort of sneaky freaky pedigree you claim to have, and how you might infiltrate the misty ranks of those swamp-assed ******** class="quote">

Buzzwulf

[Buzzwulf]

Engrav Setlar

Engrav blinked. Pedigree? What a very... highblooded concept. He was suspicious by nature alone, careful by the very din of the stakes he'd decided to play for. Blood and bearing were useful for social connections, but ultimately it was really only a lowblood that could get something like this done. Engrav grinned.

"I find most lowbloods know how to wriggle when expected. I'm no different, really. I just have a goal in mind, and I've always been a bit of a self-starter." Engrav glanced aside at the towering juggalo, still trying to get a fix on her mannerisms. the cult was so hard to predict, all of the members following thier own whims without seemingly a code or credo. Somehow Tamiya, intimidating as she might be, seemed... more calculated. Colder. "They took an arm from me. And an eye. And a friend. I just want to take something from them as well."

His lone eye wandered to a booth - the batter-tangles she'd spoken of earlier. Wordlessly, Engrav purchased one for each of them, crunching into the sticky sweet as they continued to walk and talk. "I've had a lot of time to think about this. How it would actually play out. I've already set some wheels in motion, put together a couple meets. Anything I could give you right now would be strictly small fry though. If we want to wrap up the whole thing nice and with a bow, it'll take time and resources. And absolute secrecy. NO ONE can know." He looked back at Sinter, the one organizing the enterprise. "I know you covered this already, but I need to stress the importance of this: I refuse to believe that there aren't rebel agents peppered throughout the royal ranks. If we keep information to just the three of us until we're ready to act, we'll all be much safer." He coughed politely, sugar from the snack cloying in his mouth. Somehow it wasn't so appetizing any longer. "And maybe, just maybe, I'll manage to survive the mission. That would be nice as well."

seekingCylem

Sypon

 

[seekingCylem]

Sinter's eyes flicked to Engrav's whistle. It was almost obscured by the atmospheric din of the boardwalk. Still, Sinter's posture straightened at the sudden appearance. Compared to Tamiya he looked unfazed. A small blessing, Sinter noted.

However Tamiya's lack of subtlety continued on in a predictable manner. Sinter all but winced as she straight up asked Engrav how he'd go about spying on the Phoenix Initiative. Sinter sighed behind Tamiya's shoulder as Engrav answered.

Sinter was confident in Engrav's abilities so far as he'd witnessed them. He was thorough. Dedicated. Reasonably paranoid. Sinter nodded in thanks as he took his share of the fried food. He was relieved to see the yellowblood had the type of sense required to communicate with Tamiya. Just the facts.

"For what it's worth, we would also like to see you come out of this endeavor alive." Trying to eat a cinnamon batter tangle without covering oneself in sugar was a lost cause. Sinter accepted his fate and pretended not to notice. "Obviously you have a personal interest. Politeness aside, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to expand on that. Especially considering you intend to cozy up with those that in your words 'took your arm and eye.'" Sinter gave Engrav's prosthetic a more careful once-over. Hopefully whatever altercation caused that wouldn't put Engrav at a disadvantage.

Sypon

Buzzwulf

 

[Buzzwulf]

Engrav Setlar

"Of course," Engrav replied softly, eye flickering over the boardwalk ahead. "I have a... contact. Someone that I trust that can get me into the fold. I've not told them my true intentions, of course - I'd prefer to keep my stories as isolated as possible - but as a lowblood survivor of highblood mischief, I'm far from an unlikely candidate for recruitment. I plan to infiltrate at least the foot ranks as best I can, make myself as useful as possible." The yellowblood brushed sugar from his vest, sniffnode wrinkling in distaste from the sticky residue it left. He hated messes. The military trolls hardly needed to know that he'd already begun the process, or that he would have undergone the process whether or not they were on board.

"Once I'm in, very little is off the table. I'll do anything they ask, try to come up with what seems safe to move them forward. Generally make myself useful. That's where funding and a bit of oversight comes in. I plan to offer the services of my laboratory, but I need to make sure that the military stays off my back long enough to make any assistance I can offer the..." He coughed, searched for a delicate term. Nothing seemed forthcoming. "Swamp party feasible. I need them to trust me. Basically, I need some beetles and someone running interference while I solidify relationships with my new friends. That would be the two of you."

Engrav's eye flickered to Sinter, searching the redblood as he was sure the military troll searched him in turn. Tamiya was... unpredictable. Not quite what he'd expected. That kind of unpredictability could serve a troll like Sinter well, the redblood's friend with connections of her own and a wild side that kept other trolls off balance. Sinter the open hand and Tamiya the fist, to put it in simpler terms. Hard to truly tell which of them was more dangerous, but Engrav suspected they were a deadly pair when allowed to consult each other.

"I try my best to separate myself from personal grudges," the yellowblood said to his handler with a stony face. "I certainly wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the mission. That's what matters here; turning the entire thing upside-down and shaking it. But if someone that I had a grudge with happened to fall out... I would be pleased, certainly." The inventor scowled, thinking about Caiden. The brownblood would be... he'd keep him safe. He had to. The idiot didn't know what he'd gotten himself into, and Engrav would get him out of it. "What else do you need to know?" Engrav asked, voice low and quiet, eye whipping to the purpleblood he knew ultimately would call the shots.

seekingCylem

Oh lord more yellow walls

Sypon

They just get bigger it's a problem