Cardinal Rules [M]

[Lion]

[Open by Request]

The smoke filled line clouded up to the street light. As impatient as he was, he was relaxed enough to have a smoke outside of the club before he ventured inside. The Cardinal Crown probably wasn't the usual place he would find himself. But this was where his contact wanted to meet, and he would oblige them for now. Besides, it allowed him to see a part of Haviah a little less traveled.

The scags that occupied this joint were a little more lay-low than what might appear in Synesthesia.  Luca could respect that. There were plenty of times when he just wanted to enjoy a good show without having to worry about running into anyone that knew him.  In the end, though, everyone would find out eventually.  There was no privacy in Aedolis.  You didn't come here if you wanted to hide.  At least not in complete isolation.

As the smoke ran low between his fingers, Luca propped it between his fingers and went in through the Crown's front doors.  The bouncer gave him a nod and welcomed him inside.  Luca was met with the roar of dark electro music coming from the ceiling. Fog cleverly misted over the ground as dancers glided in glitter and dim lighting. 

It wasn't a bad place, he thought.  Quite classy from the looks of it and the clientele clearly were well to do.  Sure it was no Synesthesia, but he could see why people came here.  Not as many Pilots, not as drones, and it was clean and the entertainment, well, lively.  Luca couldn't say he'd ever go out of his way to pay for a strip tease, but he wasn't going to complain.

He took a seat by the bar and ordered his usual poison, cigarette still burning to a gently stub in his fingers.  He took a long drag and soon crushed it in the pile of cigarettes in the depository. The tray sunk into the bar, dumped itself into the garbage and returned up from the trapdoor clean and free of butts.  Luca chuckled.  It didn't hurt to appreciate the little things like that.

“So where are you?” he muttered to himself, turning in his chair with the cherried brandy in his hand and taking a sip as he eyed the crowd and the dancers that moved to tease, entice and arouse.

He suppose he really ought to be waiting in the back, but he wanted to give himself a chance to scan the crowd to see if he could spot them before their meeting.

[Nix]

Ginger was actually just having fun for a change. Sure the cameras were still running but just for background and stock imagery and it wasn't like she would include any of the girls dancing in her blog without their consent. She had class.The cameras were just going because the cameras were always going. She wasn't live streaming or anything though. She couldn't live stream out of Aedolis, and they would likely go through all her footage when she got to customs, which was a massive pain so she would have to delete most of it before she even got to that point... But oh well.

She had come to this place to see a different side of Haviah... And because the hot stripper on the transit this evening had told her she should come by. How does one say no to attractive and strong women? Ginger sure didn't know how to.

She sat there sipping her drink and watching the hot stripper dance. She found her very aesthetically pleasing and sexy but she wasn't actually interested in hooking up with her. In fact she wasn't looking for sex despite the nature of this club. What was most obnoxious was the men that seemed to think she worked there and kept chatting her up. She supposed it was flattering but none of the guys were her type anyway. None of them were even remotely interesting.

[Lion]

[There are more than just girls there, btw. I didn't specify because of it. So it's a co-ed strip club, if there's such a thing,  to float just about anyone's boat.]

It was a classy locale, low-key because few places in Aedolis had an understanding for discretion. He could see himself becoming a regular, if only to keep himself from picking favourites.  Luca found it distasteful when there was so much beautiful flesh to take in.  Why just stick with one beloved?

It was all look and no touch anyway, which suited him just fine.  Luca lit up another smoke, letting the cigarette burn a little as he watched some of the dancers, admiring their physiques.  There was an art to their motion, and he found he was beginning to respect their trade. 

He got up, eyes maintaining on the girl in red on the stage nearest him, and walked across.  That was until something solid slammed into his glass, spilling his drink all over his jacket.  "You wanna watch where you're standing?" he growled, dusting his chest off.

[Nix]

[Oh ok! Maybe its just girls on stage right now... XD Ginger still likes girl empowered strippers]

When the stripper she had been watching left the stage Ginger got up and away from the guy who was chatting her up. For a moment she considered leaving but then a waiter who was wearing just a pair of very tight shorts asked if she needed another drink. Well now she did, if only to stare at that ass walking away. With another drink ordered she stood there and directed her attention back to the stage where a woman in red was now dancing and then-

Something hard hit into her boobs.

"Oh geez... I think the key word there is standing though. At least where I am from the moving party is the one who looks where they are going. Unless your goal was to brush my tits with your hand and make it seem accidental, in which case that was not very smooth and more than a simple apology might be necessary." She said softly but with an unwavering strength to the guy who fortunately only got his own clothing wet.

Before anything else could come to blows between her and the stranger the waiter returned with her whiskey. "Thank you. This guy is going to need another drink too, and a towel." Ginger said to the waiter before turning back to the platinum haired man. "What were you drinking?"

[Lion]

[Get it girl!]

Hmmm, standing.  Right.  It was a fair point, one even Luca had neglected to accept.  But he wasn't going to be rude, not when it was quiet unnecessary in a place like this.  Doing so would probably get him kicked out quite quicker than he could blink.  But this one...this one had spunk.  He could respect that.

He made a noise, one that bordered partway between a scoff and a laugh, that rumbled in his throat and was followed by a smirk.  His eyes followed her speculatively, since something about her felt seemingly out of place here.  Far be it from him to judge on who couldn't enjoy the beauty of the flesh.  There was a lot of it to feast on here.  He didn't see his contact just yet.  He had some time to kill.

And dancers were only so interesting.

"Cherry vodka, on the rocks," he said with said, staring at her and shrugging out of his stained jacket.  Poising the smoke on the tip of his lips he curled it onto his arm.  "Excuse my clumsiness.  I do my best to avoid -erm- bumps in the road."

[Nix]

Ginger had to chuckle a little at that sound and just, the guy in general. He was interesting. More so than the dancers and the waiter with the bubble butt who went off to get the requested beverage.

"It's fine. I suppose that sometimes bumps are unavoidable." She smiled and held out her hand to him. "I'm Ginger."

The waiter quickly returned with Luca's drink and a towel and Ginger instructed the waiter to make sure the drink went on her tab. "If you aren't otherwise engaged would you want some company to go with that drink?" Was she flirting? Maybe a bit. More she just wanted some company that was interesting and not overtly trying to stick their dick up under her dress.

[Lion]

What?  Was this her flirting?  Oh, he had no idea.

Really he didn't know what to make of it.  But he wasn't going to be rude to new company.  Even if it sorta was her fault for standing in the way.  Nevertheless his focus turned to looking her over.  Her clothes were evident of someone clearly out of town.  Just visiting maybe?  He could ask her later.

"Could be worse things to be doing. Since you graciously offered, I see no reason to turn it down," he said, smiling just a bit and quirking his brow at her.  "Luca."  And he extended a hand to her to shake it firmly.

[Nix]

Ginger looked good tonight. She was well aware of how her button down blue dress hugged her curves but it was more about feeling good then trying to impress others. "Nice to meet you Luca." She shook his hand firmly in return and then proceeded to find a quiet spot to sit that still had at least a partial view of the stage.

She sat down on the couch and took another sip of her drink before setting it on the table in front of her. "So Luca... What brings you to a fun place like this in a suit like that all by yourself?" She asked with a smile on her lips and in her voice. Ginger liked people and trying to read them. It was what made her size the man up as interesting so quickly. It was what made her come to a place like this.

[Lion]

Here ten minutes and already he had a drink spilled over him, his contact had failed to appear right away. Here was here for business not pleasure, and he disliked mixing the two.  At least, she was an adequate distraction, and not wholly unpleasant. Her dress though - phew - it had to go.

"I'm here to enjoy the sites, aren't you?" he countered, chuckling and sipping at his drink.  It was sweet and hard just the way he liked it. No need for pretense, and he liked to hold the cherries with his teeth and pluck the stem from out the back of it.  It was hard to be savage in this day and age and maintain some semblance of grace.

"Except, it's probably easy to tell I don't frequent places like these. It's a nice place though, would you agree?  Or else I'd be more careful not to bump into random strangers just...there, watching like the rest of them."  He shrugged and indicated his smoke.  "Do you mind? I'm relaxed. But if it bothers you, I can put it out."

He looked her face over, wondering.  Ginger.  She looked like a Ginger.  He tilted his head.  "You're famous. Obviously."  And a smirk played on the corner of his lips.

[Nix]

"Hm, I suppose I am. My last trip to Aedolis was more... controlled, I thought I would really see some of Haviah's sights this time." She smiled and picked her drink back up, taking another swig. When he mentioned the smoke she just shook her head and waved him off. "Its quite alright, I don't mind."

The next part had her grin turn a bit sheepish. "Its obvious? What makes you say that?"

[Lion]

It was at least an interesting distraction.

Luca swirled the drink around in the glass and grinned a little more at her expression.  Luca was accustomed to conversations like this being a little more on the tense-side. People didn't usually enjoy having him drop in, and when they had him over, their hospitality was lackluster.  It was disappointing really, when it came down to the nitty gritty.  He really hated when they squealed.

He reached into the glass and gently played his hand on the cherry stem. "You're a bit of a celebrity on the internet.  You've gotta be living under a rock to not have heard the name of Ginger Fairchild. I recognize your face from something a client sent me a few months ago.  You look much nicer in real life."

He couldn't wait for the cherry to be dry. After letting it soak a few minutes longer, he settled it between his teeth, sucked off the alcohol and plucked the stem from its base.

[Nix]

She blushed ever so slightly at that but smiled. It wasn't a shy or embarrassed smile, nor was it conceded. Ginger was quite used to being recognized, not as often in Aedolis, but still. "Well that is true I am a bit of an internet celebrity but I don't have much of a following in Aedolis, though I did blog about my last trip here."

Ginger stirred what remained of her drink before downing it, watching Luca play with and eat the cherry... he certainly was... intriguing if nothing else. It was somehow mesmerizing. "Your client showed you? What kind of work do you do?" She asked, simply genuinely interested.

[Lion]

He supposed it was inevitable the conversation would turn to him. It wasn't like he was in the right business to just tell everyone what he did. It wasn't exactly a secret either. The people that knew who he was and what he did also knew to keep their mouth's shut unless they wanted to be silenced forever. Luca leaned casually back in his seat.

"I'm a Business Consultant Specialist," he said carefully, tone not too rushed, not too lazy. "I help my clients negotiate terms with others of interest, the go-between if you will. I was supposed to be meeting someone here, but they haven't yet arrived. It's rare that I would venture into places like this."  He wasn't intentionally trying to be vague, but there was only so much he could tell.

[Nix]

"So you bullshit for a living too?" Ginger smiled brightly at that. "I don't mean that to be rude don't misunderstand ok? I'm sure it's important, and it doesn't sound like anything I can do... I just find that most jobs that deal with other people involve a lot of bullshit. I talk to a camera most of the time. That's all bullshit." She chuckled softly. "I hope you at least enjoy it though. That's the important part right?"

Something vague like that seemed to suit this man. He certainly seemed comfortable in his own skin, or gave off the impression that he did at least. It was hard to pin him down and she liked that about him already.

[Lion]

Luca laughed, showing all teeth and almost choking on the cherry in his mouth. Damn if she wasn't right. "You know you have an eye for bullshit, I can tell," he chuckled and waived a server over for another drink. Another cherry and he grinned like a cat in the cream.  In the midst of it, at least she wasn't bad company.  "Your over all assumption isn't inaccurate. But it gets me paid, and that's always nice."

He tilted his head. "Do you enjoy what you do? I certainly enjoy watching you do it, as I'm sure other people do as well. But is that what you're into?"