[Day: Monday, April 1st. Time: 9:30 p.m.] [We find Roseli Tavares in an Englishy sort of pub. This kind of place isn't all that uncommon in Berlin, being Berlin at all... what Rose is doing there is anyone's guess, though it looks like she's found a table and is drinking, so there's a hint! She also has a basket of half-eaten fish and chips nearby.] [Minisession Start.] * Togo is sitting down at one corner of the bar, a half-full pint in front of him as he works through a stack of newspapers with his braille scanner. (Yay, we shall spend the entire mini not paying attention to each other! :D) ( He hasn't noticed you out of the corner of his eye yet. =P ) * Heinrick is going by the window and glances off to the side, then makes his way into the pub. He stalks over to Rose's table and adjusts his glasses, glancing her way. "Well. I'm rather surprised. Miss Tavares, hello." * Roseli dips a chip in some mayo, nibbles on it, and then finishes off the rest of her cider (which is alcoholic, if the audience was wondering). She looks up and sees the other guardian. "Heinrick." Pause. "I need a smoke." Watch my table for me. * Roseli gets up and goes to the bar to order another cider. Score. * Heinrick looks at her for a moment, starts to say something, but she's off too fast. He shrugs and stays by her table. He hasn't even asked to sit yet. * Togo tilts his head as Roseli orders and looks over, finally noticing that Rose is actually in the bar. * Togo shrugs, puts away his scanner, folds the paper he was reading back up, and leaves it at the bar as he walks over to Heinrick at the table. "Of all the gin joints in all the world..." Well, considering we are all in the same city, I would say that quite narrows it down. ( Yeah, but this is Germany. Probably a bar on every block. XD ) (It's still less than "the world" :D) (Considerably less!) ( He's quoting Bogie. =P ) * Heinrick lets out a long deep breath. "Although...it would seem we all have rather the same idea tonight...of sorts." He rubs the bridge of his nose. "Although you two are rather lucky. I *do* miss the relaxation of alcohol..." * Togo sits down. "Can't drink?" (Keiko would drink it for you! She can take the hit.) * Roseli returns with her cider, blinks at Togo, and probably shrugs mentally before occupying the seat she had before. She waves for Heinrick to sit, too. Might as well. * Heinrick shakes his head. "Not heavily at least. Although tonight, since I am here, I will probably do so moderately." He sighs. "I have to monitor everything far too much." He then looks at Roseli. "Do you mind if I sit down? I didn't mean to intrude." Ditto. Was just surprised to see you two here. This is practically my second home 'round here. (Sorry, didn't see it was a wave.) * Heinrick retcons the last sentence and nods to Rose instead. "Thank you. I suppose we all had somewhat of the same idea. Even though if my relaxation is...somewhat different." Did you get your smoke? Whatever floats your boat. For my money though, when you find yourself at the end of a night covered head-to-toe in zombie bits, there's nothing better than a few pints. * Heinrick rubs the bridge of his nose and draws in a breath heavily. "It is not a matter of choice, I'm afraid." * Roseli holds up her glass. "Got my drink instead." And she drinks! Don't even carry around cigarettes anymore. * Heinrick nods and leans back. It looks like he's really trying to relax. And not quite making it. He looks at Rose and speaks in all seriousness. "Something is bothering you then...?" * Roseli puts her glass down and goes for the chips again. "Work." * Heinrick nods. "As is it with all of us..." He stands slowly and digs in his pockets, before withdrawing his pipe, looking it over. "It is not quite the same but you are welcome to try it if you'd like..." He holds it out for Roseli's inspection. * Roseli reaches for the pipe, gets about halfway there, and then holds off. She sighs. "Maybe later. If I still feel like this when I get out of here, I'll just get a pack on the way home." Been clean for months, too. * Togo takes a few swigs of his drink. "S'been a rough... well, it's been rough." * Heinrick sighs. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I'm going to get...some water." He doesn't look nearly as pleased with the last two words coming out of his mouth and heads to the bar. * Roseli tells Togo, "You have no idea." How are things with Luana? ( They broke up. ) (OMG I'm so sorry!) (That's because Keiko seduced her.) (Hussy.) * Togo rubs his neck. "Good and bad. My two biggest problems with her were he complete lack of self-confidence and, because of that, her inability to act on her own initiative. The former is improving, but the latter... it's better, but she's still looking to me for direction more than she needs to. And the fact that she's wearing a trenchcoat now scares me a little bit." *grins slightly* * Heinrick comes back with water, not looking at Togo. "She admires you, Togo. That is something to be proud of at least." Not that it had to be Togo. * Heinrick responds evenly. "No it didn't. It didn't have to be any of us." He takes a sip of his water. * Togo nods at Roseli. "I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with it, though. I have my good points, but I'm no role model." Good luck on breaking that. Luana is one who is rather...eager to please. * Roseli snorts. "Don't break it." * Heinrick smirks slightly. "I must admit, I'm rather jealous of that." She's perfect. She's the perfect ward. She wants to be there, she wants to please you, and she wants to do the best she can. Don't break that mindset; it's what you should want. It's what the agency wants. * Roseli has another healthy gulp of cider - ah, cider - and pulls her basket over so she can get at the fish. "So should we. We're the agency." * Togo shrugs. "I just want her to survive long enough that maybe she'll get a bit more of a life." ( So then the next day Luana got promoted.... ) * Heinrick doesn't respond to that and takes a long drink. * Roseli rolls her eyes. (Man, Rose has turned into a pod person.) (At Rose or at Heinrick?) (At Togo I mean. Hard to roll her eyes at herself!) And maybe do a bit of good along the way. *chuckles* I know I'm getting old, 'cause I'm starting to think about what I'm gonna leave behind. * Heinrick smirks. "We are all getting old, Togo. I believe we should petition for a better dental plan soon enough." * Roseli mutters into her drink, "Easy for you to say. You have the perfect ward." She puts the glass down again and looks at Togo. "Do you sleep well at night?" ( Rose will get a new one soon. ) ( o/~ ) * Heinrick looks at Roseli for a moment, then looks away and sips his drink. I haven't slept well since I lost my eyes, and it's gotten worse the past few years. *tilts head* But I'm guessing you weren't asking if I'm physically comfortable when I sleep. * Heinrick puts his hand to his forehead and shakes his head slowly. "Togo..." He akes a sip and a deep breath then turns to Rose. "How *is* Jamie doing?" Fine. * Heinrick sips his water and keeps watching Rose. "I'm not entirely sure I believe you..." * Roseli picks up a fry, then drops it. She's definitely looking at her food right now. "Better than ever, in some ways. She had emotions. Protective ones. Big step up." * Heinrick nods slowly in response to that. "That *is* good to hear..." But she misidentified a civilian as a sniper. S'unfortunate, but in the confusion it's not surprising. ( Plus, she was rolling badly. ) * Heinrick doesn't respond, just listens. His expression is fully blank. Tell that to the people upstairs, Togo. *Jamie* is doing better than ever. But soon there might not be a Jamie. * Heinrick looks straight at Roseli for a moment, his voice a bit incredulous. "For a slight misjudgment?" That's... ridiculous. If she was strafing a crowd, that's one thing. But a mistargeting on a sniper hunt? Hell, I've known top snipers with years of experience who've made mistakes like that. She's a goddamn kid with issues and a few months of field experience. Doesn't matter. They want to purge her. A "compromise" is giving her a second guardian, but do you know how dangerous that is? * Roseli even made the air quotes. (Yeah, she's wasted.) Control doesn't want anything to do with it because the first sets us back months and the second shortens her operation time, so she decided to ask me what *I* think is best, like I have any fucking clue. * Roseli has another drink. A REALLY good one. "I am SO CLOSE to making real progress with Jamie. So close. Not going to happen." * Heinrick then shakes his head and laughs. "I shouldn't be surprised. Disposability at it's finest." He raises his glass slightly, then shakes his head. "It is enough to make you ill." * Heinrick stands up. "If you'll excuse me. I think I *will* have something to drink after all." He heads to the bar. * Togo shakes his head. "I've had a few moments where I've wondered what the fuck I'm doing here... this ranks up there." They'd add up faster if you didn't luck out with Luana. * Roseli eyes her cider. "Need a smoke." * Heinrick takes a swig of his drink at the bar, then steps outside to light his pipe. It probably would, but I'm not *that* blind to what's going on. Could've fooled me. * Roseli watches Heinrick leave to have a smoke and sighs enviously. (He offered!) (This does not stop envy. >_<) (How do you think Heinrick feels about all of you getting wasted? ;P) (STFU I'M NOT DRUNK) * Togo shrugs. "I haven't had to fight with them over Luana. They've let me do things my way. But it doesn't mean I don't notice what's happening around me." Then what are you *doing* here? You want to be here, don't you? * Togo shakes his head. "Not at all. But I wore out my welcome with the powers that be back in England, and retirement ain't an option." No? * Roseli gulps up the rest of her drink. "Not enough money saved? No college degree?" * Roseli eyes her empty glass, then gets up and goes to get more. Because there is always more! * Togo snorts, and goes to get a drink of his own. "I tried retiring once, about 10 years back. Even got my girl to join me, gods only know how. It lasted a week." (I'm so tempted to request the title for this mini as "Angry Drunk Rose is Awesome".) Your girl ? ( Works for me. Remind me. ) You still with her? (Haha.) Yeah. Always been a when-we're-both-in-town sorta thing. We're both in the business, and neither of us are the settling-down type. (Risque!) ( Pity. I was going to date you. So I could *KILL YOU IN YOUR SLEEP*) (What? I would not.) ( Rose isn't man enough for Togo. ) (You're right. No way you'd date him.) ( Togo doesn't have eyes for Rose. ) (... You totally made that joke with Herman last game, Jesse.) ( Sorry, bit loopy. Moving down to DC soon. ) * Heinrick walks back in, grabs his drink, walks to the table, looks at it and sighs. "This is hardly going to be enough." ( Between the packing and the student loan stuff and all the other stuff, my brane's not running on full at the moment. =P ) * Roseli gets her drink, yay! She heads back to the table as she tells Togo, "Lucky. She know you're in this?" * Roseli nods to the Heinrick and sits back down. (Swap that for after people get back to the table actually.) (Thought peoples were already back.) * Togo grins. "She was on a paranormal-fighting team. So was I. We met when my team ran into an angry mage and we ended up switching bodies." (He's with Mariah?) ( Yup ) (Ha, figures. ;P) (Herman's married to Sarah and has Khalil on the side. *runs!*) ( Body swaps are a great way to meet people. ) (No, Khalil doesn't have Justinius on the side.) ( And Laz is still with Maria. The double-dates are... awkward. ) * Roseli nods to Heinrick now, since he actually IS back, and goes about drinking her new drink. As opposed to any of the older drinks. But yeah. Retirement lasted a week before a pack of werewolves started eating their way through an area south of Bristol. That was gonna be the last job... until the demon cult in Leeds. *shrug* After a while, I just gave up and realized I wasn't gonna retire. * Heinrick shakes his head slightly and chuckles. "Paranormal is not a term I would have heard used much." He takes a sip from his drink and makes a slight face, then sets it aside and goes back ot his water. Why not become freelance? Tried it after the falling out... pulling together whoever I could scrounge up for the bigger jobs, dealing with the smaller ones myself. *drinks* I'm slowing down. Few too many close-calls, not enough backup when things got hairy... and at the end of the day, I wasn't making much of an impact on my own. * Roseli just keeps drinking. Oh yes. It sounds like *such* a hard life. * Heinrick sips his water. Then someone comes a-callin', offering a chance to work for a real organization again, with real resources, going after big targets, training the next generation... figured it would be a good use of what useful years I got left. * Togo chuckles. "I had no fucking idea what I was getting myself into." * Roseli says into her cider, "Can't get out." Oh, I am perfectly fine with that. * Heinrick holds his drink up to his lip slightly. "It is the fact that I cannot get others out that bothers me." Not you. Togo. Doesn't seem to get it. * Roseli puts her cider down and looks at Togo. "The guy before you. Gottlieb. Stopped showing up for work one day. Didn't seem to put in a two weeks notice - good idea, but he's probably wiped. No, guaranteed." You wanted a job for life? You got one. I know. Which is why I'm trying to make the best of a fucked up situation, see if I can't do a bit of good. * Heinrick smirks slightly. "Wiped is the best of our worries." * Heinrick then eyes Togo and laughs. * Roseli clearly regrets ever having put that cider down, because she picks it up again and goes about the drinking. * Togo grins. "Laugh if you want. It's cheesy, but I've been at this for 25 years, and I intend to keep at it for as long as my body's willing." * Heinrick just shakes his head slightly and speaks into his drink. "On the contrary. An idealist is a rare gem indeed." I'm an American. We like wearing the white hat. I'm Swiss. Hmm, I suppose I never have been *too* fond of chocolate or bank accounts. * Roseli finishes off her cider and looks at that empty glass, too. "Not enough booze in the world," she concludes. Walks can be helpful for clearing the mind. When you can't take alcohol... ... about that 'compromise'. Are they insisting on bringing in a new guardian, or would they accept an existing guardian doing double-duty? ( Heinrick is fond of knives though! ) Bonding a ward to two guardians in and of itself though... * Heinrick shakes his head. "I don't believe they've fully thought of the implications." * Roseli looks at Togo. "Didn't say." That's the second part. Would they insist on bonding the ward to a second guardian, or would they accept just having someone working with you? I'd guess one of you, though. I'd probably get to pick. ( That oughtta be good. XD ) No idea what would happen to Jamie if she got conflicting orders. And yes, BONDING. The chemical process that forces them to listen to us. That thing. They don't trust anything else... * Heinrick takes a sip. "Especially not those who work with them on a daily basis." * Togo takes a drink. "I'd do it, if it would prevent them from wiping her. I'd even stipulate that your orders take precedence, regardless of how they want it arrainged. You'd continue what's making progress with her, and I'd stay outta your way aside from some tactical training." Though I suppose I should be thankful. If not for it, Keiko would have probably killed me a long time ago. * Heinrick takes a sip. "If she could have." Also lowers her lifespan by an estimated ten years. Wiping would lower her lifespan by considerably more. * Togo nods. "We all agree wiping is unacceptable. I'm not claiming my alternative is a good one, just better than a terrible one." * Roseli shakes her head and slumps over the table, folding her arms. "Been fighting so hard to keep her, but sometimes I wonder if it's worth it." You know she was almost purged before? The Ten incident. I had to kill Ten as a compromise, destroying at least half of her psyche. * Heinrick pushes his glasses up his nose and then looks into his glass, replying softly. "I do not know about you...but I would not want the higher ups to win." This isn't about them. This is about Jamie. Besides, it is a poor thing...if you forget what you hold entirely. * Heinrick sips his drink. "Good. You remember her as a human being." * Heinrick stands up and goes for a refill. She might be happier wiped. Set back a month or few with a new ward... about the same as the Ten incident. I can blitz a new ward easy, if they're anything like the others save Cyra. Probably get them in field condition in a few weeks. You're kidding yourself on that first part. * Roseli snorts but doesn't respond to Togo otherwise. * Heinrick comes back with fish and chips himself and a refill and sits back down. * Roseli pushes the malt vinegar over to Heinrick. Just keep it in mind. I don't wanna step on your toes, and I don't wanna turn her into me, god forbid. Last thing we need is more trenchcoats on this team. Tell that to Luana. * Heinrick smiles slightly. "Well they smelled too good." He sighs longingly. "I just couldn't help myself." * Roseli also pushes over the salt. And the mayo packets. * Togo winces. "My point exactly." She's your ward. Just tell her. * Heinrick puts a generous helping of the malt vinegar on. "Regardless, we have seen your work with Jamie. If you need any to vouch for you, you need only say the word." * Roseli sighs. "I'm not the one in trouble. She is." Considered taking blame for the incident, but they're not looking to get rid of or punish me at all. No way they'd buy it. Well, yes. But it would give credence to your opinion. But they just wish to find someone to hang. More or less. I'm going to write a letter to the people upstairs, explaining the situation. If you want to add anything to it or write your own, though... Going to put it through Control. * Heinrick smirks. "Let's hope it does better than my attempts at public speaking during our last mission." * Roseli chuckles. I'll sign on too. Attest to the fact that Jamie's been showing improved tactical awareness lately, despite the incident. *pauses* Hell, I just had a conversation with her about weaponry for her choppers. * Heinrick shakes his head. "Well. At least Keiko was able to convince me she was *not* trying to get herself killed. So I suppose that is somewhat of a plus." Doubt she was. Jamie's the one with no sense of self-preservation. * Roseli looks at the two other guardians. "Thank you." What was Keiko trying to do? * Heinrick smirks. "Only if it works." He shakes his head. "No, I would not believe she would do it on purpose..." ( I'm fading fast. If you guys want to keep going, please do, but I gotta bounce. ) (Sure, you can have Togo pass out where he's sitting.) (I've also got to go to bed, but I wanna hear this.) * Heinrick glances at Rose for a moment. "Protect you, believe it or not." He shakes his head slightly. "Though I find it somewhat silly that she would not believe you could protect yourself." ( I'm losing the ability to see the screen. =P ) (That just makes you more IC.) (*rimshot*) Hm. I'm flattered, but a little surprised. ( *claps* Nice. ) (I've been practicing.) * Heinrick raises his glass up to his lips. "I believe her over-confidence in her *own* abilities may get her killed though." Knew she's very protective of the other girls, but I was pretty sure she hates us. Though it could be because I'm working with Jamie. (Move that before what Heinrick just said.) * Heinrick chuckles. "I doubt that so much as she wants to be seen as doing a "good job." * Togo reaches into his coat, and pulls out a vibrating phone. "... I have to take this. Keep what I said in mind." *finishes his beer; steps outside* ( Night all ) (Togo, your gender is back to normal. You don't need a vibrator!) * Roseli gives Togo a wave, then addresses Heinrick, "On a lot of levels, that's good." (Oh my. Night Jesse.) * Heinrick smirks. "On other levels, it makes her potentially reckless." ( Eh. You're trying too hard on that one. ) Keiko? Reckless? * Roseli grins. "Nothing new." * Heinrick shakes his head. "But we will have to find a way of coordinating without slamming her with orders. Otherwise she'll be constantly resentful." I was thinking perhaps cross-guardian training. How do you mean? * Heinrick takes a sip. "Having our wards practice with other guardians they aren't bonded with. It might be their only chance to feel listening and cooperation without chemical dependency. Their only chance." Specifically, I was thinking if we could between us three. * Roseli nods. Sounds good. I'm game. * Heinrick grins at her. "Excellent. Draw straws for Luana?" * Roseli laughs. "Sure." (Okay, we want to end it hereish?) * Heinrick gets a serious look on his face. "I realize I am not always the most...approachable person. But if you do need to talk to me some other time, I would not be adverse to it." (Well, after this heartfelt moment.) * Roseli nods. (Yes.) Not in the habit of talking. * Roseli eyes the small pile of pint glasses she's accumulated. "Usually." That's fine. I'm not in the habit of taking things so seriously. But I suppose that is my fault as well... * Heinrick sips his drink. Could always make a habit. * Heinrick smiles. "Perhaps. Perhaps not." (And we can end when ready.) [And so they talked, or maybe not, or Togo got eaten by his phone and Heinrick and Rose had to jump in and save him. Who knows? But we're not continuing the mini, so we'll find out later.] [Mini End.]