Logfile from Brass&Steel.
          

Downtown -- Crown Center
	A huge and modernized commercial shopping and entertainment
district, anchored by the Hallmark company headquarters and generated
originally through that company's largesse. Surrounding the greeting card
giant's HQ are two five-star hotels, dozens of restaurants and upscale
boutiques, multiple live theaters and movie houses, and an outdoor ice
skating rink.
	Between midnight movies, late-night dinners and drinks, and the
general ambience, this place usually teems with people until late at night
and trickles with the occasional flurry of activity until well into the
wee hours of the morning. There is still that lull, however, between 2am
and dawn, however, where all is still, as the darkness settles over this
temple to modern civilization. Contents:

<OOC> Zach says, "I can't be on for more than an hour. It's late and I
have work tomorrow. <:)"

Lucian shakes his head. "That..." He sighs. "I never would have expected
that," he remarks with a chuckle. "Well, then, perhaps we need to remove
the veil, and replace it with a new one, nu?" He winks.

Carl and Lucian are talking by the Ice Rink.

<OOC> Lucian says, "Is ok, I've got to go shortly too. Dinner is nearing
readiness."

<OOC> Carl doesn't have to go, but will be sad and lonely without anyone
to play with. ;)

Zach comes moseying along the shops on the opposite side of the Ice Rink.

<OOC> Lucian says, "There'll be Cosmo, and Gray seems to be lingering.
He's a good sort. :)"

Carl shrugs. "I just thought you should know. Don't worry. I didn't do
anything to her. I just looked around."

Lucian nods his head. "I do not need any overt assistance in this matter,"
he says with a smile. "However, the reconnaissance is exceptionally
useful." He chuckles, rolling his eyes. "Quite the notion, that I am
extra-terrestrial."

Zach wanders along and amuses himself with people-spotting, As he follows
the rink, he spots a familiar form that somehow /never/ fails to put him
on a bad mood. Man that professor sure can cramp a man's style!

Carl smiles and shrugs lazily. "My pleasure, of course. I'm here for you."
He looks back at the ice rink and takes a long drink of his soda.

AutoJudge:  Lucian rolls: 4 + 6 = 10 . Check die: 6

	Tall and thin, the gentleman at hand stands some six-foot-five
inches, but weighs likely no more than one hundred and sixty pounds.
Vibrant, sapphire-blue eyes gleam brightly against his otherwise pale
complexion. Though he otherwise seems no older than perhaps thirty-five,
snow white hair falls down to his shoulders, where it curls just a touch
at the end, clearly the product of either quality genetics or expert
hairstylists. When he smiles, his teeth are perfectly even, gleaming
brightly - again, either genetics or dentistry, but either way an
exceptional result. His soft-skinned, long-fingered hands end in perfect
nails, with nary a speck of dirt or dust to be found on them.
	He wears a dark blue button-down, one clearly of high quality,
based on the cut. The material is even of pleasant texture, feeling
somewhat like suede. His slacks are well-cut khakis, neatly hemmed, with a
leather belt. Black polished shoes sparkle. Completing the ensemble is a
fine tweed jacket, perfect down to the leather patches on the elbows, and
the faint - but strangely pleasant - aroma of pipesmoke.
	Over the ensemble, Lucian wears a long, thick black coat with a
bit of fur lining the collar.

Lucian chuckles. "That is quite pleasing to hear," he replies, and leans
over the rink, surveying the crowd himself. He does not seem to spot the
mechanic in black leather.

Zach mutters to himself and trails over to say hi. As he comes up to
Lucian, he says, "Hi."

Carl looks over at Zach and raises an eyebrow. He shakes his head and
turns back to the rink, watching the skaters skate.

Zach manages to achieve a rare feat - sneaking up on a paranoid demon.
Lucian's spine goes completely stiff, and a low hiss escapes his lips.
Finally, with a controlled effort, he says, flatly, "Good afternoon,
Mister Ellis."

Zach leans sideways on the rink and smiles a predatory smile to Lucian.
"So.. Whatcha got cookin', sexy?" The smile doesn't quite reach his eyes.

Cosmo arrives along Oak, and makes his way into the Crown Center.

Lucian smiles, blandly, at Zach. "The same thing I am always cooking,
Mister Ellis," he says with only the barest of dry humor. "Plans to take
over the world."

Zach nods sagely. "Ah, but of course. Plans going well?"

<OOC> Zach says, "Enjoy your dinner, Lu. :)"

<OOC> Cosmo says, "Take care, Lucian."

<OOC> Cosmo waits on a pose to see what's up.

Lucian smirks. "At the moment, I prefer to leave you wondering how far
they have advanced." He winks. "For now, I must be off and about them." He
turns, and strolls off into the crowd, fortunately (for him) disappearing
rapidly into it.

Carl is by the ice rink, drinking a soda and eavesdropping on Lucian's
conversation with Zach. When Lucian takes off, Carl glances at Zach
blankly.

Zach watches Lucian leave with a sour look of disgust. He twitches lightly
as if he's about to follow, but remains standing where he is. He doesn't
seem to be noticing the glancing dude.

You see a tall, fat thirtysomething man. His hair is brown and long, and
his skin is olive. His glazed brown eyes search the world. He's wearing a
ill-fitting green sweater, along with comfortable black trousers and black
combat boots. In general, he seems relaxed.

A Town Car rolls down the street, smoothly directed into a parking spot
not too far from the rink. Cosmo steps out, slamming the door closed and
locking the vehicle as he does so. He puts his fedora on his head and
sticks his hands in his pockets.

Carl keeps looking out over the the rink, not directly looking at Zach,
but perhaps watching him from time to time out of the corner of his eye.
They're both standing by the railing of the rink. Carl is sipping a soda
and watching the skaters.

AutoJudge:  Zach rolls: 2 + 2 = 4 . Check die: 1

Zach turns his head somewhat to look in Carl's direction. Isn't that guy
stealing glances..? He shrugs imperceptivly and looks back on the skaters.
Nah. Just imagining things..

You paged Carl with 'I avoid resonating if I feel I can IC. :)'.

Cosmo makes his way toward the booth to rent a pair of skates and pay for
some time on the ice rink. He glances around at those gathered around the
rails. The wool coat flutters at his calves as he walks to a bench to put
on the skates, stirred by the motion of his movements. He doesn't look
your typical ice skater.

Carl finally says to Zach, "It's lovely, isn't it? All those people,
trying so hard to be graceful, and enjoying the risk of falling as much as
they enjoy the skating. People love to ride that edge. It's what makes
skating fun, don't you think?"

Zach turns his head to face the stranger. "Hmm?" He smiles in a friendly
way then, "Maybe it is.. Never thought of it that way, y'know. I always
thought it was the speed and grace you get after some practice. Wind in
your face and all that."

Cosmo pulls his skates tight, giving viscious tugs to the laces. He stands
up, still a little unuse to the feeling of walking on the things. He makes
his way to the entrance of the ring. "Excuse me, gentleman." He offers as
he passes the conversing pair.

Carl shakes his head. "No, I think skating wouldn't be so much fun if
there weren't a risk of falling," he replies. "Risk is exciting, and
sometimes you have to fall to know the risk is real. Sure, the champion
skaters do it for other reasons, but I think the ones who just do it once
in a while do it for the thrill of danger. People do all sorts of things
to endanger themselves."

Zach moves to make way for Cosmo with a bright smile. "Sure. Have fun
there." He then answers Carl, "True. That's the spice of life - danger."

Cosmo stops before moving passed the two. "I disagree. The enjoyment is
not from the thrill of danger. It's in mastering yourself, controlling
your body and the fear that danger presents." A pauses as he expells a
foggy breath. "And occasionaly because a friend leaves you little other
option." That last is more to himself though.

Carl raises an eyebrow at Cosmo. "Your friend forces you to ice skate?
What, you're trying to pick up on Tonya Harding or something? How can you
not have a choice about skating?"

Zach lifts an eyebrow. "Did you lose a bet?"

Cosmo pushes his hands a little deeper into his pockets. "No, no. She was
kind enough to join me for dinner, and I couldn't very well not take her
ice skating after she asked. I don't suppose I was genuinely forced, but I
had to keep up my end of the bargain."

Zach looks around to see if he can spot this paragon of womanhood.

Carl nods. "That's how women are. I admire what hoops a man will jump
through to get into a woman's pants. The fact that she can be so selective
means she must have high market value, even compared to someone doing as
obviously well as you are. I assume she's beautiful?"

Zach blinks and looks at Carl with a slight frown, obviously disagreeing
with the whole 'marked consept'. "Now that's a bit disrespectful to women
in general, don't you think man?"

Cosmo glances at Zach. "She's not hear. I found I enjoyed it independantly
of her..." His words trail off and he turns to Carl. He stares at the man
rather pointedly. "I am not jumping through hoops to get in her pants."
His eyes narrow a bit and he looks the large man up and down.

Carl shrugs. "Take a social psychology class sometime. People have a sense
of their market value, their attractiveness in a relationship. The best
relationships are between people who are fairly evenly matched. Otherwise
it doesn't work out."

"There are more factors to a person then appearance. And more to
relationships then simple physical gratification." Cosmo tries to stay
balanced on the skates. One hand is on the rail to help his balance. He
looks over at Zach, giving the man a nod of agreement.

Carl nods. "Oh, I completely agree," he says. "Wit, charm, earning
potential, childbearing capacity, and so much more. I don't think it's
just looks by any means."

"Love," Zach says simply. "If that ain't there, then you can just forget
about the whole thing."

Carl nods again. "Well, of course, but that's just one of many factors.
Love isn't random. It doesn't just happen to people for no reason at all."

Zach smiles with a twinkle in his eyes. "Love has this wonderful habit of
not giving a shit about anything at all. Sometimes it grows from
circumstances, and sometimes it just...happens."

Still frowning a bit, Cosmo regards Carl. Then back to Zach. "Well, that's
not as unreasonable as it sounded to begin with. Regardless, my
motivations toward Harriet are based on friendship and nothing else. And I
certainly wouldn't do something /just/ to get into a woman's bed.
Relationships do involve trade-offs after sometimes."

Zach blinks and turns to regard Cosmo with a great deal of interest. "Did
you say Harriet? Would that be Harriet Davies?"

Carl looks over Cosmo incredulously. "She got you to learn to skate, and
you take her on dinner dates, but you have no intentions to go further?
Maybe you should get a little more introspective."

Cosmo cranes his head head, cheek rubbing the wool collar of his jacket.
"Why yes, yes it would. Do you know her?" He seems a little surprised
himself. He glances back at Carl and shrugs his shoulder. "Friends spend
time together." Which seems to say it all as far as he is concerned.

Zach inclines his head a bit and smiles to Cosmo. "Friends do indeed," he
agrees.  "So.... Your name - it shouldn't happe to be Cosmo, should it?"

You say, "She is a friend of mine, yes."

Cosmo takes his hand from his jacket and extends it to Zach. "The very
same. J. Cosimo Willingham. And your name?"

Zach happily shakes hands with Cosmo. "I'm Zach. Zach Ellis. She's told me
all about you," he reveals, smiling from ear to ear. "Nice to meet you, mr
Willingham."

Carl finishes his soda, watching the two talk.

Cosmo gives a solid squeeze to Zach's hand and then lets go. His leather
gloved hand goes back into his pocket. "Ah, she's told me a little about
you as well, Zach. Definitely a pleasure. But it's Cosmo. Mr. Willingham
is my late father." He smiles a little at the tired old joke, but he means
it sincerely.

You paged Cosmo with 'Marc DIED??? Aw hell! Nobody ever tells me anything!
;P'.

From afar, Cosmo laughs!

From afar, Cosmo is just keeping his cover. :)

Zach grins and goes back to leaning on the rink. "Okay, Cosmo it is then.
My friends all call me Zach." He pauses and scratches the stubbles on his
cheek a bit. "So you're the guy who's going to teach her the martial arts,
eh?"

Long distance to Cosmo: Zach nods. I had lots of fun dropping hints about
my boss camouflaged in the story of my dad. :)

You paged Cosmo with 'When I first started out here. :)'.

Cosmo nods his head at that, offering a genuine smile. "Indeed. At least,
she's going to stop by and have a look, see if she wants to learn it.
She's the adventurous sort."

<OOC> Zach needs to take off in ten. Bedtime. <:)

From afar, Cosmo usually refers to Marc as his Boss. :)

<OOC> Carl says, "We'll have to do this again sometime. :)"

<OOC> Cosmo says, "G'night, Zach."

Zach chuckles and shifts his stance. His smile grows fond at the thought
of Harriet. "Yeah, she's a bright spark that one. So energetic and sweet.
And a great artist! HAve you seen her work?"

A horrible, horrible sounds starts emitting from somewhere on Zach's
person. It sounds like a Polish Free-Jazz ensemble on acid. He jumps and
curses, then hauls out his cellphone and stops its ululation by answering.

"I haven't, yet. But I'll be at the new showing on Tuesday." Cosmo seems a
little startled by the racket Zach's coat begins to make.

Carl startles at the sound and leans away from Zach, repelled by the tones
emitting from him.

The usual yeahs and mhms happen, and the whole (rather one-way)
conversation ends with Zach agreeing to be there in twenty. He stuffs the
phone back into his pocket. "I'm sorry, but I gotta split for work. Some
kinda emergency over at the garage. My guess is that Manny's been kicked
out by his old lady again and is well and truly marinated. Again.." Zach
sighs and shakes his head. "I'm plannig to be at the showing myself. Maybe
I'll see ya there, Cos. 'Twas a pleasure to meet you anyway. Later guys."
He waves to both of them and takes off.

<OOC> Zach says, "Thanks for the rp, guys. :)"

<OOC> Cosmo says, "THank you, Zach."

You paged Cosmo with 'Didn't seem to recognise you as anything other than
Harriet's ji-jutsu dude. :)'.

Cosmo watches Zach head off, raising his hand from the rail to give a way.
He turns back to Carl then, "Apologies for that. Odd how small a world it
can be sometimes, no?"

Cosmo pages: That's what I figured. Take care.

You head North on Oak.