[ Not reacting overly much to the tap, save for tilting his head to look over his shoulder at her out of the corner of one red eye, he keeps his expression fairly flat. The first thought he has is to dryly say something back (何でだよ?) but he doesn't get the chance to mess with her, his head turning the opposite way when he hears the swish of a skirt - and then sees the skirt wearing it.
His interest in bothering someone who was rude without being direct about it - if you're going to be impolite, just be impolite, a behavior he always misses when he slides towards this end of town - completely disappears as he straightens up. And rather than continue to leave his hat on, Samatoki plucks the trilby off his head and calmly smooths any of the disturbed hair back into place. He doesn't catch the wisps that stray onto his forehead, but they don't bother him as he presents his arm for her. ]
Surprise. [ The smile she gets in response is a little crooked, amused, almost a grin; but the left side of it causes a dimple. It's there and gone as he plants his hat back on his head, tipping it back this time so that his face isn't partially concealed. ] Figured we could take our time in getting there. S'nice night out already.
[ At least he can pick up what she's laying down. ]
[ though she tries not to notice too closely, roxy has to admit that this guy's got quite the appealing smile in this light. she can see more of him now, the slope of his nose, and the lines around his lips. he's more handsome here in the daytime, and for the first time roxy thinks that maybe rose was onto something about her eye for the fellas bringing hell down upon them all. ]
You got any cigarettes? [ she starts to lead him to the door while the receptionist rolls her eyes and heaves a beleaguered sigh. ] Cigarettes and coffee's always a good first detour.
Edited (I CAN READ I SWEAR) 2019-06-06 19:18 (UTC)
[ Hand free with his hat now atop his slicked back hair again, Samatoki snorts and reaches into the inner pocket of his jacket, withdrawing his pack easily. A flick of his wrist, and he gets one of them out to catch between his lips carelessly but practiced. ] Not sure our conversations are proper talk for coffee, but we can see where cigarettes take us.
[ Another flick, and he offers her a cigarette of her own, letting their feet take them out of the hotel and onto the street without much destination in mind right away. She looks much more modest, compared to their first meeting, so they blend in for the most part with his slick, dark suit mingling with rich businessmen rather easily. A part of him has always appreciated the way you can head into foot traffic and be lost to anyone looking for you quick enough, if you know how to duck into it, but right now... even with a bit of time since their first meeting, it's not enough time for him to forget that the people there likely can do the same goddamn thing. ]
[ the cigarette is taken easily between her fingers as they travel down the street, keeping an eye on the crowds of passers-by. roxy doesn't mind the crowds, she gets energy from people, but she would never presume to know any of them, even if they do patronize her father's hotel. there are so many people, so many easily forgotten, except for the one standing next to her. ]
How about to a park? We can smoke without any bozos yelling at us.
[ To any eavesdropper, this might come off as something more illicit. He supposes it is, in a way, but certainly now how they would expect it to be. This kind of information isn't something that would be shared in decent company, anyways. But Samatoki's learned over the past ten, eleven, twelve years that you watch who you say things around, because you never know who you can trust. Even if he can disappear into a crowd where need be, he's also not about to divulge anything in it.
To the right eavesdropper, their conversation is more risky. ]
Sounds fine by me. Lead the way, Miss Lalonde. [ Yeah, he caught that. But besides the amusement, he ignites a match to light her cigarette before his. Ladies first. ]
[ a slow inhale pairs with a quirk of her eyebrow, and roxy smartly releases that smoke with the wind. she's a social smoker, usually at jazz clubs when she's there to watch dirk enjoy himself; roxy tries not to make it a habit. ]
You got a problem with my last name? [ a flick of ash and the cigarette is placed between her lips again as she waves down a taxi, sequins glittering over her shoulders. ] After you.
Nope. [ Samatoki pops the P as he lights his cigarette next, shaking the match out and flicking it aside as he takes a drag. As a habitual smoker, there's always a tang of tobacco on his clothes, but at least his sister has gotten him to stop smoking indoors - which cuts down in general, since he complains about the cold or rain and won't go out to smoke outside with that rule. ]
Just an awful lot of information to be giving a stranger, intended or not. [ The taxi arrives, and he slips his arm free of her, stepping forward, opening the door and resting his arm on top of it to allow her in first. It also lets him take another drag and blow the smoke up, position of his cigarette between his fingers letting him tap out ash onto the street. ] Good thing that I'm not planning on using it.
[ her expression shifts, like she finds it absolutely crazy he'd say that. ]
You aren't hitting all sixes, are you? [ she already divulged that her father owned one of the richest hotels in the city. if anyone was going to use anything against her, it would be because of that.
well, in her opinion, anyway. roxy doesn't have a criminal's mind, so she could be off-base.
still, she chuckles to herself, taking a long deep drag and releasing it before climbing into the taxi, asking for central park, south. ]
Have a feeling you ain't. [ Or, at the very least, she hasn't experienced much trouble outside of her cushy lifestyle. Samatoki isn't all brains, but he knows how to think like a criminal. Is one, of course, but he knows how to think like the scumbags who would go beyond the hotel, look at her life, the people she knows. Follow the connection of her father and Lalonde.
She shouldn't have told him who her father was in the first place, anyways. Shouldn't tell a stranger that kind of information on first meeting. But he clicks his tongue softly and gets in after her, cracking the window and settling back as he shuts the door. ]
Ammunition is ammunition, girl. [ Father, hotel, sister - the more that a person has to use against them, the easier it would be to take her and prove that they had her, that they'd put thought into the taking. ]
[ fantasy's over. the comfortable seat beneath her, the belt across her lap: they both feel like restraints now, and that careless air she'd carried all the way to the seat vanishes with her smile.
that was an unmistakable threat, and roxy immediately berates herself for being so trusting of a mobster. she survived their first meeting but now her life was on the line again, and she was the one who had invited the predator into her den. adrenaline seeps metallic at the back of her mouth, and as the taxi drives off she turns her eyes to the passing buildings. how stupid was she? just because they both saw something they couldn't explain, she thought they could work together? what a sap, he was probably in on it the whole time.
the only solace she can take from this is that when her body is found, the receptionist will have samatoki's name and description.
silence falls in the back of the ride, the tension heavy like a blanket of lead that'll no doubt splinter in her skeleton. ]
Samatoki knows it is, too, as he sits back and keeps his eyes ahead, on the driver and through the windshield at the city through that range. She didn't ask to get dragged into a dangerous game with a mobster, but that's just how life is: it's never fair, and there's certainly not sunshine and daisies around every corner. The tension is palpable, almost cloying, beneath the cigarette smoke, but he doesn't say anything to break it completely when they've got some random John sitting up front and driving the cab. Not any of his business.
But what's to happen if she trusts the wrong mobster? Too trusting, too friendly, despite all the obvious ways she knows caution and stealth, even from one exchange.
His head tips back as he exhales smoke again, letting the window whisk it out before he brings his cigarette to his mouth again, covering it, voice finally cutting through like a knife. It's just for the two of them, and it's probably paltry comfort.
But. ]
Made a deal last time, didn't we? You're going home just fine after this, Roxy - I don't break promises, and I ain't interested in making your family miss you. [ Because it's not the people that die that really suffer. No, for as much as Samatoki isn't about to chase down death for himself - he's going to survive, he's going to spite a world that obviously wants him dead and gone - he thinks about his mother, and how it was a release from the hell she was already living.
And he thinks about how it'd hit him and Nemu, and how it still does, their mother's picture on a mantle. ] You can believe me, or you can go back home now. Up to you.
[ it was very, very cruel, and worse than that, roxy feels not only her trust but her confidence waver. true, she understands that she can't trust this samatoki farther than she can throw him, but she wanted to at least be able to trust that he wouldn't sell her out while they were both in over their heads. all she wants to do is get her sister to safety. after that, samatoki and his gang can do whatever the hell they want.
maybe she's been influenced by too many fantasy novels, but she thought for sure that heels like him had some sort of code of honor they stuck to. ]
Just to scare me? Is that what gets you off, seein a gal like me get all hot and bothered by a threat?
[ A scoff, and Samatoki reaches up to tap his cigarette ash out the window. ]
You go around telling any thug your name? Where your old man works and what he owns? [ Another drag off it, holding it before exhaling out of the side of his mouth away from her - he's halfway down the cigarette, getting ready for another considering this bullshit. She doesn't need to trust him, not for long, and then they can go their different ways. But he's not about to leave her for the wolves, because she can't do this again. She can't risk herself, her sister, if it's the wrong guy she's talking to. ] You got a hell of a lot of moxie, bearcat, but it was real luck we ran into each other and it wasn't some bimbo you met that night. Even one of mine.
Ain't a threat from me. [ Shifting, he reaches to pull out his cigarettes again, lit one dangling loosely from his mouth and eyes down, red of them almost hidden by long lashes. He'll let her be mad. ] It's a warning for the future. You're already looking to get real deep in trouble with whatever the hell this is - stay out of it once you're out of it.
[ the look she turns on him. is more than annoyed now; it's angry. ]
Are you pullin my leg here? [ her voice snaps, the cigarette in her fingers forgotten about, slowly burning down to the filter. ] I trusted you but I'm not some quivering waif looking to trust any bad mac who walks my path! [ she is absolutely steaming now, but she's trying her best to control her breathing so she doesn't completely lose it on samatoki. he might have promised not to kill her while they talk, but that doesn't include crimes of passion.
and anger is the most passionate crime of all. ] 'F you think I'm just gonna go crawlin around the underbelly after I get my sister back, then you're as stupid as you are handsome. All I want's Rose back, and you can take a walk off the docks for all I care after this is done.
[ Eyebrow ticking up, though whether it's amusement or something more incredulous is hard to decipher as he focuses on plucking out a new cigarette. He's sure that they're making an interesting pair of passengers for their cabbie, but he doesn't much care; has learned that plenty of them will turn a blind eye for a little extra cash and would rather keep their heads down than butt into something. But he doesn't give away their plans, what they saw, who he specifically works for - Roxy's father, either.
That's bit him in the ass one too many times.
Cigarette now down to the filter, Samatoki lets her anger stew in the backseat with him, around him, the kind of cold calmness that comes with clinical experience. ]
You say you're gonna get right back home once you get your sister out of this mess, then good. Stick to it. [ Reaching, he rolls down the window a little further to toss his burnt down cigarette out, replacing it between his lips with the unlit one. ] Go out, party, do whatever it is you glitzy rich kids do to get your rocks off. Pretty thing like you, I'm sure you've got a whole circle of people that'd miss you if you stayed in the thick of this bushwa.
[ As the car starts to reach their destination, he straightens up, replacing his cigarette pack and taking a look at the meter. He withdraws a billfold, plucking some cash out of it that's more than enough to cover everything and then some extra for silence. ]
But too many girls go missing, and it don't matter what side of town they're from. Don't wanna see your name in the papers for that.
[ every word out of his mouth makes her more and more angry, and her eyes narrow as she glares at him, waiting until they're both out of the taxi before she'll continue the conversation. a quick "thanks, mac" for the ride, and she hops out, taking another quick drag from her cigarette and turning on samatoki. ]
For your information, I work forty hours a week. I'm not a dewdropper livin on my father's money. I have a house, yeah, but that's all he's ever given me. [ she points her finger right on samatoki's chest and gets into his face, that fiery streak on full display now. ] I gotta work to upkeep it, pay it off, pay for food and whatever else Rose wants to bring home.
[ she takes a breath, another drag, and exhales through her nose. as she evens out her temper and her heart stops hammering between her ears, she realizes something, but roxy won't let him off the hook so easily so she pulls that anger back up by her heel straps and flicks her cigarette into a nearby trashcan. ]
And if you wanted to get all protective big brother on me, you don't have to be such a pill.
[ and with that, she's turning on her mary janes and storming down the path and into the park. ]
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no subject
His interest in bothering someone who was rude without being direct about it - if you're going to be impolite, just be impolite, a behavior he always misses when he slides towards this end of town - completely disappears as he straightens up. And rather than continue to leave his hat on, Samatoki plucks the trilby off his head and calmly smooths any of the disturbed hair back into place. He doesn't catch the wisps that stray onto his forehead, but they don't bother him as he presents his arm for her. ]
Surprise. [ The smile she gets in response is a little crooked, amused, almost a grin; but the left side of it causes a dimple. It's there and gone as he plants his hat back on his head, tipping it back this time so that his face isn't partially concealed. ] Figured we could take our time in getting there. S'nice night out already.
[ At least he can pick up what she's laying down. ]
no subject
[ though she tries not to notice too closely, roxy has to admit that this guy's got quite the appealing smile in this light. she can see more of him now, the slope of his nose, and the lines around his lips. he's more handsome here in the daytime, and for the first time roxy thinks that maybe rose was onto something about her eye for the fellas bringing hell down upon them all. ]
You got any cigarettes? [ she starts to lead him to the door while the receptionist rolls her eyes and heaves a beleaguered sigh. ] Cigarettes and coffee's always a good first detour.
no subject
[ Another flick, and he offers her a cigarette of her own, letting their feet take them out of the hotel and onto the street without much destination in mind right away. She looks much more modest, compared to their first meeting, so they blend in for the most part with his slick, dark suit mingling with rich businessmen rather easily. A part of him has always appreciated the way you can head into foot traffic and be lost to anyone looking for you quick enough, if you know how to duck into it, but right now... even with a bit of time since their first meeting, it's not enough time for him to forget that the people there likely can do the same goddamn thing. ]
no subject
How about to a park? We can smoke without any bozos yelling at us.
no subject
To the right eavesdropper, their conversation is more risky. ]
Sounds fine by me. Lead the way, Miss Lalonde. [ Yeah, he caught that. But besides the amusement, he ignites a match to light her cigarette before his. Ladies first. ]
no subject
You got a problem with my last name? [ a flick of ash and the cigarette is placed between her lips again as she waves down a taxi, sequins glittering over her shoulders. ] After you.
no subject
Just an awful lot of information to be giving a stranger, intended or not. [ The taxi arrives, and he slips his arm free of her, stepping forward, opening the door and resting his arm on top of it to allow her in first. It also lets him take another drag and blow the smoke up, position of his cigarette between his fingers letting him tap out ash onto the street. ] Good thing that I'm not planning on using it.
no subject
You aren't hitting all sixes, are you? [ she already divulged that her father owned one of the richest hotels in the city. if anyone was going to use anything against her, it would be because of that.
well, in her opinion, anyway. roxy doesn't have a criminal's mind, so she could be off-base.
still, she chuckles to herself, taking a long deep drag and releasing it before climbing into the taxi, asking for central park, south. ]
no subject
She shouldn't have told him who her father was in the first place, anyways. Shouldn't tell a stranger that kind of information on first meeting. But he clicks his tongue softly and gets in after her, cracking the window and settling back as he shuts the door. ]
Ammunition is ammunition, girl. [ Father, hotel, sister - the more that a person has to use against them, the easier it would be to take her and prove that they had her, that they'd put thought into the taking. ]
no subject
that was an unmistakable threat, and roxy immediately berates herself for being so trusting of a mobster. she survived their first meeting but now her life was on the line again, and she was the one who had invited the predator into her den. adrenaline seeps metallic at the back of her mouth, and as the taxi drives off she turns her eyes to the passing buildings. how stupid was she? just because they both saw something they couldn't explain, she thought they could work together? what a sap, he was probably in on it the whole time.
the only solace she can take from this is that when her body is found, the receptionist will have samatoki's name and description.
silence falls in the back of the ride, the tension heavy like a blanket of lead that'll no doubt splinter in her skeleton. ]
no subject
Samatoki knows it is, too, as he sits back and keeps his eyes ahead, on the driver and through the windshield at the city through that range. She didn't ask to get dragged into a dangerous game with a mobster, but that's just how life is: it's never fair, and there's certainly not sunshine and daisies around every corner. The tension is palpable, almost cloying, beneath the cigarette smoke, but he doesn't say anything to break it completely when they've got some random John sitting up front and driving the cab. Not any of his business.
But what's to happen if she trusts the wrong mobster? Too trusting, too friendly, despite all the obvious ways she knows caution and stealth, even from one exchange.
His head tips back as he exhales smoke again, letting the window whisk it out before he brings his cigarette to his mouth again, covering it, voice finally cutting through like a knife. It's just for the two of them, and it's probably paltry comfort.
But. ]
Made a deal last time, didn't we? You're going home just fine after this, Roxy - I don't break promises, and I ain't interested in making your family miss you. [ Because it's not the people that die that really suffer. No, for as much as Samatoki isn't about to chase down death for himself - he's going to survive, he's going to spite a world that obviously wants him dead and gone - he thinks about his mother, and how it was a release from the hell she was already living.
And he thinks about how it'd hit him and Nemu, and how it still does, their mother's picture on a mantle. ] You can believe me, or you can go back home now. Up to you.
no subject
[ it was very, very cruel, and worse than that, roxy feels not only her trust but her confidence waver. true, she understands that she can't trust this samatoki farther than she can throw him, but she wanted to at least be able to trust that he wouldn't sell her out while they were both in over their heads. all she wants to do is get her sister to safety. after that, samatoki and his gang can do whatever the hell they want.
maybe she's been influenced by too many fantasy novels, but she thought for sure that heels like him had some sort of code of honor they stuck to. ]
Just to scare me? Is that what gets you off, seein a gal like me get all hot and bothered by a threat?
no subject
You go around telling any thug your name? Where your old man works and what he owns? [ Another drag off it, holding it before exhaling out of the side of his mouth away from her - he's halfway down the cigarette, getting ready for another considering this bullshit. She doesn't need to trust him, not for long, and then they can go their different ways. But he's not about to leave her for the wolves, because she can't do this again. She can't risk herself, her sister, if it's the wrong guy she's talking to. ] You got a hell of a lot of moxie, bearcat, but it was real luck we ran into each other and it wasn't some bimbo you met that night. Even one of mine.
Ain't a threat from me. [ Shifting, he reaches to pull out his cigarettes again, lit one dangling loosely from his mouth and eyes down, red of them almost hidden by long lashes. He'll let her be mad. ] It's a warning for the future. You're already looking to get real deep in trouble with whatever the hell this is - stay out of it once you're out of it.
no subject
Are you pullin my leg here? [ her voice snaps, the cigarette in her fingers forgotten about, slowly burning down to the filter. ] I trusted you but I'm not some quivering waif looking to trust any bad mac who walks my path! [ she is absolutely steaming now, but she's trying her best to control her breathing so she doesn't completely lose it on samatoki. he might have promised not to kill her while they talk, but that doesn't include crimes of passion.
and anger is the most passionate crime of all. ] 'F you think I'm just gonna go crawlin around the underbelly after I get my sister back, then you're as stupid as you are handsome. All I want's Rose back, and you can take a walk off the docks for all I care after this is done.
no subject
That's bit him in the ass one too many times.
Cigarette now down to the filter, Samatoki lets her anger stew in the backseat with him, around him, the kind of cold calmness that comes with clinical experience. ]
You say you're gonna get right back home once you get your sister out of this mess, then good. Stick to it. [ Reaching, he rolls down the window a little further to toss his burnt down cigarette out, replacing it between his lips with the unlit one. ] Go out, party, do whatever it is you glitzy rich kids do to get your rocks off. Pretty thing like you, I'm sure you've got a whole circle of people that'd miss you if you stayed in the thick of this bushwa.
[ As the car starts to reach their destination, he straightens up, replacing his cigarette pack and taking a look at the meter. He withdraws a billfold, plucking some cash out of it that's more than enough to cover everything and then some extra for silence. ]
But too many girls go missing, and it don't matter what side of town they're from. Don't wanna see your name in the papers for that.
heh nice
For your information, I work forty hours a week. I'm not a dewdropper livin on my father's money. I have a house, yeah, but that's all he's ever given me. [ she points her finger right on samatoki's chest and gets into his face, that fiery streak on full display now. ] I gotta work to upkeep it, pay it off, pay for food and whatever else Rose wants to bring home.
[ she takes a breath, another drag, and exhales through her nose. as she evens out her temper and her heart stops hammering between her ears, she realizes something, but roxy won't let him off the hook so easily so she pulls that anger back up by her heel straps and flicks her cigarette into a nearby trashcan. ]
And if you wanted to get all protective big brother on me, you don't have to be such a pill.
[ and with that, she's turning on her mary janes and storming down the path and into the park. ]