tampered | Log; Incomplete

Log; Incomplete

When; Wednesday Night, June 10th
Rating; PG-13
Characters; Solomon Goldsmith

redabyssinian
Summary; Ever a man of his word, Solomon follows through on his offer to introduce his business associate to a higher class of people.
Log;

Even now, Solomon was a bit surprised that he'd taken matters as far as he had. What did it really matter to him if Luke Valentine found the love of his life or not? Perhaps the vampire was content to live his life in solitude... surely there were people in the world that were like that...

But there was just something about the situation that made the Chevalier feel like making the attempt anyway. Perhaps it was something in his eyes that reminded him of his brother Carl, a hint of estranged aloofness that whispered of a deeper loneliness. Solomon had failed Carl, despite his efforts to be there for him. It was something that he would regret for as long as he lived.

Luke wasn't his brother, and in some regards, he wondered if they could truly be called friends. Still, the man had proven himself to be valuable in many ways. Including being willing to assist him in a matter that had been fairly close to his heart. Loyalty deserved to be rewarded, even if it were just the possibilities that might present themselves on a pleasant evening out.

As for Aya... well, things were a bit more complicated there. As it stood, the human had not been informed as to the exact nature of the meeting that night. It was better that way, since Solomon had no real idea as to how he'd react to the attentions of another man. Besides, they might not even like each other... but it would be interesting to see if his assessments of the other two would amount to anything. And if it didn't, then there was no harm done. The Chevalier would simply go to the next person on the list, until he either got bored with the little experiment, or Luke developed an interest in the candidate presented to him.

It was just a pity that the first blind date wasn't with the woman Solomon had so carefully selected. But that was the problem with beautiful, accomplished women. They tended to be taken already...

Swirling the blood red liquid in front of his eyes, he sighed. No matter how many restaurants he visited, he just couldn't seem to find a drink that would compare with the quality of the Chateau Duel he'd favored from back home. Glancing back over at his dinner companion, Solomon composed the carefully laid out plot in his head. “So you understand why I'm unable to question my... colleague in a more direct manner. And unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to do any sort of background check on people here... otherwise I would have taken care of this before I even started to do business with him.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, and took a sip of his drink. “He's an intelligent man, talented, seemingly reliable... but I do prefer to know more about a person before entering into any extensive business deals with them. Anything you can find out would be appreciated... is this something that you think you could handle for me?”

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He'd been annoyed when he came to this meeting. Partially because he didn't want to be here. Partially because the conversation with Omi still irritated him. He couldn't say why though. That was the problem. He hated not having answers to situations like that. For that reason, he'd left to come here early.

Now he found out that Solomon wanted him to find out about one of his employees because he hadn't done so already. Sighing, he sipped at his tea. His employer could have his wine. He wasn't interested in alcohol. It was too much of a risk to impair his judgment. Especially in a place like this.

"I can."

It would have been nice if Solomon had done it himself. Before he hired the man. Now he was going to have to take care of it.

"I can take care of it."

“Mm, good. Of course... I will trust in your discretion, Mr. Fujimiya. He's a very clever man. Please be careful.”

Not that it really mattered either way if Luke found out about the little 'ruse' that he was using to enable the two of them to talk. Would it really have been a surprise at all to the wary vampire? And surely, he would have done the same thing if the situation was reversed. But Aya... it would be a shame if he took offense at the dual nature of his task. Especially since the Chevalier 's intent was altruistic... well, for the most part.

Tilting his head, he watched his dinner companion intently. It was true that he'd only known the human for a very short period of time, but his dinner companion seemed even more drawn into himself than before. Perhaps it was nothing... merely the effect of being in a completely different atmosphere. But, if there was a problem, it would be best to address it before Luke showed up.

Solomon wanted the first impression to be a positive one...

“Mr. Fujimiya... is something the matter? You seem... distracted.” Did he suspect something so soon?

It showed then. Letting out another sigh, he ran his fingers through his hair. He was fine. He always was. It wouldn't be any different this time. He was sure of that.

"It's nothing."

Just a conversation from earlier. One he still hated.

"I'm fine." His shoulders relaxed as well as the rest of his posture. It was much like a cat deciding that there was no threat here. Besides, he had a mission to attend to now. When he wasn't at the shop or on patrol at night. He was going to have to juggle his schedule again.

If he didn't want to talk about it, that was fine... at least he was making an effort to relax and to enjoy the dinner. Smiling, he leaned forward to refill his wine glass.

"Ah, there's one more thing. I'm having Mr. Valentine stop by to deliver some important paperwork for me... it should be a perfect opportunity for you to assess what I've told you about him. First impressions and all that... I do hope that that's alright with you."

He was really hoping Solomon hadn't just said that. Really hoping. There was probably no getting out of it though so he only glanced at his employer before he slid his gaze towards the entrance to the restaurant. At least he could keep an eye out for this...Mr. Valentine.

"Hn."

It would have been nice to know that this person was coming sooner.

It mattered little whether this and the other prospective dates were sexual matches or not. Luke's primary interest was in finding potential allies (or identifying future 'problems'), not bed partners. Letting Solomon play this game merely saved the blond vampire a bit of search time.

Of course, possibility does exist any said date could also be a hired spy.

Faint smile crossed his lips at the thought as he entered restaurant.

The blond man coming in caught his attention but he only eyed him for a moment before he looked away again. He'd need to find out what this person looked like so he could know who he was looking for.

Aya knew he would be at a disadvantage until then.

He hated that.

Solomon followed the other man's eyes to the entrance of the restaurant. The booth that he'd requested was far enough away from the doors to afford them some privacy, yet maintained a perfect view from every direction.

"Well, speak of the devil..." He smiled at his little joke, knowing full well that he would be the only one to appreciate it. "I do believe that's him now..."

He half-turned in his seat, watching the vampire with intent interest as the maitre-d pointed out their table. Hopefully the evening would go well enough, affording him with at least a little entertainment before it was time to go home.

This smelled like a set up. Frowning, he looked over at the guy again. What the hell was Luke Valentine doing here now? This wasn't how the situation was supposed to work.

Fine, if he had to deal with it he would.

"Hn."

Following the maitre-d's directions, Luke quickly put on a neutral expression and strode over in business-like fashion to the booth. Solomon had requested 'paperwork' as an excuse for the meeting. Not wanting to turn over a file prop of empty pages, Luke wrote out a few notes on the 'cousins' (one with a grotesque proboscis tongue, the other minus its skin) of ARTEMIS's latest 'pet'. Given their unpleasant appearance, the dogs' descriptions had been kept tastefully brief and no photos were included; thus, little danger of ruining dinner.

Coming up to the table, Luke kept up the business charade. Polite nod towards guest, then to Solomon he handed over the file, saying in a secretarial manner: "As you requested, Mr. Goldsmith."

Solomon could only smile, pleased that Luke could play along in a convincing manner. He was learning more about the vampire even through something as trivial as this little ploy...

"Mr. Valentine... my apologies for asking you to take time out of your busy schedule for this..." Smoothly, his hand reached out to take the file, mildly curious as to what he might find inside. "But, business is business..." He shrugged nonchalantly, meaning every word with the utmost sincerity.

"Please, join us... this..." He gestured towards the human sitting across from him. "is Aya Fujimiya, a recent hire of mine. Mr. Fujimiya, I'd like for you to meet Luke Valentine, one of my business associates..."

He eyed the thing Luke was handing over and only nodded when he was introduced. This still smelled like a set-up. And he wanted to know why.

"Mm."

He wasn't a vocal person anyways. They could deal with that.

In silent compliance, Luke took a seat next to his "boss". The man sitting opposite them got another nod, this time with brief eye contact plus faint smile - just the sort of subservient greeting an employee would do towards any important client.

Servitude guise in place, he could study this sullen Aya Fujimiya at leisure.

It was going to be a very long night if things continued as they were. One of the problems that seems so readily apparent now to the Chevalier, was that he'd neglected to consider the fact that getting either man to talk was going to be... challenging. Aya with his single word answers, and Luke with his need for secrecy.

Yes it was going to be a challenge.

"Please, both of you, order what you like. I'll pick up the tab tonight..." A polite gesture (however sincere he was in offering)... one that he was assuming Luke would turn down. His fingers traced along the edge of the file, curious to see what was inside. But first things were first...

He would rather leave now. Sighing, he studied the menu again and decided on something. It would be small. He had patrol later and couldn't afford to be weighed down by food. He couldn't afford it now either.

Returning to his tea, he studied Luke.

The man was attractive. Tall. Blond. Secretive too.

"Turkey club and an ice tea." Menu held at half-mast in both gloved hands, Luke feigned a questioning glance over to Solomon for final approval on his selection.

Aya Fujimiya, meanwhile, was proving a difficult read. Even with higher senses, Luke couldn't detect anything beyond "disinterested" emanating from the redhead. Either the man was truly bored or a fellow actor.

Solomon met Luke's gaze intently. Ice tea? A turkey club?

It was worth it to be here just to hear those particular words come out of a known vampire's mouth. His mouth curved into an amused smile, eyes hiding any surprise. "Don't feel that you have to choose one of the least expensive meals on my behalf, ~~Luke~~ Mr. Valentine. Although that was thoughtful of you."

As for his own order, the Chevalier chose a simple teriyaki dish. Something fairly easy to finish off quickly if it looked as if he wasn't needed anymore. His eyes slid back to the file that he'd placed on the table in front of him, his senses following the retreat of their waiter back to the kitchen.

Sushi would do.

Solomon kept looking at that file and he frowned. Was it that private that he couldn't open it here? That didn't bother him really. He was used to things like that. He saw it all too often when dealing with missions.

He looked over at Luke again. Why was he wearing gloves?

He laid the menu down, signaling decision made. "Thank-you, sir. Next time I promise to order the lobster." Luke ended the quip on a nervous laugh, keeping perfectly still in his seat - too early in the performance for slight shifting about yet.

Or was it? Felt Fujimiya's gaze and faked a brief squirm in response followed by silverware fiddling, all the while avoiding eye contact.

Edited 2009-06-21 05:42 (UTC)

Sir, was it? This was amusing. Well worth the trouble it had put him through to arrange this little get together. Luke was certainly a man full of surprises, with this little act he was putting on.

He chuckled softly at Luke's little joke, content to take the part of Luke's boss, even if he had never specified what their exact working relationship was... The ball was in Luke's court after all, with Solomon merely as a spectator to the game.

And at least, this act of his proved one thing... and that was that Aya was someone to take interest in. "Yes. Of course, from my experience, you can't really go wrong with anything here."

Edited 2009-06-21 07:42 (UTC)

Why was Luke acting nervous? Things like that usually didn't start until he glared at the person. The squirming...It was strange. A very small flash of curiosity went across his eyes as he watched him some more.

The fiddling was childish.

Sensing a spark of curiosity, Luke switched over to mustered up courage. Quit the silverware play, straightened his spine a bit, made cautious eye contact and said: "If I may ask; what do you do for a living, Mr. Fujimiya?"

Sitting back, Solomon reached for his wine. It would be interesting to hear the two of them talk. Perhaps Luke would have better luck with getting more than the curt 3 word answers that Aya seemed so fond of...

Taking a sip, he mused, wondering if Aya's natural stand-offishness would deter the vampire, or if he'd take it as a challenge to be conquered.

The answer to that was easy. It was one he always used. People didn't usually believe it but it was true.

"I'm a florist."

"How fascinating. Do have any stories to share on celebrities or crazed brides?" Luke leaned forward, gloved hands balled in excitement and his face eager with anticipation.

Truth of the matter, he could care less about either offered topic - loathed them, actually. But, to glean anything useful from Fujimiya, he had to get this taciturn 'florist' conversing somehow.

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