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This is Rosita. I'll hit you back when I can.

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Hey, Rosita? My name's Drake, I'm a friend of Jesus. You got a minute?

I got plenty. He steal something from you?

Steal? No, nothing like that. He said you were planning to buy him out in a couple days in a way that made it clear you know why he's heading in. I wanted to touch base.

Not on this. Where/when?

[ Drake was careful to phrase it in a way that could be interpreted as 'how he got in trouble' and Rosita's caution is a good sign. ]

You like coffee? I'll be at LeBlanc in about half an hour.

[ It's a LIER-owned cafe. Well trafficked enough she wouldn't be alone with Drake, but no city surveillance pigeons and Bela sweeps for bugs. About as safe as they can get. ]

[Rosita, it must be said, is both naturally suspicious and has been doing without any form of technology for almost half her life at this point.

She also likes to be within stabbing distance of anyone asking about her friends.]

Anyone who says they don't is a liar.

I can make that. What should I look for?

Generic white guy, unfortunately. 6 foot, brown hair, but I'll be sitting in the front with my back to the shop window in a tank top so you can see the bear claw tattoo on my right shoulder.

Got it. See you there, yogi.

[She goes immediately, preferring to be a little early so she can be familiar with the surroundings, and ideally see him arrive to make sure he's alone. She's set up a few meetings by this point in her life between two communities that don't trust each other, and it's no accident that she's still around.

She watches for a 6-ft white guy in a tank top, lets him get settled, watches for the tattoo. It makes her a little late actually, but it means that she's comfortable when she does actually walk up to the table. She's adapted much more quickly than her counterpart to living in a city with actual commercial stores again, dressed well in layered clothing, a tank top and long sleeved shirt and fitted jeans over her wedge heeled boots, but it makes the well worn military style cap on her head stand out all the more.

That, and the large fixed blade knife strapped at her hip, which is why she's wearing the outer shirt untucked on that side. She invited herself to the chair across from him with her iced coffee, smiling a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes, which are shrewd and wary on him.]

Drake, was it?

Edited Date: 2022-08-08 02:35 am (UTC)

[ Drake's first thought on seeing Rosita is that she's way overdressed for the heat wave. Jesus is the same way, though... it could've just been personal preference but if they're both this covered up in triple digit weather, there must be a good reason for it that he doesn't know yet.

Drake files the information away, as well as the fact that she was definitely here before him scoping things out. That hat's probably not something from surplus, huh? Also safe to assume from that sharp wary look: she's armed and can kick his ass.

All of that's fine, honestly. He's deliberately not carrying a weapon, and his smile is genuine. Nothing to worry about here, ma'am, promise. But Drake is also (frustratingly, in some cases) extremely used to being treated with suspicion. ]

Yeah. Nice to meet you, Rosita. I figure you wanna ask some questions first..?

She doesn't actively eyeball him at least; she's cautious but not skittish. It's also possibly questionable that she could kick his ass, though she'd definitely try: she's average height for a woman but extremely slenderly built. People have underestimated her before. She uses that as often as it's handed to her.

"Yeah, I do," she agrees, settling back in the chair. Wary still, not actively hostile, although in defense of her friends she'll get there on a dime if she's tested. "Who's Jesus to you?"

Underestimating people based on appearances isn't a mistake Drake's ever made, and he doesn't plan on starting now. Either way he's not up to anything so isn't worried about being threatened.

"Just a friend, at this point. Have you met Crais? He sent Jesus my way as a potential contract option. We've got a few things in common, it turns out."

"No," she says; she's never met Crais, although she takes note of the name if that's where his mind goes with it.

And especially once she hears this man is apparently playing contract matchmaker for Jesus, in addition to Drake being his apparent pick for that. She raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah? Like what?"

Citing the connection isn't so much because that's where his mind went, as much as it's an attempt at a shortcut. The wary types like Crais better than him. The alien seems to earn people's trust more or less immediately, while Drake is still attempting to 'prove' there aren't ulterior motives for his kindness after half a year.

It's frustrating to say the least, but that doesn't mean he won't take advantage of it from time to time. Doesn't help here, though. That's alright too. Drake gives a little shrug at her question, looking thoughtful as he tries to articulate how they're alike. Part of the answer is a little dicey if Jesus and Rosita are from different times and she doesn't know he's dead. Having been around the multiversal block several times at this point? Drake doesn't want to accidentally out him. Hmm.

"Mostly philosophical stuff. How we treat people in terms of like... helping and protecting others, even though we're always braced to get screwed over for it. He needed a little support existing here, and I think my take on things struck a chord." Which is a good lead in to why he reached out to Rosita, but Drake doesn't want to push ahead until she's done interrogating him. "I like him. He's being smart and using his grace period like I suggested, but if he did wanna sign I'd see about taking him on. For whatever that's worth."

Jesus has always made friends easily when he's interested in doing so; it's saying something because a lot of the time he's done something to antagonize those same people, or at least willing to do so. She's not surprised he's making connections here, and not surprised that people like him; she's known him for years, and everything Drake says falls into place with that knowledge.

Rosita has come here as a Dominant, her unmarked neck advertises loud and clear; she has a different stake in the contracts, but right now she's more concerned that it's the second time it's come up with Drake. That he's actively willing to enter into that alleged partnership with Jesus, though, makes her both uneasy and interested along a slightly different tack.

All the same though, if that's true: "Thank you," she says sincerely. "For looking out for him." Paul fucking Rovia means a lot to her, and she did indeed see the man buried - recently enough she still hasn't quite recovered from it, even though she can lay hands on him again. "He seem interested in taking up with you?"

It's deliberate he brings it up once again, though possibly not for the reasons Rosita thinks. Maybe they'll get there, maybe they won't. Drake's willing to explain himself but right now he's sticking to the questions directly being asked.

...whether or not Jesus seems interested has him grinning.

"Could go either way, we've had other stuff to talk about. He's still feeling things out right now and that means the city as much as the people in it. Certain things are best to look into during a grace period anyway." Hint hint, Rosita. That's why he brought it up more clearly.

Her dark eyes are steady on him, although she's never been the stoic of any given group; she studies him openly, and sips her iced coffee.

His words, on the whole, don't even mean a whole lot; could be a copout, as far as she's concerned, a way of not really answering her question. Or it could mean he thinks she's asking the wrong one.

"Go on," she prompts him instead, uninterested in the guessing games. She's not done with questions, but she's willing to give him a little more slack.

Drake nods, also preferring to be direct when it's possible. They should be fine discussing it here, especially the element of it he's concerned about and all that Rosita needs to know. Jesus can fill in the purpose and what he learned next week.

"I hit you up because he said you're probably gonna buy him out in two days. He's uncontracted, they're gonna really jack up the fine to try and keep him in there the full sentence so more Doms have to rent time. They get more money, the sub meets more people, it's more push to sign before he's ready, blah blah. You guys are new, so I wanted to check in that you can definitely afford to get him out if necessary? Not wanting to trust new people enough for an expensive favor is smart, but it can get bad in there. Odds are decent if he's in trouble he'll tell you over new friends -- if you're short, there's no strings here. I'll give you the money."

He hits on the point that Rosita hates the most out of all of this, besides the fact that it's happening at all: they're new. They don't know who's even who yet, let alone what to leverage and how. She hasn't had to worry about a fucking income in almost half her life at this point, although it's true old habits die hard.

But he says something else too - it can get bad in there - and she scowls and looks away because that's not for him. She hates literally every part of this and has from the moment Jesus told her about it.

"How jacked up are we talking?" she asks, because she hasn't been able to get a number. Not that it matters, she'll make it happen however she has to, but she needs a target to aim at. "I specifically told him to contact me if he's in trouble, and he will." Jesus knows better than to piss her off, and he knows what she can do when she's motivated.

Okay, good -- that she's so sure Jesus will call her. Drake looks a bit reassured by that, as he puzzles through where they might set the fine.

"If you're the one asking?" She's also new and uncontracted, they're gonna take advantage. Drake shakes his head unhappily. "He broke somebody's arm and they gave him a full week instead of realignment, on a first offense."

Something like that would normally be $500 to their Dom and some kind of realignment task, or the fine and a few days in the zoo if it was a repeat offense. Drake's known some really out of control subs -- not his -- so he's familiar with the usual charges. He's a little worried they might suspect what Jesus is up to, but that's unfounded right now so he doesn't say that. Just gives Rosita his best guess.

"I'd say you should go in prepared to hand over like two grand, to be safe. A 'good' Dom would probably get a slightly lower number, but we're still into four digits and it might be more than a first paycheck. You can call it a loan if you don't wanna feel indebted, but I want you to have enough before he calls."

While he's calculating, Rosita does pull out her phone and fire off a quick text since she has the option. She doesn't like trusting strangers but she's not so proud or so stupid to stick to doing everything on her own when she has the option to spread it around a bit; if Jesus really does like this guy, there's a certain level of automatic trust that can be gained. It's not perfect - Jesus likes almost everyone, sometimes too readily - but it's a start for their current situation.

She pulls a face at the number he gives her; that's a lot of money even for before her world ended, but not outside the realm of possibility for what her original plan had been if she couldn't scrape together enough on her own. Still, this is better.

"I do, too." She flips the phone closed, transfers all of her attention back to Drake, decision made. "And I can make the money given enough time but I'm not leaving him in there while I get my shit together. What are the terms?"

Edited Date: 2022-08-08 11:30 pm (UTC)

"I said no strings and meant it. You wanna pay it back just so neither of you feel like you owe me, I'll take it, but I've been here a long time and I'm saving up. It's not urgent. All I want is to know that the second he calls you'll be on your way to get him out."

And he's pretty confident that's exactly what'll happen, so. It isn't much money to him here, with how low key he and Ephemera live and the amount he's been squirreling away to open his partner a studio.

"You can set them if you want?"

"There was never another option," she replies, lightly, but she means it with everything she has. Jesus has earned that from her: he calls, she answers, especially here where they're alone together. If she had to do something... ill advised, they'd figure it out after she had him safely with her again.

But this would be so much easier if she can find a way to come at it that she can live with and negotiate from. "I have a month to pay you back, or you can ask a favor from me equivalent to the balance owed. This is my deal, not Jesus's, he's not on the table - not even if he offers. Just me."

Drake tilts his head thoughtfully, appreciating that instinct to make sure she's the one taking on the potential consequences. There won't be any, of course, but it's only smart not to trust him. And significant, that she's protective enough to do this.

"Give yourself two months and we have a deal," he decides, leaning forward slightly to extend a hand to shake on it.

She doesn't exactly leap on the amendment, but she's smart enough to take the extra leeway when he didn't argue any of the rest of it; he knows more than she does, and Jesus does too and vouches for him at least this far, and she has to trust both of these so she takes his hand, shakes once, firm.

And, with that done, there's a small but significant shift that comes over her. Something in her posture relaxes now that she has - in name anyway - the resources she needs to take care of the only one of her people she can get to just now. It's the most they can ask for out of any given day back home, anyway, and she's settled entirely into the rhythm of it: push like hell until you have what you need, then take the time to breathe.

"How long have you been here, Drake?

"I'm coming up on a year and a half," Drake replies, noting how she's relaxed a little. Maybe they can have a friendlier conversation now? "You'll find people who've been here from the first arrivals if you ask around, so like four years? But in my experience with this kind of thing people are either stuck for ages or come and go."